============================================================
Monday Morning Motivators – May 5, 2007
============================================================
Enjoy your java with an eclectic collection of tips and ideas to use today and to get energized for the week ahead. Subscribing and unsubscribing at www.mondaymorningmotivators.com
“You can’t lead with memos”
--Anonymous
============================================================
Table of Contents
============================================================
1. Leadership – Leading the Troops – Linda Fayerweather
2. One Smart Cookie - Rebecca Booth
3. The Law of Intention and Desire – Pat Altvater
4. People Don’t Like to Be Sold – Paula Frazier
5. To Do This Week
6. Fine Print
============================================================
1. Leadership – Leading the Troops ============================================================
Over the last few weeks we’ve been talking about leadership knowing most small business owners need to be both a leader and a manager. A manager will often be great at following procedures but a leader will know when to get people excited and focused to help reach the business’s promised land or vision. How a leader looks and sounds actually does more to establish trust and believability in staff than the words used. That means the leader needs to believe the business’s mission or vision is a cause! Using clarity of vision while leading from shared values will help staff join the cause and feel they are in a caring workplace. Leadership is about evoking passion and enthusiasm for a common cause.
Listen up leaders – when you are excited about your business’ direction, let your face and eyes know. That is where your staff will be looking and if they don’t see it, they won’t play your game!
Copyright 2008 Linda Fayerweather
“Helping Businesses get everyone rowing in the Same Direction”
Changing Lanes LLC
www.ChangingLanes.biz
============================================================
2. One Smart Cookie
============================================================
I had to take my mom to the hospital for some tests a few weeks ago. I had 2 hours to wait, so I sifted through all of the stale 2006 magazines. But I did find a "vein" of upscale catalogs and more interesting reading that I quickly latched on to. After savoring a Norm Thompson catalog, I noticed a label on the back covering up the person's snail mail address. The label read:
Recycled by Judy! Caring for the earth and all your
real estate needs. Looking to buy or sell?
Judy Kasper, Realtor.
Not only was Judy one smart cookie for recycling, but she had done some impromptu advertising to boot.
She impressed me in several ways:
1) the hospital was in her target market;
2) she saw a captive audience and catered to it;
3) she showed me that she and I had quite a few tastes in common which gave her instant credibility with me, and
4) her sales message wasn't aggressive (like too many realtors fall prey to).
So, what can you do to become one smart cookie today?
PS My mom's fine, thanks for asking!
Copyright 2008 Rebecca Booth
Marketing Goddess
Imagine That!
419-855-3399
www.rebeccaboothmarketinggoddess.com
===========================================================
3. The Law of Intention and Desire
============================================================
This is the fifth in a 7 part series based on Deepak Chopra’s book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.
According to Chopra, “Attention energizes and intention transforms.” Intention is powerful because it’s desire without attachment to outcome. Desire alone is very weak because it’s typically attention with attachment.
To release attachment to the outcome, create an intention for the future, but put your attention on the present. Be in the NOW! If you give up worrying about the future and how things are going to turn out, you’ll be much more effective in the present moment!
To incorporate this law into your life:
• Make a list of your desires; carry it with you, review it day and night and think of it during your meditation time
• Release the list and trust that if things don’t go the way you believe they should, there’s probably something even better coming for you.
• Accept the present as it is and don’t let it or what anyone else says, deter you from your desires and intentions.
This week, practice enjoying every moment in your life’s journey, even if you don’t know how any of your intentions will come about.
Pat Altvater
Chief Wizard of WOW!
Journey to WOW – Choose Success NOW™ coach
Certified Law of Attraction Practitioner
www.transformationsinstitute.com
===========================================================
4. People Don’t Like to Be Sold To But They Do Love to Buy
===========================================================
Question: How much time could we save and how much more successful could we be if we spent time in front of people who have already decided to do business with us?
Answer: LOT$$$
Therefore, it’s important to be aware that your referral marketing success is directly related to your network’s referral marketing competency. This is what makes building your business by word-of-mouth so challenging. The people that help spread the word about you and your business will not generally be experts in your industry; therefore they are probably not going to “sell” anyone. They can however learn how to:
1. Actively listen on your behalf
2. Identify the potential need for your product or service
3. Inform the prospect that you may be able to help them
4. Offer a brief testimonial about how you’ve helped someone with a similar need
5. Connect them to you in a way that they (the prospect) are most comfortable with
As a rule, people don’t like to be “sold to” but they do love to buy. Working with educated referral partners brings you in as close to the sale as possible. They’ve already invested their time, effort, energy and possibly money to help establish their own relationship with the person they’re referring to you. They can literally lend you their credibility. You ride in on their coattail and go forward from there.
Over the next 12 weeks, we’ll take a look at some critical components of your referral marketing efforts. We’ll begin with – “Finding Your Starting Point”. Stay tuned…
If you’d like help developing your referral marketing plan visit http://www.referralinstitute-va.com
Copyright 2008 Paula Frazier is an Executive Director for BNI and part of a select team of Master Trainers for Referral Institute. Over the last year, Paula’s business networking articles have been published nationally. She is also acknowledged in the New York Times best seller, Truth or Delusion – Busting Networkings Biggest Myths. Check out #33, Delusion with a twist!
===========================================================
5. To Do This Week
===========================================================
Plan ahead to the Vacation Season – Schedule yours and your staffs before June.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Risk - Sales - Effort - Calendaring
============================================================
Monday Morning Motivators – April 28, 2007
============================================================
Enjoy your java with an eclectic collection of tips and ideas to use today and to get energized for the week ahead. Subscribing and unsubscribing at www.mondaymorningmotivators.com
“Reach for the Stars and you won’t come up with a handful of mud!”
--Leo Burnett
============================================================
Table of Contents
============================================================
1. Leadership – Falling in Love with Risk – Linda Fayerweather
2. Sales Tactics 101 – Part 2 - Rebecca Booth
3. The Law of Least Effort – Pat Altvater
4. Calendaring Creates Time – Paula Frazier
5. To Do This Week
6. Fine Print
============================================================
1. Leadership – Falling in Love with Risk ============================================================
All business is Risky and being committed to your business’s vision is a great multiplier of success. Your commitment to your vision, mission and strategies will make it much easier to find others to work with as their excitement and commitment will be obvious. Risk is the zest that keeps entrepreneurs up at night and/or they wake up wired to go! Accepting risk means you are willing to change and think outside the normal solutions. We often hear “think outside the box” and that saying is often related to this puzzle.
Connect all nine dots with four straight lines while never taking your pencil off the paper. Once you solve this, you will always want to see what is outside the box.
. . .
. . .
. . .
Remember, leadership is going outside the box. Need a hint to solve this problem – go to: Nine dot solution
Monday Morning Motivators – April 28, 2007
============================================================
Enjoy your java with an eclectic collection of tips and ideas to use today and to get energized for the week ahead. Subscribing and unsubscribing at www.mondaymorningmotivators.com
“Reach for the Stars and you won’t come up with a handful of mud!”
--Leo Burnett
============================================================
Table of Contents
============================================================
1. Leadership – Falling in Love with Risk – Linda Fayerweather
2. Sales Tactics 101 – Part 2 - Rebecca Booth
3. The Law of Least Effort – Pat Altvater
4. Calendaring Creates Time – Paula Frazier
5. To Do This Week
6. Fine Print
============================================================
1. Leadership – Falling in Love with Risk ============================================================
All business is Risky and being committed to your business’s vision is a great multiplier of success. Your commitment to your vision, mission and strategies will make it much easier to find others to work with as their excitement and commitment will be obvious. Risk is the zest that keeps entrepreneurs up at night and/or they wake up wired to go! Accepting risk means you are willing to change and think outside the normal solutions. We often hear “think outside the box” and that saying is often related to this puzzle.
Connect all nine dots with four straight lines while never taking your pencil off the paper. Once you solve this, you will always want to see what is outside the box.
. . .
. . .
. . .
Remember, leadership is going outside the box. Need a hint to solve this problem – go to: Nine dot solution
Copyright 2008 Linda Fayerweather
“Hey, I know that fishermen are women, too!”
Changing Lanes LLC
http://www.changinglanes.biz/
============================================================
2. Sales Tactics 101 – Part 2
============================================================
What happens after the sale? A lot of times nothing. Herbert True, a marketing specialist at Notre Dame University found that:
--44% of all sales people quit trying after the first call
--24% quite after the second call
--14% quit after the third call
--12% quit trying to sell their prospect after the 4th call.
That's right 94% of all salespeople quit after the 4th call. But 60% of all sales are made after the fourth call. This revealing statistic shows that 94% of all salespeople don't give themselves a chance at 60% of the prospective buyers. Turn that number upside down by staying in touch with the prospect and keep asking! Source: Jack Canfield's The Success Principles.
Copyright 2008 Rebecca Booth
Marketing Goddess
Imagine That!
419-855-3399
http://www.rebeccaboothmarketinggoddess.com/
===========================================================
3. The Law of Least Effort
============================================================
This is the fourth in a 7 part series based on Deepak Chopras book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.
This law is about letting go of ego and going with the flow. When you come from ego, you seek power and control over other people or you spend your energy trying to get approval from others. Both of those activities are counterproductive. So re-channel this energy become immune to criticism, unfearful of challenges and focus on harmony instead.
Practice this law by committing to:
--Embrace the NOW moment. Accept situations, circumstances and events as they occur, not as you wish them to be. Do not struggle against the NOW moment, instead embrace it.
--Assume responsibility. View challenges as opportunities to change and never blame anyone else for your circumstances.
--Practice defenselessness. Give up the need to be right; stop yourself from attempting to convince or persuade others to accept your point of view.
Pat Altvater
Journey to WOW – Choose Success NOW™ coach
Certified Law of Attraction Practitioner
http://www.transformationsinstitute.com/
===========================================================
4. Calendaring Creates Time
===========================================================
Referral marketing doesn’t require a large investment of money. It’s become known as one of the least expensive most effective methods of marketing. The largest expenditure is typically - TIME:
--It takes time to identify referral partners.
--It takes time to build trust with your referral partners.
--It takes time to educate and engage your referral partners.
--It takes time to provide support and referrals for your referral partners.
What is one of our most limited resources? TIME!
Last week I had this same conversation with a group of my clients. We’re working on our 12 month Referral Marketing Plans. When it comes to budgeting time to carry out their plans they whole-heartedly agree that they barely have enough time to take care of themselves, much less their referral partners. We did a little calendaring to identify some areas of opportunity. I encourage you to do the same. Take out a blank monthly calendar template:
1. List all scheduled church activities.
2. List all scheduled family activities.
3. List all scheduled business activities.
4. List all scheduled networking activities.
5. List all personal/business development activities.
Honor your commitments! Resist the temptation to cancel one appointment to schedule another. Everything that you choose to put on your calendar should be equally important for different reasons. If not, don’t agree to devote any time to it!
To learn more about strategically investing in others to leverage your time and increase your referral marketing efforts, visit http://www.referralinstitute-va.com/ or http://www.bniswva.com/
Copyright 2008 Paula Frazier is an Executive Director for BNI and part of a select team of Master Trainers for Referral Institute. Over the last year, Paula’s business networking articles have been published nationally. She is also acknowledged in the New York Times best seller, Truth or Delusion – Busting Networkings Biggest Myths. Check out #33, Delusion with a twist!
===========================================================
5. To Do This Week
===========================================================
Plan ahead to the Vacation Season – Schedule your's and your staff's before June.
Solution to nine dots
Connecting the nine dots requires thinking outside the visual box the dots make!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Leadership - Sales - Cause & Effect - Know Your Business
============================================================
Monday Morning Motivators – April 21, 2007
============================================================
Enjoy your java with an eclectic collection of tips and ideas to use today and to get energized for the week ahead. Subscribing and unsubscribing at www.mondaymorningmotivators.com
“A leader without a vision—a direction in which he or she wants to take the organization—is simply not a leader.”
--Bob Boylan
============================================================
Table of Contents
============================================================
1. Leadership – What Do We Stand For – Linda Fayerweather
2. Sales Tactics 101 – Part 1 - Rebecca Booth
3. The Law of Cause and Effect – Pat Altvater
4. Know Your Business – Paula Frazier
5. To Do This Week
6. Fine Print
============================================================
1. Leadership – What Do We Stand For ============================================================
This was “Walleye Weekend” in Maumee Ohio which means that everyone that loves to fish was milling around my neighborhood. As a watcher, I am always fascinated to see the fishermen standing in very precise order. Each is an arm’s length apart, on the edge of the deep water AND they are quiet. They represent a perfect example of a shared vision, position and mission. That is what companies hope to achieve when each team member knows without a doubt where to stand, how to perform and what the ultimate results will be. For the fishermen it was 4 walleye caught with a hook through the lip between dawn and dusk.
To help identify what your company stands for, you may need to drag out some of the documents you created when you started your business or from that last strategic planning retreat. Don’t have those? Take heart, and create them now. Here is a starting point.
1. Draw your Vision – where you want to be in 3, 5 or 10 years? What will the revenue look like? What will the sales be? Who will be the staff?
2. Commit to your Position – where you are now – your values, principals, strongly held beliefs, those values that are the bedrock of your business.
3. Verbalize your Mission or Credo – the short sentence of what your firm does that is repeatable and believable by all, even the night janitor.
When everyone can verbalize your credo, you are ready to go fishing!
Copyright 2008 Linda Fayerweather
“Hey, I know that fishermen are women, too!”
Changing Lanes LLC
www.ChangingLanes.biz
============================================================
2. Sales Tactics 101 – Part 1
============================================================
When you’re ready to close that next sale, remember that it’s not what you said that matters but HOW you delivered what you were saying. Selling is a lot like acting. The right delivery can elicit magic. Botched pacing, incorrect inflections and low energy can turn a potential 6-figure Box Office sale into a DVD dud. Here are a few tips I found in a recent Selling Power magazine that should help you work some magic:
* Match the customer’s voice. Studies have shown that we trust people who sound like us. If your prospect is speaking slowly, slow your own gait down. With a fast talker, pick up the pace. Also pay attention to volume.
* Be positive. Don’t get defensive if your customer is short with you. Respond with positive energy. If they say they’re too busy, respond with “Great! Busy people are our best customers because we save them so much time!”
* Be Empathetic. When prospects hesitate, it’s often out of fear. In this case, let them take center stage and ask questions. After listening, use phrases like “I understand how you feel…” or “We’ve all been disappointed at some time, haven’t we?”
*Avoid canned speeches. The worst thing you can do is to sound like a robot. Switch the information up and have a little fun with it. After all, you’re selling yourself as much as you’re selling the product. People buy from people they know and trust. Be likable.
If you’d like more information on this topic, check out Scales Scripts That Close Every Deal: 420 Tested Responses to 30 or the Most Difficult Customer Objections by Gerhard Gschwandtner.
Copyright 2008 Rebecca Booth
Marketing Goddess
Imagine That!
419-855-3399
www.rebeccaboothmarketinggoddess.com
===========================================================
3. The Law of Cause and Effect
============================================================
This is the third in a 7 part series based on Deepak Chopra’s book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.
I’m sure you’ve heard the famous saying “What you sow is what you reap.” That’s cause and effect, which also implies that everything happens for a reason.
You are where you are because of your choices and your decisions over the previous months and years. These choices, whether conscious or unconscious, have resulted in the circumstance of your life at this moment.
To incorporate this law into your life:
Pay attention to your choices and make only conscious decisions. I teach the individuals I coach that an important key ingredient to successfully achieving any goal is to become mindful of every choice being made along the way.
Chopra says to ask two questions:
* “What are the consequences of this choice that I’m making?
* “Will this choice that I’m making now bring happiness to me and to those around me?”
Once you’ve asked the questions, listen to your body signals to get your answer and then make your decision.
Practice being mindful about every choice you are making today and see what a difference it makes in the quality of your future!
Pat Altvater
Journey to WOW – Choose Success NOW™ coach
Certified Law of Attraction Practitioner
www.transformationsinstitute.com
===========================================================
4. Know Your Business
===========================================================
I recently had the privilege of experiencing a lively presentation offered by Bryan Flanagan. He started his career with IBM as a delivery man and ultimately became a sales instructor at IBM’s national training center. He told us that selling is a communication process, not an event.
One huge “A-Ha” that I took away that day had to do with the 4 Growth Stages. It doesn’t sound fun or profound. Right? Wrong! Think about it. Your depth of knowledge regarding your products, services and industry definitely affects your ability to market and sell.
Let’s take a look at the 4 Stages of Development. Don’t worry! I’ll break the big words down into little words (mostly for my benefit):
1. Unconsciously Incompetent – You don’t know what you don’t know. You’re probably new to your business and trying to figure out how to get started. As you begin to research your company and industry you officially move on to Stage 2.
2. Consciously Incompetent – You know that you don’t know all you need to know to capably market and sell your products/services. This is where many folks get frustrated and lose motivation. You’ll advance in the process by immersing yourself in all the information and support available to you regarding your profession.
3. Consciously Competent – You know what you know and you’re ready to go. Get out there! You will experience failure and success. At this point you will learn what does (and does not) work for you. As your victories outweigh your catastrophes, you’ll proceed to Stage 4.
4. Unconsciously Competent – You’ve become skillfully proficient because you’ve PRACTICED. At times you won’t even realize just how great you are. It’s natural and believable because you know your business!
Your (educated) referral sources can connect you to all of the qualified prospects you need to build your business. It’s important to understand that your ability to convert those contacts into clients will be affected by your ability to demonstrate your industry know-how.
How well do you know your business/industry?
How well do you demonstrate your competency to your prospects/clients?
What are you currently doing to further your personal/business development?
Paula Frazier is an Executive Director for BNI and part of a select team of Master Trainers for Referral Institute. Paula’s business networking articles have been published nationally. She is also acknowledged in the New York Times best seller, Truth or Delusion – Busting Networkings Biggest Myths. To learn more about marketing your business by referral visit http://www.referralinstitute-va.com or http://www.bniswva.com
===========================================================
5. To Do This Week
===========================================================
List the three values your business will not budge.
1.__________________________________________________________
2.__________________________________________________________
3.__________________________________________________________
Monday Morning Motivators – April 21, 2007
============================================================
Enjoy your java with an eclectic collection of tips and ideas to use today and to get energized for the week ahead. Subscribing and unsubscribing at www.mondaymorningmotivators.com
“A leader without a vision—a direction in which he or she wants to take the organization—is simply not a leader.”
--Bob Boylan
============================================================
Table of Contents
============================================================
1. Leadership – What Do We Stand For – Linda Fayerweather
2. Sales Tactics 101 – Part 1 - Rebecca Booth
3. The Law of Cause and Effect – Pat Altvater
4. Know Your Business – Paula Frazier
5. To Do This Week
6. Fine Print
============================================================
1. Leadership – What Do We Stand For ============================================================
This was “Walleye Weekend” in Maumee Ohio which means that everyone that loves to fish was milling around my neighborhood. As a watcher, I am always fascinated to see the fishermen standing in very precise order. Each is an arm’s length apart, on the edge of the deep water AND they are quiet. They represent a perfect example of a shared vision, position and mission. That is what companies hope to achieve when each team member knows without a doubt where to stand, how to perform and what the ultimate results will be. For the fishermen it was 4 walleye caught with a hook through the lip between dawn and dusk.
To help identify what your company stands for, you may need to drag out some of the documents you created when you started your business or from that last strategic planning retreat. Don’t have those? Take heart, and create them now. Here is a starting point.
1. Draw your Vision – where you want to be in 3, 5 or 10 years? What will the revenue look like? What will the sales be? Who will be the staff?
2. Commit to your Position – where you are now – your values, principals, strongly held beliefs, those values that are the bedrock of your business.
3. Verbalize your Mission or Credo – the short sentence of what your firm does that is repeatable and believable by all, even the night janitor.
When everyone can verbalize your credo, you are ready to go fishing!
Copyright 2008 Linda Fayerweather
“Hey, I know that fishermen are women, too!”
Changing Lanes LLC
www.ChangingLanes.biz
============================================================
2. Sales Tactics 101 – Part 1
============================================================
When you’re ready to close that next sale, remember that it’s not what you said that matters but HOW you delivered what you were saying. Selling is a lot like acting. The right delivery can elicit magic. Botched pacing, incorrect inflections and low energy can turn a potential 6-figure Box Office sale into a DVD dud. Here are a few tips I found in a recent Selling Power magazine that should help you work some magic:
* Match the customer’s voice. Studies have shown that we trust people who sound like us. If your prospect is speaking slowly, slow your own gait down. With a fast talker, pick up the pace. Also pay attention to volume.
* Be positive. Don’t get defensive if your customer is short with you. Respond with positive energy. If they say they’re too busy, respond with “Great! Busy people are our best customers because we save them so much time!”
* Be Empathetic. When prospects hesitate, it’s often out of fear. In this case, let them take center stage and ask questions. After listening, use phrases like “I understand how you feel…” or “We’ve all been disappointed at some time, haven’t we?”
*Avoid canned speeches. The worst thing you can do is to sound like a robot. Switch the information up and have a little fun with it. After all, you’re selling yourself as much as you’re selling the product. People buy from people they know and trust. Be likable.
If you’d like more information on this topic, check out Scales Scripts That Close Every Deal: 420 Tested Responses to 30 or the Most Difficult Customer Objections by Gerhard Gschwandtner.
Copyright 2008 Rebecca Booth
Marketing Goddess
Imagine That!
419-855-3399
www.rebeccaboothmarketinggoddess.com
===========================================================
3. The Law of Cause and Effect
============================================================
This is the third in a 7 part series based on Deepak Chopra’s book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.
I’m sure you’ve heard the famous saying “What you sow is what you reap.” That’s cause and effect, which also implies that everything happens for a reason.
You are where you are because of your choices and your decisions over the previous months and years. These choices, whether conscious or unconscious, have resulted in the circumstance of your life at this moment.
To incorporate this law into your life:
Pay attention to your choices and make only conscious decisions. I teach the individuals I coach that an important key ingredient to successfully achieving any goal is to become mindful of every choice being made along the way.
Chopra says to ask two questions:
* “What are the consequences of this choice that I’m making?
* “Will this choice that I’m making now bring happiness to me and to those around me?”
Once you’ve asked the questions, listen to your body signals to get your answer and then make your decision.
Practice being mindful about every choice you are making today and see what a difference it makes in the quality of your future!
Pat Altvater
Journey to WOW – Choose Success NOW™ coach
Certified Law of Attraction Practitioner
www.transformationsinstitute.com
===========================================================
4. Know Your Business
===========================================================
I recently had the privilege of experiencing a lively presentation offered by Bryan Flanagan. He started his career with IBM as a delivery man and ultimately became a sales instructor at IBM’s national training center. He told us that selling is a communication process, not an event.
One huge “A-Ha” that I took away that day had to do with the 4 Growth Stages. It doesn’t sound fun or profound. Right? Wrong! Think about it. Your depth of knowledge regarding your products, services and industry definitely affects your ability to market and sell.
Let’s take a look at the 4 Stages of Development. Don’t worry! I’ll break the big words down into little words (mostly for my benefit):
1. Unconsciously Incompetent – You don’t know what you don’t know. You’re probably new to your business and trying to figure out how to get started. As you begin to research your company and industry you officially move on to Stage 2.
2. Consciously Incompetent – You know that you don’t know all you need to know to capably market and sell your products/services. This is where many folks get frustrated and lose motivation. You’ll advance in the process by immersing yourself in all the information and support available to you regarding your profession.
3. Consciously Competent – You know what you know and you’re ready to go. Get out there! You will experience failure and success. At this point you will learn what does (and does not) work for you. As your victories outweigh your catastrophes, you’ll proceed to Stage 4.
4. Unconsciously Competent – You’ve become skillfully proficient because you’ve PRACTICED. At times you won’t even realize just how great you are. It’s natural and believable because you know your business!
Your (educated) referral sources can connect you to all of the qualified prospects you need to build your business. It’s important to understand that your ability to convert those contacts into clients will be affected by your ability to demonstrate your industry know-how.
How well do you know your business/industry?
How well do you demonstrate your competency to your prospects/clients?
What are you currently doing to further your personal/business development?
Paula Frazier is an Executive Director for BNI and part of a select team of Master Trainers for Referral Institute. Paula’s business networking articles have been published nationally. She is also acknowledged in the New York Times best seller, Truth or Delusion – Busting Networkings Biggest Myths. To learn more about marketing your business by referral visit http://www.referralinstitute-va.com or http://www.bniswva.com
===========================================================
5. To Do This Week
===========================================================
List the three values your business will not budge.
1.__________________________________________________________
2.__________________________________________________________
3.__________________________________________________________
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