Recently, I was coaching a seller on a critical call he was about to make. His strategy to engage the CRO was to lead with AI and the capabilities it enabled in the product he was selling. “Why are you leading with this,” I asked. “I’ve noticed in my research that he talks a lot […] The post AI Isn’t The Selling Point! appeared first on Partners in EXCELLENCE ..read more

A long time friend and colleague asked me to sit in a vendor meeting. He is the CRO of a midsized company (About $1B). We’ve been working on developing new strategies to drive growth. The organization had been very successful, but he was looking to transform much of what they did to achieve higher levels […] The post What Are We Trying To “Discover” In Our Discovery Process? appeared first on Partners in EXCELLENCE ..read more

Most of our selling activities are driven by our customers. As much as we may try to pitch our solutions, they don’t care–until they care. We end up waiting for them to be ready to talk to us. Even then, too often, they are choosing to minimize or eliminate sellers, preferring rep free buying experiences. […] The post Stop Waiting For The Customer!! appeared first on Partners in EXCELLENCE ..read more

I do a good number of Sales Kickoff speeches  I don’t give many speeches to general audiences or at conferences.  Most of the time, my speaking is at the SKO of a client, with whom we’ve been working on key change initiatives.  The speech is very focused and directed to each person’s role in executing […] The post The SKO Speech I’d Like To Deliver appeared first on Partners in EXCELLENCE ..read more

We are in enamored with, perhaps even in love with our products.  We have endless lists of product capabilities.  We revel in each feature and function that we can add to a demo.  We compare our offerings to the competition, proud that we “check more boxes,” while they competitors claim the same–they are just checking […] The post Love The Problem, Not The Solution! appeared first on Partners in EXCELLENCE ..read more

Reading a fascinating article in the NYTimes, Giving Kids Some Autonomy Has Surprising Results, got me thinking. What if we give our people more autonomy in how they manage their deals, days, what they do? In the past 5-7 years, we’ve seen a movement to be completely prescriptive with our people and their activities. We […] The post What If Our Sellers Had More Autonomy? appeared first on Partners in EXCELLENCE ..read more

One of the key strategies for very early stage companies, for new product developers, or lean practitioners, is the concept of the “Minimum Viable Product.” It’s a very customer centric approach in launching new products. It seeks to minimize the risk to the company by introducing a product with just enough functionality to gain interest, […] The post Minimum Viable Metrics appeared first on Partners in EXCELLENCE ..read more

During the Holidays, together with family, often the conversation goes back to old memories. In one of these conversations, my Mom and Sister ganged up on me. They reminded me of the struggles my Dad and I had with my misbehavior. It seemed, stupidly, I kept doing the same bad things, over and over. I […] The post “Have You Learned Your Lesson Yet?!” appeared first on Partners in EXCELLENCE ..read more

Adam Grant posted an editorial in the NY Times, No, You Don’t Get An A For Effort. It’s fascinating, but only focuses on part of what I see in too many organizations. As we go into the New Year, perhaps it’s useful to look at these and reflect on what we might want to change […] The post Achievement, Trying Hard, Participation, Apathy….. appeared first on Partners in EXCELLENCE ..read more

At the end of the year, I tend to be a little more reflective than during the rest of the year. In part, this post is a reminder to me about how I get distracted and lose focus–way too easily. In part, it’s an observation of things I see every day. What provoked this happened […] The post Distraction And Focus appeared first on Partners in EXCELLENCE ..read more