Conrey is for Closers

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for another edition of the Salesman Traveling. I’m in Los Angeles this morning for the Twitter 140 Conference with one of our clients. Things to remember when out and about on a sales trip:

• Introduce yourself to everyone you meet every time – even if you’ve met them once in passing
• Listen, don’t talk
• Write down everything so that you can go over things later and be ready to follow up when you get home

I’m equipped with a stack of cards, several pens, and ready to start meeting some cool folks at this conference.  More to come.

“I’m going to be the next Google/Facebook/Microsoft/whatever” We all mock the people who say these things when they come across our emails as a new lead. But they are getting one thing right. They are comparing to the best in their world.

When I was selling cars I started by aiming to be the best salesman on the floor, then when I got promoted I wanted to be the best salesman in the Internet/Fleet department, then once I accomplished that, I aimed to be the best in the dealer group I worked for.

Michael Jordan never worried about being compared to anyone else because he knew he was the best out there, but how many people want to be compared to him? No one is aiming to be compared to his teammate Scotty Pippen (a good player, but not the best).

If you aren’t comparing yourself to the best at what it is you are trying to do, then you aren’t aiming for the right target. No one should aim to be the second or third best at anything. Compare yourself to the best person/company in your field until you are the best. Then look to distance yourself away from them as much as you can.

Have you hit your goal? Hit the top of your market? Become the best in your field? Beaten everyone you wanted to?

This is what people mean when they say they have “arrived”. If you think that you have arrived and you’re ready to sit back and enjoy your reign on top then you’ve already lost.

The next guy is always chasing harder than you are running away from him. If you take a break to bask in the limelight, he’ll catch you and pass you. If you’re not constantly innovating and trying to get better then you’ll lose the edge that got you to the top.

A river that is constantly moving forward never becomes a stagnant smelly pond of water. It is always moving forward and affecting the banks around it. Are you a river or have you arrived at your pond?