Tips, Concepts & Solutions

Goal Setting

2008-06-29T14:27:00.005+08:00

5 Facts About Goal Setting These practical tips on goal setting can help make it easier to set and reach goals: Specific, realistic goals work best. When it comes to make a change, the people who succeed are those who set realistic, specific goals.

I'm going to recycle all my plastic bottles, soda cans and magazines

is a much more double goal than

I'm going to do more for the environment

and that makes it easier to stick with.

It takes time for a change to become an establised habit. It will probably take a couple of months before any changes - like getting up half an hour early to exercise - become a routine part of your life. That's because your brain needs time to get used to the idea that this new thing you're doing is part of your regular routine.

Repeating a goal makes it stick. Say your goal out loud each morning to remind yourself of what you want and what you're working for. (Writing it down works too) Every time you remind yourself of your goal, you're training your brain to make it happen.

Pleasing other people doesn't work. The key to making any change is to find the desire within yourself - you have to do it because you want it, not because a girlfriend, boyfriend, coach, parents, or someone else wants you to.

It will be harder to stay on track and motivated if you're doing something out of obligation to another person.

Roadblocks don't mean failure. Slip-ups are actually part of the learning process as you retrain your brain into a new way of thinking. It may take a few tries to reach a goal.

But that's OK - it's normal to mess up or give up a few times when trying to make a change. So remember that eveyone slips up and don't beat yourself up about it. Just remind yourself to get back on track.

Stress (3)

2008-06-29T14:18:00.005+08:00

What can stress do to you if it goes on too long?

Our bodies send us messages that tell us that we're over-stressed. If we try to pretend to ourselves that stress isn't having an effect on us, we get into the stage where our bodies send us strong messages to stop. If we don't have some ways to deal with stress, we can become quite ill.

The message could be:

Physical Exhaustion
Physicall Illness
Loss Of Self Confidence
Depression
Signs Of Stress

It's important to acknowledge the signs of stress for yourself, so that you can work out how to protect yourself and deal with what is cuasing the stress.

Some of the physical signs or feelings in your body might be:-

Headaches
Feeling Sick
Sore Muscles
Diarrhea or Constipation
Indigestion
Problems With Sleeping
Losing Interest In Sex
Being Unable To Concentrate
Heart Beating Faster
Skin Rashes
Wanting To Binge On Comfort Food

Some of the feeling signs could be:-

Nervousness
Anxiety
Sadness
Aggression and Anger
Tiredness
Tension

Think about what is causing you stress and work out how to deal with it. Sometimes just writing down all the stuff that's worrying you can begin to make everything seem better. Once you know what it is, you can work out what to do about it. Keeping fit and getting enough sleep helps your body to work better and your mind to think more clearly.

Stress (2)

2008-06-26T09:32:00.002+08:00

What causes stress?

We are all different and we have all learnt to respond differently to situations that make us feel angry or worried or overloaded - This means that some people will become highly stressed about things that might not worry other people like:

exams
arguments
homework being harassed
being left out of a group
a new school
being late
girl friends / boy friends
a new baby in the family
moving house
going to the dentist
a job interview, or
taking on a new responsibility

It's different for everyone, but like a family breakdown, a death of someone close, someone going to goal, too many responsibilities, or being a victim of violent crime. Crises like being around when there is a bushfire, cyclone or earthquake, or living through a drought (especially for country people) are very stressful for everyone.

Our coping skills are something we have learnt, usually from our parents. Because they are learnt, this means that we can all learn and take on new coping skills to increase our coping capcity and deal with stress better.

Stress (1)

2008-06-23T16:00:00.005+08:00

Let's start with another topic related to not only work, but also our daily lives.

Another useful information that I got to share with you all. This time, I pluck the following information from Daily Express, 18th June 2008. I know everyone will face stress. But do we actually know what stress is. Read the following for more information.

Stress is the body's response to anything which could be dangerous. The body goes into 'fight or flight' mode, which means that you get an adrenalin rush, your heart beats faster, more blood rushes to your muscles and you are all set to fight or run away from whatever is threatening you.

This is good if you are facing a really dangerous situation or if you were a cave dweller in the olden days chasing the next meal but most of us don't have to deal with situations like these. Usually we have to deal with frightening things using our mind. But stress is still a normal part of our lives and our bodies still react to it in the same way.

to be continued ...

Resistance Breakers 4

2008-05-23T17:29:00.003+08:00

Paul J. McDonald:
One of my clients died last year, but you know, I never saw his accountant at the funeral service.

It was his accountant who advised Paul's client not to buy any life insurance. He told him that he (client) doesn't need one. The client's wife later had difficulties to pay for all the bills / debts owed by him and she couldn't afford to pay for his funeral fees. :(

Styles and Techniques
What constitute an effective response to the various objections is a subject of many great debates among trainers and sales professionals. Many styles and techniques have evolved over the years. And only one thing emerged certain--no agents can stake an irrefutable claim that his is the only right method.

As a case in point, many top producers while differing in philosophy and ways of approaching the issue, had each remained equally successful in the business. There exist a dictum amongst the sales fraternity, "if you spit at prospects and they buy, keep doing it!". Of course, this overstatement should not be taken literally. It is merely an extreme citation to stress that we should not be rigid. If your methods were effective, carry on employing them no matter how weird or unconventional they may appear to be. The fact is, sales resistance can be dealt with in a diversity of equally effective ways. Each can be handled in differing ways depending on the agent's individual experience, personality, degree of creativity and the circumstance surrounding the sale.

However, I do not mean there are no preferential methods. Over the years, some methods have been proven to be consistently more effective than others when dealing with specific objection under a particular situation. The intention of this sharing is to explore some of these techniques and to help equip new agents with a blueprint of dealing with prospects' objections effectively. Many examples of commonly faced objections and practical responses to them are cited here.

It is the author's contention that new agents should get a good hang of these methods prior to developing their own unique sets to confront the day to day challenges of dealing with objections. Once an agent is coversant with these techniques, he is in a more befitting position to bevolve new ones that are compatible to his style and personality.

Take the process of learning music as an illustration of this point. We can observe that even creative and talented musician such as:-
Vanessa Mae - The daring and somewhat controversial child prodigy whose techno-acoustic fusion album, The Violin Playin sold over a million copies!--has to master the basics of violin playing and music first. Only after that can she create her own unique brand of music.

Likewise creative agent can only truly exercise his creativity after mastering the basics of objection handling and building on these skills continually.

Resistance Breakers 3

2008-04-17T16:39:00.003+08:00

Norma H. Fitzgerald:
Life Insurance Is The Most Beautiful Love Letter You'll Ever Write

Professionals appreciate that facing up to these resistance are a necessary part of the sale process. Therefore, they are highly cherished. No resistance, to them, meant less chance of landing a sale. Hence, professional agents study and anticipate sales objections. They learned how to deal with them effectively and take a proactive approach to this issue. They face them with a smile.

Resistance Breakers 2

2008-04-11T15:48:00.002+08:00

James M. Champman, CFP:
You always buy life insurance when you don't need it because you can't get it when you do.

which also means that when you buy it, you don't need it. But when you need it, you can't buy it.

A prevalent attitude among agents, however, especially those who are inexperienced, is to dread facing sales objections. Perceiving them as threats or troublesome obstacles to their sale, they often try to evade them. Of course this is an utterly fruitless attempt. Unless the agent sells only to clients who love him too much to pain him with objections or they trust him, his skills, his company and his products without any reservation, it is only natural that some form of objections will arise.

To the professional agent, objections are in fact welcom because they are viewed as opportunities to a sale. They are not treated as undesired obstacles. The professional agent understands that, more often than not, where a sales presentation involves some mode of ressistance, it is usually a sign or indication that the prospect is either:-

A: Interested, but not fully convinced yet

B: Still concern about certain areas in the agent's presentation

C: Providing the agent with an opportunity to close the sale

D: Providing the agent a chance to demonstrate his Know-How

Resistance Breakers 1

2008-04-10T15:43:00.005+08:00

In the coming posts, I'll be sharing with you what I've read, understand and learnt from a book written by Lim Yuen Seong. I'll be copying from his book to this blog to share with my readers here. The following contents in this and the coming posts in italics are solely from Mr Lim and not from me. Kindly take note.

James E. Halket:
Life Insurance Is Like A Parachute: If you ever need it and don't have it, you will never need it again.

Introducing the Concept of Objection Handling

Lim Yuen Seong:
Don't handle the customer, handle his concerns.

Have you ever been wedged by the customer's objection during a sale? The answer will likely be a yes, especially if you are raw to the selling game.

Resistance, in the form of sales objections, is as natural to selling as water is to fishes. Genuine customer's objection merit a sound response from the agent. The obvious reason is that when they are removed, it could lead to a sale. And it precisely because it can make or break a sale that the ability to deal with them skillfully is so crucial in selling.

So, from this first topic, do you get to understand something that you never knew?

Welcome Message

2008-04-10T15:12:00.000+08:00

I'm here today, to share with those who are interested to do sales, the methods that you shall follow, the things that you should do, which might include your attitude towards your job, and ways to handle rejections that you might be facing.

My tips, concepts and solutions would not be the best for you but if those help you, do share it with me too, or, if you have a better way that you would like to share with those out there, do email me. Don't under estimate your little sharing, it might change a person's life.

What comes around, goes around. So, if you share yours, you might be receiving from others :)