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“An idea is a feat of association, and the height of it is a good metaphor.”

~Robert Frost

What are Metaphors in NLP?

To avoid confusion, let’s start with a common definition of metaphor that you probably encountered in your high school literature class:

“A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn’t literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison.”

Your teacher probably went on to demonstrate this with examples of famous metaphors – mostly pithily stated and highly memorable phrases. This is good as far as it goes, but NLP draws on a far older form of metaphor in which example and teaching are embedded in stories that shaped how people were to think about:

  • Friendship;
  • Citizenship;
  • Marriage;
  • Love;
  • Riches;
  • Fame;
  • Adversity;
  • Opposition;
  • Etc.

If you want to see how metaphor works in this way, think about the ancient texts that were used to teach children how to live and grow and respond to their world even more than as tools of literacy. You’re thinking of Homer, Vergil, the Bible, Confucius, the Koran, even Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, and the oral traditions that permeate many pre-literate societies.

This is metaphor… a powerful tool for shaping hearts, minds, and behaviours.

How Metaphors Inspire and Support Change

Metaphors are stories that capture the imagination and harness the will.

In some cultures, stories are forbidden… unless they are part of the received tradition. This is an acknowledgement of the transformative power of story because this response is based on fear, and people fear power, not impotence.

Fiction is not frivolous. It is dangerous when it comes to inspiring change. It’s why news broadcasters and politicians zoom in on stories rather than statements to communicate their message. It’s also a very powerful agent of deep-seated behavioural change that authorities know they should censor and handle with great care because most stories have unintended consequences.

Taking Willpower out of the Transformation Equation

Most of us can remember stories that we were told as children. Some of us were also banned from reading or hearing certain books or stories because well-meaning adults (rightly) feared that we would be subconsciously influenced by them.

But what about the possibility that we could strategically use stories as metaphors that guided us down a chosen path, tools that would carry us forward when our courage or will-power flagged? That is how NLP teaches us to use metaphors for ourselves and for those whom we are coaching or working with.

Like any powerful tool, metaphors have potential to do harm as well as good which is why it’s important to think them through carefully and examine them from many angles before presenting them to a client.

Building or Choosing Metaphors

The principles of building or selecting a metaphor that will help you or your client achieve the desired outcome is fairly straightforward:

  1. Identify the sequence of behaviour or events that you would like to change;
  2. Consider the individual’s consistent behaviours and sequence them carefully;
  3. Identify the desired new outcomes and choices;
  4. Anchor the past and future behaviours in the client’s model of the world and establish clear connections between the client’s situation and the story;
  5. Establish new resources in the client’s mind that will help them engage with the story and create their own identification and momentum;
  6. Resolve the metaphor with some degree of ambiguity and use appropriate verbal cues to ensure continued openness.
  7. Test your metaphor to ensure that there are no hidden pitfalls that could create undesirable outcomes.

When you have mapped out steps 1-3, often you will find an existing metaphor that fits your purpose and only requires some slight additions and tweaks. Once you discover the power of metaphors, you will find more ways of crafting and using them in your own life, as well as for others.

Are You a Candidate for NLP Mastery Academy?

Have you always wanted to dive more deeply into the powerful applications of the NLP techniques and teachings for everyday life than your certification course or books enabled.

The biggest challenge that most students of NLP face isn’t learning what the techniques are. It’s discovering how to use them to empower themselves and others at work, at home, and at school to increase energy and enhance their performance, relationships, and results.

We have developed a ground-breaking course that meets fortnightly to learn and practice NLP  techniques and explore their application so hat we will see the positive effects in all areas of life.

If you’re interested in learning more about this course, email [email protected] Use this subject: “Please tell me more about the NLP Mastery Academy” and tell us about your goals and NLP background in the email.

“Ideas confer power, and power causes change.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

Do You Believe That a Solution Exists Even if You Can’t See One?

Emily was immersed in her problems and believed that the only possible to solution was to endure her situation (with no end in sight) or take her own life. She was so convinced that this was true that it never even occurred to her to speak to anyone about any of the things that were going on at home or at work.

Her manager had invited me to run an in-house NLP course for his executive and sales team and during one of the exercises her state of mind was revealed. We were talking about finding solutions to problems and the ways in which people respond when they lose hope in the possibility of a solution. I noticed that Emily, who had been engaged throughout the course, was suddenly hyper-attentive as I taught about using linguistic techniques to explore new approaches to familiar problems and as we moved into an exercise I kept a close ear on her group.

The exercise they were doing involved an observer, a practitioner, and a subject who presented a problem. Emily started out as the observer, then went on to display a great deal of skill as the practitioner, before taking her turn as the subject. The problem she shared with the group was clearly a genuine problem, but equally clearly only the teensiest glimpse of the underlying issue.

At the end of the exercise, she asked if we could talk privately.

As she told me, “I suddenly realised when I heard you teach this topic that I was trapped in my own thinking. When I used the technique you taught on Sam and then experienced it myself, I wondered if I was missing something about my situation and I started to believe that there must be a solution to my problem that I hadn’t thought of yet.”

Realising that a constructive and creative  solution must exist gave Emily the hope she needed to look at her situation differently.

You Cannot Solve a Problem with the Level of Thinking that Created It

If we look at history… The history of nations, science, civilisation, economics, social, fashion… it’s easy to see that everything runs along pretty much unchanged and then suddenly something comes from outside and the thinking and solutions leap forward into a new state of normal.

It’s easier to see when we look back than when we are bang smack in the centre of a crisis which is why history is such a potent teacher.

At this very moment, we are caught up in a storm of crises that threaten us with potential drastic consequences. As long as we rely on the kind of thinking that created them we will be stuck in a cycle of one-step-forward-two-steps-back consequences so we need to look outside the traditional approaches.

This takes courage. It takes openness to change and to the possibility that we might need to think quite differently in many areas of life. Often, this doesn’t happen until people are truly desperate… Or until they come into contact with people who have already developed a different approach and ‘jumped out of the box’.

Finding Effective Solutions

The main reason why truly successful people in all areas of life hire coaches is so they can access a different level of thinking and solution-finding.

“You don’t know what you don’t know.” – and ignorance will always limit our progress, our possibilities, and (often) our dreams. We cannot see our own blind spots and so we constantly need to be exposed to people who will challenge our

  • Thinking & mindset;
  • Habits & behaviour;
  • Goals & dreams;
  • As well as the underlying assumptions.

Your current way of thinking has brought you to this place of awareness that there is something more… a problem to be solved. You need outside help to help you find and implement the solution.

That help can come from:

  • Books and media
  • Courses
  • Peers
  • Mentors
  • Coaches

Your choice will be influenced by the urgency of your need for a solution, your other commitments, and your resources. Any of the above solutions can be effective, the principle goal is to open yourself to *new approaches and new ways of thinking that are outside of your current ones.

 *“NEW” here, does not necessarily refer to temporal recency. It is new-to-you-thinking. Some of the most transformative out-of-the-box thinking is based on ancient wisdom.

NLP Mastery Academy

On June 15th 2020 we’re starting our first online NLP Mastery Academy group intended to empower students to dive more deeply into the powerful applications of the NLP techniques and teachings for everyday life.

The biggest challenge that most students of NLP face isn’t learning what the techniques are. It’s discovering how to use them to empower themselves and others at work, at home, and at school to increase energy and enhance their performance, relationships, and results. As we meet fortnightly to learn or refresh our knowledge about the techniques and explore their uses we know that we will see the positive effects in all areas of life.

If you’re interested in learning more about this course, email [email protected] Use this subject: “Please tell me more about the NLP Mastery Academy” and tell us about your goals and NLP background in the email.

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”

~H.L. Mencken

The Danger of Agreeable People

I like spending time with people who share my perspectives on life, success, and various other key topics… And I bet you do too!

There is nothing wrong with listening to and learning from people with whom you are philosophically aligned. There is a problem, however, if those are the only people’s views you ever hear because when everyone is saying the same thing, you don’t even question the underlying assumptions. Not only do you miss opportunities to stay ahead of the wave, you also miss important insights into the strengths, weaknesses and sales opportunities in front of you.

Please note: I’m not talking about the type of people who simply stir up controversy for the sake of argument, but those who have a different perspective and view.

Influence AND Independence

It’s part of human nature to spend most of our time listening to the same people (usually ones we agree with, sometimes people who make us angry).

BUT… It’s also dangerous because when we listen to someone we give them influence over us. As the proverb says, “If all you have is a hammer, then every problem is a nail.” It’s not a particularly effective strategy for a carpenter, it’s a disaster for a business owner.

We all have our preferred mentors, experts we follow, strategies we adhere to… And that’s essential. However, it’s also important for each of us to make sure we protect ourselves against the dangers inherent in our own selected echo chamber by exposing ourselves to other opinions and perspectives so that we can see past our unspoken assumptions.

The difference may not be reflected in our behaviour or strategy. It is definitely reflected in our confidence and results.

How is This Possible?

Strategically, it’s important to have clarity and perseverance.

That’s why it’s important to have a guiding influencer (or pool of influencers) who share your strategy. If you don’t you’ll end up zig-zagging all over the place or (even worse) ending up in the classic ‘two-steps forward, one-step back’ situation because you’ll lack any real compass.

Tactically and philosophically you need to be listening to people from outside your echo chamber. It doesn’t matter whether you agree with them or not, listening to their position with an open mind will shine a spotlight on your prejudices and clarify your response… You may even learn something new that will set you on a unique path.

When I realise that everyone in most of the groups I’m in is talking approvingly (or even reverently) about the same people, ideas, and books I start to feel uncomfortable because the natural end-result is another set of identical approaches. Then, I know it’s time to pay attention to ‘those idiots on the other side’… That person or group who has a substantial following that my people think is unbelievably stupid.

There is always someone like that… Pick any context: politics, climate change, covid-19 response, crime and punishment – or any other topic because most people like to operate in a binary world for simplicity’s sake. The reality is that ‘the other side’ also has a philosophical and rational base (with which you disagree) and some potential solutions (which you might be able to use).

The very worst outcome is that you end up with more reasons to confidently promote your own solution.

Where Do New Ideas Come From?

New ideas rarely materialise from thin air.

New ideas never come when you copy your competitors or models.

New ideas DO come when you look outside your industry and see how other people solve similar problems.

For example:

  • McDonald’s drive through windows was borrowed from US banks;
  • Agile project management in IT was borrowed from Toyota;
  • Lean manufacturing principles in almost every industry came from Toyota and Honda;
  • Ad Words and PPC advertising came from direct response mail-order;
  • Online shopping malls came from mail order catalogues;
  • Time Share Seminars came from the Insurance industry…

All of these borrowings created new opportunities outside the industry that conceived them and multiplied profits and sales. None of them happened when people just looked around their own echo chamber.

But I Don’t Like Arguing...

You don’t need to argue with anyone. All you need to do is to set aside your prejudices and preferences and listen. The more effectively you’ll do this the more you’ll be open to new ideas either for delivering your existing product or selling it.

I’ve lost count of the number of ideas and selling points this approach has brought my way over the years, but one of my clients applied a technique that she learned from her hairdresser to her accounting practice and increased the average annual client value by over 23%.

“Your mind is bombarded with over 11 million pieces of information per second, but it can only process 126 bps. The rest of that information is discarded – especially if it doesn’t agree with what we already believe.”

Based on The NLP Model of Communication

If you’ve ever thought “It’s all too much!” You’re right.

Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed with all the…

  • Information that is being blasted at you?
  • Opportunities that you have to learn, interact, serve, and engage?
  • Decisions that need to be made (or left to make themselves by default)?
  • People who want to connect with you?

Guess what…?

That’s because of the way our brains are wired and the increasing speed of information delivery.

When I first studied NLP, we were told that we were exposed to 11 million bits of information per second while our brains could only process 126 bits per second. Some more recent studies suggest that the differential could be even greater, but statistically the difference is already so infinitely enormous that slight changes in the actual numbers have little effect on the net result that:

We are forced to delete, distort, and generalise on an immense scale because we can process less than 0.00001% of the information our brains receive each second.

It’s little wonder that we sometimes feel overwhelmed and are tempted to accept over-simplifications or shut down our critical faculty just to cope with everything because, although most of this happens unconsciously, during times of stress we instinctively try to grasp more than our brains are capable of processing.

What’s the solution to overwhelm?

Accurately defining the problem is the first step towards a solution.

When we recognise that everyone is subject to the same limitations and that we’re all trained (by upbringing, physiology, and environment) to perceive different sets of that information and apply our own personal ‘shorthand’ system for cataloguing and interpreting this information our ability to understand and accept others grows. Your shorthand system determines your ‘model of the world’: the belief system which shapes your thinking about (and your response to) issues, people, and circumstances. This is largely shaped by your upbringing and environment and most people are unconscious of it.

You can take some deliberate steps to reduce the input that is bombarding you if it’s causing sensory overwhelm.

Empowering Yourself… Understanding Others

Personally, I find the awareness of this reality quite empowering because, as Carl Jung says, “that which was unconscious, when made conscious loses its power’. Because of my understanding of the filtering that is happening, I can do two things:

  1. I can control and train my unconscious mind to select the information that will strengthen and empower me so that I consciously change which of those 11 million bits I see and how you interpret them; and
  2. Recognise that other people’s thinking is shaped by their history and current choices so I can accept that they may not yet be aware of the things that influence their beliefs unconsciously.

What about you? Have you taken responsibility for your unconscious beliefs and set up habits to consciously select the filters you use?

3 Empowering Questions

Here are some simple questions you can ask to bring your unconscious thoughts and values into consciousness….

  • Is this empowering me?
  • If yes, could I fine-tune my inputs to get even better results?
  • If no, what can I replace these thoughts and attitudes with to help me develop positive thought that encourages me to take control of my life and change the things I’m not happy about.

In turbulent times like these when we are being bombarded by negative thoughts and emotions this is especially important.

NLP Mastery Course

One of the things that appealed to me about Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) even before I started studying it seriously was the promise it made to help me control my reactions to my environment and become more flexible in my relationships and negotiations (with myself and others). Many other people have had the same thought, and have been excited when they first realised the true power of their knowledge… Only to find that they forgot about all the tools and techniques they had learned.

The NLP Mastery Course is designed to bring all these things to the top of your mind and help you integrate them into your daily life.

If you’ve already studied NLP you’ll remember that sense of control and optimism you felt when you realised just how much untapped power was within you.  Maybe now would be a good time to take an NLP refresher course and revisit how all the techniques you learned enrich your everyday life. If you haven’t yet discovered the power of NLP, maybe now would be a great time to learn.

If you’re interested, click the link below to schedule a call with me to talk about my new fortnightly online NLP program and see if it’s right for you.

Schedule an NLP Information Call with Chandell

“If you can’t communicate effectively, then it’s almost impossible to lead your team well. Often the key to better results lies in better communication.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta ~

What Is A Leader’s Role in a Sales Team?

One of my favourite clients invited me to do some additional work with their sales team to increase their resilience and provide them with additional tools during these challenging and uncertain times. This was a clear demonstration of leadership and concern for their employees in the midst of their own challenges and also an acknowledgement of the importance of communicating this concern in many ways.

As business owners and team leaders our primary concern is naturally about the impact of this uncertainty on our own business and metrics. However, a true leader knows two really important things about their people:

  1. We’re all human. That means that what is going on in one area of our life impacts other areas. Financial stress, disruption to routines, reduced or heightened social interactions, health concerns… They all affect your team members’ performance, so whatever you can do to help people manage these situations and develop resilience matters.
  2. Different people react to different stimuli. This is a variation documented in the book, The Five Love Languages which talks about how we all have preferred methods of receiving and communicating affection. Different members of your team will respond to different efforts to encourage and communicate. There is no one-size-fits-all approach.

As a leader, you need to reach out to your team and motivate them in ways that they value… And you need to equip your team members to reach out to clients in different ways, too. If you don’t do this, then you can expect to see your indifference reflected in your performance metrics.

Effective Leaders Create High Performing Teams

There are star performers in every industry and every business. They are the people who rise to the top and stand out no matter what is going on around them. Leading star performers can be challenging but in tough times these people continue to perform and contribute so they don’t showcase the calibre of their leaders.

The biggest test of an effective leader is their ability to create high performing teams. It’s extraordinary to watch a leader take an under-performing team and mould them into high performers and this kind of leadership is one of the biggest assets a business can have. From my observation, these transformational leaders have three core qualities:

  • Vision
  • Flexible Communication
  • Analytical Ability (for both people and situations)

Today, I want to zero-in on the second one: flexible communication skills.

Empowered Multi-Level Communication

We all tend to unconsciously model what we see around us. Sometimes we reject an example so emphatically that we move in the opposite direction, but that isn’t the usual procedure.

What I’ve noticed in several organisations recently is the correlation between the way the leadership team is communicating with their teams and each other and the marketplace performance of the teams. Many of these are sales teams, a few are in the executive suite or HR but the common denominator is communication skills.

One company attracts a specific personality-type of results-driven salespeople. In the current uncertain economy their sales results dropped drastically and morale plummeted at the same time. The situation was so bad that the management realised the only things that were stopping the team from resigning en masse were the unemployment figures so they invited me to sit on some sales calls.

I was fairly sure of what I was about to discover after talking to the directors but, knowing the dangers of assumption, I worked hard to keep an open mind while I observed a sales team meeting and some calls. It was no surprise to discover that the team members reflected management’s obsession with results and made no effort to discover what was going on for the clients. The team was using the same opening and pitch that had been wildly successful a few months earlier and had no clue why it no longer worked. It was a direct reflection of their leadership team’s style.

Flexibility and Growth

Initially, the leaders blamed the sales team, the sales team blamed the clients, the clients blamed coronavirus, the government, and the economy.

Great! No one wins when you are just looking around and for someone to blame.

I actually had to demo a successful pitch to get the team to pay attention to. By listening to the client’s verbal cues and watching his demeanour I turned a rejection into a substantial contract (supported by the sales reps product knowledge). That gained their attention and opened the door for some in-house training. Within days, sales results were improving and morale rose, too in response to the communication techniques and cues they learned.

What impressed me most was the openness of the leadership team to recognise the role they had played in setting up failure and their desire to learn and change too. That openness was immediately reflected in their team.

Secrets Great Communicators Know

Not everyone is a born communicator, but there’s nothing stopping you from becoming one! Often the key to multiplying your Communication Effectiveness Score is hidden under years of unconscious habit.

A H.O.W.T.O. Session uncovers the key, identifies your unconscious communication blockages, and frees you to become the leader you were born to be. Book your session soon!  

Book Your H.O.W.T.O. Session

“In a rapidly changing market, it’s important to monitor your sales strategy and offerings so that you connect with buyers without setting dangerous precedents for later interactions.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta ~

5 Strategies to Keep Your Sales Team on Track

Adapting to new market conditions is a fundamental principle of successful entrepreneurship and the very fact of a changing market creates opportunities for growth and transition. It also creates significant challenges for existing businesses especially large corporations which are often slow to adapt.

This is where entrepreneurs and small businesses have amazing advantages. They can often move into a large and profitable gap as it opens and not only create ‘survival’ products and packages but actually set the ground for market leadership.

First, however, you need to provide your sales team with the mindset and tools to cope with the changing conditions and the (frequently brutal) rejection that accompanies it.

Here are 5 strategies that you need:

#1 Leadership & Morale

I’ve been talking to a lot of sales managers and hearing the same story: my team are shattered, they’re getting rejected at every turn and there are 3 main narratives at play:

  • We need it and we understand how it will provide an advantage, but we’re conserving cash and not investing in anything right now;
  • We need it to survive but we can’t afford/won’t pay for your solution and we want the premium product at bargain-basement prices and we’re betting that you want the sale and will do anything to get it;
  • We’re lucky to still be operating, go away and leave me alone.

None of these responses encourage your salespeople to genuinely try to sell your product… And it’s easy to see why!

Here’s what leaders can do:

  1. Work on your own mindset and share struggles and victories with your team (they know you’re not invulnerable, let them see it);
  2. Make sales calls yourself and share your results (when they see you taking action and copping flack it helps them);
  3. Have strategy meetings to share problems, solutions, and insights (several heads really are better than one);
  4. Demonstrate that you are actively looking for solutions from both product and sales perspectives;
  5. Offer hope… Spring always follows winter.

#2 Client Needs Assessment

If your sales team is already using authentic sales methods based on uncovering needs, then this is an easy place to start. Shift their sales targets from dollars to information is empowering. As you know, the assumption is the mother of misunderstanding, so your goal is to find out what clients really want, need, and are willing to pay for right now.

#3 Adapting Your Offer

Surprisingly, when you start by uncovering needs as in the above strategy, you often find that the decision-maker who was adamantly rejecting any purchase at the start of your conversation is now ready to sign a contract. It was never about the inability to purchase, it was about trust, certainty, and a glut of sales calls.

However, there are also people out there who don’t want your usual product, but who will tell you about their very specific needs. That’s the information you’ll take back to your sales team and leaders to work on because the thing you never want to do is to cut the price of your premium product to meet short term goals.

All that does is devalue your premium product and make it unprofitable and unsustainable.

#4 Providing New Sales Tools & Strategies

Once you have an alternate offer, your goal is to help the sales team sell that offer effectively. Some of your team members will have been extremely successful at selling your premium offers, but now you are asking them to sell life rafts instead so it’s important to give them the mindset, questions, tools, and other resources they need to do a great job under these new conditions.

Most sales teams have one member who already has a great track record selling lower-end offerings and this is their turn to shine and help other members adjust their strategy and learn the requisites tactics. When the leadership sets an example, others follow.

#5 Accountability and Resilience

Let your team know that you understand the challenges they are facing and that you are working hard to help them succeed. At the same time, they still need to be held accountable for their activity.

Most of your team wants to keep growing, working, earning, and taking responsibility for their career and this probably won’t be the only time they face an uncertain economy and you have the opportunity to help them develop resilience and unshakeable confidence.

Confident Conversion 90 days to More Clients, More Cash, and More Impact

In this 90-day program we cover essential strategies to increase your sales performance addressing mindset along with sales strategy and tactics. In addition to a public version that we run 2-3 times a year, we also offer an in-house version that is tailored to your specific team needs.

 

“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

 “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/

“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.

Book Your H.O.W.T.O. Session

 

 

“Most of the time, the solution to sluggish sales isn’t more time, it’s more productive time so you start with analysis and move onto strategy and action.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

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.

How Do You Know That?

If you didn’t answer the question above with some cold, hard numbers about your sales then you don’t have the information you need to make strategic sales and marketing decisions.

Let’s take an example from one of my clients for last year:

  • 23 appointments, 17 clients and $294,600 from referrals
  • 31 appointments, 8 clients and $187,000 from networking
  • 11 appointments, 5 clients and $201,000 from public speaking
  • 28 appointments, 3 clients and $93,000 from book and course sales
  • 40 appointments, 7 clients and $59,000 from articles, social media, and podcasts
  • … etc.

Most of the time, when you run the numbers, you’ll discover that you’re getting about 80% of your sales from 20% of your activity… But often it’s not the 20% you were expecting.

The client I referenced above had assumed that articles, social media, and podcasts were a great investment of time because they created a lot of activity, but when we ran these numbers he realised that it wasn’t delivering the results he had expected.

What Are You Focusing On?

The reality is that we’re all busy people, faced with competing demands on our time and energy. Since I don’t know anyone who has managed to add more than 24 hours to their day, we need to look at how to use what we have more effectively because there’s only so many hours of sleep and recreation you can cut back on.

The fastest and easiest way to get more done in less time is to focus on two things:

  • Determine which activities deliver the greatest return on time and energy invested and do more of those; and
  • Decide what you can do to streamline qualification processes so you can get more sales from less time and energy intense processes.

What Will You Change Now?

My client from the example identified several ways to leverage his time and energy including:

  • Identifying low-profit buyers and funneling them into a more automated qualifying process;
  • Refining his elevator pitch so that he elicited greater interest from qualified buyers;
  • Improving his sales conversation skills and rapport-building so that his appointment close rate for qualified prospects was over 86%;
  • Developing his prospect qualification process so that he rarely met with prospects who couldn’t or wouldn’t buy;
  • Refining his “New Client Welcome Kit” so that he spent less time answering generic questions.

Some of these initiatives are still in the making, but overall his profits increased dramatically and he was able to spend more time with his family and training his staff.

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