Articles by Mike Crandall

Everyone hates waste—in our personal lives and our professional lives. However, we seldom truly analyze our waste. We should focus on eliminating waste in three main areas: time, energy, and money.

We all have things we want that we don’t have—or don’t have yet. Think about what you want in your business or life, especially those you’ve wanted for some time and still don’t have. Maybe they’re tangible, physical things, or maybe they’re intangible. Have you thought about why you don’t have them?

If only I had asked…(fill in the blank)? This is one of the most costly questions professionals have. It is also an extremely common thought that sales professionals, managers, leaders, and business owners share. How often have you left a meeting and thought to yourself, “I wish I would have asked…” or “I wish I would have said…”? If you are like most people, these thoughts cross your mind regularly. We find that many people know what they should ask or say; they just do not do it or are uncomfortable doing it. This frequent issue holds most people back and keeps them from achieving their goals and the growth they seek.  

We live in a unique time with so many challenges yet many opportunities. Each day we are faced with more things than we have the time or energy to do. For those in leadership, this is an even greater challenge—not only do our decisions impact us, but they also impact others we lead. So how do we navigate? Additionally, leaders are often very uncomfortable when they think that with every minute they spend on the wrong thing or with the wrong person, they have cheated the right thing or person out of. And they become even more uncomfortable with how that plays out for each person in the organization or team. How do we decide where to put time, energy, money, and other resources? 

Our second most precious commodity is our energy (second only to our time)—each day, week, month, etc., we only have so much energy to put into things in our life. This means we need to choose where our energy goes wisely, as every ounce matters. If we put energy into the wrong things, wrong people, etc., we negatively affect our potential. This is true professionally and personally. Because it is such a precious and limited resource, every drop of energy you put into the wrong thing, you rob the right things out of! 

Our most precious commodity is time—we only have so much each day, week, month, etc. Because it is such a precious and limited resource, we must fully understand that every minute you spend with the wrong person, you cheat the right person out of! 

Even though they may not be clearly defined, you likely have some long-term objectives for yourself, your family, your career, your business, etc. (I would be remiss if I did not share the fact they should be defined; however that is a topic for another column.) Recently I heard something that bothers me greatly and has since I heard it. I was visiting with a potential client and was saddened to learn of a bad experience they had with a consultant who provides services similar to ours.

There is a fundamental truth in the business world that spills into our personal lives as well. This concept is something I have used with people I have coached for over twenty years.

Who is your sales competition? Most business owners, executives, and salespeople think about competition in sales completely wrong. It may seem crazy, but it is true. As a sales coach and consultant, I hear comments all the time like, “We don’t have anyone we compete with,” and, “No one sells what we sell.” These may seem like odd statements, but they are very real and come up on a regular basis. 

If you are like most business owners and leaders, you are frustrated by waste. Especially when is it obvious like wasted materials in what we build or manufacture and wasted work hours when employees do incorrect work or make mistakes that cost us more time. These things often go beyond frustration to flat-out anger. Particularly when we can see how much it is costing us and the negative business impact of wasted time, energy, money, materials, resources, etc.