Business Suicides

You ask for the business from customers or the prospects for the business.
You are not a peddler. You are not a beggar. You are a problem solver, solution provider, advisor, consultant, expert and educator. Does your lawyer get on his hand and knees for your business? Does your doctor? No. And you neither should you. This isn’t a matter of ego or pride. It’s about being a sales professional. When you ask for the business, you:

• Appear desperate and lose professionalism.
• Rely on a stunt as opposed to creating a compelling sales performance. When you instill trust in yourself, you don’t have to ask for the business; your customers and prospects ask for you. So don’t ask for the business. Make the offer so attractive the business asks for you.

Reminding yourself of your prospects’ patterns before you walk in the room is critical. Replay the movie of your last meeting in your mind before you enter the room. Doing this provides you with strong and reliable signals and patterns for how to conduct yourself this go-round--this new opportunity.

You rely on referral sources
Building a network of referral sources and having them recommend you to their friends and family, these are always good things. But relying on them is a big mistake. That’s because you pass control of your own destiny on to others, who may or may not act on your behalf. There’s too much at stake for you to risk the “may not.” Far better to go out everyday with a goal to educate, influence, and build trust. Then the dollars will come.