Wednesday, February 28, 2007

How To Put The Spring Thaw in Cold Calling

Very often I hear from new business and franchise owners that the idea of "Cold Calling" is intimidating. The idea of picking up the 50 pound weighted phone and calling someone, a business, out of the blue and trying to sell them is a major challenge. So much so that they ignore this opportunity to generate business for fear of failure. In the book of lists, speaking in front of people is ahead of death. I think Cold Calling probably deserves a place next to public speaking.

There are many great sales gurus out there who speak on the subject and they all say the same thing, "throw away the scripts". I agree that scripts can be 'a' problem but not necessarily 'the' problem. What scripts tend to do is create a persona and therefore do not allow you to be your natural self. This is then, in my mind, the solution; be yourself. If you start with a script then it should be in bullet form and only to provide you a cue to the concept that you want to convey. This idea is similar to the use of PowerPoint slides to trigger your discussion on the bullet shown on the screen in your public presentation.

I learned many years ago when I was trying to over come my fear of speaking in front of a group of people that if you know your topic and speak from your heart with passion then the people you are speaking to will connect with you and your topic. The same is true when you call someone on the phone.

In addition, don't call them to sell them something. This is telemarketing at it's worst and we in North America now have built up a barrier to these types of calls. Your call objective is not to sell but rather to get an appointment. This one mind set change might be enough to start reducing your fear of cold calling.

Secondly, stop calling it "Cold Calling". How about calling it "Prospecting". You are just like the gold miners who keep hammering steel stakes into their claim until they find the vein, the mother lode. You are only exploring, prospecting, for the next opportunity.

So the next time you are frozen with fear, bring in spring with a new way of thinking and let the thaw begin.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Have You Put The Dog Out?

When you're building a pipeline of leads in your business they will all begin to become leads who are at different stages of the decision making process. You will have leads that say "no", leads that say "maybe" and leads that say "yes".

The yes leads are money leads. In other words, they are ready to give you a cheque. Your no leads just need time before they need your offering or, you eventually show them the benefit of your product or service. Provided of course, they are properly qualified by you before you made contact with that lead. The maybe leads are the "dog" leads. The leads which are stalled in your pipeline and they are not moving forward at all. There are many schools of thought on how to handle these leads so I suspect I will get some reaction to this but, understand that your maybe leads will become all consuming of your time and will not make you any money in most cases.

If you pursue a maybe lead continually over a long period of time, more than 6 months, then you may be barking up the wrong tree with this dog. You need to express to your lead that you care, but not that much. If you are that hungry for his business then he will not respect you nor trust you to give his business to your company. Busy people want to do business with busy people.

My recommendation is that once a week you 'clean house' of these maybe leads and put the 'dog out'.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Don't Fall Into Dumb Buyer Syndrome "DBS"

Dumb Buyer Syndrome or "DBS", as I coined with my employees, is a problem I have encountered many times in my many years as a business owner selling to other business owners. You can recognize them easily, they believe they are the expert negotiator who feels success is only achieved when the price is reduced. Any savvy business owner worth his or her salt knows that selecting the right vendor is less expensive and more important than selecting a vendor solely on the price.

If you were to conduct a Total Cost Analysis (the cost of using the product and/or service over it's projected life span or length of your ownership) you will find in most cases the cheapest buy will probably be the most expensive. For example;

Car A is priced at $12,000 and Car B is priced at $18,000. Car A depreciates quicker and in 4 years it's resale value is $6,000 and Car B in 4 years is valued at $12,000. The expenses required to maintain Car A over the 4 years is $2,000 and Car B is $600. Therefore after 4 years Car A cost you $14,000 less trade in at $6,000 = $8,000 and Car B after 4 years cost you $5,400 after trade in at $12,000.

What this simple example demonstrates is that Car B is the better valued car. It is cheaper over the life of ownership and you will probably enjoy a better quality and safer ride than Car A.

So when a potential customer wants to negotiate on price and not negotiate on value, in other words compare apples to apples, I call these buyers my DBS clients. In other words, I mark the price up higher than what I sell to other customers to let them feel powerful when they skillfully get my price down to what is usually higher than my smarter customers.

Don't be a Dumb Buyer!

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Are you a "Mind Freak"?

Chris Angel (Mind Freak on A&E) was voted the best Magician for 2006 by his peers. He is without a doubt a Master Magician and Illusionist. His acts of levitation and walking on water or my favorite, walking down the side of a building untethered in broad daylight in public view, is Mastery. Chris Angel is a Master and as a Master Street Magician he is in an envious position, he can now charge the highest fee and probably get it from A&E. When you are self employed you need to join your industry association, be a working member of your local Chamber of Commerce and/or any group that recognizes the "Best of the Best".

Beyond the obvious benefits of networking for business opportunities and getting your business known, if you contribute and use the association logo's on your business marketing collateral and creative then this starts to position you amongst your competition as different. Your differentiation will grow into being a specialist and perhaps in time after peer awards of recognition, as a Master.

Get involved and be your industry "Mind Freak".

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Breaking Habits

"It takes 21 days to create a new habit." Perhaps what Stephen Covey is talking about can also be stated as "it takes 21 days to break an old habit". I coached Triple A and Double A Baseball for 11 years and when I was working on a new batting swing with a player they always started at a level of frustration which caused them to always go back to what they were comfortable with; their old swing. The lesson learned here was to create a new habit (a new skill) requires a determination to continue practicing the new skill until it becomes second nature. Even when faced with a batting average that may go from bad to worse until you have mastered the new skill. To be great will require a passion to succeed that is greater than the disappointments.

In the context of Sales, you will need to practice your techniques, one technique at a time, for at least 21 days or until it becomes second nature. Don't try and relearn too many skills at once or your frustration may be too great to continue. Instead, take one area of your business or techniques that is of the most importance to change and concentrate on learning that new skill. Once mastered, then move on to learning another skill. How do you eat an elephant? That's right, one bite at a time. You will become a Master of all but only if you take it one skill at a time.

Friday, February 23, 2007

I Hear Your Body Loud and Clear

Sitting across from the dinner table on this blind date I sensed the heat within my body start to rise and tried desperately to conceal my attraction to this beautiful sexy woman. This woman who appeared to be matching my moves. As I moved toward her she moved in to meet me across the table and placed her soft delicate hand atop of mine. She twirled her hair in her fingers in a provocative manner that lured my eyes to hers like bait on a hook. I needed to test the waters. I needed to see if she truly is interested in me and then I ask; "Your eyes are intoxicating, would you mind if I looked at them a little closer?" As I move in on her affirmative response I see her lips open and we kiss.

Okay, now that I have your attention, the scenario above has been experienced by many couples. What transpired was a significant amount of non-verbal communication. Both were reading and responding to the others body language. Imagine being able to be as receptive to your prospects body clues and cues. If you can master these skills, your sales will increase.

My recommendation is to search out a seminar on this topic and learn as much as you can on the internet. You can Google "Body Language" and you will be surprised by how much information is available. For example; learn what you can on the "Four Personality Temperaments". This will be a good start to learning how to communicate both verbally and non-verbally with each of the four types which are:

•Aggressive – Worker
•Expressive – Talker
•Passive – Watcher/Listener
•Analytical - Thinker

However, what I will do is leave you with some common non-verbal (body language) buying signals:

•Relax…sigh
•Lean toward you
•Become Friendlier
•Nod their head
•Pick up the Proposal
•Stroke their chin

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Another Salesman, Send Him Away!

Too often I hear from sales people that they "...don't know why the prospect won't listen to them talk about the features of their products and/or services or, they are always too busy to listen to me talk about my company and our products". The problem with their approach is that they are too focused on "What's In It For Themselves (making the sale)" and not addressing what the prospect is thinking which is "What's In It For Me."

The best approach I have found is to not start talking about you but rather to start talking about them. Provide them valuable information, perhaps a white paper addressing an industry issue. Ask Powerful Questions that are designed to dig and probe to uncover the problems in their business today. What are their top 5 priorities that they lose sleep over every night. Once uncovered, go away and come back in a subsequent meeting describing the benefits of your products in the context of how their problems will go away when they work with you and your company.

I received a "Compliment" and a "Gift" with "No Sales Pitch" that caught my attention:

I remember when I was on the other side of the desk and I was the buyer and how this one salesperson got my attention and as a result I listened. As is each new business owner, we are very busy juggling many tasks and this one day I had a cold call face to face with someone who started with;

"...I know you are busy so I just want to leave with you this great cartoon I found and I will call you next week on Monday to schedule some time with you to learn more about your company and how you have grown your business so fast."

Now here's the intriguing part of the story, the cartoon was of a King standing atop a hill looking down on his men in heated battle against the opposing forces who were pushing back his line of defense. There was a soldier saying to the King, "Sire, there is a Salesman here who wants to talk to you." And the King responded with "Can't you see I'm busy! Send him away!" In the background of the picture was a medieval salesman held back by the Kings Guard with lances crossed in front of the salesman with his demonstration product, a new invention...."The Gatling Gun".

I kept that cartoon on my wall for many years as a reminder that the salesman I don't meet might be the salesman who could have changed the tide of my business.

Needless to say, when that salesman called me Monday I made the appointment. :)

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

You Matter!

The following words are pulled from a book I read many years ago (Why Not Me? by Paul & Dan Monaghan, which is no longer in print) "Why Not Me" was written to the teenager but is relevant to all. I wanted to repeat their words from their 4th principle (Create a Wonderful Self-esteem - You Really Matter) because I believe that for anyone to take the step into self employment they must first have "Self Worth":

"Some people misunderstand what self-esteem is. It is not Narcissism which says in essence: "Hey, ain't I enthralling." It isn't Bragging: "Look at how great I am." Self-esteem is the opposite of Arrogance: "I'm better than you." And is miles apart from Self-centerdness: "The whole world revolves around me."

Dr. Robert Schuller said,

"Self Worth is being poised instead of tense. It's being confident instead of confused. It's being enthusiastic instead of bored. Self-worth is feeling successful. More than anything, it is being self-forgiving instead of self-condemning; self-respecting instead of being self-disgusting."

YOU MATTER!!!

Remember this: what you believe in your heart about yourself is what you are. You can change your belief. You need to believe in yourself."

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Compliments Open Doors

"An expression of esteem, respect, affection, or admiration;..." Compliment, as defined by Merriam-Webster's online dictionary.

Compliment for Success is not to suggest insincerity is okay. In fact, an insincere compliment can do more harm than good. What I'm writing about is Sincere Compliments which will drop guards, open doors and build relationships.

But what if you can't find anything you like about the person? Find something.

Find something that you sincerely respect or admire. For example; (if you refer to the success stats I provided in my previous post) you could compliment them on surviving in business in their second year. "Congratulations Mr. Customer on surviving your first year of business (or second or third, etc) when 39% of start ups are out of business after their first year."

This is a big deal! Every year that goes past is a major achievement for a business owner and believe me, we are proud of our achievement and would like a pat on the back for it now and then. If you are the person giving this compliment, your prospect will respond accordingly and in most cases give you the time to introduce your company.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Franchises Continue to Succeed


Success/Failure?
Statistical Comparison of Franchises to Start Up's. I thought this might be useful information to anyone considering a Franchise Business:

Franchise Facts & Statistics:

Nearly 86% of all franchises opened in 60 industries during the past 5 years are still under the same ownership.

750,000 franchised businesses in the U.S. generate over a $1 trillion each year.

In 2000, the median gross annual income, before taxes, of franchisees was in the $75,000 to $124,000 range, with over 30% of franchisees earning over $150,000 per year.

A 1999 study by the United States Chamber of Commerce found that 86% of franchises opened within the last five years were still under the same ownership and 97% of them were still open for business.

A US department of commerce study conducted from 1971 to 1997 showed that during that time less than 5% of franchise businesses were closed each year.

Compare that to a US Small Business Administration study conducted from 1978 to 1998, which found that 62% of non franchised businesses closed within the first 6 years of their existence due to failure, bankruptcy, etc.

U.S. Department of Commerce Seven Year study of Franchise vs. Independent Start-Up Success Rate:

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, franchise businesses are exponentially more likely to succeed than individual new start-ups, particularly if you look at the figures over a five or seven year period. According to Department of Commerce figures, after seven years 91% of new franchises are still in business, as compared to only 20% of individual new start-up businesses.

Seek Understanding

"Seek first to understand before being understood"

This is the 5th principle of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey (see the link at the bottom under "My Favorite Books").

Have you ever been in a situation when you are butting heads with someone and they just don't listen or understand your point? If so, then the challenge I leave with you is to follow Covey's 5th principle.

People are more likely to listen to your point after you have listen to their point. This builds trust and respect. For example; let them express their point and then respond with..."So, if I understand you correctly, what you are saying is...(then repeat what they said)." If they agree that you do understand their point then you can confirm if your point is the same or continue the dialog until you truly understand their point.

Once you have an agreement then you may continue with your point. For example; "...I understand what you are saying and what I'm saying is not too different (then express your point)."

Listening, truly listening to their point, might even get you to agree to their point and help you move on to other issues. Listening is a skill that requires practice but when mastered can earn you more sales and loyal customers.

Practice on your spouse, children, family or friends. Next time your teenage child wants to borrow the car or, do something you may not agree to, don't reply with a quick "no!" Instead, ask them questions. "Why do you need the car?" Listen to their reason. "And, if you don't have the car what are your alternatives?" Keep asking questions until you completely understand. Now you can express why you have a concern over lending them the car. They may argue still over why your reason is not sound. When they do, LISTEN. Then continue to listen until you understand and you may then agree to let them have the car or they may agree to your reason not to lend them the car.

Because you respected their reasons and heard them out they are more likely to respect your reasons and agree to not take the car. Remember to listen with an open mind and not with the intent to respond with a "no".

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Blogs: The New Frontier

As an Entrepreneurial business owner you must always be open to new ideas to create additional revenue centers and/or develop prospects and new customers. I started in Construction back in the early 1990's but got into an IT Contract Placement Business through a contact I had in my sphere of influence a few years earlier. My contact had many IT Professionals in his resume database and I had the contacts in the large Banks and Corporations. As time went on I met another contact and we used his internet development know how and my contacts in the industry and we developed an online Professional Trades Networking business. I later walked away from that business realizing that we were too far ahead of our time. I also leveraged my employees and equipment where ever and when ever I thought I could make an extra buck. My lesson learned was to always keep my eyes open to the next opportunity. Today, that next opportunity is Blogs.

Blogs are the new frontier. As was the development of the American West with Adventurist Frontiersman searching out new growth opportunities across the United States they were followed by the settlers when word got back east of lush fertile lands and valleys and glens with fresh spring fed waters. Or, the gold strikes of San Francisco that were staked out by the leaders and the cities were built by the settlers pursuing their dreams of unimaginable wealth. "Go West Young Man!" These were the cries of the Eastern Business men who used the west as an opportunity to sell their wares.

The Blog, in my humble estimation, is at the Settler stage. A great book/study conducted by Bill Ives and Amanda Watlington, both PH.D.'s, states this best, (the book is Business Blogs: A Practical Guide, and can be purchased through the link found by clicking on this post title) with a reference to a 2004 Pew Internet and American Life Project found, "...approximately 11% of internet users are blog readers and that 5% have actually built a blog or posted a comment to a blog. The medium was exploding...Pew estimated that blog readership shot up 58%. 27% of the 120 million internet users read blogs, up from 17% a few months earlier, for a global total of 32 million." It is clear to see that the medium (Blogs) was exploding in 2004 and in 2007 the exponential growth might be hitting a flash point just as the Chrysler Mini Van did to sales for a struggling Chrysler Corpoartion. With the millions of people sourcing information from blogs and Search Engines moving Blogs up the page rankings quicker than websites due to the frequency of change on the Blog we are now entering a period of World Wide Web settlement. Note: If you plan to start a Blog you will need to work hard to make daily changes to your blog perhaps as high as 5 times a day.

Now here is the opportunity; online advertising. The higher you get on the Search Engines which is driven by the more people who read and see value in what you have to say will get you higher paying advertisers on your Blog. To the entrepreneur who is working from home and is probably on his or her computer everyday building and maintaining a blog can be part of your prospecting schedule providing valuable information to your clients or target industry. And, if you can make some money at it as well, well that can't be so wrong. :)

Thanks to the Blog Frontiersmen and hello to the New Blogger who will build the Blog Cities to come!

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Community Volunteer Makes Good on Promise to Family

When you first start your own business there never seems to be enough time. I certainly was no exception to this entrepreneurial mantra. What the truth really is; once time is gone it can never be reclaimed. One of the reasons I got into business for myself was not only for a more affluent lifestyle but also to spend more quality time with my family. However, what I quickly found in my first few months is, that all my time was used primarily to build my business and my family came second. The daily up hill climb which required me to make a success of my business so I could deliver on my promises to my family blinded me to the fact that I was not living in the present. That time was in reality passing me by and, by the time I did make the business a success my family might be too old to want to spend time with me. Something needed to be done to balance work and family.

What I chose to do to remedy the situation is volunteer to coach my son in baseball. Now, you are probably thinking to yourself, how can I find the time? Easy! I had a baseball schedule that became integrated to my business schedule just as you would book any business appointment. Surprisingly for me at the time, with the rare exception, I made all my appointments.

The obvious benefit is I now had more time with my son but, I also had more time with my daughter and my wife. We went to all the games together and enjoyed watching all the young boys play baseball. In the following years my daughter played baseball and both kids played soccer. We always had the time.

Now here is the not so obvious benefit, my company grew customers and suppliers to my business through my contacts in baseball. As the years went on I became a coach for Double A baseball, then Triple A and then took over as a Manager of a Double A Team. This led to me sitting on the Board of Directors of Rep baseball. In other words, my time commitment for volunteering increased. You would think my business would suffer. It didn't.

One Sunday night at a Rep Baseball Board meeting we starting talking about all the coach/manager volunteers being in most cases in their own business. We deemed this to be normal as we have more control of our schedule than someone who is in a job. And then it occurred to us that we are missing out on a great networking opportunity. Our Baseball Association had over 100 Managers, Coaches and Coach Assistants. We decided to have a Business card Swap Night.

The idea was well received and greatly attended on a Wednesday night at our Club House. Each person had 3 minutes to do their Elevator Pitch (A speech about you and your company that is short and to the point and equivalent in time to the ride on an elevator when someone ask you what you do for a living). All Business cards were left on a table and in a no pressure environment you could help yourself to a business card.

For me it was a boon to my business. I secured my second largest client and found new contractors who performed better at better pricing than my current contractors.

The lesson to be learned here is Volunteering has many benefits to your family, the rewarding emotional good feeling of helping other children who may be in broken families and, needless to say, the success of my business.

Time can not be reclaimed but it can be spent wisely.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Without Risk have you truly Lived?

I was reading over some material from a 2005 Denis Waitley seminar I attended and this quote was there that really speaks to the Entrepreneur's spirit (click on this post title to link to Denis Waitley's site):

"Parable of the Cautious Man...There was a very cautious man, who never laughed or cried. He never risked, he never lost, he never won nor tried. And when he one day passed away, his insurance was denied, for since he never really lived, they claimed he never died."

I remembered my failures and I remembered how I succeeded even greater after every failure. The challenge is to remember to learn from your failure and then persevere. To persevere will require your passion to succeed to be great. Anthony Robins describes it as your "Why". Is your why big enough to succeed? An example of this is Sylvester Stallone and his desire, his why, to be an actor in Hollywood was so great that the many rejections he received from the movie Producers "...that he will never be an actor because of his slurred speech", spurred him on and he wrote Rocky.

Now, the Rocky story is well known but in case you don't know, Sylvester was offered $100k to produce the movie Rocky but he turned it down because he wanted to act in the part of Rocky. Sylvester was turned down by another producer who offered him over $250k for the movie without Sly in the lead role and again sly turned the offer down.

At this point Sylvester was down to his last $100., he had sold his favorite dog Butkis and was not going to be able to pay his next months rent. He was at Rock(y) bottom. Then at his next Producer presentation he was accepted as the lead actor by agreeing to a payment of $35k and I believe 3% of the gate revenue. Well we all know that Rocky was a great success and this turned out to be a great deal. However, at the time, no one knew it would be a blockbuster with a series of Rocky movies.

Sylvester's "Why" was big enough to make him an actor and a great success which helped him endure the rejections even when he was at his lowest financially. By the way, Sly bought back Butkis from the guy he sold him to on the street. The story goes, I can't confirm if it's true, but he paid $10,000 of his $35,000 to get him back and gave the person who had the dog a walk on part in Rocky . True or not, it's a great Rocky ending to his story.

For me, Sylvester is Rocky and the ultimate story of Perseverance.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Tiger Quest Improves and Increases sales

I've been working with a Sales Coach/Trainer extraordinaire, Marvin Himel, developing Sales Training for new business consultants worldwide based on the Tiger Quest model. I've been through many sales seminars and trainings and I am excited about working with Marvin and Tiger Quest. He has created a very easy to follow approach that leads to quicker sales, higher profit margins and within 6 months can build your territory into calling on warm leads only. No more "Cold Calling". His philosophy is simple, "Anyone worth calling on once is worth calling on again".

What he is saying is that if you are selective of who you do business with and the company/person you call on met your criteria for a good or "A" Prospect then expect them to not be in the decision making stage when you first call on them. In fact, rarely does anyone buy from you on the first call.

Statistically your probability of success will increase with the number of face to face visits with the same prospect. So, keep calling on the prospect with some new bit of industry information, solve their problems and eventually you will be in the right place at the right time when they are making a decision to buy your product or service.

You can check out Tiger Quest by clicking on the Title of this post.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Is your Website Dead?

I came across this great White Paper on SearchSMB.com with 10 clues that your website is dead. Click on this Posting Title above to learn if your website is dead?

How a Snow Storm Builds Business

The city of Toronto and surrounding areas is under a blanket of snow today and the 2 1/2 hour drive into work this morning reminded me of one of the benefits of working from home. Over 2 hours in the car one way can be productive if you're listening to audio books but, there is something to be said for staying home and being the first on your street to have your driveway cleared. And, not having to come home at the end of the day from another 2 hour commute only to have to shovel the driveway and park the car on the road until I do so because the plow has built a 3 foot wall at the end of my drive.

When working from home on a day like this the natural tendency is to focus on shoveling and ignore your business. I found these days to be very beneficial to prospect for new business and build relationships, create warm leads, with the discussion of the snow. let me explain; I found that 7:00 AM to 7:30 AM is the best time to reach the business owners (or "Very Important Top Officer - VITO" as described by Anthony Parinello, Author of Stop Cold Calling Forever and many more Sales related books) who always arrive before their staff . If I was calling them for the first time, I would compliment them on being in the office and comment on how it is amazing how business owners like ourselves can always make it in early but employees always make it in late. (This immediately put us on the same level, Equal Business Stature) I would generally get an agreement to my comment and a dialog was created.

I never tried to sell anything on the phone. My objective was only to get an appointment. So what I would say next is that, I'm not letting the snow slow me down, would you be available this afternoon so I could drop off some information about your industry. Yes, their industry. I would get to know their industry through industry associations, the internet now is a great resource but at that time, the local library and their competition were my best sources for information. I would then state that I came across a great white paper on...yada yada yada - whatever I knew he might be experiencing as an issue or problem in his business. With an agreement to drop it off at an also agreed time, I would of course be on time, actually I always arrived 10 to 15 minutes early, I would then when we met face to face provide some brief information about my company.

If I got a warm response to my trial closing (e.g. how is this issue impacting your business? - A trial close is generally a question that asks their opinion) then I would schedule an appointment to learn more about their company with some questions designed to find their PAIN points - what are they losing sleep over. I would then present my companies solutions in a subsequent meeting.

A snow day is also good to follow up with prospects, and customers, you have already made a contact with and you are now just calling them up to see how the snow is impacting them today to see if I can be of help with any problems. It did not matter that the problem was not related to my business product or service. I wanted to build a relationship, a partnership, built on trust and respect. Perhaps they needed something or someone picked up. "Let me help, I will do that for you", would be my response. When you can be a problem solver for the business owner, VITO, then your name/company, will be remembered when they are in the decision making step of buying.

Embrace the snow from your work from home business.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Work from Home

In my first days, alone, in a new start up business, I had joined the growing ranks of entrepreneurs who work from home. Work from home had become the new buzz words for the baby boomer generation who have money and are disillusioned with the corporate world and were forced by a younger competition for our job to sacrifice our families and to limit the time to enjoy the fruits of our labor having to work long hours in the globalization of the economy. The reality is that with the advent of email, mobile phones and then of course, the explosion of the internet worldwide, business people were and had to be accessible 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

What we came to realize in the early to mid 1990's is that we want more quality of life without giving up on the quantity. That is, we did not want to go below our current income. Work from home seem to be the answer. And it is, once you understand how to make it work. I found that I am a people person. I need to socialize and communicate face to face with people. I quickly found that working at home was a challenge for me locked in my basement office. I soon found myself roaming our large home frequently through the day seeking out human contact which ended up being our family dog, Tyson. A large black and red hair German Shepard pure bred that was smart as a whip. Smart enough to know that I was interrupting his schedule of sleep and eat all day and at 7:00 PM greet us at the door for a walk. Clearly, I needed to do something.

I got out of the office and drove around my city. Here was my first lesson, I can't make sales stuck in my basement office. While driving around I started to notice businesses I wanted to approach, businesses growing which was demonstrated by new construction, and I also started talking to people face to face who were also out and about in town and began networking. I sold nothing that day but, I learned later that Prospecting and Sales are two different functions.

Work from home became a whole lot better. I now started planning my day around Prospecting which included telephone calling and face to face drop in's around town. I began to "Run for Mayor" as a colleague once told me I was doing that any good Prospector should do who wants to have continued success with Sales. You need to get out of your work from home office and just like your Mayor, shake hands, kiss the babies buy the lunches and make sure everyone knows you in your town and particularly those in business.

Well, that's it for today and I will see you tomorrow with my next posting. :)

Monday, February 12, 2007

They told me so!

When I made the decision to get into business for myself 15 years ago I was married with 2 young children. The decision was easy for me because I like change but for my family and freinds I was crazy and I'm sure they could not wait to say "I told you so!" I had a great job with the city I live in, with a good salary and 6 weeks vacation and sick days. To the person who likes to be in a job (Just Over Broke) then I was crazy. To the person who thinks like me, a job is not good enough then this blog will make a great deal of sense to you because I am writing to the risk takers, the true entrepreneurs of the world. I always want more out of life. I'm not afraid of hard work and it was time to put my entreprenuerial work ethic to work for me.

I have to tell you that when the honeymoon phase of my business was over (the first week of congratulation, going away parties) the real impact of my decision really sunk in. I was now on my own and I have only myself to answer to when I make mistakes.

The first two years was hard. I was away from my young family working long hours, long weeks, suffering through poor cash flow and also countless loss opportunities going through the learning curve. Then, in year 3, all hell broke loose and business took off. I started to enjoy life style changes as a result of better cash flow, larger projects and people were sending me business so my marketing costs actually went down and I had more time with my family. What happened? I survived. Thank god!

The reality is most small start up businesses fail within the first 1 to 2 years. How did I do it? Perseverance! I hate to quit, I have to win and win I did. But, what if? What if I could do it all again and not repeat my mistakes and actually apply what I learned 15 years later. What if the Honeymoon could last forever? This is what I will talk about more and more each and every day, most days, of the week.

I hope you will enjoy my blog, learn from my blog and pass my blog around to as many people as you feel will be appreciative of an insiders point of view on business, franchising, and the internet.

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