I say secret, but it’s not. Somebody shared it with somebody else. They shared it again and eventually, somebody shared it with me. I believe some stuff has made me different in a positive way. I’m gonna share them as  think of them. No particular order. Varying levels of importance. As a matter of fact, I’m sure that someday, somebody will read one of my success secrets and think, “That was a waste of time!”. I only hope that someday somebody reads one of my success secrets and enters the comment, “Thank you.”

OK! Success Secret #1. Just Do It! Okay, that’s Nike, but it’ll work for you, too! I was talking with a guy that I really respect and he was telling me about a conversation that he was having with somebody. During the conversation, the prospect gave him a pretty simple stall and my friend immediately knew what to say. It was a great question that was insightful, on point, and would have shown the prospect that my friend was paying attention and that the prospect response was bull! Now, remember that my friend knew what to say.

So, I asked, “What happened when you asked the question?” He didn’t. Why? My friend didn’t want to upset his prospect. He needed his prospect to like him and approve of him. When I asked why he didn’t do it, he recognized that he let his need for approval keep him from doing his job and that he should have asked the question, IMMEDIATELY. So, then I suggested that he use my pen and write on his hand, “If you think it, say it.” He said, I’m not writing on my hand. I asked. He refused. I asked. He refused. I asked. He refused. Then I asked, “How about writing, ‘Why not?’ on your hand?” He said, I’m not writing on my hand. I asked. He refused. I asked. He refused. I asked. He refused. I said, “How about if you write it on a yellow sticky and put the sticky in the palm of your hand? and when you’re talking with people today and they say something stupid, you open your hand look at the sticky. Think, “Why not?” and ask the question that’s in your head?” He said, “I’m not putting a sticky in my hand.”

OK, 2 hours later, we’re networking together. He reaches into his briefcase and pulls out a yellow sticky. On the yellow sticky, it reads,  “If you think it, say it.” “Why not?”. He’s not totally convinced that he’s gonna do whatever it takes for him to be successful, but I see my friend a lot and I want him to be successful. At some point he’s gonna decide that he’s gonna do whatever it takes. He’s gonna step away from his need for approval. He’s gonna do whatever it takes to remember to do whatever it takes even if he has to write it on his hand. He will no longer worry that someone will notice that he writes on his hand. He’ll know longer care because he approves of himself and he will tell me thanks, but I can go now!

If you think it say it!

Just do it!

I’m a salesman and always will be. I’m always ready. I’ll bond with a waiter or waitress. I’ll sharp angle the grocery clerk. I’ll work my boss. I practice on my poor wife. I’ve used my skills to get out of traffic tickets. I’ve used them to buy better. I’ll work anybody, anytime of any day for no reason or for real. I love sales stories. I like seeing my clients “get it”. I’ll trade stories any time any day. I love it.

OK, so the I read Dave’s Blog and I say, “This is cool.” Then I read Pete’s Blog and I say, “Yeah, but he’s Pete.” Then I do it and I have a blog. Then, Pete tells me that if I want to do it right, I have to read other blogs, comment on them, tell you about them and link to them. It adds diversity. It broadens our horizons.

So, tonight you get to meet Patrick Dodd. Patrick appears to be a blogger’s blogger. He talks about how to, who should, why to, when to. It’s all about blogs, blogging and bloggers but with the primary focus being doing it right, being effective and making money. So, he talks blogs like I talk sales. Have fun. Check him out here and tell him that The RainMaker Maker says, “Hi.”

A salesperson doesn’t need to be an entrepreneur and an entrepreneur doesn’t need to be a salesperson, but when one person has both traits, he often becomes noticed. I checked out Dan Marques. Dan is so entrepreneurial, that he’s almost idealistic. No sweat. He’s young and should be. Nonetheless, check out his blog and try to guess which quote I liked. Incidentally, he’d probably love it if you gave him some feedback. So comment on one of his posts.

The priest started his sermon with,

“God doesn’t love me because I’m valuable…

I’m valuable because God loves me.”

I apologize. I know that I was supposed to be paying attention to the rest of his sermon, but his opening started me thinking about its application in the sales world, especially in the sales world of professional service providers and I stayed distracted.

I am a professional service provider, so I’m gonna use me as an example, but if you want full value from this post, substitute the words, “professional service provider”, or “you”, the reader, every time you see me use a first person pronoun.

Here’s how it got twisted in my head. Pretend that my customer(s) is god (little g). Pretend that I am me. Before my customer agrees to do business with me, I may have little or no value to them. Once they agree to buy, I have value. Once I deliver, my value to them grows again (I hope.). Interestingly, my value to myself does not change during the process. Actually, I should have written “should not change during the process”. It might if I have a high need for approval as described in  Dave Kurlan’s Blog.

OK, so back to it. Value is a cumulative thing. It’s also different things to different people. I’m of infinite value to my mother, so let’s take her out of the equation. I have a value to each prospect, each customer, each center of influence, each friend. I have no value to people that don’t know me and as we observed earlier, my value to myself won’t be affected by the cumulative total of my value to others.

We could talk about who’s got the greater cumulative value and start making an MVP list for the whole world, but I’d rather concentrate on becoming more valuable.

If I have a prospect agree to do business with me, my value to them (and cumulatively to the world) has increased.

If I satisfy a customer, my value to them (and cumulatively to the world) has increased.

If I get a prospect or a customer to refer me (say that I have value), my value to my new prospect (and cumulatively to the world) has increased.

But none of these events changes my value to myself, only to the world.

You might have to read this again and when you do, remember, that this isn’t about me and my God, it’s about you and your prospects and customers. Also, I haven’t talked about how to grow value. I suggest that you go here or read this or email me.

So, I just read Eric’s post about Flexibility and Firminosity. (Come on. Lighten up.) He’s waiting for some comments. Give him some.

Here’s my 2 cents. If flexibility was part of the deal before the deal was done and everyone agrees what flexibility means, then flexibility is warranted. However, more often then not, it’s a one way street. For example, if we’re looking for a little flexibility on delivery time, client may (rightfully) object. On the other hand, they may be very upset with us if we were to object to their request for “flexibility” in payment terms.

In my opinion, flexibility is a slippery slope and is seldom warranted. Now, please comment on Eric’s blog.

I just got Laura’s May newsletter. In it, she draws an analogy between growing corn and marketing. Good analogy.

However, remember that the same analogy applies to prospecting. I worry about my friends that don’t have time to network, don’t have time to call prospects, don’t have time to put new stuff in the front of their pipeline because they’ve got so much in the pipeline and they want to clean it up. So, what do you work on when you clean it up and there’s nothing there. No names in this paragraph. I’m just concerned.

So, whether you’re talking about marketing, advertising, prospecting, exercise, dieting, or most things……….a little every day will show consistent results. Trying to do it all in one day………well read Laura’s newsletter.

Incidentally, isn’t it a nice touch that Laura shows off her work by plugging one of her clients.

If you’d like to receive her newsletter by email like I do, subscribe here.

So, I’m driving around this week, using my $3/gallon gas and I hear this on the radio. “Just because you got the best deal, doesn’t mean you got the best mattress.” Those mattress guys can really sum it up, can’t they?

But, think about it. In your world, what is your prospect looking for? Is every prospect looking for the same thing? Is the cheapest always the best deal? Is the best deal always the cheapest? Is the most expensive always the best quality? Is the best quality always the most expensive?

No answers here unless you comment.

Incidentally, don’t forget to register HERE! Don’t be left out and don’t be on the wrong list and don’t forget to vote HERE!

So, here’s the rub. As I search the blogosphere, I find posts that I can relate to and some not. In What’s the catch? I found myself wondering how many people spend time worrying about stuff that nobody else cares about? Comment here or comment there, but let Mirona know what you think.

Today, two people asked me if I had a suggestion on how to make an introduction by email. This is copied from my email sent items folder. Use it if you like.

From: Rick Roberge [mailto:rick@therainmakermaker.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 12:29 PM
To: DV
Cc: RM
Subject: Intro

Dan V, meet Rick M.

Rick M meet Dan V.

Dan, While I was talking with Rick today, one of his people told him of an issue that they were having with his bank regarding credit card processing. Apparently, it’s an ongoing situation. I told him that you were the best in the business and that I was gonna have you call him. I’ve known Rick a long time so please take very good care of him. He owns (name of company) and you can reach him at (508) _______.

As you know, I’m new at this “blogging” thing. I’ve gotta tell you, I can’t figure out why the two most popular posts today were “June 21st” and “What is a RainMaker”.

Anyway, as you may be aware, I spend some time every day (because Pete told me to). I’m supposed to find something that’s of interest to me and pass it along to you. That helps you and it helps the blogger that I pass along. So, here’s the link. Rick (Cooper, not me) says, “………. So, it’s critical to set some money aside to have during lean times.” This is so-o-o-o important! I’ve seen many salespeople or self employed people have three good months and be struggling to pay the rent in the fifth month because they figured they’d keep up the pace forever. Never spend it all. Always have an emergency fund. Work hard. Live high. Be smart.

Good luck gang and good luck Rick.

How’s that Pete?