Early on in my sales career I was mentored by a guy named Jack Richards. Jack was an exceptional salesman who grew into an exceptional CEO and entrepreneur.  By just about every measure Jack was an extraordinary businessman. To his fault he was very hard on his body in the process. He easily smoked 3 packs of cigarettes a day. Rarely slept more than four hours a night and often went days without sleep at all. Even into his late 60’s Jack worked a minimum of 70 hours the week. Some of you know this type of person. No one could out work and outperform Jack. He was a machine.

Not a chance I wanted to model completely his work life but the business and sales wisdom he had earned over the course of his life was to me without equal.  Jack taught me the art of selling, the value in hard work and the importance of focusing on a goal.  I was fortunate to have Jack teach me how to be a great salesman, how to be a good listener, how to sell benefits and not only features, how to close a sale, how to read people in the sales process, how to Etc. Etc.  Jack made a difference.

Mentors can make a big difference

Looking back on my career I realize I was better at selling than most in my sales career because of Jack’s investment in me. His investment in me was undeserved on my part and was very much appreciated. I have also been blessed by having other accomplished people in my life that also stopped to take the time to invest something of themselves into me. Some of them I will share something about in future posts.

How about you?

I am wondering about you and would enjoy hearing your story. Who made those investments in your career that really made a difference for you?