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Dec 29 2014

Why We Keep Getting Limited Results, and What You Can Do Differently Starting Now in this Year!

yvonne

Have you ever wondered why you’re not getting the results you want despite doing your best or following the ‘guaranteed’ formulas and products everyone else is using and getting results?

Do you feel procrastination, lack of time, fear of failure or lack of finances is holding you back?

Or why when you have been working so hard to get promoted or kick-start your business idea, but still not happening?

Or you can’t seem lose weight and keep it off, yet others are experiencing great results?

It may not be what you think!

I too have struggled. I know the feeling. But thankfully my outcomes are now different because of the simple but foundational principles I was fortunate to apply, and I began to see fantastic outcomes; getting multiple promotions in my career, kick-starting my business and seeing the results and momentum build, and the hardest had to be losing up to 90lbs.

I have discovered from my life, and working with many individuals and organisations that a significant part of getting our desired results is not in finding the solution to the problem or knowing ‘how-to’, but lies with the person and mindset of the person who has the solution.

Have you heard the story of the two salesmen who were sent to a foreign place to sell shoes? The first salesman arrives and sees that nobody on the island wears shoes, and he immediately sends a message back to the office saying “Dead end. Nobody wears shoes here”. The second salesman arrives, sees the same situation and immediately sends a message back to the office saying “Magnificent opportunity! Loads of shoes to be sold”. What was the difference between these two salesmen? Mindset!

Yes, their mindset. Mindset is what differentiates two people with the same opportunity. Mindset is what allowed the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Walt Disney, Michael Jordan, President Barack Obama and Albert Einstein recognise opportunities that others did not, made them persist, and succeed in the face countless rejections, adversity and opposition. Mindset is also what finally allowed me achieve success using existing knowledge and ‘how-to’ information available in the public domain.

A right mindset is foundational to us getting and exceeding the outcomes we desire; it will turn things around and help us become creative in finding solutions to barriers such as procrastination, overcoming fear, finding the time and resources we need, and more.

In my book coming out soon on mindset, I go into more detail on mindset principles and examples that individuals like Walt Disney, Michael Phelps presently regarded as the greatest Olympian, and Nick Vujicic, born without arms or legs, have used to achieve significant success and how you also can easily apply these same principles to your specific situation and take your outcomes from good to great!

Please leave a comment below: Have you been successful in achieving your goals, what worked for you? Or what are you currently struggling with, and what barriers are you coming against?

Comment below. I would love to hear, discuss and share insights with you.

 

To learn about Yvonne’s latest book on Changing your Mindset for greater results, visit http://www.oliveblue.com/changeyourmindset/

Yvonne is an Author, Speaker, Change Consultant & John Maxwell Leadership Coach who is passionate about working with Individuals, Entrepreneurs and Organisations to provide the tools and help implement change, drive results and achieve their goals.   She can be reached at: www.oliveblue.com . www.facebook.com/oliveblueinc . www.twitter.com/oliveblueinc.www.youtube.com/ChangeYouWantTV

 

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Yvonne Ruke Akpoveta · Tagged: adversity, Albert Einstein, business idea, Business Woman, Canadian Small Business Women, career coach, entrepreneur, fear of failure, foundational principles, keep it off, kick-start, lack of finances, lack of time, lose weight, Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, mindset, momentum, Nick Vujicic, OliveBlue Inc, Olympian, Oprah Winfrey, Persistence, President Barack Obama, principles, Procrastination, rejection, results, salesman, small business, small business owners, struggled, the office, the office saying, Walt Disney, Yvonne Ruke Akpoveta

Oct 07 2014

The Importance of Persistence vs. Pestering

 

Sheralyn

We have all been told at some point that “persistence pays off.”  Probably your Mom, your Coach or even your Teacher gave you that little pep talk when you were struggling with a particularly difficult ask. Well, just as Robert Fulghum* might have said, this advice is actually timeless and bears repeating whether we are in school, in sports or in the world of business.

Statistics tell us that most sales are made between the 5th and 12th follow up call. Yet how many sales people give up after the second or maybe third call at best? How about networking?  You go to event after event, you share business cards and maybe you even get two minutes to give your “elevator sales pitch.” That’s great but how often do you walk away with a solid lead, a great referral or a sale?

Sometimes it might seem like you are investing plenty of your hard earned cash to attend networking events and not seeing any return.  This is where persistence comes in.  In our world of social media, 24-hour news channels and “Instagram” (the very name a play on the word instant) we have come to expect instant gratification and immediate satisfaction of our wants and needs.  As a result, we have forgotten that some things simply take time. Like nurturing any good relationship, networking and sales requires an investment of your time, energy and commitment. You wouldn’t expect someone you just met to drop everything, forsake their other commitments and go away on a vacation with you but it might be more than reasonable to ask your good friend of the past ten years to jump on that “sellout vacation package.” That’s because you’ve nurtured and grown that friendship over time, have learned that you are compatible and have taken the time and care necessary to foster a friendship built on the trust required to take advantage of this kind of quick get-a-way.

It’s the same in business.  We build trust in a variety of ways including word of mouth, by providing great service and through building a strong referral network around us. Yes your product is important but ultimately, it is your service that will separate you from your competition.  Great service is fostered through continuous contact with your customer, by taking the time to learn their wants and needs and to demonstrate through your commitment how best you can meet their expectations.  Persistence means that sometimes, it isn’t even the customer you were dealing with but another individual who will then act as a referral source for you.  As a female, I am never going to need protective sports-related undergarments geared to men (a jock….) but I might have friends, a husband or a son that need one.  If you have proven yourself to me as a consistent and reliable supplier and one with whom I can trust doing business, I will refer others to you.

How do you nurture these relationships without breaking the bank and without annoying your potential customer?  There are certainly an abundance of theories on this topic but chief among them is to offer something of potential value, at no charge and with no strings attached. Pestering is constantly sending emails of little or no relevance to your customer (which Canadian anti-spam legislation now expressly forbids) but persistence is offering something that adds value. We’ve discussed reciprocity before.  Giving something to a potential customer, even helping them in a capacity other than one involving a direct sale, will encourage them to think of you over your competition when it finally comes time to make a purchase.

If you belong to networking groups (and you should) perhaps you can provide something of value to the group that they will appreciate. If you’re in the travel industry for example, give away some free information like explaining to people how they can best leverage their Aeroplan points, information they might not otherwise have known if you hadn’t explained it to them.  In communications I have a handy Rule of 10 “10mplate” that helps small business entrepreneurs build website content successfully. You could give an information seminar for free and of course, samples of your product always go over well. Even if your business is a service and not a product, invest in something useful or delicious (a notepad or pen branded with your corporate logo or some chocolate is always popular) and hand these out together with your business card. Perhaps your customer is conducting a fundraiser and requires a donation.  Offer up a gift basket full of yummy seasonal products. You don’t have to spend a great deal, the point is to do something that gets you remembered, keeps you top of mind and that will be perceived as having added value to your potential client.

If you keep engaging your potential customer, offering not soliciting, eventually the phone will start to ring and your inbox will fill up with messages from those seeking or referring your services.  It’s all about persistence not pestering.  Persistence pays off, pestering annoys.  It’s a tightrope but if you balance it successfully you can use that tightrope to get you to the other side – bridging the gap between a referral and a sale!

*Robert wrote the popular “All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten.”

As Owner and Principal partner of “Writing Right For You” Sheralyn is a Communications Strategist – working together with entrepreneurs to maximize profit through effective use of the written word. Looking for web content that works, blog articles that engage or communications strategies that help you get noticed?  Contact Sheralyn today. Sheralyn is also the mother of two children now entering the “terrible and terrific teens” and spends her free time volunteering for several non-profit organizations.

Sheralyn Roman B.A., B.Ed.

Writing Right For You

Communications Strategies that help you GET TO THE POINT!

416-420-9415 Cell/Business

writingrightforyou@gmail.com

LinkedIn / Facebook / www.writingrightforyou.weebly.com

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Sheralyn Roman · Tagged: 10mplate, Aeroplan, business, business cards, business development, business entrepreneurs, Business Woman, Canadian Small Business Women, coach, commitments, entrepreneur, Instagram, Mom, Persistence, Persistence Pays Off, pestering, relationship, Robert Fulghum, Robert Gulghum, Sheralyn Roman, small business, small business development, small business owners, Teacher, Writing Right For You

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