Moving the Needle: Get Clear, Get Free, and Get Going in Your Career, Business, and Life!

Chapter 16Differentiating Yourself with the Sweeney 22

People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

—JOHN C. MAXWELL, author of more than 60 books, primarily focusing on leadership

When I spent time with the Navy SEALs, I learned one of the most important lessons in my life: Preparedness is the key to everything. The reason this is important in the military is that when dangerous missions and lives are on the line, you want to be locked down and ready for any scenario.

The business world isn't nearly as dangerous as what awaits the SEALs in faraway lands, but as I tell sales teams, being prepared means you never make a cold call or walk into a meeting cold. You want to learn as much as you can about whom you're dealing with and the company they're with before you tap out phone numbers. It's imperative that you acquire as much information as possible before you introduce your product or service. Then you can cast yourself in the role of presenting solutions to their problems or pain. This concept circles back to the idea that the more you know about people, the better you can help them solve their problems. Remember, it's all about them and not about you.

You can't over prepare in these situations. Experts say the little things don't mean a lot in business, that it's more important to think big-picture stuff, but that sort of thinking is flat-out wrong. ...