Eating Earth, part III

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TIPS: Climbing Up, Camping Out or Quitting?

Third and final installment on Bike Riding and Summer Selling: Reflections on my 400-mile ride across Iowa (www.Ragbrai.com). The bike tour was Not Only a success, it also confirmed my belief that the best match for endurance cycling training is a satisfying performance consulting career with Leader Trends Inc.

Riding Lesson #1 Four or five consecutive days of cycling can be just as effective as riding the whole 7-day tour. Truth: We can find strength in the freedom of the open road and don't have to eat gravel to prove it!

SELLING TIP #1 In sales management, you don’t need to accept every appointment nor attend every meeting to get the job done. Discerning the best use of your time may be more prudent in the long run.

Lesson #2 Being independent does not mean you have to sleep on the ground every night. (By day three of riding, my camping gear was practically mildewing in the humidity. And my sleep total was 5 hours!)

TIP #2 In organizing your daily call plan, think twice about keeping your appointment with a prospect who has a bad habit of rescheduling at the last minute. Change it up or insist on an upfront agreement, instead.

Lesson #3 Always accept an invitation when an honest, hard-working Midwestern family offers you shelter in a “Barn and Breakfast”. Here’s the Picture... Watching an Iowa sunset on their back porch, hanging my wet tent out to dry on a fence line, and sleeping comfortably on a downy bed in the barn loft.

TIP #3 With sales quotas to fill and customer deadlines to meet, it may seem like there’s never a good time to take a break from work. But taking time out for 'R&R in a B&B' might just be the perfect tonic to get you focused for the finish line!

Lesson #4 Like a '60's Simon and Garfunkel song, I went looking for "America" in summertime, and found it in the helping hands and warm hearts of my Iowa host state's kinfolks.

TIP #4 Look for role models when you set your yearly goals. You may find them in the most unexpected places. Don’t be surprised if your ‘best year’ isn’t just on the scoreboard, but the one in which you sought, found and offered others some inspiration.

BONUS TIP Developing a rock-solid sales repertoire is like building muscle memory. For as long as I have been self-employed, I’ve closed a majority of contracts in the months of August and December. Why?

Two Reasons: 1) I’ve been told it can’t be done and 2) I like to stay busy when everyone else is at rest.

Book recommendation: Adversity Quotient: Turning Obstacles into Opportunities by Paul Stoltz.