“Character is the ability to carry out a worthy decision after the emotion of making that decision has passed.” -Hyrum W. Smith I don't know about you, but I get all pumped up when I listen to some of the great motivators, such as John Maxwell, Andy Andrews and, of course, the late Zig Ziglar. There are many inspirational people ready and willing to guide you, but in all honesty, the greatest motivator for you should be yourself. We should listen to and believe in ourselves more than anyone in the world. When we speak negatively about a situation, we soon follow those thoughts with our actions and/or inactions. The goods news is that the opposite is equally true. When we speak words of encouragement, when we choose to believe, when that fire of action builds up to the point of execution, we win. The reality of life is that enthusiasm dwindles down, unfortunately sometimes to the point of being extinguished altogether. The question then is how do we re-create or, should I say, rekindle that fire? One answer (and there are many) is "character". As Hyrum so well phrased it in his quote above, "character" is indeed the ability to carry out a worthy decision after the emotion of making that decision has passed. Now is the time to tap into that inner resource of God-given talents and get to work. The abilities are there and always have been. The key is to be disciplined enough to act on those abilities. That is the true definition of character. When you do what you have to do even when it’s inconvenient, uncomfortable or costly, then you can consider yourself self-motivated. Excerpt from the upcoming book, “We Have Nothing to Sell,” by Juan D. Ortega.

If I had to focus training for sales people in only one thing, I would pick any of the things on this list before I would train them on “social selling.” 1. How-to Do-Good Discovery: Without understanding your client’s most strategic needs, it’s difficult to be compelling, and it’s more difficult to frame your solution. 2. How to Gain Commitments: First, most salespeople do not know all the commitment they need, and when they do, they don’t have the language to gain those commitments. The JDO sales training framework teaches them to close and ask for the money. 3. How to Overcome Objections: No matter how good you are or think you are, without the language and rationale to deal with objections, you are not creating or winning. 4. How to Differentiate your company from others: Rarely have I asked a salesperson, what makes their company different and gotten a compelling convincing response, even when their leadership team believes they all know their differentiators. One of the ways you prove how and what makes you different through the stories you tell. 5. How to Leverage the Buying Cycle: Salespeople would benefit more from knowing how to serve their dream clients as they go through the stages of buying more than anything they might learn about Twitter. 6. How to Understand What Makes an Opportunity: Unless and until your dream client agrees to pursue change solutions with you, you do not have an opportunity. 7. How to Cold Call and Book Appointments: There isn’t anything higher on this list because cold calling is what would improve most salespeople’s results faster than anything else. There is a smart way to call, but nothing happens until you call. 8. Why They Need to Follow Their Process: Most companies do not enforce or follow a process, and neither do their salespeople. I’d teach them why they should follow it and how it helps them win. 9. How to Target and Nurture Dream Clients: Too little time, too many prospects. You have to focus on the clients for whom you create the most value. You need to nurture those relationships. 10. How to Plan a Sales Call: Honestly, most salespeople don’t plan their sales calls at all. It’s a mistake to waste a client’s time. 11. How to Open a Sales Call: Without the ability to open a sales call effectively, you quickly come across as an amateur and a time waster. 12. How to Negotiate: Most salespeople fall apart at the first question about price. I’d teach them to negotiate around value. Price is never an issue when value has been established.

Owners / Sales Managers have three opportunities to impact the performance of their people. The first is during the selection process, if nonperformers can be screened out, the savings are dramatic in comparison to the minimal cost involved. Unfortunately, if the wrong person is hired, the next opportunity to effect performance cost considerably more because it’s after the individual is inside the company. Managers must spend valuable time providing extra training to marginal employees, instead of investing their time in top performers, who generate most of the AB revenue. Often outside consultant is retained, in hopes that the situation can be improved. Too many times, these efforts prove unsatisfactory and only end up consuming yet, more time and money. Did you ever have an employee who, knowing the importance of Customer Service, repeatedly frustrated customers? That is Job Fit. Did you ever have a salesperson who worked hard and never sold very much? That is Job Fit. Did you ever worked beside someone who was not interested in being there? That is Job Fit. The challenge to businesses is that Job Fit can only be determined using Assessment instruments and, until recently, the majority of those available were woefully inadequate. The information provided, while interesting, often tended to be generalized and lacked qualified, objective, and accurate data for serious decision making. We have developed an assessment, designed specifically for business, meeting all legal requirements and guidelines. In fact, consistent use of our assessment program can assist in documenting objective and nondiscriminatory hiring practices. Our tools are multicultural and validated for today’s diverse workforce. Additionally, our assessments are validated to be effective with English as a second language and are also available in numerous dialects. Our system allows companies to benchmark positions and to develop patterns defining the core competencies necessary for selecting top performers. And what does our assessment system measure? Expected learning success, reasoning, and problem-solving potential. endurance and capacity for a fast pace, taking charge of people and situations, people-oriented, manageability, following policies, work within the rules, positive attitude, making decisions, cooperative and agreeable, team person, self-reliant, self-directed, persuasive, organized, creative thinking, and much more. From Profiling Assessments to Customer Service and Sales Assessments, our system can be easily incorporated into your current operations.