Happy Holidays from the Bakers - ENJOY!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/Q7SVXKeGDztM3myk?cmpid=ey_fb_self

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/eeE1gbKji7O0RZEK?cmpid=ey_fb_self

Great Contribution from Jerry Gallina!

2010 New Year's Resolution - Make Six More Sales Calls A Day
On average, it takes six "impressions" - cold calls, messages, letters and emails -- to get an appointment out of one lead. So I would like to set a daily challenge for each of us in 2010 - make six more sales calls between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. every day and you'll have 20 more appointments in January alone!
What are your odds of uncovering business? No one knows, but I can tell you this, if you invest one half hour of your time to make six more impressions a day, you'll get more business. I would like to invite you to this challenge so we can track your progress.
Have you thought about your odds in Las Vegas? It probably takes at least 10 - 20 quarters to actually win 4-50 quarters back and that is a game with odds on the house's side.
In a sales call, you have the odds on your side because you always know what to say since you've been travelling on the "Sales Firing Line" with me the past few months. "Hello, I don't know if you're the right person, but maybe you can point me in the right direction..."
If they say, "I'm not the right person," you will have a simple response so you can continue to dig deeper into that agency. "Then can you please help me because I'm obviously lost. I am committed to assisting your agency and I would like to speak with the key person who would need my assistance..."
Because government employees are extremely helpful, your odds are that 9 times out of 10, they'll either point you to the right person or invite you into their office to learn more about doing business with them. When they pass you onto someone else, your odds of closing an appointment have doubled at least because you have been referred. We call that a warm call - not a cold call.
If you just uncover one deal this year worth $400,000, don't you think that is worth one half hour and six phone calls a day?
So, let's be on the Sales Firing Line together - Make six additional contacts a day and let me know your progress. I would love to add up all of the additional business across the country as a result of this campaign.
You're not alone, let's all do it together - Six more calls a day = 20 More Appointments a Month =240 Appointments A Year! If 10% were orders, that would be 24 Orders at an average of at least $10,000 each. That's $240,000 Dollars In Additional Business This Year!

Welcome Zach Horn - New Texhoma Sales Manager!

Let's all extend a warm welcome to Zach Horn. He started Monday and is intent on making our Texhoma Team #1! You can probably most easily recognize him by his car.

Zach comes to us a highly successful salesman and manager from Ricoh. Sales Teams beware! Texas is coming to get you!

Just for fun.....

Belize - August 2009 (Upcoming Fly Rod Chronicles Episode)

Adaptability!

My partner, Josh Williams, and I won a fly fishing tournament this Sunday against 14 other team. Big deal, right? Well Josh has ONE arm. Fly fishing is very difficult, with one arm, ridicously difficult. Josh ADAPTED his approach to fly fishing, has overcome his "disabilty", and is EXCELLING in life.

My point? Do any of us really have an exuse? Sure, we can all come up with them; my territory, admin work, pricing, competition, this...that....

In the end, it's just YOU, your SKILLS, your ATTITUDE, and your willingness to WORK HARD that decides your success or failure in life. JOSH HAS CHOSEN TO WIN, SUCCEED, AND EXCEL. Have you?

How true is this? Attitude Adjustment!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXStPqhLmIk

Things that make you go Hmmmm.....

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tjYoKCBYag

Rainy, Rainy Atlanta!

Here's a link of what are teammates in Atlanta are experiencing. I am hopeful that none of them have property loss and that their families are safe.

http://www.mahalo.com/atlanta-flooding

For Emil....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-NH5gA4JP8&feature=player_profilepage#t=92

What can you do?

I am very dedicated to supporting our soldiers through Project Healing Waters and the 75th Ranger Regiment Association, where I am an officer. I wanted to share with you some recent recognition that I am very proud of, but more importantly ask you to think, "What am I doing to help those around me?" Each of you are very persuasive and that skill serves organizations well. For example, I briefly met a retired General last year at the Best Ranger Competition, introduced myself, shared our story, and now Project Healing Waters is soon to receive a $600K grant through a foundation he is associated with! Use your skills on and off the job. You will feel prouder and more confident than ever! In return, you'll see more success! Give to get.....

And yes, you are going to see many completely unrelated to the topic fly fishing pics

:-)

NOT TO DO LIST FOR SALESPEOPLE AND MANAGERS

15 Things Salespeople And Sales Managers Should Put On Their “Not-To-Do” List

Elmer Leterman once wrote, "Human beings in any line of work could double their productive capacity overnight if they began right now to do all the things they know they should do and stop doing all the things they knows they should not do." Leterman suggests that we're all standing in our own way on the road to success.

What’s holding us back is that we all love to improvise instead of relying on proven skills and acting on what we know is the right course of action.

15 things salespeople should have on their daily “not to do” list:

Don’t waste time chasing unprofitable leads
Don’t show up late for the call
Don’t make a call without a plan & preparation
Don’t pretend to listen – stay focused
Don’t talk about politics, religion or sex
Don’t talk about what you like, talk about what the prospect likes
Don’t talk about features without explaining the benefits
Don’t quote price before establishing value
Don’t skip steps in the sales process – stay on track
Don’t forget to upsell and cross-sell
Don’t over-promise and under-deliver
Don’t lie – build trust
Don’t under-dress or over-dress
Don’t drink prior to a call – look your best
Don’t flirt with the staff – be charming

15 things sales managers should put on their daily “not to do” list:

Don’t hire salespeople based on your gut instincts alone
Don’t slip back into the role of the super-salesperson
Don’t claim you made a sale that you helped create
Don’t play favorites - be fair to everyone
Don’t accept incompetence – set the bar high
Don’t resist change – embrace it
Don’t reject technology because you don’t understand it
Don’t mistake sales increases with profitability
Don’t think that sales training is unnecessary
Don’t allow salespeople to put their monkeys on your back
Don’t criticize in public, offer performance feedback in a private setting
Don’t assign a $10 an hour job to a $120,000 a year sales executive
Don’t push your salespeople to success, lead them by example
Don’t think that your sales process is perfect – it needs to be renovated all the time
Don’t hide in your office, crunching numbers – delegate and invigorate yourself

The magic of the “Not-to-do” list

Think of your “to do” list. It takes a lot of work to get things done. Chances are that you are starting the day with 7-10 major action items and you are lucky if you were able to cross off the first three items by the end of the day. Start a fresh “to-do” list every day. Don’t agonize, prioritize.

The “Not-to-do” list doesn’t change every day. This list doesn’t take more work on your part; it will create less work for you. It helps you recognize new patterns. It helps you prevent self-defeating actions. Like Michelangelo chipped away all the unnecessary marble from a granite block to create a masterpiece, your “not-to-do” list will bring out the best in you.

Thought I'd share some quotes I've collected over the years....

”Eighty percent of success is showing up.”
- Woody Allen


”Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
- Robert Francis Kennedy


”It’s not failure but low aim that is a crime.”
- Unknown


”Men are born to succeed, not to fail.”
- Henery David Thoreau


”Success in almost any field depends more on energy and drive than it does on intelligence.”
- Sloan Wilson


”Nothing recedes like success.”
- Walter Winchell


”Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.”
- George E. Woodberry


”Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.”
- Albert Einstein


”Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
- Mark Twain


”You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.”
- Henry Ford


”The best way out is always through.”
- Robert Frost


”Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”
- Conrad Hilton


”A man who has to be convinced to act before he acts is not a man of action. You must act as you breathe.”
- Georges Clemmanceau


”Their comes a moment when you have to stop revving up the car and shove it into gear.”
- David Mahoney


”If you don’t make dust, you eat dust.”
- Motto of Jack A. MacAllister


”Luck comes to a man who puts himself in the way of it. You went where something might be found and you found something, simple as that.”
- Louis L’Amour


”Things may come to those who wait, but only things left by those who hustle.”
- Abraham Lincoln


”Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
- Will Rogers


”Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”
- William Jennings Bryan


”Success comes to the person who does today what you were thinking about doing tomorrow.”
- Unknown


”If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”
- Milton Berle


”Let’s make a dent in the universe.”
- Steve Jobs


”Nothing is easier than saying words. Nothing is harder than living them day after day.”
- Arthur Gordon

”I am easily satisfied with the very best.”
- Winston Churchill

”If things seem under control, you are just not going fast enough.”
- Mario Andretti

”Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”
- W.W. Ziege


”A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.”
- David Brinkley


”If we did all the things we were capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”
- Thomas Edison

”The winner’s edge is not in a gifted birth, a high IQ, or in talent. The winner’s edge is all in the attitude, not aptitude. Attitude is the criterion for success.”
- Dennis Waitley


”Up is never where you are now.”
- Belasco 7 Stayer


”Whether you think you can or think you can’t you are right.”
- Henry Ford

”Once we rid ourselves of traditional thinking we can get on with creating the future.”
- James Bertrand


”There’s a way to do it better, find it.”
- Thomas Edison


”A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.”
- John Le Care


”This one step – choosing a goal and sticking to it – changes everything.”
- Scott Reed


”The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want.”
- Ben Stein

Just Dance.
- Lady Gaga

Chinese Bamboo and Sales

Good morning team! Here's a great parable that I believe holds very true for our sales. The sales process here, especially in DMS sales opportunities can be long! You have to find the prospect, put together a good deal, work through perm-out issues, put together a proposal and shepherd it through the system, and wait for the volume to slowly trickle in. That can be a long frustrating process!

I remember a job i had with a 6-18 month sales cycle. When I was getting started, it was a ton of work with no results. Many days it felt as if I was spinning my wheels. Finally, after 6 months of hard work I landed my first deal of $886,000! After that, all the seeds I had planted begun to sprout and the rewards followed! The deal was complex, and like the bamboo in the story below, the work I did prepared me for the complex parameters of the deal and tough negotiations. Without all the toil at the beginning, I would not have been prepared. The work was not in vain, it had it's purpose. To those who are new, building their pipeline, or have hit a dry patch; hang in there! You are about to shoot up 80 feet! Chinese bamboo.....

The Chinese Bamboo Tree and Other Lessons on Patience

by Charlie Dexter

Do you remember back in the 60’s when Simon and Garfunkel sang the 59th Street Bridge song? ( if you remember the 60’s you probably weren’t there…) The duo advised us to “slow down, we move too fast…” What a laugh thinking about the speed of the 60’s compared with how fast we are actually moving today! We live today in an instant results - or else - world. If a politician doesn’t produce instant results to our liking we boot the bum out and vote in some other bum. If a corporate CEO doesn’t produce an instant turnaround, then that bum is on unemployment too. If the drive through on Airport Way doesn’t give us fast - fast food we get testy and swear to never go back there again, until next time. It’s a fast pace world we’ve created for ourselves.

Unfortunately, we are trying to live our fast paced lifestyle in what is naturally a slow paced world. Zig Ziglar, the famous motivational speaker, once told the story of the Chinese Bamboo Tree. It seems that this tree when planted, watered, and nurtured for an entire growing season doesn’t outwardly grow as much as an inch. Then, after the second growing season, a season in which the farmer takes extra care to water, fertilize and care for the bamboo tree, the tree still hasn’t sprouted. So it goes as the sun rises and sets for four solid years. The farmer and his wife have nothing tangible to show for all of their labor trying to grow the tree.

Then, along comes year five.

In the fifth year that Chinese bamboo tree seed finally sprouts and the bamboo tree grows up to eighty feet in just one growing season! Or so it seems….

Did the little tree lie dormant for four years only to grow exponentially in the fifth? Or, was the little tree growing underground, developing a root system strong enough to support its potential for outward growth in the fifth year and beyond? The answer is, of course, obvious. Had the tree not developed a strong unseen foundation it could not have sustained its life as it grew. The same principle is true for people. People, who patiently toil towards worthwhile dreams and goals, building strong character while overcoming adversity and challenge, grow the strong internal foundation to handle success, while get-rich- quickers and lottery winners usually are unable to sustain unearned sudden wealth.

Had the Chinese bamboo farmer dug up his little seed every year to see if it was growing, he would have stunted the tree’s growth as surely as a caterpillar is doomed to a life on the ground if it is freed from its struggle inside a cocoon prematurely. The struggle in the cocoon is what gives the future butterfly the wing power to fly, just as tension against muscles as we exercise strengthen our muscles, while muscles left alone will soon atrophy. My problem with exercise is not getting instantly stronger after each work out! I pray for more patience every day and I pray to get it right now!

We live in a quick-fix society. We get frustrated if we have to wait more than 2 minutes for service or a stop light to change. We want instant solutions to every complex problem and every fractured relationship. In short – we want it all now! Maybe its time to reflect on an old, old poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that is as true today as it was when he wrote it over 100 years ago:

“The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Toiled ever upward through the night.”

Congrats South Group President's Club Winners!

Congrats Bart, Eddie x2, Mike, and Jordon! Great job guys! LET'S ALL JOIN THEM IN 2010!!

Just 75 miles from Atlanta and the world’s busiest airport, a stunning lake shimmers in quiet tranquility. Cradled by verdant hills where pines tower to the sky and eagles dance with the sun, this secluded getaway transports groups to a place far away from daily cares and pressures. It’s little wonder that the family born to this land called it Linger Longer. Once here, guests yearn to stay, whether for golfing on championship courses, netting their daily limit of fish, discovering uncommon shops in antebellum towns or enjoying a delightful roster of outdoor activities. Amidst this engaging backdrop, the commanding presence of The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation offers an elegant invitation to meet in the heart of nature. The Ritz-Carlton Lodge offers guests legendary service highlighted by gracious Southern hospitality.
Named among the “World's 500 Best Hotels” in Travel+Leisure Magazine in 2008, The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation offers:
251 well-appointed guest rooms and suites, with resort and lake views
6 two and three bedroom golf cottages
5,400 square-feet Presidential House
35 acres of picturesque shoreline property on Lake Oconee
More than 15,000 square-feet of meeting space, including 10 meeting rooms
99 Holes of championship golf designed by the game's greatest architects
A 26,000 square-feet, full-service spa and fitness center

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/ReynoldsPlantation/PhotoTourPop.htm

Point #2: Aim for excellence, not happiness...

We've all been taught to pursue happiness at work. If we're unfulfilled, something must be wrong! Aristotle stated that, "no one could be both free and obliged to earn a living." "Holding down a job, any job, was akin to slavery, and denied a man a chance of greatness." By the 18th century, however, new thinkers like Benjamin Franklin asserted that "a man's work can and should be fulfilling." Today, as we sit in a devasted job market, the pursuit of happiness is actually keeping unemployed men and women from taking a job "they might not like", and employed ones from becoming better at jobs they are lukewarm about.
"Put that attitude aside and you will prosper", says Larry Winget, host of A&E's Big Spender. Did you ever get a paycheck where it says down in the memo section, "because you are so darn happy?" No. They pay you to work. We are ALWAYS rewarded for hard work and excellence. "Be amazing and you'll always have people wanting to work with you! That will lead you to more job security, more money, and in the end, HAPPINESS!"

Great article points I'd like to share...

This is from the most current issue of Men's Health, but it applies to you ladies as well :-)

Strategies to MAKE MORE MONEY!

#1: Lose the high-school-cafeteria approach to work

Funny, cool, and popular are not job skills. There's only one way to become a more visible and dynamic presence at your current job. Results! If you want to create a greater "self brand" in your company, become a person who can absolutlely be given JOB X and will run it to full execution with hesitation or attitude, but who can also add value by seeing the company big picture by asking, "Hey, you know what else we could do?" Be a source of execution and strategy!

Welcome to the South Group Sales Blog

Ok, Ok...

Yes, I'm a little "techy." I'll be using this blog to share ideas, tips, and thoughts on how we can become better salespeople, friends, and parents. As well, I am going to share tips on health, stress relief, and ideas on how we can reward ourselves for great successes! A healthy mind and body are necessary ingredients in a successful sales career. It's a demanding job and you have to be "fit" to do it well.

I will not be sharing any company information, customer names, and ask you to do the same in your replies.

I'm looking forward to leading the best sales organization in the company! Come along for the ride!