The Sales Buddha

Innovative Leadership

To members of the San Antonio Professional Coaches Association:

Innovative Leadership is not a new coaching program that someone has put together for coaches to utilize with their clients. It is a philosophy and activity that has been taking place within the San Antonio Professional Coaches Association for quite some time now. A brief definition might help one understand what the heck I’m talking about. To innovate is to “create something new”. Leadership, when used as a verb is “the act of leading” and when used as a noun refers to “those in a leadership role”. Your Board of Directors is providing just such Innovative Leadership, not only within SAPCA, but also within the ICF and the entire coaching community.

As your Chapter President, I have access to a Chapter Leaders Resource page that is part of the ICF website. It is a tool that all Chapter Presidents can use to distribute information amongst ICF Chapters. The best tools, projects, processes and helpful ideas are posted to assist chapters in the operations and growth. It is chocked full of ideas that have come from our Leadership over the years. Every time I view those pages I am reminded of all of the hard work and efforts our Leadership provides. I am truly blessed to follow in some pretty big footprints left by previous SAPCA Board members. That’s Innovative Leadership and it is not something new to SAPCA.

At last week’s ICF International Conference in St. Louis I was proud to attend a session with our new President-Elect Angela Woodrow. The session was titled “If You Can’t Make a Living, How Can You Make a Difference?” C.J. Hayden, author of Get Clients Now!, was the speaker for this session. The session and subsequent discussions were about how we, as coaches, could grow our businesses. We also talked about ways to promote the awareness of coaching in our local communities.

I was pleasantly surprised when I read in C.J.’s handouts about how SAPCA sponsors a Borders Books event every other month, She spoke about how it was a great collaboration that helped Borders Books sell books and helped SAPCA increase the awareness of coaching in San Antonio. I’ll tell you for sure, I sat up just a little bit taller in my seat after that! She then went on to talk about how “some ICF Chapters” have even hosted Regional Coaching events to promote education and networking within our coaching community. By now I was sitting tall and had a big grin on my face. I was very proud to be a SAPCA member! It only got better when Angela stood up and addressed the three hundred plus participants, explaining an idea that she would like to implement in our local San Antonio chapter. Now I’m not going to let the cat out of the bag, but there were lots of people taking notes on what she planned. That’s Innovative Leadership!

Friday night our innovative leadership was recognized at the ICF Leadership Dinner. Over a hundred Chapter and ICF leaders were present when awards of excellence were handed out. SAPCA had submitted an application for “Finding Our Voice”, an award that recognizes Chapter efforts to increase awareness of coaching based on the following criteria: Demonstration of Excellence; Contribution; Creativity; Chapter Participation; Developmental Stage of Chapter; and Completion of the Application Form. I am very pleased to say that Michele Henkle-Irelan, our incoming SAPCA President, graciously accepted this award on behalf of all members of the San Antonio Professional Coaches Association. Michele told me later that, “many Chapter leaders stood in line to ask her how we did “this and that” in San Antonio.” That’s innovative Leadership!

We have a new Board of Directors that will lead our chapter next year. I feel quite confident that we’ll continue to witness Innovative Leadership from them. We are always looking for innovative leaders to join this great team. I know there are many of you that can fill the role of innovative leader. I hear about the things you are doing in your business, your communities, in your schools and in your churches. Now is the time fir you to get involved in SAPCA leadership, step up and provide your own style of Innovative Leadership for all of us. We’ll all be better off for what you have to give us.

WHAT IS A BUDDHA?

"Enlightenment, for a wave in the ocean,
is the moment the wave realises it is water."
Thich Nhat Hanh

A Buddha is a person who has developed all positive qualities and eliminated all negative qualities. A Buddha was an "ordinary" human like you and me before he/she became enlightened. Enlightenment is compared to awakening, as a person suddenly expereinces a complete transformation of body and mind from sleeping to waking up.

A Buddha is different from "God" in the Christian-Judeo-Islamic sense in that he/she is not the creator of the universe, is not omnipotent (all-powerful), and the state of Buddhahood can be reached by every living being (although it may take many lives).

His Holiness the Dalai Lama from 'The Buddhism of Tibet'

The Birth Of A Coach

Yesterday I spoke with a colleague whose son is a very successful sales manager. He shared with me that they were talking about ways that his son could increase the productivity of his team. The son thought that he should be tougher on his people, that they did not fear him enough and didn’t perform to team expectations and goals. He was wondering how he could be tougher and more aggressive so that they could hit forecasted sales for the next quarter. The only real obstacle to doing all this was that it was not really in his nature to be the whip-cracking sales manager he thought he needed to be. As I listened to Dad tell about this conversation, I thought, “Oh my God, this guy is living my story!”

Years ago in a sales galaxy far, far away, I was that sales manager the son was striving to become. At six foot two inches and two hundred and eighty pounds I managed with my size and voice, intimidating all but the toughest and most confident members on my team. My team hit their numbers or they hit the road. I used to tell that that I would help them all I could, that I’d help them be successful or help them pack a box and leave. After all it was their choice. I was just there to help! My team hit record sales numbers month after month and I was promoted up the sales management food chain about every six months. My career path was taking off like a rocket. Senior management only focused on the results. They didn’t see the three hundred percent turnover, the resources wasted on recruiting and training new sales staff, the stress and increased sick days on the sales floor. They never looked at the stress it put on me or the sleepless nights I had tossing and turning trying to tell myself I wasn’t really a jerk, I was just doing my job! It didn’t work. I was a record-breaking jerk.

One day I stopped by the cubicle of my top producer, a million dollar President’s Club salesman. I was telling him he needed to “pick it up a bit” and I realized that he wasn’t listening to me. I “informed” him that he needed to listen to me when he told me I could either go away or go get him a box and help him pack. At that moment I made the best decision I have probably ever made. I shut up and walked back to my cube and hid. I had almost run off the best salesperson on my team. I left early to avoid him and spent most of the night hoping he would show up for work the next day. I went to work and waited for him to show up. I prayed that he did not come in carrying a box! Talk about stress, I’m lucky I didn’t have stroke. Then I realized what I was doing. How stupid could I be? Answer: Pretty darn stupid!

That morning was a turning point in my life and career. I had been “motivating by fear” to get my team to produce. My motto was, “The beatings will continue until morale improves!” That day I started looking for a better way to accomplish the same results, but through inspiration instead of intimidation. I found coaching to be the answer to my prayers, my sanity, my self-respect, my needs and my desire to not be a jerk. I owe much of my success from that day forward to that salesman who told me to go away. Thanks Barry.

What Does A Business Coach Do?

My number one priority as a Business Coach is coaching business owners and managers to focus on what is really important to improving their professional and personal lives. Driving Success. Balancing Life. How I do that, as a “Business Coach” is not well understood by many. Like all professional athletes, they use a coach to improve their performance for game day. In the business world, every day is game day. So here is a little information about coaching and how I work to assist those business owners and managers in preparing for “game day”.

Coaching is: inspiring an individual or team to produce a desired result through personalized teaching, expanding awareness and designing environments.

The definition above is concise and yet much broader and stronger than what has come before. Here is a brief explanation of the key elements of Coaching. Coaching is inspiring: Often coaches have been thought of as motivators, but understand that motivating and inspiring are distinctly different and that inspiring more accurately describes what great coaches do. Produce a desired result: People hire coaches for a lot of different reasons, almost all of which can be put into a category called "produce a desired result".  It is more compelling than accomplishing an outcome or reaching a goal. Personalized Teaching: Coaching has always had a fundamental teaching component and most people hire a coach because they believe the coach has knowledge and experience to share. Expanding awareness: Most coaches acknowledge that expanding awareness is an essential component of the work but they rarely state it concisely.  The truth is that awareness leads to power (not force) in almost any situation. Designing Environments: The major innovation for modern coaching is in environmental design. Inner work is not enough to change ones life in a sustainable way.  Designing environments to support and inspire is absolutely critical to creating success for my clients.

This is what coaching is to me. These are the items that I work with in helping my clients produce the desired results that assist them in Driving Success and Balancing Life. I look forward to helping many of you achieve your success and your balance in whatever ways you may define them.

Thanks for your reading today, good luck and great Coaching!

TWENTY-ONE RULES FOR A GREAT LIFE

I must admit right up front that I did not create this list. A friend who keeps my name on a mass-distribution e-mail list sent it to me. I usually have these messages go directly to my trash box, but this one slipped by my filters. I figured there must have been a reason! After reading it, the rules sounded like much better advice than I could offer today. So, here it is, read and enjoy!

1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

2.  Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.   

3.  Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

4.  When you say, "I love you," mean it.   

5.  When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.   

6.  Be engaged at least six months before you get married.   

7.  Believe in love at first sight.   

8.  Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much.   

9.  Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.   

10.  In disagreements, fight fairly. No name-calling.   

11.  Don't judge people by their relatives.   

12.  Talk slowly but think quickly.   

13.  When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?" 

14.  Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.   

15.  Say, "Bless you" when you hear someone sneeze. 

16.  When you lose, don't lose the lesson.   

17.  Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and responsibility for all your actions.   

18.  Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

19.  When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.   

20.  Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.   

21.  Spend some time alone.

Get Motivated, but caveat emptor!

I recently attended an outstanding day getting pumped up at the Get Motivated seminar in San Antonio. I expected it to be an event that shouldn’t be missed and took four other business associates with me. The speakers were an exceptional group that roused the stirrings of many past motivational events, Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy and Phil Town gave super speeches on the possibilities that lay ahead for all of us. Rudy Guilliani and Steve Forbes gave a couple of crowd-pleasing, wave the flag, pre-campaign speeches on economics and leadership. Jerry Lewis proved once again, why he is called the King of Comedy. All in all it was an inspirational event for all in attendance, especially for the Sales Buddha. I always enjoy hearing speakers remind me of the blessings of abundance that God bestows on us here in the good ‘ol USA.

There were however, a couple of things that happened in the weeks past that took a lot of the “shine” off that wonderful day. During the event, several promotional offers were made, a couple that we in our group took advantage off. Both required you to secure the deal with a credit card, “that wouldn’t be charged in advance.”  Well, after that line, you can guess what happened. A couple of us signed up for a seminar sponsored by Success Magazine’s Investor’s Toolbox. One of my guest’s cards was run prior to the seminar as a “pre-authorization”, which put a hold on funds available in her account. Not expecting the card to be run, as we were all told, she charged a couple of other things that put her account overdrawn. She spent a lot of time on the phone sorting this all out, I’m not sure she’s gotten it straightened out yet! Needless to say, she decided not to attend the seminar.

My wife and I attended the seminar a couple of weeks ago and were tremendously disappointed. We were expecting to learn about the Five-Step Investing process, but instead sat through an all day sales seminar on buying additional training to turn us into millionaires like our presenter. I knew we were in trouble when I walked in the seminar and there were no computers set up to teach us how to use their software we were being trained to use! The only straight answer I got during the day was when I asked him at lunch, “You’ve done a great job selling the sizzle, what’s the steak going to cost me?” A quick response of “five thousand to twenty three thousand dollars for your education” was at least an honest answer. I actually made a point to find him and thank him for the honesty before the afternoon session began. I know education cost money, but it didn’t cost twenty-three grand to figure this one out. So, I turned in my material, said “No thanks” and headed for the door.

The week following the workshop, I received a call informing me “they were having some problems running my credit card.” Go figure! Even after attending the workshop and turning my materials back in as required, they still tried to charge my credit card. The corker to the whole event, when I told my guest, whose card they had “pre-authorized”, about what happened to us, she informed me that they had also charged her card for a real-estate workshop she’d signed up for! That’s a double-whammy that was never expected. So, that’s why I added the caveat emptor to the title. It usually means, “buyer beware”, but in this case it means keep your wallet in your pocket and don’t believe what you’re told.

I really hope this was a rare occurrence and not a regular part of the way this group does business. I have much respect for all of the presenters, but little for what happened to my friends and myself. Credibility and integrity are crucial to success in life, as well as in business. It’s not an option to me. We were told our cards would not be charged and they were, plain and simple. If I tell you that, “A rooster can pull a freight train, you better hitch him up”. That’s credibility. With these guys all I got was “cock-a-doodle-do!”

High Tech vs. Low Tech Tools

I recently attended the American Society for Training & Development International Convention. It was a fabulous learning opportunity, with an incredible amount of high tech training tools on display in the Tradeshow Hall. As I walked the floor, I was amazed at the developments that have taken place in the training arena in recent years. With every booth that I passed, there was someone wanting to sit down with me and engage me in a conversation about his or her products and services.

As I wondered how I could use some of these tools in my coaching practice, a thought smacked me on my forehead. I already possess the three most important tools available to any coach today; a caring nature, a set of ears that work quite well and the ability to quickly establish a relationship!

The most common trait that I see in successful coaches today is a caring heart. Mine was developed over many years by watching how my Mom cared for my brothers and sister and me. She was a full time chauffer and fan who never missed one of my baseball or football games, church choir practice, school plays, parent-teacher meetings, scouting events, graduation ceremonies or anything else that was important to me. I don’t remember ever getting a lector about caring for others, but learned from her example.

The ears I got from my Dad, something that my wife noticed the other day looking at an old photo album of my Dad’s. Yep, I got his ears, eyes, chin and other features. But, the trait that I am most pleased to have received was his ability to listen. He put that trait to good use as an attorney, a State Representative and Senator and numerous other roles. Speaking to folks after his passing years ago, I realized his greatest role was that of friend to many people. The one common thing I’ve heard over and over was that Dad was “always there” when they needed someone to just listen to their problems and concerns. He always seemed able to do something to help them out. So, thanks for the ears Dad, I’ll try to continue to put them to good use.

Genetics again plays an important role in my ability to establish relationships. I got that trait from Mom’s dad, Ira Southard. He was a rice farmer who could sit down and talk with anyone from bank president to bank janitor, about anything from history to politics, anywhere he was. I believe that he did this because he saw himself as a part of the family of man. No one was better or worse than he was, all were equals in the same boat of life. I don’t think he ever met a stranger in his life.

A caring nature, a set of ears that work quite well and the ability to quickly establish a relationship are a blessing to me. The first two traits are essential to the success of the third. Building personal relationships is what coaching is all about to me. The more comfortable and stronger the relationship grows, the more effective are the results we can achieve together. This one-on-one equal relationship is fundamental to a successful coaching practice.

Aligning with your Ignitors

I was the middle child of five children and always did my own thing. My Mom swears if I’d been the first born, I’d have been an only child. For some unknown reason, I was always motivated to do some of the nuttiest stuff a kid could think of. When I’d head out the door, off on some crazy adventure I’d just told her about, she’d say, “Whatever lights your fuse, but be careful, you could be playing with dynamite.” Little did I know at the time that she was just demonstrating the God-given intuition that Moms have for identifying what we today call Ignitors. Ignitors are the things that “light your fuse” or “spin your fan” or cause you respond or react in some pre-programmed sort of way. It’s easy to understand that we’re all kind of hard-wired to respond to certain Ignitors. But, knowing exactly what they are is a little more challenging.

A blasting cap is an igniter for dynamite that can unleash the incredible power that lies within each stick. You can burn dynamite, soak it in water or bang it on the ground without releasing its power. To do that, it takes an igniter, a blasting cap, to activate its energy. But be careful, igniting that power can do extremely good things or really, really bad things.

I identified leadership as one of my Ignitors when I was about five years old. About ten of us kids would grab our Schwinn bikes, put on our yellow rain coats and become the Yellow Jackets. We’d stretch a rope across our street and stop people to make buy Kool-aid from us. Brilliant marketing if I don’t say so myself. It was my idea, I was boss and these were my boys. It felt great, until the policeman that day explained what extortion meant. It was my mom who first realigned my Ignitors with her own passionate beliefs! The fuse she lit that day did some serious damage at first, but eventually, did a lot of good for me.

As I grew up, without full awareness of what they were, I aligned my Ignitors with my own personal beliefs. I joined the Boy Scout and became an Eagle Scout. You know, trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. Those kinds of things, which I still value today.  I joined FFA and raised the grand champion steer. Lettered in football. Trained in Soo Bahk Do and today I’m a black belt in Karate. All of these were activities where my Ignitors fell into alignment with my personal beliefs.

The personal Ignitors that I identify with today still revolve around leadership, service, honesty, ethical behavior and being authentic. I try to involve myself with people, activities and organizations that are in alignment with my igniters. When I do, the time I spend in these pursuits are incredibly rewarding and empowering. When I do not, it is a recipe for disaster! Ask me to work with a two-faced, unethical leader and I rather fall on my sword and at least die with honor than have to deny my own personal values!

I believe that being in alignment with my Ignitors is what has caused me to serve on non-profit Boards as Finance Chair of the local Boy Scouts of America and on the Board of the Christian Women’s Job Corp and to serve as President of our local ICF Chapter. Now, I didn’t seek any of these roles out. They just kind of naturally came my way. Must have been my Ignitors kicking in. My Ignitors are why I do, and do not, associate with certain people. And, I refuse to change who I am, just to fit in with any special group or clique. The activities that I involve myself in must be in alignment with my Igniters. If they’re not, hey, it’s time for a change. But more than anything else, identifying my own personal igniters has helped me to understand why I am so happy and fulfilled by being a Coach.

I have several clients that are just sick of what they’re doing and don’t seem to know why. I think asking them to understand and identify some of their Ignitors can bring about some real eye-opening conversations. By simply realigning what they do with who they are, as identified by their Ignitors, they have the chance for some life changing transformations. There’s just no telling where our conversations might take them. But one things for sure, “whatever lights their fuse”, that’s good enough for me! Pssst…Anybody got a match?

Prioritize By Values

So you have way too much to do. You just can’t seem to keep up with everything that you’re asked to do. Your schedule is slam-full every day of the week and there are still things that need to get done. What can you do? Are people, like bosses, friends and family just asking way too much of your time? Or, do you just not know how to say No? Well, take heart, as a Coach, I hear this same scenario described to me on a fairly consistent basis. Welcome to the 21^st Century, where technology has outpaced our ability to add four or five more hours to each day. Something’s got to give!

That “something” should be “someone” and that someone should be you. You should give yourself a break from the rat race and allow yourself to take a deep breath…now exhale…relax… and realize that if there is going to be any change of pace in your race, it’s has to come from you. There are day planners, day runners, time planners and software that are all designed to help you manage your time, but you’re usually too darn busy to fill them out! So here is a simple three-step process that might help you out. You can do it over a couple of evenings when you can make a few minutes of “quite time” for yourself. If you can’t seem to do that, call me, and we’ll talk about that issue.

The first step is to sit down and put pen to paper. Make a list of your own personal values. The things that are really important to you. Let it flow and put down as many as you can think of. Think about things like health, family, spirit, integrity, honesty, and truth. Don’t go into detail; just get as many on paper as you can. After that is done, go to bed and do no more on this project. If you’re like most of my clients, you’ll wake up in the morning and add a few more values to your list. When that list is completed, look it over and pick your top three or four values. No more than that, four at the most. These four values will become very important to you as you move forward in life.

The second step is to sit down again with pen and paper, stay away from the word processor, and make a list of everything that you need to do, are asked to do, have to do, want to do; you catch my drift here? Make sure that you capture it all. Everything. Leave nothing out, no matter how small or trivial it may seem. When the list is complete, go to bed again and sleep on it. Once again who’ll probably wake up and add a few things you’ve left off the list. Two things come to thought at this point. Isn’t the sub-conscious mind incredibly powerful? And, isn’t that one heck of a monster To-Do list you’ve got there!

Here’s step three is the fun part. Use your list of top three or four values as a “litmus test” to judge everything else on your To-Do list. If an activity fills all of your values, do it! If an activity fills none of your values, don’t do it. Prioritize everything else in between. When you are engaging in activities that are in alignment with your core values, you will experience a remarkable fulfillment in doing those things. One of these keys to happiness is living a life of abundant fulfillment, not just one of satisfactory contentment. God wants that for all of us.

You deserve “more” of your time on this planet than just being content. People and jobs that make requests of your time in activities that do not bring you this level of fulfillment should be very closely scrutinized. It’s committing to doing all of those non-fulfilling activities that wears down our spirit, mind and body. When we are engaged in activities that fulfill our core values, a wonderful thing called INSPIRATION comes to visit our lives.

When YOU are living an inspired, fulfilled, values driven life, I’ll bet your To-Do list will look much different that the one you have today. I’ll bet your life will also look much different than it does today!

Sales Efforts Equals Sales Results

If you are ever concerned about what you are getting out of something, just look at what you’re putting into it. This is true in just about everything we do, like relationships, school and sports, but it really seems to apply to sales with most of my clients. It’s the same old story I keep hearing. “I’m really working hard, but don’t seem to be getting the results that I expected.” Well, the results you expected are a pretty good starting place for this discussion.

If you have a specific sales result you want to achieve, it is pretty easy to plot the actions and efforts necessary to achieve it. It is sort of like the “reverse engineering” that Compact did to create the IBM clone years ago. To do this, we need to define and list the steps in your sales process. You have to start with marketing to locate prospects, schedule appointments to determine needs, develop a solution, present your solution, ask for the sale, deliver promised goods and services and maintain a healthy relationship for future sales and referrals. If you define your expectations or results, then it is pretty easy to look at your effort metrics to indicate where the problems might be.

Years ago, I worked in outbound telesales. We cold-called prospects, thank goodness those days are gone, and offered a free trial of our product. There was a set of metrics that I called “the rule of halves” that proved pretty accurate as far as effort was concerned. If a sales person made fifty calls a day, they would talk to about five people who would accept the free offer. About half of them would show up for the offer and about half would express a need. About half of those folks would buy, so it looked like this. One hundred calls made yielded ten “suspects”, which gave us five prospects, giving us two and one-half proposals and hopefully, one sale. One sale out of one hundred calls is why I don’t cold call anymore, but it sure works out nice to make this point. Increase your effort at each step in the process and you’ll probably increase your results. Remember, sales efforts equal sales results!

So, if you’re not happy with what you are getting out of something, look at what your putting into it. Whether it’s sales or sports, Michael Jordan said it correctly, “I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don't do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results."