Blog Action Day 2008 – Fighting Poverty
I registered for blog action day yesterday after being reminded of it while on twtter. Today I will be blogging about poverty and how we can all take simple steps to help eliminate it locally and internationally. To start off I must say that I am absolutely humbled to one of the 11,000 bloggers partaking in this today. For many of them, they are well versed in what is really going on and steps we can take to help. I myself as I sit back in my high back leather chair in my home office realise just how out of touch I probably am as a Canadian in this land of plenty. Most of us are out of touch, something I didn’t know for instance that one in 5 children in British Columbia live in poverty ( stats from B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition). This is in my own community? I must say before I blog another line that I’m right now, making a public commitment to do more locally. So if one wonders if this blog action day really will have an impact, it already has on me.
Growing up on the West Side of Vancouver and attending Prince of Wales High School I often compared myself to the son’s and daughters of some very wealthy people. These kids drove to school in brand new BMW’s and Lexus’ (not all of them, but a lot). I had a 53 Chevy Pickup that looked great but was truly held together with bailing wire and a prayer, I went through fuses like they were tic-tacs. Funny I actually thought we were broke? Then in 1993 in my first year of work in the family business we had some really tough times pretty soon we went from a new Lincoln, Turbo Volvo, and Whistler ski weekends to a new version of reality I wasn’t accustomed to. All the things I thought I needed no longer seemed to matter. We struggled to pull together enough money from our ailing business to buy groceries, pay rent, and utilities (in fact we survived by the grace of friends like Bill and Donna Pearson, Del Hughes, Dave and Lynn Ferris and Jim and Sharon Janz). Somehow I thought we were suffering, but by global standards we were still very fortunate. We had access to a network of great people, mentorship and help in solving our financial problems, free medical care, and we lived right in the middle of one of the most livable cities in the world. With my limited life experience correct or not I thought that this was suffering. I really never understood what dire poverty looks like until I left Canada and moved to Africa for 2 years in 1997-1999.
Flying into Johannesburg (3.3 million people) was a big eye opener. This wasn’t the Africa that Hollywood portrays (until recently). In driving to the hotel in Sandton from the Airport my driver directed me to look out the window to my left. There it was a somewhat unofficial settlement at that time. Alexandria or “Alex” as the locals called it. A squatter camp that sprawled literally as far as the eye can see. Some paved some dirt roads, tin roofs and walls, much of it without electricity or running water. I’m not sure of the figures now but at that time there was 60% unemployment, and many these unemployed people in the Joburg in Alex. Some people claim there are over 1,000,000 people living there but there is no official census numbers for “squatters.”
I did not have the opportunity to go right into Alex when I lived there (worlds worst homicide and carjacking rates per capita at that time), but I did flirt with the outskirts from time to time, and spent a considerable amount of time in smaller townships that were equally as destitute in other regions in South Africa. I found most Africans to be proud and kind regardless of their economic plight. Resourceful, eager to learn, and they seemed to be hardwired for entrepreneurism. In most cases it wasn’t just personal finances that were lacking, but access to a way out of their plight. Education, mentorship, and the basics like clean water and electricity. I don’t want to be seen as painting a picture of helplessness, there are many people who have succeeded in that environment. For me though, it was an eye opener as to how much we have as North Americans, and how little gratitude I had personally had for all of those things I thought were my God given right to possess. It was then that I started to realize that many people are possessed by their possessions. We can do so much more with our talents than collect and hoard things.
There in Africa I was first exposed to micro lending and what it can do as a force against poverty. I would often walk past a kind man who sold oranges out of the back of a large wagon. One day my brother stopped to talk to him. We were mesmerized by his enthusiasm for his business. He was unemployed for years before he started his orange stand. A local South African Bank helped him get started, and when he started he didn’t even have a fixed address. They loaned him money daily, to buy inventory. He would buy his oranges, mark them up, and turn a small profit daily. The daily loan was less than $25 Canadian, which he would repay and then get another short term loan. I know there are several popular micro lending formats but this one to me was interesting because it was not a hand-out, and it also helped him learn about cash-flow management and build his credit. A $25 loan helped him eventually move into a real address, eat healthy food, and begin educating himself on running a business.
http://www.kiva.org/ is one tool that anyone in the world can use to begin to participate in micro lending. A donation of $25 can make a real difference, and a $1000 can help an entire village. Muhammad Yunus founder of Grameen Bank was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his ground breaking work in taking this concept and making it work on a large scale.
One final thought or story in regards to how to make a difference is that money is great, but sometimes it’s not all that people need. Mentorship, volunteering, and contributing by actually getting involved (in person or the way 11,000 bloggers are doing it today) is also needed. Alfina worked for our family in South Africa, her son was unemployed and living Alex. She asked me if I could help him get a job. What he needed was help writing a resume. He had no access to a computer, or printer and Alfina and her son had never written a resume. He showed up 4 hours late, with no shoes on. Someone had stolen them, and he had no money for public transportation, so he walked. He walked from Alex to my place in Sandton, in bare feet, so someone could help him get a job. I thought I was going to give him a lecture on being on time during the job hunt. Instead he taught me a lesson on commitment and succeeding regardless of our resources. NO EXCUSES. We wrote his resume (his only job was “towel boy” for a soccer team) and it was pushing the barrier between non-fiction and fiction but we got it done. He left with a pair of my shoes, some clothes, and big ambitions. He canvassed every business in Johannesburg with no luck, so he hopped on a bus and with his very last resume in Port Elizabeth landed a job as a stock boy and eventually rose to cashier. Gainfully employed.
In giving we also receive, he taught me a big lesson on commitment. “Give to live for to withhold is to perish” – Kahlil Gibran
Can you close too big? Downtown Partners Closes their doors
Globeandmail.com’s small business section recently noted that Downtown Partners a leading Canadian advertising agency closed their doors for good after losing their biggest client:
The advertising agency that was once one of the hottest in the country is closing its doors on Feb. 15, a move largely linked to the loss of its prized Labatt Brewing Co. Ltd. business. Downtown Partners, a division of Omnicom Canada, was dealt a fatal blow last November when Labatt decided to streamline its agency roster and hand the coveted Budweiser beer account to its long time agency Grip Ltd. Downtown, which had had the account for six years, wasn’t even given a chance of bidding on the brewer’s other businesses. “The agency is a victim of consequence,” Dan Pawych, creative director and a founding member of Downtown, said yesterday. More at Globeandmail.com
This is something I’ve mentioned in a few podcasts and sales blog entries. Closing Bigger is about the 7 figure deal. Sometimes though we forget the term “deal”. Deals can be finite, and if we base our whole business on one big client, we’re not in business; we’ve got a deal. I have yet to do a full in depth read on what lead up to this event but I’m assuming that big ole Labatt Brewing Company ate up much of Downtown Partners time, energy and resources, and several critical errors were made. One was somehow being totally out of sync with the client, how do you have a business dependent on one major client, and not have the business intelligence and inside connections to see this coming? The next question is who was responsible for hunting down and landing more big clients?
No matter how successful we are (and many of us are guilty of believing our own positive press) we need new fresh leads, and new clients. It’s what keeps us sharp, fine tunes our pitch and lets us know what’s really going on in the marketplace.
Another title for this sales blog entry could have been “Prospect or Die” or perhaps “How to Be Eaten by a Whale”
One of my biggest challenges when sales training people is when their company lacks the leadership and structure to enforce a quota or at least a level of accountability where people, anyone, including sales people are held to their word and the goals they set. Over the years I’ve seen too many individuals on auto-pilot, then they’re shocked when their company goes under, yet they haven’t prospected for new business or looked for new niches in the marketplace for years.
My closing thoughts for this blog are “Closing Big but keep on closing.”
Shane Gibson is a leading sales performance and sales training authority based in Vancouver Canada. His company offers sales training, motivational sales seminars, and consulting through their offices in Canada, South Africa, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Sales Podcast and Blog Entry – Sales Proposals – Steve Woodruff
Steve Woodruff of the Impactiviti Blog on Pharmaceutical sales, marketing, and management writes a great tongue-in-cheek blog entry on how not to write a proposal. This entry really echoes what we talked about in last week’s podcast on “Selling Beyond the Bottom line”. Customization and listening are key to closing the deal and building long-term relationships with clients.
Here’s come of what Steve had to say:
Vendors: How to Lose the Business
Sep 6th, 2007 by impactivitiIf you’re a vendor, there are lots of ways to lose business opportunities. Here, some free advice on how to make sure your proposal remains at the bottom of the stack at decision time:
1. Don’t ask questions to try to clarify, and draw out, what the client really wants and needs. Just slam out that proposal and cross your fingers that you hit the mark.
2. When you cut-and-paste from prior proposals that you’ve submitted to other companies, be sure that you leave the wrong company name in once or twice. Also, bad grammar and misspellings are recommended to help assure the client that you are, indeed, detail-oriented.
Shane Gibson is the author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. a leading sales performance and leadership development organization. Shane divides his time between his entrepreneurial projects, speaking at major conferences and mentoring salespeople and entrepreneurs.
Quick Links:
Sales Training Canada
Sales
Training South Africa
Sales Training Boot Camps Vancouver
Complete Sales Action System
Managing Complex Business
Relationships System
Sales Blog Entry on Free Leadership Self Assessments
I have put together a series of self assessments on coaching and leadership which are provided free (not-for-profit use and distribution only.) Here are the assessments:
Five levels of leadership self assessment
Coaching skills assessment
Enabling versus equiping self assessment
I would appreciate any feedback and comments on the usefulness of these tools and how we may improve upon them.
Shane Gibson
Shane Gibson is the author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. a leading sales performance and leadership development organization. Shane divides his time between his entrepreneurial projects, speaking at major conferences and mentoring salespeople and entrepreneurs.
Quick Links:
Sales Training Canada
Sales
Training South Africa
Sales Training Boot Camps Vancouver
Complete Sales Action System
Managing Complex Business
Relationships System
Subscribe in iTunes to this Sales Podcast
Sales Podcast – Sales Presentation Skills Part 3
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This week’s sales podcast on sales presentation skills is focused on how to effectively avoid and recover from common bombs and mistakes in sales presentations. Selling in the boardroom is a skill that can greatly accelerate our ability to close big deals in our sales career.
This sales podcast is presented by Shane Gibson.
Shane Gibson is the author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. a leading sales performance and leadership development organization. Shane divides his time between his entrepreneurial projects, speaking at major conferences and mentoring salespeople and entrepreneurs.
Closing Bigger Sales Podcast Entry – Sales Podcast Part 1 on Executive Presentation Skills
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This weeks sales podcast is on presentation skills and their importance in the boardroom when pitching potential clients. This is part 1 of a 3 part podcast series on the topic.
Shane Gibson is the author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. a leading sales performance and leadership development organization. Shane divides his time between his entrepreneurial projects, speaking at major conferences and mentoring salespeople and entrepreneurs.
Sales Podcast – Sales Blog Entry – The 12 Steps to Making the World Your Networking Function
In sales networking is the much coveted strategy to generate leads and help us close deals while reducing the amount of cold calling or hard selling we do. With that said, many people misunderstand what real networking is all about. Today’s sales podcast is about the 12 Steps to Making the World Your Networking Function:
1. Be referable don’t gather contacts or push for referrals
2. Be interested not interesting
3. You can’t have 200 best friends – prioritize
4. Add value with your network
5. Bank your equity (with the right people)
6. It’s a small town
7. Map and seek out the players
8. The more you give the more you get
9. Do your due diligence before you refer
10. Keep Promises, Follow-through
11. Be seen
12. Step it up every year
You can subcribe to this sales podcast series by using one of the many options on right hand navigation bar or you can download the MP3 file here:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Shane Gibson is the author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. a leading sales performance and leadership development organization. Shane divides his time between his entrepreneurial projects, speaking at major conferences and mentoring salespeople and entrepreneurs.
Quick Links:
Sales Training Canada
Sales
Training South Africa
Sales Training Boot Camps Vancouver
Complete Sales Action System
Managing Complex Business
Relationships System
Subscribe in iTunes to this Sales Podcast
About Shane Gibson
Author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals
Shane Gibson is an internationally recognized speaker, trainer and entrepreneur who has addressed several thousand people over the past decade in Canada, the US, South Africa and South America. He combines a diverse background in sales force leadership, new entrepreneur development and extensive sales and leadership coaching. Shane is a contributing author to Knowledge Brokers International (KBI) Ltd.’s The Complete Sales Action System™ and a master trainer in the Managing Complex Business Relationships System. Shane is President of KBI North America.
Shane Gibson has been published in numerous publications on the topics of Leadership, Marketing, Sales, Strategic Communications and Assessing Business Opportunities. He has also addressed the topic of Entrepreneurial Leadership in magazine, radio and television interviews. More recently Shane was interviewed in the Financial Post and Profit Magazine on sales performance. In March 2006 Shane Gibson was a guest speaker at the World Summit for Young Entrepreneurs, a gathering of over 1000 entrepreneurs from 70 countries organized by the UNDP and the WTU.
Internationally, KBI has implemented large-scale sales performance programs with SAB Miller, SIEMENS Industry and Transport Division, ACER Computers, BMW, Vodacom, and dozens of major financial services companies on three continents.
Shane’s North American clients include:
The Vancouver Board of Trade, The University of British Columbia, Pacific International Securities, The University of Victoria, Fitness World, Ladies Only Fitness, InfoSat Communications, ALS Environmental, The BC Automotive Retailers Association, Dye & Durham, Cendant Rent A Car (AVIS Rent A Car Budget Rent-a-Car), The Financial Advisors Network, The Pacific National Exhibition, Travel Insurance Coordinators & Trent Health, TOS Insurance/Hub International, Sauder Business School, Allied Van lines.
Sales Podcast – Avoiding one of the top big deal killers the “dead-air trap” – Sales Blog Entry
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One of the challenges in selling, especially in closing big deals is avoiding the “dead-air trap.” Keeping the momentum rolling in the sales process and the relationship is absolutely critical.
Today’s sales Podcast is focused on helping you to always be closing. That doesn’t mean you’re always closing the deal, but it does mean that you need to be always closing on the next step in the process.
Shane Gibson is President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. and author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and High Impact Mentorship – The Transformational Mentor’s Field Guide. e-mail shane@kbitraining.com or call 604-351-2328. For more information on in depth mentorship and personality style assessments visit http://www.kbitraining.com/mentorshipguide.html
Sales Podcast – Mentoring and developing high performance sales people – Sales Blog Entry
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Today’s sales Podcast is focused on prioritizing our efforts as leaders and mentors when we are developing our sales people to big deal closer status. Many of us spread ourselves too thin with too many people and often invest too much time in the weaker members of our sales team.
If you truly have 3 hours a week to for your mentorship program you need to invest that time and your knowledge and insight with the right people. Many mentorship and development programs get abandoned by the leadership in an organization because they get disenchanted with the results.
This Podcast will focus on mentoring the team members who will give your organization the biggest return on investment.
Shane Gibson is President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. and author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and High Impact Mentorship – The Transformational Mentor’s Field Guide. e-mail shane@kbitraining.com or call 604-351-2328. For more information on in depth mentorship and personality style assessments visit http://www.kbitraining.com/mentorshipguide.html
Sales Podcast – Closing Bigger Sales Blog Entry – Lawyers
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In closing big deals a lot of us tend to be big thinkers, yet it is in the details that the deal is sometimes made or lost. As we chase the dream sometimes we forget to assemble a support team to help us get the deal done.
One of these people that we need on our side is a good lawyer. Today’s sales podcast for the Closing Bigger Sales Blog is a brief excerpt from our book Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals. It is focused on the importance of having a good lawyer on your team (early on).
Think Big and Closing Bigger!
Shane Gibson
Author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals
Shane Gibson is President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. and author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and High Impact Mentorship – The Transformational Mentor’s Field Guide. e-mail shane@kbitraining.com or call 604-351-2328. For more information on in depth mentorship and personality style assessments visit http://www.kbitraining.com/mentorshipguide.html
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