Commercial Truck Success

Words of Wisdom

How many times I have heard that phrase! Much of the time, I scoffed at it. That's why wisdom takes time--it's an aquired thing--a cumulative thing. I now can say that I have some. . . just some. It came from personal experience and from watching and, yes, listening to others. In this regular column, I will impart a bit of what I think has become wisdom to me and how it might benefit you . . . if you are open to it. If you find a good bit that you can use, go use it. If not, perhaps you can use it in the future. You never know when a good idea will change your life. I just love those. I call them plateau busters. They just move you right through because your thinking has changed. Of course, that is all there is: how you think about things, people, events, yourself, life. And in this, you get to choose and only you. As in the Raiders of the Lost Ark series, I don't want to be the one who it is said of, "he chose poorly." I have learned to learn from everyone and learn constantly. To me it is growth and life. Below is the most current edition and other editions will be added continually and saved under the page, Article Archives.

Plan "B"

You've most likely heard the phrase, "going to Plan B." It means your first plan, Plan A wasn't going according to plan, so you had to improvise and go to Plan B. This is a very common thing, but some people get quite upset when it has to be used. I was one of them. Something changed about 9 years ago that caused me to look at this differently. I'm not real clear on what it was exactly, but I think I just decided to stop getting upset about minor things. It has taken most of my life, but I don't swim upstream very far any more. I like going with the flow. It's peaceful and calm--and effortless! I've learned to go to Plan B as if it were just part of the flow of the river.

I used to play music and lead a group in church and choosing the right songs was my pleasure and responsibility. I would spend a lot of time in that area and then go to the church to play and something would change like a special singer not showing up, or an instrument now missing that was key to the song, etc. If you are playing Rock style music and the drummer doesn't show up, that is definitely a Plan B. This kind of thing happened so many times, that I started choosing the "A" list and the "B" list and carried alternates with me at all times. I got so good at going from Plan A to Plan B to Plan C that it was darn near seamless. In the beginning it was frustrating, but what is the point of that? It certainly doesn't help. What is, is. I just let go and started flowing with it. What a change! No big deal. So many times, Plan B became so good you would have thought it was a well rehearsed Plan A.

I started using that philosophy and attitude with my job and at home and it worked there just as well. Things that used to make me upset, no longer even seem like a bump in the road. Calmness prevails.

I use it talking to clients. A customer wants a loaded XLT Crew Cab 4x4 in Red with a dually Service body. Good luck finding that truck in the pool! But dealers will call me anyway to ask. I just go to Plan B immediately and suggest they look for a series of compromises that will do a similar job unless the customer is ready to wait for an order. A great compromise here is a similar model pickup where we can take the bed off and put the Service body on instead. Problem solved! There should be a number of those trucks available. Now I have Plan A, B, C, D ready and waiting in the wings. I want to close deals and this is the way to close more of them. Be prepared with your product knowledge on how to compromise to solve the customers problem and close the sale. Knowing what you need to know, means that in this case, you would immediately go to Plan B without spending even more than one question on Plan A and that question would be, "Are you willing to wait 10-15 weeks to get your truck?" If the answer is no, I'm on Plan B now and I've got Plan C and D waiting. There are quite a number of alternatives in this case. It just comes down to the customers desire, their willingness to be flexible to help solve their own problem. This is where the knowledge matters. I highly recommend knowing.

I have helped my clients close many, many deals with this knowledge and flexibility. I make these suggestions and listen. As I said, I don't swim upstream very far anymore. After I offer the suggestions and get arguments, I relax and let go and float back downstream. I recommend doing the same thing with your customer. Sometimes you want the deal so bad, that you lose perspective. You would be surprised to see what happens when you just relax and stop swimming upstream. The customer may not really want a solution meaning that they are not flexible. Okay. No big deal. If they really have a need, your Plan B, C, D will impress them that you know what you are doing. Selling is only hard when you are trying to sell someone who doesn't want to be sold. There's no fun in that, but your knowledge and intuition will help you determine what is needed and when. Develop the flexibility by developing the knowledge of your own product so you can know what Plan B is.

Plan B? No problem! Plan C? No problem! Knowledge is the key!

Leaders Are Readers

Wisdom taught me this a long time ago. I remember in my early twenties hearing that to be a life-long learner was the best advice. By and large, I have accepted that premise and found it to be of infinite benefit to me.

When I was in school, I didn't read more than necessary. It was not until I left school that I really started on my learning path. Getting into Auto Sales at the age of 22 with a manager who was a learner helped me so much! I got into sales in 1972 and back then it seemed very difficult to find books on sales. Now, there is a plethora of them to wade through. I remember going to the public library and looking in the card file (remember those?) for anything on sales. Luckily, I ran across one that has been powerful for me and I have given so many copies of it away over the years. It was a book by an Insurance salesman named Frank Bettger (Bet-Cher) and it was titled, "How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling." It is still a powerful book. In recent years I have a small online book business on eBay and I have secured several rare copies of Frank Bettger's books that are signed by him worth hundreds of dollars each. A little fun for me. If you have never read it, I highly recommend it. It is very easy to read and is especially good for a salesperson who is struggling in that new career.

The manager who hired me also had a number of motivational 33 1/3 record albums (this was before cassettes even). I remember listening and taking copious notes, then listening again and again. One was called "The Strangest Secret," by Earl Nightengale. Another was by the legend, J. Douglas Edwards, whose famous line is, "after asking a closing question, SHUT UP!" And, it was so powerfully presented on that record. And, I used it! And, it works like magic! Another, I remember (since 1972. . .) a guy talking about 1/4" drills and him saying that people don't want 1/4" drills, they want 1/4" holes. Now that might sound too simple, but if you really think about that whole thought and carry it further, it will become extremely powerful for you. Truly. Another I remember this anecdote: "There are only 3 jobs in life: 1. Filling the things that are empty. 2. Emptying the things that are full. and, 3. Scratching where it itches." I have used that since 1972. It is great and so true. I remember them talking about quality and how important that is. I remember different sales skills they were trying to teach that are with me today. One I always seem to keep in mind was a real estate person was showing a house, but prior to showing the house, they took the time to find out what was important to the clients. One little thing that was learned was that he liked trees. As the realtor was showing the house and the client was balking at the price a bit, the realtor pointed to the trees and said, "just look at all those trees. . . there's one, two, three, four. . ." That has always helped me to remember to remember what is important to the client and not me. It's always about that for successful salespeople: focusing on the client and their needs and desires. Forget about the commission or what you want because it doesn't matter. At the same time, it helped me remember to help keep the customer focused on what they want and not what they might be afraid of. Reminding them of their own desires can be very powerful and help you close many more sales.

I remember also the only record set that was about auto sales. I can't remember the name now, but I just loved listening to his voice and his messages. He was powerful. There are a number of things I remember from them. One I use in my training classes today and he called it "taking a lemon and making lemonade." How it was presented was this: a salesperson was delivering a new vehicle to a customer and going over the operation, manuals, etc. and in the process he looked down and noticed the car didn't have a heater (yes, that was an option back then) and he realized that the subject never came up, so the heater was never discussed. He also realized that if he didn't handle that right now, that there would be hell to pay if the customer got home and noticed it didn't have a heater. So, he tells the customer, "Mr. Customer, you know if you ever want a heater installed, I will get you a good price in our service department." The customer looks down, but because of the way it was handled, the customer realized that it had never been discussed, and he says "okay." You might imagine what would have happened otherwise. This is taking a lemon and making lemonade. I have used this concept in so many ways throughout my life. I use it in teaching Commercial Truck Sales now and it is powerful now as it was then.

I could go on. The point I want to make is that I took the time to learn from a record, a book, a tape, whatever. I retained a portion of it. I am sure there is so much that I cannot ever remember, but that is not important. It is what you do remember that is important. And, when you add one on top of the other again and again, you gain knowledge and wisdom. How cool is it to remember these specific things from 35 years ago. I'm not even discussing the hundreds of books, tapes, seminars, etc. that I have absorbed since then. A powerful idea will stay with you and if you use it, it continues to be fresh as if you learned it today.

At a much later time in my career, I was commuting 52 miles each way to work and made effective use of that time in what was my "university on wheels." I read 118 books on tape during that time and many of them more than once. I remember so many tidbits from those books. Here is one of the most powerful ones I remember that helps me help managers and dealers today. It is from the Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie. This is a very powerful book to read if you haven't already. Anyway, Andrew Carnegie was one of the largest producers of steel and one of the richest men on the planet around the turn of the last century. In his business growth at the early stages of steel production, there were numerous changes in design and improvement in technology of creating better, stronger steel. During the time he owned the steel business there were also very volatile and numerous economic recessions and expansions. Andrew Carnegie always set aside funds to take advantage of the recessions by investing that capital in improving his operations at a time when the business climate was poor. This gave him several advantages. One, he kept his people working. Two, He improved his capacity and even more importantly the quality of his expanding capacity and, three, he took full advantage of the bargains in the marketplace in the recession and when the recession turned back to expansion (as it ALWAYS does), he was in a perfect position to capitalize in a large way on the expanding business and his greater capacity to meet the demand and command premium pricing for a much improved and superior product. How brilliant! The more I thought about that after reading this several years ago, the more powerful the idea has become. How I use this concept now is that the slower time is the time to make even more investment in your people and procedures and your database and improving your business. When it is busy, busy, busy, there is no time, no time, no time to think of such things, let alone do them. It is a cyclical business. So go with it. Don't panic--Prepare! Don't worry--get Excited! There is always a way to take advantage! Build the foundation now while there is time and energy to do it well. When the lumber arrives, the structure will go up overnight! You will own the market because you planned and prepared and expanded your capacity to be more effective AND profitable. There is a future, it will be good, so let us prepare to take full advantage of its blessings right now.

Finally, the most recent learning has sort of brought me full circle but in an expanded way. I have come back to "The Strangest Secret" and "Acres of Diamonds" "How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling" and so many others that I learned from 35 years ago. It is all about thought. Thoughts are things. There is only one true thing that I can control. It is my thoughts. No one can think for me. I can learn from others, but no one else can think for me. How I think about things determines the results in my life. I have had plenty of time in my life where I have wandered away from this and saw the results. I am back with a vengeance. I am never going away again. I can control my destiny, my results simply by how I think. Here is a great quote I just read in his great book, "How To Have It All" by John Assaraf. It is powerful and simple and true as true can be: "Happiness is a personal choice and not the product of anything external. Material things don't have the power to make you happy. They can give you comfort and enjoyment, but not happiness. Instead, you must make the choice to be happy. You may not like some of the events or circumstances going on in your life, but the choice to be happy is yours. It comes from the inside, so you have complete power over it and can make this choice at any time." Of course, you can substitute the word thought for the word happiness. What got me back on track in such a powerful way was a book called "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne. It takes all those things I learned at age 22 and beyond and puts it all together into a package that makes it so easy to keep in my life. Very powerful book. It is also a DVD and my favorite is the audio book. In all my wisdom (or time), this book is a catalyst and it has been for many millions of people as well. It has changed me powerfully by showing me that the results I have been receiving in my life are totally and 100% my own fault. That's right. I created it. It didn't matter that I didn't fully know what I was doing, but I have learned to accept responsibility for it totally. I am in control. Which means that the only thing that I can really change is what I have control of, so I change my thinking, and I get different results. That is unquestionably the most powerful thing I have learned. Everyone makes use of it everyday, but most don't understand the cause of the effect. They look outside themselves for the answer when it is inside, not outside. Don't like the results? Only one thing will change them: change your thinking. Visualize a different result. Focus on it and always think positively toward it. When someone starts talking about how bad things are, etc., I change the subject. I don't want to hear that. I can't hear that. It's not true for me. I won't allow it to be. They can have all of it they want, but I want none of it. That is how to get what you want: focus on it. Focusing on what I don't want will only bring it closer to me. Don't want none of that. No sir! Outa here! There is nothing more powerful than knowing what to do to change your circumstances. Think about it!

So, would you like a Doctor who goes to school, gets his license and never studies his chosen field again? I know that I would prefer they study regularly and with great interest. In sales, there is a tendency to learn a few basic things, and study very little from then on. I predict it will show in the growth results. My words of wisdom is to accept the challenge to life-long learning. To study your field with the goal to be the best that is possible for you to be. It will not cost you, it will pay you--handsomely.