The Pierce Marrs Show

Season Five, Episode Twenty Four

Pierce Marrs and special guest co-host Dan Miller recap Season Five, Episode Twenty Three. Dan Miller is a best selling author, coach, speaker, produces a weekly podcast entitled 48 Days Online Radio and is a lifetime entrepreneur. His insight is invaluable as he breaks down the hopeful entrepreneurs with Pierce in this episode. You do not want to miss it!

Join  Lori, Barbara, Kevin, Mark and Robert to review:

– Taylor Robinson Music
– PowerPot
– Fun Time Express
– Quickstop Fire Sprinkler Tools
– An update on Ava the Elephant

Tune in Friday’s at 9:00 PM Eastern/8:00 PM Central at The Shark Tank’s new time on ABC. You can contact Pierce and Steve or comment by going to the “About Page”.  Or Call and leave a question or audio feedback at 615-59-COACH or 615-592-6224.

Season Five, Episode Twenty Three

Pierce Marrs and Steve Hayes are back to recap Season Five, Episode Twenty Three.., Join  Lori, Barbara, Kevin, Mark and Robert to review:

– Velocity Signs
– Lord Nut Levington
– Happy Feet
– Hold Your Haunches
– An update on Cordaroys

Tune in Friday’s at 9:00 PM Eastern/8:00 PM Central at The Shark Tank’s new time on ABC.

Have you ever heard the statement; people do not come with an owner’s manual?

I have been guilty of saying those words myself. While it is not possible to totally understand how another person ticks, we do have clues to other people’s behavior, how they respond to their environment and process information.

My eyes were opened several years ago when I was introduced to the DiSC Personality Assessments and understood the power of understanding how we are wired.

DiSC profiles help you:

• Understand yourself: how you respond to conflict, what motivates you, what causes you stress and how to solve problems.
• Facilitate better teamwork and minimize conflict.
• Develop sales success by being able to identify and respond appropriately to various styles.
• Manage a team more effectively.

In spite of raising two fine young men I believe I would have been a better parent if I had been equipped with this knowledge as a young dad.

Last week we had our two precious Great Nieces, Sophie and Lily spend the night with us. We raised two boys so an evening with these two young ladies was a new and fun experience for me.

Even at ages six and four, these two girls personalities were clear to me. The six-year-old Sophie was a High ”I” personality bubbling with conversation and imagination. Four-year-old Lily was fun and playful but more subdued.

When I asked Lily how old she was, she responded, “Four”. Not four and a half, not almost five, just four. A direct answer that I saw as a pattern in all of our conversations. She is a “D” Wired child.

Because “D” wiring is considered dominant and driven, they take a very task oriented approach to situations. As we were talking Cory and Frankie, their parents, we learned that as a four-year-old, Lily was given the full responsibility of feeding and watering their dog. She has never missed a feeding and has never been reminded.

These parents were very wise to understand early that these two children could not be parented the same. By understanding their differences, they can help them be all they were meant to be.

You can do the same with all of the relationships in your life, personal and professional. People really do come with an owner’s manual. You just have to take the time to learn the clues.

Have a great week!

P.S. What do the letters in DiSC mean?

• Dominance
  Person places emphasis on accomplishing results, the bottom line, confidence
• Influence
  Person places emphasis on influencing or persuading others, openness, relationships
• Steadiness
  Person places emphasis on cooperation, sincerity, dependability
• Conscientiousness
  Person places emphasis on quality and accuracy, expertise, competency

*Click here to get your own DiSC Personality Assessment. Parents, to better understand your children, go to my good friend Deb Ingino’s site, MyWiredStyle.com

Does Facebook, Twitter, texting and the many ways people are sharing information today help our culture learn the skills necessary to develop strong, lasting relationships?

I am not saying that I do not see value in the various ways we can receive information and communicate a message. I use many of these everyday and appreciate the opportunities it provides.

I believe what is lacking and becoming scarce is communion.

Friday night, Lesa and I had dinner at Miller’s Grocery in Christiana, TN with our good friends Jason and Michelle Cruise. Jason is a leader in Men’s ministries and author of several books. During dinner, Jason commented, “One of the problems in our society is that we are communicating without communion”. This intrigued me and I wanted to investigate the difference.

Communication is defined as the imparting or exchanging of information or news.

Communion is the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level, an act or instance of sharing, intimate fellowship or rapport.

The difference was immediately clear to me.

It is near impossible to develop strong relationships without intimate fellowship. When I was dating Lesa, I wanted to get to know her and spend as much time as I could with her.

As a thirty-year sales professional, I have had my occupation described to other people by saying, “He just takes people out to eat and plays golf”. We all laugh because the insinuation is I have a cushy job and there is really no work involved. If you’re in sales, you know this is not true.

It is true that I have built long lasting relationships by getting customers away from their office and having communion. Getting past the mere exchange of proposals, numbers and negotiations and talk about the things that are important and really matter to them.

Put away your smart phone for a while and spend some quality time with someone. You will be glad you did.

Have a great week!

Does the thought of selling scare you?

In most cases, people do not want to be told no. The fear of rejection is greater than the reward of the sale.

Lesa and I just celebrated my birthday by going out to our favorite Italian restaurant. For dessert, we went to Sweet Cici’s. It was a beautiful evening and Lesa asked me if I wanted to stop at the Jeep Dealer on the way home. I said, “Absolutely!”

Before you get ahead of me, I did not get a Jeep for my birthday. That would have been great but we are not quite that spontaneous. I have been wanting one for a long time and I comment on them frequently so we went to drive one.

It was late but a very nice young man came out to greet us. His name was Jon. After a few moments, we learned that Jon had just started selling cars three weeks prior after leaving his music engineering job. He had also just gotten married on July fourth a week earlier.

During the test drive we heard more of his story.  Jon’s decision to change careers was based on his belief that a sales career would provide a better a life for his new family. I related to Jon’s story because I made the same decision for my family over thirty years ago.

As we returned to the car dealership, he began asking some closing questions. It made me smile when he said, “Mr. Marrs, what would it take for you to drive this Jeep home tonight?”

Jon did a lot of things right. He overcame his fear of rejection by making a great first impression, asking great questions, and most importantly, listening and answering our questions.

In simple terms, it wasn’t difficult for him to ask for my business because he had earned the right.

Have a great week!

I recently watched a classic video of the great Zig Ziglar telling the story of priming the pump. This story teaches us about the power of persistence and not expecting results until you have put in the work.

For those of you who may not have experienced pumping water from a well, you have to vigorously pump the handle to get the water from deep in the well. In most cases, the well has to be primed by pouring some water in the top. Zig is especially entertaining as he pumps the handle on stage to demonstrate that if you stop pumping, the water will go back to the bottom and you will have to start over.

As a metaphor for life, sales and success of any kind, you have to put something in to get something out.

Zig states that many people stand before the stove of life and say, “give me some heat and then I will put some wood in.”

Sometimes people quit too easily or way too soon when success is just around the corner. Sometimes rejection or even the fear of rejection can be too much and cause people to quit.

If you are doing something that is worth doing, I encourage you to enthusiastically persist.

Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you can learn to do it well ~ Zig Ziglar

My favorite part of the pump story is when the water begins to flow; you just have to steadily pump the handle to keep the water flowing. It is much easier to maintain the flow than to stop and start the entire process over.

Have a great week!

P.S. To see Zig tell this classic story, Click Here.

Season Five, Episode Twenty Two

Pierce Marrs and special guest co-host, Business Coach, Chuck Bowen are back to recap Season Five, Episode Twenty Two.., Join  Lori, Barbara, Kevin, Mark and Robert to review:

–  Kodiak Cakes
– Monkey Mat
– Plated
– The Paint Brush Cover
– An update on Grace & Lace
Tune in Friday’s at 9:00 PM Eastern/8:00 PM Central at The Shark Tank’s new time on ABC.

Pierce Marrs and Steve Hayes are back to recap Season Five, Episode Twenty One.., Join  Lori, Barbara, Kevin, Mark and Robert to review:

– Chapul
– ELockSys Garage Door Lock
– Morninghead
– PackBack
– An update on Fiber Fix
Tune in Friday’s at 9:00 PM Eastern/8:00 PM Central at The Shark Tank’s new time on ABC.

Are you reluctant to slow down and take a break because you have so much to do? Do you find yourself getting up earlier and working through lunch?

Even if you love what you do and feel you are getting more done, your performance may be suffering.

I just returned from vacation where I spent seven days at the beach. It is my favorite place to rest and rejuvenate. I have vacationed before because I wanted to but in this case, I needed to. I was tired and burnt out.

I could have avoided getting to this point if I had taken breaks along the way to renew myself. Athletes understand this especially well. The greater the performance demand the greater the need for renewal.

Here are three ways you can avoid burn out.

1.    Take regular breaks during the day. Studies show that one-third of employees eat lunch at their desk. Working long periods of time without a break will make you less productive. History tells us that working in ninety-minute blocks of time with breaks in between will maximize our efficiency.

2.    Get plenty of sleep. The amount of sleep required to function is subjective to the individual. I require more sleep than many people I meet. However, too little sleep is defined as one of the best predictors of on-the-job burn out. Studies show six hours or less of sleep is not enough. The more rested you are, the better you perform.

3.    Take a vacation. One study showed that for each additional ten hours of vacation time employees took; their performance improved eight percent. They were also happier and less likely to leave the company.

It is our perception that the most highly productive and successful individuals drive hard and work tirelessly without stopping, but the opposite is the case. Highly productive people understand the importance of rest, renewal and pacing themselves. And they accomplish more.

Taking a break can help you gain perspective, recharge and refocus.

Have a great week!

Several months ago Lesa and I bought Fitbits. For those of you who are not familiar, this is a device you wear on your wrist that monitors your steps and activity during the day. It also has a mode that will monitor the quality of your sleep.

My daily routine can have long periods of sitting at my desk and behind the wheel of my car with intermittent activity. The Fitbit is a constant reminder that helps me stay on track and get the proper amount of exercise every day. It has five lights that will light up progressively during the day until I reach my steps and activity goal. When I hit my goal, it lights up and buzzes.

It is connected to an app on my phone that will also allow me to set alarms for waking up and goals during the day.

It has one feature that has turned out to be an unexpected benefit.

Every morning it resets and starts over. I go back to zero and the slate is clean. Yesterday is forgotten and today is a brand new day.

That is the same opportunity we all have when we begin our day. We can reset and start fresh. We have a clean canvas to create what we want.

We can fondly recall the successes of yesterday and leave the less than exciting moments as a learning experience to make today a better day.

“This new day has greeted us with no rules; unconditional opportunity. Do not dilute the power of this new day with the hardship of yesterday. Greet this day the way it has greeted you; with open arms and endless possibility.” ~ Steve Maraboli

Isn’t that refreshing. Today is a new day! Set new goals with a new attitude and let’s make it a great day!

Pierce