"He didn’t just blanket the market with a bunch of form letters. He researched and targeted. He wrote a brilliant, personalized and attention-grabbing letter. And it worked. Strategic chutzpah."
Good Morning Folks,
We had a busy work weekend and thanks to many for those efforts.
My sales team has probably heard it enough from me though it's something in sales you can't stress enough: "We must propose. You must increase your outbound work through your personal database. Direct mail and more. You MUST create urgency in your prospecting and you MUST increase your overall volumes. Don't fool yourself with busy work. You have to pick up the phone and talk to somebody in order to get results."
Which leads me to a Steve Jobs story I was reading on A.J. Jacob's LinkedIN:
In a 1994 interview, Steve Jobs told a story about when he was in high school and, one day, just called up Silicon Valley legend Bill Hewlett (of Hewlett-Packard). “His number was still in the phone book," said Jobs. "He answered the phone himself.”
Jobs asked Hewlett if he had any spare parts for a frequency counter. Hewlett not only gave him the parts, but gave him a summer job at the factory.
“Most people never pick up the phone and call,” said Jobs. “And that’s what separates sometimes the people that do things from the people that just dream about them.”
I’m no Bill Hewlett, but the best hire of my career was someone with Steve-Jobs-like chutzpah. I call it “strategic chutzpah.” And I think it’s one of the best indicators of whether an employee will be a blazing success or a profound dud. (For those who aren’t familiar with Yiddish, chutzpah is sort of related to the Spanish concept of "cojones," but without the anatomical connotations).
It takes courage and confidence to pick up the telephone and succinctly request what you need and want. This is why the combination experience of start ups and large business are important. With the small business you learn discipline, the value of team and hands on and with big business you recognize everyone puts their pants on pretty much the same way so you make that call as an equal. You put forward your value proposition and more often than not you will get a positive response.
I have noticed that asking often leads to success. It's just like winning the lottery. You can't win, if you don't play. You don't get, if you don't ask.
It's your time. Don't let it pass you by. To my sales team: Find us folks and get referrals. Find deals in sales and you get paid. What else can you ask for?
Good luck folks and let's make it happen. Stay in touch. Mitch. Good morning. :-)
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