In life, business, relationships, health, education, religion and most all other areas of life, there is one thing that we know we need to do that is more important than all the other things. There are probably many things that we should do but if we were honest with ourselves, we can all identify the one main thing we need to do. We usually already know what it is. More times than not, the failure of the business, health, education, relationship etc. can usually be tied directly to not having done that one thing.

Since other areas of life are complicated, let’s deal with only the business aspect. It doesn’t matter if you manage a lawnmower shop or run a fortune 500 company, there is really one main thing you must do to keep the life blood flowing in your business or your company. There are many easy and explainable detours and reasons why you don’t do the one thing. I call them the duck blinds. A duck blind is a shelter or covering that a hunter hides behind to keep flying ducks from seeing what they really are. Hunters. A duck hunter uses decoys (fake floating ducks) to lure unsuspecting real ducks into thinking the area is safe to land in. Only after the real ducks are flying toward the decoys does the hunter really reveal who he is.

The duck hunter example is perfect because it is how we sometimes treat the one thing we know we must do. We want to hide from it and act like we don’t know we are hiding. In reality, we know we are doing busy work to keep from doing the one thing we need to do.

I think in business as with life, we need to identify the one thing, push away all fear and start the process of doing that one thing. KT

One of the greatest feelings you can ever have is when you have done your very best. The term is “is your heart full.” I would love to tell you that in my work my heart is always full, meaning I have always my best, but that would not be true. There have been many times where I didn’t think the buyer/seller was serious and therefore did not put my best into the project and ultimately lost the piece of business. You do learn from these mistakes but they are painful.

I once read a story about Albert Einstein where he told about the late evening he finally developed the theory of relatively. This discovery is one of the two pillars of modern physics. The story is that when he competed the thesis, he went to put a paper clip on the pages and looked through the drawers until be found one but it was badly bent. Opening a few more drawers he found whole box of unused paper clips. He took one of the clips from the new box to shape it into a tool to straighten the one that was bent. When he was asked what he was doing. He said, “Once I am set on a goal, it becomes difficult to deflect me.”

This is a true story and a very good example of how I should be with every aspect of my business. I fall woefully short many times but it is nonetheless a goal to strive for. When you do something the very best you can do, that is really all you can do. Even if you don’t get the job, the business or the order, doing your best still helps you go home that night with a full heart. KT

Making sales calls is a learned habit. Some would think that this comes naturally to a sales person but it doesn’t. I have seen very accomplished and very polished sales people who do very poorly in sales and I have seen very average sales people do great things in sales. It all hinges on this one thing. Planning and making sales calls as part of a daily routine.

Over the past 26 years of selling hotels I have hired and trained many sales people. My success rate is very low. Ha. It is probably because I am poor trainer. That said, I have had very educated sales people that walk the walk and talk the talk and look good doing it. Many of these can’t sell their way out of a wet paper bag. Then,,,, I have hired and trained people that I just knew would not make it in this business. For the most part, these are the ones that make a difference. I suppose it comes down to desire to succeed. Many of the more polished people seem to have a way about them and feel they are “entitled.” It is as though they fully expect to succeed because of their history or education.

I have given up trying to predict if a sales person is successful or not because I am usually wrong. That said, there are some fundamental sale techniques that can be learned that increase the success rate. The first and most important one is to set a routine and habit of making new sales calls each day. It doesn’t have to be 100 calls a day. It can just be 2 calls a day. What many sales people don’t seem to grasp is that making 2 calls a day, gives you 10 more people a week that know your name or 40 more people a month. Much of the success in sales is about being available. I believe the greatest ability, is availability.

In sales, a new client that is interested in hiring you is literally the life blood of an organization. It is the hope of a company that holds it together. If new sale leads cease in a company, it could be the worst thing to happen. Trust me when I tell you that even through you may not think the staff is aware of this subtle change, they are. They know if the company is moving forward to standing still.

Therefore, if you are in a sales organization, making the decision to consistently make new sales calls on a planned, routine basis is the most important decision you can make. It also ensures that you will always have a job. KT