Bill Rice Internet Marketing > Motivation

Who Should Be Kicking Your Ass?

August 18, 2010 By
Lib in boots
Image by BCR Librarian via Flickr

I had an interesting conversation the other day.

A friend told me he was considering hiring a personal coach.

(I know this is going to get me flamed by all the personal coaches out there. So be it. Maybe I’m wrong.)

Of course never considering that to be a paid profession, outside of personal fitness or professional athletics, my natural question was: Why?

His response was. “I think I need someone to give me a kick in the ass occasionally.”

It may just be me, but if you need someone else to make you work harder or get more passionate about your future then this is the only advice you need:

Make a change.

It’s not necessary to be radical or earth shattering just start by living one new simple short story and see what happens.

If you don’t understand what I mean give this a quick read: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life (affiliate link). I think I will send him the book.

Side note: I have to confess that during our whole conversation with my friend this is the only thing that was running through my mind:

So back to my original question: Who should be kicking your ass?
Filed Under: Sales Training Tagged With: change, mentor, Motivation, personal coach

Look Beyond Yourself for Success.

January 11, 2010 By

Look BeyondI think all the self-help books have a fundamental flaw. Most ask people to look in the wrong direction for success. In fact, they may even have us looking in a dangerous direction.

How often have you heard:

“Look deep inside,” “Start with the Man in the Mirror,” “Look to yourself.”

I submit that the real key to success, the true magic in rising to higher levels is looking beyond yourself.

Sure you have to drive yourself to take action and get a little uncomfortable. However, the best way to do that is to do it for someone else.

Take today and find someone else to help. You will be more successful for it.

Filed Under: Personal Branding Tagged With: inspiration, Motivation, success

Never Finish Wondering, “What Could I Have Done?”

August 27, 2009 By


Harvey Mackay has always been one of my favorite sales mentors (beginning with my reading of his classic Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive
). He is a proven, self-made, and practicing salesman. When you read or listen to Mr. Mackay you know you are getting tested advice.

This morning’s newsletter brings another gem–Coasting towards apathy.

You might be saying to yourself, “Bill, no one in this market is coasting. We are all trying to survive!” I am going to contend that they are both one-and-the-same, just positioned at different points in the business cycle.

Coasting in Good and Bad Times

Coasting can creep in at any time, good or bad. In good times it is the apathy of money, in bad it is the loss of hope. Regardless it leads to bad endings–often unexpected ones.

The secret to avoiding coasting is to practice intensity.

It is hard to maintain, but you will see world class athletes using that edge all the time. Michael Phelps won the 100-meter butterfly because Cavic was gliding and he was in a final stroke. This was Phelps signature event, but he was swimming like someone could beat him. It was a good thing, because someone almost did.

Chris Gardner was a multiple-time failure, but he never coasted to what would seem a natural oblivion. He opened his eyes and looked for successful models–then he got intense.

Jeffrey Gitomer holds a place in my mind for how to build intensity in bad times–“Fail Faster!”

Never Leave the Field Wondering…

What could I have done?

As a distance runner in my school years this was a gut wrenching question I was often left with. You see, a distance runner has a dilemma–you have several miles and only so much fuel in the tank. Come out too fast, and you lose. Come out too cautious, and you lose.

You have to figure out that balance, but my trick was to figure it out in the middle. Your competition is your benchmark. You can see them and you know where you want to be. The tough part is when you are in the lead, setting the pace. In this position, coasting kills. You are letting your competition rest for the finishing kick, while you are emptying your tank. So, if you are going to take the lead make sure you are emptying the other people’s tanks faster than your own.

And for heaven sakes, never win coasting and be left with the–”What could I have done?”–question:

Even in winning, people can coast. For example, I remember being at last summer’s Olympic Games in China at the men’s 100-yard dash final. Usain Bolt from Jamaica blew away the field and won in a world-record time. However, I couldn’t help but think how fast he actually could have run, had he not coasted at the end and looked around at his competitors. His record will be broken one day, but we’ll never know how fast he could have run that race.

Usain Bolt 100m Olympic Win
Image via BBC

I agree with Mr. Mackay this was a difficult win to get excited about. There was truly something more spectacular left in the tank.

Intensity Always Wins

In the end, intensity always wins. Whether you end the race, your project, or your business in the lead you will know you finished without coasting.

And more often than not, that will continue to move you towards the front of the pack, until you are finishing first.

Filed Under: Social Selling Tagged With: business, mackay, Motivation, social selling, tips

Motivate Your Sales Team Because Can’t Never Did Anything!

February 12, 2009 By
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL - OCTOBER 30: (EDITORIAL ...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I can remember it like yesterday–”Coach, I can’t do another 800 split.” As I am puking on the infield. “Billy (that is what they call young William’s in the south) can’t never did anything–finish up and give me another one.” Guess what I beat my personal best in the 2 mile at the next meet and qualified for State.

It is time to remember this lesson and put those words back in our head. No more grumbling on the sales floor. No more bitching about customers that are afraid to make a decision. Your job is to make customers understand you are the hope, you are the solution, you are the positive step in a bad market.

It is time to kill the “can’t” attitude in your organization.

Make sure your sales process and lead management system are full of reminders of  what a lack of action, effort, and belief yields–nothing! Don’t let defeatism infiltrate your sales organization, that is your number one job as a sales manager. You are the coach, whether you are leading yourself, a team, an organization. You are the only one that can make it happen.

Motivation Fuels Sales

Sales people like roller coasters. We soar on wins and dive on the multitude of objections and rejections that we get each day. This is why creating a sales culture built on team motivation evens out these individual peaks and valleys–sharing successes are critical. If you are a sales team of one get a mentor.

There are lots of ways to build this power of motivation. Here are a few guaranteed winners:

  • Run a leader board to create competitive push in sales
  • Use sales contests and games to get energy on the sales floor
  • Have sales managers showcase best practices with live calls

Leave a comment with your favorites. Be specific.

Avoid letting mediocrity creep in–routines, status quo erodes sales targets. Positive energy needs a certain imbalance and agility in the organization. Use these motivational techniques to shake things up on a regular basis.

Confidence is Customer Contagious

Sales motivation almost instantly translates into confidence–confidence is contagious. Get this element in your sales DNA right now. It will pump your sales team and reassure your customers.

A motivated and confident person will evangelize products and services with reckless abandon–giving your customers little hesitation in saying, “yes!”

Down markets and shaky economies bring customers with hesitation, apprehension, and fear. They bring these hidden objections into every sales call. Confident sales people will quickly overcome steady these client fears–making them strong points in the sale.

Confidence is contagious–transfer it to your team and your clients.

Pump Up Your Sales Numbers

Driving out “can’t,” ridding the organization of negativity, and inspiring motivation will increase your sales.

Motivation and confidence make your sales more persuasive and tenacious. It helps sales reps to overcome objections and calms customer apprehension.

Remember, “can’t never did anything.” So, make sure that your sales processes and lead management systems build a sense of urgency and confidence into your sales organization.

What are you doing to motivate your sales teams?

lead management

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Filed Under: Lead Management, Sales Management, Social Selling Tagged With: Lead Management, Marketing and Advertising, Motivation, Sales Management, Sales process, social selling

about |  contact |  disclosure