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Kiaran Finn
Elite Performance Academy

5 TIPS TO DRAMATICALLY AMPLIFY YOUR SALES CONVERSIONS

8/30/2017

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Master the dark arts of selling and you will never be unemployed!

Except of course that it's not a dark art. 

I hear so many stories of genuine, authentic well meaning business owners struggling because of their perceived lack of that killer sales instinct. "it's just not me" they say to themselves and others. 

Sales 'tricks' such as tie downs, soft closes, hard closes, negotiated closes, puppy dog closes....are not the domain of the introverted.


Disclosure: I'm not fond of selling. I hate cold calling, particularly via the telephone, and I'm overly sensitive to rejection. On the introvert/extravert continuum I fall closer to the former. The real kicker is my overly active empathy gene - I really don't want to disturb you with my persistence, in fact at even the slightest hint I've over stayed my welcome I'm liable to beat a hasty retreat. Perhaps some of you can relate to this state of impotency.

That said, you name it I've sold it. Thousands of one on one face to face conversions, cumulative tens of millions of dollars. Something incongruous it would seem must be afoot.


Most of us don't fit the mould of the hard nosed sales closer. Many of them are natural performers. They love the thrill of the chase. They can learn scripts, master the psychology of communication, and never hear no. They are like magicians, and they are few and far between. 

There is plenty of room for the rest of us.

5 TIPS TO DRAMATICALLY AMPLIFY YOUR SALES CONVERSIONS - even if you're a knock kneed weakling, whose afraid of your own shadow. And if that's you I'm not judging....

Self talk: 'I'm the best, I feel terrific....' repeated for 1-2 minutes continually in the lead up to your presentation. It's a mental self esteem warm up. Even Usain Bolt probably the most naturally talented sprinter in sporting history needs to warm up (mentally). 

Control the Sequence: Many a sales cycle commences with RELAX, proceeding to DISTURB, followed by SOLUTION, followed by TRANSACTION. Nothing good turns up in the absence of rapport. Rapport is all about THEM - your prospect. Small talk relaxes. Small talk connects. ALWAYS build rapport even if you think you have limited time.

Posture: "My time (sometimes explicit, sometimes you speaking to yourself) is very valuable as is yours, I have a few ideas that I think you'll find very valuable BUT if I don't think we're a fit I'll make a courteous exit." Be prepared to walk away. Diagnose before you prescribe. If you can't diagnose and be in agreement then there is no prescription (transaction). If you are desperate for the sale (prescription) your focus is in the WRONG place. 

Questions. The more questions you ask the more problems you'll identify. Spend 90% of your preparation on finding great questions, and 10% on presentation techniques.

Don't ask for the sale! 'Does that make sense?' 'Do you see how this works?' 'Which looks best black or white?' 'What's your thought's on what I've shown you so far?'

That last incidental question reveals how well you've communicated your message, and the answer you receive is the answer to a question you didn't ask. "Will you buy from me?"


Introverts can be confident. Confidence is a feeling of competence and practice and success will build your confidence like a muscle that's continually exercised. Just keep it simple, it's not a dark art, and empathy really can be your ally.

Connect on LINKEDIN if you like
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View my profile on LinkedIn
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Find Your 25% And Change Your World!

8/29/2017

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How important is TALENT to your success?

In my field of sporting endeavour I was 9% deficient of the Usain Bolt's of the world and no amount of hard work would compensate. That 9% really mattered.

In non physical pursuits such as the business arena we ply our respective trades the talent gene plays a lesser role.

Let's play the "in a parallel universe" game. In this Universe you can do whatever you choose to but 25% better, faster.

What's your #1 12 month goal? In this world It can be done in 8 months.

What's your personal/business financial target for 12 months? Multiply it by 25%.

Your current workload can achieve the same results in 25% less time. Let's return from this great alternate reality.

It's unlikely we have an IQ 25% lower than the smartest peers in our world, yet some are outperforming us tenfold, perhaps a hundredfold.

It's unlikely that you earn 5% of the richest business player in your city, are they really 20 times more talented than you? (A reframe of what's possible.)

25% annual improvement compounds to 100% in less than 3 years. 25% stretches our zone of belief but doesn't snap it.

We get more done when we chase slightly unrealistic goals. Stretching 25% more, Inspires.
#parallel_universe

​Connect on LINKEDIN if you like
​
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I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor!

8/28/2017

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​Living vicariously (without envy I may add) through some friends' tales of online dating and juxtaposing them with the outrage of those that fear their precious network will metamorphose into a professional services dating site got me thinking.

Dating in the Western World (the world of which I'm most familiar) involves a mating dance of sorts, beginning with some seductive posturing - getting noticed. Transitioning to uncovering common interests. Ultimately consummated by a commitment to  regular engagement.

Networking follows a similar dance. Visibility. Interaction. Payoff.

As with my friend's experience with online dating sites, when the  novelty wears thin and the participants become jaded the game defaults to a numbers game.

Let's hook up, if I have to make any effort then you're obviously not the one, NEXT, there are more fish in the sea. No one makes an effort, everyone's in it for instant gratification and romance exits left stage.

Networking has flavour when there's a hint of, perhps an anticipation of romance - or at least its second cousin...friendship.

#linkedin_dating #networking 

Connect on LINKEDIN if you like
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Calm Is Contagious!

8/26/2017

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Social Media swamps us in an avalanche of stimulus and the habit of REACTING emotionally rarely enriches our lives.

Stimulus + Reaction + Process = PROBLEM.

That gap between stimulus and response during when we process and give meaning to a situation defines our world.

​When we find ourselves In potentially escalating high stress situations: relationship disagreements, drunken outbursts, unreasonable managers, arrogant customers, dozy staff , 'idiot' road users, life changing interviews, high stake sporting events - *'Calm Is Contagious' is a philosophy worth investing.

(*Quote from former NAVY SEAL commander
#Rorke_Denver, courtesy of #Tim_Ferriss' #Tools_of_Titans)
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Worry Less.....

8/20/2017

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Chasing Popularity Is A Mugs Game!

8/18/2017

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Chasing popularity is a mugs game.

Fearing disapproval will handbrake your business/life. Playing it safe with eyes on the safety net instead of the vision is not how breakthroughs show up.

Make decisions and let the market gravitate toward or away from you. Declare the world is round in an eco system where that is ludicrous. Embrace your outlier status and risk ridicule.

Show up, ask for what you want, offer your value, shift your fulcrum and find your tipping points. There's more content out there than you can consume in a million lifetimes, more information is not the answer to success.

Self-belief (delusion to others), creative thinking (unpopular), and execution (risk of failure) gets my thumbs up anytime.

​Connect on LINKEDIN if you like


#likes #approval #outlier
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Social Media Relationship? It's Complicated

8/16/2017

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You're probably awesome, most people are.

I was intrigued by a snippet of your content so I clicked on your profile.

I didn't connect it's nothing personal just a fleeting decision.

I did connect, but we're not in love.

You expected a love sonnet by way of my introduction to prove my infatuation, sorry I have commitment issues and you may be a freak I just don't know, the jury is still out.

But if you're looking for more than a one night stand, we may just end up in a meaningful platonic relationship......


​
#connecting_linkedin, #linkedin_profile,


Connect on LINKEDIN if you like
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Communicating With Business Sociopaths

8/15/2017

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There's a 4% chance you're a sociopath.

It's not uncommon and if you are you're probably unfairly stigmatised. It's simply the way the DNA wars dealt you your cards. If you're part of the other 96% you probably care how people treat you and respond to you.

This can be unlearned. When we communicate we invest significant emotion analysing what we think is intent. Nuances of body language are interpreted, judgements we label such as rude, insensitive, abrasive are indeed just that, judgements.

Some of us go into meltdown if colourful language is used in particular environments, or courtesy is not reciprocated. We're conditioned it would seem to take things personally and yet it serves us poorly.

Consciously dial back the emotion button when communicating with the unemotive or overly emotive and you'll be well rewarded. Not a problem if you're one of the 4%.


#communication, #business_sociopaths,

​Connect on LINKEDIN if you like
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Universal # 1 Best Seller....Nonsense

8/14/2017

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International Best Seller!

Are you impressed?...... Really? ........Why?

Social credibility is a things these days. It's measured via LIKES and SHARES and positive commentary. Sometimes I feel like I'm in the Wizard of Oz!

Every published author it seems has attained best seller status. The invisible small print may indicate a sub text such as 'best seller in a bookstore that sold one book last week'. Animal Farm was an actual best seller, a feat I imagine 99% of readers under the age of 40 today would find bewildering.

When we scale embellishment too far we risk being unmasked. It's a common marketing tactic to author and then purchase the requisite number of books to hit #1 for at least a week. A brand can then be build around this lie.

Even those who achieve the status of popularity are still only popular within a niche - for instance there is a niche for flat earth adherents, but I'd question the merit of 'crushing' it.

Is popularity really an achievement?

Authorship is neat. Content creation is neat. Purveyor of nonsense has an authentic ring to it.

Ultimately representing ourselves for who we are warts, quirks and all is a real story worth sharing.

#fake, #authenticity, #Social_credibility
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Perfunctory - A 4 letter Word

8/11/2017

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There is probably merit in not getting too invested in what others think of us. Books have been written such as Mark Manson's "The Subtle art of not giving a F***!" that support this philosophy. However when you see this pervade business interactions it boggles the mind.

​We get harried. We have bad hair days that spill out into our business dealings. We get overwhelmed. We get complacent. The most common poison I see in business is 'perfunctory service' a label I'm assuming is an oxymoron.

It's so hard to to earn a prospect, think marketing, branding, merchandising, and a multitude of other investments and we can blow it in a split second. We're tuned into recognising good service but even more acutely tuned in to perfunctory interactions.

Usually it's poorly trained or monitored staff but it's always the owner's responsibility to recognise and respond. The reason it's so insidious is because it's just below the threshold of triggering a complaint but just irritating enough to lose a client forever.

Consequently it goes unnoticed but the damage is lasting.
#service, #small_business,
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FU! The Missing Link?

8/11/2017

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We want Leads. We want Prospects. We want Sales. We connect. We optimise. We automate. We market. We deliver value. We analyse and perhaps we wonder if there's a missing link, an edge to enable us reaching that elusive tipping point that equates to our definition of Success.

It's so obvious and yet it's baffling to me how few businesses execute FU. What percent of your connections will engage transactionally with you? It's probably frighteningly tiny. Why then is FU so inconsistent? (in my experience)

Follow Up Hard. Follow Up Fast. Follow Up Consistently. Follow Up Persistently. Email, phone, face to face or via carrier pigeon if that's your tech speed but even the vaguest of interest in your product of service should gear shift all your attention to FU.

​That's the epitome of the 80/20 rule.
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Just Fake It!

8/7/2017

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Bored? Fake interest. Insecure? Fake confidence. Feeling dumb? Fake thinking like a genius. Feeling uninspired? Fake enthusiasm.

Beliefs aren't real, they're filtered reality. What's interesting is that when we fake enthusiasm in even the most tedious of endeavours we become...you guessed it, enthusiastic. Likewise when we wish to impress but feel nondescript and unworthy, nothing works better than acting impressed.

It's a myth to believe that anyone has a status superior to yours. It's a belief and can be altered. Fake it, not until you make it, (there is no making it) but until you wake up one day and realise it's no longer fake.
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It's Not All About First Impressions

8/5/2017

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An impression is a judgement. We can't help ourselves, it's in our DNA. Without context our first impressions are poorly biased.

The context to forming a relationship is layered history. Be wary trying to hack the online popularity algorithm. We can tweak our social media profiles to match the wisdom of the professionals and garner a marginal advantage in the visibility stakes but it's not the main game we need to be playing.

​Many of you ended up married to someone that definitely didn't favourably tick the first impression box. Authenticity is not a moral code, but when we represent ourselves consistently with what we stand for, our authenticity and identity will attract our own tribe.
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How To Get What You Want!

8/2/2017

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I couldn't sell anything to save my life. Couldn't sell a product, couldn't sell an employer (the bleak days of interviews), ask a girl out on a date - fortunately for me a few would make the first move - I relied on hoping things would work out and the result was ......I was always on the back foot relying on fate occasionally landing something in my lap.

​Then one day I could. I could sell almost anything and did. Millions of dollars of an assortment of goods and services. Natural talent is great and most of us wish we'd been born with the talent gene. The talent to attract the supermodels. The talent to run faster, jump higher, punch harder, understand intuitively, sell ice to Eskimos, but the brilliant invariably take for granted their natural gifts the rest of us learn from getting it wrong over and over until...BINGO!

It's easy to teach what's difficult to learn. It's also rare that the naturally talented have the mongrel tenacity that having sand kicked in their face for an eon breeds.

So what's the million dollar lesson? Dogs are the only species that have been bred with such diversity to mirror the qualities that our particular species most values. Loyalty, cuteness, engagement, passion.....Your dog has been bred to acutely understand how to get pretty much anything it wants. You are the most important person in the room - always and that includes the dog itself. 100% engagement, sometimes tired but NEVER ambivalent.

If you are applying for a job, all other things being equal, for instance, being qualified for the job, you could learn from your four legged friend. Approach the interview as if it was the most exciting job in the world. Be enthusiastic, be engaged, act like you care. Be happy. Strong eye contact....you get the drift.

I've interviewed candidates who've shown those qualities and their resume becomes very much a secondary consideration when this energy is delivered.

I've seen profesional sales consultants lose the sale (to me), when I've wanted to buy, because I have such a strong distaste for ambivalence. Act like you believe in your company, really believe, act like the leader of a cult or religion. Be 100% engaged. I'm never going to care as much as you, your energy needs to be high.

I've been told that supermodels rarely get asked out on dates. It is assumed that they have a smorgasbord of choice so the admirers of said supermodels don't ask. 

GIVE,GIVE GIVE ...but don't forget ASK, ASK, ASK, ASK - with 100% conviction, engagement, passion, enthusiasm, belief and congruity. There you have it, a conservative million dollar lesson, now go find your supermodel (metaphor, hope you're not taking this too literally)
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Desiderata - a thought for any day

8/1/2017

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Just a thought from a guy (Max Ehrmann), not a gospel, not a sermon, not a religion, just a thought

Always resonated with me - thought you might like to revisit or even discover...


Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story. 

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. 
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism. 
Be yourself.

Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass. 

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself. 

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. 
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. 

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy. 
​
Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.


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    Kiaran Finn

    On this planet to inspire and be inspired.

    Truth is an illusion there is only filtered perspective.

    Live large and seek until you find those handful of your 7 billion planetary relatives that can truly empower you.

    To Connect on SOCIAL

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