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Today’s remark – experience and bad judgment

– Posted on Feb 21, 2012 by Margie

“Good judgment is the result of experience; experience is the result of bad judgment.” — Mark Twain

I saw this quote and loved it! To me it sings, “Take a risk, make mistakes and grow.” We seldom learn much from our successes and have you noticed many of your successes are either based on luck (which is not dependable!), or based on past experiences where you didn’t succeed?

One of my greatest learning experiences was one of my biggest and most embarrassing goofs. It was the first voicemail call I received when I started my business. I made the “bad judgment” mistake of calling this person back without visiting her website first. Yes, I really did that! You could politely call that “bad judgment” if you were kind. And you can also bet I didn’t get her business and I have not done that again!

What about when we hire? We ask the candidate for their experience. It is nicely listed on the resume – the TV Station they worked for, years in the Broadcast business, etc. – but that is really not their experience. That’s a list of titles and organizations. How about asking them about their experiences – examples of bad judgments they learned from? And did their Sales Managers nurture them during that learning process? How? Or why not? What could they have done differently to expand growth?

Take risks, learn from them and apply what you learn as you take more risks. Sales Managers, support the AEs and don’t forget to produce your own new experiences by trying something new!

Experience (the result of bad judgment) will make you truly remark-able.

Today’s remark – “LRTH”

– Posted on Feb 13, 2012 by Margie

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and, after almost 30 years of marriage, I am fortunate to still feel my husband truly loves me. (Happy Valentine’s Day, Hal. Sorry I won’t be home to celebrate with you!)

Granted, the feelings a husband and wife have for each other are very different from the feelings we have for our advertisers and co-workers. But there are (or should be) some similarities as to how we treat each other. Here are a few as we focus on customer (and co-worker) success:

Listen – do we really listen to each other and force our own thoughts to stop while they are sharing? It’s impossible to think and listen simultaneously. Do we do our homework to learn about our client’s business and industry and ask thoughtful, researched and provocative questions? And do we really hear what they say and understand or are we busy thinking about what we are going to sell them?
Respect – do we treat each other with dignity and try to learn from each other? Do we truly admire each other for our abilities and achievements and leave jealousies and competitiveness behind? Do we show respect? Even to those advertisers who show limited respect for us?! Their achievements and challenges may not resonate with us but that is irrelevant. It’s about them.
Thoughtfulness – do we dig deep inside and put ourselves in their shoes to better understand their thoughts and feelings from their point of view. Do we look for ways to fulfill their needs to be successful, cared about, and important? Isn’t that what we all want? Do we provide great and pertinent information to our advertisers and co-workers? Are we “full of thought” when it comes to them, their needs, challenges, accomplishments?
Help – do we set aside our needs (to make budget!) to address their challenges? To we look for solutions? BTW, people buy solutions, not products. And do we try to help each other by setting aside pettiness in the office? Do we offer praise and encouragement to each other even when it is hard? Do we stay close with our advertisers and go the extra mile to sincerely help them succeed? Do we provide them with resources and attention unselfishly?

LRTH may not spell anything but, to me; it stands for the true meaning of Valentine’s Day minus the romance and flowers. I’ll take LRTH over roses any day!

And this will make us all re-markable.

Today’s remark – great “encourager”

– Posted on Feb 07, 2012 by Margie

One of my Broadcast client’s AE’s referred to me yesterday as a great “encourager.” I immediately felt great but got to thinking about what that actually meant. If you look up the word “encourage” you will find it means “to give support, confidence and hope or to give advice.”

Nowhere in the definition is the word “courage.” I got to thinking and, to me that means “taking action despite fear.”

Let’s face it. We are all fearful – fearful of rejection, of appearing ignorant, of making a bad mistake, of being embarrassed, of being discovered we really don’t have a clue what we are doing most of the time, etc.

But finding an “encourager” or someone you can be yourself with without worry, someone you can take risks around without fear of retribution or humiliation, someone who will help you find your courage (no one can actually give that to you) is a real gift. Being called a great “encourager” may be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Ever! Now I have to live up to it.

Hope you find a great “encourager” or, better yet, hope you become one to many. That will make you remark-able!

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