Don’t like your results? Do things differently
Larry Wilson has some shocking news for us: The results we are getting in business these days are the results we should be getting.
Say it ain’t so, Larry. Why should we be getting lackluster responses to our sales? Why should we be working so much harder just to hold onto what we’ve got?
Wilson, a leadership guru who has worked with Simmons CEO Charlie Eitel for several years, shared his insights at Furniture/Today’s Bedding Conference last month. He said some provocative things, which can speak to all of us as we move through what is a tough business year.
Wilson, president of the Wilson Collaborative, made this simple-sounding but profound observation: “If I always do what I’ve always done, I’ll always get what I’ve always got.”
Think about that as you design your next retail sale, or as you contemplate your next product line, or as you design a new retail promotion. Do you want to keep getting what you’ve been getting? Then keep doing exactly the same things.
Wilson discusses this issue in his book, “Play To Win!,” which was given to conference attendees. He offers three Rules of Results: “1. We can’t control the results we get. 2. The results we are getting are the results we should be getting. 3. If we want to change the results we are getting, we have to do something differently.”
What he is saying is that we must get past our angst about the results we are getting and focus on something more productive: Namely, what we can do to change things. “An apt definition of crazy is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results,” Wilson writes in his book. “At a minimum this is an inefficient and ineffective way of thinking and responding.”
To get different results in business, and, more importantly, in life, we have to realize what we can control, and then we need to choose to change those things, Wilson says. We cannot control external factors in the world, but many times we can influence what happens. And we always have control over our thoughts, our feelings and our actions.
Now, no more whining about bad business. Do something differently.
FurnitureFromHome.com commented:
“If I always do what I’ve always done, I’ll always get what I’ve always got.” This is a very true statement. Furniture industry sellers need to remember that they are selling high cost goods. They should think along the same marketing lines of cars and homes. Thinking big gets big results.
