Discovering Your Sales Strengths

I've been thinking how I can increase sales.... I need more people. How do I get more? Should I be trying to improve on the things I don't enjoy doing (cold-calling, Chicken-Suits in the street, impractical feats of superhuman strength)... or I should just keep doing what I'm doing and wait for slow growth.

Just yesterday I found the book Discovering Your Sales Strengths in my sister's garage. (Most of my possessions live there for now. Still working on getting my own place... thinking about a van down by the river, but I digress.) The book is based on the same Gallup research as StrengthsFinders 2.0. Millions of dollars were spent on this information. Some of the biggest corporations in the world financed a simple mission: what do the best of the best salespeople have in common?

The book is not about technique. It's about finding the innate talents (that you probably undervalue or dismiss altogether) and harnessing them for good... or at least good sales numbers.

I took the online assessment again. I had taken it the spring. I suppose I was gathering my own data about these Gallup characters. They claim that our dominant strengths are established in our teens. 2 of my strengths were the same: Activator and Connectedness.

Here they are defined by our friends at Gallup:

Activator “When can we start?” This is a recurring question in your life. You are impatient for action. You may concede that analysis has its uses or that debate and discussion can occasionally yield some valuable insights, but deep down you know that only action is real. Only action can make things happen. Only action leads to performance. Once a decision is made, you cannot not act. Others may worry that “there are still some things we don’t know,” but this doesn’t seem to slow you. If the decision has been made to go across town, you know that the fastest way to get there is to go stoplight to stoplight. You are not going to sit around waiting until all the lights have turned green. Besides, in your view, action and thinking are not opposites. In fact, guided by your Activator theme, you believe that action is the best device for learning. You make a decision, you take action, you look at the result, and you learn. This learning informs your next action and your next. How can you grow if you have nothing to react to? Well, you believe you can’t. You must put yourself out there. You must take the next step. It is the only way to keep your thinking fresh and informed. The bottom line is this: You know you will be judged not by what you say, not by what you think, but by what you get done. This does not frighten you. It pleases you.

Connectedness Things happen for a reason. You are sure of it. You are sure of it because in your soul you know that we are all connected. Yes, we are individuals, responsible for our own judgments and in possession of our own free will, but nonetheless we are part of something larger. Some may call it the collective unconscious. Others may label it spirit or life force. But whatever your word of choice, you gain confidence from knowing that we are not isolated from one another or from the earth and the life on it. This feeling of Connectedness implies certain responsibilities. If we are all part of a larger picture, then we must not harm others because we will be harming ourselves. We must not exploit because we will be exploiting ourselves. Your awareness of these responsibilities creates your value system. You are considerate, caring, and accepting. Certain of the unity of humankind, you are a bridge builder for people of different cultures. Sensitive to the invisible hand, you can give others comfort that there is a purpose beyond our humdrum lives. The exact articles of your faith will depend on your upbringing and your culture, but your faith is strong. It sustains you and your close friends in the face of life’s mysteries.

Web Videos

SHOT TODAY! WooHoo. Big thanks to Brian W (brian@indyvideoguys.com) for his energy and expertise.

Those videos should be posted very soon.... Like endoftheweek soon.

Annette who?

Ok. So last Saturday I wrote about this couple Annette and Keith who happened to pop into the Precedent while I was training Mozart. Anyhoo, Annette was interested in training with me and mentioned that she had been passing my website out to other people in her company who were also interested. THAT IS HUGE!

A few emails later, I get a message from Dawn. She's interested. I call her. She wants to meet in half an hour. Boom. I go. She's there. We chat. She's going to start tomorrow.

The Answer to How? is Yes

Yesterday was a rough day. 5 appointments scheduled. 2 actually made it. Another canceled for today. Rent is due tomorrow. Jonny needs paid! I'm still waiting for a month when I pay all of my bills on time... I'll throw a party as soon as that happens.

It was a pretty, sunny day too. That's never good for me. (New readers, I have an artificial lens/iris which creates a very light-sensitive Jonny.)

I also started off my day by overdrawing my checking account. Classic. :)

Ah well, today is a new day. It's supposed to be cloudy all day which is great for my energy level. On another positive note, I picked up a book by Peter Block (one of Charles' muses) called The Answer to How is Yes. I only just started it, but the gist of it is this: our culture is hung up on pragmatism and most folks need shift their thinking back to that of a child.... idealism, intimacy, and values.

Here's a great quote:

My premise is that this culture, and we as members of it, have yielded to easily
to what is doable and practical and popular. In the process we have sacrificed
the pursuit of what is in our hearts. We find ourselves giving in to our doubts
and settling for what we know how to do, or can soon learn how to do, instead of
pursuing what most matters to us and living with the adventure and anxiety that
his requires. (The Answer to How? is Yes, by Peter Block)

I do feel like I'm on the path to the life of "what most matters". Anxiety is pretty thick right now. So is Adventure. I was knocked of the corporate ladder by sound rap on the eyeball. That was grace. A time for pause. Reflection. A time to determine "what most matters". The values that keep coming back to my heart are availability and awareness. I think sustainability and resilience will come from the fruits of those two values... not any particular marketing plan or sales approach or body building regime. Not that those things are evil or even wrong. They just are not "what most matters". "What most matters" transcends goals and sales and everything else... including me. Life is about service and service means followership and sacrifice.

Fitness

Ok friends. Summer is lasting longer than expected. It's mid October and still hitting 80 in the afternoon. Bright sun. I spent most of last week with a moderate to heavy grade headache. I tried exercising and it exacerbated my general malaise.

My family life is still super rocky.

In short, a couple things will have to happen before I can get serious about body building again: some sort of break through with personal crap (a divorce if you're wondering) and some cloudy days.

In the meantime, I can reengage Chapter 1 of Build the Fat Feed the muscle: Goal Setting. I've found that meaningful deliberation on the goals I want to achieve (and the reasons behind them) has a dramatic affect on my ability to stick with it.... I wish building a business had the same cut and dried rules as body building.

Respectfully
JC

Saturday morning at the Precedent

I was just in the gym yesterday morning working out a client. I like Saturday mornings. The gym is almost always empty. I enjoy having run of the place.

Well, a couple came in during my session with Erin (Mozart). We were a bit chagrinned.... both of us are light-sensitive so we had left the overhead lights switched off. Anyhoo, it really wasn't a big deal so we just continued the workout. Mo had her best workout yet. Good thing too, the time had come for her to buy another package of 12 sessions. It's always best for clients to have a positive experience in their heads before it's time to pay again. So Mo and I were chatting about what we're going to add to her program in the next month as we're both walking out the door.

Turns out the couple who had walked in before... who, admittedly, was a very minor source of irritation, had been observing Mo and I and drawing conlusions about the nature of the workout and the nature of our professional relationship. Apparently we made a good impression. The new fella stopped me on the way out and wanted to know me about what I do. Turns out at least one of them is interested in exercise instruction too. I explained the difference between recreation and exercise and both were very receptive. I'm fairly confident that a new unit of business was created.

I know this is a fairly uneventful post... but its important for me to remember that serving my existing clients is the best way to make new ones.

Kiss Z Cook

One of my clients, Erin(Mozart), introduced me to her boss, Tracy. Tracy owns a staffing business which Mo controls. She also opened a new cooking store called Kiss Z Cook in February of last year. Tracy and I got together last Wednesday and talked about how Kiss Z Cook and Tri-Corps Exercise Instruction could create a strategic alliance. Looks like we'll probably have some sort of event at her space at the end of October. I'll keep you updated as that develops.

Tracy was also interested in exercise instruction for herself. Great! Still need to fill up my client list.

She was also interested in the UnNetworking group that Charles and I started. Great! We need innovative, growth-oriented business owners to be a part of the group.

I'm very grateful for the introduction. Thanks Mozart!