Your best resource

Regular readers know that i am constantly reading books on business and advertising. I also take training classes when ever I can. You may be surprised to learn that the best lessons I've learned don't come from these sources, they come from interacting with other people in the business world. I just spent two days meeting with the AFCP's Leadership Institute training team. We took time out for an informal round table about selling free paper advertising. I learned more in this hour than I could in a dozen books. Take the time to talk with your co-workers and other business people. open up about your problems and share your ideas. This sharing of ideas will benefit everyone involved. Often we are so busy that we don't take the time to have a good conversation, we rush here and rush there just exchanging a few quick, and meaningless, pleasantries. Taking the time to have substantive conversations with intelligent people is not a waste of your time. It is an invaluable educational tool

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks

Jim Busch

Set behavorial goals for yourself

Luck always plays a part in our sales success. Sometimes customers will cooperate with us and sometimes they don't. As sales people there are always things that lie outside of our control. This is why we must control the things that do lie within our power. One of the best ways to do this is to step behavioral goals for ourselves. We can not say for certain "I will sell $10,000 per week." because this requires the cooperation of our customers. We can say "I will make 15 calls per day"--this is totally within our control. We can decide to refuse to accept the 1st or 2nd "NO" from a customer. The curious thing is that when we take charge of the things within our circle of control that circle expands. Setting rules for ourselves forces us to do the things which will make us successful. If we concentrate on our own behavior, the world will be much more responsive to us.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Weekly Quote

"Ask yourself 'What is the truth of this situation' Get to the heart of the matter; see the reality."
Spencer Johnson (from Peaks and Valleys)

It is amazing how easy we can delude ourselves. Delusion is like morphine, it can mask the pain of a bad situation but does nothing to effect a cure. We need to face up to the reality of our situation to change it. If we say "I'm doing everything I can to meet my quota" when we are only making a few calls per day or we are not planning our presentations, we are deluding ourselves. Only by saying "To be honest, I can work harder and smarter" can we change the situation. Improvement in any aspect of life, begins with an accurate assessment of the current situation.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Weekly Quote

In honor of the July 4th holiday, this week's quote comes from one of our founding fathers. Benjamin Franklin was one of America's first self-made men. Starting with nothing, he build a business and became one of the wealthiest men in the colonies. His "Autobiography" was one of the first self help books and was an influence on many successful men. This book has never been out of print since Franklin printed the 1st edition and remains an interesting read even today. Here is the secret to Franklin's success:

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest"

This advice is as useful today as it was in old Ben's day. Have a great holiday.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Feed your creativity

Creativity is the stock and trade of advertising salespeople. Creativity is simply taking several different concepts and putting them together in a new arrangement. The more pieces you have access to, the larger number of creative combinations you can make. For this reason I advise sales people to read widely and collect ideas from as many sources as possible. The U. S. Marine Corps has a required reading list for every grade of enlisted man and another for officers. This list includes novels and essays as well as military texts. They understand that a well rounded person will have a better understanding of his fellow men and will be more creative. This is just as true for sales people as for our Leathernecks.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch