“What keeps you going isn’t some fine destination but just the road you’re on, and the fact that you know how to drive.” ~ Barbara Kingsolver

Of course we Ravens fans are disappointed. We wanted a trip to Super Bowl XLVI so badly we could taste it, and the way in which we lost that opportunity really stings. Our guys played their hearts out in that championship game… in fact, they totally outplayed the Pats, yet they fell short nonetheless. The Ravens were unable to accomplish their – and by extension, our – goal of bringing the Lombardi Trophy to Baltimore.

But step away from that sad scene for a moment and ask yourself this: why is it that we, as a society, are so hung up on winner-take-all goals and one-shot outcomes set within arbitrary timeframes? This is a phenomenon not only in sports, but also in our schooling, in our careers, in our businesses – even in our personal relationships and our parenting.

What if we were to turn away from outcomes and instead place our emphasis on the craft – on becoming better at what we do every day as a person, as a partner and parent, as a team, as a company, and as a society? It all comes down to the issue of what’s most important, the journey or the destination. We don’t like to talk about journey because we think it means there’s no reason to strive for excellence, because in the end everybody gets a participation trophy, right? Our capitalistic culture would definitely say that destination trumps journey. But if that’s true, why do we never hear a dying person say, “I wish I’d made more money”?

Back to the Ravens. The Super Bowl was their destination, but unfortunately the team bus broke down before they could get there, metaphorically speaking. There’s nothing to celebrate in that, right? But look what happens when we shift our attention to the Ravens’ journey. We see a group of men dedicated to doing their best work every day, practicing and playing to the max. We see men committed to their teammates, their coaches, their sport, their fans, and their community. We see the superhuman effort that goes into amassing a 12-4 record. We see an entire city united in its passion for football and the hometown team.

Sure, there were mistakes along the way, but there’s still room for improvement. When you’re focused on the journey, there isn’t a dead end like there is when you’re fixed solely on the destination. With destination, you risk running into a big red stop sign at some point. With journey, there’s always a tomorrow. There’s always more road. It’s always first and goal – and it’s always your ball.

Veteran Ravens linebacker, Ray Lewis understands the power of journey. Here’s part of his postgame speech to his teammates following the loss to the Patriots:

 God has never made a mistake. It ain’t about one play.

 This year, we did what we were supposed to do. We fought as a team. There will be one Super Bowl champ crowned at the end of this year, that’s it. So the way we feel, somebody gonna feel like that tomorrow, and somebody gonna feel like that in a week. That’s a fact. And the fact is, we gotta come back and go to work to make sure we finish it next time. That’s all we gotta do.

 … I’m telling you, man, don’t ever — don’t ever — drop your head when it comes to a loss, dog, because there’s too much pain outside of this that people are really going through. This right here makes us stronger. Let’s understand who we are as a team, let’s understand who we are as men, and let’s make somebody smile when we walk out of here. We got the opportunity to keep going, men. Let’s be stronger as a team, men.

 Let’s be who we are.

Yes, Lewis gets it. I believe there are three questions we’ll each ask ourselves at the end of our lives: Did I live? Did I love? Did I give? If you lived (or played football, or worked in business) with journey at your center, you’ll be able to answer each of those questions in the affirmative, just as Lewis did in his speech. In that spirit, let’s reconsider the Ravens’ season.

Did they live? Oh yeah. Nobody could suggest that these guys didn’t live to the fullest.

Did they love their sport… their teammates… their fans? Absolutely. Their passion for all three has been an inspiration all season long.

Did they give it their all? Without a doubt. They left nothing on the field, especially in that final game.

Look, I’m a business guy. I care about my team ultimately reaching its destination and achieving excellent results. But the pressure folks put on themselves toward that end sometimes causes them to botch the essential day-to-day stuff, and when that happens, they risk dropping the ball – and isn’t it a shame when you drop the ball just as you’re about to reach the end zone?

So, here’s to a renewed focus on journey for the Ravens – and for all of us. I predict great success in the coming season as a result.

Joe Mechlinski is the President of entreQuest and has partnered with countless leaders to effectively improve their team’s performance, their clients’ experience, and their company’s profits.

First things first: we at eQ want to thank every one of you reading this message. We are continually grateful for the knowledge and experiences gained through our work together. It is an honor to know you, and it has been an absolute privilege working alongside you this past year.

As the sun sets on 2011, we can’t help but reflect on what an amazing year it has been. 2011 was entreQuest’s best year yet, not only because of company growth, but also because of all the marvelous things we learned through working with our clients and partners. Today, we want to share one of those things with you – a new trend in our data that is sure to help you kick off 2012 with a mindset for growth.

You know that the eQ philosophy has always centered on the idea that in order to grow regardless; an organization must first change from within.  And now, through recent survey data, we have not only identified the various components necessary to create that change, but also isolated the five internal factors that we believe are critical to a company’s growth and success over time.

Check out this raw data from five of our recent client assessments:

Performance Reviews

• 25 of 555 (4.5%) survey participants reported that they did not have a performance review at all.
• Of the remaining 530 participants:
• The majority (77.92%) felt that their
  performance reviews were very helpful (41.13%) or somewhat helpful (36.79%).
• Only 3.77% of these participants felt their performance reviews were either very harmful (1.70%) or somewhat harmful (2.08%).
• 18.30% stated that the reviews were neither harmful nor helpful.

IN A NUTSHELL: The vast majority of employees surveyed think performance reviews – when done correctly and consistently – help them in their work.

Team Meetings

• When asked if team meetings were productive and worthwhile, 82.60% of survey participants responded affirmatively by selecting
  strongly agree (17.07%), agree (39.84%), or somewhat agree (25.69%).
• 17.40% rated their team meetings negatively: strongly disagree (5.53%), disagree (4.07%), or somewhat disagree (7.80%).

IN A NUTSHELL: A majority of employees surveyed think that team meetings – when conducted correctly and consistently – help them be more productive. 

Goal Setting

• 24 of 562 (4.27%) survey responders stated that they did not have goals and 16 (2.85%) said they had goals, but didn’t know what they were.
•  Of the remaining 522 participants:
• An overwhelming 73.37% felt as though their goals were realistic and attainable.
• 25.29% responded that their goals were either difficult to reach (24.14%) or impossible to reach (1.15%).
• 1.34% responded that their goals were too easy.

IN A NUTSHELL: The vast majority of employees surveyed had goals that they felt were attainable.

Goal Accountability

• Of the 456 survey participants to respond when asked if they are held accountable for their goals by a supervisor, the overwhelming majority (94.74%) responded with strongly agree (4.39%), agree (87.72%), or somewhat agree (2.63%).
• The remaining 5.26% of the responses were strongly disagree (4.82%) or somewhat disagree (0.44%) with zero participants selecting disagree.

IN A NUTSHELL: More than nine in ten respondents said accountability was part of their company culture.

Value Within an Organization

• The majority (85.93%) of survey responders stated that they feel like a valued member of their organization by responding strongly agree (23.79%), agree (42.38%), or somewhat agree (19.77%) to this question.
• 14.07% disagreed on this question with 6.53% responding with somewhat disagree, 4.52% for strongly disagree and 3.02% responding with disagree.

IN A NUTSHELL: The majority of those surveyed feel that they are important to their organization.

We’re not the only ones noticing these trends either.  In a recent article for Forbes online, Eric Jackson lists poor annual performance reviews and lack of accountability among his Top Ten Reasons Why Large Companies Fail To Keep Their Best Talent. Like, Jackson, we at entreQuest believe that that the best employees are those that feel part of something bigger than themselves, something meaningful, and something they believe in passionately.  

Do these results surprise you? Perhaps you’ve always thought that performance reviews, team meetings, goal setting and accountability were the kinds of things that make employees cringe. It’s true; when done incorrectly or with a negative mindset, those activities CAN destroy morale and stunt a company’s growth.  A recent study of 2,141 working Americans conducted by Harris Interactive found that only 37 percent of those surveyed felt they were given useful feedback from their manager during an annual performance review. Additionally, the same survey also revealed that 50 percent of the participants who responded that they had recieved positive performance reviews felt more valued by the company because their performance review focused on helping them succeed in their role.  Similarly, the same report found that  only 32 percent of working Americans feel that their performance goals are aligned with their company’s business objectives; and only 20 percent have even established career goals with their manager.

But eQ’s client assessments clearly illustrate how employees, when offered regular guidance and accountability through efficient, consistent performance reviews, team meetings, and goal setting, are more likely to feel valued.  As a result, these employees will go on to create positive experiences for their organizations’ clients; perpetuating company-wide growth and success.

Your organization can grow and succeed in 2012, too. The eQ team stands ready to assess your current situation and help you implement
proven solutions that spur growth regardless of your size, your industry, or the economy. The eQ Assessment isn’t just for new clients. Many of our longstanding clients and partners undergo an annual company-wide assessment to ensure that all aspects of their organizations are functioning at an optimal level, and if they are not, we work together to improve conditions, building a stronger, more successful business.

Is your organization ready to jumpstart growth and kick off 2012 with an eQ Assessment? Contact us today!

Joe Mechlinski is the President of entreQuest and has partnered with countless leaders to effectively improve their team’s performance, their clients’ experience, and their company’s profits.

For me this is easy because it’s the day my wife (obviously girlfriend then) and I went on our first date (and yes I am going to turn this into a blog).

But when you get to thinking about how time flies, what you have accomplished in the last 5 years and what you could accomplish it gets a little scary.

I am sure most people reading this email have one of these moments usually marked by a birthday or anniversary of some sort.

By big aha for this reminds me of my favorite quote:

“Change is inevitable but progress in not.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Now if you are reading this post you are obviously a high-performer and very intelligent (think about who the compliment was for there), but what can you learn to make serious progress.  Here are a few things to think about… and remember, if the shoe fits, wear it for you and your company:

1). The customer, not the vendor, is in control. If your company is still denying this, you haven’t adapted to the new reality.

2). In an experienced-based economy, it’s no longer just about products and services. The customer experience has become paramount.

3). Sometimes it’s the most basic things that we’ve lost sight of when sales begin to slip. For example, the simple practice of listening, or keeping your word, or handling a problem. We refer to this as the Golden Rule on steroids.

4). Sales used to be a one-way street, but now your sales pitch must become a conversation – a two-way dialogue and a reciprocal relationship.

5). You’ve got to find a way to create a partnership of value and change the dynamic from “closing” the client to “enrolling” or “re-engaging” the client.  The emotional intelligence of relationships is the key to making this shift.

6). Statistics show that the least committed people in an organization are typically its salespeople.  That’s a problem.  If they’re not committed, what are they communicating? Salespeople reflect their relationship with the company in every interaction. By changing your relationship with your own people, you can change everything else.

7). Slow sales aren’t about the economy, the competition, the market, or even the Internet.  It’s all a question of shifting the mindset of your key people and your sales team.

8). The carrot and stick, parent-child model of sales accountability is outmoded and it doesn’t really work.  What works is a relationship of mutual respect between two adults who come to terms on a professional agreement of intrinsic value to both.

9). Pipeline and opportunity management are no longer about volume; they’re about quality. The question isn’t how many contacts, but how deeply did you connect/engage, how clear are you on the prospect’s agenda rather than your own, did you understand their mission, vision, needs and agenda?

10). Sometimes stunted growth isn’t a sales problem at all. It may be that the company and/or the leadership hasn’t created a clear value proposition that everyone understands, wants and is willing to pay for.  We can help with that, too.

As my good friend Henry Ford says… “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do”

Here is to the next exciting 5 years!

Be Your BEST,

Joe

The 28 variables of Sales Growth:

1)     Sales Strategy

2)     Customer Gradation

3)     Account Planning

4)     Client Experience Defined

5)     Strategic Account Planning

6)     Lead Generation Program

7)     Sales Talent

8)     Sales Productivity

9)     Hiring

10)   Sales Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

11)   Sales Management

12)   Training

13)   Self-Directed

14)   Sales Structure

15)   Sales Process

16)   CRM

17)   Accountability

18)   Business Metrics

19)   Compensation Plan

20)   Communication Schedule

21)   Reporting

22)   Environment

23)   Culture

24)   Career Path

25)   Communication

26)   Morale

27)   Teaming

28)   Trust Quotient (TQ)

More later on what to do with them… but one question: are you YOUR best with them all yet?

Joe

Let’s be honest, how many times does someone who knows you fairly well still say, “I didn’t know you did that?”

For whatever its worth, entreQuest has been around for more than nine years and my PARENTS are still trying to figure out what I do every day.

So what does this mean?

Possible several things:
1.      People don’t like you. (sorry loser)
2.      They don’t want to know what you do. (probably a bigger loser than #1)
3.      You have told them and they forgot. (you weren’t memorable)
4.      You have told them but they weren’t listening. (you weren’t engaging)
5.      You have told them in a way that wasn’t COMPLETELY clear. (you mumble)

Here is the reality – it doesn’t matter whether it’s #1, #4 or all of the above, your job in sales, business development or as the owner of a  business is to educate and communicate to your community.  The only to know you have done this successfully is if your business is growing via word-of-mouth or reputation based lead generation.

Ask any teacher, education and communication is not an event but a process.

So the question is, how are you educating your community on an on-going basis and not a one-time event?

At entreQuest, we look for a few things:
1.      How can you help them first? (try listening)
2.      How can you be more interested in them vs. the other way around? (try listening more)
3.      Use all forms of media and mediums: in-person, phone, email, social media, blogs, videos, SMS and anything else you can get our hands on. (keep listening but keep it interesting for them to read)

Past this, have patience with people that you have yet to do a GREAT job of educating.  Old studies would say it takes seven times to get your message across for people to buy.

All I know is whether its seven times or 70, communication is the response you get back.  So if people aren’t responding to you – re-read the above – 70 times!

Be YOUR best,

Joe

I am sure you have read a few opinions on what to do for this year.  In our 9th year of helping over 350 companies grow, here is our take:

* Embrace change and face it head on – no one can predict the future and the only constant is change so welcome it, invite and then RE-INVENT!  You can’t run from it so you would be best to meet this head on, Domino’s Pizza did – check it out: http://ow.ly/SoP0 .  This is where true innovation happens.

* Get flexible and listen more – you have to be willing to put everything on the table in order to win in 2010.   Whether it’s changing your ingredients in a recipe you have used for 15+ years (Domino’s) or changing a planning process in the company from a 12 month cycle to a 90-day – DO IT!  The market will tell you what to do if you just listen.  In these times of change your response and response time is EVERYTHING!

* Execute– no excuse – talk is cheap as the old saying goes.  In the next decade this will be especially true.  Do what you say… and only say what you mean.  People are fed up with fakes… look for this to only intensify.  Companies and people who actually follow-up with what they say they are going to do will thrive in the coming decade.  If you can’t plan, organize, coordinate and execute against a plan – you have nothing.  Good intentions and ideas are unfortunately a dime a dozen.

* Tell your story – statistics show that one of the most effective ways to commit something to memory is with a story.  If your clients and the market place know your story, it will stick with them, be easy to carry and be a BIG PAYOFF.

* GIVE until your face falls off – ok, I am stealing this from Gary Vaynerchuk’s book, Crush It.  But it is so true.  You need to give, give, and give with no expectation of reciprocation.  Authenticity rules in 2010.

* Push harder, faster and stronger – 2010 is going to be a great year but out-working the competition is key.  Smart growth could happen just by having the willingness to make that extra call, attend that extra meeting or fill in the blank.  If you have to, fight, kick, claw and scratch your way to growth – then do it!

* Be the best – do one thing really well and drop everything else.  They say to become the best at something it takes repetition.  You can never get there by doing 4,000 things 7 times.  You need to do 7 things (or one) 4,000 times to become a true master.

Results will always vary, just remember:

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
- Winston Churchill