Lessons from Across the Pond

by Charles Bernard

On Friday I gave a talk on The Well Organised Sales Campaign to one hundred and twenty high-level business executives in Gloucestershire, England.  As I have blogged in the past, my talks in the UK for Vistage (the world’s foremost chief executive leadership organization) set the bar for future talks, and this was no different.  The combination of “anglophiling” the accompanying written content (note the spelling of “Organised”) as well as being mindful of the difference in verbal expressions (i.e. “rubbish” versus “trash” and “diary” versus “calendar”) made me focus extra hard on the details.

The event itself went like clockwork.  Sound, video, and the logistical support personnel performed perfectly.  “The biggest compliment I can give you is that you were invisible!” I said when they asked for feedback.

I started on time at 9 a.m., after a very kind introduction by the event organizer, Iain Lindsay.  A camera that was pointed at my flip chart allowed everyone to see what was being written on a giant projection screen, and in my typical fashion I walked around the tables, made eye contact with as many people as possible, and asked questions to engage and connect with the group.

At the first break, Iain gave me very pointed feedback on the audience and the material and made recommendations for fine-tuning.  Of course, I was all ears.  “The lady in the front told me she wasn’t sure that this was applicable to her style of selling, but it was hard for her to digest the information because she felt that she was being shouted at!  Also, mention the PlayBook sooner than later and make sure that you give examples of how they should use it.  It will work really well with this group.” Great feedback, right to the point, and not sugar-coated!  Half an hour later I threw Iain a quick “How’s it going?” look and I got the thumbs up which told me that it was hitting the mark.

The level of participation almost doubled instantly.  Iain’s coaching made all the difference, which was reflected in the high scores from the feedback forms.  People came over to shake my hand, telling me that this added tremendous take-home value for them, and several requests for me to return were made.  I couldn’t have asked for more.

At the end of the presentation, I got more advice from the pros.  Fortunately for me, the CEO of Vistage UK and several other Vistage chairs had sat in on the presentation, and they all took the time to share their thoughts as well.  In classic Vistage tradition, sitting around the table, with everything fresh in our minds, we brainstormed areas for improvement.  They insisted on my feedback and the first thing they wanted to know was how, from the speaker’s point of view, things could have worked better.  I gave them a few suggestions, mostly around facilitating closing comments and then they did the same for me.

I came away with two more pearls of wisdom which will be incorporated right away.  The first was to shorten the start, and rather than talk about what I am going to talk about, just get to it right away.  The second was to better define the title, since the “Campaign” part implied a broader, more strategic element, rather than a tactical focus on selling, which is really what I deal with the most.  Coincidentally, I am in the process of renaming the talk.  The last one I gave was called Make Sales Success a Habit, and I think this will play better in the future.

The best take away overall: this talk was a real learning experience on both sides!