Aha moments
Lessons from a Hair Iron Salesman….
I’ve always been fascinated by what makes people tick.
This includes what motivates people to take a certain path or make a certain decision, including buying a product, a making a booking for something such as a workshop or consultation.
I love being sold to. In fact, it’s impossible for me to say an outright ‘no’ to a good sales person. A good salesperson is never ‘pushy’ but knows what it takes to make an intelligent sale.
Take Roberto, my hair iron salesman.
He knew I was a buyer, before I even sat in the chair. I had the unruly badly straightened hair for a start!
But it was more than that…
I was a buyer, BUT, I had a whole range of excuses as to why I could not buy his particular product. These reasons included “nothing is as good as a GHD brand”; “it doesn’t get hot enough to do a good job”; “I don’t want to waste my money on an inferior product”, AND, “I can’t afford it right now!”
Roberto was smarter than that, and within 5 minutes he closed the sale. $200 just like that. Would you like to know how?
He handled my objections before I even made them. We didn’t need heat, because the iron had infrared technology, I wouldn’t waste my money because of the 3 tier warranty where I could take it back to the stall where I purchased it, or if they were no longer there, to another location, and if that didn’t work, to the supplier. He provided the documentation to put my mind at rest.
When it came time to ‘close the deal’ I said I would only buy if there was enough credit available on my card. Guess what? It declined!!
Roberto was ready. He immediately extracted a voucher from behind the counter that gave me $20 off. He retried the credit card, and …….it was approved!!
The purchase was made. $200 easy peasy.
That wasn’t it though. He then gave me a loyalty card entitling me to 14 visits to have my hair styled for free!!!
Consequently, no buyer’s remorse, and a very happy customer. That was in 2011, and it’s still going strong!
The moral to this story for the business owner is: know your customer, understand their possible objections and make sure they are dealt with head on; and always let them feel they have made the right decision.
The video evidence! =>
The Confidence Dilemma…
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find confidence can be incredibly elusive!
I feel confident in my abilities when it comes to my business, but personally, my self-confidence is easily bruised, which effects the quality of my life experience.
I have been confronted with the issue of confidence 3 times this week, so I figure it is something that needs addressing at the moment. This is how the week rolled out for me!
#1 Awareness I need to work on my confidence and self esteem
First, fellow blogger and Happy Mind Formula author Tracey Carmichael shared a really groovy self esteem questionnaire – 50 questions to help identify where you are at on the self esteem continuum.
I was 1 point into the moderately low self esteem – definitely a red flag for me! What I did notice though, was there were areas that I could address fairly quickly to achieve a better score using Tracey’s suggestions, genuinely improve my self esteem at the same time.
#2 Awareness that my perceived lack of confidence is affecting my self worth
Next, Kama J Frankling posted an interesting poll on Facebook, on her Gracefully Natural page. We had to choose which statements called to us most. These statements were:
- I am confident
- I am vibrant
- I am sparkling
- I am gorgeous
- I am playful
- I am awesome
- I am love
- I am spirited
- I am beautiful
- I am gorgeous
- I am joy
- I am graceful
- I am limited edition
- I am authentic
I had no problem choosing the last 2. But I was surprised that I didn’t feel (on that particular day), that I could honestly choose any of the others.
Today I revisited the list, and added 2 new ones of my own – ‘I am smart’, and ‘I am funny‘! I also noticed someone else had added ‘I am curious‘, and I am definately that!!
Statements I would love to resonate more with are – ‘I am love’, ‘I am joy’, ‘I am vibrant’, ‘I am gorgeous’. Is that too much to ask or hope for? (I know that is a silly question….lol…)
#3 Reminder that what is happening around me is somehow a mirror of what is happening within me
My final gentle push was in a discussion with mindset marvel Carren Smith prior to her presentation at the Sunshine Coast Women Entrepreneurs yesterday. I was expressing my feelings of frustration at clients in whom I could see their brilliance, and what was possible for them, but that they were retreating back into their comfort zone, which was contradictory to their hopes for their business. Carren kindly pointed out that whatever was frustrating me was something that I had to clean up myself!!!
Interesting! She thought I’d be offended, but I knew she was right.
I am not sure what exactly is being mirrored, as I don’t mind moving outside my comfort zone, and don’t retreat easily.
As I write this I am having an aha moment! It’s about bigger thinking! It’s time to think bigger about the work I’m doing.
I feel confident about that!
I wonder what the week ahead holds.
Big blessings,
Krishna xx
PS. I would love to hear your thoughts and feelings about this topic! Sometimes we just need permission to share, and know that we all struggle with self worth at times …..xx
The devil, the smile and the picnic blanket…
Have you ever wondered where beliefs come from that don’t serve us?
You know the ones. Things such as – if you aren’t married or have a partner, you’re unlovable, or that good things only happen to other people; or that you’re unworthy, or ugly, or fat…..the list goes on!
This post isn’t meant to be negative.
What I’d actually like to do is share a really interesting dream I had (I love my dream life), that uncovered some beliefs I held, and made it clear that they were false!!
It started with a picnic with the devil.
I believe that dreams can tell us many things, and are a source of great wisdom and clarity about what is happening for us.
This is how it my dream went down.
I saw myself at around 14 years of age, seated on a blanket with a group of my old school friends. We were joined by a devilish ‘friend’ who looked a bit like the photo above. He was incredibly charming, even gently charismatic. He was smiling, and engaging in conversation, he even sung to us! When he sung, and a horrible devilish sound came out, he reassured us not to be bothered by that , and justified it, so that the rapport he was trying to develop with us wasn’t lost. We were enthralled by this chap and hung on his every word.
But guess what! He was a liar! He wasn’t to be trusted, but as naive teens we were putty in his hand.
So what did this dream teach me
I learnt that beliefs I took on in my teens weren’t true. I had a strong need to be accepted and approved of, as many of us do, but I had carried this belief into my adult years, and it wasn’t healthy. If I didn’t feel accepted, I felt that I wasn’t good enough. Why did I have to wait until my 40’s to learn that!!?
Is there something here for you?
Who or what are you ‘dining’ with that may be deluding you?
Each of us are individuals, unique in our own way. We don’t need acceptance by others to be valuable, regardless of what false beliefs we hold about that.
We just need to accept ourselves….
Blessings
Krishna xx
Comfort in a keyboard…
A life changing moment. Many life changing moments.
People say “journal”, and I’ve had many false starts. I’ve bought the beautiful notebook – several times – and it’s lucky to last a week – journaling that is.
Well, I’ve made a decision.
After 3 years of blogging for my business, I’ve decided to blog for my life.
Life. It’s fleeting. My mum has just been diagnosed with incurable lung cancer that has progressed to the bone, and I realise just how fleeting it is.
I don’t feel sad. But I do feel compelled to write about the precious journey I have had. I haven’t always appreciated it, at times I’ve darn right hated it – and spent many years living with a death wish.
Well no more. I’m going to appreciate the life I’ve lived, the love I’ve known, and the blessings I’ve had, and the road I am still travelling.
And I’m going to do it here. Because I find great comfort in my keyboard. My PC is like my partner, my best friend, my confidante. It might sound a bit ‘sad’ but honestly, I love how it’s an extension of who I am, that I can live through it, talk to people who like the same things that I do, and learn from others who have different perspectives.
So this is the beginning. My first post. I hope you can join me at ‘Comfort in a Keyboard’. I’d love to hear from you too.
Blessings,
Krishna xx
