SUCCESS IN BUSINESS AND LIFE NEWSLETTER
Volume 6, Number 2 March-April, 2006 Issue
Greetings and welcome to the latest issue of the Newsletter and a special welcome to all our many new subscribers worldwide.
Let me ask you a question. Are you having a great year? How are your 2006 resolutions going?
Are you achieving your goals and dreams? Do you give 110% effort to each and every day? Or are you frustrated and disappointed at your achievements so far?
If you want to be successful in any area of your life make a decision right now to be:
¾ The best person you can be……..To stand out in this highly competitive world and be a star…You have to be better today than you were yesterday and better tomorrow than you were today
¾
Astound yourself and others….do the unexpected….
imagine and achieve the impossible….dream your biggest dreams…and remember the impossible is just the
untried!
¾
Make a
commitment to excellence in everything you do day in and day out
Please check out my full speaking schedule and availability at www.cmarcus.com. I would welcome the opportunity to speak for your organization in the future at your important event and to include a speaking engagement when I am in your area if possible to make it more cost effective for you.
Some of the upcoming
cities and countries I will be speaking include:
Vancouver, Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Montreal, Kingston, Canada
Port Huron MI, Dallas, Los Angeles area, Orlando, Washington DC, Columbus and Cincinnati, New Orleans, Miami, USA
Mayan Riviera, Cancun, Mexico
Manchester and London, England
For more information about ordering my best selling book Success is Not a Spectator Sport please call Toll-Free at 1-800-837-0629, or visit my website at www.cmarcus.com or it can be ordered through www.amazon.com and www.chapters.ca for our Canadian friends.
Have a terrific few months and go to work on your plan of action NOW!!!!.
To Your Success
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In this Edition
- Six Successful Habits To Increase Your Productivity and Client Base
- From Stress to Success
- Quotes
- Recommended Reading
- Services
- Privacy Policy
Six
Successful Habits to Increase Your Productivity and Client Base
1. HAVE
A PLAN OF ACTION
Real success is based on
truly identifying your target markets, your ideal client base.
§
Prepare
a list of your 20 top clients and your 20 top prospects, and never let more
than 30 days go by without being in touch with them.
§
Ask
your clients for referrals. Who else do they know who might benefit from what
you have to offer?
§
Plan
every single day to maximize productivity.
§
Evaluate
your client and prospect base regularly.
§
Set
goals and high expectations for yourself.
§
Work
outside of the box. Be prepared to do the things other people are not prepared
to do.
§
Be
prepared to work unsociable hours, weekends if necessary, doing what ever it
takes to succeed.
Know where you want to go with your business. Work
your plan consistently and plan to succeed.
2. BE
IN BUSINESS FOR YOUR CLIENTS
Successful business people
know this and keep it top of mind in all their client interactions.
§
Think
not what your clients can do for you, but what you can do for them. Always
focus on building meaningful RELATIONSHIPS with your clients.
§
Do
not think sale, think SERVICE. If you
take care of serving your clients, the sale will take care of itself every
time, and your clients will refer and introduce you to your future clients.
§
Do
not so much market your products or services, market what solutions and
benefits your products and services provide for your clients.
§
Work
with your clients to help them, and you, understand what their real NEEDS are.
Put the fancy brochures away at first. Get to know your clients on a personal
level. Earn the right to do business with them.
Remember. People do not care what you know until
they know that you care. We do business with people we like, respect and most
important, who we trust.
3. GET
OVER REJECTION
Rejection and disappointment
are part and parcel of the daily business of successful sales professionals. In
fact, if you are not getting rejected often, you are probably not speaking to
enough people, making enough calls.
§
The
failure of many potentially great sales people is taking rejection personally;
remember a “no” is just a request for further information.
§
Successful
people in business do not worry about failure.
In fact, they know that every setback leads them closer to success.
Henry Ford wisely said, “Failure is just another opportunity to begin again
more intelligently.”
Talk to enough people in a day and you will
ultimately succeed. Be patient, believe in yourself, your products and
services, and be proud of the organization that you represent.
4. NETWORK
How often are you out there
promoting your products and services?
How often do you ask your existing clients for a referral and most
important, an introduction to that person?
§
Every
time you come in to contact with people is a golden OPPORTUNITY for you to
promote your business both directly and indirectly.
§
Join
your local chamber of commerce, board of trade, local business networking group
etc.
§
Be
seen, get involved and become known in your local community. Visibility breeds
success.
5. DEVELOP
EXCEPTIONAL LISTENING SKILLS
Dale Carnegie said, “You
will make more friends in two months by being interested in other people than
you will do in two years by trying to get people interested in you.” Most
people are not very good listeners. Truly successful people in all walks of
life have a skill for listening and it truly is a skill.
§
Make
it a daily practice to do less talking and more listening to your clients. Try
using the 80/20 rule. It is not easy; we all want to talk, about ourselves,
about our products and services, about what we have to offer. The art of great
communication, making a connection with people, and of building successful
relationships with your clients, is to listen to what they are telling you and
being truly interested in them.
§
Ask
open-ended questions and than keep quiet and listen intently to their answers.
Great listening skills are one of the keys to
increasing your success rate. No one has ever closed a sale while they were
still doing the talking!
6. FOLLOW
UP
Make it a habit to follow up
with your clients and prospects. Sounds simple, right? In my experience, and
surveys back me up on this 87% (amazingly) of people in business do not follow
up enough. Do not be one of them.
Think long-term. Nurturing a
relationship that eventually results in business takes time.
§
Keep
in touch, stay in front of your clients and prospects.. Often business is about
being top-of-mind when the “buy” decision is made. Spending quality time in
building and developing that relationship with your potential client is crucial
and will differentiate you from the pack when a buying decision is being made.
Patience is a virtue.
§
Set
an appointment to follow-up, and keep it!
§
Return
all your phone calls promptly! Keep in contact with your clients in every way
possible!
§
Often
it is the little things that make a big difference. Send them a hand written note or card instead
of an e-mail, send them an article you read that might be of interest to them.
Personalize it, be different, and show them that you care.
To your success!
And always remember;
“It is the service we are not obliged to give that
our customers value the most”
J.C. Penney,
Founder of the highly successful J.C. Penney
chain of department stores in the United States
From Stress to Success
In a large part of the northern hemisphere there is a higher degree of stress related illness that occurs now, during the winter months. Lack of sunshine, getting out less and getting less exercise are major contributors to this. For this reason, we thought it might be good to talk about stress a little bit at this time of year.
From the time of the Caveman, we humans have faced stress. Imagine walking out of your cave and coming face to face with a Saber-tooth tiger? What happens? Your pulse quickens, you feel a sense of panic in the pit of your stomach, and nothing is a higher priority than surviving that encounter. Within a split second you make a decision to stand up and fight, or to run like heck. The decision is based on which is going to give you the highest chance of survival.
Fast forward to the 21st Century. Depending on where you live, the stressors, (the saber-tooth tiger) may be different, but they still exist. For some of us the saber-tooth tiger looks like a job where we feel under constant pressure. For some of us the saber-tooth tiger looks like a job where we are not under enough pressure. For some of us the saber-tooth tiger is the pile of bills that come in each month. For some of us the saber-tooth tiger is the risk of terrorism. For some of us it is the ongoing change we experience at work and in life. What makes today’s saber-tooth tigers so challenging is that in many cases we have created them ourselves. In addition, the choices to fight or run are often not open to us. So what can we do?
Research has indicated that the main cause of stress is lack of control or choice. So, the logical solution is to take control where you can.
- Understand your own stress profile.
Not all of us experience the same level of stress. Some of us are more or less stress tolerant than others. Understanding this can allow you to take action quicker when stress hits. And this applies to both the stress tolerant and the stress intolerant. Those of us who are highly stress-tolerant sometimes ignore the symptoms when they occur, or are completely taken by surprise when they happen.
- Understand how your stress shows.
Stress has been known to impact memory, sleep, mood and overall well being. Knowing your early stress symptoms will help you take action quickly.
- Know what your Saber-tooth tiger most often looks like.
Knowing what stresses you can help you brace yourself for its appearance, or avoid running into it in the first place.
- Stay active.
Physical fitness has been found to serve stress management in two ways. Firstly, being fit enables your body to better manage stress when it hits. Secondly, exercising when you are feeling stress has an impact on lessening the stressor.
- Prioritize and take action.
This means taking charge of the things that are most important. Make choices where you can and act on what those priorities are.
- Be confident and learn to say no.
Understanding what causes your stress and being clear to yourself and others just what you can and cannot take on will help alleviate the feeling of stress.
As we all know, we are required to do things and are regularly exposed to things that are out of our control. But understanding your stress profile will make these feel much less unmanageable and less stressful.
“Tough Times don’t last but tough people do”
Dr Robert A. Schuller
“The truth of the matter is that you always know the
right thing to do. The hardest part is doing it”
General H. Norman Schwarzkopf
The 360 Leader by John
Maxwell
From whatever position you are in within an
organization, this book will help you develop your position and define your
leadership role. This is a very insightful book. Practice the disciplines of 360-leadership
outlined in this book and the opportunities will be endless to you.
Embracing
Uncertainty by Susan Jeffers
This book will give you breakthrough methods for
achieving peace of mind when facing the unknown. This is a powerful and healing
book to help us deal with the never ending change in our business and our lives
To
order Charles’ best selling and impactful book, Success is Not a Spectator Sport, please visit his website: www.cmarcus.com/onlinestore.htm
or call toll-free in North America 1-800-837-0629, or 1-416-490-6744 outside
North America or in the local Toronto area. The book is also available in
Canada at Chapters/Indigo stores or online at www.chapters.ca or at www.amazon.ca
And
for our subscribers in the USA at www.amazon.com and for our U.K. subscribers at www.amazon.co.uk
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Do you want your
organization and people to consistently perform at their highest level?
Do you want a
speaker who will not only motivate and inspire your people to action but one
that will give them the practical tools and skills that they can use
immediately to make them more productive and successful?
Do you want a
speaker who will deliver a memorable, dynamic and meaningful keynote
presentation customized to your needs and objectives at your upcoming important
event?
Then look no
further…..
Charles Marcus is a best selling author, success strategist and a motivational keynote speaker. He works internationally with corporations, associations, companies, organizations, colleges and universities that want to motivate and inspire excellence in their people and maximize performance potential. His areas of expertise are PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT and PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS.
To Book Charles for your future convention, sales meeting, retreat, customer appreciation day or important event, or for more information on Charles and how he can work with you to customize one of his presentations for your event, please contact him personally at:
Telephone: 416-490-6744 or Toll-Free in North America at 1-800-837-0629
Fax: 416-490-6344
OR YOU CAN BOOK
CHARLES DIRECTLY THROUGH YOUR FAVORITE SPEAKER BUREAU WORLDWIDE
Email: charles@cmarcus.com
Website: www.cmarcus.com
Bureau Friendly Website: www.charlesmarcus.net
Charles is also available for telephone consultations on personal and professional development and for people who would like to make a career of being a professional speaker. For further information on how these services might work for you, please contact him directly.
© Copyright 2006 Charles M. Marcus: All rights worldwide reserved
Permission is granted to reproduce this newsletter in whole or in part provided the following byline below appears along with the article and that a copy is sent to me after publication. Thank you: To check previous issues for publication, please go to www.cmarcus.com and click on articles/newsletters.
Charles Marcus is an international motivational speaker. To subscribe to his FREE personal and professional development newsletter, please send an email to subscribe@cmarcus.com. An electronic copy will be sent out to you every two months. For more information on how Charles, his book and his programs can benefit your organization or group, please call 416-490-6744. Toll-Free in North America at 1-800-837-0629, or visit his website: www.cmarcus.com
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