HOPE is a four letter word!

Have you ever found yourself working with a prospect for any extended period of time?  All of your interactions have been positive; they appear to like you and by all indications are interested in your ideas. They request a proposal (RFP) and you spend hours creating one. You give them your – unique selling proposition (USP) and they respond with the magic words (be honest now … you’ve heard it before, perhaps many times before!)

“Everything looks great. Let me get back to you in a few days and we can move forward.”

“Boom” (followed with the corresponding fist pump) … “it’s all over but the shout.” Back to the paperwork – you update your sales funnel forecast and then begin that dreaded wait for the “big” call.

A couple of days go by … nothing … a few more days – still no call. You tell yourself “He’s probably busy…no time to become a pest …I’m sure he’ll reach out soon.” Days turn into a week and still – nothing. You finally decide to follow up but are surprised that calls aren’t returned and your texts and emails seem to have been intercepted by the NSA.

Sound familiar?

What went wrong?

How can you prevent this from happening again?

Here’s some practical advice to help you kick the “Hopeium” habit and begin filling your sales funnel with real opportunities!

Start by asking fewer “hopeful” questions. They add little value and make it too easy for your customer to be agreeable. When salesmen “probe” and only look for good news that’s typically what they find. Asking hopeful questions like “Are we still on track to get the contract signed this week?” or “Do you have everything you need?”  These questions might make YOU feel better but they don’t encourage honest feedback from the prospect.

Let’s eliminate “Hopeium” from your approach.  Start by asking questions focused on uncovering the real problems/issues in the prospects mind about the proposal you’ve presented.  Questions like “I sense that this RFP has you nervous, does it?” give the prospect permission to share their concerns (“Yes, I’m still a little nervous”). This way they don’t feel the pressure of having to introduce bad news to you because you’ve already broken that ground for them.

Some of you may be thinking its risky business to introduce negativity, fears, uncertainties or doubts during the selling process.  And odds are pretty good that your funnels are full of stalled opportunities right now – wrapped in nothing but good news. You don’t have a clue as to why the deal isn’t moving forward and you keep “hoping” that something will happen.  It’s time – you need to re-evaluate your approach.

When you ask questions focused on flushing out bad news, one of two things will happen. Your prospect will either validate the bad news (“Yes, I’m still a little nervous about price”) or they will push back and defend their position (“No I’m not nervous about the pricing model, as a matter of fact, this looks like something we can do”) … either reply is good; you’ve encouraged them to share their reality and that’s where sincere opportunities are created.

Your success is a function of how well you discover, probe and resolve your prospects concerns. The critical piece that most reps overlook is creating an environment where it’s safe for buyers to share their uneasiness. If the customer thinks you will resist or balk at bad news, there is a good chance that you’re not going to hear any. At least not until it is too late.

You can build a sales career by knowing how to get customers to say “yes.”  BUT you get to the top by making it easier for them to say “no.”



How’s that “hope and change” … working out for you now???

Just a thought … brought to you by your local Coach.

Business Coaches hear these all too often – Why?

The 3 Worst Excuses Business Owners Use …

#1.       “I don’t have the time”

#2.       “I can’t afford that”

#3.       I’ll think it over, get back to me”

Allow me to set the stage here, owners are busy, Coaches want to be busy; an appointment has been set by the owner because “something” isn’t working as well as it should be in the business – that’s why they set the appointment.  The Coach has been introduced to this business owner through another party who knows the business owner needs some help.  Both parties are in the room with an agenda and individual desired outcomes – not necessarily on the same page.

Let’s look at it from the Business Coach’s point of view:

First things first – this Coach is also a salesperson and as such needs to establish (3) things as soon as possible in the meeting. Once the introduction has been completed (who connected us, how you know them, how much time do you have today, etc) the Coach needs to find out if the Business Owner understands what the Coach is able to provide (Leadership training, Sales Training, Team Dynamics, communication training, etc); next does the Business Owner have a budget for such training/development activities and finally does this Business Owner have the authority to say yes.  Here’s the recap:

  • Owner understands why the Coach is there
  • Owner has a budget for such services/trainings, etc
  • Owner has the authority to say yes

Without those (3) items clearly in place, this visit is with a suspect not a prospect and the meeting must then focus on the Owner’s perception of why the two are together at this point in the day. The Coach cannot plow through a presentation assuming it will be well received.  If the Coach does in fact, plow through the outcome will result in one or all three of – The 3 Worst Excuses Business Owners Use …

To clarify the Business Owner’s responses to the scenario as presented, the (3) typical responses are truly a polite way of saying no without any other emotion attached to the statements. The Coach created the outcome by pushing through the preliminaries and jumping to the presentation – a social faux pas. This is a real life example of the cliché that goes like this –“I don’t care how much you know, until I know how much you care.”

Coaches – Learn from the mistakes of others.

Business Owners – All Coaches are not the same.




“BREAKING OUT ON TOP”

Reality Driven, Rezults Oriented – Development Coaching for Entrepreneurs, Executives and Adults.

Organizations – top to bottom; Families – young and old; will benefit immediately from our processes.  Increase Focus through

  • Time Management
  • Leadership Development
  • Sales Training
  • Goal Achievement

(All offered in small group facilitations or personally – one on one.)

Mastery of our “Goal Achievement Plan” © will ensure you and all who participate will become  “Master Goal Achievers,”  not just “Master Goal Setters!”  Discovering, articulating and naming your, “Genius,” (that specific trait, talent, gift, etc. endowed from on high specifically to you) will produce these (6) benefits:

  • A stronger sense of Identity
  • A clearer sense of direction
  • An increased confidence
  • A language to communicate the value you can add
  • A satisfaction and productivity in your work
  • A sense of personal harmony

These aspects of our coaching are common within all the Processes we offer.  Your coaching experience is customized to your situation.  After an evaluation of your current circumstances, we’ll begin our Journey – “with the end in mind.”  Together we’ll develop what we call, “Your Perfect … On Purpose Day!”

You possess a unique ability to soar.  You’ve experienced moments when you’ve brought it all together and – “you performed at your Peak Performance!”  Take control of your life and LIVE every day at your  “Peak Potential.”  Build Success Habits … Set & Achieve All your Goals … Dream BIG Dreams … Live as you’ve always imagined.  BREAKING OUT ON TOP

CALL 801-560-9945  TODAY

With over 5000 hours of flight time in Fighters, Transports, and Trainers that I’ have  flown in the US  Military and Civilian arenas, with many flights beginning in weather conditions that were marginable (cloudy, overcast, stormy, etc)   after “take-off” I knew it would lead to that point when the aircraft slips through the clouds and “breaks out” into the clear blue skies above … this experience never became routine; hence the title of this seminar “Breaking Out on Top” – you owe it to yourself  to experience it!

How do you see yourself in 2014?

Who do you see 1st?

Look at this picture closely … what do you see?  Keep looking – do you see the other woman?  I’m sure you’ll find them both … just as you would if you look at yourself as closely! (Don’t we all have at least (2) sides to our nature?


Goals – there’s (2) sides to them: Set and accomplished or Set and abandoned!  What’s your percentage year in and year out?

At this time of the year you’ll hear people publish their “New Year’s Resolutions” to the office … many if not all will be abandoned by Valentine’s Day a mere 45 days into the year!  Why? My experience with clients is that they don’t have the necessary ingredients, systems or procedures to follow to achieve success.  Successful goal setting and more importantly successful goal achievement takes forethought and follow through … you’ll need a system and you’ll need discipline to stick to the tasks.

It’s important to understand the obstacles we’ll face along the way – here’s a list (not comprehensive) of the land mines we can encounter:

  • Lack of belief in yourself
  • No sustained Support
  • Too much concern with Fear of Failure
  • Too much concern with Fear of Success
  • Poor Organization
  • Lack of defined action steps
  • “Failure to launch,” – not taking action


Perhaps in 2013 you focused on things that you thought were important but they didn’t turn out to be what you expected. As a result, last year went away without you being any closer to your goals. I know that’s happened to me before…


Your goals didn’t seem to matter as much as the fires that “needed” to put out. As a result, you and I are another year older with nothing new to show for it. This year, let’s change this – shall we?


  • Let’s live in a world of constant and never ending improvement.
  • Let’s toss the status quo out the window.
  • Let’s kick conformity and complacency to the curb.
  • Let’s find out what we’re BEST at and live our dreams through them.
  • Let’s promise to let our clients, friends, family and fans know how great they are in 2014!


I wouldn’t take you down this path if I didn’t have something in mind! The Solution – “My Perfect on Purpose Plan” we call it MP³


A significant piece of this plan is the “Perfect on Purpose Day” click here to see what I’m talking about;  this Plan when followed, with support (Coaching) and implemented will convert you into becoming my favorite type of person – you’ll become a “Master Goal Achiever” (leaving all the rest, the “Master Goal Setters – in the dust)


Here’s to your 2014 !!!

My Christmas gift to you – “say something”

CLICK HERE – Play this while you read the message, … turn up your speakers and open your heart …


“Say Something … I’m giving up on you”  a powerful song  by ~ A Great Big World and sung with Christina Aguilera transcends emotions (past and present) and soars into our futures.  Many of us will recall a love of our past; others will live in the moment and succor ourselves when faced with the greatest pain, the pain of indifference and hopefully we’ll all discover a brighter future.


One of the sweeter comments found in the posts I perused of this song was a woman named Selena who connected her thoughts to religion, and specifically God.  She, like many of us, felt abandoned, her prayers unanswered, unrequited love, despair … she ultimately walked away from God , closing her post with, “I’m too religious.”


I don’t agree with her conclusion, not only does God “not give up on us” he allows us to explore our circumstances to their fullest. We’ve heard since childhood, God answers prayers in his time frame, not ours.  My experience is his time frame can be very long, and sometimes there might not be an answer, indicating “it’s ours to decide,” not that God doesn’t care, he gives us what can be called agency, the ability to decide for ourselves.  This can be very scary, wouldn’t we all like to be absolved from responsibility, but alas, the world operates under different rules.  We are responsible for ourselves, our decisions (and no decision is a decision) and we have the opportunity to learn from these experiences.


As I reflect on the lyrics, the hauntingly simple melody, the minor key with all its power, it allows me to drift into the deep recesses of my mind and face those moments when I found myself face to face with personally significant decisions … I’ve failed in many of them; the pain, then and now is real and almost unbearable.  Stripped of pride, arrogance, anger and control I can see now a different lyric is in order “Say something … I’m giving up on you,” isn’t using the proper pronoun … “I’m giving up on me” would be more accurate.  It was my pride, my stubbornness that separated me from them and I tried to protect me from me and place the burden on them.


In the quiet space we are all capable of getting to – honest, open and receptive a song like this, can open our hearts and allow the love to suffuse our entire being.  In these ephemeral moments we truly see the hand of God in our lives, we feel his boundless love, we forgive ourselves and like the final lyric in the song we can indeed … “say something” …


My love for all of you who take the time to read this post is like the peeling of an onion, it’s an amazing journey … the aroma is palpable and the tears cleansing.

Merry Christmas

Three (3) ways to improve your businesses productivity?

Belly-to-Belly Face-to-Face

Before we get to the suggestions to improve productivity, let’s make sure you’re not confusing activity with productivity.  Many individuals track their activity, and conclude that because they’ve been in meetings, written proposals, driven all over town, returned dozens of calls, set 1st time appointments, attended Chamber of Commerce events, etc, that they are and have been productive.  Not necessarily so.


One of my mentor’s years ago used a rather folksy tale to explain his version of “productivity.”  He began by explaining how our wives, partners, significant others, etc., view our days productivity.  His presentation was to a group of us, all commission salesmen, and it applies to business owners, entrepreneurs, and salespeople of all strips.  Here’s his edited story,

“ Here’s what counts in your lives, ‘money in mama’s checkbook.’  She doesn’t care about ANYTHING else (meetings, pending applications, trips, trainings, new products, contests, whatever … ALL that matters is money in her checkbook!  The only way money will ever get into her checkbook is when you spend time, ‘face-to-face’ ‘belly-to-belly’ with a real prospect.  A real prospect is one who you can state factually is:

  • Able him/her self to make a decision and say yes or no
  • Understands completely what you are talking about and why you’re there with them
  • Has money, i.e., a budget, a checkbook or a credit card

Once you’ve completed the presentation, answered any objections, written the order, collected the money and mailed it to the home office you’re half way there.  Follow up with the home office and when and only when the money is mailed, ACH’d, direct deposited, etc into your families Joint checking account and it shows up in your online banking statement as “available funds” do you have ‘money in mama’s bank account’ and you can brag about it to her … that’s all that matters … everything else is noise!”

That’s productivity.  You need not discuss this with your boss, sales manager, etc … they too understand the process and that’s all they are looking for, in their mind everything else is an excuse.

So how do you improve your businesses productivity:

1. Re-define activity (you might as well eliminate it and replace it with productivity)

2. Stop kidding yourself (I didn’t want to hurt your feelings by using the word lying to yourself)

3. Only count “money in mama’s checkbook”


Make 2014 a breakout year … “face-to-face” “belly-to-belly” is all that will get you there, and your productivity will increase I guarantee it!

Social Networking may be KILLING YOU …

Here is some interesting insights:

1. Babies left un-touched by another human after birth will die in approximately seven months. Read “The Primacy of Human Touch” by Dr. Ben E. Benjamin This newsletter article describes how perfectly healthy babies, well fed, cared for in sterile conditions – died … read more:

2. Here is to an interesting video that explains that although we think we are socially interacting – we’re not! Technology is crushing our culture

3. I’ve heard people tell me that they have been at conventions with 1000’s of people and yet felt “completely lonely.”

4. I ran across a quote the other day that went something like this, “I look around this crowded room of people and realize I have no friends here. I further realized, I’m not a friend to anyone here.”

People ask me what is a – “Life Coach?”  “What do you do?” … My answer is – I have personal conversations with people who are interested in connecting their “current reality” with their “future expectations.”  Together we talk about their dreams, their goals, their reality and how those (3) items should be totally integrated into their life.  Processes, procedures, systems, etc are available in the market place that produce wonderful results in people’s lives and I introduce them to those items, work with them to understand what they really mean, talk about them and practice implementing the various techniques needed to create a life full of meaning, purpose, focus and results.


If you’d like to “talk” with another person, not a computer, not emails, not text messages, not Facebook posts, not 140 word Tweets, not photo shopped pictures, but a breathing human who has “experienced  life” and is willing to share with you – feelings, fears, joys, triumphs, failures, broken promises, etc … then Life Coaching is what you are looking for and I’m the person to introduce you to it.  We discuss – Life, Business, Careers, Team Membership, Corporate Cultures, Leadership, Management, Time Management, Selling, Buying, etc.

There is nothing scarier than the “unknown.”   The greatest fear I have is that you never get past the biggest fear most of us have and that’s of “ourselves” … we do not live up to the challenge provided thousands of years ago to mankind of “Man, know thyself” – this was the challenge of ancient Greek philosophers and it has been a goal of mankind since.

You can call me, my phone number is 801-560-9945 I’d love to meet you and hear about you.  The 1st visit is completely complimentary, no risk, no pressure and at the very least you’ll have an opportunity to be heard by another without an agenda.

What do you have to lose? It’s complimentary …


“What will your tomorrow bring?”

What do you see?

Will the government default?  Will the “shut-down” continue?  Will interest rates skyrocket, stock markets crash, will the dollar sink to all time lows? What do you think???


Let’s begin with a question to answer those possibilities – What can you do about any of those?  My answer to them is, “absolutely nothing.”  Allow me to answer for you; it’s the same, “absolutely nothing.”

What then can you do?  What can I do?  What can anybody do?  We all have the same answer … we can control how we “respond” to any external event that occurs in our lives.  We can explode with anger, we could sink into despair, we could “cash out” out of every investment we own, we could panic, we could cry … whatever we choose we know that it’s our choice – not something imposed upon us.  We’re responsible for our own reaction, response, action, etc – no one else can impose a response upon us UNLESS we allow it.

Aside from the immediate reality of the situation described above, there is this to consider: Philosophers of all ages have shared with us the “reality” in this life – we cannot return to the past, we have no promise of a tomorrow, all we have is “the here and now” … so the philosophic answer to my question of, “what will your tomorrow bring,” is “what will you create.”

I’ve had tomatoes throw at me for such logic, yet I insist that we really DO create the world’s we live in, that we are getting exactly what the universe has in-store for us to learn/experience/etc and that is exactly what we need at this moment.

There are two kinds of people in business (or any other system you choose to compare) those who believe we live in an “abundant world” and those who believe we live in a world of “scarcity.” (The glass is half full or half empty) Both are correct or right … it’s all in your own personal perspective.

Optimist’s look to the abundance and act accordingly; pessimist’s find scarcity and do likewise.  We all know who is more fun or pleasant to be around, yet we all fall into “both camps” depending upon external circumstances.  I’ve heard it said, “A recession is when you’re out of work, a depression is when I’m out of work,” and many of us will get a chance to experience both!

There is no iron clad answer of how one should be – optimistic or pessimistic, there is however, only one correct way to proceed … taking complete responsibility for how one responds/reacts/acts/ etc to whatever “life throws your way”

Focus on what you can control, remember you only have “now” and don’t second guess yourself – be authentic, honest and consistent and you’ll be well ahead of those who lack such discipline.  Good decisions or choices are born of such discipline.

Work – Life Balance

Life Coaching – integrates experience, dreaming, reality and vision to create your best self.  I find it equally effective for personal and business development. If you’re – stuck, lost, unhappy, happy, comfortable, scared or just out of therapy – “Life Coaching is for you.”  My clients tell me, “this isn’t therapy, but it is therapeutic.”

Any organization you can think of (political, business, educational, family, Church, sports teams, department teams, etc) functions with individuals who have various levels of authority. Results will vary within these organizations as to effectiveness, productivity, profitability, etc due to the composition of the team or organization and the single most determining factor in the level of success will always be the individuals within the organization.  People with better skills, talents, attitudes, work ethics, etc will “outperform” others with less of those qualities.  Simply stated – “Better people get better results.”

I’ve found it’s not the level of education, IQ, physical size, background or any other traits we commonly ascribe to people who are portrayed as successful by the media that leads to “better results.”   It’s the level of activity, dedication to the task, level of personal responsibility, leadership skills and clarity of the task required of them.  Those who “know themselves” as to their authentic strengths, values, talents and gifts and who align those traits with their “job description” and the activities they pursue in their lives achieve the outstanding outcomes they seek.

Coaches at all levels enhance the performance these people seek and achieve by being advocates, listeners, accountability partners, and most importantly loyal to their clients.  They bring a “trust” to the relationship that’s difficult to find in other areas of their lives.

My firm, Rezults Group, Inc, has developed a program many find useful in their day to day activities, I call it “Your Perfect on Purpose Day”, together we identify your most important and pressing goals, dreams, and aspirations … we explore and identify many of the attributes you possess (over 150 attributes) show you how you communicate with others and how they are receiving your input, categorize your values and rank order them using standards from recognized testing sources.  Once that work is complete we integrate those insights into a matrix that you define the parameters of so as to produce a day from start to finish that is completely in alignment with your values, is goal oriented, and provides you instant feed-back as to how well you are performing.  It’s completely customized to you and blending it with our “Goal Planning System” you’ll become a “Master Goal Achiever” and have control of your life; balance between your work and personal life will become evident; results will amaze you and “Dreams Will Come True.”

As a Life coach I don’t need to know about your past. I’m interested in where you are now and where you want to go. If you’re open minded, teachable, willing to invest in yourself and honor your commitments you’ll excel in our program.  Schedule a complimentary session with us to see if this is a fit for you … fill out the contact information today – click here

“Your Perfect on Purpose Day” (anxiety FREE)

Then – (Greek definition) of “Perfect” –

Matt 5:48 Jesus told His hearers “Be ye perfect”. “perfect” to us today sounds like absolute perfection, but the Greek word here is “teleios”. “teleios” means “mature”, or “complete”.

Now – (modern definition) of “Perfect” –

pərˈfekt/ make (something) completely free from faults or defects, or as close to such a condition as possible.

Look around, what do you see?  I see many people from all walks of life, young and old, men and women, children who are possessed with what I consider an un-healthy obsession to be perfect. Young women strive to be or become “that perfect person balancing family and work” a quest “to have it all.”  Children are being “pushed” for lack of a better word to achieve perfection in dance, sports, academic achievement, etc.  You name it and there’s a program, institute, class, pre-school or whatever willing to take these developing young boys and girls and mold them into “someone else’s vision” of perfection.

To what end?  Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Doctors, Social Workers are busier than ever and mom or dad has yet “one more appointment” to juggle in an otherwise un-manageable day.

Does any of this sound or look familiar?  Here at Rezults Group we’re trying our best to mitigate these stressful days, crowded calendars, and the anxiety that goes with it.  Is there a solution?  Yes.

Our program is called “Your Perfect on Purpose Day”  (we had to include the word PERFECT so we’d get your attention … otherwise you’d not think it important enough to even consider it)  Its approach is based upon the Greek definition of the word perfect – mature or complete.  So the meaning behind the title is to assist one in accomplishing a “complete” day that brings the results you’re looking for and the benefit is worthy of your time.

We like to encourage people (young and old) to become “Master Goal Achievers” compared to what I commonly see “Master Goal Setters”  Don’t get me wrong setting goals, in my opinion, is wired into our DNA but many fall into the same trap that people who are viewed as “active” fall into.  It’s not productive.  Activity is not a reliable measure of productivity, and neither is setting goals.  One must “achieve” or “accomplish” the desired outcomes.

I’ve taken the best ideas on goal achievement and created our “Perfect on Purpose Day” system and by adding the word “Your” it adds the ownership you need to embrace the system and make it your own.  We combined and even improved upon the industry standard “S.M.A.R.T.” goals with all the recourring daily events that must be considered and accomplished in a normal day to produce a product, if you will, that will allow you to prioritize, execute and enjoy the day you’ve planned.

Join us today in taking “control” of your day, building a foundation that will serve you the rest of your life; no more stressed out trips to a professional to re-fill a prescription for a drug to calm your nerves, reduce anxiety, sleep better, etc – take control of your life and live on your terms.

It’s not a trip to McDonald’s “fix” … you’ll commit to weekly sessions of approximately 30 minutes each for 12 weeks, there will be “homework” and after that you will be armed with everything you’ll need to live in a World you have created that gives you the tools to success, which by our definition is – “the continual achievement of your predetermined goals, stabilized by balance and purified by belief.”