Reality Knocks

It’s almost amusing to see. Sales reps scurrying away when they find out that YOU are trying to sell THEM something. Usually, it works the other way around. They swarm you the minute that you take a step onto their sales floor. Now, it’s as if you’ve got the plague.   You make your way to their manager. He (or she) says that he’s not interested.  They’re not generating any business. They’re going with a competitor.  On and on they go.  While you’re still speaking, he or she turns their back on you and walks away. When you go to the prospect, do you sometimes feel abused?  No wonder you never want to go back.  Many prospects remain unvisited throughout the country for the reasons just mentioned. Have you ever realized that if you can learn to effectively work ALL your prospects that you could make A LOT OF MONEY?  The most difficult visit that you will ever make to a prospect is your very firs...

We CAN make an impact on our business simply by improving our communication skills.  Did you know the word “communication” derives its origin from the Latin word “commonis, which means to have “in common?”  If we are to truly communicate, we’ve got to discover what we have in common with others, and use that to build a relational bridge.  To discover what we have in common, we’ve got to look past what appears to be and discover what really is. Recently, while I was visiting a prospect, I saw an inappropriately dressed man coming out of an office.  At first, I was tempted to simply pass him by in favor of the important looking people.  However, I resisted that thought and introduced myself. After talking to him, I discovered that he was an important decision-maker.  We did actually have a lot “in common”. If I had judged him by his appearance, I would have missed the opportunity to talk. Next, I made a call to another prospect...

You begin any new skill as a novice. New skills are accompanied with feelings of awkwardness.  As infants, your parents spent a lot of time teaching you how to talk. Before long, you were able to speak easily.  After that, they stuck a book in your hands, and you had to learn a new skill. Reading.  You felt awkward all over again.  Being an expert at one skill doesn't mean that you are an expert in another. The learning process never stops. Some new owners have similar experience in businesses.  They may be mechanically inclined, give attention to detail, and work well with their hands.  They believed in themselves to the degree that they are willing to lay out a bunch of money to get their new business going.  All in all they are a really confident bunch. Some owners think that just because they are strong in operational skills means that they are automatically strong in another unrelated skill such as sales or mark...

Last Sunday the church where I attend had a big Thanksgiving service at a local High School.  The church was celebrating 5 years in existence.  After the service was over, around 900 people began to pile out the rear door, where the pastor was shaking hands.  Everyone was supposed to be headed to the school’s cafeteria for lunch, and we were furthest away from the exit of that auditorium. Although my family was unfamiliar with that school, my son just popped open a side door and we passed hundreds of people waiting to exit through the rear door.  There we noticed the associate pastor walking briskly down the hallway.  We guessed that he knew where he was going, so we just followed him.  We arrived in the lunch line at the front, and got our meals within minutes.  As we left, we passed hundreds of people still waiting to be served.  Although we didn’t push or shove to get in front of those people, my son just thou...

Have you ever gotten yourself into trouble by not checking with your spouse before making a major purchase?  I have.  In fact during my engagement, I purchased a car without even mentioning it to my fiancé.  Afterward, she said, “You didn’t even discuss this with me!”  Right then and there I knew that I was wrong, so I promised to get her input on major decisions in the future. Early in our marriage we decided to never carry over credit card debt to avoid high interest charges.  Although we use credit cards, we write a check at the end of the month to pay them off.  If we didn’t communicate on major purchases, we might not have the money to do this.  I’m glad we plan our expenditures. After we married, I better understood my wife’s personality type, which is analytical.  (She has a B.S. in Math).  What she really likes to do is research. After she pulls together the product’s information, she’ll dis...

When you visit your prospects, YOU are like a walking billboard, but just what are you advertising?  Although your clothing is extremely important, there is something even more important than apparel.  It is the attitude that you bring to the prospect.  Did you know that you can choose your attitude and thoughts just like you choose the clothes you wear?  I'd like to take a few moments to discuss how this works. You choose your attitude by selecting your thoughts.  Your attitude merely responds to what you are thinking about.  For example when you think upon a positive experience of the past, your thoughts will bring back those exhilarating emotions into the present. However, when you think upon a negative experience, your mind will bring back those miserable feelings into the present.  In this way, when we choose our thoughts, we choose our attitudes.  This explanation may seem over simplified, but go ahea...