The Real Reason The Blackhawks Won

On Monday night, the Chicago Blackhawks won their second National Hockey League Championship in the past four seasons.

I watched the post-game celebration of both the players (in the arena in Boston) and fans (flooding the streets here in Chicago) for hours after the Stanley Cup had been awarded and the season was officially over.

Did you watch or listen to any of the post-game interviews with the winning players? If so, did you hear the same nonsense as I did being repeated over and over?

I’m referring to the sounds-good-but-isn’t-true line uttered by almost every Blackhawks player during their interview, when they were asked for a reason why they won.

The answer was almost always something like, “It just goes to show that hard work pays off.”

Really?

Does anyone really believe that’s the main reason that the Blackhawks won the Championship and the Bruins (and every other NHL team) didn’t? Does anyone really believe that the Bruins (and every other NHL team) didn’t “work hard” for the 2012-2013 season?

Maybe some — or even most — people do. But entrepreneurs certainly should not fall into that trap.

Had a couple of pucks bounced slightly differently, in fact, it would have been the Bruins celebrating a Championship instead of the Blackhawks. So would that mean that we would have heard Blackhawks players say, “hard work doesn’t pay off” during their post-game interviews?

Okay. I know that sounds silly. But here’s the bottom-line…

If it were true that “hard work” really determines who does and doesn’t experience success, then wouldn’t ditch-diggers and other manual laborers be the richest people in the world?

As an entrepreneur, you simply can’t afford to buy into that falsehood that has been pounded into you over and over for your whole life by well-meaning-but-mistaken parents, teachers, politicians and other people in positions of authority.

Now, of course I’m not saying you should be lazy, or that hard work is bad. I’m just suggesting that you invest a lot more of your time, energy and money into learning and then implementing the RIGHT business-building strategies and tactics, instead of traveling through life on the wrong track of believing that “hard work” is the main key to success.

And speaking of the right business-building strategies and tactics…

Last week you read my first post in this current series all about how to start multiplying the resources you have at your disposal in your business.

Here’s the second installment in this four-part series, where I outline three more resource-maximizing strategies you can use…

IV. Olympic-Size Sales Staff

Of course you can’t possibly have a sales staff of 10,000 who work around the clock for you, but there is a tool that will do exactly that: direct mail marketing.

Direct mail is a written piece of sales and informative copy that offers information about your company and your products and services to potential customers and clients. You can create sales letters, brochures or proposals that can be mailed out to a list of leads.

This approach can not only open your door to thousands of new customers and clients, but it can also save you thousands of dollars in advertising costs.

V. Open Water Fishing

You have to be careful not to waste your time on clients who are simply not interested. You have to focus on bigger fish. Remember the lessons I taught previously about how you should always be targeting higher-quality prospects.
To do this you have to take the time to research and learn about your potential clients to make sure you are targeting the right companies to work with. Make sure they are companies who will benefit from your products and services over a long period of time.

If you’re not sure where to start in finding Big Fish clients, go back over my previous lessons or look into purchasing a direct mailing list that specifically targets the clients you need. You can purchase or rent lists with name, title, job specs and contact information. This gives you a jumping off point in finding those high-quality clients that can revolutionize your income and lifestyle.

VI. Call For Back-Up

Don’t be afraid of telemarketing. It’s a powerful tool than can be done tastefully and be highly-effective. However, keep in mind that when not handled correctly, it can bring about negative reactions. To be successful with telemarketing you need to use these tips:

• “Soften the beachhead” with direct mail marketing
• Test before you start a telemarketing campaign
• Set the price for your offer
• Use a progressive approach with your campaign

Progressive contact helps build trust and allow the potential customer or client to establish a positive relationship with you. These are the progressive steps you should take:

1. Put your prospect at ease
2. Present your offer in a natural, conversational way
3. Avoid being argumentative or pushy
4. Always be honest
5. Perfect your 30-second elevator speech
6. Clearly state your name, business name, reason you’re calling and where you got their information
7. Offer the benefits of your products and services
8. Mention one of the features that back up the benefits
9. Ask preliminary questions to discover important information about the prospect

These step-by-step methods can help you be successful with a telemarketing campaign and avoid a negative response that could stigmatize your business forever.

I’ll continue with this series for the next two weeks to help you get the most out of your current resources, because maximizing your resources definitely beats simply “working hard” every time.

If you need help working through any of these processes or areas, try my FREE test drive of SSSMarketingUniversity.com to get access to my wealth of resources and tools.