Why is your current job not meeting your needs?
Understanding the answer to this question can be personal, real, honest, lifelong, and takes a lot of personal knowledge about yourself to answer.
A good friend and mentor of mine, Townsend Wardlaw, always asks me what I want to do? Because I know he is going to ask me that same questions every time we meet at 6:00am for coffee, I think about it often. And every time I think I have come closer to the answer, I stump myself. Like many organizations out there that want to be successful and see yearly growth, there is one common denominator that keeps them from those goals, themselves; and in my case, I am the only thing in the way of myself.
I utterly know that someday I will have my own business. What it will be I am not sure. I think about what I love, what drives me and makes me who I am today. I figure that will help me decide what it is I want to do. Using the principals from Jim Collins recent book, ‘Good to Great’ he describes the Hedgehog Concept. This helps organizations stay focused and go from good to great. There are three extremely basic questions to answer:
1. What you are deeply passionate about?
2. What drives your economic engine?
3. What you can be the best in world at?
Am I doing today what is my God given talent and perhaps could I be the best in the world at that? Am I, or can I get paid to do this?
Such simple yet destructive questions.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Questions to Ponder
1) Why is milk sold in rectangular containers, while soft drinks are sold in round ones?
2) Why do many bars charge patrons for water but give them free peanuts?
3) Why do rental car companies impose no penalty for canceling a reservation at the last minute, whereas both hotels and airlines impose significant cancellation charges?
The Economic Naturalist - Robert H. Frank
2) Why do many bars charge patrons for water but give them free peanuts?
3) Why do rental car companies impose no penalty for canceling a reservation at the last minute, whereas both hotels and airlines impose significant cancellation charges?
The Economic Naturalist - Robert H. Frank
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
What to do next?
So “it” isn’t what you thought it would be?
This can be in relation to your job, life, or pretty much anything. For me it’s the job and my relationship with my girlfriend Kellye.
Let me start out by saying this is not a bad thing by any means. This was a growing experience for me.
I originally set out in this entry to write about how unhappy and unfulfilling my job was, and how tough it is to be in a relationship with my girlfriend, Kellye. After further thought and significant events, I found some very insightful facts about myself.
I was so unhappy, unfulfilled, and slowly mentally deteriorating that I was allowing my job and current employer to effect the rest of my life. I knew I was stressed out from work, but not to the level I thought. I thought I was drinking more just because it was fun to do with Kellye. We were having nice dinners together along with a glass of wine, beer, or a Jonny on the rocks. I though we were fighting more because I was unhappy with the relationship as a whole. We went to counseling, sought outside help, talked with friends and family. Nothing seemed to be helping.
Nothing was working, because I wasn’t addressing the real issue. It was work. I love my work. It is part of my biological chemistry and childhood upbringing to be the best at whatever I call a career. The fact that I had left a very comfortable job with the Three Value Logic Sales Institute for another less satisfying job was killing me.
The first month at Internet Alliance Group was great. I was implementing Salesforce.com, getting others up-to-speed on its functionality, writing user manuals, and selling. It was everything I had agreed it to be.
About 45 days into the job, we had a sales meeting. The owner came in, started talking about this, that, and the other thing like he usually did (which typically made no sense and all I wanted to do was contradict him the whole time). He went on to eventually say, “I don’t want a huge company with 30 employees, dot, dot, dot.” At that point my heart was crushed, all expectations had been broken, and agreements flushed down the toilet. The goal of building a sales team for the different parts of the business was no longer. He was only out to make a quick buck. For the remaining 2 – 3 months I was there, the entire sales team (myself included), completely switched selling products 3 – 4 times. If you do the math, we were only given a matter of weeks to build a prospect list, sell into that, build a pipeline, and close business. It was so backwards it drove everyone crazy.
As a professional out to be ubber successful and make an enormous amount of money, I was becoming very resentful, unmotivated, disinterested, unbelieving, etc in the small company of 8 – 10 employees.
All of this and about 20 more pages worth of detail was ruining me. It was affecting the way I was treating others, especially my wonderful girlfriend.
I started interviewing with the hopes of walking into the owners office and putting in my 2 weeks notice…but he beat me to the punch line.
Even though a bit upsetting it wasn’t me leaving on my own ticket, that was a great day.
Since the day I left, my life, wellbeing, and relationships have all been exponentially better. Funny enough, I received a job offer from a real company for more money only 2 days out of a job and another for a lot more money 4 days out of a job. Funny how that works.
To sum it all up, everything happens for a reason. I left 3VLSI for reason, took a job with IAG for a reason, and now am sitting here typing all for a reason.
I look back on my work at 3VLSI and all the meetings we had with prospects and clients. What happened at IAG was no different. Setting agreements and expectations is not too difficult. Clarification, keeping, and living up to them are the tough part for most.
Good luck.
Robert Johnson
This can be in relation to your job, life, or pretty much anything. For me it’s the job and my relationship with my girlfriend Kellye.
Let me start out by saying this is not a bad thing by any means. This was a growing experience for me.
I originally set out in this entry to write about how unhappy and unfulfilling my job was, and how tough it is to be in a relationship with my girlfriend, Kellye. After further thought and significant events, I found some very insightful facts about myself.
I was so unhappy, unfulfilled, and slowly mentally deteriorating that I was allowing my job and current employer to effect the rest of my life. I knew I was stressed out from work, but not to the level I thought. I thought I was drinking more just because it was fun to do with Kellye. We were having nice dinners together along with a glass of wine, beer, or a Jonny on the rocks. I though we were fighting more because I was unhappy with the relationship as a whole. We went to counseling, sought outside help, talked with friends and family. Nothing seemed to be helping.
Nothing was working, because I wasn’t addressing the real issue. It was work. I love my work. It is part of my biological chemistry and childhood upbringing to be the best at whatever I call a career. The fact that I had left a very comfortable job with the Three Value Logic Sales Institute for another less satisfying job was killing me.
The first month at Internet Alliance Group was great. I was implementing Salesforce.com, getting others up-to-speed on its functionality, writing user manuals, and selling. It was everything I had agreed it to be.
About 45 days into the job, we had a sales meeting. The owner came in, started talking about this, that, and the other thing like he usually did (which typically made no sense and all I wanted to do was contradict him the whole time). He went on to eventually say, “I don’t want a huge company with 30 employees, dot, dot, dot.” At that point my heart was crushed, all expectations had been broken, and agreements flushed down the toilet. The goal of building a sales team for the different parts of the business was no longer. He was only out to make a quick buck. For the remaining 2 – 3 months I was there, the entire sales team (myself included), completely switched selling products 3 – 4 times. If you do the math, we were only given a matter of weeks to build a prospect list, sell into that, build a pipeline, and close business. It was so backwards it drove everyone crazy.
As a professional out to be ubber successful and make an enormous amount of money, I was becoming very resentful, unmotivated, disinterested, unbelieving, etc in the small company of 8 – 10 employees.
All of this and about 20 more pages worth of detail was ruining me. It was affecting the way I was treating others, especially my wonderful girlfriend.
I started interviewing with the hopes of walking into the owners office and putting in my 2 weeks notice…but he beat me to the punch line.
Even though a bit upsetting it wasn’t me leaving on my own ticket, that was a great day.
Since the day I left, my life, wellbeing, and relationships have all been exponentially better. Funny enough, I received a job offer from a real company for more money only 2 days out of a job and another for a lot more money 4 days out of a job. Funny how that works.
To sum it all up, everything happens for a reason. I left 3VLSI for reason, took a job with IAG for a reason, and now am sitting here typing all for a reason.
I look back on my work at 3VLSI and all the meetings we had with prospects and clients. What happened at IAG was no different. Setting agreements and expectations is not too difficult. Clarification, keeping, and living up to them are the tough part for most.
Good luck.
Robert Johnson
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Finding a New Job
Typically when I even think about the process of job hunting, I think of the dreaded interviewing process that entails a second and third round of interviews. After hours of careful preparation, possibly a flight and driving, and nerves going wild, you find they have gone into a hiring freeze and they will consider you again down the road (or whatever the reason they give for not hiring).
Amazingly enough, I have never actually had a true interview for a job. CRAZY to even think about, I know. This was one-half a matter of absolute dumb luck and the other half creating a position for myself.
What I can say is, I have given interviews, worked with a company that gave hundreds of interviews a month (Three Value Logic Sales Institute), and have been in enough sales meetings and sold enough to realize selling a product is no different than selling yourself.
So where do you start and what is the right fit? Referring back to a recent Blog entry on Networking I wrote, this is going to be your most powerful means to getting a job without having to do a whole lot of work. Seriously, getting in front of a company for an interview is hard enough, you might as well stack the chips in your favor as much as you can. Use the resources you trust the most who wont spread the word to quickly to your current employer. I was recently told by a friend (Evelyn Logan) in the recruiting world that if your boss doesn’t already know that you are unhappy and looking for a job, the probability they will find out in 2 months is extremely high.
Another way to get the job hunt rolling along is by attending local networking events. These are great because there are tons of recruiters there trying to make connections with other business to sell to. Also, meeting them face-to-face will get you off on the right foot. I know there are thousands of Robert’s out there, so looking sharp and being on my toes will surely helps people remember my face more than the name. At these events, you can also get a great idea of the different types of businesses are out there. Not that they will give you an interview right there on the spot or tell you who to call, but saying hi, getting their card and contacting their company the following day is a great way to increase your odds.
Now all this is great, but what happens when you get the offer? Have you even thought about what it is you really want to do? I believe this is one of the toughest questions out there. It is personal, real, honest, maybe lifelong, and takes a lot of personal knowledge about yourself to answer it? Think about what gets you up the earliest in the morning. Think about what keeps you up late at night. Let go of your ego for a split second and let yourself go. Whatever your answer, the best of luck to you. Now go out and get it. Sell yourself, do not interview.
It has taken me a lot of personal growth, exploration, pounding my head against the wall, and embarrassment to figure out what I want to do. I’ll share this later, but the point remains, it is a tough question to answer. I thought I knew it from the start…MONEY! What else is a better answer for a sales person. Though it remains one of the criteria for my happiness and success, I have found there are many other important factors that go into making my ideal job environment.
What are they looking for? The hiring company showed you their detailed requirements and job description. You now know what they want, right? Wrong. This is like responding to a RFP (Request for Proposal). They give you their requirements and questions to be filled out, you reply, and hope you win the contract. Talk about a waste of time and having no insight to the decision making process, budget, red flags, etc.
What if the interviewing process was different? I mean, change your mindset to You being the one doing the interviewing versus being the interviewee. Sure all the requirements mean something and you should read them thoroughly to determine a high level of ‘fit’ for you at the company. But you can also starting identifying some things they are having trouble finding and talk to them about those. Some initial thoughts you may have could be: Why are they offering so much money for this position, why is it necessary to have industry experience, why do they want me to have knowledge of their SFA / CRM (Sales Force Automation / Customer Relationship Management) tools, etc. This type of thought process should really impress the interviewer with you Questioning ability. By paying attention to what they are saying and inquiring further, this only represents your ability as a sales professional to dig deeper and qualify your prospects quickly.
Keep in mind your Audience. This is very crucial in moving along the interviewing process. If you are having your first phone interview with the sales manager, who may end up being someone you work with on a daily basis, you may want to bring a different ‘tone’ to the conversation than if you are having your final interview with the VP sales. Though you are still selling the same thing, you are trying to the meet the needs of different people along the way. The things that are daily issues with the Sales Manager are significantly different that those of the VP Sales.
Here are some things to remind you of when preparing for an interview (Keep in mind your audience):
• When this interview is over (Phone or In-Person) what do you want to walk away with?
• What do you want to know when you hang up the phone or close the door behind you?
• What do you want to have accomplished in your interview?
• What is the purpose for meeting with them? (Hint: if your goal for a meeting is to have another meeting, you are headed in the wrong direction)
Each of these questions are obviously similar, but addressed in a different manner to help me prepare for my interview. By having a detailed outline of my purpose, goal, and objective for the interview I will be in a position to get the most out of my interview.
Here are some additional thinking/talking points:
• How are they going to make a hiring decision?
• Who will ultimately be making the decision/Who else is involved?
• What are the specific steps involved in getting this job?
• Is there any urgency to fill this position?
o On a scale of 1 – 10, how urgent is this?
o Why?
o What has caused that to happen?
• Is it growth related or turnover related hiring?
• What are some of the issues with hiring they have had in the past / present / future?
• Ask some questions about how they see me working there. Get them to start envisioning me as a part of the team.
• Try and find a small piece of information on the company, and ask a question about it. This will show you have done your research and are truly invested in getting this job. (ex: if a private company, is there outside investment? Are the investors involved in business decisions the company makes? Does that ever create internal turmoil or conflict with upper management?)
You have got to imagine this person doing interviews all the time, hearing the same things, getting the same responses. Be comfortable and try not to be too salesy, but ask the questions they may not get all the time. Intrigue them.
When working at 3VLSI, I saw tons of ambitious, young and old, sales people graduate the 4 weeks of sales hell, otherwise known as - Career Sales Development Program. After their graduation we put those students, who were willing (funny to think some weren’t interviewing with a company even though they just spent the last 4 weeks of their lives studying and getting very little pay), in front of 3 to (sometimes) 10 interviewing companies. After each interviewee came out and I asked them how it went, they all pretty much said the same thing, “It went well”, “I’m not sure”, “I think I made a good impression”, etc. When I drove a little deeper I found the interviewer was typically asking them all a fixed set of questions and getting relatively similar answers across the board.
What was the Interviewer there for? Why had they even agreed in the first place to come in and interview the graduates?
The point is, the graduates weren’t thinking about these questions. They were worried about how they compared to the last interviewee who walked out of the room with a smile on their face. It didn’t even occur to the graduate the company that was interviewing had been sold. They had admitted somewhere down the line they could not find quality sales people and the pain was bad enough to spend $7,000 - $8000 on the problem. This is what the students, you, and myself should be thinking when interviewing. There is a reason for them to be interviewing for this position. Do not make any assumptions of why, that is the first mistake, but acknowledge that you need to stop letting them interview and begin to uncover the painful situation.
A great book I highly recommend is by Mahan Khalsa, “Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play”. Though a sales book and not an interviewing manual, it explains the point I am trying to make.
Quick recap and tips:
1. Use your network
2. Play to your Audience
3. Its your interview
4. Send a thank you note
Amazingly enough, I have never actually had a true interview for a job. CRAZY to even think about, I know. This was one-half a matter of absolute dumb luck and the other half creating a position for myself.
What I can say is, I have given interviews, worked with a company that gave hundreds of interviews a month (Three Value Logic Sales Institute), and have been in enough sales meetings and sold enough to realize selling a product is no different than selling yourself.
So where do you start and what is the right fit? Referring back to a recent Blog entry on Networking I wrote, this is going to be your most powerful means to getting a job without having to do a whole lot of work. Seriously, getting in front of a company for an interview is hard enough, you might as well stack the chips in your favor as much as you can. Use the resources you trust the most who wont spread the word to quickly to your current employer. I was recently told by a friend (Evelyn Logan) in the recruiting world that if your boss doesn’t already know that you are unhappy and looking for a job, the probability they will find out in 2 months is extremely high.
Another way to get the job hunt rolling along is by attending local networking events. These are great because there are tons of recruiters there trying to make connections with other business to sell to. Also, meeting them face-to-face will get you off on the right foot. I know there are thousands of Robert’s out there, so looking sharp and being on my toes will surely helps people remember my face more than the name. At these events, you can also get a great idea of the different types of businesses are out there. Not that they will give you an interview right there on the spot or tell you who to call, but saying hi, getting their card and contacting their company the following day is a great way to increase your odds.
Now all this is great, but what happens when you get the offer? Have you even thought about what it is you really want to do? I believe this is one of the toughest questions out there. It is personal, real, honest, maybe lifelong, and takes a lot of personal knowledge about yourself to answer it? Think about what gets you up the earliest in the morning. Think about what keeps you up late at night. Let go of your ego for a split second and let yourself go. Whatever your answer, the best of luck to you. Now go out and get it. Sell yourself, do not interview.
It has taken me a lot of personal growth, exploration, pounding my head against the wall, and embarrassment to figure out what I want to do. I’ll share this later, but the point remains, it is a tough question to answer. I thought I knew it from the start…MONEY! What else is a better answer for a sales person. Though it remains one of the criteria for my happiness and success, I have found there are many other important factors that go into making my ideal job environment.
What are they looking for? The hiring company showed you their detailed requirements and job description. You now know what they want, right? Wrong. This is like responding to a RFP (Request for Proposal). They give you their requirements and questions to be filled out, you reply, and hope you win the contract. Talk about a waste of time and having no insight to the decision making process, budget, red flags, etc.
What if the interviewing process was different? I mean, change your mindset to You being the one doing the interviewing versus being the interviewee. Sure all the requirements mean something and you should read them thoroughly to determine a high level of ‘fit’ for you at the company. But you can also starting identifying some things they are having trouble finding and talk to them about those. Some initial thoughts you may have could be: Why are they offering so much money for this position, why is it necessary to have industry experience, why do they want me to have knowledge of their SFA / CRM (Sales Force Automation / Customer Relationship Management) tools, etc. This type of thought process should really impress the interviewer with you Questioning ability. By paying attention to what they are saying and inquiring further, this only represents your ability as a sales professional to dig deeper and qualify your prospects quickly.
Keep in mind your Audience. This is very crucial in moving along the interviewing process. If you are having your first phone interview with the sales manager, who may end up being someone you work with on a daily basis, you may want to bring a different ‘tone’ to the conversation than if you are having your final interview with the VP sales. Though you are still selling the same thing, you are trying to the meet the needs of different people along the way. The things that are daily issues with the Sales Manager are significantly different that those of the VP Sales.
Here are some things to remind you of when preparing for an interview (Keep in mind your audience):
• When this interview is over (Phone or In-Person) what do you want to walk away with?
• What do you want to know when you hang up the phone or close the door behind you?
• What do you want to have accomplished in your interview?
• What is the purpose for meeting with them? (Hint: if your goal for a meeting is to have another meeting, you are headed in the wrong direction)
Each of these questions are obviously similar, but addressed in a different manner to help me prepare for my interview. By having a detailed outline of my purpose, goal, and objective for the interview I will be in a position to get the most out of my interview.
Here are some additional thinking/talking points:
• How are they going to make a hiring decision?
• Who will ultimately be making the decision/Who else is involved?
• What are the specific steps involved in getting this job?
• Is there any urgency to fill this position?
o On a scale of 1 – 10, how urgent is this?
o Why?
o What has caused that to happen?
• Is it growth related or turnover related hiring?
• What are some of the issues with hiring they have had in the past / present / future?
• Ask some questions about how they see me working there. Get them to start envisioning me as a part of the team.
• Try and find a small piece of information on the company, and ask a question about it. This will show you have done your research and are truly invested in getting this job. (ex: if a private company, is there outside investment? Are the investors involved in business decisions the company makes? Does that ever create internal turmoil or conflict with upper management?)
You have got to imagine this person doing interviews all the time, hearing the same things, getting the same responses. Be comfortable and try not to be too salesy, but ask the questions they may not get all the time. Intrigue them.
When working at 3VLSI, I saw tons of ambitious, young and old, sales people graduate the 4 weeks of sales hell, otherwise known as - Career Sales Development Program. After their graduation we put those students, who were willing (funny to think some weren’t interviewing with a company even though they just spent the last 4 weeks of their lives studying and getting very little pay), in front of 3 to (sometimes) 10 interviewing companies. After each interviewee came out and I asked them how it went, they all pretty much said the same thing, “It went well”, “I’m not sure”, “I think I made a good impression”, etc. When I drove a little deeper I found the interviewer was typically asking them all a fixed set of questions and getting relatively similar answers across the board.
What was the Interviewer there for? Why had they even agreed in the first place to come in and interview the graduates?
The point is, the graduates weren’t thinking about these questions. They were worried about how they compared to the last interviewee who walked out of the room with a smile on their face. It didn’t even occur to the graduate the company that was interviewing had been sold. They had admitted somewhere down the line they could not find quality sales people and the pain was bad enough to spend $7,000 - $8000 on the problem. This is what the students, you, and myself should be thinking when interviewing. There is a reason for them to be interviewing for this position. Do not make any assumptions of why, that is the first mistake, but acknowledge that you need to stop letting them interview and begin to uncover the painful situation.
A great book I highly recommend is by Mahan Khalsa, “Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play”. Though a sales book and not an interviewing manual, it explains the point I am trying to make.
Quick recap and tips:
1. Use your network
2. Play to your Audience
3. Its your interview
4. Send a thank you note
Monday, October 29, 2007
THE SECRET TO SUCCESS:
KEEP YOU FRIENDS CLOSE AND YOUR ENEMIES (READ HERE: PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE WHO GIVE YOU A HARD TIME) CLOSER. THERE IS A CAVEAT TO THE STATEMENT ABOVE. WHEN YOU CAN CUT YOURSELF TOTALLY FREE OF YOUR ENEMIES, DO IT. BUT SELDOM IN LIFE CAN YOU FREE YOURSELF OF ALL OF THE NEGATIVE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE. SO, CONVERT THEM. NOT TO FRIENDS, BUT TO "HELPERS". INTERACT WITH THEM SUCH THAT THEY WANT TO HELP YOU ACCOMPLISH
YOUR OBJECTIVES.
'CAPS LOCK'
YOUR OBJECTIVES.
'CAPS LOCK'
Friday, October 12, 2007
Project Angel Heart
Jennifer Walsh kicked off a spectacular Charity Event for Project Angel Heart last night and it was a huge success!
Congratulations and Happy Birthday Jennifer!
There was a great turnout to the event and the 3 bands that performed solo – Vonnegut, SoFo, Epilogues – were amazing.
Thank you so much for coming everyone and it was great to see you.
Regards,
Robert Johnson
Congratulations and Happy Birthday Jennifer!
There was a great turnout to the event and the 3 bands that performed solo – Vonnegut, SoFo, Epilogues – were amazing.
Thank you so much for coming everyone and it was great to see you.
Regards,
Robert Johnson
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Quote
Barry Worth, a consultant specializing in small business management, puts it this way:
Today's entrepreneur must be a business architect. Anything built in today's business
environment must have a step-by-step blueprint or plan on how to achieve success (Worth December 1989).
Today's entrepreneur must be a business architect. Anything built in today's business
environment must have a step-by-step blueprint or plan on how to achieve success (Worth December 1989).
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Charity Event!
Everyone, On Thursday, October 11th I will be supporting a charity event benefiting
Project Angel Heart. Project Angel Heart is a local
organization that brings food to those with terminal illnesses
www.projectangelheart.org.
I am attaching my flyer for the event, I hope you all can make it. The
event will be casual, at Leela's European Cafe. I believe that this
venue is family-friendly with children welcome, but please check with
Leela's to verify this.
We are still looking for items for the silent auction; if you know
anyone who might be able to make a donation please let me know, or get them in contact with me.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Networking - Learning the Hard Way
I ask myself all the time, How valuable is Networking? Are my efforts really helping increase the probability of uncovering new opportunities?
Why is it so hard to get involved in your local Networking events?
It seems to be a funny phenomenon in order to be involved in networking events, you have to first know a bunch of people and through those personal connections they help you navigate your way through the world of networking.
I want to share my personal experience learning the ropes of Networking in Denver and the surrounding areas.
Wanting to get involved in the local business community, meet new people, and hopefully drum up some new business for my company, I started to reach out to others. Everything started with an email I received a few months ago from a mentor of mine, Lorna Donovan. She sent me an email informing me of her next Advanced Sales Mentor Group she was offering. Knowing her well and the exceptional level of training she offers, I jumped on the opportunity to learn more from the best.
During the first few group meetings we had, she brought in a guest speaker, David Collins. He spoke on the power of Power Networking. Though I had heard this discussion before from many people, including Lorna herself, it was great to hear it again. David inspired me to use my contacts I have made in the last few years to find new business for my new job with Internet Alliance Group.
This was the catalyst I needed to get involved, use my contacts and attend more networking events. I did what most people would do and hopped on Google and searched for ‘Denver, CO Networking Events’, ‘Denver Business Networking’, and other variations. What I found was a bunch of rubbish. There was hardly anything showing up relative to what I was looking for. I found a few dating events, and I believe in this search, Integrated Alliances showed up somewhere in between a pay per click ad and a singles dating website with a bunch of photos of wasted sweaty people in a bar. Besides that I was out of luck.
That being the case, I signed myself and my one of my colleges up to attend my first real business networking event. We went to the Linked-In – Integrated Alliances Broomfield-to-Boulder (B2B) Networking Event. It was hosted at the Broomfield Event Center. It was probably the best place for a first-timer like myself to go. There were over 100 people in attendance, food, drinks, a helicopter, and everyone was so nice and easy to talk to. During the event I found out about other events going on in the Denver area and made tons of great contacts including another group I am now involved in, JESSI Search. This is a Sales Management group that meets on the last Friday of each month. It is a peer group where we discuss current issues, case studies, and have a chance to again, Network. It is owned and run by two individuals, Julie McFall and Garry Duncan.
Since then, I have attended multiple events on a weekly basis. I’ve been introduced to a plethora of new local businesses and entrepreneurs wanting to make their own business connections and help each other be successful in their own. I have found many people attend the same events, so switching it up frequently and stepping out of my comfort zone as often as possible has been the most successful way for me to make connections. Granted, there are at least 2 wealth / financial advisors at every event trying to differentiate themselves from one another, you can still use the power of networking and 7 degrees of separation to help grow your own business.
A great idea for anyone looking to start to a new business; There are still no great online tools out there for people like myself to find the local events and their locations on the internet. That said, if anyone is ambitious enough to do so, please, build a site and launch it quickly so the rest of us know what’s happening in Denver.
Why is it so hard to get involved in your local Networking events?
It seems to be a funny phenomenon in order to be involved in networking events, you have to first know a bunch of people and through those personal connections they help you navigate your way through the world of networking.
I want to share my personal experience learning the ropes of Networking in Denver and the surrounding areas.
Wanting to get involved in the local business community, meet new people, and hopefully drum up some new business for my company, I started to reach out to others. Everything started with an email I received a few months ago from a mentor of mine, Lorna Donovan. She sent me an email informing me of her next Advanced Sales Mentor Group she was offering. Knowing her well and the exceptional level of training she offers, I jumped on the opportunity to learn more from the best.
During the first few group meetings we had, she brought in a guest speaker, David Collins. He spoke on the power of Power Networking. Though I had heard this discussion before from many people, including Lorna herself, it was great to hear it again. David inspired me to use my contacts I have made in the last few years to find new business for my new job with Internet Alliance Group.
This was the catalyst I needed to get involved, use my contacts and attend more networking events. I did what most people would do and hopped on Google and searched for ‘Denver, CO Networking Events’, ‘Denver Business Networking’, and other variations. What I found was a bunch of rubbish. There was hardly anything showing up relative to what I was looking for. I found a few dating events, and I believe in this search, Integrated Alliances showed up somewhere in between a pay per click ad and a singles dating website with a bunch of photos of wasted sweaty people in a bar. Besides that I was out of luck.
That being the case, I signed myself and my one of my colleges up to attend my first real business networking event. We went to the Linked-In – Integrated Alliances Broomfield-to-Boulder (B2B) Networking Event. It was hosted at the Broomfield Event Center. It was probably the best place for a first-timer like myself to go. There were over 100 people in attendance, food, drinks, a helicopter, and everyone was so nice and easy to talk to. During the event I found out about other events going on in the Denver area and made tons of great contacts including another group I am now involved in, JESSI Search. This is a Sales Management group that meets on the last Friday of each month. It is a peer group where we discuss current issues, case studies, and have a chance to again, Network. It is owned and run by two individuals, Julie McFall and Garry Duncan.
Since then, I have attended multiple events on a weekly basis. I’ve been introduced to a plethora of new local businesses and entrepreneurs wanting to make their own business connections and help each other be successful in their own. I have found many people attend the same events, so switching it up frequently and stepping out of my comfort zone as often as possible has been the most successful way for me to make connections. Granted, there are at least 2 wealth / financial advisors at every event trying to differentiate themselves from one another, you can still use the power of networking and 7 degrees of separation to help grow your own business.
A great idea for anyone looking to start to a new business; There are still no great online tools out there for people like myself to find the local events and their locations on the internet. That said, if anyone is ambitious enough to do so, please, build a site and launch it quickly so the rest of us know what’s happening in Denver.
Monday, September 17, 2007
What To Do?
I have encountered a very dynamic situation and am very interested in getting some much needed advice
So, what do you do when… Consider this a case study…?
Being a the newly hired VP of sales at his company, George McFarland was tasked with the role of bringing structure, teamwork, and most importantly, and increase in sales for his company, The United Glass Company.
The company was small given they contracted out a majority of their work and George was the leader of a 5 man and 1 woman sales team. George made a conscious effort at the beginning to meet with each person on his team. He went to lunch with each of them, got to understand to their personal lives, whether they were married, had children, life dreams and much more information.
He thereafter implemented a weekly sales meeting to bring the entire team together. Funny enough, the sales team to date had not been having any internal meetings whatsoever. They had no quotas, call requirements, pipeline, nothing. Getting past the first initial meeting, during the second George started it by posing a simple question: What did you do this week? What did you learn? What can you share with the rest of the team?
Everyone had normal predictable answers around the calls they made, getting shot down by administrative assistants, and what they plan on doing differently next week.
The second more provocative question, but still fairly predictable given the knowledge George had gained about his team, he asked: What are you excellent at today, and what would you like to gain as a sales person during your time here?
The answers were all very similar. Everyone was unsurprisingly good at generating new opportunities, getting conversations going, and wanting to gain more skills finding pain, and creating value to help advance the sales cycle.
BUT, one very determined, head strong, arrogant salesman in the room proudly stated to George and the entire sales team, “I need help understanding the objections my prospects are going to throw at me”.
George stated, “How can we, your team, help you better understand these objections?”
“Well you can’t, I just need to hear them from the prospects for myself.”
“Ok,” George said. Trying to move on he went the other half of the question, “What are you looking to gain during your time hear at the Glass Company?”
The salesman paused for a moment and thought about it. He proudly stated, “You can all have a positive attitude. If there is a lot of buzz and things going on around here, it will motivate me and help me have the right mindset.”
“Is there anything else we as your colleges can do to help you, is there anything you want to take away from your time here?” George asked again.
“Now that I think of it, if everyone comes to me and asks me questions and comes to me for help, that will better me as a salesman.”
George shortly ended the meeting after that wanting the rest of the team to think over the conversation they had just witnessed.
As the VP of Sales for this small Glass Company, what do you do? How do you manage this person to be a team player? Do you keep him, let him go…?
So, what do you do when… Consider this a case study…?
Being a the newly hired VP of sales at his company, George McFarland was tasked with the role of bringing structure, teamwork, and most importantly, and increase in sales for his company, The United Glass Company.
The company was small given they contracted out a majority of their work and George was the leader of a 5 man and 1 woman sales team. George made a conscious effort at the beginning to meet with each person on his team. He went to lunch with each of them, got to understand to their personal lives, whether they were married, had children, life dreams and much more information.
He thereafter implemented a weekly sales meeting to bring the entire team together. Funny enough, the sales team to date had not been having any internal meetings whatsoever. They had no quotas, call requirements, pipeline, nothing. Getting past the first initial meeting, during the second George started it by posing a simple question: What did you do this week? What did you learn? What can you share with the rest of the team?
Everyone had normal predictable answers around the calls they made, getting shot down by administrative assistants, and what they plan on doing differently next week.
The second more provocative question, but still fairly predictable given the knowledge George had gained about his team, he asked: What are you excellent at today, and what would you like to gain as a sales person during your time here?
The answers were all very similar. Everyone was unsurprisingly good at generating new opportunities, getting conversations going, and wanting to gain more skills finding pain, and creating value to help advance the sales cycle.
BUT, one very determined, head strong, arrogant salesman in the room proudly stated to George and the entire sales team, “I need help understanding the objections my prospects are going to throw at me”.
George stated, “How can we, your team, help you better understand these objections?”
“Well you can’t, I just need to hear them from the prospects for myself.”
“Ok,” George said. Trying to move on he went the other half of the question, “What are you looking to gain during your time hear at the Glass Company?”
The salesman paused for a moment and thought about it. He proudly stated, “You can all have a positive attitude. If there is a lot of buzz and things going on around here, it will motivate me and help me have the right mindset.”
“Is there anything else we as your colleges can do to help you, is there anything you want to take away from your time here?” George asked again.
“Now that I think of it, if everyone comes to me and asks me questions and comes to me for help, that will better me as a salesman.”
George shortly ended the meeting after that wanting the rest of the team to think over the conversation they had just witnessed.
As the VP of Sales for this small Glass Company, what do you do? How do you manage this person to be a team player? Do you keep him, let him go…?
Welcome fellow readers and Blog Fans
Welcome. This is the introduction of my first and far from last Blog entry. I know everyone has a personal Blog out there, and as Greg Schwarzer so kindly states as his personal Blog title, this is “Yet another Sales Blog.”
I hope to cover in my Blog many things. I intend the focus of this to be around my professional life as a Salesman with the rest of my life as entertaining filler.
Here is a brief high-level preview of some topics I plan on covering, not in this order, but eventually:
-Goal Setting
-Employee retention, management, growth, etc
-Networking
-Identifying personal (ones) issues
-Personal growth and continued training
-Increasing your focus
-Sales tools, cycle, processes, structure, etc
-Sales Culture
-And more
As for a brief Bio:
I was born in Saginaw, MI and grew up in Midland, MI. I Graduated From Herbert Henry Dow High School. After High School, I Graduated from the University of Colorado – Boulder. At the end of my College career I was plagued with the issue most college graduates face; I had no ‘real’ experience with any real companies. Besides owning my own Lawn Care company with a high school friend I and learning some of the basic issues small companies face, I was an official rookie.
This led me to the next chapter of my life. As I was going from one job interview to the next (I thought I wanted to be a financial analyst), I found one company, Three Value Logic Sales Institute (3VLSI). Funny story actually…In the course of nearly 9 months while looking for a job, I went to 3VLSI on average every 2 – 3 months with the goal of ‘getting some real experience.’ The first time I showed up at their door I was actually still in college and wanted to find something to fill some time when I wasn’t in class. They were polite about it and said, “wait until you graduate and then come back”. A few months past by, still in school, and still in search of that first real job. By this time I had met with and been kindly rejected by at least 10 companies in Boulder. So I thought I would try my luck with 3VLSI for a second time. I was again told, ‘we appreciate your persistence, but you just don’t have the experience and need to graduate….”
By this time I was getting extremely frustrated, bitter, resentful, and needless to say, depressed. I couldn’t get a job anywhere!
I let a few more months pass and approached 3VLSI for a third time. The only thing I had going for me with 3VLSI was the fact that I could get someone to talk to me. This time when I was declined for the third time, I said “I will work for free.” Who would turn away Free Work, come on!
I was finally award the position of Phone Monkey. I made about 75 – 100 calls a day with no real inclination it was hard or difficult. I just did it. I was told to make calls, and nothing really more.
At that point, I started to see some real success and was getting recognized for my work, don’t forget, free work.
To make a long story short, after 2 years I became a Project Principal and the Director of Sales for 3VLSI.
After gaining more sales knowledge than I knew what to do with, and uncovering a personal opportunity to make more money, I made a change. I took a job with Internet Alliance Group (IAG) to be their Director of Sales.
This position with IAG has been so dynamic in so many different ways it has inspired me to start my own personal Blog.
Please Enjoy
Kind Regards,
Robert Johnson
I hope to cover in my Blog many things. I intend the focus of this to be around my professional life as a Salesman with the rest of my life as entertaining filler.
Here is a brief high-level preview of some topics I plan on covering, not in this order, but eventually:
-Goal Setting
-Employee retention, management, growth, etc
-Networking
-Identifying personal (ones) issues
-Personal growth and continued training
-Increasing your focus
-Sales tools, cycle, processes, structure, etc
-Sales Culture
-And more
As for a brief Bio:
I was born in Saginaw, MI and grew up in Midland, MI. I Graduated From Herbert Henry Dow High School. After High School, I Graduated from the University of Colorado – Boulder. At the end of my College career I was plagued with the issue most college graduates face; I had no ‘real’ experience with any real companies. Besides owning my own Lawn Care company with a high school friend I and learning some of the basic issues small companies face, I was an official rookie.
This led me to the next chapter of my life. As I was going from one job interview to the next (I thought I wanted to be a financial analyst), I found one company, Three Value Logic Sales Institute (3VLSI). Funny story actually…In the course of nearly 9 months while looking for a job, I went to 3VLSI on average every 2 – 3 months with the goal of ‘getting some real experience.’ The first time I showed up at their door I was actually still in college and wanted to find something to fill some time when I wasn’t in class. They were polite about it and said, “wait until you graduate and then come back”. A few months past by, still in school, and still in search of that first real job. By this time I had met with and been kindly rejected by at least 10 companies in Boulder. So I thought I would try my luck with 3VLSI for a second time. I was again told, ‘we appreciate your persistence, but you just don’t have the experience and need to graduate….”
By this time I was getting extremely frustrated, bitter, resentful, and needless to say, depressed. I couldn’t get a job anywhere!
I let a few more months pass and approached 3VLSI for a third time. The only thing I had going for me with 3VLSI was the fact that I could get someone to talk to me. This time when I was declined for the third time, I said “I will work for free.” Who would turn away Free Work, come on!
I was finally award the position of Phone Monkey. I made about 75 – 100 calls a day with no real inclination it was hard or difficult. I just did it. I was told to make calls, and nothing really more.
At that point, I started to see some real success and was getting recognized for my work, don’t forget, free work.
To make a long story short, after 2 years I became a Project Principal and the Director of Sales for 3VLSI.
After gaining more sales knowledge than I knew what to do with, and uncovering a personal opportunity to make more money, I made a change. I took a job with Internet Alliance Group (IAG) to be their Director of Sales.
This position with IAG has been so dynamic in so many different ways it has inspired me to start my own personal Blog.
Please Enjoy
Kind Regards,
Robert Johnson
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