New Home Sales Training

I often suggest to salespeople that they get away from what I call the “Hat Syndrome”. This occurs when I see myself with a “Sales Hat” on my head, and I see my prospect wearing their own “Buyer’s Hat”. As soon as my perspective is about our roles, it diminishes my ability to see this relationship as between two people. I launch into my sales role, and I expect my prospect to act like a typical customer.

The entire notion speaks to the concept of an adversarial relationship, which we know of course is counter-productive to our purpose. Instead, I rather like the idea that I can come alongside my prospect with a partnership mentality. I can see myself as the “Assistant Buyer.”

This mindset relies upon the concept of having a shared sense of purpose. The customer has a goal – a dream – and I am committed to making that dream come true. When I see myself as an Assistant Buyer it changes my behavior. I concentrate more on thinking how they think. I anticipate their needs. I get them more involved in the emotional side of the experience.

When I see myself as an Assistant Buyer….I change their world!

I have a brutal stretch of travel coming up. That’s not a complaint; I feel entirely blessed to have a full calendar and a host of incredible clients! But I do know that I need to rigorously manage my project list or I’ll quickly find things are slipping through the cracks.

Recently I made a master list of everything that is coming up for the next quarter and I assigned dates to all the sub-tasks. To tell you the truth, it was a grueling and painful exercise, but it forced me to come to grips with the realities of my schedule.

What I did not expect was an interesting and powerful side benefit. The due dates are lined up from here to the end of October; I can see that. But with everything lined up neatly I can also see the opportunities to get out front of some of the actions. And that is exactly what is happening. I am proactively racing ahead of due dates…and it feels great!!!

All this to say that I am re-learning a lesson you would think I would have learned by now: being ahead on stuff feels great; being behind stinks! Read more…

I’m not into New Year’s resolutions. My experience is that people make resolutions on a whim, but they rarely take the necessary step of developing the plan that would turn the resolution into reality.

It’s really a question of whether you have a dream and whether you have a plan. Most New Year’s resolutions are all about the dream – about the desired end result. I would suggest that you look past the dream to the plan that will be necessary to make that dream come true.

That said, this is the perfect time of year to set goals and create plans to achieve them. So if you are so inclined, allow me to share three tips for putting together some 2010 goals.

1) Think Short-Term

If you’ve never really invested any efforts into goal accountability, I would advise you not to try to tackle a huge project right out of the gate. Don’t think about what you’ll accomplish in 2010 – think about what you’ll accomplish in January (or at most in the first quarter). I’m not saying you shouldn’t have big, hairy, audacious goals, but that’s not where I would start. The more manageable the goal, the better the chances you’ll achieve the results.

2) Break the Goal into Small Steps

If you struggle right out of the gate, you’ll need to go back to goal definition. It’s not a goal unless it can be broken down into small, well defined, manageable steps. For example, if you say, “My goal is to be the best salesperson in my company”, that’s not defined and it is impossible to break down specifically. Read more…

A couple of weeks ago I wrote on this page about getting started on a project or goal, and about the power of taking just one step. Now let me add to that the power in establishing accountability throughout the process of reaching your goal or finishing your project.

(It is not absolutely necessary for you to have read the previous article, but it will help. Click here to read “The Power of the First Step”.)

I’ve signed up for a 5K trail run which takes place Saturday morning in Granite Bay, California. (Some of you will be reading this while I’m out on the course!) I’ve been following a schedule to get ready for that run, and it has included tracking my times on the 5K route near my home.

Last Sunday morning I went for my run and set my stopwatch as I left the driveway. I’ve got the “course” charted by mile and I’ve been tracking my improving times along the way. When I got to mile one I looked at my stopwatch and was absolutely stunned to see that the first number was a “5”. As in, 5 minutes-plus for the first mile. Had I really just run a sub-six minute mile?! Read more…

I ran across a fascinating video this week that I think you should see. If you’re like me you’re not much of an X-games type of guy, but I do appreciate incredible feats when I see them.

Here’s the assignment. Watch the following video and as you do I want to suggest that you write down the single words that come to mind as you are viewing. Just top-of-mind words that represent what you are seeing.

Go ahead and watch the video…

Was that not amazing? Were you impressed? Inspired? I’ve watched it several times and I am absolutely blown away. Read more…

I’ve been doing resistance training, but of late my aerobic work has really struggled. I have found myself getting very creative with excuses as to why I can’t get out and run. Bottom line: two months with no running. Not that I was ever a prodigious runner anyway, but here I was doing nothing at all.

So last week I took this very logical step: I signed up for a 5K trail run.

I’ve never been in a race before (not since high school, anyway). I’m not fast and I’m not overly competitive. I have no delusions about finishing anywhere the front of the pack. I don’t know what a good time is. I don’t know what’s different about running on trails versus running on the street.

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Read more…

I ran across this great article on www.dumblittleman.com that I thought you’d enjoy.  (It’s true – I sometimes visit a website called “Dumb Little Man”.  It’s actually a pretty good site.)

I think this is a topic we all struggle with sometimes.  I’m hoping you’ll read it, learn from it, and add anything you do to get motivated.

- JS

8 Ways to Motivate Yourself (When You Just Don’t Feel Like It)

Jason Barr

So, how do you motivate yourself if you’re not feeling motivated? I think the feelings are key to understanding the root challenge. You’re not always going to feel like doing something. You have to lead your emotions, not let your emotions lead you. Take one or more of these 8 eight concrete steps to inject some purpose into your situation. Read more…