Harvey Mackay | Margie Albert

Tag: Harvey Mackay

Today’s remark – “Get ‘er done”

– Posted on Aug 06, 2012 by Margie Albert

Most of you know I am a big Harvey Mackay fan. His blog today is almost right on. He says (and I am paraphrasing) that executing ideas is the most important part of the sale.

I do take issue with him and Michael Dell who says “ideas are commodities.” Ideas set us apart from computers! Havent seen a Dell or an Apple come up with an idea yet!!

Discovering the problem, finding the solution, developing the idea, and perfect execution are all tied together and each phase are equally important. If any of these are wrong the whole process goes wrong. Haven’t we all witnessed perfect execution of a really bad idea?!

And some people are naturally better at each of these tasks.

My good friend Al Fahden developed a profile 20+ years ago called Team Dimension. He discovered there are basically four types of people:

Creators – they can come up with 20 ideas in 5 minutes! Some of them will be impossible to execute but they are loaded with ideas and they hate executing them. Life to them is a continuous brainstorming session!

Advancers – they may not come up with lots of ideas but can spot a good one immediately and “advance” it forward. They are great communicators and know how to seek out the right people to make the idea come alive.

Refiners – these people seldom come up with their own ideas but can see holes in yours and that is a good thing! They want to be sure the idea is sound and all possible issues have been dealt with prior to the presentation. While often viewed as negative they are far from it. Their motivation is anticipating problems before they happen and solving them.

Executors – these people are flawless in execution of ideas. Spreadsheets, dates and deadlines, details are handled (everything Creators hate!). They are great Project Coordinators.

All four types are necessary from a project’s start to finish. Your staff is probably made up of mostly Creators and Advancers (most sales staffs are) but there are ways to work as a team with a lop-sided profile. If you are interested in learning more about this process and having your team profiled let me know.

Back to my original point – to “Get ‘er done” we need ALL facets running at perfection. The total combination of discovering the problem, finding the solution, developing the idea, and perfect execution will make us remark-able.

Today’s remark – you can’t dictate growth

– Posted on Jul 06, 2012 by Margie Albert

Senior Level Managers at TV Stations or in their Corporate Offices say we need to change how we do things. I once had a prospective client ask me to come in and make change happen! Oh, if only I had that much power!

Change, or I also call it growth, cannot be dictated. We all must see and feel a need for change and be willing to make growth happen. I can help with that but I can’t single-handedly make it happen.

Station Management can affect growth by being steadfast in communicating “why” it is important and “how” it will positively affect us personally . When the staff sees Senior Management is serious and lives and breathes a plan for change your TV Station has a chance to be successful. I can help with the plan but without complete and daily buy-in (not lip service) from Senior Management we are doomed to fail.

So while we are waiting what can Account Executives do immediately to grow (assuming you feel the need and are willing)? Here are just a very few action items for your consideration:

Ask yourself why you got into this business in the first place and would you do it again if given the choice? You spend so much of your life at work so make sure you are doing what you love doing!
Get comfortable being uncomfortable! We don’t experience growth and change by staying in our comfort zone. You weren’t comfortable the first time you drove a car or fell in love. But aren’t you glad you took the risk?
Focus on customer success every day, all the time. Think as if you were the client. In my development programs you would hear “every day, all the time” so many times you might recite it in your sleep! In every email, voicemail, presentation – always from the client’s point of view. Every communication needs to add value to the client. Yes, EVERY communication.
Know thy clients! Know their industry, their business, their challenges, goals, dreams, their market share, their competitors, their family, their birthday, their favorite dessert, their communication style, their average ticket…the list goes on and on. I love the Mackay 66 but you may have another CRM tool you like better or are asked to use.
Read and learn. Set aside at least 10 minutes every day to read about something you don’t know much about, learn more about the industries of your top 10 clients, experiment on a social media site such as google+, investigate a networking group in your city and how you can contribute your talents to it. You will be amazed at how much you can learn in just 10 minutes every day (including Saturday and Sunday).

These are just a very few actions we can all do to grow and set us apart from those unwilling. It is rewarding outside of your comfort zone where you will experience change and growth and you will be remark-able.

What are YOU willing to do to be remark-able?

Today’s remark – rules

– Posted on May 13, 2012 by Margie Albert

Lou Holtz said, “Everybody needs four things in life: Something to do, someone to love, someone to believe in and something to hope for.” (I add we need to be valued when present and missed when we are gone.)

He also simplifies things down to three simple rules paraphrased in some cases:

Do the right thing – if you make a mistake say you are sorry and move on. No one is perfect but always try to do the right thing to begin with.
Do everything to the very best of your ability within the time allotted. Not everyone will be an All-American, not everyone can finish first, and not everyone can be great at everything. But give it your all in the time allotted and move forward.
Show people you care – really care. Ask how you can help them and mean it. If you are a consistent reader of my blog you know I write about this a lot!

He also says people have three basic questions:

Can I trust you? Without trust you have no relationship. Period
Are you committed to excellence? Best way to prove that is to do everything to the very best of your ability all of the time.
Do you care about me? Caring about others is not about making their lives easy or being their friend. It is about enabling them to be successful. a FOCUS ON CUSTOMER SUCCESS.

Think about someone you have a problem with and ask these three questions – is there trust, a commitment to excellence, and do you care? If any of the three are missing you have a decision to make. You can change it, live with it as it is or move on.

Much of this came from a recent column written by Harvey Mackay. It struck a chord so here it is with my twist. I think Lou Holtz and Harvey Mackay are both remark-able.