Hate Sales and Selling...?

...then Play to your Strengths...

The Oldest Profession in the World is....?

Wrong...

The right answer is Sales and Marketing - before any Service or Product can be delivered, someone has to close the deal...
In common with plenty of people, I never really looked forward to the activity known as Making Appointments - otherwise known as Cold Calling or Telemarketing...

There is some bizarre affliction that affect normal sane people as soon as they pick up a telephone and speak to someone they have never met..

Assertive, successful, attractive and confident people are reduced to gibbering idiots when attempting to simply engage a fellow professional in a conversation..

Emotions include;

FEAR - dry mouth and fight or flight reactions...

PANIC - find the exit and lose the ability to speak coherently...

EMBARRASSMENT -apologising for daring to disturb someones day...

AVOIDANCE - finding excuses to never pick up the 'phone in the first place...

It is as if they are getting into the Ring with Tyson, being confronted in Road Rage or speaking in Public; the symptoms of Cold Calling are about the same..

So what can be done...?

In Business, at some time someone has to actually Sell something and to get the opportunity of making the Sale, the Marketing has to deliver Prospects to be Sold to...

But what if you don't like or enjoy making the calls...?

There is an old adage that "Failure Teaches us the best lessons...", and that we should "Work to overcome our weaknesses..." - these are clearly neither true or helpful...

Failure only teaches us the most expensive lessons - this rubbish usually quoted by followers of Thomas Edison when he found a "million ways" that a Light bulb didn't work... 

Check out Nikola Tesla if you want someone who actually knew science and got things right; imagine if the A380 didn't fly first time out, or new cars off the production line didn't start first time. We need to engineer success not use the excuse of learning from failure...

Failure is usually quoted by those have never achieved anything of note as an easy justification for why they are so useless - if anyone says that they are "Failing Forwards..." they should be slapped with a large piece of wet fish - twice......

And another Gem...

Pain is just Weakness leaving the Body - no it's not. It is your body telling you to stop doing something before it causes you damage and harm. I know that US Marines and Army types will quote this phrase at every opportunity; try saying this phrase to a Woman during childbirth and I think you just may get a justified poke in the eye...

Rather than overcoming Pain or Weakness - how about we simply find a better way...?

I knew that in order to get Clients I had to meet with people who wanted our services. I could either do it through Telemarketing; overcoming the "Weakness" and breaking through the "Pain" - or by choosing a different strategy...

I chose Networking and Seminars - being on stage in front of dozens of people is for some even worse than making cold calls, but for me it was a viable alternative...

I can do Telesales, I'm even pretty good at it, but I dislike Seminars and Networking less, so that is what I did. Sometimes just choosing something less disagreeable is the best strategy...

In Sales and Business Development - find out what you are good at and enjoy doing, be excellent at it and do it consistently to achieve your results. Rather than overcoming the Weakness, play to your Strength; instead of enduring the Pain of Failure, enjoy the Fruits of Success...

One thing is for sure - doing nothing doesn't work - but you can make a choice of what you can make work for you..

Success has taught me more than Failure ever did...

So I have now come to actually enjoy the process of Sales and Marketing; I have got very good at it too, but only because I made a decision about my personal flavour of Poison...


OUR NEXT EVENT...

Business Growth Workshop...

Learn how to build Sales, Profits and Cash in your Business by using these simple Techniques and Strategies...

• The TWO things you MUST do when Marketing a Service...

• The SIX Keys to Persuasion that ALL Entrepreneurs should know...

• How to never have to CLOSE a deal and get them to BUY every time...

• The THREE tactics you HAVE to use to keep Clients for life... 

• Why PLANNING is almost USELESS In achieving your Success...

AND - we will be having some fun in the process; if everyone is good, I may even show a couple of Video's too... 

Luxembourg - Friday 4th April 2014

Birmingham - Friday 25th April 2014

Places are offered to our Clients first, so there will only be a few places available - so make sure you book immediately; that means now, not tomorrow or next week or come back when you have had the chance to think about it, but RIGHT NOW..

For Luxembourg Click - HERE

For Birmingham Click - HERE

It Shouldn't Happen to a Coach...

...true life stories from our travels through life....

Moving to live in Las Vegas seemed like a bit of fun - so we sold up and took our business over the Pond..

I arrived 6 weeks before the family and had to find somewhere to live - didn't realise that Vegas was such a big town...

In the Hotel I was staying in - The Platinum, just off the Strip - I got talking to a guy at the Bar, as one does when in Vegas...

He was in Real Estate, and although originally from the deep south, knew the Las Vegas market well, or so it seemed...

After a few drinks, he decided to give me a piece of advice...

"Whatever you do, make sure you live in a Gay community....!"

Me - "Really...?"

"Yep, you'll be safe there and among like minded people, away from all the psycho's..."

Me - "I'm married with two kids...."

"Exactly, that's why you need to be in a protected area...."

That night I called Lynn and told her what advice I had been given, and that I would go to ReMax in the morning and see what I could find...
 
As an open / broad minded individual I saw no problem in principle with living in a Gay Community - live and let live and all that...

 





So off to ReMax I went...

When asked by the assistant if she could be of any help I said yes....

"I need a family size home in a secure Gay community..."

Her - "Really - why...?"

"Well it will be safer there and we will be with other like minded people away from the psycho's..."

Apparently - as the conversation developed - I leaned that there are no Gay communities in Las Vegas and in fact what had been described to me in a broad Southern Drawl was in fact a Gated Community...

Doh...!

So off to Summerlin we went  - and Slate Harbor Circle was our Las Vegas Home....

Why Long Term Planning Sucks ...

...trust your subconscious - stop thinking so much...

First of all - lets look at how we drive our cars and use our GPS...

Strange I know - but go with me here, it will make sense...

Let's suppose that I want to drive from Monaco to London. I enter the destination into the GPS and it will calculate a route for me.

It may ask a few questions about avoiding toll roads and ferries, but once it knows where I want to go and how I want to get there, it can give me the advice I need..

Some things that our GPS doesn't do...

1. Check Your Past - it doesn't say "well you were in Berlin yesterday, so you can't be in Monaco now..." or "You haven't been to Italy yet so you can't go to London..." - these are ridiculous questions and totally irrelevant to the journey. 

In Life and Business, however, when we set our Goals and Objectives, sometimes we let a voice in side our head tell us that we are not "ready" or "worthy" yet - or we convince ourselves that because we don't have a Degree, MBA or the right connections we cannot start the journey at all.

2. Check Your Future - it doesn't say "oooohhh, you don't want to go there..." or "are you sure, wouldn't you rather go to Paris...?" The GPS believes what you tell it to be true and behaves accordingly and without question.

Our Subconscious is the same - whatever we tell it, it takes as being true. So whether we tell it positive, negative, inspiring or limiting facts and phrases; it takes them as truth and guides us. It is non-judgemental...

3. Show a Picture of your Destination - the GPS does not focus you on the destination. It focuses you on the immediate future and present. The screen image gives you around 200 metres of the road ahead and guides you turn by turn.

Essentially, we have to trust that the GPS will make the right choices for us. If we have to divert off course or avoid an accident or roadworks that it doesn't know about, it will simply re calculate and get us back on track.

This is how our subconscious works too - once we tell it where we want to go, it will guide our actions and decisions to take us there - we have to stop planning so much and start trusting our instinct to make the right choices.

4. Give In or Tell You Off - your GPS never gives in, no matter how many times you go off track, make a wrong turn or ignore the instructions, it is there to serve you and look after your interests - same as your subconscious.

I have tested this out and if I continually ignore the instructions the voice never says "for #%$@ sake, do what I tell you or else..." or "you're an idiot and cant't drive anyway..." it is non judgemental and consistent in it's manner and emotional state.

Your subconscious is the same, it doesn't matter how many mistakes you make, or how skilled you are - it will still guide you...

If you feel like giving in, or listening to other people telling you off, it just means you haven't arrived yet, ignore them and trust your instinct.

5. Distract You - once the destination is set, your GPS will only give you instructions that you need, it will go quiet while the road is straight; sometimes no news is good news and it simply means that you are on track, silence is not an opportunity to change direction.

When we lived in Nevada we could drive across the Desert for hours and not see a soul, the GPS would be silent. Even the view on the screen would be a single vertical blue line through the wilderness - we had to let it do it's job.

A friend had an App that would chirp in if the GPS was silent, stating for example "I'm wearing black underwear...." or "would you like to do something naughty...?" - in Life and Business we need to make sure we are not distracted and stay on course...

Applying the Rules to Business and Life...

I have rarely seen a Business Plan that works - what I mean is that usually something happens that wasn't predicted. The biggest challenges and opportunities are those we don't predict - and yet we keep Planning the details and get frustrated when we don't hit the targets...

Stop It...

Here's how to stop Planning and start Achieving...

1. Set the Objective - the destination, refer to it often but don't keep it as your only focus, the focus has to be the Present, dealing with both the planned and unpredictable as they occur.

2. Ignore the Past - your history need not define your future, unless you let it. If you think you don't deserve, are too young / old, not clever enough - then you are right.

3. Get Moving - if you don't move you will not get anywhere. Procrastinating and Thinking about what to do is the best way of achieving nothing, get on with it and let your instinct guide you. 

I had a message from someone who said that they "had been thinking seriously about working with a Coach for the last three months..." - not sure what "serious thinking" actually is, but I guarantee it is not helping...

4. Trust - your instinct. Once you have chosen where to go and how to get there, allow your subconscious to do its work; it may seem odd occasionally but it will be right in the end ans get you to your destination safely.

As with the GPS, your journey may be a long one, but your attention should be on the immediate adjustments and turns you make on the way. Essentially it is possible to drive from Monaco to London in steps of 200 metres, that is as far ahead as you need to see.

We always had a Dream of living in rural France, but we had n clue how to make it happen. Our Business took us all over the UK and we eventually ended up living and working out of Las Vegas in the USA; we didn't seem to be getting any closer to our Dream, in fact we were 5,000 miles further away than we were when we started.

However, it was the move to the USA that actually created the opportunity for us to be based out of France - where we are now - joining the dots backwards it all makes sense, at the time, however, it seemed slightly crazy...

We trusted our instincts not our logic - that's what gets results...

So it is with Business and Life; 

Long Term Intention + Short Term Attention = Results

Because as we know Results Rules OK..

PS - If you want to give God a good laugh - tell her your plans...

Have a great week...

Is History making you Unhappy...?

...you have been conditioned not to be Happy...

The Neolithic Revolution, which was when humans began transition from a Hunter Gatherer existence towards an Agrarian or Farming lifestyle happened over the period from 9000 to 7000 BC. 

Then between 1760 and 1840 the first  Industrial Revolution took place - where for the first time machines started to replace hand skills. From 1840 to 1870 the Second Industrial Revolution occurred with the introduction of Steam Power on railways, in factories and for shipping.

Happiness is a Process not an Event...

Capitalism flourished under these conditions and gave rise to increased international trade, travel and mass production under factory conditions complete with artificial lighting.

Now....

If you have a Factory full of Capital Plant and Equipment i.e. machines, how many hours a day do you want the machines to be working for each day...?

Exactly - 24...

So along with industrialisation came the introduction of the triple shift system - breaking the day into three eight hour sections such that different teams can keep the machines running constantly - and therefore increase profits.

To prepare people for this capitalist worker bee existence, they had to be trained, and the school system was the perfect way to condition people to get used to a pattern of living that started with a bell, included set breaks and ended with a bell when it was time to go home. 

Since those early days, society has continued to change and the Information or Technology Revolution continues at a pace.

So what...?

We live in a society where our lifestyle and expectations are supported by the foundations of Globalisation - the principle that increased connection, trade and travel is necessary to our well being.

Furthermore, there are three principles that support us on this foundation;

1. Greed - an unfortunate truth that our lives are driven by greed, individually and collectively.

2. Growth -continuous growth of the economy is fundamental to our ongoing wealth, inflation & interest rates underpin our financial services sector.

3. God - not the celestial being, but the God of acquisition of material goods, consumerism, smart 'phones and innovation. The God that drives peoples behaviours.

A Lifestyle built on these four principles is not destined be a happy one - instead, we need to find a different set of principles to live by.

The ones we have were imposed on society by the Capitalists - and they still are, choose a new set that serve you better...

For example...

If the foundation was Sustainability, and the supporting pillars were Abundance, Contribution and Kindness - we may have a different experience in life..

So make a choice - I dare you - choose to be Happy and select only those principles that support you in your personal and professional life...

Happiness belongs to the innovators and the outsiders, those who operate within the Gaps of the structures that have been imposed on them. 

A Gallup Survey in 2013 determined that only 13% of people were Happy with their work and were fully engaged in their professional activities.

87% of people tolerate being unhappy because the fringe benefits of money, flat screen TV's, Smart Phones and Property funded with cheap loans and mortgages - the very symptoms of the cause of their plight in the first place.

The drug of consumerism is highly addictive and self destructive too. 

Is it possible to live in the Gaps...?

Yes - absolutely...

It means you have to make choices about what you do professionally and personally. We made a choice to run our own business - a business that is designed to enhance and improve the lives of others - we chose not to have credit cards, mortgages and smart phones. Everything we buy is bought for cash - we still have a great lifestyle, but happiness enjoyment, balance and contribution are our drivers...

It is all a matter of choice - choose to be Happy and build your life accordingly...

How Attractive are You...?

...On a scale of 1 to 10...?

How would you score yourself - be honest - are you a Perfect 10 a Regular 6 or a Tardy 2...?

I ask this question of people who attend my workshops - and it is astounding how many people mark themselves at the 5 or 6 mark - or sometimes even lower...

I even ask people to stand up if they are attractive - and hardly anyone does. If they do it is usually one of the guys who mistakes being attractive with levels of Ego...

Most people confuse being attractive with the classic Vogue, FHM thin, tanned and chiseled look - which as we call know owes more to PhotoShop than actually looking good. But it is a sad reflection of peoples image of themselves that they don't feel they are attractive...

Leaf Eaters take note - we know what you actually look like without makeup and without the airbrush being applied. Except Kelly Brook as you can see in the Picture, who is gorgeous all the time....

I don't mean that though...

There are two key lessons we can take from understanding about being attractive.

1. It's not how you look...

Are you an attractive proposition...?

As a professional, as a partner, friend and colleague; are you a good catch...?

The problem here is that if you don't believe yourself to be attractive, no one else will; so it's time to have confidence and belief in yourself that you are attractive, and if your not then fix it.

Being an attractive proposition simply means that you may keep your promises, deliver great service or value, are consistent and trustworthy and most of all act with integrity all the time - that is hugely attractive, in fact that's a Perfect 10...

2. Everyone is already a 10...

We are all attracting people, situations and outcomes to ourselves all the time - it's not that we are not attractive, it's just that we may be attracting something that doesn't serve us, support us or make us happy...

If you have attracted unwanted people and situations to yourself then it has to be recognised that in order to change them, you need to change you attitude and behaviour in order to attract that which you do want...

Tough rule this one - but we are all highly attractive like magnets, the challenge is that we need to be careful what we attract. I can guarantee that you will attract something; questions is what...?

So how can we control what we attract to us...?

Our subconscious mind drives our conscious thoughts and behaviours - and it is our behaviours that determine what we attract. 

To develop our subconscious we need to revise what information it processes in order to guide us; her are some examples...

Positive Language - the subconscious believes whatever we tell it so be careful.

Affirmations - be kind and encourage yourself with positive I am Statements.

Belief - choose to believe that you are capable and deserve more.

Goals - have a series of goals to work towards - set your RAS*

Evidence - look for positive evidence to support your beliefs.

Avoid - negative people and those who undermine you. 

Why - work and live with passion and purpose - (With thx to Dave Dougan..)

*Reticular Activating System

Have fun and stay Attractive - to the right things of course...



Check out our Next Event.....

Luxembourg.

Personal Growth Workshop -Thursday 13th March - LINK      SOLD OUT

Business Builder Workshop - Friday 4th April - LINK      Just 5 Places Left 

Birmingham - UK.

Business Builder Workshop - Friday 25th April LINK    Just 7 Places Left

The 7 Habits of Useless People...

Brace yourself - KAPOW...!

Most people would like to be more successful, achieve more and lead happier more productive lives - pretty good as sweeping generalisations go...

Defining what makes people successful is tricky; defining what makes people Useless is more straightforwards and fun too..

So, I thought I'd offer a virtual Kick up the Backside to anyone who needs it with a no holds barred critique of the blatantly Useless..

Clearly - none of these will apply to you, but I bet you know someone....

Written in the Second Person so the content will have more of an effect; I wouldn't let these thoughts enter my mind in the First Person...

So if your life, career or business sucks - here's why...

1. You are Lazy - you treat your business & career as a Job and do the least you can get away with to not get fired. You take days off sick when you shouldn't and the day before your ill-earned holiday is your most productive. Would you hire yourself as the CEO of your life...?

2. You Ego is bigger than your Dream - you ignore advice and think you are better than other people. In fact because of your experience you think you actually deserve more money, a promotion or more clients;

3. You have a Phd - Procrastination harms dreams - you think too much. Opportunities pass you by and you begrudge others the success they have by taking the actions you refused to. You put off what you can so that you can stay comfortable in the stench of mediocrity.

4. Cosmic Laws don't apply to you - the Law of Attraction, Vacuum, Vibration and Precession are foreign and are simply the strategies of the Tree Hugger. You think that life is logical in the vain hope that being adequate is acceptable. What you attract is determined by your dominant behaviour - is it time to change..?


5. You Know Everything - it was better in the Old Days and what worked then will work now. You don't read books, you think TED is a nickname and going to events, seminars and workshops is for losers. What would happen if you got just one great idea and actually used it in your life...?

6. You want to be Liked - the fear of upsetting friends, family and colleagues means that you have become a doormat for them to walk over. Your need for calm is higher than your desire for success so you tell yourself you are happy and compensate with alcohol, cigarettes and mind numbing reality TV and FaceBook; when you are your own favourite person, life will get better...

7. You are Ungrateful - the fact that you are reading this and not doubled up in pain or scared that your last meal was just that, or wondering how you will find water to drink; means that life is good. So stop moaning and start recognising the opportunity you have to change your own life and the lives of everyone around you - and say Thank You occasionally to...

8. You give up too soon - when it gets tough you quit. You bitch and moan that it is too hard, to difficult and "can't be done". You have also noticed that this is Habit #8 and I only said there were 7 and instead of concentrating on over delivering or going the extra mile - you look for inadequacies in others rather than yourself first..

So was that good for you - or is there someone you need to share this with...?

Maybe your Boss, Husband or Shareholders - or perhaps you just need to put it on the Fridge for everyone else...

Have a great week - look forward to your feedback..

Do you Feel Lucky - Well do Ya Punk...?

Dirty Harry and the Dead Australian...

In 1999, Australian Bill Morgan was declared dead. He remained dead for a full 14 minutes before regaining consciousness after which he returned to full health remaining largely unscathed by the experience...

To celebrate his survival and recovery, he bought a Scratch Card and subsequently won a $27,000 car. 

This miraculous news made the headlines, and for the purposes of a good story a film crew asked if he would buy another card and be filmed scratching off the blanks.

He agreed, bought a card, and whilst being filmed, proceeded to win a $250,000 jackpot...

He was a very lucky man - or was he...?

In the classic 1971 movie Dirty Harry, played by Clint Eastwood, Harry sorts out an attempted bank robbery and in a final scene asks one of the wounded robbers if he "feels lucky..." 

Click on the LINK to check out the scene...

He didn't, and decided not to make a grab for his gun - in fact Harry was out of bullets, but he just didn't feel lucky that day...

But the Robber simply didn't feel Lucky - so delcined the opportunity for blowing Harry's head off with a shotgun. 

Are you lucky...?

Luck favours the active, the brave and the prepared...

In his TV series, Derren Brown travels to Todmorden in the UK and sets off a rumour that there is a Lucky Dog in the local park; and then watches what happens to people as they either dismiss or accept the concept of luck.

In fact there had been a statue in the Park for years - he just set up the possibility that it had the power to bring people luck - in reality, people believe in whatever they are told to believe in, including the potential for luck.

What he showed was that those people who thought they were lucky were, and those that believed that they jinxed weren't. Those who took opportunities as they arose became more successful and those that dismissed or ignored them didn't...

It was a self fulfilling prophecy - those who thought that they were lucky were and those that didn't weren't - and here lies the secret; 

As Henry Ford said "If you think you can or you can't, both ways you are right..."

So what is Luck...?

Luck is simply a consequence of;

(Activity x Preparedness) + Opportunity = Results

...and as we know - Results Rules OK...

I was once told that I was "Lucky" to have lived in Las Vegas, and Lucky to now live in the Lorraine region of France - if it is Luck, then it is of my own creating...

Am I Lucky....?

Yes - I make bloody sure I am, every day... 

And - so can you....

Here is my checklist for being Lucky...

1. Think Positive - you attract that which you exhibit...

2. Keep Learning - you will recognise more opportunities... 

3. Say Yes - stop procrastinating and get on with life...

4. Think Big - may as well be lucky Big Style...

5. Take Risks - you will die in the end anyway...

6. Be Grateful - drop the ego, it's the universe at work...

7. Invest - money is for flowing not keeping...

Have a great week - stay Lucky...