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I was at a conference recently and the speaker said, “A little integrity goes a long way.” Really? What is a little integrity? How much is enough?

Meanwhile back at the conference everyone was buzzing and nodding their heads. This indicated that they too felt that “a little integrity goes a long way”.

Websters Dictonary defines integrity as follows

    INTEGRITY
1: firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility
2: an unimpaired condition ... << MORE >>

Far too often many sales people are so focused on getting the deal or communicating their message that they don't hear the comment that sold the deal. Then they talk ourselves out of it.

Typically what has happened is even though they put on their consultative selling skills and asked questions and "listened", they allowed their thinking to get high jacked. They heard something and while the buyer was talking they allowed their thinking to chase down a thread of thought. Perhaps they heard the buyer start talking about the challenges she is ... << MORE >>

I am talking to a consultant who was hired to help an organization convert their Customer Relation Management system (CRM). Everything went well. About 90 days after the conversion they called him back and asked him to work with one of their employees who was just having a hard time with the system.

They said, “Steve is a valuable employee. He has been with us for more than twenty years. We really want him to get on board”.

The consultant sat with Steve for two weeks. When ... {ကĀՐ&Ր&<< MORE >>

I mean do you care about your customer. I know many of you are all nodding your head vigorously. (I know I am). The question then is…do you show it? If so how?

Four months ago I started seeing a new Chiropractor. I like his work but what struck me last week was that I have not heard from my previous Dr. I was a twice a month client/patient. So now he is out four months of revenue and he has no idea why? He may not even know I am gone.
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Team Spirit

I am reading from Pyramid of Success by Coach John Wooden and Jay Carty. They build a pyramid with building blocks of character and behavior. One of the building blocks is Team Spirit. Coach Wooden knows a little about Teams. He helped the UCAL Basketball team when 10 championships in a twelve year period. The UCLA Bruins in his tenure had 885 wins to 203 losses.

Coach points out that anyone of his starters could have stood out as a super star or ... << MORE >>

I was reading my most recent issue of Bloomberg Business Week, last week. And I read an article on the protests against the Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The photo had a protester with a banner that read,  "A Strong Society Needs No Leader. " This stood out for me because I have been reading and speaking lately on the value of culture in our organizations. Specifically how if we spend the time to develop a strong culture, it can almost run itself.

I say almost because I have watched ... << MORE >>

I was reading an Article recently by Rev. Chris Michaels. In it he says, “Sometimes the greatest temptation in life is to settle for less than we really want.” How often does this happen in the business world? We’ve all heard things like:

-    “You know it is better to go along and get along.”
-    “Not everyone wants the same things you want.”
-    “You have higher standards than everybody else.”

Does that mean we settle? I remember several years ago at a company ... << MORE >>

As I drive between appointments I often get a chance to listen to radio. Personally I like the programming on NPR. Recently I was listening to Terry Gross on the Fresh Air program interview the actors in the FX Series Justified.

A comment by one actor Timothy Olyphant really caught my ear. He was answering the question about how does he interact with others in the scene, how does he direct himself. His comment was,

“…it’s all about the other. If when they call cut, I am aware of what I did that’s not good (too much in my head). If I remember clearly what they did, I know I did well.”

How does that apply to the sales process; or the management or leadership process? I think very well.

As a sales professional, I walk into every meeting with an agenda. I want to determine if the buyer can use my services and if so I want them to determine that I am the right kind of guy to do business with. So I have a list of questions, and responses lined up. I plan every call. And then like they say of battle once the first shot is fired all the plans are outdated.

What I observe is that when I pull myself back from the need to make a sale (and I do need to I have a quota after all) and when I focus on the buyer, what is their situation, what are they concerned about when I focus on them, I normally walk away with a desire on both parties part to learn more and to see if we can build a business relationship.

It is a little like the advice we got about remembering people we meet. Look into their eyes and remember their eye color. If you can remember their eye color, you made good eye contact. I believe like Olyphant believes; that if I can remember clearly what the buyer was talking about and thinking, I have made a good sales call.

We are more successful when we listen, when we deliver attention and when the focus is on them vs. us. We can all identify our colleagues who are smart and credible and who know their stuff. And yet we wouldn’t buy from them because it’s all about them.

Can you remember the details of your last meeting? What are you remembering what you did and said or what your audience did and said?
 

I continue to be pleasantly in awe of the perennial teachings that some say go back to Hermes.

Hermes	“As above so below.”
James Allen	“Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but ...

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I am reading the book, the Social Animal by David Brooks. His character Erica is a lower middle class girl, who is raised by a single mom in essence who appeared to suffer from manic depression. When she is ready for eighth grade she reaches a decision; she wants to change the trajectory of her life.

“She somehow ...

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