| Here comes Santa Claus,
here comes Santa Claus! In 1972, when I was studying sales and positive attitude, I watched a movie called "Challenge to America," almost every day.
In it was a story told by the great Glenn W. Turner where he wrote a letter to Santa Claus every year that matched his wealthy cousins. Glenn was a poor farmer's son who never got anything but apples and oranges, even though he asked Santa for exactly the same thing his wealthy cousins got. And every year, Glenn would go out behind the barn and cry. One year, when his cousin wanted a brand new bicycle and Glenn wanted a brand new bicycle, and as usual, the cousin got it and Glenn didn't, he went out behind the barn and said, "Okay Santa, if that's the way you want to play."
He went on to complete the story by saying, "And on that day, I decided to become my own Santa Claus." He challenged the viewer to be his or her own Santa Claus. You know, the first 10 or 20 times I watched that movie I didn't think too much about it. I thought it was a story, I thought he made a good point, and I went on. That was November of 1972.
Two weeks later, I made a shopping list for Christmas. Like everyone, there were the obligatory "why do I do this every year" people on my list. So I was in the department store, in the men's section, when for some reason the message, "Be your own Santa Claus" popped into my mind. And so the first gift I bought was for me. I bought myself something nice and expensive, because I deserved it.
"What the heck?" I said to myself. "I'm Santa Claus." And from that day, I have continued to be my own Santa Claus. All kinds of cool things have resulted from it.
Number 1: Christmas for me is no longer just December 25th. It's any day I choose. What the heck, I'm Santa Claus.
Number 2: I can change any mood I'm in by buying myself a present. That's one of the privileges of being Santa Claus.
Number 2.5: I'm celebrating!
In the spirit of the holiday season, in the spirit of passing down messages that can affect others forever, and of course, in the spirit of making more sales, I'm challenging you to become your own Santa Claus.
NOTE: For those of you fortunate enough to be parents, there's not much of a transition involved, because for your children, young and old, you already are Santa Claus.
It sounds kinda selfish, I know, but let me assure you that the real Santa Claus (although I have never met him personally) surrounds himself with all kinds of fun stuff way before he gives it away to all the good little girls and boys.
Let me be a little more specific. Let me help you in...
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Jeffrey Gitomer LIVE! – West Palm Beach, FL
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Jeffrey Gitomer LIVE! West Palm Beach, FL – Join the global authority on sales, Jeffrey Gitomer for a seminar on SALES ATTITUDE. Learn how to uncover buying motives, double your sales, get your price without sacrificing profit, and establish a YES! Attitude for a lifetime of success. Click here to Register NOW!
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Jeffrey Gitomer LIVE! Atlanta, GA – Join the global authority on sales, Jeffrey Gitomer for a seminar on SALES ATTITUDE. Learn how to uncover buying motives, double your sales, get your price without sacrificing profit, and establish a YES! Attitude for a lifetime of success. Click here to Register NOW!
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|  Jeffrey,
I worked for a company last year selling a single product they manufactured. There was another sales rep that sold a different product. We were supposed to work together as a team. However she also sold another product that was in direct competition with mine, against company policy. Of course since she had been in the business a long time and already had a relationship with our customers it was difficult to have the customer buy my product, especially since she offered the other product at a better price. When questioned about my lackluster sales, I told my manager what was going on. He promised to take care of the situation and help me. I was fired because of my lack of sales and I know the company was not told about why my sales were not as good as they should have been. The other sales rep is one of his top producers too. I expected competition, just not from a co-worker, that knew my schedule, clients, and product. Since I have been fired from a job it is now difficult to find another job in sales because I have to say I was fired from my last position due to lack of sales. Do I inform my former company what really happened and how do I tell a potential new employer the truth without bad mouthing my former boss?
Mary,
Mary,
It's time to move forward. Every second that you spend trying to justify what happened or rehash sour grapes will not help your future endeavors. What happened to you pales by comparison to what you could do if you would just change your attitude and your outlook. If you're worried about not finding a job, that will occupy your time. If you're planning on finding a great job, that will occupy your time. Your choice.
Wishing you a great attitude for 2010,
Jeffrey
Jeffrey,
I have been at my company for over 10 years. I am very passionate about what I do. Recently, a man told me that I come on too strong and make men feel threatened because I was selling too hard. What can I do or change that would eliminate this perception? I am in a very competitive industry and feel a lot of pressure to perform and make my plan. As an older female, I don't want to leave this impression and make grown men suffer. I look forward to your reply.
Linda
Linda,
Record yourself – at least twice a day for the next 30 days. Listen to your tone. Listen to your attitude. Listen to the way you say things. And listen to the way you ask for things. After 10 recordings, you will have repaired every flaw. After 20 recordings, you'll be able to hear the new, gentler, kinder you.
Best regards,
Jeffrey |  | How to Stay Grounded During the Holidays
by Mike Robbins
The holiday season is now in full swing. If you're anything like me you probably have mixed feelings about the holidays. I love the excitement, parties, decorations, rituals, music, gifts, connections, and more. However, even these fun things can wear on me. And, the stress, drama, consumption, obligation, expense, and more that often come along with this time of year are not on my list of "favorite things."
In addition, I often feel like I'm not doing enough, not on top of my "list," and I sometimes worry that I won't get everything done in time to make the people in my life happy the way I want to. Can you relate?
This year, especially with all that's going on around us in the economy and the world, what if we each made a commitment to appreciate the holiday season and enjoy the whole experience – regardless of our circumstances or any external pressure we may feel? Appreciating the holiday season, as with anything in life, will make it much more enjoyable and much less stressful.
Instead of rushing around in a high state of anxiety and worry about crossing every item off of our never-ending to-do list, we could choose another way – one which will make this holiday season enjoyable, fun, and peaceful for us and those around us.
Here are a few things we can remember this holiday season to make things more fulfilling and less overwhelming:
1) Take Responsibility for Your Experience. It's important to remember that the stress we experience during the holiday season does not come from the holidays themselves, but from us. We're always the creators of our own experience and the more we can remember this and live our lives from this perspective, the more empowered we are. When we stop thinking, speaking, and acting as if we're mere victims of holiday madness (or anything else in our lives for that matter), we can dramatically enhance our enjoyment and lower our stress.
2) Remember That You Are at Choice. We always have a choice about how we engage with anything. This holiday season we can choose to be annoyed by family members, obligations, forced work gatherings, crowds, prices, or anything else. Or, we can choose to enjoy the magic and fun of this time of year. We may not always get to choose the people and circumstances around us, but we always have a choice about how we relate to them. Our experience of the holidays (and of life) is up to us, as it always is.
3) Focus on What You Appreciate About the Holidays. Consciously choose to focus on the things that you appreciate about the holiday season the most. Tell the truth about this to yourself and to those around you. If at all possible, don't participate in work or family gatherings out of obligation. But, regardless of where you are, what you do, or whom you are with – make a commitment to appreciate what's happening, the people around you, and the many blessings of this season and in your life right now.
Even and especially when things are challenging, we always have so much to be grateful for. At this time of the year, we can take a step back, breathe deeply, and experience the gratitude we have for our lives, the people in it, and for ourselves. If not now, then when?
While there are always things for us to do, gifts to buy, gatherings to attend, and much more going on at this time of year; we can choose to have this holiday season be one that is filled with authentic peace, gratitude, and joy – if we're willing to look for, find, and focus on what we appreciate.
Mike Robbins is an expert in peak performance and life-fulfillment. He teaches people to be more grateful, appreciative, and authentic with others and themselves. He is a sought after keynote speaker and coach, as well as the author of the book Focus on the Good Stuff: The Power of Appreciation and Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken. For more information about Mike's programs, services, and products, click here to visit www.mike-robbins.com
| | | | | |   Don't Get Left Out In The Cold This Christmas!
Learn the cold calling techniques that will earn a warm reception and be your own Santa Claus with this week's deal that you'll flip over. It includes two of Jeffrey's audio programs What Are You Getting Yourself For Christmas?, Cold Calling, and his Customer Loyalty Concepts flip-book for your desk. All for $49.00 (a $99.00 value)
Click here to order now
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No one is capable of giving direction unless he or she knows how to take directions and carry them out.
An essential quality of leadership is developing the ability to persuade others to align their goals with yours and those of the organization. Until you, yourself, are able to join forces with others in the pursuit of a common objective, you will never persuade them to join your cause. Effective leaders recognize the value of working together, and they learn how to follow directions before being entrusted with the responsibility for the performance of others. Good leaders show by example how they expect others to behave. Even though the troops may be trained to follow orders unquestioningly, the officer always leads them into battle. You cannot push others to follow your example; you must pull them along with you. When you show by your every word and deed that you are a person of character, one who works for the greater good of the entire organization, your people will follow.
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|  The house SPECIAL
By Patrick Henry
When I entered the Nashville music scene in 1994, it wasn't long before I was rubbing elbows with some of the biggest names in country music. Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson…I was rubbing elbows with all of them. Truth be told, it was usually when I was reaching to refill their water glass, but every now and then our elbows would touch.
I worked at a restaurant called the Green Hills Grille. It was a delightful little bistro nestled in the heart of the Green Hills area of Nashville and staffed mostly by aspiring songwriters, singers, and musicians. The joke was "if you wanted a job at a restaurant in Nashville, you had to submit a three song demo". The Green Hills Grille almost always had a line out the door with people eagerly awaiting the spinach and artichoke dip, chicken salad melt, or the famous white bean soup with corn cakes. I was always surprised that the restaurant did absolutely no advertising. The food at the restaurant was excellent but the secret to their success did not lie in the taste of the food, but rather with a little old woman named Mrs. Stevens.
Mrs. Stevens would come in everyday at four o'clock and would always sit at the same table, in the same chair and order the exact same thing: a hot fudge brownie, vanilla ice cream, and black coffee. We all got to know Mrs. Stevens and when we had a chance, we would stop by her table to say hello. One afternoon I had her table in my section, and when I saw her walk into the restaurant I put in her order and had a cup of coffee waiting when she sat down. As she was eating her brownie, I said, "Mrs. Stevens, that must be a pretty good brownie to keep you coming back day after day". She put down her fork and looked up at me and said, "Patrick, this is a great brownie, but I don't come here for the food. I'm here because of you…and Gail, and Brigid and Jed and Doug and Steve"…. To my surprise, Mrs. Stevens began to name every single server in the restaurant and as she looked up at me, her eyes began to mist over and she said, "Y'all make me feel so special"
I can remember my first day of work at the Green Hills Grille. We were in a back room taking a menu test, and Brian, the general manager, walked in and spoke three words then left. He didn't say don't be late, or don't drop dishes…. He said REMEMBER THEIR NAMES! The secret to the Green Hills Grille's success was not in the food. (Isn't good food an expectation?), it was that we made the customers feel good for being there.
Great customer service is not a selling point, it is expected. Product reliability is expected. Competitive price point is expected. Do your customers feel good about you? How are you exceeding your customer's expectations?
Here are three ways to exceed expectations and turn customers into fans:
1. REMEMBER THEIR NAME. It makes them feel special and makes you look competent. Remember details of conversations you have and recall them in follow up correspondence.
2. REMEMBER THEIR BIRTHDAY. A famous Hollywood producer spent $60,000 a year on flowers. He said, "they don't always remember who sent flowers, but the always remember who didn't."
3. REMEMBER YOUR MANNERS. I was conducting interviews of my best clients asking them why they continued to do business with me. One said, "My secretary loves you. You always call her maam". She was an older southern lady who appreciated the "old school".
Patrick Henry is a songwriter, author, and Gitomer-Certified speaker who teaches clients how to create distinction in the marketplace and blow away the competition with the four keys to becoming a "ROCKSTAR IN A ROOM FULL OF KARAOKE SINGERS". Patrick's entertaining programs show audiences what happens when Keynotes, Comedy, and Concerts Collide. To book Patrick Henry for your next event, visit www.GitomerCertified.com or contact the friendly folks at Buy Gitomer via email or by calling 704-333-1112.
|  | | Your Success Strategies.
While preparing for the sales presentation of my life (worth about $28 Million), I surrounded myself with a great team of individuals: technical engineers and a high level Executive from our Corporate Office. The entire day prior to this big presentation was spent rehearsing each other's roles and revising the material. I prepared all of the information everyone submitted into one Power Point presentation and we were good to go. At least I thought… One of the engineers asked me if I had prepared a "back-up" of my presentation on transparencies. I informed him that my new laptop was working perfectly and I failed to see the need for something like that. Besides using an overhead projector seemed so archaic at the time. And I left it at that! That night, after returning home, I was tossing and turning, role-playing everything in my mind and reliving the words that the engineer had asked. Well after many hours of sleeplessness I made the decision to return to the office at 4AM and begin the process of creating color transparencies as a back up for this day. Many cups of coffee later, my team arrived and with the back up slides and projector in hand we were off to win this sale! During the presentation, as luck would have it, my laptop decided to lock up on slide number 12 and my team quickly came to my rescue. One engineer placed the projector on my laptop while another one plugged it in and I immediately placed the back-up slide transparency onto the projector. I made some kind of comment that being this prepared is a true reflection of the unique caliber of our company and we discovered afterwards that it was because of this action we were awarded the sale! Word of warning, just like the Boy Scouts of America… "be prepared!"
-William
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Each week, we feature a salesperson's success story. Please send your stories to gill@gitomer.com. If your story is published, we'll send you a free e-Book!
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| | Jeffrey's Upcoming Public Seminar Schedule Oklahoma City, OK 01/15/10 West Palm Beach
Managers 01/21/10 West Palm Beach, FL 01/22/10 Real Estate Revival
Atlanta, GA 02/10/10 Atlanta
Managers 02/11/10 Atlanta, GA 02/12/10 Charleston
Managers 03/11/10 Charleston, WV 03/12/10 Sacramento
Managers 03/31/10 Sacramento, CA 04/01/10 Grand Rapids
Managers 04/08/10 Grand Rapids, MI 04/09/10 Pittsburgh
Managers 04/22/10 Pittsburgh, PA 04/23/10 |
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