Lessons from Larry

Happy Saturday Seeds fam! It’s been a couple weeks since the last drop, and here’s the quick overview of what’s gone down (if interested, if not skip down):

• We moved Shelby (my finance) to Portland for her next medical rotation

• We had an epic weekend in Bend, Oregon celebrating a friend’s birthday (shoutout Keely & the Leb Gang, freaking love Bend)

• Running continues to improve day-by-day, with relentless PT and daily action of 20-30 mins of band work

• Been working remotely in Portland all week (s/o my hosts, Sam & Lex!) - was supposed to leave last Sunday… whoops 😅

• Hit up our favorite Portland spots immediately (Salt & Straw, Thai Peacock, Powell’s books, ¿Porque No? Burma Joy)

And lastly… work has been crazy (maybe exhilirating is a better word). I finally closed this deal I’ve been working on for the last 2-3 months, and it feels good to finally breath.

Then we closed one more yesterday afternoon just to seal the deal on my goal for the quarter 🎯

And it’s this last bullet point I wanted to quickly share some lessons from, in hopes of helping you in whatever area of life it resonates.

We’ll call it, “Lessons from Larry” because it slightly resembles the company, and sounds kind of catchy 🙂

Why I wanted to share: I have studied and developed great sales skills over the years, but I believe what ultimately makes me successful are the personal development traits that are directly applicable to you:

I stay true to who I am, listen to my creative spirit, and trust my gut.

🌱Quick overview of the deal:

• 2-3 months working (about 4+ hours/day… at least - I was committed)

• Tuesday - finally got word that customer is going with our company - (“Let’s go!!”)

• Wednesday - multiple meetings to confirm next steps for contract execution - (“Let’s go!!” x2)

• Thursday - 10am - urgent call from my Champion - CEO decided last minute to go with competitor, they are now contracting with competitor - (immediately felt sick)

• Thursday - 10:02am - took a deep breath and asked myself the most important question: “What can I do?” - immediately began generating ideas, writing draft emails / talk tracks, and started executing

• Thursday - 11am - sent email to CFO, wrote email to CEO, but before sending I found the CEO’s phone number….

• Thursday - 12:55pm - called CEO - no answer, left voicemail. BUT… voicemail dropped midway through. Called back immediately. “Hello?” No way… after 2 months trying to get ahold of him, the CEO finally answered.

• Thursday - 1:15pm - spoke with CEO. Created an opportunity to earn back the business.

• Thursday - 6pm - after reworking parts of the agreement, negotiating back and forth, and sending over revised draft, we had a chance

• Friday - 6am - meeting with client - we won the deal and earned the business.

• Friday - 11am - order form signed and 1% away from my goal number for the quarter

• Friday - 12:30pm - closed my last deal of the week, and hit my goal

  
  So with that, here you go!

🌱Lessons from Larry: and how YOU can apply them to your life right now

1. Follow your gut - my gut instinct said to call the CEO back immediately. And I did. And he answered. And we won the deal because of it.

2. Do the things you resist… did I resist calling the CEO back immediately? Absolutely. But oftentimes when we do the things that we resist, when your heart is racing and palms are sweating, that’s a sign you’re on the right path. FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLIES 🦋

3. Be bold. Take risks. You never know until you try.

4. “There’s no such thing as failure, but only learning opportunities” - corny as it sounds, it’s the truth. If you decide to see it this way. This list of lessons initially began when I heard the CEO as going with a competitor… I immediately began writing down lessons I learned throughout this process, only to remember one massive lesson in doing so - it’s not over!

5. The phone is your friend - need something done? Pick up the phone and make the call

6. Success loves speed - work fast (and smart) and maintain momentum when you have it

7. In sales / business, it’s NEVER over until there is a signed contract. In life - it’s never over until the clock says zero…

8. Stay creative in the process (I did extensive research, YouTube search, interview extraction, etc on the CEO & company, and it finally paid off when I spoke with him live). Preparation met opportunity…

9. There is ALWAYS something more you can do…. just think and ask yourself what else you can do

10. Use third party references when trying to influence - nothing tells an objective story like the marketplace

11. At the end of the day, all we can control are the inputs. And we can walk away knowing we did everything in our power.

And that’s what I got for you today, folks. My goal is always to empower and equip you with tools, resources, strategies, and lessons that I continue to learn in life, and share them with you freely.

Use what is helpful, and discard the rest.

Keep Plantin’ 🌱

Colin M. Walters

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