I was reading Jeb Blount’s book last week. Fanatical Prospecting.
And, if you know anything about me, you KNOW that I abhor most business books.
But, this one grabbed me. It made me think…HEY! I had NO idea I could do this stuff. I have never even thought this way. NO WONDER this guy’s a millionaire!
Then I got excited. I have always KNOWN I could do better, I just didn’t know where to look to find the flaws in my performance (yes, *sigh*, even The Irreverent Sales Girl has flaws in her performance – until NOW *grin*).
One of the challenges Jeb puts to you is to make just ONE MORE CALL. So, it was Friday afternoon and I was cold calling my list. Yep, successful people still cold call. And I was tired, but I challenged myself to observe Jeb’s rule. Make ONE MORE CALL.
The song says “Breaking up is hard to do!” And, it certainly can be.
Let’s Break UP!
But, here is how breaking up will free you up!
A very dear friend of mine. A tippy-top producer who has earned a penthouse overlooking one of the most famous (and expensive) avenues in America, shared this recent story with me.
Her pipeline has been a teensy bit stagnant of late. So, she took a BOLD ACTION. She carefully crafted a gracious break-up script and shared it with her prospects who were just not getting back to her.
Generously, she has agreed to let me share her message and her results. Here is the message she left for her prospects with whom she had met, but received no activity: Wanna see the script?
If you are committed to being successful – you may have found books and conferences on success intriguing, but they don’t get you there…Dan upsets that applecart!
BEWARE – Dan’s message can be confronting. It is the TRUTH about what it takes to be a top performer. Not a guide on how to shortcut your way to the top.
Check this out! Dan’s EDGY introduction of the game-changing book!
I HEART DAN WALDSCHMIDT. He is one of the most accomplished, generous, and committed people I know – committed to OTHER’S success. He is EDGY and real and awesome. The Irreverent Sales Girl would be nowhere near where we are today without his awesome-ness!
Here is what Dan has to say about the book he released today!
“It took us four years of work to figure out what really makes ordinary people do amazing things. Like you, we had read many books about how to be successful in business, how to stay motivated, and how to get rich. When we finished reading each one we though “if that formula works so well why is it that I don’t get the results that the book says I should be getting?”
We threw away the books and motivational seminars and started looking around at ordinary people who ended up unbelievably achieving outrageous success. We looked for common people who accomplished amazing feats of success and dug a little deeper into their stories. The more we started looking, the more examples we found.
From business to math to science to sports to politics, we studied 1,000 ordinary people who achieved success against all the odds. What we uncovered were four clear character traits that I had never read about in any book. We call it EDGY. (And wrote our own book about it.)”
www.EdgyConversations.com — This is our site where people can learn more about the book, along with the workbook, ebooks (optimized in different formats)
SHORT AUTHOR BIO:
Dan Waldschmidt is an international business strategist, speaker, author, and extreme athlete. His consulting firm solves complex marketing and business strategy problems for savvy companies all over the world. Dow Jones calls his Edgy Conversations blog one of the top sales sites on the internet. He’s been profiled in Business Week, INC Magazine, BBC, Fox News, The Today Show, and Business Insider, has been the featured guest on dozens of radio programs, and has published hundreds of articles on progressive business strategy. He is author of Edgy Conversations: How Ordinary People Achieve Outrageous Success.
AND, if you order NOW, he’ll send you his workbook FREE!
I am delighted to share this article from a salesperson I recently met who, frankly, blew my socks off!
Please meet Cait Green, a truly remarkable saleswoman. Her enthusiasm, her ability to quickly detect what is important to other people, and her drive captured my attention! Could she really be this excited all of the time? This on point?
So, I wrote an email to Cait and asked her what I really wanted to know…Do you WAKE UP excited?
Here’s what she wrote. I got a ton of great stuff from it and have even put a few things into my morning that have made a difference….I haven’t added Julie Andrews yet, but, hey, if it works, it works!
Heck yes! “The hills are alive with the sound of music,” for me anyway. My alarm clock sounds at 6:30am each day with Julie Andrews belting out the uplifting opening number from “The Sound of Music.” People often laugh when I let them in on my little show tune secret, but HEY it works for me. It’s difficult to make time for ourselves in the midst of hectic and demanding schedules, but it’s crucial to find something that inspires you to greet the day in a positive way. Cue the birds chirping and Julie spinning arms wide open against the backdrop of rolling green hills and I’m up and ready to take on the world.
I don’t allow myself to catalogue the myriad thoughts that are RACING through my mind at the start of the day, in bed. Beds are for sleeping. Here are my simple morning steps for success…
STEP 1: Avoid that snooze button like the plague and GET UP.
STEP 2:CLEAR YOUR HEAD. For me this entails some combination of feel good tunes (lots of Beyonce as of late) and exercise, preferably outdoors. You’re going to be grinding all day so it’s important to allow yourself the time to mentally prepare for the hard work at hand.
STEP 3:MAKE A LIST! I’m not talking about a list that begins with…”make a list” so that you can immediately slash an item off in thick black marker with a satisfied grin. It’s imperative to set goals each day. It’s easy to get carried away in creating an inventory of the MILLION things you NEED to get done NOW. Be smart about it and prioritize at least 3 tasks associated with your goal(s) that you can realistically accomplish. You want to end the day feeling fulfilled and carry that momentum through to tomorrow. So there’s no point in setting unrealistic expectations for yourself that will ultimately leave you feeling like you’ve fallen short.
STEP 4:READ. It can be an excerpt from Radical Acceptance, Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha (a great read) or a chapter from The Hunger Games (also a great read). It wakes your brain up. NOW, peruse the trades that pertain specifically to your area of sales expertise; an article or piece of research you can dig up on a prospective client or an exciting event that impacts your marketplace. Being well versed and up-to-speed on industry happenings sets you up for success and gives you the confidence you need to engage your clients in an interesting and meaningful way.
STEP 5: REMIND YOURSELF TO BE YOUR BEST SELF. Relationships are at the heart of success. It is all about the connection forged and maintained between the parties transacting. Working hard to BE YOUR BEST SELF is the key to being the best professional you can be. Relationships flourish when we take care of ourselves, which enables us to best meet the needs and expectations of our partners.
WHAT WILL YOUR MORNING ROUTINE LOOK LIKE?
You owe it to yourself and to your clients to devise a morning routine that works for you. Sometimes I want to toss Julie Andrews right out the window when she starts in on her 6:30am serenade, but I don’t. I refuse to allow the negativity to seep in while I lie in bed …dread gathering at the thought of placing my feet on the cold floor. We all know how quickly our anxieties can snowball and intimidate us into inaction. When you take control and focus on getting excited about what the day holds for you…you WILL succeed!
And of course, take the time to prepare and eat a great breakfast…a little French pressed coffee goes a long way in making you feel like a BOSS.
Note from ISG: As many of you already know, I particularly like the Kerry Ellis version of Defying Gravity to get me going in the morning!
I received a Daily Inspirational Quotes calendar from a dear friend this holiday.
Each morning, I reach for the new day to read the quote, but am met with the first page – that I cannot bring myself to tear out.
This page says, “What one bold change will you make this year? Write it down on the last page of the calendar.”
And I find myself at a severe and serious loss. It seems like such a daunting task, picking a BOLD change I will make and committing it to the last Inspirational Quote day of 2014. Will I get to that day and feel a swell of pride, that indeed I did make that change? Will I feel the agony of defeat and head for a second bottle of champagne? What forces will I invoke if I do this exercise?
I noticed something today. We are headed to the end of the year and I started reviewing the goals I had set for myself at the beginning of the year.
I set Minimum, Target, and Optimal goals for each area of my life. Health, Home, Finances, Work, you know the drill.
Minimum, Target, Optimal
Minimum…the absolute minimum that I want to achieve.
Target … the “good” goal
Optimal…the very best I could imagine in that area
(This is something I learned from Jack Canfield in “Efffortless Success”)
Here’s what I noticed. There is one Optimal goal in particular…that I NAILED months ago. It happens to be the one that I have THE MOST EMOTION around.
When I got my puppy two years ago, we found out (at a very young age) that he has elbow dysplasia. A situation that can be crippling. Not years from now, crippling NOW. He was limping. I made my OPTIMAL goal that he would be healed (something the vets say is impossible). We haven’t done the x-rays yet – coming in December, but my puppy is HEALED, no limping, no pain, no signs.
When I found out about his situation, I was a WILD WOMAN. I was going to prove the authorities wrong. I have done EVERYTHING there is to do to make him better. And it has WORKED.
So, WHY not the other goals?
When I look at my other goals…I see that they looked like “nice to haves”. The ones that I had EMOTION around (even fear, sadness, worry), they got DONE. The ones that are less infused with emotion, not-so-much.
INTERESTING.
I’m actually a little disturbed. Some of the goals I set for myself…I really meant them. How do I conjure up FEELINGS … true FEELINGS for them? Am I so comfortable that I can only be driven by fear and worry for someone else? Am I only about the status quo until something bad is looming?
Yesterday I was REALLY REALLY stuck! I had a piece of business that was CERTAINLY going to move quickly and be a BIG HIT. I was WORRIED that I wasn’t ready for the onslaught of work that all of this new activity was going to generate when my client said “yes”. I was battening down the hatches. I had prepared my client, and I was ready.
Then, I made the presentation, and ….. CRICKETS. No response. Don’t call us, we’ll call you.
UGH. I tossed and turned all night wondering what I was going to do about this. Should I remove the offer as if it had been snapped up by someone else? (It hadn’t). Should I pretend that someone else was interested and they might lose their chance? (They weren’t?) Should I perservere in winning the business???? Aaaaaggghhh. Hours of churning.
Then, I had a flash of inspiration. I got everyone on the phone who had anything to do with this project. The people who had helped me set it up and the people who were in line to execute on the business. THIS WAS HARD FOR ME … because I always feel that people expect me to have the answer, the direction. I didn’t have it this time.
I laid the situation out on the table and even bared the naked truth of some of the dishonest things I had been considering doing (we have a strict policy of honesty and transparency – big no-no!). I asked, “What should we do now?”.
It was GREAT! They knew more about what was happening with the customer than I did (remember how I always work with people smarter than me?). They told me that… as we spoke, people on the client’s side were working to sort out budget, timing, they were EXCITED about the prospect of working with us.
They also forgave me for considering alternate means.
Just goes to show.
Stop tossing and turning. GET ON THE PHONE! Lay out the options. Let your leadership be that you take immediate and decisive action on the things your team needs from you to get the job done and then GET OUT OF THE WAY!
This is the hardest part that I am learning about building a wildfire business. Other people are the fire. Not me. Let it roar!
I woke up feeling like I was finding my way through a jungle.
I immerse myself in a web of information that pulls me and pushes me in the journey of finding “success” – the word my sixth-grade teacher posted on the wall. I didn’t know what it meant – prob’ly still don’t!
I forget that I am wildly successful. I have done it all! I have built the business, earned the career, found the love of my life..but still I am wading through these tendrils, looking for the next Nirvana. (When I get THERE, I will probably complain that I miss doing the laundry).
I see that I am chasing all the things that SOMEONE ELSE said was success. I am alone in a sea of my own expectations. I am disconnected from those who revel in my life and who are achieving their dreams. I AM MISSING THE WHOLE THING!
The tendrils of the jungle tell me what I am supposed to look like, what I am supposed to wear, the income I am supposed to have, the car I am supposed to own.
But, they are not me! They are not my voice. And, they are not YOUR voice.
I stopped and remembered who I am today. I am fatally flawed, but I have achieved things that some people want to achieve. And, I am going to share EVERYTHING I know. For reals. The BMW’s and the Volkswagen’s. The credit cards and the fear about money. The love of new love, and the fear of growing old. I am INFECTIOUS! I am a voice that wants to be heard.
So are you. I wake up like you do. I feel like you do. You are me.
Hypothesis: If you are getting a LOT of “no’s” – you aren’t asking for enough from life!
Doesn’t matter what business you’re in – even if you’re not in business. Ever notice how kids keep asking and asking and asking. Never minding that they’re collecting “no’s”, they’re simply going for the “yes”. The magical “yes”.
I’ve heard that you can’t collect 20 “no’s” in a row for a request that is even remotely possible.
I dare you to try this today. What is something you want? Now, go ask for that thing 20 times from people who could give it to you. You could do 20 asks from the same person! (That could be interesting). Or ask 20 people.
If you take the dare, please share your results! Did you get 20?
Prospecting.
I received a Daily Inspirational Quotes calendar from a dear friend this holiday.