Are You Waiting for Things to Change, or Are You Changing Yourself? by Art Sobczak

Greetings!



As I've mentioned in my past couple of Tips and blog posts,
it's been quite a tornado of events for me over the past few
weeks, but finally slowing down to a mild sprint.



Thanks again for the emails, cards, and calls. Again, it is
humbling to realize how many people out there I have affected
over the years, and especially in the past few weeks.



A very brief Tip this week, but perhaps one that can also
have a huge affect on your success, if you want it to.



I was chatting with a group of people socially last night
that I had not seen in a while. Most of them fell into one of
these categories:



-lost their job,



-worked for a company that was downsizing and still
had their job,



-worked for a company that was greatly affected by
a slowdown.

Needless to say, there was a lot of doom and gloom
in the conversation. I usually try to extract myself from
that type of situation, but I was somewhat trapped
given the nature of the event.



As an aside, one comment that I found somewhat
amazing was from a guy who said that in an executive
meeting at their company earlier that week (he's in
operations for a building supply firm) their sales manager
announced that they really needed to start going after
new accounts since they couldn't rely on existing
customers any more. Oh, and their business has been
sucking for quite some time now.



Huh? NOW they need to go after new business? That
manager should have been fired on the spot.



Anyway, my point is this: you probably have been in
similar conversations. Maybe YOU are one of those
people. I have questions that I either casually or
directly insert into such conversations depending on
the people or situations:



-What have you been doing over the past six months
to minimize the effects that outside influences have
on your success and income?



-More specifically, what books have you read, websites
have you visited, audios have you listened to, or videos
have you watched to acquire new skills to help you
in this challenging environment?



-Which better describes your attitude right now?

1. You ask yourself, when will things get better and
when will we pull out of this?

2. What can I do right now to ensure that things get
better for me, my family, and my business?



I am amazed at how many people have done nothing,
are doing nothing, or have no intention to do anything
to change themselves in order to survive and thrive
in this stormy environment.

For a client I just completed some training with, they
very closely follow a sales process taught by Jerry
Vass, author of "Soft Selling in a Hard World: Plain
Talk on the Art of Persuasion." It's an excellent read
and I recommend it. Something that caught my eye
on the very first page were his thoughts on how to get
rich. He says,



"There are only three ways to make exceptional money:



-to work in a place nobody wants to be,



-to perform work nobody else wants to do,



-to perform work nobody else can do."



And it's the last two points that he says he explores
in his book, and he delivers. And it's also those two
areas where you can have the greatest impact on
your own personal success and income.



So this week's message isn't so much a how-to
on what to say in a specific sales situation as it
is a challenge:

What are you DOING, and what will
you DO to MAKE 2009 your best year ever?

Art

About the author: Art Sobczak, President of
Business By Phone Inc., specializes in one area only: working
with business-to-business salespeople--both inside and outside--designing
and delivering content-rich programs that participants begin
showing results from the very next time they get on the phone.
Audiences love his "down-to-earth,"entertaining style,
and low-pressure, easy-to-use, customer oriented ideas and techniques.
He works with thousands of sales reps each year helping them
get more businesses by phone. Art provides real world, how-to
ideas and techniques that help salespeople use the phone more
effectively to prospect, sell, and service, without morale-killing
"rejection." Using the phone in sales is only difficult for people who use
outdated, salesy, manipulative tactics, or for those who aren't
quite sure what to do, or aren't confident in their abilities.
Art's audiences always comment how he simplifies the telesales
process, making it easily adaptable for anyone with the right
attitude.

Contact Info

Art Sobczak

Business By Phone Inc.

13254 Stevens St.

Omaha, NE, 68137

402-895-9399

ArtS@BusinessByPhone.com

www.businessbyphone.com