Welcome to some great ideas on sales and marketing and leadership for you today
What you will find here?
- Pebble in your shoe????
- The three-letter word that makes a difference…
- Questions to get sales answers
- The Power of Kindness
- Richard’s thoughts:
Pebble in your shoe ????
An excerpt from
The Pebble in the Shoe
by Jim Fannin “When I speak, I tell people this. ‘I can’t make you a champion, but I can teach you
how to think like one.'”
What’s your pebble?
Everyone has had a pebble in his or her shoe. You may have one or two now. It’s the small, nagging thoughts that eventually weigh you down. Some pebbles have been hidden, undetected for years. Others push, prod, and make their presence felt every day. Each pebble intrudes into the lives of the unsuspecting. At different times in life, the pebbles arrive. Although they are small and mostly undetected, they represent many unresolved thoughts, images and experiences.
Some are pebbles of doubt. They form from a single thought that occurred years, months or weeks before. Some pebbles are lodged only in your business shoes. Some reside in the house slippers that you tuck under your bed. Some pebbles find their way into your golf shoes while others form in the shoes worn while you parent. Unfortunately, some pebbles travel in all your shoes regardless of where you walk or run.
Some pebbles are of fear. Others are created from guilt, rejection or shame. Maybe not today, but they eventually arrive unannounced and usually at the most inappropriate time. What challenges do they present? To run the marathon race of life at your most efficient speed, you must be free of embarrassment, guilt, rejection, fear, envy, jealousy, anger, impatience, frustration and worry.
All can be lodged in any shoe, from a pair of loafers worn by a city dweller in Manhattan to a pair of boots on a farm in Montana. These intangible pebbles are crippling. They destroy relationships. They contribute to overeating and gaining unhealthy weight. They coax us into drugs, alcohol and other addictions. They destroy families and alienate friends. They thwart the potential of our children and physically snuff extra years from our life.
These are the pebbles in the shoe. The pebble can cause you to quit or perform with complete indifference. It can help instigate a fight or add disrespectful silence to an otherwise dynamic relationship. Even the desire for fame, fortune or power can turn into a pebble in your shoe if left undetected. Most pebbles stir up the past, cloud the future and keep the present in a blink of an eye. Like a garden that’s been freshly tilled, a pebble can reappear without warning or detection. Prevention and removal are your only options for simplicity, balance and abundance.
A three-letter word that makes a difference…The most powerful three-letter word a leader can use
Kids love to declare that they’re not good at something. They usually do it just after they try something new and challenging and they say it with finality as if issuing a verdict. ? I’m not good at maths!? or, I’m not good at football.? At that moment, our normal parental/teacher /coach instinct is to fix the situation. To boost the kid up by saying something persuasive like, Oh yes you
are!? Which never works, because it puts the kid in the position of actively defending their ineptitude.
It’s a lose-lose situation. It’s the same with adults. I have been in so many businesses where the resident cynics announce that a new change is doomed to failure. We don’t do change here, I was once told. So here’s another idea: ignore the instinct to fix things. Don’t try to persuade. Instead, simply add the word yet. Have you added the yet? quietly, in a matter-of-fact tone, as if you were describing the weather or the law of gravity.
- I’m not good at maths? becomes, You’re not good at maths yet.
- I’m not good at football? becomes, You are not good at football yet.
- I’m not good at IT? becomes, You’re not good at IT yet.
The message is: Of course, you’re not good? because you haven’t worked at it. But when you do, you will be good. At first glance, it seems silly? how can just one word make a difference?
Questions to get sales answers…
Basic Openers. The first priority is to learn as much as you can about pain points and what the current environment is like:
- What is your biggest challenge, and what do you think the cause is?
- How long has it been going on?
- Are you doing anything about it currently, or have you in the past?
- If you could solve it, what would it be worth?
Staying on Track. While you don’t want to control the conversation too overtly, you need to focus on gaining an understanding of how they can benefit from a relationship with you. Use follow-up questions for clarity, such as:
- Can you give me a little more detail about that?
- Could you give me a specific example?
- How often does this happen?
Show Me the Money. Finding the decision-maker and/or economic buyer (the person who can sign the check) is paramount. If you are not sure, ask:
- Whose budget would this come from?
- Who can immediately approve this project or support this initiative?
- Can you help me better understand your purchasing process?
Back Pocket Questions. These are all-purpose but particularly useful when you hear objections:
- Why do you say that about…?
- Can you help me better understand…?
The Power of Kindness
A story from www.simpletruths.com is the best place to watch movies that are inspirational.
An Excerpt from The Power of Kindness:
The year was 1863, on a spring day in Northern Pennsylvania. A poor boy was selling goods door-to-door to pay his way through school. He realized he had only a dime left, and that he was hungry. So he decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door.
Instead of a meal, he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry and so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?” “You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.” He said, “Then I thank you from my heart.” As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only
felt stronger physically but his faith in God and man was strengthened also. He had been ready to give up and quit.
Years later, that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, he went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor’s gown, he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day, he gave special attention to the case.
After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr Kelly requested the business office to pass the final billing to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge, and the bill was
sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally, she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words: “PAID IN FULL WITH ONE GLASS OF MILK…”
(Signed)
Dr. Howard Kelly*
Contact Us
Simple Truths, LLC
1952 McDowell Rd Ste 300
Naperville, IL 60563, United States
Phone: 800-900-3427 / 630-946-1460
2012, Simple Truths, LLC. All rights reserved.
Richard’s thoughts…..
Do you realise it is only 11 weeks to Christmas 2013, and we have had a very good year to date across the Geewiz world… growth in most countries, skill increases from training and lots of actions undertaken. As I enjoyed my grandson’s 3rd birthday by riding with him on a model train and sharing his delight with 10 friends at his presents and the looks of joy on his parents’ faces reminded me of the importance of family leisure time and spending learning time with our young growing people to help them cope with the rapid changes of technology… the touchpad, the I pad, the smartphones are exciting and enabling us to achieve so much yet we still need to learn conversation language…..
With my Rotary club, we have achieved 23 projects in the last 12 weeks making a difference in our community and we were busy enjoying ourselves getting so much done, one project stood out for me, “giving Illustrated dictionaries to 9 year old school kids at their schools and the feedback when they received heir gift of learning, personalised with their names” It just makes you feel so great!”
But in business, I helped my clients have so many wins and successes, new strategies, solving problems, adding new business, regaining customer segments, restoring profitability, getting
communications to work fast, creating web solutions, and so much more sales and marketing success, and the seminars and conferences I lead presentations at, changed the participants
actions for the better….
Yes, and I even have had my car sign written all over to promote the brand… lots of wins …. Geewiz makes things happen.
Testimonials:
Thanks richard all these photos are great.
You also did a great job during this two weeks a customers are asking for more.
Looking forward to seeing when you come back CyrilTonga TBEC
Richard, it is you that needs the thanking. Heather and I really appreciated you taking the time to come down to be on the show today and I am so grateful for your help after the interview, I have already been in and changed some of my words on the website, thank you so much for your inspiration and time.
FM 89 Radio show hosts
