Lessons From Barack Obama

President Barack Obama the 44th United States President. From a relative unknown law professor, community organizer, Illinois State Senator and U.S. Senator, Barack has captured the hearts and minds of the nation's electorate. With no money or grass roots organization, he has went from State Senator to U.S. Senator to President-Elect in four years! That is quite impressive.

Here are some of Barack's presidential accomplishments:

• Raised $700 million dollars in donations (the most money raised ever in history)
• earned 64 million votes nation-wide
• achieved 364 electoral votes and 54% of electoral vote
• earned 14 million more votes than President Bush in 2004
• won 66% of Hispanic and youth vote
• captured 50% of suburban vote
• won 17% of the republican vote
• won nine states that previously voted republican
• recruited 4.1 million campaign volunteers

Barack overcame the challenge of popular U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic nomination and beat U.S. Senator John McCain to win the U.S. presidency. So, how did President Obama do it? What can business owners and entrepreneurs learn from his victory?

What made Obama successful? It was a combination of his vision, message, uniqueness, personal story, communication skills, organization, endorsements and testimonials, strategic alliances and partnerships and embracing the power of the Internet. With politics aside, let's review the Obama campaign and discover what sales lessons we can learn and apply in our businesses.


1) Barack's Vision and Message

President Barack's vision was simple:

• Build a grass roots organization young, old, rich, poor, white, black, Hispanic, Asian, democratic, republican and independent across the United States.
• Offer a democratic candidate against the war in Iraq.
• Project a moderate image promising a tax cut for the middle class, national health care and access to educational opportunities.

"Change", that was Barack Obama's message. The vast majority of people wanted a change and a new direction. His goal was to offer that and differentiate himself from President George Bush and his policies of the past eight years. Barack offered change for a better America. His message of hope and promise was inspiring and produced crowds in the hundreds and thousands across the nation. Obama's message of change generated new enthusiasm not seen in recent political campaigns. He wrote two best sellers: Audacity of Hope and Dreams of My Father. His message connected with many people. Time was critical. He had to win the the majority of the Democratic state primaries, capture the Democratic nomination and the U.S. Presidential election in less than a year! Barack was quite successful. Consequently, his candidacy produced millions of enthusiastic volunteers and new voters. His mission was clear:

• win the majority of the votes in the democratic primary
• win 270 electoral votes on November 4, 2008.
• Set up a grass roots organization in every state.
• Utilize the Internet to promote Barack Obama,
• generate campaign donations and enlist volunteers and
• win 270 electoral votes on November 4, 2008 to win the U.S. presidency

U.S. Senator Barack Obama won the race and became president of the United States January 20th 2009.

Action:

What is your vision for your company? What is the target message for your best prospects? How can you improve to increase sales? Your vision and message must stand out, be unique, authentic, interesting and inspiring. Ensure that your vision and message really address the needs and concerns of your top client prospects . Use it to connect with them. It should grab their attention and encourage them to want to talk to you and learn more. If it doesn't light your prospects' eyes and generate curiosity, your vision statement needs improvement. Also, make sure that it is quantifiable. It should have a defined time-line. For example, your vision can be to generate 100 clients and produce annual sales revenue of $1 million dollars by 2010. Additionally, ensure that your opening selling statement connects with your potential clients and gets their attention and has punch!