How to Get RESULTS!

How to Get Results
Getting results is easy. Just take action. Most people act on the wrong things. It is about execution.

If you prefer video, I added a video link after each principle (where I have them) to make it easier. I have been a student of how successful people get results for many years. I once did an informal study of 1,000 successful small, business owners and determine they all did the same actions, all nine. This study took over seven years to fully understand the power simply changes in your thinking and behaviors can have on your success. If you read no further know the secret lies in execution.

Probably the most important concept is the first one: Enlightened Self-Interest (ESI). Enlightened Self-Interest is understanding what is in your best interest with the intent to choose and take action resulting in the highest value to the most people. When this is determined (and it can and will change) you are more effective at managing your time, energy and money by working with people who support your ESI.

How does ESI apply in your life and business?

In your family: Enlightened Self-Interest is being the best husband, father, wife, mother, etc., you can be and taking steps to grow and improve your skills were needed because it is in the best interest of your family for you to improve.

In Business: Enlightened Self-Interest is understanding your purpose for being in business and training your staff, implementing process and helping your clients understand you are there for them. When they understand you are there for them they will be there for you.

In Sales: Enlightened Self-Interest is understanding how you can enrich the lives of those you sell to so they see the value and they are will pay you for this value. We define enrich as changing your prospects opinion of you, your company, products and services so your prospects and customers know how you will help them.
Once we are clear on our ESI, you are ready to take action.

Below is a short YouTube video with Robert Schepens interviewing Ron Finklestein to help you understand both the power and simplicity of ESI.

In this video ESI is sometimes referred to as Intelligent Self-Interest.

Principe Number Two: People. We are dependent on people and is understanding that our success is dependent on how well you coach other to purposeful action (ESI).

If certain people thrive in our business, we must be disciplined in hiring the right people; people who support your ESI. By this, I mean putting the right people in the right seats and empowering them to take the right actions.

Principle Number Three: Results. If we know what to measure, we know if something is working. But, we must measure those processes that support our ESI.

Principle Number Four: Ownership. This is simple and powerful. We must own what happens otherwise we cannot change it. It is not your family holding you back, the bad economy, not enough customers or other excuses that hold us back. Usually, what holds us back is right between our ears.

Principle Number Five: Persistence. Persistence is defined as the continuation of an effect after the cause is removed. Persistence is fueled by our ESI. ESI/ISI helps us understand the interconnectedness we have with people we interact with regularly. ESI/ISI asks us to become the type of people we need to become to achieve our desired commitments. ESI/ISI asks us to take 100% ownership for what happens in our lives and helps us understand we can choose how to respond instead of reacting.

Principle Number Six: Focus. Focus is just two questions. Is what I am working on taking me closer to my ESI? If not, then why am I doing it? Do not underestimate the power of these two questions. They can be powerful in transforming your life if you apply them diligently.

Every day we need to ask ourselves if what we are doing is taking us closer to our ESI. If the action we are taking does not support our ESI, why do it. This is an example of how you can protect your time energy and money.

Principle Number Seven: Discipline. Discipline is taking the results that work and building measurable, repeatable and predictable processes give us the knowledge that all problems are handled the same way. This frees us to move to the next opportunity to grow the business.

Principle Number Eight: Ideas. When you get clear the number of ideas that you have will grow. This is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because you will see things differently and with greater clarity. A curse because of the excitement of new ideas, you can lose focus. Be careful here. Put the ideas away for a few weeks and then if you are still excited it may be time to implement a few of them.

Principle Number Nine: Action. Taking Action is simply moving in the direction of your ESI.

All nine actions are documented in my book Make a Difference: From Being Successful to Being Significant, available on Amazon.com.

 


If you want some help implementing these concepts, please let me know.

May Blessings be Upon You,
Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
ron@akris.net
www.akris.net

Do You Have A Website That Makes Your Business Money?

Do You Have A Website That Makes Your Business Money?

Business owners today are spending a fortune to build a company website with all the bells and whistles. They’re operating under the mistaken belief that “more is better.” In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Websites don’t sell… relationships sell.

Your prospects must feel that they can trust you and that you have their best interests at heart. They want to feel that they’re dealing with “the expert.” Your website should be designed to establish these vital components in order to increase the bottom line for your business.

What you need to know…

Prospects today won’t give you their time willingly. You MUST earn it, and that means you must give your prospects something compelling to make them want to stick around your website so they can see exactly what value you offer them.

Your website must convince your prospects that your product or service offers “extraordinary value.” And it must resonate with them emotionally. Most websites simply state the features of what you sell, and then expect your prospects to buy it. Prospects today want value. You MUST educate them as to why you’re the one business in your industry that provides them with the most value.

The way you accomplish this is to use what we refer to as “The Marketing Equation.” We’ve discussed this in earlier emails. The Marketing Equation consists of 4 major components… Interrupt (hot button based headline), Engage (subheadline that promises a solution to the headline), Educate (body copy that conveys your extraordinary value) and a compelling Offer (a specific call to action).

Why you need to know this…

To consistently attract more clients to your business… and to effectively convert prospects into clients, it’s critical that you develop a compelling website that offers extraordinary value to your prospects and compels them to instantly want to know more information about your product or service. Your website must focus on the benefits and on the value your business provides that your competition doesn’t.

Your website should offer free access to information… information that quickly and clearly articulates what you do and the benefits and value you offer. A free informational report may compel interested prospects to seek you out once they understand the extraordinary value that you… and you alone provide.

The cost to you if you fail to act…

A well-crafted and well-developed website can generate a tremendous number of new leads for your business. Your “offer” is the key to generating these leads. Offer valuable information, free trials of your product or service or whatever else may be important to your prospects.

When you do a little quirk in human behavior sets in. It’s called “reciprocity.” When you give freely and willingly to help others, they feel compelled to return that generosity through reciprocity. The key is to know and understand specifically what it is your prospects truly “want,” and then give it to them. That earns you the right to ask them to do business with you.

Let us know how we can assist you in growing your business and To take a Test Drive on our system visit http://www.akris.net/myguidedtour

To your success,

 

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
info@akris.net

p.s. Ask me about my 100% ROI Guarantee

The Three Biggest Lead Generation Mistakes Small Business Owners Make and How to Overcome Them All – Go to: www.akris.net

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rfinklestein
Friend me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ron finklestein
Like us at: www.facebook.com/businessgrowthexperience

Want to attract more leads: www.businessgrowthexperience.com/
Check out my credibility: http://businessgrowthexperience.com/testimonials/

 

 

5 Reasons You Need An Attorney for Your Small Business

Tweet When you’re an entrepreneur, your business is your baby. Clearly nobody knows more about your offspring than you do, so why would you want some lawyer sticking their nose in and messing around with your clearly successful path so far? Thinking…

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Innovating what Your Customers will Buy

There is a difference between innovating what your customers ask for and innovating what your customers will buy. Mull that over for a minute. If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. Henry Ford I love to…

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Book Award!

I have a favor to ask of you – my readers. My book, “Making a Difference: From Being Successful to Being Significant,” has been nominated for Small Business Trends business book of the year award. I would appreciate if you would help me and vote for the book. It will take less the 15 seconds.

 

If the link above does not work you can use this link: http://bookawards.smallbiztrends.com/motivation-2014/make-a-difference-1/ and vote for the book.

Here is a copy of the book for you to review: Make a Difference – From Being Successful to Significant

If you saw the post on social media and already voted – thank you. Feel free to pass this along to your friends, business associates and valued customers.

I believe very strongly that this book can change lives. If you want to see what others have written about the book please click here.

Thanks again

Ron Finklestein

330-990-0788
ron@businessgrowthexperience.com

How to Grow Sales – Tip 2 of 30

For the sales professional, when managing time, only one thing matters.

BGE time managment

Ron Finklestein

330-990-0788

Ron@ronfinklestein.com

Print

How to Grow Sales – Tip 1 of 30

How to Grow Sales – Tip 1 of 30

This is the first of 30 tips on how to grow sales and increase revenues. We will do one a week for the next 30 weeks.

The first tip is to understand the six questions your prospects want answered before they buy. These questions were developed and tested as a result of a sales call I had several years ago where I asked the sales representative these three questions:

1. Why do people buy from you?

2. What outcomes do they experience when they buy from you?

3. Who is your ideal client?

He could not answer any of these questions and after the call I realized I could not answer the questions as effectively as I thought I should. I developed the six questions to answer the questions above and to effectively communicate with the prospect the message that is important to them. I then tested these questions for several years with my client. I knew I was on to something as I watched businesses change; some almost overnight.

Included in this post is both the video and a handout that was used while doing a live training program. Please understand that my clients pay a lot of money to go through this process. This is real training; not a marketing message.

The link below is the handout for you to use as you watch the video. It is best to right-click (to download) on the link below and print this out as you watch the training. Please fill out the worksheet as you watch the video and see how your thinking changes about your product, your service and how you communicate with your prospects. This document does require a PDF reader. You can use Adobe or any other reader that opens PDF files.

Here is your handout: six questions audience handout

Below is a 52 minute video of live training program on the Six Questions and how to answer them. At some places the audio is less than perfect but still very understandable.

For those of you who like to read  (versus watching videos) you can go to the Business Growth Experience and download the Six Questions eBook. All you need do is enter your email address and the Six Question report will be emailed to you. It is not a transcript of the video. It has more content about why the Six Questions are important and a process on how to answer the questions.

If this is of value to you I would encourage you to share this post. You business associates and friends will appreciate you for sharing knowledge with them.

They, like you, will grow sales and increase revenues.

How to Grow Sales – Six Questions To Answer

Six Question Your Prospects Wants Answered Before They Buy from You, or stated another way, “Why Won’t People Buy From Me?”

Please share your thoughts.

To Your Success,

Ron Finklestein
info@businessgrowthexperience.com
330-990-0788

Will you help me change the world?

Will you help me change the world?

This is a very different post for me.

I have been studying the nine laws successful people implement for over 12 years. I tested them with my clients and I do my best to live them. I have seen lives changed when people implement these simply laws into their own lives. I documented them into my newest book call Make a Difference: From Being Successful to Being Significant.

Below is a short video of what I would like to accomplish and how you can help.

The short version is that if you order a book and send me the receipt, you will be invited to a webinar where we will discuss how these laws can be implemented to change your life, grow your business or achieve your biggest dreams.

Why do I believe these concepts work? Because I see positive changes (they get results, they are happier, more focused and less stressed) in my client who implement these principles. Sometimes I am lucky enough to receive an email, like this one from Chris, where he shared what the book helped him achieve. The email is unedited.

“Hello guys … I just posted this. I’m enjoying Kansas City thus far and remain grateful to the two of you for this fantastic bible of change.

Regards,

Chris

———————————-

Sure, many books have the potential to change your life by sparking new ways to think about success. However, in my case this book is a life changing textbook! This book helped me position myself for a promotion (and a big hunking raise) and lays out a future that is filled with potential promise. You can be successful by focusing on making a significant difference within … and this is a transformative text is a vehicle for such change. Just be positive that change is what you want, because “Make a Difference: From Being Successful to Being Significant” delivers.”

When you buy the book be sure to send me the receipt and we will invite you to a free webinar to help you implement what you learn. Because we cannot leave this open-ended, this over expires on 4/15/14 with the webinar to be held later in April. Don’t worry if you can’t make it we will record it and you will receive the link.

Over the course of the next few weeks you will receive short videos on each of the nine laws we discuss in Make a Difference: From being Successful to Being Significant. If this interests you please buy it now so you don’t forget and miss out on this webinar. Click here to order!

After you make your purchase be sure to send me the receipt at info@businessgrowthexperience.com so I can put you on the and send you the information to this incredible, life changing information.

Feel free to help me change the world and forward this to your friends, business associates and coworkers.

May all your successes be significant,

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
info@businessgrowthexperience.com

To learn more on how these concepts are implemented in business please go to http://www.businessgrowthexperience.com and download out free eBook: Six Questions Your Prospects Want Answered Before They Buy.

This will also get you on the list for the series of videos about the nine laws from make a Difference!

 

 

Expand Your Box (ESI)

Enlightened Self-Interest.

I created a concept called Enlightened Self-Interest (ESI).  ESI means to understand what is in my best interest with the intent to choose and take action. It allows you to get clear on what is important to you and marshal your resources to focus your time, energy and money to accomplish great things (for you). This concept is documented in more details in the book, Make a Difference: From Being Successful to Being Significant, available on amazon.com.

To accomplish anything important in our lives we have to do things have not done before. We need to solicit feedback from others to better understand our impact. We need feedback systems in place to allow us to self-correct. We need to understand how our actions and behaviors impacts others. When we do these things we do not get out of box – we expand our box!

It is impossible to get out of our box. We can only expand our box, make it larger. This expands our visions and allows us to see things differently; to see possibilities where none existed before. This is what a leader does. A leader create the vision (ESI), sells that vision, communicates that vision and helps others to see the bigger picture; whether in sales, personal development, business growth or personal growth. A leader helps others expand their personal box (vision of the world.)

When you embrace your ESI, you expand. Many time your ESI changes and you expand further. You might start out solving a specific problem (I need to grow sales). You might then grow your ESI into a strategy (this is how we will do things.) Ideally your ESI will evolve into your purpose (I will change the lives of one million people.) It is, as most things, an evolution an expanding, a becoming.

So what’s in it for you? The more selfish you become in executing your ESI, the more you expand you personally. You create a larger view of the world.

And…

As you expand yourself you are able to give more to others, to expand their box, to grow their perception. You can do this because you are seeing things differently, thinking differently and acting differently.

As human being we are driven to continually prove to ourselves the vastness of our influence and connectedness. You realize your boundaries are nearly limitless. Every business owner wants to expand his business, every mother wants their children to expand and become all them can be, each of use wants to know we are leaving a mark and our time spent (in business, in life, in a relationship) was purposeful.

Explore your ESI and give yourself permission to expand your boundaries and see who you really are and what you are capable of.  This is about personal leadership, business leadership and community leadership.

Enjoy!

Ron Finklestein

www.businessgrowthexperience.com
ron@businessgrowthexperience.com
330-990-0788

10 Lessons Learned in 2013

2013 has been a good year for me. I introduced many new products, created new relationships, and had a total knee replacement. I learned much and as I reflect back I want to share the top 10 learning’s I experienced. As you plan your goals, dreams and aspirations for next year, I thought I would share some lessons early in the hope you will think differently about personal growth, wealth and health going into 2014.

10. Life planning as well as business planning is essential. Create a life plan and get really focused on what is important, what makes you happy, and what provides peace of mind. Life is an experience to be lived and not a lesson to be learned.

9.   I like learning. It does not matter what it is. I realized it is important to me to bring value to every relationship and I give away too much. Not sure I want to change this too much.

8.   People who get both knees replaced (AT THE SAME TIME) impress me, I think. I know how much work it was to recover from one knee replacement, I could not image doing two at the same time!

7.   I now see the medical industry as a customer service organization. The positive service I experienced, at the hospital was extraordinary; from the nurses to the nutritionist to the physical therapist was incredible. Made the whole stay that much more pleasant and I believe my recovery time faster.

6.   I realized the value of good friends. Several stepped up to help out when I was in the hospital. I was amazed and impressed that people would be so open and sharing with their time, talent and money. What was really cool was I did not have to ask!

5.   One of our dogs died this year. The other became very depressed. It is very clear to me they need company and create deep relationships that benefit all.

4.   I love being greeted so warmly by my dog when I come home. I will take time and allow him to greet me when I walk in the door and I will greet them with the same level of love and enthusiasm (this was on the list last year.)

3.   Honesty, integrity and common sense make me tick. I love business and personal relationships with people where I know what makes them tick. I want to know what is important to you. I can always get better at communicating my intent and cultivating valuable relationships. Some people will love you and some won’t. Some feel it is ok to criticize because they can do it anonymously and no one will know. Relationships can be difficult. Always give them the benefit of the doubt and trust that when the time is right, things will be ok.

2.    Nothing is as valuable as your health. Having experienced a number of health challenges with a new knee make me aware of how I value mobility, sleep and activity. It is amazing how my attitude got better when the body feels better. Enough sleep is essential to great health and a positive attitude.

1.    Getting back to “my why.” For years I had a strong spiritual practice. I got away from it due to family obligations, business challenges and other reason. I changed and my spiritual practices did not change as I changed. I will implement practices that keep me grounded and focused on what is important. When the “why” is clear, life gets easy.

Bonus Lesson: The same challenge will keep showing up in your life until you learn the lesson life is presenting to you.  You would have thought that I would have learned that by now!

Another bonus lesson: Be Grateful. Share your gratitude.

Happy New Year,

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
RON@businessgrowthexperience.com
www.businessgrowthexperience.com

 

 

 

The Definitive Sales Playbook: How to Grow Sales and Create Lifetime Customers

The Definitive Sales Playbook: How to Grow Sales and Create Lifetime Customers

Dr. Tony Alessandra and I are proud to announce our newest book  The Definitive Sales Playbook is now available on Amazon.  Brian Tracy was kind enough to write the Foreword.

The book was the outcome of a sales membership site Tony and I built with the help of TruNorth. The book reflects the different modules available in the site. The book is designed to be help new sales reps increase sales through the use of best practices, remind seasoned sales reps what they did to be successful and help take existing sales reps to a whole new level in their sales performance.

If you are interested in our sales training or coaching program please contact Ron Finklestein. To learn more about Ron Finklestein  or Dr. Tony Alessandra just click on the highlighted links.

I included the Table of Content for your review:

Introduction

Nine Behaviors of Successful Salespeople

The Platinum Rule ®   — Treating Others the Way They Want to be Treated!

Building And Maintaining Rapport Throughout The Connecting Phase

Building And Maintaining Rapport Throughout The Exploring Phase

Building And Maintaining Rapport Throughout The Collaboration Phase

Building And Maintaining Rapport Throughout The Confirming Phase

Building And Maintaining Rapport Throughout The Assuring Phase

Negative Preparation Leads to Positive Results!

The Power of Testimonials

Lead Generation with Social Media

Blogging as a Sales Tool

What is the number one thing that business owners want from their sales rep?

Behaviors of Non-Performing Sales vs. High-Performing Sales Reps

Why Goals Fail

How to Build Trust Quickly

Why People Won’t Buy From You!

Question #1: “What do you do?”

Question #2: “How are you different?” or “What’s in it for me?”

Question #3: “Why are you the right and safe choice?”

Question #4: “What do you do better than anyone else in the world (in your industry)?”

Question #5: “Why is that important to my prospects?”

Question #6: “Why buy from me?” or “Prove it.”

Sustaining Motivation

Bite-Sized Training

Selling by the Numbers

Identifying Lucrative Prospects

Identifying Your Best Prospects

Incoming Prospecting

Visibility Strategies for Incoming Prospecting

Prospecting

Asking for Referrals

Knowing Your Competitive Advantages

Your Competitive Advantage Statement

Contacting by Phone—Key Telephone Skills

Using the Phone as a Prospecting Tool

Contacting Prospects Online

In-Person Contacts

Common Up-Front Objections

Skills For Responding To Resistance

Three Steps to Successful Sales

Identify Customer Needs

Question Topic Categories

Exploring Important Topics

Ten Tips for More Effective Questioning

Identifying Success Criteria

Ten Commandments of Powerful Listening

Active Listening

Types of Decision Makers—Understanding the Cast of Characters

Features versus Benefits

Five Key Elements of Presentations

Proposing Solutions

Price Concerns

Product Concerns

Postponement Concerns

Product-Price-Postponement Concerns Worksheet

Negotiating Tips

Confirming The Sale Signals

Benefit Summary

Stairs of Customer Loyalty

Commitment To Your Customers

Effective Communication With Customers

Enhancing the Customer Relationship

Thirteen Ways To Assure Customer Satisfaction

Monitoring & Measuring Success Criteria

The Annual Check-Up

Expanding Your Sales

Time Analysis Questions

Return On Time Invested

ROTI Account Classification

Appendix A — Quick Reference Guide

Building Rapport Throughout the Sales Process

About Dr. Tony Alessandra

About Ron Finklestein

 

Click here to purchase the book  The Definitive Sales Playbook.

Click here to learn more about our sales training and sales coach

 

To your success,

 

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788

 

Rynd Speaks

This is the first chapter of my next book. It is a parable on how Bob uses  the Nine Laws to solves some very difficult personal and business problems. The Book is called Rynd’s Nine Laws for Personal and Professional Success – Going from Success to Significance. My coauthor Mike Larocca and I are very proud of this book because of the compelling story, the easy read and lessons learned. It will be available on Amazon in shortly!

Please read and enjoy.

Bob’s Drive

 

“Why am I the only person in this office who can do sales?”

Bob is seated in an elegant office, in a luxurious black leather chair at a cherry wood desk, none of which he ever seems to notice. He’s wearing a tailored gray business suit. His jacket is draped over the back of his chair.

Bob is facing Richard, who wears a tailored navy Armani suit despite holding the title Inside Sales Manager and thus rarely leaves the office. Richard begins to formulate a reply, but Bob cuts him off.

“No, scratch that,” says Bob. “Okay, fine, maybe I’m not the only person who can do sales. But I am the only person who will do sales, who does do sales. It’s not difficult. Everyone we contact needs this service. It’s a great service. It’s simple to see this. It’s simple to explain this. But why am I the only person who’s actually doing the work?”

“I –”

“Don’t answer that. I’m not in the mood right now.”

Bob realizes that right now’s not the time for a reasoned conversation. After a brief, almost guilty look at Richard, Bob says, “Let me go calm down first. Then tell me what happened with Greg and the Eastern contract.”

My reaction was unreasonable, Bob realizes as he leaves his office. But being annoyed at this problem is not.

Bob briefly wonders how long it’ll take Richard to return to his own office, and almost smiles, but his amusement quickly gives way to his annoyance.

Bob doesn’t mind doing sales. He’s good at it. It’s not what he would have envisioned himself doing twenty years ago, but he doesn’t mind sales. Or marketing. Or customer service. Or even purchasing, receivables, payables, or payroll.

Well, maybe not payroll.

No, the problem is that he is either doing or overseeing all of them, in too much detail, being pulled in 94 different directions at once. He owns a business that grossed four hundred grand last year and he’s still working harder than he would in a 9-to-5.

It just doesn’t make sense.

Bob enters the break room and is halfway to the water fountain before he stops. The table is cluttered with napkins and plates. On the counter beside the sink are several bottles of soda.

Unfortunately, Bob’s secretary chooses just that moment to open the opposite door and enter the break room. Ella’s smart “office chic” business suit, silk blouse, expensive shoes, and styled black hair make her look almost as efficient as she actually is.

“This is just ridiculous.” Bob throws his hands in the air. “Am I a business owner or a babysitter?”

“Bob, I thought you were –” she begins.

“Am I the only person who is even marginally engaged in this place? I can’t believe I have to tell you to keep the kitchen area clean, to take out the trash, to answer the customer emails on the same day. It’s ridiculous that you don’t know all this. It’s ridiculous that you aren’t already doing all this. Is it ignorance or apathy? No, wait, let me guess – you don’t know and you don’t care.”

Ella knows this isn’t true. She also knows that Bob knows this isn’t true. She enjoys working for him most of the time, but he can overreact on occasion. She suspects it’s the result of keeping such a tight lid on his feelings, but it wouldn’t be appropriate to tell him that.

The atypical situation in the break room leaves Ella stunned for a moment. In that moment, Bob leaves the room. He’s out of the building before she ever gets the chance to tell him that the so-called mess was in fact Bob’s workers setting up the break room for his 45th birthday party.

Bob quickly drives his silver luxury sedan from the parking lot, enjoying its smooth handling and easy power. He always enjoys the first minute of every drive, before his thoughts and plans move to the front of his mind and distract him from his surroundings. The first car he looked at cost more than he was willing to spend, but he likes what he bought instead.

He drives half a block along the access road, stops at the intersection where it meets the four-lane “proper” road, turns left when the light changes, and starts using his hands-free phone.

“Ella, it’s Bob. I’m sorry about that. Really. I shouldn’t have done that, okay?”

“Sure.”

“I’m going to Eastern to see if I can save this contract. I don’t know when I’ll be back. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Okay.”

Bob drives his car onto the interstate and accelerates rapidly. He notices that Ella seems subdued, which makes him feel guilty. “I’m sorry I blew up back there. You do a great job. I’d be lost without you.”

“No problem.”

“Okay. Bye.”

Bob ends the call, swerves around someone who apparently doesn’t realize that interstates also have minimum speed limits, and makes another call.

“I’m sorry I blew up back there,” he tells Richard’s voicemail. “It’s not your fault. Since this is a local customer for a change, I’m going down there to save this one in person. Keep pulling those numbers together. I’ll catch up with you later.”

After quickly checking his GPS to remind himself which exit to take, confirming that his memory is accurate, he makes another call.

“Greg,” he says. “Bob. Tell me what happened.”

“I –”

“Give me the short version.”

Greg pauses. “The guy with the title Purchasing Manager does not, in fact, make purchasing decisions.”

Bob exhales.

“Exactly,” says Greg. “All that effort explaining what we do, winning over a guy – and we did win him over – who can’t say yes or no. He’s got to go run it by his boss, and we’ve never spoken to her at all –”

“And he’ll lose something in translation.”

“Right,” says Greg. “That’s exactly right.”

“So we find out who she is and then we start over again.” Bob bangs on his steering wheel in frustration.

“It gets worse. While we were busy with the gatekeeper, Dickson got into the company president. She’s the one making the decisions.”

“Oh… fudge.” Bob breathes deeply. “Dickson. How did they find out who the decision maker is before we –? No, never mind how they found out. The question is, how do we fix this?”

Oh great, he thinks, flipping on his headlights and windshield wipers. Rain.

“Recommendations,” says Greg. “Testimonials.”

“What about them?”

“If we start over now, we sound like salesmen.”

“That could be because we are salesman,” says Bob, chuckling.

“We know why we’re different from our competition, why Eastern should hire us instead. But we can talk ourselves blue in the face explaining that and it won’t be as effective as recommendations from our customers.”

“This is true,” says Bob. “But unless you know how to get our customers to drop whatever they’re doing and just jump in ahead of Dickson right now to tell Eastern just how great we are…”

Ahead of Bob, a car brakes suddenly. The lanes on this stretch of interstate have a way of suddenly ending or turning exit-only and panicking those unfamiliar with it, so he isn’t surprised, but he is annoyed. He swerves left and wonders why he’s so easily annoyed these days.

“We could always sabotage them,” Greg mutters, followed by a noise that doesn’t travel well from hands-free phone to hands-free phone.

“Did you just laugh nervously?” Bob asks.

“What?”

“I’ve read about that in books – oh, how I wish I had time to read books again – but I don’t believe I’ve ever heard it before. Was that a nervous laugh?”

“Um… no… um, I was just joking about sabotage –”

“Of course you were joking. Sabotage would be unethical.”

“It would,” Greg quickly agrees.

“So we don’t do that. We don’t sabotage Dickson. We reframe the job.”

“Reframe.”

“Sure. Reframe. If we’re bidding against an incumbent, we make the old entrenched methods look bad. If we’re the incumbent, we make our insider knowledge critical. If we’ve got a better reputation for data security, we play up the threat and likelihood of compromising a system. If none of our competitors provide a single point of contact, stress that we do and why it matters. If we’ve got a less experienced team, we play down the need for expertise and talk up our ability to do the same work at lower cost. If we’ve got a more experienced team, we play up the value of experience, and the peace of mind they’ll enjoy knowing that our people are all hired, trained, and in place. Make what we do best seem vital and what others do well seem not so important. Stress the critical importance of anything we know that our competitor doesn’t. Reframe.”

“Ah,” says Greg.

“Ideally before they call for bids, of course.” Bob takes the exit that leads from the interstate he’s on to the interstate he wants to be on. “Oh, have they called for bids on this yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Great! We are in there! We can help them decide what to stress in the RFP. If Dickson can beat us on what does matter to the customer, we bid on what should matter to the customer. Can you meet me in –”

Bob is driving in the leftmost of five lanes, which quickly narrow to four and then three lanes, and he needs to shoot to the far right lane within the next mile. This particular stretch of interstate brings out the worst in the lane jockeys, no matter the weather, especially if there’s a slow-moving bus or truck.

Bob is momentarily distracted by his phone call and therefore unaware of the car on his right, in his blind spot. The car veers to its left and smashes into Bob’s car at 73 miles per hour.

The road is newly wet, when the asphalt is at its slickest. Bob’s car skids. Badly.

Failing Forward,

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
ron@ businessgrowthexperience.com
www.businessgrowthexperience.com – Download the free report
www.businessgrowthexperience.net – Sales Membership Site – try it today!

 

 

Do people trust you?

Do people trust you?

People buy from people they like and trust. I don’t think anyone would argue with that.

So how do you develop trust?

In my opinion, building trust starts with building rapport. Rapport is something we do every day with every person we meet. It is not something that is done the first time you meet someone, it happens every time you meet them.  Some of the more common techniques include:

  • Pacing
  • Matching and mirroring
  • Vocal variety and tone of voice
  • Eye contact
  • The way we dress
  • etc.

Rapport is not something we are taught to do, it is something we do. Some are better at building rapport than others. Some are naturals and others study it and make a decision to master it. One of the less common and more powerful ways to build trust is to take the time and develop the skills necessary to treat others the way they want to be treated. You can learn more in my book The Platinum Rule for Small Business Mastery available on http://www.amazon.com

When people trust you they buy from you and they are loyal to you. This means they return to buy more.

When your employees trust you they will work harder for you and make better decisions.

You create deeper and more satisfying personal relationships.

Did you meet someone that you just liked, you became immediate friends and realized you wanted to spend more time with them, maybe find a way to do more business – that is rapport.

Did you meet someone of the opposite sex and immediately wanted to do on a date? That is rapport.

Did you buy something you never thought you would buy because you liked the person doing the selling? That is rapport.

Rapport building is a skill that anyone can learn and should learn.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Ron Finklestein
Download my free report – six questions prospects want answered before they buy from you at http://www.businessgrowthexperience.com.

My sales membership site has some great material on treating others the way they want to be treated. Check it out at http://www.businessgrowthexperience.net.

Why Won’t People Buy From Me??

I wrote this post for a lead generation site I write for and thought you would find it useful.

Please click on the link below and you will be redirected to www.businessgrowthexperience.com. I do that because when you go to www.businessgrowthexperience.com you can opt-in and receive a 40 page report that goes into far great detail about why people don’t buy than I do on the video.

http://businessgrowthexperience.com/2013/05/02/short-video-why-people-wont-buy-from-you/

Enjoy and as always comments are welcome

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
ron @ businessgrowthexperience.com

Behaviors of Successful Business Owners

I posted the video on youtube.com a few years ago. It has received over 70K views. I am sharing it because I received an email from someone I did not know thanking me for the contents.

The video is less than five minutes and I would love to hear your comments.

Do you do theses behaviors? What are your results? What problems have you encountered? How have you addressed them?

Let others learn and grow from your knowledge, experience and mistakes.

If you are in Northeast Ohio, I would encourage you to check out http://www.ronfinklestein.com/events to see what workshops are available to help you implement these behaviors.

If you are outside Northeast Ohio, please go to www.businessgrowthexperience.net and download your free report on Six Questions Your Prospects Want Answered Before They Buy From You. We will be announcing some webinars and the people on this list will be the first to know.

I have received good feedback on this report and by far the biggest comment is that I think differently about my business.

If you would like a free 30 minute assessment, just email me and we will get it scheduled.

To Your Success

Ron Finklestein

www.businessgrowthexperience.net
330-990-0788

Ron @ businessgrowthexperience.com

Ways to Increase Sales and Grow Revenues

Marketing Outcomes / How to Grow Sales and Increase Revenues

Every prospect wants to know why they should buy from you. They want to know the outcome they will experience before they want to know how you will create those outcomes. Let’s start with four basic facts …

1.    Every prospect has a problem. This problem creates some negative emotions.

2.    Every product has features: Features are merely objective facts about a product (or the company behind it). In three-dimensional products, features include size, shape, weight, construction, color options and more. You need to be able to tell your prospect the feature of your product or service that will solve the problem. In information products, features include number of pages, size, frequency of publication (for periodicals) and the types of information that are presented.

3.    Fortunately, most features are there for a darned good reason: Prospects don’t want features. They want you to change their lives for the better. Product features are merely the means to that end. That means features can have a place in ad copy – like telling prospects how many issues they’ll get per year … how many big pages are in your book … or that your widget is made from carbon steel for strength or carbon fiber for lightness.

Beyond that, features are a yawn because they’re about the product; not about the prospect. Or, as in the examples above, they can help demonstrate how your product delivers a benefit. The good news is, just about every product fact – every feature – is there to provide a benefit that your prospect IS willing to pay for. Tell your prospect in no uncertain terms the benefits of a particular feature. But we do not want to stop there.

4.    Each benefit has a positive emotional outcome for the buyer. Many time there are more benefits associated with each product feature than are obvious to the average buyer. Each benefit or combination of benefits producing one, two, three or more new benefits you never thought about before. The secret to selling and marketing and most any other revenue generating activity is to identify each and every benefit a product provides – and the emotional outcome your buyer will experience.

5.    Your prospect is buying emotionally first, then they intellectualize & justify the purchase. Connecting the feature, benefits and outcomes makes it very easy for the buying to understand why you are the right and safe choice.

Outcome that sing and soar – in five simple steps

Here’s a little exercise to help you drill down to the outcomes prospects are willing to pay for and then connect those benefits with powerful response-boosting emotions that your prospect already has about those benefits (or the lack of them) in his life.

By the time you’re through, you will have a complete list of company and product features … you will have squeezed every possible benefit out of those features … you will have fully defined the outcomes of those benefits and you will have connected each one to a powerful emotion your prospect has about each one of them.

In short, you’ll have a comprehensive “features/benefits/emotional outcome” inventory you can refer to as you create your marketing message, write your copy, build your sales presentation or create contents for your website.

Going through this exercise can go a long way towards finding new themes and adding power to your sales and marketing.

To begin, create a spreadsheet with these headings:

Problem

Negative Emotional Outcomes of Problem

Feature that Solves the Problem

Tangible Benefits of that Feature

Positive Emotional Outcome Prospect with Experience

Rank

 

Write until all know problems are identified and documented. Document how they feel when they experience this problem. Next write the feature of your product or service that solves the problem and document the benefit of that feature. Finally, describe the positive emotional outcome the buyer will experience.

When complete, rank them in order of importance.

He is an example of what your table should look like.

Problem: Sales have plateaued

Emotional Impact of Problem: So frustrated because no matter what I do, I just can’t figure out how to take the sales to the next level. And I’m always the one having to do the sales

Feature: Learn how to build a sales and marketing system

Benefit of Feature: You can stop being the only “sales guy” and start leveraging your marketing and sales processes so that customers come to you to purchase, instead of you chasing them. You will grow sales!

Emotional Outcome: You’ll feel a great sense of relief … no more anxiety about “where is the next sale going to come from?” and you won’t have to be chasing prospective customers all the time … prospects who are hiding from you.

When you complete this process you will have all the material you need to write a great sales letter, create compelling web copy, and build a powerful sales presentation and some much more.

This process is where increase profits and grow sales begins. You need to understand your prospects better than they understand themselves. When completed, you can tell them exactly what they can expect when they work with you.

If you want a more detailed, step by step process, go to www.businessgrowthexperience.com and download our free report: Six Questions Your Prospects Want Answered before They Buy.

To Your Success,

Ron Finklestein www.businessgrowthexperience.com

Ron@businessgrowthexperience.com 330-990-0788

p.s. Go to www.businessgrowthexperience.net and supply your email address. We will notify you when we launch our membership site that will take you step by step through our sales and marketing system to help you grow sales and increase revenues.

15 Things and Some Feedback

I wanted to share with you some articles to help you grow sales and share with you some good news.

First the good news: We open a Business Growth Experience Sales Rainmaker office in Solon. This office will be run by Tom Schroth. This is important to you as a client, because you can attend any of our sales training session, in any office, as part of your membership in the Business Growth Experience. Our goal is to make life easy for you and you can expect more announcements. To find out more call Tom @ (440) 836-4211 / tom@tomschroth.com.

Many people have wrong ideas of what selling is all about. We challenge these myths in this brief article entitled: 15 Things I wish my Mother told me about Selling

If the hyperlink does not work just click here: http://businessgrowthexperience.com/?p=801

Many people go about asking for referrals in a way that leaves a bad impression. Here is one I recently encountered that I want to make you aware of so you do not make the same mistake. The article is called: How to Alienate your Referral Partners

If the hyperlink does not work just click here: http://businessgrowthexperience.com/?p=781

Many people in sales understand how important it is not to take things personally. When you realize it is just feedback you can respond as the situation calls for not jump to conclusions.

If the hyperlink does not work just click here: http://businessgrowthexperience.com/?p=768

To learn more we are conducting a workshop on how to grow sales. It is 10/10/12 at the Wellness Center in Montrose. In this workshop you will learn some of the common “secrets” successful sales people know and use daily: Six reason prospects do not buy, the one major hurdle we must all overcomes, three proven ways to grow sales and so much more. There is no charge but registration is required.  We are filling up fast and I would encourage you to sign up now while you are thinking about it. We are limited on space and we are only allowing ten people into this event. If the hyperlink does not work just click here: http://becomearainmaker.eventbrite.com/

Lastly, we like helping people grow sales, increase revenues and shorten the sales process. As a result we are making available to you a eBook to simplify your sales process. If you are having trouble getting in front of the right people or closing the sales, this report is for you. It is called Six Questions Your Prospects Want Answered BEFORE They Buy. Just go to WWW.BUSINESSGROWTHEXPERIENCE.COM to download your report.

To Your Success,

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788

ron @ businessgrowthexperience.com

p.s. please drop me an email and let me know how you are using the articles I post. I will share selected comments going forward as a way to share ideas transfer knowledge.

It’s Just Feedback – Part Two (or how to do this)

It is Just Feedback – Part 2

I recently did a blog post called It is Just Feedback.  This article received more comments than any article I wrote. I am not talking about blog comments but actual phone calls and email from people saying things like:

“I finally get it…”

“I connected the dots…”

“Thank you, I get it now…”

After the comments, I received the same questions over and over and I want to address it here. The question in all its various forms is this, “How do create the mindset that it is just feedback. How do I not take it personally?”

A very good question. I will provide an answer that some of you will not want to hear. Before I do, let me create an example we can use to provide some context.

“I love what I do but I am afraid to pick up the phone. When I finally talk with someone, I know I can help them but I am so afraid of rejection I get afraid just thinking of picking up the phone.”

Does that sound like you?

If we were together I would use a simple technique to reframe that experience because it does not matter where it came from or how long it has been with you. YOU CAN CHANGE. I use a simple swish technique on me. I see the fear, big and bright and I move the picture to a small black and white picture off in the distance. I then create a new picture of what I want to feel. I then replace the negative picture with the new picture by switching them. I create a picture of a client who is so happy with what they achieve in working with me and how good I feel knowing I was able to help them. I then switch the picture of rejection and replace it with the feeling of happiness, knowing I helped someone.

After doing this a few time, I am thinking about how I can help the next person I want to call and I successfully replaced the fear of rejection with feeling of satisfaction.

This is important, stop moving away from pain and start moving toward your desired outcome. Stop thinking of how people will reject you and start thinking about how you are moving toward your desired outcome. Are you helping them change their lives? Are you moving toward a financial goal? Focus on the outcome and not the rejection. Stop thinking about what you do not want.

This can be difficult because as human being, we tend to take the path of least resistance. It is easier to move away from pain then it is to move towards something we want. Why, because most of us are afraid to define what we want. It takes some work? It takes a bit of risk? It is always easier to take the path of least resistance.

BTW, it is very easy to determine what we want. Just write down what you don’t want and think of the opposite. It I do not want to be poor that means I want wealth. If I fear rejection that means I want acceptance.

Focus on what you want – not on what you do not want. Learn the skill necessary to move forward. If you find you pick the wrong goal, that’s ok. Think of what you learned and how much closer you are. Try again.

Ron Finklestein
www.businessgrowthexperience.com (please accept my free gift)
330-990-0788
ron@businessgrowthexperience.com

 

Sales Success is an Inside Job

Do you wonder about the how successful sales person becomes successful?

Tim Connor, in his book Soft Selling, discussed how average sales people spent 2% of their time in self-improvement and successful sale reps spent an average of 10% of their time in personal development.

In this post, Selling is an Inside job, the author suggest lack of time spent in personal development is communicated to the prospects in whys we do not really understand but we all have experience.

What message are you sending to you prospect without realizing it and how is impacting your sales?

 

Ron Finklestein
www.businessgrowthexperience.com
330-990-0788
ron@akris.net

It is just feedback

There is a blog post on www.businessgrowthexperience.com that discussed a concept near and dear to my heart called, ” It is just Feedback.”

Most people see feedback as criticism when in reality it is nothing more than feedback. If someone likes something you did, remember, it is just feedback.

If someone does not like something – it is just feedback.

If someone buys from you, it is just feedback. Same when they do not buy.

Here is the article – Enjoy

http://businessgrowthexperience.com/?p=768

Ron Finklestein

 

What is your greatest business accomplishment in the last 12 months?

Just completed facilitating a Business Growth Experience meeting and I ask each participant this question: which business accomplishment are you most proud of in the last 12 months? Received several responses I was not expecting:

1. Finally figured out why I was in business
2. Successfully integrated my religious beliefs into my business life,
3. learned to give up control and let me employees excel

were some of the answers.

What are you most proud of (business related) over the last 12 months?

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
ron@businessgrowthexperience.com
www.businessgrowthexperience.com

The New Marketing Strategy Guaranteed to Work

The New Marketing Strategy Guaranteed to Work

Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development.

Marketing is designed to persuade you to take a specific action (call now, space is limited), or not do something (don’t throw that away, recycle it).

People have become cynical. Marketing has become so sophisticated that people feel tricked into doing something only to find the product or service did not perform as stated or expected. We are inundated with thousands of marketing message daily from people trying to part us from our time, energy and money.

What’s a marketer (business owner) to do? I have new and powerful marketing technique that is guaranteed to work. What is it you ask?

It is quite powerful. You simply market your products and services with Integrity. Integrity is defined as adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.”

Wouldn’t it be great when we encountered someone selling a product or service that interested us that we felt we could trust the person or company? That we could have an open dialog; that the message was to be consistent and had integrity. The honesty was there.

There are six questions your prospects wants answered before they buy. You can download the report at http://www.aboutbusinesssuccess.com. This report will help you communicate your message with honesty and integrity.

This message was prompted by a bad experience I had will my bank. I should say my old bank – I just left them. Here is what happened. I received my home equity line statement from my bank and the bank demanded the loan be paid in full. We are not talking about a small about of money. I called customer service to see what was going on. I was told my house was in the collections and foreclosure process, I could do nothing to stop it, and no one I could call. The process must run its course. They told me I was late 30 times (BTW, I was never late.) When I suggested they made an error, I was told I was lying.

I spent hundreds of hours trying to solve this (as a small business owner this time away from my business was quite painful) finding the right people to talk too, feeling really stressed out and helpless because of the stress it put on my family, only to find out they made a mistake. My house was not in foreclosure, it was not in collections, and all was fine.  I did not get so much as a letter of apology. I think they were afraid I would sue. Don’t worry, I am not that kind of person. The letter I did get, saying my credit was not damaged,  did not have a signature. The collection letters I received that had a phone number would not return my calls. I was even told they called me and I know they did not because I have just one phone I use for all call and the call log does not lie.

While I am going through all this I see the banks’ commercials on TV about how easy this bank is to work with, how much they care about their customers and how responsive they are to their customers’ needs. I was quite angry that there was a total and complete disconnect between their message and their actions. At this time, I should point out that I had been with this bank over 30 years. I am in process of changing banks. I paid off the loan in questions, and I am creating an arm’s length relationship with my new bank.

Contrast that with the city where I now live. They put in a new sanitation line on my property that caused all kinds of water  problems in my yard. It has been a slow process but they are taking ownership and fixing the problem at their expense and the investment they are making is not insignificant.

Problems will happen. It is how you handle the problem that is important. Which organization was more in integrity with their customers? Is your message congruent with your organization’s action?  Do you deliver what you say you will deliver? Is your marketing message consistent with your company’s actions? All people want is to be treated fairly and honestly. Do you allow people in your organization to do that?

Do you handle your customer problem with integrity? Do you handle your sales with integrity? Do you live your life with integrity? Do you market with Integrity? Are you seeing a theme here? Being in Integrity is all that you do and be? The true disconnect is when your actions are not consistent with your words.

Ron Finklestein

Http://www.businessgrowthexperience.com
ron@akris.net
330-990-0788

The Power of Focus. The New Way to Get Results

One of the biggest problems I see with small business owners is that they chase the money. When you chase the money, you lose focus, and people do not know what you stand for.

Focus is principle number 6 of my Nine Principles for Inspired Action.

After working with a client in the Business Growth Experience and suggesting she gets focused, I received the following email less tha a week later.

“I also want to give you some feedback on a suggestion you made for me in the last Business Growth Experience meeting. We discussed just focusing on 3 types of businesses. Well I’m getting more referrals for those types of businesses. I’m truly amazed. I’ve received about 10 referrals between cleaning, insurance, and real estate in the last week. Thank you.”

Stop chasing the money. Get focused on your customer. The money will come.

Ron Finklestein
www.businessgrowthexperience.com
ron@businessgrowthexperience.com

 

 

How 9/11 Changed my Life

One Man’s 911 Journey

On 9/1/11 I just lost my job. On 9/11 I am setting in front of the TV watching the airplane hit the second tower.

I knew my life would never be the same. I knew it deep in my heart and soul. I knew that finding a job would be difficult at best. I knew I had to do and think differently if I were to thrive and prosper. I knew I needed to make massive changes and I did not what they were or how to make them.

Was 9/11 a terrible situation? Yes.

It never should have happened.

But it did and it changed my life in a very powerful and profound way.

I gave up the belief that I would work for a company and retire at 65 with a gold watch and a pension.

I gave up my belief in security. I created a new belief that the only security that exists is the security I create for myself. That is both a very frightening and empowering thought.

Were those transitions painful? Yes.

Were they hard? Yes.

Would I want to go through them again? No.

Would I change my response to them? No.

I am a different person. I am a happier person (most of the time.) I have better relationships. I am more independent. I created many new skills and I embraced opportunities that would not have been available to me otherwise.

I wrote four books and I am international published.

I created many new products that helped others achieve results.

I developed leadership skills that I did not know I had. I learned that leadership is a learned behavior.

I became an accomplished speaking professional. This was big for me. A major life changer in what I learned and how people respond.

I met many new people and many became dear friends.

I see change as something positive. It all depends on how I choose to react.

I now know my attitude is the determining factor in how good I feel and how I chose to respond to any situation.

I realized that I have helped many people. Many people have helped me.

I learned how much I hate the government intrusion into my life. America was created by people who were individuals who took charge. Who knew what they wanted and went after it. I want to meet more people like them.

I learned I want the American people to realize their greatness and stop being afraid.

I learned to better appreciate my wife and our children and how they need to learn their own lessons.

I learned I do not like negative people and I dislike it when I am negative.

I like the acceptance I feel from my dogs when I come home after a hard day.

I realized I am getting older and nothing will change that.

I realized I am not necessarily getting wiser as I get older.

9/11 did have a very positive impact on my life and I am thankful for the people who allowed this to happen.

To you, your life, your loves, your passion.

Ron Finklestein

Business Coach who wants others to take ownership

330-990-0788

ron@akris.net

 

 

How much is too much?

How much is too much?

I am having some serious problems with my bank; So much so that I am moving all my accounts to a new bank. This is not an insignificant task.  I would not leave if I was not treated so badly.

For one transaction, I needed to get an account number from my bank so I could refinance a loan with a different bank.

I called customer service. They wanted identification. I understand that but how much it too much?

They wanted my social security number, last payment amount, address of the loan (home equity loan,) the date of the payment, and my debit card number before I said enough is enough. I finally started laughing and the customer service rep could not understand what was so funny.

I understand the need for security but when is enough, enough.

I told my wife that they will soon be asking for my underwear size.  This is not something I will share willingly!

To all banks and customer service organizations, please be sensitive to your customers. I don’t normally have the date and amount of the last payment available. I don’t know many people who do. My social security number should suffice. My debit card number you have on file.

Stop treating me like a thief. Start treating me like a customer who pays your bills and is responsible for you being in business.  It is getting ridiculous.

Sincerely,

Ron Finklestein
Frustrated with the Bank

330-990-0788

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