Dear Readers,

  Welcome to more powerful NLP tips and insights to enhance performance with competence, confidence and congruence in our professional and personal lives.
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Topics in this issue: 

1.  "Anyone can sell." Really?

2.  An Ericksonian Story

3.  IN-House Talks / Training /Stage Hypnosis

    "Anyone can sell." Really?

  Let me ask a basic question: Can anyone sell? That is, can anyone and every one become a consistently good sales person? If we pick up any sales book, we'll be tempted to think that any one can sell so long as he or she learns an appropriate prospecting or closing technique or set a sufficiently compelling goal. Indeed there are several published sales books with that title - "Any One Can Sell".

The sad truth on the street is that sales is not for every one. Logic tells us so even though we may want to believe otherwise. If any one can do sales, why is a good salesperson a rarity and so well paid? Research also proves it. Caliper Associates have discovered that there are five essential personality traits that make a good sales person. They are:

Ego-drive
Getting a prospect to say yes is a powerful means of ego enhancement. The yes, more than even money, becomes the driving motivator

Service motivation
An inherent need for serving and getting approval from others

Conscientious
The ability to handle details and executing promises and follow- ups

Empathy
The ability to understand the (spoken and unspoken) needs of each prospect and selling them an appropriate solution

Ego-strength
Ability to bounce back with full verve and energy despite the inevitable rejections encountered in a sales career

The research also suggests that all five qualities need to be present if one is to thrive and remain in sales. 

Ok well and fine, but how does this information benefit me? In two ways. Firstly, there are many people who are not aware they have these precious qualities, and hence don't make full use of them. The morale is: Know thyself! Secondly, there are many people in sales who focus on the doing (prospecting, closing techniques etc) rather than the being (developing the qualities) and end up frustrated because they don't get the having (sales). Zainal, are you saying people can change personalities? Well, let me turn that question back to you. What do you think - can people change personalities or do they have to live with whatever they were born with and make best use of them?

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    An Ericksonian Story

  As a father, Erickson believed in giving chores to his children and made sure they do these chores. Lance, one of the older boys, was given the chore of cleaning the basement once a week. Unfortunately, cleaning the basement wasn't Lance's favourite activity. He missed doing it, he would forget and Erickson would have to remind him on several occasions.

One day, Erickson saw Lance was cleaning the basement in a most unwilling manner. Erickson approached Lance and started a conversation: "Lance, have you ever noticed how this concrete floor has expansion cracks in it?" He continued: "Did you ever notice the pressure cracks that are caused by the settling of the concrete? Those expansion cracks kind of look like boundaries, like perhaps the boundaries between countries." "These pressure cracks, they look like rivers and tributaries of rivers."

Lance answered: "Yes, perhaps they do." Erickson said "Those rolls of dust and dirt that you are sweeping up, those kind of remind me of armies and soldiers marching toward the boundaries of another country." Lance said "Yeah, I can see that. Perhaps they do". Erickson continued "Do you suppose if these rows of soldiers, that perhaps it might happen the same way each time? Lance replied: Well, I don't know." Erickson left after that conversation. 

Lance was left pondering over what his dad had just said but found himself very motivated to do the cleaning. He said: "…I swept and I swept. I went into the patient's part of the basement and swept from there. I would go back over and sweep again because I didn't have reinforcements for the rows of soldiers." The basement got cleaned very thoroughly each week, and more interestingly Lance enjoyed doing it. Years later, Lance realised: "Dad knew something at that time, that I didn't consciously realise …which was that at that point I was very interested in the (American) Civil War." 

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    In-House Talks / Training /Stage Hypnosis

  Zainal is available to give 1 -2 hours talk as well as trainings on NLP, Ericksonian Hypnosis, Appreciative Inquiry, Solution Focus leadership/management and Sales. He is also available to do stage hypnosis in-house for large groups in connection with sales, leadership or relationship excellence. 

Look out for Zainal's coming public workshops:

Please write to enquire or register your interest by emailing us your details.
 

Zainal Abidin Rahman
Certified NLP and Ericksonian Hypnosis Trainer
Web: www.competencestrategies.com
Email: zainal@competencestrategies.com
HP: (65) 9752 0670

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