success

Dispelling The Myths Of Ownership

July 26, 2022 by Jim Blasingame

Since hope truly does spring eternal, on any given day you’re likely to meet a starry-eyed human babbling on about becoming a business owner.

Probing for the object of this person’s entrepreneurial infatuation will precipitate what, where, how, and when questions and, finally, the most important question: Why do you want to own a business? Answers to this last one, unfortunately, often produce what I call “The Myths of Small Business Ownership.” Here are the four most prominent: [Continue Reading]

The Gold-Mining Tool of Professional Salespeople

July 19, 2022 by Jim Blasingame

What follows is a story about the most powerful tool in sales.

A few decades ago, a 27-year-old, shiny, new copier sales representative was minted by Xerox Corporation. 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 and accept that “you eat what you kill.” [Continue Reading]

What Love And Patience Have To Do With Negotiating

June 28, 2022 by Jim Blasingame

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. [Continue Reading]

Stardate 10920: The Force is with the customer

June 14, 2022 by Jim Blasingame

– Earth, Stardate 8511 (The Age of the Seller)

Once upon a time, in a galaxy that today must seem far, far away, sellers controlled all information about their products, services, and innovations. Consequently, customers learned what they needed to know from salespeople, who traveled far and wide dispensing information to, and collecting sales from, grateful and beholden customers.

If one had observed such a meeting, the customer would have nodded his head in wonderment as the salesperson revealed the virtual magic that was his product.

And in this land, the Force – control and availability of information – was with the seller.

– Earth, Stardate 10920 (The Age of the Customer) [Continue Reading]

Why you should have a close – and profitable – relationship with failure

June 7, 2022 by Jim Blasingame

In my reading over the years, I’ve consistently been drawn to autobiographies of people who took great risks and found greater success. Of course, you can’t go wrong reading about the great intellects and leaders like Washington, Lincoln, Churchill, etc. But my favorite autobiographies have been those who are/were alive during my life because I could identify with the issues they were up against.

Contemplating why I’ve been drawn to this genre, eventually I realized it wasn’t because I was in awe of their celebrity, riches, or other success markers. It was because in every honest autobiography there is a heaping helping of examples of how that person failed. Modern failures. [Continue Reading]

Change Will Happen, With Or Without Your Input Or Guidance

April 25, 2022 by Jim Blasingame

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every purpose under heaven.”

On its face, this well-known King Solomon wisdom from the 3rd chapter of Ecclesiastes delivers hopeful encouragement. But implicit in this passage is a somewhat hidden, and often troublesome, paradox: A time for everything also implies nothing can be forever, and therefore, change is inevitable.

In the abstract, we accept the reality of change, but in practice, we regard it as the medicine we know we need but don’t want to take. And knowing change is inevitable doesn’t make the pill any sweeter.

In the marketplace, it was challenging enough to implement a change when we had the expectation of not having to do it again anytime soon. But in the post-pandemic 21st century, the bitter pill of change has acquired an unfortunate new characteristic: a frighteningly short duration.

Organizations that enjoy consistent success will make change an abiding element in their business model, rather than an intrusion into “the way we’ve always done things.” They’ll create a culture and environment where change occurs when necessary, without creating a casualty list.

Rick Maurer, my friend and author of Beyond the Wall of Resistance, surveyed organizations that have implemented change. He identified four things they did to create a culture compatible with change. Here are those findings, followed by my thoughts. [Continue Reading]