Your attitude – in business, sport, relationships and in life, will determine the altitude or the heights you achieve.

How many of you watched Andy Murray as he cruised to victory at Queens for the second time? His body language was so refreshing; his head was high, shoulders back. I might have to watch a replay – but I’m sure I even saw him crack a smile a few times!

He was confident… but what was that teasing “through the leg shot” all about? Please beware – there’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance or complacency.

Yet, his performance was worlds apart from the spectacle he made of himself at the recent Australian Open as we were subjected to relentless slow motion TV replays of his foul mouthed Tennis Tourette’s and internal self-destruction.

Let’s hope he has learnt to master the internal game of tennis – the game in his head.

In sport, as in business, confidence is a massive factor and it’s often what separates the winners from the losers, we need to be mentally fit to win.

Over the years, I have read many books on self development and attended numerous courses on the same topic. I’ve walked on the red hot coals and smashed through blocks of wood with my bare hands – the success every time comes from your mindset, attitude… and action.

I also know many people that have bought all the self development books under the sun, got too busy with stuff and just popped them up on the book shelf without reading them… along with all the others. Problem! That’s “shelf” development not “self” development.

Have you ever been amazed by how quickly your attitude improves after achieving even a relatively small success? Or how a complete stranger with a poor attitude can drag you down in a matter of minutes?

Attitude determining your altitude is not a new concept. Marcus Aurelius, the great philosopher and 16th Emperor of the Roman Empire, put it simply: “our life is what our thoughts make it”. He got it!

Thomas Edison the American inventor, scientist and businessman said, “nearly every man who develops an idea works at it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then gets discouraged. That’s not the place to become discouraged.”  Again – it’s about attitude. He got it!

Contrary to what many people often want to believe, outside influences don’t usually determine your happiness or success. Instead it’s how we react to those influences that will make us happy or sad, experience success or failure. So how do you change your reactions to those outside forces?

1. Learn how to handle frustration
2. Learn how to handle rejection
3. Learn how to handle pressure

So with all that mastered you can do anything, right? Wrong. As Gerald Ratner knows in business…

     4.  You must learn how to handle complacency

Here’s the quote that led to his fall from grace… People say, “how can you sell this for such a low price?”, I say, “because it’s total crap”. Gerald Ratner… oops, missed point 4 and mixed in a large dose of arrogance!

Here’s someone’s life history I’d like to share. As you read the time line, consider when you might have thrown in the towel and accepted defeat and failure…

Failed in business aged 21

Defeated in a major political race aged 22

Failed again in business aged 24

Had to deal with the death of his sweat heart at the age of 26

Suffered a nervous breakdown aged 27

Lost a congressional race aged 34

Lost another congressional race aged 36

Lost a senatorial race aged 45

Failed to become Vice-President aged 47

Lost another senatorial race aged 49

Was elected 16th President of the United Sates aged 52

The man’s name was Abraham Lincoln. Could he have become President if he had the wrong attitude? Would Edison have invented the electric light bulb if he accepted failure after his 900th attempt?

A negative attitude will pull you down and with it go your results. Never forget that it’s your attitude determines your altitude.

For help or further information email Steve@eurekasales.co.uk or visit www.eurekasales.co.uk or call 0845 053 4937

Interview by Baiju Solanki – Performance Coaching

“I’m an entrepreneur get me out of here…“

Baiju is conducting a series of interviews with UK entrepreneurs to discover what drives them. What does it take to succeed in business today?
In this recording Baiju interviews Steve Clarke as he shares what motivates him, and what set him on the path to retirement at 45.

Interview by Baiju Solanki

Do you know who is saying what about you… and can you control that?

 “Modern technology is totally out of control” says Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge, (is it just me that loves the fact that our highest ranking Judge in the UK is really called… Lord Judge).

Lord Judge was of course commenting on the uproar over super-injunctions, which have recently been brought into the spotlight by a stream of footballers and celebrities who, it seems, have been very busy sleeping with people they aren’t married to and would rather we didn’t know about their successes when playing away from home… so to speak.

Frankly, I think most of us are rather tired with who can and who can’t afford to pay up to cover their indiscretions… is it any of our business how sports stars or celebrities conduct their lives when out of the spotlight anyway? Although probably not a topic for discussion and debate here and now.

It did however remind me of just how powerful the media, the internet and social media can be for all of us in business today – and how this power can be amplified in either a positive or negative fashion.

Without any doubt at all – much of this is in fact within your control.

We must never forget; we are living in the information age where our competitors are only mouse click away from our prospects at all times. And your prospects are one click away from information about you – make it good stuff they find – and often.

Are you really aware of exactly how your business is being portrayed by your clients? What’s being said about you and where is it being said?

What is your strategy to monitor what people are saying about you, your company, your products, service and industry?

What are you doing to ensure your brand and your reputation are portrayed in a positive light and that you get spotted in all the right places… not stumbling out of the wrong nightclub at 4.30am in the wrong company – metaphorically speaking of course.

You can purchase ads in the paper, magazines, TV and radio – and in the main you have the input which controls the output. This is good.

But do you also know how to use services like Google Alerts? These are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. A great way to catch breaking news on topics that are relevant to you… or even about you!

Do you monitor and tune in to relevant conversations on Twitter using #hash tags? Or do you not know how?

Do you subscribe to industry specific RSS feeds, or again… is this something you need some help to understand?

So my question today is… are you on a self imposed super-injunction without meaning to be? Many businesses are. Don’t be one of them.

Be proactive in feeding good information out about your products or services… Not just shouting your sales message via sales literature, but good information that demonstrates your value to would-be clients? How often do you write a good, relevant blog and where do you send it?

The role of the Digital Business Britain manifesto is to increase the economic output of the UK by encouraging individuals and businesses to embrace a Digital Mindset. My friend Penny Power is championing this movement… it’s powerful stuff and I’m a supporter.

Digital Business Britain 8 Point Manifesto

1.	Adopt a Digital Mindset and philosophy Challenge both Government and industry to treat Digital Business as a critical growth sector within UK plc. We must work together to secure the right infrastructure and levels of investment, education, job creation and supportive legal frameworks.
2.	Improve Britain’s trading future Understand that the UK’s digital future is synonymous with its trading future. Businesses and individuals need to invest the time and resources to understand their position in competitive global, national and local digital markets and what that might mean to their business viability mid-to-long term.
3.	Ensure national inclusion Ensure that no geographical area is excluded from the digital economy. Innovative business ideas and creative individuals can be found across the UK. The joy of digital business is that it can be operated anywhere in the UK, allowing businesses to spring up everywhere. However, we should remember that competitors across the globe can do the same thing, so we need to act now to ensure that our digital assets are fully exploited to the benefit of UK plc.
4.	Provide Digital Skills to all, offering individuals choice and a future that they can control Give employees, and those seeking to commence or join or return to work, the opportunity to learn digital skills, offering them coaching and encouragement to build trusted networks. In turn, this will assist them in building value both in the organisations for which they work, and in themselves.
5.	Embrace ethical on-line behaviour Adopt a Digital ‘People’ Charter designed to promote ethical and positive interactions online by providing a conduct framework for social networks and forum owners, along with guidance on social media policies for business owners.
6.	Value the social capital created by individuals The online reputation of a business has become critically important. Similarly, individuals develop digital equity/reputation, known as social capital. This capital represents a key asset which, when carefully nurtured will benefit the equity/reputation of their business. So it is vital that they have access to digital networks both to transact efficiently and to work effectively in the workplace, at home, or while on the move.
7.	Ensure our Business leaders, Advisors, Mentors and Coaches understand Digital Business Ensure business leaders, advisors, mentors and coaches embrace and understand the potential of ‘a Digital Business’ to reduce fixed costs and apply an ‘outsourced/networked business model’ throughout their organisation, encouraging the inclusion of small businesses and the self employed.
8.	Recognise the value of home based, digitally connected business in the economy Raise the status of home-based, networked businesses within large influential institutions, such as the banks, to ensure they understand that in the digital world, measurement of a successful business lies not in employee headcount, nor office size, nor overhead but can be measured in terms of income, network size, influence and sentiment.

The Digital Business Britain Manifesto was co-created by Bob Barker, VP of Corporate Marketing and Digital Engagement, Alterian Plc, who previously chaired the Government’s Information Age Partnership working party on UK ICT competitiveness.

I support:

We do this and we do that… You need to understand and accept that no one is really interested in you or your products. That’s OK, take a deep breath and let me explain what I mean.

Most human beings are only interested in “what’s in it for me”. Someone once explained this to me by saying that people are tuned into radio WII-FM, that’s: What’s In It For Me. I’ve never forgotten it since, I hope you don’t either.

Review all your sales copy, including your website, in fact, particularly your website, as it’s often one of the most prevalent “we” areas. “We” do this… “We” have been around since… “We” have the greatest…etc. etc. Get over yourselves – people don’t care!

What’s in it for me? So what that you’ve been in business 25 years? What does that mean to me? If there’s no tangible benefit to the customer, don’t mention it – sorry, but they just don’t care, not yet.

Think about where you can chan ge “we and our” for “you or your” – talk about and to your customers, not about you and your business.

And whatever you do… stop “feature bashing” and focus on benefits.

People purchase based on the benefits to them. What will they get from your product or service? How will they feel, what will they save and so on?

You have probably heard this before, but people don’t by features, they buy benefits.

All too often business owners waste time, effort, and money pushing feature after feature of their product or service and…you guessed it, the potential customers just don’t care. They are trying to work out… WIIFM – so tell them!

Take a look at your collateral materials and your website. If you’re a “feature basher”, your work consists of flyers, leaflets, ads, and a website, all of which have your logo and company name, a list of things you do or the “features” of your products and your phone number. Are you surprised that no one cares enough to respond?

What do you blame the lack of sales on? Your competition, cheaper pricing, the government, a rise in VAT…? Sorry, they’re all just excuses.

You may be right in one respect… They don’t want you or your products: but they do want to know what you and your products or service can do for them!

This is often very difficult for many people to get to grips with. In my Marketing Master Classes we work through numerous practical exercises to help you put all of this into practice until its second nature to you.

Here’s a very simple method of uncovering the benefit over the feature of your product or service. List one of your features; let’s say it’s a low emissions car… a feature of the car is that it has low emissions. Now say “which means that…” and the next thing out of your mouth is a benefit…

Why not stop making excuses about your sales being down and join me on one of my Master Classes.  Can’t make it person? No excuse these are available as a DVD/CD set too!

In a week when we’ll witness another Royal Wedding and an exchange of lifetime promises and commitments, it made me stop and think about the promises we make to our clients in business.

Just as a successful marriage will thrive and survive given trust, understanding and the delivery on certain promises made from the outset – so too a business relationship can strengthen or sadly diminish over time.

Just as in any good relationship you must create and deliver products or services your customers want, at the right quality, on time, consistently. And from time to time… throw in a few pleasant surprises the other party wasn’t expecting – that can really work wonders!

Whatever your promise is, deliver on it.

If anything, under promise and over deliver. Way too many businesses get this concept transposed, and that’s not good at all!

So for your business this all boils down to planning coupled with quality control and how you track your delivery. So if you’re a sandwich shop, don’t buy too much bread that leaves you throwing away more than you can sell, but also make sure you have enough to cater for demand so as to not disappoint your customers.

If you’re a service company or a call centre, ensure you have the correct level of staff to meet your customers’ peak call volumes. A missed call is a sale lost, and worse yet, potentially repeat orders lost too.

Whilst you are planning your stock or staff volumes, you must ensure you maintain or exceed your customers’ service expectations so that they come back to you as repeat clients. Poor quality of your product or service could easily make your customers seek alternative suppliers – what’s the point in that?

When a restaurant can’t get your order right or takes far too long to get the food to your table, how do you feel? What’s the point of such a business wasting money on marketing to you when you’ve had this kind of experience?

Your business must master delivery, and that means achieving consistency. As a small business you can often cover a mistake with a smile and a personal apology. But, as you grow, as your staff levels increase, as your customer base increases, what was once a small problem could put you out of business. Be warned! Bad reputations are really easy to spread!

How is your delivery right now? Have you mastered the delivery of consistent quality? Quality that your customers are happy really with?

What you must keep in mind is that there’s no point filing the sink unless you first put the plug in! Don’t spend your time and efforts marketing your business if people can fall straight down the plughole because of poor service delivery.

Here’s an exercise for you: what are your top ten customer complaints? I encourage you to write a list. Maybe the last few are grumbles that would only upset someone like Victor Meldrew, but let’s shoot to exhaust the list of ten. Once you have identified the issues, set about making the necessary changes to plug your sink before you turn on the taps.

To succeed in business and to attract paying clients to your business or service, you absolutely must have an infinite supply of GP + TE… “Genuine Passion” and “Tons of Enthusiasm”.

It’s not always easy, I know that. Some days are tougher than others to whip up enthusiasm, right? No time for marketing and sales are down, you get busy being busy and fighting fires – sound familiar?

Everyone would be in business for themselves if it were an easy ride. But do you know what I found as I studied successful business people? They all had a genuine passion for the business they were creating, and an abundance of enthusiasm to see them through tough times.

They all had a clear vision of where they were going and the type of business they wanted to build along the way. They had a focus and determination, and they adopted a winning “can- do” attitude.

As I studied entrepreneurial success in more depth, I also began to recognise a consistent character trait amongst successful people.

They carried themselves with confidence, with an air of superiority – not to be confused with arrogance or complacency – again, this reinforced the positive, winning “can-do” attitude which I believe exists in successful business people.

The subconscious mind is phenomenally complex, yet it makes no distinction between destructive or constructive thought patterns. If you fill your head with negativity, fear, doubt, and disbelief in your ability to succeed, your subconscious mind will go to work to deliver this outcome for you.

Conversely, feed your mind with positive thoughts, and bingo! Try it.

Test this theory and you’ll find it applies to winners in most circles; sales, sports, politics or the entertainment industry – it can work for you too.

There’s a “Napoleon Hill” verse in my book “How to Thrive Not Just Survive”, which I read whenever I find myself doubting my abilities or facing new challenges – see how this resonates with you:

If you think you’re beaten, you are, if you think you dare not, you don’t. If you like to win, but you think you can’t, it’s almost certain you won’t.

If you think you will lose, you’re lost, for out of the world we find, success begins with the fellow’s will – it’s all in a state of mind.

Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man, but sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can!

Don’t get me wrong; it’s not all just about a positive attitude, not by a long shot.

But when things get tough, take a moment to remind yourself why you got into business in the first place. What vision did you have, and what vision do you have now for where you’re heading? Ask yourself, and be honest; has the vision faded along with your enthusiasm?

Look around you. Are your friends and business associates upbeat and positive? Guess what happens to your enthusiasm if you spend your time in the company of negative people. They’ll drag you down; they’ll sap all your energy.

So, if you’re feeling battle weary, relight the fire. This is not an option, it’s a necessity. I run regular Sales Mentoring Groups – could that be of help to you?

Establish a sales support network around you that helps fuel your enthusiasm and relight your passion. There are local business groups you could join (be careful not to join the wrong breakfast moaning groups, there are way too many of those around, but there are some great ones too). I am constantly amazed by the amount of business owners who are willing to get up at six o’clock on a Monday morning to arrive for a greasy breakfast with the same people who do nothing but moan, moan, and moan again. Do you belong to a Monday moaning meeting?

There are good inspirational books to read, DVD’s to watch, websites to visit and so on. Subscribe to good email lists that send you useful and upbeat tips. You can join relevant support groups on the likes of LinkedIn and Facebook.

You are welcome to listen in to my regular marketing teleseminars or webinars (you don’t even need to leave your home or office for these!). You could join one of our Sales and Marketing Mentoring Groups, where like-minded individuals meet regularly to share ideas and tips on business growth – strictly no moaning allowed!

To find out more visit: www.eurekasales.co.uk

Watch the news once a day to keep yourself informed, but be prepared to turn it off once it starts repeating itself. Most of the news is bad news – you must have noticed that. Doom, gloom, and despondency.

Some business meetings and network groups can mirror this too, so do be careful. Yet despite all of the doom and gloom around, people are succeeding in business, some people’s sales are booming. Not just surviving the tough times, but thriving, growing their businesses in times of trouble and a shrinking economy.

How? I believe a lot of it is down to one thing – attitude.

Attitudes can be highly contagious – make sure yours is worth catching!

What’s the latest buzz in sales and marketing? QR Codes! What are QR codes, how do they work and what can they do? Here’s the quick low down…

This fancy looking monochrome bar code is a QR code (Quick Response Code). All you need to do in order to unlock the code is download a QR code reader app to your Smartphone.

I use “i-nigma 4” – it’s incredibly quick – and it’s free. Download it and scan this code…

Activate the app – point it at the QR code and bingo!

It takes you straight to the page of my website I choose to send you to. You can view the text, watch a video and navigate around my website all on the go and on your Smartphone.

Chances are – you were thinking like so many people – “what are those all about? Just another fancy manufacturer’s type of bar code?”  Well you were not too far wrong, but get ready – things have changed.

A QR code is a two dimensional barcode which can now be read by a free app on just about any mobile Smartphone with a camera. Quick Response indicates that the content of the barcode can be quickly and easily decoded.

The QR code was first used in 1994 by a subsidiary of Toyota. The initial usage was for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing.

We’ve moved on!

During the last few years the QR code has slowly found its way into the marketing world due to the connection with mobile phone applications – and now it’s set to explode!

I predict that QR codes will play a significant role in your marketing materials over the coming months – if they haven’t already.

It strikes me that the use of QR codes is only restricted by your imagination.

You point your camera phone to the QR Code, just like snapping a photo. Voilà! The browser on your phone launches, directing you to the webpage or program that was linked to the specific QR code you just scanned!

Creating the codes in the first place also only takes seconds and again can easily be done via a free web site – without any knowledge of coding whatsoever.

You’ve now opened up a whole new world! But it’s not just about pointing you to websites…

QR codes can be used (and are being used!) for;

* Special offers and promotions

* Coupons and competitions

* Maps and directions

* How to guides

* Promotional video

* Sending photographs

* Menus

* Event bookings and registration

* Name badges at seminars

*  Estate agent signage… the list is endless.

You can create QR codes for phone numbers, contact details, emails, data lists, or for whatever your mind creates the need for.

I was told by a client of mine recently that they thought this would be going mainstream very soon as they had spotted one on a lamp post in Bishop’s Stortford. I don’t know about you, but sounds like its mainstream alright!! It’s official – QR codes have arrived!

As with all good marketing you must be able to measure the results. With QR codes you can very simply measure the data – based on the number of scans, the number of responses, the dates and times people used them. Using this information you can determine the effectiveness of this exciting new marketing channel.

This is relatively new to lots of people – so as you add this to your arsenal of marketing materials – be prepared to do a little explaining at first.

Like I said, these are cropping up everywhere. Here’s one of the most fun applications I’ve seen so far – “Geek Couture” – go ahead and scan it – it’s not half as frightening as you might imagine.

As ever – just ping me an email if you’d like to know more steve@eurekasales.co.uk. Or scan this code and join me on Facebook. There’s lots of talk on there about all things sales and marketing.

There is nothing more natural than listening to or delivering a compelling story. A story that is intriguing and one that creates excitement… particularly those that stir up emotions.

Just think about it, from a very early age most of us have been exposed to stories from our parents, grandparents, nursery school teachers etc. We’d sit on the edge of our seats hanging on every word…

As adults, when we talk to friends and family we naturally share stories. When you tell people about an interesting situation that arose during your day or whilst on holiday – it’s not very likely you’d just detail the list of events in a dull monotone fashion – is it? I expect not.

One of the secrets of top sales people the world over is effective storytelling. I don’t mean the “never let the truth get in the way of a good story” type of fabrication. I mean compelling, anecdotal, real life experiences with other customers and clients that can be shared with your prospects. Engaging stories full of emotional attachment and spelling out the benefits to the listener.

Here’s a format that will help you. Try using, “feel, felt, found”. Let me explain…

It’s fairly safe to make the assumption that most people are more interested in themselves and their problems than hearing about how wonderful your products and services are.

The thing that will fully engage people and allow them to freely discuss their problems in more detail in order for you to help them is to hear that you know how they “feel”.

They want to hear that other people you’ve helped “felt” just like they do.

Then you can explain through your story what those other people “found” that helped them solve whatever the problem was.

So instead of bashing away at all the features of your latest gadget or gizmo, tell them about clients just like them who have solved similar problems to those they are having and you will capture their interest.

Stories should focus on the drama, the emotion, the pain and the difficulties before you helped. Stir up the emotions of how that “feels”. You can reassure them by letting them know that others “felt” just the same and then lead them to the “found” and the happy ending.

Don’t waste too much time saying what you actually did for them. You’ll know they are interested because guess what… they’ll ask you!

Make some notes of all the key benefits of your products or services. Now think back to various situations where your product or service positively impacted another person or company. Spend some time building emotions and feelings into these situations until you have compelling stories.

When you’re with your friends you naturally trade stories, we all do. Selling is no different – be yourself. To sell more… sell less – if that makes sense.

In my experience, when using stories in general conversation, it is better to have your stories natural and unrehearsed rather than highly polished. Every feature has a benefit – and every benefit has a story.