Your Thoughts are Key to Closing More Sales!

The power of shifting the way we think is a principle that has been taught for decades by many well-known spiritual leaders. And, if you walk into any book store, you’ll see bookshelves lined with books about positive thinking. People are hungry to be free from negative thinking and want to be excited by what’s possible, yet learning how to apply this principle to their lives still eludes many.

In the course of the day we’re receiving thousands and thousands of thoughts. Many of the thoughts we have keep us playing small in life and from going after the things we want. It may seem as if we have no control over the thousands of thoughts that come into our mind. But, the truth is, we do have a say in what we think.

Consider that as human beings we are always in an ongoing conversation with ourselves. Notice the conversation you’re having with yourself when you’re sitting across from a client. As you get present to your own internal voice, you will see you are a person driven by that ongoing conversation. You’re driven by a little voice in your head that never shuts up. That voice in your head tells you who you are and what you can and can't do.

The voice never disappears; however, it doesn’t have to stop you. The voice that tells you, “you can’t do this” or “I’m not good at this stuff,” is made up by you. You’ve had those thoughts for so long, you actually believe they’re real. These repetitive thoughts become your negative beliefs. Here are some negative beliefs that may sound familiar to you.

I’m not good enough. I don’t have what it takes. Something is wrong with me. I’ll never succeed. I don’t like to sell. What if I fail?

I don’t know enough. Who will want what I offer? I’m a failure. I’m too disorganized. I’m not worth it. I can’t do this.

Are these negative beliefs real or did you make them up? How have they stopped you from taking action in the past and today?

Ask yourself, “What are the thoughts I’m creating right now?” Are you thinking about new ways to bring in business or are you thinking of reasons why you’re not bringing in enough business? Are you thinking of all the ways you help your clients or are you thinking you’re never going to be as successful as other entrepreneurs?

Studies have shown the mind is like a programming machine. And, whatever thought the mind hears over and over again believes it to be true. If that’s the case, why not change the negative belief to a positive belief? We can turn any negative thought we have into positive and powerful thoughts.

Here are some examples of how easily you can change some negative beliefs.

“They’ll think my fees are too high.” Your fear about charging higher fees has more to do with your own self worth than what people think. If you know in your heart you bring value to your clients, you’re worth it. To help you see your worth, make a list of everything you provide and all the benefits your clients get from working with you. Then read the list over so you can see the value you bring. If you believe you’re worth it, they will to!

“It’s hard for me to ask for referrals.” Often a thought like this will have an underlying belief such as “people don’t want to help me,” “people aren’t happy with my services,” or “I’m afraid I’ll appear too pushy.” How do you know they don’t want to help you, aren’t happy with your service, or will think you’re too pushy? We tend to get a rejection or two and conclude that people will not help us. Before you ask for the referral, say to yourself, “I did a good job for my client! They want to help me. I’m going to ask for a referral without being attached to a result.”

“Public speaking scares me to death.” Will you die if you speak in public? Is that really true? I haven’t seen it happen once, yet. What’s the really worst thing that could happen? Your presentation might bore some people. Could you handle that? With a little practice, don’t you think you’d improve? Of course you could. To ease your fear of speaking, you can build up your confidence by giving small presentations at your local library or your local community center.

Now, the more you say these thoughts to yourself and to others, they become real. Negative thoughts like “It’s hard for me to ask for referrals.” “I’m not good at managing my time.” “Public speaking scares me.” Every limiting thought becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s true because you say it’s true. And, if you don’t question your thoughts, they will continue to control your destiny. You can change those thoughts.

The thoughts you have are the key to achieving everything you want in your life and business. You have within yourself the ability to change your thoughts and by doing that, you can achieve everything you need to bring in sales beyond your wildest dreams! When you start shifting your thinking, you’ll easily start attracting new clients and bringing in new business.

If you liked what you've read and want help in applying these steps to your business, I invite you to take your first step by signing up for a Breakthrough Strategy Session with me. If you're stuck in your business or frustrated you're not bringing in more sales, please stop suffering and call me. There is a solution! I will walk you through a step-by-step process that will give you clarity about the direction of your business, create a 180-degree turn around in your thinking about sales, and move you forward quickly. I will personally give you my one-on-one breakthrough strategies that fit you and your business. Click here to learn more.

If you would like to use this article on your website, or for your own ezine, not a problem; however, there’s one thing you MUST include: Rochelle Togo-Figa, The Sales Breakthrough Expert, is the creator of the Sales Breakthrough System™, a proven step-by-step sales process that will help you close more sales, sign on more clients and make more money with ease and velocity. To sign up for her free sales articles and teleclasses on closing more sales, visit http://www.salesbreakthroughs.com/.

Give Yourself a Break…Cuz You’re the Boss!

I’m the first to say that it’s important to invest in yourself to grow your business. As a solo business owner, I’m always interested in learning new ways to grow my business and help my clients. I know that by learning the latest products and cutting edge information, I have more to offer my clients.

However, recently I noticed I was spending more time outside my office attending workshops than working on my business. I would return from a workshop filled with new ideas. I’d create another long “to do” list to add to my previous “to do” list, not sure when I’d get to all of it. There seemed so much to do and so little time to do it. I realized it was time to put the brakes on, slow down, and take a step back.

I was so busy doing, doing, doing, I wasn’t making the time to absorb and implement everything I’ve learned. Nor was I taking the time “to stop to smell the roses.” Sound familiar to you? You find yourself with all these great ideas, yet pulled in so many different directions that it begins to feel overwhelming.

One of the advantages of being a business owner is that you get to design your business the way you want it. So it’s time to give yourself a break, cuz you’re the boss! Here’s 5 ways to get started.

1. Ask yourself, “Which of these tasks is going to move me closer to my goals?”
   
   You’ve got a number of projects you’re trying to finish. You can’t possibly do everything you need to do. Some things are just not going to get done.
   
   Then make a list of all the things you have to do. Prioritize all the items, listing the most important on top down to the least important at the bottom.
   
   Now you can start working on the most important realizing you probably won’t get to the bottom. And, that’s okay because they can’t be very important or they would have been listed at the top.
2. Take a deep breath, stop what you’re doing and step away.
   
   There are times when work can seem so overwhelming. You feel like everything is coming at you at once. You’re not sure what pile to start on first.
   
   Even if it’s only for a few minutes, step away from your desk, and do something different. When you return, you’ll feel calmer and more focused.
3. Make your weekends your own private time to take care of yourself.
   
   Often on Sunday afternoons, I’ll go up to my office, open up my computer and start working. I’ll tell myself I’m doing this so I can be ahead of my workload except there’s always the next thing to do.
   
   This past Sunday, I did things differently. I decided I was not going to work. Instead, I sat out on my terrace and immersed myself in a great fiction book I’ve been dying to read. What a great feeling to read something totally unrelated to work, and I can’t wait to read the next chapter!
4. Block out time on your calendar to nurture your mind and soul.
   
   For me it’s working out at the gym 3 times a week. For you, it could be taking a walk, jogging in the neighborhood, practicing yoga, journaling your thoughts each morning, meditating daily, or reading a good juicy book.
   
   Even if it’s only for a few minutes, give yourself “special time.” You’ll find yourself more relaxed and focused when you return to your office.
5. As you start to plan next year’s business and personal goals, make sure to block off vacation time and write those dates in your calendar now.
   
   Your vacation time with your family is a priority, and sometimes we forget that. Rob and I have already decided where and when we’re taking next year’s vacation. And, we plan on taking more vacations too.

As a solo entrepreneur, you have to consciously make the time to enjoy life and smell the roses. If you don’t do that for yourself, no one else is going to! And, doing that has to be a priority.

By taking my own advice, something pretty amazing happened! I got 2 new sales without being at my computer. Also, the phone started ringing with people interested in working with me. Of course, I had all my systems in place that made this all the more easy.

If you liked what you've read and want help in applying these steps to your business, I invite you to take your first step by signing up for a Breakthrough Strategy Session with me. If you’re stuck in your business or frustrated you’re not bringing in more sales, please stop suffering and call me. There is a solution! I will walk you through a step-by-step process that will give you clarity about the direction of your business, create a 180-degree turn around in your thinking about sales, and move you forward quickly. I will personally give you my one-on-one breakthrough strategies that fit you and your business. Click here to learn more.

If you would like to use this article on your website, or for your own ezine, not a problem; however, there’s one thing you MUST include: Rochelle Togo-Figa, The Sales Breakthrough Expert, is the creator of the Sales Breakthrough System™, a proven step-by-step sales process that will help you close more sales, sign on more clients and make more money with ease and velocity. To sign up for her free sales articles and teleclasses on closing more sales, visit http://www.salesbreakthroughs.com/.

5 Steps to Attracting More Sales Beyond Your Wildest Dreams

As entrepreneurs and business owners, we all have dreams of closing sales beyond our wildest dreams, signing up lots of clients, and making more money than we ever thought possible. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always happen as quickly as we’d like it to.

Many entrepreneurs and business owners come to me frustrated with their lack of sales, hoping to learn specific sales skills to turn around their businesses. They hope by learning new selling techniques, their sales will quickly grow and their businesses will flourish.

Some of my clients quickly apply the sales skills I teach, reaching extraordinary levels of success, while other clients reach minimal sales success. Why was this happening for some and not for the others? Both groups had the same level of experience, yet the level of success was significantly different.

At first, I was puzzled, frustrated, and saddened I could not make a difference for all my clients. Over time, it became clear I could share all my sales knowledge and show my clients everything I knew about sales; however, it was up to them to make it happen. I realized it took more than just learning the right sales skills; it took shifting the mindset.

A crucial key to unlocking unlimited abundance in business and life starts with shifting our inner mindset. Unfortunately, many people work really hard getting minimal sales results because of their mindset. On one hand, they want to break through their barriers. On the other hand, they allow their emotions to keep them from making the changes necessary to expand their businesses.

You can learn all the skills, techniques, and strategies; however, without a positive inner mindset, your financial success is limited. If you want to create an abundance of sales and clients coming to you, it starts with shifting your mindset.

When you shift your inner mindset, you make the decision to rewrite the way you think. By changing the way you think, you’re changing the direction of your life. You’re now becoming the author of your life. Then you’ll begin to attract everything you want with ease.

As a coach and mentor, I am always learning from my clients. I saw in my own business how I would reach a certain level of success and then stop. I knew deep in my heart I could achieve much more, yet I was afraid of taking the leap. So I started studying with the experts, taking personal growth workshops, and reading more self-growth books than I can keep count.

As I made these internal changes to my thinking, something magical began to happen. I began to appreciate what I have, started “being” in my business rather than “doing,” and let go of the worry. I’m now taking bigger steps in my business and following my purpose.  New opportunities are coming my way and it’s because I’m letting go of the fear.

From the journey I’ve taken and I’m happily still on, I saw there was a process I followed that opened me up to receiving abundance in my business. I’ve taken what I’ve learned and created 5 key steps to follow that will change how you are being in your business and help you easily attract an abundance of everything you want.

1. Shifting the Mindset. You must first believe you can. As soon as you have a doubt, fear, or worry, those feelings take away from believing. Your thoughts, emotions, and actions must be congruent with your belief so that the universe can give you what you want. Your thoughts and feelings create your reality.
2. The Power of Choice. You get to choose the direction you want your life to go. Through the power of choice, you decide how you want to create your life to be. What occurs in your life is not by accident. It’s a result of the choices you’ve made. Are you choosing to live your life powerfully or are you blaming others? Are you choosing to take responsibility for the growth of your business or are you blaming circumstances?
3. 100% Responsible. Responsibility starts with being accountable for every aspect of your life. When you can recognize, acknowledge, and own that you are responsible for your life, you experience a new level of freedom, power and ease in your life. When you’re being responsible, you’re no longer at the affect of any circumstances that come your way. There’s no complaining or blaming others. You know that the buck stops with you.
4. Moving Beyond What’s Stopping You. What have you been putting up with, tolerating, or trying to change? Whatever you put up with drains your energy and keeps you stuck in the same place. Do you make excuses for not going forward in your business? What’s the excuse really covering up? It’s probably an underlying fear that you’re holding onto. When you make the decision to move past where you’re stopped, all tolerations, excuses and fears will lose their power over you.
5. Letting Go of the Past. Are you letting past experiences keep you from moving forward? Some of our past experiences keep us from appreciating what we have in the present because we believe it will happen again. These experiences affect how we communicate, relate to others, grow our business, and even stop us from going after all the things we really want. By letting go of the past, you’re free to attract anything you want in your life and your business. You now have a blank slate from which to create anything and everything!

I believe by applying these steps to your business, you’ll begin to experience a shift in how you sell and interact with clients. You’re now becoming a master of the inner game of sales. I invite you to follow these steps to opening your mind to unlimited sales success. (I’m so certain that this is the pathway to creating your sales success that I’m currently creating a revolutionary new sales program that will change your mindset about selling forever…more details to come!)

If you would like to use this article on your website, or for your own ezine, not a problem; however, there’s one thing you MUST include: Rochelle Togo-Figa, The Sales Breakthrough Expert, is the creator of the Sales Breakthrough System™, a proven step-by-step sales process that will help you close more sales, sign on more clients and make more money with ease and velocity. To sign up for her free sales articles and teleclasses on closing more sales, visit http://www.salesbreakthroughs.com/.

Are You Tired of Being Out Priced by the Competition?

Are you losing business to the competition because they’re coming in at a lower price? Are your competitors telling the prospect they have the same exact product as you but for less money? This can be very frustrating when you know your product is superior yet the prospect is buying from them and not you.

If you’re nodding your head yes to these questions, then you’re not alone. Being “out priced” is happening more often now as people are being cautious about their spending. Yet, if you go into your local shopping mall or supermarket, you’ll see crowds of people buying. They still need services and are willing to pay for a quality product.

Today’s consumers have become more educated about buying with all the information available to them. They now have more knowledge about products than many of the people selling to them. You can no longer simply communicate information about your product and expect you have the sale.

Although you truly know in your heart your product is the best, there’s a lot more competition out there. You have to be willing to go the extra mile. You have to show them upfront the value they’re getting.

This means meeting face-to-face with the prospect to uncover their pain, identify the solution, show them how you’ll implement the solution, and how you and your product stand out from the competition.

Here are 4 steps to show the value the prospect receives from buying your product:

1. Uncover the pain: At your first meeting with prospects, help them to define a problem they may not fully understand or know they have by asking questions. Questions like “What’s your biggest challenge? What’s not working as well as you’d like it to? If you could wave a magic wand, what would you like to see happen differently in your business?”
2. Identify the solution: Help prospects identify a solution they didn’t know was available to them. Based on what they’ve shared with you, let them know the solution you have that will resolve their problem.
3. Present the solution process: Present and explain how you will implement the solution for them. Walk them through the all the steps, so they understand how the process works. Remind them of all the benefits they will experience after the problem is gone.
4. Differentiate yourself from the competition: Explain what makes you unique in the service you provide. Let them know what you do for them that sets you apart from your competition. This is where how and what you say really matters the most. Be willing to freely and powerfully say what makes you stand out from the others. People want to work with people who are confident and make them feel safe with and they can trust. You will win over the prospect when you speak authentically from your heart!

Yes, in some cases, low pricing will win out no matter what. Do not dwell on those situations…just move on. There are many people out there who want and need your product and are willing to pay for it.

If you liked what you've read and want help in applying these steps to your business, I invite you to take your first step by signing up for a Breakthrough Strategy Session with me. If you're stuck in your business or frustrated you're not bringing in more sales, please stop suffering and call me. There is a solution! I will walk you through a step-by-step process that will give you clarity about the direction of your business, create a 180-degree turn around in your thinking about sales, and move you forward quickly. I will personally give you my one-on-one breakthrough strategies that fit you and your business.
Click here to learn more.

If you would like to use this article on your website, or for your own ezine, not a problem; however, there’s one thing you MUST include: Rochelle Togo-Figa, The Sales Breakthrough Expert, is the creator of the Sales Breakthrough System™, a proven step-by-step sales process that will help you close more sales, sign on more clients and make more money with ease and velocity. To sign up for her free sales articles and teleclasses on closing more sales, visit http://www.salesbreakthroughs.com/.

Break Out of Your Comfort Zone and Break Through in Your Business!

Do you have some great ideas to grow your business, but when it comes time to taking action, you suddenly come up with all the reasons and excuses not to do it? Do you find yourself lit up with a new idea that you can’t wait to implement? But, then your fears come up and you decide you’re not quite ready yet to go forward.

If any of this sounds familiar to you, you’re not alone. I’ve experienced the same thing. Most recently at Ali Brown’s workshop I had some big “aha” moments. I wrote down many new ideas, but when I got back to my office, I began to find excuses to put off taking the plunge and breaking out of my comfort zone. I had thoughts like “what if it doesn’t work, this is too expensive, I don’t have the time.” These are familiar thoughts I’ve had before that have kept me stuck.

What I notice about Ali and other successful entrepreneurs is when they have an idea, they don’t sit on it for months or even years, they get into action and quickly implement it. They have no idea if it’s going to be a success or failure but have the courage to try it out anyway. They have their share of failures, yet they don’t let that stop them.

The one thing most successful entrepreneurs have in common is that when they come up with a good idea, they don’t analyze it to death or wait until it’s perfect, they just do it!

I walked away from the workshop with several great ideas, but a couple of the most valuable “a-ha” moments I had was to “stop waiting until it’s perfect, just do it now!” I also know if I’m left to my own thoughts, I’ll come up with lots of reasons not to do things. So I set up a support structure and will be joining a Mastermind Group that will hold me accountable to doing what I said I would do.

Here’s what I learned about breaking out of my comfort zone:

1. When you create something bigger in your business, it’s not unusual to think of all the reasons it won’t work.
2. When those reasons come up not to do it, and those reasons will come up, do it anyway.
3. Successful entrepreneurs quickly implement ideas.
4. Create an accountability support structure to keep you in action.
5. Don't wait for it to be perfect…just do it now!

If you’re ready to break out of your comfort zone and take your business to the next level, here’s 8 easy steps to help you build your best year ever.

1. Write down one BIG idea you know you should be working on now. You know it’s the one if you get excited and nervous at the same time.
2. By fulfilling that idea, write down what will it give you in your life? As you write the details, be as specific and vivid as you can because the more you can see yourself doing it, the more real it becomes for you.
3. Write all the thoughts you’re having that could keep you from implementing your idea. Then take that piece of paper, rip it into tiny pieces and throw it away! You’re now free to pursue that BIG idea!
4. Write down the due date you will implement your idea.
5. Write down the action steps that will help you implement your idea.
6. Find a colleague or a friend to be your buddy and hold you accountable to implementing your idea?
7. Work with a coach, or find a group of like-minded entrepreneurs or colleagues and form your own mastermind group. Together you can guide, support and hold each other accountable to implementing the idea.
8. Now, get your butt into gear and take action, or it's just another good idea!

If you would like to use this article on your website, or for your own ezine, not a problem; however, there’s one thing you MUST include: Rochelle Togo-Figa, The Sales Breakthrough Expert, is the creator of the Sales Breakthrough System™, a proven step-by-step sales process that will help you close more sales, sign on more clients and make more money with ease and velocity. To sign up for her free sales articles and teleclasses on closing more sales, visit http://www.salesbreakthroughs.com/.