“It’s The Way We Put It Together, That Sets Us Apart”

Too often, when we look at high performance organizations or sellers, we tend to focus on one or two things they do, attributing those their success.

• “High performers leverage technology…..”
• “High performers are better prospectors….”
• “They create much superior value…”
• “They have consistently better pipelines….”
• “They leverage social platforms….”
• ……and on and on…

We can go on and on with the single things that high performing people and organizations do better than others. And, too often, those “single performance levers,” have to do with something someone is selling. Perhaps a sales methodology, technology/tools, a service or consulting program.

We nurture and reinforce the thinking, “If we did this one thing, all our performance problems will be solved….”

We read research reports, reinforcing the “just one thing,” mindset:

• “X% of high performers do research before contacting a customer, versus Y% of everyone else.” And X is always significantly higher than Y.
• “High performers leverage X technology tools to help them sell, others use Y tools.” Again, X is always greater than Y.
• ….and we can go on….

Again, the implication is that by focusing on one thing will drive higher levels of performance.

The reality is, consistent high performance can never be attributed to just one thing, but it is the consistent execution of more of those things that drive performance than those that don’t do those things.

Recently, Matt Dixon and I were having a conversation around why high performers are more effective in helping customers deal with indecision. We discussed, “Is it just that they respond to customer indecision better than others, or is there something else?” As we discussed it, it’s clear they respond, more appropriately, to indecision than others do (most of us tend to double down on FUD.). But we, also, realize that high performers do things differently from the very first engagement with the prospect or customer. They earn trust, they engage the customer on their business issues, they learn and discover with the customer, they help the customer think about things differently, they have empathy and care, they help the customer make sense of all the information they are inundated with, they help the customer navigate their buying process, they help the customer gain confidence they are doing the right thing, they help……

High performers don’t do all these things all of the time, but the do more of these things more consistently than others.

It is so much easier to look for that “ONE THING,” but it doesn’t exist. It’s pure wishful thinking or the sales pitch of someone that wants you to think it’s just one thing.

It’s the way that high performers put all these things together, that sets them apart.

It’s their ability to consistently execute more of the right things, that sets them apart.

It’s their ability to constantly learn, grow, change, and improve, that sets them apart.

It’s their continued caring and commitment to their customers and their people. Their commitment to their success, always, that sets them apart.

Let’s stop looking for miracle cures. Let’s start doing our jobs–the whole job! Let’s grow and improve by more consistently executing everything that drives success and high performance.