Succeedinginbusiness.com BLOG

Sources of power in a downturn

2008-07-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

A match made in heaven

Imagine matching what you do best and most easily with what your target market and current clients want most. This is the essence of defining an ideal client and using Margin Boost techniques to drive your pricing.

Spray and pray? Or rifle shot?

If you know yourself, and if you know who you want to work with, you can connect with the precision of a marksman using a rifle for target practice. By contrast, believe it or not, many people try, with a shotgun, to shoot at anything that moves. If you want a dinner on the table that you’ll enjoy eating, use the rifle.

My strengths: a real life example

Knowing my strengths (what I can easily deliver) and the things about those strengths that my target market value (their “pain” points, rather than what they need) has been incredibly important to my work life and satisfaction.

According to the test at http://www.strengthsfinder.com/ (see below), my top five strengths are these traits:

I’m an activator (I get people into action.)
I’m a relator (I tend to take steps to deepen my relationships.)
I individualize (I am intrigued by the characteristics of the people I interact with, and I treat them like the unique individuals they are.)
I command (I am a leader, and I enjoy helping others get where they want to go.)
I am futuristic (I love to, and am good at, looking beyond the horizon.)

I first discovered this set of strengths and more, through the http://www.pinnaclegroupusa.com/index.html survey, and it helped me get clear on a number of important career direction adjustments. They were further confirmed by the test at www.strengthsfinder.com.

My consulting clients value me (pay me) for my ability to:

Help them see a new future in which they can deliver what they do best, for the greatest value, to their ideal clients (command and futuristic).

They want to rely on me to guide them and their organizations to new futures, and therefore they want a trusting relationship with me (relator and Individualize).

They want me to get them into action and keep them in action toward their new futures, and to hold them accountable for the things they commit to doing along that path (activator).

Here is the win-win

My ideal clients love my strengths and get a great deal of value for their businesses by using those strengths and enjoying dramatic jumps in profit. My strengths come naturally to me and are fun for me to further develop and refine. This is a real win-win.

Gradual transition

The idea is to gradually change from working with anyone who will say yes (the shotgun approach; also known as “spray-n-pray”), to targeting the ideal client (the rifle approach). Trying to make this transition overnight could lead to economic suicide. But a gradual transition over six to 12 months, can bring great joy, confidence, satisfaction, and a dramatic improvement in profits.

I am still in the process

Like you, I still do some shotgun work. But, every day, I move a little closer to the rifle approach. Here’s how: At every step with prospects, I learn a little more about them. I then take the knowledge I’ve gained through this learning process and incorporate it into my elevator speeches. As I do this, the speeches more accurately describe my ideal clients and what I do for them. It becomes clearer to them, and they are more likely to supply me with information that’s valuable to me. If, at the end of this process they say, “Tell me more,” I’m pretty sure I’m talking to an ideal client. Then, we can make real progress together.

Don’t know how you’ll get there?

Many people today struggle away with a shotgun to get enough sales. The funny thing is that beginning to define and make the transition to your ideal client normally helps you make more sales, more easily. McDonald’s is clear that they sell burgers, while Ruths Chris is clear that they sell high-end steak. Neither would fare well trying to sell it all. Neither will you.

Makes sense, but how do I know?

The problem is often simply knowing what one’s strengths are. My mother, my spouse, my friends, and my old school teachers certainly had their perspectives, but did they really know?

Opinions of others are often not enough

I wish I could rely only on the opinions of those I love and like, but I sought confirmation from at least three other sources. Here is my take on a good, better, and best example of the options for learning more about yourself.

Disclaimer on the options below: I have no financial interest in the “good” or “best” options. I will receive a small commission from www.amazon.com, but it will not affect your cost.

Best option

It’s simple to use, it’s very powerful. It will give you a written report and a personal phone interpretation, plus the opportunity for questions and answers.
http://www.pinnaclegroupusa.com/index.html

For an independent perspective go here:http://www.allbusiness.com/construction/construction-buildings-residential-building/223143-1.html

Better option: StrengthsFinder 2.0 (book)

It’s simple, fast, inexpensive and easy. The book is a huge value at just $12. They identify your top five strengths (out of a total of 35), but for most, this is all that’s needed. Additional data is available for about $500, and coaching is also available (for much more).

To review the book, go here.

Or go to the StrengthsFinder Web site. (Note: To reach the main Web pages, you’ll need a password. Each book purchase includes a single-use password.)

Good option

Very informative
http://www.discprofile.com/

Lots of goodies here, but this approach requires a fair amount of work and interpretation on your part. The test is $19.

To your success,

Twenty years - or two hours - to better sales results? You choose.

2008-06-27T10:08:00.000-07:00

Part I

The trick in sales

Sales can be a tough business, even when you are doing everything just right. The trouble is dealing with all those darn human beings. They do what they want to do, and not what you want them to do. No news there. The real trick is to just work with the ones who are seriously inclined to go your direction, clear to the end. But how?

The secret of “how” requires that you…

So now for that elusive how: In my quest to bring you, my cherished reader, the best real information available to help you sell more while working less, I am going to share a major secret with you today. I’ll also give you an example of that secret in action. Read on.

90 percent close rate this year. Really!

I have been developing my sales approach over the last 30+ years. This year, I have closed 90 percent of the proposals that I have written, and I have wasted almost zero time with tire-kickers. So how did I get there?

Twenty years — or two hours? You choose.

About 10 years ago, I stumbled on the book, High Probability Selling, and Jacques (sounds exactly like Jack) Werth. As I read the book and listened to the cassette tape, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Jacques had collected, refined and expanded upon, my emerging notion of how selling really worked. Reading his book, listening to the cassette, and taking his class rocketed my sales results. Jacques had given me more in just hours than 20 years in the school of hard knocks had given me.

I can do that

Even though I had been getting ready to absorb this material for 20 years, it made my jaw drop. At first, I heard myself say, “I can’t do that.” But then I did do it. Exactly what Jacques suggested. Wow, what a difference! I would never have guessed just how well all this would really work.

How can it be that simple?

Initially, most people will find this approach to be more than a little shocking, because it goes against most of the conventional selling wisdom. People tend to feel this way until they start to use the approach and find out just how well it works, and how powerful it makes the seller feel. Then they say to themselves, “Gee, I had no idea it could really be this simple.”

If you really have it nailed now, stop reading

If you are happy with the sales results you’re getting now, you can stop reading right here. But, if you want to take it up to the next level, in results and confidence, read on.

Why I have waited to share this

Jacques sends out a newsletter every so often and has done so for years. I like what he writes, but, until recently, I hadn’t seen an issue that would give you such a clear picture of how different his sales really process is.

I thought this issue captured the essence

Then, last week, I received the newsletter that I have included, below. I felt that it encapsulated the essence of Jacques' High Probability Selling process: More sales with less work and more self-respect. I’ll shut up and let you be the judge. This approach has made me a great deal of money, improved my closing ratio, and helped me never (well, almost never) sound like a salesperson.

Action step

If you are willing, read the newsletter below, and then link to the site. What I recommend is that you buy and listen to the book on CD, and then take the outstanding course. Jacques’ training course is life-changing. I don’t say that lightly. There is nothing like it under the sun, in my experience.

Here is the newsletter I speak so highly of:

Part II

By Jacques Werth

Word Count: 716
Minutes to Read: Approx. 5

We were in a large meeting room in a nice hotel, in a suburb of Seattle. Twelve successful Realtors were attending a Real Estate Sales Mastery workshop. They were an unusually well-dressed group for a two-day offsite workshop.

At our request, one of the participants had borrowed a sample front door and door frame from a builder. It was in the front of the meeting room and it was braced to stand on its own. The outside of the door was to the right, and to the left of the inside of the door we had a kitchen table and some chairs. Those were the props that we needed to begin the first exercise.
One of the workshop participants was asked to role-play how she approaches a visit to a homeowner who wants to sell his house. The instructor played the part of the home owner.
The first Realtor walked up to the outside of the door and knocked. The instructor opened the door and said "Hello."

The Realtor flashed a big smile, held out her hand and said, very cordially, "Mr. Smith, it is so good to meet you. I am Pam Jackson with XYZ Real Estate. How are you today?"
The instructor invited her in and offered her a chair in the "kitchen."

"Your home is very lovely. I really like what you did with the kitchen," said Pam with delight, while looking all around.

The instructor stopped the role-play at that point and thanked Pam. He asked her to switch roles. She would now play the homeowner and the next participant would play the Realtor. He was even more effusive than Pam. Each successive Realtor tried to out-do those what went before them in their attempts to impress the "prospect" with their enthusiasm, charm and likeability.

During those role-plays, the other Realtors watched intently and remained very quiet. Several preened their clothing and hair before it was their turn.

For the second part of the role-play the instructor played the part of the Realtor, with Pam playing the homeowner. The instructor knocked on the door, and the Pam opened it. "Yes?' she said.

"I'm Joe Instructor with HPS Realty. Are you Pam Jackson?

"Yes, I am," she said, reaching to shake his hand. "Come in. I suppose you want to look over the house."

"Before we do that, we need to get to know each other and determine whether we have a mutually acceptable basis for doing business."

Homeowner: "Okay, we can sit in the kitchen, here."

Realtor: "When we spoke on the phone we agreed this meeting would take about ninety minutes of uninterrupted time. Have you arranged for that?"

Homeowner: "Yes, I turned off my phone and put the dog out in the back yard."

Realtor: "We agreed that the purpose of our meeting is to determine whether we have a mutually acceptable basis for selling your home. Is that your intention?"

Homeowner: "Yes."

Realtor: "And, we agreed that if we can meet your conditions of satisfaction for the sale of your home, we will make a decision about that today. Is that still your intention?"

Homeowner: "Yes, it is."

The instructor thanked Pam and asked her to rejoin the rest of the group. Then, he asked the entire group "What did you notice about the way I just approached Pam, the prospect?"

They called out their answers:

"You were very straight-forward," "You were dignified," You were very relaxed," "You were authentic," "You were not acting," "You were in control," "You asked for and got commitments," Pam then capped it off with, "I felt privileged to be your prospect, I felt respected, and I felt respect for you."

Then, the instructor explained exactly what he did, why, and how he did it, and asked all of the participants to replay both roles - doing it that way.

At the end of that exercise, they were offered a choice; continue to sell by out-charming, out-smiling, out-dressing, out-dancing and out-impressing their competition, or learn how to sell on a basis of mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual commitments. They all chose the latter.

What if the choice was yours?

What do you want to do?

To find out more about this extraordinary selling approach, you can go to High Probability Selling, or cut and paste this url: http://tinyurl.com/5qpzjf

To your success,
Eric

Hawaii Vacation

2008-06-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

Announcement

A book version of Opening Doors with a Brilliant Elevator Speech, by Eric Albertson, is now available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/3lynpb

I love my kids but a break from them was nice

I just got back from vacation on the island of Kauai, HI. This was the first without children in the 15 years since my oldest son was born. We were gone seven nights, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Caroline’s parents watched our boys, Alexander (15), and Zachary (9).

The girl of my dreams

Uninterrupted time with the love of your life is a wonderful thing. Caroline works hard to make it possible for me to work hard for all of you and my clients. The vast majority of the good things in my life are truly a team effort.

The good things in life

Everything I talk about in my newsletters is simply a way to help you get, and keep, the life you want. If you put those things into action, you can have practically anything you want. You just can’t have everything (last time I looked). Kauai is one of those really good things in my life.

A chance meeting in the Allerton Gardens

While visiting the Allerton Gardens (the highlight of our trip), we met a retired military officer who was having a spectacularly successful second career in real estate. He told us he was having his best year, ever, in 2008.

You could have pushed me over with a feather

I asked him what his secret was. He said that he had a great “elevator pitch.” With glee he told me that, since he had mastered the skill of creating elevator pitches (I call them elevator speeches), he could find qualified prospects and engage them as needed. It was clear from the look on his face that he felt like he was giving me a huge gift.

Is eighty the new fifty? This fellow was nearly 80 years old and had been retired since the end of the Vietnam war. He told me that he owned three different vacation homes, and he attributed his great health, wealth, and happiness to his ability to sell and make people happy.

People like this guy are my inspiration

To say the least, I was better off for meeting this remarkable man and his beautiful wife. He reminded me of why I write this newsletter, and why I wrote the 2nd edition of Opening Doors with A Brilliant Elevator Speech.

Worth $1,000+ in 1976 dollars

When I told this fellow I had a book out about this, and described it to him, he said that he would have killed for such a guide during his dark years of trying to figure it out on his own. When I told him that it was $49, he told me that I should charge $1,000 for it, and that it would be cheap at that.

Now available as a regular printed book

We now have a printed version of the book available at: http://www.createspace.com/3341942 or http://tinyurl.com/3lynpb. The price is still just $49, but the value, if you put it into action, is literally beyond words.You can also get the electronic version instantly here: http://www.succeedinginbusiness.com/marketing-doors.html also just $49

Just a couple of hours away

This is, according to what we have been told, the best selling (over 15,000 copies of both versions have been sold) elevator speech book in the world, simply because anyone who can follow directions, can read the 42 pages, and can create a very good elevator speech within an hour or two. With a little more effort, say one or two more hours, you can have an elevator speech that can make you more money every month that you use it.

What is a single elevator speech worth in incremental sales?

I paid for this vacation with one use of an elevator speech. It took seven seconds to say, but it will yield enough to pay for a vacation every year for 10 years. A great elevator speech is really that powerful. You just have to be willing to buy the book, and invest some time in trial and error. Most people waste most of their time and money. Don’t let that be you.

One of my elevator speeches

When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them that “I help people get others to say the three most magical words in the English language, for a sales person to hear: “Tell me more.”

Skin in the game of your life

I don’t need another $49. What I want is for you to have just a little skin in the game so that you will take the time to read the book’s 42 pages, and block off an hour or two to build and refine you first elevator speech. With each refinement, you will make more money, have more financial security and, hopefully, have more of the life you and yours want.

To your success and life,

Eric

Why they buy

2008-06-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

Your customer’s aren’t buying the way they used to

In their current situation, they might not be seeing the benefits they need to see to keep buying — or to keep buying from you.

Your choice

You can take action, or you can wait and see what happens. I tend to ask about, and confirm, my value with my clients, early and often. They like it and it helps me keep my customers. (Remember: The two most important measures in business are: 1.) What does it cost to get a customer, and 2.) What is the lifetime value of that customer?)

A true story

Ron’s profit and volume kept sliding each year. He was over 60, and retirement kept looking further and further away. I suggested he ask long-time clients these questions:

What did they like about what he did?
What did they want more of?
What things did they want from him that he wasn’t offering now?

He asked, he listened, and he acted. His profits tripled the next year.

Long ago, but still true

Congressman Barrett Pettengill (1866-1974) said, “The successful producer of an article sells it for more than it costs him to make, and that’s his profit. But the customer buys it only because it’s worth more to her than she pays for it, and that’s her profit. No one can long make a profit producing anything unless the customer makes a profit using it.”

Have you checked lately?

Consider checking your value proposition with your clients at least quarterly. I often check and confirm monthly. Done correctly, and with a bit of grace, it is truly a benefit for both me and them.

The raw basics of what a person wants in a purchase

People seek a particular combination of price, quality and service from you. In my experience, all differentiation falls into one of these three categories.

Forces that influence

Schlomo Maital, in his book, Executive Economics, has suggested that there are 13 forces that influence what people buy. I’ll just share 9 of the 13, here:
Aptness; particularly well-suited to the purpose or occasion; appropriate
Bandwagons & bubbles (everyone else seems to be buying it, using it, wanting it)

Cost or price is right
Greed
Habit
Income
Jazz, excitement
Advances desired knowledge
Loyalty

What does that make possible?

This is the million-dollar question. We don’t necessarily care about the product or service, but what the product or service makes possible.

Why me?

Sooner or later, I ask, “If I wasn’t around, where else, or who else, would you get this service from”?

Scary question. The answers are powerful, and are often the lights that guide you in keeping and expanding your business with a customer.

Do you build your foundation on sand or rock?

Valuable and long-term customer relationships, in my opinion, start on a foundation of rock. By rock, I mean a foundation on which the benefit is clear to both parties. That clarity starts with a powerful elevator speech.

Assumptions kill

If you don’t get clarity about the benefits from the start, you are at risk of creating disappointment for your customer every day. You are also at risk of having your customer not understand your real differentiation (your primary value).

The tar pit

If your initial message to prospects is vague (“I’m a doctor,” “I sell copiers,” “I sell computers,” “I’m a printer,” I’m a manufacturers rep,” “I sell life insurance,” I’m a financial planner,” and so on) you won’t start with a clear benefit. Instead, you’ll be perceived however that person decides to perceive you, based on his initial “take” on your description. (On the other hand, if you are specific, in your elevator speech, about what your value is, prospects will often ask if you could help them with a problem that is a little different, but related to, what you described.)

Where else can you get ten times your money back?

Most people report to me that getting their elevator speech right with our book, How to Open Doors with a Brilliant Elevator Speech, has earned them at least 10 times what they paid for it, within 30 days. Some have said it was closer to 100.

Action step

No matter how you do it, get your value proposition clear, and build your next customer relationship on a foundation of rock, instead of on sand. Start writing and testing your elevator speech today, so you can prosper tomorrow.

Cheers,

A major key to success

2008-06-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

Here’s a quick challenge for you

Name this personal attribute: You’ll find it at the core of many a success story, modern or otherwise.

Everybody’s figuring it out

In interviews this year, people as diverse as Sean “Puffy” Combs and Robert Kiyosaki, have named this attribute as the main reason for their long-term success.

It’s a big void when things begin falling apart

When people stop being successful, not doing this is really at the heart of the problem, in many cases.

Nobody is perfect in this way, but that’s ok

In the quest for this attribute, perfection is not required, but the intent to improve is.
What’s the answer?

I’m talking about keeping your word. Nothing, in my opinion, is more powerful than keeping your word, if success in life is what you desire.

So why is it important

Thirty years of research shows that others (that includes people who might buy what you are selling) don’t buy at all, or for long, if they think you don’t or won’t keep your word.

That’s a big deal.

Keeping your word can be tough

If you don’t know the mechanics, keeping your word (which I define as doing what you say you will do, when you say you will do it), in my experience, is very hard to do. Given the frequency with which things change, and the speed with which priorities adjust, it’s sometimes impossible. You can make a promise most sincerely today, but tomorrow, circumstances might prevent you from keeping it. You have to be very careful about making promises. You have to know the mechanics.

Life often won’t let you keep your word

When another person makes a request of you, you have a choice of how
Decline
Accept
Counter

Promise to promise at a later date

Really being able to keep your word requires deliberation

The mechanics of keeping your word include deliberate thought. Don’t assume you have to say yes to everything, right now. Take the time to consider it, to reach clarity. To know what you’re promising. Consider making another kind of commitment, instead.

Make a promise to promise

Making a promise to promise is just a way of saying, “When I get more information, I’ll make a decision about making a commitment.” You make keeping your word almost impossible when you commit to things without enough information and consideration.

I can’t do it on Wednesday, but I can on Thursday

The king of tactics for keeping your word is the counter: I can’t do what you requested, but I can give you this alternative.

Sometimes going the extra mile doesn’t work, either

It’s a huge surprise to some that doing more than they were asked is not the same as keeping your word. In fact, it’s often perceived to be just as bad as not going the full distance. When the recipe calls for a cup of sugar, tossing in a cup-and-a-half is wasteful — and it doesn’t make for very good cookies, either.

I can’t promise that, but I will commit to this

You can go above and beyond by simply saying, in advance, that you promise to call with an answer by, say, Tuesday, or earlier.

The money shot

The important thing is to come to an agreement on what and when. I call it butt-on-line. Putting your own butt on the line by making a what-by-when commitment is truly the key to your performance. This is what makes the world of business, and other human relationships, go around.

It won’t happen overnight

Getting better at keeping your word probably will happen slowly. Most of us shine a blind eye on the full cost of not keeping our word. That includes the cost to our lives, to our happiness, and to our financial well-being. Because we have those blinders on, we’re sometimes not motivated to make a change. But, it’s time to take those blinders off and do something.

Just start trying to do it

Start looking at when, where, and how you fail to keep your word. Then begin to notice, or at least to speculate, the cost involved. Ask yourself how you feel when others keep — and don’t keep — their word to you.

A future that’s better than the past

If you truly want a future that’s different from the past, keeping your word an ever-growing percentage of the time is likely the most direct route.

It’s one of the few points of control in our lives

It can be very, very scary. We really don’t have much control in this life. The tools I have given you today should help you gain control of one of those things: keeping your word.

It’s one that could matter most to your future.

It’s your choice

It’s a simple decision to make. You just have to start looking at the cost of not doing it. Maybe the cost is ok by you. Maybe it isn’t. But, once you get a glimpse of the true cost, though, I suspect you will be on your way. The world holds many good things for you if you improve just a little.

To you,
Eric

The secret to more sales in any economy

2008-05-29T10:41:00.000-07:00

Do this and you practically can’t lose with a customer or prospect

Most of us feel that we would be unbeatable in the market if we had the best quality, the best price, and powerful differentiation. In my experience, you could have all that, and still fail. You also need trust between you (and your company) and the client.

Trust is the challenge

Trust, while vital to any worthwhile and productive relationship, seems to be a challenge for many to build and maintain successfully. Further, sales and marketing efforts that lack this vital ingredient, often (always, in my experience) fall far short of their potential.

The cost you never see

People hate to tell you that they don’t trust you. Instead, they let their actions do the talking for them. You usually can’t see the cost. What I have observed is that, as trust grows, new, interesting, and rich opportunities suddenly emerge, right before your eyes. Those goodies were always there, just waiting for you to earn the right to see them. That right almost always comes through trust.

I meet often with CEO’s and presidents

The first test I set for myself is the test of trust ability. Nothing else matters if I can’t pass this test. I got in the door because others said I was trustworthy. Now they run their tests to confirm it. If I pass, I move forward. You know what happens if I don’t pass the trust test: Nothing.

Surveys point at trust

Dozens of survey’s, done over the last 30 years; consistently show that prospects and customers feel they can tolerate average products, average service, and average pricing. But they can’t tolerate working without a certain degree of trust.

Trust can buy you some potent benefits:

Real loyalty, when times are tough: The behaviors that create and sustain trust are not affected by any economy.
Referrals. Some trust will deliver some referrals. Deep trust can drive a torrent of referrals your way. (However, this won’t happen without some action on your part.)
Better information. Some trust delivers some information. Deep trust results in a lot more information.
Win-win deals. Sometimes you must walk away from a deal to maintain your long-term trust relationship.
Better self esteem for you.
Far higher margins. In most surveys, price is not actually in the top five reasons that people buy or keep buying. Getting what they want in a fair manner is usually the main thing they are after. With trust, you can be paid what you are really worth in a situation. That doesn’t mean overcharging. It does mean that, if you provide great value, you are much more likely to be paid for that great value.
Fewer surprises.
Sales forecasts that become revenue reports with a minimum of leakage. (One forecast was for $100K while the actual revenue received turned out to be $30K. Nothing erodes your credibility like consistently missing your revenue forecasts).

What isn’t necessary to have trust (This might surprise you.)

You might be surprised to know that being liked is not a necessary part of a trusting relationship. It is helpful, and it likely leads to greater and more-effortless productivity, but it is not actually, in my experience, a requirement.

Story

I once had a business partner who was a very religious person. He was also off-the-charts brilliant at what he did for a living. But, he was a “difficult” person in the opinions of most of our customers. I cringed every time he got near a customer. Despite all that, we still got great customers. And we kept those customers while we increased our revenues each year. While this person was a royal pain at times, he was as trustworthy as the day was long.

Three levels of trust

Level one: Our values are aligned
Level two: I am competent in the things you need me to be accountable for.
Level three: I have the authority to achieve the things you need me to be accountable for.

An example:

I trust (level one) my lovely wife, in that our values are deeply aligned. We are going on vacation to Hawaii June 1st. I wouldn’t trust her to fly the 747 we will be flying on, because she is not competent to do that task (level two). Let’s just imagine, for a second, that she did know” how to fly a 747. I would not trust her (level three), because she would not be authorized by any airline (with a brain) to fly one.

To be powerful

You must test the levels of trust that your objectives require. We call this qualification.

The magic of keeping your word

The fundamental underlying all this, is the requirement that you keep your word. So easy to say and, oh so very hard to do, even if you know the mechanics of keeping your word. I’ll cover those mechanics next week, by the way.

How to build trust

The key is to ask, listen, and keep your word:

What do they want from what you are selling?
What do they value?
What does success look like?
How will they know success when they see it?
What complaints have they had with others who provide what you offer? (You are not asking the name of the others. You just want to know what the issues have been in the past. I like to ask, “What did they say when you told them about your concern”?)
What kind of service do you want and need?
What is the single most important thing to you in dealing with what I offer? (If it is price you might also want to say: “Pretend price is the lowest you have ever seen. What would be the next most important thing to you”?)

I am sure that you can think of a dozen other questions whose answers you need to know to align with your clients in your market. Just make sure you write them out, ask them, and record the answers. There is no memory in the world as powerful as words printed in pencil on plain white paper.

The big issues that derail trust even if you know all of the above:

Thinking about what you are going to say next, instead of really listening.
Not asking clarifying questions. The client is aware of it when you don’t ask a question that you should be asking. This is where the amateurs are separated from the professionals. The client loses trust in you if you don’t ask the right questions, and you begin to pose a risk to them, their career, and to their company. Even when you think you know, ask the question.
Not doing what you said you would do, every time. Essentially, you must keep your word. Again, we will go into the mechanics of keeping your word next week.

Bottom line

The bottom line is to take care of trust first, and then your product, service or company. You can have the best price, best service, and best quality, but without trust, you can, and will, be beaten by the competitor who has an average price, an average service, and average quality, but is wrapped in the security of trust.

Creation and maintenance of trust before the sale

If your clients know they can really trust you, they can tolerate almost anything else, as long as you and your offer truly meet their needs.

Choose to act now

Begin today to ask those questions, keep your word, and build trust. You will likely be amazed at what a difference it will make in your life.

Cheers,
Eric

Slow purchase decisions: What to do?

2008-05-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

If people can delay

If people can delay, they will. Your job is to make it easier and more logical to act, than to delay. If they delay, you have a choice; act or wait and hope for the best.

If you choose to wait (passively)

Let me know how that works out for you. I’ll be busy taking actions, making sales and going to the bank (with vacation, retirement and other deposits.)

The pain of delay

Delay costs you in many ways:

In lost revenue and profit
You incur more risk of loss to competitor
There is more risk that you have wasted your sales effort
It is emotionally unsatisfying
The irritation creates a drag on life in general
It robs you of the feeling of being effective and powerful
lients don’t get the value you offer. It’s a classic lose/lose situation.

Why do you delay?

If you know yourself, you will often know others. Answer this question for yourself, and you will be well on your way. We all delay when we can get away with it.

How people decide things

My observation, after 30 years and more than $1.5 billion in sales transactions under my belt, is that people make decisions in just two fundamental ways: 1.) They seek to clarity everything until a decision becomes obvious, or 2.) They take a stand, regardless of new information, or the possible availability of new information.

What is the cost of delay?

If the cost of delay is large, and the downside of acting right away is known or limited, things will happen. If there is no cost of delay, or there are unknown risks, things don’t happen until clarity is achieved.

What is possibly missing?

What information is possibly missing to make a good (safe) decision?

Background conversation

Most people are trying to make a decision that they can defend to others in their world. In essence, they want a good story, and they want a story that is simple enough for them to repeat successfully. Giving them that story is part of your job.

Service and detachment

You give the prospect all the help that you can, and then you ask for the order. Your clients will fall into a pattern. You just need to be prepared to help them, in a systematic way, get through their issues. When they get through the issues, they can make a decision. Don’t get emotionally involved. It will slow you down.

If you can’t walk away, it’s tough to sell

If prospects are not meeting you half-way, you are probably better off graciously setting them aside or suggesting that they not make a decision now. Get them, and yourself, off the fence and move on to the next target.

My internal conversation is always this

I always tell myself, “I am rich and I don’t need the money.” I am here to do this person a favor, but I don’t have all day. I did this when I was broke. It wasn’t easy, but it was the key to having the bank account that I enjoy today.

What I want

I want a firm “Yes,” or “No.” If I get a “Not now,” I want to know what it will take to get a firm “Yes,” or “No.” If the prospect can’t help me with that, I put them on a tickler list and keep dripping valuable information on them with lots of opportunities for them to buy.

The real problem

I suspect you already know most of what I have said. The real issue is that, in some cases, if you walk away from a prospect who can’t act, you know you really don’t have anyone else to sell to. Delay is not your real issue. Getting enough prospects to sell to is your real issue.

Only four major ways to get new prospects

They are: a solid, on-going marketing program, cold-calling, getting referrals and luck. Now I am going to put the shoe on the other foot:

Do you have a marketing process in place that gives you all the qualified prospects you need? If not, sign-up for my next marketing class and get busy.
Do you know how to cold-call successfully when you need to? Invest $49 and follow the directions. Then get busy.
Do you have a referral system in place that delivers a steady stream of qualified prospects? If not, get on the list for my upcoming referral program tele-seminar. Click here to join the list.

Are you going to delay? If so, why?

Your action

Put this newsletter into action. Do what you can to help prospects make a good decision. Then ask them to buy. If they still delay, move on to the next prospect.If you don’t have enough prospects to sell to - so you can walk away from someone who delays too much - consider taking one of the actions above. Without delay. It’s your life, and it’s happening now.

Cheers,
Eric

Customer disloyalty - What to do?

2008-05-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

Disloyalty can shake you to your core

At a very basic level, when we perceive that someone else has acted in a way that we describe as being “disloyal,” it is a shock to the senses and may make us feel threatened at a fundamental level. This is one bad feeling. You thought things were one way, but they weren’t.

Too much can put you out of business

Nobody really expects perfection in life. Disloyalty in customers just happens. If it happens too much, you could be out of business. If you notice a trend; it is probably wise to act, so you’re not.

The brand of loyalty we want

Most of us just want people to be consistent, tell us when things are not what they want. We want them to be patient and flexible with us, while we try to get things back in line enough that they can be happy once again. Is that too much to ask for? Sadly yes, it is too much to ask for, realistically.

Where it comes from

People are disloyal when they don’t get what they want or need. In marriage, coffee, burgers, dry cleaners, and so on. If, overall, the needs are met, people stay loyal.

Bad economy often brings on disloyalty

Your customers are pressed in a bad economy just like you are: more for less. If you and your value proposition stay the same as they were when times were good, you could be at risk. If someone comes along that will meet their needs better for the same or lower price, then disloyalty might occur.

What we can choose to do

“Disloyalty” is simply a conversation your customer has in his or her head. It often goes like this: “Joe doesn’t get it that things have changed for me. He doesn’t realize that my priorities have changed. I keep telling him, but they don’t make the changes that I need. Bill (with another company) keeps promising to give me what I want. Maybe I should give him a try.”

No, they often didn’t actually let you know

The tough part is that nobody told you that things were changing. One day they just left. Sorry. Welcome to adulthood. That is just the way it happens sometimes. It simply means that they like you enough to not want to talk about it. They can’t stand the pain of owning up to what they feel they must do. They just want to run away and think about something else, as they give their business to someone new.

What can you do?

Ask the questions: “How is the economy affecting you? Let’s assume the product is no-cost. What else would you want from me so that all of your needs are met”?

You might not like what you hear, but you will be dealing with reality.You can’t change human behavior, but…

You can change the ways you act or don’t act. I hope you are sitting down. In most cases, disloyalty simply means we have fallen out of alignment with our customers’ perceived needs. Sometimes, you can make the changes necessary to stay aligned, other times you can’t. In the end, “disloyalty” is usually just that simple.

Action step

Consider getting out there and asking 10 customers the question above. See if you can stay aligned with customers, using your current business model with just small adjustments. Often the necessary changes cost you little, and get you back into alignment. Sometimes the changes are too much, and you must make major changes or let the customer go.

Get serious

If you want to slow or stop disloyalty, you have to start with questions, in my experience. You can take action this instant, with our book on questions, Closing More Sales by Asking Better Questions.

This book will help you get answers that allow you to slow or stop disloyalty. But, you have to act on what you learn. It’s an investment of $49 that, if put into even modest action, could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars, or even your job. Click the link above, or cut and paste this URL, to get the book:http://www.succeedinginbusiness.com/value-closing.html

Cheers,
Eric

Handling objections after they say, "Tell me more"

2008-04-18T13:42:00.000-07:00

Some say you'll always get objections.

I’m not so sure about that, but here are the categories that most objections fall into, I find:

No trust
No need
Not now
No budget
Politics

No Decision, Inc., could be your main competitor

Most people, in my experience, either lose a sale to themselves, or to “No Decision, Inc.” If you really have your differentiation down cold, your competition is usually not your number-one problem.

No trust

Trust is simply the alignment of values, in my book. Most people could care less about what you offer, if they don’t trust you. You kill trust by implying any interest in clients besides serving them and serving them well. The number one and two errors here are about speaking and listening. In short, don’t sound like a salesperson, and do listen. If you can’t meet the need, walk.

No need

You shouldn’t even be talking if you are not relatively sure that the target needs, wants, and can afford, what you are offering. It might be a good idea to have a set of clear qualification questions. This is where true professional selling begins: Either targets are qualified or they are not. Good questions help sell, and don’t scare away truly-qualified targets, in my experience.

Side note

One great way to get to the poorhouse in a big hurry is to try to convince people that they need something when they don’t already perceive the need. It is important to be a master at teasing out and nurturing a latent need, but it is foolhardy, in my opinion, to try to take someone from blissful ignorance to a state of being ready to purchase as a regular way to make a living.

Not now

Your first move here is to listen. You don’t want to engage in wishful thinking, so respecting a rational “not now,” is usually a wise move. Prior to moving on, however, I always like to do a quick cost-of-delay calculation and get it on the table with the client. When the “not now” is real and warranted, the cost-of-delay is sadly just a cost that will have to be endured, for the moment.

A “not now” example

A client wanted a new forecasting system as a means to manage sales growth. He wanted it yesterday. We were just getting down to final details when he said the dreaded, “Not now.” Turns out his parent company had unilaterally decided that he would implement the company’s standard ERP system. I think he was wise to delay.

No budget

This is a very tricky one. If all these factors are present: You really have a return-on-investment (ROI) for what you are proposing; You are high enough in the organization; there is trust; there is real need; and your ROI compares favorably with the other investment opportunities, the no- budget response might not be real.

Budget and qualification

There is always money when there is trust, need, urgency, ROI, and if the politics line up. If you keep running into the no-budget response, either one of the above is not as real as you think, or possibly you just need to change the person you are targeting. It could also be the dreaded political factor.

Politics

When politics enter into it, rationality often leaves the room. Again, just qualify. The acid test here is the quid pro quo (tit for tat). Is the rule of rational reciprocation in effect? Is the target doing what normal, well- qualified clients do in this situation? Are they making and keeping commitments? If not, politics probably are looming large, and you might find yourself being used to get concessions from the politically-favored candidate.

Your mission

The idea is to have enough targets that, when a particular one does not qualify, you can walk away and spend your precious time with someone who does qualify. Ignoring the objections above is a killer. Do so at your own peril.

The bottom line

Build trust by asking questions and focusing on being of real service. Qualify. Listen. And above all, be willing to walk, if the target is not qualified and is not behaving with integrity. If you do all that, I suspect that objections will diminish as issues in your marketing and sales career.

All the best,

Eric

The rest of the story

2008-04-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

Things often don’t make sense
Following your gut instincts, combined with doing your homework, can be a powerful way to live life. Add to that the power of conviction that can come from learning to trust yourself, and you have a good life, in my book.

The checklist story

Late last year, I wrote a newsletter about the amazing power of a checklist in hospital Intensive Care Units (ICU) to practically eliminate a type of infection that occurred in four percent of ICU patients. Some of those infected died. Others just wished they had. Here is the link to the story:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/12/10/071210fa_fact_gawande

Alas, no good deed goes unpunished

A little while ago, a reader sent me another link about “the rest of the story” on the checklist. Sadly, some government bureaucracy forced the discontinuation of the checklist. Reading the story made me momentarily very sad. You can read it here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/opinion/30gawande.html?_r=1&em&ex=1199422800&en=e051a064cfbb0114&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin

Conviction

This week, I just want to encourage you be smart, be real, think 80/20, do your homework, and then proceed with conviction, no matter what anyone else says or does. I’ll bet many of the good doctors who were told to quit using the checklist in the story above, followed their convictions and did the right thing. At least I hope they did.

Sorry this week’s post is so short

I fell and injured my right arm (temporarily, I hope). Each key stroke on the computer hurts. With luck, sleep and some Advil, I’ll be back in action next week.
To your success,
Eric

Vacation and the 80/20 rule

2008-04-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

Spring break at Black Butte Ranch

A major goal for me this year was to get my two boys (ages 9 and 15) to be confident skiers. To this end, we passed on our usual escape-the-rain-of-the-Pacific-Northwest spring vacation to Hawaii or Mexico, and instead, opted for a vacation at Black Butte Ranch, in the Oregon Cascade Mountains. (http://www.blackbutteranch.com/)

Skiing at Hoodoo

Black Butte is a short 15- to 30-minute drive from a “steep & deep” little ski area, called Hoodoo Mountain Resort, where lift tickets are cheap, a lift line is rare and the scenery is spectacular (http://www.hoodoo.com/)

A win on two counts

Daily skiing converted my sons from timid skiers to confident skiers. A firm commitment to my wife to do zero work while on vacation, earned me major brownie points with her, and also gave me a great deal of perspective.

I knew it was coming

Unplugging from work for seven days is not easy for me. Had my wife and sons not pressed the issue, I might not have done it. I am very thankful they did. The perspective was powerful.

Getting a little distance showed me dozens of opportunities to step up my game with the 80/20 rule.

In or out?

I had gotten so busy before vacation that I had lost perspective. I can now see that I had drifted into investing in some activities that did not fit the 80/20 rule — to the detriment of both family and business. My post-vacation resolve is to make the hourly choice of “in or out” (to comply with the 80/20 rule). My life depends on it.

What really matters

My wife, my sons, my faith and my health are the foundations of success for me. Before vacation, I could not have been convicted in any court of having my focus in the right place. I was all business. I was kidding myself, and putting what I value most, at risk.

The irony

I can already see that most of the business that had taken the place of my family, faith and health, was simply not worth it. As of this week, I am acting on that conviction, and dropping things that don’t pass the 80/20 rule. This is more than a little scary…but it’s the right thing to do.

Are you taking those vacations?

Some of you don’t close it down and take vacations. If you do take them, great. If you don’t, consider doing it this year. If I could give everyone who reads this newsletter just one thing to help them succeed this year, it would simply be perspective. In my book, there is nothing quite like a fully-unplugged vacation for getting the perspective to help you succeed the rest of the year, no matter what the economy may be doing.

To your success,
Eric

Get real in recession if you want to survive and thrive

2008-04-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

Your recession experience: easy or hard?

In my opinion, how this recession treats you depends on how real you get about your situation. Get real by taking appropriate actions and you and those you love will likely have the best experience possible. Put your head in the sand and I wish you good luck.

In a recession, everyone is on commission

In a recession, everyone is on commission, even if they don’t realize it. A company will — and has to — let anyone go who does not pull his or her own weight. Some do this sooner than others. Those companies who don’t, often put themselves at greater risk of failing.

A tale of two reactions

In the early 1990’s, Japan, Finland and Sweden all rapidly spiraled into deep recession. The leaders in Finland and Sweden looked squarely at the situation and took action. Their recession was short but intense. Finland and Sweden returned to stability within a year or two, and have been steady since.

The high cost of saving face vs. action

Japan preferred to save face and did not recognize the core issue. They did not take the painful, but appropriate, actions. Their recession kept growth near zero for more than a decade.

The path through the recession is available

You’re my reader, so I want you to survive and thrive through this recession. The recipe for doing this is no secret. In its simplest form, the recipe is simply to see your gaps and take action, starting now.

Getting what you want

When you bake a cake or a loaf of bread, you won’t likely get what you intended if you leave out an ingredient. The same is true in sales and marketing. Do you know the complete recipe?
Many have not needed a recipe in the past.

Those days could be over

The tough part is that, for many, the last decade has been so easy that many could achieve their definitions of success without following the recipe. Unlike other recessions, this one is likely the end of being able to “wing it” to success in business. I might be wrong, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

What to do?

I suspect you already know some, or all, of the changes you could make to improve your odds of short- and long-term success. If you see opportunities, please consider taking calm and deliberate action today, to shore up your situation. If you don’t see your opportunities as clearly as you would like, read on.

For tried-and-true clarity you can go here instantly, for perspective

If your gaps are not as clear as you would like, and you want a good score card to quickly see and prioritize your improvement opportunities, you can download my no-cost scorecard here.

Are you Japan? Or Finland and Sweden?

Japan insured a decade of pain by not dealing with reality as early as possible. Finland and Sweden got real and got healthy in months, instead of years and decades. The choice is yours.

To your success,

Eric

The 90 day rule

2008-04-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

You probably want more new business. Most people who read a newsletter like Success Tips, the weekly newsletter from http://www.succeedinginbusiness.com/, do so to improve their ability to get new business. If that is true of you, then knowing the 90 day rule may be as important to your success as the 80/20 rule.

Why so important?

Here is what we have observed and tested for the last 20 years: You won't really “get” a new behavior until you’ve consciously done it for 90 days. Also, you might not get the full results until after 90 days of fairly consistent effort.

Why is that so?

Brain plasticity. If you give your brain a new task, it will do it. Your brain is "plastic," or flexible. Now for the nasty part: As soon as you quit focusing on the new task, your brain's memory will go back to the way it did it in the past. That is the power — and the pain — of brain flexibility.

Your brain is like a fishing pole

When you cast your line, or when you catch a fish, your pole will bend. When the pressure is off, the bend goes away. That is just like your brain, with one major exception.

Keep the focus or pressure on for 90 days

If you keep the pressure on your brain for 90 days, it won't snap back to its old pattern when you take the pressure off. At least it won't snap back as quickly. Once “bent” for 90 days, it takes relatively modest effort to keep it bent.

The power of 3, 5 and 11

Some educators will suggest that they see students experience major jumps in performance 3, 5, and 11 months after the introduction of new material. I routinely see the same thing with my coaching clients. It is so predictable that I put it on the calendar for them.

Here is the critical success point

80 percent of your results will typically come from 20% of your activities, so pick those activities carefully. Realistically you can make only a few real changes in your life at any one time. Take those 2–3 things that you want to focus on, and give them 90 days of persistent focus. Pick more than 2-3 focus points, and I can practically guarantee failure.

If not 90 days, why bother at all?

If you won't give it 90 days of persistence, you might as well not bother with it at all, in most cases. For many worthwhile things, you will not see any significant results in less than 90 days. If you are not willing to go the 90 days, why start at all?

An example

Using the "What's-in-it-for-me" (WIIFM) point of view: Nearly 100 percent of the people who take my Marketing Fast Track program come into the program — no matter what they initially think — not looking at their businesses from the customer's point of view. Most of the messages they send to the market are completely ignored.

The power of the shift

By the end of the class, everyone knows, at a very deep level, the secrets of how to say things that customers will pay attention to and act on. They learn to speak WIIFM fluently. For those that keep the WIIFM focus for 90 days, a steady increase in new business is the usual result. You can read a small sample of their success comments here.

But I need relief now

Let's face it; we all would like results right now. Sadly, for most worthwhile results, that is just not in the cards. Waiting for someone else to bring your future to you is what I call being a victim. If you want and need relief, consider picking a few focus points that are worthwhile and try sticking with them for at least 90 days.

Are you ready for more customers despite this recession?

Pick 1–3 new strategies or tactics and focus on it or them persistently for the next 90 days. If you pick wisely, and stick with it, I suspect that you will have taken a major step to blunt the impact of this recession on your life. For some, it will be as if there never was a recession. For nearly all of my coaching clients, 2008 will be their best year ever.

Why is that?

They follow the advice in this particular newsletter. It’s one of my foundation principles.
90 percent of your competitors are asleep, and will not do the 90 days

Just remember, while it may seem that the competition is stiff, it isn't usually as tough as it seems.

First, don't give up.
Second, choose carefully when you build your recipe for success.
Third, focus on those things (1–3 of them) that you suspect are the 20 percent that could drive 80 percent of your improvement.

Relax

Now focus on those points with the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have done all that you can do.

To your success,
Eric

The 80/20 rule in action: Make more, work less

2008-04-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

"There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all."
-- Peter Drucker
Author, management consultant, professor

Is your time managing you?

Do your work, customers, social life, family life, friendships, and a million other commitments make you feel like a junior high school cross country runner on a hot and dry afternoon? Is your tongue hanging out, sweat dripping down your brow, as the coach yells, "Faster, faster, faster!"

Magic wand

Wouldn’t it be great to have a magic wand that you could wave and suddenly have it all make sense, get you hours of free time every day, and still keep everyone in your world happy?

The magic wand is known to a few

There is a secret that has been known by a precious few for thousands of years. It is the single greatest secret of productivity.

More time and money for a little careful thought

Applying this secret to your life now, can free up one to two hours a day, and catapult you into the promised land: making more while working less.

How do you work less and make more money?

Put the 80/20 rule to work for you.

The 80/20 rule says:
80 percent of your sales volume comes from 20 percent of your customers.
80 percent of your profits come from 20 percent of your customers.
80 percent of your results come from 20 percent of your daily activity.
80 percent of your headaches come from 20 percent of your customers.
80 percent of your satisfaction and enjoyment comes from 20 percent of the people that you spend time with.

The vital few

The 80/20 rule is telling us that a rather small number of customers, activities, and people generate a huge percentage of our sales volume, profits, results, and satisfaction, in business and in life.

Mr. Pareto to you

Vilfredo Pareto is credited with first documenting this principle that now bears his name (the Pareto principal). It's also known as the 80/20 rule.

A global principal

Pareto found that no matter the culture, the time in history, no matter the circumstances that 20 percent of the people always controlled 80 percent of the wealth.

Amazing

Pareto also found that 20 percent of the efforts of everyone he studied could account for 80 percent of their results, in any and all activities he studied.

Covers joy too

Just 20 percent of what you do is responsible for 80 percent of what you get in life, including income, joy, fun, and success in life.

Instantly available

Consider taking action today to drop some or all of the 80 percent that only yields 20 percent of your results and you may see a dramatic increase in your time, energy, and often your wealth… no matter what the economy is doing to those around you.

95/5 is possible

With my private coaching clients, I usually find that the rule is not 80/20 at all. It is more often 95/5. Really, 95 percent of their improvement in bottom line results comes from just 5 percent of their activities.

Warren Buffet will share his secret with you now…really!

Berkshire Hathaway's annual Chairman’s Letter, in my opinion, share's the secret of making Warren Buffet the richest man in the world. Check out pages 5–8 of the report. (Note: If, for some reason, clicking the link above doesn't work, copy the following URL and paste it in the Address field of your browser, to read this amazing secret of business success:

(http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2007ltr.pdf.)

Warren's rules are simple. Yours might be, too.

For today, I just want to encourage you to start observing where your results really come from. Then ask, "What could I just quit doing, without a real adverse impact"?

Are you in a hurry and want an inexpensive but powerful road map?

I have a book with 76 powerful and proven strategies that almost every one can put into action immediately to make the 80/20 rule begin to work in their lives, today. Take action on just four or five of these each month, for the next year, and you will be far ahead of practically everyone around you, for the rest of your life.

Get your copy of the $49 Making More While Working Less eBook, now.

How Sally killed the 80/20 rule

2008-04-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

Retirement in four years made simple.

Last week I gave you a laundry list of actions a woman named Sally took that allowed her to retire in four years. And to do it with financial security for the rest of her life. What I didn’t tell you might actually be more important than the list.

What I didn’t tell you

Sally didn’t make the mistake of trying to do everything on the list at one time. She and I agree that she would have failed, and failed miserably, had she even tried. Sally first wrote down three goals she cared passionately about, and looked at them twice a day. She did this for 30 days straight, with no exceptions. She ignored the rest of the list.

The second thirty days (when the money started to come in)

During the second thirty days, she focused only on getting an effective elevator speech down. She worked at it at least 30 minutes or more, daily. She tested it hundreds of times. At the end of 30 days, she had a tool that made her money every working day for the next four years. More money than she had ever thought possible.

A short aside

(I asked Sally what her elevator speech had been worth to her. She said it had been worth at least $250,000 during the four years she used it, probably more. She also added that almost none of her competition had an elevator speech, and that made it vastly easier for her to win. Finally, I showed her the new book. She swatted me, asking why I hadn't written it for her, years ago.)

Sally did four things that killed the 80/20 rule

There were four things that Sally did that made all the difference - in her net happiness, and in her net worth. She calls it her 96/4 rule: 96 percent of her results came from four simple moves, or four percent of her efforts. She killed the 80/20 rule with those four things.

So far, you know two of them

Sally reviewed three clear, simple, and visual goals twice a day. That was the first thing she did. The second thing she did was focus on her elevator speech. Besides being normally busy, she got it down cold during a 30-day period that otherwise would have produced little.
I’ll tell you about the other two next week.

To your success,
Eric

Sally's last two tricks

2008-04-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

Last week, Sally left us wondering

What were the last two tricks that gave her peace of mind and a quick four years to retirement?

To refresh your memory, her first two tricks were

Sally knew her future hinged on getting a laser focus on her goals and developing a killer elevator speech. Those were her first two tricks. (As you know, a great elevator speech is designed to get this response: “Tell me more.”)

What’s a girl to do when the world says, “Tell me more”?

Sally always did two things (her last two tricks)

1. She had a set of questions at the tip of her tongue that made people think, and that allowed her to close about 20 percent of her deals right then and there. Great questions separate the amateurs from the professionals in every business.

2. She had a marketing process that answered the eight key questions all buyers always have in the back of their minds. (None of her competition ever got around to answering them.)Sally really never did much selling beyond her elevator speechShe had a great elevator speech, and it always seemed to elicit: “Tell me more.”

Sally rarely ever told them more… until later

When they said, “Tell me more,” Sally started asking questions. Some bought quickly, while 80 percent did not. Because of the questions, when Sally started sending them more information, they read what Sally sent.

Sally never did work hard, just really, really smart

She let the power of the drip do the hard work for her:

(Copyright 2006 APGI: http://www.albertsonperformancegroup.com/)

Sally, I’m ready to buy. Can we talk?

Every few days somebody was putting their hands up saying, “Sally, I’m ready to buy.” They had been reading the information Sally was sending in the mail, email, by fax and on the occasional teleseminar.

What the drip meant

Sally’s target market knew that Sally knew them, their problems and the outcomes they wanted. Sally had asked the right questions and had dripped back the right information. Sales were a breeze.

Sally used to work like a rented mule

At one point, all Sally said in her sales talks was “me,” “me,” and “I” this and “I” that, and “Do-Do-Do.” Sally finally realized that nobody cared. The only things that mattered to her prospects were the pain they felt and the outcomes they wanted. They were all tuned into radio station WIIFM (“What’s in it For Me”?).

Sally’s turnaround and increase in wealth took only 150 days

Here is Sally’s timeline:

30 days working on her goals

30 days working on her elevator speech

30 days working on her questions

60 days building her marketing kit

It took Sally 5 months of relatively focused effort

In those five months, Sally got herself set up to make more money than she had made in the past 20 years. What are you going to be doing with your next 5 months? Really. Do you have a plan?

Just pass part of the audit

You saw the audit in a previous issue of this newsletter. Sally didn’t do it all. She just did the four things, above. Sally lived the 80/20 rule and has a very nice retirement because of it. More on the 80/20 rule in real life next week.

To your success, Eric

The audit I hope you don't fear

2008-04-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

Format: A story with a checklist

Sally said, “Just four percent succeed”

I was talking to Sally about her new job in sales, one day. She said she'd heard that 96 percent of all salespeople quit sales within two years of starting. She didn’t want to be a statistic, and she'd do whatever it took to be one of the four percent who made it.

I think I know the reason most folks quit

She asked me why salespeople quit. I told her that, in my experience, they quit because they don’t see a way to play the game to win, financially or psychologically…or possibly because it just isn't as much fun as work should be.

It doesn’t have to be that way

Then Sally asked, “What do I need to do to succeed”? I told her that if she could work to (eventually) pass the audit I was about to give her, she was likely on her way to success.

You can see your opportunities and act

I also told her that, if she couldn't pass the audit, she would at least learn where she might want to look at improving her odds of success…and her income, to say nothing of her self confidence and joy.

Here is the audit I gave Sally. Rate yourself on a scale of one to ten for each of them, with ten being near perfect (checklist alert):

Your goals are clear and you review them daily.
You have a reasonable product or service. You can understand why your target market would buy it.
You have a sales and marketing process proven to work in your industry or niche.
You know how many people in your specific target market you need to speak with to get a sale.
You have a sufficient list of people who look like your “ideal customer” in a target list in which you are confident you can make your number, month after month.
You know the specific pains and aspirations of your target market, and you know that your product or service can address them.
You have a collection of offers that relate to every pain or aspiration you address.
You know the outcomes or results that using your product or service will usually deliver.
You have an elevator speech that works, reliably, to get people to say, “Tell me more.”
You have a set of questions that you ask to find out if someone is qualified to need, want and afford what you sell.
You are detached enough to walk away when a target is not really qualified to buy what you sell, even if you desperately need a sale.
When they don't buy immediately, but have said, “Tell me more,” you get their contact information and “drip” valuable information on them that relates to how your product or service makes their pain go away.
You understand how to use the phone in your business, and what to expect from using it.
You have a Web site that talks to the target markets WIIFM (what’s in it for me?) and not what you do (do-do and wee-wee).
You don't sound or act like a salesperson. You sound like someone who is seeking to qualify the target, in or out, for your product or service.
You have a system to follow up with folks who have said, “Tell me more.”
You spend most of your day (three to six hours) in selling and marketing activities.
You don't have selling and marketing confused.
You get enough rest and exercise to be fully-engaged when at work
You are reasonably organized and efficient.
You have goals that you are passionately interested in achieving.
You understand that results come from action and not talk
You get satisfaction from making a sale, and even more from achieving your quota or objective.
You have a rewarding life outside of sales.
You don’t work more than 50 hours a week.
You do what you say you will do for targets, clients and your employer.

You can't fail this audit

As I told Sally, there is no right or wrong score here. Just give yourself a score, on a scale of one through ten, with ten being the highest.

Stand back and look

I asked her if she liked what she saw in herself. Could she improve? Did she want to improve?

Are you ready to take action to improve?

Sally didn't like what she saw at the moment, but she knew that she could make a few gradual changes and see steady, incremental success.

That conversation took place a few years ago. Sally sold her business and retired happy, wealthy and wise.

Now for the question…

What would you like to do next?

To your success - Eric

Someone is stealing from you

2008-04-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

The $60K + difference

Depending on your perspective, $60 thousand dollars is a little or a lot. For most of us, it’s a lot of money. That’s $5 thousand a month, over the course of a full year. If someone was stealing that much from you, you might be pretty mad. You would probably do something about it. Right away.

Someone is stealing from you every month. But how much?

You most likely have a thief who is steadily and stealthily taking money out of your pocket, out of your savings account, out of your vacation fund, out of your retirement account, and so on.

It’s not just money. It’s also time.

That same thief is stealing your time, time with your family, time spent on your hobby, time with your favorite charity, time at church, time with your loved ones, time reading; time from the things that make life worth living.

The biggest thing the thief is stealing is…

Your sense of self-confidence. You can recover from a lot. But, if you lose your sense of self-confidence, practically everything seems difficult; there is little (if any) light at the end of the tunnel.

When does the thief strike?

Every time you make a phone call, meet someone new, send an email, build a web page, go to church, go to your kids’ school, use social networking tools, such as www.linkedin.com, or www.facebook.com. It happens whenever you communicate with other people with the hope of standing out from the crowd.

Beyond first impressions

First impressions come from how you look and what you say. We only partially control how we look. We have the option of totally controlling what we say. Once an impression is made, it usually sticks for years, and it’s resistant to change. Say it right, and you stop the thief.

Today you are probably leaving it to chance

If you are like the rest of the world, you leave it to chance: Whatever happens to pop into your brain when they ask you, ”So, what do you do”?

Why is Apple here today?

Apple wasn't first; it wasn't the best. The others were the TRS-80, the Altair 8800, and Imsai 8080. Computers were intimidating, but Apple was “friendly.” The name told a repeatable story that took off, despite an initial marketing budget of just $91 thousand. Apple was instantly meaningful and easy to repeat. The rest is history.

Get it right and repeatable and…

You stop the thief in his tracks. Almost anybody can increase his income by $1 thousand per month, within 90 days or less, by being clear and repeatable. Many can increase it by $5 thousand, and more, when they get it right. It usually takes a lot less time to make that money, too. That’s time to spend on what really matters in your life.

Getting it right means…

Passing two tests. First, what you do is meaningful to a specific type or group of people; it is not for everyone. Second, you solve, in an effective way, a big problem, or you meet an aspiration, that the group has. This is simple, but almost never done. If you get it just partially right, you win and the thief is slowed, or stopped.

The acid test

I routinely make a million-dollar bet. If I talked to the 20 people closest to you and asked who you serve, what problem(s) you address and what outcomes you deliver, my bet is that I would not hear one relatively uniform answer. I have yet to pay up. Most people’s spouses can’t even give a specific, easy to repeat answer. The thief loves this.

How to do it (checklist alert)

The recipe is simple. 1) Who do you serve, specifically? 2) What major problem do you address? 3) What innovative outcome do you deliver? 4) What proof of effectiveness can you offer?
That’s it. Write it down, make it flow and easy to repeat and you are on your way. Practice, practice, practice. Anyone can do it.

Test and polish

You won’t get it right to start. Build one and test it. You will know it is good when others repeat it, and members of your target market say, “Tell me more,” 30 percent to 60 percent of the time.

Key to referrals and word-of-mouth

Referrals and word-of-mouth (WOM) are, in reality, I believe, the primary way most people survive in business. Succeeding in business means getting your elevator speech worked out so that your world can easily give you referral and WOM support. If you can’t pass the acid test above, you are giving the thief open rein in your life.

Want more help stopping the thief?

The first edition of Elevator Speech sold approximately 15,000 copies and got rave reviews.
The second edition of Elevator Speech contains all the wisdom of the first, plus some potent additions. It contains easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions. It includes all the tricks you’re likely need, as well as the traps you’ll want to avoid.

Maybe best of all…

Lots of examples you can convert for your own use

The new edition of Elevator Speech also includes scores of real-world examples that you can convert to your own use, especially if you’re in one of these fields:

• Insurance• Financial planning• Real estate• Legal• Recruitment• Stock brokering• Consulting• Training

To purchase this e-book click here

So tell me… What do you do?

To your success - Eric

Lethal Drift

2008-04-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

He’s comfortable, but…

Scott asked me if I knew why he wasn’t getting where he wanted to go. I told him that, from what I could see, he was exactly where he really wanted to be: comfortable.

Lethal drift

Scott talked a big game about getting somewhere, but couldn’t have been convicted in a court of law of ever doing very much about it. Scott was in a lethal drift in life.

Happens when

The lethal drift happens when what you want, and what you actually do, don’t align. We are distracted while we slowly die in place.

You don’t align your attention and intention

The hard truth is that we must all decide what few things will get our attention. That attention is the most limited thing in our lives. If our attention does not align with our goals or intentions, we may be in a lethal drift.

You can stop the lethal drift by…

(Checklist alert)
Reviewing the goals you care passionately about achieving, twice a day.
Enhancing your visualization of the goals at each review.
measuring daily or weekly progress to get real about actions.
Aligning attention (actions) with intention (goals); don’t kid yourself.

So, ask yourself: “Am I like Scott, or not”?

Scott died a long time ago (figuratively speaking). He is now just waiting for a comfortable burial. Is that what you want? What could you be convicted of, in a court of law, from the evidence of your life (calendar, check book, credit card receipts)?

If you are not like Scott

Do you want to be, or have something beyond, what you are, or have, today? The journey starts, or is revitalized, when you get a progressively clearer mental picture of what are you living for.

You can begin with one step

Getting and staying in action is the key. Forgive yourself when you make a mistake, rest a little, and get back into action.

Strategies & tactics for more sales for the rest of this year

And yes, create the right checklists to keep your path to your success as straight as possible.
Enough about goals. You’ve got them or you haven’t.

This is the last newsletter devoted to goals. We will now focus on practical strategies and tactics to make you more money and give you more aware, alive, and precious lives.

To your success, Eric

Setting and Achieving Your Goals is a powerful guide to getting and staying in action for what matters in your life. It’s just $19.95 (will be $47 starting February 8th EOD). Please buy it and use it.

You will also have the option of adding Successful People Have A Dream for an additional $7 (usually $43, and will return to $43 at the end of this week. Act now. They are both good books).

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man"

--George Bernard Shaw

"Never, never, never give up" - Winston Churchill

The Gearbox of a Different Future

2008-04-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

The gearbox of a different future

Today, I’ll try to share with you, at a high level, what some of the experts have learned about the mechanics, or “gearbox” of getting a future different from the past. These will be practical steps you can choose to put to use starting today if you are so inclined.

Change or Die

Change or Die is the title of a book by a fellow named Alan Deutschman. It is a very good read. It essentially says that most people will choose to die instead of changing. It also covers some of the strategies that lead to real and lasting change. Under normal circumstances this might be true.

“Normal” is a choice.

If you read this newsletter

You are probably one of the brave, the proud, and the few who are very committed to making each day better than the last. You already know that, “If if it is to be, it is up to me,” along with a little help from friends, family, your faith and maybe even a couple people who write the occasionally-useful newsletter.

Relate, repeat, reframe

Deutschman’s prescription is essentially that change comes from being in a firmly-supportive relationship that demands new behavior, supporting repetition, and gaining new perspective (reframing). In short: new hope, new skills, and new thinking. I’ll get to some practical applications of this, and more, in a bit. Please keep reading.

So what’s missing?

In my opinion, lots. There is more research and more experience in getting change to happen that is not covered in Change or Die. Here are the bullet points covering some of what might be missing:

Clear and precise intent (that is, an authentic and passionate goal)

Goal agreement
Aligned commitments
Twice daily visualization
Having a basic recipe and then adjusting as you go
Daily progress recording or writing in a journal
Knowing what success looks like

Many of the reviewers of Change or Die mentioned that they had given away many copies of the book. I have given away exactly none. Why? As written, I think it is just entertainment, albeit good entertainment. Let’s get on to some things that I think help “relate, repeat, and reframe” make it over the finish line.

Let’s get to the “gearbox”

To give you the “gearbox” that leads to a new future will simply require that I expand on the seven points above. You then can choose if you wish to put them into action in your life. The items covered below are the things that, if not dealt with, often derail change efforts.

(By the way, this is one of those checklists I promised you.)Let’s get after it:
Clear and precise intent (that is, an authentic and passionate clear goal)

a. Tackle no more than three significant goals at any one time. Adding more often puts the others at risk. Be mindful of the 80/20 rule in your selection process.
b. Write out your goals/intent. Don’t kid yourself. Write out only those things that you really want and are really, really, really, committed to having in your life.
c. Do the SMART thing (make them specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-related).
d. Don’t let it be a situation in which, if you don’t attain this goal, you are going to beat yourself up. It just doesn’t help, and your subconscious rebels.
e. Write out the visualization you will use to support and motivate the achievement of this goal. Get into the detail, the feeling. Visualize it as though it is an accomplished fact, this instant. For some it helps to add pictures.
f. Now go back and forth between the visualization and the written goal/commitment/intent, and adjust them until they are fully aligned. Be patient but persistent; this could take some time.
g. If you don’t do the three things above, you are doomed before you start, in my humble opinion and experience. When I do this correctly, I almost always get what I set out to get.

2. Goal agreement

a. Do the above with your major (read that as important to achieve) goals.
b. Do any of the goals conflict with any of the other goals in any material way?
c. If some goals are in conflict, it will probably be necessary to make some choices. Conflicting goals in conflict are seldom achieved.
d. Don’t proceed until your goals are in agreement, and no conflicts exists. This is critical. Conflicts kill achievement much of the time.

3. Aligned commitments

a. To see your real current commitments, take a look at your schedule (personal and professional), your checkbook, your credit card receipts, your phone bills (numbers called), and your email history.
b. Look at how you spend your time and money and simply get clear about how your goals might force a change. Are you really willing to change a long-standing pattern? Like watching two hours of television every night?
c. Ask yourself, “When I read my goals, do I have any second thoughts, or other internal conversations that suggest an internal conflict of commitments?” Ask yourself this question a number of times. Just being afraid doesn’t count.
d. Also ask yourself, “How would friends, family, associates, colleagues, partners, significant others, and so on, feel if I were to attain this?”
e. Finally, ask yourself, “If I were to attain this, would anybody or any organization I care about, be concerned?”
f. Continue in this fashion until you either adjust the goal or the commitment, so that you can proceed from a foundation of aligned commitments. Mis-aligned commitments might be the number one reason that people don’t achieve what they set out to achieve.

4. Twice daily visualization

a. It is critical that you visualize, in great, rich detail, your having attained this goal. If you want to be living in a new house, go visit a model of the exact home and take pictures. See yourself walking the halls, relaxing, waking up, and driving into the driveway. Dwell on how you will feel in each of those situations.

b. Some people record themselves reading their goals and describing their visualizations, burn a CD or MP3 and play it on the way to and from work each day.

5. Have a basic recipe and then adjust as you go

a. Write down where you are today in plain language. For example, “My W-2 last year stated that I made $91,359.34 for 2007.” Do this for each goal.

b. Write down where you want to be when the goal is achieved. For example," My W-2 for 2008 will report that I made $125,000.00 or more in 2008.” Do this for each goal.

c. Now, write down what’s possibly missing, to achieve this goal. At first you will likely write down outcomes, such as “Earn $10,500.00 in commissions for February 2008.” Next, write down what’s possibly missing to earn $10,500.00 in February 2008. At this point you might write something like, “Call 150 people who could buy X from me and ask them to see me within the next two weeks.” Now we are at the level of a specific action to take. Now ask, what’s possibly missing for me to make 150 calls. When you answer this question, you have an action that you can begin taking right now. Do this for each goal.

d. Every time you get done with an action, go back and ask yourself, “What’s possibly missing,” to get yourself back into action. If you can get into, and stay in action, you can achieve most goals. Once you take action, the next action often becomes obvious. If you get stuck, ask the magic words, “What’s possibly missing?” to get back into action. Now take the action. Do this for each goal.

e. Go through this process until you have taken the actions that lead to the full realization of the goal.

6. Daily progress-recording or journal writing

a. Every day, record what did, and didn’t, happen on the path to achieving the goal. In my experience, it never helps to blame, or put yourself down if you don’t achieve what you had hoped. You always have a choice. Some days, you will likely choose to not move forward for whatever reason. The key is to stay aware and not kid yourself.

b. If you are dieting, for example, the recipe is simple: Set a goal for weight loss by a certain date, figure out how many calories you are going to take in each day, what kind of calories (e.g. refined or unrefined foods), how much exercise, how much sleep, and how much water you are going to drink. Now, just write down what you actually did each day. Recommit each day to either staying on track or getting back on track. Be conscious of progress, or lack thereof, every single day. Write it down.

c. Take daily action so that you have something to write down at the end of the day.

7. Knowing what success looks like

a. Keep refining your visualization of what success will look like, adding more detail and more emotion. It is critical to know success from a distance and up close.

b. If you find that you are not progressing on this front, explore the reasons why you’re not. Lack of progress here, could mean that this goal is something you think you should do, rather than something you are excited and willing to do.

c. If you are not energized by what success looks like, the probability that it will happen, in my experience, is very, very low.

If you really see the win, all this is no big deal

Yes, doing all of this will require some big changes and some fairly tedious activity. No big deal if you are really committed and if you really intend to achieve the goal. All this works. In my experience, most of the alternatives just don’t work — reliably.

Wishful thinking or a committed goal?

For most people, if they don’t do something a lot like what I have described here, their goals turn out to be a lot of wishful thinking, rather than real goals.

So now you have the “gearbox” of a new future

You just need to turn the engine on and push the gas pedal. This “gearbox” process will force you to drop the stuff that is not really, really important to you. It forces you to get real and get simple. The simple get’s done and the complex kills.

What will you do?

I want you to get what you really, really want in your business and your life. Who really gives a rip about day-dreams. Now the choice is yours: Get busy, or get ready to accept whatever your normal and comfortable pattern in life will bring you in 2008.

Cheers,

Eric

Loss vs. Gain

2008-01-29T12:13:00.000-08:00

What works best to get action? Loss, gain, or something else?

Playing on loss or gain too transparently, at times, just seems too crude and blunt an instrument for use in professional sales and marketing. What to do?

You really don’t care, do you?

As long as qualified people respond, and enough go the distance for you to achieve your objective of getting new and incremental business, you probably don’t care, do you? And like you, I want be proud of what I do, and how I do it.

On one hand…

Imagine that a neighbor wakes you in 3:00 A.M. in the February darkness to tell you that Home Depot is giving away a gas barbeque to the first 25 people to open a credit card account at their new location near you. You would probably think the neighbor was crazy.

On the other hand…

Imagine this same neighbor wakes you in 3:00 A.M. in the February darkness to tell you that you left your garage door open, and a couple of teenagers are wheeling your gas grill out of your garage. You might thank the caller, dial 911, or grab a baseball bat and head for the garage.
Same gas grill; different feelings

The physical feeling of loss is dramatically different from the pull of potential gain. This is how your targets feel. Use it carefully.

OK, so you made your point

The psychologists tell us that fear of loss motivates action roughly two-to- three times more effectively than hope for gain. But at what price?

Is there an option for elegance and grace?

I hope so. Here is the structure of some possibilities:

“I work with (target market) who are ready to be done with (some high probability of pain for the target market), and get on with (goal or aspiration).”

“I help (target market) people who want (goal) without (target market pain) as a downside.”
We help (target market) fix (cure, reduce, avoid, remove, stop, etc.) their (high-probability pain for the target market) and get (whatever it is that is desired).

We help (target market) improve (measurable element) by (percent, dollars, etc.) within (some specific time frame).

We help (target) who aren’t actually in (some market pain) but who just need (type of help) to achieve (some aspiration).

And here are some examples that use the structure above:

“I work with manufacturers representatives who are ready to be done with disloyal suppliers and get on with building success with a few lucrative & loyal suppliers.”

“I help medium-sized city governments who want to have a better relationship with developers, without getting taken advantage of, as a downside.”

We help supply-chain software companies reduce their low premium service renewal rates and get the bottom line profit growth that Wall Street requires.

We help chief financial officers improve return on equity by five percent to 15 percent, within 18 months.

We help small business owners who aren’t actually in financial trouble, but who just need cash flow help to achieve the business growth that they know is possible.

You are on to me by now

The trick here is to just use both the problem and the outcome or the pain and aspiration together, without jumping up and down hard on the pain. Consider using the structures above as a starting point for your own efforts.

Testing is the real key

Whatever message you decide to use must be tested. Always build two messages (elevator speeches) and run a test. Use one at least 25 – 100 times in a row and record the results. Then try the other on as similar an audience as possible. You may be surprised that the one you like wasn’t the one that performed the best. More on testing, later.

Cheers,

The Gearbox of a Different Future

2008-01-29T11:21:00.000-08:00

The gearbox of a different future

Today, I’ll try to share with you, at a high level, what some of the experts have learned about the mechanics, or “gearbox” of getting a future different from the past. These will be practical steps you can choose to put to use starting today if you are so inclined.

Change or Die

Change or Die is the title of a book by a fellow named Alan Deutschman. It is a very good read. It essentially says that most people will choose to die instead of changing. It also covers some of the strategies that lead to real and lasting change. Under normal circumstances this might be true. “Normal” is a choice.

If you read this newsletter

You are probably one of the brave, the proud, and the few who are very committed to making each day better than the last. You already know that, “If if it is to be, it is up to me,” along with a little help from friends, family, your faith and maybe even a couple people who write the ccasionally-useful newsletter.

Relate, repeat, reframe

Deutschman’s prescription is essentially that change comes from being in a firmly-supportive relationship that demands new behavior, supporting repetition, and gaining new perspective (reframing). In short: new hope, new skills, and new thinking. I’ll get to some practical pplications of this, and more, in a bit. Please keep reading.

So what’s missing?

In my opinion, lots. There is more research and more experience in getting change to happen that is not covered in Change or Die. Here are the bullet points covering some of what
might be missing:

Clear and precise intent (that is, an
authentic and passionate goal)
Goal agreement
Aligned commitments
Twice daily visualization
Having a basic recipe and then adjusting as
you go
Daily progress recording or writing in a
journal
Knowing what success looks like

Let’s get to the “gearbox”

To give you the “gearbox” that leads to a new
future will simply require that I expand on the seven points above.
You then can choose if you wish to put them into action in your
life. The items covered below are the things that, if not dealt
with, often derail change efforts.

(By the way, this is one of those checklists I promised you.)

Let’s get after it:

Clear and precise intent (that is, an
authentic and passionate clear goal)
2. Goal agreement
3. Aligned commitments
4. Twice daily visualization
5. Have a basic recipe and then
adjust as you go
6. Daily progress-recording or
journal writing
7. Knowing what success looks like

If you really see the win, all this is no big deal

Yes, doing all of this will require some big changes and some fairly tedious activity. No big deal if you are really committed and if you really intend to achieve the goal. All this works. In my eperience, most of the alternatives just don’t work — reliably.

Wishful thinking or a committed goal?

For most people, if they don’t do something a lot
like what I have described here, their goals turn out to be a lot of
wishful thinking, rather than real goals.

So now you have the “gearbox” of a new future

What will you do?

Proper expectations can take the stress and discouragement out of marketing and sales

2008-01-29T11:02:00.000-08:00

The two things to get right in business

Recently, someone faxed me a 37-point list of
things that cause business failure. As usual, the inability to
market and sell reliably and effectively was right at the top of the
list. Plus, it carried this admonishment: “If you don’t get these
two right, nothing else on this list really matters.”

If I had to pick just three things that are most responsible
for success

I was discussing this list with a friend in the
banking business when he asked me what I thought were the top four
things that he should tell his customers to attend to about sales
and marketing. I gave it some thought, and decided I would share my
recommendation with you today.

Four things, plus a critical realization

As I pondered my friend’s question, I remembered
a long ago realization that had changed my results and my life in
marketing and sales. Here are the top three success factors in
marketing and sales, in my opinion, followed by that critical
realization.

Define a goal
Pick your target
Build your offer
Manage your conversion table

Define a goal

The goal simply defines the gap between the
situation today, and what you want to achieve in the future.
Everything that follows is relevant only to the extent that it
closes the gap between your condition today and the goal. If you
have no goal, it is hard to have a gap between today and where you
want to be. With no goal, you probably don’t need to worry about the
other three strategies.

Pick your targets

Some call this list of targets your “ideal
customers.” In direct marketing, where everything is measured, we
know that picking the right target and target list often accounts
for up to 70 percent of the success or failure of a marketing and
sales effort.

Build your offer

This is the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) from the
client’s perspective. Nine of ten offers I hear are way short of
what they could be. The offer accounts for up to 20 percent of the
success rate. (We give you the science and art of a great offer in
the Marketing Fast Track course, starting January 21st.)

Manage your conversion table

By this, I simply mean track your numbers so that
you can test and improve. It also means rigorously sticking with an
offer for some period of time, or number of attempts, until you have
a good idea about what needs to be changed to improve performance.

The long ago realization

When I was eight years old I won my first sales
contest selling newspaper subscriptions in my little town of 2,000
people in the mountains of the Oregon Coast. Initially, I was very
discouraged by this until I realized that for every 10 doors I
knocked on, I got one subscription.

Pure magic; I could always see
the light at the end of the tunnel: I was encouraged; not even
remotely discouraged.

Once that fact settled into my young brain, I
practically ran from door to door, asking people to buy. The more
doors I knocked on, the better my results. I won the contest by a
wide margin.

The implication

Working the three things above is one of the
major keys to marketing and sales success in any business, anywhere
on this earth, in my opinion.

The other big realization was that each type of
offer has its own hit ratio.

Cold drinks after a 5K run on a sunny day are
probably a one-for- one. Everybody will take you up on the
offer.
Life insurance, to new parents, has a hit
rate very different from life insurance close rates for single,
50-year old bachelors who work the graveyard shift at
convenience stores.
Selling stocks and bonds via phone in a lower
income Zip Code is quite different from working referrals from a
CPA or a lawyer in a high-income Zip Code.

Knowing what to expect: seeing the light
at the end of the tunnel

My real point here is for you to determine what
to expect so that you can: 1) get enough targets to work through, so
that you; 2) know how many no’s you’ll likely get before you get
another yes.

Make more and work less via testing the market
and message

Once you know roughly what the appointment and close rates will be;
when you have gathered enough targets; when you are disciplined in
working through the list, you are in a spot to start testing
strategies to optimize your conversion table.

Optimizing simply means that you make refinements
so it takes fewer calls to get the sale.

A sample conversion

Calls - 1,000 - 100%

Connect with target - 250 - 25% of total calls

Interested - 25 - 10% of connects

Appointment now - 5 - 20% of interested

"Not now, maybe later" - 10 - 40% of interested

Sale - 2.5 - 10% of interested

This is just a hypothetical example. Your conversion table will
serve you best if it reflects your actual process and if it is
simple enough that you will use it daily. Action is always the key
ingredient that only you can provide.

I help most of my consulting clients do the three things
above

One client quit trying to sell to everyone. She elected to serve
only the top 10% of Zip Codes (in terms of net worth) in the USA.
She also decided to work only with targets that have already had a
certain level of financial success in life.

The impact

My client’s close rate zoomed to about 80 percent, and her
revenue went up 144 percent, along with her confidence and self
esteem. I brought the plan and she brought the execution.

If you can wisely:

Set your goal

Pick your targets

Build your offer

Manage your conversion table

You too should have a good shot at making more, while working the
same or less. You should also be able to enjoy the fact that you can
always see that light at the end of the tunnel.

To your success in 2008.

An easy rule for 2008: The simple gets done; complexity kills

2008-01-08T15:58:00.000-08:00

An easy rule for 2008: The simple gets done; complexity kills

If you can give me two or three minutes today, I will give you some insights that will help you make more, and give you the option to work less. Read on if this interests you.

What is Occam’s Razor?

“All other things being equal, the simplest solution is usually best.” This is also known as Occam’s (sometimes spelled “Ockham’s”) Razor, a maxim from a 14th century English logician named William of Ockham. This razor is still sharp after more than 700 years of steady use.

So why did I bother with the other 80 percent?

The 80/20 rule is also known as the Pareto Principle. The rule suggests that 80 percent of your results come from 20 percent of your activities. For me it seems that it is usually the 95/5 rule. So why do we bother with the other 80 percent?

The simple gets done

The bonus of the two rules above is that the simple things get done, while the complex ones are ignored. At least, by me and most folks I know. In all this, action is the key. The only difference between the top and bottom performers is (on average, and in my observation), the action taken or not taken.

Action + now = WOW

Pick the best few and consider making a choice to take action now.

Start, stop & how

With the above in mind, consider taking five minutes and asking yourself the following three question:

What did I accomplish last year? Name the top 3 things.
What disappointed last year? Name the top 3 things.
What am I going to do differently this year? Name up to 3 things.

A simple challenge for 2008

If you can take action on just two or three of the items below, I’ll bet your 2008 will be dramatically wealthier, healthier and happier than your 2007 was, no matter what the economy does.

Get your goals written and look at them twice a day, every day, for the rest of the year. See below:
Build and maintain a target list of ideal customers you want to do business with.
Get your elevator speech down and know exactly what you want to say after your prospects say, “Tell me more.”
Get clear on a simple sales process that reliably yields closed sales.
Become clear on how to get the second sale over and over again with your customers; it’s really the only one that matters.
Understand how to get paid what you and your offering are worth.
Understand how to manage your activities to achieve your goals.
Have fun doing the above. This is actually the most important of all. If you aren’t having fun, you won’t stay with it. Pay close attention to this one. After all, it’s the only life you have by my observation.

As you read this newsletter in 2008, I’ll help you on each of the eight items above. Yes, even the fun part, this year.

Remember the 80/20 rule

If you just nailed two or three of the above, I suspect you would have a banner year. Do them all, and I suspect you will be on top of the world.

My friend, Bob Proctor, of The Secret

Many years ago my friend, Bob Proctor, got married. His new wife sold insurance. Bob is a famous productivity guru and all-around great guy. Bob married for love; his wife was not doing well in the insurance business, as I recall, when they married.

Just try this one thing, Honey

The new Mrs. Proctor asked Bob, “How can I be more successful, Mr. Guru?” Bob said, “Just be in front of one new prospect every day, by 10 A.M., and ask that prospect to buy, no matter what.” She said, “Is that all?” Bob said, “That’s it.”

Simple

Sounds like something simple that could actually be done.

Simple execution = WOW

The new Mrs. Proctor’s sales increased more than 10 times in the next 12 months, because she followed these simple instructions, according to what Bob told me.

Now the ball is in your court

So what are the one to three simple things you will do differently this year that could help you put the 80/20 rule to work in your life?

Remember; the simple gets done while complexity kills. Keep it simple and get it done!

To your success in 2008.

Eric

PPS: The Marketing Fast Track “Mafia Offer” Class is quickly filling up. This is the last open-enrollment class I intend to do. All future classes will be aimed strictly at industry verticals, such as insurance, real estate, manufacturers reps, legal, etc. To learn more about the Marketing Fast Track Class and how to take advantage of the "Mafia Offer" click here.

Simple Plan for a Powerful 2008

2007-12-13T19:54:00.000-08:00

Succeeding in Business helps performance and commission-dependent individuals and leaders of organizations that are seriously committed to enhancing their ability to make more money, while working less.

A simple request; please pass this edition around to folks you care about. If appropriate, ask them to sign-up for the newsletter at www.succeedinginbusiness.com.

Just a few days left

2007 has just a handful of days left in it. I want to encourage you to take a few minutes to examine the past 12 months and get ready for the year ahead. I am going to share with you an outline of a process I use with my clients. We’ll use it to build on the lessons of 2007 to make 2008 a powerful year.

Consider a quick look in the rearview mirror

I’ll hold onto the steering wheel while you look back. I am confident that each of you did the best possible under the circumstances that your life, your industry, and your business threw your way this year. But consider taking a look back to count up your blessings, think about the lessons you learned, and your new insights. Then, think about the things that you don’t believe will serve your purposes in 2008.

Three minutes worth of notes that could be worth thousands to you

Consider the power of writing these items down today, and looking at them a couple of times over the next few days. If you are like me and my clients, you will likely add and subtract, with each quick review. For many, this little exercise is worth thousands.

Now, look down the road with X-ray vision

Next, I want to ask you to consider an unusual process for setting some goals for next year:
First outline your values; bullet points will do. By values I mean things like:

1. Power is the desire to influence others.
2. Independence is the desire for self-reliance.
3. Curiosity is the desire for knowledge.
4. Acceptance is the desire for inclusion.
5. Order is the desire for organization.
6. Saving is the desire to collect things.
7. Honor is the desire to be loyal to one's parents and heritage.
8. Idealism is the desire for social justice.
9. Social contact is the desire for companionship.
10. Family is the desire to raise one's own children.
11. Status is the desire for social standing.
12. Being Competitive, aka Vengeance is the desire to get even.
13. Romance is the desire for sex and beauty.
14. Eating is the desire to consume food.
15. Physical Activity is the desire for exercise of muscles.
16. Tranquility is the desire for emotional calm

(Taken in whole from Steven Reiss's book, Who Am I? The 16 Basic Desires that Motivate Our Actions and Define Our Personalities. Berkley Press 2002.)

Court of law?

If you had to prove what you were committed to in 2007, would there be enough evidence to convict you? One way to really tell is to simply look at your calendar and your checkbook. That is where action meets reality. No evidence means you might be dealing with wishful thinking. Just check it out; at least tell yourself the truth.

Relationships: the gold before and after the money

Next, outline the relationships you have, and the one’s you are committed to keeping and developing further in 2008. For me, this is simple and goes something like this:
· My maker
· My wife
· My two sons; Alexander (age 15) and Zachary (age 9)
· My 78 year old mother, Pat Albertson
· My in-laws
· A couple of dozen close friends
· My current clients
· The readers of this newsletter and my other newsletter (www.performanceleadershipgroup.com)

Consider letting some relationships gently drift into the sunset

I am also going to make a conscious decision to let some relationships, which no longer align with my values, go. I have kept them alive for historical reasons but I find that I can no longer be true to my values and other commitments by continuing to invest in these relationships.

Three times seven equals 21 bullet points that can change your life

Finally, I will outline just 3 goals that I want to accomplish in 2008, in each of the following buckets:

· Family
· Finance
· Fitness
· Friends
· Future
· Faith
· Fun

The simple long and short of it

In each of these, I will simply have a short term goal (30 days), a mid- term goal (90 – 120 days), and a long-term goal (180 days to 360).

Simple, but it needs action now

Nothing fancy. The key is to do it. Write it all down, by this Friday, if you can.

Two five-minute previews of your new reality

From there, the key is to look at this list twice a day for the next 12 months. This is the second most important part of this email: Look at the goals twice a day, every day, for the next 12 months.

The most important part is a two-part beasty

First, make sure that the things you write down are things you really feel passionately about, and can visualize in detail, like they are already fully accomplished.

Part two of the beasty

Second, and this is very unusual in my experience: Just tell yourself that these things would be very nice to have happen, but are simply a choice that you and your subconscious mind have the option of bringing into reality. It is nothing that you must do.

Leverage your super-computer while you sleep

Now, each night before you hit the sack, review the list (I keep mine next to my bed in a plastic sleeve) and ask your brain to work on one thing standing between you and one of your objectives.

All of the above are about setting up for new action

The key to a 2008 that exceeds 2007 is simply taking new actions. I like to ask myself, “What action can I take right now to move toward my goals and dreams”?

Name any hero you have

The only difference, in most cases, between your hero and you, is the actions they take and have taken so far in life. If you can dream, write, and take actions, you can have a powerful reality in 2008.

That’s it. Simple & sweet. Best of all, it works.

Cheers,

Eric

PS: If one of your goals for 2008 is producing more revenue, consider taking my Marketing Fast Track course. Many of my past clients boosted their incomes by 10 percent, with a few getting well past 100 percent, last year. Your mileage will vary. For more information on the Marketing Fast Track program, you can go here. To sign up directly, go here.

PPS: Alternatively, if you want to get more margin/profit out of your current flow of business, consider taking our Margin Boost course, starting January 17th. For more information on the groundbreaking Margin Boost program, go here. To register for this powerful and profitable program, go here.

PPPS: Last week, I mentioned that I had sent 100+ letters per week and that it had worked very well for getting people to call me and asking me to tell them more. I also related that it only worked for a while, and then quit working.

The rest of the story

At the time, I didn’t know why it quit working. It was to be years before I could accurately diagnose the problem. The years between then and now, left me with lots of scar tissue. With luck, I can help you avoid that result.

Direct marketers know this story

Essentially I had committed many of the basic sins in direct marketing but didn’t know it. Here are the sins:

1. Once I ran out of targets like people who had already purchased from me, I just started sending my letters to any name and address that looked like possibilities. Spray and pray. I had not taken the time to build a good list.

2. I didn’t take the time to validate the list. After the initial blast, I used a purchased list of targets from a local company. The list was old and largely inaccurate. Essentially, the person I wanted was no longer at the address and the mail was either tossed or “returned to sender.”

3. I treated everyone the same. I didn’t really understand why people were buying what I sold. My letters addressed only one problem. I didn’t mention the other problems my offering would address. I just thought that they would figure it out. Now, I know that they never do.

4. I had a poor call to action. I asked folks to call me. Most people don’t want to talk to a salesman right off the bat, unless the need is pressing. I needed to offer a low-risk way for them to get more information without talking to me, the sales guy.

5. I didn’t follow-up with a phone call in a reasonable amount of time. If they didn’t call me, I didn’t call them. Pretty stupid.

The fix is simple. Just not easy:

A. Build a list of targets. Break it into groups of sub-targets that look similar to each other. For example, you can segment by revenue, age, income, title, industry and so on. Whatever makes sense in your business.

B. Have somebody call through the list and just verify the business name, address, target name and role (if it is a business-to-business situation). Most lists that you can purchase are at least 50 percent bad. According to Dunn and Bradstreet (one of the largest sources of market data in the world), lists go bad at a two percent to five percent per month from the time of initial creation. Old lists are usually bad lists.

C. Tune your message for each segment of your list. Lawyers likely care about different aspects of your offer than doctors or retail establishments might. Think about the problem the target group has, and talk about how your offer makes that problem go away.

D. Create a low-risk call to action. Build a “no cost” report telling your prospects about how to make a good decision when buying what you sell. You can also list a phone number that they can call to get free information. You can include a postcard that they can return to get more no-obligation information. You can suggest that they call a customer service rep for more information. You are only limited by your imagination.

E. Build a plan to follow up with each target at least three times via the phone. Some targets are worth up to five attempts via phone. Most are not. Let your experience be your guide.

F. Record, on your list, what they tell you, so you can leverage what you learn the next time you reach out to that specific target.

Is all of this worth it?

I regularly meet with sales managers and senior sales executives from a wide variety of industries. These executives tell me that most of the top performers do one of two things:

· They have a methodical system of some kind
· They have, and maintain, a great network

These executives tell me that the folks who don’t have one or both of the two approaches above, quit, get fired, work too much, and make less than is possible.

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"Reprinted with permission from Eric Albertson's SucceedingInBusiness.com Newsletter.(Copyright, 1998-2007, Eric Albertson, SucceedingInBusiness.com.)"