Sales Training Motivational Speaker | Gavin Ingham» motivation

Take Stock, Take Charge & Take Action!

Gavin Ingham — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:10:14 +0000

Why do some people achieve so much more than others? Why do some people seem to have all of the time in the world to get things done whilst others constantly seem to be frazzled? How can some people win new clients every month, service existing clients amazingly, manage sales teams, become industry go-to resources, deliver awesome lectures, write books, climb mountains, run marathons, have fabulous social activities? And live the life of their dreams as well?

And yet others struggle to remove themselves from firefighting, admin and dealing with challenges and spend their mornings, noons and evenings glued to their email?

It’s an important question. It might be one of the most important. Ultimately, you will be defined by what you do and by what you achieve not by how busy you are!

Being busy is not the same as being successful. Working hard is not the same as working smart. Putting the hours in is pointless if you’re working on the wrong activities.

When I work with businesses I see busy people, energetic sales teams and frantic business leaders. I see many, many people working hard to “get things done”…

But “getting things done” is sometimes not the same as achieving your objectives!

My lifelong passion is all about understanding what differentiates top performers and then helping others to achieve it too. What makes one person a sales superstar and another a sales wannabe? What empowers one person to be a rock star presenter and another a washout? What is it that enables one leader to lead their team to “victory” whilst another couldn’t lead theirs to the pub?

And one of the key differences is that top performers spend more time working on activities that lead to results.

Simple truth…

If two people of equal ability, passion and knowledge work the same market in the same way but one spends 50% of their time on activities that lead to results and the other only spends 25% then the first one will outperform the second one. Every time.

This is simple and obvious and yet it is not something which drives many peoples’ behaviours. Over time, most people fall into habits…

We do things because “we should”, we do things because “we always have”, we do things because “that’s the way others do it”, we do things because “we were told to”…

But we ought to be doing things because they get us the results that we want.

Here are 3 simple steps to get you more of the results that you want in your sales, in your business and in your life…

Step 1: Take stock.

Ask yourself what results you want and then work out what activities directly lead to those results. Map how you spend your time… How much time do you spend on these results based activities versus how much time do you spend doing other things?

Step 2: Take charge.

Commit time to results based activities. Protect this time. Make it sacrosanct. Do not be distracted. Drop “time-wasting” activities, stop acts of procrastination and learn to say “No” (to yourself and others).

Know that everybody has the same amount of time in a day and how you spend yours is down to you.

Step 3: Take action.

Make it happen. Change happens in an instant. How you spend your time will determine your results so take action now to get on the road to the results that you want.

And finally, be your own coach, assessing how you do, refining your approach and holding yourself accountable.

And here’s the magical thing. This is a never-ending process because the more successful you are, the more you have to work on this process and the greater the opportunities are to improve.

Let me know how you get on…

If You Want To Be The Best Of The Best, Take 100% Responsibility For Your Actions…

Gavin Ingham — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 15:15:21 +0000

I like athletics and have been enjoying watching the World Championships in Daegu and, like many of you no doubt, I was shocked to see Usain Bolt crash out of the 100m final for false starting. I don’t agree with the new false start rule (any false start from anyone and you’re disqualified) nor did I agree with the previous rule which was changed since I used to run as a schoolboy. Do beaurocrats have nothing better to do than tinker with stuff that isn’t broken? Suffice to say the rule change ruined the 100m final for me today as it probably did for many others. Tyson Gay who, ironically, was in the commentary box had mused about exactly this scenario in The Guardian (Tyson Gay Says New False Start Ruling Will Ruin Sprints) in June suggesting that ejecting Bolt from a race could ruin the sport.

It will certainly be interesting to see what the repurcussions of this will be. Bolt has been a gift to athletics over the last few years making it interesting and sexy again after the debacles of drug taking and abuse over the last couple of decades. I am sure you have your own opinions about the new false start rule and about Bolt’s ejection from the race but that is not what interested me.

Let me tell you what happened incase you did not see it…

At the start of the race, Usain Bolt was his usual happy self, waving to the cameras, posturing and pretending to slick his hair back. He pointed at the athletes to the left and the right of him and signalled that they had no chance. You may or may not like this but it is part of his act and has certainly opened up the sport to a whole new group of supporters. Under starter’s orders the sprinters went down to their blocks and we held our breath. What was Bolt going to produce? How fast would he run? How much would he win by? Could he posssibly be beaten?

And then the unthinkable happened. Bolt rocked in his blocks. He didn’t set off but it was a clear movement and would register as a false start. The gun went off and the sprinters rose to start the race. The others powered for a few paces before being recalled by the false start gun but Bolt was already powering down. He knew he had false started and he was already pulling his shirt off in disgust. He knew he had blown it. He knew he had messed up. He knew it was all over.

In the commentary box he was criticised for pulling his top off, effectively owning up to his mistake. They said that he was Usain Bolt and he should have argued that a light flashed, a noise distracted or something else to excuse him… anything to give the officials a chance to reinstate the biggest star in planet athletics. But he gave them no such outer, he gave them no wriggle-room, just walking off and then sitting just out of site of the arena.

Now you may argue that we should do “what it takes” to “win”. You may argue that Bolt missed a trick and could have leveraged things to his advantage being such a big star. You may argue that he was shell-shocked and had he been thinking rationally he would have tried to get back in.

But I’m not so sure. Usain Bolt is the best sprinter in the world. Ever. Period. You don’t get that good without taking 100% responsibility. 100% responsibility for your fitness. 100% responsibility for your training. 100% responsibility for your mindset. 100% responsibility for your success. And 100% responsibility for your mistakes.

In this world where far too few take responsibility for their mistakes, I thought it was refreshing and uplifting to see him take it on the chin. He screwed up so he loses out. Next time he will get it right and next time he will no doubt win.

What Is Your Favourite Piece Of Motivational Music?

Gavin Ingham — Fri, 13 May 2011 09:44:24 +0000

Having the right attitude when selling is critical. If you’re not in the right state of mind then you are unlikely / not going to access your most resourceful behaviours and you are unlikely to get the best result. In selling this could easily mean… not getting the appointment, failing to build rapport, not engaging your client, failing to ask the right questions, dealing badly with an objection, failing to understand your client properly, making a bad sales presentation, closing for commitment half-heartedly, aggressively or not at all…

I could go on however I am sure that we all agree that having the right attitude is a pre-requisite for sales success. There are many ways to motivate yourself and as salespeople we need quick easy interventions for use in the moment as well as more long-term strategies. One easy way for changing your state is to listen to music… in the car, on your ipod or even in your office. Depending on what sales activity you’re about to undertake and depending on your current mood this could be either to psyche you up or to calm you down

Whether to kick your day off, when driving between meetings or any other time, I thought it would be fun to share some of the pieces of music that we listen to to motivate us.

Don’t be scared, you know you want to! What’s your guilty motivational music pleasure?

What Constitutes A Menial Job? Piffle!

Gavin Ingham — Thu, 12 May 2011 13:26:47 +0000

Excuse me whilst I spit feathers…

Ok, done! There was an article in one of the national papers today which read,

“Meanwhile, research published today shows that many graduates are ending up in menial jobs such as waitressing.”

I’m sure that for many people this could have just as easily read, “… such as selling.” I was incensed. The sheer arrogance of the sentence is an outrage. Just so as we are singing off the same hymn sheet here…

me·ni·al
[mee-nee-uhl, meen-yuhl]
–adjective
1. lowly and sometimes degrading: menial work.
2. servile; submissive: menial attitudes.

Who decides which jobs are “menial”? Who decides graduates are above them? Who decides that one job is more menial than another? What’s wrong with working your way up the career ladder? Is it any wonder that people do not want to work their way up if this is how they are made to feel? What’s wrong with giving 100% to the job in hand, getting recognised and getting promoted based on worth and value?

Now, don’t get me wrong here. This is not a rant against education as education is important. This is a rant against prevailing attitudes and…

This is why I love sales as a profession. In sales everyone starts as an equal. Success is measured by results not by letters. If you have no degree but you commit to it and get results you can create an amazing career and life for yoruself. Conversely, you can turn up with your silver spoon and stuff it in a sunless place for all the good it will do you if you don’t get your head down, work hard, understand the profession and get results.

Today I am standing up for your right to do an honest day’s work, create extraordinary results whatever you do and walk with your head held high.I know you want to share your opinion… I’d love to hear it…

Take Life By The Throat, RIP Clive Gott

Gavin Ingham — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 12:36:19 +0000

Last week one of my friends was taken into hospital with a tumour in his head. Another was rushed into hospital with ongoing issues. And then last night, I heard that Clive Gott (www.clivegott.com), professional speaker and adventurer, had died suddenly at home.

I didn’t know Clive particularly well but I had seen him speak and had shared a beer with him on a couple of occasions. He was a straight speaking Yorkshire man who told it like it was, lived live to the max and believed in making every day count. His talks were from the heart and pulled no punches. His was one of the few blogs that I read. Not for work, not to learn anything in particular but just because I enjoyed what he had to say about love, life and the universe. I didn’t always agree with Clive but I always loved his passion, his energy and his commitment.

I also admired the way that he had created the life that he wanted and wasn’t scared of sharing his beliefs, ideals and learnings with others.

Clive was a man who will leave a massive legacy of people who were motivated or inspired by seeing him speak, people who had the pleasure of his abundance in their lives and just people who he met along the way and made a difference to. Many people will remember different things about Clive and that is the beauty of life and of being a speaker however when I think about Clive I think of the following messages and they are so powerful that I wanted to share them with you…

Grab life by the throat and take action.
Clive believed in doing stuff. He didn’t sit on his ass and watch life pass him by. Clive travelled extensively, climbed huge mountains and took part in ultra-races. He spoke at events, wrote books, kept his blog and socialized. What do you need to do to “take life by throat and say, “I’m not over yet”?

Live every moment.
Clive lived every moment. “Cruise control”, “going through the motions”, “drifting” were not words that you would associate with him. Whatever he was doing whether it was speaking, golfing, drinking or talking he lived in the moment and gave it his all. What could you achieve if you lived 100% in the moment and gave your all to everything that you do?

Pay it forward.
One of Clive’s habits was that of paying it forward, that is to do or give something to another without wish for reciprocation. His aim, to make the world a better place. What do you do for others? What can you do to help others? How can you help your clients, colleagues and friends to achieve more in their businesses and their lives without hope or expectation?

Be true to yourself.
As Polonius said to Laertes in Hamlet, “This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” There’s no point doing things if they don’t mean anything to you. There’s no point living someone else’s life for someone else. If you want to achieve true greatness, whether in sales, in business or in any other walk of life, you have to be true to yourself.

As I am writing this, the snow has started to come down. I have to drive 300 miles later on for a gig tomorrow. And then I have to drive back. Am I going to get in the car, thinking about what a long way it is and how tiring it will be or am I going to drive down glad to be alive, focused on how I can make a difference and what I can do to grab life by the throat?

What do you think?