Jon Cooper - Mastermind Groups ensure you are not alone.
Life in business is necessarily tough; if it wasn’t, everyone would be doing it!
And yet one of the biggest challenges to success often comes from your own isolation as the boss. Quite simply, you have no-one to discuss ideas and voice concerns with. In that environment, judgement and motivation can desert you just when you need it most.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could meet regularly with a group of like-minded individuals, who could share experiences, skills and support?
This is the basis of Mastermind Groups, a concept first penned by the legendary Napoleon Hill in 1937.
He said that "No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind [the master mind]."
There are such groups now across the globe, spanning every sector of commerce and human interests.
One of my clients runs a successful Financial Advice firm, and has put together his own Mastermind Group to develop and promote industry best practice for its five members. This is what he does to make it work –
1: Meets regularly, every week or month.
2: Selects members with similar success and experience levels.
3: Ensures members are not direct competitors who may not be comfortable opening up to the Group.
4: Insists on commitment to meeting schedules and effective participation.
5: Develops a spirit of harmony, trust and respect. Eliminates argument; instead fosters constructive discussion.
6: Agrees a Group objective that this year is going to be the best ever for all members.
7: Accepts and gives honest feedback on himself and others.
8: Encourages each member to make his or her own plan, with defined goals for which the Group then holds them accountable.
9: Brings in guest speakers to inspire and educate.
10: Provides an immediate and perpetual support network.
The way to set up your own Mastermind Group is simple; pick up the phone to half-a-dozen or so of your peers and invite them to join with you.
Incidentally, the concept works equally well if you are work colleagues employed by an organisation, or if you want to form a group of participants in your sport, leisure or recreational activity.
Have a question you'd like Jon Cooper to address? You can submit it by either adding a comment to this post online or by e-mailing it to jon@jupiterdawn.com
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Jon Cooper: Top ten biggest sales mistakes.
Easy ways to ruin a sale.
As you read this, salespeople around world are doubtless hard at work inventing
new methods of screwing up their chances of success. To give them a helping
hand, here are my top ten ways to lose a sale!
1: Talk about yourself. No prospect wants you to listen to his story, and in any
case, you are far more interesting than he is.
2: Talk technical. Make sure you baffle them with enough confusing jargon, so
they have to buy just to find out what you were on about.
3: Let the customer take control. You need them to call the shots. Anyway, it’s
only polite, as they’re the ones paying your wages.
4: Make sure you recite your canned pitch. Everyone loves being assaulted with
a heavy sales spiel.
5: Insist they hear all the features of your product. Don’t bother talking benefits;
how should you know how they’re going to use your stuff anyway? They’ll have
plenty of time to work that out for themselves once they’re bought it.
6: Don’t worry about asking for the sale; after all, nobody ever makes decisions
on the day, so just assume they’re going to get at least three more quotes and
then want to think about it, like all the others.
7: Don’t waste time chasing prospects. They’ll always come back to you if you’ve
done your job, right? If they don’t, it just means they were wasting your time all
along.
8: Aim your pitch at the lowest-ranking employee. Get him excited and he’ll tell
his boss, who’ll tell his boss, and so on, until your sparkling message reaches
the actual decision-maker.
9: Don’t bother checking early on if they need or want your product. Just hit
them with your standard pitch, and they’ll sure as heck want it by the time
you’ve finished.
10: Love ‘em and leave ‘em. Your job is to make the sale, not deliver the goods.
The only reason they want to speak to you later is to complain about something,
so leave all that to Customer Service. Wouldn’t be so bad if they rang you with a
recommendation or referral every now and again, but of course; they never do.
Have a question you'd like Jon Cooper to address? You can submit it by either
adding a comment to this post online or by e-mailing it to jon@jupiterdawn.com
As you read this, salespeople around world are doubtless hard at work inventing
new methods of screwing up their chances of success. To give them a helping
hand, here are my top ten ways to lose a sale!
1: Talk about yourself. No prospect wants you to listen to his story, and in any
case, you are far more interesting than he is.
2: Talk technical. Make sure you baffle them with enough confusing jargon, so
they have to buy just to find out what you were on about.
3: Let the customer take control. You need them to call the shots. Anyway, it’s
only polite, as they’re the ones paying your wages.
4: Make sure you recite your canned pitch. Everyone loves being assaulted with
a heavy sales spiel.
5: Insist they hear all the features of your product. Don’t bother talking benefits;
how should you know how they’re going to use your stuff anyway? They’ll have
plenty of time to work that out for themselves once they’re bought it.
6: Don’t worry about asking for the sale; after all, nobody ever makes decisions
on the day, so just assume they’re going to get at least three more quotes and
then want to think about it, like all the others.
7: Don’t waste time chasing prospects. They’ll always come back to you if you’ve
done your job, right? If they don’t, it just means they were wasting your time all
along.
8: Aim your pitch at the lowest-ranking employee. Get him excited and he’ll tell
his boss, who’ll tell his boss, and so on, until your sparkling message reaches
the actual decision-maker.
9: Don’t bother checking early on if they need or want your product. Just hit
them with your standard pitch, and they’ll sure as heck want it by the time
you’ve finished.
10: Love ‘em and leave ‘em. Your job is to make the sale, not deliver the goods.
The only reason they want to speak to you later is to complain about something,
so leave all that to Customer Service. Wouldn’t be so bad if they rang you with a
recommendation or referral every now and again, but of course; they never do.
Have a question you'd like Jon Cooper to address? You can submit it by either
adding a comment to this post online or by e-mailing it to jon@jupiterdawn.com
Sleep your way to the top!
Jon Cooper - More sleep the secret to success?
One of my colleagues regularly mentions the fact that he gets by on 5 hours sleep a night.
In fact, his tone often suggests that the rest of us are quite lazy and unproductive,
spending 50% more of our lives lying down with our eyes shut.
However, as he’s recently been known to “drop the ball” at business meetings, and is also
suffering a divorce and health problems, I thought I’d take a look at the whole issue of
optimum sleep –
1: Canadian research suggests that seventeen hours awake can lead to a decrease in
performance equivalent to a blood alcohol-level of 0.05%, which is higher than the drinkdrive
limit in some countries.
2: Make sure your bedroom is the coolest room in the house (unless you have a walk-in
freezer). Hot summer nights can cause restless sleep, indicating your body’s need to cool
down before nodding off.
3: If you fall asleep “as soon as your head hits the pillow”, you’re probably over-tired. 10
to 15 minutes is nearer the natural pace for your body to cycle between awake and asleep.
4: Avoid alcohol just before bed. You may feel like it helps you sleep, but it will not be very
deep or restful slumber.
5: Jump out of bed quickly as soon as you awake, for maximum and enduring alertness
throughout the day.
6: Enhance your energy levels whilst awake by starting the day with a high-protein
breakfast, such as eggs and bacon, or specialist protein shakes. Minimise carbs, which can
leave you feeling drowsy through the morning.
7: If you don’t sleep enough at night, a “power-nap” really can work. Lock your office door,
close the blinds and turn off the lights. Focus on any problems at hand; then take a short
nap on a couch. When you awake, you will usually have all the answers you need.
8: 8 hours sleep is considered ideal by most experts, although this can drop to 6 hours for
those over 65.
One of the reasons more of us are sleeping less than ever before is the 24-hour
accessibility of the internet, so if you’re reading this online after midnight; get to bed now!
Have a question you'd like Jon Cooper to address? You can submit it by either
adding a comment to this post online or by e-mailing it to jon@jupiterdawn.com
One of my colleagues regularly mentions the fact that he gets by on 5 hours sleep a night.
In fact, his tone often suggests that the rest of us are quite lazy and unproductive,
spending 50% more of our lives lying down with our eyes shut.
However, as he’s recently been known to “drop the ball” at business meetings, and is also
suffering a divorce and health problems, I thought I’d take a look at the whole issue of
optimum sleep –
1: Canadian research suggests that seventeen hours awake can lead to a decrease in
performance equivalent to a blood alcohol-level of 0.05%, which is higher than the drinkdrive
limit in some countries.
2: Make sure your bedroom is the coolest room in the house (unless you have a walk-in
freezer). Hot summer nights can cause restless sleep, indicating your body’s need to cool
down before nodding off.
3: If you fall asleep “as soon as your head hits the pillow”, you’re probably over-tired. 10
to 15 minutes is nearer the natural pace for your body to cycle between awake and asleep.
4: Avoid alcohol just before bed. You may feel like it helps you sleep, but it will not be very
deep or restful slumber.
5: Jump out of bed quickly as soon as you awake, for maximum and enduring alertness
throughout the day.
6: Enhance your energy levels whilst awake by starting the day with a high-protein
breakfast, such as eggs and bacon, or specialist protein shakes. Minimise carbs, which can
leave you feeling drowsy through the morning.
7: If you don’t sleep enough at night, a “power-nap” really can work. Lock your office door,
close the blinds and turn off the lights. Focus on any problems at hand; then take a short
nap on a couch. When you awake, you will usually have all the answers you need.
8: 8 hours sleep is considered ideal by most experts, although this can drop to 6 hours for
those over 65.
One of the reasons more of us are sleeping less than ever before is the 24-hour
accessibility of the internet, so if you’re reading this online after midnight; get to bed now!
Have a question you'd like Jon Cooper to address? You can submit it by either
adding a comment to this post online or by e-mailing it to jon@jupiterdawn.com
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