On this week’s audio post, I want you to evaluate who you spend most of your time with. Are you surrounding yourself with people that you admire and look up to? The people you choose to be around are a direct reflection of who you will become. The rule is, you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.
How many times have we heard, “What in the world can you do with a Psychology Degree?” My seventeen year-old daughter is exploring colleges right now and is somewhat interested in psychology (because she really likes her high school psychology teacher-maybe not a good reason but, what the heck?)
And yet when I talk to fellow parents – some of whose children actually majored in psychology – I get that look of disdain and shaking of the head. And although they don’t say anything I know what they are thinking
Just finished The Secret DVD. Although the book left me a little cool, the DVD was quite good.
Here are my LIKES and DISLIKES and a recommendation. By the way, if you’ve been living in Bahrain the last month, The Secret is the Law of Attraction, which says you attract to things/situations that mirror your feelings and thoughts.
The Secret LIKES
*The production quality of the DVD was outstanding. Other than a few annoying things (like the announcer reading quotes from famous people that you could barely hear–he was whispering–you see, it was a secret), it was worth watching.* The interviews the producer (Rhonda Byrne) had with other supporting authors (Bob Proctor and Henry Beckwith and others) were well done. Joe Vitale (Dr.) was good as well. (Is that Dick Vitale’s brother? Sure looks like him.)
* The last hour of the program was very good because it addressed the reasons the secret works, which I didn’t think the book addressed well.
The Secret DISLIKES
* I despise this idea that they started this program with the attraction of material things (necklaces, bikes, parking spaces). It seems they’re taking a big idea and dumbing it down for the consumer society.* They should have told the truth that, sometimes, even though you might think about things, you can’t attract them to you. Because you aren’t mentally/physically or emotionally ready for them. Sometimes God actually stops things from coming into your life–they just aren’t right for you. In other words, what we might hope for might not be right for us.
* They never talked about the Reverse Organizing Mechanism of the mind. (Although they did talk about the vast power of the mind. ) This “organizing phenomena” kicks in when you put an idea (goal) out there. The Universe has a way of helping you recognize situations that will help you accomplish those goals. In a way, the mind “reverse organizes” all the things you need to see to accomplish that goal.
In the video, Jack Canfield had a perfect example when he said he wanted to sell 400,000 books at .25/ea. He was in a store one day and saw National Enquirer and thought that would be a good way to do it. In the next 30 days, he met a writer for the Enquirer which ultimately led him to the goal. Do you think he would have noticed the Enquirer in the store if he had not written the goal down? Probably not.
But they skipped that part of the phenomena.
Recommendation
Ok, so here’s where I think The Secret is good for sales professionals. A good selling strategy has to do with qualifying people who can buy what you have. In order to execute a sales strategy, you have to have a good idea of what an Ideal Client looks like.Your Assignment
In the next week, write down your definition of your Ideal Client. We did a podcast on that called The Ideal Client. Be very clear about what that client looks like–how much they buy per year, how they are to work with, how they treat you, what kinds of pains/problems they have which would make them perfect for your solution etc., Look at that list each morning.And as you come across people you’re tempted to add to your sales funnel, stop and ask if they meet the attributes of the Ideal Client. What you’ll find is that your awareness will become much keener in how you see the market place and you’ll become more discerning about who you pursue.
Now, that’s the REAL Secret!
I heard a commerical the other night that posed a profound question: “Are you using all of the gifts (talents) that you’ve been given?”
Thoreau said many of us, “live lives of quiet desperation.” To me that means we sort of meander through life–taking what’s given us, but not really exploiting our gifts and talents.
As sales professionals, we have many gifts–the gift of creativity–the gift of being able to touch people with our work–the gift of solving problems–etc. But how many of us really “exploit” those gifts?
One Gift That Stands Above All Others
In sales, one gift we’ve been given, that most of us fail miserably to exploit, is the gift of intuition. That gift is a sixth sense…a feeling…a notion of what’s not right in the relationships we have with prospects and clients. Yet, how often do we follow that intuition–and act on it? Not often.
I was working with a group of accountants last week and we talked about that very thing–“acting on your intution.” If you feel something isn’t right, you must call it out to the prospect–not in an angry, accusatory way–but in an honest, all-truth-on-the-table way.
I was taught early in my career that when you disregard your feelings and hold them to yourself, you bottle up your creativity–and your ability to be in the present moment with people. Plus, you “own less of your self.”
I hope you’ll think about your intuition–listen to it–and follow it.
It’s a gift you’ve been given.
I got this question from one of my clients last week. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this is a common problem for sales professionals–especially in complex (long) selling cycles.
Let’s start at the top. You are in sales to solve problems. The solving of your customer’s problems will pay you GOBS of money (more money than merely ‘selling them stuff’ will). You must recall that there is a natural order to life in sales.
Problem. The Process. Then Product.
When you begin a process, the customer problem should be at the top of the agenda. Every time you meet with your prospect, you start with “can we review the pain?” (Maybe not those exact words, but you get the idea).
The reader’s conundrum comes later in the sales process when things drag down–momentum gets lost. Here’s the revelation: The velocity is lost because the original problem has worked it’s way down the priority list. It’s nowhere on an agenda. It’s not top of mind anymore.
In fact, I’ve seen sales processes that get bogged down–and when I ask the seller, ‘when’s the last time your reviewed the customer’s problem?’ they say, “not since the first call.”
Hmmmmm. Something odd going on here.
The main reason you’re going through all of this work is not even talked about anymore???!!! Lesson: You must keep going back to the original reason–the primary purpose of the sale. Revisit the pain, often.
They Won’t. You Must.
But the prospect won’t do this on his/her own. You’ve got to do it. So that was my answer–unglamorous as it was. No cool, one-liner. I didn’t even resurrect the late 60’s sales move of, “if I could show you a way, would you buy today?” Just plain talk about what’s really happening.
==We’re going to be doing more ‘ask the coach’ in our blog. So fire up your fingers and pose your toughest challenge (or email us).
Question: What did your parents teach you when it comes to talking about money with others?
Answer: “Don’t talk about money with others. Don’t ask them how much they make. Don’t ask them how much they paid for their house. Don’t ask them how much money they save. Just don’t talk about money.”
Now flash forward to your current role as sales professional. Suddenly your parent’s insistence that money is a taboo, private matter is suddenly getting in the way of you closing deals. You don’t like talking about the money. You avoid it and hope they don’t ask. You put pricing on the last page of the proposal. You don’t talk about it at all before sending them your quote and they fall out of their chair when they get your pricing.
So what’s going on here? Unfortunately many sales professionals suffer from ATTAM: Aversion to talk about money. If you’re one of them, you’re likely losing deals and opportunities because of it. So what to do about it:
Here are a few ideas:
1-Accept It: It’s the way you’re wired. You’ll need to face the fact that you don’t like discussing money before you can fix it.
2-Share Your Uncomfortableness With Your Prospect: Just be real and tell your prospects how you feel. “We need to talk about the money and I find that’s not always a comfortable subject.”
3-Make Yourself Talk About It: Make it mandatory to talk about the money before you leave the call. If you leave without it, call ‘em back and tell them you need to meet again. Don’t ever send pricing without talking about it first.
4-Relax: Money’s just money. It has no REAL value. It’s nothing more than a piece of paper or a computer screen with numbers. We humans are the one’s who put the emotion into it.
The best sales professionals put the Moose on the Table when it comes to talking money. It has to happen. Just realize that it may be counterintuitive to how you’re hard-wired. The good thing is, you can always change your thinking. And when you do, watch the money in your life grow exponentially.
