It’s December and Almost Time to Say, “Happy New Year”

“Start your new year today. And remember, anyone can make a resolution. Very few people keep one.” — Harvey Mackay

Often tomorrow arrives all too soon. But for me the upcoming New Year can’t come quick enough.

I want to stop thinking about 2008. I want to forget about the weak economy, the elimination of jobs, wondering if gas prices will shoot up again, the two foreign wars America is fighting and the year-long bickering between the two major political parties. Most of all, I want to forget that I forgot to keep my 2008 New Year’s Resolutions: one was to lose weight a second was to be better off financially at the end of 2008 than I was at the beginning of the year. I kept neither.

Most people make New Year’s Resolutions. Few of us keep them. We start the New Year with resolutions and end the year with mostly regrets. Then, we make more resolutions for the up-coming year. Resolutions are good because they make us confront reality. But resolutions without resoluteness are like nouns without verbs. The American College Dictionary defines “resolute” as, “firmly resolved or determined as in action.” Values that will affect success in the new year include: commitment, flexibility, creativity, attitude, steadfastness, and a sense of humor.

In discussing the history of New Year’s Resolutions, Gary Ryan Blair (www.GoalGuy.com) says that the tradition of the New Year's Resolutions goes all the way back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar. With two faces, Janus could look back at the old year and forward to the new.

Looking back I want to forget 2008. My accomplishments and failures belong to the year that will soon be history. Looking forward to the New Year, I see change. While no one can predict the future, we know that 2009 will not be like 2008.

While many people will fail to keep their New Year resolutions, I am determined to do the few most important resolutions that I make and thereby change the results I have been getting. I will heed Yoda’s advice to Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back, “Luke, there is no try; there is either do or not do.” I choose do! I commit to fulfilling my New Years Resolutions.

Here are a few resolutions that you may want to consider for the New Year

• I will recognize how important my role is to the success of my company. To help my company achieve its goals, I will achieve my goals.

• I will focus my attention on the two or three most important priorities that will affect my success. I will take actions each day to bring me closer to achieving what really matters to me.

• I will recognize obstacles and look for alternative pathways to my goals. I will keep in mind the comic strip character, Pogo’s famous quote, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” On our journey to success the biggest obstacle we often encounter is ourselves. Lao-Tzu stated it well, “He who knows much about others may be learned, but he who understands himself is more intelligent. He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.”

• I will improve my listening and communications skills. By keeping my eyes and ears open I will learn from others.

• I will improve and expand my education. Knowing that education is the single best investment and individual or organization can make. I will search out material and people that introduce me to new ideas, new ways of thinking, and new ways of doing things. I will look at learning as a continuous process. I will learn all day, every day.

• I will set reasonable but challenging goals that stretch me beyond my current abilities.

• I will have a short term goals and long term goals. Because I know that I am constantly doing two jobs: selling profitable today and putting myself in position to be successful tomorrow.

• I will watch and imitate others who are successful and respected. Studying the strengths and weaknesses of successful people allows me to incorporate the best practice of those who are successful.

• At the end of each work day I will ask my self, “What did I learn today that will make me more effective tomorrow? Then, I will apply the principle immediately.

• I will take ownership of my job and the results I get.

• I will put myself in the position of my customers, clients or residents and address their needs and interests, not my own.

• I will make my planned sales calls every day knowing that only one sales call is important to each customer.

• I will create competitive advantages and gain my customer’s loyalty.

• I will make the most of every day by being canceling out negative thoughts when they arise and replace them with positive affirmations.

• I will remember that, “On the day of victory no one is tired.”

• I will form a support chain with two or three of my co-workers. I will choose people I respect and not just people who I feel comfortable with. We will share experiences and helpful tips with one another to encourage and motivate us.

• I will “fake-it-till-I make-it.” I know old habits are hard to break and I won’t change overnight, but I will keep on acting as though I have achieved success. I believe the words of The Good Book: “For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” (Proverbs 23:7)

• I will control my stress. I know that stress comes not from any event but for my response to it. Therefore, I will respond to any event in a positive way and look for the good in everyone.

• I will do more than is required of me and I will do it with enthusiasm.

• I will be resilient. There is no pathway to success without obstacles. The ultimate test is whether I overcome them.

• I will develop my success plan and having developed it, I will execute it

• I will have pride in myself and my organization.

• Each day I will do my best and, having done that, I will sleep soundly.

• I will celebrate victories, both small and large. Success isn’t just about hard work and achieving goals—it’s also about having fun at the same time.

HOG QUOTE: “Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly in the distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.” —Thomas Carlyle

HOG THOUGHT: To become a better salesperson, you first have to want to be one, believe you can be one, and commit to being one. You have to work on it all day, everyday. Becoming a professional in any field is not a sometime job. It is an all time job fueled by passion and commitment to achieving your own personal best.

HOG ACTION: Determine your New Year’s Resolutions, have faith that you will accomplish them, and then work with passion to achieve them.

A True Salesperson is a Persuader

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary is one of several valuable reference books I have on my desk. Another useful book is, Rodale’s Synonym Finder. In the last blog I wrote about “Indifference” using my dictionary to define it. This entry is written with the help of my synonym finder.

Webster defines “synonym” as: one of two or more words or expressions that have the same or nearly the same meaning in some or all senses. For example synonyms for “Idle” include: loaf, lounge, laze, doze, and procrastinate. In casual communications any of these synonyms may work to convey your thought because they all have nearly the same meaning.

When you want to convey something important a “nearly the same meaning” won’t do. You need a specific word with a specific and focused meaning. Accurate communications is not about the game of horse shoes where close to the stake counts. Accuracy requires exactness and preciseness.

Take the word “Salesperson”. Synonyms include: clerk, drummer, coach, advisor, counselor, partner, and associate. While all of these words can be used to describe someone engaged in selling, they fail to capture the true meaning of a salesperson: “one employed to sell goods or services.” A salesperson’s job is to persuade a prospect to exchange their money for a product or service offered by the salesperson that provides mutual satisfaction to both parties. (See entry dated April 11, 2008, Symbiotic Selling). Professional salespeople have to sell just as a singer has to sing, an artist has to paint and an author has to write.

A true salesperson—man or woman—is a persuader, not an order taker or a casual visitor in the presence of their prospect or customer. A salesperson moves their prospect or customer to a course of action that is profitable for the prospect or customer. Are you prepared to persuade?
Before you attempt to persuade someone to buy from you, you should prepare yourself by answering these questions. When you can answer all six questions with a “Yes”, you know you are prepared to sell.
1. Do you really know your customer—who they are, their interests, likes and dislikes?
2. Do you know the guidelines they use to determine whom they buy from? Is price the real issue? What about quality, service after the sale, delivery policy, or credit terms?
3. Do you know why they buy from you or a competitor? What is their buzz button?
4. Do you know what problems they need to find answers for? People really don’t buy products; they buy the benefits of those products.
5. Do you know if he or she is really the decision-maker in regards to the products or services you are selling? You waste valuable time trying to persuade someone without authority to buy. Often different people within the same organization have authority to purchase different products and or services.
6. Do they know you really care about them as a person and not just a meal ticket? Someone has written that “people want to know you care before they care to do business with you.”

In Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize winning 1949 play, Death of a Salesman, the hero, Willy Loman is described by his neighbor and friend, Charley as, “He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine…A salesman is got to dream, boy.”

Yes, a salesperson has to dream but the dream is always about providing solutions to customer’s problems and giving exceptional service. Do this and you can identify with the tribute paid to Willy by his wife. “Willy Loman never made a lot of money, his name was never in the paper, but attention must be paid to such a person.”

Be a professional persuader and you will receive attention and, unlike Willy, you may also make a lot of money. I can’t guarantee your name in the paper.

HOG THOUGHT: There are no synonyms for Hog. A Hog is a professional persuader who does whatever, wherever, whenever, however, to satisfy his or her customer. Competitors, be they coaches, counselors, clerks, drummers, advisors, or associates are only antonyms.

We Are Living in a “Desert of Indifference"

The Merriam Webster’s dictionary I have on my desk proclaims itself to be, The Voice of Authority. Right there on it’s red, white and blue cover are those printed words. Therefore, I am confident this dictionary is the last word in defining words. When I looked up the word, "indifferent", I discovered that as an adjective it means an “action marked by a lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern for something or someone; apathetic. “

At some time most of us have experienced the indifference or lack of concern and insensitivity on another’s part. The waitress, who finally gets around to taking your order and eventually brings the meal to your table but never refills your coffee cup. Meanwhile, she is in the corner talking and joking with the other waitresses and waiters. The airline ticket agent who at last announces your plane will be 45 minutes late but offers no reason. The fast food order taker who asks, “What do you want?” and then announces the total is $4.67. You give him a five dollar bill and he slaps the change in your hand and without even looking at you says, “Next”?

Try this experiment and you will see how pervasive indifference is today. The next time you pass a coworker in the hall instead of saying, “Good morning” or “How are you” say, “I’m not doing well.” Don’t be surprised that he or she will answer with, “Good morning” or “Fine” or “Yes, it is a good day.”

There is an abundance of evidence that we are living in a “desert of indifference.” All around are apathetic, uncaring, inattentive and otiose people—some of them professing to be salespeople who need our business but are indifferent to solving our problems.

A key to being a successful salesperson is to be a fertile, green oasis of caring in the vast desert of indifference. Showing genuine concern, interest and enthusiasm for your customer is like offering them a cool drink of water in this arid desert of indifference.

HOG THOUGHT: Be an oasis of caring. Show your customers and prospects that you appreciate them, the time they give you and that you truly want to solve their problems. Make a difference by eliminating indifference.