DEAL MAKING - FORTUNE FAVOURS THE READY

There is no such thing as luck. The “luckiest” people I know create their own luck. This is especially true in the art, like music and writing. As a book publisher, the best authors, speakers and executives I associate with are skilled in creating opportunities for themselves.

If business is built on relationships, then those relationships have to be handled with care from the start. Even in the early days of my career in corporate sales, I learned that deals are like dates: you can’t simply blurt out a proposal. It takes time and finesse.

Take for example an experience by Bryan Heathman, "Recently while on a ski trip to Utah. I watched as a daring young film producer scooped up opportunity like so much ice cream after a fine dinner. His bravado was all but shocking, yet it paid off for him.

I was invited by a filmmaker friend of mine to go on a ski trip this winter. He owns a residence at a beautiful mountaintop resort in Utah, and I hungrily agreed to go. He’d told me about it many times. I was looking forward to spending a week among the powder and aspens, getting some time away from my life of book publishing and deal making. You know, hitting the reset button with the feel of cold air on your face.

In spite of my eagerness to hit the slopes, the timing for the trip was less than ideal – I arrived during the middle of the Sundance Film Festival, the annual showcase where indie filmmakers get International exposure for their work. The town was overrun with 46,000 critics, celebrities and film producers.

If you’re like me, you enjoy film as much as the next person. But this trip was all about the epic Utah powder, not competition for space on the chair lifts or at the restaurants in Park City. I saw the festival as an obstacle, not a perk. Still, I suppose if you have to put up with inconvenience, it might as well be an incredibly glamorous inconvenience.

A car picked me up at the airport in style – a glossy black Escalade transported me to the ski lodge. As soon as I arrived, my skis were whisked away by an invisible staff member. I didn’t see my gear again until the next morning, when I found them waxed and ready at the base of the chair lift. It was truly a first class touch.

Later that day my friend gave me a tour of the slopes, where we skied through mountaintop neighborhoods with new construction that included private ski lodges worthy of an Austrian barony.

After skiing a bit too fast on the slopes (don’t tell anyone, but we actually got chewed-out in the lift line by a local for racing) we headed into the quaint town of Park City for dinner. We dined at a rustic restaurant, coincidentally owned by Robert Redford and filled with fellow adventurers from around the world.

Our restaurant reservations had to be made a month in advance, and when we finally arrived we couldn’t wait to sample their offering. The menu was inspired by wild fare you don’t typically find in many restaurants. After a study of the unique menu, I settled on a surprisingly tender elk steak with sautéed portabella.

As our waiter cleared the dinner plates, we finished off our Spanish Coffees and caught up about business and life generally. Except for the exotic game, it was a typical meal you could expect to enjoy in any upscale restaurant. But unlike most restaurants, the atmosphere was thick with expectation.

I was keenly aware that our dining conversation wasn’t private and that many ears were straining to hear the details we discussed. In spite of the lovely meal, it was a relief to get back out onto the street again, see the stars and breathe the crisp night air.

The local bars were jammed with movie stars and producers, and music from the nightclubs drifted through the streets. My crew of four ducked into an ice cream shop we’d found the year before, hoping to top off the meal with dessert.

It’s said that there is rarely a right time and place for striking a deal. The key is to take initiative. What happened next took this idea to a whole other level.

While we are sitting there in the ice cream parlor chatting it up over a waffle cone, a young couple approached us. I was thinking that back home in Washington, they might be asking for nightclub recommendations or maybe directions. This was far from what they had in mind.

The woman introduced herself as a Hollywood agent and the young man standing next to her as a film producer. He said hello courteously enough. Then without missing a beat, he launched into a pitch for his upcoming movie, plying the four of us for financiers attending Sundance.

He wasn’t just proposing on the first date – he hadn’t even asked for a date!

While I was sitting on my heels, amazed by this character’s audacity, the conversation took an interesting turn that I didn’t expect. To my surprise one of my friends was open to his pitch, always looking for the next opportunity. By the end of the conversation, we exchanged cards and agreed to stay in touch.

Time will tell if the brash young producer got lucky and his film will shine at next year’s Sundance.

In deal making, sometimes you need to size-up your opportunities and go to work, regardless of what others might think. Never underestimate the value of being prepared when opportunities come your way and making your own luck. Whether it’s a job promotion, fundraising, or a summary of your latest book, be prepared.

Fortune favors the ready!

THE PURPOSE OF YOUR BUSINESS

People often stumble over the question of their “purpose”
in life, but in business there can be no question. There is
absolutely no room for confusion on this issue. The purpose
of any business is precisely this: to serve a well-
satisfied customer.
Sure, you want to make a profit. Of course, you want to
serve your customer in ways that are convenient, satisfying
and (obviously) legal and moral. But the bottom line is
always the same, to serve a customer.
So the first and primary question for any business is: 
What exactly do you do for your customers?
Some restaurants provide meals that are fast or
inexpensive, some have particular ethnic or nutritional
styles, or are conveniently located. No restaurant can be
all things to all people, but every restaurant has one main
purpose. McDonald’s provides predictability and speed. The
Four Seasons provides elegance and memories. Ruth’s Chris
provides fancy steaks. Dominoes delivers pizza right to
your door.
Recently in North America, we can see this is the cell
phone industry. AT&T emphasizes "more bars" and fewer
dropped calls. That’s how they intend to serve their
customers and distinguish themselves from other providers.
Verizon, on the other hand, has emphasized their "network"
and service.
Your business has only one primary purpose. When you are
clear about that, and clearly communicate it in every
message you send, your business is likely to grow.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MENTAL FITNESS IN SELLING

Did you know that the development of a positive mental attitude is the indispensable requirement for achieving great success in your field?

Everyone knows that selling is hard work. In fact, it is one of the most difficult jobs in our economy. As a salesperson, you face continual rejection, potential failure, persistent disappointment, setbacks, obstacles and difficulties not experienced by most people. Selling is not easy and it has never been easy. Will it ever be easy? No, it will always be varying degrees of difficult, from hard to very hard, to very, very hard. And to be successful in selling you must be tough, as well.

Your Attitude Makes the Difference

In selling, your attitude is probably eighty percent of your success. Your attitude is the outward expression of everything that you are, and everything that you have become over the course of your lifetime. Your attitude has the greatest single impact on the people that you deal with. The development of a positive mental attitude is the indispensable requirement for great success in your field.

Learn to Bounce Back

Psychologists have defined the "hardy personality" as the type of personality that is most suited to the rigors of the modern business world. The hardy personality, the personality you need to develop, is resilient, optimistic, tough, strong, and capable of bouncing back continually from temporary disappointments and defeats.

Respond Constructively to Stress

A positive mental attitude is a constructive response to stress. It is a solution-oriented, objective approach to difficulties that you face every single day. A positive mental attitude is expressed as a general optimism toward life and the inevitable challenges of earning a living. A positive mental attitude is the most outwardly identifiable quality of a winning human being, and it is the characteristic most closely identified with success in selling of all kinds.

Practice Mental Fitness Every Day

To become and remain physically fit, you must engage continuously in physical exercise. To become mentally fit, to develop the kind of attitude that leads on to success and happiness, you must engage in continuous mental exercise. It is a never ending process. Just as you do not achieve physical fitness and then discontinue physical exercise, you can not achieve mental fitness without working on it regularly, every day, like breathing in and breathing out.

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, decide in advance that, from now on, you are going to respond in a positive and constructive way to each and every stress situation in your life. Be tough!

Second, practice mental fitness every day by forcing yourself to remain cheerful and optimistic in the face of difficulties and disappointments.

Remember, you can do it if you decide to!

MAKING MONEY, CREATING WEALTH

This week, I heard some interesting statistics on Public
Television. A few years ago Japan suffered through a deep
recession for almost 10 straight years, while America had
relative boom times. During those ten years, the following
occurred:
Japanese citizens saved 27% of their income; Americans
saved essentially nothing.
The average Japanese family has a net worth of $177,000;
the average American family has a net worth of less than
$3000.
The average American family has almost $12,000 in consumer
debt -- in other words, many of us actually have a negative
net worth!
We make more money than any other nation on earth; and we
spend about 103% of what we make. This makes no sense!
The key to creating wealth is NOT simply in making more
money. The key is understanding how money works, saving a
bit every month, and using compound interest to your
advantage. This is not complicated. It is not very exciting
or difficult, but we seem unable (or unwilling) to do it.
Read a few good books on how money works. Find tools and
resources that can help you. Spend a bit less than you make
and invest the difference. You'll be glad you did!

UNSUNG HEROES THAT MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE

This week I read a book about America's code-breakers
during WW II. Most people know about Alan Turing and the
heroes at Bletchley Park who broke the German "Enigma"
codes (referred to as "Ultra") in England during the war.
And many know that our State Department could read the
Japanese diplomatic codes ("Purple") even before Pearl
Harbor. But as far as I can tell, very few people know the
story of America's work on the Enigma codes.
Based in Dayton, Ohio and with the support of the old
National Cash Register company, a man named Joe Desch
assembled a team of engineers and mathematicians who
labored day and night to build crude mechanical "computers"
to break the German codes. (See Jim De Brosse and Colin
Burke: "The Secret in Building 26".)
It's an amazing story of hundreds of people laboring in
total secrecy to do vital work that dramatically shortened
the war. What they achieved is astonishing, and laid the
foundation for the computer you use every day. After the
war, Desch was honored with the highest medal America can
give a civilian, but the ceremony was held in secret and
even his daughter never knew what the medal in her father's
office signified or why he received it.
Desch was an extreme example of an everyday reality: Our
world is full of unsung heroes.
I've often noted that "we all stand on the shoulders of
those who went before us." We can read and write because
someone taught us. We drive cars we could never build on
our own. We take the internet and  our phones for granted,
even though we have no clue how they work or who invented
them. We have ambitions, values, skills and abilities
because someone, somewhere, taught us. They loved us enough
to show us "how" and to release the potential they knew was
in us.
How often do we thank them? Or even think of them?
We are surrounded by heroes who will never receive medals
or awards, or even a thank-you card from the individuals
they touched in profound ways.
Most of the time, I work with talented, brilliant people
who are focused on doing and achieving and having "more."
We look to the future with great expectations. We are eager
to get there faster, easier and more dramatically. And that
is how it should be. The future is where we will spend the
rest of our lives and naturally we are curious to make the
most of it.
But this week, I urge you to look back and take a moment to
think about the heroes in your life. Who were the teachers
who made all the difference? Who gave you your first job,
or encouraged you in just the right way, at a critical
moment? Think of the parents, coaches, neighbors and even
the strangers who have been your role models. And, at the
very least, give a prayer of thanks for them. If
appropriate, perhaps call them up or send a note to let
them know that for you, at some point in your life, they
made all the difference.
Philip Humbert said, "For me, one of those people was Miss King. She's long-since
passed away. When I was a high school sophomore, she was
elderly, and pretty much hated and ridiculed by generations
of students. She was what we called an "old bitty" back
then. Every Friday, she made us write a 300 word essay on a
topic of our choice! Imagine the horror! She made us
diagram sentences, read poetry and Shakespeare. She
corrected spelling and punctuation. Of all the petty, mean-
spirited things to do to a bunch of know-it-all teenagers!
She taught us to write. She changed my life and opened
doors I've been exploring ever since. The skills she
painfully taught have made me money, brought me friends,
given me the chance for education beyond my dreams. She
changed my life and I never thanked her.
Our lives are surrounded by people like Miss King. They
sometimes annoy or frustrate us. They insist we can do
better when that's the last thing on our minds. They open
doors and change our lives. And we should find ways to
thank them".
I often wonder if I've passed on enough of what she did for
me. Have I encouraged or taught or supported anyone the way
she did me? I hope so.
This week, I encourage you to focus on the unsung heroes in
your life. Thank them. And, consider the people and the
ways you can "pay it forward" by helping someone else. Very
few of us will have the impact or make a difference the
size of Joe Desch, but in our own ways and in our own
corner of this world, we have a role to play. Pass it on.