Grant Cardone's Success Blog

"So first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Have you cut your budgets as far as you can?
Have you shrunk your sales force to a bare minimum?
How many more efforts do you have in you; to retreat before you wake up and realize you can retreat no more?

At some point there will be nothing left to cut or reduce, no way to get smaller. When that time comes you will see that the only way out is to sell your way out, to expand while others contract and to grow while others get smaller.

You cannot advance by retreating as they are impossible combinations. With retreat, you only end up where you started and find yourself having to cover the same turf again. Advance regardless of the fears and the terror in the marketplace. Advance even when it does not seem to make sense, knowing that moving forward always makes more sense than going backwards.

-Grant Cardone

Posted by Grant Cardone at 4:05 PM | Permalink

While it is certain we are going through a difficult economic time it is also certain that we will get through this. This is not the first time this country's economy or its people have been challenged.

Look what has happened over the past 40 years:
Average home prices:
1970- $23,000 Recession
1980- $62,000 Severe Recession
1990- $97,300 Savings and Loan Bust
2000- $147,300 Internet Bust
2006- $221,900 Housing Correction

The US is still the largest economy in the World with Japan in second place between the same years. North America (moderate growth) was 33% in 1970 and still 33%
in 2007.

Even after all the challenges over the past forty years your home's value still went up in value and the US economy continued to maintain its position in the world. Is this a different time? Sure it is. You are older, hopefully smarter and more experienced. Yes, jobs are being lost, banks have gone out of business, companies are losing money, the stock market is crazy and your home has probably gone down in value, but you are still alive and you will survive.

The question is not whether you will make it through this time or not, the question is how will you act while you are going through it and how you will survive it.

There is no shortage of people that spend all their time assigning blame, crying, stressing, freaking, and complaining. None of which has any positive effect on the outcome. Now is the time to focus on what you can do about the current situation. Quit spending time on what you cannot do about it and put all your energies, resources and actions on doing something constructive.

While the world loses its mind about how "bad" things are, you and your family need to come together and create a constructive plan for surviving this time. When I want to really focus I always go to my wife first and say, "hey, I really need your support right now. I have to put my head down and really hit it at another level."

We sit down and talk about how we are going to do that. How can she help me create more products and get more products sold? We also talk about where we can tighten up any spending that is unnecessary.

Then I will create a list of things I can do about it and schedule myself doing those things.

It is said, "You are either part of the problem or part of the solution". Spend your time on the solution because that is the only way to resolve the problem.

Posted by Grant Cardone at 11:01 AM | Permalink

I congratulate and admire Barak Obama for his campaign, his execution and for being elected by the American people to the highest office in the US. While I don't agree with many of his proposals regarding tax increases and his solutions to the current economic conditions I admire this man for being a great example of what it takes to succeed even beyond great odds.

This man has demonstrated what is still possible in America when one professionally and effectively communicates his/her message to others. Understanding the value of; persuasion skills, salesmanship at its finest, executing an exact strategy, taking massive amounts of actions, getting others to support your dreams, persistently believing in your ideas regardless of the odds against you and the ability to CLOSE the deal.

His success to America's highest office goes a long way to demonstrate that in America when you exhibit these skills at this level you can achieve anything.

Regardless of your political beliefs you have to appreciate that this little known man persuaded and rallied the citizens of this country to go out and elect him President of the US. The last eighteen months he spent SELLING himself, SELLING his ideas, SELLING his solutions and SELLING his hopes to others.

He is an exemplary example of what it takes to succeed:
1) Great Communication Skills
2) An Exact Strategy
3) Staying Committed to the Strategy
4) Massive Levels of Action
5) Commanding the Support of Others
6) Ability to Close the Deal
7) Believe You Can Succeed Regardless of the Odds Against You

Do these things above and you too will reach massive levels of success.

Sincerely,
Grant Cardone, Author of "Sell to Survive"

Posted by Grant Cardone at 8:31 AM | Permalink

Nothing will get you through these economic unusual times more than getting back to effectively selling your products, your services and your company. It is more critical at this time than ever that you learn everything there is about selling, negotiating and closing.

Those that are able to effectively sell will survive and those that can not will suffer. At no time in my life will the mistakes a company and its people make with regards to selling be more expensive than right now. Even the smallest mistakes in selling will be greatly expensive running off customers and opportunities. SELL SELL SELL-nothing else matters. The management teams that spends less than 95% of their time on selling will find itself going backwards. "The only reason a business or an individual will fail is the inability to sell their products and services at prices high enough and in quantities great enough!"

95% of all the energy and efforts of the company, management and its people has to be on selling. Advertising and marketing are important but if they don't result in sales the company will abandon those efforts due to its lack of sales.

Management's daily attention must be on:
1) ensuring people's attitudes are positive,
2) effective 21st Century selling skills (not just old school tactics),
3) effective negotiations in order to maintain gross profits,
4) how to close the deal so that your efforts actually hit your books

While much of management is looking for ways to figure out how to reduce expenses nothing will get a company through these times more than increasing the gross sales line of its income statement. Nothing else matters at this time more than selling. ONLY THOSE TRAINED DAILY ON HOW TO SELL WILL SURVIVE!

Grant Cardone, (about Grant)
Author of Selling Is the Secret to Success

Posted by Grant Cardone at 4:05 PM | Permalink

Your Future is Determined by Your Actions Today!

What you do today, not yesterday, is what will determine how you live your life tomorrow.

Its unfortunate that so many people spend time regretting yesterday, stewing over it, planning their life around it when its over, gone, finished! Yesterday in no way can impact tomorrow. "Yesterdays" only ruin your ability to create a tomorrow.

Consider your marriage: For a marriage to prosper you have to keep your attention on the future of it. Things like dates, dinners, plans, vacations, new adventures, mutual goals and projects are what will ensure its future. The marriage will not survive on the love of yesterday, but only on what is created in the future.

Take your business. Let's say you want to build your customer base and haven't been doing that for some years. The only thing that matters now is that you see how you want your future to look and then take the actions necessary today in building your customer base from here on out. No reason to spend time on yesterday as it is only filled with regrets, remorse, guilt, etc.

This is why newspapers are so damaging for people to read! Because they are focused on yesterdays not tomorrows. And the only time they discuss tomorrows is when they are projecting something negative and then compare to some other past devastating event!

Your future is a summation of your actions today, not what you did or did not do yesterday! Read newspapers and you are less likely to take positive actions at creating a positive future. Because the newspaper is written with the past in mind! This is why thousands of people are benefitting from my training CD's, as the material I teach constantly gets you to focus on your next action, thereby causing the listener to take positive actions today and create a great future tomorrow!

You can learn from the past but what you do today, not yesterday, is the only thing that will determine your success tomorrow! You can learn where you picked up the nail that gave you a flat; which would be good to know so that you avoid that spot of the road in the future, but right now, I suggest you change the tire as quickly as possible, be thankful you didn't have an accident and get on with your trip! Put your attention on where you are going, not on the nails of the past, and step on the gas pedal of action!

Only your actions of today will impact and ensure your future! The next thing you do or don't do is what will create the future for you! Taking any action to build your client base is better than none at all. And the more action you take the more your future will look like you want it to.

Anytime things get a little slow for me, these are the five steps I take to make sure my future shows up the way I want it to:

- Put my attention on and write down what I want my whole future to look.
- Then I put my attention on and write what I want certain areas to look like, for example a specific project.
- Do ONLY those actions necessary to create that future.
- Do those actions in massive proportions.
- Hire someone else to help me promote and continue those actions!

Forget yesterday, forget five seconds ago, and take action right now on your future.

Posted by Grant Cardone at 4:28 PM | Permalink