I mess up a lot.  In fact, it’s a daily occurrence.

I can’t remember the last time I ended the day saying to myself… “Wow Michael, that was a perfect day!”

Wouldn’t that be something!

Every day brings a series of challenges, failures and successes.  Over the years, I’ve learned that it has everything to do with the way I accept or reject those ingredients.

Come to think of it, my definition of perfection has really shifted over the years.  Whereas the ideal of a perfect day used to mean that nothing would go wrong – now the perfect 24 hour period includes a few bumps in the road… a few opportunities to reflect and ask “What could I have done differently?”

No mistakes, no lessons.  No lessons, no improvement.  No improvement… stagnancy – YUCK!

Alicia Arenas Keeps It Real

I don’t usually blog about blogs… in fact, I think I may have only done it once or twice.

I read a post today by Alicia Arenas from Sanera (one of our guest bloggers).  She wrote a great piece titled “Alicia 1 Perfectionism 0″.  Go read it!

Over the past year, Alicia has become quite a blogger.  I respect her style and approach because it’s real, it means something and she doesn’t pretend to know all of the answers.  Her advice comes from the perspective of a person that truly cares… and I think that you can sense that once you read her work.

Perhaps this is why Alicia and I are friends.  We both care enough to be real with one another… failures and successes on full display.

Your style is refreshing Alicia!  Keep it up!

So… what’s the value in highlighting your failures?

If you want to find people who talk about doing things the right way, you won’t have to look far.

Go to Google and look for “How To” (in quotes) – if you’re feeling lazy, I’ll make it easy… 704,000,000 results.

Now try it again by entering “How Not To” – 42,000,000 results.

Let’s face it, people don’t usually like to talk about what went wrong – it requires personal and public accountability… scary stuff!  “How Not To” would require a whole bunch of the ingredients we all too often dread.

But, I challenge you to this.  Think back through all of your memorable or meaningful relationships.  Further, think about the people that you respect or admire.

Were they always right?  Or, were they the people who gave you the truth and opened up… even if that meant exposing their imperfections?

For me, it’s always been the later.  Those were the people who taught me something of value… not to mention the positive examples of humility.

Life changes quickly and the surprises are endless.  I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve bounced up against the walls of adversity a few times in the process.  I’m all the better for the lessons and appreciative to friends like Alicia for embracing the beauty of reality.

Ever notice how imperfect a rose is?  Amazing isn’t it

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who presumed to know all the right answers?  What was your lasting impression?

Photo Credit, digital cat 

As I was searching the web for Christmas presents, I came across this wonder of modern science.

Yes! For a mere investment of $9.98 you can purchase a microwaveable s’mores maker. This handy gadget will help you eliminate burned fingers and drippy chocolate.

And that is the problem.

You see, making s’mores is not just about the s’mores. It’s about the experience – your eyes burning from the wood smoke, taking your mittens off to break the graham crackers in 1/2, practicing your timing over the fire so the marshmallows are toasty but not charred, futily trying to get the marshmallow spread over the chocolate without breaking the graham crackers, laughing at your friend who has sticky, chocolatey marshmallow goo on his face.

What does this have to do with sales? Quite simply, the s’mores gadget solves problems, but eliminates the meaningful experience.

The Experience You Provide is as Important as the Solution

“People make buying decisions at an emotional level and justify those decisions with logic.” Kelley Robertson

Every great sales coach will tell you that if you want to make money, you need to find people’s pain points and solve their problems. That is true, but it’s not enough. You must solve people’s problems and provide them with a powerful, positive, emotional experience. Each interaction you have with your clients, from the moment they visit your website or read your tweets to the moments after they purchase something from you is building a series of experiences. It is the accumulation of these experiences that will cause your clients to become loyal and long-term or to look somewhere else.

What can you begin to do today that will go beyond solving a problem for your clients and create an indelible experience that will generate customer excitement, word of mouth advertising and ultimately increased sales?

I just wrapped up an interview with a local magazine and the interviewer asked me this question:

“You worked with a wide range of clients, from family-owned businesses to several Fortune 500 companies, what have you learned from both?”

I think the answer to that question merits a post.

I learned that both business models have a lot to learn from each other. In fact, if both models combine their strengths, the results will be tremendous.

Corporate Crap

Looking at Fortune 500 companies, particularly publicly-held companies, their emphasis is on profitability. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with that priority; businesses have to be profitable to survive. The danger comes when profitability becomes a singular focus or when the only important result is the next quarter’s closing stock price. With that focus, companies often choose to make sacrifices in vital areas that cripple long-term success. I worked for four publicly held Fortune 500 companies. I saw leadership shoot themselves in the long-term “foot” in an effort to find an extra $1,000 in saving. For example:

• Companies are cutting back on commissions paid to sales people – the people who are bringing in new customers.
• What about professional continuing education and training? Employees who need to learn how to do their jobs better (to serve their customers better so they can improve customer retention) are suffering under on-the-job training from managers who aren’t trainers and are just as frustrated as they are.
• I worked at a company where the brilliant executive team (not) decided to save money by cutting back on salary increases. The result? A group of their front-line customer-service employees received a 10 cent hourly increase at the time of their performance review. How excited were those employees to serve their customers and put a positive face on the company? The company had 38% turnover in 60 days in this group of 120 employees. It took months to find qualified replacements. It was no surprise to see profits plummet.

The ways in which companies choose to focus on profitability has impacted more than just the employees, it has impacted the American people, specifically the taxpayers. Remember the contention around the “Big 3″ begging for government subsidies while flying in luxurious corporate jets?

Small businesses don’t have it all right either.

I am stunned by the number of small business owners whose singular priority is to build and maintain relationships. They don’t have budgets, they have not set financial goals, they can’t tell me what their average cost per sale is and they don’t know how much profit they netted last month. Yes, developing strong relationships is a hugely important business practice. This strategy will earn you credibility in the marketplace,  expand your circle of influence and help you grow and retain your customer base . That said, if you don’t develop a financial strategy that will keep you healthy and strong, your business will close. If you don’t balance meeting the needs of your customers against your P&L, you will fail.

It’s all about your focus.

If corporations want to win long-term, they need to devote more resources to their customers and their employees. Folks, the market is changing and if you haven’t been taking care of your people, get ready for some turnover.

If small businesses want to win long-term, they need to devote more time to understanding the numbers at a micro level and creating a sturdy financial plan.

What other lessons can small business learn from corporate and vice-versa?

Photo courtesy of rogerimp.

Alicia Arenas is a guest blogger for The Red Recruiter.

Today is a very special day!  My dear friend Alicia Arenas (@aliciasanera on Twitter) is celebrating an important birthday!  You’ll have to ask her the number, as that wouldn’t be right for me to disclose – but, just trust me, it’s important!

So, Alicia… I wish you a very Happy Birthday!!!  The #HRevolution crew here in Louisville also wants to wish you a very special day!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW7J98QtVro

Also, check out Alicia’s greeting message to the #HRevolution group!  Some good information on embracing change based on the Sanera Coaching Model.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMwVDvkGVaI

Fight Club is one my favorite movies and stars Edward Norton and Brad Pitt. It’s pretty graphic at times, but the truth is there are some great lessons to be learned from it about life and believe it or not – about sales.

Lesson 1 – It Takes Pain to Win

“Without pain, without sacrifice you have nothing.” Tyler Durdin

Sometimes I think we remain mediocre because we are not in enough pain. Pain is a motivator. Discontent is a catalyst for great things to happen in our lives. Does it physically hurt you that you’re not where you want to be in your sales, salary, career or family? Well it should!

One of the messages in Fight Club (the chemical burn scene) is you should let yourself feel the pain. If you’re not where you want to be, stop numbing yourself to the mediocrity in your life. Wake yourself up out of your stupor and seriously think about the things you don’t have yet:  fulfillment, a sense of accomplishment, an award, money, that dream vacation, pride, or whatever it is you want.  Are you hurting yet?

Once you start to feel that pain, feel it deeply. Grab a hold of it and channel that into super-hero determination. You’ll be surprised at the results you will achieve.

Lesson 2 – Solving Problems Leads to Sales

“It was right in everyone’s face. Tyler and I just made it visible. It was on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Tyler and I just gave it a name.” The Narrator

Your job as a salesperson is to meet people’s needs. You are not supposed to sell – you are supposed to solve problems. That sounds easy enough right? The issue is that as consumers, we don’t always know what we need. We don’t always recognize there is a problem to be solved. You want to kick some butt and take some names in sales? Figure out how to make our needs visible and put the solution (your solution) on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Just remember not to be obnoxious, overbearing or pushy.

PS – The more creatively you can do that, the better.

Lesson 3 – You Can’t Fake Sincerity

“Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken.” Tyler Durdin

If you are not authentic, people can tell. If your true motivation in being kind to someone in order to hit them up for a sale, be prepared to lose. What would this world be like if every salesperson cared about their customers more than closing the deal? Unfortunately, that mindset isn’t teachable; that value system has to come from within you. Are you willing to shift your perspective on selling? Are you open to a new approach that may seem counter-intuitive?

Lesson 4 – Know When to Walk Away

“[Screw] Martha Stewart! Martha’s polishing the brass on the Titanic. It’s all going down man.” Tyler Durdin

The bottom line is this: you can’t afford to waste your time. You’ve got to make really smart decisions about your priorities. You also need to learn to say “No.”

Let’s get practical. Is that networking group yielding any results for you? Yes, I know you already paid the 12 month membership fee. But seriously, how many referrals have you received? How many strategic business relationships have you developed? Here’s the big question: how much new business could you develop if you spent that 1.5 hours plus drive time doing something else?

Another scenario: Will that prospect who has been stringing you along really become a customer? And if you have to work that hard to convince him/her that they should be working with you, do you really want them to become a customer? How miserable could they make your life moving forward?

At what point do you say, “Enough is enough?”

I wish there was a black and white answer to that question, but there isn’t. Knowing when to keep nudging and knowing when to cut your losses takes practice and unfortunately, learning hard lessons along the way. But over time, you will become more self-confident and realize what value you bring to your clients. You know what happens next…? That’s for another blog post.

Here are some other quotes from the movie. Which ones speak to you? How does it challenge you?

“I say never be complete, stop being perfect. I say, let’s evolve. Let the chips fall where they may.” Tyler Durdin

“The things you own, end up owning you.” Tyler Durdin

“Stop trying to control everything and just let go. Let go!”  Tyler Durdin

Alicia Arenas is a guest blogger for The Red Recruiter.

Read Alicia’s last “Fight Club” post -  “The Fight Club Guide To Selling, Part 1″

Photo Credit, Polina Sergeeva