Yesterday I introduced the fact that going to a Rich Dad Poor Dad seminar had me thinking of the wealthy men in my life. I started by talking about Les Harvey the unlikely property developer and how he taught me to 'set my own rules', 'be humble' and 'love my company more than my product'. One of the most successful salesmen I worked with at Xerox was a guy called John Burke (Burkie). It's been almost 15 years since I last saw him so I have no idea what he does today, but the lessons he taught are still with me. He is a great guy and I really appreciate the time he spent working with me; he was a hard working person and is certainly someone I deeply respect.

Lesson #1 – Information is power

I can remember as if it were yesterday, sitting out in the back of the Xerox offices discussing what was needed to be successful in business and especially at Xerox. The theme was that Information Is Power. The more you know, the more powerful you are. The trick being if you know more than anyone else you are valuable, you are needed. Know more than anyone else, and be incredibly good at using that information and the sky's the limit in terms of your ability to negotiate your terms.

Lesson #1 – A bonus

I've held that value in the forefront of my mind since that day, but it has evolved into an even more powerful version. In my opinion information shared is much more powerful than information kept to yourself. Of course there is some information you must keep confidential, but living your life sharing information, enabling others and exploring possibilities through conversation is infinitely more exciting and rewarding. The real beauty of sharing information and ideas is that, unlike most other resources, you still have it after you have given it away.

Lesson #2 – Understand your pay plan

John's second great lesson was to teach me to 'know my pay plan', by that I mean understand the numbers, know how you are paid. If you are on commission know exactly how it is calculated and what gets you that bonus. I swear John and I earned more per dollar of equipment sold than most other reps, because we always knew exactly what we had to do to maximise our commission rate. Most people just sold what they could, but we focused on what we needed. One month I even brought a $2000 fax machine on the last day of the month, because it earned me a $10,000 bonus! If I hadn't been concentrating that would have been a costly disappointment. The important thing to remember is you can dramatically and easily increase the profit of your business if you focus on what is important, but to do that you must know your numbers and know how and where your money comes from.