Fuentes Fridays, Season 2 Ep #0009

Here is your end-of-the-week insight into what I see going on in the business world, what I’m thinking about, and what I’m learning about. Forward anything that you feel inspired to share.

What I’m Hearing From Sales Leaders/Professionals

It seems that February is not just for breaking your exercise New Year’s resolution! It is also for breaking your new pipeline meeting resolution.

I checked in on a few pipeline meetings this week and noticed that many of them had fallen back into bad habits:

Boring

Slow moving

Reporting on past activities

Low preparation from LEADERS and AEs

Not outcome-based

More feelings than facts

What happened? The reality is that running an effective pipeline meeting consistently, like consistently exercising, is simple in explanation but not in execution. In order to do both, you have to be committed and disciplined.

And negative momentum—missing a few days at the gym, skipping the preparation for a pipeline meeting or two—has a tendency to get you back to bad habits quickly. But there is a solution!

As I said to those who I observed, tomorrow is a new day! You can decide that you are going to recommit and execute best practices! Not only did I say this, but I shipped them our How to Run Effective Pipeline Meetings guide. If you want it, send me a DM!

If you don’t want it, just remember these tips:

If you think, you don’t know.

What you are going to do next is more important than what has happened—you cannot change the past.

You should be able to walk out of a pipeline meeting with actionable, binary next steps.

Good luck!

What Made Me Laugh

What???? Other people use derpy?? (For those who are new to Fuentes Fridays, my son used this word to describe something when he was six. He is now 13.) Don’t believe me? See below. And it aligns with G’s use!!!

This Week’s 40/20

For every 40 hours of work, I believe you should spend 20 (additional) hours mastering your craft. This is how I spent some of my 20 hours this week.

Even great, established brands like McDonald’s (FYI, I love me some McD’s) have to execute go-to-market pivots or changes in strategies. In December, it was reported that beef and chicken sales were evenly split at McDonald’s. I helped this by always ordering a cheeseburger and a McChicken. A few days ago, there were reports on some business news channels that chicken sales now outpace beef, and McDonald’s is trying to gain another point in chicken market share. I am sure I can help this by adding a four-piece nugget to my order!

Potpourri for 800

Potpourri (shoutout to Jeopardy!) is a category that covers a variety of topics.

My uncle Jose, who passed when I was three, was a doctor. This was a great achievement for our family, given my grandfather was an orphan from El Salvador who was the epitome of a Horatio Alger story and dreamed of providing his children an opportunity to go to college (he did that and more!).

Thus, when my uncle tragically died in a car accident, both my grandfather and grandmother felt that their story was incomplete. As I grew older, there was a sense that I had the ability to achieve academically. So, at a very young age, I would like to say 10 or 11, my grandmother promised me that if I wanted to be a doctor, she would pay for me to study medicine in Paris (my grandmother was glamorous and felt Paris was HER city).

Regrettably, I did not take her up on that offer (see quote below—I chose the lazier path of law school). However, I am obsessed with well-produced medical shows. So, I share all of the above to recommend you watch “The Pitt” on MAX. It is INCREDIBLE! Well written, well acted, and, from all reports (not mine, since I did not take my grandmother's offer), pretty accurate.

Quote for My Son

Every day, I leave my son a note with a quote. This was my favorite from this past week:

“ If you’re trying to choose between two theories and one gives you an excuse for being lazy, the other one is probably right.” – Paul Graham

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Let me know what you think about this week’s edition of Fuentes Fridays. Which section was your favorite? How can I make this better? Shoot me a message on LinkedIn @willfuentes.