Improving Your Business: Dispelling The E-Myth

“Work on your business, not just in your business.” That one sentence, taken from Michael Gerber’s 1986 book, “The E-Myth,” turned Bill Collier’s company around.
According to Collier, if all you’re doing is the work of a technician, then you’re going to be stuck on a treadmill forever and you’re eventually going to implode. Collier said, “The things we need to be doing include: delegating, putting systems together, and making yourself less indispensable to the business.”
Collier, a professional business advisor, forged years of experience working in a corporate position and later founding his own businesses. After selling his company, BC Group International, Inc, in 2005, he formed Collier Business Advisors, LLC. Collier is also the co-owner of a small manufacturing company in Kirkwood. His book, “How To Succeed as a Business Owner… and Still Have a Life,” is currently being published. The “The E-Myth” book has been a tremendous influence on Collier, who has adopted many of its principles into his businesses along with his current consulting practice.
Read the following article to find out how "The E-Myth" philosophy may change your business.

Follow Up To Hiring Sales Pro

In yesterday's post, sales pro Gill E. Wagner, owner of Honest Selling, LLC, shared an interesting take on hiring a sales pro.
Gill mentioned that he asks candidates: "Pretend our roles are reversed…that you hired me…and that I start next Monday. What are you going to have me do next week when I show up?"
A reader responded and wondered, "What should the right answer be?"

The following is Gill's response:

"You should look for a few things:

* How easily does the candidate come up with a list of tasks that
include both learning and getting started? (If he struggles to even fill
one day, you're in trouble.)

* How accurately does the list of tasks match what the candidate has
bragged about doing to generate business himself or herself? (If they
brag about their ability to cold-call, then that should be one of the
major things they include.)

* What percentage of the tasks are learning related and what percentage
are prospecting/selling related? (If it's heavily weighted toward
learning, you have a scared rabbit on your hands. Any good salesperson
will have the "give me something I can start selling now" attitude,
because we all know the only way to justify our employment is to close
deals. And anyone worth his or her salt will not be afraid of diving in
with both feet, so they won't need to learn much.

In one hour I could learn enough about superconductor parts to start
selling them."

Hiring A True Sales Pro

Gill Wagner, owner of Honest Selling, has a unique philosophy when it comes to hiring sales professionals:
“The question I have my clients ask prospective salespeople at the end of their interview is, ‘Pretend our roles are reversed…that you hired me…and that I start next Monday. What are you going to have me do next week when I show up?’ I’ve never seen an ‘A’ salesperson who couldn’t answer that question as easily as a fish swims, and I’ve never seen a bad salesperson who didn’t stumble all over the answer, because you can’t answer it if you don’t know how to sell.”