Hammer Time! One, insightful question to reveal the inner workings in a sales candidate.

A long time ago, in suburb far, far away, I was a home builder. I learned how to build houses; learning the craft of carpentry from watching and imitating the best of the best on the various job sites I managed over 9 years. As a young guy, eager to learn, these men took the time to teach me because they sensed I really wanted to learn how they built what they built.

In my garage today, I have a bunch of hammers. Too many hammers, frankly, and it's time to thin the herd. Given the recent down-spacing my wife and I have undertaken, the hammers that served my home remodeling days can retire. Currently in my inventory, I have a 16oz. trim hammer, a 20oz. framing hammer, a roofing hammer with a square head and special markings. I have a drywall hammer with a special rounded head to depress the nail to allow taping to be done well. I have a axe hammer, a rubber mallet, a masonry hammer to severe bricks and stone properly. And I have a beastly, 10- pound sledge hammer behind the tool box for those "special" occasions. Oh, I have a big pipe wrench that I use as a hammer...when I can't find the right hammer or I need a bit more "persuasion" to do something. I can also attest to the fact that each of these hammers have hit my thumb nail squarely and sent me screaming to a location that allows certain "colorful language" to be expressed with vigor--and be heard clear as a bell, within a five- mile radius.

Each of these tools has been adapted and refined over 1000's of years to do the job it is intended to do. Sure, I can use the other hammers to make my the project work fine, but using the right tool, increases my odds of doing a better job and not getting injured by using the wrong fuel with the wrong rocket.

In hiring talent in the sales professionals and leadership talent, it's important to understand what kind of tools and hammers a person has in their personal skills tool box. What tools do they carry with them at all times that help build, fix, remodel or demolish various prospect calls and interactions that will lead to sales? Are they using the right tool in the situation?

During interviews, I suggest asking the candidate questions around how they processed and problem-solved a scenario that led to a sale or solved a problem. Here's a good one: What tools of persuasion do you use, Mrs. Candidate, to gain trust and acceptance? What words, ideas, metaphors, examples, props, pictures, videos, drawings, did they use to engage the client to pay attention and ultimately sign the contract?

By having the candidate show you every step they used, it will give you insights to their intellectual capacity to be self-aware and think quickly when a client curveball is thrown. Look for patterns and processes that are replicable in all sales situations. Professional sales people that earn higher incomes are the same ones that think quickly and can process information logically and find counter arguments to win the customer over with new and more accurate data. It's not a matter of "selling the customer on your stuff" it's the skill of persuading that person to change their mind with better intel and facts you share to support your case for their successful outcome.

Nothing Is "Artificial" About Artificial Intelligence: Sales, Marketing, Human Capital Research are...Peppered with AI Opportunities

In the swanky world of Beverly Hills a few weeks ago, big money/big suits/big thinkers and big innovators are sipping bottled water, sitting on nicely padded chairs, taking in the Milken Global Conference. I too, have I’ve attended this event many times and yes, very jealous I’m not rubbing elbows with my friends, colleagues and other big shots that would be great for selfies. I’m not however, missing spending $600 bucks a nite for a room the size of a pizza box and using soap encased in a wrapper I can’t even open without a targeted air strike, but remember, I’m not bitter.

However, I’m not there, so I live the event vicariously from reports, soundbites and social media images. LinkedIn’s staff of writers have also done a great job feeding the world clues to the event’s key takeaways.

The topics at the conference are snooping around AI (Artificial Intelligence). And while the AI topic is vast and conveniently broad for discussions to keep all nice suits and dresses in seats interested, AI is far from “Artificial” as it relates to a broader use in today’s marketplace.

·      Have you explored any recent articles, headlines or research that had AI in the title?

·      Has your marketing team or sales leadership brought you ideas/trends or questions on how AI is relevant?

·      Do you understand what AI can do for your business if someone actually invests time to investigate?

If these questions have you shaking your head, you’re not alone. And you are also behind in your study of AI’s real value in 2017 for profit-making.

What is and Why AI?

Mention AI to someone and the reactions are quite broad. Some view AI as science fiction-oriented, thinking in involves drilling into one’s skull, robots stealing identities and some intelligent life form descending upon us to steal our ideas. And if the later were the case, why do such UFO sightings typically reported to occur in Montana or Wyoming? The fact that most of our previously-used plutonium, radioactive barrels of various stuff, and 4200 cases of bentonite-laced sparkling water from the 1980s, and maybe some kryptonite, is buried in these areas may be a slight clue, but that’s another conversation.

Others, view AI, as something only big companies gather, buy/sell, use to grow even larger. In either case, perhaps we should abandon the juxtaposition of the words “artificial” and “intelligence.” Intelligence is far from artificial and artificial intelligence is not “fake” intelligence. It’s merely in a different form, a different format; a refined formula of information; a synthetic collection of random data that has been bulleted and whipped into a dynamic shake of good, nutritious information now able to be digested. All fancy ways of saying artificial intelligence is delivered and left to interpret and season to dietary business needs.

As a retained executive search professional for decades and behavioral scientist, I’ve had the chance to both research and be involved with various applications and experimentation with AI in business. Wild stuff, I might add. From Sales training and marketing concepts using competitive intelligence gathering, self-directed profiling (that is not intended to harm others or misguide intent), data mining, demographic filtering, as well as IQ/EQ/CQ meta analysis, with a dash of neuroscience and behavioral economics, there are 100s of approaches to capturing research intelligence. And, even armed with a mere 15% of the available data and review that “could” be done, companies, private corporations, independent sales organizations, marketing and PR firms, as well as any service providers from Chicago to Venus could drive more sales revenue from the data just waiting to be plucked and deciphered for profit. And all free, by the way.

AI use, for example can be implemented and utilized in: driving sales revenue, enhancing marketing materials, messages, brochures, website material, sales training/presentations/preparation, leadership/mentoring/succession planning, negotiating/persuasion strategies, strategic-planning, market and product research, as well as talent acquisition strategies and effective interviewing tactics.

Coupling the information and insights that AI delivers, with the research tools and ideas with behavioral science modeling, you and your organization can streamline targeting your ideal customer, reducing turnover in hiring, enhance revenue, drive more traffic to websites and storefronts, as well as parlay customer service and operations to be subtle revenue units without blinking an eye.

Here’s some examples of how to incorporate AI in seamless fashions immediately (for more ideas, read The Big Swing, available on Kindle:

1.      Pre-call planning for the sales team

2.      Marketing/vocabulary review

3.      Persuasion/negotiation research and hit at last 3-4 different elements in each piece.

4.      Leadership training in behavioral-based interviewing.

5.      Infographics to the rescue! Infographic displays keep USA Today on the front rack of every airport news counter in the world. Graphs, color, comparisons, teasers and tidbits keep readers turning pages. More publishers are using these tools to deliver legitimate data in a more fun and enticing format for viewers. Set the new standard in your industry with better, compelling visuals. (Note: The picture of bright red and yellow peppers is an sneaky, but effective, example of how the eye is drawn to these two bright colors. The confusing “pepper” picture paired with a story on AI and appearing in a business-oriented image expectation of LinkedIn creates subconscious interest. Thus, the “ gotcha!” effect can work to capture the curious mind. Our visual cortex, can’t help but look and follow bright images to see what all the buzz is about. Use this physiology fact to your benefit. Sorry, I had to do this to help make the point.)

6.      LinkedIn research of each person you intend to speak with

7.      Demographics magazine, free research sites and newsletters to key in top 4 issues/problems/trends of an industry or company

8.      Government sites on wages, labor, census, etc. Learn where/what people are

9.      Vocabulary enhancement

10.  Writing as expert: Publication is the star of affirmation, acceptance, authority and accreditation. Approval to print signifies review and agreement

11.  Goal setting and AI to understand human behavior

12.  Leadership culture. What leaders do, think and strive for are far different as perceived by others

13.  Follow the hobby trail. We all want adventure capital. Follow the fuel to the machine for common ground and acceptability.

What Stephen Hawking Said To Me About Our Brief Moment In Time

Somewhere in the Cosmos: Circa, 1989.

In 1988, Stephen Hawking published, A Brief History of Time. A book that while I claimed that I read, I had no idea what in the name of Copernicus I was reading. The concepts, analogies and metaphors were so far over my head, so far over my pay grade, so hard for me to wrap my frontal lobe around, that it turned out to be one of the turning points in my life and my career.

So rare is it that in our lifetimes, we meet only a handful of people that we really can point to as having been an inspiring and influential part of who we are. And while there are so many more that have influenced us over a lifetime, maybe 8 or 10 stand out, as we reflect at our own brief history in time.

Stephen Hawking has been one of those people in my life.

It was 1989, by the time I read the book and had been reading the newspaper reviews about the book. This was before the Web was born, so gathering more info on Hawking and his work included trips to the library and scanning books. It was in these months that helped me convince me that I needed to go back to college. I was 31 years old, married, our first baby and a new job in the executive search field having left the homebuilding industry, records showed I had a whooping 5 college credits to my name over the prior 15 years from various programs. It was time to raise my game. I knew it and my wife knew it. And for what ever reason, Hawking's book, his story, his disability, his quest to study such a vast field with the struggles he had caught my attention and struck a nerve with me--a nerve that told me I needed to learn more about...well everything.

By early 1990, I was enrolled in college as a part time student and started my quest to secure more knowledge, secure a bachelors degree and do what I needed to do for me. Over the next 14 years, I earned 3 degrees in psychology and behavioral science, in the end, having become just a little obsessive about learning more. I read every book Hawking wrote along the way. And I read about astronomy, cosmology, geology, psychology, anthropology, biology, sociology, chemistry, geometry and any "ology" I could find.

Hawking said to me--in his ideas, his philosophies, his research and reasoning methodologies--that my ability to think vibrantly, vastly; to be fearless of the outcome or awareness that new ideas may bring to me; to study and observe nature and human nature and universal laws without judgement, without trying to make a case for or against, but to consider all points of view, were the words he spoke to me. His quest, his tenacity, no doubt, was far more profound and genius than anything I could imagine, but he was driven by not only the quest for meaning and structure, but to prevent himself--his physical body--from disintegrating in a chair before he was 40. A goal larger than himself was what he needed to keep himself from turning to dust. He was driven to make an impact on the world with this ideas, his theories, his drive. And so he did.

Over the past 30 years, since I read his first book and learned about this complex man--bolted and taped to a wheelchair for most of his life--my world, my passion for science and research; my curiosity for wanting to know what lies beneath or what flies above, has been influenced by his willingness to push his boundaries to the limits. He inspired me to push myself to extend my knowledge, to write books that reflected ways to improve our lives. He encouraged me to join the ranks of the scientific community and engage in research projects through academic achievement and pursuit; and to share ideas in a way that others can consider...just for a brief moment in time.

And, ironically, only a brief few weeks ago, prior to Hawking's death, I decided to return to a solo retained search practice, naming it New Frontier Search Company--a name influenced by this inspiring scientist I have admired. I am grateful that he lived in my lifetime, and as the saying goes, "when the student is ready, a teacher will appear." So off I go... into the New Frontier.

Death, Cake & The Traveling Sales Professionals Head Back to The Office

By Russ Riendeau: Dateline, June 10: Somewhere in the rainforests of northwest of Chicago, Illinois.

This prehistoric reptile you see above, found it's way to within five feet of my favorite porch chair, a few mornings ago. With the shell at about 13 inches long, this snapping turtle could be 25-35 years old, on her way to 75-100 years old. She will outlive me.

With a face perfect for radio, she starred me down like I'd just snatched the last Klondike Bar from her cooler.

Ever so slowly I knelt down, attempting to get close enough for a nice "graduation photo," or should I say a "shell...fie" while remaining far enough away to escape her seductive good looks and jaws that crush broom handles like pretzel rods. And, despite having run a PB 5:35 mile in high school, I still was queasy about being able to run fast enough from this snapping turtle that had just laid 25 eggs (90% won't make it a year in the wild) in our flower garden, probably not feeling like having her picture taken. The little razor sharp white fangs under her chin, by the way, is not a bow tie, but special teeth to gnaw their way out their shells.

Motivation to excel in something is easy to find, if the activity is intrinsically wired into your internal being. Gnawing your way out of a thick shell after being buried for nearly two months, waiting for your fangs to come in may motivate turtles. Intrinsic motivation, at it's best, in Darwinian terms. Not many 5-year olds are thinking " I want to be a dentist...I want to work at the DMV....I would love a job rodding restaurant grease traps." These kids are contemplating movement and gratification of all kinds in exploring their world. The activities involving something one loves to do are innate. We doesn't first calculate the return or average income to decide whether or not we would pursue the hobby.

Professional selling is certainly tied into intrinsic motivation--despite rumors that sales professionals are in it for one primary reason: money. Selling as a profession is hard work, exhausting work, that demands extreme amounts of preparation and planning sessions, the ability to be "on" all the time, and engaging in active listening at all times to both project interest and to be on watch for buying clues. The time spent traveling, as well, takes a physical and mental toll on all professionals and sales people are no exception. Pressures and logistics of making appointments on the faith of the airlines schedule, transportation, security issues, traveling with products, maintaining a professional appearance and looking confident, crisp, is not easy going being in hot planes, cars, ubers and trains.

Travel is exhausting. Remember this old humorous story?:

Poor Phil, a 40-year old traveling sales professional is lying as dead as a cold lead, in his coffin. His wake is attended by many.

An old friend stands over Phil while talking to Phil’s boss right beside him and says, “Wow, Phil was so young and he looks so good. What did he have?”

“South Dakota and part of Iowa,” the boss says, shaking his head.

In today's technology-driven world, there are more and more ways to reduce the amount of time sales and management professionals spend on planes, in rental cars and sitting in airports. Justin Ross-Marsh's book: The Machine, makes a compelling pitch to shift the way leaders are starting to hire, train and coach sales professionals from the inside of the office and away from knocking on hinged doors to knocking on cyber doors. This shift purports that sales professionals can be more efficient, more streamlined and earn more money and sales with better systems. And the customers? Well, they're already ready for the cyber door call. They don't want to see the sales person too soon. They are gathering their data and when ready, they'll meet.

Whether you buy-in to this potential shift of the inside out sales person, there is compelling evidence it is happening--and it's working.

As more competition shifts to a more robust web presence, interactive websites, and automatic ordering and allowing customers to access inventory numbers (much like Federal Express pioneered in the 1990s), we all will have to consider when we shift.

For now, managers can start to train and recruit sales people that have the proven qualities of a sales process or system that they can utilize in many different industries.

Does your sales team have the teeth to gnaw out of their sales shell long underground and find their way to the sun and the water? Will they be in the 10% that survive and thrive? (Like the nice tie-into the turtle picture metaphor, eh?)

The strong won't survive-- the adaptable will.

Russ