The Salesby5 Blog

Attending the Gazelles/Fortune Small Business Growth conferences for the past 4 years, I have noticed that the recent MBA’s there are always upset that they hadn’t already learned all of this content during their education.  For example, even Jim Collins’ Good to Great was missing from their required and suggested reading lists.  In working at a local University’s business school, I found that upon my suggestion, they started making that book part of the required reading.  My biggest surprise came last night when a current MBA student told me that his professor had not mentioned blogs or social networking when explaining marketing platforms. This student asked the professor if was aware of these tools, and he said yes. Then, the professor asked the student to please explain them to the class; what they are and how to use them. I am more and more concerned as we interview students with a public relations education, and find that they do not know anything about media relations, or students with marketing degrees that don’t know how to use Google.

The #1 way to increase creativity and learning in the majority of the population is stimulus. (For the top 4% of the highest IQ population, it is meditation).

What are you doing for you and your employees to keep them ahead or at the top?

We offer:

1. Strengths training that teaches dramatic team productivity, on the job happiness, and lower turnover.

2. Full company training on how not to de-motivate at all levels. (You can find this in the research from Jim Collins.)

3. The tools to sell more product or service with less effort by 5pm, daily. (Data and implementation from thousands of research papers with a future focus.)

Today at 5pm, there will be a rehearsal dinner for the wedding of our CIO (Chief inspiration officer) and Co-Author of the SalesBy5 blog, Nan Palmero. He earned his title long ago, long before I met him. His friends will also attest to his incredible ability to help, lead, and inspire. When I met him, he was looking for a new career with 2 requirements; he did not want to be in sales and he did not want to be in accounting. Today, he writes for Blackberrycool.com, Salesby5, his own blog, and is a contributory writer for some of north Americas top growth gurus. Nan sells everyday! He sells our customers on the best technology to help communicate better with customers and employees and he sells our team on working smarter and not harder. There are actually too many things that he sells to mention in this blog. This man is special to us and many others. My point: Sometimes you may think you do not want to do something that is actually a real strength of yours. Pay close attention to what activity you feel strongest doing, and to those that make you feel drained. Nan uses his strengths to help our team and our customers win better and faster than their competition!

Nan, Thank you for being in our lives and congratulations on your new life with Ashley!

What if you told people they were wonderful when they were?  What if you told people they looked great when they did?  What if you helped people where they needed help?  What if you told people that they were not the right people in their organization and why?  We do and it works.

Transparency- it works for windshields because you can see where you are going. Mirrors tell you where you have been and, perhaps, what wrong turn you took.  Quarterly strengths sessions, telling us where we can depend on you the most and where we can depend on you the least, are windshields to a career.

Do you have a GPS for your career, so your team can know where you are and where you want to go?

photo by The Joy of the Mundane

Welcome back for the continuation and ending of Trey’s week at Salesby5.  Here’s how it wrapped up…

So as if this brilliant team of people who came together to complement each other and create an amazingly successful business weren’t enough, Erik also set me up with jobs working for Magi Real Estate, with Louis Pisano and Ryan Harrison (two other brilliant businessmen). Louis showed me the importance of tenant satisfaction and how your attitude can sometimes be the deciding factor on whether your business is profitable or not. He deals primarily with tenant relations and was dazzling with the way he handled his clients. Ryan dealt more with actually finding potential tenants, and is without a doubt a genius among salesmen. He spoke to me with an encouraging and supportive tone and actually offered me an internship for the next summer! Whether that works out or not, I was so pleased that one of the top real estate brokers in San Antonio would consider me for an internship. Observing these great guys and discussing concepts of business with them was an incredible experience in itself. Thanks guys for all of your help, you both were great mentors.

Now for my biggest influence, my uncle Erik Darmstetter, the man that made all of this possible. After living with him and his beautiful family for an entire week and working with him on critiquing my situation in life, he has definitely become a role model for me. I cherish the time I get to spend with him and still wish I had a little pocket bobblehead Erik to carry around for advice, which everyone needs from time to time. Anyone that has met him can understand what I’m talking about. His energy is contagious and he encourages using strengths to guide people through work and life. He seems to have it all, from a successful business to a loving family, and for the simple reason that he loves helping people in need, he decided to share it with me. That is what I determine to be a great man. I try to model some parts of my life from him and give him credit for my newly found ambition for college and success. So thank you, Uncle Erik, Nan, Kya, Q, Ryan, Louis, and the family (Bubba, Devyn and my amazing aunt Ann) for giving me one of the most productive weeks of my life. I hope to someday return the favor.

So what are my plans for the future? I simply want to… “inspire.”

Trey completed his week-long internship at SalesBy5 this past Friday.  Here is the story in his words.

Two weeks ago, my parents would ask me about my plans for the future, concerning college and possible professions, and I would not be able to generate any sort of legitimate response. I was not aware of or concerned with anything besides my present situation. College seemed to me to be a cliché and a pain, which I was considering avoiding… until I had the opportunity to have an inspiring conversation with my uncle, Erik. I’ve always had a relationship with him, due to our family interactions, but never really sat down to talk with him. Within minutes of discussing my life with Erik, he recognized the struggle I was having with taking my life seriously. He then presented me with the opportunity of a lifetime; to come and intern at SalesBy5 for a week. At first, I was concerned I would be wasting a week of my summer to go work for free but after a little debate, I decided I needed the practice.

Immediately after walking into the SalesBy5 office, I was greeted from all directions by Erik and his amazing co-workers, Nan and Kya. Their personalities alone delivered a comfort level cool enough to relax someone going through hell. I was put to work instantly, doing productive things for the company that was surprisingly not mindless busy work (for instance, I was revising and editing client proposals). For the first time in my life, I felt genuinely accepted into an adult environment and I loved every minute of it. Not to mention that Nan hooked me up with an awesome BlackBerry, which I did not want to return when the time came. The SalesBy5 team welcomed me with open arms when I was in a frightening new environment. They introduced me to the concept of following your strengths and how to apply that to my life. Nan, who basically is the coolest computer whiz I have ever met, and his advice—not only on sales and marketing, but also life itself—were an essential part of my learning experience. And Kya was a huge part of the reason I was able to wake up in the morning and look forward to going to work; something the majority of adults would kill to feel. I never saw Kya without a bright smile on her face and something intelligent to say. Sarah rocks too and was very helpful. I didn’t get a ton of time with Sarah, or Q, as they refer to her, but she was equally as appealing as the rest of the crew and a great person to talk to. The SalesBy5 team has the ultimate mix of abilities and personalities that all truly successful businesses should be modeling after.

Come back tomorrow for the rest of his adventures and his wrap up of the week.

Trey and his cousin, Dylan

How many of you grew up hearing that statement or something like it?  My dad, trying his best to help, actually got me to do a year of law school.  It was the most miserable year of my life.  Now you have the opportunity to help people younger than you - your kids, nieces and nephews, neighbor’s children - in helping them find their passion.  This week, Erik’s nephew Trey is joining us.  Yesterday, he had the opportunity to sit in on an exciting new potential client meeting and actually make suggestions.  He’s 17!  It’s likely he’ll never forget this week and surely, it will change the course of his life.  He’s getting a crash course in Strengths, what they mean, and why they’re important to his success and happiness.  Certainly, this is time much better spent than cleaning a grease trap at his local fast food joint.  This experience not only feeds Trey mentally, but it also pays us back. His wide eyed curiosity and excitement gives us a quick reminder about how special our lives are in having found such a wonderful place to call our company.  School is starting again soon, which kid can you grab for a day or two and teach? These experiences don’t exist in books; the responsibility resides squarely on your shoulders to introduce the next entrepreneur to the world.  Will you accept the challenge?

photo by euthman

Playing to your strengths, starting daily huddles, and developing one page plans are all habits.  As you probably know, habits take more than a day to form.  Some research says that it can take between 21 to 30 days to form a habit.  Have you been quietly abused for integrating strengths or gotten the evil eye for bringing “one more meeting” to a busy day?  Take heart!  You’re likely within the time frame of a developing habit.  Here’s a tip for you on huddles - make your biggest complainer lead the huddles and require him/her to make them amazing, without deviating from the framework.  Come back to the comments (after 30 days) and let us know how it worked out.

photo by katerw

We discuss inspiration, strengths, and motivation vs. de-motivation. We blog about many other topics, but the common thread is that it all has enormous amounts to do with sales - internally and externally!  Yesterday we had a customer visit from 400 miles away and tell us all how much we have helped them and have made a giant difference! At the same time several team members sent me emails that completely inspired me as they complimented my ideas and strategy in numerous meetings. Everything matters and yesterday was exceptional.  Use this as stimulus to see how your team is inspiring customers and, of course, one another! One last thought: our goal is to inspire 2008 people in 2008. Why? It fuels our soul! photo by coolmitch

I got two calls in the last 30 days.  One was just last Wednesday.  Both were former employees who worked for me.  One from 7 years ago and the other, 4 years ago.  They both gave me unexpected gratitude for making an impact on their lives, which inspired me, and I am forever grateful.

My purpose (ERIK), and the purpose of my company (SalesBy5), is to inspire others.  When I was working hard to inspire or mentor others, I didn’t even realize what I was doing.  It was natural for me; not driven by money, greed, or fame.  Today, my team inspires me, as do my clients.  And I do my best to give more to them than I receive.  The core reason I get up every day and keep doing what I do is passion.  My passion is for the people I work with, for the ones I will meet around the world, and for using my strengths to help others.  Thank you for the calls Ryan and Leslie!

It was June 16th, another big day in our company’s history, when Bobby the Intern started.  He was a new St. Mary’s grad with a major in General Business.  It has been less than two months and he is leaving us for a MBA with a Greehey Scholarship.

We interviewed about 14 candidates for this position.  Most interviews were 10 minutes, as we knew they were not the right fit for our culture and clients.  Bobby’s interview was unique.  I, Erik, came in late on purpose because I wanted my team to be sold versus me.  They were sending me instant messages during the interview on my BlackBerry that we had a winner.  This team is beyond hard to satisfy, but finally they were sold. Over the last 50 days, I have gotten to see his natural strengths and his ability to give the team his best attitude and talents.  We keep getting interns that change us and we change them.  Bobby, thank you for your talent this summer and may your future be as bright as the sun!

P.S. We promise to give you an update on our past Salesby5 interns, Greg and Carlton, soon!