Changes Coming to Bennett's Blog

I Want ALL the Money

During my blog posts this week I'm going to be talking about a very straightforward mindset we should all have in sales -- I WANT ALL THE MONEY.  Not some of the money...not what you may have budgeted...not what you have left to give me -- I WANT ALL THE MONEY!

Now before you freak out and think I've become a money-focused freak, let me explain -- what I'm talking about is a shift in attitude and mindset --- from a seller going out and looking for what clients may have budgeted for them, to one that is going out saying -it doesn't matter what you have budgeted, it only matters what you need or what you want to happen.  It's basically saying as a seller,  I'm so confident in what I can do for you that I want more and more of your business.  I want it all...because I believe I will partner with you at levels no one else will.  I will wow you.  I will blow you away.  I will make it all happen. No one will do more for you.

I want it all, because I want a total commitment from you...and I will give you eveyrthing that I have.

See what I mean?    It means taking the field willing to give it all, lay it all on the line, play with reckless abondon...no holding back!

Are you ready to try living this way?  I hope so, because I am!  

So today's goal is simple -- start with a straightforward mantra -- I WANT ALL THE BUSINESS...I WANT ALL THE MONEY.  Say it several times over the next few days.  Say it before you start making your calls.  Say it before you walk into client meetings. 

I want all the business!

I want all the money!

Why?  Because we will blow you away with what we can do for you! 

GB

 

The Tanacious One Is As The Tenacious One Does

So...after the last few blog posts you've decided YOU want to become one of the "Tenacious Ones", huh?  You want to go where only the very, very few are willing to go?  You want to step out there and live your life in sales (or in other endeavors), on the edge; outside of ANY comfort zones? 

You've looked at, processed it, thought about, and now...you just wanna do it?   Right?  Well, we'll see.  And we will HAVE to see it if you want to claim it.

It's one thing to say you're intending to do something...it's completely (and I mean completely) different to actually do it...and keep doing it...and keep doing it...forever.

Being one of the tenacious ones means committing to living a certain way - whether, as I mentioned in yesterday's post, that way is loud or silent; public or private - it's a way of being that is so out there in it's uniquely-tenacious way, that people talk about it, notice it; perhaps are even frightened by it.

Okay so the next questions you may have are..."So what can I do to become one of the tenacious ones?  What is MY thing going to be that people talk about?"   Well, that depends on several things:

• What is the "norm" in your world?  What do 99.9% of the rest of your team do that you could double or triple?   For example, if everyone on your sales team makes maybe 5 new business appointments a week...why not make your "thing" -- you make 20?   Or 50?    Do that every week and you'll become known by a lot of things, tenacious being just one of them.  They'll also call you "freak"..."brown noser"...."ass kisser"...  (Pssst..a little warning...being the tenacious one WILL cause lots of backlash amongst the non-tenacious crowd)
• What lies outside the box?
• What hasn't been tried?
• What is very hard to do consistently?

Pick something that puts you out there...THEN DO IT.  Don't talk about doing it...or brag about your desire to do it...JUST DO IT.

If you pick the right thing or things, then do them consistently the word will get out.  Soon you can be among the world of the tenacious.  And as I just eluded too about being called names, living in the tenacious world is not always easy...it can come at a cost.  That's why the tenacious ones also have to seek balance as something they're tenacious about. 

Work hard, play hard.  Be a tenacious mom...a tenacious dad...a tenacious spouse...a tenacious friend...seek to explode into those roles just as much!

I will wrap up this particular string of posts about tenacity with some of the things I've done in my life that have caused others to consider me one of the tenacious ones (and you have to have validation outside your own mind if it's real).   And I list these not to be boastful, because I think if you're really the tenacious one you don't have to walk around telling everyone (should be obvious), but to show you that I practice what I preach.

When I was a DJ right out of high school:

• I did outrageous stunts to draw attention and raise money.  I sat in a bathtub of sauerkraut for eight hours...I got into the bullrider clown barrel and let a big bull ram me into the air...I rode on the back of a motorcycle through a wall of flame...(just to name a few)

 When I was a young salesperson at a radio station in Washington DC:

• I dressed in an ape suit and dressed my daughter Brooke (she was like 4 at the time) in a little cave-girl outfit and we went around in the heat of a DC summer serving ice cream sundaies to my clients
• I made 75 - 100 cold calls a day for several weeks in a row, when everyone else at my station maybe made 5 or 10 a week!

When I wanted to reach out and accomplish different things in my life:

• I got an agent and a publisher (not easy things to do) and wrote a sales book, "Consultative Closing"
• I decided to try writing a fiction book, and it's coming out in two weeks, called "3 Pairs of Glasses"
• I've written two e-books, "Make More Donuts!" (about sales management), and "Self Sabotage"... and I'm setting a goal to write one new ebook a quarter for the next several years
• I took up saxaphone at 38...and drums at 48 (I will admit that I'm not committed enough to be tenacious in either one)
• I did a stand-up gig at the Improv in 2009

Again...I don't mention these things to brag...if you know me at all, you know I'm not that way ...I mention them becuase I want to challenge you to look at your career and your life and perhaps push you to become one of the tenacious ones!

I love what Apple's Steve Jobs said:  “We're here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?”

BE A TENACIOUS ONE!!!

GB

If No One Is Talking About You (For SOME Reason) -- You Haven't Arrived Yet As Being "The Tenacious One"

I'm writing a few posts on TENACITY and what it means to be TENACIOUS!   And the questions I'm asking you today are...would people say you are tenacious?    And ...Is anyone talking about your tenacity?  Now before you answer, keep in mind that being tenacious doesn't mean just one thing...there are many things one could do, and many ways one could act, in order to be called "tenacious". 

Using sports as an analogy, some notoriously tenacious players are very loud and just "out there" in how they carry themselves on the field (and off the field for that matter).  Some that come to mind are Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens, Philip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers, and tennis great Jimmy Connors.  And then there are other players who are known as being tenacious but they approach their game with a quiet intensity, like Lance Armstrong, or Chris Evert, or the San Antionio Spurs' Tim Duncan. 

It's the same in sales, you don't have to be loud and proud to be called tenacious, you may be a sleek, steady, silent...assassin.  

Whether you're loud or silent...being tenacious means you do things no one else is willing to do.  You push yourself to certain levels.  You do outrageous things.  You go back in when everyone else is running away.  You move beyond "the norm" and seek to perform and achieve at levels few others would dare dream of; so much so that they begin to talk about you.  Stories are told of the crazy or amazing or unimaginable things you do...whether those things are loud and public, or quiet and behind the scenes.

So the bottom line to this post is this -- If no one is talking about your level of tenacity, you're probably not there yet.    And that's your goal...if you want to be known as one of the most tenacious players in your field you gotta do something worth talking about.  

Tomorrow I'm going to share a few of my exploits that have led to my being known (as of yesterday, thanks to Tim Smile) as Tenacious B!   I'd like to hear some of yours as well...

GB 

The Barracuda Changed My Life...Will It Change Yours? Introducing My Focus on Tenacity!!!!

You lying soooo low in the weeds...I bet you gonna ambush me...you'd have me down, down, down, down on my knees...now wouldn't you BARRACUDA! - Heart

The minute I hooked one last week during my trip to Belize I knew my life had changed.  Holy schnikeez!  I've caught tons of fish before, but I'd never felt anything like the POW of a barracuda on the line. 

I believe that if you're a willing student, there are lessons to be learned in every moment -- from every thing...every event...every person around you.   If you're willing and you keep your eyes and ears open.

  
And the lessons I learned from fighting the legendary barracuda are going to transform how I teach and coach sales from here on out.  And through that I hope they'll change the way you approach sales as well.  I'll try to explain these changes over the coming few blog posts.

I'd heard about catching a barracuda before and about how they fight, but until I'd experienced one, I didn't really get it.  And as I was reeling the big dude in the question popped into my mind as it often does -- "what can I learn from this?" and the answer almost knocked me to my knees faster than the nasty looking fish I was fighting.

What it taught me is TENACITY!   T E N A C I T Y!   T E N A C I T Y!!

The 'cuda is one tenacious mo-fo (you don't survive as a species for 50 million years by being a whimp!)  And it made me realize -- Good Lord GB it's what you've been missing in your teaching for 22 years!    Of course I've talked about passion, and drive, and self-confidence...but I haven't focused enough on the hidden ingredient that separates the good from the great not only in sales, but in every area of human endeavor -- TENACITY.

Tenacity transcends strategy, technique, style, motivation, and even natural skill sets.  While those things are all important ingredients, they're no where near as important as tenacity.

Here's what tenacity and being tenacious means in the world of sales:

• It means walking into a the buzz saw of a nasty client 10 times after you've been cut down 9...
• It means plowing into your cold calls and facing rejection time, after time, after time until you win...
• It means sucking it up, looking the client in the eye and asking, "what is stopping us from moving forward with this right now?"...
• It means exploding into a room not just slinking in...
• It means getting outside your comfort zones and doing things no one else is willing to do...

These are things no one teaches young sellers.  We teach them about product features and benefits, we teach them what to say when they call, we teach them how to rebut basic objections...but we DON'T teach them what it means to be tenacious.   And I'm not sure how much of it CAN be taught.  Is it one of those "either you're born with it or you're not" type of things?  I think partly...but I believe there are some things we can demonstrate to young sellers to show them the difference between calling on a client; getting shut down and going away...and picking yourself up, adjusting your tie and plowing right back in.

Tenacity means going back time and time and time again...until the one time the client says "Well...okay... I'm going to give you a shot.  Why?  Because you wouldn't give up and I admire that more than anything else you could tell me."

Tomorrow and Friday I'm going to continue writing about tenacity and what it means...PLEASE pass this on to a young seller who needs to know what it means to be a barracuda...or to an old seller who's lost his teeth and become a mild snapper.

GB