3 Business Lessons, Courtesy of American Idol

OK.  I admit it.  I’m a huge fan of American Idol.  I haven’t missed an episode since Season 3, and it’s not likely I’ll lose interest anytime soon. I don’t care what anyone says: it’s just great entertainment.  And since it’s (finally!) Idol season, I thought I’d share three business lessons I’ve learned from AI over the years.

#1: Know who you are

One of the things we’ve heard over and over from the judges is “you need to figure out who you really are”.  In other words, the contestants need to be able to take someone else’s music and sing it like it was their own, to give it their own unique brand.  And there’s business lesson #1.

I don’t know what business you’re in, but I’d be willing to bet that the product or service you sell is available somewhere else at a lower price.  That’s OK; a lot of bands make a great living playing covers.  But every now and then, along comes a singer or a band who can make a cover sound like an original.

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Why Having a Written Business Plan Is Essential to Your Success

You’ve probably heard before that, in order to really have success in business, you need a written business plan.  Trouble is, most small business owners and entrepreneurs don’t take the time to create one.  They see it as something that’s only important if you’re looking for a loan or trying to raise venture capital.  That’s a fatal mistake in many businesses.

I recently co-authored a free report called 6 Mistakes That Could Destroy Your Business - And How You Can Avoid Them (107).  Please click on the link to get your copy now.  And don’t worry: there are no strings attached. 

I hope you enjoy the report and, more importantly, I hope you take some action on it.  Just like you can’t build a sturdy house without a well-drawn blueprint, you can’t build a successful business without a well-thought out, written business plan!

The Ethical Salesperson: More Than a Myth?

In the last post, we talked about the importance of being a humble HERO.  Hopefully, you’ve had a chance to observe the effects of humility in your sales day.  So let’s move on to the next characteristic on the list of HERO traits: ethical behavior.

Should we call out the Myth Busters or the folks at Coast to Coast AM?  After all, there’s no such thing as an ethical salesperson, right?  Wouldn’t you expect to see something like that in the same room as Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster?  Strange as it might sound, I want to assure you that there are, in fact, a lot of ethical salespeople out there; we’re doing our best to make sure there are many more.

How can I say that, though, when most of us have been manipulated by a salesperson into buying something we didn’t really want or need, followed almost immediately by feelings of “buyer’s remorse”?  What about all of the people feeling this pain right now as they see their mortgage payments double, all because an unethical mortgage salesperson talked them into buying a product that really wasn’t right for them?  Unfortunate as these encounters are, I’d like to think they are the exception, not the rule.  They just happen to stick in our memories for a lot longer than the good experiences we’ve had.  So how can you be sure you are an ethical salesperson, a true HERO of the economy?

First, understand that being ethical means doing the right thing for your customer, always.  No questions, no hesitation.  You just do the right thing.  This can be difficult at times, especially when the right thing to do is to not sell your product to the customer in front of you.  Being ethical means having the courage to say “You know, I really don’t think this a good fit for your situation” and to refer them to someone else, even a competitor, who can help.  The reward, though, is immense.  Not only will you sleep better at night, you’ll probably also get great referral business from that person.

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Why Be Humble?

After reading yesterday’s post, “What Is HERO Selling?“, my friend Skip Anderson asked the question, “Why is being humble important?”  That’s a great question, and I’ll attempt to provide a satisfactory answer in today’s post.  After you read it, let me know what you think by leaving your comments below.

One of the first things you’ll notice when you deal with a HERO salesperson is that he or she is humble.  Actually, you won’t so much notice the humility as you will notice the lack of it’s opposite: arrogance.  While many of the salespeople you are used to dealing with are, for the most part, arrogant know-it-alls, the HERO is noticeably different.  How, though, is being  humble an advantage in your sales career?

Well, think about that arrogant salesperson for a moment.  How do you, as a consumer, feel when someone shows up at your door to show you a “better way” of doing things using their product or service, then implies that if you don’t buy TODAY, you’re an idiot?  It puts you off a little, doesn’t it?  After all, you were doing just fine before this so-and-so showed up, and you’re pretty sure you’ll continue to do okay without him and his widget.  So then, here’s the question: how do your customers feel when you insist that your product or service is a “better way” of doing things in their business?

You get the point.  Implying, let alone saying outright, that you know better than your customer is a sure-fire way to get their hackles up.  This isn’t to say that your product or service isn’t a better solution for the customer’s need.  You just can’t say that it is.  You have to lead your prospects to arrive at that conclusion on their own.  How do you, the HERO, do that?

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What Is HERO Selling?

Simply stated, HERO Selling requires the salesperson to be Humble, Ethical, Responsible and Optimistic.  I know that’s not the way most people are used to thinking of those in sales, but my mission is to make a believer of you.

You see, the reason you don’t think HERO is an accurate description of a salesperson is that precious few salespeople actually behave that way on a consistent basis.  But here’s a secret: the best ones do!! In fact, you’ve probably encountered many of these HEROs and weren’t even aware that you were being sold to.  Truth be told, you weren’t actually being sold to, at least not in the sense that the word has come to mean (i.e. being coerced to buy something against your will).  The HERO wasn’t selling so much as he or she was making it comfortable for you to buy.  And that, my friends, is the key to being a HERO.

More than anything, what the economy needs right now is for more people to feel comfortable buying again.  At the moment, people in general are very reluctant to part with any of their money out of fear for the day when they won’t have anymore to spend.  What happens if this trend continues? More shrinkage, more cutbacks, and even more bad news. What the world needs now is consumers, and it’s up to the salespeople of the world to gently coax them out of their shells.

Does this mean that I think salespeople should be trying to convince people to buy things they don’t need or can’t afford?  No.  All we have to do is look at the mortgage crisis to see where that kind of behavior leads.  What I do mean is that we, the salespeople of the world, have to make it OK for people to buy the things they do want, need and can afford.  And we need to do it now!

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Why You Don't Like Salespeople

Whenever I have the chance to speak to groups, I always start by asking the following question: “Who loves salespeople?” You might be surprised to find (or maybe you won’t be) that I’m often the only person in the room with my hand raised. This has even happened when I’m speaking to groups composed entirely of salespeople! Why is that the case?

For the most part, people really, really hate to be sold to. Think of the last time someone tried to sell something to you; did you enjoy the experience? Even if you were there specifically to buy something, the answer is probably “No”. There is just something about being sold to that sets off a defensive reaction. We feel that if we’re not careful, we’re going to be taken advantage of. Salespeople, on the whole, have a nasty reputation. That said, you might find what I’m about to say a little offensive: no matter what you do, you are in sales, or at the very least, sales adjacent!

That’s right: no matter what line of work you are in, if you provide a product or a service that other people pay you for, you are either in sales or a sales support role. Bottom line. No arguments to the contrary will be accepted. Selling is the primary function of business. Think about it: if you don’t sell anything, can you really say you’re in business?

So we’ve got a bit of a dilemma: no one, including you, likes to be sold to; at the same time, without sales you have no business. How can you reconcile this quandary? That’s where HERO Selling comes in. You see, the reason no one likes to be sold to and that everyone hates salespeople is simple: many “traditional” selling methods (and the salespeople who still use them) are offensive, brutish and outdated. You know the routine:

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Information Overload and the End of the Recession

With the beginning of a new month on the horizon, I want to chat for a bit about information overload and its effect on the unwary salesperson. I’m sure you would agree that it’s very easy to get bogged down with too much information: from the daily news to talk radio to the endless stream of e-mail alerts, RSS feeds and Tweets, we receive far more information in a day than we can hope to process. This often leads to that old disease, the paralysis of analysis.

When we ask our minds to process too much information, we have a tendency to lose sight of the fact that information alone is useless. We have to put that information to use, and in a positive direction, before we receive any value from it. For example, consider all the data you’ve seen recently with regard to the economy. From the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the related plummet in real estate prices, to the oft-repeated declaration of “the worst depression since the Depression”, we are bombarded by data that has worked many people into a state of panic. This panic has caused many salespeople to fall into negative thinking patterns (“No one is buying in this economy!”) which prevents them from engaging in the very activities that could bring a swift end to all the bad news. Enough is enough, already!

Consider a different way to look at, process and do something with all that information that comes in the form of “bad news” about the economy. What if, instead of buying into the panic, the salespeople of the world looked at the situation as their cue to step up their efforts and invigorate the economy? What would happen then?

I’ll tell you what would happen: we would get the blood (in other words, the money) flowing again. That is the power that you, the world’s sales force, holds in your mortal hands. We all know that salespeople (and small business owners, entrepreneurs, solo-professionals, etc.) are the backbone to any thriving economy; at the same time, we can also exacerbate a stagnant economy. The only difference is in our attitudes. If we buy into the dismal outlook regarding the future, are we really going to feel motivated to get out and make our daily number of connections with prospects? If, on the other hand, we choose to let all that information motivate us to take responsibility for getting things moving again, we really can make a difference.

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ONO: Options, Not Obligations by Marc Warnke

I just finished reading “ONO: Options, Not Obligations” by Marc Warnke and I have to say: if you have any desire to be in business for yourself and to use that business to create a lifestyle filled with the things you want to do instead of the things you have to do, you really need to read this book.

Marc is an expert in ONO, having created a life in which he is free to spend time with his wife and kids as he chooses and to pursue his passions.  This life didn’t happen by accident or some random stroke of luck, though: Marc applied the principles he writes about in “ONO” to seize the opportunities that were presented to him and leverage them into the life of his dreams.

Instead of presenting a step-by-step “how to do” approach to creating ONO, Marc focuses on “how to think”.  He helps you create a mindset of entrepreneurialism while working at your current job so that you can make the transition when the time is right.  Rather than encouraging new entrepreneurs to plunge in and “follow their passion”, Marc recommends developing a calculated, well thought out path to creating ONO.

What I appreciated most, though, is Marc’s voice.  He speaks with the compassion of someone who has been there and at the same time doesn’t allow us to wallow in our self-pity.  His inspiring words will help you find the desire to do something different, to start looking at your life and the decisions you make through new eyes: the eyes of a Family First Entrepreneur.  

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