We’re going to talk about the inner game of building your business. I believe that the inner game is simply all-important. “The inner game” is a new term for a classic idea explained many different times, many different ways by virtually every success educator, and even philosophers.

In the book Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill reveals the secret using the words, “thoughts are things.” Dennis Waitley has worked with U.S. astronauts and Olympic athletes on their inner games. Author Tim Galloway explores the ideas of his books, The Inner Game of Golf, The Inner Game of Tennis and The Inner Game of Selling.

Interestingly, there is a never-ending connection between the inner game in sport and the inner game in business, allowing experts like Waitley, Galloway, ex-quarterback Fran Tarkenton and golfer Arnold Palmer, among others, to step back and forth between expounding on success techniques in the athletic and business worlds. (more…)

As I began my long journey from complete failure in selling to millionaire success, I had a lot of self-image building to do. You see, I was the kid in school who was too shy to read out loud in class. I was more interested in playing sports and making mischief in high school than in studying. I dropped out of college after 90 days because it just wasn’t “for me.” When I did that, my dad told me, “Son, your mother and I will always love you…even though you’ll never amount to anything.” You can imagine where my self-image was as I took on the responsibility of a wife and baby with no real plan for my life. Not being a great student, it was a real struggle for me to get my real estate license after deciding construction work had no future for me.

Once I got my license, though, and started hanging around people who were making pretty good money, I wanted to do the same. I wanted it bad enough to do whatever it would take to succeed. I started learning what they knew. Every personal development seminar that was available had Tom Hopkins sitting in the front row absorbing every word the speakers uttered. This was a whole new world for me. (more…)

I’m proud to announce that my latest book, Selling in Tough Times, has won the 2011 National Trophy for Business Books in the category of Tools & Methods in France.

Here’s a brief except of the book that I hope you find useful:

Steeling Yourself for Survival by Tom
Hopkins from Selling in Tough Times

In order to survive any challenge that negatively impacts your selling career, you need to follow the Boy Scout motto of “being prepared.” So, how do you prepare yourself for some unknown event that may pop up on the horizon?

You begin with a commitment to personal growth. Personal growth is a process of increasing your knowledge and effectiveness so you can serve more, earn more and contribute more to the betterment of yourself, your family and all of humankind. It demands an investment of time, effort and money. Keep in mind that if you’re not moving ahead, you’re falling behind.

(more…)

Mark Twain said it best, “Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.”

My friends at SimpleTruths have some fun for you. Enjoy!

Rarely do people choose the details of their futures. They choose their daily habits and those daily habits dictate their futures. Re-read those first two sentences several times. Then, think about your daily habits. How are they dictating your life?

• Are you often rushing in the morning because you oversleep?
• Is it a part of your routine to search for your mobile phone or keys every time you leave the house?
• Do you travel through rush hour traffic every day with a sour attitude?
• During time you plan to work, are you daydreaming about what you’d rather be doing?
• Do you grab just anything for lunch?
• Do you catch yourself watching the clock the last 5 to 20 minutes of your work day?
• How do you spend your evenings?
• How well do you sleep?

Those basic aspects are part of everyone’s day. It’s easy to fall into habits that may not be good for us. Why is that? (more…)

I’m not trying to get you happily involved in a new supplement here. The vitamins I am referring to are for getting and keeping enthusiasm for your sales career rather than getting physically fit. Take a daily dose of these vitamins and you’ll start closing more sales:

Vitamin D – DISCIPLINE
Discipline is having the ability to do what you don’t want to do when the motivation to do it is gone. Discipline helps you to control your mind and protect your body from the daily pain of rejection a selling career can bring.

Discipline will help you make one more call after a rejection because your daily goal is to end on a positive note.

It will get you out of bed in the morning to face each new selling day with a positive outlook.

It will help you serve your clients better by returning calls and handling challenges as quickly and effectively as possible.

Think about how disciplined you are in your career. Be honest and note any flaws you have. Then discipline yourself to start working on improvements in those areas.

Vitamin E – ENTHUSIASM
People will make buying decisions based more on your enthusiasm for your product or service than on your product knowledge. Don’t believe it? Pay attention the next time you feel motivated to make a purchase. It’ll be fairly likely that the salesperson uses the product themselves or would if they could afford it. They are excited about its features and the benefits owners experience.

Vitamin B – BELIEVABILITY
This vitamin works in connection with Vitamin E above. If you don’t truly believe your product or service is exceptional and can relate the details of its benefits honestly, people will know. They’ll recognize insincerity in your voice, body language or even in your eyes…and they won’t buy.

Vitamin C – COMPREHENSION
Not only must you comprehend the value of your product or service, you must understand the emotional states of your potential clients.

If you are in retail, there’s bound to be a reason your customer is considering the purchase of that expensive pair of jeans, beautiful dress or finely tailored suit. You want to find out and build on those emotions until you have their credit card or check in your cash drawer.

In business sales, purchasing agents or committees want to make wise decisions because they then become the heroes for the company. There’s a certain emotional satisfaction and perhaps some recognition or reward in finding a good solution to a company challenge.

Vitamin A – APPLICATION
When you learn new strategies and techniques for selling, it’s essential that you apply them as soon as possible to a real-life selling situation in order to start benefiting from them. If you don’t, you’re old reflexes will quickly have you reverting back to your previous sales methods that just weren’t cutting it. Application is what helps you develop new habits and achieve new, higher levels of production.

LEARN MORE>>

This information is copyrighted by Tom Hopkins International, Inc. for reprint permission, contact Judy Slack (judys@tomhopkins.com).

For years people have contacted me wanting more information on telephone techniques. Today’s generation of selling demands thorough understanding of the use of the telephone. So how do you gain your share of the million-dollar telephone sales market? By being prepared. People today invest in more products and services over the phone and online than ever before — and they never meet the sales representative. The telephone is a tool of business and it is imperative that we as salespeople know how to use it.

When a consumer calls to inquire about your product or service, we as salespeople, have a moral obligation to turn that inquiry call into a presentation — especially if the company you represent has been in business awhile and has created a reputation.

You have no idea of the large number of consumers who pick up the phone every day, call a department store or a company, and the person who answers for the company has never been trained to use the telephone. Oftentimes, salespeople make it sound as if they are doing the caller a favor by answering the questions. That’s a shame.

As salespeople, we have a responsibility to increase our company’s profit so it stays in existence. When you chose your job as a salesperson, one of your jobs was to do anything in your power to increase your company’s profits — that is your lifeblood and existence. (more…)

Everyone sells, one way or another. As parents, we sell our children on our belief systems and our values. In courtship, we sell ourselves to our prospective partners. At work, we sell ourselves every day to our employers and our co-workers.

However, there’s something keeping us from doing the best job of selling in every situation. It’s the fear of rejection. And, rejection most often comes in the shape of one of the smallest words in the English language–”no.” Isn’t it amazing how such a small word can have such a huge impact on us? (more…)

If you find yourself in a position of seeking new employment, don’t send out 100 resumes and wait for the phone to ring. You wouldn’t approach getting new business that way. You have to have a plan.

Start by investing a bit of time researching where you would like to work. Find a product or service you can believe in. Then check out the company’s reputation before sending your resume.

Once you have submitted a resume, send a thank you note to the recipient thanking them in advance for their consideration. Two days later try to reach them to see if there are any questions about your skills and experience. it may not be easy to make contact with the person doing the hiring but you’re a professional salesperson. If you can’t get through to them, how will you prove you can get through to a tough client?

Go to interviews prepared just as if you were meeting a potential new client. Have your questions ready as well as a “presentation” on your product — YOU.

This information is copyrighted by Tom Hopkins International, Inc. for reprint permission, contact Judy Slack (judys@tomhopkins.com).

Here’s the best way I’ve ever found to pull the best performance out of yourself. It’s an extremely simple method. Not easy, simple. First, hang copies of these twelve words where you’ll see them at work, in your car, and at your home:

I MUST DO THE MOST PRODUCTIVE THING POSSIBLE
AT EVERY GIVEN MOMENT.

Now comes the important part: Dedicate yourself to living that declaration.

It doesn’t help to look at those words once in a while and think, “That’s what I’m going to start doing just as soon as I can get myself together.” If you really want to achieve, start living by those dozen words now. (more…)