Robin Williams and Me (A Personal Experience with a Great Man)

Everyone knows the feeling of being alone in a crowd. Maybe it’s arriving at a party where not only do you not know anyone, but everyone there seems to know everyone else. The first day of work at a new job certainly qualifies. Even if you’re confident by nature, you can’t help but have a feeling of uncertainty, of perhaps screwing up by doing or saying something you had no idea you weren't supposed to do or say.

For me, it was switching to a new school in the seventh grade. It wasn't just a new classroom and building, it was jumping into a whole new city and way of life. I’d lived my entire life in Reno, Nevada, where my family had been socially and economically active for generations. I’d always attended neighborhood public schools, but when we moved to San Francisco, I was a complete unknown, stuck into a new private school in the exclusive Pacific Heights neighborhood.

I wasn't just a fish out of water. It was more like being an actor who stumbled onto the wrong movie set.

One day early on, a speaker addressed my class to talk about the professor in Dead Poets Society, which we were studying at the time. However, he seemed to know I was new, that I hadn't quite fit in, yet. He pulled me to the front of the class, introduced me to the others, and told them how lucky they were to have me there. He spoke of the courage it took to be the new kid at an all boys’ school where everyone else had been together since kindergarten.

That man was Robin Williams.

The next year, I tutored his first-grade son in Latin. When he dropped his son off at school, he’d high-five me every day in the halls, laughing and calling me the Socrates of Town School. I’d already admired him because of his “Good Morning, Vietnam” and “Popeye” movie roles, but being in the same room with him and knowing him even slightly in a personal way was stunning.

Robin Williams’ sensitivity amazed me and was responsible for my successful transition in a very unfamiliar place. It resulted in some immediate friendships, some of which became long-lasting. His sudden death is a personal shock I won’t be over for quite some time.

When you come to a new place, one of the things that makes you uneasy is your lack of guideposts that you depend on for support and backup—familiar places, dependable friends, and so-on. Robin Williams helped me with a tough transition twenty-five years ago, and I’m convinced the whole experience taught me not just the need to make and cherish my own personal networks, but the sensitivity to recognize the same need in others and help as best as I can.

Sales is Entrepreneurial Thinking

If you’re a salesperson who is paid all or part on commission, you’re not just an employee. You’re an entrepreneur, and if you want to be successful, you need to think and work like one.

Unlike traditional employees, how well you perform may mean the difference between paying the rent that month with some change left over, or coming up short. That’s the thing about sales. It sometimes seems that you either knock it out of the park or see a lot of bagels on the scoreboard.

It’s the same for someone starting a business. Entrepreneurs work by visualizing the goals they wish to achieve and plan accordingly.  They know they have to frontload the work at the beginning if they want the big payoff down the road. Successful salespeople do the same thing.

Start by doing what an entrepreneur does, and make a business plan, in writing. Start by visualizing where you want to be in, say, a year. Do you want to make $50,000? $100,000? Plan backwards from then to now, detailing the steps you need to take: How many calls, how many follow-up calls, how many emails, and so on. Your book of business starts with the first solid name you’re able to write in.

An entrepreneur knows you can either let things happen, or make things happen. So should you.

Here’s some useful information in helping create your personal business plan.

·         Eighty percent of sales require five follow-up calls, but forty-four percent of salespeople give up after one call.

·         The average salesperson makes eight dials per hour and prospects for 6.25 hours to set just one appointment.

·         Fifty percent of sales go to the first salesperson to contact the prospect.

·         In most companies with 100-500 employees, about seven actually make the buying decisions.

In other words, it takes a lot of prospecting to get a few good leads, and of those leads, only a few result in a sale. One major real estate brokerage used to teach that it took nine solid leads for one possible sale. Your business plan, then should say how many contacts you’re going to make every day, who they’ll be, and how you’ll contact them—telephone, email, or internet.

You need both quantity and quality. If your business plan goal is $75,000, and each sale averages $5,000, then you have to create 15 solid prospects. How many contacts do you have to make per day to get the magic 15? A hundred? 150? 200?

“I’ll buy $10,000 of whatever your selling,” said no lead, ever, on the first contact. Leads aren’t numbers, they’re people, and they need nurturing. Nurturing a lead doesn’t mean pounding her or him with a sales pitch every time you get in touch. It means you let that person know you’re thinking about him and his company’s needs. Send product updates or price changes, special deals, or maybe just a news clipping about something that person is interested in—say, a favorite sports team’s latest acquisition, or maybe something engaging you saw on Pinterest you know they’d like.

Speaking of which: Top sellers use LinkedIn six hours per week. Just sayin’. How much time do you spend there? Is your profile not only up to date, but polished?

Your sales book is your personal business, and you need to think like a business person to make it work.

Thank You Jimmy Valvano

This morning I had the pleasure of waking up to Jimmy Valvano's speech on Mike and Mike (Jimmy V Espy Speech). Couldn't be a better way to start the day. His speech that night was by far one of the most inspirational speeches of all time. He Delivered it at the Espy's after receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award about 2 months before his passing. There have been some amazing people that have been given that award since, including my friend George Karl (who by the way couldn't embody that award any more). They remind us every day about the power of the mind and the fortitude of the soul. The part in his speech that resonates the most to me is when he explains how he gets through each day fighting his battle with Cancer.  He says there are 3 things you should do every day; Laugh, think (spend some time in thought) and have your emotions bring you to tears, tears of joy.... if you can do those things, that's a full day. These things he suggest we should do are the mark of passion. You should wake up every day and be passionate about your life, your family, your friends and your craft. If you don't love it, don't do it.  You are wasting time my friend and time is valuable.

I walked into our new Native Rank Chicago office this morning, took a deep breath and glanced over our 4000 square feet of new opportunity.  It was so quiet I could hear my own heartbeat.  I saw brand new empty desks that will soon be filled.  I saw empty walls that will soon have art.  Fifteen computers that will soon be producing.  I realized what needed to be done and the excitement over took me.  I have the power and support of so many people.  I have people that believe in me and know what I can and will accomplish.  People that know I fully understand the task at hand and will succeed at any cost with hard work perseverance.  I know that the great advice that Winston gave me to move systematically, slowly and with purpose means so much right now.  It was this moment I found myself going through the three emotions Coach suggested. I didn't mean to, it all just happened as it was supposed to. 

I found myself laughing out loud.  I laughed because I realized the ridiculousness of what I have been through with the 6 other guys that helped build Native Rank over the last two and half years. Somehow I blinked and by the end of our third year we will have over 100 employees, 4 locations and millions in revenue.  Wow, we did what?  I guess it's like watching your own kid grow, it just happens.  The yelling, the laughing, the crying, the passion you see every day in our office can be overwhelming for some, but for us it's perfect. Picture an Italian family of 20 at dinner after 5 bottles of wine... that's our office every day. Like or not, it's how we roll. It's passion, love, hard work and dedication at its best.  Any one of those 6 people would take a bullet for me at any moment, as I would for them.   

I took a deep breath at that point and took a moment to think. I thought about what we are doing, what we have done, what we are going to accomplish, the process to get us there and the mental toughness it takes every day to be great.  Turns out starting a business from scratch is hard work, it's not glamorous, but the payoff is. They don't teach you this in school.  It's deep within you and you have to want it every day.  Fortunately I have a Father and a Grandfather who were entrepreneurs, damn good ones, so it's in my blood.  I have always loved this quote from Mark Cuban, "What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur? It takes willingness to learn, to be able to focus, to absorb information, and to always realize that business is a 24/7 job where someone is always out there to kick your ass".  Well, we have learned, we are focused, we are constantly absorbing more information and we are kicking everybody else's asses 24/7.  This group won't lose focus and we won't fail.

I cried.  Awkward, I know.  Being alone in an office going through these three emotions was probably one for the ages on our security cameras.  Perhaps like an old Charlie Chaplin silent movie but not as fast. I cried because of how proud I am of every person I work with, everyone in my life I miss so much right now, all the experiences I have been so lucky to have and the vast unknown of what is in my future. It is so exciting to know that I am going to knock something so big out of the park.  This is what drives me to get up and do my best to be great every day.  Today, you can call me Jeter.

Like Derek Jeter, I always preach Consistency.  I teach it to all the sales people I work with.  I try my best to practice it in life.  I just believe so much that if you are consistent, if you just show up, if you never take a break from your goal, you will achieve whatever you can imagine.   The top sales people and leaders in our office are the ones that show up every day, don't complain and just grind it out.  No matter what, they fucking grind it out.  That's what winners do.  If I could possibly add anything to what Jimmy V has said, I would say Laugh, Think, Cry and be Consistent. For God's sake, just show up every day and work with passion, work like someone is going to take it from you.  

What are you going to do today?  I can tell you with 100% certainty I am going to do what I try to do every day and just show up, work my ass off and make my friends and family proud.

Ben Metzker

Vice President Business Development, Strategic Partnerships

www.nativerank.com

ben@nativerank.com

Skype:  ben.metzker

Denver Office Direct:  (303) 524-3796

Chicago Office Direct:  (312) 229-0069

Cell: (720)635-8026

Chicago: Doing it Our Way

When you’re new to Chicago, one of the first things you think of is Frank Sinatra’s “My Kind of Town,” his personal ode to the city. Next, of course, are the sites—the Sears Tower, the Navy Pier, Wrigley Field, and all the rest—but then it comes time to get down to business. Everything that’s Chicago reminds me of why Native Rank opened an office here, which is take our national service, and make it work locally.

Let’s say you have a bakery with the best bagels in the city, and while your near customer base knows all about you, your greater neighborhood does not. You build a website. You build a Facebook page and have all your friends “like” it. Your might even blog once in a while, post photos of onion bagels on Pinterest, and send something out on Twitter.

But do a Google search on best Chicago bagels, and your business comes up….well, someplace. But it’s not on the first couple of pages. How can you compete with the likes of, say, Noah’s Bagels or Einstein’s?

By having local sales representatives, we are able to meet face to face with local businesses, learn their needs, and correlate them with the possibilities available with really good local search engine optimization at an affordable cost. If you want to sell local, you have to be local.

We recognize there are significant costs involved in opening offices in cities where we think we can be successful, but we don’t think we can handle customer inquiries with autorespond emails or a call center somewhere. We think that to do it right, you have to be there.

"My Kind of Town"  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f18ga0i6r2A 

All Politics is Local. So is SEO

“All politics is local” is a common phrase in the political world. When the voters back home have concerns, they don’t much care if their senator or congressman is a national figure—they just want their worries addressed.  Our congressional representatives can talk all they want about banking reform and the environment—they’re important—but when they don’t keep the bridges and highways fixed and instead squabble all the time, we vote against them.

When Native Rank first started out, we had two problems. The first was that while we knew our product was good, we weren’t quite sure how to distribute it. The second was the not-so-great reputation of SEO sales people, because there were—and are—a lot of them out there claiming to deliver great search results but not coming through.

The online world is over-populated and underserved, and we began marketing the product to users with a large, even national presence. We met with success, but it was less than we felt was possible, so we added local SEO. General Motors might be a great customer to have, but the Chevy dealer in downtown Chicago and the wellness clinic owner in Colorado Springs understand what search engine keywords motivate their customers and drive them to do business.

When you talk with local business owners, you’re talking with the people in the trenches, the ones who make it all work. By adding a local focus, we also mitigated the reputation problem by delivering a product that works at a price business owners want to pay. We also learned to appreciate more of their online advertising needs and added additional services, such as pay-per-click, search engine marketing programs, social media management, and several others not previously available at an affordable price.

The reason Native Rank will be opening offices in other American cities is so we can stay local and make any main street business look as good to the world as any Fortune 500 company by taking the power of the internet and making it useful for main street businesses.

It's All Local

I guess I can’t fault Amazon and all the other online companies for bombarding me with emails on the tech bazaar out there of things to buy, nor could I criticize booking a flight on Travelocity. But what I will say is that selling this way would never work for Native Rank. The product we deliver isn’t for a statistical user out there someplace. It’s for real people whose business or profession has unique needs.

I can’t count the number of times older people in sales have told me, “It’s all about relationships, Kid,” but you know what? It really is. Allstate Insurance is a great company, but what makes it work are the thousands of agents from Chicago to Chico, all of whom have their own clients with their homes and their cars with distinctly personal needs. The relationship between the agent and the client makes the whole company tick.

Sometimes, it seems as though face-to-face meetings has become a lost art. Make a presentation online or as an email attachment, and not only does the customer lose the opportunity to ask questions, but you lose out on the ability to tailor the product.  It becomes too easy for the customer to say no by hitting the delete button, and you both lose. My grandfather said that salesmanship begins when the customer says no, and if they say it by email, the door to discussion is closed.

Face-to-face meetings are even more critical when the marketing problems you’re trying to solve are local. We have a good-sized, busy office in Denver, CO, but what does that mean to a Chevrolet dealer in Plano, TX? Their customers are local, their problems are unique to them, and so are their solutions. How can you ever know unless you sit across the table and ask? The only way to build a sustainable relationship is to be there and show up.

Through LinkedIn, among others, we’ve developed a promising network in Denver Metro that gets larger every week, and we couldn’t have done it without meeting and talking to people in person.  Native Rank’s customer base has grown right along with it, and it’s safe to say that if we saw future customers as statistics or averages, we wouldn’t be where we are, and more important, where we’re going.