I often draw a triangle with equal sides when I discuss the fundamentals of championship selling.  Notice that the triangle’s base or bottom side is attitude, enthusiasm, and goals.  That combination is a common denominator for life, not just sales.  Our attitudes, enthusiasm for what we do, and goals just sales.  Our attitudes, enthusiasm for what we do, and goals for achievement in any area are what keeps our boats afloat.  [more…] Without a positive attitude or enthusiasm for what we’re doing, we’ll spend most  of our time bailing ourselves out of one leaky mess after another.  On the left side of the triangle is product knowledge.  Let’s face it, if you don’t know your product, you won’t know how to sell it.  The right side is selling strategies and tactics, otherwise known as people skills.  All three sides are equally important in a successful selling career.  You penalize yourself if you don not develop all three with equal dedication, enthusiasm, and energy.

We’ve all heard stories of the businessman who  struggles all his life, neglecting his health and physical well-being, ending up with a fatal illness just when he should be enjoying his ‘golden years.’  You probably know someone to ‘dedicated’ to his career that the long hours, weekends at the office, and night-after-night networking have led to broken relationships, families, and hearts.  Almost everyone has encountered someone in business so focused on the nonspiritual side of  life what when you look into his eyes, you see nothing there.

An audio recording engineer’s success/near-failure/success story illustrates the importance of having balance in your professional life.  The man is an expert in his field.  You may have seen, or rather heard, his work on network television, in the movie house, or on cable specials.  He has traveled all over the world for some of America’s tip corporations.

Many years ago his area was hit by a recession, and his local and regional business began to suffer.  He became concerned, and then worried.  As the recession deepened, so did his depression.  Everyone who dealt with him herd only a constant barrage of comments about the bad economy.  The recession affected everyone else, too.  People could still find work, but they had to work harder, longer, and charge less to get it.  His attitude made him resent that hard fact of life.

Unfocused, he forgot his goals and lost his enthusiasm, and that caused him to get sloppy.  He began to miss important business appointments and recording sessions.  He stopped marketing himself, and within three years he faced business and personal bankruptcy.  Now that man just about talked himself out of business!

Here’s the point.  He had two sides of the triangle.  He had excellent skills and strategies, and he had a thorough knowledge of his product.  but he lacked the third side, the foundation of attitude, enthusiasm, and goals.  When, after a difficult struggle, he rediscovered that side, he recovered his business and his personal life.

 Have a good one and let me know if you need anything.