Be grateful for your business

Business owners and leaders are trying to get an outcome that they often don’t have yet.  They are hurrying.  Ok, WE are hurrying to the future. 

We see imperfection and trouble and responsibility and work to be done.  We don’t like it.  We’re trying to solve problems and they keep coming.  We develop a pattern of thinking that becomes us.

Let’s stop for a minute.

“Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it.” – Soren Kierkegaard

Let’s pause and be grateful we get to do this.  Let’s remember where we started and see the progress we have made.  Let’s be grateful for the people who show up every day to help us.  Let’s be grateful for our customers who want what we do.

Yes, it can be hard work, especially if we aren’t a true expert yet, but it has so many wonderful elements if we will not forget to recognize and acknowledge them.  

It will never be done, and never be perfect and there is no finish line.

But we get to do this. 

Enjoy it today.

How to talk on the phone

Smile when you talk.  It makes your voice sound different and people can hear it on the other line.

When they know you are smiling they will respond to you better.

Don’t you like smiling people?

Don’t you like to do business with people you like?

Dress for Influence

When you dress so you feel confident and good about yourself, it will change your attitude and how people respond to you.

Dress like the person you want to be.

Dress for Influence.

Leadership is a big lever

To get more out of people you have to lead them well.

The same team will respond to great leadership and do far better than with mediocre leadership.

Leadership matters – a lot.

If the leader is failing, the team will not win.

Leaders – work on you. 

Owner/Leaders –  if you aren’t willing to do that. appoint a better leader and get out of the way.

Bad attitude – you gotta go.

Team members who have bad attitudes have to go.

Gossip, undermining the leader’s initiatives, resisting positive change, not giving their best effort, working the system to their benefit, only thinking about themselves, not playing well with others…

A leader who puts up with it, is not doing a good job.

The person with the bad attitude may be a friend, family member, long-time employee, or someone who “knows things others don’t”; but it doesn’t matter – they have to go.

Underperforming Salespeople

If any salespeople are underperforming then your company is underperforming.

Either they are intrinsically motivated to do their best, or they aren’t.

Either they have the people skills or they don’t.

It’s your job to train them very well and set expectations and keep score.

Getting the right people in the right seats is a leader’s job.

If they have been on the job for 90 days and are underperforming, you owe it to yourself and the rest of the team to replace them.

Give them a proposal they would want to accept!

Give them a proposal they would want to accept.

How do you know what they would accept?  Ask them.  Talk to them.  Educate them by asking questions and showing them, and asking more questions.  

Don’t give them a proposal they will not likely accept.

Give them a proposal they will by connecting, getting to know them, and educating them on what is the best solution for their problem in a way they understand.

Be a person people want to deal with.

Treat people right and be consistent over time.  People talk.  If you establish a reputation as competent, reliable, fair, and you’re optimistic, people will want to do business with you later.

Time has a way of going by, and opportunities will come based on who you were being and what you did in the past.  Or not.

Qualities of a great leader

This is my list – (always incomplete)

1) Has a vision.

2) Strong desire to win.

3) Believes in themselves, and believes in others.

4) Takes action.  Does not wait, or over analyze.  Learns from that action.

5) Knows he/she must help others be successful.  Cares about their team.

6) Has fear, acts anyway.

7) Learns everyday.  Never says “I know enough”.  Open to counsel.  Humble.  Will change plans or tactics based on new information.

8) Has energy to lead.

9) Has people skills.  Genuinely likes people.

10) Communicates – skillfully and often.

11) Totally committed.  All in.  

12) Leads by example.

13) Persistence/perseverance.  Plays the long game.  Does not quit when it gets difficult.

How many of these do you have?  Where are your strengths?  Weaknesses?

Commitment, will, and determination.

I am privileged to see many business owners close up and over time, and the results they produce.  

I see great ones and I see ones who are not producing great results.

I can say that when a leader has a fire that overcomes any fear,  and they are determined and will not give up until they get the results they envisioned, they will be pretty hard to beat.

If a leader’s head is not in the game like that, they will get beat by a leader who is.

The same can be said for salespeople.