Make it relevant

Last night I had the pleasure of speaking with a representative of Colorado Technical University. Now I would normally not spend much time on the phone with a telemarketer at eight o clock at night but through my low tolerance and patience level Christopher began to do something quite refreshing, he began to help me.

Through a series of casual friendly questions that quite honestly I was not in the mood for at the time Chris identified something that I wanted to know and that was relevant to me. He then went out of his way to search out and answer my concerns and questions about a possible education and the university I was currently investigating. He did this without ever putting the other facility down in any way. Now that I think about it he even pointed out a few positives about the program. Throughout our discussion Chris reassured me that he had a passion for other people’s education and before we hung up he was going to find the answers to my questions.

As we moved through the discussion Chris worked feverishly on the other end of the line to dig up answers and email me links (as we spoke) to relevant articles. I began to note a change in our discussion we were laughing and joking, mixed in with serious discussions about the pros and cons of different elements of the educational opportunities I was exploring.

Throughout the call Christopher took opportunities to point out the benefits that his facility offered and casually guided me in and out of a discussion about how it would benefit me. Even though they did not have exactly what I was looking for he explained to me what they did have and the value it offered. Christopher Identified and clarified a couple of key things that I was not aware of and showed me how those things could affect me along the way if I chose to proceed. He finished the call by explaining the links he had sent me that supported his comments and recommendations and gave me his direct line assuring me that if I did choose their facility that he would be there for me every step of the way as I got started.

This conversation reminded me of a lunch that I had a couple of years ago with a Dale Carnegie representative. After a long discussion filled with questions and him noting my answers the rep asked me his final question: Richard if you could get your reps to do one thing that you know would dramatically improve their results what would it be”? My answer, to do exactly what he had just done to me! Ask me a series of questions in a casual and comfortable way designed to identify concerns or needs that I have so that he could then show me how his services could provide a solution and be of value to me. Do this with belief, excitement, and a passion to really help me during the time we were together and have a genuine desire to help me to achieve my goals.

Zig Ziglar always says “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want”. Whether you are in sales, service, or just want to apply this to life and relationships it carries the same effectiveness. Ask good questions, listen carefully to the answers, identify their needs or concerns, Identify a relevant solution and offer to help them along the way. That is what builds success and gets us to our goals!

Success comes when you take immediate action.

The holidays are past and the New Year is upon us as with all New Years it will be half gone before we know it. Hopefully you have chosen your goals, written them down, laid out a plan, and are ready to begin plowing ahead to your chosen destination.

One of my goals this year is weight loss and establishing healthier habits. I won’t go into the details of the plan here but I did want to share a different twist that I applied to this year’s goal. Typically when I set a goal I set a start date and usually that start date is to my advantage comfort wise. For example this year I had laid out my plan prior to the New Year celebrations so typically I would schedule the start date after the New Year began. This year when I completed the plan I committed to starting that day. As with most goals one of the key obstacles is my ability to procrastinate what I need to do and justify breaking the rules. This year I committed to taking immediate action towards my desired results.

Knowing myself this was a very important step as it set the standard for the path ahead. As I reflect on that day I can’t help but think about how that applies to many aspects of our daily personal and work lives. How often do we think about or talk about doing things, wait to start them for some truly great sounding reason, and then never actually implement the plan. I for one have a few examples that I will not share her for reasons of pride.

Whenever we plan for something it is important consciously and unconsciously to take immediate action towards our goal. This sets the bar for the days ahead by showing a real commitment to that goal. Whether it is calling for appointments, doing more walk in presentations, getting healthier, getting more organized, or whatever it is that you need to accomplish as soon as you identify what it is take immediate steps forward to increase your odds of success.

This also applies to those moments when your mind is telling you to put off the task or trying to justify not doing it. That is the moment where immediate action is critical. This shows your subconscious that you are committed to reaching the goal and will not put it off. After several times this will develop the habit of immediate action which will help you in many areas of your daily life.

For those of you interested I am ahead of my goal and have lost six pounds in two weeks but most importantly I have exercised every day since I started. Now I need to take immediate action on setting some sales appointments which my mind is trying to convince me to put off since it is Friday!