Think about everything you’ve ever done in your life and pick out the things you did that led to fantastic results. If you could figure out why certain things created success and others were a complete waste of time, you could focus on making more smart moves in your future. I just spent the last three hours staring at the ceiling trying to do this and let me tell you, it’s not as easy as it sounds. There are two reasons why.
First, it’s really hard to isolate what worked great. Of course, there are obvious examples, like the time you spotted the love of your life and decided to say hello, and now you are married and living happily ever after. But once you get past the easy stuff, it gets harder to track the good things in your life back to their point of origin. It took me some time, but here are two I came up with.
Years ago, I took kayaking lessons and whispered a sarcastic joke about the instructor’s Elton-John-influenced sunglasses to the person beside me. She laughed and made a snarky comment, too. As a result of that joke, we started talking, and she became an excellent friend and, coincidentally, an important client for my new consulting firm.
A friend from my hometown came to visit, and we went to a pub. I got pulled into a conversation with some people I knew, and he wandered off. When I went to find him, he’d been talking to someone I’d never met before. That new friend introduced me to an art gallery owner, who introduced me to contemporary art. Forty years later, my life has been infinitely better because of the art, artists, and other collectors I’ve connected with.
It is hard to list where the songs on the greatest-hits album of your life came from. But it’s even harder to identify why they worked. What do your most successful songs have in common, and how can you create more platinum hits?
Those two stories from my life are connected by a powerful thread: shared values. In each case, the people I encountered had core values that aligned with mine, and before we knew it, we were finishing each other's sentences, laughing at the same things, and enjoying every minute of our time together. We’d become fast friends. In fact, everything good in my life has been because of shared values. And that’s the secret. Once you make this connection–that shared values equal success–you can purposefully make similar things happen. Understand your values. Find others who share them. Boom. Amazing stuff happens.
Successful sales professionals know this.
Focus on finding customers who share your values. They will connect with you easily, you’ll enjoy your time together, and good things will result. Sure, you could cast a wider net, and perhaps you need to be less discriminating to build volume when you are starting something new. But the sales relationships you build based on shared values will be long-term, mutually beneficial, and far more fulfilling. And isn’t that a better way to sell and to live your life?
Values are the answer.
Let’s put them to work.
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