Flying High!

I am writing this weeks blog while flying above the clouds about 30,000 feet in the air. It is amazing what the human mind can accomplish when it decides Winning is the only option. As I look out the window and see the world above the clouds it occurs to me how many of us feel like we are flying high sometimes when we are still on the ground. The trouble with this is that just visualizing success is where many people stop, unable to actually realize their goals and instead living vicariously through the vison of what could be and not the reality of where they are. It also is clear to me as we hit just a little turbulance how scary it can be to really dedicate ourselves to a specific plan and the worries that can go with that all out commitment.

We need to challenge ourselves to let go and move in a leap of faith towards our goal. The fear of failing paralyzes so many of us, the familar , the expected keeps our feet planted firmly on the ground, safe and predictable.The problem is that unless we can muster up the courage and buckle up for the ride we go eactly nowhere, that is not the way to be more, to become greater to build an exciting future. The "leave it all on the field" mentality we've discussed in the past requires us to give ourselves 100% in all we do. The Dojo is no place for the timid, it is a place for the strong and capable acheiver.

If we are going to become all that we can become in the Martial Art's we must be willing to look at where we are and what we are actually doing each day in reality accepting that maybe we are not Flying as High as we think we are, maybe we haven't even left the ground. The measure you might use is how far you have been traveling in reaching your own personal success goals. The only differrence between watching the Plane fly over head and watching the world under your feet is the decision to fully commit.

How do we commit to this full on ? We evaluate the goal, Is it worthy? What will change for us and in us as we get closer to it's accomplishment? If we then decide it is a goal worth the work ahead, we must then determine that the option to not reach this goal is non-existent. The next thing we must do is devolop a plan, the best way to do that is to asked others who have reached this goal before. Once we have our Plan we need to schedule a time for getting there, attaining the accomplishment. Third get a travel guide, Yep you need someone to help navigate you through the rough patches. Finally you must not look back at where you have been, instead keep your eyes steadfast on the prize and do all that is required to acheive it.

I know this doesn't sound easy, but the alternative is to always be watching others fly by and wish you had the courage to be sitting next to them enjoying the view. But I know that you will continue to push towards and eventually reach your destination, I know this because YOU ARE STRONG, YOU ARE CAPABLE, YOU ARE Z-ULTIMATE!!!

Selling is a Process

The idea behind sales training is to give us the communication tools that will help us to better communicate with and  understand others, to discover their specific needs, and to provide solutions to overcome  their unique obstacles and objectives to better lead them in the buying process.

The training time we invest can greatly increase our sales closing ratios, however these new skills can only be utilized if we have enough  prospective students to share our product benefits with. The effort and focus to get out and go get new leads is still a crucial part of our daily efforts.

When we look at the most successful studios we have it is always certain that we see a series of processes in place that are performed ritually every day. These activities insure a consistent lead source and opportunities to enroll new students. If we are to eat we must hunt, the man or woman who sits in a cabin, even if he has a quality rifle will go hungry if he doesn't leave that comfort and go search out and engage their potential bounty.If we are to succeed as Martial Art's professionals. We must search out and implement the day to day activities that produce theses results. There are alot of specific tasks and duties we can adopt to bring in a predictable amount of new prospective students, My challenge to you is to call around to the Top producing studios this week and ask what "a day in the life" of that studio looks like and be specific. The actual time spent prospecting or doing events, cold calls, following up with non-active students and sidewalk time will amaze some of you.

The benefits to your studio will be in direct proportion to your commitment to discover the Processes that make these studios great along with your follow through in scheduling and doing them consistently. Sometimes the best sales technique we can learn is to get out and get selling in the first place!

Personal Brand

So I’m sitting there explaining to the guy about how to become more successful in his dojo and then out of nowhere he looks strait at me and says” but I don’t want to be a salesman!” He was quiet after that, just making a deep sigh and waiting on me to come back at him with the importance of becoming a salesman. I sat still just staring back at him until he felt he had to break the uncomfortable silence and explain what he meant in more detail. “Sir, it’s just that I love teaching the Martial Arts and I love what it represents and the culture of our company and the way we help others and the awesome dojos we have and all of the Masters and the great workouts and not to mention being a karate guy is just cool anyway and….He went on like that for about a minute and a half before I said” tell me than what it is about being a salesman you don’t like?

“ Well, I don’t like having to talk people into doing something, I figure if they want to enroll they will and I don’t want to feel like I am pressuring someone in to it.”I agree” I said. Then he just sat there even quieter.  This time it was my turn to explain.

There is new term that is becoming more and more popular called PERSONAL BRANDING. It is the idea that we are always selling something to ourselves or someone else. That we have a clear choice to make when it comes to the way we are perceived by others, we can take an active role in this or we can just let others see what they see and hear what they hear about us. The problem is that if we don’t take personal ownership of the way we put ourselves out there than we may be perceived differently than we are or of less value. If we decide to take control over what we allow others to see and hear about us than we are creating our PERSONAL BRAND rather than accepting our personal brand for whatever it is.There are a lot of very large, very well established companies out there that spend literally hundreds of millions of dollars to help create and define their own personal brands. Companies like Rolex, Mercedes, Apple, Hilton, and BMW are just a few that we all know to represent quality and opulence at its best. Even universities like Harvard, Mit and Yale work very hard to enhance and protect their personal brand image. The fact is that a lot of other universities offer equal educations to these schools but have not been branded as successfully. Honda has branded itself to be the reliable car and Volvo the safe car, While Ford is built tough!

All of these examples are of companies selling a perception, and when we look at the example of the instructor who didn’t want to be a salesman above and then listen to his passionate explanation of what he does and what he believes is great about our company we quickly realize that it is just his perception of what a sales person is supposed to do that is the problem. It appears Sales has a Personal Brand problem…lol

The fact is that we can enhance our own personal brand and make selling a much easier process. If we understand that selling is simply taking the time to discover someone’s wants and needs and help to provide a solution then we can stop trying to convince others to buy, and focus on building and protecting our Personal Brand and increasing our student bases in the process. The prospective student will base a large part of their buying decision on how they perceive you, The Personal Brand of you that is. Everything from the way we communicate to the way we listen to teaching to how we keep our dojo clean or not, to whether or not we start the lessons on time or run them over all have an impact on our personal brand. The Great news is that we can re-shape the Perception and re-brand ourselves and the way people see us. Look at Jack in the box and others that have decided to take control and re-shape their image. You can too!

Remember, I agree, I don’t want to pressure someone in to joining either, But I would love to share a great product with them that will change their life, That product is quality and will definitely live up to its growing reputation, I know they will love it, because that brand is awesome and I know it personally, that Brand is ME!