I believe success is just a fleeting moment when your realities match your expectations.

I also realize, for many, the number of those moments they experience overtime defines what they (and perhaps others) see as a successful life.

So why are some people more successful than others?

I have met many people in many lands over my life and although opportunities for some seem limited, even amongst those in the direst of circumstances, there are some people that make a great success of their life. I am talking about success when it is measured against the relative or real opportunities that exist for individuals due to the circumstances of their existence.

What is it that helps some rise whilst others languish in mediocrity?

Obviously there is no simple answer however I have noticed some common traits in those that succeed.

The first pillar of success (or trait that successful people seem to have) is that: “those who succeed invariably believe that SUCCESS IS A CHOICE”.

I read an article titled “SUCCESS IS A CHOICE!! It is that simple…” by a Jim McGilvary where he told a story of business woman who could not get her business to where she wanted it to be. He said in the article:

“I told her and I am telling you:

• Make no more excuses for not having success

• Hold yourself accountable for the good and the bad

• STOP the negative thinking

• STOP worrying about the “naysayers”

• Laugh in the face of the unknown and…

• Make the choice right now, that you will do what it takes to have success.

He goes on by saying:

“I will leave you with one last thought: To fail is to have tried. To try [in itself] is to have success. You cannot have success without some failure. Choose to try, whether you fail or succeed. You cannot have success without trying. Keep choosing to have success and you will have it. It is as simple as that.”

Now perhaps his advice is a little glib and it is not quite “as simple as that” particularly for those who are very in difficult situations, however if you think about it the logic is quite sound.

So point one is you must choose to succeed.

The second pillar is:

The need to have a STRONG PERSONAL VISION

In the video “The Power of Vision” Joel Barker explores the value of having a strong personal vision of a positive future. He stresses that this is a key, not only to success, but in some cases to survival itself. In one segment he tells the story of Viktor Frankl and says; “this remarkable man is the author of the outstanding book Man’s Search for Meaning.” Frankl he explains was a prisoner in Ausweise and Barker tells how “his strong sense of having a future saved both his life and the life of others.” The survivors had a common trait and he says… and I quote:  “all of those who made it through had [or at least believed they had] something significant yet to do in their future”. A vision of a positive future is a powerful driver in us all.

The third pillar is competence.

All people will naturally gravitate to those whom are competent. So what is competence? “ Competence is: ‘the ability to create and apply a solution to a particular problem’. Whether the problem is a leaky tap or a brain tumour competent people will always be sought after and success usually follows them. How do you become competent, learn, fail, re-learn, adjust, practice and hone your skill and build your knowledge and experience. There are no shortcuts.

The fourth pillar of success (or personal trait) is the ability to win during times of change and uncertainty.

Notice I didn’t say cope. Coping is just not good enough for success, we need to find ways to excel in a constantly changing universe. The skills you will need to do that are primarily an ability to stay focussed on your goals, a willingness to remain optimistic and an attitude of persistence and high levels of commitment. You need to have the strength of character to stay true to your vision even in times of great uncertainty. You will also need to develop an ability to analyze situations, deal with half-truths and minimal information and with all that still seek out and grasp opportunities to thrive.

Finally the fifth pillar is: To be able to work well with others.

That means you have to become a student of (and reach some reasonable level of understanding of) human nature. You must to succeed be willing to engage in politics. Politics is always present when humans are together whether at social outings or in the workplace. As part of working well with others you must become expert in communication… particularly the “learning to listen” part of communication. The are many articles and posts on this website covering the issues (or art) of communication and I commend them to you.

So what is success, other than what I have said so far it’s a lot of hard work, which of course is the reality of our existence… because… nobody… truly gets a free ride. Wait you say what about those that are born into successful rich families. Well they have the same problem as the rest of us, often their realities just do not match up to their (or even others) expectations.

There are a number of simple rules to follow to “prospect” for more buyers without going through the “starting from scratch” phase. It has been my experience that many sales staff forget some of the basics. Attracting buyers far outstrips old cold calling and advertising techniques.

1) ALWAYS ASK FOR AT LEAST ONE REFERRAL. Everybody knows at least one person that they can think of that may be in the market for what you sell (and most will know a lot more). If you close a sale, make a call or talk to anybody about your product or service and if you don’t ask for the name of at least one other prospect or referral may the fleas of a thousand camels may infest the hairy parts of your body and stay there for the rest of your life. This is just a simple act and if you have a good relationship with your customer chance arse he or she will make the introduction for you. So encourage the person you are talking to, to call the next prospect on your behalf, don’t just grab a phone number and run.

2) KNOW THY NEIGHBOUR. Visit your neighbours and say hi and tell them what you do. How many thousands of people work within walking distance of you’re office or factory? Remember this can be a high cost activity and should be used sensibly, HOWEVER… if you do it two days a month, fifteen calls a day, you meet 360 people in a year. What I am saying is get to know your neighbours and help them to get to know you and your business. You could even call it a ‘hello, I’m your neighbour campaign’. The funny thing is that you will meet these people over and over again, at the lunch counter, the bus stop or just in the street on the way to work and they will say Hi… and they will know what you do… and they will at some point say to one of their visitors, ‘I know someone that sells those’, just around the corner why don’t you give them a call.

PEOPLE BUY FROM PEOPLE AND WOULD RATHER BUY FROM PEOPLE THEY KNOW (AND TRUST), REGARDLESS OF PRICE!

3) JOINT VENTURES. Find other companies that sell complementary or related services/products and offer some ‘dollars’ (or physical effort) to be included in their marketing campaign. Look at how credit card companies, airlines and hotels do it. Use your imagination and talk to all your suppliers and customers about their marketing efforts and chances are you will find a few that will provide a way for you to reach lots of people at a minimum cost. This activity can be particularly well used if you can get yourself added to high volume Internet sites. You must add value, so find something that will interest the market… industry stats, legal developments or technical advice and offer it for free. You will, over time, be noticed.

4) SET UP A PERSONAL WEBSITE.  Post useful information for the world to see. Include the site address on everything you hand out. The idea is to provide an information source for people interested in your product or industry. If you’re in, say the car industry… what about a list of repair shops, service station locations, after market parts dealers, baby seat retailers, stereo suppliers, air conditioning service centres, tyre shops, spanner sellers, tune up shops, turbo charger fitters, air fresheners, seat covers and auto clubs. A rainy day can be well spent. Look at it this way, you give out your business card to your buyer, he, she or it looks at your site, he says to a friend look at my new car, the friend says, I wish I could update but I think I’ll just repaint the and reupholster, oh says the your proud customer, you should look at this site its got a great list of car stuff and there is a list of paint shops… and one more person knows who you are and that you sell cars… and they tell one or two others and so it grows.

I MET A GUY THAT HAS BEEN A TOP SALESMAN FOR YEARS, HE STILL KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT COMPUTERS, HE’S JUST LOST ANOTHER JOB… PAST GLORIES AND OLD WAYS OF DOING THINGS WILL NOT SUSTAIN YOU… CHANGE, INNOVATE AND PROGRESS IN YOUR ATTRACTION SELLING TECHNIQUES.

Ref: Hilton Johnson, http://www.salesuniversity.com

Problem four: The common difficulty with goal setting is that although you need to focus on the positive (some say in ratio of four to one) often there is little attention paid to assessment of obstacles and the strategies to overcome them. What we need to do is spend a little time in predefining anticipated difficulties or obstacles and allocation the resources that will be needed to overcome them. we may need legal assistance, financial assistance or the cooperation of an already over-stretched production department just to cite a few examples. Lets be honest even with all the positive attitude we can muster we still have to deal with the reality that obstacles are unavoidable and we must spent some energy in planning for them in advance.

Problem five: Little or no serious focus is given to the solutions that need to be developed for overcoming obstacles. I’ve often been in planning meetings and heard the term “lets cross that bridge when we come to it”. If we are going to invest time energy and money into the execution of a plan that attitude is just not good enough. Some sort of scenario development needs to be undertaken an brainstorming for creative solutions needs to be done at the outset, otherwise all investment up to the the point of difficulty can be wasted.

Problem six: Keeping the goal to ourselves either as individual or a small team: Attempting to achieve our gaols alone or with limited resources is fraught with danger. We are all always part of a bigger process and we need to align with those ‘external processes’ and stakeholders if we are to achieve real results at a minimum cost. You need to call on all resources you have reasonable access to the get the best results for the goals you have set.

Problem seven: Not setting and clearly defining the important milestones on our path to achieving the result we (outcomes) we want. I talked in the previous post about objectives and again these have to be clearly defines and measured. Once reached they also need to be rewarded and celebrated.

I guess I could have titled these posts the “Seven Deadly Sins of Goal Setting” and that they may be. Finally it is wise to remember that goals to us may just be seen as onerous targets when other from whom you enlist support and effort. People inherently do not like externally imposed targets, so if you are gong to obtain “real support” for your goals, you have to get others whom you need to buy into your vision and accept the mission that the goals are supporting.

Ric-orglearn The six “Ps” of planning, always important and so is visualising what you want the end result to look like!

The “survive or thrive” checklist

1. Have you given yourself time to think and analyze the new situation (reality) thoroughly calmly and properly?

2. Are you able to ensure you can avoid misinterpretations and have you, through questioning effectively, gathered enough information on how things will be to make a rational decision on what the change will mean to you?

3. Have you looked for the opportunities a changed state will bring you rather than being driven by the fear of negative results being imposed upon you?

4. Have you inserted yourself in the change process so you are able to influence the outcomes that are important to you? (As opposed to becoming a negative, head in the sand naysayer.)

5 Based on what you have understood of your changed reality have you researched what shills you will need to develop to thrive in a new environment?

6. Are you focussing on the long-term or just frazzled by the moment and are you actively planning to ensure your future well being?

7. Are you able to match your values with the new situation if knot have you developed and exit strategy?

8. Have you gathered around you a positive group to ensure you can maintain emotionally supportive relationships during what is a natural period of stress?

Change is the only constant… who said that? Best of luck if you are going through a period of change, try to mange the process well.

The approach to selling the ads on site was to visit each business personally and ask if they would place an ad. Some success was quickly achieved and a number of advertisers came on board. Now the site being both fairly new and by its charity nature cannot and will not boast masses of visitors. The  members of the club however will tend to support the businesses that support them, that’s just human nature. Additionally of course some advertisers view it as good PR to support a local charity and will see the cost of their ad as a donation to a worthy cause.

So what about the no. A number of businesses approached used the old “send me a proposal” fudge to get me out of their face. Now that’s fine I am happy to go back write an email to thank them for their time, thank them for seeing me and thank them for considering advertising and for looking at my proposal. It would however save me a lot of time if they just said “no” on the spot.

So now as a seller and more to the point a potential ‘real’ business customer, my feeling towards those businesses is a little negative. One business said no immediately and although we had used his services for a long time and was a little annoyed, at least he did not suck up extra energy by stringing me along by asking for a proposal. He just stated honestly he was “fully committed at the moment” and could not participate. It is worth noting, I am not talking big money here, the advertising space is only $10..00 per week on the index page and $5 a week on the ancillary pages.

This brings me back to the four other businesses which said, send me the submission. Some three weeks later I have not had a response from any of the four. I feel abused and angry at the discourtesy of these business people and will not do business with them in the future. I will also discourage others to avoid them as well. Who knows why these particular people couldn’t say NO, however in doing as they did they have, at least with me and those I can influence, destroyed their reputation and any chance of commercial dealings in the future.

So why don’t people say no?

According to authors  James Rapson and Craig Enlish who wrote “Anxious to Please” many individuals are: “people pleasures” by nature.

They state:

“People pleasers are driven by anxiety to be nice whether it’s called for or not. People pleasers are nice even when they’re being ignored or insulted. People pleasers navigate their world by accommodating and acquiescing, by trying to please.”

They also importantly advise:

“What is the result of their can’t say no, “peace at any price” behavior? The opposite of what they hoped for— disapproval,  conflict, and  rejection.” This outcome of their behavior is I believe well deserved. People pleasers are obviously also conflict avoiders and to my way of thinking somewhat cowardly in their dealings with others. None of us like a no however, most of us absolutely hate being ignored and forgotten.

So what’s the lesson? If you can’t do something, suck it up and just say NO. Wasting the time of others through fobbing them off with a “send me a proposal” tactic is crass and un-businesslike. Making a bad situation worse by then just ignoring the asker/seller is a great way to destroy your reputation and credibility and you WILL deserve all the negatives that result,

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You as a new recruit might have more talent than existing team members however they have more experience.

It’s a privilege, not a right, to play/work in a top team regardless of how talented you are.

Your place in any team is temporary and it will be in every team you work with, or as he put it, “Your jersey is rented. You’re replaceable”

Developing sound levels of emotional intelligence is essential. “Don’t get sensitive, be coachable.”

“Habits create who you are and if you’re habits aren’t changing, you ain’t changing.”

Never be late for meetings, it shows a lack of commitment and loses you the trust of others and of course their respect.

“Be a good listener.” This is a learnable skill, if you have a problem with it… fix it.

Work hard to earn the trust of the leader and senior team members.

Adapted from a summary of “The Incredible Speech New NFL Recruits Got This Year” (June 29th 2011) – on the Business Insider Website. Read the full article at: http://www.businessinsider.com/15-career-tips-from-herm-edwards-nfl-speech-2011?op=1 where they also have the link to the actual speech on YouTube

Important point: Fitting into a new team is never easy however the tips here and of course the full list referenced above will give any new recruit a good start. I once conducted a survey in a company I worked with an asked existing staff if they accepted new company hires immediately because the company had put the trust in the new hires by employing them in the first place. The emphatic answer was no, not for some months until they had “proved themselves”. Lets be honest whether its formally documented or not all new jobs come with a six month probation period. Guess who decides if you pass probation or not, your peers and ‘subordinates’… not the management, however they will see how you relate to the team, the team will inform them on how well you fit and if you don’t you’re out.

Here they are:

“Excellence is an attitude.”

“No title or position in the world makes you right 100% of the time.”

“Success requires action. Where there is no action, there will be no success.”

“Some people see problems with every solution but successful people see solutions for every problem.”

“Authentic leaders apply the rules equally to everyone.”

“When you lose your credibility you lose your opportunity to lead along with it.”

“Long-term success requires continuous continuous improvement.”

“Life your life in such a way as to make certain ‘what if’ will never apply to you.”

“We don’t have to change friends if we understand that friends change.” (unknown)

“Your greatest power is your power to give.”

” Nothing will improve a person’s hearing more than sincere praise.”

“Authentic leaders are proud but not arrogant.”

“Always treat yourself with the utmost respect – if you don’t, why should anyone else.”

“If you’re not willing to fight for your core values then they probably aren’t really core values after all.”

“It takes much more than winning every time to be a true success.”

“Authentic leaders give as much or even more than they get.”

“Do something. It may be wrong, but I’d rather be wrong doing something than be wrong doing nothing.”

“Good leaders follow the rules. Great leaders change them.”

“It’s not what you are that holds you back, it’s what you think you are not.” Denis Waitley

“Much of our success will be determined by what we STOP doing in the next 12 months.”

“Successful people learn from their own mistakes, the most successful people learn from the mistakes of others.”

“A leader who develops others, adds; a leader who develops leaders, multiplies.”

“You’re making history today & it’s your own so be sure to make it a history you’ll be proud of.”

With business crying out for better managers and leaders perhaps these quotes from Steve will inspire you to become one of those sought after individuals.

Steve Keating tweets at @LeadToday and this blog post was not done without his prior knowledge and is not a pre-arranged plug for him. I jut like the stuff he tweets and thought you may find some value in this small list of his recent musings on leadership and success.

I also tweet and my Twitter handles are: rictownsend with selected tweets on career success at orglearn and on resumes at resume_form.

Depending on the size of area you are able to service you may find some locations more fruitful than others. I once trained bank mangers to cold call to look for prospects. Almost to a man they wanted to travel miles to “industrial areas” often over an hours drive away. Depending on what you are selling often you can find prospects next door. The point I am making is that the search for business needs time spent on research. Say you are selling restaurant equipment you need to find the very new i.e. just being established and the getting older, needing plant renewal type businesses. Just calling “willy-nilly” can be a great time waster. Also be careful not to develop a “milk run” where you are just calling on your old favorites because they are easy to talk to.

As part of your territory analysis you need to put together files on your target market players using such sources as government surveys, census information, trade publications, local newspapers and customer feedback.

Giving speeches or delivering seminars in your geographic area can also uncover potential customers. Local Rotary Clubs for example are always looking for speakers. You can’t go along and do a sales pitch however you could talk about, as an example: “the latest technical and cost saving benefits of modern air conditioners” if you were in the business of selling air conditioners. If you establish yourself as a local expert in your field buyers will often seek you out. In other words as well as knowing the potential customers in your territory you need to have a good grasp of the ‘third party’ lead generation opportunities within your geographical area and how to best utilize them.

Define customer “trigger events” and develop systems to alert yourself when they occur.

(An important facet of finding hot prospects from an article on BNET Australia and from which the basis of this article was built.) “Trigger events are circumstances that make it more likely that a customer will buy from you. For example, if you sell management consulting, a trigger event might be a customer announcement of a management change. Similarly, if you sell supply chain software, a trigger event might be the announcement of a merger.”

To expand on this concept I offer this. A true professional in sales will not just be an expert in his or her product. A true professional salesperson needs to an expert in the user of his/her products business as well. One of the best salesmen I ever met was a finance broker who specialized in arranging finance for earth-moving and construction equipment. He was great at his job because in addition to understanding finance and banking he knew as much about earth-moving and construction as his customers. He particularly new when new projects came up for tender and who the likely winner would be and off he would go to see them.

Recognizing trigger events is one of the most powerful attributes that a successful “hot prospect” focused salesperson can develop.

For every product or service there is an expected or at least likely set of potential users. The first place to look is of course your current customer base. Look at who has been buying recently and for what reasons. It is likely if your customer company “A” is expanding or spending due to his/her industry conditions, his/her competitors, companies “B” and “C’ are doing likewise. Secondly research who has money to spend. Its good to remember the old collection adage from the finance company I once worked for. “There are those that can’t pay (read buy) and wouldn’t even if they could. There are those that can’t pay however would if they could. There are those that could pay although they won’t and there are those that can pay (buy) and will.” Hot prospects only come from the last group.

Another hot prospect group can be found through referrals. Talk to your existing customers about who they think may be interested in your product, of course still apply in the finance company test above. Two other simple places is through reading the newspapers and industry journals to look for those who are “movers and shakers” in your target market. One good starting place, at least to get a list of potentials that is often forgotten is… the yellow pages. Social media watch: If your potential buyer’s businesses have a Facebook page check periodically on what they are talking about to see if they mention relevant problems or expansion plans that you may be able to capitalize on.

Research and define your target company positions.

Only call on the decision makers. Remember that committees often make decisions so you must engage all players from the outset. If this is too difficult at least make sure you are dealing with to those that have the ability to greatly influence purchasing decisions for your product or service. If you just can’t get to them all spend as much time as you can in coaching your contact on how to sell the other executives on your proposal. Example I once had a lead on a leasing transaction and the company secretary/financial controller had to present his findings to his board. To assist I had to explain an eight centimeter high stack of printouts containing a bunch of numbers to him. He understood however thought the board would have difficulty understanding the figures. I coached him to say… “Leasing through Ric’s company is it most cost effective option, the figures prove it and here they are.” I told him to drop the heavy binder on the boardroom table with a thud and bet him no one would open it. They didn’t and we got the deal.

More soon… I will tweet ( @rictownsend ) when I have finished writing it.

Delegation Rule 2 Trust them first, train & test for competence before you delegate,

Delegation Rule 3 Clearly define the tasks that must be done and limits of authority attached.

Delegation Rule 4 Explain what’s in it for the one you are delegating to.

Delegation Rule 5 Inform the team of your reasons for delegating the task to a particular person.

Delegation Rule 6 Answer all questions from the nominee and others in the team.

Delegation Rule 7 Define clearly the importance of the task in terms of desired outcomes.

Delegation Rule 8 Mentor the person you have delegated to particularly in the early stages.

Delegation Rule 9 Maintain your responsibility for the task while handing over authority to act to the person delegated to.

Delegation Rule 10 Ensure the resources needed to the task are supplied to the individual undertaking the task.

Delegation Rule 11 Explain how the delegated task fits into the overall work flow, give the big picture.

Delegation Rule 12 Ensure that the person you delegate to is prepared to take ownership of the task.

Delegation Rule 13 Clearly explain the reason for the task and why it must be done.

Delegation Rule 14 Explain what measurements will be used to define successful completion of the task.

Delegation Rule 15 Get agreement on timeline and deadlines and include timing for status reports.

Delegation Rule 16 Don’t constantly ask for update or hound the person you have delegated to.

Delegation Rule 17 Confirm understanding by getting the person you have delegated to, to explain in their own words what you want them to do.

Delegating Rule 18 Ensure support is agreed from other team members and recipients of the work and other stakeholders.

Delegation Rule 19 Insist that all feedback on success or otherwise of the delegation comes to you directly.

Delegation Rule 20 If the delegation fails be sure you accept the responsibility and if it succeeds share the glory.