This week I had the opportunity to take a morning to do some fly-fishing with a good friend, Jordan Allen. This was only my second time and, last year, the same good friend took me for my first fishing trip.

Since I was no longer in my rookie, year, I performed much better. What I noticed, more than anything, was the fact that it didn't wear me out like last year. I found that I didn't have to work as hard to get the fly to go where I wanted. I think that I did so well I figure I'm pretty close to being promoted to amateur.

When I have experiences like this, I tend to think a bit about business and life and start to see patterns in how my experiences apply. I find that when I remember to apply these simple lessons in my daily life, I not only perform better but I enjoy what I do that much more.

Experience Matters

I gained a lot of experience last year on my first trip. I was able to use that experience this year to improve. I remember struggling a bit with some of the most basic of techniques last year. Because of that experience, I only needed subtle reminders on those basic techniques so I was able to practice a bit on refining those techniques.

You Need a Great Mentor

Jordan is a highly experienced and accomplished fisherman. He has spent years refining his craft. He is a true teacher and is incredibly patient. He takes time to observe what I would do and give feedback. That feedback allowed me to be far more successful than I would have been otherwise. I am sure that I would have done okay had I gone on my own or with someone else that was not experience, but I am very confident that the greatest impact on my success was a great mentor.

Don't be Afraid to Fail

As I became more comfortable with what I was doing, Jordan spent more time fishing on his own. He was constantly checking on me from a distance. I found that many times I made big mistakes that prevented my success. I didn't set the line when I should have. I didn't cast right. I know, however, that the time failing allowed me to understand why the techniques he taught me were so important.

Quit While You Are Ahead

Last year we fished too long. I was very tired and made sloppy mistakes at the end. As a result, by the end, I was a bit frustrated by it. This year, we ended early, partly because we had seen so much success and partly because it was just time to go. We left on a high note and, for me, I found that this experience was much more enjoyable. We ended our trip on a very high note.

In The End...

I know there are many other ways I can apply what I learned but I'll not bore you with the revelations. These were the most important lessons I took away from my experience on the water.

You hear them every day. The words that mean nothing but are used to describe the services you buy. They have become jargony (that's a word, right?). They are used to describe things that we don't really understand how to explain.

Personally, I think that "space age technology" is the worst offender so I'm going to start my rant there. Let's think back to when the space age started. Let's look at Sputnik 1.

Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was actually pretty small. It was only 58cm in diameter (almost 23" around). The Soviet Union launched that sucker into orbit on October 4, 1957 at a height of 577km (359 miles). It orbited at 29,000km/s (about 18,000mph). It took about 96 minutes to orbit the earth. It fell from orbit on January 4, 1958. It had travelled approximately 70 million km (43.5 million miles).

So, with Sputnik 1, the space age began and triggered the space race between America and the Soviets.

So, think about it for a minute. If you are selling technology and say it's space age technology, what you are really saying is it's over 60 years old. Velcro is space age technology. Skylab is space age technology and it hasn't been in space since 1979. The retired Space Shuttle program is space age technology. Shoot, even Tang is space age technology.

Think about the words you use to describe your business or services. How do you discuss them?

Do you use words like "value added?" What does that really mean? Do you even know what value your clients are seeing? You probably don't. Value is simply when you get more thing for your money. But it's based on your personal perceptions, not marketing spin.

What about "thinking outside the box?" This is my favorite cliché that really doesn't mean what people think it means. Sure, I know, it means to think differently. But, did you know that its roots are assumed to have started in the 1970s? How can we still be thinking that thinking outside the box is really thinking differently? Thinking outside of the box has become the new box.

It's time to really communicate who are and what you do. Buzzwords don't help communicate. They simply create a false sense of security. What they really do is simply demonstrate that you are lazy and complacent in what you do and say.

As the owner of a business you can imagine that sales people call on me all the time. I get emails, letters in snail-mail and phone calls on a daily basis. I even get the occasional pop in to the office in the hopes that I'll be available to be sold to.

Most of these sales people have one key thing in common. Most of the time the attitude is that of, "I have something to sell and I want to see if you want to buy."

I hate that. I hate being looked at as a wallet. I'm fortunate my children aren't old enough yet to ask me for more money and I'm sure I'll hate it when they are.

I am a very difficult person to sell to. If you can figure out how to sell to me, you can probably be more successful in your sales career. I won't pretend to be the best sales person or the best sales coach so you won't be seeing a new sales book or a lecture series on how to be the best sales person in the world. However, here are the reasons I choose to buy from a sales person or, better, what it takes to get me to love you as a sales person and ultimately trust you enough to buy from you.

Consistency and Persistency in Effort

Getting the first appointment is the hardest part with me. I've trained my gatekeepers to screen sales calls. And, the fact is, they are pretty darn good. I bet they filter out at least half of the sales people that want to take my hard-earned money.

When my gatekeepers see someone is genuinely working hard to get the appointment, it wears on them and they'll eventually encourage me to at least take the appointment. They won't do this if the person is a dolt but if they get a phone call every month and occasionally see that same person stop in, at some point they will tell me to just visit with them for a couple of minutes.

The same is true if I see constant efforts in email, phone, snail-mail, etc. I may ignore your email the first dozen times. If it's personally sent and obviously not automated then I am less likely to delete. I may not take action. I may delete it. However, I won't be frustrated. At some point I'll feel obligated to at least respond with something you can work with, if you are good.

Relevancy

If you are selling something that is relevant to what I need, you have a much greater chance of getting the appointment. Even if I don't plan on buying for a long time, I'll be more likely to let you meet with me and start the relationship if your product is relevant. Also, I'll be less likely to ignore your messages.

This is a challenge for any sales person because you never know what's going to hit the nail on the head. For any sales person that is good, I'm an open book. I blog a lot. I'm very active on social media. If that sales person takes just a little time to pay attention, he or she will know what I'm interested in. It will then be easier for that person to be noticed.

I'm amazed how often I get pitched to buy a product or service that I actually sell. If you don't understand me well enough to understand what I sell then you don't deserve my time.

Genuine Interest

This, I think, is the hardest thing to get. Some people are naturally curious enough that they are interested in what other people do. They want to find out more. As such, it's easier for them to ask me, with genuine interest, what's important to me. Other people have to work harder at it.

Just as genuine interest is the hardest thing for a sales person to have, it's the easiest for me to identify when someone is being fake. I can tell by the questions you ask and how quickly you get to the pitch.

I don't want the fake pleasantries. Too often sales people have been drilled so much to build some sort of relationship that it's obvious they are trying to get to some common ground with trite questions and comments.

If you get the first appointment, you have to get to your point to demonstrate relevancy by asking questions about me that helps me know you are relevant, have done your homework, and are genuinely interested in me. If your product is not immediately obvious how it's relevant, then you have to show me how you are relevant for me to take the time to learn about your product.

Get to the Point

When you get the first appointment I'm likely going to be pretty impatient. If you know me already, you'll know that I'm very process oriented and am very quickly ready to move on to the next thing.

I don't like the big set up and then the big reveal. For example, when I ask you for a price range, I don't want to hear, "Well, I can't really give you a range because it really depends on..."

Come on, give me a break; I'm smarter than that. You have worked with companies my size before. You have done other deals. You can give me a range.

Don't play dumb and don't stall. I want to know quickly whether or not you have value to me. Remember, I have money that you want. If I can't afford you then there is no point talking. If I don't see value quickly, I'm going to show you to the door.

Get to the point quickly. Show me value. Then build the case around it.

Serve Me

I don't care what you know. I don't care how long you've done business. I don't care about you. That is, until I've built a relationship with you. At first, you are only yet another person that wants to take money out of my pocket.

You get into my good graces by serving me. That can be very simple. That can be sending me a note with an article that I might be interested in. That might be bringing something for my office staff to enjoy. That might be inviting me to an event that I might like.

I'm not saying you have to come and clean my car. That would be taking it too far.

Give me something I can use. Do it more than once. Tell me how you can help me. Show that you understand me.

In fact, this is one of the key reasons I speak at events or host educational workshops. I want to give people something they can use. I pitch very little and give away knowledge. I want people know I genuinely care about them and am willing to give them something whether they choose to buy from me or not.

Ask for the Sale

I'm going to hold you to a pretty high standard and I'm going to test you. Because I know how to sell and I understand the sales process, I'm going to expect you to walk me through the steps to buy your product.

I don't want you to jump ahead to the end to the "buy my product" line. I am going to expect you to take me to the next step in the process. I'm going to expect trial closes. I'm going to expect you to ask for the next appointment. I'm going to expect follow-ups. I'm going to expect you to be willing to hear, "no" and I'm going to test how you handle it.

In fact, sometimes I'll tell you that I'm going to think about it to see what you do. Are you going to send me a follow-up email about our meeting? Are you going to call me when you said you would? Are you going to resolve my concerns? Are you going to be patient or be pushy?

If you don't understand the sales process, I'll give you little nudges to help you along. If you still don't get it, I'm probably not going to buy from you.

Final Thought

When I meet a sales person that is really trying to be successful and trying to do it right, I want that person to succeed. If I see that you are genuine but are struggling, I'll help you through it. I'll even give you pointers and advice. The better you take that advice, the more likely we'll have a long-term relationship.

A long-term relationship means I will give you more money and I will connect you with people that can give you more money. It doesn't mean I'm going to hang out with you. It doesn't mean we are going to be best friends forever. But it does mean that I'll take care of you.

But, don't ask me to tell you who to go sell to. Don't give me $100 for a referral. Don't expect me to do your job for you. I'll give you leads if I trust you and if I see that someone needs your service.

Oh, and until we are friends with an established relationship you will probably think I'm very rude. When I'm kind to you and don't rush you, that's how you'll know you're on the right track. If you don't think I'm rude by the end of the first meeting, congratulations, you might be able to make some money... evenutally.

My father-in-law is a retired farmer. He has worked years in various types of ranching and farming.

Before he retired, I remember him working long, long days at the beginning and the end of the season. When it was time to plant or when it was time to harvest, he would have a very small window in which to do his work.

Now, if you aren't familiar with farming, you may wonder why the window was so small. You might think, "Well, doesn't he have all year to do his job?"

The answer to that is that he doesn't have all year. The farmer never knows when it will rain or hail or the weather will turn. When it's time to sow or bring in the harvest, it's time. It means long days and night working hard to get it all done.

One year, my father-in-law watched as a hailstorm beat down his field to practically nothing. He had waited, hoping the weather would turn in his favor. Finally he was able to get his equipment on the field and was only able to harvest 10% of his typical yield.

My father-in-law was met with unfortunate timing. From experiences like that, he learned that when it was time to work, he didn't stop until the job was done. There was no such thing as a 40-hour work week. There was no such thing as quitting time unless he was just too tired to continue or the job was done.

In our company, we normally will expect that summer is going to be slow. In fact, typically, June and July are the slowest months of the year. The business then will pick up quite a bit in August.

This summer has surprised us. This summer has been the busiest on record for us. It's been amazing for us and caught us a bit off guard. It's not very often do we get so much more business than we know what to do with it.

We have experienced a bit of what a farmer experiences when it's time to sow and harvest. When it's time to work, we work. When we work, we work hard to get something done.

Don't be afraid to work when it is time to work. You never know what's coming down the road. You never know when the work will go away.

In order to build and maintain a fire, you need three components: fuel, heat and oxygen. When it comes to heat and oxygen, the more you have of one, the less you need of the other. When your fuel is more dry or combustible then you need less heat or oxygen to spark a flame.

As I was camping with my son, we decided to try a little experiment with our campfire. We had a fire that had been burned out for a few hours and had no smoke at all. I decided to stack my firewood in preparation for the cooking fire even though I knew I wouldn't need it for a few hours.

Within a few minutes of setting up the log cabin, one of the logs that had been buried in ash started smoking and caught fire. It was much hotter than I realized.

Since I didn't want to start my cooking fire that soon, I poured a bunch of water over all the wood. It then seemed very cold.

The experiment was that when we were ready to start the campfire, we would just put a lot of dry pine needles in and around the log cabin. Within about 5 minutes, one little spot started smoking. I wanted to see how much time it would take for the fire to start on it's own.

After about 20 minutes, the smoking got a little more pronounced. Every so often, the wind would pick up and the smoke would increase. I was a little tired of waiting so I decided to help it along by blowing on the smoldering spot a little. Within about 30 seconds of my blowing, the fire was burning and 30 seconds later the log cabin was completely engulfed. With just a little work, I was able to get the fire going.

You might think this is a story about you being the only one that can prevent forest fires. While that is a good lesson to learn I was thinking a bit about my employees and their talents while I was watching the fire start. I was thinking how it could apply to fostering the skills of those whom you lead.

When I hire people, I look for attitude and ability to grow and learn. I look for potential. Sure, I've hired people that have a skill set and experience level that can help me out but I want people that will learn more while they are working for me. I want them to continue to bring more to the table than they already have.

I am looking for the burning ember. The ember that, if I provide the right fuel (resources, opportunity, etc) and properly fan the flame (encouragement, training, etc), they can make a raging fire.

Each of us has that ember. Each of us has the little spark. It takes work to make it into a fire. When we get that fire burning, we can do amazing things.

Oh, and only you can prevent forest fires.

Understanding and embracing technology is an important part of today's marketplace. Learning to interact in today's digital world is a must for individuals to embrace.

Certainly, it's easiest for the younger generation (does that make me sound old?). It's critical for the more mature.

But, with all this online collaboration, have we forgotten something about what it means to be human?

When I started my company nearly six years ago, I had the thought that we'd be very successful by letting people work wherever they were without a central office. I realized very quickly that my style of management (both project and people) is a very collaborate process. Being collaborative online is a tricky and, usually, ineffective process.

Sure, there are tools available like GoToMeeting, Skype, Dropbox, Google Hangouts, etc. But, there is something special about being in the same room with someone. Being able to hear their voice and connect with them on a more personal level.

Now, I think it's a bit funny coming from someone like me. I tend to prefer to be an introvert. I like my solitude. Even with my preference of seclusion, I value the ability to collaborate on a more intimate level. There is nothing that can fuel the creative process more than the ability to develop an intellectual bond with another or to truly be able to share ideas in real-time.

While there is technology today that makes the remote life a lot more in the realm of possibility the reality is that we are missing a piece. It's the human element. It's the ability for humans to communicate on the same level with humans.

When we don't communicate directly with one another on a human level, we'll find that the process changes quite a bit. When we just send an email, it's easier for others to discount what we think is important. When can't do something as simple as shaking someone's hand or even talking to them on the phone, we don't have the ability to remind people that we are real and deserve to be on the same level.

Consider your interactions with others. If you are only connecting digitally, you are forgetting 1000s of years of how people connect. You are missing out an important part of being human. Therefore, you are missing out on important part of truly connecting in a way that will create greatness.

You remember the kid in school who didn't smell so good and was never clued in. Perhaps you remember the kid who was a little too loud and didn't seem to care that everyone thought he was a little obnoxious. Perhaps you were that kid.

You also remember the kids in school that seemed to know how to act to stay popular. In fact, they seemed to understand the game so well that they couldn't do anything that would make them diminish in the eyes of everyone else.

There is something about being self-aware... knowing your limits and knowing when to push them.

Social media today is a similar phenomenon. Sometimes, companies just get it. They jump on the social media bandwagon and intuitively understand how to interact. Others have a hard time just getting started let alone maintaining a social media presence.

The reality is, getting started is the hard part. There may be times when you feel like you are posting status updates or tweeting to an empty room. Just when you feel like you aren't getting anywhere, it's time to take a step back and look in the social media mirror.

Here are a few key areas to look at when making sure that you are aware of yourself on social media. Ask yourself the following questions about your brand:

Who is your company?

This is more than just what are your products and what do you sell. Ask yourself what your company stands for? How do you want to be known?

What makes your company different?

What makes you really stand out from your competitors? Don't just assume you know but really discover what makes you different. How are you incorporating this into your social media content, sharing, and engagement?

Are you reactive or proactive?

Do you just post social content at the spur of the moment or do you think about it first? If you have an end goal in mind from your social media participation think about it before you post. You need to be more proactive and not just post because the moment strikes you.

Have asked others to rate you?

Take the opportunity to ask others (those you trust) to tell you how you are doing. The reality is, you'll never be as self-aware as you think you'll be. Ask people you trust to tell you where you make mistakes and actively work to improve.

Bottom Line

Social media for business takes time because it requires some forethought and a bit of self-awareness. When you take the time to understand who you are and what you stand for, participating in social media for your business will be that much easier.