If only our prospects understood "Jungle Law."
What is the "Law of the Jungle?"
*** He who hesitates is ... lunch. ***
Yes, it is a jungle out there. Everyone is just trying to survive.
But what happens if your prospect says, "I want to think it over, I can't make up my mind, no use just jumping into things, I have to talk it over with my dog ..."
Well, your prospect becomes lunch!
Your prospect is eaten alive by his employer who gradually takes his life away. Your prospect jealously looks on as others who went into action immediately succeed.
Winners in life don't wait. It is hard to win a race when everyone else has started and we are still considering if we should start.
I guess we can use this "Jungle Law" in our careers also. Maybe we can be the first to take part in our company's promotions, registering for conventions, doing our required volume, etc.

Thanks for yet another great tip from Tom Big Al Schreiter.

Six Ways to Save Money

When flying, schedule very early morning flights or holidays. You'll save at least 10% flying on these non-peak times. Also, traveling on a Tuesday or Wednesday can save you 5-25 percent over other days of the week.

Make your donation dollars go further. Research your charity on charitynavigator.org. Focus your support on one charity, instead of scattershooting. Charities spend many promotional dollars contacting previous donors, so if you only plan to donate once, ask the charity to delete your name from the database.

Replace your old appliances. The money you spend now versus later on replacing old energy-efficient appliances is significant when you consider how much wasted energy you'll spend until it finally breaks down. You can donate older-model, working appliances for a tax credit, instead of sending a broken down model to the dump. Look for government rebates for purchasing new green appliances.

Take advantage of free credit reports. You're entitled to three a year—one from each bureau—yet only 4 percent of reports are claimed, according to smartcredit.com. Mistakes on your report could cause you to pay higher interest rates on loans, credit cards and mortgages.

Use your local library. You'd be surprised how many current CDs, DVDs and best-selling books you can find. For free.

Mail-in rebates beware. The National Consumers League estimates at least 45% of mail-in rebates go unclaimed—and that's their most conservative estimate. Send away for rebates the day you make a purchase while you have the form, receipt and appropriate documentation handy.

Find six more ways to save money on the SUCCESS Blog.

From Seeds of Success Ezine.

“Let a person rejoice when he is confronted with obstacles, for it means that he has reached the end of some particular line of indifference or folly, and is now called upon to summon up all his energy and intelligence in order to extricate himself, and to find a better way; that the powers within him are crying out for greater freedom, for enlarged exercise and scope.” —James Allen

“As long as we are persistent in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, we will continue to grow. We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom. It happens in its own time.”
—Denis Waitley

Dedicate Yourself to Educate Yourself by Tom Hopkins

To become and remain a professional in this business of selling, you must recognize that you are in charge of your own training and act on that fact. Build on your strengths and correct your weaknesses. If you aren’t sure of what to work on first, there is certainly someone in your life who will gladly assist you—your manager, your spouse, your children, a trusted friend. Here are six skill areas that I strongly recommend you consider developing or strengthening:

Negotiation
Do you consider yourself a trained negotiator? Trained negotiators can quickly and effectively analyze the details of situations and determine the best route to resolution. If that brief description doesn’t fit you, make an effort to find a book, tape or seminar on the subject, and then schedule the time to learn from it.

A Second Language
Consider the part of the country in which you live and those people you do business with. As our country continually redefines itself by its people, be aware of the advantages of being able to communicate with others in their native tongues. Today’s projections show that both Hispanic and Asian portions of the population are on the increase. To be able to offer your fine services to more people, you must learn more about them, their language and their cultures.

Voice
Since your clients choose to ‘own’ your products or services based on what you say and how you represent it, doesn’t it make sense that you train your voice to give the highest level of professional presentation? If you’ve never considered voice training before, tape yourself giving a portion of your presentation, then listen to it. Most of us hate the sound of our voices on tape. Just imagine how our clients must feel when listening to us. To project your message with clarity and power, consider at least one session with a voice coach. They can be found in your local yellow pages.

Public Speaking
Many sales professionals find that giving short speeches in their communities helps build their name recognition and their business. Public speaking is also a great way to build your confidence. Try your skills out by speaking to your child’s class about what you do or a hobby you have. Teachers love it when the students can learn firsthand about careers. Join Toastmasters International. There are local chapters in just about every city. They provide excellent opportunities to hone your skills and meet other business professionals with whom you might do business or share referrals.

Memory
Having a good memory is critical to anyone in today’s world, but especially so to those of us who meet many new people every week. I have learned to make a game of it in my career. I challenge myself to remember as many people and their stories as I can. There are some great courses and books written on this subject. Even if you learn and use only one small strategy, I guarantee you’ll see the benefit of having done so.

Math
Don’t cringe on me here. I know a large percentage of people hate math. However, in business, you need to know some basic math skills really well. How does it look when you take a client to lunch and you have to think real hard to calculate the tip? Do you think that will raise any doubts about your competency in the client’s mind? Of course it will. Also, when clients toss out figures in their projections, you have to be quick on the uptake in understanding what that means in your business—quantities of supplies they’ll need, projecting delivery dates and times, etc. Practice your math skills. Every time you hear or see a number in a conversation or even in a bit of advertising, take a moment to work with the number and see what it means. Compute unit costs for grocery items—$1.29 for 12 ounces. How much is that per ounce? I know the favorite computation of every salesperson who works on a fee basis is to determine their percentage of every sale. Don’t stop there. Play the numbers game often and you’ll get better at winning.

Choose just one of these six areas and dedicate yourself to improving in it this month. Then, next month, choose another. Once you get started on this journey of self-education, you’ll be amazed at what you learn and how simple things can have a powerful impact on your overall success in life.