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It’s a GREAT year so far… or is it?

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How’s it going? I mean this year so far? Accomplishing what you thought you would? On the path of amazing achievement? Or are you stuck in neutral, or worse, reverse?

I am AGAINST ‘having your best year ever,’ but I am in favor of ‘having a great year.’ How’s your year so far?

Having a great year is not a matter of doing one thing right – or even making one thing better – it’s a matter or making everything better, so that you can get to GREAT or BEST in whatever you do.

Here is my list of challenges for your GREAT year. Read them carefully and begin with one or two. But all must be initialized and put into action to really have a GREAT year.

1. Define yourself.
2. Develop a sales mission statement.
3. Have a deep belief in the five critical areas of selling.
4. Develop greater pride in accomplishment.
5. You are what you eat.
6. Get rid of one time-waster.
7. Read a book every two months.
8. Get your (sales) pipeline full.
9. Meet your monthly sales quota by the second week of the month.
10. Start branding yourself socially.
11. Get up earlier.
12. Begin capturing your thoughts and ideas in writing.
13. Give one speech.
14. Write one article your customers will read.
15. Make sales at breakfast.
16. Keep your present customers loyal to you and your company.
17. Double your testimonials.
18. Double your referrals.
19. Record your sales presentation.
20. Start every morning with Yes! attitude.
20.5 You’re not alone. Create a mastermind.

Here are two of the challenges that are the ‘kick off’ of this series. I will elaborate on several others over the next few weeks.

2. Develop a sales mission statement. Your company has a mission statement, and you can’t recite yours to me, or even come close. The reason? Because it’s a bunch of corporate marketing drivel that you don’t believe in, let alone memorize. Dude, IT’S THE MISSION! What you need is a sales mission – a reason to walk in the door with information the customer can use, be memorable about it, and walk out the door with a signed contract and a check. The mission that you can all embrace and live by is: ‘Get the customer to buy from me, and make the experience so memorable that they buy again, and tell other people how great my product is, and how great I am.’ That’s an easy mission for you to live by. Mission statements are not meant to be memorized. Mission statements are meant to be incorporated into your philosophy as something that you carry with you as a statement of action. It’s the MISSION.

6. Get rid of one time-waster. I’m asked one question more than any other: “Jeffrey, how can I better manage my time?” Let me give you the answer to that question: You already know what to do with your time – what the hell are you asking me for? I’m going to write a book on time management entitled, You Already Know What to Do, You’re Just Not Doing It. You don’t need a course in time management (which by the way I consider the biggest waste of time). What you need is a lesson in how not to procrastinate. It’s not a matter of managing your time, it’s a matter of doing what you know you have to do, but are just not doing it. The easiest way for me to describe this procrastination situation is to offer you a tip – a time management tip. Here it is: Get rid of one thing that is currently wasting your time. The example I most often give is watching TV news programs, or watching television dramas. If you spent as much time studying how to get your voicemail messages returned, as you did watching some stupid television show, in a year you could be a world-class expert giving seminars for high fees on how to get your voicemail returned. You don’t need to manage your time, you need to allocate your time. You need to invest your time in things that matter, in things that will build your success, and in things that will allow you to have a great year.

Well, there are two sales-shots in the butt. Two or three more next week. I am determined to give you the insight and the tools to have a great year.

I’d love to know what you are doing to have a great year. Send an email to [email protected] and some of your ideas will be posted on my Facebook page.

About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey 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].

Have your BEST year ever? Or have a GREAT year?

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I’m challenging you NOT to have your BEST year ever. Rather, have a GREAT year. A great family year. A great achievement year. A great money year. A great health year.

The secret of ‘great’ is NOT to start with ‘it.’ The secret of ‘great’ is to start with ‘you.’ ‘IT’ is I’m gonna buy a new house this year, and ‘YOU’ is I’m gonna study the science of asking questions. ‘IT’ is I’m gonna get something material, and ‘YOU’ is I’m gonna improve myself. To HAVE great, first you must BE great, and DO great.

Start here:
Define yourself. In order to be able to have a great year, the first person that you have to come to know, on as deep a level as humanly possible, is you. Personally, I define myself as a father, a grandfather, a friend, a writer, a speaker, an idea person, a happy person, a thinker, a traveler with endless wanderlust, and a lover of fun and fine things. Contrary to what you might think, I’m not a ‘people person.’ I’m a one-on-one person. I get loyalty by giving loyalty. And I seek new knowledge every day.

Have you ever defined yourself? Have you ever thought about who you are? Much less – have you ever written it down?

And so your first challenge is to book a DAILY hour with yourself. Find a comfortable chair, and open your laptop or tablet to Microsoft Word, and define who you think you are. Or better, who do you think you are at the moment, and make all decisions based on the person you want to become. Once you define yourself, you’ll ascertain both where you are and where you want to grow.

I’ll share one other personal insight with you. I also define myself as the ‘king of sales.’ It’s a personal feeling. And a sense of self-confidence that I carry with me wherever I go. When you define yourself, make certain that you include everything that you are great at. In order to have a great year, you have to think of yourself as great. Even if it’s the ‘greatest salesperson in the company,’ or ‘great dad.’ Whatever it is, to be great – or to have great – you have to think great.

In order to have a GREAT year, you have to do great things and take great actions.

Here’s your list:
1. Define yourself. Read and implement the paragraphs above.
2. Develop a sales mission statement. Something that drives you into the sales call, and have an order in hand when you leave.
3. Have a deep belief in the three critical areas of selling. Company, product, and self.
4. Develop greater pride in accomplishment. No bragging, just humble self-pride.
5. You are what you eat. Stop the fat BEFORE it enters.
6. Get rid of one time-waster. I recommend TV, but you make your own decisions.
7. Read a self-help or business book every two months. Six a year.
8. Get your (sales) pipeline full. Double your pipeline and you’ll double your sales.
9. Get your monthly sales quota met by the second week of the month. It’s easy to do, just turn off the TV.
10. Start branding yourself. Become known as a person of value. Build personal reputation.
11. Get up earlier. Start your day with you, not the news.
12. Begin capturing your thoughts and ideas in writing. Every day, immediately as they occur.
13. Give one speech. Join toastmasters and participate.
14. Write one article your customers will read. Something that helps them and brands you.
15. Make sales at breakfast. Have coffee with a customer or prospect at 7am every day.
16. Keep your present customers loyal to you and your company.
17. Double your testimonials. Testimonials can make sales when salespeople (you included) cannot.
18. Double your referrals. Most people ask for referrals. Big mistake. The best way to get a referral is to earn one. The best way to get a referral is to give a referral.
19. Record your sales presentation. If you want to hear the funniest thing you’ve ever heard in your life, record yourself making a sales presentation.
20. Start every morning with attitude. Wake up tomorrow morning and grab an attitude book off your bookshelf, or open your iPad, and read a few pages.
21. Get great at social. Build a great social following, social presence, social brand, and social reputation.

21.5 You’re not alone. Create a mastermind. All salespeople are in the same boat. The Good Ship Lollypop. Unlimited income potential, while sailing in rough (often uncharted) waters. The good news is, you’re not alone. Create a mastermind of non-competing salespeople and leaders to talk about problems, success, and opportunities in common. Don’t live or die by the numbers. Have a support team to give you a positive idea transfusion once a month.

Having a GREAT year is not a matter of doing one thing right – or even making one thing better – it’s a matter or making everything better, so that you can get to GREAT.

Now you have all of the 21.5 elements. Print them out and post them so that you continually remind yourself of all the elements that it takes to have a great year. Having a great year requires both full dedication and constant reminder.

I hope you have a GREAT year.

About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey 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].

To Outsource Is To Grow: Why It’s Good To Hand Over The Reins

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One of the major problems faced by business owners all over the world is knowing when to let go. There are plenty of reasons why. As a company owner, you are used to making the decisions and there is a good chance you like to keep things under your control. As much as you like to think you are running a tight ship, if you are lending your hand to every aspect of your business, there is a very good chance you are spreading yourself thin. And at that point, it’s time to give yourself a break.

To Outsource Is To Grow: Why It's Good To Hand Over The Reins
Photo courtesy of Flazingo

You can’t do it all

You are right when you think you are the best person to lead your business, but you just can’t do everything. Delegating to a trusted employee is a perfect fit for the day-to-day running of your company. But what about those times when you have a special project or need help to explore emerging technology? Outsourcing to professional services may be the quickest and easiest way of handing these situations.

Specialist knowledge

Specialist companies will have a much deeper understanding of their industry than you can expect your employees to have. Sure, they know your business inside out but they may not know how to maximize your opportunity in particular areas. Let’s say your current in-house software system is bogging down from a recent influx of customers. In this case, IT outsourcing is likely to be better for you than leaving things to your under-pressure support team who may be challenged by their current workload.

The money

There are financial factors too, and your operational costs may be lower when outsourcing. Let’s say you want a new website designed. The investment required to find, employ, and train staff to do so often outweighs that of the one-off cost you would pay a freelancer or a small web developer company. There are offshore markets to explore too. Many highly skilled developers can be found in emerging markets such as India, where costs are far lower. Making use of modern communications technology makes it easy to share projects and get the same quality of work as you would get from your local town. And all for a lot less money.

Resources

At the end of the day, it’s all about resources: if you don’t have enough of them, you can’t possibly expect to grow. You may get a surge of new customers but if your team isn’t big enough to handle it, the influx could strike a serious blow to your business. Outsourcing at the right times and in the right areas mitigates your risk and opens up new possibilities. If you don’t free up the reins, stagnation – and possible implosion – is likely to be waiting for you at the next corner.

The Big Picture of Business – The Making of a Classic: Houston Legends. How Entrepreneurs and Business Made City Grow.

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My sixth book is Houston Legends, a definitive history of a dynamic global capitol.

Houston was the first word spoken from the moon. It is the hub of the world’s energy industry, headquarters of medical innovation and entrepreneurial phenomena. For 200 years, Houston has been the funnel to international commerce.

Houston Legends contains secrets of CEOs, trail blazers and community impresarios, from superstar Beyoncé to heart transplant pioneer Dr. Michael Debakey, from aviation pioneer and Hollywood movie mogul Howard Hughes to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, from business titan Jesse Jones to community visionary George Mitchell, from oil drilling inventions to NASA space explorers.

I chose representative industries and community service niches as snapshots of a wider photo album. Not every name and fact is in here, but this business focused look gives perspective to modern life. Recurring themes include pioneer spirit, business innovation, community give-back, growth and vision.

I am a business guru at the national and international levels. My other books are about business, save one on Hollywood (which is big business). This book is a nostalgic stroll down memory lane in Houston, with small doses of business advice thrown in. The purpose was to recall and remember our heritage of business, entrepreneurship and the will to achieve even more.

In researching for this book, I studied dozens of others. Most were picture books and dwelled in the old days from community settlement and emerging society perspectives. It was nice to read about the fight for Texas independence and see pictures of all the old homes that used to be located downtown. This book looks at specters of business, commerce, distribution, consumption and opportunity, which typify Houston’s dynamic growth. Hopefully, this history compliments those books full of old pictures.

I started visiting Houston in the early 1950’s. I had an aunt, uncle and cousins that lived here. Houston was so much bigger and more cosmopolitan than the little town that I lived in (Austin). Today, I see Houston as a collection of communities, economic engines and entrepreneurial opportunities. I work all over the world and finally got the opportunity to write a hometown book.

Houston represents many things to many people. This is where we live and work, where we are educated and entertained, where culture and community pride are stimulated and where we learn some lessons in living together with others.

Houston is a growth community. It has seen industries emerge and mature. It boasts generations of healthy families. It encompasses lifestyles, cultures and opportunity that no other world-class city can match.

Yet, when you look at Houston, it is a collection of neighborhoods, business districts and quality lifestyles. Houston embodies many growing communities, the confluence being an international hub for this nation. Creative partnerships account for Houston’s documented growth.

As the city lives the 21st Century, we celebrate the historical, utilize state-of-the art technology and reflect changing social needs will always be at the forefront of the future. With a sense of pride, reflection and optimism for the future, Houston’s business is dedicated to identifying, meeting and serving every need of our community.

Houston is a collection of neighborhoods, cultures and families. Communities which grow and prosper will analyze and serve the needs of present generations. While honoring the heritage, we carefully plan for the future. Whether in the global sense or on the blocks on which we live, layers of generations comprise our essence.

Every community is a collection of lifestyles, inspired through the structures in which they take place are centers of synergy. Houston leaders are contributing to the quality of life and encompass the needs and activities of Houstonians.

Everywhere that you look in Houston, you see the fingerprints of business. This includes downtown, the Medical Center, the universities and colleges, the Galleria, NASA, Greenway Plaza, entertainment and sports facilities, airports, churches, and schools. As business and industry were challenged to perform at their highest standards, the entire community has benefited exponentially. In the minds of innovators and those who have followed, we care, we achieve, and we look for ways to get better at what we do.

As a result, Houston has experienced several eras of planned, sustained growth. We’re more than a boom or a trend. When reading this history of Houston, you will find the legacy of business on almost every page. Orderly growth has been achieved by mastering technology, business standards and adapting to changing community dynamics. Entrepreneurs have embraced innovation, creativity, safety and commitment to quality.

The best indicator of progress made is to periodically re-examine our best work, celebrate the teamwork involved and then re-apply the winning ingredients toward the next phase of growth. Because our community has mastered the fine art of collaboration, we have many great successes to recognize and admire. Houston Legends are symbolic of the mission and actual practices of community leaders, bringing the best minds and resources into successful business partnerships.

Every facet of business plays a part in facilitating orderly community growth. As our communities prosper, so do our member firms. Collectively, we make artistic, technical, procedural and economic differences in the greater Houston area.

As the city progresses through the 21st Century, we celebrate the historical, utilize state-of-the-art technology and continually seek to improve the quality of life. Strategies which address and reflect changing social needs will always be at the forefront of the future.

About the Author

Hank MoorePower Stars to Light the Business Flame, by Hank Moore, encompasses a full-scope business perspective, invaluable for the corporate and small business markets. It is a compendium book, containing quotes and extrapolations into business culture, arranged in 76 business categories.

Hank’s latest book functions as a ‘PDR of business,’ a view of Big Picture strategies, methodologies and recommendations. This is a creative way of re-treading old knowledge to enable executives to master change rather than feel as they’re victims of it.

Power Stars to Light the Business Flame is now out in all three e-book formats: iTunes, Kindle, and Nook.

The Big Picture of Business – How and When to Collaborate, for Best Business Advantage.

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The biggest source of growth and increased opportunities in today’s business climate lie in the way that individuals and companies work together. This article is a follow-up to my last column, “Collaborations, Partnering and Joint-Venturing.”

Situations Which Call for Teams to Collaborate

  1. Business Characteristics. Most industries and core business segments cannot be effectively served by one specialty. It is imperative that multiple disciplines within the core business muster their resources.
  2. Circumstances. People get thrown together by necessity and sometimes by accident. They are not visualized as a team and often start at cross-purposes. Few participants are taught how to best utilize each other’s respective expertise. Through osmosis, a working relationship evolves.
  3. Economics. In today’s downsized business environment, outsourcing, privatization and consortiums are fulfilling the work. Larger percentages of contracts are awarded each year to those who exemplify and justify their team approaches. Those who solve business problems and predict future challenges will be retained. Numerically, collaboration contracts are more likely to be renewed.
  4. Demands of the Marketplace. Savvy business owners know that no one supplier can “do it all.” Accomplished managers want teams that give value-added, create new ideas and work effectively. Consortiums must continually improve, in order to justify investments.
  5. Desire to Create New Products and Services. There are only four ways to grow one’s business: (1) sell more products-services, (2) cross-sell existing customers, (3) create new products-services and (4) joint-venture to create new opportunities. #3 and 4 cannot be accomplished without teaming with others.
  6. Opportunities to Be Created. Once one makes the commitment to collaborate, circumstances will define the exact teaming structures. The best opportunities are created.
  7. Strong Commitment Toward Partnering. Those of us who have collaborated with other professionals and organizations know the value. Once one sees the profitability and creative injections, then one aggressively advocates the teaming processes. It is difficult to work in a vacuum thereafter. Creative partnerships don’t just happen…they are creatively pursued.

What Collaborations, Partnering and Joint-Venturing Are NOT:

  • Shrouds to get business, where subcontractors may later be found to do the work.
  • Where one partner presents the work of others as their own.
  • Where one party misrepresents his-her capabilities… in such a way as to overshadow the promised team approach.
  • Where one partner treats others more like subcontractors or vendors.
  • Where one participant keeps other collaborators away from the client’s view.
  • Ego fiefdoms, where one participant assumes a demeanor that harms the project.
  • Where cost considerations preclude all partners from being utilized.
  • Where one partner steals business from another.
  • Where non-partners are given advantageous position over ground-floor members who paid the dues.
  • Where one or more parties are knowingly used for their knowledge and then dismissed.

Who Wants to Collaborate:

  • Those who have not stopped learning and continue to acquire knowledge.
  • Those who are good and wanting to get progressively better.
  • Those who have captained other teams and, thus, know the value of being a good member of someone else’s team.
  • Those who do their best work in collaboration with others.
  • Those who appreciate creativity and new challenges.
  • Those who have been mentored and who mentor others.
  • Those who don’t want to rest upon their laurels.
  • Those who appreciate fresh ideas, especially from unexpected sources.

Who Does NOT Want to Collaborate:

  • Those who have never had to collaborate, partner or joint-venture before.
  • Those who don’t believe in the concept… and usually give nebulous reasons why.
  • Those who think they’re sufficiently trained and learned to conduct business.
  • Those who want only to be the center of attention.
  • Those who fear being compared to others of stature in their own right.
  • Those who think that the marketplace may not buy the team approach.
  • Those who are afraid that their process or expertise will not stand the test when compared with others.
  • Those who had one or two bad experiences with partnering in the past… usually because they were on the periphery or really weren’t equal partners in the first place.

7 Stages of Relationship Building… Customers, Business Partners

  1. Want to Get Business. Seeking rub-off effect, success by association. Sounds good to the marketplace. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Why not try!
  2. Want to Garner Ideas. Learn more about the customer. Each team member must commit to professional development…taking the program to a higher level. Making sales calls (mandated or voluntarily) does not constitute relationship building.
  3. First Attempts. Conduct programs that get results, praise, requests for more. To succeed, it needs to be more than an advertising and direct marketing campaign.
  4. Mistakes, Successes & Lessons. Competition, marketplace changes or urgent need led the initiative to begin. Customer retention and enhancement program requires a cohesive team approach and multiple talents.
  5. Continued Collaborations. Collaborators truly understand teamwork and had prior successful experiences at customer service. The sophisticated ones are skilled at building and utilizing colleagues and outside experts.
  6. Want and advocate teamwork. Team members want to learn from each other. All share risks equally. Early successes inspire deeper activity. Business relationship building is considered an ongoing process, not a “once in awhile” action or marketing gimmick.
  7. Commitment to the concept and each other. Each team member realizes something of value. Customers recommend and freely refer business to the institution. What benefits one partner benefits all.

Successes with Collaborations and Joint-Ventures…

  • Crisis or urgent need forced the client to hire a consortium.
  • Time deadlines and nature of the project required a cohesive team approach.
  • The work required multiple professional skills.
  • Consortium members were tops in their fields.
  • Consortium members truly understood teamwork and had prior successful experiences in joint-venturing.
  • Consortium members wanted to learn from each other.
  • Early successes spurred future collaborations.
  • Joint-venturing was considered an ongoing process, not a “once in awhile” action.
  • Each team member realized something of value.
  • The client recommended the consortium to others.

Truisms of Collaborations…

  • Whatever measure you give will be the measure that you get back.
  • There are no free lunches in life.
  • The joy is in the journey, not in the final destination.
  • The best destinations are not pre-determined in the beginning, but they evolve out of circumstances.
  • Circumstances can be strategized, for maximum effectiveness.
  • You gotta give to get.
  • Getting and having are not the same thing.
  • One cannot live entirely through work.
  • One doesn’t just work to live.
  • As an integrated process of life skills, career has its place.
  • A body of work doesn’t just happen. It’s the culmination of a thoughtful, dedicated process… carefully strategized from some point forward.
  • The objective is to begin that strategizing point sooner rather than later.

My Own Disappointments with Previous Collaborations…

  • Failure to understand – and thus utilize – each other’s talents.
  • One or more participants have had one or a few bad experiences and tend to over-generalize about the worth of consortiums.
  • One partner puts another down on the basis of academic credentials or some professional designation that sets themselves apart from other team members.
  • Participants exhibit the ‘Lone Ranger’ syndrome… preferring the comfort of trusting the one person they have counted upon.
  • Participants exhibit the “I can do that” syndrome… thinking that they do the same exact things that other consortium members do and, thus, see no value in working together, sharing projects and referring business.
  • Junior associates of consortium members want to hoard the billing dollars in-house, to look good to their superiors, enhance their billable quotas or fulfill other objectives that they are not sophisticated enough to identify.
  • Junior associates of consortium members refuse to recognize seniority and wisdom of other associates… utilizing the power of the budget to control creative thoughts and strategic thinking of subcontractors.

My Suggested Reasons to Give the Concept a Chance…

  • Think of the “ones that got away”… the business opportunities that a team could have created.
  • Think of contracts that were awarded to others who exhibited a team approach.
  • Learn from industries where consortiums are the rule, rather than the exception (space, energy, construction, high-tech, etc.).
  • The marketplace is continually changing.
  • Subcontractor, supplier, support talent and vendor information can be shared.
  • Consortiums are inevitable. If we don’t do it early, others will beat us to it.

About the Author

Hank MoorePower Stars to Light the Business Flame, by Hank Moore, encompasses a full-scope business perspective, invaluable for the corporate and small business markets. It is a compendium book, containing quotes and extrapolations into business culture, arranged in 76 business categories.

Hank’s latest book functions as a ‘PDR of business,’ a view of Big Picture strategies, methodologies and recommendations. This is a creative way of re-treading old knowledge to enable executives to master change rather than feel as they’re victims of it.

Power Stars to Light the Business Flame is now out in all three e-book formats: iTunes, Kindle, and Nook.