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www.HartfordBusiness.com August 29, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 21 BIZ BOOKS Tips for high-performing organizations "G reat Teams: 16 Things High- Performing Organizations Do Differently" by Don Yaeger (W Publishing Company, $24.99). In Yaeger's years at Sports Illustrated, he's covered teams in a variety of sports. His discussions with team owners, execu- tives, coaches and players found that great teams are built to last because of their orga- nizational culture. His "16 Things" revolve around his definition of T.E.AM.: "Targeting Purpose" — In the people-first T.E.A.M. cul- ture, employees throughout the organization understand the "why" of their roles — and that everyone (not just the stars) must do their jobs well to produce continued success. The culture must constantly remind people of the importance of their contributions. When people rec- ognize their work has ongoing self and extrinsic value, they own their jobs, and know that individual achieve- ment ties to organizational success. "Effective Management" — Management must think "synchronicity." Selling the vision of what can be accomplished heads the list of management's tasks. Setting standards and getting to know people and how to maximize their abilities follows. Management must also create leaders (i.e. those who "think forward") because things always change. "Activating Efficiency" — When people are on the same page, they know how to best use their skills and perspectives to complement one another. Col- laboration thrives as they con- nect each other's dots. This creates "collective direction." With the direction at the fore- front, teammates self-manage the processes needed to pro- duce the outcome. Mentor- ing becomes an important aspect of direction, too. Often, individuals grow tired of hearing the same "voice"; teammates provide a choir of synched voices. "Mutual Direction" — While "col- lective direction" established the destina- tion, "mutual direction" charts the course and makes adjustments by looking beyond what they know. Great teams analyze internal pro- cesses through benchmarking and industry comparisons. This allows them to play to their strengths while addressing their weaknesses. They also develop a knack for identifying information gaps and filling them. To assess your team's "grit and glue," as well as the synchronicity of your manage- ment style, check out teams.donyaeger.com. • • • "Innovation Judo: Disarming Road- blocks and Blockheads on the Path to Creativity" by Neal Thornberry (Evolve Publishing, $19.95). Large businesses don't start large. They start with an entrepreneur filled with origi- nal ideas (i.e. new, better, different, faster). As the business grows, it adds layers of employees, management, silos, procedures, red tape, congruent thinking — and, with respect to innovative ideas to spur growth, "corporate constipation." No one challeng- es the status quo because they don't believe anyone wants to listen. For those who want to get them to listen, Thornberry looks to the principles of judo [seiryoku zen'yo (maximum efficiency, minimum effort) and jita kyoei (mutual wel- fare and benefit) and the concept of ju yoku go o seisu (softness controls hardness)]. His seven prin- ciples start and end with "preparation." What does it mean to be prepared? Your idea may be great to you but it may not look great to others. You have to flesh it out and find ways to sell its benefits (e.g. creates value for the firm and its customers, defen- sible, scalable, etc.) to others. There's no "one-size-fits-all" approach to selling it because others have different perspec- tives and hot/cold buttons. Part of your homework involves learning about how to frame your idea to the individuals whom you need to get onboard. That framing requires some semantic antics. Instead of saying you have an idea, open with "I believe there's an opportunity for us to … ." This shows the other two things: 1. You've done your home- work; and, 2. You value and appreciate their input. The "Innovation Land- scape Survey" in Appendix A and the "Opportunity Template" in Appendix B will help you craft your game plan. n Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer. Jim Pawlak THE RAINMAKER Financial training is critical for sales success By Ken Cook J ack runs a $26 million manufacturing and logistics firm. He was recently contem- plating a high five-figure software upgrade project. The upgrade would enable greater inte- gration between his systems and his customer's IT systems. That level of integration would be another layer of differentiation Jack's organiza- tion would have over their competition. Jack asked the software salesperson to prepare an ROI analysis on the software pur- chase. A relatively simple request, he wanted to know how long it would take to recoup the expense of the purchase. It's almost a month later and Jack is still waiting on a response. For the software salesperson out there, if you're reading this, you lost the sale. This real story illustrates a large gap in the training that most salespeople receive. Often, there is little if any training on reading, understanding and working with financials and financial statements. On a basic level, every salesperson should be able to complete an ROI analysis for their products and services. Building on that, sales- people should be able to read and understand income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements. They should know how to cal- culate a breakeven point. They should under- stand the impact on breakeven, gross profits and net profits if any one line item increases or decreases. They should understand basic financial ratios and why they are important. All of this matters because of how Jack and/ or any decision maker thinks about buying deci- sions. When looking at a purchase, there are usually four questions a decision maker asks: • How does your product work? • What are the benefits? • What's the ROI and/or business case for me to buy this product? • Why should I trust you? The fact that question No. 3 specifically asks about the financial impact of a deci- sion makes it mandatory that salespeople be trained in financials and financial statements. However, question No. 4 is even more impor- tant when it comes to knowing the numbers. In a business context, one's ability to build trust is directly related to the caliber of one's communication skills, combined with demonstrable expertise about products, services, markets, industries, competi- tors, and most importantly, the customer's business. A decision maker takes all of these ele- ments into account when deciding if they can trust the salesperson. They then factor all of the elements by their perception of the risk involved in the situation. In other words, the higher the risk per- ceived by the decision maker, the greater one's communication skills and expertise need to be. And part of that expertise is understanding the financial impact of a deci- sion, and clearly communicating that impact. So back to the training gap. Salespeople need to fully understand their products and services; how they work, how they work together, and the solutions customers realize through their use. If you do not understand the full scope of your offerings, you will lose more deals than you will win. If you cannot describe your product in terms the customer understands and needs, you will lose more than you win. Training on financials is critical because products and services do not operate in a vac- uum. They have value only when they are solv- ing problems. That value translates to financial impact when your customer trusts you enough to fully share all aspects of their problems. The bottom line: Focus on relationships and build trust. Customers will share more, and you will understand things from the cus- tomer's perspective, which is the only per- spective that matters. n Ken Cook is the co-founder of How to Who and co-author of "How to WHO: Selling Personified," a book and program on build- ing business through relationships. Learn more at www.howtowho.com. Ken Cook ▶ ▶ When people recognize their work has ongoing self and extrinsic value, they own their jobs, and know that individual achievement ties to organizational success. ▶ ▶ In a business context, one's ability to build trust is directly related to the caliber of one's communication skills, combined with demonstrable expertise about … the customer's business.