Secret to Success? Focus on What You Want - Not What You Don't Want!

Want to know a little secret? One of the most powerful techniques you can use to ensure your immediate and continued success is to stay focused on what you want - and all aspects of that - and not to give in to worry, doubt, or to the temporary circumstances that might be happening right now in your life. I know this sounds simple, but most people find it extremely hard to put into practice.

To start with, while everyone understands the importance of goal setting, and many of you may even have goals now, what usually happens after the excitement wears off is that reality settles in. You may have a goal to earn a certain amount of money, or drive a different type of car, etc, but after you receive a few checks that seem to be about the same, or after you get back into your old car for a few months, have you ever found that you forget about your goal and just start accepting that things are probably going to remain the same?

Or have you ever attended a motivational seminar or read a motivational book and been fired up for a while? Have you even taken some of the advice and written down your new goals or even taken some action on trying a new marketing plan or diet? If you have, then you've probably experienced the kind of let down that comes from not making progress fast enough and of laying in bed at night worrying about your income or about your future.

In fact, let me ask you right now: "How much of your thinking is about what you don't want to have happen or about what might happen if something you're trying to accomplish doesn't work out?"

The answer to that one question will always determine your ultimate success. You see, the secret to all success is to be able to stay focused on exactly what you want regardless of how long it takes, or what else is currently happening, or what temporary obstacles might be in your way. It is this single ability to stay focused, committed and always trained on the end result you want - no matter what - that will enable you to ultimately achieve any goal you can set.

So how do you stay focused on what it is you want when so much seems to be to the contrary, or your mind constantly says, "Yes, but…."? Here are some tips that help me, and they might help you as well.

I remember when I wanted to upgrade my Nissan Hatchback to a Mercedes. Well, at first I couldn't afford the down payment, didn't know how I was going to make the monthly payments, insurance, etc. Instead of trying to figure all that out, I started with the thought, "If other reps in the office drive nice cars and they seem to be able to write enough business to afford them, why not me?"

That basic belief was the core driving thought that I always went back to when I had a bad sales day, or week. Whenever my mind started to go negative on me with the, "Who are you kidding? You a Mercedes?" And so forth, I would always reaffirm what I could believe in - "If others could do it, I could do it too!"

After that, I strengthened my vision by going to a Mercedes dealership and test driving the car I wanted; I had the sales rep at the dealership take pictures of me next to my ideal car (in fact you can see that exact picture by clicking here and scrolling down a bit), and I brought all the brochures home that I could and kept them on my desk and looked at them often. And then I wrote up an affirmation card and spent three to five times a day slowly visualizing how I felt now that I owned that car.

That combination - always combating any negative thoughts with a thought I could believe in - "If others could do it, I could as well" - along with constantly feeding myself the feelings of having accomplished my goal, enabled me to stay focused on what I wanted, rather than on what I didn't have.

The result? Four months after writing up my affirmation card and making the commitment to own the car of my dreams, I went back to the same dealership and bought the exact car I had been visualizing about. You see, the manager drove that car and it was still available when I was ready to buy. Coincidence? I don't think so!

So my question to you is this: What do you want, and what belief can you buy into that can become your default belief that will counteract any negative thinking? And then what kinds of reinforcement tools can you surround yourself with that will keep you dreaming about how you'll feel once you attain your goal? These, coupled with an affirmation statement that you visualize several times a day, will keep you focused on what you want.

And once you do that, your goal will always become a reality…

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Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, works with business owners and inside sales reps nationwide teaching them the skills, strategies and techniques of top 20% performance. If you're looking to catapult your sales, or create a sales team that actually makes their monthly revenues, then learn how by visiting: http://www.MrInsideSales.com

Secret to Success? Focus on What You Want - Not What You Don't Want!

Want to know a little secret? One of the most powerful techniques you can use to ensure your immediate and continued success is to stay focused on what you want - and all aspects of that - and not to give in to worry, doubt, or to the temporary circumstances that might be happening right now in your life. I know this sounds simple, but most people find it extremely hard to put into practice.

To start with, while everyone understands the importance of goal setting, and many of you may even have goals now, what usually happens after the excitement wears off is that reality settles in. You may have a goal to earn a certain amount of money, or drive a different type of car, etc, but after you receive a few checks that seem to be about the same, or after you get back into your old car for a few months, have you ever found that you forget about your goal and just start accepting that things are probably going to remain the same?

Or have you ever attended a motivational seminar or read a motivational book and been fired up for a while? Have you even taken some of the advice and written down your new goals or even taken some action on trying a new marketing plan or diet? If you have, then you've probably experienced the kind of let down that comes from not making progress fast enough and of laying in bed at night worrying about your income or about your future.

In fact, let me ask you right now: "How much of your thinking is about what you don't want to have happen or about what might happen if something you're trying to accomplish doesn't work out?"

The answer to that one question will always determine your ultimate success. You see, the secret to all success is to be able to stay focused on exactly what you want regardless of how long it takes, or what else is currently happening, or what temporary obstacles might be in your way. It is this single ability to stay focused, committed and always trained on the end result you want - no matter what - that will enable you to ultimately achieve any goal you can set.

So how do you stay focused on what it is you want when so much seems to be to the contrary, or your mind constantly says, "Yes, but…."? Here are some tips that help me, and they might help you as well.

I remember when I wanted to upgrade my Nissan Hatchback to a Mercedes. Well, at first I couldn't afford the down payment, didn't know how I was going to make the monthly payments, insurance, etc. Instead of trying to figure all that out, I started with the thought, "If other reps in the office drive nice cars and they seem to be able to write enough business to afford them, why not me?"

That basic belief was the core driving thought that I always went back to when I had a bad sales day, or week. Whenever my mind started to go negative on me with the, "Who are you kidding? You a Mercedes?" And so forth, I would always reaffirm what I could believe in - "If others could do it, I could do it too!"

After that, I strengthened my vision by going to a Mercedes dealership and test driving the car I wanted; I had the sales rep at the dealership take pictures of me next to my ideal car (in fact you can see that exact picture by clicking here and scrolling down a bit), and I brought all the brochures home that I could and kept them on my desk and looked at them often. And then I wrote up an affirmation card and spent three to five times a day slowly visualizing how I felt now that I owned that car.

That combination - always combating any negative thoughts with a thought I could believe in - "If others could do it, I could as well" - along with constantly feeding myself the feelings of having accomplished my goal, enabled me to stay focused on what I wanted, rather than on what I didn't have.

The result? Four months after writing up my affirmation card and making the commitment to own the car of my dreams, I went back to the same dealership and bought the exact car I had been visualizing about. You see, the manager drove that car and it was still available when I was ready to buy. Coincidence? I don't think so!

So my question to you is this: What do you want, and what belief can you buy into that can become your default belief that will counteract any negative thinking? And then what kinds of reinforcement tools can you surround yourself with that will keep you dreaming about how you'll feel once you attain your goal? These, coupled with an affirmation statement that you visualize several times a day, will keep you focused on what you want.

And once you do that, your goal will always become a reality…

---

Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, works with business owners and inside sales reps nationwide teaching them the skills, strategies and techniques of top 20% performance. If you're looking to catapult your sales, or create a sales team that actually makes their monthly revenues, then learn how by visiting: http://www.MrInsideSales.com

The Secret to BEING Happy and Successful

Years ago I discovered a secret that has enabled me to create so much happiness and success, and the amazing thing about this secret is that it's the exact opposite of what I had always been taught. You see, I was always told that if I wanted to BE happy or successful, then I had to Do things first that would enable me to HAVE something and then I would BE happy.

So I went about DOING a lot of the things people said I had to DO to be successful. For example when I wanted to become a Top 20% producer, my manager told me that I needed to cold call a lot, that I needed to give a lot of presentations, and that I need work harder, smarter, etc... So I did. But I didn't become a top producer!

The reason was that the image I held in my mind was that of a bottom 80% producer who was trying to Do the things so I could HAVE the things I thought I needed to BE successful. And that image of me trying to struggle to become something I wasn't (and that I didn't see myself as) was the reason I wasn't making much progress.

It was my self-image of not already BEING something (successful) that kept me from DOING the right things to BE successful. You see, I was still a pretender trying to be something that I didn't believe I was. So I kept adlibbing it through my sales process, still wasn't using proven techniques, and I still sent out unqualified leads, etc. So no matter how much more I DID, I remained a struggling rep still trying to get the things (to HAVE them) so I could BE successful.

It didn't work.

And then I learned the secret. It was simple and made perfect sense, but it wasn't that easy to do in the beginning. What I learned is that the image I have of myself, my self image or picture that I hold of myself, is what drives and ultimately determines all levels of success and happiness. And my number one priority was to first SEE myself as successful, in other words to BE successful in my thoughts and consciousness FIRST, and then I would Do (take the right actions) and HAVE success.

I learned that the way the world really works is opposite of the way I had been taught. All manifestation and results work like this: You first have to BE something in your mind (really feel it and believe you already have it) and then you imagine to HAVE the things you want and then it will be like you to automatically DO the things you need to do to get them.

And here's how I now practice this "law of manifestation":

1) First I identify exactly what I will feel like when I accomplish any goal I have. Exactly what it will mean to me to BE in that state of accomplishment and feeling. If my goal is to achieve a certain level of production and income, I then capture all the feelings and describe all the things I will have now that I've accomplished the goal. I do this in intimate and elaborate detail...

2) Then I write up an affirmation card that includes a paragraph that reinforces exactly how I'm feeling and what it's like to BE at that level of accomplishment. I read and visualize that affirmation and imprint those feelings into my subconscious mind so that I can BE that in my mind's eye. After a few weeks of BEING this in my mind, my self-image is changed and I have changed the picture of myself at my deepest BEING level.

3) All while this is happening, I watch myself as I begin making better decisions and as I begin getting (HAVING) different, more successful results in my life. And all this leads to me DOING things differently that support and reinforce and bring into reality the image that I now have in my mind (of how I am BEING).

The way this breaks down is that if my goal is to make more money in a month, I visualize what I feel like now that I've accomplished this, and then I watch as I naturally take better actions, and watch as more people, situations, and deals come into my life. I know this might sound magical and, well, it is. But it works...

If you find that you are struggling to achieve a certain result - whether it's earn more money, get in better shape, improve a relationship, etc., then before you wait to be successful at it, why not start with the end result first? Try BEING the thing or state you are trying to accomplish first, and watch as what you HAVE begins to change and the things you begin DOING change to support that new image.

It's how all long lasting change takes place, and it's a lot easier than going about it the old way you may have been taught, too.

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Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, works with business owners and inside sales reps nationwide teaching them the skills, strategies and techniques of top 20% performance. He offers a FREE audio program designed to help you double your income selling over the phone, as well as an internationally acclaimed FREE Ezine.http://www.MrInsideSales.com

How to Apply For and Get a Better Paying Job (Part One)

According to a PNC survey, almost two-thirds of millionaires say their wealth is largely attributable to their jobs. Furthermore, these six figure earners are much better at applying for and landing better paying jobs and are far more inclined to negotiate better salaries and over all commission plans than their peers (says a study by PayScale.com). In contrast, nearly 60% of their competition (all U.S. workers, in fact) simply settle for the first offer they get.

So what are their secrets? How do these top earners go about applying for, interviewing at and landing these better jobs? The good news is that, as always, success leaves clues, and by simply following some of their tried and true strategies, you, too, can begin applying for and landing not only better paying jobs, but also better positions at those jobs.

Now don't be worried if you're not a six figure earner - yet. By following the strategies and techniques below, you can begin making yourself more valuable at your current job, and more marketable to your next employer as well. In fact, if you are in the job market right now, using these proven tips will move your resume to the top of the list and get you an interview above everyone else who is applying.

How can I be so sure of this? Because my experience in hiring tells me so. Over the last 30 years, I have reviewed thousands of resumes of potential inside sales reps, admin support people, marketing people, etc. And as a consultant, I've worked with my client's hiring managers, recruiters, HR Directors, V.P.'s of sales, sales managers, etc., helping them vet and interview thousands of more candidates. I can look at a resume for one minute and tell you whether a company would be interested in speaking with you or not.

And after all that experience, sadly, I can tell you now that we (myself, hiring managers, etc.) throw away about 95% of all resumes received for an inside sales position. Ninety five percent! That's a horrendous statistic, and it just shows how unprepared (or uninterested) most sales reps are about applying for and getting a new job. It tells me that the majority of job seekers carelessly put together their resume, and then rapid fire it out to as many potential jobs as are advertising. It's the shotgun approach to landing a job. And it does not work.

Lucky for you that with just a little bit of time and effort ahead of time, you can create a cover letter and resume that will make hiring managers anxious to call and meet with you. By just putting in a little bit of work before you attach or upload your resume to a job posting, you can all but be assured that you'll be sitting in front of the hiring manager for the job you'd really like to get.

Moreover, if you follow some of the other tips you'll read in this Special Report, you'll also be able to negotiate things like a signing bonus, a performance bonus, higher salary and/or commission schedule. And, with just a little bit of planning, you can even begin applying to and landing positions in management. And all of this will mean more money, more prestige, and more opportunity in your future.

In the following Special Report, I will walk you through, step by step, the ways that you can:

1) Write a cover letter that will separate you from 90% of the resumes a company gets. 2) Easily develop a resume that will put you into the top 1% of what a company is looking for - and ensure that you get interviewed first. 3) How to make yourself more valuable to your current company, as well as future employers as well. 4) How to ask for and get higher positions in management and so make more money. 5) How to get the largest starting pay - including asking for and getting a signing bonus. 6) How to negotiate for salary and bonus reviews which will keep your earnings going even higher.

You can apply for and get a better paying job, but you must know how to do it first. In my next article, I will teach you the secrets of crafting a simple, yet powerful, cover letter that will immediately separate you from the hundreds of other resumes a hiring manager receives each week.

This tip alone will move you, and your resume, above the competition applying for the job you want!

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Mike is the go-to inside sales trainer and phone script writer in the industry. He is hired by business owners to implement proven sales processes that help them immediately scale and grow Multi-Million Dollar Inside Sales Teams. If you're looking to catapult your sales, or create a sales team that actually makes their monthly revenues, then learn how by visiting: http://www.MrInsideSales.com

How To Turn Cold Leads Into Warm Leads

Staring at a list of cold names you have to call can be discouraging. Calling those names and leaving voice mails that never get returned is also discouraging. And finally reaching someone only to be quickly blown off can be downright heart breaking! Don't you wish there was a way to turn cold names into warm leads?

There is!

It's called a "touch point plan," and it's very effective if done right. A touch point plan is simply a combination of carefully scripted voice messages and emails used in combination over a period of time. How many messages and over what period of time is variable, and I've seen some studies recommend as many as six phone calls and five emails over a month's time.

I've been successfully using a bit less - five to seven total messages - but I supplement this strategy by making calls in between trying to "catch" the prospect picking up their phone. If they don't answer, I don't leave a voice mail.

What type of a touch point plan you decide to develop (how many calls and emails) can depend on many factors such as whether it's a business to business call - and what your target prospect's title is - or whether it's a business to consumer call and what hours you're calling. You'll find what your sweet spot is if you just experiment a bit.

The bottom line, though, is that the more times you reach out to a prospect, the more likely it is they will become familiar with you and your company. Many prospects will respect your professional and persistent attempts to reach them. Because of this, when you finally do reach a prospect you'll have built some recognition and credibility, and your prospect will be more motivated to give you a bit of their time.

This is how you turn a cold lead into a warm lead.

Below I've listed a sample touch point plan that involves two voice messages and three emails. I first make about a week of calls without leaving a voice mail (assuming I don't reach the prospect), and then I spread the following touch point plan out over two weeks.

If I haven't gotten a response or reached anyone after the touch point plan, I then spend the fourth week calling again without leaving a message. I've had A LOT of success with this plan and at the end of the four week process, I've generally reached those prospects who are reachable.

Here is a sample touch point plan, with generic wording, that you can customize to fit your company and product or service:

Voice Mail #1:

Hi _________, this is (Your Full Name) with (Your Company).

_________, I'm calling about (Your brief value prop - example: "the effectiveness of your online marketing").

I wanted to briefly introduce you to a way to save as much as 25% over what you may be spending now, and still maintain or even increase the effectiveness of your results.

If you would give me a quick call back at: (Your Number) we can set a time to speak.

Once again the name is (Your Full Name), with (Your Company Name) and the number is (Your Number Slowly).

I'll follow this up with an email and another call to you if I don't hear back. Have a good day.

Email #1 (To be sent right after you leave your first voice mail):

Subject Line: (First Name), I just left you a vm

Body of email:

{first name},

This is (Your Full Name) with (Your Company), sorry I missed you.

I understand that you're in charge of your online marketing and I wanted to set up a time to briefly speak with you later this week. (If you are not in charge of the advertising, please forward this to the person who is).

We have a new way of maximizing your online advertising spend that reduces what your current budget, yet it also reaches more of the customers that fit your ideal demographic. (Obviously, insert your value prop here). Our model is so effective that you can literally save up to 25% over what you're spending now!

I'd like to schedule a brief conversation to explain how this would work with your company, and I guarantee you'll at least come away with a whole new way of looking at your online marketing.

If you would reach back out to me with a couple of days/times that might work that would be great.

If I don't hear back, I'll reach out to you again next week.

Looking forward to connecting with you.

(Your Name and Company Signature)

Voice Mail #2: (Three to four days later)

Hi _________, this is (Your Full Name) once again with (Your Company). My number is (Leave your number slowly).

_________ you probably received a voice mail from me already, and I also sent you an email along with a brief description of how we save companies up to 25% on their online advertising, while in many cases increasing their results. (Your value prop goes here)

I'd like to spend a few minutes on the phone with you next week, and I guarantee that it will be worth your time.

If you would give me a quick call back to let me know a day and time that would work for you that would be appreciated. My direct phone number again is: (Your Phone Number).

I'll follow up again with you if I don't hear back. Have a great day.

Email #2: (Send this email one to two days after your second voice mail) Attachment: (Include an online brochure of your company and services)

Subject Line: (First Name), second attempt to reach you

{first name},

This is (Your Full Name) with (Your Company Name) once again.

I hope you've received my messages, and today I wanted to include some information on our company and a brief description of what we do.

As I mentioned earlier, we help companies reduce their spend on their online advertising by as much as 25% while maintaining or even increasing their results. (Your value prop here).

I'm sure that when you compare what we do to what you're doing now, you'll want to know more.

I'd simply like a few minutes to see if what we do would be a good fit for you. Once we speak, I guarantee you'll come away with some good ideas, regardless of what you're doing now...

I'll give you a call in a few days after you've digested the attached information.

Or, you can reach back out to me to let me know your interest level.

(Your Name and Company Signature)

Voice Mail #3: (Final V/M - send three to four days after 2nd email)

Hi _________, this is (Your Full Name) with (Your Company) again.

I'm sorry we haven't been able to connect yet. As you may know, we offer a unique way of increasing the effectiveness of your online marketing, while reducing what you're currently spending by as much as 25%. (Your value prop here)

You may be involved in another initiative right now, so I don't want to bother you if you're busy or if you're not interested.

When you get this message, could you either call back and leave me a voice mail or just respond to one of the emails I've sent you?

Just let me know what the next appropriate step would be for us to connect.

You can reach me by calling (Your Number Slowly), or you can email me at: (Your Email Address)

I really appreciate you taking the time to get back with me.

Thanks and have a great day...

Once you've customized and tested the voice mails and emails in this touch point plan, you'll know whether you need to add another one or two messages. Just test a variation of plans and see what the best results are for you. And don't forget to add in calls the week before and after the plan as well!

The most important part of a successful touch point plan is to consistently use one. Most sales reps fail to reach back out to prospects (both inbound and outbound leads), and many just make one attempt and then move on. The way to double or even triple your sales and income is to be detail oriented and to persevere until you reach your prospects.

Adopting the approach above will separate you from 90% of the other sales reps in your industry and catapult your effectiveness.

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Mike is the go-to inside sales trainer and phone script writer in the industry. He is hired by business owners to implement proven sales processes that help them immediately scale and grow Multi-Million Dollar Inside Sales Teams. If you're looking to catapult your sales, or create a sales team that actually makes their monthly revenues, then learn how by visiting: http://www.MrInsideSales.com

What to Do When Asked Your Price

I get emails all the time and it's great because I get real insight into what reps face day in and day out - and how they are dealing with it. The email below is a perfect example of this. I'm sure this rep isn't alone in facing this kind of selling situation. Read his email below and ask yourself how you handle it when a prospect asks you for your price:

Hello Mike,

I've listened to your CD set many times. You opened my eyes to disqualifying prospects. You're right, "You can't close unqualified leads."

I sell life insurance and on occasion I will have someone ask me, "How much would an insurance policy cost me say for $25,000?" If I just tell them how much it costs then I usually lose the sale and it ends there.

After listening to your CD's I think I shouldn't be giving out the price. What would you say if someone asked you this question?

Thank you Mike

Rino R. Canada

Rino, that's a great question, and you're right - you shouldn't just give a price. If you do, you're giving away all control and leverage of the sale. Here's what you should do instead. Just say,

"It depends."

After that, it's your turn to qualify and then decide, based on their answers, whether to give out a price or not. You may want to follow that up with questions like:

"When are you looking to put a policy like this into effect?"

"Would you want to combine this with another policy?"

"How about your wife? Does she have a policy?"

"What have you been quoted on this kind of a policy in the past?"

"Why didn't you go with it?""What are you waiting for?"

"What is your price range on this?" "What is your budget?"

"If I could get you a price that would fit your budget today, is this something you'd seriously like me to pursue for you?"

You get the idea. Before you give your price, you must qualify for interest.

Now, if your prospect is just shopping and you get the feeling he/she isn't serious about it now, then after you ask these questions and determine they aren't ready, then instead of giving a price you should say:

"Well, as I said, it really depends on when you're ready to buy the policy. I'd give you a range of anywhere from $75 - $100 per month. Tell you what, when you're ready to look at some definite numbers, could I be the first person you call?"

And then get their contact info, any other buying information, and move on…

That's the way to handle any inquiry into the price of your product or service.

Thanks, Rino, for your email and all the best!

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Do you have an underperforming inside sales team? Talk to Mike to see how he can help you and your team reach your revenue goals. To learn more about Mike, visit his website: http://www.MrInsideSales.com

Fear Pushes, Vision Pulls

This saying really resonated with me the first time I heard it. At that time I was selling over the phone, and I knew all about being driven by fear. I was afraid that if I didn't make quota I would be fired. I was afraid that if I didn't close any business before the end of the month I wouldn't be able to afford my rent. I was afraid to cold call because no one seemed interested in what I was selling.

It was this fear that pushed me to show up. It was there in the morning when I awoke. As I laid there it overwhelmed me and pushed me out of bed. When I got to the office, and after I had procrastinated most of the morning away, it was there to push me to make cold calls. Later in the day it was there to push me to make closing calls. All day long (and the days turned into weeks and months) my fear of economic insecurity, of having made the wrong choices in my life, of what my future would be like, pushed me through my life as a salesman.

As I looked around my office I'd wonder what I was doing wrong and why others in my office looked and acted more confident and happy. The top producers driving the new cars and moving into their new homes didn't look like they had much fear. The two bosses who owned the company didn't look like they had the fear I had. In fact other producers who seemed to be trying hard and actually looked like they enjoyed the challenge and their successes didn't seem to have the fear I did.

What was wrong, I wondered?

And then I heard the statement, "Fear pushes, Vision Pulls". Someone asked me what my goals for the rest of the year were, and I couldn't tell her. She asked me what got me excited in the morning, and I had to admit there wasn't much. She asked me what I was looking forward to accomplishing in the coming years, and I didn't have an answer. She asked me if I had specific goals in each area of my life that I could actually believe in, and I told her I didn't. And that's when she explained about the importance of having a vision for my life.

She told me that before I could have a dream come true I first had to have a dream. She explained that developing and having a vision that I could believe in was what made the tough times easier to bear and it made the good times more rewarding. She told me that it was easy to develop a vision and once I really believed that it could come true that it was then destined to manifest itself in my life.

After doing a lot of work with goal setting, affirmation setting, visualization and imprinting my goals into my subconscious, my visions did come true. Books like "The Secret" and "Beyond Positive Thinking" and "The Sermon on the Mount" helped me change my life and my thoughts, and I highly recommend books like these if you'd like to learn techniques and methods to help you manifest your dreams as well.

Over the years, though, what I've found to be important is that if I don't keep painting a vision for my life then fear quickly sneaks back in to push me to take action again. While it works for a bit, it's highly inefficient and it's uncomfortable for me and for all those around me. When I'm driven by fear, my life quickly becomes unmanageable and I start asking myself all the old questions again. When that happens I know it's time to create a new vision for my life.

What I'm doing right now is setting a two year vision for my life and just thinking about it has already rekindled the enthusiasm and spirit that were briefly missing over the last two months. Just mentioning this to my wife has invigorated her as well. Separately and then together, we are mapping out what the various areas of our lives are going to be like by the end of December 2013. We picked that date because it gave us enough time to get everything done and having that time is important to allow us to buy into and believe that it's possible. That's one of the keys manifesting.

The other key that has me so excited about the vision I'm creating is that it is balanced and includes all areas of my life - not just my business. I'm setting specific goals in terms of:

Health and fitness

Finances

Creative (in terms of books to write and publish)

Travel and fun! There are trips to Europe, NFL football games, fall color tours and more

The vision includes daily, weekly, and monthly benchmarks, as well

And through it all I'm staying focused on exactly how I will feel when I've accomplished it all. I'll tell you, I get excited just writing about it right now! I can't wait to get on the phone! Over the last week I've woken up with a new energy and it's the power of being pulled forward by vision.

If you've found yourself in a slump lately, or if you've detected some of the old fear creeping back into your life, then I encourage you to sit down over the upcoming holiday and write out some specific goals and to turn those goals into your vision. Read some of the books that inspire you to create the life you know you were meant to live, and share it with those who love you and whose lives will benefit from the dynamic and exciting vision you can create.

I guarantee you'll feel better when you stop being pushed by fear and start being pulled by your vision…

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Do you have an underperforming inside sales team? Talk to Mike to see how he can help you and your team reach your revenue goals. To learn more about Mike, visit his website: http://www.MrInsideSales.com

Four Keys to a Great 4th Quarter

Happy Fall everyone! Next week is the first week of October and the official start of the 4th quarter. I always know the end of the year is coming because that's when my phone rings off the hook with companies wanting to hire me to help them finish the year strong.

So, what's your plan to finish 2016 strong?

If you don't have an immediate answer, then use the four keys below to get organized, focused and committed to having your best end of year yet:

1) Be Crystal Clear on your personal income number and revenue goal.

Quick: Exactly how much money are you going to earn by December 31st of this year? And exactly how much business are you going to close to earn that? If you can't answer that with absolute clarity, then this is goal one for you.

Knowing exactly how much you're going to earn acts like a magnet that attracts clients, opportunities and business your way. Having this exact number also motivates you to take action and continue taking action throughout the quarter.

Take some time today to identify these two numbers and then write them down on a card and keep it with you at all times. Post it at your desk, on your bathroom mirror, in your car, etc. Remember, what you focus on you create.

2) Call your best/biggest clients first.

Your greatest asset as a closer is your current list of clients. Now, I didn't say "all" your clients, but rather your best and biggest clients. It's been said that 80% of your business comes from your top 20% clients, so who are they and what is your strategy to help them buy more this quarter?

Make a target list of these clients and begin calling them this week. Be on the look-out for not only more business, but referral business as well. Once again, identify a number you expect to generate from your top clients and add 10% to it.

Remember, if you aren't getting their business, someone else is.

3) Call your "A" Leads Next.

Identify your most valuable leads next and make attempts to reach them by mid-October. These "A" leads should include deals you almost closed earlier this year; leads or companies who told you to call back at this time; and those clients who regularly buy and who you know will place orders with you.

Prioritizing your leads in this way will make sure you spend your time in early October focused on those leads that will give you the best return for effort. Bottom line? Call these leads next!

4) Start visualizing how it feels now that you've accomplished your revenue goal.

A great motivator I learned from years ago told me that what's important about goal setting is to begin acting and feeling as it you've already accomplished your goal. He called it the "Be" state.

So project yourself to the holidays, and ask yourself, "What does it feel like now that you've accomplished your goal?" "What are the things you're enjoying now that you have?"

Start thinking about the company holiday party and what it feels like to receive your bonus or recognition. How about your family? What are they feeling now that you've made your goal? How confident, positive and happy are you?

These are the feelings you should identify now and begin affirming every night when you go to sleep and every morning first thing when you wake up. Again, you become what you think about all day long.

These are the four keys to having a great 4th quarter. I've already organized my business to be in alignment with them, and I can already feel how good it is to have accomplished them. It's a great state to be in and I encourage you to get in alignment with these keys as well.

Have a great week and enjoy the 4th quarter!

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If you found this article helpful, then you'll love Mike's NEW book of phone scripts, "The Ultimate Book of Phone Scripts." http://mrinsidesales.com/booklaunch.htm Do you have an underperforming inside sales team? Talk to Mike to see how he can help you and your team reach your revenue goals: http://www.MrInsideSales.com

3 Ways to Avoid Call Reluctance

Do you suffer from call reluctance? No matter how experienced you are - or even how successful you are - picking up the phone to prospect, call leads back, and even call on existing clients can still be difficult.

If you find that your phone has seemed like a 200 lb weight lately - you know, hard to pick up - then follow the 3 suggestions below to get into action again:

#1) Believe it or not, call reluctance often starts the night before - usually Sunday night is the worst. Dread can begin building and by the time Monday comes it's almost impossible to avoid dumping VM's, answering emails, organizing leads - anything to avoid making those calls…

The Solution: Set a specific goal for the # of calls you're going to make each day and then make that your #1 priority for your day. Once you make those calls, you're free to do all the other things that are important and the pressure will be off you.

Start with a small goal, one you know you can accomplish and then work up from there. Success will build on itself and it will get easier and easier to make calls…

#2) Develop a script you're comfortable with and then use it on each and every call. Nothing is more demoralizing or frustrating than trying to ad-lib your way through brush off's, objections and negativity you get day after day. Being prepared with and using a script will give you confidence and help you build rapport quicker.

The Solution: If you want free scripts, then visit my blog. If you want even more word for word scripts, invest in my "Ultimate Book of Phone Scripts".

#3) Change your expectations. Most sales reps start with the wrong mindset. Because they believe in their products and services, they think that everyone should and would be a deal - if they would only let them pitch them.

The Solution: Reset your expectations. Start by reminding yourself that regardless of how good your product is, you can only sell someone who is interested at that time and willing to listen to you. In other words, you're only looking for buyers.

Once you adopt that attitude, it will be easy to make calls because when someone says no, you'll be able to thank them for not wasting your time. You'll now be able to move on to the next call and next possible buyer.

Bottom line - once you set an achievable call goal, write an effective script, and being calling looking only for the buyers, calling will get much easier.

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Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, is the Best Selling author of "The Real Secrets of the Top 20%" and "The Ultimate Book of Phone Scripts." Mike works as an executive coach with business owners and sales managers, and does complete phone script development. To learn more about how Mike can help you and your team succeed, visit: http://www.mrinsidesales.com

How to Handle Underperforming Sales Reps

Every sales team has them: sales reps who consistently miss their quota, don't appear motivated, or, when you try to help them, do better for a while and then drop back down into underperformance. As a manager or business owner, it's frustrating trying to get these underperforming reps to do better. And as a sales rep, it's also frustrating not making quota and being under the gun all the time. What can you do about it? Read on, I've got some suggestions for you.

To start with, I'd like to share a somewhat shocking study with you. In their book, "How to Hire and Develop Your Next Top Performer," Herb Greenberg, Harold Weinstein and Patrick Sweeney compared results from hundreds of thousands of assessments that were conducted over several decades with actual sales performance measurements and concluded:

1) 55 percent of the people earning their living in sales should be doing something else,

2) Another 20 to 25 percent (of salespeople) have what it takes to sell, but they should be selling something else.

I don't know about you, but when I read those statistics I almost fell off my chair. As I thought about it, though, I began to compare those results with my actual experience. I work with a lot of companies and a lot of sales teams, and as I've written over and over again, almost all sales teams have the 80/20 rule going on: the Top 20% of the producers are usually generating about 80% of the revenue and income, while the bottom 80% are struggling to make quota.

And isn't that true in your sales organization as well? If you're like many inside sales teams, you're constantly trying to get your underperformers to produce more, but how much real success do you have? Again, sad to say, many bottom 80% producers simply don't improve that much and that's why most companies are constantly hiring and replacing reps. When you look at it that way, the numbers from the conclusion above begin to make sense…

OK, so what's the solution? I mean, you can't just fire 55% of your sales team. The good news is that there are steps you can go through to train and raise performance, and once you go through these steps you'll know who can become a productive member of your sales team and you'll have the structure in place to onboard new reps more quickly and efficiently. Here they are:

1) The first thing you need to do is to give every member of your sales team the specific tools and training they need to be successful. Many companies I work with, including the sales managers themselves, just don't have specific, effective sales skills, techniques, scripts to give to their sales reps. As a result, while their Top 20% seem to intuitively know what to do, the rest of the team struggle because no one is training them how to be successful in their sales environment.

The solution is to take the time to develop a "Defined Sales Process" by identifying what steps 80% of your successful sales go through and defining the best practices at every step of this sales cycle. Once you have defined your best practice sales process, you need to:

2) Script out the best practice techniques and turn these into your company's training program. In other words, you need to give each of your reps the exact tools and techniques and scripts they need to successfully navigate every step of your sales cycle. Next, train and reinforce these skills with every member of your team.

You see, before you can properly evaluate who can make it and who can't, you have to give them the training on your best practices first. Only then will you be in a position to know who has the talent, motivation and work ethic to succeed in your sales environment.

3) Once you've defined your sales process, turned it into your company training program and actually trained your reps on it, it's now time to objectively evaluate each member of your team to see if they have what it takes. I use the word objectively here because it's now up to you to record your reps, create a "sales process or script" grading form to measure adherence to your best practices. At this point your reps either are or they aren't doing what you know it takes to succeed.

The good news once again is that after about 90 days of measuring, coaching and managing reps to adhere to your new best practice sales process, you'll have a very clear idea of who is going to make it and who isn't. At this point you can begin replacing those reps who clearly won't.

4) Now that you have your DSP in place, a solid training program that teaches the most successful best practice techniques, you will be in position to hire and quickly train and evaluate your new sales reps. With this kind of a proven system in place, you'll get a lot more production out of your new reps much faster, and you'll have a very clear idea of who isn't going to make it much sooner as well. This will make you more money and save you money and frustration at the same time.

There is obviously a lot that goes into building this kind of structure, but it's well worth the time and effort. In fact, according to CSOInsights.com, sales teams that have and follow a "Defined Sales Process" average more than 33% in production and revenue than sales teams that don't. 33% - now that's significant! Just ask yourself how much that would mean to you and your company's bottom line.

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Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, is the Best Selling author of "The Real Secrets of the Top 20%" and "The Ultimate Book of Phone Scripts." Mike also works as an executive coach with business owners and sales managers. To learn more about how Mike can help you and your team succeed, visit: http://www.mrinsidesales.com/ManagementTraining/index.html

Two Questions to Close a Sale

I was having breakfast with a client last Friday, Spike Count of the Baxa Company, in Denver right before a training program I was delivering, and we were talking about the importance of asking questions and listening. He told me that a few years ago he was working for a company selling an IT solution and that while dealing with the Director of IT, he was suddenly in front of the new CFO and had to think fast! Here is what he did.

He said that while he was leaving a meeting with the Director, he asked him how he could get in front of the new CFO (knowing that the CFO was the ultimate decision maker). Just as he asked that question, an executive was walking down the hall toward them. The Director said, "That's the new CFO right there. Let me introduce you to him."

Spike was introduced to the CFO and he asked him, "I'd love to spend a few minutes with you and wondered when we could get some time on your calendar to do that?" To his surprise, the CFO said, "I have about 10 minutes right now, come on into my office."

Spike was taken by surprise but followed the CFO into this office, sat down across the desk and the CFO said, "So, what's on your mind?" Spike's mind went blank and he just sat there for a moment. He hadn't expected to be here at this time and found himself unprepared!

Luckily that didn't last too long and before he knew it Spike said, "I have just two questions for you. First, when a client of yours leaves you and buys from someone else, what is the main reason for that? And second, what is the main reason a new client goes with you rather than your competition?"

After that he opened up his notebook, pen in hand, and waited.

And waited. And waited…

After nearly 5 full minutes (a nerve racking 5 minutes to be sure), the CFO finally began to speak. "That's a great question and I'm going to have to think carefully about that. In fact, no one has ever asked me that before…"

The CFO then went on to give his thoughts about this, and, after they were done, he thanked Spike and promised to follow up with more information - which he did. After a few weeks, the CFO then followed up again and bought from Spike and his company. He said of the interaction: "The two questions you asked me were the best two questions I've ever been asked. They forced me to evaluate the only two things that really mattered - what mattered most to our clients."

Spike was obviously pleased with how this turned out, but he told me that the real lesson he learned from the interaction is just how long some prospects take to think about questions they are asked. He told me, "Since I was there when I asked the question, I could see he was carefully thinking about my questions. Since I could see that, I didn't interrupt him - instead I just shut up and let him think.

"This situation revealed the real challenge we face as inside sales reps. When we ask questions over the phone and don't get an immediate response, we tend to keep talking. This is the worst thing we can do. We absolutely have to train ourselves to ask questions and then shut up and listen."

When I asked him the best way to teach reps to do this, he said that using the mute button was the easiest and best way.

If you've read any of my work, then you know my favorite four words are, "Shut up and listen." You also know that I think the mute button is the most important button on your phone. To prove this to yourself, make a commitment today to asking questions and using the mute button to let your prospect answer you. You'll be surprised by what your prospects will reveal and how much easier it is to get deals.

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If you found this article helpful, then you'll love Mike's book of phone scripts, "The Ultimate Book of Phone Scripts." Get over 220 Brand New Scripts to help you easily get past the gatekeeper, set appointments, overcome objections and close more sales. Visit: http://www.mrinsidesales.com/booklaunch.htm and get over $400 of FREE Sales Bonuses by Jeffrey Gitomer, Tom Hopkins and more!!

Five Ways to Get a Commitment on the First Call

What kind of a commitment do you get from your prospect at the end of your prospecting call? If you're like most sales reps, the answer is, ah, none. Or, it's an undefined, "Well, I'll follow up with you next week…"

If this sounds familiar - or if you're a manager and it sounds like your whole team! - then you're not alone. You see, many sales reps haven't been taught how to properly qualify prospects and they especially haven't been taught how to ask for and get a commitment at the end of the first call. Most sales reps are just happy they were allowed to "get information out" to someone and don't feel they want to push it or ruin it by asking for and getting clarity and commitment about what's going to happen before the next call.

And that's where Top 20% producers differ. You see, a top closer knows that any prospect who isn't willing to make a commitment of either time, or of taking a specific action or agreeing to some other part of a sales process (sitting through a demo, etc.) means that they are dealing with shaky prospect. And think about it: if a prospect isn't willing to commit to something now, what do you think your chances are of getting them to sit through a pitch and actually take action with you later?

So here are five kinds of commitments you can ask for (along with scripting) that will help you further qualify your prospect and get the kind of cooperation and buy in in the beginning of the sales process:

1) A commitment of time for the next call. Crucially important as we all know how busy people are and how prospects can literally disappear never to be heard from again. I always end my call with:

"Because you're probably as busy as I am, it's best if we get on a calendar to make sure we can discuss this next week. I've got my calendar open in front of me, are you looking at yours?"

Then simply set a firm date and time to get back with them. Always send an email follow up confirming the time and asking them to email you if they have to change the appointment.

2) A commitment of what they are going to do before the next call. Give yourself some options here. Can you get your prospect to look at a particular part of your proposal? Is there a section on your website they can commit to reading? Can they commit to running this by their boss or marketing department before your next call? Think about your selling situation and come up with the most appropriate commitment of action and then say:

"OK, so let me make sure I have this right. Before our call next Tuesday you'll have been able to spend some time with your marketing manager and get his buy in before our demo next week, right?"

3) A commitment of what you're going to do (always make sure you get one of the two commitments above as well). Think about your product or service and your prospect's particular situation. Perhaps you can check on the adaptability of your products or on the licensing or fit within their department. I'm sure you can come up with something. Try:

"OK ________, here's what I'll do in the meantime. I'll contact our delivery department and make sure we can ship to all of your locations for delivery at the same time. This will make installation easy as we can walk all your managers through this at the same time. That will help a lot, won't it?"

4) A commitment of what the next step is if they like it (again, make sure you get one of the first two commitments above as well). This is so important on two counts: 1) By agreeing in advance what the next step is if they like it, you are actually trial closing on the first call. Your prospect's reaction here will be important - if they won't commit at all, that's a red flag. You can choose to either keep qualifying or get an idea of what kind of objections you're going to get when you do call back. And 2) If they tell you what the next step is, you can prepare for that and for the closes you'll need to use once you get back to them.

This is an important step. Use this scripting here:

"_________, it sounds like this will be a great fit for you. Let me ask you, after you get through the demo, if you find this will work for you, what is the next step for you to get started with it?"

5) The best commitment of all: Asking for the deal if the prospect likes your material. I know, this takes real guts, but if you've done the proper job of qualifying up front, then this is actually the natural progression of your sales process. In fact, this is how I became a Top 20% in 90 days. I would always say (and still do, by the way):

"Great _______, well I think I've covered everything. By the way, do you have any initial questions?" (Now bare in mind that I covered every detail of my proposal and qualified for interest, compatibility and budget up front).

"OK, then let me ask you a question: If after you get the material I'm sending you see it's exactly what we just spoke about, and you can see this (making you money, working in your environment, meeting your needs - whatever is appropriate for your sale), what size participation do you see yourself starting with?"

The answer you get here will almost always be the same one you're going to get after you get back to them and go through your presentation, so why not just get it now?

So there you have it - a variety of ways of getting a commitment at the end of your prospecting call. Work with these approaches and adapt them to your selling situation. I guarantee you that the better you get at asking for and getting a commitment, the more sales you'll close.

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Do you have an underperforming inside sales team? Talk to Mike to see how he can help you and your team reach your revenue goals. To learn more about Mike, visit his website: http://www.MrInsideSales.com

Why You Don't Want to Be Successful

I was in Las Vegas giving a Keynote speech at a sale conference the other week, and a rep came up to me and told me this story:

"Mike, I was out playing golf with a really successful business coach a few years ago, and after I hit my first ball about 150 yards, we got back into the golf cart and I said to him, 'I really want to be able to hit the ball 200 yards.' The business coach looked at me (we'll call him Bob), and he said, 'No you don't.'

"I looked at him and said, yes I do. I really want to be able to hit the ball 200 yards."

"No you don't," Bob said.

"By now, Mike, I'm getting pretty mad because, yes, I do really want to hit the ball 200 yards, so I said to Bob, 'What do you mean, no I don't? I do! I really want to be able to hit the ball 200 yards!

"So Bob looks at me and he says: 'Well, do you have a golf coach that you're working with every week?' And I said, no. He then asks me, 'Well, do you practice every week?' And I said, no.

"So he says, 'Well, see. You don't really want to hit the ball 200 yards!'"

I nodded at the rep and he smiled at me. He then said, "I'll tell you, Mike, after that ride in that golf cart, I went and hired a pro, committed to practicing regularly, and now I hit the ball 200 yards!"

That story really hit home for me. I can't tell you how many times I "wanted" to have or do something, but nothing happened until I committed to it and took consistent action. In fact, I can't remember anything that I didn't get or accomplish once I did that!

And that's why I love coaching and working with business owners and sales reps who have made the commitment to getting better. I know through my own experience and the experience of hundreds of other people I've worked with over the years, that if you are finally ready to do what it takes to succeed, then I can give you the tools that ensure success.

Think about your own situation for a moment. What are your goals or resolutions this year? Are you committed to getting in better physical shape? Are you committed to a certain income level this year? To completing a creative task?

If so, have you hired a fitness trainer? Do you have a sales coach or have you joined a mastermind group to support you and give you the tools you need to succeed? Have you joined a writing or photography group?

Just what actions ARE you taking right now to accomplish your goal?

The bottom line is that we all want lots of things, but only a few of us are willing to actually do something about it. Is this the year that you finally have what it is you've always wanted? The good news is that it's there for the taking if you're ready to do something about it. I hope you are.

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Do you have an underperforming inside sales team? Talk to Mike to see how he can help you and your team reach your revenue goals. To learn more about Mike, visit his website: http://www.MrInsideSales.com

5 Mistakes to Avoid when Building an Inside Sales Team

According to CSOinsights.com less than half of inside sales teams make their revenue goals each month. If you're a business owner or sales manager of an inside sales team, then I'll bet you can relate. So what differentiates the half that makes their numbers from the half that doesn't?

Obviously there are many factors and each company is different, but there are 5 common mistakes I regularly encounter whenever I work with companies who are struggling to consistently make their revenue goals. If you can avoid these mistakes from the beginning - or correct them now - you can immediately begin to get better results, and that means you can begin to make your revenue numbers.

Here are the 5 mistakes to avoid when building or developing your inside sales team:

1) Not having a clearly defined sales process (DSP). Nearly every struggling sales team I work with lacks a clear definition of what defines a successful sales cycle. While they may know they have to cold call or prospect to generate a lead and then call that lead back and close the sale, what is missing are the exact benchmarks (best practices) of what defines each step. Without this clarity, it's difficult to teach your reps how to consistently close sales (which is why they don't half the time).

Not having these benchmarks - and so not being able to identify, verify and teach each step successfully - leads to many of the problems inside sales teams have. If you haven't taken the time to identify your DSP, then this is job #1 for you.

1) Not having a training program that teaches your sales reps exactly how to succeed in the selling situations they encounter day in and day out. Think for a moment about your Top 20% sales reps. Isn't it true that they seem to intuitively know what to say and what to do to close sales faster and more efficiently than the other 80% of your team?

Many sales teams I work with may have a structured training program in place (and I say 'may have' because some don't) but most of them don't have a sales training program that teaches their sales reps exactly what to say and what to do in every selling situation to be successful (think scripts here). In other works, the best practices of their DSP are not the focus of their sales training, and this is why their teams struggle to win sales.

Job #2 for you is to script out your best practices and make sure every member of your team has the core selling skills needed to succeed in the selling situations they face every day.

2) Measuring the wrong metrics of your sales team. While most managers and business owners can tell me how many calls their reps are making, how many opportunities they are getting, what their close rates are, etc., what they can't tell me is what really matters: What their reps are saying during their calls. Don't get me wrong, those other metrics are important to know and track, but they do not drive sales! How your reps are qualifying their prospects, how they handle objections and what they are doing and saying to move a sale forward is what drives sales. And that leads me to number four:

3) Not recording calls. This is perhaps the most important thing a sales manager can do - record all sales calls and listen to both sides of the conversation. Knowing exactly what is happening during a call is the only way to know what's wrong and to know how to fix it. This is the first thing I ask for from a company who hires me to help them. If you are not recording your calls, then you need to start today. Trust me, you'll learn more in an hour of listening to calls than you will in a year of trying to figure it out without doing this.

4) Not hiring the right sales reps to begin with. Not everyone is cut out for inside sales, and that includes reps with inside sales experience. You absolutely have to have criteria in place that will help you identify who is likely to succeed in your sales environment. That includes profiling your top producers, but it also includes assessing the level of sales skills your hiring candidates have.

Also, one of the biggest determinates of future sales performance is past sales performance. That's why it's often a better choice to hire reps without experience and put them into a structured program (see items one through four above) and training these new reps to succeed in your environment. Also, get in the habit of slow hiring and fast firing - most companies do exactly the opposite!

By avoiding the five mistakes above, you can save hundreds of hours of frustration and hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost sales and unnecessary expenses.

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Do you have an underperforming inside sales team? Talk to Mike to see how he can help you and your team reach your revenue goals. To learn more about Mike, visit his website: http://www.MrInsideSales.com

How to Hire Successful Sales Reps

Many business owners and sales managers ask me if I have a proven system or a way to identify and hire top sales reps. They have tried everything, they tell me. They check references, review similar work experiences, talk to ex co-workers, hold multiple job interviews, and sometimes they even spring for some high priced fancy sales aptitude matrix tests.

Even with all that, however, many sales managers still haven't found a way to identify who will actually perform well and work hard, versus who will merely show up, take up space and drive up costs by sending out brochures, running up phone bills, squandering leads etc. "How can you tell?" They ask me.

Well I've got good news for you. There is one technique that I've used successfully for years that will immediately separate who is for real and who's not. It doesn't require any special tests, it can be done on the first interview, and it will always tell you what kind of sales rep you've got in front of you. Here's what you do:

During the course of the interview simply describe the service or product you're selling, and ask them if they think they would do well selling it. Almost all that will say, "Oh, of course!" (Those who don't dismiss immediately!)

After that, tell them you want to get an idea of how they would handle some of the common objections you get this sale, and then give them three or four objections (one at a time, of course) and let them respond to them. That's it!

Several things happen here -- all of which accurately reveal what kind of sales rep you're dealing with. They usually fallen into three categories:

The "A" Players -- The top reps or sales reps who are well-trained and confident, will handle each objection with a recognizable rebuttal, and the really good ones will even ask for the sale at the end. You will instantly know who they are. You hire these reps right away.

The "B" Players -- This group of sales reps will also answer the objections, but their responses will be less polished. With this group the lack of any formal training will show through, and you will be faced with the decision of whom you think can or can't be trained. Part of this group will be uncomfortable with the objections and you will be able to tell that they probably never will be comfortable with them. Your choice of who to hire from this group should be pretty clear.

The "C: Players -- A common response from this group will be something like this: "Well, I really don't know your product so I really wouldn't be able to answer these objections." What they're really saying, of course, is that they have no idea how to respond to an objection, they have no confidence, and the reason they are here looking for a job will be glaringly clear to both of you. You pass on this group altogether.

Try this powerful technique during your next interview. You will be amazed by how well it works. Simply give them an objection, then sit back, listen and observe.

You will know instantly if you're dealing with a real closer or someone who is just going to fill a chair. Happy hiring!

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Do you have an underperforming inside sales team? Talk to Mike to see how he can help you and your team reach your revenue goals. To learn more about Mike, visit his website: http://www.MrInsideSales.com