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.”

On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister, a 25-year-old British medical student, became the first man to break the four-minute mile barrier. His final time was 3mins 59.4 seconds. Up until that time not only had it never been done, but no one believed that it could be done. Until Roger that is.

Bannister had a serious running setback at the 1952 Olympics, and as a result he spent two months contemplating whether he should continue to run at all. Ultimately he decided on a new goal instead – to be the first man to run a mile in under four minutes. Doing what no one believed could be done, Bannister believed in himself and visualized the possibilities, thus turning his belief into a tangible reality. And once Bannister broke the record and proved it was possible…runner after runner started following in his footsteps.

Moral of the Story

Roger Bannister reflected on his wins and his losses. Once he firmly commited himself to breaking the four minute mile, he got honest with himself about his strengths and weaknesses. With that knowledge, he put a solid plan in place to achieve his goal.

Whether you own the business or work for someone who does, Roger’s story applies to YOU. Your sales skills must be top notch because the clutter in the marketplace is deafening. If sales aren’t quite where they need to be, maybe it’s time to take an honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. Until you know what is getting in your way, it’s going to be hard to turn it around.

Discussion about how to “build relationships” in the online world and what’s acceptable in terms of “how to sell your stuff” seems to be on the rise lately. That’s to be expected I suppose, especially when you see some fairly obvious multi-level marketing tactics being displayed. It is a quandary I guess, isn’t it?

The whole idea of using social media/social networking from a sales point of view is to build relationships that lead to sales. Done right, I totally believe using social media helps you to better qualify leads and shrink the sales process. That’s all good and helps you to build your business. But notice that I said “done right”. What a conundrum. If you “sell from the podium” you risk trashing your brand. And if you don’t, what’s the point of being online if you can’t convert your activity into sales?

Good questions. I don’t know if I have the “right” answers…I just have my perspective.

In over 25 years of professional selling, I can honestly say that blatant self promotion has never been in vogue. Ever. Done in the online space, it’s worse.

What leads to people to…

• Ask questions that they then answer by talking about how great they are? We are not fooled!
• Answer questions and not actually contribute to the dialog, but just yak, yak, yak about themselves and their products?
• Provide answers to questions that are clearly a push to their affiliate site? At least be honest about what you are doing.  Are you really that desperate?
• Pretend they are trying to provide value, but then they manage to “sneak in” their own stuff. Please – do you think we can’t tell?
• Not even answer the question at all, but instead sell their product instead. For example, in a recent LinkedIn group the question was “we are evaluating Achieve Global. Have you used their programs and what do you think?” This wasn’t a request for people to “pitch” their competitive product, but out of the first 5 responses – 4 did exactly that. Disgraceful!

I don’t know. Is it really that tough to just want to be in service to others knowing that you’ll get your just desserts at some other point? My belief is in the “do unto others” model…I don’t pollute the dialog with my sales pitch…maybe you could refrain from yours.

During these challenging economic times, I’ve more than once heard a business owner or sales person tell me that they didn’t connect with their current customers, because “they probably weren’t going to buy anyway.” Not only might their assumption be wrong, since when did the customer relationship become only about today’s sale?

The social web has changed the way that your customers purchase products and services! If you aren’t visible to them, you put yourself at significant risk of losing sales opportunities. Buyers these days are proactive. They educate themselves about what is available, which means that the sales process has been transformed into a “buying process.” Unfortunately, many sales people fail to realize that things have changed. Smart sales people will take advantage of the opportunities that the social web offers by being visible, staying on top of trends, looking into the future and finding ways to position themselves as a well-educated navigator who is an open influencer instead of a convincer. Become a “trusted adviser” who stays connected regardless of the economic situation.

Three 3 Tips for Reconnecting

1. Evaluate your communication process with your current customers. When is the last time you talked to them? Are they aware of all that you have to offer? Don’t assume they know. Ask yourself what you can do for them…can you make a connection for them or share a valuable piece of business information that helps them seal a deal?
2. Use tools like LinkedIn to expand your reach in an account. Who else in the company has a LinkedIn profile that you can get to know? If your current contact has moved on to other things, you can use the LinkedIn “Companies” feature to search out new connections within the account.
3. Create newsletters using email marketing products like Constant Contact. Share relevant business content to keep your customers informed about industry trends, market opportunities and the newest in what you have to offer.

Remember that your existing customer base is a gold mine of opportunity; a competitive advantage that is often overlooked. Stop randomly chasing new opportunities when “acres of diamonds” are sitting right in front of you!

Today I’m thinking about innovation, service and teamwork. As I write, I’m flying back from Washington, DC where I attended the national ASTD conference. Here I am sitting on an airplane 35,000 feet in the air able to use my itty bitty EEE PC to write my blog post. Marvelous!

Travel for me – business travel anyway – has lost a lot of its luster in the years since 9/11. In addition to all the other challenges of air flight these days – like being practically stripped down to walk through the security gates – airlines have now begun to charge us for the “privilege” of checking our bags leading many people, including myself to carry on more than we used too. Of course that typically leads to longer boarding and deplaning times, but I guess that doesn’t matter much to these airlines who often treat us more like cattle than human beings. On top of pricey airline tickets, huge penalties for making changes if your plans change, now we have to pay $15 a bag each direction if we don’t want to hassle dragging all of our bags on board. I wonder, what’s next? Is expecting great customer service just too much to ask? I am a bit cynical on this topic, so I would normally say yes. Today was a rather unexpected and thoroughly enjoyable surprise.

A Lesson in Professionalism and Teamwork

I’m traveling on the noon Delta flight #1965. As I discovered after arriving at the airport, the flight just before mine had been cancelled. That led to the usual challenges for people who had connecting flights that were now impossible to make. And it meant that my flight, which wasn’t full when I changed my travel plan this morning, now, had to accommodate those people impacted by the change. It could have been a disastrous, frustrating situation for everyone. It wasn’t!

The attendants manning this flight have to some degree restored my faith that great teamwork and stellar service do exist. Gate attendants quickly and expertly re-booked tickets and soothed frazzled feelings. Onboarding happened about as quickly as I have ever seen. This flight crew totally had it going on! They helped people get bags in the overhead bins quickly and organized them in ways that accommodated all passengers. Everyone co-operated (passengers included) and we took off right on time. Awesome!

During the early part of the flight, the air conditioning was working over time. We’re talking serious meat locker here, and as soon as attendants noticed they worked to correct the issue to ensure everyone’s comfort.

Professional, courteous, kind, efficient, friendly – what more can you ask for? This Delta team worked together like a well oiled machine, and it is obvious that they care about doing great work. Hats off to the flight crew on Delta #1965! You made my noon flight from DC to Atlanta one that was truly more pleasure than pain. Thank you! Your peers and management should take note!