Monday Morning Message

How To Enhance Your Communication Skills

2009-07-10T06:33:00.000-07:00

Do you have and carry the communication skills in you? How effective are you in your dialogue and do you gather enough attention of the listeners or audience when you speak? These are the questions that need to be answered if you want yourself to be appreciated and heard among the crowd.

Communication skills affect your interpersonal and social relationship with others and the response you get from them. Communication skills let you gather attention of the listeners when you talk.

Here are 6 skills that can make you impressive when you speak and can groom your personality:
1. Try to sound more polite
Always bear in mind to greet the listeners or audience before making an oral presentation or starting a conversation. Tell the audience what you’re going to tell them and at the end, summarize what you have told them.

2. Be more articulate
People would judge your competency through the vocabulary you use. So make sure to exert extra effort to pronounce the last sound in a word and use its energy to carry over the following word. But then if you are not sure how to say a certain word, then do not use it at all, which can only pull down your communication skill instead of boosting it up.

3. Try sounding more intelligent
Pause deliberately at some key points—this adds to the effect of highlighting the significance of a particular point you are making. Try to speak just a bit slow to allow yourself to choose your most appropriate vocabulary and to give the impression of being thoughtful.

4. Be more confident
Hold your head as if you wear a crown on it. Carry your whole body up and do not let your legs and arms have a side-to-side motion when you move. Always keep your knees and elbows close to the midline of your body. On the whole, your body movements express what your thoughts and attitudes really are and controlling them adds to your communication skill.

5. Try to sound more polished
Don’t just answer a question with a blunt “no” or “yes”. Add or attach a short phrase of clarification. For instance, “Yes, I know Madam.” “No, I do not see it.”

6. Sound more touchy
Most individuals are best at absorbing information they receive through their eyes, while others need hands on experience to set the message in their heads most effectively. So try to assess and judge how your listeners or audience are more comfy taking information from you and make sure you feed them in the same way as they like.

7. Be more powerful-sounding
Do not ever shout or whisper—but speak clearly. Use short and simple declarative sentences. Convey to your listeners that you mean what you say and say what you mean. Do away with useless adjectives, adverbs and connectors, especially superlatives.

Communication skills, as with most personal skills cannot be taught. One could only point the way. So as always, practice is the key and truly essential to enhance those skills generally and give it your best shot every time you speak.

Amy Twain

Covert Persuasion: 3 Powerful Covert Persuasion Techniques That Produce Astonishing Results

2009-07-03T07:22:00.000-07:00

In this modern world, covert persuasion techniques are your weapons. They help you gain advantage in the playing field and keep you ahead of the game. Whether you’re a sales person, a mother, a teenager or just a simple guy trying to talk his way out of a speeding ticket, covert persuasion techniques are your best friends.

These subliminal methods of persuasion come in different forms and are useful in different situations. Check out some of them below and see which one you think best suits you

# 1: Association With Good Or Positive Things
Larry, 28, is an advertising manager for a large appliance company. Part of his job is to meet with clients left and right. However, Larry doesn’t always meet his clients in the office. In fact, he often meets with them in reputable restaurants. They eat, discuss the deal and at the end of the meeting, he foots the bill.

No matter how expensive the meal is, Larry will pay for all of it (with the company’s money, of course). It might not seem like an example of a covert persuasion technique but that’s only to those who are not familiar with this business. What Larry used was actually the law of association.

He wanted his clients to feel good about this meeting. That explains the good restaurant, the good food and the footing of the bill. His clients will then associate their good experience with Larry and the company he works for.

Using the law of association is a very powerful subliminal method of persuasion. You, too, can harness the law of association to your own advantage. Always associate yourself with good things and others will see you in that light as well.

# 2: Being A Friend
The law of friends has been around for centuries. It states that people would usually help those they perceive as their friends. This law can be quite useful even when you’re already working. Some of the best business opportunities are even provided by friends!

For example, if you’re a dentist and want to increase your patients, I suggest letting your friends know about it first. Even friends who haven’t seen since high school will be more than glad to help you out. That is because your friends trust you and in what you can do. Covert Persuasion

# 3: Disassociation From Negative Things
The Law of disassociation is the complete opposite of the law of association. If you can’t afford to be seen in a bad light, then this is a subliminal persuasion tactic that might help you a lot.

I remember one incident where the law of disassociation came quite in handy. It was a friend’s experience; not mine. In his own words, here’s what he told me:

“Back when I was still in college, I had to face one of the most grueling challenges in every relationship: meeting the parents. Things were going well at first until after dinner when we stayed in the living room to watch television. The local news channel was reporting a fraternity fight that broke out between two schools. One of them was my old alma matter. There couldn’t be a worse time for that bit of news to come out. The father knew where I studied in high school, of course, having already grilled me hours before. ‘Does your school often get into these fights?’ the father asked. ‘They don’t really get into fights often. That one seems like a solitary case.’

I said.” Notice that my friend used the words “they” and “that.” By disassociating himself from the school, he also got rid of the father’s notion of him being a hooligan. Using covert persuasion techniques to your advantage does not make you a selfish person. It only means that you have a better understanding of human nature.

Michael Lee

An Amazingly Simple Formula on How to Attain Financial Freedom So That You Never Have to Worry About Money Again!

2009-06-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

After several years of research, reading all types of money making books, investing in all types of business opportunities, my wife and I have finally realized a simple way that’s helped many people become financially free. I won’t pretend that I have the magic formula that will: make you $100,000 in 3 minutes while you sit on the couch, or allow you to retire next week without ever leaving the house!

Now, I’m not saying that the folks who sell those programs are lying because I haven’t done them all, but years ago, I tried a couple of them and let’s just say the only thing that happened while I sat on the couch was I made an imprint!

Let’s face it: If you truly want to get rich & achieve financial independence, it’s going to take some work! However, if I told you that you could become rich and increase your net worth (regardless of how much money you currently make) by using a tried and true formula that consists of 3 simple steps, would you believe me? Well you should, because it works!

How do I know? Because We Have Used This Formula to Increase Our Net Worth Over 300% over the past 7 years! It could happen sooner or it might take a little longer for you depending on your situation. But, what I can guarantee is that if you follow these three simple steps, YOU WILL ACHIEVE FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE!

I’ve spent many years (AND DOLLARS) looking for ways to become rich and financially free. I can honestly tell you that of the many things I’ve tried, some worked and some didn’t. Instead of getting upset about the things that didn’t work, my wife and I had a conversation and we simply asked ourselves, “Of all the things we’ve tried that did work, what did they have in common?”

And that is how we were able to come up with the simple 3 step formula that we’ve been following for the past several years that has allowed us to walk the path towards wealth and financial independence. Before I share the formula with you, let me just answer one question so that you can decide if I’m someone you want to listen to or not:

QUESTION: WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER FINANCIAL FREEDOM, INDEPENDENCE, OR BEING RICH?

I think if you were to ask ten different people this question, you’d get ten different answers. So, what I consider being rich might be totally different than what you consider being rich. However, financial freedom for me was the point where my wife and I did not have to have jobs in order to sustain our quality of life. I’m not saying that having a job is a bad thing. But the key is working somewhere because you want to, not because you have to! And being financially independent will make it much easier for you to decide if you want to have a job or not.

SO WHAT IS THIS FORMULA? As I mentioned earlier, it is 3 simple actions. The greatest thing about the formula is that you don’t have to do the steps in any particular order. You can do them one at a time or work on all three simultaneously:

Step 1: Debt Reduction
In order to get rich, you have to reduce the amount of debt that you owe others. It is important to know that not all debt is bad. Good debt is that debt which helps you to become richer. As one famous author puts it, “Good debt is that which someone else pays for you”. Your goal should be to get rid of bad debt first and then work to eliminate good debt.

Step 2: Expense Management
In order to get rich, you must manage expenses. You need to identify where you are spending your money and then determine what is absolutely necessary and where you can trim. This doesn’t mean you have to change your way of life, but instead take better control by being prepared. Your goal should be to prepare for new expenses in advance while minimizing the risks of being caught off guard.

Step 3: Multiple Income Streams
In order to get rich, you must have more than one source of revenue. So often I hear people say, I could be rich if I just got a higher paying job. Believe me, there are financially free people who make less than $40,000 annually, and there are people making over $100,000 annually who are broke. It’s not about making more money from one source of revenue; it’s about making money from more sources. Think about it: if you make $50,000 from one income stream (e.g. job) and you lose that job, you are temporarily doomed. But if you make $5,000 from ten income streams (e.g. businesses, stocks, real estate, etc.) and you lose one (maybe the stocks tank), you still have $45,000 coming in. There are tons of books, seminars and courses you can take on building streams of income. Your goal should be to always have 4 or more income streams going.

So there you have it. An amazingly simple three step formula on how to attain financial freedom so that you never have to worry about money again!

Brandon Wilkins

Lessons From Anakin Skywalker: Making Better Choices Through Recognizing And Managing Our Fears

2009-06-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

In the latest and final Star Wars saga, Anakin Skywalker makes the choice to surrender to the dark side of the force. Thus makes his transformation complete into the evil Darth Vader. This choice is motivated by Anakin's fearful premonition that his pregnant wife Padme will die in childbirth. We watch as the tormented Anakin succumbs to the influence of Chancellor Palpatine who suggests that it might be possible to save Padme using the dark side of the force.

Anakin's choice to compromise all his other principles, Jedi values, in order to save his wife is both tragic and understandably human. How many of us have made wrong life or business choices out of the fear of losing something whether its pride, money, relationships, being popular, or missing out on some exciting experience? We then experience a negative consequence because we compromised what we knew was right. Perhaps it could be our values, in favor of a misperceived fear that clouds our better judgment.

In Anakin's case his fear of losing Padme becomes a self- fulfilling prophecy. He is driven and consumed by his fear and all his subsequent destructive actions are rooted in fear. In the process of surrendering to his fears and eventually to the dark side of the force, Anakin loses his compassion, his trust, and his heartfelt connection to others.

Anakin's dilemma can be seen in the context of business. In times of economic uncertainty, leaders may resort to reactionary decisions such as cutting costs or reducing headcount. What appears to provide immediate relief actually fails to produce the desired outcome. Morale, productivity and company culture are adversely affected. Business leaders whose decisions are motivated from apprehension or distress about the future give power to their fears. And like Anakin, those fears can turn into self-fulfilling prophecies that cause harm.

In contrast to decisions motivated by fear are decisions which take us towards a positive vision. If a choice is made from belief in vision, company culture, adherence to core values and trust in the future, the driving motivation can be fulfillment or satisfaction. Operating by the above principles may not always be easy and can be very challenging during times of uncertainty. However, decisions made from these principles will always prove to be more fulfilling as integrity and authenticity are preserved.

How can you tell the difference in what motivates your choices? If that decision causes worry, anxiety and being attached to a future event, you can bet there is fear involved. If you are calm, trusting, energized and focused on things working out, that choice is most likely coming from positive belief.

Even with the best of intentions, fear is something that can creep in on all of us. However, we can manage our fears, if we step back and really look at what's driving us. Don't let fear sabotage your decision making as in Anakin's case. Determine what your core values, purpose and mission are. Clarify your own Jedi values and then ask yourself the following questions:
Will this decision move me closer or farther away from my core values?
Is this decision based on a reactive solution that may violate my core values or company culture?
What are other possibilities for my business or life that I haven't considered or addressed?
How can I communicate and elicit support from the people I trust for the challenges I am facing?
How can I learn to exercise patience and mindfulness as I face my challenges?

It is interesting to see what would have happened if Anakin Skywalker had asked himself these questions before he turned to the dark side of the force. But then again, we might not have had all those great movies to enjoy. "May The Force Be With You!"

Philip Okrend

How To Master The Art And Science Of Super Salesmanship in 3Â½ Minutes Flat

2009-06-12T05:50:00.000-07:00

I am not a born salesman. If you know my story, I didn't even have a word of the English language on my lips when I first moved to North America. (Even now, my spoken English is not all that great and it comes with an accent that would put Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jackie Chan to shame.)

No, I wasn't born to sell. I had to learn selling... the HARD way: making embarrassing mistakes, blowing deals right and left, losing clients... and going to outrageous extremes trying to identify the world-class salesmen who would teach me the way to do things right. Well, it's taken a few years... quite a few years, I'll admit, but now I've identified the "tricks of the trade" of selling.

What Took Me Years Will Be Yours In 3 Â½ Minutes Flat!

Tricks of the Trade #1 - People don't like to be sold
That's right! Although every year, trillions of dollars worth of goods and services are bought and sold -- billions through the mail alone -- people actually don't like the IDEA of being sold. What they DO like is the idea of OWNING the product, or taking advantage of the service that is being sold.

Look at the people in your own life -- friends, family, or business colleagues. Many of them, no doubt, love to buy things. (My girlfriend has a "black belt" in shopping) But I'll bet that none of them like to be sold. In fact, with most people, if you try to sell them something, they'll become resistant. It's a natural response to perceived pressure.

In fact, selling may turn-off a prospect who was ready to buy. So if you can't SELL, what you can do is TELL. In order to tell you about my product or service:
I get your attention...
I build rapport with you...
I explain what's in it for you...
I tempt you by appealing to your emotions...
I create a verbal picture that teases your desires...
I demonstrate how my stuff can easily solve your problems...
I can prove to you that there're a lot people just like you who have bought and are very happy with my stuff...
I make you an absolutely irresistible offer...
I describe a deal where you risk nothing, and yet stand to gain a great deal...
I handle every single one of your objections...

This is exactly what you've gotta do when you're writing a sales letter. Don't apply pressure and don't bully your prospect with force. Use a little finesse instead. Don't force it -- romance the hell out of it. If you TELL you, I don't have to SELL you... you'll sell yourself! (And that's killer salesmanship, my friend!)

Tricks of the Trade #2 - Hit 'Em Where It Hurts
With each sales pitch you create, you must focus on the need or desire that your product will satisfy. If we only buy what we NEED, there'll be No Rolex, No BMW, No Mercedes, No Botox, and definitely NO Starbucks coffee. We certainly don't NEED any of that stuff, but we WANT them!

Here's what most people are looking for in one way or another:
More money
More free time
More respect
Better physical health
Better mental health
Less stress

Remember, people buy what they WANT, not what they NEED.

Tricks of the Trade #3 - Even When They're Sold, People Need To Satisfy Their Emotional Decisions With Logic
Even though people buy for emotional reasons, they need to feel that their decision was backed by solid logical reasons. Think about TV commercials for cars. They offer a perfect picture of "justification."

Here's how they work:
First, there's a stirring image of the car itself - beautiful, stylish, new. (In your head: Wow! That car looks cool...)
In the background, there's a mountainous landscape (In your head: Wow! That's rugged... like me!) or a five-star hotel (In your head: Wow! That car would give me status."
And, of course, no car commercial would be complete without a beautiful, sexy woman. (In your head: ...let's not go there!)
Next, you see an interior shot to show how luxurious your life will be with this car. You get to listen to state-of-the-art sound system. (In your head: Hmm... I can listen to my favorite music.)
Then, there's a shot of the car driving by the ocean. Put it all together and you have an effective 20-second movie that's designed entirely to appeal to emotion.
But wait, the car commercials don't stop here.
Oh...no way. At the end, they "get down to business" with numerous bits and pieces of information - the size of the engine, statistics on fuel economy, speed, weight, interior space, rankings in national survey, financing information and customer satisfaction reports, and so on.
It flashes by at lightening speed, usually so quickly that you can't read it.

But Don't Worry: All This Data Isn't Meant To Sell The Car. It's included to make YOU feel good and justify the decision you've already made. (I'm gonna buy that baby now or when I got some money because it's the SMART thing to do!)

The lesson: People CAN be convinced, when the facts are explained, when the risk is taken away, and when their deepest, most selfish desires have been tickled and nurtured and seduced.

All right, time's up! Whew... right on time. 3-Â½ minutes. (Hey, I don't just always "hype" the headline to get you to read my stuff, do I?)

Dan Lok

How to Change Somebody's Mind

2009-06-05T07:08:00.000-07:00

Believe me, it's not easy! And sometimes, it doesn't work at all.

But while researching my book on how to produce more memorable writing, I stumbled upon these "mind changing" ideas from multiple sources.

Remember, I'm a writer, not a psychologist. So the methods shown here come mostly from writers and speakers who've successfully altered perceptions through presentations and persuasive reports.

1. Wear the other person's shoes - Ask questions to find out why someone holds a completely different view from yours.

2. Ask that person to amplify his/her position - Are your opponent's views based on actual data, or on disputed or second-hand information that might be challenged?

3. If that person's views are based on data, is the source of that data credible?

4. What common positions do you hold? Politicians can often win a hostile audience by first discussing values everyone shares. If we can agree on common goals, perhaps readers/listeners will follow us when we lead them down new pathways.

5. Can some position be compromised? In negotiations, I often give away a small point in order to show willingness to arrive at an agreement.

6. Point out your side's best points. Remember the fence-painting episode from "Tom Sawyer"? Tom makes his task seem so appealing his friends offer him all sorts of prizes if he'll let them participate.

7. Speaking of "good points" - Sometimes negotiation can become a "listing" contest. Can you reinforce your position by listing a number of positive things about your proposal? Example: "Ten reasons you should vote for Proposition A."

Rix Quinn

Resolve Conflict In 6 Easy Steps - The BEDROL Method

2009-05-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

The principles of Negotiation can work for you in any situation, but often people ask me, "Well, its often a fact that conflict happens unexpectedly. What if I don't have time to prepare? Can negotiation skills be used on the spur of the moment?" The answer is YES.

The principles of Street Negotiation were created and battle-tested on the streets and it's power lies in its ability to be used to resolve any conflict anytime. Conflict can be resolved in six easy to learn steps, acronymed as BEDROL (Back-up plan, Emotional control, Defusing their anger, Reframing, Options, and Letting them choose their fate).

1. Back Up Plan
Having a back-up plan before you step into a conflict is absolutely crucial. Police officers sometimes are so accustom to having people do as they say, they become complacent and fail to have a plan B ready in case the person doesn't want to comply. An unfortuanate number of police officers have been killed in the line of duty because they didn't know what to do once the subject refused to comply with their demands. Their lack of a back-up plan made them freeze up, giving the suspect enough time to overpower them.

By having a plan B in your pocket prior to dealing with any conflict, you can remain confident that you can still move forward even if your negotiation fails. Remember that your plan B is your best solution that you can come up with on your own without having to talk with your counterpart. For the hostage negotiator, this could mean using the tactical team to take control by force. For two angry neighbors, this could mean going to court. Your plan B gives you the confidence to deal with your counterpart and the ability to move forward, whether you reach an agreement with them or not.

2. Emotional Control
Your anger is the biggest challege towards resolving the conflict peacefully. You need to control your anger by separating the person from the problem. Have pity on the person for attacking you because their real anger lies in the problem, not with you. View the situation rationally without allowing anger into the equation. You always have to remember that if you react with anger-then you've lost the battle.

3. Defusing their anger
The other obstacle to overcome is your counterpart's anger and frustration. These emotions are blinding them from seeing things rationally. Their primary focus is that they were wronged and now they want retribution-often from you. Think of their emotions like a pressure cooker on a stovetop.

There are two ways of releasing the pressure:
a. You can pop the lid and the have the contents explode out of the pot from the sudden change in pressure
b. You can engage the pressure-release valve and slowly let that steam pressure out of the cooker which will enable you to open the lid without injury.

The same is true for an angry person. You want to hit their pressure release switch by using active listening skills. Listen and acknowledge this concerns. Engage them in empathetic responses by trying to walk around in their shoes. Paraphrase back to them what they told you in your own words. You will see a dramatic difference in their level of hostility as they get to vent their anger.

4. Reframing
Now comes the time when you must reframe their position into interests. Do this by first reframing them from an enemy into a partner. Then reframe all their personal attacks on you back on the problem. Then finally, uncover their interests behind their demands with nonconfrontational questions.

5. Options
Discuss options with them and get them involved in the process of thinking about possibilities for a solution. You might have to present some various options that they have available to them. Strive for a cooperative effort to find mutually-satisfying options that will benefit both parties.

6. Letting them choose their fate
Empower your counterpart with the choice to make their own fate. Don't back them into a corner by telling them what to do. Human beings need control over their own life, otherwise they feel threatened. Let them pick the option that you both have discussed. If they still fail to comply at this point then ask them what the possible consequences are if no agreement can be made. As a last resort, use your back-up plan as an alternative to the negotiation.

Tristan Loo

The Most Powerful Persuasion Skill You'll Ever Learn: Criteria Elicitation

2009-05-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

This is without a doubt the most important persuasion skill that you can learn. If you'll learn to apply this to every situation in which you find yourself you'll be amazed at the positive results! Many of the hypnotic skills I'll be sharing with you have a parallel in old sales training techniques. This one is no exception!

Lets say that you are needing to convince someone to do something, accept something, or behave in a certain way. You will need to communicate with their powerful subconscious (SC) to get your desired agreement. Once a person's subconscious "buys in" to what you are proposing they will just naturally seem to come over to your way of thinking. The question then becomes "how do I get my message to the person's subconscious?"

Here's your answer-elicit their true criteria. Simply put, ask. Try this one:
SALESMAN: John, what's important to you when shopping for a new car?
JOHN: Well I like to know that the person I'm dealing with is honest.
SALESMAN: Yes honesty is the best policy. What else is valuable to you when you are making the decision about a car?
JOHN: I like to know the car has a high reliability rating from Consumer Reports.
SALESMAN: An unreliable car is not an acceptable situation. What else is important john?
JOHN: I want to know that I got a really good price.

In the above can you put John's criteria in order of importance? If you chose 3, 2, 1 you were right! Our hypnotically trained sales man knew to ask at least three times what was really important or valuable. He agreed and parroted each answer so that John's SC would react to him as a friend (rapport). John's SC would give increasingly important info each time he was asked what's important. So our salesman needs to focus on showing John that he is getting a good price on a reliable car from a trusted advisor.

When you need to convince someone first you should establish rapport. The easiest way to do that is to ask some questions about things important to that person. Some people go after rapport by starting with stuff like "how do you like this weather?" A great way to establish rapport is to share some detail from your own life first.
"John you should have been with me last week at the golf range! I was hitting them long and straight!"
"My daughter just got the lead in the school play!"

People usually respond with instant liking for you when you share a detail from your life. Once you have conversed for awhile (small talk?) then you can get to the elicitation stage.
"Boss-what's important to you about how my sales job is performed?" What else? What else?

Surveys are formalized attempts at criteria elicitation. Once you know someone's criteria then you have the roadmap to structure your persuasion attempts. By focusing on their criteria you will be seen as perceptive, insightful and caring!
"Honey what's valuable to you in a relationship" What else? What else?

Structure your communication to take advantage of the criteria that you have elicited and you'll always come out a winner!

Any Questions?

John M. Satterfield

7 Effective Ways To Set Your Goals In Motion Today

2009-05-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

1. Stop seeking approval from people
You don't need anyone's permission to fulfill your dream. Trust yourself and give yourself permission to succeed. Having support from people whose opinion you value is a wonderful thing but it should not be the criterion for whether you begin acting on fulfilling your goals or not
If you really desire to turn your idea into reality, constantly floating it around and seeking the approval of people will waste your time and kill your dream. What will happen to your idea if you don't get the approval of those whose permission you so desperately need? Nothing!

2. Don't wait for perfection
Waiting for a time when everything is perfect and in place will cause you to lose your enthusiasm and abandon your goal. Conditions may never be as perfect as you desire. You may never have all the money, time, or knowledge you desire to begin working on your goals.
You must take risks, learn and improve as you go along and then watch as everything begins to fall in place. If you have to wait for the perfect time to begin working on your goals?you will be waiting a long time!

3. Create time for the goal
Many people have dreams, ideas or goals, which remain unfulfilled because they are too busy doing everything else but work on the goal! If you have a goal to accomplish, you must be ready to invest your time, and resources to ensure that it succeeds.
Making excuses about lacking the time to work on goals that are important to you is a procrastination tactic, which will kill your dream before it has a chance to see the light of day. There is always time to work on what we love and consider important. Create that time and see your dreams begin to unfold!

4. Decide once and for all
The process of goal accomplishment, like most things in life begins with a decision. You decide what you want to achieve and then you plan how you intend to achieve it.
If accomplishing your goal is important to you, your inability to make crucial decisions about what you should do, how you should do it and when you should do it, will waste your time and choke your dream. Make up your mind and stop second-guessing yourself. When your mind is made up?nothing can stop you from making progress with fulfilling your goals.

5. Be bold and take the initiative
Be bold! You are the one in charge of turning your dreams to reality. You need to be proactive and actively involved in the process of working on your goals to ensure you achieve them.
Just because you have shared your ideas with others does not necessarily mean that you are no longer responsible for turning them to reality. Don't sit around waiting for others to make suggestions and guide your idea to reality. Don't leave your dream entirely in the hands of others. Nobody cares about your dream like you do.

6. Invest in your dream
No idea is self-funding. Don't be deceived into thinking that people will invest or finance your idea just because it is brilliant. If you are lucky, someone may invest in it, but if you are not, you will have to invest your time, energy and finances towards activities that will fortify and fulfill your dream.
You may have to invest in the acquisition of knowledge or expertise that will help you achieve your goals. It would be a good idea to keep some money stashed away to finance your goal.

7. Do one thing at a time
Commit yourself only to projects and activities which are connected to your main goal. Whatever you do should directly or indirectly add up to a move toward your main goal. Failure to do this will confuse, overwhelm, sidetrack, and drain your energy.
To get started on achieving your goals, you need to plan for it and make it a priority. If you keep crowding and cluttering your life with what does not matter, you many never, ever accomplish your goals.
Remember that you can't do all things, but you can do one thing!

Caroline Jalango

10 Attributes of Effective Strategic Leaders!

2009-05-08T06:35:00.000-07:00

Did you know that people who lead strategically resemble fine-tuned machines? By focusing on their strategies, leaders see a bigger picture, they understand the reasons why and recognize the worthiness of elusive opportunities.

Effective leaders make strategic use of and add value to every challenge in four important ways:
1) Thinking through the lessons to be learned in each situation;
2) Leveraging the available sources, imports and exports of energy;
3) Boosting weak, diffused signals and messages of meaning;
4) Sharpening the leading edge of innovative efforts - their people.

What are these attributes of strategic leaders? Let's describe those functions by comparing them with common mechanical devices:
* Engine - converting one energy source into a greater or more focused source of energy;

* Pump - concentrating and directing a source of energy in such a way as to provide a focal point for the user of that energy;

* Processor - manipulation of energy in such a way as to make a value, logic or null based decision to channel that original energy source;

* Channel - a directing of or being a conduit for energy without adding or enhancing that energy source in any appreciable way;

* Amplifier - the expansion of energy by using methods of analysis in such a way so as to increase or strengthen the original energy source;

* Filter - maintaining smooth, stable, unpolluted flows of energy through the cleansing, clarifying process of open and honest communications

* Catalyst - that which encourages and facilitates speedy, significant course changes or positive actions

* Transformer - the conversion of energy into another form so as to increase or enhance the magnitude of the original energy source;

* Synthesizer - combining or composing the elements of an energy source in such a way as to create a new or greater whole form of energy;

* Carburetor - mixing or combining a supply of energy in such a way as to facilitate a more powerful or effective use of that energy source.

Making skilled use of leadership in these suggested roles could improve, energize and empower the success of your strategic planning process. By being mechanical you could become an instrument which enables energy flows.

Remember energy can not be created and it can not be destroyed. However, energy can be re-directed, converted into new forms or released into the environment and become another form of energy.

You could also think of using these mechanical processes to develop, train and nurture the leadership behaviors, skills and competencies of your people.

"Dreams grow holy put in action; work grows fair through starry dreaming, But where each flows on unmingling, both are fruitless and in vain." - Adelaide Anne Procter

Are you using your planning process to energize and electrify the commitment of your people to imaginatively exploit the opportunities of change? Leaders help transform dreams into holy action and energizing, empowering work products.

Be that strategic leader who empowers others to be proud of and enjoy the fruits of their labors!

Bill Thomas

10 Coaching Tips for Powerful Presentations

2009-05-01T18:49:00.000-07:00

Tip #1: The purpose of your speech is to get results
Help people make changes and think or act differently. So start with the end in mind. What do you want people to do as a result of your speech? What do they need to know to do this? What do they need to feel to do this?

Tip #2: Show your audience that coaching is a process
It is different from consulting. Do some coaching (role playing) during your presentation. Let audience members see what it would be like to have you as their coach.

Tip #3: Determine what kind of coaching the client wants and needs
Interview a few people before you give your program to find out what challenges they are experiencing. The program chair can provide you with a few names to contact. Then use this information in your speech content.

Tip #4: People learn in three ways: Visual (what they can see), Auditory (what they can hear), and Kinesthetic (what they can touch)
Try to include all three ways in your speech. Most of your audience will be visual and need to "see" what they "hear" from you. So tell your personal stories to support your points. When the audience hears your story(ies) they will feel connected to you.

Tip #5: People have short attention spans
Review your main points before you end your speech. Don't give them too much information. Most people only remember one or two concepts - so provide your best one or two ideas that will have the most significance to that particular audience.

Tip #6: Be conversational by engaging the audience
Don't lecture the audience. Adults love to learn but don't like to think they are in school. Be interactive. Remember, the audience that gets involved with your material will learn something they can use immediately. A great speaker wants the audience to "own" his/her material.

Tip #7: Use humor
This keeps the audience interested and they learn better. I don't mean telling jokes. Use deprecating humor or make comments on common every day events, you know, the human condition. Bill Cosby is great at this. Think of others who do this well and emulate their style.

Tip #8: Use strong openings
Examples: a story, a significant statement, a quotation, a challenging question. You really only have 60 seconds to connect with your audience. Then you must provide a speech that engages them. Using personal stories and sprinkling your remarks with humor will keep them interested

Tip #9: Use Strong Closings
Examples: Provide a summary. (Tell 'em what you told them) Review the main points, make a statement, tell an anecdote. Finally challenge them to take some action . . . immediately, in the next 48 hours, in one week, by the end of the year.

Tip #10: Use an evaluation form
This will provide you with feedback to grow and make course corrections as needed. Keep it short and always ask, "Who else would benefit from this program?" "May I call you to get this information?" Then follow up.

Sandra Schrift

Succeed By Trying To Fly Like Rambo

2009-03-13T06:51:00.000-07:00

Many people never find out what they can achieve until life has passed them by and with it the chance to discover what they are capable of. In Rambo III, the hero hijacks a Soviet attack helicopter in Afghanistan during the Afghan-Soviet war. His friend, the Colonel, asks: "Can you fly that thing?"

Rambo's reply is memorable: "Let's find out!" He wastes no time climbing aboard and 'finding out'. Of course, he can not only fly it, he can also fire rockets from it. He soon makes full use of both abilities! The experienced Soviet pilots are no match for him.

Notice that he does not confidently say: "I can fly that helicopter!" Instead his attitude is surprisingly less macho. The words "Let's find out!" imply that he will "try" and see if he can fly the helicopter. Some self help gurus argue that only wimps use words like "try".

I disagree. Wimps don't try even when there is a possibility of success. They give up before they even start or at the first hurdle. Strong people try without boasting that they will succeed. Reality demands that they walk before they can run or fly! They try and keep trying. Then, as they succeed step by step, their confidence can grow to the point where they believe strongly that they can and will achieve victory.

Reality teaches again and again that the most confident and the most experienced don't always succeed. Even the great Muhammad Ali and Iron Mike Tyson were eventually defeated.

Unlike Muhammad Ali, the fictional Rambo never boasts about what a great fighter he is. The Colonel does that for him. When a Mujahadeen fighter doubts Rambo's abilities in battle, Rambo makes no comment. He lets his actions win respect as he rescues the Colonel.

Sports teams and their fans often boast that they will win before a game although, to be fair, they are frequently joking. Time and again, their boasts are proved wrong. However, if the team tries hard, their fans will usually forgive them. They will not forgive a lack of ambition or effort. They will not forgive a team that fails to try.

Sometimes, teams that try hard against teams that are supposed to be far superior to them find that they are doing better than they thought they would. Their confidence rockets and they end up victorious.

In one of the first matches of the 2008 Six Nations Rugby Union Championship, Wales played England at Twickenham, the home of English rugby. Wales had seldom beaten England on their home ground and had exited the 2007 World Cup early. England, on the other hand had reached the final.

No one was surprised that England was leading at half time. But in the second half, Wales started to try harder and, as their point score went up, the Welsh team grew in confidence until they were playing like men possessed. Wales won and have gone on to beat every other team they have played so far in the championship. They achieved all this simply because they began to try and to try hard.

Recently, in what some call the greatest club soccer competition in the world, the FA cup, teams from the lower English and Welsh leagues have beaten the top teams like Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. These shock results took place in early March 2008.

They succeeded because they tried very hard. They could easily have rolled over and made the reasonable excuse that the top teams have huge financial resources which allow them to buy up the best players in the world.

Beverly Sills highlights the importance of trying: "You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try."

If you don't try, you won't fail but you won't achieve much. Even if you fail, you will learn lessons and your skills and knowledge will grow. No one enjoys failing but it may be the quickest road to eventual success.

Sometimes we don't try or we try in a half hearted manner because we have been convinced in childhood or later that we are useless at something. We need to clear our minds of such thoughts and find out the truth for ourselves.

We also need to believe in ourselves enough to try. If we lack enough belief to even try, we can test out methods like affirmations and visualizations to see if they will help us to develop the necessary belief. Google 'affirmations' and 'visualizations' and you will find many websites that can help you learn how to make affirmations and how to visualize.

One site, for example, suggests a variety of ways to affirm effectively. You can affirm while you are walking or exercising. You could for example say: "I am strong and healthy" or "I am improving daily." Repeat this affirmation as you walk or train.

When I was at school in the Isle of Man, I soon discovered that cross country running was not my strong point. However, I improved by repeating one word "Faster" as I ran or, rather, struggled along! I never achieved "fast" but I did achieve "less slow!"

I suggest to my martial arts students that they say to themselves phrases like: "I am becoming faster and stronger." They can say these at training sessions and at gradings when they need to replace nervousness with confidence.

A typical NLP technique suggests that when you say or think something negative like "I am no good at making money," listen in your mind to the phrase diminishing in volume until it disappears. You can then replace that phrase with a positive one like "I am getting good at making money". Let this phrase become louder and louder in your mind until it dominates your thinking.

Another method uses writing. Write down what you want in your life about fifteen times a day. You could write "I am healthy, wealthy and wise." Writing things down is an effective way of releasing the power of your subconscious mind.

The website I visited suggested several affirmations like: "I radiate good health" or "I have all the energy I need to accomplish my goals and to fulfil my desires" or "I am healthy and full of energy and vitality."

Visualization also helps. I tell my students to imagine receiving their blackbelt. If you want to receive money rather than a blackbelt imagine a huge cheque being presented to you instead. Alternatively, you could visual pound notes and/or dollar bills raining down on you from the sky. You will, of course, need to visualize for some time and to take appropriate action daily before these images become true. Do not imagine coins raining down from the sky for obvious reasons.

You could imagine things you don't want like that broken down car spinning away from you and then visualize a smart and powerful car spinning towards you. Imagine it stopping before it knocks you down!

Imagine yourself performing that skill which you are trying to master. See yourself doing the necessary movements with ease. If you are learning how to dance like a Zulu (one of my secret ambitions), imagine yourself stamping on the ground and waving your arms about like one of the best!

Like Rambo, we should climb into that helicopter and try to master the controls. We could find that we, too, can fly and destroy the obstacles that hold us back from success.

John Watson

Discovering Hidden Positives Behind The Negatives

2009-03-06T05:30:00.000-08:00

This is a good exercise to use when you want to discover what is really going on behind the scenes of your negative experiences. There is something positive beyond them - you just need to discover what it is.

You see, your higher self sees beyond time and current circumstances. It knows your “true intentions“, even if you are unaware of them consciously, and it will do everything in its power to match you vibrationally to that thing you are “truly” wanting. For instance, if your higher intention is safety and security and something comes up that will jeopardize that safety and security (even if you are unaware that it will jeopardize it at the time) it is not at all surprising that obstacles will suddenly appear to prevent you from making a mistake. Quite often we can misinterpret this obstacles as negative things happening to us or it is just us “not getting what we want when we want it” but there is a little more to it than that.

The point is, quite often we don’t realize when we are right in the thick of what we perceive to be a negative situation, that there is something for our greater good beyond it. We get so focused on cursing the darkness in the tunnel that we forget to look for the light at the end of it. So here is the exercise for you. It comes in two parts with a bonus at the end if you really want to get into it.

Part One
Think back and write down all the times when what you thought was a negative situation turned into a positive one. For instance:

When you had to cancel vacation plans due to work or lack of money and found out later they had a hurricane that week.
When you missed your flight due to bad weather and then found out the plane you were supposed to be on got stuck on the tarmac for 7 hours and you were at least in a comfortable airport with a bar and a bathroom!
When you didn’t get a job you thought you wanted and ended up being available for a better one. When the person you wanted to call you never did, and you ended up meeting the “one” because you were single.
When you missed making the perfect investment, only to find out the company tanked and you would have lost a ton of money.

You get the idea. These things happen all the time. Writing them down helps reaffirm to you that Universe (or your higher self, if you prefer) does in fact have your best interests at heart. If you have a hard time coming up with anything, think about every good thing in your life right now and backtrack. Believe me, you will start to see many ways these things couldn’t have come to you if you had indeed gotten what you originally asked for.

Part Two
Start looking for the light at the end of your tunnel by asking What If? What If The Reason I Haven’t Gotten What I Want Yet Is Because….? Start stretching your mind with ideas of what your higher self might have in store for you that you just haven’t realized yet. For example:

What if (I didn’t get this position) because a better one is waiting for me.
What if (the reason the deal on buying the house fell through) was because the roof is about to collapse this winter and it would have cost me a fortune I wouldn’t have.
What if (the reason he/she hasn’t called me for another date) was because they are total psychos and my higher self knows better than for me to get involved with them.
What if (the reason the car broke down today when I had somewhere really important to be) was because I would have been involved in a major accident if I had been on the highway today. What if (the reason I can’t afford the ski trip right now) is because I would have broken my leg on the slopes.
What if (the reason I am stuck on the absolutely slowest line in the store) is because if I left earlier I would run into someone I really don’t want to see right now.

Really stretch your imagination. The fun part of this exercise is that it can help soothe you through disappointment. But the most important part happens later when you prove yourself to be right and you indeed confirm that your higher self has your best interests at heart. That’s when you begin to trust that everything is happening in exactly the right order. Now for the Bonus Part if you really want to get into it.

Part Three
Try to find your true “hidden intention” as opposed to what you think that you want. For instance, with my Jersey house. I originally thought my intention was to have this beautifully built house in New Jersey. But in truth my “hidden intention” was just to live in a beautiful house I could afford. This was obvious by how I wrote my intention on my list. After struggling financially in our first house, security was really all I was looking for and just hadn’t realized it. It wasn’t until after I received it that I noticed the blessing it really was.

Maybe in your case, your “hidden intention” was to find someone who really cared about you and was interested in the same things you are. You might have originally thought you were going to find this with a person of the opposite sex but instead you found it in the new best friend you made six months ago and you just haven‘t realized it yet. So start enjoying and appreciating that friend that Universe sent you in answer to your request and watch how that higher vibration will automatically attract the opposite sex person you are also wanting. Heck! It might even be through that friend.

We are happily such complicated creatures. So much lies below the surface we aren‘t even aware of. But the daily discovery of these things is what makes life so fun and interesting. Just the fact that you are reading these types of articles means you are already on your way to discovery.

So start looking for the positives that await you in your future. If something you are going through appears negative at the moment, it simply means you haven’t yet discovered the place your higher self is leading you to. Don’t get discouraged, don’t give up and don’t curse the darkness. Start taking the first steps now to finding the light at the end of your tunnel. Happy Creating!

Janeen Clark

I Think I Can. I Think I Can. Can I?

2009-02-27T04:43:00.000-08:00

We all find ourselves at certain points in our lives holding first class tickets to negative mental trains of thought. Michele Wahlder (MS, LPC, PCC), a two-time cancer survivor and Dallas, Texas-based Certified Life Coach and Psychotherapist, has placed thousands of people on the right track to self-empowerment via a plan she calls the 5 C Process.

The journey challenges individuals to:

1. Clarify Current View – Where are you now- honestly?
Conscious awareness of your current view is the first step in becoming the best you can be. Getting clear about how your life aligns with your values, talents and unique gifts is vital to your happiness. You need to know where you are in order to learn where you want to go.

You can clarify your current view by completing a review of eight life areas. Be honest with yourself about how happy are you with your profession, finances, health and overall well-being, primary relationships, personal development, spirituality, environment, hobbies, etc.

2. Connect with Your Highest Vision – Where do you want to be?
Example: A client of mine, a yoga instructor, decided she was happy teaching but wanted to contribute to the world on a larger level. She wasn’t happy with the quality of the yoga clothing that was accessible to her and her fellow yogis. Her vision was to design and create fun, hip and timeless yoga clothes using eco-conscious fabrics.

You have to get really clear about what you want. It is crucial that you connect to your highest vision of yourself because you can’t create it unless you are clear about what it looks like. If you don’t have a vision of where you want to go or what you want to be, you will most likely NOT get there. To quote Henrietta Klauser, “If you have a connection to what you want, take the next step and write it down.” If you don’t have any idea about what you want, or how you want to be in life to bring about greater happiness, begin looking through magazines and create a Vision Board/Collage of what attracts you.

You may also want to consider getting an outside perspective from a friend or a professional coach. I take my clients through a guided imagery that gives them a glimpse of what their future could look like. There are also books that can help guide you. Just get help assessing your talents, divine gifts and abilities and then determine how you want to use them more fully in the world. We can’t help others as fully, if we are not aware of how we can best serve. So instead of thinking of it as selfish to engage in knowing yourself better, I would suggest you consider it selfish to hold back and not be the best you can be. Only in this way, can we help the world and others.

3. Create Inspiring Goals – How will you get there?
Example: My client created a tiered plan of what needed to happen step by step – outer goal. All of this was influenced by her inner goal of keeping a measured pace and a balanced life. Her goal was to enjoy the process.

You have to create a plan and take specific actions to get you from where you are now to where you want to be. When most people write goals, they just write a list of action steps, usually external actions. I believe it is more powerful to have inner and outer goals. An outer goal is what you want. For instance, you might think, “I want a new house”. An inner goal is more focused on the how. How will a new home benefit me and my family? Will it offer more common gathering areas, a larger kitchen so that we can cook together, etc.? How can I appreciate what I have now until I get this home? How can I make this a joyful experience rather than a stressful one?

If you can not be grateful for what you have now, then when you get a new home, it will only create very short-term happiness for you. Then, you will be focused on the next external illusion of happiness. For 2009, I suggest taking at least three of the life areas I mentioned earlier and jot down how you could benefit from living your highest vision in each area. Next, add action steps toward your desired achievements along with completion dates.

4. Clear Obstacles – How will you remove obstacles in your way?
We all have dreams and visions for our life, but frankly, there are many things that can get in the way. The two most common obstacles I see with my clients are:

The inability to say NO— In order to bridge the gap from your current view to your highest vision, you have to make room for what “Could Be”. If your life is full and you want to add more of the things that are truly important in your life, you should start the change process by making room first. You must say no to some things in your life, so you can say yes to what is most important. You have to give up the destructive habits, behaviors and activities to make room for new ones.

A metaphor would be a water hose watering a flowering plant. The water in the hose is your life force and the flowering plant is what you are trying to grow in your life. If the water hose has leaks, it will not have enough water or life force/energy to reach its desired outcome or vision (to grow the plant into full bloom). Examples of leaks might include toxic friendships, unrealistic expectations, watching too much television, eating sugar, overspending, negative relational patterns with your spouse or working on an outdated job.

Example: A client’s obstacle here was that her 8-year-old daughter needed caring for and she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to be a good mother plus jumpstart a successful, new business. We remedied this issue by getting clear on the proper definition of a good mother. Also, practically speaking, she needed help picking up her daughter from school. So she got her husband to assist her in this area so she would have time to create this new business.

Negative self-talk—Research shows we have approximately 50,000 internal messages we say to ourselves daily. We are constantly walking around having conversations with ourselves. And it is what we say that makes all the difference in the overall quality of our lives.

Example: I was once in Starbucks, and I watched this woman spill her coffee while reaching for a sugar packet and I heard her say out loud, “I’m so stupid. I can’t believe I did that.”

Now, I just happen to hear her, but this is an example of something you might say internally as well. You might think, “No big deal. I say things like this to myself all the time.” Well, IT IS A BIG DEAL as our subconscious hears these messages and acts on them as if they were real. Don’t say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t want someone else saying to you.

Think of self-talk like mental fuel. Now, imagine filling your car with dirty water. We all know you wouldn’t get very far. Now, take that same car and fill it with high quality gasoline. You’ll most likely reach your destination. It is the same with people and the words we use. If the words are negative and toxic, we will sputter along with low energy and our performance suffers. If our words are positive and tender, we will feel confident, energized, encouraged and will most likely meet our goals faster and easier.

Here are some key things to remember if you ever find yourself preparing to board the train of BAD self-talk:

B– stands for belittling self-talk.
Stop telling yourself, “I am not good enough.” If your dream is to have a healthy self-confidence, which of the following examples is more likely to get your there:
A. “I’m so stupid. I can’t believe I did that.”
B. “Whoops, mistakes happen.”
Can you see how the Answer B is much kinder?

A – stands for awfulizing.
Stop predicting a future filled with gloom and doom, and dwelling on scary thoughts. If you dream of obtaining a career you love, which of the following will move you closer to your vision: A. “I did terribly on my interview, I’ll never find a job I like.”
B. “I will answer that question on past employment differently next time and I will ace it! I know I will one day have the job I love.”
Can you see how Answer B places you in the mindset of a successful job search?

D – stands for deceiving.
This is when you deceive yourself into thinking you are a victim, and that other people are to blame for your circumstances. If we want a happy relationship which will of the below responses will aid in achieving this goal:
A. “If my spouse would only do more around the house, then I would be happy.”
B. “I can and will choose happiness today, no matter what my spouse does.”
Answer B is the right choice, wouldn’t you agree?

S – stands for shoulding.
This is when you give yourself a lot of shoulds, musts, and ought tos, then beat yourself up for not living up to unrealistic standards. Say your dream is to be in top physical condition, which will further that:
A. “I should have eaten a salad for lunch instead of that big ol’ hamburger. I’m such a pig!”
B. “I could have eaten a salad, but I chose not to. Tomorrow I will make healthier choices.”
The second choice is so much more inspiring, don’t you think?

5. Commit to Action – Are you willing to do what it takes?
The final step of the 5 C Process is to commit to action. How many times have we all made plans and never carried them out, or started off excited and lost motivation? No one ever does anything great alone. We all need encouragement and support from others including an accountability partner who is willing to help hold the vision of the person you want to be.

In the previous example of my client, her biggest negative self-talk was how to be a good mom and a good business woman. Her thoughts were, “If I don’t pick up my child every day from school, I am a bad mother.” Instead, we replaced it with, “Picking up my child from school daily is not what makes me a good mother. I am, indeed, a fabulous mother.”

Here are the four action steps that have been proven to help you eliminate your negative self talk:
• Become aware of your negative messages –listen to voice in head
• Stop! You have to stop immediately if you find yourself dwelling on any negative thoughts
• Replace negative thoughts with a kinder alternatives
• Practice. It takes a commitment of time in order to turn a pattern of negative thinking into a more positive train of thought.

Michele Wahlder

When Life Gives You Waves, Learn to S.U.R.F

2009-02-21T00:53:00.000-08:00

Would you like to learn a skill set and technique so powerful that you could learn to recycle every failure, disappointment, setback and discouraging situation into a steppingstone for your success? Would you like to go into every situation with confidence knowing you will have the skills to convert it into an experience with a positive benefit?

Imagine skilled and highly trained fighters going into a difficult and scary situation. They don't go looking for it, but when it comes, they are ready and prepared. They realize it will probably be very painful and even scary, but with their training and developed skill set, their odds are favorable.

You have an opportunity to use the same approach to adversities and difficulties entering our lives. We don't go looking for adversity; it finds us. We can't necessarily avoid pain or suffering, but if we use our training, we have a better chance for survival and eventually find some benefit or lesson we can take and claim a victory.

Change, difficulties and adversity will happen. Your only point of control is the surfing skill set you develop to adapt and make the best out of whatever comes your way. It is not really what happens to you that matters as much as your response to what happens. Your response determines your outcome. Think of change and adversity as waves of the ocean, then consider your response to those waves. Success is not necessarily in your talents and abilities, but in the choices you make in application to the waves. You can't change or fight the wave. Your only real choice is to adapt to it.

Apply the S.U.R.F. Strategy? to Make the Best of the Waves. The S.U.R.F. Strategy is a simple, quick strategy to adapt and positively respond to whatever waves come your way. This keeps your attitude as an ally working for you rather than an adversary working against you. You cannot control the waves; you can only control your response and develop the skills to adapt to whatever comes your way.

The S.U.R.F. strategy involves four steps:

1. Survey the Situation
When you are tumbled by a wave (adversity), you have to regain your bearing and figure out exactly where you are. Leave emotion behind and survey your situation. What new opportunities might be found or developed? Now is the opportunity to create a new plan. It might be tempting to get caught up in the heat of the moment and feel like you are without options. Take a step back to gain perspective. With an understanding of where you are and what choices you have, you can make the most of the opportunities.

2. Understand Your Options
After you know where you are, begin to assess options for moving forward. Focus only on solutions. After you survey your situation, it's time to make way for positive solutions and options. Ask questions like: "What can I gain?" or "What contacts can I make?" Maintain a positive outlook regardless of the situation - even if you do not immediately see the opportunity. Stay focused on the outcome you want and where you want to go.

Look optimistically for creative ways to use the situation for good - don't lament your misfortune. The opportunity may be hidden. Learn to look for it. This is a creative success habit, and it only comes with practice. Become an opportunity farmer. Look for the hidden benefits behind each change and every situation.

3. Respond Based on Your Goals
Now assess the options in front of you. Some may be better than others. Some may be more complicated or difficult to see. Weigh the pros and cons of each option. You might find your best option right now is to persist in your current situation. You may find yourself riding a wave bigger than you think you can handle. It may be a wild ride, but at least it will be interesting.
Remember, you always have choices. The only thing you can control is your attitude. Regardless of the wave, you have the power to choose. Make sure your response is in line with your goals.

4. Forward Focus in Action and Attitude
You can't surf yesterday's wave. The past is the past. Now it is time to think creatively toward the future. Take positive action. Don't let things happen to you. Create the conditions and outcomes you seek! Now that you are surfing the wave, maintain focus on where you want to go and what you want to do. Maintain a vivid mental image of your successful future finding ways to keep taking action in that direction.

When Bad Surf Happens to Good Surfers
As you surf life's waves, you will see good waves and bad ones. You will have some awesome rides and some gnarly wipe outs. You will meet fellow surfers who want to help you out and those who would rather beat you down. There will be sunny days to enjoy the beach. There will also be storms that take away your enjoyment and opportunity as the sea becomes unstable and unsuitable for your purposes. Injustice, rude people, hardships, difficulties and even some bad things will happen in your life. We cannot control those. The only thing we can control is our attitude and the actions we choose to take in response.

Living is not about playing it safe. Test yourself. Learn the full measure of your surfing ability. Do not hide from the waves. You can learn from both your great rides and your wipe outs. Opportunity does not come to the passive. Be active and create your opportunities. Sometimes opportunities only come through difficult situations. Adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it. How you choose to respond to adversity reveals your true character. Your true character is uncovered in the actions of your response and in the choices you make. Your character is revealed in the promises you keep and in the convictions you hold true. Ultimately, your character is a mirror of the guiding principles in your life. What you do and say reveal to the world who you are.

You Cannot Control the Weather
Neither you nor I can control the weather. We cannot control what it will be today and we cannot affect in any way what it will be tomorrow. It is what it is. The same weather will make some people joyous and others miserable. When there is a snow day that shuts down everything, kids rejoice, while parents who need to miss work or scramble for child care do not. Rain is great when the farmers need it for the crops and devastating when the river peaks the levies. Hot sunny days are fantastic for people to enjoy a picnic, yet miserable when you are in the field working.

Weather in itself is neither good nor bad. It is up to us in our decision of how we choose to weather our personal storms and whether they leave us stronger and more resolute or weakened and cowering until the next one. In the same way, adversities are going to come your way, just like the waves of the ocean. All you can really do about them is learn to surf . . . and convert challenges, difficulties and hardships into opportunities.

Frank F. Lunn

Awaken the Leader in You: 10 East Steps to Develop Your Leadership Skills

2009-02-15T00:41:00.000-08:00

"The miracle power that elevates the few is to be found in their industry, application, and perseverance, under the promptings of a brave determined spirit." - Mark Twain

Many motivational experts like to say that leaders are made, not born. I would argue the exact opposite. I believe we are all natural born leaders, but have been deprogrammed along the way. As children, we were natural leaders - curious and humble, always hungry and thirsty for knowledge, with an incredibly vivid imagination; we knew exactly what we wanted, were persistent and determined in getting what we wanted, and had the ability to motivate, inspire, and influence everyone around us to help us in accomplishing our mission. So why is this so difficult to do as adults? What happened?

As children, over time, we got used to hearing, No, Don't, and Can't. No! Don't do this. Don't do that. You can't do this. You can't do that. No! Many of our parents told us to keep quiet and not disturb the adults by asking silly questions. This pattern continued into high school with our teachers telling us what we could do and couldn't do and what was possible. Then many of us got hit with the big one institutionalized formal education known as college or university. Unfortunately, the traditional educational system doesn't teach students how to become leaders; it teaches students how to become polite order takers for the corporate world. Instead of learning to become creative, independent, self-reliant, and think for themselves, most people learn how to obey and intelligently follow rules to keep the corporate machine humming.

Developing the Leader in you to live your highest life, then, requires a process of unlearning by self-remembering and self-honoring. Being an effective leader again will require you to be brave and unlock the door to your inner attic, where your childhood dreams lie, going inside to the heart. Based on my over ten years research in the area of human development and leadership, here are ten easy steps you can take to awaken the Leader in you and rekindle your passion for greatness.

1. Humility
Leadership starts with humility. To be a highly successful leader, you must first humble yourself like a little child and be willing to serve others. Nobody wants to follow someone who is arrogant. Be humble as a child, always curious, always hungry and thirsty for knowledge. For what is excellence but knowledge plus knowledge plus knowledge - always wanting to better yourself, always improving, always growing. When you are humble, you become genuinely interested in people because you want to learn from them. And because you want to learn and grow, you will be a far more effective listener, which is the #1 leadership communication tool. When people sense you are genuinely interested in them, and listening to them, they will naturally be interested in you and listen to what you have to say.

2. SWOT Yourself
SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Although it's a strategic management tool taught at Stanford and Harvard Business Schools and used by large multinationals, it can just as effectively be used in your own professional development as a leader. This is a useful key to gain access to self-knowledge, self-remembering, and self-honoring. Start by listing all your Strengths including your accomplishments. Then write down all your Weaknesses and what needs to be improved. Make sure to include any doubts, anxieties, fears, and worries that you may have. These are the demons and dragons guarding the door to your inner attic. By bringing them to conscious awareness you can begin to slay them. Then proceed by listing all the Opportunities you see available to you for using your strengths. Finally, write down all the Threats or obstacles that are currently blocking you or that you think you will encounter along the way to achieving your dreams.

3. Follow Your Bliss
Regardless of how busy you are, always take time to do what you love doing. Being an alive and vital person vitalizes others. When you are pursuing your passions, people around you cannot help but feel impassioned by your presence. This will make you a charismatic leader. Whatever it is that you enjoy doing, be it writing, acting, painting, drawing, photography, sports, reading, dancing, networking, or working on entrepreneurial ventures, set aside time every week, ideally two or three hours a day, to pursue these activities. Believe me, you'll find the time. If you were to video tape yourself for a day, you would be shocked to see how much time goes to waste!

4. Dream Big
If you want to be larger than life, you need a dream that's larger than life. Small dreams won't serve you or anyone else. It takes the same amount of time to dream small than it does to dream big. So be Big and be Bold! Write down your One Biggest Dream. The one that excites you the most. Remember, don't be small and realistic; be bold and unrealistic! Go for the Gold, the Pulitzer, the Nobel, the Oscar, the highest you can possibly achieve in your field. After you ve written down your dream, list every single reason why you CAN achieve your dream instead of worrying about why you can't.

5. Vision
Without a vision, we perish. If you can't see yourself winning that award and feel the tears of triumph streaming down your face, it's unlikely you will be able to lead yourself or others to victory. Visualize what it would be like accomplishing your dream. See it, smell it, taste it, hear it, feel it in your gut.

6. Perseverance
Victory belongs to those who want it the most and stay in it the longest. Now that you have a dream, make sure you take consistent action every day. I recommend doing at least 5 things every day that will move you closer to your dream.

7. Honor Your Word
Every time you break your word, you lose power. Successful leaders keep their word and their promises. You can accumulate all the toys and riches in the world, but you only have one reputation in life. Your word is gold. Honor it.

8. Get a Mentor
Find yourself a mentor. Preferably someone who has already achieved a high degree of success in your field. Don't be afraid to ask. You've got nothing to lose. Mentors.ca is an excellent mentoring website and a great resource for finding local mentoring programs. They even have a free personal profile you can fill out in order to potentially find you a suitable mentor. In addition to mentors, take time to study autobiographies of great leaders that you admire. Learn everything you can from their lives and model some of their successful behaviors.

9. Be Yourself
Use your relationships with mentors and your research on great leaders as models or reference points to work from, but never copy or imitate them like a parrot. Everyone has vastly different leadership styles. History books are filled with leaders who are soft-spoken, introverted, and quiet, all the way to the other extreme of being out- spoken, extroverted, and loud, and everything in between. A quiet and simple Gandhi or a soft-spoken peanut farmer named Jimmy Carter, who became president of the United States and won a Nobel Peace Prize, have been just as effective world leaders as a loud and flamboyant Churchill, or the tough leadership style employed by The Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher. I admire Hemingway as a writer. But if I copy Hemingway, I'd be a second or third rate Hemingway, at best, instead of a first rate Sharif. Be yourself, your best self, always competing against yourself and bettering yourself, and you will become a first rate YOU instead of a second rate somebody else.

10. Give
Finally, be a giver. Leaders are givers. By giving, you activate a universal law as sound as gravity life gives to the giver, and takes from the taker. The more you give, the more you get. If you want more love, respect, support, and compassion, give love, give respect, give support, and give compassion. Be a mentor to others. Give back to your community. As a leader, the only way to get what you want, is by helping enough people get what they want first. As Sir Winston Churchill once said, "We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."

Sharif Khan

In Sales - Here's News You Can Use

2009-02-06T05:17:00.000-08:00

Here's an idea on how to make reading the daily newspaper a source for new selling ideas. Make it a point to identify at least one thing that you can use in your business whenever you read the newspaper. There is always great stuff in the sports and business section of most newspapers. Here are some examples.

Blazing Fast
The words "Blazing Fast" were used in an advertisement. If one of the benefits of your product relates to speed why not kick it up a notch by describing it as "Blazing Fast."

Small Steps Big Impact
In an article that talked about fair trade organizations, the headline was "Small Steps Big Impact." Couldn't that be reworked to say, "When working with new customers we like to take small steps that create a big impact." Then proceed to give you potential customer some examples.

Speedy Adjustments
In yesterday's sports section there was an article with the headline, "Speedy adjustments." If it fits your business you could probably work "Speedy adjustments" into your sales presentation.
Has your company ever dropped the ball? Have you ever experienced delays with new product launches? Have you ever had to deal with products that didn't live up to everybody's expectations? Sure who hasn't.

Rebounds
In today's paper there was a headline "Martha Stewart Living rebounds." When the problem(s) is fixed you might consider using the word "Rebounds" in your sales presentation to your customer base.

Sprouts
If your company is planning to announce new product introductions you might be able to take a lesson from this headline in today's business section. "Apple sprouts 4 NEW iPods."

Sales Inspiration
In today's sports section there was an article about baseball Hall Of Famer, Johnny Bench, who's coming to Sarasota to give a speech. The article mentioned how his father told his son that learning how to catch was the shortest route to the major leagues. He also had his son practice throwing 250 feet, from a crouch position, which was more than twice the distance from home plate to second base.

Johnny Bench would later claim he could throw out any runner alive. If you're in sales you should be able to get a little inspiration from Johnny Bench's practice routine. What could you prepare and practice that would give you that level of self-confidence?

The world is filled with ideas you can use to grow your business but you have to keep your eyes open to avoid missing them.

Yes indeed - there is news you can use, in your business, in your daily newspaper.

Jim Meisenheimer

Managing Monsters in Meetings

2009-01-31T18:12:00.000-08:00

Personal attacks hurt people, mar communication, and end creativity. If they become part of a meeting's culture, they drive the participants into making safe and perhaps useless contributions.

Approach 1: Speak to the group
Set the stage for the group to enforce its culture by making a general comment. Look at the middle of the group and say:

"Just a moment. Let's pause here to calm down. I can tell we're upset about this. And we want to find a fair solution for everyone." (Take slow deep breaths and relax to model calming down.)

After saying this, pause a moment to let the group respond. Often, someone else will support your request. Then continue as if everything were normal.

Avoid looking at the attacker when speaking to the group. Making eye contact acknowledges and returns power to the attacker.

Approach 2: Explore for the cause
Sometimes people throw insults from behind a fence of presumed safety. You can disrupt this illusion by saying:
"Chris, you seem upset with that."
"Pat, you seem to disagree."
"You seem to have reservations about this."

I realize these statements may sound like naive responses to an insult. However, such understated responses improve the situation because they sound less threatening, feel easier to deliver, and preserve the other person's self-esteem. Realize the attacker may have viewed the attack less seriously than it sounded.

These statements also transfer the focus from the target to the attacker's feelings. And this is what you need to talk about in order to resolve the dispute.

After you speak, continue to look at the attacker and wait for the person to talk about what caused the attack.

If the attack continues, interrupt with:
"Excuse me, we need to respect each other. And I wonder what makes you feel upset over this."
"Excuse me, we heard that. Now, what makes you feel that way?"
"Excuse me, I'm interested in hearing what your concerns are."

Approach 3: Call a break
If verbal approaches fail to end the attacks, then call a break or end the meeting. This will give you a chance to meet privately with the attacker, rewrite the agenda, rebuild communication, and (if appropriate) schedule another meeting without the attacker.

You could say,
"We seem to be at an impasse. I want to take a break so we can all calm down."
"This hostility makes it impossible to get any work done. So, I'm adjourning the meetings. We'll work on this later and then reconvene at another time."

Note that some people use anger to force others to cooperate with them. If you adjourn the meeting, you will have to meet with the attacker to resolve the conflict.
"We need to work on this outside of the meeting. So let's adjourn."

Use these techniques to restore a safe environment to your meeting.

Meetings are a forum for finding solutions, making decisions, and reaching agreements. When you apply these approaches to disruptions, you will maintain the productive environment necessary to accomplish your goals.

Steve Kaye

Are you a Good Manager or a Great Leader?

2009-01-25T04:27:00.000-08:00

Your word is your truth - Know that when you speak, you will fulfill your promise to others and others will know they can depend on you. Think before you speak. Under promise and over deliver. Always keep your promise.

Have a 'can do' attitude
Be cheerful and pleasant and cultivate an attitude of turning obstacles into opportunities. See the cup as half full instead of half empty. Do not focus on the problem, Focus on the solution. Think about all the good that can result from projects. Look for the good in others

Remember to say 'thank you'
Kind words go a long way. Acknowledge and appreciate people around you when they've done something of merit. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Do not take others for granted. Let people know how much you appreciate even the small things they do.

Practice the #1 rule of business
Remember to treat people as "they" want to be treated, not as you would like to be treated. This is crucial to being a leader. Everyone likes to be treated differently. Get to know how those around you like to be treated and respect their preferences. Discover the personalities of others and learn how they get encouraged.

Motivate others around you
Develop a strong interest in your staff and others around you. It's easier to motivate with encouragement, support and acknowledgments. Encourage others to go beyond their limits. Treat others as you know they can be, not as they are Ask others who their best boss was and why. Learn from that and motivate them the same way.

Empower and encourage others you know
Offer others public recognition and involve them in important work. Treat people like you know they can do the job. Have confidence in others to know they can get the job done. Express your appreciation when jobs are done to expectations. Encourage others to go beyond their limits and see what they create.

Share your vision and mission
Get staff engaged in an activity to meet goals and share the company's vision and mission. This will get others excited about future directions and will further motivate them to contribute to being a part of the end results. Articulate a clear vision to those around you. Let others know the mission and why you are doing what you do. Encourage others to be a part of your mission by involving them in the end result

Think creatively and don't stop at the obvious
Think about options available to you and envision the possibilities of bigger and better ways to do things. Develop the skill of having multiple options instead of settling for the easiest or fastest answer. Explore different possibilities and ask 'what if' questions. Discover new solutions for the old problems - don't take the easy way. When you think you have the answer, think of something else you can do to make it better.

Risk taking within reason by knowing high-risk and low-risk
Analyze risk. Know when risk taking is an intelligent move and when it shouldn't be considered. Form a team of individuals to run ideas by before taking large risks. Get a consensus from others when taking a risk. Practice 'analyze risk taking' by thinking through the whole process before proceeding. Know the possibilities of the outcome and the good and bad of the end results.

Stretch your creativity and encourage that in others
Continually stretch your creative powers by thinking outside the box. Stretch out into the unknown and discover better ways of doing things. Set this example for others. Stretch your way of thinking and encourage that in others. Keep learning new things and finding better ways of doing what you do. Be a role model in your creative thinking and see the difference it makes in others.

Have a passion for what you do and create a sense of purpose
Display passion for what you do. Ensure your words are congruent with your actions. Then follow the path of your goals. Focus on the end results and the purpose of your actions.
Love what you do and do what you love. Establish a sense of purpose and let your passion show through to others. Project into the future your long-term goal and desires. Share this vision with others

Create an environment of opportunity
Create an environment where you and others around you can grow. Discover infinite opportunities by thinking outside the box. Get creative!

Give others the opportunity to experience new things and different ways of doing things
Encourage continual learning and new skills. Produce a richer environment by working at peak performance at high levels

Good Luck on your journey of becoming a great leader!

Cheryl Vallejos

Creating a Not-To-Do List

2009-01-18T04:05:00.000-08:00

When I sit down with a client to work on prioritizing and delegating, the biggest challenge we face is deciding what kinds of activities and responsibilities to give up. Quite often, we get so entrenched in what we think we SHOULD be doing, that we forget to pay attention to what we ENJOY doing. So when it comes time to let go of the boring, tedious, and time-consuming tasks that eat up our day, we have a struggle trying to identify them.

It is incredibly difficult for people to admit that they can't do everything themselves. Well guess what -- you can't! And I don't know that you would want to, even if you had the time. Some activities in life are unpleasant, outside of your range of expertise, or just not what you want to spend your time on. And there is nothing wrong with admitting that you don't want to do something, as long as you can find someone else to do it for you. That is the purpose behind creating a not-to-do list -- helping you identify chores, errands, and daily responsibilities that you can (and should) delegate to another person

GETTING STARTED
The key to creating a successful "not-to-do" list is awareness -- paying attention to what you do, how long it takes, how often you do it, and whether or not you get some benefit from that particular activity. However, we spend so much of our days on autopilot and in a state of overload, that simply trying to recall how you spent yesterday morning can be a real challenge! You will make things much easier if you keep a NOTEPAD nearby, where you can record your daily activities.

This doesn't mean that you have to log every second of your day ("8:00 -- got up" / "8:05 to 8:10 -- used bathroom" / "8:15 to 8:45 -- had breakfast" isn't really going to help you be more effective and efficient!) But if you can start tracking your work activities (could be paid outside work or housework or whatever fills your day), your travel time to and from activities, and any other external responsibilities (committee meetings, carpools, volunteering), you will begin to see places where you can trim and tighten your schedule through delegation.

So as you sit at your desk or work in your house or travel in your car, make a note of what you are doing -- such as "checking e-mails" or "cleaning oven" or "buying groceries." Then, estimate how much time you have spent on that particular chore or errand (don't forget travel and preparation time). We will continue on later with some in-depth questions about whether this action needs to be done at all (!!) and whether it needs to be done by you. But for now, that's the start of your "not-to-do" list.

HOW MUCH IS YOUR TIME IS WORTH?
When you were a kid, you probably had no clue what it took to earn money -- and you had no qualms about spending it freely on anything that caught your eye. But when you got an after-school job or started working for your allowance, you became a lot more discriminating about where you spent your hard-earned cash.

It's the same with time. Very few people in our society really know what their time is worth -- in concrete financial terms. But until you recognize that your time is intrinsically valuable, you will never be able to make informed decisions about where your time is best spent. Here's a general guide you can use in determining how much an hour of your time is worth, and how just one hour a day -- spent poorly or wisely -- adds up over a year's time:

INCOME.........ONE HOUR......IN A YEAR
$25,000.........$12.61.........$3,125
$40,000.........$20.49.........$5,000
$50,000.........$25.61.........$6,250
$75,000.........$38.42.........$9,375
$100,000........$51.23.........$12,500
$125,000........$65.10.........$15,884
$150,000........$76.84.........$18,750
$175,000........$89.65.........$21,875
$200,000........$102.46.........$25,000
$250,000........$128.07.........$31,250
$300,000........$153.69.........$37,500
** Based on 244 working days per year

So, you can always look at delegating in terms of the biggest financial payoff. When I hire someone to take care of an item on my not-to-do list -- and I pay them $25 an hour while my hour is worth $60 -- I'm coming out ahead. The same is true when I can hire someone to do a task in a half hour that would take me 3 to complete. I can be focusing on higher priorities -- things that feed my soul or grow my business or let me know I'm alive -- without worrying that the work isn't being done.

LOOK AT COSTS VERSUS BENEFITS
Have you ever caught yourself spending a lot of time on a very low-payoff activity? Maybe it's something that really does need to be done -- like addressing 1500 envelopes for a routine mass mailing or cleaning all of the window screens in your house -- but it's not something that is going to tremendously improve your quality of life. And it might be a hugely time-consuming activity, where the rewards you will reap don't even begin to compare to your investment of time and energy.

Most of these kinds of low-payoff jobs really serve as maintenance. The completion of these small activities doesn't make a major impact on your life -- but if left undone, they can erode away at your home, your career, your health, your peace of mind and cause serious problems down the road. That makes these chores perfect candidates for your "not-to-do" list -- items that really need to be done, but not necessarily by YOU. Here are some of the most common suggestions I hear from my clients -- see which resonate with you as being potentially delegable:
- house cleaning
- grocery shopping / meal preparation
- paperwork (filing / mailings / organizing)
- errand-running
- yard work / landscaping
- home maintenance / car maintenance
- follow-up with clients (phone calls / e-mails)
- travel / meeting / event arrangements

ARE YOU HAVING FUN?
Of course, you have to pay attention to more than just the financial cost of each task you perform yourself. You also have to ask if you really enjoy the work. Even though I could probably find someone else to maintain my website for me, I really enjoy the process of creating new pages, bringing ideas to life, and watching my "baby" blossom and grow. It is time consuming, but I'm filled with a renewed energy each time I sit down to add a new section to my site. So the payoff for me is in the emotional charge I get -- the sense of satisfaction and creativity -- and that is priceless, regardless of what my hour is worth.

On the other hand, my sister loves gardening. She finds it incredibly relaxing to dig in the dirt and watch a tiny bud explode into color in her front yard. Now lawn care is pretty much my idea of hell -- so I would probably hire someone else to take care of my shrubbery and flowers (if I had a yard!) It's all a matter of what energizes you, what fills your life with joy, and what you look forward to doing. If an activity fits this description, keep it for yourself and find other less-pleasurable chores to include on your not-to-do list.

IS THIS THE BEST POSSIBLE USE OF YOUR TIME?
The final question I always ask my clients when setting up their lists is, "What is the best possible use of your time at this exact moment?" We usually tend to focus too much on the daily grind -- paying bills, keeping the house clean, writing reports, etc. -- and too little on our real PRIORITIES. Do you really need to be organizing the garage, or spending time with your kids at the park? Is it a higher priority that you decide where to put the coffee pot and how to arrange the chairs at the upcoming sales meeting, or that you develop a strong agenda and provide guidance during the group discussion? Ask yourself where you will get the biggest bang for your buck. That should be where you focus your attention, and let someone else handle the rest.

FINDING AN ALTERNATIVE
Okay, so you've made a list of items that you would love to delegate -- who do you hand them off to? You have so many options!
- Get your family involved in the act -- kids and spouses are just as capable of handling those daily chores as you are!
- Ask a co-worker for some assistance -- and offer to help out the next time he or she needs a little bit of a break
- Make use of your support staff (administrative clerks, assistants, and other assorted minions) -- that's what they are there for
- Hire an independent contractor or freelancer to help with household and business tasks that you don't have time for
- Develop a local co-op for sharing those time-consuming domestic (trading off on cooking, cleaning, errand-running, or child care) -- or set up an informal swap with a neighbor

Just remember, you aren't in it alone. You simply have to decide what you want to delegate and then be willing to ask for help. Good luck!

Couch Yourself Positive

2009-01-10T00:37:00.000-08:00

True Story: Guy walks into a bar, chats up the hottest babe in the joint. He's feeling hip and funny. She's gazing dreamily into his eyes, obviously impressed. When she goes off to the bathroom, a buddy walks up to the guy. ‘Know who that is?’ the buddy asks. ‘She used to date Al Pacino.’ Gulp.

Somehow, when Miss Lovely reappears, our man isn't so fast with the repartee. His confidence is gone; the conversation sputters. She's no longer looking into his eyes. In fact, she seems to be looking for an escape route. He's become another wannabe player shot down by negative self-talk.

We all talk to ourselves. It's the way the mind works. And it's terrific when it makes like your own personal cheerleader. Who doesn't like hearing, Smart move... she liked that. Or, when you start a new job, / have great ideas. Positive self-talk bolsters confidence and boosts energy.
But sometimes our inner cheerleader changes sides. Instead of encouragement, you get zingers like, Pacino! Man, I'm so average. What'll she think when she sees my ancient car? And my pathetic flat - not that we'll get that far. What's a guy to do? There's no off button for your inner motor-mouth, and demoralizing thoughts can pop up anytime. But there are ways to keep your head out of dissing mode.

Bad thoughts are inevitably triggered by events, however minor. The boss looks your way - is he frowning? - and you think, I'm going to lose my job. Or your dinner date's giggle reminds you of that leggy brunette who laughed so cruelly when you brought a bottle of cheap Chardonnay to her classy dinner party. Doofus! Instantly, you're reliving a moment you'd rather forget.

But that's just the beginning. Electrochemical activity in the brain's frontal cortex, where thoughts are born, jump-starts the limbic system, a primitive brain region known as the seat of emotion. Specifically, thoughts that suggest something is wrong rev up the amygdala, an almond-shaped parcel of grey matter that functions like a panic button.

From there, circuits light up in the hypothalamus, which links the mind with the body. You start to sweat. Your pulse quickens. Now you're really nervous. Upstairs, the frontal lobes are generating even more discouraging words. Soon a killer monologue is going on inside your skull, and it's not the kind that knocks 'em dead at the Laugh Factory. It's the voice of doom - hypercritical and looking for anything to feel terrible about.

The mischief that bad thoughts can do is something athletes know better than anyone. ‘Negative self-talk hurts your self-confidence; and when confidence goes down, so does performance,’ says Dr Shane Murphy, the former head of the US Olympic Committee's sports psychology program.
Self-doubt produces muscle tension, which screws up timing and coordination. And by torpedoing your mood, self-doubt makes it difficult to focus. You can't concentrate on getting a maiden over when you're thinking, Last time, this batter hit every ball I bowled for a six.

The same thing can happen in daily life. Thoughts like I have nothing interesting to say become self-fulfilling prophecies. Self-doubt shows in your facial expressions, tone of voice, and even in your posture. You become so focused on how you're coming across that you can't keep up with the conversation. Bye-bye playful banter; hello, strained silence.

At work negative self-talk has a similar effect. If you focus on how difficult a task is - how you won't do a good job - you'll find it tougher to start. You're likely to procrastinate, which will turn the task into a real ordeal.

If you're giving a speech or typing a report, an inner critic that keeps jabbering, This sounds so lame, is all but guaranteed to tie your tongue and freeze your fingers at the keyboard.
Worst of all are the missteps that keep replaying like some sadistic tape loop. Maybe it's the way you blew that great thing you had with Liz. Or that time you sneezed in your boss's coffee.

This is a milder version of the intrusive thoughts that bedevil combat veterans and other trauma victims. Those thoughts come when the mind has no focus or directed attention. True, an office cubicle isn't exactly a battlefield. Nor is a bar or your bedroom, But threats to your self-esteem uncounted in these everyday settings can rev up the amygdala just as effectively as a mortar attack will. So what are you going to do?

Here's your battle plan:
Know the enemy
Zeroing in on your negative mind chatter isn't easy, but with a little practice, you'll be able to pick out the sentence fragments that constitute a sort of lingua franca between ‘you’ and your limbic system - brief phrases like ‘Blew it, as usual’, or names that are freighted with personal meaning: ‘Dad all over again.’ Sometimes it’s just images, like the face of your old friend or the school bully. You will see it coming from far.

Don't ignore them, and respect their power
Don't try to eliminate negative thoughts. The more you fight them, the more they come back. Instead of trying to suppress or eliminate negative thoughts, let them stay as background noise.

Argue with yourself
Identify the put-downs you typically say to yourself, and then jot down a rebuttal for each. Your goal isn't to pump yourself up with false optimism; it's simply to recast unrealistically negative thoughts in a more positive light. The rebuttal to ‘I sound like an idiot’ isn't ‘I'm a smooth a talker as Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep’, but rather If I say something dumb, she'll like me anyway.

Put on an act
Imagine yourself in a stressful situation, such as the big presentation you’re going to make next week at the AGM, first with the negative voice-over and then with the good stuff. Run mental rehearsals until it feels natural. Or simply act like everything's copacetic and positive thoughts will follow.

Just putting a smile on your face reinforces the notion that all is well (while telling the other person (‘I'm glad you're here’).

Slap another label on it
Another good way to reverse a downward spiral in your thinking is to give it a positive spin. If you re-label, ‘Uh, oh. I feel nervous’ as ‘I'm psyched’ your brain automatically shifts from take-cover mode into lets-roll mode. That helps re-channel a surfeit of adrenaline into positive action.

Sing some sense into yourself
Discouraging words that keep coming back call for a special strategy. It's easier going towards these thoughts than going away. You can blunt the sting of endless self-reproach by putting it to music (in your mind please, we don't want people thinking you are crazy). ‘I lost the only woman I've love, because I was a jerk’ sounds pretty silly once you sing it like 50 Cent.

Too nutty for you? Studies suggest you can ease negative self-talk simply by rapidly sweeping your eyes from side to side about 25 times. It stimulates both sides of the brain and briefly disrupts your thinking patterns. It makes it hard to hold onto a disturbing thought.

Sandra Prior

Achieve Your Goals By Eating The Frog And The Elephant

2009-01-04T01:44:00.000-08:00

Brian Tracy, the great motivational guru, often suggests that people do their most important and toughest task at the start of the day. They must 'eat the frog' for breakfast and then they will feel great for the rest of the day and have extra energy to cope with all their other tasks.

When it is light enough in the summer, I get a walk and some weight lifting in at the start of the day when it is cooler. I then feel set up for the rest of the day. The walk is quite a tasty frog to eat but still demands some effort and will power.

If you are writing a book, write first thing in the day. Writing may be the most difficult thing you do all day. Get it done straight away. Eat the frog.

After eating the frog, you have to eat the elephant (the huge amount you have to do during the rest of the day) How?

Bit by bit.

How do you build a house? Brick by brick. How do you walk ten miles? Step by step. I love books with titles like "HTML in easy steps"

You can't learn HTML in one big study session but step by step, inch by inch it's a cinch. Step by step you will have time to digest what you have learned.

Self-help books frequently use phrases like 'step by step' with good reason. Taking small steps can work wonders.

If you want to lose weight and are given 5 sausages to eat, give one of them to the dog or throw it in the bin.

People who have done this type of weight loss behaviour have achieved remarkable results. That extra sausage or biscuit gradually built up their weight; not eating it will gradually lose their weight.

Jewish students who wish to be rabbis usually have to study the Talmud, a huge book of many volumes. Their rabbis tell them a story called the 'Heap of Dust' to help them to keep going and not give up.

Two men were asked to move a heap of dust. One soon gave up. The other said I will move a little every day even if it seems that I am getting nowhere. Eventually he moved the heap of dust and was rewarded accordingly. The other man achieved nothing and his reward was nothing.

The principle is the same whether you are eating an elephant or moving a mountain of dust. Tackle the task bit by bit.

If you eat the frog and the elephant, you should have a great day and begin to achieve all your goals.

John Watson

Develop Your Own Positive Driven Splinter

2008-12-29T05:29:00.000-08:00

"There is no doubt that you will succeed today at making a difference in the world. The question is, what difference will you choose to make? " J. S. Lowery

Article based on the book, The Power of Being Different, by John Paul Carinci. Used with permission.

We've all had a painful splinter sometime in our lives. A splinter that throbbed, it seemed endlessly. Without us paying attention to it, it would hurt, sending pain signals to our brain.

Well, very successful individuals, for thousands of years, have used the laws of nature to reverse the signal system and use it to accomplish great tasks. Most great inventors use a similar principle. Let's study it.

Truly successful people have found that if they pre-program their minds, in particular, the subconscious mind, with certain commands and goals, it gets etched into their subconscious, and that is the real key here. It is important to realize that the subconscious will accept fact or fiction.

Think about the NYC Marathon runner who trains for the entire year before the big race. Think about the fact that the race is over 26 miles long. Let's look at the mindset of this individual. The runner is intensely driven for that whole year, visualizing, all along, that ultimate finish line. The runner doesn't think about failure to finish the race, or blisters, or many other obstacles that will arise during the year. The runner's mindset is: one goal; one vision; one battle; that will ultimately be won. The runner will also announce to everyone, sometimes months in advance, that they will be running the famous marathon. This is important, because once announced, a goal has that much more importance and urgency attached to it.

So once introduced correctly, the subconscious mind accepts this great goal, and works overtime to bring the intense, positive, driven goal, to pass, just like that terrible deeply imbedded splinter. So, what will be your Positive Driven Splinter?

To make this the most successful summer ever - get focused on your goals - turn that "splinter" into a positive force for success in selling!

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Appreciation & Praise

2008-12-15T06:05:00.000-08:00

"To get appreciation, you must show appreciation."

Showing appreciation is a mark of a true professional. Start looking for ways in which you can show genuine appreciation. You have, of course, some natural times when you should always do this:
1. Express appreciation for new business.
This is usually automatic. Be sure your clients know you appreciate doing business with them.

2. Give appreciation to those who assist you.
Try sending a note to a prospect's/client's assistant. Assistants can be most helpful to you in building a relationship.

3. Always express appreciation for an interview.
Even if a prospect doesn't buy, sincerely thanking them for granting you an interview is one of the best ways to make an impression and keep the prospect's mind open to your proposition at a future date.

4. Show appreciation through your manners and actions.
Let the buyer know where you can be reached whenever you are needed. Return telephone calls promptly.

5. Give thanks for referrals.
Always express appreciation to those customers who refer business to you. Report back to them on your results.

6. Send prospects to your customers.
If your customers are also in business, send them prospects or supply them with leads.

7. When the subject of one of your competitors comes up, there is only one way to handle it: PRAISE YOUR COMPETITOR.
This requires knowing your competition well enough to be able to praise them. Being knowledgeable about your competitors allows you to praise them. This doesn't necessarily get you a sale. However, your prospect will be more likely to accept information about your company as accurate. Never criticize your competition.

Carry this Pocket Reminder with you. Read it several times a day. Memorize it. We believe you'll beat last year's performance!

REMINDER:
Appreciation and Praise Opportunities to show appreciation:
• New Business.
• Assistants and others who help me.
• Interviews.
• Return phone calls promptly.
• Referrals/report back.
• Send prospects/clients business or leads.
Know my competitors well enough to praise them.

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Knowledge of My Business

2008-12-09T08:08:00.000-08:00

"Anyone who stops learning is old - whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young"

To have confidence in yourself, and win and hold the confidence of others, an essential rule is: Know your business . . . and keep on knowing your business!

Periodically you must step back and look at yourself.
• Are you satisfied with the human being you're becoming?
• How are you doing in your business?
• Are you moving forward?
• Are you getting better?
• Are your sales increasing?
• Are you using your time effectively?

It's for these reasons you need a personal Research and Development Department. You must have a library of sales support material you can use and refer to in order to make yourself a better sales rep, to keep you current on your products and sharp on new selling techniques.
Read, attend educational seminars, take advantage of home office resources, participate in company and industry conferences.

Good sales reps are those who have confidence in themselves and their abilities. Great sales reps are those whose clients have confidence in them and their abilities.Professionals know they are good, and they know why they are good. Consistently, they work at becoming better.

All of us are aware of tragic school dropouts. But salespeople "drop out" too! It's unfortunate but true that for many, there comes a time when they literally "drop out." They stop learning. They stop growing. They stop getting better. It's at this precise point they compromise what they will become as sales reps and as human beings. They expect their companies to grow and get better.

But all too often, sales reps make the assumption that they are good enough to meet the challenge and change of the future without improving themselves. Remind yourself to keep growing.

Keep learning and studying. Keep records to monitor and measure your performance. Maintain a personal Research and Development Department that keeps you up-to-date - one that keeps your sales success "above the crowd" that is not interested in gaining more knowledge and becoming better.

Carry this Reminder with you. Read it several times a day. Memorize it. We believe you'll beat last year's performance!

REMINDER: Know My Business
• Great sales reps are those whose clients have confidence in them and their abilities.
• Keep growing.
• Keep learning and studying.
• Keep records of my performance.
• Know my business -- keep knowing my business.
• Keep getting better and better.

Knowing my business is an investment of time and money that will result in the confidence of my prospects and clients.

Watch Your Self Talk

2008-12-02T07:25:00.000-08:00

Self-talk shapes your selling life. Have you seen the breathtaking pillars in Mammoth Cave in Kentucky? Those enormous "icicles of stone" have taken centuries to form. A single drop of water finds its way through the roof of the cavern to deposit its tiny sediment on the floor of the cave. Another drop follows, and still another, until a marble-like finger begins to grow upward. The result is a tremendously solid pillar.

Self-talk shapes your life in much the same way. What you are is the result of the many accumulated statements you have made and continue to make with your self-talk.What have you told yourself today? What conversation has gone on in your head or been spoken aloud?

Take charge of your thoughts. They are yours to control. Monitor what you are telling yourself about your potential in selling. Suppose you check your self-talk and discover you are telling yourself you have trouble closing sales.

The first question to ask is: "Is that really true?"
Suppose the answer is "Yes, sometimes it is true."
The next question is: "What percent of the time is it true - 100% - 60%?"
Let's say it's true 60% of the time. You have trouble closing sales 60% of the time.
Great! This means it's not true 40% of the time.
Change your self-talk. You can now confidently say, "I'm effective closing sales 40% of the time."

What a difference! You're now building a mental image of one who can do it right. And the 40% will soon become 50% and 60% and . . .Self-talk makes a difference!

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI group

Enthusiatically Develop Your Slight Edge

2008-11-23T04:21:00.000-08:00

Frank Bettger turned his selling career around by applying two principles:1. Enthusiasm - "Enthusiasm is the greatest method of persuasion without pressure. Enthusiasm is the yeast that raises the dough. Enthusiasm is the greatest one-word slogan for living ever devised."2. The Slight Edge - This principle has to do with what making a slight improvement in one skill can do to one's performance over a period of time.

After hearing his boss, Mr. Walter Talbot, say that this business boils down to seeing the people - enthusiastically telling your story to four or five people every day, Frank Bettger immediately applied the principles of enthusiasm and the slight edge. He literally turned his career around.
He applied the principle of enthusiasm by giving himself a pep talk. "You've got two good legs. You can do it. You can tell your story to four or five people every day. You will make good. Why? Mr. Talbot said so." Bettger said, "What a great relief came over me. Now I knew I was going to make good in selling."

Bettger then applied The Slight Edge Principle by devoting extra time to enthusiastically telling his story to four or five people every day. The rest is history. Frank Bettger went on to become one of the greatest insurance salesmen of all time.

Here's the Slight Edge Creed:
• Put enthusiasm to work for you
• Show that you care - by attitude, word and action
• Treat the customer as you would like to be treated
• Respect prospects' intelligence; never overestimate prospects' information
• Do today's jobs today - never put off until tomorrow
• Make right first impressions
• Seek an answer to every question; never leave the customer in doubt
• Deliver more than customers expect
• Do what it takes to assure the customers' satisfaction.
• Follow-up to make sure the job is well done, and done right.

Enthusiastically develop your slight edge!

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Be A Generator

2008-11-19T05:32:00.000-08:00

Every organization has two types of sales reps -- generators and interceptors. Generators represent only 20 percent of the sales force, but consistently produce 80 percent of the business. Why is that?

Well, if you study the generators, you'll discover they have seven characteristics. Let's study these traits and decide how they can become ours.

• First, generators are well rehearsed.
They invest time in preparation. They believe spectacular achievements are the result of unspectacular preparation.

• Second, generators are relationship builders.
They know that all things being equal, prospects buy from the sales rep they know, trust and like. More importantly, they understand that all things not being equal, buyers do the same thing -- they buy from sales reps they know, trust and like.

• Third, generators work at the right things.
They focus on those few sales activities that make the big difference.

• Next, generators always have a sales call objective.
They have in mind a "bottom line result" as they enter every selling situation.

• Fifth, generators ask probing questions.
They ask the right questions -- the questions that arouse interest with prospects.

• Sixth, generators talk to the decision makers.
They do not want to give their presentation for practice.

• Finally, generators manage the buying process.
They help along the prospect's decision to buy.

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Believe in the Law of Averages

2008-11-10T07:23:00.000-08:00

Professionals are good at what they do, and they know why they are good. Because they know why they are good, they critique their own performances and naturally continue to grow and to become better. These types of performance reviews show them how to grow and become more effective.

Another characteristic of professionals is that they demonstrate a strong belief in the law of averages. Knowing the numbers permits them to have an almost total indifference to whether or not a given prospect buys or not.

One time, we saw a show on Broadway, "Ben Franklin in Paris," starring Robert Preston. In this show, Preston, playing the part of Franklin, said, "When you are turned down is simply the place where you begin to negotiate."

What a valuable lesson to learn when you are in sales! When you meet resistance anywhere along the selling process, that's the point where you begin to negotiate. You'll get resistance along the line. This isn't unique to selling. It's part of everything in life that involves any element of competition.

One year, late in the season, Harmon Killebrew struck out for the 142nd time. That was a new all-time major league record for strikeouts in a single season. However, on the same day, Killebrew hit his 48th home run. That, too, was a new all-time record for the most home runs ever hit by a Minnesota Twins' player. Killebrew's unshakable faith in making the law of averages work for him enabled him to become one of baseball's all-time great sluggers.

In baseball, like selling, it all goes together -- the most strikeouts, the most home runs. Whatever it is you are selling, each disappointment, any delay, every turn-down is like a strikeout. The important thing is to be a student of your business so you know the number of strikeouts you have had since your last hit. The greater the number, the nearer you are to your next hit!

The best-kept secret for obeying the law of averages and conquering selling fears and call reluctance lies in remembering your selling success, however small. Erase from memory your failures, however large. Put this up on the mirror where you can digest it each day, put it on a card and carry it with you, make it your screensaver - whatever works for you.

When this secret is learned, emotionally as well as intellectually, you'll begin putting your feet where the sales professional's feet always belong - on the road to another prospect.

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Self Organisation

2008-10-31T08:08:00.000-07:00

Think about the most successful people you know for a moment. For the most part, successful people are ruthless with their time. They take the time to do the inglorious task of planning. Getting and staying organized is grueling, but without it, you are on a collision course with failure.

This week, we're concentrating on Order: self-organization. Initially, Frank Bettger set aside every Saturday morning for what he called, "self-organization day." Every Monday morning, instead of having to drive himself to sell, he approached the week with confidence and enthusiasm. He was eager and anxious to see people because he had thought about them, studied their situations, and had some ideas he believed would be of value to them.

You may be thinking this isn't for you - you don't have time to devote a morning to planning - you don't want to be tied down to a schedule. Here's good news for you: You are already living on a schedule. And, if it's not a planned one, it's probably a poor one!

We adhere to a weekly plan, as well as a daily "To Do" list, which we follow religiously. We like to think of it as planning to wake up employed! Plan your work and work your plan. Your enthusiasm and confidence will soar when you take the time to get and stay organized!

One of the greatest satisfactions in life comes from getting things done and knowing you have done them to the best of your ability. If you are having trouble getting yourself organized, if you want to increase your ability to think and do things in the order of their importance, remember there is only one way: Take more time to think and do things in the order of their importance.

Carry this Pocket Reminder with you. Read it several times a day. Memorize it. We believe you'll beat last year's performance!

POCKET REMINDER: Order : Self Organization
• Designate a set period of time each week for self-organization, planning your week, getting things in order.
• Get up one hour earlier each day. Use this time to read and study.
• Keep your weekly and daily plans visible.
• Be ruthless with your time.
• Commit to bringing more order to your work and your personal life. The secret of freedom from anxiety over not having enough time lies not in working more hours, but in the proper planning of those hours.

Jack and Gary Kinder
The KBI Group

Enthusiasm

2008-10-06T07:06:00.000-07:00

Benjamin Franklin, just a small printer in Philadelphia, found himself badly in debt. He thought of himself as a simple man of ordinary ability, but believed he could acquire the essential principles of successful living, if only he could find the right method. Having an inventive mind, he devised a method so simple, yet so practical, that anyone could use it.

Franklin chose 13 subjects, which he felt were necessary or desirable for him to acquire and try to master, and he gave a week's strict attention to each subject, successively. In this way, he was able to go through his entire list in 13 weeks, and repeat the process four times in a year. It was to this one idea that Benjamin Franklin felt he owed all his success and happiness.Frank Bettger took Franklin's idea and applied it to selling.

Here's Bettger's list:
1. Enthusiasm
2. Order: self-organization
3. Think in terms of others' interests
4. Questions
5. Key issue
6. Silence: listen
7. Sincerity: deserve confidence
8. Knowledge of my business
9. Appreciation and praise
10. Smile: happiness
11. Remember names and faces
12. Service and prospecting
13. Closing the sale: action

Bettger used what he called a Pocket Reminder and kept it with him at all times. We are following his example. For 13 weeks, the Mental Vitamin will be devoted to these areas of selling.Carry this Pocket Reminder with you. Read it several times a day. Memorize it. We believe you'll beat last year's performance!

POCKET REMINDER #1 : Enthusiasm
* Force yourself to act enthusiastic, and you'll become enthusiastic.
* Enthusiasm puts your fear to work for you.
* Enthusiasm is contagious.
* Enthusiasm sustains you in the difficult times.
* Commit to double the amount of enthusiasm that you have been putting into your work and into your life.

The Greatest Things

2008-09-23T05:06:00.000-07:00

The late Earl Nightingale, our teacher, mentor and colleague, sent us some definitions one time called, "The Greatest Things." During our careers, we've reviewed them often to help us remember just what's important and what isn't.

Here they are - The Greatest Things:
• The best day, today.
• The greatest puzzle, life.
• The best policy, honesty.
• The greatest thought, God.
• The greatest mystery, death.
• The best work, work you like.
• The greatest mistake, giving up.
• The most ridiculous asset, pride.
• The greatest need, common sense.
• The most dangerous person, a liar.
• The best advice, use good manners.
• The wisest short-cut, develop mentors.
• The greatest fault, to be aware of none.
• The greatest truth, we reap what we sow.
• The most expensive indulgence, self-pity.
• The greatest deceiver, one who deceives self.
• The best habit, making good on all commitments.
• The best teacher, one who brings out the best in you.
• The saddest feeling, feeling envious of another's success.
• The greatest thing in the world, love - love of family, home, friends, associates, company and country.

And here are some definitions taken from the backs of business cards and meeting notes we've accumulated along the way. They are from some of the top salespeople in the world.
• The greatest handicap, egotism.
• The greatest victory, victory over self.
• The most certain thing in business, change.
• The greatest job, being needed and appreciated.
• The greatest gamble, substituting hope for facts.
• The strongest competitive edge, a high level of energy.
• The most effective selling habit, sound time management.
• The greatest guarantee of success, honest intelligent effort.
• The best action, keeping the mind clear and judgment good.
• The greatest selling strategy, speaking as one who has authority.
• The greatest waste, the vast reservoir of talents and abilities most of us possess but never quite get around to using.

Jack and Garry Kinder

Always Do What's Right

2008-09-13T05:47:00.000-07:00

"Honest, intelligent effort is always rewarded."

Honest effort is not always rewarded. Intelligent effort is not always rewarded. However, honest, intelligent effort is ALWAYS rewarded.

Why? Anybody can put forth a little honest effort on the wrong thing. The reverse is also true; you can have the best laid plans thought out by the best minds, but without integrity at the core, sooner or later, these plans fail.

You need both elements for success - honest effort + intelligent effort = rewards.

Lee J. Colan relates this story in his book, 7 Moment that Define Excellent Leaders.

Two young men were working their way through Stanford University in the late 1890s when, during the semester, their funds got desperately low and they came up with the idea of engaging Ignacy Paderewski, the great pianist, for a recital. After paying the concert expenses, the two students could use the profits to pay their board and tuition.

The great pianist's manager asked for a guarantee of two thousand dollars. The students, undaunted, proceeded to stage the concert. But alas, the concert raised only sixteen hundred dollars.

After the performance, the students sought the great artist, gave him the entire sixteen hundred dollars, a promissory note for four hundred dollars and explained they would earn the remainder of his fee and send the money to him.

"No," replied Paderewski, "that won't do." Then tearing the note to shreds, he returned the money and said to them, "Now, take out of this sixteen hundred dollars all of your expenses and keep for each of you 10 percent of the balance for your work."

The years rolled by - years of fortune and destiny. Paderewski had become Premier of Poland. The devastating war came, and Paderewski's only focus was to feed the starving thousands in his beloved Poland. Yet just as the need was most severe, thousands of tons of food began to come into Poland for distribution by the Polish Premier.

After all the starving people were fed and hard times had past, Paderewski journeyed to Paris to thank Herbert Hoover for the relief he had sent. "That's all right, Mr. Paderewski," was Mr. Hoover's reply. "You don't remember it, but you helped me once when I was a student at college and I was in a hole. You invested in me ... now it's my turn."

Always do what's right - no matter what! Honest, intelligent effort is always rewarded.

Make 2008 great in every way!

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Hasty Assumptions

2008-09-01T06:05:00.000-07:00

People who jump to conclusions rarely land in the middle of success. We often prejudge people and circumstances by surface appearances without investigating what lies underneath.

A middle-aged man in shabby work clothes walked into the showroom of a Chrysler dealership in Virginia. The salespeople studiously ignored him. Finally, the owner of the dealership walked over and asked if he could help. "How much is that car?" asked the man, pointing to the most expensive model Chrysler offered. The dealer told him."I'll take one," said the customer. "Very good," said the dealer. "And how would you like to finance it?" "I'll write you a check," said the man. And so he did. And as he took delivery of his new car, he turned to the dealer once more."By the way," he said. "Do you sell dump trucks?" The dealer proceeded to sell four Dodge dump trucks to this man, who was the owner of a local construction business.

Looks can be deceiving. Success doesn't always wear Brooks Brother’s suits and Gucci ties. It can also wear jeans and flannel shirts, coveralls and work gloves, or skirts and blouses. Repetition is the first law of learning – Take action, Reread and apply.

6 Powerful Prospecting Tips - Part 2

2008-09-01T06:03:00.000-07:00

"Top producers don't need to be told to ask for referrals or follow-up on hot leads because they understand that prospecting is a necessity and not just an activity." John Boe
(This article is used with permission. You may contact John Boe at 1-877-725-3750 or www.johnboe.com.)

Why is it that some sales reps consistently earn a six-figure annual income while other reps, putting in the same hours, selling the same products and trained by the same sales manager struggle each month financially to make ends meet? The answer to this question is painfully simple; the six-figure sales reps spend more time on the phone and never forget to ask for referrals!

This week, we'll share the final three of John Boe's "Six Powerful Prospecting Tips to Build Your Business."

Tip Four: Schedule A Minimum of Two Hours A Day For Phone Calling
Make your phone calls in the morning while you and your referrals are both fresh and alert. Treat your prospecting time with the same respect you would give to any other important appointment. This is not the time to check your e-mails, play solitaire on the computer, make personal phone calls or chat with your associates.Avoid the temptation to try and sell your product or service over the phone. Your objective for every phone call is to create interest, gather information and set an appointment. If your prospect asks you a question, get in the habit of going for an appointment rather than giving a quick response.Don't shoot from the hip, use a script. It's important to use a phone script when you contact your prospect, so you don't leave out any key information. It's a good idea to role-play your script over the phone with your sales manager until he or she feels you sound confident and professional.

Tip Five: Qualify Your Prospect at Maximum Range
Unfortunately, not every prospect will be interested or qualified financially to purchase your products or services. Successful sales reps don't waste time chasing after low-probability prospects and know when it's time to cut their losses and move on.

Tip Six: Don't Take Rejection Personally
Selling, like baseball, is a numbers game, pure and simple. Rejection is to be anticipated as a natural aspect of the qualification process, so don't take it personally. Learn from rejection by using it as a valuable feedback mechanism. Salespeople who take rejection personally lack perseverance and seldom make the sale.

For the majority of salespeople, prospecting for new business is without a doubt the most challenging and stressful aspect of the selling process. Selling is a contact sport, and daily prospecting for new business is the key to every salesperson's long-term financial success. By integrating these six powerful prospecting tips into your daily business routine, you'll be able to keep your appointment calendar packed!

Remember: Prospecting is the lifeblood of your business. Stay after it!

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

6 Powerful Prospecting Tips - Part 1

2008-08-25T07:36:00.000-07:00

"Top producers don't need to be told to ask for referrals or follow-up on hot leads because they understand that prospecting is a necessity and not just an activity." John Boe (This article is used with permission. You may contact John Boe at 1-877-725-3750 or www.johnboe.com.)

Why is it that some sales reps consistently earn a six-figure annual income while other reps, putting in the same hours, selling the same products and trained by the same sales manager struggle each month financially to make ends meet? The answer to this question is painfully simple; the six-figure sales reps spend more time on the phone and never forget to ask for referrals!

Top producers don't need to be told to ask for referrals or follow up on hot leads, because they understand that prospecting is a necessity and not just an activity. The good news is that prospecting for new business, like any other skill, can be trained and developed into a habit.This week, we'll share three of John Boe's "Six Powerful Prospecting Tips to Build Your Business."

Tip One: Don't Forget to Ask for Referrals
When it comes to asking for referrals, timing is everything. Research indicates that the most effective time to ask for referrals is right after you've made the sale or provided a valuable service for your customer. Asking for referrals prior to closing the sale is a big mistake and may even jeopardize the sale itself. Once the sale has been completed, your customer will be on an "emotional high" and far more receptive to the idea of providing you referrals.

Tip Two: Train and Reward Your Advocates
An advocate is a person who's willing to go out of his or her way to recommend you to a friend or associate. Most customers are initially reluctant to provide referrals without some basic training and motivation.Once you're given a prospect, it's a good idea to take the time to role-play with your advocate to demonstrate how to approach and talk to their referral. A brief role-playing exercise will build your advocate's confidence and keep them from overeducating their referrals. During your role-play session, be sure to prepare your advocate to expect some initial resistance. This training will pay big dividends by making your advocate more effective and less likely to become discouraged when faced with rejection.Always take the time to thank your advocates and give them feedback on the status of their referrals. I recommend that you call them and then follow up by sending a thank you card and or gift.

Tip Three: Strike While the Iron is HOT
Prospects, like food in your refrigerator, are perishable and therefore need to be contacted quickly. Each day you let slip by without making initial contact with your referral dramatically reduces the probability of you making the sale. Develop the habit of contacting your referrals within two business days or sooner. Have a system to keep track of your referrals so they don't end up falling through the cracks. It's critical to have a computerized client contact management system to record your remarks and track future contacts and appointments. Relying on your memory alone is a very poor business decision that will cost you dearly.

We'll share the final three tips in next week's message.

Remember: Prospecting is the lifeblood of your business. Stay after it!

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Protecting Your Resources

2008-08-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

"A moment of time is like a piece of gold, but a piece of gold won't buy a moment of time."

The first line of defense in protecting your time is to identify precisely how it is eroded and then learn effective means of managing your time.
Over the next several weeks, we will offer proactive strategies for such time management issues as, "firefighting," failure to delegate, procrastination, delays, plus many others.

1. PROACTIVE STRATEGIES FOR DELEGATING
- In order to use time effectively, you should never do anything that can be accomplished by others.
• Determine what is to be delegated, then assign responsibility and give authority to others.
• Set deadlines and make sure that they are met.
• Give increased responsibility to assistants that is commensurate with their abilities.
• Provide thorough training and instructions to your assistant. This aspect is often overlooked!

2. PROACTIVE STRATEGIES FOR HANDLING DELAYS
- Delays are sometimes the result of your procrastination or failure to anticipate a situation.
• Set up a schedule for following up on details or projects within a specific time period.
• When planning a project, anticipate delays. They are inevitable, so don't let them bother you. Do what you can and go on to something else if the delay can't be helped. Every agent must continually juggle several balls in the air at the same time.
• Communicate delays. When delays are caused by the actions of others, there may be a sense of anticipation or lack of control. For example, if the medical history of an applicant requires more information, the delay can't be eliminated, but calling and informing the client will make them aware of it. This reduces frustration for everyone concerned.

(Adapted from the article, "Protecting Your Resources: Time Management" by William L. Moore, Senior Consultant with Kinder Brothers International.)

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Opportunity

2008-07-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

"There was never a day that did not bring its own opportunity for doing good that never could have been done before, and never can be again." W. H. Burleigh

"What is it called?" asked a visitor in an art studio, as he was shown among many sculptures. He had singled out one with winged feet and a face concealed by hair. "Opportunity," replied the sculptor. "Why is the face hidden?" the visitor asked. "Because people seldom know Opportunity when it comes to them." "Why are there wings on the feet?" "Because Opportunity is soon gone, and once gone, cannot be overtaken."

Preparation is the key for being ready to recognize and take advantage of Opportunities that come your way. It is said that "The victories of life are won, not in the fields or in the markets where the ultimate struggles take place, but in the obscure and forgotten hours of preparation. Victory lies within our grasp, long before the hours of final test come."

In selling, like all professions, spectacular results are always preceded by unspectacular preparation. It is a matter of becoming so good, so competent in your selling job that you actually force opportunities in your direction. The outstanding salespeople we have known are those who see their work as an Opportunity for personal growth and development. They prepare themselves for all the Opportunities that surround them every day. They are people of action who realize that indecision is the epitaph on the tomb of Opportunity.

Opportunities! Every selling life is full of them. Every meeting is an Opportunity. Every bit of knowledge gained is an Opportunity. Every prospect is an Opportunity. Every interview is an Opportunity. Every client is an Opportunity. Every proof of a client's confidence in you, and every single sale is an Opportunity. Every day for the professional salesperson is an Opportunity.

Make the most of every day's Opportunities and you'll make the most of yourself.

You Can't Argue With The Films

2008-07-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

"You cannot run away from a weakness. You must sometimes fight it out or perish; and if that be so, why not NOW, and where you stand." Robert Louis Stevenson

When you lose a sale, don't blame the prospect; don't blame your sales manager; don't knock your competition; don't complain about your product - but rather take a good look at your mental attitude and your sales technique.

One time we heard Bill Glass say, "I remember my 12 years as a pro. When I would make mistakes in games, I would begin immediately to dread 'film day.' After the game was over Sunday afternoon and until we studied the films on Tuesday, I spent a lot of time wondering how I would look in the films. When I knew I made mistakes, I struggled with what my excuse would be when questioned by the coaches as to why I failed to do my job.

"On film day all the coaches and players would meet in a large room with one end covered by a huge screen. As the game films were run, there you were in living color, life-size and every move you made was clear for everyone to see. Suppose I missed a tackle, the coach would say, 'Bill, was that you that missed that tackle?' Invariably my answer was 'Yes Sir.' I found it always better to make no excuses but to simply admit to my mistake. There it was in living color for everyone to see."

If a player tells himself or the coaches that he is thinking right and preparing right, mentally and physically, for a game, but plays poorly, then it is obvious that he is not spending enough time with the fundamentals. You will play exactly as you think, prepare and practice. The same is true in selling -- your results will reflect your attitude, your preparation and how you practiced.

Just like the films don't lie, neither do your sales results. They record exactly the way you performed for the week, month or year. Over a long period of time your sales results will be in exact proportion to your sales performance.

Football players can't argue with the films. Salespeople can't argue with results!

How are you looking on Film Day?

The Situation is the Boss

2008-07-03T21:01:00.000-07:00

"Selling is a business of dips, dives, diversions, changes, adaptations, and rolling with the punches. If we know that, why not make these detours work for us instead of destroying our energy?" Burt Meisel, CLU

Study the word PLAN. To us, it's always meant: Prepare Logically -- Adapt Needfully. In other words, make thoughtful, definite plans. Then, adapt and modify those plans as the situation might require.

Great salespeople, like effective performers in all walks of life, are those who are organized, flexible, and adaptable. They size up situations and, when the occasion demands, they quickly, effectively and confidently alter their original course and go to "Plan B." In the Navy, this kind of adaptability is referred to as "changing the course." In the Boy Scout training, it's called "improvising." In football, it's "calling an audible." In selling, it's adapting the prepared agenda to meet the need. In other words, the situation is the boss.

In every sales encounter, you must learn to adjust and adapt. When the prospect starts making objections and offering resistance, "call an audible" -- adjust and adapt. Display flexibility. Move ahead to achieve your goal - another satisfied customer.

Remember that in order to be able to adapt needfully, you must be prepared. Ad-libs are for amateurs. Preparation will give you the confidence to adapt, should the situation require it.

Prepare Logically -- Adapt Needfully!

Sell Courageously

2008-07-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

"Compared to what we ought to be, we are only half awake. The average individual performs far below potential. We possess power of various sorts that we habitually fail to use." William James

After Dr. David Livingstone had begun his now famous missionary work in Africa, a certain group wrote the great pioneer and asked: "Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, please advise. We'd like to send others to assist you."

Dr. Livingstone sent this reply: "If you have those who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want individuals who are strong and courageous -- those who will come if there is no road at all!"
What a lesson in courage - especially for salespeople!

Courage is performing the task that would be easier not to do. Courage is accepting the responsibilities when it would be more comfortable not to accept. It's moving out on faith, when you know full well the risks and the pitfalls that will challenge you. It's marching ahead, blazing a new trail where there are no roads, and sometimes no maps to guide you.

Remember these truths:
"Courage is knowing what not to fear." Socrates
"One man with courage makes a majority." Andrew Jackson

Sell courageously!

The Power of Persistence

2008-06-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

"You've got life to live. It's short, at best. It's a wonderful privilege and a terrific opportunity - and you've been equipped for it. Use your equipment, give it all you've got, work hard and don't quit." Norman Vincent Peale

Gabriela Andersen-Scheiss, a thirty-nine-year-old runner from Switzerland, demonstrated the meaning of persistence to the entire world in her dramatic finish of the marathon in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

She had no hope of earning a medal. Her body's tissues were desiccated from the hours of running under a pitiless sun, and she'd fallen twenty minutes behind the leaders. Thirty runners had already completed the 26-mile, 385-yard event when Gabriela came lurching through the tunnel and into the coliseum.

The seventy thousand spectators went to their feet to cheer her on as she staggered in a weaving half- run around the arena. It took five agonizing minutes for her to complete the final lap.

When she finally crossed the finish line and collapsed into the arms of the doctors, the ovation she received was louder and more sustained than the one that had been given to Joan Benoit, the winner of the gold medal. The spectators recognized that, even though Gabriela came in thirty-seventh, she was a winner.

What relationship does that pain-wracked, dehydrated woman's struggle to finish her race bear to your performance as an agent? Plenty!

You are in a race every bit as demanding as a marathon. The conditions are totally different, of course. The crowd that will cheer you on at the end may be small, or even nonexistent. But you must keep running, day after day, even when there's no hope of getting a medal. Why?

Because, like Gabriela Andersen-Scheiss, you don't have to be among the top three to be a winner. You simply have to do your best every step of the way and finish as well as you can.

Study the history of any agent who achieves consistent, high-level production, and you will find that persistence played a major role in his or her success.

As Calvin Coolidge put it: Nothing else in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Persistence is a most valuable asset. Individuals who have and use this quality always get somewhere.

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Dedicate Yourself to Selling

2008-06-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

"To contrive is nothing! To construct is something! To produce is everything!" Captain Eddie Rickenbacker

We are all salespeople! Every day of our lives, we are selling our ideas, our plans, our products and our enthusiasm to everyone.

Dedicate yourself to excellence in selling! Resolve to be a winner! Declare war on mediocrity, on pessimism!

Dedicate yourself to the ideal that yours is a great profession - one that is filled with endless opportunities for service to your fellow man and with rich rewards for yourself.

Dedicate yourself to your company, your organization, and your associates. Prove your gratitude for the opportunities they have provided by giving them your best.

Dedicate yourself to the daily task of turning problems into challenges, difficulties into opportunities, lethargy into enthusiasm, and procrastination into action!

Be done with excuses! Someone has defined excuses as "the tools with which persons with no purpose in view build for themselves great monuments of nothing."

Every day, affirm to yourself the importance of your profession. Tell yourself a hundred times a day that your work is a potential blessing to many people, essential to the economy of our nation, and vital to the welfare and happiness of you and your family.

The depth of your dedication will determine the altitude of your achievement! Sink the roots of dedication deeply into the bedrock of determined purpose, daily preparation, and detailed planning.

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

The Most Successful Summer Ever

2008-06-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

"Success is not magical or mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals." Jim Rohn

We want to challenge you to make Summer 2008 the most successful ever! Here are 12 sales ideas to propel your Summer Sales Performance:

1. Remind yourself, selling is a numbers game.

2. Look at clients as if they were prospects.

3. Examine the type of market you've successfully worked.

4. Examine your product mix. You may be discussing "X" when your prospect wants "Y."

5. Show a million dollar proposal to someone each week.

6. Have five client review interviews each week.

7. Contact one "over-sixty" prospect each day.

8. Implement marketing strategies, i.e. seminars, direct mail, joint selling.

9. Use these words with prospects twice each day, "Now, here's what I'd like to recommend ..."

10. Spend time with centers of influence.

11. Look back to sales concepts that worked for you in the past.

12. Spend time with a mentor.

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Extend Your Stay

2008-06-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

"Everyone needs at least three ingredients for a successful life - a self fit to live with, a faith fit to live by, and a work fit to live for." Dr. George Sweeting

According to the experts, there are seven steps to take if you wish to extend your stay and live longer, healthier days on earth.

1. Stay active
Once considered an indulgence for a few, regular exercise is now a must for all. By exercising regularly you can do more gradually, greatly benefiting your cardiovascular system, energy level and mental alertness. But don't just create your own exercise program. Ask your doctor to recommend one that's best suited for you.

2. Be optimistic
Physiologically, happiness is a state of mind that is healthy for the body. An optimistic outlook on things will help you make sales, win customer cooperation, gain support from people closest to you - in short, succeed in life and living.

3. Cope with adversity
Adversity, problems, bad things happening are an integral ongoing part of living. If you see the bad things that happen as totally unexpected occurrences, it's easy to sell yourself into believing you are the victim of bad breaks. It's far better to accept the reality that "into each life some rain will fall." You have little or no control over what happens to you. You have complete control over your reaction. It's all a matter of attitude.

4. Reduce your weight
Many people believe it's normal to gain weight as they grow older. This can be a dangerous misconception.

5. Plan significant events
There's nothing more therapeutic than the pursuit of meaningful goals. Studies made of centenarians, those reaching age 100 and beyond, show they have one theme in common -- they have something significant yet to be done. They have something to look forward to -- a motivation for living.

6. Change the pace
Get away from your demanding sales work routine and do something you enjoy. Relief from the day-to-day strains restores the joy of living.

7. Have periodic check-ups
This is an all important first investment in future good health. This is where preventive action begins.
Robust health and a high level of energy - keys to looking and feeling years younger - require more than following a set of rules. It also involves an optimistic, positive state of mind. Scientists are increasingly proving celebrated pianist Arthur Rubinstein was right when he said, "I have found if you love life, life will love you back." Rubinstein lived to be 95.

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Proactive Methods for Handling Procrastination

2008-05-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

"Where duty is plain, delay is dangerous"

Are top producers better than others? No; they simply have a competitive advantage cultivated by a winning attitude. The discrepancies in ability are small, but the discrepancies in rewards are huge. There are four key things top producers do that give them a competitive edge.

1. Establish your priorities and let nothing interfere with the execution of your most vital tasks
Be constructively selective in what you will do. To aid in your selection, keep in mind that it will probably take longer to do most things than you estimate. Review your work methods so that you can learn to get the job done faster and easier.

2. Always plan your day the day before
Keep your written, daily plan visible. It will rout procrastination.

3. Place your concentration on the matters that should be acted on immediately, leaving less important ones for later
A general guideline is that anything that will affect someone's pocketbook or welfare should be acted on immediately.

4. When you start something, be determined to do it right the first time and bring it to a finish
The old cliché "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" still applies. Resist the temptation to leave a job unfinished. It takes more time to re-familiarize yourself with a project than to complete it the first time around.

5. Dive in and get completely involved once you've set your priorities
Determine your most difficult job of the day and don't do anything else until it is complete. Only decisive action can overcome procrastination.

6. Work out a self-reminder system
Make it a practice to write out your daily/weekly objectives and check off each one as it is accomplished. To help keep motivation high, many successful people have signs in their offices such as "When?" or "Do It Now!"

7. Work toward developing your knowledge and skills
People tend to focus on doing what they already do best. If you are procrastinating in one area of the job, it may be a sign that you are unsure of yourself. By developing and applying new knowledge and skills, you build confidence and overcome your resistance to taking action.

8. Discipline yourself in little things
Another natural tendency is to do the easier things rather than the hard ones that are necessary for success. To counteract this tendency, discipline yourself to do something difficult each day. It may be something as simple as getting up a little earlier or making one more appointment interview.

9. Decide what tasks you will not tackle
While setting priorities is essential, it's just as important to set "non-priority items" deciding what tasks are not essential and sticking to that decision. You can use A, B, C priorities: A. Must do. B. Nice to do. C. Non-priority item.

10. Beware of perfectionism
If you tend to be a perfectionist, keep in mind that even by your standards you need to do some jobs "quick and dirty."

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Top Secrets of Top Producers

2008-05-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

"Our industry is full of people who can sell. But the top producers have learned how to move their clients from one stage to another, smoothly and seamlessly." Andy Martin

(Used with permission: Andrew S. Martin, President, First Protective)

Are top producers better than others? No; they simply have a competitive advantage cultivated by a winning attitude. The discrepancies in ability are small, but the discrepancies in rewards are huge. There are four key things top producers do that give them a competitive edge.

1. Top producers believe in their product
When I first joined my firm, the gentleman who recruited me informed me that I needed to buy a $100,000 universal life policy on myself. Since I started directly out of college, I considered the premium to be an enormous sum. I tried to explain that I didn't need a policy. But the general manager of the agency told me, "Son, if you don't believe in life insurance enough to buy a policy on your own life, you simply can't work here." Since I didn't have another job lined up, I bought a policy that day.

2. Top producers sell to sell again
Average producers believe that once they have made a sale, the process is over. However, top producers understand that the first sale is just the beginning of a relationship-building process that can lead to repeat sales. Forge a strong relationship based on attention to client needs and timely information. Excellent service keeps clients happy with their purchase and quite willing to give referrals.

3. Top producers are marketers
At the end of my first MDRT Annual Meeting in 1994 in Dallas, Texas, I realized that the biggest producers could take a single concept and market themselves as an expert so that other producers and consumers would approach them for help. A study by the Financial Planning Association showed that producers making above $100,000 a year market themselves by giving speeches to civic or business groups, public and in-house seminars, and workshops. They also write articles, books and columns, and distribute self-published newsletters. They learned that consumers prefer a marketing strategy over a sales call.

4. Top producers contact their clients
Research done by the Aristotle Brokerage Company indicates that it takes 14 annual contacts to have "extremely" satisfied clients. As a matter of fact, clients are only somewhat satisfied with seven contacts, and they are neutral to four. We realized a quarterly newsletter wasn't enough, but sending it bi- monthly kept us in clients' minds. We began hosting client dinners, increasing our attendance by 50 percent by simply adding to the bottom of the invitation: "Please feel free to bring a friend." In addition, instead of mailing out one invitation, we send three. We also send cards that celebrate the holiday of our consumer's choice.

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

6 Powerful Prospecting Tips - Part 2

2008-05-22T18:15:00.001-07:00

"Top producers don't need to be told to ask for referrals or follow-up on hot leads because they understand that prospecting is a necessity and not just an activity." John Boe

(This article is used with permission. You may contact John Boe at 1-877-725-3750 or www.johnboe.com.)

Why is it that some sales reps consistently earn a six-figure annual income while other reps, putting in the same hours, selling the same products and trained by the same sales manager struggle each month financially to make ends meet? The answer to this question is painfully simple; the six-figure sales reps spend more time on the phone and never forget to ask for referrals!

This week, we'll share the final three of John Boe's "Six Powerful Prospecting Tips to Build Your Business."

Tip Four: Schedule A Minimum Of Two Hours A Day For Phone Calling
Make your phone calls in the morning while you and your referrals are both fresh and alert. Treat your prospecting time with the same respect you would give to any other important appointment. This is not the time to check your e-mails, play solitaire on the computer, make personal phone calls or chat with your associates.
Avoid the temptation to try and sell your product or service over the phone. Your objective for every phone call is to create interest, gather information and set an appointment. If your prospect asks you a question, get in the habit of going for an appointment rather than giving a quick response.
Don't shoot from the hip, use a script. It's important to use a phone script when you contact your prospect, so you don't leave out any key information. It's a good idea to role-play your script over the phone with your sales manager until he or she feels you sound confident and professional.

Tip Five: Qualify Your Prospect at Maximum Range
Unfortunately, not every prospect will be interested or qualified financially to purchase your products or services. Successful sales reps don't waste time chasing after low-probability prospects and know when it's time to cut their losses and move on.

Tip Six: Don't Take Rejection Personally
Selling, like baseball, is a numbers game, pure and simple. Rejection is to be anticipated as a natural aspect of the qualification process, so don't take it personally. Learn from rejection by using it as a valuable feedback mechanism. Salespeople who take rejection personally lack perseverance and seldom make the sale.

For the majority of salespeople, prospecting for new business is without a doubt the most challenging and stressful aspect of the selling process. Selling is a contact sport, and daily prospecting for new business is the key to every salesperson's long-term financial success. By integrating these six powerful prospecting tips into your daily business routine, you'll be able to keep your appointment calendar packed!

Remember: Prospecting is the lifeblood of your business. Stay after it!

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

6 Powerful Prospecting Tips - Part 1

2008-05-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

"Top producers don't need to be told to ask for referrals or follow-up on hot leads because they understand that prospecting is a necessity and not just an activity." John Boe

(This article is used with permission. You may contact John Boe at 1-877-725-3750 or www.johnboe.com.)

Why is it that some sales reps consistently earn a six-figure annual income while other reps, putting in the same hours, selling the same products and trained by the same sales manager struggle each month financially to make ends meet? The answer to this question is painfully simple; the six-figure sales reps spend more time on the phone and never forget to ask for referrals!

Top producers don't need to be told to ask for referrals or follow up on hot leads, because they understand that prospecting is a necessity and not just an activity. The good news is that prospecting for new business, like any other skill, can be trained and developed into a habit.
This week, we'll share three of John Boe's "Six Powerful Prospecting Tips to Build Your Business."

Tip One: Don't Forget to Ask for Referrals
When it comes to asking for referrals, timing is everything. Research indicates that the most effective time to ask for referrals is right after you've made the sale or provided a valuable service for your customer. Asking for referrals prior to closing the sale is a big mistake and may even jeopardize the sale itself. Once the sale has been completed, your customer will be on an "emotional high" and far more receptive to the idea of providing you referrals.

Tip Two: Train and Reward Your Advocates
An advocate is a person who's willing to go out of his or her way to recommend you to a friend or associate. Most customers are initially reluctant to provide referrals without some basic training and motivation.
Once you're given a prospect, it's a good idea to take the time to role-play with your advocate to demonstrate how to approach and talk to their referral. A brief role-playing exercise will build your advocate's confidence and keep them from overeducating their referrals. During your role-play session, be sure to prepare your advocate to expect some initial resistance. This training will pay big dividends by making your advocate more effective and less likely to become discouraged when faced with rejection.
Always take the time to thank your advocates and give them feedback on the status of their referrals. I recommend that you call them and then follow up by sending a thank you card and or gift.

Tip Three: Strike While the Iron is HOT
Prospects, like food in your refrigerator, are perishable and therefore need to be contacted quickly. Each day you let slip by without making initial contact with your referral dramatically reduces the probability of you making the sale. Develop the habit of contacting your referrals within two business days or sooner. Have a system to keep track of your referrals so they don't end up falling through the cracks. It's critical to have a computerized client contact management system to record your remarks and track future contacts and appointments. Relying on your memory alone is a very poor business decision that will cost you dearly.

We'll share the final three tips in next week's message.

Remember: Prospecting is the lifeblood of your business. Stay after it!

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Remember Names & Faces

2008-05-22T18:01:00.000-07:00

"Aristotle believed that one of the keys to human excellence is habituation: Force yourself to do something the right way long enough and it becomes second nature"

Frank Bettger shared these three rules for remembering names and faces:
1. Impression
2. Repetition
3. Association.
Think of them as IRA.

Rule #1 - Impression
The first thing to do is forget yourself, and concentrate as hard as you can on the other person's face and name. This will help you overcome self-consciousness when meeting strangers.
Psychologists tell us that most of our memory troubles are really not memory troubles at all; they are observation troubles. We will observe a person's face pretty well, but many times fail completely in getting the name. We either don't listen or are unable to hear the name clearly. If you don't hear it, simply ask the person to repeat it.

Rule #2 - Repetition
Do you ever forget a person's name within ten seconds after being introduced?
• Try repeating the name several times in the early minutes of your conversation with the person. "It's nice to meet you, Sue." "Sue, allow me to introduce, John." "We are so glad you could be here today, Sue." You get the idea.
• Use your own name in the conversation. This is helpful to others for remembering yours.
• After you leave a new acquaintance, write the name down. Seeing it will help recall it.
• When you are introduced to a group of people, try forming a sentence or two in your mind using the names.
• To avoid forgetting names when introducing people in a group, don't be over anxious, make it a practice to greet people by their name, and if possible, take time beforehand to become familiar with the names.
The real secret to repetition is: repetition at intervals. Make a list of people you want to remember, or anything you want to remember, and go over it briefly just before going to sleep, first thing in the morning, the next day, again next week.

Rule #3 - Association
Now, how can you retain what you want to remember? Association is undoubtedly the most important single factor. Associate the person's name with an event, an action or something it sounds like.
To help others remember your name, supply the association for them. When introducing himself, Frank Bettger would say, "I'm Frank Bettger, then he would repeat his name, with a grin, "Pronounced like 'Bet- cher life!' Bettger." If it was a business introduction he would say: "Like 'Bet-cher Life Insurance' . . . Bettger."

Follow these three rules this week and see what a difference they make.
Carry this Pocket Reminder with you. Read it several times a day. Memorize it. We believe you'll beat last year's performance!

Pocket Reminder: Remember Names and Faces
Follow the IRA rules:
• Impression: Get a clear impression of a person's name and face. Forget yourself and concentrate on the other individual.
• Repetition: Repeat the person's name at short intervals, especially in the early minutes of your conversation. Write it down once you leave the meeting. Review names of people you want to remember at regular intervals.
• Association: Associate the name with an action picture. If possible, include the person's business.

Help others remember your name by providing an association for them!

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Life Insurance for Every Stage in Life

2008-04-24T21:52:00.000-07:00

"Life Insurance is a combination of caring, commitment and common sense." ~ Howard Wight, Red Letter Language

Most people will need more life insurance when they reach 65 than they need at 35, if they are married with two children and a mortgage. Times have changed, but many advisors are still selling life insurance as if people are going to die at 65 years of age. With today's mortality tables, people need long-term, permanent life insurance. The current statistics show that for every 100 people starting their careers at age 25, by the time they are 65, 13 will be dead. That means 87 are still alive. There's a good chance they'll need more life insurance then than they do now. They will need personal permanent life insurance.

The old axiom is still true that people are going to die before 65 or after 65 - one or the other. Most will die after 65. The older they get, the more needs they have. We want to be selling life insurance for all stages of life. Shown below is an outline that we've prepared showing the importance of life insurance for every stage in life. (Click here for a printable version.)

CHILDREN
• Guarantee Insurability
• Cash Value Accumulation
• Final Expenses
• Lower Premiums

SINGLE
• Guarantee Insurability
• Cash Value Accumulation
• Final Expenses
• Lower Premiums
• Debt Protection

MARRIED/NO CHILDREN
• Guarantee Insurability
• Cash Value Accumulation
• Final Expenses
• Debt Protection
• Mortgage Acceleration
• Income Needs
• Lifestyle Protection

MARRIED W/CHILDREN
• Cash Value Accumulation
• Final Expenses
• Debt Protection
• Mortgage Acceleration
• Income Needs
• Lifestyle Protection
• Future Funding for Emergency
• Education Fund

EMPTY NESTERS
• Cash Value Accumulation
• Final Expenses
• Debt Protection
• Mortgage Acceleration
• Income Needs
• Lifestyle Protection
• Future Funding for Emergency
• Maximize Pension
• Social Security Offset
• Replace Group Insurance
• Gifts

SENIORS
• Final Expenses
• Debt Protection
• Mortgage Acceleration
• Income Needs
• Lifestyle Protection
• Future Funding for Emergency
• Maximize Pension
• Social Security Offset
• Replace Group Insurance
• Gifts
• Equalization of Inheritances
• Legacy/Charity
• Wealth Replacement
• Dynasty Trust Funding

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Closing the Sale: Action

2008-04-24T21:49:00.000-07:00

"Confidence is the fuel that drives persuasiveness." ~ Calvin Foo

The ability to persuade and close sales is still the most important factor in any advisor's career. The fundamental principle of the close is that you must be persuasive and tell your prospect that you want him or her to act now on your recommendation. If you hesitate in doing this -- if you hold back, if you are timid, if you are vague -- you may have many pleasant interviews each week, but you will seldom have any sales. Nothing is more important during this part of the selling process than your confidence, born of thorough preparation. You must have a strategy for closing.

We teach the following five-step strategy for closing:
• Step 1 - Owner Benefits.
Make summary statements regarding owner benefits. "We feel, and we think you'll agree, Bill, we have ..." "First, this plan ..." "Second, our plan provides ..." "Finally, the plan provides ..."

• Step 2 - Final Look.
Place the proposal in front of your prospect and ask him/her to give it a final look. Listen and watch for opportunities to encourage and reinforce your prospect's realizations regarding various facets of your plan's owner benefits.

• Step 3 - Strategic Move.
Ask two questions with the first being a controlled question. By that, we mean the response you'll receive is predictable, one that almost invariably gets a favourable response. "How do you like the work we've done and the plan we've personalized to you and your family?" (Record name of plan on application.) "Secondly, are you comfortable with the amount based on your current budget and the dollar range you suggested we work with?" (Record amount on application.) You'll often meet some resistance in asking about the amount. However, you have positioned yourself to close the sale when you received a favourable response to your plan. The important attitude to develop and maintain is that the sale must be closed; it seldom closes itself.

• Step 4 - Prospect's Idea.
After you record the amount on the application, move to secure consent on a minor question. This gives prospects control of the idea to take action on your recommendation. You can say: "Bill, would you prefer to handle the premium annually or on our monthly check-o-matic?" People love to buy but are reluctant to be sold.

• Step 5 - App with Check.
After the question regarding how the prospect wants to handle the premium, you move ahead with this statement: "Bill, I need your check for $1,027 made payable to (company)." Next in importance to the early minutes of the initial contact is the time when you ask for the check for the initial premium. This should be done in a very matter- of-fact manner. Once you get the check, you are properly positioned to complete the application in its entirety. You get the check, then fill out the app.

Carry this Pocket Reminder with you. Read it several times a day. Memorize it. We believe you'll beat last year's performance!

POCKET REMINDER: Closing the Sale: Action
• Your confidence born of preparation is the key.
• The sale must be closed; it seldom closes itself.
• Step 1 - Owner Benefits
• Step 2 - Final Look
• Step 3 - Strategic Move
• Step 4 - Prospect's Idea
• Step 5 - App with Check

Master your closing strategy.

Good luck and good selling,
Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Service & Prospecting

2008-04-09T18:01:00.000-07:00

"Prospecting is the bloodlife of our business"

Serve what you sell. Clients want consistent service from start to finish. Make certain your prospects get more in the way of service from you than they expect. Make certain they get more than they pay for. Make certain they get more from you in the way of service and information than they can possibly get from your competitors.

The key to your success is recognizing that most of your time must be spent prospecting and arranging interviews so that you show contracts and proposals to people who can and will buy from you. They will buy from you because you arrange to get in front of them and they like you and the manner in which you sell.

The importance of prospecting and its contribution to your success cannot be overrated. An important sale you make is the one you make to yourself relative to being and staying prospect-minded. Professional Advisors regard their prospect file in the same light as they regard their personal bank account; they know that they must make regular deposits to offset withdrawals. If they fail to do this, they will be going bankrupt with their prospect account.

Where will you find these "new deposits"? There are numerous sources of prospects. We will discuss the major sources relevant to selling at MDRT levels. The "bottom line" prospecting goal is to develop Qualified Leads who can be seen under favorable conditions. If you are to achieve superior results, prospecting must become as natural as breathing. It will, if you conscientiously and consistently do these two things:

1. Pay Attention.
Successful Advisors observe. Keep your eyes and ears open. Do more than just look, see something. Do more than listen, hear something. Make notes. Develop an alertness and a probing, inquisitive attitude.

2. Maintain an up-to-date "reservoir-building" file.
Here's where you organize prospect data and other important follow-up information. The primary purpose of such a file is to provide you a system for bringing names of Qualified Leads to your attention at a time when it's best to make contact with them.

This should not be a "hope chest." It's not a sign of success to have a bulging file of "dead wood." The only "reservoir-building" file that works is one containing bona fide Qualified Leads -- individuals who will appreciate the kind of work you do and the plans and services you offer.

It's trite to say, but it's still true, prospecting is the lifeblood of our business. You can call it what you want -- target marketing, networking, relationship marketing -- however you address it, it still comes out the same -- it's the gathering of qualified names with proper introductions and endorsements.

Carry this Pocket Reminder with you. Read it several times a day. Memorize it. We believe you'll beat last year's performance!

POCKET REMINDER: Service and Prospecting
• Serve what you sell.
• Pay attention.
• Maintain an up-to-date "reservoir-building" file.

Make 2008 great in every way!

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Smile -- Happiness

2008-04-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

"The shortest distance between two people is a smile." ~Author Unknown

Would you like to be welcomed wherever you go? Did you know that the voice with a smile almost always wins?

Soon after Frank Bettger started selling, he discovered that a worried, sour expression brought results that were just about infallible - an unwelcoming audience and failure.

It didn't take him long to realize that he had a serious handicap to overcome. It meant a complete change in his outlook on life. Here is the method he tried. It began to show results immediately in his home, socially, and in business.

Every morning for 15 minutes he determined to cultivate a big, happy smile, just for that 15 minutes. Bettger soon discovered, however, that it couldn't be an insincere, commercialized smile, developed just for the purpose of putting dollars in his pocket. It had to be an honest-to-goodness smile from down deep inside, an outward expression of happiness from within!

It wasn't easy at first, but he kept at it. Bettger made it a practice before going in to see prospects to stand outside their office and think of all the good things he had to say and offer. As a result, he was always smiling when he walked through the door. It made an impact on the people on the other side of the door -- they smiled back!

As you begin to develop a voice with a smile, consider the following:

1. Research indicates that feelings follow action. Put this theory to the test: Practice smiling and see what follows.

2. Studies have been conducted for years by telephone and advertising companies that show the voice with a smile wins. Even in our high-tech culture, it still matters greatly about the voice on the other end of the line. Companies spend millions to have just the right voice on their automated systems.

3. Smiling can be the start to cultivating happiness. We begin to expect good things to happen and most of the time, they do.

Frank Bettger discovered that he could cultivate happiness with a smile. He practiced smiling with his children, his wife and his business associates.

This is our challenge this week: Start developing a voice with a smile by picking up the phone to set that next appointment - AND SMILE. The voice with a smile almost always wins.

Carry this Pocket Reminder with you. Read it several times a day. Memorize it. We believe you'll beat last year's performance!

POCKET REMINDER: Smile -- Happiness
Be welcomed wherever you go - start cultivating happiness with your smile.
• The voice with a smile almost always wins.
• Practice smiling 15 minutes in the morning.
• Smile before going into prospects' offices.
• Smile at your children.
• Smile at your spouse.
• Feelings follow actions - see what feelings begin to follow after one week of practicing smiling.

What do your prospects hear and feel on the other end of the line?

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

When to stop selling

2008-04-09T17:50:00.000-07:00

"It is as important to know when to stop talking as when to start." Dr. Napoleon Hill

Much has been written about the "psychological moment" to make the close. Today most students of selling believe that "the moment" can be created several times throughout the selling process. We say, close early, close late . . . close anytime the prospect gives you the indication that he or she is ready to buy.

Learn to watch for these buying signs:

1. Words and Questions
These are some of the most important buying signs. What your prospect says and how he or she says it can be very meaningful. Questions should almost always be interpreted as buying signs. Some examples include, "What discount do you allow for cash?" or "When will this take effect?" Generally speaking, questions indicate interest. Questions as pointed as these tell you your prospect is waiting for you to bring the interview to a close.

2. Prospect's Attention
The prospect's attitude often betrays his or her interest. The prospect leans forward, rubs his or her chin, pulls an ear or scratches his or her head. These actions are revealing an "almost persuaded" attitude. Likewise, when a prospect re-examines the product or contract, the time has arrived for you to close.

3. An Act of Hesitation
When your prospect hesitates just for a moment over one article or item, this is an important signal. You may have uncovered the prospect's need and a reason to buy now.

4. Tone of Voice
Even a slight raising or lowering of the tone of voice will give you an indication of interest.

5. Facial Expressions
Most people betray their thinking in their expressions. Watch your prospect's eyes for a look of interest. Many feel that eyes tell you more than words.

Stay alert - pay attention. Be able to recognize and read your prospects through the body language and other indicators we have described. Whenever you are reasonably sure you have a buying sign, then act - attempt a close.

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

One Thing Not To Surrender

2008-03-18T21:14:00.000-07:00

"Belief is the thermostat that regulates what you accomplish in your life. Believe BIG. Adjust your thermostat forward. Launch your success offensive with a sincere belief in yourself. Believe BIG and grow BIG." David J. Schwartz, Ph.D.

It's important to understand two fundamental principles about self-image:
• You will be true to your self-image. You will perform the way you see yourself performing.
• Your self-image can and does change.

The expectant approach, the expectant presentation and the expectant close are what produce the desired results. People can, who think they can. People can't, who think they can't. This is an unchanging, indisputable law of selling and of life itself.

Count as an enemy the person who shakes your expectation of your selling ability. Remember, as a professional salesperson your self-confidence is the one thing you can never afford to surrender. Nothing multiplies a salesperson's ability like faith in himself or herself. It will make a one-talent person a success - while a ten-talent person without it will fail.

How often have you heard said about some successful person, "Everything he or she touches turns to gold?" We sometimes think of successful people as being lucky. The fact is, their success represents their expectations - it's the sum of their habitual ways of thinking. By the force of their expectations, such persons wring success from the most adverse circumstances.

Expectation brings successful experiences and successful experiences reinforce the power of confidence in selling.

Individuals who are self-reliant, positive, optimistic, and assured "magnetize" conditions. They carry in their presence an air of victory that compounds its power by convincing others. Their poise, assurance and ability increase in direct ratio to the number of selling achievements.

Launch your success offensive with a sincere belief in yourself.

Good luck and good selling,
Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Develop Your Own Positive Driven Splinter

2008-03-18T21:11:00.001-07:00

"There is no doubt that you will succeed today at making a difference in the world. The question is, what difference will you choose to make? " J. S. Lowery

Article based on the book, The Power of Being Different, by John Paul Carinci. Used with permission.

We've all had a painful splinter sometime in our lives. A splinter that throbbed, it seemed endlessly. Without us paying attention to it, it would hurt, sending pain signals to our brain. Well, very successful individuals, for thousands of years, have used the laws of nature to reverse the signal system and use it to accomplish great tasks. Most great inventors use a similar principle. Let's study it.

Truly successful people have found that if they pre-program their minds, in particular, the subconscious mind, with certain commands and goals, it gets etched into their subconscious, and that is the real key here. It is important to realize that the subconscious will accept fact or fiction.

Think about the NYC Marathon runner who trains for the entire year before the big race. Think about the fact that the race is over 26 miles long. Let's look at the mindset of this individual. The runner is intensely driven for that whole year, visualizing, all along, that ultimate finish line. The runner doesn't think about failure to finish the race, or blisters, or many other obstacles that will arise during the year. The runner's mindset is: one goal; one vision; one battle; that will ultimately be won.

The runner will also announce to everyone, sometimes months in advance, that they will be running the famous marathon. This is important, because once announced, a goal has that much more importance and urgency attached to it. So once introduced correctly, the subconscious mind accepts this great goal, and works overtime to bring the intense, positive, driven goal, to pass, just like that terrible deeply imbedded splinter.

So, what will be your Positive Driven Splinter? To make this the most successful summer ever - get focused on your goals - turn that "splinter" into a positive force for success in selling!

Good luck and good selling,
Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Appreciation & Praise

2008-03-18T21:07:00.001-07:00

"To get appreciation, you must show appreciation."

Showing appreciation is a mark of a true professional. Start looking for ways in which you can show genuine appreciation. You have, of course, some natural times when you should always do this:

1. Express appreciation for new business. This is usually automatic. Be sure your clients know you appreciate doing business with them.

2. Give appreciation to those who assist you. Try sending a note to a prospect's/client's assistant. Assistants can be most helpful to you in building a relationship.

3. Always express appreciation for an interview. Even if a prospect doesn't buy, sincerely thanking them for granting you an interview is one of the best ways to make an impression and keep the prospect's mind open to your proposition at a future date.

4. Show appreciation through your manners and actions. Let the buyer know where you can be reached whenever you are needed. Return telephone calls promptly.

5. Give thanks for referrals. Always express appreciation to those customers who refer business to you. Report back to them on your results.

6. Send prospects to your customers. If your customers are also in business, send them prospects or supply them with leads.

7. When the subject of one of your competitors comes up, there is only one way to handle it: PRAISE YOUR COMPETITOR. This requires knowing your competition well enough to be able to praise them. Being knowledgeable about your competitors allows you to praise them. This doesn't necessarily get you a sale. However, your prospect will be more likely to accept information about your company as accurate. Never criticize your competition.

Carry this Pocket Reminder with you. Read it several times a day. Memorize it. We believe you'll beat last year's performance!

REMINDER: Appreciation and Praise

Opportunities to show appreciation:

• New Business.
• Assistants and others who help me.
• Interviews.
• Return phone calls promptly.
• Referrals/report back.
• Send prospects/clients business or leads.

Know my competitors well enough to praise them.

Good luck and good selling,
Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Knowledge of My Business

2008-03-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

"Anyone who stops learning is old - whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young"

To have confidence in yourself, and win and hold the confidence of others, an essential rule is: Know your business . . . and keep on knowing your business!

Periodically you must step back and look at yourself.
• Are you satisfied with the human being you're becoming?
• How are you doing in your business?
• Are you moving forward?
• Are you getting better?
• Are your sales increasing?
• Are you using your time effectively?

It's for these reasons you need a personal Research and Development Department. You must have a library of sales support material you can use and refer to in order to make yourself a better sales rep, to keep you current on your products and sharp on new selling techniques. Read, attend educational seminars, take advantage of home office resources, participate in company and industry conferences.

Good sales reps are those who have confidence in themselves and their abilities. Great sales reps are those whose clients have confidence in them and their abilities.

Professionals know they are good, and they know why they are good. Consistently, they work at becoming better.

All of us are aware of tragic school dropouts. But salespeople "drop out" too! It's unfortunate but true that for many, there comes a time when they literally "drop out." They stop learning. They stop growing. They stop getting better. It's at this precise point they compromise what they will become as sales reps and as human beings. They expect their companies to grow and get better. But all too often, sales reps make the assumption that they are good enough to meet the challenge and change of the future without improving themselves.

Remind yourself to keep growing. Keep learning and studying. Keep records to monitor and measure your performance. Maintain a personal Research and Development Department that keeps you up-to-date - one that keeps your sales success "above the crowd" that is not interested in gaining more knowledge and becoming better.

Carry this Reminder with you. Read it several times a day. Memorize it. We believe you'll beat last year's performance!

REMINDER: Know My Business
• Great sales reps are those whose clients have confidence in them and their abilities.
• Keep growing.
• Keep learning and studying.
• Keep records of my performance.
• Know my business -- keep knowing my business.
• Keep getting better and better.

Knowing my business is an investment of time and money that will result in the confidence of my prospects and clients.

Good luck and good selling,
Jack and Garry Kinder

Watch Your Self Talk

2008-02-24T20:56:00.000-08:00

Self-talk shapes your selling life. Have you seen the breathtaking pillars in Mammoth Cave in Kentucky? Those enormous "icicles of stone" have taken centuries to form. A single drop of water finds its way through the roof of the cavern to deposit its tiny sediment on the floor of the cave. Another drop follows, and still another, until a marble-like finger begins to grow upward. The result is a tremendously solid pillar.

Self-talk shapes your life in much the same way.

What you are is the result of the many accumulated statements you have made and continue to make with your self-talk.

What have you told yourself today? What conversation has gone on in your head or been spoken aloud?

Take charge of your thoughts. They are yours to control. Monitor what you are telling yourself about your potential in selling.

Suppose you check your self-talk and discover you are telling yourself you have trouble closing sales. The first question to ask is: "Is that really true?" Suppose the answer is "Yes, sometimes it is true." The next question is: "What percent of the time is it true - 100% - 60%?" Let's say it's true 60% of the time. You have trouble closing sales 60% of the time. Great! This means it's not true 40% of the time.

Change your self-talk. You can now confidently say, "I'm effective closing sales 40% of the time." What a difference! You're now building a mental image of one who can do it right. And the 40% will soon become 50% and 60% and . . .

Self-talk makes a difference!

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI group

Enthusiatically Develop Your Slight Edge

2008-02-24T20:47:00.000-08:00

After hearing his boss, Mr. Walter Talbot, say that this business boils down to seeing the people - enthusiastically telling your story to four or five people every day, Frank Bettger immediately applied the principles of enthusiasm and the slight edge. He literally turned his career around.

He applied the principle of enthusiasm by giving himself a pep talk. "You've got two good legs. You can do it. You can tell your story to four or five people every day. You will make good. Why? Mr. Talbot said so." Bettger said, "What a great relief came over me. Now I knew I was going to make good in selling."

Bettger then applied The Slight Edge Principle by devoting extra time to enthusiastically telling his story to four or five people every day. The rest is history. Frank Bettger went on to become one of the greatest insurance salesmen of all time.

Here's the Slight Edge Creed:
• Put enthusiasm to work for you
• Show that you care - by attitude, word and action
• Treat the customer as you would like to be treated
• Respect prospects' intelligence; never overestimate prospects' information
• Do today's jobs today - never put off until tomorrow
• Make right first impressions
• Seek an answer to every question; never leave the customer in doubt
• Deliver more than customers expect
• Do what it takes to assure the customers' satisfaction.
• Follow-up to make sure the job is well done, and done right.

Enthusiastically develop your slight edge!

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Be A Generator

2008-02-11T22:12:00.000-08:00

Every organization has two types of sales reps -- generators and interceptors. Generators represent only 20 percent of the sales force, but consistently produce 80 percent of the business. Why is that? Well, if you study the generators, you'll discover they have seven characteristics. Let's study these traits and decide how they can become ours.

• First, generators are well rehearsed. They invest time in preparation. They believe spectacular achievements are the result of unspectacular preparation.

• Second, generators are relationship builders. They know that all things being equal, prospects buy from the sales rep they know, trust and like. More importantly, they understand that all things not being equal, buyers do the same thing -- they buy from sales reps they know, trust and like.

• Third, generators work at the right things. They focus on those few sales activities that make the big difference.

• Next, generators always have a sales call objective. They have in mind a "bottom line result" as they enter every selling situation.

• Fifth, generators ask probing questions. They ask the right questions -- the questions that arouse interest with prospects.

• Sixth, generators talk to the decision makers. They do not want to give their presentation for practice.

• Finally, generators manage the buying process. They help along the prospect's decision to buy.

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Believe in the Law of Averages

2008-02-03T18:38:00.000-08:00

Professionals are good at what they do, and they know why they are good. Because they know why they are good, they critique their own performances and naturally continue to grow and to become better. These types of performance reviews show them how to grow and become more effective.

Another characteristic of professionals is that they demonstrate a strong belief in the law of averages. Knowing the numbers permits them to have an almost total indifference to whether or not a given prospect buys or not.

One time, we saw a show on Broadway, "Ben Franklin in Paris," starring Robert Preston. In this show, Preston, playing the part of Franklin, said, "When you are turned down is simply the place where you begin to negotiate." What a valuable lesson to learn when you are in sales!

When you meet resistance anywhere along the selling process, that's the point where you begin to negotiate. You'll get resistance along the line. This isn't unique to selling. It's part of everything in life that involves any element of competition.

One year, late in the season, Harmon Killebrew struck out for the 142nd time. That was a new all-time major league record for strikeouts in a single season. However, on the same day, Killebrew hit his 48th home run. That, too, was a new all-time record for the most home runs ever hit by a Minnesota Twins' player. Killebrew's unshakable faith in making the law of averages work for him enabled him to become one of baseball's all-time great sluggers.

In baseball, like selling, it all goes together -- the most strikeouts, the most home runs. Whatever it is you are selling, each disappointment, any delay, every turn-down is like a strikeout. The important thing is to be a student of your business so you know the number of strikeouts you have had since your last hit. The greater the number, the nearer you are to your next hit!

The best-kept secret for obeying the law of averages and conquering selling fears and call reluctance lies in remembering your selling success, however small. Erase from memory your failures, however large. Put this up on the mirror where you can digest it each day, put it on a card and carry it with you, make it your screensaver - whatever works for you. When this secret is learned, emotionally as well as intellectually, you'll begin putting your feet where the sales professional's feet always belong - on the road to another prospect.

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

Self Organisation

2008-01-28T18:56:00.000-08:00

Think about the most successful people you know for a moment. For the most part, successful people are ruthless with their time. They take the time to do the inglorious task of planning. Getting and staying organized is grueling, but without it, you are on a collision course with failure.

This week, we're concentrating on Order: self-organization. Initially, Frank Bettger set aside every Saturday morning for what he called, "self-organization day." Every Monday morning, instead of having to drive himself to sell, he approached the week with confidence and enthusiasm. He was eager and anxious to see people because he had thought about them, studied their situations, and had some ideas he believed would be of value to them.

You may be thinking this isn't for you - you don't have time to devote a morning to planning - you don't want to be tied down to a schedule. Here's good news for you: You are already living on a schedule. And, if it's not a planned one, it's probably a poor one!

We adhere to a weekly plan, as well as a daily "To Do" list, which we follow religiously. We like to think of it as planning to wake up employed! Plan your work and work your plan. Your enthusiasm and confidence will soar when you take the time to get and stay organized!

One of the greatest satisfactions in life comes from getting things done and knowing you have done them to the best of your ability. If you are having trouble getting yourself organized, if you want to increase your ability to think and do things in the order of their importance, remember there is only one way: Take more time to think and do things in the order of their importance.

Carry this Pocket Reminder with you. Read it several times a day. Memorize it. We believe you'll beat last year's performance!

POCKET REMINDER #2 : Order : Self Organization
• Designate a set period of time each week for self-organization, planning your week, getting things in order.
• Get up one hour earlier each day. Use this time to read and study.
• Keep your weekly and daily plans visible.
• Be ruthless with your time.
• Commit to bringing more order to your work and your personal life. The secret of freedom from anxiety over not having enough time lies not in working more hours, but in the proper planning of those hours.

Jack and Gary Kinder
The KBI Group

Enthusiasm

2008-01-27T23:24:00.000-08:00

Benjamin Franklin, just a small printer in Philadelphia, found himself badly in debt. He thought of himself as a simple man of ordinary ability, but believed he could acquire the essential principles of successful living, if only he could find the right method. Having an inventive mind, he devised a method so simple, yet so practical, that anyone could use it.
Franklin chose 13 subjects, which he felt were necessary or desirable for him to acquire and try to master, and he gave a week's strict attention to each subject, successively. In this way, he was able to go through his entire list in 13 weeks, and repeat the process four times in a year. It was to this one idea that Benjamin Franklin felt he owed all his success and happiness.
Frank Bettger took Franklin's idea and applied it to selling. Here's Bettger's list:
1. Enthusiasm
2. Order: self-organization
3. Think in terms of others' interests
4. Questions
5. Key issue
6. Silence: listen
7. Sincerity: deserve confidence
8. Knowledge of my business
9. Appreciation and praise
10. Smile: happiness
11. Remember names and faces
12. Service and prospecting
13. Closing the sale: action

Bettger used what he called a Pocket Reminder and kept it with him at all times. We are following his example. For 13 weeks, the Mental Vitamin will be devoted to these areas of selling.

Carry this Pocket Reminder with you. Read it several times a day. Memorize it. We believe you'll beat last year's performance!

POCKET REMINDER #1 : Enthusiasm
* Force yourself to act enthusiastic, and you'll become enthusiastic.
* Enthusiasm puts your fear to work for you.
* Enthusiasm is contagious.
* Enthusiasm sustains you in the difficult times.
* Commit to double the amount of enthusiasm that you have been putting into your work and into your life.

Jack and Garry Kinder
The KBI Group

About this blog

2008-01-27T19:53:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year and may 2008 bring you Good Wealth and Good Health.

The new year brings new life and in our case, new initiatives. We are pleased to announce a regular communication platform where APLO Agency & Distribution may better communicate with you in our respective markets. Through the sharing of ideas, practices and strategies, we will become closer and function as a more cohesive unit.

To keep things simple initially, we would be sending the enclosed Monday Morning Message (KBI has given us permission) to National Distribution Channel Heads, Zone/State Distribution Heads, National Training Heads and Zone/State Training Heads. These messages would come out of our office every Monday morning and into the email boxes of the targeted recipients. The first email will be sent out on Monday January 20th.

We, at the Regional Home Office, have enjoyed and benefited from these Morning Morning Messages and we are certain you and your team would too.

Good Luck. Good Selling.

Stay driven,
Calvin Foo
Regional Agency Development Manager, APLO