Andrew Horton Inspirational Speakers: Effective Networking is one of the Top Sales Skill...

Andrew Horton Inspirational Speakers: Effective Networking is one of the Top Sales Skill...: One of the most important skills you need to develop as sales professionals is your ability to build meaningful, mutually beneficial relat...

Effective Networking is one of the Top Sales Skills Required to Succeed Today

One of the most important skills you need to develop as sales professionals is your ability to build meaningful, mutually beneficial relationships and real connection with people who matter. Dare to take inventory of your current relationships right now. Are the relationships you have, supporting or retarding your sales efforts? The higher the calibre of people you are connected with, the greater will be your level of sales achievement in the future.

Connect with the right People

The number one selling skill, which has always been the prime factor, which predicted how successful any sales person will be, is measured by their ability to network effectively, connect with the right people, build mutually beneficial partnerships and then get them to know, like and trust them. No matter how great your product or service may be, it is your ability to network, build mutually beneficial relationships and connect with the right people, which will support and drive your sales success. Connecting with the right people, looking for ways to support them, and eliminate challenges from their lives or businesses, is your gateway to unlock sales success and become a sales superstar.

Becoming an Effective Networker

If you truly want to become a sales super star, it is time to lose your fear about networking and to immerse yourself in the crucial process of connecting with the right people.  As you hone and master your skills as a successful networker, and relationship builder, you are setting the foundation for creating meaningful mutually beneficial relationships with people who matter and who can help you to make a real difference in your life.

Be Authentic

The secret to becoming an effective networker is to be authentic and to allow your real self to show. Pretending to be something you are not is a sure fire way to fail at networking. People will see right through your façade and they will never get to know, like or trust you. The only way to build connection with people is to never pretend or try to be someone or something you are not. Commit to be completely authentic and always be on the lookout for ways in which you can assist fellow networkers. The easiest way to build connection with people is to have an abundant mentality and to help them to connect with someone else who can support them. As Zig Ziglar so eloquently said, “The more people you can help to get what they want, the more people will help you to get what you want”.

Identify the Right People

Learning the art of effective networking to help you drive your sales success, is about connecting with the right people, who can make a real difference in your life. Always have an open mind and never allow anyone to intimidate you. Yes, it is true that the very people, who you need to connect with, often seem larger than life. They even seem scary, imposing and too powerful to even approach. The truths is that behind the façade of fancy press releases and elaborate packaging, lies a normal, sensitive, frail, hopeful and generous human being, who is flawed just like you.

They are Real Just Like you

The challenge we face when we want to approach people, who we believe are of high stature, is that all we see is the façade, which is created around them, not the real person underneath. I have had the honour of meeting a number of so-called celebrities or super achievers. After the first few seconds of meeting them, they appear as just normal people. Yes, these people may have achieved great things and they most certainly have amazing personal philosophies, which they can share about the wisdom they have gained along the path to their success, but they are still just people wrestling with the same frailties we do.

Remember that people are just flesh and blood, ignore the packaging that has been bestowed on them by their press agents or how society has built them up as heroes and see them for what they are. Human beings that have fears, hopes and unfulfilled desires and needs, just like everyone else. Each of the so-called super achievers is merely a normal person, who has pulled the trigger, taken action and become successful. They are you in a few years’ time, after you have connected with them, built mutually beneficial relationships, which support your sales success and become a super achiever yourself. Allow your fear to evaporate and remove your tendency to hesitate when you want to reach out to network with any one and I mean anyone and you will gradually build the sales success you deserve and desire.

Author: Andrew Horton Sales Training South Africa

http://www.andrewhorton.co.za

Leaders need to Define, Clarify and Communicate

I believe it is because we have a need to always complicate everything in our lives and businesses that we cause ourselves a whole lot of unnecessary stress and discomfort. It is more often than not the simple solution or option, which delivers the best results in the end.

Action Idea:

• Clearly define and communicate the outcomes every staff member is required to achieve? Ensure that every staff member has the specific skills, knowledge and attributes, required to successful support the leader to achieve the outcomes they desire?
• Develop measurement criteria, which will allow the leader to consistently measure each team member’s performance. Each team member must have a crystal clear understanding of their role in delivering on the vision and what is required of them every day. They must be also able to easily measure their performance as often as necessary to see if the actions they are taking is aligned with the outcomes they need to achieve with and for the team.
• Develop a culture within their team and organisation, which will support the overall vision and each individual. When the culture supports the vision and each team member has the right attitude and attributes to support the vision success is inevitable.

Fill your Organisation with the right Calibre of People

The most important role of any leader is to find and keep the best possible staff, who can support their vision, which they have set for their team or organisation. It then becomes obvious that becoming a powerful recruiter and retainer of good quality staff is one of the most important roles any great leader must possess. The success or failure of any leader or organisation is dependent on the people within the organisation, thus filling your teams with the right people must be approached with finesse and deep thought.

Finding the right people

Most leaders I speak to say that they inherited the people in their team and as such there is very little they can do to change things. In the short term they are correct, but they should not allow the fact that they have inherited the wrong people, to keep them trapped in a cycle of poor team performance. The best way to start is to first create a very clear picture of what the perfect person for any position would look like. Carefully define their characteristics, skills, knowledge and most importantly what attitude they must have. You can never know if someone is suitable to fill any position unless you have created this crystal clear picture of what you are actually looking for. Look at any recruiting drive as an opportunity to discover people that are an ideal match for any position within your organisation.

You must clearly define the following areas:

• What outcomes is this new staff member responsible to achieve? What skills, knowledge or specific attributes will they need to achieve these outcomes?
• What measurement criterion will you apply to consistently measure their performance? They must have a clear vision of what is required of them and they must be able to measure their performance as often as possible to see if they are on track.
• What is the current culture within the organisation and what attitude and attributes must the new person possess to fit in with the current people.

Know Exactly what you want

It is impossible to make any positive changes in your team, if you do not know exactly what you want and precisely who the perfect people are to fill each position in your team or organisation. The best way to start this process is to first write a very detailed description of the outcomes you want each person to achieve. The more detailed the description of the job requirements, the easier it will be to identify the right person to fill that position. This allows you to get clarity on exactly what you need from any new person and allows you to define how you will measure the performance of the person that will fill that new position.

Create a Roadmap for your Teams Success

This detailed description is in effect a clear outline or road map for every member of your team; they will have a clearly defined framework, clearly defining your expectations and they will also understand their individual job requirements too. Once you are clear about exactly what each person in your team or organisation will need to do, it is wise to then define the type of attributes, knowledge and skill this person must possesses to carry out these tasks every day. The more each team member is able to contribute to the overall culture, which supports the overall vision. The easier it will be to succeed as a team.

This definition must first carefully consider the current people within the organisation. Those people who possess the skills, knowledge and ability to move the team toward achieving their vision. Any new person, who you want to bring into the team, must have the right attitude and mind-set, to fit in culturally with all the existing people, who are suited to help the team achieve the overall vision.

Find the Right Person

It is rather obvious that unless you know exactly what you are looking for in the new person, it will be impossible to find the right person. It is always far easier to invest time into clearly defining what you want from the new person and getting the perfect person, than it is trying to retrain and mould the wrong person, after you have hired them. When you fill your teams with the right people, who possess all the right attributes to meet the needs of the organisation, everything just works and everyone does what they need to do to promote success within the team or organisation. It is far wiser to recruit the right people in the first place than it is to try to change the wrong person after you have hired them.

When you have a clearly defined picture in your mind about exactly what you are looking for in any new employee you are equipped to start searching for them and when they show up, you will be better equipped to know that they are the right person for the job.

Author: Andrew Horton Motivational Speakers South Africa

http://www.andrewhorton.co.za

Andrew Horton Inspirational Speakers: Learn the Art of Positive Influence and Become a S...

Andrew Horton Inspirational Speakers: Learn the Art of Positive Influence and Become a S...: One of the greatest success skills super achievers develop is the ability to build meaningful, mutually beneficial relationships with thei...

Learn the Art of Positive Influence and Become a Sales Superstar

One of the greatest success skills super achievers develop is the ability to build meaningful, mutually beneficial relationships with their clients and to add real and meaningful value to them, when they sell them either their products or services. When I talk about sales I am not referring to the traditional definition of selling. Where someone with salesman on his business card arrives at your door and tries to convince someone to buy something. I am referring to the crucial skill of influencing people to do something that will be mutually beneficial to both parties.

Everyone is involved in Sales

Everybody on this planet is in the business of selling or put a little differently, influencing the people around them to do something differently. We constantly try to influence people all the time, we sell our partner on the idea of going to see a movie we want to see, we sell our children on the benefits of only hanging out with the right type of kids, or you sell our boss on all the reasons why we need a raise or a day off. As you can see the better you are at selling or influencing the people around you, the better the quality of your life and business will be.

Selling is a Life Skill

As you can see, selling is not just a crucial business skill, where you influence someone to buy you product or service. It is an essential life skill. It is time to make a small, yet crucial shift to the way you view traditional selling in your business and to remove your preconceived ideas about how much you hate selling. Forget about the traditional picture a salesman conjures up in your mind.  Selling is not mysterious or complicated; it is simply the ability to positively influence people to act in a certain way, which will be result in a mutually beneficial outcome for both parties.

It is time to make the shift away from the notion that you are not a good salesperson and that you hate the idea of selling. Shift your perspective toward identifying that sales or influence is not difficult or mysterious. Stop thinking of yourself as a sales person, who sells a product or service and rather focus on the value you add, in the form of improving your client’s lives or businesses.

When you focus on consistently adding value to your clients and prospects, you are truly committed to building mutually beneficial relationships with them, and you have a genuine desire to help people improve their circumstances, selling or influencing them becomes really simple, as there is a level of fair exchange and everyone wins.

Add Value and Offer Fair Exchange

Strive to always discover innovative ways of adding meaningful value to your prospects and clients and consistently have their best interests at heart. Be authentic and always have a sincere and genuine interest in helping them to remove pain from their lives or businesses and always work to ensure that there is a flow of value to them, where they feel that there is always a level of fair exchange. This shift will make the selling or influencing process far easier and more enjoyable for all concerned. This new perspective or philosophy will help you to change your approach to every conversation or interaction you will have with any clients.

Listen for Ways to Add Real Value

You will no longer be pitching to clients, you will be enquiring about how you can best serve and help them. You will be listening and focusing your energy on uncovering ways to add value to their lives and businesses. Learn the art of listening and search until you uncover their real needs and desires. When you do this effectively, you are better able to offer solutions, which will help them improve their lives and businesses. Understanding your clients’ needs and adding meaningful value to them in the context of fair exchange will help you to become a valued and trusted partner in their business. Someone they know is there to help them, someone that they can confidently refer to someone else, who they believe will also receive great value from you too.

Help People get what they want

When you are genuinely committed to helping as many people as possible get what they want. The law of reciprocity comes into play and almost magically, people around you will begin to help you get what you want in return. Embrace the philosophy of authentically helping as many people as possible solve challenges or get what they want and you will see the magic begin. You will no longer be a sales person desperately wanting to make a sale, you will be a partner, who adds real and meaningful value to people.  

Become a Keen Observer

Look at every relationship, every opportunity where you interact with other people as an opportunity to discover their goals, hopes, pains and challenges. Then figure out a way to add value to their lives and businesses. Try to help them wherever you can. This shift where you change your mind-set from selling to helping, adding real value and always ensuring there is a level of fair exchange, will transform your behaviour. This positive shift in your behaviour will influence people to respond differently to you and your sales results will improve. Approaching people with the objective of helping them, makes it a whole lot easier to sell and makes your life more rewarding and meaningful.

Commit to sharpen you “HELPING” skills and you will have discovered the key to unlock your competitive advantage in the market place. You will transform your life and business, you will begin to experience amazing, profitable results and amazing success.

Author: Andrew Horton best Sales Training South Africa

http://www.andrewhorton.co.za

Andrew Horton Inspirational Speakers: You can Master the Art of Innovation

Andrew Horton Inspirational Speakers: You can Master the Art of Innovation: We live in an ever changing world. Any casual observer can see that the pace of the change, we see all around us, is speeding up every day...

You can Master the Art of Innovation

We live in an ever changing world. Any casual observer can see that the pace of the change, we see all around us, is speeding up every day and so the best way to survive and to thrive, in this ever changing environment, is to commit to constantly innovate, evolve and grow.

Your commitment to consistent innovation is what will separate you from the followers and make you a true leader, path finder or trail blazer. You will become an achiever, who will stand out, someone who is a trend setter, rather than a trend follower. It is far better to be setting the standards of performance and achievement, which other people will follow than it is to be the person who is constantly trying to catch up.

Uncover how to Innovate once Again

Most of us are born creative and with an innate ability to innovate. At the age of two over 80 % of two year olds test as highly creative. By the time we reach the age of ten, only two percent of people test as creative and this then remains constant throughout our lives. What happens between the age of two and ten, which kills that creativeness and innovativeness in us? It is time to re-awaken your creative and innovative side and to start down the track of super achievement. Innovation will help you in many ways:

·         Innovation is what will help you to create real meaningful and sustainable progress in your life.

·         Consistent progress is what will advance your life and business beyond the average.

·         Constant innovation will put you ahead of the competitive herd and the status quo.

Innovation has Become a Requisite for Super Achievement

Gone are the days where innovation was reserved for the select few, such as Einstein, Edison and the Wright Brothers. The ever increasing pace of change has made it imperative that everyone, who wants to succeed and excel, must become an excellent innovator or they risk being side-lined, to become just part of the herd or a very small spoke in the wheel of life.

Believe you can Innovate or you Never Will

Innovation is not an event, it is a process. You must first open your mind and believe that you have what it takes to be an innovator. Have the courage to make the crucial mind-set shift and change your beliefs and philosophy. Innovating must become a way of life for you. Make a commitment right now to stop looking at the world and only seeing what is. Make the shift and make a new commitment to look at the world and to constantly search for what could be or in fact should be.

Keep asking a better quality of question

The quality of your life and business is dictated by the quality of the questions you are asking. Learn the art of always asking explorative questions. Questions that will help you unlock possibility and to allow you to constantly flex you innovation muscle.

When you are a true innovator you constantly see the potential within yourself and others. You look for the opportunity for what could be in every event, situation, process, experience or outcome. You are committed to constantly serve, guide, help and solve.

Learn the Art of Observation and Take Action

To become a great innovator you must start by becoming an excellent observer. Study people, your environment, how people operate and live, what they want and need and what challenges they face. As you observe, constantly look for ways to add value to the world and the people around you. As important as it is to come up with new ideas, being creative is not being a true innovator. A true innovator is a person who takes action and makes things happen. They are real implementers of ideas and new strategies.

Innovation is a Doing Word

Creativity is thinking of new things, which will make a difference in the world. Innovation is implementing these changes and making a real and lasting difference to the world. True innovators go way beyond creativity and they become the people that transform people lives. They are the people that turn creative ideas into real and meaningful progress. Innovation is converting creative ideas into marketable products, which will make everyone’s lives better.

When you make this shift in philosophy, you have the courage to once again unlock your creative side and you commit to become a true innovator. You will begin to see the world very differently and every challenge or opportunity, which crosses your path, will present you with new ideas and marketable concepts. These marketable products or services will have so much value that people will want to part with their hard earned resources to get their hands on them and to create meaningful and lasting mutually beneficial relationships with you and your business.

Author: Andrew Horton Motivational Speakers South Africa

http://www.andrewhorton.co.za

Andrew Horton Inspirational Speakers: You Cannot Succeed Alone - Build a Rock Solid Supp...

Andrew Horton Inspirational Speakers: You Cannot Succeed Alone - Build a Rock Solid Supp...: The people you choose to associate with are one of the most important factors or influencers, which will determine how your life and busin...

You Cannot Succeed Alone - Build a Rock Solid Support System

The people you choose to associate with are one of the most important factors or influencers, which will determine how your life and business will turn out in the future. These influencers will get to determine whether you stick to your daily commitments to take action towards achieving your goals or whether you remain permanently derailed and never apply yourself to achieve anything meaningful in your life or business. If you continue to choose a negative reference group to surround yourself with, you are condemning yourself to failure and lifelong underachievement

The People Around you Influence you

Research has shown that your reference group or the people that exert the most significant influence on your life, seem to be more important than any other factor in determining your level of personal or business success or failure. The most important thing to remember when exploring all your associations is that the influence they exert on you is very subtle. They do not apply huge pressure and force you in any specific direction. They gradually and gently nudge you off course over time. If these influencers have a negative effect on you, they will gradually nudge you to change your attitude, philosophy, self-discipline and your commitment to take daily action will gradually over time erode. The negative changes will be so subtle that you will not even notice them.

The people you surround yourself with, will affect all areas of your life:

• Your health will be a reflection of the combined average health enjoyed by those influencers.
• Your finances will also be the average of the people you choose to bring into your inner circle.
• The quality of the relationships you will enjoy can only ever mirror the relationships of the people that surround you.
• The attitude and philosophy you project to the world will be the combined attitude and philosophy of the people you hang around with the most.

Don’t you think that something as important as the people you choose to surround your with, which will ultimately determine how your life and business turn out in the future, deserves some special attention.

Action Idea: List the five people you spend the most time around. Then add up the numbers, relating to their health, quality of their relationships, finances, career, spiritual beliefs and contribution to society and see if these people are contributing to the future you desire or whether they are pulling you away from the success you desire.

Finances

First let us explore the finances of the people you surround yourself with the most. To simplify the exercise I have chosen two numbers, namely their level of income and their debt or asset value. You want to ensure that the numbers of the people you surround yourself with, are aligned with your picture of what you want to invite into your future or at worst that they are on a similar success journey to your own..

If the people around you have an average income level, which is way below where you want your income level to be, or they are constantly in a debt spiral. Then these people are holding you back from creating the future you desire. These people are standing between you and what you want to achieve. Have the courage to take action to change this situation or you will remain trapped in mediocrity.

Finances

Name                            Income                         Debt/Asset Value

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

Total                             -------------------                   --------------------------

Average                        -------------------                   --------------------------

On the health front I once again chose two very simple measurement criteria. How many time /week do they exercise and are they in shape or overweight.

Health

Name                            Exercise/week             In Shape/Overweight

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

Total                             -------------------                   --------------------------

Average                        -------------------                   --------------------------

Attitude and Philosophy

Measuring attitude, philosophy is more difficult. I therefore want you to examine the people around you and subjectively assess these. Draw up a similar chart as above and see if these are aligned with where you want your life to go.

What Now?

After carrying out the above exercise, you will have a far better idea of the quality of people you surround yourself with on a regular basis and whether they are the right people to support you on your success journey. The challenge now is for you to make a few tough decisions regarding these associations. If you are committed to reach, stretch and do things, which you have never done before. If you are committed to break free from your current life and create the life of a super achiever. You will need to reappraise and re-prioritize the people you choose to surround yourself with.

Make a Few Tough Decisions

Choose your inner circle very carefully because the people you, choose to surround yourself with; will most certainly affect your life. They will either nurture you, or keep you trapped in an un-fulfilling life of mediocrity Have the courage to use the information you have gathered and to remove the people from your life, who are holding you back.

Your success and level of achievement, depends on you cutting the losers loose and striving to only including people, who contribute to your on-going and sustainable success in your life and business. The more time you invest with people that reflect the type of success you desire, the sooner you will begin moving down the path of super achievement.

Author: Andrew Horton Inspirational speakers

http://www.andrewhorton.co.za

Andrew Horton Inspirational Speakers: Challenges are Inevitable and a Crucial Part of an...

Andrew Horton Inspirational Speakers: Challenges are Inevitable and a Crucial Part of an...: Facing challenges on the path to super achievement, is not only likely, it is inevitable. As you traverse the path of success, you are goi...

Challenges are Inevitable and a Crucial Part of any Success Journey

Facing challenges on the path to super achievement, is not only likely, it is inevitable. As you traverse the path of success, you are going to be knocked down a number of times. This is a natural part of our creative experience on this planet and something, which must be expected on every worthwhile journey of excellence and growth.

Challenges are Inevitable

When the inevitable challenges do cross your path, do not allow yourself to feel overwhelmed. Accept them and realize that they are integral part of the learning process, needed to allow you to grow into the person you need to be to attract the success you desire. Challenges are often the very catalysts, which will reveal all the hidden possibilities, which you may have missed, had you not encountered the challenge.

Make the shift and see challenges as your guide, which will help you to discover your hidden and unlimited potential. You can and will more easily overcome any obstacle or challenges, which will cross your path and turn them into a triumph, if you apply these few simple principles in your life.

Expect Challenges.

As you embark on the journey to uncover and live your dreams and realise your business goals. Accept that the journey will not be smooth sailing all the way. Learn the art of anticipating challenges; expect them as a natural part of any success journey, so when they do come your way, you will not be overwhelmed. This shift will allow you to learn as much as possible from each challenge and give you the momentum to overcome them as quickly as possible. Always search within each challenge and you will discover a great lesson, which will most certainly serve you in the future.

Keep Each Challenge in Perspective.

Never allow any challenge to overwhelm you. Try to keep a clear perspective and see each challenge for what it really is. Never allow yourself to feel like a victim. Challenges happen to everyone, not only to you. Keep each challenge in perspective and know that you have what is required to overcome any challenge that may come your way.

The measure of a person is never whether they face challenges in their lives or business, we all face challenges. The measure of a person is calculated, in how they deal with the inevitable challenges, which will cross their paths. The way you train yourself to manage and overcome each new challenge you face, will determine how your life and business will ultimately turn out.

Focus Your Energy on the Positive and What is Possible.

When faced with any obstacle, challenge or roadblock. Examine them just long enough to uncover the difficulty they present and immediately change your focus to look for what you can do to overcome, prevail and turn them into opportunities.

All challenges you encounter are possibilities and when managed properly, they eventually become opportunities. Always look for what you can do and focus your energies on the positive. This will allow you to very quickly discover the depths of your resolve and ability. You have unlimited potential and ability, believe it and you will most certainly begin to see it.

Your Thoughts and Deeds Create your Future

Whatever you think about and talk about and act upon you eventually bring about. When you encounter challenges in the future, make sure that allowing yourself to be overwhelmed by challenges is not serving you and that is why you never manage to turn challenges into opportunities.

For example:

·         Are you getting utility from people feeling sorry for you?

·         Are you just using any obstacle that you have encountered as a convenient excuse for not doing better or trying harder?

Focus your Energy on the Positive

Look at your words you are using when describing any challenges or obstacles. Are they focused on the positive progress you are making or are you harping on describing the gory details of how difficult things are? Until you change your focus away from the negative, constantly telling everyone how difficult things are and focus on describing your amazing comeback. You will remain trapped in a spiral of tragedy and challenge.

Break your addiction to tragedy and turmoil. We seem to get so much attention when we are describing our challenges and difficulties. People line up to hear about hurts and failures and to stroke our hair and wipe our cheeks. They most certainly do not act the same way when you talk about your successes and victories.

Challenges Are a Positive Experience

Accept that all obstacles, challenges and roadblocks are indeed positive experiences and that they are absolutely necessary for learning and growth. It is completely normal to encounter challenges. The harder you try and the more effort you exert the more likely you are to encounter challenges.

As you push yourself beyond the limits of your comfort zone, you will encounter more challenges and as you extend yourself and you strive to become more, you will encounter setbacks and challenges. These are in fact the very proof you need to realize that you are in fact improving and growing.

Challenges are Improvement Markers

See obstacles and setbacks as improvement markers on your journey toward super achievement. Learn to appreciate and even celebrate each challenge or setback. They are making you better and moulding you into the type of person you need to be to attract the success you deserve.

Author: Andrew Horton Top Motivational Speakers

http://www.andrewhorton.co.za