Strength of Personality Key to Outside Sales Success

This is an occasional series describing (anonymously) a real challenge faced by one of my clients and my recommendation to them.

Please let me know what topics you’d like to see included in this series.

- Paul

Strength of Personality Key to Outside Sales Success

Scenario:

A sales manager for an electric motor manufacturer has two outside salespeople with similar personality patterns as reported by a personality assessment tool but vastly different sales results.

Personality Patterns (as reported by a personality assessment):

Successful Salesperson – He is Very Extroverted, Very Impatient, Dominant and Informal

Unsuccessful Salesperson – He is Extroverted, Impatient, Dominant and Informal

The Issue:

The sales manager had used a job and personality assessment system to select these two salespeople. The job assessment for the position called for somebody who was first and foremost an extrovert. Second priority in the job assessment was impatience with dominance and informality the final elements. Since both salespeople match this pattern why is one successful and the other is not?

Personality Assessment Analysis and Recommendation:

While both salespeople have personality patterns that match the job target there is an important difference between the two people that could explain the performance difference. The difference has to do with the strength relating to the drives measured in the assessment.

The successful salesperson has much stronger drives shown in his pattern. His extroversion and impatience are both very strong compared to, at best, moderate strength in his unsuccessful colleague.

The stronger measures on these PI factors means the successful salesperson feels the key drives needed for this position more intensely and should exhibit more-impactful behaviors related to the job. The sales environment for these outside salespeople is very demanding – strong competitors constantly threatened to undercut them and their industrial customers have very demanding purchasers. In the face of these pressures, the stronger personality performs more effectively.

I recommended they include drive strength as a key element in their future decisions on assignments.

Our New Mobile SIG APP! (The SIG Chronicles, XXV)

By Paul Dumouchelle, VP SIGs (2011-2012)

Looking for the killer app to make your marketing a mobile powerhouse? Seeking the ultra-engaging interactive app to create stark raving fans? Researching how to make the mobile touchscreen a gateway to ever-higher profits?

On August 25 the Columbus AMA launches our newest SIG – Mobile Marketing – and while not an “app” as commonly understood (my apologies for the slightly misleading headline) we will strive to help you answer the questions above.

This is the first new-topic SIG for the AMA in several years. We seek to address the fast-changing world of mobile marketing, providing insights and examples for marketing practitioners. Our strategy will be to focus on how organizations that market products and services utilize the capabilities which mobile technology allows.

This new SIG is being launched under the leadership of Ryan Frederick, Mobile Strategist at Allen, Williams & Hughes Company (AWH).

To kick off this new SIG, Ryan has organized the following program for 8/25 (Register to attend Here!):

The Columbus Zoo & Aquarium Goes Mobile – Gregg Oosterbaan from The Columbus Zoo will speak about their path to a mobile app. Gregg will discuss how and why they decided to go down the mobile path, how they developed a strategy, what their objectives are for the mobile app, and how they determined how they were going to get the app implemented.

Gregg Oosterbaan is the Director of Technology Services for the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, overseeing all aspects of technology for the zoo, Zoombezi Bay Water Park, Safari Golf Course, and the Wilds.

Features of the Zoo’s mobile app were highlighted in a recent press release.

About “The SIG Chronicles:” This blog series records Paul Dumouchelle’s experiences, impressions and insights gained as a leader in the Special Interest Group (SIG) program for the Columbus branch of the American Marketing Association. Paul is currently VP of SIGs for the 2011-2012 program year. 

Baby Boomer Leadership Forecast

By Paul Dumouchelle, VP for SIGs

According to Chuck Underwood, Owner, The Generational Imperative, Inc., we are entering the period when Baby Boomers will fill most key leadership posts in America. Implications of this transition were highlighted in his presentation, “Generational Leadership Transition & the American Marketplace” at the July 12, 2011, Columbus AMA luncheon.

Key impact of this shift to Boomer leadership on the workplace will be:

• Expect more boldness, Boomers bring an attitude of “if it ain’t broke, break it” – in pursuit of the best you cast aside what already exists
• Product development will change as creativity is prized
• Greater focus on the 50+ age segment as businesses chase markets with more money
• Brand loyalty won’t drive purchasing unless the brand’s performance matches it promise

Each generation leads for two decades and Boomers are now taking over from their predecessors. Other elements of generational studies include:

• Formative years mold core values
• Currently have five living generations
• Generational values guide decisions

The boundaries between generations are defined by times when change creates different experiences that then drive different values.

Today’s five living generations:

1. “G.I.” – born between 1901-26, over 85 years old, known as the “Greatest Generation” due to adulthood roles in Depression and World War II.
2. “Silent” – born 1927-45 & currently 66-84 years old.
3. “Boomer” – born 1946-64, currently 47-65 years old.
4. “Gen X” – born 1965-81, 30-46 years old.
5. “Millenial” – 1982-now, 29 & under.
Note: Since generational values can’t be observed in people under 18, the end-date of the Millenial generation won’t be known until a change is measured in young adults.

Mr. Underwood doesn’t think much of the leadership results provided by the Silent generation. He points to the failures at Enron, Andersen Consulting, Worldcom and others as results of the Silent generation’s focus on conformity, organizational loyalty and material wealth.

Boomers values of optimism, empowerment, engagement fair play and idealism in search of a more-perfect America are born from their experience growing up in an era “as magical as magical gets.” Under the leadership of the G.I. generation we had strong families, tight communities, stable jobs and historical social progress.

The consciousness movements of Boomer youth and young adulthood (1961-75) still shape our world:

• Civil Rights movement
• Feminist movement
• Ecology movement
• War protests
• Sexual revolution
• Drug revolution

So even though Boomers “inherit a leadership situation that is the moral and ethical equivalent of a toxic waste dump” Underwood seems optimistic they will outperform their predecessors. Underwood emphasizes that Boomers are the first generation with a significant percentage of women and minorities in leadership roles. As a dual-gender, multi-ethnic generation he expects them to:

• Focus on good ethics
• Value emotional factors
• Seek longer-term solutions
• Value social benefits
• Question rule compliance
• Constantly question the status quo

As a Boomer myself I, of course, question the validity of Mr. Underwood’s thesis and analysis but I’ve got to admit he makes my generation look good. If we screw it up as bad as the Silents history will not be so kind.

Profiles in Cool – Entrepreneur Succeeds via Organizational Change

By Paul Dumouchelle

Decisions involve risk and the riskiest business decision is starting a new company. Successful entrepreneurs embrace this risk. The start-up challenge excites and motivates them like nothing else. Yet after initial success many entrepreneurs stall on a plateau of profitable stability – something I call “The Entrepreneurs Plateau.”

Scott Holtkamp, CEO of blind acre media (bam) in Columbus exemplifies this scenario but he has escaped the plateau by accepting the risk involved in transforming his organization to achieve the next level.

Launching bam on 1/1/08, Scott had the pleasure of stearing his new venture into the teeth of the worst economic downturn in over 50 years. As with many of his entrepreneurial peers, Scott believed his passion for taking ideas and making them reality required working as his own boss. Undercapitalized like most start-ups, but also facing a tight credit market, Scott focused on gaining a big deal that would stabilize his finances.

One advantage Scott held is that digital marketing does not require size to excel. No matter how many people an agency has what matters is the creative mind and programs that drive marketing results. With this in mind, Scott was determined to “play like a big boy” (a strategy also followed by the AMA’s Luncheon Speaker from June). Scott’s vision for bam is a network of boutique firms with no more than 40 people in any office. Size is important, as you tend to lose the personal touch in larger groups and the competitive edge in marketing often comes from the individual creative spark.

That creative spark in the world of digital marketing is what Scott calls the coolest part of his work. His world is an ever-changing market where innovation is never going to stop. The innovation is fueled by the fact that if you have an idea it can be built and those possibilities allow you to make an impact on something different every single day.

After pouring his heart and soul for over a year into what it would take to win bam’s first big client (including investing up to 25 hours/week to build his final pitch) Scott signed Paul Mitchell Schools.  Bam went from a team of 3 to 17 in from October, 2009, to April, 2010.

Shortly after this growth spurt was completed, in Scott’s own words, “I realized I was screwing up.” His entrepreneurial dream had become “work,” his vision for building a different type of company got sidetracked by the day-to-day demands of managing the business and team he had on hand. In reality, bam had grown too fast and the team was not working the way in which Scott wanted.

In truth, Scott’s realization that his situation needed to change put him ahead of many other entrepreneurs who never even understand how the companies they found become just another workplace. The next step Scott took place him in even rarer company, entrepreneurs who fundamentally rethink their organizational structure and staffing meet the needs of a business that has grown out of the urgency and perpetual crisis of a start-up. Within three months of restructuring his business he had doubled revenues with a new team organized differently with a headcount the same as a year earlier.

Today, in July, 2011, bam is fulfilling Scott’s vision of a group that will work hand in hand with a client as partners in digital marketing strategy, where the bam team has a clear view and plan for how current marketing activities support the client’s strategic goal.

Author’s Note:  This “Profiles in Cool” blog series puts the spotlight on folks in Central Ohio doing “cool” things in the field of marketing.  My definition of “cool” is 100% subjective – I welcome your comments!

Blank Canvas Here – Will You Paint It? (The SIG Chronicles, XXIV)

By Paul Dumouchelle, VP SIGs (2011-2012)

Creating new news inspires exciting advances in marketing. Identifying an opportunity and developing an experience – be it a product or service – to match the opportunity defines the ever-changing frontiers of the marketing profession. Like an artist, the successful marketer takes resources and combines creativity, innovation and media impact to produce something with audience appeal.

If you’re looking for a blank canvas on which to project your marketing genius – we have it! The Columbus Chapter of the American Marketing Association has a programming slot available for a new Special Interest Group (SIG).

• You Decide the Topic or Content Focus
• You Select the Meeting Site
• You Recruit the Experts to Highlight your Topic
• You Lead Your Team to SIG Program Success

The AMA provides the canvas:

• Proven structure for event management
• Managerial support from the Executive Board
• Membership group from which to recruit volunteers for your team
• Communications channel to promote your events
• A brand umbrella under which to recruit speakers

I can’t promise you the accolades of a Monet, Picasso or Warhol but you may achieve the standing of a Scheehle, Circle, Demarchi, Spira, Schmidt, Eckert or Frederick (our current SIG Chairs). What more could you ask for?

Topics under consideration for this new Marketing SIG include (BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO!!!):

• B2B (the topic of a previously successful SIG in Columbus)
• Nonprofit (ditto)
• Professional Services
• Brand Strategy & Management
• Public Relations & Communications
• Marketing Research
• Your Topic Not Listed Above Here

Please contact any of the AMA Executive Board or email sigs@columbusama.org to explore this further!

About “The SIG Chronicles:” This blog series records Paul Dumouchelle’s experiences, impressions and insights gained as a leader in the Special Interest Group (SIG) program for the Columbus branch of the American Marketing Association. Paul is currently VP of SIGs for the 2011-2012 program year.

Social Media Leadership (The SIG Chronicles, XXIII)

By Paul Dumouchelle, VP SIGs (2011-2012)

Our Social Media SIG has been one of the most-successful in recent years as measured by attendance. There are a number of reasons for this but chief among them has been outstanding leadership.

This past week marked the end of Erika Pryor’s time as Chairperson for this SIG. Erika’s success in this role should surprise nobody who knows her – there are some people I consider “forces of nature” and Erika fits in that category. “Force of nature” people transform activities and spaces through their presence and personal impact.

Erika’s LinkedIn profile lists her position as “Independent Publicist” and her skills in this field certainly helped the SoMe SIG (as she calls it) achieve consistently high participation. She is a master of social media activity – she has two website & two twitter accounts – so her expertise aligned with the topic of the SIG as well as provided her a great promotional platform.

Erika also had the benefit of building on the strong momentum created by the prior SoMe SIG Chair, Sandy Blanquera, who brought many of the same skills and capabilities Erika possesses to her reign leading up to July, 2010. Erika had worked with Sandy on the SoMe SIG so was well-prepared to step into the Chair role. While Erika’s team of volunteers is exceptionally strong, none were ready to replace her at this time.

The reason this post is in my SIG Chronicles series is that one of my responsibilities as VP of the SIG program is to make sure we have strong Chairpersons leading the SIGs. For example, finding somebody to replace me as Chair of the Healthcare SIG was one of my first “to do” items before starting the VP role. Jennifer Scheehle is stepping in to fill that role – she was first identified by Chapter President Jeff Dennis during a meeting in May.

Finding a new Chair for the SoMe SIG thus became a recruitment challenge. My contribution was to write up a an “ad” for the position and work with the rest of the AMA team to promote this opening. We had three great volunteer candidates step forward for this leadership role – which is an unusual luxury in my experience with volunteer groups – and further investigation led to the selection of Alison Circle, Marketing Director at Columbus Metropolitan Library.

Alison brings outstanding marketing skills, leadership qualities and connections within the Central Ohio community. She will probably take the SoMe SIG in some new directions as her own expertise in social media is not at the same level as Sandy’s or Erika’s (few people are!).

A successful SIG needs to focus on hot topics (Social Media fits that), hot speakers (Alison should be able to recruit these with her leadership qualities) and hot brands (ditto). As Alison took over the SoMe SIG this week she was well on her way to organizing the next event in September – stay tuned for details on how this works out!

About “The SIG Chronicles:” This blog series records Paul Dumouchelle’s experiences, impressions and insights gained as a leader in the Special Interest Group (SIG) program for the Columbus branch of the American Marketing Association. Paul is currently VP of SIGs for the 2011-2012 program year.

Bootstrap Marketing Insights from Successful Entrepreneur

By Paul Dumouchelle, VP for SIGs

At 31 years old and Chairman of a company he founded that now employs 80 people, Ray Bohac knows something about growing a business with limited resources in today’s economy.  Financing the old-fashioned way based on revenue from an expanding customer base, Ray had to employ business development strategies that made every penny count!

Speaking at Columbus Chapter of the American Marketing Association’s monthly luncheon on 6/14/11, Ray’s key strategies for efficient B2B marketing include:

• First & Foremost – Outstanding customer service.  Never forget that “product” is one of the four P’s in classical marketing.  In a B2B environment this becomes even more critical as word gets out in an industry about your performance – both good AND bad.
• #2 in importance is public relations.  In terms of bang for the buck the in-market presence you can create through a good, steady, coherent PR program can’t be beat.  Investing in developing a presence with market analysts is especially key – and this can be done just by talking with the analyst and taking them seriously without investing a lot of money.
• Make yourself look big & trustworthy – startups may be fast and nimble but the lack of a track record can make you look like a risky partner for prospective customers.  Deflect due diligence questions about size with well-designed websites, best practice whitepapers that build credibility, create a phone system with multiple options that exceed the number of people in the company, host networking events and staff them with every single member of the company.  Drop “trust bombs” on prospects – huge binders with a thin veneer of customized materials in the front pages then huge chunks of boilerplate (valuable info like press releases, white papers, etc., but boilerplate all the same).
• Leverage the overlap between sales and marketing.  In B2B the sales effort and the marketing effort are closely integrated – and for startups they are almost one and the same.  Make sure you’re mining the sales effort for information to be used in messaging, product development and competitive strategy.
• Out-compete your competitors.  Show prospects you want their business more than the competition.  Spy on competitors websites and customer interactions (ask prospects about the competitive pitch) and identify weak spots.  Ask customers what competitors say about you.  Mine the searches that hit your website for who is looking and what they’re looking for.  Look at forums and LinkedIn for what is going on with competitors.  Work the watering holes at trade shows, eavesdrop on lubricated conversations among competitors’ employees, talk to prospects & customers & competitors after buying them a beer.

These strategies and tactics (and more) let Ray build a business without breaking the bank.

One of Ray’s key strategies is “learn from mistakes.”  Things that didn’t work for him in his market include:

• Trade shows did not pay out in terms of lead generation.  It was important to be there for brand presence but it worked better to have a minimal presence and work the watering holes for networking and intelligence-gathering purposes.
• Cold calling – with a small staff and long sales process they never had the time and focus to work cold leads into warm ones.  They needed new business to survive and they would focus on any hot lead that came along to the exclusion of all else.
• Email campaigns – they could never find a list for their market that generated good results.

Ray emphasized the importance of marketing and not letting belief in the strength of your offering get in the way of being flexible to meet the needs of the market.  He said you can have an “A” grade for product performance and kill a business with “C” grade marketing – while “A” sales and marketing can take a “D” product to huge success.

Leadership Strategies for Social Media with Formal People

This continues my blog series about the leadership implications of social media.  Earlier entries:  Introduction; Low Dominance People; High Dominance People; Introverted People; Extroverted People; Impatient People; Patient People; Informal People

Personality Trait – Formality

These people are comfortable with a set structure, defined rules, and they will research topics in-depth to ensure they get the “right” answer.

Social Media Implications for Formality

Seeking to work the “right way” is an issue when any social media “rules” change so fast there is no consensus on what constitutes the “right way.”  Within the context of such risk aversion, however, there is still much that formal folks can find to like.  First and foremost is the explosion of information allowing endless research – this feeds their need for detail and can lead to greater certainty in many activities.

Another fact is that, chaotic appearances aside, social media exist within a man-made structure or order – once understood a High D then has a roadmap for excellence.

Leadership Strategies for Formal People with Social Media

• If and when your social media objectives will benefit from a structure put them at the helm to formalize the system.
• Include them in teams with Informal and Impatient people to add a dose of caution to initiatives that perhaps may move too far too fast.
• Give them leadership roles in areas requiring strong attention to detail, specialized knowledge or expertise.

Leadership Strategies for Social Media with Informal People

This continues my blog series about the leadership implications of social media.  Earlier entries:  Introduction; Low Dominance People; High Dominance People; Introverted People; Extroverted People; Impatient People; Patient People

Personality Trait – Informality

These people are comfortable with uncertainty, like to try new approaches and think outside the box.

Social Media Implications for Informality

Elements of social media they will like:

• New and rapidly evolving – the “rules” are rewritten constantly
• Info delivered in short bursts
• Customize and prioritize content to your preference

Leadership Strategies for Informal People with Social Media

These folks like to think outside the box and there is no social media “box” – it is moving too fast – they will charge in and explore new opportunities.  Put them at the cutting edge and see what they learn.

Leadership Strategies for Social Media with Patient People

This continues my blog series about the leadership implications of social media.  Earlier entries:  Introduction; Low Dominance People; High Dominance People; Introverted People; Extroverted People; Impatient People

Personality Trait – Patience

These people are methodical, calm and prefer a step-by-step approach.

Social Media Implications for Patience

The primary intersection of these people’s needs and social media has to do with building a sense of community and affiliation.
Group discussions, picture albums, online communities, personal updates – all provide a way to staying connected with a group to which they feel a wanted sense of “belonging.”   Other than this sense of community, however, much of social media is going to seem unpredictable and chaotic, lacking the step-by-step coherence they prefer.

Leadership Strategies for Patient People with Social Media

• Establish processes and procedures for social media use.
• Methodical, step-by-step guides for interaction can provide necessary support for decisions.
• Assign them to areas where building community is important and avoid assignments involving fast-changing and high-pressure interactions.