Practicing My Mantra

Building in public is a weird thing.

For as much as it seems like people want to see the action normally kept behind a curtain, it’s mostly just a really vulnerable position to be in, where it feels like every mistake could be magnified and your previous words held against you…

“But Jeff, you said that…”

Then you realize that most of the people actually paying attention are rooting for you anyway, and that stuff doesn’t matter.

“Don’t worry about the mistakes. Most people won't see them, and the ones who do will know why you made them.”

My Dad always says that, as his Dad told him. It applies to more than homemade Christmas gifts.

Last fall, after a year or so of doing a lot of freelance and subcontract work, and toying with the idea of re-entering the job market as an individual contributor, I recommitted to my consulting business on a full-time basis.

I leaned into some things I had noticed that nobody else in the space had been talking about. Blind spots. “What Good Looks Like Here.” These were meaningful progressions, and my prospect conversations were good. I was onto something, but some things were still missing:

• It still took way too many words to explain to people. What’s the TL;DR?

• How do you come across as an ally rather than another consultant pointing his finger in someone’s face?

• How do you make people feel good about the work they do, and show others how they can feel that way too?

Dozens of iterations, LinkedIn About pages, and website updates later, it hit me.

Know Why You Win

It meets all the criteria I listed above. It encapsulates everything I’ve been working on and building with clients over the past year. It’s the lens I can use to focus any potential client conversation I have. It’ll fit on a sticker I can put on my laptop (and still read from across the room).

I was skeptical at first. I’m not lacking tag lines. I trademarked Rethink The Way You Sell because it’s powerful and personal. Then I realized that most sellers don’t want to think so much as they just want to do what they’re told will work, and not have to come up with the answers themselves.

Sell Like You was another one that felt too good to still be available, but it was two more years before I really appreciated what I could build around it, though now it’s the backbone framework for my client engagements.

So is this just another good tagline, or is it a business thesis on a bumper sticker? I’ve spent the last several days thinking about it, saying it out loud, and talking about it with trusted colleagues and friends.

I like it.

In a sales context, when you know why you win,

• You can do the right things, on purpose

• You stop chasing deals that were never yours to win

• You can create your own lane and never have to compete in it

• You can sustain and even predict your success

• You can wake up every day and know exactly what to do to move the needle

In the short term, you create deals that are more likely to close, will close faster, and at higher margins.

In the long term, you create a common standard and language for the whole team. That means your coaching can be more objective, your onboarding is clearer and more effective, and you’re not in the position where too much revenue is held by too few people because they’ve managed to figure it out but can’t communicate how.

This isn’t an exhaustive list. In fact, the more I noodle on it, the longer it gets. Like anything, I need to sit with it, think about it, and talk about it. That’s what I’ll be doing in the coming weeks.

What does it call to mind for you? Leave a comment or reply to me.

What I’m Into This Week

The first session of my summer webinar series ran this week, and it was a good one. Some new faces showed up alongside some familiar ones, and the feedback was immediate and encouraging.

The next session is July 9, and focuses on the conversations every seller should be having with their best customers.

Register here

Scott Ingram was my featured guest for the second Chosen Vision fireside chat of the series. We talked about career paths in sales, how non-linear they are, and why that’s such a cool thing. I'm really grateful he showed up the way he did.

The Shoutout

Mandy McEwen has a gift for making the complicated feel simple, and somehow doing it without being dismissive about it.

She just breaks it down, cuts the pretense, and shows you the path. She also does all of this while traveling the world out of a suitcase, which I find equal parts inspiring and baffling.

The people who have that kind of mastery over their craft make me think bigger about what's possible. Mandy's one of them.

A short week here in the States to celebrate a milestone birthday. See you next Sunday, and I promise I’ll have all of my fingers intact.

Cheers,
JB