Cryptocurrency, NFT, AI, VR, going to Mars, and behemoth companies changing their name to align with the Metaverse, what a time to be alive...
Or what a moment to slap each one down and sentence it all as stupid.
With or without you, the world is changing at breakneck speed. Trying to keep up with it will melt your face off. To keep from being overwhelmed, when something weird, foreign, or breaks the mold of our simple, everyday lives, it's natural to default to saying, "That's stupid! That'll never work."
Tesla going against legacy carmakers?! "That'll never work."
Regular people flying to the moon?! "That'll never happen."
People using their car to taxi you to and from an event?! "Nope."
Ordering food from multiple restaurants and delivered to me at home? "They won't go for that."
Renting out your home for a weekend to total strangers?! "Hell no!"
Paying $1000 for a cell phone?! "Never in a million years."
These were all "stupid" ideas until they're billion+ dollar companies today.
Whether you're at work, at home watching tv, talking to a friend, or walking down the sidewalk- even if you feel the urge to cast something aside because it pops the bubble of your idea of life as you know it...
Be an observer, not a predictor, by simply saying, "Wow. That's interesting!"
Let me give you two instances in my life. One I was a predictor, and the other I was an observer.
Back in 2012, I was introduced to the word cryptocurrency. "A digital form of currency not backed by the dollar bill? An asset that could outrun inflation; digital gold? THAT'S STUPID!"
In 2012 Bitcoin was worth $13.45; today, the crypto-asset is valued at around $60,000. In other words, in 2012 $1000 would've bought me 74 Bitcoins vs. today it'd only buy me .01666666 Bitcoin. That's a $4.4 million oops.
I was a predictor, then. Because I'd never heard of it before, and it disrupted my way of thinking, I immediately said it would never work. But had I observed and looked at the disruption and everything that surrounded the disruption, I'd be a wealthy man today. (Stay tuned :)
Flash forward to 2017. Freshly demoted back down to the department where I started in management 19 years prior, I observed how we traditionally financed customers. It wasn't until I was on the phone with a loan officer who told me that she would email all of the loan documents to her customer that I began asking the question, "Why can't we do that? Why does a customer have to spend hours at a dealership when he can spend minutes signing online?"
I asked other managers that question. "I don't know," was the response.
We called the motor vehicle commission. Same response, "I don't know."
We asked our banks, "Do you accept online signatures?"
"Yes, we do." That was the break we needed.
We then went back to the vehicle commission and told them that our banks would accept laser signatures. Except for a few documents that required original signatures, customers could do all of the paperwork online.
This happened in January 2020. Not knowing COVID would shut the world down three months later. While other dealers were scrambling around trying to find a way to stay in business, we were already three months into a new way of doing business.
Today, over half of our business is done without a customer ever having to step foot in our dealership.
But I see why most people avoid it because disruption exposes your flaws, shows that you don't have all the answers, and shreds your confidence.
Initially, the new way of doing business flattened my numbers. I was a senior manager who had the WORST numbers-even the rookie managers had better numbers than me. But I believed in the change, kept at it, and my numbers slowly began to rise again. While most managers avoided the disruption, I run at it every day because I know, eventually, it'll catch me anyway :)
A lot is going on around us, and it can be overwhelming. You don't have to know it all at once, but push yourself to learn it once all the time-meaning expose yourself to the disruption every single day.
You don't have to jump at everything that comes your way, just observe to possibly embrace.
No matter how crazy or idiotic it sounds right now (NFT's!); when you hear or see disruption, sit back on your emotional heels to observe and not dismiss.
It may be the breakthrough you never saw coming.
I'm pulling for you! You can reach me at www.marshbuice.com. In the bottom right is a mic from you to me. Let me know how your progress is going and how I can help you.
Remember the greatest sale you'll ever make it to sell you on you. Never settle. Keep selling. Stay in The Sales Life.
You can hear this on The Sales Life Podcast or watch it on YouTube. (I'd love for you to subscribe to both!)
