Bo Hussung

It’s true! Oh there are always going to be incidences where someone achieves some degree of success by simply being in the right place at the right time. But I would argue that even that is not luck. Success comes from careful planning and solid execution. Same is true in sales and business development. We are on the cusp of a new year and a new decade and the opportunities to carefully evaluate and formulate new strategies for succeeding in the new economy have never been better.

There are no simple rules for proper sales planning, but it has to begin granularly (is that a word?) acknowledging that the fundamental principles of sales do not change. However the first step is making sure we know what those fundamentals are.
First things first

My first suggestion is study and learn. Pick up a book(s) and read. There have been literally hundreds of volumes written about the proper fundamentals of selling and customer service. Naploean Hill, Zig Ziglar, Og Mandino, Dale Carnegie, Brian Tracy, Jeffrey Gitomer, Keith Ferrazzi are just a few of my favorites. These writers understand the fundamentals of sales and building relationships and each have a unique perspective on what they are and how to approach each one. I believe that no one has the “corner on the market of great ideas”. The truth however is they all do. If you spend time learning their wisdom and gleaning pieces of it that are appropriate to your personal situation, you can add it to your POV and apply them in your planning and routine.

Start here, do this first and I will pick up next week on the statistical science of sales.

Stay sharp and Good luck

Your business development and sales strategy expert

Bo Hussung

Time is a funny thing. We all have the same amount if it. The same 24 hours. The same 1440 minutes and the same 86,400 seconds, every single day.

What we do with them determines the degree to which we have can impact our lives and the lives of others. I have read that some consider time an illusion. That may be true. Regardless, the impact we have on the lives of others is not an illusion. Make the best of it and use it well. Create meaningful impacts every single second of every single day. This is the basis of good customer experience.

Be your best!
Stay Sharp and good luck!
Until next time my friends,

Hi friends,

I have seen it a thousand times and sometimes it is easier to notice when you don’t get good service. But when you do…it is glorious. Frankly there is nothing like it and the feeling that it bestows is priceless. In fact, there are companies that spend thousands…..nay, millions of dollars making sure their customers have a positive customer experience. I say it is not about what you spend, at least not directly, but the culture that is created, from the top down that makes the difference. Good customer service should be natural not forced. So how does one do this?

1st and foremost, people do business with people.
2nd – the Golden Rule always applies….Did I mention ALWAYS?
Thirdly, check rule 1 and if there are still any questions, read rule number 2.
That Is It!………..Plain and simple.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you and remember that your customers are just like you. They are people. They have feelings and emotions, good days and bad and sometimes one person and one kind act can make the difference in their day. The by product is you may end up with a long term customer that organically helps you grow your business. And the cool thing is it only took a random act of kindness and your employees will feel better about them selves in the process.

Feel good about what you do by making someone feel good about themselves.

Stay sharp and think out of the box

Bo

I am sure you have heard the old adage, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results” Well, the current economic environment is causing just that sort of thought process….kinda like running a class 5 river.

Many of us that have been in business for years and yeah!….we know what we are doing, right? After all, we have been doing it with so much success for so long, of course we know it…. So why are we not having the same success? Is it the economy or something else entirely different?

I started white water kayaking about 10 years ago and I learned on small rivers, class 1 and 2 and slowly worked my way up to bigger water, class 3 to 4. The one thing I used to say was when you go to the big water, you go from a “floater, to a boater”. You paddle harder, a lot harder. Your movements are more planned out and more deliberate. When you approach a particularly difficult water hazard, you get out of your boat and scout the rapid to see how to navigate it and then after some planning, you get back in your boat and paddle hard and run it.

Doing our jobs in this environment is not much different. All the things we learned, the fundamentals are still in place, but the market and the conditions are bigger, much like a rapid on a class 5 river. Success is never easy all the time. Sometimes it requires some scouting and carefully, thought out planning to navigate the treacherous waters.

Stay Sharp, plan your next move, paddle hard and good luck!

Until next time my friends,

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Thomas A. Edison

The road to success is paved with many, many hazards along the way. Every success story has hundreds, if not thousands of examples of what did not WORK before they achieved their success. To that end, success is not a destination it is a journey.

Don’t ever give up!

Stay Sharp and good luck!

Your ActiveRain partner and national title agent,

Until next time my friends,

Just like the fabled Goldilocks and The 3 Bears, a recent experience at a local mall required 3 tries and 1 “just right” outcome. Here is how it played out:

My son and I were hunting for a pair of sunglasses. Not just any sunglasses, but polarized sunglasses that were functional, yet stylish and oh yeah, we had a budget. We made a few phone calls and determined before arriving at the local higher end mall that 1 particular store had what we were looking for.

Experience number One: “Thanks but no thanks”……Greeted with no sense of interest, desire to help or engagement. We weren’t spoken to until we asked a question and our question was answered with the lax, “this is what I was told”. We told the clerk our specifications and when the issue of budget was shared….the level of interest went from lukewarm to chilly. We clearly were wasting their time. The last tactic was to get rid of us by suggesting a lesser price store. We were happy to oblige.

BTW, did I mention we were in a hurry?

Experience number Two: “Thanks for the recommendation”….We entered the 2nd store, were greeted with a little more interest, still lukewarm, but friendlier and a little more willing to assist. Nonetheless, we cut straight to the chase. We presented our specifications and were then shown every marked down frame in stock, even the ones that did not fit our specifications. Not as helpful, but more engaging and friendly. Still nothing though. We asked for a recommendation and once again when were told of one more store in leased space inside a rather large well known department store. Ugh, this seemingly simple exercise was quickly becoming complicated and a real drag…no fun!

Enter experience number Three….”now that is what I am talking about”….we entered said department store and were immediately greeted by a friendly, engaging and very pleasant sales professional. Notice I put emphasis on the word, professional. They asked many questions, instead of the obligatory,”can I help you”. There was a casual aire of real interest in not only what we were trying to accomplish, but gathering enough data to make help us make an informed decision. In less than 15 minutes, we knew the persons name, their career objectives, who owned the company, how they train their staff and customer service philosophy, all while we were being shown the proper frames to meet our exact specifications from a fashion and functional perspective. They complimented us without being patronizing and here is the best part, the frames were exactly the same as the ones from the previous 2 experiences. In fact, they cost more. We bought them anyway and without any hesitation. We were given additional instructions on how to care for them, to emphasize the importance of our purchase as more of an investment. They thanked us and with one final act of courtesy, handed us a business card and said, “if you ever need anything, feel free to call me”. Now that is real customer service and real positive experience. We left the store with a good feeling about what had just happened.

The lesson?…we do business with people that engage us and show a sincere interest in the person with which they are conducting business. They elevate the experience to make it about us, not them.

3 scenarios, 1 outcome…..As Goldilocks stated, this one is “just right”

Good morning,I always hope that everyday that goes by in all my experiences that I learn something new, that I have the chance to impact another human being. That I can bring some semblance of joy. I have learned, indeed learned many things, and the funny thing is I am not even close….at least to where I think I am supposed to be. But this week have brought a few new /old experiences. I say old because they do not happen often and old because although I have experienced them, there are sometimes years and years in between each one.
This week was interesting from the standpoint that each experience was remarkable from my position because I realized 2 things.
1. You can never make everyone happy. No atter how you try!….and
2. There is always a small percentage of the population that will never be satisfied, no matter what you do.
What made these 2 experiences so remarkable was that both of them shared both of the above statements all at once.
My Dad used to say that,…. “Nice guys finished last”. That was always a little cynical in my view, but as I have gotten older, I have seen many occasions where being nice is not always seen as merely a random act of kindness, but sometimes an opportunity to take advantage of that person or a particular situation….And, the reality is we don’t always know which person we are going to encounter. The compassionate side of me always tells me that most people are good. That when someone wakes up, they don’t say they are going to be a jerk that day.
My sensible side says that all sorts of things have impact on people and we have no way of knowing what those circumstances are. People are people and they are subjected to the same trials and tribulations as the rest of us. And it is not our place to assign a moniker or judgment to them, but to acknowledge their human-ness and their frailty.
So next time someone starts working a little outside of their boundaries, be tolerant and try to walk in their footsteps….and if that doesn’t work then lick ‘em…Just kidding!
Seriously, if that happens then ignore them, say a prayer and walk away.
Stay Sharp, good luck and be well!

Until next time,

BH

“Give a man a fish; you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish; and you feed him for a lifetime”—Author unknown

This is one of the most simple and foundational principles of sales and also life…. yet it is easily one of the most difficult for sales people to accomplish, let alone even comprehend. We live in a “what have you done for me lately” society of instant gratification. Okay, okay, I know….this is way over used and has even become a little cliche. But the fact remains, most sales people do not get it. The funny thing is that if you really look at the underlying principles and how they work, it really is pretty simple, not easy, but simple….and the cool thing is most of us already do it in one way or another….It is a social phenomenon in which every living creature participates……we find people that we have things in common (common ground) and we build our relationships from that…..very simple!

The Problem!.…………

So why is this concept lost in sales? My theory is people are afraid, they fear rejection, they fear failure, they are lazy or worst of all, a combination of these. They are afraid of what might happen if they put themselves out there. If you couple that with the work that one has to commit to make themselves successful and the lack of mentors that truly know what it takes…..then voila! A road map for mediocrity.

The Prescription!……..

The good news is the basic principles are already in place and is it is never to late to learn. Here is where to start….no matter what you are doing, always and I mean always strive to be the absolute best. Don’t just be an expert, be the best expert. Be the authority for all others to follow. Each and everyone of us are truly blessed with individual and unique talents. When a talent is identified and locked in, it is part of the foundation from which all success is built. The problem is a lot people put the wrong value on their talents. They put too much emphasis on the financial rewards and not the unselfish desire to be of service to others (okay, I am getting a little off track ~ sorry).

Pick One thing!……..

Having said that and experiencing it first hand, we can truly only be good at ONE THING AT A TIME. In all of my experience, too many people and sometimes business spend too much of their time trying to be everything to everybody. It is nearly impossible to do and have the simultaneous objective of having any lasting impact. Wouldn’t it be really cool to be the definitive expert in your area and particular market, so when someone thought of something in that particular field, they think of you first? Pick one line of work, whatever it is and then immerse yourself in it. 

Analogy….…..

Think about this for a second…..Remember when Michael Jordan played baseball? Although he was a phenomenal NBA star, perhaps even the greatest and a giant among men, he was not that good at baseball, In fact he couldn’t get [ast AA (Birmingham Barons) and not even half as effective as he was in the NBA (I love analogy)…..Borrowing that example, why do people insist on being everything to everyone?

….Pick one thing!…….Be the best….Period!

After this is accomplished, then begins the hard and tedious process of marketing to that particular area of expertise and building a network of influence within and around this field.
I will pick up on that topic later in a future blog…..Stay tuned!

Stay Sharp and thanks for stopping by,

Your business development and relationship management expert

Hi all, when I started my sales career many, many years ago after college and probably even before, I had a manager that used to say, “you have one mouth and two ears and they should be used in that proportion”. And so, here is the funny thing, at 45 I am still trying to be a better listener.

The thing is that listening, as easy as it sounds is really, really, really hard. Particularly if you wnat to do it well. In sales, most of us want to talk and talk and talk and then at the end of the day, we want to talk some more……What’s up with that anyway? One of my biggest pet peeves is someone that talks too much. So since I have that irritation and acknowledge it’s existence, then why in world do I still do it. Especially behind the veil of trying to be a good listener.

You see, it not about hearing what someone says, but listening to the message and the words and emotions and feelings in between and when that is the intention (to really understand) then we can say we have attained empathy and true compassion.

Stay Sharp, good luck and be well!

Until next time,

Bo Hussung

phone ~ 615-438-7300

email me ~ bhussung@comcast.com

web ~ www.bohussung.com