Ever wonder how top performers got to be so great? Well, for one thing, they didn’t let the enemies of greatness hold them back.

This article, the Six Enemies of Greatness from Jessica Hagy on Forbes.com got me thinking.

Jessica lists these enemies of Greatness:

1. Availability – settling for what is there in front of you
2. Ignorance – not knowing how to make something great, or that greatness is possible
3. Committees – seeking consensus before acting, often driven by the lowest common denomonitator
4. Comfort – the intersection of tried, tired, and true
5. Momentum – rather the lack of – being in a rut. Some call it complacency and 
6. Passivity – different than complacency, passivity is letting others take control for you.

These are the same in your sales efforts! You can let these six reasons keep you from greatness, or you can take Initiative to be:

1. A Seeker – seek what you need to be successful, the right prospects, tools, and processes.
2. Knowledgeable – be a student of your solution, industry and customers.
3. Independent – you don’t need to go it alone, but don’t wait for permission from others on a course of action. 
4. Focused – decide on your target – where you want to be and a plan for getting there. 
5. Action – Do! Be proactive with your time, energy and efforts. The sellers that DO, succeed.

Greatness is within you. You just have to access it.

I suggest reading the article on Forbes.com, the visuals that go with the story, are more powerful than the words!

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Have you ever considered how you might speak a different language than your buyer?

Even if you both speak English, or Spanish, or French, or Chinese, the words and terms you use may be ‘foreign’ to each other. Add to the fact that many of us do work with global buyers and we also have real language challenges. In either case, I am constantly amazed at the different connotations of words and phrases.

For example today is May 1st. Often called May Day. For me its a happy reference and a celebration of spring. I envision young girls in pastel dresses around the May Day pole. 

In other countries its a holiday to recognize organized labor, a day of political protests and sometimes a holiday!

Mayday, as in” mayday, mayday” is also a distress signal in radio communications. 

A simple term like May Day has many different meanings, connotations and can create different emotional reactions when someone hears it.

It’s one of thousands of examples of how we can think or mean one thing to us and something VERY different to the recipient ? 

And this ‘miss’ leads to interesting dynamics at times, doesn’t it?

• The seller mentions a guarantee, and the buyer immediately connects their own experiences to the guarantee. 
• The seller mentions quick turnaround or fast delivery, and the buyer immediately has an expectation of the date in their mind.
• The buyer mentions that he has a question, and the seller immediately thinks of objections and how to ‘win’.
• The buyer says that she is the decision maker, and the seller does not ask for more information to qualify.

The potential issues here are MISSED expectations leading to missed opportunities and missed connectivity. It leads to barriers and dissatisfaction later.

To ensure that your communications and conversations are understood and the correct expectations are defined, clarifying questions and discussions need to be used. It’s okay to say: 

• “Tell me more…” 
• “I want to ensure we are on the same page, what do you mean by….?” 
• “This word or term can mean different things, let me explain what fast delivery is for our solution.”

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Feeling like you are in a sales slump? You know, the type of slump where you just aren’t sure why sales aren’t progressing or why your buyers are not returning your calls, and wonder how you can get out of it fast?

If so, join a dear friend and colleague, Kim Duke, “The Sales Diva” for the New Women in Sales Webinar: Sales Slumps: How to Avoid Them and How to Climb Out of Them.  

Kim is high energy, full of MANY tips, and entertaining. You can register here for the free webinar.

More details: 

Thursday, April 19th at 1 p.m. Eastern 

Sponsored by Verizon Wireless (There is no cost for this webinar) 

Do you have the uneasy feeling that your SALES ARE WILTING?

You were busy getting customers. Life was good. And then, all of a sudden sales just dried up.

SALES SLUMPS: Those times when you just can’t find your selling rhythm. When you can’t seem to close the sale despite your best effort. When each sale that you do get seems much harder than it ever was before. When you are working harder than ever but your sales are down and the pressure is on. Slumps leave you . . .

• wondering WHAT HAPPENED??

• worried it is going to last FOREVER

• NOT SURE what to do to FIX IT

• PANICKING about sales for the next few months and BEYOND.

Breathe easy – help has arrived!

Kim Duke, Founder of www.salesdivas.com, is an international sales expert for women in business and she’s here to KICKSTART YOU out of your SALES SLUMP! She’s worked with some of the top companies and franchises in North America (like the NBA), the US Business Administration and thousands of entrepreneurs. In this Women in Sales Webinar you’ll learn:

• WHY your sales have dried up

• WHAT CAUSED your nasty SLUMP

• HOW TO FIX your SLUMP now!

• How to tap the money RIGHT UNDER YOUR NOSE and start closing business today.

Look, we have all been there; and whether you are in a slump now or sailing along on easy street, this is a webinar that you don’t want to miss, because one way or another you’re going to need these lessons.

Register Now. The free Verizon series of seminars offers timely topics and tips for anyone in sales. Just last Ausgust, Alice Kemper and I shared our tips to hundreds of sales people – and the number of attendees for these keep growing, indicating the value being given.

Make the time and get yourself out of the slump and into more sales!

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Well, it has been too long since I have posted. I have many reasons why I have gone ‘dark’ – two huge client projects, technology issues that led me to high levels of frustration in trying to post, and the book I am in the midst of writing.

This morning though, I look at this list I just wrote and think, “So what?” We all have a lot to do, how important is it to keep in touch,  keep providing tips that can aid others in sales – good stuff! Tips, new books and information, tools, etc. all not shared for 2 months now!

Then as I look deeper, I realize that the ‘stuff’ I have to do – the laundry list above wasn’t the biggest barrier…the biggest barrier became my embarrassment at how long it was since the last post, and that kept me from posting. I think about communicating with you often – several times a week and then think ‘How do I just jump into again and ignore the time gap?”

Isn’t that how it goes sometimes? We justify a lack of DOING something with logic, when the real reason we haven’t acted is because of our emotions? 

Well, here I am at 4 a.m. on a Saturday. I leave for vacation in a few hours and have decided to face the music as they say and apologize for the regular readers. I am committed to helping you succeed and hope you will forgive my absence. I wasn’t waiting one more day to get back to this commitment!

Now, true confessions completed, On the positive side, you can expect more over the next year, including a published book! I signed a contract with AMACOM months ago and the book on how to make your sales conversation matter – with tips, techniques and tools will be published next spring.

In the midst of trying to put together the most helpful and value-filled book I can, I will keep my posts more up to date.

I have a question today – what have you been procrastinating on? What is something you committed to do, want to do, THINK about doing….and then haven’t done?

Maybe today is YOUR day to get ‘er done. What prompted me to act? A reminder by a colleague that we should just ‘eat the frog’ each day. You can read more about that in this popular post.

Also, the death of a childhood neighbor. A brain aneurysm ended his life last week at the age of 42. His celebration of life ended with a challenge to DO, to make a bucket list and not have regrets, to embrace those around us and to give of ourselves. Funny how life events can get us to take action, isn’t it? 

To the future, less procrastinating and hiding and more action! 

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Studying top performers and successful people provides fascinating insight into what makes them tick.

One common characteristic of the most successful is Initiative. I define Initiative as the proactive and personal energy we use/exhibit each day.  

I guess I’m not alone. This morning, I first found this great quote:

“Their comes a moment when you have to stop revving up the car and shove it into gear.”

by David Mahoney

And then saw this post about how many of the CEOs and Leaders share a common habit of starting their day early – often a sign of Initiative.

What is your routine? Have you build the personal habit or routine of making the most of your minutes? Whether you stretch your day to a full 18 hours or not, each minute , when tackled with initiative is productive.

p.s. I’m not suggesting you need to be a workaholic, initiative in your personal activities gets you more fun too!

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It’s a week of goal focusing tips!

Ever really consider how important visualizing your success is? Let’s use this excerpt from Jack Canfield’s “The Success Principles” abour Jim Carrey, the actor/comedian as a starter.

“Around 1990, when Jim Carrey was a struggling young Canadian comic trying to make his way in Los Angeles, he drove his old Toyota up to Mulholland Drive. While sitting there looking at the city below and dreaming of his future, he wrote himself a check for $10 million, dated it Thanksgiving 1995, added the notation “for acting services rendered,” and carried it in his wallet from that day forth.

The rest, as they say, is history. Carrey’s optimism and tenacity eventually paid off, and by 1995, after the huge box office success of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb & Dumber, his asking price had risen to $20 million per picture.

When Carrey’s father died in 1994, he placed the $10 million check into his father’s coffin as a tribute to the man who had both started and nurtured his dreams of being a star.”

Visit Futureme.org and write yourself a letter – it can be a goal, congratulating yourself for achieving one of your goals, a reminder on an action you committed to – or anything!

Your actions?

1. Identify a goal – and the reward for achieving it.
2. Set a timeline for the reward to be received. 60 days? One year? Five years?
3. Visit Futureme.org and complete the fields – a letter to yourself – specifically outlining what you accomplished and your reward. Select a date to send it to yourself.
4. Click ‘Send to the future’
5. Start your actions to reach the goal!

For example, if your goal is to achieve forecast in January 2012 with a reward of treating your significant other to a dinner. Send yourself a letter dated February 1st, congratulating yoruself for achieving the goal and reminding yourself of the dinner you will share.

It’s a great way to visualize the achievement and mentally starting your journey toward the reward!

You might be surprised when the letter is delivered, how accurate you were in your prediction.

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Happy 2012!

What are your dreams and goals for this year? What is it that you want to DO, HAVE, or ENJOY?

Well, when I ask that question, many people start telling me what they DON’T want. And the lists are long. It is hard to get that turned to identifying the target or goal.

That’s why when I saw this video from Laura Goodrich, calling Seeing Red Cars, I jumped on Laura’s bandwagon:

“We get more of whatever we focus on.”

If you want to be successful in 2012 – and this should be YOUR definition of what success is for you – I suggest that you:

1. Click here to watch the 10 minute Seeing Red Cars video. Click on the Preview button. Though it’s her preview – you will view the entire message.
2. Then to help you identify what you want, click here to get your Timely Tips to Achieve Your Goals eBook. The activities and FREE Goal Planner will help you map out your goals.
3. Focus on the first 60 days of 2012 for your action plan. That’s enough to get you moving in the right direction and committed to specific activities.
4. Use the 4R Goal Review process outlined in the eBook each month to keep on track and moving forward.

What’s interesting for me in writing this reminder for all of you,  is that each January, my team and I mapped out the goals for the year. One of the papers was stuffed in cabinet and was ‘found’ last week. Surprising – even without having it in front of us all year, EVERY item was achieved!  Including a book ‘deal’ for me!  More on that to come. So, one of my personal goals is to finish writing the book on TIME this year for publication in early 2013.

p.s. Everyone’s ‘red car’ is different. My ‘fun’ red car is a convertible VW bug – others are Porsches or Ferraris. It doesn’t matter – find what YOU want.

Take 45 minutes today to watch the Seeing Red Cars video and then use  your FREE Goal Planner in the eBook to focus on what YOU want in 2012.

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This is a two-part post. And if you are only reading this for the free goal planner, click here to get your very own Timely Tips to Achieve Your Goals eBook that will help you focus and plan for 2012. The Planner is an interactive pdf, so you can type directly into it and print it out!

It’s the last official work day of 2011!  What a year this has been for me and Sales Pro Insider, Inc.

The whirlwind of opportunities to help companies strengthen sales, collaboration and teamwork kept the whole team extremely busy.

For us, before we begin setting goals for 2012, we start with an activity to reflect back on 2011, specifically. This allows us to use the information to do more of what worked well, and less of what didn’t work so well.

Some questions to ask – and answer – for yourself:

1. What are the successes I am most proud of?

2. What have I done to celebrate these successes?

3. What people do I surround myself with? or Who have I met this year that has impacted me in some way?

4. What goals, that were important to me, did I not reach? Why?

5. Considering the development opportunities available to me this year, how have I applied what I learned?

6. What person have I taken time to develop/coach? or Who is better off now because of my relationship with them this past year?

7. What person has helped me grow or who has challenged me to be better this year?

8. What actions have I taken to better my life in some way?

9. What strengths do I possess that I can use at a higher level next year?

10. What obstacles must I work through so that I reach my goals for 2012?

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Ever notice how many people seem kinder and more personable at this time of year?

As Harlan Miller said:

I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.

My wish is that you have time to slow down from the frenzied pace in your career and enjoy time with the people you hold dear.

Holiday blessings!

Nancy Bleeke

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