According to Herbert True, of Notre Dame University:

44% of all salespeople quit trying after the first sales call.

24% quit after the second sales call.

14% quit after the third sales call.

12% quit after the fourth sales call.

60% of all sales are made after the fourth call.

That means 94% of all salespeople are missing out on sales because they quit too soon.

Other research has shown that most sales are closed between the 5th and 7th sales call.

Are you one of the 94% that has given up?

I have said this before, and I say it again.

It is better to approach one prospect seven times, than to approach seven prospects one time.

Persistence counts so much more than you realize.  Keep at it.

 That’s my 2 cents

“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”  – Abraham Lincoln

You’ve heard the old adage “action speaks louder than words”; and it is action not words that leads to success.

I have known a number of various sales people in my life, and regardless of their industry, (Real Estate, Insurance, ad specialty, technology, investments, or whatever), it appears to me that they fall into two general categories.

The first, (and most successful), network at every opportunity and are active in multiple community and industry activities.  They rub elbows at every opportunity engaging potential buyers and actively seeking opportunities.

The second group come in the office and sit waiting for someone to call saying they wanted to buy.  They network little; they just sit waiting for someone to walk in and say “Here I am”. 

Obviously the significant difference between these two types is action.  The first goes out seeking opportunity, and the second simply waits for opportunity to come to them.

Success is out there, and it is all around, but it is up to each individual to go out and look for it.  It is up to you to search it out, and to seize it.

Your success is up to you.

 That’s my 2 cents

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Presented below is an essay by Newt Gingirch on Thanksgiving, it is reporduced in whole.

To Whom Do We Give Thanks?

On the south side of the Rotunda in the United States Capitol Building is a painting titled The Embarkation of the Pilgrims.

The painting depicts the deck of the ship as it departs from Holland for the New World in 1620.   Look, and you will see that the pilgrims are praying. A rainbow rises on the left side of the painting, symbolizing hope and divine protection.

The faith in God that the pilgrims exhibited on embarkation from the old world became thankfulness to the same God on disembarkation in the New World.

This is the origin of the day of Thanksgiving we celebrate this week. We give thanks, not merely to one another, or to some undefined spiritual force, but to God.

 It doesn’t’t mean we’re all Christians. It means we’re Americans; lucky citizens of a nation uniquely rooted in faith in our Creator.

Tomorrow We Give Thanks to the God of Washington and Lincoln

To whom will we give thanks tomorrow?

To the God whom George Washington, in the first national Thanksgiving Day proclamation in 1789, called on all Americans to “unite to render unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection.”

 To the God to whom Abraham Lincoln looked in the midst of the Civil War as he made Thanksgiving an annual national holiday in 1863:

“No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.”

Tomorrow we give thanks to the Creator who is the source of our sovereignty.

 We pause in gratitude to He who has endowed us with the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

And just as no government has granted these rights, no government can legitimately take them away.

This is the freedom the pilgrims prayed for, Washington fought for and Lincoln stood for.

As important as it is to give thanks tomorrow is to remember, as Americans have before us, to whom we give thanks.

May you and your family have a happy, healthy and blessed Thanksgiving. Your friend, Newt Gingrich

“You must take personal responsibility.  You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself” – Jim Ron

“All blame is a waste of time.  No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will not change you.” – Wayne Dyer

“The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it.”  – Lou Holtz

“Decide upon your major definite purpose in life and then organize all your activities around it.—Brian Tracy

“The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this:  decide what you want.” – Ben Stein

“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.” – Robert Fritz

“The number one problem that keeps people from winning in the United States today is lack of belief in themselves.—Arthur L. Williams

“The difference between success and failure is simple.  Success is getting up one more time than you are knocked down” – Brock Henderson

“You can be anything you want to be, if only you believe with sufficient conviction and act in accordance with your faith; for whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.” – Napoleon Hill

 That’s my 2 cents.

This came to me today in an e-mail, and while I can not attest to the authorship, or even if it actually happened, I do feel that the lesson it gives is a very sound one.  In God we trust.

(begin sermon)                               

Good morning, brothers and sisters; it’s
always a delight to see the pews crowded
on Sunday morning, and so eager to get
into God’s Word.  Turn with me in your
Bibles, if you will to the 47th chapter
of Genesis, we’ll begin our reading at
verse 13, and go through verse 27.

The article reprinted below is from The Washington Times, and it’s the press being critical of President Obama, which is something you don’t see too often.  However, in all fairness to the press they are starting to raise objections to some White House practices — such as the recent “enemies list” issue.

What with unemployment at 10%, (nearer 15% if you include those who have given up on looking for work); out of control spending, even for Democrats; a dollar that is falling faster than ever; and the “ram it down their throats” attitude towards health care reform . . . well, a lot of people are starting to think that maybe, just maybe, the Emperor has no clothes.

(begin article)

By Wesley Pruden

Throwing rotten eggs at “them lyin’ newspapers” has always been great sport in America, and sometimes even effective politics. But it has to be done with wit and humor, which may be above Barack Obama’s pay grade.

Thomas Jefferson despised newspapers, with considerable justification. They printed libels and slanders about him that persist to the present day. Yet he famously said that if he had to choose between government without newspapers and newspapers without government, he would cheerfully choose to live in a land with newspapers (even not very good ones) and no government.

Harry Truman threatened to demolish the manhood of a newspaper music critic who criticized his daughter’s singing. Richard Nixon compiled an enemies list, prominently including newspapermen. I made Bill Clinton’s enemies list and dined out on it for weeks. George W. Bush confessed, no doubt accurately, that he never read newspapers.

The president’s media environment is “target rich,” but as any bombardier could tell you, there’s more to scoring a bull’s-eye than opening the bomb-bay doors. In a fit of pique, John F. Kennedy canceled the White House subscription to the New York Herald-Tribune (may it R.I.P.) because he thought it relished stories about Democratic zits and covered up Republican pimples. The ban didn’t last; the White House soon subscribed again, and JFK poked a little fun at his over-the-top pique.

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Politicians who actually get their revenge on press tormentors do so with rapier thrusts of whimsy and clever insult. An early 20th-century governor and U.S. senator from Arkansas (from whom Mr. Clinton took pointers) delighted in sharp thrust-and-parry with the Arkansas Gazette (may it R.I.P.), the state’s leading newspaper.

“My wife and I have a little boy, and we have great ambitions for him,” he would tell audiences gathered on courthouse lawns at the foot of the monument to the Confederate soldier. “If it turns out that he’s as intelligent as we think he is, we hope to make a Baptist preacher of him. If he has just average intelligence, that’s all right, we’ll send him to law school. But if it turns out he’s the village idiot, we’ll just send him down to Little Rock to edit the morning newspaper.”

Good fun. But something more sinister is afoot in Mr. Obama’s carefully plotted campaign to destroy his perceived enemies in the press, television and even business. Rush Limbaugh is only the face of the opposition, and the ultimate target of the White House scheme is to marginalize and destroy the Republican Party first, and then everyone else unwilling to get in the lockstep parade toward the hazy dream of Utopia.

Mr. Obama and his White House can’t seem to get their brains around the fact that the election of ‘08 is over, and he won. A candidate feeds on red meat, but a president is the president of everyone, and must set a different table. Mr. Obama campaigned with promises of a post-racial, post-partisan, post-rancor administration, and millions of Americans responded with enthusiasm. The candidate who said he took inspiration from Abraham Lincoln of Illinois now acts as if he takes inspiration from the distinguished statesmen of the Third World, where press opposition to the leader is usually a bloody no-no.

The remarkable White House attempt to define which news organization is legitimate and which is not began in August, as Mr. Obama’s poll numbers began a dramatic slide. Suddenly the man who yearns to be the permanent president of the Student Body, loved by all and adored by the co-eds and their mamas, is rendered human after all. Anita Dunn, the director of White House communications, says that when the administration began planning for autumn (with important gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia), the president “needed to be more aggressive in defining what the choices are, and in protecting and pushing forward our agenda.”

Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge and Fox News are big enough to take care of themselves, but the implications of what the Obamanauts are trying to do are scary, indeed. Brisk and even brutal opposition is something every president must endure; it’s a pity that Mr. Obama skipped school the day the class studied American history. The candidate insists that the critics who scoff that he isn’t really the messiah, but another Chicago politician, are just being cynical. This week Ms. Dunn insisted that the Obama image is intact. “He’s who he has always been.” So we are learning, to widespread sorrow.

• Wesley Pruden is editor emeritus of The Washington Times.

(end article)

That’s my 2 cents

In a Wall Street Journal article, it was announced that the FCC was going to institute policies that would give more benefit to consumers. In a nutshell, the FCC is proposing that you the consumer can not have your bandwidth throttled by the provider.

Currently, ISP’s and cell phone providers, will throttle, (slow), your access to the web. With web sites such as YouTube and others providing downloadable content that uses a large amount of bandwidth, ISP’s and cellular providers have restricted the download speed in order to maintain useable bandwidth.

The providers argue that they need to be able to control bandwidth usage in order to provide the best level of service to all customers. However, such throttling means for slower downloading for the consumer. This becomes even more frustrating for cell phone users who are also using up their minutes as they wait for the hottest YouTube video to download.

Cell phone companies have complained that there simply are not enough available frequencies to handle the growing demand that customers are requiring. Recently the FCC announced that more frequencies would become available, and while this was applauded by the cell phone carriers, they also say that this offering by the FCC will still not be enough to meet future demand.

Here are three articles on this subject that I hope you find useful: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125329467451823485.html

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2009/09/fcc_to_introduce_rules_that_pr.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE58H59A20090918

That’s my 2 cents.

Finding qualified good employees can be difficult, frustrating, time consuming, expensive, and a real pain in the back side.

Some prospects might over-state their qualifications, and a few flat out falsify information on their resume.

One way to help determine if a candidate is right for your organization is to have them submit a handwriting sample, and let an expert in handwriting analysis take a look at it.

Lahna Harris is a highly qualified expert in handwriting analysis, and her fees are manageable for any size business.

Her web site is:  www.holisticwellnesstherapies.net

Try handwriting analysis the next time you need to hire someone and see how it helps you.

I personally know Lahna and will gladly attest to her competence.

That’s my 2 cents.

The question I pose here is quite simple.

Should student interns be paid or not?

I have always been of the opinion that they should be paid, but there are respected consultants who strongly advise their clients NOT to pay student interns.

His thinking is that their “pay” is the work experience you are providing and that should be enough.  Monetary compensation is not required.

It is true that you are not required to pay student interns, so you can have a potentially unlimited supply of “free” labor to perform menial tasks.

However, (you knew that was coming didn’t you), after a good deal of thought I disagree with those who encourage the use of non-paid student interns.

Yes, they are presumably learning valuable work and social skills under your tutelage. 

And while unpaid student interns may be legal, is it ethical?  Is it morally right?

No, I don’t think it is.

My belief is that if an individual is helping you with your business—even in a small way—that person should receive some sort of financial compensation.

It just isn’t right to have someone provide you with their time and all they get is some work experience they can put on a resume.

To a lot of students that might be enough, but as a business owner it is your duty to lead by example.  And the example you are showing student interns when you don’t pay them is that you can use people.

Is that really the example you want to show them?

Do you want their weeks with you to include the fact that it’s OK to take from someone without giving fair and equal compensation?

Presumably they have rendered good service to you through their duties of filing, answering the phone, running errands, and whatever else you have asked them to do.

Doesn’t that deserve some sort of consideration?

I would suggest that the only real difference between an employee and a student intern is the length of employment, and little (if anything) else.

Would you even dream of telling a traditional job applicant that you will allow them to work for you, but you aren’t going to pay them?

No.  And the applicant would look at you like you’re a loon if you did.

But the desperate student looking for some sort of experience will jump at the chance to be so rudely abused.  And taking advantage of their willingness is wrong.  It is unethical, unprofessional, immoral, and teaches the wrong lesson to future business owners.

Pay your student interns.  It doesn’t have to be a lot, but they are providing you with loyal, honest service and are entitled to fair compensation for that service.

They are being fair and honest in their work with you and they are entitled to equally fair treatment.

UPDATE:  I was reminded by a friend that college interns are paying tuition for that time they are with you.   One more reason they should be paid.

That’s my 2 cents.

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Failing is a fundamental part of sales, you simply will not close every sale.  It isn’t humanly possible.  So don’t let it get you down.

 You’ve given a wonderful presentation, but the prospect said “No”.  That isn’t saying you’re a lousy human being, it is simply saying that, as presented, they aren’t interested in your product or service.

 Don’t walk out dejected, (yes, I know that’s hard not to do), but review every inch of your presentation.  What did the prospect seem to react favorably to, and what did they react unfavorably to?  What questions did they ask?  Was there any one point where you seemed to lose them?  Did you ask the right qualifying questions?  Did you establish a need for your products or services?  Did you find out who they are currently utilizing and what they liked and didn’t like about them?  Did you research the company and their industry sufficiently to really understand what their problems and needs are?

 Identify every instance where you could have done something different and ask yourself what could I have done?  How might they have reacted if I had said this over that?

 Put yourself in the prospects shoes and try to see your questions from their perspective.  The better you can understand why people react the way they do, the better you will be in sales.

 “No” doesn’t always mean no, sometimes it means you didn’t do your job properly, and you didn’t solve the real issues perceived by the prospect.

 And sometimes, it simply means no.

 The critical element is that you review each sales presentation, both successful and unsuccessful, to identify what you did right and what you might have done wrong.

The important thing is that when you fail, you should learn from the experience.  You now have one more way not to do it.

Thats my 2 cents.

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