Jeez – how long do we have?
I was asked this quintessential STAR interview question, and it got me thinking about all the sales, marketing, and general business mistakes I’ve made over the years. It’s a long list, but I learned some great lessons along the way.
After condensing a long list, here are my top lessons learned. This goes to 11, so you get that extra push over the cliff.
- Execute. Business success is 20% planning and 80% execution. Execute, measure, and let your audience decide what works best.
- Set a goal of 1. If you’re not doing something today, set an easily achievable goal to start. You can always add complexity later.
- Pitch your ideas 2x. If you have a great idea that gets rejected, try pitching it differently. If you think the recipient will get upset, pre-set that expectation.
- Build infrastructure. As you plan for growth, plan how you’ll support that growth. If you fall behind, it’s really tough to catch up.
- Activate. Just landing an employee, client, or partner is only half the battle. You need to quickly get them to produce the desired results.
- Get to “no.” Someone either wants to do business with you or not. Encourage no’s so you can focus your energy on those who are more likely to say yes. But…
- Learn from every loss. “We didn’t want them anyway” is BS. You invested effort, so at least identify what you need to do better next time.
- Be transparent. Communicate good news and bad news with equal enthusiasm. Overcoming obstacles together builds stronger relationships.
- Don’t toil in obscurity. If you have a problem, speak up. Chances are that someone has faced a similar challenge. Own it – don’t throw it over the transom.
- Don’t let people treat you like sh-t. Whether clients or employers, it’s unhealthy. Fire them and move on.
- Stay in touch. It’s amazing how often you keep running into folks you know who can help you and vice versa.
“Don’t quote Spinal Tap” is probably another lesson learned. What other important business lessons should I communicate?
