Sales Book #1 - 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

 "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey is a highly influential self-help book that has been widely read and highly regarded since it was first published in 1989. This best-known book of Covey's has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide since its first publication. The audio version became the first non-fiction audio book in U.S. publishing history to sell more than one million copies.

At its core, the book is a call to action for individuals to take control of their lives and become proactive in their approach to personal and professional development. I would consider this a foundational book for any business professional. A few of these are self-evident, but several are patterns for career acceleration. 

• Covey's first habit, "Be proactive," encourages readers to embrace a mindset of ownership and responsibility, recognizing that they have the power to shape their own destinies.
• The second habit, "Begin with the end in mind," is a powerful tool for setting clear goals and visualizing success. It encourages readers to think beyond the short term and focus on the big picture, laying the foundation for long-term success. 

Mastering the art of "Reverse Engineering" projects a huge accelerator to career success. It is something I am still working on mastering. But once you can imagine what the finished product or solution, or sale looks like, the engineering can begin. It will lead you to solve questions like who will give final authority to an offer? Who will sight the check? How are they going to get the confidence to do that? Who is going to influence that decision? What does that influencer need to understand? It leads you to find the "Critical Path" from where you are to where you want to go. 

• Covey's third habit, "Put first things first," is a reminder of the importance of prioritization and focus. By identifying the most important tasks and focusing on them first, individuals can make significant progress toward their goals and achieve greater success.
• The fourth habit, "Think win-win," is a refreshing take on the traditional "win-lose" mindset that dominates much of our thinking. By seeking mutually beneficial solutions in all interactions, individuals can create value and build stronger relationships. A major misconception of selling is that there is a winner and a loser. That I discount because the prospect has a better offer. But thinking of Win-Win or Give-Get, you are able to engage some creativity and offer accelerators, incentives, or enhances service as opposed to just giving discounts. Think how you can truly partner with people to find mutual wins, and you are well on your way to sales success. 
• The fifth habit, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood," is a powerful tool for building empathy and promoting effective communication. It encourages individuals to listen actively and seek to understand the perspectives of others before seeking to persuade them. Someone said, God gave you 2 ears and 1 mouth, use them in the same proportion. Listen way more than you talk. 
• Covey's sixth habit, "Synergize," is not only a reminder of the power of teamwork and collaboration, but it's also a fundamental principle that has helped me achieve tremendous success in my career. As the CEO of several innovative companies, I've learned that working effectively with others is the biggest career accelerator there is.

Recently, I've been faced with a project that requires me to build a sales training program for a group of technical sellers across the globe. This program will lead to a certification that will span across 7 sales motions and be used by several thousand salespeople. At the same time, I've identified a sales motion that is not performing well due to the lack of a community of trained technical sellers, and I need to build a framework for communications for several other motions.

Instead of tackling these three separate projects individually, I decided to synergize them into one effort. I chose my low-performing team to be the test subjects for my new training program and they will pilot the effort on the new Microsoft Teams template that matches my communication framework. This way, I am accomplishing three separate projects with one training motion. By doing so, I am tripling my impact and maximizing my resources.

• Finally, Covey's seventh habit, "Sharpen the saw," is a powerful reminder of the importance of self-care and personal development. By taking care of ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, we can maintain our effectiveness and continue to grow and develop throughout our lives.

The book has had a big impact on the way people think about business and management because of its practical, common-sense approach to personal and professional growth. People say that the book helped them be more successful in both their personal and professional lives. I couldn't agree more. This is like "Professionalism 101." Once you move into a salaried or leadership role, this should be required reading.