Living On The Edge
August 13, 2010 - Friday was fantastic. More than a thousand people filled up the halls of SMX Convention Center and attended the “Success Through Excellence” seminar. The speakers awed the audience with their presentations, the sponsors were happy and I was ecstatic. I was tired but I had a great feeling of fulfillment. “Love for country was the recurring theme.” And so I would like to thank the many who attended and the many who served and made it successful. The event was a risk. Filling up so many seats is no small feat. But this is what life is all about. Living on the edge and taking risks.
Larry Winget says it right. In his book “People Are Idiots and I Can Prove It!” he says that only the people who are on the edge are the ones who made history. Larry says: “In every area of life and business, the people on the edge are the ones who made history. No one who comes from the centrist position- that safe middle ground- ever really had much of an impact on society. It’s the people on the edge we all know and remember. Elvis and the Beatles: Musicians on the edge. Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali: artists on the edge. The United States of America would not exist if it weren’t for a handful of renegades. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were all edgy guys. Gandhi was on the edge.
Eat That Frog
Once upon a time, a beautiful, independent, self-assured princess happened upon a frog in a pond. The frog said to the princess, "I was once a handsome prince until an evil witch put a spell on me. One kiss from you and I will turn back into a prince and then we can marry, move into the castle with my mom where you can prepare my meals, clean my clothes, bear my children and forever feel lucky for doing so." That night, the princess had frog legs for dinner.
Have you ever seen a live frog? I don’t mean the kind you pin on a board in Biology class. What I mean is have you ever taken the time to look at it real up close? It’s so ugly isn’t it. Now it may remind you of somebody you know in the work place but that is not the point. The point of the live frog is that Zig Ziglar says, “If you need to wake up in the morning and eat a live frog, you wouldn’t want to look at that sucker for too long!”
Why Change is Hard
“Ah… change is hard and it’s not easy.” A famous line from the children’s movie that teaches adult lessons entitled: “The Lion King.”
Why is change hard? One would wonder.
Find Your Unique Why
A newsboy was standing on the corner with a stack of papers, yelling, "Read all about it. Fifty people swindled! Fifty people swindled!"
Curious, a man walked over, bought a paper, and checked the front page. What he saw was yesterday's paper.
The man said, "Hey, this is an old paper, where's the story about the big swindle?"
Products of the Past
A teacher arranged her young students into a circle. She then went around the circle and asked each one a question.
"Robert, what sound does a cow make?"
Your Past Will Come To Haunt You
Here are some thoughts to think about. People mouth clichés all the time. They use it even without thinking.
Today I will challenge you to think through what you say. So listen to this carefully.
Making the Most of Time
I meet with a small group of friends every Tuesday night. We would have dinner, discussion and fellowship and this group of mostly young business people wonder how I could juggle so many activities within the day. This became their topic. The insightful one among them Henry said, “That is because Francis has not only known the way to pack in activities within the day, he has found the rhythm to do it.”
That’s cute I thought to myself. I could be the next rap star. But Henry has a point here. Many people lose opportunity simply because they waste time. Money lost can be re-earned but time wasted is irredeemable.
Flipping Burgers and Rock Stars
Bernie just finished his training session at the local Hamburger Fast-food company. So he was a little nervous being behind the register for the first time. His first customer ordered a soda.“Bernie,” the manager said, "remember to say 'Welcome to our restaurant to each customer before they order."
His second customer ordered a Cheeseburger. This time, the manager approached Bernie again, and said, "Remember to ask each customer if they want fries with their order." Bernie at this point felt so uncomfortable having the manager come and correct him every time he serves a customer. At this point a man came in wearing a ski mask, approached Bernie at the register and pointed a gun in his face. "Give me all the money you got in that register kid! "Bernie took one look at his manager, thought to himself, and quickly said, "Would you like that for here or to go?"
The Coolest Guard
How important is your customer to you?
Being able to create a customer is great but retaining the customer is more important! Treat your customers right because your customers are important if you view them for their lifetime purchasing power. Stanley Marcus's father, the founder of Neiman-Marcus, gave Stanley some valuable advice early in his career. It was advice that later helped build Neiman-Marcus into a first-class store. A woman ruined a dress she had worn just once and wanted her money back. His father told him to give the woman her money back, and Stanley argued that they shouldn't do it since the woman had obviously abused the dress. Stanley continued to press his point since the manufacturer wasn't going to help pay for it. His father reminded him that the woman wasn't doing business with the manufacturer; she was doing business with Neiman's. His father told him that it didn't matter if it cost $200 to get a customer, and he didn't want to lose her over a $175 dress. He also told Stanley to refund the money with a smile. During the years, the woman spent over $500,000 at Neiman-Marcus. This is an old story and it works in the context of honest customers. And then of course the department store in this case caters to the very upscale market. The point however is that every effort should be made to not just create customer satisfaction but to create customer loyalty.
Giants Begin With Baby Steps
There are celebrity sales people who bring in tons and tons of sales and as a result they make tons and tons of money. They are the giants in the industry. And then there are those who would make a sale once in a while and then wonder, what is it with these people who continually rake in the sales and make the money?
Is it luck? But no one gets lucky all the time the way they do. Is it connection? Maybe. But how do I get myself to increase my own network too? There must be something behind it. And so the question pops out in your mind. “How do these people continue to make six or seven figures and here I am struggling month by month just to reach my quota and make ends meet?”