My Favorite Sales Job Ever (Except This One): Nextel Communications

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The first time I hit the Push-to-Talk (PTT) button and reached my entire team in real time—it felt like magic. No dialing. No waiting. Just click and talk. That moment hooked me. And the company behind it, Nextel, quickly became my favorite sales job ever (aside from this one).

From my graduation at San Diego State in 1987 to launching a Nextel dealership in 1998, I spent 11 years in roles that shaped how I work, lead, and think today. My time as an Account Executive at Nextel stands out for three simple reasons: Atmosphere, Technology, and People.

Atmosphere Forget “culture,” Nextel had atmosphere. The kind you could feel the second you walked in. The VP of the region John Combs trusted the GM of San Diego Chris Duggan, who trusted my Manager Sally Fleck, who trusted me. That chain of autonomy made us fast, focused, and fearless. The founders—Brian McAuley and Morgan O’Brien— were serial entrepreneurs, and their spirit ran deep in the company. I ended up working with them again later at Pacific DataVision. But perhaps the biggest spark came when Nextel opened indirect distribution, and Brian Moses brought me an opportunity. I co-founded Aadvanced Wireless, our own Nextel dealership. That hands-on experience launched my journey into entrepreneurship.

Technology We were selling the first digital voice/data combo in the country—TDMA, for those keeping score. In 1994, our first Motorola-made handset (the Lingo) looked like an old school two-way radio with rounded edges. It weighed enough to act as a self-defense tool. But the Push-to-Talk feature? Game-changing. Tech Magicians like Jack Demers kept innovating. By 1999, the units got smaller, features and functions leapfrogged ahead and you were suddenly holding a mobile computer in your hand.

People At the heart of it all: the people. Sally Fleck assembled a crew of sales pros I’m still in touch with today. John Stevenson came into sales leadership next and brought in more top-tier talent. We pushed each other. We won big. And we celebrated even bigger. Our 1997 Presidents Club trip to Jamaica? Unforgettable, mon (as seen in the attached picture). And we will be together again soon—reuniting in Long Beach this August after 30+ years.

Looking Back—and Forward Nextel didn’t just give me a paycheck—it gave me a blueprint. Empower your people. Trust their instincts. Lead with energy. I’ve carried those lessons ever since.

If you don’t enjoy what you do, it shows. Nextel was the kind of place where I wanted to show up. And that still makes all the difference.

Wendy Carter, Tracey Fryer, Mark Schechter, Zara Sclar, Jeff Dalton, Glenn Bowie,  Roxanne, Lynnda Shepherd, Eric Meehan, Jack Demers, Bill Leversee, Keith Schneider, Tamara Chamberlain, Pam Wylie, Troy Parish, Marc Savas, Chantal Turenne des Pres, Shannon Skaff, Don Girskis, John Pescatore, John Zarb, Troy Knuckles, Ned Bliss, Margaret Carroll

 

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Year End Recap And Thoughts For 2021

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year end recap in sales

John, standing in front of his alma mater, San Diego State University, reflects on this year and looks forward to next….. Click on the image above to watch the video.

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Creating Value is More Important than Ever in Sales

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Now more than ever in the midst of a strange economic time, establishing value is key to closing business.  If you can’t clearly articulate how your product can be used to increase revenue or decrease costs, how do you expect customers to understand why they should choose you over the competition? According to a study conducted by  Forrester Research, the number one inhibitor to achieving your sales quota is the inability to effectively communicate a value message.

Top Inhibitors to Achieving Sales Quotas

  • Insufficient leads: 13.3%
  • Poor sales skills: 16%
  • Too many products to know: 21.4%
  • Information gap: 24.3%
  • Inability to communicate value message: 26%

“Value proposition” is a phrase that became ubiquitous during the 90’s. Buzz word or not, establishing the value of your product or service without overwhelming potential customers with a landslide of features and benefits is crucial. So how do you do it?

  1. Learn about your customers. Study their market, what they sell, the competitive landscape, the organization size, and the roles involved in the decision-making process.  Next, conduct informational interviews within your network.  Talk to anyone in the industry who has been exposed to your ideal customer.  Finally, talk directly to your customers and/or prospects.  Find out about their goals, how they measure and track their success, and ask about their pain points.  Once you have done your research, you’re equipped with the knowledge to successfully position yourself to appeal to your target audience.
  2. Demonstrate value.  Take what you’ve learned about your customer and start crafting a message that demonstrates the value of your productfrom their perspective. How will your product eliminate pain points and help them achieve daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly goals? Some examples are:
    • Imagine a day without the stress of x, y, and z. With the time you save you’ll be able to accomplish twice as much of what you need to do.”
    • “Whether it’s daily, weekly, or yearly we understand that goals are always top of mind. Let (product X) help reduce the time it takes to meet those goals by taking advantage of x and y capabilities.
  3. Position and differentiate. What makes you different from your competitors? Is it your exceptional customer service, large number of capabilities, or the price of your product? Whatever it is, be sure to reiterate the difference across all sales and marketing channels. Make sure what you’re saying on your website is demonstrated similarly on your social channels, in your marketing materials, and through the words that sales reps use with customers. It sounds obvious, but unfortunately many organizations fail to do this.

Understanding your customer, demonstrating value, and positioning yourself are all simple strategies to help streamline the sales process. Don’t fall into the 26% that are unable to communicate value messages about their product consistently and effectively.

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Strategic Selling: How effective is your Value Message?

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Value proposition is a phrase that became ubiquitous during the 90’s dot.com (dot bomb?) era. You may still encounter this, or the “value messaging” term on a regular basis in the business world. Buzz word or not, value messaging will help quickly convey the value of your product or service without overwhelming or boring potential customers away in a landslide of features and benefits dumping.

Based on the research performed by Sirius Decisions, communication plays the biggest role in sales failures. The number one inhibitor to achieving your sales quota is the inability to communicate value messages, followed closely by an information gap, and then by having too many products to know.

Top Inhibitors to Achieving Sales Quotas
Insufficient leads: 13.3%
Poor sales skills: 16%
Too many products to know: 21.4%
Information gap: 24.3%
Inability to communicate value message: 26%

If you can’t articulate what your product is in a simple manner that is easy to digest, how do you expect customers to understand why they should choose you over the competition? To get you on the right track, here are three strategy development tips to work against these statistics and help you develop and convey a powerful value message:

    1. Learn about your customers – Develop an ideal customer persona.  First, from a demographic or “firmographic” perspective, do your research.  Learn about their market, what they sell, how much they sell, the organization size and the roles involved in the decision making process.  Next, conduct informational interviews within your network.  Talk to anyone in the industry who has been exposed to your ideal customer.  Even third hand knowledge can be valuable in preparing for the next step – which is to talk to your customers and/or prospects.  Find out about their goals, how they measure and track their success, and ask about their pain points.  Once you have a solid definition of your ideal customer persona, you’re equipped with the knowledge to successfully position yourself to appeal to your target audience.
    2. Demonstrate value – Take what you’ve learned about your customer; their pain points, needs and goals to start crafting a message that demonstrates the value of your product from their perspective. How will your product eliminate pain points and help them achieve daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly goals? Messaging that shows that you, the seller, understands the customer’s view point will make your message much more powerful than an organization that suffers from “Me Syndrome” and constantly talks about themselves and product capabilities.  Here are two examples of how you can paint a picture for the customer:
        • “Imagine a day without the stress of x, y, and z. With the time you save you’ll be able to accomplish twice as much of what you need to do.”
        • “Whether it’s daily, weekly or yearly we understand that goals are always top of mind. Let (product X) help reduce the time it takes to meet those goals by taking advantage of x and y capabilities.”
    3. Position and differentiate –What makes you different from your competitors? Is it your exceptional customer service, large number of capabilities, or the price of your product? Whatever it is, be sure to reiterate the difference across all sales and marketing channels, and especially when you’re physically speaking with a prospect or customer. Proper positioning involves being able to identify who you, as an organization are, and consistently demonstrate that to prospects and customers. A mistake some companies make is forgetting to consistently use the same positioning statements and language in sales and marketing when speaking about how they help your customers create value. Make sure what you’re saying on your website is demonstrated similarly on your social channels, in your marketing materials and through the words that sales reps use with customers. It sounds obvious, but unfortunately many organizations fail to do this.

Successful sales strategies are all about the creativity and adaptability that your sales management can create in conjunction with Marketing. Understanding your customer, demonstrating value and positioning yourself are all simple strategies to help streamline the sales process. Don’t fall into the 26% that are unable to communicate value messages about their product consistently and effectively.

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