Latest news with #MattDixon
Forbes
20-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
5 Paths To B2B Success From Matt Dixon's 'The Activator Advantage'
Sales is an interesting space - part skill, part art, part science. I've always been fascinated by what truly separates the stars from everyone else. Matt Dixon, bestselling author of The Challenger Sale, tackles this question in his latest book, The Activator Advantage: What Today's Rainmakers Do Differently, drawing from an extensive research initiative called 'The Rainmaker Genome Project.' When Matt and I recently spoke, he explained that this research stemmed from recognizing that conventional B2B sales approaches weren't quite clicking with professionals who sell their expertise. The study included nearly three thousand partner-level professionals. It featured in-depth behavioral interviews with top performers and identified five distinct profiles. One of these, the "Activator" profile, stood out as dramatically more likely to achieve top performance. While this research project focused on professional services, the core behaviors and mindsets of Activators offer valuable, practical lessons for sales and marketing professionals across numerous industries. Here are five essential takeaways: Activators don't wait for clients to identify a need before responding. Instead, they constantly scan for potential threats, opportunities, regulatory shifts, or market trends their clients might miss. They take the initiative to reach out and discuss these emerging issues and their implications. This isn't about blasting generic thought leadership—it's about offering information targeted specifically for a client's role, company, or industry. In my conversation with Matt, one of the most surprising findings from their client data was a common refrain: "I wish I heard from my partners more often." Clients, typically buried in their day-to-day responsibilities, truly value professionals who help them "look around corners" and offer fresh perspectives. This proactive, insight-driven engagement helps shape the client's understanding of potential needs and positions the Activator as a valuable, forward-thinking partner. Ideally, this happens before a formal need or RFP materializes. Most professionals recognize the importance of delivering business results and building trust. However, Activators dig deeper by understanding and supporting a client's individual aspirations, challenges, and even personal interests. This level of personal support is what Matt describes as the "stickiest" value driver. It differentiates the relationship and transforms the professional from a trusted advisor into a genuine ally. Examples include helping develop a client's team members or offering career guidance, all without expecting immediate financial return. This demonstrates cognitive empathy and a profound understanding of the surrounding the client's full context, including their personal value drivers. The result is a stronger, more enduring connection than business impact or trust alone could create. For Activators, a professional network is more than a collection of contacts. Rather, it's a strategic resource requiring intentional investment and management. They're deliberate about building connections, viewing their network as the source of future opportunities. This involves targeted outreach, purposeful networking at events (planning interactions beforehand), and strategic use of platforms like LinkedIn. Activators engage online to create pathways to targeted conversations, often moving discussions offline, rather than simply broadcasting content. They leverage LinkedIn for meaningful exchanges by commenting thoughtfully on others' posts. They find ways to connect over shared interests or industry developments. This strategic approach ensures their networking efforts translate into real momentum for business development. Business development inevitably involves dealing with rejection, missed opportunities, and difficult conversations. Activators possess remarkable resiliency, viewing setbacks as temporary, external, and non-personal. This mindset is rooted in understanding that a single interaction rarely indicates a systemic problem. It allows Activators to persist and maintain a positive outlook. Instead of spiraling into helplessness, they transform setbacks into opportunities to learn, problem-solve, and even strengthen relationships by candidly addressing what happened. They understand that not every client is an ideal fit. They quickly pivot toward finding the next opportunity rather than dwelling on past disappointments. Activators focus on expanding the overall value in client relationships and negotiations, not just claiming a bigger piece for themselves. This includes proactively bringing in colleagues with complementary expertise to provide comprehensive solutions, ensuring clients benefit from the full breadth of the firm's capabilities. In negotiations, Activators leverage their deep understanding of the client's business and personal drivers to find creative solutions that enhance value for both parties. This collaborative approach, centered on creating integrative value rather than purely distributive wins, helps preserve and strengthen the long-term relationship. This mindset extends to internal collaborations as well, even with traditionally difficult colleagues. Activators know that being helpful and generous internally can unlock significant joint opportunities. By adopting these five strategies—proactively delivering insights, focusing on personal client goals, strategically managing networks, cultivating resilience, and prioritizing integrative value—sales and marketing professionals in any B2B sector can emulate the behaviors of top-performing Activators and drive more consistent business development success.
NZ Herald
09-05-2025
- Climate
- NZ Herald
Winter woes may bite racing early with Rotorua meeting under threat
'But there is a lot of rain expected tonight so we will come back first thing in the morning to ensure there is no surface water and it is safe.' If the meeting has to be postponed it would have to be rescheduled for Monday or Tuesday because there are already two thoroughbred meetings on Sunday. New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing officials would prefer to hold a postponed meeting rather than abandon it, not just because of the lost revenue for the industry and participants but because of the black type races. While plenty of those in today's $100,000 Campbell Infrastructure Rotorua Cup are just getting warmed up for some winter wars, many of the mares in the Rotorua ITM Stakes are using today's meeting as their last shot at black type for the season and will want today's meeting over and done with. One of those is Marotiri Molly, whose trainer Matt Dixon said this is her last major goal of a superb season. 'We have targeted this race and I don't want her ploughing around in the mud through winter,' says Dixon. 'I think it is an ideal race for her. She needed her run last start and has come in much better off in the weights against a horse like Tomodachi, who she conceded 6kg to last time. 'She handles heavy tracks okay so that doesn't worry me. But if it gets really heavy down on the inside later in the day, I am a bit concerned about her ace draw. 'Initially, it sounded good but it won't be if the track gets cut up on the inside. 'One thing that might help her is she has natural speed early so she might be able to get in front of plenty of them and dictate what line she takes around the home turn.' The race becomes harder to work out with every hour of rain but the best-backed mare yesterday was Lux Libertas, who was $7.50 into $6 after the track was downgraded to heavy, a surface she is unbeaten on in four starts. Trentham race on a heavy 10 today, while Ascot Park tomorrow will also be in that range. The only track not starting the weekend rated heavy is Whanganui, where the jumps racing season kicks off on Sunday. Tomorrow's meeting will host two hurdle races and one steeplechase, with the jumps racing community buoyed by the three-year lifeline it has been given after a NZTR review. There have been good numbers of newcomers trialling over jumps and at least three or four overseas jockeys are expected to come to New Zealand for the winter to ride, helping ease the critical shortage of jumps jockeys. The good news for the struggling discipline continued yesterday when the Canterbury Jockey Club announced the stake for this year's Grand National Steeplechase will rise to $200,000, double last year's stake when West Coast won the race for the third straight season. West Coast starts his path towards securing a fourth Grand National title when he contests a maiden flat race at Whanganui tomorrow. West Coast back, heavy 10 tracks and jumps racing. Yes, winter is here.
