Cheater!!!!

Oprah makes headlines interviewing Lance Armstrong for 2 1/2 hours where he comes 'clean' about being 'dirty'. My first thought is how will the editing to fit TV time affect the tone/timbre/message of the interview?

Why do we hold those in the Public Eye to a different standard than we expect for ourselves?

High-performance athletes, actors, musicians, and $$$-aires lose their privacy in exchange for the recognition they so often crave. WE expect to know all there is about them but, conversely, we would never want anyone to know the same about us.

Lance Armstrong has disappointed me by his ultimate admission of using performance enhancing drugs to compete at an elite level. Nearly 3,000 kilometres racing a bicycle across flats, hills and mountains over two weeks and we are surprised? In reality everyone within the Community, at that level, is/was cheating because there are limits a human can endure and the expectation of ever greater performance forced the resultant use of EPO/'Roids/Blood doping et al.

The reality is one new steroid is produced daily while one new test is perfected monthly. This is simply how detection is avoided. 

Ben Johnson was caught not by a positive steroid result but by being outside an arbitrary range of hormone levels. His ratio of testosterone to epi-testosterone was beyond the 'normal' range determined by WADA. A great training session/race would elevate naturally produced testosterone while a regularly consumed beer afterward would suppress epi-testosterone levels. Hmm, the ratio would be really wide obviously indicating anabolic steroid use not the previous scenario. YES, Ben Johnson was using anabolics  and looked it, however, his greatest critic, Carl Lewis, was eventually revealed to have been using the same drugs during that time. But, he wasn't caught at the Olympics so he is still OK.

Did one cheat more than the other?

Recall Rafael Palmero pointing to emphasize his innocence at a Congressional-hearing then ultimately admitting use? How will the Baseball Hall of Fame deal with Barry Bonds? Roger Clemens? et al? Yet still keep Pete Rose out?

Lance Armstrong is the victim of a sport/industry in the midst of a public relations disaster of epic proportions. Why go after him this far after he has retired? Why continue to look when you didn't find things then? Who benefits? I know who loses.....the recipients of the support of Livestrong, whose ability to raise and distribute funds will suffer, will hurt.

In sales it becomes tempting to cheat. Raise prices slightly because a long-term customer no longer checks. Pad expense accounts. Substitute deliverables to lower cost items. Slip tickets to a key person to get favourable standing. The possibilities are endless.

In short; "Don't CHEAT!"

Even if you know/suspect your competitors are.

Years ago I was into a two truck competitive situation. There was only $500 difference between us. However, for the application, my offering was best suited to the job and I had the agreement of the decision-maker this was so. I never delivered the vehicles because I would not complete the deal as requested.... I did not provide liquid incentive as a final part of the process. Boy was I ticked!

What was the net result? The vehicles purchased proved to be ill suited to the job and ended up being very expensive from a total cost perspective. My replacement vehicles, supplied mere months later, were sold at a price much more favourable to my commissions. Oh and the fellow demanding incentives? Well, it turns out this was not isolated and eventually devovled into criminal activity which resulted in jail time etcetera.

It IS tempting to cheat!

It IS easy to cheat!

It WILL catch you eventually.

Work and play fair. Use your performance against yourself as the carrot. When in doubt; don't!

Been Thinking

What do you do when you really have no ideas left?

In football, you'd punt.

In hockey, you'd start a fight.

In life, you'd bluff.

In sales???????

I find if you stay quiet long enough your customer will give you enough information for more ideas than you have time to manage.

Asking leading questions only get you where you want to go and often tick off the customer.

Not asking questions and doing a FAB dump is even worse.

Listen first.

Pause.

Clarify if necessary.

Ask ONE question.

Listen for the response.

Get the idea?

Honestly, you can have all the value propositions in the world but unless you find out what really matters to your customer they mean nothing. It is akin to going on about the colour of a shirt to a blind guy; he really doesn't care what shade of blue it is, just that it fits him, his budget and his needs.

Everyone sells to everyone else. The difference is we admit we do it and have made it our profession.

When in doubt I circle back to my less than stellar experiences as a customer and draw on the lessons learned to prevent me from doing the same thing.

Long time ago I went into a Men's Store looking for a specific article. I had already determined the cost and even had the full amount in cash in my possession. However, I entered the store wearing shorts, t-shirt and flip flops.

As this is/was an 'upper' end store there was a certain attitude among the staff who studiously ignored me. After several minutes I went to the front of the store, reached into my pocket and withdrew a large wad of bills. I said; "I planned on leaving this here today but apparently none of you were interested enough in asking me what I wanted to get your share." So I left.

Seconds after my departure the owner approached me and apologized. I stated that I could afford to spend what he required to get what I wanted without a staff discount but people judged me on my appearance not my need and I am taking my business elsewhere.

Later, I was working at an automobile dealership. A high-end auto was celebrating a dubious birthday in the showroom and the Manager put a spiff on the sale of the vehicle to incentivize everyone. That Saturday late a gentleman entered wearing rubber boots with his overalls tucked inside, torn flannel shirt and a battered Kangol cap. I approached him immediately and asked him which of the vehicles on display interested him most? His express reason for coming in was to view the car that now had a spiff attached because it had not sold in a timely manner. We sat in it, discussed his preferences in vehicles and how much he liked the traditional colour. It matched the car he wanted to trade in. 

The story ends with a cash sale and a highly desirable trade that sold within days. It turned out the gentleman was a Physician on his way to/from his hobby farm and he had reached a point where he felt he deserved the exact car we had.

I listened to what he said which gave me the ideas I needed to help him decide the vehicle was the best for him. I got the sale of the new vehicle, the trade and the spiff and a happy customer because I recalled how I felt when people assumed, based on my appearance, and chose not to ask me questions to get ideas to help me decide on what I wanted to buy.

You WILL run out of ideas! When you do, ask an open question, sit back, and let your customer give you new ones. Knowing what they want from listening to them makes the sale very personal and successful.

So, what is your perfect idea on how to proceed?