TGIF: A birthday celebration

We’re celebrating my birthday next week.
We'll be cooking one of my favorite meals.
It’s a northern Italian dish: Veal Scallopini.
The Italians say the French copied it from them.
We don’t care who created it.
Veal Scallopini is a simple but expensive dish.
Due to the price of veal, you may substitute chicken breast.

Veal Scallopini (for 4)
1 thinly sliced green bell pepper
1 thinly sliced red bell pepper
8 large mushrooms sliced
4 cloves minced garlic
1 cup flour
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1 lb veal, thinly sliced for scallopini
1 cup beef broth
1 tbs corn starch stirred into 1 cup water
1/2 cup dry sherry
Olive oil as needed
16 oz cooked angel hair or thin spaghetti
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Heat water in large kettle for pasta.
In large skillet, lightly saute peppers, mushrooms and garlic in olive oil. Remove from pan and keep warm.
Dredge veal in flour mixed lightly with salt and pepper.
Saute until golden brown on both sides.
Remove from pan and keep warm.
Stir corn starch in water.
Add with beef broth and sherry to pan.
Stir to thicken and loosen brown bits stuck to pan.
This makes a fabulous dark gravy.
Return veal to pan with gravy.
Cover with peppers, garlic and mushrooms.
Cover pan and simmer 15 minutes while you cook pasta.
Drain pasta and serve with scallopini and gravy.
A green salad is a good accompaniment.
You don’t have to wait for your birthday to try this.

Can you pass the 30-day challenge?

Our friend Charlie Farrell has a challenge for you:
Go 30 days without whining or complaining.
When you whine and complain:
• 88% of the people who hear you don’t care.
• Another 7% are glad it didn’t happen to them.
The only ones who care are those who love you.
Why make them miserable with your problems?
Staying positive is a challenge.
Charlie says the world record is 19 days.
Here are six strategies:
1. Recruit an accountability coach at work.
2. Recruit another one at home.
3. Tell them about your challenge and your goal.
4. Ask them to stop you if you act negatively.
5. To compliment you when you act positively.
6. Offer to do the same for them.
You will be amazed at what happens.
Your positive attitude will attract others to you.
Think about it.
Who are the truly positive people in your life?
Aren’t they great to be around?
You might be interested in similar strategies in
my book, “Lead People, Manage Things”.
It’s at http://www.jerrybellune.com/books.htm
Tomorrow: Our favorite Veal Scallopini recipe.

Sales & Marketing: Tracking results

How many sales calls does it take to reach a decision maker?
How many calls on decision makers does it take to make a sale?
How many sales must you make to gain long-term agreements?
If you don’t know, you should. Here’s why:
Lets say it takes 10 calls to get to the right person.
And it takes five interviews to make a sale.
Why would knowing that help you?
Lets say your goal is to sell two new prospects a week.
Then you need to know how many prospects you must call.
You need to know how many times it takes to talk with them.
You need to know how much time all this will take.
Most sales people keep no records. They think It’s tedious.
Yet it can be highly rewarding.
With a record, you know what you have to do to reach your goal.
If you were running a retail business, wouldn’t you want accurate records to plot strategy, set goals and grow your business?
Starting this week, why don’t you:
1. Set clear, specific, measurable goals for yourself.
2. Track your calls, your goals for each call and the results.
It will take an extra 15 minutes a day.
That’s all it takes me when I’m selling.
Want a copy of my daily sales worksheet?
Write me at Jerry@JerryBellune.com.
Please put “Sales worksheet” in the subject line.
You'll quickly see a difference in your sales

Heading Time Bandits off at the pass

Three of the worst words in our language are “Got a minute?”
The Time Bandits use those words to waste hours of your life.
Some simply want to gossip or chat.
Many have no purpose other than to hog your time.
They have nothing better to do with themselves.
What can you do about them?
Strategy #1. If you have an office door, close it.
Some of the less astute may ignore this subtle signal.
If they do . . .
Strategy #2. Stand up when they enter.
Do not offer them a chair.
Most will get the message and leave.
For those who don’t . . .
Strategy #3. Ask what you can do for them.
If there’s nothing they need, thank them for stopping by.
Suggest you get together after you’ve finished your big project.
Let them know that may be some time next week.
For more Time Bandit strategies, go to
http://www.jerrybellune.com/success-strategies.htm
Scroll down to #19, "Dealing with Time Bandits".
For questions, write me at Jerry@JerryBellune.com.

Tip of the Week: Rewarding loyal customers

Here's our Essential Entrepreneur Business Tip of the Week.
This week we’re talking about incentives for your loyal customers.
For retailers, sticker prices are what one-time customers pay.
Customers earn discounts based on their volume of business.
For service providers, utility companies are a good model.
Offer savings to your customers with a 12-month agreement.
This evens out their monthly payments.
It lets you perform the services as needed.
If you’re in landscaping, you work hard for the money in the summer.
While you’re in the Bahamas in January, the money keeps rolling in.
You’ve guaranteed your business a steady cash flow all year round.
If you have questions, contact me at Jerry@JerryBellune.com
For more tips, see our new “Doing More With Less” workbook.
It’s available at http://www.JerryBellune.com
For a video Tip of the Week, go to http://www.profitabilitychannel.com/program_detail.php?ep=2177
Next Monday: How to track loyalty.