Improving Sales Performance

Professional Selling is Simple, but that doesn't mean it is EASY.

This explains why 92% give up somewhere between the first and fifth call, whilst the remaining 8% never give up and account for 80% of the sales made! The 8% are the Sales Superstars.

To improve effectiveness, all salespersons must know what the Superstars know, and that is that they must become the CEOs of their own life - both in business and private. Secondly, they need to learn how to take personal responsibility for what happens to them in both learning and performing their sales work.

Scientific Fact: No one can successfully do that until they are shown how to use their whole brain in conjunction with their mind power
Scientific Fact: Selling is 80% psychological and 20% technical and skill

And - it is the technical and skill areas that 90% of businesses focus on. Then they wonder why they're not getting the results they want. Crazy!

What Is The 80% Psychological Factor and How Can We Work With It?

The 80% psychological factor is your attitude, feelings, reactions and behaviour as they occur in relationship to every component of your work. What do you feel in relationship to each part of the work you do? Do you feel confident when making a call? Compassion when receiving a customer complaint? Enthusiasm as you plan your weekly schedule? Having an empowering attitude towards disappointment or 'failure'? Happiness while doing your work? Satisfaction at the end of your day? Or are these activities interspersed with the feelings of stress, fear, anxiety, uncertainty and the lack of self-confidence.

All of your feelings contribute to your own motivation. It's important to know that all meaningful and lasting motivation comes from within. You motivate yourself. Only your own motivation addresses issues such as call reluctance, 'failure', rejection and self confidence. There are reasons why we feel the way we do, and we can change these negative feelings. To do this, we need to understand:

The relationship between the conscious mind and subconscious mind.
The importance of understanding the language of the subconscious mind.
The importance of increasing focus through conscious relaxation.

The Relationship Between The Conscious and Subconscious Mind

There is the conscious mind, which is 12% of our mind, and the subconscious mind, which is the other 88%. Scientists have also identified four brain wave states which the mind uses to perform separate tasks: Beta (b ), the 'action' or 'doing' state (also the state in which we accumulate stress), Alpha (a ), the 'single focus' concentration, or learning state, Theta (q ), the creative, meditative or healing state, and Delta (d ), the deep sleep state.

The conscious mind is the one we readily identify with, it is our Beta "doing" state, that we use to perceive the world and make decisions such as "I need to make a cold telephone call". The subconscious mind is responsible for storing our memory, habits, beliefs, personality and self-image. It also controls our bodily functions (notice you don't have to consciously think about doing these things). It is accessed through the Alpha brain wave state.

When we form a conscious desire or goal ("I need to make a cold telephone call"), we come up against our existing habits, beliefs and memory of the activity ("I am unsure how to make effective cold calls and the last ten calls I have made today have not been positive!"). This is the 12% of your mind starting to battle with the other 88%. If you make this a battle of conscious will, you can experience stress as you fight to discipline yourself to keep to a calling schedule. This can lead to much internal pain and suffering which is why most people will quickly look for ways to avoid making cold calls, or give up completely.

The conflict between the conscious and the subconscious mind is experienced on an emotional level (reluctance to perform a task, fear, anxiety, depression, etc). You can avoid this conflict when you understand how the conscious mind can influence the subconscious mind.. Between the conscious and subconscious is a very important filter called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). This filter opens as the brain waves move from Beta to Alpha. Once it is open, you can learn how to change any disempowering 'programming' - habits, beliefs - in the subconscious, so that it can work in harmony with the conscious mind.

Objectively Measuring the Ability to Relax and Focus Through Biofeedback

Diagrams 1 and 2 are actual examples of a person's brain wave states as they appear on the screen display from the electroencephalograph (EEG). The height of the "peaks" indicates the 'intensity' of brain activity. This is measured on the Y-axis in millivolts. The area in which the brain activity is occurring is indicated on the X-axis. It is measured in Hertz and divided into the different brain wave states of Beta, Alpha and Theta. The brain wave activity is also measured over a period of time so that changes can be seen and compared on the Z-axis in approximately one-second intervals.

In Diagram 1 the person is watching TV.

• The intensity of neural activity is consistent over the Theta and Alpha states and slightly greater in the Beta state, as expected.
• The mind is still focused on several things at once.

In Diagram 2 the person is relaxing.

• The Beta activity is minimal and intense neural activity is 'focused' in the Alpha and Theta states.
• The mind is concentrated on one thing.
• This is a state of relaxation and releasing stress.

Using Biofeedback greatly assists in the development of the conscious ability to reach the Alpha and Theta brain wave states. When we can reach these states at will, it leads to the improvement and eventual mastery of the techniques and skills taught in the CALM Life Skills Seminar.

We use the Biofeedback equipment to prove to seminar participants that they can succeed in using the techniques.

What is The Difference Between Affirmations and Goals

An affirmation is a 'goal' repeated by the conscious mind in the Beta state. It is acted on by only 12% of your mind - and the filter is closed. It is what we call positive self talk. Furthermore, an affirmation which conflicts with a current subconscious habit or belief will be actively registered by the subconscious mind on an emotional level. You experience this when you say the goal and don't 'feel' that you can achieve it. That doubt, uncertainty or fear is the subconscious mind resisting the goal.

If the same affirmation is said by the conscious mind in the Alpha State, then you're dealing with the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is the 88% of the mind and the language of this mind is emotion. Thus an affirmation becomes a goal when it is said in Alpha using emotion. This is what we call conscious programming of the subconscious mind. When correctly done, it is experienced as confidence, certainty and enthusiasm about achieving the goal each time you think it. In this case both the conscious and subconscious minds are focused on achieving the goal.

What Is Actually Taught During The Seminar

Understanding the language of the subconscious mind.
The ability to consciously relax and control negative emotions which may arise.
The ability to think consciously in the Alpha brain wave state.
The ability to reprogram subconscious habits.
Exercises in reprogramming negative subconscious habits or emotions.
practise in programming the subconscious mind with goals.

How Can The Seminar Be Applied?

The CALM Life Skills Seminar teaches about the 80% Psychological factor - using scientifically proven and easy-to-use tools. Some of the benefits that you will receive include:

• Be continuously focused and motivated.
• Set and achieve goals up to 8 times faster.
• Have high positive self-esteem and be confident in all communications.
• Build business (and personal) relationships that last for a lifetime.
• Interact more harmoniously with fellow workers, and eradicate internal politics.
• Embrace change, and take on new challenges without stress.
• Exceed their sales targets.
• Confidently look at 'failure' as a stepping stone to success.
• Achieve their personal best in sales presentations (including meetings, project planning etc).
• Enhance their leadership abilities.
• Respond positively and effectively to difficult situations.
• Learn and recall from memory up to three times faster.
• Increase productivity without stress.

How Effective Are These Techniques?

The best way I can answer that question is to let you see what some graduates of my seminar have had to say. Their success is the proof that these techniques work!

These are the words of Brixious Donpaul, who is today a Super Successful salesperson in the highly competitive field of Real Estate:

"If you want your salespeople to double their sales within six months (I did it in four months), send them to a weekend Switch On Success (SOS) seminar run by Sandy MacGregor of CALM. It was the best investment I've ever made, and it's the best investment you'll ever make. I'd read many books on sales and self-development, and I'd been to numerous seminars. I've always been considered a good salesperson, but it was the weekend SOS seminar in April 1997 that really brought it all together. The seminar has taken all doubts out of my mind. It has given me a recipe to work with, and the results speak for themselves."

Brixious Donpaul

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Businessman Reg Wells had to borrow money to go to my SOS seminar in August 1995. A short time afterwards, he sent me a brief note.

Today, he is a highly successful Financial Planner with the Chambers Investment Group in Perth. Since the seminar, success has followed success - so much so that in April 1997, he was able to purchase a 130 acre property, just 40 minutes from the city, for $475,000. In September, he was interviewed by 'Miracle Workers', a Melbourne based corporate weekly newsletter that goes to 1500 CEOs Australia wide. Here's part of what Reg had to say:

"My business has absolutely rocketed over the past 3 months since doing your SOS seminar.

I've been to a host of seminars - Anthony Robbins, Tom Hopkins, John Keogh, Bob Proctor - I even went to the US and studied NLP under Richard Bandler - all of which I found helpful but not life changing. I went to a 'promo' of Sandy's seminar, and his laid back style almost convinced me not to go, but then I said, why not, I'm broke, what have I got to lose. As I look back on it now, I'd hate to think where I'd be today, had I not gone.

Sandy's seminar pulled it all together for me. Because he limits the number of participants, you feel involved, and you soon learn you're dealing with a genuine guy with a real life-improving and life-changing message. For me it was the weekend that turned my life around.

For the first time I came away with simple, easy-to-use and scientifically proven techniques, that in less than two years have taken me from flat broke to doing very, very well.

Three things have had the biggest impact on my phenomenal success. Firstly, the system I learned for tapping into my own creativity. Sandy's 'Creativity' tape is the cause of our tenfold growth in less than two years. Secondly, the simple exercises for getting my left and right brain constantly communicating with each other. Whole brain learning I think it's called. Third is Sandy's fantastic method that enables you to achieve your goals up to 8 times faster. And I'm living proof that this works.

It's a condition of employment for each member of my team. I pay for it, but everyone must go to Sandy's seminar. Every year he comes back to Perth, I'll go for a refresher. He should be charging ten times what he does for his seminars!"

Reg Wells, WA

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So What is the Next Action Step that You Can Take?

CALM makes suggestions on how you can develop your skills in dealing with Improving Sales Performance using Sandy MacGregor's low cost Tapes, Books, CDs, Videos and Seminars which have been utilised by thousands of people successfully since 1990. [click here]

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Sandy's E-Report - - has tips that will use calm techniques in every day life.  We will answer questions you ask and with your permission publish your successes stories using the CALM techniques so that you can assist others.  To Register and to receive SWITCH ON  Click here.

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