What a fighter pilot can teach us about increasing sales.

In the gulf war, before an F15 pilot friend of mine went into a dogfight, he would turn off all but a couple of his heads up warning and information systems .  Why?  Because the “feature-rich” environment created so much information overload that it kept him from being focused on the two things he needed to focus on - shooting the other guy down and staying alive.   What does that have to do with increasing sales?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, as with most software, suffers from the same “feature-rich” problem.  And it actually has the opposite effect than intended – it actually keeps us from making more money.

The key to making more money in less time is not feature rich CRM software, but simplicity, intentionality, and speed of execution.

We actually think more is better, but our usage doesn’t gel with our thinking.  Some say that 90% of MS Word buyers use only 10% of the features.  I would guess the gap is even bigger.  In CRM software, we over-pay for a feature rich environment that should be turned off so we can concentrate on the two things we should focus on – 1) moving people through the sales pipeline while 2) growing raving fans of our existing clients.

Why do we buy CRM software?  Largely because our addiction to information, reports, and dizzying statistics makes us feel like we’re actually growing our business when we’re just being really organized.  “I have a great database, I must be doing well in sales.”  This is EFFICIENCY without EFFECTIVENESS.

What we really need to build our sales:
1) simplicity – a) who are we talking to, b) where are they in the buying process, and c) what is the next thing and date I need to do to move them forward?  With exceptions, the rest of the features are just distractions to make us feel like we’re working when we’re really just playing office.  Go talk to people.
2) Intentionality – the key isn’t more info - it’s having a specific date for every action that moves the relationships forward – just get out and get it done on that date.
3) Speed of execution – stop looking at your spreadsheets/CRM and go talk to people.  A robust CRM with tortured reports is not the basis for making more money.  Speed of execution is the #1 indicator of success among successful sales people.  Time kills deals.

I need something simple that will get me out of my office, off my computer, away from my database and in front of my clients and potential clients, developing referrals, and making more money in less time. A CRM that could do that would be worth buying.  I haven’t found one yet.

I use a spreadsheet that tells me who I’m talking to, where they are in the process, and the next thing/date for moving them forward.  Then I go do it.   It isn’t very impressive, and I can’t print out graphs, charts, and complex reports.  All it does is help me make more money in less time.

Do you have a simple pipeline management system that serves you and keeps you moving forward?  (FYI – having no tracking system is even worse than having something that is too complex.)  Turn off all the distracting features that aren’t focused directly on making more money, and get focused on speed of execution in doing the two-three things that will bring you more clients.  Happy hunting!

5 Comments

This article was posted in Uncategorized on November 10th, 2008

Barrett Blank (CRM Sales Guru) says:

November 10th, 2008 at 11:14 am

I whole heartily agree with your premise that sales people should be out selling and focusing on the one or two critical issues which allows more effective closing and relationship development. (This coming from a CRM guru and salesperson)

However, intuitively we do not know these one or two critical issues or KPIs. If we guess, we risk being blinded to critical steps in the process and losing key information. Often it is required to track many different processes and activities to come up with
these golden nuggets of enlightenment.

The true value of a “Sales focused CRM” is to automate the capture of these essential
sales elements to allow salespersons to be more effective in selling than data entry.

The true test of CRM solution and provider is if they truly understand the marketing and sales process and can leverage the tools salespeople are already comfortable using. i.e. Sales people live in Microsoft Outlook for Email and Calendar. 90% of all the data required by a CRM already resides in these tools.

All it takes is a provider who knows how to leverage
these tools to create a system that will really ‘hit the target’ - Simplicity , Intentionality and Speed.

Check us out , we might be just what you are looking for http://www.nextiersales.com

Bob Potter says:

November 10th, 2008 at 11:28 am

Hi Chuck,

I really enjoy your postings. Wait, enjoying is one thing, but putting them into practice is another. Your posts have caused me to stop and consider how I can put your lessons into practice on numerous occasions. Most blogs don’t do this. Good job :)

I’ve experimented with a number of CRM solutions. At my last employer I used three and I stopped adding info to everyone because it took more time than it was worth.

Now I use two - Gmail and Highrise (http://highrisehq.com/).

First, everone I meet goes in my Gmail contacts list with their full contact info.

Once I start a conversation or sales process I add them to Highrise. The free account allows me to manage up to 250 people and leave notes and todos. I use the Notes to summarize my conversation or where things were left off. I use the Todo feature to leave reminders for myself (these get emailed to me as well).

I’m a web designer, so these work great for me, but probably not so well for more than 1-2 people.

Lise Bellmar says:

November 10th, 2008 at 12:07 pm

We are trying to live VERY INTENTIONALLY these days, more action and not so much minutia.

Thanks for the heads up on a Monday.

Yellow Baron says:

November 10th, 2008 at 3:20 pm

Fighter pilots have experiences that are excellent analogies for business ownership.

Just like a fighter pilot seeing a swarm of planes ahead we have to pick our fights. We must allocate our resources in the way that is most effective for creating a raving fan out of a good client.

In terms of marketing this means finding the win/win.

Clients who want win/win replenish our resources/fuel so that we may live to fly again.

I will settle for par avion compared to those people who have the ability to be fighter pilots. But fly by night - no can do.

cfblakeman says:

November 10th, 2008 at 7:59 pm

Barrett,

Good post - you have the size and flexibility to respond well to the market on this, especially because your “on the ground” with your CRM. For those looking for one, check out http://www.nextiersales.com

Bob,

Thanks for the feedback. I am familiar with Highrise and know a number of people actually USING it like you - nicely done.

Lise,

I agree - living simply and intentionally is simple until I try to do it. The Tyranny of the Urgent is always running over the Priority of the Important, and I have to focus on doing those simple/hard things that make me money. We’re all in the boat together - you know the drill! :) Conate…

Stephanie/Yellow Baron,

My friend told me most of his buddies did the same thing - turning off most the systems - and nobody let Command know. When they found out they went nuts, but future planes were re-designed to provide only the essential information for success.

The problem is that you can’t sell something if you say “It’s a simple system, but you’ll have to work hard.” We’d much rather buy something so full of features that it should just bring us clients, too - (isn’t that one of the features?!). :)

Best,

Chuck

Leave a Comment