[hi-pok-ruh-see]

1. a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.
2. a pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude.

It’s the kiss of death for any sales leader.

It’s also sometimes hard to detect, and worst of all it can sneak up on you. This sneaky aspect of hypocrisy  most often shows up in our political leaders. They’re trying to please everybody, ALL-THE-TIME.

Ummmm…

Sounds a lot like a sales leader to me… Have you held up the mirror lately? Read and/or listen to this rant about hypocritical public figures, then reflect on your on actions.

I’m just sayin’…

Obviously there is no single or simple answer. For me though… One notion in particular has felt like a secret to success. The thought crystallized for me, back in 1982. (Ouch… I was still a young man then! Here’s more about that.) And here’s the notion:

Have more fun than anyone else you know.

If you’re having fun as a sales leader, genuinely enjoying being a sales leader, that joy will make you better. Which makes it even more fun, which makes you even better, etc., etc., etc.

So how – as a creative, disciplined, process-and-metrics-driven sales leader – do you implement this “fun” thing into your routine? It’s not that hard and it’s only three things:

• Watch out for and track your personal Wellness
• Implement Sales Process Engineering
• Track – seriously track – exactly how much fun you’re REALLY having with something like an IV Score

Wellness provides a physical, mental and spiritual foundation for your career. (Without it, forget it. Success ain’t happening.) “SPE” provides a well-defined sales process with objective metrics to objectively track quality and progress toward the (unattainable) “perfect” sales process. Your  IV Score helps consolidate your business and personal life into an awesome whole.

Together, this trio generates not only sales leadership success, but also provides you with a legitimate basis to claim, as I do…

“I’m having more fun than anyone else I know.”

Seriously. I mean it. I am having more fun than you are. My IV Score (as I post this) is 138. The runner-up only has 111 points. What’s your IV Score? What’s the status of your Sales Process Engineering effort? How do you stack up in terms of your overall Wellness?

Answer the questions.

So… to provide an assist, here are a bunch of recommendations from sources your humble blogger considers to be credible, including:

• Bill Gates
• Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine
• Stanford University
• Harper’s Bazaar
• JP Morgan

From Bill Gates:

Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison.

Just before dawn on a Sunday morning, three teenage boys go surfing. Returning home, exhausted, the driver lets the car drift off the road into a tree. Two of the boys are wearing seat belts; one is sent through the windshield. He is declared brain-dead shortly after arriving at the hospital. His heart is still beating.

From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, a powerful account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class.

Yuval Noah Harari, author of the critically-acclaimed New York Times bestseller and international phenomenon Sapiens, returns with an equally original, compelling, and provocative book, turning his focus toward humanity’s future, and our quest to upgrade humans into gods.

At ninety, Jimmy Carter reflects on his public and private life with a frankness that is disarming.

From Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine:

One of the most exciting and dynamic segments of today’s craft brewing scene , American-brewed sour beers are designed intentionally to be tart and may be inoculated with souring bacteria, fermented with wild yeast or fruit, aged in barrels or blended with younger beer. Craft brewers and homebrewers have adapted traditional European techniques to create some of the world’s most distinctive and experimental styles.

As craft brewing becomes increasingly inventive, with new beers demonstrating remarkable complexity, one region of the United States is particularly notable for its fascinating brewing scene: the Northeast. New England and the Mid-Atlantic boast some of America’s most interesting craft breweries—there, beer lovers can discover exceptional brews, lively taprooms, spectacular views, and many other qualities that make the Northeast a must-visit region for anyone interested in craft brewing.

In a barn in Somerset, plans are afoot to ferment a beer-cider hybrid with wild yeast that blows on the wind, while in Yorkshire an almost extinct style of ‘salty ’n’ sour’ wheat beer is being resurrected for the 21st century. Fifty years ago, this would have seemed impossible.

In 2002, Oskar Blues Brewery founder and owner Dale Katechis made a decision that would have a resounding impact on craft beer manufacturing for years to come. By putting his Dale’s Pale Ale, a bold and flavorful brew, in a can, he dared venture where only the big corporate brands had gone before. A decade later the canning movement is in full swing, with hundreds of craft breweries now canning their beers.

From Stanford University:

The unforgettable New York Times best seller begins with the story of two half-sisters, separated by forces beyond their control: one sold into slavery, the other married to a British slaver. Written with tremendous sweep and power, Homegoing traces the generations of family who follow, as their destinies lead them through two continents and three hundred years of history, each life indeliably drawn, as the legacy of slavery is fully revealed in light of the present day.

Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us.

Winner of the 2011 National Book Award – A hurricane is building over the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the coastal town of Bois Sauvage, Mississippi, and Esch’s father is growing concerned. A hard drinker, largely absent, he doesn’t show concern for much else. Esch and her three brothers are stocking food, but there isn’t much to save.

From Harper’s Bazaar:

When Nicholas Young hears that his grandmother, Su Yi, is on her deathbed, he rushes to be by her bedside—but he’s not alone. The entire Shang-Young clan has convened from all corners of the globe to stake claim on their matriarch’s massive fortune.

A captivating debut about wealth, envy, and secrets: the story of five women whose lives are dramatically changed by the downfall of a financial titan.

Lakota Oglala Sioux Nation, South Dakota. Two Native American cousins, Rick Overlooking Horse and You Choose Watson, though bound by blood and by land, find themselves at odds as they grapple with the implications of their shared heritage.

Freshly disengaged from her fiancé and feeling that life has not turned out quite the way she planned, thirty-year-old Ruth quits her job, leaves town and arrives at her parents’ home to find that situation more complicated than she’d realized. Her father, a prominent history professor, is losing his memory and is only erratically lucid. Ruth’s mother, meanwhile, is lucidly erratic. But as Ruth’s father’s condition intensifies, the comedy in her situation takes hold, gently transforming her all her grief.

etrayed by her family after taking the fall for a friend, Lee finds refuge in a cooperative of runaways holed up in an abandoned building they call the Crystal Castle. But the façade of the Castle conceals a far more sinister agenda, one hatched by a society of fanatical men set on decoding a series of powerful secrets hidden in plain sight. And they believe Lee holds the key to it all.

As the twentieth century draws to a close, Maria is at the start of a life she never thought possible. She and Khalil, her college sweetheart, are planning their wedding. They are the perfect couple, “King and Queen of the Racially Nebulous Prom.” Their skin is the same shade of beige. They live together in a black bohemian enclave in Brooklyn, where Khalil is riding the wave of the first dot-com boom and Maria is plugging away at her dissertation, on the Jonestown massacre.

Turtle Alveston is a survivor. At fourteen, she roams the woods along the northern California coast. The creeks, tide pools, and rocky islands are her haunts and her hiding grounds, and she is known to wander for miles. But while her physical world is expansive, her personal one is small and treacherous: Turtle has grown up isolated since the death of her mother, in the thrall of her tortured and charismatic father, Martin. Her social existence is confined to the middle school (where she fends off the interest of anyone, student or teacher, who might penetrate her shell) and to her life with her father.

From JP Morgan:

From Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former head of the Sierra Club Carl Pope comes a manifesto on how the benefits of taking action on climate change are concrete, immediate, and immense. They explore climate change solutions that will make the world healthier and more prosperous, aiming to begin a new type of conversation on the issue that will spur bolder action by cities, businesses, and citizens?and even, someday, by Washington.

Nothing “goes viral.” If you think a popular movie, song, or app came out of nowhere to become a word-of-mouth success in today’s crowded media environment, you’re missing the real story. Each blockbuster has a secret history—of power, influence, dark broadcasters, and passionate cults that turn some new products into cultural phenomena. Even the most brilliant ideas wither in obscurity if they fail to connect with the right network, and the consumers that matter most aren’t the early adopters, but rather their friends, followers, and imitators — the audience of your audience.

The harrowing, but triumphant story of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, leader of the Liberian women’s movement, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the first democratically elected female president in African history.

The lush and unique photography in this book represents National Geographic’s Photo Ark, a major initiative and lifelong project by photographer Joel Sartore to make portraits of the world’s animals—especially those that are endangered. His powerful message, conveyed with humor, compassion, and art: to know these animals is to save them.

For centuries, poets and philosophers extolled the benefits of a walk in the woods: Beethoven drew inspiration from rocks and trees; Wordsworth composed while tromping over the heath; and Nikola Tesla conceived the electric motor while visiting a park. Intrigued by our storied renewal in the natural world, Florence Williams set out to uncover the science behind nature’s positive effects on the brain.

For over thirty years, Dollar Tree has succeeded at something the retail industry thought impossible: selling goods of surprising quality for no more than a dollar apiece, and in the process earning profits that defy common sense.

From Facebook’s COO and Wharton’s top-rated professor, the #1 New York Times best-selling authors of Lean In and Originals: a powerful, inspiring, and practical book about building resilience and moving forward after life’s inevitable setbacks.

A brilliant and groundbreaking argument that innovation and progress are often achieved by revisiting and retooling ideas from the past rather than starting from scratch.

A biographical cookbook about legendary food authority Paula Wolfert, featuring 50+ of her most unforgettable recipes.

A charmingly illustrated and educational book, New York Times best seller Women in Science highlights the contributions of fifty notable women to the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) from the ancient to the modern world.

In A World in Disarray, Haass argues for an updated global operating system—call it world order 2.0—that reflects the reality that power is widely distributed and that borders count for less.

Yes shameless, but there’s a real, relevant point here too. We all know the vital importance of constantly improving the quality of relationships with clients. That means it MUST be measured and tracked client by client.

I’ll provide two different sets of metrics you might use, but first… Here’s my new customer relationship metric:  Number of clients who have presented you with your very own bobble-head doll of yourself. (Proof that I got one shown here to the right… How awesome is that!)

And now back to the real point… Here’s one way to put numbers on relationship quality based on how your value is perceived:

• Level 4 – Total Cost of Ownership (TCO); That is, your proposals provide a hard number analysis – dollars, time, quantities, etc. – of impact on the customer’s business according to the customer’s financial business model.
  • The customer is willing to pay a premium because of the “extra” services provided,
    – OR –
  • The customer always calls you first for help and gives you the “last chance” to bid.
• Level 3 – Value Added; That is, justification is grounded in improvements to the customer’s business processes; AND, one of the following is also true:
  • The customer is willing to pay a premium because of the “extra” services provided,
    – OR –
  • The customer always calls you first for help and gives you the “last chance” to bid.
• Level 2 – Features and Benefits; That is, justification is based on how the features & functions provided by your proposal fulfill customer specifications.
• Level 1 – Price; Need I say more?
  
• Level 0 – Hope; That is, you have no relationship.

And here’s another based on how the customer perceives your personal value:

• Level 4 – A sought-after business resource with executive level credibility and perspective that consistently creates innovative solutions with a proven, positive impact on customer financial statements
• Level 3 – A consultative sales rep who understands the customer’s business in substantial detail
• Level 2 – A useful business asset with good to strong product knowledge that keeps the customer up to date with literature and other relevant information
• Level 1 – A messenger who transfers pricing information between the customer and the sales manager (Could be replaced by a web site and a decent e-mail system)
• Level 0 – A friendly, doughnut-carrying visitor

Now get out there and improve your relationships with customers and prospects! Maybe you too can get your very own bobble-head doll!

My appearance on “Face The H” was a combo of all of the above plus. Want to get a real feel for how well you can articulate your value proposition? Go talk to the mohawk!

Why does IMDb, the authority of all things entertainment video list the stars of that show in the particular order they do? (Jay Silverheels as Tonto comes first followed by Clayton Moore as The Lone Ranger.)

Why do they put “Second Banana” Tonto before the alleged hero?

It’s because IMDb gets the real reason behind how a hero gets to be a hero. It ain’t because the hero is some larger-than-life, Marvel-Comics-like Superman. Yeah, the hero works long, hard hours. The hero cares about those around him. Blah, blah, blah…

Don’t BS me, you Master of the Universe types. (Or at least don’t BS yourself.) You don’t achieve squat without some selfless, tough-as-nails, way-smarter-than-you-in-some-ways cohort that for some unknown reason always has your back.

Do you have one of those, Sales Leader?

They’re damned rare. They’re damned hard to find. If you have any brains at all, you’ll work damned hard to find one.

BTW… Thanks, Lisa B. It’s 20 years ago, and it was only a 2 year collaboration. But my goodness, it changed my life and is at the very core of the success I’ve had ever since.

Yeah…

8 million loose ends to tie up, and I’m investing time to order these 2-inch wide pieces of cheap, outrageously overpriced $4.99 each pieces of plastic. I checked. They’re 187th on my TODO list, but it’s almost 8:00 PM and I guess my brain is tired.

But I digress…

There IS an actual point relevant to we alleged sales leaders:

• I placed the order at 7:08 PM Eastern
• I got an order acknowledgment at 7:09 PM Eastern
• I got a confirmation of said order at 7:10 PM Eastern
• I got a shipment notification at 7:13 PM Eastern

I’m serious!

I’ll send you copies of all the e-mails if you want. Less than 5 minutes from order to shipment! OK, prompt & proper delivery are yet to be seen, but in this case if they’re here June 2 when I get back home, it would be awesome.

Are you even close to ready to provide that kind of responsiveness?

You know, I’d like to provide a profound, seasoned-consultant-ish bit of wisdom here, but I won’t. Just wanted to pass on two thoughts:

1. Focus on what’s important, and avoid the pleasant-but-useless distraction of accomplishing and crossing-off easy, simple, brainless stuff from your TODO list
2. Get prepared to be uber-responsive!

Or die.

Think about it…

1. a mythical creature resembling a horse, with a single horn in the center of its forehead
2. a sales professional who has never brought doughnuts to a customer

It’s really the second definition that’s relevant here. We’ve all done it. Maybe just a few times. Maybe it’s a regular feature of our routine. Doesn’t matter. (I’m particularly lucky to live in the South, where Krispy Kreme locations are everywhere!)

Has a “doughnut drop” ever had a massive impact on a customer relationship? Massive??? A little gesture that’s appreciated, of course. But a gesture that’s long remembered? No way.

So why bother?

Why bother indeed if you do so once. But what if it’s a good, long-time customer? And you’ve dropped the doughnuts every month for a year or two? Still not a “massive” impact on customer relationship to be sure, but you will be “the doughnut guy.” You will get remembered.

So now let’s talk about Sales Process Media as “digital doughnuts.”. No mess, no calories no guilty feelings, (and sadly no sugar buzz…) BUT! A bit of knowledge, a story, the missing link to an insight that solves that thorny problem.

Any and all of those things can come from an article, a podcast, a quick video. Send one of those things once and have a lasting impact? It’s like the one doughnut. Quickly forgotten.

Send a hunk of useful digital content that enlightens, inspires or at a minimum spotlights you and your value every month (or week) for a year and you WILL be “insights guy.” You will be remembered. Remembered as someone who helps solve business problems.

To be honest (and rightly or wrongly) I’ve disparaged the “doughnut drop” for years as non-relevant in reinforcing the value of my products and services. “Digital doughnuts” though? Highly relevant. Highly useful. We should all be delivering digital doughnuts to all our customers and prospects all the time.

Think about it…

And finally, in the spirit of full disclosure, I credit my friend and colleague Rick Howe, President of The Knotts Company with coining the term “digital doughnuts.”

So give me a break. I can’t help that I like words. So I’m subscribed to dictionary.com’s word of the day. When  an unusual one like this comes along – one that makes me THINK – I’m compelled to pass it along.

As a sales leader, you damn well better be esemplastic!

That is, have the ability to shape diverse elements or concepts into a unified whole: the esemplastic power of a great mind to simplify the difficult. Come to think about it, that’s a great description of the most critical part of any sales professional’s or leader’s job.

We really need to be really, really good at quickly, concisely and simply explaining why our customers cannot live without our stuff. How it will increase efficiency, effectiveness, throughput, performance, productivity and profit. And do it all oh so easily.

So next time you practice articulating a value proposition, cut the number of words in half. Next time you write a proposal, cut the number of words in half. Next time you practice handling an objection, cut the number of words in half. Next time you conduct a performance review, cut the number of words in half.

Think about it…