During the past three years, I’ve learned that grandchildren
are the primary reason that most of us lead long lives. I don’t have any scientific evidence
confirming my conclusion. But I know I’m
going to live as long as I possibly can so that I can fully enjoy my
grandchildren. Reading a bedtime story,
celebrating a third birthday, going to the beach together, being on the
receiving end of the most beautiful smile in the world, or receiving a hug from
tiny arms with love from 100% of their little hearts, provides all the reasons
we need to live on and on. And yes, it
is true that you can send grandchildren home at the end of a day or the end of
a vacation, but now I’m wondering why you would even want to?
In his recently published book, The Trust Edge, Dave Horsager cites a study by Forum Corporation as
evidence of the importance of trust in business. Using hundreds of salespeople from eleven
companies in five different industries, Forum Corporation’s investigators found
that the unique trait of top producers was honesty – not charisma, ability or
knowledge. Would you have said “honesty”
was the key trait of top salespeople?
When we trust people, we are optimistic that they are
competent to do what we trust them to do, and they are committed to doing
it. They will be totally honest with a
customer even when it is difficult or potentially costly. Their reputations are more important than any
deal. Horsager believes that this “Trust
Edge is the competitive advantage gained when others confidently believe in
you!” That’s a pretty simple and natural
way to gain a competitive edge for most sales people. Try it.
A father called his son to wish him a happy 60th birthday. As they were talking, the son said, “Dad, you
know I’m 60 years old today, but I really don’t feel that old. How do you know when you are really
old?” The father responded, “Son, you
know you are really old when you call your son to wish him a “happy birthday”
on his 60th birthday!” Enough said on
that subject.
In 2007, I told my surgeon, Dr. Borden, that he could do
whatever he needed to in treating my severe case of prostate cancer because I
was planning on living until at least the age of 85. And that if I didn’t make it, I was going to
be really upset with him. After surgery
to remove the cancerous prostate gland, and recovery, followed by seven-and-a-half
weeks of almost daily radiation treatment on the surrounding tissues and lymph
nodes, I began every cancer survivor’s journey – the journey to keep living. First monthly, then quarterly and finally
every six months, I had my PSA test and then my visit to the surgeon, always
hopeful, but never really knowing what he would report to me. A few days ago, I had my last bi-annual visit
in the fifth year after surgery. And the
message was that the PSA (and cancer), as it had over the past five years of
visits, remained un-measurable.
Now my visits become annual.
Dr. Borden suggested that after five years of being cancer-free, it was
time to celebrate. I believe I will!
There’s nothing I like better than business competition,
because competition has made me and my company better over the years. We like to always be proactive in offering
better or more innovative service than our competition. And then when the competition finally catches
up with us and offers the same, we’ve already moved on to something even
better, more innovative or more appreciated by our customers.
Many competitors can’t compete on quality or innovative
service, so they do the only thing they know how to do: cut selling
prices. How do we compete against price
cutters? Want to know my secret? I can sum it up in one word: patience. I bet you weren’t expecting that! Most of our price-cutting competition have
disappeared and been “long-gone.” Make
sure your business remains profitable and your customers are delighted with
your service. And I guarantee your
business will always survive your price-cutting competition’s business.
There is an old saying in Africa that goes like this: Every
morning a gazelle gets up and knows that it must out-run the fastest lion or it
will get eaten. And every morning, a lion gets up and knows that it must
out-run the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.
So, whether you are a gazelle or a lion, every morning when
you get up, never forget you'd better be running.
