Dan Waldschmidt is one of the most unique voices in B2B sales & marketing today. His live speeches, presentations and blog posts are always a combination of entertaining, stimulating and inspiring. So when Dan announced his book was launching this spring, I knew it would be much of the same.
It did not disappoint. Even if you’re not in sales, I highly encourage pouring through a copy soon. Here are a few words from Dan directly – about the book, his unique approach, and what’s next.
You’ve said this book is four years in the making. What were the key elements you were looking for to create a great product in that time and process?
Most importantly, I wanted to create an experience that I could be proud of — even 20 years after it launched. Starting out I knew a lot of what I didn’t want, but wasn’t always sure about what I did want. Over the last 35 years I have read thousands books — a lot of biographies, motivational books, the odd Western, and a couple dozen business books.
To be honest, I’m not fan of most business books. From my experience, many of them have 1 or 2 great ideas and then 300 other pages of nonsense written to justify you paying the price on the back of the book. Add to that that the average book only gets read to the 8th page and I had a massive challenge on my hand — “How could I deliver a powerful message in a way that engaged the reader even when I wasn’t able to sit across from them and yell?”
To be intentionally disruptive we looked at each of the senses and designed the message and the design in ways that would influence you to keep reading. We even experimented with inks that would give off motivational smells. When I broke out in a pretty serious allergic reaction I realized that we have pushed past EDGY into dangerous. We cut that part out. 
Great content, a bold first look, and highly shareable message — that’s where we started.
Why is a book format still so relevant in a world of blogs, Twitter, etc?
For the same reason that we have spouses and lovers instead of chatbots and blow-up dolls. When you get serious about a relationship, you want it to be personal — human. That’s still the magic of a book. It’s by your side when you need it.
Over the last 7 years that I have been blogging we have had millions of views (and ‘viewers’). Sometimes a single article itself would get several million views. But no matter how popular a post might be it was always replaced by something new and different. A book is a little more permanent. It’s there for forever.
In today’s fast-paced, ever-changing Tweetable news cycle there is something still alluring about timeless conversation. That’s my belief. That’s why it took so long to finish this project. We wanted to make sure that we were focused on being timeless — not clickably timely.
You’re constantly challenging sales professionals to get out of their comfort zones, but that’s still really hard for a lot of people. Why is that?
There are two pretty awful reasons: (1) We’re addicted to comfort and (2) Our dreams are too small. Combine the two of those and it’s looking pretty damn miserable for you to be successful at anything.
When you need to change, you change.
My father had a minor heart attack at the age of 45. The day he came home from the doctor he changed his eating habits. It was instantaneous. He didn’t need a coach or a mentor or a 7-step-plan. He threw the salt and the butter and the sugar in the trash can and started eating salad and fish and chicken. WHY? Because his dream to live longer was more empowering than his “need” to eat foods that made him feel good.
When your dreams aren’t worth fighting for you don’t move out of your comfort zone to do the gritty work that leads to outrageous success. If you can slide by and live an OK life with marginal success and the occasional happy moment — that’s a lot easier than laying it all on the line and going for broke.
Your style is unique, I’ve heard it described as more emotional, motivational and philosophical vs. tactical or methological. I’d think of that as a compliment, but I’m curious if you’d agree with it.
I tend to focus on the “will” side of business success — rather than the “skill” side of the discussion. Is that more “touchy feely” than a sterile dialogue about tactics? Yes, it is. But it matters.
Of course, there are those who vigorously disagree with my perspectives. I used to get more wound up about people who think like that. Now, I understand an important lesson — that time has a way of forcing us to talk about “will”.
All of clients, in 12 countries across 30 different verticals, are billion dollar companies — except one. Thee big billion dollar players hire the smartest, most experienced executives in the world. They do not lack for skill in any way. Yet, they look to us for our turnaround strategies in many cases because they lack the will to do what needs to be done. They aren’t bad people. They just need a fresh, human perspective. That’s why motivation matters.
Who inspired you on your way up, and who inspires you now?
My father was an amazing inspiration to me growing up. I didn’t write any stories about him in the book (at his request for privacy) but his leadership is still a guiding light for many of the decisions I make today.
I am inspired by the hundreds of stories that come across my desk of ordinary people who achieve outrageous success. One after another after another — I keep thinking I have heard it all, and then I learn a new lesson. There is no way that I can live uninspired when surrounded by the amazing people (more than 1000 we researched) who have been a part of this book.
What evolutions or advances will we see next in B2B sales?
Personalized, predictive technology will play an increasing role in connecting buyers with sellers. Sales and marketing will be less of a function — replaced almost entirely by teams of “influencers” who create experiences and subliminal messaging directly targeted at the individual situation of a business.
What’s next for you?
I want to empower leaders all over the world to do what it takes to make a difference in the world around them. We are looking at TV and other forms of media and strategizing creative solutions that inspire — without being cheesy or “selling out’.
I usually only do a dozen well paid speaking engagements each year — but we are changing that too. If a group of 20 or 30 people want to buy a book, I’ll come to where they are and talk with them about what it means to live an outrageously successful, edgy life.
Of course that’s not going to make us any money, but I’m putting my money behind my passion. I view this as a battle. Every day, either status quo bullshit wins or edgy ideas inspire triumph. I want to help people win.
As I remarked to Mike Kunkle, a mutual friend of ours, “This is a god damn Holy War.” We’re leaving it all on the field.
About Dan
Dan Waldschmidt is an international business strategist, speaker, author, and extreme athlete. His consulting firm solves complex marketing and business strategy problems for savvy companies all over the world. Dow Jones calls his Edgy Conversations blog one of the top sales sites on the internet. He’s been profiled in Business Week, INC Magazine, BBC, Fox News, The Today Show, and Business Insider, has been the featured guest on dozens of radio programs, and has published hundreds of articles on progressive business strategy. He is author of Edgy Conversations: How Ordinary People Achieve Outrageous Success.
The post Keeping it EDGY: Q&A with Dan Waldschmidt appeared first on Matt On Marketing.