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If It's Not Scheduled, Don't Do It
When something new comes up, whether it's a request from someone or a new project or idea, before you say "Yes" to yourself or others, look at your schedule and ask yourself, "Can I take this on right now?"
If it's not scheduled into your routine then chances are you don't have the time for it. Instead, schedule that activity or task for a future time. Make an appointment for this task or activity. Put it on your wish list. Otherwise, you'll find yourself doing everything except what you had originally intended.
This rule does have some flexibility. I took the extreme position in order to emphasize the importance of maintaining your focus and keeping your eye on the prize and your goals. So, use your best judgment. If the task that is pulling you away from you initial intention is considered a priority (a family situation, an emergency, a unique opportunity that supports your goals, an externality, a customer who is only able to meet with you at a certain time and not meeting with them can cost you their business, etc.) then clearly do it.
One of my clients recently had his second child. Now, lets face it. All bets are off when have a newborn. After all, what's more important than that? If that's your priority then just own it, accept it and don't feel guilty for not honoring your routine. Something is going to have to give, even if that means taking time away from another activity in your routine.
Sometimes, life has a tendency to get in the way of our plans (no pun intended). However, these sudden jolts to your routine are usually temporary rather than long term. These occurrences are simply another opportunity to adjust your routine.
Exercise caution when choosing to engage in activities that will divert you from your planned activities. If you find that you are constantly being diverted from your routine, then you may be an adrenaline junkie and love the rush.
Keith Rosen
profitbuilders.com
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| Find The Key Issue
No matter what anyone says, there is always a key issue before a buying decision.
There is a reason someone makes a purchase. The issue could be more than a single point. And it could be several, under the same umbrella.
So, to be successful in selling you must find the main point of interest, the prospects most vulnerable point. The point or issue that will move a prospect to become your customer.
And how do you do this? You ask questions, lots of questions!
You ask questions to involve the prospect. Get them to talk with you and they will tell you how to sell them.
Uncover your prospects needs by asking questions, the who, what , where, when, how and why questions and look for their most important or key issue…
“It's not the answer, it's the
quality of the question!”
Lew Nason
insuranceproshop.com
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Boost Your Self-Confidence. Control Your Mental Focus
Control the questions you ask yourself through internal dialogue. For example, what questions do you ask yourself before calling on a high net worth client or prospect? You might ask: "Are they already working with an advisor? Could I help their situation? Why would they want to work with me? Am I experienced enough?"
Following are examples of negative self-talk. None of these will put you in a position of having unstoppable self-confidence. "They probably wouldn't work with me. They are probably happy with their current advisor. What do I have to offer them that they don't already have? The big one I always hear is how can I be unique? How can I add value?"
Instead of focusing on negativity, ask yourself some positive questions like: "What am I going to like best about this new per son I'm about to meet? How can I help them? What am I going to like best about calling on them? How am I going to be able to connect with them? How can I show them that I am passionate about what I do? I want to make sure that I really connect with them."
Asking yourself questions like these prior to meeting clients gives you a lot of confidence because you are controlling your mental focus. Whenever facing a similar situation, I always ask myself what is the worst thing that can possibly happen? I say that with tongue firmly planted in cheek because our brains paint pictures that are not based in reality.
Think about this. You call somebody intending to ask them for an appointment. What's the worst-case scenario when you call that person? They are going to say, " no."
Or maybe once in awhile a prospect may get rude and give you a little more angry conversation about not calling them again. Taking that situation, what is the worst than can happen? A) Are you going to get shot? Are they going to put you in jail? Are they going to fire you or are you going to quit the business? Of course not. All you got was a simple " no" and we make it so complicated because our imagination runs away with us.
Another of my favorite worst-case scenarios is asking for referrals. If you ask the client for a referral what is the worst he or she could say?? I will think about it? I can't think of anyone right now? That is the worst-case scenario, but many advisors will sit there and struggle for hours and hours, days and days, maybe years and years before asking for a referral because they are just not confident about asking.
"What is the worst that could happen?" is a great question because the truth is, there is not one client, not one prospect, not one thing you are going to do in your career, that will ever make or break you. I want you to remember that and really work on controlling your mental focus. Look at consequences and change your mental focus. Look at both the positives and negatives. Start better controlling your internal dialogue and realize when you are running a pattern of negativity that you need to ask yourself a series of positive questions to get yourself into a confident position so you can go ahead and take action.
Joseph J. Lukacs
tpisearch.com/ |
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Closing With Confidence
Closing the deal requires the highest skill sets of the sales process. It's the end of the game, and you have spent all this time and emotional energy cultivating the prospect, gaining their commitment, and putting everything in place. The objections have been covered. Their decision has been tied down and nailed shut, and now it's time to bring closure to everything.
What happens to you emotionally when you get to this state? What are the feelings that go through your mind at this point? And even more important, do you have a tendency to sabotage your deals on a subconscious level?
I believe that in the world of sales, there are many of us who at the end of the deal try to tank our situations. We would rather face the trauma of self-imposed failure than have a surprise come back to bite us. We would rather know what the conclusion is going to be than be faced with a surprising failure.
How can we change our attitudes towards this part of the process and approach it with more strength and less trepidation? Here are two tips that you can integrate into your closing process that will help you to close more deals with confidence:
Step One:
You must feel like you deserve to win. Simple concept. Seems almost too simple. But many of us live with limiting beliefs that money is evil or that it's wrong for us to desire to make money. Remember that money is a form of energy that is a representation of value and contribution. The more you contribute to others' lives, the more money you should make and deserve to make. In other words, it's perfectly acceptable to desire to generate a big income, one contribution at a time.
Step Two:
You must put the other person's best interests ahead of your own. With your prospects, early in the process, state something like this long before you present them to your clients: "I'll introduce you to my product or service, you'll then discover how this will personally benefit you, and you can decide for yourself if this is something you would like to do, Joe. Whatever you want to do, I'm okay with it. My goal is to expose you to this product or service because I believe that it will help you to increase your margins (or whatever the tangible quantifiable personal benefit would be), but only you can decide. All I ask for is total honesty with me. Sound okay with you?" That key phrase will put deposits in their emotional bank account with you and increase their trust level with you significantly. You are now a partner with them in their minds in helping them to explore a potentially better personal benefit…you are no longer a hungry sales person who sees this prospect as a walking invoice. Be a pressure valve, not a pressure builder.
By integrating the concept of deserving to win and pre-framing the relationship with your prospects, you will close more sales that stay closed because now you are expecting to win all the time, and building an authentic relationship and trust level with everyone who you can possibly impact.
Scott Love
scott@scottlove.com
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Great Expectations: Want Less & Get More
There's an old rock-and-roll song goes "You can't always get what you want..." It continues, of course, to point out that one might, however, just "...get what you need."
I like to think of that song as a reminder about keeping oneself open to all of the wondrous possibilities life has to offer and not focusing too much on exact specifications about what one wants.
Often times we set our sights on a goal and convince ourselves that we must have that thing in exactly that way. Then we find ourselves miserable and depressed when what we wanted doesn't happen exactly the way we envisioned it.
I've proved this many times in my own life:
As a teenager, I decided I wanted to be a writer. So I wrote story after story, article after article, and when I was 15 I sold my first 2 articles to national magazines, I started writing a column for my weekly paper, and I was had found a mentor in a published author of some note.
I was getting what I wanted right? Oh no. I convinced myself that I would only be a "real" writer when I wrote a book. The problem was I didn't have a book in me, I didn't have a single book idea. Even though I was making progress, my expectation that any good writer could write a book led to my frustration with writing altogether. I stopped writing altogether and didn't try again for nearly 10 years.
In those years I shifted my perspective about writing as well as about life. I put less pressure on getting exactly what I wanted and emphasized enjoying the things that developed.
As time went by, I expected less and started getting more of the things that I wanted. Often times before even knowing I wanted them. After I quit writing, my life led me to the military, to television production, to training, to voice-overs, to speaking, and then to coaching. And wouldn't you know it, coaching led me right back to writing, when my goal was simply to find ways to coach as many people as possible.
Don't misunderstand me -- I'm not talking about giving up on goals or not creating plans about how you will achieve them, only in not tying yourself down to a specific outcome.
Stay open to the possibilities in life and life will stay eminently open to you!
Jim Allen
coachjim.com |
There Is A Pony In There Somewhere
I believe that people are born optimist or pessimist. There is a great story about a little boy whose parents think he is too optimistic. To teach him a lesson they give him a pile of horse poop as a gift. After leaving him alone with his gift they return to find the little boy digging through the pile. Shocked they asked, "What are you doing?" The little boy responded, "With this much poop there has to be a pony in there somewhere."
I believe the little boy has the right idea. There is almost always something good in any situation or event. True, there are times you have to dig for it, but if you do you can usually find it. Being optimistic doesn't mean that you are not a realist. What it means is you see the world as mostly positive and if the good isn't apparent at first you look for it.
You get what you expect. If you think the world is a good place you will discover that it is. If you think the world is a bad place you will discover that it is. Your perspective shapes how you see the world and everyone in it.
Although I do believe people are born with tenancies that lean in one direction or the other, I also believe that a person can learn to be more optimistic. It is a trait that can be developed and there are good reasons to do so. According to a study conducted by the Mayo Clinic, "People who expect misfortune and who only see the darker side of life don't live as long as those with a more optimistic view." So, not only will you live longer by having an optimistic view of life, you will also live a happier life.
Coach Lee
Rachelle@coachlee.com
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