Give Yourself a Chance

There is enough working against you. The economy. The competition. The dollar. The perception. These are out of your control, but there are many things in your control. When you're in control make wise decions, use logic, cooperate, and pick your battles.

Save your strength to fight the uncontrollable factors that we face every day. Identify the gimme's, and use them to your advantage. Fighting the petty things will only suck time, energy, and morale.

Get out of your own way, and use challenges as a path to success rather than a roadblock to redirect. We must recognize who is here to help, and who is working against you. The obstacles will never go away, we can only make them less effective by maneuvering more efficiently. There is no room for things that bring us down, they must be removed from our daily routine. If the factors that you control in life are working against you, you are setting yourself up for failure. Eliminate them, and give yourself a chance to succeed.

Off Guard

Today's technology allows us to have everything we need at out fingertips. 6+ years ago, it was actually realistic (though not really excusable) to be caught off guard. In those days you may have traveled without your laptop or important files. Then you get an unexpected phone call in which you need to reference something you left behind. It's funny to think back to those times, and remember the different things we would have to do to access resources. Remember having documents faxed to your hotel, scanning them, hooking up to someone's dial up internet and sending them?

Our technology today eliminates the chance of us getting caught off guard. If you invest in the right resources, and learn the current applications available........you will actually "dummy proof" yourself from ever being stuck. There is very little that you're not able to do with a smartphone and a tablet. Of course, sometimes you must be forced to rely on these before you truly realize their power.

Invest, and take time to research the newest apps. This is an ongoing process as new apps are added everyday. Some of them a game changers. They eliminate the excuses.

The Social Animal - by David Brooks

This book hurt my brain, and actually destroyed my reading habits over the past couple of months.  I knew after a few pages that ultimately, this book was over my head.  But, I took it on as a challenge...........something new.  Several times throughout the book I wanted to toss it, but I pushed through, forcing myself out of my comfort zone.  But now, I have conceeded failure.  After 469 pages, out of 569 total..........with only 100 pages left, I cannot tolerate it anymore.  I will not throw good time after bad.

The book is well written, and very interesting, simply communicated on a level deeper than I care to comprehend.  If you're up for a challenge, dive in.  Let me know when you're done, as I'd love to know how it ends.

He Didn't Want It

I interviewed a potential sales rep today.  He was very well-spoken, and I believe he could be a sales asset in most organizations.  But, he didn't sell me that he wanted the job.  Why?  He arrived to the interview 10 minutes late, dressed in an open-collared shirt and corduroy slacks..............for real.

Interviews are the most important sales presentations that we ever prepare for.  If you need a job, or simply want a change.......you should be on your "A" game and sell youself.  If this is how he prepares for an important presentation, how will he prepare for the day-to-day presentations.

Happy Clients

We sell for a living.  Selling a product/service is our source of income, and provides for us.  But selling is not our job.  Making clients happy is our job.

We identify a potential client that has a need that we may be able to fulfill.  We insist that we have the best product to meet their need.  They trust in us, and buy our product.  Then what?  We've only begun...........

If we think that we have won at that point, we have a long career of finding new business ahead of us.  We will now succeed or fail based on the happiness of the client after you have delivered the product.  At this point, nothing else in our world should matter............only happiness.  Success will follow.

If My Team Can't Do It, Nobody's Can

If my team can't win. If my team can't overcome. If my team can't solve. If my team can't perservere. Whatever "it" is, you need to have the best team to accomplish "it."

The are so many different aspects of sales, and it's hard to be the best in every facet. Every team member has their own strengths and weaknesses.......and there's always room for improvement. I don't believe that a team is only as good as it's weakest link, as we're all weak in some respect as individuals. I believe a team is only as good as our biggest weakness as a whole.

As a team, we should all be identifying our weaknesses, and do what's necessary to improve upon them. Perhaps it's focus, or responsibilities, or resources, or personnel. Whatever it may be, it won't fix itself.

The strengths are what will pull you through to victory. Improving the weaknesses will only make the path to victory that much shorter and easier. As each weakness is improved, reevaluate and repeat.