Discovering The Common Denominator of Success

He had been brought up on the popular belief that the secret of success was hard work, but he had seen so many people work hard without succeeding and so many people succeed without working hard that he had become convinced that hard work was not the real secret even though in most cases it might be one of the requirements.  And so he set out on a voyage of discovery which carried him through the biographies of successful people and all sorts of dissertations on success until he finally reached the conclusion that the secret he was trying to discover lay not only in just what people did, but also in what made them do it.

The things that failures don't like to do are the very things that you and other human beings, including successful people, naturally don't like to do.  Have you have wondered why it seems that most successful people like to do the things that unsuccessful people don't like to do?  They don't!  So why do successful people do them?  Because they know that by doing the things they don't like to do, they can accomplish the things they want to achieve.  Successful people have developed a purpose strong enough to make them form the habit of doing things they don't like to do in order to accomplish their purpose.  Habits are paramount in understanding the common denominator of success.  Every single qualification for success is acquired through habit.  People form habits and habits form futures.  If you do not deliberately form good habits, then unconsciously you will form bad ones.  You are the product of your habits.

Resolutions or decision are worthless until you have formed the habit of making and keeping them.  As you focus your efforts on keeping your personal commitments each day, the time will come when you will wake up one morning a different person in a different world.  The resolution or decision has become a habit and the decision doesn't need to be made any more.  The reason for seeming like a different person living in a different world lies in the fact that for the first time in your life, you have become master of yourself, and master of your likes and dislikes through surrendering to your purpose.  In the final analysis, your future is not going to depend on economic conditions or outside influences or circumstances in which you have no control.  Your future is going to depend on the strength of your purpose in life.

Let me share the story of a young man who discovered this principle.  Bob had a definite purpose in life and it was definitely a sentimental and emotional purpose.  He wanted his son to go through college without having to work his way through as he had done.  He wanted to avoid for his little girl the hardships, which his own sister had to face in her childhood.  Bob wanted his wife and the mother of his children to enjoy the luxuries and comforts, and even the necessities, which had been denied his own mother.  To achieve this end, he was willing to commit to forming the habits of doing things he didn't like to do in order to accomplish his purpose.  Bob realized that the more he was willing to do for his wife and children, the more he could actually do for himself.  He had surrendered himself to his purpose and by so doing, was able to achieve his desires.

For as long as you live, don't ever forget that while you may succeed beyond your wildest dreams, you will never succeed beyond the purpose to which you are willing to surrender.  Furthermore, your surrender will not be complete until you have formed the habit of doing the things that failures don't like to do.

“The common denominator of success–the secret of success of every person who has ever been successful–lies in the fact that they formed the habit of doing things that failures don't like to do.”    

 –  Albert E. N. Gray

Enjoying The Fruits Of Sales Success

I’m in Hawaii this week with thirty-seven of my clients and staff, all of whom have earned a ten day luxury vacation because they reached their sales goals.  My clients generated $2.5 million dollars in new profit margin that represents about $10 million more in sales than they generated the year before.  For every dollar their employers spent on training, they got back $27 dollars in new profit margin.  Training should never be considered a cost, but rather an investment that will generate a great return.

We have spent the past several days on the beaches, and the mountains of Kauai having the time of our lives.  With several more days until we return, I’m just going to savor the rewards of a job well done.  At the same time, I’m going to ponder the reasons they are tasting the sweet joy found only through sales success.  I don’t measure success in terms of money earned, but rather, the true enjoyment found in using that money for those things that will provide joy and happiness.  All the hard work and focused effort during the past twelve months has been worth it.

Each salesperson with their spouse traveling with us this week has achieved greater success this past year through goals setting.  They have realized increased performance through daily planning and organization.  They have consistently and effectively used the hours of each day to proactively accomplish their own agenda instead of reactively dealing with the shallow demands of others.   They have prioritized their own activities, and tactfully assessed the needs and demands of customers and management.  These clients comprehend the four quadrants of time and work diligently to focus specifically on those things that are important but not urgent, giving them the peace of mind that quietly and firmly spells success.

These clients enjoying ten days in paradise, spent time each day and each week finding new opportunities.  They effectively assess prospect’s needs and present the very best solutions.  These salespeople know how to “romance the sale.”  They constantly provide materials that will help in the decision making process.  They understand the value in “being there” when the purchasing decision is made allowing their influence to become part of the decision making process.  These salespeople effectively monitor customer satisfaction and engage their “happy satisfied customers” in the referral process through introductions and letters of recommendation.  The sales training and coaching clients of The Business Performance Groups, who are enjoying the fruits of their labors while vacationing in Hawaii this week, are professionals in every sense of the word.  Their commission checks and life style are proof positive.

Here are just a few of the rewards enjoyed by our sales people in Kauai this week:  Gorgeous waterfalls, the majesty of Waimea Canyon, miles of pristine beaches, crystal clear turquoise water, surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving, Na Pali Coast at sunset, swinging from a rope and dropping into a deep pond at the base of Kipu Falls, hiking mountain trails to discover beautiful sights beyond description, soaking up rays on white sand beaches, cooling off with shave ice, savoring the juicy taste of an Hawaiian BBQ, breath taking sunsets and sunrises over the beautiful Pacific Ocean and the satisfaction of knowing that this fabulous vacation and many more in the future are the result of their skills and consistent sales effort.
 

Have I Ever Told You How Much I Love A Career In Sales?

I was reminiscing the other day about my sales career.  For the first twenty-five years I earned a very lucrative salary, which was complimented with annual performance bonuses, stock options and a generous travel budget.  When I started my own company, all of that changed and my compensation effectively became a commission.  The biggest concern with the change in my compensation plan came from my wife.  She wanted security and I wanted the freedom of an unlimited income.  She actually made the comment, “Why don’t you get a real job.”  I asked her what she meant by that, and her explanation was, “You know, when a company deposits money in our checking account every two weeks and we just know it will be there!”  

What she didn’t understand was that the security of an income rested with me and not the company.  Every day there are those companies that promise a salary, but go out of business or let salaried employees go.  Commissioned salespeople that really perform, on the other hand, are less likely to lose their jobs.  It has been many years since my wife verbalized her concerns about “real jobs” and commission income.  In fact, when she wants to purchase something outside of our regular household budget, she will say to me, “make another sale so we can purchase such and such.”  She really gets it.  Salespeople can have whatever they want; all they need to do is sell more.

This past week I have trained five workshops dealing with the principles and skills that make salespeople successful.  These are the very principles and skills that provide salespeople with an unlimited income, the skills that allow salespeople to enjoy the finer things of life.  These are the principles and skills that when applied, enable salespeople to have their best sales month ever.  Top sales performers enjoy an income that is in the top 5% of all wage earners.  In one of the workshops last week we had six sales people who achieved their best sales month ever!  Each of those salespeople sold more than 300% of their prior twelve-month average.  One of those people even had their territory cut in half and still managed to have his best month ever.

This week we will be traveling to Hawaii for ten days with thirty-seven of our clients and staff.  They have all earned a luxury vacation on the island of Kauai through achieving their sales goals for the past twelve months.  What have they done to enable them to reach their goals?  They have put into practice the principles and skills of selling.  Some of these principles and skills deal with time management, visualizing success, how to close the sale and ask for more, prospecting and referrals.  They have learned to use sales tools such as goal sheets, prospect data sheets, ten most wanted lists, bucket of happy satisfied customers and have determined what is humanly possible.  They have learned how to speak the language of personality types allowing them to communicate effectively and to sell to each of the four different personalities.  They don’t just know about personalities, they speak the language.  They have learned how to dress for sales success and how to diagnose needs and how to resolve concerns.  They know how to identify the four sales qualifiers and how to use their existing customers to facilitate closing more sales with their prospects.  These salespeople who will enjoy an all expense paid luxury vacation as a reward for their sales performance are all enjoying a significant increase in their income.  On average they have doubled their income.

Have I told you recently how much I love my career in sales?  You too can find greater joy in sales when you learn and apply the correct principles and skills.  Read, study, educate yourself and enjoy partaking of the fruits of the greatest and oldest profession in the world.

Time Management - An Essential Principle For Sales Success

Life, its all about time. Here are some truths about time that you might not have considered lately: There is never enough time. You can’t save time. You can’t stop, freeze, delay, slow it down, speed it up, or alter time in any way. You can’t make time. Time is money. The truth of the matter is this – there is only one thing in the entire world that you can do with time and that is to manage it. Learn to do it well.

For some people, time is too short. For others it moves too quickly. There are those who claim time just drags on day after day. I’ve heard some people complain that there is never enough time and we all know people who have too much time on their hands. I’ve made an interesting observation over the years. Successful people always have just enough time, but unsuccessful people never have enough time.

Time is a continuum. It exists and moves forward without the influence of man. We have absolutely no control over time; to quote the words of the song, Old Man River, “it just keeps moving along”. We talk about time in terms of time zones, time frames, time outs, good times, bad times, time to arrive and time to leave. Some familiar times are: time to get up, time to go to bed, time to go to work, time to eat, summer time, spring time, etc. Even the Bible talks about time in Ecclesiastes:

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Successful people in all walks of life have learned how to manage their time. To be successful in the world of selling, you too, must learn how to manage your time. For those salespeople who don’t effectively manage their time, time will manage them. Time has no idea what you want to do with your time, so when you let time manage you, the results will be a disaster. Here are a few simple rules for managing your time.

1. Decide what you want to accomplish with your time.
2. Plan a specific time to do those things you have decided to accomplish.
3. Determine before you begin, how much time you are going to spend on each thing you have planned to accomplish with your time.
4. There will always be enough time if you manage it wisely and never enough time if you squander it.
5. Time doesn’t care what you do with it or how you use it. You can use it for value or waste.
6. Time is continually moving and if you don’t move with it will pass you by. Remember, time continues to move even when you don’t.
7. With time, there is no “time out.” For every second of your life, it is “time in.”
8. No one knows how much time they have until their time has come to an end. For those who use their time wisely, all the time they have is enough. For those who waste their time, their time is too short.
9. For those who live life successfully, by any definition, it can be said that they effectively managed their time.
10. In the entire world, there has never been, and never will be, a successful salesperson who didn’t effectively manage their time.

Successful salespeople manage their time consistently and daily. They have calculated the value of their time in both dollars as well as social value. Think of time as money or social activity falling from the sky. You can catch as much or as little as you chose. It is up to you. What are you willing to do with your time. Are you willing to learn and apply correct principles of management to get the most out of your time or will you just let it pass you by?