Just Sell®... it's all about sales®... http://www.justsell.com the web's resource for sales leaders™ Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:30:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Voltaire on Rusting Out http://www.justsell.com/voltaire-on-rusting-out/ http://www.justsell.com/voltaire-on-rusting-out/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:30:14 +0000 Sam Parker http://www.justsell.com/voltaire-on-rusting-out/ “Shun idleness. It is the rust
that attaches itself to the most
brilliant metals.”

–Voltaire (1694–1778)
French writer, essayist and philosopher

Sales brilliance…

Are you sitting on brilliance (waiting for a better day, week, month, year, time to make the call)?

Be careful to invest your money hours wisely. Time is the only thing you can never get back.

Sure… There are lottery winners. But that’s not the way to bet.

(Here’s 3 minutes with Malcolm Gladwell – author of "Outliers: The Story of Success" – talking about the work that goes into the "overnight success".)

]]> http://www.justsell.com/voltaire-on-rusting-out/feed/ 0 Edison on The Secret (wink) http://www.justsell.com/edison-on-the-secret-wink/ http://www.justsell.com/edison-on-the-secret-wink/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:30:36 +0000 Sam Parker http://www.justsell.com/edison-on-the-secret-wink/ “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”

–Thomas Edison (1847–1931)
American inventor and salesman
frequently worked more than 40 hours straight

Sales thought…

There’s nothing more powerful to the sales day than enthusiasm. It excites everyone to positive action…

  • you
  • your team
  • your prospect
  • the new customer you just brought on board
  • the internal department responsible for the delivery of what you just sold
  • the receptionist who talks with your prospects and customers first

As you work with your people today (and tomorrow) your level of enthusiasm will impact all of them (one way or the other). What do you want your impact to be?

TGIS (thank God it’s Smonday*)

If you have 2 minutes… A little inspiring enthusiasm from my boys.

*Smonday: the first sales day of the week for a Smover

]]> http://www.justsell.com/edison-on-the-secret-wink/feed/ 0 smEnthusiasm http://www.justsell.com/smenthusiasm/ http://www.justsell.com/smenthusiasm/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:20:16 +0000 Sam Parker http://www.justsell.com/smenthusiasm/ I got this little 212 guy at an event last Spring and gave it to the boys.

They made the best of it. Pure joy.

(the real excitement begins around :48)

Be a Smover.

]]> http://www.justsell.com/smenthusiasm/feed/ 4 Francis de Sales on Bouncing Back http://www.justsell.com/francis-de-sales-on-bouncing-back/ http://www.justsell.com/francis-de-sales-on-bouncing-back/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:30:30 +0000 Sam Parker http://www.justsell.com/francis-de-sales-on-bouncing-back/ “Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them – every
day begin the task anew.”

–St. Francis de Sales (1567–1622)
French bishop

Sales resilience…

resilience: noun: an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change (from Merriam-Webster)

We all fail from time-to-time (our doing, someone else’s doing, something else’s doing, a combination of each). It’s life.

To be resilient…

  1. Focus on results. Embrace the fact that results are what we’re all really after. Effort and attempts are great first steps, but we need to act with commitment to delivering (just like we want people to do for us).
  2. Make lessons of failures. Minimize the tendency to make a failure or mistake anything more than a lesson on how not to do something. We need to learn from our mistakes and truly accept them as tuition for succeeding later. And yes… Our mistakes might put us in a bind at times and have some uncomfortable consequences but again, that’s real life.
  3. Continue on. Smarter.
  4. Reinforce. Support each other (and ourselves) by continually reminding and encouraging one another to deliver on the first three points.

That’s it. Let’s practice it more.

Encourage resilience and email this reminder to someone.

(get the resilience pocket card)

212ers: Did you catch last week’s New York Times piece on the 212 Olympic margins represented by music?

]]> http://www.justsell.com/francis-de-sales-on-bouncing-back/feed/ 0 Margaret Mead on Responsibility http://www.justsell.com/margaret-mead-on-responsibility/ http://www.justsell.com/margaret-mead-on-responsibility/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:30:32 +0000 Sam Parker http://www.justsell.com/margaret-mead-on-responsibility/ “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

–Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
American cultural anthropologist

Sales leadership check…

Are you holding yourself accountable as a leader (with a title or not)?

As leaders, we enjoy the responsibility of helping our people develop in a way that encourages them to hold themselves accountable for their attitudes, their work, and their results.

We need to be as disciplined, resourceful, and resilient in our efforts as we ask our people to be in theirs.

Relentless leadership is embracing the fact that the need for reinforcement never ends and uncomfortable conversations are a necessity. This is how we create something special.

Smile & Lead.

(some of our favorite leadership thoughts from Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Today’s quote is on a Love Your People™ card.

]]> http://www.justsell.com/margaret-mead-on-responsibility/feed/ 0 Huxley on Results http://www.justsell.com/huxley-on-results/ http://www.justsell.com/huxley-on-results/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:30:25 +0000 Sam Parker http://www.justsell.com/huxley-on-results/ “Do what you can to do what
you ought, and leave hoping
and fearing alone.”

–Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895)
English biologist and educator

Sales thought…

When you need a well-earned break, here’s a hilarious 4.5 minute video clip that speaks to the "complain less" principle of Smile & Move.

Let it help you be more amazed (and maybe pass it along to those who could use a gentle reminder that in many cases, we’re luckier than we think).

(from comedian Louis CK on Late Night with Conan O’Brien).

For a different twist on complaints, here’s 3 minutes from Monty Python’s classic sketch, Four Yorkshiremen.

TGIS (Thank God it’s Smonday*)

*Smonday is the first day of the week for a Smover.

]]> http://www.justsell.com/huxley-on-results/feed/ 0 Four Yorkshiremen http://www.justsell.com/four-yorkshiremen/ http://www.justsell.com/four-yorkshiremen/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:00:43 +0000 Sam Parker http://www.justsell.com/four-yorkshiremen/ Monty Python’s Four Yorkshiremen complain down memory lane…

Got a favorite? Email us. (Have you seen Be More Amazed?)

ComplainLess

Need a ComplainLess™ reminder wristband?

]]> http://www.justsell.com/four-yorkshiremen/feed/ 0 Seneca on Taking Care of Business http://www.justsell.com/seneca-on-taking-care-of-business/ http://www.justsell.com/seneca-on-taking-care-of-business/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:30:38 +0000 Sam Parker http://www.justsell.com/seneca-on-taking-care-of-business/ “Lay hold of today’s task and
you will not depend so much
upon tomorrow’s.”

–Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4B.C.–65A.D.)
Roman philosopher and statesman

Sales days…

63 – 64 – 65 – 62

Those are your quarterly sales days of opportunity for 2010 (254 in all… give or take a few here and there depending on where you are).

Roughly 21 days per month. (Put like that, it can seem like so few.)

To lose only two each month to fatigue or a desire to wait for a better day to make the call, would be to lose more than a full month of sales days each year.

Protect your sales days like your money (because that’s what they are).

Next week starts the longest sales month of the year (23 days to sell). Use this link to print and post your 2010 sales days calendar or get your sales months here.

]]> http://www.justsell.com/seneca-on-taking-care-of-business/feed/ 0 Thomas Jefferson on Being Coachable http://www.justsell.com/thomas-jefferson-on-being-coachable/ http://www.justsell.com/thomas-jefferson-on-being-coachable/#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:30:29 +0000 Sam Parker http://www.justsell.com/thomas-jefferson-on-being-coachable/ “He who knows most, knows how little he knows.”

–Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
3rd president of the United States

Sales truth…

You don’t know everything.

You do know that, don’t you?

Continual learning is a basic necessity to professional improvement and in many cases it’s other people who will help you get there.

But only if you’re coachable. Are you?

To be coachable means to be…

  • Approachable
  • Attentive
  • Receptive
  • Curious
  • Objective
  • Trusting
  • Shapeable
  • Confident

It means you must listen with the intent to learn rather than to show what you know (exactly the type of listening required in the sales process).

Get more insight and a quick 8-point check on your coachability.

]]> http://www.justsell.com/thomas-jefferson-on-being-coachable/feed/ 0 Descartes on Using Your Brain http://www.justsell.com/descartes-on-using-your-brain/ http://www.justsell.com/descartes-on-using-your-brain/#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:30:29 +0000 Sam Parker http://www.justsell.com/descartes-on-using-your-brain/ “I think, therefore I am.”

–René Descartes (1596–1650)
French philosopher and mathematician

Sales mind…

How are you kicking off your salesday?

Are you preparing your mind with solid thought, information, and support? Are you allowing the right radio or TV personalities to get you ready (are any of them good… share one)? The right news or material? The right people at the office?

Be careful to what you give your attention. It all has an influence on you. (And kicking it is much more fun than mediocrity… or worse.)

(feed your mind well… it’s where action starts)

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