I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “Count your blessings.” I wonder how you interpret that. I wonder how you count them. I wonder how you take advantage of them. My biggest wonder is how grateful are you for your blessings.
HERE’S AN IDEA: Re-look at your blessings from a different perspective. Are they blessings or are they assets? Are they blessings or are they attributes? Are they blessings or are they gifts that you can share with others?
GOOD NEWS: There are no right answers to those questions.
BETTER NEWS: You have to determine the answers for yourself.
BEST NEWS: Once you determine what those blessings, or assets, or attributes, or gifts are you can begin to build them, add to them, enjoythem, and turn them into a happier, better you.
HERE’S HOW TO DO IT: Sit down at your laptop and write your eulogy. Write down what you would want your children or your significant other to say about your life. How you lived it, how you achieved in it, and what your best qualities were. What kind of a person were you? What kind of a father or mother were you? What kind of a son or daughter were you? What kind of a friend were you?
Those are the questions that will reveal all of the assets, all of the attributes, and all of the gifts that you have.
In my opinion, the one blessing or attribute that will define you better than any of the others is what you gave. I don’t mean how much money you gave away. Rather, I mean what you gave of yourself. Did you volunteer? Did you participate in a charity? Did you help your kids with their homework? Did you help an elderly person across the street? Were you a giver or a taker?
Giving defines your person.
Me? I give smiles. And I give them on purpose, every day.
I have a daily goal. Make ten people smile every day. That may not sound like much, but it’s amazing what happens when you can make someone you hardly know smile at you based on your interaction with them. It means that you have been kind, or humorous, or thought provoking, or just a good guy or gal. Sometime it involves a bigger tip than you might normally give. Sometimes it’s just a matter of holding a door. Whatever it is, when you make someone smile it changes their whole physiology. They walk away feeling better than they did because they encountered you.
My daily goal also includes one other element: performing a random act of kindness.
Random acts of kindness are easily defined as proactive politeness, proactive helping, or proactive giving. No one asked for anything. You just decided to get up and do it.
I wonder if you ever think about random acts of kindness. I wonder if you regularly perform random acts of kindness. I wonder if you understand who feels best after the random act of kindness is been performed.
If you perform them like I do, then you know who feels best. You do.
Oh, the recipient feels great because you helped them or honored them. But you feel greater. Random acts of kindness have a double win. And the feeling lasts a long time.
I challenge you to make ten people smile and perform one random act of kindness a day. I challenge you to do it for the right reasons: for yourself.
When you make people smile, you smile. The power of that transfers immediately to all your other thoughts and you become happier. In fact, you look for ways to make other people smile because of the feeling that gives you.
And that’s a self-imposed blessing you can take to the grave.
Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.
About the Author
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/JeffreyGitomer.jpg218156StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2013-05-20 06:15:342016-08-07 21:14:37People don’t know what they have. It’s better than money.
The 4 Disciplines of Execution provides the steps needed to repeatably translate one’s business strategy into the day-to-day activities instrumental to realizing organizational goals. These disciplines include:
Focus on the Wildly Important – Give your best effort to those few goals that really matter instead of giving mediocre effort to dozens of goals.
Act on the Lead Measures – Carefully track the lead measures and let the lag measures take care of themselves.
Keep a Compelling Scoreboard – Make sure everybody knows the score at all times so they can tell if they are winning or not.
Create a Cadence of Accountability – Hold frequent accountability sessions whose only purpose is to advance the Wildly Important Goals.
Benefits of Reading this Book
StrategyDriven Contributors like The 4 Disciplines of Execution for its methodical, repeatable method of translating corporate strategy into the day-to-day actions of organization members. We appreciate the adaptation of the book’s principles to both an organization and team-level implementation.
Chris, Sean, and Jim richly present their concepts with detailed illustrations and examples; making the disciplines both easy to understand and readily implementable. The 4 Disciplines of Execution is remarkably well aligned with the foundational principles upon which StrategyDriven, its products and services, is based. For its actionable principles of strategy execution while promoting organizational alignment and accountability, The 4 Disciplines of Execution is a StrategyDriven recommended read.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.png00StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2013-05-16 06:54:122013-05-18 20:55:51Recommended Resources – The 4 Disciplines of Execution
They say it’s the little things in life that matter. This principle applies to sales representatives if they want to be successful in their career.
As salespeople, we often get caught up in the things that stare us right in the face. We focus on quarterly goals, the weekly conference calls, and the ever-looming concern over what this year’s bonus will be – all the while overlooking ideas that keep us on top of our game. Some of the mistakes we make are obvious, such as failing to make enough calls, lacking product knowledge, and not asking a client to buy. But it’s those deeper neglected areas that cause us to slowly lose our edge or superiority.
In my view, there are three common pitfalls salespeople must avoid to insure maximum results regardless of where they are in their career.
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Allen Guy is the author of Playing to Win: The Sport of Selling and How You Can Win the Game. A veteran sales representative and manager with experience that spans more than twenty-five years and multiple industries, he is currently senior vice president of business services for State Bank and Trust Company in Mississippi.
Playing to Win is a convergence of sports analogies and practical business skills to educate and entertain readers as they further develop their sales abilities. It provides applicable advice that can easily be remembered and put into practice.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.png00StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2013-05-15 06:17:082016-01-31 17:12:50Mistakes That Hinder Sales
Senior executives typically ascend to their elevated positions through the contribution of significant organizational value. While these individuals’ daily activities provided ongoing benefit throughout their careers, there is seldom a more value adding opportunity than successful leadership of a strategic initiative or large-scale project. Consequently, senior leaders seeking further career development and advancement covet these initiatives; sometimes resulting in the creation of such projects to satisfy an individual’s need rather than an organizational one.
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Nathan Ives is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/iStock_000005208564XSmall.jpg282425Nathan Iveshttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngNathan Ives2013-05-14 06:10:372019-05-01 17:16:04Alternative Selection Warning Flag 2 – An Initiative for Every Executive
PERSONAL REALITY: You wake up, shower, shave (M), put on makeup (F), brush your teeth, and comb/fix your hair (if you have any). Every day like clockwork.
Those are personal habits. Rarely (if ever) missed.
What about business habits? Personal, business habits?
BUSINESS REALITY: Do you have the same consistency in your daily business habits? And I wonder how many of your daily habits take the long-term view. Or are you just trying to make sales to make quota? Big mistake.
I want to talk about one element of your personal business habits: Your personal outreach, your daily outreach, that builds attraction, personal brand, authority, known expertise, recognition, position in your industry, Google rank, social media presence, top of mind awareness, and reputation. Oh, that.
Sounds like a LOT of work. But actually it takes LESS time than your morning bathroom routine once you’re set up and rolling. And these are habits that create attraction. Real attraction.
The cool part is it costs (almost) nothing. All you have to do is allocate the time, and (most important) commit to DAILY OUTREACH.
Here’s the master list of available resources that you must employ and deploy:
LinkedIn. Your prime professional outlet for finding, attracting, building, and staying in touch with business connections. OUTREACH: Be personal and creative. Don’t use the lines and messages provided by LinkedIn – use your own words. Post something of value, and ask your connections to share it with THEIR connections.
Facebook. A place to create one-on-one dialog with customers – especially by responding to their praise and concerns. OUTREACH: Post positive service stories and videos. Respond to issues within two hours.
Twitter. 140 characters that put your character on public display. Make every character count. Have something profound to say that your followers would be compelled to send to THEIR followers. OUTREACH: Tweet a value message at least twice a day. One that your followers would find interesting enough to re-tweet to THEIR followers. The object of Twitter is to be re-tweeted by your followers, thereby exposing you to new people (customers).
Blog or personal website. A starting place, a landing place, and a jumping off place for stories, ideas, opinions, photos, videos, training, and anything else your customers or followers would find BOTH interesting and valuable. On a blog you can mix business and personal, as long as it’s not offensive. Your posts can be subscribed to and delivered by email. OUTREACH: Blog with a minimum of a weekly, if not daily, post. You have unlimited space for text, photos, and videos. Your blog is an opportunity for people to realize both your intellect and your passion.
YouTube. Video is the new black. This is a chance to convey messages, training, subject matter expertise, testimonials, and offers of value. Your viewers can subscribe, and your posts can be cross-pollinated on your blog, your Facebook page, and your LinkedIn profile. All for the low, low price of: FREE.
E-zine. A weekly, informational piece that can contain SOME promotional material, but MUST have mostly helpful information. If you need an inexpensive template and delivery platform, go to www.aceofsales.com.
Group text messaging. A newer form of communicating to customers and prospects that hasn’t quite found its way. But like all forms of connection, branding, and selling, it will soon emerge as a powerful method of ‘instant offer’ and ‘instant information’ that, unlike other forms of outreach, commands instant viewing.
I’m offering myself an example of what to do. Everything in this outreach formula is based on what I do personally. Study me. Emulate me. My outreach is based on value. My outreach is working.
JUST DO IT: You’d think that with all these career building, low-cost or free opportunities, benefits, and life building assets, that every salesperson on the planet would be the MASTER of these outlets – and you would be wrong – drastically wrong – and most likely, PERSONALLY wrong.
MOTHER GOOGLE: All of your ‘outreach’ builds your Google search-ability, ranking, and visibility. The foundation and fulcrum point of your reputation rests on Google. Most of the time Mother Google is the perfect platform and reference point, UNLESS you try to fool her by manipulating your status.
NOTE WELL: Outreach is a lifetime process. When done well, it builds every aspect of your brand and reputation. And over time it creates the real law of attraction – a law based on value offerings, in spite of what you may have read or heard elsewhere.
Yes, my friend, there is also a face-to-face aspect of outreach. That will be covered next week!
Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.
About the Author
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/JeffreyGitomer.jpg218156StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2013-05-13 18:14:522016-08-07 21:20:10What do you do EVERY DAY to build attraction and brand?
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People don’t know what they have. It’s better than money.
/in Practices for Professionals/by Jeffrey GitomerI’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “Count your blessings.” I wonder how you interpret that. I wonder how you count them. I wonder how you take advantage of them. My biggest wonder is how grateful are you for your blessings.
HERE’S AN IDEA: Re-look at your blessings from a different perspective. Are they blessings or are they assets? Are they blessings or are they attributes? Are they blessings or are they gifts that you can share with others?
GOOD NEWS: There are no right answers to those questions.
BETTER NEWS: You have to determine the answers for yourself.
BEST NEWS: Once you determine what those blessings, or assets, or attributes, or gifts are you can begin to build them, add to them, enjoythem, and turn them into a happier, better you.
HERE’S HOW TO DO IT: Sit down at your laptop and write your eulogy. Write down what you would want your children or your significant other to say about your life. How you lived it, how you achieved in it, and what your best qualities were. What kind of a person were you? What kind of a father or mother were you? What kind of a son or daughter were you? What kind of a friend were you?
Those are the questions that will reveal all of the assets, all of the attributes, and all of the gifts that you have.
In my opinion, the one blessing or attribute that will define you better than any of the others is what you gave. I don’t mean how much money you gave away. Rather, I mean what you gave of yourself. Did you volunteer? Did you participate in a charity? Did you help your kids with their homework? Did you help an elderly person across the street? Were you a giver or a taker?
Giving defines your person.
Me? I give smiles. And I give them on purpose, every day.
I have a daily goal. Make ten people smile every day. That may not sound like much, but it’s amazing what happens when you can make someone you hardly know smile at you based on your interaction with them. It means that you have been kind, or humorous, or thought provoking, or just a good guy or gal. Sometime it involves a bigger tip than you might normally give. Sometimes it’s just a matter of holding a door. Whatever it is, when you make someone smile it changes their whole physiology. They walk away feeling better than they did because they encountered you.
My daily goal also includes one other element: performing a random act of kindness.
Random acts of kindness are easily defined as proactive politeness, proactive helping, or proactive giving. No one asked for anything. You just decided to get up and do it.
I wonder if you ever think about random acts of kindness. I wonder if you regularly perform random acts of kindness. I wonder if you understand who feels best after the random act of kindness is been performed.
If you perform them like I do, then you know who feels best. You do.
Oh, the recipient feels great because you helped them or honored them. But you feel greater. Random acts of kindness have a double win. And the feeling lasts a long time.
I challenge you to make ten people smile and perform one random act of kindness a day. I challenge you to do it for the right reasons: for yourself.
When you make people smile, you smile. The power of that transfers immediately to all your other thoughts and you become happier. In fact, you look for ways to make other people smile because of the feeling that gives you.
And that’s a self-imposed blessing you can take to the grave.
Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.
About the Author
Recommended Resources – The 4 Disciplines of Execution
/in Recommended Resources, Strategic Planning, Tactical Execution/by StrategyDrivenby Jerry Weissman
About the Book
The 4 Disciplines of Execution
provides the steps needed to repeatably translate one’s business strategy into the day-to-day activities instrumental to realizing organizational goals. These disciplines include:
Benefits of Reading this Book
StrategyDriven Contributors like The 4 Disciplines of Execution for its methodical, repeatable method of translating corporate strategy into the day-to-day actions of organization members. We appreciate the adaptation of the book’s principles to both an organization and team-level implementation.
Chris, Sean, and Jim richly present their concepts with detailed illustrations and examples; making the disciplines both easy to understand and readily implementable. The 4 Disciplines of Execution is remarkably well aligned with the foundational principles upon which StrategyDriven, its products and services, is based. For its actionable principles of strategy execution while promoting organizational alignment and accountability, The 4 Disciplines of Execution is a StrategyDriven recommended read.
Mistakes That Hinder Sales
/in Marketing & Sales/by Allen GuyThey say it’s the little things in life that matter. This principle applies to sales representatives if they want to be successful in their career.
As salespeople, we often get caught up in the things that stare us right in the face. We focus on quarterly goals, the weekly conference calls, and the ever-looming concern over what this year’s bonus will be – all the while overlooking ideas that keep us on top of our game. Some of the mistakes we make are obvious, such as failing to make enough calls, lacking product knowledge, and not asking a client to buy. But it’s those deeper neglected areas that cause us to slowly lose our edge or superiority.
In my view, there are three common pitfalls salespeople must avoid to insure maximum results regardless of where they are in their career.
Hi there! This article is available for free. Login or register as a StrategyDriven Personal Business Advisor Self-Guided Client by:
Subscribing to the Self Guided Program - It's Free!
About the Author
Playing to Win
is a convergence of sports analogies and practical business skills to educate and entertain readers as they further develop their sales abilities. It provides applicable advice that can easily be remembered and put into practice.
Alternative Selection Warning Flag 2 – An Initiative for Every Executive
/in Alternative Selection, Premium, Strategic Planning/by Nathan IvesHi there! Gain access to this article with a FREE StrategyDriven Insights Library – Sample Subscription. It’s FREE Forever with No Credit Card Required.
In addition to receiving access to Alternative Selection Warning Flag 2 – An Initiative for Every Executive, you’ll help advance your career and business programs through anytime, anywhere access to:
Best of all, it’s FREE Forever with No Credit Card Required.
About the Author
What do you do EVERY DAY to build attraction and brand?
/in Marketing & Sales/by Jeffrey GitomerPERSONAL REALITY: You wake up, shower, shave (M), put on makeup (F), brush your teeth, and comb/fix your hair (if you have any). Every day like clockwork.
Those are personal habits. Rarely (if ever) missed.
What about business habits? Personal, business habits?
BUSINESS REALITY: Do you have the same consistency in your daily business habits? And I wonder how many of your daily habits take the long-term view. Or are you just trying to make sales to make quota? Big mistake.
I want to talk about one element of your personal business habits: Your personal outreach, your daily outreach, that builds attraction, personal brand, authority, known expertise, recognition, position in your industry, Google rank, social media presence, top of mind awareness, and reputation. Oh, that.
Sounds like a LOT of work. But actually it takes LESS time than your morning bathroom routine once you’re set up and rolling. And these are habits that create attraction. Real attraction.
The cool part is it costs (almost) nothing. All you have to do is allocate the time, and (most important) commit to DAILY OUTREACH.
Here’s the master list of available resources that you must employ and deploy:
I’m offering myself an example of what to do. Everything in this outreach formula is based on what I do personally. Study me. Emulate me. My outreach is based on value. My outreach is working.
MY PERSONAL EXAMPLES: On twitter I am @gitomer. On Facebook I am Facebook.com/jeffreygitomer. My blog is salesblog.com. My youtube channel is youtube.com/buygitomer. On LinkedIn search my name: Jeffrey Gitomer. My ezine is published on salescaffeine.com. My website is gitomer.com.
JUST DO IT: You’d think that with all these career building, low-cost or free opportunities, benefits, and life building assets, that every salesperson on the planet would be the MASTER of these outlets – and you would be wrong – drastically wrong – and most likely, PERSONALLY wrong.
MOTHER GOOGLE: All of your ‘outreach’ builds your Google search-ability, ranking, and visibility. The foundation and fulcrum point of your reputation rests on Google. Most of the time Mother Google is the perfect platform and reference point, UNLESS you try to fool her by manipulating your status.
NOTE WELL: Outreach is a lifetime process. When done well, it builds every aspect of your brand and reputation. And over time it creates the real law of attraction – a law based on value offerings, in spite of what you may have read or heard elsewhere.
Yes, my friend, there is also a face-to-face aspect of outreach. That will be covered next week!
Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.
About the Author