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No matter what your line of work, one thing to always keep in mind is that you get paid consistent with you ability to solve problems. The more problems that you solve and the bigger that the problems that you solve are, the more that you will get paid.

Think about that the next time that your boss or your customer brings you a problem to solve. If you’re like most people, your inclination is probably to put up some resistance when confronted by a problem of some sort. Even if no one is accusing you directly of necessarily having caused the problem, our human nature is to become defensive and protective about our serenity. Our lives were going just fine before this situation reared it’s ugly head. But challenges are where the opportunities are. If it wasn’t for problems, most people wouldn’t have a job, because after all, that’s really what you’re paid for, to solve problems. And if you show a propensity for tackling problems that nobody else can tackle or wants to tackle, somebody’s going to notice you eventually.

Doctors solve health problems. Lawyers solve legal problems. Mechanics solve auto problems. Business people solve business problems. Average salespeople solve average business problems and get average pay. Good salespeople solve big business problems and make above average pay and great salespeople solve the biggest business problems and get paid handsomely and promoted often.

If your customers and prospects didn’t have any problems, they wouldn’t need your help. That’s what you’re there for. If they didn’t need you, they could just buy directly from the internet without any human interaction whatsoever and you wouldn’t have a job.

So the next time your boss or your client calls you with a problem situation, don’t let it bring you down. Just keep in mind that you’re working on building your skills as a big problem solver. And as you get better at solving business problems, the more money you will earn. The key word being “earn”.

Life is alot like golf in many ways.  First of all, the average golfer has a hard time making par.  That’s because we haven’t invested the time and the effort required in order to play the game at our highest level.  The typical golfer is a week-end hobbyist with very little professional training and a non-existent practice routine.  You can same the same about how most of us approach our careers.  We would much rather go home and watch television or surf the internet every day than invest any time in improving ourselves. 

Another observance that I have about golf is that in order to play well, you have to be loose, rather than tight.  By staying loose and not getting too tense, something happens during the swing that allows you to access some inner part of you that just “feels” right.  For one thing, a slower swing makes it easier to keep your eye on the ball as you strike it, a requisite for ensuring solid and accurate contact.  And for another thing, being loose while hitting the ball makes for a really nice feeling.  You golfers know what I’m talking about.  It’s when you’re the most loose that you hit those balls that keep you coming back.  That’s the way golf is supposed to be played and that’s also the way that life is supposed to be played.  Why would you want to go through life stressed out and tensed?  By staying loose and having fun, both life and golf are much more enjoyable. 

And another thing.  A round of golf takes a while to get through.  Eighteen holes takes approximately four hours, and then there’s the time spent eating and drinking after the game at the nineteenth hole.  I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to spend that much time with someone, then it better be people that I enjoy being around.  AFter all, at the end of the round, much like at the end of your life, what score your shot, or how much money you made isn’t really what it’s all about, is it?  It’s about trying your hardest to be your best, taking your time, enjoying your self and being surrounded by people that you love, enjoy and have fun being around.  
        

Good sales questions can help you better serve your prospects.  By understanding your prospects situation, you can better meet his needs, and the best way to understand his situation is by asking good, probing questions.  This is where a great salesperson separates himself from his competitors. 

If you just allow your prospects to control the selling process, and if they are talking to two or three of your competitors, the prospect is going to get the same information from everyone.   The only way that you can wrest control away from your prospect is by asking questions.  Whom ever is asking the questions is in control of the process. 

Plan your questions ahead of time.  Don’t wait til you are in front of the customer to come up with your questions.  With a little bit of pre-call research, you can anticipate your customers situation enough to have planned some good probing questions ahead of time. 

Your questions should be designed to get your customer to open up.  Most prospects won’t willing provide you with enough information to help you sell them.  That’s your job.  Most customers won’t come right out and tell you how good or how bad their company is doing.  How competitive they are in the market. Where their weak points are.  Some customers may not even know the answers to some of these questions and others won’t understand why the answers should have any affect on your services.  It is your job to make the customer understand and the most effective way to do that is by asking well thought-out, intelligent questions. 

 At the time of this writing, Tibet is under a great siege from the Chinese government.  Chinese military troops have been clashing with Lhasan protesters since March 10.  The clashes have turned deadly and the protests have spread to other provinces.  The Tibetan people are fighting to retain their culture.  Since the 1959 Chinese take over of Tibet, the Tibetan culture is disappearing.  It’s comparable to the way that the American Indians were conquered and subsequently vanquished to reservations in the late 19th century and the early 20th century.  Since then, of course the American Indian traditions and cultures have either changed dramatically or disappeared all together.  I hope we Americans can look back and see what a real tragedy that was for our entire country.  Once lost, like toothpaste in a tube, it can never be reclaimed. 

You may be wondering why I am even bothering writing about the Tibetan situation.  It’s on the other side of the world and it certainly doesn’t have anything to do with sales.  And on top of that, not only does it not concern you, but even if it did, you probably are thinking that there isn’t much that you can do.  Well, let me address all of these questions.

First of all, I am a passionate person.  Without passion, you cannot succeed at anything.  Whatever you decide to devote your time to, if you don’t do it with some passion, you will not be successful. One of my favorite sayings is “…if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”  

Second, you might not think that an event that is happening half-way around the world doesn’t impact you, but it does.  As John Doan put so beautifully:

…No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were. Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee…

And finally, what can you do about it?  All I ask if that you offer up a prayer to the Tibetan people.  A prayer of peace.  A prayer of hope and a prayer of charity.  Pray that the Chinese government find it in their hearts to prove their might to the world by their observance of love.  Pray that the world unites in their intention to create love and peace for the Tibetan people, the Chinese people and the world at large.

God Bless you all this Easter week-end. 

Nobody succeeds at anything their first attempt.  Or at least nothing significant and worthwhile, anyway.  Everybody fails at something, sometime.  And typically, many failures come at the beginning of a new venture.  But the biggest difference between success and failure is persistence and tenacity.  Just don’t give up!  There’s a old saying that goes something like this: “Defeat is only temporary.  It only become failure if you quit.” 

Sales is one of the hardest careers that you can have.  Especially when you first get started.  It’s so easy to think that you know everything and that everyone likes you.  There are also many misconceptions about sales, like salesman are born and not made or that you need to have a natural gift of gab in order to succeed in sales.  Neither of these two statements are even close to the truth.  Yes, some people do seem to be born with more likeability than others, but being liked can be learned.  And talking isn’t necessarily the best trait to have for a successful sales career.  In fact, sometimes it can work against you.  Listening is the greatest attribute that a master salesperson can possess and anyone can learn to listen.

My point is that before you will ever be successful in sales, you will more than likely be a failure first.  Early on in your new sales career, you will encounter many temporary defeats.  Nobody likes to lose.  What you do after you lose a few times is what determines your character and your character is what determines who you are.  If you fold up your tent and give up at the first sign of defeat, you will never learn from your mistakes. 

Fear is our greatest enemy regardless of the situation.  Fear is the invisible voice inside your head that wants to save you from future pain.  The problem is that in life, some pain is inevitable.  No one gets through life unscathed.  But if you listen to that voice in your head, it always blows the future pain our of proportion, because the pain is never as bad as your fears anticipate it will be.  But the thing to keep in mind about fear and pain is that the best lessons in our lives always come from our fiercest battles.  Remember, anything that doesn’t kill you only make you stronger.  So go ahead and make that sales call that you’ve been putting off and fearing.  After all, it’s not going to kill you.     

Written any cards or letters lately?  If you’re like most people, then probably not.  I mean, what’s the point you ask?  E-mails and faxes and telephone calls are much faster and much easier, right?  Well, that is precisely the point.  The fact that sitting down and actually taking the time to write a letter to your customer or to a prospect or just to a friend for that matter is sort of a hassle makes it have the impact that it has. 

I mean, think about it.  When was the last time you received a hand written letter from someone?  How did it make you feel?  The thought process when you get a letter from someone forces you to think about the person that sent it and that fact, in and of itself makes it worth the effort of the sender.

The art of letter writing is a lost art.  It’s an art worth reviving.  Try it.  It only takes a few minutes.  Pick someone special that you like and send them a hand written letter.  Share your thoughts with them.  It’s an intimate way of connecting with some one in a way that they will find pleasantly surprising.  Once you get into the habit, it could become addictive.  If you’re lucky, you might even get a letter back.  But don’t count on it.

Not all customers are created equal.  When it comes to profits and customers relationships, some customers are much more valuable to you than others are and vice versa, you are more valuable to some customers that you are to others.  In order to break out of the commodity price trap, you have to be able to create more value for your customer.  But you cannot create value unless you have access to your customer and you won’t get access to your customer unless you have a strong relationship. 

The more access you have to your customer, the more information about your customer that you have access to.  The more information that you have access to, the better able you will be at crafting a value creating proposal.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that some customers are easier to bond with than others.  Your ability to pinpoint which customers are willing to develop a relationship with you and which ones are not is your key to higher profitability.

You’ve heard of the 80/20 rule before.  The 80/20 rule applies to many situations.  For instance, on average, the top twenty percent of the salespeople in this country make about eighty percent of the sales.  Another example is that twenty percent of your customers account for eighty percent of your profits.  Using the 80/20 rule as a guide can help you decide which accounts to focus your resources of time, energy and effort.

Company culture is your window into your customers thought processes, their purchasing processes and also their relationship processes.  Company culture, for those unfamiliar with the term, is the overall psychological profile that a company has manifested through its employees by virtue of the management profile of the company leadership.  In other words, whatever characteristics the leadership of the company emphasizes to its employees will be the same profile exhibited by those employees to its vendors.  If top leadership emphasizes and rewards an open and accessible leadership style, then those traits tend to be inherited by the employees that work under them.  If the top leadership emphasizes closed thinking and protective politics, then the company culture will generally follow suit.  Sometimes by design, but mostly by accident, a company passes down their culture to their employees, simply by rewarding specific behaviors or sometimes by failure to reward other behaviors.

It can sometimes be easy to spot a company culture that isn’t very open to forging relationships.  The typical signs are low employee morale, lots of office politics and a self-centered psychology focused on individual goals rather than on corporate goals.  This type