Thoughts for your consideration… Old thoughts demanding renewed action TODAY!!!

Let’s see if we can get unstuck….. out of that BOX that most folks find themselves glued inside of!  It’s killing you as you put out fires all day.

A privilege exists for me now, as I am linked to just my own perspectives and in sync with a few of the innovative thinkers in our space known as “selling”.  That privilege is the ability to interact with a very wide client base both inside and outside of the technology arena.  It is eye-opening to see firsthand the absolute sameness that exists and the “selling” battles that EVERYONE has, regardless of size, market, nationality, or even political nature.  We are ALL facing the biggest challenge ever. 

DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY THAT MATTER TO THOSE WE SERVE!

As the world churns today, supply chains are still a mess, in every industry.  If you think semiconductors are hard to get, try finding plastic to make dashboards out of.  Cardboard boxes are a pain to find like “you used to use”. Compromise is the KEY word in getting all that you need to keep a manufacturing line up and running, although probably at a reduced capacity.  

Most people are just plain delighted to get back to as close to where we came from as they possibly can.  And that includes the entire selling structure.  We will accept a mixed mode work-from-home/office structure because we are told we should, and compromise our certainty that those that execute have a clearer understanding of reality than those that only manage. (last blog.. summary).

And the saddest thing of all is that in this time where serving with a difference is HUGELY impactful, about 95% of the clients that I talk to nowadays are quickly running BACKWARDS into “productville”.  Web sites that once had a flavor of client-focused awareness have become great product sites of OLD.  Some are spinning up “solution selling” as if it were new and unique.  While in fact, it is old and ineffective today.  But we are comfortable with it, so that makes it OK.  We are all most comfortable in our well-worn pajamas and old slippers…. I have mine too, I get it!  It’s just NOT that time to slide backward.  There is a missing element that needs a renewed flame of inspiration and restatement.

Our business savior from “death by sameness” is not a new term, but a relook at how to best create….

INNOVATION!

And this is NOT about innovative products, as there really is no such thing these days.  Heck even a really brand new, never been seen ever, absolutely killer product…. Takes about a week to clone from hundreds of different entities worldwide.  

New products do not really make a difference!  

However, new ideas can change the world!

The following quote comes from many different sources in various forms… here is my iteration!

It is NOT what we sell…. It IS what we DO… that makes an acknowledged difference with our clients and all those that we choose to serve.

It is NOT what we sell…. It IS what we DO… that matters!

The world’s products are all great, wonderful, meaningful, effective things of beauty to US.  In reality, the differentiation in the minds of our clients between what WE sell, and what our COMPETITOR sells, is not significant enough to be seen and realized by our clients, if in fact there even is any at all in any case.  

We make a difference with our clients when we help them see their world and THEIR own client’s world in new and different ways that enable them to gain perspectives that they did not have before.  This enables our clients to serve their clients in ways that they had not considered before.  

Products are good, and technology is great.  We make a DIFFERENCE with our clients in ways that no one else will when we engage with our clients in INNOVATIVE THINKING.  

INNOVATIVE THINKING does NOT require new innovative products or technology.  It is NOT about the products!  It is totally about the great 2-way conversations that you create, build, test, revise, plan for, and execute with your clients.  

INNOVATIVE THINKING is the challenge that we all face as we wind our way out of the malaise that is the “old” come back to life… think Zombie movies “Night of the Living Dead (1968)”.

INNOVATIVE THINKING requires all of the tenants of CUSP

INNOVATIVE THINKING can also be the catalyst to really old and ineffective practices like quotas and commissions as the time to implementation of client-created ideas in this vein can actually be a fraction of the time they would spend on creating and launching a new(?) product idea.  Much faster return on EVERYONE'S behalf.

This old idea, reborn, is easy to grasp.  It may need help from others like Dave Brock, Brent Adamson, or myself, to fine-tune and help you create. I suspect you will see both respond to this blog, so feel free to grab any of us by the virtual neck and get some time and attention.

OK, LET’S ROLL!   On to INNOVATION!

It’s a difference-maker!

Mitch

Thoughts for your consideration…. 

Leadership or management….. and the issue of Work from WHERE?

Office or Home… is that the real question?  Where to work, is important.  Why work is MORE important.  Let’s tackle all aspects of this.  From my perspective and in MY opinion, of course.

 In this perspective, leadership is vital.  So what is the difference between the two styles of guiding people?  Lots of specifics can be called out that make a difference in whether you are working for, or functioning as, a leader or a manager.  Isolating one of them for this point of comparison may not be perfect, but will be practical. 

 Here is a view that is personal, may not be shared, and that is OK.  Valuing everyone’s opinion and viewpoint is what we are all about as a people.

 The distinction made here is that LEADING people is done from an enrollment mindset that establishes the values for all in the process, gains buy-in, and is in sync with functioning. Whereas MANAGING people is typically issuing directives, mandates, and “guidelines” that dictate the execution of people without many aims for true consensus.

 Neither style is ALWAYS, and sometimes we all must morph a bit in either direction. BUT the subject of WFH vs WFO, seems to be much more polarized.  Having moved outside of a single corporate environment has opened my eyes to multiple views not previously seen.  For the most part, big corporate entities are taking a management style of a directive to where they want their teams to participate in support of the corporate initiatives.  Some are very hard-nosed about “it’s time to come back to the office”. Others are seeming to offer a mixed mode of days in one place versus another, while still applying significant behind-the-scenes pressure to get everyone back “in the office”.  Others, with their numbers dwindling, are genuinely open to employee choice.

 It is very likely that corporate business is missing a chance of a lifetime to create a whole new wave of “lifetime employees”!  How would we do that?

 The underlying belief that has been voiced so often is that somehow critical corporate culture was created, grown, and enhanced by simply being under the same roof, surrounded by the same walls, and spending time in hallway and water cooler conversations.

 While it does not mean that those elements don’t have value, the harsh reality is that there are an untold number of poorly run companies that have terrible corporate values that share all the roof and wall concepts along with literal and virtual water coolers.  Roofs and walls do not make a great culture.  People and MANAGEMENT/LEADERSHIP make culture in every case, good or bad.  What is said is of value, what is DONE creates the truth.  Plaques and posters espousing values and culture do NOT make it come true.  You can post your guiding values and corporate culture wonderfulness on every wall and it will not matter if the “talk is not walked”.

 So, where does this take us?

 MY opinion is that we can get the best of all worlds if we enable them.  We have to create thinking that enables team growth, cultural enhancement, and personal expansion, REGARDLESS of where any of our team resides and works.  It takes creating different methods, different mindsets, and different thinking, INTENTIONALLY.  Intentionally created culture means just that.  Created on PURPOSE, with the enablement of each and every one of our team and their style and nature.

 Maximizing human engagement is not magical.  It needs CARING about the people.  It needs UNDERSTANDING of how to empower each person. It needs the commitment to SERVING all of those around us, ENDLESSLY.  All of that ON PURPOSE.

 We can set a new standard of excellence by focusing on why and how we enable our teams instead of where they do their “work”.

It is possible to counter every single negative element that is thrown against the wall about working from home…we just need to change our thinking…again, to change our beliefs, to change our outcomes.  It has been done, and the best in business will grasp this challenge and make a corporate ADVANTAGE out of it.  This is the greatest opportunity we have ever had to really affect inclusion!  Please don’t pass it up.

OK, LET’S ROLL!  Inclusively!

Mitch

Thoughts for your consideration…. 

My hardnosed thoughts on this subject!

As said before, needs to be said and internalized AGAIN and AGAIN by us ALL!

WORDS MATTER, EVERY WORD MATTERS, MORE THAN EVER!  

Choose your words carefully as they directly reflect your thoughts, which directly drive your outcomes!  All connected, no question, so pick wisely!

There are large-scale thoughts that affect what we do in many ways.  Good, bad, ugly, biased, right, wrong… all subjective.  ALL of our “doing” is driven by what we believe, and what we believe is crafted by how we think, and the words we use to express it all.

WORDS have the possibility to affect others beyond us deeply, for good or bad.  Even simple words can have a profound impact that we may not even fully understand.

You all have ingrained experiences when the cutting remark made by someone else hurt you deeply.  You also have those memories of words said that were kind and heartwarming and that helped pick you up and save the day.

Making a difference with those that we choose to serve is driven by the thoughts we have and the words we use, that create outcomes.  Pure and simple.   

It all starts with the choice you make about how you THINK about those we serve.  A lot of colorful words could come to mind here, but let’s simplify the thinking a bit and look at the two that matter the most.

CLIENT and CUSTOMER

What is the difference and why does it matter?

It has been said that this is just semantics, but it is NOT!

In life, in business, in all things, the words you choose to use have an impact, whether you believe it, see it, or not!  The implications of each word chosen make a difference!

In this case, the choice of “labels” will actually help you make a strategic choice about the level of relationship that you are willing to create with each person that you choose to serve.

Let’s dig into the differences.

A CUSTOMER is a person that buys goods or services from a business.  The relationship is mostly a transactional one. There is seldom any level of long-term connection between the parties.  Typical of this would be retail stores, banks, restaurants, amusement parks, and gas stations. Most engagement is limited in time and scope.

CLIENTS typically receive much more personalized attention, have access to a wider variety of support teams, and are most commonly thought of as the domain of such entities as a law firm, a design studio, an insurance agency, an accounting firm, or a real estate agency.  CLIENTs general buy advice and solutions.  You will find yourself in strategic long-term relationships with CLIENTs.  You will form teams to support CLIENTS.  You will involve leadership teams to serve CLIENTS.

You will have both CUSTOMERs and CLIENTs in your world.  You already know the difference.  It’s time to be intentional with what you do and who you do it with. 

You personally feel the difference in how you are treated by those that are looking to sell you something or serve your need. 

We are all best served when we choose to engage with CLIENTs on a high level of personalization and focus. 

Those that fail to recognize the difference in how we serve and think differently about it are simply not committed to the concept of serving.  They are still stuck in the world of selling.  If you are expecting to have different results than the rest of your competitors then you had best be working hard on how to serve the people that you have chosen to serve, in a different manner that is focused on THEM, not yourself and your corporate marching orders. The world’s products and technology are a commoditized battleground.

Everyone has great STUFF! 

What are you DOING to be different?

It starts with changing your thinking.

Elevate your thinking!

Choose to think about the PEOPLE that we serve as CLIENTS!

Customers are those folks that walk into a convenience store for a pack of gum.  ALL good…we all need them as well!  We have to create ways to serve everyone that we can with an appropriate level of resource that delivers what they need when they need it.

CLIENT Engagement Professionals are the difference makers in the B2B world and external focus and pure motivation are the keys to changing the world for the better of all!  Big task.  You are capable of doing it with the right THINKING!

Not sure, ask someone you serve which way they would prefer to be helped, as a CLIENT or a CUSTOMER!

Stand up for your CLIENTs, don’t let them get turned into CUSTOMERs.  There IS a big difference, go explore for yourself!

OK, LET’S ROLL!!

Mitch

p.s. I love being a CLIENT and being treated like one,  I know you do too!

Thoughts for your consideration…

… WHY are you doing what you are doing?

Considering that for the last couple of years the world stopped, changed directions, wabbled, and is still trying to get its feet under it, it’s a shame that most companies in the B2B space are feverously trying to get “back” to something that they feel is “normal”.  Marty McFly and the Delorean time machine (movie – Back to the Future) are pushing hard to become the guiding light for our future directions.  And this is just silly! 

Our last few years have taught us amazing lessons on what CAN be done and how well NEW things can serve us all.  And yet we insist on melding back into time with quotas, commissions, blitz campaigns, massive lead generation efforts, tons of “new” collateral and commoditized “insights”, and all of the same old ways of thinking about how to “GET” salespeople to do what the corporation wants them to do.  Almost all of this has nothing to do with true leadership, coaching, listening, thinking, or other truly functional activities.  The thinking is just…let’s ramp up the push of stuff to the clients.  Let’s put more pressure on the “sales team” to HIT THEIR NUMBERS. Surely it will all work this time….although it was not working PC (pre covid).  It has to work this time!!!  Doesn’t it?  Good luck in that desire! 

Any good systems analyst will tell you that when things are really broken, you MUST elevate your perspective and look at the highest level of systemic understanding that you can grasp.  It has to be dealt with from as high up as you can get, then flowed down into all the streams needed to execute properly. 

Today we face an overload of “product information” pouring over the heads of all of our clients.  All aimed at telling the story that the seller wants to tell.  Good information, however, is not contextually specific enough to differentiate from all of the other “stuff” coming into the client’s viewpoint.  Saturation exists, and confusion abounds.  Clients are not best served in this mode.  This state of mind just adds to the delay of any possible change actions needed within the client to move forward.

Too much good data, everyone focused on themselves, their back pocket, and hitting their numbers.  Sucks!  Well at least for those that chose to play the game the way that the Back to the Future time machine would offer. 

There is an answer that works. 

Change the rules!

Learn to simply SERVE, without reserve!

Break out from what was, that is seemingly wanted again!

Find a new vision in serving the clients to help them co-create outcomes that matter greatly to THEM.

Kill quotas, kill commissions, kill deal reviews, kill all the non-value-added crap that you all put your sales team through.  Hire coaching experts to help you create an environment of peer coaching that creates massive team cohesiveness. Understand that those we serve must be treated like clients and true partners, not convenience store customers.  Learn to LEAD from people like Hendre Coetzee.  Focus all of your energy on helping your team make a difference in the lives of the people that we serve at our clients, our schools, our homes, our churches….everywhere, all the time!

The fundamental force of making this happens continues to be…

CUSP

Care greatly,

Understand deeply,

Serve endlessly, with

PURPOSE

The CUSP Advisory Group stands ready to serve anyone looking to make a difference in the lives of those that THEY serve.

OK, LET’S ROLL!

Mitch

WE’RE BACK!!!!!

After a few weeks' break, post my retirement from Microchip, it’s time to jump back into the fray and offer up many of my thoughts for your consideration… and that will be the basis title of this blog series for the foreseeable future.

Thoughts for your consideration!

An interesting perspective is allowed by having the freedom of expression that comes with no ties or connections to anyone or anything beyond what you choose to connect with.  This is a formidable challenge as it allows for many more open doors and perspectives than when one is tied closely to any corporate entity.  While you should not expect to see much of a radical change in thinking from what has been put forward for last several years, you will likely hear some significant extensions from what has already been said.  And there is a LOT to be said.

At the same time most of what will be offered up is directly in link with all of the CUSP theory and execution that has been communicated directly and distinctly from here for a LONG time.  

CUSP remains the soapbox from which most of the blog posts that you will see from here ongoing will have as a cornerstone.

In that light, the new mitchlittle.com website is in its early launch stage.  It opens up sharing with you all, another avenue of creation that has been a personal passion for most of my life, photography!  Adding to the announcement of CUSP Advisory Group, the photography element will dig into the fundamentals of EXPLORE the world, DISCOVER new possibilities, and CREATE excellence!  

Landing page from MitchLittle.com

ALL things are driven by the fundamental of the Dragon and MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

CUSP, a human engagement process, unlike typical “sales processes” is centered around serving others to help them co-create value that aids others in achieving what THEY wish to achieve, in service to the people that THEY serve.

CUSP is the following mindset….

CARE greatly,

UNDERSTAND deeply,

SERVE endlessly, with

PURPOSE

In support of the globalization of the CUSP concepts, post the retirement from MCHP, the CUSP ADVISORY GROUP has been formed.

The CUSP ADVISORY GROUP stands ready to serve others that wish to achieve excellence in co-creating client value, excellence in co-creating leadership, and excellence in outcomes that matter!

So, consider the thought that while many folks are rushing to get BACK to normal, those that create excellence, think differently and are looking at how to best serve those that they serve with NEW ideas; that come from all directions and represent a serious re-look at all timelines and assumptions.  

As is said in SHIFTABILITY… “the world has changed (add greatly to that sentence now), have you”?  Time to shift!

In upcoming blogs, I will offer up for consideration some thoughts on...

And in continuance and onward…

OK, LET’S ROLL!

Mitch

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