You Cannot “Train” People!

I am oftentimes introduced as a “trainer”, or “sales trainer” and I quickly deny that description of what I do.

Some people claim, “People are a part of the animal kingdom, if you can you train one, you should be able to train the other”. I can accept the “should be” part of that statement, but the reality is that there are some major differences between the human animal and the others.

A dolphin can be “taught” and then “trained” through repetition and reward to jump over a bar every time the whistle blows and the little stick is held out. The dolphin (or other animals) will do what they have been “trained” to do, regardless of their mood that day, the weather, or what the other animals are doing.

People can surely be taught to do something, however they may or may not do it depending entirely upon their mood that day, the weather, or what other people are doing.

Head Coach

In the game of football the head coach never misses a down. People need coaching, watching, critiquing, praising and sometimes even reprimanding just to get them to do what they were taught to do.

Anything for the Customer

Bob and I stopped at the Le Jardin Smoothie shop at the Hyatt Waikiki to check our e-mail following my presentation to the staff at Seafood Village.

Le Jardin owner Ellen Poon whipped up a great fresh vegetable juice drink. It was delicious. She asked me if I would like to have something to eat, and I told her that I would be going out to dinner soon. She said, “How about a piece of toast (on the house) to hold you over until dinner?” When I said, “Okay”, she asked, “White or whole wheat”. I asked for the whole wheat.

A moment later she returned saying, “We are out of whole wheat”. I told her that I really didn’t really need it, and she said, “Okay, I’ll give you a rain check”.

A few minutes later Ellen appeared with two nice pieces of whole wheat toast, and said, “This bread is about as fresh as you can get”. I was shocked. She actually sent someone running to get some whole wheat bread to fulfill her commitment to me.

Well, guess where I will be grabbing smoothies, juices and sandwiches from now on when I am in Waikiki. Service sells! Stop by and meet Ellen; you will be glad you did.

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There is an important lesson here.

In 1986, Mikele Mebembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University.
On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Mikele approached it very carefully.

He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant’s foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Mikele worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Mikele stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Mikele never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Mikele was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mikele and his son Tapu were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Mikele, lifted its front foot off the ground, and then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mikele couldn’t help wondering if this was the same elephant. Mikele summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Mikele’s legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

It probably wasn’t the same elephant.

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Off to South America

I woke up this morning to a 60 book e-mail order for the BoConcept stores in South America.

No sooner had I signed the books, and Masae got them packed for shipment when Bob called with another order of 300 books to send to Scandinavian Designs in Petaluma, California.

It is so fulfilling to think of salespeople I have not met (yet) learning how to increase sales by using the Pro-Active, No-Pressure Selling System taught in Retail Selling Made Easy; especially in South America.

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Best Retailer of the Year 2007

The Hearts on Fire Diamond Company held their 2007 Hearts on Fire University this past week in Las Vegas. At that event they name “Best Regional” and “Best National Retailers” of the year out of a field of 570 stores.

This year Moyer Fine Jewelers in Indianapolis, Indiana won both the Regional Mid-West and Retailer of the Year awards.
Congratulations to owner Dan Moyer, sales manager Kerry Phillips, and the entire staff at Moyer Fine Jewelers.

Success Dynamics is proud to list Moyer Fine Jewelers as a client. As a part of their Morning Report we recognize the sales associates in their store for their sales of Hearts on Fire Diamonds.

We also track Hearts on Fire sales for James and Sons in Chicago. They were named “Best Mid-West Retailer” at the 2006 convention.

Other Success Dynamics clients tracking Hearts on Fire sales are:
The Wedding Ring Shop, Naser Jewelers, Pave Fine Jewelry, Wesche Fine Jewelers, and Southborough Jewelers.

25 Years of Smiling
It was 25 years ago that University professor Scott E. Fahlman got people adding to their e-mail messages.

I have been saying, “Keep Smiling” longer than that. A smile goes a long way. It can change how you feel as well as how you make others feel when they see you.

Click here to read 10 good reasons to smile. And then… KEEP SMILING; no matter what is happening around you.

Fighting Skin Cancer

As reported in an earlier blog post, years of unprotected surfing has left me with sun damaged skin.

REMINDER:

1. Sun damage to the skin is like the odometer on your car; accumulative and irreversible.
2. There is no such thing as a healthy tan.

Last month I put my ego in my back pocket and posted daily progress photos of my face following this Blu Light with Levulan treatment. I did this to encourage everyone to be careful in the sun. This procedure burns more than your worst sun burn.

This week I will do the same with my right arm. Oddly, my right arm is in worse shape than my left. It is normally the other way around, because of driving.

This week long procedure burns away layers of skin, while identifying and destroying keratoses (pre skin cancer lesions) that lie beneath the skin waiting to erupt into skin cancer.

TIP: Wear sun screen daily, AND avoid direct sunlight as much as possible while still enjoying Hawaii.

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Tropical Paradise

Masae finished this original oil painting this weekend, I named it, Pictures Plus framed it, and today she drove it out to Britton Art Gallery in Haleiwa.
By the time she drove back to Honolulu it was already sold. Maybe I can retire sooner than I thought.

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Carolyn Pollock

Carolyn has been nominated for another Q-Star Broadcasting Teamwork award! This is like the Academy Awards for people appearing on QVC.

We are proud to have Relios Jewelry using the Morning Report in their Texas Jewelry store. Bill and Carolyn Pollock make a wonderful product, and do a super job of selling it through fine jewelry stores across the country.

See Bill and Carolyn on QVC selling their designer collections, Sincerely Southwest Saturday morning at 3 AM ET (12 AM PT) and 4 PM ET through 7 (1 PM PT through 4)

Be your own coach

In professional football, we see the best of the best playing. In spite of all of that talent, there are more coaches on the sidelines than there are players on the field. The head coach never misses a down. And this is with pros!

How many people in business go at it without a coach? How many coaches miss a few downs? The answer to both questions is, “Too many”.

One of the most important tools that Success Dynamics brings to the table is the Morning Report. This document makes your goal the boss, and you the coach. When you coach yourself to do whatever it takes to reach your goal you will be more successful; it’s easy!