Sunday, June 18, 2006
Inspiration Is Everywhere
It really is you know. Not a day goes by, if you're paying attention, that you can't be inspired and motivated by another person on this planet.
Let me give you two examples. Last Sunday I flew to Chicago to be with a group of like-minded speakers and consultants. Actually, when I say like-minded, I'm referring to the businesses we run. As far as all of us thinking the same way, well that would be a stretch.
In any event I walked away from that meeting with three really good ideas I can use to grow my business.
During the meeting, Bill one of the sales trainers in the group, talked about his two year old granddaughter. His daughter, son-in-law, and Shaylin, his granddaughter were visiting him in Kiawah, where he has a home.
On one of the days during their visit Bill took Shaylin for a walk on the beach. The Atlantic wasn't ice cold but it also wasn't luke warm in early May. There they were -walking hand in hand with Shaylin walking in the water.
As they walked Shaylin let go of Bill's hand and went under the water for a moment. Bill watched her come up for a breath and she was smiling.
I imagine some other kids, the same age, in the same situation would come up screaming. It just got me thinking about attitudes. Everyday we're put into situations that we can choose to come up smiling or screaming.
I hope Shaylin can continue smiling through her life - it will make the world a better place.
On the flight back to Tampa Monday afternoon I chatted with my seat mate. We exchanged stories about what kind of work we did. He was a VP of Marketing and Admissions in an Education company.
I asked for his card and told him I would send him a copy of my book, "The 12 Best Questions To Ask Customers." We talked about salespeople and we both agreed that most salespeople talk too much.
He then told me a story about when he was putting himself through school as a bartender. He said on the nights he was all ears and just let his customers talk until they were blue in the face his tips were fantastic.
On the nights when he found himself doing most of the talking he didn't make as much in tips.
Whether you're in sales or tending bar I guess it's safe to say you'll always make more money when you get the customer talking. That's a pretty good sales tip.
Inspiration is all over the place. When the pace is quick and the competition is tough we can all benefit from a little inspiration and motivation.
And that's why I have put together 250 Transformational, Inspirational, Motivational, and Educational Quotations. I put them in a book and each one comes complete with its own unique colorful poster.
If you want to get more motivated I'd go here for more information:http://www.meisenheimer.com/products/250quotes.htm
Jim Meisenheimer
