What I Learned from My Business Mentors

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What I Learned from My Business Mentors

By Brad Shorr | February 8, 2008

Luckily for me I had four fantastic mentors when I was coming up through the ranks. Here are 50 bits of business wisdom they passed on to me.

1. It’s common for small errors to cripple a business.
2. It’s rare for a big idea to catapult a business.
3. Always be searching for the big idea anyway.
4. Suppliers are as important as customers.
5. Pay bills on time.
6. Give people your full attention.
7. Have benchmarks and really study them.
8. The most effective business people are well rounded.
9. Ask for the order.
10. Always be willing to walk away from a negotiation.
11. When you’re good at something, exploit it to the max. Leave competitors in the dust.
12. Anything can be negotiated.
13. If someone wants to talk, listen.
14. Share your thought process. Talk about ideas while you’re forming them.
15. Don’t hire people with ” skill sets”. Hire people who can think.
16. Pay close attention to details.
17. Talk to customers and prospects as an equal.
18. As an owner, never allow yourself to lose touch with customers.
19. Great sales people find opportunity anywhere.
20. Great sales people know when to walk away.
21. Great sales people are not easy to manage.
22. Ineffective sales people are usually their own worst enemy.
23. Don’t rush decisions, especially about financial matters.
24. When in doubt, keep your mouth shut.
25. When people understand your vision, they will do everything in their power to achieve it.
26. When people do not understand your vision, they will achieve nothing.
27. Be quick to credit others for success and quick to accept responsibility for failure.
28. Seek credit worthy customers at all times.
29. Keep up with technology regardless of your age or position.
30. Read.
31. Show the spouses of key performers how much you appreciate their support.
32. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
33. Be conservative in financial management and aggressive in sales and marketing.
34. Talk to key performers regularly.
35. Never gossip. Don’t share company information unless you have a good reason.
36. Never lose touch with your key suppliers.
37. The biggest danger in a purchasing department is complacency.
38. The next biggest danger in a purchasing department is carelessness.
39. Any customer problem can be solved.
40. Be willing to be unpleasant or unreasonable if that’s what it takes to solve a customer’s problem.
41. Don’t be afraid to go over the head of your regular customer or supplier contact if that’s what it takes to solve a problem.
42. The most important time to encourage a sales person is after he or she has lost a big order.
43. A good boss always appreciates what you do, but always challenges you to do more.
44. Sales people cannot achieve spectacular results without being well organized and self-disciplined.
45. Never lose sight of the fact that customers and vendors have their own priorities.
46. Sometimes the best meeting agenda is no agenda. Sometimes people just need to blow off steam.
47. The two most important things a sales rep can do is return phone calls promptly and show up on time. Everything else is just gravy.
48. Write down or write off losses as quickly as you can. They just get more expensive with age.
49. The quality, cleanliness, and atmosphere of your facility is a direct reflection of how you conduct business.
50. Always be courteous in your business dealings. You never know how life will unfold.

This post is part of Robert Hruzek’s latest What I Learned From … group project.

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21 Responses to “What I Learned from My Business Mentors”

Robert Hruzek Says:
February 8th, 2008 at 6:39 am
Thanks for joining the fray, Brad! Great list. My favorites:

3 (and when you find it, start looking for the next one)
14 (always a toughie for me)
24 (I’ve road-tested this one many times)
27 (they’ll remember you for this one!)
32 (mistakes can be your friends)

You can also apply every one of these principles to life in general, too - but then you knew that, didn’t you?
Brad Shorr Says:
February 8th, 2008 at 6:55 am
Hi Bob, you’re right. Good business principles are good life principles, at least when it comes to dealing with people and conducting yourself.
Joanna Young Says:
February 8th, 2008 at 9:23 am
This is a great list Brad, and as Robert says so much of it is applicable to other arenas too. But I like the way you’ve been developing so much rich material in recent weeks on the qualities of great sales teams… methinks you’ll soon have enough for a book

Joanna
Brad Shorr Says:
February 8th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Thanks, Joanna. You are a dab hand at prognostication …
Middle Zone Musings » All Entries: What I Learned from People Says:
February 11th, 2008 at 6:01 am
[…] Karin H. at The Kiss Business Too … “young” people, by Jackie Cameron at Jackie Cameron … My Business Mentors, by Brad Shorr at Word Sell, Inc. … No Impact Man, by Karen Hanrahan at Best of Mother Earth … […]
Mother Earth Says:
February 11th, 2008 at 11:32 am
this is an amazing list, and applicable to I think just about being anything in life, one of my mentors says to read 10 books on business a year - he says he likes to stack them all on his nightstand in january and work his way through them accordingly - funny that image really struck me - choose 10 titles, purchase, stack and read.
Brad Shorr Says:
February 11th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Hi Mother Earth, interesting idea on the 10 books. One of my areas of interest is online marketing. It would be hard to pick out books that far in advance! If you’re looking for something to read, check out the Favorite Business Books on this blog.
Mother Earth Says:
February 11th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
awesome list brad, thank you - like you online marketing is also an interest of mine - currently my “stack” includes the 6th harry potter,the latest’s seth ( although his permission marketing concepts rank tops for me, and michael pollan’s latest. What I’m really in the mood for - is a trashy romance - truth be told, my reading is bit too heady at the moment. I find at the christmas time you can access enough titles to last at least a year or access folks like you who like to put lists together for others
Brad Shorr Says:
February 11th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
“Meatball Sundae” is next up for me. That’s about as light as my reading gets, if you can call that light. I read and write cartoons to decompress.
Mother Earth Says:
February 11th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
it takes a certain “character” to illustrate and provide humor

that’s cool

and what a great way to decompress
Jeanne Dininni Says:
February 11th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Brad,

Love this post! It’s very comprehensive and certainly reflects your considerable business experience and acumen! Sounds like you’ve had some wonderful mentors, who have passed on virtually all the important “tricks of the trade” to their eager, willing, and very teachable student. There are certainly many gems of wisdom among them; and as you say in your above comment, they’re applicable to both business and life–which makes them twice as handy!

Jeanne
Karin H. Says:
February 12th, 2008 at 4:23 am
Hi Brad

Impressive list ergo impressive mentors and I’m sure they appreciated you - you’re a good listener it seems - which brings me to #43 - you can easily replace the word boss with mentor there

As for a excellent new book (so new it isn’t even officially for sale!) on online marketing check out Ed Rivis’ new book “The Ultimate Web Marketing Strategy”.
I’ve read his E-book (a gift from Ed) in one go!

Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)
Brad Shorr Says:
February 12th, 2008 at 6:28 am
Jeanne, your comment makes me think that for all the advice and books on how to be a mentor, there should be more out there on how to be a student! Karin, thanks for the tip on Ed’s book. Looks like a winner.
Results from the What I Learned From People Group Writing Project } Group Writing Projects Says:
February 15th, 2008 at 7:12 am
[…] My Business Mentors, by Brad Shorr at Word Sell, Inc. […]
WILF festival final entries… | Freaked-Out Fathers Says:
February 16th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
[…] Karin H. at The Kiss Business Too … “young” people, by Jackie Cameron at Jackie Cameron … My Business Mentors, by Brad Shorr at Word Sell, Inc. … No Impact Man, by Karen Hanrahan at Best of Mother Earth … […]
Pete Aldin Says:
February 17th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
#31 is a nice touch. I like that. Great list!
Brad Shorr Says:
February 18th, 2008 at 7:43 am
Pete, thanks for noticing #31. It’s an easy one for corporations to miss, yet so important.
Jacob Share Says:
February 18th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Brad, this is a great list. I Stumbled it:

http://jobmob.stumbleupon.com/review/17587269/
Brad Shorr Says:
February 18th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Hi Jacob, thanks for the Stumble! Glad you found this post so helpful. Hardest part is probably following all the advice.
Hustle Strategy » Blog Archive » Advice learned from mentors Says:
February 19th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
[…] I had looked up to throughout the years, to not really “mentors.” But this dude at wordsellinc did. He posted about it, so I am going to repost it. This is a list of 50 things he learned. […]
Jake Says:
July 16th, 2008 at 7:01 am
I actually make it a habit of NOT paying bills on time. Protect your cashflow. Keep hold of cash for as long as possible. Only pay when your creditors are screaming and threatening legal action.