By Michele Stilwell, Director of Marketing and Accounting at MEDiAHEAD.

Do you remember where you were at on 9/11? I will Never Forget.

I happened to be at the Hen House in Mission picking up flowers for one of the people that worked for me. It was her birthday. Over the loud speaker, they said someone had hit one of the twin towers in New York City. In a plane. I immediately stopped in the isle; I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. So I checked out with my groceries and got to work.

I worked at Sprint at the time on Ward Parkway. I ran into the building and they had already set up a TV in the lobby and had the news going. Everyone from the building was huddled together in the lobby watching. We couldn’t believe what we were seeing.

I remember it just as if it were yesterday.

So many brave men and women served that day. Some lost their lives and the rest have to live with the terrible memories.

I went to New York shortly after the attacks to see Ground Zero. Let me tell you, no words can describe how it made me feel inside.

They now have a wonderful Memorial tribute remembering all those from September 11 and of those killed in the World Trade Center bombing in February of 1993.

The Memorial’s twin reflection pools are nearly an acre wide and feature largest constructed waterfalls in North America. The pools sit right where the Twin Towers once stood. The names of every person who died in the 2001 and 1993 attacks are inscribed in bronze panels edging the Memorial pools.

This is a powerful reminder of the largest loss of life from a foreign attack on American soil and the greatest single loss of rescue personnel in American history.

2,996 people lost their lives. 343 of them were firefighters.

So on this September 11^th please remember all those who served or lost their lives that day. Take a moment of silence to remember them.

 

By Kat McDaniel, Principal at MEDiAHEAD.

People are always shocked when I tell them I’m going on vacation, renting a car and have no set agenda or reservations for a hotel room.

My preference to travel this way started years ago when my sister and I arrived in Amsterdam and our rental was a disaster. We just wandered the countryside for ten days, stopping at places that looked interesting and grabbing a room. We always say it was our favorite vacation together.

This was different than when we used to travel as a family. We were up at the crack of dawn and roaring down the road in our station-wagon towards the largest ball of string… and the next hotel reservation my father had booked for us.

The Largest Ball of String

My husband and I did see the largest ball of string a few years ago, but it was part of a one week wander that we did in Western Kansas seeing wide open spaces, outsider art and strange little museums. We were even invited back to a farmer’s house who we met at the largest round barn in the world. He wanted us to see his cows and windmills.

I try to savor the moment when I travel, because it’s easy to stay present in a new restaurant or place. I also like to savor what I call time affluence—free, unscheduled time.

The Sweetness of Doing Nothing

One of my favorite Italian sayings is “Dolce far Niente”, which means “the sweetness of doing nothing.”

It does not mean being lazy, it’s referring to the pleasure one gets from being idle. The ability to completely enjoy and savor a moment. For Italians, this concept is a part of their every day life; spending time drinking cappuccino at a café, enjoying an Aperol Spritz at sunset, talking a stroll around the moonlit piazza before bed and spending the day at a beach.

Dolce far Niente is something Italians embrace and something they do very well.

Our Trip to Italy

John and I had the luxury of spending June and July in Italy this summer. He is a teacher, so he has those months available.

We spent most of our mornings drinking cappuccino and reading on the lovely beaches. And then afternoons enjoying historical places and churches. Finally a lovely, slow dinner late into the evening. We had no agenda and booked almost every room on Hotels.com the day of our stay.

We found farmhouses, small funky B&B’s, an 1,100 AD Monastery, a small round house called a trulli and a Napoleonic fort on the ocean. I always added the search  filter of free breakfast, free wi-fi and free parking when using Hotels.com. The deals were incredible because we stayed in areas that had no American tourists. For example, unlike the $400/night hotel in Positano, we stayed 30 minutes away for $80/night in a beautiful Monastery carved into the side of a cliff. And we were the only ones there.

Traveling this way is scary to some people. Part of it is that we think we’re going to miss something. But what we forget is that serendipity is what we’re really missing—it’s the things that aren’t on our itinerary that are often the most important.

By Michele Stilwell, Director of Marketing and Accounting at MEDiAHEAD.

We recently had the weirdest week ever. I’m not really sure if the cause was the weather change or what, but thought you might like to hear about it.

The Stolen Truck

Weird and crazy started in the morning with a truck being stolen from the business next door. In plain site during the day. Just, BAM!

We have quite a few security cameras on our building. And the neighboring business knew this so they came over to see if our video captured the truck getting stolen. And yes, in fact we did have video documenting the crime, which was helpful for the police.

The Door-To-Door Cosmetics Salespeople

On two different occasions this same week, we had women come to our front door trying to sell us cosmetics. We’re thinking it must be a racket… Two different women at two different times? Kind of weird. (People do come in our door randomly…)

The Homeless Guy Who Wanted Business Cards

A homeless man who lives in his car came into our office. He was awesome… incredibly positive. He wasn’t letting his situation keep him down. He wanted to have some business cards printed! He wanted to be different…  and he wanted a way to let people know that he collects items that are different from all the rest.

He met with Michael Johnson who helped him with the design of his cards. He wanted a squirrel on the card, especially the feet. In other words, he wanted to make sure the printing bleed marks didn’t cut into the image. “The paws are so cute!” he said.

He had his spirit dog with him at all times. He lost his dog several years back, but the spirit of his dog is always with him. I loved this about him; he actually introduced me to his spirit dog and told me his dog is what keeps him happy and uplifted.

I think sometimes we get so wrapped up in life we forget to sit back take a good look at ourselves and think about how lucky we really are to have all the greatness around us.

Whether it’s a great relationship, great kids, great friends, a great job, a superb family, a house full of pets, or just a simple spirit dog that keeps you going.

To pay for his business cards, he wanted to trade us some 80’s CDs. We suggested he should get some money for the CDs… and donated his cards to him. And we wished him well.

You never know what’s going to happen in downtown Kansas City… and it was a weird week for sure!

By LeRay Warrior, Principal at MEDiAHEAD.

As I’ve worked in sales for almost all of my career, I think I’ve heard nearly every possible excuse. “I’m busy right now”, “I’ll think about it”, “Let me get back to you on that” are just a few of the most common deflectors used by potential clients who feel it’s impolite to say no right off the bat.

But these are all just early signals that later in the process they may eventually go cold, dodge emails or evade sales calls. Many salespeople would much prefer that you started with a clear and firm “no thank you.” As sales professionals, we genuinely appreciate the upfront “no”.

There are several reasons why this is the case.

Waste of Time and Resources as a Salesperson

When fielding a sales call, the recipient knows that if they don’t close the door on the proposition, they are almost certainly going to be contacted again.

I spoke in my last blog post about the “Rule of Seven”, and the importance of persistence as a sales person. I expect to speak to a prospect several times (at least 7) before making the sale. Therefore, by not shutting me down at the initial point of contact, I am going to schedule more calls, emails and possibly meetings to try and win a client over.

This is a huge waste of resources if the client has no actual intention of ever utilizing the products or services I’m selling. Time and energy would be much better spent on prospects who are taking a genuine interest in what is being offered.

Waste of Time and Resources for the Prospect

It’s not just the sales staff that suffers when a prospect doesn’t say that the service is of no interest to them.

As already mentioned, they will have to spend additional time on the phone with the sales rep, which in some cases, is several times a week. Then there’s reading and/or deleting follow up emails, LinkedIn messages and any other form of professional communication they might receive.

That time would be much better dedicated to taking care of their core responsibilities in whatever role he or she fills at their company.

Prospect Becomes Increasingly Annoyed

If a prospect continues to offer hope to a salesperson, the rep is going to keep contacting them to try and set up a meeting or call, receiving a chance to present services face-to-face and develop the relationship further. If a prospect has no real interest in what the rep is pitching, then that prospect is going to become increasingly annoyed.

It’s surprising how often, despite the inconvenience, prospects will continue to keep up the facade of being interested in the products and services reps offer. In rare cases, prospects can finally flip out and say in no uncertain terms that they don’t want to be contacted again. There’s simply no need to get to this point. By just being up front and honest at the very beginning, both parties benefit enormously.

Genuine Leads Miss Out On Great Sales Service

Where this can become very frustrating is when quality time is wasted on non-interested parties, instead of the people who need it the most.

By expending quality time on non-interested prospects, there may be several clients that are almost ready to sign on the dotted line who are not receiving the sales support they deserve. It may be the case that an interested party only has a few clarification questions before committing to an agreement.

If sales reps have been spending too much time focusing on the wrong people, they could miss out on a sale by not having the time to answer other prospect’s questions that could help them close the deal.

It’s Ok to Say “No”

Sometimes, people find it difficult to say no.

It could be that they feel personally uncomfortable saying no to a salesperson once a friendly rapport has been built. Personally, I would say that if this is you, don’t be afraid to say no. You can do so politely and there will be no animosity or hard feelings whatsoever. As sales professionals, we know it’s about the numbers, and we expect many more people to say no than yes.

“No” Offers an Opportunity to Pick Things Up Later Down the Line

A lot of my successfully landed clients informed me that the services I was offering weren’t for them at that moment in time. I was then able to respond with a simple, “Thank you. I’ll check back in with you in 6 months.”

When I checked back, they knew who I was, they knew about the services I offered and circumstances had sufficiently changed for them to become interested in what I had to sell. They later became a client.

Imagine the amount of resources I would’ve had to invest had they not initially said no!

Closing Thoughts

I’ve always valued honesty, and by saying a polite “no thank you” you’re going to save time for everyone involved. It helps a salesperson focus their efforts on those who need it most.

So next time you take a sales call and it’s not a fit, consider giving a polite “no thank you.”

By LeRay Warrior, Principal at MEDiAHEAD

It is often said that valuable life lessons can only be taught by those who are older and possess more life experience than we do. For example, “wait until you’re my age, then you’ll understand…” is an adage I’ve heard many times during my career.

However, in the past 2 years, I’ve learned just as much about life from raising my beautiful daughter, as I have from those who were so eager to give me their two cents of wisdom when I was developing into a young man.

Here are three of those lessons my daughter has instilled in me, making me both a better businessman and all-round human being.

Determination

Despite her tender age, my daughter is extremely determined in her everyday activities. If she has decided that she wants to do something, then there isn’t anything anyone (including me!) can say or do to stop her.

This includes situations where it would be much easier to stop and try something else. It doesn’t matter what roadblocks there may be, she’ll find a way to get it done. It’s been an important reminder to me about the importance of not just determination, but also perseverance. She has demonstrated to me that no matter how hard something may be, the words “I can’t” rarely, if ever, come out of her mouth. This attitude of not taking no for an answer has helped me to get to where I am today.

This is particularly the case in my sales process, where I fully expect a potential customer to initially say “no” or “not interested” when I first interact with them. Most salespeople are aware of the “Rule of Seven” which is that you’ll have to interact with a customer or client at least 7 times before doing business with you. Yet so many give up after the first “no thank you”!

My daughter has reaffirmed those values in me and I hope they will continue to prove fruitful moving forwards for MEDiAHEAD.

Honesty

Since my daughter is still young, she is yet to develop what some would call “a filter”. Which means she, without fail, calls things as they are. She will always tell the truth, even if it is to her own detriment.

Being honest is one of the traits I value most, and I feel it is even more important for those in leadership positions. It can be hard for employees of any level to receive constructive feedback since it could lay bare some of their faults. But I am a firm believer in being up front with people because it may that they were unaware of their own behavior, which can be fixed harmlessly without the need for any arguments of upset.

But I don’t just value honesty between employees, I make it a cornerstone of my client relationships. Things do go wrong from time to time, and whilst it’s not ideal, I feel it’s always important to front up to the issue, explain what has happened, why it has happened and how you’ll ensure that it will never happen again.

If you’ve built your relationship on honesty, your client will understand much more than if you try to cover something up and get caught later down the line.

I find my daughter’s honesty refreshing. She reminds me on a daily basis the importance of telling it as it is, whether that’s by giving honest feedback to other employees to help them develop or by owning up when something hasn’t gone as well as it should have for a client.

Fearlessness

When we develop into adults, we sometimes lose the fearlessness we had as a child. We want to continuously take the safe option, and never make ourselves too uncomfortable. However, my daughter is at a stage of her young life where she does not have the fear that we seem to develop as we grow older. She always dives head first into tasks without taking the consequences into account. If she gets something wrong she simply puts it down to experience and is eager to learn the correct way of doing it.

Witnessing these actions on a daily basis gave me the impetus to take a leap of my own by joining MEDiAHEAD without fearing any potential consequences. It has also completely pushed me outside of my comfort zone by forcing me to learn a new industry from scratch. Taking on this challenge has been one of the best career decisions I’ve ever made. I wouldn’t have been able to make it without my daughter reminding me about the benefits of removing fear from the equation.

Many of you will have had to make similar choices in your life, and it’s hard to not think about the effects an important life decision can have. But sometimes you have to trust your gut and commit. When this opportunity came along, I had to grab it with both hands and hang on!

It may have been the case that without my daughter I would have still been in my safe and stable former position. Thankfully, she gave me the nudge to take a risk, and it’s already paying off.

Final Thoughts

I owe my daughter a lot. Obviously she has contributed far more to my life than just teaching me important life lessons, but she has been there to serve as a timely reminder on more than a few occasions. Often at the moments when I’ve needed it the most.

I’m sure if you’re a parent, you will have had many similar experiences. Which, for me, goes to show it is not always those who are older and supposedly wiser than us that can teach us the value of determination, honesty or fearlessness.