Thursday, July 5, 2012

10 Keys to the C-Suite


Working with the C-Suite can be intimidating at the least for many sales professionals. They are important, they are untouchable, they are too busy, they are speaking in a different language, they are..., they are..., they are..... Well, they are human. And the C-Suite is just like you and me...except they make a lot more money than us. That aside, here are 10 tips to communicating with the C-Suite.
  • Create a Value Inventory - A Value Inventory will help instil confidence in your products and service. It is an effort that pays off time and time again. In addition to your new found confidence, it is the foundation for developing all sales tools.
  • Use your Value Inventory to tie value to the C-Suite metrics - The C-Suite metrics are ratios that your products and services impact. For example, if your product reduces labor cost, you actually impact operating costs and profit. These are the ratio's the C-Suite cares about.
  • Do your homework before you call on the C-Suite - I cannot impress upon you enough as to the importance of doing your homework prior to a meeting in the C-Suite. They expect you to know their business. You should check LinkedIn for any relationships you have they may know who you are meeting. Do your homework or parish.
  • Create a Value hypothesis and estimate your value as it relates to the impact on the C-Suite metrics before the deal, “hits the market” - This document will establish a basis for your meeting. You can present the potential value you will deliver in their terms using basically a Business Case at the beginning of the sales process.
  • Develop discovery questions that lead your prospect back to your value proposition - Don't waste their time. Have discovery questions written down and ready to discuss. Be sure they are relevant, and challenging. Don't ask a question just to ask a questions.
  • Capture “current” cost and extrapolate that cost over time to set up a discussion on threshold for pain - People respond to pain. If you get agreement from your prospect as to what their problems and goals are and what the current cost of those issues, pains and goals, half the battle is over. Acknowledgement of pain and the ability to capture the cost will push a deal forward faster than any other thing.
  • Discuss threshold for pain and agree on a plan to move forward - All too often you lose to status quo. Why? Because of your failure to understand the prospects threshold for pain. Even if you get them to acknowledge they have issues, and you calculate the cost of those issues...the pain and the cost may be acceptable by the prospect. In other words, they don't care what it is costing them right now.
  • Constantly provide feedback to your prospect on your findings and analysis as it relates to their pain, cost of pain, and market comparison - We (sales people) have been taught our whole life to correspond with the prospect after we meet. This should be done every time you touch them, send a note of thanks and a short description of what you discussed.
  • Create a high quality Business Case that includes, issue, pain, goal, value, impact and investment - remember the C-Suite has very little time, a Business Case should be concise and complete with the issues, value estimates, costs, metrics and plenty of graphics the will help explain economic impact.
  • Provide comprehensive implementation plan that includes follow up on value delivered - A 360 approach will almost always pay off. You are now a partner not a vendor.
     Collateral borrowed from Michael Nick at www.roi4sales.com 

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Ironman Race Report


In Coeur D' Alene, Idaho, on June 24th 2012, at 11:52 PM after a near 17-hour race, I became an Ironman. My training lasted 2-years, averaging 5-6 days a week, several hours each day. Below is a run down of the events that happened on race day.
      
Race day morning at home:
When the alarm woke me up at 3:30AM, it felt like I hadn't slept at all the night before.. or for that matter the entire 12-months leading to the event. I gathered myself, showtime was ON and there was no looking back now. Two-years of focused effort was going to bear fruits today.. We had to leave the house at 4:45am and I had a lot to get through. I had a clearly documented race day plan that I had discussed at length with my coach Paul Kinney, so the chores were almost mechanical but time consuming.The race day bags were all ready so all I had to do was to take a bath, make my morning fresh juices, consume them and then relieve myself. I've been on a liquid vegetables/fruits juices breakfast diet for the past 2-months now and that worked really well on race day as well.

The nerve wrecking transition before the swim start:
The conditions were cloudy and overcast. The waters in the lake Coeur D' Alene looked calm but that's where we, the contestants had it wrong.. I went through transition, checked my bike, breaks, tires, air pressure, filled race bottles with my main electrolyte drink i.e. coconut water, special needs bags, etc. By now it was 6:30AM and we were asked to get ready for the swim. The water temperature was a whooping 53 degrees Fahrenheit (~10 degrees Celsius). I used a cold water from a faucet nearby  to fill a part of my wet suit (this helps warmup and acclimatize the body to the colder waters). The start is a beach run format and no one is allowed to warm up in the lake which IMO (as we learned later) should be discouraged by Ironman management. Because of the mass start, it feels like one is swimming in a washing machine with very cold water.. the experience is more traumatic if one start ahead with the strong swimmers. So I decided to avoid that and start in the middle to the end of the pack. None the less, I still got slapped twice and one time I nearly lost my goggles to a nasty kick on my face. Here's a video of the start line up that gives most people goose bumps.


The Choppy 2.4 mile swim:

 I started well (no ice cream headaches, heart palpitations etc) and I thought to myself.. I have the swim portion under control. That changed within 600 yards of entering the water. The race was a two loop course and based on previous practice swims, I hoped to finish under 1-hour and 30 minutes. The waters got very choppy, the currents picked up and my speed dropped. I saw several swimmers getting picked up. In all 85 swimmers out of 2300 left the race mid ways. Three water ambulances surrounded most of the sections I swam in looking for signed of distress from weaker swimmers. I tried not to make eye contact with them though I was very scared navigating the 2-3 feet tall waves .. I could not afford to be one of the failed swimmers.. I had a chip on my shoulder and a failed race from last year that I had to get over.. So I persisted... swimming overcoming the course one buoy at a time.. Coach Liz had once advised me on swimming with the head 6-inches under the currents in choppy waters like the ones I faced and I did exactly that.. In the end, 900 yards before the end I got a bad cramp in my right hip.. I was running out of time.. aiming now for a 2-hour finish facing the swim cutoff at 2 hours at 20 minutes. So I swam with the cramp in place.. almost not using my legs at all solely relying on my hands to get me to the shore.. In transition while changing I heard a man had suffered a heart attack in the water. The guy died a couple of days later which was very sad.

The Long 112 mile bike ride
This year, CdA Ironman had a new bike route. It wasn't as technical or curvy as the one before but it had three climbs each lasting about 2-3 miles each with a steady 2-3% gradient. That kind incline is OK to handle for short spurts but that wasn't that case here. I drove the course the day before and it felt doable. What I did not factor was the headwinds that were set to come on race day :-). As I got on highway 95, fifteen miles into the bike ride, the winds picked up steam. Before I knew it, my bike speed was averaging the single digits on the uphills. The best I could do then was not to push too hard on the pedals, stay in the aero position, conserve energy and save my legs for the run. Coach Paul has an analogy of the race day human body being like a checking account..  you only take out as much as is barely needed. You risk going broke if you spend too much too early. I used Coach Kevin Coady's advice to coast the down hills and conserved energy even while doing high speeds. I finished the first 56-miles at 1pm well before the 1:30pm cutoff mark. But the smell of things that could potentially go wrong from last year's experience kept lingering.. The potential flat tire was the biggest concern. It would take me under 15-mins to fix a flat tire and so I was always planning time to handle two flat tires. Planning for that eventuality, I was just on the edge with the time. I cruised along to my next milestone which was the 92-mile checkpoint cutoff at 4pm. At mile 80, I crossed the physiological barrier of last year's event. It was at mile 80 last year that I completely fell apart and could go no further. This year I was feeling quite strong at mile 80.. Now I could see the end in sight .. I finished the 112 mile bike ride at 5:10pm, twenty minutes shy of the 5:30pm cutoff.

The tenacious marathon
I had little left in my legs when I started the run, averaging a 12-min mile in the first three miles. It was clear that the run wasn't going to get any easier for the remaining 23 miles.I had taken down 2000 calories of cliff blocks on the bike and now the sugar repulsion was getting to me.. I  found solace in chicken broth that was being served at the water stations that were a mile apart. I liked the broth so much that I quickly gulped down a couple of large glasses of the same.. before I knew it, the revolt within my body had started and I was throwing up every few minutes.. At mile 10. I caught up with coach Paul Kinney and discussed my situation with him.. If I could eat no more as was the case, I was sure to collapse before the end of the race. Paul's advice was that I stay with salt pills, that have vital electrolytes and keep drinking lots of water. A good samaritan on the run handed me a couple of caffeinated  salt pills that really helped..
I cross mile 13 around 8:30, thirty minutes before the half way point time limit. It was clear that I had to up my speed if I was to complete the race so I started jogging at a faster 13-min mile pace. The running felt alright til mile 15 when I decided to experiment with some food.. a piece of banana and oranges with that felt good and I was able to hold them back.. The new calories helped me keep going but by then, I had lost so much speed that my only option was to walk off the rest of the course. My goal was now to walk as fast as I could and to cross the the mile 21 cut off before the 10:30 pm deadline. It had gone pitch dark around 10pm and going next to the lake, I had to be careful of not getting into an accident.
I crossed mile 21 at 10:18pm well aware that my speeds were slowing down with each mile. The good thing was that I wasn't cramping in the legs. I was just very tired. At mile 23, I still had 50 mins left and 3.2 miles to cover. That distance looked hard to finish in my shoes. I tried running but could not hold a run for more than 1-2 mins at a stretch. So I gave up on the run and stayed at a fast 15-16 min mile walk..
So with that I completed the run at 11:52 PM, eight minutes short of the final cutoff. I was elated to hear my my name being called out at the finish line by the main voice of the Ironman, Mr. Mike Reiley.. Hearing the words "HARPAL KOCHAR... YOU ARE AN IRONMAN" made me jump in the air like I had no aches or pains at all..

The crowd support was simply amazing throughout. I've attached a video below that tells you of the electricity in the air at the end of the race.


Ironman CdA Race nutrition and execution strategy


Saturday:
Simulaterace day morning schedule
  • Wake up 6am
    • wake up, take a bath
    • stretches, breakfast ( (Tea, Honey, Bread toast and one banana) 200 cals), relieve self, visualize the finish line): 6:30am
    • Make vegetable juice 7:00am
    • Out of the house: 7:30am
    • Sip/drink fruit and vegetable juice (in car) (300 cals)
  • Pre swim 15-min run
  • Short Tri workout: 20-swim, 20-bike and 15 run (8:30am)
  • Check-in Bike: 10 AM
  • Lunch: Chicken Salad: noon
  • Afternoon sleep: one hour
  • late afternoon snack: hummus, guacamole and lavash bread 3pm, cup of tea
  • Dinner: 6:00pm
  • Transition bags setup 7pm
    • vaseline, chammy butter sachets,
    • salt pills in Nathan bottle holder (8) some in bento (6),
    • cliff blocks in bento and special needs,
    • fill zip log, caffeine blocks in special needs bag only)
  • Race visualization time 8:00 PM
  • In the bed 8:30 PM
  • Sleep 9:00 PM
Sunday
  1. wake up, take a bath, wear swim underclothes, shammy, over shirt, pants: 3:30am
  2. stretches, breakfast ( (Tea, Honey, Bread toast and one banana) 200 cals), relieve self, visualize the finish line): 4am
  3. Make vegetable juice 4:30am
  4. Out of the house: 5:00am
  5. Sip/drink fruit and vegetable juice (in car) (300 cals)
Pre race morning at thelake: 5:15
  1. Find restroom and relieve myself
  2. Setup transition bags, mount Bento, helmet and eye glasses on bike handle
  3. Check bike tire pressure (~122-125)
  4. Mount garmin on bike, the under seat pouch with spare tubes and CO2 (three of each)
  5. Add run bottle to my run bag, check that brakes aren’t rubbing, check that bike is in correct gear, make sure the shoes are open
  6. Warm up run (15-mins) 6:00 AM
  7. Eat three cliff blocks and 8-ounces coconut water (150 cals) 6:30 am
  8. Put on swim suit: 6:30 AM, vaseline on hands, legs, shammy butter
Swim:
Calories consumed so farbefore swim starts: 650 cals
  1. Start in the 70% of the pack when I see things are getting cleared in front
  2. enter the water from the innermost point
  3. start slowly, stretching a lot, acclimatize to the cold water, breath every third stroke.. perhaps 4 stroke breathing– if I have to use 2 stroke breathing then I’m above threshold
  4. technique: focus on rhythm, pulling myself forward & breathing into the pocket
  5. Count 30 strokes after each buoy to settle into rhythm each time
  6. After first bouy, stop for 10-seconds, look around, gather myself and start the race.
  7. Plan to finish first half in 50-mns and total swim in 1 hour and 35 mins, finish strong with negative split
T1 transition (15-mins)

Swim transition:
  1. Relax, let wetsuit strippers to their work, walk, remove under shirt and get T1 transition bag, enter enclosed area
  2. Take spare water bottle and pour it on self, use a wet sponge to remove the residual Vaseline
  3. ask volunteer to put my wetsuit into my the bag
  4. Dry self, apply chammy butter, put on cycling clothes, heart rate monitor, shoes, head band,
  5. Put bag of plantain chips on jersey pocket (200 calories)
  6. Ask volunteers to put on sun screen 
  7. Make sure there's nothing in the transition bag, that wasn't used
Bike:
Onthe bike, I'll consume 2400 calories including plantain chips, coconut waterand cliff shots. Finish in 8-hours.
COASTANY TIME YOU ARE ABOVE 25 MPH.  PEDAL EASIER & FOCUS ON BEING AERO ANYTIME YOU ARE ABOVE 20 MPH.
  1. Be on bike riding by 9:00am latest
  2. Four cliff block packets on bike (800 calories)
  3. Coconut Water two 16' bottles on bike (200 calories)
  4. First 15-miles stay in Zone 2-3 (115-129), munch on chips
  5. Stay in zone three (122-129) from miles 15 onwards
MILES 1-17 “Warmup”
  • BE CONSERVATIVE OUT & BACK AT THE START OF THE BIKE: constantly passing can burn a lot of matches; when coming up on someone who is going somewhat similar speed to me, “take a break” a legal distance behind them before passing; burned tons of energy passing nonstop here last year
  • Start at HR 115-124 (zone 2) or so and let it gradually go up if I feel good
  • MENTALLY: chill out on this part; better to go a little too easy
HILLS / HIGHWAY:
  • Hill @ Mile 19-21: this is the hardest hill- shouldn’t feel any struggle here on loop 1; WATCH SPEED VERSUS HR: don’t push too hard when speed is high; relax, coast & recover on downhill
  • Gradual uphill @ mile 24-27:  again, watch HR versus speed here- easy to push too hard on gradual uphill; 
  • 2 miles net downhill (flattish?): coast & soft pedal & high speeds
  • kicks up again to peak elevation @ miles 30-32, recover on descent afterward, little climb to turnaround
  1. Take a water bottle at every stop, take three gulps in, throw bottle out.
  2. Eat every 25-mins on timer (three blocks, gulp of coconut water)
  3. One salt pill every hour
  4. Sit up on the wheel once every hour to stretch hip flexors and back. STEEPER HILLS ARE IDEAL FOR THIS-- START DOING IT EARLY ON IN THE RACE INSTEAD OF WAITING UNTIL YOU ARE ALREADY TIGHT.
  5. Six salt pills on bike rack and 24 cliff blocks .. all will be consumed on the bike
  6. Finish first half by 1pm latest
BACK TO TOWN:
  • almost all downhill EXCEPT: short uphill right after turnaround, net uphill in the middle of the 2nd long hill, then a long 3 mile climb up the back side of the mile 19 hill; should be TONS of coasting in here
Bike refill point:
  1. Refill cliff blocks four packets (800 cals)
  2. Replace new coconut water filled bottles (200 cals)
  3. new bag of banana chips (200 cals), eat them all before you start, use the time to put together the plan for the next 56 miles
  4. Maintain zone 3 momentum
  5. Plan on being back in the transition tent by 4:45pm, plan a negative split
T2 Transition (6 mins)
  1. take garmin off bike mount & onto wrist mount before dismount
  2. give bike to volunteer, find T2 bag, take off bike shoes, run bare feet to get foot to stretch
  3. Get inside tent, use a wet sponge to get rid of sweat and sodium on the body
  4. Dry self, put on fresh clothes, cap, socks, shoes and chammy butter, sunscreen, body glide
  5. Put 12 cliff blocks (400 calories), chips (200 cals) in run jersey, eight salt pills in Nathan run bottle holder
  6. Drink a bottle of 8 ounces of water and a sodium pill before run start
  7. Check if nothing is left unused in T2 bag
Run
Finish in fivehours
  1. Walk every aid station even from the beginning – vowing to restart running at the end of the last table each time.  
  2. Maintain good cadence, even during the walk phases.
  3. Stay in Zone 2 for first 6-miles, then slowly start going into zone 3
  4. Munch on chips slowly, providing vital sodium and potassium
  5. Consume one bottle of coconut water by mile six and half a bottle of water by mile six.
  6. Start taking in salt pills only if cramping sets in or a feeling of bonking starts to set in (I would have already taken six salt pills on the bike).. relying on chips to give me the needed salt..
  7. Change coconut water bottle with fresh bottle of coconut water at special needs station, keep bag of chips handy but slow the intake.. take fruits, chicken soup in second half of run
  8. focus on a negative split from mile 9 onwards
  9. Drink three bottles of regular water and two bottles of coconut water through the five hours of the run.
  10. I hope my run-walk plan will give me steadier/more consistent pacing through the marathon and allow me to let loose and run the last 5, maybe, 10k.  Looking over previous times, not having a regimented run-walk plan has resulted in huge variation in mile splits that cost a lot of time in the end.
Nutrition SHOULD BE MORE THAN300 / HOUR I THINK ON THE RUN.   ALSO, I'D SET A TARGET RE: HOW OFTENYOU'LL FINISH & REFILL YOUR HANDHELD.  EVERY 4TH OR 5TH AID STATION? IT'S SUPER EASY TO NEGLECT EATING / DRINKING ON THE RUN- DON'T! UNLIKE AN OPEN MARATHON YOU'RE ONLYSTARTING WITH A "HALF TANK" OF FUEL, SO YOU NEED TO EAT / DRINKMORE. 

  1. DONT BONK!  -- IF YOU DO BONK, I RECOMMEND HITTING THE COKE HARD AT AN AID STATION, JOG TO THE NEXT ONE & REPEAT... UNTIL YOU'RE RUNING WELL AGAIN.  IF YOUR STOMACH FEELS GOOD ON THE RUN I RECOMMEND BEING MORE AGGRESSIVE THAN YOU PLANNED WITH YOUR NUTRITION (MAYBE AIM FOR HALF A GEL EVERY 15 MIN)
  2.  
FINISH:
  • get to massage tent
  • Get buddy’s to gently stretch me out
  • compression socks