What They Still Don

1
What They Still Dont Teach You at Harvard
Business School

• Mark H. McCormack

2
What Makes a Salesman?

• Know your product
• See a lot of people
• Ask all of them to buy
• Use common sense

3
What Makes a SuperSalesman?

• Believe on your product
• Believe in yourself
• Work on your timing
• Develop a sense of humor
• Realize that what your customer wants isnt
  necessarily what hes telling you

4
How to Prepare for a Sale

• Why are we making the sale?
• Is the proposal short enough?
• What questions can I expect?
• Have I established clear lines of communication
  and authority?

5
Secrets of the Information Trade

• Ask questions you already know the answers to
• Repeat questions at subsequent meetings
• Give as much as you can afford
• Consider the source
• Ask for information they wont give you

6
Timing Phone Calls for Maximum Impact

• Learn their patterns
• Find out whats convenient
• Calling people on the road
• When to call to NOT get through

7
What to Read When You Walk Into a Room or Office

• Where are you sitting?
• Are you offered a coffee or drink?
• Whats going on with the phones?
• Whats on the wall?

8
Basic Strokes of Negotiating

• Bite your tongue
• Wait a minuteor longer
• Be sensitive to the other guys point of view
• Look for insights in unexpected places
• Show up in person

9
How to get More Information than You Give

• People love to talk about themselves let them
• Get them used to answering questions
• Take advantage of their discomfort
• Look for the hidden commitment

10
Situations Leading to Poor Decisions

• Are you hearing what theyre saying?
• Are you being swayed by groupthink?
• How are the choices framed?
• Have you looked beyond the nearest available
  data?
• Are you overrating your successes?

11
World Class Negotiations

• Avoid confrontations
• Cast carefully
• Check your baggage
• Remember the competition
• Use candor

12
Create the best Culture

• Raise your hiring standards and deflate theirs
• Humble your new recruit and break their bad
  habits
• Let your future leaders get their hands dirty

13
Create the best Culture

• Tell people where youre going and reward them
  for getting there
• Motivate them one step beyond the profit motive
• Prop up a few corporate heroes to prove the
  culture works

14
Whos Who at Your Meetings

• The straight shooters
• The martyrs
• The poker faces
• The cheerleaders
• The orators

15
Whos Who at Your Meetings

• The devils advocates
• The destroyers
• The recliners
• The statesmen

16
Flexing Your Humility

• It makes your employees feel good
• It increases an employees stature with
  outsiders
• It makes you look better

17
How Bosses Add Value

• Staying in touch with your expertise
• Eliminating duplication
• Instruction
• Leading by example

18
How Bosses Add Value

• Clear objectives
• Praise and recognition
• Error avoidance
• A ruthless streak

19
Finders, Minders, Binders

• Finders generate the income stream create and
  find new ideas/products
• Minders caretakers making sure the idea is
  executed properly makes a profit
• Binders coordinators make the first two feel
  good (the Boss)

20
Positioning Yourself Like a Pro

• Is your packaging appropriate?
• Have you found your niche?
• Is your position accurately presented?

21
Positioning Yourself Like a Pro

• Are you making the right mistakes?
• Do you have name recognition?
• Are you riding the right horse?

22
Qualities of a Champion

• Arnold Palmers honesty and integrity
• Chris Everts mental toughness
• Bjorn Borgs stubbornness
• Gary Players thoughtfulness
• Jack Nicklaus maturity

23
4 Syndromes that can Kill a Career

• The Love My Warts syndrome
• The Overcompensating syndrome
• The Glass-is-Half-Empty syndrome
• The Hermit syndrome

24
10 Ways Careers get Stalled

• Not knowing why you were hired
• Following up too slowly
• Ignoring the Peter Principle
• Ignoring the Corporate Culture
• Wanting to be liked by everyone

25
10 Ways Careers get Stalled

• Failing to protect yourself from a new boss
• Going public with your private thoughts
• Behaving inconsistently
• Blaming bad news on someone else
• Asking others to do something you wouldnt do
  yourself

26
The 7 Most Dangerous People

• The Ill do anything for you pal
• The know-it-all
• The I agree boss
• The confidant

• The obsessive
• The strategic incompetent
• The articulate incompetent

27
Confrontation Without Tears

• Timing is everything
• Dont prolong the ordeal
• Contain your emotions
• Watch out for innocent bystanders
• Confront the good times

28
4 Ways to Prove Youre Worth It

1. Ask for what you really want, not what you think
   your boss will give.
2. Remember, the company pays for the raise, not
   your boss.
3. Outline all of your positive achievements.
4. Prepare a list of forthcoming goals.

29
Fine-Tuning a Code of Ethics

1. Let people off the hook.
2. Dont abuse the power of omission.
3. Tell people when the meter is running.
4. Establish your ground rules and dont waver.

30
Personal Qualities of Japanese Businessmen

• Politeness
• Patience
• Thoroughness

• Punctuality
• Long-term loyalty
• Honesty

31
Five Attributes of a Leader

• They show the troops they care
• The tell the troops exactly what they want
• They convince the troops of rewards and
  punishments
• They know when to attack
• They share in their troops danger

32
Tilt the Calendar in Your Favor

• Consider the Power Factor
• Schedule far in advance at your peril
• Leave empty blocks in your day
• Mapping out the near future

33
Scheduling Time Bombs

• Savor the easy tasks
• Plan backward to keep you moving forward
• Dont be a time hero, or the heros victim
• Prioritize your phone calls
• The ideal to do list is unreadable

34
Writing Proposals that get Read

1. Keep it short.
2. Give them your best ideas, not all of your
   ideas.
3. Canvass your colleagues.
4. Create a proposal relationship.

35
Letters Likely to be Ignored

• Asking the reader to do too much
• No return address on the letterhead
• Organized with too much logic, not enoughcare

36
The Communication Hierarchy

• Bosses want strategic answers
• Peers want tactical answers
• Subordinates want technical details

37
Misreading Body Language

• The vocal factor
• The sequence factor
• The time factor

38
Ending the Endless Conversation

• Youll have to get me out of this
  conversation.
• Let me see if I can help you get to where you
  seem to be going.
• Tell me what you think we should do.

39
Finding the Words that Sell

• Adding just one word
• When euphemisms work
• Simple words for complex deals

40
Handle the Press on Your Terms

• Dont argue with the press
• Give them as much (or more) time as they need
• Keep your secrets for as long as you can
• If you must talk, have a strategy

41
Looking Good on Television

• TV hosts have their own agenda, you should too
• Be a little paranoid
• Keep cool

• Dont stop talking
• Be prepared
• Beware of trick questions

42
Where Do You Get Your Information?

• Friends
• CEOs
• Consultants
• Competitors
• Media

43
Putting Reality into Business Plans

• Too much faith in assumptions
• An unrealistic absence of fear
• An unrealistic view of the competition
• An unrealistic faith in money
• Dont fall in love with the plan