A Mirror Reflection

- A Mirror Reflection
What stops people from taking action?

I've got my leads. Check. I've got my script. Check.

I've gone to the conference calls. Check. I've got my

tools. Check. My desk is sparkling clean. Check.

Oops! I forgot to prospect! Darn it! I knew I forgot

something important!

Believe it or not, people can and oftentimes do get caught

up in everything but the most important action that leads

them to success in this business: talking to others about

the product and financial opportunity.

Why? What stops people from taking action? There are

several things that prevent people from moving forward and

conducting those ever-important activities that lead to

revenue…including fear, lack of clarity, self-doubt,

confusion, and a small host of other distractions or

reasons for failing to take real action.

Let's face it. There are lots of angles that need to be

covered to truly be a master in this business. You've got

to be organized and know when the calls and meetings are,

at what times and what locations, what sales aids to use,

what scripts or systems to follow, what leads to buy or

ads to run, a seemingly endless line of responsibilities

that you must tend to in order to make it. Most

importantly…you've got to prospect.

Exposure is the seed that leads to business. It is what

creates momentum. That first call you make begins the

process. The next call keeps it moving. The call after

that propels it even further forward. Prospecting for

your product and business is what leads to revenue…period.



How is your business? Is it growing or diminishing? Is

it strong and exciting or drab and boring? Is your check

increasing or decreasing? How many people have you talked

to this week? How is your growth and development as an

effective communicator going?

The state of your business is a direct reflection of your

personal actions and activities. Action and motion lead

to results. What have you been moving on lately? Have

you been planting the seed? You are in the business of

promoting a product and opportunity. You've got to be in

motion for your business to grow.

Sometimes you have to examine yourself and ensure you are

on track. Looking in the mirror and what do you see? You

see a mirror image of yourself.

I've found a few simple methods that have proven effective

in determining whether or not I am on track. One method

helps me determine if I am simply speaking with enough

people and presenting my business often enough to yield

the results I am seeking. The other method helps me

determine the quality of my presentations.

The Quantitative Method
We've all heard that this is a numbers game and a people

business. Sorting not selling, right? Yes and no. We'll

get into the selling part in a moment. It is a

combination of a numbers game coupled with effective

prospecting and communicating that leads to better

production.

Here's a simple and quick self-checking device. Get out a

piece of paper and a pen. Draw a one-inch by one-inch box.

In that box, write down the number of NEW people you have

talked to about your business in the past 24 hours. Do

not include follow-ups, three-ways, or conversations with

existing team members. How many brand new people have you

spoken to in the past 24-hours? My rule: Double digits a

day keep the commission checks on their way.

A more detailed way of tracking that can be even more

enlightening is to create a simple log or spreadsheet.

Set it up with the following columns:
# of dials
# of messages left
# of live conversations
# of presentations
# of decisions collected, and
# of new reps.
Now…all you do is simply keep a weekly tally of how many

dials you are making, messages you are leaving, and so on.

This will give you a good idea of how well you are doing

in the prospecting arena in terms of your overall numbers.

It also becomes enlightening as you continue to do this

as it becomes easier to predict how many dials you may

need to make in order to sponsor a new rep.

The Qualitative Method
You can't really listen to yourself while you are talking.

If you do, you aren't really paying attention to the

conversation at hand. Start recording your dials.

Then…play them back and listen. This is a great

self-checking method that will help you improve the

quality of your calls. You'll find yourself picking up on

things that go in your conversations that either produce

better results or cause your prospect to tune out and lose

interest. Make this a weekly habit.

You won't know how you really sound until you listen. We

all spend time emulating other successful people in hopes

of seeing the successes that they have achieved. Spend

some time analyzing and listening to your own dials so you

can begin to improve the quality of your dials.

Until you become an expert in prospecting, you won't be

able to pick up on everything. But…if you never listen,

you'll never pick up on anything.

Conducting regular self-checks will lead you to greater

production and shorten the learning curve of going from a

novice to a professional prospector in this business.

Both of these methods will serve to keep your business on

track. They are both easy to do and require very little

additional effort, yet the rewards for doing so can be

overwhelmingly positive.

Remember…always be looking in the mirror and examining how

and where your business is going.



Success=Action

Ron Outlaw
P.S. Credits given to my mentor: Todd Falcone