RESPECT… not getting enough? Don’t take it personally.
I admit, I’m like you — I want my prospects and clients to treat me with high respect. I want them to have some courtesy about my schedule, especially if I offer them two or three potential times to meet with me next week. I want quick response to my emails and voice mails. I want timely commitment so I know how and when to move forward.
Not getting enough? Me neither. And never have. And, to tell the truth, I get a bit more than lots of folks.
This discourtesy happens to me, and to my clients. The world is busy. Bosses don’t respond to coordinators, who then do not tell you whether the gig is on, the schedule for your travel is planned, or that the deal has been authorized.
Prospects with deal memos in hand, or even long form contracts do not respond in a timely way. Why? Because they don’t want to confront you about one of the terms in the deal (did you not handle this in the deal memo?). Or they are not going to hire you or buy your products… and they don’t want to step up and say “Sorry, no.” So they say nothing at all, and don’t return your calls and emails.
Prospects in negotiation with you get “deal weary” because they don’t know how to fix the obstacle, and your offers to “talk about it” get ignored, time and time again. So you are left hanging, thinking you can move past the objection, but you can’t get the phone call returned. More conflict aversion (and tiredness) on the part of the prospect.
The secret? Not caring about it. Not taking it personally. Not paying attention to the discourtesy and dysfunction in the world. Moving on with your work and your schedule, and responding that the offered schedule time has been filled, sorry. Or that you actually are now over-commited and cannot take on their project.
If you are busy and doing well, the discourtesy of these prospects, referral contacts and colleagues slides off your teflon back. You do not have time to care about slow response from a pending deal, if you are busy with paying clients and customers. You’ll ping them when your tickler file or follow-up system reminds you to do it, and then go back to work with those who are getting value for their payments to you.
And, when you are in a lull, and not busy enough? Same behavior. Of course, in the quiet of the not-busy-enough, not-paid-enough, need-the-revenue moment, these discourtesies scream in your ears. You become over-anxious. You want to ping these folks every day.
Well, you can’t. You must learn patience, particularly during a lull or a downturn in your business. Eager pursuit, “chasing” your prospect, will doom you to becoming a “vendor” who is open to being negotiated down. This never works.
If you must, you pretend. That’s right, you pretend you are busy and revenue-positive. You pretend to yourself, so you behave correctly, and you pretend to your prospects, who will not be hurried or hassled to close before they are ready anyway. All you lose in your anxiety is your value pricing and the real respect you actually have (your own and theirs).
Truth is, they are not thinking of you. They are busy. Or they have to get approval, and they are embarrassed that it is taking so long. They have other priorities. They will be very responsive as soon as they need you, as soon as your offer rises to priority-level for them. They are not dis-respecting you. They aren’t thinking about you the way you are thinking about you (or the way you are thinking they are thinking about you!).
So, relax. Learn patience. Set up a system that makes sense for your business that is a respectful outreach to your prospects for follow up, and which seems responsible but not eager.
And don’t beat yourself up that the world does not see your value and your contribution. No one but you can hear that voice in your head, and anyway, it lies.
The deal memo and its value in closing agreements
The “deal memo” is an outline of proposed terms for providing services to a prospective client or products to a prospective customer, or both to a strategic ally. It is a Hollywood term that has come into use in other industries. It is a useful, short-form way of verifying what you have proposed or agreed in a meeting, before you move to a long-form proposal or contract.
I don’t write proposals, and teach my entrepreneur-clients and consultant-clients to avoid this as well. Too often I have seen people act as “vendors” and provide a full outline of their strategies and tactics (as a proposal), only to have that valuable information ripped off and implemented without them.
Instead, I write a deal memo that outlines what will be offered, the value it will provide, the start date, the deliverables and their timeline, limitations on the scope of work, the cost and the payment schedule. This deal memo is never longer than a single page, written in authoritative language in bullets. It is polite but clear. With this page in hand, any misunderstandings, confusions or objections can be discussed or re-negotiated before concluding the agreement. And, if you build a template or two that will apply to most of your offerings, it is a quick way to sort out the tire-kickers from the prospects you can actually close, saving you lots of time in proposal-writing, contract-writing and re-negotiation (all these can work as a bottleneck in the operations of successful companies).
I write a contract (not a proposal) only after this discussion and the resolution of details is complete. And I send an invoice for the first upfront payment with the contract.
Two of the elements are most important, the two that are most often left out of negotiations, proposals and contacts:
- The value that will be delivered. Of course you understand the value of what you are offering. You are very close to that information every day. You know what happens if you don’t deliver that value. Although your clients or customers may agree that your offer and deliverables are valuable, they may not be able to articulate them — to themselves or to their management which must approve the deal. You need to do that, in writing, to support your value-based pricing. Defining the value the clients or customers will receive from these deals will settle their minds, will give them ammunition for moving the deal through their bureaucracy, and will defend your price to all concerned.
- The limitations on the scope of work. Specifying what is not included in this offer at this cost is critical to good relations with your clients or customers. Addressing these limitations in your discussions, and writing them into the deal memo at the beginning saves misunderstandings later. All clients or customers will push the limits as far as they can, to get what they want or what they believe they deserve. For you to maintain your profit margins, this “scope creep” must be defined, addressed and controlled. Of course you can provide more when asked, as long as there is additional payment for it.
Because you provide clarity early in your relations with prospects, you will save time by not pursuing non-clients or unlikely customers, and will save time and money writing long-form documents that get you nothing (and give away your expertise). Mastering the use of the deal memo will add back time and profitability to your company.
More time at home because you are working on your own? Not unless you mean it.
A successful corporate executive was exploring my consulting to him as he moved from the C suite into his own high-end consulting practice. He had lots of the right qualifications: expertise in a thriving market, a good network, the ability to close a deal.
As he would be foregoing his salary, and supported a family, I asked what his wife thought of this new adventure.
“She’s supportive,” he said.
“How so?” I asked.
“Well, I spend a lot of time both working and commuting, and, with the kids still in elementary school, she thinks I may have more time to be at home. So she likes that idea.”
I must admit I sputtered a bit. Unlike some of my clients, this man had never headed up a start-up venture, although he had some knowledge of how they worked. So he actually hoped his new practice would ease some of his time constraints (entrepreneurs building their start-ups never think this).
Maybe. But not likely in the first years — at least the first 3 years, is my guess. That’s a minimum time to establish any new practice (or start-up company).
And there are other ways of “not being home.” Your kids are telling you over dinner about their field trip, and you are checking your phone for an email from that client who was supposed to phone today and didn’t (and did not send an excuse either). Or your wife tells you some major repair is needed, and your Payables are not up to date, and cash has become tight, even if pending Receivables are fine. So you are not listening well.
Or, the newness of being in “freefall” — well paid but with no secure revenue flow or yet-solid pipeline — has you distracted and thinking about the business every minute, leaving no real focus on the family or the non-business parts of your life.
Of course this can be controlled. You can set boundaries on working weekends, and stick to it. You can choose to do more networking and prospecting during the day (breakfasts, lunches, daytime group networking meetings) and be home most evenings. In fact, you can learn to control your involvement and focus, but that takes guidance and time.
But you must assume that your human nature will propel you, for all good reasons, to become somewhat obsessive if you are beginning to build your practice. And, you should make certain your life-partners (mates, spouses, kids and other family members) are truly on-board with your new direction. Remember that they will take up the slack as you venture forth, in all the tasks you abandon, as well as in their aloneness while you are gone (physically or emotionally). Real support, like real balance, is more difficult to obtain than you may first think, and takes training and practice and a willingness to find it.
More tips on pitching and closing
In messaging the value of your product, your company, or your consultancy, you must speak directly to each targeted audience and its decision makers.
Now, your pitch and your value proposition will be different as you speak to various constituents: your strategic or channel partners need a different message than your investors; your board needs specific reports; your advisory council needs different requests.
In all cases, though, you must create a message that speaks to the decision maker who can say yes and follow through with a check, a signed agreement to partner or to become your client, or a strategic introduction.
Here are some guidelines for creating your various pitches:
- Start at the end: what do you want from this pitch?
- Start at the end again: what does your request gain the listener who must say yes?
- Focus on the win/win – -what your listener will win, if you win what you want.
- Narrow your focus to only one request: what do you really need? (capital? an introduction? access to a distribution channel? a new client for your consultancy?)
- Do not confuse the “sale” — do not bring into the conversation other issues that distract from your request. This discipline is more difficult than you may think. Stay focused.
- Use simple language, in straightforward sentences. Too much “clutter” at the beginning of your sentences will confuse you and the listener. Start with a subject, verb, and object (I’m not kidding — straight simple talk wins deals).
- Say what you want at or near the beginning of your pitch. Yes, at the beginning. Then repeat it at the end. In this way, your listener will know what you want, and will relax and let you build your case, rather than wondering or dreading or being confused at what you are leading up to. This simplifies the conversation and reduces tension.
- Use shorter sentences to build your case. Start by saying what you want. Then start another sentence (and another after that) which supports what you want.
- Make a direct request. Make the “ask.” I am often surprised at competent speakers who, at the end of their pitch (or at the beginning), can not ask simply and directly for what they want. If you stumble here, get some training.
These ideas seem simple. So does good selling and closing, when done well. But it is neither simple nor easy. If so,we would get what we want by just asking, and sales people wouldn’t need training.
As a CEO, or the head of your practice, you must be your best evangelist. Time to learn, or refine, that evangelism (and its pitching and closing) now.
Success in entrepreneuring, consulting and life itself — it’s all in your attitude …
I couldn’t resist sharing this (even though it has been around for awhile) as a reminder of how we make our own consciousness, context and quality of life. Be careful what you wish for… and how you wake up in the morning…
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The Dog’s Diary
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The Cat’s Diary Day 983 of My Captivity My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a “good little hunter” I am. Bastards!
There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of “allergies.” I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage. Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs. I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released, and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now … |
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All credit to goodeatshumor.com — here’s the direct link. |
8:00 am – Dog food! My favorite thing!
Live long & prosper
My Aunt Annie died recently, age 103. In my father’s tribe, Annie was one of his elder sisters. I figured it out lately, that she was 16 or 17 when my father was born (my paternal grandmother had lots of children for 20 years). All my life she told me, “I raised your father, you know.” This was accepted lore, and I always acknowledged her for this contribution to my life, my wonderful father.
Thinking on this, I looked back on the life of this woman I have known all my life, and considered her arc from the early 20th century into the 21st.
You don’t have to know my tribe to know folks living into their 90s. Most of us will live to be 100, particularly the GenXs, if the Big Blue Bus doesn’t take us out sooner.
There are lessons in this thinking:
- We will live long, so we should prosper… to support a full and active lie.
- We should protect, pro-actively, our health and fitness.
- We should chase our dreams now, not later.
- We should set or strengthen our boundaries and not tolerate negative people and actions that diminish us.
And we should honor our elders, who have had lives, no matter how obscure, that we will never fully understand.
Wandering, wandering, then home: the Independence of the USA
A personal story of the blessing of independence — for me and the USA’s birthday ~
The USA’s birthday is happening, this 4th of July weekend, and I recall why I returned home to start my first (and current) consultancy so many years ago.
Finishing my first college degrees, and filled with youthful wanderlust, I set off to travel the world — my own private Walkabout. I disposed of everything I owned (to avoid its pulling me back if things got tough), set off with a (very) little money and a lot of adventure-seeking spirit, and I wandered, lived, worked and explored in Europe, Asia and Australia for 6 years.
Then came that ennui, that strange feeling of being out of place and out of time, that signals you are done with the Road — the sudden yearning for a place, for something to call home, for your feet in the earth of your own kind.
This restlessness included wanting to settle in and contribute something sustainable, which for me would be the beginning of my consultancy. Where to do that? I could only begin such a venture in the U.S. I had seen enough of the economies of other countries (and the gender biases) to know that, at that time, only the U.S. had enough economic infrastructure to allow the entrepreneuring I was envisioning.
Lucky me — I got to ride the emerging personal computer market from its formation through all its iterations to our current explosion of the Internet and all its culture of collaboration.
And it was true then and it is true today — the U.S. supports entrepreneuring better than anywhere else. It is not just rhetoric, the “land of the free.” And it is more than our culture of independence. Our culture supports our economic structure, which supports the creation of wealth across many class lines, and the empire builders (particularly of current generations) give back by supporting the next new thing and the next generation of entrepreneurs. Even in hard economic times, sometimes because of hard economic times, the American entrepreneurial spirit thrives.
Happy birthday, America. Glad to be home.
Entrepreneurs: Scrub your brain, refresh your spirit, re-gain your creativity
The current boom in technology start ups has created a renewed condition of over-working throughout the early-stage tech community. One of my GenX colleagues pinged me last week, “We are working long hours like we did during the last boom — when we were young!” And the Millennial entrepreneurs are assuming (like we all do & did) that start ups leave no room for any other activities.
Still, there is some wisdom in giving yourself a break. Even a brief break, but a real one — a full day, a week or more on the road (for fun), a weekend away. By “real” I mean you must totally disconnect from the concerns, strategies, tactics, and successes of your early stage company, at least for awhile. And stay off the grid (I mean it — do you even remember how?).
You can do this by setting aside time to “scrub your brain” by re-focusing on something completely different: new people unconnected to your or your industry, a book that you read for pleasure and not learning; immersion in movies, sports, travel, surfing (the ocean not the Web), or sailing.
Even meditation can work, as it does for one of my clients – -very busy, very successful, he still spends at least an hour each day in meditation, and is rarely tired or ill.
Another client just booked a two-week trip to the rain forests of Peru to meet with tribal leaders, even in the midst of building his new business (which hasn’t much to do with Peruvian tribes).
Your reward? Your spirit will be refreshed, your brain synapses will fire in new ways, and your creativity will re-emerge to see your challenges at work in a new way. I promise.
The secret to refreshing your spirit is to fully surrender to your non-work activity, and to give yourself the time to truly move to a different context. Otherwise, your brain is never scrubbed clean, never made free, and you cannot have that unrelated next new thought.
This sounds easy, but in fact, re-setting your creativity requires discipline and a kind of ego-less state. The discipline comes in allowing the surrender. The ego-less state allows you to stop being the center of your own universe for long enough that your context shifts and the world looks as large as it really is, and your spot in it appropriately smaller.
Try it. It works.
The current technology & funding innovation: chaos of opportunity & optimism
There has been much talk these past few years in the venture capital markets, about what works and does not work in early stage funding and exits of technology companies, which seems like a great deal of conflicting noise.
Consider what we see and hear:
- We are told that the venture-funding model is “broken.”
- Venture companies complain that ROIs are low.
- We are in the midst of a flourishing boom of new companies built in garages.
- There is a huge range of newly developed early-stage funding sources (Incubators, Accelerators, Angels, Super Angels, and crowd funding).
- We see new secondary markets.
- There are strategic sales with extreme multiples.
- And we see the return of IPOs.
- We hear we may be in a “bubble” again.
So, what’s going on? Can all this be so, all at the same time?
Well, yes: this is the picture of disruption, not only in technology, but in the marketplace itself. And the disruption is the result of the last 30 years of technology development coming to fruition. It is what we’ve been working towards, this chaos of opportunity and the optimism it brings.
Since the release of the first PCs in 1981, through the release of the “new media” in 1991, to the opening of the worldwide Web in 1993, to the beginning of standardization of pricing and distribution channels with the iTunes Store (2003) and the App Store (2008), we have been on our long journey to now.
This last decade has been difficult economically: a tech downturn in 2000 (the crash of the dot.com bubble), a national economic downturn in 2001 and a global economic downturn in 2008.
And through it all, with good years and bad, the American engine of innovation keeps chuffing along, building new tools and toys and technology that we distribute to the world.
And not only does this engine build technology, it re-creates what it needs to keep moving forward: new funding approaches, new ways to lower or share the risk, new models to support the boom of new companies now exploding.
The tech boom is exploding because we have, after 30 years, solidified our infrastructure, standardized our technology platforms, built the off-the-shelf tools to build new products quick and lean, and stabilized our distribution channels and pricing.
So, is the funding model broken? The old model is, but the new models are already in play. And the investors still standing from earlier days are wiser now, and the new investors tend to have created their wealth from the success of building their own companies.
Are the exits too good to be true? No: the IPOs are mostly companies with 8-10 years in the marketplace. And some over-zealous acquisitions seem to have a strategic thought behind them. And to some degree, this doesn’t matter, as long as there is an exit path open to spur on the initial capitalization of all these new companies.
Are we in a “bubble”? I doubt it… we are in the moment of bursting expansion that arrives when we have done our homework over decades, when the spirit of the entrepreneur is alive and well (because of and in spite of the current economic and job markets), and when we let loose our new generation, born with a mouse in their hands, to build what they think the world needs to give consumers and companies the magic of the chip only promised up until now.
I am excited. I think, after all these years working on each new edge of new technology, that we have arrived at the beginning of our promise to change the world.
Fixing your financial projections to be “realistic” ~ some tactics for rational planning
I was asked to review the financial projections of an Internet start-up recently, by its CEO. He said his projections were scaling so fast that no one would believe the numbers (or him). He needed to be “more rational” about the growth of the company, but was certain the assumptions of his business model were real.
To get your projections more realistic, but still hold true to your business model, it is best to reduce your assumptions, allowing the world to interfere with your planned scenarios. This allows you, as a CEO, to acknowledge that your “best laid plans” can easily run into market conditions you can not anticipate.
So, what to fix? Here’s a list.
- Reduce the rate of adoption of your product/service.
- Increase the rate of attrition of your customers.
- Decrease the rate of conversion of “free” to “premium” customers (if you have that model).
- Decrease the time of the conversion of “free” to “premium” customers (if you have that model).
- Add significant time (double?) to your ideas about the “time to market” of new features and benefits.
- Add significant time to the receipt of subsequent revenue from adoption, conversion and retention of customers, and from their “upsell” to new features, benefits and versions.
- Add 10% -15% (or more) to all costs.
This is a path to rational financial planning. You can sustain your inherent business and revenue models, and the vision of the greatness of your product and company. What needs to be rational is the efficiency of your execution.