Tag: motivation

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

 

Suck it up and get over it. Nobody cares! | Personalize your approach

Jordan Barta

Something that I’ve been sharing lately, with regards to social selling is the fact that personalization is huge… it goes a long ways and people feel like you care. It’s even better when you can show them you care!

“One-to-one marketing takes time but the ROI is tremendous because so few businesses are actually doing it. I finally figured out that’s why my results are so often the exception instead of the rule. When you’re listening and other people aren’t, you look like a star.”[note]Page 209[/note]

I’ll be the first to admit that personalized/one-to-one marketing is difficult and time consuming. You don’t see the ROI right away. But once you get in the groove and things start to click, you truly look like a star. You’ll be able to set yourself apart from the competition within the industry.

Gary jumps back and forth within the chapters to different Ah-Ha Moments. There are so many good takeaways that it’s hard not to want to comment on all of them. As humans, we complain… that’s a fact.

“Problems happen. Life isn’t fair or perfect. Complaining fixes nothing. Only taking action does.”[note]Page 217[/note]

Depending on when you’re reading this, you could agree or disagree. Is it 8am in the morning and you’re fired up and ready to go? Or is it 4pm and you’ve been shut down 20 times on the phone today? I’m writing this after being shut down on the phone today… and it honestly sucks because I want to complain so badly!

I can literally hear Gary Vee saying, “Suck it up and get over it. Nobody cares!” That right there is motivation enough to over the want to complain. I suggest you watch some of his most recent posts on Facebook or YouTube. They’ll motivate the heck out of you.

I’ve strived to be nice my entire life! I want people to know I care and that I’m a nice guy.

“Being nice is a choice, and how you choose to speak to people even when you’re pressed for time will reveal who you really are.”[note]Page 228[/note]

Man, ain’t that the truth? The more important you become, the less time you’ll have to give to other people. It’s harder to ‘look’ nice when you’re always under the microscope because you’re so busy.

Such an important thing to execute is in type of relationship whether it be work, personal or partnerships is communication.

“Communicate with your team. Communicate with your partners. Communicate with your clients. Communicate, communicate, communicate.”[note]Page 263[/note]

Maybe it’s just me, but I see a lot of miscommunication going on within every industry and with a lot of organizations. Communication is what keeps clients happy, doors opens, partners willing and coworkers excited. It’s the difference between doing incredibly well and just okay. It’s not hard to communicate with people… although we worry that if it’s bad news, someone is going to be pissed.

Keep the communication open and make sure you’re happy/excited to be doing it. GaryVee has ALWAYS talked about ‘doing what you absolutely love.’ Why do something that you hate?

“Self-esteem is the ultimate drug of our society. When you have it you give yourself the audacity to dream big, and when you do that, the little things stop mattering and anxiety cannot cripple you.”[note]Page 287[/note]

That’s the perfect way to say it. Stay high, stay confident and keep hustling. Nobody can stop you when you hustle.

I went from business to business this morning to meet local businesses. (I wrote the top half of this yesterday) Guess what! I got half my foot in the door at this one company and they said they were in a meeting and that I needed to leave. (They weren’t in a meeting). I smiled, handed them some information and left with 10 times for motivation than when I entered. It was pretty spectacular to feel that.

GaryVee wrote an incredible book and I hope you read it! It’s so worth it. He hits on so many other points too which I didn’t talk about. Do yourself a favor and like him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter and connect with him on LinkedIn.

You can thank me later!

 

Connect with Gary on Twitter: @garyvee

Connect with me on Twitter: @Barta57

#AskGaryVee | Gary Vaynerchuk

Get “#AskGaryVee” on Amazon

The Sales Development Playbook | Trish Bertuzzi | Part 6

Jordan Barta


Having previously experienced inside sales roles at multiple organizations, I have left a large amount of voicemails in my career. “Hi prospect, I want to introduce myself… Hi prospect, I’m following up to the coupon you received… Hi prospect, I noticed you downloaded some content. Wow! Was I doing it wrong! Can’t really blame anyone for that other than the status quo of cold calling. I wasn’t told anything different.

“People always ask me whether or not they should bother leaving voicemails. My response is yes – as long as they are good ones” – John Barrows[note]Page 168[/note]

Sounds pretty simple right? It is… but because sales people have to show they’re being active, they often don’t personalize their messaging. Think about how people leave voice messages for you. Do you return sales calls when they’re boring? I doubt it. Shit, I bet you even delete the message once you hear the person’s name and what company they’re calling from.

STOP being boring. Bertuzzi’s examples in here are amazing! These examples are something that the VP of sales, sales managers and all inside sales people need to read. If you want to separate yourself from the competition, be relevant and interesting.

What’s your call back rate on voicemails? I bet it sucks. Change it up… Whatcha got to lose?

Another side of prospecting that a lot of people feel more confident to share their success in, is email. You can hide behind your computer and send out blasts of emails to see who bites. Try and think about this from your mailbox. How often do you respond to sales emails? If you do, why?

If you’re approaching a VP or C-level person, good luck getting a response from them by sending a crap email. They don’t have time for that. You have to grab their attention and provide value.

“An opening line addressing a relevant problem tends to grab my attention. Something straightforward and human.” – Hannah Wright[note]Page 182[/note]

If you’ve done research on the person and company, you’ll know enough about them to be able to grab their attention. Don’t try and trick the person to open your email… that might just piss them off. I did that once to the CIO of a 10,000 employee company… He wasn’t very happy.

You’re trying to get their attention so they want more information. Maybe they already have a provider for the solution you’re selling. That’s okay. What sets you and the competition apart? Maybe they don’t take the meeting now, but when they run into a snag with their current provider, guess who they’re going to call?

Bertuzzi has done extensive work with sales organizations throughout the years. She had written gold for you… and I strongly suggest you read this book.

Moving from sales prospecting and into the leadership side of a sales organization, you’re in charge of a lot! One thing I love about starting a new job is the ‘tool kit’ a company provides. Basically, it’s a shared set of ‘stuff’ that is given to the sales people to help them do their jobs. Presentation, talk tracks, prospecting profiles, templates… the works! Imagine using this ‘tool kit’ as a recruiting tool as well.

“In this highly competitive market, wouldn’t it be great to show a candidate your SDR toolkit and say, ‘Here is the roadmap for how the team executes. I look forward to you joining us and helping us to evolve this tool for future reps.’?”[note]Page 196[/note]

Prior to hiring someone, you’ve already got them engaged. Now they know that you’re not going to leave them hanging once you hire them.

Having a quota thrown at them is scary. But if they have the support of management and their team, they are set up for success.

“Whether or not making quota is an achievable goal sets the tone for your culture. Make it attainable, and you’ll have a group of competitive reps with a positive attitude. Make it too much of a stretch, and you’ll have miserable reps and a high attrition rate.”[note]Page 204[/note]

Honestly, we all know this. But being in sales… you’re at the bottom of the totem pole. The CEO decides a revenue number and then the sales department is in charge of hitting that number. Attrition destroys that number. If you’ve got your ducks in a role and the processes are sound, that number will be attainable.

“Great process is the foundation for repeatable, scalable success. Our reps bring passion, a competitive spirit, and curiosity to their jobs every day.”[note]Page 206[/note]

If you’ve got a process that works, your people like what they do, your attrition is low, you’re promoting from within, and you’re hitting your numbers, you’re going to grow. To successfully grow and to continue winning, you’ve got to have those ducks in a row or you’re going to sink.

 

There’s more to come from me about:

The Sales Development Playbook | Trish Bertuzzi

Get “The Sales Development Playbook” on Amazon.

The Sales Development Playbook | Trish Bertuzzi | Part 5

Jordan Barta

Losing employees sucks… it also costs companies a lot of money. You never actually think about the cost of hiring, onboarding and training people. Depending on what type of training your company does, it can be really expensive.

“Great talent is great talent – don’t let them leave your building.”[note]Page 132[/note]

It doesn’t get simpler than that. This echoes the previous post. Engage with your people and make sure they’re happy. If they’re not happy, find out what will make them happy. Nobody likes toxic employees.

I don’t know how many of you have every seen the Simon Sinek Ted Talk video; Start with why. But this video has helped me immensely in my roles as a sales person.

“Without understanding the why, reps struggle to connect with prospect priorities. Everything about the what and the how of a solution can be found online. …Our reps need to create value and offer insight and ideas that prospects can’t find on their own.”[note]Page 141[/note]

There’s that word again; Value! You have to create value with the people you’re trying to talk to. Buyers do a lot of their research prior to beginning their evaluations. If you’re reaching out to them… you need to offer them something different. And to get them to listen, you need to convince them why they should listen to you.

Bertuzzi presents a question that turns into an Ah-Ha Moment!

“Do you sell into a functional area that already exists within your company? For example, do you sell to sales operations and have a sales ops team within your company?”[note]Page 143[/note]

Recruiting.. HR.. sales.. Whatever you sell and whomever you sell to, is there a team within your company that does that job? Basically, what she’s getting at; is that you can go directly to that team and learn about their day-to-day. Learn what they do and how they do it. Then, when you’re calling your prospects, you have a better understanding of what they’re doing and how you can help. Makes sense right? Have you done this before?

The more you learn about your prospect, the better talk tracks you can create. The more likely you’re able to sympathize with them.

“Reps need to be fully fluent in prospect challenges, motivations, and status quos. In short, they need to use buyer based messaging.”[note]Page 151[/note]

If you’re going to get off of your agenda and onto theirs, you need to know what you’re talking about. Bertuzzi goes on to give some incredible examples of prospecting. The differentiators between a successful rep and a lazy rep. The different types of messaging that actually works. I wouldn’t be doing any of you a favor if I copied it and pasted it on the site. You have to get the book! It’s pure gold.

“Studies have found that it takes between six and ten attempts (including at least four by phone calls) to properly prospect a given contact.”[note]Page 160[/note]

Sales reps often give up too early. They get bored and move onto a different account. They don’t want to work for a deal… they’d rather find some ‘low hanging fruit’. They forget about their prospecting approach and leave their process. I am guilty of this recently. I have a huge territory and I’m trying to touch every account. Not to mention, our data is kinda old. Bertuzzi gives the reader great examples of a multi-touch approach. You have to read it yourself! It’s a game changer.

 

There’s more to come from me about:

The Sales Development Playbook | Trish Bertuzzi

Get “The Sales Development Playbook” on Amazon.