Reg Gupton reviews Who Are You Really And What Do You Want.

Who Are You Really And What Do You Want
by Shad Helmstetter

Ever wonder what you really need to do to get what you want in your life? I have and so have my coaching clients. A good friend recommended I read Who Are You Really Helmstetter says that his experience as a coaching and trainer tells him that there are three things needed to convincingly move you toward your goals and dreams.

First, one must modify your self-talk or mental programs. These are the conscious and sub-conscious tapes that run all the time in your head You are probably saying to yourself, “what tapes?" That is the voice that he is talking about. We have dozens, maybe hundreds of others running around in our heads. He offers powerful and proven ways to re-set these often harmful messages.

Second, you need an effective goal setting strategy. You and I have taken numerous goal setting classes. Most often they have not been successful Helmstetter offers an interesting twist on the process of developing and documenting your goals. I love it

Finally, he discusses coaching offering benefits and ways of selecting and working with a coach. Coaching is often about encouragement, creativity and accountability. Most of us receive little to no encouragement in our lives. What we hear from most of the people that we are around daily is disparaging comments. These seem to be the standard today. We all need someone telling us we can do it or that it will be OK.

All of us work better in our lives with some accountability. The need for this powerful motivator is not about getting beat up when we do not accomplish what we said we would. It is about having another brain/person help remove the obstacles that get in the way. Often we have blind spots in our behaviors and can not see what is blocking our progress. A coach can help.

You can order your own personal copy of this powerful book, Who Are You Really, and What Do You Want?, by Shad Helmstetter.

Reg Gupton

Empower yourself when prospecting

Several years ago while developing my real estate business, I like many of you struggled with prospecting and talking to people.

I would talk with individuals, worked with them, spend time with them and then nothing. I had major attitude problems. I thought every one should like, trust and want to work with me.

I can not give credit to to the following aphorism. I don't recall where it heard it first. I have used it for years and years. When I first heard it I was doubting. I had difficulty in believing that something this simple could make a difference in my life.

In order to effect a change in my behavior, I wrote it on a 4x6 index card and put on my credenza for years and years. And read it over and over and over and over, and over. Getting a pattern here? It worked at a very fundamental level.

Here it is. SW, SW, SW, N. Some Will, Some Won't, So What, NEXT. The emotional power of this expression is in the word, NEXT. It frees you to move on and not get wrapped up in your nickers and hold on to the any single prospect.

Let me know how this works for you. It works for me to this day.

Reg Gupton

Know the difference, it can mean a lot

Over the years a major tip to effective communication is the difference between a feature and a benefit.

I recently found a great definition which explains it perfectly. It follows: a feature is what something is and a benefit is what something does. A feature is a thing; a benefit is a solution to problem or the fulfillment of a desire.

As a great friend of mine, David Peri, says, we only buy two things, fun and a solution to a problem.

When working on a presentation or practicing your scripts and dialogues, work on communicating effectively the benefits of your product/service not the features. You will sell more.

Reg Gupton

Reg Gupton says print media advertising is not marketing

This has happened once to often for me to remain silent.

Many personal service providers and retailers that I work with seem to be committed to the position that advertising = marketing.

It does not. Advertising may be part of a thoughtful Marketing Plan. Marketing can (should) include things like referrals from past customers/clients, warm calls, direct mail, web sites, Pay Per Click and face-to-face contacts just to name a few.

Get out of the thought process that the only way to build your business is by advertising in a newspaper or magazine. How about the day that I don't read the page of the newspaper where you placed (and paid for) your ad the one and only time this week. Your money is wasted.

Create a robust Marketing Plan with proven strategies and tactics.

Need help? Give a call. We can create a Plan with proven solutions to the lead generation challenge.

Reg Gupton

Reg Gupton posts a Top Producer 7i mass email tip

As a strong advocate of building relationships using databases and a long-term user of Top Producer I have discovered a problem that you need to be aware of.

When you send mass email using Top Producer 7i many of them are blocked by AOL and spamcop.net. It is not your computer nor email address that is blocked. It is Top Producer's server. Top Producer tech support contacts the companies in question explaining how people use the system. After a day or so Top Producer's server is opened to send more email and be successfully passed thru AOL and spamcop.

I have gotten into the habit of contacting Top Pproducer tech support before I send a large mailing. You might do the same.

If all of us work together, we might have the company put more attention on this critical matter so we can all us Top Producer to its fullest.

Reg Gupton

Reg Gupton suggests how to get past the automatic and useless phone answering system

The other day a client was struggling with completing a real estate transaction. She needed to speak with someone and do it now. All she got when calling the companies main number which ended in 4600 was the maddening system and voice mail.

She got creative and dialed 4601. Got right to someone's desk. I happened to be the manager. What a deal??!! He was responsive to the max.

She got the help and answer she needed right away.

Use this tip and make your day easier and less frustrating.

Reg Gupton

Reg Gupton posts a book review of Endless Referrals by Bob Burg

Endless Referrals
by Bob Burg

Reviewed by Reg Gupton

A while back one of my clients thought that I might enjoy and be able to use a book about securing a continuing stream of referrals. During my real estate career, I realized a 93% repeat and referral business. I am always interested in learning how to work less and be more profitable which referrals will do for you.

I bought it right away and put it on the stack of books to be read.

Recently I had to travel to Nashville on personal business. I took the book along for the plane rides.

To make reading and studying books like this easier, I recently bought a tool that is perfect for reading content rich books. It is a highlighter with small Post-It notes that can be used to mark pages that one finds important. On the 2.5 hour flight I found that I highlighted something on most every page and had to use the small Post-It notes sparingly as I was using them very, very often. Really valuable, proven information on how to grow any business by referrals rather than working with cold prospects.

I did not finish the book on the trip and am so excited about it that I wanted to let you know about it now so you don’t have to wait for me to finish it.

Let me know if you agree about the power of the tools and strategies presented.

You can order your personal copy of Endless Referrals, Third Edition, by Bob Burg.

Reg Gupton

Tips on perfect practice.

In the article here described in this post, there is a side-bar on Perfect Practice.

It follows:

Tip Sheet: Perfect Practice

1. Approach each critical task with an explicit goal of getting much better at it.

2. As you do the task, focus on what's happening and why you're doing it the way you are.

3. After the task, get feedback on your performance from multiple sources. Make changes in your behavior as necessary.

4. Continually build mental models of your situation - your industry, your company, your career. Enlarge the models to encompass more factors.

5. Do those steps regularly, not sporadically. Occasional practice does not work.

What are your practice strategies? I would love to know what tips you have for practicing the skills necessary in your life and work.

To your continued success.

Reg Gupton

Greatness does not require natural talent

The truth is out. Yes, I read 10+ magazines a month on numerous subjects from business to fly fishing. I just don't always (or mostly) read them when they show up.

I look for days like today. It is 5 degrees in Boulder.

While looking thru the Oct. 30, 2006 issue of Fortune (a must read IMHO) I was taken by a well written article on greatness which you can find here

Take a few minutes to look at this. Let me know your opinions on the points made.

I found it very interesting and heartening.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

Don't sit on that egg!

I have watched new sales people come up with their first (or 10th) lead. They spend all their time working with that one lead. When a normal set back occurs and the movement slows toward a sale, they feel like they have lost their best friend.

Don't hatch that one lead, nurture it by staying in touch. You can not make a person buy until they are ready. There are a number of normal, natural events that can slow down the buying process.

When you one lead slows down, go get another one. Always be out there prospecting and marketing your product/service.

What will happen when your lead generation systems begin producing many, many leads (and they will) and you have two leads at the same time?? God forbid.

Each salesperson should be spending a minimum of 2 hours a day prospecting and lead generating. Always have people in the pipeline, getting ready to buy.

Remember, nurture not hatch. Don't mother hen that lead. It will hatch when it is ready.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

The well is deeper than you think. Another excuse removed

During a group coaching session the other day we were discussing the number each person had in their database and what income that number of prospects could be expected to generate.

We discussed the accepted fact that each non-salesperson knows between 200-250 people. The source you might ask? Go ask your caterer and undertaker friends. That is their rule of thumb.

One of the participants had a major breakthrough with a little simple math.

So if that is true and you have 100 people in your database who know you, like you and trust you then you really have a target audience of 20,000 folks who can buy your product or service.

What is your excuse now.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

Want money really, really fast?

During a conversation with a client, (let's call him Ben) the other day the discussion focused on making money quickly. We discussed the distinction between marketing and prospecting.

Ben said that he needed to earn money quickly. And frankly was a little short of money to invest in his business.

If you want to build your business slowly and steadily then marketing is the answer. What is marketing? Marketing for this discussion includes things like print media ads, direct mail, bill boards, web sites. These tools rely on your prospects finding your message then calling you.

Prospecting on the other hand includes but is not limited to getting face to face (coffee/tea, lunch/dinner, and planned events), warm phone calls (since the advent of the No Call List), and in real estate, open houses. These activities put you in touch directly with prospects who may be or know ready, willing and able sellers or buyers. I will talk about RWA sellers and buyers in an other post

Want money fast, call someone and talk with them about what you do. Want to wait for business to come to you, then send direct mail. Both will and do work. It is a matter of timing and capital you have for investing in your business.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

Do you really have a million things to do?

Ever say to yourself that you have a million things to do today? Do you really? I bet not. You might have a handful. Maybe a dozen. Not a million.

If you find that you spend lots of time being frantic and frenetic maybe changing how you handle the day is as simple as telling your brain that you have a few things to do rather than a million things.

If you tell your brain that you have a large number of things to do, then your brain will gear up to handle this gargantuan number of activities. And your will be running around like a chicken with its head cut off, rather than moving smoothly from one task to the next.

One of my clients begins every day with her "High Five." These are the top 5 activities that must be completed today. Regardless.

Recently I was listening to a CD in my Automobile University. (Look here for more information on this powerful concept.) I heard one person add an interesting spin on the High Five. This speaker suggested that you stay with one task until it is completed. Not jump around (and around). Stay focused on only one task at a time until it is finished.

I know that I jump around. I often describe my attention span as very, very, very short and getting longer.

How do you stay focused on what you need to do? I would be interested in learning from you.

Click "Comment" at the bottom of the post to tell us all.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

Who do you want to work with?

Recently I spoke with a client who indicated that she had a new client and was having trouble bringing the sale to a successful conclusion.

I asked about the prospects attributes or characteristics. Was the person qualified to make a purchase?? Soon? Did they want you have to offer? Were they qualified financially?

Have you thought of the concept of your ideal client/customer? How about listing your psychographic and demographic characteristics?

Send along the elements of your Ideal Client. We can all learn from it.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

What are objections for anyway?

While driving between appointments today I was listening to an audio CD in my Automobile University program (see my post below on the subject).

The speaker spoke to objections and why some people get them and some people do not. It was her opinion that objections are not to test your skill. They are to test your conviction and level of certainty.

In my personal experience the more certain I am about what I am doing the fewer objections I receive.

When I taught Buyer Brokerage to Realtors, my co-instructor heard objections for the students that we had never, never heard from our prospects.

Why?? We had conviction in what we were doing and saying. We were certain that it was the one and only course of action that should be taken to purchase real estate.

What is your opinion about this?? I would love to hear.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

Why won't they follow up

The day before Thanksgiving I rec'd notice that my 93 year old mother had had a minor stroke. She is doing fine and not needs to be out of her home. We will be moving her into an assisted living facility in the next week or two. There were no lasting physical effects.

In planning to deal with her house in Nashville I had a question on how much her house is worth. I used one of the web sites purporting to help me. In order to get the free service, I was asked to complete a pretty robust input form which included my contact info and of course, information on her house.

A few days later I rec'd an email from a local Nashville real estate agent (who I am sure paid for the lead) The information rec'd was pretty useful given that he had not been in the house. It provided me with a range of values for homes like hers in her neighborhood. For now, the information was helpful. A range was all that was needed.

It has been about a month. No more contact from the agent even though he has my contact information.

Here is the point! If you are going to buy leads from any source, no matter what industry you are in, have a full and robust system/process for staying in touch. If you don't have such a system/process you might as well send me the money, no more use than you are getting out of this lead generation system that you have invested in. I will use it more profitably.

Create a system in your contact manager to remind you to send cards, letters, emails and/or call. These systems I call campaigns. Your contact manager must have the capability to create and handle marketing campaigns easily. If it does not, get a new contact manager.

Call me if you would like a free 1/2 hour coaching session on how to select one or read my other blog posts on working with databases.

One study I recently read reported that the time between initial contact and purchase was extending mightily. Sometimes as long a 18 months. The leads you get will not come to fruition for quite some time. And it is your responsibility to stay in touch with them, not their responsibility to remember you. Top of mind awareness is king.

Stay in touch after the prospect touches you. I will may you in a grand style.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

Your mom said that you should

The other day after sending a message to a very good friend, I was confused to say the least. My friend had done a me huge favor which was much appreciated. I sent an email thanking him profusely.

I never heard back. What happened? Did my friend not receive my thank you or ?

Later we saw each other in person. I asked if he had received my thank you. He said sure.

I don't know about you. I was taught by Ruth (my now, 93 year old mother) to always say "you are welcome" when I am thanked.

I said in passing that email is a conversation. Not just quick messages sent to get them out of your inbox. He said that he did not think of email as a conversation. I do. How about you?

Think about this. No contact, no relationship. No relationship, no contact. And each of us is in the relationship building business.

Please remember your manners. Mothers trained us all better.

Reg Gupton