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Whenever and whatever you’re pitching, dozens of factors
will figure in the final decision of your prospects. All else
being equal, you have the edge if you can establish a
personal connection. Connect emotionally and intellectually,
so they like and trust you more than your competitors. How
can you get your prospects to like you? Try these tips.

* Focus and be sincere. If you appear nervous or unsure,
you may seem devious or incompetent. If your sales
presentation does not respond to their concerns and you
just grind on with a prepared pitch, they will decide you don’t
care about them and their problems. Look people right in
the eyes and convince them that you stand 100% behind the
ideas, products, or services that you want to sell them. Pick
up on their concerns, and address them.

* “Divide and conquer.” If you’re doing a sales presentation,
shake hands with everyone as they enter the room. Connect
with them so you see them as individuals, and you become
more memorable to them too. (People are usually more shy
of groups of strangers than in one-on-one contacts.)

* Use technology to enhance your sales presentation, not
drown it. PowerPoint can keep you on track, but it can’t
establish trust.

* Keep it simple and memorable! When your prospects
have a debriefing afterwards, you want them to remember
what you said more than anything your competitors pitched
to them. Break your talking points into snappy sound bites
that are easy to write down and remember. Make them
interesting and repeatable.

* Steer clear of technical language and jargon. Rehearse
your presentation in advance with your spouse or an
intelligent 12-year-old across the dinner table. If there’s
anything they don’t understand, it’s too complicated.

* Tell great stories. People are trained to resist a sales
pitch, but no one can resist a good story. Let’s say you’re
trying to get money to fund your software company. Tell a
story about how the prospective investor’s life will change
when you bring the product to market: “Imagine that a year
from now you’ll come to work and use this software to do in
5 minutes what now takes you 45 minutes. I don’t know
what that would do to your life, but in all our test markets or
pilot programs, people tell us…” Then add more stories.

Take a lesson from Hollywood. Give your stories interesting
characters and dialogue, plus a dramatic lesson that your
prospects can relate to. Don’t say, “Certain companies have
used our software.” Don’t even say, “IBM has used our
software.” Instead, say, “Joe Smith at IBM said to me, ‘If we
don’t increase sales turnover by 20%, we want make our
projections’. We guaranteed them they could if they used our
software. Six months later, Joe called and said, ‘You guys
saved us.’”

If you are pitching a product that hasn’t been built yet, build a
story about what it will be like for someone using it.

Everything else being equal, you’re way ahead of any and all
your competition when your prospects relate to you, like you,
and trust you.

Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE is a San Francisco-based sales
trainer, executive speech coach, and award-winning
professional speaker. She is also a Past-President of the
National Speakers Association. For more information on her
sales training; executive speech coaching; books, CDs,
DVDs, and videos contact: PFripp@Fripp.com, 1-800
634-3035 or visit: http://www.fripp.com

Patricia Fripp offers this article on a nonexclusive basis. You
may reprint or repost this material as long as Patricia
Fripp’s name and contact information is included.

I don’t know about you but for me it seems that as I get older the years seem to go by faster. You know that cliché “time flies when you’re having fun”. Well I don’t know if that’s what happening but here it is again, another year gone by.

The end of the year brings about a lot of introspection about what you have accomplished or not accomplished for the year. As I reflect on the year, I feel a mixture of feelings. Some things I’m not too happy about while other things I feel pretty good about. All in all I know that I am blessed especially when I thing about the loved ones and others that were lost to death during the year.

This year has brought about heartbreaking devastation from the hurricanes, a tsunami, brush fires, earthquakes, mudslides, floods, tornadoes, and loss of jobs that have affected people not only living in other countries but people living right here in the United States. As I reflect, it also brings to mind how much we take for granted, but in reality life is so short. The time we have here on earth is so precious and valuable that we should not ever complain or take for granted what could be taken away in an instant. That’s why I have decided to set some simple goals for myself for the upcoming year to optimize my time.

Here are some strategies that you may find helpful in setting goals for your life:

Positive or negative thinking is sometimes visualized by a person expression his or her vision about the level of a glass; being either half FULL or half EMPTY.

Try to remember a situation in which you thought you had a deal with someone, but in the end, there wasn’t such a deal, only an intention. For example:

• You had stored 900 Mb at one of your free internet mail providers. You stored important documents and the next time you logged in it appears that they were no longer there. There was however 1Gb of free space on your account.
• You are offering an internet service to your clients, they login to your tool environment, they pass the credit card payments and all of a sudden your server is down. You received the payment, but they didn’t find their service…

A service is — in difference with a product — a facility that is provided by someone, or a company which support the other (Company) in achieving its process. This (primary) process could be selling or to producing a product.

A special feature of a service is that — again in difference with a product — it is maximized; whatever effort you put ‘behind’ the service, there is one LEVEL that cannot be succeeded (and that is the level of a 100 percent). This is sometimes regarded as a frustrating feature and therefore called a dis-satisfier. If you provide the right level, you have just done what you should have done. Are you underperforming this level, than you could be in a mayor problems.

Unless you have thought about setting up a Service Level Agreement (SLA). This SLA describes the level of the glass under different circumstances and the consequences when the level is below the accepted criteria.

This provides both parties a clear definition when the glass is half full or half empty. The next step is to manage this agreement by means of service level management. And that is just another step to take.

© 2006 Hans Bool

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days.
You can apply for a free demo account

“We just don’t work as a team!” Janet, a group manager for a
large insurance company, was complaining to Larry, her human
resources consultant. “Everyone just seems to do their own
thing, they don’t share information, don’t try to help each
other, and don’t seem to care about anyone else’s problems. What
we need is a team building offsite!” Janet and Larry decided to
put together a two-day offsite for the team at a resort about
two hours away from work. Janet wanted immediate focus on the
problem so Larry worked double-time to put together the event to
be held later in the month. Larry put together an agenda full of
trust-building exercises, ice-breakers, and brainstorming
sessions on how the team could work better together.

On the first day of the offsite only about half of Janet’s team
had shown up; the other half were working on a hot project that
needed to be completed later in the week. The remaining team
members politely participated in the team building exercises,
but didn’t seem very interested in the activities as they felt
too “squishy.” Because Janet wanted to focus the offsite on team
building, there was no clearly stated business purpose for the
event. The brainstorming sessions were good, but no tangible
actions were taken down for the team to follow up on. In short,
the offsite was met with a resounding thud from the team and was
a dismal failure.

To some, this may be a gross exaggeration; but to others, this
closely resembles an offsite they attended or were responsible
for planning. Offsites are a very effective means to getting the
team focused on solving a business problem, defining a strategy,
or creating a revolutionary way of doing things. A very key
by-product of offsites, though, is the team-building that occurs
while addressing business issue at hand. Done well, an offsite
not only puts great minds together to address a business issue
but it also builds better teams that work more effectively
together and get more things done. Done poorly, an offsite will
be viewed as a huge waste of time and will poorly reflect on you
as a leader.

How can you ensure your offsites are successful at building
teams and getting things done at the same time? Consider the
following simple tips:

Have a clear purpose for the offsite - Define some clear
business reason for having the offsite. Consider things such as
developing strategic goals for the upcoming fiscal year, account
planning for strategic customers, or generating solution
alternatives for a key business problem. If you make the goal of
the offsite “Team Building” then your team is likely to look at
the offsite as a waste of time that will have no real business
benefit. Do your team building under the guise of solving a
problem or defining the future.

Balance work with play - All work and the offsite becomes too
fatiguing. All play and it becomes a boondoggle. Balance your
agenda with a combination of work sessions with some fun
team-building events sprinkled in. Make sure the “play” events
you define are something everyone can participate in and go
beyond the overused catch-me-as-I-fall-backwards event. Better
still, ask the team what types of things they’d like to do
during playtime.

Provide plenty of time for networking - Give ample time during
the day and evening for the team to have snacks, enjoy
beverages, and just talk about whatever strikes them. Team
building starts with building relationships, and building
relationships starts with getting to know each other. Allow for
networking time to be free and unscripted and let the team enjoy
some casual conversation with each other.

Don’t hold the offsite during a crunch period - When you do hold
your offsite, you don’t want your team members to be checking
email every five minutes or constantly leaving to make important
calls. Do your best to hold an offsite during a “slow” time in
your business. As with most businesses, there will probably
never be an optimal time to hold an offsite but do your best to
avoid times when team members are already burning the midnight
oil.

Make it an overnight event - Some of the best offsites I’ve held
were those where the team ate dinner together, enjoyed a couple
of drinks, and stayed up late discussing major business problems
or brainstorming on a radically new strategy. These late night
sessions were valuable in that team members put their heads
together to address some problem or opportunity. More
importantly, team members built relationships which provided an
outstanding foundation for strong teams.

Don’t make the team work overtime to “make up” the time spent at
the offsite - If you’re going to have an offsite, allow the team
to move some of their other commitments out a few days so they
don’t feel the pressure of needing to get their work done while
at the offsite. The last thing you want is your team thinking
about working late because of wasted time at a dumb offsite.
Relax some of the deliverables and let the team focus on the
offsite, not on what work isn’t getting done.

Put together a follow-up plan to continue the work from the
offsite - One of the most frustrating things I’ve experienced
with offsites was the lack of a follow-up plan to implement some
of the great ideas which came out of the offsite. Put together
an actionable follow-up plan with tasks, dates, and owners and
you’ll keep the excitement going out of the offsite and will get
some of the great ideas implemented. Neglect putting together a
follow-up plan and you’ll have an offsite that the team sees as
a waste of time.

Offsites can be a very effective means of getting things done
and building outstanding teams at the same time. Just make sure
to follow these simple steps and you’ll better ensure your next
offsite is a huge success.

Week day mornings can be extremely hectic. It’s amazing how socks, shoes, briefcases, backpacks and other items necessary to start your day, mysteriously sprout legs and disappear when they’re needed most. This doesn’t have to be the case in your household. With a bit of organization, mornings can be smooth sailing. Try these tips:

1. Start Preparing For the Upcoming Week on the Weekend

Moms make this a family event. After the laundry is done, get started on the ironing. Iron at least 3 or 5 outfits for the upcoming week. Ironing in the mornings is one of the worst time wasters ever. This alone can add an extra 30 minutes to your morning. If you don’t want to spend time ironing on the weekends, at least iron the night before.

2. Bathe The Kids The Night Before

Our little ones can get a nice warm bath each night. Bathing kids in the mornings consumes a great deal of time and according to Grandma it’s the surest way for them to catch a cold.

3. Place All Necessary Items in The Same Place the Night Before

Have a certain place for backpacks, briefcases and other items you know the hubby and kids will need for the next day. Having a special designated spot for socks, undergarments, belts, and hair bows can also alleviate some of the usual morning chaos.

4. Pack Lunches the Night Before

Mom save yourself a lot of frustration. Prepare lunches the night before. Store them in the fridge. By lunch time everything will still be fresh and tasty.

5. Breakfast or Fast Break?

This is definitely a personal choice. However, if preparing breakfast and getting everyone to the table to partake is almost impossible there are other options. Keep fresh fruit such as bananas and fruit cups available for quick fixes in the morning. Cereal bars and breakfast bars can also be a way for getting in that most important meal of the day.

It’s not rocket science but finding ways to manage your time more efficiently in the mornings can definitely reduce the level of stress in the household.

Roschelle Nelson is the founder of Wah4life.com. She lives and works at home with her husband and two sons. Visit her website: http://www.wah4life.com and http://www.wah4life.blogspot.com

Congratulations! You are the president of your own nation, and it is called “Imagination”. This particular nation is the driving force behind your life and is the underlying factor for your future. You need to realize that you have an enormous responsibility as the President of this Nation, because you need to always focus on the future and strive to have the ultimate nation. You need to internalize the power you have as the President of your own nation. Among many things that you have is the power to choose and/or consider. You are the one who holds the votes on who is allowed to live in your nation!

As I have written about in the past, you must create and begin to maximize your mastermind team. This team will empower you to build an unreal imagination and make others wonder why you are achieving such an awesome level of success. As the President, you will inspire others to create other phenomenal imaginations of their own. The world needs many people who are proud of their own “Imagination”.

Each of us has the ability to imagine such powerful dreams for our future, which can change the destiny of millions of people. Let’s think about a few people who had unreal imaginations — Henry Ford imagined an 8-cylinder car and then achieved it. The Wright Brothers imagined men could fly and then discovered a way to make that possible. John F. Kennedy said that we would have a man on the moon and then achieved it. Ask yourself right now, “Where did they all dream of those achievements first?” The answer to that question is…They did their dreaming in their own nation called Imagination!

You need to take some personal time and evaluate how you are handling your nation. Are you proud of what you are imagining you can be or what you can do? If you answer that question truthfully, you will either be enthused or disillusioned. You truly need to re-examine your nation. I suggest that you brainstorm, which means to take some time for yourself and just write down all the dreams that you have but never even wrote down. I also recommend that you write down 100 of them and then put them away for 2 days so that they can sink in a little. When you go back and read them, your inner spirit will direct you to the one that you need to focus on and begin to design with your own “Imagination”. Each of us is empowered to create wealth for ourselves in every aspect of life — spiritually, physically, and financially!

I challenge you right now to utilize your God-given imagination and imagine whatever you want to be then you will empowered to run your nation in the most productive methods possible. This alone will entirely change your life for the better, because now you have a responsibility as a President of a nation - your “Imagination”.

Find Your WHY and FLY!

John Di Lemme

John Di Lemme, a Former Clinically Diagnosed Stutterer, now the
World’s Leading Motivational Expert *shocks millions globally*
by exposing the truth they’ve been searching for in order to
achieve monumental life success through his Award Winning Live
Seminars, Power-Packed Training Programs, Live Tele-Classes,
Motivational Club and Weekly E-zine. Take action now and join
tho.usands of others that have used John’s proven methods to
live their life to the Maximum! Visit www.FindYourWhy.com
and discover how you can finally create monumental success
in your life today and achieve all your goals, dreams and desires.

Buying and Selling Automobile Dealerships - Axioms When Negotiating the Contract

No two negotiations are alike and in the art of negotiations there are no fixed responses; there are only basic rules that are to be adapted according to each circumstance and basic duties that formulate the boundaries of hyperbole. The basic duties when negotiating are discussed in another article. The basic rules of negotiating are as follows:

(1) Be prepared. Axiom 1: Do your homework.

(2) Identify your objective ahead of time and when you reach it, STOP. Many times I have seen lawyers that have won their cases keep talking until they have talked the judge into ruling for the other side. During negotiations, many dealers who have found what they were looking for, have lost the deal because they tried to sweeten-the-pot one too many times. Axiom 2: Pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered.

(3) Always keep your objective in mind when negotiating and do not get sidetracked on meaningless issues. The negotiator is not at the negotiation table to win a debate or to teach someone a lesson. The most successful negotiator does not bicker. Axiom 3: Keep your eye on the doughnut and not the hole.

(4) Answer only what you are asked and only to the extent to which you are asked. Do not anticipate what the other side wants to know. You are not there to educate them, or to impress them with your knowledge. For example, if asked when you were born, you do not have to volunteer location and lineage. Axiom 4: It is usually what you say, not what you hear that hurts you.

(5) Do not volunteer to immediately relinquish any written documentation that you have researched and prepared, if the other side will settle for it being mailed at a later date. Axiom 5: If something was not originally written for publication, always re-read it with the idea of publication in mind before you release it. Axiom 5a: Don’t give away free information.

(6) Outline the other side’s position and concessions and have them initial the paper before leaving the negotiation session and give them a copy. Axiom 6: Faded ink is clearer than the sharpest memory.

(7) Do not feel pressured. There is nothing the other side can do to embarrass you into an agreement. Axiom 7: If you do make a mistake, 99.9% of the world will never know or care.

(8) Do not get emotional unless it is an act — and then, only get emotional if you have previously won an award for “Best Acting”. Axiom 8: The most skilled negotiator never loses control.

(9) Do not be afraid to be self-deprecating, if that’s what it takes to get the job done. There is an old story about the fur salesman who came to work one day, only to find that, during the night, the cat had peed on the furs. Later, when a customer was trying on a coat, she told the salesman that the coat smelled like pee. The salesman responded that it was not the coat she that smelled; but that a cat had peed on his jacket. Axiom 9: Sometimes you have to pee on yourself to get the job done.

(10) Every deal has key elements (such as the offer, acceptance, consideration, and time of performance), have your checklist and be sure to cover all of the elements. Do not walk away thinking you have an agreement when in fact you do not. Axiom 10: A sale is completed only after the check clears and the buyer has legal title to the assets.

(11) Do not lie. Axiom 11: It is better to say nothing, than to lie.

(12) Do not make concessions unless you have thought them through while away from the pressures of the negotiating table. There is nothing wrong with saying: “That sounds reasonable; let me check one thing.” or “That sounds reasonable, let’s take a break for a few minutes and mull it over.”

(13) No matter how ridiculous other party’s arguments may be, put your self in their shoes and walk them through. At best, you might find their arguments have some merit and at worse you will better understand what drives the other person.

(14) Always conduct yourself as a gentleman, or a lady. The loud mouth may dominate the conversation, but the gentleman or lady, controls it. Axiom 12: The most proficient negotiator is not the loud mouth.

(15) When negotiations are finished and you going home do not be tempted to pat yourself on the back; try to think of what you gave away. Axiom 13: Even a dunderhead gets lucky sometimes.

(16) There is nothing the other person can say which is binding without your consent. Axiom 14: if you hear something outrageous do not attack, negotiate.

(17) If you make someone want to do something for you, they will help you find a way.

(18) The “Real Buyer” calls nearly every day. The prospect that creates more than two unwarranted delays is probably not a real prospect. Axiom 15: Do not confuse sincerity with a “soft touch.”

(19) Negotiating with one prospect at a time is a mistake. Axiom 16: The first real buyer to the table with a contract and a check wins. Axiom 16a: The “real” buyer isn’t always the one with the highest bid.

(20) Real buyers have monetary limits on the amount of money they will commit to a deal. Axiom 17: People who say they have no monetary limit are almost always not serious buyers.

(21) To succeed, keep the initiative. Negotiation is a business, not a game. Axiom 18: Due diligence is a sign of professionalism, not of weakness.

(22) Be as careful near completion, as you were at the beginning. Axiom 19: Many a race was lost near the finish line.

(23) Take a break during the negotiations and re-read rules one through twenty-three.

John Pico is a vice president of Automotive Advisors. He has completed over 1,000 dealership transactions, and published the first books copyrighted in the Library of Congress on Buying and Selling Automobile dealerships. You can obtain his biography and more information, sources and references at http://www.automotiveadvisors.com/johnpico.asp.

“There are no warlike people - just warlike leaders.”
Ralph Bunche

What’s the big deal about organizational values? Well, let’s explore personal and organizational values interaction. Although each of these variables is independent, there’s clearly a relationship. Obviously, an organization can be corrupt while followers are not. For example, review all of today’s corporate and government scandals; the leaders were scoundrels, not the employees. With this understanding in mind, let us focus on how organizations influence follower’s value systems. Organizational culture relates to the underlying set of key values, beliefs, and norms shared by the workforce. Organizational culture development is amazing since different people have varying values.

In a perfect world, organizational changes are gradual; however, the growing demands of a turbulent, unpredictable environment are causing organizations to make radical and rapid changes. This places a heavy burden on organizational value systems. For example, an organization that advocates employee loyalty finds itself outsourcing its employee core functions. Is it fair to believe that employees may find organizational values hypocritical? This situation places organizational leaders, primarily front line supervisors, in a precarious situation. If not carefully watched by management, this situation could create relational breakdowns.

Therefore, in making changes to technology, procedures, and people, organizations must be careful to maintain this optimum balance in their shifts in values. Walk cautiously with your values. Start today!

References:

Draft, R. (1995). Organization theory and design.
Minneapolis, MN: West Publishing Company.

Malphurs, A. (1996). Values-Driven Leadership. Grand Rapids, MI: Bakers Books.

© 2006 by Daryl D. Green

90 Day Goals VIP Team.

Here’s a great way to remember to
accomplish your goals for 2006.

2 0 0 6

When you see 2006 this year
remember to break it apart into
2, 0+0, 6.

2 = Think about your Creator and yourself
You were given a gift from your Creator.
That gift was designed specifically for you.

Find out what that gift is and honor it.
That gift will be your abundance in life.
Plant that seed today for a bountiful
harvest in your life later.

0+0 = The two 0’s are your new glasses for opportunity.
Look at the O’s as your personal spectacles to
see what is happening everyday of the year.
These views may be macro or micro. Use this
new way of seeing new opportunities each day,
to improve and to take Action on your Goals.

6 = Six Action steps to make 2006 your best ever.

1- THINK about 2006 and Write your 90 Day Goals.
2- VISUALIZE yourself achieving them.
3- Have FAITH that you will accomplish them.
4- Feed your subconscious mind with AFFIRMATIONS.
5- Be persistant and NEVER GIVE-UP on your Dreams.
6- The power of GIVING: Be of service to others.

Whenever you see 2006 this year, break it apart and see your Creator and yourself, your Gift, use your new Vision glasses to see every new opportunity in your life, and take the 6 Action Steps each day. Think and write your Goals, Visualize yourself accomplishing them, use the knowledge that your Faith will be working for you by using powerful affirmations to stimulate your subsonscious mind, never give-up on yourself or your Dreams and Give your service to others and it will return to you in abundance.

This simple 90 Day Goals trick in 2006 will work Miracles.

Frank Gasiorowski or as his is known on the internet as “Mr. 90 Day Goals”, has been teaching since 1973 and his current mission is to provide easy and effective ways for individuals to achieve their true potential through, http://www.90DayGoals.com and http://www.TotalSelfMastery.com coaching programs.

#1: YOU ARE INSANE

What is that definition of insanity? You keep doing the same thing over and over and getting the same result. What if I told you that is how you are hard wired? You do 96% of what you do habitually! That is astounding. That does not even feel remotely freeing.

How can we switch that around so that it becomes a statement of power instead of powerlessness? There is that 4% we can work with. Aha! That feels better.
Let’s take a look at what determines these habitual actions.

Why do we do something over and over again until it becomes a habit? Our actions are determined by our attitudes, which of course are a result of our beliefs. What is a belief? I say this over and over and over because it is the secret of how we create everything. A belief is just a thought that we think over and over. That is the most powerful statement. It bears repeating. A belief is just a thought we think over and over.

Do you listen to your mind? Do you believe your mind? Where do those thoughts come from? Would you allow anyone else to speak to you the way your mind does? Have you ever stopped to think that those automatic negative thoughts are just that? Automatic!!!
They come in on autopilot. They started a long time ago. Perhaps from a frustrated parent, a less than nurturing teacher, a best friend that wasn’t a friend after all. A seed was planted, you believed it and wheeeee, it was off and running. You have continued this self talk for years. It took on a life of its own. On and on, year after year. It sounded something like this: “I will never amount to anything; I am so unlucky; I can’t do that; I feel so ashamed; I can’t believe I did that; I am so stupid!” Oh, pardon me. Did you really think those were YOUR thoughts? You thought you invented them? They are not so original. In fact they go back generations.

So you continued to think those thoughts, you claimed them, repeated them over and over and then they became a belief. They determined your attitude. Your attitude determined your actions. How does a loser behave? How does someone with low self-esteem behave? How does someone who has given up a long time ago behave? This behavior then becomes a habit. All of this is happening on a sub-conscious level.

No wonder you are insane. You have not stopped doing what you do (over and over again) long enough to take inventory. You are just acting out the habits that were created by beliefs a long time ago.

Here is the good news. You have choice. You can determine what you think. You can CHOOSE to think empowering thoughts. What if you became so aware of your thoughts that you became like a detective? What if you started to question your thoughts when they appeared? (Which is just what they do, they appear, just like the wind, or snowflakes.) What if you became committed to choosing the thoughts that felt good?
What if you created self talk that served you? You have the power to make changes and live the life you desire. It all begins with thought.

It is time to create new beliefs. Think empowering thoughts over and over and create those beliefs that support you and nurture you. You can do it. Your thoughts are the one thing that you do control. It is time to become sane!

Oh, now it makes perfect sense! IF, I think empowering thoughts, over and over again they become a belief. IF I believe I am smart, successful, funny, you name it - I will behave in that manner. I will create habits that support, serve and empower me. Then my habitual behavior, which is 96% of what I do, will create success. Wow!!!

Eureka! The secret is out. My thoughts do create my reality. I can choose my thoughts.
Choose sanity. Clean up your mind.

Dr. Nancy Heimstra teaches people who don’t know what they want to be when they grow up an easy way to get clear on their life purpose so they can make more money, have better relationships and live the life they always wanted, by taking action.

coachnancy@spirit-alchemy.com