MYOB

A little kid is sitting on a park bench eating a bag of chocolates, an old salesman walking by stops and say to the kid, "If you continue to eat like that you're teeth will fall out and you won't live very long."

Indignantly he responds, "Oh yeah!  My grandfather lived to be 104 years old."

The old salesman counters, "But he didn't live that long by eating a lot of chocolate."

The kid, getting up to leave in the direction opposite to the old salesman, replies politely, "Oh no sir, it was by minding his own business."

Moral of the story.  True sales professionals know that to be successful they must MYOB.  Too often reps get distracted by hypothesizing how sales management is going to restructure their team.  Too much time gets wasted tracking how are others are performing in comparison to how well you are doing.  If another sales person is leaving, too much time is wasted by reps trying to make sure they get their fair share of handout accounts.  A zero sum philosophy of life is a loser's bet.  Invest in yourself and in your future by minding your own business.

"I would not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum."      -    Frances Willard

Detective Work

     I am often the last resort when all else has failed in getting in touch with a prospect or lead or even in some cases a customer who fails to return phone calls or emails.  I actually enjoy the challenge of getting to the person in question.  I am no stalker but I usually manage to get a response from the person in question.  Is it always positive?  Hardly.  Am I consistently positive?  Always!

     We have so many ways to track down people these days short of paying for the information.  So I am looking for a contact at a business in Baltimore with whom we did business several years ago and there is no record of who the contact was then. (Message here is to fill our your customer file completely). So I go to Linked In and query the business name and find that I am 3rd in the thread and the direct contact with that business happens to be a person with whom I did business with in my sales days.  So I email him and he supplies me with the name of the VP of Sales who is his contact.  I call him and after a very nice conversation about the Baltimore Orioles successes this year, he gives me the name of the man who now handles the shipping and receiving.  He has yet to pickup his phone but you can bet I am going to call him until he does as voice mail in this kind of case is the kiss of death.  He will eventually answer and if after 10 calls he does not I will call the operator whose name I also have and ask her to page him for me.
     The point here is persistence will eventually pay off.  Can I guarantee it.  Certainly not.  But what I can guarantee is that each time you persist you will learn another tactic that will help you solve these problems in the future.  Quit and you gain nothing.

Sleuthingly yours,
Sherlock Dobson

Simple Acts of Kindness

Can you "picture" it?

A rancher goes into town one day and happens to run into his old pal the tractor salesman.  "How's business?" asks the rancher.

"Not very good, I haven't sold a tractor in months.  How are things on the ranch?" asked the salesman.

"Well the other day I went to out to the barn to milk that old cow I have.  I started milking her and she swatted me with her tail, so I tied her tail to the ceiling.  I started milking again and she kicked me with her left leg so I tied that to the left side of the stall.  I started milking her again and she kicked me with her right leg so I tied that one to the right side of the stall.  About that time my wife walked into the barn, and if you can convince her that I was just trying to milk that darn cow, I'll buy a tractor from you!"

Moral of the story.  Successful sales professionals know that selling to your customer's problems can be most effective.  In fact, most will agree that their largest, most lucrative sales have been the direct result of solving their customer's biggest problems.  Truly aggressive road warriors maintain that the most useful tool in their sales arsenal is now a camera-equipped smart phone or an emailed picture.  Can you "picture" it?  Is it "clicking" in yet?

I "shutter" to think of the possibilities,
Dan

Simple Acts of Kindness

I returned to my office this morning from 7 glorious days in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.  I have traveled to other tropic places but I love the Dominican Republic largely because of the Dominicans themselves.  They are very kindhearted people who live the same lives we do just in a different place in the world.  They fall in love, raise families, grapple with bills and taxes, deal with politicians and all the rest of the stuff that makes up our lives.  Now I am not naive as I understand that in the hospitality business one is paid to be pleasant to one's guest.  However, being polite is required but being genuinely friendly is not.  Polite is meeting the needs of one's customers and being genuinely friendly is finding about the person behind those needs.  That is what the Dominican's have done all three times I have traveled to that country.  They ask you questions about your life and take the time to remember from day to day what tidbits you have told them. I am a Boston Red Sox fan and I love Big Papi (David Ortiz) who is Dominican.  Everyone I told that to mentioned it to me repeatedly during our stay.  That is being genuine friendly as in taking the time to remember things you are told by the people with whom you interact.
The picture is of Simon and my wife Julie.  The flower in her hair was presented to her by Simon on the day of our departure at the breakfast table.  I said: "Muchos Gracias" and his reply was: "Me encanta mi trabajo" (I love my job).
There is a message in the telling as well.  I have talked often about making yourself memorable.  Sharing your story is part of that process.
For what do people remember you?  If your answer is "not much", you can start changing that right now by little acts of kindness starting with REMEMBERING!
PS:  There are too many tools to help with this to abide with the excuse " I have a poor memory"

Sales math

When you ask a housewife, an accountant and a salesman what 2 + 2 is, what do they give you?

The housewife simply say "Four."  The accountant says "It's either 3 or 4, let me run it through my spreadsheet again."

The salesman dims the lights, closes the door, draws the blinds to your office and quietly asks, "What keeps you up at night?"  After you answer; invariably the salesman will finally respond with another probing question, "What do you need it to be?"  A conference call, a consulting engagement and three on site visits from a systems engineer later and, IF you are lucky, you'll finally receive the answer you've been waiting for......    FOUR!



Moral of the story.   When it comes to business decisions....   listen to your spouses folks!  The answers are more accurate and they are FREE (in a sense- lol)!


Fore (as in look out),
Dan