Small Business Leadership and Sales Blog

Happy Thanksgiving week.  Pleae enjoy this piece written by Joshua Becker. 

 “Gratitude is a vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic.”  —John Henry Jowet

Gratitude matters.

A grateful heart is a contented heart. A contented heart is a simple heart. And a simple heart leads to a simplified life.

Gratitude opens the door to simplicity. A person who is grateful for the things they own will care for them, enjoy them, and waste less energy seeking more. They will experience fulfillment in the gifts they already possess rather than looking outside themselves for more.

But we live in a culture that preaches discontent. A consumer culture will always attack gratitude—if they can sow discontent in our lives, they can sell us their new product line or latest version with new improvements.

In contrast, those who can find gratitude in their current existence will be less influenced by those empty promises.

How can we find gratitude in a world that seeks to destroy it?

1. Intentionally choose it. Gratitude will never be a result of your next purchase, success, or accomplishment. It is available in your heart right now. And you will never find gratitude in life until you intentionally decide to choose it.

2. Count your blessings. A new day, a warm bed, a loving spouse, a child in your life, a unique personality, or a special talent… You have wonderful things in your life already. Gratitude quickly sets in when we begin to spend a quiet moment each day remembering them. This practice alone has the potential to change your heart and life immeasurably.

3. Stop focusing on what you don’t have. Too many people never realize gratitude because they spend so much mental energy focused on what they don’t have. Throw away catalogs and advertisements that inevitably promise you more fulfillment and joy in life. Those things are not sold in stores—never have been, never will be.

4. Embrace humility. Humility is an essential ingredient in gratitude. A humble heart finds satisfaction in the gifts it already possesses and demands less from others and life. Remember that no matter what your accomplishments, your life contains no more inherent value than the person sitting next to you… no matter where you may be sitting.

5. Open your eyes to those with less. Almost half the world, over three billion people, live on less than $2.50 a day. 1.1 billion people have inadequate access to clean water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation. Let those facts sink in for just a moment—and slowly allow gratitude and a desire to become part of the solution to take their place.

6. Find gratitude in difficulty. It is easy to be grateful when things are going well. It can be more difficult during the trials of life: death, disease, rejection, or failure. The truth is that no one is exempt from the trials of life, but good can always be found in even the worst of times. And embracing gratitude during those trials may be the one thing that gets you through them.

In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy. And that gratefulness always leads to a satisfied, simplified life.

About Joshua Becker

Writer. Inspiring others to live more by owning less.
Bestselling author of Simplify & Clutterfree with Kids.

I like to define attitude as a person's choice in response to a situation. A positive or negative attitude toward a person, thing, place, event or idea is a form of judgment. It is greatly influenced by the person's upbringing, environment, education and social interactions. But attitude is not permanent; it can be changed. Social influences can alter a person's attitude, which is why communication is vital.

Attitude is one vital trait that can be formed but cannot be destroyed without your consent. You do have control over it. You always have a choice in how to respond to life's daily challenges and circumstances.

Your attitude is important to your team and what they think about your attitude likewise is important. Teamwork will succeed if members among the team make it work. The team will benefit if all team members are willing to cooperate and share the same goal.

To avoid misunderstanding and disagreement, it is vital to know your own positive and negative attitudes when dealing with people while at work or at home. Inappropriate attitudes cause work and family rifts, party division and political faction.  

Attitude can:

• Project a kind of leadership;
• Hold and bind people together;
• Inspire people to work and execute together;
• Empower people to plan and achieve together as a team; and
• Influence, attract and lure people to communicate, respond and cooperate.

Memorize this quote. Tape it to your dashboard in your car or on your refrigerator. Do whatever it takes to allow these words to sink into your soul.

“The right attitude will always carry you to the right place and the right people at the right time.” – Marvin LeBlanc, Author, Come Hell or High Water: Life Lessons from Hurricane Katrina (Facing Life’s Greatest Challenges, No Matter What)

Walt Disney called the process of giving added value "plussing". His idea was to add value to a trip to a Disney theme park, movie or anything Disney produced. This extra value was not tied to anything Disney did that added money to their coffers. It was just little things that made the experience of going to a Disney function even more enjoyable!

The prospect of giving added value in any business, including insurance, is something worth looking into. In this way clients won't have to duck into a bathroom or engage in idle banter just to get away from a sales pitch they think is coming. Finding ways to give extra value in a business is a sure way to lock up clients for years to come. When they know it's not all about sales and selling they are much more willing to become clients and customers.

Yet, how does one go about adding value for a client? What kind of magic must one perform to win over a person or family for life? A few simple but powerful strategies are listed below. As long as one is natural and sincere these ideas can work magic on current and future clients.

• Find a niche for the business. Price LeBlanc, a mega car salesman in Louisiana, used to give away country sausage to everyone who bought a vehicle from him. Find a great niche!!
• Check out the refrigerator door when in someone's home. Children and grandchildren usually fill it with pictures and drawings. Learn about these kids. If one is in Little League think about sponsoring the team. Does one have a school trip coming up? Donate money for lunch on the trip or sponsor the entire trip. Give the client something to remember the business by not dealing with the company.
• Pay attention to what a person is passionate about. Does a client love to garden? Purchase a rare and colorful Old English rose for their garden. Does another have a book collection? Find a favorite or special book for them. The customer will understand they are valued for more than just their money. 
• The gang's all here!! Why market a business to one couple or family at a time? Gather up several, or many, and give a presentation to all of them. Feed them a meal. Give out door prizes. Get them to come out with family, friends and neighbors to be exposed to the business.
• Give a meaningful gift when business is done. Just sold a couple of large insurance policies to a couple. As they sign their names on the policy present each of them with a nice pen. Each time they use their pens after that they will remember their purchase.

Finding ways to add extra value may require some thinking. One has to make sure it keeps with the personality of the business and the person running the business. Rest assured though, if shown they are valued as a client they will continue to come back for years and years. 

Adding value for a client is a great way to lock in that person or persons business for life. Doing it in a way that does not add to the bottom line of a business shows the client that they are valued as both a client and a friend. So whether giving away country sausage or ink pens add a little extra to a client's experience and lock in their business for a long time, maybe even for life!!

Attention Marvelous People!

Do you ever need to hire a new “Director of First Impressions” (formerly known as the Receptionist) but you are weak at writing a compelling ad to attract the right person?

Are you just too busy or just too lazy to put in the thinking to come up with something?

Well today’s your lucky day. 

1. The ad below is an ad that actually works, so steal it now and do something with it.  Don’t post it at some boring career site. Take it and do what one of our Raving Fans did for us.

2.  What’s that? Let your “Raving Fans” also known as your Centers of Influence that love Facebook HELP YOU. Our Raving Fan posted it on her Facebook page. Yes, you can certainly do your own posting, but the point is to open your mind to other channels of people that are not in your immediate circle.

Here was her post:

Friends,

A friend of mine is looking to hire the right person immediately.  If you know someone who might be interested, please pass this email along and ask him or her to contact me for more information and to schedule an interview. 

Energetic, fast paced, established & professional sales office looking for a positive, thorough & reliable Director of First Impressions.  Responsibilities include answering multiple phone lines, processing payments, managing paperwork, etc.  Must be computer literate, have a positive attitude, friendly voice & be a quick learner.  Opportunities for advancement exist.  This is a full time (M-F 8 to 5) position in Jefferson, LA. If interested, please send me an email with resume and salary requirements.

Peace, Love & Gumbo, 

Marvin LeBlanc 

LUTCF, CNP

Notice the title says fact-finding conversations, not fact-finding appointment. As insurance and financial services professionals, we certainly want to work by appointment. However, it is not more appointments we need, but more conversations.

1. Forget appointments.

You can have many more conversations than you can have appointments.

The old way of thinking is: I must see three appointments a day, or I will not succeed. We were all trained this way. Relax. It's not your fault. This way of thinking used to work. But things have changed, and we must change our thinking about how to be successful.

Try thinking along the lines of: I must have one informal fact-finding conversation for every hour I work.

Well, Marvin, what's the difference between an appointment and a conversation? And why is this important to me?

People don't want to come in to see you for an appointment. People don't want you to come see them for an appointment either.

You may be using too many old think techniques. Of the licensed professionals in my Marvelous Performance Schools, 65% do not have an internet presence, personal blog, Web site or LinkedIn account. These are the people wondering why they are struggling to meet their goals. They are stuck using old thinking methods that are not working. (By the way, did you know 100% of Fortune 500 executives have a LinkedIn account? You can connect with them in groups on LinkedIn. But this only works if you are actively using LinkedIn.)

Here's the solution: Conduct informal fact-finding conversations when the opportunity presents itself. Not only when you have an appointment.

Example scenarios that happen every day (and much more frequently than the number of appointments you are conducting daily):

1. Your current client calls your office with a service question.

2. Your current client emails you with a service question.

3. You run into your client at a coffee shop, school function, church function or community function.

Are you seeing more opportunities yet? What other scenarios can you think of that I've not mentioned?

We live in a world that has more opportunities than at any other time in our careers. And I've been in this industry since 1987.

2. Stop selling products.

Our customers and prospects require us to engage with them much differently today. Old think continues to work less and less effectively. Most of the companies you represent are also still stuck in old think. If I see another company-produced product brochure, I think I will be nauseated. We don't sell products; we sell benefits. Nobody goes to the hardware store because they want to buy a drill. They go to the hardware store because they want a hole that the drill will give them.

3. Start asking questions.

Try this: "Mr. (Customer), may I ask you a question?"

Most people will allow you to ask them a question--the key is that you must be prepared with the first question. You may have some great questions that you prefer over my own, but if you want access to the questions I use, please visit www.marvinleblanc.com/LIS to download a free copy of "The 21 Interest Bearing Questions."

If you're on the phone with the customer, simply start at the top and read the question to the caller. If you have a chance encounter with a customer, you literally can pull out the sheet and read it to them.

Or try saying: "Mr. (Customer), we don't have the answers to all these questions. I need this completed." Hand them the sheet of questions. They can email or fax it back to you. You should plan to follow up with them until you get the sheet back. After all, a customer should give you their spirit of cooperation.

You might be saying, "Well Marvin, my clients are more sophisticated than that." Not true. The more intelligent they are, the more they need you to simplify the process. They may be an expert in their area, but they are not the expert in your area. You are.

Here's your call to action:

1. Carefully review the 3 key points I just gave you.

2. Honestly try the ideas presented here for 21 straight days.

3. Track your progress.

4. Think simple.

5. Think differently.

6. Think conversations, not appointments.

When people meet you do they think, "Wow, this person is on their game. They seem to never have a bad day."

If so, you are doing it right. Many of us have a tendency to allow bad moments to turn into bad days, and bad days to turn into bad months, and then suddenly, you're focused on how hard and unfair life can be.

Fact is, we all have "stuff." We always will have stuff. The key strategy for you is to find a way to quickly move from one pile of stuff to the next. That is the secret weapon you and your team can use to overcome and overachieve.

You must realize that what you expect is what you will get. Therefore, if you expect a lot of yourself, you will get a lot more from yourself than if your expectations are low. Same goes for your team, your prospects, your family and your relationships.

To be successful in sales and in life you must examine these questions.

• What do you expect out of yourself?
• Are you getting what you expect?
• Are you giving what you expect?

I take pride in being one of those people known for rarely having a bad day. This is not to say I don't have bad moments, but I have found ways to shift my focus so that bad moments are just that -- moments.

For example, my daughter and I were riding my Honda Goldwing. It was a gorgeous, sunny, dry day. We decided to take the scenic River Road instead of taking the interstate. We were listening to Buddy Guy on my iPod, and a split second later, we were catapulted directly over the front of my Goldwing. A careless, elderly driver had t-boned us. Many of you may be thinking, "Now thatis a bad day for sure."

My daughter lay motionless, face down on the asphalt in the lane of oncoming traffic. Immediately, I looked down to see the bones in my right wrist displaced and broken from the impact. We had both been hurled over the top of the car. Thankfully, we were heavily protected with proper bike gear. Other than some lower back pain that my daughter had, she was fine. I incurred 32 stitches and got two screws in my wrist.

The point is -- this was not a bad day.

It was a bad moment, and we are both fine. In fact, we were able to make it home in time to watch Louisiana State University beat Auburn, allowing LSU to keep its national championship hopes alive.

It truly is what you focus on that matters most. We could have focused on the bad moment and turned it into bad days and -- even worse -- bad months. Instead, we moved on and focused on the many positive events, people and blessings in our lives.

If you have had a tough month in business, one of the best ways to turn that month around is to quit obsessing about what you don't have and start obsessing about what you do have.

Start obsessing about what opportunities you can capitalize on.

If you're in a bad work relationship or you're in a bad personal relationship, make a move. Realize this thing called life is not a dress rehearsal. It's show time every single day.

This is your opportunity to be massively successful and to reframe the handful of bad days in light of your many marvelous days. You may be having one of those right now -- and here's to many more!

Peace, Love and Gumbo

Marvin LeBlanc LUTCF, CNP

A Guide to Effectively Connecting to People

Hello Marvelous People:

Today our guest article is from Garrity Print Solutions. From right here in the Greater New Orleans area. Enclosed there are 3 good ideas that will help you get “unstuck” from your networking funk. Remember the old saying, “out of sight – out of mind”. Well it’s as true now as ever. Slowly read this article and then put it to work for you. Remember it’s called NetWORKing for a reason.

“The Doors to Opportunity are always OPEN!”

A Guide to Effectively Connecting to People

Networking is such a valuable skill because it allows you to create new bridges. And it IS a skill–meaning it can be practiced and learned like anything else. You don’t have to be a born extravert to network well.

Networking allows you to reach new connections, which in turn will connect you with their own contacts, expanding your reach far more quickly than you could on your own. You can use networking to market your business or even yourself.
In other words, while it’s about who you know, it’s also about who OTHER people know, because those people might open you up to a whole new audience and new sales opportunities.
Here are three tactics to get your networking game into gear:

1. Get off your couch and into the real world. If you’re browsing on Twitter, Facebook, or sending out cold emails, it’s no wonder why doors aren’t opening for you. You’ve got to play the game. And sometimes, that means getting off your butt and actually meeting people.
Be proactive. Contact someone and ask him or her out for a 10-minute coffee break. Don’t expect a VIP to invest time in you unless you have an existing connection. Who do you know who knows this person and could introduce you? What networking events would host valuable networking contacts? And if you’re at one of those events, talk to people. Networking–and all human connection–is about initiative. If you don’t put yourself out there and say hello, no one else can do it for you.

2. Offer your contacts value, instead of just expecting value from them. The idea of networking makes people feel uncomfortable because we associate it with awkward, self-interested sales people working a room and handing out their business cards. Real networking isn’t about getting–it’s about mutual giving.

Networking done right is a two way street, where both parties work to make a human connection that provides reciprocal value. So for every networking interaction, ask yourself, how can I provide value to this person? Figure out how you can help them before you interact: Can you be already known for leaving insightful comments on their blog? Can you offer them a unique solution to a problem? Could you help them find a valuable contact? Maybe they’d like the satisfaction of having someone to mentor–someone who listens to them and actually shows them a way they’ve applied their advice.

3. Respect those you’re networking with. If they are a valuable contact, treat them that way. Many who take the initiative to meet up with high-level VIPs know that it’s not enough to contact them. You have to make it easy for them to reply, because they are incredibly busy. By definition, if someone’s valuable enough for you to go out of the way to connect to, his or her time is more valuable than yours. Position your conversations with that fact in mind.

If you’re emailing to get in touch with someone, make answering the email as easy as saying “Yes.” So if you’re proposing a meet-up, make your intentions clear immediately and provide a specific time and location (letting them know you’re willing to be flexible). If you’re setting a meeting in person, don’t ramble. If you’re trying to learn from someone, understand how to ask good questions and allow your contact to talk more than you.

At the end of the day, networking is about two people offering one another mutual value. There’s nothing sleazy about building relationships with someone who is interested in the same things as you and would benefit from the relationship, too. Just learn how to offer value to another person, and soon you’ll have a stronger business and be able to reach more people than ever.

Contact me if you’re still stuck.
Be Marvelous!!

Let us begin our discussion with the awareness that rejection exists in all industries and all professions. What makes rejection for salespeople so unique is that your financial security is more acutely at risk. Because of this, building your personal selling power is crucial.

Boy, did I get a good dose of rejection in 1988. Nineteen straight nos. You may ask, "Did you really stay in the insurance business after that?" As a matter of fact, I did. (Secret: if you're reading this article and you're in a sales slump, you can use my ideas and get through your current pain. You don't have to stay stuck!)

The career that I have, which started back in 1987 is still a wonderful profession that offers the opportunity for much personal growth. But do you ever have some difficult days where you feel like you've "grown" enough for one day? If you answered yes, I'm not surprised. We face some interesting industry challenges.
To combat them, here are some essential ideas that have kept me focused on the opportunities while I was slumming it in a sales slump.

1. Keep refining your sales process.

Keep practicing until your conversation is more coherent. Does your conversation flow? When your client gives you that confused look, that's your clue that you've lost them. When this happens, go back to the drawing board and figure out what you could have done differently.

2. Constantly ask yourself these key questions:

How can I make more powerful benefit statements, using fewer words?
Am I overselling my product offer, and underselling the benefits my product offers the client?
3. Don't forget to keep the focus on the clients.

Remember: The selling process isn’t about you. Keep asking yourself what you can do to get more connected to the client, earlier in the conversation. One idea? Cut through the long winded pleasantries. Get settled into your purpose for the appointment in the first three minutes.

4. Seek mentors.

Find an industry leader that speaks to you and set aside a 20 minute learning appointment every day, for the rest of your life. This will help you stay motivated and focused regardless of the challenges you face each day.Think of it this way: You can either learn from other experts that have already made the mistakes, or you can waste time and money and make those same mistakes yourself.

Finally, if you're really serious about improving, ask the client for permission to record the conversation so that you'll be sure not to miss any important details. The No. 1 reason advisors don't record client conversations is that they don't ask for permission. What a lost opportunity! Remember: Your clients are rooting for you. They want to help you.

If you're still uncomfortable asking, consider saying something like this: "I have a coach that evaluates how well I communicate, and this recording will greatly help." (I can be that coach for you or your underperforming team members, if you ask me.)

In closing, remember that activity doesn't guarantee results. I proved it 19 times in 1988. What I didn't tell you is that my record for getting "yes" stands at 19 as well. I've "slummed" it with 19 and I've "scored" 19 straight times. I can't wait until I can report a score of 20.

How about you? What is your most ardent desire? What new number will you commit to "scoring"?

Peace, love and gumbo! 

Happy Holidays! 

Marvin LeBlanc 

After finishing this article and implementing the dynamite concepts and ideas I give you, I want to hear your success stories. You can fax me at 504-731-6768. Also, I will respond to questions you may have in my newsletter, "Making Marvelous Happen".  Keep in touch.

Hello again, marvelous people:

Today's message has to do with coaching ourselves to listen & probe for the 11 key life events.

As practitioners, it’s easy to spend too much time working on the Conviction Step of the sale. You know, the part of the sale where you show your client your knowledge about the features, advantages, and benefits of your product. Your slick illustration. Your colorful graphs. Your impressive statistics.

Yes, it’s important to have current knowledge and expertise. Absolutely! But if we have the knowledge, and no one to speak to and share our insights with — at the right time in their life — then we have a very small chance of developing and landing a life sale.

So, you might say, give me something simple that I can use today that will build me a fresh inventory of people to visit.

Here are 11 key life events:

• Birth 
• Death 
• Marriage 
• Divorce 
• Graduation 
• College
• New Home
• New Apartment
• New Vehicle
• Funeral
• Anniversary

I would suggest you to jot down these 11 key life events. Laminate them. Put them in your front pocket, your wallet. Tape them next to your phone that you use when you “Power Dial” for appointments. The life event card is a very simple concept. It's visual, and it puts the important life events that are constantly happening in your prospects' worlds right there in front of you. It ensures that these events are constantly at the forefront of your mind. It helps you constantly and consciously listen for these occurrences.

When we have intentional conversation that specifically probes these life events, what we will discover are our prospects' needs. Needs that are not being met. New needs that are being created. Needs that you, as the insurance practitioner, can solve.

We are busy getting ready for 2014 and would love to help you and your team or small business get going too!  Email me at Marvin@marvinleblanc.com

Hello marvelous people!

In my next two blog posts, I'll be covering the specific questions we need to think through in order to find our hidden money. Yep, there's hidden money, so be sure to stay current with the blog. 

The two major thought questions we'll talk about involve internal marketing -- the process of finding your future hidden money inside your existing business.

When we talk about internal marketing, what we are talking about is internally marketing to your existing business. I'm not talking in this segment about external marketing, which has to do with advertising and marketing to people who are not currently your clients. Internal marketing involves marketing to your existing clients, who are already your raving fans.

So our first major thought question is this:

What percentage of your business comes from trackable referrals?

Don't guess because your guess isn't correct. Trackable referrals from where? These are referrals from friends, neighbors, co-workers and relatives. That is where your next business is coming from. Did you notice? I didn't say Internet leads! I didn't say social marketing! Although these are very important, we get so hyped on the new things, we forget what brought us to the dance for years and years prior.

If you are guessing what percentage of your business comes from referrals, then you don't know where your trackable referrals are coming from.

So let's keep in mind the wisdom of William Edwards Deming, the famous statistician and the important American who improved Japan's quality processes: "What gets measured gets done!"

You must implement a simple tracking system within your company to make sure that every single time your team is involved in a conversation discussing potential new business, they start with the question, "Where did you hear about us?" (No, you don't need a computer or a spreadsheet for a simple tracking system.)

As a business leader, you really need to know the source of your new business. Why? So that your future allocation of advertising and marketing dollars will be spent on the highest yielding target audience.

That takes us to our second major thought question:

What percentage of each sale made is set aside for traditional advertising and social media marketing?

We've talked about asking for the referral and tracking the referral. Now we want to find out what percentage of each sale is set aside for traditional advertising and social media marketing.

As a practitioner, I suggest that you set aside a certain percentage of your gross compensation right off the top. When you need to take advantage of an advertising opportunity, the funds will be available. So plan it.

The discipline of planning may initially hurt, but your lifestyle won't even feel a sting if you commit -- right this second -- to set aside 5%, 10% or 15% of your gross compensation specifically for this purpose. Whatever you commit to, keep that commitment. Monthly. Yes, even if it hurts.

There's something interesting that I have found in my travels across America as I talk to insurance business leaders: The larger producers also spend a higher percentage of their gross compensation on advertising efforts.

That's probably not just coincidental, marvelous people.

Try this exercise:

Pull open your QuickBooks or whatever accounting program you use, and find out exactly what percentage you're actually spending now on advertising. (Hint: The first time you look, you'll be shocked. Unless you track it monthly already, you will amaze yourself. Drop me a line and tell me what you discover.)

Decide now what you will be setting aside for future advertising efforts.

One last thought for this month: remember the example of Shamu at Sea World. Shamu will not continue to perform without being fed. So, too, must you feed your business with properly allocated advertising and marketing dollars.

Put your mind to work on the two questions above. Complete the exercise. Set your decided plan into motion. And let us know how you progress.  Stay tuned next week for Part II of Find Your Hidden Money

WANT TO USE ONE OF THESE TIPS IN YOUR EZINE, BLOG OR WEBSITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:

"Marvin LUTCF, CNP, is a performance strategist and author of the number one Amazon Best Seller (Come Hell or High Water) Life Lessons from Hurricane Katrina. For a totally different experience at your next workshop, conference, or convention, contact him today at marvin@marvinleblanc.com"