Personal Inventory and Annual Review

I know! I said I can't recommend Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill anymore. There are too many crazy ideas about Sex Transmutation and such. However, today is the next to the last time I'm going to draw from the book an excellent nugget that you can really use to build your career.

Take a personal inventory. Actually write it down. The good stuff. The bad stuff.

Now set goals to correct or forget about bad stuff plus improve or maintain good stuff.

Next, make a plan with real specific methods for how you're going to do this.

Each year on New Years eve or day or your birthday or any day you pick, review your goals and plans and give yourself a grade card.

What might some of the personal inventory items look like:

I have a good attitude
I am a negative thinker
I feel good about myself and who I am
I get up early and work hard all day
I set goals, make plans, and then execute
I work well with others
I am giving back to my community
I am disciplined in my habits
I have certain habits I want to make or break
I have a pleasing personality
I don't give up
I give my clients more than is expected
I have personal integrity
I am a good spouse and/or parent
I keep my commitments

You get the idea.

Start today!

Nice Comments Department

It is very lonely being a writer. Blogging is a bit better than books or magazine articles where you're lucky to get a couple of letters with even a decent selling book. But last Friday I received four nice comments about the blog in one day. In 25 years of writing, I've never had such a day. I can't help myself, here are some snippets of what they had to say.

As you read these, think about these two things. These emails all resulted in connections with new potential customers. In two cases they resulted in substantial publicity. This is how the blog idea is supposed to work and can work for you. Are you blogging yet?

Dear Randy,
I am a very small distributor looking to grow and I found your blog very informative and motivating. I don't know how I got on your list but I appreciated the blog. Keep up the good work.

Robin Curlee
Robin.Curlee@AAMSLeads.com
817-437-8959 Mobile

Dear Randy,

...What I found most interesting is your personal approach and commitment to Christian values...

It looks like you may have some good information to share.

Best regards,

Jeffrey Solomon
www.freepromotips.com

Hi Randy,

I started reading your blog, but lately have not had time. What I did read was great and I think it's really refreshing to read (free of charge) some great information on selling in general without having a product from a specific supplier pushed in my face. I like the way you mention your products just a little but not overbearingly. Although I haven't ever used your products your blog is working as when someone asks me about a supplier I tend to give out your name...

Thanks,
Sue G.
Lee Wayne Corp
Scottsdale Az.

Corporate Logo Gives a Mention

Karen Butler of Corporate Logo Magazine sent an email the other month, suggesting we should keep in touch. Well she really reached out and touched me this time with a very nice mention in this month's mag and on the website

To make things even more special, she took the germ of an idea that started here with Women-Our Market, was followed up with an interview with Andrea Lerned, and she just fleshed it out wonderfully.

I am so impressed with the article that I would like to just repeat the whole thing in my blog, but that isn't quite how things work in the blogosphere. Let me give you a couple of teasers so that you make the very wise decision to go read the entire article.

Smooth Sale-ing

When working with a female buyer or creating a promotion for female recipients, distributors should keep several key points in mind.

1. Women like products that have a specific use.

"I'll drink beer from a martini glass. I have my morning coffee in a pilsner if it's the nearest thing. Heck, I've been known to sip chocolate milk from a brandy snifter. I have no style or taste when it comes to this sort of thing. Upon speaking with the ladies I work with, I learned this was a decidedly male affliction."

Nick Rericha, director of sales, ETS Express in Oxnard, Calif.

2. Your sales presentation style matters.

Many female clients respond better to a softer sales tactic, with a key-point detailed presentation of product utility and quality. Many male clients respond to a harder, more in-the-face sales tactic. Both are looking for the quality features of products, but the presentation of these features needs to be different.

Janet Trachter, vice president marketing and sales, Starline USA Inc. in Grand Island, N.Y.

3. Appearances are important.

Of course, in the article, the details of #3 appear along with subjects 4-8. And there are at least another 10 important tidbits of info that might make you money today or tomorrow if you will only go here.

So, thanks Karen for making me famous for my alloted 15 minutes, and for great research on the subject of marketing to women.

Case Studies Needed

We have decided to add a new concept to this site. Over the next several weeks we are going to create a list down the right side column of the page that will contain case studies by end user subgroup. So, one for insurance, one for auto dealers, etc. Our goal is to make this blog even more valuable to you by creating an idea generator that you can turn to whenever you need to do some brainstorming.

If this is going to be as good as possible, we need a bunch of case studies. It would be nice if we had twenty case studies on auto dealers so that we would need subtopics like new cars, fleet, web, etc. A huge benefit of the web is the way all of us turn into collaborators. So collaborate, please. Send case studies. Send me one or two right now, before you forget.

Google Offers New Service - Very Worthwhile

You can now do a subject search for BLOGS at Google. I typed in Promotional Products and here is one of the articles I found. Really good material. This is what blogging is all about. Everybody sharing their best ideas.

I'll keep checking stuff out on the blogoshere and point you to the good ones, but it is so easy to do yourself. Many of the distibutor blogs are designed for their customers. These will give you super ideas for your own blog.

Need 100,000 of Something, RUSH!

Whenever I tell a customer that we offer 100,000 one color in one week if necessary, they usually laugh. Most of us would like to get an order for 100,000 of anything, rush or not.

But seriously, folks, with most manufacturing going offshore, it can be pretty tough to find major quantities of anything remotely complicated in s short window.

But California Springs line makes almost everything we do right in Santa Fe Springs, CA. We have total capacity of about 35,000 bottles per day. Usually, we have orders for at least 25,000 of those. So, you need 20,000 in two days. We can usually do it. You need 50,000 in 4 days. Call. And if you need 100,000 in 7 days, we're ready to make it happen.

Oh. Normal things like 1000 bottles with up to two ink colors same day are SOP.

So, make sure you put our name on your list of people to call when the customer just figured out they need it NOW!

Home Runs or Base Hits

During the Roberts Hearings for Chief Justice, baseball analogies seemed all the rage, so I'm just picking up that ball (whoops! That's football.)

Terry and I were discussing corporate marketing strategy the other day, and he said: "If only we could get another home run like that project we did . . ." I shook my head in ready agreement, thinking back to the nice revenue and profit stream that was generated by that long ball.

However, while the homers are pretty to watch and bring everybody to their feet, it seems like the guys who win the World Series generally get more hits. Oh, they also make fewer errors. One more. They always show up. That last one, is an inside baseball phrase that means they are ready to play and play at 110% every day.

I'm going to make a prediction here. Go out swinging for singles, and once in a while you're going to knock it out of here. Go out swinging for homers and you're going to get far fewer hits of any kind, and many more strike outs. The home run strategy can work, but the odds favor the singles hitter.

Attributes of Leadership

Borrowing heavily (ok, outright copying) from Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, below are the attributes of leadership that he found when interviewing 100's of successful leaders.

1. Unwavering Courage and self confidence
2. Self Control
3. Keen sense of Justice
4. Definiteness of Decisions
5. Definiteness of Plans
6. Habit of doing more than one is paid for
7. Pleasing Personality
8. Sympathy and Understanding
9. Mastery of Detail
10. Willingness to assume full Responsibility
11. Cooperation

Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich

Finished another one of those classics. The date published on this one was 1990, but the copyright was 1960. There were many amazing elements in this book.

1. It has much to offer in the way of advice for anyone who chooses to get rich, especially if that is a priority.
2. There is some pretty comical things that they need to take out in a rewrite if they haven't already.
3. I can no longer recommend this book. I have changed, and there were too many things that Napoleon Hill believes that I no longer do.

The basis of Think and Grow Rich is mind control. He made famous the phrase "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." This basic premise still works for me, if I don't get too technical. For the vast majority of folks, if you put this motto on your mirror or fridge, it could definitely inspire you to better things.

It is so easy for sales people to get all mired down in negative thinking. A positive outlook, belief in your God given abilities, and being passionate about success will pay big dividends in life.

To his great credit, Hill point out early and often that success comes with planning, a right attitude, and an understanding of what will need to be sacrificed to get to real big time wealth. He repeats that "If you truly desire money so keenly that your desire is an obsession, you will have no difficulty in convincing yourself that you will acquire it."

Most of us commoners don't desire money at that level. I think I may have in my 20's and 30's. But now I find myself much more interested in family time, my church, and giving back with no expectation of return. So, read Hill with a skeptical mind, but Og Mondino tells it more to my liking.

Time To THINK

My kids have heard me say it a million times. I was born lazy. I made a promise to myself at age 18. After college, I was never going to wash another dish, mow another lawn, work on or wash another car, or shine another pair of shoes. I have come pretty close to observing those promises.

In order to be as lazy as I wanted to be, I had to attend seven years of college and work 60 hour weeks for 5 years after law school. It took a bunch of work to even approach my goal, but each year I'm closer to it.

One of the most important ways to cut down on hard work is to be sure you are doing the right kind of work. I have to admit that I'd forgotten this principle that I used to use so well. But once again, these old success books are coming in handy.

Almost all of us, including this author, come in each morning with an agenda that we "need" to accomplish. Much of that agenda is busy work. Some may be creative. Let me guess. You do the busy work first, allowing for many interruptions from phone calls, e-mails, and co-workers. If there is any time left over, you make cold or semi-cold calls. Of course, you go on appointments. Creative work and projects are left for any time that hasn't been consumed by the above. (I forgot to mention, wasted time, personal phone calls, etc.)

Nowhere in that schedule is time to reflect, contemplate, think, plan, analyze, or just let the creative juices take over.

The really successful folks do the contemplative things first thing in the morning. Maybe even at home. It can be prayer, meditation, or personal brainstorming. You set a little mini agenda for yourself, and relax. If its prayer time, ask God for His help in making decisions or setting priorities. If it meditation or personal brainstorming, try to get into an alpha state. Clear your mind of all distractions, and don't TRY to think of a solution. Let the solutions come from deep within the grey matter.

Not everyone who does the above does it first thing in the morning. It can be 15 minutes in the middle of the day. It can be while laying in bed before you fall asleep. (That was my time for many years.)

The most amazing part about this approach is that the hour you put in will save you many hours later. Even more amazing is how quickly we forget some of these lessons, even when they have been extremely effective.

Spray Mist Bottles

Someone just asked us to quote 10,000 of these. Thought I'd just mention that. Indoor or outdoor for plants. Cool off while wintering in Palm Springs. Many uses. We are almost alone on a spray mist bottle. No one offers the variety of colors and 4 color process option.

Policy Change Regarding Advertising

As promised a few weeks back, if I ever make changes with regard to policies effecting this site, I will give everyone a heads up. We have decided to accept a couple of paid advertisements on this page other than our occasional references to California Springs products. The ad copy may turn up on the right side bar section and at the end of emails sent to you. If I am a user of the product or service, I may include posts that give my personal recommendation. I will not post a recommendation unless I am actually a happy user. We may also accept articles from the advertisers which would be useful for you in your sales and marketing efforts, but which will promote the product or service of the advertiser at the same time.

The income from these ads will help us to more effectively market this blog and improve its content. The articles provided by advertisers will, of course, have to meet my editorial standards, and these articles will ad voices that should be helpful to you.

If you have any feedback regarding this decision, now is the time to make your comments.

Compartmentalization - Leave the Office at the Office, Leave Home at Home

Fine!!! Just leave me alone!! Slam!!! Now, somehow, you have to get in your car, drive carefully to work, and do your job at 110%. What are the chances? And it doesn't have to be an argument with the spouse or the kids, it might just be a bill collector or your tax man with bad news, or someone in the family who is having a health problem. It might even be your own health problem.

Stuff happens, both good and bad, and it is often very difficult to keep on keeping on when it seems that life is doing its level best to mess with you. And, if you are in the selling game, you can be certain that your results will be effected unless you can compartmentalize these issues. But how do you do that and not feel like an emotionless robot.

1. Create consistent transitions between home and office. As you leave home, listen to music or talk that will distract you from the issues of home. Do this every day, not just on difficult days. Then the habit will be well formed on rough days.

2. Let your family know that you will use this very same technique on the way home. That way they can be sure of getting unspoiled attention from you when things are not going so well at the job.

3. Establish a time for contact later in the day to deal with the issue or issues at home. This allows you to back burner the problem with the agreement of others involved. If your child is in the hospital, call at the same time every day. If you are having medical problems of your own, establish a specific time for contacts with doctors or relatives for updates. If you are making or getting calls all day long, it will distract all day long. If you are fighting with your spouse, agree before you leave to e-mail later in the day, call later in the day, or put off the issue until after hours.

4. If the issue begins to take over your day resulting in poor performance, take 15 minutes or as long as necessary to sort it out in your head. If necessary, get permission to take a walk or drive to the local coffee outlet. Now relax, forgive, pray, meditate, regroup, write a list, or whatever will wipe your mind and heart clean for another period of time.

5. Should the issue continue to interfere with performance, consider whether the things you are working on can be moved to another time or day, or even to a coworker. Tackle a mindless task like desk cleaning, bookmark reorganization, computer updating, e-mail filing, or updating prospect lists.

If the issue is long term, don't hesitate to seek wise counsel. This might be available from a friend, pastor, or coworker. But you might also need the help of a professional. Someone I know lost her mother last year to cancer. She has had to process that grief. She has looked up grief articles on the web (helpful), had counsel from friends (very helpful), and had some help from professionals. There is great wisdom in knowing when you need others to help you get from point A to point B.

A Brain Cell Here, a Brain Cell There

I think I would be on safe ground to say that salespeople are more vulnerable to substance abuse than the general population. I would extend this observation to include gambling, sexual addictions, and prescription drug abuse. Before you get upset, consider:

1. Sales people are commonly called on to entertain clients or to be part of outings that include drinking, gambling, and even drugs or sex. The availability of these activities provides lures into which those with predilections for abuse can be snared.

2. Sales is often very high stress. Abuse of alcohol, drugs, or sex often starts with moderate use to numb the senses when things are not going according to plan.

3. Road trips provide a huge temptation to experiment with behaviors without anyone being the wiser. Las Vegas even advertises this idea "Whatever Happens in Las Vegas Stays in Las Vegas."

4. Sales types are often people pleasers. They want to be liked and to be doing what the in crowd is doing. This reduces the resistance that we might normally put up to overdoing things.

5. The average sales person can easily afford to indulge in these behaviors. To make things even easier, much is offered for free or can be put on an expense account. I have personally seen a salesman put sexual expenses on the company credit card. He was terminated.

Hopefully it goes without saying that overuse of any of these can result in a substantial drop in your effectiveness. How do you protect yourself against a potentially career destroying decision to indulge beyond your limits?

A. Know yourself. Nobody knows they are susceptible to addiction in some area until its too late. However, check the warning signs. Are you likely to indulge because you are hurting and need to cover the pain? Are you inclined to do things because everyone else is? Are you finding it hard to stop a certain behavior when everything in your soul is telling you it time to stop? Are you spending money you don't have on the activity? Are you lying to your wife, boss, or other significant other in your life about what you are doing? Are you hiding your use from others? Are you embarrassed or ashamed? Have you done stupid things as a result of the habit that brought about problems later? Has your job been effected? Have you answered the above questions honestly?

B. Set boundaries. Before you head for the party, decide in advance how many drinks you will have. If you don't hold to that limit, see number A above. If you consistently don't hold to limits you set, stop doing the behavior entirely.

C. Establish accountability with someone. If you are concerned about one of these areas, ask someone to hold you to your plan. In order for this to work, the person who takes on the task must be someone who you respect enough to have an impact.

D. If you have been hiding the evidence from your spouse, avoid the kinds of opportunities that were giving you a hiding place. If you are doing porn, for instance, don't be home by yourself for long periods of time. Tell the hotel desk you want the adult channels deactivated. Or, better yet, admit the behavior to your spouse and ask for help in ending the problem.

E. Take a look at the big picture. What is more important? Your income, your spouse, your kids, your reputation, your health, OR drugs, sex, and rock'n roll? I'm not trying to be a poop, here. But I have enough stories to write an entire book about folks I know who had massive potential that are badly messed up now, or who are still recovering.

WHY OG?

Are you currently hitting your sales goals? Are you setting any? Are you satisfied with your income? Are you happy with your career progress?

You might think that since I write these articles that I have it all figured out. But truly, just like you, I need to constantly refresh my knowledge. When it comes to selling especially, there is a tendency for salesfolks to forget one or more of the principles which are critical to sales success.

So, while I was on vacation, I started to reread some of the success and motivation classics. My library contains quite a few, and some of them are so old they are almost falling apart. However, I started with OG. If you have to ask who or what is OG, then you have missed the very best. Og Mandino has written several of the very best books available on selling, success, and balancing life's priorities.

THE CHOICE by Og Mandino was the first one I picked up to reread. Unlike many other writers of this genre, Og doesn't give you a list of things to do, or set out an outline of approaches or methods. He tells you a story. In THE CHOICE, you get a glimpse into the life of Mark Christopher, the youngest VP of sales for Treasury Insurance Company. And Mark is faced with a choice that would get anyone's attention.

Through this parable, Og Mandino touches your heart as well as your brain. The goal of any such work is to stimulate the reader to greater levels of achievement. But once again, Mandino is a little different than most. He offers lessons that will increase your earning power, but the lesson includes considerations for balancing other aspects of your life with your career.

Find THE CHOICE and other excellent books by Og Mandino at all the usual places.

ACTUAL COMPLETELY NEW PRODUCTS

I love new stuff. I love conceptualizing, designing, developing, packaging, marketing, and following the sales of new products. I also love presenting new things. My guess is that you do, too. In fact, you likely think you should have two or three new ideas every time you walk into a client's office.

I know for a fact that we have things in our catalog that you have never seen, much less shown your customers. We send random samples totally free with no freight charge. (Bags and polycarb bottles may require payment.) We will do spec bottles for free if the opportunity is a good one.

Take 5 minutes and check out our website at http://www.CaliforniaSprings.com. You will see that we do things many others can't. Who else has a baby bottle that you can offer in 50 colors and print in 4 colors? Who else offers a 9 ounce bottle? And no one else has a crystal clear 32 ounce bottle for only $1.79 (c)?

Another Sales KILLER

Another fellow who worked for me many years ago was a major worry wart. He was always finding fault with our products (not this company, by the way), our systems, our people, our customer service. Every day he'd be on the phone with me crying about this or that. His most common issue was "The other guy is selling it cheaper," or "The competition's product has this feature that we don't," or something similar.

A funny thing happened one year. He had the primo territory and had always held his own against others in the field. But as the complaints grew, his sales fell. As his sales fell, his complaints grew, which caused his sales to fall even further. He, of course took no responsibility and couldn't see his role in the problem.

But the other salesfolks were not having any decreases in their sales. In fact, the star player's numbers kept going up.

Does this mean that you should never rag on your company management or your suppliers when they are messing up. Of course you should. But get it said and get on with selling. If the company is messed up enough, change companies. A negative attitude results in negative sales.

Reduce Your Sales Potential NOW

The e-mail that went to 50,000 of your fellow ad specialty professionals today gave a list of Sales Volume Killers: Fear, Doubt, Anxiety, Procrastination, Worry, Failure, Illness, Personal issues, Anger, Bitterness, Substance Abuse, Lack of Personal Discipline, Irresponsibility, Wrong priorities, to name just a few. I promised to deal with each of these over time, but to pick the biggest one for today. Go over the list. Which one do you think is #1 for the average sales person? Which is #1 for you.

In my 51 years of selling (I started at age 6), and 35 years of managing and teaching sellers, I would list #1 as fear. I had a salesman years ago who was over 6 feet tall, weighed at least 275, and was one of the most congenial guys I've ever met. If he made two calls and got two "no's," he was having doughnuts at 10:00, checking his deodorant, and not wanting to venture out the rest of the day.

But it isn't just fear of rejection. It can be fear from being unprepared, fear arising from being in a sales slump, fear of facing a sales manager. It might be fear of the actual client you are about to visit because it is the first time, because of their personality, or because of what you have to tell them. It can just be the simple fear of not getting a big job, thus losing a big commission or even your job.

Now that I've created all these fears in your mind, lets turn a corner and see how to deal with them.

FEAR ONLY DEALS WITH FUTURE EVENTS

Unless you are very gifted, you cannot see into the future. You can predict things based on past events, but you cannot know what is going to happen. We are not afraid of what happened yesterday or what is happening right this minute. If we are in the middle of a traumatic event, we are past the fear stage into the doing something about it stage. (Faint, run, talk fast, pray, assume the position, etc.)

In every future event their are three possible outcomes. Good, Bad, Neutral. Sure, you can put these on a continuum and say very, very good, sorta bad, but lets keep it simple. Unless you are afraid of success (and some are), two of the three possible results are nothing to worry about. That leaves bad. We are fearful of a "no" to your proposition, or worse, "no and don't come back."

Next we want to ask ourselves, how will fear change the situation. Contrary to some who write on this subject, I think that sometimes appropriate fear will cause a sales pro to rethink his strategy, do a bit more preparation, or charge up the adrenaline at the right moment. Inappropriate fear will result in anxiety, creative blocks, paralyzation, and panic during the call, not to mention sleep disorders, acid indigestion, or kicking your dog.

Here is the strategy for dealing with inappropriate fear. Getting all wound up and upset in advance of an unknown event will seem real stupid if the result is good. What a waste of energy and Tums. It will even be a waste if the result is neutral, and now if you follow your pattern, you'll be kicking the dog and the kids until the next time. If the result is negative, thereby justifying your fear you need to ask yourself: "How did my fear and anxiety change this result? Was I just not worked up enough? If only I could have lost two whole nights of sleep, then the buyer would have said yes?!?

Fear keeps us from making cold calls, follow up calls to set appointments, and even post appointment calls to get the results. All of those failures to act result in lost sales. They might say no. Get over it. Even if you can't get over the hurt from rejection, at least get over fearing a result which is totally unknown to you in advance.

Part 2 - Choosing a Title for Your Web Page or Blog

The title can be of any length, and search engines will look at your title for information about what your site is all about. They assume that a title is going to be very descriptive of the site. Your customer will be more interested in the first few words of the title.

For instance, you could have just Promotional Products Sales as the title. Your customer who bookmarks this would clearly know what you are when he looks at his bookmark list. Or it could be the name of your company, e.g. Idea Man. It could combine those with the company name first or the descriptive words first. But you don't need to stop there. Add some more descriptive words. These will not show up in the bookmarks because there is only so much space. But the search engine spiders will see them. So now your title might be something like Promotional Product Sales - Idea Man - Imprinted Advertising Specialty Products - T Shirts - Mugs - Water Bottles.

Put a hyphen between each idea or phrase. This also helps the search engine to know where to categorize you.

You can change your title all the time. Those who bookmarked you under the old title will still see you that way. But a change might boost you on a search engine.

Be sure and visit tomorrow to learn about FEAR!