A new book I read on my last flight is Anne Miller’s Make What You Say Pay! The Language That Opens Minds, Closes Deals, & Wows Crowds. It includes 50+ success stories about pictures, or metaphors that as Anne says, “really nail your point.”

Miller says that you can turn confusion into clarity with the right metaphors and analogies. It’s so true.

I know because about 18 month ago, I started introducing myself, when in front of smaller and medium-sized businesses as a Sales Detective. I say that I’m like CSI Miami – going into a company and helping them detect where the sales issues are – then I work with them to resolve them.

People immediately pay attention – the picture I paint just shifts them from “blah, blah, blah…” to seeing something and it helps them to better understand what a sales strategist does.

You need something to get people out of their info-glut work trance – their normal day and tell them something that will jump out at them. Anne Miller’s book does this.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book because I felt like I was flying in a rocket instead of in an airplane – the time flew so quickly (like my analogy?). There was example after example that prove Miller’s premise and shed light on various ways to integrate metaphors (I like to call them pictures) into your business stories.  With a background in selling, there is a great focus on bringing business to closure – which all of us in selling like.

Visit Anne Miller’s website as she has video about the book, two free chapters to download, and other books certain to help you grow revenues.

Do you have a sales book or tool  to recommend? Drop a note or comment – we can put it on the list!

This post isn’t as much about sales and growing business as it is about life. In a world where people cheat and try to take short cuts to success, at the expense of others – I think it’s good to hear about people who just plain work hard, helping others along the way.

Seventeen years ago, my one and only child – a son – was a complete handful at age 14. My desperate parenting strategy as a young single mom was to try to keep him interested in school, and also to keep him busy and active – especially focused on sports. Fortunately he loved anything athletic, and couldn’t get enough of most activity. One sport he loved above all was ice hockey. From the moment he first saw it at age seven – he was enamored with it.

So when my son met a very special person that invited him to the East Coast for hockey camp back then – I was SO ready to help him pack, hoping he’d even stay longer. (He was 14 going on 40, after all – and had grown bigger than me.) The special person was a man named Paul Vincent. Paul left a good job with the police force outside of Boston to pursue his own dream – owning and running a successful power skating school for youth, college, and pro hockey players.

I liked Paul right off the bat because he was a former cop – so he would not put up with any garbage from my son or anyone, for that matter. Paul tells it like it is – even today – and I respect that about him.  Paul built his school and from day one, taught my son, Leon, about how hard work really does pay off – you just have to focus and put your mind to it. Never lose sight of your goals.(He used to say this all the time – well, lecture, really)

The wonderful thing is that Paul is the power skating coach for the #1 Chicago Blackhawks Hockey Team, and the Stanley Cup – the toughest trophy to win in sports – is coming to Paul’s home next week for 24 hours. Each player and coach on the winning Stanley Cup team gets a day with the Cup – and the guy with the gloves that brings the Cup – so it should be quite an experience. Here is a great article about Paul.

You can bet that I will be there to thank Paul again, in person – for walking the talk – and for his most successful year this past season. He made a believer out of all of us to see hard work in action.

I’m happy to share information about an upcoming Facebook Marketing event that will be online with many fantastic speakers. My friend Mike Stelzner and a whole slew of experts are going to offer strategies to  help you grow your Facebook business presence. I think this is the event for those B2B sellers and small businesses who don’t see how Facebook can really work for their business.

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Do you have a Mighty Cause you champion outside of your career? Perhaps your Mighty Cause is integrated into your work? For me, helping entrepreneurs and small business owners grow their revenues, and helping nonprofits grow funds IS my professional career and main cause.

Whether you volunteer as a Big Sister or Big Brother, donate to charity events, or make donations online, you need to know that many not-for-profits (in particular the smaller ones) don’t often think like a business – which can cause a lot of struggle, stress, and lower operating dollars.

When I say to “think like a business” – I mean that good non-profits need MORE money coming in than going out – first and foremost. Here are a few other points to think about – and talk to your favorite cause to make sure they are maximizing their time and efforts:

- They need to contact their constituents more than just when you want something from them

- They need to set goals and objectives working off of a mission and vision for the charity

- They need to clearly state who they are and build their brand to gain more supporters

- They need good tax and financial advice so their efforts won’t be in vein

- They need to work on donor retention as well as finding new donors on an ongoing basis

- They need a solid board of advisers or directors

What cause do you champion? If it is not a huge non-profit, are there ways they could be more effective and manage their funds better? Why not offer your ideas to them and help them grow?

Post your thoughts – it will help others.

I’m in Austin today and heading to Dallas tomorrow to give talk at a leadership conference on communication and presentation. My big point, and theme for the talk is built around George Bernard Shaw’s quote,

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

Think about it. All communication challenges stem from this.  We think we have communicated, and the other party did not receive it well, did not even receive it, put on their own filter, didn’t like what they heard so are responding accordingly, or some other issue.

We need better checks and balances when it comes to communication. Some ideas for starters:

Ask people the best way to reach them and the best times to reach them. Anyone under 30 is typically texting (almost exclusively) and many over 45 either rarely text (just to their kids, usually) or occasionally do.

Some people want instant information, others don’t want to hear from you over the weekend if it is business-related.

Many clients respond well to emails – but some still prefer the telephone. Meet them where they are – as long as it is effective for both of you.

I met up with amazing digital strategist and PR maven Nettie Hartsock while here in Austin. For several reasons in and  out of my control I was running way late, and thought I had her cell phone but it was her office number. I wondered if she’d see a tweet or an email – not knowing if she had a smart phone. Ultimately, she emailed me with her cell phone number and we did meet up – but I felt that was something I definitely should have had together prior to that day.

Today I’m meeting another amazing colleague – and yes, I have three phone numbers to reach her at, including her cell phone. I’m ready. Are you?

What areas could you clean up your communication? Post your thoughts – we’ll push them out to the world.

How do you communicate?

When I was in my 20’s I went river rafting for the first time. I didn’t go on just any-old river for my first time, but instead went on a river that had from Class III to Class V rapids in the Pacific Northwest.

It was such a crazy trip, even our guide fell into the rapids! You know that is bad when your leader is down. I was scared.  She was our leader, and the rest of us were strangers – and none of us had any experience at all. What a trip that was.

At one point, when our guide was back in the boat, we went through a particularly rocky part of the trip.

“OK, you guys – nobody fall in here!!” she exclaimed, as we all wrapped our suddenly stronger legs under the inflated sides of the boat. I don’t think I ever held on tighter to anything in life.

Some folks I’m talking to these days have been on a very rocky ride keeping their small business afloat – restaurants and retailers have changed up how they are doing business. Higher end products have had big sale offerings, and lower priced lines of clothing and other “nice to have” products have been rolled out to keep dollars rolling in.

Now is not the time to fall out of this boat – wrap your feet around the sides – get good guidance, and you will find a way to make it.

Lori Richardson is on a “Small Business Innovation” tour around the U.S. and parts of Canada. If you know of a town she should visit, or a local expert she can co-present with, drop her a note. Set your big audacious goals and post them for the world to see – then take action on them. More on Lori and the tour at Small Biz Innovators.

Having been contracted to find the “top” auto dealerships in five markets, it makes me curious to hear others comment on “what makes a great auto dealership?” It would be interesting to learn who your favorite auto dealership is for any of these categories:

- top dealer from a revenue standpoint: who is the most successful dealership in your market?

- top dealer you prefer to work with: have you purchased multiple autos from them?

- top dealer from an ethical standpoint: community leader, low employee turnover, great dealer principal leadership

- one you’ve heard about for years

It’s funny you can’t find a list of these dealers (at least I haven’t found one) – even regional lists -  the markets I’m most interested in are: New England (Boston, CT, Providence, Upstate NY);  Las Vegas / Nevada; Bay Area, CA; Seattle / Pacific NW; and “other” – to be determined. Any dealer comments are of value though.

Personally, I’ve been fascinated with auto dealerships for years based on the low numbers of women sales professionals (still) that I read about – so for bonus points, I’d love to hear additionally about dealerships that have solved that issue and have a mix of sales professionals on staff – men and women. Not just one lone woman or “we used to have a woman” – where are the auto dealers that have more than one woman in sales on staff? [this could be a totally different answer than my first question - but somehow I suspect they might be connected.]

Your comments needed! Wherever you live, please report back on the best auto dealerships you know of – regardless of where they are. Send a link to their site and I’ll post a list once I’ve collected responses. You can reply here, or email me at lori (at) score more sales (dot) com. Thanks for your help on this one!!