Greater than the sum of its parts
(This is the companion post to the Business Journal column on how much more is at stake than we think when a sale is made)
When is a sale not just a sale? When, in fact, can it become something much, much more?
Let’s take the current NBA World Champion Dallas Mavericks, for instance. How did a bunch of geezers beat LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and the rest of the heavily favored, mighty Miami Heat last June? It took their lone superstar, Dirk Nowitzki, to really heat up (no pun intended) and for the Mav’s supporting cast to compete with a larger sense of purpose than the self-annointed, self-centered Miami triplets.
Dallas’s impressive feat provides the moral for our story: if it’s all about you, combined with a singular, myopic goal (a “win”), then an enormous opportunity is missed to kill more than one bird with your lone sales stone. If more can be accomplished within an event, in this case a sales call, then why not do it? From everything I’ve read, the Mavs believed in their hearts that they were trying to win the big one for their fans, their owner, and maybe most importantly, for each other. Aging veterans that they were, they didn’t know when they’d ever get another chance to claim the ring.
Having multiple, virtuous motivations provided greater meaning for the old dudes from Dallas.
Imagine coming out of a sales call and reviewing the checklist below, marking off each item that you accomplished. ”Every sale is an opportunity to … “
- Represent
- Be interested
- Impress
- Learn
- Help
- Entertain
- Inspire
- Establish community
- Reciprocate
- Create a new sales force
- Praise
Now, consider if you did that for your next 100 sales calls. How long would it take for these components to become habit? At what point would the whole become greater than the sum of its parts? How long would it take to create meaningful marketplace separation by striking the genuine customer chord?
