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Professional Influence for Managers

Why you need sales training

by Mickey Booher

Take a good look at the three drawings below. Rest assured that a lot of work went into these fine works of art. As you observe the first drawing, take a guess as to the age of the artists. Let’s see if you can get within 2 years of their age. ?

Let’s reassure you that the artist worked very hard on the above drawing. Now take a look at this one. ? ?How old do you think this artist is?

Ok, one more. ?

The ages of the the people who drew these pictures are (from top to bottom) 27, 44, and 34. At his point you might want to avoid being too judgmental as it relates to the skill level of our artist. In years past, we have asked hundreds of professional sales people to draw the Statue of Liberty. With very rare exception, the above examples are typical.

In this exercise, we then ask our students to take a look at the pictures drawn by the group. Asking the question that we asked you to start this article, “If you didn’t already know, what would you guess the age of the artist to be?”

The answers generally range from 9 to 12. ?Clearly, if you were to take a few minutes out of your day and try to draw the Statue of Liberty, you might notice too that your work of art might be confused with someone of that age group. (9 to 12)

Question:

Why then does the artwork of adults look like that of a child?

That is a good question. In order to answer that, I would suggest that you float back in time. Back to a time when you were in grade school, you might recall that art was something you did with regularity. Your school allowed time for arts and crafts. As you got older you progressed. Your ability’s increased over time.

I know this is true with my son. I remember when he was in pre-school. He would bring home pictures and finger paintings. The next year he was in kindergarten and I was amazed at how well he did. His improvement was extraordinary. Now he is in third grade and yet again, I have seen vast improvement in his ability to draw. I am sure next year he will have improved again.

We all improved at that age too. We simply got better every year until right about the time junior high ended. As we got older, the school replaced art with other courses. We ceased to practice this skill.

With the rare exception of those that sought out and enrolled in art classes, most of us found that our (art) skills became frozen in time.

We continued to grow in other ways, but that part of us became stagnant and stopped growing.

ON A DIFFERENT SUBJECT (or maybe not)?Over the years, I have owned several Mercedes Benz. They are fine automobiles, but as with all vehicles, they require occasional maintenance. Now when we own a car and it is time to take it in, we all have a choice. We can take our cars into the dealership, or take it to a local garage. I, like many others have always opted for the dealership.

The reason is because I know that the dealership sends their mechanics to school to learn how to work on a Mercedes Benz, in fact most Mercedes Benz mechanics are required to continue their education, taking courses four or more times per year. The dealer recognizes that each year the car becomes more sophisticated. I like the fact that the people who work on my automobiles are equipped with the most up to date strategies to diagnose my car’s ailments and fix them easily and effortlessly.

Question: If a mechanic had not gone to a class in five years, could he still fix my car?

Answer: Yes, he probably could. He might not be as efficient, he might have to redo his work a couple of times, but he probably could get the job done.

Question: If a mechanic had not gone to a class in TEN years, could he still fix my car?

Answer: I don’t think so. Maybe, but I wouldn’t feel real good about him working on my car. Why? Because it’s been too long. Mercedes are far more advanced today than they were 10 years ago. There is no way that this mechanic would have the knowledge to handle the challenges presented with a new car.

At this point you are probably saying, “Mick, how the heck is any of this going to help me make more money now?”

Good question. Pay special attention to what we are about to say. This means YOU!

Today, the skills of most sales people have been FROZEN IN TIME. Most sales people are not much better than they were a year ago. They once studied their art and are now relying on old and unreliable techniques.

Clearly, most of us work with self proclaimed sales experts. Most of these “experts” love to ramble on about past accomplishments. They talk about being number one back in 1987.

Many of those in the sales industry love to talk about the “Benjamin Franklin close” or how to qualify a prospect. These are not new ideas, in fact they are prehistoric! ?More to the point they are strategies that today’s client is VERY AWARE OF. Once heard by today’s savvy client, it only serves to break rapport.

The sophisticated customers of today are privy to many of the old techniques used by these little league legends.

BIG CLAIM:

The majority of sales people today have had their respective skills FROZEN in time. These dinosaurs roam the sales floor using strategies that were born before the microwave.

They love to say to anyone within shouting distance “I have been in sales for 25 years!” What they omit is that after 25 years they have made little to no advancement within their respective organization.

If there is something that we can learn, something that can make our income grow TODAY,

It is this:

Take great care in selecting who you take advice from. Are they successful NOW? Remember, just like the Mercedes mechanic who hasn’t been to class in a long time. It might be difficult to spot that dinosaur, but rest assured he is headed for extinction.
Read, Read, Read. You must invest in yourself. Books, tapes and courses. I highly recommend the ever growing newsletter “Mondays with Mick.” Silly me, you are already a subscriber.
Develop a strong circle of influence. Associate with other like-minded professionals who understand the importance of constant and never-ending improvement.
Acknowledge and be proud of what you do. Avoid being a sales person. Be a master communicator. Someone who is proficient in the art of influence and persuasion.

And lastly, tell your friends about “Mondays with Mick.” Every week we are committed to adding a new thought, idea or technique to your repertoire.

Have a great week of sales and take great care to avoid the dinosaurs. There are a lot of them out there!

Mickey Booher

Your success is assured!

Lessons from Zig Ziglar - Positive Attitude

by Mickey Booher

Lessons from Zig Ziglar

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Attitude, Attitude, Attitude

Zig Ziglar was the undisputed king of motivation. He was known for packing large auditoriums with raving fans. He wrote more than two dozen books on salesmanship and motivation over five decades.

He is probably mostly known, though for his message about have a positive attitude. He spread his message through stories punctuated with short quotes that became legendary among his followers.

While some would wonder what the true definition of success is, Ziglar made it crystal clear:

Success is the maximum utilization of the ability that you have.

Hey Zig is motivation permanent?

Of course motivation is not permanent. But then, neither is bathing; but it is something you should do on a regular basis."

How do you define failure:

Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street."

While most of us start our day with an alarm clock, Mr Ziglar would insist that he woke up to an "opportunity clock!" Furthermore, "if you aren't on fire" when you get to work, "then your wood is wet." And you have to remember that "money's not the most important thing in life, but it's reasonably close to oxygen."

All of this would mean less if Ziglar had an easy life. Although you would never hear him complain about his plight, facts would suggest that things were not ideal for a young boy growing up in Yazoo City, Mississippi.

He was raised by a single parent, Hilary Hinton Ziglar, who was the 10th of 12 children. Being raised without his father was nothing you would ever hear Zig talked about. Instead he described his mother as the foremost influence on his life; she was a strict and devout woman whose mental storehouse of adages remained a cornerstone of Mr. Ziglar's speeches and writings.

After Navy service at the end in World War II, he was married in 1946 to Jean Abernathy.

When I talk about her, I refer to her as the red head. When I talk to her I call her sugar baby.

Zig celebrated each day with a positive attitude. He believed it whole heartedly. He implored people that their life could change if they would change their response to the question " How are you doing today? "Zig would tell his followers to say

Outstanding but I am improving."

He didn't believe in cold calls, instead they were warm calls. When asked if all of this changing of words was really necessary. He would simply reply. "No, you can be mediocre without it."

More bits of Ziglar wisdom:

You never judge a day by the weather!"

If you're going to have to swallow a frog, you don't want to have to look at that sucker too long!

You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want

The more you gripe about your problems, the more problems you have to gripe about!

All of this homespun wisdom undeniably makes us better at what we do. One of my favorite Zig quotes about positive thinking:

Positive thinking will not help you do anything! But, it will help you do EVERYTHING better than negative thinking will.

That really explains the success of Zig Ziglar. What a great way to see the world. Although there have been other "positive thinkers" none of them were the supreme communicator that he was. In our NLP, Hypnosis and Sales training, we teach our students that the most powerful form of persuasion is found within stories and metaphors. Zig was the master of both Don't take our word for it, lets hear Zig tell the story like only he can.

WANT TO DISCOVER MORE?

As you already know, Zig Ziglar inspired the I.S.P.I. Mr. Ziglar taught the world about sales and the Institute for the Studies of Professional Influence will forever be in his debt.

It is with in this spirit that we have created the certified course "Professional Influence." You might have already heard that our trainers will actually show you how to formulate "contrast options" into your specific products and services. You may already know, by now, that employers are attracted to people that are different, new and unique. Today we have overwhelming scientific proof that sales people that differentiate themselves from the crowd are more successful. They are more likely to close that sale, get that promotion and have longer lasting relationships.

THIS IS THE NEXT LEVEL OF SALES TRAINING!

Show your employer that you are deadly serious about reaching the companies goals. Increase your income and line yourself up for the next big promotion. All of this can and will be achieved when you enroll in the "Professional Influence Certification Course."

Upon successful completion of this course you will become CERTIFIED! Your certification goes on the "BIO" page and is registered with the INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDIES OF PROFESSIONAL INFLUENCE (ISPI). As you read through this you may begin to realize that a link to this bio page can also be a powerful part of your resume.

Are you ready to take your game to the next level? If so email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . For more information about this and other certification courses simply click here.

Make your business RECESSION PROOF

by Mickey Booher

RECESSION PROOF YOUR BUSINESS!

Sound like a big claim? Perhaps it is. Then again, when you know exactly how to communicate to TODAY’S customer, you will find that your customers feel comfortable doing business with you in ANY ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE.WE DO NOT OFFER TRAINING. We can however, recommend sales trainers that have been trained in the PROFESSIONAL INFLUENCE system.

THERE IS A CODE!
Studies have shown that consumers buy goods and services in any market. In other words, people are still spending money, they are just more selective about who they trust to spend it with! Will they purchase from you is a direct result of the words that you choose when speaking to them.

There are 988,000 words in the English language.

We use roughly 6600 words in a 30 minute presentation.

Each word has an emotional value.

When you put the right words, in the right order,

they come together to form a code…

A BUYING CODE!

Welcome to E.V.O.W. Research. After countless hours in focus groups, surveys and other methods, the INSTITUTUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL INFLUENCE discovered that each word we use has an emotional value to the unconcious mind. WORDS MATTER!

It has become cliche to say that the client is different than it was 10 years ago. The reality is that your customers are drastically different than they were 1 YEAR ago.

Old selling strategies no longer work. Why? Because your clients have changed. Words that used to get them excited and motived only serve to make them more tense and uneasy. The result is a great big "I have to think abou it." Hear any of those lately?

THE INSTITUTUE FOR PROFESSIONAL INFLUENCE has broken the code!

Email us today to find out how your company can use this research to become RESESSION PROOF!

WANT TO DISCOVER MORE?

We teach a more indepth version of this topic in our certified course "Professional Influence." You might have already heard that our trainers will actually show you how to formulate "contrast options" into your specific products and services. You may already know, by now, that employers are attracted to people that are different, new and unique. Today we have overwhelming scientific proof that sales people that differentiate themselves from the crowd are more successful. They are more likely to close that sale, get that promotion and have longer lasting relationships.

Can you draw the Statue of Liberty?

by Mickey Booher

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Why Training is a must!

Deliver an Outstanding Powerpoint Presentation

by Mickey Booher

alt Ever heard the term “Death by PowerPoint?” This has become a common way to describe the lack of interactivity and boredom engendered by slide presentations. Some trainers have gotten away from PowerPoint presentations saying that they take away from the sales persons ability to communicate effectively. We, on the other hand, have always endorsed PowerPoint type presentations. When done correctly they can be a wonderful asset