Have A Laugh Fridays – Excellent Phone Cold Call – NOT!
OUCH! This video is a beauty. If you are picking up the phone to contact potential customers, please do not do this!
Have a great weekend!
DO NOT Be Just A “Professional Visitor”!
It was near month end, and I had just returned from dinner during a product training trip. I opened my email to a note from my boss titled “DO NOT Be Just A Professional Visitor!”
I had never heard this phrase before in the context of a sales role, but I knew exactly what he meant. I forget the exact content of the note, but I am sure it was very colorful based on how he typically corresponded with us.
What he was basically saying was it was close to month end, and we needed to secure orders. A sale rep’s job description did not include going to just visit accounts. Clear goals needed to be made and achieved on each call. I heard him loud and clear.
Going to see accounts just for the sake of seeing them and not moving closer to securing business was rarely, if ever a good idea. Certainly build rapport with customers, and get to know personal details about them, but always have a “moving business forward” component of the call.
You don’t have to complete 10 objectives or something drastic like that on every call, but aspire for at least 2-3. When I had limited time with an account, I may have only had one goal, but I made sure it was a worthwhile one.
The sales profession can seem complex on the surface, but at the end of the day systems can be simplified to insure success long-term. Make achievable goals for each call, and do whatever you can to not stray from the plan. Anyone can go in and just visit people, but the real success stories come from those who plan and organize ahead of time, and are always thinking about closing business!
The Name That Tune “Beat Down” – A Lesson In Learning!
When you love something, you typically don’t have to learn it. It is almost as if you absorb the information, without having to bear down, understand and memorize the content. For those of you who have followed me for a while, you will know that I am a music fanatic. I have always done well playing “name that tune” at pubs, or with my wife making selections on our iPod during long road trips.
But my biggest victory occurred on a 3 hour car ride with three colleagues. They challenged me to a game and even used their own iPod. They were younger than me, and quite confident that they would beat “the old guy”. Long story short, it was not even close. I answered 90+% of the songs correctly (many after only hearing 2-3 second clips). They were flabbergasted, and I could not wipe the smile off my face. I have loved music since I was ten years old. They never had a chance.
With several of my sales roles, I loved what I sold. There was never really any learning involved. The knowledge “just appeared” over time, and I was having fun doing something I loved.
This is how I am today with hockey, golf, music and internet marketing. I do not have to memorize anything. The information just stays with me.
Think of how difficult it is to learn something when you do not like it, or are just not interested in it:
- A course at school
- Training for products, services or concepts at work
- Music lessons as a kid
It did not go very well, did it?
If the negative feelings you have towards learning something are worse than getting your teeth pulled, how effective are you ever going to be at understanding the information? You may be able to learn it over time and perform a required role, but it will not have meaning to you. It will just be something that you have to do.
From an early age, my son fell in love with hockey. That was a “side affect” of having me as a dad. We watched it on TV, played in the basement, on the driveway and at the rink. He also took skating lessons and started to play on a team last year. Did I mention that he watched his first professional NHL game at one hour and fifty minutes old on the 7 inch TV screen in the hospital?
By the time that he was four years old, he could name any of 15 NHL players by me only giving him a number and team name as hints. We never had “memorization sessions”. He just immersed himself in the sport, and his knowledge of one of the greatest games on earth is coming to him as naturally as it did for his father.
The motivation for this post came from the courses that I did not like in school and struggled just to get passing grades in, and the jobs that I have had in the past where I did not like what I was selling.
- Do you love the products and/or services that you sell every day?
- If not, should you be getting involved with something that you really love to do?
- If you have been “festering in unhappiness” for months, years or decades, is it time to “hit reset”?
If you are sitting on the fence, maybe today is the day to take a leap of faith!
Neil Ducoff’s Take On Leadership!
I just loved Neil Ducoff’s take on leadership in this post. Take a few minutes to have a read. It is very inspiring…
One thing I’ve learned in my 62 years is that success never seeks you out. Success is about as indifferent and unemotional as it gets. It doesn’t give a hoot about your dreams and vision of what success means to you. It doesn’t care if you’re wildly successful today and lose it all tomorrow. Success is never in a rush. Success is just this extraordinary state that allows people, companies and organizations to bask in its glow and glory for as long or as little as they choose. There’s only one rule; show up and play to win. Otherwise, get out of the way.
I’ve been teaching, writing and coaching business and leadership for 40 years. I’ve had my share of successes and failures – but I keep showing up and keep trying to get better. When I look at my calendar and see keynotes, classes and consulting dates, I…
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I really enjoyed this short blog post from Broc Edwards. He makes some very valid points comparing a job and a career. Enjoy!
[Today’s flashback is a short piece I originally posted on September 5, 2011. Enjoy!]
I was watching Chris Rock’s “Kill the Messenger” the other night and was really struck by one of his comments. I’m paraphrasing, but he basically said that you know you have a career when there’s never enough time. You look at your watch and it’s already after 5pm so you plan on coming in early the next day. With a job, there’s too much time. You look at your watch and it’s just after 9am and the day stretches out ahead.
Absolutely brilliant! It doesn’t matter if you’re overpaid or underpaid, hourly or salaried, educated or uneducated, or what field you’re in or company you work for: if there’s never enough time to accomplish all that you’re excited about getting done, you have a career; if time is your enemy, you have a job. There’s a lot of…
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Saturday Music Memories – Aussie’s Rock!
I had the distinct pleasure of travelling to Australia in 1998 for 7 months. During that time, I listened to a lot of their local music.
One band that I was already in love with was Midnight Oil. I have had the pleasure of seeing them play live twice in Canada. They put on an incredible show.
Check out this excellent acoustic arrangement of one of their classic hits!
Croix Sather – The Marathon and Speaking Machine!
You just have to check out Croix Sather’s story! I discovered him last week while listening to the Toastmaster’s podcast. In 2011, he completed 100 marathons and 100 speeches in 100 days! How lazy does that make us “regular folks” feel?
Recently, Croix broke a world record by running “146 treacherous and blistering miles in 3 days”!
Please check out his website here: http://www.dreambigactbig.com/about-us/143-about
And details of his recent world record “smashing” here: http://www.prweb.com/releases/croix-sather/world-record/prweb9840661.htm
There are several ways to follow Croix, so certainly check out what he is up to in the future!
Saturday Music Memories – Wheat Kings And Pretty Things
It is Thanksgiving in Canada, and I am moving a little slower than normal this weekend! The Tragically Hip are Canadian Icons, and one of my favourite bands EVER! Almost 20 years ago they wrote a fabulous song dedicated to David Milgaard who spent more than 23 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.
Have a listen. Details of his remarkable story are below if you would like to have a read.
My Quotes Week Day 3 – “Get To The Point!”
Some people just “sound” better on paper!” – Tim Mushey
I was on a webinar once, and after half an hour of the gentlemen saying how great the content was going to be, I thought of this quote.
At least if I was reading it, I could have skipped to the good stuff (if there was any)!
Sell, Lead, Succeed! 