MAKE IT A GREAT LIFE

What does a GREAT life mean to you? That is one of the most
important questions an adult can ask and answer.
Too many of us wander through life and never examine our
lives. We fantasize that a great life is having money or
fame or raising a family, perhaps driving a new car or
having a house in the Hamptons, but we never rigorously
examine how we want to live our lives and what a GREAT
would look like.
We all know that a great life does not happen by accident.
A great life is not inherited and it does not come with a
diploma, a promotion, getting married (or divorced), having
kids or retiring early. A great life is NEVER automatic. It
cannot be inherited and it's never an accessory with the
"goodies" of life. Sure, lots of money, a penthouse
apartment, political power or winning the Nobel Prize are
wonderful things and I encourage you to aspire to ALL of
them.
But none of them will guarantee you a great life.
It seems to me that a GREAT life is one that is chosen "on
purpose" and is lived in the service of a vision greater
than itself. A great life is living "a life of one's own"
and it is invested, not merely spent.
Second, it seems to me that a GREAT life makes a great
contribution. A great life uses its talents and abilities
to make at least one small corner of the world a better
place. A great life stands up, speaks out, and gets things
done. A GREAT life makes a measurable difference and leaves
the world better than we found it.
Third, it seems to me that a GREAT life leaves a path for
others to follow. It is good to do great things; it's even
BETTER to do great things and teach others to do them as
well. A GREAT life leaves a legacy. A GREAT life inspires
the next generation to go further, reach farther, dream
bigger and achieve more.
I am convinced that every one of us has the ability and the
right to a GREAT life. Greatness is not reserved for a
lucky few, for the rich or the powerful, for the artistic
or for any small category of people. Living a GREAT life is
the birthright of every human being, whether we express
greatness in designing tall buildings, or by teaching
children to stand tall.
Greatness is our birthright, whether we express our
greatness in business or government, in art or music, in
parenting, or in any of the thousands of so-called "small"
ways that we often over-look, but which are absolutely
essential.  Most people remember a special teacher, and
many of us had an uncle who taught us to whistle or a
grandmother who taught us to read.  Perhaps there was a
neighbor who taught us to fish, who gave us our first job,
or dared us to persevere when things were hard.
We all have the opportunity, and the challenge, to make a
difference and to be  GREAT. Each of us is invited to live
a life of substance and distinction that changes the world
for those we touch.
I love the story of the "star thrower," about a man walking
on a beach after a storm, throwing starfish back into the
ocean so they didn't die on the shore.  Someone criticizes
him for wasting his time, noting there are millions of
starfish, and the few he saves won't make much difference.
The man silently bends over, throws a starfish into the
surf and replies, "It made a difference for that one."
Set it as your minimum standard to live a GREAT life, to
make a difference and have some fun!  Eventually, down the
road one day, we all have to look back and assess our life
and when that time comes, we want to smile, knowing we did
it right. Set that as your standard, and go for it!

CONSULTING Vs SELLING

One particular self-image possessed by high-achieving salespeople is that they see themselves as consultants rather than as salespersons. Do you view yourself as a consultant?

High-achieving salespeople see themselves as problem solvers with their products or services rather than as vendors looking for someone who will trade them money for what they have to offer.

Approach Them As Clients

They do not approach their customers with hat in hand, hoping for a sale. They approach their "clients" with the attitude that they are consultants calling on the prospect to help him or her solve a problem or achieve a goal.

Ask Questions and Listen Carefully

Seeing themselves as consultants, they ask questions carefully and listen intently. They focus all of their energies on understanding the customer’s situation so that they can make intelligent recommendations based on what the customer really wants and needs.

Become An Expert in Your Field

As consultants, they recognize that they must be experts, authorities in their field. They know their products and services from one end to the other. They invest many hours familiarizing themselves with every single detail of what they sell, and of what their competitors sell as well. They know the strengths and weaknesses, the advantages and shortcomings, the features and benefits of what they are offering. They have excellent product knowledge which their customers can sense and which gives both themselves and their customers greater confidence throughout the sales conversation.

Differentiate Yourself from Your Competitors

Top salespeople, positioning themselves as consultants, see themselves as resources for their clients. They see themselves and carry themselves as advisors, mentors and friends. They become emotionally involved in their transactions and they are generally concerned that their product or service be the ideal solution to the real needs of the prospects they are dealing with. They differentiate themselves from their competitors by being more concerned with helping their prospects than with selling their products or services. Their customers often feel that they care more about them than they care about making a sale. And it's true.

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, see yourself as a problem-solver rather than as a salesperson. Take sufficient time to understand the prospect’s real need before you start selling.

Second, think of ways to tailor your product or service to your customer’s needs so that he sees what you sell as the ideal solution for him.

BRIDGING THE GAP THAT KEEPS US TRAPPED

This week I’ve been struck by the huge gap between what we
know, and what we do. I was walking through the self-help,
how-to, and "recovery" sections of a local bookstore and
there must have been over a thousand titles, although I
didn’t count them all.
It hit me that we are far more willing to study "what to
do" or "how to do it" than to truly change the direction of
our own lives. Theory is so much easier than action.
Now don’t get me wrong! I love learning! In IMPACT, I constantly
encourage you to attend the seminars, hire the coaches, and
do whatever it takes to learn the skills you need.
But the fact remains that knowing "what" to do, and
actually doing it, are two very different things.
Sometimes I think there must be a million books and tapes
and classes for sale on the Internet that promise to teach
you the "secrets" or the "path" to riches or instant
success of one kind of another. And if you truly do not
know the skills or do not have the tools, you should make
the investment.
But. Most of us already either know, or at least have some
clues about what we need to do. The key question is, How
can we get ourselves to take action and do what we already
know?
As a first step, I recommend you get familiar with the
distinction between "Intelligent Choices" and "Automatic
Choices."
Intelligent Choices (IC’s) are the things you know you
should and ought to do. They are the steps and actions, the
decisions and practices that will take you toward your
goals. They might be the steps you wrote down on your goals
sheet, or the plans you made, or the new behaviors you
eagerly imagine. They are easy to think about; but they are
NOT habits. They are not part of your ordinary routine.
They may not be familiar or comfortable. They may be fairly
obvious, but they are new and different and therefore, they
are easy to avoid.
Automatic Choices (AC’s), on the other hand, are very easy.
They are familiar habits and you’ve been doing them for
years. Your family and friends "expect" them of you. They
don’t cause problems and they don’t upset anyone. They
involve no risk, except that they keep you trapped in your
familiar rut.
An IC is to save some of your income and invest for the
future. It’s "hard" and may seem uncomfortable. It may
involve sacrifice, but it’s a smart thing to do. In
contrast, a common AC is to whip out a credit card for an
impulse purchase, or to pick up take-out because you’re
"too tired" to cook.
High achievers routinely challenge themselves to make the
Intelligent Choice. They are willing to be uncomfortable.
They are willing to stretch or experiment with new things.
What they refuse to do is to keep doing the same old,
familiar thing, while expecting a different result!
So here’s a key suggestion: First thing every morning, take
ten minutes to decide on a few Intelligent Choices you will
do today. Write them down. Don’t make this hard. Rome
wasn’t built in a day. Jot down three or four smart things
you want to do each day. Then at the end of the day, calmly
review your actions to see if you did them. Be honest. If
you didn’t do them, do not beat yourself up! Just tell the
truth and re-commit to doing them tomorrow. If you did
them, congratulate yourself!
Remember, AC’s keep us trapped in the "same old, same old."
IC’s are the keys that unlock the future. IC’s are the
building blocks, the steps or path or recipe to everything
you want in life. Understand the distinction and use it to
your advantage.
Just for this week, commit to making (and doing!) two or
three Intelligent Choices every day. I think it will help
bridge the gap between your current reality and the dreams
you have for your future.

3 SALES REALITIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Here’s the secret…
There are Three Sales Realities you need to be keenly aware of – these are realities top performers pay careful attention to in the 21st century.
What I’m about to tell you may not sound like news –but if you haven’t adapted your sales game to address these three realities… you’re sleeping on the job and missing your biggest opportunities.
This is one of the core reasons why top performers outsell “average salespeople”…

SALES REALITY #1 – THE “SMARTPHONE” AGE

Today, your prospects have unbelievable access to information about
your prices, product, service, reputation, competition – and they
use this information like a weapon.

Because of the economy we’re in, prospects can’t afford to make mistakes with their money. They’re looking for any excuse not to buy, bypass you or worse… buy from your lower-priced competitor.
Let me tell you a story to illustrate this — Recently, I was at BestBuy with my granddaughter shopping for headphones.
She asked the salesperson a lot of good questions and got his recommendation. She seemed set on purchasing… and the salesperson was happy to chalk up another commission for his daily quota.
But then — my granddaughter pulled out her iPhone, checked the price online and bought the same item on Amazon instead!
That’s when I realized why access to information is one of the biggest obstacles we face in sales today.
What could that rep at Best Buy have done to keep the sale???
How do you avoid being a commodity – a disposable source of information used only to help your clients buy somewhere else?
I’ll reveal the answer to you in a moment…

SALES REALITY #2 – SMALLER WALLETS

More big companies are cash rich than ever before -
yet are also more reluctant to spend it.

One reason is our political situation – higher taxes, forced healthcare for business owners, and extra expenses associated with the cost of doing business.
And with an uncertain economy, a bad purchase decision takes longer to bounce back from. So decision makers are ultra-conservative with their cash.
It’s not just businesses though. Consumers are just as gun-shy after five years of economic uncertainty. After all, many have had their retirements wiped out.
This level of “Fear of Spending” may be here for a long time… which unfortunately means there’s no room for ‘average’ salespeople in this economic climate.
However, top sales performers are walking away with record commissions. Why… and how? I’ll share that with you in a moment.

SALES REALITY #3 — IT’S A SMALL WORLD

Once upon a time, you didn’t have to worry about competition from the next town over. Unfortunately, that’s now all over.

Thousands of sales reps are now talking to your customers through technology like video conferencing. Companies from overseas are now able to put their sales reps “in the room” with your best prospects through Skype and video conferencing.
Every industry from insurance to legal services, technology and software faces this threat.
But that’s not all…
Just in your town — right now — thousands of laid off workers are now starting their own business that will compete with you.
If you think that’s not fair, you’re right. It’s reality. The world just got smaller.

So with iPhone shoppers, tighter wallets and competition closing in from all sides…
How can you beat the odds and become a top dog in your office, business and industry?
It’s simple.
Your best chance to succeed and thrive is to decide right now to become a top producer in your field.
In fact, it’s not a choice. It’s something you must do to survive!
Our research shows that top producers continue to make 80% of the income and sell 10x more than their peers and competition… even in this economy!

NO MORE TYPEWRITER FACTORIES!

Several years ago, a friend of mine built one of the best
photography studios in our area. They had a magnificent
facility, the best equipment and back office I have ever
seen, along with talented photographers. They did several
covers for a national magazine and business looked great.
And yet within a few years they closed their doors. Why?
Digital photography. As my friend said, “We had the best
typewriter factory in town.” They were doing amazing work,
and yet the market left them in the dust. Given their
investment and their business model, they couldn’t adjust
so they folded their tent and quit.
This week I talked with a talented and passionate medical
professional who’s working harder than ever, and making
less and less. Changes in the economic realities of
medicine are forcing her to re-assess her plans and find a
new business model.
Over the years of experience of  hundreds of business owners and
leaders, I’ve been surprised at how many fail to ask the
basic question: Will enough people buy my products at a
price that lets me make a profit and grow my business?
Obviously marketing, service and pricing play a huge role
in the success of any business. Talent and passion are
vital. Efficient systems are a must, but before any of
that, there is the fundamental question, Will enough
customers buy what I’m selling at a price that covers my
costs?
Many business leaders focus on what I call, "arranging the
deck chairs on the Titanic." They focus on the internal
workings of their business, while ignoring the "macro-
economic" forces around them. Will the market buy what
you’re selling? That’s an essential question and it must be
faced realistically.
Successful entrepreneurs monitor both the internal
operations of their business, and the external environment
around them.

SMALL DIFFERENCE THAT TRIGGERS ENORMOUS RESULTS

Did you know that if you become just a little bit better in certain critical areas of selling, it can translate into enormous increases in sales?

Thousands of hours and millions of dollars have been spent studying the most successful salespeople in our society. They have been interviewed exhaustively, as have their customers, co-workers and managers. What do you think they found out to be the most important thing to become one of the best in the business? They learned that selling is more psychological than anything else.

The Key to High Performance

One of the most important concepts ever discovered in the field of human performance is called the "winning edge concept." This concept or principle, states that, "small differences in ability can translate into enormous differences in results." What it means is that if you become just a little bit better in certain critical areas of selling, it can translate into enormous increases in sales. In fact, you may be on the verge of a major step forward in your sales results at this very moment just by learning and practicing something new and different to what you have done before.

If a horse comes in first by a nose, it wins ten times the prize money of the horse that comes in second, even though the difference is only a nose, or perhaps a couple of inches, in a photo finish.

Small Differences Mean Big Rewards

Does this mean that the horse that wins by a nose is ten times faster than the horse that comes in second, by a nose? Of course not! Is the horse that wins by a nose twice as fast, or fifty percent faster, or ten percent faster? The answer is "no" to all of these. The horse that wins is only a nose faster, but it translates into ten times the prize money.

Get 100% of the Commission

By the same token, the salesperson who gets the sale for himself and his company gets one hundred percent of the business and one hundred percent of the commission. Does this mean that his product is one hundred percent better than that of the competition, or one hundred percent cheaper?

The fact is that the product may not even be as good and it may cost even more than that of the competitor, but the top salesman gets the sale nonetheless. The person who gets the sale, is in most cases, not vastly better than the person who loses the sale. He or she merely has the "winning edge" and that translates into one hundred percent of the business.

Action Exercises

Now, here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, identify the important things you do in every sale, from prospecting to closing, and think about what you could do to improve in each area.

Second, select one specific area where you feel you are weak and make a plan to become absolutely excellent in this area. This decision alone could change your career.