Dear Archive Visitor, Our oldest daughter attended a small charter school for her entire high school career. She graduated last Saturday. Because her class was quite small, the director of the school took a minute or so to say something special about each graduating student. Our daughter, Tess, was the last one to be called up and the director of the school told her that she had it all. His last words were, "Watch out world, here comes Theresa Stanley." After the ceremony several people came up to me and commented that I must be so proud. My response to that comment is always the same. I'm so excited for Tess, and I just hope she always remembers how successful she is. Keep in mind that you have a memory and an imagination. Remember times when you've felt and been successful. Then, replay those memories with added imagination and emotion. You've probably heard the old saying, "fake it until you make it." Thanks to your memories and your imagination working together, you won't need to fake it any more. You can feel successful at any time. After the graduation ceremony, I told our daughter, "Play back what happened today over and over in your mind, and feel how successful you felt. Then, anytime that you feel challenges, think back to the success you felt today, and you'll find you have what it takes to overcome any challenge."

What Happens When You Wait to Call Prospects? By Tammy Stanley Knowing how important a positive attitude is, the typical direct sales entrepreneur thinks positively while getting dressed for the day. She affirms that she is excited about all the prospecting calls and follow-up calls she is going to make that day. Having heard how powerful visualization is, she visualizes herself making call after call and having tremendous success. Surely this will be the day she takes over the sales world and attracts new customers and business like crazy. When we take a peek at this same direct sales entrepreneur in her office just an hour later, we hardly believe our eyes. Instead of calling one prospect after another (as her attitude convinced us she would), we find her taking care of busy work on her desk instead. If we could see the thoughts going through her head, theyÕd be decidedly different than those we heard this morning: You can't make that call now. You don't feel comfortable. Go get a cup of coffee and get ready for the call. Look at your desk. How do you expect to generate any more customers with your desk in such disarray? You need to get organized before you go collecting any more customers." etc., etc. Perhaps youÕre familiar with The Third Man, by Graham Greene. The story begins with Holly Martins arriving in Vienna at the end of World War II. HeÕs been offered a job by an old high school chum named Harry Lime. Right after his arrival, he learns that Harry was killed in an auto accident. To make a long story short, the rest of the story revolves on Holly trying to understand the truth around HarryÕs death, while simultaneously trying to win over HarryÕs beautiful, former girlfriend. If you see the movie version, you wonÕt see the character that plays a critical role until the last few minutes of the story. Why do I mention this classic story? I mention it because it reminds me of the sales process. Typically, the highlighted characters in any sales training are the salesman and the prospect, but the character that portrays a critical role is almost never mentioned simply because it isnÕt visible. Similar to The Third Man, the character may not be seen, but the effects of that character are blatant and destructive. Plenty of sales trainers will talk about the relationship between the sales professional and the prospect, but they fail to ever mention Òthe third manÓ in the sales world. This third man is so rarely spoken of that most sales people donÕt have the slightest idea how to deal with it, and because of that, they fail to make most of the sales calls that they actually desire to make. So who is Òthe third man,Ó this critical player, in the sales business? Fascinatingly enough, this critical player isnÕt real in the sense that you can see it. But you can definitely see its negative effects. ItÕs sometimes referred to as an inner committee. In my book, Carpe PhonumÉ How to Seize the Phone and Call Your Prospects Even When You Lack Courage, I refer to it as the trouble thoughts. You would be hard pressed to find a direct sales entrepreneur who isnÕt familiar with those trouble thoughts that talk her out of making calls now and convince her to wait for a better time to make sales calls. The definition of just what is a better time to call varies. It can be when one wonÕt bother her prospect, when one wonÕt interrupt her prospect, when one is better rehearsed or better organized, when one has more courage, when one has more confidence, when itÕs not so early, or when itÕs not so late. Perhaps the most frightening aspect in this entire call reluctance scenario is that most direct sales entrepreneurs believe they are alone. They wouldnÕt dare speak about their fear prospecting or about all the reasons they postpone making sales calls because they think they are the only ones doing that. Consequently, they believe thereÕs some secret they have yet to learn before they can make all those calls they need to make. Again, theyÕre waiting Ñ waiting for that secret to be revealed Ñ the secret that will make all their prospecting fears go away. From my own sales experience, IÕve learned that the best time to call a prospect is as soon as I think about calling her. Waiting for a better time usually results in one of two things Ñ never finding the right time to call that prospect, or waiting so long that by the time the call is finally placed, the prospect is already doing business with someone else and no longer requires the suggested product. Effectively teaching sales professionals how to overcome the fear of calling prospects and to Òseize the phoneÓ doesnÕt necessarily require a lengthy process. I prefer to compare that process to a baseball player going up to bat, and naturally having the goal to hit the ball, run to each of the bases, and finally cross over the home plate and score. Getting to first base involves coming face to face with that critical player, the voice that talks one out of making all those calls. By revealing that voice as the liar that it is, sales people discover they can move on to second base. Moving to second base requires learning how to detach oneself from the persistent voice that nags and distracts but never points one in the right direction. By effectively dismantling the seeming hold that fear has on them, sales professionals can move on to third base. Getting oneÕs feet firmly planted on third base occurs when sales people see more to their business than the exchanging of goods and money. By opening their eyes to recognize the potential ongoing value they create and the good that unfolds simply by contacting others on the telephone, they learn the greater aspects and opportunities of their business. Finally, all sales people need to learn that getting to home plate is only accomplished when they take their foot off of third base. They must come to grips with the fact that the sales process is a continual cycle, that everyday they must walk out of the dugout of fear, pick up a bat of immeasurable value, put themselves in the game and start playing. Always the biggest obstacle in any sales personÕs career is herself. When sales people learn how to get that critical player inside their own head out of their way, the potential is truly unlimited. WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE? WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR ON YOUR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Author, Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker Tammy Stanley publishes the propelling 'Sales Refinery Insights' weekly ezine for direct sales professionals. If you're ready to jump-start your direct sales business, make more money, and create more value, get your FREE tips now at www.tammystanley.com/ezine/ezine_offer_ds.htm

One of the most common themes I hear when I speak with direct sales and network marketing entrepreneurs is, "If I'd follow-up with my customers, my business would probably be fine." Those same people also tell me how much they love their business and want to make it a success. It sounds like a contradiction doesn't it? If you want your business to be a success, why not pick up the phone and follow-up with your customers? When I ask that very question, I hear various responses. Most of the responses don't really answer the question. Instead, they're more like this: I know I should. I don't know why I don't. There's really only one reason why you don't call your prospects and customers. You're focusing on previous or possible future failures. So instead of coming up with reasons why you want to call your prospects and customers, you're thinking of reasons why you can't. One of the easiest ways to get a loan is to have more than enough collateral to cover the cost of the loan. Guess what? One of the easiest ways to get yourself to pick up the 200lb telephone is to have more than enough reasons (collateral) to do so. When I have to make cold calls (Yes, you read that correctly, I don't always get the convenience of calling acquaintances and customers. When I want to generate new business, I'm cold calling [brrrr] CEOs of small and large corporations), I set a copy of my book out in plain sight to remind me that the only way I can have the business I desire is to "Carpe Phonum" - SEIZE THE PHONE!

Tammy Stanley, founded and directs The Sales Refinery, a sales training company that assists direct sales consultants to generate more business and build long-lasting sales teams through powerful marketing, selling and leadership strategies.

Tammy has been coaching and training since 1994 and has a deep understanding of the challenges and needs of the independent sales consultant. While raising four children, Tammy built a multi-million dollar direct sales organization, reaching her company's Circle of Excellence 7 consecutive years in a row. She earned numerous sales and leadership awards, world travel, and promoted 11 offspring managers.

The Tammy Stanley Sales Refinery
Tempe, AZ 85283
Call Today: 480-775-4866
tammy@TammyStanley.com