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I’ve talked and written so much about how a teacher’s skills are transferable to a great sales career. Here are some examples of the parallels between the classroom and selling… Selling Ideas in…

I’ve talked and wr…

I’ve talked and written so much about how a teacher’s skills are transferable to a great sales career. Here are some examples of the parallels between the classroom and selling… Selling Ideas in the Classroom Example: A history teacher “sells” the importance of studying past civilizations by creating engaging stories, debates, or simulations. They’re persuading students to see the relevance of the subject and invest their attention. Sales Parallel: Much like a salesperson presenting the value of a product to a customer, teachers must frame their content in a way that connects to th…

You’ll see dozens of threads on LinkedIn about the importance of finding a prospect’s pain. Pain Pain Pain! They aren’t wrong but that thinking is missing a huge opportunity for salespeople. Ins…

You’ll see dozens …

You’ll see dozens of threads on LinkedIn about the importance of finding a prospect’s pain. Pain Pain Pain! They aren’t wrong but that thinking is missing a huge opportunity for salespeople. Instead of just focusing on, “Is there a problem or challenge that my product or service can help with?” keep an eye and ear out for, “Is there an opportunity where my product or service can help capitalize on?”The best one is if your product or service can help your prospect open up new revenue streams. Prospects are always going to be excited about ideas to create new revenue. Plus a co…

As my fans (both of them) know, I am a big believer in the ability of creating your own sales job. I did it a couple times in my career and have a course that will teach you how to do it yourself…gu…

As my fans (both of …

As my fans (both of them) know, I am a big believer in the ability of creating your own sales job. I did it a couple times in my career and have a course that will teach you how to do it yourself…guaranteed! So it goes without saying that I am always looking for stories about others who have created their own sales job. Earlier this week I learned about Zoreen Kabani who started out in Finance but realized that’s not what she wanted to do as a career. She wanted to do something creative. What I loved about Zoreen’s story is that she didn’t create a job and then ‘sell’ it to an esta…

One of the reasons I chose to evangelize about sales careers when I retired is the wonderful life a career in sales gave me. When I was at the lowest point of my life, a new sales job allowed me to re…

One of the reasons I…

One of the reasons I chose to evangelize about sales careers when I retired is the wonderful life a career in sales gave me. When I was at the lowest point of my life, a new sales job allowed me to rebuild my life, and go on to help others.  A job in sales is the one job that you can land, even if a company isn’t hiring! It’s also a career where you can actually go out and create your own sales job and then ‘sell’ it to the company of your choosing. I know what I speak of, I did both of these things during my career. There is a national movement called Reentry 2030 which is a national…

In my last post I talked about the importance of writing, this time I am going to talk about a vastly underutilized technique to be a great salesperson. Interviewing. No, not that interviewing, the on…

In my last post I ta…

In my last post I talked about the importance of writing, this time I am going to talk about a vastly underutilized technique to be a great salesperson. Interviewing. No, not that interviewing, the one where you ask the questions! Know who this guy is? You probably don’t, but you sure the hell know his movies. Judd Apatow is one of the greatest comedy writers/producers in history. Some of his masterpieces include:Anchorman Talladega Nights Bridesmaids Step BrothersOK you get the idea. Know how he got his start? By interviewing comics in high school. He worked at the high school radio …

Why Writing is Crucial for Salespeople There are so many hacks and frameworks and “tips & tricks” for salespeople, sometimes the obvious gets overlooked. In today’s digitally-driven world, writi…

Why Writing is Cruci…

Why Writing is Crucial for Salespeople There are so many hacks and frameworks and “tips & tricks” for salespeople, sometimes the obvious gets overlooked. In today’s digitally-driven world, writing is an indispensable skill for salespeople. It is not just about pitching a product or service; it’s about crafting compelling messages that resonate with potential customers and drive them to take action. Here’s why writing is so important in sales: 1. First Impressions Matter Your initial communication with a prospect often happens through written mediums such as emails, LinkedIn messages,…

I saw a question posed, “What is a healthy unemployment rate?” The answer was between 3 and 5%. Today (July 9. 2024) it stands at 4.1%, which is allegedly healthy, but tell that to the 6 million a…

I saw a question pos…

I saw a question posed, “What is a healthy unemployment rate?” The answer was between 3 and 5%. Today (July 9. 2024) it stands at 4.1%, which is allegedly healthy, but tell that to the 6 million adults who can’t find a job.  You might have also heard about all the jobs that go unfilled, that “Nobody wants to work anymore.” That’s such BS, nobody wants to work at crappy low paying jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, the industry with the most openings is…Education. Yeah I wonder why?  When you have right-wing extremists harassing teachers and siphoning off tax dol…

I have been fortunate to be a guest on numerous podcasts evangelizing about sales careers and careers in general. I also often get to speak about my other project on homeless initiatives. This post ho…

I have been fortunat…

I have been fortunate to be a guest on numerous podcasts evangelizing about sales careers and careers in general. I also often get to speak about my other project on homeless initiatives. This post hosts the links to each of those podcast recordings. I know I make an amazing guest and offer life altering advice, just don’t make a big deal about it, OK?Pandora’s Awareness Podcast with Asher – May 3, 2024 Digital Trailblazers with Leah Getts – May 16, 2024 SalesTV.live with Rob Durant – June 4, 2024 The Price of Time with Luke Tatum – June 19, 2024 The School of Heritage with TOPPE…

It’s always been about me! As I have spent that past year-and-a-half evangelizing about sales careers, I get to share my motto, I didn’t selling anything, I figured shit out. Sometimes, depending …

It’s always been a…

It’s always been about me! As I have spent that past year-and-a-half evangelizing about sales careers, I get to share my motto, I didn’t selling anything, I figured shit out. Sometimes, depending on the audience, I would have to clean it and substitute “stuff” for “shit” but everyone got the idea. I would go on and say that I never convinced anyone that they needed my service to deliver hands-on labs for software training. Instead, I found those who were already in the market and convinced them I was the best option. Not my product. Not my company. ME! Lord William Steele Becker II…

I have always been a proponent of never applying online, talking to a recruiter or HR. All those routes are just ways to weed people out, in essence all they can say is, “No.” Applying online (AI …

I have always been a…

I have always been a proponent of never applying online, talking to a recruiter or HR. All those routes are just ways to weed people out, in essence all they can say is, “No.” Applying online (AI bots), Recruiters, Hiring Managers, etc. don’t know anything about how sales works, why would you leave your future in their hands?!? I also talk a lot about being unemployed and underemployed, even making a case that being unemployed is better mentally. If you don’t have a job, at least you have hope that once you do land a job, everything will be OK. If you are underemployed, busting your as…

Sahil Bloom recently had a Twitter post (see below) that spoke volumes to me…it was about things he wished he knew about sooner concerning work. Each of those 9 points were brilliant, but I want to …

Sahil Bloom recently…

Sahil Bloom recently had a Twitter post (see below) that spoke volumes to me…it was about things he wished he knew about sooner concerning work. Each of those 9 points were brilliant, but I want to focus on #6…cause that was literally my motto. I always said, I don’t sell anything, I figure shit out.  I didn’t try to convince anyone they needed my service, instead I found prospects who were already in the market and showed them why I was the best option…even more so than the company I worked for…by figuring shit out.  That’s what a lot of sales is about, especially Enterprise s…

There’s this guy I know, Todd Brison who is Tim Denning’s partner. Todd writes a lot about writing. Yeah that sounds redundant but Todd is great at writing about writing. I’ve bought several of …

There’s this guy I…

There’s this guy I know, Todd Brison who is Tim Denning’s partner. Todd writes a lot about writing. Yeah that sounds redundant but Todd is great at writing about writing. I’ve bought several of his courses. Todd recently wrote about guru’s and failure and had a great point. Everyone wants to teach you all the tricks to success so you won’t fail…but that’s just not realistic. Here’s Todd’s take…Modern technology stripped a preposterous* amount of failure out of life. One example: When you go on a road trip, you have almost zero chance of failure. I use GPS to drive to Flor…

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” The implication is clear…if you do not try…you will not succeed This is true in sales where if you don’t ask…

Hockey legend Wayne …

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” The implication is clear…if you do not try…you will not succeed This is true in sales where if you don’t ask for the sale you can’t get the sale. It’s also true in everyday life. There have been instances in my life where I wanted to meet someone but it seemed far-fetched that they would would make time for someone they didn’t know. So I asked. There was a billionaire entrepreneur who I admired. I saw him at a speaker’s convention but was a little intimidated and didn’t get the courage to go u…

William Shakespeare (Bill to his friends) said, It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. I have often said if I had a time machine, I would go back in time to the late 1500s to ear…

William Shakespeare …

William Shakespeare (Bill to his friends) said, It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. I have often said if I had a time machine, I would go back in time to the late 1500s to early 1600s and throat-punch Shakespeare for talking so weirdly. I went to too many school plays where I didn’t understand what the hell they were saying…but I digress.  The dude however is point is spot on…no one should not blame God or some other uncontrollable force for how their life turns out. You have a certain amount of power to make your life better. There are ways to work for a better…

I am not normally prone to BS headlines like I used for this post, but I wear my emotions on my sleeve and speak pretty plainly. One of the things I knew I would focus on when I retired was to evangel…

I am not normally pr…

I am not normally prone to BS headlines like I used for this post, but I wear my emotions on my sleeve and speak pretty plainly. One of the things I knew I would focus on when I retired was to evangelize about sales careers. The difference is that I was always going to focus on WHY someone should become a salesperson. I wasn’t going to focus on the HOW to sell. You could make a case that I am crossing over the line in this post, and I wouldn’t argue with you. Please indulge me for this one because it’s important. It’s less than a selling tip and more of a career aspiration you should s…

Country singer Toby Keith recently passed away. I remember watching the biography of country singer Toby Keith recently and was intrigued by the controversy of his song, “How Do You Like Me Now?”�…

Country singer Toby …

Country singer Toby Keith recently passed away. I remember watching the biography of country singer Toby Keith recently and was intrigued by the controversy of his song, “How Do You Like Me Now?” It’s about a guy who couldn’t get the attention of his dream girl in high school. The guy ultimately becomes rich and famous and the song is basically a declaration of “in your face girls!” There are all kinds of motivation…positive and negative. Bill Bartmann, who was a famous (infamous?) entrepreneur wrote in his book about  “personal motivators.” The example he gave of a negativ…

Many of you know about my homeless initiative…if not you can learn about it over at ConnectTheDots.cc. I’ve been working on my manifesto for over a year in a Google doc. The other day I was searc…

Many of you know abo…

Many of you know about my homeless initiative…if not you can learn about it over at ConnectTheDots.cc. I’ve been working on my manifesto for over a year in a Google doc. The other day I was searching for that doc and typed “my manifesto” into what I thought was the Google Docs search bar. Turns out the search was in Google itself and I saw a bunch of items for writing your own manifesto. That got me thinking, if you are selling anything, a solution to the homeless problem a technology solution, or any product or service, it would be a great idea to develop a manifesto to guide you and…

Tim Denning recently wrote an article titled, “If You Fit In, You Are Replaceable.” It wasn’t geared towards salespeople but it absolutely applies. Take my career for example. I started out sell…

Tim Denning recently…

Tim Denning recently wrote an article titled, “If You Fit In, You Are Replaceable.” It wasn’t geared towards salespeople but it absolutely applies. Take my career for example. I started out selling radio advertising. I had spent the few years selling radio ads to traditional customers like car dealers and furniture stores. I wanted to separate myself from all the other radio salespeople, including the ones at my own station. So I figured out what kinds of businesses weren’t being targeted. I also wanted to do “direct response” advertising.  What is direct response advertising? It…

That’s the title of a post I did 15 years ago on a old Type Pad blog that I found is still active. Here’s the crazy part, everything in that post is still relevant (I never went or go for fads in …

That’s the title o…

That’s the title of a post I did 15 years ago on a old Type Pad blog that I found is still active. Here’s the crazy part, everything in that post is still relevant (I never went or go for fads in business). The post references an article in the Wall Street Journal about the overbuilding of warehouses in Phoenix. Ummmm…..there’s a massive commercial Real Estate bubble happening right now. Take a look at the post below and see that the same opportunities in 2009 for creative sales people…How would you like to get a check for a million dollars? Maybe 2 million or 3 million dollars. Yo…

I learned I was wealthy today. I came across this article about “Bookshelf Wealth” and how people love to display their books. That’s me….guilty as charged! To no one’s surprise there are pe…

I learned I was weal…

I learned I was wealthy today. I came across this article about “Bookshelf Wealth” and how people love to display their books. That’s me….guilty as charged! To no one’s surprise there are people who love the term and others who went off. I am a simple person, I just love books and love displaying them. It started out with me displaying books that I had got autographed by the author. James Andrew Miller is my favorite author and has written books about some of the things I love, ESPN, Saturday Night Live to name just two. I found his email address and reached out and asked if I sent h…

So why do a post on what not to do? Because learning from mistakes, your own or others, always provides valuable advice. When I sold SharePoint training my instructors did a lot of SharePoint consulti…

So why do a post on …

So why do a post on what not to do? Because learning from mistakes, your own or others, always provides valuable advice. When I sold SharePoint training my instructors did a lot of SharePoint consulting. That carried a lot of weight with potential students. What carried even more weight was the fact my guys fixed a lot of SharePoint mistakes others made. They had a wealth of knowledge of what not to do and that was extremely valuable to people. Remember what I’ve said about peace of mind, that comes from not making a mistake. It’s one of the most valuable tips you’ll ever get about sales…

Professional selling is far from the negative stereotypes that often are associated with being a salesperson. In fact, professional selling is simply a skill that requires the ability to understand th…

Professional selling…

Professional selling is far from the negative stereotypes that often are associated with being a salesperson. In fact, professional selling is simply a skill that requires the ability to understand the customer needs, build trust, and communicate effectively. How complex that conversation depends on the complexity of what you are selling. If you are selling software services like I did, those conversations eventually get complex, but I had someone to handle those tough questions. I would often come to a meeting with a sales engineer and introduce him or her as someone who is there to make me l…