Doug and I discuss what we learned from last year. Doug learned the value of preparation at Furniture Today’s Future Leaders Conference. He was impressed by how well organized the event was. Doug and I both learned how to co-host a podcast last year. We learned how to moderate our two closed Facebook groups for the industry which are The No BS Sales School For Furniture & Mattress Salespeople and The No BS Business School For Furniture & Mattress Stores.
Doug points out how forming a sense of community in our closed Facebook groups helped some of our dealers avoid tragic mistakes as well as finding new ways to succeed. I learned the value of an action review for the week when I was struggling to finish my first book. It is a handwritten checklist.
Doug learned not to use his iPhone for scheduling. He now schedules everything by hand. I concur with Doug and all my scheduling is now done by hand. I tried to convert all my scheduling years ago to digital and too many things fell through the cracks. So I went back to a paper planner and I hand write all my scheduling. I also handwrite all my content creation. Doug created a journal in Evernote so he wouldn’t lose ideas.
I learned that I don’t have the right to prejudge. I tell the story of how I recently prejudged that a dealer would not buy my mattress line and they bought it despite my best efforts not to sell it. I’ve learned that lesson more than once in my life. Doug tells a great story from his grandfather further illustrating my point.