Ducks Quack - Eagles Soar.

A friend of mine sent me this message today. I cannot vouch for the authenticity. I do know that Harvey Mackay is a very successful businessman, motivational speaker and author from Minneapolis. He is very active with my alma mater the University of Minnesota. The message is a great one though. Thought I would pass it on.

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain." Have a great day.

Until next time - all the best!

RolandB

Photo credit

_____________________________________________________

No one can make you serve customers well.....that's because great service is a choice.

Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.

He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey. He handed my friend a laminated card and said:"I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement." Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said: Wally's Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean! As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, "Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf." My friend said jokingly, "No, I'd prefer a soft drink." Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice. Almost stuttering, Harvey said, "I'll take a Diet Coke." Handing him his drink, Wally said, "If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today."

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card,"These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio." And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

"Tell me, Wally," my amazed friend asked the driver, "have you always served customers like this?" Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. "No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, "Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd". "That hit me right between the eyes," said Wally. "Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more."

"I take it that has paid off for you," Harvey said. "It sure has," Wally replied. "My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action." Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. How about us? Smile, and the whole world smiles with you... The ball is in our hands! A man reaps what he sows. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up... let us do good to all people. Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar.

Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans. SORROW looks back, WORRY looks around, and FAITH looks UP. "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain." And while in the storm, give it to God and let Him handle it.

Selling with a System

This article was originally posted on the Indianapolis chapter of the AMA's website on 3/15/10. Click here to access the article.

One of the advantages of joining the Indianapolis chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA) is an invitation to free members only meetings. I attended one recently titled “Selling With a System.” The presenter was Aaron Prickel from Lushin & Associates, a sales training and consulting firm.

As the economy has slowed the rules of the game have changed. Everyone at your company is a salesman and we are all required to climb higher on the tree to get to the “low hanging fruit.”

As Aaron put it, our parents have taught us since we were children it is not polite to talk to strangers and also don’t about money. A successful salesperson needs to talk to strangers confidently and also needs to talk about money early in a conversation in a positive way. Without conscious effort we will fall back into old habits.

The sales process is relatively simple; ask, present, quote, close. The successful salesperson needs to understand the type of person they are talking to, what the buyer is consciously or unconsciously trying to do and finally creating a win/win agreement that both parties will feel comfortable about the day after the sale.

People buy from people who are like them. You need to understand your customer and communicate with them in the way they are communicating with you. Aaron breaks most individuals into three categories:

1. Dominant – this type of individual knows what they want and is results driven. A successful salesperson will ask a few questions then ask for the sale.


2. Influencer – a happy go lucky person, talks a lot about themselves and what is going on in their life. A successful salesperson will ask questions about the person, listen, then after a period of time ask for permission to move on


3. Steady Relater – a cautious thinker, detail and process orientated. A successful salesperson will need to be very patient and move the individual forward slowly in small increments.

Understand the 4 step traditional buyer’s process. Buyers will

1. Lie – they don’t want to lose control. How many times have you entered a store to buy something but told the attendant you were “just looking?”


2. Steal – information and time. The salesperson usually knows more than the prospect. When the prospect asks questions the salesperson will think the prospect is interested and will usually answer question after question requesting nothing in return.


3. Lie again – this time in a positive way. How often have you told a salesperson that you think the product they are trying to sell you is great but you need to go home and think about it?


4. Hide – Many prospects want to say “no” but don’t want to hurt the salespersons feelings. They will give the salesperson unlimited access to their voicemail and will never call him or her back. The result is that the salesperson will keep the prospect on their active list and invest an increasing amount of time trying to contact and sell them. This is time that should be spent cultivating other prospects.

Successful salespersons will implement a personalized form of the following system

1. Ask – pain is the #1 compelling reason why people make changes. You build credibility by the questions you ask rather than the statements you make. Get your prospect to share their pain. Then tailor your presentation to helping them remove the pain.


2. Present – but first set expectations up front with the prospect. Outline a mutually beneficial agreement of what is going to happen.
   i. Don’t be afraid to talk about money up front to qualify the prospect. A fair question is how much money do you have? How much are you willing & able to spend on this project?
   ii. Start talking about the decision you will be asking them to make before you give them all of the information. (Remember they want to steal time and information)
   iii. Don’t tell them everything you know. Your expertise is worth something. If your product/service is a commodity all you can compete on is price.


3. Quote – Price is never the real issue. Don’t be embarrassed about giving them a fair price. Don’t feel that you need to come down in order to get the business.


4. Close – Ask for the business. Remember your prospects have a need for approval. Make it easy for them to say “no.” This is counter intuitive since you want the business. If they are going to say “no” you want/need to hear it sooner rather than later. According to Aaron one of the biggest problems in the sales world is delayed closings, those customers that will tell you tomorrow that becomes tomorrow etc.

Talk to your prospects the way they are talking to you.

1. They are visual thinkers if they describe a picture, look up with their eyes (more on eye movement a bit later), and speak quickly. You may want to respond by saying “ I see what you mean.”


2. They are auditory thinkers if they describe sounds, look straight and have a slower rate of speech. You may want to respond by saying “I hear what you are saying.”


3. They are kinesthetic thinkers if they describe feelings such as “I can’t put my arms around it” and look down with their eyes. You may want to respond, “Tell me how it make you feel.”

Looking at the eyes can also tell you a bit more. If a person looks to their left after you ask them a question they are most likely thinking logically and if they look to the right they are thinking creatively. Ask someone (preferably a friend) about where they were last night. If they look to the left they are trying to place where they were. If they look to the right they may be trying to create an answer (i.e. they are lying)

A commercial for Lushin & Associates. They help energize or reenergize individuals or groups of salespersons to get more sales in less hours. If you or your company is in need give Aaron a call. I’m sure he would like to help you.

A commercial for the AMA. This outstanding seminar lasted about 90 minutes and had about 40 attendees. Lots of great information was presented that helped me do my job better immediately and lots of great folks were there to network with. What a benefit!!

Until next time – all the best!

RolandB

Photo credit - I was looking for an "agreement" photo. Thought this was a great one.

The Time to Invest is NOW!

This article was originally published at Inside Indiana Business and can be accessed at http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/contributors.asp?id=1643

I was at the monthly meeting of the Venture Club of Indiana recently. The organizers had invited respected entrepreneurs, angel invertors and venture capitalists from around the country to comment on the Top Trends Impacting Midwest & Indiana Business in the Upcoming Year. The panelists accepted questions from the audience and seemed very open and passionate in their responses.

One topic that came up repeatedly was that a recession is a great time for buying companies. The reason is that there are lots of good ideas to pick from and valuations of many companies are relatively low when compared to a booming economy. To prove a point one of the members of the panel asked the audience how many individuals in the audience were looking for money? About 75 hands went up from the group of about 400 individuals. When asked how many people were ready to invest today only about 10 volunteers raised their hands.

I think it is human nature that when times are bad many of us hide in our “box” where it is safe until we are convinced it is safe to come out. However if you look at history a lot of winners did just the opposite and invested in times of turmoil. I read an article recently that stated 16 of the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average were started during a recession or down economy. These include Procter & Gamble, Disney, Alcoa, McDonald's, General Electric and Johnson & Johnson. Some other companies that made their start when many were pulling back are Hyatt Corporation, Burger King, IHOP, FedEx, LexisNexis, CNN, and Microsoft. Why did these companies succeed? The founders knew their customers, understood their needs, understood the changing environment they were operating in, and created new products and services to meet the needs. They identified a solution and were not afraid to move forward.

In a recession the reservoir of business is drained to critical levels exposing the rocks on the bottom. Companies set in their ways with aging policies/mindsets are like ships that were able to succeed in good times but are now too bulky and crash into the rocks. This creates opportunities for nimble, flexible companies (visualize a speedboat) to take advantage of the situation and change.

In the climate today here are a few investments to consider to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.

1. Market your existing products aggressively. As others decrease marketing and promotional spending keeping your level of spending the same or even increasing it will help you build share of voice in the marketplace. This increased share will give you an incredible advantage over your competition now and once the economy begins to grow again.


2. Innovate your product line. Has your market changed? Can you come up with a better mousetrap that will allow you to meet your customer’s needs at a lower price point.


3. Improve your production process. Can you produce more for less allowing you to lower your price and buy market share?


4. Fill a new market vacuum. How are your competitors responding to the recession? Are they pulling back creating a vacuum that you can fill?


5. Talk to your existing customers? Are they happy? What are their needs? Identify things your company can do to increase sales to them. A satisfied customer is much easier to sell than a new one.

Entrepreneurs willing to take risks with their time and/or financial resources understand that this is a time to invest rather than pull back. It is what makes them entrepreneurs. This is what separates them from all others.

In summary don’t be afraid to invest now. When the economy improves and your competition climbs out of their box you will be several steps ahead.

Until next time - all the best!

RolandB

Photo credit