The Power of Small Actions
If you’re a premium subscriber you've probably noticed we didn’t send a deep-dive last Sunday; a mixture of last minute party planning and excitement in putting together the first Pete Crosby Revenue Mixer were to blame. And even with train strikes nixing the original date, the party went ahead on Monday night. The evening was fantastic and a great opportunity for our clients, partners and team to meet, in some cases for the first time; getting to chatthrough how they’re navigating the challenging business environment.
Even with the last minute date change we were really touched by the turnout. Almost 60 people in attendance across the evening (and early hours of the following morning!). I'm so glad to see lots of new relationships being formed. As we know, they’re a key component in both staying on the pulse of the wider market and being able to collaborate and advise one another on our learnings along the way. Most, if not all, of Pete Crosby Revenue’s clients thus far have been forged by a recommendation, reference or introduction from one of you. So, it feels great to create an environment to pay some of that back.
Speaking of paying back, a quick word of thanks to the wonderful PCR team who I could not be without. Rhoda (who has space for one additional EA gig if anyone is looking), Emily (an extraordinary performance & wellness coach, who also supports me on all strategic advisory projects), and Alegría (who also has a tiny bit of space if you need some next level content work). Thank you to all three of you.
At last year’s event I spoke on the subject of “rising again” - the idea that through perseverance we return stronger. If you were one of the fifteen delegates that night you may still have the whisky glass with the Reviresco motto inscribed.
This time around I spoke on the impact small actions have on others, often beyond our capacity to conceive the depth of that impact.
My first ever sales job was way back in the 20th century. I had been DJing in and around Wales, paying the bills working at Burger King while my wife studied when my father called me & told me it was time to go get a proper job. He sent me the £90 for the 5 hour train journey and a week later I met my mother somewhere in North London for the world’s worst job fair. There were only two employers there looking for graduates. One was BMW, and I didn’t fancy being a car salesman; and the other was a media sales company - whatever that was. They offered me an interview later in the week but as I had a train journey back that evening I asked them if they couldn’t just interview me now. They agreed and sent me down to Goodge Street to meet Carlo, the HR manager. He gave me a phone & a script and went into the other room to listen to me pitch him, and 30 minutes later I was offered the job.
£70,000 a year! Remember I was working in Burger King, hitching to work and getting £50 a session to DJ if I was lucky. Now I didn’t exactly think I would earn my full OTE but I did think I might manage 30 or 40 grand. It didn’t quite work out like that.
Within 3 months I was one of only two of the cohort of fifteen new starters remaining, I had one deal to my name and I was earning the princely sum of £10,400 a year. I have to tell you, this didn’t anywhere near cover the rent, the bills and the tube fare from South Woodford. The stress was real: my wife couldn’t work at the time due to ill health, I was coming in early to call Europe and staying late to call California - and in the midst of it, making myself sick.
They used to pay us by cheque each week, I discovered that rather than let the bank swallow it I could give it to a little fella in a kiosk by Tottenham Court Road tube station and he would give me cash in exchange for 15% commission. I imagine many of you have been in similar positions, juggling credit card bills and overdrafts and ignoring mail with red lettering on the envelope.
So it was in that context that Carlo gave me a week’s notice. It hit me hard. Apart from one deal which was more luck than anything else, I hadn’t sold a bean, and if I didn’t by Friday I was outta there.
The following Friday came and that afternoon I was still registering a blank board, and then the fax machine rang. I knew it couldn’t be for me as I hadn’t sent any orders out, but along with the rest of the team I rushed over to see if it was a deal. Half the time when the fax rang it would just be an ad for toner, which is so frustrating when you are watching for a deal. But this time it was a deal, the smallest deal we were able to do - £2,000 - for a guy on the team called Ajit. The sales manager wasn’t around so Ajit handed the fax to me, “Stick that in your name Pete.” I registered the deal, Carlo shook my hand and my job was safe. Not through my own hard work, not through any skill I had but through the goodwill & kindness of a guy I barely knew.
I wrote to Ajit a while back and told him the incredible impact he had had on my life, and that I doubted I would be where I am today without him. Of course he had no idea quite how significant his actions had been and was delighted to hear from me. It’s very humbling to build a career on the goodwill & kindness of others.
Thank you to everyone who attended and I’m excited to continue to host more events, including one across the Atlantic next year. There were a lot of you unable to attend and we would love to redress the balance.
Our next (virtual) event is a real coup. Those of you who work with us or who studied The Definitive Guide to Revenue Leadership program will have watched Emily & I run through the Raskin Matrix. This is a method of constructing a paradigm shifting pitch which causes buyers to understand that the world has shifted so dramatically that they have to act with urgency. Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with this, there will be a deep-dive on the Raskin Matrix at some point in the coming month or two.
But back to the coup: The eponymously named Raskin Matrix was inspired by none other than Andy Raskin and his famous blogpost The Greatest Sales Deck Ever Written. Andy himself will be joining me on May 17th for a live broadcast of Pete Digs Deep, in which we will dig deep on the power of narrative to transform your capacity to win. Andy is a real superstar and consequently it’s taken me three years to get him on the show, so I hope you will join us - registration details to come in the next few weeks.
As always if there’s anything you want to ask, please drop Alegría a line at alegria@petecrosbyrevenue.com and we will put together a response. In the meantime, you can watch the video wrap of the Mixer here.
Until next week, when we plan to deep-dive on The Perfect Storm Framework.
Pete
Photos throughout by Jacqueline Otagburuagu