Sweet Emotion
WMMM #073 - This week I share a story of the QBR that wasn’t.
Jeff Keplar Newsletter August 10, 2024 11 min read
Our fiscal year had concluded with a bang on May 31st.
The hangover from the heavy lift of Q4 consumed early June.
Our collective focus was on any slipped deals.
Through July, we had the predictable noise of organizational change, next year's sales quotas, and the new compensation plan.
Leadership always gagged when the Company handed them the following year's number.
Oracle was a growth company that practiced stretch management.
The annual number never looked doable when we received it.
Leadership wanted to know if we saw a way to make it.
They wanted a plan for how we would get there.
They wanted to know immediately.
Of course, that was impossible.
But impossible was only the degree of difficulty.
And yet, people were the difference-makers.
Our people are the ones that would get us to where we needed to be.
Talk About Things That Nobody Cares
I chose to move my Q4 QBR from June to August.
I cannot remember when I started, but it worked well for us.
The June timing never made sense to me.
Others did their QBRs during breakout sessions at the annual sales meeting in Las Vegas.
Their teams were already receiving company messages from dawn to dusk.
Sitting in those enormous hotel ballrooms and conference centers with one thousand of your closest friends, shoulder to shoulder.
Squinting at PowerPoints and listening to speaker after speaker deliver one-way communication.
At night were the obligatory team dinners after a cocktail reception.
Four days and three nights of the same.
Rinse and repeat.
Bleary-eyed sales reps were lucky if they retained 20% of what was expected.
QBR = Quarterly Business Review
Did we really "review" the prior quarter?
What did not work and why?
What worked well and why?
How could we apply what we learned collectively to the business looking forward?
These annual sales meetings never sought to involve the most valuable resource in the room.
The members of the field sales force had just invested every ounce of energy into delivering a stretch number to their employer and possessing the most authentic data about our customers and competitors and how our go-to-market approach was working.
There also was no professional sales training or coaching.
No development of sales skills.
I was thankful for all of this.
The annual sales meeting might have been the worst place to try and conduct any of this.
The sales reps hardly spoke.
Their role was to sit and listen to a monologue on stage, speaking to a PowerPoint slide.
It was a forum where the Company had a captive audience of its salespeople and could deliver its messaging in a single four-day period.
I structured my QBRs to accomplish what I thought was needed to enable our team to be successful.
We had a "light" review of the prior quarter.
We recognized extraordinary performance.
In a collaborative session with many virtual team members who worked with the salespeople, we discussed what was working and what wasn't.
Sometimes, I included an intensive one-day professional sales training session on a particular skill.
Negotiation was one of the most popular.
Financial selling was another.
By August, the accounts for the year had been assigned, the quotas distributed, and the comp plan received.
We had everything we needed to map a plan to make and exceed our objectives for the year.
We worked on this plan in the QBR.
And we had some fun.
We always tried to have a team-building event.
It did not have to be complicated.
It could be something as simple as a game at dinner, a contest during training, or a group excursion to somewhere interesting.
We learned to make it fun such that the team "looked forward to" these QBRs.
At the conclusion, we would make all attendant entries into the Company CRM to reflect our plan to make the number.
In August, you can't possibly know where every deal will come from for a fiscal year that ends in May.
But you can have a plan.
And with large enterprises, we were ahead of their budgeting process for their upcoming fiscal year by a month or two.
Leadership always appreciated us for this outcome.
No more "bogus" pipeline entries that were the result if this was done in June.
Part of being successful is transparency and communication with leadership.
The Recruit
The week began the same as any unremarkable first week in August.
I had the QBR scheduled for my team on Thursday in Seattle.
I'd leave Dallas early Wednesday morning and stop in Colorado Springs.
We were attempting to recruit a salesperson for an important opening at T-Mobile.
I knew this candidate and wanted some quality time with him.
It was a critical hire.
I had arranged for us to play a round of golf in the afternoon before I had to jump on a flight that night that would get me to Seattle in time to host our QBR the following morning.
Steve and I had worked together in the Telco vertical.
We had continued that relationship in the Enterprise org.
Tom Siebel had hired Steve into the original DMD group at Oracle.
DMD was the predecessor to the now-famous Oracle Direct inside sales organization.
Tom famously left Oracle to found Siebel Systems, inventing the term "CRM" to describe its software product and creating an entire industry segment.
Steve had been gone from Oracle for almost three years after nearly two decades of outstanding performance.
We had an opening for a Key Account Manager on the T-Mobile account.
He was the ideal candidate.
But would he come back to Oracle?
My Get Up and Go Must Have Got Up and Went
Steve picked me up at the airport, and we went directly to the golf course.
As we were warming up at the practice range, I felt a back spasm between my shoulder blades.
I did not think much of it, but I mentioned it to Steve.
I remember saying that I might play better if it reduced the length of my swing.
Shorter swing, less errors.
Steve and I used the time together to get reacquainted.
We already knew one another pretty well.
Club trips at Oracle provided an excellent environment to get to know your co-workers and their families.
This was the case for Steve, Monique, Debbie and me.
Each couple had four children, and when you do, that is the focal point of your life.
Debbie and I had skipped an evening's festivities on a Club trip to babysit their newborn, Jeremy, so they could have some much-needed time to themselves.
Steve was more than just a job candidate.
By the end of the round, I felt Steve was ready to return.
I was also more convinced than ever that he was what we needed on the T-Mobile account.
I was feeling really good about the day, and I was glad I had chosen to spend it with Steve instead of the more convenient phone interview.
Colorado Springs sits about one hour south of Denver.
Denver is known as the mile-high city because it is 5,280 feet above sea level.
When one visits Denver, there is always an adjustment period for your body to this elevation, especially if you are from Dallas (420 feet.)
Colorado Springs takes that adjustment to an entirely different level.
Its elevation is 6,000 feet, but less than 30 minutes west, you exceed 8000 feet.
The golf course was somewhere in between.
My breathing was affected.
I thought it was the altitude.
I was wrong.
Steve noticed that my voice had changed during the day and that my breathing difficulty was affecting my speech.
He became concerned when we went to the "19th hole" for a beverage and food.
He suggested he take me to the emergency room instead of the airport for my flight.
I was surprised.
Really?
What did he think was going on with me?
He said he didn't know but wanted a doctor to check me out.
He Likely Saved My Life
As we entered the ER, the ER nurse began taking my vitals.
They did not tell me at that moment, but the initial concern was a heart attack.
One test led to another.
Steve stayed with me.
They disqualified the heart attack diagnosis.
At around 10:30p, the doctor entered my examination room with a grave message.
His words were: "Jeff, you have a pulmonary embolism. This condition is severe and possibly fatal."
"What makes this complicated is that we suspect you have additional blood clots in your legs that could produce more PEs."
"You need to call your wife."
"You cannot stay here. We have found a careflight crew landing at a heliport near Denver. As soon as they deliver their patient, they are coming down here to transport you to a hospital in Littleton that is better equipped to help you."
"I'll give you a moment to collect your thoughts."
WTF?
Pulmonary embolism?
Helicopter crew and CareFlight?
As the doctor left the room, I looked over at Steve, who had been standing (leaning against the wall) in the corner.
As Steve absorbed the doctor's message, he slowly slid into a seated position on the floor in that corner.
He was looking a little pale to me.
The following exchange between Steve and I was private and will stay between us.
If I reveal that we are both men of faith, that should tell you enough.
The doctor re-appeared and asked if I was ready to call Debbie.
It was now after 11:00p MT (after midnight in Dallas.)
A lot was on my mind, but I was thinking clearly.
If I called Debbie, I would surely be waking her.
There were more unknowns than knowns at that time.
I wasn't even sure where I'd be in one hour, how she could reach me, or any medical personnel looking after me.
The doctor recommended I call her anyway.
Tell her your condition is possibly fatal.
I looked at him, then at Steve, then back at him.
"Let's play this out," I said, ever that "role-playing guy."
I call her, wake her up, and tell her I have a possibly fatal condition (she will not hear the word "possibly"), and be unable to answer any of her questions.
I'll know more in the morning.
She hangs up.
She thinks about it and begins to worry for the rest of the night, unable to sleep.
She might call our two oldest children, away at college, able to tell them nothing except that their father is in a Colorado hospital tonight, and we'll know more in the morning.
If she wants or needs to come to Colorado, she is already exhausted before the day begins.
Or I could go against the doctor's recommendations (he has seen dozens of cases like mine and stands by his advice), not call Debbie, let her get a good night's rest, get to the hospital in Littleton, let them do what they do, and call her in the morning, break the news, and have more information for her than I do right now.
I look back over at Steve.
"Would you call Monique if you were in my situation?"
Steve doesn't speak.
He is still sitting on the floor in the corner of the room.
His eyes leave mine as they look aimlessly at the floor before him, and he shakes his head no.
I thanked the doctor for his care and advice and informed him of my decision not to wake up my wife.
The CareFlight crew arrives in an ambulance - there is no heliport where we are.
As they load me into their Emergency Medical Transport vehicle, I get the impression that this team is like the Navy Seals of emergency medical care.
I also think of the flight to Seattle I'd be on if it weren't for Steve.
In a few hours, I learned that I indeed had more blood clots in my legs.
Steve quite possibly had saved my life.
Public Service Announcement
Pulmonary embolisms are more common than one would think.
They affect 1 in 1000 people in the US every year.
They can happen to anyone, even very healthy people, at any stage in life.
If untreated, the mortality rate is up to 30%.
If treated early, the mortality rate is still 8%.
The PE typically begins as a blood clot in your legs.
This condition is called deep vein thrombosis.
In my particular situation, it may have happened by sitting for an extended period.
While it was suggested that my air travel may have caused it, earlier in the week, I sat in a recliner upstairs in my home, icing my knees after a tennis match while I prepared for my upcoming QBR on my laptop.
Time may have gotten away from me, and I could have been sitting for 2-3 hours.
That does not seem to be a long time, but I have no other possibilities.
When I asked my caregivers how I got my PE, I did not receive a direct, definitive answer.
When they brought up my traveling, I asked what commercial pilots do to avoid PEs.
The response was that they get up and walk out of the cockpit once per trip.
I think I also get up once per flight, but I made a note to do it more often.
Now, I always sit in an aisle seat, allowing me to do so easily.
Once in your leg, these blood clots can break free.
When they do, they travel through the bloodstream and get stuck in the lung(s), blocking blood flow.
This is what I had.
That explains the "back spasm" I felt - that was the PE already in my lungs(s).
It also explains the shortness of breath that Steve suspected wasn't altitude.
Another variation is a blood clot in an artery.
These can cause heart attacks and strokes.
I later learned of at least five other co-workers at Oracle who had had a PE.
Like me, they kept it to themselves.
Why?
Medical conditions are private matters.
You are fortunate if you survive a PE.
But if you have a second episode and are lucky enough to survive that, too, your doctor will revoke your airline travel privileges for the rest of your life.
The odds are stacked too high against you.
For those of us who have to travel to perform our jobs, we might want to keep that information private.
So we don't talk about it.
By not sharing, we may put other co-workers at risk by not making them aware of tiny details that could cause them unexpected harm.
The QBR That Wasn't
Thursday morning found my team all in Seattle enjoying the hot breakfast that had become a hallmark of my offsite meetings.
But this QBR wasn't an offsite; we used a conference room in Oracle's Bellevue sales office.
Word of my situation had made it to most of the team.
They did not have the details but knew I would not be joining them.
They held the meeting anyway.
They shared their plans to make the annual number and what resources they might need.
They made the entries in our CRM reflecting their plans.
While the food made it, my playlist did not.
They were forced to carry on without music.
I'm sure that brought a smile to some of them.
The meeting concluded early, just after lunch.
A couple of the more socially gifted team members had found an "excursion" for the evening.
One of the biggest 80s rock bands was in town.
Their name?
Aerosmith.
Sweet Emotion
I spent all of Thursday in the Littleton, CO Adventist Hospital.
I FaceTimed with Debbie on Thursday morning to break the news.
Seeing me helped ease her concerns.
They did not release me to go home until Monday.
I wasn't alone, however.
Starting with Steve and Monique, I was blessed with several visitors stopping by to wish me well.
I'm sure I'd miss a name or two if I attempted to list them all, but I specifically recall Mike and his wife from nearby and Dain from California.
Steve accepted our offer to return to Oracle.
Over the next six years, he exceeded expectations and drove sales that delivered over $300m in value.
I received an Aerosmith t-shirt from their excursion on Thursday night.
I still have it.
If you are like me, hearing a song sometimes takes you back to a specific place and time.
"Dream On" by Aerosmith takes me to the Spring of my freshman year in Champaign-Urbana.
Last week, Aerosmith retired from touring.
Stephen Tyler has permanent damage to his vocal cords.
I've been playing their music ever since I heard the news.
Of course, I thought of freshman year.
But it also brought back emotions about the QBR that wasn't.
Lessons Learned
1) People and Process are vital to building winning sales teams.
2) Operate such that people look forward to coming to work.
3) Be open to advice from others - it may save your life.
4) Role-playing can also help in our personal lives.
Thank you for reading.
Jeff
When you think “sales leader,” I hope you think of me.
If you like what you read, please share this with a friend.
I offer my help to investors, founders, sales leaders, and their teams.
I possess the skills identified in this article and share them as part of my service.
In my weekly newsletter, Win More, Make More, I provide tips, techniques, best practices, and real-life stories to help you improve your craft.
