Posted: January 6, 2016 | Categories: Sales, Self-Improvement

23 years ago a fellow team member and I were sitting in a lobby waiting to see a prospect.  My buddy Joe brings out a copy of Golf Digest to read.  This was the issue that listed the top PGA money winners of the past year.  Joe pointed out who was in first place:  It was Fred Couples.  He had made $1,344,188, participated in 22 events, and his average score per 18 holes was 69.38.  Then Joe showed me the stats for the person in 130th place.  His name was John Mahaffey, his total winnings were $101,512, he participated in 28 events, and his average score per 18 holes was 71.99.  Think about that!  The difference between the person in first place and 130th place was only  a difference of 2.61 strokes per 18 holes.  Does that sound unusual?  Not really.  A major league baseball player  whose career batting average is 300 will probably end up in the Hall of Fame if he plays a full career.  This is what champions call the slight edge.  It means that the person at the top and the person in 2nd are not that far apart.  Instead of thinking we need to be twice as good as our competition, often all we need to do is develop the slight edge.Read More…

Posted: October 9, 2015 | Categories: Sales, Self-Improvement

“Successful people form the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do”                                    – Albert Gray: “The Common Denominator of Success”

What does the word “integrity” mean to you?  Here is the most common answer I hear to this question:

“It means doing what you say you will do, when you say you will do it.”

Of course, it is also assumed that you will do your best quality work.Read More…

Posted: September 25, 2015 | Categories: Leadership, Sales

“Don’t start what you can’t finish”  – The Sorcerer in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”

Several months ago I read a news story about a large national  fast food chain and their perceived quality of customer service.  They were in 5th place.  That wasn’t where they wanted to be, and it bothered them.Read More…

Posted: April 7, 2015 | Categories: Sales, Self-Improvement

Last night I was leading a team meeting.  I challenged one of the group to do some role playing to demonstrate the “presentation” part of the sales process.  As I handed him the “script”, he held it in his hand and looked at it intensely.  Silence followed as he continued to focus on the scenario.  We asked him if there was anything he did not understand, and he said, “No, I am just studying this the way I normally would before I begin my presentation.”Read More…

Posted: February 11, 2015 | Categories: Sales

This week I was coaching a client as he was looking ahead to an important sales call.  He wanted to work on his listening skills.  He said that he sensed there were times when he did too much of the talking. I asked Bill what percentage of the time he usually does the talking.  He thought it was about 80%.  I asked him how he prepared for the call.  He said he had an idea of what he wanted to say.  As we talked more about the purpose of the call, it became apparent that the purpose of this call was to understand what the prospect wants and why they want it. Read More…