Before you start making those calls and seeing more clients, you must be fully prepared to get the business. Although you may be eager to close more sales, there are several things to take care of before youre on your way to achieving your sales goals.

Imagine building your dream house. The first thing you would do is pour cement into the ground to create a solid foundation on which to rest the house. Once the foundation is in place, youll be ready to build a dream house that will last forever. Its the same with growing your sales and building your client list. When you have a strong foundation in place, youre powerfully prepared and confident to call on prospects, and go after new business.

The foundation to bringing in more sales is made up of the following 4 key qualities:

1. Acting from Integrity
2. Taking Responsibility
3. Keeping Promises
4. Creating a Plan

Successful people embody these 4 qualities consistently in their lives. Lets take a look at each of these qualities and how it works.

1. Acting from Integrity. When youre a person of integrity, you value and honor the word you give to do something. You are someone who is being accountable, trustworthy and honest. If you say youre going to deliver your product by a certain date, you deliver it by that date. If you say youre going to make 30 calls a day, you make those calls each day. You never step over anything with anyone including yourself. When you live your life from integrity, you experience freedom and power that impacts all areas of your life. Success begins with integrity.

2. Taking Responsibility. When you take responsibility for your actions, you give up any reasons or justifications not to do something. As Brian Tracey, well-known author and speaker says, The mark of excellent people is that they refuse to make excuses, blame others, or complain about their situations. Instead, they say, over and over, I am responsible! When youre being responsible, you know youre the one to get the job done and expect no one to do it but yourself.

3. Keeping Promises. When you make a promise, you are stating your commitment to the result. Your word becomes action. Your promise supports your commitment rather than your mood. It engages you as a player in life, and you cease to be a spectator watching from the stands. When you give your promise to another person, you are holding yourself accountable to that person. Its now out in the world and becomes more real for you. This is true for all aspects of your life. You will see your sales increase when you keep your promises.

4. Creating a Plan. When you create a sales plan, you are designing the steps that will lead to achieving your goals and keeping your promises. With a clear and specific plan in place, you have a road map to follow that will get you where you want to go with an end in sight. A well thought-out plan helps you to be organized, focused, and on track to reach your sales goals.

I invite you to start putting these qualities into your day-to-day business and see the results that will follow. You will be surprised at how much success you will achieve.

ASSIGNMENT

Your assignment this week is to answer the following questions and fill in the blanks:

• Acting from Integrity. What did you say you would do this week to grow your business? Was it making sales calls? Was it getting out there and networking? Are you doing what you said you would do?

• Taking Responsibility. Are you taking responsibility for doing what it takes to increase your sales and close more business, or do you make excuses or blame others?

• Keeping Promises. What promises are you going to make today to call more prospects, meet with more clients, and close more sales? Think of 3 promises you are willing to make this week to sell your services, and write them down.

• Creating a Plan. What 3 steps can you outline that will help you achieve your sales goals? Write down: I will do the following action steps that will help me grow my business. They are (you fill in the blank).

By implementing these 4 key qualities in your life and your work, your foundation is firmly in place and youre clearly on track for producing breakthrough sales results!

Have a great Sales Breakthrough week!

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