Winning teams do two things:
I am always amazed that marketing and sales teams do neither. Events pop off with no coordination, presentations are given without any practice, and the net result is at worst chaos and at best confused messages to customers, prospects, and stakeholders.
I like to ski. Once you learn the technical aspects of skiing, great ski days become all about rhythm and flow. Feeling the fall line of the mountain you are on, the conditions that day, and how your skis react to the snow. If you are carving turns with someone else, you need to get into their rhythm too. The result can be the most amazing dance down the mountain.
I look for inspiring people to motivate, challenge, and help me move to the next level. Ever since I first heard Seth Godin speak at a Direct Marketing Association conference,…
A while ago, I was hiking up Grouse Mountain with my friend Bob Garlick. Bob reminded me that great marketing companies sell an incredible vision to their customers. Great sales people then show prospects how they can take the first step to that ultimate vision. It is a strategy that can wipe out your competitors if they do not or can not provide the vision.
In Jim Collin's book Good to Great he spends an entire chapter building a metaphor of business as a flywheel. A huge flywheel. Thousands and thousands of pounds (kilograms for…