On Effort

3 months in

We are three months into the new year. How are you doing? To make this THE year, it's imperative that you have a vision and a plan. In today's trying times too many people have lost hope. Don't buy into that. 

Your greatest days are ahead, and your biggest accomplishments are in the future.  The reality is that life's biggest challenges are there to refine you, mold you, and prepare you for your greatest victories. Remember, it's always darkest before the dawn.
 
2010 is YOUR TIME to rise above today's bumps in the road. Hang in there. You are closer to success than you think...Make Every Moment Count!

Goals are dreams with a deadline , hold yourself accountable for them, hold yourself to the fire , ask the person in the mirror some tough questions , would I hire me? Would I like to work with me? Would I enjoy me? Am I doing my BEST everyday to BE MY BEST? Do I work as hard when no one is watching?

Don't be afraid of the answers ....they will be your guideline

what's your passion?

What are you known for? What makes you special? Have you ever stopped and
think about it? When you were young it was probably talking like donald
duck ,or bending your finger backwards or you loved to sing or dance , but
you were known for something right?

Fast forward some years , I ask you again what are you known for? What's
your special talent?what's your special skill?

Are you a great :father,mother,sister,brother,runner,golfer,cyclist,swimmer
etc..
Are you known at work for being the BEST? Do your customers think that you
are the BEST sales person who call on them?

Every sales person want to differentiate themselves from their competition
, you want to know how to achieve that ? Its easy......
Become the BEST , at least try it , try it everyday when you wake up and do
your daily affirmations, try it when you are preparing yourself for the day
ahead, for the week ahead , study,read,write , be on time all the time ,
wake up early , go to sleep only after you know that you have done your
best to become THE BEST.

Only passion will take you there , only the drive and a burning desire to
achieve it will take you there.

"The people that say I can't , or I won't are always interrupted by those
doing it"

I want to be the BEST sales manager in my company , I am the BEST sales person in my company.

We know what we have to do in order to be successful , we are just not doing it, procrastination is one of our worse enemies , why do we indulge it ? Why do we succumb to its calling? Well bubba , its because that's the easy way out , its easier to "Not do" than "to do" , its a human trait , its "normal" so what do we do to fix this?
You must have your inner voice reminding you to action , Nike has said it for 23 years "just do it" 3 simple words that will change your life forever should you chose to use them everyday, don't leave anything for tomorrow that you can take care of today.

We only have one dance.......make the most of it

I have been writing to you for about a year now , I have learned in this year the importance that putting thoughts into paper has , I've said it many times , words are powerful , words once said can uplift someone or completely destroy them , so be impeccable with your word , don't say hurtful things even when you are dying to say them , you cannot take words back,most people will forget your encouraging words,they will always remember your hurtful ones...be impeccable with your words.

ON TIME MANAGEMENT
Time management is an oxymoron, time cannot be managed ,it cannot be
controlled in any way -no scientist no matter how smart can create new
minutes , so what can you do? manage yourself !

ONE OF THE THINGS THAT SEPARATES SUCCESFUL PEOPLE FROM UNSUCCESFUL PEOPLE
IS HOW THEY USE THEIR TIME.

Successful people understand that time is the most precious commodity on
earth, as a result they know where their time goes.

I've talked about "investing" your time rather than spending it. Investing
your time is to exercise instead of sitting at the couch , read instead of
watching tv , listen to positive audio cd's in your car instead of the
radio , being with your family , being with your friends....the hours that
you "spend" doing unproductive things you will NEVER get back , start
small,cut back an hour a day of tv.

Start asking the person in the mirror some real questions , you know the
answers ...want examples?
What should I stop doing?
What should I keep doing?
What should I start doing?

Sounds simple enough right?well the good news is that it is, but you must
be honest , if you have to be honest to one person in this world is
yourself....start today.

Remember:
Time is an equal opportunity employer, we all get the same 24 hrs a day ,
use yours wisely.
A positive mental attitude, a YES attitude a winning attitude , is
determined by you , not others , big news flash huh?

The way you dedicate yourself to the way you think is the definition of
attitude, either positive or negative , your choice.

Your mental attitude is your motivation and your inspiration, start with
good positive thoughts and good positive things WILL happen. "Thoughts
become things".

Believe me that wherever your self belief is , that's where your thoughts
and your results will be , one example is this : when you are riding your
bike , the bike will go wherever your head is facing , not your hands ,
look straight ahead at the beautiful road , not to the sides at the scary
cliff.

Believe in yourself , believe that this is the best time of your life ,
believe that you are the best sales person in your territory,believe that
you are the best sales person in this organization.....believe believe
believe , it WILL happen.

Success is a daily choice , success is to carve in your psyche that only
you can take yourself up the mountain, only you can decide for yourself to
BE successful , why not start today?

I am the best sales person in my territory
I am the best in my field
Everything I touch turns to Gold
Nobody can say no to me
Everything begins with a yes
I have perfect memory
I have perfect diction
I believe in myself
People believe in me
I will succeed today
Yesterday is gone
Tomorrow is not here yet
I will succeed today
I am the best in my field

I know it sounds hoky and dumb , tell yourself that everyday until it
becomes a mantra.

Give yourself everyday 20 minutes , 15 to read anything positive
-quotes,stories,videos- then sit down and breath and tell yourself this for
5 minutes , do it for 30 days and see what happens.
Good things begin with good thoughts.

life....go out and live it

We know and have heard that everything happens for a resason,nothing happens by chance or because of good or bad luck.
Illness,injury,moments of greatness or moments of sheer stupidity , love ...it all just happens to test the limits of your soul. Without this small tests ,life would be like a smooth paved road to NOWHERE.
If someone hurts you,betrays you or breaks your heart ,forgive them because they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to whom you open your heart to.
Now, on the other side of the coin , if someone loves you,love them back unconditionally,not only because they love you,but because they are teaching you to love and opening your heart and eyes to things you would have never seen or felt without them.
Make every day count. Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can because you know what? You might never experience it again.
Hold your head up because you have every right to do so.
Tell yourself how great you are and actually believe it,believe in yourself because if you don't believe in yourself no one else will believe in you.
You can make your life anything you wish , you are the architect of your own life.
My grand father use to recite a poem every christmas , I loved hearing it and it would always make me cry he would raise his glass and say "please remember me when I'm gone , please remember the man I was and not the man I wasn't"and then he would start, I will try and translate because it was in armenian here it goes.
Very close to the sundown of my life , I bless you life , because you never give me failed hope or sorrow that I didn't deserve, or unjust work.
Because I see at the end of my road that I was the architect of my own destiny, that if I extracted honey or bitter from things its because that what I put into them.
I loved , I was loved , life you owe me nothing , life we are at peace.
My grandfather was a great salesman , he was a great inventor , he was a great writer, he loved business and the hunt for new sales, he never had a bad day , his attitude was that of a champion , even when he wasn't, he was broke 5 times and 5 times he got up dust himself off and went back on to get the brass ring of life. How many times have you fallen? But more important how many times will you get up?
Powerful thoughts breed powerful actions , powerful actions breed powerful results,powerful results breed powerful people.
Learn to become powerful , my daughter has know since she was very little that we are a family of lions, are you a lion? I'm sure you are , if you are not,I suggest you start working on it , otherwise you're a lamb , and lambs are only good for boots baby!!
See you at the top

what's love got to do with it?

We all are looking for the happy ending , we all want the story book love affair where everything ends up working out and the 2 lovers end up being together , the bad guys get what they deserve and the credits roll out while we are sipping wine by the beach on a beautiful sunset with the one we love.

I believe that in order to achieve results we must first fall in love with what we are doing,how else are we going to wake up everyday excited for everything we have going on, excited that we again have one more chance to take charge of our lives, to make a difference in our future, to build today what will support us later.

Remember the first time you fell in love? What a feeling baby! Why do we fall in love? And do we really fall in love?
How to translate that emotion into an activity? How to translate it into your career?
I'm sorry to tell you but you can't bubba....love can't be forced , love can't be planned
Love can only be , love is love and it comes from a reaction that our brain has to something or someone , it obviously doesn't come from our hearts.

Sad huh? So what do we do? Sure you can do something you hate for 20 years ,or do something that does fill you as a person , but what kind of life is that ? You want to do something where you would do it for free if you had to ...are you doing that??

Love hurts baby , sometimes even though we are doing what we love , we get the blues , we get down on ourselves , you can only get back on track by digging deep into your power well, dig deep into your emotional resources...but here's the thing , only by loving what you do will you have those reserves.

Ask yourself what do I want?
Ask yourself what do I need?
Ask yourself what do I have?
I don't mean in material terms, I mean in fullfillment , relationships,drive,love for what I do,hobbies.
Once you figure out those answers it will be easier to start your path into getting what you want and what you need.

We all want the same , we all need the same , some have it ,some don't , some have the drive to go and get it and some....well you know.

Love is a beautiful feeling don't you think?

this week's emails

I hope that you all had a great and re-energizing weekend, I know I did.

Let's talk about price objections.... I wish I had a dollar for every sales person that tells me the biggest objection he or she gets is price.

Don't get me wrong price is a complex barrier that deals with customer sub-headlines like:
real need, affordability,hidden agendas , value, prospect perception,prospect lies etc...

The only good news about price objections is that they are often buying signals in disguise.

Six things we can do to keep price integrity:
1) Support the price you give as the true price.
2)Use the fact that our price is higher as a reason to buy.
3)Use testimonials
4)Sell our competitive edge ,not our price.
5)Sell the decision maker on the relationship.
6)Sell everything but price.

Look, I know that price comes into play most of the time , however there are statistics to show that 74% of sales cuts are started by the sales people and not the customers,that usually happens because we know our competition price, and we are oh so desperate to make the sale ,among so many other "insecurities"that we second guess our decisions and our offerings.

I said last week that we are at a cross roads , we have the opportunity and the ability to make every single one of our goals a reality , we must however have a BURNING DESIRE to do so , I believe that talent can only get you so far , hard work is the second part of that equation, you have heard me talk about preparation and hard work , now we are going to start and track this preparation.
But we are to move forward ,I invite all of you to start preparing , study up , read up , work on your scripts , work on your outgoing voicemail , work on your cold call techniques, your negotiation skills , your closing skills etc..

Please excuse my super long email , I get carried away when I get excited about a topic.
Have a great sales day!

Good morning, its Tuesday , are we positioning ourselves this week to make up for last week's shortcomings? I want to remind you that we do have a quota , we can't be elephant hunting only , we must make sales , we get paid when customers sign their name on our agreement.
I know that ALL of you are rainmakers, and even the best sometimes get "the blues , the I'm sick of it,the I don't want to do it , I can't do it,I can't sell anything"
Sometimes even the best doing everything right go 0 for 20.
So what do you do to pull yourself out?
Mentally blank out your cold
Poker face your brain
Don't give in,don't give up
Don't second guess yourself
Don't get mad at the maybes
Get up an hour earlier,study
Get up an hour earlier ,exercise
Objectively review your sales
Autopsy your dead sales
Call every customer you lost
Dig deep into your own fuel.

Your parents said it best : do your homework , make friends , be nice, pay attention.

This were all lessons for life , why do we stop when our business cards are printed? We have a contracted obligation to our company to do well , but we have a moral obligation to ourselves and our families to do great , why should we do average then?

I invite all of you to wake up and smell the coffee , we are the architects of our own destiny , and we are building it today.

Have a great sales day !
Middle of the week , how in line are your results today with what your goals were on Monday? You still have time to balance it to your favor.

Sometimes we scratch our heads trying to figure out why in hell did a prospect give us an appointment right? The first things that comes out of their mouth is "we are doing business with your competitor,they are a good company,their products are good and they treat us well"
Wow , what just happened? If you do not understand what is really going on,and if you are unprepared , you might melt into a puddle of putty.

Look, busy people don't give out appointments just to waste their time (some do,but most don't)they are not going to waste their precious time "just to see what's out there" THEY GAVE YOU AN APPOINTMENT AND THAT'S A BUYING SIGNAL.

What I understand when that happens is that they are really saying:
"Look,I made a mistake hiring my present vendor,but I can't admit the mistake I made or it will hurt my career or it will make me feel stupid ( if they are a business owner) I have a problem and I need a solution that I can bring to my company before this bites me in the ass. Please please , please help me but let me save face and act like a tough guy, now say something that will help me"
This is thinking with a YES attitude this is thinking positive , look we are already there , assume that this prospect will buy from you because of this.

Want to know what you can say?
"Thank you for taking some time to talk to me. Based on our experience with companies like yours,and based on my research, we are confident we can save you at least fifteen thousand dollars in lost productivity and extra fees throughout the life of your agreement, may I continue?
Then you ask the 40 or 50 questions that you PREPARED,WROTE AND PRACTICED.
Turn the first buying signal into a buy.

HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT IT ? BIG QUESTION:HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO YOU TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS?
BIGGER QUESTION : WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
BIGGEST QUESTION: WHAT DID YOU DO TODAY TO MAKE SURE YOU ACHIEVE THOSE GOALS?

This week's emails to my sales force

Everyone wants success, right?
Very few people are willing to work hard to achieve it. Few are willing to study and apply lessons from the masters who have already done it.
Even fewer Love what they do enough to ring the "cash register" of sales , business,and life.

No one goes into any job thinking "I'm going to fail at this". Everyone WANTS to succeed. But,still,very few do.

If we are looking to succeed,there are elements that we have to plan for,have passion for , and ultimately master in order to grab the brass ring and keep it in your hand.
One of the main reasons proposals exist is because buyers think they can get the lowest price (or the best deal) by pitting one company against another.

THE KEY IS TO MAKE YOURSELF A WINNER BEFORE THE PROPOSAL HAPPENS.

You do this by creating value in your proposition , but real value , something that makes Us an asset to any customer , you do this by being PREPARED , be always prepared , have a list of answers to the questions that will ask , have a list of scenarios.
We need to pick ourselves up , dust ourselves off , stand up straight and go on. There will always be challenges , there will always be difficulties , what separates first place from second? EFFORT , PREPARATION,PASSION,WILLINGNESS,EMOTION,PROFESSIONALISM,ATTITUDE,APPEARANCE......add so many more attributes , BIG QUESTION:how many of those do YOU have ? BIGGER QUESTION:how many of those do you want to have? BIGGEST QUESTION:what are you doing to get them?

Face the world, your world today with a smile on your face and a twinkle in you eye. Good morning,
We started a discussion yesterday and some of you felt uncomfortable by the tool I mentioned to negotiate. Everybody has something up their sleeve that is used to negotiate , kids use tears , parents use guilt (some not, me) but my point is that we all need a token to use.
If you think that the people that are buying from you are not negotiating and using all the tools in their bag against your price, you live in Disneyland , and even there Walt Disney was a master negotiator, there are several books written about his skills.
How many times have you rolled your price down because you were pushed to do so? How can a customer see value and savings in something that was not even "on the table"? If you have a better way , by all means share it with us , my point here is that we are extending our most competitive pricing to our customers already , what do we have left? Selling is nothing more than creating value , showing why US and not them , having the customer's best interest at heart , but also UniFirst best interest at heart , after all we maintain our lifestyles through our career.
I invite you to try it, as we go along I will bring some more negotiating topics.
Have a great sales day!