Most of you know I am a big Harvey Mackay fan. His blog today is almost right on. He says (and I am paraphrasing) that executing ideas is the most important part of the sale.
I do take issue with him and Michael Dell who says “ideas are commodities.” Ideas set us apart from computers! Havent seen a Dell or an Apple come up with an idea yet!!
Discovering the problem, finding the solution, developing the idea, and perfect execution are all tied together and each phase are equally important. If any of these are wrong the whole process goes wrong. Haven’t we all witnessed perfect execution of a really bad idea?!
And some people are naturally better at each of these tasks.
My good friend Al Fahden developed a profile 20+ years ago called Team Dimension. He discovered there are basically four types of people:
Creators – they can come up with 20 ideas in 5 minutes! Some of them will be impossible to execute but they are loaded with ideas and they hate executing them. Life to them is a continuous brainstorming session!
Advancers – they may not come up with lots of ideas but can spot a good one immediately and “advance” it forward. They are great communicators and know how to seek out the right people to make the idea come alive.
Refiners – these people seldom come up with their own ideas but can see holes in yours and that is a good thing! They want to be sure the idea is sound and all possible issues have been dealt with prior to the presentation. While often viewed as negative they are far from it. Their motivation is anticipating problems before they happen and solving them.
Executors – these people are flawless in execution of ideas. Spreadsheets, dates and deadlines, details are handled (everything Creators hate!). They are great Project Coordinators.
All four types are necessary from a project’s start to finish. Your staff is probably made up of mostly Creators and Advancers (most sales staffs are) but there are ways to work as a team with a lop-sided profile. If you are interested in learning more about this process and having your team profiled let me know.
Back to my original point – to “Get ‘er done” we need ALL facets running at perfection. The total combination of discovering the problem, finding the solution, developing the idea, and perfect execution will make us remark-able.
