From Brian Tracy's newsletters - update Sept 28, 2010

Hi everyone,

I am subscribed to some of Brian Tracy's newsletters. Here I will put info I receive from these newsletters when it really gets my attention.

*** added sept 28, 2010 ***

Be a Doctor of Selling
By: Brian Tracy

Three Keys to Building Relationships
Top sales professionals see themselves as "Doctors of Selling." They see themselves as professionals, well educated, acting in their "patient's" best interest, and bound by a high code of ethics.

The medical process is the same everywhere. Whenever you go to any doctor, of any kind, for any condition, he will follow the three part sequence of examination, diagnosis and prescription.

Begin With a Thorough Examination
Just as a medical professional would never think of treating you without following these three steps in order, you as a doctor of selling, would never allow a customer to force you to sell without your going through your three stages as well. This is as applicable to selling magazines door-to-door as it is to selling oil tankers to Exxon.

In the examination phase, you ask excellent questions, carefully prepared, in sequence, which are geared to give you a thorough knowledge of the patient's condition, or the customer's situation.

Diagnose the Customer's Need Accurately
The second phase is that of diagnosis. In the diagnosis phase with a customer, you would repeat back the results of your examination and double check to be sure that the symptoms that you had detected were the real symptoms being experienced by the patient. You would ask additional questions to confirm and corroborate. You and the patient would mutually agree that this diagnosis seems to be an accurate description of the condition or problem.

Make the Right Prescription
Once this mutual agreement has been reached, that a treatable condition exists and that you have identified it accurately, you can move on to phase three. This is the prescription phase, where you show the patient (customer) that your product or service is the best available treatment, taking all the factors of the patient's situation into consideration for the ailment that you have diagnosed. You show that, on balance, what you are suggesting is the best of all possible solutions.

Professionals who sell in the way that doctors treat patients find that their sales activities proceed far more smoothly and result in better sales in less time.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, take the time to do a thorough examination by asking excellent questions and by listening carefully to the answers.

Second, repeat back and check your diagnosis with the customer so that you both agree on the need or problem - before you recommend a solution.

*********************************

*** added sept 27, 2010 ***

September 27, 2010

The Law of Time Pressure
By Brian Tracy

There is never enough time to do everything but there is always enough time to do the most important things. When you find yourself under pressure to get a job done by a particular deadline, you are forced to be vastly more efficient than you would ever be if you felt that you had ample time. This explains why so many people get the job done only when they are faced with stringent deadlines.

Parkinson's Law
Parkinson's Law says, “Work expands to fill the time allotted for it.” If you have two hours of work to do and an entire day in which to do it, the work will tend to expand gradually, and will take you all day long to complete the two hours of work.

Reverse Parkinson's Law
However, the reverse is also true. It is “Work contracts to fill the time allotted for it.” Use this law by setting deadlines for yourself that force you to complete the task far sooner. Continually analyze your work and focus your attention on completing your most important task, the task that represents the most valuable contribution you can make, on schedule, if not before.

*********************************