When posed with this question, I would like to know your answer. Now look at the question again, and if you are like most people you have this puzzled thought racing through your head. What do you mean, how many questions?

Lets see if I can give you an insight into real leadership.

If you are in sales, the key to sales is presenting your product in such a way that the prospect gets emotionally attached to your solution, right? So let me ask you this. What changes when you do your presentation, or prospecting? Is it the product or service you are sharing? Does the time of day you prospect or present your product matter? Or is it the prospect that changes and everything else is pretty much the same? Its the prospect that changes. Agreeing on that point, my next question to you is this.

Do you ask the exact same questions each time when you prospect, do you have a list of questions that you ask in the same order every time? I’m guessing your answer is a big NO. Now do start a mental argument with me, I’m not even there with you right now. Let me see if I can explain why this is so critical to understand.

If you are ever going to learn something, it takes repetition to master the skill. Now notice I didn’t say get good at, I said ‘master’ it. So if you ever going to really get a solid handle on what you are doing and how you can best bring the best solution to pass, you have to do what you do in a predictable pattern. So if you make changes, you know what you making them to, and you can measure the results.

So with that being said, look at the questions that you want to use in your prospecting or presentation. I would bet there are a handful that you use each time. My question to you is, do you know how to ask them in a consistent order. Which one would you ask first, which one would be last, then which second and so on. The reason you want to organize in this fashion is so you can begin to understand how your prospects are responding to you and this line of questioning.

By doing this in this manner you will start to see patterns begin to reveal themselves. You will see that if you ask a particular one before or after a certain question, it gets a better response. Remember you goal is to get them to the “next appointment” whatever that is for you. If you line of questioning is such that the prospect’s interest is held and they are looking forward to the next event, its because you have kept what they want or what they are looking for clearly in front of them, and they can see themselves getting it.

Know how many questions you need to ask to get to your goal, as a rule, and then look to see how you can arrange them to create a positive flow in the conversation.

How Many Questions Do You Have? The answer may just surprise you.

It just so happened that we were facing similar challenges this day, and they seemed to be large in comparison to our typical ones we face. He said something to me, that I hope you can grasp the totality of the phrase as well.

He said there is not testimonial, with out a test!

I was like… WOW, I love it!!! I cause me to look at thing in a different way and to hear the word in a completely new way. So I hope this can bring some light to any struggles you might be faced with.
You have to ask yourself… are you looking for the Test or the Testimonial… To answer this question please looking at the words and the meanings they are going to share.

Your friend and student,
Sean Murphy

I don’t know anyone that would say “yes” to that. I’m talking about all the people I know, including me. I know the investment I have put forth, has not reached the return that I wanted.

So then the reality is, what can you do different?

The only thing you might be able to do is to “raise the bar” of your input, what you are doing to create your result.

There is no simple answer because no matter what you do, there are seasons to it. Just like Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall, there is planting and harvesting… there is a time for everything.

So if you want more out of life right now, the put more to it, pay attention to the things that you are letting slip by right now. In being more aware, you will realize the abundance that is around you now.
Put a focused effort in you’re actions going forward, and you will see an increase in the “things you desire” showing up in your life.

Hope this helps. Know that what you do today not only effects today, tomorrow, next month and so on.. it effects 20 years from today!

Your friend and student,
Sean

Know your audience

30 Hours to Get There…

You know I find it fascinating to hear people complain about how long flights are when they are traveling overseas. The reason I say that is because, if you take a moment to review the reality of the trip, its actually taken a life time to get to this point.  Let me see if I can explain.

The reason you are going to make the long journey is either to take a vacation, and you have been planning for weeks, months maybe even years… so the 3o hours isn’t really that long.. or

Your going there for business, and the only reason its you and not someone else is because of the years of experience you have in what you do. So again the 30 hours is a almost not even valid or important compared to the value you have learned to become the “expert” they are looking for.

Anyway… I just wanted to share a few words with you regarding my latest adventure to China. I went to speak at the worlds 25th Largest MLM company in the world (as of 2010 listing) and I have to say, it was a BLAST.

I had an amazing time, had time to spend with leaders from around the world that were in attendance, from Kenya to Kazakhstan, from Russia to Rio… it was a wonderful trip. I will share more of the details in the next few posts, so you can learn some of the insider secrets to International Speaking and how you can become one sooner then you think.

Your friend and student,

Sean

It’s not really Christmas, its July and I wanted to ask you the question so you would take a moment and realize that what you do today and tomorrow will impact your Christmas. So do you have your plan in place? Can you say for sure you are working on the tasks today to get you to your goal for the year?

If you are, then congratulations! If not, then know that if you focus for the rest of the year, you still have plenty of time to do more then you ever imagined. The key is to get focused and keep track of your daily activities and your daily results. Going full out does not guarantee you success, you have to know you are moving in the direction of your goal.

Take some time today, now would be great and set yourself up for succes..

If you want a simple plan, and a free accountability coach to keep you on track for the rest of the year… and I mean 100% free… you can send me a text, 469-834-9063 and I’ll be that person. I know how to do this, and you will have your success. If you don’t, well the great Jim Rohn would say, that’s a clue.

Your friend and student,

Sean G Muprhy

When you travel out to a customer, and you are what we call “onsite”, do you work the same hours as the customer? Do you start your day with them, and end your day with them? See this is want I was referring to with the title of this post.

You can’t travel and be successful if you are only going to work as much as your client. Yes they are bringing you in for your expertise, they want you for what you know. They also want you to get the job done a quickly as possible, so it can produce results.

So next time you head out to bring value to a customer, make sure that you bring as much value as possible, and do as much as you can as fast as you can to get them as much return as they can.

Hugs and burning the candle as both ends for success.

Your friend and student,
Sean G Murphy

This is one of the most eyebrow raising topics that I speak on, well one of the most. I love to watch the faces of the audience as they do their best to “translate” these words in their head. Let me see if I can share with you what I mean.

Quit Now! – Quit the things that are not working, those things, and you know them all to well. Quit those things that you know are dragging you down, wasting your time, slowing you down. Quit them, and do it now! So if you don’t quit them, you will then have a very good chance that you will succeed, and that is 100% opposite of your initial desire or intention.

The best way to make something like this happen is to create a simple list on a regular sheet of paper.
One side put – The things I Want, and on the other side – The things I DON”T want.

So with all these activities happening, we need to really look at the time you are spending to build the business you are in, and ask this question:
Is there any activity or activities that if you stopped them today, right now, you have total confidence you business will grow and grow?

The next time you are looking for something to add to you million things to do. STOP and just for a moment or two, think of a task or something that if you quit doing it, In this change, the world wil begin to see you different as well.
Your friend and student,.
Sean G Murphy

So here is the question. Do you listen more then you talk? I now there are some of you reading this saying, how am I supposed to get my point across if I’m not talking! Right? Let me see if I can share with you how that philosophy may be just a little skewed.

In the words of Zig Ziglar, “sales is the transference of enthusiasm”. With that in mind, it would also be good to remember a simple fact. People really don’t like to be sold, they do love to buy!
So if you were to think back to the last few presentations that you have given. Who go sold? If you did not make the sale, then you were sold that they didn’t want to purchase your product or service.

Now how can listening to them, make a difference? Many times its the only difference that needs to be in place to change the game entirely. Listening is so critical, its really a full body contact sport.
Are you in contact or connected to how they are moving their body, do you know the type personality they are based on how they have been answering your questions?
Are they Visual, are they auditory, are they sensory… and so on.

If you are thinking back over the last few presentations, and you can’t even remember the presentations, well as one of my mentors Jim Rohn would say… “thats a CLUE”!

Take time to be quite, right where you are now, and just listen, see what you can hear as you begin to just tune out your own mind, and listen to the world around you! You could be surprised at some of the new things you will begin to hear.

When I meet with a client, potential customer, a prospect. I usually spend a couple of moments at the beginning of the conversation finding a very soft noise to listen to. Maybe its the radio playing, or the sound a cash register makes, the noise of a door opening. I do this so that I can prepare my mind to focus on what I choose it to focus on. So when I am listening to my client ,

This is usually a question that gets asked by the “student” to someone they are “wowed” with at an event….”I really want to build my business, and you said some amazing things that I think could really move my business forward”… Could you mentor me?

The difference between finding the right person to mentor you and the almost right person to mentor you is the difference between Lighting and a Lighting Bug!

If you think about it, you are asking someone to guide you to a path and down a path that you have not been before, and you are trusting them to make sure they grow you as a person and not as a follower.

I hope you re-read that last sentence, it’s a very powerful statement, and I want you to get a clear understanding of it.

So here is what I mean by that statement. A mentor needs to make you more of who you are to become, and not more like they want you to become. Are they growing you to NOT need them as that person that is their Mentor.

So the questions that you ask are not always to the Mentor, many times they are to yourself. You need to make sure you are getting what you want and what you feel is important to you and those around you. So what questions might you ask?

1. Is my personal belief benefited from being in this mentorship program? Have I gained a new level of confidence that has translated into all that I do?

2. Have I had an awakening or a significantly new level of understanding in the past week or 2 from my training?

3. Have I been asked to reevaluate my my goals, as my level of understanding and my beliefs of whats possible, have grown?

These are just a few of the questions that you could ask. Its important that as you go though the process and the training that you look at the ways you are measuring your success and the success of training that you are in. Its critical that you keep a journal to track your feelings, your emotions and your breakthroughs. Its in these notes that you will be able to give yourself a good indicator of your growth over time.

Know that you deserve a mentor and also know that to get the best from one, you have keep them at their best.

Enjoy your journey,

Your friend and student,

Sean G Murphy

When you think of a house, now I’m talking about a house not a home, what pops into your mind? Do you think the words foundation, roof, windows and such? Maybe you think of the outside of a house, you see the yard, the white fence around it, maybe some trees in the yard in front of the house. Do you see a backyard with a swing set in it?

So lets see if I can share with you how a Home is like Leadership.

Leadership comes in all shapes and sizes for all different kinds of folks. When you look at leadership at its core, there is a foundation that each style of leadership has been built upon. Some of the foundations have been weak and the leadership starts to unravel after a short time, some have been patched and painted to look new, but time exposes them as well. So much like any foundation, whether it be for a home, or for a person in a leadership position, eventually the foundation that the leadership was built on will determine the life of the structure.

Now lets take a look at what gets put on the foundation. The walls of a home need to keep the elements out, they need to protect those inside the structure. Leadership should provide the same kind of security. See the reason they don’t make houses out of paper only, is because the first strong storm that came through… well you get the picture.

Leadership when being shared, should also give the person the ability to handle the changes, the personal storms that will come along and rock their commitment to having more of what they want. The walls of leadership should give the individual the ability to withstand doubt, withstand fear and not make them immune to it, much like you can hear and see a storm raging outside your home, it must provide them the personal strength to keep on their journey.

Now the roof does so much for a home, its the part that ties everything together, give the structure its strength. Leadership should allow the individual the ability to have any design inside their home, allow them the flexibility in their life to do what they are going to do, and yet provide them the ability to be strong in their path and to have a knowing they are okay with getting better the best way they know how.

Leadership is like a home in many ways, the easiest way to express it that I know how, is much like the saying Home is where the heart is… well Leadership too is where the heart is. If someone has their heart in the right place, and you know that to be a fact, than its a pretty good chance you feel at home with the path the are taking.

Your friend and student,

Sean G Murphy