Small Business Leadership and Sales Blog

It is a peculiarity of man that he can only live by looking to the future -- sub specie aeternitatis. And this is his salvation in the most difficult moments of his existence, although he sometimes has to force his mind to the task.

I remember a personal experience. Almost in tears from pain (I had terrible sores on my feet from wearing torn shoes), I limped a few kilometers with our long column of men from the camp to our work site. Very cold, bitter winds struck us. I kept thinking of the endless little problems of our miserable life. What would there be to eat tonight? If a piece of sausage came as extra ration, should I exchange it for a piece of bread? Should I trade my last cigarette, which was left from a bonus I received a fortnight ago, for a bowl of soup? How could I get a piece of wire to replace the fragment which served as one of my shoelaces?...

I became disgusted with the state of affairs which compelled me, daily and hourly, to think of only such trivial things. I forced my thoughts to turn to another subject. Suddenly I saw myself standing on the platform of a well-lit, warm and pleasant lecture room. In front of me sat an attentive audience on comfortable upholstered seats. I was giving a lecture on the psychology of the concentration camp! All that oppressed me at that moment became objective, seen and described from the remote viewpoint of science.

By this method I succeeded somehow in rising above the situation, above the sufferings of the moment, and I observed them as if they were already of the past. Both I and my troubles became the object of an interesting psychoscientific study undertaken by myself. What does Spinoza say in his Ethics? -- "Affectus, qui passio est, desinit esse passio simulatque eius claram et distinctam formamus ideam." Emotion, which is suffering, ceases to be suffering as soon as we form a clear and precise picture of it.

The prisoner who had lost faith in the future -- his future -- was doomed. With his loss of belief in the future, he also lost his spiritual hold; he let himself decline and became subject to mental and physical decay. - Viktor Frankl Man's Search for Meaning

Attention: Small business owner or struggling salesperson

Are you sick and tired of looking at the wall while making phone call after phone call, only to find no prospect wants to talk to you about your offering?

Are you an experienced business owner or salesperson that used to generate business by knocking on doors or shaking hands at networking functions? Do you find that somehow in today's fast-paced world that's not working for you?

So are you ready to try something different?

Here’s a valuable FREE gift, from me to you:

Visit a coffee shop close to your office. Or perhaps stop by a popular mom and pop restaurant. Think of any place you know where the patrons of a business are prospects that you would like to obtain as new customers. Envision yourself visiting a location wherein its customer base might have a need your product/service can meet or exceed.

And when you visited one of these places that you know has clientele that you wish to serve, approach the manager and offer them $200 (or whatever amount you want). Read on.

Here’s a example: have the coffee shop manager agree that you'll pay $200 worth of coffee for the next 35-40 people that walk in. The only stipulation is that the manager allows you to: 1: say hello to the patrons, 2: tell them that the coffee is on you today and 3: share your business card with them AFTER they give you permission to hand them the card.

Don't shove your card on them. They will smell your commission breath. Just have fun. Don't be pushy. Be personable!

Now slow down and honestly think about this: if you casually shook hands with 35-40 people in this laid-back environment that you created for yourself, how many of these people will eventually become your client? One person? Two people? Perhaps more? I’d be willing to bet that just one new customer is worth more than $200. Over the course of your career you probably have spent thousands of dollars on advertising and marketing.  Most of it probably did not work.

This does work–try it now! And by the way, you have my permission to send me $200 or at least your story about how this simple concept worked for you.

Until next time...I wish you Peace, Love and Gumbo!

"Forget success - Focus on Significance!"

 

Marvin LeBlanc, LUTCF, CNP
Marvelous Performance Systems
Amazon Best Selling Author
Workshop/Seminar/Keynote Speaker
Private Coaching - Limited Availability

How many engaging conversations will you have this month with those successful entrepreneurs in your top 200 (or top 20%)?

What we're talking about is making a simple commitment to identify your top clients and get in front of them. Drink a cup of coffee with them. I would strongly suggest to not setting an unrealistic goal. If you haven't been terribly engaged, start with one person in your top 200 (20%) every day. Just one person. You'll end up with 20 customers that you've seen by the end of the month because the average month only has about 20 business days in it anyhow.

Conversations make a very important element in making effective business agreements. Every transaction or business contract can only be reached through a conversation. Many corporations make business communication a requisite training to all their employees. Sales people and insurance agents are professionals who are involved constantly in negotiations or making business deals. Business meetings could be quite disastrous if not adequately planned. When planning to meet a potential client or partner, one has to adequately prepare. There are a number of things that should be considered. Having a checklist would be an effective way to ensure crucial insights are discussed.

Having a good conversation requires careful planning. Following simple guidelines can be an effective way to ensure your target is well engaged and you get the best out of the meeting. Most business leaders, insurance agents and entrepreneurs have to develop great business communication skills to enable them to build relationships, attract new customers and access funding.

Understand your target

To develop a good and engaging communication one should clearly understand the audience. The audience can be a single individual or a group of many people. Having a clear picture of what such a target would need is very necessary. Key questions that will reveal if a person or entity is a qualified prospect for your product or service offering is always well worth the time spent.

Ask many questions

These are very important because they give the other person an opportunity to talk about him or herself. This can be a very effective way of getting to understand and know the other party. Listen attentively as the person answers such questions and continue probing if necessary. It is important that you remain polite and direct. Most people would love to talk about their interests, goals and passions. The rule of thumb dictates that the initial questions be very generic and light then one can continue inquiring about issues that are more specific. Your interests should be as genuine as possible. This can be done by maintaining eye contact and appropriate body language.

Active listening

Listening is an aspect that is often forgotten in many conversations. It is important that one should listen when the other person is talking. Listening helps one develop the appropriate questions and other relevant issues about the conversation. Active listening can help one paraphrase some ideas or issues. Such aspect sends important insights to the other party that one is actually listening. It also encourages the other person to talk more.

Remember:

“LISTENING IS NOT – WAITING TO TALK!”

Concentrate

When talking with other people it is important to be focused on what the dialogue is all about. Most people would be so distracted by other issues like how they are dressed and the appearance of the other person. Such issues would only draw one away from the dialogue and in a short while, the conversation will certainly break down. In essence, it is important that people forget about themselves and concentrate on whatever the conversation is all about.

Disagree with respect

It is a common phenomenon for people to disagree on one or two issues while having a discussion. This is indeed a critical point of any conversation as it may break or make the conversation continue. The way one shows disagreement may greatly affect the conversation. Some people may opt to walk out of the talk or show disrespect. It is important that people who are involved in business politely and with lots of respect raise a point of concern.

 

Marvin LeBlanc, LUTCF, CNP

Entrepreneur - Best Selling Author - Leadership Coach

National Member of the National Speakers Association

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I stay continually amazed at how clueless many managers are about what their team member’s want, yet they have been managers for years.  Ask questions of your team members and then listen to their responses.  The vision is for the team to have one heartbeat.

When put in charge, take charge. and have the courage to do the right thing.  Continue to show appreciation to your team.

Courage is not passing it off or acting cowardly. Courage is taking the necessary action steps to get to a worthwhile goal.

Make a commitment to the goal and make a commitment to get better. Taking risks is OK, too.  Players who take no risks usually lose. Don’t let your ego get in the way.

Leadership is essentially the ability to lead, inspire, and influence. Leadership must define the talent. Leadership and teamwork are intertwined. You are the leader of your team, so lead by example and don’t expect your team to carry you.

The following few easy actions can help you maximize the output from your team:

• Hire the right people  (discussed below). People won’t burn out if: they are the right people, if they are open to training, and if you continue teaching them.
• Utilize   their   strengths.   Maximize   everyone’s talents through leverage, training, expectations, accountability, consequences, and empowerment. Realize that very rarely does the true core of a person ever change.  Sadly many managers tend to manage around their team members' weaknesses. Avoid this tendency & forever strive to manage around a team members' strengths.
•  Train.  Hold frequent training sessions as often as is necessary. Start and end on time. Have an agenda and get to the point. Aim for most training sessions to only last 30-60 minutes. An employee cannot do their job if the leaders, trainers and managers do not clearly articulate what is expected.

   

One last important point. When you are in a leadership role, it is inevitable that you will get exhausted with needing to constantly repeat the same message over and over. “Surely they don’t need to hear me say the same thing over and over again”.  INCORRECT - surely they do! It’s been my experience that a large part of the workforce do want to be told over and over, because they don’t want the responsibility to get involved with higher levels of thinking and decision making.

The insurance practitioner and the small business owner are both entrepreneurs. Small business owners have to wear many hats: salesman, leader, marketer, fiscal manager, the list goes on. The same goes for the insurance practitioner. The challenge is knowing when to wear what hat.

As a Cajun might say, "This is an almost, mostly true story..."

A Yankee was lost on the beautiful, meandering south Louisiana bayou called Blind River, right by Lake Ponchartrain Basin and the Bonnet Carre Spillway.  With cypress trees on every side, the Yankee pulled up to the  front of the Whitey Duplessis's river camp and hears the darndest moaning and groaning from Bones, Whitey's Catahoula hound dog. 

The Yankee asks Whitey, "excuse me sir,  what's wrong with your dog?"

Whitey said to him, "Well, there's nuttin' wrong with my dog.  Why you ax' dat question?"

The Yankee asked him again, "Whitey, that dog's moaning and groaning is really bothering me.  Can you please tell me what's wrong with that dog?"

Old Whitey leans over to the Yankee and says "Well, to be honest, wit' you, he's lyin' himself down on a sharp nail.  And you see it's hurtin' him.  But it doesn't hurt him quite enough to make him move and get up!" 

The point of the story is that like that Catahoula hound dog, I was laying on that "sharp nail" in 2004, and just didn't quite realize it yet. 

We were all Catahoula hounds, waiting for the storm. 

 

I ask salespeople, "Can you define what sales are?" Have you ever looked up the word sales in the dictionary?" Never in my speaking career has anyone in my audiences responded to me with the correct root word of sales.  We can spend our whole life working in sales and yet not know its origin.  That astounds me.  So here it is. 

It comes from sellan, an Old English  root word  meaning to give. It doesn't mean to take, or to sell door-to-door like a charlatan.  It doesn't mean to connive or to manipulate.  If everybody really knew what real salesmanship was about, they would understand that real salesmanship is about real "give-manship" first.  We've got so many people living in this capitalistic society who are so involved in me, me, me.  Nobody really gives a hoot about what you want until you help them with what they want.  Thank you to Lefty Lefton for this revelation. 

We have to answer the question of the prospective buyer: "What's in it for me?" We have to make it all about them. It's a sick altruistic turn if you really think about it.  It you satisfy them first, you're going to get enough of what you want. You're going to have to wait. 

It's kind of like good gumbo.  You have to bring that gumbo up to a boil. then you have to slow it down, and you can't rush it. If you rush it, you will burn the heck out of the bottom of the pot, and the gumbo will taste starch. You have to have a little patience. You put that gumbo on a low fire and you wait.  It's like one-day-old wine.  Nobody drinks one-day-old wine or one-day-old Jack Daniels. It's not good until later. It's the same way with sales. We have to wait.  We can't be so self-consumed with paying our rent and our bills that we don't stop and ask some good questions. 

So remember you have to make it about them, not you.  Share with me an incident where you put the prospect first.  

Peace, Love and Gumbo, 

Marvin LeBlanc LUTCF, CNP