by Tiffany | Mar 11, 2015 | Sales, Strategy
Life is sales. Whether you have a formal sales position or not, life is indeed sales in every form. Getting hired at a job is a sales experience. Getting married or getting engaged is a sales process. Getting your children to do their homework or eat their vegetables at some level is a sales process too.
So when you look at this concept in sales, where a lot of people sometimes struggle, or they get in their own way, is they don’t stick with the sales process long enough. They give up too quickly because they haven’t made a fast sale. Life is sales, but sales are simply relationships. And any great relationship takes time.
You’ve probably heard it said before that people like to buy from those they know, like, and trust. That’s influenced me, it’s influenced you, and will continue to be a massive influence for the sales to come in any industry. It is the power of relationship. And any great relationship takes time.
The Law of 4 Interactions is based on research done at Notre Dame University. A gentleman named Herbert True conducted in depth studies of thousands upon thousands of sales interactions. In the observation of that data, they concluded that 60% of sales transactions purchase after a fourth interaction. Now consider that number, SIXTY PERCENT, that means the bulk of your business will purchase after a fourth interaction. All that simply reinforces is that people, again, buy from those they know, like, and trust, and therefore, there is a relationship established there. This more your price point increases for a product, a service, or a program, the more critical relationship leverage will become at influencing that sales transaction.
Now some relationships are going to need more time. Some are going to need less. But if you can understand that concept, that the majority of your business is found after a fourth interaction, you can continue forward with persistence and confidence that your results are coming with time.
Something else I’d like you to consider that goes along with that same study, is that 44% percent of all salespeople will quit after a first contact. Now that’s you and me. Whether you say I’m a business owner, I’m a vice president, an executive, I’m a network marketer, I’m a coach, I’m a healer – whatever titles that you have, we are all in sales. Sales is your ability to influence, persuade, communicate, and most importantly serve, is going to be found again in that relationship. That’s almost half, fifty percent, that would give up and quit right out of the gate. That’s if they even get started! According to this same data, they would make one contact, maybe one phone call, one voice mail, one e-mail, and if they don’t get the response they want, they’re done and they’re off looking for someone else. If you’re in the business of developing massive wealth, massive influence, then you’re going to need to be a little more persistent than that, and see it from a bigger perspective – see that you’re nurturing a relationship.
To finish up that data: forty-four percent will quit after a first contact, another twenty-four percent after a second contact, another fourteen percent after a third, and another twelve percent after a fourth contact. That means that ninety-four percent of all salespeople – business owners, healers, coaches, executives, will quit after a fourth contact.
44% quit after a 1st contact
24% quit after a 2nd contact
14% quit after a 3rd contact
12% quit after a 4th contact
Just entertain for just a moment for me. What results do you think the other 6% have? It’s probably pretty clear, right? When you study high achievers and performers in any industry, any organization, they have an essence of persistence and grit…that stick-to-it-ness that they’re going to continue on to nurture and develop. See, when someone tells you no, in a sales proposition, proposal, presentation, just remind yourself that it isn’t no forever. It’s just no for today. Remind yourself of this concept and the power of this research. The majority of your sales, sixty percent, will come after a fourth interaction. What I love most about that knowledge and awareness, is you can turn off all the voices in your head around, “Aw, maybe they don’t like me, maybe I offended them, they’re not interested.” Those thoughts are sabotaging your success. With this new knowledge you can simply trust that it just needs more time.
Maybe what you’ve told yourself, or maybe team members or employees or sales reps of yours are telling themselves, is, “Oh, they’re simply not interested.” Show them this blog. Get them to know the facts and the knowledge. Because what I love about knowing that information is it helps me stay anchored that I’m here of purpose, I’m here to serve them. I’m here to build relationships. When you’re in the business of relationships, you’re in the business of service, adding value, nourishing your network – when you show up and play life and your business from that angle, you can write your ticket. You’ll have whatever it is that you want if you’re faithful and persistent to give it the time that it needs.
When you find yourself discouraged or not closing the sales , consider what needs a little more time. When you find yourself saying, “Gosh, I’m making contacts, but not closing sales,” the difference between contacts and contracts is one letter – the letter “R.” That one letter difference – “R” – just simply stands for relationship. So if you’re making contacts, you’re reaching out, emails, invitations, lunches, phone calls, connecting, but you’re not getting the contracts – all it tells you is you need a little more time on the relationship. A little more time to nurture, connect, ask more, ask to serve, be a resource, add that value. I guarantee if you will be faithful and persistent, that is the magic sauce in life in creating whatever you want. Persistence always trumps talent. Life and sales and results don’t always go to the most attractive, the most educated, or the person with the best upbringing. Success and life and results go to the most faithful, the most persistent, which is you, if you choose it to be. Persistence is a choice, right? Being consistent in following up, and being willing to say, “I’m in it for the big payout, I’m in it to nurture relationships, to a point and a place where that I have multiple business referrals.” This starts to come in because you live this on a regular basis. Remind yourself, remind your team members, that their success, your success, hinges upon these principles: Life is sales. Sales are simply relationship. People buy from those they know, like and trust. You need a little more time potentially if you’re not converting as many contracts from your contacts – you need a little more time on nourishing the relationship aspect to your business.
Thanks for taking the time to nurture your brain. Be faithful. Be persistent. Continue to add value and you also will meet with success.
Tiffany Peterson
by Tiffany | Mar 4, 2015 | Blog, Featured
When you look at life and you study success, there’s this quote that says, 
“Success leaves clues.” When you want to create anything new in your life, you want to up-level it, create something brand new, create greater health, wealth, relationships, connectivity, happiness – it’s all found in your habits.
There is research out of Duke University that says forty percent of our daily actions are habitual. At least forty percent of daily actions, we’re not even consciously thinking about. Those are not conscious decisions. They are habits. Think about this: the way you drive into the office, or you get ready, or you brush your teeth, or you make a meal, or whatever it may be, there’s lots of times once we’ve learned how to do something and it becomes habitual, our brain goes into this subconscious auto-pilot. So the majority of our influence is going to be found in what habits we’re possessing, what we’re currently creating, and what we’re doing on a regular basis. It was Aristotle who said, “Excellence is not an act, but a habit.”
So when you think about that for yourself is – when you’re creating any new result, any new outcome, is to ask yourself – what habits do I need to have in place to create that outcome? I love the simple model “habits equal results.”
HABITS = RESULTS
It’s simple. It’s easy, right? But that’s where we have to engage a little bit more with our conscious brain, to become aware. We have to say what results do I want? And then to begin with the end in mind – what outcome do I want, what result do I want, then asking ourselves – what actions, what habits do I need to be employing and creating consistently on a regular basis?
There’s this simple process I teach in my seminars and workshops called the “5% more” exercise and it is simply that. Consider, if you were to take 5% more action or more responsibility for any area of your life, what would those things be?
I’m inviting you to make changes in your life. What you’re after is sustainable change. If you’re after sustainable change, then we need to look at your habits. What I love about the “5% more” is it’s the move-the-needle mindset, it’s after sustainability. Sometimes when we’re trying to make change, we go for pie-in-the-sky, big, huge goals. What’s going to sustain over time and create consistency and therefore the outcome is what you’re doing regularly, consistently, into your life, your business, your sales, your health, your relationships. We all know that what we do every once in a while can feel great, but it’s what we do regularly that creates the outcome that we want.
So consider this for me. I want you to write down in your notes or your notebook this concept of “5% more”. And I want you to go through multiple topics. On a blank sheet of paper at the very top say, if I were to take five percent more action on my health I would … – maybe you’d say I’d go to bed by 11:00 every night. I would drink more water. Be clear and specific how much water that would look like. You might say I would meditate on a regular basis, or I might go to yoga twice a week. If you were to take five percent more action for your health, what would those simple little changes be?
And then I want you to move next to sales or business. If you own your own business or if you’re in sales in some capacity or in any area of your life or your career, if I were to take five percent more action in my careeer/job or sales, I would… –maybe you say I would follow up with five more people every single week, I would go to lunch with a member of my network, I would create that newsletter and send it out on a regular basis, I would take that management training class or read that leadership book. But just small, simple things that can help you move the needle of progress.
Same thing I want you to do in your finances, in your relationships. Relationships, I love that one. Say if I were to take five percent more responsibility or more action for the connectivity or the quality of my relationships, I would ________ (fill in the blank for yourself).
What I love about this mindset is it puts you in the driver’s seat. You’re saying I am the creator of the quality of my life. I own that my results are on me. So how do I start to move the needle? What are the small simple things that, when done regularly and repetitively, create a powerful habit that then produces the outcome that you want?
One of my favorite success quotes of all time is the Zen proverb that says, “Before enlightenment: chopping wood, carrying water. After enlightenment: chopping wood, carrying water.” So much of life’s success is found one hundred percent in those habits, or in essence chopping that wood, carrying that water. That’s true for your health, right? Your health, where you’re at today in energy level, in vitality, in weight, has everything to do with your habits. Not what we do or eat every once in a while, it’s what we’re doing regularly that’s creating that current outcome. Same thing in our business. Same thing in our marriage or 
close personal relationships. Ask yourself that: what one habit do I need to implement? Consider this for yourself, for this week, this month, this year, – ask of yourself “What one habit would have the most impact in my life?”
And look at each category. What habit in your health, in your business, in your home, in your relationships, would have the most influence or the most impact? I love this thought process. Some people think, “Gosh, isn’t that thinking too small?” When you’re in the business of change, and you’re saying I want to help myself or help others change anything, small consistent change that we do regularly, it now becomes a habit. Now you’re into the sweet spot of creating what you want.
Cheering you on!
Tiffany
by Tiffany | Feb 11, 2015 | Blog, Featured, Success
There is nothing more influential to your success, your sales, your income, your business, your relationships, your health, than that of the attitude that you’re carrying with you in life. I want you to consider this concept by Stephen Covey where he says, “We see the world as the way that we are, not the way that it necessarily is.” Your attitude, in essence, is this concept of seeing through, say, a lens, right? Let’s say you’re wearing a sweet pair of shades. You’re going to see life a little differently with the lens that you’re seeing them through. Now consider, what if you were wearing shades that were zebra print, or pink, or orange, or hot fuchsia? That would definitely color the way that you’re seeing and playing life. I want you to become aware that the way you’re seeing things is definitely shaping the life, the results, and the outcome that you’re experiencing.
One of my favorite quotes comes from Albert Einstein, where he says, “The most important decision that we ever make as human beings is: Do I live in a hostile Universe or a friendly Universe?” In other words, is life working in your favor, or is life working against you and out to get you? I know it sounds like such a simple thing, but it’s monumental to the life and the results that you’re creating.
Now here’s the thing – It’s a choice.
Your attitude is a choice.
It’s a decision.
It isn’t something that you just were born with, like blue eyes, or brown, or green eyes. It’s something that you have a choice to – that you get to shape and you get to influence. So I invite you to consider that. What is your chosen belief and chosen attitude? I know for myself, a few years ago I made up my mind to believe, consciously, I made the choice to believe that life is always working for my highest good, my highest favor. Now can I prove that? Absolutely not. However, what kind of results do you think I always keep creating if I choose to have the lens that life’s always working out for me? Even when I go through the tough stuff, the heartbreak, the challenge, the mishap, something that doesn’t work out, a disappointment – like the rest of you – all of those things I go through too, yet because I choose to believe that life is working in my favor, I can always find the lesson, the nugget, the silver lining or in my life, seeing how God’s hand has been directing me.
I love the scripture in Romans 8:28 that says, “All things work together for your good, for those that love God.” Now however you hold this space for God, Source, the Universe, Life, I don’t care what title you use – but that Higher Power in your life of choosing to believe and to trust that it is working out for you favorably. Now again, that’s a choice and a decision.
A couple of years ago I went through a mentoring program with Jack Canfield. It was a powerful, very influential experience in my life. He’s a dear friend and mentor. And he exposed me to one of the most powerful, profound life formulas I’ve ever read, listened to, or been taught. And it’s simply this: E + R equals O. I’ll show it to you. Pretty simple: the E stands for event, the R stands for response, and O stands for outcome.
Event + Response = Outcome
See, we all have a variety of different events all the time. There are small things to big things, right? Things that we perceive as positive, perceive as negative. Things that we are ecstatic with joy over, and things that break our hearts, and a lot of life in between all of that. But you always have the power to choose how you respond, right? This is where the power center comes in for you, is right here – is saying, “Okay, here’s the event, here’s my chosen response, now here’s the outcome.”
Years ago there was this Lexus dealership in southern California and they hit into some pretty challenging times in terms of economics. What that challenging economic time provided for that sales team was to get creative, to dig deep. They started driving out their cars to country clubs and high-end hotels, and more and more people started driving their cars. Now what happens when you drive a new car? Even if you have a nice car, when you drive that new car, you start to have that experience where you are now attached and wanting your own new car. Their sales went up significantly, even more than what they had done prior to the economic downturn. So what did that event create for them? They had to choose to respond. Now could they sit around the coffee break room and complain and whine about the challenges they were facing? Sure, and maybe they did at some point. But they ultimately got creative and innovative to dig deep to respond to the event they were up against to shape their outcome.
This is true for you, for me, for every one of us on this planet. What I love about the studies that are coming forward in personal development and spiritual psychology is we’re studying more and more about happiness. Sometimes you might be thinking the thought that “once I’m successful, then I’ll be happy,” where ironically, you’ve got to flip those. Because what we find is that people who are happy tend to create more and more success.
So I invite you to become aware, a conscious decision, today, that says this, “I choose to be happy. I choose to believe that life is working in my favor. I choose to show up with passion and life and enthusiasm.” You have that choice. It’s yours to make.
Thanks so much for reading – tune in next week for my next segment.
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Cheering you on!
Tiffany Peterson
by Tiffany | Jul 22, 2014 | Self Care
This may sound counter intuitive, but one of my solid, savvy SALES strategies is excellent self care.
And it may sound even more odd to you that in the last two years since I’ve gotten serious about my own self care (which means I’ve also worked LESS time on my biz), I’ve actually experienced more success in business growth and sales income. Yes, it’s true. I’ve worked less and made more money. And had more fun doing it.
Becoming more “selfish” may be the sales advice you need.
Let me sum it up succinctly:
Success in sales at the foundation is fueled by your degree of self confidence. People like to buy from confident people – it shows leadership. How you feel about yourself (physically, mentally, emotionally) has a direct impact on your self confidence.
So in essence your self care = self confidence = influence on sales success.
Does that make sense?
Plus, when you are fried, burned out, exhausted, always on demand to everyone else’s needs, are you showing up as your best, most positive self?
I doubt it.
See, we’ve been taught that being selfish is bad and being selfless is good.
And while I’m not talking about the extremity of narcissism and only thinking of yourself 24/7. I am asking you to consider that for many of you reading this right now (yes, you!), you’re likely in need of a self care tune up.
Last week in my own study, I read the following from Randy Gage in his new book, “Risky is the New Safe.” It’s worth reading twice…
Isn’t that juicy?!
So I have a few coaching questions & assignments for you to consider to help you increase your self care and increase your sales:
- Begin your day with even 10 minutes of personal time for just you. Pray, meditate, stretch, read, or journal. Keep the noisy world (cell phones, lap tops) out of your first sacred 10 minutes. Get grounded with you.
- Take an inventory on a blank piece of paper or inside a journal of, “What makes me happy? or When am I the happiest?” Let it free flow. Pick one to do this week off that list.
- Create an evening routine that helps you unplug from the world and technology and reconnect to yourself. Take a hot bath, read a book, or drink a warm tea. Put yourself to bed in a nurturing way.
- Ask yourself this question, “If I were to take 5% more action towards better self care, I would _______” and journal the ideas that come up for you. Pick one habit over the next 30 days to implement regularly.
- Get outside. Time in nature has proven to be one of the most grounding and healthy habits for one’s mind and body. Whether it’s your back yard or climbing Everest and everything in between, more time in the fresh air will help you.
- BONUS…indulge yourself every once in awhile. Buy the shoes. Get a pedicure. Play that round of 9 holes. Whatever you usually wait to do until it’s your birthday, surprise yourself with a sweet indulging “Just Because” you exist!
When you are nurturing yourself with awesome self care and priority, you have so much more to give to others…plus you have more joy doing it!
Try this out this next month, okay? And let me know how it goes. I would love to see you increase your self care and your sales this month!
Cheering you on!
Tiffany
by Tiffany | Nov 26, 2013 | Blog, Time Management
Are you setting yourself up for fun or failure?
The holidays are upon us. More than upon us, they’re here! (insert my own squeal of excitement!)
Regardless of how or who you celebrate this holiday season, the holidays can become a source of stress versus joy all too easily.
To help you navigate and CREATE your ideal holiday season, I have a short video clip for you from a former television segment I did for my local NBC affiliate a few years ago. These nuggets and tips are as relevant today in helping you manage all the expectations, gatherings, and even help you say NO when needed this coming month.
Create more joy and less stress this season!
click the video to watchGet clear on your top priorities this holiday season and let the rest go. Wishing you much JOY as you experience this holiday season!
Tiffany Peterson
