Ironmen in Ecuador

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”  -Proverbs 27:17

Ironmen meet at Peachtree Presbyterian Church every Tuesday morning from 7-8am to teach and discuss ideas and strategies on being better men. From June 11-18, 12 of us went to Guayaquil, Ecuador to build 9 homes for the poorest of the poor in conjunction with Hogar de Cristo. This is the fourth year for this trip, it was my first.

Day 1: We arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador late Friday night after a 5+ hour flight. Half of us had been bumped up to first class, so we weren’t exactly roughing it. I contemplated the irony of our good fortune contrasted with our mission of helping the poorest of the poor. Our accommodations: a serene Catholic retreat center called Schoenstatt Casa de Retiro. We settled in for a big day ahead of us.

Day 2: Saturday morning, after grabbing supplies at the local hardware store, all 12 of us went to the first building site. I have never seen poverty like this first hand. It gave me new understanding of the term “dirt poor.” With the help of our “maestros”, Ivan and Gato, we completed the building of our first Hogar de Cristo home by 4:30pm. What impressed me most the first day was the smiles and laughter of the children in the neighborhood. We seemed to be the local entertainment for the day. We were a bit overmanned at times, and I was able to break off and visit with some of the local children. While language was a bit of a barrier (mi espanol no es muy bueno), we found some common ground in the King of Pop. Yes, Michael Jackson has fans in the slums of Ecuador. The MJ dance off was one of the many highlights of the day. Seeing a mother and her 5 children smiling on the steps of their newly built home topped them all.

Day 3: On our second day of building we broke off into 2 teams. Chuck Roberts lead our team and Gato was our chosen maestro. We traveled to a very remote area in the outskirts of Guayaquil to build for an older woman- the sole caretaker of a young boy with Down’s syndrome. She had taken him in when nobody else wanted him. To the side of the building area there was a mattress, a small grill, and a bag of clothing. I was told later that this was 100% of the possessions of this woman and child. By 3:30pm they were smiling on the steps of their new home.

Day 4: We built homes #4 and 5 today. This property seemed a bit more “upscale” comparatively- it was fenced off, across from a school, with a bunch of chickens and a couple of dogs running around. We had a bit of a competition going with the other team to see who complete the build faster, (we lost this one). We were blessed with clouds sheltering us from the hot Ecuadorian sun and all in all it was a pleasant day of work and mixing with locals. By 3pm a mother and her 5 children were moving in.

Day 5: Today we toured the Hogar de Cristo facilities. Hogar de Cristo’s mission is to help the “poorest of the poor,” mostly women and children, many of whom suffer from severe hunger, malnutrition, and abuse. In addition to building on average 50 houses per day for the homeless, HDC is producing and distributing soy milk to children in schools, resulting last year in a 20% reduction in the number of children with severe anemia. Luis Tavara, director of HDC, told us the reason he enjoyed working with the Ironmen group every year was because of our smiles. He said our smiles convey hope and possibility to the people we meet in the slums of Ecuador. I thought to myself how great it was seeing the families we met smile and made a commitment to smile more.

Day 6: Built homes #6 and 7. Another “typical” situation- we built for a single mother with 5 children from several different fathers, none of whom were around. I really enjoyed the kids, especially Esteban. He was a little firecracker- laughing, running around, constantly babbling (although I have no idea what he was talking about) and just having a great time. Apparently no one told him he was poor and he must’ve forgotten that he was hungry. He was just a kid being a kid- a happy kid. Early in the trip Chuck asked us to be aware of where we see God. I see Him in the children. I see Him in their enthusiasm. I see Him in their smiles. I was reminded of that old song… “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red or yellow black or white, they’re all precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

Day 7: Each of the 2 teams completed our final builds today (#’s 8 and 9). I am present to a bit of sadness and a lot of gratitude. More than one out of ten people in Ecuador are homeless. Guayaquil has the 3^rd highest percentage of homeless people of any major city in the world. They are born into it and the vast majority will be in it the rest of their lives. We put 9 of these homeless families into homes, and I grateful to have been a part of it. I am grateful for the men who made this trip happen. I am grateful for my family and friends who supported me in participating. I am grateful for the many blessings in my life. I am grateful to have served. I am grateful for the many smiles of the men, women and children we met along the way.

Day 8: Today we say “hasta la vista” to Guayaquil, Ecuador. I am having a hard time coming up with the proper adjective to describe this experience. It has been humbling, enlightening, beautiful, exhausting, extraordinary, saddening, uplifting… 8 days in Guayaquil, 9 houses built, 9 families have homes, 12 men forever changed, at least 1 of them will be smiling more often…

What are you building?

“If you build it, they will come.”

Today is the launch date for my first ever mission trip. 12 men including myself will be building 9 pre-fabricated houses in the slums of Guayaquil, Ecuador. In preparation this exciting excursion it occurred to me that life is a building process. In business, in our relationships, and in our character we are constantly building something. Consider taking a moment today to become conscious of what you are currently constructing.

How to READ People: The 4 steps all prospects go through before they say “Yes”- part 3

A- Assurance. Has this ever happened to you: you deliver a planned, powerful, positioned presentation, and your prospect says something like, “Sounds great! I like it, I want, I need it. I’m going to do it! (wait for it…) Call me Tuesday!” You call Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Monday… no sale. Sound familiar? What happened?

It is more what didn’t happen. Sometimes potential customers evaluate your products and services positively after a presentation and still do not buy. Something was missing… assurance. Without assurance there is no sale. Lack of assurance is almost a form of buyer’s remorse. People have gotten so used to regretting their past decisions that they now regret their decisions… in advance. They think about all the “how-bouts”, the “what-ifs”, and the “maybes”; all the things that could go wrong; all the decisions they have made in the past that didn’t work out the way the expected. Mentally your prospect is saying “Yes…..but.” You’ve got to get their big “but” out of the way.

• Strategy: Strengthen your personal belief and conviction in your company, your products/services, and yourself. The superior salesperson has unwavering certainty that what they are doing makes a powerful, positive difference for the people they sell to. List the reasons people do business with you. Interview your clients to find out why they buy from you. Associate to the specific difference you make in the lives of the people and companies that do business with you. The more “assured” you are the more you will be able to communicate assurance to others.
• Strategy: Testimonial letters are one of the most powerful, underutilized strategies for providing assurance. A testimonial letter is someone who is happy and satisfied with you and your service and they are willing to put it in writing. The best time to ask for a testimonial letter is when someone gives you a compliment. They say what a nice job you did, you simply respond with the words “Thanks, could you put that in writing?” The website www.linkedin.com makes it easy to request and receive testimonials from your network. Testimonial letters can be used to address the specific concerns of your potential clients.

When you strengthen your personal conviction and utililize testimonial letters you can rest assured more prospects will feel confident and comfortable doing business with you now.

DG sings “I want a Sale Today” to the tune of the Backstreet Boys’ “I want it That Way”

How to get out of a Sales Slump- the 4 “R”s

“You’re ridin’ high in April, shot down in May.” –Frank Sinatra

If you are reading this you are likely in one now currently or are remembering a time when you were. The dreaded sales slump. It happens- even to the best of us. Sales can be a hero to zero business. The highs can be heavenly while the lows are at best bearable. When you find yourself in one, consider the 4 “R”s.

• Remind- Take a big breath. Remind yourself that you have been successful in the past. If you have been in sales for awhile, think back to a time when you were on a roll, in the zone, selling at your best. What was different about your attitude, energy, and activity? What were you feeling, focusing on, and driven toward? Strive to regain that energy and mindset.

“This too shall pass.” –Persian proverb

• Refocus- Set specific, measurable, achievable goals for the next 30 days. There are 2 types of goals to set: activity and outcome. You need both to increase the velocity of getting out of a slump. Activity goals address # of calls, presentations, networking meetings, referrals, etc you are committing to. Outcome goals address # of sales, $ amount and other relevant “bottom line” sales results. Yes, I know this is sales 101, but let me guess- you haven’t done it in awhile. Just do it.

“When you find yourself in a hole…, stop digging.” –Will Rogers

• Re-energize- get back in the gym, go for a run, listen to some of your favorite music. Get up earlier and focus on your goals. Turn off the TV- read and listen to inspirational, educational, or motivational material. Get around inspiring people. Buy yourself something pretty.

• Re-commit- This is more important than the first 3 combined (the first 3 tend to make this one easier). Decide what you are committed to and get to it.

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness… the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.” -Goethe

Pick yourself up, get back in the race, you’ll be “back on top in June.”

Happy Selling,
Doug Grady

DG sings “I will Commit” to the tune of “I will Survive”.

How to READ People: The 4 steps all prospects go through before they say “Yes”- part 2

E- Evaluation. Once your prospect is within realization (see part 1), evaluation begins. Human beings are evaluation machines. Evaluations are simply questions your prospects are asking which much be answered to their satisfaction before they buy. Your prospect consciously or unconsciously asks questions in four general areas:

• Why you?
• Why your company?
• Why your product/service?
• Why now?

Failure to satisfactorily answer just one of these areas can kill your sale.  

The answers to these questions fall into two basic categories: the desire to gain pleasure and the desire to avoid pain.

Specific “pleasure” points may include:

• Return on investment
• Improved employee morale
• Pride
• Ego
• Security
• Approval from others
• Feelings of Success
• Intelligence
• Convenience
• Personal growth
• Keeping up with peers

“Pain” relief may fall into these categories:

• Increased profits
• Decreased costs
• Increased sales
• Efficiency
• Less stress
• Increased productivity
• Peace of mind
• Job security

Strategy 1: Ask “pleasure” and “pain” questions. In order to influence the valuation if others, you know how they evaluate. Earth-shattering, I know. Yet so many salespeople simply “show up and throw up”. They talk about every feature, advantage and benefit known to mankind regarding their product in hopes that one will miraculously connect with their prospect in such a way that they are uncontrollably compelled to say “I’ll take it!”

Examples of “pleasure” questions:

                What’s most important to you in _______?

                Why is that so important?

                What do you like most about your current situation?

                Why do you like that so much?

                Why did you decide to go with XYZ company?

Examples of “pain” questions:

                What’s not working?

                If you could change anything about your current situation, what would it be?

                What concerns do you have in this area?

                On a scale of 1 to 10, how are things going in this area? What’s missing to make it a 10? 

Strategy 2: Presentational Positioning. Your presentation should be relevant and specific to your prospect and their current situation. If you have asked effective questions, listened, and received accurate answers you are ready to give a tailored presentation. In your presentation, position your product or service as a way for them to move toward what they want and away from what they don’t want.

Recommended HAN faculty: McKain, Weldon, Grady, Sjodin, Hutson (in members area)