Cardinal Initiatives Newsletter Feb 18, 2023 3 min read

“Joey Bagadonuts” is a popular slang expression with multiple meanings. I chose this one for its relevance to my story: “…is a pseudonym for an average citizen…”

So, we have an average citizen as relevant, and more importantly, the word “donuts” is part of the name.

Do you like doughnuts?

I do, especially Top Pot Doughnuts.

So did a certain C-level at a famous wireless carrier.

How Doughnuts started a $500M business relationship

It was 2007, and our target account announced a new executive joining their C-Suite.

We needed to connect with this person and make an impression.

We scheduled a brainstorming session for the sales team.

“What do we know about this person?”

“Relocating from XYZ, telecommunications experience, prior relationship with a large systems integrator, blah, blah, blah… “

Useful, but not what we were looking for.

“Find us something we can’t learn on LinkedIn.”

“They like to bike. A cyclist? Yes, street bike, not mountain.” Hmmm.

“We can work with that.”

“Oh, and one more thing: they like Top Pot Doughnuts.”

“What’s a Top Pot Doughnut?”

It’s a great entrepreneurial story that is part of the Starbucks phenomenon.

My team wanted to map me to this individual because they were a C-level, had an SVP title, and would need to meet with a “title” from our firm.

I was their choice.

We chose the Top Pots as our angle.

We set out to get an early morning “coffee” meeting.

We secured a 7:00a time that immediately preceded their staff meeting.

Perfect.

One more detail: the next staff meeting was the following Monday.

I’m in Dallas and must be in Seattle for a 7:00a Monday meeting.

No problem.

Monday Morning - Game time!

We were in the lobby of the account by 6:45a with a large box filled with two dozen Top Pots – I recall that we chose one of every variation they had that morning.

We were taken to a private meeting room adjacent to a large office on the executive floor, and the box we were carrying was noticed.

We got a muted: “How’d you know?”

Choosing the energetic, aim-to-please, eager beaver approach: “It’s our business to know everything about this account, including you. How’d we do with the selection?”

We got a grin with: “Impressive. What are we discussing today?”

Our goal was for them to notice this tiny detail - the doughnuts, and we were successful.

We could not have predicted that this story would be retold countless times over the years to come…

…by the account. (Okay, we’ve relived it a few times as well.)

We heard about it from the attendees of that staff meeting. Apparently, the Top Pots were shared.

We heard from other sales teams in our organization, which presumably had heard from their contacts at this account.

We heard about it from other vendors.

Apparently, the account “weaponized” our actions as an example of our company’s extra efforts in establishing relationships: “their executive flew in on a Sunday for a first meeting with me and did his homework…”

The Little Things – Small Stuff

What lessons have I shared today?

Every time I share one of these stories, I think to myself:

Gee, is that all we did? Isn’t there some secret I should share with the reader that only I know? Where are my 7 Steps to Success?

I don’t have one.

Anyone can do this.

Joey Bagadonuts can do this.

And that is the point.

Top performers aren’t born that way. They learn. They practice. They make success a habit.

They do the small stuff better than everyone else.

Our team on this account was the best, in my opinion, at the small stuff.

Small stuff impacts more intellectual topics that are present in this story.

For instance?

Influence.

Liking, authority, scarcity, unity, and reciprocity are all psychological principles at play in the Top Pot Doughnuts story.

This example does not have product names, value propositions, or business transformations.

Earning trust continues to be essential to helping people buy.

If you found this week’s edition valuable, share it with someone.

Thanks for reading.

Whenever you are ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

- Advisory: my time helps Early-Stage technology companies with sales performance

- Coaching: my time helps salespeople perform their best

- Digital: my online content helps business owners and sales professionals.