It’s interesting to see how the internet has changed us. I use Google Analytics to track traffic to my blog. I can’t see who has visited. I just see what country they’re in. (I can actually see what city they’re in, but there’s a limit to my curiosity.) So, visitors from 27 countries have visited in the past 30 days. This is the list of countries.

United States    Canada    United Kingdom    India    Australia    Netherlands    Spain    United Arab Emirates
France    South Africa    Philippines    Germany    Venezuela    Mexico    Malaysia    Finland    Japan    Greece
Georgia    Singapore    Argentina    Austria    Senegal    Uganda    Hungary    Belgium    Colombia

Makes you wonder. How? Why? Whether they got what they were looking for? Was it a mistake?

If you visited in the past month and would like an inbound link, comment on this post with the answers to these questions and a link to your website. I’ll update this post with all of those links.

UPDATES

Trish Bertuzzi was the first to respond. Hey! Reader in Greece. She’s gonna be visiting your country in person. If you want to meet her, comment with a link to your website or email your contact info to me!

Although Sandra Condon claims to be fitness expert, much of her advice works on salespeople. For instance, if you’re having trouble with commitment, whether it’s exercise or cold calls, find a buddy and do it together.

Jeff Temple is a surprise visitor. I hope to have a conversation with him next week and I’ll tell you how it goes.

Rob Jewett talks about core values and personal growth. I agree. This blog has helped me grow. I find myself thinking, “That’s blog-able.” several times a week as I go through the day to day. I’m pleased that people read, but I’m excited when people comment. I try to make my posts relevant, but there’s a lot to learn from the comments.

So, John Vaillancourt makes a pretty interesting comment and it makes me wonder whether anyone else expected or was pre-disposed and whether or not they got what they expected.

I went to the gym yesterday morning. As I was leaving, I noticed that a svelte blonde was now running on the same treadmill that I had used. As I was sitting in the parking lot listening to my voicemail, in walks another svelte blonde. (It’s just a coincidence that they’re both svelte and both blonde.)

So, what?

Why do svelte people work out at the gym? Are they just trying to make me self-conscious? Are they afraid of becoming me? They are what I want to be. Seriously, are they trying to become svelter?

Now, that I’ve got your brain warmed up….

What’s the sales lesson?

***WARNING***
I’m about to say nice things about David Kurlan & Associates!
If you don’t like reading positive stuff, turn back, now!

Client A called me last Wednesday morning (when I was on vacation) while they drove to an appointment during which they hoped to save a $150,000 sale. They called me to coach them on how to save it. They called me immediately after the meeting to tell me how pissed off they were that they wasted their time. The customer’s mind was already made up and he never should have gone. Tuesday they were in class with Chris Mott learning how to make appointments. Wednesday, they had lunch with Mike Eagan to learn how to think and act like a CEO. After lunch, they listened to me make live prospect calls so they could see that if you know your lines, the prospect always knows theirs. This morning, they met with Bruce Bower to develop the steps in their sales process so that prospects can proceed logically from not knowing to buying. Tonight, they accompanied me to a chamber business after hours and walked out with the business cards of ten people that will take their call next week.

Client B called on August 6th and told me that they needed to hire a salesperson. We met for four hours on August 7th. The ads got placed and I left an vacation and Client B left on vacation on August 8th. We were on vacation from August 8th and returned on August 18th. We accumulated resumes and screened the candidates during that time. Tomorrow, Mike Eagan and I will have telephone interviews with 7 “A” players between 10 and noon.

Pretend you’re me. How would you wrap this up?

Today I learned that somebody that I know closed their business and got a job. Happens every day, but this was different. I’ve known this owner for a few years. I evaluated him a year ago. He needed help. The evaluation indicated what to do. So, I told him, laid out the plan, and made it affordable for him.

He said that he appreciated my advice, but was going to fix himself. I asked how. He said that he was gonna read Baseline Selling. I asked how he was gonna overcome his weaknesses. He told me that his wife was gonna hold him accountable. I asked what if it doesn’t work. He told me that he’d call me in three months if it didn’t work.

He didn’t call. Now, he’s out of business. Probably in debt. Still can’t sell.

Tonight, I get to go to sleep wondering if I was too nice. Not strong enough. Worried about offending him or having him think that I was abrasive. Wondering if I should have tried harder to keep him in business.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

I like you are watching the Olympics. I just watched Colby Bryant be interviewed about the pride that he felt just being on the team. It got me thinking.

I was not a youth athlete. I played tennis for my high school team and my college team, but it wasn’t my passion.

I was very involved with my sons, Mark and Matt, through T-ball, Farm League, AAA, Little League, soccer every fall and every spring, basketball in the winter. We learned how to ski together. I also got to watch Mark play high school soccer and tennis and Matt play football. I don’t think that I ever ‘saw’ either of them going to the Olympics. (Sorry guys.)

So, selling…..How many of us didn’t ‘sell’ chocolate, girl scout cookies, raffle tickets, etc. for some charity or other when we were young and cute?

Some of us get part time jobs in high school or college selling something or other.

Even fewer wind up calling themselves ‘professional salespeople’ when we grow up. Some make really big money. Others struggle forever.

What if there were a Sales Olympics. Would anyone you know be there?

I thought about the title, “Are you a know-it-all?” but decided that wasn’t kinder and gentler.

I just received my newsletter from JustSell and thought the message important enough to share immediately.

They define coachable as: Approachable, Attentive, Receptive, Curious, Objective, Trusting, Shapeable and Confident.

Interesting, huh? Here’s the link. http://www.justsell.com/latest.htm

How’s this post? Kinder? Gentler?

Yesterday, Elaine tried on several bathing suits that she had bought last week. Naturally, she had to model them for me and I had to answer the same questions for each. Do you like it? How about right here (while she points)? Do you like the material? Color? Does it make me look fat?

Now, we’ve been married for a long time. My answers were: HMMM! Do you? What’s the matter with that (and I look wherever she’s pointing)? Will it dry or is it comfortable? Do you have that color already? And I give her the ‘do I look that stupid look’ to the last question.

Then she hit’s me with, “Ricky, you know that question that husbands can’t answer?” I give her the look again. She says, “You know, the fat question. You can answer it. Do any of these suits make me look fat?” I said, “Elaine, if you like the color, and you like the style, and the suit is comfortable, keep it. If you don’t want to keep it, bring it back.”

Can you tell that Elaine has an issue with her ‘Buy Cycle‘? But don’t interpret that as, “She wants me to tell her what I think.” because it doesn’t matter. MY OPINION DOES NOT MATTER! Get it? Whether I say, “Keep it.” or “Don’t keep it.” has no effect on her decision.

If you read the page behind the link, you noticed that this ‘issue’ is very common and VERY powerful. So, you shouldn’t be surprised when I tell you that most of the prospects that I meet with have this issue.

Here’s the difference. When a prospect is talking to me, it’s usually because they want to sell more. Although Elaine and my prospect have the same issue with their ‘Buy Cycle’, Elaine’s issue does not impact her ability to sell because she’s not trying to sell. She’s only trying to decide whether or not to buy. My prospect on the other hand not only has to overcome the issue in order to be able to sell more, but they’ll also have to overcome the issue in order to buy the solution and like with Elaine, my opinion doesn’t matter.

Many of my prospects are looking for a quick answer, a magic bullet, a super pill. Sorry, change always requires work and some level of discomfort. Ask Sandra Condon. She doesn’t sell diet pills, she offers solutions that require work and some level of discomfort to acheive a healthy life.

My prospects face an interesting dilemma, don’t they?

Are you a blogger? How many blogs do you read?

Are you good at something? How many books have you read about it?

Are you trying to do something better? Who are you asking? Following? Listening to?

Read Frank’s post. Scott Zimmerman made three hours worth of great points yesterday which we’ll probably share over the next few posts. One was that the people that we hang with are usually just like us. They earn within 10-15% of what we earn. They aspire to be what we aspire to be. They and we don’t really want anyone to ‘break out of the group because then those left behind will feel bad that they got left behing and the one who broke away will fell bad that they made the rest of the group feel bad (but not that they broke away).

Between 150 and 200 people attended the Sales Summit yesterday. Are they the only ones that are trying to break away? (I have a whole bunch of other questions here, but they’re definitely not kinder and gentler.)

OK. Enough questions. Re-read Frank’s first paragraph. It ends with,


“helpful to anyone, especially me, that attended.”

Huh? Especially me? Read Frank’s bio. Look at his profile. Frank’s a better salesman, had more experience, read more, studied more, practiced more, sold more, and is more successful than most of the people that were there.

………….and he said, especially him. Some want to be great. The great become greater.