Emphasis of the Day: Ask Engaging Questions

Questions must demand that the prospect give us NEW information. They should be innovative, creative, out of the box. 

I'm sitting w/ the sales team at the University of Texas at Tyler. It's deadline day and we are $7,045 from goal. SEVEN. THOUSAND. DOLLARS. That's approximately 8-9 sales. Not impossible but we are going to have to work for it. 

I find myself asking my two reps engaging questions. What can I do for them to get them motivated to hit goal today? I pulled their resource guides and quizzed them on every meeting they've had since May 20. I've made them schedule their day out in 15 minute increments. I've pulled out everything in my book.

At the end of the day, they have to want it. I have to want it. We have to go get it.

Ask engaging questions.

Webinars, Cold Calls, Hotel, & Coffee

Over the course of my 10 weeks on the road, I can honestly say I've only stayed in 2 bad hotels. At the beginning of the summer I was not used to using Hot Wire and didn't trust it so I used Orbitz and believed the pictures I saw for America's Best Value Inn in Abilene, TX. After driving from Dallas to Lubbock the night before and then Lubbock to Abilene in a HUGE thunderstorm, this hotel was the worst. Last week when I was w/ my team in Denton, there was a Jehovah's Witness Conference that used up all the rooms in the city except at a Howard Johnson...easily the second worst hotel all summer.

This past weekend there was a wedding party at my hotel in Fort Worth so I was relieved to be one of five guests at my hotel on Tyler last night.

So. Quiet. 

A Bucket Sort of List

It seems like everyone has a bucket list. Honestly I think it's an interesting concept. Some people write extremes on there that (I believe) they just include so that they have a cool bucket list. I have two different bucket lists. One is a list of things I'd like to DO while the other is a list of places I'd like to GO. Today I'll just give you a snippet of the latter.

Eiffel Tower (Paris, France)

Nightlife (London, England)

Canals (Venice, Italy)

Remembering the Wall (Berlin, Germany)

Santorini, Greece

St. Petersburg, Russia

👍Murchison Falls (Uganda)

Norway Fjords

Old City Walls (Dubrovnik, Croatia)

Prague, Czech Republic

Concentration Camps (Krakow, Poland)

Dracula Hunting (Transylvania, Romania)

Bay of Kotor (Montenegro)

Kigali Genocide Memorial (Rwanda)

Budapest, Hungary

Barcelona's La Sagrada Família (Spain)

Dublin, Ireland

Imperial Vienna, Austria

Overnight Train (Eastern Europe)

Ancient Greece

Alhambra (Granada, Spain)

Amsterdam's Canals (The Netherlands)

Mostar Bosnia and Hercegovina

Istanbul, Turkey

Marrakesh, Morocco

Ancient Rome (Italy)

1,700 NO's

Tomorrow marks 10 weeks on the road in Texas, and today marks 12 weeks since packing up all of my belongings to begin this adventure. As finished my MBA and looking to the future, I returned to a company I interned with before as an Area Sales Manager. 77 nights in hotels (plus 1 nigh between NC and TX, 1 night on my buddy's couch in Martin, 1 night on my sister's couch in Memphis). I've driven more than 15,000 miles between Memphis, Tyler, Dallas, Fort Worth, Denton, Austin, Abilene, Waco, and Lubbock. I've met with approximately 1,750 businesses during my time in Texas...and statistically I've probably heard "NO" 1,700 times. I have 16 hotels on speed dial in various cities and they recognize my car when I pull up. I have 7 bartenders that already know my order and even a homeless guy in Austin, TX that remembers me. I could write a book when it comes to living out of a hotel. I should almost consider writing a Texas guide book when it comes to restaurants and bars (not the touristy ones, but the dives that welcome outsiders)and attractions. I have even considered a career in the hotel industry after the countless trade contracts, nights stayed, room service ordered, and wake up calls scheduled. Despite my meal allowance, most nights are spent eating a bag of Sour Cream and Onion Lays potato chips and drinking a Mountain Dew. Can't you tell I'm on a diet? Many evenings when I begin my trek to the next city, I would much rather make it to my hotel bed at a reasonable hour than stop for food. Now it's time to plan my next move. I'm currently busting my ass with this job to earn the right to begin a full time position with this company, rather than my "contractor" position I currently hold. I also have the opportunity to consider other options. Career change? Travel? Both? Let's see what adventures the future holds!