There are two ways to be successful. Know a ton of people, and make sure more than a few of those people are well respected and influential. First, make it a habit to know the leaders and influencers in your organization. If you are a company employee and find yourself at a corporate convention where your leaders will also be, find a way to develop a conversation with as many as possible. This means you should NOT spend every free minute and eat every meeting meal with your group of business buddy associates who you already feel most comfortable with. And while they are calling out “Brown Nose!” as you shuffle past them to the leaders table, just give them a wink, knowing that your circle of influence is only 20 minutes from growing larger.

Next, remember not all “movers and shakers” reside in the Executive Suite. In fact, the most influential people often lack the fancy business card title but own the “street credibility” necessary to get things done. Don’t overlook them. In fact, go out of your way to help THEM increase their network and watch how the favor someday gets repaid.

Your next influence tip is to hone your speaking skills and USE THEM outside your company. Why? Because people in leadership positions often have to deliver both formal and informal “speeches.” And the ones who get to the top most quickly are often those can deliver a “talk” with poise and confidence.

And this is a skill that, when owned, is perhaps your single biggest weapon to increase your professional perception.  So find an area of expertise that you feel you know well. Then develop a 20-30 presentation on that topic. Practice it, rehearse it, and drill it until you impress even yourself. Then find a place to use. This could be a company meeting, an industry event, a Chamber of Commerce meeting, Rotary Club, or any number of organizations looking for an expert.

Lastly, spread the word on the web. Sign up for a Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter account, and as you keep learning, keep the world informed about who and what you know. And as you find new ways to share valuable information with others, you will find that you have become an irreplaceable asset in THEIR rise to the top. And when you become irreplaceable, you become unbeatable in business.

To listen to Brian’s radio interview on “how to increase your circle of networking influence” with Sheryl Nicholson, author of two Chicken Soup for the Soul books, go to www.preciseselling.com/Radioaccess.htm. Brian is author of the book, 20 Days to the Top-How the PRECISE Selling Formula Will Make You Your Company’s Top Sales Performer in 20 Days or Less. To learn more, go to www.preciseselling.com.

Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.
-WALT DISNEY

Spring Break is here and a ton of folks will be heading to Disney World for the “experience.” In fact, about 44,000 people each day or about 16 million people each year will trek to Orlando. An even more impressive number is that almost 80% are REPEAT customers. So what did Walt Disney create that that we too can create in our own businesses? The two words that come to mind are FUN and REFERRALS. And what can those two words do for your business?

• Fun is innovation, creativity, and adrenaline. It produces productivity, loyalty and morale. Fun creates communication, teamwork and reduces conflict. Fun creates a profitable culture, increased sales and retained customers and employees. And fun fulfills our basic human need to be happy. So with all these benefits of FUN, why don’t more salespeople and companies use it? Some have.

Companies like Disney and Southwest airlines have harnessed the power of FUN to create loyal and repeat customers, and so can you.  But you have to schedule time to think of ways to add fun to your job. For 15 minutes each week, step away from email, get off the voicemail, and put your creative energy to work by thinking of innovative ways to create a customer experience. Then go do it. Do it just for the fun of it, or do it only because it works! Either way, a company or a salesperson that doesn’t “bring it” better be prepared to lose business to the competitors that do.

• Referrals- Surprise people with a fun customer experience (internal and external) and they will tell their friends. But don’t just stop at fun. If you are making your customers smile while providing big value, you need to ASK them for referrals. It’s a nice little game of give and take. I make you smile…you give me the name of three friends who would also like positively outrageous service.

So this week, find ways to add fun to your customer’s day. By doing so, you will have earned the right to ask for referrals. Make it a habit, and you will learn just how fun it is to cash your commission check, build a top performing team, and bury the competition. Let the fun begin!

This week, Brian interviewed author T Scott Gross on his weekly radio show. Scott wrote the book “Positively Outrageous Customer Service,” and shares tips on how you can use FUN to get to the TOP.   Go to www.preciseselling.com/Radioaccess.htm to listen to the interview. To find out more about Brian’s sales and leadership programs, visit him at www.preciseselling.com or email Brian at bsullivan@preciseselling.com.

“Unless you love everybody,
you can’t sell anybody.”

-Dicky Fox
Sports agent
from the film Jerry Maguire

As we come off of Valentine’s Day I was reminded of the simplest and most timeless business and life formula…Love Equals Success. Love your customers, love your peers, love your competition, love your boss, love your family and friends, and love yourself. Do this in abundance and you will love waking up, love the cold call, love the challenges, love the long quiet drives, love the sales meetings, and love finding new ways to obtain and retain customers. In short, love people and the “situations” of life will take care of themselves.

To inject a little more love into your life, and as a result, a lot more success, try the following exercise:

•    Beginning tomorrow morning, count the number of human interactions you have in that day.

•    After each interaction ask yourself this question, “Did that person ‘feel the love’ or will they resume their day quickly forgetting that I was even part of it.”

•    After each interaction, grade yourself on a scale of 1-10, one being the Grinch-esque and 10 being Cupid-like.

•    Before you turn out the lights, determine the average “love index” of those interactions.

•    If you averaged between 1-5, SNAP OUT OF IT and set the goal to increase your number by a point or two the next day.

•    If you were between 6-8, nice job, but you may still be leaving some points on the board.

•    If you are a love pro and came up with either 9 or 10, congratulations…you achieved Barry White Love status!

So this week, bump up your “Love Index” by smiling more, listening more, serving more and by leaving everybody you touch better for being with you. And by making love your secret weapon, you better prepare to love the success that will soon follow.

This week, Brian interviewed author Scott McKain on his weekly radio show. Kevin wrote the book “Collapse of Distinction,” and shares tips on how some of the world’s most famous people use love and humility to get to the TOP.   Go to www.preciseselling.com/Radioaccess.htm to listen to the interview. To find out more about Brian’s sales and leadership programs, visit him at www.preciseselling.com or email Brian at bsullivan@preciseselling.com.