“Connection is why we’re here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives."

Brené Brown

I believe it’s the quality of your connections that so heavily influences your long- term sales sustainability.

Superficial interactions and empty conversations get you nowhere.

If your desire is to build meaningful connections with your clients, then you must be willing to get past surface-level conversations to forge deeper bonds.

Those sales professionals who unify at the heart level and not the wallet level are able to connect with the emotional needs of their clients. They understand people crave to be valued, respected, seen, heard and acknowledged.

By acknowledging and not forgetting the human element, heart-centered professionals maintain the wisdom to positively transform their client's business lives.

"Until we can receive with an open heart, we are never really giving with an open heart."

Brené Brown

Simply put, your relationship funnel is fueled by the connections that you make.

When you give people (your clients) an authentic, one-on-one view of yourself, you’re giving them a reason to reciprocate and show themselves to you in turn.

This creates a familiar bond that, over time, can grow into something healthy, helpful, and above all, meaningful.

A meaningful connection is a two-way street. Both parties are getting something from the relationship.

Here's the mirror moment...

What are your clients getting out of their relationship with you?

Honest conversations yield honest relationships.

HONEST CONVERSATION CREATES CONNECTION

To quote William Shakespeare,

"No legacy is so rich as honesty."

In a business world starving for truthfulness and honesty, what do you wish your legacy to be?

Are you leading your sales life with confident and direct conversation?

I enjoyed reading, "The Business of Honor" by Bob Hasson along with Danny Silk.

There is a style of communication they refer to as being healthy and aligned with the core beliefs and commitments of honor, and this is called assertive conversation.

Key in on this especially in a business world where trust is extremely low... "I'm going to tell you the truth about my thoughts, feelings and needs."

In doing so, they go onto to say this demonstrates trust, "I'm not going to do anything to try and manipulate or control the way you see me or respond to me."

What do you think about that statement?

Healthy conversation is mission critical to have which causes the people who really want to know you to trust you.

Let this one sink in from "The Business of Honor",

"Assertive communication fosters trust, safety and belonging. Telling the truth especially difficult truths is one of the main things that causes the people who really want to know us to trust us."

Think about your clients, now reread the quote above.

Assertive conversations require connection.

As we think about connection, let's refer to Brené Brown,

“I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.”

I'm going to ask you to think about your clients... Do you believe in your heart that you're creating a space for your clients to feel seen, heard and valued?

In building authentic connections, you hold the key to long-lasting and meaningful client relationships.

Client relationships will become stronger as you learn to open up.

Without healthy conversations, where do you believe the relationship really sits?

The dilemma or struggle for salespeople is when you rely upon scripted questions, you will usually get scripted answers.

Real conversations require complete and active participation. It requires you to be present. Genuine healthy conversations are invitations, an invitation to "what's really going on" starts to unfold, deepening the conversation.

How do you achieve authentic, meaningful, genuine and real conversations with your clients? Quite simple, you let your guard down and you stop acting like a salesperson.

HONEST CONVERSATION CREATES TRUST

To quote, John 8:32,

"The truth will set you free".

How many times have you felt hesitant about speaking ‘your’ truth because of the way you think it will be perceived, or simply, to avoid confrontation?

Spend any amount of time in sales and you will have been faced with moments of... "Do I really share what's going on or do I sugar-coat it to avoid a difficult situation arising?"

No matter the situation, truthful becomes your savior as opposed to avoiding uncomfortable conversations. Yet, how many in sales avoid these types of conversations?

Honesty leads to consistency in your communication. When you consistently speak the truth, others can rely on your words and actions.

Does your conversational walk match your conversational talk?

Brad Blanton, author of Radical Honesty: How to Transform Your Life by Telling the Truth, writes:

"When we reveal more, we have less to hide. When we have less to hide, we are less worried about being found out. When we are less worried about being found out, we can pay better attention to someone else. In this way, telling the truth makes intimacy and freedom possible."

Think about this for a moment...

Are you brave enough to start healthy and assertive conversations that matter?

Are you and your clients having break through moments with your conversations?

CONNECTING CONVERSATIONS IS NOT A SIGN OF WEAKNESS

Honoring and connecting at a heart level is not a sign of weakness.

Allow this quote by Judith Orloff to sink in,

"Connection is an energy exchange between people who are paying attention to one another."

Simply put, are you really paying attention to your clients when engaging in conversation? I will let you think about this one for a moment.

Connecting conversations require intentional listening. This happens by being fully present, maintaining eye contact, summarizing what you are hearing, and then asking questions about what has been said.

Deep listening builds trust and safety in relationships.

When you fail or even struggle to have connecting type conversations, you lose out on opportunities to foster meaningful connections that in turn, will improve your client relationships.

Here are some examples of connecting type conversations:

1. Goals and Aspirations: Be willing to go first... Share your long-term goals, dreams, and aspirations as this can lead to a meaningful conversation. You can share what you hope to achieve in your career and ask the other person about their goals and ambitions.
2. Personal Growth and Self-Improvement: Share your journey of self-discovery, personal growth, and self-improvement as this can be both enlightening and inspiring. You can discuss books, practices and routines that have helped you grow as an individual.
3. Hopes for the Future: Engage in conversations about the future and or your vision. You can discuss the hopes for a better business world, the legacy you all want to leave, and how you all plan to contribute to a brighter future.

Connecting and meaningful conversations are not limited to specific topics.

These conversations become meaningful because there has been a genuine exchange of thoughts and feelings. The key is to listen actively, be open to different perspectives, and allow the conversation to flow naturally.

HEART AND VALUES CREATE CONNECTING CONVERSATIONS

In order build value, how many know the true meaning of value?

Why is this so important?

Inside a sea of sales sameness, VALUE; irrefutably becomes one the single biggest connection factors.

A true professional recognizes the value in both their sales-based tools and their heart-based tools.

They display kindness and concern. They understand these emotions demonstrate strength rather than weakness.

Heartfelt professionals are not afraid to use the most powerful tools which come from the heart.

Be different, think different and act different. It's imperative that you marry your value, your client's value and your company's value in complete harmony; one that's uniquely suited to promote growth and business betterment.

Honest, Healthy And Heartfelt Conversations Matter

It takes courage to have assertive, confident and healthy conversations. It also requires practice. The more you seek to connect with your clients in an authentic way, the more you will hone your skills of giving, inviting and releasing (detaching from the outcomes).

To quote Bob Hasson,

"Fostering healthy connection in our business relationships is critical to success, and for this reason, we must be committed to telling the truth, receiving well, and serving well."

Again, how well are you connecting with your clients? And why authentic connections are all about honest conversations, free from lies.

I will leave you all with one more quote from Brad Blanton in "Radical Honesty" as he says,

"We all lie like hell. It wears us out, it is the major source of all human stress… The kind of lying that is most deadly is withholding, or keeping back information from someone we think would be affected by it."

Now think of your conversations, now think of your clients, now think of how they view you.

To honor thy clients is to honor thyself.

Changing the conversations, changes the outcomes.

In this episode of Selling From the Heart , we are joined by Weldon Long as he shares his inspiring journey from homelessness and prison to success and prosperity. He emphasizes the importance of selling from the heart, extending oneself emotionally and professionally to prospects, and maintaining integrity in sales.

Weldon also discusses the power of consistency and the prosperity mindset, highlighting the role of expectations and imagination in achieving success. He explains how the reticular activating system filters our focus and the impact of cognitive dissonance on behavior.

Weldon emphasizes the need for a morning routine and a prosperity plan to condition the subconscious mind for success.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Weldon Long is a successful entrepreneur, mindset expert and author of the NY Times Bestseller, The Power of Consistency. From 13 years in a jail cell to running multimillion-dollar businesses...In 2003, Weldon walked out of a homeless shelter after serving over a decade in prison. A 9th-grade dropout and 3-time convicted felon, he found himself broke and unemployable. In just 5 short years he grew his company from $0 to $20 million and was selected by Inc Magazine as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in America. Weldon has since trained thousands of sales reps, and generated over $40 million across his 6 companies and over $480 million for his clients including Fortune 500 companies like FedEx, Home Depot, Wells Fargo, and Farmers Insurance.

He’s also a NY Times bestselling author of The Power of Consistency, Consistency Selling, and Upside of Fear. Today, Weldon is one of the nation’s most sought-after sales experts. KEY TAKEAWAYS Successful sales require extending oneself emotionally and professionally to prospects, regardless of the outcome. Consistency in executing small actions consistently is more important than the scope of what we do.

Expectations and imagination set the limit on our achievements. The reticular activating system filters our focus and determines what we notice and ignore. Cognitive dissonance drives behavior and can be used to align actions with goals. A morning routine and a prosperity plan help condition the subconscious mind for success.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

"Successful sales is about extending ourselves emotionally and professionally to our prospects, whether or not we get the business."

"Sales performance doesn't tell me a man's character or a woman's character. Did they extend themselves emotionally and professionally?"

"Success in life is about doing ordinary things extraordinarily well." "Expectations are the ceiling on what you do, but your imagination sets the ceiling on expectations."

"Your self-consciousness has not been working on ways to make half a million. It's been working on ways to make a hundred thousand."

"Your life has to be outlined in a simple format that you can review on a daily basis to condition the subconscious to go out and find those things."

"The ultimate accountability is not about your family, it's about what you've decided you want and what you need to do every single day."

"The power of consistency is executing on the small things on a consistent basis." "The subconscious mind is 10,000 times more powerful than the conscious brain."

"Mindset and skillset together create incredible results."

Learn more about Weldon Long: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weldonlong/

Learn more about Darrell and Larry:

Darrell's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrellamy/

Larry's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrylevi...

Website: https://www.sellingfromtheheart.net/

Got a video about how you sell from the heart?

Share it by texting VIDEO to 21000.

Please visit BarnesandNobles.com to order your copy of the rerelease of the Selling from the Heart book. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sell...

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This Week in Copiers Ten Years Ago

Third Week of September 2013

Real Copier Sales

Cash Back Bonus for Leasing to Close:

This can be easily accomplished by adding money to the initial lease cost and then rebating the cash back to the customer when the lease transaction is completed.  Make sure you stay within lease guidelines for funding.

read the rest here

Check These Great Copier Threads from Ten Years Ago This Week

This Week in the Copier Industry 5 Years Ago

Enjoy These Awesome Copier Threads from 5 Years Ago

The above title was a talk track we had in the car today while we were traveling from account to account.  Our topic was about how can we get some of these 5 year old plus MPFs out of the field.  Let's face it,  the feature set of most copiers today has not changed in the five years except for some cloud functionality.

For me one of the difference makers from copier to copier has been the print drivers.  Alas Microsoft will kill off third party print drivers on 2027.

Thus the question becomes what will make the client trade in/upgrade that 5 year old clunker that has outdated security software?

One of my talk tracks is to tell the story of firmware in our industry.  I'll lead off with explaining what firmware is an what is does.

I relate this to your existing smartphone and ask if they receive notices from Andriod OS or iOS to update their software.  Keep in mind that at least with iOS they are not changing the firmware but updating the software. Those updates can help protect your smart device against malicious threats.

Updating the copier software (new intelligent copiers) and security settings is now something the client can access for download and install. Thus keeping your device up to date with the latest versions.

Tell the Story

It's also great to tell the story of how copier companies used to update firmware.  The old story of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" was prevalent in our industry for many years.  In the past firmware had to be installed by a technician.  Of course sending a tech on site for a firmware update meant there was an additional cost to the copier dealer.  Thus most firmware was not updated until their was an issue with the copier. Thus there are many copiers that have not had their firmware updated in years.

The latest state of the art MFP technology allows for auto updates that will help protect the client and keep the devices up to date. Do you want an unprotected MFP in your office and on your network?

Hedge against Inflation

Lease prices are going through the roof.  We are now seeing the highest lease rates in 20 plus years.  Back in the early eighties, the lease rate for 60 FMV month lease would be around .0272.

Putting off the upgrade of that 5 year old plus copier or clunker will only cost your client more money.  The time is now to protect your profits with a lease.

I started in sales back in 1981.  At that time we didn't have an FMV (Fair Market Value) lease, however the standard lease offered a $1.00 purchase option (finance lease) of a 10% purchase option.  The talk track of using equipment leasing as a hedge against inflation was heavily used because interest rates were north of 18%.

Tell the Stories

Go deeper and wider with your clients, when they tell you they want to wait or hold off then you need to ask why?  Many of those answers will lead to the objection. It's then our job to answer the objection.  I'm hoping these two stories can help others.  Always feel free to reach out to me if you would like to chat or have any questions.

-=Good Selling=-

see attached

How AI and Automation Can Save Your Business Money

Hacked!

The U.S is getting hacked. So the Pentagon is overhauling its approach to cyber.....comes following attacks on critical U.S. companies and federal agencies, and as the Pentagon eyes Chinese hacking efforts with increasing concern.

MGM Resorts cybersecurity incident forces system outage....In 2020, the personal details of more than 10 million MGM visitors were published on a hacking forum. The information was exfiltrated in the ...

Hacked data from Cyberport released on dark web...........Apart from the personal data of staff, the hacked files also included lease agreements, receipts, audit reports, and a large number of documents ...

DEED's jobs website for unemployed Minnesotans hacked......The state's interactive MinnesotaWorks.net jobs board was hacked this week, prompting Minnesota's employment officials to warn jobseekers their ...

'Go f*** yourself': Road sign in Montrose hijacked with profanity........An electronic construction sign on the corner of Montrose and Westheimer was hacked on Monday to show profanity.

Airbus hacked, as threat actor claims to have vendor details for sale......A hacker that goes by the moniker USDoD has claimed to have detailed information from an Airbus vendor database and is offering it all up for sale ...

Ethereum Name Service Allegedly Hacked by SiegedSec –...........Ethereum Name Service Allegedly Hacked by SiegedSec – Here's the Latest. Source: AdobeStock / Tomasz Bidermann. A tweet from Dominic Alvieri, a ...

-=Stay Safe=-

see attached documents

see attached document

Hacked!

MGM Resorts Hit By Cyberattack; Hotels and Casinos Impacted .....Looks Like MGM Resorts Just Get Hacked. The hotel and casino giant says that it is suffering through a "cybersecurity incident.".....

Beau Rivage and other MGM casinos hit by cyberattack..........There's a good chance your computer's been hacked or infected with a virus. Here's what to do. By Federal Trade Commission.

Vitalik Buterin's X Account Hacked, Attacker Stole Over $690K........Vitalik Buterin's X-account Was Hacked. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has become the latest victim of a Twitter hack, resulting in the theft ...

Mindef debunks claim that its systems were hacked by Singaporean hacker....The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) has refuted a claim by a Singaporean hacker who said he had hacked into the ministry’s systems. In a Facebook post on Monday, the ministry rebuffed...

Hinds County systems hacked - YouTube....Hinds County systems hacked Subscribe to WAPT on YouTube now for more:

Federal Judge Orders to Return $5.2 Million Bitcoin Hacked - ........The federal court ordered the teenager to return the $5.2 Million he stole in Bitcoin. He has to surrender the amount that he has hacked through sim ...

Dissecting the MOVEit breach: Lessons learned from the ransomware attack - SDxCentral....Business Computer Hacked. Security Breach. The attack on the popular MOVEit file transfer system — whose effects are as yet impossible to gauge ...

-=Stay Safe=-

see attached file.  Extended to 9/22