Success Newsletters

Over the last few months, I have faced the sad passing of people I grew up with, people that stood for something when I was growing up, and people who were prominent in the world I work in and in my life. For those of you who are of a certain age, you may understand this. Those of you who are younger, this may be something that you will face in the future. However, no matter where you are in your life, it is important to think about the legacy you leave behind, whether it is when you move from one job to the next, or one life to the next.

I recently stayed in a very large hotel, one of the more established, recognized and successful chains in the world. Not unusual for me to stay in a hotel, as I am on the road so much, but my observations from my stay there I thought were worthy of this months newsletter.
Checking in this hotel was excellent, very efficient. The staff was courteous, the room was great, and featured all the bells and whistles. I switched on the TV in the room and before you could click on the channels there was an infomercial for the hotel expressing “extraordinary” service from the concierge at the hotel, no request would be too much trouble. In fact they over dramatized this on their infomercial showing how their staff would go beyond the call of duty to satisfy a guests needs and request.

OPCDET: Meeting people from all walks of life over the past 30 plus years has taught me many valuable lessons and given me great insight. One constant truth that stands out for me is that Ordinary People Can Do Extraordinary Things. I have seen it demonstrated time and time again. Achieving success is not always what you think it might be; it is what you believe it will be. Never doubt your abilities. Do not ever sell yourself short. Each one of us has an incredible gift inside of us and can truly achieve extraordinary things. We just have to dig down deep sometimes, believe in ourselves and tap in to our greatness. Remember “the impossible is just the untried”.

One of the biggest single factors holding people back from defining and achieving their personal and professional success is “fear”. Fear comes in all different forms, the fear of losing, the fear of rejection, the fear of the unknown, the fear of failure, the fear of disappointment, the fear of not living up to expectations, even sometimes the fear of success. Do you see a fear in this list that relates to you?

Time, they say, is our greatest commodity. I agree with that. As I say in my best selling book, Success is Not a Spectator Sport, the best way to optimize the time you have is to define what success means to you. Is it material gain, financial gain, making a difference in people’s lives, spending more time with your family, or being successful in your career or business, etc. Whatever is important to you, DEFINE it, then develop a plan of action to use your time wisely implementing it.

What is it you really want to achieve in your chosen profession, business, or area of expertise? What is in your heart? These are the million dollar questions that only you can answer. These are also two important questions when it comes to getting to the top. It takes some serious soul searching and honesty with yourself. What is important to you? How will your decision affect your family dynamics? What are your values? Where do you see yourself in the future?

I’ve learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.
I’ve learned it’s not what you have in your life, but who you have in your life that counts.
I’ve learned that you can get by on charm for a short time, after that you better have some substance and something to say.
I’ve learned that people only get back to you when it is important to them, not when it is important to you.

Sales is not for the timid. It is a tough, hard, uncompromising, an emotional rollercoaster but it can be so, so rewarding. . When you hit the inevitable wall from time to time, remember why you got into sales in the first place and that you are in good company. Go with the flow. If it were easy, everybody would be successful doing it. As Robert Schuler said: “Tough Times don’t last, but tough people do”

Graham Webb was born with undiagnosed congenital spina bifida in London, England at a time when little was known about it. He lived in government subsidized housing with his family and became a high school dropout at 15. When he left his school, Northbrook, in London in 1961, his final report called him “lazy, silly, bone idle and apparently content to remain so”. This may appear to be a recipe for disaster, but Graham chose to beat the odds. In fact, in 2000 he returned to Northbrook to accept a lifetime achievement award.

As I alluded to above, my family and I recently moved. An experience all by itself, and I am sure most if not all of you can relate to your own experiences of moving at one time or another. As a result, we were exposed to many different trade persons, and companies whom we had to deal with for one reason or the other. One or two of our customer service dealings and interactions were excellent, most were just average, and some were frankly downright terrible. This left my wife and I shaking our heads in disbelief at people’s incompetence, lack of professionalism, and fundamental bad manners. Below are some ways to make the customer (read “me”) the star and win their business and loyalty every time.