What to Do When You Want to Quit
-By Tammy Stanley
One morning while running with Mr. Motivator before spin class (That's his picture to your right, and NO we didn't brush stroke the photo - those ARE the thighs that kick my you know what at spin class) he said, "Running is simple but it's not easy; sometimes you have to dig deep to keep going." Naturally me being ME, I could not help but think, "That is just like operating a direct sales business!"
When you take a quick look at this business it really is quite simple. You begin by getting a few people to look at your products or service, and if you are in home party, to get a few hostesses to book a product party. Through your conversations you develop more customers, sales, and recruits. When you come across another prospect you repeat this process, and when you recruit someone you teach that person this process. Hmm... it is pretty simple. Ah... but it is not easy.
Perhaps it would be easy if every day ten strangers knocked on your door and said, "Excuse me but I hear you have something to sell and even a business opportunity to offer. Would you take a few minutes and tell me about that?" However, in this business you have to go find prospects who are willing to try your products/service, become your customer, and even become someone who will sell the products/service to others.
Perhaps it would be easy if your computer automatically generated an analysis at the end of each day as to why your customers say what they say...
How to Cause Your Team to Excel
By Tammy Stanley
Years ago when I was raising young children, I read "Between Parent and Child" by Dr. Haim Ginott. In this book, Dr. Ginott distinguishes desirable from undesirable praise. Desirable praise focuses on accomplishments while undesirable praise focuses on personality.
"Well aren't you just mommy's little angel?" That is a classic line of praise that plenty of mothers have said to a child. The interesting thing is that moments after hearing that a child will write all over the wall in mommy's bedroom with magic markers! One cannot help ask, "But why?" Dr. Ginott explains that praise like that is undesirable because it focuses on the personality, which fails to address the real issue. In this particular situation consider that all children have thoughts that are less than angelic. When a parent praises a child in a manner that conflicts with what the child knows deep inside to be untrue, the child feels guilty and thus compelled to prove the truth, namely - Believe me I'm no angel!
Now take that concept and plug it into your sales business. Let's just look at a potential leader whose small team is not exactly "bringing it" right now. When she looks at the last month's report she sees that most the people on her team did not do much other than order a few things for their own personal use or consumption, except for one individual that sold $1500. This leader then realizes how critical that individual is to her team. Take a wild guess what does? She falls prey to giving undesirable praise. Here's what it would sound like if that individual were you:
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When Your Prospect Says No
By Tammy Stanley
Last weekend a Girl Scout approached me as I was walking to go inside the grocery store. You can probably guess what she asked me. "Would you like to buy some Girls Scout cookies?" I was not someone who said "Yes," but I did wish her a successful day.
At another store a few minutes later I was approached by yet another Girl Scout, and of course she asked me the same question with great enthusiasm, "Would you like to buy some Girls Scout cookies?" Once again I declined on buying cookies but wished her a successful day. I do not think that she ever heard me wish her a successful day because as soon as I said, "Oh no thank you," she looked at the ground and appeared painfully disappointed.
BAM! Right at that moment I got to experience things from a prospect's perspective when a salesperson views a "No" as rejection, and I assure you, it feels very uncomfortable for prospects. When the one Girl Scout communicated such extreme disappointment, I felt as though she was making me wrong for telling her "No." Then some of the thoughts that went through my mind were: "If I see Girl Scouts outside another store, I'm just going to go to a different store!" "Why do I feel guilty when I've already bought their cookies this year?" "Someone ought to teach these kids that people are not saying no to them; they're saying no to cookies."
Now do not get me wrong - of course I understand that these little Girls Scouts selling cookies are only 10 years old, and I really do grasp how tough it must be for them to go out and ask every person that walks by if they want to buy cookies. This...
How to Be Powerful
By Tammy Stanley
The biggest barrier in the way of you experiencing yourself as powerful is the critic in your own head. That internal voice is full of reasons why you cannot do this, why you should not do that, why someone else is to blame, etc.
Examples can be incredibly useful, so let’s go ahead and take a look at an example salesperson. We’ll call her Miss Leading. Now Miss Leading really wants to dramatically increase her business in the next few months because she wants to let go of the part-time job she has at the grocery store so she can have more time with her family and call her own hours.
Today while working Miss Leading ends up talking to three other employees, two of which mention that they are tired of working so hard at the store but they desperately need the money. It turns out that they all have a good time talking, and they end up exchanging cell phone numbers with one another.
Miss Leading is all excited when she gets home because she now has three new prospects to call. When she tells her husband the exciting news, he asks if she’s going to call them tonight. She tells him that she would, but everyone just got off work and like her they have family and probably don’t want to be bothered tonight. However, she has tomorrow off and will touch base with all of them then.
The next day her internal reasoning machine gets cracking as soon as she awakens - "You really cannot call all three of those other employees because only two mentioned that they were tired of working at the store. There is really no good reason to call the person that didn't complain."
As soon as she looks up the two other employee phone numbers in her cell phone, the internal...
Effortlessly Improve Your Business
-by Tammy Stanley
I am embarrassed to admit how many times I have gone through an entire day without ever acknowledging just how amazing it is that my heart keeps beating and that my lungs keep breathing without me ever having to think about causing that to happen. In other words, I forget to be grateful.
No matter what your current desire in your business might be - whether it is to soar to the top of your company or to just get your own products free, to earn your company's car program and drive a Mercedes or to simply earn enough money each month to make your family's car payment, whatever your desire might be - gratitude and trust can cause your dreams to manifest in seemingly effortless ways.
Maybe like me, you have noticed how little time you spend worrying whether or not the sun will rise or whether or not the seasons will change. Indeed it is not uncommon to take for granted some of the most magnificent things that happen everyday - like the way our bodies digest food, the way we continue to breathe while we are sleeping, and the way our bodies know how to heal all manner of wounds and ailments. Amazing things are not only taking place in the outside world everyday, but also within our own experience.
When you become truly aware of the gifts that life gives you everyday, without you needing to do anything in exchange to receive them, you find it rather easy to trust that life really does want the best for you. A powerful way to demonstrate this trust is to express gratitude and affirm what you want from life.
Years ago, during a particularly frustrating time in my life, I read that expressing gratitude is the surest way to align oneself with the Divine. The words pierced through my heart like a...
How to Succeed Through Unexpected Challenges
By Tammy Stanley
As much as you might plan, you can never really plan for unexpected challenges. In your business those unexpected challenges might be that the best selling product gets recalled and then canceled, that your top leader chooses to change his/her career path, or that a health challenge completely alters your capabilities and schedule.
Keep in mind that unexpected circumstances need not be severe to slow you down. They can be minor but pressing all the same. For example, your youngster arrives home in tears, and after a bit of inquiry you discover that she did poorly on today's math quiz. Although doing poorly on a math quiz is not a critical situation, offering support for this youngster at this time could build and strengthen your relationship.
If you think about it, you probably have unexpected situations daily or at least weekly. All of these situations, the critical and the less serious, have a knack of getting in your way and stopping you from staying on task with the things that move you ahead in your business. More often than not, they stop you from doing the one task that has the most positive impact - prospecting.
Have you ever caught yourself thinking, "As soon as _______ happens, I'll get back to working on my business." During the holiday season entrepreneurs often say, "As soon as all this holiday hustle and bustle is over, I'll get back to prospecting." During the summertime direct sellers often say, "As soon as I get the kids back in school, I'll have time to work my business." Of course as soon as "X" happens, something else pops up to take its place.
Time for a little reality check...
Moving Forward When You Feel Down
By Tammy Stanley
If you look at the graph on your right you see two lines on the graph that have a similar pattern. You will also notice that there is a gap between the blue line and the red line.
Now let's just say that the blue line represents the goals that you set for yourself in your business last year and the red line represents what you actually did. Let the graph represent your goals and your results for recruiting, selling, prospecting calls - whatever you want.
Now it could be that you hit every goal you set, and this graph is not a good representation for you. If that is the case, I acknowledge you for doing exactly what you said you would do. It is truly exhilarating when you honor your word like that. And I want you to now look at that graph as if it is somebody in your business, whether it is someone in your upline, downline, or a friend who sits next to you at sales meetings. I am requesting you to do this because you can make a difference in that person's life!
While reaching your goals can exhilarate you, not reaching your goals can upset and depress you. If you are someone that sets daily, weekly, or monthly goals, it can really wear on you when day after day, week after week, and/or month after month you fall short of reaching your goals. The good news is that it just does not need to be this way!
Instead of getting depressed and bogged down when you fall short of your goals, you can actually move full steam ahead, and there is a secret key to doing this that I want to share with you today. The key is to notice what you make it mean when you fall short of your goals. Do you make it mean things like:
* This always happens to me - I set goals and only get disappointed...
The Hidden Saboteur
-By Tammy Stanley
If you have visited an amusement part you have probably seen the little motorboats that glide perfectly and uniformly along a water filled path. The reason you feel no tension or worry when you see three-year olds in the driver’s seats is because you know that the boats are actually attached to and controlled by a rail system that is under the water. You know that those three year-olds are not driving the boats!
Life gets really interesting when we finally notice the underground rails in our own life – the rails of negative emotions and thoughts that condition us to respond the way we do without us even realizing it. Quite some time ago I discovered one of those negative thoughts in my underground operating system, but it was only by making myself accountable and sharing with my coach and the people in my coaching group that I finally started making real progress, by severing the bond I had to this operating system that had such a negative impact on my life.
I feel compelled to share with you the negative thought rail that controlled far too many of my decisions because I have a sneaky suspicion that you, dear reader, just might see a bit of yourself in my story, which could bring a truly refreshing newness to this New Year. And new insights can lead to new actions, new actions can lead to new behaviors, and new behaviors can lead to new results.
Most of us have heard that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results, but we usually fail to see just how insane we are. I believe the difficulty lies in the simple fact that the very thing that keeps us doing the same thing over and over again is hidden from our view...
The Problem With Zombies
-By Tammy Stanley
You do not have to be a fan of "The Walking Dead" graphic novel or television series to know what a Zombie looks like these days. Just walk out your door and go to any public place - you can't miss them. They pay more attention to the contraptions in their hands than the people they are "with."
Perhaps you have gone out for coffee or for lunch with a friend that suddenly turned into a Techno-Zombie. If you have, you might remember feeling awkward once your friend received a quick buzzing nudge from his/her phone and then instantly checked out of the conversation you were having. Whether you are in a public place or in the privacy of a home, it can be humiliating to realize that a text message supersedes your physical presence!
OH NO - what if your prospects and customers have already turned into Techno-Zombies? Does that mean that there is no hope for you to ever get their attention? Admittedly it's not the easiest thing to do, but if you are reading this article, reflect on what I did to get your attention.
The very fact that your prospects and customers can be hypnotized by the latest app on their smartphone is proof positive that they are receptive to marketing.
Ah! Then perhaps the real challenge is not allowing yourself to slip into zombie territory - that delusional place where you convince yourself that you need to wait for a better time to call your prospects and customers. That can be a tall order, especially this time of year when you feel certain that people are in overwhelm from the holidays, that they have spent all their money, and that the last person they want to hear from is a salesperson....
Expand Through Possibility
-by Tammy Stanley
A number of months ago I wanted to organize a social event for my local friends. My idea was to encourage my friends to bake their favorite cake recipe and to bring that home baked cake along with 5-10 friends to an event I chose to name "It's a piece of cake!" I couldn't help thinking that it would turn into an amazing networking event for everyone who attended, but it would be a piece of cake to throw together.
Well, I cannot say that it turned out exactly as I originally envisioned it!
Before I knew it, I was pitching my idea to the National Bank of Arizona, and within a few more weeks, we not only had 6 culinary schools that wanted their students to participate, we had The Mesa Arts Center offering us a gorgeous venue for the event as well.
By the time the event took place we had local bakers who fully participated by making cakes like the one in the picture above - Yes, that's a cake decorated with white chocolate ganache!
So what does all of that have to do with your business?
To put it mildly... EVERYTHING!
It really is not necessary to worry about how big your business is or isn't right now. What if you are not even close to knowing how big your business can be, just as I had no clue that my "little" cake event was something in which a bank, an arts center, 6 culinary schools, and 15 local bakeries would want to participate.
The secret is to step into the possibility of what you want your business to be, and that, dear reader, has nothing to do with its features but rather its qualities!
Think about the qualities you want your business to reflect and then see those as the outcome you want to be...
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