AYCON Edition 4

IF YOU CAN’T SEE IT, YOU WON’T REACH IT. Companies love numbers. Charts. Tables. Excel sheets. Columns. Percentages. Forecasts. KPIs. More charts. More numbers. All necessary. But numbers alone rarely move people. Pictures do. Imagine you want to run the New York Marathon one year from now. What will get you out of bed on a cold, dark, rainy morning? A spreadsheet showing your weekly mileage? Probably not. It is the picture in your head. You see yourself running through the finish line in New York. Exhausted. Sweating. Hurting. But proud as hell. That picture pulls you forward. The same is true in business. And especially in sales. We spend far too much time explaining how difficult the road will be and far too little time showing what winning will look like. People need to see the destination. What does success look like? What does winning back market share look like? What does a full order book look like? What does a customer saying, “We chose you” look like? What does your team look like when you have delivered what everybody thought was impossible? Make success visible. There is a reason athletes visualize the finish line before they reach it. There is a reason racing drivers look where they want the car to go — not at the obstacle they want to avoid. Where your eyes go, your actions follow. The same principle matters in leadership and sales. A powerful picture does two things: It makes others understand where you want to go. And it makes YOU believe that you can get there. Call it visualization. Call it mental rehearsal. Call it neuroplasticity. I call it creating a picture worth fighting for. So yes, give me the numbers. Give me the KPIs. Give me the Excel sheets. But then show me the picture. Show me what winning looks like. Because if we want people to follow us, fight for the target and push beyond what they thought possible, they must be able to see the finish line before they cross it. Don’t just explain the future. Make people see it. Make them want it. Then go and get it.

It has been a priviledge spending time with you.Vienna, Sept. 21. & 22 ‍The Fighting Spirit Is There. Now Turn It Into Results.Three intense days in Vienna.Three days with our country and regional leaders from Central and Eastern Europe.And I left Vienna with one strong impression:The fighting spirit is there.I saw passion.I saw energy.I saw ownership.And most importantly: I saw the will to win.Thank you for your contribution, your openness and your commitment.But appreciation is not the finish line.Now we have to deliver.We have ambitious targets ahead of us. And nobody will hand them to us.Market share has to be fought for.Customers have to be won.Lost customers have to be won back.Opportunities have to be hunted down.Orders have to be closed.Earlier. Faster. Smarter. Harder.:devider:I know you are already working hard.Work harder.Get out into the market.Get closer to the customers.Create opportunities instead of waiting for them.Challenge competitors.Take back what we have lost.And execute relentlessly.Our Battle Plan is not another presentation.It is a commitment to action.FY27 will not be won in meetings, PowerPoints or Excel sheets.It will be won in the market.Every customer.Every opportunity.Every order.Every day.We have the people.We have the passion.We have the fighting spirit.Now turn the tide.No excuses. No complacency. No waiting.Attack the market. Execute relentlessly. Deliver results.

Ich würde die beiden neuen Gedanken nicht nur ergänzen, sondern als Eskalationspunkt in den Text einbauen. Vor allem “Maybe business is still too comfortable” gibt dem Beitrag deutlich mehr Kante. Where Have All the Hunters Gone? There are too many average salespeople. Too many lazy ones. Too many who wait. Too many who hide in their comfort zone. And far too few real hunters. I wish there were more salespeople with a real hunting spirit. People who smell an opportunity and go after it. People who call. Who follow up. Who stay close. Who don't give up after the first, second or third attempt. People who understand one simple truth: Customers don't fall into your lap. You have to win them. I Am a Real Opportunity Here is a very simple example from my own life. Every three years, I lease a new car. My current lease still has about six months to run, so I have started looking at what comes next. BMW X5? Audi Q7? Mercedes GLE? VW Touareg? Maybe something completely different? Diesel? Plug-in hybrid? Fully electric? I haven't decided yet. Which means: I am a real opportunity. I have a need. I have a budget. I have a timeline. I am actively researching. And I will buy. Through friends, colleagues and business contacts, I was introduced to seven or eight supposedly good car salespeople from different brands. And then? Almost nothing happened. Only two showed genuine interest. And only one keeps following up regularly. One. Out of seven or eight. He asks whether I have made a decision. He asks whether he can provide additional information. He stays in touch. He wants the business. That is sales. The others? Silence. They have my name. They have my contact details. They know I am looking. They know I will buy. They know exactly when I will buy. And still: Nothing. No call. No message. No follow-up. No persistence. No hunger. Maybe Business Is Still Too Comfortable And that makes me wonder: Maybe things simply aren't bad enough yet. How bad does business have to get before a salesperson finally leaves his comfort zone? How much market share do you have to lose? How many customers have to disappear? How many targets do you have to miss? How empty does the pipeline have to become? Before somebody finally picks up the damn phone? We talk about difficult markets. We talk about competition. We talk about pricing pressure. We talk about economic uncertainty. We talk about customers delaying investments. Fine. But before blaming the market, answer one question: Did you really fight for every opportunity? Or did you send one email, make one call and then wait? Because waiting is comfortable. Hunting isn't. One Contact Is Not Sales Here is another truth many salespeople apparently still haven't understood: Winning a new customer may take ten contacts. Not one. Not two. Not three. Ten. Call. Follow up. Send something relevant. Call again. Ask another question. Create another reason to talk. Stay visible. Stay relevant. Stay on the opportunity. And yes, sometimes after ten attempts the answer will still be NO. Welcome to sales. If you give up after two attempts because the prospect didn't immediately respond, you are not persistent. If you are afraid of being rejected, you are in the wrong profession. If you believe sending a quotation means your job is done, you haven't understood sales. And if you still haven't understood that winning uncertain customers requires repeated, disciplined follow-up: You are not a good salesperson. Period. Sales Is Not Order Taking Too many people working in sales aren't actually selling. They are administrators with business cards. They react when customers call. They answer emails. They prepare quotations. They update CRM systems. They wait. And when nothing happens, they explain why the market is difficult. Bullshit. Sales means creating movement. Sales means creating opportunities. Sales means staying close. Sales means asking. Sales means following up. Sales means dealing with rejection. Sales means getting up and trying again. Sales means hunting. My 20–25–50 Rule This isn't scientific research. It is my observation after decades in business: 20–25% are real salespeople. Hungry. Persistent. Fast. Relentless. They smell an opportunity. And they go after it. Another 25% are okay. They do their job. They respond. They follow up occasionally. They survive. And then there are the remaining 50%. The sleepers. They wait. They need to be pushed. They confuse being busy with selling. They hope the customer will come back. They complain about the market. They complain about prices. They complain about competitors. They complain about leads. They complain about everything. Except their own lack of action. Hope is not a sales strategy. The Customer Is Watching You And here is what many salespeople underestimate: Your level of interest influences my level of interest. Of course I compare products. Price. Technology. Quality. Service. Total cost. But I am also evaluating you. Do you want my business? Are you hungry? Are you interested? Are you listening? Are you persistent? Are you fighting to win me? Because the way you treat me before I become your customer tells me something about how you might treat me after I become your customer. And yes: That influences my buying decision. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone Sales doesn't need more administrators. Sales doesn't need more excuses. Sales doesn't need more people sitting behind screens waiting for incoming orders. Sales needs hunters. People with energy. People with persistence. People with curiosity. People with courage. People with hunger. People who see an opportunity and think: I WANT THIS CUSTOMER. Not: Let's see whether he calls back. He might not. Your competitor might call him first. So move. Pick up the phone. Follow up. Ask again. Stay close. Take the rejection. Come back. And if necessary: Do it ten times. Because nobody owes you an order. Nobody owes you a response. Nobody owes you success. You have to earn it. Stop waiting for business. Get out of your comfort zone. Start hunting. And go get the damn customer.

Pferde lügen nicht. Und genau deshalb sind sie großartige Führungskräfte.Was für ein Erlebnis. Was für eine Lektion. Was für ein Perspektivwechsel.Wir waren sechs Teilnehmer von Ameritum – erfahrene Unternehmer, Manager und Führungspersönlichkeiten. Menschen, die glauben, über Führung schon einiges zu wissen.Und dann kamen die Pferde.Keine PowerPoint.Keine Managementtheorie.Keine wohlklingenden Leadership-Phrasen.Nur wir. Die Pferde. Und die unmittelbare Wahrheit.Unter der großartigen Leitung von Andrew Plumpte und seiner Frau Elke haben wir erlebt, was Führung bedeutet, wenn Titel, Visitenkarten und Hierarchien plötzlich vollkommen bedeutungslos werden.Denn einem Pferd ist es egal, wer du bist.Es interessiert sich nicht für deinen Lebenslauf.Nicht für deine Position.Nicht für deine Erfahrung.Nicht für dein Ego.Ein Pferd reagiert auf das, was wirklich da ist.Auf deine Präsenz.Auf deine Klarheit.Auf deine Konsequenz.Auf deine innere Ruhe.Auf deine Körpersprache.Und vor allem darauf, ob das, was du ausstrahlst, mit dem übereinstimmt, was du erreichen willst.‍Das Feedback kommt unmittelbar. Ehrlich. Unbestechlich.Und genau das macht diese Erfahrung so kraftvoll.Wir sechs haben an diesem Tag unglaublich viel gelernt – über Kommunikation, Wirkung und Führung. Aber mindestens genauso viel über uns selbst.‍Andrew und Elke schaffen dabei etwas Besonderes: Sie übersetzen die Reaktion der Pferde mit enormer Erfahrung, Kenntnis und Sensibilität in Erkenntnisse, die unmittelbar auf Führung und Zusammenarbeit übertragbar sind.Das ist kein Pferde-Event. Das ist Leadership in seiner ursprünglichsten Form.Keine Masken. Keine Rollen. Keine Ausreden.Bei Ameritum wollen wir genau solche Erfahrungen schaffen: raus aus der Komfortzone, raus aus den üblichen Denkmustern und hinein in Situationen, die neue Perspektiven eröffnen.Dieser Workshop hat genau das geschafft.Intensiv. Echt. Unmittelbar.Danke, Andrew. Danke, Elke.‍Und danke an unsere vierbeinigen Coaches.Manchmal braucht es ein Pferd, um einem Menschen zu zeigen, wie Führung wirklich wirkt.