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What Are Your 2018 Sales Business Development Resolutions? – 6 Tips!

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The Point: Nothing happens in business until you sell something! If that’s the truth, as we start-off another year here at Tip of the Spear Ventures we asked ourselves “What are we going to see in terms of Sales + Business Development activity that is going to make our goals become reality?” So in this post, we’ll explore 6 tips that we believe will make the difference in your 2018 sales business development resolutions… Enjoy!

What Are Your 2018 Sales Business Development Resolutions 6 Tips

“And they’re off!” the horse track announcer calls across the public address (pa) system. Just like the horse race, so begins another year with all the hoopla/excitement that a new calendar deserves. “This year is going to be different” a leader tells me as we kick-off a new engagement. “How so?” I ask. “We’re going to do things different. Last year, especially as the year drew to a close, I found us as an organization in a ‘rut’ that we couldn’t get out of. We have goals of lead generation, sales acceleration, and next-level business development. So this year we’re going to avoid the ‘rut’ and drive towards accomplishing our sales business development goals.” What follows are the 6 Tips (or goals) that this leader sees as the success tasks for the New Year…

Tip #6 – Two Brains are Better!

You must have heard that two brains are better than one, and this can be a huge asset in Lead Generation. This is the theory that two leaders will provide enough perspective to align towards a better alternative than would have been achieved in/of their own. When a leader goes out in search of a business partner to have stronger and better plans for their small business, sharing information and deciding which way to go often works out for the better. Not only do the brains need to be compatible, but there is a lot more to it. I’m not advocating that leaders with similar brains should align, but often times leaders with differing thoughts can for even greater alignment/future direction. Out of everything else the two partners should be able to drive the business in the best manner together forward.

Tip #5 – Leveraging Technology (Artificial Intelligence – AI)

Can you ever have enough technology when it comes to lead generation, sales acceleration, and next-level business development? Another opportunity to consider in the coming year is adding Alexa (or a virtual assistant) to your workspace. Not only will your schedules be organized/optimized, but you can incorporate Alexa into almost everything you do. From scheduling meetings, managing clients and to-do lists and all those little tasks which you would rather not do because they take a little longer in doing. This type of technology is beneficial in uncountable ways for your sales and business development efforts.

Tip #4 – Cross-Functional Teams

No matter how much technology you have, it still comes down to people in business executing sales acceleration initiatives drafted. So why not adopt cross-functional teams to achieve your goals with less consumption of human energy and having more productive outcomes for your business. The cross-functional teams can prove to be a good support for the business plan when they are competent and collaborate and cooperating at the same time. These teams can handle a big part of your sales acceleration and lead generation.

Tip #3 – Communicate the Sales + Business Development Plan!

So far this year, I’ve had a few disturbing moments when it comes to business leaders and their sales business development plans. The disturbing sales and business development moments come primarily in the form of not wrapping up 2017 aggressively and not having a sales acceleration plan in place for 2018. Now you and I both know that business can be unpredictable, and that best laid plans can become unraveled in a matter of what appears to be moments (especially in sales business development for those leadership members!) But to not finish strong (it’s not a matter of wanting to finish stronger!), often times comes down to not communicating the sales + business development plan to those expected to execute (and don’t get me started on the topic of accountability – a topic for a future post!) Communicating your idea in the best way possible is the key to manage a leading business. Communication serves the longest and healthiest life of a business (As business communications are largely dependent upon the presentations that are delivered to the potential partners or clients). It is very important to have some highly interactive and well explained and professionally created and creative presentations, but the content isn’t enough. You should definitely know the depths of what you want to deliver to the senior partners or clients of your business.

Tip #2 – Learn How to Negotiate

Learning to negotiate in a more effective way for this year is a key to the lifelong learning that I often see as a key to success (Especially when it comes to success in lead generation, sales acceleration, and next-level business development!) There are several tactics that make negotiations easier and more interesting. Being persuasive and being able to deliver your idea more effectively shows the best of a businessman.

Tip #1 – Communicate Up

Keep your senior management team in a constant supply of information and reviews about your business lead generation, sales acceleration, and next-level business development. You should be able to communicate the progress and the hurdles of your business to them. The senior management is able to look and help better when your reviews are honest and accurate. While they might be able to see the details from a metrics perspective, provide the “reasons” why initiatives are on/off-track so that they get the full picture.

SUMMARY

Keep your lead generation, sales acceleration, and next-level business development mission statement in line with your business strategy. Try to incorporate new ideas and keep yourself open to new avenues of technology and management. Just like Alexa, there are so many more technology (Artificial Intelligence – AI) that can make business handling far more easily and manageable. Look into all those options available for you and choose those best according to your needs and requirements.

 

Sam Palazzolo

Leading at the Tip of the Spear Lunch Offer

The Leadership Challenge: Swearing – 1 Tip!

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The Point: We’ve all had those heated moments of leadership where using swear words seems like an appropriate choice. Call it lazy, call it a limited vocabulary, call it an attempt to add “humor” or levity to a situation, hey you can even call it getting your “street cred” in certain situations! But are any of these situations appropriate to swear? Should you breach the line of “in-good-taste” and swear in the workplace? In this post we’ll explore the leadership challenge of swearing and provide 1 tip (Yes, just one)… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge Swearing 1 Tip

I Swear, Therefore I am!

Apple’s release of the swearing emoji appears to capstone the era of bad taste. What was once a business climate of professionally dressed stakeholders in an organization, slid to business casual and landed in casual/inappropriate attire (as an organizational leader, does it blow your mind that focus is given to dress code instead of driving revenue generation or shareholder value? It should!)

Following this trend in dress code is the vocabulary that organizational leaders and their stakeholders use. I did some consulting work with an organization recently where all (leaders and stakeholders alike) seemed to employ the continuous use of the F-word expletive. As one leader of the organization shared with me when I inquired as to the F-words prevalence “That’s just our culture here… Think of it as fuel for our engine!”

Swearing… It’s What’s for Breakfast (Lunch and Dinner!)

The essence of swearing is derived from civilization’s back alleys, back countries, and backyard sporting events. If the goal of business is to push forward their initiatives/agendas, then why do so many leaders revert to this backward vocabulary choice?

Now I’m no angel! There have been plenty of times (more than I care to admit) where in a round of golf a mishit ball has caused me to exclaim a few choice words (Yes, Mom… Even the aforementioned F-word!) I’ve even worked for a leader right out of graduate school that used the F-word in his vocabulary as nonchalantly as Cousin Frankie requesting to pass the potatoes at Thanksgiving dinner. But does it have to be this way?

1 Tip for The Leadership Challenge of Swearing

I would contend that leaders, and stakeholders alike, would achieve much more success and create harmony in the workplace if swearing was done away with. If as a leader you are looking to advance agenda items, and as stakeholders execute said items, then why would you succumb to swearing?

So here is my 1 tip for the leadership challenge of swearing:

“If you feel as though you must swear… Just don’t do it!”

If the laws of persuasion and influence are alive and well (Thank you Dr. Robert Cialdini!), your vocabulary can help elevate your consistency, likeability, authority, social proof, scarcity, and reciprocity moments. If you’ve spent your entire career building your professionalism, why would you undo it all in a split second with a poor word choice? Know this much… It will take effort and energy NOT to swear.

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve explored the leadership challenge of swearing and provided 1 tip. You can learn a lot about a person by the vocabulary they select. Perhaps there is room for swearing in the locker room, but the boardroom?

 

Sam Palazzolo

PS – I’m proud to say at Tip of the Spear and our platform companies that we’ve had in place for over five years now a “No F-Word” policy. This policy prohibits stakeholders from directing the f-word at each other. It’s written into our code of conduct, and can be used to release one of their duties. I understand that vocabulary is a choice, and am a proud proponent of one’s first amendment “freedom of speech” rights. However, there are plenty of places where one can work if their choice is to employ vocabulary unbecoming.

PPSS – Here’s a nice use of the f-word: “The ‘F-word’ you must use every day in your career” by Danny Rubin

The Leadership Challenge: Indifference – 3 Tips!

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The Point: We all want leaders to lead with their “skin” so to speak in the game. Leaders that are so vested in the outcome of the operation that “whatever it takes” is not only the organizational motto, but performance measuring stick for what’s the desired result achieved (and if not, why not?) But what if your leadership team, or you, are not leading by example with such effort/energy? What if you aren’t doing your part to accomplish goals? In this post, we’ll explore the leadership challenge of indifference and provide 3 tips to help you make a difference… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge: Indifference – 3 Tips!

I Believe That We Can Win – Banishing Indifference!

At Tip of the Spear Ventures and our private equity holding operations, we’re fortunate to see many leaders in action (and just as many leadership styles). For example, Jim is one of the platform leaders that excels. He is a leader that sets goals, accomplishes goals, sets new goals, accomplishes new goals, and on and on. Quick to provide credit for his team, his leadership style prompts those around him to excel in their own rights as well. He is truly making a difference, and cultivating future leaders for other platform opportunities with us.

We met Mark as a result of a consulting engagement in Tip of the Spear Ventures Sales / Business Development offering. Mark was quick to share “I believe that we can win!” with us during our initial meeting. But it became relatively clear quickly that Mark truly believed that he alone (“I”) would be doing the winning. Unable to engage his team in worthwhile activities, he was truly attempting to get victories where he could alone. However, an interesting point presented itself when victory was not at hand… Mark took on an air of indifference and several times sabotaged the initiatives so that if he couldn’t win, no one would!

Call Indifference Lackadaisical

While we’d love to compare and contrast the leadership styles of Jim and Mark in autopsy fashion, we don’t need to dig too deep to find the primary cause of initiative and goal death… Indifference! Indifference is defined as having a lack of interest, concern or sympathy. Indifference can also be seen as sharing unimportance for a given topic/event. Regardless of how you define indifference, ask yourself if this is what you want within your organization, your leadership team, or yourself? I’m betting that answer to all three is no (or should be!)

3 Tips to Overcome the Leadership Challenge of Indifference

Here then are 3 tips to help you overcome the leadership challenge indifference in your daily performance:

Tip #3 – Set the Course

I see so many leaders that behave in an indifference pattern because they simply are not setting the course for them to accomplish bigger/better goals. For example, if you want your performance year-over-year to be at 120%, then you’d better aim for 133% (Aim high and achieve it… Bonus! Reality might have you miss though, but hopefully still coming in above 120%)

Tip #2 – Execute

Setting goals and plans to execute in and of themselves are not enough… You have to execute! I see far to many strategy sessions dissolve into nothing getting done afterwards. It’s as if those that strategize cannot roll up their sleeves and actually do the work. No one ever said that was a great strategy and got results. Execute, execute, execute!

Tip #1 – Accountability

So you have the plan and the ability to execute, but will you hold stakeholders accountable for achieving results? If you can’t hold people accountable, and more importantly re-orient them to get back on track towards achieving goal, you have no way of achieving success (Please don’t argue with me that even blind-squirrels find nuts… Is that the business model you’re willing to follow?)

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve explored the leadership challenge of indifference, as well as provided 3 tips to help you as a leader succeed. No one ever said leadership was a game that wouldn’t require focus, effort and energy. I see way too much political-correctness and leaders playing nice without wanting to go after their goals. Indifference is the kiss of death when it comes to leadership, so leave that out of your leader success equation!

 

Sam Palazzolo

 

M&A: The New Rules of Mergers and Acquisition – 5 Tips!

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The Point: Considering mergers and acquisition is the general counsel of the company that has an advantage to identifying the players who will form his team in advance. Lawyers have a big role to play in M & A transactions, in which if it’s done badly it could be lower the value rather than to be high.

M&A The New Rules of Mergers and Acquisition 5 Tips!

5 Tips (or Rules) to Follow for Successful Mergers and Acquisitions

Often essential for a company’s revenue column, mergers and acquisitions must be done in the right way. Here are five rules to be verified for your mergers and acquisitions activity:

Tip #5: Establish a dedicated transaction team before even targeting one

The timeline for completing a merger or acquisition is often very tight. The firms that will be used, the market specializes in transactions between listed companies and Legal services to reduce costs and since more and more transactions are cross-border, it is a good idea for a head of legal build relationships with colleagues around the world.

Tip #4: Pay special attention to regulatory the issues

In the new rules of merger and acquisition once should pay the special attention to regulatory the issues. Rarely does a merger stumble because of a regulatory barrier, but if you wait too long before you evaluate that risk, it’s bad. The experts are unanimous: Advocates-General must ensure that no one in-house is committing a blunder causing a regulatory incident.

Tip #3: It is also necessary to have a team that will integrate the companies

If it is not necessary to put the cart before the oxen and operate as a single entity before having flattened all the obstacles, it is nevertheless necessary to foresee its blows in advance. A team is therefore responsible for identifying the departments whose operations will be merged and which departments will not be merged.

Tip #2: Do not be afraid to say no

Mergers and acquisition transactions are relationships that grow and require companies to redefine themselves. If the transaction risks losing value rather than creating it, it may be better to retreat.

The fact is that the teams negotiating the transaction are so focused on the realization of the deal that they sometimes do not have the necessary distance to notice the problems that arise during due diligence. These problems are sometimes manageable by changing some of the terms of the initial agreement, but they are sometimes too important to ignore.

Tip #1: Take lessons from each transaction

The more we make, the better we are especially if you take the time to take stock after each transaction. What worked well? What were the problems? Why? This provides equipment for creating lists of things to check during the next transaction. And one avoids repeating the errors.

SUMMARY

In this post, we’ve explored mergers and acquisitions and what I consider to be the new rules of therein that can provide detailed information and new phases to consider along with 5 tips (or rules). Success often comes from repeating successful processes, but can also come from conducting autopsies of failed activities.

Sam Palazzolo

PS – If you or your organization are challenged as a result of M&A activity, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line and request future post titles! Here are a few of the other M&A titles previously published/in the works:

– Will Your M&A be a Success of Failure?

– The Importance of a M&A Strategic Plan – 3 Tips!

– Mergers & Acquisitions – Six Diversification Questions

– M&A: Is Leadership Transparency the Key to Success? – 6 Tips!

– How to Successfully Survive Mergers & Acquisitions

– M&A: Creating Shareholder Value

– M&A: Should You Go For Stock or Cash?

 

Sales Leadership: What Separates the Strong from the Weak? – 7 Tips!

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The Point: When it comes to Sales Leadership, we started asking ourselves here at Tip of the Spear Ventures “What separate good sales leaders from bad ones?” Consider the business failure and success that relies on sales (after all, does anything else matter?) If most leaders could rely on their gut/first impressions, perhaps your sales problems would be solved! So in this post, we’ll explore sales leadership regarding what separates the strong from the weak along with 7 tips… Enjoy!

Sales Leadership: What Separates the Strong from the Weak? - 7 Tips!

7 Tips that Separate the Strong from the Weak in Sales Leadership

Preconceived notions cloud the mind, and perhaps the most difficult “terrain” to conquer as a sales leader is the roughly 6-inches between the ears. The mind can play tricks on even the most logical thinkers! So what makes a strong sales leadership and weak sales leader (especially when considering those that hire salespeople in your organization?) High production of sales is the key to your business growth, as is good/strong sales leadership. With this in mind, here then are 7 tips or characteristics of strong sales leaders:

Tip #1: They have a consultative approach

Tip #2: They are recognized for their expertise

Tip #3: They create confidence

Tip #4: They ask quality questions

Tip #5: They bring their sales conversations to a high level of business

Tip #6: They solve problems instead of selling products or services

Tip #7: They are affirming themselves positively

So in my experience I believe that if you want to avoid weak sales leadership you have to put more emphasis on developing these 7 skills so as to change the results of the leader and salespeople under management.

Relational Competence

Strong sales leadership is more result-oriented in focus than the weak sales leadership. In this approach, unlike traditional applications, it is not only a question of identifying what makes the sales people perform, but also of seeing whether these factors are also present in the less efficient ones. This makes it possible to really distinguish the factors of success. The reflection of the sales-cycle that separates the strong sales leadership from the weak sales leadership therefore become evident.

The problem with an approach where the representative focuses on the relationship is that it is impossible to predict the outcome, or that they provide “excuses” for not achieving their sales goals (for example, “XYZ organization had a really bad summer… Too hot/humid for them to really achieve any sales of our products). Annual market’s result of your business to calculate the total sales is an action to utilize the more effective strategies. The sales are then purely transactional and based on price. In addition to preventing any form of sales forecast, selling in a transactional manner is accompanied by a lengthening of the sales cycle.

Influence when Recruiting Vendors

If you want to improve the quality for your sales recruitment, do not rely on the relational aspect of your process, bet on the predictive factors of success in sales instead. The each member of your team is the strength in your business development leadership, so make sure to produce the greatest returns on investment (ROI) for a stronger stability of your business in the future.

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve explored the sales leadership topic of what separates the strong from the weak, along with 7 tips or characteristics of strong sales leaders. While no application can be a guarantee of success focus, some productive business strategies and positive implementation can separate your business development leadership as strong sales leadership allowing for more sales accomplishments than misses.

Sam Palazzolo

PS – If you or your organization is challenged as a result of Sales / Business Development activity, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line and request future post titles! Here are a few other titles that are currently in the works: