Veterans Day has its origins in Armistice Day, which was first acknowledged by President Wilson in 1919. The first anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles took place “in the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.” Congress made Armistice Day a national holiday on November 11, 1938.
Alvin King, a small business owner in Emporia, Kansas, had a problem with the name Armistice Day. Al was so moved by the death of his nephew, John E. Cooper, who was killed in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II that he, along with the Emporia Chamber of Commerce, started a movement to rename and redefine Armistice Day as Veterans Day. His goal was to expand recognition beyond those who served in WWI. The idea caught on and President Eisenhower made Veterans Day official in 1954.
But who should be recognized on Veterans Day? If you’re looking for the definition of a military veteran, good luck. There are several variations on that theme, since the veteran universe is primarily associated with financial benefits. Consequently, the government has a lot at stake in the official definition.
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The gold mining tool of professional salespeople
Let me tell you a story about the most powerful tool in sales.
A few decades ago, a 27-year-old, shiny, new Xerox sales representative was minted. Already a sales veteran, it wasn’t his first rodeo. Indeed, he worked his way through college selling on commission.
Commissioned salespeople, like entrepreneurs, work the marketplace high wire. Observing this act, a salaried employee once remarked that selling on commission was “living by your wits.” In the vernacular, business-to-business sales professionals know “you eat what you kill.”
Pre-Xerox, this salesman received rubber-meets-the-road sales training from the small business owner who gave him his first commissioned job, followed by a multi-year stint with Sears, where more sophisticated sales training was acquired. And finally, he survived the rigorous hiring process and completed the Xerox Professional Selling Skills program. PSS was globally recognized as the sales training gold standard, and any Xeroid of that era will tell you of its positive professional influence on the rest of your life.
With the ink barely dry on his PSS certificate, our young Xerox salesman made one of his first calls on the local installation of a national firm. He was now a fully converted, Kool-Aid-drinking disciple of Xerox sales fundamentals, and his head was packed with product, pricing and probes. Unfortunately, as he sat in front of Mr. Keener, the plant accountant, all of the professional probing techniques and listening skills our sales executive had learned and practiced were no match for the cargo of content he dumped right there on Mr. Keener’s desk, like a truckload of, well, you know.
Are you ready to ask your banker for a loan? Part II
As mentioned in the first of this two-part series, most businesses deleveraged during what I call the Main Street economy’s Lost Decade — 2007-2016. That means they paid off debt and didn’t add any.
So those folks — possibly you — can be forgiven if they’re a little rusty at asking a bank for a business loan. But as the current economic expansion picks up, and you need growth capital to respond to the new opportunity, it’d be handy to brush up on some banking skills.
Last time, I revealed the first three of six loan request questions. Getting comfortable asking for or discovering the answers will improve your chances of getting a loan approval. In case you forgot, the first three are: Who decides? What do they need? How do they want it? Now for the other three.
Are you ready to ask your banker for a loan? – Part I
The two elements that define the term “deleveraging” are: stop borrowing and pay off what you owe as soon as possible.
During the period I call “The Lost Decade” — 2009-2016 — this practice was an essential survival fundamental for millions of small businesses. Indeed, across Main Street America, survey after survey since 2009 revealed small business owners reporting emphatically that they neither wanted nor needed a business loan.
Even during the past two years, as economic expansion has finally taken hold, polling has indicated most small businesses have funded growth with their own retained earnings which, by definition, is a product of deleveraging. But as the economy continues to grow, organic capital eventually runs out. And if you’re going to take advantage of sustained expansion opportunity, funding for most small businesses means, ultimately, a bank loan.
The good news is banks are standing by, ready to lend. Especially community banks, of which I’m an unapologetic, unabashed champion. The other news is that since it’s probably been a while since you’ve approached a bank for a loan, it’s probably time to brush up on some of the fundamentals of having a successful banking relationship.
Consequently, I’m going help you get back up to speed on six key questions you need to answer. We’ll cover three this week and the rest next week.
What’s good for small business is good for the world
Americans are afforded a privilege which, while not rare, is certainly unavailable to billions of other Earthlings: We’re allowed to vote for those who represent us in government.
The words “privilege” and “allowed” are used with a purpose: The U.S. Constitution gives Americans the right to vote, but does not require us to do so. If voting were a legal requirement, in the 2000 election 100 million Americans could have been arrested, as pundits lamented the “Vanishing Voter” phenomenon.
But by the 2016 election, voter turnout had transmogrified from apathy to engagement with a record number of ballots cast – 137.5 million. Indeed, we’re experiencing one of the most promising phenomena of the current age: increasing fervor and investment of the American electorate in the political process.
Nothing bad happens when Americans get fired up about the political process, regardless of whether a voter spins to the left or the right or marks time in the middle, because taking a political position typically manifests in a more knowledgeable voter. And the best way for America’s challenges to be addressed is for those same voters to require political representatives to stand up and serve with leadership, rather than slouch with the self-anointed political class.
What love and patience have to do with negotiating
Negotiating is a process of communication between two or more parties to reach an agreement on future behavior—like when you’re purchasing a small business, leasing an office, hiring an employee, selling a product, or trying to get a two-year-old to take one more bite of peas.
Let’s look at the two key words in that definition: process and communication.
Process
Conducting a negotiation is more like running a marathon than a sprint—it takes time and involves multiple steps. By accepting this reality you’ll set yourself up to be more patient and, therefore, more effective.
Remember, your impatience with the process is the other party’s best leverage. Good negotiators practice patience.