By John Carroll
Carroll on Work

Do you sense, as do many professionals I’ve spoken to, that 2007 holds many positive opportunities for you and your business? Do you feel that, with a few things dropping on the proper side of the fence, this could be your best year yet?

Rather than taking the chance on what may drop where, why not take steps right now to make this year your best sales year yet.

Here are three ways you can control the direction of your results and turn those Vegas odds on your success heavily in your favor:

1. Go against the grain. You know by now the value of differentiating yourself from the rest of the crowd, particularly in crowded markets. You should also realize that it’s rarely crowded in places where the small minority uses fact-based, behavioral psychology and marketing savvy to meet and exceed sales and bottom-line goals.

2. Go with the flow. Does this negate the first one? Not at all if you consider this in terms of moving in the direction and with the trends of your prospects and customers.

3. Go now! Your bias for action, your ability to take action and move will determine, more than any other indicator, where you’re likely to land at year end relative to your key targets.

You may have seen the advice, “Lead, follow or get out of the way.” In my observation, most of the population is in the follow mode. There’s safety in big numbers and, well, all these people can’t be wrong. Can they?

The answer, realistically, is that yes, all these people can be wrong or heading in the wrong direction. Millions of people eat fast food hamburgers several days each week, with fries and a soft drink. Does that mean they’re all making the right nutritional choice?

Earl Nightingale, the late, great commentator and motivator, advised his listeners to get a mentor and, if they couldn’t get a mentor, find out what everyone else is doing and do something else. He knew that even if hundreds of thousands of people chose to sell or advertise or grow their business using certain methods, that didn’t make those methods effective.

This is most evident in my experience with the copycat approach to performance incentive plans. A manager or owner will hear someone discuss his or her incentive plan and how effective it is. Taking good notes or asking for a copy of the written plan, this executive rushes back to the office or plant, gathers everyone and quickly initiates the identical plan within the organization.

What are the odds of success? While we can’t say for sure that it will or won’t work, the plan’s chances suffer due to potentially low buy-in, low understanding and low trust levels among those involved.

Another way of going against the grain this year is to not do anything whose only purpose is to raise awareness. When you sell your product or service, you want someone to buy. The soft drink and beer giants such as Coca Cola can afford to increase awareness. You and I must task our every effort with measurable outcomes that point directly to desired results.

Here’s a great way to march in a different direction. The next time you’re faced with dropping your price, try dropping your prospect instead. This doesn’t mean that you argue price, that you act disrespectfully or even that you get irritated, angry and emotional. It simply means that there are some who aren’t willing to pay your price, the price at which you can be profitable and at which you can provide proper service and support after the sale.

One time this year, sooner rather than later if possible, calmly and diplomatically tell your prospect that it has become apparent by the discussion that you’re unable to meet his or her combined needs of product/service and a price the prospect is willing to pay.

If you can, recommend another source where the prospect might find satisfaction and wish him or her success. Then simply walk away. You may find this to be one of the most liberating feelings you’ve experienced in business or sales and it will provide you with added time to find another prospect who values your proposition.

One more way to go against the grain is to slow down. More specifically, find times during your day and week to refuel and refresh properly.

We move so rapidly as a society that we bring on all sorts of illness and poor decision making by never slowing down. Remember that wisdom is defined as experience plus reflection. We all get plenty of experience each day. The time for reflecting on that experience seems to have all but disappeared for most people.

Get yourself at least 15 minutes of quiet time each day, perhaps for exercise or just sitting in silence. You’ll be glad you did.

John Carroll is a business consultant, speaker, author and president of Unlimited Performance Inc. in Mount Pleasant. E-mail him at jcarroll@uperform.com.

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