Greg's Right FIT Newsletter #165

Quick notes to help you get more done in less time. . . next week. 

In this issue: 

- Techniques for FIT
- Being Human
- Random Stuff

Techniques for FIT

• Never present, always absent is a recipe for unhappiness, to paraphrase Kierkegaard. Life is probably not about being busy for busyness sake. 

• Get to removing the word busy from your everyday language, replacing it with quality. When presented with a boring requests, don't say you're too busy, say "I can't do it justice because the time required isn't in my schedule." 

• Humans, like birds of a feather, tend to stick together. Americans, says a study, see busyness and think wealth. Italians, on the other hand, see idleness and think wealth. (Humans are also independent, so you can choose.)

• An ability to direct your free time. Next week, whether your busy or leisurely, think about how much control you have over your free time and if it makes you happy. Then, think about how to make it happen for your people. 

Being Human - Who are you talking to?

He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy" - Mandy Cohen, mother of Brian

Who are you talking to?

I'm going to make a generalization. If your people are having an issue with long sales cycles, it's because they're not talking to the right people. 

I'll go further and say if you employ professional sales people and pay a salary, they simply don't know how to get in front of buyers. Sure, they happen to get in front of some true buyers, but more by accident than on purpose. 

The problem is, if they happen to be talking to a qualified company, but a non-buyer, they build relationships that are hard to break. They don't want to offend their non-buyers. Sounds ridiculous but it happens because they don't know how to work with/get around/leave non-buyers who hold influence but can't prioritize budget or make a decision. 

Teach them how to get to a real buyer and speed up their sales cycle by keeping them away from naughty boys. 

Good stuff. 

Random Stuff

"I have many leather bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.” 

I need to do a big Kondo-like book purge and share why it stays or goes, but until then, here are some recent reads:

Just finished, "Words Without Music" by world-famous composer Philip Glass. Mr. Glass' autobiography and it was a great read. New York City in the late 60's and 70's. 

A book on negotiating, "Never Split The Difference," by former FBI hostage negotiatorChris Voss. I struggled translating it to the type of selling I advise on but it's full of great insights into how we think. I wishe he had written it from the hostage taker's point of view, like "never be bamboozled by an expert again!" 

A book on how we make big decisions, "Farshighted" by Steven Johnson. I loved his other books and his PBS show "How We Got To Now," and I'd put this book somewhere in the middle. Couple it with the negotiating book and you'll get some interesting ideas around how humans make decisions – and reasons to manage their involvement. 

A book about where they keep books, "The Library Book" by Susan Orlean. If you enjoy libraries, you'll devour it. If you don't like libraries, this will have you rethink their worth. 

I'll leave you with some recent brain floss books: 

"The Word Is Murder," by Anthony Horowitz about a murder writer, writing about a murder writer being pulled into a case. Fun stuff and if you liked the series Foyle's War, it's in there. 

"I AmPilgrim" by Terry Hayes who has written blockbuster movie scripts. A reluctant man-of-action having to use his skills to save th world's freedom lovers. Couldn't put it down. 

Anything by Agatha Christie. I just reread "Murder on the Orient Express," and it's still great. So compact, such great characters, and all neatly solved in the end. Brain plaque removed. 

A second set of ears

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