Live Blogging: Blair Singer "Identifying Where You Are On the Five Power Levels of Success and How to get to the Top Fast!"
April 26th, 2008 by Mike Reining Read more about EntrepreneurshipLive blogging from National Achievers Congress in Kuala Lumpur.
Who is Blair Singer?
Blair is the author of two best selling books: SalesDogs - You don't have to be an attack dog to be successful in sales, and the ABC's of How to Build a Business Team that Wins. He founded and now runs an international training that delivers guaranteed success strategies.
People have a view to let their income determine their lifestyle. That's a stupid point of view. You let your lifestyle determine your income.
The whole idea is to generate the income that is required to sustain your desired lifestyle.
If you want more income >>> sell more.
Learning requires energy. Selling requires energy
If you encounter two people, who is going to end up selling more? The person with more energy.
How do you make money? You need to understand the four quadrants of income generation. They are:
Most wealth in the world is generated in the business segment. The second best income generation quadrant is as an investor.
There are two secret weapons that I am going to touch on today:
What is the first secret weapon? Your brain.
The secret is to get in touch with your subconscious and you need to learn to control your inner voice. This is also often called the "little voice in your head." The goal to breakthrough results is LVMS.
LVMS = Little Voice Management System
The number one block to learning is when you say:
- I already know that
- That won't work here
- Show me something new
Rich people always say... there is something here to learn... what can I get out of this that may help me get to the next level.
The little voice is exactly what is holding YOU (and ME too) back!
Little voice management systems:
- Celebrate every little success
Remember: The highest energy wins! Elevate your energy level to become more successful.
How to create a successful business or turn your business around:
A) SELL - You must sell to generate income
B) TEAM - You must build a team and get everyone on your team to learn how to sell
C) TEACH - Teach other people how to grow into a great team and how to sell
* Why do you have to teach it? Because nobody has taught you how to sell and how to cooperate and work effectively in a team
D) SYSTEMS - You must have good system. Selling systems and training systems in particular
What Blair Singer is saying is completely true and here at MindValley we have only recently started emphasizing both TEACHING and SELLING.
In 2006 we started focusing on SYSTEMS but until the beginning of 2008 we did not place a lot of emphasis on having a training system in place and we did not focus on teaching everyone how to sell. Ever since we started doing this 3 months ago, we have started to see MindValley transform.
Why did it take us so long to start focusing on SELLING and TEACHING?
Because we got too busy running the business vs. working on the business. That is a sorry excuse and fortunately we are done making excuses and have started to take massive action. A lot more needs to be done but the energy has never been higher.
What is the second secret weapon? Code of Honor
The code of honor is a set of rules on how we treat each other on the team.
NOTE: We have guiding operating principles at MindValley BUT we do not have a code of honor written down very clearly.
The priorities in a business should be:
- Purpose
- Team
- Individual
In most companies it is the opposite. People ask "what's in it for me, then help others on the team, and think the purpose is just something written down on a business card." It is very important to change the belief system in the company and have a clearly articulated purpose. (Fortunately, at MindValley we now have one).
The purpose of MindValley is to free people to pursue their passions and we do this by becoming a business factory that can rapidly launch new businesses on an ongoing basis.
The problem with sales is that most people think it is dirty. There are so many negative associations that have been established over the years that it is hard to overcome. But it MUST be overcome. The only way to succeed in business is to sell!
In order to sell, you need to find out what kind of sales person you are and as soon as you know what type of sales person you are, you need to learn to play to your strengths.
I have never met someone that was wealthy that did not do what they were naturally good at. Trying to do something that you are not naturally good at is devastating!
The system is very simple. All you need are the above ingredients. If you want transformation, then one of the most important areas to start with is the code of honor.
What is the hardest sale to make?
It is to sell yourself! It is to train your little voice. How many times has your little voice stopped you from exercising, taking action, etc.? If you can't even control your little voice in the head to make it out to the gym, then you stand little chance to make any money.
The first step to be good at sales is to be able to confront (be comfortable in front of) another person.
Sales objections
Why do you usually only come up with a great answer after 10 minutes? Because your brain disengages with your tongue. When your emotions go up your intelligence goes down!
How would you like to train your little voice to keep the emotions down no matter what? How would you like to never be afraid and intimidated again?
The first thing you do when you get an objection is to acknowledge it. The first thing you say is thank you. The second thing you say is to ask a question. The person that asks the questions is always in control.
The distance between where you are vs. where you want to be is the distance between your ears. It's all in your mind and all you need is a mind shift!
In order to make more money, you have to play a bigger game.
The problem is that for most people, they can't get much bigger. Why?
(People squared - People) / 2 = Relationships
The only way to grow is to build more relationships. You cannot sell more if you do not have more relationships (i.e. prospects).
A business is about the "content" and the "context."
If you don't have a code of honor, then you can't go up the ladder. If someone breaks the code, you have to call them out on it right away. You have to start with a tight ship (that's the purpose, team, and honor code). Every single time they have turned around a business this is where Blair Singer starts.
Making a lot of money does not take intelligence. It takes stamina and guts.
Power and Abundance
The goal is to get to power. A business starts as "invisible." This is also where you start out personally. The next level is "emergence." After "emergence" you enter a state of "chaos." After "chaos" you end up with "stability."
- Power
- Abundance - retire debt
- Stability
- Chaos
- Emergence - acquire debt
- Invisible
What is the formula to evolve out of emergence? This is the level at which you spend and invest and sometimes even incur debt to get sell.
Here is the formula for success? You serve first!
This is where you start. After that you start spending in order to sell. Chaos is really the same as emergence that has gone on too long.
The formula for getting out of chaos is to put in some systems! If there are no systems, then you are always going to be on call. You also need to be able to manage. To get out of chaos, you also must be able to focus.
NOTE: I would argue that this does not mean that you can only pursue one project.
What happens at stability? Complacency and boredom sits in. At this point they often try something dramatic. When you get to stability you need to put quality control into place. Without systems, however, there is no quality control. What happens at abundance? You retire debt and invest.
When you get to power, you try to replicate your success. The problem is that far too many small businesses try to replicate their success before they have moved up the entire ladder. Blair Singer says that this is the exact systems they use to rapidly turn around businesses and they have done this thousands of times over the past 20 years.
What shape is your business really in?
Looking at our own business, I can see that we are probably still in a state of "chaos." That's a tough one to swallow but looking at the way things are, we have been in a state of "emergence" for too long, which basically means that we are in a state of chaos.
Yes, we are doing a lot of the right things and putting lots of systems in place but we have not yet moved fully to a state of stability. Part of this is probably due to the fact that we have started to focus on replicating our success a couple of times before we ever got to a state of stability and abundance.
As Blair said, this is the #1 mistake he sees lots of small businesses doing and I have to admit that we at MindValley have done it too. Will we get out of this? You BET! It's time to get from chaos, to stability, to abundance, to power and you must start by putting the right systems and training into place and focus on sales.
Most importantly, we have to start focusing on back-end sales and for-ever sales (remember FeBeNe) because that is the fastest way to boost profits and reach a much more stable level of performance.
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About the Author
Prior to MindValley Media, Mike was the Head of New Ventures Strategy at eBay where he conceived of the strategies that led to the investment in Craigslist, the launch of Kijiji.com and the acquisition of Skype.
Mike has an MBA from Stanford and previously worked for the Boston Consulting Group. He is also a certified Google AdWords Professional.
Check out other posts by Mike Reining
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Vishen Lakhiani
Mike,
I appreciate your comments about controlling "that Little Voice." Our thoughts create our lives. And I agree we need to see what we can learn from every situation. Always looking to that next level!
Excellent article!
As always, ComCrown enjoys your articles very much. The best reply we feel is from an article we recently wrote as follows:
Say Hello Yo Your Competition
Yes, they bite, and that’s when they’re just being friendly. It’s true: the majority of your competitors would derive pleasure at seeing your guts ripped out all over the road in their rear view mirror at the first opportunity and would laugh themselves all the way to the bank or just back to the office as the case may be, just as you would them, right? Well, am I right or are you really that much different than your competition? Put another way, what type of “wounding†does your value system allow, assuming that you have one, and are you violating the slightest of your values by the way you currently “bite†to compete? Taking another perspective, is there a way to compete successfully and obtain the effect of a “bite†while keeping high-road values intact? Absolutely. Just take your focus off low-blow biting and focus your time, talent and energy on getting a grip on the 3 Vs: Value, Visibility and Viability.
Value speaks for itself. Value must reside in your product and should equally and consistently reside within your service delivery of the product if you are to be even a candidate for success. It is not unusual for business to deceive themselves as to the true element of value in their product. This deception often occurs by default as a result of faulty improper analysis of their market and product. Needless to say (or is it?) they rarely acquire any customers or their base is limited to a few close and equally gullible or sympathetic “friendsâ€. Constantly work to improve your product and service delivery of your product. Do on point and aggressive analysis of current market trends, strive to broaden your horizons by developing insight into current and projected market trends and apportion your energy smartly, viewing it as the rare and precious commodity it is. And don’t confuse intelligent work with staying or looking “busyâ€. Most companies stay and look “busy†enough, but busyness doesn’t equate to “buildingâ€. Moreover, unfettered and unfocused busyness with non-essentials and ill focus can effect the gentlest yet most fatal blow a company could ever inflict on itself.
Visibility requires a blended balance of marketing strategies including SEO and a balanced array of other techniques so your market (and potential market) can “see†your presence through the least possible effort and on a consistent, reoccurring basis so that familiarity may lend itself to comfort. Maintaining market visibility is proportionately challenging based on budget yet this can be a call for your creativity to fully engage effective juice. Choosing an effective brandable domain name provides a solid baseline from which to succeed and a great domain name is the most controllable and obvious way to protect your business investment because a memorable domain name will empower the balance of your business strategies to achieve optimal market effect, whereas having a “difficult†domain name or improper fit can create significant “drag†on your brand and marketing systems and effectively pull back the reins on profit. Regardless of how you become visible, the fact remains that to reach your market you must become visible. This requires staying on top of the current shifts in marketing trends and by engaging a solid and comprehensive marketing base to obtain that visibility. If you have to go out literally, from door to door, and shake hands with every one of your prospects in order to gain visibility, then like it or not, you should do it. And don’t forget those business cards! They are tangible lasting reminders that could wind up in more than just one hand! The internet offers a plethora of avenues in which to build your visibility but the key is to choose methods which are most efficient and suited to your current business model and market and then to place your capital eggs carefully and with great forethought into those particular mechanisms to get you the most effective results. So do your homework and make sure insight goes into every effort because business success is not a free lunch.
Viability has to do with the “Personal Relationship Factor†you build with your community and market which is composed of the trust and likability factor for which there is absolutely no substitute. Who wants to buy widgets from old man scrooge when sweet little Annie or George just down the road sells the very same ones for just a few pennies more? Like when Jerry Maguire’s old school but highly successful mentor earnestly, simply and profoundly explained to Jerry the secret to building a business, he summed it up clearly as follows: “It’s all about personal relationships.†We couldn’t agree more.
All the 3 Vs demand your uttermost focus and dedication to achieve harmonious effect. Mastering 2 out of 3 just won’t do.
Now back to Competitors. Competitors bite because it’s their nature to bite and wounding you reaps proportionate kudos for them, or so they think. Several noteworthy ironies penetrate this commonplace premise. First, many businesses, including those low-road tactic companies, are so busy wounding themselves, either directly or indirectly, by action or, more often, by lack of it, that they are literally incapable or unmotivated to wound their competition effectively. Ironically, this fact is only potentially beneficial to those target-companies who have ceased wounding themselves and are in a position to reap “potential†good from their ill-spirited competitor’s impotent self-inflictions. As such, just because your competitors slide off base through self-inflicted or outer-inflicted wounds does not necessarily increase the market’s perception of your value or your value, unless you are the only game left in town and rest assured you are not unless you’ve just taken hold of the last golden egg.
To posture yourself to rise in the marketplace, your focus should include “personalized involvementâ€, networking and communication within not only your immediate and known market but crusading through various multimedia channels and beyond your comfort zone of known market toward the outermost extremities of the world in an effort to shake hands, figuratively or literally, with everyone you can. Ladies and gentlemen, please permit me an analogy of husband and bride as I employ it with all due respect: Consider your market your bride. It is your job to romance and woo her under the balcony of her choice, swoon her with chocolates and flowers, offer her a proposition of perceived long-term value and then, when the moment is right, to look directly into her eyes and to offer her a “diamond ring†(offer) she just can’t refuse. Keep in mind, there are tons of hungry business Romeos like yourself, and yes, even more experienced and savvy, flooding the foyers and stairs. And with the advent of niche splintering, specialized services and yes, increasing competition, prospects are becoming less and less. But don’t despair. Instead, consider the challenge a golden opportunity for you to go to work on your business.
Secondly, many companies built on the rock of the scarcity mentality are, with rare exception, built also on the side-rock of low-road tactics. These companies frequently employ hyper-aggression, judgment, guilt and stick-and-carrot methodologies within their ranks which effectively handicaps inner-rank vision and subsidizes requisite inspiration with forced and impotent tongue-in-cheek cooperation. More often than not, these companies ultimately fail through this self-inflicted damage. These companies are easily spotted due to the various grab tactics they employ, ironically enough, without much effect. They are to be likened to a frenzied shopper at a white sale, pushing and shoving their way to the goods or a gain with patent disregard for their “neighbors†which ultimately reveals the same disregard for their clients. Many of these companies, initially founded on a marketing “vision†of offering some optimal value product by founders whose psyches are rooted in the scarcity mentality, employ by nature compatible sub-systems to achieve their true aim, which aim is not to bolster the envisioned product, but rather to create and implement scarcity-based sub-systems that serve to compliment and reinforce the negative belief system on which the company was truly founded. As such, these companies of duplicity tend to carrot-and-stick internal mechanisms and feel deprived when the carrot-and-stick effect seeps outward to adversely affect their market. “Valueâ€, to these companies, is coined as a mere catchphrase, while inwardly value is correlated solely and improperly, to profit margin. Value to this type of company becomes that which profits them and not their customer. This modus operandi is a fatal mistake. Quite often these same types of companies endeavor to wound their competition via low-road tactics composed of negative energy and believe that such tactics are always an acceptable inevitability in today’s marketplace in order to sustain survival. They believe their company will necessarily posture upwards and reap a proportionately higher margin, proportionate to the “battle blowâ€. This assumption is skewed and often backfires.
Companies whose focus is wounding competition through low road tactics seldom have or exert the positive energy values and disciplines required for optimizing product value and optimizing customer satisfaction, since it is logical that a company cannot radiate both substantial negative and positive energies from the hub (soul) of its business. This is not to imply that merely “positive†companies have any edge whatsoever over their competition or possess the requisite other requirements for optimizing product value and becoming a business success, however, positive companies who create trust, vision and respect within the ranks create a breeding environment for true solutions and this can optimize the chance for success.
On an ironic yet positive note, wounding, be it self-inflicted or from without, can help build strong muscles and healthy teeth when learned from and built upon. However, in order to bounce back and achieve growth potential from competitive blows, companies must learn to be attentive, agile and attuned to the market. The greatest challenge a company faces today, online or otherwise, is how to maintain and keep their 3 Vs edge. This means having the ability, although it is more akin to a talent, of being able to separate the requisite wheat from quicksand of chaff. The business road is littered with legitimate billion-dollar mega-machines that have gone belly-up overnight. Entrepreneur, small business owner and Fortune 500 CEO, dwell on this fact for a moment. If a billion-dollar corporation with mind-boggling market share can lose their footing and go belly-up overnight, due to the emergence of a “unforeseen†paradigm shift - who’s to say it can’t happen to you? Think smart, think fast, or forfeit the game. I will also add it’s to your advantage to play fair.
Finally, begs the question: Does the consumer of the end-product really care what goes on behind the battle lines of business? Does the consumer lay awake at night, losing sleep over visions about who is wounding who, who is being wounded or how they are being wounded and do they care in the slightest about listening to those great recover-from-wound stories told by emotionally-charged CEOs over candle-lit dinners? The answer to this is no. Customers are solely focused on value of product, with the exception that, with product being substantially equal, customers choose to buy from those they like the most. In light of this fact, it’s wise to take note.
Hi Mike
Great post! Thanks for sharing the notes. I just finished day 1 of National Achievers Congress 2008 in Singapore.
I missed out portions of Blair Singer, and I was glad to see your blog post on his speech!
Keep them coming, I am sure they will benefit more people!
Mike -- thanks for the information (great reminders!) but please oh please don't keep misspelling "ladder." Sorry, my inner editor escaped ...
Very easy to undrestand yet very powerful and descriptive.
I've been looking for those kind of information for a decade,i thank you for writing about that,it is so hard those days to find someone as honest as you to write exactly what he things.