The Tenth Rule of Awesomeness

Like many Beastie Boys' fans, I was intrigued by Buddhism in the early nineties. I enjoyed the balance the Dalai Lama offered my otherwise chaotic life. I read a few pages of '..enlightenment..' and moved on to something else. I couldn't embrace the concept of allowing life to form around me without having influence over it. (for the record, I probably completely misinterpreted the aforementioned concept).


The tenth rule of Awesomeness is: Simplicity can be the pathway to expertise!


My friend Brian and I have a weekly conversation about the art of sales.
We discuss process, elements of success and how to bring predictability to an otherwise chaotic process. For over five years we have had these weekly conversations and occasionally we ask one another if any of it means anything at all:

• If you win a deal is it because your strategic influence 'sold' the customer on your product?
• If you lose a deal is it because you suck at differentiating your solution?

...or are we merely carriers of a flame, moving advertisements, price peddlers...?

Sometimes we pound it out only to lose, sometimes we are in the right place at the right time.

With all this said, sometimes we have to look inside the roller coaster of our brains, slow them down and develop a process ground in common sense:

• People want something that makes sense to their company culture - Listen
• People want something different - Be Creative
• People want to be taken care of - Devote Personal Attention

Yes, beyond all of the techniques we learned in $2,000 sales training, more than the nuances of finance we learned in business class, and instead of dynamic presentation skills.....maybe people just want to be heard, shown something that proves you listened and responded to when they need something.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave