Who Wins?

The Old American Dream

Keep your head down
Follow instructions
Show up on time
Work hard
Suck it up

The New American Dream

Be remarkable
Be generous
Create art
Make judgement calls
Connect people and ideas

All of these attributes are choices, not talents, and all of them are available to us.

Stewardship

What type of leadership is present inside your company?

As a leader, the one thing you can't delegate is the responsibility for making sure the company has a single culture, not several competing ones. I've experienced this first hand inside our organization at Morales Group

My friend and business advisor, Dale Needleman (really smart apple), stated today that "In the absence of leadership, people will listen to whoever is talking". And sometimes these people who are talking have no understanding of how to run a business. That's a scary thought to consider.

Thanks Dale for the fantastic insight. We've got our work cut out but I know we're up to the challenge.

Are You Indispensable?

People under the age of 20 only know the Internet as their prime source of communication, purchase, and download. Get used to it, get over it, understand the sales opportunity that it creates, and take advantage of it. If you don't, society will take advantage of you.

Now is the time for salespeople to study the marketplace, make an assessment of where they feel their best long-term opportunities lie, combine those opportunities with selecting something that they're passionate about or would love to do, and DIG IN.

Morales Family Farm

Think of the sales process like farming. You prepare the soil; you plant seeds; you water, weed, nurture, and cultivate. In other words, follow through. Not every seed takes root; it may be only one seed in ten, or one in twenty.

Which connections will bear fruit, and when? It depends; different relationships and situations take different amounts of time. Just as with the farmer's partnership with the soil, sun, and seasons, the exact timing is not up to you.

But know this: if you prepare the soil well and are careful in your cultivation, you will reap a harvest - silos full.

Galatians 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up"

Linchpins and Leverage

Forty years ago, Richard Branson, who ultimately founded Virgin Air, found himself in a situation in the airport at the Caribbean. They had just canceled his flight, the only flight that day. Instead of freaking out about how essential the flight was, how badly his day was ruined, how his entire career was now in jeopardy, the young Branson walked across the airport to the charter desk and inquired about the cost of chartering a flight out of Puerto Rico.

Then he borrowed a portable blackboard and wrote, "Seats to Virgin Islands, $39." He went back to his gate, sold enough seats to his fellow passengers to completely cover his costs, and made it home on time. Not to mention planting the seeds for the airline he'd start decades later. Sounds like the kind of person you'd like to hire.

(Excerpt taken from Seth Godin's new book Linchpin)

My Favorite Video - Gitomer Style

The time for systems of selling has passed.
The time for sales manipulation has passed.
The time for "finding the pain" has passed
The time for "closing the sale" has way passed.

I wonder if you're using yesterday's approaches to complete today's sales.

How Often Do You Shower?

Over time I've come to learn that I need to cool down when it comes to making important business decisions. Most entrepreneurs are impatient people by nature. But that same desire can turn into your worst enemy if you don't learn how to control it. Lately I've come up with a rule that has helped provide clarity on major business decisions. I call it the "shower rule". Since I do my best thinking in the shower, and I don't have time to take one during the day, I hold off making an instant decision. What I needed was a mechanism I could use to slow myself down, and the shower rule has helped immensely. This way I don't rush into decisions prematurely. My father, Tom Morales, who owns Morales Group, has taught me that real opportunities don't disappear. I guess that comes with age and experience. Thanks Dad for setting a great example.