Mentalsidewalk

I met Jessie a year ago; a very down to earth guy who is always smiling. But the one main thing about Jessie that caught my attention was that his eyes always glowed. I could tell he had complete clarity in what he was working towards. Every word he spoke and every step he took, he did it with passion. You see, at that point in time I really did not know who Jessie was; a contender for the World Title. I have had the pleasure of working with some professional fighters for the last year. One of them being the new World Title holder Jessie Miles, the son of Mike Miles—three-time world champion. www.mikemiles.com

Here was an individual that has dedicated his entire life to his passion. Now you would think that after more than 20 years of training, he would rely on techniques most are unable to perform. Watching Jessie train I always wondered why he only did the basics. Then I got to see him fight for his World Title and again in my opinion he won that title with ease by just working on the basic moves that one is taught in their first week of classes.

I remember talking to him right after his World Title win, and his comment was, “This is something I have been dreaming of all my life.”

Just last week, for the ‘fun’ of it. Jessie told me to put my gloves on. For those memorable four minutes I was baffled again at the simplicity in his strategy.

You see, in any martial arts the technique can be taught within a minute. The catch is you have to practice it 10,000 times for it to work in the real world. Now efficiency on the other hand in martial arts usually only consists of approximately 5 – 10 moves, practiced over and over again.

That is what Jessie had perfected. He had the knowledge that if you perfected the basics, you have the foundation to build an empire.

Most salespeople will do 4,000 things at the same time without taking it to the point of efficiency. What we need to learn as salespeople and entrepreneurs is to understand the basic principles and then spent the rest of our time practicing over and over again. And in time you will win your World Title.

A few of the lessons I learned from Jessie:

1. Dream: having a dream in not ‘corny’. It will be your lifeline in those times when no one but yourself believes.

2. Understand the basic principles of success: Those my friends are not the complicated ones but the most simple and basic ones.

3. Practice: Practice those principles over and over again until you think you have perfected them. Then practice them again.

4. Passion: Be passionate about what you are trying to achieve. Be passionate about your chosen journey.

5. Unconditionally help: Take the time to help others. Share your secrets that you have learned through the years.

Sell with passion

Fred Sarkari

We all have turned our heads and rolled our eyes as a sales person approached us with their focused goal of selling us something. Or worse yet, with their instant knowledge of what our concerns are and the problems that we are trying to solve in our business or personal life.

I remember the first time I ever went to a doctor. Approximately 17 years ago, I felt a pain in my shoulder and within days I started to feel my entire body go out of balance. I will never forget my feeling of awe for the doctor that stood in front of me. Within seconds he knew what was wrong with me, what caused it, and most importantly, how he could be of service to me. That being my first experience, I was overjoyed at the simplicity of what I thought would be a painful waste of time.

Unfortunately, he was wrong. In fact, he hadn’t a clue what he was talking about. How could he when he did not even take the time to ask me any relevant questions? You can imagine the shell I had put up after experiencing the same arrogance for the next decade and more.

That is exactly what our clients are feeling before we even start our sales presentations. They have been through that process so many times that their minds are already shut before we get a chance to implant our ideas within them.

It is more crucial now than it ever was in sales to ensure we do not try and sell to our clients. Instead, we must understand that there is a very specific process we need to follow, based on our questioning. These critical questions we ask are the questions that will stop them in their tracks and start opening their minds to us again.

The fact is few people will respond to the salesperson who only thinks of making the sale just to obtain the subsequent financial reward. Successful salespeople view selling as first, understanding the pains , concerns and situations their clients are facing and then secondly, helping them make sensible and well-informed decisions.

The difference is simple: Ineffective salespeople try to close; effective salespeople ask relevant questions in a systematic process.

In the age of information, our clients are more educated then ever; they certainly have a clearer idea of what their needs are. Therefore, the salespeople who takes the time to create a proper sales process will ultimately have a higher level of success.

Always remember that your clients are people, not companies.

Fred Sarkari