Are New Year's Resolutions Really the Best Way to Succeed in 2021?

New Years Day is literally just around the corner. This is the time that so many prepare to engage in a 4000 year old tradition that has become rather counterproductive in modern times. 

In ancient Mesopotamia the spring festival of Akitu, or Akitum, was a 12 day celebration reaffirming loyalty to the king, or crowning a new one. Prayers and offerings were given to the god of Marduk, and everyone, rich or poor, was part of the celebration. Citizens would plant crops, make promises to the gods to repay their debts, and return any borrowed items. 

In 46 B.C. Julius Caesar changed the calendar to align the beginning of the year with January 1st. Ancient traditions continued with the honoring of Janus, a two-faced god with one face looking back at the previous year and the other with an eye to the future. Sacrifices were offered to Janus and again, citizens would make promises of good behavior in the year ahead. 

The modern concept of a “resolution” for the new year didn’t take shape until the late 17th century thanks to Scottish writer Anne Halkett who wrote about it in a diary entry when making promises to herself for the coming year. In 1802 the tradition of making resolutions at the beginning of a new year had become commonplace, however the first recorded use of the phrase didn’t happen until 1813 when “New Year Resolution” was printed in a Boston newspaper. 

The making of a resolution for the new year is a tradition thousands of years old, however is it really proving to be a meaningful exercise? Is there a real benefit to it, or are we setting ourselves up for disappointment? The truth might surprise you. 

Research shows that 80% of resolutions fail primarily for 3 reasons:

1. Psychology. The psychology behind the word “resolution” puts a great deal of stress on us. It gets positioned as something we have to do as opposed to a challenge we can get excited about. It also doesn’t give us the flexibility and permission for moments of failure.  

2. Unrealistic Expectations. We put a tremendous amount of pressure on ourselves to succeed at something, and in many cases, it’s something that we have never tried before or been successful at. 

3. Lack of Planning and Accountability. Like any goal we set for ourselves, it’s not that we plan to fail - we fail to plan. The resolutions most people make are loose ideologies that are focused on the end goal, completely ignoring the steps required to get there. Likewise, working towards a goal is best accomplished when shared with someone who can help keep you accountable. 

If I may offer a suggestion, instead of having a “resolution” for the new year choose a word that best describes yourself, where you want to go, or something that you need to move yourself to the next level. Marla Tabaka is a small business advisor and speaker on combining strategic and creative thinking for optimum success and happiness. She wrote an article on how to determine your Word of the Year, an excerpt of which is below. 

How to Determine Your Word of the Year

Determine your realistic goals. Think about the things you'd like to achieve this year. Be realistic and be kind to yourself--don't tempt failure by burdening yourself with unrealistic expectations upon yourself. Identify what will inspire and support you.

Now think about who you need to be to feel inspired and develop the character to achieve these things. What mindset will help you to move forward? For me, clarity meant that I needed to let go of the worry, still my mind, and trust that the answers were right in front of me and would surface at the right time. In 2016 Melinda Gates chose the word, gentle. It functioned as a reminder to go easy on herself, to fight the pull of perfectionism, and to encourage others around her to do the same.

What one word encapsulates what you want and who and how you need to be to get it? What is one word that describes the mindset that best supports your overall goals? What word might inspire you to be your best self? Because, when you are your best self you will achieve your goals. 

Here's what to do once you select your word of the year:

Get creative.

This year I am creating a piece of art to hang in my office, one that visually captures my word of the year. What creative means can you use to keep your word top-of-mind throughout the year? 

Write about it.

Define what your word means to you. One simple word can capture limitless inspiration and many meaningful feelings. Your definition will go far beyond what the dictionary has to say about it.

Use your word as a mantra. 

Whether or not you create an affirmation, prayer, statement, or whatever works for you, use your single word as a mantra throughout each day. See it in your mind's eye by creating a mental image that captures its meaning. 

Share it if you like.

Sharing your word could serve a purpose. For some, the act of putting it out there on social media, #wordoftheyear, is like a proclamation of intended success. Sharing your word with your partner or best friends may give them an opportunity to support you in some way. 

Let go of the resolution mentality.

The word of the year process is meant to be a gentle one, but don't confuse gentle with weak. In my personal experience, as well as many of my clients and social connections, this is a powerful practice. It's far more effective to gently focus on a word like "health" than to command yourself to get to the gym. As you inspire yourself toward good health, it's likely that you will find a way to achieve it. Make sure that your word feels good to you, not pushy and demanding.

 

From all of us here at SellAssist, we wish you the best in 2021. And remember to push yourself, because no one else will. 

Quiet Your Mind and Find Your Passion

"Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.” 

― Franz Kafka

Many of us will be taking some well-deserved time off over the holidays to enjoy the season, spend time with family (depending on Covid restrictions), and celebrate the passing of another year. During this time I always find myself going back to basics and re-grounding to better align with my inner selling passion. 

Throughout the year I spend a great deal of my time on personal and professional development, and it can be so easy to lose yourself amongst the new ideas being thrown at you, staying current on trends, and our regular day to day - there's a great deal of "noise" in life. That's why it's so important to ground yourself and reconnect with what makes you tick. 

If you've ever been outside for a walk in a gentle snow on a winter's night, there is a peacefulness to everything. The noise of life is muted and you might even start to hear your own thoughts. It's in these moments that your mind begins to wander and you connect with your inner self. Find these moments during the holidays. Remember the passion that you bring to selling. Remember the choices that took you down this path. Remember the faces of the clients you helped this year and how you changed their lives for the better. 

Get excited and get fired up because 2021 is going to be awesome. 

Unleash the Power of Video Networking

As the last chapter of 2020 draws to a close, it’s time to think ahead to the new year and ask ourselves if there is anything different that we can do to boost our game. One of the best tools I’ve come across this year is personalized video. If you’re not already using this as part of your outreach, you need to start. There are several service providers out there, however I haven been using Vidyard because they have a free starter account that you can sign up for. It gives you the ability to record and send videos, and drop them right into your emails as well.  

Each year DemandMetric and Vidyard produce a report about the state of video. I’ll post a copy of the link below, but here are some amazing stats on the use of video. 

• The percentage of respondents who report their company creates more than 51 videos each year increased by 254% in 2020.

• The percentage of respondents who report they are investing in 1:1 video has increased by 471% since last year.

• The percentage of respondents who report using video in customer and sales conversations increased by 93% year-over-year.

I strongly encourage you to download the full report here: https://www.vidyard.com/resources/state-of-video-report/

4 Mistakes Sales Managers Make When Training Their Reps

 

Anyone that follows me on social media or the SellAssist blog know my opinion of sales training - it’s utter crap. What’s worse, I’ve encountered several managers and leaders recently that continue to allocate significant portions of their budget to sales training year after year after year. In fact, the average spend on sales training for the average company is up to $1500 USD per rep - that’s roughly 20% more than training spent on other roles within the organization. What. A. Waste. 

So why are these captains of industry so hell-bent on tossing part of their corporate revenue directly into the equivalent of a paper shredder called “training”? Many reasons, but mainly because they have been sold on the bullshit ROI of sales training. 

In 2011, ES Research did a study to determine the effectiveness and retention rates of training delivered to sales teams. They noticed that between 85-90% of the training was forgotten after 120 days with no lasting impact. That means if you had a team of 10 sales reps it would cost you about $15,000 USD to train them, and to ensure the retention rate was maintained throughout the year, you would need to administer that training every quarter. That’s $60,000 USD per year. Another study shows similar results with a reported 80% loss of knowledge after 90 days. 

If you’re considering sales training from an outside third-party, you need to read the following 4 common mistakes made by managers when providing training. 

1. Forcing sales staff to take training.  As we just learned, knowledge retention is dubious at best, forcing reps to sit through training for a day or two will have them paying even less attention to the material. The engagement level will be minimal at best because you’re taking away their control. Instead, let your reps choose the types of training programs they can take. Programs can be assessed by management on a case-by-case basis prior to approval, or the rep could draw from a list of pre-approved courses. Regardless, it’s about empowering the rep to take initiative and have control over their own destiny. 

2. Justifying training with “ROI”.  Sales leaders are already quite familiar with reportable and trackable metrics. They live and die by these numbers and they can provide some incredible insight when it comes to the sales funnel and rep habits. Naturally as sales leaders we think this will transfer over to sales training and provide us with a direct and quantifiable result, eg. If I put my team through this training program I can expect a 10% increase in closed sales. Utter bullshit, and here’s why:

• To determine ROI on anything involves knowing the right numbers to track and devising a formula.

• The typical ROI formula is far too simple for measuring training. 

• KPI metrics on soft skills are nearly impossible to accurately measure. 

• In the end there is no way to draw an exact correlation between the spend and the return.

3. Cookie-Cutter training programs.  There is no one-size-fits-all sales training solution. There just isn’t. I’ve been in sales for over 22 years and owned 2 companies, both focused on training and consulting.        There. Is. No. Cookie. Cutter. Solution.         Ensure that any training programs given to staff are designed to fit the team values, process, sales cycle, industry, product, and vision of the overall organization. Most trainers won’t be able to check off more than a couple of those. 

4. Confusing “Training” with “Coaching”.  Let’s face it - if reps have a passion for sales they will make the effort to read books, study, attend webinars, get a mentor, and generally put in the extra time to learn their craft as would anyone who’s truly committed. They really don’t need training on skills as much as they need a coach to help them turn theoretical into practical. Instead of paying for training that will wear off next quarter, consider hiring a team coach that can spend time with them on a regular basis and help them apply their knowledge. 

When is it time to fire a customer?

 #MaximizeYourMonday

Customers come in all shapes and sizes and because they do, each of them requires their own unique way of dealing with them. Today we’re going to start with identifying good customers and bad ones.

Now, what makes a good customer? Or a bad one? There’s lots of criteria you can use to help but I’m going to focus on the most common. 

1. Repeat Business - How often do they come back and purchase your product or service? Would you consider them to be a regular customer or client? 

2. Influencers - When they have a good experience, do they talk about it? Are they open to sharing their experience on social media and do they follow through? For enterprise customers, are they comfortable with joint press releases, recommendations, social media mentions? 

3. Spend - Not all budgets are created equal, but of the budget they have, do they spend the bulk of it with your business? 

4. Service - How much time do you spend with them solving problems or dealing with issues? Are they constantly tying up your support channels? 

5. Up-sell & Cross-Sell - Are the current contacts in the organization willing to be ambassadors to help you open doors into other departments? Is there room to grow with this customer and sell multiple products or services across several department verticals? 

6. Deliverables - Are they buying your product or service for the right reasons? Are they aligned with the true value it brings to the table? 

7. Values - Are you and the customer aligned on your core values, sharing the same journey and goals? 

In order to put your customer in the “good” category, you should be able to answer the majority (6-7) of the above questions in the affirmative. If you can’t you should take a hard look at the value that customer brings to the table. 

Lastly, once you have performed this review with your current customer list, identify the ones that score the least. Any customers that score a 2 or below are most likely costing you more in resources and wasted time than what they bring to the table in value. It might make sense to fire those customers and go in search of higher-scoring ones to replace them. Your bottom line will thank you.

#PhilosophicalFriday - Words of Wisdom

Thought I would help you start your Friday by sharing some inspiring phrases and teachings to help you get your Friday off to the right start. 

“A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise.”

“There is no fear for one whose mind is not filled with desires.”

“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.”

“Wear your ego like a loose fitting garment.”

“What you are is what you have been. What you’ll be is what you do now.”

“There is nothing so disobedient as an undisciplined mind, and there is nothing so obedient as a disciplined mind.”

“Give, even if you only have a little.”

“Irrigators channel waters; fletchers straighten arrows; carpenters bend wood; the wise master themselves.”

“Even as a solid rock is unshaken by the wind, so are the wise unshaken by praise or blame.”

“Nothing can harm you as much as your own thoughts unguarded.”

“Like a fine flower, beautiful to look at but without scent, fine words are fruitless in a person who does not act in accordance with them.”

“Money is the worst discovery of human life, but it is the most trusted material to test human nature.”

Your future-customer could literally care less about you, your product, and your bullshit value prop

What if I told you that I have the ability to read a customer’s mind? You read that right. In fact, I have refined this skill over several years using a blend of meditative techniques, eastern medicine, and teachings from several old-world religions. With years of practice and focus, you can develop these same skills of telepathy and probe the minds of your customers to gain critical data about pricing, product, and competitors. Pretty awesome, huh? 

By now, you should have (hopefully) realized that I’m full of shit and I can’t telepathically read minds… at least not by using some mystical power. I can, however, tell you exactly what’s going through your client’s mind during your next meeting. It’s pretty easy actually because almost every customer is thinking the same thing while you’re sitting there getting your materials together. Want to know what it is? Here you go: 

Your future-customer could literally care less about you, your product, and your bullshit value prop. 

To take it a step further, they may even be thinking about all of the other tasks they need to accomplish that day, their dinner plans, how their kids are doing in school, and what the score on the game was last night. So why would they even accept a meeting with you if that’s their attitude? Speaking as someone who’s been on the receiving end of many sales pitches and presentations there are a number of reasons. Sometimes it’s a requirement as part of a sourcing policy for the company and they need 3 bids. Other times it could be a necessary evil in order for them to say they’ve fulfilled a request to explore an alternate idea (your product or service) when in reality they know they’re just going to give the business to their buddy. 

It doesn’t matter what the reason is. All that matters is that you have the attention of this person for the next few minutes and you had better make damn good use of that time, otherwise you’re walking out of there with a big fat zero. Good news though - you have the advantage now because you know what they are thinking. 

Sell without fear, like you have nothing to lose in that moment… because it’s true. Ask provocative, engaging questions. Push the boundaries. Get emotional. Get passionate about why the thing you're selling is the best thing of all things that this future-customer will see this week, this month, this year, in their entire damn life. LEAVE IT ALL ON THE FIELD. Then if this future-customer decides to still buy from his buddy, you can hold your head high and know that there was nothing more you could do. 

Go kick some ass. 

What role should I be playing in the customer’s decision making process?

I was chatting with some friends of mine the other day (over the phone because, well, Covid) and the conversation naturally evolved to work and the economy. One of them asked me, “So, what exactly do you do all day?” 

I was a little taken aback at the question thinking that sales consulting was self-explanatory. To someone who has never been involved in sales, it’s a fair question. Then it got me thinking - what the hell is our role? I tried to recall a previously memorized canned explanation of what sales is all about. It was a mish-mash of corporate buzzwords and sales lingo (at some point I think I said “envisioneered”, whatever the hell that is). 

After ending the conversation in a weakly veiled effort to save my last shreds of dignity, I decided that I need to re-think that question and use some good ol fashioned brain juice while I’m at it. After many hours of pondering and some good scotch, I finally came up with a defining question that helped me to focus on an answer. The question was: 

As a sales professional, what role should I be playing in the customer’s decision making process? 

Stupid brain… making me think. Do I become a trusted advisor? Perhaps an influencer? Problem solver? Those all sound great and were answers that I desperately wanted to choose, but they didn’t feel… right. Then it clicked. 

Pat Lencioni is a smart man, and he wrote a book or two on business consulting. “But wait Ryan, that’s not the same as sales!” Ohhhh you couldn’t be more wrong. So, so wrong. The common denominator in any client-facing role is… the client. Mr. Lencioni wrote a book or two about business* and in one of my favorites he wrote about the three fears. 

1. Fear of losing the business

2. Fear of being embarrassed 

3. Fear of feeling inferior

If you haven’t felt at least one of these sitting around a client’s boardroom table, or in a Zoom call, then you haven’t really been in sales. Let’s go back to the original question: As a sales professional, what role should I be playing in the customer’s decision making process?

Here’s my answer: You need to be the fearlessly vulnerable professional. Once you move past fear and begin focusing on finding and solving the real problem(s) preventing the client from achieving greatness, you will become the greatest asset to that client during the entire sales process, and they will come back for more. Trust me. 

 

* Sarcasm