Pay attention to your attention

September 30, 2006 at 08:00 PM
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Knowing the answers to these questions could impact your sales success more than you can imagine, not only for today but for the rest of your career.

In my last column, I shared with you how you could "be in the zone anytime you want" and "double your closing ratio." I said there was a master skill that all people who excel were tapping into, often unconsciously.

The key to being in the zone and doubling your closing ratio is the same: attention.

Right now as you are reading these words you are doing so through the power of your attention. Let's try an experiment to get you in touch with this power. For a moment, focus on your left big toe. Did you notice you have a left big toe? Good. So I could say you have a left big toe but you weren't paying attention to it, couldn't I? I could also say you have an attention, right? Wrong. If you observe closely, you will see you don't have an attention – your attention has you.

Are you asking, "What does attention have to do with sales?" Think back to a time when someone was talking to you and you were "acting" like you were listening as you either thought about what you were going to say or drifted to other topics (hopefully) related to what the person was saying. Well, I have bad news for you. The last person you thought you were selling – the one who said, "That sounds interesting, I'll think about it" – wasn't paying attention. In most cases, that is French for "I was drifting while you were talking and I am uncomfortable making a decision knowing I wasn't really paying attention."

I want to give you an unusual but powerful coaching assignment that will begin to make an immediate difference for you. I want you to "pay attention to your attention." I want you to ask yourself, "How much control do I really have over my attention?"

The No. 1 reason you lose sales is because the other person is not really listening and often is not really focused. As you read my next column and begin to learn how to gain "command" over your attention, you will begin to increase the number of times you find yourself in the zone. Once you gain "mastery" over your attention, you will be able to have a profound impact on other people on deeply subconscious levels where the "real" sale takes place … in the mind and heart of the buyer.

What is the No. 2 reason you lose sales? Understanding that requires that you first study your attention and see for yourself how little control you have over your attention. As you advance with me through each article you will be given the access you need to literally double your closing ratio.

By the way, if you made it through this article without drifting, getting lost or debating with me in your head, I want to congratulate you. If not, just keep reading these columns and you will be surprised at what you discover about yourself and others.

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