As I’ve been writing about all week, the Sales SheBang conference gathered successful sales pros – women AND some men – for sharing and learning sales skills. During the week, there was a particularly energetic and engaged member -Matt Donnelly.
Matt is 84 years and old lives in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. For two years, Matt has been the first to enroll in this conference. I heard about Matt in the Sales Expert Summit sessions the day before the actual conference. And thought “he’s just there to be with the women”. Was I wrong!
Matt has the energy and smarts of people half his age. With his blue blazer and a coordinating beret, his trademark, Matt was a willing participant for 2 days. I couldn’t resist talking with him to find out “is he really still selling”? Well, indeed he is! He started his business appraisal business 21 years ago and is still selling himself today.
He told me that he can always improve and he still has a lot to learn. His goal is to stay with it until he is 103 and a half years. But that is not the shocker, at the end of the conference, Matt wanted to address the 100+ attendees. He produced his check for next year’s conference to guarantee that he is again the first enrolled.
Lessons observed from Matt…no matter how long we have been doing something, we have more to learn. And when work is fun, who needs to retire?
What are some of the lessons you have learned from those that have been “at it” longer then you?
Wow – what an inspiration! A valuable lesson I learned from more seasoned businesspeople is the classic “this, too, shall pass” revelation. Everything can seem like a “big deal” when you’re relatively new, and that can especially be compounded when you’re a small business or in a single owner-operator situation where your livelihood or your business’ longevity may be on the line. But, time really does have a way of taking care of many things, and if you’re serving clients well, you can’t let those little bumps in the road become mountains that can lead to self-defeat.