Coaching and Inspiration

I want to tell you about a Fast Start program that will increase your income fast. It’s really quite simple. At the beginning of every week, take 50 prospects from your list and set them up on a schedule where you will call them over a 4 day period. On Monday, call 12 prospects. On Tuesday, call 12 more prospects. On Wednesday, call 13 prospects. And on Thursday, call 13 more prospects. That totals 50 calls and by Thursday afternoon you’re done. By Friday, you’ll be flooded with follow up calls which will eventually turn into sales.

This Fast Start program has proven to work time and time again. Try it and I think you’ll agree. Here’s the key point: Do this EVERY WEEK. Now don’t call me whining and say, “I tried it for a week and it didn’t work.” That’s like saying, “I bought this treadmill and I went on it once for 30 minutes and I’m still fat. It doesn’t work. I want my money back.” That’s RIDICULOUS! You have to give it at least 4 weeks.

And therein lies one of the keys to success: Consistency. Even if you made 1 call a day for 365 days, you’d have massive sales and massive income. But the problem is that we procrastinate and we figure out any way we can to avoid doing the work we know we need to do. And the worst part is – we don’t even know we’re doing it! That’s exactly why I teach about self talk and programs. Those actions, or lack of actions, come from us not having strong programs. Self talk will help you change all that.

So go ahead and try this program and let me know how it works. As always, I believe in you and I know you can do it!

The first thing to learn in regards to overcoming objections is that every customer has them. It’s a rare case when a customer buys with no questions asked. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen but it’s rare.

Let’s talk about what objection really means. It’s defined as the act of expressing strong or reasoned opposition. And opposition is the condition of being in conflict. So if your customer is opposed to some part of your product or it’s terms, that means that they are having some internal conflict about their decision and are strongly or reasonably expressing it to you as their consultant in the transaction. It does not necessarily mean that they are getting ready to walk. It means that they see a potential problem and are looking to you to help them solve it. The only reason people walk away from transactions is because they are upset with you or your company’s handling of what they’re concerned about.

The outcome of the transaction is directly related to how you handle what they see as a problem. It’s not because they are “jerks” or because “they just don’t know how things operate.” It’s because they had a concern and it wasn’t addressed adequately by you, the representative of the company and the product. And speaking of jerks, when a customer tells their family and friends not to deal with you because YOU are the jerk, that should alert you to the fact that you weren’t sensitive enough to their concern.

Let me just put it to you bluntly: If you’re in sales to make a lot of money, you’re in the wrong career. Sure you can make a ton of money in this field, but along the way their are some foundational things that you need to do to be effective. People do business with people they like. If you’re not genuine, you’re not going to succeed.

So how do you overcome objections? First of all, expect them. When I first started managing, my mentor said to me, “You should begin every day with the expectation that there will be 3 major fires for you to put out that day. If you do that, you’ll always be ready to overcome them.” I find the same to be true with objections. You should go into every sales process with the expectation that there are going to be 3 major objections. If you do that, you’ll be prepared to handle them.

The easiest way to do that is simply by asking questions. As a coach, one of my favorite methods of coaching is by asking questions. Questions probe and uncover the real issues. There are some great standard questions that people use but I find that by listening you can uncover the real issues that they are concerned about and, just as an everyday conversation with a friend, you’ll come up with genuine questions that are specific to the conversation. You can ask the same 5 questions for every client’s objective but it will sound canned and your prospect will know it. That’s why I find it easier to be honest with them and try to overcome their concerns the way you would convince a friend to go see a certain movie with you or have dinner at a certain restaurant. It really is that simple. Good salespeople are good, passionate conversationalists.

The second thing I would advise you to do is be open to what they’re telling you. If you’ve been selling for any amount of time you know that there are some preposterous objections or reasons why people won’t buy. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. You’ve got to be ready to help them overcome those in a genuinely concerned, professional way. In other words, if you think the objection is absurd, you can’t show that in your face, emotions or body language. It will take some practice but you can do it.

Lastly, I would suggest that you subscribe to this blog. Then get yourself a copy of How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. These things will revolutionize your sales career.

Overcoming a perspective client’s objections should not be difficult if you are genuine and really care about the relationship. Beyond that, you’re on your own.

If you do a Google search for Goal Setting you’ll get over 9 million results! There are so many programs out there taught about goal setting. Personally, I’ve been setting goals for over 16 years and the process I’m going to explain below is the simplest way I’ve found to set goals. And it actually works!

I teach a process called AGS or Active Goal Setting. Here’s how it works:

1. Write down your goal like this: “My goal is to ___________________ by _____(Date)_____. If you don’t date the goal, your mind won’t know when you want to achieve it. This is a very important part and many people don’t do it and it stops their progress.

2. Then identify what’s standing between you and the goal. This is the obstacle. If your goal is to close 10 more sales in the next 30 days, a valid obstacle to your goal could be your fear of meeting new people if you’re in direct sales.

3. Then figure out a good action step to overcome the obstacle of meeting new people. For example, to overcome your fear of meeting new people, the action step could be to begin practicing the FORM way of meeting new people. FORM is an acronym for Family Occupation Recreation and Money or Message. The way it works is simple: Begin conversations with strangers by talking about one of the FORM words. Talk about their family, what they do for a living, what they do for fun, and eventually money issues or what their overall life message is. If you start with family, the conversation will just develop from there.

The same process I explained above can be used for any obstacle you are ever faced with in your life.

Do this with each obstacle you come up with. Most people set goals and then try to go to work on the goal itself. That’s why most goal setting programs don’t work. With the AGS process, I’m teaching you how to focus on what’s standing between you and your goal and then working on that. When you do that, and overcome each obstacle, you get closer to achieving the goal.

For today’s action step, I’d like you to put this goal setting practice in effect today. Think of one goal you’re having a difficult time achieving and use this practice with it immediately. Then let me know your results!

I believe in you and remember: You are incredible and today is a great day to show it!

If you’d like to learn more about this process, you can get my new DVD “10 Simple Rules For Goal Setting” for cost plus shipping here.

Finding what drives you is he first step in sales success. What is your dream? 

What do you want?

What are your goals?

This should be your reason for doing what you do. I don’t want you to take this lightly. People have a tendency to dismiss this step thinking it’s not necessary. Let me put it to you this way – if you’re not motivated by something, you won’t do what needs to be done to get it.

All success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. The key word in that sentence is progressive. It’s not getting the thing that you want that’s important, it’s the journey towards it that’s important. Because in that journey you become the person you were created to be. So remember, success is not what you get, it’s who you become in the process. That’s where the real challenge lies. The getting of “stuff” is a natural by-product of taking the journey.

Let me give you a simple exercise to help you identify your dream.

1. I want you to go ahead and get a piece of blank paper.

2. Then I want you to write a list of everything you’d like to be, have, or change in your life. Plan on taking some time to do this. Take the limits off and wave your wand. Write down anything and everything. Write the longest list you can – both short term and long term.

What will begin to emerge is a list of the things you want most from your life.

I call this your Dream List. As you begin to focus on one or two of these items that you really want, and turn them into goals, you will see changes in your energy level and you’ll begin getting more done.

Have fun with it and get to it! I know you can do it and I definitely believe in you!

Good Morning! I wanted to take some time this morning and experiment with an audio blog. It’s awesome and you can check it out below. Make it a great day!

LISTEN HERE

My 9 year old daughter has been struggling with her emotions lately. It starts as silence then a headache and stomach ache. I’ve tried to find out what’s bothering her but I don’t get very far. The other night after dinner I asked her to follow me into our sunroom. I pulled her up on my lap and asked her what was bothering her. After some prodding she said that she really missed her mom.

We talked for 20 minutes about how it’s ok to miss someone you love who has died. I told her some special things about her mom and how much her mom loved her. But mostly I shared with her about how important it is to talk about what’s bothering you. At the end of our conversation she felt much better. Her aches and pains disappeared and she was her beautiful vibrant self again.

I think that’s one area that we as adults, and we as sales people fail. Being older and more “wise” we hold our feelings in thinking we have to put on a strong front. In some cases that may be true but in most cases we are doing more damage than good.

Take a look around your circle of influence. Is there someone who you are close with that you can share your feelings with? Someone who cares? Find that person and make a lunch appointment or phone appointment with them. I think you’ll find that, like my daughter, you’ll not only feel better but you’ll have built a relationship with a friend.

Today is a very special day in our family. It was 3 years ago today that my beautiful wife and best friend Joanne left this earth and began her journey to Eternal Life. My heart today is heavy but it is also full of joy. Heavy because the loss is great but full of joy because of the beautiful memories that she left us with.

Joanne and I had 9 children together. At her funeral I read a farewell letter to her in which I described our children as “9 pieces of you that I get to keep.” I never knew how true that statement was. As time has passed each of our children embody different qualities of her that bring her memory to life. The one quality that seems mostly at the forefront is her positive attitude which all the kids have been blessed with.

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I was on a conference call recently with a group of people from a goal setting club I belong to and we were talking about being at the beginning of the second half of the year and where we were in the progress our goals. GULP! I swallowed hard. I knew this moment was coming and I knew I was going to have to share my "not-so-exciting" progress. So I volunteered. I’ve always believed that when you face a tough situation, it’s best to just put your head in the lion’s mouth and get it over with. Things will go much smoother after the initial fear subsides.

When I got finished sharing some of my challenges we talked about ways to make the second half of the year much better than the first. Here they are for your benefit:

• Get clearer on your desires and your belief. One of the reasons that we get stopped along the way is because we forget why we’re doing something. We have to absolutely be clear about what we want – what the accomplishment of our goal will give us. Is it a new car? A new home? A longer vacation? New clothes? Time with your family? A healthier you? Whatever it is, get absolutely clear on it. We also talked about Napoleon Hill’s classic "Think and Grow Rich" and how the first two chapters of that book, Desire and Faith, are worth reading at the beginning of every month. EVERY month. If your desire is white hot and your faith is strong nothing on earth can stop you. Not even procrastination.
• Look at your actions. Most of us focus on our results when we’re working on our goals. That’s probably the worst thing to do. We need to focus on our actions. Our actions lead us to our desire. Its important to look at the results but if you’re not getting the results you want, focusing on that will debilitate you. Take a good hard look at your actions and where they are leading you. A good exercise is to make a list of what you do on a daily basis and get rid of anything that doesn’t lead you to your desire.
• Focus on the next 90 days. In the Marine Corps, they can take a fat, out of shape, bad attitude teen ager and transform that person into a trim, fit unstoppable war machine in less than 90 days. How? By laser focus attention. Over the next 90 days, preferrably a lot sooner, cut out the dead wood goals. You know–the ones that you’ve been dragging around and have been fretting about that you’ve done nothing with. You’ll have a lot more mental energy available if you cut out some of the things you’re not working on anyway.
• Do something radically different. If what you’re doing (or not doing) isn’t working, come up with a radically different strategy – a 180 degree change from what  you’ve been doing. Change your strategy, be radical and swim against the tide. It will re-fire your goals with new enthusiasm.

In the corporate world we used to do 6 month check ups. This is when you’d sit with your leader and review the last 6 months of your time with the company. It wasn’t a time to focus on what you did wrong, but a time to focus on everything you did, good and not so good, and formulate a game plan for the next 6 months to make it better. It’s time for you to do that. Set some time aside this week just for you and take a look at the first half of 2008 and evaluate where you are. Make some changes and get focused again. There’s nothing better for the heart and soul then new excitement in your goals and dreams.

I know you can do it and I definitely believe in you!

If you’d like some help doing this, shoot me an email or give me a call at 609-790-8757 and we’ll schedule some time so I can give you some help and guidance. Take care!

One of my most favorite magazines of all time has been brought back to life! Success Magazine is back. I read it throughout the 90s but then it seemed to disappear. I was re-reading their premier issue, April/May 2008, and there’s a great article on your wealth mindset. The article is titled, "What’s in Your Head Determines What’s in Your Wallet." If you’ve read any of my blogs before, you know that this article would really resonate with me. I do a lot of training and teaching on self talk and how that determines your direction in life. But more than that, I continue to be a student of it as well.

Here are a couple of quotes from the article:

• "Your Net Worth Will Equal Your Self-worth" – If you’re like me, this quote has ticked you off. After all I have a pretty good self image so how come I’m not wealthy? We’ll explore that in another post.
• "Worry is one of the most costly attitudes in pushing money away from you" – Now this one I can relate to. When things aren’t going my way financially, I tend to worry about where the money’s going to come from. What I’m learning is that that’s the exact attitude which is keeping money from flowing to me.  If I constantly say, "I can’t afford it. I don’t have the money. I’m not wasting money I don’t have," I’m focusing on lack. And what I focus on is what I get. So when I focus on lack, I get lack. In trying to help by not spending money unnecessarily, I’m focusing on the very thing that’s going to keep money out of my life. To get abundance, I have to focus on abundance.

Here are 5 Tips to Improve Your Wealth Attitude from the article:

1. Write down all that you are grateful for in your life right now – read it every day.
2. Make a decision that you will be wealthy. Affirm that decision every day by taking action in that direction.
3. Surround Yourself with the people who are where you want to be financially.
4. Read and listen (sound familiar?) to material that will support your new outlook and attitude about what’s possible.
5. Teach others the attitudes of wealth. Once you teach it, you will learn it.

I believe in you and I know you can do it!