Monthly Archives: December 2008

A Year of Gifts

By John Aberle | Gratitude , Holidays , Sales and Marketing , Social Networking

Think Back on the Blessings of this Past Year
As we are about to start another calendar year, this is a great time to reflect on the blessings of this past year. For me, it has been a time of fantastic education. I have conducted a self-directed course of study at the University of Hard Knocks as I have upgraded my sales and marketing skills for the 21st Century by diving into Internet marketing and social networking. It’s been fun though often frustrating. It seems every time I think I am about to finish my major projects so as to start on something new, I find another aspect I need to tackle first if I am to lead by example.

Developing New Friendships
In the process of all this learning, I have been developing some wonderful new friends – people I really admire. At the Master Trainer Camp, I made quite a few contacts with people I want to get to know better. A couple, I have already started to build a tighter relationship with. One in particular, DeBorah Beatty, has been a Godsend as she understands the technical aspects of websites and blogs so she’s given me excellent assistance when I needed a coach. To read about the highlights of the fabulous trainers’ presentations at the Master Trainer Camp, check out my website, http://www.johnaberle.com for a page on that experience.

Additionally, I’ve found mentors, gurus, and experts on Internet marketing and social networking whom I really like and respect. Some of them are already friends. Others I hope to earn the right to their friendship. One, especially, Cathy Perkins, the WordPress Wizard, has taught me so much about the technical aspects of running a blog – all at the level of a knowledgeable user, not a programmer.

Build a Community with Social Networking
I have also added dozens of friends on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Plaxo, and Home Based Business Network. I’ve shared pictures on Flickr, Facebook, and now Tweetpic. All of this is in an effort to develop a personal community.

During the last month of 2008, the idea of community has become increasingly important to me. I’ll be writing more on it because of realizations I’ve had regarding the importance of community to business. But for right now, I’m going to make it more personal.

Writers’ Group Provides Support in Improving Skills
A year and a half ago, my wife, Dorothy, found a writers’ group for me at the Glendale Barnes and Noble. Since I joined them, we have relocated to the Burbank Barnes and Noble. This group has been an incredible find. The members are amazingly talented writers who give skillful and frank feedback – while remaining kind and constructive. We genuinely care about each other and support each other. <Read the Rest of this Article>

Happy Holidays!

By John Aberle | Holidays

This season of the year is a wonderful time for reminding us of what’s important: community, connecting with others, sharing love. Oh, don’t forget the lights and music.

It’s late Christmas Eve in Covina California where I’m writing this greeting. The tree is brilliantly lit with colored lights and capped with a white star. The gifts are spread around it ready for tomorrow and shortly Dorothy and Martha will put out the stockings.

And to ensure that the body, as well as the spirit, is well fed tomorrow, my darling wife, Dorothy, together with her sister Martha, daughter Stephanie, and niece Pamela have invested a large portion of the past two days preparing for tomorrow’s meals. We expect 15 people for breakfast with dishes like a breakfast soufflé of eggs, cheese, sausage, and bread; mush (deep fried cornmeal patties); eggs; and bacon. Then we’ll exchange and open presents with those of the family who are here for breakfast.

By mid-afternoon, we should have 21 family members gathered for Christmas dinner and more gifts with those who arrived later. We’ll have a 15 pound turkey and a large ham, cranberry-orange relish using my Mother’s recipe, and all the trimmings and pies. It’s going to be a wonderful feast. And the best part will be sharing with family.

This will be our intimate community tomorrow. Six families will gather under the extended family of Granny Hawkins. It takes a major holiday to get us all together. One member of the family, Kevin, is in the Navy. He’ll be missed but understandably he chose to stay in the Seattle area to spend the day with his infant son, Jackson.

Yes, gifts are nice, don’t get me wrong. I enjoy seeing the excitement on people’s faces when they get something they really want. I enjoy giving things I think the receiver will like. I enjoy receiving a gift from a loved one who thought of me and selected something she or he thought I would like.

But I also get pleasure out of the spirit of giving and sharing that permeates this Holiday Season. I love seeing the people making an effort to ensure that those with little financially will have enough to enjoy Christmas too. In McAllen Texas, I was one of the breakfast club Rotarians who gave part of one Saturday to do the bell ringing to collect for the Salvation Army‘s program. Then in El Paso, as part of the Westside Rotary Club, I helped assemble food baskets for 100 families. It was a wonderful team effort and very satisfying. There is something wonderful that happens when you give with no expectation of return.

Remember too that the simple gift of a smile and a warm greeting can often make another person’s day. It costs nothing beyond the thought and tiny effort to give.

So, I’ll close this article with a wish for you that you get to enjoy whatever it is that brings joy into your life this season. May the Spirit of this Holiday Season (Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Happy Kwanzaa ) bring you and yours joy, peace, health, love, and prosperity.

About Us

By John Aberle | Uncategorized

Have You Ever Felt Conflicted about Your Job in Sales?
I did. I loved working with customers: I enjoyed finding their problems and providing solutions for them. But I hated hearing about how one had to be a great “closer.” The sales books and seminars I attended indicated that you had to learn how to control your customer, manipulate his emotions (yes, men have emotions), and pressure them if all else fails. I felt sleazy with that approach. My value system said I needed to give the other person the space to make his or her own choices, free of my manipulation.

So I fumbled along on my own. Lacking a role model for the type of selling I found a path that worked for me. I borrowed from a variety of sales training books, courses, and seminars to take those things that felt “clean” to me. And admittedly, I worked for some companies where I had to learn their control techniques. Sometimes the need for financial survival made it easier to convince myself it’s all right. But even those experiences taught me a lot.

Selling as a Service
I’m happiest when I sell as a service. I love “helping customers buy.” Ironically, even though my approach avoided the “closer” mentality, I was consistently a sales leader, often the top sales rep in the company.

Increased Sales 40% While Reducing the Size of Sales Team 42.9%
The “Help Customers Buy” approach to selling works. For instance, at Cook/Data Solutions, a small computer dealership in McAllen, Texas, I finally achieved my goal of executive management. In my first full year as vice president of sales and marketing, I increased sales 40% over prior year figures while reducing the size of the sales team 42.9%.

In this small business, I was the top sales executive yet also actively sold to my own accounts. I closed over $850,000 that year, including a maintenance contract worth $1,000,000 plus in contract revenue over the next three years.

Whether Business-to-Business or Business-to-Consumer, It Works
While my experience was primarily business-to-business, the attitudes, techniques, and skills work in any sales environment, even in non-sales communications. The primary difference lies in some of the skills and techniques, like prospecting, that you won’t need in most retail or non-sales positions.

Useful Information Weekly
I look forward to sharing useful information weekly with you in this blog. Naturally, in this short space you won’t get everything on any one topic. That leaves material for another week or for my courses and books when I publish them. And if you really want more in-depth material right away, you may find my affiliates and other recommendations helpful.

What Do You Want to Hear More About?
The problem with “value-added” is that all value is in from the viewpoint of the customer or client. I want to give you valuable information, but until you tell me what would be valuable to you, it’s only my opinion. So, please let us know what do you want to hear more about and how you want it, i.e. blog posts, short articles, or podcasts.

And Give Us Feedback, Please
And give us feedback, please – sales and marketing are part science, part art. Everyone gets better with experience and practice. But after over 25 years in sales and marketing, I am daily looking for new insights, tips, and techniques.

Sales and the Super Bowl: What It Takes to Win

By John Aberle | Business Management , Sales Management

I just listened to a great interview by Melanie Benson Strick. She was congratulating James Malinchak on winning the Marketer of the Year Award from the Glazer Kennedy Inner Circle Group. He made a wonderful point about needing to delegate tasks others can do cheaper than you so you can do the most productive activities.

What I particularly appreciated, though, was the story James shared about Michael Jordan telling him and seven others about how he finally realized that he needed a team to win championships. Being a great player and a great scorer wasn’t enough.

I often ask clients, “What does a team need to win the Super Bowl?” The answer is far more involved than most people think. When I ask the group to tell me what they need, obviously a team that wins the Super Bowl must have a great quarterback. However, he alone can’t win the game. He needs an incredible offense. Again, though, the best offense isn’t enough if the defense doesn’t keep their opponents from outscoring them.

So far so good. I will always get those responses. If I ask them for what else the team needs, they will mention the coach. However, I usually have to push to get them to mention the trainers. And if you’re playing in Houston in September in 95 degrees with 95% humidity, most will agree that you need the water boy. MORE ….

Thrive in a Down Economy: Take Advantage of Competitor's False Economies

By John Aberle | Business Management , Financial Management , Sales Management

A down economy causes fear in most business people. While
response is essential to survival, it is actually possible
to take advantage of others’ mistakes, such as cost cutting
that harms their businesses, i.e. false economies.

Years ago I read a story about a seafood restaurant that had
an incredible reputation for their clam chowder. When new owners
bought the restaurant, they decided to cut expenses to increase
their profits. They began watering down the soup. Over a period
of several months, the restaurant’s clientele began dropping away.
Loyal customers gave the owners the benefit of the doubt the first
time they found that their chowder was not up to the quality they
expected. However, most of them stop coming after the second time
they experienced the cheapened chowder. Pretty soon, the owners lost
enough customers to threaten the survival of the business.

The point here is to do everything in your power to maintain the
quality of products and services at the same level or better than
your customers expect from you. Otherwise, you could very well be
the one driving the nail in the coffin of your business.

I tell my clients that cutting corners on your product or service
in an effort to save money is “false economy.” In my first two years
on the road as a consultant, I wrote savings recommendations worth
$2,300,000. I believe in cutting waste and reducing unnecessary
expenses. However, cutting corners is foolish. Customers vote every
day with their money. MORE ….

What questions or comments do you have about selling for fun,
profit, and mutual rewards?

In Sales, Passion Motivates and Leads to Success

By John Aberle | Sales and Marketing

Getting Motivated Was a Challenge

When I started out in sales, I found that getting motivated to do the things necessary for success was often a challenge. If you’ve been in business-to-business sales long, you know that you have to do a lot of things that most sales people don’t like, such as prospecting, follow up, paperwork, and problem resolution. There’s a lot of unpleasant grunt work in the job of selling. How do you find the motivation to put in the time for the rewards of making the sale?

The Thrill of Working with Prospects – the Thrill of the Sale

For me, one of the rewards was the thrill of working with the prospects and customers, the actual person-to-person contact and interaction. Naturally, the biggest reward was getting it right so that the customer chose to buy. But between the initial contact and the opportunity to share my excitement about how I could help, there were a lot of dull tasks to perform. Stay motivated was my challenge.

Passion Was the Key to Motivation

I found that passion was the key to motivation — loving what I was doing makes all the difference in the world. Every job in this world has its less than pleasant aspects. Have you ever heard of a parent who really loved changing baby diapers? It goes with the job of being a parent. But the love and joys of parenthood keep you going.

I Must Believe in the Benefit

For me, being in sales is like that so long as I have a product that I’m passionate about. Because I love helping people, I must believe that what I’m selling will benefit my customer.

Benefit Means Fixing the Problems

I find that belief by learning how my product or service works well enough to be able to apply it to customers. I never needed a technician’s level of expertise or a trainer’s. But I did need to understand the operation well enough to talk knowledgeably with prospects and to recognize when they mentioned a problem or challenge they were facing that my product or service would fix. Then I knew the benefit.

This Passion Doesn’t Need to Be Earth-Shaking

This passion doesn’t need to be earth-shaking, like saving the rainforests. It merely needs to be something I care about. When I first started selling computer hardware and software with Radio Shack Computer Center in West Covina, California, I fell in love with word processing. I had used typewriters for years only to be frustrated by mistakes. I hated retyping a whole page. In the Air Force, after duty hours, I could use the squadron clerks’ typewriters occasionally. They had IBM Selectric’s with the lift off tape. But no matter how hard I worked to roll the paper back up and line it up, I rarely managed to cleanly lift off the offending typo.

In Love with Word Processing

So, when I discovered that computer software meant I could write on a screen then proof it before I printed, or I could print, go back to the saved document and make changes then print again, I thought I was in heaven. I definitely was in love with word processing.

I Sold on the Fire of My Enthusiasm

Nobody had to tell me about the benefits of word processing. I knew them first hand. I sold on the fire of my enthusiasm. Prospects believed me because I understood the problems and could describe the difference my products and services, like training, could make.

Passion Motivates and Leads to Success

If you want to succeed in sales, be sure to tap the power of passion. Do what it takes to become enthusiastic about what benefits your products and services bring your customers. Your passion will motivate you to deal with the boring details of sales work, customers find enthusiasm contagious. It was this passion, excitement, and enthusiasm for what my products did for my customers that enabled me to become one of the top computer sales people in the region, earning me a promotion that bypassed a step in the normal career progression.