We have a local seminar coming up. It's in Longview and it's an eight hour "Customer Service Excellence" seminar on May 31st from 8AM to 4:30. Please check our web site for the location in Longview. Longview is 120 miles south of Seattle and 50 miles north of Portland.

We hope you will join us for this learning investment.

 

We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box. ~Author unknown
 

 Watch "The Road" Buddy!

Matteson Avenue has much to offer and it changes and grows all the time. Here are some of the places to visit and find out what's new:

Start reading the 100 Best Non-Fiction Books!

Sort out that "Rats Nest" of an office by starting here.

Super articles in "Gratis".

Some wonderful sites on the Links page.

 

Road Improvements

"Self-Reliance?"

When my oldest son Colin was in 7th grade, I was coaching his AAU Basketball team, “The Swarm”. We had cool uniforms, bags and warm ups in the Gold and Black Georgia Tech colors with a big wasp ready to sting. All that stuff cost money. We also had two expensive tournaments out of state to pay for.

We began fundraising like crazy. The two most profitable forms of raising capital with kids were car washes and door to door sales of Christmas items. Let me explain. Stadium Flowers has a large presence in our community. It was the day after Thanksgiving and the demand for Christmas Wreaths, Door Swags and Poinsettias were high for that last week in November and first week in December.

I scoped out a high end neighborhood with half-million dollar homes and up.

It was a rainy Saturday. I had the kids dress up in their basketball uniforms, wrote a sales script with brochures and gave them a mini-sales seminar. I ended it with “Just read the script aloud guys, show them the pictures and you’ll do fine” and off they went.

There is an old adage in sales that says 80% of all sales in any organization come from 20% of the sales force. Well that was true in this little fable. My two top sales guys were Colin and Reed (known affectionately as “Reedo Burrito” on our team!) He had a smile that could charm a bird out of a tree.

Reedo succeeded because he had confidence, charm and enthusiasm. Colin succeeded just because he read the script word for word, smiled and asked “Check or cash?” every time.

Near the end of the day Reedo was setting that rainy Saturday on fire. When he walked up to me with a frown I was naturally curious. “What’s wrong Reedo?” He explained his dilemma, “I walked up to this mansion with white pillars and a long driveway. The guy was real friendly but then he asked me asked me a question.” “WHY are you doing this kid?” I said, “For Uniforms.” Then he said, “NO, kid, WHY are you doing this?” I said, “For uniforms!” even louder. I thought he was deaf, coach. He asked me one more time, “NO kid, WHY are you doing this?” I yelled, “For uniforms!!!” He slammed the door coach! What do I do?”

Holding back the laughter, I bit my tongue until it bled and replied, “Reedo, I think I know what he wants. I want you go back, knock on the door, when he asks you that question again, and he will, I want you to say, “My coach says we are learning Self-Reliance.’ ” Off that 12-year old basketball player went with that million dollar smile and some sales education.

He came back five minutes later with a giant ear-to-ear smile. “What happened?” I asked. “I did what you said and sure enough he asked the same question.” “What did YOU say?” I said, “My coach told me we are learning ‘Self-RELUCTANCE!’ He said, “Close enough kid!” and bought two of everything!”

To succeed in sales, all new sales people need:

1. A simple script to use, rehearse, memorize and then abandon

2. A large measure of enthusiasm for their product or service

3. Some basic Sales Education, especially qualifying and knowing how many calls a day to make to which market

4. Ongoing support, coaching and re-training.

Whether you are seasoned sales professional or a 12-year old basketball player, this is the minimum price of admission. Is it time again for sales education in your organization?

Self-Reliance or Self-Reluctance. You decide!


 

One for the road

This months must read "One for the Road" book is "The One Minute Millionaire" by Mark Victor Hansen & Robert Allen. Simple wealth building techniques and a great story. Two books in one. These guys have lived it, done it. This book is a must. I had one paradigm shift after another.

 

The Boulevard

This months featured web site is from that "Lovecat" Tim Sanders. Tim is an accomplished author and speaker. His latest book is "The Likeability Factor" . Go to his site and watch him talk about his book and then take his "Likeability Assessment". This is good stuff! His site is www.timsanders.com.

 

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