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Leslie Groene Website Homepage November 2016, Vol. 137
 

Voting and Enthusiasm!

American Industrialist Henry Ford said "You can do anything if you have enthusiasm . . .Enthusiasm is the spark in your eye, the swing in your gate, the grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of your will and the energy to execute your ideas."

As business development professionals and company and industry leaders, it's vital to be enthusiastic about our sales career, our clients' needs, our success and our future. It is also important (in my opinion) to support the process of electing our governing officials by casting our vote. Don't you hear people complaining about the current/past leaders and I wonder how many of these folks vote. Well, as you can see from the numbers below the non-voters numbers are between 52% and 36% over the last few elections. So make sure that you enthusiastically exercise one of the freedoms we enjoy and cast your vote on November 8th!

Here are the actual voter turnout numbers and eligible voter numbers for the last few national elections:

Eligible Voters

Actual Voters

Percentage that Voted

1996

186,347,044

96,262,935

48.1%

2000

194,331,436

107,390,107

50.0%

2004

203,483,455

122,294,978

60.1%

2008

213,313,508

131,304,508

62.2%

2012

235,248,309

129,235,442

54.9%

Over 95 Million eligible voters will not vote in 2016 (USA Today/Suffolk University Poll)

Even non-voters say voting is important
93 percent of infrequent voters agreed that voting is an important part of being a good citizen and 81 percent of nonvoters agreed it is an important way to voice their opinions on issues that affect their families and communities.

Just too busy?
The survey found that 28 percent of infrequent voters and 23 percent of those unregistered said they do not vote or do not register to vote because they are too busy.

Make the time to vote!! If you are a business leader make sure your employees know they are allowed to take some time from their day to vote too.

Focus Point

66. Specialize in your industry as soon as possible.

From "Day One," make a special effort to develop expertise in a valuable niche in your industry or community. When you become a leading authority on a subject, your potential clients will come to you because they'll want the best counsel they can receive.

In real estate, this niche can be a category in the market-place, such as a certain type of investment properties or a type of investment. Your expertise can also apply to a given territory, and your goal could be to become the dominant agent or broker in that territory.

We all love to work with the "Number One" anything in our daily lives. Tom did that last year while buying a new car. First, he made sure that he was dealing with the leading sales agent in the office. He also did the deal on the last day of the month, and the office happened to be just behind on its sales quota. So his agent had maximum leverage because she was "Number One," his bid had maximum impact because of the timing - and Tom got a great deal!

So much information is at our fingertips on the Internet that we have unlimited opportunity to acquire the latest data on prices, trends and everything else going on in our neck of the woods. And when things get a little complicated many industry classes and seminars are to help you with what you'd like to learn.

Once you've acquired your expertise and your sales niche, integrate these "badges of distinction" into all your marketing and promotional efforts. By the way, one excellent source of business for sales professionals is public speaking opportunities at business or industry functions and conferences for professionals such as lawyers and financial experts. At your earliest opportunity, find forums for presentations and attend seminars on public speaking. It will serve you well, but it is an art you need to practice and refine before you can become truly effective.