Many people say yes, more say no, but the ones we must invest time with are those who can activate YES. Activating YES is when the decision-maker can drive the adoption and execution necessary to make your product or service successful.
When real decision-makers say yes, formerly indecisive people become decisive. Your time is demanded rather than you needing to ask for time. People want in on the decision-maker’s next success.
In 1980, Alaska Federal USA Credit Union was a top target customer for American Bank Stationery and Alaska was my territory. I visited Alaska four times a year to serve existing customers and to hunt for new business. I met with multiple Alaska USA executives but never with the CEO.
After multiple meetings, I got two executives to say, “Yes, we will buy your checks.” However, when we discussed next steps, nothing happened – they couldn’t activate YES.
My fifth trip to Alaska included a national credit union convention in, picturesque, Valdez, Alaska. The CEO of Alaska USA served as the event host and gave a welcome speech. He summarized event sessions and closed by announcing that there would be a raffle and an auction, to raise funds for national charities. The raffle prizes ranged from fishing gear to the grand prize of a 37 inch television.
All suppliers already felt obliged to buy tickets but the Alaska USA president heated up the competition by saying, “I’ll be watching to see which suppliers really want to win.” Translation – Suppliers had better buy a lot of tickets.
I enjoy friendly competition so I emptied my money-clip and bought 51 raffle tickets, which I later learned was the most of any supplier. As a result, I was invited to sit for dinner, with the Alaska USA CEO and other dignitaries.
The CEO was a great host who made sure he had real conversations with everyone at the table. When he got to me, the youngest person at the table by far, he asked, “Is this your first time to Alaska?” Argh… He didn’t even know that I’d met with his executives.
I answered, “No, I’ve been here many times.” He responded, “Cool, do you fish?” That led to a table-wide conversation about fly-fishing. I learned that I’d never caught a real trout having never caught one in Alaska. We enjoyed that conversation throughout dinner. It ended when the master of ceremonies announced it was time to draw raffle tickets.
The tickets were in bowl held above the MC’s head as she selected the five tickets that would win prizes. The smaller prizes were given out. Then the room got a little quiet as the MC said, “And the color television goes to the person who has ticket 7882.”
There was a rustle throughout the room but nobody claimed the prize. The MC repeated the number and I realized I hadn’t looked at my tickets. I pulled the roll of tickets from my jacket pocket and 7882 was the eighth ticket. I raised the ticket in the air, everyone applauded, and the Alaska USA CEO gave me a thumbs-up.
The MC ended the raffle and announced the start of the auction. They had artwork, fishing trips, and other things but she asked if any of the raffle winners would like to donate their prize to the auction. It was for great causes so it was an easy decision to give them the television. That drew a standing ovation and the Alaska USA CEO shook my hand, and said, “Why don’t we head to the bar after this and you can tell me why you’ve been meeting with my people.”
That bar conversation led to the CEO introducing me to his Operations VP, who owned their share draft program. We talked that evening and she decided that they would buy our checks and use our sales training curriculum. Before we left Valdez the two Alaska USA executives who weren’t able to execute before, requested meetings with me. The CEO and Operations VP had activated YES.
Yes, luck was on my side. I learned, first hand, the value of connecting with decision-makers who could activate YES rather than just saying it. Even better, that experience helped me see the traits of decision-makers who could activate YES. The three traits that I’ve observed in real decision-makers, throughout my career, are Positional authority, Accountability and Responsive interaction.
Positional Authority – People who earn top positions do so by making and executing on hard decisions. This is why calling high is still a winning sales practice. In the case of Alaska USA, the CEO and Operations VP could truly activate a company-wide program rather than just talking about it.
Accountability – Decision-makers, who activate YES, don’t fear mistakes. They worry about stagnancy not about taking calculated risks on new opportunities. The Alaska USA CEO and Operations VP owned their decision to hire us. Everyone knew they wouldn’t point fingers when the unexpected happened. The other executives were concerned so much about the unknown they couldn’t move.
Responsive Interaction – Decision-makers respond to you quicker because they aren’t afraid to decide. Non-decision makers ponder and ask for others to join in order to lessen the risk of being blamed for bad decisions. The Alaska USA CEO and Operations VP made their assessment in less than a day because they saw and heard what they needed. It doesn’t mean they didn’t seek out counsel, but they didn’t have endless questions that didn’t lead to a decision.
Find customers with PAR traits and you’ll have more success because these are real decision-makers who activate YES.
©2014 Rick Wong – The Five Abilities LLC
