In business and in life we always hear about balance. How do you balance yourself? There isn’t really true balance in life. However, I’ve found it extremely satisfying to balance parts of your life that truly fulfill you. But that’s hard, isn’t it? Work life balance is almost impossible. When we are at work, we don’t just forget about things […]
Guest Post By: Rory Vaden Results are important, but you are not your results. And there is a great risk in attaching your self-esteem to your results. The risk is that if you allow your self-esteem to be determined by the results you are experiencing, then it will always be volatile as it fluctuates with the inevitable ups and downs […]
Guest Post By: Dave Brown Let me fill you in on something that has been life changing. Most of you know my background with selling door-to-door with Southwestern, now hitting the phones with Southwestern Consulting. Well, at one point things got stagnate. I wasn’t sure what was going on, and I felt like nothing was moving forward. Have you ever been there? […]
Guest post by Barron Rosborough from SnackNation If I had a nickel for every time I heard an anecdote about someone’s father or uncle or non-descript father figure slaving away at their desk, coal mine, or smelting factory job for decades to support their family because “that’s just what you did back then”, I’d be retired by now. All of […]
A study conducted by Southwestern Consulting back in 2012 found that adding more marketing and data into presentations can help establish a company as a thought leader. Even though this was conducted five years ago, it is still considered statistically valid. Many of the key findings have been outlined below. KEY FINDINGS: 65% of people quit their goals within 30 […]
Guest Post By: Dave Brown Have you ever felt a little awkward after that first five seconds of an initial sales conversation? Using those “Hey, how you doing?” mundane type of initial phrases that lead to you just talking over your prospect and not making a quick connection. I hear and see it all the time! Everyday initial conversations starters […]
Guest Post By: Dave Brown In 6th grade I did my first ever speech competition. I did it because of Mrs. Bridges. She signed me up, without me knowing, and said, “Dave, you’re going to be phenomenal at it.” The speech I was doing was titled, “How The Camel Got It’s Hump.” I remember it was my first year in […]
Guest Post By: Emmie Brown On a coaching call, my client told me she wanted to sell ten million dollars in business. I said, “Great! How do you plan on doing that?” She replied, “I really believe in myself, I know that I can do it I just know that with confidence I can hit my goal.” So I asked […]
This week is a guest podcast that features me and my husband, Rory Vaden, discussing 8 key decisions we made that have positively impacted our marriage: A marriage touches every area of your life and it directly influences your ability to be successful. In this week’s podcast instead of having an expert guest, I share some of the mistakes that […]
LinkedIn can be used as a huge resource to find leads and build professional relationships. Today we’re going to talk about how to use the Advanced Search function to help you “sweep” LinkedIn to find the necessary leads and referrals you want to be connected to in your local markets. On the LinkedIn home page, right at the top, there’s […]
You did it. You made the cold call, and someone answered. The gatekeeper. Now this person holds the key to the gate. That gate opens the opportunity to talk to the decision maker. But what do you say to the gatekeeper, the receptionist, the executive assistant, to get through the door? Gatekeepers have a very specific job; it’s to screen […]
Third-party selling is a big key to successful selling. It gives you the opportunity to have your clients sell you, for you. Your customers and prospects, they know you’re biased to your product/service because you’re the one selling the product. The power of third-party selling is allowing your clients, and the other people you’ve worked for presently or in the […]
One of the most common objections in sales is typically one that can easily throw off your sales presentation entirely. This is because when you hear it, you’re not prepared to answer it…. Yet. You’ve all been through a process where you’re just getting started, you’re just asking questions about the potential client’s needs, you get to your presentation, and […]
[youtube=http://youtu.be/rqG8m3EvkjQ] Trust is a choice. Every time you choose it or choose against it, it comes with benefits or consequences. When one person becomes more trustworthy, their surroundings, their team, their community can get better too. David shares the main pillars of trust and a few that stood out to me were competency, commitment, and consistency. David Horsager shares his […]
Knowing the personality of the people you’re cold calling is a unique but important skill set that you need to know. You may be thinking, “How can I know the personality of who I’m calling if I’ve never met them before?” That’s one of my favorite questions to be asked, because I believe that you can figure out someone’s personality […]
Do you ever feel like you have more to do than the hours that are available on any given day? Sometimes I wake up and I go to bed and I haven’t even checked anything off of my to do list, and I think, “What did I do all day today?” If you’ve ever felt like you had a Maniac […]
Cold calling can be tedious and sometimes discouraging. Here are three simple tips to help increase your success rate while cold calling. Don’t lead with your company name – Regardless of who answers the phone (the decision maker, receptionist, or their executive assistance) do not lead with, “Hi, this is Amanda Johns Vaden from Southwestern Consulting.” That screams salesperson. You don’t want […]
Does what you say to yourself make a difference? Does it help you improve or does it discourage you? Does it give you confidence or does it make you self-conscious? Does it make you want to keep going or does it want to make you get back in bed? What you say when you talk to yourself is one of […]
How good are you at working with the opposite sex? I get asked often, “How do I better sell, communicate with, and build relationships with the opposite gender in a selling or workplace situation?” Here is what I have discovered, we both want the same things, we both have similar goals, we both have the same jobs these days, but […]
On the topic of closing, I find this closing technique to be very effective. This is one of the most common closes and one of the most powerful closes out there, the choice of two positives. The choice of two positives is commonly used because it’s so simple. And it’s powerful because it allows you to keep control of the […]
The Harvard Study of Communications said that it only takes seven seconds for you to make a first impression on another human being, only seven seconds. I think that study is so fascinating because of this one little thing. How many words do you say in seven seconds? Do a one to seven countdown in your head right now. “Hi […]
