When you boil it down, there are only two things standing between you and all the sales success you could ever want: systems and fears.
The cool thing about systems is that they give you a predictable result. For every product or service, there is an effective system for selling it. Or quite possibly more than one system that will work. Figure out what result you want, and then find out what systems you need to put into place to obtain that result.
Selling (or marketing) is a lot like baking. If you follow the recipe and put together the right ingredients in the right order, you will get a predictable result. If you run out of sugar and substitute salt instead, or if you bake the dry ingredients before mixing in the eggs and milk, you will get an unpredictable result.
If you don’t like the way the cake turned out and you followed the recipe, just try another recipe. I like to make lime meringue pie. It’s my own recipe. Low sugar, lots of lime, very tart and really creamy. Delicious! I started with someone else’s recipe and experimented with some changes until I found the formula that works best for me.
Once we know what systems to use, then all we have to do is execute, over and over again. But sometimes it’s not that simple. Our fears can get in the way of executing the system. I know that was true for me. But only for the first 30 years of my career.
For example, I have a great sales script that works for lots of people in my office. But I’m afraid of being rejected. Or I’m afraid of coming across as greedy. Or I’m afraid I’ll say the script wrong. There was a time after I started my own business when I think I qualified for an awardfor the most creative fears invented to keep me off the phone. But that’s great news! Because if I have good systems, I can work on the fears until they’re not a problem anymore. [I’ve found that hiring a coach is very helpful for me to work on my fears. As is reading some great books like Byron Katie’s Loving What Is, Law of Attraction Made Simple by Jonathan Manske, or Steve Chandler’s Fearless.]
A good system + fearless execution = success. Have fun with it!
Steve Johnsen is a marketing strategist, a business coach, and the Founder of Cloud Mountain Marketing. He is also the author of the Amazon #1 best-seller, 5 Easy Steps to Make Your Website Your #1 Employee.
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