Kentucky - What Is It - Chicken

Kentucky fried chicken began in 1952. Col. Sanders awarded Pete Harman the first KFC franchise. They sealed the deal with a handshake.

In 1960 there were 190 KFC stores and 400 franchised units.

Fast forward to 1979 and KFC had 6000 restaurants worldwide.

In 2006 more than 1 billion chicken dinners were served in more than 80 countries around the world.

I've had KFC fried chicken. I happen to be a diabetic and the grease covered chicken plays havoc with my blood sugars - which of course I have to monitor.

Enough about that.

Please do me a favor. Stand up and walk over to the closest wall. Stand right next to it with your nose on the wall.

Now imagine the wall is your business. It's the world you live and work in.  When you're standing this close to the wall (Your business) it's easy to lose your perspective.

Okay where am I going with this?

You don't have to read the daily newspaper or watch the network evening news to know the business landscape is very challenging today.

It's challenging for salespeople. It's challenging for companies. It's extremely challenging for senior executives of these companies.

This is no time to put your head down and whine about the economy.

These are the best of times - if you imagine them to be.

In fact, 20 years from now, these will become the "good old days."

There are opportunities everywhere - but you have to be looking and receptive to them.

Take the Pyrex measuring cup for example. You have one, your parents have one, and if your grandparents are alive they'll have one. And there's a good chance you have more than one.

I just looked in my kitchen cabinet and we have six Pyrex measuring cups.

During the 1980s, both ends of the handles were attached to the cup. 

Sales were dismal because everybody and their aunt Bertha had more measuring cups than they needed.

So what were they going to do?

As Henry Ford once said, "don't complain, don't explain, deal with it."

And that's what Pyrex did when they invented the stackable measuring cup.

And what do you think happened to sales - sales took off because they changed the handle and had something new to talk about.

KFC has been around for 57 years selling fried chicken.

Someone got the brilliant idea that KFC should sell grilled chicken.

And here's what a KFC recently said.

"Clearly, we're bringing in a lot of new customers, We're exciting a lot of people about the brand who haven't been excited about the brand before. And that's really helping the business grow."

Before you write off your business possibilities consider what Pyrex and KFC did.

Nothing more than a product tweek.

What can you tweek to jumpstart your sales?

Step back from the wall.  Get people from the outside to step inside your business.

In my opinion there's no one better positioned in a company to come up with revolutionary new product ideas.

It's you - the road warrior called sales representative.

It's time to get excited about your business again.

It's not too hard to believe that in 2029 - these will be considered "the good old days."