Coop Harper - Adventures In Paradise

On March 30, 2022 Ashley and I will celebrate our first year of living in Costa Rica. As we approach that date, I wanted to take a series of articles to review our first year living as ex-patriots. So many unknowns. So many angels. So much growth. In this first piece I’m going to cover the lead up to the leap. What happened? Why did we do it? What were we expecting? Join me on this journey and find out…   Death, Moves, A Breakdown and the Pandemic The real roots of this story began in the winter of 2017. After taking another leap of faith into the Harley-Davidson motorcycle business in February 2012, I left my incredible learning ground at Woodstock Harley-Davidson in Illinois and returned to where I grew up in Philadelphia’s Delaware Valley. I accepted a promotion from Assistant Sales Manager at Woodstock to General Sales Manager at Rommel Harley-Davidson in New Castle, Delaware. My real desire to return home was driven by the serious illness of my lifelong friend Gary. He...

Passion: A strong fondness, enthusiasm or desire for anything. How do you feel when you wake up in the morning? Do you look forward to the day ahead? Are you energized and optimistic about what the day holds? Do you  love  what you’re doing as your career? These are not casual questions. In fact, these questions are fundamental not only to your professional success, but to your happiness with your life in general. Passion is a very powerful thing. It acts as a fuel for our human creativity, confidence, personal magnetism and ability to perform at the highest possible level. From a career perspective, passion transforms a job into a  calling . Work becomes play… Instead of having to spur yourself into action, you’ll have to pull in the reins to keep from charging forward. Imagine all of this comes from a simple decision to do what we love and love what we do. Many of us have heard the following quote:  “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work ...

The  forth segment of this series  highlighted the importance of keeping our sales presentations and proposals simple, straightforward and focused on the benefits we provide to our customers. It also stressed the importance of guiding the customer’s decision process effectively through solid planning and organization. In this final installment of the series you’ll see how connecting with your customers by demonstrating your understanding of their challenges and goals, is the cornerstone of building enduring loyalty. We’ll end with showing you the joy and success that comes with a continuous commitment to learning and self-development. These are points 9 and 10 from the  Make Up Your Mind  essay… 9. That people buy today, not nearly so much because they understand your product thoroughly, but because they feel and believe that you understand them, their problems and the things they want to accomplish. Here’s the cold, hard truth; what customers have to say t...

The third piece in this five-part series zeroed in on the importance of honesty with our customers and channeling our efforts intelligently to obtain maximum results. I also pointed out some ideas on how to create win-win encounters with customers. These encounters lead to successful business results for the customer and for you. Here, in part four, I will cover why simple, straightforward presentations and proposals help you win more business. I’ll also discuss why helping and guiding your customers in an organized way will lead to solid customer relationships and higher levels of customer satisfaction. These are points 7 and 8 from the Make Up Your Mind Essay… 7. That the power of your sales presentation will always lie in its simplicity. All business segments have their unique “speak.” People who might be listening to a conversation between two individuals in the digital printing industry may think they are speaking in code. To them, the conversation might as well be in another la...

The second article in this series continued to elaborate on the key attitudes salespeople should adopt if they want get to the top and stay there. It focused specifically on the importance of managing, versus being managed by your time. The piece then went on to discuss how critical it is to know precisely what your time is worth. In the third installment of this five-part series, I will cover why honesty and intelligence in our sales efforts will result in financial and professional rewards. I’ll also discuss why each sales interaction with your customers must be a win for both of you. These are points 5 and 6 from the Make Up Your Mind essay… 5. That honest, intelligent effort is always rewarded. Each year a survey is conducted among customers across a diverse number of industries. These surveys are focused on what customers value and demand from the salespeople they decide to work with and trust. Guess what attribute tops the list year after year after year? Honesty. None of us wan...

In the introductory article of this five-part series, I introduced a sales motivation piece I uncovered years ago entitled  Make Up Your Mind  and the positive impact it’s had on me as a sales professional. I elaborated on the importance of being sold on yourself, your company and your products as a foundation for sales success. I also covered how critical it is to focus on the needs of your customers versus any compensation you might receive from them for doing business with you. In this installment I want to cover the importance of efficient time management and knowing what your time is worth. These points, which are the third and fourth points in the  Make Up Your Mind  essay, are the next key building blocks you need to put in place as you work to join the elite corps of sales professionals. 3.  That time is money and that learning to manage your time productively will be one of your most profitable achievements. Many salespeople make the f...

I’m a big reader. I was fortunate enough to have worked for a company early in my career that put me through a rapid reading course. Their one-time investment in me has paid life-long dividends for my career. I’m able to read and digest large amounts of information efficiently. Why tell you this? Because I’ve used the training I received to find and read a ton of excellent articles on how to be a sales professional and not just a salesperson. One brief, yet impactful piece I’ve come across during my 32 years in sales and sales management is entitled Make Up Your Mind. I’ve never been able to identify the author of this little gem, but following the simple advice it provides transformed me in several important and valuable ways. The benefits it has given to me pale in comparison to the resulting value it has delivered to my customers. You’ll find the piece below. Over the next five weeks I will highlight and expand on two bullet points contained in the article per week. I hope it...

SELLING BEYOND PRICE By Gene Lambert “Your price is too high.” These are five words that can strike fear into the heart of many sales people. Yet it’s a known fact that the lowest priced quote most often doesn’t win the business and that low pricing doesn’t keep the customer long-term. Why? What are the key differentiating factors you must be able to communicate to your prospective customer? How do you deliver this message so the customer will fully understand your added value? Let’s take a closer look at this important issue and how to win the business and keep it, not buy it and lose it. Price, Cost, Value You’d be surprised how many salespeople believe these three terms mean the same thing. They don’t. Let’s take a moment to look at the actual definition of these important words in the world of sales: 1.       Price – the sum or amount of money or its equivalent for which anything is bought, sold or offered for sale. What did I pay to obt...

In my last article, I shared some of my experience on a number of the things that make great sales professionals great. The topic of this piece deserves exclusive attention as a vital characteristic of top level sales performers. Attention to the details involved with helping your customers will build a defensive “moat” around your customer’s castle that the competition will find very difficult to breach. Not everything is an emergency, unless of course your customer thinks it is! Being there when your customer needs you is a key component of your value proposition. Think of it as making your moat as wide as possible. Schedule a specific time with your customer to discuss your plan for being accessible to them. TALK My advice is to make voice contact with you easy for your customers. I like to pick one number for them to use as my contact number. Since I’m always in and out of the office, I use my cell phone number. If I’m in the office I forward my cell there. If I’m out or on ...

Most of us in the sales profession have heard of the “80/20 Rule.” The rule states that 80% of the business in a given industry is done by 20% of the salespeople. After 32 years as a salesperson and sales leader, I’ve found this rule, as a rule, is true. In my role as a sales trainer and consultant I’ve taught many salespeople across several markets and these stats have held true. What separates the 20% from the 80%? Do they put in more hours? Maybe. Are they smarter? Sometimes. Is it company politics as the 80% often believe? Rarely. Sales winners share a common set of fundamental skills that get them to the top and keep them there. What are these sales fundamentals and what role do they play in getting a salesperson to elite status? Let’s take a look at what I like to call the “L’s” of professional selling. LISTENING It might come as a surprise to many sales folks that the 80/20 rule comes into play here too. Elite salespeople spend 80% of their time listening and only 20% of ...

I made the unfortunate choice of watching quite a bit of news over the last two weeks. As the reports of economic, political, business and personal tragedy piled up I noticed something. What hit me square in the face was the negative tone in each story. Ingrained in the assessment of every situation we face today were the consequences of failure. I’m not talking about your run of the mill everyday failure. I’m referring to failure of the devastating and catastrophic variety. Armageddon, if you will. Before I felt an overwhelming desire to head to the knife drawer in the kitchen, I turned off the TV. I also started looking into TV news rehab. Since I’m afraid of knives and was unable to find a rehab focused on this particular malady, I decided on a little self-help. I’m an amateur therapist so I kept it simple. The obvious cure for pessimism must be optimism. The opposite of negative is positive. I set out to find examples that would prove my hypothesis. Some facts came to light quick...

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...