Dairy Farmer Cries Over Spilled Milk

Click here to read about how a Michigan Dairy Farmer in the United States was the victim of a sting operation because he was selling raw milk. (Raw milk is not homogenized or pasteurized). Raw milk apparently has a following of consumers who swear to the health aspects of feeling better and not sick as often, etc. What intrigued me most about this story is how quickly action was taken to help the farmer and his co-op business.

As a result of an email correspondence started by an email letter from Steve Bemis, a 60 year old pension lawyer and consumer of raw milk, to the head of the Michigan Agricultural Department of Food and Dairy, Bemis ended up representing the farmer for free. A ground swell of letters followed sent to the politicians and Government officials involved to stop this harassment and to also help them understand that raw milk is in their opinion healthier. In other words, we should have the freedom of choice.

The internet and emails had brought this farmer's circumstances to a quicker resolve. Don't under estimate the power of writing letters and certainly the power of the internet. We are now a larger voice to get the government to listen to alternate opinions and maybe now take action quicker. Next time you feel wronged, let the world know through the internet.

Frank Stronach Stops Unions With Employee Loyality

'From the very beginning, Stronach believed every employee should own a part of the company and they do, making Magna a unique model of success. Without the benefit of unions, all employees enjoy job security, benefits, pensions, competitive wage packages averaged to the competition and a share in corporate profits.' - CBC Life and Times

When I read how Frank Stronach kept the union out of Magna by treating his employees with respect through a competitive wage package with so many benefits it reminded me of someone I met years ago who owned 5 Midas Muffler Franchise stores and had to fire every single employee in one day. He learned a valuable lesson at that time that I never forgot; pay your employees well and they will be loyal and trustworthy to you - they will not steal you blind.

He and his accountant had picked up on business losses connected with inventory going out and lack of appropriate cash coming in to match. After further investigation including fake customers planted to catch the culprits he was amazed to find that at all his stores he was being robbed by all his employees and managers. In one day he brought every person into his office and fired them one by one. Leaving the managers to the end the last manager said, "well you can't fire me, you have no one left to keep your store open." His response was, "oh yeah, you're fired too!"

He shut all 5 stores and spent the next few weeks rehiring new managers and employees. This time he paid them more than the competition. He introduced cash rewards for a profitable month and annually, every summer, brought all his employees to his house on the lake for their family to be entertained with food, drinks, and water skiing all day long. These employees loved him and his business has never been stronger.

As entrepreneurs we remember the sacrifices we made to build our business and therefore we feel we deserve all the rewards. This way of thinking may cost you your business. Give back to your employees and you will build a stronger and more profitable business. Remember that the next generation of your business is now in the hands of your human asset. They can make or break what you worked so hard to create.

Suicide Is A Selfish Act

My post today is outside what I would normally write about but today my parents had to see my uncle dead in his apartment after his daughter checked on him after he did not answer our calls yesterday. My mother's brother committed the most selfish act one human can do to another, he took his own life. This is the second suicide in two years that I have had to deal with since my aunt on my fathers side took her life because of a gambling addiction.

My uncle committed suicide due to depression and loneliness after a life of self gratifying abuse with women and alcohol. I know I should feel sorry for him but instead I am angry at him for doing this to my mother. She has been there for him his entire life when others were not and never judged him for his actions. She just opened her home and fed him and gave him love. My mother and father, both in their early 70's, want to spend their last years in New Brunswick, Canada, and were moving today. His act was his final selfishness to prevent her from leaving him. My mother will undoubtedly carry some unwarranted guilt and their move down east which should be an exciting move for them will instead be a move of dread and heartache. I am very angry with my uncle.

If you are considering such an act yourself. Stop and ask yourself first, who will be most hurt by this act and if the answer is the one who loved you most and was always there for you then does she deserve this heartache and guilt? The answer is NO. So do the most heroic thing in your life and reach out for professional help.

I have added a link to a Canadian website that speaks to how you can get help. Take that step and click here for the website. Remember that Suicide is a selfish act. Is that how you want to be remembered?

There Is No Room For PAIN In Sales

I just read an article sent to me from Ari Galper, Creator of 'Unlock The Game' speaking to high pressure sales tactics promoted by some self proclaimed Sales Gurus that by leveraging the prospects PAIN points you can manipulate the prospect to buy from you. I agree with Ari that this type of sales thinking, "old school", is what gives sales people a bad name. I do believe we need to identify the Prospects PAIN points as it is true that they are 10 times more likely to take an action to remove a pain than to move toward a pleasure. However, that does not mean we must sell them something they don't need.

A professional sales person will ask powerful questions that identifies the prospects problems and will care more about helping with those problems than making the sale. This is based on their high level of integrity. In other words, if I can help you with your problems, great. If not, then I will find someone who can help. Solving a prospects problems regardless if it makes you a sale or not is a caring attitude that will get you more of the right customers over the long term. It will get you customers that will be loyal to you and refer you to other similar thinking business owners.

Is there room for PAIN in Sales? Certainly. If it is designed to identify problems you can solve with a caring attitude.

Ottawa Stats Show 40% Surge in Online Sales

- Whether it is for buying or selling, a "critical mass" of Canadian companies, and customers, are turning to the Internet to do business, according to the latest numbers from Statistics Canada.Online sales recorded their fifth straight year of double-digit growth in 2006, showed the Survey of Electronic Commerce and Technology, and were worth a staggering $49.9 billion.

Click here to read the paper on these significant 2006 Canadian Numbers. What I was intrigued with was:

Of the nearly $50-billion worth of business done online last year, only a small amount of the sales were from a company to an individual consumer. The majority--about 68 per cent -- were business-to-business sales between private firms.

The internet is the wrapper around the Global Economy. It is not enough to just have a website. You need to have a website that meets the needs of your existing customers and those businesses who will become your customer because they can find your website and when they do they have their needs met. To do this properly you need an expert in online marketing and website design. Who is performing this task for your business? Do you have an expert converting visitors to your website into customers?

Canadian Will Advice

Have you made a will to protect your family? A lawyer friend of mine was telling me about how many estates he has handled where the family is left trying to find hidden security boxes, trying to free up RRSP's held by the Government, and settling disagreements on personal belongings all because a will was not created.

The problem is so large that The Bank of Canada has a Library of unclaimed estates:

The Bank of Canada makes information available to the public without charge:

On this Internet site (excluding balances below $2.00) by mail:
Bank of Canada, Unclaimed Balances Services,
234 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G9
by fax: (613) 782-7802

A request for a search must include the full name of the individual, the addresses of his/her past residences, and the year of death if the individual is deceased. The full list of unclaimed balances may also be purchased on a CD ROM(data only) for $72 plus GST and PST plus $3 for shipping. Send your request and money order or certified cheque to the Bank of Canada at the above address."

"Unclaimed Balances" Bank of Canada
http://ucbswww.bank-banque-canada.ca/faq_english.htm

Don't leave your assets to the Government and create a will today. A book on wills can be found at The Canadian Financial Security Program website.

If you have any advice on creating wills please share them with my readers on my post.

The Internet Flys With West Jet

I sent my friend off early this morning to Calgary, Alberta, to visit her ailing father. I remember Thomas Friedman talking about how he woke up to the 21st Century when even though he would be first at the Kiosk of SouthWest Airlines in the Airport to create his ticket he still did not board before people who would show up sometimes minutes before boarding. Why was this happening? They were buying their tickets online and then picking their seat at 12:01 a.m. on the day of the flight. Armed with this knowledge, we purchased my friends ticket with West Jet online and their policy is you can create and print your boarding pass, as well as choose your seat, 24 hours before the departure time of your flight. In our case, we went online at 7:01 a.m. the day before her flight. Everything went smoothly this morning and she is now in flight to Calgary.

The internet is not only about emails, blogs and e-commerce. What are you doing to make doing business with your business easier and much more enjoyable for your customers? The internet can do so much for your business in reducing costs that we tend to forget about how many human touch points we have built into our business processes that can be put online. The customer wins with better service and you win with a reduction to costs.

Can Imagination Fuel Your Business Engine?

"Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Albert Einstein

I came across this webcast presentation and wanted to share it with you because I believe in the power of Imagination. We do as we think. If we have negative thoughts then we attract negative energy to us. Guess what, when we give off positive energy we attract positive energy. The first step in any long journey must start with the belief that you will complete the journey.

As the steps become heavier with the weight of burden and your legs tire from exhaustion through repetition you will only complete the journey if your imagination painted a complete picture of why you are making the journey. The journey perhaps to your promise land. The following webcast speaks about the power of imagination and holographic creation. I hope you enjoy this presentation. Let me know your thoughts about the power of imagination and the mind?

What In The World Is Going On?

A Global Intelligence Briefing For CEOs: This is a transcript of a speech given Feb 27 and 28 last year to a large conference of American CEOs in Seattle. The startling message that is hitting home with me is that the major clashes and consequences of what he's describing aren't way off in the future. They're relatively near-term; still within my lifetime! What in the World is going on?

Bill Gates Highlights a Simple Truth

"The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency." - Bill Gates

No truer words were spoken and I'm sure Bill speaks from experience.

I have been involved in a few ISO9000 implementations at the Steering Committee Project level and I have seen first hand the danger in installing technology, or ISO9000 certification standards of documentation, on processes and procedures that are inefficient. Technology should be installed to eliminate or reduce processes and procedures that save time and ultimately save money. This only works if your existing systems are efficient.

Before you buy the technology ask yourself if the person selling the technology can help you with improving your efficiencies? The internet is a prime example of what I'm saying here. If you just install a website based on what you want you may not get what you need. You need to first identify your needs and then install the right solution on the internet. This is the difference between hiring a technocrat to build you a website versus a Business Consultant trained in the internet with the resources to build you an internet presence who will stay with you as a trusted business partner ensuring a return on your investment.

If you select the right resources, the right business, and the right expert consultant, who specializes in the technology you want to install even if they are not the cheapest you will in the long term save more than you spend.

Customers For Life

I receive regular emails from John Boe a Sales Trainer and Motivational speaker who thinks in many ways the same way I do when it comes to sales. The following is an email I received today that is lengthy but jam packed with great information on how to create a customer for life:

Most successful companies place great value on developing lifetime relationships with their customers. In today's competitive marketplace, they're aware that their customers are aggressively prospected and their loyalty cannot be taken for granted. Customer focused companies recognize that relationship building and follow on service are critical components for promoting both customer retention and revenue growth.

First Build a Relationship; Today we have access to innovative tools such as the Internet, cell phones, faxes and voice mail all designed to enhance our ability to communicate. Nevertheless, even with all of these technological tools at our disposal, the alarming number of dissatisfied customers, lost sales and failed relationships all reflect the fact that none of us are as effective at communicating as we would like to believe.

Temperament understanding helps to foster effective communication. Research in the field of human psychology indicates people are born into one of four primary behavioral styles; aggressive, expressive, passive or analytical. Each of these four temperament styles requires a unique approach and communication strategy. For example, if you are working with the impatient, aggressive style, they want a quick fix and a bottom line solution. Under pressure they can be ill-tempered and quick to anger. Give them options so you don't threaten their need for control. Don't waste their time with chitchat, stick to business. While at the other extreme, the stress-prone analytical style requires more information and is interested in every detail. Their cautious and analytical nature makes them susceptible to buyer's remorse. Be sensitive to their need for reassurance and guarantees. Once you learn how to identify each of the four primary behavioral styles you will be able to work more effectively with all of your customers.

Communicate Effectively; Recognize the importance of nonverbal communication and learn to "listen with your eyes." It might surprise you to know that research indicates over 70 percent of our communication is perceived nonverbally. In fact, studies show that body language has a much greater impact and reliability than the spoken word. Create a favorable first impression and build rapport quickly by using open body language. In addition to smiling and making good eye contact, you should show the palms of your hands, keep your arms unfolded and your legs uncrossed. You can develop harmony by "matching and mirroring" your customer's body language gestures.

Matching and mirroring is unconscious mimicry. It's a way of subconsciously telling another that you like them and agree with them. Improve your active listening skills. To develop and encourage conversation, use open-ended questions to probe the meaning behind your prospect's statements. Occasionally repeat your prospect's words verbatim. By restating his or her key words or phrases you not only clarify communication, but also build rapport. Keep your attention focused on what your customer is saying and avoid the temptation to interrupt, argue or dominate the conversation.

Little Things Make a Big Difference; Rendering quality customer service is both a responsibility and an opportunity. Often salespeople view customer service as an administrative burden that takes them away from making a sale. The truth is that customer service provides opportunities for cross-selling, up selling and generating quality referrals. Customers describe quality customer service in terms of attention to detail and responsiveness. Customer satisfaction surveys consistently point to the fact that the little things make a big difference. Not surprisingly, the top two customer complaints with regards to customer service are unreturned phone calls and a failure to keep promises and commitments. Make an effort to see yourself through your customers' eyes. True customer service is meeting and surpassing your customers' expectations. Successful salespeople "go the extra mile" when providing service and turn the customers they serve into advocates to help them promote their business. Your referrals and follow on business are in direct proportion to the quality and quantity of service you render on a daily basis. Want more referrals? Improve your service!

Here are five powerful customer service tips.

1. Under-promise and over-deliver. Develop a reputation
for reliability; never make a promise that you can't
keep. Your word is your bond.
2. Pay attention to the small things. Get in the habit of
returning phone calls, e-mails and other correspondence
quickly. Follow up, follow up, follow up.
3. Stay in contact and keep good records. Take the time to
jot down notes from meetings and phone calls making
certain to record all relevant information. Maintain a
written record of service. This is especially helpful when
clients are reassigned to a new sales rep. Setup a suspense
system to track important contact dates such as client
review calls and birthdays. Consider sending a personal
note or an article of interest every six months.
4. Give your customers a promotional gift. Consider sending
them a letter opener, coffee mug or a calendar with your
picture and contact information.
5. Establish a feedback system to monitor how your customers
perceive the quality and quantity of the service you provide.
Service is not defined by what you think it is, but rather
how your customers perceive its value. When it comes to
customer service, perception is reality.

Progressive companies emphasize commitment to customer service from the top down by establishing training standards and continuously monitoring customer satisfaction. Companies that fail to implement an effective customer service program actually do a disservice to their customers and unknowingly, leave the backdoor open to their competitors. If you do it right, sales and service blend seamlessly and you will exceed your customers' expectations!

Stop The Cold Calling Sweats

There are many places to get free or purchased business leads and once you do, the next step is to start cold calling the names on the list and start selling on the phone. Just the thought of phoning strangers sends me into a cold sweat and the phone seems to weigh 50 pounds every time I attempt to lift the handset to my ear. This approach to prospecting for clients would send most people into a cold sweat and the fear of rejection might be too great to even get the value out of your leads. So why do it all? My approach is to create my own list of prospects based on a criteria of what I believe is the ideal customer. In other words, I'm deciding/qualifying my prospects to ensure that my time is properly invested.

Do they fit the size of company I have had the most success with? For example; the number of employees and annual revenue. I use the 80/20 rule in building my criteria. When I look at my existing customers I generally find that 80% of my revenue is generated by 20% of my customers. These are my "A" clients. Therefore it stands to reason that I should speak to prospects that have the potential to be my "A" customers.

I ask myself what else makes my "A" clients different by looking at the industry they are in, how many years they have been in business, how did I get in the company, what products and services did they start with and what products and services do they purchase today? Do I have a connection with the Decision Maker or Approver of a decision such as sharing an interest or membership in professional or personal organizations, clubs, hobbies, etc? Once I answer all my questions I look for other companies in my selected territory that fit my criteria. Once this list is created I now have my leads to call and all it took was my time. But I still don't pick up the phone and call them just yet.

I look to see if any of my customers can provide me a referral and open the door for me with a great testimonial. I call these leads first.

Once these leads have been contacted I begin to make my calls by starting with I'm a "specialist" in their industry solving problems. I state a problem that appears to be the area that my "A" customers seem to have in common when they moved ahead with my products and services. The lead on the phone generally responds with, "That's interesting, tell me more." And so I do, as a dialog is now created. I don't tell them much, only enough to generate further interest in how I can solve their problem and suggest that we meet as "I will be available this coming Wednesday at 10:15 a.m. how does that work for you?"

I never try to sell anything on the phone. My only objective is to schedule an appointment. Most times the fear we have about cold calling is the fear of not being able to sell someone, a stranger, on the phone. We take the rejection personal. My stance is that I'm not selling. I'm prospecting for "A" clients who need problems solved. If I get a "no" or "not interested" then all I determined was that I did not identify the right problem. I will try them again in a week, this time face to face dropping off some bit of information that they may find beneficial from and about their industry. In my 5 minutes with them I will not try and sell anything but rather ask questions about their business; "how is everything, etc? If there is anything I can help you with just give me a call".

Now, as I keep working these leads I'm no longer calling on strangers. These are people who are now starting to get to know me and every time they see me I give them something that may be helpful to their business. Eventually I identify the right problem and will have created luck for myself. In other words; I will be there at the right time and in the right place to solve their problem.

Remember this: 'Any prospect worth calling on once is worth calling on again'.

Online Marketing Budgets Increasing

The following article cites some numbers from their research showing an increase in online marketing spending for services such as Pay Per Click Advertising and "Natural Search" or in some circles such as WSI the recognized Global leader by Entrepreneur magazine with online internet marketing strategies, calls it Organic search, this should be the time for some businesses to sit up and smell the coffee. The internet is not going away and it is clearly changing the way we live our lives and Marketers are now playing catch up spending more online with PPC and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategies. What are you doing with your online marketing?

Internet Retailer Article

Email Marketing, Can It Work?

Can Email marketing work? We are inundated with "Spam" each and everyday with no sign that it is going away. If you are like me, I block and delete 99.9% of these emails. The ones I do look at catch my attention because the subject line caught my interest and motivated me to open the email. I came across the following article at Entrepreneur.com and I believe it has some good tips on how you can make your email marketing campaign work for you:

Gail Goodman: E-Mail Marketing
E-Mail Subject Lines: Beyond the Basics Still having trouble with your e-mail marketing campaign? Use these expert subject line writing tricks to grab prospects' attention.
By Gail Goodman April 09, 2007

Sales Conferences

I just returned from a Sales Conference at a local hotel and as usual I'm left energized, motivated and pumped up to go out and sell. However, the challenge for me has always been how to keep that energy going for any length of time. I'm great that day spewing out new ideas that resonated with me and I'm excited to try right away. Yet, with every day that passes, life creeps in and I get distracted and I fall back into my comfort zone doing what I always did.

I shouldn't feel bad, I suspect that this is very normal and that most people experience the same drop off of enthusiasm as every day passes. So, how can we keep it going? What I've found to work, knowing that this is a problem for me, is to tell someone right away what I have learned. I find that by teaching others I actually retain the information longer and I also begin to make it mine with subtle changes.

I also make sure to take notes at the sessions and then upon return to my office I review my notes immediately and highlight the top 3 to 5 items I don't want to forget. I rewrite them and post them on my wall so I see them everyday. I then start planning how I can learn more where needed and who I can execute my highlighted items with right away.

This has worked for me and perhaps you have some other or better ways to share. Please let me know as I am always willing to learn.

I found the following information on learning retention rates/stats which might be beneficial to know to help you understand how we learn as humans:

Graham O'Connell , 30 January 2007 @ 17:07 PM Please don't treat the following - which is my favourite version - as statistically valid but more as a signal for what works and in roughly what proportions.

10% of what we read
20% of what we hear
30% of what we see
50% of what we hear and see
60% of what we say (repeating what we have heard and seen)
70% of what we do (practicing what we have heard and seen)
90% of what we hear, say, see and do

There is a new book out 'The Transfer of Learning: Participants' Perspectives of Adult Education and Training' by Sarah Leberman, Lex McDonald, and Stephanie Doyle. I have not read it yet but may be worth considering - not for stats but for how to make learning stick and get put into practice, which is a little more involved than recall, or memory, alone.
Graham O'Connell

The Simple Truths of Service

I just watched a 3 minute "movie" about a grocery bagger who transformed customer service in the store where he is employed by applying a simple truth to customer service. You can click on this post title or here to access the movie and I hope you walk away from watching this movie motivated to provide the best customer service possible to your clients by simply caring. I've talked about this before and it is still true today, look for any problem to solve for your prospects and clients even if it has nothing to do with your company product or service. If you truly care, business will come your way - that is a promise.

Zach Johnson Wins The Masters of Golf

I have been ill with a cold like flu since Wednesday so I apologize for not providing my daily post since Friday. On the positive side I was able to watch the 2007 PGA Masters from Thursday's first round and watch Zach Johnson a rookie from the USA Team of the 2006 Ryder Cup hold his own against the best of the best in the game of golf at Augusta National when Augusta was arguably the toughest it has been in close to 20 years. What impressed me most about Zach is the focus in the present he displayed at the tender age of 31 in front of huge galleries, TV cameras airing to over 190 countries around the world and, playing against his idols on a course he walked around as a guest following one of his idols Phil Mickelson only a few years ago dreaming of once playing on this famed course.

For anyone who has played the game of golf most of us know the inner doubts we battle lining up for our birdie putt that comes around not too often if you are a bogey golfer like myself. Amplify that by the distractions Zach had to encounter and you may well, just possibly, imagine the feat of this young man.

Here is the amazing part of all this, to control his nerves he refused to look at the leader board particularly on the back nine of Sunday's last round. In doing so he birdied 3 out 4 holes going into the 17th. Then, at the 17th, he takes a peek at the leader board. As a result he bogeys the 17th because he took himself out of the present and allowed himself to think about the future possibilities. Never the less, he had a 2 stroke lead and the bogey put him to 1 over with a 1 stroke lead. He got focused again and completed the 18th with a par leaving him to wait and see what Tiger Woods would do who was chasing him with now 2 strokes behind after getting an eagle on the par 5 13th hole.

No worries, Tiger made a couple of bad strokes and Zach won the 2007 Masters and had the Green Jacket placed on him by Phil Mickelson.

It is this kind of single minded focus that defines winners. To stay in the present ignoring all outside influences. His long term goals were established including to play and win the Masters and all he had to do now was stick to his plan of practice, play, and improve, in time for Augusta.

This same focus should be applied to business, life, passions. When you want to achieve something important to you, your passion, do you have a single minded focus that tunes out the external negative influences? Are you a winner?

This is not easy and may take practice but it is truly easier if your 'Why' is big enough. Is your reason for succeeding, (your 'why'), big enough, to let nothing stop you from succeeding. Including the failures along the way?

Have You Done The Math On Your Customer Service?

Awhile back I was talking to a Customer Service Representative (Rep) for a Canadian Beer maker. These are the people who make sure the bars and pubs promote their beer with lots of marketing signage and free give aways and contest prizes. What they also do is respond to a customer complaint by showing up at your house with a replacement case of beer. No questions asked, they take the problem bottle away and leave you with an equivalent size case to what you originally purchased. When I asked the Rep about this expensive practice I was more surprised to learn how often this is done and it got me thinking about the cost to the beer maker to replace cases of beer Regionally, Nationally and even Globally.

The Rep informed me that the cost of not doing this is even higher. For example; they assume that a loyal beer drinker will go through one 24 case of beer per week. Let's do the math: a case of 24 varies in price but let's look at an average of $29.00 multiplied by 52 weeks per year, that is $1500. per year. The average beer drinker is loyal to a brand unless they are disappointed and one bad beer that is not properly addressed by the brewer can cost a beer maker a customer for life. Assuming that a beer drinker will stay loyal for 40 years at $1500 per year, one customer represents $60,000. Now, if we multiply that by an average of 1 customer per week per city then you can start to see how large this number will be to a beer maker.

When you do the math on customer service one case of beer to keep a customer loyal is a small price to pay.

Have you done the math on your Customer Service?

Public Speaking - Shoot Me!

I've written about the fear of speaking in front of a group people before and I decided to write again after reading an article in Entrepreneur.com on the same topic which you can find under this post title. It's a great article that provides some helpful tips but, tips alone are not enough. If you have never done it and even if you want to do it, if the fear is too great you are deaf, dumb, and blind, to all the tips.

When I started my career in Purchasing back in the late 1970's I had a great Mentor who pushed me to go beyond my self imposed barriers. She believed in me and saw something in me that I did not recognized in myself. She always pushed me with gentle positive reinforcement and allowed me to make the decision. In her first push towards greatness she asked me to speak in front of over 100 staff members including the most senior in the company who prior to me speaking probably didn't even know my name. Mrs. Marge Fadden said, "Ray, you should do this, you will be great. It is the perfect opportunity to present your innovative ideas and be heard." My response was of course , "Public Speaking - Just shoot me!"

Long story short, I knew she was right about the attention and recognition that would be garnered in this one opportunity but why I did it was more for her. I did not want to disappoint her. I did speak in front of that large group and I was nervous, I shook, and in my mind the time flew by in the blink of an eye. Upon return to my seat I was congratulated on a great job. Not one person in the room saw what I was feeling. My first lesson was learned; if you speak loudly people don't hear the shaky voice and they don't see what I feel in the pit of my stomach.

Over the next 30 years I have spoken in front of Prospects, Customers, Bankers, in Large Boardroom gatherings to Hotel Venues and now I train people in the art of sales. Who knows where I would be today if I did not take the leap into public speaking on the encouragement of Mrs. Marge Fadden. That was my second lesson; "Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained".

Weblogs Go Corporate

Boeing commercial airplanes Vice President Randy Baseler is doing it. So are Sun Microsystems President Jonathan Schwartz, General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz and Edelman Chief Executive Richard Edelman.

So what are they doing? They are Blogging. The link under the above paragraph is a great story on how the Corporate big wigs are now bloggers and as a result, marketing their company is becoming easier because people are connecting with the individual and not the corporate marketing machine.

Let's face it, Blogs are not going away and in fact what I'm seeing is an escalation of how many ways blogs can be used. One of those ways is the Business Blog.

Is There a Buyer for Every Product?

If you're always getting a "no" and you find rejection after rejection on your sales calls trying to sell in the 'dog' territory you were assigned and you always have a problem with the product you sell because it doesn't meet the needs of your clients then I will tell you now; you are starving and will continue to starve unless you are prepared to make personal changes.

First, the problem isn't your territory or your product. The problem is you. What have you done to continue your learning of how to sell? Even if you haven't taken any courses or seminars, there are many great sales gurus online who offer free sales tips and techniques with daily to weekly newsletters. You should be spending at least 30 minutes a day reading to improve yourself.

Secondly, there is a buyer for every product. If you are 'throwing up' on the customer with all the great features of your product without finding out what they need then how can you sell the benefits of the product. Most buyers want to know 'what's in it for me (them)'. In most cases, the speed of a skill saw means nothing unless you can put it in the context of their needs. For example; the prospect says to you "...that they have never used a skill saw before and want something that is easy and safe to use". Your response then is "...the multiple speed settings allow ease of use for a variety of materials and with the safety guards built right in you are protected with all the saw dusts falling to the floor or to a shop vac. In addition we have built in an emergency shut off in the rare case of a jam in sawing."

I had been one of the first in Canada in the mid 1990's to be Certified as a New Home Sales Professional, CSP. During the training we had a Condo Builder talking about the last unit in a new building that they just couldn't sell. The building and units were built for a very upscale market and priced accordingly. The problem with this unit is the focal point window was only a few feet away from a large brick wall. There was no view. One rejection after another then one day it sold. The person who bought the apartment unit loved everything about the apartment from its size, to its location downtown with easy access to the transit system, the concierge, etc. You see, the window with a brick wall view was not a problem...he was blind.

Is There a Place For Ethics in Business?

I'm in the middle of moving homes and in the process I'm selling off furniture and miscellaneous items that I don't need or will be replaced with new furniture. For the first time I took advantage of EBay's Kijiji Garage Sale network of buyers and sellers. In one day we were overwhelmed by the responses we received on most of the items. I'm not all that surprised as we did price the items to sell as we would if it was a garage sale taking place in our own driveway. However, it put me in a odd situation. I had people actually offering me more money than I was asking just to make sure that they could have it before the person who had already scheduled to meet me the next day to come and see the items. What should I do? Take the highest offer and cancel the appointment or take the asking price and keep the first scheduled appointment?

I was caught between my entrepreneurial spirit of get as much money as I can or my ethics which is to play fair and keep my first scheduled appointments. What I did was stay with my ethics and kept the appointments and put the others on a wait and see list. For me it was not about the money as we had priced everything to sell so we wouldn't have to move the items. In addition, I have always maintained that a high level of ethics in business will always win out in the long run. Yes, I will lose the battle on occasion and I accept those losses. But in time my word will mean something. Word of mouth advertising travels fast and I want to have the word about me that is being passed around from person to person, business to business to be of a man you can trust and who plays fair. There is something special about still being able to strike a deal with like minded people over a shake of hands.

Is there a place for ethics in business? I not only believe so, I believe it is my 'Unique Selling Point' - my differentiation amongst my perceived competition. How do you feel? Is ethics important to you? Or is win at all costs your mantra?