Coaching is thriving despite the recession

http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2009/09/most-firms-still-using-coaching-despite-recession.htm">

Motivated?

I was wondering how motivated your team are right now? Do you know how they get motivated? You see many managers are under the impression that they are motivators, which is a fine endeavour, its just that motivation is an inside job. What do I mean by this; well motivation is an internal state and therefore comes from whithin. So as leaders what can you do to ensure you people are operating at peak performance? Well the first thing is to know how they feel motivated, what kind of environment do they need to be motivated in? Our Motivational Maps are the steps to understanding Motivation in the work place...if you would like to know more...drop me a line Michael@professionalexcellence.co.uk

Creating Memories for the Future

Creating Memories for the Future

Before he had finished the exercise you could clearly see, he now had a strategy that he would use time and again to visualise and create his future in exquisite detail.

I shouldn’t have been surprised; this was exactly the reason that I include the Memories for the Future exercise in my NLP for Business Leaders seminar.

In fact it is a strategy that I have used many times. It was the tool that I used when I wrote Take the Luck out of Selling and it was the strategy I used to create my vision for our Franchise Business.

Someone once said...This only works and this visualisation strategy does just that...It only works!

So how do you do it? Create memories for the future I mean.

Firstly you need to have something in mind that you would like to achieve. Now if you are going to do this exercise properly you might as well choose something huge and audacious. Perhaps something even life changing.

Now imagine yourself on a time line, with your future out in front of you and your past behind you.
Visualise a place in the future where you have already achieved your audacious goal. Notice where on your timeline that is and walk out until you reach the point at which you have achieved it.

Now use the power of your imagination and pay attention to what you are seeing at the time of achievement. Notice what you are hearing , feeling and experiencing. Make the memory bright and as vivid as you can.

Now turn around and look at where you have come from, which is now in your past. Notice the journey you have made. Look at the milestones you have passed through.

Now walk back down your time line and appreciate the milestones.

When you get back to the point at which your journey started, turn around and look to the place where you achieved this wonderful goal and develop a real sense of appreciation for having now achieved it and what it has done for you.

From this starting point, now turn around and look into your past. You are looking for resources. Things that you have used before perhaps and have now stopped using. Or perhaps it is someone that you used to turn to before for help, advice or encouragement. What did they teach you that you could now use as a resource.

Walk back down your time line to the point where this asset is and pick it up. When you have arrived at this time just spend a few moments thinking about how you are going to use it.

Return to the point where you started your journey and then walk along your time line again, to the point where you have achieved this incredible goal and notice as you walk down the path how this resource or asset is affecting the journey. Is it making the journey shorter? Is it making it easier perhaps? Or maybe there are fewer milestones?

Now when you reach the point in your future again, where you have already achieved this amazing life changing goal, once again pay attention to what you are seeing, what you can hear, feel and are experiencing. Make it vivid bright and real. Also notice who else is sharing this experience of satisfaction at having had achieved this with you. What are they saying, how are they encouraging you.

Now you have created a more compelling future, think ....what else could you use the incredibly powerful tool for?

The next NLP for Business Leaders seminar is on 27th October, Endeavour House, Stansted.
For more information call: 0800 9173 266 or email: office@professionalexcellence.co.uk

This is an interesting article about attitude and womens health...it is a study that shows that hostle cynical women are more likely to develop heart disease and die younger than optimistic women. http://www.gnn.com/article/study-optimism-key-for-womens-health/612725

Last week I told some of my facebook friends about an amazing and inspiring video with Tony Robbins and top coach to internet marketers John Reese discussing how he made the mental shift to enable him to go from 'average Joe' to making over one million dollars in less than 24 hours! Some of you were kind enough to contact me to let me know how valuable it was to you. Well here is the link to part 2 of the interview>>

Messing with your head: Does the man behind Neuro-Linguistic Programming want to change your life – or control your mind?
You got a problem? Go see Richard Bandler. As the founder of the controversial, multi-billion-dollar therapy NLP, he can get inside your head, and quick. But how did a former cocaine user and murder suspect become a guru to over 30,000 people in the UK? Kate Burt signs up for a session >>

I was recently working with some young sales people from one of my client companies and the question of how do you ensure that you get people in the right state so they receptive to buy.

Well one of the best ways to think about this is to change the moment. What you do can have a remarkable effect on the people you want to influence.

Try this simple exercise: Ask a friend about the best summer day they have ever experienced and then pay attention to what happens next. What you will see is the external effects of the change in state that is happening on the inside. You will see a striking change in her physiology and demeanour.

She may well look up at first as she tries to find the internal pictures of that day. She might lose focus as she starts to experience the emotions she felt at the time. her speech might get slower at first and then as she gets back into the moment the pace quickens as she fully experiences the memory of the day. She will then perhaps start to explain the wonderful experience.

By the time she has finished she will grinning and feeling as though has found something she lost a long time ago. She may have generated enough emotional change to have become a teary eyed.

And all you did was ask a single question. You changed her thoughts, her feelings and her posture with just a question.

One carefully planned question is sometimes all it takes to change someone’s state for the better.

You don't have to force them into a resourceful state. Just set the proper conditions and let their mind do the work to change their moment.

Most people are unaware of the state they are in. They spend their day walking around in their problems. They view life through their perceived limitations.

When you change the moment for someone you change their perspective, leading them from where they are right now to where they need to be to be more resourceful.

When you change their perspective people will become more receptive and attentive to your ideas and proposition. Who knows they may even be grateful.

Six fatal mistakes that can kill your success in sales

There's one thing that's absolutely essential in order to get results with sales.

That vital element is called rapport.

I know that in some languages there is no translation for rapport, so for our purposes, you can think of rapport as...

"A close and harmonious relationship in which two or more people understand each other's feelings and ideas, and can communicate well."

It's often said that with rapport, anything is possible.

But without rapport nothing can be achieved.

And it's all too easy to make a mistake... when you don't have the proper guidance.

Here are the 6 most common mistakes made by sales people that I have seen...


Rapport Mistake #1

The first mistake is trying to be too "nice" to people.

Why is this a problem I hear you ask? It is because sometimes people are nice at the expense of the real message that needs to be communicated.

Rapport then actually breaks down.

As an example, let's consider a school teacher who wants to be nice to their pupils.

They may let them get away with anything they want.

Bit by bit, the teacher loses respect and the pupils stop paying them any attention.

The end result is that it's all gone horribly wrong.

So to avoid this...

...remain professional and be nice only to the extent that it's not interfering with the process of communicating your message about your feelings and ideas with the other person.


Rapport Mistake #2

The second mistake sales people make is that of trying too hard.

The problem with this is that it makes you come across as a little desperate and you trigger what is known as "The Law Of Reversed Effect".

This law states "The harder you try to do something, the more likely it is you'll fail".

Now the way around this is to follow the simple rapport building approach set out for you in the Advanced Sales Development System and also in “Take The Luck Out of Selling...”

Be aware of the things you need to do, relax and "get out of the way" to allow your unconscious mind to make things happen.

Rapport Mistake #3

This next mistake is linked to the previous one. It is wanting something from someone else, too much.

You've probably had the experience of being in a store and talking with a salesperson who is a little too pushy.

They want you to buy too much.

They want you to like them too much.

Because they're moving too quickly and because they want something from you, you begin to back off.

Now the solution is something called "Fractionating Rapport".

This involves building some rapport, then backing off a little.

Then build a little more rapport and back off again.

This way you'll avoid being seen as "needy" and still be able to build rapport surprisingly quickly.


Rapport Mistake #4

Mistake #4 is a lack of genuine interest.

A lot of communication between people actually happens on a non-verbal, even unconscious, level.

Because of this, it's hard to fake being interested. So you need to be able to develop a state of genuine curiosity.

If you're thinking "I'm bored, I'm disinterested, I don't want to know any more", the other person will most likely respond to your signals by shutting down or getting annoyed or just losing interest in the conversation.

The solution is straightforward.

Simply have a high, unconditional respect for the other person, and be genuinely curious about them and what you can do to help them.

That's probably a good way to view people anyway.


Rapport Mistake #5

This might sound a little odd, but it's playing the wrong role in a relationship.

When two people interact, status is involved.

Now, often people will be of equal status.

But in many cases one person will be a higher status and the other a lower status.

When I talk about status, this is not a value judgment.

It's a role that's being played.

For example, with a teacher and a student the teacher needs to have the higher status in order to teach effectively.

You can probably see that a person's status will vary, depending on the circumstances.

Problems can arise for you as a sales person, however, when you come across someone who is inflexible and they can only relate to someone in a particular status.

So be flexible in your communication.

Sometimes you'll play the underdog.

Sometimes you need to play the equal.

And sometimes you'll be the charismatic or authority figure that leads the way forward.


Rapport Mistake #6


This final mistake is something few people ever realise.

It is, understanding the difference between
"Deep Rapport"
and "Wide Rapport".

Deep rapport comes about when you have a shared experience with someone. Sales people often refer to this as common ground. It is usually over used!!

Now, this can be very powerful.

But problems may happen if this rapport is very specific to a particular situation or context.

If that's the case, when you see the other person outside that situation, it can be awkward.

It's out of context and somehow feels wrong or unusual.

The solution is to create what is called "Wide Rapport".

This is where you build a connection with someone with different experiences in different environments.

This can take time of course.

One way to speed up the process is to use stories covering a range of topics.

This way the other person gets a sense of your entire personality and gets comfortable with you in a range of different circumstances.

That concludes the 6 most common rapport mistakes.

Now you have some simple ways to avoid problems and can start building rapport with more people, more effectively.

And your results with selling will improve greatly as a result.

Welcome to my thoughts on .....

Welcome to my new blog, thoughts on influence, persuasion, selling, leadership, motivation and all things NLP for business. I want to share my experiences of using Neuro-linguistic Programming for business development. I want to try and give real examples of how I have helped companies and individuals improve, change and develop their performance in the context of work. I have been a Master Business Practitioner of NLP for 10 years now and have worked with literally thousands of people, using NLP techniques to train or coach them to success.



One of the keys to success is to have behavioural flexibility. We have all heard the definition of insanity - doing the same things in the same way and expecting a different outcome... or do what you have always done and you will get what you always got...


Well that used to be a truism. However in this economic climate it is unlikely that doing what you have always done would get you what you got before, it is probably nowhere near enough. Now we have to be even more flexible and perhaps do things that we previously wouldn't have contemplated.

One thing is for certain, in times like these giving the most important resource you have, your people, more resources is essential. There is a lot of evidence now that investing in the training and development of your people to nurture their talent could be the only way to get your business though this economic downturn.

I have a PDF document of research carried out by Cranfield Management School and Business Link that contains irrefutable evidence that nurturing talent through training staff is the only way to guarantee survival in times like these.

If anyone would like a copy of this research please send me an email with your details and I will be happy to send it to you.

Email me at mailto:michael@professionalexcellence.co.uk