June 03, 2022

A Conversation with Ann Latham

47 minutes

Ann Latham is the President of Uncommon Clarity and author of The Power of Clarity. The effects of business decisions reverberate through an organization whether or not a process is used to arrive at these decisions. To focus the conversation and align to the true priorities, clarity is needed. Ann talks about bringing in new information and options to conversations so that decision-makers can introduce a new set of potential criteria to create different outcomes. Clarity is knowing exactly what you're trying to accomplish, not what you're going to do. So, as sellers, know the outcome of what you want to achieve today, which in most cases is getting prospects closer to a buying decision.

HIGHLIGHTS

The uncommon clarity and disclarity spectrum

Alternative-centric vs objective-centric decision making

Process clarity moves things forward

Know the outcome of what you want to achieve

Operate with intent and treadmill verbs

QUOTES

Ann: "If you have someone, for instance back to your example of when someone asks you to please review something and you give them no clarity at all about what you're supposed to be looking for, is it grammar, is it punctuation, is it flow, is it credibility, is it accuracy? You're way down on the disclarity end of the spectrum."

Ann: "There's so many different directions a conversation can go and or a review can go. If you're in a room with 15 or take 5 people, and they're dedicated, earnest, determined people, and you bring up a general topic, I guarantee you that they could come up with 50 ways to take the conversation."

Ann: "Step one is really to isolate the decision. Step two is what are we trying to accomplish? What are the objectives? Basically, what are the decision criteria? How will we know a good alternative when we see one? So the third step is the alternatives. What are our options? And then the fourth are the risks."

Andy: "There has to be an outcome for every interaction. And the baseline interaction of sales is that the buyer is closer to making a decision after meeting than they were before. And if you haven't accomplished that, then you wasted their time and wasted your own time and all because of a lack of clarity."

Find out more about Ann in the links below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annlathamuncommonclarity/

Website: https://annlatham.com/

Book: https://power-of-clarity.com/