Category: My AQ

Selling to the Board

2/24/2022

The foundation of High AQ is the ability to provide six answers (High AQ Practice 1). My AQ is a series of articles that feature business executives that provide six answers to important topics and questions.

Jason Langford Brown used AQ to help a 20-year-old big ticket project management company sell to the board of an international resort. Engineers at the client firm were tasked with presenting to the board, something they were not comfortable doing. Jason helped his client develop six answers the engineers used to answer pressing why-, what-, and how-questions. The result... the engineers won the deal and two others from the same client valued at $2.5 million in total fees. They are also now discussing more than 10 additional projects.

Each answer by itself relates to a specific question. If you take all the answers together, it is the cumulative and reinforcing aspect of the answers that communicate the value proposition of a selling organization. The AQ framework provided the engineers important preparation for a board level conversation as well as a dynamic tool to help them adjust their answers as the conversation naturally shifted to different types of questions.

WHAT is your service?

WHY should we buy from you?

HOW do we work with you?

WHAT is your service?

Concept

Metaphor

Concept

WHAT is your service?
It was important to distinguish two key concepts: project management vs. project leadership.

The competition was focused upon project management which involves doing "what you are asked to do."

Project leadership is being able to adapt to changes and bring expertise to achieve the best possible results.

Metaphor

WHAT is your service?
To distinguish themselves from their competitors two metaphors were used. First, the competitors were described as a railroad, good at making sure the trains run on time.

Trains are fine if you know the stations in between and the final destination. But building a multimillion dollar resort is not straightforward and changes occur.

Instead, Jason's clients navigate the stormy sea. A story sea requires dynamic changes. This requires leadership. There will be unforeseen rocks and storms, you need a captain to navigate the seas.

These two metaphors contrasted project management (the railroad) vs. project leadership (the story sea).

WHY should we buy from you?

Theory

Story

Theory

WHY should we buy from you?

The theory is:

Project Leadership → Maximization of Lifetime Value

For example, if $150 million dollars is put in and the investors are not just interested in the value of a project at the end. But the yield throughout the lifetime of the investment is important. Project leadership, not project management, is required to maximize lifetime value.

Story

WHY should we buy from you?

The selling organization had many case studies. The key was to identify those case studies that most closely aligned with maximizing lifetime value by showcasing project leadership.

A half-dozen case studies were pulled out for relevance in different ways (similiar geography, similiar kind of resort, etc).

Having the six examples gave the engineers the initial confidence going into the meeting they would have stories on point.

HOW do we work with you?

Procedure

Action

Procedure

HOW do we work with you?

The client had a clear 5-step process for ongoing project leadership.

Step1: Envision
Step 2: Clarity
Step 3: Challenge
Step 4: Delivery
Step 5: Future Proof
(return to step 1)

Action

HOW do we work with you?

The engineers communicated to the board key actions that differentiated them in the marketplace as project leaders.

For example:

As Leaders they not only challenge the project teams, but also their clients, to deliver on the project goals that are collectively established.
As Leaders they assume the role of advocates of client goals and funds by providing detailed project accounting processes that ensure accurate and transparent reporting.
As Leaders they manage communication of project RISK. All projects have levels of risk that need to be navigated and directed. They have weekly and monthly reporting of exposure and risk that keep stakeholders updated.
As part of the Evaluation Phase on every project, as Leaders they visualize the project before they release the design team and execute. It becomes their commitment to the project stakeholders and a road map to successful completion.

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The Six Answers of Caring

6/25/2021

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The foundation of High AQ is the ability to provide six answers (High AQ Practice 1). My AQ is a series of articles that feature business executives that provide six answers to important topics and questions.

Jim Naro is a Predictive Index Partner and Business Partner of Customer Centric Selling. Jim cares about his clients. So often caring is an empty-phrase. Not for Jim. He has six answers to demonstrate he cares for his clients.

Each answer by itself relates to a specific question. If you take all the answers together, it is the cumulative and reinforcing aspect of the answers that communicate authenticity.

WHAT is caring?

WHY is caring important?

HOW do I care?

WHAT is caring?

Concept

Metaphor

Concept

WHAT is caring?

For Jim, caring is a concept that consists of four dimensions:

Long-term orientation: If you care about someone you want to be there for long-haul.
Investment orientation: Your first instinct is to help others and you provide a lot of support.
Trust: You can be relied upon by others.
Broad relationships: You care about someone personally and professionally.

Metaphor

WHAT is caring?

In sales, the metaphor of "land and expand" is used (particularly internally). Or the metaphor of "hunters" or "farmers" is used. When you hunt, the herd is diminished and an unaware being is shot dead. This is the opposite of caring.

Jim's metaphor is consistent with farming: "plant and grow." But, he is passionate about trees, and that is where he locates his metaphor. He has different species in his yard. He likes to see them grow. The metaphor is authentic.

WHY is caring important?

Theory

Story

Theory

WHY is caring important?

Jim's theory is....

Caring → Job Performance

Caring is important because it increases job performance. Theory is often subtle. Jim realizes he cares about increasing performance. Connecting caring to a work outcome separates caring from personal life. Often it is easy for a caring-relationship at work to digress to friendship or enjoyment, and the focus on performance is lost.

Jim is goal oriented, but he does this through developing relationships with customers, not focusing on transactional projects.

Story

WHY is caring important?

Jim can tell several stories of caring that demonstrate the importance of caring to those he works with.

It started on Campus (story): Jim is a college professor at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), where he teaches Sales Leadership. He was working with students to equip them for sales roles in the workplace. In order to help these students he became certified in Predictive Index (PI) so he could use this resource with his students. He had no intention of selling PI as a consultant. By servicing his students, it eventually led to learning about PI and ultimately wanting to share PI with his business clients.

The moral of the story is that caring is at the center of what he does and the solutions he uses in business have others' interests at heart.

HOW do I care?

Procedure

Action

Procedure

HOW do I care?

Jim has both broad and specific procedures to care for his clients. The broad journey he goes on with his clients consists of three steps:

Step 1: Questionnaire. He asks questions about the person and the organization. When you care about someone, you focus broadly.

Step 2: Boots on the ground. Many consultants provide guidance only. Jim cares so he participates on sales calls with clients, and conducts talent strategy sessions.

Step 3: What else can we work on? Often a cliché, consultants want to land and expand. But, in a caring relationship, getting involved in more aspects of the relationship is a natural outcome.

Action

HOW do I care?

Actions are used to implement each step of a procedure.

Jim only provides solutions the client needs. There are so many layers to complex sales. Jim starts small and he realizes that a relationship will grow over time (see Procedure step 3).

It is tempting to say every consultant provides what the client needs. But the reality is that many consultants care more about themselves than the client.

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Selling to the Board

The Six Answers of Caring

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