Here’s a disclaimer: I get that what follows is a rant, pretty much like spitting into the wind. Still, I’m going to say it anyway and get it off my chest because I’m frustrated. What got me started on this (again) is that lately, within the last month or so, I’m seeing more crap in my inbox than ever before. That highly technical term “crap” is defined as unsolicited advertisement. I attribute this new surge to two separate, yet related causes. First is the sad, unethical move by LinkedIn. By now you know that they pulled the ultimate Facebook, clueless and stupid move of sharing our profile information with third party companies (read that advertisers) and did not warn us ahead of time in clear easy to understand ways that they were going to do so. Consequently, that information was shared before the alarm went out and we had the opportunity to go in and opt out of the program. I no longer trust LinkedIn, they have become evil by not being sensitive to their customers/clients. What makes me even angrier about this betrayal is that I pay for an upgraded account at LinkedIn. They get money out of me already AND they violated my privacy.

What makes this similar to the clueless folks who then took advantage of that situation and started “pushing” their stuff into my inbox is that both they and LinkedIn are desperate. LinkedIn because they are now public, have to kowtow to the quarterly earnings god and so need to make sure they swell the ranks of the advertisers. The advertisers are also desperate because the economy is showing distinct signs of slowing down again, consumers are still keeping their wallets shut and companies continue to sit on trillions of dollars and not spending much at all. Between them, they may have (personally I believe they have – might be wishful thinking though) shot themselves in the foot on this. The model has definitely changed – consumers pull information and do not pay attention to, appreciate or trust information pushed on them.

My unofficial survey of the business owners, executives, service providers and other consumers in my network shows that targeted advertising that is presented in venues they frequent is quite acceptable. That is, they are willing to trade off sharing information that allows providers to display advertisements to keep the free services and sites they use free. However, they do not appreciate the concept that the information about them is public and anyone who wants to can harvest it and sell it. They believe it’s their information and they should control how it is shared. Many opt to NOT get involved with social media because of that. However, many (maybe even “most”) have put their information on LinkedIn because it was a “professional” web site. That makes the LinkedIn decision to be sneaky and evil that much more disconcerting to them. Disappointment is the only polite emotion expressed, the rest were a lot stronger.

So what can we do about all this? Probably not much. Still, I’ve started the process of closing down my Facebook account in favor of Google+ because at least for now, Google seems to have figured out the “sharing” thing. They achieve a good balance of showing me targeted ads while, as far as I can tell, not giving my contact information to advertisers. I haven’t seen any clues of that happening yet. And like the others, I’m fine with seeing targeted ads on all my free Google stuff – GMail, Reader, Docs, Voice, Chrome, etc. I want to keep things free so I’m willing to see those “pull ads.” We can go as far as some of my colleagues by refusing to put any information on the internet – some are down right paranoid. That doesn’t work for me, it seems to work for them.

Another thing I do, although it takes some time, is I put any advertiser with whom I have no account and who sends me an unsolicited e-mail on a black list on my server so that nothing else gets through from that account and/or IP address. I also report them to the national blacklist services. I tend not to do this with newsletters that follow the rules on opt-in. I simply unsubscribe from any that use PHP List, Constant Contact or one of the main newsletter services. I do that because done correctly, newsletters are providing useful information, not pushy selling. I actually stay on some of the ones that show up because the authors “get” that they need to be providing useful information, not selling or advertising. If the newsletter has a “call to action” (buy my stuff) I immediately unsubscribe. It’s getting easier and faster to blacklist accounts and IPs so I am doing a lot more of that. I hope you will also take the time to learn how to blacklist advertisers and to actually do so. In the long run, you’ll be helping them to learn how to change their business model to one more appropriate to the new world – pull information.

Some suggestions for marketers and advertisers. Stop it already. You are killing yourself. Put your effort into being sure that when I want your product or service I can easily find you. Make sure you have useful information that informs me rather than tries to sell me. Be truthful about what you say. Cut the hype and stop the e-mail blasts. Don’t try and find me and sell me. I’m not buying. If you try and sell me, especially through push techniques, I will do everything I can to make sure I never knowingly do business with you. I’m also one of those people who send any prepaid envelopes included in unsolicited mail back to the sender with their own crap in it.

Things have gotten bad enough and desperate enough that I now get sniveling pleas to buy from some clueless folks using a form on my website (soon to be removed) meant for sending me information IF you want to have me contact you or set up a meeting. The same is happening on my blog were idiots from the fake drug and porn purveyors actually take the time to go through the “Captcha” in order to leave their links and elevator pitch in a comment – which of course is never approved so it’s a monumental waste of time for them.

To my way of thinking, there is an even bigger concern than the frustration of a good thing (e-mail, blogs, websites) being ruined by those who, as always, spoil things. The legitimate businesses behind these activities are demonstrating that they have yet to figure out that things have permanently changed and that their old tactics, business models, products and services must also change if they are to survive. What are you doing to change the way you serve your customers? Are you still pushing stuff on them? Are you still paying for print advertising? Are you still training your sales people to sell instead of build relationships? For a shrinking minority of products and services that are truly commodity and simple, some of the old tactics may still work. But even there, I don’t need you or your telemarketer trying to push me to buy. I’ll just go to Amazon and get what I need. So, you’d better be there and you’d better be very visible. Your website had better give me valid information if I need to do some research and you’d better show up in my Google search otherwise, you lose.

As we furthered the conversation, it seemed that we are actually seeing pretty much the same trends. Business in general (it’s certainly different for each business depending on size, industry, etc.) is sitting on a fair amount of cash that has been accumulating over the last several years. Lack of confidence in the economy means that folks would naturally save in order to be sure survival has maximum opportunity – cash is king! At some point, however, maintenance, improvements, capital equipment, new software and implementing business process improvements can no longer be deferred. What my colleague and I are seeing is that some folks are finally “pulling the trigger” on projects that improve productivity and reduces costs.

There was no discussion that business is picking up for his customer’s customers. That is, demand is not growing (or shrinking for that matter), but is holding steady. Yet to stay competitive, keep a reasonable margin, the whole supply chain is having to reduce costs and one way to do that is investing in infrastructure and improved business processes. Luckily, my colleague is in that very business, so he gains from this slow growing trend of putting in that investment.

Where are consumers in this picture? I think, on a small scale, they are doing exactly as small and medium sized business are doing. The consumer is fixing the things in their homes they need to fix. They are repairing cars rather than simply going out to purchase a new one. They are paying down debt. They are investing in a child’s education where they can afford to do so.

Where are you and/or your business in the supply chain? Do you know what your customer’s customer needs? What will you do to be ready if demand for your product or service is going to be at this low level for the foreseeable future? Or, if demand picks up, are your operations ready to handle the load? Did you let too many employees go to ramp up? Should you hire full time or part time employees? Are there new opportunities for you to fill a need? Assuming we continue to “bump along the bottom” in economic terms, how will you structure your business to survive and thrive?

Lots of questions and very few answers. But then, that’s part of what leadership is about. Knowing which questions to ask, developing a compelling vision for the future and enrolling others in that vision is what makes you a great leader. So how will you get from where we are right now to developing that new vision? Who will help you develop that vision and who will you enroll? This is definitely the right time to re-invent yourself and your company. It is a matter of survival for some!

Starting a business is one thing. Trying to turn the ship of state around and head it in a new direction is something else. Here are some thoughts that you can pick apart to apply them, hopefully, to your situation.

Have a great idea for a “new” product or service, or maybe a really neat innovation on an already existing product or service? That’s fantastic! That’s what our country is built on – innovation, improvement, change, moving forward. First, you might want to take that idea and “flesh it out a bit” to make sure it’s practical. Can it be built or delivered in a manner that will make it profitable.

Next, do exhaustive market studies. You can get some help on this and it isn’t always that expensive. I work with several of the universities in my area providing mentoring for the MBA and Entrepreneurship students. Most of the universities have programs where for a nominal fee, a business can hire a group of students to put together a marketing plan or even a full up business plan. The hidden superb value in these efforts is the research that gets done to produce them.

This part of due diligence is where many entrepreneurs fail. They love their idea and they cannot conceive of why the whole world wouldn’t also love it. “Build it and they will come,” is their mantra. WRONG! And while we know that intellectually, our emotional side wants to continue on down the path, convinced that everyone will love our idea. Tell me again why so many start-ups fail in the first five years? Could it be that their product or service wasn’t really needed/wanted? Hummmm.

Next on the list after REAL DATA tell us that the product is viable, is to think about the way in which you will assemble the organization. If you are planning on being a sole-provider (consultant, professional service provider) then you can very likely get started. You may still not want to skip this step, because in the dark hours when you are wondering why you aren’t still in that cushy W2 job, you will want to look back at what the Fundamental Organizing Principles (FOPs) for your venture were back when you were so enthusiastic.

This is hard work, especially if you intend to build a reasonably big organization, say more than 40 people eventually. The bigger you envision your organization, the more critical it is for you to do the hard work of deciding what the FOPs (core values, company values, etc.). The reason this is hard is because you are laying down the “talk” that you will have to “walk.” Suppose your thought process takes you down the road that you believe the only reason for a business to exist is to serve customers – to solve their problem/need/want in an elegant and cost effective way. Of course, you also want to earn a living and make sure that those who you employ also enjoy a decent living.  Starting with the customer then, you would perhaps say that one of the FOPs is that “Customers First.” Without customers you don’t have any business. To take care of those customers, you must have employees that understand the balance between putting customers first and also making sure that the company survives too. Having the customer’s best interest at heart doesn’t mean that you neglect your own best interest – it simply means you’re focused on the customer first. So a second FOP might be that “associates” will hold each other accountable for providing great customer experiences while treating each other with dignity and respect in a safe environment focused on continuous improvement.

You get the point. This FOP establishment must be done honestly, from the heart and from the intellect both. If you truly believe that the only reason to be in business is to make yourself rich, then you will definitely build that kind of organization regardless of the other nice (manipulative!) words you use. Further, you will hire people who will not act the way you want unless you are brutally honest that the whole purpose is to make yourself rich, and maybe them along the way. On the other hand, if you honestly believe in building a company that is based on providing a valuable product or service while at the same time making a decent living for everyone involved, then you will attract that kind of person. That is you will, IF you can authentically state what your company’s FOPs are and the prospective employee/associate believes that in fact you are being authentic.

Once you have established the FOPs for your organization, know how to authentically present them to the world, you will be amazed at how the values, beliefs, actions and results will follow. You will also be amazed at how those FOPs will help you through the inevitable hard times. All of this may sound pretty “soft” to you. Yet, I would offer the challenge of doing the research to see how companies “make it” these days. Edwards Life Sciences, Google, Facebook, IBM, Keurig, you name your favorite company. They undoubtedly have an intentional culture based on whatever they call FOPs. And then think about the company you like to “hate.” You have at least one, I’m sure. That company “doesn’t get it.” And the “it” they don’t get is what? Likely it is that they don’t understand (your view of) customer service. They are inwardly focused. It’s all about them and they only care about YOU if it’s in their best interest to care about you. Otherwise . . . .

In this economy, which I believe is going to be with us for quite a while, many business leaders are asking a fundamental question, “If I weren’t in this business now, would I start it? What would it look like? And then they start the hard process of turning the company around. To me, that is very much like starting the company over in a lot of ways. Many of the same steps apply. That “turnaround” will likely include changing the culture and that is really going to be a challenge! Don’t miss any of the steps, make sure you go back to the basic FOPs that got you started in the first place.

It seems to me that we are heading down some rocky roads when it comes to advertising and how to “reach” the consumer.

• Google is giving its own sites priority in their search results (evil!)
• Facebook “inadvertently” (right) sent individual identities to advertisers
• Advertising companies are “screaming” at Microsoft for putting in “do not track” function in Internet Explorer 9 – which tells everyone they should have it
• The government is looking at regulating who can track what – that aught to be useful (NOT)
• Print companies are scrambling to figure out how to “monetize going digital”
• Advertising clients are moving budget dollars from traditional to digital advertising including e-books

My theory on this is that consumers are quite tired of having advertisements “pushed” on them. They know where to get what they are looking for and an Ad is not to be trusted any way. While I speak only for myself, I’m not convinced that I’m all that different than other consumers when I say that I don’t trust ads (I almost never click on the paid ads of a search), I’d rather find the information I want when I want it, and I don’t want it in my books, papers or articles. I will ignore most of what even looks like an ad and may even decide that the ad was intrusive and avoid the seller even if I am looking to purchase something.

I’ve concluded that most people (certainly not all people) do not like and will avoid information that is pushed on them. If that’s true, then all the frantic action by the retailers, marketers and advertisers to find new ways to generate ad dollars or sell products are going down the wrong path; it may well backfire. Instead, they might want to expend energy to make sure that the consumer of your product or service can find you quickly and easily.

Here’s the evidence I see for consumers “fighting back.”

• The success of the “do not call list” to stop the intrusions
• The liberal use of “fast forward” to get rid of the ads in recorded media
• The increased use of smart phones to scan product bar codes and download competitive pricing for your product
• Consumer pressure on Microsoft to go ahead with “Do Not Track” despite the crying advertisers who are predicting the usual doom and gloom. Do you trust them?
• Reliance on colleague testimonials rather than ads – and anger over employees acting like they are consumers providing testimonials

Slowly, I am moving away from the printed word. I no longer take a newspaper, instead I have my own digital news source that gives me what I want and ONLY what  want. I have started listening to the “Word for Word Audio Edition of the Economist”  instead of reading the paper version. My books are now on Kindle or Google e-readers more often than not (except for the occasional gift and the occasional publisher sending a new book for review). I even read books and news on my smart phone now (never thought I would).

So I get why those who pay for advertising and those who do the advertising are in a panic. I understand why they are feeling desperate. And, I think their responses are off the mark. What would life be without the advertising? Can’t imagine it? Nor can I. It won’t happen. What will happen is you won’t have to push the ad on me. You will have to instead work hard to make sure that I can find you and the solid, accurate and useful information you provide will be ad enough. You just have to make sure that your bar code is readily available so I can scan it and get the information I want about your product – otherwise I’ll purchase someone else’s product.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: “No one likes to be sold. Most people do like to buy.” So the question is, how do you make it incredibly easy and rewarding for me to buy? Can I find you? Do you have good solid information or just a bunch of fluff? I don’t think things are all that much different between B2B and B2C these days. So what are you doing to make sure you’re staying out in front on this? There is no “new normal.” There never really has been a “normal.” Everything is changing, including the way we get our messages out to the folks who want to buy our products and services.

Do you know what it takes to be successful in sales in THIS market or are you going to build your success factors based on past experience. Now, I’m not talking about setting the measurable goals part of this process. You know how to determine what the top line, bottom line and profit margins need to be. I’m talking about what makes a salesperson successful in the present economy. And if you follow the Impact Hiring Solutions guidelines, how will a person demonstrate that they have achieved the success factors in other companies and in this market?

The new economy requires new sales skills.

Here’s what I’m thinking. There has been a significant shift in our economy. As I’ve stated several times elsewhere on this blog (Generosity and Authenticity), I think this shift is permanent for anything other than fully commodity products. If you have a “me too” product, you will still need to check many of the same boxes you had to check prior to the economic reset. In addition, you will have to learn some new tricks like advertising in the electronic media rather than the usual direct mail, etc. At least you will need to shift a significant portion of your advertising budget to the electronic media. Printed products may never go away completely, but they will be greatly diminished. You will have to work harder at building a brand that people trust with service that is irreproachable, even for the commodity product.

When it comes to high end products and services, the game shifts all the way to the fourth rung on the ladder; trust-based selling. In my mind, that title is a misnomer because it isn’t really selling at all. The process is completely based on having the client’s best interests at heart, not just your own. To the topic at hand, your job as hiring manager looking to hire a “great salesperson” is to figure out how to build success factors that will attract the best and brightest trust-based salesperson. And one who can demonstrate that she/he has actually accomplished what you’re asking for in this market. And if they cannot so demonstrate, then the next best thing is to have them demonstrate that they have indeed mastered trust-based selling in the “old” market. You will have to extrapolate if that is the case.

Here’s what your sales team is up against today:

• Nobody wants to be sold – on anything. When ready, they’ll buy, but not be sold.
• Consumers and businesses are saving not spending
• Consumers and businesses are paying down debt, not adding debt
• “Normal” advertising is much less effective (gone electronic, not print for the most part)
• Salespeople are not necessary for many products – replaced by internet search, etc.
• Excellent logistics is expected and “entry level” to play in the market
• Excellent service is expected (or you’ll be trashed in the blog-o-sphere)

Okay, if you buy all that, then what are we supposed to do? In my opinion, we have to shift much more to the trust-based business model. That means long term relationships and that means making sure everyone in the organization has the client’s best interest at heart. Fundamentally, that is antithetical to the normal salesperson and to the usual commission based system we use to encourage sales. As long as any significant portion of my income is based on taking orders off the buyer’s desk, I will be focused on doing just that. Which means as a salesperson I will be focused on what is best for me and not what’s best for the customer/client. I will maximize short term gains rather than long term possibilities. There will be little or no trust.

I am convinced that business has changed permanently. If so, then what makes us think we can continue to use the same business model (including incentives, organizational structures, product development, etc.) even though the market has significantly changed? If we aren’t going to have the same goals, same incentive packages, same level of business, same customer/client expectations then what will the success factors look like for that “great salesperson”? Unless you have really done the hard work of rebuilding your business model and figuring out the new game, then hiring a “great salesperson” with skill for the old model is bound to fail.

The conclusion I draw is this: the folks at Impact Hiring Solutions are still correct in their process. What must change is our business models, our goals, our methods of achieving those goals and thus our success factors must also change. What is going to be very difficult is to find someone who can demonstrate that they have achieved the success factors with other companies while operating in this market – because this market is very likely what we will have for the foreseeable future. I am tempted to be a bit glib here and say, if you’re looking for a Great Salesperson, then you will fail. Consider hiring a Great Business Relationship person. Someone willing to work for the very long term, not simply the order on the buyer’s desk (if there even is an order on the desk). Find someone who wants the whole team to be successful, not someone who is a superstar, individual contributor. Then incentivize your whole team to be sure they are moving the organization forward: top line, bottom line, profit dollars, retained clients, new clients, productivity improvement, process improvement, etc.

The one thing that these teams and scouts know is that they will always need top talent if they want to win.
Who are your scouts? Are you engaging potential talent before you need them? Is this important for you to win?

Over the last few years I have asked hundreds of CEOs and key executives, “When do most companies start the hiring process?” Rarely do I hear anything other than, “When they need someone.” Then, how long does it take to hire a person? Most believe that can take between 2 and 4 months. At which point the hiring manager is so desperate that they are pretty much willing to take the proverbial, “Cream of the Crap.”

I believe that “desperation hiring,” if it isn’t the biggest hiring problem, certainly is very near the top.

The problem is not that most companies start the hiring process when they need someone, it is that companies start the hiring process with an empty bench. They have to start from scratch every time. It can take weeks or months just to start locating talent. Top or otherwise.

This may explain why so many companies do an exceptional job attracting the bottom third of the candidate pool.

There is a better way. Companies, like professional sports teams, need to have scouts. They need people out engaging people that might be a fit for key positions. Most companies know the key positions that sooner or later will have to be filled once the economy changes. Even in good times, most companies know way in advance the positions they are contemplating hiring for. However, unlike professional sports teams, companies don’t have anyone out scouting for talent prior to it being needed.

So how can companies get scouts out looking for them? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Whether you have one employee or one thousand employees, they should be your scouts. Make sure all of your employees are constantly aware of potential positions you are thinking about filling. Make sure all employees have a Compelling Market Statement. See some examples of these by CLICKING HERE.

2. Approach the hiring process with a proactive approach. Encourage all of your employees to be constantly on the lookout for people they think will fit your culture. When they encounter someone, all they have to do is give the potential candidate a copy of the Compelling Marketing Statement and let them know that your company is always looking for talented people and if they are ever looking, to be sure to think of your company. The farming process has begun. That is what scouts do.

3. Don’t be afraid to engage people you think might potentially be great employees. This can be as simple as meeting them for coffee, including them on your newsletter, updating them of company announcements, sending an email once a quarter, or anything that keeps them on your radar screen and you on theirs.

4. Make it a habit of building queues of potential people for key roles or upcoming roles. Don’t wait until the last minute to start looking for people. Both myself and my partner Barry have placed many people that have been sitting in our database for years. That is why recruiters have people ready to go for you when you call them. You and your team can do the exact same thing. Just knowing where potential people are located is a good start.

5. Build a compelling LinkedIn profile and a Facebook Fan page. Update the Facebook fan page regularly and invite these potential employees to join your page.

6. If you attend trade shows or conferences, don’t just throw the business cards your team collected away. Send each an email to join you on LinkedIn and your fan page on Facebook. If there are a few really good potential employees in the cards, set a time to meet for coffee. Let them know the next time you will be in town and attempt to get together.

7. Do you ask your vendors, customers, trusted advisers, and other service providers for referrals of the best people they work with or know? These can be the best source for building bench strength.

8. Do you encourage your managers and key executives to be active in professional associations, their school alumni association, serve on non-profit boards, or other community associations such as Rotary? These are outstanding places to do some scouting.

I recently wrote another article, “Can’t Find People? They Are Hiding In Plain Sight” because so many hiring managers we work with walk right by potentially great people. This article has three real examples of how people are right there for the asking.

As the economy turns, top talent will be in demand once again. Think back to just three years ago. This top talent will generally end up in one of two places, your team or your competitor’s team.

To find out just how effective your hiring methodology is, download our free 8-Point Hiring Methodology Scorecard. This will help you to develop a truly effective hiring process. CLICK HERE to download yours.

We also have the chapter on sourcing from our book, “You’re NOT The Person I Hired” as a free download. CLICK HERE to download your chapter on sourcing top talent.

You can also join our LinkedIn Hiring and Retaining Top Talent group. This is an excellent source for discussions and articles on these topics. CLICK HERE to join.

I welcome your comments and thoughts.

Brad Remillard

Founding Partner IMPACT Hiring Solutions

IMPACT Hiring Solutions provides executive search and in-house workshops that assist companies improve their hiring methodology. Our most popular workshop, “You’re NOT The Person I Hired” is delivered to over 1000 CEO’s and key executives each year. It is one of the highest rated programs by Vistage International.

Here’s what I think has happened and it turns out that Scott Fox (e-Riches 2.0) seems to agree. First, the internet has gotten very crowded with web sites and blogs. Second, we have an exponential increase in users who are searching. Third, the “big boys” have staked out their claim to the first page of organic results and will spend lots of money to stay there. Together, this means it is getting incredibly difficult to optimize sites and pages for common search words and/or phrases. Therefore, it is more expensive and more time consuming to try and optimize for organic search position. If you want marketing on the web to be free or cheap, you will be disappointed. It will at the very least, take significant time (which is money, of course) and done well, will likely have a direct financial cost as well. If you want real SEO, you will need to step up to the cost. You will also need to consider pay per view and pay per click options if you have a robust e-commerce site.

To make matter worse on the SEO front, today’s internet user is very impatient and will not likely look beyond page two of the search results. So to pay for SEO and not make at least the second page of the organic returns will be a waste of money. Lucky for us, we no longer have such an overriding need to have customers find us through search. Instead, we can build relationships with the customers through social media. That’s not to say we don’t need to pay attention to the basics of SEO and make sure our sites are configured properly for landing pages, key words and strong links back to the site. It’s just that for many small businesses, time and budget may well be better spent on establishing a brand presence on the social media sites, gathering e-mail addresses for e-mail newsletters and focusing on e-marketing campaigns. In other words, we will go to the customers instead of trying to drive the customers to our sites.

According to Mr. Fox, “the future of marketing is more about e-mail than it is about SEO.” He goes on to say that “In fact, now is the time to be focusing on developing your publishing skills because SEO may be out of your reach.” When I did a quick study of what it takes for initial and ongoing optimization, the cost is already well beyond my own marketing budget. So I have determined to keep the basics of SEO up (meta tags, fresh content – read that blogs, strong links back to the site, careful key word selection for landing pages, etc.) while focusing most of my time on building a robust social media marketing brand. So far, it seems to be working.

This is good news for those who have started new businesses or perhaps had to cut back on the existing marketing budget. We can get in on the very effective growth of niche customer marketing through social media and let the “big guys” blow wads of money on SEO. This is not going to be free though. It will require someone to spend a significant amount of time on blogging, keeping Facebook current, commenting on other blogs that are “on topic” for you and watching the internet for how others are speaking about you and/or your company.

Here are the questions: are you finding that SEO is “out of reach” budget wise? How are you incorporating social media into your branding effort? Are you employing e-mail marketing for your products or services? How good is your website at gathering e-mail addresses from those who find your site and visit you?

After reading the content, I decided it was worth passing along. I got a quick response from one of the people on my mailing list stating that the author was “99% hype and 1% content.” My colleague apparently knows this person and stated that the author “had never lead a sales team but was good at speaking and selling books.” Although he didn’t say so, I assume that he therefore discounted the content in that particular article. Perhaps not, I haven’t yet inquired. Still, I was a bit surprised at the response.

The response got me to thinking, and that’s always dangerous. The premise of the article was that buyers had changed because of this recession. The author also indicated that things were not going to “go back to the way they were.” Since the buyer has significantly changed habits, then so must the salesperson. This all makes sense, agrees with much of what I’ve been concluding and matches what we’ve been discussing on this subject for a long time now. So why was my colleague “dismissive” of the article? Apparently because he deemed the source less than credible based on his own evaluation of the gentleman’s experience – or rather, lack thereof. I know I do the same thing, even though I try and guard against it. I think we all succumb to being judgmental from time-to-time. Our view of the world sometimes keeps us from seeing other possibilities.

What I’m wondering is how much we truly miss about what’s going on around us because we have made judgments about people and/or situations. I’m concerned about how much information we dismiss because it doesn’t fit what we believe – “I believe it therefore I see it!” And the reverse is also true, if I don’t believe it, I’m likely not to see it, or at least I won’t acknowledge it. And we know what happens when people are in that state of mind: the government regulators did not see the problem with Madoff despite being shown the problem by an astute whistleblower. Same thing with Enron and same issue with the rating agencies – no one wanted to believe the worst so they simply did not see it until it all collapsed like a house of cards. Yes, things were complicated, but let’s face it, people just did not want the hear the bad news – until it was too late.

How many of us are still not wanting to hear or see and so are actually not hearing or seeing what we need to hear and see? I don’t mean simply the bad news, but also the good news or news that we have to change and reconsider what it is we do and how our business model works. I believe it was General Eric Shinseki who said: “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.” So what is keeping us from changing, from seeing the need to change? Maybe it’s preconceived notions, or firmly held value judgments, or simply not wanting to move outside our “comfort zone.”  Here is a quotation from this month’s HBR:

Companies, not surprisingly, don’t all follow the same strategies during a recession. That could be because of differences in executives’ cognitive orientation during a crisis. According to Tory Higgins, a Columbia University psychologist, human beings are hedonistic—we avoid pain and seek pleasure—but they differ in how they try to achieve those aims. There are two basic modes of self-regulation. Some people are driven most by goals, such as achievement, advancement and growth. These promotion-focused individuals are motivated by ideals and aspirations that provide pleasure if realized and disappointment if not. Other people are prevention-focused—concerned mainly with safety, security and responsibility. They strive to avoid bad outcomes, experiencing relief if they succeed and pain if they fail. Situations have a potent influence on cognitive orientation: A recession, for example, can trigger a response that overrides a person’s usual orientation.

By applying this perspective to our empirical research, we were able to classify companies and their approaches to managing during a recession into four types:

• Prevention-focused companies, which make primarily defensive moves and are more concerned than their rivals with avoiding losses and minimizing downside risks.
• Promotion-focused companies, which invest more in offensive moves that provide upside benefits than their peers do.
• Pragmatic companies, which combine defensive and offensive moves.
• Progressive companies, which deploy the optimal combination of defense and offense.

The question is, of course, what is the best combination of moves? If you have a subscription to HBR, you will be able to read the full article (link above). According to the authors of this piece, the odds that a company will significantly outperform their competition (by 10% or more) on both top and bottom line growth after the recession were: Prevention focused, 21%; Promotion focused, 26%; Pragmatic focused, 29% and Progressive focused, 37%. Here is the summary of how the best moves “shake out”:

Source: Harvard Business Review

Companies that simultaneously focus on increasing operational efficiency, developing new markets and expanding their asset base outperform, on average, in sales and EBITDA after the recession.  So what are our preconceived notions keeping us from doing? Are we fighting the change we know is necessary? Are we leading our companies in the right manner to exit this recession in the strongest possible manner? Have we changed our business model so that we are part of the strong performers? Or are we letting preconceived notions, fixed world views and rigid judgments about how we want things to be keep us from thriving?

Jaynie L. Smith, in her book Creating Competitive Advantage, states that she has “offered to sell her consulting services based on performance – charge nothing up front but agree to a percent of new revenues generated as a result” of her work. I see more and more of that kind of arrangement as well as the usual fixed fee for services instead of a percent of revenues raised or 100% satisfaction guarantees from service providers. Innovation is alive and well in the service sector.

What’s NOT working is the same old tired, “I know how to increase your revenues by 15% or more. All you have to do is pay me and I’ll help you do it.” Or, “this product will revolutionize your company and all it will take is three easy payments of . . . ” Not any more! The BS walks. Even if it isn’t BS if the seller of products and/or services isn’t willing to put some skin in the game, the purchaser asks him or her to “take a walk” anyway. They do that politely, to be sure, but the result is the same.

What’s interesting is that the above has really always been true – if you aren’t willing to stand behind your product or service, it has always been very difficult to expand your business. Either you explicitly state that you will stand behind your work or demonstrate by deferred payments that you have faith that you will deliver and/or your reputation in the market place makes it clear that you stand behind your product and guarantee the results. So why is it so important now? Simply because nobody has cash to throw around or experiment with during these times. And that can be an advantage for you.

If you’re one of the many executives in transition, how can you position yourself to guarantee your ability to help the leadership team at a prospective employer? There are many ideas for you to think about at my colleagues over at Impact Hiring Solution. Key among them is to demonstrate that you have in fact done what they need done as defined by success factors for the position in question. If you’re a service provider, you can differentiate yourself by standing behind your work – offer to defer some or all of the payment until you generate the cash that will pay you. If you deliver a product, make sure you make it very clear that you will take the product back, no questions and no hassles, if the buyer is not 100% satisfied.

What are some of the innovative ways that you are finding to make clients/customers comfortable betting on your product or service? How are you putting “skin in the game?” What new things are your clients/customers in need of that they haven’t voiced to you yet? What do your customer’s customers need and how can you help satisfy those needs with a guarantee of success? More importantly, what are the excuses you are using to keep yourself from putting skin in the game?

The networking ladder might be: Card Based Networking, Group Based Networking, My Strengths Based Networking and finally Trusted Relationship Networking. As before, the first three are focused on you and the highest rung is truly focused on helping others and trusting that what goes around will come around – without having that in the forefront of your mind when networking.

On the first rung, the so-called networker believes that s/he has had a great evening when they leave the dinner event with 25 or more cards. What a great night! Well, I highly doubt it. What that person has is a bunch of cards, no knowledge of the persons giving them the cards How could they? 25 cards in a couple of hours? How much time did they spend asking questions to find out how they could help the other person?

On the second rung, the networker is targeting a special interest group which makes things a bit more comfortable to contact people because there is a “common interest.” You can build on that common interest to develop a relationship. My observation is, however, that few people practice the art of finding out what they can do for the other person. They are still focused on their own needs.

On the third rung, the networker is now aware that they need to be showing how they add value. So they tend to speak to others about what they can do to solve common problems companies might be experiencing. However, the conversation is still focused on them even though they are touting their added value. This conversation is fine with someone who asks you how they might find potential employment/client opportunities. But it is for AFTER they ask you to explain, not before.

The fourth rung of the networking ladder is where the accomplished networker spends most of her/his time. They ask lots of questions about the other person. They are genuinely interested in the other person. They are the ones who leave a huge dinner event with only three cards. They’ve spent a minimum of 20 minutes with each of those persons getting to know what they do, how the came to be where they are, what their interests are, what is going on in their lives that might offer an opportunity for assistance of some kind. They make a promise to do something to help the other person and then they make sure they do it. They are careful to choose groups and events that will attract the people they want in their network. They are all about developing trust and serving others. Authentically, with no quid pro quo expected.

This is definitely not a new concept. I’ve observed that very few sales folks, even highly effective sales folks, understand Trust Based Selling. I’ve noticed that the most effective networkers DO understand Trust Based Selling and they carry it over to their networking activities. Those who fail at networking are also pretty poor sales people; they are inconsistent in their results and their customers are not at all loyal.

Here are some resources on these topics:
Never Eat Alone – by Keith Ferrazzi
Trusted Advisor – by David Maister
Trust Based Selling – by Charles Green
Other great resources might be Think and Grow Rich (mastermind concepts), How to Win Friends and Influence People, The Tiberias Success Factor.

What are you doing to network properly? Are you building long term relationships or collecting contacts?