October 22, 2024

October 22, 2024

We went on a quick camping trip to First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach two weekends ago. After packing up and heading home, we drove around and found ourselves in the park museum.?

I learned that Edward Teach, the infamous Blackbeard, was captured and killed nearby in 1718. Legend has it that somewhere within the confines of the state park, Blackbeard buried his treasure. I could have brought my shovel if I had only known this beforehand.?

As I tend to do, I was thinking about how this relates to success in sales.?

To be good in sales, we must?protect and plunder.?

We must protect our customers, knowing that our best customers are our competition's biggest prospects. We should look to be more of a partner than a vendor. We need to understand their business and goals and use our expertise to help them—even if it doesn't mean they buy more from us.?

Conversely, we must strategically plunder—seek new opportunities, capture our competitors' market share, and expand our reach.?

Great salespeople have a good balance between the two. They don't spend all their time servicing and seeing their customer base, and they don't spend all their time looking for new prospects while ignoring their current customer base.?

They do both.?

Protect and plunder.?

?

The Huddle?is a weekly newsletter that is designed for leaders. Leaders must be learners. There is never a?moment?when leaders arrive. It's a never-ending growth process. I hope this can be a resource that you can use to stay sharp and share with your team.

With that, here are some things I ran across this week.?

Self-Accountability -?I recently had a coaching call?with a top-notch sales professional. He's doing fantastic in his role and has a bright future with a great company. We discussed?self-accountability.

For most of us, no one is standing over our shoulders to ensure we keep our promises to ourselves. No one will know if I fail to deliver on my promises. They won't know if I skip a calling block, a workout, or a phone call to my parents.?

But I will.

That creates a feeling of uneasiness—even guilt—because we know we aren't living up to our standards.?

We don't like what we see when we look at ourselves in the mirror. This impacts our self-confidence, and we start to doubt. And that is a downward spiral.?

I liked?this article on self-accountability. It reminds me that starting small, setting goals, and keeping my plan in front of me are keys.?

You can't break all the mirrors.?

Promises -?I've written a bit about John Wooden here before. Wooden is known as perhaps the greatest college basketball coach of all time. His teams won ten national championships in a span of twelve years.?

More than his success as a coach, I love his folksy, philosophical approach to life. Wooden was a reader and writer of poetry, a deep thinker, and, most importantly, a kind man.?

Sahil Bloom captured Wooden's "9 Promises for a Life Well-Lived" in an extraordinary way. Give it a read.?

Control Freaks -?Many of us like the feeling of being in control. We want things done the way we want them and exert our influence to ensure they?go in a particular direction.?

If you look at it through the lens of the?Drama Triangle, however, it's easy to see how this need for control is a flaw in our personality. We try to help people who don't want to be helped, manipulate people through our power and cleverness, or play the victim and helplessly expect the situation to change around us.?

After reading?this article, I'm reminded of how little we can control. As the article states,?Relax: Nothing is Under Control.?

The Essence of Strategy -?Robert Greene, a bestselling author, is one of my favorites. His ideas are novel, often unconventional, and?meticulously researched.?

Here is a short video?in which he applies lessons from "The Art of War" in a practical way.?

When the bow is taut, hasn't been shot yet, and can be shot in many directions...that is the essence of strategy.?

A quote to leave you with



Have a great week!

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