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Archive for the ‘Pinnacle Performance Quotes’ Category

Is Good Enough Good Enough For You?

In one of the best-selling business books of all time,  Jim Collins’ “Good To Great“, a common trait of companies that made the leap from Good to Great is that they relentlessly pursued excellence, not settling for good – the status quo.  A key  to those “great” companies becoming that way was, in the words of Jim Collins,  they understood and operated by the principle that “Good is the Enemy of Great”. 

Here’s 1 minute of Jim Collins on the topic:

In Stephen R. Covey’s “The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness“, the follow-up of one of the most successful self-help books of all-time, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People“, Covey wrote:

“Everyone chooses one of two roads in life – the old and the young, the rich and the poor, men and women alike. One is the broad, well-traveled road to mediocrity, the other the road to greatness and meaning. The range of possibilities that exists within each of these two destinations is as wide as the diversity of gifts and personalities in the human family. But the contrast between the two destinations is as the night is to the day.”

As 80% of businesses and their employees are not performing at the level of the top 20%, I see this “well-traveled road to mediocrity” often and the less traveled road to greatness is, in a nutshell, the purpose and path of my Pinnacle Performance Training.

Of course, there’s much more to achieving true greatness then merely wanting to be the best. It takes focus, discipline, determination to succeed, proper behaviors, consistent execution and, above all, PRIDE.

One thing is certain, if good enough is good enough for you then you’ll never achieve greatness!

If Good Enough Is Good Enough For You Then You'll Never Achieve Greatness TH1

Make a Great Day!

Steve 🙂

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For more information on Steve and Pinnacle Performance Training visit > Sale Away LLC.

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Wednesday Wisdom: What If Money Was No Object?

What If Money Was No Object? How would you spend your time? Would you be doing what you’re doing now?

This short video features delivers a powerful message from a lecture of philosopher, writer, and speaker, Alan Watts, encouraging us to search and focus on what we really want to do and spend time doing it regardless of money.

Sadly, most folks fill in the chapters of their lives with work  they don’t have a true passion for, ultimately leaving them unhappy and unfulfilled.

Of course, we don’t all have the luxury to forget about money, at least not without the fear of bankruptcy. Those bills will likely not wait for you to get your act together. 

Still, this video will make you think… What If? What if I did pursue my passion? Would I find my higher purpose and happiness doing what I really want to do rather than what I believe I need to do?

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Make a Great Day!

Steve 🙂

Watch more awesome messages from the creator of the video > youtube.com/user/tradgedyandhope

 

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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 🙂

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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: 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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Wednesday Wisdom: Believe In Good

How much more successful would you be if you gave more and wanted less?

How much more successful would you be if you believed more in doing what’s right and less about what’s in it for you?  

How much more fulfilling would your life be if you lived the positive change you wish to see in the world?

In my professional opinion, A WHOLE BUNCH MORE!

This heartwarming 3 minute Thai commercial delivers a powerful message on the power of good and giving selflessly. If more people acted this way, the world would be a much better place.

 

Be The Change

 

Make a Great Day!

Steve 🙂

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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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