All this week we’ve been talking about how to THINK Like a BLACK BELT to make more sales. Today let’s talk about what happens when you don’t…

…make the sale, that is.

“Knocked down 7 times…get up 8.” ~Ancient martial arts proverb

Simple, not easy, eh?

Well, whoever the hell told you it was going to be easy was a liar!

The path to success is rarely a straight line. Most successes are the culmination of a series of failures occasionally punctuated by moments of success along the way.

Technical sales tactics include getting more people into your prospecting stream, widening the funnel and qualifying your prospects so you spend more time with those likely to close.

OK- all of those things are important. But- no matter what you’re going to lose once in a while. If you’re new the sales adventure, you might lose a lot.

How do you get through the tough times?

Perseverance!

You can’t possibly know with full certainty that you’ll close every sales attempt. You must believe that some of them will and you must believe that even when you’re on a losing streak, you’ve got a shot to win the next one.

Yes- I said “believe.” This is what belief and faith are for!

Genuine faith comes from practice. Even the major religions admit that one! You don’t build faith just by saying so- you build genuine faith by doing- through practice.

So- what can you do to develop perseverance…to get you through the slumps?

There are any number of reasons for failure, in life as well as in sales. Understand that some of these reasons are within your control, and some of them aren’t.

Focus on what you can control:

• Keep learning
• Keep training
• Analyze failure, then let it go
• Avoid personalizing a failure
• Move on to the next fight

Focus on the present moment:

• Decide what you can do right here and right now…
• And do it!

Look- there’s no magic pill that gets you through the tough times. I know- I used to try to get through the tough times with a lot of magic pills…didn’t work.

What gets you through the tough times is a conscious dedication to doing what it takes to move one small step forward.

Even though it might not feel like it at the time, each small advance is really what produces your eventual success.

When I was boxing, my trainer used to tell me, “Don’t worry. You always learn more when you lose.”

Of course, he’d usually say this when my broken, bloody nose was hanging off my face!

Anyway- he’d take a pause for dramatic effect…and then add…“But some days you just don’t freakin’ feel like learning anything!”

That’s the way life is, in sales or in anything else we do.

Winning is great, but nobody can avoid losing once in a while.

I don’t mind losing…well I do mind losing- but I’ve learned to accept it; as long as I know I’ve done my best. That’s how I get through the tough times.

I know that if I’m sincerely doing my best, I’m moving forward, win or lose…whether it feels that way at the time or not.

I’ll leave you with the words of the immortal sage, Vince Lombardi…

“The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That’s real glory. That’s the essence of it.” ~Vince Lombardi

CALLING ENTREPRENEURIAL WOMEN IN MAINE! Join us in Freeport, Maine on May 16th to network with other women entrepreneurs, discuss challenges and solutions, enjoy some nice mimosas and of course, learn how to THINK Like a BLACK BELT!

Click here for details and early registration!

AND…Marketing Your Mastery 1/2 Day Boot Camp

Coming to Freeport, Maine…May 29th!

Click here to SAVE 50% with Early Registration!

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May 17, 2013
Categories: Business Life, Events, Inspiration & Motivation, Self-Esteem & Confidence . Tags: Jim Bouchard, Think Like a Black Belt, Black Belt Mindset, motivational speaker, conference speaker, personal development, confidence, business, self-confidence, focus, resilience, self improvement, success, discipline, achievement, power, entrepreneurship, sales, empowerment . Author: jimbouchard . Comments: Leave a Comment

Last post I talked about Confidence. If you missed that post click here…

Quick review:

You sell more when you are:

• Charismatic
• Trustworthy
• Genuine

The most effective sales people build trust very quickly. You might argue that it takes time to build authentic trust that assures customer loyalty- and to a degree you’d be right.

However…

There is a way a to earn the trust of a prospect or new customer right away- at least enough to make the first sale…

These days you’d better communicate your trustworthiness quickly, or you’ll lose that sale to someone who can.

The secret is Mastery…

The Samurai dedicated themselves completely to a live of training, focus and practice. They became Masters of their craft.

A few weeks ago I walked into my favorite big box music store. I wanted to buy an electronic drum pad. Naturally, I went first to the drum department…

A nice young man greets me and asks if he can help.

“Sure! I’d like an electronic multi-pad unit that has MIDI output so I can record drum tracks on my computer- without me needing an engineering degree!”

Long story short- he didn’t know! Ummmm…

He was very willing to point me over to the display. Had he been paying any attention at all, he would have noticed that I had been staring dumbfounded at same display for the past 10 minutes unable to make heads nor tails of it.

So- he sends me to the “pro-audio” department…

Another nice young man is assembling a keyboard. He pauses to ask me if he can help. I repeat my request.

He launches into a stream of technical jargon and obscure product codes. Did he not hear the part about me not having an engineering degree?

Ultimately, he concedes that he doesn’t really know that much about drum pads…and that I should go ask someone in the drum department.

Ummmm…

But wait! He has an idea!

He describes one unit he thinks might fit the bill. His suggestion:

That I should buy this particular unit- which comes with a detailed instruction manual- which would tell me if that unit would do what I want!

WTF? Spend a thousand dollars to buy a piece of equipment so I can access the instructions to see if it will work?

Longer story even shorter- I walked out of the store…a store in which I have spent thousands of dollars, opened my iPad and started to do my own research.

Within seconds I found a video review of a product I had never heard of. The video featured a knowledgeable musician playing this particular unit and explaining in layman’s terms exactly what it could do.

This guy obviously knew what he was talking about…and he answered all my questions! Thanks Sam Ash!

Where did I buy the unit? And yes- they had the exact same piece at the first store.

Mastery is the continuing process of learning, growing and developing your talents and abilities.

Here’s how you become a Samurai Sales Master:

• Study everything your product or service…
• Understand your customer’s perspective…how your customer uses your product or service…
• Practice using your product or service yourself…
• Know where to go for answers if you don’t have them…
• Anticipate every conceivable variable your customer might throw at you

Shouldn’t all of this be obvious?

I won’t get into a tirade about why so many front-line sales reps don’t know what the hell they’re doing. Frankly, I don’t want to hear the excuses…and I’ve heard more excuses from business owners and mangers than from the troops on the ground.

You either become a Master of your product or service, or lose the sale to someone who is. It’s really that simple.

I’m going to emphasize that you don’t have to be a “know-it-all” to be a Master. In fact, many know-it-alls lack the practical experience that makes them a genuine Master. A genuine Master, to paraphrase the ancient sage Lao Tzu, is aware of what he doesn’t know and is fully aware that he can’t know everything.

The genuine Master might not know an answer- but he knows how to get it.

Apply this concept in sales and you become the “go-to” source for your prospects and customers. They know that even if you don’t have the answer- you’ll find it for them.

Professor Nick Cerio taught that earning a Black Belt is simply the development of a great learning attitude. A true Master, above all, knows how to learn.

That’s why the genuine Master is always a student first…and a student always.

The genuine Master learns more from his students than his students will ever learn from him. A student at any given time has only one Master- but the Master is learning from many students!

Apply that concept in sales! Learn from every customer…every sales opportunity.

An average sales person talks the talk.

A Samurai Sales Master walks the walk!

Throughout the week you’ll learn how to sell more, earn the long-term trust that builds repeat business and how to get through the tough times…

AND…Marketing Your Mastery 1/2 Day Boot Camp

Coming to Freeport, Maine…May 29th!

Click here to SAVE 50% with Early Registration!

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May 15, 2013
Categories: Business Life, Events, Inspiration & Motivation, Self-Esteem & Confidence . Tags: achievement, Black Belt Mindset, business, conference speaker, confidence, discipline, empowerment, entrepreneurship, focus, Jim Bouchard, motivational speaker, personal development, power, resilience, sales, self improvement, self-confidence, success, Think Like a Black Belt . Author: jimbouchard . Comments: Leave a Comment

This week, it’s all about sales...

You are a sales rep- whether you officially call yourself one or not.

You may actually be employed in sales or operate your own business. In either case your living depends directly on your ability to connect a client or customer directly to a product or service- and get them to pay for it!

Or…you might be:

• Looking for a job
• Applying for a promotion
• Pitching a new idea to supervisors
• Sharing a new strategy with employees
• Trying to get your kids to behave themselves!

In those examples, what you’re really selling is you. I’d argue that all successful sales people really sell themselves- and that’s what we’ll talk about throughout the week.

Sales is nothing more than establishing a connection between someone who has a particular need or desire, and someone who can deliver what they want. Of course, successful sales ends in a transaction- the “prospect” buys what you have to sell.

Want to sell more? THINK Like a BLACK BELT!

I’ve been in business for myself for nearly 30 years. I’ve tried every sales “system” or “process” I could get my hands on. I’ve studied dozens more. Some of them were terrific- others not so much.

The only truly consistent truth I’ve found in my experience is this:

No sales system works unless you’ve got the right mindset.

What is the right mindset for a successful sales person?

Anyone who has ever been trained in any particular sales system can identify with these two scenarios:

There is always someone who follows the system to the letter- and couldn’t sell cool water in the middle of the desert.

There is someone who breaks every rule- and breaks every sales record.

That’s because very few sales systems address the most fundamental characteristics of successful sales people.

People who sell effectively are:

• Charismatic
• Trustworthy

And the rep who sells MOST effectively and earns long-term customer loyalty is…

…Genuine.

We’ll get to charisma in a minute, but being trustworthy and genuine are not enough in sales. You’ve got to be able to communicate to your prospects and customers that you deserve their trust and that you are genuine.

Now for charisma…

Most people, and far too many sales managers think that charisma is something you’re born with. That’s why you tend to hire sales reps that are already charismatic- but charisma without integrity and sincerity might help you sell junk, but is not the stuff of a sales career.

Think “tin man,” the iconic fast-talking used car salesman.

I’d rather start a person in sales who is trustworthy and genuine- we’ll work on the charisma. Here’s how:

Charisma is most of all the outward manifestation of the Black Belt Mindset Characteristic of “Confidence.” We’re naturally attracted to- and tend to put more trust in someone who is genuinely confident.

How do you get that way?

Practice!

Confidence is the product of training, preparation and practice.

Confidence is not a surety in a particular outcome- that’s why the most confident sales people can walk away from a sale that is not in the best interest of the prospect…or the sales rep, in the long term.

Confidence is knowing that you’ve trained as hard as you can and you deserve to be in the ring. In sales:

• It’s knowing your product or service inside and out
• It’s studying and practicing the sales process
• It’s developing your ability to listen and engage fully in the needs of the prospect

Most of all, like the legendary Samurai warrior, it’s learning to let go of your ego and dedicate yourself fully to service…in this case to your customer rather than the emperor!

Learn to THINK Like a BLACK BELT and you become a sales warrior- the Samurai Sales rep!

Throughout the week you’ll learn how to sell more, earn the long-term trust that builds repeat business and how to get through the tough times…

CALLING ENTREPRENEURIAL WOMEN IN MAINE! Join us in Freeport, Maine on May 16th to network with other women entrepreneurs, discuss challenges and solutions, enjoy some nice mimosas and of course, learn how to THINK Like a BLACK BELT!

Click here for details and early registration!

AND…Marketing Your Mastery 1/2 Day Boot Camp

Coming to Freeport, Maine…May 29th!

Click here to SAVE 50% with Early Registration!

__________________________________

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May 13, 2013
Categories: Business Life, Events, Inspiration & Motivation, Self-Esteem & Confidence . Tags: achievement, Black Belt Mindset, business, conference speaker, confidence, discipline, empowerment, entrepreneurship, focus, Jim Bouchard, motivational speaker, personal development, power, resilience, sales, self improvement, self-confidence, success, Think Like a Black Belt . Author: jimbouchard . Comments: 1 Comment