One of my very good friends leads a top performing sales organization selling financial services out of Boise Idaho. His team is consistently rated as the top producing office in North America for his company. We are always exchanging ideas on selling, challenging each other on philosophies and suffice it to say, his past performance has always caused me to listen intently to what he has to say.

I have no idea if the story he told me is true or not. He has played a practical joke or two in his day. Short of travelling to Africa, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt. Even if there is a bit of embellishment to the story, it is a great tell with an insightful message.

In Africa, as Charles tells it, the natives have a clever way to catch monkeys. They take a coconut shell, cut a small hole in one end, and hollow it out. The hole is just big enough to allow a monkey’s hand to enter.

Then they attach a string to the other end of the coconut shell, place some peanuts inside, put the shell in the middle of a clearing and hide themselves behind a tree until a monkey comes.

The monkey smells the peanuts inside the shell … it reaches in to grab the peanuts … but when it does, its fist, full with peanuts, is too large to pull back through the hole.

The natives start pulling on the string and reel the silly monkey in. Why, because the monkey will not let go of those peanuts to save his life. All the monkey would have to do is let go of the peanuts. He doesn’t, as he has to have the peanuts.

I’m thinking there may be some truth to his story. I did a Google search “catch a monkey using a coconut” and found one hit on a bladder cancer website that included an article on relaxation that references an African legend, where they do they catch monkeys using coconuts with a banana inside. Seriously!

So let’s assume this monkey catching technique works. Chances are if you’re like me, you’ll never get a chance to try it out. I don’t recommend you doing this at your local zoo!

So why tell the story? Do you find yourself grasping a fist full of peanuts? Do you ever get hold of something and not let go? Do you want the peanuts so badly that you fail to consider other alternatives to achieve your goal? Are you flexible and effective in your thinking? Are you prepared to try other methodologies and techniques? Do you seek out others for advice? Do you use your power of observation on those who are successful?

I believe one of Charles’ greatest strengths is his ability to make things simple. Once he has done this, he shares the basics for success with his team. He then walks the talk and leads by example. He believes in his people, they believe in him. He’s the type of leader that wouldn’t use coconuts to capture monkeys, he’d sit down with them, and using his big smile and power of persuasion, have them convinced they should simply follow him home. They probably would!

Charles goes on to offer some simple advice on how to “get the peanuts.” I wonder if this is the basics of sales success.

1. Always be prospecting. “Everyone is an opportunity for new business or a referral.”

2. Keep the calendar full of appointments. “A body in motion stays in motion, a body at rest stays at rest.”

3. Be proficient in your presentation skills. “Confidence sells.”

4. Treat your customers well. They are a gold mine for future business. “Treat them right and they will take care of you.”

5. Set stretch goals. “Great things happen to those who make things happen.”

6. Hard work is just that. “Honest intelligent effort is always rewarded.”

7. Have fun. “Enjoy what you do and you’ll be good at it.”

Great advice Charles, thanks for sharing. Wishing you continued success!

Clayton Shold shares his experience at SalesDialogue Systems Inc. a company committed to assisting sales professionals better understand how their internal conversations affects sales success. Learn more at http://www.salesdialogue.com

Change it up

One of the most important aspects to a cardio workout is changing it. Most people get bored with exercise simply because they pop these DVD’s in and do the same thing everyday. Imagine if you had to read the same book everday, would that be fun. No way, so why would you do the same workout everyday. Most people don’t realize what they are doing. You have to make it fun in order for it to work.

Try to have at least 4-6 different exercises.

Intensify

Make sure the you are reaching your target heartrate. If you don’t you are not getting the most out of it. Why do something just to do it. Your goal is to burn fat and it is real difficult to do that without reaching your target zone.

Take it outside

Don’t just stay in the gym. Change it up and take it on the run. Try doing some intense walking or some bike riding. Play some basketball in the park. Make it fun and interesting, that’s the only way you will keep it up.

I hope these two tips help to intensify your cardio workouts. Make sure that when you finish it, you say man that was a great workout. If you don’t you could have done much better.

Developing and utilizing presentation skills can result in increased income for you. Here are a few ways that you can turn your public speaking experience into business profits.

1. Free Speeches to Promote Your Business

A lawyer might make a speech to a group of business persons, free of charge, about the advantages of incorporating their businesses. This could result in obtaining new clients. It could also cause existing clients to purchase additional services, such as incorporations, minute book work, income tax election filings, and so on.

2. Paid Seminars, Workshops and Teleclasses

You could charge admission fees to attend a seminar entitled “How To Incorporate Yourself Without a Lawyer”. This seminar could detail the considerations and mechanics of incorporating your own private corporation.

3. Sell Information Products

The information presented during a speech or seminar could form the basis for information products such as books, courses, special reports or folios, audios, videos, DVDs, electronic books, and so forth. For example, you could write a book entitled “How To Incorporate Yourself Without a Lawyer”.

Including such products as handouts at your seminar would increase the value for the attendees (which you could charge for). Even if you gave a free speech to a group, you could still receive back-end income from the sale of such information products.

Obviously, your public speaking skills will be especially important when producing an audio or video cassette. Your listeners and viewers will make certain judgments based on your personal appearance, poise, audience contact, use of gestures, enthusiasm, how informative the material is, and many other factors.

Your information products establish your credibility as an expert, resulting in even more business. As well, you can market those same information products through mail order, direct mail, Internet marketing, and other methods.

4. Consulting and Other Opportunities

As your reputation as an expert in your specialized field grows, you will become more in demand. Clients may seek you out for lucrative speaking engagements. You may be invited to write magazine articles, consult for large corporations, act as an expert trial witness, become a syndicated columnist, et cetera.

Therefore, whether you are a novice or an experienced public speaker, it pays to increase and utilize your public speaking skills.

J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc., has been helping clients to earn maximum business profits for over twenty-five years. To learn more about effective public speaking and other profitable Work at Home Small Business Ideas, visit www.yenommarketinginc.com/public-speaking.html