I have to start by saying I am so so so grateful for all the people that supported this event. It was a pleasant surprise to have close to 200 people come to the event.
We have received so many emails from people saying they had a great time; full of education, networking and some great wine at the Okanagan Grow Your Business Event on November 5th.
5 Key messages to take away from the session:
1. Understand The State Of Mind Of Others: We are emotional creatures. Every decision we make is based on emotion and justified by logic. Those emotions are based on our past experiences in similar situations. Before you start bombarding people with logical information, understand their present state of mind and than connect to those emotions.
2. What emotion did I leave behind? If every decision is based on our emotional state of mind than the most critical question you can ask after every interaction with people, be it your customers – spouse – or – children is, what emotion did I leave behind? It takes 5 sec. to answer that question, so make it a conscious habit you will will see your relationships grow to a deeper level.
3. Speak their language: This is what the presentation was all about. We can logically have all the information someone needs, but if we do not speak to them in the language they understand, the communication and information will be of no use to them. Understand the balance between their core personality and their adapted behaviors and than speak their language.
4. What are their perceptions of the relationship? One thing I hear consistently from people is their belief, perception, of the level and depth of the relationships in their lives. The true question we need to ask is what are the perception of others in our professional and personal lives?
5. Take the time to understand others feelings - By nature we gravitate towards wanting to be understood and in turn we expect others to change how they should interact with us. That to me is an archaic way of thinking. Take the time to understand others feelings and emotions when you are communicating with those in your life.
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I want to take the time to thank everyone for their support and a special thank you to the OBRG members for all their hard work in helping to make this event a success.
Congratulations to the 6 people that won the door prizes, equaling to $3500 and thank you to the following door prizes.
PinStripe – Creative Design Marketing ($1500 Marketing package – website / letterhead / cards etc)
Beachwalk Villas ($300 interior decorating and staging)
Belleview Communities (Weekend Getaway in Scottsdale Arizona)
Benson Salloum Watts (Thank you for helping us raise a little over $400 for charity)
Stone Quest Granite & Marble Personalized Granite Slab: (Value $250)
Hustle Up Dog Trainers: 3 Private Dog Trainer Gift Certificates: (Value $150/each)
Ron Finch – Water Colourist Art Lesson: (Value $125)
Kelowna Cycle Gift Certificate: (Value $100)
We were also able to raise some more money for the Women Shelter. If anyone wants to further support the Women Shelter you can go to any Valley First Credit Union and pick up my book on donation and ALL the proceeds will go to the Women Shelter.
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I have received a lot of emails wanting to know when the next event will be.
If I were to ask you to comment? What specific topic would be useful to you?
I know I had a lot of fun. I hope you had a great time and were able to take away something you can implement in your professional and/or personal life.
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Looking forward to your comments on your experience with the event and any future topics you would like to see.
Thank you to everyone for all their support, you have truly touched my heart.
Fred Sarkari
***WIN A 64 Gb IPOD TOUCH*** Share your thoughts below on what would be a great topic for another session for entrepreneurs and you could win a ipod Touch (approx. Value $399)
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Fred,
Happy to hear the event went great and wish I could have been there. Belleview Communities was proud to be a sponsor and look forward to seeing our door prize winner in Scottsdale, AZ. soon. Their vacation suite is ready for their free 2 night stay.
See you soon,
Steve Koehler
Sales and Marketing Director
Belleview Communities-Scottsdale, AZ.
Thanks for putting this together Fred, it was energizing and insightful.
Thanks also for the summary, there was a lot of information so it was great to have it laid out so clearly and concisely. I’ve already begun implementing the information with my clients, family & friends and can see how much it will improve my relationships and effectiveness in communicating.
Looking forward to attending future seminars and events with you.
As for additional session topics, i would love a session on marketing for new & small businesses. Most effective marketing strategies, marketing with limited capital, how to use the media to your advantage, identifying your core market and how to market to them most effectively and efficiently and how referrals can be used as a main form of advertising and promotion.
Thanks again, and I can’t wait to see what’s next!
That would be a interesting session to do – Why conventional marketing strategies do not work.
Deanne, the topics you mentioned above can be an entire course in itself.
Thanks
Keep the ideas coming.
Fred,
Do you have any plans to do future seminars that would discuss the importance of branding,and ways to strategically combine marketing and sales techniques to capitalize on opportunities and increase your business?
You always have great insight and I would love to hear you speak on these topics. Look forward to future events!
Fred thank you for a great event! What a great way to spend an afternoon. Now I have a better idea on how to speak to others in my life that don’t have the same personality as me.
Thanks again for a great afternoon!
Thank you Fred for the opportunity to sponsor “How To Grow Your Business” on Nov 5 at the Sandman Hotel.
The event was well attended and the guest really enjoyed the afternoon. The feed back from our members was excellent and was a great investment for the Okanagan Business Referral Group (OBRG).
Keep up the good work and we look forward to more partnerships in the future.
Mike Hassard
President
Okanagan Business Referral Group (Thursday)
Thursday Mornings 7 am – 8:30 am
Sandman Hotel and Conference Centre
Mike, thanks for all your help and the members.
Looks like I might be putting together a session on marketing for entrepreneurs. Les see what other topics people want.
Hi Fred,
Thank you for extending the opportunity to have Beachwalk Villas sponsored at your event. The room was alive with energy and enthusiasm as everyone participated on all levels. You have greatly impacted me on the power of perception! I will always be reminded of your 5 key messages when I am building both personal and business relationships. In consideration to future speaking engagements I would be interested to know more about Social Media Marketing and the change/impact on how businesses are now marketing themselves through Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Myspace etc…
Regards,
Darcy
Thanks Darcy for all your help and support.
That would be an interesting topic to add to the marketing list as everyone is using some sort of social media in their life – why not learn how to monetize on it as well.
Thanks
I found you to be delightful, light and a fun motivational speaker.
I enjoyed your seminar very much and would attend others in the future.
It was educational learing the different character types and how to deal with those individuals and their personality types when recognized. I learned alot about myself and others with my traits/interests
Would like to do another seminar with more detail on working with those personalities in business partnerships.
Thank you.
Sharon Alfke (Graystone)
Thanks again Fred for the terrific workshop.
Coming here from Alberta and going through the frantic economy of the last few years I found it hard to maintain and grow existing relationships and keep up with new incoming leads and clients. Would that be a potential workshop for you? Looking forward to attending your future!
Fred,
Sorry I missed your seminar. Sounds like it went really well. Have you thought of doing a seminar on building relationships with the client instead of trying to sell the client. Sometimes we do better to provide a client with free advise and counseling rather than selling them a product or service that will not meet their needs. Sometimes it means turning them away from a sale in order to best suit their needs.
These are some great comments and suggestions.
Sharon, I like the idea of taking the same topic and focusing it now on just building those deeper relationships with your business partners. Taking the topic deeper.
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Shawn, like the idea of how to be more effective with existing clients and how to effectively build our new leads.
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Laurie, absolutely agree with your comment – that was the basis of the presentation we did.
Loving the new ideas.
Fred,
Your event was fabulous. I am a firm believer that awareness is the first step to transformation. Your presentation was engaging; I felt that your personality and humour created ease for all ‘colours’ of the room.
Since you have asked, I have a suggestion for a topic for entrepreneurs:
1) recognition of self
2) recognition of goals
3) awareness of staying true to both
Thanks again for the presentation.
Best
Jennifer Stark
Fred,
Glad to hear the event went well. I am sorry I had to miss the event as I was out of town attending my daughter’s wedding. I have heard back from many of my clients and they had a great time. Looking forward to attending your next event.
Donald Robichaud
President
FloodLight Consulting
Fred,
Looking forward to the next event.
I enjoyed the event and your talk. I’m still not sure what actual color category I fall into. Is that the sign of a multiple personality?
Paul Beauchemin
ecentric media inc
I was totally impressed. Fred hit it right on the nose,he also brought everything related to personalities with audience interaction into perspective .
Gary Crawshaw
Hi Fred,
It’s great to see you thriving in Kelowna. I’m looking forward to your next visit to the coast!
Entrepreneurs, are an interesting breed. Having never thought I would run this way in my life, I am learning about all the joys of moving forward, and following personal dreams as well as talents.
A big topic, that I think most entrepreneurs should learn about is focusing on their own strengths, and learning how to use those strengths and talents to boost their businesses and keep moving forward. Most people I see, struggle daily trying to be other people, and not having the knowledge or the true emotion of other successors, they tend to struggle. Researching and teaching individuals to focus on their strengths, in order to utilize what’s in their core to motivate them, may be a good one to work from.
Wishing you continued success and inspiration.
Sincerely,
Deenu
“PRACTICE”
My belief and true humble opinion,is that practice should be part of personal growth,marketing and business.We have all been faced with the daunting task to share the message we are trying to convey regarding a business plan,opportunity to a new group of emotional entreprenuers for the first time.A question to ask oneself is .”Am I ready to get up in front of a group of new entreprenuers and business minded folk and speak for 45 minutes? Remember what Ralph Waldo Emerson said:
“That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but our power to do has increased.”
You can always refine your introductory statements, you can always fine tune your emotional message and the way you deliver your scope of business and opportunity .Like many athletes they continue to practice past the point of perfection as champions never quit .There is always room for improvment even though we think we have reached the top .Many have heard the old quote “practice makes perfect” .
Your Friend And Student
Cory Anthony
(Okanagan Valley Entrepreneurs Society)
Hi Fred and thanks for an excellent post.
Seeking to understand is the highest form of communication…it places our agenda and ego aside and listens….and sometimes the message is a whisper and sometimes it is a roar….but the message is still that…understanding.
When I listen to clients now, I picture that my spirit is communicating with their spirit…and then all of the non verbal communication is done on a higher plane….
Namaste Fred.
Hi Fred,
I’m you still maing a difference in our world, I can see that from the posts left by satisfied participants.
I still have excellent results at the job mostly because of my people skills, I strongly believe that ajusting my approach based on my client’s personality and by extension his emotions makes a difference in my client’s heart and mind.
By the way, I’m no longer a RED!! After your training session with you in 2006, I realise that it was difficult to reach the RED’s with success, so I made myself more open for opportunities.
Keep up the good work!
-Steve
Business Development Manager
Mortgage financing
Hi Fred,
An interesting and engaging session that lent specific analysis to what I already intuitively knew/practiced. I have an innate ability to connect with all people from blue collar to academic. But because I know that I am capable of projecting cameraderie (whether it exists or not) your point about perception is a tricky one. How DO we accurately gage how others perceive us and the relationship if we ourselves are capable of subterfuge? I can make a person feel like the most interesting person I have ever met even when it isn’t necessarily the case. It just occured to me that others may be doing the same thing!
Carmen, that is a funny point: (I can make a person feel like the most interesting person I have ever met even when it isn’t necessarily the case. It just occurred to me that others may be doing the same thing!)
That is why the principle of making people feeling interesting even if they are not does not work – it is fake and fakeness never lasts. The true skill is the ability to find something precious with anyone and everyone that we meet and making them feel good about that part of themselves.
There is good in everyone – there is something interesting and unique about everyone.
Thanks for the great comments
I understand you law of diminishing intent. I used to attend many of these type of seminars until I realized that the great inspiration I received usually was displaced by the craziness of my next day back to work. What I did to get over this was when I would go to a seminar or send one of my staff to one, I would have a recap session for all of the staff to instruct them of what we learned. This help reinforce a commitment to use something we had learned and also gave a other staff a little bit of inspiration.
I kept a mini-mini record of the highlights of a couple of years of these to develop a computer aided marketing program that worked well.
I enjoyed the session.
Brett, that is a great strategy that I wish more people would do after going to a session.
Take the time to recap what they learned and what they want to implement. If we do not start the process right away than in most cases it will never be implemented.
It does not matter what we know anymore, what matters is are we willing to implement what we know.
Hi Fred,
Thank-you for a great seminar! I have been to many workshops of this type but found yours to be fun and uplifting! Each time I attend I learn more and more about personalities, including my own. I would welcome the opportunity to be invited back to any future events and would like to share with friends as well.
PS: You just reminded – there’s no time like “now” to start reading ‘your’ book.
“Good communication is like dancing-it’s important to be in step with those you want your words to reach”
Thanks again,
Trish Power,
Realtor
Hello Fred:
Unfortunately, I was not at this specific seminar however I have had the good fortune of attending three of your seminars previously by the generousity of my good employer and have been moved by them all and therefore I thank you. I would hope in future you could have a seminar about how we might project our lifes passions within our image and how could we extend these passions into our business and business practices. Let’s be more transparent as I believe we may attract more than just honey. I find people are looking for a real person rather than what one thinks we should portray.
Cheers
Sally
P.S. My wise mother of 82 years sends a great message. “Honey you dead a long time, what are you waiting for?”
Sally, that is great – you mom sounds like she lives her life to the fullest.
Pleasantly surprised that a lot of people are asking for courses relating to their own awareness.
Thanks for sharing.
You left me wanting to know more! It is super to find out where you fit into personality types, now what would be helpful is some tips on how to change how you speak to others. I am into your book, and is a fun read!
Fred:
You presentation was inspirational and moving
when will you be able to share some of the wisdom here in Michigan where hope is so desperately needed
Fred:
I just shared you book with my office manager last week she said she enjoyed it but more important she said that she has an actual 13 month written out plan on how she will plan on how she will get a raise from me because she is willing to increase my business 20%!!
Your book is the best investment i ever made !!
Zubin, that is amazing!
Do I get a % of that raise? ha ha
I am glad you and your office manager liked the book.
Thanks
My 2 cents on what would be great topics for another session for entrepreneurs are these:
A ground up marketing plan that people in all different industries can use. Basically a step by step plan that does all of the brainwork for people so that they can implement a comprehensive (low cost) marketing plan. Include tricks and tips and teach people about cross promotion.
A lesson in networking that takes away some of the guesswork and awkwardness that is involved. Basic and simple ways for people to approach other people in mutually beneficial ways. Basically give people tips on how to dispel their fears and how to network effectively. The do’s and dont’s.
A comprehensive step by step guide that identifies the common mistakes in setting up businesses and the common pitfalls of established businesses.
A list of low cost businesses that people can start from home for a few hundred dollars. Basically smart and practical
home based businesses.
A basic approach to the benefits of internet marketing for older entrepreneurs who are afraid of the technology.
The basics of setting up companies like different types of companies LTD partnerships, Corporations ETC
Tax secrets for small businesses
How to keep motivated when life kicks you in the jimmies
How to value you business, like how to assess how much it is worth. How to charge for your services and value yourself
Tips to survive bad economic markets. New ways of thinking about old ideas.
My vision is a basic, painfully simple, check it off the list, how to take your idea from inside your entrepreneurial mind and implement it in an effective way type conference and/or how to take your business from a starter to the next step.
Actually, I think that should be the title
“The basic, painfully simple, check it off the list, how to take your idea from inside your entrepreneurial mind and implement it in an effective way type conference and/or how to take your business from a starter to the next step.”
A business and small business skills course for people that have ideas but don’t want to go through 4 years of university to get their degrees
I know I said basically or basic too many times so basically I am sorry in a basic way.
Ivan, that is an awesome reply. Full of humor and excellent content. You practically wrote a synopsis for me.
Thanks for taking the time to put so much thought into this.
I also think that you could have a practice plan where people are forced to practice your techniques so that they learn to implement them. Like homework from school that builds on each preceding lesson. You could pair up people (strangers) with mutually beneficial businesses and get them to be like AA sponsors where they have to report the outcomes of their homework to their “sponsors”. this would make them do their homework as well as help them network without the focus being on selling a particular product or service.
Popsicle
Hi Fred,
Thanks again for the great seminar. Definitely picked up some interesting tidbits.
A session on developing long lasting relationships with clients and referral sources would be very helpful.
Appreciate all your hard work in putting the session on!
Una
Thanks again Fred for your event on Nov 5. It has made an immediate impact on my business!
There I was in meeting and realized I was talking to a red but I assumed he was a blue. I had all this detailed information when all he really just wanted was the bullet points.
Instead of spending 20 minutes on details he did not want or need we got right to the point.
If I did not attend the event I might have overloaded this person personalty style and lost a client!
Thanks again for the course and I am looking forward to your next event on how to communicate with other personality styles.
Mike, that is awesome – Glad you were able to use the information from the presentation in the real world.
Hi Fred
Again another great post from you.
From the posts here it looks like you made a great presentation!
I still looking into the possibility of bringing you here to Iceland.
Great blog, I love these 5 steps. It is a great way of thinking and following these steps will for sure improve any kind of relationship we have in our life.
By living like that we show great respect of people around us and will get the same respect back.
The amazing thing is that it is so easy, it is only a matter of how we think about the people around us and your blog post say it more clearly than a lot thick books about human relationships.
You write all about understanding the emotions going on between to persons and that is what I also believe it is all about. Once we start to admit that personal relations is all about emotions and reacting to emotions it become very easy to create good relationships to people in our lives.
One more aspect I always keep in mind is that I believe that all people have good intentions with everything they do. Even if the actions they perform might not have a very positive outcome there is some kind of benefit driving the person.
Imagine if you could stop the bank robber on the way to the bank and give him $ 1,000,000. What are the chances he would still rob the bank? No much I would guess.
If some person in your life do something that you feel is hurting you or maybe just annoying you figure out what he is gaining from it and see if you could give him that benefit in another way.
Like one person I was coaching tended to complain about everything when he was happy about his job. He wanted to fix the 2% he was not happy about to make his work place 100% perfect. He just didn’t realize that people around him saw his as a “always complaining person” until a friend pointed it out to him.
In a session with me he realized that he would feel just as good or even better by telling every one how happy he was with his job and then using better channels for pointing out things to improve and he started feeling much better with his co-workers. They liked the new man that came to work and told every one how much he liked being there and suddenly they also listened when he wanted to improve something.
He found another way to get what he wanted that was more efficient and gave better relationships with people around him.
Thinking of what people is gaining from negative behaviour will help you understanding people around you and will help you having positive energy when talking with that person.
As always a great blog from you Fred. I look forward to reading more from you.
Mads, that is a great comment. I like how you hit the ‘respect’ part. Showing respect to others through how we treat people around us.
Looking forward to speaking in Iceland.
MAds, I think that is a great way of dealing with difficult people. Finding out what they are after and trying to fill that need is a great idea. I have never heard that put in such a matter of fact kinda way.
Nice work. I have just finished Freds book and it helped change my perspective on a lot of things. I love the simple truths in life. Most people think that everything has to be complicated and the refuse to believe the simple truths.
Thank you Mads
Hi Ivan
I must admit that Freds book is still on my “to read list”
I am all on the same page as Fred on keeping things simple.
Having respect for yourself and shoving the same respect to other people are in my mind key to a good life. And the beauty is that it is simple and give you loads of energy when you do it.
Mad, if I create my book in a waterproof format maybe you can read it while you are swimming.
Would be great with waterproof books to read while I sit in the hot pot.
Of course in might take my mind from reflecting about life
Cant wait for that draw – but I dont hope you win
I hope to be doing the draw for the ipod touch in the next week.
Hope I win.
I quite simply liked this blog post, it helped a lot! Thanks! Can I subscribe to your site?
I stumbled onto your blog and read a few post. I like your style of writing.
Your blog is so informative … keep up the good work!!!!
thanks !! very helpful post!