Small Business Leadership and Sales Blog

I’ve been going to Manresa Retreat House www.ManresaLa.org since I was 17.  There was a Jesuit priest there – Reverend William Topmoeller – a big guy who looked like a tight end for the New Orleans Saints. He had a huge stomach, much like my grandfather, the devout Hendrick LeBlanc. 

Yes, his stomach, the size of a woman eight months pregnant wanting desperately to complete her last trimester.  So this baldheaded guy with big thick glasses stood up at the alter and it was real quiet.  He took a big, deep breath and he yelled at us – scared me to death – and he said, “There is a God and it ain’t you”

That was 15 years ago.  I got the chills.  He knew what he was doing because we probably needed to be slapped out of our state of thinking that it’s all about us.

When a sales professional is thinking about his commissions before he even makes the presentation that isn't going in the right direction.  The customers can feel it. They can’t explain why they didn’t buy from that sales professional, but they pick up  a bad vibe – nonverbal negativity.

It’s similar to what your parents told you – respect that gut level feeling and move away.  Buyers are the same way. They respect their natural instinct to say that something they can’t explain isn’t right.  It’s because too many people in sales don’t understand what selling is about. 

Once you understand sales you can have much more success in your business and in life.  

Notice the title says fact-finding conversations, not fact-finding appointment. As insurance and financial services professionals, we certainly want to work by appointment. However, it is not more appointments we need, but more conversations.

1. Forget appointments.

You can have many more conversations than you can have appointments.

The old way of thinking is: I must see three appointments a day, or I will not succeed. We were all trained this way. Relax. It's not your fault. This way of thinking used to work. But things have changed, and we must change our thinking about how to be successful.

Try thinking along the lines of: I must have one informal fact-finding conversation for every hour I work.

Well, Marvin, what's the difference between an appointment and a conversation? And why is this important to me?

People don't want to come in to see you for an appointment. People don't want you to come see them for an appointment either.

You may be using too many old think techniques. Of the licensed professionals in my Marvelous Performance Schools, 65% do not have an internet presence, personal blog, Web site or LinkedIn account. These are the people wondering why they are struggling to meet their goals. They are stuck using old thinking methods that are not working. (By the way, did you know 100% of Fortune 500 executives have a LinkedIn account? You can connect with them in groups on LinkedIn. But this only works if you are actively using LinkedIn.)

Here's the solution: Conduct informal fact-finding conversations when the opportunity presents itself. Not only when you have an appointment.

Example scenarios that happen every day (and much more frequently than the number of appointments you are conducting daily):

1. Your current client calls your office with a service question.

2. Your current client emails you with a service question.

3. You run into your client at a coffee shop, school function, church function or community function.

Are you seeing more opportunities yet? What other scenarios can you think of that I've not mentioned?

We live in a world that has more opportunities than at any other time in our careers. And I've been in this industry since 1987.

2. Stop selling products.

Our customers and prospects require us to engage with them much differently today. Old think continues to work less and less effectively. Most of the companies you represent are also still stuck in old think. If I see another company-produced product brochure, I think I will be nauseated. We don't sell products; we sell benefits. Nobody goes to the hardware store because they want to buy a drill. They go to the hardware store because they want a hole that the drill will give them.

3. Start asking questions.

Try this: "Mr. (Customer), may I ask you a question?"

Most people will allow you to ask them a question--the key is that you must be prepared with the first question. You may have some great questions that you prefer over my own, but if you want access to the questions I use, please visit www.marvinleblanc.com/LIS to download a free copy of "The 21 Interest Bearing Questions."

If you're on the phone with the customer, simply start at the top and read the question to the caller. If you have a chance encounter with a customer, you literally can pull out the sheet and read it to them.

Or try saying: "Mr. (Customer), we don't have the answers to all these questions. I need this completed." Hand them the sheet of questions. They can email or fax it back to you. You should plan to follow up with them until you get the sheet back. After all, a customer should give you their spirit of cooperation.

You might be saying, "Well Marvin, my clients are more sophisticated than that." Not true. The more intelligent they are, the more they need you to simplify the process. They may be an expert in their area, but they are not the expert in your area. You are.

Here's your call to action:

1. Carefully review the 3 key points I just gave you.

2. Honestly try the ideas presented here for 21 straight days.

3. Track your progress.

4. Think simple.

5. Think differently.

6. Think conversations, not appointments.

Last week, we covered the first two major thought questions pertaining to finding your hidden money. The core subject we are covering is internal marketing. Internal marketing is the process of finding your future hidden money inside your existing business.

Here are two additional thought questions around internal marketing:

In your business, are you primarily grabbing just the low-hanging fruit?

Close your eyes and think with me for a moment. If you were hungry and standing at the bottom of an apple tree right now, are you immediately going to leave the apple tree to go look for a ladder? Of course not. You would simply and conveniently grab the low-hanging fruit -- the apples that are hanging the lowest to the ground and the easiest to grab.

Be careful with overusing this approach in your business. We might be spending so much time picking low-hanging fruit in our business that we no longer focus on the high-level, more profitable fruit. Why do we do this? Because it's easier; it's comfortable.

Many producers (and companies, too) stay in a certain market because they don't feel they're worth more. But take courage and stretch! Upwards! Higher!

Don't get confused. I am not saying that you shouldn't pick any of the low-hanging fruit.

I am saying pick the low hanging fruit and keep the ladder handy for other opportunities. Don't get lazy. Remember that picking low-hanging fruit is a complacent, low-energy, passive activity. Picking high-ladder fruit is a strategic, high-energy proactive activity.

The low-hanging fruit will not always be readily available. To prevent large slumps, another diversified strategy must be implemented that will allow you to bring in revenue and use sales volume from a different source.

- Consider identifying a niche market in your area, one that is either not being served by you at all or that's currently being served by a competitor and you know you can do better than that competitor.

- Consider assigning some of your team members to picking the low-hanging fruit. Others may be specialized and held accountable to focus on harvesting "high fruit." If I spoke to all your team members separately, would they all clearly know who is responsible for what? That kind of clarity is a big part of gaining team focus. To sustain growth, your business model will need to have that type of balance and agility.

- Remember the Titanic. You remember that huge boat that no one ever thought would sink. Well it sunk. What sank the Titanic was not the ice they could see. It was the ice that they could not see, the ice they didn't anticipate or plan for. So many people died that day because they did not have enough ladders to get into the rescue boats. Plan to have your ladder with you and available at all times in your business. Because you and your company will die if you do not have other sustainable alternatives.

What are you doing to build quality relationships with every customer?

I hear people say all the time, "Well, Marvin, we treat everybody special." Okay. I hope that's working for you. Everybody does want to feel special. Can we focus on something even more special?

Customers want individual attention, and they want to feel significant. They want you to know the details of their life. James Dobson, who has a program called Focus on the Family, once said, "The more you know the details of a child's life, the more the child feels significant." Well it's the same with your customers.

Do you know the deeper details of your clients' lives? Past that first sale, folks. Deeper than that.

Those deep details are the fiber of quality relationships. And quality relationships are where trackable referrals come from.

There was a special man I met in 1988. His name was Dr. Ralph Dauterive. Dauterive is now a retired dentist and was one of the most influential community leaders that St. Bernard Parish ever had in its entire history. When he would embrace me, he would look deep into my eyes. He would hold my hand with both of his hands. He always made me feel so special.

Obviously, it was Dauterive who got me heavily involved in the St. Bernard Kiwanis Club back in the late '80s. When he would walk into a restaurant, he would shake every table's hand. Not just one person. He was an amazing individual. He still is an amazing individual. He is a giver. He is not a taker.

Your clients will renew and refer other business because they have a good perception of you as being significant in their lives. And because they have a good perception of your team. The customer's perception of good or bad service is the measure of your success or failure. In the end, customer perception, not your perception of what the customer thinks, is all that matters.

I would strongly encourage you to really explore how well you and your team are currently responding to customers' expectations. When was the last time you probed your clients on how they felt about you and your team? You can get some amazing feedback if you have the courage to ask.

Until next time, stay committed to making marvelous happen!

How can I Build Quality Relationships with Each Customer?

No business establishment can make it far without quality relationships with each customer. However, establishing these quality relationships with each customer does not come easily. One is required to have specific attributes or techniques that will keep the customers always wanting to come back to your business.

Thoughts to Steer By

As a business a person, are you and your team passionate about what you are doing?

Is your team conveying that you are competent enough to handle their concerns?

In every aspect of your direct contact with the client, make sure that you bring out the professionalism that is in you. It is good that you show some “strictness” in your work.

Be purposeful. Be valuable. Follow a coherent system. Your system should put the client at ease. They want to know that “you” know where you are going.

For instance, keep working on avoiding “gabble” talks. (Keep the small talk, small. Short. The 2-hour appointment is becoming more and more rare. The attention span of my clients is very short. I suspect your clients can’t sit still and listen that long either.)

Another aspect of creating quality relationships with each customer is by being friendly with them. It is important that you put on a happy face. Your mood will influence the direction of the meeting or interaction. Be sure to shake their hand and look directly into their eyes while addressing them. This is a clear indication to your client that you are concerned about them and giving them all the attention that they require. This gives them confidence in you and they will be more willing to conduct future business with you.

Customers will always gravitate toward the person who is capable of resolving their problem. You must establish trust in the relationship and always ask open-ended probing questions. Allowing them to talk will help you to know what the client has in mind and how they feel about the product. After talking with them (oftentimes more than once) you should be in a position to come up with the best way of meeting their needs effectively and ensuring that the good relationship is maintained between the two of you.

You should not rush into having them trust you but rather let it grow. This takes patience and time. Simple things that some people tend to ignore can gain trust. For instance, you can choose to ignore or act upon your customer’s feedback or comments. Showing them that you care about their feedback and comments goes a long way toward building trust.

How do we continue to make our clients feel special?

Answer: By learning about their likes, dislikes and preferences. Sending them a sample of a great coffee you found only works if they are coffee drinkers.

You should always remember that each client desires individualized attention. One size hardly ever “fits all”. Especially when you are doing business with someone. When people authentically feel special, they are more likely to do business with you and refer you to new people.

A referral is the highest compliment a customer can give you. And you are receiving that referral because you “EARNED” it! Be thankful and acknowledge the referral. It is a big deal!

Keep BUILDING!

Keep finding more ways to be – MARVELOUS!  Click below to stay connected to our content, product specials and new articles! 

 Is your attitude of helpfulness and willing to jump in noticeable by all?

What does your team think of your attitude?

"What does your team think of your attitude?" is kind of a personal issue since attitude is a person's choice in response to a situation or a thing. Every person is entitled to his or her opinion. But since teamwork calls for a quality attitude, then each team member has no choice. Or do they? A positive or negative attitude towards a person, thing, place, event, ideas, and others is a form of judgment. It is greatly influenced by the person's upbringing, environment, education and social interactions. Attitude is not permanent and it can be changed. Social influences can change a person's attitude and therefore, communication is vital.

A person's attitude may vary depending on what they are dealing with. This forms the individual's character traits. Self-esteem, experiences and principles in life can serve as a guide to be consistent and help you project a positive attitude towards people, work and their environment.

Attitude is one vital trait that can be formed but cannot be destroyed without your consent. You do have control over it. How you respond to the daily challenges and circumstances of life you are presented with is always your choice.

Teamwork will succeed if members among the team make it work. The team will benefit if everyone's willing to cooperate and share the same goal. Your attitude is important to your team and what they think about your attitude likewise is important. To avoid misunderstanding and disagreement, it is vital to know your own positive and negative attitudes when dealing with people while at work or at home. Inappropriate attitudes cause work & family rifts, party division and political faction.

Attitude can:
* project a kind of leadership
* hold and bind people together
* inspire people to work and execute together
* empower people plan and achieve together as a team
* influence, attract and lure people to communicate, respond and cooperate.

Memorize this quote. Tape it to your dashboard in your car or on your refrigerator. Do whatever it takes to allow these words to sink into your soul.

“Right attitude will always carry you to the right place, the right people and at the right time.” – Marvin LeBlanc (Author – Come Hell or High Water – Life Lessons from Hurricane Katrina)

Welcome back Marvelous Performers!

Today I am honored to have Frank C. “Chip” Etier contribute his unique views and insights – “Come Hell or High Water”. Chip is a father, husband, photographer, high school football official, author and frequent contributor at the popular Examiner.com. Chip has “been there and done that” and reinvented himself several times. Enjoy his opinions here and make sure we hear YOURS. As always, we love your feedback. It’s the very essence of why blogging is so popular.

Peace, Love and Gumbo!
Marvin LeBlanc

During the mid to late seventies, I knew a man for whom I had a great deal of respect. He suffered a personal and business disaster when a close friend suddenly turned on him and the business eventually closed. In the depths of a quagmire that would be the undoing of many, he bounced back and within a month was busy building a new business with new partners.

"How did you manage such a timely and dramatic turnaround?" I asked him.

Roy Tauzin, who was at the time, my father-in-law (and is now deceased), said without hesitation, “The worst possible thing that could happen to you, might turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to you -- if you don’t let it get you down.” It didn't get him down, and I've never forgotten.

In 1984, a young man came to work for a sales company with me and made quite an impression.

Never had I met anyone with such a strong desire to succeed.

Never had I met anyone with such a focused obsession for persistence.

Come Hell or High Water is Marvin LeBlanc's book that tells his story of how hurricane Katrina might have been the worst possible thing that could happen for him, his family, and his career. It is also the story of how he refused to allow that to happen.

Never have I seen such a fine example of Mr. Tauzin's comment played out.

By mid 1988, Marvin and I had gone our separate ways and continued our careers. He was a rapidly rising star with State Farm Insurance in St. Bernard Parish, near New Orleans. His career was on the verge of a quantum leap into sales stardom when Katrina hit.

One of the traits that Marvin LeBlanc has, that makes him such a great salesman, is the ability to get his listeners to experience the same emotions he has had, while maintaining control of his own. His clients trust him. His team is loyal. Together, since Katrina, they have achieved the coveted Chairman's Circle twice at State Farm.

Readers will find LeBlanc's book to be not only emotional and informative, but inspirational as well. When bad things happen to you, you can overcome them as well. LeBlanc shows you how. Photographs by Joshua Lee accompany the text and depict scenes of the destruction as well as the reactions of the survivors.

Come Hell or High Water is available on this site, and from Amazon as a paperback or Kindle version.

Book review written by Chip Etier.  For more infomation about Chip please click here. 

What the heck are you talking about this week, Marvin?

I'm talking about a simple tip to COMPLETE more projects.

Did you know that your biggest "time management" issues can be solved for $2.99?
Yep, all you need to do is buy an old fashioned egg timer at the dollar store.

Here's how you are going to start using it, (just as soon as you finish reading this article then emailing the article to 3 or 4 of your good friends that are always late and always griping about the stuff they never get done).

Premise: there are very few people that can focus their attention on one particular project or task for longer than 30 minutes without getting distracted or looking to be distracted.

So don't fight it. Work WITH it!

Strategy: put an egg-timer on your desk.

• set it for 25 minutes
• work only on the task that you have determined that is important in this "25 minute" appointment.
• avoid any eye contact with others
• turn your cell phone off or put it on silent. (don't fight me here. the world will keep on revolving during this 25 minute segment. Besides, you're not quite as important as you give yourself credit for)
• lock your office door (if you're in an office)
• notify your co-workers you are in a "conference/meeting/appointment". Because you are!! You've made an appointment to meet with yourself to confer and COMPLETE SOMETHING!!

Would you please complete a project so you can feel the excitement and self-confidence that only comes from GETTING IT DONE?

Why 25 minutes? Because at the end of 25 minutes, that particular session is over. Now you can go get some coffee, make a run to the restroom or follow-up with a co-worker or customer.

Observation: until you've really monitored your behavior, you cannot imagine the number of times you are interrupted in a typical work day. Sadly, most of us are guilty of being the person that is actually DOING the interrupting.

Oh I see, you're reading this article thinking you are not the interrupter. Well, be sure to read my next blog post because it will expose some of your own disruptive behaviors. It's a great time saving tool and it won't even cost $2.99.

Call to action: go buy that egg-timer and try this idea. Be sure to pass on your experiences with this idea to me at Marvin@MarvinLeBlanc.com.  Please pass this on to a friend, co-worker or colleague! 

Until next time.

Be Marvelous!

The habit of focus is an ongoing process. It is about regularly redefining what is important and saying NO to what is not important. Marvelous performance is the result of the cultivated and intentional habit of focus.

You should always be free to express your feelings and emotions. Before taking on a project think of whether or not you can do the job, and more importantly if you can do it in the time frame required. Can you meet the deadline? Always focus on your priorities and clear your mind before taking on too many projects.

Do you find you can’t meet deadlines? Have you ever listed out all of your priorities and then politely said NO to the less prioritized work? Remember, it’s not necessary to say yes all of the time and it’s not that difficult to say NO. You just need to realize that you can’t do the job. Saying NO will help you stay stress-free and not only successfully complete all your other more pertinent jobs, but complete them on time.

You should know that time is precious and in some cases, “time is money”. When some work is not contributing to your growth and is mostly a time-waster, you need to have the courage to say NO.

Make sure that you limit yourself from wasting your time and getting distracted due to unimportant tasks. Make your priorities clear and always develop boundaries so that you don’t get distracted! Staying away from distractions helps you concentrate and focus on your most important work.

This habit of focus will help you concentrate more on your work and complete your goals successfully by the deadline. Having strong work habits will help you increase your productivity and meet deadlines.

One of the biggest distractions in today’s business world is the addiction of social networking and website browsing at work. Your favorite websites will tempt you to get distracted and check for updates throughout your day. You need to keep in mind that you have to carve out time for these activities, but only after your work is complete.

Focusing on things you are passionate about will help you in your professional growth, but you must say NO to things that don’t help your growth. Initially your priority should be working on things that you passionately feel compelled to complete. If you are enthusiastic to do a job, then you are more compelled to accomplish it in order to achieve your goals. Employ the habit of focus to achieve those things that you passionately want to accomplish.

Initially when you start implementing the habit of focus, you might find it difficult to stick to it. But gradually you’ll find that life is more difficult without this important habit of focus. More and more distractions or interruptions will create more complications in your life and invite stress into your life. Focus on lessening the interruptions and increasing your work time and attention.

The habit of focus is and on going process and it doesn’t stop. There is no end to this procedure. Practice saying “no”, practice keeping distractions to a minimum, and always work toward being more focused.

Think of this analogy:
We don't buy eyeglasses because we want eyeglasses.
We buy eyeglasses because our "vision needs to be focused".
Most people can "get by" without the eyeglasses, but it will be more difficult.
You can "get by" without the Habit of Focus, but it will be more difficult.
So I'm perplexed, why do we "get" the eyeglasses, but we don't "get" the Habit of Focus?

In small business and in life, I have found that we go through three phases of attitude. * The first is excitement. The second is frustration, and the third is recommitment. During and after Hurricane Katrina, all of New Orleans sank deeply into the frustration phase, myself included. There are six sub-phases of frustration that everyone in my business and personal life were experiencing:

1. Shock
2. Denial
3. Fear
4. Anger
5. Justification
6. Acceptance

1. Shock is the first sub-phase of frustration. You are going to be shocked at the realization that it’s possible you’re going to be hit with another hurricane. Intellectually, you know good and well that the possibility exists, but when you see that icon again, you’re still going to be shocked. It’s amazing how many people live with the mentality of “that could never happen to me” even when it HAS happened to them before. It is easier to not focus on the adversity which is why you are shocked when the hurricane hits.Today’s article will focus on the first three sub-phases, shock, denial and fear.

2. Denial comes next. You deny that the weatherman could possibly be correct. What are the chances we’ll have another Betsy or another Katrina? This may sound humorous, but there are people who have lost everything and still believe that New Orleans and the surrounding areas will be spared in a future hurricane. I find that absolutely amazing. Never having another Category Five hurricane hitting New Orleans not only defies my logic, it defies all science.

3. Fear is the third sub-phase of frustration. You say, “My goodness, what if this weatherman is telling the truth? What if we really are going to stay in the funnel and get hit?” Fear is not something anyone likes to feel or even admit to feeling. If you are fearful, sometimes you revert back to “denial” in an effort to hide your fear.

Regardless of the stage of attitude you are at it is imperative to remember these three things:
• Don’t play the victim.
• Don’t play the blame game.
• Own it!

If you are reading this blog and were not involved in Hurricane Katrina can you think back in your life and determine what your “Katrina” moment was? How did you respond? If it was a defining moment for you as Katrina was for me, it is probably something you carry with you each and every day.

Learning to channel your energy after adversity is a gift and takes work.
I love helping people see the good, find motivation and be successful in business and in life! Join me for a and let’s make Marvelous happen in your life!

Peace, Love and Gumbo! 
Marvin LeBlanc LUTCF CNP

* Content adopted from Jim Winner author of Split Second Choice, the power of Attitude. 

Entrepreneurship is not child’s play. You will need a business mind with an eye for finesse and acumen to avoid all the pitfalls of managing a business venture on your own. Following is a list of guidelines that should be in every entrepreneur’s arsenal in order to be successful. Without engaging in these guidelines, insufficient foresight can flush all your hard work and efforts down the drain.

• The first and perhaps the most important thing that every entrepreneur should bear in mind is that regardless of what you do you will end up needing twice the amount of capital that you have projected for your business. Perhaps this is due to the fact that your budget forecasts might have had a shortfall because you had failed to see a few costs or had just omitted them as not applicable to your concern. However, be ready with extra cash to support any financing needs that may arise.

• Relentless passion for your work is a prerequisite to a successful entrepreneurial venture. No matter how passionate you are about your work or how ardently you undertake each and every project, trust me it won’t be enough at the end of the day. You will always end up with the realization that had you put in more hard work, things would have worked out just right. The one thing that can assure your success is authentic,sincere zeal for perseverance.

• Human capital is that asset, which has the power to make or break your business. Therefore, you should put your utmost effort and time in cultivating the 100 best customers in your company, as those are the people that pave the path to success. Catering to your human resources will bring in better business results than any promotional activity can.

• Most importantly, as an entrepreneur you need to digest the fact that your business venture will be the toughest thing that you would have had undertaken in your whole life. You will be drained out of energy and resources, and will be constantly running to make sure that everything is going on in a smooth flow. Remember, your relationships will be under a lot of strain as most of the time you will be busy with the business management. Your family relations will be extremely strained. Weak supporters will opt out of your life.

• Lastly, if you have the perception that like everybody else you can wrap up work and go home at 5 pm then you will be better off staying as an employee for someone else. Keep a job rather than running a business. To achieve greatness and sustainability in entrepreneurship you will have to put in all that you have and more.