Choices

Choices

John is the kind of guy you love to hate.   He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say.  When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, 'If I were any better, I would be twins!'

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, 'I don't get it!'

'You can't be a positive person all of the time.  How do you do it?'

He replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today.  You can choose to be in a good mood or...you can choose to be in a bad mood

I choose to be in a good mood.'

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it.  I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or...I can point out the positive side of life.  I choose the positive side of life..

'Yeah, right, it's not that easy,' I protested.

'Yes, it is,' he said.  'Life is all about choices.  When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice.  You choose how you react to situations.  You choose how people affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.  The bottom line:  It's your choice how you live your life.'

I reflected on what he said..  Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business.  We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins...Wanna see my scars?'

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,' he replied.  'Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices:  I could choose to live or....I could choose to die.  I chose to live.'

'Weren't you scared?  Did you lose consciousness?'  I asked.

He continued, '...the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine.  But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared.  In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'.  I knew I needed to take action.'

'What did you do?' I asked.

'Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,' said John.  'She asked if I was allergic to anything 'Yes, I replied.'  The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply.  I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity''

Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live..  Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude....I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.'  Matthew 6:34  

Three Best Practices of Top Performers

Wouldn't you like to know what it takes to go from better to best? SEC Solutions, a sales consulting and training group that is part of the Corporate Executive Board, has worked with hundreds of sales teams over the past decade to study which behaviors, activities, skills, and attitudes on the front line make the greatest impact on productivity and efficiency.

1. Top performers invest in a combination of presales needs analysis and internal relationship building.
 
High achievers tend to focus their efforts on presales needs analysis and coordination across internal resources.  The best sales reps (defined as at the top 15 to 20 percent of an organization's performance curve), spend twice as much time on early-stage needs analysis and 25 percent more time lining up internal delivery resources.

The sales professional who is able to challenge customers to think differently about their business and bring constructive tension into the sales process  is three times more likely to outperform other salespeople.

 2. Top-performing sales teams are more likely to spend time strategizing with their managers, finding innovative ways to overcome customer objections, and tackling obstacles that may be preventing a deal from closing.

Salespeople are spending much less time presenting solutions face-to-face with customers and more time preparing for those interactions with sales managers before they happen. B2B Sales Index data shows that sales teams spent 20 percent less time presenting solutions to customers between 2007 and 2009 compared with 2004 through 2006, and 40 percent less time developing and redesigning the solution with customers.

Time spent strategizing with managers, however, was up more than 80 percent in 2007 through 2009 compared with 2004 through 2006.

3. Top performers avoid "order-tracker syndrome."
 
The B2B Sales Index shows that low- to middle-performing salespeople spend 75 percent more time (compared with high performers) tracking orders and customer payment activities.  This is a clear symptom of a much larger problem: Sales leaders in many organizations are failing to match skill profiles to job roles and responsibilities.  The results are misaligned account-management strategies and salespeople who are drawn to unintended activities.

Overall, it's clear that the value of a sales experience no longer lies in golf outings and expensive dinners. Buyers are looking to learn something new and useful, and they expect salespeople to come to the table with some real insight about their business. When salespeople are aligned with customers in a strategic-partnership approach, and when sales managers get involved long before the face-to-face meeting with customers happens, companies can increase revenue and improve interactions with key accounts.

Happy Selling

Have a good day everyday

Ed Foreman became a millionaire over night when he came up with a new way to drill oil wells. Ed now does motivational speaking.

Ed thoughts:
"If you wake up in the morning and you tell yourself that it is going to be a bad day. It will happen."

"How did you start your day?"

Click the link to hear Ed Foreman talk: Have a Good Day Everyday.

Three Tips for Building Rapport

A great sales presentation is a dialogue, not a monologue. The trick is to control the conversation in a way that keeps the focus on your message, but also allows room for the prospect to bring up concerns and give feedback. When it comes to on-the-fly interactions, it's always a good idea to expect the unexpected.

Here are some common issues that have the potential to derail your agenda and how to handle them.

The prospect won't stop talking. Listening builds trust. In the early stages, this type of behavior is advantageous because it makes them more relaxed and allows you to learn valuable information. If the information stops becoming useful, compliment the prospect and gently redirect the conversation. For example, say, "That's a really good point, and it reminds me of something I'd like to show you."

The prospect invites multiple decision makers to the meeting. Do not make the mistake of addressing your presentation solely to the senior executive. While that person might be the final decision maker, you will have to convince others in the room to do business with you and your company as well. As you present your points, speak to each section of your audience, and be sure to make eye contact with each person. Give everyone equal attention and consideration.

The prospect brings up the competition. Never criticize competitors. Instead, praise them honestly for what they do well. Then, show the prospect why it would be a better business decision to work with you and your company (this is where your presentation prep work will pay off). For example, say, "ABC is an excellent company, and they've been in business a long time and have high standards. However, based on what you've told me about your needs, I believe we can satisfy you better."

Remember that 80 percent of the buying decision will be based on how the prospect feels about you. These responses will help build a positive connection between you and your audience. Rolling with the punches will lend your presentation a professional polish and give prospects confidence in your ability to help them achieve their goals.

How to Break a Bad Habit

No matter how early you started smoking, drinking, gambling,overspending, lying, procrastinating, binge eating, or tossing recyclables into the regular garbage bin, you weren't born doing any of them. You learned how to do them.

Learned behavior is a wonderful thing because it makes life so much easier. It helps you move through the day in a more efficient way without having to waste mental energy on mundane daily tasks like boiling water and brushing your teeth. You do them without even thinking.

But learned behavior that allows you to act without thinking is not such a good thing when it results in bad habits that become difficult and often impossible to break. Take food, for instance. A yet-to-be-published study out of Duke University has shown that people who are in the habit of eating popcorn at the movies will eat it whether it's fresh or stale. While all students preferred fresh popcorn, those who consumed with a goal of eating something good while watching a movie ate less when it was stale. Those who consumed with the specific goal of eating popcorn at the movies, ate just as much whether it was fresh or stale.

For the full article click the link: How to Break a Bad Habit

6 YouTube Inspirational videos

The fall of the Berlin Wall changed Europe politically and the German city physically. Ushering in a new era of freedom for a new decade, this footage from 1989 offers powerful imagery of East and West reuniting after nearly 40 years of enforced separation.



We never get tired of watching this amazing clip. The 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the moon was a remarkable achievement for all of mankind, and its morale-boosting effects on the United States at the time of the Cold War can't be underestimated.





To view all the videos click the attached link: 6 YouTube Inspirational videos