The Most Important Word

 "The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes." 

Of the many words in all the languages of the world, what word would you say is the most important when it comes to success? According to the experts, it's the word "attitude." The dictionary defines the word "attitude" as a noun meaning "position, disposition, or manner with regard to a person or thing."

Our thoughts shape our attitude. Here are some philosophies for keeping your thinking correct:

• It can be done! Make this your motto.
• Use perpetual optimism as a force multiplier.
• Be careful what you choose; you may get it.
• Don't let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.
• Check out the small things.
• Don't take counsel of your fears. Remain calm.
• Share credit.
• Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.
• Sometimes being responsible means people will be mad at you.
• It isn't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.
• Remember, we become what we think about most of the time. Our thoughts shape our attitude, which is key to our success.



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Make More and Better Sales!

 "Your prospect has a free choice. You get your maximum share of the market's potential by creatively supplying what the prospect wants and needs." 

Nothing can hold back an idea whose time has come. You can give your prospects ownership of the idea of buying what you are trying to sell them by personalizing your recommendations. Remember that you will succeed in this only to the degree that you can speak the prospect's language.

Use a planned presentation and make your proposals distinctive. The following self-motivators will help you make more sales to quality prospects:

• Hard planning makes easy selling.
• Successful sales professionals pinch pennies for their prospects. Help prospects figure out how the premium can be paid.
• Simplify your suggestions to gain understanding.
• We learn, and sales are made, through the use of repetition . . . repetition . . . repetition.
• You know your business, so speak as someone who has authority.
• When a pause or interruption occurs, it's always wise to summarize.
• The story method is the most effective means of helping prospects understand a point you wish to make or relate to a situation you are trying to describe. So build an inventory of stories and examples and practice telling them. Good storytellers are made, not born.

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How to Stay on Top

 "I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply ALL my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy." 

Selling power originates from developing and maintaining definiteness of purpose. The strength of your purpose determines the attitudes you develop about selling and the habits you develop for spending your time. "Thinking right" will move you to join the agents who get to the top and stay there.

Make these tenets a dominant part of your selling style:

• BELIEVE that the modern-day, client-oriented life insurance contract is the single best instrument for providing a complete and balanced hedge against the twin economic dangers that confront every prospect: the dangers of living too long or dying too soon.
• BELIEVE  that financial products and services, properly sold, are of considerably more value to your buyer than any commissions you can possibly earn.
• BELIEVE  that you are your most important customer. You must be sold on your job, your products, and your ability to perform.
• BELIEVE  that you should set realistically high goals and achieve them on schedule.
• BELIEVE  that time is money and that learning to manage your time productively will be one of your most profitable achievements.
• BELIEVE  in the law of averages and in the wisdom of knowing the dollar value of each of your primary activities: setting appointments, the fact-finding interview, and the closing interview.
• BELIEVE  that honest, intelligent effort is always rewarded.
• BELIEVE  that a selling interview is never to be considered a contest between you and the prospect.
• BELIEVE  that the power of your sales presentation will always lie in its simplicity.
• BELIEVE  that the product purchase must be "helped along" and is most often made because you guided the prospect's behavior in an effective manner.
• BELIEVE that prospects buy financial products and services not so much because they understand the product thoroughly, but because they feel and believe that you, the agent, understand them, their problems, and the things they want to accomplish.
• BELIEVE  that almost all development is, in fact, self-development.
• BELIEVE  that staying physically fit is a prerequisite for maintaining a high level of energy.
• BELIEVE  that top producers are ordinary people with an extraordinary determination to make every occasion a great occasion.
• BELIEVE  that the spiritual always determines the material.
• BELIEVE  that your image of yourself determines how far you will go in earning money, gaining clients, and achieving influence.

Study these philosophies. Digest them. Make them a dominant part of your selling strategy, and you will find yourself among those agents who go to the top and stay there!

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