We sometimes worry about stuff that doesn't happen, but have you ever wondered what would be if what did happen, didn't? Updated for 2021!
I met Elaine in October, 1969 as she was leaving my friend's fraternity party in search of people that were more fun. What if I hadn't gone over to check on my friend's party? Would we have met anyway? Would I have stayed in Worcester? Would Mark and Matt have been born? Would I have met Pete Caputa? Without Mark and Pete, would there be a Hubspot?
Dave Kurlan and I both sold Cutco Cutlery in the 70's. If we hadn't, would we have met anyway? Would I have met Bob Jiguere, who turned out to be my sales mentor? Would I have learned how to knock on doors, handle rejection, and develop rapport quickly without Bob's guidance? Would I have adopted the mindset that changed my life? Would I have joined Dave's firm 30 years later anyway?
If I hadn't sold furniture in a retail furniture store in the early 80's, would I have learned how salespeople could be petty thieves and how disloyal customers that 'went home to think about it' could be? Would I have learned how salespeople's managers would authorize 'special discounts' rather than teach their salespeople how to build value and hold pricing and margins? Would I have thought, "I don't want to be one of them." and bought and paid for my own sales training anyway?
If I hadn't started my collection agency in 1986, would I have heard 20 years of excuses and lies that debtors had for not paying what they agreed to pay? Would I have learned to discern who was lying and who was telling the truth anyway? Would I have learned that some people could not pay and some people wouldn't pay even though they had the cash in their pocket? Would I have been forced to learn how to maximize client retention, evangelism and sales anyway? Would I still have figured out that the reason that people stopped paying was because they became 'un-sold' and that ALL collection problems are sales problems in disguise?
If I hadn't taken a detour with Noresco in the early 90's, would I have learned how to think in millions rather than thousands? Would I have developed the 'startup' mentality and understood what it was like to need to make payroll every week? Would I have learned how to work with my engineers and use their knowledge to identify and align the needs of our clients, their utilities and our sub-contractors and suppliers as well as the executives of our clients and our employer? Would I have learned that the process that I used to sell a $2,500 study was the same process that I used to sell a $4 million comprehensive energy conservation project?
That's four.
5. If I hadn't attended BNI ten years ago, would I have met Pete Caputa?
6. Would he have introduced me to hundreds of Hubspotters and Partners?
7. Would Hubspotters have written this, or this, or this and brought new prospects to my inbox last year?
Notice that my "What ifs" started before I was 20 and you'll find a significant "What if" in every decade of my life. All I had to do is follow Yogi Berra's advice. When you come to a fork in the road, Take it!
Updated for 2021!
2020 was a year like no other! What if you are at a fork in the road? Will you take it? Is it your decade?