Before I do…

As I climbed the sales ranks while still working in corporate America, I was conditioned to keep business and personal separate. Don’t discuss things like politics or religion or any other controversial subject for that matter. Don’t want to risk offending your buyer.  It’s that same conditioning that leads companies to fear social networking, blogs and the like. Understandable. You don’t want your employees to “blurt” anything and everything out there on the world wide web. It stays there. Forever. That’s why guidelines must be established, training given and appropriate management oversight put in place to ensure that employees don’t go to far off the corporate reservation.

And…

If 2009 taught us anything, it’s that we must bring transparency, openness and trust back into our working relationships. In short, we need to be more human with each other. It’s OK to share what motivates you or knocks you down in life. That’s all part of being human. And that leads me to the reason why I disappeared for just a bit.

You see, nine months after her Alzheimer’s diagnosis, my mother died on January 12, 2010. Though I knew it was coming, I was still knocked down. I had no clue what Alzheimer’s was really about before this happened. Perhaps, you don’t either. What I know now (and really wish that I didn’t!) is that the disease afflicts everyone involved. Frustrating, confusing and agonizing for the patient. About the same for the family members involved. The health and quality of life of many Alzheimer’s patients deteriorates over a period of years – not months. In that way, Mom was lucky. She isn’t suffering any longer.

The Alzheimer’s Association, which envisions a world without the disease shares a few statistics on their website, which might give you some sense of the disease’s magnitude:

• As many as 5.3 million people in the United States are living with Alzheimer’s.
• Alzheimer’s and dementia triple healthcare costs for Americans age 65 and older.
• Every 70 seconds, someone develops Alzheimer’s.
• Alzheimer’s is the seventh-leading cause of death.
• The direct and indirect costs of Alzheimer’s and other dementias to Medicare, Medicaid and businesses amount to more than $148 billion each year.

I pondered whether I would share this personal side of my life with you. In the end, I decided that it was OK. Tough things happen in our lives, which can sometimes knock the wind right out of our sails. People around us cannot help us or support us if they don’t know we need the help!

Finally, about those 3 words. My key 3 in 2010 are: Charioteer, Marksman and Physical.

• Charioteer- like the Charioteer at Delphi, I holds the reins of success in my own 2 hands.
• Marksman - this is about precision, practice, patience and teamwork.
• Physical - reminds me to get outside to connect with mother earth and exercise daily. Good health is a gift!

This ridiculous notion of “dialing for dollars” is so yesterday. Sales people resist cold calling like the plague and with good reason. At some level, they know it doesn’t make any sense to call a stranger and expect them to buy within seconds of receiving their call no matter how charming they may be. Old school sales thinking is that you just call enough numbers and eventually somebody buys. What a waste of time and energy! Not to mention how potential buyers detest this approach. They don’t appreciate your rambling, inarticulate, blathering feature dumps and the evident randomness of the call. As a business owner, I can relate. Maybe I’ll create an audio book one of these days with the “best of the worst” phone calls that I’ve ever received. I save them. Hilarious and painfully sad at the same time. Hint: if you have to cold call then at least do some remedial homework. Make sure I’m in the market for what you sell. Everyone is NOT your customer!

Get over the notion of cold calling. Nobody likes it, it doesn’t work. Instead, what about using social media/social networks, email, Twitter, Facebook, referrals and the like to start paving the way for a great relationship? There is just NO excuse anymore for sales management to think that “dialing for dollars” has much chance at success. Instead, invest time in learning to use social media to augment and extend your sales reach. Insist that your sales people use social tools and social networks to begin conversations that will lead to finding common ground and getting to know each other. Then, when you do reach out to secure that sales appointment there will be nothing cold about it!

Here’s my response to Dawn’s question…

I currently use the same photo to maintain consistency across LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter, Blog, Facebook, etc. My business focus is on executives and sales professionals, so I use a professional picture and feel strongly about the importance of doing so to support my brand message and target audience. As sales professionals, it is important to remember that your picture helps people connect with you. They feel they are getting to know you…something about pictures and voice that draws people in. That’s why using video is so compelling.

It’s About Your Brand

Combine your picture with active online participation and you gain important visibility. Crucial to success in this new social world is being seen. You have to put the effort into participating so that when you buyer is ready – they think of you! OK, so back to my colleague, Dawn…if you happen to be in Atlanta, you might be interested in the networking “meet up” she’s got going on Thursday, January 21. You can find the details here. What I think is cool is that you can get a professional headshot taken at the event that you can then use on your social profiles. Do it! The price…incredibly inexpensive at $35.00. Again, find the details here.

BTW – having a current picture on your profiles also means that when you do “meet up” with prospective buyers or partners in person…you both already know what you each look like:)

Hum…

Not only does this executive do disservice to himself, what about his clients? These are the business leaders who rely on his vast knowledge, experience and future vision. Not just because they trust him, but because they pay him. That’s his job. Provide time crunched business owners with the resources, counsel and tools they need to succeed with their business – today and tomorrow.

That’s the rub really…people who dismiss what they don’t understand. These folks are part of the “it didn’t work for me, so it can’t work for anybody” club. That’s a real shame.

Here’s the deal…social media provides leverage that all businesses can capitalize on. With the right strategy as the underpinning, the time you invest in putting your social media plan into action will more than give you the return on investment you want.

That’s really what it’s all about, isn’t it? Transition. Whether it is business or personal, we are always moving, transitioning to something new, whether we like to think so or not. What’s important, I think, is how we handle the process. We can fight it. We can pretend that things are not changing around us, and do absolutely nothing, plugging along as we always have. Or, we can embrace the opportunity that transition presents by asking – what’s next?

As it relates to sales, transition is long over due. It’s time for sales people and their leadership to pick a new lane, a new speed AND a new approach. Spewing features and benefits off the marketing 1-sheet just doesn’t cut it anymore. Buyers are tired of that nonsense.

Transition is not always easy. In fact, it is often the most painful thing in the world, because as we move forward, we might have no clue about what’s to come next. That can be downright scary! But fear cannot stop us from moving ahead. We must accept that transition is inevitable, necessary and vital. We have to forge ahead even if we aren’t quite sure where we are headed. On the eve of the Great Depression, our 32nd President of the United States of America had this to say:

This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. —Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933

I think that sums it up quite nicely!

PS…

Please do check out Mark’s company. His team works with businesses – and business leaders – to improve individual and organizational performance through the application of learning and knowledge strategies. Mark also happens to be a member of an elite group of professionals called Black Diamond Consultants, who went through a very rigorous program to earn their enterprise social media strategy certification.

Statistically speaking…

In 2007, Richard Wiseman and his team conducted a Quirkology experiment and discovered that while 52% of participants were confident they would achieve their goals, only 12% actually did! Moreover, the study found that men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in setting specific, measurable goals (lose a pound a week, instead of saying “lose weight”), while women were 10% more likely to succeed when they voiced their goals publicly and were supported by their circle of friends.

3 Words

Last year I decided that I really liked Chris Brogan’s approach, which I have now adopted. Chris suggests you choose 3 words to aid you in your goal setting process. He says, “Over the last few years, I’ve practiced something I call “my 3 words,” where I come up with three words that I use as guidance for how I should conduct my efforts in the year to come.” I like that. It seems more real and certainly easier to keep 3 words top of mind each day. I haven’t quite landed on my final word, but I’ll be back in a day or so to report in. In the meantime…how about you? Game to try Chris’ approach? If so, what are the 3 words you will use as your compass throughout 2010?

Reminds me of the movie – Groundhog Day. Bill Murray portrays Phil Connors an egotistical TV weatherman faced with living one day in his life over and over again. Connors is presented with the rare opportunity to take a different path when faced with the same circumstances. It is a clever film about do over’s and the challenges of changing our ways.

78% of buyers consistently say that they go to the web to do research on something they plan to purchase according to Anderson Analytics.

This is the world of social selling. In today’s relationship economy, buyers are not interested in meeting with you personally to learn about your products and services. At least not at first. They want to research you before meeting you. You need to be ready.

Sales behavior has to adapt to this new relationship economy. It doesn’t mean that your prior investments in sales training, sales methodologies, CRM systems or sales process is lost. It does mean that how you engage and connect with potential buyers has changed.

Are you ready?

Most of us are busy, but undisciplined. We are active, but not focused. We are moving, but not always in the right direction. –Jack Canfield

In the things they never told me before I became an entrepreneur file is how important it is to be a good steward of time. For most of us, we start our careers working for other people who have a schedule they want us to adhere too. Even though I lived in the world of sales where there is certainly more flexibility than in your typical 8-5 “go to the office” routine, there was still structure to the day. People expected things of me at specific times. It made it easier to say no to the other stuff. After all, it might not be wise to risk the paycheck. Why then do we develop amnesia in this area when we become independent business owners?

Entrepreneur = Rainmaker

Guess what? You won’t initially have much of a salary, if any, when you first start out. Unless of course you are one of the lucky ones whose company received a million dollar cash infusion from the local venture capitalist down the street. For most of us though, WE ARE the paycheck. Every moment of our time is either billable or not. And not isn’t a good thing. You need to remember that your corporate brethren aren’t thinking this way, because if they waste time here and there – they still get their paycheck. You, however, do not.

Saying NO is hard to do.

Though it was fairly easy when I was on the corporate clock to say no to requests that would interfere with my other business obligations, what is so different now? The answer will vary depending on the person, but here are 5 reasons why I think we stumble.

1. Ego. It’s nice to feel in demand. When you are out on your own, it’s easy to feel a little disconnected and unrecognized.
2. We feel obligated. After all, someone else introduced us and suggested that the two of us meet. It is even tougher if the connector is your paying client.
3. People won’t like us. In our desire to “be nice”, we are driven to accommodate the wants of others forgetting that our own goals and priorities need to take center stage.
4. Activity is confused with effectiveness. Lots of activity doesn’t magically lead to revenue. It is the right kind of activity that does.
5. We aren’t thinking like real business owners yet. Real business owners know that their time really is money!

After the lunch meeting today that wasn’t, I was once more reminded of how important it is to think thoughtfully about what gets locked in on your calendar. An hour of my day was wasted waiting to meet someone who never called, sent a text message or an email to say he couldn’t meet with me after all. The eventual response to the email I’d sent while waiting in the restaurant was…”My apologies. I had a packed morning and did not check my calendar. Thank you for your understanding.” Maybe my response needs to be…”Here’s the bill for my time today. Thank YOU for understanding.”