Maximizing Edge

Having an edge means seeing something others don’t.

In poker, it might be that when the guy wearing the big gold ring sits up and moves his chair in like he’s about to eat a ribeye steak, it means he has a monster hand.

If I am the only one that sees that, I have a massive edge over that person.

Find that edge amongst everyone at a table, and you start raking in big pots your direction.

Sales is no different.

My entire sales strategy has been around maximizing my own edge.

You see, I’ve always hated the thought of following sales methodologies like MEDDIC or Command of the Message or BANT or SPIN or any other of the 1000s of methodologies out there.

They are all good. But they all diminish edge.

Let’s go back to what edge is.

“Edge is seeing something that others don’t. And using that finding to create an edge against the other participants.”

When you are trained by a sales org to be just like everyone else on the team, it diminishes your edge.

Being trained like everyone else in your org actually commoditizes your learning.

Which commoditizes you.

If being trained in MEDDIC had an r-squared success rate of .60 and your own methodology had an r-squared success rate of .55, you’re better off using your own methodology.

Your company is training all their reps on the same methodology because it is great from a forecasting perspective. When everyone checks the same boxes, it makes it a lot easier to manage, but it does diminish what makes you, well, you.

For the majority of people, they are fine being “average.” They don’t want anything more.

I am in the top 1% of earners in the United States.

I paid for coaching last year. Why? Because I am constantly on the search to find new areas of edge.

Edge is contextual. It’s made up of our experiences, learnings, thoughts, ideas, and anything else you can imagine.

How many salespeople do you know that can code, taught themselves game theory, played poker at the highest levels, launched a daily fantasy sports syndicate, and are obsessed with strategy games?

I might be the only one.

When I sell, I use all my learnings to help me win.

I think about the angles that can be played.

The questions that can be asked.

• “What is the competitor doing the same as me?”

• “What is the competitor doing differently than me?”

• “What isn’t the competitor even thinking about doing that is advantageous?”

• “What question has the prospect never been asked before?”

• “What sales process has the prospect been through?”

• “Now how can I make it completely different?”

Every single step of a deal, I am asking myself, “What can I do that no one else is doing? And is that a winning move?”

When you read this article, you should be evaluating that yourself.

Every single deal in your pipeline is a game. And every game has a strategy. There is basic strategy, then there are advanced strategies, then there are strategies people haven’t even thought about yet.

Same with generating pipeline.

Same with running a meeting and setting an agenda.

To get your brain thinking, let’s stream of consciousness talk about areas to differentiate:

• Everyone sets meetings that are 30 minutes or 60 minutes long. Is there an edge in setting meetings in intervals of 10 minutes instead?

• Everyone gives pricing at the very end after a conversation. Is there edge in giving someone pricing before any question is asked, then asking if they want to continue?

• Everyone follows a rigid, well-known sales process. Is there an edge in creating your own process that no one else has access to?

• Everyone uses Salesforce or HubSpot as a CRM. Is there an edge in creating your own process or tool that is proprietary to you?

• Everyone acts as if the customer is always right. Is there an edge in assuming the customer is always wrong?

• Everyone is using AI to generate ICP matrix, and the first question is: Is there an edge in eliminating AI from the equation?

• Everyone is using technology to set meetings. Is there an edge in going completely analog?

• Everyone is starting text-based newsletters. Is there edge in launching a video-based newsletter? Or edge in a physically printed newsletter?

Edge exists everywhere.

Let’s assume for a second your co-workers and competitors are equally as smart.

Let’s assume they are trained on the same sales techniques.

The same methodologies.

Now let’s assume the products are the same, as is the price.

How will you win?

How will you win in a world where the biggest differentiator is the strategies you create that no one has caught onto yet?

What do those strategies look like?

Until next week,

Chris