Archive for March, 2006
"What will it Take?"
This is a powerful question, and yet people seldom use it. It gives the person being asked the question the opportunity to “Name their price”, as it were. This is very exciting because it gives you the opportunity to find out what that person really wants – their “Hot Button”, if you like, plus it is often relatively easy to get them what they want in order to grant whatever it is you’re requesting in return. Especially if you’re using Joint Ventures! This question also implies reciprocity – it is not selling or begging, but trading from a position of strength, insight, sensitivity and equality.
You can remove the guesswork from your transactions by using this approach. For example, you might say, “Mr. Faulty, I would like very much to enjoy the hospitality of your fishing lodge for a week with my wife in June. And I would like to trade you for the privilege. Now, in order to cut to the chase and avoid wasting your valuable time or offering you stuff that isn’t of interest to you, may I ask you, in exchange for that week at your Lodge, what will it take? What are you looking for that I might be able to deliver to you that could be more valuable than a simple monetary transaction?”
You might be amazed at the response. Mr. Faulty might respond that if you bring a party of six, he will only charge you for four people. Or he might be looking for a canoe that he can rent out to his guests, and you might just have access to one. Or he might want something that you can purchase with Trade Dollars. Perhaps he would be satisfied with advertising exposure that you could arrange through a Joint Venture. Be well prepared for the meeting and, having done your homework, be well armed with some juicy options, like the aforementioned advertising exposure, seats on seminars, consultations, Gift Certificates (“How about I give you $10,000 worth of Gift Certificates that you can offer your clients in order to increase loyalty, referrals and return business, Mr. Faulty?”) and so on.
“You have not, because you ask”, could also be “You have not, because you ask the wrong questions”. And because you have not done your due diligence to find out what it is that Mr. Faulty really WANTS, as opposed to what you might imagine he NEEDS. Is it more important, for example, for him to get more guests or to make more money from his existing guests? Is it an introduction to someone, a new supplier, or access to a database? Use this powerful question and you may be amazed at the responses you get. “What will it take?”
Robin J. Elliott www.DollarMakers.com
No commentsGive Them a Reason
Their eyes meet across a crowded room. He approaches her. The excitement mounts. But suddenly, she is distracted by a friend and he assumes she isn’t interested, so he retreats. On her way past him towards the door, she drops her silk handkerchief. He sweeps it up and rushes after her to hand her the handkerchief and talk with her. Romance blossoms.
Benjamin’s dog, Vicious, is a fluffy, white Toy Pomeranian that wears a powder blue T shirt on his walks around the lake of a sunny afternoon. Benjamin thinks the sun rises and sets on young Vicious and he spends a fortune on high-end dog food. He has even imported a special dog bed for his furry child. Lucy sells insurance. She mails Benjamin a hand addressed letter, offering him a complimentary dog walking and dog sitting session with her client, Paws Here. Benjamin is asked to collect the Gift Certificates at Lucy’s office.
How many times have you had someone call you up, offering to sell you something, without giving you any reason whatsoever to even talk with them? Desperate people do desperate things. We are busy people, inundated with 36,000 advertising messages a day, all vying for our attention. We have to be very selective and sophisticated in our approach if we want someone’s attention. Consider www.Pandora.com – this is the future of effective advertising – giving people more of what they want. Pandora asks what music you like and gives you the option of creating a bank of music you love (and then you might buy some of it from them!)
Give people what they want. Give them a good reason to contact you, listen to you and buy from you. Talk in the interest of the OTHER person because nobody cares what you want. Earn the right. Create massive, unprecedented, differentiated and visible value. We all have thousands of options. Answer the unspoken question, “Why should I listen to you, talk with you, buy from you or even notice you? What makes you so different? How do I know you care about me? How much do you even know about me?” Do your homework, find the Hot Button and customize/ personalize your product or service to fit the needs of your prospect. Hand addressed envelopes, for example, pull much better than printed addresses.
Get personal and get results.
Robin J. Elliott www.DollarMakers.com
Building Trust
The less you think you need people, the more you need them. Pride comes before the fall. And sometimes, I feel like the Grim Reaper. I will not tolerate dishonest businesspeople. I have to burn bridges and cut them off from my own business and that of my friends. I know it’s popular for mediocre people to overlook things, turn a blind eye and compromise, but if you’re serious about success you should always remember that compromising with a rattlesnake usually results in a painful death. At any point in time, people are either building trust or destroying it, revealing who they really are by their actions.
This should be a no-brainer, common sense issue, but obviously not for many people. In business, smart people deal with you because they like you and trust you, not because you have a large database, large ego and supposedly large bank account. The only people who are impressed with that are sycophants, losers and desperate people. In honor of the fact that the average IQ on a bell curve is only 100 and that entrepreneurs are not exempt from that startling and sad reality, here is my little lesson in Building Trust 101.
This is how you break down trust and let others peak under your Eagle mask to see a gobbling turkey hiding in there:
Don’t return your calls promptly. Don’t reply to e mails within 9 hours. Put people on hold. Break your promises. Show up late. Deliver late. Make excuses. Don’t shave. Answer your cell phone in business meetings. Insist on meeting near public transport because you can’t afford a car. Be cheap. Be unreliable. Try to sell stuff without creating reciprocity. Offer a computer printed business card. Lie.
Recognize a few past acquaintances there? If it meows, it’s probably not a racehorse.
And now for something completely different, just to cheer you up after that bleak little reminder to set and maintain high standards. There are still some winners out there. Sure, it’s a small percentage and they’re not easy to find, but they’re out there and there is a way to find them! YES. You can build a WINNER MAGNET that will act like Eagle Bait, and this is how you attract those amazing people that restore your faith in mankind and bring them into your life like bees to the proverbial honey. And, before you balk at this radical approach, I can honestly tell you that it works very well for me. Do I have your rapt attention?
OK, enough waiting. Here’s how you can build trust and magnetize winners: BE a winner. Expect and demand the best of yourself and others. Deplore loser behavior. Mercilessly cut losers out of your life. Speak out. Offend the losers. Be politically incorrect. Rattle the cages of the herd. Frighten the socialists and the collectivists. Be more concerned about being respected than being liked. Warriors are not timid or concerned about the enemy’s feelings (and losers ARE your enemies in business) – they act boldly and confidently and they win battles. They are loyal and caring to their troops. You will attract what you are. The turkeys will attack you, but you won’t even notice them because you’ll be so busy working with Eagles.
Here’s a simple illustration of my point from the movie, “Patton”:
Cook: Up bright and early, General? Uh, breakfast?
Join the Eagles of the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum. Click here for more information.
How To Guarantee the Positive Attention of Prospective Buyers
How do you feel about telesales? Don’t you think, “What an irritation – this salesperson hasn’t earned the right to call me, interrupt me and try to sell me something that I can easily buy from any number of trusted friends if I wanted it?” That’s exactly how I feel about salespeople who call me up and pitch me on their products and services. There is no reason why I should even consider talking to them, let alone do business with them. And yet, that’s how 95% of salespeople operate these days. There is a better way.
Recently, I was interviewed by Heather Vale on her outstanding Success Unwrapped show. She did a wonderful job and she attended my seminar in Toronto last week. She is a Member of the international DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum, and a highly respected businesswoman. When she calls me, how do you think I respond? Very favorably, of course, I want to reciprocate. Right here, she gets exposed to many. She earned the right, impressed me and created massive value for me.
We live in a dichotomous business world – one the one hand, we have the highly sophisticated, slick approach that is often too well packaged to be believable, and then on the other the hand the coffee-stained, computer printed business card of the MLM’er. By using the above principles, you can elevate yourself to a position where you demand and get the positive attention of those you wish to sell to. Join the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum.
There Comes a Time…
We welcome our new Sponsor, the Ottawa Business JournalListen to Heather Vale interview Robin J. Elliott: Click here
Long ago, I was traveling along a dark and deserted dirt road at midnight in the Northern Transvaal, South Africa. It was late, I was dog tired and I was taking some waiters from the hotel home. The road was wet and sloped the wrong way on a bend and my old Peugeot 404 rolled into a ditch. Some waiters were thrown out of the car. I was upside down in the car, with my pinkie finger caught in the door. The door was lodged against the side of a ditch and I was trapped. Liquid was running down the windshield and over the electrics on the dashboard. I was convinced it was gasoline and that I was going to be barbequed in short order. I decided to shoot my finger off and searched the glove box for my .38 Special revolver, but it was in the trunk. Eventually, I got free, and we walked until 4am to get to transport. Had I shot my finger off, I would probably have bled to death, according to the doctor who sewed my finger up.
It was a warm, sunny spring day in Vancouver. I went for a long walk along the Coquitlam river, enjoying the beautiful forest and river. Eventually, I was tired and decided to look for a place to cross the river. Although it’s spring, the water is icy cold and about knee deep, and wide. And it flows strongly with slippery, big round stones on the river bed. The further I walked, the more I realized there wasn’t a place to cross. But I kept on walking, until I reached a solid obstruction that was impossible to pass. I had a decision to make; walk all the way back and go the long way around, or cross the river. OR, cross the river and explore the new area I was looking for. I crossed. It was icy but very invigorating.
Often, in life, we’re looking for something and we keep on looking, until we come to a crossroads. One gets tired of banging one’s head, or doors are closed, or we reach a point of decision. Sometimes, as in my stories above, we have no more options. We have to choose route A or route B. That decision will affect the rest of your life. This is a very valuable and important intersection in our lives. When I resigned from my job to start my business 19 years ago, my late friend, Louis, gave me Tony Robbin’s book and he had written on the inside cover, “Congratulations on your Independence Day!”
The best decision is usually not the easiest, safest or most popular. It’s usually hard and a bit risky. But the results are commensurate with your courage, integrity, passion and commitment. Choose the high way. Be brave. You only have one life. Be a hero for YOU. Not for others but for yourself. And your own self respect and dignity.
Robin J. Elliott http://www.dollarmakers.com/
Joint Venture Broker Bootcamp Toronto April 22nd Click here
Joint Venture Seminars with Robin J. Elliott to attend in April:
Ottawa April 22nd – Call Joanne Beehler 1.866.702.8008
Windsor, ON April 24 – Call Jennifer Beale 905.274.1888
London ON April 25 – Call Jennifer Beale 905.274.1888
Toronto April 25 – Call Jennifer Beale 905.274.1888
Buffalo NY April 26 – Call Jennifer Beale 905.274.1888
