In this video Chris Martenson, economic analyst at http://chrismartenson.com and author of ‘The Crash Course’, explains why he thinks that the coming 20 years are going to look completely unlike the last 20 years. In his presentation he focuses on the so-called three “Es”: Economy, Energy and Environment. He argues that at this point in [...]
Source: Robert Kiyosaki Blog
I personally have no problem generating solid referrals. This is because I do genuinely strive to “exceed my client’s expectations” although I actually abhor that much over-used and often derided term. However, in the absence of a suitable alternative to describe my organization’s ability to provide a service which goes beyond what my client expects - and has paid for - then I’ll continue to use it.
If at the conclusion of any assignment, I do not receive endorsements then I really feel as if I have failed, and not earned my fees.
So why are referrals so important?
We all understand that generally speaking referred prospects will accelerate through the sales pipeline at a much faster rate than other types of opportunities, and they will also be more receptive towards providing future referrals.
What are the biggest barriers to getting referrals?
If asking for referrals has not been included and communicated in the sales process, this will deter salespeople’s focus as they will see asking for referrals as a ‘nice to do’ rather than a ‘must do’. This in turn usually means that there is no rigorous method for measuring and monitoring how many referrals are generated and what the conversion ratios are for closing referred customer business.
Energy goes where attention flows, so without specific attention to this salespeople are unlikely to invest their energy in this direction. (Even if they are firm believers in the positive impact that referrals can create!). For many salespeople asking for referrals is uncomfortable because they feel unsure about how to do this effectively, and they aren’t confident they will get their desired response.
If people don’t know how to do something and they believe that what they are doing will damage their existing relationships, then it’s better to avoid it all together. Additionally, if salespeople make the common mistake of asking for referrals too early on in the relationship this can result in more refusals that further erode salespeople’s confidence.
Therefore, to optimise the use of referral-based selling the following components are vital:
1. Asking for referrals and acting on them needs to be incorporated in the overall sales process.
2. Metrics around referrals should be sought and evaluated on a regular basis, because this contributes towards furthering the rationale for generating them.
3. Development and training needs to be delivered to the sales team so they can maximise the impact of referrals and feel confident with this skill.
When is the best time to ask for referrals?
People will freely give referrals when they have benefited from your product/service and have an established relationship with you. This rarely occurs during the initial meeting because whilst they may like you, they haven’t yet validated what you can do for them. That’s why asking for referrals should be when the relationship you have established is strong enough to ensure their trust and belief in you.
Assessing the strength of your existing customer relationships can be very subjective unless there is a meaningful set of relationship criteria in place.
Although these will vary from organization to organization, they may include factors like:
– Communication frequency with key influencers
– Satisfaction with product/service
– Speed of response to queries/problems
– Length of relationship
The customers with the highest scores (based on the relationship criteria) are those that should be approached for referrals.
What is the best way of generating referrals?
1. Prepare a description in the form of a criteria list that specifies the type of person or organization that you are looking to approach. This should be based on the profile of your “Ideal Customer.”
2. Evaluate all your customers using a relationship criterion and identify a list of those with the highest scores. For every customer your aim is to generate a minimum of 5 referrals. Therefore, if you have 25 customers on your list, your target number of referrals will be 125.
3. Contact each customer on your list and take the pressure of them by explaining that you don’t want to sell to them, you would like their help.
For example: “Do you know anyone (specify your criteria) that would be interested in learning about how our products/services can benefit them?” Preface your question with a softener such as: “I wonder if you can help me” or “I would really appreciate some advice.”
4. When customers give you referrals, ask their permission to use their name when making contact. Alternatively, where your relationship is ‘rock solid’ ask customers to make the initial introduction by letter or email. Often customers will give a glowing testimonial and create a relevant context when introducing people.
5. Thank customers for referrals and keep them apprised of your progress. This creates a positive association towards the giving of more referrals in the future.
Problem solved!
I do coach referral sales skills, but I have two good chums who are acknowledged as the very best in this highly specialized area, so if you are seeking advice, may I point you towards:
Joanne Black, author of the bestselling “No More Cold Calling” â” Go to site HERE – and Paul McCord, author of the bestselling “Creating a Million Dollar a Year Sales Income: Sales Success through Client Referrals” You will find Paul HERE
News: I did a great interview with Mike Schultz of Rain Today, and you can catch it over at Top Sales World - “Influence, Persuade and Sell in Any Situation” – HERE and by the way, Mike and John Doerr have seven nominations over at the “2011 Top Sales & Marketing Awards!”
Source: Jonathan Farrington’s Blog
Nature Gives Us Clues
If you were going to pick a model from nature for how to create and operate as a great team, which animal would you pick?
How about lions, tigers, hippos or bears?
Those species are known to eat their young, or the new guy or gal on the team, in our analogy. That doesn’t make for good team building!
How about wolves or hyenas?
These animals are known to constantly have ego fights for dominance—definitely not good for trust and the morale of a team.
How about salmon?
Certainly their long struggle to swim upstream in dedication to duplicate (procreate) the team has to be a good role model. Yeah, well, the only problem is, once they have finally done the quiver (seriously, that’s what they do—they align themselves next to each other and quiver while they each do their part of the act), they die. That can’t be good if every time new people are brought into your team the leaders die. So salmon are out.
I know what you are thinking… eagles, right?
Eagles are good role models for soaring to individual heights, but they are poor team players. They are known to be territorial, pretty hostile toward one another and constantly stealing prey from one another.
Get this… momma eagle usually lays two eggs and most often the bigger of the two siblings (which is usually the female, as they come out bigger) kills the other sibling while mom looking on (harsh, right?). No, you don’t want the new recruits killing each other or the leaders stealing sales and clients from each other. Eagles, team players? Not so much.
No, the animal species you want to learn from and emulate in working together as a team are… Click Here to Continue Reading this Post…
How would you describe your life? Are you achieving what you desire? Are you accomplishing the things that are important to you? Do you consider yourself a success? How do your prospects look for the future? If I could come to your house and spend just one day with you, I would be able to [...]
Originally posted at: John Maxwell on Leadership
Copyright 2009-2011. All rights reserved.
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Source: John Maxwell on Leadership
I call them (us!) “boomers & geezers.” Boomers alone number about 75 million. The goal of this short post is not heavy analysis. It is simply a vivid and brief set of seven startling numeric facts—that, current economic turmoil notwithstanding, aim to make the case for oldies as by far the most significant marketing opportunity in history.
Consider:
**1/8/20
**22/1/10
**50@50
**7/13
**55+ > 55-
**8.4
**47X
Translation:
**1/8/20 (One USA boomer is turning 65 every 8 seconds—that rate will continue for the next 20 years.)
**22/1/10 (USA adult population will have grown by 23 million in the 10 years between 2006 and 2016. Ages 18–49 will have grown by 1 million—age 50+ will have grown by 22 million.)
**50@50 (At age 50, we effectively have … a full 50% of our healthy adult life ahead of us.)
**7/13 (An American will buy 13 cars in the course of a lifetime—7 after age 50.)
**55+ > 55- (Age 55-plusers are … more active in online finance, shopping, and
entertainment than those under 55.)
**8.4 (Boomers inherit $8.4 trillion in the next few years; 70% of boomers will inherit on average $300K.)
**47X (Net wealth of households headed by 65+ is 47 times greater than the net wealth of households headed by someone <35; 20 years ago the ratio was 10:1.)
The way I summarize “all this” in my presentations is as follows:
We are the Aussies & Kiwis & Americans & Canadians. We are the Western Europeans & Japanese. We are the fastest growing, the biggest, the wealthiest, the boldest the most (yes) ambitious, the most experimental & exploratory, the most different, the most indulgent, the most difficult & demanding, the most service & experience obsessed, the most vigorous, (the least vigorous), the most health conscious, the most female, the most profoundly important commercial market in the history of the world … and we will be the Center of Your Universe for the next twenty-five years. We have arrived!
(Above … Winter Sky in Vermont the day after Thanksgiving 2011.)
Source: The Tom Peters Weblog
In the last fifty years, researchers studying the methods of motivating employees and building great teams have found that the single most important motivator turns out to be “clear expectations.” When employees are asked to describe the best jobs they ever had, they invariably say, “I always knew exactly what my boss expected.”
When researchers looked for the foremost demotivator in the world of work, they found that it was the flip side of the biggest motivator. It was the “unclear expectations,” or employees “not knowing what was expected” of them.
People are inordinately influenced by the expectations of others, especially the expectations of others they respect. The higher up you are in an organization relative to another person, the more powerful your expectations will be in influencing the behavior of that person.
The Environment Always Wins
Top managers are those who create a work environment where peak performance takes place. They simultaneously put all the known motivators in place while removing the demotivators that inhibit performance. Decades of research into peak performance and motivation can be boiled down to one conclusion: Successful companies are those that create an environment where people feel terrific about themselves.
“Many leaders don’t realize that the environment in which you work-the office, the work unit, the people and culture of your team, the incentives, and the attitude of your boss-all of these things directly impact your performance,” said Jerry Porras, “Lane Professor” Emeritus of Organizational Behavior and Change at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Dr. Porras is also coauthor of the business classics Built to Last and Success Built to Last. The environment in which you work is a huge factor in determining whether you are successful. And the environment will outlast you, good or bad.
Great managers develop the ability to bring out the very best in their people by learning and “understanding what makes them tick, and giving them power to feel as though they are working as advocates on behalf of customers, employees, and shareholders,” said Steve Miles of Heidrick and Struggles. “Without a great environment and clear support to feel they’re making progress in serving customers, most people work at a fraction of their capacity,” Miles said.
Your Relationship with Your Boss
The Gallup Organization has conducted research on tens of thousands of employees, and it found that perhaps the most profound issue driving employee engagement is their relationship with their boss. It impacts everything that you do as an employee; this relationship colors your feeling and affects your enthusiasm (or lack thereof) in your work.
The quality of the interaction between the employer and the employee is the key determinant of motivation and performance. Treat your staff members like partners, clients, essential parts of the enterprise, because they are.
People are inordinately influenced by the way that others treat them, especially their bosses and other important people in the organization. A look, a glance, a comment, or a compliment can cause a person to perform at higher levels all day long, and even longer. The quality of the relationship between the boss and the employee can be measured by how free the employee feels to express his thoughts, feelings, and concerns, and even voice disagreements to the boss, without fear of criticism or reprisal.
Drive Out Fear
One of the best ways to drive out fear is to stop creating it as a manager. When you are consistent in expressing your expectations and measure them objectively, you build confidence and reduce fear in an organization. When you have more fun in the office and maintain a sense of humor-as long as it’s at your expense and never your team’s-you can significantly reduce stress in the office. Even those businesses where life and death are at stake have embraced joy as a core cultural fixture in their companies. At Southwest Airlines, founder Herb Kelleher’s legendary affinity for humor was known to often energize his team and drive out fear because he was willing to be the butt of the joke.
Kelleher’s stand-up routine is funny, but it isn’t a joke. He’s making a real point about how he wants every flight attendant, every operations or administrative person, and ever pilot to know they are more important to customers than the executives in the corner office.
Leadership is not an award or entitlement; it’s a responsibility to the people who make your organization great for customers.
“Your people come first, even before customers,” Kelleher said. Period. “Unless they’re happy and motivated, you won’t keep your customers coming back.”
The healthiest thing you can do as a leader is to take your team more seriously than yourself. Driving out fear is a core value of companies like Southwest Airlines, but humor doesn’t imply that Southwest is any less serious about safety, service, or success. It means that joy is central to the culture of service that makes this company tick. It’s how the company enables people to show their creativity at work and humanize their interactions with customers.
Hope you enjoyed this post. Please leave a comment & share with your friends.
Source: Brian Tracy’s Blog
Today, I want to illustrate six beliefs that do have an impact on you, either positively or negativelyâ|here we go.
1. Every individual is unique and their perceptions are true to them.
Because we each absorb 2 million bits of information unconsciously and can only process around seven chunks consciously we each have our own unique perception of the world around us. If everyone reading this was asked to explain beliefs, each individual would give a different explanation. So who is right?
Everyone is right because your perceptions are true for you. That is why the more respect we have for every individual and the more we seek to understand the viewpoints of others, the richer our communication becomes.
By respecting the opinions of others, does not necessarily mean that we have to agree with them, we just have to acknowledge that every individual’s reality is the one based on their own unique perceptions.
2. Communication is successful, only if it achieves your desired results.
It doesn’t matter if you think you’ve communicated well or if you think you’ve been crystal clear, what matters is that your communication is received and acted upon in the manner you wanted.
How many times have you said something to another person who has totally misinterpreted what you meant? Equally, sometimes we are on the receiving end of communication that makes us feel bad. If we can look beyond the communication and try to see a positive intention behind another person’s behaviour, then our relationships and interactions with people become more constructive and empowering.
When we communicate with people and if they are ‘not getting’ our point, then the responsibility is ours to adapt our approach until they do. For example; if we have communicated a price increase and the reasons for that price increase, and our customers have not understood those reasons, the responsibility for this mis-communication lies with ourselves. Therefore, we can only judge the success of what we have communicated based on the reactions we get from other people.
3. Resistance from another person usually signals a lack of rapport.
Rapport is a vital ingredient when developing relationships because it builds trust and allows communication to flow. When that state of rapport is there, communication is a lot easier even if you do not agree with the other person. When we do not feel that rapport or connection, we have a tendency to ‘nit-pick’ or find fault.
Customers respond to people they perceive understand their position and are on the same wavelength. If we are encountering lots of resistance from a prospect or a customer, then it helps us to notice that we have not built sufficient rapport. Even if our prospect does not agree with what we are saying, rapport enables us to have an open discussion where we can get an honest reason for their reaction rather than a ‘prickly’ brick wall.
4. Flexibility improves success.
The greater your flexibility, the greater your chances for achieving what you want. If we accept that, every person is a unique individual then we have to accept that each prospect and customer will require a different approach. Using the same approach with all prospects and customers is like playing the lottery; the chances of getting it right are extremely low. If we have high levels of flexibility that allows us to adapt to each prospect and customer’s style then we are able to build more rapport and reduce resistance.
Albert Einstein gave the definition of insanity as doing the same thing repeatedly whilst expecting a different result. As an example, think about a flyâ|have you watched how many times a fly bumps its head trying to fly out of a window? I guess that is why it is a fly. The more we are able to adapt, the more opportunities we create.
If what you are doing is not working, try something different and if that does not work try something different again. Flexibility of thinking and behaviour creates awesome sales people. Your team are also unique individuals requiring a unique approach with how you manage them. The greater your behavioral flexibility the easier it is to connect and develop better working relationships.
5. There is no failure, only feedback.
Of course there is failure. If you take a driving test or exam you either pass or fail. Your sales people will either succeed in achieving their monthly sales targets or fail to meet them. The key is how you perceive ‘failure’.
Every failure can be looked at as a learning opportunity that is beautifully epitomized by Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb. Despite more than 10,000 failures, he stood by his dream until he made it a physical reality. He said that every discarded idea took him one-step closer towards finding the idea that would work.
One of the most powerful self-coaching questions sales people can ask is, “What will I do differently next time?” or “What can I learn from this?”
Sales people who make mistakes and learn from those mistakes have a tendency to do better than sales people who are scared to fail. Therefore if you can see that when you don’t achieve your targets you have an opportunity to learn, because you have been given great feedback on what not to do next month.
6. Accepting 100% responsibility creates transformation.
Every action you take creates a reaction that is based on the formula of cause and effect. Everything that happens is the effect of an underlying cause. Most people spend their lives operating at effectâ|.”It’s not my fault I always end up in bad relationships.” “Life’s so unfair, things always happen to me.” “We’re in a recession, that’s why I haven’t achieved target.” “If I could only match our competitor’s prices, I’d win more deals.”
True personal power can only be achieved when an individual accepts 100% responsibility for what they create in their lives. To put it another way, you get one of two things; the result or outcome you want or the reasons why you did not (you may recognized these as ‘excuses’!)
The more you focus on the reasons (excuses) and blame circumstances beyond your control you push away your personal power.
Therefore, if you believe that you are in control of the situations that life ‘appears’ to throw at you, then you are in control of your thinking and emotions, and therefore in control of your own life.
This belief has given thousands of sales people the determination to breakthrough so many barriers and overcome countless challenges when at times it was tempting to wallow in self-pity.
If something good or bad happens, ask yourself, “How did I create that?” This question enables you to tap into your brain’s infinite potential and it will give you all the answers you need.
If you are prepared to commit 100% to taking responsibility, the results can be extraordinary.
News: One or two people have questioned the need to register before voting over at Top Sales Awards, so I felt it was necessary to explain – “Why do we need you to register? Because we need to do all we can to prevent voting fraud, and the use of “robots” to gain unfair advantage.
We respect your privacy and we will not use your details for any other purpose. In fact, you will receive just two messages from us: One containing details of how you can register to attend the live ceremony, and a second informing you of all the medal winners. Unless you sign-up to receive the Top Sales World or Top Sales Management monthly magazines and newsletters, your details will be erased on Monday December 19th â” your privacy IS important to us!”
Hope that clears that up! So, have you voted yet? You can now vote every two hours …
Source: Jonathan Farrington’s Blog
How would you describe your life? Are you achieving what you desire? Are you accomplishing the things that are important to you? Do you consider yourself a success? How do your prospects look for the future? If I could come to your house and spend just one day with you, I would be able to [...]
Originally posted at: John Maxwell on Leadership
Copyright 2009-2011. All rights reserved.
Follow JohnCMaxwell on Twitter.
Or visit John’s Facebook page.
Introducing a new daily video program, A Minute with Maxwell. Sign up here. It’s free!
What does your daily agenda say about you?
Source: John Maxwell on Leadership
I don’t really remember a time in my life when I had negative thoughts: I am sure there must have been some occasions, but not being able to remember suggests they have been rare.
In fact, thinking about it, one of the words most often used to describe me by friends, colleagues and staff is “positive”
I am genuinely uncomfortable in the company of negative people; I have nothing in common with them, but I do have my own “repellant” – more about that in a moment.
A quotation which my mother often used was this:
“Experience informs us that the first offence of weak minds is to recriminate.” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge
And indeed, I have discovered that negative people typically suffer from what I call the three “C’s” and are usually found to be: criticizing, condemning or complaining.
So let me share some tips to help you overcome negativity and to recognize it in others.
Try and develop and build your own understanding of what is really negative, but do remember that constructive criticism is not negative.
Check your conversation with others, are you being negative? Check your thoughts and thinking process – remember that, if you are thinking negatively, the only person you will harm is yourself. Remove those thoughts as you would a spam email from your inbox. Discard them. You have the capacity to do that and your mind will respond if you are strong enough.
Build a bullet proof screen around you, so that negative comments or behavior from other people will not penetrate. You can do this by instantly recognizing negative criticism or conversation.
From time to time, check the company you are keeping. If you have been mixing in the wrong environment, talk to people who are positive. Go out and mix with people you know have positive, constructive ideas. Mix with people who are doing better than you.
Have your own negative repellent. I have mine – whenever anyone says anything really negative to me, I just say “fantastic!” No truly negative person enjoys hearing that word – they really run for cover!!
Remember, the negative is always stronger than the positive. Yes, it really is – sadly!
For example, imagine a barrel of 240 really healthy apples. You open the barrel, and you place one rotten apple, right in the middle. When you come back in two weeks time, you would think that at odds of 240 to 1, the healthy apples would have converted the bad one? Far from it, you will discover many more rotten apples. And that is exactly what happens within a company; within an office; within a sales team.
“The most evil, dangerous and cancerous complaint that humanity inflicts upon itself is to be negative” – Anon
News: There is a whole raft of new resources that have been added to Top Sales Management today, so do pop over and take a look.
Are your emails not getting through? Kendra Lee has some great advice for you over at Top Sales World
You can also catch an interview I did a while ago with Jill Konrath – “Is Social Media Relly Making a Significant Difference to the Way We Sell?”
Finally, do keep voting – it’s warming up nicely over at Top Sales Awards
Source: Jonathan Farrington’s Blog
In June, as you may remember, me and the Positivity Blog was a part of a big sale where you could get 1087 dollars worth of personal development products for just 97 dollars.
The 72 hour sale was a big success and we raised a good amount of money for kidney research too.
Today, just a few minutes ago, a new 72 hour sale with huge discounts started.
This sale is focused on online entrepreneurship. And considering how many questions I get via email on blogging, social media, running a small business and making a living out of your passion this is something that would interest quite a few people in the Positivity Blog readership.
This time there is actually two different packages you can get at pretty insane discounts.
The Business “Launcher” Package includes 13 courses worth $1,033 but you only pay $97 (that’s 90% off).
There is also the Business “Amplifier” Package that includes 25 courses worth $4,344 (this one includes everything in the “Launcher” package) but for the next 72 hours it is only $497 (that’s 89% off).
Click this link to learn more and to get your copy of any of these bundles right now
Both packages include many popular names and some of my own favorites.
In the Launcher Package you have, for example, stuff by:
Tyler Tervooren, Nick Reese, Scott Young (still one of my favorite bloggers after 5 years of reading his stuff), Shane Ketterman, Sean Ogle, Chris Garrett, David Risley, Sean Malarkey, Lewis Howes, James Clear, Srini Rao, and Danielle LaPorte.
And in the Amplifier package you got courses and guides by people like:
Chris Guillebeau (I’ve learned many new things from Chris and reviewed two of his products on my blog), Pam Slim, Desiree Adaway, Ashley Ambirge, Johnny B. Truant, Greg Rollett, Laura Roeder, Corbett Barr, Erica Douglass, David Risley, Jonathan Mead, Jen Gresham, and Charlie Gilkey (I really liked his Living the Good Life guide from the last 72 hour sale).
This sale, just like the last one, will also be raising money for charity. This time $5 from each “Launcher” package and $25 from each “Amplifier” package will go to Women of the Americas Sustainability Initiative. This organization train women community leaders around the world in how to build sustainable housing and buildings. These techniques are then used to build schools, low-income housing, and other vital community building in nations across the world.
Special bonus: 24 Lessons I Have Learned About Business and Blogging
I have none of my own products in the sale this time but if you purchase any of the bundles through the links here, just send me an email via my contact page with a copy of the receipt. I will then send you an email with a download link for my own concise e-book called 24 Lessons I Have Learned About Business and Blogging.
This deal is as I mentioned limited to just a 72 hour window. At 12 (noon) EST (or 17.00 GMT) Thursday the 1:st of December the deal closes and there is no possibility of sales later than that.
Click here to get any of these huge discount deals and to get instant access to this good stuff
Note: The links in this post are affiliate links. However, I do not recommend anything that I do not find insanely useful and this deal filled with helpful stuff sure fits that criteria.
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Do you want to learn more about living an simpler and happier life where you can do your work in a focused but less stressful way so that you can reach your goals and awesome dreams? Have a look at my three premium guides:
Simplicity – My monthly membership course on how to simplify your life.
The Art of Relaxed Productivity – How I tripled my own productivity and effectiveness and decreased stress greatly.
The Power of Positivity – How I overcame low self-confidence and became a more mindful, motivated, action-taking optimist.
Copyright 2006-2011 Henrik Edberg.
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Source: The Positivity Blog | Increase Your Happiness and Awesomeness
Watch Billy Cox Video: "How to make more money in sales?"
"All-Star Sales Book" Why do such a small percentage of people reach the elite performer status? Why do these top few make most of the money? And, how can you become one of them?
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