With rituals completed, fifteen Rotarians sat down to a buffet of baked stuffed shells, garlic bread, salad, squash and cake. Tony was on his feet to win back his reputation as “chief finer” and proposed a fine of one-and-nine on President Liane for whining about personal hygiene. John came to her defense and Joe invited her to “come sit with us.” She did so briefly as you can see by the picture to the right. Karl noted that when he was president he tried to bring some organization to the club by having a head table which included the president and the speaker. Doug informed us that his club in Bon Air has no head table. Fine did not pass. John offered a Happy Dollar for the satisfaction that he recently experienced when he accompanied his daughter preparing breakfast for the homeless as part of her community service requirement at Spaulding. (Remember to keep track of your volunteer hours and submit them to Caroline.) Doug gave a Happy Dollar for the official recognition of the legalization of marijuana in Canada. George gave a Sad Dollar at the passing of Margaret Fitts. She was a great supporter of Barre Rotary and was especially helpful in making our silent auction at the annual ball a success. Next week is Polio Awareness and we will distribute information flyers in Barre City. George gave two Happy Dollars: one celebrating Homer Fitts’ 92^nd birthday and another celebrating his middle granddaughter’s marriage.

 

 

Sue introduced our part-time visiting resident Rotarian from Bon Air, Virginia, Doug Bullett. She also announced that she will be leaving for Florida soon and Bruce will take over the duties of secretary.

 

 

 

 

 

Liane introduced Bruce Fisher who delivered his classification talk. Here are his remarks.

At present my Classification is Retired, but I’d like to talk to you about the classification I’ve had for 33 years – SALES.

Sales is the backbone of the American Economy ! NOTHING HAPPENS IN THIS ECONOMY Until someone sells something to someone else. This famous quote is attributed to a number of people including Peter Drucker, IBM’s Thomas Watson, and Arthur “Red” Motley, the former Publisher of “Parade” Magazine.

Think about it – daily life. How often do you SELL an idea to your significant partner, kids, boss co-worker? If I could just get another day, I’ll have that report for you. Can’t I please watch the game first and I PROMISE I’ll cut the lawn after that?

I started out in Sales back in 1982 as a car salesman for the then NORDIC FORD. This was back when car loans were about 14% and you had to have 20% down. Pay was commission only, and my wife said I was NUTS. Three months later she asked if I had saved enough to buy a new couch since ours had broken.

People have often said to me “you’re natural born salesmen”. I’m here to tell you there is NO SUCH THING. No one ever says “you’re a natural born plumber or carpenter or CEO”.

SALES, like any other trade, is learned. The more you do it the better you get at it. I’ve attended hundreds of sales conferences and seminars, and where I’ve learned the most, are listening to other sales persons.

Back in 1992 I formed a company New England Training. We taught people who had never sold anything before how to become successful sales persons. Our success rate was 92%. I still get notes and cards from people who attended my course who are happy with their lives now.

New England Training developed into a larger company and we expanded our offerings to companies who wanted to have their management earn how to set and accomplish goals, how to run a meeting, why to have a meeting in the first place, time management and how to give a speech. I gave all that up about 10 years ago because of the travel. I still do things for long term customers who ask. I would like to bring the company back with an online offering if anyone knows a good website designer.

How do you become successful in Sales? Most people will define success as financial independence. Others define success as a degree of respect, happiness, a collection of material goods, popularity, whatever you definition of success is only matters if you actually succeed. A good friend of mine once said, “If at first you don’t succeed, lower you standards”. Now there’s inspiration for you.

Success is the completion of a goal. Think about that for a moment. If your goal is to quit smoking, and you do, you’re a success!!! I was talking about success with my friend one day and he said. “Well I tell you; at this point success has eluded me”. How does that happen?!?!? Are you just standing there in the middle of a road with your arms wide open waiting for success to come up and smack you square in the face, but it just went right around you? For most people that is exactly how they regard success. That’s why lottery sales, gambling, and scams are so successful. They all work on the premise that you’re going to pay money and wait for something to happen.

One of the courses I taught in New England Training is called Planning your Future.

To succeed in business and in life, you need a plan.  Hope isn’t a strategy – you need a plan for success, so identify your goals and priorities.

You need to be passionate and committed to your plan. 

Even if you have a plan, the commitment and the passion, at some point you will have to deal with adversity.  Trust me, if you haven’t, you will.  To be successful, you must confront adversity with a winner’s mentality, not a victim’s. What defines us is not the obstacles we face, but how we react to them.

Bruce’s talk was laced with anecdotes, animated and enthusiastically delivered and appreciated by those in attendance. A great addition to Barre Rotary.

 

Until next time, that's all folks......