Joe Murphy 180 - Consultative Selling Strategies

World-Class Branding

2008-03-09T07:04:00.003-04:00

The Maserati. Need I say more?

This 2008 GranTurismo is priced from $114,650. Just slightly over my budget for a car.

But look at the style. It says it all.

The name, Maserati, says even more.

Branding. How are you branded? Are you the Maserati of your industry.

How about you personnally? Are you personnally and professionally branded as the Maserati of you firm? Or among your clients?

Aim high. Become the Maserati of your industry.

Get Motivated - Get Going!

2008-03-02T08:56:00.002-05:00

Get motivated! Get going! "Others can provide the inspiration, only you can provide the perspiration." Joe Murphy

Anthony Robbins says this, "There are only two things that motivate people to success: inspiration and desperation." On the inspiration side Dr. Edwin Land, invented instant photography, and founded the Polaroid Corporation. It was his little daughter who provided the inspiration when she told her father she wanted to see the picture of herself right away. It was a little girl's childlike quality of impatience that provided the inspiration for Land.

Bill Gates saw an advertisement in Popular Mechanics for a personal computing kit. It was here that Bill Gates along with his friend Paul Allen, saw the future and potential of a personal computer on every one's desk and began writing a computer operating system to run on the personal computer for IBM. In fact, they were still writing it on the plane to the meeting with IBM executives! Some may say that was part inspiration and desperation!

On the desperation side, Anthony Robbins grew up in a bad family environment, where his father left him at a very young age and his mother had continuous marriages and men in her life. Determined not to live the life of poverty Robbins went from vacuum cleaner salesman to a financial success and then lost it all. He talks about desperation as washing dishes in his bathtub because there was no kitchen sink in his 400 square foot apartment in Venice Beach. It was the desperation that drove him to commit to himself that he wasn't going to live like this any more. And that if things were to change, he would have to change.

There are few secret formulas for success in life. But the one sure-fire formula for success that does work, is to copy what successful people do and don't do what unsuccessful people do.

This is the starting point of success and is the way to get motivated!

Being Assertive With Clients

2008-02-14T06:26:00.003-05:00

Q & A with Joe Murphy
Q. - Does being assertive with clients help in a consultative type of sale?

This is a great question that is rarely asked. Since it is rarely asked, I have to assume it is not understood how important a question this really is in dealing with high-value, complex solution sales.

In almost all cases the C-level executive does want someone who is assertive. This does mean they want someone who is controlling and directive, who wil guide them as to what they need to do to fix or solve a problem for them. This means that the client - in the executive role of solving the problem - is hiring someone not just for their technical expertise, but also for their leadership capabilities.

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This means that the client - in the executive role of solving the problem - is hiring someone not just for their technical expertise, but also for their leadership capabilities.
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Leadership strengths are critical in the sale of any solution that is of high-value to the client. The client wants to trust that someone will get it done and done right. This means exerting influence on their organization. This means bringing to bear the resources of the firm the executive has hired (i.e. you and your company). This means that you are willing to take total repsonsibility for getting the job done. No excuses. No blaming. You get it done.

This does not mean that you run over the client's staff. This does mean that you work with them collaboratively. This means you inform the client executive, the person who hired you, of progress or non-progress, caused by his organization or your organization.

Too many professionals who are selling their services and solutions, rely on the technical capabilities of their solution or the functionality of their solution.

The mistake here is that we forget they are buying us as well. This buying of "us" is often thought of as relationship selling. And relationship selling often becomes translated into, taking the client out to lunch, to play golf or watch a football game. While these can be important, they pale in comparision to the need for the executive to feel they can rely on your personal leadership strengths, such as being assertive, controlling and directive to get the job done. This is one of the main reasons they will hire you. If you don't act this way, then they will have to do this to get the job done. And they know and realize they have too many other things to do and places where they need to assert themselves, than in this area where your experitise lies.

Good Luck!

Sales Turnaround - First Things First

2008-02-10T08:11:00.001-05:00

This post by Joe Murphy discusses one of the first things you can do to turn your sales around 180 degrees.

One of the first things I look at is the revenue decline over the past several periods (months/quarters) and to determine which products or services are facing problems.

What I look at - specifically - are the following areas;

Which services and/or products are not selling (declining sales numbers)
Which services and/or products are not selling at the same profit margin (declining margins)
Which services and/or products are having longer sales cycles (not closing as fast as they once were)
Which services and/or products do not have the same pipeline characteristics as they once had (dollar amount, volume, margin, close dates, and probability of winning/closing)

Once I have this data I can really begin to make some "informed hypotheses" where the sales force is failing or flailing. "Informed hypotheses" provide a useful tool that allow me to begin the next phase in the diagnosis as to why sales are declining.

Most executives want a turn-around specialist to come in and whip the sales force into shape. And you can find "sales leaders" who promise they will do that. They promise some of the following - what I call - "we needs:"

We need new training processes
We need to implement call reports
We need customer satisfaction surveys
We need new hiring processes
We need new sales management
We need new sales people

The "we needs" go on and on. But if you hear someone prescribing before diagnosing, run for the hills. Or show the person to the door and have them run for the hills.

An Outward Focus Toward Clients - 180

2008-02-03T07:36:00.000-05:00

Turning around an organization, requires an outward focus toward the client. This comes right down to individual behavior. Where is everyone looking - inward? Or outward?

Often, when I come into an organization the first thing I notice is, where key people are spending the bulk of their time. Also, where they are spending the key hours of the day.

You know what I find? I find poor manaagement systems and a poor leadership practice. Sales is down, therefore "we put in place reporting systems to see what people (especially sales) are doing every day." Then, the financial people put in quality systems, that require sales people to fill out more paperwork on the front end to save their staff time.

Soon the entire organization is facing inwards. And the culture now is about filling out reports and reporting and meeting about reports, and the meeting turn into reports of the meetings of the reports, and then more questions and then more written emails about why this wasn't done, which gets sent down to the person in front of the client to write and then it is rewritten by management, and then management reads it or has gone on to another crisis and it is no longer important.

So how do you stop this malpractice? It ain't easy. Becuase the stupidity is now engrained in people's thinking and in processes. And worst of all - people who don't have client facing positions in the company - but who have the ear of the President, or CEO or Managing Director. And the new bad practices, become the new normal.

Stopping it requires recognizing the problem. See the next post.

What Did You Do Today?

2008-01-27T07:38:00.000-05:00

For consultants, sales professionals, partners and other highly compensated executives like yourself, you must have a clearly defined set of objectives you wish to complete by the end of the day in order to remain at the top in your field. Every day, over time, makes up a life time of frivolous activities, or a life time of accomplishing great goals.

The choices you make on a day-to-day basis determine your success or your failure in life.

Often, we go into the office or start the day from our hotel room, without a plan, without a set of objectives we wish to accomplish before 5PM rolls around. Now I say 5PM, knowing my day ends often after 7PM, and I assume your days do too. But the critical things we have to get done, like completing the proposal for a client, setting up our appointments with clients, or completing some project for a client, needs to be done before 5PM, largely because we are dependent on others in the office or others who do not have the same work ethic as us.

But we must decide BEFORE the day starts out, what it is we wish to achieve today. So every morning ask yourself; "What 5 to 10 items on are list of things to do today, will advance us to our success?"

This is the question you must ask at the beginning of the day. This question will focus your energies on the things that matter.

As series of questions that will help you stay on track, that you can ask at key points of the day are important as well.

The question you must ask at 12 noon is this; "Did I accomplish this morning what I intended to accomplish for the day yet?" And, "Did I even start on these?"

Asking these questions at the mid-point of the day will light a fire in your belly. Often we are at the mercy of everyone else's demands. We are doing meaningless tasks that suck up time and zap us of our energy. That is the real danger here. We feel like we are working, yet in reality we are slaves to the agendas of others. We take on tasks that are meaningless to our success. Soon, after months of doing someone else's work, we find ourselves behind the proverbial eight ball and scrambling to get back on track.

The 3PM question is to ask the same question as you did at 12 noon. This allows you to knock all the stuff that doesn't matter off your desk and laptop and focuses you on the results you need to accomplish.

So at 5PM, you have to ask yourself; "Did I accomplish the thing I set out to do today?"

The key times to focus on your list of things to be done are;

Before you start your day (preferably before 7AM and before you touch email!!!!)
A gut check at 12 Noon. This will provide you an hour of uninterrupted time if you have to catch up.
Another gut check at 3PM. This allows you to clear the deck and man the battle stations for two hours in order to catch up.
At 5PM - to review your list of objectives and see where you fell down or what obstacles got in your way today. And then taking the items off your today's "To Do List" and carry them over to tomorrow's "To Do List."

When you have this kind of focus, the results you will achieve will be tremendous in a short period of time. And your energy levels will skyrocket!

Good Luck! Joe

Productivity Gains - Ask Your Boss

2008-01-25T07:21:00.000-05:00

In my previous posts, you should have gotten a process that not only increases your productivity by 25 percent - at minimum, but a process that allows you to do the RIGHT things at the expense of the WRONG things.

Writing things down forces you to think about the question: "How important is this?" And you may want to use this question, as it pertains directly to you and your performance: "Is this what I was hired to do?"

The last question is key. We may feel like we should do everything we are asked to do or comes by our desk (or email/blackberry/etc.), because that is what a team player does, but in fact, it may be the wrong thing to do, at the wrong time.

If you are stuck - and I mean you have too many "competing priorities" - you should take your list of 1-1's and 1-2's and your 2-1's and 2-2's to your boss. First, your boss will say, "Where did you get that system and how does it work?" So be prepared to explain it before you walk into his or her office.

Second, your boss will see that there are too many competing priorities. He or she will wonder how in the world are you doing what you should be doing. He will then - or should - think how can he keep you protected from all the requests you are getting.

Third, he will tell you what he feels is important. You will immediately see where you are out of sync and why you are having difficulty communicating some times.

Fourth, in his mind, he will see you as organized and wonder why his other people aren't as organized as you. This is not the reason you go down to his office however. This is a bad things to do, because your boss will smell out the sneakiness of such a move if you are insincere about asking for help.

So the list - the MASTER LIST and the DAILY TO DO LIST is key to getting things done.

Prioritize Your List - Turbo Charge Your "Tasks"

2007-12-18T07:07:00.000-05:00

We have a Master List that has your KRAs (your #1's), and your 2's (twos) and 3's (threes) assigned to each.

You have that done, right?

Now we Turbo Charge your life by Turbo Charging your list of tasks.

How can we get even more productivity from this list? Well, here's how;

1. Next to each number one, we are going to place another number next to it. It will be a 1, 2, or 3.

2. If the task takes longer than an hour to do place a "1" to the right of the first "1" . Remember, we are working with the KRAs right now.

3. Next go through the list of KRAs, and place a "2" next to each "1" that takes less than an hour, but more than 15 minutes. Next place a "3" next to each remaining KRA that takes less than 15 minutes.

3. Your list of KRAs should look like this 1,1 or 1,2 or 1,3. You can place a hyphen instead of a comma if that works for you. Your list of KRAs would then look like this; 1-1, 1-2, or 1-3.

4. Now, what you are looking at is this. Your 1-1's are more than likely your most important and critical items you have to get done for your long term success with your firm. Check it out for yourself. If this is not true, go back over your 1-1's and see if they are not really a 1-2 or possibly a "2".

5. Now you should do the same exercise with your "2's" on the Master List. And then the "3's".

Your MASTER LIST should now have the Priority (1, 2 or 3) and the length of TIME that each one should take to complete (1 for over an hour; 2 for under an hour - but over 15 minutes, and 3 for under 15 minutes.).

This is critical.

From today forward, you are now writing your "to do" or task on the MASTER LIST.

A couple of critical points:
1. You are not "allowed" to do the task without writing it down first.

2. We assign a priority to each task after we write it down. Why do you think we do this? This is a critical question to answer. In the next post, we will address this.

3. We Turbo Charge the list with another number that represents the length of time it will take to get it done. Why do you think we do this?

Productivity Improvement Number 3 - Prioritize

2007-12-15T07:13:00.000-05:00

OK. So to recap:
1. Write down everything on a sheet of paper where you keep all your "To Do's".
2. Don't do anything without writing it down first.
3. Know what 5 to 7 things you do (categories) that make up your KRA's (Key Result Areas).

Now, you have your list - let's call it a "Master List" - because it has everything you do on it.

Scan the list for all the KRA's. Those are the items on the list that contribute the most to what you were hired to do ( help you be the most successful at doing ). These should have a "1" (one) placed in front of the item.

Now scan the list for items that are a "2" (two). These are items that are important, but usually don't contribute much to what you HAVE to do to be successful. It might be "Filing an Expense Report" for example or "Providing a Report for Someone". . . these are secondary in nature.

After you completed this task, scan the rest and place a "3" (three) next to the remaining items. These should be tasks like "Pick up laundry" or "Get new pens." These don't contribute to your success but you have to get down and in some cases, you DO NOT have to do at all.

Three's may be delegated or discarded or deliberated. Deliberated means to; Ask yourself why you have any 3's on the list? This is where some of us as professionals, pick up hours of time. We tend to do what is fun and easy. And these are 3's. They are an excuse to procrastinate. They allow us to feel like we are working, when in reality we are not, because 3's don't contribute to what we were hired to do.

Now look at the list. Look hard. Do you see what I am talking about? Do you see how this simple, non-technical tool, allows you to see what you are doing?

If it doesn't, you are probably not FORCING yourself to write down everything before you begin it.

But it gets even better. The next post, allows us to turbo charge the list.

Productivity Improvements - Number 2: Your Key Results

2007-12-10T10:29:00.000-05:00

Now, we have a "To Do" list. Your "To Do" list should include EVERYTHING you have to do. It can be on a clean sheet of paper. Just use a sheet of paper and list everything - every day - that you have to do. You may have several sheets of paper with your "To Do's".

Next - Your KRAs.

Think about this question; What have you been hired to do?

List out the five to seven things or areas that contribute the most to your ability to be successful. If you are a consultant, one area might be getting business. Another might be, completing your project on-time and well. Another might be, training and growing your staff.

Whatever you do, you have only five to seven key areas that will contribute to the results that you have been hired to do.

Write these seven down on a separate sheet of paper. You may scratch through any one of these seven - after you start thinking about it. In other words, you may be revising your list as the week goes on. But write them out. You may think and feel that you know what your seven KRAs are, but until you write them out, you cannot crystalize them.

One last thing - on the "To Do" list you created. Always work from a "To Do" list. Don't do anything without first writing it on your To Do list. The power of writing forces you to think through what it means and starts to put a priority behind it.

Save Time On The Internet - Using A "Feed"

2007-12-08T08:33:00.000-05:00

Now for something really cool. Check out this from YouTube. A really smart guy is making the web easier for you and I to use.

You will see the RSS Feeds in the SideBar to the right of this Blog. It is now the smart way to access your favorites. This video is less than 4 minutes and explains how we can use the Web better and more conveniently.

A Feed is below . . . All you have to do is click on it and it saves it and brings it to YOU!

Before You Even Start Work Do This

2007-12-06T20:48:00.000-05:00

First thing in the morning make your list. Don't go into the office without a "To Do" list. If you go into the office first and then try to work on the things that you try to remember, you will be pushed and pulled by the phone ringing, emails flying and people stopping by your office to say, "Hi."

Working without a list, is productivity suicide. You will never get done the things you were hired to do. And the only place to create the list is at home or some place safe, like at Starbucks.

You can do this that morning which I prefer to do, because it "fires" me up to get started. Or you can do what others prefer to do, and that is the night before - before you leave the office or before heading off to bed, to clear your mind.

Nothing high tech. Work from a piece of paper, or your Day-Timer (Am I the only one left using paper?).

However simple this sounds, you will be amazed at the amount of productivity improvements you will see generated in your own work.

One last note; if you are a manager - encourage your staff - strongly - to do the same. Better yet, pass this Blog Post on to them.

Productivity Improvement Number 1 - The Biggest

2007-12-02T09:37:00.000-05:00

Make Lists
This is the number one thing any one can ever do. Making a list of the things you have to do is great for remembering what you have to do of course. And this is what everyone thinks a list if for. But it is not the only thing!

A list - or the exact benefit - THE MAKING of the list is the REAL Benefit!

Making a list helps you think!!!! It forces you to think through the objective.

It makes you think about the item and determine how you are going to do it, when you should do it by, and it helps you eliminate procrastination!

A list. Simple, yet so effective. And so very important. More on lists later.
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December - Personal Productivity Month

2007-12-02T08:50:00.000-05:00

December will be dedicated to improving Personal Productivity. In this month's BLOG of Joe Murphy 180, I will cover a variety of tools that will help you or your executive management increase productivity.

These are not secrets - but things you may have done at some time, and maybe still do. You can reapply these or take some of the "twists" that I have found work and see if they can improve your ability to get things done.

One thing I should state: Productivity for productivity's sake is a fools game. It's about getting things done. Even better, it's about getting the right things done.

Enjoy this month's blog and best of luck for closing 2007 and making 2008 a great year!

Why Companies Have Revenue Problems - Ram Charan's Book On Selling by Joe Murphy

2007-11-10T06:29:00.000-05:00

I blogged earlier about Ram Charan's book called "Profitable Growth." If you haven't read it , I would recommend doing so, as soon as you can.

It's really a book on growing the revenue. It is full of ideas, ideas that are contrarian to the thinking of most managers and executives. I was always taught to go for the homerun. But as Charan points out, it is really the singles and doubles that count.

As I thought about it, the best sales people hit singles and doubles, a lot or . . . most of the time. It's the big homerun deals they won every so often that put them into the stratisphere.

What can we learn from this?

My take away is:

Too often we aim for the fences. When we do this, we swing hard and because of the natural laws of sales, the client avoids making a decision because the deal is too big and therefore too risky. So, we have no sale.

Second, when we aim for the fences, we tend to put all our time into this one sales, the equivalent of all our eggs in one basket. And we know the "all our eggs in one basket parable."

Third, when we swing for the fences, we swing hard. Sometime trying too hard causing us to fall down when we swing (like one baseball great often did) . . . the equivalent of making mistakes. We force the ball. Sometimes, baseball, like golf, like selling, is about finesse. You have to hit through the ball, and not hammer it. Like sales, espeically in consultative type selling, you have to act somewhat aloof, not starved, and not trying to go for it all.

My point here is this. One of the worst sales people I knew, changed to become one of the best, by hitting singles (in some cases he hit bunts to get on base (really small deals)). Now he is a major hitter for Bearing Point - viewed by many as their top sales person.

But you wouldn't know this 10 or 15 years ago. How did he get so good? He hit singles. A lot of them.

He learned the art of the small deal. He learned it by seeing the small deal so many times, it became instinctive. Now he is hitting grand slams. He is the Barry Bonds of Bearing Point - without steroids!

Hit singles. Crawl before walking. Walk before running. Practice before heading to the marathon.

Best of luck! Visit my web site http://www.josephbmurphy.com/

Six More Questions To Help You Win BIG!!!!

2007-11-05T07:03:00.000-05:00

Here are six questions I wish I would have had someone ask of me when I started in the business. Whether you are a small business owner, or an independent consultant, or working for McKinsey or IBM, answering these questions will allow you to become acutely aware of how well you know your target buyers.

Answering these questions is not the entire point. The other part of the point is to continuously think about how you do what-you-do, and improve upon the components. Analyzing and thinking about your answers, what they are today, and what you hope them to be, is critical to your success.

These questions will help you determine how to make a better impact on your market and the executives you meet with when offering solutions to meet their needs.

How many “dream” clients are there in your market space or in your territory (these are your absolute, most perfect clients, the 20% that would drive 80% of your sales)? You must name them.
How many do you have right now?
What are the most frequent objections you hear?
Describe five of your most typical purchasers. (Where in the organization did they sit? Did they have a problem they were trying to solve? Or was it an opportunity they were looking to gain?)
Why did you win? (Was it your charming personality? Were you able to get to the decision-maker? Was there someone on your team who won the day?)
Describe the typical buying structure (What is your clients' process to come to a decision? Where does your buyer reside in the org chart? What authority does your buyer have? Who are the chief influencers?)

I have spoken to hundreds of professionals, and few were able to really hone in on the answers to these questions, except for those that built a niche in a key market. That ought to tell you something, shouldn't it?

Good Luck

Joe Murphy

6 Key Questions for Getting More Sales

2007-10-28T17:51:00.000-04:00

Here are some questions that I found useful in asking organizations how they currently get business and win clients. Answering these questions will help you improve how you work on your business, and see things differently, while you are working in your business.

Describe the full effort to prospect (list every way you have of generating a prospect).
Describe the typical sales cycle to close a sale, from generating the lead through to a close.
How many contacts do you have to make to sell?
What is the length of the sales cycle from initial contact to close?
How many competitors are involved?
How many different people do you usually meet with to close a sale?

By answering these questions, you will be able to begin to determine how your clients buy and you will uncover some of the weaknesses that may exist in your ability to win business.

This is not negative.

This is a good way to start looking at how to win more effectively and efficiently. So, take the time to look at your answers - from a scientific point of view and you will be able to create a plan to work on the areas where you are most deficient.

Good Luck! Joe Murphy

http://www.josephbmurphy.com/

http://joemurphy180.blogspot.com/

Murphy's Law - On Selling

2007-10-27T06:21:00.000-04:00

On Selling

Murphy's Law on Deal Pipeline

The number of deals in the pipeline will decrease proportionately to the time left in the quarter.

Murphy’s Law on Timing
If there is a worst possible time for the worst possible thing to happen, it will happen then.

Murphy's Law on Ways to Lose a Deal
If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which a deal can be lost, and you circumvent these, the fifth way will promptly emerge only to be discovered after you lost it.

Murphy's Law on Deal Strategy
If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.

Murphy's Law on Product Weaknesses
Nature always sides with the hidden flaw. And the prospect always finds it first.

Murphy's Law on Closing the Deal
You will only discover you are not talking to the final decision maker - after - you have built a great relationship with the person who has no authority to purchase what-so-ever.

Murphy's Law on You Thought It Couldn't Get Worse
And you only find out that you are dealing with the person who has no authority at an expensive restaurant - with the President of your company - halfway through the meal.

Murphy's Law on Implementing What You Sold
The original technicians who designed the solution you sold are no longer around.

Murphy’s Law on Solution Implementation Problems
Problems stemming from the solution sold, bring new opportunities for add-on business.

Murphy's Law on the Correlation of Military Strategy and Sales Strategy
No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy; therefore so sales plan ever survives contact with the prospect.

Murphy's Law on Moving the Deal Forward
If your advance is going well, you are walking into an ambush.

Murphy's Law on Getting Management Support for Your Deal
The only thing more accurate than incoming enemy fire is incoming friendly fire.

Murphy's Law on Getting Technical Management Support
Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence.

Murphy's Law on Getting Sales Advice
An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less until he knows absolutely everything about nothing.

Murphy's Law on Sales Meetings
A sales meeting is an event which the minutes are kept and the hours are lost.

Copyright © 2007 Joseph B Murphy

Quiet Speed - by Joe Murphy

2007-10-24T05:54:00.000-04:00

Slow Down - Don't Speed Up
I have read and reread the book titled "Secrets of a CEO Coach" to gain some of the key points of someone (the author) I really respect. Debra A Benton is the author and has a lot of great ideas anyone can implement.

One is this idea of "Quiet Speed." I fall into the habit of trying to do a lot. A lot means working hard. Working hard means doing a lot more of what you normally can accomplish. You pile stuff onto to your workload until you find it almost impossible to get things done.

Work Overload - What Winds Up Happening?
Simply, you speed up, to get your pile complete. When you speed up, you get harried. You talk faster. You become impatient. You become - often - curt and perhaps rude, when you talk to those around you. These people don't know you've picked up more work that you have to get done in one day than any normal human can do.

But the feeling you have boiling inside you is - Get out of my way, I have to get my work done, and why aren't you people getting me this information I need to complete my job, and why aren't you working as hard as some of the rest of us (especially me!).

What You Look Like
By looking "hasty", by talking fast, you appear nervous. By looking nervous you are stating "I am not important and I may not belong here."

You also appear harried, out of control. And the last thing a top executive, client or internal executive, wants to do is give someone who appears out of control, something to be done that is important.

What You Should Do
You have to harness your energy. You have to consciously SLOW DOWN. You have to pace yourself. Pace means becoming more deliberate in your actions. Create a list of all the things you have to do (on paper). Then break the list into sublists for each major item on the list. Each subtask is an activity that when complete, is one step closer to getting the major item on your list complete.

Sure, we've all heard about the list thing. Sure, you have. But, do you do it? Answer is: Either "no" or not as often or as well as I should.

So you have your list. But back to Quiet Speed. You must convey a look of being relaxed. Perhaps the list making will help. The appearance will help too. Because the more harried you are, the more you begin to miss and forget things. Then you become frenetic.

Frenetic is not a good thing to be labeled as being.

You want to exude poise. You want to appear confident. You want to appear memorable.

So, slow down. Work on Quiet Speed.

Thanks - Joe Murphy

An "Adequate Solution" - You Are The Difference by Joe Murphy

2007-10-16T08:08:00.001-04:00

In making any proposal or presenting any solution, I believe all you need is an "Adequate Solution." An adequate solution does not mean an inferior solution, it means that you have a solution that meets the prospective client's needs.

You see, you - if you are pretty good at building relationships through your ability to communicate your skills, abilities, and qualifications - are the difference.

Clients, if you are talking to the right level of person, are looking for an acceptable and appropriate solution. Clients are not looking for the best solution or product leadership, they are looking for a Trusted Consultant. A Trusted Consultant is someone who knows how to get things done. This does not mean they do the work, but it does mean they bring the right people to the project to get it done, in the manner promised.

Your ability to communicate this, is your key to winning business. And when I say "communicate" - I am not necessarily stating that you have to "talk" about how good you are. It can be as simple as having a reputation in the field of your expertise. It can also be as simple as doing what you say you will do - like showing up on time for meetings.

I know this is an oversimplification - but I know those of you who are reading this "get it."

Remember, don't over complicate your solution, by trying to build the best, at the sacrifice of not establishing your reputation to deliver.

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Winning Business By Preparing & Sitting Where The Client Sits

2007-10-14T21:07:00.001-04:00

This may sound a little trite. But I am telling you, a little meeting before the big client meeting is key. When you have project team members coming in from across the country, they all aren't thinking like you, or even thinking about the project.

I am a big advocate of a meeting before the meeting. It needs to be long enough so everyone understands the objective of the client meeting the next day. The objective is of course more than just a successful meeting, because that's too obvious. Any one can say, "The objective of the meeting is too have a good meeting." Duh.

The objective is to build confidence in the project team. The project team's perceived capabilities, experience and the ability to get along with the client could be great objectives, because those are the thing that lead to a successful meeting.

Discussing the objectives and getting agreement is job number one. The key leader must facilitate this discussion to get everyone thinking about this.

The second critical aspect is getting everyone to sit in the chairs of the client tomorrow and think about how would these objectives be proven. A good discussion should ensue hear.

Last, great preparation means again, sit in the chair of the client and ask the question, "What if the client asks you this?" When you get the people to respond to the question it forces their brains to work. It also gives you as a facilitator of the meeting whether your message has sunk through all the stuff they have been wrestling with that is unrelated to your meeting tomorrow.

There is a great quote; "Your statement makes you think. Your question makes me think." Not only that, it makes your mouth connect to your brain.

By the way, your preconceived answer could be usurped by their answer, because it may be even better than yours (surprise, surprise).

The most important fact here is - to meet. Meeting insures a better outcome. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Being casual, brings about casualties.

Good Luck!

A Secret - A Book By Ram Charan On Selling by Joe Murphy

2007-10-13T07:15:00.000-04:00

Profitable Growth - a Book By Ram Charan

I picked up Ram Charan's book called Profitable Growth. As I was reading his points, it struck me that this book is about looking "what can be." It is a book about creating the future of a business.

I would not call the book powerful in any sort of way. (Sorry Ram, you are far smarter than I could ever be). But I would say, it's a book that sales and marketing professionals have been waiting for. It is a book about how to take risks to drive top line growth. Anyone who is not an accountant or an HR exec or contracts person will appreciate the fact that businesses spend far too much time with "how do eliminate this little expense here and there." I am a spendthrift, so don't get me wrong. But sometimes I think about how we spend money unwisely in one area and then in another area, like, hiring great sales professionals, we penny-pinch.

I have been working in sales, and business development practically all my life. Recently, over the past 7 years, I have been turning around sales organizations and building new revenue streams. Start-ups within companies is hard work. People are impatient - the people at the top. They go with great gusto, saying "Yes! We need more revenue. About ....hmmmm.... 90 days later, they go, "Where's the revenue? Look at this cost! Do you know how much would go to the bottom line?"

Ram Charan makes his case for growth. He has 10 "essential" tools (really appraches - and mindsets - not really tools like a spreadsheet or a spade - for you people who want "hard" and tangible things).

He talks about hitting singles and doubles, rather just trying to hit home runs every time. I think this is a great expression. Too often management is looking for the quick hit - a home run, a grand slam in some cases. But in reality, give me singles and doubles often enough and I will out score the company hell bent on the big hit - the home run. Why? Because often the supporting mechanisms inside the company cannot support the grand slam and the deal goes south and profitability is impacted. Give me a double and that is enough for the inner workings of the company to get ready and support this smaller endeavor. Once they know how to support this piece of work, they may be ready to hit the homer.

Anyway, get the book. It makes the case, in my point of view, for sales and marketing and how to drive more revenue by focusing peoples' attention, time, and money on growth, and how to do so, without jumping across the Grand Canyon in a single leap. And more importantly, it's from a true consultants' perspective, someone who gets paid a lot of money to advise the best and the brightest.

PS - if you don't know Ram, he is a consultant to the biggest and best companies in the world. His advice is sought after by many CEOs and top executives on how to build a business. Ram is self effacing, but serious. He travels about 350 days a year - helping companies see the obvious and frame situations for managers to understand what they have to do, rather than what they think they should be doing.

Best of luck! Visit my web site http://www.josephbmurphy.com/

Joe Murphy on Optimism

2007-10-12T07:44:00.000-04:00

Optimism
Probably the most important thing you can do for yourself, your spouse, your familiy, friends and colleagues, is to be mentally fit. The best measure of "mental fitness" is how optimistic you are about life. Here are a few questions:

Just how enthusiastic about what is going on around you, are you?

How happy are you, most of the time?

Abraham Lincoln said it best when he said, (I paraphrase), "You are about as happy as you make your mind up to be."
What he means and what pschologists have found in research studies is this; "learn how to control your thinking no matter what happens."

You can control your reactions and responses by thinking differently. Here is a paper on Why Optimists Sell More (http://josephbmurphy.com/uploads/Why_Optimists_Make_More_-_CSS.pdf)
There are three differences in how certain people think. The first difference is that the optimist sees a setback as only temporary. The pessimist sees a setback or problem as permanent and lasting. The optimist sees an unfortunate event as only temporary. What you can do to control your thinking is to isolate the incident.

The second difference between is the optimist sees problems as specific. The pessimist sees problems as pervasive (affecting other things). This means that when things go wrong for the optimist, he or she looks at the event as an isolated incident. It is not connected from other things that are going on.

If something failed to happen or occur as planned and you interpret the situation to yourself as just an unfortunate event, something that "just happens," then you are reacting like an optimist.

The pessimist however, sees disappointments as being pervasive. To him they are indications that he is a failure in work, home, eating properly, etc - any number of unconnected areas.

Optimists have learned not to take mistakes or failures personally. This is the third difference between optimists and pessimists. The optimist sees events as external - caused by other things outside their control. Therefore, they don't beat themselves up. This may be hard for the responsibe person, who takes problems and tries to fix them. It was difficult for me, needless to say to accept that, "some things are just outside my control" AND "GET OVER IT!!"

But the pessimists interpret events as personal. If the optimist is cut off in traffic, instead of getting angry or upset, he will simply say something like, "I guess they are late for work." The pessimist will say, "Why are they doing this to me???" And then become frustrated and look for ways to "get back" at the drvier or take the event out on someone else in the office or at home, because they took it as a personal insult and feel bad about it. Am I talking to anyone I know here? Can you relate to this? Sure, we all can.

Here's a trick. "Allow the other driver to cut you off." Wave them into your lane and say "Good luck, I hope you make it." Or if someone says something rude, say to them or to yourself, "I understand how you feel, "I have had a similar feeling." Make sure you say it with no "edge" in it. By the way, when you say this, you will be surprised how the other person reacts! The tension goes away - immediatetly!! They even apologize!! And both you and the other party walk away feeling good (self-esteem intact).

The more optimistic you, and the more you practice allowing things to roll off your back, the more objective and unemotional you will become when facing the inevitable trials normal daily life. Keep your mind calm, clear and completely under your own control. Do not allow other people to give you your thoughts. Step back, and step outside yourself, to see the situation with a view from a balcony, like you are watching a play on a stage. This little mind trick helps remove the emotional energy that pulls you into an emotional event.

The more optimistic you are, the more mature you will become and you will exert a far greater sense of control and influence over your environment, and you will be far less likely to get angry, upset, or distracted.

Good Luck!

Act Boldly and Unknown Forces Will Come to Your Aid

2007-09-04T07:17:00.000-04:00

"Act boldly and unforeseen forces will come to your aid." This is a quote I heard from Brian Tracy. Brian Tracy is one of the few positive business leaders dedicated to helping others achieve personal greatness who has actually studied and applied what he has learned to his business.

Brian Tracy's books, audio programs and videos are among the best in the world for anyone who wishes to become excellent in their field.

Today, I write to dedicate this little page to Brian Tracy's helping me and others.

Here are two excellent programs I recommend to you from Brian Tracy:
1. Pathways to Personal Excellence - this is a one hour video program that is perhaps the best of it's kind. I have shown this tape to hundreds of my staff and colleagues in the US and around the world. When I brought it to India, the young staff stayed to watch it were mesmerized. They devoured it. For me, the video has brought me hundreds of thousands of dollars in monetary returns. It has saved me countless hours of time saved and has been at least partially responsible for turning my life around.

The video has 100's of practical ideas and concepts for you to apply to your personal achievement. I guarantee if you watch it at least 10 times over the course of 30 days, you will find yourself focused and energized.

2. The Psychology of Achievement - this 6 CD audio series is a mini-course in psychology and what it takes to reprogram your mind to become successful and better in life and work. It is a great program to replace the radio listening - which is bubble-gum for the ears!!! - with protein for the mind. I don't care if you spent $200 on Sirius radio - it's still worthless junk telling you absolutely everything about nothing. Try listening to this CD program over and over until you reprogram your thoughts of "I can't have it" and "I wish..." with new thoughts of "I can have anything I put my mind and efforts to..." and "I can become anything I need to become..."

Okay. That's it for today. Try these two programs out. They are a very small investment on your personal development future.

PS - if you are interested in other great programs - let me know and I will post others....

Marketing and What the Client Really Wanted

2007-08-29T10:07:00.000-04:00

I am always amazed how little we actually we understand what the client wants or needs. We all come in with our point of view which filters what the client says they want and need into how we see things based upon our beliefs and background.

Below I have placed a neat little presentation I have shown in the past that really depicts how we all try to solve the client's problem based upon where we are coming from - our experience and our belief systems.

What Marketing Ordered:

What Engineering Designed:

What Manufacturing Made:

What Was Implemented:

What the Client Asked For:

If you would like a copy of this PowerPoint Presentation, with the above diagrams for your next internal or client meeting, give me a call: 770.662.5700 or you can email me and I will send you a copy. My email is; joemurphy@bellsouth.net