Michael asks:

My questions are what if the receptionist says that the decision maker doesn’t take incoming calls, you can only reach him by email or leaving a message with me? Also, if the decision maker says there not interested in a sales call, what do you do?

Good questions Michael. There is always a way. Maybe you need to dial another extension and play Columbo and say you were trying to reach so-and-so [decision maker]. You could also ask: what do I need to do to be interesting enough for him/her to take the call?

If the decision maker says they are not interested in a sales call then you need to tailor your opening line. What would they be interested in? For instance: “If I could show you how to save 20% on lead generation, would that be interesting to you? Great. Do you have 15 minutes to discuss that?”

It is implied you are making a sales call–and you have generated interest and received permission.

Thanks Michael.

Keep those listener questions coming!

Cross posted @ I.D.E.A. 

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Be sure to read Part 1 of this article here.

Taking Responsibility

The more you take responsibility—for your emotions, your actions, your life the more you build self-esteem. It is not the person who upset you, it is that you became triggered—or that you lost facility. It is not that the cost of living is too high; it is that you are not generating enough income. It is not that someone treats you poorly; it is that you are ineffective at drawing appropriate boundaries. The locus of responsibility—and therefore power—is within you. Nothing is external. To blame someone is to give them tremendous power over you. When you forgo blame in favor of responsibility, you give up comfort, but you reap tremendous rewards—gaining power and building self-esteem.

Sadly, I have even experienced people whose ego structure [development of self-esteem] is so insufficient that they will severely distort facts to make themselves look better—all unconsciously. That is, they are not even aware they are doing it. Their ego is so small and fragile it can not include possibilities that do not put them in the most positive light. They also cannot hear feedback. They take things personally that take great leaps of irrationality to do so. They will also have trouble telling the truth of their experience—they are too fearful. And they have a strong — and at times desperate — need for approval and acknowledgment from others.

They are in egoic hell.

Fortunately, the solution is simple. Not easy, but simple. And the more you do it the easier it gets and it is the only sure fire way to build your rational self-esteem; taking responsibility for your part in all things inter-personal. Seeing and examining your part—and ignoring the part the other person had to play in it. Blame serves no one. Responsibility gives you tremendous power. Read the rest of this entry »

One critical and often overlooked element to a successful professional and personal life is that of a daily spiritual practice. Whether you are an Evolutionary Sales Professional, an entrepreneur, solo-preneur, or the CEO of a global corporation, you will be more effective once you accept this and integrate it into your daily life.

Some of you may be thinking, “I listened to Jason’s podcasts for 14 weeks, and suddenly he goes woo-woo on me!”

I assure you, nothing could be farther from the truth. What I am about to lay out for you is just as critical a skill as rapport skills, or eliciting values, or finessing the “gatekeeper” on the phone, and is just as tangible a skill—the skill of navigating your own interiors. By “spiritual practice”, I mean a practice that builds the muscle of dis-identification.

Let’s examine this together.

What is “Spiritual”?

Given the current state of the world, I had best define “spiritual” for our purposes here. Typically when someone says spiritual, they mean one of two things:

1. An experience involving some epiphany or outside god or goddess.
2. The revealing of the highest or deepest within each of us

I do not mean the first. Nor do I mean something religious. I do not mean prayer, the lighting of incense, or the saying of some rite or ritual. I am not here to condemn those things—they are just not what I mean. What I mean is dis-identifying from that which you think is you and retreating into that which you truly are—pure awareness. Consciousness. The Witness.

Let’s further examine this together.

“Know thyself.”—The Oracle of Delphi

In the professional domain: have you ever felt “rejected” by a prospect? Ever taken something personally in the business context? Have you ever felt dejected, depressed, or defeated as a result of some interaction or a failure to open the relationship as you had intended? Have you ever obsessed over that client you knew was not quite a fit for you or your organization? Have you ever lied about the results you were producing to make yourself look better? Have you ever been intentionally vague for the same purpose?

Have you ever lost a job and were thrust into a period of confusion and depression?

In the personal domain: have you ever stayed in a relationship after you were clear it did not serve you? out of fear of the social implications? Or out of fear of being alone? Or out of a fear of being uncertain who you would be without him/her in your life? Have you ever been afraid to tell the truth about your self or some aspect of your life, not for the wise practical reasons, but out of a fear of rejection? Have you ever considered suicide over the loss of a large sum of money, a relationship, or a major loss of social reputation? Or stayed in a marriage that was abusive for your familial “obligations”?

Have you ever been upset because someone forgot your name? Or mispronounced it? Or could not remember meeting you?

Maybe you answered yes to some of these, one of these, all of them, or some variation on the theme not listed here for the sake of expediency. These are all a function of two things [and usually both]:

1. Low self-esteem; an underdeveloped ego
2. Identification with that which is not you

Self-esteem I have written about before, and will continue to do so. Just a few quick thoughts here, now:

Self-esteem is so necessary and so misunderstood. So misrepresented in popular psychology today. In fact, I often use the phrasing “esteem for the self” with my clients to set what I mean apart from popularized “self-esteem”. One common misconception is that someone else can be “bad” for your self-esteem. It is not the person that is bad for your self-esteem; it is your volitional choice to stay with them that is “bad” for it. We could go on and on deconstructing the misconceptions, but that is for another time. There is only one sure way to build self-esteem…

Read the second half of this article next week Part 2 is now available HERE.

If you want more powerful distinctions to integrate into your life to immediately increase your professional results and access greater emotional freedom, explore that here:

And if you like it:

Comment
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And create upward spirals for us all!

Cross-Posted at Evolutionary Awareness.

I have created a new category here on the blog. It is “Listener Questions”. You will be able to search through it in the future–or be featured there if you like. This is the first entry in this category.

A listener [Rebecca in the United Kingdom] asks:

I  am a photographer’s rep.  I sell photographers to ad agencies, design agencies and magazines.  I tend to work for photographer’s agencies, selling on behalf of the agency head.

Often in my work I find myself having to sell photographers that I don’t think are very good.  Worse, sometimes I know the photographers to be slightly unprofessional.  It doesn’t sit right.  I don’t have any problems making sales on behalf of brilliant businesslike photographers, but I just can’t seem to get work for others.  It’s a lot of pressure because it directly affects the photographer’s finances and quality of life if they have no work coming in.

So my question is - are there any tricks, of the mind or otherwise, that I can employ to sell a product that I think is poor quality? creativity I know is subjective, but commercially, some styles work and others don’t).

I hope you can use this question on your show as it is one I have struggled with for years.  love the show.  It makes me feel miles ahead of my competition as foolishly they don’t consider themselves to be true salespeople and so miss out on a lot of info that’s out there.

Thank you for your kind words–and thanks for asking the question. I think this is a critical question.  What I will say is that I personally committed a long time ago to NOT use mind tricks to motivate myself to sell products or promote individuals I do not believe in  and/or  do not support.

Someone asked me in a workshop I was leading: “what if I do not really believe in the product I am selling”? My answer? “Sell something else.” Heh.  Never try to trick your internal integrity alarm.

It will serve you well and your clients and colleagues will trust you more–and all are better served in the long run. Even the photographers who you do not support may improve faster than they would have–because now they have to to respond to the market feedback. So you serve them as well by being more honest and NOT pushing their sub-standard product.

And this, of course, is one of the differences that makes the difference in the 21st Century Marketplace–and one of the foundational mindsets of  Evolutionary Sales.