Team

Do you consider yourself to be part of a team?

From a distance a professional golfer may seem to be a one-person team. However when you look closely, you will see an army of support behind them. Golf, like any professional endeavor, is a TEAM effort. Without team, no one makes it in their professional development very far, if at all.

One of the most productive and rewarding experiences in your success will be your involvement with the team. Winning or losing individual battles serves to make a team better. In fact, losing can bring a team close together more quickly than winning because the team must evaluate the contributions, or lack thereof, of the individuals on the team to determine who is making a positive contribution and who is not.

What makes a team and who, in your life, is on your team? There are easy to identify team members and then there are those members of the team that may not be so obvious. The best way to look at what makes up a team is to consider that, the team at your work place is essentially everyone that works for your company and not limited to just your department, in addition to those key people in your life.

When one team member makes progress, the entire team advances and conversely, when a team member lags behind, the entire team is adversely effected. Everything you do and everything the other team members do, will ultimately make for a stronger team or a weaker team. Even though you may not see the results of your involvement, be assured that you are making a contribution to your team. When you are given a task, consider the impact that doing the task very well will have on your team.

There will be times when a team member needs you support and you should freely offer it. However, you cannot help people unless they want to improve. Otherwise you will find yourself doing your job and theirs!

Life is teamwork and you are only as good as those around you.

Dog Catches Car, Now What?

We have all seen the passionate dog chasing the car, but we have never seen the passionate dog catch the car. Suppose, the dog did catch the car, now what? The dog would be at a loss as to what to do with the enormous prize, because the dog only wants to chase the car, not catch the car. In fact when the car stops, the dog loses interest.

Some people are like the car chasing dog. They are highly energized with the chase and have very little idea what to do if they actually catch the prize they are chasing. Since the challenges associated with success are far greater than the challenges associate with failure, you need to be ready to EXECUTE once you get a green light to proceeded.  

Sales people or anyone for that matter, that love the chase for the sake of the chase, have no idea what to do if they catch the prey.  They chase every car, large or small, old or new in good shape or even cars that are falling apart. They do not qualify prey as to potential, so catching is not the objective, chasing after everything is what they live for. People who are highly energized by the chase often lose emotional interest once the chase ends, independent of the results. They don't really care if they catch anything or not. 

Be ready to execute once the prey says yes, don't get so wrapped up in the chase that you are at a loss as to what to do when a positive commitment is made. Chasing cars does not earn you glory, catching cars and keeping them caught is where the money is.

Reliabiltiy

The word reliable is one of the most utilized words when describing the merits of products, services and other offerings. Reliability matters, so advertising agencies use it over and over again to extoll the value of the focus of their campaigns.

How reliable are you? Clients expect that you are going to do what you say, and they should. There are not many businesses that are built and sustained on one-time purchases. Most businesses need repeat customers and they need those repeat customers to tell other people about how great their business is. Your business is no different in this respect than your client's businesses are. When clients learn that they can count on you, that you are reliable, they will have a great level of trust in you and what you offer. There exists in every prospect some level of distrust. You can use this to your advantage if the prospect knows that you will be reliable. There is a level of reluctance that is a part of considering the purchase of anything. Before the purchase we all ask; "What do I do and where do I turn it if I am not satisfied?"

Many companies have built their business on mitigating the risks associated with doing business with them by making clear how reliable they are in the event the purchaser is dissatisfied. When you make it clear, by your actions, that you are reliable, you take a giant step in building confidence so that buying from you is something that is worth seriously considering, because you have established that you are going to be there to help your client in the event that something does not meet expectations. One of the critical steps in establishing your reliability is to openly manage expectations during the selling process. Promise only what you are certain you can deliver.

When you say you are going to do something, do it and do it on time. Become someone that can be relied upon before you enter into a business relationship. You will enjoy and benefit greatly from building relationships where you and your clients can be relied upon. Reliability is a two-way street.