Without the client recognizing that “caring” is being created by the “sales” person involved, the likelihood of “closing” a sale is, using today’s metrics, about 5-6%. That number is accurate, as all the knowledgeable gurus will tell you, AND that is because almost no one even slightly cares about the first critical proof point in creating value with a client… their recognition that YOU care about THEM.
NO…. It's all about me! My funnel, my process, my plans, my presentations…my, my, my!
So, as caring is the first link in a value-creation chain, how do we learn to do that, show that, and get client recognition that we ARE doing it?
Dave Brock has talked a lot about this, and he is a marvelous source for the TRUE world of value creation WITH a client. Check out his blog… It's RIGHT ON!!!
The “playbook” below gives you concrete steps for what caring is, how to create it, deliver it, and get it recognized.
CUSP Caring Playbook
Leading the Sale by Serving the Outcome
Premise:
We do not sell products.
We steward outcomes.
If the client does not win, we do not win.
Caring is not sentiment.
Caring is disciplined ownership of the client’s intended result.
1. DEFINE THE OUTCOME BEFORE YOU DEFINE THE SOLUTION
Before any proposal, answer:
If the outcome is vague, pause the sale.
Clarity precedes caring.
2. ACCEPT STEWARDSHIP, NOT JUST RESPONSIBILITY
Responsibility says: “I delivered what was sold.”
Stewardship says: “I stay engaged until it works.”
Once trust and resources are entrusted to you:
Caring extends past contract signature.
3. PRACTICE ADVISORY COURAGE
Caring requires hard conversations.
You must be willing to:
Short-term commission thinking destroys long-term client value.
We protect the client — even from themselves when necessary.
4. BUILD CARING INTO YOUR PROCESS
Caring is not personality-driven.
It is system-driven.
Every engagement must include:
If you are not measuring the outcome, you are not caring about the outcome.
5. THINK IN TERMS OF CLIENT CONSEQUENCE
Before finalizing any recommendation, ask:
Caring grows when consequence becomes visible.
6. ALIGN IDENTITY
You are not a seller.
You are a servant-advisor.
A seller pursues transactions.
An advisor pursues outcomes.
A servant pursues alignment of purpose.
At the intersection of those three, trust is built.
7. THE DAILY STANDARD
At the end of each day, ask:
If yes, you served well.
If not, adjust tomorrow.
The CUSP Caring Commitment
We will:
Because when outcomes matter most,
serving the client’s purpose is the only score that counts.
Mitch Little
To complement my new book CUSP, my friend, Dave Brock has created an AI based CUSP Coaching Companion. This tool helps you drill into the concepts I've introduced in the book and begin to apply them to your circumstances.
The tool enables you to start a discussion, stop and continue later. Alternatively, you can start new discussions. With each session you will work to establish an action plan, how you start applying this to what you are trying to achieve.
Like the book, access to this tool is provided to you freely. To access it, click on the following registration link. Once registered and logged in you will have access to the tool by clicking on "My Tools & Resources”on Dave’s site. You will be able to start a new chat by selecting “My Tools and Resources” then “New Chat”. You will also be able to access previous chats once you have started one.
You will notice a number of other tools, freely given, that Dave has developed.
These are very powerful and will help you accelerate your ability to put CUSP principles into practice.
Here is the link to register:
https://partners-in-excellence-web-qa.azurewebsites.net/register
Start a chat with the tool and see where it can take you
Thanks for CARING!
Mitch Little
It’s been a while since I offered up my 5 decades of learning to the task of sharing my thoughts. 50 years of serving people, through “selling”. And while a lot has changed, over time, one key remains. Human-to-human interaction is still the best way ever to solve the most complex of challenges. A.I.-generated outbound creates marvelous work that generates ever-decreasing responses. A.I.-generated communications sound great. Well-crafted, beautifully written prose that any English teacher would love to see.
BUT, sooner or later, the written words must stop, and at least for today, a conversation with people must take place if anything is to happen from the words created…. Or NOT!
So THE question is; do you CARE?
Do you CARE enough to really make a difference with someone?
Do you CARE enough to be serving others in ways no one else will?
Do you really CARE about your family and your team?
Do you really CARE enough to BE someone different? BE, not just DO!
You want to know the answers to each of those questions, do you really CARE to know the truth? If you do, then the answers come from each of those people that you are serving above….ASK THEM, about YOU? Get real, ask them, no bs…find out, or go elsewhere, because to really do the fine art of what most people call “selling”, can only be done from the heart and the soul, not scripted, no AI, just people… CARING.
If you CARE or want to CARE more, there are answers.
As I write this, brilliant people are creating wonderful works on the function of selling. Very well done, all! Brilliant things are being shown us on the function of the brain, the chaotic thinking of the typical dysfunctional processes at play, and the pure craziness of the human “process.
Today, we have new ways of tackling the age-old problem, with and without A.I. Great ways to reframe our attack on the “pipeline”. Pick one, combine them all….you will create wonders. DO it!!! AND….
You MUST create a true CARING link BEFORE any other communication of any kind will be heard or matter. You must truly CARE about the people you serve. They will listen genuinely, nod politely, accept plans willingly, and do NOTHING, until they understand how much you care about them and their very specific and very personal problems, needs, and wants. And this must be done from your heart and soul and seen by everyone. This is really tough stuff, and incredibly powerful in creating bonds that last forever. Yep this is human emotions at work, not CRMs and A.I. generated “sales” plans.
AND it is the only way you can make a difference in ways that those you serve will value and forever serve in return.
The good news is that there are 3 people that I know who can help you tackle this if you choose. All 3 are the best in the world at doing work like this. They are:
Hendre Coetzee
David Brock
Brent Adamson
A simple search will give you all the contact information needed.
And of course, as always, the choice is yours: get to CARING, or don’t. You will find that if you don’t care, neither will your “customers”.
As always,
CARE greatly
UNDERSTAND deeply,
SERVE endlessly, with
PURPOSE
Mitch Little
In June of 2022, I retired from Microchip Technology Inc. Having worked in the semiconductor industry for more than 50 years and at Microchip for 32+ years, it was a delight to turn over the leadership of that wonderful team of Client Engagement professionals to a great group of friends and colleagues. Microchip has set the benchmark of excellence in the world of serving others, serving more than 125,000 clients in hundreds of different countries all around the globe. It was a thing of beauty and a well-proven and highly successful (~$40B market cap) model that very few others could emulate. We will dig into WHY, and how that stands today.
In the beginning… the concept of a blog was not common. Consistent, regular communication with a global team was critical, and it became even more critical as the complex years unfolded. For as long as recollection unfolds, there was a weekly email sent out, penned by me, to our global team. That number grew from a few hundred people early on to nearly 2000 toward the latter years. The topics were varied and most generally aimed squarely at how to help those we serve achieve their very specific objectives. Servant “selling, although not labeled,” was alive and being deployed to do good things. And we did, and our metrics of revenue, retention, growth, and profitability could not be matched.
Over hundreds of blogs written and published (still up at mitchlittle.com) the approach taken was positive and directly aimed at how to DO the right things that would MAKE A DIFFERENCE to those around you. I chose to not talk about what NOT to do. That was then, this is now, and the world needs to be grabbed by the scruff of its neck and shaken until it gets its act together…. A lot of shaking is needed for this one!
So the premise of this blog is different from what I would have written a couple of years ago, because I am about to grab hold and shake the living daylights out of you, to be best of my virtual ability!
The title of this piece of work is…..
STOP BEING STUPID!!!
Frankly, at this point in my life, I could care less who might be offended by writing what will be written here! What you will hear from me is the truth, you will know it is true, and yet still you will act in another way that does not match your knowledge. Shame on you… It is understandable why this happens, and it’s a compensation discussion, so while you will be forgiven the slip, the ask will be made one last time for you to act into goodness, not into playing a part in the death of the “salesman”. Right now, as salespeople, you are aiming at total obsolescence and obscurity. Don’t believe me, ask CHATGPT… that should scare the pants off of you.
STOP BEING STUPID... There is no implication here that you ARE stupid, quite the opposite, you are obviously quite bright to survive the roles that you have in a time like now. What IS being said is that you ARE ACTING STUPID, you are BEING stupid… get your head out of the dark place that is it buried in and pay attention.
STOP BEING STUPID!
Let’s look at DATA that will tell the story. If you have been along with me in my journey, or listened carefully to Dave Brock as he echoed the same data points, this will not seem new to you. Otherwise pay attention as the data below is absolutely correct and is verifiable in a dozen different ways… check my published blogs from 2021 to see even more than what I show below.
STOP BEING STUPID!!! They will listen to you if you GIVE THEM something of value that matters to them. Learn how to Make A Difference in ways that matter to them. If you ask well enough they will actually tell you how…..
The start of customer journey actually has to start with the creation/delivery/and absorption of valuable thinking on your part. With today’s mass email activity being done with the supposed belief that eventually someone will open one up and will respond to the total b.s. dribble that your campaign machines are spitting out.
STOP BEING STUPID!!!! Today’s data shows that it takes 1200-1300 outbound email attempts to get ONE opened. That number is morphing quickly and will soon reach 3-4000 attempts… to get ONE “opening”. The numbers go further bad from here as it again takes an untold number of “opens” to get ONE response… YOU KNOW THIS IS NOT WORKING AS YOU DO NOT OPEN THIS JUNK YOURSELF!!!!
STOP BEING STUPID!!!
You CAN change what you do here and get very focused on doing the research needed to understand a specific client company and the individuals involved and actually create communications that will work. IT NEEDS MASSIVE SPECIFICITY!! But sadly the systems and leaders around us are bought into the paradigm of endless useless bombardment of the masses of people with junk that would not motivate anyone to do anything other than DELETE DELETE!
STOP BEING STUPID!!!! You know what to do. Understand your target client, all of its business, and its people… get specific in your actions. Don’t push the stupid send button one more time.
We know that this “new way” of mass outreach is useless, but the powers around us are locked into the data mining, and AI creation of content, and are quickly making a point that the people involved in serving the client are of NO VALUE! Why, because that is how you are acting as the sheep are led to slaughter. It’s not even really intentional. It is just a dynamic of the lack of caring mode that the world is working within. Empathy is for the most part dead and marketing and sales leadership are marching you down the trail, missing quotas (60% of salespeople are missing their “quota”) which is a sucky concept even at its best.
STOP BEING STUPID and being led over the cliff!
Turnover rates of the sales team have skyrocketed. More than 75% of all salespeople on a team will be gone within 12 months. The entire sales team, leadership, and all will be gone in 18 months.
And the leadership in B2B companies all know this! They count on it to keep the team “fresh”. RIGHT!
STOP BEING STUPID….you are being played.
Some teams out there in the world get this… a bit. I have to believe. But the leadership in corporations simply don’t have empathy for their teams NOR the people that they serve.
AND doing the right thing absolutely starts with CARING and EMPATHY.
You CAN STOP BEING STUPID!!!!
It takes guts to stand up for those you serve and do the right things for the right reason. It might put you in the 60% out-the-door group… but oh well, in all likelihood, you will be there if you DON’T stand up and take a solid position for serving others because you CARE and that is how you would like to be treated as well.
So here again I close with….
CARE greatly,
UNDERSTAND deeply,
SERVE endlessly, with
PURPOSE
Need a primer on that last piece… go to mitchlittle@com
OK… as my Dad would have said. “LETS ROLL”!
Mitch
Ok…. This one may be painful! So, be it. I love the people in the world of “sales” and you all seriously need some HELP!
YOU are STUCK! Deeply, completely, seriously… STUCK in the mud!!! Spinning your wheels with all of your might, giving it more and more throttle, praying that THIS time it will all work and you will magically find your way out of the mud you are wallowing in.
You know this to be true. The data that we have shared REPEATEDLY tells us we are in TROUBLE! Turnover in B2B sales individual contributors is about 50% inside of 11 months. Entire teams are gone within 2 years including the line and most mid-level management. Now more than 75% of YOUR clients clearly state that they want ZERO participation from an external salesperson in their decision-making process.
We know… “you’re different!”… maybe you are. OK! With the turnover rate as high as it is, the value-added capability of any of today’s salespeople is directly related to the amount of time that they have been “trained” at their current company. So how good can we be with an average of 6-10 months of training under our belts when we go face to face, or screen to screen, with that next client?
The clients have answered that directly and loudly… 75% of them have said “DO NOT CALL ON THEM”! Why, because there is ZERO value being added by nearly all of the salespeople that they have communicated with, so they DO NOT CALL ON THEM “Brush” is being used to cover EVERY salesperson that they experience. One size does fit all…because in this case, the reality is that probably 97% of those salespeople that the clients now consider “worthless” are stuck in a needs analysis, selling them something, an endless loop, that totally misses the value that they CAN provide if they were properly trained and actually did CARE!
YOU are STUCK!!! But we need more output(sales)!!! What the heck, let’s just put the throttle down to the floor and see what we get. Let’s just do MORE!!!
More leads, more calls, more appointments, more CRM input, more quotes, more deal reviews with management, MORE funnel…..yea, that must be good!! Keep the throttle to the floor. That result, however, will end up in a lot of smoke, more mud in places that you did not know even existed, and likely a motor that goes really QUIET after a REALLY big BANG!
WE DON’T NEED MORE…. WE NEED DIFFERENT AND BETTER!
Today our thinking somehow accepts a series of metrics that simply create nothing more than mediocrity and complacency. This morphs into a total avoidance of risk, which is actually the highest change motivator in clients if you will just engage with them in THEIR world.
Deal close rates are now OK as they drop into single digits. Only closing 3-4 % of your deals… just need MORE deals, right?
WRONG, need BETTER deals, and that can be done!
In the early days of industrial sales, the IBM team selling process was a dominant way of engaging with clients. Their management team took serious employment action with salespeople that had close rates of lower than 30%... 30% was a problem. Different times… I know!
But in today’s world of such low numbers being OK, we remove the drive to GROW. If we are to GROW we must change what we are doing today, or the results will simply look like today. If you are OK with NO growth, good luck. If not, then we must change what we think to change what we believe to get different results. AND WE CAN DO ALL OF THAT!
Most sales teams are saturated. Doing all that they can with all that they have and maybe adding a few resources… up until now. With an average close rate of, let's say 12%, to be very generous, you are very hard-pressed to grow that. Remember these are likely new pieces of business and only represent a small portion of your ongoing business stream. If you are aiming at GROWING you must grow existing and new business. In reality, you will need to triple your close rate to have ANY impact on your revenue stream 3%, 4 %, and 12% win rates won’t create growth. YOU NEED MORE!!!! Yep…. MORE. And you get that by changing what you are doing to get BETTER opportunities.
What would new skills would you need, what would you need to learn to double and triple your close rates with your current team? It is truly possible!
BETTER trumps MORE exponentially.
OK… so enough of the challenge. Here is your HOW, HOW do you create change in what you do that delivers BETTER? It is in your hands.
The link below is to a short video that Sharon-Drew Morgen and I recorded the other day. Give yourself a few minutes to listen curiously for THE answer to HOW do I make this change. She will touch on it, and guide you to her web site. Her site is a huge library of HOW.
Want to get UNSTUCK? Call Sharon-Drew (address her that way please) with your single biggest client challenge and ask her for help. You will find an amazing amount of specificity, action, creativity, and direct kindness!
This will take courage, strength, personal desire for excellence, and a willingness to make a difference WITH others around you in ways beyond selling, beyond your “stuff”. You will need to CARE about those you serve. If that is not in your belief system, that’s ok, you just need to ask for a tow truck to get your STUCK IN THE MUD ‘Jeep” out of the mess that it is in. If you are in AZ give me a call, my Rubicon is equipped for ANYTHING (photos available on request).
One last time perhaps…
OK…LET’S ROLL! The mud is hardening and we are stuck up to the axles…
Mitch Little
