Selling With Noble Purpose. Lisa Earle McLeod
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will scurry around to hit them, but often at the expense of customer trust. As Doug Williams of ACB said earlier, while you may manage the back‐end numbers, you want to lead to the purpose, which is more qualitative.
Imagine if Wells Fargo had a NSP similar to Atlantic Capital Bank's. Picture their CEO telling the team, “Our purpose is fueling prosperity for our clients and our communities.” Envision a division leader saying, “If you're a banker, our purpose should be your North Star. All of our products should be designed with client prosperity in mind. When you speak with clients, find out what prosperity means to them, and then use our solutions to help them get there.”
If Wells Fargo leadership had articulated a Noble Purpose like that, and they had cascaded down through management, it's unlikely the company would have experienced the widespread problems it did. If an individual banker did create fake accounts, their colleagues probably would have reported it, because it was out of alignment with the stated organizational purpose.
John Stumpf initially claimed the Wells Fargo employees creating fake accounts were outliers. He tried to lay the blame on a few overly aggressive managers. But it didn't ring true. It didn't ring true for the market, or employees, or customers. Stumpf's much‐repeated directives about cross‐selling and his reputation for pressuring sales teams made it obvious that he may not have committed the crime, but his language and strategy laid the foundation for it to occur.
Your Noble Purpose decreases the likelihood of unethical behavior and increases the likelihood of employees stopping it if they see it happening.
How NSP Drives Shareholder Value
Picture two firms in the software space. One is the leader in the employment market. The other is a software company that serves schools, foundations, and non‐profits.
The firm in the talent space was founded for the purpose of helping people find great jobs. They've driven exponential sales growth for over 20 years. They're a top‐performing tech stock, and their client engagement is high. Their new CEO has big plans to take the firm to an even higher level.
The other firm, which helps non‐profits connect with donors and improve contributions, is also the leader in their space. But unlike the first firm, they're not growing. Several of their flagship products have stagnated, and their team is having trouble differentiating themselves. Top performers are leaving, and morale in the sales team is low. This company also has a new CEO, who they hope will reinvigorate the team.
Which company do you think is most likely to improve stock price? The organization with highly engaged clients, who is clear about their purpose? Or the organization with lagging products and low engagement?
Both of these firms actually exist. The first firm is Monster.com, based in Boston. In the early 2000s, Monster was the top‐performing tech stock of the year and the market leader in the employment space. Monster was founded on the belief that everyone deserves a great job. The team was on fire to help people find better jobs. Then, after several years of stellar growth, the original founder and several of the early days' employees went on to new ventures. The new CEO, Sal Iannuzzi, arrived in 2007, and his challenge was to take the business to the next level. When you track the language in their public town halls and Iannuzzi's earnings calls, you can see a clear change.
The leadership team stopped talking about helping people find better jobs. Instead, their focus was on scaling and driving stock price. They went from a business focused on customer success to a business focused on itself. With no conversations about clients, innovation failed, and clients disengaged. After years of being the industry leader, Monster lost their mojo. Their revenue fell, earnings declined, the stock price tanked, the CEO was fired, and a company once worth billions was sold for pennies on the dollar. Ouch.
The other firm is Blackbaud, based in Charleston, SC. In 2014, when their products and stock price were lagging, they brought in Mike Gianoni as their new CEO. Gianoni came out of the financial services industry; he understood the product challenges and the business financials. But instead of focusing exclusively on the numbers, Gianoni did something different. He focused on the impact Blackbaud had on customers, who were schools, non‐profits, and foundations. He says, “When I first started at Blackbaud leaders would stand on stage and in a 1‐hour meeting they would spend 45 minutes on financials.” Gianoni flipped the model. He now spends only 5 minutes on financials. His new format is “What's our purpose, how does our work impact clients, are we being effective in serving them, and are we doing OK financially?”
President and General Manager of Blackbaud's Nonprofit Division Patrick Hodges says, “Most software companies want mercenaries, people who will just sell the heck out of your stuff. Instead, we continue to pull on our Noble Purpose.” The Blackbaud sales teams were trained to bring their purpose to the center of their sales efforts, and when they did, it was like unleashing the power of a thousand suns. Hodges, who was the VP of Sales for General Markets at the time, led the charge to amplify the purpose.
Since embracing their Noble Purpose in 2014, Blackbaud's customer base has grown 55%; recurring revenue has more than doubled and now comprises 90% of total revenues; the addressable market has increased by over $4 billion through acquisition and organic product builds; and the company has risen to one of the top 30 largest cloud software companies in the world. As of this writing, Blackbaud's stock price has more than doubled. Blackbaud was voted a best place to work. Gianoni was named one of the top 50 SaaS CEOs and named to Forbes' 2019 list of America's Most Innovative CEOs.
People often wonder if a concept like Noble Purpose can drive value in a quarterly capitalism‐driven stock market. The previous two stories demonstrate that not only does it drive value (Blackbaud), but the absence of a Noble Purpose also erodes value (Monster).
These two stories are not isolated incidences. They're a side‐by‐side comparison of what happens when leadership focuses on the money story versus the meaning story.
Noble Purpose is hardly the only thing Blackbaud got right. They adjusted their business model, they created new products, they hired the right people, and they made hundreds of decisions that drove their success. Their Noble Purpose served as a lens for making those decisions and became the force multiplier that propelled the company forward.
Shareholders vs. Stakeholders
Shareholders are not stakeholders. It's crucial that every leadership team recognize this. Shareholders don't make sales calls; they're not required to go the extra mile, and they don't interact with customers. Shareholders invest because they expect a return on their money. Passion is not a requirement for shareholders; it's a must for stakeholders. The stakeholders are the employees responsible for delivering shareholder value.
A strong NSP doesn't distract you from delivering shareholder value. In fact, as you saw with Blackbaud and other firms we discussed, it enables you to do an even better job of it.
Beyond the obvious financial benefits, having a purpose gives more meaning to your job, which, in turn, gives more meaning to your life. When you have a purpose that matters, you become more effective and productive on every level.
Selling with Noble Purpose makes you money. It also makes you happier.
Chapter 2: How a Noble Sales Purpose (NSP) Changes Your Brain
Selling with Noble Purpose goes beyond pleasing customers; it's about improving customers. Customer centricity, as it is traditionally practiced, often puts employees in a reactive role. You want a team that is proactive about customer impact.
To fully engage your team, you must address the two big human needs:
Belonging: We want to be part of something bigger than ourselves.
Significance: We want to know our work makes a difference.
Sellers who