Adopting a Sales Mindset

As a business owner, you're in sales whether you think so or not. Every day you have to sell yourself -- and your product or service -- to grow your business. If you're not sure you have the personality to succeed in selling, consider these 13 simple rules to create a superstar sales mindset.

1. Stay hungry. Every good salesperson I've ever encountered is driven. They have a strong work ethic and a high energy level. They work harder and longer than their peers. When the economy is poor, they are still out there pounding the pavement, making calls.

2. Never compromise your integrity. I've always believed that telling the truth is the best policy. In business, especially today, it's a must. A few years back, the Forum Corporation in Boston studied 341 salespeople from 11 different companies in five different industries. Their purpose was to determine what separated the top producers from the average producers. When the study was finished, the results were startling. It was not skill, knowledge or charisma that divided the pack. The difference came down to one trait: honesty. When customers trust salespeople, they buy from them.

3. Stay positive. Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude. Success is 90 percent mental. You can alter your life by altering your mind. In tough economies, it may not be your fault for being down, but it is certainly your fault for not getting up. You have to be a believer to be an achiever.

4. Be authoritative. Sales superstars know their products backward and forward. They also know their competitors' products and are prepared to point out the differences.

5. Get prepared. I still remember the old Boy Scout motto, "Be prepared." Well, it's true. It takes a lot of unspectacular preparation to produce spectacular results.

Related: Four Signs a Sales Pro Will Be a Good Hire

6. Mind your reputation. You can't buy a good reputation -- you must earn it. If you don't have a positive reputation, it will be difficult to be successful in whatever you do.

7. Be genuine. I have never known anyone to buy from someone they don't like. Likability matters. Are you genuine? Pleasant? Easy to talk with?

8. Put your best foot forward. You never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Are you neat and well groomed? Underdressed or overdressed?

9. Set goals. Winners set goals; losers make excuses. Goals give you more than a reason to get up in the morning; they are an incentive to keep you going all day. They must be measurable, identifiable, obtainable, specific -- and put them in writing.

Related Video: How to Find Customers on Social Media

10. Become a customer-service fanatic. I've often said the sale begins when the customer says yes. Good salespeople make sure the job gets done on time— and done right. There's one thing no business has enough of: customers. Take care of the customers you've got, and they'll take care of you. You must have a fanatical attention to detail.

11. Remember to listen. You can't learn anything with your mouth open. For too many people, good listening means, "I talk, you listen." Listening is a two- way process. Yes, you need to be heard, but you also need to hear others' ideas, questions and objections. If you talk at people instead of with them, they're not buying in -- they're caving in.

Related: Seven Ways to Avoid Competing On Price

12. Keep it all in perspective. It is impossible to underrate the importance of a sense of humor. When there are inevitable setbacks along the way, learn to laugh about them.

13. Develop a thirst for self-improvement. You don't go to school once for a lifetime. You are in school all your life. Sales superstars are constantly working to become better. They take courses, read books, listen to audiotapes and inhale everything they can to improve.

Bottom Line: A salesperson tells, a good salesperson explains… and a sales superstar demonstrates.

Read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220658#ixzz2lf4zcz00

**THE IMPORTANCE OF HARD WORK**

You do not come across success just by hoping for it. To achieve true success, you need the strength of mind and body to struggle and work hard to reach your fullest potential. You need the right attitude, self-discipline and the ability to put your goal before your own needs, if you are really driven towards reaching success. There is, after all no substitute for hard work, and as Henry Ford says, “The harder you work, the luckier you get” – the more successful you get!

How do you overcome success?

Intense hard work along with great skills shall help you win one success after another. There shall be innumerable obstacles strewn in your path towards success, however, what makes a man truly worthy of the success that he attains is the ability to keep struggling until he can reach his goal. Giving up after a few failed attempts makes you a loser.

A truly successful man will keep trying and keep struggling until he perfects his art. Thomas Edison failed approximately 10,000 times while he was working on the light bulb and yet he never dreamed of giving up – this is the hard work and the determination that marks a true success. Indeed, success is not measured by the position that you are in, today but the amount of hard work you put in and the number of obstacles that you overcome to reach your goal.

Why work hard, if there are shortcuts?

The good thing about working hard is, that for people who are driven towards their goal can enjoy their hard work and consequently, the work does not seem unduly grueling to them. When you begin to work hard towards achieving success, make sure to work smartly too. An intelligent working technique, along with relentless effort will go a long way in helping you achieve the success that you always desired.

Nothing in this world comes easily, least of all, success. Take the example of Abraham Lincoln who worked hard, without ever getting disappointed of his countless failures, from the age of 21 till the age of 52, when he went on to become the President of the US. Again, it took Noah Webster 36 years to compile his Webster's Dictionary. Where would we be today if he had not put in those countless hours of hard work behind his grand contribution to the English language?

Therefore, you need to remember that there are no short cuts to success. Hard work, complimented with an intense desire to struggle and to achieve success is the only sure shot way of reaching success that you have always wanted.

The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.

Elbert Hubbard 

ALWAYS MAINTAIN A STUDENT MENTALITY!!!

What quality do you think is most important to possess to become successful?

Of course the answer to this question is perspective; however from experience I can tell you that if you do not believe that a student mentality is important to succeed, you may never find success.

In order to keep moving forward you need to keep learning.  Contrary to what you may think even the top tier business professionals are still learning, and the top tier of these professionals will not allow themselves to stop learning until they stop doing their job!

HAPPY HUMP DAY!!!

Referring to Wednesday as "hump day” is a fairly modern tradition in American English. The term represents the idea that a week can be visualized as a mound or hill that a person climbs, with Wednesday typically being the middle or peak of the week. There is some disagreement over which day of the week should be the "hump," since it varies depending on when a person works and how a week begins. There are other sources for negative associations with Wednesdays, and few holidays are regularly celebrated on this day.

The Image of a Hump

"Hump day" refers to the idea that a week, especially a work week, is like a hill. Monday and Tuesday are days when a person "climbs" up, since they are the beginning or start of a traditional work week. At the end of Wednesday, the worker has reached the pinnacle of the week, and work on Thursday and Friday represents climbing back down toward the weekend.

This image refers specifically to that middle of the week, where a worker reaches the crest of the uphill journey and begins to pace downward toward the end of the week. Someone with a tedious job or who works especially hard can find it comforting to reach "hump day." At that point, the weekend does not seem so far off as when he or she started work on Monday.

2013: Stronger than EVER

As Capstone Consultants looks forward to a wonderful new year, we would like to recognize some major milestones from 2013.

With the hiring of a new office manager in July, Capstone has managed to more than double it's office size. Overall production has reached record highs thanks to the addition of so many talented and driven leaders. Our clients are happier than ever with our results driven methods and our numbers speak for themselves.

Our team is comprised of some of the most driven and self-motivated entrepreneurs in the nation. Employees enjoy the nurturing environment in which they are able to learn and grow according to their own individual strengths and talents while still valuing the importance of teamwork. Each part of our organization working fluidly together ensures our continued success in 2014!

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The Management Team of Capstone Consultants Attends Conference in Atlanta

This past month the management team at Capstone Consultants had the opportunity to meet up with best and brightest of our organization in Atlanta, Georgia.  Friday kicked off with a casual buffet and cocktail hour.  It was wonderful to meet so many new friends, get acquainted with some old ones, and relax with some great ones. On Saturday we had the chance to see who had made the biggest splash in our organization for 2012.  It was inspiring to see so many people in our company rewarded for all of their hard work throughout the year with bonus checks up to $90,000, a sleek black BMW convertible, and last but not least, three upper management promotions.  Listening to the stories leading up to their success only verified that we have an incredible network of people around us. One thing all three had in common during their speech was the gratitude to each individual they work with who were able to elevate them to success. It drove home what we practice every day, that it takes a team to raise a leader, Another, was the internal drive and motivation seen in each person standing on stage finally being rewarded and recognized in front of a hall of 800 people.  From there, we broke out into groups to attend various stations to gain advice from some of the best in the business. The afternoon went by in a whirl along with pages and pages of notes.  Finally, we retreated to our rooms early in the evening shaking the cramps out of our hands and prepared for the formal cocktail hour and sit down dinner.  Everyone looked radiant and no one would guess the long day we just endured. The finale to our retreat was the speech give by one of the best in our business.  He was captivating, inspirational, and funny.  The message we took away from his speech was one of drive, resilience, and sheer hard work. Keys to Success proved to be everything we hoped for. We said 2013 was going to be our year and so far, we are right on track to be on stage getting rewarded and recognized for doing what we love and are passionate about.  

Starting 2013 with a bang!

Ending the year with a boom and starting the year with a bang! Anna Strole, one of Capstone's corporate trainers was nationally ranked in sales for the entire country for the AT&T U-Verse campaign in December. Without any doubt, Strole is nationally ranked again for the first of January.

Strole is setting the pace for what's to come in 2013 and our organization could not be more excited to get things going this year. Not only do we have huge goals for our company this year with AT&T, but there are many events and conferences happening as well across the nation.

This is only the beginning for Capstone. We are ready to dominate. This year, 2013, is OUR year!