It is important that you let them decide for themselves, at every phase of the sales cycle, beginning with whether or not to even hear more about what you have to offer.  Remember, IF YOU DON’T ASK, YOU WON’T KNOW!  If you look at a person and say to yourself, “Nah, she wouldn’t be interested” how can you be completely sure that’s true?

I recently purchased a new 58″ plasma TV from Matt Anderson at Wholesale Works.  Honestly, it was the deal of a lifetime in my opinion.  However, I didn’t go to Matt and say, “Hey, I’m looking for a TV!” because I wasn’t at the time.  But I am very glad that he didn’t assume that I wouldn’t be interested.  He approached me and told me about his special offer, and now his offer is mounted on my wall for my viewing pleasure.

I’m not suggesting your product/service is for everyone in the world, and that you should offer to everyone.  However, I am talking about those people who otherwise fit your target demographic, but for whatever reason you find yourself choosing for them by never approaching them at all.

So, be bold!  If you think someone will tell you no, then prove it.  Ask them and see if you were right.  If you hear the word “No” you won’t melt, and if they say “Yes” then you will simply have to admit to yourself that your initial assumption was wrong.  Don’t worry though, the additional revenue will make that pill easier to swallow.

To Your Success!

-Kip Kint, Success Coach & President, Mission Ignition

There is tremendous power in laughter.  Human Beings are so-wired that we need to have fun and laugh and smile. In fact, we are hard-wired for this. It is a proven fact that just smiling, even when you don’t feel like doing so, will release a small amount of endorphins in the brain, the very chemical that causes us to feel good. Keep smiling long enough, and eventually you really do feel like smiling. Add laughter to that equation and look out, you’re feeling pretty great before you know it.

So, what if you are sharing smiles and laughter with another person?  What happens when two people are simultaneously experiencing the sense of well-being that comes from laughing?  Those two people are drawn closer together.  Laughing together with another person strengthens bonds, including bonds that are brand new and just forming, and shortens the distance between them.

This applies in the world of business as much as any other part of life.  I know we tend to think of business as “serious stuff” but business is all about relationships, and influence.  We have more influence with those we are close to.  We draw closer to those that make us feel good when we are around them.  The distance is shortened significantly when we laugh and share good humor with one another.

So, lighten things up.  Have a laugh or two with your prospects, clients, and associates.  I can’t think of a more enjoyable way to improve your business relationships and your influence with others.

To Your Success!

-Kip Kint, Success Coach & President, Mission Ignition

In her book, Get Clients Now, author C.J. Hayden says, “Following Up is at the center of the Universal Marketing Cycle for a reason: consistent and persistent follow up is central to successfully moving a prospect forward to making a sale.”

I have a card that I like to send to my coaching clients, especially those who are trying to improve their marketing and sales.  On the front of the card it reads:

Sales Statistics:

• 48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect
• 25% of sales people make a second contact and stop
• 12% of sales people only make three contacts and stop
• Only 10% of sales people make more than three contacts
• 2% of sales are made on the first contact
• 3% of sales are made on the second contact
• 5% of sales are made on the third contact
• 10% of sales are made on the fourth contact
• 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact

Fear is one of several reasons people don’t follow up with their contacts.  On page 181 of Hayden’s book she writes:

“If I follow up that lead, I might be rejected,” reasons the voice in your head.  “So I’ll avoid the pain by not making the call in the first place.”  Or conversely, you may be thinking, “If I place the call, I might get the business, and then I’ll have to do the work, and people will have all these expectations of me.”  But the reality is that if you don’t place the calls, you’re going to fail even more dramatically than in these two imaginary scenarios.

I encourage my clients to remember that ‘fear’ is really an acronym; ‘F.E.A.R’ for ‘False Evidence Appearing Real’.  When you take action in the face of your fear, by following up with prospects for example, you can then expose that false evidence for what it is and move past it, and your fear.

In summary: Following up is king.  Take the time, get organized, and follow up with your prospects, again and again, and again.

To Your Success!
-Kip Kint, Success Coach & President, Mission Ignition

Illustration titled The Universal Marketing Cycle from page 32 of the book Get Clients Now, by author C.J. Hayden

He said to me, “Kip, I know I have some things I need to improve on personally, but for right now I really need to just focus on improving my business.”

What a revelation! In one sentence he revealed a paradigm that more than anything else was holding him back from being as successful as he could be. There is one principle, one natural law, one fundamental truth that he was not recognizing and applying, and that is this:

No Success, including Business Success, can precede Personal Success.

You see this is the deal, the crux of it all really. The fastest car in the world doesn’t win the race without a highly skilled driver; the finest paint and brushes have no meaningful impact on the canvas without the hand of a talented artist; and successful, highly effective businesses are run by people who are successful and highly effective as human beings. It is a prerequisite. Being an effective, successful person does not come after first building a successful business or career. It comes first!

If Business Success is the chicken, and Personal Success is the egg, then the answer to the age-old question is most definitely and emphatically “The Egg!”, and if you will take the time to nurture the egg (your personal effectiveness) you will find it results in a more robust and healthy chicken (in other words, a great business/career).

Deep down you know this is true, we all do. Yet so many would try to convince themselves they can take the shortcut that no one else has been able to take, that somehow they can have the business success they desire without doing the work on themselves first. Why do so many try it? Why do they skip the part where they work on themselves and work on other things first? The answer is fear.

Think of it this way, if I try my hand at creating a successful business and fail I can reason that it was due to any number of reasons and circumstances outside my control. However, if I work on being an effective person and fail… well, you can see how this pill might prove a little harder to swallow if we let such fears get the best of us. As a result, most of us focus our efforts in either the wrong place, or in the right place but prematurely (in other words, without working on personal effectiveness first).

My Challenge to You:

1. Focus your efforts on becoming a highly effective person, one who makes and keeps commitments to yourself and has a high degree of personal integrity and follow through, even when no one else knows of your commitment.
2. Be an excellent manager of your time. It’s not about scheduling every minute of your time, but rather doing the right thing at the right time.
3. Establish habits that will serve you throughout the rest of your life, habits that will lead you to succeed regardless of your chosen business or career endeavors.

If you will do these things I am confident you will enjoy tremendous success in all aspects of your life, including business and career.

To Your Success!
-Kip Kint, Success Coach & President, Mission Ignition

Nothing will bring greater and more lasting success than to be a responsible person with solid character.

This particular piece comes from Michael Josephson and CharacterCounts.org.  I encourage you to take notes on any insights you may have, and more particularly how you might apply it in your own life.

It’s been said that the line between childhood and adulthood is crossed when we move from saying, “It got lost” to “I lost it.” Indeed, being accountable – and understanding and accepting the role our choices play in the things that happen – are crucial signs of emotional and moral maturity. That’s why responsibility is one of the main pillars of good character.

Many people have been seduced by the Peter Pan philosophy of refusing to grow up and avoiding the burdens implied in being accountable. Yes, responsibility sometimes requires us to do things that are unpleasant or even frightening. It asks us to carry our own weight, prepare and set goals, and exercise the discipline to reach our aspirations.

But the benefits of accepting responsibility far outweigh the short-lived advantages of refusing to do so. No one makes his or her life better by avoiding responsibility. In fact, irresponsibility is a form of self-imposed servitude – to circumstances and to other people.

Responsibility is about our ability to respond to circumstances and to choose the attitudes, actions, and reactions that shape our lives. It is a concept of power that puts us in the driver’s seat. The grand panorama of the potential of our lives can only be appreciated when we begin to be accountable and self-reliant.
Responsible people not only depend on themselves, but show others that they can be depended on. This breeds trust, and trust is a key that opens many doors.

If you want more control over your life and the pleasures, prerogatives, and power of freedom and independence, all you have to do is be responsible.

-Michael Josephson

I also watched this little “poem/movie” from Michael Josephson and found it quite inspirational.  Take a moment and watch it, I think you will find it well worth your time: What Will Matter Movie

To your success!
-Kip Kint, Success Coach & President, Mission Ignition