Robert Saric

9 Steps to Creating Your Sales Battlecard

I’m sure that most of you have heard of sales battlecards. The Microsoft Partner Network still encourages every channel partner to create at least one to help them better align competencies across their channel ecosytstem. Battlecards are short, sales-ready documents that provide sales teams with an understanding of a specific competitor’s marketing strategy, key sales messages, product information, and tactical value propositions to use when selling against your competitors. Typically battlecards are no longer than 2 pages, and provide sales organizations with a competitive displacement “cheat sheet”.

There really isn’t a simple applied methodology to creating a sales battlecard. The best “standardized” framework that I have come across is by the Forte Consultancy Group.

They recommend using the following 9 steps or sections to create an effective sales battlecard ..

I will quickly summarize each of the steps.

1. Market Conditions

This step ensures that your sales staff has a firm understanding about the marketplace they are selling in. Quick points about market size, estimated market demand, and other relevant data related to market segmentation should be added here.

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Author Rob Saric
Date May 21, 2010
Category Sales and Marketing

Do you agree, “first build the product everyone wants, then raise enough money to build the business”?

Silicon Valley super-VCs, Fred Wilson and Ben Horowitz, both agreed that, “entrepreneurs should build the product that everybody wants, then raise enough money to build the company.” This may seem like yet another over-simplification but I believe the point to note is that “building a business” should be recognized as a separate, distinct challenge. I asked this question on LinkedIn and 22 well thought out answers later resulted in some very powerful points. I would like to share a few of them with you. Here are 5 of the more notable answers below (sorry, some of them are a bit longer).
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Author Rob Saric
Date May 5, 2010
Category Entrepreneurship

Your Startup Depends on Your Strategic Network More Than You Know

I was fortunate enough to get introduced to international business coach, speaker and author, Doug Smith last week through a respected colleague of mine. Doug’s life story in itself is certainly inspiring and worth reading about – dsenetwork.com. This post is about how my 30 minute morning discussion with Doug, really opened my eyes about something often overlooked by technical entrepreneurs. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know… and, more importantly, who knows and trusts you. My conversation with Doug, made me realize that for any of my startups to prosper, building a strategic network, or “roster” as Doug coins it, needs to not only follow a methodology but also, needs to be nurtured and constantly refined.

My Realization

After my meeting, I sat down and jotted all of the people that came to mind within my personal network, or “roster”. I define my roster as my professional community – people I know well enough to ask for a favor without hesitation at any time. Sadly, I could ONLY think of about 10 people. This was a stark realization. According to Doug, your roster is the top 50 people in your strategic network, all of whom you have worked with in some capacity or know personally. These non-institutional thinkers typically offset certain skill sets that you may lack, or they may just be super connectors. The effectiveness of your roster really depends on how committed you are to building it. A great example of one of the most effective networks is Ron Conway, who happens to be one of the most connected and respected individuals in the Silicon Valley. In order to be involved with Ron’s network, you must meet certain important requirements. He cherishes his network and because of that, it has become an extremely valuable asset to everyone who is a part of it.

My goal is to build relationships, not numbers of contacts

Everyone experiences a lull at some point in his or her career. One way to jump-start your resurgence is to examine your social network for clues about how to get back on track. Doug encourages all of us to be brokers of quality not quantity. I am now planning to revitalize my network and galvanize my entrepreneurial endeavors by leveraging Doug’s prescribed methodology. Doug is a superconnector and he openly tells people that he is willing to help, but it is up to us to build a meaningful, substantive network that is valuable to our business.
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Author Rob Saric
Date April 13, 2010
Category Entrepreneurship

The New Product Development Manifesto – Customer Development

This past month, I have been actively involved with the Lean Startup Circle, a Google Group that provides real-life lessons learned from entrepreneurs across several startup communities. One common name that is referenced regularly is Steve Blank. A serial-entrepreneur who teachs at U.C. Berkeley, Stanford (eMBA program) and also the person who coined the theory “Customer Development”. This theory has become so influential that most people now call it one of the three pillars of the lean startup – every bit as important as the changes in technology or the advent of agile development.

What is Customer Development?

When we build products, we use a methodology. For software, there are too many to keep track of – Wikipedia is a good place to start. One of the vital flaws of several startups, and one that I’ve fallen victim to myself is not creating a roadmap on how to discover and cultivate paying customers. But too often when it’s time to think about customers, marketing, positioning, or PR, we delegate it to “suits”. Many of us are not accustomed to thinking about markets or customers in a disciplined way. We know some products succeed and others fail, but the reasons are complex and highly unpredictable. We’re easily convinced by the Field of Dreams mantra that all we need to do is “build it and they will come”. And when they don’t come, well, we just keep trying, and trying and wait, trying again. So, what’s the inexpensive fix? Focus on customers and markets from Day 1 – this is what the new product development manifesto is all about.
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Author Rob Saric
Date March 15, 2010
Category Entrepreneurship

How to Be Happy and Live Life.. What Works for Me

I’m usually not an emotional sap, but during this particular morning when I was vigorously scrapping the ice from my driver-side window – a sense of raw joy consumed me. Why in this bitter cold when most people are cursing their existence am I smiling and thinking that life is “Pretty Good. Prettaaaaay, Prettaaaaay, Pretty Good ” (my attempt at imitating Larry David)! Where does my excitement come from and how do I savor the moment? What I’ve realized is that the psychology of human nature is focused far more on negative emotions such as depression, anger, and anxiety than on positive emotions such as happiness and satisfaction. Is this true? Who are the happy people? Does happiness favor those of a particular age, sex, or race? Does wealth enhance well-being? Does happiness come with having certain traits? A particular job? Close friends? Warm climate? An active faith?

I view myself as “naive optimist” because generally I am a happy person. I just am. I have a hard time understanding why people that are not in dire straits can be unhappy. So, I put some thought into why someone’s level of happiness may be greater or less based on similar lifestyles and circumstances. Although, there is no surefire “How to Be Happy” formula, here are a few things that have helped me put my level of happiness into perspective:
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Author Rob Saric
Date December 9, 2009
Category Motivational

What Are Three GREAT Common Habits Of Successful Entrepreneurs?

This question was posted on LinkedIn by Zale Tabakman a few months back and I thought I would give you some of my own insights and include a few of the more interesting responses from various LinkedIn members. In my life I’ve had the opportunity to meet several entrepreneurs and I can easily say that, for the most part, there are numerous habits necessary for a successful entrepreneur – but for the sake of simplicity I will limit my response to three.

The most successful entrepreneurs, in my opinion, seem to practice these three very common habits (not necessarily in this order):
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Author Rob Saric
Date October 10, 2009
Category Entrepreneurship

Economic Crisis is an Opportunity to Take Stock of What Really Matters

With the eminent collapse of our economy, it’s becoming more and more evident that we need to learn some lessons that will guide us as we go forward. Now, one of my worries is that many of us will learn the wrong lessons – specifically as it relates to risk-aversion, fear of creativity and innovation and the rise of our ever-present internal beast, known as individualism.

Andrew Oswald, a professor of economics at the University of Warwick, has a more poetic way of making the same point. Oswald is a pioneer of a field that might be called “happiness economics”–the study of the interplay between money and human satisfaction. His rigorous academic work confirms the rhetorical advice that we hear in our religious sects and from our shrinks–the relentless pursuit of wealth may fill your bank account, but it will leave you empty as a human being.

The curse of humanity is that people feel compelled to look over their shoulders. Oswald further states that, “happiness and self-esteem depend on rank and relative income. We are consumed by relativism. If your neighbor drives up in a new Lexus, and you’re still driving the Toyota that you were perfectly satisfied with yesterday, you start to become dissatisfied.”

So don’t use the financial crisis as an excuse to stop taking chances or downsize your ambitions. But do use the crisis as an opportunity to take stock of what really matters–and to stop looking over your shoulder. Just remember – we are all in this together.

In an exclusive conversation with Charlie Rose, Warren Buffet gives a clear, concise, and rational reason why our economy is in turmoil (certainly worth watching!):

Charlie Rose and Warren Buffet (Video)

Respectfully,
Rob

Author Rob Saric
Date October 10, 2009
Category Motivational

12 Ways to Bring Happiness Right Next to You

I HATE arguments – I really do. To me, most arguments are ultimately pointless, meaningless, and conducted over small matters that have little to no real meaning in life. By choosing to argue, rather than choosing to be happy, you are setting your own course. The two are mutually exclusive; I’ve never met two people who were truly happy when arguing. Choose happiness over being right!

So, the next time you’re searching for happiness at your work, your relationship or even at home, just step back for a second and think. You will soon realize that you need to stop searching – happiness is right next to you.
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Author Rob Saric
Date October 3, 2009
Category Motivational

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