Thanks to the prompting from wayward drifter and the fact that I have finally caught up on some things that have been keeping me busy, I am writing yet another post.
Hopefully it won't be quite so long between this one and my next. It's not like I ever run out of things to say! I actually pride myself in my political views that are a little to the right of Rush Limbaugh and being just slightly less opinionated than God.
The topic for the evening is separation from the competition.
There are numerous ways to create an environment that makes you more attractive than your competitor. I will try to discuss one or two that have the spiritual parallel that I try to tie in with this blog.
First is the idea that if it is important to the customer... you make it important to you.
What an entertaining thought! The concept that someone may actually want to be treated as if their issues, concerns, goals and definition of a win were important to the people who want them to buy what they're selling.
Not that I have to mention the parallel, but aren't people who have your hopes, concerns, dreams, and goals of your life at heart just plain more pleasant and easy to deal with. Isn't it amazing how someone opens up when they realize that the conversation of the moment is really about them. That you have placed at the forefront of your thinking the simple notion that you are trying to learn more about them and their situation so that you can try to be of help.
I feel like I have done a pretty good job of this in my professional life, but not so great a job in my spiritual life. I genuinely want to be of help to the customer and enjoy the bonus of building friendships and relationships with the customer in a business environment, but must admit that the motivation for my initial contact is purely financial.
I have recently realized the need for a more outreach sensitive, targeted approach to non-business relationships. Many of the same priciples apply. If Christians were more sincere, friendly, and engaging, we would create separation between ourselves and the competition (worldly thought and motive that are possibly no less sincere, but show no recognition of spiritual need).
Another thing that creates separation is to do as many things as possible to simply stand out from the crowd. In business, things such as punctuality, personalized service, attention to detail and doing what we say we will do when we promised to do it help us stand out from the competition.
The best case in point that I can think of is the memory of a recent trip to Las Vegas. I was leaving a casino and couldn't help but notice the beautiful red Ferrari that was parked in front of the casino. There were many cars in front of that building, but I noticed that everyone around the Ferrari couldn't help but stare at the beauty of something that looked like it was going fast even while sitting still.
The car wasn't doing anything special. It wasn't speeding through town at high speed or racing another car, yet it drew immediate attention.
I can't help but wonder how I can do a better job of standing out from the crowd in a good way. Perhaps being more pleasant in interactions with those who are not yet close friends, or kind words in a situation where they are needed, but not necessarily merrited. I would greatly appreciate input on this one.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Basic Selling and Business Principles
Okay,
Here goes my second posting on the blog.
I just want to share a couple of perspectives about how I see business and sales and hopefully tie them in to Christian witnessing.
My most basic organizational philosophy for any business or ministry endeavor is as follows:
It is the job description of all members of a team, organization, or ministry to set everyone else involved in that same endeavor up for success.
What I mean by this is that everyone from the CEO right down to the guy who sweeps the floor has a responsibility to the organization and all its members to operate in a way that enables others to be in a place to succeed.
The CEO, Pastor, whoever is at the head of the organization must equip all other people in the best ways possible. They must provide necessary tools, training, and organization to help the flow and effectiveness of the workload go smoothly.
Sales staff must work to keep a constant pipeline of work coming through the operation.
Janitorial staff must keep things neat and organized so that people can perform their duties without looking for tools, or tripping on clutter.
I feel that this same strategy must apply to the Christian Faith. We spend so much time working against each other that our effectiveness as a church body is constantly damaged.
What I mean by this is that as individual churches, we spend time arguing matters of church politics such as what color our chairs should be in the sanctuary?, would Jesus have played a guitar?, would God rather we dribble water on someones head when we baptize them, or do they have to be under water so long that they have a near death experience?
I don't believe that anyone has gone to heaven or hell over any of these issues. Why do we continue to press them? Seems to me that we should help people find a Christ preaching church that fits their personality and comfort level even if the church we attend never sees a single tithe check from them.
Time would be much more productively spent if we worried about where individuals would spend eternity more than we worried about where they spent next Sunday Morning.
Now for the sales part. The basic sale starts with the salesman finding places to prospect for leads. This is usually done by various searches for people who may need what you are selling. and then making a few determinations and then trying to accomodate the customer.
These determinations are:
Does this prospect have a need for what I have to offer?
How can I best solve a problem or need that they have?
How do I win the trust of this person so that they will feel that I can help provide solutions to their problems or needs?
Accomodating these is usually the easy part.
Do they know the Lord Jesus as a savior? If not, then they have a need.
The solution to how that need can be met can be extremely complex.
What I do know is this, in the sales world if all things are equal, a customer will buy from someone who is a friend over someone who hasn't won their trust every time.
Winning trust takes time. I feel that the best way to do that is to constantly try to increase your circle of friends and influence. Just like a salesman has to keep prospects in their pipeline, I feel like we should be on the lookout for someone who needs what we have.
The next step is to develop a friendship, not just a get them to say the sinner's prayer and abandon them to the church of their choosing friendship, but an I will be there when you need me, I enjoy spending time with you and am excited about you being a part of the kingdom friendship. The kind of friendship that always has their best interest at heart even in non-spiritual matters.
My personal feeling is also that there are just some people on the planet who I am not well suited to being extremely close to. Given that, I feel that the next best thing for me to do is to introduce them to someone who may be more of their personality type.
I am trying to do a better job of not offending the bleeding heart liberal who I disagree so strongly with. I figure that if I am just not the right person to develop a friendship that may lead to discussion of spiritual matters, the least I can do is not sour them to the very thought of actually liking a Christ Follower.
I know what my pre-christian opinion of Christians was, and it wasn't a good one. Fortunately for me, someone came into my family's tavern and showed me that not all Christians were self righteous jerks who took joy in the fact that I would one day burn in hell if I didn't change my ways.
Well, there it is, my second post.
I am tired of writing and you are probably tired of reading. Let me know what you think.
By the way Sam, good call on the identity. Same old Terry.
Here goes my second posting on the blog.
I just want to share a couple of perspectives about how I see business and sales and hopefully tie them in to Christian witnessing.
My most basic organizational philosophy for any business or ministry endeavor is as follows:
It is the job description of all members of a team, organization, or ministry to set everyone else involved in that same endeavor up for success.
What I mean by this is that everyone from the CEO right down to the guy who sweeps the floor has a responsibility to the organization and all its members to operate in a way that enables others to be in a place to succeed.
The CEO, Pastor, whoever is at the head of the organization must equip all other people in the best ways possible. They must provide necessary tools, training, and organization to help the flow and effectiveness of the workload go smoothly.
Sales staff must work to keep a constant pipeline of work coming through the operation.
Janitorial staff must keep things neat and organized so that people can perform their duties without looking for tools, or tripping on clutter.
I feel that this same strategy must apply to the Christian Faith. We spend so much time working against each other that our effectiveness as a church body is constantly damaged.
What I mean by this is that as individual churches, we spend time arguing matters of church politics such as what color our chairs should be in the sanctuary?, would Jesus have played a guitar?, would God rather we dribble water on someones head when we baptize them, or do they have to be under water so long that they have a near death experience?
I don't believe that anyone has gone to heaven or hell over any of these issues. Why do we continue to press them? Seems to me that we should help people find a Christ preaching church that fits their personality and comfort level even if the church we attend never sees a single tithe check from them.
Time would be much more productively spent if we worried about where individuals would spend eternity more than we worried about where they spent next Sunday Morning.
Now for the sales part. The basic sale starts with the salesman finding places to prospect for leads. This is usually done by various searches for people who may need what you are selling. and then making a few determinations and then trying to accomodate the customer.
These determinations are:
Does this prospect have a need for what I have to offer?
How can I best solve a problem or need that they have?
How do I win the trust of this person so that they will feel that I can help provide solutions to their problems or needs?
Accomodating these is usually the easy part.
Do they know the Lord Jesus as a savior? If not, then they have a need.
The solution to how that need can be met can be extremely complex.
What I do know is this, in the sales world if all things are equal, a customer will buy from someone who is a friend over someone who hasn't won their trust every time.
Winning trust takes time. I feel that the best way to do that is to constantly try to increase your circle of friends and influence. Just like a salesman has to keep prospects in their pipeline, I feel like we should be on the lookout for someone who needs what we have.
The next step is to develop a friendship, not just a get them to say the sinner's prayer and abandon them to the church of their choosing friendship, but an I will be there when you need me, I enjoy spending time with you and am excited about you being a part of the kingdom friendship. The kind of friendship that always has their best interest at heart even in non-spiritual matters.
My personal feeling is also that there are just some people on the planet who I am not well suited to being extremely close to. Given that, I feel that the next best thing for me to do is to introduce them to someone who may be more of their personality type.
I am trying to do a better job of not offending the bleeding heart liberal who I disagree so strongly with. I figure that if I am just not the right person to develop a friendship that may lead to discussion of spiritual matters, the least I can do is not sour them to the very thought of actually liking a Christ Follower.
I know what my pre-christian opinion of Christians was, and it wasn't a good one. Fortunately for me, someone came into my family's tavern and showed me that not all Christians were self righteous jerks who took joy in the fact that I would one day burn in hell if I didn't change my ways.
Well, there it is, my second post.
I am tired of writing and you are probably tired of reading. Let me know what you think.
By the way Sam, good call on the identity. Same old Terry.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
jesus for sale
Here it is my first posting on a blog spot that I may never even find myself because of my redneck heritage and personal level of computer incompetence:
I have been surfing around some blog sites including our new pastors site at www.pauldazet.com (absolutely awesome) and felt the need to begin to throw some thoughts out in cyberspace.
My background is that of a sinner. An all out partying, reckless abandon, non-conforming, no respect, for God, Man, or life itself sinner.
Now, I am no longer the person I was, still a sinner, but a regretful repentant sinner who looks forward to the day when the inclinations of my humanity are abolished by the forgiveness and grace of Jesus.
I am a salesman by trade and a fisherman by providence. I have been thinking a lot lately about the many parallells between selling a product and ministering to people (selling Jesus) The comparisons are huge and I find it hard to think of Jesus and salvation without thinking about how awesome the product and how difficult it seems to market it.
My thoughts have recently been honed by some sermons by our new pastor Paul. Perhaps the most marketable thing that I have regarding Jesus is the following:
1. Who I was
2. Who I am
3. The Man I long to be
4. The transformation that allowed #2 and #3 to be.
Seems like a great Jesus marketing strategy. After all, it is his job to do the life changing in the customer, my job is simply to know the product increasingly better and to be likeable enough and helpful enough that someone is willing to listen to my pitch. If anyone actually reads my ramblings, let me know what you think. Who knows, maybe together we can develop and fine tune a better way to sell this product that I know and love called a relationship with Jesus.
I have been surfing around some blog sites including our new pastors site at www.pauldazet.com (absolutely awesome) and felt the need to begin to throw some thoughts out in cyberspace.
My background is that of a sinner. An all out partying, reckless abandon, non-conforming, no respect, for God, Man, or life itself sinner.
Now, I am no longer the person I was, still a sinner, but a regretful repentant sinner who looks forward to the day when the inclinations of my humanity are abolished by the forgiveness and grace of Jesus.
I am a salesman by trade and a fisherman by providence. I have been thinking a lot lately about the many parallells between selling a product and ministering to people (selling Jesus) The comparisons are huge and I find it hard to think of Jesus and salvation without thinking about how awesome the product and how difficult it seems to market it.
My thoughts have recently been honed by some sermons by our new pastor Paul. Perhaps the most marketable thing that I have regarding Jesus is the following:
1. Who I was
2. Who I am
3. The Man I long to be
4. The transformation that allowed #2 and #3 to be.
Seems like a great Jesus marketing strategy. After all, it is his job to do the life changing in the customer, my job is simply to know the product increasingly better and to be likeable enough and helpful enough that someone is willing to listen to my pitch. If anyone actually reads my ramblings, let me know what you think. Who knows, maybe together we can develop and fine tune a better way to sell this product that I know and love called a relationship with Jesus.
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