Right now there is a decision maker in a large company lying awake, staring at the ceiling, wondering how he is going to handle a serious issue.   He wants help.  He wants to call someone who can ease his anxiety.

This is a smart guy.  He’s well educated.  He has a couple of decades of experience.  He is politically savvy and financially adept.   Yet this particular issue has him vexed and perplexed.

Throughout his entire career this executive has confronted issues head-on, identified his options, and made the best decision for his business.   But this time his options appear to have narrowed and the “good” solution is not easy to identify.  The choices he faces appear to be degrees of “bad.”

As light begins to peer through the curtain in his bedroom, he makes a decision to pick up the telephone and call a person whose counsel he has sought on similar issues.   He knows he will receive solid, objective guidance, from this person.  Based, in part, on this guidance, he will bet the future of his company.

As he reaches for the telephone he confidently has one person in mind.

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You may not have given that exact scenario any thought.   After all, you are working hard, being a good lawyer, being a good medical professional, or being a good business leader.

Why would you spend any time thinking about the problems faced by the owner of a huge business?

You think about those problems because helping this guy make good decisions is important to your relationship with him.

Relationships lead to business for you.

Make no mistake; there is no Request for Proposal published when a business leader is looking for a trusted advisor.   There is no committee formed when a CEO needs someone to bounce ideas off.   There is only the trust you have developed.

How do you get to this point?  How do you develop a relationship with a guy like this?

There are four aspects of a deep relationship.

Visibility

This relationship with the senior decision maker begins when he first recognizes you and your talent.  This can be through reading a book or an article you have written, it can be through seeing you speak at an event, it can be through the introduction by a mutual friend, or in a dozen other ways.

At some point, you appear on this guy’s radar screen because of something you said or something you did.

Credibility

Just knowing you is not enough.  The decision maker must get a glimpse of your brilliance.  He must know what you know.

Most often this comes from personal, direct conversations.   It comes from being yourself.  It comes from telling the truth, even when it is difficult.  It comes from offering your unvarnished opinion even when it may get you thrown out of the room.

The executive needs to know you are going to give him your best thinking even when it exposes you to ridicule.

Differentiation

There are lots of people out there who do what you do.  There are hundreds of top notch trial lawyers.  There are dozens of outstanding physicians in every area of practice.  There are tens of thousands of business consultants who are qualified to help executives.

Why should the CEO call you?  Why is it important the General Counsel seek your guidance?

You need to be able to articulate a clear differentiating factor.  Something that matters.  Something that cannot be easily replicated.

Trust

It’s lonely at the top.  The people who enter the CEO’s office, the people who enter the General Counsel’s office, are almost always angling for something.  If you provide guidance and support without any motive other than acting in the best interest of your friend/client, you will develop trust.

The four aspects of this kind of relationship are easy to comprehend but difficult to develop.

Why?

Because they require emotional investment – on your part.

You must invest in this person.  You must invest in a relationship with him.  You must invest in helping him succeed.

That’s tough.

It’s tough because we live in a NOW world.  You want that big trial TODAY.  You want the huge order IMMEDIATELY.  You want to be the GO TO person post haste.

These relationships are built brick by brick.  They are built by giving good guidance on lots of small issues.  They are built by people sharing your reputation in boardrooms and at cocktail parties.

It starts with the relationships you have right now.  It starts with the guidance you provide today.  It starts with your activity, your personality, and your focus, right now.

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The executive’s legs swing around to the side of his bed.  His feet hit the floor and he pulls back the curtain.  He reaches down and picks up his phone.  As he scrolls through the contacts, he stops on a name and pushes the green button.

Somewhere across the country, a telephone is ringing on a nightstand.

The sound startles you out of a peaceful slumber.  As you reach for the phone you don’t realize it but answering that call may very well change the trajectory of a career…for both of you.

People say I give away the keys to success.

Each week I get chastised for sharing secrets the gurus want you to pay to receive.

This week I’m going to really aggravate the gurus.

I’m going to share two specific ideas that will lead to more money in your pocket.

The beauty of today’s ideas:

They exist inside you.  That’s right.  Nothing to buy.  No special offer.  Just read and take action.

Here we go:

During the past twenty-two years I have worked with, interviewed and studied some of the most successful business people in the world and all of them have two specific qualities in common.

In addition, I have observed, worked with and interviewed many unsuccessful people during that same time period.  These people universally lack these two qualities.

In short, these two qualities separate winners from losers.

Just what are these two qualities?

Urgency and Persistence

Yep.  Nothing fancy.  Just good old fashioned urgency and persistence.

They live in your gut and they are the keys to success in business.  If you are looking for two things that can make all the difference, read on.

Let’s start with urgency.

Speed matters.  Getting important things done quickly is a key quality that separates winners from losers.

Simply put:  Get off your ass and take action.

The way to do this is to set only a few, specific action items and tackle them each day.  Start with one. Pick one thing.  Just one important thing. And attack it as if your life depended upon it.

Yeah.  I know.  You are bombarded with other things you believe MUST get done today.

That’s garbage.

Those things may be urgent and important to someone else but you must focus on things that are urgent and important to you.  Put your goals and your priorities FIRST.

Now let’s look at persistence.

Here is some stunning information from a study by Dartnell’s Institute of Business Research.

80% of all sales are made after 5 or more contacts between a businessperson and a potential client yet:

• 48% of all businesspeople give up after the 1st contact
• 25% give up after the 2nd contact
• 17% give up after the 3rd and 4th contact

That means 90% of the businesspeople surveyed give up before the sale is made.

Here is the big takeaway:

If you want something, really want it, you need to aggressively pursue it until you achieve your objective or until you pass away.

That’s not an overstatement.

It may take the rest of your life, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can achieve your goals.

So here’s the real question for you:

Do you have the guts to act fast and act aggressively over the long term in order to succeed?

Here are some additional resources from Valtmax.com you will find helpful:

How to Get More Referrals

One of the ways to ensure your relationship percolates effectively is to be introduced by a trusted source (rather than blast into the picture).  These introductions are typically referrals from past clients. All of us would love more of them.

This is the most popular Valtimax Podcast I have done to date.  If you like getting more prescreened, presold, prospects walking in your door, you need to spend fifteen minutes with me.

Listen to this podcast now and then listen to it again later.  It is that good.

Get More Referrals Now

The Ultimate Question

There is one question you can ask any client, any customer, any patient, that will result in a deep conversation and will most likely lead to more work.

This one question is powerful in its simplicity.

Asking this question will clearly differentiate you from your competition.

Watch this video to find out what this question is and how you can use it.

The Ultimate Question