I was at water polo training this morning – at coffee afterwards actually, talking to one of the people who come every Saturday – and I had a Flash..

Lisbeth said to me, ‘The problem with so many people today is that they don’t DO.. they spend so much time sitting around watching TV and thinking instead of DOING..’

‘If you don’t do, you don’t achieve and if you don’t achieve you start to doubt yourself..’

‘So much of feeling good about yourself is DOING things, getting things done be it baking a cake, going for a run, writing a blog, making a phone call to make an appointment, making a sale, making a successful sales presentation or workshop presentation, having a successful meeting, depositing a cheque from a job… etc etc..’

‘There is a link between self esteem and Doing….The higher my self esteem the more likely I am to do.. and the more I am to do, the more success I have, so the more it builds and re-inforces my self esteem..’

‘The less I do, the less likely I am to succeed so the less likely I am to build my self confidence and self esteem to do..’

It is a vicious cycle.

Procrastination kills self esteem. Low self esteem feeds procrastination…

Lisbeth revealed a great secret…..‘The thing that has made all the difference in my life was making a…..’

Well.. I’ve put it into this short video lesson to help you…

I’ve called it THE PUZZLE OF PROGRESS… and this is HOW TO STOP PROCRASTINATION AND CRACK THE PUZZLE OF PROGRESS…

I hope this helps you take advantage of the Cycle… builds your self esteem and self confidence, and you get more of what you want in life done…

Want more coaching on reducing procrastination and improving your productivity click here

And then I came across this video — Talk about building confidence and self esteem by doing….

Here is an example of working a list to get way beyond where most people would even dream of going..

It all starts with THINKING YOU CAN…

Attitude determines Altitude..

Take the first step.

 In preparing for this week’s workshops with my client Sales Teams I came across some absolute classics on Success, Goal Setting and Optimising Your Potential.

But first, this is the video I recorded on Wednesday after running a Sales Team Goal Setting session.. You can see, I was very excited by the power of the Process we had worked through.

It only highlighted why EVERY Sales Manager and Business Owner needs to be doing this exercise at least once a year but probably once a QUARTER.

GOAL SETTING CLASSICS FOR YOU TO STUDY

THE COMMON DENOMINATOR OF SUCCESS

HERE ARE SOME THOUGHT STARTERS FROM OTHER LEGENDS IN THE FIELD OF OPTIMISING HUMAN POTENTIAL

The simple act of writing down a goal and making a written plan for its accomplishment moves you to the top 3 percent.  – Brian Tracy

 A dream is just a dream.  A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.  – Harvey Mackay

 If you go to work on your goals ,your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us.  – Jim Rohn

 It is those who concentrate on but one thing at a time who advance in this world.  – Og Mandino

 Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.  - Thomas Jefferson

YOUR NEXT TEAM MEETING

Make sure you use Goal Setting Tools in your next team meeting.

GOAL SETTING QUESTIONS

1. What are our Top 3 Goals for this month?
2. What do we need to do to make those goals a reality?
3. What are the steps we need to take each day and each week?
4. What might stop us achieving those goals?
5. How will we prevent or overcome those obstacles?
6. What will we do to make sure we stay on track and work the plan?
7. How will we celebrate when we achieve that goal?

Hope this helps you..

See you next week.

Sylvestor Stallone – How did you get those muscles? Surely they came in a bottle? Not without consistent, hard work old son. Motivational stuff.. or at least it was for me anyway..

.

Steve Jobs on Success

Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich Principles

1. Desire
2. Faith
3. Auto-suggestion
4. Specialized Knowledge
5. Imagination
6. Organized Planning
7. Decision
8. Persistence
9. The Master Mind
10. The Mystery of Sex Transmutation
11. The Subconscious Mind
12. The Brain
13. The Sixth Sense

Want to do more on Success, Motivation, Sales and Sales Management Success – go to www.salesmanagementsecrets.com and Register Today.

Ricky Ponting hits his first Century in two years.

Michael Clarke turns the boos of last year into the cheers of this year with a record breaking 329.

Hussey smashes out 150, Australia win the Second Test and Gerry Harvey is on TV screeching out that ‘TV’s have never been so cheap..’

It’s got to be a good start to the year all that happening doesn’t it?

As a person who has spent the last 30 years studying and coaching human beings in business I’m fascinated in what turns performance around.

The Parallels of Business and Sport

I’m also fascinated in the parallels between sport and business.

Either way, its human beings working together to try to achieve a goal, often something extra ordinary.

So what did turn Ponting around to create such an extraordinary performance to set up the Second Test victory?

And what can Gerry Harvey do to turn his retail sales around in this depressed retail environment?

The answer to any turnaround lie in studying other turnarounds.

The keys to Gerry Harvey’s business, your business and my business going to the next level lie in some of these replies after the great days play at the SCG.

Scanning the recent news reports in the West Australian newspaper and other places I came across these turnaround insights

Here is an interview I came across via BBC TV that any cricket fan or student of turnarounds will find interesting: (The bolding is my emphasis as this gives us a clue to the turnaround..)

After stumps today, Ponting spoke to Tom Moody about his batting in a television interview.

Excerpts:

On scoring his fortieth century

It’s been a nice feeling. [...] I almost didn’t get there. I would have been a couple of yards short of the crease had the ball hit the stumps. It’s been an unbelievable day. You have seen some amazing batting today; the captain was magnificent. That’s the best I have ever seen him play in any game that I have played with him and [he’s] got the team to a very strong position in this game. To get through a day of Test cricket scoring 366 runs is pretty amazing day for us.

On his preparations going into the series

The last couple of months I had to almost rebuild my technique. I was getting myself into pretty ordinary positions there when the bowler was releasing the ball and once you start doing that it can be pretty hard to get out of them. So I started rebuilding things from base up, really, and started getting my balance going […] and my head going in the right direction. These are the things I have been working hard on in the last few months and it’s just nice to see some of those things starting to pay off for me.

On whether anyone in particular had helped through the process

Justin Langer has been terrific for me right through the whole thing. It’s a tough job, being a batting coach of the national team, especially trying to coach someone like me who has been around for that long. That is probably a reason why I stayed in the game, just to have another guy there that’s played so much cricket with me [and who] understands my game and my technique really well. It’s been a pleasure to work with him. His work ethic and my work ethic [match] [and we’ve tried] to get things back on track. I’ve got to thank him and all the coaches and I guess the selectors as well. They could have left me out a couple of months ago but they stuck with me and I feel I can repay them in time.

On whether he has a few more centuries left in him

I would like to think so. Now that I have got the monkey off my back with this one, I think there are a few more around the corner. This morning I felt a bit more at ease at the crease, a better balance that probably wasn’t  [there] last night and started to feel that rhythm and temper come back in my batting again [...].

If you’re interested in what was going through Michael Clarke’s mind during his record breaking innings – here is the post game interview with him – click here to listen

Michael Clarke said ‘when I woke up this morning I didn’t plan on being 250 not out at the end of the day.. I just wanted to concentrate on a ball at a time..

Hussy says ‘it was a lot of fun… we sort of kept each other going..you’ve got to enjoy the good days..’

Ponting said ‘”Confidence is an amazing thing. I’m a pretty proud person and the last thing I wanted to do was finish off my career the way I’ve been going the last few months,” he said.

“That’s why I’ve worked as hard as I have. I love the contest too much to give it all up.”

Ponting’s wife Rianna said relinquishing the Test Captaincy had ‘completely changed our life,” “He’s more relaxed. He’s a better dad – a better husband.’

Lessons for You and I from the Second Test Win

So what are the lessons for you , me, Gerry Harvey and anyone else in business?

1. Business and sport – it’s a ball by ball – customer by customer – minute by minute game.

Don’t get too far ahead of yourself. It is about delivering value, solving problems with this customer, the one in front of you – right now.

You can visit 20 retail stores tomorrow and only get approached, welcomed or helped in less than 50% of them.

We know, our mystery shopping results tell us.

Treat every customer as if they are your first and last ever. In the customers world, they are important people (not just ‘window shoppers’ or ‘store count’.)

2. Your job as a manager and coach is to find the WHY inside yourself and each and every one of your team members. Your WHY is probably different to their WHY. Using your WHY to motivate them will only annoy them in most cases. Ponting wanted to finish his career on a high. That was his powerful, driving WHY. Find out the internal motivations of each of your team members then use that to light their fires, and win more games. In the meantime, remind yourself of your WHY’s at least daily (if not more often).

3. Sometimes you want to take pressure OFF people to get the best out of them, not put the pressure ON. Taking the Captaincy off Ponting changed the ball game not only for him, but his family. Which leads to another lesson.

4. The whole person comes to work.

The family man, the club man, the mother and the carer all come to work.

You don’t necessarily want to turn yourself into a Social worker or counselor, but you do need to pay attention, acknowledge, take heed and show you care about the whole person.

A simple ‘how’s the kids?’ and a two minute conversation can make a big difference.

5. So much of top performance is about the intangibles, the invisible.

The vibe, the feeling, the energy, the confidence are all factors leaders need to take interest in and responsibility for shaping.

Your job as team captain is to shape that confidence, optimism, intent and positivity.

As one of my champion clients would often say ‘Farns, we will turn the negative into a positive..’ or as another one often quoted the great Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich ‘ ”Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.’

6. It all starts with the Basics.

Just as Ricky Ponting worked with Batting Coach Justin Langer and had to go back to the basics of his technique to turn things around, we too need to work with our coaches and go back to the basics of our sales, our products, our customer service, our attitude and our rhythm (our daily rhythm and flow of activities).

Who is your Batting Coach, Sales Coach, Business Basics Coach?

If you don’t have one, who is letting you know your head is in the wrong place or your feet are moving too late or you’re looking at the wrong thing at the wrong time?

Gerry Harvey (and so many retailers playing the game the old way) are certainly up against it.

If all they are offering is a product at a certain price, then the internet is going to beat them more times than not.

But what can they offer that the internet cannot?

It’s what I call the TWO ‘E’S TO RETAIL SUCCESS….

EXPERIENTIAL + EDUCATIONAL

Harvey Norman and all the other retailers need to make their stores more EXPERIENTIAL and EDUCATIONAL..

They need to put the brains onto making the following happen better, faster, make it more fun…more profitable, valuable and enjoyable for the customer.

• Better, more Fun, Friendly, Exciting Buying Experience.
• Try before you Buy.
• Learning about the products, the use of the product, getting the most from the product, maintaining the product..
• Tailoring the product to your specific needs.
• Customer Service, installation, back up, support, personalised service.

You only need to take a 3 minute look at what leading USA retailer Bass Pro Shops are doing to make the Retail experience a winner for Customers. Click Here to find out more.

Check out what it says on the web site:

“Almost invariably, Bass Pro Shops retail stores rank among the top tourist attractions in their respective states as a cutting edge innovator in the highly competitive world of outdoor retailing.  Our retail approach includes cozy, hunting-lodge themed decor, large, comprehensive product displays and professional sales associates who not only market the outdoor lifestyle but live it as well. Hand-painted murals from renowned artists depict scenes from our beaches, coastlines, history of settlers, forests and swamps that are all part of the great Florida heritage. State and record wildlife mounts are displayed alongside local historical prints featuring early tourists and residents enjoying all types of sporting adventures. Giant exquisitely crafted outdoor themed chandeliers, made by Bass Pro Shops’ own artisans, hang throughout the store.  Deer, duck, turkey, bear, bobcat and wolf tracks are imprinted in the concrete floor.  Moose, deer, elk and other wildlife in natural and action settings are set amidst boulders on top of our aquarium and throughout our store. Impressive indoor waterfalls, giant aquariums, wildlife mounts, delicious food and more make each of the 50 Bass Pro Shops stores an attraction for the sporting family.”

The Fastest Growing Retailer in the USA last year was Apple.

Why is that?

• Interactive buying experience – I can try it and play with it before I buy it
• Customer Focused
• Cool products – merging art with technology
• Plenty of staff on hand to help
• Cool shopping experience – light, open, people friendly, user friendly
• Education plus products not just product sell
• Back up service
• Legendary Bend over backwards to help if anything goes wrong..
• Almost Cult like staff and customer following..

What else do you want??

Ponting, Clarke and Co have given us a great demonstration of turning adversity to advantage. Winning the Sydney Test has lifted the spirits of the whole Nation plus given us insights into what makes a great win possible.

What a great theme for the year – ‘Adversity into Advantage.Building from the Ground Up.’

It’s worth a discussion at your next team meeting.

See you soon.

SALES MANAGEMENT MASTERCLASS — BATTING PRACTICE FOR SALES MANAGERS AND BUSINESS OWNERS

PS: If you want to know more or spend some time with me as your ‘Batting – Business Coach’ check out the details of the next Sales Management Masterclass at www.salesmanagementsecrets.com. There are only about 27 places left so get in fast. March 10th – Perth.

Happy New Year..

 I started the day watching and inspiring clip of U2 singing ‘New Years Day’ on a video someone had posted on my Facebook Wall..

Then I’ve spent the last hour watching the 20, 212 photos my darling wife took of our trip to Bali.

(OK, so I’m being facetious. It wasn’t 20,212, but it was about 200…)

 She was showing her Mum the 3,000 shots taken of the cute monkeys in the Monkey Park at Ubud..

 We certainly had a great trip up there to Bali..

 (Landing at 4.20 the other morning and driving back home through the City and around the river made us even more grateful for the cleanliness, the beauty and the uncrowded lifestyle we have here in Australia compared to the hustle, bustle and crowded traffic of Legion Road up there in Bali…

 I will do another blog on the lessons, the joys and the insights I got mixing with and talking to the beautiful Balinese people.. I am posting a video blog to the site so you can check it out if you’re interested. )

 BUT NOW.. BACK TO 2012 AND THE YEAR AHEAD

 As I wrote 2012 at the top of the page for the first time I thought..

 ’Wow.. another year about to start off…

What exciting, thrilling, surprising (and probably tragic) things will happen this year??’

 There will be global events… There will be local events..

There will be things we can’t control..

 And, most importantly, there will be things we can control..

 An old mentor and coach once said to me, ‘Leigh, the key is to FOCUS ON THOSE THINGS YOU CAN CONTROL..’

 Based on his sage advice I know I won’t be able to control the Global Financial Crisis or the Euro Crisis… (there will be plenty of adult chatter in bars, restaurants, water foundations and staff rooms about this.. but.. shock, horror… It’s all IRRELEVENT CHATTER..)

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 Sales Management Masterclass is on March 10th in Perth – REGISTER HERE

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 THE 10 THINGS TO CONTROL IN 2012

 My old mentor told me what you and I can control are (almost in order of importance)

1.  Our thoughts and reactions to this chatter….
2. Our thoughts in relation to optimism or pessimism
3. Where we put our energy and time
4. How we turn negatives into positives
5. How we attack
6. How we defend
7. How we add value and highlight our points of difference
8. How we love and spend time with our loved ones
9. How we look after our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health
10. How we invest our money and save on our taxes…..

 There are probably other things we can control too.. but this is not a bad list to start with..

 If you’re a Financial Planner or Investment Strategist you’d probably put Number 10 higher up the list..

 The key is to TAKE CONTROL of and in fact BE PROACTIVE

 PROACTIVE CONTROL GUIDELINES FOR 2012

 Notes to self based on mentors advice…

1. Choose to not take part in prolonged chatter about Global doom and destruction – ‘thank you but no thank you’ and walk away
2. Start each day and during the day affirm the positives, the things you are grateful for, the joys and blessings in your life, the positive goals and dreams you have written down
3. See your vision board and goal list – refer to at the start, during and at the end of each day
4. Work out the 20% of things that deliver you 80% of the benefits (financial, health, relationships and other benefits) then programme those things into your diary and make them happen as a priority event (programme them into your iphone, calendar, IPad diary…)
5. Marketing, marketing, marketing – direct mail, electronic, face to face… become a champion at Marketing and Business Development this year – even better than last year
6. Script, practice and regularly assess how you and your team are telling your companies story, your points of difference and how you add value way better than any of the alternatives in the marketplace
7. Educate yourself on how to legally minimise your tax and maximise your investments. (This year I will be working with a super successful Investment Coach who has a fantastic, proven system for making very sound investment decisions in the WA marketplace. Stay tuned. If you want to know more hit reply and write ‘Investment’ in the Subject Line and I’ll put you on the list and keep you informed..)

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 Sales Management Masterclass is on March 10th in Perth – REGISTER HERE

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THE SALES SOCIETY – JOIN UP IF YOU FEEL THE SAME WAY

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As part of the simplification of my web site project last week my web guru Charles has said I should set up a page that builds a community around one of the key things that I stand for in my business.

Lately I have been articulating to groups the fact that I think I should start a Society for the Prevention of Dumb, Cruel and Unproductive Behaviour Toward Innocent Sales People

 It’s acronym would be a long one… S.P.D.C.U.B.T.I.S.P... so maybe we should shorten it.

 But the intention would still be the same – for people to share stories of great management that have liberated, empowered, lifted, coached, motivated, supported sales people – the front line of all Australian (read Global) business.

 The Society would also highlight poor, bad, dumb, unhelpful sales management practice so that enlightened Sales Managers can learn what not to do.

 Of course, we would not be able to defame or ‘name and shame’ as that might open me personally up to legal threat, but we can use the community to share lessons and learn from each other.

So Charles and I have set up the community on Facebook at Sales Society.

 I gather if you go to Facebook and search for ‘Sales Society’ you will find it.

 If you like the idea, please ‘like’ it (whatever that means)

 I think you can also download a copy of my ‘Fortune Cookie’ report too..

 Check it out. I’d appreciate your feedback and input.

 SALES PEOPLE ARE THE FRONT LINE

 In today’s economy (and yesterday’s economy too) sales people are at the front line.

 They are the ones making the calls, going out to the appointments, facing rejection, dejection and sometimes even humiliation.

 They are the ones responsible for that all important ‘Revenue’ line in the budget.

 When the Board and Shareholders say ‘Get Revenue up…’ the sales teams are the ones to think harder, work smarter, work longer, be more innovative, talk to more people, get more rejection, bounce back more.. and DELIVER…

 One of my clients this week was over the moon that his team had hit their half yearly targets.

And in this market, that is a great effort.

 The Sales Manager I coached in that team is also over the moon. He has transformed from brow beaten, weather beaten, market beaten and self beaten to positive, optimistic, happy, proud, motivated and (dare I say it) enlightened..

 How are you helping your front line this year?

 The best trained, equipped and led soldiers are usually the ones to do the best in battle.

 If you agree with these sentiments I invite you to join in the Mission.

 As I say on the Sales Society Facebook page

 ”This is a page to post success stories for HOW TO GET THE VERY BEST OUT OF SALES TEAMS AND SALES PEOPLE..

 Share BAD stories.. What not to do (but please don’t defame or use actual names of companies or people otherwise we’ll have to remove the post…)

 Share GOOD stories.. Success stories… What my boss did that was terrific… What our company did that was wonderful… As long as its not commercial in confidence feel free to share the companies name… As I’m sure they would want to be an Employer of Choice for Sales Champions and Top Sales Performers..

 Help your company be a Success Magnet – Attracting Successful People to Make you and your company even more successful.

Post away.. share you stories.. we can all learn from each other..”

PS: If you can’t find the page on Facebook, there is a link on the right hand side of my upgraded web site at www.leighfarnell.com

 SALES MANAGEMENT MASTERCLASS – PERTH MARCH 10TH

 The next Sales Management Masterclass is on March 10th in Perth.

 We’ll delve into these topics discussed today and way more..

 Check out the testimonials on the blog to find out more about the very profitable ripples you can create in your business.

Have a winning first week of 2012.