“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

~ Joseph P. Kennedy

Resilience and Flexibility

Sometimes when you look around it seems as though everyone is suffering and the business world around the globe is just going to shut its doors and shrivel up, but that is just one segment. Behind the scenes there is a lot of business going on even though some industries have been beaten to their knees.

I don’t want to minimize the challenges that come with a seismic shift like the one we’re facing just now, but I do want to encourage you… It’s not the whole reality. Many companies are doing extremely well and their products are sold out at full price!

Here’s why that’s good news for you even if your business is closed or struggling for survival: the businesses are looking for suppliers and their employees are continuing to purchase goods and services to keep pumping money into the economy.

I get it!

That doesn’t seem like great comfort. BUT… it does challenge you to find ways to get yourself and your business back on your feet so that you can demonstrate your resilience and flexibility.

The Person / System with the Most Flexibility Wins…

That’s a core Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) principle that every business should take to heart. A few months ago winning business was easy. Everyone was feeling confident, cashed-up, and ready to spend. Suddenly, it seems as though many people are feeling insecure, cash-poor, and holding back on all expenses.

Whether you’re a winner or a loser in the present economy, I want to remind you that your flexibility at this moment is always the basis for your future success.

I strongly believe that what we’re seeing is like the rocking of one of those Russian nesting dolls with rounded bases: when you give it a push, it rocks wildly and seems as though it will topple over, then it slowly returns to stasis. Going into lockdown has created that wild rocking motion, but things are returning to a new normal… even some hospitality-based businesses are seeing an uptick in opportunities. The key is your mindset and your willing to flex and respond to both the stop signals and the go signals.

That flexibility is at the heart of developing resilience and laying the groundwork for your future success.

What’s the Point?

I was talking to a friend who is struggling with depression in the face of all the challenges that have just hit… Not chronic depression, just a heavy pall over her spirit that doesn’t go away and the sense that there’s no point even getting out of bed since there’s nowhere to go and work to do.

I’ve been there myself and I know how hard it is to stay positive in the midst of that dark spiral.

BUT… I also know that you can choose what to focus on. It seems unnatural, and it’s not necessarily easy to tear your thoughts towards something positive which is why I love the way NLP teaches us to control our state. I shared how to do that with my friend, and also challenged her with some basic actions to take each day (starting with setting her alarm and getting up to exercise when it goes off). Yesterday, she called me to say that it’s helped… She even set herself some additional goals to reach and set up a chart to check them off each day.

Measurement is Your Friend

You can’t celebrate wins if you don’t measure anything. That’s what my friend discovered.

By setting goals and also creating a system of measuring them she gave herself grounds to celebrate… And that created a positive spiral of action and reaction.

What about you?

What are you measuring?  Are you celebrating your achievements (large and small)? Or do you let them slide past?

This is a critical encouragement when things are tough. It’s equally important when everything is going well because it builds that habit of assessing your own performance so that you can both celebrate and challenge yourself because this is the habit that contributes to both resilience and flexibility.

Confident Closing Virtual Sales Masterclass

One of the areas we look at in the Confident Closing Virtual Sales Masterclass is this aspect of mindset and building habits that engender resilience and help you respond to unwanted situations flexibly and advantage of opportunities that exist, rather than wishing things were different.

Click the button below to learn more and purchase lifetime access along with some amazing bonuses:

Confident Closing Virtual Sales Masterclass

“Assumptions are dangerous things to make, and like all dangerous things to make — bombs, for instance, or strawberry shortcake — if you make even the tiniest mistake you can find yourself in terrible trouble.”

~ Lemony Snicket

What Dangerous Assumptions are You Making?

You probably know that not everyone shares your way of looking at situations and events, but have you ever thought just how often your assumptions lead you completely off-track?

Assumptions are risky in every aspect of our lives especially in the context of sales and business.

In my book, Confident Closing: Sales secrets that grew a business by 400% in six months and how they can work for you! I tell the story of a friend who came to visit me from Portugal and how my assumptions about what she would love to do nearly ruined her holiday before we addressed them.

In sales and business people often make some of the following deadly assumptions:

  • What the client actually wants;
  • How much the other person is willing to invest;
  • Whether they have already done substantial research and how much they know about the subject/issue;

Each of these cover a broad sweep of items that have implications for your sales process and more.

How Assumptions Affect Your Outcomes

Recently I was talking with a woman who was offering a program which was very appealing. I had followed a very effective process and jumped through all the pre-qualification hoops, so I was fairly well informed about her product and had just 3 specific questions I wanted answered directly before I said ‘yes’ to the offer.

I anticipated that we would discuss these during the sales call as promised and was rather shocked when we spend most of the call going over the information that I had previously absorbed and she didn’t start asking any questions that didn’t relate to whether I understood her proposition until the time was almost gone. In the end, I bought the program, not because the sales process was so effective… It definitely wasn’t… But because I already trusted this woman and knew the value she offered.

In this case, her assumption that I hadn’t properly understood the proposal or followed the pre-qualification process felt dismissive. Her inability to manage the time we had meant that she didn’t have time to answer my objections, and she (rightly, in my case) assumed that I respected and trusted her enough to make the commitment on the basis of what I had heard already. She took an awful lot for granted… And in a tight economy filled with uncertainty one thing is certain: you cannot afford to take the interest and trust of customers and prospects for granted.

Listen Carefully, So You Can Clarify Your Own Assumptions

I see sales people and business owners all the time who are so concerned that they won’t say the right thing, that they miss all the cues.

They assume that people aren’t biting on the bait they’re putting out there because they’re not getting the words right.  In a lot of cases they’re so caught up on what they’re going to say next or what they’re going to do next that they don’t actually hear the buying signs from the clients… And they definitely don’t hear the real questions that are being asked.

Most people actually tell you what they need if you’re listening carefully enough.  Sometimes I do role-plays with my clients where I actually get them to sell to me and it’s really interesting watching them make assumptions about what my needs should be rather than spending time asking probing questions and discovering what I really am concerned about.

No matter how well prepared you are with material that will interest your client in what you, the best thing you can do when you go into a sales meeting is to ask some questions and then shut up and listen to their answers. Then you listen some more – and if you open your mouth at all, it’s to ask questions about the things they are saying.

If you follow that advice, you will learn what you need to know to close the sale.  You would really be astounded to learn how many sales are lost just because we make assumptions about what the other person is looking for.

One of the most powerful tools of NLP is learning to ask questions and read the other person – not to manipulate them, but to hear what their problems and concerns really are.  The techniques I learned have closed more sales, and resolved more communication issues than I can count and this is especially important in a fragile economy where your prospects are bombarded with opportunities to spend.

What Are You Going to Do About It?

The Confident Closing Virtual Sales Masterclass will help you ask better questions, listen more effectively, and prepare you to develop a tight sales process that sees and seizes opportunities as they arise even in a tight economy.

Click the button below to learn more. You can attend live free of charge or purchase lifetime access along with some amazing bonuses:

Confident Closing Virtual Sales Masterclass

“We are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.”

~ Jim Rohn

It’s Time for a Reality Check

I was talking to a client yesterday who booked an extra session to get some advice. He started with, “My business is booming. Right now I am experiencing my best month yet and, as you know, I’ve been on an exponential growth curve for the past 6 months, but every time I turn on the news my stomach tightens and I feel a crippling sense of panic about the future and I’m tempted to shut everything down.”

Let’s look at what is going on here…

  • Clients are seeking him out and paying him well;
  • His business growth is accelerating because the service he provides is something others need to operate in this climate;
  • When he focuses on that he feels good, makes plans, and takes action;
  • He turns on the news and his gut reaction is to shut everything down, lay off his staff, and hunker down.

Chris is not alone in this response to crisis and it’s not good for him, his family, his employees, or the future of our country/world!

Maybe you’re not looking at the same situation as Chris, so let’s take a moment to look at Alan. Alan has his own catering and events business, a young family, and he doesn’t (yet) qualify for any of the government support. His wife has just been laid off.

He doesn’t know exactly what he’s going to do yet, but he knows that he and his wife will figure it out.

Yes, he’s prepared for some hard times.

He knows that he’ll have to put his plans on hold and he doesn’t know what he’ll do about paying his mortgage because he doesn’t know how he’s going to make any money.

He has faced his situation, crunched the numbers, and he doesn’t see a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

BUT…

Alan has made a choice, as he put it to me…

“We’re all in the same boat and the same storm. Panic won’t get us to shore and I can’t depend on anyone else if I don’t sit down and row as hard as I can. The solution starts with me: how I invest my time and fuel my energy is crucial.”

7 Ideas to Fuel Yourself so that you can Serve Others

If you saturate yourself with the news (much of which is highly speculative) you will be infected by despair, even if you aren’t infected with coronavirus. By all means stay informed, but be disciplined about it. Follow the directives from the government about social isolation etc. But balance any time you spend on that on things that are encouraging and productive… And that includes keeping track of your idle thoughts.

Do evil, despairing, thoughts keep the world in turmoil as some philosophers have speculated through the ages?

I’m not sure about the big picture, but I do know that as an individual, “Energy flows where attention goes.” So, if I focus on negative thoughts and emotions they can easily capture my imagination, sap my energy, and leave my exhausted and useless. That’s not who I want to be!

So here’s a practical strategy that will fuel your energy, and help you to encourage others:

  1. Limit your exposure to news and negativity to 15 mins per day. It doesn’t take any longer to stay informed.
  2. Make sure that you spend at least 4 times that amount of time (1 hour+) consuming something positive: read books, work through some of your online courses, engage in professional development. This is INPUT time to balance out that 15 minutes of news.
  3. Create something or do something you enjoy. Indulge your artistic bent and write, paint, sew, knit, garden etc. Play games with those in your household, build a new course for your business… Or a website or…
  4. Nourish your body with good food, appropriate exercise, fresh air and sunshine.
  5. Make time for meditation, prayer, and other forms of spiritual growth.
  6. Avoid bingeing on junk food for your mind or body.
  7. Reach out to others to encourage and serve them. Everyone is in the same boat. A quick phone call to ask how they’re doing… Just keep it positive.

How Does your Response to Chaos and Crisis Affect Your Business and You?

Here’s the thing…

How you respond to this crisis will set a precedent for how you respond to future crises. For the past few years’ things have been pretty cruisy for most of us – despite personal tragedies and challenges and concerns about climate change and social issues, we have been mostly “in control”.

It’s natural to panic when change first disrupts your life. What you do next is what matters.

The individuals and businesses who come out the other end of this best aren’t necessarily those who kept their doors open and their habits unchanged. They’re the ones who said, “I will choose to control the only 2 things that are truly mine to control: my mind and the decision about what to do with what I have today and use them to serve those around me and to grow.”

What Are You Going to Do About It?

Alan (who I talked about above) decided that he would need to expand his sales skills and get ready to pivot. He saw my Confident Closing Virtual Sales Masterclass offer and signed up for the free live option. I know that he’ll be on the calls live every day because he’s committed to emerging from this challenge stronger and better than ever before.

What about you?

Register today for the Confident Closing Virtual Sales Masterclass so that you are prepared to take advantage of opportunities as they arise and to keep honing your skills and working on your mind-set in the midst of uncertainty.

Click the button below to learn more. You can attend live free of charge or purchase lifetime access along with some amazing bonuses:

Confident Closing Virtual Sales Masterclass

 “I know you lawyers can, with ease,

Twist words and meanings as you please;

That language by your skill made pliant,

Will bend to favour ev’ry client.”

~ Fables 1738

Yes, the Language You Use Does Matter!

As I write this, the response to the coronavirus pandemic 2020 is ratcheting up daily. If you turn on the news or you aren’t careful with your Facebook feed you’ll find that you are inundated with fearful, panic-stricken language and unless you are ultra-careful, awake, and resilient your emotions and mindset will be sucked into the vortex.

Most people don’t even think about the words they hear or the ones they use, but they most certainly feel the impact of those words in their minds, hearts, and bodies. It’s one of the reasons why Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is such a powerful transformative force:

Students become aware of the language they use and the way they talk to themselves as well as others. Words and language are, by nature, pliant. You can use them to foster hope, creativity and positive momentum or you can use them to burden others with fear, panic, and inadequacy.

Would You Be Embarrassed if You Saw a Transcript of Your Unconscious Self-Speaking?

Most people have a constant inner dialogue with themselves, but few people are aware of what they are saying. During times of stress and change the volume of that inner dialogue rises a couple of notches which makes it easier to ‘overhear’ what you’re saying to yourself.

Try it. Take a moment to listen to your conversation with yourself.

Now, let me ask you…

  • Are those words going to help you progress… or will they encourage you to sit on the sidelines?
  • Will they help you engage with the world… or check out from your mission, your business, and your goals?
  • Do they encourage your passive despair… or to take personal responsibility for growth and action?

You’re an Empowered Human Being… You Are Responsible for Your Programming!

Whatever you heard yourself saying…

And whatever people around you say…

You get to choose who you listen to!

At the start of this article, I talked about how NLP makes you aware of the language you use. Once you are aware of something, you have the ability to make choices and to change.

If you immerse yourself in pessimism, fear-mongering, and panic (even when there is justification) you can’t help being infected by it. They used to say that a child needed to hear five positive comments for every negative one. Too much criticism meant that they simply couldn’t act on the advice they heard. The same is true for all of us: firstly, we need to be aware of the negativity (accurate or otherwise), secondly, we need to dilute it with positivity.

By all means say abreast of the current situation, but for every 5 minutes of news, spend 25 minutes learning something new, reading a positive book, watching a positive or funny movie, really listening to uplifting music!

N.B. You may get a shock if you actually listening closely to the words of your favourite songs. A lot of them are full of despair, loss, and anxiety that contribute to your negative emotions.

Do You Want to Make the Most of this Time?

One of my most popular live workshops has always been “Confident Closing”. During the workshop we don’t simply address techniques for closing sales, we also discover the relationship between sales and influence, the importance of sales skills for non-‘salespeople’ (i.e. everyone!), how to develop a confident mindset and much more.

Since I’ve had to cancel the upcoming live event, I’m turning it into a Virtual Event – 5 daily sessions of teaching and interaction, with daily Q&A, assignments and more. It will start Monday March 30th at 12:00 AEST. There will be a fresh session each day and also access to recordings.

Don’t press pause on your life just because you need to practice ‘social distancing’… Make this a time of professional and personal growth. Click here for more details https://lifepuzzle.com.au/confident-closing-virtual/

“The art of the sale is the art of closing the deal. Everything else is just foreplay.”

~ John Carlton

It All Starts with Your Introduction...

Let’s first assume that you know who you want to talk to and you put yourself in situations where you are actually conversing with these people (that may seem to obvious to mention, but I’ve lost count of the people who are actually saying the ‘right’ things to the ‘wrong’ people and whose sales sky-rocketed when they simply shifted locations).

When you introduce yourself to genuine prospects do they…

  • Wait patiently for you to finish so they can launch into their own spiel?
  • Interrupt you before you have a chance to explain things properly?
  • Get excited and start firing relevant questions at you?
  • Fall asleep (metaphorically speaking)?

Your introduction matters, because if you don’t attract their interest and fascinate them quickly, you may never get to the point where they are interested in continuing the conversation and allowing you to nurture them.

How Well Do You Know Your Prospect?

Many sales people make the mistake of thinking that their prospects are as fascinated by the product or service they are offering as they are themselves. The real question isn’t why you believe they should buy (or at least show an interest), it’s why they believe they should pursue your offer. An effective introduction plays on your prospects’ inner desires and goals and wakes them up out of their dreamy indifference… But you can’t do that until you know what they really want and need.

Your prospect actually wants to say, “No” as quickly and decisively as they can most of the time, so it’s your job to make that impossible for them to say until they have heard more.

Does that sound like too big a challenge? If you have the right introduction and you’re talking to your ideal prospect, then continuing your conversation until you have the opportunity to make an offer should be a no-brainer.

Do They Care about Your Offer?

Again, if you know your prospect, you can predict what they really want and if your whole conversation has helped you understand them better, you can make an offer that they care about… An offer that gives them hope that you can solve their problems and turn their life around.

Maybe your offer isn’t a direct sale… you may still be in the nurture phase if your product is complex or expensive, but you still need them to be excited about the possibility or else they will turn you down as quickly as they can.

Think about it… Do you wake up each day thinking…

  • I want another study program to work through?
  • I would love to talk to someone who has a program to sell for 15-30 minutes during my lunch break?
  • I desperately need another free report or gizmo?
  • What can I buy today that I hadn’t previously considered spending money on?
  • I need to receive more emails because I love it when my inbox is overflowing?

I bet you don’t… And nor do your prospects!

Like most of us, your prospects are thinking…

  • How can I cut clutter and free up time and space for things that matter?
  • What unnecessary expenses can I eliminate?
  • Is this worth my time and effort?

So… Even if you’re not asking for any money (yet), your offer needs to provide a rational and emotional pull that suppresses that strong desire to just say “No!”

Don’t Run Away… Close with Confidence!

I was talking with a business woman a few years ago. To be honest, it had taken me several meetings to figure out that her services could actually help my business grow because her pitch was terrible… But we sat down one day with her proposal, went through it… And then as she got up to leave, she said, “I don’t suppose you’re interested, but if you want to go ahead let me know.”

I just about had to run out of the office after her to get the contract and sign it (and I was happy that I did so). But… that’s no way to close sales unless you’re extremely lucky!

The difference between a struggling sales team (or business) and a wildly successful one that exceeds expectations on every measure is the ability to close with confidence when you know you have an interested prospect who can benefit from your product or service. It’s the simplicity and dignity of being able to say, “You’ve heard what I have and what it does. Would you like to work with me and reap the benefits or not?” Then waiting quietly for a response.

How is Your Elevator Pitch?

Does your Elevator Pitch leave prospects wondering how quickly they can get away from you? Does it make you squirm? …or do you simply make up your introduction on the fly every time you meet someone?

Preparing your path from introduction to a confident close is the theme of my Live One-Day Sales Masterclass. Learn more and sign up HERE

“Energy flows where attention goes. If you focus on your problems they will grow and absorb more and more energy. Is that really what you want?”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

Are You Growing Your Problems or Shrinking them?

There’s a lot of anxiety around the world and the business community at present. I work with executives, business owners, and sales professionals and in my general sessions I’m noticing increasing preoccupation even amongst star performers about their targets, obstacles to achievement, and potential failure.

Here’s what else I’m noticing… The more people focus on these things, the more they become self-fulfilling prophecies!

We’re not talking about non-starters here, we’re talking about people who are achieving above average results, but who are buried under a mound of anxiety…

  • What about my future health, cancer, etc?
  • What about my income, employment, promotion?
  • What about my next performance review?
    What about the broader economy?
  • What about… etc.

Some of these people have already seen their results and performance decline… But what is really fascinating and encouraging is watching the impact that this simple transformation can make on outcomes.

In my sales trainings I talk a lot about the importance of mindset and how you can derail a sale unconsciously because sometimes your unconscious mind is talking so loudly that prospects don’t hear the words you speak. Actually, this isn’t just a problem for business and sales conversations it’s also an issue for your personal relationships, health, wealth and happiness.

What if Your Problems Vanished… Without Your Attention?

This mindset / focus issue doesn’t just apply to sales. Your unconscious mind affects your results in every aspect of your life because what you pay attention to receives energy and grows. It’s not even just personal… If the world is preaching doom and gloom and that’s what most people are listening to then that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and it will affect anyone who isn’t consciously programming their mind towards solutions.

In Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) we acknowledge the power of our unconscious mind to shape our happiness, prosperity, relationships, and income and we then harness its power to contribute to the outcomes and solutions we want, rather than creating problems to struggle against. What this means is that what we say to ourselves about the world, others, and our self shapes our experiences and perceptions.

Simply put: Change your thoughts. Change your world!

Nurturing Growth & Abundance

If you look honestly at your thoughts, what do you see?

Are you focused on growth, abundance, and solutions… Or do you focus on your hurt, misery, and failure (real or imagined)? If you pour your energy, focus, and attention into the things you don’t want, they are the things that will grow.

I’m not suggesting that you ignore your problems and simply hope they’ll go away. I’m asking you to identify them and then focus on solutions and constructive thinking patterns that help you build positive habits and support those habits with right thinking. Many clients come to me with years of baggage cluttering their unconscious mind. In just one session (if they also follow my suggestions for follow through) they notice that circumstances and people change around them as well as within them.

How to Fire Your Itty-Bitty-Shitty Committee

Some of you have heard me talk about my passion for inter-generational mental health and how the itty-bitty-shitty committee in your unconscious mind is at the root of many problems… And how firing that can bring healing. I take that seriously because I’ve seen what happens when you try to ignore it.

The fastest way to fire your itty-bitty-shitty committee is to work with a coach who can help you deal with the root problems. That’s what a H.O.W.T.O. Session is designed to help you accomplish. Ongoing accountability and coaching sessions while you establish new thinking patterns can also be helpful. If you’re already certified in NLP and Time Line Therapy® you probably learned many of the techniques that will support you in this journey.

A H.O.W.T.O. Session helps you discover how you’re exacerbating your problems, and what you can do instead that will increase your health, wealth, and happiness.

 

 

 

“The foundation of everything you go after (and you should have ridiculously large goals at all times) is simply… being a good animal.”

~ John Carlton

What’s Working in Your Sales and Marketing?

As a sales trainer and coach I spend a lot of time working with individuals, teams, and groups and the same questions come up quite regularly even from high performing business owners, sales professionals, and others.

As you know if you’ve been following me for any period of time, I’m not a fan of pushy sales techniques or forcing people to buy things they don’t need just so that you can meet your sales targets. My strategy is to help you get in front of people who do need what you are offering and showing them why it’s a good decision to buy… Or not to buy after all, if that’s what you see.

The problem is that if you can’t answer the question, “What’s working in your sales and marketing?” then you don’t know where to start.

 

Using Everything You Have to Achieve Your Goals and Meet Targets

You want to reach your goals, don’t you?

Of course you do, or else you wouldn’t be reading this page. There’s a lot of advice out there about setting goals (I’ve shared some of my favourite goal-setting and goal-getting techniques in other posts on this sites). But many goal-setters skip a key element even if it’s included in the technique and that’s like trying to cook a meal with one hand tied behind your back.

Here’s what you may be missing in both your goal setting and sales…

Your senses… all five of them!

  • Sight
  • Hearing
  • Touch
  • Smell
  • Taste

As anyone who has impaired (or abnormally heightened) function in any of these senses knows, the malfunction of our sensory inputs can make life very difficult and increase our stress and anxiety levels… And putting all of them to use can dramatically improve our communication and goals setting outcomes.

Are You Ignoring Obvious Cues?

Lets look at two important business applications of this reality:

  1. Motivation: If motivation is a problem ask yourself how well you’re engaging all 5 of your senses in both your goal-setting and your daily action plan. With some quick sensory engagement you can transform your results and reduce the quantity of will-power and energy required to keep the wheels turning.
  2. Conversations & Sales: Sensory awareness is crucial for the successful communication that is at the heart of long-term sales relationships. When you also engage with others on a multi-sense level you can seriously increase your close rate and decrease the anxiety prospects and new clients may otherwise experience.

There’s a reason why successful sales professionals like to visit prospects’ premises: they pick up a lot of sensory clues. And there’s a reason why many of them also like to bring prospects into their own professional environment if they’re on the fence about their investment (and why coffee shops and serviced offices are not the best choice for this interaction) that has everything to do with professionalism, reinforcement, and plain sensory control.

You see, at the end of the day, no matter how objective we pride ourselves on being, as humans we’re also animals who are susceptible to sensory inputs.

A Simple Practice

Here’s a simple goal setting and motivation practice for you to test (And don’t worry you can do it at your desk or when you take a bathroom break without anyone noticing.)

Here’s what to do:

  1. Shut your eyes and take three deep breaths (In-2-3-4-Out-2-3-4);
  2. Keeping your eyes shut listen carefully and notice any sounds that are around you starting very close and gradually letting your awareness extend to a greater distance;
  3. With your eyes shut notice any sensations within your body – then notice the feeling of your body as it touches your chair and your feet on the floor etc;
  4. Still with your eyes shut breath in deeply through your nose and notice any smells that are around you. You don’t need to identify them, just become aware of their existence;
  5. Now, with your eyes shut open your mouth and taste the air as you breathe in and simply focus on your sense of taste (something we rarely do unless we are consciously eating or tasting wine);
  6. If you’re setting a goal or seeking motivation for a task… Create a multi-sensory experience of the achievement you’ll feel when it’s finally completed (or when the next part of it is done);
  7. Finally, just before you open your eyes notice the quality of light falling on your eyelids and then open your eyes and notice afresh the visual details of your surroundings. Really look at them with attention.

Now start your next task or continue what you were doing and notice how your approach has shifted. If you add some movement and a few quick stretches this quick reset will be nearly as effective as a nap or a workout and see you ready to leap into action.

Human Beings Have Sensory Triggers…

There’s a reason why real estate agents encourage owners to bake bread or cookies before an Open House inspection. There’s also a reason why truly successful professional practices choreograph their offices carefully and select decor, fragrance, reading material, and even snacks for waiting prospects. It’s not just because they have highly developed aesthetic preferences, it’s purely and simply to reinforce their message and help qualified prospects buy.

You can use sensory triggers to improve your own productivity and you can also use your sensory triggers to engage more effectively with your ideal prospects and clients by watching and listening to them carefully and by creating a multi-sensory sales process.

Sense, Cents, and Sales

Ready to Confidently Close more sales without discounting or eroding your margins? Yes, it does involve increasing sensory awareness.

The PBA Live Sales Masterclass is included in the 13-week Profitable Business Accelerator enrolment, but there are also a limited number of ‘Live Day Only’ seats available for individuals or teams who want to take their selling skills to the next level.

Interested in the 13-week Profitable Business Accelerator program?

“Doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.”

~ Albert Einstein

Identifying the Problem: What Isn’t Working?

The quotation above is often used to justify frequent changes of direction and it certainly fuels ‘shiny-object syndrome’ because after all, if what I’m doing doesn’t deliver the results I’m hoping for, then Einstein tells me I should do something else and, of course, he’s one of the smartest people who ever lived!

Let’s just step back for a moment… We’re talking about business and life, not science.

If I’m trying to solve a scientific or engineering problem this advice holds true. It’s also the rationale behind marketing split tests… But there is an important factor that it doesn’t address: trust and relationship-building and many business owners, sales professionals, and even teachers give up on the cusp of breakthrough.

You need to start by identifying the real problem: what isn’t working?

Do I Need to Change My Strategy or Tactics?

I was talking to Sam, a sales manager, a few weeks ago and he was ready to admit failure. “My team just can’t hit their targets and my manager is saying that it’s my fault. I don’t know what else to tell them that will change the results,” he told me.

As we analysed the situation it became clear that his focus on building up his team and the activities he had invested time and energy in were delivering results and a change of track would set him back. If he wanted to accelerate his results he needed to do more of the things that were already working. This was not the situation that Einstein was talking about.

The thing that he needed to do was to determine whether he could do more of what was working rather than change track. Because of my extensive experience with sales teams we were able to identify two needle-moving activities that could leverage the foundations he had already put in place and deliver quick results and Sam was up for the challenge. Rather than admitting failure or changing his strategy, he simply decided to implement these acceleration tactics.

Don’t Quit! You’re on the Verge of Success.

Sam was feeling as though nothing he did was working and he thought about changing direction, but when he analysed the situation he realised that his best course was to amp up the things he was already doing.

What about you?

Are you taking the much quoted advice out of context?

I’m the first person to tell clients when they need to change their approach, but not before we’ve analysed their goals, actions, and results in the light of business best practices. Sometimes clients don’t have the data they need to make a wise decision about how to move forward. In most cases, the best strategy is to wait and collect the information you need but that is not always good enough. The challenge is deciding what to do when your resources are already stretched thin anyway because you can’t keep doing what you are already doing, and instigate a new direction simultaneously.

How Can I Tell the Difference?

Metrics are key. Lack of information creates confusion because your ‘thoughts’ about what is working and what is not working are often wrong.

In our 13-week Profitable Business Accelerator we spent some time with each student determining what are the most appropriate metrics for their business (different businesses need to measure some different things) and deciding how to make those metrics visible to yourself and your team. Assuming that you have a solid basis for your activity selection and core strategy, it’s not until you have data to back it up that you can decide whether it’s time to persevere and ramp up your efforts, or change direction and try something new.

Need Some Help?

Need some help with determining what you need to change if you hope to experience the satisfaction and success you deserve this year? A HOWTO Session provides you with the clarity you need to uncover your own blind spots and move forward with confidence and determination knowing whether you should persevere or change direction.

Book Your H.O.W.T.O. Session Today! 

“We all know that we need to reset our devices regularly so that they perform their best, but how can we reset our hearts and minds?”

What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You!

In fact, it can be dramatically reducing your productivity, happiness, and creativity.

A few weeks ago, I delivered the Keynote Address to over 300 people at the Annual National Conference of an international organisation. Afterwards, I was pleased by the number of people who came up to congratulate me and wanted to work with me further because it means that I did a great job… BUT I was disturbed by the realization of how business and performance stress is impacting people’s health and happiness and preventing them from relaxing and getting the sleep they need.

We all need sleep to function effectively and we know that, but the proportion of people who are using medications or natural remedies to help them sleep is rising each year and the data suggests that it is now over 61%… And that doesn’t include the people who simply put up with insomnia.

The problem is that when you are deprived of sleep (especially if that deprivation is ongoing) your health suffers, your concentration suffers, and your productivity nosedives. Yes, you’ve heard of people like Thomas Jefferson and the Duke of Wellington who slept only 3-5 hours per night, but what we don’t know is how much more they might have accomplished if they had had more sleep. In any case, for the rest of us, lack of sleep is one of the biggest productivity vampires.

Possibly you think that there is nothing you can do about it. Here are some common actions that people take to help them deal with sleep difficulties and deprivation:

  • Sleeping tablets;
  • Melatonin;
  • Herbal teas and sleeping concoctions;
  • Yoga or meditation before bed;
  • Hot showers or baths;
  • Turning off devices and screens and avoiding conflict 30 minutes before bed;
  • CPAP machines;

… and many other similar strategies. These help some people, but not others and they rarely resolve the underlying problem which is directly responsible for lack of productivity.

The Best Therapist in the World (and they don’t charge by the hour)!

If you ever struggle to fall asleep, I have great news for you. This solution may even help to resolve jet lag.

Don’t let the simplicity of this solution stop you from trying it… Although, like all effective solutions it does demand that you take action rather than simply swallowing a tablet.

Here are the tools that you need:

  • Pen
  • Paper or notebook
  • 30 minutes (shortly before bedtime or at least after you have finished working)

All you need to do is set aside at least 30 minutes to write down anything on your mind. This might include:

  • Frustrations;
  • Worries;
  • Situations or people that make you angry;
  • Problems;
  • People or situations that bring you joy;
  • Emotions;
  • Tasks etc.

Spelling, grammar, expression are not important for this exercise. You don’t even need fully formed thoughts. It’s a full-scale, uncensored, brain dump. No need to organise it and it’s best if you don’t re-read it either. In fact, I suggest you have a second sheet of paper to note down any important tasks or actions that come to mind so that you don’t have to re-read what you’ve written. Just dump it down out of your head and heart and let it go forever.

Striking at the Heart of Your Productivity Vampires

You know how sometimes your computer, phone, or other device gets slower and slower and stops functioning effectively until you decide to reset it? Most of the time, turning the device off, waiting a minute or so, and then turning it on again solves all your problems because your device’s memory had just got clogged up with unfinished tasks.

Well, sleep is like a reset for our brain (and also for our body). It’s only when we sleep that certain hormones are released that clean out our neurosystems and restore the full function of the brain. This means that occasional sleep-deprivation isn’t a problem, but if you struggle to get to sleep night after night and wake up feeling exhausted then lack of sleep is affecting your productivity levels.

The simple tactic above is almost magical. Here’s what one of my clients experienced…

I Had the BEST Sleep I Can Remember in Years!

One of my clients was suffering from chronic insomnia and I tasked her to do this every night before she went to bed… Just take out a notebook and pen and write down everything that was in her head without worrying about whether it was biased, politically correct, accurate, well-expressed or anything else.

“You mean the uncensored version?” she confirmed.

I nodded.

Two days later she called me in great excitement: “Chandell, it’s like magic! I’ve had two nights of unbroken sleep for the first time in I don’t know how long! I’m falling asleep almost immediately, waking up refreshed, and getting more done each day. I’ve even had time to just sit and talk with my husband and play games with the kids as well as finding I’m doing my best work with less effort!

“I felt very uncomfortable the first night putting some of the things I think, but carefully never say down on paper, but I reminded myself that no-one would ever read them. I really like the idea of using loose paper and shredding or maybe even burning it every so often.

“Who would have believed that such a simple prescription could make such a dramatic change.”

And the Moral of the Story is…

If you want to be more productive, then you may not need to invest in a new system, tool, app, or other item that is directly related to productivity. Maybe you just need to take care of your sleep cycle by scheduling in a 30-minute brain dump before bed.

By the way, writing on your computer or electronic journal doesn’t seem to be as effective.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.”

~ Seth Godin

Are You Achieving Your Goals

I was talking to a client last week and he said, “I know the thing that would really make a difference to my outcomes, but I just don’t have enough time to do it well!”

We went through his calendar, his list of activities, and so on, and sure enough there was no space for anything else… So I looked him in the eye and asked, “Do you really think this new thing would make the difference you need?”

“Absolutely!” was his response.

“So, what are you willing you do to make it happen?” I asked.

“Whatever it takes.”

So we started looking at all the things that were taking up his time, attention, and energy. We started with his calendar because if you have meetings and travel back-to-back then you don’t have time to do the deep thinking, writing, and other strategic activities that really move the needle on results.

It wasn’t until after we had cleared his calendar and dropped some activities that weren’t important that we talked about how much time this project would need. That was deliberate. If you tell yourself that you need 4 more hours then you may find those 4 hours, but you won’t uncover all the extra debris in your life.

At the end of the exercise, he realized that not only could he lay the foundations for that project in 4-5 weeks, he had capacity to create some other important opportunities as well, so we brainstormed some follow-on projects. He Voxered me the following day to tell me how encouraged and motivated he now felt.

… All from a simple awareness that something needed to change.

What is Holding You Back?

OK, we all have 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week, so what makes the difference between those people who accomplish the needle moving activities and the majority who don’t?

It’s not a question of family or work responsibilities and it’s rarely a question of health or finances. I know people with major chronic health problems who have managed to achieve their goals, and people with massive responsibilities in multiple arenas (large teams, large families, parents who need care etc.) who have made things work.

It’s not family connections, luck, talent, or the size of your bank balance that’s an obstacle, either. Most of the people who have turned their lives around or simply set out on a trajectory to achieve their goals from the start would say it’s a question of choices and decisions.

Depending on how you look at it, that’s either good news or bad news. If you want to make excuses, then this won’t make you feel any better about your outcomes. On the other hand, if you are ready to change, then you’ll be glad to know that the results are in your hands.

Choices and Decisions

“If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.”

It’s easy to look at your calendar, to-do list, responsibilities, relationships, bank statements etc and throw up your hands in despair thinking there’s nothing you could change, but that is rarely a true perception of reality.

If you knew that you had a sure-fire solution to your problems, then you would almost certainly find the time and resources you needed. So why do you let the days and weeks slide past as you wearily put one foot in front of the other like an ox team plodding in circles as they draw water out of a well?

There are two main reasons why people do this:

  1. They can’t see any alternatives.
  2. They aren’t really sure that their solution will work.

Often the solution is to talk to someone who understands both business and personal change. In the course of my NLP training and business coaching I’ve worked with people whose doubts about their ‘sure-fire solutions’ were extremely well-founded, and others whose fears were engendered by self-doubt. Both of these types of people found long-term solutions that lead to their success and satisfaction, and I’m glad I had a part in that. Left to themselves they would either have wallowed in inaction, or taken a path that lead to failure.

Do You Need Some Help?

Whatever time of year you’re reading this, today is a fantastic opportunity to reflect on where you are today, and what you would like to change by this time next year. Sometimes you just need to talk to someone who has the knowledge and experience to help so that you can get the clarity you need to move forward.

A HOWTO Session brings clarity and helps you focus on what you really want so that you can make the decisions you need to make. Book your session soon!

Book Your H.O.W.T.O. Session 

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