NFL Referee Jim Tunney says: “If employees don’t understand their company’s goals and its game plan, these goals won’t be achieved,” he says. “Football doesn’t make this mistake. Its goals are always clearly defined. At the end of the field is a goal line. Why do we call it a goal line? Because 11 people on the offensive team huddle for a single purpose—to move the ball across it.”

What is the single purpose for the team you lead? How will they know when they’ve achieved the goal?

Maybe that’s why they aren’t achieving more. Just a thought.

He who has a thing to sell

And goes and whispers in a well

Will not get as many dollars

As he who climbs a tree and hollars.

Hmmmmm reminds me of a guy I know who shouts on TV “Where its fun to buy a car!” And I’m not kiddin’!

A friend of mine told me last week that he changes his phone number  once a year because too many people get it, then give it out to too many other people. I knew his number had changed because I’d tried to call him and the guy who answered said “I don’t know who (insert name here) is, but I sure get alot of telephone calls for him.” Now I know why.

My friend is a popular speaker in his field and author in his genre. My guess is he speaks to a few hundred thousand people a year. So he’s kinda big time, or at least a big fish in the pond he swims in. I can imagine that his number might easily get passed by people who want other people to know that they are “in” because they have (insert big time speaker / author’s name here) personal cell phone number. Me? Heck, I could put mine on billboards and nobody would call me.

Some people advertise their cell phone number on their business card. Others of us don’t. I don’t because my phone is with me all the time and I don’t always want to be accessible to every Tom, Dick & Harry. My office and home numbers are public. If someone wants me they can leave me a message at the office and I’ll decide how to respond. That’s how I keep control of who has my cell number.

All this brings me to a little matter of etiquette. Do you keep other folks private info private? You should.

Call me and ask for somebody’s cell phone number, and I’m going to be pretty particular about whether I give that number out.

You should be, too. When you get to be big time, you’ll appreciate others doing the same for you.

Hey Ed, call me. I’d call you , but I don’t have your new number.

People buy things to solve problems.

Women buy make-up and breast implants to solve the problem of what isn’t or what was. Men get hair implants, gold necklaces and red Corvettes for the same sort of reasons. Corporate executives buy new technology, hard assets and infrastructure because they have a dilemma. Their existing stuff can’t get them where they want to be.

People buy things things to solve problems.

Today I received an unsolicited call from a salesman. He had my cell number (grrrr) and had been referred to me, so that made it a warm call. He has a product I am interested in. In fact, I had intended to buy this product last month, but the person I was going to buy it from suddenly went out of business. So, I am a fairly good prospect for him.

Seconds into our call I noticed that he was so busy telling me all about how great his product was that he didn’t have time to inquire about my needs. He wasn’t focused on solving my problem, instead he was selling his product.

Selling is not telling. You can’t talk your way into a sale. But you can listen your way into a sale.

If you want to be a better salesman, learn to ask questions; skillful questions that lead your prospect in the direction you want them to go and honest questions that genuinely seek to solve their problem. Then listen!

Talk less. Sell more!

We don’t want to quit because it evokes emotions of isolation and failure. When we quit and walk away from the herd we’re suddenly alone. We’ve all watched enough National Geographic TV to know that it’s the gazelle on the periphery of the herd that gets eaten by the lion. So we choke down all the bad vibes that are screaming in our heads and hearts saying “Run” and we stay in the herd because it feels safe.

We don’t quit because we know of our friends will turn on us. Their own fears and frustrations will turn into half-truths and innuendo used to attack you for leaving. Though they respect you for being bold enough to say “The emperor has no clothes” their own lack of courage and conviction forces them back to imperial obedience which costs them the opportunity to know the freedom, opportunity and joy that comes from stepping away from the crowd.

We don’t quit because we don’t want to admit we are wrong. Sixteen years. Millions of dollars. Heart-ache. Late nights. There’s no way I’d admit it’s not working. That would be embarrassing.

OK. But if you just keep doing what you are doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve been getting. How’s that going to work for you?

Unfortunately many people surrender to lesser lives because they don’t want to say “This isn’t working.”

You’ve got to know when to quit.

Jesus Favors Quitters!

While I don’t know that Jesus ever quit, His forerunner John the Baptist was a quitter. He only had one sermon: “Quit! For the Kingdom of God is at hand.” (Barry’s translation)

I do know that Jesus called us to be quitters.

Repentance—a very good, Biblical, righteous, faithful thing—is about quitting. It’s about the enlightenment of realizing that what you are doing is wrong, or won’t lead you to where you want to be, or isn’t working, so you quit! Turn around! Go the other way! God Himself endorses quitting.