So now that I’ve written about gallivanting around in Gravenhurst, Ontario with my coworkers and listening to Mike Lipkin for a few days, I suppose I should write about what I took away from the days spent there. Fortunately for me, that’s going to be quite easy.

Mike on the stage at Primus Business Services' Sales Kickoff

As I’d mentioned in the previous post, it was quite a change from the typical sales kickoff since there weren’t any new products to learn about or group activities about them. It was focused around us as individuals. I’ve been working on building my personal brand for a while now and it was great to hear this from Mike:

Sell yourself first, your company second, your products and services third.

Now I know this isn’t the one piece of advice that will change everything; in fact, I’m pretty sure we’ve all heard something similar to this before. But this was just what I needed to hear, especially since the past year has been tough for all of us given the economic recession. I can speak for people in sales roles that the well seemed like it was almost bone dry on some days. Budgets were cut, many people lost their jobs as a result and now they’re either still looking for work or  just getting settled into new roles… often roles that require less experience than their previous position.

Now that 2010 is upon us and it looks as though we’ve gone through the worst of it, people are starting to get positive again and think of better days to come. Businesses are reinstating budgets that were cut altogether (perhaps slowly) and buyers/decision makers are more open to having conversations about whatever it is we as sales executives are providing. So from a timing perspective, it couldn’t have been better to have Mike Lipkin discuss the importance of having preeminent conversations with our clients. Part of having these conversations is about being truly fascinated with what your counterpart is telling you! And in a roundabout way, this is part of selling yourself. People love to see that others are interested in them and in turn, they will respond in kind.

I left the workshop feeling revitalized, particularly on a personal level. What Mike spoke of was exactly what I needed to do to help me build a solid personal brand. Not only will this information help me with offline relationships, but online as well. By helping people out it show that you care about them and their interests, which will come back in spades. I’m a firm believer in Karma… mainly because it seems to be quite evident in my life with everything I do.

Recently Primus Business Services sent the entire Sales team to Taboo Resort in Gravenhurst, Ontario for a few days. For those who aren’t familiar with Gravenhurst, not to worry. It’s somewhere up north where it’s below zero for 6 months of the year.

Anyway while there for our annual Sales kickoff we had the chance to catch up with coworkers, have a few drinks have several drinks drink like Keith Moon at an open bar wedding and get prepared for the year ahead. Typically Sales kickoff content involves some form of product training, but this one was different – it was entirely focused around Mike Lipkin, Canada’s preeminent speaker. In turn, Mike focused his presentations around us and the importance of building preeminence, one conversation at a time. It was a breath of fresh air. The last thing my fellow reps and I wanted to do each morning while recovering from the previous night was get bogged down with product knowledge and creating presentations around that. I credit Jeff Lorenz, our VP of Business, as well as our entire Marketing department for the change of pace.

Since I mention the word Preeminence a lot in this post, I should mention Mike’s definition of it: the benchmark by which all others are judged.

Mike stressed the importance of ‘living above the line’, which I interpreted as holding yourself to standards that are higher than what is typically expected or socially accepted. As part of this, he covered his ‘Ten Laws of Sales & Service Preeminence’:
 

1. Focus On Success
2. Own The Business
3. Prepare To Win
4. Be Courageous
5. Care Deeply About Your Customers
6. Listen Intensely
7. Communicate With Confidence
8. Be a Team Player
9. Be Hungry For Kaizen
10. Be Disciplined

 
The last thing I want to do is regurgitate through text Mike’s entire presentation over the few days we spent with him, as this would do a serious injustice to the quality of the content he spoke of. I will say this – if you ever have the chance to attend one of his seminars, workshops or presentations, jump at the chance. He is a highly sought-after speaker who engages his entire audience. And despite everyone’s hangovers, people enjoyed getting involved in his presentations because of this.

Coffee helped too though.

“The quality of your future is a direct function of the quality of conversations you have with the people in your life. Extraordinary relationships are created one preeminent conversation at a time.”  - Mike Lipkin

For more information on Mike Lipkin, check out his website: http://www.mikelipkin.com/