Bad news for pessimists everywhere

I'm sitting on a Virgin America flight from SF to Toronto, emailing my daughter who is in class at the University of Western Ontario emailing me back.

Very cool.

First of all, I love wifi on the plane, and I hope they make it free on all flights everywhere very soon. I have a feeling I won't be able to survive even short flights without it from now on, so the airlines have me over a barrel on that one.

Anyway, what's amazing about this is that almost everything that makes it possible for me to communicate with my daughter the writer/genius this way would have been considered impossible 100 years ago.

I'm on my laptop (1), at 38,000 feet (2), on the internet (3), using wifi (4), emailing (5) my daughter in class, where she is texting (5) me back on her mobile phone (6). Each of those 6 things seem absolutely indispensable to our lives these days and for the most part each would have been beyond even the imagination of most people not very long ago.

What does it mean? Well, for one thing, we live in an incredible time and it's very difficult to deny that our world is getting better every day and will continue to do so. So, bad news for all you pessimists out there.

It also makes me wonder what incredible, unimaginable things will dominate our lives in a positive way in 5 or 10 or 20 years from now. Can't wait to find out.

Now if I just could get my daughter to stop texting and concentrate on her class....

Take control- Sell more

For salespeople, results can occasionally be dependant on things beyond their control. If your biggest account was Lehman Brothers or AIG last year, you probably had a terrible year. Ditto if you were trying to sell vacation homes in Las Vegas or Fort Myers, Florida.

What most salespeople ignore, however, is the fact that most of their results depend on things they do control, and so they ultimately fail to do the things necessary to improve their chances for success by not focusing enough on these controllable elements.

While it's true that we can't simply decide, for example, to be the smartest, most likable or luckiest salesperson, and we can't snap our fingers and suddenly have a world beating product, there are a number of things that we can decide to do in order to dramatically improve our chances for success, including:

- be the best prepared. Being better prepared than the competition gives us a real edge. Many reps feel they are well prepared, but very few are really putting in the effort necessary to know their products, competition and customers significantly better than the rest.

- be the hardest working. Our competition can't keep us from out-working them, yet many reps just do the minimum necessary to get by. More effort inevitably leads to better results. Most of the time the hardest working sales people are the luckiest.

- be the most positive. Having the right attitude is contagious and people respond better to positive people. Too many reps sit around complaining about how tough things are, often turning off the people around them. Salespeople can't afford to "turn-off" anyone. Choose to be positive instead and watch how your customers and co-workers react positively in turn.

- be the most responsive. Customers love responsive reps, and it's normally up to the individual how quickly and with what degree of urgency they follow up on customer’s requests. When it comes to customer follow up, move faster than the other guy.

The best thing about these actions is that no one can stop you if decide to make being the best prepared, hardest working etc. your objective. Not your competitor, your fellow reps or your cranky boss. It's 100% up to you. And it’s a change we can decide to make RIGHT NOW! So, while you can't snap your fingers and bring Lehman Brothers back to life, there are lots of things you can do to improve our "luck", and many of the most important are completely within your control. The real winners are the ones who recognize the impact these controllable variables have on performance, and maximize their chances for success by electing to be the best at them.

Eric

The economics of bike riding in Copenhagen

Every few months we read a story in the local (Toronto) press about how those eco-conscious Danes ride their bikes rain or shine (or snow) in Copenhagen, while we here in Toronto don't. The reasons most commonly cited: lack of bike lanes and lack of will of local politicians to build them.

Well, it's true that Denmark is one of the greenest countries in Europe and gets more of its energy from renewable sources than any other country on the continent. But with a climate similar to that of Toronto, it struck me as a bit odd that over 1/3 of all work commutes in Copenhagen would be done on a bike. What motivates Danes to get out of their warm, safe, comfortable cars and onto their bicycles in such great numbers?

The explanation is simple, and it has nothing to do with climate change, greener cities or eco-awareness. At least not in the sense of the Danes voluntarily being more socially responsible or better global citizens than the rest of us.

Their motivation is, unsurprisingly, economic. Danes pay an astonishingly high 180% vehicle registration tax when purchasing a car, on top of the already high 25% VAT. This is a tax on a tax, creating an effective tax rate of well over 200%!

That’s enough to get anyone pushing pedals.

To put this in perspective, in Denmark, a new, well-equipped Camry will cost you the equivalent of $100K+! Have your eye on that classy Mercedes E class? Get ready to spend anywhere up to $280K!

It turns out that our eco-friendly Nordic cousins are not responding to the climate crisis, but to an entirely self- inflicted economic crisis strong enough to discourage all but the rich or desperate from buying cars. It’s not hard to get people to trade in their environmentally unfriendly cars for bikes if you’re willing to tax many of them completely out of the market.

Of course, the Danes are a very eco-conscious country, and they don’t have a domestic car industry (or auto unions) to protect. But try selling a similar tax policy in Windsor or Oakville this winter!

Most people recognize that while cycling is a pleasant way to get around the neighbourhood on a lazy summer weekend and a good form of exercise for the stout and brave, as a commuting method in big cities with Northern climates it’s not the least bit practical and requires extraordinarily punitive economic (dis)incentives to make it popular.

So, the next time you read an article in the local paper touting the wonders of Copenhagen’s bike culture and imploring Canadians to be more like the Danes and bike around in parkas and toques 6 months a year, it may be time to reach for your wallet and quickly jump into your car and speed off.

Eric