Have A Laugh Fridays – Ha Ha You Can’t Fire Me!
Some sales reps are harder to fire than others! Check out this short video to see why…
The “push to 400 is on”….
If you haven’t already, stop by and “like” my Facebook Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/SellLeadSucceed
Make it a tremendous weekend!
But I Just Don’t Like….
We all have a least favourite social media platform that we are building relationships on.
What is it for you?
- Google+
- or maybe a newer one like Pinterest or Stumble Upon
Take my “Social Media 7 Day Challenge!”
Put the most energy in to your least favourite social media platform for the next 7 days, and send me an email at TimMushey@gmail.com to let me know how it goes.
If you customers and/or prospects are congregating there, you still need to be visible.
Internet sensation Gary Vaynerchuk said it best several years ago,
“If you get invited to several after work mixers over time, which ones do you go to?” (paraphrased)
“ALL OF THEM”!
You don’t want to miss out, especially if you are avoiding one of the “Big 3” of Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
Would love to hear your thoughts!
Jon Bon Jovi’s Take On Leadership…
I watched Jon Bon Jovi on Oprah’s Masterclass TV series a few months ago. I really enjoyed his take on leadership and wanted to share it with you today:
“You have to lead by example. You have to be a good listener. You have to be a good friend. You have to know when to take a punch, and when to give one. Share the spotlight and take the spotlight. Love one another unconditionally, but push each other more than anyone else would.”
Pretty great quote from somebody you probably thought was just a rock star!
Have a great day!
Career Quicksand – How Deep Are You Sinking?
I have been lucky enough to work out of a home office for 11 of the last 13 years. The two years that I had an office to report in to, I would get stuck in traffic daily. It gave me many opportunities to look at other people’s faces, as their days were off to very “slow” starts too.
Some looked sad; others looked angry or frustrated, some had blank stares or even looked dazed. On occasion, some were smiling, while others where actually singing! It blew my mind how many people looked unhappy though. Is it realistic to believe that all of them looked that way because they were unhappy going to work? Of course not. Some must have been dealing with other issues too (some were of course frustrated by the continual traffic jams).
Most studies report that 7 or 8 out of 10 people do not like their jobs! One study in the sales profession showed that more than 50% of people should not even be sales at all! Are you one of those people getting out of bed dreading the next 8 to 12 hours every day?
Internet marketer Gary Vaynerchuk changed his entire career path because he was only 99% happy in his situation at the time. To me, that was an incredibly powerful statement. As people become more and more unhappy with their jobs over the months, years or even decades, it is like they are sinking further and further into quicksand. The more unhappy they get, the deeper they sink. On the odd occasion that they try to change jobs, they try a little bit, then just stop trying all together.
People typically want to make the switch, but “life gets in the way”. A job search gets put on the back burner. Others lack confidence, and don’t feel that they are good enough to have a shot at “career satisfaction”. Too many people settle for the status quo, and don’t take action. Some stay in a career that they just don’t like, becoming a “work robot” completing the same repetitive tasks at nauseum, for what seems like an eternity.
The next thing they know, five, ten or 20+ years have passed, and then wake up one day saying, “What the heck am I still doing here?” I can tell you from experience that being comfortable in a role that “pays the bills” does not equal happiness. Not even close.
When you are in love with your career, you should rarely be counting down the minutes until the end of the day, week, or until holidays start. I had a manager tell me that you should be excited to go to work, from the moment your feet hit the floor each morning. So many people over the years have said that “every day should feel like a Saturday”, or “your work should not feel like a job”.
It can be a good practice to check in with yourself every now and then.
- How happy are you with your career?
- Is it heading in the direction you would like it to?
If you feel “sunk”, the good news is you can always change your path going forward.
Remember, “You don’t drown by falling in water. You only drown by staying there.” – Zig Ziglar
- What does your perfect job look like (yes, you can have the perfect job)?
- How does that list compare to the job you’re currently in?
- What one step can you take today to move towards loving your job?
Saturday Music Memories – Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians in my online community (and Happy Weekend to everyone else)!
Enjoy the long weekend and the time you get to spend with family and friends.
Way down the list of things I am thankful for is the fantastic music that has come out of Canada over the years. Bryan Adams is close to the top of my list!
Here is an old classic “Run To You” from 1983!
Have a great weekend…
Don’t Go Away Mad, Just Go Away!
Shortly after I started my first outside sales role, I traveled 9 hours from my home office to see a small account. I continued to see them on a semi-regular basis even though growth potential was limited. I made that nasty trip two more times in the first year.
In some warped sense of reality, I thought I would impress my boss by doing the extensive travel.
The two other painfully long trips and lack of growth in the second year gave me an “ah-ha” moment!
I realized that these trips were not productive uses of my time. I ended up dropping them altogether the year after when sales diminished to almost nothing.
I would sign up any account early in my career, because that is how sales people are wired right? When you are on commission, every sale counts, so you have even more incentive to bring on new business. True, but only to a point.
What I soon realized is if negotiations with a prospect are difficult and time-consuming, there is a real possibility that they will continue to give challenges as a customer in the future. This is not true all the time. But I have “broken up” with prospects before we have had our “first date”.
I learned a very valuable lesson from an ex-manager several years ago. He stated,
“The best business deals occur when both parties give something to the deal”
Rarely do business relationships work when one party gives, gives, gives and the other party gladly takes, takes takes.
I have dealt with customers who were always upset and/or angry with myself and the organizations I was working for. Although these occurrences were rare, I ended up letting them go too. There was negative energy, and since they were smaller with respect to revenue, it was an easy decision based on the value of my time.
I serviced the occasional account who did not support my companies at all, but were more than happy to ask for pricing when a customer specifically requested our products. Eventually they were dropped too. Those were very sad relationships!
Selective = Success
Once I realized that every company is not a suitable business partner, I gained much better perspective on my account base and territory in general. Some tough decisions were made, but at the end of the day I focused my attention on the accounts that had the most growth potential.
- When was the last time you looked at your customer base and identified troublesome relationships?
- Can you scale back the time you spend with them, or drop altogether?
- On the flip side… Do you spend enough time with your largest customers?
The Waiting (Is The Hardest Part)!
Tom Petty was right. The waiting is the hardest part!
We always seem to be waiting. On the surface waiting sucks, but why not take advantage of the down time? Waiting can equal learning while you are:
- Waiting for, or riding public transportation
- Commuting to work and/or driving to meetings
- Waiting for an appointment
- Waiting in line at a store
- Waiting on a golf course between holes
… You the idea. There are many other examples.
- When you are on public transportation or waiting anywhere with respect to your role, have some “catalog time” with your company’s literature. It is incredible how much more comfortable I became with catalogs by focusing on them as little as 10 minutes per day.
- When you are commuting to work in your vehicle, or driving to appointments, listen to podcasts or audio books that will help you with business and/or personal development.
- When you are waiting for a business appointment, go over your notes to prepare and focus before the call. Don’t get distracted by email or phone calls. That can wait until later
- When you are in line at a store, always be in engagement mode (check out earlier post here http://bit.ly/KAcGXS )
- If you are golfing with customers, take time to really get to know them when you are waiting between holes. You have their undivided attention.
I used to get VERY frustrated with all the waiting that goes on in everyday life. But now I embrace it, and get as much done during business hours when I have time to spare. If I have put everything in to my work during the day, it gives me more time to devote to my family out of “office hours”.
- Do you make valuable use of your “waiting”, or do you just waste time?
- If not, what improvements can you make going forward?
Remember, waiting can equal learning if you use your time wisely!
Let’s connect on Facebook! Stop by and “like” my page if you like what you see at:
Why Not Just Ask The Question?
I often tell people….
“I’m in sales, so I will always ask the question. The worst they can say is no”.
Although this logic may come across as a little generic and obvious, are you guilty of not asking a question because you think you already know the answer?
Some key situations where I have asked questions and had positive results include:
- Receiving referrals from current customers that would turn in to new business
- Offering other products that resulted in unexpected add-on sales
- In the mattress business, I would ask that my products be moved to higher visibility areas of stores to increase exposure
A couple of “fun ones” include:
- I have about a 95% success rate of returning products outside the return policy time frame and/or without a receipt
- I rented a beer sales representative a vehicle many years ago, and asked if I could sample some of his product upon return of the car. I was more joking than anything. To my surprise, he brought me back a case of beer on a Friday of a long weekend.
Two events happened recently that got me thinking about this topic again:
- I went to pick up 3 pizzas and new the restaurant owner quite well. I said, “Oh is it buy 2 get 1 free night?” He laughed and said “yeah right”. As I was about to walk away with my order he put a free order of garlic bread on top
- I was out for lunch with friends, and one of the guys got married over Christmas. The owner of the restaurant knew him, and when he walked over to say greet us, I mentioned the recent nuptials and how his meal show be free. It was a total joke, but the owner ended up taking care of his meal.
So what does this all mean?
The real “ah-ha” moment as I reflected back on these events was….
I planted the seeds to get the results that I wanted.
If I had not taken the time to ask questions with confidence and in a casual way, I would have never achieved the desired results.
When you are in sales, you need to get used to hearing the word “NO”. That is an occupational hazard of this line of work. If you can’t handle the rejection you are in the wrong industry. But a few tweaks to your mindset like I have illustrated can give you more positive results than you ever imagined.
So next time you are predicting a “NO” why not just ask anyways for the fun of it?
You may like the answer!
When Will You “Cash In” Your “Personal Lottery Win?”
The national lottery in Canada was an astonishing $100 million in October 2012. I buy tickets from time to time, but 6-8 times per year is usually my maximum. My “big win” was sharing $300 with my parents and in-laws a few years ago. It was fun to walk in the door and throw all the money in the air like I had really won big time!
The good part of playing the lottery for myself is that it is only for fun. I am not expecting to win anything, and if I happen to win a little something (like a free ticket last week) then bonus.
I heard a comment on an audio interview two years ago from internet marketing sensation Eben Pagan. It has resonated for me most days since. Many people are waiting for that ONE PAYDAY. That one day during their life that they cash in and do not have to do anything for the rest of their days.
Examples include a lottery win, a legal settlement or an inheritance. In terms of lotteries specifically, what realistically are your chances of ever cashing in on a major win in a country like Canada, or the infamous Powerball in the USA? Heck, lotteries happen all over the world, it could happen anywhere.
I interpreted Eben’s comments as most people are just waiting, hoping – banking on that one great payday that will change their lives forever. I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but it will not happen for most of us! EVER.
What about a “personal lottery win?” I don’t mean the millions of dollars that could be won on a national lottery. I mean the extra $500, $1000, or even $2000+ that you could make supplementing your current income?
Imagine how your life would change month after month, year after year if you had some extra money flowing in to your household? To me, that is a “personal lottery win”. You would not be waiting anymore. Rather making changes as soon as possible to take fate in to your hands, and not relying on colored balls in a machine to shape your future.
The internet has an incredible amount of resources that can help you to find areas that you may like to focus on for reoccurring streams of income. People are doing it every day, and those that do very well, end up doing it full-time. The amount of get rich quick schemes out there is astonishing, but if you ever want to know who the quality resources are (so you don’t have to waste your time), send me an email at:
TimMushey@gmail.com
I will let you know who “my guys” are. This group of people have the best content available to help you evaluate ideas about additional income streams.
Sell, Lead, Succeed! 