Sales April 10, 2012

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Daily updates are between 9:45AM and 3:00PM PST. ***Information provided is courtesy of Cooper Castle Law Firm LLP and is subject to change without notice.*** Visit us at www.ccfirm.com/sales
THE COOPER CASTLE LAW FIRM, LLP - www.ccfirm.com
A creditors law firm offering foreclosures, bankruptcies, evictions, litigation and property closing and title resolution to banks, mortgage companies, credit unions, foreclosure investors and real estate owners.

Sales April 09, 2012 Sales Results

Click on image to enlarge.

Daily updates are between 9:45AM and 3:00PM PST. ***Information provided is courtesy of Cooper Castle Law Firm LLP and is subject to change without notice.*** Visit us at www.ccfirm.com/sales
THE COOPER CASTLE LAW FIRM, LLP - www.ccfirm.com

A creditors law firm offering foreclosures, bankruptcies, evictions, litigation and property closing and title resolution to banks, mortgage companies, credit unions, foreclosure investors and real estate owners.

Controlling Customers

I am a control freak. A bona fide, high-maintenance, don’t color outside the lines control freak!

I do not adjust well to change. I do not like it when plans change. I do not break the rules. I do not cope well with adjusting expectations. When shift happens, the shift hits my fan.

Chef Mike Horri is also a control freak. He is the “soup Nazi” of Italian food (all of you Seinfeld fans know exactly what I’m talking about. Can’t you hear it now: “No soup for you!”).

And Chef Mike is the newest addition to my list of stars.

I met Chef Mike last week. I was traveling for work (public seminar events for Jeffrey Gitomer in Seattle) and some of our event volunteers recommended we have dinner at Pasta Freska, Mike’s restaurant. So off we went, three men (Andy, Jordan, and Kevin) and a little sales barista to Pasta Freska.

First impression – the pizza slice shaped building was slightly shabby but gave off a you-know-it’s-going-to-be-good, hole-in-the-wall feel to me.

Second impression – Chef Mike, who had fully embraced the role of owner and head chef clad in his white chef’s jacket asked, “how many?”

Third impression – We were sat at our dimly lit yet cozy table for four - the lighting could be better.

Fourth impression – Where are the menus? What?! No menus! This can’t be right. How am I able to control my meal if there are no menus?

What followed was Chef Mike making one simple statement, four times, “Tell me one food that you absolutely can’t stand.”

“ONIONS!” I definitely wasn’t scared to answer that question. And around the table Chef Mike went until he had four answers…onions, anchovies, chunks of tomatoes, ditto. And that was it. Chef Mike walked away and dinner was ordered. Can you believe it?

What ensued next was a 7-course dinner filled with the most perfectly-paired red wine, roasted eggplant, salad, mouth-melting garlic bread, pasta, sweetly stuffed chicken marsala, mussels, salmon, a quartet of desserts, and for me – not one single onion. DELISH!

This was THE best restaurant experience of my life. And it single-handedly can be attributed to the star-quality of Chef Mike.

What made Chef Mike a star? What made him shine brighter than all of the other restaurant experiences?

Three simple reasons: he was an expert, he was exuberant, and he was in control.

How to elevate your own star quality:
1. Be an Expert. Chef Mike is an expert; an expert of pasta, Italian food, wine, restaurants, and overall dining experiences. Not one of us questioned what he was going to serve us. He was confident from his greeting to the slamming of the wine on our table. He established himself as an expert not only by his position of founder and chef (don’t get me wrong, that helps) but also by the way he walked and talked. How much of an expert are you both in position and poise?
2. Be Exuberant. Chef Mike was full of life and love for his job and it RADIATED from him, making it contagious and affecting us, in a good way. He was happy and fully engaged with each customer’s experience. His exuberant personality made up over half of his star quality. When you love what you do, it radiates and affects everyone around you. How effective is your exuberance?
3. Be in Control. Pasta Freska’s website states: “Dinner at Pasta Freska is based on Chef Mike Horri's ‘Have it your way’ philosophy!’” But I disagree. I would instead say: “Dinner at Pasta Freska is based on Chef Mike Horri’s ‘Have it MY way’ philosophy!” Mike controlled everything as soon as we walked into his restaurant. He controlled our greeting, our table, our menu, our wine, our food, and our overall experience. All the while, making sure not to serve us anything that we absolutely hated. He was a control freak. How much of a control freak are you? Are you controlling your customer’s greetings, their orders, and their overall experience?

Chef Mike is a control freak and he is a star. He is the epitome of controlling your business, your environment, and your customers to ensure that they have an amazing experience that will leave them bragging about you to everyone they know.

I’m your Double-Tall, Non-Fat, No-Whip Sales Barista. How may I help you help yourself?

Stephanie Melish, one of the few, hand-selected, Gitomer-Certified Speakers is the ONLY Double-Tall, Non-Fat, No-Whip Sales Barista in the world! Stephanie trains, sells, and speaks to companies and associations all over the country. To book Stephanie for your next event, please visit www.GitomerCertified.com or contact the friendly folks at Buy Gitomer via email at hirestephanie@gitomer.com or by calling 704-333-1112.

Super Tuesday

419 delegates.
10 states.
4 candidates.

Who will win?

You may be saying – who cares? To which I would respond: a lot of Republicans do.

But don’t worry, this isn’t going to be some political tirade (because I’m not a donkey) this is about you winning – winning your race.

Don’t think you are in the running? Haven’t proclaimed your candidacy?

Wake up and smell the Starbucks (I gave it up for Lent, so these days I would have to say, wake up and smell the fresh-brewed Keurig K-cup), of course you are in the running! You declared your candidacy the minute you entered the workforce. And there are no age or citizenship qualifications in this race - just you and your reputation are all that qualify you to win or lose the career election.

So…who’s managing your campaign? Who’s running attack ads on you? Who’s voting for you?

Haven’t thought about your career in this way? Maybe you should.

Think about how differently you would act if you knew all of your dirty career secrets were going to be public knowledge? That you were going to have other candidates attacking you and trying to take you down. Haven’t I just described your competition? Aren’t they trying to take you down so they can win, either your job or your customers?

So how do you run a campaign that gets you all the votes?

Here’s how to win your career election:
1. Build a positive reputation. Your reputation precedes you. You have heard this saying millions of times. And before social media it was 100% true, now it’s 500% true. With the revolution of social media, it’s easier than ever for someone to learn everything about you, good and bad, way before you ever meet. Keep this in mind while you are building your image and interacting with colleagues, customers, your family and friends. Every step you take, word you chose, and action you make builds your reputation. Walk positively, speak positively and act positively. This will guide you to a positive reputation. How’s your reputation? Positive? Are you positive about that?

2. Get endorsements. Want to win a race? Find someone to endorse you. Get someone to publicly announce they are supporting you and your efforts and it will work wonders. Especially if it is someone who also has a positive reputation, is trusted and looked to as an influential person. And the best person would be someone you have done business with, not your mom (sorry Mom!). This person can speak to your strengths (and shocker, your weaknesses) but also talk to how you work, how you serve, how you communicate, and how you perform - your end results. Who is willing to endorse you? Do you have more than one?

3. Fight fair. Represent yourself with integrity by fighting fair. If you are going to go up against a competitor, talk about the facts, not your opinions of them. No one gets ahead by trash-talking the competition. It makes you look petty and low. Instead, find a way to elevate yourself by singing your own praises. Highlight your own competitive advantages instead of harping on their disadvantages. Fighting fair allows you to look good two-fold, by showing how you believe you are the best and also how you are a bigger person. It’s easy to attack the other party, it’s a lot more difficult to look in the mirror and talk about what YOU bring to the table. How fair are you fighting?

This Super Tuesday, people are casting their votes on a republican candidate for their party’s presidential nomination. And today, people are casting their votes on you and your competition. Who will win? Will it be you? Or will you be forced to withdraw from the race?

I’m your Double-Tall, Non-Fat, No-Whip Sales Barista. How may I help you help yourself?

Stephanie Melish, one of the few, hand-selected, Gitomer-Certified Speakers is the ONLY Double-Tall, Non-Fat, No-Whip Sales Barista in the world! Stephanie trains, sells, and speaks to companies and associations all over the country. To book Stephanie for your next event, please visit www.GitomerCertified.com or contact the friendly folks at Buy Gitomer via email at hirestephanie@gitomer.com or by calling 704-333-1112.

Dance with Somebody

Whitney Houston died.
I sent that text to my mom on Saturday night at 8:45pm.
I sent it to my mom because I remember listening to Whitney Houston cassette tapes with her while I was growing up. I remember how my mom thought Whitney Houston was gorgeous when we watched The Bodyguard.

When I found out about her passing, while sitting at the Charlotte Bobcats game via Facebook (another notch to the power of social media belt), the first person I thought to tell was my mother. So I texted her and over the past two days, I’ve read and listened to accounts of people’s opinions while I sat silently and digested all that had happened.

A singing icon died.
Yes, she was too young.
Yes, it is a tragedy.
Yes, it was most likely preventable.

But I saw it as a lesson in team building.
A lesson in surrounding yourself with people who will push you to be better, to not fail, to not give up, to not perish, but to rise above and be better.

I don’t know if Whitney Houston had a team that surrounded her.
I don’t know what efforts were made to save her, push her, or raise her to being her best.

What I do know is that regardless of what did or did not happen, failure occurred. Because Whitney Houston is no longer striving to be her best, she is no longer dancing with somebody.

Who are you dancing with? Who is pushing you? Who doesn’t give up on you even when you have given up on yourself? Do you have that somebody?

Are you that somebody?

How do you become that somebody?

Here's what you have to do to be a dance partner in someone’s life:
1. Praise. Positive words and reinforcement can catapult a person to their next level of success. Whether you are a co-worker, boss, teacher, coach, parent or friend, communicating kind words of praise will help boost self-confidence, allowing them to try harder. One of the biggest mistakes we make is only communicating when failure or large accomplishments occurs. It’s much harder to consciously praise people in our lives for their small positive actions that are helping them progress to a higher level of excellence. We all know the saying, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” As a dance partner, you want to remember to: Don’t forget to praise the small stuff!
2. Push. This is a major obligation you have when you sign up to be someone’s dance partner. You must be willing to push them to do more and to do better. Sometimes people need to be pushed because they fail to push themselves, or they don’t have enough self-belief to go for it on their own. Pushing requires a delicate balance of knowing when to push and when to back off, however, most of us back off too soon. I’ve heard that if you send just one more marketing email, you’ll get an additional 15% response. Keep that in mind here, if you push and cheerlead someone just one more time, you may get a 15% increase in their success.
3. Protect. Probably the most important of the three elements, above all else, is to protect this person. On whatever level you are engaged with this person, you are required to protect them. This is easiest for parents and spouses, but think about it in business terms. To be a team player, you have to protect each other. To be a trusted boss, you have to protect your employees. To be a respected employee, you have to protect the business. Protection is to keep safe from harm. You have to bodyguard your dance partner and keep them from harm, whether it’s from outside influences or from themselves.

Whitney Houston died. I believe she died because she didn’t have a dance partner. I hope that you will dance with somebody – all the way to the best of their success.

I’m your Double-Tall, Non-Fat, No-Whip Sales Barista. How may I help you help yourself?

Stephanie Melish, one of the few, hand-selected, Gitomer-Certified Speakers is the ONLY Double-Tall, Non-Fat, No-Whip Sales Barista in the world! Stephanie trains, sells, and speaks to companies and associations all over the country. To book Stephanie for your next event, please visit www.GitomerCertified.com or contact the friendly folks at Buy Gitomer via email at hirestephanie@gitomer.com or by calling 704-333-1112.

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words - A Pin Profits a Thousand Impressions

Pinning madness! I'm consumed by all of the pins placed on the boards around me. Most of you probably have NO idea what I'm talking about. I'm talking about Pinterest. Pinterest is exactly as it sounds, a place to pin your interests, essentially a virtual inspiration board and, as I'm learning, a picture, marketing, impressionist, and profit making board.

I started on Pinterest, an invitation only program, a few months ago and quickly became addicted to the new reality of virtual shopping without spending a dollar. That was until I started finding items that I was pins over needles about - items I just had to have - items that when I clicked through to find out where to buy them for the most part I was in utter disappointment! Why? Because, most of my "must click to buy now" pins were SOLD OUT. Which led me to realize that there was some profit in this whole Pinterest craze. Get your item pinned by one person, it goes out to their network, if someone re-pins it, it then spreads to their network, and so on and so on until you have enough people clicking through to purchase and voila - you've sold out = Pins to Profit.

In August of last year, Time Magazine, published Pinterest in it's "50 Best Websites of 2011" column. As it should with it's estimated 11 million visits per week!

If that isn't reason enough on why you should have interest in Pinterest, try this on for size. Pinterest, in my opinion, is the most influential social media platforms born to date, when it comes to actually making a profit. And I'm assuming you would rather profit than read a tweet, decipher the new Facebook timeline, or link up with your ex co-workers in hope for a recommendation.

Pinterest gives you the ability to get your products in front of a large mass for free. Here's a perfect example, I'd been on the hunt for a new rug to go under our new dining room table for quite a while when I started on Pinterest. Through some of the people I follow, they pinned a large amount of home decor ideas. One friend, Meghan, posted a rug that I liked, so I clicked on it and it clicked through to the site she pinned it from, RugsUSA.com. On their site I found a similar rug that was perfect for my dining room and I bought it. Pin to Profit. Got it?

Now don't sit there and mumble; "I don't have a tangible product, I don't sell rugs Stephanie." It doesn't matter what you are selling, if you are a photographer to an event planner, to a bridal boutique, to a cupcake shop, you can make money by making your pictures pin-able!

How to be more visible, and pin-able, for profit:
1. Picture. The biggest part of Pinterest is the picture images that are pinned by the users. In order for you to get your product, company, and interests pinned you need to have pictures available on the web that can be pinned. The more pictures you have the more likely you are to be pinned by someone. Example: One local bakeshop has great pictures of their cupcakes on their website. I can pin one of these pictures and through my network their cupcakes and company will spread and people may go to their shop and buy their cupcakes or hire them for a special event.

2. Pin. The easiest way to get something pinned is for you to pin it yourself. Pinterest is somewhat internal, i.e. most pins have been re-pinned. So to get your picture into the Pinterest mix, it's best for you to pin it first and allow others to re-pin it for you so it will spread throughout the network. Example: My wedding photographer started posting pictures he has taken on Pinterest. I re-pinned him onto my Wedding Board, other's have commented or repined the picture creating brand awareness for him.

3. Impress. You initial goal, should you choose to accept it, is to begin Pinterest with the interest of making impressions. Get the picture (word) out there through the pins you post. Allow others to re-pin them and spread the word for you. Eventually business and profit will follow.

Ready to begin your own pins to profit campaign? Send me a message with your name and email by going to my Sales Barista Facebook page and I'll send you a personal invitation to join Pinterest!

I'm your Double-Tall, Non-Fat, No-Whip Sales Barista. How may I help you help yourself?

Stephanie Melish, one of the few, hand-selected, Gitomer-Certified Speakers is the ONLY Double-Tall, Non-Fat, No-Whip Sales Barista in the world! Stephanie trains, sells, and speaks to companies and associations all over the country. To book Stephanie for your next event, please visit www.GitomerCertified.com or contact the friendly folks at Buy Gitomer via email at hirestephanie@gitomer.com or by calling 704-333-1112.

Resolution Revolution

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It's the hap-happiest time of the year.
Or is it?

Along with the holidays, time off, gift-giving, and the enchantment of Santa Clause, comes the reality of the new year and those new year resolutions. And, if you are like me, those resolutions are filled with excitement and determination for two or four weeks before they fall and fail behind.

There is only one year that my resolutions stuck - 2010. I had three resolutions and I succeeded on them all.

1. Reduce Debt. (I reduced it by over half by the end of the year!)
2. Spend more time with friends. (I started having a regular girls night with my nearest and dearest girl friends - mani/pedis anyone?!)
3. Finish a race, 5 or 10K. (I completed both!)

How do I remember these three resolutions? Because they were written down, but not just written down, they were printed out, laminated, and put in my wallet where I would see it every time I used my debit card or grabbed some cash. And that was the difference - the constant and nagging reminder to keep me on track. A special thank you to my fiance, John, who had the idea to print them out and laminate them!

When was the last time you made your resolutions a reality?

I recommend you try the resolution revolution that I did in 2010, so that you can make your 2012 the year you did what you said you would.

Here are the steps to your own resolution revolution:

1. Produce. Take the time to really think about your resolutions. Pick three goals you want to stick with for the entire year. Maybe make a personal goal, a professional goal, and a stretch goal - one that you may think is just out of reach. Produce goals that will make you proud when you accomplish them.

2. Prepare. Once you have the resolutions figured out, write them down, and start to prepare. Specifically, you need to mentally prepare. The hardest part of being successful, with any goal, is getting your mindset in the right place. This year one of my goals is to shed for the wedding - I'm taking the time between Christmas and New Years to prepare, both by getting the fitness equipment and memberships I need as well as getting my mind in the right place. I'm actually getting excited about starting up running again (not something many people get excited about) - it's been over a year!

3. Plan. Think of small ways to plan to achieve your goals. For my 2010 goal of reducing my debt, I planned how much money above my minimum credit card payments I could make, then set them up on auto payment. I also determined how to save more money and made a large lump sum payment at the end of the year. That feeling of accomplishment was one of my proudest moments. Relieving myself of over 50% of my debt in one year was amazing AND only possible by my planning, all year long.

4. Partner. Probably the most crucial part of the revolution, is finding someone to partner with on your resolutions. John and I both told each other our goals and helped keep each other accountable through out the entire year - not just the first few weeks or months of the year. Your partner doesn't have to be your spouse, it can be your BFF, a co-worker, your mom, or anyone else you trust and will respect when they tell you to get your butt back on track!

I know you are probably whispering in your head, "Easier said than done, Stephanie!" and you would be wrong. It is just that easy: produce, prepare, plan, and partner and you'll make your own resolution revolution.

I still have my laminated card, because they are resolutions for life, not just one year. See my Resolution Revolution Card here.

I wish you the most successful and hap-happiest new year of all!

I'm your Double-Tall, Non-Fat, No-Whip Sales Barista. How may I help you help yourself?

Stephanie Melish, one of the few, hand-selected, Gitomer-Certified Speakers is the ONLY Double-Tall, Non-Fat, No-Whip Sales Barista in the world! Stephanie trains, sells, and speaks to companies and associations all over the country. To book Stephanie for your next event, please visit www.GitomerCertified.com or contact the friendly folks at Buy Gitomer via email or by calling 704-333-1112.