Big Sales Mistake; 4 Gates' Bets; What's Killing You; Youngest Horatio Alger winner

"...keeping you great"

HEADLINES:

Big Sales Mistake -- Stephen Meyer's latest Forbes article highlights a specific mistake sales people (and many CEOs) make that triggers price resistance. Please take 3 minutes to read and 30 minutes to discuss this article with your sales team - it will make you a lot of money in 2015. Here's the mistake:

How many times have you seen salespeople, just before a close, try to justify their price by revisiting the key benefits of their product or service? How many times have you succumbed to that urge yourself?

Meyer's goes on to explain precisely what you should do instead. It's so counter-intuitive, but makes total sense. I'm putting this idea to work immediately!

2nd Big Sales Mistake -- not having someone available on your website to answer questions and help people find things - it's like having a storefront with no one in the store. We use Live Admins Webgreeter service - and have for over a decade. We love it - and know you use it since we get questions from you every day.

Strategy "Baked" into Office Space -- just like visuals are more powerful in selling than words (the point is not lost on me), the same for your strategy. And the place to start is your own offices. Notes Sam Paddock, CEO of Cape Town, SA-based GetSmarter:

"Our purpose, values, BHAG, sandbox, brand promise, quarterly theme - are all baked right into our office space. It's had a remarkable impact on adoption and alignment throughout our 150 person company."

Take 1 minute to scan down through the photos in Sam's blog to see how they have tastefully displayed parts of the OPSP throughout their offices.

4 Bets for 2013 -- Bill and Melinda Gates released their annual letter this week outlining "Our Big Bet for the Future." This CNN article provides an excellent summary (with a link to the letter as well). My two take-aways - their bets point to a continually growing global economy, one that is predicted to double from 76 trillion to over 150 trillion over the next decade or so (and it's doubled since 2000!) - so there is plenty of business to be had. Second, it's all about online mobile education. The phone is becoming our guide/coach/teacher. What are you doing to go mobile and to educate (not sell) your customers?

Youngest Horatio Alger Recipient -- Every teenager (and entrepreneur) should take 2 minutes to read this Fortune interview of Elizabeth Holmes, the 30 year old self-made multi-billionaire - on why she dropped out of Stanford. She also shares what all entrepreneurs must have to sustain themselves through the multitude of failures that come with scaling up a company (she has 700 employees herself). Here's my favorite paragraph:

"When people say, 'I want to start a business,'" Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes said Wednesday, "my question is always, 'Why?' Because there's got to be a mission -- there's got to be a reason you're doing it so that no matter how hard it is, you want to keep doing it over and over and over again, because you love it."

Lack of Exercise is Twice as Deadly as Obesity -- enough said! And the exercise can be 4 minutes of Tabata or a 20 minute walk (or "walk and talk" with someone - great for the business). Build this habit it into your weekly routines. For more, read through this Telegraph article on the Cambridge University study.

28 Thank Yous...for the birthday gift of 28 more Scaling Up reviews on Amazon - just 27 more to get to 100 - thanks if you have time for a sentence or two - greatly appreciated.

TECHNOLOGY:

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COACHING:

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