Balance Your Workload with a Generous Number of Mini-Vacations for Maximum Productivity by Denis Waitley

By re-energizing and renewing yourself frequently, you will avoid burnout and become much more motivated and productive. Don’t keep your nose to the grindstone for years and wait for retirement to travel. Balance and consistency are the keys. Enjoy the process, not just the result. Don’t fight the passing of time. Don’t fear it, squander it, or try to hide from it under a superficial cosmetic veil of fads and indulgences. Life and time go together. Do enjoy each phase of life. Do make the most of each day, and draw maximum joy from each moment.

Many people today are concerned with quality time – time generally defined in part as that spent on recreation, personal pursuits, time with children, spouses and friends. While I certainly believe quality time is important, I believe two other aspects of time are equally important.

First, one must also spend quantity time. The average father spends less than 30 minutes each week in direct one-on-one communication with each of his children. How can we possibly expect good family relationships with so little communication?

Second, one must spend regular time. Many supervisors and company presidents go for weeks, even months, without seeing many of their employees. There’s no substitute for regular meetings and open forums in which managers and team members can share ideas.

Time has a dual structure. On one hand, we live our daily routines meeting present contingencies as they arise. On the other hand, our most ambitious goals and desires need time so that they can be assembled and cemented. A long-term goal connects pieces of time into one block. These blocks can be imagined and projected into the future as we do when we set goals for ourselves. Or, these blocks of time can be created in retrospect as we do when we look back at what we’ve accomplished.

It’s not in the image of our big dreams that we run the risk of losing our focus and motivation. It’s the drudgery and routine of our daily lives that present the greatest danger to our hopes for achievement. Good time management means that you maximize the daily return on the energy and mental effort you expend.

Ways to maximize your time productivity:

• Write down in one place all the important contacts you have and all of your goals and priorities. Make a back up copy, preferably on CD, DVD or Zip disc. Write down every commitment you make at the time you make it.

• Stop wasting the first hour of your workday. Having the chat and first cup of coffee, reading the paper, and socializing are the three costliest opening exercises that lower productivity.

• Do one thing well at a time. It takes time to start and stop work on each activity. Stay with a task until it is completed.

• Don’t open unimportant mail. More than a fourth of the mail you receive can be tossed before you open or read it, and that includes e-mail.

• Handle each piece of paper only once and never more than twice. Don’t set aside anything without taking action. Carry work, reading material, audiotapes and your laptop computer with you everywhere you go. Convert down time into uplink time.

• Spend twenty minutes at the beginning of each week and ten minutes at the beginning of each day planning your to do list.

• Set aside personal relaxation time during the day. Don’t work during lunch. It’s neither noble nor nutritional to skip important energy input and stress-relieving time. Throughout the day, ask yourself, “What’s the best use of my time right now?” As the day grows short, focus on projects you can least afford to leave undone.

• And as we said at the beginning of this message, take vacations often, mini-vacations of two or three days, and leave your work at home. The harder you work, the more you need to balance your exercise and leisure time.

Action Idea: Plan a relaxing 3-day vacation within the next three months without taking any business work with you. Reserve it on your calendar this week.

-- Denis Waitley

A Little Equation that Creates Big Results by Chris Widener

The purpose of man is in action not thought - Thomas Carlyle

Often people will ask me how I get so much done in my life. They wonder at how I am able to accomplish so many things. The answer is found not in what a great person I am, but in an equation I came up with a few years ago and remind myself of on almost a daily basis. And when I live this equation out, it produces big results. What people don't seem to grasp is that this equation will work for anybody! Anyone can see results in their life if they will live it out!

This little equation, when it is understood, and acted upon, is perhaps the most powerful equation there is in regard to long-term achievement and accomplishment. Yet, this is not a complex equation. In fact, it is rather simple. So what is it?

Your short-term actions multiplied by time equal your long-term accomplishments.

If you want to see change in your life, see big results, the first thing you must do is change your current actions. Otherwise the old saying becomes a reality: "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got!" But if we change our actions, we will see different results!

Most people want to accomplish a lot in their lives. Yet very few actually do. Why is this? It is because what they believe will equal their long-term accomplishments is wrong. Here are some of the things that people believe will create great accomplishments for them:

Beliefs
Vision
Big dreams
Ideas
Ideals
Values
Desire

The truth is that while these things are very important, they are not enough in and of themselves. We need to have the above underlying all that we do, but we need to actually do something! And this is where most people stop. We need to take action on our dreams and beliefs every day.

Here are some examples of how this works.

Who loses weight? The one who knows all about the benefits of exercise or the one who walks three miles a day?

Who retires early? The one who dreams of a house on the beach, or the one who invests $300 a month?

Who writes books? The one who desires to become a best-selling author, or the one who gets up early and writes for half an hour a day?

Who has the best marital relationship? The one who knows how much spending time with their spouse can improve their relationship, or the one who sits down and talks with their spouse every night?

Who makes the most sales? The one who believes they can become a great salesperson, or the one who makes 10 sales calls a day?

I think you get the point. When it all comes down to it, we must act upon our vision, beliefs, and ideals or we won't see them come to fruition. I see too many people who know what is right, but don't ever do anything about it. Imagine what a difference we could make in our own lives and the lives of others if we would simply begin to act upon on our beliefs!

When I get to the end of my life, I want to know that I have done all that I can to make this world a better place and to enhance the lives of those around me. I want to know that I gave it my best shot. And I am sure that you do to.

I remember reading an interview with an author who has written numerous books that have sold in the tens of millions. They asked him how he did it. His answer was that he got up every morning before anyone else in his family and wrote, long hand, with a pencil, for an hour. Then he quit and went about his day. But his short-term actions piled up. 7 hours a week. 30 hours a month. 365 hours a year. After a while, he had lots of books!

Some questions as we leave:

What long-term accomplishments do you want to see come to pass?
What short-term actions will you need to do over time to see them come to pass?
What will you do today to begin seeing your dreams come true?
What will you do this week to see them come true?

You can have an awesome future, filled with great achievements and results if you begin today to take action and make it a reality!

One more time, so you can plug it in, memorize it, and live it.

Your short-term actions multiplied by time equal your long-term accomplishments.

-- Chris Widener

7 Things to Do to Prepare for Your First Sales Call - By Jim Meisenheimer

Whenever you have a sales call scheduled with a new sales prospect - treat it like a golden opportunity.

Because in fact this first sales call, could be a golden opportunity for you. What if your new sales prospect has the potential to become your largest customer.

What would the lifetime value of your largest customer add up to?

Here are seven things you must do before calling on every new sales prospect.

Thing you must do # 1:

Be sure to do your homework and that means making Google your first stop. Do a search on the person's name, the company name, and the name of their best selling product. You might be surprised with the results you get.

You should also go to: http://www.google.com/alerts - Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of the name of a person and / or the name of a company.

Thing you must do # 2:

Now this is a little thing that can have a big impact. It can create a powerful first impression for you.

Go to an office supply store and buy a dozen red file folders. While you're at the store buy Avery product #8366 which are white file folder labels. Prepare a label with the name of your new sales prospect.

Imagine your prospect's reaction to seeing his name on this red file folder. He will immediately consider you professional, organized, successful, and different from most other salespeople he has experienced in the past.

A little thing with a big impact.

Thing you must do # 3:

You must have a written sales call objective for your first sales call. Your written objectives for this sales call can include: to build rapport, establish credibility, to ask 3-5 open-ended questions, to identify one common interest you share, and to secure agreement for your second meeting.

Your written sales call objectives will scream "Professionalism." By contrast most salespeople arrive like a tourist just taking in the sights - pity the poor sales prospect who must put up with this display of mediocrity.

Thing you must do # 4:

To get the ball rolling, building rapport and establishing credibility, I suggest you prepare and practice 3 - 5 open-ended questions.

Nothing shows your interest more than the questions you ask - so be sure to ask good questions. You can start with . . . tell me about your business . . . what are your responsibilities . . . in addition to you who else is involved in making decisions for . . . what are the biggest challenges you're facing growing your business?

Once again asking these questions will demonstrate your interest and professionalism and differentiate you from most salespeople.

Thing you must do # 5:

If you enjoy playing the telephone tag game you can immediately proceed to # 6. It's absolutely amazing how many salespeople neglect to secure the meeting time and date for the second meeting.
Once you have qualified your sales prospect as a potential customer don't forget and never hesitate to ask for the second meeting. Do not attempt improvisation. Prepare and practice how you will ask for the second meeting.

Thing you must do # 6:

This next thing is especially important if you happen to be a serious person. Before you get out of your car check your rearview mirror to make sure you're smiling.

Trust me, when you're caught in traffic, running a little late, just ended a telephone call with a disgruntled customer - please don't think you have a happy face on. Check your mirror to check your smile.

Thing you must do # 7:

Try this affirmation on for size "This will be my best sales call ever to a new sales prospect."
Right after you check to make sure you're smiling saying this affirmation fills your mind with positive thoughts and words squeezing out any potential negativity.

You may not realize this but you are in complete control of your thoughts. And of course you know how you think is everything!

There's a huge difference between self-doubt and self-confidence and both are controled by your thoughts.

This affirmation creates the perfect mindset for a very successful sales call.

Just try it once and see how much better you feel.

Now you know the 7 things you must do to prepare for your first sales call. Believe it or not you now have a 7-point system for making sales calls on new prospects.

Use this system to make every sales call better than the last one.

Let's go sell something . . .


About the Author:

Use this link to sign-up for Jim's F-R-E-E "The Start Selling More" Newsletter and to get your copy of his Special Report titled, "25 Ways To Get Motivated." http://www.startsellingmore.com/getmotivated.html

Three Mistakes That May Cost You Sales

By Jim Klein

As you read every word of this article you will discover three
common mistakes that may be costing you sales. However, I don't
want you to feel like you are alone, or thats it's totally your
fault. These are common mistakes made by many sales people due to
the lack of proper sales training.

Sales is a process, and having said that, there are certain steps
that must be followed in order for the process to end with the
ultimate outcome, a sale. If any of these steps are skipped or not
done properly, you may very well waste your time and in the
process, damage your confidence and self esteem.

Many sales people skip or hurry through certain steps, and then
search for techniques to help them close the sale and make up for
them taking short cuts in the sales process.

There are no short cuts to success in sales. If you follow the
sales process and thoroughly cover all the steps, you will be
surprised at the success you will have.

Failure to build rapport with the prospect is the first mistake
most sales people make.

I'm sure you will agree, when it comes to the most important steps
in the sales process, establishing a deep level of trust and
rapport is one of the most important. Would you agree with that?

Great!

As a matter of fact, I believe that connecting with your prospects
is the most important step of all, because until they like you and
trust you, they're not going to purchase anything from you.

Think back on your own experiences when you have purchased
something. Have you ever purchased anything from someone you didn't
like or trust? I would bet the answer is NO!

You have probably gone out of your way to not purchased something
from someone you didn't like or trust. Isn't that true?

Can you remember a time when you actually walked out of a store and
said to yourself, "There is no way I will ever purchase anything
from him, I don't like him", or "I don't trust her". Does that
sound at all familiar? I bet it does.

An important thing to remember when building rapport with your
prospect is to make a good first impression.

The old cliché, "you never get a second chance to make a good first
impression" is very true, because a first impression can be nearly
impossible to reverse or undo. A first impression is extremely
important, because it sets the tone for your entire relationship
with your prospect.

Here are some key points to remember to help you make a good first
impression:

Be on time
Relax
Present yourself appropriately
Smile
Be positive
Be courteous and attentive

Then, once you've made a good first impression, the fastest way to
establish a deep level of trust and rapport is by showing a genuine
interest in the prospect and mirroring and matching your prospects
words, voice and physiology.

The second common mistake many sales people make that costs them
sales, is not qualifying a prospect properly to find the emotional
reasons why they need your product or service.

When it comes to qualifying a prospect it's important to understand
the reasons why people do things, and ultimately, why they will or
will not purchase your product or service. You see, people will
purchase your product or service to satisfy one of two main needs.
Some times they will even purchase to satisfy both needs.

These two needs are:

1.The need to avoid pain, or a loss

2.The need to gain pleasure.

These are the two motivating factors in a person for doing anything
in their life; to gain pleasure, or to avoid pain. You may have
heard it stated this way, "The carrot or the stick". The carrot
represents the edible reward, while the stick refers to a punishing
switch.

Your goal in finding the answer to the prospects' problems is to
find the pleasure they wish to gain or the pain they wish to avoid,
and then show them how your product or service will help them avoid
that pain, or gain the pleasure they seek.

Does that make sense?

Great! Let's move on...

People buy products or services based on emotional needs or wants,
and then justify their purchase logically.

So, in the qualifying phase of the sales process you need to find
what the desired results are your prospect is seeking. Then you
must dig deep to find their internal emotional reasons for wanting
what they are telling you they want.

When you connect with people and their emotional reasons for
wanting what they desire, you have tremendous power to give them
what they want, and have them feel great about buying your product
or service.

The third mistake many sales people make that costs them sales is
to present their product or service without building a deep level
of trust and rapport and qualifying the prospect properly.

We have already determined a prospect will not buy from you unless
they like you or trust you. So, why would any sales person present
their product or service to someone who they haven't built a deep
level of rapport with?

It's a waste of the prospects' and the sales persons time. The
chances of the prospect buying from someone they don't like or
trust are slim to none.

And how can you present your product or service as a solution to a
prospects' problem if you haven't determined what their problem is;
whether they have one at all, or whether your product or service is
a solution to their problem?

Many sales people even skip the qualifying step all together,
thinking they all ready know what their prospect wants and needs.

The steps of the sales process are there for a reason. They're a
road map for the successful sales person to follow, to lead them to
their destination. A win for themselves, and a win for their
prospect.

How to Build Your Dream Team-Patrick Lencioni

If you want to build a successful team for your business, you need to avoid the five causes of team dysfunction. Patrick Lencioni, a leadership expert and organizational consultant, shares the five team dysfunctions and what you should do about each.

1. Absence of trust. "Team members need to be able to admit their weaknesses and mistakes, to acknowledge the strengths of others, and to apologize when they do something wrong."
2. Fear of conflict. "Great teams argue. Not in a mean-spirited or personal way, but they disagree—and passionately—when important decisions are made.” Avoiding conflict only leads to mediocrity."
3. Lack of commitment. "When team members openly share opinions on a decision, they don’t wonder whether anyone is holding back or not. When the leader has to step in and make a decision, team members will accept that decision because they know their ideas were heard and considered."
4. Avoidance of accountability. "The best kind of accountability on a team is peer-to-peer. Peer pressure is more efficient and effective than going to the leader, anonymously complaining and then having them stop what they are doing to intervene. Members of great teams confront each other when they see something that isn’t serving the team."
5. Inattention to results. "Team members have to be focused on the collective good of the team. Too often, they focus their attention on their department, their budget, their career aspirations, their egos. Great teams put the tangible results of the team ahead of their individual needs."

Follow Up Sales Effectiveness – By Patricia Weber

Follow up in sales is critical. On a recent podcast I talked about how the sales process includes a certain degree of timing. Particularly critical is the timing between a salesperson’s follow-up and a prospect’s pain point to want, not just need, what you sell. Unless you have a crystal ball to bring that timeline into your view, then it is up to you to continue to be in front of a prospect about what might interest them.

Manage the process
If you do not plan to follow-up, the sale will likely not happen. Jeffery Moses says, “Sales is one part initial contact, four times follow-up.” What is the average length of the sales cycle of your customers? Once you know this, then determine a series of different types of follow-up at different points in this cycle.

Start sooner than later
The first thing could be a handwritten note or even a voice mail saying how you appreciate their interest and maybe a reminder that you plan to stay in touch. This does two things: you’ve communicated your regards, and you let a prospect know you are going to talk with them again. Then, get your plan out of your head and on to your calendar.

Scheduling versus planned
Maybe a week after you’ve sent the first handwritten note, contact your prospect with an email containing pertinent information about something that interests them. After that you could send something seasonal, even a “just thinking of you” card, or if appropriate, a small gift. You can intermix real cards, emails, telephone calls and if appropriate, in-person visits.

Collaborate
Ask for help with the follow-up process. If you were referred to the prospect, ask the referrer something that might be important to the prospect for your follow-up. If you meet someone who knows the prospect, they may have some insights to add to your follow-up plan.

Have something pertinent
If “Are you ready?” is the first, last or only question you have on the scheduled plan, than you’re probably seen as just a bother. An update on pricing, or a new product, or that you are on holiday for a week are valid reasons for a follow-up. How many valid business reasons can you think of to put in your plan?

In my early years of selling, with less than a year’s experience, I was visiting with a Regional Manager of the then Burroughs Corporation. I asked, “So how long do I keep going with the follow-up process to a prospect?” There was no hesitation and in an assertive confident voice from experience he replied, “Until the prospect either tells you to stop, or that they are ready to buy.”

How much is a new customer worth do you? Is that worth more than putting all your effort only into that initial contact? Or is it worth you staying committed to a systematic follow-up? If you say yes to both these statements, then with your sales skills and timing, the outcome will likely be, “Okay. What do I have to do to get started with you?” or “How soon can you ship that to me?”

Who Are the Millionaires

By: Brian Tracy

The way you think about money will determine how much of it you accumulate more than any other factor. Your attitude toward money affects your emotions and your motivations.

The Five Ways to Become a Millionaire
If you are really serious about becoming wealthy, you will want to know the five main ways that fortunes are made in this country. Number one, top of the list, top of the hit parade throughout the history of America, is self-owned businesses. It is entrepreneurship of all kinds, including in real EST ate. 74% of self-made millionaires in America, not only in this generation and in this century, but in the last century as well, come from self-owned businesses.

How Wealthy People Start Out
The great majority of wealthy people started businesses and built them from the ground up. In the 19th century, fortunes were built by people like Andrew Carnegie, Jacob van Astor, Thomas Edison, Commodore Vanderbilt, J. P. Morgan and others. In the 20th century, especially in the last few years, businesses and fortunes alike have been built by people like Bill Gates, Steve Case, Larry Ellison, Ross Perot and Sam Walton. Each of these people started with nothing and succeeded in building a business from scratch.

Become a Millionaire Where You Are
The second major source of self-made millionaires in America is senior executives. Ten percent of the self-made millionaires in America are men and women who have joined large corporations and worked with those corporations for many years. They rose to positions of seniority, were paid extremely well, given stock options, profit sharing and bon uses, and as a result of holding onto the money, they became millionaires.

Success Pays Big Rewards
Michael Eisner of Disney Corporation received a $126 million dollar bon us in a single year. Lee Iacoca of Chrysler Corporation was paid $26.7 million dollars as a bon us in a single year. It's not hard to become a self-made millionaire when you are making that kind of money.

The Professional Road to Wealth
The third source of self-made millionaires in America is doctors, lawyers and other professionals. Men and women who become very, very good at what they do and rise to the top of their professions are eventually paid, very, very well. The top five percent in every field earn 10 and 20 times as much as the average person in that field.

Sell Your Way to the Top
The fourth major source of self-made millionaires in America are salespeople and sales consultants. Fully five percent of self-made millionaires are men and women who are the top salespeople in their fields. They never started their own businesses. They never went to college or university to get professional degrees. They just became very good salespeople for their products or services and were paid very good money. The secret was that they then invested the money conservatively and held on to it. 99% of self-made millionaires come from these four categories: self-owned businesses - 74%; senior executive positions - 10%: doctors, lawyers and other professionals - 10%; and salespeople and sales consultants - 5%.

Other Ways to Get Rich
The final one percent of self-made millionaires is made up of all the people in all other areas. This one percent consists of people who have made their money by inventions, in show business, in sports, through authorship of books and songs, lottery winners and inheritances. But these people make up only one percent of the total. The bottom line is that there are so many ways for you to become a self-made millionaire that it is almost impossible for you not to achieve this goal if you are really serious about it.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put this information into action as soon as possible:

First, decide what it is that you really enjoy doing and then throw your whole heart into doing it extremely well. There is a direct relationship between excellent performance and the kind of high income that leads to financial independence.

Second, be perfectly honest with yourself on an ongoing basis. Is what you are doing right now going to lead you to financial independence, or do you have to begin making some serious changes in your work and in your life? Whatever your answer, take action on it immediately.