Your life has a purpose!
The quote to sum it all up for the week:
“Watch your thoughts for they become words.
Watch your words for they become actions.
Watch your actions for they become habits.
Watch your habits for they become your character.
And watch your character for it becomes your destiny.
What we think, we become.”
~Margaret Thatcher
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As we near the end of the year, I wish these thoughts for you:
1) I love my lover – what can I do this holiday season that will sweep (her/him) off their feet?
2) What can I provide that will make my kids happy today — and successful in the future?
3) What can I do to make someone else’s life more AWESOME?
4) How do I manage the pressures of the holiday with grace and ease, AND LOOK GOOD DOING IT?
5) How do I create a KILLER business plan for the New Year (sorry, I KNOW who you are).
Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/
May all your days be Merry and Bright. And may all your Christmases be loved UP!
The Irreverent Sales Girl
Today I was doing my cold calls.
I think about cold calls a lot, the more I talk with solopreneurs and budding salespeople.
Here’s what I realized.
There is a lot of mythology about cold-calling.
There are two visions that people conjure up when they think about cold-calling:
Either they imagine the frustrated cold-caller: locking his jaw, picking up the phone with a clenched fist, hoping that someone won’t actually answer the phone, “Please GOD Please, let it go to voice mail”. Then (when they answer) “Please GOD Please, let them be nice”.
OR
They imagine the Monster Cold-Caller: fangs dripping with the blood she anticipates from her victim.Going for it. Driving and driving and driving – like a machine mowing down everything in her path.
(Genders made up).
It’s not like that for me, and it doesn’t have to be that way
I am not going to pretend that calling on someone I do not know is ever easy. We have a natural resistance to being a pest and feeling like we are wasting someone’s time! THANK GOD for that resistance! It is not something to overcome. It is a reminder that you are an AWESOME human being.
Which brings me to the next mythology:
If you want to be a great cold-caller, you must have a thick skin
People imagine that the great cold-caller can take a “rejection – kick-in-the-teeth” call and move on. Not true.
It doesn’t work to have a thin skin, either, but perhaps the thickness of your skin has nothing to do with it.
A new paradigm
Imagine this. If you were a person who was passionate about your product. You had done as much research as possible about who you are calling to make a conversation about THEM (this takes about 2 minutes, tops!) and you are willilng to consider that there is another person on the other end of the line who has priorities in their day and their lives. And you KNEW that 3 out of every 10 people were going to respond to you favorably.
NOW, how does cold-calling look?
It starts to look like an interesting conversation. An opportunity to connect. A thought about how YOU can make a difference in someone else’s day.
Here’s the rub
There are four muscles YOU MUST develop as a ‘cold-caller’.
1) Creativity – get creative about how to reach the people who will care
2) Emotional Radar – learn to get in “someone else’s world” FAST
3) Vulnerability with Confidence – the ‘hardest’ of all, but the most rewarding
4) A system that you stick to – you’ve gotta do the work. Every week. Sorry!
If you can do those, the world is your oyster
And they are simple skills to build. And trainable. I have trained my sales staff to LOVE outreach. I have a hard time calling my cold-calling “cold”, ‘cuz it rarely is.
Let’s keep the conversation going. Just know that there are ways that you will be LIT UP by your cold calling. AND YOU WILL RULE!
Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/
Love your work UP!
The Irreverent Sales Girl
Now that I’ve got you humming THAT in your head.
2012 Goals – How do feelings play out?
I noticed something today. We are headed to the end of the year and I started reviewing the goals I had set for myself at the beginning of the year.
I set Minimum, Target, and Optimal goals for each area of my life. Health, Home, Finances, Work, you know the drill.
Minimum, Target, Optimal
Minimum…the absolute minimum that I want to achieve.
Target … the “good” goal
Optimal…the very best I could imagine in that area
(This is something I learned from Jack Canfield in “Efffortless Success”)
Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/
Which one did I NAIL? PUPPY!
Here’s what I noticed. There is one Optimal goal in particular…that I NAILED months ago. It happens to be the one that I have THE MOST EMOTION around.
When I got my puppy two years ago, we found out (at a very young age) that he has elbow dysplasia. A situation that can be crippling. Not years from now, crippling NOW. He was limping. I made my OPTIMAL goal that he would be healed (something the vets say is impossible). We haven’t done the x-rays yet – coming in December, but my puppy is HEALED, no limping, no pain, no signs.
When I found out about his situation, I was a WILD WOMAN. I was going to prove the authorities wrong. I have done EVERYTHING there is to do to make him better. And it has WORKED.
So, WHY not the other goals?
When I look at my other goals…I see that they looked like “nice to haves”. The ones that I had EMOTION around (even fear, sadness, worry), they got DONE. The ones that are less infused with emotion, not-so-much.
INTERESTING.
I’m actually a little disturbed. Some of the goals I set for myself…I really meant them. How do I conjure up FEELINGS … true FEELINGS for them? Am I so comfortable that I can only be driven by fear and worry for someone else? Am I only about the status quo until something bad is looming?
How do YOU make yourself care? I want to know!
Love your goals UP!
The Irreverent Sales Girl
For a moment, I forgot that what you expect from me is hard-hitting messages.
Things you can read in two minutes…
I was becoming a “blogger”…HA!
Here’s what I remembered (sorry I forgot). I am your VOICE OF REASON on the train in Manhattan at 5:30 in the morning.
I remind you of what you are up to and who you are with no fancy pictures or long essays…something you can take to the bank every day.
Thanks for letting me stray! I LOVE YOU!
Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/
Let’s play this game of day-to-day success together!
Love ’em UP!
The Irreverent Sales Girl
Every one of us needs someone to watch our back!
For those of you who are A-Drive achievers….this is not for you! You guys ALREADY rock and I love to know you! Move on…
For the others, we NEED Front-Stabbers. People who will call us on our “stuff”.
If you want to be WILDLY successful, I recommend you get an ACCOUNTABILITY partner. Someone you check in with from time-to-time.
Here’s how it works. Salespeople and solo-preteneurs RARELy get conversations with people who will HOLD THEM TO ACCOUNT!
Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/
So, find some people in your life who are UP TO BIG THINGS!
On a weekly basis, make promises to each other…then, RECORD YOUR RESULTS.
Don’t let each other off the hook! Record your results over time. How is the “group” doing? Make THAT important. No excuses!
For more information on how to create a POWER PACK… email me at salesgirl@irreverentsalesgirl.com. It will transform your life!
Love your life UP!
The Irreverent Sales Girl
As you might remember, I have been attending a GREAT BIG industry conference this week.
The other night, at a reception, I approached one of my favorite clients. I had my trusty sales assistant at my wing.
We were greeted warmly, by Client…who happened to be speaking with Prospect. Client introduced us to Propspect who perfunctorily shook our hands and then turned her back on us and started a new conversation with Client.
I stood next to Client (where I had been before). My wing assistant was a little crowded out by Prospect, and listened politely for a couple of minutes. When it was clear that Prospect was going to keep speaking with Client and ignoring us (I have never met this woman before), I touched Client’s arm and said “I’m going to grab a bite to eat, we’ll catch up later.” Client was gracious and Prospect at least had the decency to look a little embarrassed.
No, I’m not actually going to wait here to engage you in a conversation you do not want to have.
Throughout the conference
From time to time, we would see Prospect (there were a thousand people here, so it wasn’t often) and she always looked just downright snippy.
It’s not about you
About the third time we ran into Prospect with nary a glimpse of recognition, my trusty assistant leaned in and said. “You know. About 99% of the time that someone is nasty to you, it has nothing to do with you, but more about what’s going on with them.”
Left with compassion
When she said this, I immediately had compassion. I’m a pretty happy person and I love meeting new people. I thought, “Hmmmmm….Happy people tend to be really interested in other people. People who make a big fat difference in life seem to truly enjoy engaging.
And then I realized. She might just not be a very happy camper. And I left it alone.
Don’t let the nasties get you down
As I sit in my hotel room, preparing for the last leg of my conference, surrounded by the 20 serious connections I intended to make (and corresponding Thank You notes) and the dozen other REALLY inspiring people I got to know this week, I am reminded to focus on the great stuff I accomplished and let nasty Prospect deal with her own stuff. Which may be pretty serious stuff.
Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/
The point is:
Love ’em ALL UP! (and let the ones go who aren’t ready to return it).
The Irreverent Sales Girl
and never even knew we held the key.
NOT ME!
I was working with my business partner the other day, working on our strategy and business planning. A break from the selling to get more focused on the bigger future.
We started to explore some of the “low-hanging” fruit for ways to generate revenue. Things we could start marketing NOW and building a larger income base.
And then it struck me! These were all good ideas. And they could be sold. BUT, I WOULD HATE DOING THEM. Besides, they don’t give us any leverage to scale. They would only be a way to make a little more money in the short term, and they would lock us into commitments and marketing development and product development for at least the next nine months.
Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/
Something in the back of my head yelled STOP! (Thank goodness!)
It is OK to demand of my created business that it be fun and that I enjoy doing what we’re doing. I can always get a job that demands me to do stuff I don’t like. Why would I dare bring that into my own creation?
And then I saw, if I am patient and I keep doing the things I love, the money WILL take care of itself. I don’t need to worry about that right now. (Fortunately, I don’t need to worry about that now).
The point is – I realized how quickly I build prisons for myself when I am pursuing the the things I love. I approach my beloved projects with conversations from THE PAST which is exactly where I am moving away FROM!
Today, I will have the courage to envision my ideal future and keep trusting that it is mine to claim!
Hand me those keys, will you?
I was reading some research today about why people volunteer. I mean volunteering with nonprofits – getting involved with a cause. In every age group, the overwhelming reason that people say they volunteer is that they want to make a difference. It wasn’t a surprise to me. Mostly, I think people are wired to feel they are part of something bigger and that they make someone else’s life better.
It’s the same thing with the greatest salespeople I’ve ever known. They are out to make a real difference – for their customers, their society, their company, their families, themselves.
Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/
Here are the top characteristics of a salesperson who is out to make a difference:
1. They understand the big picture of what happens when people buy their products – the jobs it creates, the efficiencies it allows, the satisfaction that is achieved, the industry it improves.
2. They keep themselves educated in their field and their industry, so that they serve as a real resource to their prospective clients – whether they buy or not – because they are committed that people get the right solution.
3. They make sure they have a REASON to call on someone before they pick up the phone or write the email. A REASON that will matter to the person on the receiving end.
4. They stay in communication with customers to make sure that they are up-to-speed on the new things their customers may need, make sure that what they have sold is still working, and to fix issues that might have gone wrong. They are in the relationship for the long-term and interested in the performance of what they sold.
5. They make good on their promises and do whatever it takes to make their customer “whole” when they haven’t delivered EXACTLY how their customer expected them to. THEY take responsibility for the outcome of the sale.
Isn’t selling fun? It is wonderful when I know that I have made a REAL difference for people.
Love your peeps UP!
The Irreverent Sales Girl
Any of us who have read anything about time management, success principles, and managing activities know this one. Be sure you know how to distinguish between Urgent action items and Important action items.
Urgent items keep the ball in play.
Important items move the ball forward.
What can you move onto your list and do it before 5 pm today that is IMPORTANT and would move the ball forward in YOUR game?
Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/
I am placing a personal call directly to a Fortune 500 CEO today. What about you?
Love the Important stuff UP!
The Irreverent Sales Girl