The other days I saw an article about Louis Lautman which founded International Sales University, a sales training and development company that works with top Fortune 500 Companies and hosts public seminars. I am on his e-mail list so I receive from time to time updates about his overall activity.

Louis Lautman started his own sales training company after three years working in a corporate environment. He faced many challenges when he first started his own business, but now trains sales people for Fortune 500 Companies.

From this article I selected for myself the core idea that no matter how good the business cards are and how great the meetings will take place, the essential in your own business is to close deals.

That meant he had to turn on his prospecting funnel by creating a system for following up with the people he had been cold calling. He began calling everyone he knew and telling them about his business. He went to networking events and established a social media presence. He read every book he could on his industry and began implementing all the strategies he learned. And, perhaps most importantly, he never gave up on his follow-ups. Soon enough, he was talking to prospects and making presentations.

I liked very much his thinking: “Staying at my corporate job — not starting a business — was the real risk. Above all else, I feared never knowing if my business could have been a success.” By the way, this is a much bigger risk than starting and failing in your own business.

The rest of the article here.