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.

Think life is hard? How about with no arms or legs?

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!"

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.

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!

3rd Party Verification

Whatever business you are in (and whatever income level you are at) if you are not using 3rd party verification you are missing a significant part of your business that could easily double or triple your business.

What is 3rd party verification?

It's when a 3rd person joins the conversation, presentation, and gives their story.

Don't blow this off. When used properly its very powerful.

Let me give you a few examples of 3rd party verification.

#1 I talk with Sally Sue about product XYZ and she is excited about our conversation. She gives buying signals and I ask a closing question: "Would you like to get started today?" Even though Sally Sue in sincerely interested....she does the totally normal human reaction. She takes two steps back and says the normal response: "I have to think about it" or "I have to talk it over with my spouse". I give Sally Sue a brochure and business card and tell her that I'll call her the next day. (In most cases.....lost sale, lost prospect) However, the next day Sally Sue calls on the phone (pleasant surprise) and says: "I was talking with my sister about your product and she said that she read an article about it and heard that its amazing stuff.....when can I buy XYZ?"

What happened was 3rd party verification. The 3rd party was Sally Sue's sister. It doesn't matter who the 3rd party is...and in this case it was just dumb luck, but it happens when word is getting out about your product or service.

#2 You are talking to Bobby Joe about product XYZ and he is interested. You stop your presentation and 3-way another business leader from your organization and have him/her briefly share their story over a cell phone (or 3-way telephone call). Bobby Joe hangs up and says, "Wow, that's really interesting. What do I have to do to get started"

3rd party verification is powerful because it allows a different person with a different personality to interject their thoughts, story and philosophy.

#3 You are talking on your cell phone on an airplane and the person in the neighboring seat says: I'm sorry I couldn't help but eave drop on what you were talking about...that sounds really interesting. At that precise moment a complete stranger pops their head over the back of the seat and says: I'm sorry to interrupt but is that product XYZ? Because that stuff is amazing and has done wonders for my mother.

NUFF Said.....The 3rd party verified who you are and your product....and the person sitting next to you didn't even know the 3rd party.

The trick to 3rd party verification is....#1 Don't interject..let the 3rd person tell their story. #2 Don't dump all your information on a person...only give them a little. Less is more. Peak people's curiosity. Give a break outline of the "kind" of business you are in...(work at home, its international business, its a nice change from days in corporate America, go where I want to go because its fun, I can work my business from anywhere..virtually where ever I have a phone and computer access, it provides a lot of freedom.) Give a business card, and if you want I can send you some information.......#4 CHANGE THE SUBJECT!!!! (This is the secret) Take away the cookie....change the subject off yourself and start asking about them. (The point is to get people to pursue you and not CHASE THEM!)

Get the information of your Up-Line, Side-Line, and Down-Line...PHONE NUMBERS. Why? So you can use the ENTIRE team and not just one individual. Find out when people on the team are available for 3-ways, get on instant messenger for easy access, twitter, facebook.....

Make a voicemail call and get several people on your team to give their short testimony or story so a 24 hotline is always available for 3-ways....24 hours/7 days a week.

The Reason for the Season

The last week I had an old friend from High School lose her 2 year old baby girl. She passed away on Christmas Eve Day.

Put things in perspective and remember the reason for the season....

Thousands of years ago God gave the world a gift in his son, Jesus Christ. Thirty-Three years he walked the earth and ministered to the world before dying for it.

Everyday we are faced with choices. We have the choice whether or not we want to eat fast food, or eat broccoli. We have a choice whether we watch television or read a book. We have a choice whether we spend time with our loved ones or with something or somebody else. We have a choice whether to stay captive to a job, or work for ourselves. We have a choice whether to follow a Savior or ignore Him. We have choices......

May your choices this holiday season reflect the reason for the season. May your choices reflect how delicate and fragile our lives are.....and how short our time to reflect on those choices.