I have had a few requests from Salespeople to write posts geared towards the wonderful art of Selling. Here is the first one. You walk into a store to do some shopping, or maybe just browse around, and a salesman walks up and asks a simple question, “Would you like any help?” Without thinking about it, and even if you need it, your automatic response will be “no thanks” or “I’m just looking.” The reason for this is because you are guarded and as of yet, have no reason to open up. Also people feel too proud to accept any help if they are not seeking it. The salesperson has done nothing to let you know that they really care. That is a very powerful bit of information that, if used to your advantage, will dramatically help you boost your sales numbers.

If you walk up to a customer and ask if they would like any help, just like you would do, their automatic response is “no thanks” or “I’m just looking.” Asking if someone needs help will almost always result in a negative response, leading to… no demo.

A functional trick that I have found is asking an open ended question (a question that cannot be answered by yes or no). Statements also work very well. The one I use most often, that almost always leads to a sale, is: “You look like you are in deep thought…” The response is always a little chuckle (which tells me that they have let down their guard and will now open up to me) and then they tell me what they are thinking. A benefit to this is that I am doing something that the other salespeople are not doing, which helps me in setting myself apart.

Give it a try, use the above phrase or use your own. Just do whatever you can to be different!

As I was driving to work, I thought about the hundreds of other cars sharing the road with me. I’m certain that a majority of them were driving to work, a place where they do not want to be. See I’m one of the few people who actually enjoys their work and loves the company that they work for. Yes there are other things I would love to be doing instead, such as going to Safeco Field and watching the Seattle Mariners, but I have not placed myself in the opportunity to do so right now. I am still a part of the Rat Race, though I am taking steps forward to get out.

Now 97% of the population follows a formula. My mentor Jerry “dRhino” Clark calls it the “Formula to Success” and I am more than positive everyone has heard of this formula before. In order to be success, simply follow these basic steps, and you too can retire rich and travel al over the world. Ready for the formula:

1. Go to College
2. Study Hard
3. Get a job
4. Work Hard
5. Become Middle Management
6. And retire at the age of 65

That sounds simple and we have all be taught that growing up, but why aren’t there more people who are living the dream? The answer is simple, it doesn’t work!

Now I want to be financially independent, and in order to get there, I am going to have to leave the Rat Race. And the number 1 way of doing that, do the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of what everyone else is doing. When you hear the word “Risk”, what goes through your mind, heart, etc. I asked a few people working at a local retail store and these were the answers that I got back:

The thought of risk can only be based on assessing the situation and the gravity of the consequences.

I don’t take risks because you always gamble on loosing something. If I take a risk and it doesn’t work, I just lost.

The thought of taking a risk makes me nervous. Why risk losing something if I don’t have to.

I then asked a millionaire friend of mine who enjoys a 3-million dollar a year income the same question.

To live your life in abundance, you HAVE to take risks because that is the only way you are going to get ahead of everyone else. If everyone takes one step at a time, they move forward. Well what if instead of taking a step forward, I jump forward 2 spots? Anything can happen, I can fall down, I can lose my way. But I can also be ahead of everyone else. It’s by taking risks that got me and my wife out of the “Rat Race”.

I find it incredibly interesting that the average person associated Risk with Loss, while the successful person associated Risk with Gain. In all of my financial adventures when I am about to make an investment or start a new business, all of my friends have always discouraged me and tried to protect me from “taking a risk”. Well it has been through those risks that I have been able to enjoy a freer life than the same friends who did not want me to take the risk.

If you want to take a look at your financial forecast, take a look at your philosophies that are associated with the topic of Risk. This will give you great insight as to your future.

Here are a few projects on my plate: I work 40 hours a week representing a small software company named Microsoft, I work on this productivity website, My daily commute is 2 hours and 100 miles roundtrip, I have a successful Network Marketing business, and I have my own Computer Consulting company, I do at least 1 hour of personal development everyday, and sleep for about 4 hours a day. So when someone asks me how I’ve been, I think about it, and I tell them “I’ve been good, just really busy.”

A few days ago, I ran into an old friend I hadn’t seen in a few years. After the pleasantries, I asked her how she has been. She got a frustrated look and said, “I’ve been good, just really busy.” Then she asked me how I have been, and I thought about all of my projects, and also said, “I’ve been good, just really busy”. Now this is the part that I found interesting, she gave me a look in which I knew that she did not believe me. That’s what got me thinking about this topic.

If you ask anyone, at anytime, how they are doing, you will always get the standard response, “I’ve been good, just really busy.” My question is simple, are people really as busy as they claim? There are several reasons why people give the default answer of “I’ve been busy.” Lets take a look at a few of the top reasons:

• Subconscious: Again, my favorite topic, the Subconscious. The subconscious works by believing in repeated messages. If you always say “I’m Busy”, “I’m Busy”, “I’m Busy”, can you guess what the message that your subconscious receives… “I’m Busy”. Again, it doesn’t matter if you are telling the truth or not, to the subconscious, everything is the truth. So not only do you convince yourself that you are busy, but you feel better about yourself.
• Ego: Everyone likes to feel good about themselves, right? So if you say to someone “I’ve been busy”, even though they most likely won’t believe you, it still feels better than saying “I’ve been slacking off and watching TV.”
• Confusion With Being Productive: There is a huge difference in being “Busy” and bring “Productive”. Playing video games all day will keep me busy, but not productive.
• General Answer: For most people, saying “I’ve been Busy” is just a quick standard response.

Now, instead of saying that I’ve just “been busy”, and sending a message to my subconscious to find ways to prove itself right and focuses on keeping me “busy”, I say that I’ve “been productive”. My subconscious now focuses on finding ways on making me more productive.

Give it a try. For the next few people you meet, take a look at their reactions when you simply say that you are “busy” compared to if you say that you are “productive.” If you say you are busy, they will just pass it off as a standard answer, but if you say that you have been productive, they will ask you what you have been up to and show more interest in you.