Ideas, Leadership, and Vision

Advise for those just starting out in a sales Job:

Last week I had the good fortune to participate in the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) Media Sales institute at Howard University in Washington DC.  This is a 2 week course of study focused entirely on educating recent college graduates on what to expect in a career of media sales.  The NAB and Howard University put this program on as a way to help to continue to diversify the media sales industry.
(this is a great course and has been very successful in helping many graduates get their foot in the door)

While attending this event one of the speakers had some advise that he shared with the attendees on what to do when you get your first job.  I thought it was good and wanted to share with you.

1. Work Hard! Just "out work" everyone else in the office.  Be the first one in and the last to leave. 
2. Play hurt!  We all get headaches, we all get tired, we all have other things come up.  This is your first job and your trying to make a name for yourself - don't miss work!!!
3. Read -  Learn and Ask Questions.  Don't sit there and be lost.  Get involved, ask questions.
4. Socialize.  Get to know the people you work with.  Media sales is a social business and not jumping in and getting to know the people you work with would be a mistake.
5. Get involved.  Take on small projects, ask what you can do to get more involved.

Ask This Question...

I think it would be a great idea to ask this question on a regular basis.  How about each Friday call an important customer or a potential important customer that you are just starting to work with and ask them this: 

Have I (we) earned the right to continue to do business with you again next week or next month?

You'll be amazed at what you might here, and they will be amazed and delighted that you cared enough to ask.

My MS 150 Experience.

Let me start by saying thank you.  You supported me and rode beside me
in the ride and it was the most amazing experience.  I cannot wait to do
it again! 

Now that you know how the story ends, let me fill you in on some of the
highlights, low lights, and the interesting details....

The ride started in Frisco TX at 7am in the morning.  Because it had
been storming all night, we were all wondering whether the ride for
which we had been training and planning for months would be postponed.
As if by magic, the rain cleared up just in time for the start and we
were good to go.  Minutes before the race began, I joined my teammates
among the thousands of cyclists who were excited and ready to go.  As
the clock counted down, I kissed my family goodbye and prepared for the
journey.  My wife Beth, my daughters, Allie and Emily, and my niece and
nephew, Zoey and Jake cheered and waved.  It felt good to have my own
cheering section.  Time moved quickly, and suddenly it was 7am.  The
ride started. 

Can you picture 3000 cyclist ranging in age from 11 to 70 all starting
at the same time, determined to ride a total of 150 plus miles over the
next two days?  It was unbelievable!  Every cyclist had a different
vision of success; for some, this was just an easy ride.  For the more
competitive sort, this was a flat out dash to finish.  My team set off
at a pretty brisk pace.  During the first 10 miles or so, the crowd of
cyclist thinned spread out along the roadside.  I am certain our team
must have said "on your left" a few hundred times during that first
stretch.  We knew that a rest stop would be provided every 10 to 12
miles, so our strategy was to skip the first stop and hit the second
one, alternating stops along the way.  Sounded like a good strategy and
we were pumped.  Our enthusiasm waned a bit around mile two when we
realized that the wind was now blowing at us instead of with us.  This
was going to make it a long day.  Around mile 3 it started to rain, but
still we were having fun!   We stopped at the second rest stop as
planned, took some pictures, ate some food, and then it was back on the
bike. 

Around mile thirty, the four guys on my team joined up with a group of
five or six other riders.  We were well-matched in speed, and riding
together in a pace line is much easier then going it alone.  Now we were
flying, and it felt great!  We were probably moving at speeds around 19
to 20 mph when the cyclist 2 in front of me suddenly hit his brakes and
moved left.  This caused a bit of chain reaction, forcing the rider in
front of me, Todd Storch, to quickly slow down.  Unfortunately, their
wheels rubbed which caused him to slow down quickly enough that I flew
into the back of the rider in front of me.  I mean I crashed right into
him!!!!  It was quite the crash.  We both flew off our bikes and landed
on the shoulder of the road.  Thankfully, neither of us was seriously
injured. In fact, all we really had was some good old fashioned road
rash.  Nothing some Neosporin and some over-sized bandages wouldn't fix!

Unfortunately, our bikes did not bounce back as quickly.  In order to
get my bike back on the road, we needed a special tool to fix the wheel.
It took two hours for the equipment guys to get that tool to our
location.  Todd and I sent the team ahead, and waited semi-patiently for
my bike to be fixed.  (His bike took about fifteen minutes).  Two hours
later, we were back on our bikes, pretty banged up, and now we were
riding into the wind with no cloud coverage.  The hot Texas sun had done
its thing for two hours while we waited, and it had gotten pretty hot.
Although the ride that day was difficult, honestly, it was fantastic.
We worked hard but enjoyed every mile that we rode.  Finally, around
3:30 pm, we rode into the finishing area for day.  Volunteers took our
bikes, and we were free eat, shower, and relax. 

Day two:  the weather was perfect!   I was feeling fantastic, and we
were ready to roll.  With my ego bruised a bit from the crash the
previous day, I was eager to get out there and just hammer it!  That is
exactly what we did.  I don't think a single rider passed us the entire
day.  It was a fantastic feeling.  I felt great, and my team was having
a blast!  The second day consisted of 63 miles which seemed to simply
fly by... until we got to mile 57.  Six miles from the finish, I got a
flat.  No big deal, right?  Flats happen.  So, I quickly changed the
tire and we were back on the road in no time, pressing to get to the
finish.  One mile later... POP... another flat.  Same tire!  What was
wrong?  It turned out that I had a defective tire on my brand new bike
and it now had a 3-inch split right down the middle.  I began to think
that my day was over.  I was five miles from the finish.  I had ridden
through rain and strong winds.  I had suffered a crash and dealt with
first aid.  And there I sat, five miles from the finish line.  Pitiful.
I told my teammates to finish without me.  I explained that I would
catch a ride in one of the 20 S.A.G. wagons that ride up and down the
roads giving people a lift.  As I watched them ride off, my first
thoughts were of sadness.  I was not going to finish the ride.  Then I
began ticking through the options in my mind.  That was it, I decided to
run.  I picked up my bike in one hand and since I was wearing cycling
cleats, I moved over to the grass on the shoulder.  I started jogging.
I told myself, "I am a triathlete.  This is just another triathlon -
after you cycle, you run!"  It was probably a crazy solution, but it
felt right.  As riders went by, they asked If I need help.  I explained
that all I needed was a tire and they would each shout, "we don't have
one but keep it up!"  I began to enjoy the run.  Todd called on my cell
from the finish line and asked, "where are you?"  I replied "I am
running!"  He explained that they were coming to get me and my only
response was, "only if you plan to run it with me!"  He definitely
thought I had lost my mind. 

All I could think about at that point was that while this was
uncomfortable for me, it was nothing compared to what people with MS
must go through on daily basis.   I couldn't even complain about my
journey to the finish as I know that anyone with MS would gladly trade
places with me.  This was one challenge on one day, not a daily
struggle.   I had run about three miles or so before a van from a local
bike shop pulled up next to me and offered their assistance.  They were
able to give me a new tire, and I was then back on the road, to proudly
finish that last mile. 

My ride was amazing.  It was a true thrill to feel such intense support
from my family, friends, and colleagues.  I felt as though the many
people who believed in me and sponsored me, were pushing me the entire
way. I rode this ride for my Aunt Tricia who has M.S.  She is one of the
most special people I have ever known.  Beth and the girls would agree
that our relationship with her is one of the most valuable we know as
she has always been the kind of person we strive to become.  Feeling as
though in some way my ride will touch her life made it all worth it. 

Like I said in the beginning, I had an incredible time and I can't wait
to do it again!

Leadership

There is a man named Alan Mason and his company is Goodratings Strategic Services.  he sends out a daily email.  I thought that this mornings email was particularly good and that I would share it with all of you.

"The first task of a leader is to help define reality.
The last is to say 'thank you.' In between, the leader
is a servant." -- Max DePree

Do you say "I" more often or "we?"

One of the marks of a good leader is that he or she
talks about "we," the team, more than themselves. 
It's also one of the rarest of qualities.  I suppose it's
natural on the surface, we're all interested in
ourselves, but when we're all about the "I" we're also
sending signals that all those around us are
unimportant.

Mason's first law of leadership is that "The people
you need are more important than the leader."  Let's
face it, if you don't have people following, you're
nothing more than a strange person who talks to
themselves a lot.  True leadership is about motivating
people to accomplish a common goal, and that's
a "we" issue, not an I issue.

So if we follow DePree's direction, we start by
defining the vision, provide the tools, resources and
motivation to achieve the goals, and then find a way
to say thanks to those who actually made it
happen.

Take a listen to yourself this week.  As you're talking
to others, which do you hear more, "I" or "we."

Lance Armstrong's War

Lance Armstrong's War

One Man's Battle Against Fate, Fame, Love, Death, Scandal, and a Few Other Rivals on the Road to the Tour de France

by Daniel Coyle

Just in time for Tour De France....  What looks to be an incredible book on one of Americas Greatest athletes.  This book will go on sale June 14th.   

Lance Armstrong's War is the extraordinary story of greatness pushed to its limits, a vivid, behind-the-scenes portrait of Armstrong -- perhaps the most accomplished athlete of our time -- as he faces his biggest test: a historic sixth straight victory in the Tour de France, the toughest sporting event on the planet.

Link:  book description l Lance l tour de france
Tags:lance armstrong l tour de france l

Great customer Service and Salesmanship

Hats off to the folks at Richardson Bikemart.  In my opinion these guys are the class of their industry.  RBM is a 3 location bike shop in and around the Dallas area.  They have been around for a long time and perhaps have become most well known in recent times for the place that Lance Armstrong got his start into cycling. 

However, I think they should be known for is their quality of service, before, during and after the sale.  In an industry that could easily take you for a lot of money if you did not know what you were doing the folks over at RBM take an incredible amount of time and effort to really talk to you about what your needs are.

In fact, I was set to buy a bike that I had been reading about in the magazines when the RBM sales rep started to ask me some questions about how I was planning to actually use the bike and after speaking to him for a while he had me in a better bike for my needs and saved me about 33%.  He didn't have to do that and you could even say that he made a poor decision in the eyes of his company but the fact is I have since refereed to people to get their bikes from RBM and in me they now have an advocate for life.  But the good service does not stop there.  These guy's get the big picture.  I was recently in the MS 150 and and had a little crash, needless to say it required my wheel to be fixed.  The men from RBM could not have been more helpful, in fact they offered me a free loaner wheel while they took the time to fix mine (free of charge). 

These guys "Get it".  They understand the idea of customer Service and because they do they get a lot of my business.  For all your cycling needs please check them out at www.bikemart.com

Links:  RBM l Lance

A May Lei for Lip-Sticking

When Rosa asked me to review Yvonne's lip-Sticking blog I did not realize what a treat I had in store for me.  If you have not yet had the opportunity to check out this website then you need to do so right away.

The lip-Sticking blog is a wonderful blog dedicated to showcasing how to market smartly to women on-line.  What makes this bolg interesting to read is the writing style of Yvonne.  Yvonne speaks through "Jane" who has her thoughts on how marketing should and should not be done when trying to appeal to women.  I found her writing style to be excellent and easy to read.  I look forward to reading more posts from "Jane in the future.

Recently Jane had a posting titled "Jane Presents Five Ways to Collaborate, Connect, and Court Women"  I think that this is an excellent representation of the quality writing that you will find over at the Lip-Sticking blog.

Links:  Yvonne l Lip-Sticking l Sample posting

A Killer "Brand"

How great a "Brand" is Star Wars?  It is hard to believe that the first Star Wars movie hit the screens way back in 1977 nearly 30 years ago and yet there is still a line to get in and see the newest film.  I can not think of any other movie or series of movies that has created this kind of loyal following.  To me, one of the true tests is that it is not just the 40 plusers out there that have been waiting for this newest episode but now there is a  whole new generation of fans.  The age range of fans is from 6 to 60.  The teen agers that are flocking to the theaters to see this movie, are watching something that started 10 to 15 years before they were even born.  Incredible!!!!!  As far as the merchandising of this movie goes they have done an amazing job of extending their Brand and this has in turn helped them to reach many different demographics.

Star Wars is the ultimate movie brand and from what I have been able to read George Lucas has done a master-full job of keeping his eye on the most important thing, the story!  The story is what has driven this series of movies from the very beginning.

May the Force be with you!!

Coming Up Next Week!

Stay tuned next week for a posts on the following topics:

• Brand Management,  featuring one of today's most successful brands...  Star Wars. 
• Another fantastic experience with great customer service and salesmanship.
  
• A final post on my MS 150 ride.   You won't believe what happened in the final 6 miles.

Have a great weekend!!!!

Matt

Tags: starwars l ms 150 l customer service

Great customer service and salesmanship will keep you coming back

I am going to start a regular feature in my blog where I give props to those out there that are doing a great job providing customer service or salesmanship.  So if you have a story you would like to share please email me and let me know.

I would like to take a moment and give credit where I feel credit is due.  It is my opinion that to often all we do is comment on what is not right and what could be changed and done better.  Sometimes we should look at what is being done right and study that.  I am in the market to buy a new car and as many of you know buying a new car can be a bit of a pain.  There is a dealership here in Dallas called Sewell Automotive and the owner is a man named Carl Sewell, perhaps you have read his book Customers for Life.  I should tell you that the people at his dealership truly practice what they preach.  There is no hard sale, there is no trickery, there is no "let me go check with my manager" it is all about the customer.  I think the sales rep said this.  "my job is to help you make the best decision that you can for your needs and if that involves you buying a car from us then fantastic"  you might think it is just a "line" but so far  he seems to be doing just that. 

Great job!!