Coop Harper - Adventures In Paradise

I’ve been very fortunate in my business career. I worked with leaders who were excellent teachers. They understood the difference between a sales professional and a salesperson. They taught me the importance of becoming an expert on the products I sell and helped me become that expert. More importantly, they showed me what it meant to help customers. Not sell customers, but help customers. They invested the time to help me become a professional at helping people get what they need to accomplish their goals. Thank you Craig, Janet, Charlie, Kim, Bob, Russ, Doug, Steve, Augie and Todd. I’d like to especially thank my brothers Art and T.J. They’re also business coaches I’ve learned from and who have left a slew of talented, well trained sales professionals in their wake. I guess I’m lucky that way. When I became an executive, I believed it was my responsibility to share what I’d learned. Since a leader’s role is that of a guide and mentor, I used the excellent example I’d been given and

Serendipity is defined as good fortune, luck, or an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. I prefer “Serendipity Pitch” over “Elevator Pitch.” If you’re in sales, you know the drill. A hard to reach customer just happens to get on an elevator with you, alone. You both get on at the bottom floor and are headed to the top. It will give you a precious minute of uninterrupted one on one time with this impossible to reach customer. The clock’s ticking. What do you say that gets you the appointment, or better yet, a sale right on the spot? In many ways, I’m old school when it comes to what you need in your selling tool box. Skills like active listening, strong questioning techniques and efficient time management are timeless. Perhaps the most important of these fundamental skills is preparation. Being prepared frees up the mind. It allows us to process information we are getting from a customer, without having to think about facts we should already know. You’d think the

Constantly changing technology has created a business world rife with ADD. Computers, smart phones and 15 second TV commercials have turned us all into chronically unfocused serial multi-taskers. Like bees flying from flower to flower in rapid succession, we move from task to task and interaction to interaction at blinding speed. Unlike bees, we rarely stop to “smell the roses.” To keep up with the demands on our time and attention, we sprint through our to-do lists. Each business day is a new battle in the war. Sales Managers bark out instructions to their troops while new opportunities explode all around them. What effect has this reality had on sales productivity and customer satisfaction? Let’s think about that for a moment. After thirty years in sales, management and leadership, I’ve come to regard professional salespeople much like I do thoroughbred horses. They are magnificent, powerful and live to win. They can also be temperamental, high-strung and behave like prima donnas.

Are you a boss, or a leader? I’m a huge fan of history. I’m also a student of leadership. I love history because it can teach us so much about business and how to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. I learn all I can about leadership versus management. Why? Leadership is teaching and showing. Management is telling and watching. One of my favorite historical mentors is George Washington. It was no accident that the Continental Congress selected Washington to guide the Colonial Army against the British. Washington was a very accomplished civic and military leader long before The Revolutionary War. His accomplishments included: • Elected Surveyor of Culpepper County - 1749-1751 • Appointed Adjutant General of Virginia militia – 1752. (An adjutant general is the chief administrative officer of the militia. This made Washington a Major at the age of 20) • Appointed Lieutenant and Colonel of Virginia Regiment - 1754 • Commander of Virginia Military - 1755-1758 • Elected