July 29th…. what did the July 29th five years ago look like?

Do you trade time for money?  You put in 40 hours per week – you receive X amount of money based on those 40 hours.  Do most people want to be wage slave or do they want to work less and make more?  Do you want $20 per hour or would you like $40 dollars per hour?  How do you do it in the same or less amount of time?  Clone yourself? Hire an assistant? Avoid sleep?

Leverage people, time and resources to increase your production.

I hear it all the time. and I have said it myself.  We create the fictitious illusion that saps creativity, intuition and creativity…..  The dreaded statement ” I am too busy”.  Too busy for what?  To follow your hopes and dreams?  Too busy to spend time with your kids?  Too busy to lose weight, workout?  It could go on and on.  I am not too busy anymore.

There are 168 hours in a week.  Of those 168 I might sleep for 45.  Do the math.  There is a lot of time left over to fill with work, family, leisure, hobbies, walking the dog, building a tree house…..

To steal from John Heremza, Master Distributor for Javita and on of the Top 20 Direct marketers in the world: Where were you five years ago?  Where are you today? Where do you want to be in five years?  Do you want to leverage time, money and resources to do less and earn more?  If so, send me a message.

What are you trading your time for?  What will you have to show for it?  If you are interested in learning how to leverage time to make more money, check out my website: www.myjavita.com/davelicari  or my Facebook community:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Money-with-Javita/225253277511347

So you want to be a Sales Manager superstar?

All sales leaders do.

Combine culture, the right people, product, enthusiasm and God given talent and you may get there.  The critical component is in your team and your bench.  Hire and develop good people and you will love your job.  Do the opposite, welcome to hell!!  Staff churn will kill results, damage customer relationships and put you in survival mode.  To achieve top results your team must have the bandwidth and focus to deliver on initiatives.

Hire good people, develop them, give them what they need to be challenged and hope they show up with enthusiasm to serve customers and sell your company’s products and services.

Money is one reason why people show up for work each day.  Environment and how they are treated is a close second.

Ask them if they feel supported.

Ask them what is important to them.

Help them to set and attain goals.

Show them how you did it and do it.  Want credibility?  Do everything your staff does and do it with a smile.

Get things done, run through doors and leverage relationships.

If you can get your staff 100% bought into you, you are well on your way.  You will be able to climb mountains and deliver results and your employees will love doing it for you.  If you can’t, ask yourself if you are the type of leader you would work for – then become that leader!

Is your team bought in?  Are they cheerleaders for you and your product.   Ask them….. the answer may surprise you.

Dave

Choose your customer

My workplace environment is competitive.  There is an ongoing price war that recently has escalated.  Our competitors have a dedicated campaign to win over our customer’s  at any cost.  They are running a model where revenue’s are not important and volume is.    It is changing the way we approach the business for the worse, not better.  Significantly enough for me to address this in a recent leadership meeting.  I brought in an “outsider” to work with my leadership team on how we drive the bus and dictate the pace in our local market’s.

I discovered a few “facts”:

- we need to re-educate our frontline staff on value selling

- we need to choose who we want to do business with

- we need to provide VALUE, PARTNERSHIP and GAIN TRUST in order to win more customers in an environment where our competition is less focused on revenue than ever

When I review effectiveness and sales behavior it starts with a consistent focus on an adhered to standard.  Meaning that, the message from the top down has to mirror the day-to-day expectations of our front line sales people.

Our culture must change.  Our beliefs must change and ultimately our results will change.  Talk to more people, interview prospects and stop trying to sell everyone.   Determine if their needs match our product offering?  Are these the type of organizations we WANT do business with.  Forget desperation, provide value and partnership and ultimately, be a leader for your prospect during the buying process.

My task is to communicate this to my teams and help them to change the way they position themselves and ultimately, increase their value in the marketplace.

How long has it been?

Wow…where did the past few months go? Professionally and personally I feel like I have been busy.  Busy does not mean productive.

How do I discover the life I always wanted?  Good question right?  A bunch of books have been written about the topic and seminars galore have been presented.  Do a Google search and see what comes up.  I have contemplated, meditiated and reflected on what I really want to do.  You know what stops me?  Fear of the unknown.

The only consistent answer I have is to start today.  Work out, help others, hug your kid, tell your Mom you love her, sing, dance, write and capture your dream.  The journey starts with a single step.

What will your life look like if it is the one you always wanted?  Maybe you already have it…

How to manage through a “recession”?

Sales are slow – what do you do?  Is revenue down, year over year growth off?  Are your customers not buying because they are “slow” or because they read the paper and watch the news.  I don’t know and I don’t care. I can’t control it.  I focus on me and what I need to do.  In my job, I sell across a bunch of different sectors and while I have seen slowdowns with some clients, most are doing OK.

Ten strategies and ideas  I focus on to drive sales and lead:

1. Be positive, people have enough things they will worry about on their own, don’t add to their frenzy.

2. Work hard

3. Be grateful.

4. Look for opportunities.

5. Help your coworkers, customers and company.

6. Try new things.  Watch out for the rut.

7. Stay away from negative people.  The only limit is my thinking.

8. Get fired up every day.  Are you just existing and going though the motions or are you living? Packing everything you can into the mainstream of life or waiting for a break….?

9. Set goals, aim high, put a plan in place.

10. Stay in the moment. Nostalgia and worry are bad.

The true test of who and what we are is how we handle adversity and change.

#3 follow up to “Sales Are Slow”

I am a big fan of selling the customer what they need…….. WHAT?   You can make a living doing that?

YES

You can exceed your company targets and outpace your competition

YES

You mean you can operate in an honest and ethical fashion and be successful in sales?

YES and you must if you want to have a CAREER in sales.

I admit, I am a fan of solution selling and building a true partnership with my customer.  For this sales guy, that is the only way I know to be successful that places the needs of the customer first, works in the best interest of the client and drives referrals.   I tell my prospects that I am not there to sell them anything, my true motive is to understand the needs of their business and then……. then see if I can propose a solution that meets their needs today and provides a platform for growth.

What am I helping them with?  Driving productivity by providing them with simple solutions to streamline their business. People, process and time.  If I can help you maximize these three resources,  cost is irrelevant (at least we hope).

How do I do that? I tell them the truth; that if I do not think I can help them I walk away.  If in the future something changes where I can help them, I will call them and let them know.

Sincerity is appreciated and BS is not……. when under contract do you want to feel like you are in jail or you are a partner?