07.15.08
The Most Important Sale You Can Make
Many entrepreneurs think a great sale is to a large group, a Center of Influence, or a JV Partner. Actually, I believe your most important sale is when you sell your spouse on your business goals.
I know how hard it is to have unsupportive or disinterested spouse, or, worse still, an in-home demon saboteur! I lived with that for ten years. That was my first wife, and I succeeded in spite of her, but for the past 22 years I have had the most supportive, loving spouse in the world – we work as a close team and complement each other. It makes a huge difference. I see grown men making excuses, lying, explaining, hiding, and justifying their business because their spouses don’t support them, and there’s nothing more pathetic and weak than a man who needs his wife’s permission or uses his kids as excuses in business. Imagine Donald Trump telling you his offspring needs to see the dentist so he can’t close the million dollar deal, or telling his board to wait while he asks for his wife’s permission. It’s even worse for women, when their husbands are either too dumb or too threatened to support them in business.
Sometimes, your spouse knows you’re basically a loser, and she’s protecting you from yourself, but I’m not talking about those instances. There are some people (usually lazy, undisciplined men) who shouldn’t be allowed to run a business. I have met some of them. I’m talking about someone who has a great business opportunity with huge potential, but the spouse I negative, fearful, suspicious, or just plain stupid. What can you do to bring them around and sell them on supporting you? When you have the support of a spouse, everything changes, and if you’re a man, you will find your wife has insights and ideas that we mortal men would never have, because women are more intuitive, better at multitasking, harder working, and far better at relationship building than we are.
I’m not talking about men who blame their failure in business on their wives. There is ultimately no excuse. I’m talking about getting your spouse on board so that we all win.
Here are some approaches that may help you recruit, sell, persuade, and include your spouse into your business. The power of synergy is enormous – a good marriage is the perfect Mastermind, and a force to be reckoned with.
1. Find your spouse’s Hot Button – what is their greatest goal and motivation, what do they really want more than anything else, what keeps them awake at night., what is their favorite pastime and hobby? For women, it’s usually about the kids, and men usually want toys.
2. Show them how they can get what they want through the success of the business. Most people want more time, more money, more fun, more peace of mind and security, more travel, more things, and money can buy that. Business is there to make the money to push that Hot Button. Show them WHY and HOW they will benefit from helping you in the business and supporting you.
3. Show them the alternative to business success – the fear factor, the pain motivation, the big stick, the consequences of failure and mediocrity.
4. Help your spouse see the big picture: “On the one hand, this is what our lives an our future will look like if we succeed in this business, and on the other hand, here’s what will happen to our lifestyle and our future if we fail”.
5. Help your spouse make the right decision.
Also, get your spouse to meet your successful business partners, JV partners, mentors and associates in a casual environment, like at a BBQ, at the DollarMakers Members Meetings, at our Cancun Convention, and at Bootcamps. If you’re a man, it’s good for women to work together, that’s why we have the DollarMakers Women’s Club.
I encourage you to do all you can to include your spouse in your business. On the DollarMakers Certified Business Mentor Training Program, we strongly encourage our Delegates to bring their spouses with them. Together, we can do amazing things, and your marriage is the most precious thing you have.
Robin J. Elliott www.DollarMakers.com
