IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID! Part I

The Mims Morning Meeting

I’m old enough to remember the presidential campaign of 1992, when James Carville’s mantra for the Clinton campaign was, “It’s the economy, stupid!” By “the economy,” Carville meant how businesses and people are doing right now. Are sales up?  Is unemployment down? Are you better or worse off than you were four years ago? It’s the economy, stupid!  Think of your prospects, their business conditions, their people, and their sales revenue. Is it good or bad? Do you know? Do you care? Does it make a difference to you? And why should  it? How is your prospect’s industry moving now and what does the future hold? It’s the economy, stupid!

It matters not if your product is as simple as nuts or bolts for the buildingof a child’s toy or as intricate as designing and building systems to meet an ever-growing need, or as accurate as real-time data and video displays in control rooms. Your knowledge of the world’s economy is the most valuable tool to have in your box. A broad understanding of the inner workings of the world economy helps explain why decisions are made, the impact of these decisions on your prospect’s industry, those who will benefit from these decisions, and those who will be harmed by these decisions. The economy dictates all of the above and more. How did the last bill passed by the U.S. Congress help or injure your prospect’s industry/business? Which prospect offers the best opportunity for you and your products and services based on the economic indicators/changes? Many questions can be addressed with an elementary understanding of the world economy and its impact on your day-to-day life. Here’s how.

If you are an old pro, new to the game of selling, orsomewhere in the middle, a quick refresher courseon today’s working economy is needed each day.Change occurs on a second-by-second basis.Here are five things you should do every day tokeep your economy skills sharp.

1. Buy X number of shares of stock. If you know nothing about thestock market, buy what you do know. Buy a shoe company stock orstock in your favorite book publishing company. What you know, buy it. If you buy the product, buy the stock.

2. Take a class. Your local community college and university offercontinuing education classes on the economy and remuneration. Take a class on your own dollar, not the companies dollar.

3. Watch more television. Learn a new language. The quickest way to learn the language of economics is to hear it from people who speak it and apply it to the business and industry of the world.CNBC’s Morning Call and Squawk Box; MSNBC’s Business Arabia; Europe Tonight, BloombergTV Bloomberg on the Market; and CSPAN Washington Journal and CSPAN 2 Today in Washington.  

4. Read only one. The only newspaper that supports the total needsof the sales environment and business needs while providing insight into things to come is The Wall Street Journal. Read it daily.

5. Pick the fly shit out of the pepper. Learn to look behind the headlines in everything you view. Find the benefit to your quest in all source material. Free your mind and the rest – sales – will follow.

Benefit of No. 1Nothing will motivate you faster than parting with your hard-earneddollar, especially if that dollar has the ability to multiply itselfexpensively. An added benefit is the knowledge you will gain from tracking that stock. This is the truest indicator of the economy at

work.

Benefit of No. 2An education isn’t how much you have committed to memory, oreven how much you know. It’s being able to differentiate betweenwhat you do know and what you don’t. –Anatole France,
French novelist (1844 – 1924)

Benefit of No. 3For years, viewing the television has been labeled a waste ofvaluable time. Cable television has changed that thinking. Informtelevision is a tool of the information first generation. It is as easy as choosing the proper program to inform and educate you on

the changes that occurred while you slept.

Benefit of No. 4  Information is of value only if received in a timely manner. Timely manner means that you can act on it to effect change and elevate your products or services. The Wall Street Journal has always given me the edge on my competition.

Benefit of No. 5  If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. The free mind is not a barking dog, to be tethered on a ten-foot chain. –Adlai E. Stevenson Jr. http://www.mimsmorningmeeting.com/

~ by mimsmorningmeeting on March 8, 2007.