Are you in Business or is it a Hobby?

Have you ever been committed to achieving something? I mean absolutely focused with complete belief in the outcome.

Both in sport and business I see one common denominator that separates those who achieve their potential and those that come up short. All things being equal true belief has a power that is hard to quantify.

The most well known line in the best selling motivational book of all time ‘Think and Grow Rich’ is the following.

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe you can achieve.

The problem of course is that when we first start on the road to our goals is that we have no reference point to guide us. We start with a dash of hope that evolves into belief or dissolves into cynicism and justification for failure.

During my 13-year career as an international athlete, I trained with athletes whose natural ability I envied but…who never really ‘made it’

The clues were apparent on the training ground. Sporting success is rarely a factor of talent alone. Blood sweat and a few tears are often pre requisites to the grand prize-and curiously pain is something of a narcotic to the believer. It provides feedback that progress is being made.

For the non-believer, pain is just that; Horrible, nauseating, and pointless.

When asked the question-what do you do for a living? How do you answer? This will give you a clue as to your belief in your project.

I hear people mumble and utter incoherent noises that skirt around the subject. So, what do you do exactly?

Me? I sell. That’s it. What do I sell? That almost makes no difference, as the process is the same.

Commerce consists of a supply chain that all of us link to. Lets consider some of the links:

• Idea creation
• Design
• Manufacture
• Distribution
• Pricing
• Human Resources

I’ve sold millions of dollars of goods and services including security, home improvement, smart wiring, insulation, educational software, financial and investment services, and that’s just offline. My interest in the actual product or service was largely incidental. There are other people and departments that look after the above. Facilitating a sale is my job. Simple.

Define what you do, and if you are online ‘marketing’ or ‘promoting’ change your focus from the stuff to the processes and systems.

Selling is relatively simple. It’s a process-it’s numbers. I repeat SELLING IS NUMBERS.

Sell a unit and earn a dollar, sell a million and earn a million. That’s pretty simple. In every organization I’ve ever worked in there has been a tinge of snobbery/jealously by the administrators toward sales consultants. Why? After all without sales there is NO business.

Someone earning an hourly rate of $20 cannot get his or her head around a salesman earning perhaps $1000 for a 1-hour presentation. It doesn’t compute or seem fair.

The problem emerges when the sales consultant can’t justify their worth.

Selling is measurable-it’s bottom line. Architects design, engineers engineer and lawyers…well let’s not go there!

Get your head around what you do and then the business you’re in becomes less relevant.

Everyday I am getting pitched the latest greatest online opportunity. My interest is in the system and processes that underscore the business. I want to know the exact 10 bullet points that need to be ticked off and the sequences that need to be followed, so I can decide if it’s my cup of tea.

My previous blog mentions a couple of effective systems, but they are useless unless you get your head around what you do and if your belief is real.

I welcome your comments and connections-Cheers kiaran

The 4 Step System