Advance and Conquer

Now, the last school of thought: The advance-and-conquer response, and the one I promote as the only correct response for you to take. I encourage you to first embrace the idea that the market is different and has indeed changed and acknowl- edge that it will be more challenging (but by no means impos- sible) to sell your products and services, grow your business, or even keep a job. Know that it will require a completely unique sense of energy, work ethic, mind-set, and actions.

An economic slowdown is obviously an obstacle for both businesses and individuals but I will also show you that it is an opportunity for you. Starting a new company from scratch with just a little bit of money is very similar to going from a great economy to a very difficult one. You don?t have credit, you don?t have money, customers are hard to come by, and no one wants to see you. It?s tougft. The difference, however, with a major economic change is that it isn?t just ftappening to you. Everyone?s finances are affected, confi- dence is challenged, selling becomes more difficult, credit is tighter, and fewer opportunities exist. You?re apt to be surrounded by negative people, complainers, crybabies, and excuse makers who have bad ideas and unworkable solu- tions. However?as I?ve stated before?economic contrac- tions can also prove to be opportunities to gain new clients, boost sales, differentiate yourself and your company in the marketplace, and take market share. Therefore, advance and conquer, dominate those negatively impacted and take mar- ket from them! Those who are willing to learn new skills? and master and execute them with massive actions?will be rewarded in big ways that you could not accomplish when times were good. You will take control of market share while others surrender it.

I worked in my first sales job during the recession of the early 1980s. Unemployment rates were more than 20 percent and interest rates were 18 percent where I lived and worked. In hindsight, I probably should have moved, but I didn?t have any money to do so. One out of four people could not buy the product I was selling due to the simple

fact that they were out of work. I was lucky if seven or eight prospects showed interest in my product in a week. My survival was based on the most basic of actions: Generat- ing opportunities and then learning how to handle all the objections, stalls, and reasons that individuals come up with not to buy. This was my learning ground, and I had noth- ing else for comparison.

When you don?t know, you simply don?t know. If you grow up in poverty in a remote location surrounded by other poor families, you don?t know you are poor. The only people who know you are poor are the people who have more than you. You won?t be aware of your state of affairs until you have something with which to compare it. You don?t know until you know! When you?re trying to sell during a period of economic contraction and don?t have anything to compare it with, you?re almost blessed by not knowing. You will do and adjust to whatever is necessary in order to succeed.

The biggest challenge most people face today is their tendency to keep comparing the current situation with yesterday?s and wishing for yesterday to return. The only thing that works, though, is concentrating on the future and forgetting the past. Those who continue to compare them- selves with others in the market by claiming that they?re ?doing better than the rest? must remember that the goal is to dominate, not compare yourself with those who are doing badly. A surefire way to make sure you never get to first place is to compare yourself with others who have no intention of ever being first.

Date: 2016-06-12; view: 128