U2, Padraig Harrington- and Selling?

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.
Newt Gingrich

There is a connection, but let me share the buzz with you first.
U2 –Vertigo
Saturday evening last ranks as one of my highlights of the year. U2 playing the home leg of their “Vertigo” tour in Dublin.
I’ve been a fan forever. My wife and number two son had arranged – behind my back, a surprise Father’s Day present, only a week late. I’d been wondering at his offhand lack of suitable filial grovelling the previous weekend.
Saturday at 4 pm, I’m ordered to wear my denims, and not to ask questions. “Just get your butt into gear, Dad”. Did as ordered. I started to get the message when we reached the city centre…. the party atmosphere was palpable…. all sizes, shapes and ages buzzing in the town…and all wearing denim! I ‘d forgotten it was de rigeur for rock concerts.
I financed the munchies beforehand (Dad’s do, naturally) and then we joined the streaming mass of 82,000 other party goers on the way to Croker (Croke Park…overseas readers think Toronto Skydome, Wembley Stadium, Melbourne Cricket Ground).
What a night! Suitably warmed up by The Thrills and Paddy Casey (get into him now, if you haven’t yet discovered him), the crowd went bonkers when the first chords of “Vertigo” slowly rose to a crescendo, with smoke and dry ice pouring across the stage and then, hidden by the smoke, they were there taking over the music, and in about five seconds, the crowd.
The sound, the performance, the lighting, the setting,, the big screens…absolute magic! As darkness fell it became even more spectacular.
“You”, “Where the streets have no name”, “In the name of love”, “City Walls”, “Vertigo”, “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”…. an endless procession of their mega hits, the crowd singing every word along with them, yet you could still hear Bono singing perfectly. The sound was that good. He can be a preachy git, but he is some showman.
Close to three hours later, after a thirty minute encore and reprise of some of their biggies, the lights finally fade, and you realise you are physically and emotionally tired. A solid three hours of rocking catches up with you (well with me, anyway, as a bit of an oldie) and believe me when I say that if you are not rocking with U2, it’s only because you are dead from the neck down.
They have emotionally engaged you and you realise their songs have meaning. You have been off the planet for a while and it takes time to return to planet Earth. You have noticed nothing except the music, the way it was delivered, and you want to go thought the whole thing again tomorrow evening! And I now see why Bono has become so influential on a worldwide basis as a communicator and pain in the arse to the world’s governments.
He owns his audience. He has a message. He keeps it simple. He knows how to put it across so that we really listen.
Our Taoiseach (Prime Minister) was in Saturday’s audience. Bono whacked him with Ireland’s failure, as Europe’s most prosperous economy, to sign up to committing an annual 0.7% GNP to relieving world poverty. Perhaps the sound of 82,000 voices roundly booing him will force him to pay some attention to the matter…. shrug…he’s a politician, so who knows?

MESSAGE FOR SELLERS
Go back two paragraphs…KNOW and OWN your audience, have a REAL message, keep it SIMPLE. ENGAGE your audience emotionally, FORCE THEM with the power of your words to REALLY LISTEN.

BTW. I’m no longer just a U2 fan; I’m an apostle for their music. If you ever get the chance, don’t miss them! Vertigo Tour schedule here: http://www.ticketsnow.com/tickets.cfm/

Padraig Harrington
Saturday evening was magical, but Sunday night rounded off the weekend beautifully, as one of my heroes hit a 65-foot putt across a roller coaster green to score eagle and win his second golf tournament in America this year.

He’s one of my heroes for two reasons:
One: I admire his sheer work rate in lifting himself into the world’s Top Ten golfer’s list, although he is not blessed with as much natural talent as many others. Hard work and never knowing when to quit makes him an outstanding role model for anyone who wishes to reach their peak.
Two: He was reared and lives only a mile or two away from me, and a local hero is always good for bragging rights. You can meet him doing the shopping, or working on our local club (Stackstown) practice range, on his weeks off from the tour.

Read about Padraig’s wonderful amateur/ professional career here: http://www.padraigharrington.com/
This included beating Tiger twice in a row (with Jody Fanagan, our best ever amateur not to turn professional) in the Walker Cup at Royal Portcawl, the last amateur tournament they both played before turning professional on the same day.

MESSAGE FOR SELLERS
Persevere! Six back with five to play. Three back with three to play. An outrageous shot on the last hole and Padraig is the winner!

I am reminded of an appalling statistic (DTS Inc.) from a couple of years back in relation to sales people:
67% of Sellers give up after the third “No” from the buyer.
73% of Buyers only say “Yes” after the fourth “No”.

As sellers, we do not take enough “No’s” in our customer’s interests!
Persevere. Take as many “No’s” as you need to. Perhaps, as you are physically ejected from a seventh floor office window for your insistent persistence, you may say to yourself as you reach a falling speed of 23 feet per second, “I guess this means he’s not going to buy……………..TODAY”. Now that is high performance selling!

I know this blog is for sellers, and the connections I made may be tenuous, but I needed an excuse to write about U2 and Padraig. ;-))
"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading."

Lao Tzu

Have a good week
Keep Selling!

Maitiu
http:/www.greatexpectationscoaching.com

CHANGING THE WORLD ONE MIND AT A TIME