The presenter/trainer/speaker/expert was a gentleman with lots of letters after his name (this included BS which is funny, ha ha BS, but also strange since nobody brags about their Bachelor’s degree, since if you have a Masters – he did, you already have a BA or BS, and to top it off the guy was also an MD).

He was from the esteemed state of Mississippi.

Now, I have many readers from MS, most likely in the thousands and probably all quite successful. But it’s sad to report that the kids from this state are a bit behind the curve in academic performance. So I replied to my SPAM of the week sender…

Penny, I’m curious. I don’t know why you sent this to me, or where you got my name.

Why would someone attend this?

Business pros, this begs the question, WHO ARE YOU GETTING YOUR ADVICE, YOUR EDUCATION FROM?

Is it your unemployed brother-in-law (“Hey, we should take a month off and compete in The Amazing Race)?

The guy at the dog track in Tucson (“greyhounds with brown splotches are fastest”)?

Someone who’s reputation and pedigree are questionable at best?

This lesson is similar to the advice of buying the best car, computer, clothes and more.

Great products and great education last longer and others will notice the difference in your appearance and brainpower.

So that’s your mini-course for the day, Effective Strategies for Career Behavior Management.

And that’s all from my favorite SPAM of the week. See, optimistic people can find value in almost everything.

More brief, humorous, insightful articles at http://salesautopsy.com/articles_media.html

http://www.privateclubs.com/article.php?name=leadingthetroops/

I highly recommend anything he creates including his Strategic Acceleration book and previous mega-bestselling Life is a Series of Presentations.

Wedding Ring

I pulled my wedding band off my finger and showed it to her – a ring of triangles, alternatively facing up and down as you see in the image.

The bottom points of the triangle represent me and my Princess Bride Wendy. The highest point represents God. ∆

My job, our job, is to WORK ON OURSELVES FIRST, to do what we need to do in order to get closer to God. In doing so, we end up closer to each other. We have then brought to our partner the best possible person we have to offer. That’s a great alliance of love and smarts.

This concept of Selective Selfishness works anywhere you are determined to improve your performance.

It applies to your business life: How are the influence skills you bring to the table?

It applies to your personal life: How well do you offer a better person to your friends and family?

Selective Selfishness – what do you need to work on? You alone are responsible for you success, your growth, your wisdom and knowledge.

Let’s get Selectively Selfish in 2010!

We’re calling on a major retailer during the holiday season.

We includes my trainee (whom I’m supposed to coach to be a super sales rep like me) and me, a super sales rep.

The headquarters store is huge, the company’s pride and joy. It’s decorated from top to bottom. Christmas trees sit on every floor, as do displays of Chanukah candles. Running on invisible fishing line down the length of each aisle are hundreds of spectacular glass ornaments.

In contrast to the anxious shoppers, my buddy and I are lighthearted. There’s a good chance we’ll be landing this company as a client. And if we don’t, holiday bonuses are coming our way anyway.

So it was with the joy of a school kid on Christmas break that I picked up a football and waved my trainee down the main aisle of the store. He jogged past shoppers, around some small displays and raised his hand signaling the fact that he was as open for business as the mega store.

I launched the ball toward my receiver.

Its arc took it toward an unseen wire and struck the slender obstacle, falling to the floor.

I watched in horror as the wire swung upward. It reached its peak and fell, 100 beautiful, delicate ornaments unhooking themselves, hovering momentarily in mid-air, then dropping to the ground.

Popping, shattering, tinkling – glass scattered down that aisle, showering shoppers and merchandise.

There was nowhere to hide. And nowhere to sell. The President of the company was on the floor, having come down to meet us. His only comment was (sternly), “Gentleman, call us after the season.” Of course they never returned another call.

POSTMORTEM: Edwin – Happy Holidays! Great visuals and sounds to the story. Question for Edwin & salespeople reading this; if you could play any sport in the world, then pick a teammate, who would you pick? I’ll bet nobody’s answer includes some 3rd grader who trips over shoelaces he or she could barely tie. What do you think your prospects would answer? Right, regardless of the sport, they’d pick the top pro out there. They want the same quality in vendors, the best pros out there. So act like a pro start to finish. And your sales call could end with the gift of a sale.