How often are you too quick to judge someone or an idea because of your worldview? Each day, as we travel through life, we are exposed to many new ideas, strategies and tactics. Some of these ideas are relevant and some not. How do you know what's relevant and what's not?
I think it starts by being open to new ideas and even old ones, because you never know how valuable the idea is or where it will take you.
How often have you attended a conference or had a conversation with someone and you immediately blew off what was being said because of your years of experience? Happens all the time.
A very large company in Minneapolis hired me to teach their entire sales team prospecting strategies. Before the workshop was about to begin, a couple of sales people approached me and said, “We are the top sales people in the company with over twenty-five years of experience, our company said we had to be here. What could you possibly teach us about sales and prospecting? Oh, and by the way, this better be good.”
Truth be told, I was really rattled. Not a great way to start the workshop. At the end of the day, one of them came up to me and said, “I am really impressed by what you have taught me about the art of making a prospecting phone call. I thought I knew it all”.
That exact situation has happened to me more times than I can count. And guess what? I am guilty of being too quick to judge as well.
Here is your Sales Nugget: The mind is like a parachute. It only works when it's open.