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Archive for the ‘Monday Morning Motivation’ Category

A Resolution of Optimism from Astronaut Chris Hadfield

Hello and Happy New Year All,

In my previous post, 6 Resolutions for a More Successful New Year!, I wrote about the gains that can be made this year by being happy and maintaining a positive outlook.

In the 2 minute video below, retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield explains that there are many reasons to be optimistic this year. 

 

As Chris points out,”There are problems with everything, and nothing is yet perfect, but that shouldn’t be cause to bemoan; that should be cause to achieve.”

A New Dawn

Stay Optimistic and Achieve More This Year!

Steve 🙂

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Monday Morning Motivation

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Gratitude is the Best Attitude!

gratitude-attitude

Good Day All,

Hope everyone is doing well and you’re prepared for the forthcoming feast that is Thanksgiving. As usual, I plan on gaining significant circumference with glorious overindulgence. 

This time of year is ideal for practicing your Attitude of Gratitude. That means letting customers know how much you value and appreciate their business.

Since starting Sale Away in 2005, I have asked literally thousands of individuals in a large number of organizations all over the map if they truly appreciate their customers and, predictably, I always receive the same response; “Of course we do!” Then I ask them the real question… How do your customers know?

The sad reality is quite often customers really don’t know or, more importantly, feel appreciated. Employees assume customers know they’re appreciated because they regularly thank them at the end of a given interaction. That’s great but true displays of customer appreciation are about much more than at the end of interactions, they are consistent throughout the relationship.

As I wrote in Always Be Grateful, true gratitude is not a seasonal affair. An attitude of gratitude should be practiced year round for there is much to be thankful for.

Always Be Grateful

Of course, it’s not only what you say but what you do that makes the difference. Spontaneous “Thank You For Your Business” cards to customers, follow-up calls with customers to thank them for their business and ensure they’re happy after the sale, random acts of kindness and consistent acts of exceptional ‘Pinnacle Performance’ service go a long way towards demonstrating genuine customer appreciation and gratitude.

JFK On Gratitude

Speaking of gratitude, I would be remiss if I didn’t THANK YOU! I very much appreciate you spending some quality time here and wish you all the best this holiday season!

Cheers!

Steve 🙂

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Monday Morning Motivation, Steve's Articles

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Monday Morning Motivation: Will Smith On Success

Most folks are familiar with Will Smith, the super successful “A-List” actor who has been featured in a number of well-known Hollywood movies. But, did you know, Will Smith is also an “A Player” all-around? It’s true..

Will Smith is a ‘Pinnacle Performer’ of the highest order with an unwavering determination and drive to succeed that fuels his high achievement. 

As you’ll see on the outstanding motivational video posted below, Will Smith has much to say about what it takes to succeed. My personal favorite is this..

Will-Smith-Perfect Brick

To me, this one quote is success achievement in a nutshell.  Successfully achieving goals doesn’t begin with the goal. The goal is the wall.  If you want the goal, you must start with the first step. Lay that first “perfect brick” on the foundation and repeat the process day-after-day until you build that great wall.

This success mindset works for any goal. Trying to lose 50 pounds? There’s an extremely high chance you won’t do that this week without a rather invasive surgical procedure. But you can lose 3-5 pounds this week and next week and the week after and, before long, you will achieve that 50 pound weight loss goal. 

This success mindset certainly works for sales and customer service professionals…

Don’t try to be a sales superstar RIGHT NOW! Focus on developing your sales skill set  and continuous improvement to master your execution and be pro-active in your day-to-day selling activities and you will achieve that goal.

Don’t try and be a world-class customer service company (or representative) RIGHT NOW! Focus on making each and every customer interaction perfect and, in time, you will build that wall too!

And, of course, if you get stuck with either of those you can always contact me. Like Home Depot says, You Can Do It, I Can Help!

Make a Great Day!

Steve 🙂

Let’s Link-In > www.linkedin.com/in/steveferrantesaleawayllc

 

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Monday Motivation: When You Look In The Mirror…

There’s this person in the mirror. This person knows you well.

This person is solely responsible for your success or failure.

This person knows you want to succeed but often give less than your best.

This person will either commit to success or settle for less.

This person must be “All In” or will not win. 

This person must understand that failure is not an option. 

When You Look In The Mirror

Make a Great Day!

Steve 🙂

See All > Pinnacle Performance Quotes on Pinterest

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Monday Morning Motivation: Believe To Achieve

As I wrote in 6 Essential Success Traits of Top-Performing Salespeople, belief is the foundation of success. On the flip side,  negativity is a major deterrent in achieving success. 

Many individuals fall victim to negative thinking about themselves, believing they are ordinary, or worse, inferior to others. This counterproductive thinking ‘positions you to fail’ and, sadly, many lads and ladies accept this fate and lock themselves in to maintaining mediocrity.

In short, negative thinking leads to negative results. As soon as you say (or think) “I’m just a (fill in the blank)” you’re stuck in the mud. 

Pinnacle Performers maintain a Champion mindset, believing they are the best, or capable of being the best, every day and act accordingly.

Whether you’re a business or an individual, to achieve  ‘World Class’ performance you must first believe that you are (or are capable of) World Class.

Believe To Achieve…

Mission Im-Possible

 

Make a Great Day!

Steve 🙂

Let’s Link-In > http://www.linkedin.com/in/steveferrantesaleawayllc

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Monday Morning Motivation: Be a Beast

Be a beast or be beaten by one. 

Beast Mode

Make a Great Day!

Steve 🙂

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Monday Morning Motivation

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Monday Morning Motivation: If At First You Don’t Succeed…

Have you failed before? Well then you have something of great significance in common with these famous high achievers…

Keep Your Eyes On The Prize…

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Make a Great Day!

Steve 🙂

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Make a Great Day!

I have a problem with the expression “Have a great day” and so should you. 

While it’s safe to say the intent of the expression is not meant to be malicious in any way, adhering to this advice can indeed harm your productivity.

Specifically it’s the “have” part I take issue with. The definition of have is to possess, own, or hold. “Have a great day” is passive and implies that this “great day” is already there… you just need to have it. 

If someone said to you “Have a great sandwich”, you would likely respond “Thanks… where is it?”  

One does not simply have a great sandwich… it must be made first. The same is true of a great day. It does not somehow appear… it is created.

Have a great day is well received by those reactive folks who are waiting for success to happen. Some days they end up in the right place at the right time and Presto! they have a great day.

As honored educator Marva Collins said,

Success Doesn’t Come To You, You Go To It.

Make a Great Day is for proactive performers that truly understand this, take charge of their actions and control their destiny. They create success… they create great days. 

If you’re in sales, customer service or a progressive professional in general, Make a Great Day is some of the best advice I can give you.

If you’re a manager, I encourage you to instill this winning attitude in your team members.

So, by all means, don’t have a great day…

Make a Great Day!

Steve 🙂

Steve Ferrante is the Grand PooBah & Trainer of Champions of Sale Away LLC., providing Pinnacle Performance Sales, Customer Service and Leadership training, speaking and professional development services to success-driven businesses throughout North America. For detailed information visit Sale Away. Steve can be reached directly at 866-721-6086 ext. 701 or via email at steve@saleawayllc.com

 

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You Are An Example for Sales and Customer Service Performance

We’ve all heard the expression “leading by example”.  This popular phrase is most often used when referring to managers and leadership executives of an organization but it also applies to every member of a sales, customer service department or organization in general.

A few points to ponder…

Are you maintaining a proper positive attitude all-day while on-the-job?

Employees who are constantly negative tend to contaminate their environment and bring everyone else down with them.

Are your actions bringing to life your business’s customer service mission in each and every customer interaction?

Service representatives with no PRIDE that don’t live up to their business’s customer service pledges and demonstrate poor behaviors set the stage for their counterparts to do the same.

Are you putting in 100% effort regardless of what others in your organization may be doing?

Salespeople on teams where everyone else is failing to meet their numbers tend to adopt a “it’s not me, it’s everyone” mentality and settle into a comfort zone of mediocrity.

Are you the setting the example that inspires others to follow?

On the flip-side, when an “A Player” sets the bar with their winning attitude and behaviors this typically has a positive effect that influences others to raise their own game and perform at a higher level.

The fact is you are an example to others as they are to you.  Whether you are a good example or not is up to you.

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Make a Great Day!

Steve 🙂

* You Are An Example also applies perfectly to parenting and although that’s a whole other story it’s well worth mentioning here!

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Monday Morning Motivation: FOCUS

focus-on-success1

One of the success traits of high achievers is their ability to focus on the outcome they want to achieve and then align their actions to meet their objective. This principle was defined in Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Habits of Highly Effective People as Begin With The End In Mind. 

Self-help author and motivational speaker Tony Robbins certainly has plenty of good things to say about the power of focus and it’s role in success. Much of this is the narrative of the outstanding motivational video below.

High achievers focus on the result (success) they are committed to achieve rather than the activity to get it done.

What will you focus on today? 

Tony Robbins Focus

Make a Great Day!

Steve 🙂

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