Hey everyone. Hi, it’s Pat here. I wanted to come to you with a really important topic today, and that’s all about sales calls. The reason I’m doing this today is because a week and a bit ago I hosted a live retreat here in London with my coaching clients. One of the topics we spent a lot of time on was sales and, in particular, sales calls. Seriously, for those of us in business, without a sale you’re not in business. You’re a hobby owner.

This Facebook Live is really for those of you who are serious about business and for those of you who are serious about being of service. I want to come to you from both a mindset perspective and from a technical perspective on this topic today because it’s a critical one.

Here’s what I know for sure. I’ve been in sales a long time. I love sales. I love sales calls, and there are a number of reasons for that, one of which is I switch my thinking on this topic. When I’m picking up the phone to make a sales call, my approach is, first of all, putting a smile on my face and a smile in my heart. My approach is to know that the person I’m reaching out to has a problem, a need, a concern, or a want of some kind, and I know that I have the solution, the answer, the technique, or whatever it is they’re looking for. To come from that approach really creates a different energy to the call.

It really is about the approach that you take to the call. When you come from the approach – from your heart and from your head – of being of service to people, that’s the number one difference in my sales calls versus your sales calls.

Here’s the thing also. In conversations with my clients, and we did a follow-up livestream training yesterday on this topic, just to dig a little bit deeper and go a little further on this topic because, most of you, if you’re not hiding behind your computer sending out emails, then you are making sales calls, picking up the phone.

I love this tool. It works, and it’s rare because most people are hiding behind the computer and emails, and/or Facebook ads. The phone really works because you get tone of voice. When you shift your thinking, your heart, and your physical expression to one of being of service, people can hear that, they can feel that, they can sense that, and that is what I love to bring to my calls.

Here’s why the calls are hard for you. This is what I’ve learned in talking to my clients and paying attention to other entrepreneurs when I’m out there networking. The number one reason it’s so hard is because you’re not clear on your “why.” Why are you in business? Why are you wanting to be of service to people? Why are you delivering the product or service to the population that you are? What is your why? The answer that I came up with actually hit me on Sunday when I was out walking.

I actually moved last week, so I was out walking in a new geographical area where I live now and I was just reveling in the location where I was, down by the river. I was watching people rowing their boats and big smiles, watching kids playing in the park, and I realized in that moment that I am living my dream. I have created reality around the dream that I had a year ago about where I wanted to live, how I wanted to live, and what it would cost me to live this way. I realized I’m in the dream. Then I started thinking about my clients and also realized you don’t have a dream. That attaches to your “why,” but you don’t have the dream, which therefore causes the energy, the drive and the courage to get up and get at it everyday and make those calls.

Let me give you the few steps that work for me. I trust that would be helpful.

Here’s what works for me and here’s why and how it’s so powerful, because I do believe each and every one of us want to live the dream, and it takes steps to get there, and for those of us in business, it takes sales calls.

My dream starts with a vision board, and I just pulled it here. It got a little mangled in the move and it’s not on the wall yet because I haven’t decided where I want to put it. It starts with the vision board. I’m very clear in the pictures and the words. I’m very clear with respect to having done a life balance wheel, which is the activity exercise that I do twice a year. Just Google life balance wheel. Focus in identifying, on a scale of one to 10, what is your life looking like and feeling like right now, today?

On a typical life balance wheel, you’re going to see areas like mental health, career, family, finances, vacation savings, recreations – so many items like that. Twice a year I do that reality check on a scale of one to 10. What does my life look like and feel like in each category? And then I choose three areas. For me, right now, it’s health. I just turned 66. I really want to focus on maintaining my health because I have a lot of travel dreams yet to fulfill. That takes health. The airports are big, the travel is a little intense, so health is number one. Wealth comes with that, and happiness. That’s my trio right now, so on a scale of one to 10, I gauge where I’m at.

Once I have the sense of that focus, of course I’m focusing on physical health, retirement funds, and those other areas but, seriously, I believe, as busy human beings, to focus on three areas at at time will really move us forward and that’s what we want, is progress. It’s not about perfection. It’s about progress.

I focus on three areas. Once I’ve identified those three areas, like health, wealth, happiness, I move it to the vision board. Here’s an interesting thing. When I put things on the vision board, I don’t always know the how. That’s where many of you get stuck also. You get stuck on the how. I don’t know the how, I don’t even know the where or the when.

Let me give you a live example. You’ll see on here, “Four women and a weekend,” so “I’m happy inside” and “today’s the day.” I’m bringing that to your attention because tomorrow I’m leaving on a trip. I’m going away for the weekend and I’m going with three women, so it will be four women and a weekend. I know where we’re going and what we’re doing, so follow me. I’ll be doing videos.

At the time of the vision board, I didn’t know. I just knew in my heart, in my mind and in my dream that I envisioned a weekend getaway with three of my buddies. I picked four because when you rent a car, there’s room for four. That was it. That was my simplified thinking. That’s another key. Keep it simple.

1. The life balance wheel.
2. The vision board. Get excited about it. Put pictures and put words.
3. Here’s where most people stop and that’s why they’re not living their dream. Identify goals attached to three of those areas.

I have three focus points, three goals per area, and then I take those goals, I break them down into action steps, and I put them on the calendar, which means I need to take action and do something.

When I identify wealth as one of the three areas, then I need to be specific around how much revenue do I want to bring in, how much money do I need to make to reach those dream goals this year and, therefore, how many clients do I need, how many products do I need to sell, how many days do I need to work, how many calls do I need to make?

It goes from the life balance wheel – that’s your reality, that’s your benchmark – through to the vision board. That’s the dream and the visual that will create the energy and drive and the passion for what you’re doing. Move that to your specific goals and get it in the calendar, and then get up every day, show up, and do the work.

I know my revenue goals every year, month, week and day. I know for a fact that I can afford to go on this trip this weekend. That’s the bottom line, and we’re going somewhere really fabulous, so stay tuned and follow.

Let me back it up. Why are sales calls hard for you? Because you haven’t done a reality check. Maybe you just know you’re feeling overwhelmed and stressed, but what’s the reality? Move that to the dream and the vision, and get very clear around that. Get excited about it. Get excited about your life and then move that to the goals and the action steps, and watch the progress that you will make.

I have a lot more tips and tactics around the way I live my life and the way I’ve created my dream life at this stage in my life, and I would be so happy to share them with you.

Know this. I am hitting the road. I am offering a one-and-a-half day session behind closed doors with me. You and me behind closed doors, and I’m going to give you my success strategies on mindset. That’s dealing with fear, goal-setting, risk-taking, resiliency, flexibility – because those are all of the pieces that really hold you back. Then I’m going to spend half a day on marketing, online and offline. I am the queen of networking. I can teach you some good stuff.

Then money. I’m going to spend half a day on money. That is everywhere from what do you want, how do you identify your goals, how do you make it reality, how do you price and promote your products and services? All of that and more; a day-and-a-half with me. Be sure to join me. For those of you who are here live, I’m also going to gift you a special offer for coming to this event with me. Toronto the end of September. Syracuse New York in October.

Come and join me, and learn some of these techniques. Many of you are making this way too hard, and it doesn’t have to be. Come and join me behind closed doors. You’ll learn more about sales, you’ll learn more about marketing, especially in the mindset area, and we’re going to have fun too.

This is great. Thanks for being here. For those of you who believe that this is of value, please hit share and share it with your friends. I’d love to have a whole group of you with me in Toronto and in Syracuse. Be sure to follow me on Facebook Live through the weekend and see the reality of the dream that I had in January. Thanks for being here. Bye everyone.