When you look at me, what do you see?

I know what I see, at least in my minds-eye. For some reason there seems to be some disconnect when that image appears in a photo because I have no idea where that old-ass head came from…must be trick photography.

Who’s perception is reality?

If I were to list the five things that I think most closely describe me and then ask 5 of my closest friends who know me best to do the same, do you think the lists would match?

If you only knew my persona, do you think that would make any difference?

What if my list according to Billy includes charming, caring, confident, funny & clueless….er uh ok, how about inquisitive instead? Inquisitive might be a stretch; I have been told I ask good questions, but sometimes just being a surface kind of guy is ok with me too.

What if my vision doesn’t match up in how other’s see me? Who’s perception is reality anyway?

Does it matter?

Is it really worth anything?

Most who stop by here know my day job is essentially commercial insurance sales. Which is somewhat of a misnomer, because our platform is so much more than just sales. However, when you get right down to it, regardless of whatever else we bring to the table it’s usually the insurance policy that pays me unless we work through a fee for services agreement.

The second dilemma is, does your 30-second commercial really describe what you do, or did it just sound good? Heaven forbid you mention salesman unless you want to clear a crowd; and you certainly want to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack, but if you try to be too cute and get too blah, blah, blah, you still end up having to explain what you really do anyway.

All I know is I am not a transactional guy; but relationship driven.

And now I’m being told if I want to be a super star salesman relationship builders are typically not that guy.

Say what? Now you tell me…

Is it too late to start over?

Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

Hey, I have been doing this for 30 years, and even with the same company no less. Something must be working, don’t you think?

But Dorman, you could have done so much more. No kidding, but who couldn’t and if you know the journey I took to even make this job possible I can truthfully say I have far exceeded my expectations.

So, how high is up? How much is enough, or is it ok to be satisfied with your body of work at some point in time and quit beating yourself up for all the coulda, shoulda, woulda’s?

I really am a sales guru

In my world at least, sales are where the real money is. I find it interesting with the gurus who tout their street cred and how fantastic they were, but for some reason got out of sales to teach. If you were so good why did you quit?

Why? Because sales is a hard profession to sustain. You are always, always judged on what have you done for me lately. At some point in time there is a tendency to want to sit back and rest on your laurels.

I’m no dummy (no voting allowed), I know and can see what works and what doesn’t and could certainly write about it if I so chose.

It’s real simple actually; make the calls, make the ask, and when you get in the door bring value. You can put all kinds of mumbo jumbo in the pre-mix but ultimately the value you bring will be the difference between a vendor versus a partner.

The more creative and innovative ways you can bring to help the customer keeps you away from a transactional only relationship. You want to challenge the status quo and make the customer think.

All I deal with are businesses, and after 30 years, I have a pretty good idea of who is doing it right. What is that worth, shouldn’t I be able to share this? There are very few situations I have not seen before.

Yes, I sell insurance, but so much more; when you look at me, what do you see?