Affordable Health Plans for Cooley Law Students
Some time ago, a book was written by Stephen Covey. The title was "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". One of the habits that seemed so obvious to me, but I had never thought about it, was to start with the end in mind. All too often, we find it easier to go with the flow. Never really checking to see if the flow is where we want to end up. Sett...
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An old joke from New England is that a traveler stops at a farm and asks the farmer, "Will this road take me to Manchester?" the farmer responds, "That road will take you wherever you want to go." The moral is: if you don't have a roadmap or a plan, any road will get you there. So, each of us needs to determine what's important. What are...
Besides death and taxes, you can be assured you'll always have some problems to deal with. It's a fact of life. It's not the problems that differentiate us, it's how we handle those problems. To get ahead in life, you need to be a problem solver.
Given the significant and profound changes which occurred all over the globe in 2011, it can be helpful to review where we have been to see where we need to go. 2012 could be a very pivotal year. The economic forces at play in various parts of the world could propel us forward or cause us to slide backwards. How well prepared are you to move forwa...
The time period between Christmas and New Year's has traditionally been, at least for many people, the time to contemplate New Year's resolutions. I'm not sure who in my family first impressed in my mind "it's not the problems we have that differentiate us, it's how we handle those problems that differentiate us." Our legislators at both the feder...
I'm sure you have heard the expression "You cannot know how someone feels until you walk a mile in their shoes." During this holiday season or, actually, any time of the year, perform a civic duty by helping out at a local soup kitchen or food bank. Not only will you be helping those organizations, but hopefully you will come away with a feeling a...
W. Edwards Deming has long been considered the father of continuous improvement. He is perhaps best known for his work in Japan. What many people fail to recognize is Deming, while he focused on organizations, also spoke about people. The first step in his philosophy was the transformation of the individual. The individual must continue to ch...
Alvin Toffler wrote a book in the 1970s called Future Shock. When I read the book, about the only thing I can recall was that he said it wasn't change that people would object to, it would be the rapid pace of change. I now understand what he was saying. So how does Madonna fit into this? Well, Madonna, through her career, has ...
When interacting with others in the sales process, a good salesperson will analyze the personality buying style of the potential client. For example, if you're selling to an accountant or CPA, they usually like to have reams of data or information to help support their decision to buy from you. Thus, knowing your buyer's personality style can assis...
Relationships are the trump cards in selling. Someone once said, "you need at least three of the four aces to make a new sale." What are the four aces? First is coverage. Second is service. Third is price. And fourth, and most important, and the card that trumps the first three aces, is relationship. A good salesperson will focus on qualifying th...
"Your fame will always precede you" is an expression someone shared with me early in my business career. I once spoke to my father about ethics and business and asked him how he decided what was ethical or not. He told me he used a simple rule of thumb; If he could go home and explain the situation to his wife and children and feel good about hims...
The fourth of the five Es is empathy. According to Webster's Dictionary, this is the capacity for participating in another's feelings or ideas. This is a highly desirable trait in just about any field of endeavor. The ability to share feelings and ideas that are often abstract and complex is truly a gift. Some people have this more than others and...
Education is the third of the five Es. This is the key to moving up the food chain. The interesting thing about education, the more you get, the more you really realize how much you need. It's a continuous process; it will never stop. Change is inevitable, and what frustrates most people is the rapid pace of change. Education prepares you an...
Being a morning person and early riser, I think most people would consider me a high energy person. Energy is the second E of the Five Es that we look for in sales. Energy is very important. Most good salespeople are high energy people. They are excited to get up in the morning and want to get to work because they are driven. Energy can ...
In an earlier post, I shared the story of how I got a job with McLaren Racing. Click here to see the entry: How I Got into Sales. When I was working for McLaren Racing, I quickly figured out who made the money: the car owner and the car driver. It certainly wasn't me, a college student and mechanic. One of the attributes of a good sales...
I've always been amazed by people who knew what they wanted out of life. They always seemed focused and knew what direction they were headed in. Looking back, I never consciously considered a sales career. I can now see that subconsciously, I discovered that sales was where I was headed. Spring Break of my freshman year of college, I eng...
