The Hidden Power of a Sales Mastermind Group

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In his book, Think & Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill describes what a mastermind group is:

Nice, isn’t it? “A friendly alliance.” “Plan and purpose.”

Alliance 3

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The Truth Emerged

Last month, in the mastermind group that I’m in, a guy broke down into tears. He was struggling. His business was not doing well. And, this was the first time he actually admitted it to another human being.

While it was awkward, I’ve never seen 9 people jump into service so quickly. Isn’t it interesting that when the truth comes out – when we become “real,” people are always there to help?

Later, he emailed the group, sharing what a massive relief it was to know he had people on his ‘team’ that were in total support. You could feel the relief in his tone.

Below, I’ve listed 5 reasons that you MUST consider joining a mastermind group if you’re truly serious about your professional growth. Read more

Episode #412: Sales Lessons from the Olympics

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advancedsellinpodcastgraphicbootAre you staying up late every night mesmerized by the Olympics?

In this episode, veteran sales trainers Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale look to lessons sales people can learn from athletes competing at the top of their game.

How do you prepare yourself when something doesn’t go as planned in a sales call?

How can you detach from things around you that you can’t control?

In today’s episode of The Advanced Selling Podcast, Bill and Bryan give you specific techniques to take your sales game all the way to Rio.

Are you ready to compete with the best of the best from around the world? Listen in today to find out.

Also mentioned in this podcast:

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Episode #411: Mindset Tips from a PGA Golfer

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advancedsellinpodcastgraphicbootWhat do golf pros know about sales training? You may be surprised by the overlaps in mindset principles.

In this episode, veteran sales trainers Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale reflect on Donald Miller’s Storybrand podcast and an interview with Ben Crane, a PGA golf pro.

Do you struggle to avoid your subconscious taking over your mindset?

Are you practicing reps to help get your mind right?

In today’s episode of The Advanced Selling Podcast, Bill and Bryan share tips to help you focus on mindfulness in the sales process.  You will learn how to quiet your mind, set your own expectations and focus on your prospects instead of yourself.

Also mentioned in this podcast:

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Episode #410: Sales Pressure – Aspirational or Desperate?

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advancedsellinpodcastgraphicbootAre you feeling sales pressure? (Don’t worry, you’re not alone.)

In this episode, veteran sales trainers Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale help managers and salespeople identify the differences between aspirational and desperate pressure.

Are you stressed about sales and struggling to think objectively about your pipeline?

Are you looking at the long term view or just short term wins?

In today’s episode of The Advanced Selling Podcast, Bill and Bryan share techniques you can use to turn pressure into a motivating piece of your role in sales.  You’ll learn where to focus, how to brainstorm new ideas more effectively and avoid the desperate movie that plays in your head when sales are in a slump.

Also mentioned in this podcast:

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How To Get a Job, Grow Your Business, or Improve Personal Positioning

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The numbers of Unemployment are staggering….over 9,000,000 working age Americans. Most are choosing to opt out of the labor force, (which I fail to grasp).

And Underemployment is also staggering…as high as 7,000,000 by some estimates. The definition of underemployment: Workers that are highly skilled but working in low-paying, low-skilled jobs or part time workers that would like to be full time.

Consequently, this article is design to solve a bit of this problem. I can hear your reaction: “Bill, you’re nuts. You can’t solve this in a blog post.” Oh yeah? Watch me.

Caveats. This will be apolitical so you trolls step back. This is about personal responsibility of the worker. And I consider that politically neutral.  This also is not about macro-economic trends. I’ll leave that to people smarter than moi.

In order to get a job, you have to have a System.

And that’s what I will teach you here: A systematic approach to job improvement is essential. If you have no system, you’ll be at the whims of the market. You will lose control. You will be powerless.

If you’re OK with powerlessness, stop reading this IMMEDIATELY. This will not help. Get to therapy now, where you can lay on the couch and discover your self-imposed limitations.

But for others, here we go. Read more

Dunking Seems Miles Away

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Well, I’m still at it. If you read this blog regularly, you might recall that I set a crazy goal right after my 59th birthday, back in February, to dunk the basketball by my 60th. I have 6 months left…

Plan-Goal

And it isn’t going well.

What I Forgot…

I guess I neglected to consider that after 40-something you begin to lose your quick-twitch muscles, which is a “must” for explosive jumping. You also lose any kind of glute power and your hamstrings begin to atrophy. All bad trends if vertical leap is the goal.

So, my miscalculation is now apparent.

So what should I do? Quit? Keep going? Change the routine? Set a more realistic goal?

Not sure…but here’s my thinking. I would love your input.

1. This goal is really cool to me. It’s measurable. It’s weird, I can tell when I reveal the goal to people and they say, “Well, there you go,” as if I’m a little child again, I know I’m on to something special. It’s just that they can’t fathom it…or appreciate it. And it’s a huge stretch. All good characteristics for a goal. Read more

Working Under Load. The Secret To Your Success.

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Charles Poliquin is a weight-lifting coach. He’s the guy your trainer looks to for advice on proper technique, cadences and exercises. He was on Tim Ferriss’s podcast (Click Here To Listen) last week and he said something I thought was fascinating. Simple, but fascinating.

IncreaseStrength-UnderLoad

He said if you really want to increase your strength, you must spend more time “under load.”

In his world, under load means to stress the muscle throughout the entire weight bearing exercise. In other words, do the reps slow, stopping at the top and bottom for a few seconds. So instead of doing 20 curls in 35 seconds, you do 20 in 2 minutes.

More time under load = more strength.

In our world, “under load” leads to strength as well. Read more

Becoming Your Best By Avoiding The Misses

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I am blessed to be able to interview top-notched authors and experts in the area of leadership as we launch The Sales Leadership Academy.

Steve Shallenberger

I spoke to a veteran of leadership coaching, Steve Shallenberger, last week. Steve has worked with Fortune 100 companies for the last 30 years and has a great pulse on the mistakes he sees leaders make. He’s also author of “Becoming Your Best.”

One of those has to do with “Vision.” The lesson is that just because your company has no declared vision, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.

But the fact is that if you have a division…a team…a group…you MUST have a compelling, inspiring vision for your them or they’ll wander around with little focus, and little inspiration.

Here is an excerpt from a longer interview I did with Steve where he shared his thoughts.

Enjoy!

If you’re interested in learning more about The Sales Leadership Academy…and how it can help you create this type of inspiration in your team, go here. A little knowledge here could make a huge revenue difference in your team. It might be worth looking at.

LearnMore

Are You Using An Ancient Leadership Method?

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How tedious has it been in the last 20 years to try to keep up with all of the leadership theories and maxims put forth by experts? Leaves us all kind of confused, doesn’t it?

Alan Cutler

Alan Cutler has done an excellent job of sifting through all of the theories and get to what works. In this interview excerpt, I ask Alan some of those questions about the psychology of leadership, a topic on which he has written, “The Psychology of Leadership.” (Click Here To Learn More)

Enjoy the interview with Alan. Let me know your thoughts.

If you’re interested in learning more about The Sales Leadership Academy…and how it can help you create this type of inspiration in your team, go here. A little knowledge here could make a huge revenue difference in your team. It might be worth looking at.

LearnMore