You Are The Problem

If you’ve been around a while, you already know this – if not, I’m about to drop some wisdom on you! Ready?

YOU are the problem.

…and YOU are the solution!

One morning several years ago while I was driving to my office, a thought began to develop in my mind.

For several weeks before this day, I had had my eye on a dealership that was located nearby. I drove by this dealership often, both on my way home and on my way to work, and I was familiar with the owner, though I’d never met him personally. On this day, as I was on my way to work, I decided that I needed to stop waiting, stop making excuses, and call him.

Bear in mind that this was essentially a cold call. As I said, I was familiar with the owner, but I’d never shaken his hand or looked him in the eye, so in light of this, I opened the call using my usual methods for cold call mastery (link). I told him who I was and what I was about, and after a brief formal introduction, I told him that I needed ten minutes of his time.

Although he was polite, Bob let me know that, unfortunately, he was busy that morning and didn’t have time for a meeting. This is a common objection, but I knew that in this case it was probably true. I was aware that Bob was a very involved, hands-on owner who worked had to take care of his people and make sure they had what they needed.

That said, I don’t believe there’s a man on earth who can’t take ten minutes – particularly when that ten minutes is PROVEN to be able to change your business, and by extension, your life. I told Bob that I understood that he was busy, and that he was a hands on guy, but that I need ten minutes – when could I get those ten?

Bob hesitated for a moment, and then said “Now.”

Do you know what I said?

“I’ll be there in five.”

I pulled a U-Turn, drove in the opposite direction, and was walking through the door of his store in less time than it takes to make a coffee.

If you’ve been through my ACE Selling System, you know that every step you accomplish in the selling process is a mini victory, and I had just taken one in getting those ten minutes. I knew that to achieve my next mini victory, I would need to show Bob enough value in what I had to share with him during those ten minutes to make him willing to have me there for an eleventh, and then a twelfth.

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, and I was prepared to show Bob exactly what I could deliver for his store and his team that would GUARANTEE an increase in their productivity and profitability.

At the end of our meeting, Bob and I had spoken for over 45 minutes, and I had made a proposal. In under one hour, I had established myself as an authority. As someone that Bob could trust to not only propose, but also to follow through and implement the exact value that I had spent those 45 minutes speaking to him about.

The moral of this story is that when Bob entered my mind that morning, I saw an opportunity to seek success, and I didn’t get in my own way.

I didn’t decide to not call because he might be busy. I didn’t accept that he didn’t have ten minutes to give me. I didn’t say “hey, maybe I’ll make an appointment and hope the guy calls me one day when he decides he’s interested in what I have to offer.”

I made the DECISION to go after Bob. I made the DECISION to turn my car around, to go to his dealership, and to deliver what I knew to be pure potential and value to this person.

This story ends with Bob and I on the telephone, myself with one copy of my proposal in hand, and one another Bob’s email inbox. The conversation ended with me telling Bob that I would be by his store in exactly one hour to pick up a cheque. How do you think he responded?

“Sounds good.”

Nothing but ACE.

-Alan

Whether you’re a sales representative, a new business owner, or a CEO, we are all entrepreneurs. With that in mind, check out my FREE program: WX5: The Five Ws of Entrepreneurship.

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