Distorted Thinking Blocks Sales Success: How to Change Your Mind for Great Success

Distorted thinking is so common in our thought processes that you might even say it was “normal.” Distorted thinking is screening reality through a negative filter so that most events can seem negative. We think many thousands of thoughts a day and the average person has about 75-90% of their thoughts focused on: Repetitive thoughts (the same thoughts day after day) and distorted or negative thoughts. Whether it’s our culture, our early childhood training or traumatic events that bring us into a negative state: this negative state can be broken.

It takes discipline, discovery and self nurturing to turn your thoughts into a more positive framework, but it can be done! Distorted thinking styles was first written about by Dr. Albert Ellis. Look at the list below and see how you distort your thinking.

DICHOTOMOUS THINKING - Also known as Polarized, All-or-Nothing or Black-&-White Thinking. Thinking in extremes, it's either right or wrong, with no possibility of any grey areas in between.

Filtering. Focusing on the negative details and ignoring the positive. As well as magnifying the negative aspects. In situations that involve both positive and negative elements, you dwell on the latter.

DISCOUNTING - Downplaying and disregarding the positive. Phrases like: 'That doesn't count,' 'That wasn't good enough,' or 'Anyone could have done it.' Sometimes humor or sarcasm is used to downplay what one feels uncomfortable about.

CATAZTROPHIZING - Awfulizing or Magnification. Expecting disaster... 'what if this happens or that happens' and expecting the worst possible outcome. Exaggerating the importance of problems, shortcomings, and minor annoyances. Something minor goes wrong and the assumption is that it is a major problem. Tendency to expect the worst possible scenario.

MIND READING - Assuming you know what the other person is thinking and feeling about you or your situation. As well as reading into their motivation and intention.

Emotional Reasoning. Believing that what you feel is the way things really are.. automatically. Assuming that because you feel a certain way, that is the truth. 'I feel stupid, boring.. so I am stupid or boring.'

"SHOULDING" ON YOURSELF - A list of rules that everyone in the world and their families should live according to. Also statements with 'must' 'ought to' and 'have to' You feel enraged when others break those rules.

In order to change the outcome you must change your thinking. Both “positive” and “negative” events happen daily. It’s your choice about what you perceive about the event. The outcome is dramatically different based on your thinking.

There are a variety of ways to incorporate more positive ways of thinking into your daily life. Here are just a few.

1. Create a baseline of your thoughts. Over the course of one day, create a tally of every time you think, say to someone else or participate in a conversation that is positive. Also, create a tally each of the times you think, say to someone else or participate in a conversation that is negative.

2. Now, every time you think or say something negative, place a mental stop sign up. Stop what you are thinking or saying. Re-phrase or re-frame it into a positive statement. If you can't make it positive, simply internally tell yourself to stop and then move on.

3. If there is a particular negative focus i.e. weight, money, health, relationships. Write positive affirmations for that area of your life.

4. Observe people who seem to be happy a great deal. Listen to what they say to others and about themselves. Model their behavior and also say those great things to yourself.

6. Have a one or two word mantra that you can repeat easily i.e. peace, love, breathe, acceptance, life or other words.

7. Write down what you are grateful for every morning or every evening.

8. Recognize your own magnificence.

9. Congratulate yourself for small changes.

10. Write affirmations and place those on your dashboard, mirror, or jewelry box.

Dr. Iris Fanning is a Nationally recognized Success Coach. Dr. Fanning is a graduate of Coach University, Honorary Doctorate in Divinity, M.A. degree in Psychology, Counseling & Guidance and a B.S. degree in Psychology. Additionally Iris is the self published author of "Change Your Life Right Now" c 2006 and "Do What You Love & Get Rich" c 2006. Dr. Fanning is also an in demand public speaker. Individual and group coaching is also available. Contact: coachiris@hotmail.com Please place Coaching in the subject line. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._Iris_Fanning

People Buy People So Sell On Relationships

(Objection handling tips excerpted from Objections! Objections! Objections!)

People buy people. If everything else were equal wouldn’t you buy from the person that you liked the best? Of course you would and so do your clients. This may seem obvious but it is a fact that’s often overlooked by most salespeople. This is a shame because it’s a fact that we can use to great advantage when selling.

Most clients are worried that you are going to push something onto them that they don’t want. Why? Because we’ve all experienced salespeople in our lives who do this. By focusing on the relationship and not on the sale you start to put your clients more at ease. This allows them to stop worrying that they are about to get “pitched”.

When I teach this simple technique to delegates and they get on the phones and try it they are always amazed at just how effective it really is.

Objections:

“We’ve got no need…”
“We’ve got no budget…”
“It’s the end of the financial year…”
“It’s not my decision…”
“You need to speak to someone else…”
“Etc.

The “Building Relationships” Answer:

“That’s fine. At this point most of my competitors would ask you when you do have a budget and arrange to call you back then. We at … (name company) … believe that business is built on relationships and I would still like to invest the time in getting to know you now. Tell me John, how…?”

For the last 10 years, Gavin Ingham has been helping sales people to explode their sales performance by turning self-doubt, fear and lack of motivation into self-belief, confidence and action. With his inspirational approach to sales performance and motivation Gavin combines commercial experience, personal excellence and communications technologies in delivering personal and business sales success.

Visit http://www.gaviningham.net now to join Gavin's free monthly newsletter packed full of sales secrets, strategies and tactics. Join now and get Gavin's ground-breaking 9-part objection handling course absolutely free.

The Truth Behind Linear Selling: Why It Can Make Prospects Run The Other Way

Sean works for a major telecom company.

During one of our coaching sessions, he told me, "I've been diligent about following the sales process that my company believes is required to make a sale -- but, for some strange reason, my prospects don't want to fit into that process.

What am I doing wrong?"

Sean's comment struck me because it spoke to years of traditional selling programs that promote linear selling -- moving prospects along from one step to another until they say yes -- as a "guarantee" of sales success.

But there's an inherent conflict here.

Linear selling says that you have to impose a predetermined structure on building a relationship -- but that's by definition an unstructured process!

Suppose that the "next step" isn't what the prospect wants?

"Wait a minute," you might say. "What matters most is that I put as many prospects as possible into my sales process, and hopefully some of them will turn into sales."

If you're thinking that way, it's definitely time for you to consider a different way of thinking.

Of course you can make sales using linear selling -- but you'll never know how many sales you're losing week after week because you're wearing the "blinders" of traditional selling.

If we fail to tune in to the natural rhythm of trust-building when two strangers become involved in developing a relationship...or if we try to force prospects into our process, we make the relationship about us and not them, whether we intend to or not.

And prospects sense that and pull back, because structured, linear sales processes don't recognize the human elements required to build the relationships that ultimately lead to sales.

Before a sale can happen, prospects need to feel that you're comfortable moving at their pace and their process.

If you try to force changes in that process, you'll only set off alarms that will pigeonhole you with the negative stereotype of "salesperson."

That's why I advised Sean to work on becoming aware of the milestones that prospects set and that will guide his path to a sale.

He needed to learn to build enough trust with prospects that they would feel comfortable telling him the truth of their process and their decision making path.

"I totally accept the principles behind what you're saying," Sean then told me, "but I need to know more specifics about what to say and do in a sales situation." Here are some suggestions I gave him:

* Integrate trust-building language into your conversations with prospects so they'll feel comfortable telling you where they are at in their process. For example, saying "Where do you think we should go from here?" invites them to tell you the truth, while "Why don't we set up a next appointment to discuss our next steps" gives the impression that you're trying to take control.

* Rather than asking prospects overtly what their decision making process is, use softer language that they can understand from their perspective, for example, "What specific gates do you anticipate you'll need to go through as you consider the proposition of purchasing the software to solve the business issues we discussed?"

* Don't probe or "fish" for prospects' "pain" as part of your sales process. Prospects have learned through long experience that the appearance of caring is usually a verbal ploy designed to move the sale forward according to the salesperson's agenda. Instead, speak genuinely and with sincerity to what you know their core business issues are. You can find out what these are by getting in touch with customers who have already bought your product or service and asking, "What three or four business issues drove your decision to buy our product?" Chances are, your new prospect will be dealing with similar concerns.

Consider these ideas, and try these practical suggestions. They helped Sean feel better about letting go of the old ideas he'd been taught.

Maybe they'll do the same for you.

With a Masters Degree in Instructional Design and over a decade of experience creating breakthrough sales strategies for global companies such as UPS and QUALCOMM, Ari Galper discovered the missing link that people who sell have been seeking for years.

His profound discovery of shifting one's mindset to a place of complete integrity, based on new words and phrases grounded in sincerity, has earned him distinction as the world's leading authority on how to build trust in the world of selling.

Leading companies such as Gateway, Clear Channel Communications, Brother International and Fidelity National Mortgage have called on Ari to keep them on the leading edge of sales performance. Visit http://www.unlockthegame.com to get his free sales training lessons.

Everyone Wants What You Are Selling They Just Do Not Know It Yet

One of the best salesmen I ever met and no he would not come to work for me when I tried to hire him away to work for the Franchising Company I founded; had a saying. He told me of all his successful sales, which I had kind of figured since we had just made a rather large purchase from him. His saying was that; “Everyone Wants What You Are Selling They Just Do Not Know It Yet!” I thought that was funny and a really good attitude for a salesmen and then we discussed this concept in more depth.

You see when he first came in; I told him I was not interested and explained how we did things. He said; “Well yes that is a unique way of doing things and I am certain we can modify this to help you do it your way even better” and then we got into a the modification process and all the needs and objections to the thing and sure enough the salesman/problem solver proved himself right?

You know what? I really did want what he was selling and I really did not know it yet. But after the sales process was over and we took delivery it was truly one of the best things that our company ever did. The modified units helped our company become more efficient and gave our franchisees the edge over the competition. So perhaps you might consider all this and become a problem solver and not just a sales person and consider that; Everyone Wants What You Are Selling They Just Do Not Know It Yet! Think on this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow

Analyzing Internet Sales

Before creating an internet sales/marketing campaign or focusing your products to their niche market, you need to know how buyers think, what their habits are and how to persuade them to purchase from you.

Marketing analyses are constantly performed by companies around the world to measure their effectiveness and how to deal with the new customer's behaviors, and the competitor's strategies; and there are some highlights to remember.

We should take into consideration that half of internet purchases have been made after searching the net, giving a tremendous importance to the organic search results. Of course some categories have a higher tendency (as the online travel market for instance) than others as clothes where customers know more specifically what they are looking for.

Other important fact is that generic keywords are much more used than specific ones, meaning that people prefer to look for broad terms rather than brands of product names. However talking about conversions, even though brands are not so searched, their conversion rate into sales is higher than generic terms.

So here comes a usual question while creating an SEO strategy for your products/services: is it better to drive more generic traffic and then filter the few buyers, or to focus on lower amount of branded targeted searches with higher number of transactions per visitor? Of course there is no absolute answer and the decision should be taken individually obeying the company's policies and the nature of the business.

As most of the searches before purchase come from generic terms, you can find a great opportunity focusing your attention into those keywords by using them as your new brand names and gain an attractive number of broad searches plus the benefit of the awareness for that keyword - as a brand.

Online purchases are made in average after 2-4 weeks from the first research as customers may go from general to particular results until they find what fulfills their expectations.

I expect that period will be shorter each time as customers learn to get what they are looking for faster; and because we - marketers - will continue improving our strategies to offer the right product to our client in fewer steps.

Five Mistakes to Avoid when Writing Sales Letters

Look around the Web and you’ll find sales letters promoting just about every kind of product and service imaginable. Some are long, some are short, some are punchy, some are formal, some work well and some simply don’t work at all.

Writing a sales letter isn’t a difficult task but unless you avoid the five mistakes that far too many copywriters make, your sales letters simply won’t be pulling their weight.

1. Features Don’t Sell

If your sales letter tells your visitors that the “amazing new ‘whizzle’ is being offered complete with 3-way tracking and an incredible 6 Mb of storage” you won’t really be telling them very much at all.

Instead of concentrating on the product’s features, focus the reader’s attention on the benefits the product offers them. They want to know exactly how owning a ‘whizzle’ will improve their lives. Will it help them lose weight, store their music collection or find their car if it’s stolen? If so, use the sales letter to tell them!

2. Exaggeration

Ok, so advertising always contains an element of exaggeration and Web-based sales letters are no exception, but don’t let it get out of hand. A sales letter that sounds too good to be true will most likely be ignored so always stick with the truth while getting those benefits across. In fact, a sales letter that sounds 100% honest will be such a breath of fresh air that its honesty alone will most likely make it a success.

3. Thinking the Reader is “Stupid”

Most people are intelligent and want to be treated as such. Far too many sales letters talk down to the reader, offering them every snippet of information with the proverbial teaspoon.

Once a reader starts to think: “Yes, yes, I understand that now get on to the point”, you’ll most likely have lost a sale.

When writing sales letters, give your reader enough information to leave him feeling that he’s learned something, but give it in a way that has him thinking he’s picked it up without it being explained in detail.

4. Bore... Bored... Boring Your Reader

Whether of not you’re able to hold the reader’s attention will mean the difference between a killer sales letter and a sales letter that just hangs around doing nothing much at all.

As with all forms of promotional business writing, a certain amount of drama is needed in a sales letter in order to grab the reader’s attention and hold it throughout the message. Emotion is also used for the same reason. BUT, too much drama and emotion that isn’t substantiated will become boring.

Appealing to the good nature of the reader in order to have him donate money to your “save the garden slug fund” isn’t going to work unless you give him clear information about the slug and what impact its loss would have on the environment/his family/the economy.

While it’s important that the main selling points of the product or service are repeated several times throughout the sales letter, it’s crucial that the way in which the information’s presented differs each time. If miniature windmills “will generate power for your home”, they will also “create enough energy to heat and light your home” as well as “save you hundreds of dollars in energy bills”.

5. Lack of Motivation

Why are you writing a sales letter? Because you want the reader to buy a product, donate money, join a club or anything else that requires him to do something. If the sales letter doesn’t motivate the reader to action, you’ve wasted both your time and his.

Give the customer the opportunity to take action at several points throughout the sales letter and ALWAYS end the letter with a direct appeal. Click the link now! Ring today! If you want them to do something, tell them what!

Now that you know what to avoid, writing sales letters should become easier and the finished product far more effective. Here’s to sales that skyrocket and a prosperous future for all.

Sharon Jacobsen is a full-time freelance copywriter living in South Cheshire, England. For a competitive fee she’ll happily write compelling sales letters to promote any product or service.

To contact Sharon or to learn more about her work, please visit her website at: http://www.sharon-jacobsen.co.uk

Re-Engaging Prospects to Make the Sale

Often in sales a prospect may say they are not interested in your product or service at this time, as it is new on the market or your company is new to the area or region. And without a track record, well let’s just say they do not want to buy the first two-hundredth of anything built or be the first Guinea Pig to become a test case and end up falling on their face with egg splatter marks on it. Luckily in sales this is not a “NO” or a “No Way” but rather a wait and see approach.

Now then if you are too pushy with the prospect you can turn the “wait and see” to a “get the hell out of here; NO!” and so you need to handle these objections with white gloves. Many sales books will tell you that you need to bring the buyer back into the buying cycle.

This of course requires establishing a relationship, dialogue and getting to any “Real” objections. They may indeed feel that the “too new” objection is indeed a valid one, yet you probably as a sales person do not feel it is, because you believe in your product. That is a good thing and you darn well better believe in whatever you are selling.

If they say the product is too new, boomerang it and let them know, you realize that and you want them to be the first in the area to have one. Additionally ask them what they are worried might go wrong. Those parts maybe under warranty. If they say you are too new in the region and you are service business, offer them a trial service, one month only. “If you like us, keep us, if not no hard feelings okay?” Consider all this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow