Why do some entrepreneurs gain levels of success so much higher than others? Most often, it’s due to the fact that they have a better philosophical strategy.

They approach dealing with prospects and clients with a deep desire to really help and solve their problems.

They have an external focus of how they can serve and not an internal focus of what they can get. I call it the Strategy of Preeminence.

Would you want to buy something from someone who just wants to sell or from someone who is protecting you and is looking out for your best interest?

The first thing I want to do is change how you define your customers.

Customer: A person who purchases a commodity or service

Client: A person who is under the protection of another

Even if you call your buyers customers it’s important to think of them as clients.

The strategy of preeminence simply means that you will not let your clients buy more or less than they need to get the results they seek. It’s a powerful yet simple strategy that can transform your business.

I’m always amazed at how many business people will say and do whatever it takes to make a one time sales rather than taking time to understand the client’s desired outcome.

And then having the courage and moral obligation to tell the client what they really need.

Sure, you may end up with a smaller initial sale, but you will have made a new friend. And they will buy again and again and send you referrals.

You must set the strategy of preeminence at the beginning of your relationship before someone buys from you. You can do this by becoming a trusted friend or advisor- so this needs to be a part of your presentation.

Create a presentation or system that automatically includes how you worry, care, and show concern for your clients even if they decide to buy elsewhere.

You must commit yourself to a level of study that most of your clients will not want to undertake. The strategy of preeminence will help you avoid concentrating on your wants and needs and puts them where they belong —-on your clients.

Imagine a father walking into a store to buy a bike for his son, what is he looking for? What does he need? Does he just want a piece of metal on two wheels? Of course not.

He’s looking for one of the most joyful experiences of a lifetime—teaching his son to ride a bike. He wants a memory that he can tell his grandkids. He wants to hear his son yell,” Look dad. No hands.”

So, do you sell this father the most expensive bike in the store? Maybe if that’s the best solution to his problem. But you definitely should tell the father that you’ve seen hundreds of dads come in to buy their child’s first bike and you know how wonderful this

occasion is. And possibly a less expensive model would be better because so many kids crash their bikes.

You might also want to mention that the dad should make sure he has collision insurance on his car. You make the sale and you also become a trusted advisor. The father realizes that you didn’t just sell him a bike but you protected him. He became a client.

In a couple of years his son will need a new bike or he may have other kids who want new bikes. Where do you think he will go to buy it?

If you focus on giving value and advice instead of manipulating, you win over many more prospects. One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen in over 30 years of working with businesses is that they focus on the wrong thing.

They fall in love with their product, service, or company. However, falling in love with

your clients means taking responsibility for their well-being.

You have to put their best interests ahead of your own.

Here’s a few ways to establish the strategy of preeminence:

You are not just selling information, you are selling qualitative leadership.

You have to develop empathy for where your prospective clients are.

You have to adopt a different mentality to be preemptive.

Being preemptive means that you are the only viable solution to a problem, that you are the only one who understands.

You have to want to help people and connect the dots for them.

Make a commitment to start practicing this strategy in your business today and watch your results soar.

In January 2008, I attended a workshop - seminar with a thousand friends. One of them, Dominique, captured the lessons with exquisite beauty.

Click here to see her slide show.

Thank you Dominique for sharing your lessons, beauty and talent with us.

In case you don’t have your own personal mission statement that clarifies your purpose here on the planet, I offer you a free tool I found on the Nightengal-Conant Website. Click Here

“People with goals succeed because they know
where they are going. It’s as simple as that.”
- Earl Nightingale

Success or failure as a human being is not a matter of luck, circumstances, fate, or any of the other tiresome old clichés. Those are only excuses. The power to achieve the life of your dreams is in your hands—and the first step toward activating it is identifying the specific goals that will make your dreams real. After all, it’s much easier to get what you want out of life when you know where you’re going.

A mission statement is only a paragraph long, but it has specific, measurable outcomes and a deadline for accomplishing that outcome. It’s truly the best way to start your journey to success. And our FREE tool makes it easy for you to put your mission statement together in a simple, step-by-step, five-minute process.

Jim Rohn said, “You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.” Creating a mission statement will help you change your direction. In just five minutes from now, you will have made the shift from an ordinary existence to an extraordinary existence.

Edit Your Life. Don’t accept a rough draft for publication. You are the Editor-in-Chief for your life. Life is freely given to all of us, but you can edit, modify or delete entire “scripts” out of your life. You can create, write and replace the old scripts with entirely new ones.

Here is a lifestyle tip that has helped me to be a lot happier, and healthier. It the era of 15 second sound bites and the overwhelming abundance of information available to us through television, radio, the Internet, the skill of editing, deleting and filtering out what is not wanted or desired is extremely important. Dare I say, vital?

To know what you should edit, delete and filter out of your life, you will need to know what it is you really want. If you aren’t sure of the results you are looking for then how will you ever know if you are getting them?

 

Write the Laundry List. Having a written list of what it is you really want is absolutely necessary for success but do you know how many people have written goals? 2%. Only two people out of every hundred will take the time to think about life and write. Then we wonder why 2% of the population control 60% of the wealth in the country! That’s a clue.

 

Of course, it’s not just about the money. Most lottery winners compound their problems by having access to large amounts of cash. Moral discipline lacking, most, not all, lottery winners tend toward excess, poor decisions, momentary pleasures and lack an expressed purpose in life.

 

This formula works: Thoughts lead to feelings; Feelings lead to actions; Actions lead to results. If you don’t like your results, you have complete editorial control to change your thoughts!

 

The Passion Test

There is a book by this name that you can order and read but the test is quite simple. Start with a notepad (or computer) and write the sentence, “In my ideal life, I________________

 

Then fill in the blank with a ‘to be’, ‘to do’, or ‘to have’ verb that pinpoints who you are and your desires in life. Do at least 10 or 15 of these sentences and you can keep doing them if you like the exercise. Mark Victor Hansen teaches you should have a list of 101 things you want to do before you expire.

 

It’s important to do at least 15 if you can because we are going to edit and mark the list with your top five. Here are my top five in this present moment but I do have the freedom to edit the list and change it at anytime.

 

1. In my ideal life, I give value to every person I meet. (This sets a context for every interaction I have with any human being and gives me the edge I want.)
2. In my ideal life, I weigh 165 and enjoy excellent health. (This safeguards me from pigging out and eating the wrong kinds of foods and fats.)
3. In my ideal life, I provide a great environment for my family. (This keeps me focused on my family goals.)
4. In my ideal life, I have excellent friends and business partners. (This reminds me to spend time with quality people)
5. In my ideal life, I earn twice as much as I spend. (This keeps me creative, actively engaged in doing more and doing better.)

 

 

If you have your top five selected, then this becomes your template for making critical decisions with your time, your relationships and your life. If any activity arises yet does not support one of your five top ideal life scenarios, you have permission to delete that activity from your life or edit and modify ’til it fits with your purpose.

 

Let me give you an example of editing my life. In the past month, I set my intention and made a commitment to let go of some weight. I didn’t say lose the weight. If I lose something, I may try to find it again! The reason (my “why”) was very base and instinctual. I wanted to increase my life insurance policy and I didn’t want to pay standard rates. I wanted preferred. Purely economic and by that I mean, purely monetary. Who wants to pay $400 a month when there is a $150 rate out there?

 

Of course the side effect of wanting to save money in this manner is that I learned a lot about my health habits and then there are more benefits to boot. It is true that all diets work and all diets fail. Guess who makes the difference? Point your thumb into your chest and say, “ME.”

 

It’s how big a reason and what is your “Why?” Why do you want this and how badly do you want this? Michael Jordan attended Laney High school in Wilmington, North Carolina, but as a 5-11 skinny sophomore, he was cut from the varsity basketball team. The summer before his junior year, he grew to 6-3 and began his path to super-stardom. Instead of giving up after failing to make the team, Jordan used it to spur himself to greater achievements, practicing hour after hour on the court.

 

“Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I’d close my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name on it,” Jordan said, “and that usually got me going again.” It may not be that unusual for a high school sophomore to grow 4 inches in one summer but it was a manifestation of his extreme desire, of his competitiveness that caused him to work extremely hard and grow and make the team as a junior. He made the team and led his school to the state championship.

 

An interesting side note, Jordan was the one who introduced longer basketball shorts to the game as he always wore his North Carolina shorts under his NBA shorts. Others followed. How embarrassing is it to watch those games from the eighties see those tall, grown men in those skimpy shorts? Thank God for Michael Jordan and longer shorts!

 

Back to editing. I should edit my stories too. I had originally gotten down to 165 when I first started using Res-Q 1250. Over time, with holiday eating and a more sedentary life style (working at a computer replaced swinging a hammer), my weight had crept back up to 180. I am a mere 5′8″ so the Body Mass Index (BMI) charts that insurance companies use to determine a portion of your insurability pegged me as “overweight”. According to the Insurance companies, I should weigh between 125 and 164. This is normal range for my height. I am going to include a link to a BMI chart and calculator here with the disclaimer that I don’t think it is the only predictor of good health. I think if I weighed 125 at my age, the wind would knock me over. It’s a numbers game that insurance companies play. I want to win the game, that’s all.

 

http://www.consumer.gov/weightloss/bmi.htm#Determine

 

All diets work and all diets fail. What ensures success is finding one that resonates, makes sense and works for you. I like the Isagenix program (see http://www.isamiracles.com/) because the nutritional products have made it easy for me to replace empty junk calories with nutritional calories. I have lost my gut in one month. I usually weigh in between 168 and 170 these days so about 5 more pounds to go. The interesting thing is that by curbing my intake and sticking to the replacement shakes, I found the innate intelligence of my body making some decisions for me.

 

For example, without realizing it, I stopped coffee. I just “forgot” to make it and after several days realized, I didn’t need it. No one said, “you must stop coffee” it just happened. And I can still drink a cup when I like but I am not dependent on it. Likewise, when I go grocery shopping, I spend much more time in the fruits and vegetable sections and avoid all the process foods altogether. That also happened “by itself.”

 

Really, losing weight has two parts. 1) Burning more calories than you consume. Add weight training to your exercise program brings a lot of benefit. Fat gets morphed into muscle. You will look better and feel better too. 2)Take in nutritional calories. It’s a no-brainer with a program like IsAgenix as the nutrition is already there for you and the cravings for the bad stuff disappears on its own. The Res-Q Trim system works too if you can exercise and follow the meal plans provided.

 

Who’s in Charge? There is only one person in charge and that is you. Choose your activities based on your “Ideal Life” list; choose your friends; choose your life; choose your health. Choose your habits. You are in charge, make no mistake about it. Congratulations on your new posting as Editor-in-Chief of your life. Don’t accept anything less.

“We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives, not looking for flaws, but for potential.” -Ellen Goodman

Walk one mile a day in 2008 and you will have walk 365 miles in 2008.

Give a $1 a day in charity you will have given $365 to charity by year’s end. That’s school books for about 25 kids in Africa or Ecuador. The choices are unlimited. (Why do our college textbooks cost $156 on average?)

Find a person a day to shakes hands with, give a hug to, or speak a word of encouragement to and you will have brightened the world at least 365 times. Life, light, laughter, love, a nice set of ‘L’ words.

Eat lunch with a new person once a week, you will have about 50 new deeper relationships by year’s end.

Add one new raw or organic food to your diet per month and you will have a whole new range of healthy choices in 2008.

Type the word GIFT in the coupon box on our check out page to receive $15 off your next order of $100 or more. http://optimalhealthRSQ.com

Choose health, enjoy life in 2008!

Garey Simmons

 

Pull up a chair and let me tell you a story. In October of 2006 I met Joe Theismann who was the Notre Dame Quarterback who threw for 526 yards in the pouring rain in 1970. He jokes that his name was pronounced THEEZMAN his whole life, but the president of Notre Dame thought he had a better chance to win the Heisman if his name rhymed. So he forever will be known as “Theismann rhymes with Heisman.” Joe went on to become a Hall of Fame Washington Redskin Quarterback, had a great career until in 1985 he met with Lawrence Taylor and another NY Giant who tackled him from opposite directions and sandwiched him breaking his fibula and tibia right there live on Monday Night Football for the nation to see. His career abruptly ended and a new life began.

In 2006, he spoke for 45 minutes to a group of vendors at the International Food and Dietary Supplements Trade Show. One of the main points he shared with this unlikely group of business men and women was about “WRITING DOWN YOUR GOALS.” It’s not-so-common knowledge that only 2% of the population actually take the time to write down their goals. And it’s almost laughable when you consider that 2% of the population controls 80% of the wealth in the country. Is there a connection? Hmmm? I will let you be the judge.

OK, so I am a bit late in sharing my goal setting philosophy but actually I purposely held off until now with the express purpose that maybe you have fallen off the wagon from your New Year’s Resolutions already. Is it true? How do I know this? From experience!

What you are going to read below is the Jack Canfield method of not just setting goals but attaining goals. Interested?

Before the process begins, consider these 7 areas to focus on in your life with your goals. This is my priority of ordering and you can mix up the order as you like, but for me money means nothing without health, therefore I moved that up to number one. Relationships are really important and maybe I will write about that in another article.

1) Health/ Fitness
2) Relationships/ Family/ Friends
3) Fun Time/ Recreation/ Sports/ Hobbies/ Travel
4) Personal/ Learning/ Projects/ Purchases
5) Business/ Professional/ Career/ Job
6) Contribution/ Service/ Community/ Legacy
7) Financial/ Income/ Debt Reduction/ Investments/ Net Worth

How to make it happen in 2008 and realize your goals:
If you do this process or some form of it, I guarantee that reaching your goals will seem almost effortless in comparison with efforts you may have made in years past without the real results.

The Process:

1) Reflect on these 7 areas of your life and identify 3 goals for each area. Set aside an hour one evening or one morning. It may be the most valuable hour of 2008. Note: each goal must be specific and include a date and time by when it will be completed.

2) Write these areas down on a piece of paper or type them into your computer so you can see all 21 of your goals.
Note: if you want to have more than 3 goals in a particular area, go for it. However, set for yourself to the number of goals you feel you can realistically attain. Do be comprehensive for yourself so you feel complete with each area.

3) When you have your 21 goals (or more), write each one down on a 3 x 5 index card. This is the critical piece right here. On the back of each card, write down an accompanying Visualization of how you will feel when you have completed this goal. Use feeling words such as “I am happily…” or “I’m enjoying…” If you get lazy and skip this part, your chances of success have just diminished.

Example: “I am enjoying going to the gym 3 nights a week.” “I am happy to get up for my 6:00AM cycle class.” “I really enjoy my outing each Sunday with my kids.” Use your mind to visualize these short sentences. Believe me this is the tipping point in making things happen.

When you have your index cards and priorities in place, review your index cards (”flip ‘em”) by reading the front goal and the associated visualization on the back once in the morning when you wake up and once again in the evening before you go to sleep.

For me, this process is a part of my “hour of power” in the morning and the last thing I do before I pray and go to sleep at night. This will keep your mind focused on what it is that you want to accomplish. It will heighten your awareness for opportunities to implement action to reach your goals and see your dreams turn into reality.

In 2007 this process created all kinds of good things for me and my family. I recommend it to you.

Advance Technique when you are ready to commit:
A) Go back to your list of written goals. Prioritize 3 goals from the 21+ goals as your focus for your intentions and attention. These goals should have activities around them every day. Ideally, identify 5 actions you can take for each of these each day to complete.

B) Again review the list of your written goals. Identify which one goal is your breakthrough goal for the year. This goal is a goal that will stretch you, that is not part of your normal routines, and one that you will have to work for.
This goal should have activity around it every day - and ideally 5 actions associated with it.

After Joe’s talk, I went up to the dais to greet him and I pulled out my visualization “map” I had in my pocket and shared it with him. He thanked me for sharing with him that you can write down your goals but you can also use pictures to point your mind in the right direction. Happy 2008!