What a good problem to have.............in some cases anyway. In todays world, not many people can claim being overwhelmed with opportunity. Overwhelmed with busy work? Probably so. But overwhelmed with business to win is an extremely fortunate situation.
We're all well trained on how to drum up business, and how to organize and manage follow-up. But managing opportunities when they all seem to drop at once is something that isn't generally covered in sales training programs. With an excessive amount of bids to compile, research to gather, items to pull together...........and finally deliver professionally and on time............it takes real time management and team work to not let anything slip through the cracks. The goal is to treat every opportunity with our 100% best effort from every angle, and come out the other side to find that we won our fair share (or more) of the opportunities attempted. The fear is that efforts get watered down with less than 100% of capability, only to find that you lost it all in the end as a result. The management and collaboration it takes to pull this off is as big of a challenge as we will face in the sales world. And the margin that differentiates you from winning big or losing all is extremely minimal.
Like I said, this is a very fortunate problem to have...........but a daunting task nontheless. Do what it takes, and sleep when the results come in.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
The Tougher the Days, the.............
the what? The bigger the load to carry through? The sweeter the celebration of victory? The more the potential for growth? The higher the reward? The less hair on your head? The better you become? The more you appreciate the good days?
I would imagine that a combination of a few of the above is true. Some cases will end more positively than others. I believe that all of these days will come with a learning experience. All of these situations present opportunities to learn and get better. Some "valleys" are longer and deeper than others, and take endurance and perserverence to pull out of. All valleys lead to a mountain top, which in our case represents victory.
Tough days will make you stronger, and can prove to be a stepping stone in achievement if you approach them as such. There is no magic formula to get through tough days, or tough times. We can't sit back and wait for things to get better, we must aggressively create the opportunities to make progress. Trek through the valley with an undying commitment to succeed, and before you know it you will find yourself climbing up the mountain.
I would imagine that a combination of a few of the above is true. Some cases will end more positively than others. I believe that all of these days will come with a learning experience. All of these situations present opportunities to learn and get better. Some "valleys" are longer and deeper than others, and take endurance and perserverence to pull out of. All valleys lead to a mountain top, which in our case represents victory.
Tough days will make you stronger, and can prove to be a stepping stone in achievement if you approach them as such. There is no magic formula to get through tough days, or tough times. We can't sit back and wait for things to get better, we must aggressively create the opportunities to make progress. Trek through the valley with an undying commitment to succeed, and before you know it you will find yourself climbing up the mountain.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
What Are My Competitors Doing?
Our world runs on competition, as it should. I respect worthy competitors, as they continue to raise the bar to make me better. This doesn't mean that I root for them, or wish them luck..........but I respect what they do and acknowledge that honest competition is a good thing for our clients.
I constantly find myself attempting to benchmark my actions against those of my competitors. Are they working harder than me? Smarter than me? More efficiently than me? More aggressively than me? What is it that they do that wins business away from me at times? Do I need to wake up earlier? Work later? Become more knowledgable? Dress differently? Present differently? Provide differently?
I don't track this as if I'm "chasing," as I beleive that presents the wrong intentions. I need to stay a step ahead. As they get faster, I must get faster. As they get better, I must get better. If I stay the same, I'll get left in their dust.
It's intriguing to me to think of what they do on a daily basis. Are they comfortable, or are they scrambling? Perhaps this is unhealthy, but it's intriguing nonetheless. I think the awareness keeps me on my toes. The unaware will be surpassed before they even realize it.
I constantly find myself attempting to benchmark my actions against those of my competitors. Are they working harder than me? Smarter than me? More efficiently than me? More aggressively than me? What is it that they do that wins business away from me at times? Do I need to wake up earlier? Work later? Become more knowledgable? Dress differently? Present differently? Provide differently?
I don't track this as if I'm "chasing," as I beleive that presents the wrong intentions. I need to stay a step ahead. As they get faster, I must get faster. As they get better, I must get better. If I stay the same, I'll get left in their dust.
It's intriguing to me to think of what they do on a daily basis. Are they comfortable, or are they scrambling? Perhaps this is unhealthy, but it's intriguing nonetheless. I think the awareness keeps me on my toes. The unaware will be surpassed before they even realize it.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
What Are You The Best At?
Are you the best salesperson? Are you the best at managing? Are you the best at developing, launching, and seeing something through? Are you the best at creating a buzz? You need to be able to answer "yes" to one or possibly two of the above questions in order to make a name for yourself. If you answered "yes" to all of them, you likely have a clouded view of your skillset. Would others answer these questions the same as you, if they are asked about you?
The key is not to be the best at everything, as you will spread yourself to thin and decrease the likelihood of being the best at anything. Find your natural talents, recognize them, exhaust every angle to improve them..........and delegate the rest. A "Jack of All Trades" will generally lose out to a specialist. Good baseball teams will have a couple of players that can play multiple positions on the field when needed. However, that player is usually not better at 2nd Base than the everyday starting 2nd Basemen. This isn't a bad thing, as the multi-position players are in high demand and usually have long and successful careers. Which one do you want to be?
Growing up I played football, baseball, and basketball.............every season up until middle school. At some point I realized I had a choice. I could either continue to play all three sports, and accept the fact that I would be an average contributor...........or, I could focus on only one sport, and give myself a chance to be the best. I chose football, and I never reached the "best" status. But, I'm confident that I became better with focus and dedication than I ever would have become had I tried to develop in all three sports equally.
There were a few kids that had the natural capability to be the best in any sport they played, all the way through high school. These kids represented a rare few, out of a lot. Even these kids had to make a choice later in life, one or the other.
To pursue a route of becoming the best at everything will only hinder where you go. Give serious thought to the avenue in which you can truly succeed. Where you can truly set yourself apart. Where you can truly make a difference. Then pursue it with every ounce of energy and integrity that you have. Good things will happen.
The key is not to be the best at everything, as you will spread yourself to thin and decrease the likelihood of being the best at anything. Find your natural talents, recognize them, exhaust every angle to improve them..........and delegate the rest. A "Jack of All Trades" will generally lose out to a specialist. Good baseball teams will have a couple of players that can play multiple positions on the field when needed. However, that player is usually not better at 2nd Base than the everyday starting 2nd Basemen. This isn't a bad thing, as the multi-position players are in high demand and usually have long and successful careers. Which one do you want to be?
Growing up I played football, baseball, and basketball.............every season up until middle school. At some point I realized I had a choice. I could either continue to play all three sports, and accept the fact that I would be an average contributor...........or, I could focus on only one sport, and give myself a chance to be the best. I chose football, and I never reached the "best" status. But, I'm confident that I became better with focus and dedication than I ever would have become had I tried to develop in all three sports equally.
There were a few kids that had the natural capability to be the best in any sport they played, all the way through high school. These kids represented a rare few, out of a lot. Even these kids had to make a choice later in life, one or the other.
To pursue a route of becoming the best at everything will only hinder where you go. Give serious thought to the avenue in which you can truly succeed. Where you can truly set yourself apart. Where you can truly make a difference. Then pursue it with every ounce of energy and integrity that you have. Good things will happen.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Attacking a Challenge
New Challenges bring fear, stress, heartache, headache, humility, and reality. Yet we thrive in challenging times. We love when the challenge presents itself. We anticipate the opportunity, and we yearn to face the challenge head on. Why? Because succeeding through new challenges is one of the few tangible evidences of improvement. You have accomplished something that people doubted you could. You succeeded in an arena that even you didn't know you could.
It goes back to the obstacle courses we faced in elementary, the ropes courses we faced in middle school, and the pushup contest we faced in high school. Or for some of us.........the reading, writing, and arithmatic that we faced accordingly.
None of us want to sit back and bow down to the challenge, giving into our fear of humility and reality. We don't want to watch the opportunity of improvement and success pass us by. But it's the choice that you make at that moment that will hasten or delay your development. Challenge is opportunity. But you must choose to face it head-on immediately, or risk missing out on seeing what's on the other side.
It goes back to the obstacle courses we faced in elementary, the ropes courses we faced in middle school, and the pushup contest we faced in high school. Or for some of us.........the reading, writing, and arithmatic that we faced accordingly.
None of us want to sit back and bow down to the challenge, giving into our fear of humility and reality. We don't want to watch the opportunity of improvement and success pass us by. But it's the choice that you make at that moment that will hasten or delay your development. Challenge is opportunity. But you must choose to face it head-on immediately, or risk missing out on seeing what's on the other side.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Convenient Improvement
When I'm on the road, each night as I'm winding down in my hotel room, it seems that I refect on activities that occured throughout that day and key in on areas that I need to improve. I got to thinking last night that I have created a habit of improving when it's convenient to me.
When all is still, and there's actually nothing that I can do right or wrong, I come up with ways that I can do things better. The problem is just that, it's on my mind at a time when I can't make a difference. I can justify what I should be doing, but I have trouble maintaining that focus of improvement during the course of the day.......when my improvement actually matters.
In hindsight, things look clearer. I should have done this, and I could have done that. And, if something like this comes up tomorrow, I will respond differently. Then, tomorrow comes, and I can't say for sure that I react as planned. This is a simple exercise of learning from mistakes, and adjusting my actions so that the same mistakes are not repeated.
The conflict is simple, when we get caught in the moment, it is often less convenient for us to improve, and very easy for us to react as status quo. To shape improvement, we must react in a way that is somewhat out of our comfort zone, out of our nature, and do things better than our covenient habits have created. Getting better means learning new habits.......not when it's convenient to us, but when we have the chance to make a difference.
When all is still, and there's actually nothing that I can do right or wrong, I come up with ways that I can do things better. The problem is just that, it's on my mind at a time when I can't make a difference. I can justify what I should be doing, but I have trouble maintaining that focus of improvement during the course of the day.......when my improvement actually matters.
In hindsight, things look clearer. I should have done this, and I could have done that. And, if something like this comes up tomorrow, I will respond differently. Then, tomorrow comes, and I can't say for sure that I react as planned. This is a simple exercise of learning from mistakes, and adjusting my actions so that the same mistakes are not repeated.
The conflict is simple, when we get caught in the moment, it is often less convenient for us to improve, and very easy for us to react as status quo. To shape improvement, we must react in a way that is somewhat out of our comfort zone, out of our nature, and do things better than our covenient habits have created. Getting better means learning new habits.......not when it's convenient to us, but when we have the chance to make a difference.
Let Leaders Lead
A colleague said to me today, referring to another company, "They have great leaders, they just need to let them lead."
There are a lot of leaders out there. People with great ideas, great work ethic, great aspirations, great intentions, great leadership skills. Yet they are handcuffed, reigned in by their leaders, bursting at the seams to implement their skills. This might be because their leaders don't feel as if their ready, or don't recognize their skill set, or fear that this person might be able to do a better job than they can.
Look around you, identify your leaders, and loosen the reigns. They will make you look good. They will help you succeed. And they will help you achieve your own goals and aspirations. Don't hold them back, or the next thing you know they will be leading another organization. If your job security is threatened by them, then it's probably for good reason.
True leaders will find a way to lead. People will follow them, and they will succeed............either with you or against you.
There are a lot of leaders out there. People with great ideas, great work ethic, great aspirations, great intentions, great leadership skills. Yet they are handcuffed, reigned in by their leaders, bursting at the seams to implement their skills. This might be because their leaders don't feel as if their ready, or don't recognize their skill set, or fear that this person might be able to do a better job than they can.
Look around you, identify your leaders, and loosen the reigns. They will make you look good. They will help you succeed. And they will help you achieve your own goals and aspirations. Don't hold them back, or the next thing you know they will be leading another organization. If your job security is threatened by them, then it's probably for good reason.
True leaders will find a way to lead. People will follow them, and they will succeed............either with you or against you.
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