As little as five years ago, I used to go to many networking functions to try and build relationships with people. Of course, it was a bonus if I was able to do business with them but many, if not all, of the people I built relationships with did not result in new business.

The fact that I wasn’t able to do business with the people I met was really no problem to me at all. What I made sure of, however, was that I genuinely tried to learn more about the people I met and through the course of time, earned their trust. Also, this was never forced. There were those people I developed lasting relationships with, that have remained with me over the last five years, and there are those who have come and gone but when we bump into each other, are still very friendly.

Moving forward to the present, what I am seeing more and more of these days are networking organizations designed to bring together groups of people to network with the soul purpose to try and earn business from each other. I think these are great if done properly, and can really add to the bottom line of people’s businesses. 

However, what I am seeing more of these days are what I term ‘Networking Seagulls.’ These are the folks who come to meetings and remind me of those seagulls you see in the parking lots of a Mcdonald’s restaurant. Have you ever seen seagulls that are grouped together, right by a car, just waiting for the person to roll down their window and throw out a french fry? Then you’ll see all the seagulls rush to try and get the french fry. Well, that’s almost what is happening at these networking events that I am seeing as of late. Groups of people, who go from event to event, just hoping they’ll get a french fry. 

If you were looking to bake a true relationship, the recipe would call for it to cook in the oven at 250 C. for 12 hours – so to speak. But, networking groups these days, will have you believe you can bake it for 1000 C. for 15 minutes. You can imagine the end result – It just doesn’t work that way.   

There is a quantum of value that I have gained in the relationships I have built over the years. It may not have directly resulted in new business from them, but the value of friendship, mentorship, and advice has allowed me to be infinitely more successful. I would never trade that for a piece of business from them.

So, please don’t be a seagull and try to build something of value with the people you meet. Those who truly notice the difference will and, I guarantee this, thank you for it.

I wish you all the success in the word, now go out and BE the difference!

Many years ago I remember going to Mexico with my wife, who at the time was my girlfriend. While we were at the beach with our friends, they had all decided to go out for a swim. I went along for a bit, but before long, everyone but me were out quite far from the shore.

I barely knew how to swim and in my stupidity, feeling like I couldn’t wimp out, I kept swimming even though I was feeling extremely unsure of my ability to go out that far. As I swam out, the waves got bigger and more pronounced. As this happened, I saw everyone start to swim underneath them, so they didn’t rise and fall with the waves.

So, I thought it looked simple enough that I could do it too. Boy was I wrong. On my first try, I got caught up in the wave and it pushed me down hard. My balance was all off and I was officially panicking. I finally got back to the surface gasping for air, and another wave hit me and I was thrown under water again.

It was the first time in my life where I actually felt I could be in serious trouble. Suffice it to say, I lived; but just by the skin of my teeth. As soon as we got home, I signed up for swim classes as I never wanted to relive that moment.

So, what does nearly drowning  have to do with success? Well, a lot. In many ways, that feeling of being tossed around under water, gasping for air and then being hit by another wave, was how I felt early on in my business. There was a time, actually around the same time last year, when I thought my business wouldn’t survive. But, I employed something I learned from swimming that got me through it.

In swimming, if you are underwater and you panic, you have on average anywhere between 4-6 seconds of oxygen. But I learned that if you remain calm and stay focused, you can have anywhere between 35-60 seconds of oxygen. People who panic are the ones who die and people who can remain calm are the ones who live. The same goes for people in business. Those who panic end up closing their doors; those who remain calm keep their doors open.

I’ve taken this lesson and used it in my business life; and I can safely say it has saved me more than once. So, when something out of my control is happening I just remember to stay focused, get bounced around by the waves so to speak, remain calm and I’ll survive.

Sometimes, all you need to do to succeed – is to survive the next day.

I wish you all the success in the world; now go out and BE the difference.

Henry Ford created a simple yet very effective business model. It was a model based on having people do a specific task, that required little or no thought, and pay them as cheaply as possible. In fact, Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth, describes it quite nicely:

The business model should be such that the employees needed possess the lowest possible level of skill necessary to fulfil the functions for which each is intended. A legal firm ought to have lawyers and a medical firm should hire doctors.  But you don’t need brilliant lawyers or doctors.  What you need is to create the best system through which good lawyers and doctors can be leveraged to produce excellent results.

Unfortunately good is today’s bad and businesses who possess ‘good’ employees who mindlessly do only what they’re told just won’t cut it. If you look at company’s like Zappos.com, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Southwest Airlines (PLEASE check this video out - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvdCFYLf_JI) just to name a few, they all have an almost religious dedication to their employees.

What those companies do, is give their people a platform to perform the remarkable, the memorable and consequently, they have flourished.

All things being equal, every business can provide or has access to the same information, technology, and generally can perform the same services for their customers. But now the only difference is, people flock to businesses where the employees are truly engaged, have a passion towards their work and employees who truly care about the customer experience.

Now – get out of the old and in with the new! Attract employees who are not employees; rather, attract partners who add their passion, imagination and devotion to the people your business serves!

I wish you all the success in the world; now go out and BE the difference!

There is a story that goes something like this:

On the first day of class, filled with just over 100 university students, the professor calmly said to everyone, “Class, I wanted to let you know – no matter what happens I’m giving you all B grade. So, you can all go; I have each of your names listed here, and I promise to give each one of you a B.”

Students sat in their chairs, looking at each other in disbelief. “Again, this is no joke, I promise,” said the prof. Slowly, students starting getting up and leaving. Soon, there was only around 20 or so students left.

“Again, let me repeat; you’ll all get a B, but if you stay, then you forgo that grade and you’ll take your chances and get what you earn.” Just then, more got up leaving only five or so students in the class.

“So, you guys are staying? You really think you’ll get better than a B in this class?” the prof. asked. “Yes!” said all five students at once. “Alright; it’s your choice,” said the prof.

He then gave each student their booklet, “I’d like everyone to turn open their books.” They did and the first page read:

Congratulations – you earned an A in this course

To me, this story illustrates that most settle for something guaranteed and, they do alright. But to really do well, which only a few do, you’ll have to take a risk and have a very strong belief in – yourself!

I wish you all the success in the world, now go out and BE the difference!

The best companies and business professionals I know of have an un-movable, un-relenting almost religious stand point when it comes to their always.

Take for instance Wal-Mart. They like the word so much they use it twice: ‘Always low prices. Always.’ In other words, when you go to Wal-Mart one thing you might get is good customer service, you might get good selection; heck you might even get good produce. But one thing you will ALWAYS count on is…you guessed it: Low Prices!

So, what’s your always? Do you know what it is? More importantly, do you always do it? If not, you better start. It’s the best way to define who you are and who your company is. Before you know it, you’ll start building a reputation for the always you bring to your customers, those you work with and you will start growing your business and your career – but beware! For it to be always, you must always do it!

I wish you all the success in the world; now go out and BE the difference!

One of the lessons my Mom taught me when I was very young was to treat everyone with same level of respect; no matter their race, religion or occupation. I have always carried this with me and it has allowed me to develop very solid, long lasting relationships.

Recently, my daughter and I went on a shopping trip to West Edmonton mall. We went there because she had done such an amazing job at my cousin’s wedding a couple of weekend’s ago. She really did earn a day at the mall!

As we were nearing the end of the day, having went into nearly every store, and feeling quite exhausted, we walked by one of those stand alone kiosks. A young lady popped out and said to my daughter, “Let me curl your hair!” My daughter then looked at me, with her big brown eyes, and what was I supposed to say? “Sure” I said, thinking to myself, why did we have to pass by one of these bloody kiosks!

But then, I thought of my Mom’s lesson and calmed down. As the young lady was curling my daughter’s hair I decided to simply make conversation with her, and it actually turned out to be a very interesting discussion. She was quite passionate about her future and I think she will do well in her career; I was actually glad to have had the opportunity to talk with her.

At the end, she then asked what I did and I let her know I have my own sales company. She then said, “really! Do you have a card?” Always carrying one with me, I said yes and gave it to her. She then said “The fellow who owns most of these kiosks at the mall is very close to Don Ghermezian and I am close to their family. I’ll be sure to pass it on to them. You’re a great person and I think they should meet you.”

I was very surprised at this as just having gotten to know a good person was reward enough; but for her to potentially help me with my business was just the icing on the cake. It also taught me that my Mom’s lesson has once again helped me so much. Treat everyone you encounter with same level of respect; no matter their race, religion or occupation. You never know who you can be talking to and nothing but good can come out of it.

I wish you all the success in the world, now go out and BE the difference!

I recently came across a company who, on the surface seemed very good. However, after learning the way in which they hired employees, it completely changed the way I viewed them.

The lesson is this; you cannot claim to be a great company unless everything you do is great. As my mentor once said, “you can’t get a little bit pregnant.” In other words, either you are a top level company or you’re not.

At The Sales Effect, which is the company I started, our motto is this, “Excellence or nothing.” This makes every day a challenge, every encounter important, and sometimes causes me great stress  - but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Are you one of those companies that claim to be great, yet don’t consistently demonstrate it through to your customers, staff and those you do business with? If so, it’s never too late to be one of the greats. Start today!

I wish you all the success in the world, now go out and BE the difference!

Well, after almost a month a half of not having my blog it’s back! I had some technical difficulties, but with the help of Troy Huebner over at Whistle Click, he was able to get me back up and running. So Troy, one last time, THANK YOU! You are truly a master of your craft.

I will be adding my previous blog posts shortly, so please stay tuned for those, as well as many new posts to come.

I wish you all the success in the world, now go out and BE the difference!