Burke Hedges Speaks

Thanks for joining me again this week for the Monday Minute! 

I wrote to you last week about two of the most important words
in becoming a great leader - praise and appreciation. 

Your prospects and the people on your team are starved for
praise and someone to appreciate their efforts.  If you can
excel in praising people, you’ll go far as a leader.

This week I’d like to teach you some techniques on staying
motivated.  Getting motivated is usually pretty easy.  But
staying that way- day in and day out - when the road gets
rough, can be tricky.

And as a leader, you’ve also got to be concerned about keeping
your team motivated and moving forward.  If you’re going to
motivate others, you’ve got to stay motivated yourself.  To
do this, you must understand what keeps people motivated as
well as what destroys motivation. 

So lets’ get going!

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Everyone is driven by the same basic needs.  We often think of
basic necessities like financial security, a roof over our heads
and food on the table - stuff like that.  But you and I both know
that people don’t get into this business JUST for the money.  There
are so many other things at play that effect people’s motivation.

>> A desire for respect is a huge motivator.  People often look
   at “status symbols” like a car or clothing as a sign of success 
   and respect.  This is why so many direct sales companies have
   car programs.  Earning that car is a huge sign of respect- and
   many people will work harder for the car than they will for money.

>> A need for financial security will keep people working hard.  No
   one wants the constant stress of being in debt and worrying about
   our children’s future. 

>> A desire for power and to leave a legacy is very powerful.  For
   some of us, simply making an additional income isn’t enough.  We
   want to leave a legacy.  We yearn to have our great-great-grandkids
   set financially for life because of the hard work we’ve put in now.

>> If you’re involved in a health and nutrition related company, you
   might have a strong motivation to stay healthy.  You want to understand
   every ingredient in your product and you’re excited about sharing
   the wonderful health benefits your product provides.

>> For some, helping others is a key motivator.  It’s always fun to have
   nice things in life.  But what motivates some people deeply is helping
   others succeed.  Seeing someone on your team win gives you a thrill
   nothing else compares to. 

Next week I’m going to reveal some huge de-motivators.  They’re the
things that keep us stuck in our business and life.  Once we understand
what they are, we can learn how to move past them and achieve our goals.

Until then, make it a great week!

It’s time for another edition of the Monday Minute!  Last week
we discussed the importance of making a connection with your
prospects and team members. 

If you missed my “upset bride” analogy - be sure to read last
weeks Monday Minute on here on my blog. 

It crutial that you learn to connect with people- to see things
from their perspective.  Arguing and disagreeing with people,
though sometimes necessary, will often do little more than drive
people away. 

No one ever signed up a new distributor by arguing with them. 
And no one ever built a successful team by badgering their
teammates constantly. 

Today I’m  going to share with you one of the most important
aspects of developing your people skills.  So many distributors
leave this out, and it does serious damage to their prospects
and teammates. 

Today we’re going to talk about praise and appreciation.

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Praise is something people are despretly hungry for, but seldom get. 

If you’re willing to practice giving it, people will gravitate
towards you.  It’s always possible to find something to compliment -
you can make it a point to find something good about everyone your
meet.  And then tell them out loud! 

Your prospects will be more open, your teammembers will desire to
spend more time working with you.  They’ll look forward to your
phone calls instead of dreading them.

Since many of us haven’t actually practiced giving praise to people
on a daily basis, this may take a little work for you to get in the
habit of it.  But please DO work on making it a habit- because it
pays major dividends.  I guarantee that not only do the people
around you benefit from being praised and appreciated, but you do
as well.  When you give someone a genuine compliment, YOU feel
better too!

Be specific when you praise people.  Observe what they’ve done that
was praiseworthy and applaud them for it.  Here’s some examples:

>> “That’s awesome John!  I’m so excited for you for getting your
   Warm List written out.  You’re on the right track and are going
   to do great things in this business!”

   This is much better than, “Wow John, you finally wrote out your
   list, huh?  I thought you’d never get it done!”

Or how about this:

>> “Way to go Mary.  You called me for three 3-way calls this week! 
   I know you’re a busy person, and I’m really excited that you’ve
   taken this step to build your business!  Congratulations!” 

   As opposed to, “Mary, you only did three 3-way calls with me this
   week.  Listen, I know you work a lot, but that’s no excuse.  If you
   want to be free of that job, you’ve going to have to step it up
   and start making more phone calls!”

Wow- which do you think would get better results?  Praising the
person for the effort they gave, or pointing out all the areas they
could do better?

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Yes, there will be times as a leader when you’ve got to “say it
straight” to people.  When someone complains to you and says,
“I’m not getting the results that you are!”  You may have to
lovingly remind that person that they’re also not doing the same
about of prospecting and recruiting that you are. 
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But there is always room to end with a word of encouragement.  Make
sure you never leave a conversation with a prospect or teammate on
a negative note.  Always find something to praise.  Even if it’s
something like, “Bob, I’m so glad we were able to talk about this. 
And from what I know about you, I’m certain you’re going to go out
there and turn things around this month.  I appreciate you and I’m
proud to have you on the team.  Whatever I can do to help you, I will.”

My friends, that’s how you build a winning team.

See you next week!

Welcome back to the Monday Minute!  Last week started talking
about how to develop your “people skills” and I mentioned that
being an active listener was one of the key ways to position
yourself as a leader with your prospects and on your team.

This week I’d like to give you a few more tips to help you
develop those dynamic people skills. 

Every activity you do in your business involves dealing with
people.  From speaking to prospects, to training a new distributor,
to  helping a new customer - All these activities involve using
your people skills. 

If you have lousy people skills, then you won’t see the results
you desire.  On the other hand, if you’ve got great people skills,
you’ll observe more people wanting to be a part of your team. 

People will want to be around you, want to work with you, and want
to buy from you.  And that’s what we all want, right?!

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I’d like to share a kind of “off the wall” story with you today
that I believe makes a good point about connecting with people:

This story takes place in a brial store.  Now, I know what you’re
thinking - A bridal shop?  What does this have to do with my
networking business??  Just hang on with me a moment & keep reading…

It’s a very busy Saturday and chaos is everywhere as women try
on gown after gown.  Most brides are excited and happy.  But one
bride in particular is having a meltdown.  See, her dress just
got back from alterations.  She’s tried it on…and it’s a disaster.

It doesn’t look like she expected.  She thinks it’s too fluffy, too
busy, and it makes her look fat.  Now, she’s already paid for this
dress AND the alterations. 

So she starts to panic.

One salesperson tries to calm her down by saying, “Now, come on. 
You’re just being silly.  This dress looks fine.  You look lovely
in it!  You’re just nervous, that’s all.  When you get home
tonight, you’ll change how you feel about it.” 

This does NOT calm her.  In fact, it has the opposite effect.  And
she panics more.  She hates the dress and no one is listening! 
“I can’t wear this on my wedding day!”, she screams.

At this point the store manager comes in.  Now, the store manager
has had years of experience with nervous brides.  She’s calm, cool
and collected.  She’s not afraid of losing the sale.  Her ONLY
concern is to listen to the bride, find out exactly what the problem
is, and help solve it.

The store manager calmly asks, “What is it that you don’t like about
the dress?”  The bride immediately begins, “Well, it’s too fluffy
down here.  It makes me look fat.  And it’s just too busy at the top!” 

Being a great “people person” the store manager knows she’s not
going to get anywhere by arguing with her customer.  That would
only upset her more.  So, she responds, “I see just what you mean.” 

Immediately, she’s made a CONNECTION with her customer. 

The sales manager continues, “All this extra tulle down here is
creating too much fluff in your gown.  And you’re right about the
top as well- there are a lot of flowers up there that are making
it look busy.  How about if we remove a couple layers of tulle from
below, take some of the flowers from the top, and while we’re at
it - I think if we just took it in a pinch here, it would make such
a difference. See? What do you think?”

The bride is in tears now, “Yes!  That’s exactly right!  Oh thank
you so much!”

In 2 minutes flat, the store manager has managed to save the sale
AND get an additional sale for more alterations.  But most importantly,
she made a CONNECTION with her customer.  Her customer felt listened
to and understood.

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That’s exactly what you must do with your prospects and teammates-
Find a connection. 
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Don’t argue with people - find some way to see things from their
viewpoint.  You don’t have to agree with them, and many times you
won’t.  But if you can at least see situations from another persons
eyes, it will help you tremendously in connecting with people and
building better relationships.

I’ve got a tip before I leave you today:  One thing I see a lot in
this business is people who are afraid.  They allow fear to stop
them from doing the activities they know they must do in order to
have success. 

>> They’re afraid to make phone calls. 
>> They’re afraid to show a presentation. 
>> They’re afraid to follow up. 
>> They’re afraid to train a group of people. 
>> They’re afraid to lead. 

My belief is that this type of fear comes from focusing on ourselves
first.  We’re afraid of rejection, so we don’t make those calls. 
What if the prospect says no or laughs at me?  We’re afraid we’ll
look silly, or we’ll get tongue tied, so we refuse to meet with
prospects and show a presentation. 

This fear says “What about me??” 

When you think of other people FIRST and make your goal to form a
connection with them, then your fear will subside.  Instead of thinking
about how you look or whether someone is judging you, you’ll be focused
on that person- be it your prospect or a team member- your focus is
on helping and connecting with them. 

It makes a lot of difference!

For the last few weeks, I’ve given you some valuable tips on
successful living and personal productivity.  Wouldn’t you agree
that it’s vital to understand how important your mind, thoughts,
and personal actions are to your success? 

Success happens inside your mind first before it happens in your
reality.  And my goal over these last few weeks was to teach you
some basic skills to encourage you on your path to becoming a 
better and more productive person as you move forward as a leader
in your business.

Today we’re going to start talking about how to move forward
with people.  Your prospects, your upline leaders, and the
people on your team.  People are at the heart of this business. 

So today I’m going to begin a series teaching you how to begin
building positive relationships with everyone you come into
contact with.

Why is this so important? 

Because as a leader you must have influence with the people on
your team if you are to successfully lead them.  When you
look behind you, how many people are following?  If the answer
is zero - then it’s important to learn some skills on how to
successfully build relationships with people.

Learn and apply these dynamic people skills and you’ll surely
see an increase in your effectiveness and results in your business.

So lets’ get started!

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So, what does it take to actually build positive relationships with
prospects, your upline or your team?  As you probably well know, most
top income earners are known for their ability to “connect” with people. 
As busy as they are, they still seem to find the time to be warm,
friendly and caring with the people they meet. 

Not only have I worked with many top income earners in this industry,
I’ve also been one myself.  And I can tell you from experience that care
and concern for people is at the heart of every leader in this industry. 
We have an unquenchable desire to help people achieve their dreams.  You
have that desire too- otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this newsletter. 

When working with prospects, first impressions are very important.

>> Have a smile on your face when you call a prospect on the phone. 
>> If you’re meeting a prospect for a presentation, be aware of your
   body language and appearance because it does effect how people respond
   to you. 
>> If you feel relaxed and confident, people will be at ease around you. 
>> If you’re nervous and unsure of yourself, then your prospects will
   quickly pick up on that and become unsure as well.

Lean forward and listen to people when they speak.  You’ve got 2 ears and
only 1 mouth for a reason!  Successful people are good listeners.  They
listen twice as much as they talk. 

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If your main objective in a conversation is to make your point first,
you’ll never develop trust with people.  If your main objective in
a meeting is to quickly present your opportunity and then sign the
prospect up, and you spend zero time listening and learning to your
prospect, it will be very difficult to earn their trust. 
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Top income earners ask a lot of questions, then they listen- really
listen- to the answers.  Their goal when meeting with prospects and
team members is to discover first IF they can help the person and
second, HOW they can help. 

It’s amazing what you learn about people when you open your ears
to hear what they’re really saying!

Be authentic with people.  Your prospects and team members want to
know they can trust you, that you’ll be honest with them and have
their best interests at heart.  They want a leader who is fair and
dependable - is that person you? 

Practice asking questions and listening this week & I’ll see you
again next week for another edition of the Monday Minute!