Marriott Credit Card Referral Points

Jordan Barta

WOW! I just signed up for the Marriott Credit Card because I’m going to be traveling a lot for business. Now you can too! CLICK HERE! This might be the best hotel card on the market right now. When you sign up, you must spend$3,000 to get the 75,000 points. I don’t know about you, but I can spend that in probably two months. 75k points can get you easily three nights and maybe even 5, depending on where you stay.

Also, with the Marriott Credit Card, you can get one free night a year. When you join the Marriott Credit Card program, you also receive immediate Elite Silver Status which has an entire list of perks. If you send me an email, I can forward you a code where if you sign up, we both get more perks!

Exclusive Silver Elite Benefits
Earn 10% Bonus Points on Stays
Receive Priority Late Checkout

Access a Dedicated Elite Reservation Line

Silver Elite Members Receive All of the Following Benefits
10% Bonus Points on Stays
Earn 10% more points than Members on every eligible hotel purchase, including on room rate and other incidentals that can be charged to your room, such as dining and spa.

Priority Late Checkout
Sleep in or stay a little longer. (Based on availability.)

Dedicated Elite Reservation Line
Get fast, personal service 24/7 for all your hotel booking needs.

Ultimate Reservation Guarantee
If we can’t honor your reservation for any reason, we guarantee that we’ll pay for you to stay nearby and compensate you for the inconvenience. Learn more about compensation rates.

Free Wi-Fi
Enjoy complimentary in-room Internet access when you book through any of our websites or apps.

Exclusive Member Rates
Just book direct on our websites or our apps.

Mobile Key
Use our apps to check in and out, or use your phone as your room key.

No Blackout Dates
Redeem your points for Free Night Awards at any of our more than 6,700 hotels and resorts worldwide, for any day of the year, even holidays. If you have the points and we have a standard room, it’s yours.

Cash + Points
Book and pay for your room by combining cash and points — stay for as little as $55 and 3,500 points. Learn More

Instant Redemption
During your stay at any of our participating hotels, instantly redeem points for cocktails, meals, spa experiences and more — anything you can charge to your hotel room. Learn More

PointSavers
Getting away is easier and more affordable with PointSavers™. Now you can save points on redemptions at top destinations around the world.

In addition to all of these great perk, you have access to so many hotels. See the list below. To sign up for the Marriott Credit Card, CLICK HERE!

St. Regis EDITION Hotels
36 hotels; 8,100 rooms 4 hotels; 819 rooms
Bulgari Hotels & Resorts W Hotels
3 hotels; 202 rooms 46 hotels; 13,000 rooms
JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts
UPPER UPSCALE 77 hotels; 34,000 rooms
Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts
103 hotels; 27,000 rooms 99 hotels; 18,900 rooms
Renaissance Hotels
160 hotels; 51,593 rooms UPSCALE
Westin Hotels & Resorts AC Hotels by Marriott
209 hotels; 78,300 rooms 83 hotels; 10,462 rooms
Tribute Portfolio Element
6 hotels; 2,900 rooms 20 hotels; 3,000 rooms
Sheraton Hotels & Resorts Gaylord Hotels
446 hotels; 156,400 rooms 5 hotels; 8,098 rooms
Marriott Hotels SpringHill Suites
526 hotels; 187,277 rooms 336 hotels; 39,750 rooms
Autograph Collection Courtyard by Marriott
95 hotels; 22,808 rooms 1,037 hotels; 153,417 rooms
Design Hotels Residence Inn by Marriott
290 hotels; 23,000 rooms 697 hotels; 80,100 rooms
Marriott Executive Apartments
28 hotels; 4,181 rooms SELECT SERVICE
Delta Hotels & Resorts Aloft
36 hotels; 9,400 rooms 104 hotels; 17,400 rooms
Four Points by Sheraton
MIDSCALE 210 hotels; 36,800 rooms
Fairfield Inn & Suites
768 hotels; 70,072 rooms TIMESHARES
Moxy Hotels Marriott Vacation Club
1 hotel; 162 rooms 58 properties; 12,807 rooms
Protea Hotels by Marriott
102 hotels; 9,609 rooms
TownePlace Suites
270 hotels; 27,128 rooms

Sales Tools & Technology with Miles Austin

Jordan Barta

#SALESHACKERCHAT Recap With The Man, The Myth, The Legend Miles Austin!

All tools shared today can be found at http://ftf.sh/SHChat

Connect with Miles on LinkedIn, Twitter and his website; www.FillTheFunnel.com

Q1:  What are the hottest trends for tools that sales professionals can utilize in 2017?

  • Hottest trends this year in sales: Video. Facebook. Bots Where should we begin?

Q2:    What social media platform delivers the best sales results?

  • Several are productive- I am having best results with Facebook
  • LinkedIn performs best in certain industries but lacks behind in capability

Q3:     What are some tools to help sales professionals with prospecting?

  • Nudge- shows contact social activity right in my Gmail client.
  • Gong provides actionable sales coaching for your calls – Very powerful.
  • Sprout Social – brings your customer social activity into one screen. A must.
  • Nimble is effective because it provides contact history along with fresh social info.

Q4:     What are some tools that can improve communication and effectiveness with customers?

  • Video is proven to be THE most effective communication method, sometimes better than F-T-F.
  • Look now to see how many unread emails are in your inbox.
  • Now look to see how many unread Facebook Messages are unread. That blue icon works for you.
  • Bots in many cases are the absolute best way to communicate.
  • Bots provide the best answers to common questions in the fastest way available.

Q5:     Are there any new presentation tools for sales presentations that sales professionals should use now?

  • Haiku Deck is a powerhouse with stunning images, AI that finds images for your content
  • Haiku Deck presentations can be given directly or exported to Power point or Video.
  • Another top presentation tool is Zoom. Fast, effective with all the visual tools
  • Every rep should have their own web meeting software – Zoom, Skype, GoToMeeting.

Q6:     What types of video should sales professionals take advantage of?

  • Live video is extremely effective. Facebook live is free and can be effective.
  • Take advantage of a whole lot of goodness with Belive.tv – turns Facebook live into a powerhouse.
  • Simple, short how-to or show-me videos can be captured easily with tools like Loom, Soapbox or ViewedIt.

Q7:     Do you feel it is important for sales people to have some marketing tools?

  • Every top performer I know is using marketing tools in their daily activities.
  • Every sales person should have their own email service like Mailchimp or AWeber as a personal database.
  • I believe every sales person should have an online home base that THEY own – a website.

I will add additional tools that came up in this chat here later this morning http://ftf.sh/SHChat

Q8:     What gains have been made in the fields of bots and artificial intelligence that sales can leverage?

  • Bots are here now and having a huge impact on progressive sales teams.
  • Simple message bots for improved interaction on social are very effective.
  • check out blue lightning bolt icon in bottom right page on my website: http://fillthefunnel.com
  • I wrote an introductory post about Sales Bots last week: https://www.fillthefunnel.com/bots-for-sales/
  • Bots remove the tedious, repetitive activity from a sales pro, allowing them to do the important work.
  • Bots improve response rates to the common questions and improve customer satisfaction.

Scott Ingram #SalesHackerChat Recap

Jordan Barta

Q1: What does it take to be a top notch performance sales professional?

A1: Hard work. Believe in your product and yourself. Discipline, a strong sales process and the desire to be the BEST.

Additional Videos:
http://top1.fm/clip-takes-1-pharmaceutical-sales-christina-izokovic/
http://top1.fm/clip-eli-wilde-tony-robbins-top-seller/

 

Q2: What mindset does a top sales professional possess?

A2: “It starts with taking ownership of your results,” having a huge desire to be the best. Making quota is not the goal.

Additional Videos:

https://top1.fm/clip-best-mindset-top-pharmaceutical-sales-rep/
https://top1.fm/clip-namelys-colin-specter-motivation-best-industry/
https://top1.fm/clip-kyle-gutzler-sales-quotas-not-thought-destination/

 

Q3: How should sales professionals organize their day?

A3: In a word: Thoughtfully. The best are extremely mindful of their time and are zealots about protecting selling time.

 

Additional Videos:
https://top1.fm/clip-top-medical-device-sales-rep-robbie-siegel-makes-family-priority-still-producing-best-sales-result-medline/

 

Q4: How do top sales professionals learn and develop themselves?

A4: Think well beyond sales. Learn business, negotiation, even improv. Then seek out and learn from those at the top.

Additional Videos:
https://top1.fm/clip-top-bdr-reid-oliver-learning-sponge-taking-action-knowledge/
https://top1.fm/clip-kyle-gutzler-reach-top-sales-performers/
https://top1.fm/clip-eli-wilde-tony-robbins-top-seller-developing-beyond-traditional-sales-training/

https://top1.fm/clip-eli-wilde-tony-robbins-top-seller-investing-self-development-coaching-people-pay-pay-attention/

 

Q5: What tools and technologies are most common among top sales professionals

A5: The best SDRs consistently use @SalesLoft and @ViewedIt. Beyond that it’s the basics: Calendar and task management.

 

https://top1.fm/clip-bdr-reid-oliver-using-salesloft-understand-key-ratios-metrics-know-whats-working/

 

Q6: Is moving from sales rep to sales manager/leader the best career path? Why or why not?

A6: Obviously it depends. 2 guests went from sales leadership to top seller. One 8X in a row, the other 1 of 150 in 2 yrs.

 

Additional Videos:
https://top1.fm/clip-debe-rapson-sales-manager-better-sales-rep/

 

Q7: What should sales professionals practice when they first begin their career?

A7: Learn how to be great at discovery. @drapson is the master of this. 2 great long clips here: http://j.mp/2rwMvgq

Additional Videos:

https://top1.fm/clip-kyle-gutzler-build-self-confidence-sales-person-repetition/

 

Q8: What Is The Best Sales Methodology In Increase Efficiency & Effectiveness?

A8: This is the hardest question. Most use a combination of strategies. Challenger and Sandler are the most common mentions

A8: “If your process includes genuinely doing what’s in the best interest of your customer. You’re not going to fail.”

 

Additional Videos:

https://top1.fm/clip-kyle-gutzler-controlling-sales-process-people-want-told/

 

Q9: What top 5 take-aways have you received from hosting the Sales Success Stories Podcast?

A9-1: There’s no better source for learning how to be great in sales than those who are already there NOW. #Top1 #SalesHackerChat

https://top1.fm/clip-kyle-gutzler-surround-top-performers/

A9-2: It’s not about being better than everybody else. It’s about being better than yourself. This is a consistent theme. #SalesHackerChat

https://top1.fm/clip-josh-mueller-cutco-secret-reaching-top/

A9-3: You MUST believe in your company and your solution or you won’t ever achieve what you’re capable of achieving. #SalesHackerChat

https://top1.fm/clip-moving-pharmaceutical-sales-believe-youre-selling/

A9-4: Leverage your own strengths and find your own way. There is no formula other than to be the best version of yourself #SalesHackerChat

A9-5: Find great mentors, grow and then give back. Pay it forward to the rest of the sales community. #SalesHackerChat Thank you all!

https://top1.fm/clip-josh-mueller-cutco-mentors-giving-back/

 

All of the clips Scott used today are available here: http://top1.fm/clips #SalesHackerChat

Sales Hacker Recap With Jeff Bajorek

Jordan Barta

Q1: How has social selling changed sales?

Can we please stop saying that? It hasn’t. It has enabled us to connect with so many more people, but that’s about changing scale, not changing sales.

Q2: How Do Sales Professionals Begin to Grow Their Personal Brand?

You mean after you realize you need to? Have an opinion. Make it known. Have something to say. Write it down and press ‘publish’. Start by paying attention. Notice things. Then think. Then write. The writing part is crucial. The writing turns into videos, podcasts, ebooks, etc. Maybe that’s a #saleshackerchat for another time?

Q3: What ways are sales professionals selling incorrectly today?

Sales pros are thinking quantity over quality and efficiency over effectiveness. I have no shame https://www.jeffbajorek.com/2017/03/your-automation-is-missing-the-point/ . The most important sales tool you have is your brain, and you’re trying to remove it from the process. Everything is a template, a script, an algorithm. Nobody’s having any fun. If you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong #saleshackerchat

Q4: What steps can sales professionals take to change their poor selling habits?

Rethink the way you sell! Understand what you’re trying to accomplish and why. If you were the customer, would that technique/tactic make you act?  If you were the customer, would those words influence you? It’s not about what you’re selling, why would anybody buy it?

Q5: What is The Top Sales Activity that will Ensure A Consistent Sales Pipleline?

prospecting, duh! Don’t forget about your current customers. They’re your best advocates. Create an attraction. It’s more than just inbound, be someone that people want to associate with. Be a resource, and constantly be thinking in the best interests of your customers. This will help you hone your messaging too, it’s not just about attracting new leads

Q6: How can sales professionals become more productive?

Understand what you’re trying to accomplish and why. Have very clear priorities and set boundaries

priorities -> focus -> discipline -> effectiveness -> success -> freedom

 

Connect with Jeff on Twitter @JeffBajorek

Sales Hacker Chat Recap With Rob Jeppsen

Jordan Barta

Q1: What Can Sales Management Do To Be More Effective?

Be a leader instead of a manager. Correct before you correct and focus on process over outcomes. We need to find ways to help each rep level up…don’t manage skill gaps, find the next level with each rep for the win. Skill gap focus is too negative. Nobody wants to hear what they suck at. Managers push the “more” button. Leaders push the “HOW” button. Most important leadership skill is to share how. Outcomes are driven by sales stages. Stages driven by activities. Activities driven by skills. Most leaders don’t know the skill to success structure or how to coach to it. Those that do…CRUSH.

Q2: What Are Some Of The Biggest Coaching Mistakes? And How Can We Prevent Them?

The How button comes from understanding the process. Can you “Model Awesomeness?” When a leader understands skill to success model, HOW process becomes simpler. Every rep wants to win…just show them how. #1 coaching mistake is taking over a deal and emasculating the rep. This is a crutch…not a coach. Doesn’t scale. #2 Mistake, no consistency. If you don’t have consistency or cadence, you don’t have coaching. Don’t start/stop! #3 mistake is confusing a pipeline review for a coaching conversation. Coaching needs to develop skills/activities. #4 Mistake: Dictating terms, not collaborating. Don’t put yourself on a pedestal. People on pedestals are easy targets. Mistake #5: Focusing on weaknesses of the past rather than the promise of the future. Be in the inspiration business.

Q3: What Type of Training Creates The Best Results?

Q3 is hard. Everyone learns in different ways. I like the SHOW/SHARE/SEE approach. Training should be about modeling what awesome looks like. Biggest training gap for sales is the difficulty in practicing. So I prefer action-oriented, hands on training vs theoretical stuff. Sales is an action, full contact sport.

Q4: What Quality Do Most Sales Professionals Lack That Prevents Success?

Biggest obstacle I’ve seen is the focus on outcomes. Too many managers focus on working harder instead of smarter. Process beats outcomes every time. Can’t force someone to buy. Process is predictive. Outcomes is looking backwards. If process is good, success is inevitable. If process is weak, success is unsustainable. Choose process and get #predictive!

Q5: What Performance-Based Metrics Generate The Best Results For Sales Teams?

Process tells you when to be patient and when to change things up. Most predictive metric are those related to sales velocity. Speed is the #1 predictor. Measure speed in times from start to close, as well as by stage. It will tell you almost immediately what skills to build. 2nd most important are competencies around opportunity starts. Start enough and handle efficiently and things are good. Track PUSHES. If a deal pushes once, just change the close date. One the 2nd push, circle the wagons. I’ve found pushes are the best indicator of how well a deal is behaving. Bring in resources early if a deal stalls. Best coaches focus on opportunity origination and sales velocity. Get those right and the job gets a lot easier.

Q6: How Has Data Changed The Future Of Sales and Sales Coaching?

Data allows us to be predictive. Don’t just gather mountains of data. Answer the “So What” questions. If data doesn’t help you predict, then it is INTERESTING BUT WORTHLESS. We need to use data to help our reps identify where their next level opportunities are in personal development. This is where the big opportunities are. Not using data to manage opportunities, but to manage personal growth. We use data to help determine the future value of a rep…Not just the close date of a deal. Use data to create “What If” scenarios around activity mgt and skill development.

Q7: What Advice Would You Give Sales People Just Starting Their Sales Career?

Advice to new reps…find strong mentors early in your career. Learn your industry well…we need to educate buyers. Don’t focus on the product…products have no value. They only derive value.
earn to speak the language of value. Final piece of advice: If process is strong, success is inevitable. If process is weak, success is unsustainable. Process is about experiences you create, not words that you say. Sales pitches are forgotten quickly but experiences make you legendary…choose to be legendary…

Q8: What Is The Greatest Issue Facing the Sales Profession Today?

Greatest Issue for sales profession is staying relevant as customer changes quickly. Focus on how they buy & stay relevant. Sales orgs need to understand the industry better than anyone else. We HAVE to be engineers of value. Embrace Change! And things are moving so fast that many reps/orgs don’t stay current or care about it until they get behind. Press Pause! Don’t be so focused on outcomes that you don’t stay current in the changing environment until you’re playing from behind.

Q9: How Should Sales Professionals Utilize Their Leaders Best?

If your leader doesn’t bring coaching to you, reach out and ask for it. Leaders should help reproduce skills in each rep. Take advantage of this. Own your personal development plan.

 

Follow Rob on Twitter @RobJeppsen

Why I Eat The Same Breakfast Everyday And You Should Too

Jordan Barta

This relates to routine, efficiency and cost effectiveness… all things that directly relate to how any professional should utilize their day! I eat two pieces of bacon and two hard boiled eggs at 9 a.m. +/- 10 minutes. I wake up anywhere from 5:15am to 6am to begin my day and I have a cup of coffee. By eating the same thing at the same time everyday, I know EXACTLY when I’ll be hungry for lunch and it’s one less decision I have to make in the morning. My stomach doesn’t growl, I don’t get cravings for snacks and it costs me roughly $1.08 per breakfast.

Preparation: In The Office & In The Kitchen

Just like how some professionals prepare for their day in advance; ie: who they call and what meetings they have, I prepare the weeks breakfast on Sunday. I can hard boil the eggs and bake the bacon at the same time. This might seem like over killer or insane, but I save so much time every morning not having to make a decision about breakfast. One less decision to make allows me to focus on the other choices the day will present. Why do you think Zuckerberg and Jobs wore the same thing everyday…?

Also, from a cost saving strategy, I save a lot of money! I don’t get cravings, I don’t go to Starbucks and I don’t get any type of food crash. By preparing my breakfast prior to week, I can focus on the job at hand. Eating on the go is also very easy…. AND who doesn’t love bacon?

Routine: Every week

We all develop some type of routines in our lives because it’s a sense of security. I like finding a routine and then making it better and more efficient. While I prospect for new business, I have a routine that I go through every day. I will add or remove steps to increase efficiency. Same goes for how you prepare yourself for the week. I am conscious about my health and maximizing how much effort I put forth during the day. In order the maximize out put, I need to maximize input.

I don’t stop working to eat breakfast and I rarely stop working to take lunch. I eat right through it… why? because why waste an hour during the day when you can be focusing on your goals & dreams? Nobody ever got anywhere by taking a long lunch or spending time in the cafeteria hanging out. It might seem excessive but it works for me and I love it.

Money…

We all want to retire and we all want to go on nice vacations… all the time. By minimizing the amount of money I spend on food, but maximizing the nutritional value, it’s a win/win. It’s the athlete in me thinking about consuming food based on nutritional value. I know exactly when I’ll be hungry after my 3 minute and $1.08 breakfast. Because I’m in sales, there are a lot of moving parts. Prospecting, clients, management meetings.. etc. If I have to worry about all of those things and then I need to figure out when I can eat, I might go mad.

The beautiful part of having a simple routine like this is that it allows me to focus on other things. It also helps keep my other routines moving smoothly. It might seem silly to you, which is fine, but I can guarantee that this small routine has done wonders for me and I know it can do wonders for you.

If you want, lets talk about how a small routine can help you. I can even share with you my cooking routine! I also cook my lunch while I cook my bacon and eggs. A few years back, I ate oatmeal and a scoop of protein… it also worked very well for nutritional value.

Side note: I consume a keto diet; high fat, low carb. My test results for my cholesterol and blood are near perfect.

Start small! Let me know your thoughts 🙂

The Ever Evolving Mind Set

Jordan Barta

First off, Thank you! Whomever you are, wherever you’re at, whenever in time you’re reading this… Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, Thank you. I started this journey in January of 2016 after I read Jim Keenan’s book, “Not Taught“. I remember it like it was yesterday because I had an Ah-Ha Moment; hence the name of my site. My initial mission was to start off by reading and writing about sales books. I was reading books, taking out the sections I thought were worthy of writing about and giving my opinion and sharing some personal insights on. I didn’t have much vision other than that… As I begun to grow as a writer, I began to develop my ‘voice’. I was becoming much more self aware of myself, my surrounds, my thought processes, my opinion, my interaction with other people and really everything.

Self reflecting on it now… I’m blown away at how much I’ve grown. The hockey stick effect is in full force and I’m loving it. The growth I’ve accomplished in the past 12 months is adding fuel to my fire to achieve more. I’m not telling you this to gloat… I’m telling you this because you’re very capable of achieving everything you want in life.

“The only person putting limitation on you… is you!”

That thing in between your ears is the only thing stopping you from going out and getting what you want. We’ve all got excuses and we all want to do things tomorrow… but why? Worried about failure? Worried that you look stupid? Who cares?! Honestly. The digital age that we live in today is evolving so quickly, yesterday’s news feels like last years news. You don’t think you’re good enough? You’re not happy? Changing something then!

There’s a funny meme that’s going around; it’s a picture of a tree with the slogan from Jim Rohn.

“If you don’t like how things are, change it! You’re not a tree.”

Seriously though! Stop reading and ask yourself what’s stopping you from doing/achieving what you want? I can also guarantee you that it’s just some made up thing in your head.

Another really important Ah-Ha Moment I’ve learned over the past year; It’s okay to be patience and take your time with certain things in life. You don’t always need to be flying through tasks/goals in hopes of having that immediate win right away. It’s perfectly okay to play the long game. Have the small goals in place so they ultimately lead to the long one… Quitting one job to go to another because you think that’s going to solve your answers isn’t always the answers. I’ve had many conversations with friends/colleagues over the past year about this. Once the honeymoon stage wears off and you see the company for how it is… are you going to be as happy?

“Opinions are like armpits; everybody has them and they usually stink.”

(I took the high road on this one because I really wanted to use the other slogan for this expression.) This last year of political debate has been a nightmare. People strongly disliking one another because they think they’re right and their neighbor is wrong… Riddle me this; Has any opposing opinion of yours swayed you to think in the other direction? Did a Facebook rant encourage you to change your opinion or feelings? I doubt it… We’ve all got opinions and it’s your choice to voice it or not. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t voice an opinion, but ignoring the ‘noise’ has saved me a lot of energy. I’m sure it can do the same for you. (Article about people being less satisfied with using Facebook because of politics. – March 2nd,2017)

Over the past 18 months, I’ve slowly removed the political talk shows, websites and media from my life. I will admit that I still go to Yahoo and Google News once a day to read the head lines but I never click on the links. There is NEVER anything positive in the news… so why bother reading/listening to it? YA, maybe that makes me ignorant to the worldly news or whatever, but then again… how often down someone ask you about the news? lol… seriously though. When I was listening to 4 hours of talk radio a day… did I gain anything?! Absolutely not. I knew who was running for president and that was it. The rest of it was opinion based.

If you read about negativity, you begin to think about negativity and then you begin to act negatively. Anthony Iannarino makes a great point in his posts/Youtube videos about going on a ‘negativity fast’. Cut all of that crap out of your life! Now, I’ve got 8 podcasts I listen to on my commute to work. Sales, productivity, encouragement, self growth, and one comedian on those long days when I need a laugh.

So, if you’ve gotten this far into the blog post I’m sure you’re beginning to understand the title; the ever evolving mind set. I’m going to open this blog up to more than just sales. Why?! Because there are so many fascinating things out there that can be beneficial to you, the reader. Really… after reading through 400 pages of Tim Ferris’s book, “Tools of Titans”, I’ve decided there are so many other topics I want to touch on that can increase life’s happiness. Entrepreneurship, sales, marketing, people, Mindset, Hacks, self-awareness, money management, social media, psychology and whatever else comes to mind. Ultimately, I want to help you become self aware.

If you’ve hung along this far, thank you. I look forward to connecting with you. Please, and I mean this wholeheartedly, let me know how I can help you. You never know who I’m connected with or who I know that would be willing to help. Life is pretty amazing!

Connect with me on LinkedIn

Let’s connect on Twitter: @Barta

Sales Hacker Chat Recap With Jill Konrath

Jordan Barta

Q1: What Do you Feel Is the Greatest Issue Facing Sales Professionals Today?

Overwhelm. Every seller I talk to feels crazy-busy, like they’re working day and night. It’s been a growing trend. Most recently, research by @CEB_Sales confirmed that seller overwhelm is the #1 issue too. It’s affecting performance too. Despite working more hours, sellers are getting less done & feeling more stressed. A major root cause is digital distractions. Getting sucked into email, LinkedIn, Twitter & more. All the time. Digital distractions cause everything to take longer and eat up 1-2 extra hours/day. To see if you have a problem, download a preview of More Sales, Less Time & take the quiz. http://bit.ly/MSLT-preview

Q2: How Can Sales Professionals Better Manage Online Distractions?

Start by getting a baseline. As I talk about in More Sales, Less Time, a good app for that is RescueTime. With RescueTime you discover your biggest time sucks. It’s eye-opening, and embarrassing to find out how you work. A sales pro can leverage apps like Freedom to prevent them from going online for periods of time. It’s essential to turn off all notifications too. They are constant temptations to take you off task. Another suggestion is to close down email when you’re done checking it. It’s hard for sellers to do, but essential.

Q3: What can sales professionals do to drive More Sales in Less Time?

Once a sales pro has regained control of their distractions, the next thing to do is focus on what matters most. Every day/week, it’s crucial to ask: What will make the biggest difference … and make everything else easier if I do it?” For most sellers, the key is to increase customer-facing activities and prep time to ensure you do a good job. Plan your day and week before you begin. Block off time segments for essential activities. Take breaks too. At least once an hour, get up and move. It’ll re-energize you and make you more strategic/creative.

Q4: How can sales professionals leverage systems thinking to lighten their workload?

First thing is to identify possible “systems” in what they do–like prospecting, proposals or presentations. Let’s look at prospecting: it’s a coordinated set up “touches” that roll out over time – a system. Rather than treating each touch as a unique event, smart sellers develop the whole system at the onset. Then, they search for ways to improve the system, identifying what’s working and what needs tweaking.

Q5: What can sales professionals do to motivate themselves to do tough tasks?

Tough tasks? Like prospecting, dealing with a challenging customer issue? Personally I love the Pomodoro technique It’s like playing beat the clock. Set a timer for 25 minutes, then get to work and get it done. After 25 minutes, take a 5-minute break where you get up and leave your desk. Move. Then repeat this cycle two more times before taking a 15-minute break. You’ll be amazed at how much you can get done this way. Guaranteed to double your productivity.

Q6: Where Do Most Deals Go South(west) And How Can Sales Professionals Prevent Them?

Most deals go south before they ever get going. Issue #1 is lousy prospecting with a focus on products/services. When you create messaging that’s addresses key issues or offers fresh insights/information, you pique curiosity. Plus, if you personalize it … or connect with people via social media ahead of time, success rates skyrocket. Issue #2 is lousy initial meetings. If buyers feel like you’re “pitching”, then immediately pull back. According to @forrester, only 15% of execs said their meetings with sales people met expectations. If you blow your first conversation, you don’t get a second one.

Q7: How Can Sales Professionals Set Themselves Apart From The Competition?

Lots of ways. Be highly knowledgeable about the buyer before you connect. Focus on helping them achieve their business objectives, not selling. Constantly bring buyers new ideas, insights and information that they’ll find valuable. In short, consider that YOU are the primary differentiator, not your product/service. Invest in becoming an invaluable resource who your buyers want to work with – or can’t live without.

 

Q8: How can Trigger Events lead to more sales in less time?

First off, a trigger event is an external or internal happening that changes a companies priorities. External trigger examples: changes in political climate, competitive moves, new technology, new legislation. Internal trigger examples: new leadership, change in strategic direction, relocation’s, stagnant 1st quarter earnings These triggers loosen the grip of the status quo. Buyers open to new options to respond to changing conditions. Sellers who track/follow-up on triggers are much more successful than others. Buying processes are significantly faster. Fewer competition are involved; sometimes none. Discounting is reduced. And, less time is spent on pursuing less qualified leads. Here’s a great e-book on leveraging trigger events—Hidden Gems: http://bit.ly/2lCQ5CV

Q9: At What Point Should An Opportunity Be Unqualified?

Any time an opportunity goes beyond the “typical” sales cycle, it’s a major red flag. When buyers are unresponsive, stalling or unwilling to let you engage with others, it’s a red flag too. Could be related to buyers not seeing value, talking to wrong people, other priorities or lack of trigger events. And sales pros should look for their own complicity in this. They could be creating issue. Example: Why don’t buyers see value? Why aren’t they talking to right people? Sales pros should regularly unclog their pipeline, freeing time and mental energy to go after real opportunities.

Q10: Where Do You See The Most Room For Improvement With Sales Professionals?

On a daily basis, focusing on what they can do to increase their success rate in every aspect of their job. That requires thinking, prepping, strategizing, and ultimately experimenting with new ways. It also requires a willingness to be on the edge of your comfort zone all the time – which is a challenge. On a more macro level, top sellers focus on becoming an invaluable resource for their customers. Becoming an invaluable resource requires a significant time investment, but the payback is huge.

Sales Hacker Chat Recap With Dale Zwizinski

Jordan Barta

Q1: How Do You Define CX?

Great question! I define CX as every interaction that a #customer has with an organization.  This includes marketing sales & service.  One “bad” interaction can destroy all other “good”.

Every person and organization need to understand that CX is an infinite journey, there is no #destination.  It is important to listen to the market all the time.

Q2: Why Should Sales Professionals Care About Customer Experience?

I believe that CX is the ONLY true differentiation for an organization – in the short term you may have a great product or service however in the long run CX will be drive success

Sales today is a game of re-establishing trust, it’s been broken for a long time.  In the SaaS world we are #selling smaller deals to establish trust and have the “right” to be considered for the larger deal.

Q3: When Should The Sales Professional Follow Up With The Client?

A sales professional should be in constant #communication with your clients.  This is not always possible and you need to respect your clients wishes for when an HOW to communicate.

The latest trend that I have been witnessing in the last year or so it texting with prospects and customers.  If you are communicating via text you are in a winning position.

I have a #motto in my sales process – “Once a customer, always a customer” I still have interactions with customers from 5 years ago!

Q4: How Can Sales Professionals Prevent A Gap After A Sale In The Hand off To Implementation?

This is a HUGE #opportunity that is missed every day in the #customer Journey!  This is an organizational shift that needs to be made because it is larger than an individual…

However, I would say that the sales person should do the following: 1) include the implementation team as soon as you can in the sales process – 2) create a “transition” document that is agreed by all.

There is a second gap “Opportunity” that occurs between implementation and support.  I have written a hypothesis here:

Q5: How Do You Measure A Successful Transition From One Team To Another?

Is the customer deriving value, not churning and buying more from you! 1) include the implementation team as soon as you can in the sales process. 2) create a “transition” document that is agreed by all parties.

Q6: What Are Some Common Mistakes Sales Professionals Make With Existing Accounts?

The most important point here is that the sales professional needs to own the lifetime relationship with the customer.  Your job is not done after the contract is signed!

 

Q7: How Should Sales Professionals Handle Current Client Issues?

Current customer issues need to be understood and handled based on the situation, do not jump to conclusions, try to gather as much information as possible and work to resolve as soon as possible.  To further this answer, there is an organizational mindset that need to shift to ensure the right actions are being taken because issues will come up all the time.

Q8: When Should Sales Professionals Reach Out To A Lost Account?

Right away!! If you’re doing your job as a CX advocate then you would have known way before & tried to fix the challenges. This is#sales 101 – you have to establish a NO somewhere early in the cycle. It is human nature to push to boundaries.

 

Connect with Dale on Twitter @dzwizinski

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalezwizinski/

 

#SalesHackerChat Recap With Chris Spurvey

Jordan Barta

Hi folks! I wear a number of hats. I live in Newfoundland, Canada.

Married to Jennifer (together since 13 years old). I married up. ?

I tell her daily if she ever decided to leave me I would just go with her.

We have two children (Parker and Anna Lili)

And two Golden Retrievers

I believe we all have a unique ability to sell and I work with entrepreneurs and sales professionals to nail it.

I am also a Vice President, Business Development for KPMG in Canada. #SalesHackerChat

 

 

Q1:     What Does A Sales Magnet Mean To You?

I make a very clear distinction between a sales magnet and a sales maggot.

A sales magnet is sales professional who is very clear inside about who they are and their value to the market

They are very clear around the problems they solve and are on fire sharing themselves with the world.

A sales maggot is the exact opposite of this with the exception they start on fire.

But, typically burn out quickly and leave a path of destruction in their wake.

A sales magnet’s message speaks to the why (emotions) of the buyer and works outward to the what (features and benefits)

This is done naturally because they are centered.

Energy is flowing through them naturally and the result is buyers knowing, liking and trusting them.

Thus, they become a magnet.

We see the true Sales Magnets in the market. We see them through their results.

Results do not lie.

 

Q2: How Can Sales Professionals Become Sales Magnets?

It is a process. I have broken it down into focal areas: Why, How and What.

The Why is about tapping into the Emotions, Pains and Goals of you the seller and the buyers

The How is about tapping into your own level of commitment and obtaining the commitment of the buyer.

The What is about identifying opportunities and expressing your credibility and contribution.

I believe growing a personal brand is the foundation for becoming a sales magnet.

 

Q3:     How Do People Get Started In Growing Their Personal Brand?

The idea behind growing a personal brand plays very nicely into the concept of social selling.

Personal branding is a simple concept. It is you putting your thoughts, ideas and stories on display for the world to see.

Personal branding is sharing the process. IMO it is not you the ‘expert’.

If you share the process there is nothing holding you back from starting today.

I started my personal branding journey with idea of writing a book. It’s Time to Sell. It is my story of becoming confident in sales.

I realized I had no platform to promote the book to so I began to share my ideas through my blog, podcast, articles.

This has also created a thriving speaking career

Over a two year period this has lead to opportunities coming my way… i.e.. I am a sales magnet.

So, to answer the question of how do get started? The answer is just start sharing you and what you believe.

Tools: Books, Articles, Podcast, Webinars, Blog, Social Media, Speaking…. the list is endless.

 

Q4:     What Attitudes/Traits Make Sales Professionals Successful? Why Are They Important?

Attitude is the composite of our thoughts, feelings and actions.

It is the #1 factor in determining our results as sales professionals.

Attitude is reflected back to us in how people react to us.

Our worlds are governed by a great law “The Law of Cause and Effect”.

The law dictates that our results (effects) correlate with the level of contribution/service (cause) we put out.

Personally, I buy into two personal attitudes that set up a domino effect (sales magnet): Expectancy and Gratitude.

I expect to reach my goals. I expect to bring a great level of service to my customers and community.

I am grateful for everything in my life. I am grateful for people giving me their most precious asset: their time.

I am even grateful for what I want in my life but do not have yet!

I think you will agree that if we live and breath these attitudes we will set up a chain reaction (law of cause and effect)

The key is to stick with it and not to let other peoples attitudes change ours.

I do find when people first get into sales they have an image on the screen of their minds about what they think sales is.

The image though is not who they are. Thus, they fail.

I would like to propose 8 attitudes of sales that people embody:

1) Sales is solving problems

2) Sales is knowing prospective clients inside and out

3) Sales is listening more than speaking

4) We do not need everyone to be our customer

5) Sales delivers variety

6) Sales develops a diverse skill set

7) Sales leads to high emotional intelligence

8) Sales is the ticket to success

 

Q5:     What Is a Paradigm And How Is It Important In Sales?

A paradigm is a collection of habits and ideas we hold about ourselves.

They key distinction is that our paradigms are actually other peoples habits and ideas – all the inputs from our childhood.

These habits and ideas sit in our limbic brains and define who we are.

Our paradigms hit us in the face every day as we try and grow our sales and businesses.

The key to success is being able to break through our paradigms.

 

Q6:     How Do You Recommend Sales Professionals Break Out Of A Sales Slump?

A sales slump is at its core a result of paradigms – ways of doing things that are simply not working.

I have worked with many people to bust out of a sales slump.

Here is my prescription: ?

1) Relive past successes on the screen of the mind. I recommend keep an inventory of wins

and times when you overcame the odds and succeeded.

Play the mental movies on the screen of your mind as you start your day.

2) Relax. Take time out in between client interactions to relax and defuse any negative self-talk.

Clients feel your tenseness (their intuition tells them something is wrong).

3) Do something certain to reinforce a positive self-image. Start your day by setting up high probability situations.

4) Use your mental faculty of reason. There are many factors at play in a buying decision.

You cannot control all of them.

Find a way to use information to improve your future interactions with prospective clients rather than beating yourself up

5) Take action. Reflect but make a plan and get to work. Action trumps navel gazing.

 

Q7:    Is Cold Calling Necessary Today? And Why?

Cold calling was where I cut my teeth and forced myself out of my comfort zone

I believe it is a tool in the outbound tool box

However, it is no doubt an interruptive form of lead generation and goes against the way people consume information today

Brands that rely on cold calling stand out like a sore thumb in my opinion.

My belief is if a company and its sales team make it 100% their mission to be themselves and their products truly serve the market

It eliminates the need to cold call with the intention of ‘closing’ a sale

Do not get me wrong… I do believe there is a role for cold calling (data collection).

But, companies that rely on it are going against the flow and will burn out IMO.

 

Q8:     What Advice Would You Give A New Sales Professional?

Work on yourself. Get a very clear picture of who you are. Identify what makes you tick.

Find a mentor/coach.

A good one will help you identify what makes you tick, will provide new ideas and hold you accountable.

Start immediately to share who you are: your stories, thoughts and ideas. This is your personal brand #SalesHackerChat

 

This was such an incredible opportunity to have Chris on the Twitter Chat! As you can see, there is so much information. Please follow him on Twitter: @chrisspurvey

What’s The Secret To Being A Successful Salesperson?

Jordan Barta

“It’s you. Your ability to manage yourself, to exert self-discipline, spells the difference between success and failure and in sales. Let me rephrase that: self-discipline is the difference between success and failure. Yes, there are a lot of other components of the salesperson’s mind-set. skill set. and took kit, but without strong self-discipline, those don’t matter one whit.”[note]Page 15[/note]

Anthony Iannarino does an incredible job painting a visual of what it takes to be a successful sales person. “Me Management” is a term that he coined and I think it is very worthy of an Ah-Ha Moment! You’re responsible for you own success; you’re in charge of your day to day actions; and you must have the self-discipline to do the things you don’t want to do because you know you’re going to achieve that success. It’s SO easy to get off track and do something else… we live in the digital age.

We all know what we need to do… but do we actually commit to it and follow through with it?! That’s a question you have to ask yourself. In the sales world, prospecting is one of those things that sales professionals have to continuously do! If they don’t, their pipeline is going to dry up. Self-discipline is EXTREMELY important in every aspect of life… not just sales.

“In short, willpower, fortitude, and accountability lead to self-discipline. And self-discipline gives you the wherewithal to be honest, act courageously and with integrity, and delay gratification for better returns later.”[note]Page 20/21[/note]

Willpower is the ability to follow through with something – Fortitude is taking something painful head on… often times calling an upset client – And Accountability is taking responsibility for your actions or the results of your actions. Willpower helps you develop mental strength and toughness. It helps you fight through fatigue or gets you past the “I don’t want to do that right” moment. If you’re on a diet and you tell yourself that you’re going to stop drinking soda… Have the willpower to not drink the soda. If you get side tracked because your email is always open… Commit to only checking your emails at certain times… Have the willpower to not look at emails until that time!

Fortitude is always tough because it’s often the most painful. Calling the upset client to let them you know messed up… Telling your boss something bad happened… We often make the negative outcome out larger than it actually is. I try and look at it this way… The honesty you’re about the share with the person/team you’re talking to will respect you greater for facing the issue head on. Look at the silver lining rather than focusing on how you let them down. Own up to it… learn from it… and move on!

Accountability is simple! If you say you’re going to do something, do it! Take responsibility for your actions and the results of your actions.

Optimism is one of my favorite words! Not enough people have it! You’ve got to have optimism as a sale professional!

“Optimism allows you to perform powerfully and consistently in a coordinated manner over the long run. Optimism ensures that you’ll stay focused on your task, despite the lows that inevitably follow some of the highs.”[note]Page 29[/note]

#BAM! Day in and day out, you’ve got to be optimistic! There’s absolutely no room in the sales world for pessimistic sales pros. Would you want to buy something from someone that was pessimistic? Heck no! For every phone call you make, email you write, door you knock on and ever thank you card you send; you should feel 100% confident that the prospect/client is going to return your call.

I’ve been optimistic my entire life and it feels good to say that. Everyday is a new day and I’m going to continue doing what I’m doing because I know it’s working. Roughly 3 months ago I hit a brick wall… my optimism was starting to crack a little because I had so many opportunities on the fence and I had just lost a large one I thought I had… I kept doing the right things but nothing would budge… Then, out of the blue, everything came together! It was a nice reminder 🙂

If I had to look back at why I became a little pessimistic; I could bet it was because of the news I was following. I was tuned into the news for two hours a day and stopped listening to my podcasts. Surround yourself with negativity and guess where your brain goes! I challenge you;

“For the next thirty days, do not watch, listen to, or read the news. Avoid negative and sensationalized media. Ignore all gossip about misbehaving reality stars and their ilk; there is nothing positive there. Avoid all negative people whenever possible. Refuse to say anything negative or engage in conversations with a negative slant. Think only positive thoughts. If a negative thought enters your mind, replace it with a positive on immediately.”[note] Page 38/39[/note]

I’m doing it… and I dare you to do the same thing. Take accountability for your own thought process and use your willpower to only have positive thoughts. There’s no point to go through life with negative thoughts anyways. There’s enough negative crap taking place in the world as is… Be positive, put a smile on your face and encourage optimism.

Build yourself up, build your peers up and be happy! 🙂

 

There’s more from me to come:

The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need by Anthony Iannarino – @iannarino

You’ve got to follow Anthony’s YouTube Channel Everyday!

My Prospect Slapped Me In The Face

Jordan Barta

perfect-closeNot literally… but based on the Ah-Ha Moments I’m about to share with you, it’ll make more sense. I’ve been in a few deals this year that are larger than your typical HCM technology deals. One opportunity in particular kept me up at night. I’ve gone through the sales process (twice), showed them the product (three times), provided a cost matrix and even discounted heavily. Then, out of nowhere, the prospect tells me they won’t be making a change for at least 12 months. My jaw hit the floor… I did everything humanly possible to win their business and it only bit me in the butt.

I did what every salesperson has done in their life… I was executing ‘continuations’ through out my sales cycle and not ‘advances’.

“An advance is a significant action that requires energy by the client — either during the call or right after it — that moves the sale toward a decision.

A continuation is a situation where the sale will continue yet no specification has been agreed upon by the customer to move forward.”[note]Page 58[/note]

Ultimately, the fault comes back to me, the salesperson for not having the prospect put enough skin in the game. I thought, based on their reaction and continuing the process, I was making great progress. Boy was I wrong… and it hurt! I let my cycle get in the way of asking the buyer, throughout the process, how their buying cycle was coming along…

“We must always remember that despite our sales cycle, the buyer has their own buying cycle. Ignoring their buying cycle and focusing only on the steps of your sales cycle may cause you to invest your time unwisely.”[note]Page 74[/note]

You can say that again! I got a little excited about being part of a big deal where the outcome was in my favor… at least I thought so. No other competitor was being brought to the table. It was just me against the incumbent and it was mine to lose. Looking back, once upper management switched the CFO, half way through the process, I should have stopped the process instead of throwing myself further into the opportunity. I had already devoted so much time with the company, what’s another few hours to do everything all over again?

Being overly optimistic has a way of kicking myself every once in a while. Thinking I could catch the new CFO up to speed and get them in my good graces was one of those times.

“The trap I repeatedly see professionals fall into is wasting huge amounts of time on prospective business that will never close because they have misjudged curiosity and interest (and sometimes simple politeness) as indicators of good sales opportunities.”[note]Page 92[/note]

Once I read this part, I texted James… Ya, we text 😛 He gave me some reassurances, which made me feel better. But man, time is such a valuable asset. If you’re reading this right now, I’m sure you’ve felt the same pain at some point in your career. It sucks. I have the absolute best intentions when I meet with prospects and clients. Everything I do is for the greater good of our partnership. I’ve done everything I can to portray this in my partnerships and when they give up on me/my company, it hurts.

Adding value has been a HUGE talking point through out my first year of writing, talking and teaching.

“It is critical that we add value on every single sales encounter. This is a relatively new development in selling. Twenty years ago it was not as importation that sales people deliver anything beyond information about their products and services. Because of the internet all of that has changed. It is now vital that we make the sales experience itself valuable for clients.”[note]Page 105[/note]

If you haven’t figured that out by now, you’re definitely behind the ball. There are many consumer review sites, most people are on LinkedIn or social media and word of mouth is extremely powerful in a condensed area or territory. If someone has had a bad experience, there’s a good chance someone else will have a free ear to listen.

Finding ways to differentiate yourself from other companies and other sales professionals is important to stay ahead of the curve. Always providing value is a MUST today!

Long Story Short; Because I didn’t make the prospect ‘have any skin in the game’, they were able to walk away from the buying process without even blinking an eye. It felt like a slap in the face because I’d bent over backwards for 6 months and nothing came of it. It might be hard… but don’t always be a giver. Make the prospect give you something in return. Ya, they might say you… but then you can determine how serious they are about working with you.

 

There’s definitely more from me to come!

The Perfect Close by James Muir

Genuine, Honest Intent Is The Way To Sales!

Jordan Barta

perfect-closeJames Muir, author of “The Perfect Close” is a Stand Up Guy! If you’ve never had the chance to interact with him, read his posts or chat on the phone, you’re missing out. It’s not everyday that you get to interact with someone like James. His overall, ‘let me help you’ attitude is strongly portrayed in his book. You won’t be the least bit surprised that you find this book easy to read… And also enjoyable!

Sales is a tricky thing. Sales isn’t for everybody… but we’re continuously ‘selling’ people. Whatever job you have, whomever you interact with, someone is always selling someone something. Stop and think about that for a minute. “The Perfect Close” is talking majorly about B2B, B2C or C2C businesses so I’m going to hit on those types of sales.

“Genuine, honest intent leaves zero room for trickery and manipulation”[note]Page 5[/note]

Going into a prospective opportunity with the wrong intent in mind is only going to set yourself up for immediate and long term failure. Over promising and under-delivering is a HUGE issue in the current industry I’m in. The prospective client will buy the competition because they were promised something but then the company couldn’t deliver. Guess what… that prospect comes crawling back to me asking for help. That sales person does not have the client’s best interest in mind and that’s unfortunate.

I lost an opportunity in August because I was honest with the buyer. They wanted a stand-alone time & attendance solution and I educated them on why they didn’t want to do that. I gave them research, statistics and a case study… they refused to educate themselves and ending up opting out of viewing my solution… It burned a little, but at the end of the day, I know they would have increased their workload and I wouldn’t have solved any of their problems.

“If you want to show your client you want their business – tell them. Or, do something special for them. There are far better ways to show you want the business than insulting them with a closing gambit.”[note]Page 19[/note]

This goes will with the whole part of having the right content. Closing gambits can work… but put yourself in the buyers shoes. Buyers remorse is a real thing and you don’t want your buyers feeling like that. There’s no point in pressuring someone to make a decision; it’ll end up hurting you more in the long run. If you think I’m wrong, tell me why! I’d be curious what you have to say.

This first portion of the book is focused on intent and I strongly agree with James.

“So, in order for our intentions to be perceived as warmth, it’s vital that we emanate the related traits that science has identified from the warmth attribute. These include:

  • pure intent

  • friendliness

  • helpfulness

  • sincerity

  • trustworthiness

  • and morality (doing the right thing)

These are the signals we want our autonomic system to be sending.”[note] Page 33/34[/note]

What drives you to do what you do? Do you have the correct intent when you meet with new business? When you talk with current business, do you have the correct intent? When someone is in the market for a new product they often give me the same reasons… “We want to save money”, “we’ve been burned and don’t like our provider” or, “We’ve never outsourced this before”.

Becoming the trusted adviser is very important during the beginning conversations with any businesses. I recently took over a few accounts that were very upset. There was some internal issues and the client blamed my company because the new employee didn’t know how to use the solution. I went on sight, heard them out and came up with a plan of action. It wasn’t easy… what-so-ever! But, after two months, they’ve agreed to be a reference for me and my company. I didn’t make a single dollar off of helping them, but sometimes that happens when you’re doing the right thing.

Through out the sales cycle, there are multiple small ‘closes’. Setting the meeting, doing a discovery, showing them the product, negotiating price and talking about partnership. (Long story short). After you complete one, you have to ‘close’ for the next meeting.

“It is common for people to be confused about their ultimate goal and the goal of their most immediate next step. By stripping away the clutter that may exist between the two, we can achieve clarity that gives us perspective as well as the impulse to take the next best action.”[note]Page 48[/note]

The sales objective is the end goal… helping the client and closing the sale. The steps along the way, which are stand along goals and typically the most immediate next step. Sitting down with the prospective client and walking them through the process is important. They have to know what they’re signing up for by agreeing to go down your process. If they want to meet and then get pricing, they’ve got the wrong intent and you should walk away.

Ya ya ya… leaving money on the table is so hard to walk away from. But they’re probably not even entertaining the idea of switching… They’re just going to take your pricing back to their current vendor and get their price lowered. It happens and it sucks!

 

There’s definitely more from me to come!

The Perfect Close by James Muir

Make Your Own Decisions Fast & Be Persistent!

Jordan Barta

think-and-grow-richYou… Ya You…

“You have a brain and mind of your own. Use it and reach your own decisions. If you need facts or information from other people to enable you to reach decisions, as you probably will in many instances, acquire these facts or secure the information you need quietly, without disclosing your purpose.”[note]Page 159[/note]

This Ah-Ha Moment is more of a slap in the face. We’re living in an age right now where there are a lot of sheep just following along. Nobody really speaking up for themselves or being original. I’ve been there, you’ve been there and it’s okay. The faster you can snap out of it and be your own decision maker, the faster you can take back control or power in these situations.

When I first started writing, I’d reach out to a few select people to see what they thought and if I should change anything. They’d give me their feedback and encouragement. After a few times of doing this, I realized that I need to be the one deciding the outcome of my writing and that I shouldn’t rely on other people as much. I’m NOT saying don’t ask for  help… but after a while, it’s time to put your big boy pants on and do it yourself.

Reaching these decisions is difficult because it’s uncharted territory for myself. Over the past year or so, I’ve gotten comfortable with being uncomfortable!

“Those who reach decisions promptly and definitely know what they want, and generally get it. The leaders in every walk of life decide quickly and firmly. That is the major reason why they are leaders. The world has the habit of making room for people whose words and actions show they know where they are going.”[note]Page 170[/note]

Think about that for a second. Look at anybody that’s made it big in their respected field and analyze why. I can guarantee that they weren’t afraid to make a decision. They were willing to take action and have a burning desire behind it. DISCLAIMER: If you’re happy going through life at a normal pace and living for the weekend, that’d absolutely fine! There is nothing wrong with that… My first job out of college, I was happy with that.

If you’re striving to do more, be better, achieve greater and not stop, these Ah-Ha Moments are for you. There is no stopping and you MUST have that burning desire!

“THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR PERSISTENCE! It cannot be supplanted by any other quality! Remember this in the beginning and it will hearten you when the going may seem difficult and slow. Those who have cultivated the habit of persistence seem to enjoy insurance against failure. No matter how many times they are defeated, they finally arrive up near the top of the ladder.”[note]Page 179[/note]

People that aren’t willing to give up always do better than people that are willing to settle. Napoleon Hill uses incredible examples through out the book to paint a clear picture. Look at Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Arnold Schwarzenegger… the list goes on. Persistence is everything. Without it, you don’t have the foundation to carry through.

When I ‘forget’ to read and write, I often scold myself because I’ve gotten lazy. This ‘thing’ I’m doing is for such a bigger picture and if I slack in this area, it will take longer to reach my goal. Staying persistence towards my goal helps remind me why I need to keep writing content!

“Anybody can wish for riches, and most people do, but only a few know that a definite plan plus a burning desire for wealth are the only dependable means of accumulation it.”[note]Page 202[/note]

“Think & Grow Rich” is all about the concept of obtaining wealth. I think this last Ah-Ha Moment can have a dual meaning because some people don’t actually strive to make more money. They want to help others and feel good about their work and that’s all they want. Obviously they want to live comfortably, but I don’t think there are a lot of people out there thinking, ‘I’ve got to make over $500k this year and I’ll do anything to get there.’ At some point, you sacrifice things in life… family, friends, etc.

However, it is true… most people wish for stuff. If they get it, great, if they don’t, they never thought they’d get it in the first place, so no big deal. Unfortunately, I see this often. People give up too easily. If you’re read this far, I challenge you to define a goal, design a plan and make it happen. Make sure you’ve got that desire; Lord knows you need it. 😉

 

There’s more from me to come about: Think & Grow Rich

A QUITTER NEVER WINS – AND A WINNER NEVER QUITS

Jordan Barta

think-and-grow-richThe fourth step to riches in ‘Think and Grow Rich’ really got me thinking… and this is great. The book is challenging my opinion and my thought process. Bare with me as I go off on a tangent. I promise, it’ll make you think! There are two types of knowledge; general and specialized. Knowledge doesn’t actually get you anything…

“Knowledge will not attract money unless it is organized and intelligently directed through practical plans of action to the definite end of accumulation of money. Lack of understanding of this fact has been the source of confusion to millions of people who falsely believe that ‘knowledge is power.’ It is nothing of the sort! Knowledge is potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action and directed to a definite end.”[note] Page 79/80[/note]

This really got me thinking because there is a huge difference between knowing something and action upon it & knowing something and not doing anything about it. For some reason, I like using the word potential… maybe because there is so much uncertainty and hope associated with the word. I used to use it whenever I talked about up and coming football players on the team or country. ‘They’ve got potential’ I’d say. I know deep down inside what it takes for them to execute on their potential but unless they’re willing to do that, their potential will go to waste.

Knowledge is the same thing. Gary Vaynerchuk touches on this a little, but he also hits on the bigger picture of putting action plans into place. Don’t waste the knowledge or ‘inside information’ you have. Someone out there is dying to read, see or listen to what you have to say… so start sharing! You never know… One Piece Of Content Could Change Your Life. Try and look at your network or group of friends and look for the potential. Don’t look for the future potential, but look at the lost potential they once had. Now, look at the future potential.. Can you help them achieve it?

If you’ve been following my journey for the past 10 months, you’ve seen posts about sales books, motivation, networking, connecting, management, and business. I’m always looking for ways to do my job better and in less time. If I can work less than 40 hours a week, help twice as many companies and make more money, I’m going to do it! I hope you would too. This Ah-Ha Moment is a refresher but also a ‘yes, I haven’t positioned myself like that in a while’ type of moment. 😛

“Generally speaking, an idea is an impulse of thought that impels action by an appeal to the imagination. All master sales reps know that ideas can be sold where merchandise cannot. Ordinary sales reps do not know this – that is why they are ‘ordinary.'”[note]Page 109[/note]

Given the current market place and landscape I’m competing in, this is going to be a huge strength moving forward. I’ve harped on the ‘imagine this’ with prospects and clients before, but not as much as I could! Look at the title of this book… Do you think anybody would buy this book if it didn’t say “Think and Grow Rich”. There’s roughly 280 pages in the book; they could have called it, 280 pages and you’ll be rich.

Napoleon Hill is selling you based on the imagination you can come up with while you think… and then BOOM, you’re rich. It’s not quite that easy, but once you start trying things out of the book, you quickly realize that it isn’t all that hard either.

“A QUITTER NEVER WINS – AND A WINNER NEVER QUITS”[note]Page 118[/note]

Man, this is just another GREAT reminder. Look at all of the successful people in your life and try and look for a reoccurring common denominator. I always like to say ‘can’t stop won’t stop’. Get in the mindset that you’re never going to give up. I’ve see the results of people quitting… guess what… they quit on everything else. They get so accustom to quitting that they even stop trying.

It’s really sad how fast that can spiral out of control. Like a few weeks ago when I lost two deals in a row. I didn’t freaking quit! I’m finding new business left and right and I’m even more motivated than before. I’m going to prove those companies wrong! I’m going to provide value and call them every month until I earn their business. Their provider WILL do something wrong and I’ll be there to be the knight in shining armor! DON’T QUIT!!

There’s a section in the book labeled: The 30 Major Causes Of Failure.

“9. LACK OF PERSISTENCE. Most of us are good ‘starters’ but poor ‘finishers’ of everything we begin. Moreover, people are prone to give up at the first signs of defeat. There is no substitute for persistence. The persistence person discovers that ‘Old Man Failure’ finally becomes tired and goes away. Failure cannot cope with persistence.”[note]Page 139[/note]

Don’t let this be one of the reason you fail; if you fail. Nobody ever got anywhere without being persistent. Sales people are constantly being ‘pleasantly persistent’. Always following up, coming up with a reason to check in, offering a solution, updating them on something new and cool, seeing their company be successful… Constantly staying in their ‘life feed’ so that when they need you, you’re there.

Finish what you’ve started and don’t let anything get in your way! Nobody likes a quitter.

 

There’s more from me to come about: Think & Grow Rich

Possess A Burning Desire & Have Faith

Jordan Barta

think-and-grow-richThere is literally an Ah-Ha Moment on every few pages. This is the second time that I decided to read this book and it’s for a good reason. I hit a slump… I lost two deals in a row… One of which, I should have won. It sucks! Then, I picked up a book that I couldn’t enjoy reading. I found myself wondering away from my routine and that’s not good! My routine is great and it seems to be ever evolving. But dang… I hit the rough in the road and I was down. I hate dwelling on losses and I’m good at getting over them fast, but one after another and I cracked. Luckily, I turned it around after a long weekend and by closing the previous book.

Now, BABY, I’m back, FULL force ready to keep trucking along! I’m mentally stronger, I learned a lot and now it’s time for me to do some winning. With a mindset like that, you can’t freaking stop me!

“Truly, ‘thoughts are things,’ and powerful things at that, when mixed with purpose, persistence and a burning desire for their translations into riches or other material objects.”[note]Page 1[/note]

The entire basis of this book is built on the process that it all starts with the right mindset. It’s so true. Everything I’ve done up until this point has been because of my mind set. The absolute drive to be better everyday. A lot of this mentality comes from playing sports growing up and always wanting to be the best. Once you’ve developed this type of mindset or one similar, it’s just a matter of you taking a step in the right direction. If you’re looking to acquire more money, then put forth the effort to make that money. Drive for Uber, go to garage sales and buy stuff and sell it on ebay, start an online service, sign up for Fiverr and sell stuff. These silly excuses we give ourselves stop us from actually taking action.

Here’s a good one! How many HOURS do you spend a day watching TV or on social media?! Stop… Stop all of that and use that time to get better. If you’re complacent with life and not happy where you’re at, make the change! This shit doesn’t come easy, and if it did, would you really enjoy it?! Where’s the Desire?

“Behind this demand for new and better things there is one quality one must posses to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.”[note]Page 24/25[/note]

How bad do you NEED it?! You’ve got a dream, so what are you doing to take steps to get there. You can see that I’m taking those steps as you read this sentence! I have an ABSOLUTE desire to posses what I seek and I’m not going to let anybody get in my way. Don’t give any thought to the nay sayers! They’re negative and they don’t want to see you succeed anyways. At this point in your life, you should be surrounding yourself with people that prop you up.

Whens the last time you did an audit for your friends? Are they pushing you to be better?! I sure as hell know mine are. The things you’ve read so far and the things you’re about to read aren’t rocket science. Honestly, it’s nothing new. But the beauty of The Ah-Ha Moment is to remind you. Stop, slow down and think! We go through life checking daily tasks off our list and forget to find the drive. Once I read these 70 pages last night, I was so fired up for work the next working! I absolutely crushed my day. I had 5 conversations, created 3 new opportunities and set another meeting. Believe baby! And have faith!

“I believe in the power of desire backed by faith because I have seen this power lift people from lowly beginnings to place of power and wealth; I have seen it rob the grave of its victims; I have seen it serve as the medium by which people staged a comeback after having been defeated in 100 different ways…”[note]Page 42[/note]

It feels good to connect the dots and to really feel it. Nature and our minds have a funny way of making these outcomes possible. The success stories out there all started with a desire and having faith. It doesn’t get much simpler than that. Continuously pushing yourself to do better and to be better backed with faith in yourself… you can move a freaking mountain. Look at Edison, Marx Brothers, Spielberg, and Ford. (Examples used in the books). The outcome of your hard work turns into ‘riches’.

“Riches begin in the form of thought. The amount is limited only by the person in whose mind the thought is put into motion. Faith removes limitations.”[note]Page 66[/note]

This just reiterates the previous Ah-Ha Moments! There’s no room for doubt, ever! If you’re looking to accomplish something, gain wealth, get a promotion, get a new job; whatever it is, you need a burning desire and faith! A lot of brainstorming, thinking, plan creation goes into the execution of this, but once you’ve got the desire and faith, you’re set in the right direction.

This stuff doesn’t happen over night either… you’re going to need some patience as well. In the information age where things get done very fast, you need to set expectations. You can’t get 6 months into accomplishing your dream and throw in the towel. It doesn’t work that way Don’t give up!

 

There’s more from me to come about: Think & Grow Rich

 

How Are Your Internal Voices Helping You? Create Positive Thoughts!

Jordan Barta

the inner game of tennisThe Inner Game Of Tennis is about Tennis, but it’s also about the mentality we take while we go through life. The Ah-Ha Moments in this book really make you think. Almost so much, that while writing, I’ve had to stop multiple times to reread sections and recollect my thoughts. The points Gallway makes in this book are monumental. The psychology of thought process, awareness and thinking is so fascinating. Once you’ve read this book, I think you’ll have a greater appreciation for self development.

Gallway labels our internal voices. Self 1 is the teller and Self 2 is the doer. Self 1 might say, ‘you’re a dumby, you’ll never be good’, and self 2 would say, ‘common man, you got this, just hit the ball harder’. Does that make sense? We often beat ourselves down and then Self 2 takes over and builds ourselves back up. The most common BS people tell themselves is that they’ll never be good at anything.

“If you tell yourself often enough that you are a poor server, a kind of hypnotic process takes place. It’s as if Self 2 is being given a role to play – the role of bad server – and it plays it to the hilt, suppressing for the time being its true capabilities. Once the judgmental mind establishes a self-identity based on its negative judgments, the role-playing continues to hide the true potential of Self 2 until the hypnotic spell is broken. In short, you start to become what you think.”[note]Page 19-20[/note]

That’s a long quote, but I needed it in there so you could understand where Gallway is coming from. We all use cop-outs. “I’m not smart enough, I’m too old, I can’t do that, I can’t remember that…” You’re only hurting yourself AND that’s before you’ve even tried to do whatever you’re setting yourself up for failure. Why would you do that to yourself?

The minute you begin to doubt yourself before you’ve even taken action is the minute you’ve lost. A lot of this spawns from the fact that we’re always judging ourselves. We’re always trying to judge ourselves positively or negatively. We never want negative things… so we avoid them all together. If I think I can’t do something, then I better not do it because I don’t want to scold myself for failing. Do you see how you can destroy yourself with that mindset?

“It is important to remember that not all remarks are judgmental. Acknowledgment of one’s own or another’s strengths, efforts, accomplishments, etc., can facilitate natural learning, where as judgement interfere.”[note]Page 32[/note]

Sometimes it’s hard to look in the mirror and recognize your faults or weaknesses. Recognize them and then get rid of those thoughts. The reinforcements you can give yourself from acknowledging your strengths will build you up and make you so much stronger. Ultimately, you’re putting more trust into Self 2… the doer. Stop always listing to Self 1 because that person can be destructive.

Think about yourself or someone you know that is ‘self destructive’ in their thought process. We all know someone like this… honestly, we probably know a lot of people like this. Become self aware… Stop reading and close your eyes for 30 seconds and reflect on these sentences. Good! These negative patterns of thinking can really take a toll on people.

 “I have found that when players break their habitual patterns, they can greatly extend the limits of their own style and explore subdued aspects of their personality.”[note]Page 48[/note]

Gallway used tennis to paint these images and relate sports to thought processes. If you can change your pattern while playing a sport, you can change your thought process. It’s rather simple, but it takes work and self awareness. If you’re not good at a spot, what do you do? Good! Practice. If you tell yourself that you’re not good at something, what do you do? Right! Stop telling yourself that. This isn’t rocket science. Become self aware of your destructive mindset and really help move you forward. We’re all guilty of it.

Get in the habit of not doing it. Talk positive about yourself. There’s a bunch of cheesy saying out there, ‘if you can believe it, you can achieve it’. It’s true. All of these things require you to change something. Change, itself, is scary.

“…they are changed by people who had the courage to experiment outside the boundaries of the existing doctrine and trust in their own learning process. The second reason is to suggest that the prescribed way of making a change itself needs to change.”

I’ve played sports my entire life so it’s very easy to relate this book to my life. If I got coached on how to do something different, I did it. Often time, it would give me the outcome I was looking to accomplish. Changing my stance, or hand placement in football is very difficult. Telling myself that I could do it made it that much easier. Start listening to Self 2 so that you can over come your mind!

 

There’s for from me to come about; The Inner Game Of Tennis

Mentors Make A Difference – Stop Talking Yourself Out of Your Own Success

Jordan Barta

power of whoHow often do you ask your network for help?  How often do people ask you for help? How often do you help people with their problems? I think these questions help determine where you’re at in establishing your ‘who’ network. We’re all someone to somebody… but it depends where you’re at in each relationship. It’s kinda like leveling up in a video game. Some relationships, you’re a level 10, while in other relationships you’re a level 1. Make sense?

“Mentors make a difference. The people with whom you associate will, in large measure, determine the level of your success and failure in life. Remember, everyone is an influencer.”[note]Page 138[/note]

I reach out to a select group of people that I consider influencers when I have questions and need help. I also have a group of people that reach out to me when they need help. It’s ever evolving and we’re all helping each other. You’d truly be amazed at the conversations we have and how appreciative we are of each others times. Hardly, if ever, am I upset that I need to take a call from someone in my network.

One of the beauties of having mentors and being a mentor is that those people have typically been in your shoes before. You can ask them a question and they’re going to give you an answer which is backed up by experience. They’ll help you figure out those tough questions you keep asking yourself. Maybe you’re at a cross road in your journey and you need a few ears to listen to your worry’s. Maybe you’ve taken a detour to our dream and they’ll help you see that the next decision is coming.

“Remember, a detour is not permanent. It’s not the road to your destiny. It’s a necessary but temporary side route. Perhaps there are some things you need to acquire to learn.”[note]Page 145[/note]

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Maybe your next job isn’t the ‘dream’ job, but you gain experience in management and making decisions. Those two things could get you earn your next role, which in your dream job. You never really know until you try. I think it’s important to understand that the decisions we make, we always have a choice in making them. With any given situation, you need to be optimistic on the outcome.

You need to find something to be positive about! There has to be something in your situation you can grow from. Having a negative outlook is only going to crush your dreams. What happens when your dreams are crushed…You become complacent and give up.

“Negative ‘self-talk’ is an assault on your dreams. Don’t put up with it! Most people are so accustomed to it they don’t even notice its intrusion. They let it sneak in and ruin their potential for success by causing them to quit too soon.”[note]Page 149[/note]

Negative talk really pisses me off. When people use excuses before they even try is truly frustrating. Stop giving yourself a way out. Stop giving up the opportunity to do something different. It’s crap. You’re not going to get anywhere if you talk down at yourself. Do you think anyone that has even been successful told themselves that they suck?

NO! I’m sure you see all of that motivational stuff online everyday. Start living that stuff. You’d be surprised what comes from being positive and you giving yourself positive reinforcement. Take one step forward each day and you’ll continuously be getting better.

“Destiny, disguised as spontaneous moments, has a way of disregarding your current personal agenda to make necessary course corrections. These unexpected, serendipitous interruptions are designed to have the delightful effect of redirecting your trajectory. Sometimes these corrections aren’t readily apparent.”[note]Page 160[/note]

That’s an Ah-Ha Moment right there! Look at all of the successful people you’ve ever met in your life… now ask yourself whats so different about them. What did they do to get to where they are now? What makes them so special? Leading up to this quote should paint a picture as to why they’re different. They’re positive, they’re taking action, they’re propping themselves up, they’re asking for help, they have mentors, they’re open the change and they accept it… The list can go on.

When you find someone that does these things, you’ll know you need them to join your ‘who’ network. The continuous growth and support you can receive from each other is so empowering. First, you need to get into the habit of giving.

“Giving is such an essential part of the Power of ‘WHO!’ Giving  unconditionally release joy within you that you never knew existed. What would the world be like if everyone helped their ‘who’ World internationally? Once we change our paradigm from ‘Me first,’ ‘Me alone,’ and ‘I can do it by myself,’ to ‘How can I help you?’ ‘What do you need?’ and ‘Yes. I will help,’ then everything in our lives will change for the better.”[note]Page 171[/note]

Depending on where you’re at in following my journey of writing, you will have previously read my write about this. I’ve written about this more than fives time and I will probably write about it another five times this year. Do you know why so many people write about helping others? Because all of these people are successful and they’ve all done this in their path to success.

You don’t get to where you want to go without helping others get to where they want to go too. We all need help at some point in our journey, so be the first one to help someone in need. The good things you do now, and everyday, will only continuously help you now and in the future.

 

Get ‘The Power of Who’ on Amazon.

Connect with me on Twitter @Barta57

Your Network is Powerful… You Already Know This!

Jordan Barta

power of whoThe Power of Who… WOW! I can’t even begin to express to you the power of the message within this book. It’s simple, right? I’ll mail you my copy if you want read it… that’s how serious I am about the value this book has to offer. Bob Beaudine does an incredible job walking you through The life cycle of the Power of Who. First and foremost;

“Just Begin. If you have a dream, it’s going to take some creative thinking, strategizing, and good, old-fashioned hard work to bring it into reality. Set your course then stick to it even in the face of adversity or setback. Don’t wait for some great benefactor to reorganize your genius or talent and being to to fund and promote you. If you do, you’ll likely be waiting your entire life.”[note]Page 77[/note]

I love it man! Just do it…. just go. Look what I did. It’s been exactly 7 months since I’ve started this journey and I can’t even begin to tell you the success that has come from this. You wouldn’t believe the opportunities that have presented themselves. ‘Hip Hip Hooray Jordan… Look at you… What about me?’

You gotta start! I have some friends, which are apart of my ‘who’ network that weren’t last year, that have DONE the exact same thing as myself. When we talk… we always laugh because we’re blown away by how far we’ve come. Gives me chills. It’s so simple! As you develop these relationship and people see you growing, they want to join in and be apart of the success. We often surround ourselves with other like ourselves. I truly believe that if you put good energy out, you’ll get good energy back.

“It’s almost tribal. All of the sudden you have access and favor that you haven’t had in other streams with other people. You have friends and friends of friends who will help you simple because the feel you’re part of them they are part of you, and you like each other. There exists a natural preference. Pay attention. Stay alert.”[note]Page 89[/note]

You HAVE to be self aware of these things. If you’re just cruising through life doing stuff at your own pace, you won’t get far. You’re going to need something from someone, somewhere. Find those people that will help build you up… Obviously, you’ve got to give to receive. It’s an incredible feeling when you know who’s in your tribe! Don’t take that lightly.

Living in the age of social networking, texting, emailing… and however you can remove the personal interaction to get more done, people forget about the personal side of life. If we don’t take the time to have ‘friend’ conversations with our ‘who’, how are we ever supposed to help them get to where they want to go?

“When we allow others access to our personal world, we give them the opportunity to see into us in ways we’re not able to see ourselves. Help other see the potential you see in them and allow others to give you clues about what they see in you. Everyone involved will enjoy the view.”[note]Page 100[/note]

Recently, I befriended some people that are rock stars in my network. Now that we get to see into one another’s personal lives, the power of who becomes even greater. Instead of having conversation all of the time about work/business, we have conversation around family and events. We talk about goals and how we can help one another. We bounce ideas off of each other and look for honest feedback.

It doesn’t take a lot of effort and time… you just gotta do it. These people I talk about, these ‘who’ have someway helped me; as I’ve helped them. It’s a mutual relationship where both parties WANT to help each other. These ‘who’ have been my ‘bridges’.

“The ‘what‘ in life will take you only so far. Sooner or later you’ll come to a chasm you can’t cross without someone’s help. That’s the ‘who‘ I’m talking about. People are ‘bridges‘ you must cross to get where you want to go. You can stay on the other side if you choose, but you need to understand that your ‘what‘ will never come into play until your ‘who‘ brings you across.”[note]Page 124[/note]

You can’t go at this stuff all alone. There’s that old say, ‘It takes a village to raise a kid’… It takes a ‘who’ network to help build you up. Within that network, you’ll find some people that you watch from afar. You want to learn from them, or be like them or do something similar to them. Right? You’re just figuring out how you can do that.

I’m always looking at ‘the best’ and trying to figure out how I can do what they’re doing but better. They’ve got these processes in place and they’re successful, so how can I do something similar with my own flare. Why recreate the wheel if someone else already had a blueprint?

“It takes study and practice to become skilled in the dream you’re pursuing. When you find that job you love and are willing to pay the price to become the absolute best at it, then your own unique style and genius will begin to take over and create a new story line that’s even better than the one you mirrored. So, be clear about what you want, and mirror the best!”[note]Page 137[/note]

How often do you pitch yourself in the mirror? How often do you do presentations out loud mimicking successful speakers? Continuously being self aware and critiquing yourself will make you better. When you’ve got someone to look up to, that’s already successful, take tidbits from them. I think it’s a compliment!

 

There’s more to come from me about:

The Power of Who: You Already Know Everyone You Need to Know | Bob Beaudine

Social Selling is an Investment

Jordan Barta

socialsellingI’ve come to the conclusion that you MUST read Social Selling by Tim Hughes! Absolutely, 100%, you need to read this. There’s only a small population of ‘social sellers’ that know how to do it… so the other 99% can benefit immensely from this book. All of the Ah-Ha Moments within this book will help you in your job!

“To be a social seller is not about how much you post and when. It is also not about how much of the company content you can throw at the wall in hope that it will stick. A Social Seller is a helper.”[note]Page 84[/note]

Your goal is to help people during the buying process. If you reach out over a social network and tell them how cool your product is, that is NOT social Selling. Seeing someone ask a question on a forum and you immediately bombarding them with information isn’t social selling either. Your goal is to help them with their issue. Perhaps send them an article. Image if you were to complain on Twitter about your experience with a service and then the competitor said “you should buy from me”. How would that make you feel?

… Exactly… You’d be like WTH. Social Selling takes time and it isn’t something you’ll see the ROI over night. You can’t rush the natural process because you’ll break it.

“In short, social selling is an investment. Your company incurs costs today, but social selling delivers benefits for many months and years to come. By investing in training, technology, and pipeline today, you’re setting your team up for success in the future.”[note]Page 106[/note]

It’s true… which can be scary to any sales organization. Most sales leaders in large companies know the breakdown between phone calls, emails, meeting, opportunities and closed revenue. If you pump out 100 calls a day, you’re going to close X amount of business by the end of the year. Those numbers are partially still true. We’re finding that more and more conversations are starting later in the sales process after the prospect has already done their research.

By Social Selling, you’re able to get yourself into the playing field while the prospect is doing their research. Maybe the prospect is just evaluating the market. If they see you as ‘adding value’ to their network and providing insight about the industry, they might come to you with questions. When I want to buy a new product… guess who I ask! My network. They’re going to give me the truth.

“Social Selling is about carefully approaching the right people, slowly and in a considered fashion, one to one, with the correct message. It is not about plastering a ‘good enough’ message over a huge audience, hoping one will be interrupted in such a way that they bite.”[note]Page 164[/note]

I’m sure you’ve seen those posts online. “I’ve got the best product, who’s ready to buy?! #Xproduct” THAT is not social selling. That just an example of someone being lazy and seeing if someone will bite. It doesn’t work. Go ahead and try it and let me know how it goes for you.

As long as your talking about your company/product honestly and not only pumping out corporate information, your network will trust you. With corporations take control of everything you post, you’ll get lost in the noise. I’ve done it… I’ve learned first hand.

“Just think of the free advertising your company would get if you allowed your employees to talk passionately about working for you, the pride they have in your products and services, and how they like to serve and excite your customers.”[note]Page 140[/note]

This is especially true with the millennial generation, the social platforms we have and the likelihood someone always going to have their phone in their hand. The minute something good happens at work, someone will send a tweet or share an article. People love to brag about the breakfasts/dinners they go to with their employer. I can’t tell you how many times people would post pictures about being a cool company because of the free breakfast (everyday).

Not only is that a sweet example of social recruiting, but companies also want to do business with cool companies.

In conclusion to Social Selling by Tim Hughes, he hits the nail on the head!

“We also don’t foresee a complete switch to social; it will run parallel to and complement the use of the phone and email. I’m sorry, but people who tell you that cold calling is dead are wrong, and are in fact being detrimental to the sales profession, as people believe them.”[note]Page 172[/note]

Cold calling and emailing will always be a part of the picture. These tools will never go anywhere. Finding a smooth medium between Social Selling, calling and emailing is the goal. Tim does an incredible job giving examples throughout the book on how to start implementation Social Selling strategies. Do yourself a favor and pick up the book on Amazon!

 

Social Selling | Tim Hughes

Connect with Tim on Twitter – @Timothy_Hughes