Ok...I was prepared for the activity, but nobody prepared me for when the prospect says "yes".
Actually, I was prepared for it....but I have to laugh because now the juggling process of making 125 calls day starts to blossom into new customers and new business associates and THAT TAKES TIME!!!!
So, a quick run down of Friday and Monday. We have a new customer, and a new business builder. Plus, we had a full interview with someone who is quite serious about making this a full time business for themselves. (Exciting stuff!)
But when you hit those days where the activity turns to productivity....how do you balance? How do you balance prospecting with actually writing up the order? Because you can't afford to take your foot off the gas to simply fill an order...you have to keep on trekking.
So....we have 2 new associates with a total of 300 volume coming to the upline.
Here we go!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
Why ask Why?
I recently came across some wise words from Michael Dloughy. A 30 year veteran in the home-based business and MLM industry. Listen to what he has to say about having a "WHY STATEMENT" This comes from the 10 pillars of success with mentoringforfree.
A nailed “WHY” can save your life.
Most people have a huge problem when they decide to improve their situation in
life.
That problem is one or more of the people closest to you will NOT want to
see you succeed.
This is a FACT for virtually everyone on this planet, and you are no different.
You can argue with me until you’re blue in the face, but that won’t change anything.
There are people in your life who will be threatened when you make a
passionate push to success. They will complain and criticize and try to
suck the life out of you.
Why? Because THEIR life is a mess and misery truly does love company.
Your best option is to get rid of them. Next best is to have an AMAZING “WHY”,
a 99.9% “WHY”, that will keep you going through rain, sleet, snow, flood, pestilence,
nuclear holocaust, or the criticism of a “loved” one.
So why is it critical you do THIS business? And why is it critical that you succeed?
People always tell their goals.
Fine. You need goals.
But your "WHY" is a big, big, big reason that will keep you going.
Where's your fire? What do you LOVE? What do you HATE? What is REALLY important
to you? What do you REALLY want? What situation in life do you want to
get out of so it never ever, EVER happens again?
It's not goals. It's not money, either.
When I started coaching, people would write their "WHY"… usually money.
They’d need to pay a big hospital bill, or replace a car. Whatever.
But your real "WHY" is never money.
It's about who YOU really are.
Your driving factor must be WAY more than money.
It's something you want ... or something you want to get away from. Better yet,
BOTH. If your "WHY" is a 70% and you come up against an obstacle that's a
72%, you're gone. You'll drop out, disappear.
But when your "WHY" is a 99.9%, then you're here to stay and be successful.
Why are you on this planet? In one form or another, you're here to change lives,
touch lives, and help people. What were you meant to do?
Let’s Play Sherlock Holmes.
A new business is always a risk. People risk to avoid pain, or to achieve pleasure.
Answering these questions may help you find your "WHY".
·What gets you REALLY excited?
·How many hours a week do you work?
·What do you LOVE about your job?
·What do you HATE about your job?
·What do you do with your free time?
·If you had 2 months vacation and all the money you wanted, what would you
do?
·How do you like the people you work with?
·What problem scares you to death that more money could solve?
·What do you just absolutely HATE about your life that more money could solve?
·If you had all the money you needed, what HUGE problem would go away?
·If you had all the TIME in the world to do anything you wanted, what would you
do?
·Other than money, what are you looking for?
Discover your WHY....it makes all the difference in the world!
A nailed “WHY” can save your life.
Most people have a huge problem when they decide to improve their situation in
life.
That problem is one or more of the people closest to you will NOT want to
see you succeed.
This is a FACT for virtually everyone on this planet, and you are no different.
You can argue with me until you’re blue in the face, but that won’t change anything.
There are people in your life who will be threatened when you make a
passionate push to success. They will complain and criticize and try to
suck the life out of you.
Why? Because THEIR life is a mess and misery truly does love company.
Your best option is to get rid of them. Next best is to have an AMAZING “WHY”,
a 99.9% “WHY”, that will keep you going through rain, sleet, snow, flood, pestilence,
nuclear holocaust, or the criticism of a “loved” one.
So why is it critical you do THIS business? And why is it critical that you succeed?
People always tell their goals.
Fine. You need goals.
But your "WHY" is a big, big, big reason that will keep you going.
Where's your fire? What do you LOVE? What do you HATE? What is REALLY important
to you? What do you REALLY want? What situation in life do you want to
get out of so it never ever, EVER happens again?
It's not goals. It's not money, either.
When I started coaching, people would write their "WHY"… usually money.
They’d need to pay a big hospital bill, or replace a car. Whatever.
But your real "WHY" is never money.
It's about who YOU really are.
Your driving factor must be WAY more than money.
It's something you want ... or something you want to get away from. Better yet,
BOTH. If your "WHY" is a 70% and you come up against an obstacle that's a
72%, you're gone. You'll drop out, disappear.
But when your "WHY" is a 99.9%, then you're here to stay and be successful.
Why are you on this planet? In one form or another, you're here to change lives,
touch lives, and help people. What were you meant to do?
Let’s Play Sherlock Holmes.
A new business is always a risk. People risk to avoid pain, or to achieve pleasure.
Answering these questions may help you find your "WHY".
·What gets you REALLY excited?
·How many hours a week do you work?
·What do you LOVE about your job?
·What do you HATE about your job?
·What do you do with your free time?
·If you had 2 months vacation and all the money you wanted, what would you
do?
·How do you like the people you work with?
·What problem scares you to death that more money could solve?
·What do you just absolutely HATE about your life that more money could solve?
·If you had all the money you needed, what HUGE problem would go away?
·If you had all the TIME in the world to do anything you wanted, what would you
do?
·Other than money, what are you looking for?
Discover your WHY....it makes all the difference in the world!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Day 3 and 4: Comedy
I got behind.....in the world of track that's never a good thing. You need to stay on pace! But...I'm planning on making up some calls this week and getting this whole thing even and squared away!
So.....I made 125 calls today! SWEET!!!! Actually today I got my tushy kicked pretty hard. The numbers didn't add up today. But the cool thing is that my call reluctance is fading.
Here are a few of my adventurous calls today.
#1 Barb the disabled lady who already had a business but felt $125 overhead for a business was to high. (Anyone know what the franchise fee each year for McDonald's is? Just curious)
#2 Jim Jones the homeless guy at the homeless shelter (for real)
#3 Judy (the lady with the loud sigh on the phone when I mentioned "Home Business")
#4 Billy Bob (who wanted me to give him a 10 second run down on "what it was all about")
After a while....some of the calls started to become amusing. But you know what? Its just a reminder that its a qualifying business. Some will, some won't, So what.......
The ONE thing that stuck out to me was obvious. Some of these prospects were on their last thread of hope. Some of these prospects were so far gone when I called them that even if I waved a million dollars in the air...they wouldn't move.
This business is not a joke and I hope that every single on of you reading this right now take this thing serious. We have people who are placing their last hope on this business. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to train them? Are you going to help them build the business? Are you going to hold their hand and walk across the finish line together?
What if I told you that right now as you read this post there is a single mother with three kids out there that is searching the Internet. Guess why she is searching the Internet? She is looking for hope. So, she goes to Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com praying that some miracle will pop out at her and give her a job or some kind of income that will allow her to support herself and her family. What does she find? She finds an ad that promises her information on how to make money from home and on the Internet.......and then she runs across scam after scam after scam.........
But not you. You can provide the one voice of hope through the darkness. You can show her a way. That's what this business can do.
You have an awesome responsibility to get the word out about your opportunity. Don't you dare sit down and even think about turning on the television without talking with at least 3 people about your opportunity today. Make a list and contact them. Make another list because you probably forgot 80% of the people you know. Call them. Get on facebook. Share your opportunity. Get on Twitter. Share your opportunity. Get involved with Chamber of Commerce. Share your opportunity. Get involved........and share your opportunity.
And that part.......is not funny. Its not comedy. Its very, very serious. We have a responsibility as business owners...so lets do it.
So.....I made 125 calls today! SWEET!!!! Actually today I got my tushy kicked pretty hard. The numbers didn't add up today. But the cool thing is that my call reluctance is fading.
Here are a few of my adventurous calls today.
#1 Barb the disabled lady who already had a business but felt $125 overhead for a business was to high. (Anyone know what the franchise fee each year for McDonald's is? Just curious)
#2 Jim Jones the homeless guy at the homeless shelter (for real)
#3 Judy (the lady with the loud sigh on the phone when I mentioned "Home Business")
#4 Billy Bob (who wanted me to give him a 10 second run down on "what it was all about")
After a while....some of the calls started to become amusing. But you know what? Its just a reminder that its a qualifying business. Some will, some won't, So what.......
The ONE thing that stuck out to me was obvious. Some of these prospects were on their last thread of hope. Some of these prospects were so far gone when I called them that even if I waved a million dollars in the air...they wouldn't move.
This business is not a joke and I hope that every single on of you reading this right now take this thing serious. We have people who are placing their last hope on this business. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to train them? Are you going to help them build the business? Are you going to hold their hand and walk across the finish line together?
What if I told you that right now as you read this post there is a single mother with three kids out there that is searching the Internet. Guess why she is searching the Internet? She is looking for hope. So, she goes to Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com praying that some miracle will pop out at her and give her a job or some kind of income that will allow her to support herself and her family. What does she find? She finds an ad that promises her information on how to make money from home and on the Internet.......and then she runs across scam after scam after scam.........
But not you. You can provide the one voice of hope through the darkness. You can show her a way. That's what this business can do.
You have an awesome responsibility to get the word out about your opportunity. Don't you dare sit down and even think about turning on the television without talking with at least 3 people about your opportunity today. Make a list and contact them. Make another list because you probably forgot 80% of the people you know. Call them. Get on facebook. Share your opportunity. Get on Twitter. Share your opportunity. Get involved with Chamber of Commerce. Share your opportunity. Get involved........and share your opportunity.
And that part.......is not funny. Its not comedy. Its very, very serious. We have a responsibility as business owners...so lets do it.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Day 2: Focus
Day number two with the 90 day plan can be summarized in the following manner: FOCUS!
We live in a day in age where constant distractions can totally knock us off course, off goal, and change our focus point. You might have your eyes on the prize, but along comes a shiny object that takes your eyes away from the prize!
This sums up my day. I had a plan to make 125 calls today and only was able to squeeze 32 calls in today. I had some good reasons....but I also had some bad reasons.
1. Had to take kids to school (good reason)
2. Had to take dog to the vet (good reason)
3. Had to have lunch with sister-in-law (good reason)
4. Had to take a nap. (bad reason)
5. Had to catch up on some NFL news online (bad reason)
6. Had to meet with one of my team members on sponsoring (good reason)
7. Had to meet with another on of my team members on sponsoring (good reason)
8. Had to eat supper with family (good reason)
9. Had to meet with team at team meeting (good reason)
10. Had to deal with telemarketing calls (bad reason)
11. Had to deal with some bills and focus on our debt (bad reason)
12. Had to spend time e-mailing and face booking (bad reason)
The truth of the matter is that FOCUS is exactly what we need to succeed in what we are doing. This is a marathon NOT a sprint.....and to get distracted this early in the race is detrimental to your financial health and freedom.
Here were the results of my 32 calls.
16 voice mails left
2 wrong numbers
8 disconnects
5 not interested
1 interested
Guess what? The numbers are still holding true. Because if I get one person interested out of every 30 people I call....I'm right around 3% once I make at least 100 calls!!
"Keep your focus!"
Monday, January 5, 2009
Day One: FEAR
I'm not going to lie to you. I have call reluctance. I had call reluctance when I telemarketed in college. I had call reluctance when I sold insurance and I have call reluctance now.
What is call reluctance?
It's when you are scared and have high anxiety that little monsters will come pouring out of the phone and eat you. :) No, but seriously the phone does get very heavy and its gets very very hard to make calls.
Call reluctance is the #1 reason for failure in sales and business. Did you know that? When sales people cripple up with fear that they cease to do the activity that is required for success.
Day ONE for me on the calling boot camp was no different. I hemmed and I hawed and I made a plan, and I checked it twice and I looked all around town to find out who was naughty and nice and came home to find my wife looking at me with her arms crossed......
and she says: "Are you going to do what you said you're going to do?"
It reminded me alot of when I was a little kid standing on the diving board and staring down at the water....crippled with fear to jump....until little miss fearless pants sneaks up behind me and shoves me in!
In all sincerity, I did get motivated to finally pick up the phone and make 125 calls today.
These leads were 6 months old, and were double-opt-in leads. (Which basically means they clicked on an ad requesting stay-at-home business information TWICE) These are considered cheap-leads and 9 times out of 10 the prospect doesn't even remember clicking the little ad on the computer and putting their information into the computer. So.......needless to say I knew this was going to be a tough climb today.
Here are the results:
11 Not Interested
27 Disconnects
18 Wrong Numbers
5 Interested
64 Voice Messages left
Notice anything? The numbers don't lie. I was expecting 3% and that's about what I got out of 125 calls. Now the rest is in the follow-up.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
90 Day Calling Bootcamp
I know that I have mentioned this in a previous blog entry, but I had heard the story of "Jett" in the multi-level marketing company (Mannatech). He was (is?) the top distributor for the company and I felt his story was so compelling on "how to make it happen" in the world of marketing.
He literally called 10,000 leads in 90 days. Now....that might seem crazy (and it is) but the whole concept was to create "massive action" to get "massive results" and that's exactly what he got!
You talk about taking the bull by the throat! He totally set his business up "for life" by creating the action up front and at the beginning.
So...........................
I have decided to go on a little journey over the course of the next 90 days. I figure we are in a new year and what way to bring in the new year for the business with a little calling? How about 9,000 leads over the course of those days? Yep, you got it figured out right....that would be about 125 calls a day (Monday through Saturday...at about 3,000 leads averaged in one month).
I figured its time to put the calling and numbers to the test.....and hey!!! Why not blog about it? So, over the next 90 days I will be blogging about my calling journey and hope for you to follow along.
I have been in sales now for about 18 years and have some bold predictions on my quest for sanity.
#1 I will be rejected. ......Alot actually...do the math!
#2 I will have alot of interesting conversations with people I really don't know.
#3 I will be very busy making phone calls.
#4 I will get very good at making phone calls because THAT'S ALOT OF REPETITION BABY!
#5 That the numbers will win. They always do....and my prediction is a 3% return into the business.
#6 The 3% return on my investment will help me recover quickly from the rejection. :)
So, with that being said.......tomorrow (January 5th) is our calling launch date.
5,4,3,2,1............................BLAST OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope you get a chance to ride along....its going to get very, very interesting!
He literally called 10,000 leads in 90 days. Now....that might seem crazy (and it is) but the whole concept was to create "massive action" to get "massive results" and that's exactly what he got!
You talk about taking the bull by the throat! He totally set his business up "for life" by creating the action up front and at the beginning.
So...........................
I have decided to go on a little journey over the course of the next 90 days. I figure we are in a new year and what way to bring in the new year for the business with a little calling? How about 9,000 leads over the course of those days? Yep, you got it figured out right....that would be about 125 calls a day (Monday through Saturday...at about 3,000 leads averaged in one month).
I figured its time to put the calling and numbers to the test.....and hey!!! Why not blog about it? So, over the next 90 days I will be blogging about my calling journey and hope for you to follow along.
I have been in sales now for about 18 years and have some bold predictions on my quest for sanity.
#1 I will be rejected. ......Alot actually...do the math!
#2 I will have alot of interesting conversations with people I really don't know.
#3 I will be very busy making phone calls.
#4 I will get very good at making phone calls because THAT'S ALOT OF REPETITION BABY!
#5 That the numbers will win. They always do....and my prediction is a 3% return into the business.
#6 The 3% return on my investment will help me recover quickly from the rejection. :)
So, with that being said.......tomorrow (January 5th) is our calling launch date.
5,4,3,2,1............................BLAST OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope you get a chance to ride along....its going to get very, very interesting!
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