Monthly Archives: February 2014

Feb 13 2014
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Prospect as if your life depends on it. Sell as if you couldn’t care less.

This has been one of the hardest lessons for me learn. Doing so is a tightrope walk somewhere between hustling relentlessly for sales survival and then flipping the switch in order to sit nonchalantly with a prospect and ask him the tough questions.

A minuscule lean toward detachment from the end result and I am spiraling into slacker-land. A slip toward the desperate desire to be in control and I am tippy-toeing delicately as not to offend. I surely can’t be the only one who has to negotiate the tricky art of controlling of my destiny and yet simultaneously letting go of each individual outcome.

One way to get better footing is to have a fat funnel. Having enough appointments on the books makes it so, so—SO—much easier to be relaxed. Knowing that it’s not your only chance to close a deal this week (or this month) can calm the nerves enough and allow you to stick to your system. Also, having a frequent number of appointments maintains momentum for solid technique.

In order to have a fat funnel you must identify your root leading indicators. Leading indicators are any of the activities that lead to the results that you want; not the results themselves. For me, the number of presentations I do is a leading indicator of appointments which is a leading indicator of sales. Go a layer or two back to identify your root leading indicators. Isolate the first set of crucial activities that have a direct correlation to sales results.

Finally, look for efficiencies once you have enough data to know what can be improved, increased, added or eliminated. Look for areas that might be time sucks. Look for ways in which you can improve your technique ever slightly to make big gains.

If you really do prospect this meticulously, it will be easier than you think to sell as if you don’t care—because you won’t.  You won’t care because your focus will have shifted away from what you can’t control (sales) to what you can control (your attitude, behaviors and techniques).

Sales are just a logical result of those things becoming fully aligned and refined.

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Feb 07 2014
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You Suck! (But, I promise that’s a good thing)

pacifier copyI’m not athletic. I’ve never been. I can remember as a child being so paralyzed by fear of sucking, and thus getting made fun of, that I would never try anything remotely athletic—not even lessons to help me suck less.

Fear of sucking, and getting made fun of (even behind our backs) prevents us from stepping outside of our comfort zone.

And not leaving that zone prevents us from doing the thing that will help us get better—at anything.

Yes, it’s true. You suck. You suck at all of the things you haven’t done yet. And you can avoid sucking by not doing anything new.

Or…

You can suck. A lot. And suck really badly. Often. And you can do that until you don’t suck anymore at that particular thing. But then you will (or at least should) have new goals and dreams, at which you will suck. Again.

The lesson here is if you aren’t sucking at something, right now, then you aren’t shooting high enough. Your dreams aren’t big enough.

And if you don’t get over—or at least figure out how to ignore—the fear of sucking, you won’t go for anything bigger than what you already are. And well, that sucks.

So bask in your suckiness. Because if you suck at something, it means you are growing. It means you are going after what you really want. It means you are willing to stretch and be uncomfortable for a chance at something better.

And only then will you find a life that doesn’t suck.

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Feb 06 2014
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Oops! I failed——again

ImageA while back I wrote a piece here about failure. While I like what I said about adapting and having guts and going beyond the limits we tend to set for ourselves, I really think I missed a biggy.

See, everything I talked about really has more to do with pre-failure. All those things are about putting yourself out there, and you might fail. But what I missed is what happens when you fail—or, technically, when you fail by everyone else’s standards.

That’s the problem, failure, by its very nature, is a box that we put ourselves in because of a set of standards that the world has created. For example, I had a website a while back and running it cost me more money than I generated in revenue. The world would say that’s a failure. I said that, too. I felt that.

But was it?
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Did I learn anything from it that I can use in my next venture? Did I meet anyone that is a new friend, resource, connection, mentor? Did I stretch myself in a way that I hadn’t before? Did I grow? Was there any takeaway from that experience? Yes. Yes, to every single one.

But, did I even bother to ask any of these questions? Nope. Nada. Not even once.

See, the real failure isn’t that I ran a bum website that didn’t do what I had envisioned it to do (both in volume and functionality). The real failure is I let that disappoint me and embarrass me. The real failure is that I failed to review, reevaluate and redesign—

Failure is a real thing. But the box that society or our friends or the even the bank puts us in is not really failure. The only thing we can fail at is failing to see how we’ve grown and letting it keep us from choosing to grow some more.

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Feb 04 2014
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Power Hour

ImageDo you want to do something big? Like really big? Maybe you have several things. That’s fine. We can work with that.

I’m going to introduce you to a concept called Power Hours. Maybe you’ve heard of it, or something like it. If not, that’s okay, too.

I’m going to tell you about what worked for me. You can try what I did. You can adapt it. You can try what I did then adapt it. It’ doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that you do something.

And I’ll tell you why I did it so you can make an informed decision.

The concept, specifically my concept, of a Power Hour is three 20-minute segments two times per day (one in the morning and one in the evening). The reasons behind this are several:

1)      I have often said “I can do anything for 20 minutes.” This way, even the hardest of tasks have a bite-sized appeal.

2)      Having a morning Power Hour and an evening Power Hour is conducive to keeping goals at the forefront of your brain all day, and not getting cold by having a lengthy lapse.

3)      Completing two Power Hours per day actually works out to about 20 percent of your waking hours. If you are familiar with the Pareto Principle, then you understand the significance. If you are not familiar with the Pareto Principle, then stop now and read here.

4)      It’s hard to only have a single goal. This way, you can have six. Or at least several facets of a goal (for example, I did both yoga and cardio each for 20-minute segments; I read a general business book and industry specific information each for 20-minute segments).

5)      This works for professional goals, personal ones, or both.

6)      It can be adapted on days where you really are short on time. Some days I only completed one Power Hour with three segments. ImageSome days I completed all six segments but only for 10-minutes each. In my extreme resistance I would break down one 20-minute segment into four five-minute segments and splice them between the other segments. This helped me with fear, boredom, time obstacles, and other goal achieving saboteurs.

7)      But the biggest reason that this works  is because when you do a little of something daily you benefit from compound interest. Twenty minutes each day adds up to so much more than 140 minutes on only one day a week. It’s big. Especially over your lifetime.

For me, Power Hours are the answer to achieving a lot on a busy, working-mom’s chaotic schedule. I got more done and it had a profound impact on my attitude as well.

So can you do it? Is your goal worth creating a Power Hour of your own? How might you adapt what I do to fit you?

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Feb 03 2014
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Top Ten Networking Tips

1.)    Eat and drink less, meet and greet more (keep at least one hand free for shaking).

2.)    It’s not a social event, so don’t catch up with your friends.

3.)    Talk to at least three new people an hour.

4.)    Never open by talking about yourself.

5.)    Don’t sell; set the stage for a follow-up conversation.

6.)    Talk in terms of problems you fix, not benefits you add.

7.)    Ask a hook question that turns the conversation back to your connection.

8.)    Attempt to connect others; ask “who are you trying to meet?”

9.)    Add new connections immediately on LinkedIn ap.

10.)  Follow-up within 24-hours (or less).

Ask me questions or add your own tips @MarjorieDudley

Bonus Tips:

11.) Don’t assume people want your business card; wait until they ask. It shows less desperation and you might save a tree.

12.) Use time waiting in lines to your advantage. Say ‘hi’, ask what s/he does, find out what you shouldn’t miss. But for pete’s sake don’t play Words With Friends.

networking copy

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