How many people go to the cabin every week during the summer? I don’t know the answer and I’m guessing it would be hard to know for sure, but I’m positive not everyone does. Businesses are still open, people are still working, budgets are being determined and spent, challenges continue to exist and problems need to be solved. [Read more…]
Define Yourself
October 23, 2016 By 2 Comments
During a political season, each candidate defines himself or herself before their opponent does it for them. As the campaigns heat up and issues are tossed around in the media and discussed with friends and neighbors, you can base your beliefs on what you believe to be true, based on your evaluation of each candidate.
The effort to “define yourself ” is not limited to just political figures. You do it for yourself as a salesperson who constantly opens yourself up for acceptance and rejection in the role you play. You also take the risk of letting others define you, causing you to live according to their definition of you instead of your own. But by defining yourself, when you are rejected by prospects, criticized by others and judged by strangers, you will know their judgments to be untrue because you have decisively defined yourself. 
When you define yourself, you are consciously deciding what your goals and values are now and in the future. To help stay on track when you are tempted to accept and believe criticism, these goals and values determine your daily behaviors and priorities. Here are three questions to ask yourself about who you are and want to be. [Read more…]
Fight and fail; the only option worth taking
October 12, 2016 By Leave a Comment
Lately it seems I’ve be learning a lot of lessons. Which is another way of saying; I’ve been attempting new activities and not achieving the preferred outcome. This is frustrating for me and I imagine the same for others who are constantly doing the same.
I don’t want to learn anymore lessons for a while. I want a normal day of mediocrity, filled with a calm contentment and no surprises; like working on an assembly line for a few months. [Read more…]
I’m a First Responder to a No Soliciting sign
October 5, 2016 By 11 Comments
Last week I made a visit to my neighborhood mobile phone carrier’s retail store and noticed a ‘No Solicitors’ sign in the window. This gave me pause before entering. I thought – “I’m a Solicitor, what’s wrong with me. Why don’t they want me to come in?”
I peered through the glass like a school boy at a peep show, wondering what is going on inside that I was forbidden to see. Others inside the store began to look at me and I finally mustered up the guts to pull the door open and walk in.
I stopped as everyone looked at me and said, “I saw the No Solicitors sign. I’m a salesman. I sell for a living. What do you folks do behind the counter? Are you salespeople? Can I come in?” [Read more…]
You Don’t Need to Educate Your Prospects
July 26, 2016 By Leave a Comment
At the beginning of class I usually ask the question, “What is the goal of your sales call; whether it is on the phone or in person?” I always hear someone say, “I need to educate my prospect.” I replied with “Educate them on what?” They say, “On my products, our services, the company, my experience.” “Is that where you want the focus during the rest of the meeting – on you?” I response. “Well, they need to know what I offer in order for them to buy from me.” They say. “And that’s your goal of the sales call?” “Yes,” they reply. [Read more…]
The One Word to Stop Using
January 4, 2016 By Leave a Comment
One of the services I offer clients is selecting and hiring superstar salespeople. I work with them on weeding through resumes and asking questions during interviews. During one of the interviews, last week, I asked a candidate to describe a superstar salesperson, and they replied with, “someone that is helping customers solve problems.” Is this how you describe a superstar salesperson? [Read more…]
Leaders Never Stop Learning
September 7, 2015 By 3 Comments
This time of year there is a buzz with back to school and back to business, like the beginning of a new year. As you probably know the school year was established around the harvest season, yet it has not changed as our country has evolved into a more industrial age.
Watching successful sales leaders, one of the first questions I ask is “What books have you read recently?” There is never a hesitation to share a title or author. Every day delivers an opportunity to learn something new if we have the Wonder. The Wonder is the first step of change.
We have to ask ourselves, [Read more…]
Self-forgiveness Begins with Others
August 15, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Jack was playing center outfield during the third game of the season. He’ll be 10 this year and is starting to refine his baseball talents. It’s his favorite sport with football a close second.
In the fifth inning a pop fly was hit in his direction. He got under it, adjusted his stance, focused on the falling ball but couldn’t hold on to it and dropped it. He grabbed the ball and threw it to second base. The batter was safe.
He had a tough time letting that error go. Jack is one of the better players on the team. He commits to keeping his skills sharp with additional practices in the off season and learning by watching professional MLB players on television.
During the ride home, Jack was silent, though his team won. His father asked him what’s wrong. He just kept repeating he should have caught that pop up in the fifth. He couldn’t forgive himself.
His father reminded him of a last game they played when one of Jack’s teammates, Taylor, missed a pop up, causing the team to lose the game. Jack criticized Taylor all the way home and blamed him for losing the game. “Perhaps the withheld forgiveness that Jack held towards Taylor is the same withheld forgiveness Jack feels towards himself,” his father thought. He shared that thought with his son. Then he thought about it in his own life. [Read more…]
When They Say NO!
April 22, 2015 By 3 Comments
Most salespeople will admit they don’t like hearing a “No” from prospects during the sales process. There is a small sting of rejection that is hard to accept with a lingering sense of discouragement. This is not uncommon and if you feel this way, you are not alone. [Read more…]
Disappointment and Forgiveness
February 17, 2015 By 2 Comments
Last week someone I have a great deal of respect for let me down. Their actions disappointed me. If the feeling had a flavor, it tasted like the color gray. This was hurtful. But the real disappointment came with my belief in this person.
The unfortunate fact is people will disappoint us throughout our life. Our strength will come when we forgive them. And I will grow to forgive them, too. [Read more…]
