Interview: Walter G. Meyer, Author of Going for the Green: Selling in the 21st Century

Book Title:
Going for the Green: Selling in the 21st Century

Website URL:
http://www.waltergmeyer.com/books.html

Social Media Links:
Twitter: maxinca
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/walt.meyer

What is your book about?
Going for the Green is a business book in the form of a novel. It tells the story of a top-performing sales person and single mother who finds the game has suddenly changed, and her sales numbers are slipping and she’s about to lose her job. She goes out to the golf course to beat out her frustrations and meets an older woman on the golf course who becomes her mentor and through what become their weekly golf games, she learns a better way to sell, a better way to golf and to be a better person. As she learns a new approach to life and sales, so does the reader.

What inspired you to write your book?
I was hired to write it by sales trainer and expert Doug Peterson. I had taught business courses and written for business publications and he had an idea for a book to express the ideas he has taught to the sales teams at major companies for years. Knowing how boring and dull most business books are, we wrote it in the form of a novel to make it more exciting and get the reader involved in the main character’s struggles to want to see what comes next and learn along with the character how to improve her sales.

How did you come to do what you’re doing today?
I have been writing since I was young. I won a short story contest in the fourth grade and was selling articles to the local newspaper by the time I was in high school. I never really thought about being anything but a writer.

Can you describe a typical day in your life?
One of the things I like about being a writer is that there is always something new. I usually spend a few hours in front of the computer doing the actual writing, but there is also time spent in meetings, doing interviews and researching. Sometimes I write all night, so there is no “typical” day. I have some writer friends and we try to meet once a week or so to compare notes.

What do you most enjoy about what you do?
Learning about so many things. I am expert on sea turtles and video games and pawn shops and Will Rogers and how to buy a man’s suit and Alzheimer’s disease. Every article or book I write represents a great deal of research, so I end up knowing a lot about a lot. And I enjoy meeting the people who are the subjects of my stories. I have become good friends with people from business leaders to scientists and political activists.

Are there any people and/or books that have inspired you along your journey?
Too many to possible list on any one page. Great writers of whatever genre inspire me. People like Conan Doyle who created a character that is so real that Sherlock Holmes still gets mail on Baker St. Joseph Heller that so captured a concept that Catch-22 is now in the dictionary. Albert Schweitzer whose autobiography is one of the most inspiring books I’ve ever read. And then a whole host of business classics like In Search of Excellence.

Can you share some business tips for our readers?
The world is changing fast. That is obvious, but a lot of people still want to say “that’s not how we do things.” One of the main things points of Going for the Green is that as change occurs at an ever-increasing pace, you must learn to be fast on your feet and ready to move. Things that were unheard of just a few years ago–like Facebook–now dominate a segment of society. Video games now outsell movies or sports.

Can you share something that people might be surprised to learn about you?
That although I’ve written one business book and working on another, and have written for business publications like Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and I have taught business seminars, I still consider myself a novelist and story-teller at heart. A comedy play I co-wrote about video games has been performed at MIT, in New York and will soon be touring the country.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
One thing I still get out of Going for the Green when I re-read it is that the life lessons still apply. That you can make money and do the right thing. That being good to people and the planet is good business. I like it when my writing not only makes me money but has a positive message as well. That is a win-win and that is what we should all be seeking in business or in any relationships.