HAPPY NEW YEAR

With only hours left in 2010 I want to wish all my loyal readers a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR.

At midnight we will turn the page on another year and look forward to the new and exciting year ahead of us. 2010 has had its challenges for sales reps worldwide. The economy has had a much stronger impact on business than anyone could have predicted. Environmental issues have plagued the world from record breaking oil spills to tsunamis. Countries that have never been factors in energy consumption are now leading the world in demand for energy.

Wars are being fought on multiple fronts and it has become harder to recognize our allies than ever before as well. The basic beliefs that our country was founded on, pursuit of happiness, has come under attack by illegal immigrants.  Politics have gone crazy and politicians can’t seem to work toward any common goals.

With all this being said and everything that is going on, always remember that we live in the GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD and we have unlimited opportunities. We have freedoms that the majority of the world will never experience. It doesn’t matter where you start or when you start, there is always hope to become better.

The problems we have today will go away only to be replaced with new and more challenging problems. With every problem will come tremendous opportunity. With every new crisis will come new hope, and with every obstacle will come innovation that will change the world forever.

I am an optimist. I believe that the glass is half full and that no matter what happens today it happened for a reason and it will lead us to improve ourselves and become stronger for having been a part of it.

I have no silver bullet to make things better. All I can do is to present a point of view that will hopefully make you start to think in a positive direction. If one person that reads this blog is influenced enough to change their attitude from one of defeat to a winning attitude, then the 98 posts that I have written this year are all worth it to me.

I truly believe that 2011 will be OUR year. Every rep that reads this blog, every person who reads this blog, every company that these people work for, every customer that these people service, every territory that these people work, every family member that these people have, every community that these people are a part of will be better in 2011.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, AND THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF THE TRAINING BUFFET, HELP YOURSELF. KEEP READING IN 2011 FOR MORE TREATS THAT WILL TINGLE YOUR INTELLECTUAL TASTE BUDS AND STIMULATE YOUR CAREER.

Lorin

TAKE A DEEP BREATH, NOW LET IT OUT

Tomorrow is New Years Eve, a day when most of us will release a deep breath being happy that the current year is coming to an end and others of us take a deep breath getting ready for the year ahead. Which are you going to be doing a few hours from now?

It is always interesting to ask people if they are happy or sad to see a New Year come and go. Most people usually fit into one of two groups, the people who are happy to see a year come to an end are the people who had a challenging year the people who are not happy to see a year come to an end are the people who had a wonderful year.

There is a very select group of people who I love being around. These people are the ones who know that the two actions, the release and the taking in of a deep breath go together. One without the other really doesn’t do anyone any good.

How can you have a year come to an end without another year starting? For that matter how can you exhale a breath without taking a breath back in? The two just go together don’t they?

Here are a few things that you can do to help ease the stress of the year ending and New Year beginning.

1)      Let go of the past. When I say past I mean everything up to and including tomorrow 11:59:59 PM. If you had a good year, GREAT, you should be proud of yourself and what you have accomplished. If you had a challenging year, GREAT, it is over and tomorrow starts a new opportunity to reach for the stars.

2)      Have a clear and exact goal. Start the year renewed with a new goal. A goal that challenges you, and yet is attainable. A goal that is worthy of your hard work and will reap you the rewards you want if accomplished.

3)      Do something different. This is a part A and part B task. Part A is, doing something different in your career. Get a new certification, learn a new technique, expand your product line, it doesn’t matter what you do, just make this year a little different from last year. Part B is, do something different for yourself. Maybe it is going on a new kind of vacation. If you never have been on a cruise take one, if you have never gone to the beach, go. Maybe it is buying that new car, or remodeling your home. Just do something different. What this will do for you is make the New Year one to remember.

4)      Roll the dice. So many of us play it safe in everything we do. We are afraid to take any risk in fear it won’t work out for us. Now READ VERY CAREFULLY! I am not saying you should risk more than you can afford to lose. I am saying, step out of the safe zone a little and take a small gamble in one aspect of your life. The thrill, the rush, the excitement will do you good.

5)      Reconnect with someone that you have lost contact with. I know this sounds like something your psychologist should be telling you (and if your psychologist already has, thank me for saving you the $75.00 cost of your next visit) but reaching out to someone from the past is almost universally an uplifting experience. What I have also found for myself is that whoever I have reached out to has given me other names and contact that I could also reach out to. Before I knew it I had a group of old friends that I was communicating with again.

OK, you now only have 24 hours and 30 minutes left until you start breathing in and out breaths of years gone by and years yet to come. Make the most out of your last day of 2010.

Lorin

MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH

The Maxwell Smart saying, “Missed it by that much”, has become a part of the American Language. I can remember sitting and laughing so hard every time he would hold his two fingers up an inch apart and say this. Today however, when I say this I am usually not laughing.

Today, “Missed it by that much”, has become the saying used when someone just misses an opportunity. It may have been an opportunity to make a sale or an opportunity for a promotion. It doesn’t matter what the opportunity is, if you Missed it by that much, it isn’t good.

Why do we sometimes come so close to something we want and fall a little short? More times than not it isn’t because we did nothing to help ourselves. It is because we didn’t do enough to help ourselves. Can you remember when you were in school and you were disappointed with a grade you received from a professor? I can hear myself saying, “I studied for 5 hours”. The results from the test clearly tell me that maybe if I had skipped watching TV and studied an extra hour, I may not have been so disappointed with the grade I received!

This same idea follows us into the sales field. The first step to any sale is always preparation, you need to be prepared for the type of customer, the type of business, the type of products, and all the pieces of the sales puzzle that come together to get the order. The amount of time taken to gather all this information can be different for each and every sales call we make. As reps we can’t allow ourselves to compare one sale to another when preparation time is concerned. I have listened to reps say they spend 15 minutes pre sales call or 30 minutes pre sales call getting ready. I have had reps tell me they spend an hour a night getting ready or several hours a week preparing for the calls they are going to make. I always ask them how do they determine if 15 minutes is too short or an hour too long? Most of the reps respond with, “I know what I need to make the sale”, and yet they are rarely above average for their close rates.

I have been a big supporter of treating each sale as if it were the only sales call I was ever going to make. I never allow myself to stop getting ready for a call until I AM READY FOR THE CALL. Close enough isn’t close enough for me. I want to know every detail I can, I need to know all the variables, I try to learn as much as possible. Why am I so diligent about this? I want to be able to control as much of the sale as I can. By spending the time I do preparing for the sale call, there is very little that can be thrown at me which I am not ready for.

Now please don’t get me wrong, I don’t close every sale, not even close. However I will always be in the top 5% of reps when it comes to closing sales. I have found that no matter how much time I spend, every now and again a customer will throw a classic curve ball at me and leave me standing there with my eyes wide and mouth shut!

I have said, “Missed it by that much”, to myself after sales calls. I have also said, “BULLSEYE”. If you find yourself missing more than you think you should, try spending more time getting ready, it will keep you from spending so much time with your fingers held up an inch apart!

Lorin

MAKE A LIST AND CHECK IT TWICE

Big day in Lorins family today, my youngest daughter closed on her first home! Mom and I went with her to the lawyers office for the closing, all the real estate agents were there, the rep from the lender was there, the seller was there, the attorney was there, it was a party.

My wife and I were sitting there watching all the papers being passed around for signing (we were both glad we didn’t need to sign anything) and as each paper was signed and returned to the lawyer I saw her make a check next to the item on the list that was printed on the outside of the file folder. Check after check was added to the list as the papers flew around the table.

When everything was complete I looked at the file folder and saw that EVERY box was checked and the lawyer signed the folder. I turned to the lawyer and asked her how many closings she had done. She immediately said, “This is all I do, I have done over 1300”. I asked her how many years she has been practicing and she said 8 years, but only the past 6 have been in real estate. That averages about 4 a week.

Jokingly I said that doing that many, I would think she would know what needed to be done and wouldn’t need a check list. She simply said it was office policy.

This started me thinking, how many things do we do every day that would be more complete if we had a check list? What if a rep had a check list that had all the steps to the sale, all the paperwork listed the delivery and follow-up, every item that a rep needs to assure a complete sale? What if customer service had a check list reminding them to smile, greet the customer in a friendly manner, listen to the problem, find a solution, thank the customer, follow-up to make sure everything promised was done? What if the warehouse had a list of every item to be added to the order, to make sure the order was placed on the right truck, make sure delivery instructions are followed, follow-up on the order making sure it got to the right place on time?

A check list is a simple low tech way to make sure that everything we are supposed to do get done. It doesn’t matter if we do these things once an hour, once a day or once in awhile, a checklist will assure that nothing is forgotten.

It isn’t always the newest, most technologically advanced tools are the best. Sometimes a simple piece of paper and a pen can make the biggest difference.

Lorin

DREAM A LITTLE DREAM FOR ME

I Resign
I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult.
I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8-year-old again.
I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a four star restaurant.
I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make ripples with rocks.
I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them.
I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer day.
I want to return to a time when life was simple.
When all you knew were colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care.

All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset.
I want to think the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good.
I want to believe that anything is possible.
I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again.
I want to live simple again.
I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness, and loss of loved ones.

I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind, and making angels in the snow.

So...here's my checkbook and my car keys, my credit cards and all my responsibility.

I am officially resigning from adulthood. And if you want to discuss this further, you'll have to catch me first, 'cause,

"Tag! You're it."

If this didn’t make you laugh a little, bring a small tear to your eye, and think a lot you had better check your pulse.

Inside us all there is a kid just waiting to come out and have fun. I guess there isn’t a better day for these inner kids to show themselves then Christmas.

Every year for the past 32 years my family and I have gone to our best friend’s home for Christmas. The house is decorated (and I mean decorated!) the tree is lit and the presents are all tucked away under the tree waiting for dinner to end so they can be opened.

There was a time that our friends had over 30 people over each Christmas. But as many of you know, LIFE HAPPENS, and this year there were less than half that many (still not a bad number) and the youngest was 13 years old. The kids that were just infants are now in their 20’s and 30’s and we are in our….. second round of 20’s.

Things have changed, but when you read the story I RESIGN a lot of memories come back of the Christmases that have gone by.

Maybe our work needs the same memories. Let’s face it, we have all matured in our careers as well as our lives. Do we need to resign our tenure at work and become a rookie again? Forget about all the shortcuts and ways we have learned to “BEAT” the system and simply get back to selling. Do we need to put the pressures of being the most experienced, the top dogs, and the best aside and go back to having fun selling? Possibly we need to stop looking for the reasons WHY NOT and start looking for the reasons WHY TO.

We all need to adopt the song, I WON’T GROW UP, as our theme song. Sing it while in your car driving to your next sales call.

PETER PAN:
Listen to your teacher. Repeat after me:
I won't grow up,
(I won't grow up)
I don't want to go to school.
(I don't want to go to school)
Just to learn to be a parrot,
(Just to learn to be a parrot)
And recite a silly rule.
(And recite a silly rule)
If growing up means
It would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree,
I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up
Not me!
Not I,
Not me!
Not me!
I won't grow up,
(I won't grow up)
I don't want to wear a tie.
(I don't want to wear a tie)
And a serious expression
(And a serious expression)
In the middle of July.
(In the middle of July)
And if it means I must prepare
To shoulder burdens with a worried air,

I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up
Not me,
Not I,
Not me!
So there!
Never gonna be a man,
I won't!
Like to see somebody try
And make me.
Anyone who wants to try
And make me turn into a man,
Catch me if you can.
I won't grow up.
Not a penny will I pinch.
I will never grow a mustache,
Or a fraction of an inch.
'Cause growing up is awfuller
Than all the awful things that ever were.
I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up,
No sir,
Not I,
Not me,
So there!

I won't grow up!
(I won't grow up)
I will never even try
(I will never even try)
I will do what Peter tells me
(I will do what Peter tells me)
And I'll never ask him why
(And I'll never ask him why)

We won't grow up!
(We won't grow up)
We will never grow a day
(We will never grow a day)
And if someone tries to make it
(And if someone tries to make it)
We will simply run away
(We will simply run away)

I won't grow up!
(I won't grow up)
No, I promise that I won't
(No, I promise that I won't)
I will stay a boy forever
(I will stay a boy forever)
And be banished if I don't!
(And be banished if I don't)

And Never Land will always be
The home of beauty and joy
And neverty
I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up
Not me!
Not me!
Not me!
Not me!
No sir!
Not me!

I wouldn’t trade my family, friends, career, or life I have had for anything in the world, but it sure is fun to think about!

TAG! YOU’RE IT!

Lorin

You can leave a comment on any post by clicking on the word "comment" at the bottom of the post page. You can also follow my blog by clicking on the "FOLLOW" button in the upper right of the page. Thank you for being a part of the Training Buffet, Help Yourself. If you like what you have read please tell a friend.

HELP YOURSELF

When I named this blog I had two ideas that I wanted to get across to people as to what the blog was about.

The first part is TRAINING BUFFET. I was trying to give the idea that I had many different items that someone could browse through and select whichever “DISH” they wanted. I now have 92 items on the buffet for your pleasure.

The second idea that I wanted to convey was HELP YOURSELF. This part of the name could be taken two ways. The first way, like any good host, I want you to Help Yourself and take away however many tips and ideas as you want. The second meaning is to Help Yourself as in self improvement. My hope was when you read my blog you would be better after the experience than before.

Help Yourself may be the most important message that I can give to any sales rep. (actually it is the best advice I can give to anyone). You can’t wait for things to happen TO you, you need to make things happen FOR you.

Have you ever sat down and thought about what you do every day? Have you thought about how you do it? Have you thought about how you can IMPROVE whatever it is you do? These are three important questions that can ultimately make you the best in your chosen profession.

Helping yourself is one of the most difficult things to do. Most people (I am expanding my scope from just reps to all people for this post) view themselves in one of two ways, either very good at what they do or very bad at what they do. Very few see themselves as mediocre. This is the basis of the problem, the people that see themselves as very good seldom look to get better because they think they are already the best. The people who see themselves as bad seek self improvement even less because they have usually given up on trying to improve and accept incompetence. What EVERYONE needs to understand is THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT.

Let me talk to the people reading this that see themselves as Very Good. I have found that there is a tremendous difference between people that are very good and people that are GREAT at what they do. People that are very good eventually become VERY BAD because they won’t HELP THEMSELVES. In simple terms, their ability is overshadowed by their EGO. These people will occasionally admit that there are people better than they are SOMEWHERE, but they never view the people trying to help them as being better. Their EGO tells them that they can’t know anyone better personally, the better people are the authors they read and star in videos they watch.

The people who are great get to be great, because they understand that no matter how much they know they can always learn more and get better through SELF IMPROVEMENT. These people know that they can learn from anyone, get ideas from anyone, and become better because of something someone said. GREAT people are always looking for ways to get better. Just like the dishes served here on the Training Buffet, great people will try everything once to see if it helps them. If it doesn’t help they may never try it again, but they now they are better because they tried it.

The Training Buffet, Help Yourself is for everybody. Like a chef, I sprinkle in my special blend of ingredients that make each dish helpful, simple and amusing. (Can you tell I watch the Food Network?)Every recipe has been selected because it has a personal meaning to me, and a message for you. Some people will not like every dish on the buffet, which is expected, if something isn’t to your taste move onto the next item then to the next until you find that special item that sparks your appetite and triggers your sense to learn and improve. When you find the dishes you like most, please HELP YOURSELF.

The success of this blog won’t be measured by how many hits I get or how many posts I publish, the success of this blog will be measured by HOW MANY PEOPLE IMPROVE BECAUSE OF THE ITEMS I PLACED ON THE BUFFET.

I wish all of my readers and their families a Happy Holiday. Please be safe and enjoy what the holiday brings. My gift to you is the knowledge, experience, information, and occasional laugh that the TRAINING BUFFET, HELP YOURSELF offers you.

Lorin

WORLDS DUMBEST DEMOS

It is now 12:42 on December 23, 2010 and I am at my desk typing this post while watching The Worlds Dumbest Record Breakers on TRU TV. If you ever get a chance to watch this show, PASS! It is a show that really lets us know exactly how stupid people are.

As I was watching I had one of my not so famous brain storms. I could make a show and call it, Worlds dumbest things that sales reps do. Let me tell you about some of the episodes you would see.

I would call this episode, NOW YOU SEE IT NOW YOU DON’T. A customer has a dirty mark on their wall paper, the sales rep takes out a cleaner from their sample bag, sprays the cleaner on the wall, and to give it some time to work starts telling the customer about the cleaner. After about 20 seconds the rep takes a wipe and rubs the mark. Voila, the mark is gone! Unfortunately so is the print on the wallpaper.

The next episode I would call, NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW. A customer had some hard water stains on a polished aluminum cabinet. The rep tells the customer that cleaning the spots off is a breeze and takes out a product that was made especially for this purpose. Without reading the label the rep put some of the product on a rag and starts to wipe down the cabinet. VOILA, stains are gone, but so is the bright polish finish. It was now a grey dull spot. The customer was really good about it and placed a sticker from an auto parts manufacturer over the spot and needless to say didn’t place an order.

One of my favorite episodes would be this one called, DON’T DO AS I SAY OR AS I DO. In this episode a sales rep shows the customer a drinking glass. The glass is very strong and resists breaking. To show the customer how strong the glass is the rep takes the glass and bangs it on the metal workbench in the customers shop. When I say BANGS it I mean BANGS it, he hits the workbench so hard that it leaves a dent in the surface. You think this is the oops don’t you, well you are WRONG! The customer is so impressed that he buys not one set of glasses, not two sets of glasses, not three four or five sets of glasses, the customer buys six complete sets of glasses. The rep brings the boxes in and get paid for the sale. As the rep is walking out the door he hears the sound of breaking glass and the customer screaming to him to come back right now! The trick to the demonstration was the rep always hit the bottom of the glass which was very thick, the customer pulled the first glass out of the box and hit the lip of the glass on the workbench which sent shards of glass flying around the shop.

The final episode of the show would be called, ASK DON’T TELL. In this episode an automobile dealership is running a special on manual shift transmission cars. The sales rep wanted to win the trip the owner put up as a prize for the sales rep who wrote the most deals for manual shift transmission cars over the entire weekend. It was late Sunday afternoon and there was only about 2 hours left before the dealership closed. The rep had closed 3 qualifying sales and was tied with another rep. A customer drives onto the lot and a young man gets out of his car. The rep runs over to this man with the sole purpose of selling him a manual shift car to win the trip. The customer asks to see a pickup truck, the rep says he will show it to him in a second but first he wanted to show him the best bargain on the lat and walks the customer to one of the special cars. The customer looks at it totally uninterested and the reps says let’s take it for a ride. The customer agrees and they get in with the rep driving off the lot, after about 5 minutes and a lot of talking the rep pulls over so the customer could drive the car. The customer gets behind the wheel, after several awkward tries he gets the car in gear. He looks both ways, takes his foot off the clutch and the car backs right into a parked car behind him. The rep asks the customer why he put the car in reverse instead of first gear. The customer looks at the rep and simply says, you never asked me if I have ever driven a manual shift car before, I had no idea what I was doing. The rep got upset and said then why did you take it for a test drive, the customer said I asked to see a pickup truck, it was YOUR idea to show me this car. To give the story an ending, the other sales rep won the trip and the rep who had the accident did sell the customer a pickup truck. The insurance of the dealership fixed the car they backed into.

I really think this show would be a hit and maybe win some awards for best reality show of the year. I would be there to accept the award as the producer, director, oh and yes, the main actor! Every one of these “oops” happened to me.

We all have our “oops” demos and we all have our “oops” sales calls. What we all need to do is learn from all these “OOPS” and make sure that we become better each and every time we call on a customer. All these episodes are funny to read, they are also the first and only time I made these mistakes with these products. These episodes would be very sad if they happened over and over again.

There are a few morals to this post;

1)      No one is perfect

2)      Mistakes will happen

3)      Be able to laugh at yourself

For all of you who have not yet purchased my Christmas present, the best present you can give me is to sign up to follow my blog, and enjoy the menu offerings of the Training Buffet, Help Yourself.

Lorin

A FAST LUNCH TO THE EXIT DOOR

This is a conversation that happens thousands of time a day;

Sales Rep: So Mr. Customer, do you have time to grab a quick bite for lunch?

Customer: Sure Mr. Sales Rep where do you want to go.

Sales Rep: Isn’t there a Scooters* right down the street?

Customer: Sure is, I love their wings (wink wink)

So off they go for lunch and some eye candy. Two hours later in the customers place of business the following conversation takes place;

Customers Boss: Did I see you and Sales Rep going out to lunch today? He’s a great guy isn’t he?

Customer: Yes he is, after we got all the orders taken care of he suggested we go to SCOOTERS* to grab a bite.

Customers Boss: Scooters* huh? I didn’t think Sales Rep was THAT kind of person.

Here is a time when doing something that was not only nice but the right thing to do, taking the customer out to lunch, comes back around to possibly hurt you.

As reps we always do our best to portray as good an image as we can. Sure, we cut up and tell jokes, but we try to never offend anyone inside our customers businesses. Then, without even knowing it, our image is dragged through the mud because of a poor decision on where to go to lunch!

The problem we need to be careful of isn’t knowing our customer. Most of us do that fairly well (I Hope!). The problem is we have no control over what the customer says and who the customer tells about lunch. In the case above, the boss obviously has opinions about people who eat at Scooters*. Tens of thousands of people eat there everyday. I eat there occasionally just like most of you do, but it isn’t what we think that counts, it isn’t what the tens of thousands of others think that counts, it is what the one person who can stop you from selling in a business thinks that counts.

We all make decisions that reflect who we are and how we do business. We all need to be careful of the decisions we make AROUND the true business decisions. In this case where we are going for lunch. It is a shame when the peripheral things we do and say kill opportunities we have worked weeks, months and sometimes years to build.

Save Scooters* for the weekends with your friends and take customers to places where your image and theirs are safe.

* Any establishment having a name similar to that in this story is strictly coincidental and no particular establishment was meant to be indicated

Lorin

You can leave a comment on any post by clicking on the word "comment" at the bottom of the post page. You can also follow my blog by clicking on the "FOLLOW" button in the upper right of the page. Thank you for being a part of the Training Buffet, Help Yourself. If you like what you have read please tell a friend.

IF YOU USE A TOOL WRONG IT CAN BE WORSE THAN NOT HAVING THE TOOL AT ALL

As reps we have tools that we keep with us to help us make sales. As luck would have it, I was witness to a rep using his tools all wrong today. I first watched as he lost the sale and then I was able to give him some advice on how to use the same tools on his next call.

First let me set the stage, I was sitting in a doctor’s office waiting for my wife, a young man came walking in and went up to the nurses desk and asked for the doctor. The nurse told him to take a seat and she would let the doctor know he was there. In about 5 minutes the doctor came out to meet the rep. The first thing the rep did was hand the doctor his business card. Immediately the doctor started to read the card and was paying no attention to what the rep was saying at all, but did that stop the rep from finishing his introduction? NO!!! He kept talking even though the doctor obviously wasn’t listening. I actually started to laugh out loud when I saw this happen.

It was as if this rep had sat through my classes and decided to do all the things I have taught reps not to do. The next second the rep reached into his case and pulled out a handful of pens, pads, and other desk stuff with his company name on it and literally DUMPED the pile onto the nurse’s desk. The funny part about this was the nurse was on the phone and didn’t see it coming, and got the most annoyed look on her face as everything rolled and fell across her clean desk.

I wish I could have seen the rest of the sales pitch, but the doctor and rep went into the back of the office. About 10 minutes later the two of them stepped back into the waiting area and once again a pile of “STUFF” came out of the reps bag and this time into the doctor’s hands, but there was so much stuff that it fell all over the floor. The doctor couldn’t shake the reps hand goodbye because of all the items he holding.

I didn’t know if I should just sit there and laugh or get up and meet the rep outside by the elevators and try and help him. You can guess what I did. If I didn’t get up this would be the shortest blog posting of the year!

I walked outside into the hallway with the rep and introduced myself. I quickly told him that I was a sales trainer and if he had a few minutes I felt that I had some good tips for him. This young man really impressed me, he said he would love to listen and asked if he could buy me a cup of coffee. I explained I was waiting for my wife but we could talk right there.

I walked him through the sale as I saw it, starting with the handing of the business card. I told him that a business card is an exit tool. Why does the doctor need a business card when he was right there tell the doctor who he was and who he worked for? I asked if he realized what the doctor was doing as he was talking through his introduction. He admitted to me that he didn’t remember, he said I have a hard enough time getting the words out much less observing the doctors. I told him that while the doctor was reading his card and paying no attention at all to him he kept talking as if to no one.

Next I asked him about the pens and pads. I asked him if he had a budget for these or if he paid for them. He told me that he got all he needed for free from the company. I was impressed, I then asked what they were supposed t be used for. He answered to make sure the doctors and staff remembered his company and the drug they sold. This was a little different than what I was used to, so I had to take a different path. I told him that I have always taught reps to use these items as rewards for placing an order. I explained that if you just give this stuff away with no commitment on the buyer’s part then they would expect them all the time. He said they DO expect them all the time. So next I asked if he had any nicer stuff that he could give away. He said he had some really nice things and that he got them for free also. I recommended that he use the inexpensive items as the reminders of the drug and company and then use the nice items as rewards for orders. He loved that idea (I am soooo smart)

Finally I talked about the quantity of items he gave and that if he was going to DUMP that many items he may want to find a better way so not to irritate the doctors and nurses by trashing their desks and dropping everything on the ground. I then finished with teaching him how to present his business card. I explained that if he handed the doctor the card at the end of the sales call, pointed to his name and address, and then circle his cell phone number telling the doctor that it was his DIRECT line and the doctor should use it if there is ANYTHING that he could do for him. I told the rep if he makes the card special it will be special, if he just turns it over to the doctor as if it had no value it would be in the trash before he was out the door.

This rep had a great selection of tools in his tool box. His problem was no one ever took the time to show him the right way to use them.

Each of you has tools that you can draw on to help with selling your product or service. Maybe you have pens and pads like this rep or maybe you have product samples. Using the tools wrong can actually hinder your ability to close the sale. Using the same tool correctly can make you a very memorable rep that will be on the customers speed dial.

Lorin

You can leave a comment on any post by clicking on the word "comment" at the bottom of the post page. You can also follow my blog by clicking on the "FOLLOW" button in the upper right of the page. Thank you for being a part of the Training Buffet, Help Yourself. If you like what you have read please tell a friend.

SHARE YOUR GOALS FOR SUCCESS

Before I start today’s post I need to ask everyone who reads my blog a question, WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET YOU TO FOLLOW A FREE BLOG? J This is my 89^th post and I see I am getting a lot of people coming to the blog (the blog has a stats page where I can see the numbers and I have over 500 visitors a week) but the number of followers isn’t even close to the number of viewers. If you stop in and enjoy the dishes I serve up on the Training Buffet, please click on the FOLLOW button and let me see who you are not just how many of you there are. Thanks.

This morning I had the great experience of giving a speech to my Toast Masters Club. This was my 4^th speech in the short 3 months I have belonged. I love the opportunity to talk to this group because not only do they help me get better at speaking, but I am hopefully helping the other members get better at speaking as well.

My topic today was SHARE YOUR GOALS FOR SUCCESS. This is something that I have often thought about, sometimes talked about with people but have never given a speech about. I would like to share some of the highlights of the speech with you.

I started out by quoting the greatest heavy weight boxer of all time (my opinion, and for this blog, the only one that counts) Muhammad Ali. “I float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, Joe Frazier will go down in three”. It was a relativity young crowd so no one really knew if these were the exact words or not, and I know they weren’t, but I was making a point. I asked why Ali would make such a boast. One person answered, to get inside Frazier’s head. I agreed that this was one reason, but added that there was a more important reason. No one answered so I said, “It forced him to perform at a level necessary to fulfill his goal”

Imagine if Ali didn’t make his goal of knocking Frazier out in the third round public. In the second round Frazier hits Ali and hurts him. All of a sudden in Ali’s head the poem changes to, “Float like a butterfly sting like a bee, I sure HOPE Frazier goes down in three” There is a BIG difference between these two poems. The first one is a statement of a goal, the second one is a wish.

I asked the group if any of them had goals, and most said they did. I asked if they had their goals written down, and most said yes, I asked if they had them with them, NO ONE did, I asked if they have shared them, NO ONE did. This was a perfectly average group as near as I could tell. Most professional people have goals and most have them written down. However, very few people ever have their goals with them. This is a very important step in helping to keep your goals. Having your goals with you works as a reminder to you that first you have goals and what these goals are. The next question, how many have shared their goals is the finishing touch to achieving goals.

A statement I made during the talk was, cloud computing is very cool technology, cloud goal setting sucks. Goals that are in the clouds, not written down and not shared, are nothing but dreams. The problem with dreams is we will change them on a whim. The slightest setback, the smallest obstacle, the most modest problem will have us changing our goals and goals, like targets, are hard to hit when they keep moving.

I ended the speech by telling the group what the ingredients of a good goal are, let me tell you;

1)      Your goals must be realistic and attainable.

2)      Your goals must be specific.

3)      Your goals must have a time frame.

4)      Your goals must be written down.

5)      Your goals must be shared with the people who will hold you accountable.

Of all the people I know, I have yet to find any successful people without goals that were set using these 5 steps. I don’t want you to believe me however, I want you to go ask the successful people you know. Ask them about these 5 steps and get their opinions. I am confident that you will be told by EVERY ONE of them that they use all 5 steps and believe that having their goals helped make them successful.

This is a great time of year to think about goals. A week or so ago I talked about your PRE NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS, I hope that some of you are well on your way to developing your good habits of success. If not, then PLEASE, start thinking about your goals for 2011. Over the next week and a half use the 5 steps to help you compose your goals and get them written down. Then on News Years Day make it a point to share your goals with someone. If they are not with you call them, or e mail them, just make sure that your goals are shared. Once you share them I know that you will not allow yourself to not accomplish them. Sales Reps are just that way!

Lorin

A TALE OF TWO SALES REPS

Once upon a time there were two sales reps working for the same company. These two reps sold the same products in the same town to the same kinds of customers. These two reps were the same height, the same weight, same age and both had the same color hair and eyes. They looked almost like twins. The two reps dressed the same and wore the same size shoes. They grew up in the same town, went to the same schools, were in the same classes, played the same sports and liked the same music. There wasn’t a lot of difference between these two reps. The two reps started working for the company the same day and went to the same training classes.

Everyday these two reps would go out in the field and sell. They were equal in their sales and both sold equally profitably making the same incomes. They lived in houses that were the same size and style, both married their High School sweethearts and both had 2 children. They drove the same make and model cars and shopped in the same stores. Both these reps belonged to the same country club and were scratch golfers.

It was as if these two reps were the same in every way except for one. One of the reps LOVED his job and the other DREADED going to work every day. The rep that loved his job had purpose and went to work to help his customers find the best available solutions to their problems, the rep that dreaded his job went to work only for the money.

One day the two reps were talking and the unhappy rep asked the happy rep how he could do the same thing day after day and always be positive. The happy rep said I know that if I always do the right thing for my customers, I will have customers for years and years and my job becomes easier everyday. The unhappy rep told the happy rep that he had a lot of customers stop buying and had to always be opening new accounts and doing the same cold calling he had to do from the first day he started with the company. He was frustrated and sick and tired of always rebuilding his business as his customers went elsewhere to get their products.

OK, before I run everyone reading this off with this silly story, let me get to the point of today’s blog. All things being equal, job satisfaction comes not from how much you make at your job, but from what you make of your job.

Lorin

You can leave a comment on any post by clicking on the word "comment" at the bottom of the post page. You can also follow my blog by clicking on the "FOLLOW" button in the upper right of the page. Thank you for being a part of the Training Buffet, Help Yourself. If you like what you have read please tell a friend.

BCMBA (BAND CAMP MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION)

I was going through a cabinet full of old VHS tapes today and found some of my oldest daughter’s videos of her High School Band Shows. I grabbed the tape of her freshman year’s show, Fire of Eternal Glory, which happens to be one of my favorites. I was watching the tape and thinking about what both my daughters learned from their band years. Then I really had a revelation and realized that I had learner as much as they did from my years as a Band Parent. It made me think of the book, “Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”, and thought I may rewrite the book and title it, “Everything I Needed to Know About Running a Business I Learned at Band Camp”. Here are some examples of what I would put in the book.

Chapter 1 – If you’re early you’re on time, if you’re on time you’re late, and if you’re late don’t bother showing up  - The band members all knew that showing up was half the battle. Showing up on time was the other half. The band was taught about what it took to move 125 students, 10 parents, and all the equipment that went along to make a show. Everything had to go off like clockwork and one person could screw up the entire band. We have all had people we work with that are habitually late for appointments and meetings. If you add up the minutes that meetings are held up because one person is late and multiply that by the number of people waiting, then add up the same numbers for every meeting that takes place over a year, you would lose the hours a few employees work.

Chapter 2 – Responsibility – It didn’t matter if it was your first day, first year or if you were in the last semester of your senior year, every band member had responsibility for something, and accepted the responsibility. The entire band was held accountable for everything. If you dropped the ball and didn’t do what you were supposed to everyone suffered. In business if every employee took responsibility for just their own actions and accepted the success or failure every employee of the company would benefit by the time saved and the good will that would be generated by such an act.

Chapter 3 – Respect – You treated every band member, parent, teacher and administrator with respect. You didn’t have to like the person, but you always treated them with the same respect that you wanted to be treated with. This also applied to members of other bands that we met. There was never a reason to treat anyone with disrespect. In business if we would simply learn to get along with the people we work with. If we don’t respect them, fine, but at least allow them the opportunity to contribute without ridicule.

Chapter 4 – Help others – Because the band plays, marches, and acts as a single unit, every member had to be the best they could be. Helping another band member who was struggling in turned helped you because it helped the band. In business we are all busy. There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get the work done, but helping a fellow employee for the short term can gain everyone long term success. It may be teaching them a new skill, or jumping in to help with their work load for a few minutes so they can get caught up. If we all help one another we all are better at the end of the day.

Chapter 5 – THINK – If I heard it once I heard it ten thousand times, THINK BEFORE YOU DO! The band members were always asked to think about what they are about to do. Think about what the outcome will be, and make sure the outcome is worth the actions. In business, wouldn’t it be nice if people would think before they did something. If they looked at what the end game will be because of what they are about to do, I would guess half of the screw ups that happen in business would be avoided.

Chapter 6 – Always look your best – The band was taught that the judging started from the second the judges could see you. Every member of the band was inspected by another to make sure that every detail was perfect. In business so many people I have worked with didn’t care about how they looked and this hurt them. If you don’t look successful, people won’t look at you as successful and they will think of you as a failure.

Chapter 7 – Pride – The band program gave the members something to be proud of. If they did whatever they could to make the band a success they felt the pride by the accomplishments of the band. In business the same thing happens. If every employee does their best, than every employee will be proud of what the business accomplishes.

Chapter 8 – Appreciation – The band members were taught to appreciate what they had. They learned to appreciate the opportunity to be exposed to great music, the culture of the music, the knowledge of being able to read music. They were taught to appreciate all the finer things that the band program exposed them to, like trips and competitions. In business every employee is exposed to things that are new and exciting. If we all appreciated these things we would better appreciate the opportunity we have.

Chapter 9 – Attitude – Win or lose the band members were taught to always have a good attitude. Positive thinking was as important as excellent playing and marching. In business if we all could look for the good and ignore the bad, every business would be a more positive place to work and every employee would be more positive about themselves.

Chapter 10 – Always strive for excellence – The band was always working towards perfection. Each member practiced and worked hard to be better every time they took the field to perform. In business if each employee worked to make themselves better every day and make the company better in everything they do, products, customer service, quality and overall satisfaction would be at all time highs.

These are the first 10 chapters and brief descriptions of what they would contain. I am sure you can see that Band is truly a training ground for future executives. Next time you see a student carrying their instrument think of them as the next CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Success doesn’t always go to the fastest, strongest, best looking or most popular. It will usually go to the best prepared.

Lorin

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SOOOOOOO CLOSE

DUE TO SOME COMPUTER PROBLEMS, THIS IS THE POST FOR WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15TH. TODAYS POST WILL BE ADDED LATER.

I called as friend of mine today to ask how his year was going to end, he started his reply with a sigh (not a good sign) and then said, “Lorin I am sooooooooo (he really strung the word so out this far) close to hitting my numbers.” I got so excited, I told him how awesome that was. He then said he didn’t think he was going to do it. When I asked why, he said well next week is a waste of time and the week between Christmas and New Year was even worse.

I WAS STUNNED! I wasn’t in my car or I could have looked in the rear view mirror to see the expression on my face, but I am sure my mouth hung open and my eyes were as wide as dinner plates. It doesn’t happen often, but I was speechless. I know I was silent for at least 10 seconds and so was he. Finally I regained my composure enough to say to him, “WHAT THE HECK (I actually didn’t say heck) ARE YOU THINKING”? Next week is bad the week after worse, THEY HAVEN’T HAPPENED YET, HOW THE HECK (yeah, I didn’t say heck this time either) DO YOU KNOW WHAT KIND OF WEEKS THEY ARE, DO YOU HAVE A  #&@%*%!% (fill in whatever blanks you want, they will come nowhere close to what I said) CRYSTAL BALL”?

Now it was his turn to be silent. After what seemed to be an hour, but was actually about 20 seconds, he said, “Well these weeks have never been good weeks for me”. I understood what he was saying, and I may have even agreed with him had he not told me how close he was to his numbers. I felt it was my duty as his friend, and at least in my mind mentor to get him out of the defeatist frame of mind and at least give it all his effort.

I asked him if he had ever worked the 2 weeks he was talking about, and I said the word worked with force to make my point. He was at least honest and said not really. In his words he kind of skated for these 2 weeks and really didn’t try that hard. I then asked if he had ever made a sale during these 2 weeks. He laughed and said absolutely, but he followed it up with, they were not really good sales.

I knew I had an uphill battle ahead of me; he was convinced that the next 2 weeks were going to be bad and even though he admitted he really hadn’t worked all that hard, he didn’t see himself hitting his numbers for the year. I had to pull out the BIG GUNS for this battle. (This part of the conversation would have been more affective face to face but we were on the phone remember) I asked in a very sincere voice, “Why don’t you want to hit your numbers”? There was no silence now, he barked at me, “What do you mean DON’T WANT TO? I can’t hit my numbers, there isn’t enough time”.

I knew I had him right where I wanted him, he had walked right into my trap. I very slowly said, “NO #^%@ (another good word) you cut your year 2 weeks short”! Once again, deafening silence.

I continued (why let him off the hook, I had him listening) the only difference between the next 2 weeks and the last 2 week, or any other 2 weeks of the year were his attitude toward them. I said I knew that the next 2 weeks may not be the best, they may not be the weeks he looks forward too, they may actually be as bad as he thinks they are, but I can assure him of one thing for sure, IF HE DOESN’T CHANGE THE WAY HE LOOKS AT THEM, AND IF HE DOESN’T GO TO WORK WITH THE SAME ATTITUDE AS THE REST OF THE YEAR, THEY WILL BE BAD WEEKS!

We talked for another 30 minutes or so about the next 2 weeks and what he had to do. When we hung up, I felt confident that he would at least give it his best shot.

Now let’s talk about you. It doesn’t matter if you are SOOOOOOOO CLOSE to your numbers or SOOOOOOOOO FAR from them, the next 2 weeks can either be good or bad and it has nothing to do with Christmas and New Years.

Unless you are taking both weeks off for vacation, and if you are go and enjoy yourself you deserve it, you can end this year on a high note and start next year on a roll. There are a few facts I want to share with you;

#1 – The vast majority of sales reps feel the same way about the next 2 weeks as this rep did and many of them take the next 2 weeks off (some still go to work, but then do everything they can to avoid work).

#2 – The vast majority of your customers are OPEN during these 2 weeks.

#3 – Most businesses are very relaxed (meaning a relaxed atmosphere) for the next 2 weeks.

Here is what these 3 facts mean to you;

#1 – The vast majority of your competition either isn’t working or not really putting in any effort, in these 2 weeks

#2 – There are plenty of places for you to go and customers to call on, in these 2 weeks

#3 – (the most important of all) Because of the relaxed atmosphere, you will be able to get to see decision makers that usually will NOT see you, in these 2 weeks.

The last time I checked (you may want to ask your sales managers this question) your numbers for the year were based on 52 week not 50. Make the next 2 weeks work FOR you not against you.

Lorin

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THE HABIT OF WINNING

As we get closer to the playoffs, I thought that this would be a good quote to share. ENJOY

THE HABIT OF WINNING

Vince Lombardi

Winning is not a sometime thing. You don't win once-in-a-while. You don't do things right once-in-a-while. You do them right all the time.

Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that is first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game--but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be the first in anything we do and to win, and to win, and to win.

Every time a football player goes out to play, he's got to play from the ground up. From the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's okay - you've got to be smart to be number one in my business. But, more important, you've got to play with your heart. With every fiber of your body. If you are lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.

Running a football team is no different from running any other kind of organization--an army, a political party, a business. The problems are the same. The objective is to win. To beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is.

It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive team. That's why they're here--to compete. They know the rules and the objectives when they get in the game. The objective is to win--fairly, squarely, decently, by the rules--but to win. And in truth, I have never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, did not appreciate the grind--the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for...needs...discipline and the harsh reality of head-to-head combat.

I don't say these things because I believe in the "brute" nature of man, or that men must be brutalized to be competitive. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hours, his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle victorious.

Lorin

You can leave a comment on any post by clicking on the word "comment" at the bottom of the post page. You can also follow my blog by clicking on the "FOLLOW" button in the upper right of the page. Thank you for being a part of the Training Buffet, Help Yourself. If you like what you have read please tell a friend.

THE SAME BULLET CAN SHOOT A MOUSE OR A MOOSE

Donald Trump said, “As long as you’re thinking, you may as well think big”. The “DON” is spot on with this saying. So many times we spend our time doing the things that will reap the smallest rewards rather than tackling the things that will give us the greatest rewards.

There are a lot of reasons for this; the most obvious one is that there are a lot more things that will give us the smaller rewards.  Sales reps are impatient, we hate to wait! Rather than wait for an opportunity that is worthwhile for us, we jump at the first thing that comes along. We waste our bullet on a mouse.

How many mice do you think it takes to equal a moose? A hundred? A thousand? I don’t have the answer, but I do know one thing, if I were doing the hunting and I was depending on what I killed to feed myself and my family, I would have a little patience and wait for the moose.

Let’s take this idea to the sales field. We all can agree that the larger the customer, the longer it USUALLY takes to close the sale. This isn’t always true, but in the majority of cases it is. We can also agree on the fact that for every large account there are a lot of small accounts, again I don’t know the ratio but I am sure it runs close to the mouse and moose ratio! Finally we can agree that in most cases it is easier to close the smaller accounts than the larger ones. With all this knowledge it is easy to see why an impatient sales rep will go after the small accounts. INSTANT GRATIFICATION! As reps we feel that the sale is the most important thing, and in many cases we sacrifice the size of the reward to make a sale.

Remember what the “DON” said? “As long as you’re thinking, you may as well think big”, I want to reword this a little, “As long as you’re selling, you may as well sell big”. I know it is hard to pass up the quick sale. It isn’t in a reps DNA to let any sales go by, but we need to understand that if we accept mediocrity in our sales we will always be mediocre sales reps.

I had the honor of being on a field ride with the top rep in a company. It was absolutely amazing the difference between this rep and ALL the rest of the reps I have ever been on a field ride with. The top rep passed by places that the other reps would have considered “A” accounts. This rep wasn’t looking for mice, he was only targeting moose!

I asked him if he ever went into the smaller accounts, he said only if I really wanted to make a sale after I have exhausted ALL the larger accounts in an area. He felt that his time, his energy, his knowledge, his experience, and most of all his income was going to be best served in the largest accounts he could find. He told me that he knew that he could open the small accounts if he needed to, he had the self confidence to know his ability. He also had the ego to know that he would not be generating the income he was worth in the small accounts. He let me in on his little secrete, he admitted to me he was lazy! He told me that he didn’t want to make the number of sales calls to service all the small accounts it would take to make the money he wanted to make and that by focusing only on the moose and ignoring the mice, he could be lazy and successful.

After our day together I went back and looked at the records to see what his account base looked like. I was shocked, every rep in the company had between 100 and 200 accounts, the top rep had only 78 accounts. I asked the rep about this and asked if the other reps could see 2 to 3 times more accounts, wouldn’t it be better for him to open some smaller accounts to generate more income since he had the time?  I already knew what he was going to say, but I wanted to hear him say it to validate my gut feeling. He told me that if he had more small accounts he couldn’t give his larger accounts the time and attention they needed. He agreed that he may be able to make a few dollars from the small accounts, but he felt what he would make would be much less than what he would lose.

I was excited to get back and talk about my experience. I saw in action what I have been teaching for a long time. This one rep reinforced my belief that if reps would focus on the BIG accounts and leave the smaller ones to the competition, the rep, the reps company and the reps customers would all benefit.

You only have so many bullets you can shoot in a day, you can aim at mice, once you skin and bone a mouse there isn’t a lot left to eat, or you can shoot at moose, the skin makes a great rug, the meat can feed you for months! The choice is yours.

Lorin

You can leave a comment on any post by clicking on the word "comment" at the bottom of the post page. You can also follow my blog by clicking on the "FOLLOW" button in the upper right of the page. Thank you for being a part of the Training Buffet, Help Yourself. If you like what you have read please tell a friend.

FRIDAY ALREADY?

Before I get started on today’s post I need to ask those of you who follow my blog if you remember what today is. If you do remember, raise your hand. Oh come on, put your hands down I can’t see you..LOL.. Let me give you a hint, we are 21 days from 2011. You got it, today is the day you need to start forming your Before New Year’s Resolution. I hope you have selected the habit you want to form and have your plan laid out so today can be the first day of doing something that makes you better. If you didn’t think about it and don’t have a habit that you want to form, today’s blog just might help you.

Today is Friday; a fact that I am sure hasn’t gotten past any of you. The question I have is how many of you woke up Monday morning looking forward to today coming? You know what I mean, the TGIF Syndrome. We have all met people (I hope you are not one of them) that count down the days every week looking forward to Friday. They dread Monday because it is the first day of their “How Can I Avoid Work” week”.  Tuesday they complain about how long a day Monday was and they make it a point to tell you that Tuesday isn’t looking any better.  Wednesday is HUMP DAY, this is the first day that these people show any excitement at all, and unfortunately the excitement is only about being closer to Friday. Thursday is an “All Smiles” day because tomorrow is what they have been waiting for. Then it is here, the greatest day of the week, FRIDAY the last working day of the week, the day before they can do nothing for 2 days.

Wait a minute, the only thing most of these people have been doing since Monday morning is looking forward to Friday, the only difference between the weekdays and weekends is they do nothing at home on the weekends instead of going to the office or calling on customers to do nothing!

I have always disliked Fridays, to me the weekends break up the momentum I have gotten for the week and makes it harder for me to really get started on Monday.

Have you ever noticed how many successful people carry a briefcase home with them on weekends? I know people who I may get e mails from any day of the week and to be honest just about any hour of the day or night. BTW, how many of you have gotten e mails from me at 2 or 3 AM?

I can remember when some people in the office were called “CLOCK WATCHERS”. These were the people that you always made sure you were not between them and the door at quitting time, or you would get run over! Today the clock watchers have been replaced by the “CALENDAR WATCHERS”.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not all for the employer and telling you that they deserve to get a week’s work for a week’s pay. What I am telling you is every boss I have ever had knew who the clock watchers were, (and don’t forget I have owned my own company also and was a boss) and now they know who the calendar watchers are. Don’t fool yourself, they know and when it comes time to make changes, they know where the changes are going to be coming from.

Last evening I went to a meeting and listened to a speaker, Peter Bourke, author of the book “A Better Way To Make A Living… And A Life, Thriving in the New World of Work”. One of the points that he made was that every boss has “A” “B” and “C” employees. When a boss meets someone who they really like and they want to hire them they will look first at the “C” players in that job and replace them. Here is a hint, MOST CALENDAR WATCHERS ARE “C” PLAYERS! Even if they are “A” & “B” workers, the boss sees them as “C” employees because they are not the people the boss can depend on.

Maybe the Before New Year’s resolution you make should be to stop being a calendar watcher. Just so happens today is a great Friday to start developing the new habit.

Look at everyday with promise, know that every day brings opportunity, make everyday a learning day and go to bed at night a little better then you were when you woke up, and have faith in yourself and your abilities.

Lorin

YOU DON’T GET ERROR MESSAGES FROM CUSTOMERS

I was just working on my computer and it seems that every web page I tried to access is a web page that my security settings didn't allow (and no wise cracks). I kept getting error massages and needed to click here or try another URL to get to where I wanted to be.

This made me start to think. I was looking at all these messages as a problem, but the truth is they were helping me solve a problem. The computer program was letting me know I did something wrong and guided me on how to fix it. Wouldn’t it be nice if customers would do the same thing?

Imagine if you were talking to a customer and when you started to show a new product or service the customer help up a sign that said, “YOU MADE AN ERROR, I DON’T NEED THAT, BUT DO YOU HAVE…”, or how about while you are talking to the customer they held up a sign that said, “YOU ARE MAKING AN ERROR, I AM IN A RUSH AND WISH YOU WOULD GET TO THE POINT”. Can you imagine how easy it would make selling if each customer told you what you were doing wrong as you are doing it!

We have all had customers who stopped doing business with us and we never knew why. No error message ever popped up, and the customer didn’t tell you anything was wrong. This is a very frustrating thing to happen, and it happens every day to a hundreds maybe thousands of reps somewhere.

Without error messages to guide us what can we do to either stop making mistakes or at least know when we are making a mistake with a customer? My first instinct says ask! By probing a customer you can find a lot of information out that can help you avoid mistakes like taking too much time or showing the wrong products or service.

We can also learn to read body language better. What is the customer saying even when they are not talking at all? There are books that can teach you how to read body language, one of my favorite books on the subject is “The Definitive Book of Body Language” by Barbara and Allan Pease. After reading this book and using what it teaches you, your customers will be speaking volumes without ever opening their mouths.

Since customers don’t give us error messages, it is up to us to always be getting better at our craft and becoming better at noticing things, hearing things, and asking questions. But the number one item we need to always be improving are our basic selling skills. From the “Hello” to the “Thank You, Goodbye” we need to get better at what we do every day. By becoming better at selling we can minimize the chance of needing an error message.

Until our customers come with keyboards and monitors, they will most likely not send error messages, but we can do without them if we just keep listening, learning, observing, and selling like a pro!

Lorin

YOUR BEFORE NEW YEARS RESOLUTION

We have all made New Year’s resolutions, and we have all broken them (usually before January 2^nd). But have you ever heard of a Before New Year’s Resolution?

Psychologists tell us that it takes 21 days to form a habit. Today is January 8^th and there are 24 days left in 2010. If this Saturday, December 11^th, you started doing something every day it would be a habit by January 1^st. This means that you have 2 days to decide what habit you want to start.

It is usually so easy for us to find a habit we want to break, but a habit we want to start is so much harder a decision to make. First decide if you want to start a personal habit, like exercising, reading more books, or eating healthier. Or you may want to develop a business habit like sending out thank you notes, doing more demos, or holding your price better. Once you decide if you should start a business or personal habit you then need to decide what the habit will be. The ideas above are all good habits to start but they may not have anything to do with you. The reason I am writing this post today is I want to give you a few days to think about it but not so long as to have you forget to do it! Let’s say you decide to start a business habit, the next step is which one? Start by making a list of all the things you have said you were going to start doing over the past year.

I remember when I was in the sales field, I would hear ideas from reps and customers all the time and say to myself, that’s a good idea I need to start doing that… yep just like a lot of you, I never got around to it.

What were those things you heard or said you wanted to start doing? Write them all down, who knows you might find that 2 or 3 fit together nicely and one habit can cover them all!

After you select what it is you want to do, start to think about what you will need to do to create the habit. This may be simple like starting to read 30 minutes a day or it may be very complex like starting a better filing system or tracking your orders better. Be specific, a habit isn’t a generality, it is a specific task that you will start to perform everyday for the next 21 days. A little suggestion, make it something that can be done in as little time as possible. The longer it takes to perform, the more likely it is you will stop doing it before it becomes a habit.

Once you have the task and the method you are going to use to accomplish starting the habit, DO IT! Don’t forget the time frame I set up, YOU NEED TO START BY SATURDAY TO GIVE YOURSELF THE 21 DAYS NESSISARY!

Don’t quit, don’t skip a day, and don’t take short cuts. Do it every day, do it the same way, try and do it the same time if possible, the more structure you put into it the deeper the habit will take root in your everyday life.

Making a before New Year’s resolution will help you get 2011 started off right!

Lorin