Personal Success | January 4th, 2008 | 3 Comments »
In my conversations with hundreds of top salespeople over the years, I have found that they all have one thing in common. They have taken the time to sit down and create a clear blueprint for themselves and their future lives. Even if they started the process of goal setting and personal strategic planning with a little skepticism, every one of them has become a true believer.
Becoming a True Believer
Every one of them has been amazed at the incredible power of goal setting and strategic planning. Every one of them has accomplished far more than they ever believed possible in selling and they ascribe their success to the deliberate process of thinking through every aspect of their work and their lives, and then developing a detailed, written road map to get them to where they wanted to go.
The Definition of Happiness
Happiness has been defined as, “The progressive achievement of a worthy ideal, or goal.” When you are working progressively, step-by-step toward something that is important to you, you generate within yourself a continuous feeling of success and achievement.
You feel more positive and motivated. You feel more in control of your own life. You feel happier and more fulfilled. You feel like a winner, and you soon develop the psychological momentum that enables you to overcome obstacles and plough through adversity as you move toward achieving the goals that are most important to you.
Determine Your Values
Personal strategic planning begins with your determining what it is you believe in and stand for-your values. Your values lie at the very core of everything you are as a human being. Your values are the unifying principles and core beliefs of your personality and your character. The virtues and qualities that you stand for are what constitute the person you have become from the beginning of your life to this moment.
Your values, virtues and inner beliefs are the axle around which the wheel of your life turns. All improvement in your life begins with you clarifying your true values and then committing yourself to live consistent with them.
Fuzzy or Clear?
Successful people are successful because they are very clear about their values. Unsuccessful people are fuzzy or unsure. Complete failures have no real values at all.
Build Self-Confidence and Self-Esteem
Values clarification is the beginning exercise in building self-confidence, self-esteem and personal character. When you take the time to think through your fundamental values, and then commit yourself to living your life consistent with them, you feel a surge of mental strength and well-being. You feel stronger and more capable. You feel more centered in the universe and more competent of accomplishing the goals you set for yourself.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, decide for yourself what makes you truly happy and then organize your life around it. Write down your goals and make plans to achieve them.
Second, begin with your values by deciding what it is you stand for and believe in. Commit yourself to live consistent with your inner most convictions – and you’ll never make another mistake.
Goals! 2008 – Live Telesmeminar with Brian Tracy!
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Leadership Success | January 4th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
There are two questions that you can ask on a regular basis to keep yourself focused on getting your most important tasks completed on schedule.
There are two questions that you can ask on a regular basis to keep yourself focused on getting your most important tasks completed on schedule. The first question is "What are my highest value activities?"
Put another way, what are the most important tasks you have to complete to make the greatest contribution to your organization? To your family? To your life in general?
Think it Through Carefully
This is one of the most important questions you can ask and answer. What are your highest value activities? First, think this through for yourself. Then, ask your boss. Ask your coworkers and subordinates. Ask your friends and family. Like focusing the lens of a camera, you must be crystal clear about your highest value activities before you begin work.
Keep Yourself Focused
The second question you can ask continually is, "What can I and only I do, that if done well, will make a real difference?"
This question comes from Peter Drucker, the management guru. It is one of the best of all questions for achieving personal effectiveness. What can you, and only you do, that if done well, can make a real difference?
This is something that only you can do. If you don’t do it, it won’t be done by someone else. But if you do it, and you do it well, it can really make a difference to your life and your career. What is your answer to this question?
Every hour of every day, you can ask yourself this question and there will be a specific answer. Your job is to be clear about the answer and then to start and work on this task before anything else.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, make a list of everything you do at work and then select your most valuable tasks from that list.
Second, resolve to start in on your highest value task and stay at it until it is 100% complete.
21 Great Ways To Manage Your Time And Double Your Productivity
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Brian's Words of Wisdom | January 3rd, 2008 | 1 Comment »
“Vision.�?
More than 3300 studies have been done over the years in an attempt to identify the qualities of leadership. What makes one man or woman rise to the top of an organization or empire while most others simply lead average lives?
The most common quality found in all these studies was that of “Vision.” The difference between leaders and ordinary people is that leaders have an exciting vision for the future; average people do not.
In our seminars, we teach the importance of “Future-orientation.” It seems that successful people throughout the ages have a clear idea of the kind of future that they wish to create for themselves and others. If they are starting a business on a kitchen table, there vision is of a large, successful company serving enormous numbers of customers with high quality products or services. If they are running for office, they articulate a vision of the kind of city, state or country that they are committed to creating if they are given the power or authority.
The key part of vision is “idealization.” This means that the leader projects forward into the future and creates an ideal future image of what his or her role would look like if it was perfect in every way.
In your own life you become a leader when you develop a vision for yourself. When you begin to idealize about your future and think about all the wonderful things that you could do, be and have in the months and years ahead, you begin to think, act, walk and talk like a leader.
Imagine that you could wave a magic wand and make your future life perfect in every respect. If your life was ideal in five years, what would it look like? How much money would you be earning and what kind of work would you be doing? What kind of lifestyle would you be living and what kind of life would you be providing with and for your family? What kind of health and levels of fitness would you have? How much money would you have in the bank and how much would that money be earning for you each month and each year?
The strategic planner, Michael Kami, once said, “Those who do not think about the future cannot have one.”
Peter Drucker said, “The very best way to predict the future is to create it.”
If your goal is to make 2008 the best year of your life so far, what would have to happen, starting today, for you to create a wonderful life? What would you have to do more of to achieve your goals and create your ideal life? What would you have to do less of? What would you have to start doing that you are not doing today? What would you have to stop doing altogether to create the wonderful life that is possible for you?
The most important work that you do every day is “thinking.” The better you think, the greater clarity you have with regard to the kind of future you want to create, the faster you move toward it, the faster it will move toward you.
Don’t have a great year. Make it a great year!
Brian Tracy
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Brian's Words of Wisdom | January 3rd, 2008 | No Comments »
“The history of wars, throughout the ages is defeat, defeat, defeat, defeat, and then ultimate victory.�?
In the last two weeks, I have spoken to large audiences in Augusta and Macon, Georgia, as well as seminar audiences in Las Vegas and Anaheim.
In between, I flew to Washington for two days of high level meetings addressing many of the subjects that are important today and will be important in the future of our country.
It appears that the Iraq war is getting under control. Winston Churchill once wrote that, “The history of wars, throughout the ages is defeat, defeat, defeat, defeat, and then ultimate victory.”
Some of the smartest, most skilled and most tenacious professional soldiers are prosecuting the war in Iraq. As in all wars, they make mistakes and are often slow to learn. But learn they do. Sooner or later, they learn the critical lessons that they need to achieve the victory that they are committed to. With the “surge” in Iraq, the terrorists have been broken up, scattered, pursued and driven out of all the major population centers. Violence is down as much as 90% and people who had left Iraq are now returning by the tens of thousands to resume their normal lives.
The U.S. economy grew at 4.9% in the third quarter of 2007. This is one of the fastest growth rates in history, even if you include the sub-prime meltdown caused by over-lending to borrowers who could not repay their mortgages when they reset at higher interest rates.
The unemployment rate in the U.S. is 4.7%, one of the best in the world, and one of the best in history. The annual federal deficit is lower than the average of the last 40 years. More people are working and earning higher wages, more companies are being started and earning higher profits. Regardless of the negative stories you read day after day in the press, life has never been better for the average American.
Your goal should be to fully participate in the golden age of America. In order for you to enjoy all the rewards that are possible for you, you must be the best at what you do. You must commit to excellence in your chosen field. You must set it as a goal and work toward it every single day. You must read the best books in your field. You must continually listen to educational CD’s in your car, rather than music as you drive around. You must attend every course and seminar you can. You must never stop driving forward until you are in the top 10% or 20% of your field.
A few years ago, a large organization that represented many thousands of sales people did an assessment of the average incomes of their members. They found that the top 20% were earning on average, more than the entire bottom 80%. When they calculated this on paper, they were shocked! They found that the average income of people in the top 20% was 16 times the average income of people in the bottom 80%. But there was more.
When they took the top 20% of the top 20%, that is, the top 4%, they found that people in the top 4% were earning 80% of the money in the top 20%. The incomes of these top 4% were 30 times and 40 times higher than the average of people in the bottom 80%.
They also found that everyone in the top 10% had started at the bottom 10%. Everyone who was doing well was at one time doing poorly. Everyone at the top of their field was at one time not even in that field and did not know that it existed. But they found one difference between top people and average people. The top people had made a clear, unequivocal, definite commitment to be the best in their field shortly after they started.
The people in the bottom 80%, with the same talents, education, ability and experience, had failed to make this decision.
One of the most incredible discoveries is this. If you do not decide to be in the top 10 or 20%, you will, by default, simply fall into the bottom 80%. It will not be because of anything you did, but because of all the things that you didn’t do, starting with making that decision.
No one who has not decided to be in the top 10% ever reached that level. It does not happen by accident, it happens by design.
Here is the best news of all. No one is better than you and no one is smarter than you. Everyone has pretty much the same average talents and abilities. And whatever hundreds of thousands, and even millions, of other people have done, you can do as well. There are no limits except the limits you put on yourself. Resolve today to become one of the very best people in your field, no matter how long it takes, or how much it costs. You might want to check out the high-powered courses at Brian Tracy University (briantracyu.com) and take a free lesson to see if this is the right way for you to begin moving to the top of your field.
Make it a wonderful year!
Brian Tracy
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Brian's Words of Wisdom | January 3rd, 2008 | No Comments »
Brian Tracy reflects on 2007 and gives his outlook for 2008.
This has been another great year for me, my family and my business. My family is healthy and well, my business is prosperous and growing, and my activities span the entire globe.
During 2007, I have traveled and spoken all over the world, including Japan, China, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, plus Russia, Poland and Turkey. In addition, I have spoken in Germany as well as all over Canada and in 50 different cities in the United States.
This year, I wrote and published four new books, including The Way to Wealth – More Success Strategies of Successful Entrepreneurs, The Art of Closing the Sale, Flight Plan – The Real Secret of Success, Speak to Win – Proven Strategies of Successful Speakers, and The Miracle of Self-Discipline, The Key to Personal Greatness.
Some years ago, I developed a recipe for writing successful books. My books have now been published in thirty-seven languages and are sold in fifty-four countries, selling millions of copies and making me a top selling author around the globe.
My daughter Catherine turned 16 in November and got her first car. We have not seen her since. She is becoming a better and better equestrian, competing at high levels and winning championships in both the hunter and the jumper category. For this purpose, she has two expensive horses and is being trained by the top experts in the field. She trains three or four days every week and still maintains a 4.0 grade average in the eleventh grade in high school
My son Michael completed college in June and set out to find a job in financial planning. After several weeks of research, he realized that it would take at least two or three years for him to become established in such a competitive field and earn a decent living. He turned to me for advice.
I encouraged him to get a job with a door-to-door selling company, cold-calling from house to house with a company that I had done some work for. At first, he was shocked; he comes from a good home and has a college education. He had no interest in going out and engaging in door to door selling. But I explained to him that many of the most successful people in America started off cold calling. Once you have overcome your fear of cold calling, and even more, become good at it, you will never be afraid of anything again. For the rest of your life you will have the self-confidence of knowing that you can start anywhere and make a good living, no matter what happens in the economy.
To my great pleasure, Michael took up the challenge, got a job in door-to-door sales, and set off working the neighborhoods. In his first few weeks, he got more rejection, negativity and disappointment than he had experienced in his lifetime. But by the third week he was making sales. And in his first month he earned more than $5,000.00 in straight commissions.
In his second month, as he continued to improve, getting better and better, he was offered the opportunity to recruit and train new people under him. By the end of his third month, he had been appointed general manager with a crew of fifteen sales people under him and was earning as much as $900.00 a day. The most important reason for wanting to succeed is not the money you make, but the person you become. Michael is rapidly becoming a strong, confident and effective salesman and sales manager. At the age of 24, he has leaped ahead of people who have spent years seeking security and avoiding risk.
My son David has completed his community college courses and is now transferring to the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. He and his girlfriend Sarah are getting excellent grades and are working steadily forward on the plan they had laid out for themselves.
My daughter Christina and her husband Damon continue to live and thrive in Los Angeles. Our Granddaughter Julia was one year old in November. She is now walking and beginning to talk. She is a complete delight!
My wife Barbara is healthy and well, running our business actively from her home office and dealing with our real-estate investments. Our self-storage business has been effected by the down-turn in the local market, but in a positive way. Because people are giving up their homes, they need a place to store their furniture, giving us an 85% occupancy rate and profitable operations in a slow growth area.
Brian Tracy University of Sales and Entrepreneurship continues to grow and thrive. We have created perhaps the very best online learning website in the world today, complete with high-content video based lectures, excellent course material, CD and book support, plus a “pocket professor” which enables you to carry your courses on audio and video in your pocket for regular review and reinforcement. Our early graduates are signing up for additional programs and experiencing immediate increases in their incomes, often from the very first lesson.
If I could only give my children or my friends, one piece of advice, it would be this: Find out what you are good at and what you really enjoy doing. Find a job using your unique talents and abilities, doing something you love. Then, put your whole heart at becoming very good in your chosen field.
If you will do these three things, identify your unique talents and abilities, do work that you love, and dedicate yourself to becoming absolutely excellent, you will quickly move into the top 10% or 20% in your field. You will enjoy a wonderful life, and have endless opportunities open up in front of you.
2008 is going to be a wonderful year. Remember, it doesn’t matter where you’re coming from; all that really matters is where you’re going.
I wish you the very best of success in the exciting months and years ahead. Please keep in regular contact with us, read our newsletters, take advantage of our offers and continue to get better and better in whatever you do.
I wish you all the best in 2008.
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Brian's Words of Wisdom | January 3rd, 2008 | No Comments »
“How to Start or Build a Successful Business.�?
During 2007, I have had the great pleasure of speaking for the Get Motivated Seminars, organized by Peter and Tamera Lowe and Brian Forte in major sports facilities and auditoriums across the country.
Peter Lowe has developed a business model of seminar promotion that makes him the top seminar promoter in the world. He regularly attracts ten thousand to twenty thousand people at each seminar, with speakers such as Steve Forbes, George Foreman, Colin Powel and numerous well-know sports and business celebrities.
In October, they sold out two sports arenas in downtown Dallas, each holding almost twenty thousand people. As one of their speakers, I addressed one sports arena with 18,000 people in the morning and the second American Airlines Arena with twenty thousand people in the afternoon. The entire city was out to attend these Get Motivated Seminars.
Here is the main point: In asking attendees of the seminars what they would like to hear more of, the number one subject is, “How to Start or Build a Successful Business.”
Fully 68% of Americans dream of starting their own businesses someday and becoming financially independent. Yet less than 10% of adults will ever reach out and take the chance to get into business for themselves.
This is amazing! If you can drive a car, type with a keyboard or use a modern cell phone, you can learn the basic skills you need to start and build a successful business. Just like cooking in the kitchen or becoming a diesel mechanic, there are a series of skills and abilities that you need to learn and develop to make money on your own, but they are all learnable.
Fully 80% of self made millionaires in America are people who came from limited backgrounds and started their own businesses, usually with no money. Many of them did not go to college and are high school dropouts. Most of them came from families with limited resources. They all started with nothing and became financially successful by learning the essential skills of business building. And whatever hundreds of thousands, and millions of other people have done, you can do as well.
Today, there are twenty-six million businesses in America, almost all of them started with nothing. The wealthiest people in America, such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Larry Ellison, Michael Dell, the Walfin Family, Paul Allen, and millions of others are all first generation wealth.
The key to starting a business has always been the same: “Find a need and fill it.”
Zig Ziglar is famous for saying, “You can have everything you want in life if you just help enough other people get what they want.”
Resolve today to make 2008 the very best year of your life. If you are not already in your own business, think about starting a business on the side. This gives you the opportunity at a low level of cost and risk to develop the business skills you need to eventually go first time. Find a need and fill it. Find a product or service that people want and are willing to pay for and then offer it to them in a form that satisfies them.
When you start your own business, full or part time, be prepared to make an enormous number of mistakes. Successful people make vastly more mistakes than failures do. It is because of these mistakes that they eventually learn the lessons they need to learn to become successful and financially independent.
Your goal should be to reach the point where you have enough money to where you never worry about money again. And 80% of all of your chances of achieving financial independence will come from starting your own business.
For a free lesson or for more information on how you can start a successful business, visit me at briantracyu.com. Take the first step. Instead of talking about it, wishing about it, hoping and dreaming about it, do something about it.
Brian Tracy
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Business Success | December 27th, 2007 | No Comments »
Perhaps the most powerful single factor in your financial success is your beliefs about yourself and money.
Perhaps the most powerful single factor in your financial success is your beliefs about yourself and money. We call this the Law of Belief. It says simply this: Whatever you believe, with feeling, becomes your reality.
What Successful People Believe
Whatever you intensely believe becomes your reality. That we have a tendency to block out any information coming in to us that is inconsistent with our reality. What we’ve discovered is that successful people absolutely believe that they have the ability to succeed. And they will not entertain, think about, or talk about the possibilities that they’ll fail. They do not even consider the possibility of failure.
Positive Thinking Versus Positive Knowing
You always act in a matter consistent with your beliefs. The most important belief system you can build is a prosperity consciousness where you absolutely believe that you are going achieve your financial goals. We call this positive knowing versus positive thinking. Positive thinking can sometimes be wishing or hoping. But positive knowing is when you absolutely know that no matter what, you will be successful.
The Foundation of Willpower
Another principle related to your beliefs is willpower. We know that willpower is essential to any success. Willpower is based on confidence. It’s based on conviction. It’s based on faith. It’s based on your belief in your ability to triumph over all obstacles. And you can develop willpower by persistence, by working on your goals, by reading the biographies of successful people, by listening to audio programs, by reading books about people who’ve achieved success. The more information you take into your mind consistent with success, the more likely it is that you will develop the willpower to push you through the obstacles and difficulties you will experience.
Beat the Odds on Success
Remember that success is rare. Only one person in one hundred becomes wealthy in the course of a lifetime. Only five percent achieve financial independence. That means that the odds against you are 19-to-1. The only way that you’re going to achieve your financial goals is if you get really serious. To succeed, you must get serious. You must get busy. You must get active. You must get going. Remember, everything counts.
Resolve to Achieve Greatly
Self-mastery, self-control, self-discipline are essential for anyone who wants to achieve greatly. And control over your thoughts is the hardest exercise in self-mastery that you will ever engage in. See if you can talk and think about only what you desire and not talk or think about anything that you don’t want for 24 hours. Then you’ll see what you’re really made of. It’s a hard thing to do but with practice, you can reach the point where you are thinking about your goals and desires most of the time. Then, your whole life will change for the better.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to build a belief system consistent with the financial success you desire:
First, continually repeat to yourself the words, pictures and thoughts consistent with your dreams and goals. Whatever you repeat often enough, over and over, becomes a new belief.
Second, set a goal for yourself to think and talk only about the things that you want for the next 24 hours. This will be one of the hardest things you ever do. But if you can keep your mind on what you want and off of what you don’t want for 24 hours, you can begin to change your entire future.
Success Mastery Academy
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Personal Success | December 26th, 2007 | No Comments »
There are two powers of personality you can develop that will increase your charisma and your ability to influence others.
There are two powers of personality you can develop that will increase your charisma and your ability to influence others.
Decide Exactly What You Want
The first of these powers is the power of purpose. Men and women with charisma and personal magnetism almost invariably have a clear vision of who they are, of where they’re going and of what they’re trying to achieve. Leaders in sales and management have a vision of what they’re trying to create and why they’re doing what they’re doing. They’re focused on accomplishing some great purpose. They’re decisive about every aspect of their lives. They know exactly what they want and what they have to do to get it. They plan their work and work their plan.
Set Clear Goals For Yourself
You can increase your charisma and the magnetism of your personality by setting clear goals for yourself, making plans to achieve them, and working on your plans with discipline and determination every day. The whole world seems to move aside for the person who knows exactly where he is going.
In fact, the clearer you are about your purposes and goals, the more likely people will be to attribute other positive qualities to you. They will see you, or perceive you, as being a better and more admirable human being. And when you have clear goals, you begin attracting to yourself the people and opportunities necessary to make those goals a reality.
Believe in Yourself
The second personality power is self-confidence. Men and women with charisma have an intense belief in themselves and in what they are doing. They are usually calm, cool and composed about themselves and their work. Your level of self-confidence is often demonstrated in your courage, your willingness to do whatever is necessary to achieve a purpose that you believe in.
The Secret of Attraction
People are naturally attracted to those who exude a sense of self-confidence, those who have an unshakable belief in their ability to rise above circumstances to attain their goals.
Assume the Result in Advance
One of the ways you demonstrate self-confidence is by assuming that people naturally like you and accept you and want to do business with you. For example, one of the most powerful ways to close a sale is simply to assume that the prospect has decided to purchase the product or service, and then go on to wrap up the details. One of the best ways to achieve success in your relationships is to assume that people naturally enjoy your company and want to be around you, and then proceed on that basis. The very act of behaving in a self-confident manner will generate personal charisma in the eyes of others.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, think on paper. Write out your goals and plans in detail and then review them regularly. Discuss them with others. Upgrade your goals and plans and revise them when you get new information. Be clear about them.
Second, express your level of self-confidence to others all the time, even if you have doubts inside. Always walk, talk, act and move like a winner, like a person who is absolutely confident of success and ultimate victory.
The Science of Self-Confidence
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Leadership Success | December 26th, 2007 | No Comments »
You need to become a master of your time rather than a slave to continuing time pressures.
Organize Your Life Around Your Family, Your Career and Your Personal Goals
You need to stand back on a regular basis and analyze yourself, your life and your time usage. You need to become a master of your time rather than a slave to continuing time pressures.
Your Most Precious Resource
Time is your most precious resource. It is the most valuable thing you have. It is perishable, it is irreplaceable, and it cannot be saved. It can only be reallocated from activities of lower value to activities of higher value. All work requires time. And time is absolutely essential for the important relationships in your life. The very act of taking a moment to think about your time before you spend it will begin to improve your personal time management immediately.
The Starting Point
Personal time management begins with you. It begins with your thinking through what is really important to you in life. And it only makes sense if you organize it around specific things that you want to accomplish. You need to set goals in three major areas of your life. First, you need family and personal goals. These are the real reasons why you get up in the morning, why you work hard and upgrade your skills, why you worry about money and sometimes feel frustrated by the demands on your time.
Decide Upon Your Goals
What are your personal and family goals, both tangible and intangible? A tangible family goal could be a bigger house, a better car, a larger television set, a vacation, or anything else that costs money. An intangible goal would be to build a higher quality relationship with your spouse and children, to spend more time with your family going for walks or reading books. Achieving these family and personal goals are the real essence of time management, and its major purpose.
How to Achieve Your Goals
The second area of goals is your business and career goals. These are the "how" goals, the means by which you achieve your personal, "why" goals. How can you achieve the level of income that will enable you to fulfill your family goals? How can you develop the skills and abilities to stay ahead of the curve in your career? Business and career goals are absolutely essential, especially when balanced with family and personal goals.
Personal Development Goals
The third type of goals is your personal development goals. Remember, you can’t achieve much more on the outside than what you have achieved and become on the inside. Your outer life will be a reflection of your inner life. If you wish to achieve worthwhile things in your personal and your career life, you must become a worthwhile person in your own self-development. You must build yourself if you want to build your life. Perhaps the greatest secret of success is that you can become anything you really want to become to achieve any goal that you really want to achieve. But in order to do it, you must go to work on yourself and never stop.
Action Exercises
Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, develop the habit of stopping on a regular basis and thinking about what is really important to you. The more often you stop and think, the better decisions you will make.
Second, decide clearly upon your personal and family goals. Write them down. Discuss them with others. Be clear about why you are doing what you do.
Third, take some time to think about your career goals and the steps you will have to take to achieve them. Do something every day that moves you forward in all three areas.
Goals! 2008
Live Teleseminar
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Sales Success | December 26th, 2007 | No Comments »
One particular self-image possessed by high-achieving salespeople is that they see themselves as consultants rather than as salespersons.
View Yourself As A Consultant
One particular self-image possessed by high-achieving salespeople is that they see themselves as consultants rather than as salespersons. They see themselves as problem solvers with their products or services rather than as vendors looking for someone who will trade them money for what they have to offer.
Approach Them As Clients
They do not approach their customers with hat in hand, hoping for a sale. They approach their "clients" with the attitude that they are consultants calling on the prospect to help him or her solve a problem or achieve a goal.
Ask Questions and Listen Carefully
Seeing themselves as consultants, they ask questions carefully and listen intently. They focus all of their energies on understanding the customer’s situation so that they can make intelligent recommendations based on what the customer really wants and needs.
Become An Expert in Your Field
As consultants, they recognize that they must be experts, authorities in their field. They know their products and services from one end to the other. They invest many hours familiarizing themselves with every single detail of what they sell, and of what their competitors sell as well. They know the strengths and weaknesses, the advantages and shortcomings, the features and benefits of what they are offering. They have excellent product knowledge which their customers can sense and which gives both themselves and their customers greater confidence throughout the sales conversation.
Differentiate Yourself from Your Competitors
Top salespeople, positioning themselves as consultants, see themselves as resources for their clients. They see themselves and carry themselves as advisors, mentors and friends. They become emotionally involved in their transactions and they are generally concerned that their product or service be the ideal solution to the real needs of the prospects they are dealing with. They differentiate themselves from their competitors by being more concerned with helping their prospects than with selling their products or services. Their customers often feel that they care more about them than they care about making a sale. And it’s true.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, see yourself as a problem-solver rather than as a salesperson. Take sufficient time to understand the prospect’s real need before you start selling.
Second, think of ways to tailor your product or service to your customer’s needs so that he sees what you sell as the ideal solution for him.
The Psychology Of Selling
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