Tip of the Spear Ventures

A Family Office that behaves like Venture Capital | Private Equity | Business Consulting

Blog

Sales / Business Development Driver!

By

Tip of the Spear Sales Business Development Driver

Is your Sales Leadership coaching their salespeople to a higher level of sales execution, or are they coming in at a percentage of their potential? Our research shows that salespeople that receive targeted coaching achieve 108% of their goal. Salespeople receiving no coaching achieve 42% and bad coaching 45% of goal attainment. Tip of the Spear’s Sales / Business Development Driver is a sales training and coaching initiative that enables a Sales Leader to cultivate a sales team’s ability to sell in today’s highly competitive economy.

The Sales / Business Development Driver combines a proven/practical coaching methodology based on Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching(The coaching program for 1,000+ Fortune 100 Leaders). With customized case studies and exercises designed to reflect the most challenging selling issues as opposed to the most common, Sales Leaders and their teams are equipped to succeed. Designed not in a lab, but in practical field sales arena’s, the Sales / Business Development Driver enables managers with strategies and skills for buy-in, implementation, and execution by salespeople. Sales coaching skills are honed allowing for feedback based on salesperson behavior so that skills are elevated and accountability is anchored. Results, which are the only thing that matters, are Sales Leaders with a clear vision of how to lead themselves/others and sales teams that improve performance by overcoming obstacles on their way to closing more sales!

The Sales / Business Development Driver is a holistic approach to sales training and coaching consisting of:

  • Assessments – Behavioral assessments, benchmark skills, and talent identification versus best in class for gap analysis.
  • Skill Development – Equip and provide examples of sales coaching skills so leaders can lead.
  • Training & Coaching Reinforcement – If you don’t implement and executive the Sales Business Development Driver methodology, you won’t get results. Insure “stickiness” through implementation/execution.

How do you begin to improve your sales with Tip of the Spear’s Sales Business Development Driver? Begin by filling in the form to the right with your email address, call us at 855.97SPEAR | 855.977.732Seven, or send us an email to sales[at]tipofthespearventures.com to get started.

Examples of Sales / Business Development Driver in Action!

Sales Leadership

Sales Leadership - JenniferJennifer is a VP of Sales that manages a large team of sales executive of inside sales. Her team is doing well, but Jennifer knows that if she can improve her team’s productivity she could exceed her number. To do that, she wishes she could improve how her team engages with customers and provide insights into what customer are thinking. She’d also like to know how her sales executives are prioritizing their time and efforts so she could identify what activities are driving revenue and provide better sales coaching.

Jennifer gets her team Tip of the Spear’s Sales / Business Development Driver because it will give them the edge by helping them communicate with more power and agility. Jennifer will get the insight she needs because the Sales Business Development Driver monitors key performance indicators (KPIs) on real sales activities so she can see why her sales “stars” are successful and replicate best practices across the team. Because she gains visibility into the quality of sales engagements, she’ll be able to forecast more accurately and impact deals before they become a loss or a win! Learn more about how Tip of the Spear’s Sales / Business Development Driver can impact your business. Begin by filling in the form to the right with your email address, call us at 855.97SPEAR | 855.977.732Seven, or send us an email to sales[at]tipofthespearventures.com to get started.

Sales Representatives

Sales Representative - MarkMark is a successful sales account executive for a leading technology company. He almost always hits his numbers (sales quota) month in and month out, but feels he could exceed them with a little help. When reaching out to prospects, Mark often doesn’t know if they’ve looked at his email, his LinkedIn profile, or knows anything about his company’s products/services. When he hosts meetings he sometimes encounters obstacles and objections that cost him his perceived deals.

Tip of the Spear’s Sales / Business Development Driver helps Mark better prepare, engage, and close his prospective customers. Mike has a better understanding of the how’s and when’s associated with his selling so he knows how to tailor and time his sales activities for maximum impact. Overcoming sales hassles and proven productivity techniques insure that he’ll be more effective. He closes more deals and crushes his sales goals! Learn more about how Tip of the Spear’s Sales / Business Development Driver can impact your sales. Begin by filling in the form to the right with your email address, call us at 855.97SPEAR | 855.977.732Seven, or send us an email to sales[at]tipofthespearventures.com to get started.

Sales Operations

Sales Operations - DeniseDenise is a Sales Operations Manager and is responsible for reporting and forecasting sales. She needs more visibility into her sales team’s activities because the activity metrics don’t match sales goal attainment. Finding sales best practices is difficult because the best Sales Representative performers are too busy to log their activities into their CRM or meet with her. She also lacks confidence in the sales pipeline because many activities marked as sold don’t close within the time committed.

Tip of the Spear’s Sales / Business Development Driver helps Denise create and capture key performance indicators (KPIs) and validate the forecast. Through proper metric identification and measurement she can monitor sales teams activities and revenue driving activities helping measurement of the activities that drive success. Identifying granular data by customer, geographic location, or salesperson is imperative. Integration with existing sales tools, like your CRM, should be a quick and easy process. Learn more about how Tip of the Spear’s Sales / Business Development Driver can impact your sales. Begin by filling in the form to the right with your email address, call us at 855.97SPEAR | 855.977.732Seven, or send us an email to sales[at]tipofthespearventures.com to get started.

Marketing

Marketing - BobBob is a Marketing Manager that supports her company’s sales team with collateral, like presentations, data sheets, case studies, and white papers. But Bob is challenged because he finds that sometimes his sales teams are using out of date branding and messaging, while some collateral is not used at all. Tip of the Spear’s Sales Business Development Driver provides a review of all collateral in place, identifying items that should be present (as well as those that shouldn’t!) A leadership review then positions collateral to be used moving forward.

Collateral is established with utilization dates, restricted content identification, and prioritization regarding what is being used most, how often, and for what purpose. Tip of the Spear’s Sales / Business Development Driver helps Bob and Sales Leadership increase consistency and identify impact of marketing messages. Learn more about how Tip of the Spear’s Sales / Business Development Driver can impact your sales. Begin by filling in the form to the right with your email address, call us at 855.97SPEAR | 855.977.732Seven, or send us an email to sales[at]tipofthespearventures.com to get started.

 

Is He Keeping You Up at Night?

By

At Tip of the Spear, we see all types of Leaders from the Fortune 500, INC500, Deloitte Tech Fast 500, and beyond enter into our leadership development executive coaching programs. Sometimes they come because they are looking to increase their percentagel of potential achieved… Other times they come because he is keeping them up at night (a Leadership nightmare!) Seriously, here are a few other reasons they come:

  • They want to enhance their leadership skills/abilities by looking within themselves to see how far they can go with our Tip of the Spear Behavior Based Coaching
  • They’re looking to involve their fellow employees in their rise to the top through ourMarshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching offering
  • They are considered high-potentials (HiPos) by their organization, with a keen eye on the future in exploring our Tip of the Spear Leadership Development Programs
  • They’re looking to go beyond business plateaus, and/or push through to the next level with our Leadership Advisory Boards

Risk Free_Blue

Regardless of why leaders come to us, we help them focus on what really matters:

RESULTS!

If you’re interested in achieving more results, in less time, you should strategically partner with us. Put our proven scientific method, that’s 100% guaranteed, to the test. Begin by filling in the form to the right with your email address, call us at 855.97SPEAR | 855.977.732Seven, or send us an email to sales[at]tipofthespearventures.com to get started.

 

So is he keeping you up at night? Let’s work together so we can get some sleep!

Is He Keeping You Up at Night?

The Leadership Challenge: Criticism – 5 Tips!

By

The Point: Call it “constructive” or call it “transparent” criticism, but have you ever had a conversation with a stakeholder at work regarding how things could have gone better? If so, you’ve probably dipped a toe or two into the constructive criticism pond. So as a leader, how can you navigate such moments maintaining a results focus and positive atmosphere? The following post looks at criticism and provides 5 leadership tips to be successful… Enjoy!

Are You Leading at the Tip of the Spear?

He Didn’t Take “Constructive” Criticism Well… Understatement!

Joe was a mid-level manager at a Fortune 1000 organization that participated in one of our leadership development executive coaching programs. He barely made the requirements for the high potential initiative, and as such struggled with several of the program topics. In particular, he struggled with the Communication Skills Training for Leaders topic, where on more than one occasion he became flustered with the content.

It was after one such “flustered” moments that we pulled him aside to share our perspective on his performance. Here’s how the conversation went:

  • US – “Joe, we wanted to touch base to see how you thought things were going?”
  • JOE – “Everything is going fine.”
  • US – “Interesting… Is there anything in the last section on Communication Skills Training for Leaders that you felt you could have improved on?”
  • JOE – “What? Improved on… I don’t think you can mess with perfection!”
  • US – “But if you could improve on perfection, because there are always opportunities to improve, what would you have done differently?”
  • JOE – “This is Bull Sh!t!”

And after that exchange Joe stormed off…

Constructive Criticism

Joe set the tone for a poor feedback improvement setting by believing that everything was fine, and that there could be no learning to improve moments to be had. While nothing said was hostile nor belligerent in nature, taking things out of context is often one of the biggest issues with receiving constructive criticism. So here are 5 tips to help you as a leader position your feedback sessions for greater success (and avoid those Joe-moments!):

Criticism Tip #5 – Your First Reaction is Wrong, so Stop!

When you give or receive feedback, it’s important to frame the conversation appropriately so that you provide the proper context. Doing so will allow you to set the stage for a good conversation (and conversely not doing so will set the stage for a bad conversation!) I encourage leaders to spell out how information shared is often taken wrong, so let’s talk about it as a part of pre-calling the actual comments. Establishing this expectation is a great way to insure constructive criticism is received as intended.

Criticism Tip #4 – Feedback is Beneficial

Why are you providing feedback? This is an important question to ask yourself. If your goal is to provide it to better an individual, realign them around organizational goals, and/or establish a different direction on project management for example then share those benefits. Otherwise, recipients will be left to their own devices (i.e., imagination) which may not produce intended outcomes.

Criticism Tip #3 – Prepare to Listen

There are three sides to every story… Our side, their side, and the truth. Insuring that you know all three sides helps in creating constructive criticism moments. The key of course is for you to listen to the other sides story. While you may have all the facts, some of the facts presented may not be ones of a high importance to you.

Criticism Tip #2 –Thank You!

I’ve heard it said that feedback, whether it’s in the form of constructive criticism or a customer survey, is a gift. Whether you agree or not, take it for what it is and remind yourself and others that the proper response is to say “Thank You!” Leave your defensiveness/rebuttal/excuses at the door.

Criticism Tip #1 – Follow Up

Once you provide or receive constructive criticism, it’s important to set a date/time to follow up to insure that what was discussed is (1) understood, (2) put into action, and (3) proper direction is once again established. I see in executive coaching sessions way too often a leaders inability to following up which causes tremendous heart ache for all parities. Know that saying thing one time and expecting everything to change as a result forever more is never a good leadership moments (It’s just not realistic, right?)

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve taken a look at the leadership challenge of criticism as well as 5 tips to help you either provide/receive constructive criticism. Let’s face it, these can be crucial conversations consisting of pain for both parties. However, the crucial conversation part comes from the fact that it is crucial to have them in order to progress forward.

 

Sam Palazzolo

The Leadership Challenge- Criticism – 5 Tips!

The Leadership Challenge: Going Trump – 3 Tips!

By

The Point: He’s been called brash, egotistical, politically incorrect, and a host of other things on his ascent towards the lands highest office (The President of the United States). Donald Trump has rubbed some people the wrong way, and caused others to stand-up and cheer for his anything but politically correct pursuit. Think what you will of Donald Trump, but ask yourself if going “Trump” wouldn’t make you a better leader? In this post we’ll take a look at going Trump and 3 tips to help you be a little more politically “incorrect” in your efforts… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge- Going Trump – 3 Tips!

Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You, Ask What You Can Do For Donald Trump!

The phenomena in American politics known as Donald Trump continues to grab headlines… On air encounters with journalist (Megan Kelly and Jorge Ramos to name a few), capacity crowds in attendance on his grass-roots campaign tour, buzzing the Iowa State Fair in his helicopter… these are all ways in which he has distanced himself from other running candidates and outpaced them all in the polls. Whatever your political views are, it sure is making for one entertaining viewing party, even with over a year to go before Election Day!

Part of the “charm” of “The Donald” is his rather braggadocios leadership style. The opposite style of leadership leads one to be boring, weak, perhaps even “frozen” and certainly not followable by others. In leadership development programs and executive coaching sessions I typically encounter the leadership challenge of how can you “toot” your own horn, but not in a manner that causes negative thought/feedback/action from stakeholders. So herein are 3 communication skills training for leader tips you might find helpful if you’re considering going Trump:

Going Trump Tip #3 – Use a Narrative

You want to express your qualifications, expertise, and most importantly perspective on where initiatives should go. Using a narrative about where you’ve been and previous success (and failure) moments can go a long way towards “framing” a subject and ensuing conversation. Remember to highlight the positive aspects of the leadership challenges you’ve encountered (but bringing in negative aspects will firm reality for your stakeholders).

Going Trump Tip #2 – Enlist Others

I had a conversation during an executive coaching session where the coachee wanted to know how they could get others to recommend them. There seems to be two schools of thought: School 1 has the expectation that others will gladly recommend/affirm your accomplishments. School 2 has you asking others to recommend/affirm your accomplishments. School 1 is great, but rarely occurs without asking (in other words, go with School 2!) Getting others on your same page and having them tell your story is a powerful display of social proof at play (it’s just not you that thinks so, others do as well).

Going Trump Tip #1 – Take Action

Action speaks louder than words. You can tell everyone that you have the best vision/plan for the future… You can share how you desire bigger/better things… You can even describe in detail (or at large) how you will get there! However, if you’ve never actually been there/done that through action (or actually doing) few will follow. Keep in mind, success is great to be able to report out on, but if you are truly pushing the envelope you will have many failures to report out on as well.

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve taken a look at the leadership challenge of going Trump and provided 3 tips if you are considering taking the leap yourself (and why wouldn’t you?)

 

Sam Palazzolo

 

The Leadership Challenge: Culture

By

The Point: You know how when you think about a business and you get that “vibe” that resonates with your sole (and it’s a good vibe)? That’s a company’s culture, and it’s what we want when people think of Tip of the Spear! So in this post we’ll take a look at company cultures and how they can make (or break) customer experiences (both internal customers – employees – and external – customers)… Enjoy!

Are You Leading at the Tip of the Spear?

Zappos Culture is a Fantasy!

One of the clients I’m working with on a large-scale change management/customer experience initiative is attempting to get their arms around company culture. Know this much: This is a HUGE redwood tree to attempt get your arms around. But how do you go about eating an elephant? That’s right, one bight at a time!

So if company culture is what you’re after, where would you head to benchmark what is truly best in class? We compiled a short-list and Zappos was at the top. Now you might have red about Tony Hseih and his book on Zappos (“Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose”). I know that I read the book several years back and recall what one of my clients said about it: “Zappos Culture is a Fantasy!” In other words, they believed that there is no way that employees could manage themselves in relatively “flat” organization structures. They also believed that a company would go broke if they pulled all the shenanigans that Zappos purportedly pulled in the workplace (Free snacks, frequent all company meetings, etc.)

What are Your Cultural Core Values?

So it was with this framing that I went to Zappos, a pilgrimage of sorts to a clandestine cultural Mecca where dreams could come true, and fantasies were reality in business. What exactly was the leadership challenge I was in search of solving? After all… This was Las Vegas! Anyway, I registered for a tour, showed up at the given time (There is great communication prior to the tour regarding directions on where to go, how to get there, etc.), and checked-in in preparation for cultural lift-off (Yes, in case you’re wondering I was overdressed. I had come from a meeting wearing a suit/tie… But something about a 100+* day in Las Vegas had me lose my tie. Good thing… They cut them off at the door!)

The tour began and closed with something that I’ll never forget (No, not the ukulele playing tour guide… Come to think of it, I won’t forget him either!) What was unforgettable was the “vibe” this office place had. With what can only be described as minimal “management” present, everyone seemed to lead their own way throughout the tour. Furthermore, there was the sharing of 10 Cultural Core Values and even an annual yearbook authored by Zappos associates regarding what this culture means to them. With nearly every state and continent represented by the Zappos associates, this meant that there was a somewhat diverse culture present (if only in as much they were operating in Las Vegas, when it could have been a trendy LA neighborhood).

The bottom line of the visit was that not only was the Zappos culture a reality, but it was about to have an impact on 100+ people from my daily tour alone. Multiply that quantity by about 10 tours a week and you get some pretty exponential numbers regarding other companies/people looking to identify how they can make their place of work more like Zappos.

The Zappos Cultural Core Values… Easy to Replicate | Hard to Implement

In case you’re wondering, here are the 10 Core Values that every Zappos associate must abide by (They’ll actually pay you to depart from the onboarding training if you identify that you can’t uphold them!):

  1. Deliver WOW Through Service
  2. Embrace and Drive Change
  3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
  4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
  5. Pursue Growth and Learning
  6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
  7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
  8. Do More With Less
  9. Be Passionate and Determined
  10. Be Humble

They’re listed proudly on the company website under the “About Zappos Culture” page. So if everyone interested can see these, pickup Tony’s book for under $20, and take a tour (tour cost was only $10) why then is it so difficult for others to replicate this culture?

Here’s why it’s difficult to replicate the Zappos Culture – It’s hard work and it takes leadership. In leadership development programs and ensuing executive coaching sessions I hear time and again how leaders want the right culture, the right people, creating the right customer experience. However, this takes effort and energy as a leader. Perhaps not always leading from the front (sometimes supporting while not leading the charge), there is a gap between how to implement/execute such a culture. Most leaders get frustrated, throw their hands in the air after adopting a few of the cultural gems from Zappos, and simply give up.

SUMMARY

In this post we looked at the Zappos Culture and how while few can imitate, even fewer can replicate it. What is your organization’s culture like? Is it like Zappos? Is it far from it? What do you want it to be as a leader/stakeholder?

 

Sam Palazzolo

The Leadership Challenge- Culture