Michael Gerber's "Profound Idea #1"

Michael Gerber, The E-Myth Revisited; Why most Small Business Don't Work and What to Do About It(New York: Harper Collins, 1995),p. 3, gives us the first of four of what he calls profound ideas:

There is a myth in this country--I call it the E-Myth--which says that small businesses are started by entrepreneurs risking capital to make a profit. This is simply not so. The real reasons people start businesses have little to do with entrepreneurship. In fact, this belief in the Entrepreneurial Myth is the most important factor in the devastating rate of small business failure today. Understanding the E-Myth, and applying that understanding to the creation and development of a small business, can be the secret to any business's success.

When I first read this I about fell off my chair. In fact throughout the whole book, I felt he was speaking directly to me.

I might add a little here. Applying the understanding of the E-Myth to a small business is important. It's important also to understand why that is a myth. Wikipedia, the free, on-line encyclopedia, defines "myths" as, in part, "stories that a particular culture believes to be true.

To this particular point, once I was talking to a software designer I met at a Chamber of Commerce networking event. I asked him why he went into business. He said he'd been working for a software firm for 7 years with no raise. His boss went out and hired another programmer for a salary higher than his. He got mad, told his boss to shove it, figured that since he was a good programmer he could succeed on his own. Was he an entrepreneur? Maybe, but I would think that Gerber would say definitely not.

Are you interested in this? I'd like to know. Post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs all of my professional activities. Entrepreneurial ideas are their life's blood. For my ideas on entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for my ideas on writing and publishing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Michael Gerber: Business Failure

Michael Gerber, The E-Myth Revisited; Why most Small Business Don't Work and What to Do About It(New York: Harper Collins, 1995),pp. 2-3, argues that

Small businesses in the United States do not work; the people in them do...

What we have also discovered is that the people who own small businesses in this country work far more than they should for the return they're getting.

Indeed, the problem is not that the owners of small businesses in this country don't work; the problem is that they're doing the wrong work.

As a result, most of their businesses end up in chaos--unmanageable, unpredictable, and unrewarding.

Just look at the numbers.

Businesses start and fail in the United States at an increasingly staggering rate. Every year, over a million people in this country start a business of some sort. Statistics tell us that by the end of the first year at least 40 percent of them will be out of business.

Within five years, more than 80 percent of them--800,000--will have failed.

Gerber follows this up with what he calls four big ideas. I'll put those out there in the next four days and discuss them a little bit.

Are you interested in this? I'd like to know. Post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs all of my professional activities. Entrepreneurial ideas are their life's blood. For my ideas on entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for my ideas on writing and publishing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

The E-Myth

Michael Gerber's The E-Myth Revisited; Why most Small Business Don't Work and What to Do About It (New York: Harper Collins, 1995) is for me basic reading on entrepreneurship and starting businesses. I recommend it to all my mentees.

I'm going to lay out Gerber's ideas for the next few posts because I believe that it is helpful to the entrepreneur in developing business and winning sales. In the Foreward (p. xi), Gerber quote Carlos Castenada:

Don Juan said in Tales of Power that 'The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge while an ordinary may takes everything either as a blessing or a curse.'

Be a warrior. Go out and get Gerber's book. It's probably on the business shelf of your local bookstore or you can order it through Amazon.com. You can probably get a used copy now for not much through an aggregator. But get this book. Don't get some of the spin-offs which are titled the E-Myth for... They're not what you should read. They're just more of the same.

Are you interested in this? I'd like to know. Post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs all of my professional activities. Entrepreneurial ideas are their life's blood. For my ideas on entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for my ideas on writing and publishing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Success Principles from Ron Willingham

Ron Willingham, in Integrity Selling; How to Succeed in Selling in the Competitive Years Ahead (New York: Doubleday, 1987), gives 10 "success principles," one at the end of each chapter.

Here are they are:

1. "People are more apt to listen to you when they veel good about you--when they feel they can trust you!" (p. 11)

2. "People are more apt to buy from you when they perceive you view the world as they view the world."

3. "People are more apt to buy when they're talking than when you're talking." (p. 35)

4. "People are more apt to respond to information you ask for than to information you freely give them." (p. 46)

5. People are more apt to buy when you communicate end-results benefits than when you communicate only the product or service features." (p. 60)

6. People are more apt to understand your offering when they experience it, than when they just hear about it." (p. 73)

7. "People are more apt to believe what others say about you than what you say about yourself." (p. 85)

8. "People are more apt to believe you when they see a congruence between wheat you say and who you are." (p. 99)

9. "People are more apt to negotiate when you ask their opinions than when you press your opinions." (p. 111)

10. "People are more apt to see your side of the argument when you first see their side." (p. 124)

"But I'm starting a business, what's this got to do with sales?" you ask. I have to reiterate, it's all sales. In order to generate revenue through sales, you have to sell products. You may not be selling specific products, but you're selling the public on your business, and that's sales.

What do you think about this? Post a comment to this blog.

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Approaching Different Kinds of Buyers

Willingham, in Integrity Selling; How to Succeed in Selling in the Competitive Years Ahead (New York: Doubleday, 1987, pp. 41-43, does not recommend categorizing prospects immediately. Rather, engage them in conversation, not relating to what you're selling, and learn about them. the first meeting will be a meet and greet. Then, when you're done, think about what kind of buyer they are.

This is good advice, as you shouldn't try to close before it's time to do so, and you don't know your prospect well enough to understand what he or she needs, much less wants. But you've listened to them talking, and you have some preliminary ideas about what group each buyer may fall into.

Remember, everybody is a mix. You need to acquire a different kind of persona depending on the person to whom you are talking so that you can match his style.

Here are a few questions to ask each type. Remember these are just sample questions. You need to evolve your own, but these should get you going:

For Talkers:

"Who will be involved in using the product or service?"
"What do other people like or don't like about what they've been using."
"How will morale be influence?"
"Who else will be involved in the final decision?"
"How do you feel about my product?"

For Doers:

"What do you want to accomplish?"
"What do you want to happen that isn't happening now?"
"What can I do to save you time?"
"How important is it to them to get more done?"
"What problems have they had that you can help them solve?"

For Controllers:

"What return on investment are you looking for?"
"What would help their organization run more efficiently?"
"What are the questions that call for facts and specific answers?"
"What do you do to manage your job most efficiently?"

For Plodders:

"What would help you do their job better?"
"What risks can you help them avoid?"
"What details do you need explained?"
"What's worked for you in the past?"
"Can you help me out?"

What do you think about this? Post a comment to this blog.

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Buyer Styles

Willingham says there are four types of buyers: talkers, doers, plodders. See Integrity Selling; How to Succeed in Selling in the Competitive Years Ahead (New York: Doubleday, 1987), p. 14

"Talkers love people," Willingham says. "They love to visit and socialize. They like block parties, family reunions, bowling leagues. They're easy to gain rapport with--easy to approach. After ten minutes you'll think you've been friends for life." (p. 15)

Doers' "objective is to get things done...[They] are often impatient, type A behavior people. There's never enough time. They're competitive and energetic." (p. 16)

"Plodders are content with routine, redundant jobs. They're usually never very high or very low. They're not pushed for time and are unhurried." (p. 17)

"Controllers are highly organized and show high attention to detail. Their decisions revolve around facts and figures. They don't make emotional decisions." (p. 18)

Whether or not your customers fit into these types or not, it's important to think about the style of the customer and adjust your approach depending on which one they're talking to. People in the over-65 age group think one way; those in the under 35 group think another. People who drive Jaguars behave one way; those who drive Toyotas another. And so on.

But consider these four groups of buyers. Willingham suggests a variety of approach questions tailored to each group. See pp. 13 to 23.

What do you think about this? Post a comment to this blog.

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Integrity Selling Point #10: The closing is a Victory for Both

Willingham's final point, on p. xv of Integrity Selling; How to Succeed in Selling in the Competitive Years Ahead (New York: Doubleday, 1987), "Closing isn't just a victory for the salesperson. It's a victory for bothh the salesperson and the customer."

Actually I don't see the closing as a victory for the salesperson. It's his job. The closing is a win for the buyer. In real estate, it's a win for both the buyer and the seller. The agent's win comes later when he or she has a friend for life, when the buyer says, "Thank you so much, you changed our lives."

What do you think about this? Post a comment to this blog.

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Integrity Selling Point #9: Negotiation is Never Manipulation

As Willingham says on p. xv of Integrity Selling; How to Succeed in Selling in the Competitive Years Ahead (New York: Doubleday, 1987), "Negotiation is never manipulation. It's always a strategy to work out problems....when prospects want to work out problems."

The best way to avoid the urge to manipulation is to understand what your customers are looking for and to answer or her questions ahead of time so that you don't get any problems. If you do your job right, your customers won't ever object because you know what they want and have shown them the way before you ever try to close the sale. That way you can structure a deal with which everyone can live with.
eels comfortable.

What do you think about this? Post a comment to this blog.

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Integrity Selling Point #8: Selling Pressure

Willingham says that "selling pressure is never exerted by the salesperson. It's exerted only by prospects when they perceive they want ot need the item being sold." See Integrity Selling; How to Succeed in Selling in the Competitive Years Ahead (New York: Doubleday, 1987), p. xv.

Truth: No one ever sells anything to anybody else. That's why sales has such a bad reputation. Too many people tried to take shortcuts and intimidate people into buying something. Down deep, this kind of person hates himself or herself and thinks the only way he or she can make money if they manipulate the buyer.

Actually, people buy things, salesmen don't sell things. A good salesperson understands what he or she is selling, understands the client's needs and wants, and positions his or her product or service in such a way that the buyer wants to buy it.

You need to keep this in mind as you develop products for sale.

What do you think about this? Post a comment to this blog.

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Integrity Selling Point #7: Ethics and Values Contribute More Than Do Techniques or Strategies

Willingham's 7th point: "A salesperson's ethics and values contribute more to sales success than do techniques and strategy." See Integrity Selling; How to Succeed in Selling in the Competitive Years Ahead (New York: Doubleday, 1987), p. xv.

A story: a commercial and a residential realtor shared a client. This particular client, the residential realtor had referred to the commercial realtor.

The client wanted to get money from his property. He could find a renter for it or sell it, but first he had to evict a squatter, a person living in there without paying rent. The client finally got the squatter out of there finally and changed the locks and sent them to the commercial realtor.

The residential realtor called the commercial realtor and asked if he could get copies to him. The commercial office was pretty far across town and the property was equally distant between the two offices.

The commercial guy said they keys would be at his office for the residential realtor to pick up. The residential realtor asked the commercial guy, could he have his people make copies of the keys and have them ready for the residential realtor.

The commercial guy called the residential realtor lazy and a prima donna for expecting the commercial realtor's staff to "drop everything" and do for the residential realtor. The residential realtor had to go over to the commercial office, pick up the keys, have them copied, check them to make sure they work, then take the keys back.

The moral: Don't e like this. Pay it forward. If I had been the commercial guy, I would have said, "I'll have the keys copied and dropped off at your office within 24 hours.

What do you think about this? Post a comment to this blog.

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Integrity Selling Point #6: Integrity and High Ethics

Willingham's point: "Integrity and high ethics are accepted as the basis for long-term selling success." See Integrity Selling; How to Succeed in Selling in the Competitive Years Ahead (New York: Doubleday, 1987), p. xv.

Here's an example of the opposite. I have had a web designer managing my website for about a year now. He's done a good job, given freely of his expertise and done what I needed in a timely fashion for a reasonable price. I've always paid him on time, too.

Yesterday, after a couple of days of discussion over some things I wanted him to do for me, I got an email from him. He said,

I think it's time you found someone else to work on your website and blogs. You and I seem to have some fundamental differences on how things should be done and I can't keep you on as a client if we continue down this path. As it is right now I can't even include you in my business portfolio and I've seen no benefits in keeping you on as a 'local' contact. This is where we part ways, I wish you good luck in the future.

Point, Set, Match. Not even, let's talk about how we can work together better. Integrity and high ethics would demand such discussions.

I feel like asking him for my money back, but I won't. I won't spread any rumors about him, but he's not likely to get any recommendations from this desk unless we have a talk.

Looked at from his side, the relationship was not working for him. If you have that in your life, talk to your client or customer. Maybe you'll figure out something or if it's not going to work, you'll leave your client with a good feeling about you. But this is not that.

What do you think about this? Post a comment to this blog.

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Integrity Selling Point #5: Selling Techniques and Selling Principles

The fifth point Willingham develops is "Selling Techniques Give Way to Selling Principles." See Integrity Selling; How to Succeed in Selling in the Competitive Years Ahead (New York: Doubleday, 1987), p. xv.

For Willingham, selling is based on a system founded on values and integrity. [p. xii] Values can be personal, cultural, religious, or other kinds. Integrity, or credibility, are based on values. You can't sell if your efforts aren't values based. This is too often ignored by untrustworthy people

I've been in a number of situations in which people tried to sell me stuff before they found out anything about me. One was a video phone salesman with whom I though I was just having lunch. It turns out he brought his sales materials and tried to recruit me to his team. Another time I met with a financial consultant who, without telling me brought her manager along who tried to recruit me into the business. The third time was a seller of home security systems who brought his manager, without checking with me first, who tried to push his stuff on me.

Each of these products are good and useful, and the people who transgressed meant no harm. Because none of these people laid a groundwork of trust, they weren't successful, and their misguided efforts closed off any meaningful discussion we might have had about stuff that might have made a difference.

Lesson: if you're scheduled to have lunch with somebody, and you haven't made sure it's okay with them that you try to sell them something, don't try to sell them something.

What do you think about this? Post a comment to this blog.

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Integrity Selling Point #4: Develop trust and rapport

Ron Willingham's fourth point is, "Develop trust and rapport before any selling activity begins." See Integrity Selling; How to Succeed in Selling in the Competitive Years Ahead (New York: Doubleday, 1987), p. xv.

This is too often ignored, and ignoring it causes you to beg (See Todd Duncan's sales mistake #8). You have to develop trust first. And how do you get people to trust you? Act in a trustworthy manner. If you wonder what this is, see my early postings earlier in this blog.

What do you think about this? Post a comment to this blog.

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Integrity Selling Point #3: Understanding People's Wants or Needs

Ron Willingham says: "Understanding people's wants or needs must always precede any attempt to sell." See Integrity Selling; How to Succeed in Selling in the Competitive Years Ahead (New York: Doubleday, 1987), p. xv.

Not understanding this risks making Todd Duncan's sales mistake #6: Arguing, not understanding the customer before trying to sell him or something., is that sales is something you do with someone not to someone. You always have to base your selling efforts on knowing what your customer needs and wants.

But I think Willingham glides over this point a little too easily. Wants and needs are separate. A need is something that a person requires as determined by a third party. A want is a perceived need and is determined by the person.

Example: My teenage son comes to me and says, "Dad, I need a car." I ask him why he needs a car. He says, "I need to get to school, and all the guys have cars." Never mind that we live across the street from the school and only two kids, each of whom lives several miles away from school and have after-school jobs not near a bus line and have gotten special permission to drive rather than take the bus. He doesn't "need" a car, he "wants" a car. Result: I buy him no car.

Now consider this: My son comes to me and says "I need a suit," even though he's never won anything by jeans and t-shirts in his life. I ask him why he needs a suit, he says "I have a job interview." Okay, he needs a suit. Hence I buy him a suit.

But, this difference aside, always understand the person before you try to sell him anything.

What do you think about this? Post a comment to this blog.

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Integrity Selling Point #2: Something You Do With Someone

Ron Willingham second point, in Integrity Selling; How to Succeed in Selling in the Competitive Years Ahead (New York: Doubleday, 1987), p. xv, is that sales is something you do with someone not to someone.

The traditional idea that a good salesperson could sell refrigerators to Eskimos, forget it. You work with customers to find out what they need, gain their trust, then help them make the decisions that allow them to buy the things they need to realize their dreams. With the coming days of mass customization, you'll be able to design a separate project for each customer.

Think of yourself as a consultant. Customers will even help you design your products if you will let them.

What do you think about this? Post a comment to this blog.

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Integrity Selling Point #1: Exchange of Value

Ron Willingham, in Integrity Selling; How to Succeed in Selling in the Competitive Years Ahead (New York: Doubleday, 1987), p. xv, says the first point of integrity selling is that "selling is an exchange of value." You're giving something to somebody else and getting something in exchange.

It may not be money. You may have sold a colleague on the fact that you an expert in your field. You've sold him on your reputation and maybe he's sold you on his. What you've exchanged is the potential for mutual referrals.

If it's a product, you're giving him a shoe in exchange for money. If the shoe costs $50, you're getting $50, and he's getting comfort, or style, or convenience, or status, or something.

If it's a service, you're getting money and the pride of having helped that person achieve his or her goals. As a real estate agent, the greatest payment is to hear someone say, "You changed our lives, we can never pay you enough."

The value you're getting is not just the money, but the pride and satisfaction from having given something to somebody that that somebody values.

The thing you have to figure out is what you're customer is buying.

What do you think about this? Post a comment to this blog.

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Integrity Selling

If Todd Duncan pointed out things you should avoid, Ron Willingham in Integrity Selling; How to Succeed in Selling in the Competitive Years Ahead (New York: Doubleday, 1987) gives you 10 elements of things to base your selling practice on.

To reiterate, an entrepreneur is a salesperson, so everything about sales applies to him or her.

You will notice the publication date on this book, 1987, is over 20 years ago. It shows that sound sales principles do not change with the times. They're just as valid today as they were then.

Willingham doesn't define "integrity," so how about this one from Wikipedia, the free, on-line encyclopedia:

In general, integrity refers to wholeness, in the sense of unity, consistency, purity, unspoiledness and uncorruptedness.

The etymology of the word integrity stems from the Latin adjective integer (whole, complete). In this context, integrity may comprise the personal inner sense of wholeness deriving from (say) honesty and consistency of character. As such, one can judge that others "have integrity" to the extent that one judges whether they behave according to the values, beliefs and principles they claim to hold.

Integrity comprises perceived consistency of actions, values, methods, measures and principles. As a holistic concept, it judges the quality of a system in terms of its ability to achieve its own goals. A value system's abstraction depth and range of applicable interaction may also function as significant factors in identifying integrity due to their congruence or lack of congruence with empirical observation. A value system may evolve over time while retaining integrity if those who espouse the values account for and resolve inconsistencies.

Integrity may be seen as the quality of having a sense of honesty and truthfulness in regard to the motivations for one's actions. The term "hypocrisy" is used in contrast to integrity for asserting that one part of a value system demonstrably conflicts with another, and to demand that the parties holding apparently conflicting values account for the discrepancy or change their beliefs to improve internal consistency.

I think Willingham would agree with this.

Here are the 10 ingredients in selling, as laid out in Willingham's "Statement of Integrity Values and Ethics:

1. Selling is an exchange of value.

2. Selling isn't something you do to someone, it's something you do for and with someone.

3. Understanding people's wants or needs must always precede any attempt to sell.

4. Develop trust and rapport before any selling activity begins.

5. Selling techniques give way to selling principles.

6. Integrity and high ethics are accepted as the basis for long-term selling success.

7. A salesperson's ethics and values contribute more to sales success than do techniques or strategies.

8. Selling pressure is never exerted by the salesperson. It's exerted only by prospects when they perceive they want or need the item being sold.

9. Negotiation is never manipulation. It's always a strategy to work out problems...when prospects want to work out the problems.

10. Closing isn't just a victory for the salesperson. It's a victory for both the salesperson and the customer.

I don't see anything on this list either with which Todd Duncan would disagree. As we go forward, we're going to unpack this list. Come to think of it, I don't think there's anything in Willingham's statement that Duncan would disagree with. In fact, I think they would get along quite well.

What do you think about this? Post a comment to this blog.

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Todd Duncan's Fatal Sales Mistake #10: Stagnating

"Stagnating" is Todd Duncan's tenth fatal sales mistake. See: Todd Duncan, Killing the Sale; the 10 Fatal Mistakes Salespeople Make and How to Avoid Them (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004), pp. 181-198.

Duncan defines stagnating on p. 181 as "Losing your sales edge by neglecting your growth curve." He says, "Everything changes, all the time. Therefore, to overcome the fatal mistake of stagnating, so must you." [p. 191]

On pp. 192-195 Duncan gives four things to do so avoid stagnating

:1. Study your product like a consumer.

2. Survey your customers regularly.

3. Play the market. By this, he means, "become a buyer in your own market."

4. Survey Yourself Annually. Do an annual review of your skills, mission, everything. Obviously you will want your best clients playing the biggest part in helping you succeed."

I will add a fifth one. Read all the time. Read stuff coming out about your industry and be an expert. One of the things that differentiates us as our expertise and knowledge. If we don't keep abreast of customer trends we will lose. When the rate of change increases every day, staying abreast of things becomes harder and even more important.

What do you think about this? Are you becoming irrelevant? Post a comment to this blog.

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Todd Duncan's Sales Mistake #9: Skimming

Duncan includes skimming, "focusing on surface profitability instead of client satisfaction [p. 159]". See: Todd Duncan, Killing the Sale; the 10 Fatal Mistakes Salespeople Make and How to Avoid Them (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004), pp. 159-179.

Duncan argues that to avoid this mistake, you have to move your business from relying on prospecting to reliance on partnering. He calls that moving "from solo to symphony."

On pp. 173-9, Duncan gives five rules for "transitioning your existing clients into productive partners." [p. 173]:

1. Take inventory. "Determine your current clients' value. Who are your lead players--your clients who can give you loads of their own business and lots of referral business."

2. Determine your investment level. "Once you know which clients can be lead players and which can provide consistent accompaniment to your sales business, you must then determine how much time and money you will invest in each of them in order to sustaining their business and tap their resources."

3. Cast your vision to your clients. "On an individual basis, schedule meeting with each of your clients who made the cut in the first step."

4. Orchestrate what parts they will play. "Obviously you will want your best clients playing the biggest part in helping you succeed."

5. Strike up the band.Literally. "The greatest partnership arrangement isn't going to make a bit of difference in your selling career until you put your wand in motion.

I've argued elsewhere in this blog that your business does not operate in isolation. Your business and it's context is your business. That includes competitor and collaborators. You should pay attention to this.

What do you think about this? Have you ever been guilty of gambling? I'm trying to create more skilled entrepreneurs. Do you think this helps?

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Todd Duncan's Sales Mistake #5: Begging

P. 142 of Todd Duncan, Killing the Sale; the 10 Fatal Mistakes Salespeople Make and How to Avoid Them (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004), gives his eighth selling mistake as "Begging," or "Seeking your customers' business before earning your customers' trust."

Duncan gives five rules for ensuring your prospects buy into you before you ask them for their business:

1. Say something new.

2. Be the first to add value.

3. Be the first to say think you.

4. Respect your prospect's time.

5. Don't stop once the sale seems imminent.

You should pay attention to this. It's good stuff.

What do you think about this? Have you ever been guilty of gambling? I'm trying to create more skilled entrepreneurs. Do you think this helps?

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Todd Duncan's Sales Mistake #7: Gambling

Todd Duncan, on p.123 of Killing the Sale; the 10 Fatal Mistakes Salespeople Make and How to Avoid Them (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004), as "Making unplanned calls on unknown customers."

Duncan gives these rules for prospecting (see p. 133)

1. Never make a call on prospects who don't know you're going to call on them.

2. When you make the call, make sure they're excited to have you call on them.

3. Never leave a call without adding more value than you received.

Duncan lists four "fundamentals" of productive prospecting (see pp. 135-140):

1. Consistently sew a common thread, that is, "by far the best method is via a referral call from someone whom both you and the prospect know."

2. Regularly stretch client satisfaction.

3. Get out more.

4. Take your focus off selling.

Check out his book. These are good rules to go by.

Duncan doesn't mention the Internet anywhere in his book. That's because the principles of salesmanship persist regardless of technology. The Internet makes it easier to follow these goals, if people would just do that.

What do you think about this? Have you ever been guilty of gambling? I'm trying to create more skilled entrepreneurs. Do you think this helps?

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Todd Duncan's Sales Mistake #6: Arguing

Todd Duncan says that "arguing," which he defines on page 103 as "Selling your product before knowing your customer," is a mistake. See Killing the Sale; the 10 Fatal Mistakes Salespeople Make and How to Avoid Them. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004).

He means trying to sell something to people before you have gotten their trust. Duncan, on pp. 117-120, points to 5 practices which help to establish trust:

1. Forget about the sale. Put the sale on the back burner and listen to your customer so you can focus on what he or she really needs.

2. Ask, don't argue. Concentrate on asking the right questions.

3. Listen with your fingers. Take notes.

4. Seek to understand. Verify what people tell you. Ask second or third questions until you understand.

5. Listen again. Review your notes and think again what people are telling you as you go along.

He says forget about trying to impose an agenda and genuinely listen to what is really needed and wanted in a situation. (p. 117)

What do you think about this? Have you ever been guilty of arguing? I'm trying to create more skilled entrepreneurs. Do you think this helps?

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Todd Duncan's Sales Mistake #5: Muscling

Duncan defines "muscling" as: "Taking Lone Ranger Actions instead of using team-connected strategies." See pp. 83-102. The quote is from p. 83 of his great book, Killing the Sale; the 10 Fatal Mistakes Salespeople make and how to avoid them. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004).

For those not old enough to remember the lone ranger, he was a Texas Ranger, something like a state policeman in Texas who was the sole survivor of a massacre of Texas Rangers who, with his faithful Indian friend, Tonto, dedicated his life to finding the men who killed all his buddies and wears a mask so no one will recognize him. Come to think of it, why is he wearing that mask?

To overcome muscling, Duncan suggests that you analyze all the things you do in terms of production (Money, referrals, sales, etc., not just hours spent). Then make a priority of doing the first two things and either delegate or eliminate the remaining activities.Here are some strategies Duncan recommends to implement this:

1. Hire yourself for no more than 2 hours per day to take care of the less productive but necessary tasks.

2. Hire a responsible young person that you know. A college student or teenager might be willing to spend a few hours a day taking less productive tasks off your hand.

3. Hire a coach, for that fresh pair of eyes.

4. Share an assistant with a co-worker or colleague whose values you share.

5. Let your assistant hire an assistant.

6. Promote your assistant.

To get the whole scoop, check out his book.

What do you think about this? Have you ever been guilty of posing? I'm trying to create more skilled entrepreneurs. Do you think this helps?

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Todd Duncan's Sales Mistake #4: Moonlighting

Duncan discusses moonlight on pp. 61-72 of his great book, Killing the Sale; the 10 Fatal Mistakes Salespeople make and how to avoid them. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004). He says, if you have to work longer for no more result, don't.

"Building a business-based life instead of a life-based business," is what Duncan says on p. 61 The point is central: work smarter not longer.

Many salesmen think that working more means producing more. They confuse activity with productivity. The central point here is that your business should support your life. Duncan says: "Do away with the notion that business and pleasure--selling and living--are two separate things. Selling and living must complement themselves." (p. 72).

If you're working 80-90 hours a week, you're guilty of moonlighting.

What do you think about this? Have you ever been guilty of posing? I'm trying to create more skilled entrepreneurs. Do you think this helps?

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Todd Duncan's Sales Mistake #3: Tinkering

Duncan defines Tinkering as "Treating the symptoms but not the sickness of poor selling efforts." See Todd Duncan, Killing the Sale; the 10 Fatal Mistakes Salespeople make and how to avoid them. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004), p 39.

Duncan claims tinkering is the most common mistake sales professionals make. Some examples from pp. 45-7:

>Trying to recover clients after sales fall through rather than trying to understand why clients are leaving.

>Trying to develop more scripts to overcome objectives rather than identifying prospects needs up front to prevent objections in the first place.

>Trying to overcome low sales by making more calls.

>Trying to work harder instead of smarter.

The solution: "Setting your standard and sticking to it....The more time you spend tinkering around," he says, "the more time you will have to produce successful sales." (p. 56)

There is no substitute for doing the hard work to understand how something should be done, then tracking outcomes and evaluating results and feeding that back into your understanding efforts. You should always be evaluating your proceedures, linking them to outcomes and goals.

He outlines how to really fix sales problems.

What do you think about this? Have you ever been guilty of posing? I'm trying to create more skilled entrepreneurs. Do you think this helps?

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Todd Duncan's Sales Mistake #2: Posing, part 2.

Duncan rightly ascribes sales success to learning the language of your prospects. He says, "to do away with posing and close sales in an effective manner, you must communicate in the language that is most easily understood by your prospects and clients, and that language is trust." [p. 34]

On pages 34-6, Duncan identifies five traits that communicate trust:

1. Timeliness: Talk to people only when they expect you to do so.

2. Relevance: Talk to them only about what they care about.

3. Understanding: Understand their needs before you try to sell them something.

4. Sincerity: Treat your customers with respect.

5. Thoroughness: Cover all the bases. Don't make them wait for you to get back to them.

I would update Duncan by adding authenticity and permission. Authenticity in that your communication comes from your heart and is not put on. Permission, such that you have their permission to talk to them.

If you don't have their permission, ask for it. It's the basis of all successful interactions.

See Todd Duncan, Killing the Sale; the 10 Fatal Mistakes Salespeople make and how to avoid them. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004).

What do you think about this? Have you ever been guilty of posing? I'm trying to create more skilled entrepreneurs. Do you think this helps?

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Todd Duncan's Sales Mistake #2: Posing, part 1.

Todd Duncan, a pretty smart guy, and I took away many things in his book. This is specifically about sales, but since entrepreneurs are salespeople, they are words to live by. They help in everyday life, too.

He defines posing as "trying to sell before training to sell." (p. 17). He calls it "in the merciless worlds of sales...the equivalent of putting on on a clown suit and jumping into a corral with a two-thousand-pound rodeo bull." (p. 19)

He calls this "improvisational selling [p. 21]," and on pages 22-28 points to six ways to know if you are merely improvising:

1. False Confidence, such that "you never cultivate a genuine self-image."

2. Accidental Success, such that your results are never productive nor consistent."

3. Selling Reluctance, such that you "make a point to sell something you are really proud of selling."

4. Under performing Clients, "you...give them no reason to return to you or refer them to others."

5. Overworking: pursuing "a hit-and-miss approach to selling. If one costume doesn't work on the prospect, then you...try it on another." If not on that second on the third, and so on.

6. Job Turnover: "posing leads to short-lived sales positions."

This comes from Todd Duncan, Killing the Sale; the 10 Fatal Mistakes Salespeople make and how to avoid them. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004).

What do you think about this? Have you ever been guilty of it? I'm trying to create more skilled entrepreneurs. Do you think this helps?

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Todd Duncan's Sales Mistake #1: Hyping.

Hyping, "relying on 'you can do it' propaganda to maintain your sales motivation." )p. 1) It's relying on external stimulation to gain energy and maintain your enthusiasm for selling. He would say you have to put yourself into the equation, find your true motive. Only then will you be successful and feel satisfied.

I agree with Duncan on all these points. You should get a copy of the book and read it. And if you feel like you've been guilty on this count, go through the exercise he suggests on pp. 12-14.

This comes from Todd Duncan, Killing the Sale; the 10 Fatal Mistakes Salespeople make and how to avoid them. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004).

What do you think about this? Have you ever been guilty of it? I'm trying to create more skilled entrepreneurs. Do you think this helps?

This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.

Todd Duncan's 10 Fatal Selling Errors

Todd Duncan, in Killing the Sale; the 10 Fatal Mistakes Salespeople Make and How to Avoid Them. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004), lays out 10 basic selling errors. Entrepreneurs should recognize them so they don't do them.

Here they are:

1. Hyping: "Relying on 'You can do it' propaganda to maintain your sales motivation.' (p.1)

2. Posing: "Trying to sell before training to sell." (p. 17)

3. Tinkering: "Treating the symptoms but not the sickness of poor selling efforts." (p. 39)

4. Moonlighting: Buliding a business-based life instead of a life-based busines. (p. 61)

5. Muscling: Taking Lone Ranger actions instead of using team-connected strategies. (p. 83)

6. Arguing: Selling your product before knowing your customer. (p. 103)

7. Gambling: Making unplanned calls on unknown customers. (p. 123)

8. Begging: Seeking your customers' business before earning your customers' trust. (p. 141)

9. Skimming: Focusing of surface profitability instead of client satisfaction. (p. 159)

10. Stagnating: Losing your sales edge by neglecting your growth curve. (p. 181)

There's not one salesman who hasn't been guilty of none of these. All of us have done every one of them at one point in time.

The key is to keep them in your mind and recognize them when you're either doing them or contemplating on doing them.

But if you recognize your core values and act according to them as often as possible, you'll maximize your chances of never doing any of them.

I'm going to go over each one in subsequent posts. Entrepreneurship is a sales business. Need I say more?

What do you think about this? Have you ever been guilty of it? I'm trying to create more skilled entrepreneurs. Do you think this helps?

This material comes from This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.