Public & Private

Outside sales people and indeed any one who deals face-to-face with client's and prospects on a regular basis are, in the view of the customers, the face of the business: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

While many people think that their private lives and their professional lives are distinct and separate, that is simply not the "real-world". You see, you are a person and people naturally relate to other people and most people find it very difficult to view any one individual through multiple lenses. Your customers and prospects and fellow employees look at you and see what you are on and off the job and what they see is one person that behaves either consistently or inconsistently. You cannot be two people to clients and prospects independent of the separation that you feel should rightly exist. That simply does not fit the reasonable evaluation process that we all employ to determine who we can and cannot trust and who we really want to do business with. The degree of separation that you have between your professional and private existence may indeed vary from person to person, but there is still a considerable amount of character evaluation occurring in-spite of the ability of any individual to attempt to to see you as two different people. You are one person all the time and what you broadcast, either in actions or words, will build a basis for just how other people view and judge you.

Use extreme caution and sound judgement when you demonstrate your character with your actions and when you tell others by your words, what you really represent. Professionalism does not have any boundaries and never sleeps.

The explosion of social networks has created a means of communicating that can be used for your benefit or for your detriment. Whatever you post, is fair game and will either help you or hurt you. There is simply no neutral place on these networks. Everything is being judged.

Your private life should be protected and enjoyed but remember that you are always, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week representing your profession and your company. Do so with pride and considerable discretion when necessary.

Sometimes Chicken - Sometimes Feathers

Sometimes Chicken and sometimes feathers.

After work we often reflect on the accomplishments of the day. Each day offers the opportunity to accomplish something and move forward. However there are many times in our career that, at the end of the day, we look back at exactly what we accomplished and we cannot clearly identify anything we did to help move the process forward.

You cannot do everything in a day, but you can do something everyday. Extraordinary and defining accomplishments rarely happen in a short timeframe. Building anything worthwhile takes time and a steady process toward a goal. The steps you take toward your destination are more often small and sometimes they are backward. We have all heard the saying, "three steps forward and one step back." Business does not often follow a linear path. Business takes twists and turns and sometimes it seems that the road to success is not very clear at all.

The "must-do" exercise must be to, DO SOMETHING EVERY DAY, however small and insignificant the activity may seem. There will be days when you get Chicken and other days when you get only Feathers. The key is to make the best of what you have and enjoy the big and small accpmplishments.

No One Owns The Hill Forever

No one owns the hill forever. Business is in a constant state of change. They who find themselves on top of their market, must accept that others want to be on top as well and are willing to fight hard to get there. That may seem to be an over simplification, but looking at things from a simple viewpoint, is beneficial. If you are on top, you must fight as hard to stay on top as you did to get to the top.

There are circumstance that are beyond your control that may have an negative impact on your ability to get to or stay on top. That is going to happen and how you respond to the change is going to determine if you get to or stay on the top. But since you already know that nobody owns the hill forever, you must understand that what you are doing is either getting you closer to the top or moving you away. The journey to the top of the hill is going to prepare you for staying on top and owning the hill, for a limited time. There are companies that are so powerful that they own the hill for a long time, but they should know that their competitors are continually adapting and aggressively attacking their position. All to often companies start to ignore their competitors because they have such a commanding position. That is often a critical error in judgement because "no one owns the hill forever."

Choices

We are all a result of the choices we make. Each and every day we have the opportunity to make choices and the life we live is going to be determined, in large part, by the result of those choices. You chose to be in a sales job, which means that you chose to be a revenue producer. Therefore you must choose to do the behavioral impact-activities that will open the door to additional choices.

Those choices you will decide upon will include, but are not limited to:

1. Will you make the right number of calls?

2. Will you call on decision makers?

3. Will you take the time to learn what the client needs, what their problems are and how you can help?

4. Will always be trustworthy?

5. Will you communicate clearly and make sure the message is understood?

6. Will you endeavor to always learn?

7. Will you commit to doing something productive today that you can build upon?

8. Will you focus on the merits of your offering and not devote valuable client time derailing your competition?

The Pyramid

Every organization has a pyramid that represents the people and their respective titles and areas of responsibility. Most organizational pyramids, look like, well, pyramids and that is by design and by default.

Wherever you are in the pyramid take a look and see that the structure is wholly dependent on the other parts of the structure and unless you are already at the top, you have opportunities to take the next step up. Therefore if you are going to grow, you must realize that you will fill a slot above you and hopefully there is someone below you in the pyramid that will fill your slot, because they too are on an upward path. The pyramid is one of the strongest structures known and that is why companies organize the different responsibilities in the shape of one. This graphic view makes it easy to see the correlation and dependance each position has to the other positions. If there are weak people in any positions you can see how their status affects the entire organization. Conversely when you have strong performance in the individual "blocks" you can see just how much stronger the entire structure can be. Make sure you are one of the strong "blocks" in the pyramid and that you are on a path to the top!

Bounce Back

Great successful sales people, like new tennis balls, always bounce back. The harder you fall the higher you bounce back! If you want a tennis ball to go faster, hit it harder!

The only thing that will keep you from successfully recovering from a fall is not getting back up. Bouncing back and bouncing back robustly is a terrific and exhilarating experience. When you aggressively attack your objectives you are going to occasionally, and perhaps frequently, fall. Go into the fight knowing that you are going to experience some temporary failures. They are a part of the growth process and should be viewed as opportunities to learn and grow.

When you do experience the inevitable falling-down episodes, take a few moments to calculate just how far and fast you are going to bounce back. Be strategic in your calculated move upward so you can take every advantage of the experience. Make the fall count. Falling down is going to happen, as it does to ever successful person, and everyone around you is watching to see how you are going to respond. You have only two choices; stay down or bounce back!

What do I get for my Money?

What do clients get for their money? This is a great question that you should objectively ask yourself and really consider the ramifications of the complete answer.

Clients do not buy just products or services when they make a buying decision. Client's buy the entire package especially the working results of every employee. Simply put; the money that client's invest in your offerings serve as the primary revenue stream that makes your company viable on the financial statements. Therefore it is critically important that everyone understand that the client's are in reality paying their salary and incentives. The money you get in your paycheck is indirectly the money client's paid to the accounting office!

Therefore a good employee, preforming well (at or above expectations) is a benefit to every employee in the organization and by doing so they are making the client's money worth the investment. Conversely a bad employee, performing badly (below expectations) is costing not only the client but also costing the good employees. There is no escaping this fact. Clients pay for good performance as well as bad performance.

Make sure you are a productive member and that your efforts are making the client's money go as far as it possibly can within your organization.