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SAVVY
SELLING - JULY
21, 2006
Keep
the Big Picture in Mind—and
Heart
By Michelle Nichols
EXECUTIVE
OVERVIEW
Six simple lessons for all working
parents to help balance selling
and family, learned the hard
way.
After her son died
suddenly, our Savvy Selling
columnist focused on working
smarter and playing harder with
her family
Savvy Selling
columnist Michelle Nichols with
her son, Mark,
who was claimed by brain cancer
July 20, 1998.
Have you ever thought about
the meaning of life? Or more
specifically, the meaning of
your life? Even though my column,
Savvy Selling, focuses on growing
your sales, I hope the meaning
of your life is bigger than
"making quota" or
"closing a whopper-sized
account." I got a wake-up
call to the meaning of my life
eight years ago.
I was happily married, the
mother of a son and a daughter,
and everything was great. Then
the doctors thought our son,
Mark, had the flu—and
11 days later, he died of brain
cancer. He was eight-and-a-half-years
old, and he didn't live to start
the fourth grade.
As the saying goes, "When
you lose, don't lose the lesson,
too." As many people can
attest, having a loved one pass
on suddenly is about a big a
loss as can be imagined. Here
are some lessons I've learned
since our son died.
1. Viva La Familia!
For me, the meaning of life
is to make the world as great
as possible for those we love,
our family. "Family"
can mean your spouse and/or
kids—or maybe your pet
hamster, your entire community,
or even all your fellow earthlings.
In our case, we adopted a toddler
from Texas three years after
Mark died. When people ask me
what kinds of kids I have, I
say "boys, girls, biological,
adopted, and deceased."
We also have dogs, frogs, and
a turtle. Wow!
One way to remember your family
is to hang a photo of them where
you can see it when you're working.
That might be next to your computer
monitor, on the wallpaper of
your cell phone, or the visor
of your car. For example, I
put a photo of my kids in a
beautiful, heart-shaped luggage
tag and hung it on my purse.
It reminds me and subtly tells
my customers of the importance
of my loved ones.
2. Work hard.
When you're working, focus on
how to sell more in fewer hours.
Any fool can sell more in a
longer period of time. When
you increase your sales per
hour, you earn the freedom to
go home earlier with more energy.
Two strategies to selling faster
are qualifying and upselling.
To qualify your customers better,
improve your questioning skills
so you waste less time with
folks who can't or won't buy
from you. That frees you up
to spend more time with folks
who are more likely to become
your customers in the near future.
Upselling is to sell additional
products or services when your
customers are already buying
something. It not only improves
your sales productivity, it
also creates a closer connection
to your customers. Now they
have more opportunities to experience
how great it is to do business
with you. To upsell better:
For every major product you
sell, make a plan with several
other offerings and your sales
will soar.
3. Play hard.
Just as you plan your work,
plan your family fun time too.
Schedule time to hang out with
them and do things together.
Don't just watch the same DVD
that you've seen 20 times—rent
a new one, or better yet, play
a game of chess, or go outside
and play catch. The goal is
to build an enormous reservoir
of memories. That way, no matter
what the future holds, you'll
have lots of experiences you
can look back on and laugh about.
4. Set limits.
Set clear time boundaries for
when you're not working. If
you have to, leave your business
cell phone, laptop, or PDA in
your car during your downtime.
In your phone's outbound message
or e-mail program's auto-responder,
assure callers that you will
handle all urgent messages first
thing when you return to work.
Then relax and enjoy your time
off.
5. Tell and show your
love. Don't keep your
love for your family a secret
in your head and heart. Why
not buy wonderful cards for
each member in your family today?
Then give or send them all in
the next 24 hours. Tell each
of them how terrific you think
they are and how important they
are to you. I guarantee you'll
both feel great.
The summer Mark died, he had
gone to a day camp run by schoolteachers.
They made every student keep
a daily journal. Each day, he
recorded what they did, what
he ate for lunch, and "I
miss Mom." After camp was
over, I teased him about this
sweet comment but he wasn't
embarrassed; he loved—and
missed—me. What a gift
he left behind.
6. Be outrageous.
Share your crazy, wacky side
with your family. Show them
there's more to you than bringing
home the bacon. Come home for
dinner in a gorilla suit, write
a family song, or whatever else
sounds fun to you. For example,
I recently took my kids to a
monster truck rally. My children
were really surprised because
we had never gone to anything
like this.
They were doubly amazed when
they saw how expensive the tickets
were because they know I am
normally pretty careful with
my funds. Once inside, I bought
each of us a pirate flag to
wave. We learned later that
it was the symbol of the meanest,
baddest monster truck, "The
Gravedigger." The whole
event was very loud and dusty—and
we laughed our heads off the
entire time. A priceless memory.
As I travel around and speak
to corporations and organizations
about how to sell more, towards
the end of my talk I usually
tell them about our loss of
Mark. My desire is that my ideas
help them increase their sales
and my story helps them to have
a more meaningful life. I hope
Savvy Selling does the same
for you. Happy selling!
Michelle Nichols is a
professional sales speaker and
consultant based in Reno, Nevada.
She welcomes your questions
and comments. You can visit
her web site at www.savvyselling.com
or contact her at michelle.nichols@savvyselling.com.
Her toll-free number is (877)
352-9684.
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