One Simple Word…

There comes a time when who you really are becomes apparent to you and to everyone around you.  The “real you” typically emerges in challenging times, emergencies, and during moments of pressure.  The rest of the time, your actions and attitudes are choked and obscured by the myriad of “Little Voice” messages, particularly the ones driven by fear of what others think about you or fear of looking stupid, that mask what really lies underneath.

In these times of rising unemployment, rampant government printing of dollars, increasing tax and loss of retirement funds, everyone is getting a chance to see who they really are.  The question is…how do you show up?

In a recent Sales & Leadership Mastery Program that I conducted, an interesting pattern emerged that was both disturbing and brilliant.  As always, I put the group into teams and gave them a series of tasks and challenges designed to teach them how to build a multi-million dollar business in a few days.  After conducting this program numerous times across the globe, I’ve noticed a common pattern emerge.

Let me give you the pattern, and you can see where in this spectrum you show up.  You see, it doesn’t seem to matter what the task is…as long as the context is set up for change.  That context includes the components of compressed time, high stakes and being somewhat out of your comfort zone.  All necessary for rapid growth.

1.    First of all, I assume that most people are not only capable, but brilliant.  This assumption has rarely let me down.  It is the “Little Voice” issues that stand in the way.  You are way bigger than you think you are.  If the environment and the context are right and the “Little Voice” can get pushed out of the way…the bigger you will show up.

2.   With that talent in place, this recent group came out of the gate quickly.  They made lots of calls and made lots of contacts early.  Unleashed to the tasks, they jumped into each challenge quickly by taking on the early stages with a vengeance.  They exhibited this strong and fast behavior over and over again in everything that they did.

3.   Then something disturbing showed up.  When it came to actually making sales in this case, or driving a final result of any kind…their numbers were paltry.  They seemed to always take the path of least resistance.  Even though they started strong, when it came to actually producing a quantifiable meaningful result, they took the easy way out…they did the minimum.

Yet, I am reminded of the statement I saw in the movie “Miracle” by Herb Brooks, the legendary coach of the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey Team which, against odds, won the gold medal…when he said to his team, “You think you can win on talent?  You do not have enough talent to win on talent alone.  To win, you cannot be ordinary.”

I agree with him.  For many years we have become blinded by our own brilliance and resourcefulness.  Yet in these unprecedented times, we forget that talent around the world is now cheap and plentiful.

There was one word, however, that drove that Olympic team to the top.  A simple word.  A forgotten word in our world of instant gratification, get-it-over-with and one-shot wonders. The word is “AGAIN.” When a drill was not up to standard, he made them do it again.  It is the most important word to achieving results.  It means simply picking up your energy and spirit, and going after the task again…and again…and again…until the path of least resistance is replaced by…

4.  An undeniable, uncompromising, resilient spirit that truly creates financial, emotional and personal results beyond the ordinary.  In my latest program, each time a result came up short of what I thought the teams were capable of, I made them do it again.  Whenever a performance or task faltered, I simply said, “again.”  Over the grumbling, whining and resentment, do you know what happened?  They not only did the tasks again, but ultimately set all new records in sales, profit, team performance and breakthroughs.  Had I let earlier results ride as “okay” but not great…that brilliance would have remained buried.

The good news is that over the course of a few days, most of the teams’ response time to “again” was faster and faster, until finally there was no need for “again” on the final day.  They came through as true champs in all the tasks.  No matter what athlete, business leader, performer or professional I interview or study, the most important word in their lives is AGAIN.  Have you ever noticed that the word itself says…”a gain?”  Each repetition is a gain on the prior experience.  But you’ve got to be relentless and you’ve got to repeat to get the gain.

You see, there’s a resilience in you that you probably undervalue and underutilized.  An ability to resurrect victory from the ashes of defeat…to turn mistakes into powerful learning and progress.  What I observed each time I forced an AGAIN was a fiery comeback and resilient change of momentum which is what is needed now more than ever.

Yet not all is good news.  A few individuals always choose NOT to rebound.  They choose to do what many are choosing to do now which is “endure”…wait it out.  Just endure the stress until the storm passes, hoping that someone will “fix” the situation and “give” them a way out.  That is a painful and debilitating existence that results in poverty, depression and helplessness.

What about you?

What if you eliminated step two?

What if you took on the tougher tasks early and drove hard for them?

What if you never settled for the path of least resistance?

What if the word “AGAIN” became a relentless part of your routine?

What would your life look like?

What would your income look like?

What would your health, fitness and relationships look like?

You see, inside of you is a truly great person.  Will everyone experience it?  Probably not.  But those who do will live lives of abundance, power and satisfaction.  There is a point in time when greatness occurs.  It is that time when Steps 1-4 are compressed and you decide to be truly relentless in your pursuit to achieve the results you want in your life.

That relentlessness to repeat again and again will fatigue the “Little Voice” that stops you.  It will build a permanent momentum that, like the 1980 hockey team and like our sales and business teams around the world, will continue to accelerate results that to others seem beyond the ordinary.  Should you chose to adopt the word AGAIN into action, this momentum will become your life.

As I stated earlier, it’s in trying times that the ”real you” is revealed.  Without the discipline of AGAIN and the relentlessness to reject the path of least resistance, a mediocre and frustrated you will emerge.  With the discipline…the magical you becomes the norm.

Reject the path of least resistance.  Be relentless with “AGAIN.”

Be awesome,

Blair Singer

Six People, Six Voices

I read recently that you are a reflection of the six people you spend the most time with.  What a sobering thought!  If you are anything like me, you grew up  with the saying, “birds of a feather flock together” and your mom occasionally  commented that she wasn’t so sure about the new friend you were hanging around.  At the time, I thought how horrible she was, but as an adult, I can truly appreciate this concept.

At SalesPartners, I am surrounded by “big thinkers” and a group of business partners that “play a big game”.  Who are the six people you spend the most time with?  Do they empower you?  Do they inspire?  Will they push you to greatness?  Or…do they listen to you complain and give excuses?  Do they enable mediocrity?

Blair Singer, the author of Little Voice Mastery says this:

“Everyone of us has the capability of playing and winning a big game.  Not everyone will.  Little voices will determine the outcome.  Other people’s advice, worries, jealousy, resentment, and even their neuroses will stand in your way if you let them.”

Who are the six voices you allow to influence you?  Are they the voices of champions or do they quit when things get tough?  Do they justify and deny reality or do they take responsibility for their actions?  Do those six voices you surround yourself with push you further down the path toward becoming the best you can be?

Tina Lowe,  SalesPartners-NorthPoint

Boycott The Recession-Code of Honor

The answer to boycotting the recession is through sales, good business practice and doing more with less…and living by a Code of Honor.  It all starts between your ears with your attitude.  The moment you decide to change your attitude and actions, you’ll start spreading change around you.  Would living by the following Code of Honor change your life?

• I will not wait for nor depend on the government, Wall Street, or banking system to solve my challenges….nor will I blame them or others for those challenges.
• I am willing to serve, sell, trade and expand my network of like-minded people who also want to boycott the recession.
• I will advantage the most number of people that I can with the greatest value and at the least cost to them.
• I refuse to be a victim.
• I will take personal responsibility for all the results in my life…no blame, justification or denial.
• I will do whatever it takes as long as it is legal, ethical and moral to win.
• I will finish what I start.
• I will celebrate all wins.
• I will increase the mood level and enthusiasm of everyone I encounter.
• I will respect the point of view of others.
• I will honor all my agreements to the best of my ability.
• I will do my best to operate in full integrity at all times.
• I will never abandon a team mate or associate in need.

Thank you to www.boycottrecession.com for the Code of Honor!

Visit their website and join the petition to Boycott Recession!

Courtesy of:  http://www.boycottrecession.com/

The Day Amazon Died: by Blair Singer

"Little Voice" Mastery by Blair Singer

What is faster than a speeding bullet?  Faster than even the speed of light?   ….The speed of a thought!!!

As an entrepreneur, the last 72 hours have been the most amazing, frustrating and enlightening 72 hours of my entire 27 year business care

er.  I have watched an industry die and the power of a thought win.

On Tuesday, we did a massive launch of my new book Little Voice Mastery.  The primary goal was to drive the book to number one best selling status for one purpose only.   To build a community.  We are convinced that the message of Little Voice and winning the war between your ears is THE message for 2009 and beyond.   With nearly 31 incredible joint venture partners and over  a million people being reached….the book raced in rankings from over 200,000^th to 177 to 120 to 99 and then

Amazon died.  A measly several  hundred book orders overran their back order system and they shut us down.   With no one to talk to, since accounts are handled in India, the best that Amazon could do was issue a couple of Purchase Order’s . One for 20 and another for 30 books.   We pleaded with them to let us send them the thousands we had printed…but alas….Amazon bureaucracy won the day.

In my frustration, I suddenly realized that the goal had already been achieved.  The purpose for #1 was to get exposure to attract a community of like minded people who know that the secret to  2009 and beyond is to “Boycott the Recession” by eliminating the depression, recession, stagnation, etc. from your brain first!!!

That community was only one click away from reality had Amazon allowed them to place the order…but you know policy…all we wanted to do was build the community!  Yet, I realized we were dealing with an industry that was dying in front of my eyes….the book industry.  It’s an old idea that is too slow because of its “physicalness”, its warehouses, and its bloated bureaucracy.  It was like watching steamship companies trying to deal with the new Boeing 707’s in the 1960’s.  Too slow.

So, what was the goal?  A community of like minded people who, like our SalesPartners Franchise owners, have decided to “Boycott the Recession”  particularly the one between your ears.  (In a recent event in Northern California, Zig Ziglar and Rudy Guliani  approached several of our SalesPartners who were wearing BoycottRecession.com T-shirts and commented that they were right on!)

Why?  Because depression, recession, deflation and inflation are Little Voice issues that become economic issues if you cannot master them.   So what are we doing?  We are bypassing the old system.  2009 is about the speed of thought  and the speed with which you can control and direct those thoughts.

To all the people who flooded a non-responsive Amazon site and who know that that it is about your Little Voice…..we are giving the book away for free!!   All we wanted was the community anyway.  The SalesPartners business is improving the quality of life for everyone through transformation of the marketplace.  One way to transform it is to not allow yourself to get sucked into the paradigm of anything that slows you down, makes you small or inhibits the speed of your spirit.

Be awesome!

-Blair Singer    www.blairsinger.com

Do You “Play Above The Line”?

How many of you could use some more Cash Flow?  Great – we all could.  I have never met anybody that did not want more Cash Flow to come pouring into their world.  SalesPartners-NorthPoint has been working with thousands of entrepreneurs, business owners, sales teams, and sales professionals teaching, educating and showing them how to Increase Sales & Cash Flow 15-85% within weeks.  Below is one of the most fundamental principles to follow – “Playing Above the Line”.  If you want to increase sales and cash flow, then you will need to become aware and take on more responsibility.  What I mean by this statement is that you need to be willing to take full ownership and responsibility for where you are currently – your net present position.  Your sales and your cash flow are directly related to your behaviors, which can be tied directly to your mindset and attitude – especially as it relates to taking responsibility. Instead of being responsible, most people will fall into the following traps:

Denial – When things are tough and not going in the direction that you would like, most people will deny that they are actually suffering.  When asked how things are, they often respond by saying, “Things are good – just trying to get things going.

Lay Blame – After you move out of denial, you will tend to get defensive about your lackluster position and you will begin to lay blame on external forces like the economy, other people, your team, your friends, and sometimes your family.  Justify – I am sure none of you have done this.  If you cannot find somebody to blame, you will begin to justify your position by saying, “Nobody is making any sales in this economy” or if I just had more leads, then I could make some more sales, etc.

Quit – When all else fails, most folks will have run out of people, things, and circumstances to blame and so they do the inevitable – they quit! I challenge not to focus on external things to lay blame and justify your position with, instead play above the line and take full responsibility for your thoughts, actions, and results and I guarantee you will begin to attract the right resources into your life and you will find yourself in the right circumstances. Some call this being lucky – I call it being responsible.   There are many strategies to increasing sales and cash flow, but nothing makes sense unless you have the foundational pieces in place to optimize it and do it consistently.  When you know exactly how to implement the above 6 Steps – you control your future. Discover more on how to implement these critical 6 Steps.  Sign-up right now for SalesPartners Atlanta FREE online newsletters, videos, and audios to find out exactly how to do that – Go here http://www.SalesPartnersAtlanta.com

What Happend To The American Dream?

The American Dream was once about a house, a car, 2.5 kids, and a dog. Parents told their kids to stay in school, get a good job, and work hard. If they did, the dream could be theirs. Times have changed and so has the dream. Today the American Dream is about pursuing your passion and millions of Americans are turning their passions into businesses.

Unfortunately, many business owners find the day to day running of a business to be more like a nightmare than a dream. Passion is replaced by stress and worry. The decisions and challenges are mounting along with the expenses and they find themselves overwhelmed and alone.  If this is you, Sales Partner-North Point is here to help.

Benjamin Franklin, and later Albert Einstein, defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Yet, despite this well known and widely accepted wisdom, many business owners find themselves expecting, and at times demanding, growth from their organization based on nothing more than a ‘sell more’ mentality.

Years ago, during the ‘Mom and Pop’ era, a business could survive long term by simply offering a great product or service. As more and more people learned about the product or service, the business grew. They simply ‘sold more.’

Today, however, we live in unique economic times and the marketplace is more demanding and competitive than ever. Hundreds of thousands of business close their doors each year because they are unable to keep pace. Shareholders, investors, partners, family, and even the owners themselves demand growth.

Championship Mentality will be the difference between businesses that grow from good to great and those that get left behind.

Author:  Andy Lowe

President/CEO

SalesPartners-NorthPoint

The Three Hidden Elements of World Class Sales Teams

There are three hidden elements that are consistently seen in great sales teams that overlooked by average and bottom performing sales organizations. Caution when I share these it will be easy to dismiss them because of their simplicity. The hidden elements work, but the truth is most people arrogantly dismiss them to their own downfall.

DPA – Discipline, Practice, and Accountability. I told you it was simple. The fact is, if your organization converts less than 80% +/- of all prospects that you deal with then there is still room for meaningful improvement. A commitment to get clear on DPA and drive it into your sales team will make the largest and most impactful improvements in your sales performance.

Discipline:
Have you ever noticed that sales professionals tend to be a little high on the “independence” scale? The challenges are the same regardless of whether you are running a sales team in your own business, a large corporate sales department, or a direct selling/network marketing. Sales Management can be the most thankless job of cat herding ever forced on a person.

The challenge comes in dealing with all of the little voices related to an emotional word like “discipline”. For some, the word forms images of “waiting for Dad to get home”, or “sitting outside the principal’s office”. Discipline in that context is an outside event that “happens to you” and is generally negative.

Another form of discipline is like the marathon runner who wakes everyday and runs regardless of the weather. It’s a form of discipline that is a “quality inside of you”, a commitment to do today what others won’t, so you can live tomorrow like others can’t. The discpline to be great in sales is a commitment to doing the tough stuff, making the calls, doing the follow-up, and selling until the very last second and beyond to reach your goals and commitments.

Practice:
I hear more whining from sales people about practicing, role-playing, and objection handling than any other activity. But seriously, can you and your team really handle the heat of client scrutiny, or will they crack and come apart under pressure? Drilling of the elevator pitch, questioning skills, objection handling, and overall sales process is a critical daily, weekly, and monthly habit to establish.

Years ago, I was coaching a large network marketing organization and they brought in Blair to do a one day program. I joined in the fun for the objection handling portion and was shocked by how quickly the weak spots in every team member’s sales skills came raging to the surface. In that one instance there was no hiding it, you could either handle the pressure or you could not. Along with the Accountability, and the Discipline of DPA that organization took Blair’s system and literally more than doubled recruitment in a 90 day window. Failing to practice is practicing to fail.

Accountability:
You can only manage what you measure. You must establish clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and set a tempo for reviewing them with your team on a weekly basis. Start by defining 5 to 10 KPIs that you are going to track weekly. A solid commitment to this one area will net a minimum 15% to 20% in conversion ratios. They key to it is consistency. You must define and coach the gap between where you are with the results, and where you are committed to be.

For the next 90 days, I challenge you as a leader to implement DPA into you organization and track the results. I know that you’ll be positively stunned with the results.

Author:  Michael Cody CBC/FIBCI

Global Director of Franchise Operations

SalesPartners Worldwide

SalesPartners-NorthPoint is Blogging!

Thanks to Scott Dunn at Sonar Connects, SalesPartners-NorthPoint is on the blog scene.  We plan to add a new blog every two weeks.  The topics will pertain to Business, Sales, SalesPartners and Tips on How to Increase Your Sales and Grow Your Business.  SalesPartners is a global business with offices in the United States, Canada, Mexico, South Africa and Singapore.

Rich Dad's Advisors

Our team is backed by the proven methodologies and teachings of Robert Kiyosaki and Blair Singer.  Over the last 25 years, they have developed and implemented those strategies into some of the largest companies in the world.  Companies like IBM, Singapore Airlines, Dunkin’ Brands and Redken.  On a local level, our Atlanta Georgia team has been doing the exact same thing and driving major results.