TOO SAFE FOR COMFORT

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As I was leaving a breakfast meeting today, one of the guys said to me “Take Care”. I looked at him and said, “That’s one of the biggest problems we have here, no one wants to take chances”.

I know my stab at motivation was lost on this guy, he was the type of person that has played it safe his whole life, and is in his 50’s at the same position he has been in for the past 20 years.

When I am leaving someone I say things like make it a great day, or have a great one, I am trying to encourage and motivate not hinder and suppress. I am sure that many of you have been told to “TAKE CARE” at least once today. Well my advice is, DON’T LISTEN!

Now hear me out, I am not an advocate of reckless abandon. I don’t think that being a dare devil is the way to go through life, it will catch up to you. However, being overly cautious is just as dangerous.

In business as in most things, you need to stretch the limits and challenge yourself to reap the greatest benefits. Most old sayings are based in some truth, sayings like, “You need to go out on a limb if you want the sweetest fruit”, “Nothing lost nothing gained”, “Risk not want not”, and my favorite, “NO PAIN NO GAIN”.

When someone tells you to “Take it easy” or “Be Careful” they think they are giving you good advice, the truth is they are holding you back. Not because what they say will stop you from doing something, but because after hearing “Take Care” over and over again for days, weeks, months, and years you start to subconsciously look for the safe things rather than taking a chance and risking a little to gain a lot.

As a parent I always told my daughters to “Knock’em Dead”, or “Make it a great day” while I heard other parents tell their children, “Be Careful”. I told my daughters to “Have fun”, while other parents told their kids, “Don’t do anything stupid”. To this day whenever I travel I send a message to my daughters telling them I am about to take off and always end the message with, “I LOVE YOU” while I hear other parents telling their children “ You better be good or else when I get home….”

The best thing you can do for your family, friends, co-workers, subordinates, or anyone else you meet every day is to give them encouragement to swing for the fence, give them a positive word to help build their confidence, and share with  them your enthusiasm and excitement about everything you do.

Lorin

EVERYTHINGS COMING UP ROSES

Spring is in the air, the days are starting to get longer, the lawn needs to be cut twice a week, and about once a day I have a pick-up truck stop by and ask if I need any yard work done or my gutters cleaned. I have already bought the hanging baskets that I place around my yard and I have planted my flower beds for summer.

Actually planting the flower beds is what gave me the idea for today’s post. As I was “turning” the soil (for those of you that don’t garden, turning the soil is the same as tilling except you do it by hand with a shovel) I noticed all the dead and decomposing plants from last year that I was turning under. All of these dead plants and leaves would turn into organic matter that will help this year’s plants grow. This is the cycle that any garden or farm land takes year after year. The trick to keeping a good healthy garden of any type, flower or vegetable, is to make sure you put in more nutrients than the plants take out. This way the ground stays fertile and you will have a flourishing garden.

Isn’t it the same way with success? Don’t you need to put in more energy, more positiveness, more motivation every year than you use so you will have a healthy future? I believe this is true, but then how can I justify the fact that as sales reps we will have more failures than successes every year? It is a hard concept to grasp, by having more failures you can become more successful.

I then started to compare my flower garden with my success. I had an AH HA moment. OUR FAILURES ARE THE FERTILIZER FOR OUR SUCCESS! Just like plants of the past are the fertilizer for the flowers this year our failures of the past are the fertilizer that help our new ideas develop, help our attitudes stay good and keeps our motivational levels the highest they can possibly be.

All the past failures we have had started out as good attempts at success. They brought us every bit as much pleasure as last year’s flowers brought everyone who saw them. These beautiful attempts, although ending up in failure, at worst taught us what not to do, and at best put us on track to find ways to do things that will lead to future successes.

Mother Nature figured this out millions of years ago, she has been growing forests on the fertilizer of past forests since the dawn of time. I am not as smart as Mother Nature, I just caught on to her trick. Now that you know it, maybe you can start your garden of success, growing upon the fertilizer of your past failures too.

Lorin

WHAT’S IT WORTH TO YOU

Haven’t you ever thought how nice it would be to have a million dollars? Even better 2 million or 4 million or like the old TV series 6 million dollars. I know I have thought about it, as a matter of fact I have not just thought about it I have thought about what I will spend it on. (Notice I said WILL spend it on not would spend it on, you always need to be positive!)

How badly do you want this money? What would you be willing to give for it?

What would you say if someone in a wheelchair came up to you tomorrow and offered you a million dollars for your legs? They would take your legs and be able to walk and you would be in the wheelchair the rest of your life. Would you take it? I bet not.

What would you say if a blind person came up to you and offered you a million dollars for your eyes? They would be able to see and you would be in darkness the rest of your life. Would you take it? I bet not.

What would you say if a mute came up to you and handed you a note offering you a million dollars for your voice. They would be able to speak clearly and you would live in silence for the rest of your life. Would you take it? I bet not.

I could go on and asking you about dozens of body parts and I will bet that no one would take someone up on the million dollar offer.

So let’s do some quick math, one million for your legs, one million for your eyes, one million for your voice, and let’s call it 12 million for other body parts, that’s 15 million dollars that you would turn down. It sounds to me like you are already worth a lot more than the million dollars you were dreaming about.

Walk over to a mirror and take a look at a multi millionaire. See what 15 million dollars looks like. Beautiful isn’t it?

If you are so valuable, if you are worth so much, if you are so beautiful, why do so many of you treat yourself as if you were worthless? Take pride in whom and what you are. Feel good about yourself. Be positive and have a great outlook towards tomorrow and what it will bring. If you owned a Rolls Royce many of you would take better care of it than you do yourselves. I am sure you would keep it clean, in good repair, and keep gas in it. The basics of a reliable car, do you take care of yourself at least that well? Do you give yourself the basics of a healthy body?

You are the six million dollar rep, with the million dollar smile, the two million dollar personality, the three million dollar gift of gab, the four million dollar swagger in your step, and the five million dollar attitude.

You can take that to the bank!

Lorin

A TALE OF TWO CITIES…UHHH…FROGS

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I have two stories to tell you today and it just so happens both stories are about FROGS!

Story #1

Two Frogs

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up, he fell down dead.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just lie down and die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out of the pit. When he got out the crowd of frogs said, “Did you not hear us?” The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were cheering him on and encouraging him the entire time.

The morale of the story is to watch what you say to people. We often don’t realize the power of encouraging words and how they affect others.

Story #2

One Frog

A few frog buddies were hopping across a dirt road when one of the frogs fell into one of the ruts. His frog buddies started cheering him on saying things like, come on you can do it, That’s it just a little higher, We are here for you..

The frog jumped and jumped and couldn’t jump high enough to get out of the rut. After awhile his frog buddies yelled goodbye and resumed their hop across the road.

About an hour later to their surprise and happiness their friend who was caught in the rut came hopping up to them with a big smile on his face. All his buddies gathered around their friend and one asked him how he finally got out of the rut.

The frog looked at his friend and said, “I saw a tire coming down the rut, I HAD to get out!”

The morale of this story is you can achieve things you never could before with the right motivation!

I hope these two stories were entertaining and educational. These two messages are important to remember. As you go through the coming days, weeks, months and years try and encourage people as much as you can. Be positive and always look for a reason to do succeed rather than a reason to fail. Also gain strength, power and get motivated by your circumstances. Don’t allow external pressures to keep you from reaching your goals, on the contrary, let them be the force behind achieving your goals.

I have a final riddle for you, What did the frog say when someone asked him how deep the pond was?  He simply replied, KNEE DEEP-KNEE DEEP!

Lorin

WHATEVER WILL BE, WILL BE

Have you ever heard the old song “Que Sera Sera”? It was sung by Doris Day in the 1956 movie The Man Who Knew Too Much. It is a cute song and Doris Day sang it beautifully. Que Sera Sera, Whatever Will Be, Will Be. PHOOY! BOLOGNA (the Oscar Meyer Spelling)! BOLONY (The rest of the world spelling)! BULL (My personal favorite)

In the old song about a little girl asking her parents what she will turn out to be I guess this was as good an answer as you could give. In sales it is really way off track. No sales rep I know of would ever accept Whatever Will Be, Will Be when you are talking about their future and their success.

The idea that a rep has no control and no input as to how things turn out is so foreign that any rep would laugh out loud at the thought. Reps work hard to develop skills that help them shape their futures. They practice and role play, script and video themselves, they read and go to seminars all to become better at their craft so they WILL have some control of their success.

I have written this in previous posts, I don’t ever attribute a reps success to LUCK! A rep makes their own luck by doing all the things that allow themselves to be in a position to capitalize on opportunity when it comes. Being ready to win is a big part of the winning process. The great hockey star Wayne Gretzky once was quoted as saying one of the reasons he makes so many goals is because he is not where the puck is, he is where the puck will be, being ready to take the shot when the opportunity arises.

Sales reps are the same way, they put themselves in position to close the sale when the opportunity arises. If you think this is luck, THINK AGAIN! OK, every once in awhile a rep isn’t really prepared or they are not at the top of their game they still make a sale. Some people call this luck, I don’t. They put themselves in the position to be there. Even if they made every mistake possible, they didn’t end up in front of the right customer by accident.

Whatever Will Be, Will Be, nope, how about “IF IT IS TO BE IT IS UP TO ME!” Whatever Will Be, Will Be, nope, how about LUCK standing for Laboring Under Correct Knowledge. Whatever Will Be, Will Be, nope, how about I control my destiny!

Lorin

D I Y

Tonight I made an amazing discovery. It seems that in Atlanta where I live there is a DIY store about every other block. You know what I mean by a DIY store right, A Home Depot, Lowe’s or ACE Hardware. These are stores where you can buy the supplies to do just about any home project by yourself (DIY – Do It Yourself)

As I drove around this evening I couldn’t stop thinking that if there was a DIY store for success would they still be on just about every corner?

I suppose if you ask most people they would tell you they want to succeed. I would also suppose that if you asked most people they would tell you they want to learn how to install flooring, fix plumbing, and build a deck, but yet all the Home Depots and Lowes offer classes just about every week on these subjects and from what I have seen very few people show up to learn how to do these things. So the question becomes, do people really want to learn how to become successes or do they want someone else to make them successes?

Just like fixing up your home or working on your car, your business success is primarily up to you. Your success is a DIY project. You need to get the guidance, the materials, tools, and plans. You need to study and gain the knowledge necessary. Most of all you need to do the work!

Just like the DIY building material stores there are places you can go and experts you can talk to in order to get the information you need to get started. Some of these people work right next to you at your current company, some work at schools, in your customers businesses, and some are your neighbors or friends. Other people that can help you are members of trade organizations and networking groups. Some volunteer at different types of organizations and some are in business to help people become successes. The point here is if you want to know how to succeed, there are people that are willing and able to help you, all you need to do is take the time to find them.

Don’t play the “Blame It On Someone Else” game. No one is going to do it for you, and no one should. Don’t get caught in the “It Is Their Fault” game, no one is at fault but you. Don’t get caught in the “I Can’t Do It Myself” trap. Not only can you do it yourself, you MUST do it yourself.

DIFY – Do It For Yourself. No one is going to gain more than you are from all this work. DIFY – Do It For Yourself. No one is going to enjoy the fruits of your hard work more than you will. DIFY – Do It For Yourself. No one is going to do it for you!

By the way, you don’t need to wear an orange apron, a blue smock, or a red vest, just Dress For YOUR Success!

Lorin

UP, UP AND AWAY

No hidden messages here, just a cute little page about a word we use hundreds of times a day and have no idea we are doing it.

This is another excerpt from bathroom wisdom from my wife’s school.

HUMM…yesterday I wrote about Bathroom Readers and today Bathroom Wisdom, I think I need to get out more!

ENJOY!

What’s UP?

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.'

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?  At a meeting, why does a topic come UP?  Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?

We call UP our friends.  And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen.  We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.   At other times the little word has real special meaning.  People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.

And this UP is confusing:  A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it! UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary.  In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used.  It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP   When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP...

When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.

When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so.........it is time to shut UP!

Oh . . . one more thing:


What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at! night?    U-P

Lorin

GREAT LITERATURE FOR THE PORCELAIN LIBRARY

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Over the past 10 or so years I have been an avid reader of a series of books called the Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers. I don’t know if any of you have ever heard of these books, but they are great. However until today I would have never considered recommending them to you as MUST read books.

I say until today because today I was introduced to the power of the Bathroom Reader.

I got a call from a rep today that I haven’t talked to in about 8 years. This rep and I used to be close friends and our families would get together about once a week or so for dinner. About 8 years ago he moved away from Atlanta because he took a position with another company. We talked for awhile and then, like so many old friendships, we just stopped calling one another.

Today he said he was thinking of me and wanted to call me. As we spoke he told me that I have helped him make hundreds of sales. Needless to say I was flattered until he told me HOW I helped him make the sales. It wasn’t because of my awesome training ability, it wasn’t because of my incredible sales ability, it wasn’t even because of my unbelievable good looks and personality (well maybe it was my looks, but he didn’t admit it) he told me it was because of my Bathroom Readers!

It seems one of the times he was at my home for dinner he went into my bathroom and picked up a copy of my Bathroom Reader. As he sat in my porcelain library reading he became hooked on the wonderfully useless information. So much so that he went out and bought his own, and has been ever since.

While we were talking today and he was giving me credit on helping him close sales he told me that over the past years he has used information he got from Bathroom Readers to help start sales presentations, establish rapport with customers, keep conversations going, and most of all some of the facts he has used as features and benefits.

I was honored. Well I was at least happy that I helped in a small way. He told me that using what he calls “worthwhile trivia” makes him more interesting to his customers and in turn opens doors that may not have been open before. He says he has given Bathroom Readers to his customers as gifts and they become some of the gifts that are talked about and remembered for years (unlike pocket knives and pens).

So what is the message here? Have something to say when you go into a customer. It doesn’t always need to be important industry information or earth shattering product knowledge, sometimes it can be simply entertaining and interesting.

If you want a Bathroom Reader, look on Amazon. New they cost in the neighborhood of $12 to $15 dollars, used they start at a quarter!

I do some of my best thinking while on the porcelain throne!

Lorin

TO ME vs. FOR ME

As we go about our everyday business we encounter a lot of different circumstances, how we view these circumstances will shape how these circumstances affect our future.

As I have worked with sales people over the years I have seen a major shift in the way they view things. Sales people used to be the most positive, uplifting people in the world. We used to always see the glass as OVER half full and we knew that keeping a positive attitude was the best way to cope with many of the negative situations we found ourselves in.

Over the past 5 to 10 years there has been a major change in the outlook of the average sales person. It may be because of the shift in how business, especially sales, is conducted today. In years gone by the sales rep was the sole source of information and the sole source of products. Today the internet, distributors, big box stores have all become alternative sources for supplies. Many sales reps see this as diminishing their value and eliminating the need for their service. Personally I see this as the exact opposite, the internet can’t answer of a customer’s questions about how a product will “fit” in their business. A shelf in a big box store can’t market a product. Distributors carrying hundreds maybe thousands of products don’t have as much product knowledge as a rep working for a small line or one manufacturer.

Here is where how a sales person views an issue shape how the issue affects them. If a sales person sees the internet as a force that is doing something “TO” them they will be negative towards the internet. However if they view the internet as an information source that does something “FOR” them, they will use the internet to help make sales. The same goes for distributors and big box stores, they can do something TO a sales persons business or FOR a sales persons business.

Let’s face facts, no one wants anything done TO them. The idea that they are a victim to circumstance is negative and sets up a combative situation. On the other hand having something done FOR you is positive, when something is done for you it is a help and is advancing your business. This sets up a co-operative situation.

Once a sales rep has experienced a particular situation, they will always look back at the experience as being a “TO” them or “FOR” them situation and react accordingly. We will succeed or fail depending on how many times we feel we are the victims or the benefactors. We grow based on what we learn from each of these experiences and how well we can control our outlook.

I love being around sales people, I believe that when all is said and done sales people are today as they have been in the past the most positive people in the world. I am convinced that for every situation where a sales person sees themselves as a victim there are a dozen situations where they see themselves as the benefactor. I am sure that the future of the sales rep will prove that we things as being FOR us not TO us and that our customers will realize that when all else fails their sales rep will be the person who comes out on top and will help them the most.

Lorin

NO NEW POST

Due to bad storms and power outages there will not be a post today.

Lorin

WHAT MAKES IT SO GOOD

I am spending the evening in NY by LaGuardia Airport. Never wanting to let an opportunity to eat NY pizza pass me by I went to a local pizza joint tonight for dinner. YUMMMMMMMMMM

I got back to my room and started thinking about how good the pizza was and then began to wonder what makes it so good? I am from NY so I know all the urban legends, it is the water, the cheese, the flour, the humidity, because they are all made by guys named Vinnie, the list is long. But if you think about all these they are all nothing but legends. There are different water systems that pull water from different places, just about every pizzeria uses their own blend of cheese, flour is made by dozens of mills, the humidity changes day by day, and I know for a fact that a few guys that make pizzas are named Vito. So what is it?

I thought about the pizza I get in Atlanta. Most, not all are not as good as what I had just eaten. But that means that some pizzas in Atlanta are every bit as good. So what is it? Some pizzas in Atlanta look like NY pizza, some smell like NY pizza, so WHAT IS IT? Then it hit me, what makes NY pizza better than Atlanta pizza is reputation. New Yorkers have been telling people that NY pizza is better for so long the legend has become reality.

So what makes your product or service so good? I am willing to bet that not one person reading this has a product or service that is one of a kind. We most likely all have competitors and in many cases their product is almost exactly like what we carry. So what makes yours so good?

The answer is the same, REPUTATION. The reputation is not only your products and companies, but it is also YOUR reputation.

If you strip away all the legends that your company has planted and strip away all the legends that you have started, and then strip away all the legends that your customers have bought into and have promoted, is your product really better?

If it is, then your job is to maintain the legend and keep it going, if it isn’t then your job is the same! Maintain and promote the legend.

You see, to represent a product or service, and really do a great job with it, you need to believe in the product and believe that it is the best and will do the most for your customers. I am not saying lie, I am not saying stretch the truth or bend it beyond recognition. I am saying you need to promote every feature to its fullest, stress every benefit to maximize the value, and build the story so every prospect believes you have the best solution to their problems.

You all now represent NY style pizza. Go and sell the legend!

Lorin

SO TRUE IT ALMOST HURTS

This came into my e mail box today and I had to share. Some of you will laugh, others may cry! It will depend on your companies CS.

ENJOY!

The Customer

"Good morning! Thanks for calling us!
We're pleased to hear from you!
Your call's important to us
So we've placed you in a queue.

Please find your account number and
Be sure it is correct..
It's twenty digits long and if you
Mis-type, I'll reject.

I'll lead you through the whole routine
Please use your touch type phone.
Press eight and follow with the hash
After you hear the tone.

If you are a new client here..
Press two, ..if old, press three.
Press four in case we've done something
With which you disagree!

You have pressed four, please wait a moment
While I transfer you..
And please enjoy, while we play you
A symphony or two!

Our staff are all too busy now
To talk to such as you
Your call is so important that
We've placed you in a queue."

Time passes and the music lingers
On, and bye and bye..
My cheek and ear go fast asleep,
My wrist gets R.S.I.

But wait! It may be there is hope!
I hear a ringing sound,
At last a human voice is heard
After the runaround!

"Good morning, this is Ladies wear
And may we help somehow?
Complaints?.. Oh! Just hang on a tick
I'll transfer you right now!..."

"Good morning! Thanks for calling us!
We're pleased to hear from you!
Your call's important to us
So we've placed you in a queue."

Copyright; Frank Halliwel

Lorin

STAND UP AND BE COUNTED

I had an interesting conversation with a stranger this afternoon. We were standing next to each other waiting to order some dinner and he looked over at me and asked if I was in sales. I looked at him and said yes, and asked him why he would have asked that question. His answer was GREAT. He told me I stood in line with confidence.

I really thought that his answer was funny. I asked him how one goes about standing with confidence. He told me I didn’t wander around, I didn’t leave a great big gap between myself and him, and he said it was just your stance.

At that I actually laughed out loud. I am 5’6” and about 280 pounds. I have the shortest legs of anyone I have ever known. How is my stance so telling of my profession?

He told me he was a script writer for newscasts. I found that to be interesting, but he didn’t want to talk about himself, he wanted to talk about me. He asked me what it was that made sales people so confidant? I told him it was no matter what we were told, we always had an answer. Our ability to think on our feet and keep conversations going gives us what he perceived as confidence.

He didn’t like my explanation. He actually told me, and these are his exact words, “Oh get off it”, he said that there are a lot of people who can think on their feet and keep conversations going. He said that sales people are just different. I laughed again and told him he had just shaken my confidence in myself.

We talked for a few more minutes and then we had to go our separate ways, but the conversation had me thinking. You see I believe he was being honest when he said that he has noticed sales people are confident people. I also believe that as a non sales person he was seeing something that I may not be able to see because I am too close to the subject. I also believe that he was very sincere when he talked and I could tell he was green with envy.

Then as I was driving to my hotel I realized that sales people are confident for different reasons. I was trying to group us all together but that isn’t right. For some of us it is our gift of gab and our way of controlling a conversation. For others it is the successes we have already had and others it is the knowledge of our industry and products. And for still others it is the peace of mind knowing that if we are good at our trade our families will never go hungry.

I wish I could have talked to this guy more. I liked the way he asked questions, but he should be good at asking question, he works in the newsroom. Then I started wondering if we came across to our customers as confident. Do our customers look at us as confident people or arrogant pushy jerks? It didn’t take me but a second to decide that our customers viewed us as confident professionals. Why did I come to this conclusion? Easy, our customers wouldn’t spend money with jerks.

So the point of this post today is to let you know that people view you as confident. Your customers see you as a professional. You need to start seeing yourself the same way.

I need to be honest, when this stranger asked me if I was in sales for absolutely no reason, I first got very insecure. I thought I had done something that’s was over the top. (I have been known to do those things every once in awhile). But after I had a chance to absorb what he had said, I felt good.

What would you have said to this guy? Would you have felt the same way I did at first? Think about it. It is a fun exercise.

Lorin

LASER FOCUSED MY EYE

A funny thing has happened to me over the past 24 hours, I WAS ABLE TO LOOSE SOME OF MY FOCUS!

That’s right, LOOSE focus. Let me back up a little.

About 6 weeks ago I started to get a pain in my hip. I immediately knew what it was because I had felt it about 3 years ago. I went to the doctor and was examined and the doctor told me I was right in my self diagnosis. He gave me some pills and told me I would be fine. The pills are gone, and I ain’t fine!

For the past several weeks I have been working from my home office. Here lies the problem. While I am working from home I am able to focus on my work. The problem is I am also able to focus on my PAIN! I sit at my desk for hours on end working and when I stop all my attention goes directly to my hip and the pain starts to get worse and worse.

This week I am out of town working with reps on the road, because I am out in the field and interacting with people my attention isn’t focused on my pain and guess what. The pain goes away!

What is it that you are focusing on? Just like my hip, many of you focus on YOUR pain and you are not disappointed, the pain intensifies. It may be the price of gas, or your awful manager. It may be the economy or your customers. It may be your significant other, or your bald tires. It may be one of a thousand other things but you are so focused on the pain that you forget what it feels like not to hurt.

Like any other problem there is a solution, but the solution takes work. The sub-conscience works while the conscience is also working. If you are not always focusing your conscience mind on the positives and your sub-conscience is negative at the same time, your pain will take over all your thoughts and grow out of control.

Here is the simplest solution I can offer to this problem. As soon as you realize you’re conscience mind is thinking about a negative, replace the thought with a positive one. This replacement will focus your thinking on positives and reduce the impact the pain has on you. If you train yourself to do this all the time what eventually happens is your conscience mind remains positive and over time trains your sub-conscience mind to follow.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? IT ISN’T! Unfortunately most people are naturally negative thinkers. They feel very comfortable allowing themselves to become part of the problem rather than forcing themselves to become the solution. This positive thinking is done at the conscience level, which means we need to THINK about it all the time in order for us to do it. If we stop thinking about it most of us will fall back to our negative selves. Sad but true. This takes work on our part. We need to use as many tools as we can to help us succeed at positive thinking. Tools like motivational reading, listening to motivational tapes, taking to positive people we know, placing notes and pictures all around us to keep us positive, and whatever else works for you. There are no rules, it is really a free for all and all about being positive.

If you can master the art of replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, you will see all your pains start to disappear. If you can train yourself to think positively, you will start to become positive, your customers will start to see the change and their reaction to you will become more positive. It all starts with the exchanging of negative thoughts with positive thoughts and ends with negative bank accounts becoming positive bank accounts. OH and don’t forget about losing your pains. My hip hasn’t hurt at all today!

Lorin

EIGHT DAYS IN A WEEK, I MEAN SEVEN DAYS IN A WEEK

How many times did you wish that you had another day or two to hit quota? We have all been there. The entire reporting period we were either right on target or just a little behind, we come down to the last day and we need a super day to make it. Half way through the day we start to realize that the possibility of hitting quota is slipping away. We make that last mad rush, it is 3:00Pm and we are still giving it our best shot. 4:00PM, 4:30PM, 5:00PM and our customers are starting to close up shop. 5:30PM fewer and fewer people are still around. Finally we decide that it is over, we missed.

What can we do to stop this from happening? Is there a magic spell that will give us extra days in the reporting period? Not that I know of. But there is an answer. What would it be like if you worked as hard 2 days every week as you just did the last day of the reporting period? Imagine if you worked until 6:00PM 2 days a week. Do the math, if you usually knock off at 4:00 you are adding 2 hours twice a week. That’s 4 additional hours of work. If your reporting period is monthly, you will add 4X4.3 (average number of weeks in a month) = 17.2 extra hours, you just created 2 extra days in the month. So if you usually work a 5 day week, you just created one 7 day week a month.

Ok now let’s go back to the opening scenario, you were wishing for an extra day in the reporting period so you could hit quota, you just found 2 extra days. Quota is in the bag!

I see reps drive themselves crazy the last few days of a period and it always amazes me. If they would simply work that little extra here and there they would be making their numbers with time to spare. Imagine if a rep worked 30 minutes extra every day. 30 minutes a day equals a 2.5 hours in a 5 day week. 2.5 X 4.3 = 10.75 that’s over a day, so now you have hit your quota with minimum extra work per day.

The point is you control your time, you control your numbers and you control your energy. If you like the stress of the last day push, then ignore this post and come back tomorrow for the next post, if you don’t than start making changes now to help yourself down the road.

It is the old story, “Pay me now, or pay me later” it is really up to you.

Lorin

YOU JUST NEED A NEW POT

Last week I went on a rep ride and while we were driving the rep reminded me of this story and I want to pass it on to you.

One Christmas Eve a woman was preparing Christmas dinner for her family. He husband was in the kitchen with her helping as he watched her take out the holiday ham and cut about 6 inches off the end of the ham.

Confused the husband asked his wife why she cut 6 inches off the ham. She looked at him and said, that is the way YOUR mother taught me to cook holiday hams. This was baffling to the husband so he picked up the phone and called his mother. When she picked up the phone he asked, Mom why do you cut 6 inches off the ham before you cook it? To that his mother said, that’s the way your grandmother taught me to prepare the Holiday hams.

Still not satisfied the husband called his Grandmother. When she answered the phone he said, Grandma, we are making the ham for tomorrow and we cut 6 inches off of it. I didn’t know why we did that so I called mom and she said that is how you taught her to make a ham. Can you tell me why you cut 6 inches off the ham? There was a moment of silence and then his Grandmother replied, I had to cut 6 inches off the ham dear, otherwise it didn’t fit in my pot.

So there you have it, the reason so many things are done. Not because they have any meaning today, simply because they once had meaning and no one has checked to see if it still makes sense to do it that same way.

As you go through your day tomorrow, take a look at some of the things you do and make sure they still make sense. I’ll bet we will all find out that we now have a bigger pot.

Lorin

THAT’S ONE HOT LITTLE NUMBER YOU GOT THERE

I was chatting in one of the sales chat rooms I belong to last evening and someone asked the question, “What should I tell my boss when he asks me how much I am going to sell this month?” He told us that he has low balled his boss and got yelled at because he sold so much more and his boss knew that he sandbagged. He said he has also been on the other end of the same stick by telling his boss a number that was over quota and missing the number. He was frustrated and wanted to get some input.

As with any group of reps and managers this poor guy got answers all over the board. Uncharacteristically I never chimed in. I knew what I do and I knew what I liked my reps to tell me, but I had no idea of what this reps ability is or anything else but his screen name I decided to hold comment and write about it here instead.

First I want to state a few of my basic rules and beliefs.

1)      Quota are important

2)      Don’t lie to your sales manager

3)      If you say it, do it – or kill yourself trying

4)      Lie to me once, shame on YOU, Lie to me twice, shame on ME

5)      If it ain’t paid for it ain’t sold

Now let’s get back to the question from the chat room, what number should you tell your manager when asked. I think it is pretty obvious that whatever number it is it must be an honest estimate. It has to be a number that you truly feel you ARE going to hit if everything goes right. By the way, giving your manager a report on where you are with your department budget is exactly the same as giving your sales manager a sales figure.

First, where are you deriving the number from? If you are just picking numbers out of the air as if they were lottery numbers you are about to make a big mistake. Just like lottery numbers, hitting numbers that you have just made up are a million to one chance of being even close to what you actually sell. On the other hand if you know what you have working, what you are close to closing and what you may never close you can make a pretty accurate estimation.

One of the problems I have seen from rep after rep is they really never know where it is they stand with a prospect. If you ask them will you be able to close it on the next stop they say things like, how should I know, or that is up to the customer. And they are right except for one thing, if you know what questions a prospect asks and where they are asked during the sales process you can make a good “guesstimate” as to when the sale will be made. Also if you know the buying signs of your business you can make the same estimate with some high degree of confidence.

It all comes down to how good are the records you keep about your sales calls. If you keep good notes and can track the path that a customer is on you will know if this sale should or shouldn’t be added to the numbers you are going to report to your manager.

That covers rule 1&2, now #3, whatever you tell your manager you are going to do! (Or kill yourself trying to do) I believe that one reason so many sales reps miss the numbers that they claim they are going to hit is because they don’t believe the numbers to be real and don’t try and achieve them. At least if you are going to lie, make it a good lie by trying your best.

#4 rule is also very simple. Sales managers are smart people. If you lie to them they will believe you until you show them that you lied. Only desperate sales managers will allow you to lie to them a second time. Remember, most of the time when a sales manager wants to know numbers it is because their boss is asking. If you make them look bad in front of their boss you will eventually pay the price.

And #5 is a rule that is only broken by thieves. I have seen desperate reps write false orders. Making up customers, adding products or services to orders that the customer hasn’t approved, and just about every other dishonest way to get short term credit for a sale. If the sale doesn’t stick or isn’t paid for it isn’t a sale. If you get caught doing any of these dirt ball things you should (and most likely will) be fired immediately!

So there you have it. My answer would have been, give real estimates and ONLY real estimates. Make sure that what you say is what you ARE going to do. Work hard to do it. Don’t lie. Make sure the sales you do report are real.

If you help your manager make accurate estimates as to sales goals and do your best to hit your goals, I know you will be the rep that is rewarded in the long run.

Lorin

HAHAHAHAHAHA

I am writing this post from Emory University Hospital where my wife had some surgery today.

This was going to be the first weekday since I started the blog that I was not going to have a post, but then it happened. A topic slapped me right in the face, so here I am typing away as my wife rests.

I didn’t realize how funny I am until I met the nurse in the Same Day Surgery waiting room this morning. My wife was scheduled for surgery to start at 7:30 AM and we needed to be at the hospital at 5:30. (No big deal for me but a major undertaking for my wife) anyway, we showed up to the Same Day Surgery waiting room with about 30 of our closest friends also scheduled for surgery that day along with their support teams, all total about 100 or so people.

We all sat anxiously waiting for our names to be called. At about 5:50 my wife’s name was called out, Mrs. Greenstein (we pronounce our name Green-steen- everyone always says Green-stine) so as we walked over I simply corrected the nurse, to which she said, it doesn’t matter. I laughed and said as a joke, it did to my father, he hated the darn Greenstine family.

Now, anyone who knows me will tell you I tell a darn good joke and my timing is always perfect. The nurse never even cracked a smile! This was my “A” material and nothing. So now we are going back to the pre op area and the nurse says this is your room. There was no “ROOM” it was a bed with curtains. So I tried again, I said that I have had rooms with a view before but never one that WAS the view! NOT EVEN A GRIN!

After another 2 tries to get a laugh I was defeated! It was also time for them to roll my wife back to the OR so I stopped. But I went down in defeat, not a laugh, a smile, a grin or even had her roll her eyes in disgust, nothing at all.

So once again I hope I have you wondering how I am going to tie this to sales. Simple, just because my audience didn’t have a bit of humor I never lost my sense of humor.

Just like a medical setting, a sales setting can be very stressful. If you as the sales rep don’t manage the stress level it can get out of hand and any hope of making the sale can be lost because of the stress.

The problem is not everyone is funny. If you can’t tell a joke, or a humorous story I suggest practice. That’s right I said the “P” word! Practice! You probably already have a favorite joke or story. If you can’t deliver it and get a laugh, write it down, just like you would a sales presentation. Read it over and over until you know it so well you can say it in your sleep. Then practice telling it. Tell it to yourself to start. Try and listen if you are smooth with the delivery. Listen to yourself and see if you are “selling” the joke or story with your volume and inflection. Listen to the timing, and make sure that you aren’t rushing it or dragging it out too long.

Next ask someone to listen and tell you how you are doing. It would be good if the person listening is funny so they can help you make changes if needed and make the joke or story funny. Ask them to critique your facial expressions and body language.

Once you have it down pat, and you know it is funny, you don’t have to worry about if the customer thinks it’s funny. The fact that you are adding humor into the sales mix will help reduce stress and keep the sales process moving forward. If your customer has a good sense of humor and you get them laughing, the sale will be that much easier to close.

Did you hear the one about the dog and the inch worm?

Lorin

WHY SHOULD I

Have you ever told your child to do something and had them snap back at you, “Why Should I”? I can remember each of my daughters saying that to me ONCE. After I explained why they should do as I said I never heard that line again. Oh don’t worry, they were able to sit down again in a few minutes, they didn’t really want to, but they certainly could.

Now think back to a customer who said the same thing to you, “Why should I”? Maybe you just tried to close the customer, or maybe you were telling the customer how much they needed your product but the customer or prospect just looks right at you and says, “Why should I”? What do you do next? You can try the same method I used with my daughters, but I don’t think your customer will allow you to spank them in their own business. So there has to be a fool proof way to handle this, what is it?

The first thing that comes to mind is to find out what about the product or service they don’t understand. The answer “Why should I” is a question, it needs to be answered. The only way to properly answer the customer is to find out what they didn’t understand. Did they not understand how the product or service works? Maybe they didn’t understand how the service or product fits into their business. Possibly they don’t understand how owning the product or using the service will either reduce their expense or make increase revenue. So what should you do? ASK!

I usually used an either/or question in this situation. Ask, is it how the product works or how you will use the product here in your business that you have questions about? I have also said, I’m sorry, I must not have explained how much revenue this will generate in the first 6 months, let me cover that with you quickly.

WHY SHOULD I is a way of asking I don’t understand. Sometimes it is the defiant nature of a customer that leads us to believe they are negative or are just not interested. Actually nothing could be further from the truth. By asking WHY SHOULD I the customer is starting a conversation with you about YOUR product or service. The customer is telling you they will spend more time with you IF and only if you give them the answers they are looking for. The customer is telling you, SELL ME!

Unless your customer is 3 years old they are interested. It is now time to earn your pay by SELLING the customer on the advantages of owning what you sell.

OH, and just in case you were thinking this, BECAUSE I TOLD YOU TO isn’t a good enough answer for your kids OR your customers!

Lorin

SOMEDAY ISLE

At 3:30 today my wife and daughter who are both teachers started their spring breaks. Needless to say they are very happy women. My oldest daughter and I are also happy because we know that for the next week there will be a lot more peace and calm in my house.

Something else happens this week every year, I sit down with my family and we start to plan where we want to go for vacation this summer.

In the past we have taken cruises, gone to the beach, traveled to the mountains, to be honest there aren’t a lot of areas we haven’t gone to over the years. This year I think we are going to Someday Isle.

There's an Island fantasy
A "Someday I'll" we'll never see
When recession stops, inflation ceases
Our mortgage is paid, our pay increases
That Someday I'll where problems end
Where every piece of mail is from a friend
Where all the nations can go it alone
Where we all retire at forty-one
Playing backgammon in the island sun
Most unhappy people look to tomorrow
To erase this day's hardship and sorrow
They put happiness on lay-away
And struggle through a blue today
But happiness cannot be sought
It can't be earned, it can't be bought
Life's most important revelation
Is that the journey means more than the destination
Happiness is where you are right now
Pushing a pencil or pushing a plow
Going to school or standing in line
Watching and waiting, or tasting the win
If you live in the past you become senile
If you live in the future you're on Someday I'll
The fear of results is procrastination
The joy of today is a celebration
You can save, you can slave, trudging mile after mile
But you'll never set foot on your Someday I'll
When you've paid all your dues and put in your time
Out of nowhere comes another Mt. Everest to climb
From this day forward make it your vow
Take Someday I'll and make it your now!

by Denis Waitley

We have all been on someday I’ll… why not make that TODAY I’ll. There is no better time than today to start a new project. There is no better time than today to finish a project that you have started and have yet to finish. There is no better day than today to stop putting everything off until tomorrow. There is no better day than today to say goodbye to SOMEDAY ISLE forever.

Lorin