by Mike Davidson, BizBuilder Networking Groups.
The SpringTides ActionStorm Business Summit to be held June 4th, 2011 at the Hilton Convention Center in SeaTac is offering to have Corporate Trainers come and deliver very powerful training, at no charge and no obligation, to companies or groups of 10 or more.
“Some people get an education without going to college. The rest get it after they get out.” ~ Mark Twain
That is a funny statement, but it really is almost true. I wish I had gone to University, sometimes, instead of going into the US Navy. But I remind myself that I probably was in a better place to learn the things I needed to learn there instead of the ivory halls of academia. In the future I may end up in a classroom to learn some special skills that I might want to either know for the sake of knowing or that will increase my value in the marketplace and therefore get me paid more (because that’s how it really works) a la Jim Rohn, who said, “We don’t get paid by the hour, we really get paid for the VALUE that we bring to the hour.” and, “If you want to be paid more, bring more value!”
I tell this story in my book Your Ultimate Sales Force: I was a good communicator in the estimation of many of my friends and co-workers as a young man, fresh out of the Navy. At my first sales job, I was told, “You’ll be great at it; you are a talker.” I love to have good conversations, even debates. But after lowering myself (in my mind), to take a sales position and not knowing what I was doing, I found myself paying my Visa with my MasterCard and buying groceries with my Discover Card after 6 months of making it up as I went was not enough.
One day I walked into the office after striking out again. I must have had a desperate look on my face or a slouch in my walk, because my office-mate Steve, a long-time sales leader said, “You know, Mike, there is a method to sales, like everything else. You need to study up and learn how to do it instead of trying to make it up as you go.” I might have heard that there was a method prior to that, but at that moment of discouragement and failure, I was ready to hear, and I heard.
Over the next 6 months I began to study, listen and read. I found myself closing sales and collecting commissions. I began to tune in to the fact that everything is a process, and just like baking a cake with a recipe or building a house with a blueprint, sales has a method. Over the next few years I began to internalize sales knowledge; it became more natural to me to go through the process of sales with clients and they became more confident in their purchases.
I began to read. I read everything from Anthony Robbins to Zig Ziglar. I read anything I could get my hands on in between. From their work I found some of my favorite quotes:
Tom Hopkins – “You are your greatest asset. Put your time, effort and money into training, grooming, and encouraging your greatest asset.”
Brian Tracy -“Almost all top sales-people have their own collection of sales books.”
Zig Ziglar – “You can have everything in life you want if you help enough other people get what they want in life.”
Along with closing more sales, I began to teach others in my company. I felt proud and happy to help the struggling salespeople around me to gain confidence and commissions, all the while developing my philosophy of “Making a Living Making Friends.”
Now I do sales coaching and training and I still pick up the phone, set appointments, make presentations and close deals as a “Sales Mercenary.” I am the sales force for my own companies and for others as well. All because of self study.
Getting some education is critical, and college is a great place to take specialized classes. It is a great example of what Napoleon Hill was talking about in Think and Grow Rich when he said, “Know how to purchase information.” In many careers, a degree is required and therefore non-negotiable.
But I (and possibly, you) might not need to walk onto campus again in my life. Here’s why:
College might not pay off, for one thing. There’s a video on my blog that my friend Hugh Benjamin posted on Facebook by John Stossel that explains that idea in full. See www.SpringTidesCorp.com
And for another thing, I can save sooooo much time by the following method
- Identify what I need to know next and why
- Get a book from http://www.allbookstores.com about it sent to my home or from the internet or from the used bookstore or from a new bookstore or from borrowing from a friend or the library (there is no excuse for not getting a book).
- Thinking about what I learned.
- Observing some humans and what they do/know about it. Google it.
- Ask more questions from the right people.
- Talk about it with my advisers and mentors.
- Take advantage at every opportunity to learn. Learn your lessons from everything you do, because the trials, the costs, the experiences are a form of Tuition.
- Get FREE education that is available. There are a lot of free seminars. Many of them are sales opportunities put on by companies, but don’t be afraid. I only will make a purchase if you understand and agree to the value, right? Let them deliver free education in exchange for the opportunity to show you the value. Let them pay it forward.
At my company, We believe that the economy is going to get stronger at the local level and at the individual level rapidly for those that are prepared for it now. If we are wrong, then the skills and training that we are offering in good faith is going to be just as important, so we decided to take action. Whatever your company’s belief or situation, most will agree that the more you know about business and sales and networking, in good times or challenging times, the better.
SpringTides is offering to have Corporate Trainer come and deliver very powerful training, at no charge and no obligation, to companies or groups of 10 or more. They will be having our trainers working in Puget Sound during March, April and May while promoting the ActionStorm Event scheduled for those areas. Our trainers and coaches meet with business groups to Impart Skills that will increase Revenue and Opportunity to you and your sales staff IMMEDIATELY if action steps are taken. Our brilliant, motivated and expert trainers will deliver 30 to 40 minutes of extremely valuable, applicable techniques that can be implemented by everyone on your staff which will result in more profit in less time!
The event that we are promoting is called the SpringTides ActionStorm Business Summit which will be held June 4th, 2011 at the Hilton Convention Center in SeaTac across from the airport. We are projecting 1,000 attendees, 30 vendors and multiple corporate sponsors. Ticket prices will vary, but the trainings we offer are with no obligation whatsoever.
We are out to accomplish our mission. The money will follow. Topics that we are offering include How to Build and Unstoppable Referral Machine, How to CLOSE and COLLECT business, Master the Sales Process, How to Hit Your Goals, Delighting Your Network and will also customize the 30-40 minute talk to your companies most urgent business need.
Our stated mission is “To Increase the Value and Opportunity of Sales and Business People Worldwide.We are the parent company of BizBuilder Networking Groups and offer various other business products and services. More information can be found at www.SpringTidesCorp.com
Interested groups and companies should call SpringTides Corp at (253)353-2493 or email [email protected] “
In summary, if I could give anyone 1 lesson, one philosophy it would be this: LEARNERS ARE EARNERS! Take charge of your education, or someone else will (they have in the past, they’ll keep it up if you let ‘em).
Mike Davidson is the Founder and CEO SpringTides Corporation, parent company of BizBuilder Networking Groups. He has extensive experience as a Salesman, Organizer, Trainer, Recruiter and Manager. He served 5 years with the Navy SeaBees as a Military Combat Skills Instructor, continued in the construction industry for a time before breaking into the world of sales and small business, starting & growing businesses ever since. Mike is active in his church, Keyport Bible, and he enjoys traveling, literature and sailing the Puget Sound with his family, wife Melissa, sons Michael and Matt, and daughter Melody.
Davidson has toured the country for the last 36 months, promoting his book, training sales people and sales leaders and actually sitting with customers on behalf of sales organizations. He has been in over 200 cities in that time. Hence the focus on the Puget Sound. ” We will actually be doing these events all over the West, but the travel schedule will be much more focused and sustainable. We just have to pay it forward now,” said Mr. Davidson
