You can start this week and year out with a big kick!  And a panel of sales experts will provide tips and ideas you can use to kick high!

Join me – and 4 other sales experts, Jonathan Farrington, Joanne Black, Nancy Nardin and Lori Richardson TOMORROW for a Roundtable discussion on Kicking Your Year Into  High Gear!  I’ve twisted Jonathan’s arm to offer FREE seats for you!   Just click here to register for what is sure to be an engaging and  helpful 60 minutes that will stretch your mind.

Hope to have you on the call!  I’ll announce how to get your FREE eBook on Achieving Your Goals during this roundtable.

Yes a free webinar!  If you don’t know Jonathan Farrington, you should.  He is very knowledgeable about sales -and is very witty with his delivery. It’s always a delight to be in his company!  (Okay, his British speak must be wearing off on me.)   He has great information to help you move to the top 5% players in sales!  And he is throwing in a few freebies when you sign up for his complimentary webinar on October 20th!

All the  informaiton you need is below:

So You Want To Be A Top 5% Player In The Game Of Sales? 

Recent exhaustive surveys suggest that only 5% of professional salespeople reach and remain at the highest level, which we call Level 3.  A further 15% attain Level 2 status, but the majority, i.e. a massive 80% remain at Level 1 in terms of potential achievement.

•  Level One salespeople sell products and depend on having the right technical solution for the customer’s specification. This is probably you.
• Level Two salespeople sell solutions, which changes their image from sales rep to business consultant and positions them as a potential strategic resource. Most salesmen and women manage to advance from Level 1 to Level 2 fairly easily but unfortunately; many find breaking through that final glass ceiling extremely difficult i.e. moving from competitive sales professionals to collaborative sales consultants. Or is this you?
•  Level Three salespeople are able to first identify and then capitalise upon the political component within the buying process. They develop and sustain strong commercial relationships at all levels within their accounts and these relationships endure because they are based on mutual respect and trust. Their clients feel secure, so secure, that they would be fearful of changing supplier.
  Level Three salespeople rarely, if ever, lose an order that they really want because they are always in control of the sales cycle. They have identified that in marketplaces where product uniqueness and technical expertise are no longer enough, it is they themselves, that make the difference i.e. their superior skills.
  This could be you!

What we can say for certain, is that successful selling has become an exclusive club of highly skilled professionals where, for example, product knowledge, time management skills, objection handling and closing skills are the cost of membership, not leadership.

Attendees will not only receive a FREE copy of Jonathan’s most recent EBook “The Changing Face of Professional Selling” (Value $19.95) but also the chance to take a FREE ASP Profile (Value $175)

Jonathan Farrington is Chairman of The Sales Corporation, CEO of Top Sales Associates and Senior Partner at The JF Consultancy based in London and Paris.    He is also the Chairman of the Executive Board over at Top Sales Experts, and heads up the selection panel for AllBusiness’s latest initiative to find the very best sales professionals on the planet.

You can find out more about him and what they are saying about him here.  Then you can accept my invitation to claim your FREE place for this significant event and register here – http://bit.ly/4wW1fc

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Participants from around the globe join the Top Sales Experts Masterclasses each week.  Hope you will too! 

Goal achievement…what successful business professional doesn’t want to achieve their goals?  None that I know of, yet things get in the way – barriers/obstacles that we call “life” sometimes do make it more difficult. 

The reality is, that sometimes the biggest barrier is us – our commitment falters and our follow through fails!  (In fact, I was going to title this post Commitment and Follow-through, but felt that most of you wouldn’t want to read it!)

A recent story:  Two months ago I re-affirmed my commitment to eating better and exercising regularly.  I have been dealing with a separated AC joint in my shoulder since a bad fall in 2007 and have easily found one excuse after another to do NOTHING instead of adjusting the type of exercise I could be doing.  Guess what?  Weight has crept on and my stamina was down.  With a trip to NYC this weekend, I am afraid I will be embarrassed by not finishing the climb to the top of the crown of the Statue of Liberty! 

So two month’s ago I took charge:  First, I made the commitment, then wrote it down as a realistic goal (I exercise 4 x a week for at least 30 minutes.) and next I moved to the follow-through by tracking my activity and progress.

In the first two weeks I focused on power walking…and within days felt the shin splints, so barrier one.  I figured that I could avoid that by using my pool – and that has worked VERY well.  I have been  diligent about making sure I was in that pool with my modified swim routine. My 13 year old daughter has taken it upon herself to check on my progress, and sometimes is at the edge of the pool keeping count for me!

I have found that I have built my stamina and increased my laps over the weeks.  Not bad!  Six weeks into it and I thought…”Okay, I’ve built the habit, mission accomplished.” 

Wrong!  It is really easy to be knocked off this path.  And this past weekend reminded me that new habits can become old habits quickly!  With lots of work and personal commitments, I hadn’t had time to get in my swim these last days.  Saturday night I was feeling the lack of my follow through and promised that I would get in for a last outdoor swim on Sunday (fall is on its’ way to Wisconsin). 

It looked like a beautiful day and my husband turned on the heater.  But after a very LONG Brewer’s game (we were invited to the Suites with a friend), I made excuses. When I got home and the temps had dropped into the 60s, the threat of rain was in the air, and my daughter backed out of a last-season swim, I walked away from the pool instead of getting in, it was so cold outside! 

Suddenly, I thought “What am I doing? I feel terrible that I haven’t done this and if I leave, I am another day behind”  I quickly turned and ran and jumped in…the water was 20 degrees warmer than the air and it felt wonderful! 

 But the obstacle wasn’t over yet…As I swam my laps, my mind was constantly “negotiating” with how many laps I should really do because the mosquitoes were out, it was rather dark and I could see lightning in the distance…but I just kept at it…and after a brief stop when my daughter yelled out the door to make sure I was really in the water and alive, I finished.  Then I did TWO more laps! 

I felt great!!!!  I slept great.  Follow through and commitment to our goals will do that.  The energy wasted on excuses, guilt, avoidance are usually more than the energy spent getting what needs to be done, done!

My tips for reaching your goals?

1. Set a realistic goal - include the what, when, where and NOW (write it as if you were already “there”.)
2. Commit to it – verbally and in writing. 
3. Identify your real reward for achieving the goal (climbing the stairs in NYC without passing out is mine.)
4. Share with a stakeholder - who knew my 13 year old would be so supportive?
5. Take action!
6. Don’t ignore the barriers that pop up, acknowledge them and work through them!
7. Celebrate your progress – don’t just wait for thee final end result. Many people need encouragement along the way.
8. Find yourself off track?  Review your goal. Renew your commitment. Revise the goal if necessary. 

My reward, climbing to the crown!

How’s that sound?  It’s Monday and the perfect day to look at what you have to do this week.  Not just the “To Dos’ – the REAL actions that are tied into your goals.  Pull out your goals, renew your commitment and identify at least ONE action you can take to progress toward achieving that goal.  Then follow through and DO it!

What do you think?  Does this work?  What ideas would you add to the list? 

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If one of your To Dos, is becoming more proficient at prospecting, I have an easy action for you this week!  

Over at Top Sales Experts, the most significant sales related online community in the world, five of the world’s top sales gurus gather together every month to present timely, relevant, and specific advice, all in one 60-minute highly interactive online-show.

Each TSE Roundtable addresses issues being faced by sales professionals everywhere, as we come out of the severest economic downturn ever.  This month:

OR Why not consider becoming a TSE VIP Member? Via me, membership costs just $25 per year and you get to listen to this and every other Roundtable for FREE – plus so much more Take the VIP Tour Today

If you want to increase YOUR sales, the good news is, that it starts with you!  The bad news is, that it starts with YOU!

Many sales professionals are having a record breaking year.  They have figured out the adjustments they needed to make to capitalize on what is happening in today’s economy.  One of the most dreaded adjustments has been the need to prospect more than ever!

That is why the Top Sales Expert Roundtable – What Top Producers Know About Prospecting That You Don’t - is so timely!  I’ve been invited to join some very knowledgeable sales experts – Jonathan Farrington, Tim Wackel, Cheryl Clausen, and Christian Maurer to give YOU great ideas for your prospecting.  Your investment is LOW and the potential returns HIGH!

Tuesday, September 29th at Noon Central is the time.  The rest of the details can be found by clicking on the image below.

Please click on the image to find out more – you can join this webinar AND dozens more in the next year for only a $25 annual members to TSE!  How’s that for an economic stimulus package?

If you really have NO funds, let me know.  I’m so confident these ideas will help you succeed and that you will have more funds next year to join, that I’ll pay your admission!!  Send me an email at Nancy@salesproinsider.com.

Top Sales Experts are ready to share with their vision for the future of  selling – an important topic for all us in this wonderful, crazy, rewarding and frustrating career of sales. 

The Kick-Off Event promises to deliver so much value in helping you understand the Future of Professional Selling.  Details below:

Join the debate, as five of the world’s leading sales gurus, discuss what professional selling will involve in five, ten, and even twenty year’s time

•      Does professional selling as we know it have a future?
•      What impact will Sales 2.0 have on the way we sell?
•      How will organizations train and develop their sales teams?
•      Today, what is the relative value derived from sales training courses versus coaching?
•      Will “one-size fits all” classroom training, be consigned to the annals of history?
•      Which industries are more likely to witness the death of selling as we know it today?
•      What can front-line salespeople do to protect themselves from possible extinction?
•      After this current financial meltdown, will lost jobs be re-created?
•      Will the rapid growth of online sales training and coaching continue?
•      Ongoing research shows that sales performance has been declining year after year.  Why?
•      Quite simply, will selling ever be the same again?

The Experts in this Roundtable include:  Jonathan Farringon, Jill Konrath, Linda Richardson, Dave Stein, Nigel Edelshain.

It sounds like a productive use of time for everyone in sales!  You can read more about me too at Top Sales Expert’s site…Nancy Bleeke