Everyone is in sales. To me, job titles don’t matter; every employee must think about sales. It’s the only way any company can stay in business.

There are no jobs if you don’t bring the business through the front door. That’s why I have a sign on my office door that reads: “If you know where you can get us some business, come on in.”

At our company, a sales mindset is a requirement. From the factory floor to the reception desk to the boardroom, figuring out what the customer wants and finding a way to deliver it must be at the forefront of every job. Whether you are selling a product, services or a corporate image, you are in sales.

A while back, I received an email from a loyal reader who used to be in sales, but switched to information technology as a help desk technician. Even though he was now on the side of delivering service rather than sales, he understands the personalized approach with customers, be it computer operators, network administrators or engineers.

He wrote: “When it comes to identifying and resolving technical issues, it's important to remember the human side of technology. I only have the phone to work with, but quite often those little or long pauses while waiting for a procedure to cycle through or a test result to return can be used to build rapport, ease tension or otherwise get to know the other person(s) on the line.

“The important thing to keep in mind here in taking advantage of these opportunities is that these people talk to the people who ultimately buy the company's services. If the service they receive at any point along the line is poor, or if the vendors' techs are impersonal or worse, abrasive or condescending, the salesperson talking with the decision maker is going to have a rough time of it when it comes to renewing the contract.”

So, you can see how having a sales mindset -- no matter what role in the company -- can have an impact on sales.

From the moment we get up in the morning to the time we go to bed, we are negotiating, communicating, persuading and influencing. If we aren’t selling products or services, we are selling ideas.

If you want to be successful in sales, remember the four Ws and the H.

-- WHO? Know your customers. Get into the mind of your buyer -- what does he or she really want? What do they really need? Sometimes, those two options are not the same, so be prepared to guide him or her to the best solution for the situation.

-- WHAT? Target a clear outcome. Before approaching a customer, be certain of what you want to achieve. In some cases, you may not be seeking an immediate sale, but more information about what the customer wants. Walk in with a clear plan and backup options, so you aren’t wasting their time or yours.

-- WHY? Listen to people. Successful selling isn’t about talking to customers, but listening to their needs so you can find out how your product or service can help. Asking questions is critical, as is paying attention to the other person’s problems before offering your solution.

-- WHEN? Get to the point quickly. Once you determine that you have what the customer needs, resist the urge to launch into a lengthy lecture about what you have to offer. Pick one or two of the customer’s most important needs and briefly demonstrate how you can help. Customers buy on their schedule, not yours. Contact them frequently (without getting annoying) so they learn to think of you when they have a problem you can help them solve.

-- HOW? Solve customers’ problems. Address their needs, large and small, and show how you can help them. And here’s some advice that some might consider heresy: If you can’t help them, refer them to someone who can. There will be times when your product or service isn’t the best fit, and your customer will appreciate your willingness to put their needs first.

Don’t forget to measure your results. Keep track of successes and failures. Analyze what helped you succeed and where you may have slipped up. Identify some best practices that have led to success, and incorporate them into every customer interaction. Keeping track of your record can help you stay motivated and productive during dry spells and reinvigorate you when you’re doing well.

Mackay’s Moral: Selling isn’t rocket science -- it’s people science.

Super Bowl LI has to be one of the greatest contests ever: What a comeback!

For me, it brought back an incredible memory, when I had the pleasure of interviewing Bill Belichick, Super Bowl-winning coach of the New England Patriots, for my book “We Got Fired! ... And It’s the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Us.”

Belichick was fired by the Cleveland Browns in 1996 and spent one season as the defensive backs coach with the Patriots. He was the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets from 1997-99 before becoming the Patriots’ head coach in 2000. He is the only head coach to win five Super Bowls.

Analytical as always, Bill acknowledged that his coaching style had changed over the years, especially in the transition from being coach at Cleveland to ultimately becoming the head coach at New England.

“I’m a detail-oriented person. I’ve delegated more with the Patriots than I did with the Browns. At times, I may have been too detail-oriented in Cleveland. Perhaps I should have put my time and energy into some bigger-picture things.”

NFL coaching is a supreme balancing act. Coaches want to hang on to their job, but they also have to do what’s right for their team. It’s like the choice between security and opportunity. If they only choose security, they lose both.

A professional football coach’s job is often compared with that of a business manager. In fact, a football coach must act faster and in more drastic ways than most white-collar workers.

“I have never run a corporation ... In business, you can make 18 percent and I can make 17 percent and the next guy can make 16 percent -- we’re all pretty happy. At the end of the day in athletic competition, one team wins and the other team loses. You both can’t be happy.”

Bill recovered so steadily from his setback in Cleveland, I’m convinced, partly because of the tremendous depth of his personal background. First, his father was a fullback for the Detroit Lions and coached at the Naval Academy for more than 30 years. Bill was able to observe some great coaches during this time. Talk about leveraging a network of information!

"In the NFL, I was with five different coaches my first five years," Bill remembers. "That’s not only five coaches, that’s five staffs. Because I saw so many successful styles, I became confident that there wasn’t just one style. I didn’t try to be Vince Lombardi or Tom Landry. I tried to be Bill Belichick.”

Finally, I asked Bill if he had three pieces of advice for young people. They have all the zing of a two-minute drill that will march you over the goal line.

“We all make a lot of mistakes as we go through life. (1) Don’t make the big ones. Take care of yourself and your own personal health. It can all end in a second with one stupid decision, and we’ve seen that happen too many times. (2) It’s not what you know, it’s whom you know. You build your relationships from your childhood through your adolescent years. You control your relationships. (3) It’s the self-starter in each of us that is really important. I don’t think you can count on somebody else to motivate you to do something. You have to want to do it personally, and you have to provide that energy. So, you better pick out something you really like to do, because you will have to be your own driving force.”

Mackay’s Moral: Learning to be a great coach is the most demanding spectator sport in the world.

A railroad crew was making repairs to a section of track when a train rolled up on a parallel track. Several men in suits disembarked from one of the passenger cars and began inspecting the work that was being done. A tall man in a blue suit looked over at the crew and nodded. He began to smile and walk toward them.

“Ted, is that you?” he asked of the crew’s chief.

“Yes, it is,” the chief replied as he shook hands with the visitor. “It’s good to see you, Dale!”

The two men chatted briefly, inquiring about each other’s health and families. Before they parted, they shook hands again and promised to keep in touch. When the man in the suit walked away, a member of the crew asked the chief, “Was that Dale Willis, the head of the railroad?”

“Yes, it was,” the chief replied.

“It seems like you two are old friends,” the man said.

“We are,” the chief replied. “We started out together on this job on the same day 20 years ago.”

“So how is it that you’re here laying track with us?” someone asked.

“Well,” the chief replied, “I had a vision of working for the railroad, while Dale had a vision of running the railroad.”

And if Ted is content working for the railroad, his vision was realized. Dale’s vision, on the other hand, set him on a path that he could accomplish only through a step-by-step plan to move ahead. This story from the inspirational magazine Bits & Pieces perfectly illustrates the importance of vision.

A study done by Fortune magazine examined 120 entrepreneurs over a three-year period. They were asked, “What do you need most to be a success?”

The study, headed by J. Robert Baum, then an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, pointed to the necessity of vision when reaching one's goals. The people who succeed are the ones who have a vision and clearly know where they want to go.

The American Marketing Association did a study several years back and asked 500 CEOs what their companies needed to survive the next five years. Eighty-one percent said creativity and vision. But of the 500 CEOs, the same percentage of them said that their company was not doing a good job of fostering those things.

I suspect that part of the problem is that many companies don’t know how to formulate a realistic vision. They confuse it with goals and objectives, which should come out of the corporate vision. Vision doesn't do the planning and it doesn't anticipate the obstacles. It gives a real idea of what is possible, if only everyone wants it bad enough.

Base your vision on principle. An effective vision isn’t about processes or products, but principles -- guidelines for action and behavior. Explore the values that guide the organization. Rely on principles that are timeless and easy to grasp, even if they’re sometimes difficult to live up to.

A vision that inspires people to action doesn’t come out of a single afternoon brainstorming session. Every member of your team needs to spend time asking questions about the organization, your industry, customers, competitors, trends -- everything that affects the success of your vision. You must build a foundation of learning before you can go forward.

Don’t base your vision on where you are today, but on where you want to be in five years, or 10 or 25. Think about the direction you want to take and the obstacles you will have to overcome in order to succeed.

When I speak to corporate America, I tell the story of Helen Keller, who was left blind and deaf at age 19 months from a childhood illness. Yet she became a brilliant author and lecturer who graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College. According to one story, she was making a speech on a college campus, and during the question-and-answer session, a mean-spirited person asked her the following: “Tell me, Miss Keller, is losing your eyesight the worst thing in the world that can happen to anyone?”

“No,” she said. “It’s losing your vision.” Eyesight is what we see in front of us. Vision is all the way down the road.

Mackay’s Moral: Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.