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Hi, this is Tony Robbins. Welcome to Mastering Influence, a 10-day system for strengthening your emotional impact and increasing your sales. Listen, I want to tell you, I'm very excited about bringing this program to you because if there's any skill in life that's had an impact on my ability to contribute to others, whether it be my family, my friends, the businesses that I'm involved in, or even myself, it's been this skill, this power of influence.
And you know, all it really is about is understanding what are the barriers that stop people from taking action and helping enable people to get through those limitations, those fears, those concerns, so that now they can move themselves to action rather than thinking about all the reasons why they might or should or could in the future.
Now, it's also a pleasure to bring this program to you because it's giving me a chance to look back on a good portion of my life. Because it's now been almost 30 years. That's right, I'm heading to my 30th year of doing this. And in that time, I've dealt with some of the most challenged, and I've dealt with some of the most successful people in the world. You know what I found out? We all have the same needs. I don't care if it's President Clinton, or Wayne Gretzky, or Andre Agassi, or Mikhail Gorbachev, or Princess Diana, or Nelson Mandela, or Mother Teresa, or Serena Williams. Anybody that I've had the privilege of meeting with and visiting with, we have different belief systems, different ways of getting ourselves to take action, but we have some of the same needs.
And as a result of that, I've been able to help people to get themselves to make the changes through teaching them how to influence themselves. And if there's anything I'd like you to get out of this program, it's how do I get myself through my own barriers to take action? And how do I empower other people to do that as well? How can I use my integrity, my caring, and my own psychology, my understanding of human needs, my understanding of what it takes to move myself and others to action, to make a measurable difference?
So whether you're a mom, or whether you're a business professional, or a president of a company, or a salesperson, or a teacher, or a lawyer, or whatever it is that you do, or more importantly, whoever you are and whatever you stand for, influence is that difference. It's the difference between you're fit or fat. Can you influence your own hands, right, to do the right thing? We've got to remember, the most important person to influence is ourselves. If we can do that, then we can contribute to others in ways that give our life a sense of meaning and purpose.
I really want you to get that. In the end, the meaning in life comes from contribution, from knowing that you're doing something you believe in and that makes a difference. Again, whether it's, you know, selling a product, or, you know, turning around a political process, or making a contribution to your community or your kids. So there's no strategy that replaces the importance of integrity and caring. That's ultimately what's behind all of this. If you were to apply all the tools or principles here, but you didn't apply those fundamentals of the truth of what you believe and of your deep ability to connect with another soul and understand and appreciate their unique view of the world, then you'd be wasting your time.
Now, this program, and you're going to hear the voice change, because this program was recorded before a very small, intimate audience almost 20 years ago. I've been doing this 30 years. It's spooky to me to think this was done 20 years ago. And I had several people on my team say, "You know, you really ought to put this out. We've listened to this. This is extraordinary." I was beyond bit skeptical. And they said, "Tony, listen to it. The principles are the same as they've always been." You know, and I thought, "Okay, I'll listen to one." I popped it on. Went, "That guy sounds good. He has a voice that doesn't sound like it's been on the road for 30 years." You know? So you might hear a little difference in my voice. But honestly, I listened to it and I thought, "Wow, these are the same fundamentals that I use today to make the impact that, you know, I'm committed to making with everybody that I care about, my family, my friends, business associates." You know, I've run 11 companies now. And so these are the same skills.
And one other thing I want to mention. Influence has an interesting connotation to it. If you use the word influence in the context I believe it should be used, which is how do I use my resources to make a difference? It's quite positive. But for many people, the word sales is, boy, as negative a word as you can come up with, or sales people. And there's a good reason for this, because so many individuals in the past have tried to use techniques or strategies to manipulate people. But most people today are pretty sophisticated, and they're completely turned off by such an approach. What really matters is to be real. It's so refreshing when somebody tells you what really is going on and how it really is. And there's certainly no replacement for caring. That ability to reach inside and see what someone needs and understand their point of view.
So if your career is sales, be proud of it. Because if you're a person of integrity, even though there have been a lot of crazy, idiot manipulators out there, you stand out. Plus, I want to tell you something else. Nothing in this country, nothing in this world moves until it's sold. You've got the best idea in the world, the greatest product, the greatest project, the greatest anything, but it doesn't go anywhere till somebody influences someone to say, "I want to do this. I want to buy this. I want to create this. I'll fund this." I mean, that's what investment is. It's being able to sell someone on investing and getting started. That's how companies get started. That's how our entire economy and how the world gets better. It's all sales and marketing. It's persuasion. It's influence.
So you can do this with integrity and be proud of who you are. But also, more importantly, meet those needs by understanding each individual that you meet is exactly that, they're an individual. That's what's going to make you develop an identity in the business as a person who doesn't just sell, but somebody who adds value, a business person, a leader. Because what a leader does is they influence. I mean, I would define a leader as somebody who significantly influences the thoughts, the feelings, the emotions, and most importantly, the actions of people in the world. Some leaders are, you know, intense and loud and fast and crazy and insane, like me. Some are very quiet and just brilliant. You can have many styles. You sure as don't have to have my style to be a leader. I'm not the right kind of leader for everybody. I just have my style, and I'm me, and you need to be you.
I want you to know these principles work for anyone. What a leader does, they get people to take action. What a leader does is break through people's fears, the barriers, the beliefs, whatever stops them. A leader brings a larger vision for what's possible. A leader sells, they persuade people what's possible and get them to harness their true capacity to be and do and give more. So if you want to know what this is about, it's not about salesmanship. It's about being a leader, a person of influence. I mean, this is the same skill that a Mother Teresa has. If you ever had the privilege of meeting her, and I did have that unique privilege, you'd see this woman could move anyone. And it wasn't with technique. It was integrity and caring. This one loved those that nobody else seemed to love. And when somebody told her something couldn't be done for those that needed it, oh, get out of her way. She may have looked soft and sweet, but she was one tough lady. And what were her resources? She didn't have a great education. She didn't have any financial resources. She had love and caring, a drive to make a difference. She had the power to influence, and she used it daily.
I know so many people that, for example, in business or sales, their goal is to figure out how they can make enough money to get rid so they never have to work again. But I can tell you, by life experience, as well as the experience of so many of my most successful friends, that the real secret of life is do well enough that you don't have to work, and then you'll work even harder. It's just if you love what you do. You're not just doing it for the money. In fact, as soon as the money gets out of it, it's amazing what you can contribute. It's amazing how much more you enjoy things. So I hope this will help you to do well on all levels in your influence and your impact, and tapping your own drive, and hopefully make you a lot of money by giving you the ability to break through fears and limitations and serve people at the highest level. And in the midst of doing that, maybe you'll experience your own spiritual transformation, not religious, but spiritual, where you begin to realize what you're made for. That's what this is really about.
So I thought, "Okay, well, how can I add some more value besides breaking it down and making it usable, like making it a 10-day format you can do it while you're driving in your car?" And by the way, the way to use this is listen to this with what I call NET time. No Extra Time. That's what NET stands for for me. No Extra Time. Like when you're driving to work, you know, when you're working out or walking, or if you're cleaning the house, or you can pop it in your iPod and listen to it anywhere. The point of the matter is, you don't have to give up any time, and you can enjoy this process and learn rapidly, deeply. And you can repeat this program as many times as you want.
But the other added value I want to bring to you was another voice of interpretation. And I thought, "You know, who would be a person who could bring another perspective besides my own to this approach?" And the answer was obvious: my dear friend and colleague, Joseph McLendon III. I've known Joseph for almost 20 years. He came to a seminar one time early in my career. Uh, he and I connected. I walked up, introduced myself, and I just sensed that this man had a spiritual core, that he wasn't someone here to be a taker, he's here to be a giver. And he's funny. Ask Joseph and I have laughed more than almost anybody in my life, except probably my wife's age. So I thought, "What can we do? Let's bring another perspective. And let's give you each day a quick assignment so you really integrate this, so it isn't just learning more information, but you apply it, you get new habits, and you get new results."
So Joseph is going to join me in this kind of framing and interpreting and giving you those action plans each day. And I'm privileged to have him. And by the way, Joseph is a force in his own right. He's one of the most sought-after peak performance and personal development coaches in the business. Now, he conducts workshops and seminars on business and health. In fact, Joseph is a facilitator now for our Vital Life programs done around the nation and around the world. He also is the president, founder of his own companies, Acceleration Research Group, and he's been serving as an instructor at UCLA for the past 11 years. I could go on and on. In fact, he co-authored with me a rewrite of my first book, *Unlimited Power*. It's a later edition called *Unlimited Power of Black Choice*. What we wanted to do is take the principles into the African-American community by altering all the stories and using examples of role models from that community specifically. So Joseph is an amazing man. But I can tell you more and more and more about him. You should just meet him. All I can tell you is you're about to have a blast. Because if there's one thing Joseph wants to make sure is that people smile. So enjoy this program. Do one session a day for 10 days, and before you know it, you're going to be mastering the persuasion techniques that'll give you the influence to make the difference that you want to make in your business, in your personal life, and in your sales. So I'm not going to tell you anymore. Let's begin mastering persuasion techniques. Here's my dear friend and colleague, Joseph.
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McLendon: Hello and welcome to Mastering Influence. My name is Joseph McLendon III, and it is my privilege, my honor, to be your guide on this journey that has the potential to change the quality of your life forever. I know that sounds bold and grand, but as you listen on, I'm sure that you're going to find that the tools and the strategies that you're about to learn are so powerful that they not only have the ability to change who you are, but the people that you have the privilege of touching their lives.
So let me share with you just a couple of things as we get started. First off, influence comes in many, many forms, and there are a lot of opportunities to use them. And the greatest part about this is not only you're going to learn some techniques and some tools to influence people, but you'll have the ability to move people emotionally and impact how they feel. And your ability to impact them emotionally is your ability to move them in ways that'll not only benefit their lives, but the processional effect will change the people that are around them as well.
And you know, being around people that are of great influence and have talent and skills, especially in the areas that interest you, you can't help but have that stuff rub off on you. And when that person is an excellent teacher or coach and has the ability to give what they have from their heart to you, your learning process increases tenfold. You do what I call compressed time. And in this man's opinion, there is no better coach than my dear friend and soon to be your dear friend, Anthony Robbins. Tony and I have been friends for about two decades now, and the lessons and the things that I've learned from Tony have not only changed my life, but I'm proud to say that I've been able to go out into the world with, with my family, with my friends, whether it be sales, whatever it is, and be a part of the change in their lives for the better as well.
So my best wish for you is that what you get out of here is not only something that'll grow you as a person, but that you can go out into the world and make a difference as well. Because whether you're a salesperson or not, influence is one of the most important skills that you can master. And here's what I mean by that. In this world today, we live in an 11 trillion dollar economy in the US alone, and we all have instant access to anything that we want through the internet, cell phones, television, anything you can name. There are over 6 billion people that inhabit this planet right now, and as far as I'm concerned, you can probably get in touch with most of them with a phone call.
And with as many opportunities and great things there are in this world, we also have challenges. We have societies in conflict, natural disasters, environmental issues, wars, and a whole myriad of other personal issues. We need to be able to influence our governments, our communities, and each other. And probably most important, ourselves. Our ability to influence affects how we raise our children, how we advance in our jobs, how we maintain our relationships, our health, our finances, and foster relationships with others. The person who masters the skill of influence is the person who moves faster and easier through this world. Said differently, the person who masters the skill of influence is the person who can change the world.
And that's why Tony asked me to help guide you through this program. In the past 20 years that I've been in business, there's been no greater tool that has impacted my ability to influence and turn dreams into reality than learning the skills that you're going to learn here. A great example of that is this: several years ago, I had a wonderful opportunity to write a book with Tony. And as the idea came, I actually had to present that idea to Tony to see if he would go for it. And I am positive that he knew that I was using the things that he taught me to influence him to do the project. And the great result is, in the end, we came up with a best-selling book. And of course, that led to my being able to work side by side with Tony for several years and influence so many people and grow different businesses and do other things and branch out on my own as well. It's been an unbelievable journey, and it's my privilege and my honor to work side by side with such a great man.
So let me share with you what this means to you, and then let's get on with the program. First off, Tony Robbins recorded this program several years ago with a small studio audience, and we'll get to listen in and participate with that audience. And that's why Tony asked me to do this program with him, to help guide you through and apply these strategies specifically to your situation. So the way this program works is we're going to start with three sessions up front. And these three sessions are going to lay the vital groundwork for the 10 steps to increasing your sales, which are the core of this program. And what sets this program apart from any other program is what we call the psychology. We'll give you the mechanics too, meaning we're going to teach you how to do it, but it's the psychology that'll get you to follow through, especially during tough times. It's the psychology that'll make it part of who you are so that you do it naturally. And that's what these first three sessions are designed to help you master.
So let me share with you how to get the most out of this program. The program is a 10-day system. It's designed to do one session every day for the next 10 days. Now, you can spread it out over the next two weeks and take your week off. And if you're an overachiever like me and you want to do it faster, it's okay to do it over the next three or four days, just make sure you're very thorough about it and go through every single step. So no matter how much time you take to do this program, what will make this work for you is your commitment to following through on the exercises and actions. And it's important that you stop and do them. You'll hear me say that, you'll hear Tony say that over and over again. It is absolutely critical. And like Tony's other audio programs, it's designed to help you build momentum each day and train yourself in the tools necessary to become a master influencer.
Now, Tony's going to talk about five steps of mastery in the first session. Our goal is to get you to level five, where you've integrated all you've learned into your life so that it's habitual for you. Said differently, so that you do it automatically. Now, the other thing is, you're going to have a workbook. So use the workbook to write down the answers to the exercises and what you're learning. And then also, this is really cool, you'll have flashcards or what we call power tools, and they're designed for you to take with you on the run to support you with sales calls and important meetings with your boss, as well as issues that you may have in your personal life.
So before we get started, I want to share something with you. I don't know about you, but there have been things that have happened in my past that I really wanted to do and make sure that I got done, and I didn't always follow through. Well, here's the great thing about this program: that's what it's going to help you do. It's going to help you master that skill of commitment, following through, making sure that you get done the things that you're committed to. Because to me, that's half the battle already won: showing up and doing it and being able to follow through on those things. And that's exactly what you're going to learn here.
So as we get started, I got one more thing to share with you, and it's my little secret, if you will, to getting really the best out of the program. I mean, if you, if you want to just go through it, it'll be great, it'll be awesome and stuff like that. But if you want it to be outstanding, which I know you do, I'm going to share with you a real, real powerful secret and tool to use as you go through this. But it's our little secret, okay? So I can't say it loud. Lean in close to the speaker. Step over the edge. When Tony asks a question, don't just say the answer, yell the answer back. If he says to interact with four people, do eight. If five times will get the result, do 10. Step over the edge.
So let's get started with the session that's going to guarantee outstanding results for you with the rest of this program. Session One: Commitment, Your Greatest [Music] Power.
I believe you deserve to have everything you've ever really wanted. I believe that all your desires are things you're meant to have and be and share and create in your life. And I want you to have those choices. And the reason I want you to have those choices is because I have the unique privilege in my life to do, be, share, create, have, and experience all the things that I used to wish for. And I want you to know, to start this program, that that's what this program is about. That the power to influence, I believe, is the single most important element or skill that you can master in your lifetime to literally have the power to shape destiny, to literally be able to alter the quality of life for yourself or for anybody that you really care about. And that's my purpose in this program. Not just to teach you a bunch of sales techniques. We'll certainly learn those. We'll learn foundation. We'll do some of the things that all selling is about. But I want you to know right from the start that the purpose of this program is to increase the quality of your life and to give you an opportunity, you and I together, to explore some new technology, some new distinction, some new ways of looking at what is really possible.
Because when I look at my life today, and it is, it's so radically different from where I was five or six years ago, and there's only one common denominator I keep coming back to, and that is the power to influence. If you think about the people who have shaped our society, you think of John F. Kennedy, or Martin Luther King, um, you think of people in our present-day society, you think of even entertainers, you think of anyone that you really respect or you think has made a difference. And I would say to you that really, what gives them their power is their ability to influence people's thinking. So that's what this program is about, and I'm excited about sharing it with you because I've spent the last 10 years of my life really looking for those answers, primarily because I was unsatisfied with what was going on in my life. I mean, if you don't know my story and where I'm coming from, I was not exactly living my dreams. I was in a position where I was broke in every sense of the word: emotionally, physically, and of course, financially. I was in a position where I was in relationships with people I really didn't want to be in relationship with, but you know, I didn't have the strength to even influence myself to take the actions that could change the quality of my life, to do what would be necessary to make things happen. You know, I was in a position where I was overweight. I'd gained 38 pounds in 2 and a half months, and I couldn't even influence myself to be able to eat in an effective way that would give me some energy to make my life the way I wanted it to be. I certainly couldn't get myself to work consistently in the process of selling and be effective, and I had all of the pain that was associated to that.
So I'm excited about sharing with you these technologies. One, so you can avoid pain, so you can get rid of maybe some of the things that have stopped you in the past, so you can really begin to influence yourself before you try and influence somebody else. And secondly, I'm excited about you having the fun of influence. One of the things that I hope that this course will create for you is tremendous excitement when somebody says no, not because you want to close them, but because you want to create a new possibility where possibilities were shut down.
This last Christmas, I remember, you know, there were all kinds of things I wanted to do for my family and for my friends and gifts I wanted to get, and I ran into all these people said it couldn't happen. There's absolutely no way. In a minute, somebody says, "There's absolutely no way." I know that's an opportunity for me to get to play. I get to use my skills and show this person, not manipulate them, but show them that there's a greater possibility than they've seen in the past. That to me is what influence is about, and that's what we're going to explore. And it won't be the same old, you know, sales skills you and I have heard so much like, "Have a positive mental attitude," and, you know, "Pull out your Ben Franklin clothes when they get stuck," and things like that. And those are useful, but what we're going to really look at is the psychology of how to change the way people feel and the way they behave. And we are going to start with ourselves. We're going to start by figuring out how to persuade ourselves so that we can persuade other people.
I believe that to influence other people, we must first be influenced. And so we're going to spend a good deal of time in this program on influencing ourselves to start with, before we ever talk about how to influence other people. I want you to know also that the skills and strategies you're going to be learning are not just things that I pulled out of a hat. And specifically, I've interviewed almost a hundred people now, and these people are the top 1%. And so I'm going to share with you what they believe selling is, and you're going to be surprised to hear what they say. They don't believe it's closing. In fact, one of the common beliefs amongst top producers is, "If you have to close hard in the end, it's because you haven't done your job up front." So we're going to talk about the exact process that's caused them to really begin to succeed at that deep, deep level. And I'm excited about this being a learning experience for us both, to really learn together, to explore together, rather than just being some presentation I put together and just throw at you. So I hope you participate fully, and that you make new distinctions, and that you also really make, if anything, this program should do is hopefully make you think. If it makes you think, then, um, we're going to create some real changes, and we're going to be able to increase the quality of our lives.
Persuasion, for me, really means that you don't just get better at making income, but also you'll become maybe a better parent if you've got kids, you become a better spouse, you become a better friend, that you really have the ability to make a difference at the deepest level. So let's get to how would, what would it take to make that happen? Well, first of all, I'd say the big thing it's going to take is having some initial impact. And I believe that there are really five steps we go through to be able to master something, and that's really what I'm looking at here. I want you to be able to master persuasion. And master is an ongoing process. It never ends. You can count on it for the rest of your life. You're going to have to continue to refine yourself. It's not like you went to this program and now the lessons are over, but I want this program to give you a foundation and give you an opportunity to commit yourself at a level you've never done before over the period of time of this course.
What if you were to commit yourself to give more, do more, create more, make more sales calls, and be more appreciative and caring with your clients than ever before? If nothing else, I look at this as an opportunity for you to commit at a deeper level than you have to really being excellent, to really being the highest aspect of who you are as a person. I believe that professional selling is coming from a place where your number one focus is helping that customer or client to get what they really need, not your number one focus is how can you make a commission, or number one focus is closing the sale. And I believe that if you come from a place of deep caring, developing a strong relationship with the people that you're meeting, that you used to call customers and hopefully you very soon think of as friends, you look for their deepest needs, not just what they say they want, but what their gut level wants and needs, and you help them to meet that through your product, there will be no limit to the income that you have. There'll be no limit to the joy that you have. There'll be no limit to the deep friendships that you have. And I can say that from experience. My real wealth is the level of depth and emotion that I get to share with people around me, people I care about and who care about me, people I would do anything for, and probably do anything for me. That bond and that connection has come from my ability to influence myself and influence other people in a positive and powerful way. And as a result, the money has come.
So what are the steps? Five steps. Step number one: to create a change in your life, to make things the way you want them, you need some initial impact. And that's what this program is. It's designed to really shake you up a little bit, make you really think about what are the aspects of selling and of persuading that maybe you're leaving out. A lot of times in selling, what we do is we get all focused on closing, we get all focused on things that really aren't making the biggest difference. I want to challenge you in this course not to major in minor things. I want us to major in the majors. And I believe the majors are things like you being able to influence in the first place, like your ability to really connect where somebody knows they can trust you and that you really have their best interest at heart. Um, I really believe that if we can create focus on the majors, and if I can impact you to think differently, to approach selling differently, then we can really make a change in our ability and our skill. So that's what this program is about, is get you some initial impact, trigger you to remember things you already know, and offer you some new skills that can take you to another level.
Second thing is, after the initial impact, though, it's going to require some repetition. And the repetition is really the foundation of how we create mastery. We're going to say some things that you already know, and we're going to repeat them, and you might say, "You know, why is he saying that again? I got that." Because I believe repetition is the mother of skill. That if you do something over and over and over again, you become a master. And the difference between amateurs, people who never get what they really want in their life, and people who are the best, people who are number one, people who are truly living excellence, as people are living excellence, are willing to commit and just do whatever it takes, and they're willing to do the same things over and over again and not be bored by it. Nothing is boring in life unless you're boring. You're the one that makes it boring or not boring. And so you have an opportunity in this course to hear things for the first time, and then hear them again and again and again, and until they're embedded. I mean, think about it. What's something you're good at? Tying your shoes. You're pretty confident at that, aren't you? Why are you confident tying your shoes? How come you're so good at it? Because you've done it a million times. You don't go, "God, this is boring. Do I have to tie my shoes?" It's just part of what you do in order to get your day going. And the same thing is going to be true with some of the things that we talk about here. So my challenge is, be a professional. Understand repetition is for the rest of your life. You're going to need it. I mean, I talk to people all the time who come to seminars, and invariably they tell me things like, "Well, gosh, you know, I went to this other seminar and it didn't work. You know, I tried it and it didn't work." And I think to myself, "What do you mean it didn't work?" You went to this person's seminar, I'm sure it gave you some value, but you got to do something every day. It's like, I want to be physically fit. To be physically fit, this morning I got up with my three hours sleep. That's not something I support, but I had three hours sleep, and I still exercised. I still got up and did my exercise. My outcome is, I exercise every single day. Now, every day. And the reason I do that is if I want to have the energy and the drive and the power, then I got to be willing to pay the price of conditioning myself to have that choice. I got to pay some price. And it's repetition. And if you think about it, what most people do in life is they want this quick fix. They want, "Oh, I went to the seminar and everything's over for the rest of my life now. Everything is perfect." If that's what you came here for, you might want to leave now because that's not what this is going to be about. What this program is going to be about is teaching you some fundamentals you can practice every single day to condition yourself to succeed. See, we got to condition ourselves to succeed. Most of us have been conditioned to fail. We have all these environmental things that trigger us to give up or say, "Gosh, it's too hard," or "It's too tough," or "It's too boring." And I'm going to challenge you not to do that. You wouldn't go out and do aerobics one time and go, "God, I'm glad that's over. I'll be fit for life." You got to do it daily. And so the same thing is true here. And we're going to have some repetition.
The third aspect that we're going to do, besides having obviously the impact and repetition, is we got to get you to utilize it. So there will be a lot of, there'll be a lot of exercises in this program that is designed to make you have to apply it. And I'm going to give you some exercises to do on the job, do in your career. And I'm going to ask you to really, don't just, you know, say, "Well, gosh, I'll do it someday." Really, absolutely go and utilize it right away because that's how we get to mastery. We have to apply it over and over again, not just repeat it in our head, not just repeat it by hearing it, but repeat it in our daily lives. And so we're going to make sure that you utilize this stuff. A lot, a lot of this course will be me just queuing a couple of ideas up, stop, and immediately get you to do something with it right then and there. And I'm going to ask you to really go for it and utilize things. Even if you don't think, "Well, you know, but gosh, I sell in the corporate world and that sounds like only something that would work with people one-on-one," or "I'm in telemarketing, you know, how is changing the use of my body going to affect that person when they can't see me?" Or you might say, "Well, that might work for, you know, a computer salesman, but that's not going to work for me as an insurance salesman." I'd ask you to be willing to try it anyway. Would you be willing to try that? Just come from the place of, "Alright, I'm going to give it a shot and see what happens." That's all I ask. And I think you're going to find the results that'll come from that will be much greater than you expect.
Fourth key is, after you have impact, you've got repetition, you've utilized something over and over again, then step four is what's going to happen is you're going to begin to integrate it. And when you begin to integrate it, what happens is you start to get to the point where you don't have to think about things. Boom, it just happens. And that's not a lot of effort. And you'll see over the course of this program, what'll happen is the things we did first tier, all of a sudden they'll become automatic. You'll find yourself automatically handling an objection without even having to think about it. It's fun, it's easy, you begin to enjoy it. I'm asking you here to be absolutely committed to mastering this, to going until. And by doing all these steps, you'd say, "Okay, now I've got it made." Right? Wrong. There is a fifth step. And that fifth step is reinforcement. And the reinforcement part is going to be something I'm going to ask you to do on your own. That is, we're going to give you some exercises, but you've got to make sure that you remember that if you don't use something, you lose it. I don't care how much you understand it. I don't care how many years you've been doing it. The only way to stay good is continue to use that muscle.
Now, how do we get from a level of brand new at something and not very good to a level of mastery? Well, these are five steps, but the process looks more like this. Process of learning, according to Abraham Maslow, starts with everyone in a particular location called unconscious incompetence. That is, people get in a place where they're brand new at something, and they don't even know that they don't know how to do it. They don't even know that they're not competent. Be like a little kid who doesn't even know he doesn't know how to tie his shoes. That's not bad, it's not wrong, just what it is. The bottom line, though, is hopefully you get out of that place and move to at least step two, called conscious incompetence.
Conscious incompetence is when you now know that you don't know something. What happens is this child doesn't know how to tie a shoe, and one day keeps tripping over his shoelaces, smacking his face in the dirt, and has what we call an "aha" experience where he looks around and says, "Gosh, these guys aren't, you know, falling down. I wonder why?" And he says, "Well, they know how to tie their shoes, and I don't." So as a result, what happens is he starts to now, at least know that he doesn't know something. You've probably had to deal with people who didn't know something and didn't know they didn't know, and that kind of bothered you since you did. But hopefully, they will do what you and I have done, being such advanced creatures that we are, and we moved at least to number three, which is conscious competence.
Conscious competence means you now know you're not competent, so you work at it. You find something, you grind it out, you apply something new. The guy's tying his shoes, and sure enough, he learns how to do it. But this is the stage when you tied your shoes and your tongue was had to be sticking outside your mouth at a certain angle, you know, and if somebody started talking, you went, "Shh, can't you see I'm tying my shoes?" You know, and all your focus was there to pull it off. And some of the skills we're going to give you when they're brand new, we're going to give you some weird words like we're going to teach you how to get people's attention by screaming PIGS. A nice acronym that you can use. S is going to be for Smiling, C is for Compliments. And you're going to go, "Oh God, do I have to remember this garbage?" Just push yourself through that mode. Get beyond it. Just say, "Okay, I'm going to keep doing it and doing it because I know I'll end up at level four, which is our goal: unconscious confidence."
Unconscious confidence is when you are a master, when you don't have to think about it anymore, when you can just do something and it happens. Where somebody says, "Absolutely, there's no way on Earth," and you have this inner smile. Or they say, "No," and you actually smile. You go, "No," and they look at you kind of funny, and you begin to actually have an input right away with them, and you don't even have to think about how to do it. So this is our goal, and this is what we're going for.
Now, how can we approach making sure that that happens? And what are the elements really that make the difference? Well, number one is making a decision. If you want real power, power isn't just deciding right now and committing yourself to mastery. And I know that sounds simplistic, and it is. But if you really make a decision, what the word "decision" means is to cut off from anything else. If you make a decision that I'm going to cut off any other possibility but mastering this material during the time of this course, that I'm going to leave this course absolutely effective in using the cutting-edge technology of how to change people and influence people, including myself, if that is an absolute necessity for you, you will absolutely succeed.
Now, I'm going to share with you the results of my modeling project. That is, in interviewing hundreds of some of the best salespeople, literally, in the world. What is it that all these people have in common? What is it that all these people do consistently that makes them so successful? And I think you're going to be rather surprised when you hear what it is. It's probably not what you think. I thought the answer would be that they're the best closers, that they really had the most skill, they knew how to handle objections better than anybody else. I found out that was not the single most important thing. They were good at closing, but invariably, the thing that set them apart from all the rest was not that they were more skilled, not that they had more ability, but that they used more of their ability because of one thing they all had in common. Each one of these men and women had developed compelling enough reasons to tap their full ability or skill every single day. They had found reasons to drive themselves to give 1,000% and above. When everybody else quit, they were still going strong. Not just in hours, but in level of commitment to excellence. Compelling reasons is the difference between an amateur, somebody average, or someone who is the very best in the world. But you got to find the reasons to do so.
So I talk to salespeople, invariably, a lot of times what they tell me is they say, "You know, Tony, I really love my product and I really love these things, but, you know, I'm just lazy." And what I tell people is, "You're not lazy. You just have infinite goals. You don't have anything that's driving you. You don't have anything to push you to get you up early and keep you up late." The number one thing that I found these people, especially the people earning a quarter of a million dollars a year or more, I'm talking about movers and shakers in their industry, the top one quarter of 1% of the entire industry. Those people are compelling people because they're compelled. They have goals and dreams. They are selling not just to make money. They are selling not just to win a contest. They are selling because for them, it is the process of what life is about. It's about leaving their mark and having an impact. It's about getting people in a place that's better than they were. It's about creating new choices. And they are driven by it. And when I interview salespeople that are struggling, the number one thing that comes up instantly is they don't have enough reasons. I'm here to tell you that if you
Listen to nothing else I say in this entire program. With this, this could affect your life more than anything else, and that is this: 80% of success in selling and influencing, or virtually anything else in life, comes down to finding a big enough why, and 20% is figuring out how. See, why comes first, how comes second.
When you go sit down with a customer, if you could really get a big enough why, where in your gut you believe that them having this product is the most important thing, it's 10 times more important than the minor inconvenience of time or money, or the hassle. It will make a change. If you believe that in your gut, and you don't know anything about closing, I guarantee you can influence that person. But you've got to get that why, and you've got to get a big enough why to get yourself out of bed in the morning and meet a new person.
I'm talking to you right now because I'm compelled. I want, in my own little way, to have this hallucination that I've impacted the quality of your life by some ideas I shared with you, and that you went and used. And that drives me. I believe that that feeling that I have right now can influence you to be a more powerful persuader. Also, just like that feeling inside of you can influence anyone else to do what you want, to make a difference in their life. And if you do that, you'll have all the income you can imagine.
But that's the number one common denominator amongst all top producers. They are compelled to be the best. They have lots of reasons. It's about being the best. It's about giving. It's about sharing. For some people, it's about glorifying God. For some people, it's about discipline. But you need to find what is the most compelling aspect of life that will drive you to be your best. And we're going to do some exercises here to help you discover that. So if you say, "Well, gosh, you know, I don't know what that is," you will know by the end of this program.
So there are 10 strategies that each of these people shared in common. And the strategies vary, but I can give you a few of them. First of all, the number one strategy that all these people share is they have the ability to affect their own emotional state. Selling is transference of emotion. And if you're in a situation where, uh, you're frustrated, you're angry, you've made a call, somebody treated you harshly, and you don't manage your state, state it shows up in the next call you make. It shows up in the next person that you're with, and it affects your income and the quality of your life.
Every one of these top producers has an ability to really manage his own state. Secondly, he's learned to manage the customer's state. You can be all pumped up and you're all excited and be over-gradient. You've got to be able to enter somebody else's world and take them from wherever they are. Maybe they're a little afraid about you. Maybe they don't trust you. Maybe they, you're what they call a salesperson, and they know what that means, and they don't want any part of that. You've got to be able to change their states, a little bit of their way of looking at you.
And we're going to teach you ways of doing it, not by learning just a bunch of words, but how to do it by using non-verbal techniques, the way you use your voice, the way you gesture, the way you look at them, by the questions that you ask them. What are some ways that you can trigger them to immediately change the way they feel without them even knowing you're the source of it, in order to support them in feeling better and being able to really hear your message?
Thirdly, what you really got to be able to do is have strategies for preparation. Most salespeople have call reluctance. And call reluctance just says, if somebody's reluctant you to make a call, what they're saying to me is they're not prepared. See, I have no problem with call reluctance, not 'cause I'm this stud, although I am. No, seriously, because I know who this person is and I'm calling on. So I have no reluctance because they're a friend. I've got an idea of who they are, what are they about? I try and find out from the people I'm getting referrals from, what is the core of this person? What is their life about? And what do I like about that? What do I like about this person before I even meet them? So I want to meet them. Number one, and I'm prepared. I know who this person is. I know what my product is. I know how I can benefit them. And I gut, I believe it before I ever walk in the door.
And you go, "Well, Tony, what if I'm cold calling, just knocking on doors?" I can still be prepared. Because if I'm going to walk into an office, I know the kind of person that's going to be there overall. I know the kinds of desires and needs that people have in a particular area of business. And so I can picture in my mind what they're like. So I have no call reluctance. So we're going to talk about how to prepare yourself, both physically, so you know enough about the customer, emotionally, so you're ready, so you know no matter what objection they give you, you're prepared.
Because I'm curious, when somebody says to you things like, "Well, uh, I really need to think it over, call me in a week," or somebody says, "I'm just not interested," or somebody says, "You know, it just costs too much and I, I can't do it, not now." What's your emotional response? Do you kind of think inside, or you go, "Oh, great! I get to show them a new possibility." Right? That's the, what I want you to have. And I want you to have tons of ways to change it, not just this one close you've learned.
Fourth strategy is strategies for effective prospecting. Not only preparing, but what do you do when you meet the prospect so that you can immediately get their attention? Let me just say this to you: I don't want to just have you learn how to sell. I want you to learn how to enjoy selling. There's a big difference. In my life, it used to be my goal was to achieve things. And I got really good at setting goals and achieving them. But I don't know if you've noticed what's happened in your life, at least happened in my life, and that is I set these big goals and I went and I achieved them. And once I got them, I said, "Is this all there is?" You know, it's like, anywhere from the first five days to maybe the first 55 days, it was wonderful. But after that, it was like, "Well, it's nice."
And so what I've begun to realize in my life is that I used to be so outcome-oriented that that's what my whole life was about. And if something happened, I didn't get things the way I wanted, right? That moment, I'd be stressed. What I've learned to do is really learn to enjoy the process while I commit and get the outcome. You know, life is a process, not an outcome, not a goal. And so I think it's important we live it along the way. So I want to share with you not just how to influence people, but how can you really thoroughly enjoy it? That's part of my outcome here with you. So knowing how to thoroughly enjoy prospecting is as important as knowing how to prospect. And it's more important, in my mind, than just being effective at it. Be effective and enjoy it.
Fifth strategy I've got here for you is the strategies of building trust. How do you walk into a stranger in a couple moments and absolutely have this person bond with you, feel like they're your best friend? And all of these top salespeople have that ability, and they do it in a variety of ways. And we're going to offer those for you.
Sixth strategy I got for you here is ways to create interest that lasts, not just the initial moments, but will last throughout your sales presentation, so they want to hear what you have to say. Because one of the biggest mistakes that these top producers say they see other salespeople make is they start to go on their presentation before they've really built any real interest. This, the person, the prospect, is not interested yet. They're, they've got a meek level of interest. The top producers make them hungry to hear what they're going to say before they ever begin to actually speak about it.
Sixth strategy, or seventh strategy rather, is strategies for qualifying the prospect. What I want to teach you in terms of qualifying is not to find out, do they have any money? Not to find out how many bedrooms and how many baths they have. Not to find out what their past policies were like. What I want you to find out is the core emotion that drives this person, that they want more than anything in life. What is the core emotional needs? What I call is their emotional reasons for buying right now. What would be the most intense emotional need this person has in life? And then teach them how to get that need met through your product. What is a hurt, an emotional need that they have that they want to heal? I believe that selling really is finding a need and interest somebody has, turning it into a real need, and disturbing the prospect, letting them get the feeling that, "Hey, I don't have this, and I want to have this be a part of my life," so that they're motivated. Because I believe selling is motivation. And so the process of really finding out some deepest needs is what I call qualifying.
Next strategy, a strategy for really giving them the way to justify buying. You know, it's not enough to get somebody emotionally excited or like they really want it. They've got to be able to, after they get emotionally excited, they've got to be able to justify it. Have you ever had a product like, God, you were really excited about it and you really wanted it, but you just didn't do it? I would suggest to you the reason was because you couldn't justify it. And these people who were the best persuaders have incredible strategies for showing people how to justify being able to do almost anything. By the way, if people are motivated enough, they'll help you to justify for them.
And last two are strategies for closing and commitments. How do we take any kind of objection somebody can give us and turn it around with ease, and where they enjoy it? The top persuaders do not answer objections. They take people's objections and they convert them into questions. You can't answer an objection, but you can answer a question. And there's a big emotional difference between answering an objection and answering a question. We're going to teach you the techniques that they use to do that. You'll find them very powerful, and you'll enjoy again handling objections. Somebody gives you an objection, you go, "Oh, there's a question that needs to be answered," and you'll be able to have that person feel like, "All it is is a question, not an objection."
And lastly, how do you make sure that you button up the sale? That is, how do you make sure that this sale is going to last? So that when you walk back outside that door, that you aren't in a situation where you're trying to figure out how you're going to make sure that it stays in there, you're not going by and, you know, checking your phone messages to see if they've called to say, "Well, we've changed our mind." Well, you absolutely know that sale is going to last, and this person is going to help you to get multiple sales. That the time you spend here doesn't end with the few moments you spent with them, but moves on.
Now, we've talked about a couple of things. We want to increase the quality of life. I want you to take control of the strongest power that I know of to shape destiny: the power to influence. And we've said that what it's going to take is some initial impact. You said it's going to take some repetition, some utilization. You'll begin to integrate it, and then you just got to keep reinforcing it because you got to make sure you daily condition yourself to succeed. We said that we're going to go from maybe not even knowing how to do some of this stuff, and in the beginning modes where we're, you know, not very good at it, we're kind of like working for conscious competence. It might not feel real good, but we're going to hang in there till we get unconsciously competent because we're absolutely committed.
I hope by now you've made the decision to master this material. If you haven't, decide now whether you're going to or not. And if you decide not to, that's okay with me. But I think the person that will be cheated would be you. Decide that you'll do whatever it takes, and then let's make five commitments right now.
Number one commitment is commitment to stretch yourself. What do I mean by stretch yourself? Stretch to me is a philosophy. It means if I can't do something, then I must do it. And the bottom line then is, if you find yourself saying, "I can't do this exercise," "Oh God, you know, I can't do that with my kind of customer," "Oh, you know, that's silly," or "I'm not going to do that, it sounds dumb." What I'm asking you to do is say, "If I can't, then I must." And the value of doing that is you get to discover what you're really capable of. You know, most of the success that I've experienced in my life has come from me by living by this philosophy, by saying, "God, I really can't do that." Boom, then I must. And just going for it and finding out, "Hey, I'm capable of a lot more than I ever dreamed of before."
And that stretching means stretching yourself in this class. Stretching means that you manage your own state, that you keep yourself in a focused place so you can get the most out of this program. Stretching means I'm going to ask you to make this specific commitment. I want you to be willing, and I want you to think about it. Don't do it just because I'm saying it. Really think about it. But I don't want, if you be willing that for the period of time of 30 days, 30 days, that you will double the number of prospecting calls that you make during those 30 days. In other words, whatever you're presently making, you'll just double them.
The reason I ask you to do this is a couple things. One is obvious: if you don't do anything else in this course but that, what will happen to your income? Right? That's all you do. Secondly, if you're making twice as many calls, you'll be willing to experiment. You won't be losing out on anything. If I give you something to do and you say, "Gosh, I don't know if I can do that. What if it doesn't work?" Well, you're not out anything. These are people you never would have talked to anyway, right? So what the heck, go for it. So I'm asking you to do that. And I want you to decide what you're going to do that. And if you are, you've got to write down why you're going to do it. Because I want to tell you something: I think persuasion is the process of getting people to do things for their reasons, not yours. See, if I say, "Here's why you should do it," I may influence you, I may not, because that may be my reason and not yours.
If you want to get yourself to follow through in life, you know, like when people set goals, their biggest problem is they write down the goal, but they don't write down enough reasons to get it. The goal is not what drives us, it's the reasons that drive us. So under each one of the commitments, I want you to think about why are you really committed. Don't just say, "Okay, I'm committed." Why? Because I want you to know that consequences, that is positive and negative consequences, are what drive all our behaviors. Whatever we associate. See, if you associate doubling those numbers of calls, if you associate to that, "Oh God, more work, plus I'm going to these classes," right? Then it's pretty clear how you're going to behave. The consequences you've associated or linked are not real supportive of you emotionally.
But if you associate doubling the number of calls as being creative, getting a chance to be outrageous, getting a chance to have some fun, getting a chance to maybe try some things you didn't think would work and discover that you've got some new choices, maybe doubling your income, maybe doing more than doubling your income, because just by making twice as many calls doesn't mean you get twice as many sales. As you do things more and more and more, synergy comes into play, and all of a sudden you'll get even better. So what you link to this is going to determine what you really do. So write down some reasons to convince yourself, just like you're going to convince clients. You're going to convince clients by giving them emotional reasons to do things, and you're also going to give them logical reasons to do things. I call them urban and luran, emotional reasons to buy now, and logical reasons to buy now. And we're going to use those terms. And the thing you fight is people have dominant reasons to avoid buying or doing anything. We call that drab. So we're going to talk about urban, lurbon, and drab. You'll remember those words.
Here's a second commitment I want you to make. Second commitment is, I want you to commit to be totally responsible for what you get out of this program. And what I mean by that is, a lot of people hold responsibility as this heavy negative thing. I mean, take charge. I mean that whatever is going on in the material, if you think, "Well, gosh, I don't know if that's what something I need," take charge. Demand from yourself the ability to get what you need. Be responsible. I want this program to be the best thing you've ever gone to, but I can't do that by myself. I need you to make the commitment to say, "I'm going to get what I came here for." And you've got tons of resources. You've got me right here sharing with you what I know is most important. The things you and I are going to discover together during the process. So what this is, this seminar is not about me teaching you. This is about experiencing and discovering the most important aspects of how to influence yourself and other people. So take advantage of all the resources that are here, and take advantage of the opportunity to apply what you've learned, which is probably the most powerful resource.
Third commitment: Commit to being flexible. Flexibility is the ultimate power. Because what I found is in dealing with human beings, the person who's most flexible controls the situation. See, if you come along and you, you know, bring up an objection, and I've only got one or two ways to handle that, then you may be able to dominate the situation because you're more flexible than me. You've got more ways to handle my trying to handle your objection. Flexibility means being able to embrace things in a way where you look at things where you see a new possibility continuously, where you're never stuck. You never say, "Well, that's, I've tried everything." If you ever say to yourself, "I've tried everything," remember, you're lying. You couldn't have tried everything, or you've gotten the result. Now, some things you may not want to try, but know that there is always a way if you're flexible enough. You want to keep changing your approach. In fact, I'd say to you that in order to be successful, we've got to: number one, know our outcome. We've got to know what we're trying to accomplish in a given situation. Two, we've got to get ourselves to take action, so we're not just hanging out there going, "Yeah, well, this is what I want to do someday, I'll do it." Three, we've got to know what we're getting. You know, are we getting closer to our goal or further away? And then four, we've got to be willing to change our approach, change our approach, change our approach until we get the result with a client. So if I know this is the result I want with a client, and I just try something, anything, and I'm smart enough not to just keep doing it, but notice whether it's working or not. If it's not working, change. And you're going to find by that simple four-step formula alone, you can make some radical changes in your sales. As simplistic as that sounds.
And our last one, number four: Commit to being a team player. And what I mean by being a team player is, a high-pressure salesperson is, by definition, a person whose number one focus is always on what are they getting out of the situation personally? How can they make the commission? How can they close the sale? And their income usually reflects that they're not extremely successful, not long-term, not in today's society. A person who's a professional is a team player. What I mean by that is their professionalism comes from the fact that their number one focus is the customer first, last, always. What is the customer's needs? What's really best for them right now? If a customer gives me an objection, rather than saying, "I got to crush the objection," the question I ask is, "In spite of their concern, is there much more value here than the concern they're bringing up?" And if in my gut I believe that's true, I will go until, until I persuade that person. And not all cases, but in most cases, I will succeed because I'm coming from that place. And the customer knows that as well.
And by the way, these five commitments are designed to make you more effective in your life and more effective in this environment. See, if you're in a position where you're committing to stretching yourself, and you're going to stretch yourself, you're going to go for longer hours than maybe you normally do, you'll do whatever it takes, you'll go out and apply things, you'll do some silly, stupid things I'm going to ask you to do. When I ask you a question, I'm with you right now in the room. If you're hearing me and you're experiencing me, I'm with you right now. So when I ask a question, you respond back out loud. What happens is, if you hear something, you remember part of it. If you hear it and you write it down, you remember more of it. You hear it, you write it down, and you say it out loud, you'll remember much more of it because you've recorded on three levels in your head. And if you yell it back out, or if you're a little outrageous or playful, it makes it even more unique, and you'll remember that idea even more strongly.
Here's the last commitment, number five: I want you to consistently commit to being at a high level of energy during this program. Every peak performer that I've met, they're not only flexible, they're not only committed to do whatever it takes, but somehow, no matter what's going on around them, they manage the state, they manage to keep their energy at the level that it really deserves to be. It isn't always easy. It is always worth it. The more you give, the more you're going to receive. The more you put into this program, the more you're going to get out.
Right now, think about what it really means to be a person of influence. Think about what does it really mean to be able to change the way people feel, the way they behave, and the quality of their life. Think about if that's something that's worth putting some hours in, putting some energy in, putting some effort in, putting some discipline into. And if you are absolutely committed, then make it the same level of commitment as you have to survive. Because when I ask most people, I said, "What would you do to survive?" Most people go, "Survive? Huh? I'd do anything." You know, "No kidding. Guess why so many people survive?" You know, because they're committed, right? They're committed to surviving. It's a must for them.
Well, what would happen if you were as committed to succeeding as you were to surviving? What would your life be like? Would your income be different? Would your level of happiness be different? Would you treat people better? Would you treat yourself better? So my challenge to you right now is, commit to excellence. Commit for the time we're going to be here together to demanding more of yourself than anybody else could ever expect. And if you live by that idea of demanding more than anybody else could ever expect, then there's absolutely literally no limit to the level of success and joy and happiness you can have in your life.
So I'm excited about us beginning this journey together. And let's begin. Let's start right now, just by making five commitments. And then let's come back here and let's go through the process of selling and see what it really looks like. What is this process really about? Not the old way we heard it, but what is really the dynamic aspect of selling as we can see it now by studying the best persuaders, literally in the world.
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Hi, it's Joseph back with you again. Was that awesome or what? Listen, did you make the commitments to yourself? Those five commitments? I hope you did. What would happen to the quality of your life if you lived by those commitments every day?
Now, before we go today, you'll recall that Tony talked about the top 10 strategies the best 100 salespeople in the world share in common. We'll be going through these steps in this program. In the meantime, I want to ask you, do you remember the single most important difference between the best salespeople and everybody else? It's compelling reasons. So don't leave this session until you've given yourself some compelling reasons to follow through. Take a moment right now. If you're in the car, pull over. Jump off the treadmill. Do whatever it takes and write down why this is a must for you to master. How will it impact the quality of your life and those that you care about? Pause the audio right now. Take this time and do it.
Okay, did you do it? I hope you did. If you didn't, please shut the audio off right now and go back and do it. It's imperative. If you did, congratulations. What reasons did you come up with? Are they juicy and compelling to you? Remember, sometimes words like "kick butt, take names," or "let's rock," or "do it now," or "step up," have much more impact than a phrase like, "to foster growth in my business acumen in order to create an upward trend in my company's forecasted plan." No, it should be something like, "I am the sales king. I kick butt and take names. I walk this planet knowing that wherever I go, I have the ability to influence people and not just get what I want, but walk away with 10 times more." Yeah, now that works.
So whatever your reasons are, and they're different for each of us, be sure to keep them in front of you each day and stay associated to the why of what you're doing. Now, let's get to it. Be sure to finish up your assignment and review those five commitments, and I'll see you tomorrow on your next session when we'll learn about what makes people really [Music] buy.