The age of doing business by accident is over. Clients and customers have so many choices today that you can’t expect to just show up, throw your briefcase on the table, and grab an order.

Now, is this a doom-and-gloom scenario, stating that there’s no more opportunity out there? Of course not. In fact, there’s more opportunity out there today than ever before. I really believe that no matter how successful you are right now, you have an opportunity to be more successful than you’ve ever been before.

There’s just one catch: In today’s competitive world there is no more margin for error.The companies and the people that will succeed today, tomorrow, and on into the future are the ones who will be willing to do everything RIGHT.

I know that as a client, customer, or consumer I can buy almost anything I want from the Internet and I never have to talk to you! So the question now becomes, what is it that you are willing to do for all your clients, customers, and prospects that creates so much extra value that it is more beneficial for them to buy directly from you than to just click on their computers?

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In other words, how are you differentiating yourself from the competition?

I think the single biggest question I have for you is this: What are you really selling?

Are you just selling whatever will get you the fastest commission, or are you selling extraordinary quality, service, convenience, and value? Are you just selling the first thing out of your bag, just to get your boss off your back, or are you selling “Save me time and make my life easier”? Are you just selling whatever the customer thinks they want and need, or are you selling knowledge, expertise, information, and education?

Are you just selling stuff? Are you just selling what everyone else is selling? Because if you are, I can click on my computer and I can buy stuff from the cheapest guy in town.

Get out there and sell some value.

Two years ago, I posted a blog article titled, Consequences of the Easy Way Out.

It detailed the experiences of my son, Michael who was 18 at the time. It told how his penchant for taking the easy way out had put him in a position where he had limited his college choices. He ended up at a school he hated and while he did well, academically, in his one year there, his transfer choices were limited, to say the least.

I wrote in the article, “The good news for Michael is that these are not earth shattering or life threatening mistakes, and since he’s only 18 his actions, or lack of it, have become a valuable learning experience.”

Thankfully, I was correct.

Michael decided, since he couldn’t go where he wanted to go, he would take a year off from school and work full-time. Let me tell you something: there is nothing like a dose of the real world to really help you appreciate what it takes to be successful.

Michael worked hard as a Pizza delivery man for the local Pizza Parlor. He made a lot of money and saved a lot money. He invested wisely in the stock market and made a significant profit.

After a year, he decided it was time to go back. Through an acquaintance of ours, he was told about an excellent small private university 45 minutes to the west: Elon University. We checked it out; Michael loved it, applied and was accepted.

If he would have applied right out of high school, no way he gets in. But since he decided to “Do the hard,” his first year of college, those freshman grades got him accepted to a school he really enjoys and where he is not taking the easy way out.

Mistakes, bad judgment, always looking for the easy way out; these are not irrevocable tragedies. You can easily turn these around to your advantage just by realizing “The extra effort I put in up front, will save me far more time and effort in the long run; make my life better overall and assure me a successful future."

I'm writing to share with you two great examples of entrepreneurship from a chapter of my book, The Best Damn Sales Book Ever. I also highly recommend a great new book, The One Minute Entrepreneur, by Ken Blanchard and Don Hutson. It is an exciting story about the trials and tribulations of business. You can take part in their special offer by clicking here.

...This is an excerpt from Chapter 15 of The Best Damn Sales Book Ever:

When I ask,“Why did you get into sales,” or “Why did you go into this kind of business,” I’ve had way too many people say, “...Because I heard you can make a lot of money in sales,” or, “I heard you can make a lot of money in this kind of business.” I know people who have made a lot of money doing things where others would turn up their noses.

You’ve probably never heard of a man named Randy Repass. He was like so many other people in that he had a job he was disappointed with at a Silicon Valley technology firm, so he turned to his love of boating for relief from the cold, impersonal nature of the high-tech industry. In 1968, working out of his garage in Sunnyvale, California, he began selling nylon rope by mail order under the name West Coast Ropes. Occasionally, adventuresome customers would even drop by to pick up their orders in person.

“I decided from the beginning that I wanted to take care of people,” says Repass.“The high-tech industry didn’t provide me with an effective way to do that. But the boating industry gave me the opportunity to really enjoy my work and interact with customers who shared my interests. I was having a blast and building a business at the same time.”

Repass also saw an opportunity to improve the way people shopped for boating supplies. According to Repass, he was frustrated by the experience of shopping in local chandleries for the parts he needed to outfit his modest day-sailer. “Boat supply stores in those days were usually dark, disorganized places staffed by a couple of salty but indifferent clerks who preferred swapping sea stories with one another to helping customers find what they came in to buy.”

Repass’s dissatisfaction led him to open the first West Coast Ropes store in Palo Alto, California, in 1975. From that one store, a love of boating and a commitment to helping rather than selling enabled Randy Repass to build West Coast Ropes into West Marine, the world’s largest boating supply retailer.

I’m sure that selling tires for a living doesn’t seem like the road to riches or the coolest way to make a living, but don’t tell that to Paul Zurcher.

Mr. Zurcher (I don’t think I’ve ever called him Paul, and even though he’s one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met, I don’t really think I could) left the Armed Forces right after serving in World War II. Having grown up on a farm in rural Indiana, the only thing he knew was that he didn’t want to be a farmer. With the help of a $2,500 loan from a local businessman who took a liking to him and believed in him, Mr. Zurcher bought a one bay service station. As his business grew, he branched out into selling tires. Treating every customer as special (as every customer is), his tire business grew and today Zurcher Tires, more commonly known as “Best One,” is one of the largest retailers and wholesalers of tires in the United States, with stores all over Indiana and the Midwest.

Mr. Zurcher, now in his 80s, is as active in the business as ever. While he certainly doesn’t have to be—his sons, along with other family members and executives, do a great job of running the company— he loves being there as much today as he did 60 years ago.

You know what? You can make a lot of money doing anything, if you really love it and put everything you’ve got into it. Loving what you do is what is going to get you through the hard times when there is no money coming in. It is also the one quality that can help make you great at anything you do.

First, I want to thank everyone who has helped make Prospecting Skills That Work a success! Your feedback has also been great about seminars that you would like to see in this format. This is why very soon we'll be releasing Goal Setting Techniques That Work: How to Create a Five Year Action Plan for Your Life. Below is a preview of the new DVD. If you know you need to get clear about your future, but haven’t yet clarified your vision, this program will give you the tools and motivation you need to get started now. This DVD will be available in the coming weeks, so check for updates.

In this clip, from the upcoming sales training video Prospecting Skills That Work, Warren brings home a point about preparation and prospecting.