Day 86. Run with the Thinkers

There are basically two types of salespeople in the world. The thinking, innovative, outside the box, problem solvers, and the whining, excuse making time wasters. The question is: which are you? Which type do you associate with? There are also two types of managers in world; two types of engineers in the world; two types of friends; frankly, there are just two types of people.

My decision to move to sales, from being a Regional Technology Manager (150 people, 15 states) was prompted by being around true sales professionals. People that thought outside the box, Joe Lopez, Dave Storey, Bill Pross, Harry Schultz. Titans of sales in my life. 

Once, on a closing call with Cessna, for a CAD/CAM/CIM engineering system worth $1.5M, Harry hit this sales road bump: “Harry, YOU have won our decision. We are looking forward to this new system,” stated the Stephen, VP of Engineering & Design Systems. “There’s just one thing. We expect to use the system for a year before we pay for it.” As the Regional Tech Manager, that was going to support this system I was shocked. Just like that, we had lost this sale. However, Harry never missed a beat. “GREAT!” Harry said, “Should we add a few color CAD terminals too? ($125,000 a pop) And perhaps a large format, color, flatbed printer too? ($50,000) And perhaps, station side printers for fast review? (8@$5,000)”

Stephen, as shocked as I was replied, “Well sure! That would be, er, GREAT!” Harry, looking him right in the eye, without a pause, without so much as a grin, he shot back: “Wonderful! Now, who would I speak to about my company’s free plane? We could use a jet for a year, since this is obviously the way you do business.” Stephen, the VP, could only smile ruefully and shake his head. We had our signed $1.5M P.O. two days later.

Harry was a true sales professional, a thinker, not a whiner. As I went into sales, he expected nothing but the very best from me. I was raised in sales by titans, by thinkers, doers, not whiners.  And I benefitted greatly and became a thinker and a doer.

Today's short excerpt from the book 100 ways to Motivate Yourself by Steve Chandler reminds us all to quit whining, to start thinking, and surround ourselves with such ones. I make it sound like simple stuff but, consider this: “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” — Charles Mingus

Steve’s book makes motivating oneself seem simple. Today I challenge you to look at how you handle your problems.  Do you think about them, examine them and creatively solve them?  Or, do look at them, share them with others, throw your hands up and resolve nothing?  I encourage you to think outside the box.  My wife Vicki once claimed I didn’t even own a box!  Be innovative, brainstorm with fellow thinkers and then go do something!

I hope you enjoy each shared chapter –

Matt

86. Run with the thinkers

The president of a major office equipment company put his problem to me this way: “How do I get the whiners in my company to stop whining and start coming up with solutions?” He went on to explain that he had two kinds of people working for him, the Whiners and the Thinkers. The Whiners were often very smart and dedicated employees who worked long, hard hours. But when they came into the manager’s office, it was almost always to complain. “They’re great at finding fault with other managers and telling me what’s wrong with our systems,” the president said, “but they are a drain on me because they’re so negative that I end up trying to make them feel better. After that, I’m depressed.” The Thinkers, on the other hand, had a different way of coming into the office with problems. “The Thinkers come to me with ideas,” he said. “They see the same problems that the Whiners see, but they’ve already thought about possible solutions.” The Thinkers, in other words, have assumed ownership of the company, and are creating the future of the company with their thinking. The Whiners have stopped thinking. Once the problems are identified, and their reaction to them justified, the thinking stops. The Thinkers have taken their reaction to the company’s problems past their emotions, and into their minds. And because they have formulated some solutions, the nature of their meeting with the manager is creative. It’s a brainstorming meeting. The manager enjoys these meetings because they stimulate his mind, too. Both parties leave the meeting feeling energized intellectually, and the manager looks forward to future meetings with the Thinkers. The Whiners have left their reaction to their company’s problems down at the emotional level. They express resentment, fear, and worry. The manager’s problem in such a meeting is that he deals primarily with those emotions, so he finishes the meeting with his own sense of discouragement. When you are committed to self-motivation as a way of life, you will fall into the realm of the Thinker. Your thinking not only creates your motivation, but it creates your relationships, your family, and the organization you work for, as well, because they are all a part of you. You are more valuable to your organization with this orientation to thinking, and you’re more valuable to yourself