Friday 31 August 2012

Dreamer, Nothing But A Dreamer!

Roger Hodgson of Supertramp coined that phrase and what is wrong with that? It's a very good thing to be.

As I sit here with a mug of coffee, black, two sugars, stirred anti-clockwise (it improves the flavour) my mind wanders off. I'm not concerned, It's nothing unusual. It does that sometimes but it never strays far and it always comes back.

My mind is thinking of a hundred, a thousand, things at once. I get a bit of a glazed look on my face (not good when driving) and some people look at me and ask 'What ARE you thinking?' or the classic one; 'Penny for them!' A penny? They are worth more than that! People who really know me take no notice. They just wait to find out what direction I am now going to go in thanks to the thought.

I am a dreamer. A Day Dreamer. I think deeply and day dream. There is nothing wrong with that.

We have voices in our heads that tell us to do things. That is called THINKING. Part of my training program means I ask groups of people 'Do you have a voice in your head that tells you to do things?' A few people sit there and look at the ceiling and mouth the words 'do I?'

If people don't put their hands up I usually tell them 'The voice I am talking about is the one that said "voice in my head? Phuq that I am NOT putting my hand up for that one!"

(I once asked a group of people if anyone had a phobia about putting their hand up in public. One person put their hand up! - Unbelievable. You can't make this stuff up!)

If you dream at night you will be very lucky to remember it next morning. Well, you remember the bad ones, the nightmares.

People often say to me; "I can't imagine doing what you do, even in my wildest dreams!" Well, if you can't imagine doing it in your wildest dreams, how are you going to do it for real?

Dreaming during the day is just an extension of thinking. It's giving your imagination some time to wander around to see what it comes up with.

T.E Lawrence (of Arabia) wrote a book called 'The Seven Pillars of Wisdom' and in it he wrote the following....
"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible."

If you imagine it, dream it, see it...then you will achieve it. Naturally you have to take some action to get it but if you see it in your mind, you will receive it. Dream it, and do it.
 
If you think I am alone in that thought then let's leave the final word to the late, great, John Lennon;


"You may say I'm a dreamer, But I'm not the only one.

I hope some day you will join us, When the world will be as one."

Imagine!



Thursday 30 August 2012

The Difference that MAKES The Difference

What's the Difference that MAKES the Difference?

To me it's got to be attitude. That self assuredness, that energy, that belief that no matter what happens, no matter what obstacles appear, you will achieve what you want to achieve.

People always look for cop outs. Excuses. They have a but!

"I could have done that...BUT!"
"I would have done that...BUT!"
"I should have done that...BUT!"

That's the old 'coulda, woulda, shoulda' scenario. At the heart of that scenario is another word. 'Didna'.

I know that if you have the right attitude you can achieve anything.

I use myself as an example.

  • I have an air of uninsultability. I don't care what people say about me. Why should I? They don't know what they are talking about! They must get my name right though!
  • I decide where my energy goes, nobody else.
  • Everything people say or do to me is energy, and it's just a toy for me to play with.
  • I don't take anything that people say to me at first to be written in stone. In other words, what people say first can be changed.
  • Nothing in life has any meaning except the meaning I give it.
  • I never hate people who are obviously jealous of me. I respect their jealousy because they must think I am better than them or they want to be me!
  • 90% of people are running on autopilot 90% of the time
  • If I am told something can't be done it's because the person telling me doesn't know how to do it. So I go and do it.
It is also important to think different. A case in point.

I had a conversation the other day regarding work. Someone was looking for a change of career. It seemed that working from home might be better than going out to work. I made a quick suggestion.

"What about some form of MLM? Multi Level Marketing is booming. You could get on the vitamin and herbal remedy market. There are a lot of companies looking for people to sell products and you could have vitamin evenings and sell the products at home to people who come around for the evening party?"

What was the response...? Well...objection.....?

Before I tell you the response/ objection let me reframe it....

Throughout my career I have advised people on what to do for a business venture, in what to sell, and how to sell. In all of those areas I get the same response as I got here. The same! What amazes me is how the same reply from me always makes them realises what a stupid, dumbass objection it is...

The response/ objection?...

"Do you know how many companies there are out there selling that?"

Duh! Yes I do. Maybe not to the exact figure but I can hazard a guess...

My reply?

"Do you know how many people there are out there buying that stuff?"

Simple. There are millions of people out there. BILLIONS of people in the world. Are you telling me that they are ALL buying from these companies. No. They are not.

Advertising either works or it doesn't. If it didn't work then people wouldn't advertise.

I had someone tell me once, 'I don't advertise because I know it won't work!' 
I told them, 'You know when you will realise that it does?  In a years time when you place an advertisement that says 'Business for Sale', THAT is when you will realise advertising works!'

We all know Louis Vuitton, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Rolex, Breitling and all manner of stuff that we desire and /or buy. Why do they advertise? Why do they HAVE to advertise? Because it works.

Then I got this...

"If people want things like that then they would just go down to the supermaket and buy them."

No WAY!  People have to be TOLD what to buy. They have to be given options.

That's why you sell someone a years supply rather than a months.

What's more, selling things on the internet or at home is designed to undercut the big stores as well as the small exclusive ones. These MLM companies market stuff that you cannot buy in stores. The opportunity is there!

It's a matter of doing things Differently. Thinking Differently. Selling Differently. Being Different. And that's the difference that MAKES the difference!

If you let NOTHING get in the way of your target, nothing get in the way of your dream and nothing get in the way of achieving what you want then nothing will.

You have to change your beliefs, change your attitude and change your mind set.

You must not let anything get in your way.

Here's an example...This is someone who never let anything get in their way, never let anything stop them, adapted situations to suit and changed themselves...they know the meaning of the difference that makes the difference.

The man is Chaim Weitz.

Though he is from a Hungarian family he was born in Isreal and his Mother took him, at the age of 8, to live in America even though he was unable to speak English.

When older he made money selling comic books at conventions. He learnt to speak English, German and Hebrew as well as his native Hungarian and taught in schools in America under the name Gene Klein.

A few years later he picked up a guitar, changed his name to Gene Simmons and morphed into the guy in the pic at the top of this blog!

If he can achieve a personal metamorphosis like that...anything is possible. That's the Difference that MAKES the Difference!

Tuesday 28 August 2012

Time Distortion

Imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with £86,400. Wow, how great would that be? But, it carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every penny of course!


Well...

Each of us has a bank. Its name is: TIME

Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as lost whatever you have failed to invest to a good purpose, idea or endeavour. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. It allows no loan. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night, at midnight, it burns the remains of the day.

If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours. There is no drawing against tomorrow. You must live in the present on today’s balance and deposits. Invest it wisely so that you get the maximum return on your investment in health, happiness, business, relationships and success.

The clock is ticking...make the most of today!

Sunday 26 August 2012

You NEVER Stop Learning

You are responsible for your own education.

When you want to learn about a new subject, go to the library. Go to the bookshop and buy books and magazines. Log on to the Internet. Join a club or association. Find experts in the field. Ask questions and more questions. Take courses and ask your teacher questions.

Don't just sit there. Make the course YOUR course.


Q. What do you want to know about something?
A. All you can.

Q. What do you want to know about the business? A. Everything you can.

Hunger for knowledge because knowledge is power. You don't need to attend famous universities. You don't need a lot of money for tuitions. By yourself, with your own free will, you can learn anything that you want to learn.

Learning is a gift that you give yourself. Knowledge is portable. You take it with you everywhere.

I see qualifications as limits. They show that you have achieved something, of course, but that's it. It's really a label. I have a Ph.D. I did it because I could. And I use the knowledge it gave me every day. But I have outgrown the Ph.D through self education. If I sat with someone who had just completed my Ph.D in the same manner I did and then told them all I have learnt since passing it, I would blow the circuits in their head because many people believe that once you have the qualification, whatever it is, that's all you need to know.

The thing is, I know trainers and psychologists and hypnotherapists who have their qualifications on their wall. Great. Can they actually DO what they have the qualification for? NO not anymore!

Why is that? Because they don't use it, improve it, refine it or augment it with further information.
A ship that spends too much time in dock will deteriorate unless it does what it is meant and built to do, sail the seas.  Your brain is the same.  It needs to keep active.
You need to continually learn and you also need to continually question what you know. IS it the ONLY way to do something? Does that STILL work? You should never, ever, stop learning. Attend seminars, buy books (and read them), buy CDs (and listen to them).

Don’t worry what the book or CD/DVD costs you either. One sentence or idea in a £30 book or $500 course could make you 50 times that amount in the years ahead or change your life or the life of someone around you or someone you are working with.

That’s a better investment than buying shares.....or a lottery ticket. ;-)

Are You The Business? Bad Luck!

In the world of personal development most of the companies rely on the main person.

Otherwise known as...

The face of the company.
The owner.
The person who writes the programs.
The person who delivers the training.
The person people want to see, hear or be trained by.

I have that challenge.

Many other companies have that challenge.

I know what you are thinking; "You say that like it's a bad thing!"

It is.

Not now...but in the future.

If you have a company and you are considering selling it, retiring and hoping it will continue, or even considering floating it...bad news.


You are the Company. People are buying you.

You need to take yourself out of your business.

You need to remove yourself from the daily running of your business.

Why? Because otherwise you will remain a vital element of the company and you will never be able to sell it without you going along as part of the package. You need to delegate all your tasks within the company to other people, so that the business can function effectively on its own without you being involved.

Your business will never be able to grow beyond what you can physically do yourself.

A buyer will only want to buy the business if you come along with it. Your plan to spend your time on a yacht sipping champagne has been well and truly scuppered. You are now an employee (albeit a very well paid one).

If you can teach what you do to a like minded person who works for you, do so. You must ensure that the business is capable of continuing while you take time out.

If your business is like this, do it now; I am.

If it's a new business you are starting then look closely at your business model and make sure it is scalable.
In other words, can it grow without you being there?

If the answer is no, it's a non starter. Think of a new idea.

Sunday 19 August 2012

Response-Ability

Blaming others never works, it compromises your power and your strength.

When you are wrong, the most expedient form of action is to admit your mistake and move on.

How many people do you know who walk around, slumped over, moaning, whining and saying things like, "I could have been a success...BUT!" "I could have sold to that guy...BUT!" "I could have been a millionaire....BUT!"

Kick the 'buts' out of your life.

Accept the fact that life isn't always fair. You will not always be right. You are human and to trip, stumble and fall are all part of being human. What differentiates you from the herd is that you get up.

Mistakes are your teachers. By choosing to be a risk taker, you will face both peril and reward. You will make a lot of mistakes as all successful people have done and continue to do. It is not someone else's fault if your success involves persistence, failing and learning.

Accept this as your choice. Take risks. No great fortune or great endeavour or business was achieved without risk. As Sir Richard Branson says in his book Reach For The Skies: "If you choose to live a quiet life you will never know what it feels like to win!"

This is the nature of the road to success. Let your ego go. Take risks.

Take responsibility.

Break that word down. Responsibility. In fact you should look at that word as two words. Response and Ability. You MUST have the ability to make your response a positive one. You must cultivate a positive, powerful and empowering Response Ability. It is your ability to make your responses more self empowering, strong and positive that will help you overcome all manner of challenges and 'failures' (I hate that word).

Worry more about what you can do rather than what others haven't done.

Never feel sorry for yourself. Blaming others will not make you feel better.
If you fail, look at what you did, dust yourself off and do it differently.

Remember, don’t blame others for that failure. Because if you succeed even bigger because of that failure...are you going to credit them for that failure? Or, shock horror, the success that came from it?

No, I didn’t think so. ;-)

The most important thing to understand is this...There is no failure, only feedback!

Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try!

Yoda said the above quote, “Try not. Do or do not. There is no try”.

(Well it was Frank Oz actually but I didn't want to ruin the moment)

If I tell you, “I tried to open the door”, you know I didn’t open it. If someone tells you they will “try to be there” you can guarantee that they will not be there.

Try is another word for fail, unless you play rugby of course.

Don’t even think about trying to do something, do it and be determined that you will ‘do it’. If not, you will merely try.

Here are a couple of things to forget.

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again”.

Why bother? If you don’t succeed, make sure you do it next time. Or hide all evidence you attempted it.

And:

“The whole world loves a tryer”.

Of course they do. People love tryers because they never really achieve anything and it makes them feel better to have someone less successful than them around.

You must be a do’er and not a try’er. Achieve things and be a success.

If you are not, don’t try to be. Just Be a success!

Great Customer Service = Easy Next Sale! Duh!

If you want to sell more of your products and services, whatever it is that you sell, then you need to make sure you are joining all the dots to make a picture that makes sense.

One of the easiest things to do, but something that many people and businesses FAIL to do, is to look after their existing customers.  Your after sales and customer service performance is the key to longevity.  The ONLY companies who can survive with bad customer service and bad after sales are compnies that have no competition.  If they have a monopoly they can do what they like.

So...

Look after your existing customers and they will buy more product. 

Here's a secret: Looking after and selling to existing customers is far easier than looking for new customers.

In doing so, here's a few tips from the Dynamic-Life Academy Sales course.

1. Be clear about the benefit.  I don't care what country those wellington boots were made in, or the moulding process, or the fact that there are 7 ridges in the sole and four in the heel...I am buying DRY FEET.  So TELL ME that my feet will be dry!

2. Make it simple and easy to buy from you.  Don't get caught up in red tape and BS with contracts.  Make them clear, easy to read and quick to complete.  Swap the small print for big print and show that you are hiding nothing.  If you tell them they are getting X, then make sure they get X.  Throw in a Y for good measure.  DO NOT give them Y IN PLACE of X!  If you do you can expect your customer to give you the finger!

3.  If you don't enjoy what you are doing then nobody else will either.  You can quite easily transmit your boredom, disbelief and lack of confidence in your company and products if you hate what you do.  Hating what you do has a direct correlation to how much you earn.

4. You only need one golden apple. Doing what others do is fine but do it differently. Be You-Nique http://themooreconsortium.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/you-nique.html

5.  Who you surround yourself with is who you become.  Choose your staff and associates carefully.  Don't be chosen by those you would not choose.  Be very careful about your associations. 

6. You have to be so visible that everyone associates you with what you do. That's a great position to be in.  Immediately, people know your company by your image or name.  There is a downside to this though.  If you become indispensable, if you ARE the company, people expect to get you.  Thats great but you will never ever be able to sell your business should you want to.  You ARE the business.  Don't run a company that you cant sell to someone else.

7. Communicate clearly and simply but do it with the RIGHT people.  It sounds mercenary but why waste your time with people who are not going to buy from you?  I know associations are great but if your business needs to make money through sales, talk to people who have the authority to say yes. 

8. Your best salesperson is....drum roll....no, not you!  It's your CUSTOMER.  Nothing attracts people to your company better than raving fans so get your customers to write a testimonial and put it on your website or in your literature.  Better still, film them talking about how great your product is and put that video on your website and youtube.  Video tesimonials are gold.

9. All the work you did in aquiring your customers? Multiply it by 5.  multiply it by 10!  That's the amount of work you need to do to keep them.  Never leave trap doors open for your customers to slip thru.  You MUST have a commitment to your customer. They do NOT have a commitment to you! You need to create their commitment to you!
Make sure you leave your footprint in cement and not sand. The tide of your competition will not wash it away!

10. Employ people who are smarter than you.  Don't fear it.  You need them.  Once u compromise on the quality of ur people, compromising becomes the norm. Pretty soon u have an average company full of average people

And one more thing...

It's clear that if all you are doing are things the way you always did, you're doomed

Friday 17 August 2012

KILL THE MONSTER EARLY



You must have seen the Alien films. They are great and I always get a kick out of watching them. Do you remember that scene in the first film when Cain has that alien burst out of his chest? The pic at the top is the scene.

I always think of how different it would have been if I had been on that spaceship. Just as the little alien runs across the table I would have smashed it with a sledge hammer and flattened it. Then, I would have said a line that would have been immortal:
“If we had let that out of the room it would have killed everyone!”
Roll credits!  Shortest movie in history but...

If you Kill the Monster Early then you save a lot of time and effort.

I have a friend who got a parking ticket. He stuck it in a drawer to deal with later. You know, later? When he had the time? Three days later he pulled the ticket out and saw that he was being fined £40. He had a week left to pay it. He put it on the hallway table and went to work. A week later it was still there. When he remembered to look at it he had one day left before it increased to £60. Should he reschedule his meeting so that he could go and pay the fine now?
In his mind he did a quick calculation.
“It’s only another £20 for Christ’s sake!”
Hmmm. Is it?

“I spend more than that on cigarettes each week!”
Well, that’s that rationalized!




Another week went by. And then another.
He forgot all about it.
He went on holiday.

When he got back his car had been lifted and impounded and to get it back he had to pay the costs on top of the original fine.
The fine, if he had dealt with it straight away, was only £40.
He paid out £480.00 that day to get his car back.

He should have dealt with the ticket like the Alien in the above analogy.
In business we make choices every day. We decide what direction we are going to take, what strategy to use, who to send on a particular job. All those choices are pro-active. We have to react in the same positive way. When something happens we have to decide right away a course of action otherwise things change.

Some people tend to sweep things under the carpet.
Someone causes a problem or a challenge? Sweep it under the carpet.
Some people keep on doing that again and again until nobody can open the door because of a huge pile of crap under the carpet.

Problems (£40 fine?) can be brushed off or ignored for a while. They turn into concerns.
Concerns (£60 fine increase) cause a little consternation and can be time consuming but, some people deal with them by delaying action. The concerns turn into a crisis!
A crisis (car towed and £480 bill) is when and only when some people act.
All that trouble and financial cost and yet, back in the days of the £40 it would have been so simple. Just deal with it at the time and get rid of it. Do it NOW!
In business, never ever let anything just sit and rot away. Always deal with things immediately if that can be done. Never, ever, put things off to another day. Do the tough stuff first and then do the easy stuff.

Don't let that Alien out of the room!!!

Wednesday 15 August 2012

Which One Are YOU?

Optimist?
Pessimist?
or....
Realist?

Does it really matter?   Well it might!

Take the famous analogy...

An Optimist sees a glass half full.
A Pessimist sees a glass half empty.
A Realist just sees a glass of water.

Do you see opportunity in every situation?  Do you always look for the good in people and the world? (Optimist)

Do you see no point in getting involved?  Do you think all of your plans will fail? (Pessimist)

Do you take every day as it comes and deal with it.  Do you do your own thing and not buy into all the new age psychological stuff? Believe it when you see it? (Realist)

All of them have their virtues though as a personal development trainer I have to say that Optimism is best out of those three options but there is a fourth.  There is another way of walking thru the world that will serve you much better...Because while you were looking at that glass of water I walked over and you didn't see me...you were too busy arguing over who was right...


The Very Authentic Emelia Sam

Someone who has caught my professional interest is the very talented Emelia Sam. 
We met online in a couple of Twitter forums and I immediately recognised her as someone with a great insight into personal and spiritual development and a talent for helping people.

Her website is http://www.emeliasam.com and you will find a wealth of information and tips on how to live an authentic life.

These are her areas of expertise, though I am sure they are not all of them:

TOPICS
  • Mind/Body/Spirit
  • Personal Growth
  • Spirituality
  • Self-Esteem
KEYNOTE PROGRAMS
  • Scriptless Living: Getting the Life That You Want
  • Unlocking Your Greatness
  • Shine: The Ninth Ray of Greatness
  • Extracting Wisdom 24/7: The Lessons Behind Everyday Ordinary
  • Authenticity in the Age of Reality TV and Social Media
Emelia is a great presenter with a funny, engaging conversational style.  One look at the videos on her site will prove that.

I would suggest you take a look and sign up for her newsletter.

She can be found on twitter here: @emeliasam 


Ana Hillis - Content Reimagined

They say that everyone has at least one book inside them...

It's a great shame that that is exactly where they stay. Some people never get their ideas down on paper. Then again, having read thousands of them myself, some people shouldn't!

If you have a book inside you and you think, when you read others efforts, 'I have a better idea than that' or if you dream of being a published author but have no idea how to go about it, take a trip to http://repurposeforprofit.com

This is a website run by Ana Hillis, a very talented lady, but don't just take MY word for it...it says on the website:
Ana Hillis is a former executive assistant (and genuine smart ass with a really warped sense of humor) who worked in the Corporate World editing, proofreading and formatting documents for over 15 years. She has brought this experience into the online world where she works with Entrepreneurs to help them write their books by repurposing their existing content and helps them build their reputations and expert status with creativity and style, not to mention she has fun doing it. People that aren’t fun, need not apply.

So get that book out of your head and onto Amazon by checking out her website or twitter page @anahillis

Laura Berman Fortgang - Coach of Coaches

Here's another recommendation for you and, again, it's a very talented and knowledgeable lady from NYC area (I must get over there again soon)......

Some of you may know her, know of her and some of you may not know her at all, for which I say 'you are serious about personal development aren't you?'

I have followed Laura Berman Fortgang for almost 12 years now.  I met her quite a while ago at a seminar she ran in London after the publication of her book Take Yourself to the Top, of which I have a signed copy but hey, I'm a fan.

I think she pioneered the whole idea of coaching and got me interested in the whole coaching scene.  I cannot find anyone coming close to her (not that I have looked) and I always have considered her the best there is in the business and personal coaching field.

She has a common sense approach and a focus on what works for her clients.  Laura is also a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, corporate spokesperson and interfaith minister.

She is the best-selling author of five books now published in 11 languages:
When you read a list like that and look at the figures one thing is obvious.  She knows her stuff.

Laura has also been a media perennial for years. Her appearances on Oprah, The CBS Early Show, NBC's Today, Good Morning America, various nationally syndicated and cable outlets as well as a long stint as contributing editor for Redbook Magazine and in other major print and digital media have helped her reach millions of people who want to improve their work and life.

Do yourself, your business and the people around you a big favour and go to:
http://www.laurabermanfortgang.com/index.html

or follow her on Twitter
@LauraBFortgang

Prepare to be amazed and...See You At The Top

Preventing 'Death by Powerpoint'

I have sat through many presentations in my previous life as a Sales Director at companies like Telewest, Cable London and Holiday Ownership Exchange and believe me, I feel your pain when it comes to Slides or Powerpoint presentations.

As soon as you walk into the seminar room and you see the laptop and computer your heart sinks because you KNOW that not only have you got to listen to someone, you have to read the slides and, probably, make notes.

I love French Cinema and I speak a little French so I ignore the subtitles as much as I can but many people hate the idea of reading a movie, they want to watch one. 

It's the same with presentations.  Some people have EVERYTHING they say, EVERY WORD, up on that screen and they not only read the slide out but they POINT AT THE WORDS AS THEY GO ALONG!!!

That is a combination of lack of confidence, bad presentation skills and overkill.  It is such poor preparation that it borders on Preparation H!!

When these presenters look at the audience can't they see the sea of bored people with a glazed look on their faces. (I know, I was one of them).

Steve Jobs had a list of rulles for presentations.

1.   Open with words that are in line with the theme by using a headline.
2.   Make the theme clear and consistant so it sets the direction.
3.   Provide an outline.
4.   Open and close each section with a clear transition.
5.   Sell an experience.
6.   Use powerful words like Extraordinary, amazing, cool, awesome and incredible.
7.   Make numbers and statistics meaningful and then break them down.
8.   Analogies help connect the dots.
9.   Paint a simple picture that doesn't overwhelm.
10. Rehearse it.

In order to create a PowerPoint presentation that is engaging and compelling, use this list as rocket fuel that will fire your presentation to the stars.  It's a list of do's and dont's that has been built over years of experience.  Add what works for you and let me know your own tips.

1. Clip art is funny but don't even think about using crap that a 10 year old could have come up with.  Your credibility will be shot.  Limit the clip art or better still leave it out completely
2. Add an unexpected, personal, FUNNY photograph.
3. The slide is meant to reinforce the point you are making.  NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND
4. Don't EVER say, "This one's a little hard to read." SLIDES ARE FREE. Split the slide into two.
5. Don't have your slides spin around or have moving text -It is very annoying!  I have heard salespeople in the audience next to me having side bets on which direction the slide will come in from. 
6. Don't put more than one point on a slide.
7. Count the laughs. At least one for every five slides. (If there's at least one laugh every five slides, you can count on one other thing: money.)
8. Use a white background. The fancy ones are distracting.  They are an embellishment that detracts from your message.
9. Include a logo. I put a bug-size logo in the lower right corner of every slide. I have no idea why, but no one has ever said anything to me. And I figure if it's good enough for MTV, Comedy Central or any of those Cable channels, it's good enough for me.
10. Use the font IMPACT. Set the master screen for 44pt and shadow the type.
11. Emphasize words by blowing them up a few point sizes. Make them a different colour. I use Purple.
12. If you're labouring over one slide that you are trying to "make work," delete it. It was probably a weak point.
13. Use slides that tell a story, rather than relate a fact. Stories are the most powerful part of the sale. Here's the rule: Facts and figures are forgotten, stories are remembered and retold.
14. Are your slides engaging? There are two kinds of slides: engaging and distracting. Review each slide and ask yourself, "How engaging is this slide?" If it's not engaging, then it's distracting, so why the hell are you using it?
15. Are your slides asking questions or making statements? Questions will promote conversation and engage. Statements are just that - There is no conversation.
16. How many of the claims that you makE in your sales presentation, by PowerPoint or verbally, are backed up with proof?
17. Incorporate video testimonial clips throughout your slide presentation to back up and prove that your claims are real and transferable-real, transferable, and acceptable to the customer.
By now you're probably totally disheartened about your PowerPoint presentation because I've exposed it for the powerless "point" it is. But take heart. Your competition's slide presentation is equally pathetic.

Here is the secret solution: Convert the time you're wasting by watching television reruns and use it to develop your own PowerPoint presentation that is 100 percent in terms of the customer's needs and desires. Your PowerPoint presentation should engage the prospective customer by asking questions and promoting dialogue, include a little humour to keep the sales presentation alive, and support every fact and claim with testimonials.
And by the way, there's one question that you better make certain appears toward the end of your PowerPoint presentation: a question that asks for the sale.

One of the best pieces of advice I can give you to make sure the Powerpoint presentation you are constructing is interesting is this.  When you are done, leave it for two days.  Then look at it again.  If it STILL looks great, use it.  That break will let your mind review it with fresh eyes.


 

*With thanks to Steve Jobs and Jeffrey Gitomer

Tuesday 14 August 2012

You-Nique


Do you wonder what makes you different from everyone else? Are you looking for an answer to "What makes me special and unique?" that is more meaningful than just your fingerprints or a spiral of DNA?


Understanding how each of us is unique is an essential part of questioning who we are and why humanity exists. To help you find an answer to this ancient and universal question, we offer a new way of looking at things.

Are you Unique? Do you go your own way? Do you follow your own beliefs?

Being unique can make you start to feel awkward about who you are. If you are not like everybody else ... you can feel like you don't fit ... and don't belong.


And that is a horrible way to feel .. especially when you consider that everyone is unique. Everyone, underneath the things that define a generation or a culture, is truly unique and vastly different ... from the things they love -- to what inspires them or makes them laugh.


Do you remember the scene in The Life of Brian when, having been chased and followed by hundreds of people, Brian addresses the crowd from his bedroom window and there is the classic exchange...

Brian: You are all Individuals!
Lone Voice: I'm not!

Being an individual means you are unique.

Do you have any idea just how unique you are?

What makes you unique?
Is it what you do, or how you do what you do?

If you want to Stand Out, you have to be OutStanding.
It's a simple as that. And Simplicity rules.

Simplicity is harder than you think. We all have the ability to make things difficult. We analyse and go over details again and again when in fact what we should be doing is refining and streamlining.

If you want to be unique you have to strip everything down and discover just what sets you apart from everyone else.

Sustained success comes only when you take what's unique about you and figure out how to make it useful.

Whatever it is that you do to make yourself unique you have to decide whether or not it is something that will generate interest, business and raving fans (repeat customers).

What are your strengths? How do you use those strengths to overcome your competitors, if you consider your competitors?

Remember that there is no one else on this planet like you. No one else can do what you do, in the way you do it. If there were then I can guarantee that they wouldn't do what you do for the same reasons you do it.

The same thing applies to businesses and other types of organizations. But in this case, it is called branding and is known as what makes you stand apart and stand out from the crowd ... in both good and bad ways.


Being unique in business may be just what your company needs ... and should shout about. But just being different isn't what you want to focus on. Instead, you want to be distinctive -- in the things your customers and clients value most. And that is what finding your business niche is all about.

What brew do you want, Specifically?

Getting what you want in life, or a more positive outcome at least, is just like enjoying your favourite cup of Joe.

SO, there you are...thinking.  All day, thinking.  You drive to work and you are...thinking. You sit at your desk...thinking.  You drive home...thinking.

You do a lot of thinking.  We all do.  We think about good things.  We think about bad things.
Good, bad, funny, sad, pointless, important.  You name it!

When you are cruising through your day, there is a voice in your head telling you stuff, telling you what to do, telling you to do things.  Don't panic.  You're not going mad.  That's thinking.

Are you thinking good stuff or bad stuff because you need to check.  Bad stuff can make you SO depressed you are going to believe that it isn't worth even attempting something.  Why?  Because you have already predetermined that failure.

Hey, do something different.  Predetermine your success.

How many times have you worried about something, like a dental appointment, only to find that there was no pain, minimum amount of work needed, and on reflection, not a too shabby way of spending your morning?

Then again, it may have hurt, you needed root canal and it wasn't a great experience.  But think about it.  Would worrying have changed that?  Would being negative about it have changed that?  NO!

The conversations you have with yourself are the key driver to the outcome of whatever it is you are doing.

How many times have you gone into a meeting and thought, or even muttered to yourself, 'This is going to be a COMPLETE waste of time'?  Guess what?  Yeah, it was wasn't it?

'Why am I driving down here? There will be no parking spaces!'
'I won't be able to get a table at that restaurant tonight.'
'That person won't be interested in me.'

If you have ever thought like that then you are focusing on the negative.  You are focusing on what you DON'T want rather than what you DO.

Why do you do that in your head when you wouldn't dream of doing it out loud.

When you go into Starbucks and the Barista asks you what you want do you say, "Well, I don't want a Latte, and I don't want a Mocha, and a certainly don't want a Tea"?

That would be stupid right?

You ask for what you want.  "I'll have a Cappucino please."

So why don't you keep that mindset in everything? 

Be positive sounds like a bloodgroup but it's more than that.  If you believe in The Law of Attraction then can you imagine what sort of life you are going to enjoy if you continue to focus on the negative stuff?  Maybe you are already suffering that lifestyle.  Well STOP.  Right now. 

Be specific about what you want and be determined to get what you want from situations.

'I am going to enjoy this meeting and get my points across'
'I am going to park the car down here and then go to the restaurant'
'I am going to get a table at the restaurant tonight'
'I am going to have fun talking to that person'

Go for Cappucino in your life.  Be Specific!

The 10 Commandments of Dynamic-Life

The Dynamic-Life Academy Training Program has two major handouts.

One is The Tao of Dynamic-Life.  A page a day program that offers motivational and inspirational teaching for every day of the year, all 365 of them. 

(It can be purchased seperately for £150 via The Moore Consortium website.  An email to me, david@themooreconsortium.com will result in the details being sent to you and you can download it immediately and begin integrating it into your life.)

The second handout is the Dynamic-Life 10 commandments.  These are ten sections of the program distilled down into soundbites which form the basis of Stage One of the Dynamic-Life Academy Program.
  1. If you don't know what to do, take a bold leap forward.  This is your default setting.
  2. If every body said exactly what they were thinking at the same time, most people would be speechless.
  3. Happiness is a personal choice and not a product of anything external.
  4. The invisible created the visible.
  5. Sit with confusion. Watch it grow or shrink.  It becomes energy you can use.
  6. Being great = Preperation.  Being mediocre = Preperation H.
  7. Don't bother pitching or talking to people who can't make a decision.  If they can't say NO then they lack the authority to say YES.
  8. Think Big Picture.  Not what impacts you but what impact your customer.
  9. Calculate the risks but do it anyway.
  10. Have fun.  If you don't enjoy it, no one else will.
Remember...it's never too late to have a happy childhood.



Friday 10 August 2012

Missing Found Dead but nobody listened...

10 Years ago I sat with a few people who I had been training in Eye Accessing Cues.

This is something that the FBI used to convict people when questioning them.

It is not an exact science but it is one of the main disciplines within NLP training and a great way of getting an understanding of the thought processes of the person opposite you.

 When the murders happened in Soham I was sitting in London watching skynews and Jeremy Thompson, a reporter from SKY was walking around Soham interviewing residents to see if anyone had any information on the two girls.

He walked up to Ian Huntley who was standing at his door and asked him a couple of questions. Eye accessing cues can give indications if people are lying. People store points of reference and they access them. Looking to their left is a truth. Looking to their right is a lie. (Left/Right – Right/Wrong)

Up left..visual remembering

Up right…visual construction (lie)

Direct left…auditory remembering

Direct right…auditory construction (making up conversations)

Down left …Internal dialogue

Down right…accessing feelings


Other factors come into play also....sweating, tone, pitch, speed, swallowing...if you know what to look for you can see and hear and feel things nobody else will pick up.

He asked Huntley where the girls were when he saw them..he looked to his right and said they were walking down the lane.

When asked if they seemed happy he looked to his right and said yes, as they asked how maxine was and seemed very happy when he told them she would be back at school on Monday.

Both of those were a lie.

When told, quite innocently, that he was probably the last person to see them alive he looked to his left and said, yes I probably was. That was the truth.

 I was with three other NLP trainers and we rang SKY and told them he was the killer, rang the sun and mirror and told them. We rang crimestoppers...Nobody listened…some laughed.

Three days later....you know the rest

 Yesterday I watched an interview with the boyfriend of the grandmother of the missing 12 year old girl Tia Sharp. She had been missing from home for 1 week. I watched that man and after a few seconds picked up the phone and…you know the rest. Brick wall, laughter and ‘yeah yeah ok’ answers.

I said he was violent, he obviously knew more than he was telling, there was a deeper connection with the family.....

 No one listened apart from people who know my history in personal development.

Sunday 5 August 2012

Marriott - Spirit is weak

Over the years I have spent a lot of time in hotels. I train in them, teach in them and stay in them. I spent over a year working with Telewest as their National Sales Trainer. It meant that I flew from London City Airport on Monday morning to Edinburgh and back on the Friday night. The following week I flew from Stanstead on the Monday morning to Newcastle upon Tyne and back on Friday night. I did that alternating routine for eighteen months. When I flew back from holiday in Cyprus the flight attendant gave me a form to fill in with the usual questions: what newspaper did I read, where did I book my holidays and, surprise, how often had I flown in the last year?
I thought about it for a while and did the math. Allowing for the occasional one-day return, it worked out at 123 times. It was more than the flight attendant I think.

I was always booked into a Hilton or the Holiday Inn. I was always welcomed and greeted like royalty, just like the other guests were. Efficient, nothing too much trouble and caring. They understood the rules.

Paying customers are great but repeat or returning regular customers are the lifeblood. When I first arrived at the Hilton in Edinburgh they didn’t know me from a hole in the road. I was treated as if I had stayed there before every week for the last five years. It was comfort all the way.

The thing about great service is that you tell five or ten people. The thing about bad service is; you tell fifty!

I was told one week that I would be staying at a very exclusive hotel near Edinburgh. It was an old manor house in landscaped grounds. I liked the sound of that.

I landed at Edinburgh, picked up my hire car, and drove through the snow to the big gates of the Hotel and as I made my way along the drive I looked up and saw the sign: The Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club. As I parked the car a doorman in a long coat and top hat came out and carried my suitcase into the hotel.

As I stood in the foyer I looked around at the décor. Yes, very classy and very gothic with a touch of the stately home about it. Behind the reception was a big sign. It said: Marriott. Then I noticed a big picture of old man Marriott smiling at me. It was a strange smile and made me feel uneasy. Like a turkey that had just caught Bernard Matthews grinning at it. I soon realised what he was smiling about. He was smiling at all of the gullible suckers that book into his hotels. Like PT Barnum is WRONGLY attributed as saying, ‘Theres a sucker born every minute’, old man Marriott must be thinking ‘Theres a sucker checking in every minute’. There was another sign on the wall next to it that said: We Are Dedicated To Your Service. That turned out to be hilarious.

The girl behind the desk looked up and greeted me by saying: ‘Yes?’
That was the customer service over with.

I told her my name and handed her the fax booking details with the reference numbers that stated that I was booked in for four nights in a suite on a company account with all meals and drinks included. Any other bills accrued by me were to be added to the company bill and charged to the company. The company was ‘Telewest Communications’. Nevertheless, I tended to pay for my drinks in the bar myself as they only amounted to one beer a night or possibly more if I was watching football on the TV. In all my time in hotels, having presented a paper of authority like that it has been good enough, the hotel is not going to be stiffed and I am whisked away to my room and left to my own devices to get on with the job in hand.

‘Credit card?’
‘Excuse me?’ I thought she had asked me for my credit card for a second.
‘Credit card. Do you have a credit card?’
‘No.’
I waited.
‘Why not?’ she asked.
‘What’s it got to do with you?’ I answered. ‘In any case why would I need a credit card?’
‘We have to swipe your credit card to activate the premium TV service, activate the telephone and release the mini bar.’
‘Why, what's the mini bar done? Was it locked up for being drunk?’
‘The mini bar has a security door, electronic, which is released by us by taking a swipe of...’
‘Yes I get the picture. No, I do not have a credit card. If I did have a credit card I wouldn’t give it to you to swipe. You have a fax confirmation requesting that any and all charges I incur are sent to my company which, I think you will find, include activating TV channels I will not be able to understand, allowing me to make a phone call and giving the mini bar parole.’

I think it was her general demeanour and ‘I hate my job’ attitude that clinched my hatred of her. I had a credit card but I was damned if I was going to give it to her when I didn’t need to. I don’t like credit cards in any case and I see them as an emergency only item. I am and always have been a cash person. I have been standing in line when I have seen someone buying a can of coke and two bars of chocolate on a visa card. I have wanted to beat them over the head with an iron bar.

‘Well, we need a credit card.’
‘You do realise that you are at risk by letting me have a room in which you have disabled the telephone, thus preventing me from making a call in an emergency, like to a doctor, etc?’

This fazed her slightly.

She kept on about credit cards for a while but then gave up after I told her I was getting fed up arguing the toss with her when I had business to attend to. I asked her for my key which she handed over after telling me that although she would release the minibar, the phone and the channels on the TV it was only ‘this once’ and if I returned I would need to make arrangements for a company credit card or pay £75 up front to cover any hidden extras!

‘Never mind all that crap...Whose the old guy in the photograph?’ I asked, pointing at the wall behind her.
She looked around at it. It was about four-foot tall by two feet wide so I was surprised that she appeared not to have noticed it before.
‘I think that’s Mr Marriott.’
‘Is it? I bet you don’t see that very often here?’
‘What?’
‘A happy face.’ I picked up my suitcase and walked off to the lift.

The room was okay and had a very old world feel about it. I couldn’t fault the food either. I sat at breakfast with the snow falling heavily outside eating haggis, neeps and tatties (seriously). I looked out of the window and a stag met my gaze. This was wonderful and my earlier problem with the sales prevention officer behind reception was forgotten, until I went back to my room and found a note under my door asking me to let reception have my credit card details, the mini bar door electronically locked, the telephone not working and no SkyNews on the TV.

I went down to reception and there she was.

'Do you have some form of mental illness?' I asked her.

'Pardon?'
‘Have you ever read that sign?’ I pointed at the wall and old man Marriott’s motto.
‘Yes?’ She told me.
‘Well where is the service you are supposed to be dedicated to?’
She just stared at me.
I tore her note up into small pieces and placed it on the desktop in front of her.

‘Switch it all back on in room 301. If there is any bill send it to my company as your head office has agreed. Who knows? Old man Marriott may invest in some staff training.’

By the time I got back to my room it was all back on. This scenario happened two more times over the next few days. The minibar had sensors inside that could tell what you had taken out of it and automatically notified the bar to replenish it and reception to charge you for it. I made their life difficult by taking all of the bottles out one evening and putting them back in the morning. As I went down to the car to drive to Dundee on Thursday morning I passed a waiter carrying a box of small bottles of booze on his way to replenish my minibar, only to find it fully stocked.

One evening I was sitting watching TV in my suite eating my dinner when the phone rang. It was a pal of mine whom I needed to speak to, hence the room service. As we spoke I absent mindedly opened the drawer in the bedside cabinet. In place of the usual Gideon Bible was old man Marriott’s book ‘Marriott’s way’. The subtitle of the book is ‘The Spirit to Serve’ and if ever there was a case for trades description it is that statement. I took the book and have it today still. It is a catalogue of how great he thinks Marriott hotels are.

Well, Marriott, I don’t think you are great at all. I don’t think you are good enough to be called mediocre. Your customer service stinks and from what I hear, it hasn’t got better since I stayed in one of your hotels last, which was in Newcastle a few weeks after the above incidents. They had a credit card fixation too and made people feel like criminals.

When I told the Sales prevention officer in the Dalmahoy that I didn’t think service was high on their priorities she made a noise. It was, ‘Hmmph!’

That was a very expensive grunt she made.  Expensive for you, old man Marriott, and each day that passes is another one that costs you. Neither I, nor my staff and friends have ever spent a penny in a Marriott since and you have missed a lot of knock on business from my courses.

Over the years I have stayed in a lot of Hotels and I have run seminars and training sessions in them and in my terms and conditions I actually state ‘not a Marriott hotel’. I would rather cancel the job than stay in one of old man Marriott’s hotels. I made a calculation that over the years, the treatment I received on those two occasions have cost old man Marriott over one hundred thousand pounds. I could have hired conference rooms on numerous occasions. That would have made other people, delegates, stay there. That would have put hundreds of people at a time in the hotel restaurant and bar. Instead, now they avoid the place too.

‘We are dedicated to your service’. Hmmph!

Marriott’s way is not my way and, boy, am I glad about that!

What happened to service?

It seems more and more prevalent these days...companies seem to be dropping the 'service' part of Customer Service and replacing it with nothing. Well, when I say nothing, I actually mean frustration, anger, annoying roadblocks and brick walls.

When you call a company now you have to spend over twenty minutes navigating your way through a labarynthine structure of 'Press 1 for......Press 2 for.....' and worse.

You can press six different numbers and still be told 'You now have 8 options'.

If you do get through to a carbon based life form or human you find yourself in India.

How many times have you been told 'use your keypad to enter your account number, date of birth, postcode, inside leg measurement, blood group, dogs middle name' only to have to repeat it when someone decides to do things like the old days and answer the phone.

How many times have you spoken to one of these 'helpdesk' people only to find that they have no idea what you are talking about, they do not know how to rectify your problem, or they are just a work experience/ teenager with no interest in their job/ complete moron with the social skills of a retarded clam and the business skills of a swivel chair.

Perhaps your company runs a system for its customers like this.  It's usually the companies that call themselves 'customer centric' that do.

Do you care about your customers? 

So many companies search for new customers all the time. Like a rich seam of gold that is being continually mined, one day it will dry up. What will you do then?

Instead of looking for new customers all the time why don't companies look after the customers they already have?  It's a lot easier.

If you do that, your customers will always be your customers and it will not matter what any other company offers them to prise them away.  Customer service should be your mission statement.

If you make it your mission to keep your customers by serving them and over delivering then you will enjoy Customer Loyalty.

Customer Satisfaction is good, and it seems to be the goal of many companies but its not the be all and end all of the equation. 

What can you do to make your customer loyal to you, your company or your brand.

OVER DELIVER!!!

Exceed expectations.  Think different.  Do more. 

Out perform your competition.

Your customer will be loyal to you, because you are loyal to them.

Remember my mantra, IF YOU WANT TO STAND OUT YOU HAVE TO BE OUTSTANDING.

If you don't think Loyalty is more important than Customer Satisfaction then think of this...

If you are married, in a relationship or whatever flicks your switch...do you want your partner Satisfied...or Loyal?....Get it now?