How did Kevin Plank launch a $5b fashion brand - now one of the biggest global fashion powerhouses?

What was the 10X factor ?

1. Kevin was passionate about football and built a Rolodex of 50 nfl stars 
2. He identified a need - Wearing cotton T-shirt under his pads was uncomfortable, and always wondered why no one ever made an alternative to a short sleeve cotton T-shirt in the summer and a long sleeve cotton shirt in the winter. “I wanted to build the best T-Shirt in the world for football players” said Kevin 
3. Innovated - Tested synthetic material to make compression shorts and tops and made his first six or seven prototypes and tested them on his teammates . 
4. 500 T-shirts were custom-made. Mr Plank then sent three to each of his nrl mates saying “if you like this, try it. And if you don’t like it, please give one to the guy in the locker room next to you.”
5. Turnover growth - $25k - $160k - $585k - $7m - $440m in 2005 - $1b in 2010 - $5b now 
6. UnderArmour became a brand  - an ethos - an idea - and you can’t kill an idea 

What’s your 10X factor ?

Building klt through emotional connection with your team

Great article by Melissa Smith - building klt through deep and meaningful with her team 

It occurred to me today that if anyone else was looking in on my team eating lunch, they would have either thought that our relationship was weird or would have been outraged by the level of personal conversations taking place on every topic imaginable.

We have gone through periods where we have been very close to our team, and other times where we have been burned once too often and have set up structures to ensure that we don't discuss anything other than work and the mandatory "what I did on the weekend" conversations.

For kicks, today we chatted about the things we liked about each other. Instead of being what most people say, it was deep...very deep. For instance, one person said that they liked how everyone including management have each other's back and they had never experienced that before. Another said that our team was their family, and I was like their Mom. 

While leaders are meant to inspire and that definitely was a common thread, we try and get real with our team and have conversations that may be uncomfortable but act as a release. One lovely employee talked about how bullying at high school affected her even now. Another about the issues associated with coming to terms with their sexual preferences. I talked about my desire to have a family by myself through IVF and how my dog dying is going to be worse than anything else I have experienced.

Tears often well in our eyes when we go through something deep and personal but it is by choice that these conversations occur, not because a consultant has come in and asked us to "share". 

Some would say it's too much, other's would say it's refreshing. Who is right and who is wrong? Only time will tell.

Unsuccessful Sales Speak

John Dean - (JD) will inspire , enthuse and engage you and your team to become a more effective sales machine. 

We look forward to hear him speak next Thursday 17 October at our Innovation forum.

Below is a great article of his talking about Unsuccesful sales speak and the 5 things you can do to create more effective sales people in your team.

There is a language that unsuccessful sales people have. They use it to diffuse the scent, and ask management to suspend judgement about their performance. And for some reason Sales Managers fall for it, "better the devil we know, cost of finding someone else, upsetting the apple cart...." whatever it is it doesn't make sense!

The language can also be described as having a victim mentality. There is a tendancy to blame many things and never take responsibility for a lost deal. In talking to tens of thousands of sales people I have only ever heard once, one person say that they were to blame for a poor result.

Here are the signs your sales team are doormats that your prospects walk all over.

They tend to answer a question (about deal qualification) with such a long, and irrelevant answer such that everyone forgets the original question.

The pipeline is 10 x the sales target with mostly new opportunities that haven't even been met yet. (They will not sack me if my pipeline is strong).

Responses like..

• "They will buy next month..."
• "It was price, we were too expensive"
• "We lost on functionality"
• "We are just waiting for one more signature"
• "We need a better website" (I actually heard this in a sales meeting).

If you recognise this language what should you do about it? Every situation is different but here are some ideas...

1. Conduct a review of one opportunity. Ask them to tell you about any prospect. See how long they speak for. Rough rule, the longer they speak, the more they know, the better they are
2. Go on a sales call with them (coaching call), see how much they talk vs listen (As a guide, listening and questioning - 70%, speaking - 30%)
3.  Prepare a Performance Improvement Plan - a plan to help them improve the situation.
4. Buddy them up with a high performer.
5. Get sales training, or organise a coach for them.

Join us next Thursday with JD Dean 

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/bsi-innovation-forum-powered-by-bbg-tickets-50474712223