I recently had the privilege of attending a Navy SEALs graduation ceremony.  After the initial 27 weeks of rigorous physical and mental conditioning, these men begin a brutal 6 month training course of which only 1 out of 4 ever complete.  Clearly, these men are very impressive individuals both mentally and physically.  They are truly the best of the best.

But what really inspired me the most during this ceremony was the overarching commitment to the concept of team.  Navy SEALs work in teams.  They are essentially groups of individuals with complementary strengths and expertise that can only succeed as a cohesive unit.  They don't just talk about teamwork as if it were a nice-to-have.  They don't speak about teamwork in lofty platitudes.  It is who they are.  Their lives depend on it.  They live it. They rehearse it.  They practice it.

I wonder what would happen, if in our daily life, we took the concept of team even half as seriously as Navy SEALs do.  I wonder how much we could accomplished if we really practiced "Team".

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I was also incredibly impressed with the published SEAL Ethos:  I have reproduced it here.  Read it and be inspired.

SEAL Ethos

"In times of war or uncertainty there is a special breed of warrior ready to answer our Nation’s call. A common man with uncommon desire to succeed. Forged by adversity, he stands alongside America’s finest special operations forces to serve his country, the American people, and protect their way of life.I am that man.

My Trident is a symbol of honor and heritage. Bestowed upon me by the heroes that have gone before, it embodies the trust of those I have sworn to protect. By wearing the Trident I accept the responsibility of my chosen profession and way of life. It is a privilege that I must earn every day.

My loyalty to Country and Team is beyond reproach. I humbly serve as a guardian to my fellow Americans always ready to defend those who are unable to defend themselves. I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions. I voluntarily accept the inherent hazards of my profession, placing the welfare and security of others before my own.

I serve with honor on and off the battlefield. The ability to control my emotions and my actions, regardless of circumstance, sets me apart from other men.Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and honor are steadfast. My word is my bond.

We expect to lead and be led. In the absence of orders I will take charge, lead my teammates and accomplish the mission. I lead by example in all situations.

I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My Nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time.  I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight.

We demand discipline. We expect innovation. The lives of my teammates and the success of our mission depend on me - my technical skill, tactical proficiency, and attention to detail. My training is never complete.

We train for war and fight to win. I stand ready to bring the full spectrum of combat power to bear in order to achieve my mission and the goals established by my country. The execution of my duties will be swift and violent when required yet guided by the very principles that I serve to defend.

Brave men have fought and died building the proud tradition and feared reputation that I am bound to uphold. In the worst of conditions, the legacy of my teammates steadies my resolve and silently guides my every deed. I will not fail."

I had a presentation today at one of the worlds largest entertainment companies.  There were around 10 people in the room.  I got to the site early and made sure there were no technical issues.  The crowd came in and the words, the confidence, the passion just came flowing out like a well-played piano concerto.  How did that happen? 

Preparation. 

While this presentation was different in many ways, the concepts were not new and they had been rehearsed many, many times... out loud... by myself...in other presentations.

Now, this presentation wasn't exactly the presentation I rehearsed.  I reserve about 10%-30% of my discussion for improvisation based on the spirit of the room, content that the audience brings in, and cues that I pick up at a very intuitive level.  All this was working today.

It's almost like that great golf shot that keeps you coming back.  Preparation doesn't guarantee a successful outcome, but it does remove significant risks.  Looking forward to the next opportunity.

In one of my previous blogs I discussed the importance of how we talk about our prospects or customers when they are not around.  I recently was having lunch with a colleague named "Jim" who told me the following story:

Jim had managed to work his way to the CEO of an organization to sell his solution.  After numerous meetings he was a bit discouraged because he didn't seem to be making much progress.  The only thing that was progressing was the amount of follow-up information he was asked to generate after every meeting.  So, he reached out via email to a colleague to get some additional ROI information for the prospect.  The colleague emailed back asking some additional quesitons about what he was trying to accomplish there.

Jim clicked back, "I'm trying to get this dumb-ass to buy something."

The appropriate ROI information was eventually sent back to the CEO of the organization and yes... the unthinkable happened.  The email was sent with the trailing thread that included the "dumb-ass" quote.  Jim said there was a second after that send button was pushed that he irked in horror "OH SHIT!" 

So what happened then?  Jim immediately called his boss to tell him what had happened.  They discussed a few options.  Since the comment was at the bottom of the thread, they could take the chance that the CEO would never read it.  Or they could 'fess up and take their licks.  They decided on the latter.

Jim went to the CEO and told him what happened.  He told the CEO that indeed, it was he that was the dumb-ass.  The CEO, who obviously was not a dumb-ass as accused and was actually quite a thoughtful person, lectured Jim that he needed to be more careful about what he said and wrote about his prospects.  After the lecture the CEO told Jim that despite this error he still wanted to consider Jim's product.

Jim got the order last week.

There are lessons to be learned here the least of which is to never put in writing derogatory comments about your prospects or customers.  More importantly, we should avoid the mindset where we are disparaging our prospects or customers in any way.  We (our products and services) are not the center of their universe.  It is our job to earn their mind share.  Somehow, in ways not necessarily as overt as this story, your attitudes about your prospects and customers will manifest themselves.

To me, this is what sales should be all about.  Finding a way to reach people at a personal level... a place that everyone has, but few, especially in the business world, ever reach out and grab. Establishing this kind of vulnerability and relationship with your prospect is what can make your profession meaningful... And as a byproduct, make you a whole bunch of money.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2bLNkCqpuY

In Ki-Aikido training, the question is frequently asked, "where is your/their power going?  Most commonly it is asked when the uke (attacker) grabs the nage (one being attacked) in any number of ways.  The job of the nage is to respect that direction, sense where the uke's power is directed, put him or herself in alignment with that direction and safely immobilize the attack.

I was thinking of this concept in the context of "closing" a deal.  As I wrote in a previous post, closing is purely a sellers term generated by a seller's perspective.  From a buyer's perspective there is an entirely opposite perspective on this part of the process.  For the buyer, "closing" is in fact "opening" or commencement of the journey to value for what they have purchased.

I would guess that 80% of all sales training, coaching, management focus, is directed towards closing.  But the focus on closing is way out of alignment with what the buyer's focus is on -- which is ultimately recognizing value for what is purchased.  Finishing up the initial agreement - closing -  is simply a step towards achieving the value.

One of the reasons that salespeople lose control of deals towards the "close" is because the prospect senses that they are not in alignment with helping the client generate value.  In your next sales cycle, constantly ask yourself where your power is going?  Focus your power on value and generate excitement about getting started!

I recently talked with a prospect who had been considering my product for over a year.  'I'm new to the position and territory so I picked up the opportunity in process.  Evidently, the purchase cycle was missed last year so I didn't want us to repeat the same mistake twice so I asked what happened.  There were 2 reasons why the prospect did not buy the prior year.  One was an internal process-oriented reason that is confidential.  The other reason was that the sales person, after being brought into the process by manager/director level sponsors, flanked and ignored them upon meeting the VP (power sponsor).  Turns out the the sponsors AND the VP did not appreciate it and along with the other reason had no compelling motivation to complete the transaction and implement the solution.

Much is said in the sales world about "calling high" and "the path to power".  And, it is mostly true.  However, what happened here was a breech of trust.  Instead of building the relationship with the sponsors and leading them to help build a relationship with the VP, the sales person took the easy road, went to the VP, and ignored the sponsors.  It was more than a bad tactical move.  It defied the trust that the VP had in his people and any possible trust that the sponsors and the VP had in the sales person. Ultimately, it costs the sales person any chance of moving the solution forward.

While there are some instances where this tactic might work, thinking through the culture of the company and the relationship between the sponsor(s) and the power sponsor(s) is critical.

This week in Ki class (class that focuses on Ki development before Aikido class), we worked on an exercise whereby one person is sitting seiza (kneeling) and another puts hands on their shoulders and tries to push them over.  If the person sitting stiffens up and pushes back with a fighting mind they are easy to push over.  If they are not centered and relaxed they are easily pushed over.  Even if their intentions are to be centered and relaxed, but they are not aware enough to prepare for the initial contact they will be off balance and pushed over.  It is only when the person sitting is aware and prepared at the time of initial contact that he won't be pushed over.

So it is with sales.  And I'm not just talking about making a good first impression.  I'm talking about the initial contact in any engagement... a phone call, a meeting, even a chance meeting.

Most of us have been in meetings where we had a specific agenda.  The customer will throw out an unexpected issue.  The sales team falls off balance.  The meeting heads in a direction that is ultimately unproductive.  One of the reasons for this is that salespeople often project an inferior mental posture.  They've been taught to agree and recapitulate any opinion the customer has.  This, like the example above makes it very easy for sales people to be moved.  Also, most sales people on't prepare adequately for engagements with customers.  This also makes them easy to "move".

Think about these things for your next encounter:

• Stay calm and relaxed - frantic people are easy to "move".
• Prepare
• Don't agree or recapitulate every negative opinion a customer has
• Lead your customer