1) Denial - Refusal to believe and accept that things have changed, typically involving some loss. All efforts and energy invested in resisting that conditions have changed.

2) Anger/Blame - Finding a target to blame for the change. All energy and effort is spent on finding someone or some institution to assign as reason for current situation.

3) Bargaining and Hope - This stage involves people bargaining and hoping for someone to save them. This is a low level of responsibility. Lots of businesses are in this phase today as they wait for the banks to free up capital or the government to come in and suddenly save the day. This is just another level of denial of the situation.

4) Apathy - Acceptance that things have changed and no one can save you and that in fact there is nothing you can do about it! This results in people moving into major contraction and worsening of their own condition by saving money, energy, resources, creativity and any efforts to figure a way out. The higher your responsibility level the shorter this stage and the lower your responsibility level the longer this stage. Apathy is a form of quitting or withdrawing.

5) False Acceptance and Action - A spurt of effort to accept conditions and do something about it resulting in inconsistent and disappointing actions. This is the first stage of accepting that things have changed but in this first stage of acceptance most underestimate the degree of change (pain or loss) and then take actions based on earlier scene.

6) Disappointment (another level of apathy) - . Because the actions used are from the past they will not result in satisfactory levels of production causing disappointment, confusion and possible frustration. This however results in and prepares the individual, team or company for true acceptance of the situation and what is required to dig out.

7) True Acceptance Stage - This final stage is where the individual or team becomes fully aware of the amount of change for the first time and is now prepared to let go of the past and move into the future. This is the first time that an awareness of the need for new skills and actions will be needed. In this final stage of acceptance people will experience a reinvigoration and excitement about their business and future and become highly interested in reinventing themselves and their business.

In just the last weeks I have personally conducted over 100 tele-conference calls directly with over 800 business owners, executives and managers. The results of those calls suggest people are moving through the stages. Clearly the companies and individuals that are taking the time to have conference calls with me are going to have a higher degree of responsibility, so the statistics that follow are most likely not representative of the general population.
Here are some of the results obtained from the teleconference calls with me.
• Almost 80% of them stated they are no longer concerned with who is to blame but rather what they need to do.
• Over 95% believed as a result of the call that no one was going to come in a save the day. (This is critical realization for moving on.)
• Almost 100% of those on the calls expressed disappointment in the results from the actions they were taking and realized they were in the false acceptance stages.
• 99% of these same people acknowledged that they needed to learn new actions, new skills and new approaches for the new economy and that this change had to start with management.
• 98% agreed that while their economy was problematic, it was not the problem. This is also critical to recovery, as anyone in the blame stage will not take action as they are using all their energy and creativity assessing who is responsible.
• Lastly, over 90% believe the call moved them through the stages more quickly so that they could reach the final stage of 'True Acceptance' and start taking new actions to achieve new results.

In this market you cannot afford to miss one opportunity and you must have the right attitude each day. You must take the right approach and make sure that each day is filled with a high level of action. Those that can get these three things done DAILY will win and those that do not will be punished!

Think about the things that you do everyday such as eating, dressing, driving, talking or walking. Because you do them everyday they are normal disciplines that you no longer think about but do automatically with ease. These activities are natural to you because of the number of times you've repeated the actions. They are also necessary to your survival so it is non negotiable as to whether you learn it or not because they are essential to your survival. When it comes to maximizing every opportunity in an economic environment that is drastically contracted, where buyers lack confidence and where banks are beyond careful your skill set is critical and vital to the survival of your career and your future!

In today's market your survival literally depends on your ability to generate traffic and close deals and those skills have to be improved upon daily. Not once a week or twice a week. This is something that has to become a ritual for your company to start each day with a planned, high motivation meeting whereby management and sales people are shown NEW ways to solve problems.

Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps, Michael Jackson, Warren Buffet and anyone that reaches a level of greatness all have some things in common. What are they? They are all top achievers in their respective fields of expertise. They are beyond their competition and they got there because of a greater commitment to learning their trade! A Daily - Disciplined - Commitment to improving on their game of expertise!

Planned Daily Meetings prepare sales teams and management for the situations they will face daily. Of the hundreds of companies I am talking to each month the one common thread is those that are expanding and winning are doing daily focused, planned and positive meetings each day that prepare the staff with new ways to solve problems and sell their products!

Today's economic survival is based on solving problems not on selling. Your customers will purchase because you solved a problem for them. And the more you provide your people with solutions to solving today's problems the more motivated they will be, the more productive they will be and the better their attitudes will be. This has to be done daily. Imagine if you didn't show up to your business four days of the week? That is what you are doing when you don't start each day with a planned meeting that provides your people with solutions, motivation and hope!

#6 - Being Reasonable is Not Good in the Close

Being reasonable is an unfortunate human condition that is perpetuated and promoted in our society as a good thing. Most people tend to think that being reasonable (rational) is a good thing but when it comes to 'closing the deal' being 'reasonable' with your customer will cause you to fail in the close! When you become reasonable in the close you become sold on all the 'reasons' people can not do buy your product or service. This is a problem.

At this point you are no longer the closer but rather become he/she who is being closed. Price is too high, payments too high, we don't make decisions the first day, and on and on are just a different version of your sales presentation being reversed onto you! The moment you become 'reasonable' with your prospects 'reasons' for not closing and you fail to close and instead get closed. Much of what your customer is telling you may have validity but the reality is when you are completely convinced (sold) on your product or service you will become unreasonable and not allow your customer's reasonability, stalls, excuses, reactions, objections and complaints to keep you from closing because you are NO LONGER willing to be reasonable!

And this idea of being reasonable is THE thing that will crush you from making your dreams come true and creating the life you want. Every person that has done anything great on this planet had to be UNREASONABLE to some degree. What if Jesus Christ, the Founders of this great country, the Wright Brothers or Bill Gates would have been reasonable? At the point where you start to rationalize and make sense of why you can not have the life you want, or reach your goals or close the deal you will start to fail!

I wrote an article last summer before the economic fallout had started that stated, "as soon as we hit serious economic turmoil you will see this fabricated nonsense of being reasonable become the undoing of millions of people. People have lost the importance of completing tasks and getting things done. People are being convinced to enjoy life rather than create a life they enjoy. Urgency to complete tasks and close deals as a daily habit is missing in our society today. It seems that the individual only approaches something with urgency when his survival is threatened and most of the time it is then too late."

The close requires you to be unreasonable! This is just the last servicing step of several actions involved in selling, not unlike bagging the grass and bringing it out to the street is the last action in mowing a lawn. Until something is completed it is not done! One of the things I work on in my life is to complete actions started and complete them as fast as possible. The more I complete, the more I can complete. The less I complete, the less I seem to complete (which ultimately reduces my desire to start new things).

Salespeople with unclosed deals are punished more than they are aware! Watch someone become less and less ambitious as more and more deals don't close. Watch them quickly become lethargic, despondent, critical, negative and hopeless.

Get in the habit of approaching everything with a sense of completion and urgency to complete and close. Never be reasonable with time! This discipline is critical to mounting up sale after sale and one that is understood by true professional closers. How do you manage time? Complete every action once started, do it as fast as possible, and then go on to another task. It's the same with closing deals. Don't put off closing and don't be reasonable with all the reasons not to close! Remember successful people are unreasonable and unsuccessful people have every reason not to be!

A lack of closing material will stop the close. It is one of the top ten reasons for not closing the deal. The close is where you hit pay dirt for the first time. While most sales people agree that the average customer has to be asked five times before they will finally close, the very same sales person only has four closes. That would be one close short of what would be needed on the average customer during a normal deal. When times get tough buyers get more resistant and that means you need even more closes.

The reasons the close does not take place are finite... not infinite as many think. The close itself falls into a handful of categories; time, money (price/payment/terms), product justification, stalls and third parties. The number one biggest reason for not closing is never asking, the next reason is that the sales person was unable to persist because he/she ran out of ammo!

Due to a lack of successful techniques and closing material, salespeople are unable to persist in the close. It is not because you aren't motivated, its because you don't know what to say. No matter how powerful the rocket it won't get anywhere without fuel. The fuel for the Closer is closes. You need hundreds of them drilled and rehearsed, loaded and ready to be fired off where appropriate!

I have personally met hundreds of thousands of salespeople and only a small percentage of them have even a handful of practiced, rehearsed and prepared closes. I know thousands of salespeople who, after leaving my seminars and being on my closing programs have as many as one-hundred completely rehearsed, drilled to perfection magical closes that they are able to use and depend on in real life selling situations. All of these individuals watched their confidence, their love of their job and their incomes soar!

Great sales people are rare and great closers are even more rare. While some of us have more natural gifts that would incline us to be sales people no one is born a great closer. This talent can only be learned and it is the kind of skill that can always be improved on. The single thing a closer needs is a wide variety of closes in order to stay in the deal and persist until he/she gets the yes!
How many of these do you know?

• DELIVERY CLOSE • JUSTIFY CLOSE
• CHECK CLOSE • LOCK CLOSE
• SCALE FROM ONE TO TEN CLOSE • EVERYTHING THE SAME CLOSE
• PAYMENT CLOSE • MONEY EQUAL CLOSE
• PAYMENTS TO FIGURES CLOSE • COPY CLOSE
• RATE CLOSE • LEAVE ME SOME PAPERWORK CLOSE
• EQUIPMENT CLOSE • IMPORTANT PERSON CLOSE
• TITLE/REGISTRATION CLOSE • THIRD PARTY CLOSE
• PAPERWORK CLOSE • TREAT YOURSELF CLOSE
• SPOUSE STALL CLOSE I • WORK HARD TO EARN THIS CLOSE
• SPOUSE STALL CLOSE II • YOU DESERVE IT CLOSE
• SPOUSE STALL CLOSE III • DISCOUNT CLOSE
• SPOUSE STALL CLOSE IV • SUMMARY CLOSE
• UNAVAILABLE PARTY CLOSE • NO EQUITY CLOSE
• UNAVAILABLE PARTY CLOSE II • BEN FRANKLIN CLOSE
• INSURANCE CLOSE • COMPARISON INVESTMENT CLOSE
• SECOND PARTY ASSIST CLOSE • COMPARISON CLOSE
• SECOND BASEMAN CLOSE I • SAME PRODUCT CLOSE (YOURS)
• SECOND BASEMAN CLOSE II • SAME PRODUCT CLOSE (THEIRS)
• IMMEDIATE DELIVERY CLOSE • NOW AND LATER CLOSE
• AGREEMENT CLOSE I • FLUSH THE OBJECTION CLOSE
• AGREEMENT CLOSE II • YOU KNEW THAT BEFORE CLOSE
• AGREEMENT CLOSE III • GRATITUDE CLOSE
• WON´T BE THE LAST TIME CLOSE • THE UNWIND CLOSE
• BE GRATEFUL CLOSE • GOING TO WAIT CLOSE
• CONGRATULATIONS CLOSE • WHEN VALUE EXCEEDS PRICE CLOSE
• DO IT ANYWAY CLOSE • THREE AGREEMENTS AND CLOSE
• DISEASE CLOSE • MINOR POINT CLOSE
• DO IT FOR ME CLOSE • WHO TAUGHT YOU THAT CLOSE
• INVENTORY CLOSE - MOVE DOWN • ABLE CLOSE
• INVENTORY CLOSE - MODEL UP • INTELLIGENCE CLOSE
• SELECTION ALTERNATIVE CLOSE • DO THE RIGHT THING CLOSE
• PACKAGE ALTERNATIVE CLOSE • DO THE RIGHT THING CLOSE II
• PAYMENT BREAKDOWN CLOSE • SCARCITY CLOSE
• BUDGET CLOSE I • TAKE AWAY CLOSE
• BUDGET CLOSE II • FIRST OR LAST CLOSE
• BUDGET CLOSE III • SOONER OR LATER CLOSE
• BUDGET CLOSE IV • GET IT DONE AND OVER CLOSE
• BUDGET CLOSE V • NEVER THE BEST TIME CLOSE
• ASSUME ZERO BALANCE CLOSE • WON´T ALLOW CLOSE
• PAYOFF CLOSE • OWNERSHIP CLOSE
• DELAY PAYMENT CLOSE • CONTRIBUTION CLOSE
• NO COSIGNER CLOSE • PERSONAL FAVOR CLOSE
• MOMENTUM CLOSE • BEG CLOSE
• NEED TO PRAY ABOUT IT CLOSE • THE GAME CLOSE
• THINK ABOUT IT CLOSE I • COMMISSION CLOSE
• THINK ABOUT IT CLOSE II • LEAVE IT UP TO THE BANK CLOSE
• THINK ABOUT IT CLOSE III • PUPPY DOG CLOSE
• THINK ABOUT IT CLOSE IV • FEEL FELT FOUND CLOSE
• THINK ABOUT IT CLOSE V • QUALITY CLOSE
• RE-PRESENT CLOSE [RE-DEMO CLOSE?] • FUTURE DATE CLOSE
• APOLOGY CLOSE • PRICE GUARANTEE CLOSE
• REFUSE TO BELIEVE CLOSE • NOW OR NEVER CLOSE
• CAN´T QUIT CLOSE • DONE EVERYTHING POSSIBLE CLOSE
• THREE YES´S AND THEN CLOSE • GET MORE DONE CLOSE
• REFERRAL CLOSE • HANDSHAKE CLOSE
• DOWN TO THE PENNY CLOSE • ADDITIONAL SERVICE CLOSE
• REDUCE TO RIDICULOUS CLOSE • PRESSURE CLOSE I
• BETTER TO LIVE RICH CLOSE • PRESSURE CLOSE II
• CAN´T TAKE IT WITH YOU CLOSE • PRESSURE CLOSE III
• NO SHORTAGE OF MONEY CLOSE • RASH DECISION CLOSE
• REASON TO BUY CLOSE • RASH DECISION CLOSE II
• IF I COULD, WOULD YOU CLOSE • NOTHING TO DO WITH DECISION CLOSE
• ELEVENTH INNING CLOSE • EITHER WAY CLOSE

Your business is different today and different times require different actions, different attitudes and a different set of approaches. This is not business as usual and as popular as it is to say, "just get back to basics", this naïve thinking will prove deathly. You have banks backing up on loan amounts, customers more resistant to make decisions, no-cost - easy credit has disappeared, unemployment numbers hitting levels never seen before, and bad news combined with a lack of consumer confidence flooding the minds of everyone. The fact is that most of your people have never sold in this type of environment! These market conditions require you and your people to think and act well beyond the norm. The game has changed and you now must change the game you play in order to advance your position. Do not look for 'best practices' at this time, look for 'game changing' practices that will separate you from the competition.

If you do what you did last year or anything even remotely similar you will find yourselves going backwards and may even cease to exist. In addition to thinking about what you can do to get a deal closed, determine what your competitors will not do and do that!

Determine what your best competitor is unwilling to do and do it and you will not only survive but you will seize market share. We are now talking about going way beyond basics and instilling new actions for sales and management. Again this is not business as usual but business unusual. Sit down with your management and pick any action that can create results, for example 'follow-up'. Determine what your best competition will not do regarding follow-up. Let's say the answers are, 1) will not call immediately, they wait a day, 2) will not make personal visits, 3) management/exec's do not make calls. These answers show you the actions that you want to take right now. You have now discovered three game changing actions that will make THE difference. A little tip here; "the more unacceptable the answers the more successful the results will be".

Quit looking for just 'best practices' start searching for 'Game Changing Practices' that will separate you completely from others. Don't think with what 'others are doing' or what you 'should do', or even 'how to compete'. I want you thinking with 'what they won't do' so you don't compete with them you conquer them! Those that don't take this simple advice will not be in the market next year to complain. THE SURVIVORS AND WINNERS WILL BE THOSE THAT HAVE THE BEST ATTITUDES, THE BEST APPROACHES, THAT TAKE THE MOST ACTION AND ARE WILLING TO GO WHERE YOUR COMPETITORS WON'T GO.

Have myself or my team come to your store or do a tele conference with your management team to deliver your "Game Changer" meeting. In two hours we will create GAME CHANGING action plan for your store and then stay with your company until they are executed and become a habit. Call 800-368-5771 to arrange your meeting or tele conference.

In a period of just under 30 hours I participated in the natural childbirth of my first child, Sabrina, and then flew to my mother's home in Louisiana to assist my brother and sisters in moving my mother from the hospital where she had been diagnosed terminal. We brought her home, where we sat by her side and watched her take her last breaths.

This article is not about the birth of my first child or even about the death of my mother but about how to live life in between. The reality is that we will all have the experience of birth and dying, but unfortunately very few people make the choice to experience and live life between those two significant experiences.

It only takes a bit of observation to see a baby or young child truly living life; highly curious about it and interested in it almost regardless of the consequences.  The child more often than not says yes to the opportunities and experiences of life!  They eat bugs and dirt and welcome the rain so they can play in it. As we get older it appears we become more conservative, more reluctant to new experiences, less interested in new things, "set in our ways" and more likely to say 'no' to new to the experiences and opportunities of life causing us to never really live it.

My twin brother, Gary Cardone and I spent the last 20 years selling, persuading, convincing and even pressuring my aging mother to say yes to the experiences of life.  We pushed her, even against her will to do things she did not want to do in order to give her the experience of living. During her senior years we forced her to do things that she was resistant to and uncomfortable with.  We often made her stay out later than she thought herself capable. I remember a trip to Vegas where I kept my mother up all night beyond the point where she was exhausted just so we could watch the sun come up together. I once made her walk the streets of San Francisco until she thought her lungs would explode. I planted flowers with her long after she complained about her body aching and I made her dance with me at my wedding to rap music even though it embarrassed her. I would wait until she got in bed at night and call her just to get her up, and then call her early in the morning just to piss her off.

Many expressed concerns that we pushed my mother too hard, but we thought it better that she die living life rather than die never experiencing it.  Whether it was taking a simple walk through the neighborhood that exhausted her or going for a drive to look at houses for no reason except to get out the house, we pushed her to say yes even when her inclination was to say no!   I would make her go to Starbucks with me before she even got out of her robe promising her that she could just sit in the car, and then once we got there I made her go in with me.  We made her go to movies she had no interest in and play games with us that she didn't like. I made her try foods that she thought she wouldn't like and took her places she felt uncomfortable.

For the last 20 years she resisted, she complained, and she even got angry at times, but we insisted until she agreed to go along. Because of this my mother accumulated thousands of experiences most people never will and leaves us with memories we would never had if we hadn't pressed for her to live.  And because of these experiences my mother became more than just my mother but a great friend as well.

In the period of just thirty-six hours I witnessed my daughter's life starting and my mother's life appearing to end only to be reminded that it's the time between that determines whether we truly live or not.  I only hope that my daughter will punish me in my later years and force me to say yes to experiencing life with her so that I can become more than her father but her great friend as well. Push yourself and those around you to say yes to life!

In tribute to my mother and great friend:
Concetta Cardone 12/23/1920 - 5/26/2009

Right now salespeople are looking for new ways to get more deals. With the current market contraction and people uncertain of their financial futures, it's understandable that many are holding off on making purchasing decisions. This however, does not have to translate into fewer opportunities for you!

Chapter fourteen of my book, Sell to Survive, is called "The Power Base". I can summarize it by saying, "Salespeople tend to put their attention on selling to people they don't know and ignore the people they do know." Think about it... Friends, family members, associates at past jobs, past employers, current and former clients, members of clubs, neighbors and members of your church. These are all people you either know or are acquaintances with. In other words, they're not strangers, and they'll probably need your product at some time. Maybe now or maybe later.

Rather than waiting for a potential buyer to walk through the door or call you on the phone, make a list of all the people you know and be sure they know what products and services you have to offer them. Now I'm not talking about grinding on your neighbor until he buys a car from you or tells you to get lost. Nor am I saying you should sell your mother in law a dishwasher she doesn't need. What I am saying is that there are plenty of opportunities around you right now that can be accessed directly through those that you know.

So write up a list and get in contact with your power base. They know people too and will likely be happy to refer you to their power base. Many sales professionals have used this method to become extremely successful. Do not rely only on advertising and discounts to move your product right now, use your power base to cultivate more opportunities!

Sincerely,

Grant Cardone
Sales Expert and Author
Call us at 800-368-5771

Today we are seeing companies and individuals going down with the ship... Individual incomes are decreasing along with the shrinking profits of their companies. Is this necessary? Must an individual lose ground while their industry's production slips? No! This does not have to be the case... I have found that there is an exact process an individual can take to make up for any contraction in the market.

Lets take a look. If your respective industry is in a state of contraction then you need to take action based on that economic reality.

Here's how it breaks down.

Whatever actions you took during regular market growth must be increased by the percentage that your market has contracted. If the market is off 40%, take each category of productive action you have used in the past and increase those actions by at least 40%.

Below is a chart you can use to Estimate the amount of Effort needed to maintain and improve your production.

Using this Estimation of Effort Calculation will give you a stable means by which you can predict your income and forecast any changes needed in your approach to accommodate for erratic market behavior. This is the time to expand and conquer and to become completely unreasonable with the marketplace. Those who take these actions will find themselves in control of their earnings and their future.

If you want to learn more about how we can help, please contact us at (800) 368-5771.

Have great success,

I have studied successful people for over 30 years and I have identified many differences between the successful and unsuccessful- Most of the differences are very small but make incredible differences.

You can change where you are in life by (1) being honest where you are and (2) getting the knowledge to get you in a position to take the actions of successful people. Each one of the categories below are impacted ONLY by KNOWLEDGE!

Successful	Unsuccessful
Can Do Attitude	Can't Do Attitude
I Will Figure it Out	See's Solutions as Impossible
Opportunity Focused	Problem Focused
Loves Challenges	Hates Challenges
Seeks to Solve Problems	Wants to Avoid Problems
Persist until Successful	Quits When Challenged
Willing to Take Risk	Actions are Conservative
Unreasonable	Reasonable
Willing to be Dangerous	Must Be Careful
Interested in the Creation of Money	Interested in Conserving Money
Takes Action	Talks about Action
Says Yes	Says No
Commits	Never Fully Commits
Goes All the Way	Half Attempts at Everything
Now (immediate)	Later - (procrastinates)
Courage	Fear
Change	Stay the Same
Right Approach	Hard Work
Interested in Change	Not Willing to Change
Breaks Traditional Ideas	Adopts Traditional Ideas
Goal Oriented	Work Oriented
On a Mission	On a Job
High Motivation	Low Motivation
Career Focused	Job Focused
Interested in Results	Interested in Work
Big Goals and Dreams	Realistic Goals
Creates Reality	Deals with Reality
Commit First - Figure Later	Figure First - Commit Never
Highly Ethical	Unethical
Interested in the Group	Interested in Self
Dedicates Time to Learning	Dedicates No Time to Learning
Seeks and Values Knowledge	Denies the Value of Knowledge
Willing to be Uncomfortable	Must Stay Comfortable
Reaches Up	Reaches Sideways and Down

"THE BEST INVESTMENT YOU CAN MAKE DURING TIMES LIKE THESE ARE IN YOURSELF."

If you want to learn more about how we can help, please contact us at (800) 368-5771.

Have great success,

There are great advantages to periods of economic contraction and once you know the secrets of exploiting them you will expand and conquer while others shrink and submit. Many of the economists, pundits, and media talking-heads are predicting doom and gloom end of the world scenarios, with their 24 hour a day, round-the-clock ranting and raving only focused on the problem and who is to blame without offering much in the way of any solution as to what you can do to survive and prosper.

You have probably already experienced a slowdown, as business has slowed down significantly in most parts of the world. Regrettably, I'm sure you are feeling the effects of the recession and hopefully you don't like it. In fact, I would encourage you to hate it and hate it so much that you are willing to do anything to fight back against it. This will be a time when many people suffer and also a time when others using specific strategies will expand and conquer their markets.

Identify what the losers/quitters are doing:

1. Complaining
2. Making excuses
3. Blaming
4. Contracting
5. Cutting budgets
6. Not advertising and marketing
7. Being reasonable in their thinking and actions.

Now is the time to know what the "losers" do. You should do exactly the opposite. Don't spend any time on the activities above and invest all your time and energy in doing the exact opposite.

The last three are vital to your survival because now is the time to expand your activities and commitment to prospecting, follow up, mail, phone calls, and personal visits. I recently spoke to a large group where I got a commitment from them to become unreasonable with their follow up clients that didn't close where the company would continue the sales process by following the customer to their home or office even after the client had thought they had escaped. While this is not "socially acceptable" it immediately resulted in an increase in sales.

Another reader got his entire company on my Sell to Survive Book and Audio program using it to deliver product in a tough market. The sales person used one technique from the book, called the 'no close', where he following up the customer with this technique and the buyer said, "no way, I can resist that let's do it."

Now is the time to expand and conquer and to become completely unreasonable with the marketplace. Knock off all the loser activity and replace that behavior with expansion actions and effective solutions.

Grant Cardone
Sales Expert and Author
Call us at 800-368-5771

You are no longer in the business that you thought you were in as the entire playing field and all its rules have changed. Quit thinking you are in whatever you call your business, because now for the first time in the past 10 years the business you are in is not responding to the actions that worked just last year. You and your team have to go back to the basics of creating your business, not just doing business.

It is critical that you sit down with your team and shift attention from what you thought your business was to the business of: generating opportunities rather than just advertising them; selling your products and services rather than just showing them; and driving revenue to make the company solvent. Pick your business and immediately understand you are no longer in that business. You folks in real estate - wake up - you aren't realtors anymore, now you have to sell. You people in the car business - you are no longer in the car business, but now have to truly sell your products and services like never before. If you were doing home construction, that is over and now you have to learn how to create opportunities and close people on parting with their precious money.

I know some of you would disagree and may think this to be an overstatement, and I welcome your comments, but what I am saying is that business as you have come to know it is OVER. The ways in which most of you conducted business over the last years will not serve you in years going forward. Unless you are Google, Amazon or Wal-Mart you will have to restructure your model, refocus your energies, and retrain your people!

You cannot advertise your way out of this. You cannot "location" or "store-front" your way out of this. You cannot scream "customer service" because the reality is customer service will not solve your cash needs this month. You will not be able to "lower price" your way out of this situation because with the loss in volume you can no longer give your products away; the loss of volumes will not allow you to do so. (See my article, the "Price/Volume Formula").

Most businesses and even entire industries have depended on advertising as a way to drive traffic to their products and services. This will no longer generate an acceptable ROI as your advertising falls on deaf ears. When you have the media screaming for thirty minutes, 'the sky is falling' and then your sixty-second spot says "come see us -great deals" - "0% interest" or "No Payments", followed by another thirty minutes of doom and gloom, your message has as much chance of reaching a customer as you do throwing a pebble in the Pacific Ocean to create a tidal wave.

All the other shortcuts used in the past such as; improving your storefront, sales, gimmicks, free toasters, warranty protection, free trips and the such will all fail you. Even the sacred Customer Satisfaction scores and awards will not see you through this contraction. As important as customer satisfaction is to the long-term reputation of your business, the argument can be made that customer satisfaction does not necessarily equate to solvency.

The creation of opportunities and the driving of revenue by the old fashioned method of people meeting people, people truly 'selling' your products and services and then closing transactions at prices high enough and volumes great enough, is the only thing that will make your company solvent going forward. There are no shortcuts in this environment. It is no longer business as usual but business unusual. It is not 'back to basics' but back to way before basics, whereby everyone, and I mean everyone employed at the company regardless of their position, must be involved in the generating of opportunities, presenting what it is your company does, building value and truly selling what it is you do or offer with the goal of generating revenue.

Give the notice to your people today:
It's no longer business as usual but business unusual! Shortcuts will not be tolerated and we must ALL dedicate ourselves, our energies, and our efforts to the generation of opportunities that will create revenue for the company. Let the rest of the world cry and complain while we survive, prosper, and seize market share from others!

Author of Sell to Survive and The Closer's Survival Guide

Price is always a very sensitive issue, especially during times of contraction when money is tight; consumers are scared and more selective with their money. The first response (incorrectly) is to reduce price in order to make up for less volume. It is a myth that a lower price will sell your product and in fact, a formula for disaster and guarantee of failure for most.

Unless you are Wal-Mart or the Dollar Store whose entire business model is built around very small margins and high volumes, the lowest price model will fail the individual and the company. Selling by price is an indication of a weak-minded and poorly trained individual or organization that looks for squirrel-like solutions to their challenges. I can show you an almost endless list of companies that have used the lowest price model that have filed for bankruptcy or closed their doors this year alone!

Do the math. Lower Volumes + Lower Profits = DISASTER. If you reduce price 50% you would have to sell twice as much product to be even, which during a period of economic contraction replacing loss volume would be more difficult than just learning the skill of holding price.

A lower price will NOT solve your problems
and could actually reduce the perceived value in your product. gc

Know that the public is being conditioned that things are tight and they will be more selective with their purchases. That means they will not just be shopping you against similar products but also unlike products. "Do we buy a car or redo the kitchen?" In this case, lowering your price will have nothing to do with their decision and only building value will.

RULE - MONEY MOVES TOWARD VALUE, NEVER THE LOWEST PRICE!

If not completely sold on the value proposition of your product or service, the prospect will elect do something else with his/her money! (By the way, doing nothing is something else.)

If you don't know that the lower price/lower volume formula is a recipe for disaster you and your people will believe it (incorrectly) to be an option. Also, during periods of contraction experience is worthless and skills are everything! The ability to sell your product and justify the price by really building value, selling yourself, your company and creating a true value proposition is more valuable than experience.

Get yourself and your company thoroughly handled on the fact that lower price and lower volumes is a formula for disaster. Check out my book and audio program Sell to Survive, where there is an entire chapter dedicated to this topic of the price myth and how it is destructive.

It costs less money to train people than it costs to give your product away, especially since lowering price doesn't guarantee a sale and won't make up for the reduction in volume.

Go to www.selltosurvive.com or you can call my office. 800-368-5771.

"Closing" is the final step in the pursuit of ANY goal. This thing called closing is not just something that sales people do but something that applies to every person. Nothing truly happens until you are able to engender the support, energy and resources of others. As harsh as it may seem, the close is what separates those who have from those who don't have. This critical and vital ability is what differentiates the dreamer from the exceptional individual that makes dreams come true.

The world is filled with grand ideas and big dreams and short on people who can close others on funding, supporting and getting behind them!  It is the ability to close that makes a difference more than any other skill you will learn in life! 

You think that is an overstatement, but the only reason you know the names of people like; Christopher Columbus, Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Walt Disney, Mother Theresa, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Barack Obama are because they were able to close others.

The art of closing is not something you are born with, but a learned skill! Closing as a skill is required to insure you get what you want in life, both professionally and personally.

There is no cost to an individual or company greater than the inability to close others on their products, services, ideas and dreams! The inability to get the deal done depletes the individual's belief and self-confidence. The failure to close has devastating effects on the individual and company as it fuels uncertainty, insecurity, doubt, fear, loss of hope and ultimately more lost opportunities. The losses mount up due to the inability to close and the expense is calculated not just financially but emotionally as well. The inability to close, to finalize agreement, to engender support, is the ruin of individuals, companies and entire industries.

My newest book "The Closer's Survival Guide" picks up where my other book, "Sell to Survive" left off. It is how to get the deal done and is a fresh new look at closing the transaction!  It is loaded with 126 powerful closes that will take your game to the next level. Did you know that the number one reason people don't close is simply because they run out of things to say?

In this book are five budget closes that will take you to another level. Another five closes just focused on budgets, three pressure closes, three agreement closes, four spouse stall closes and another 111 closes just handling money objections!

How many of these do you know?

In this book is a powerful arsenal of closes including: 31 Money Closes, 17  Time Related Closes, 3 (sick) Pressure Closes, 3 Agreement Closes, 8 Decision Maker Closes, and another 64 of the most creative closes you will ever find in one book!

I met with Howard Shultz, founder and CEO of Starbucks, last week. I flew to Orlando from Los Angeles where Mr. Starbucks was holding small town-hall style meeting to a group of his customers. It is amazing to see a guy like Howard Shultz take the time to meet with, listen to, get feedback, and be open to what his customers like and don't like about going to Starbucks.

What he is doing is further validation of how to expand even during periods of contraction.  You don't retreat during contractions you expand. The media has scared almost everyone into pure retreat without any solutions about what to do! When I speak to management and business owners, the second step I talk about in responding to economic contraction is the one people are not doing effectively.  You must increase your spending of energy, resources and creativity on anything that can potentially create new opportunities to produce revenue.  This is one of the major mistakes people are making today as they become scared and contract (stop) on everything. People in this country haven't just stop spending money; they have stopped spending their energy and creativity on solutions.  People unconsciously started conserving everything, when the reality is you should be spending money, energy and resources on ALL activities that may create new opportunities and new revenue. 

If you notice six months ago Mr. Shultz's first action was to identify stores that weren't producing and shut them down. That is the first step I talk about in my book Sell to Survive. Most of America has already done (overdone) this first step but have not moved on to the more important steps.

After cutting back Mr. Shultz is now moving onto his first expansion action by making contact with those in his powerbase. Notice he is now spending money, energy and resources by reactivating his powerbase.  This exact step is discussed in detail in Sell to Survive.  This step is crucial during all times, but especially during contractions!

If Mr. Shultz, approximate worth of a $1billion, can do this and finds it necessary to do so, then shouldn't you?   He has 166,000 employees and over 4,000 stores in 43 countries.  You think you don't have enough time.  These meetings are being held between 7pm and 10pm making for a very long day for him.  The fact that you are still working the same schedule that you did in the past is ridiculous and non-survival.

The economy we are presently in is a "game changer". If you don't change your behavior and apply the right actions you will be punished.  The economy will discipline and punish all those that don't get their head on right, take the right actions, and then take those actions in the right quantities.  There exists an exact and precise step-by-step formula for surviving economic contractions and you need to know them and use them.

1. Stop all expenditures and activities that are not productive and not driving in revenue
2. Increase the use of money, energy, and resources on ALL activities that may create new opportunities and new revenue
3. Put aside yesterday's successes and the memories of "better times"
4. Realize that the game has changed and it is not "business as usual"
5. Learn everything you can about selling and promotion so that you will be motivated to sell

So stop retreating, and start expanding! Do what successful people like Howard Shultz do, get in the game with these actions, and learn how to expand through economic contraction.