How Perceptions Form - She Almost Lost Me By Using Two Words

How Perceptions Form

She Almost Lost Me By Using Two Words.


Elyse Clayson has developed a program that is effective in breaking addictions. It accomplishes this by helping you to change your attitude and perceptions about yourself and your addiction. It works! It isn't an overnight thing and it requires your full participation and some coaching support, but the results are worth the effort. This much I have learned from Elyse in two long conversations. Interestingly, she almost lost me by using two words.

During that first phone conversation Elyse enthusiastically told me what she had experienced in developing her program and its wonderful, positive results in people helped to new, stress free lives. She hoped we could find synergism between our programs and hers. She said we could reach many more people working together than alone and that there was a "gold mine" out there. I was intrigued enough by her sincerity and energy, to study her web site and then make plans to meet her. But her reference to a "gold mine" created a quite negative reaction in my mind.

Face to face she was delight to talk with. Early on in the conversation she repeated the comment that there was a "gold mine' available to us. The same negative perception formed and I asked her,

"What do you mean by gold mine? Are you doing this with the hope of making millions of dollars?"

"Heavens no. I mean there is a gold mine of people who will be helped to new and happier lives, if we can make them aware of the program and help them to make use of it. I feel this is a calling from God. He will take care of our needs and being a millionaire is not one of them. I do not ever want to have a lot of money."

"Wonderful! Your use of "gold mine" created a very negative perception in me because I am truly bothered by our current culture of measuring the success of everything with money. I have lived a rich life with much happiness helping others and no accumulated wealth. Money is not the correct yardstick of success in my mind and I will not support something just to make a lot of money."

With that off my mind I enjoyed our long talk and will definitely work to help her succeed by herself and in team efforts with us.

This is a perfect example of how perceptions are formed. Two words almost prevented our meeting and the possibilities that now beacon. Had she said, "a gold mine of people needing help" I would have formed a positive perception.

By the way, she learned about us by Internet searching on the word, perception. This quickly took her to our home page at http://www.perceptionofdifference.com/

Wes Zimmerman

Famous Quotes - Perception Quotes

Famous Quotes - Perception Quotes

The processes of perception are inaccessible; only the products are conscious and, of course, it is the products that are necessary.
- Gregory Bateson

Famous Quotes - Perception Quotes

Famous Quotes - Perception Quotes

It is one of the commonest of mistakes to consider that the limit of our power of perception is also the limit of all there is to perceive.
- C. W. Leadbeater

The biggest problem with dyslexic kids is not the perceptual problem, it is their perception of themselves. That was my biggest problem.
- Bruce Jenner

Bizfit Coaching, LLC expands coaching team and expertise with WZA, Inc. partnership

Bizfit Coaching, LLC and WZA, Inc. Partnership

Whether you are in the business of selling, buying, or creating ideas and opportunities, business coaching and consulting provides an outside perspective to improving business and generating success. For Bizfit Coaching that means partnering with Wes Zimmerman and WZA, Inc.

No newcomer to buying and selling or the process of creating breakthroughs in business growth, Wes Zimmerman has over 30 years experience in business consulting and sales. He devised the Perception of Difference system for guiding CEOs and corporate executives and authored, "The Perception of a Difference" book based on his experiences. Mr. Zimmerman also writes a monthly subscription-based publication called Zimmerman's Zingers and maintains a Blog on Perception.

WZA, Inc brings a unique blend of experience, vision, and clarity which has served over 95 clients through in-depth analysis and the Perception of Difference process over the past two decades. Partnering with WZA is a perfect expansion of the Bizfit Coaching concept. Bizfit Coaching strategically works with clients to expand business opportunities through articulated actions which turn business planning into a game and execution into performance.

Zimmerman has worked with customers and salespeople all over the world, helping them to succeed in making their dreams come true while working with them as their peer, manager, leader, consultant, and mentor. He has defined success in manufacturing and sales management, professional sales, marketing, and business ownership throughout his career. Wes is actively involved in several Phoenix and Scottsdale area chambers and sales networking organizations, and a respected member of the Scottsdale Airpark Professionals Kiwanis Club.

Bizfit Coaching and WZA, Inc. bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and energy to creating extraordinary breakthroughs in business success by creating a difference through building relationships that are in action and on target.

For information: http://www.bizfitcoaching.com/ or
Contact: tim@bizfitcoaching.com
Phone: 623-628-7890

Tim Harrington
Bizfit Coaching
Glendale, Arizona

Famous Quotes - Perception Quotes

Famous Quotes - Perception Quotes

Every man feels that perception gives him an invincible belief of the existence of that which he perceives; and that this belief is not the effect of reasoning, but the immediate consequence of perception. When philosophers have wearied themselves and their readers with their speculations upon this subject, they can neither strengthen this belief, nor weaken it; nor can they shew how it is produced. It puts the philosopher and the peasant upon a level; and neither of them can give any other reason for believing his senses, than that he finds it impossible for him to do otherwise. - Thomas Reid (1710–1796), Scottish leading philosopher, opponent of Hume. Essay II, ch. xv, p. 241, Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. (1969).

Successful Sales Director

Here is a link to an excerpt from my sales book "The Perception of a Difference."

Successful Sales Director

Some highlights from the article:

The Successful Director of Sales

At the height of their sales success many salespeople are promoted to a position titled Sales Manager, Director of Sales or V.P. of Sales. It is assumed that since they were outstanding in sales, they will be fully capable of managing a sales organization. They are given little or no education to prepare them for their new responsibilities.

The rate of failure, or at best mediocre success, is high. Ninety percent (90%) fail for two reasons: the skills needed as Director of Sales and sources of satisfaction are very different than those needed for selling and they and/or their management do not understand the requirements.

When they fail, they leave. You lose your investment in them and a competitor gets their sales.

Famous Quotes - Perception Quotes

Famous Quotes - Perception Quotes

In ordinary speech the words perception and sensation tend to be used interchangeably, but the psychologist distinguishes. Sensations are the items of consciousness — a color, a weight, a texture—that we tend to think of as simple and single. Perceptions are complex affairs that embrace sensation together with other, associated or revived contents of the mind, including emotions.

- Jacques Barzun (b. 1907), U.S. author, educator. "The Masterpiece," A Stroll with William James, University of Chicago Press (1983).

Making Dreams Come True

Famous Quotes - Attitude Quotes

Famous Quotes - Attitude Quotes

Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different. Life would undergo a change of appearance because we ourselves had undergone a change of attitude.

- Katherine Mansfield

More Life Quotes

Famous Quotes - Difference Quotes

Famous Quotes - Difference Quotes


You're the only one who can make the difference. Whatever your dream is, go for it.
- Earvin Magic Johnson

Persistence Gave Me A New Future

Persistence Gave Me A New Future

Why I Was Hired


Since posting Why Did He Hire Me I've thought about the events that brought me to the fateful interview described in Crazy Like A Fox. My conclusion is that every experience proves useful in the future. Our minds remember everything and draw on what is stored, during future experiences. Today I teach people how to choose a job and place to work, and how to educate the employer about what you will bring to the position. I hadn't received such education, but landed a job that would be very important to my future. Here is how it happened.

Amy and I married with faith in each other and God, as our only assets. Amy got a job as secretary to the Vice President of Engineering and Design in what was then, the largest furniture manufacturer in the country. My first business venture had failed and I was working as a taxi driver, earning very little: My confidence was at low ebb. The furniture company was an old established and solid firm, people had spent their lives working there, so we decided I would get a beginners position there, learn upholstering and be able to support a family.

A few weeks after I started, Amy said a job opening for a Time Study Engineer, would be posted by the Industrial engineering department. Employees got first chance at any new job openings. Next Monday the job posting was on the bulletin board; no experience needed, you would be trained. At the end of my shift I went upstairs and asked for the job.

That interview was a relaxed discussion with Bill, the department manager and Calem, his right hand man. I asked them to tell me about the work content because I new nothing about industrial engineering. My college work had been aimed at preparing me for seminary and a career as a Pastor/Minister. Workers in the plant were paid on a piece work basis and I would be timing jobs, setting rates, improving work flow and methods. They asked about my previous work experience. I completed a short job application.

"We'll let you know when we've made a decision."

The next day when my shift ended, I went upstairs and asked if a decision had been made. I told Bill and Calem I wanted the job.

I went upstairs again, the next day. They had talked with some other applicants but no decision had been made.

The following day I did it again, no decision as yet.

The next day, Friday, I talked with them; again, no decision. These meetings were short and friendly, but noncommittal. I was always dressed in the blue jeans and shirt proper for work in the plant. No polished shoes.

Monday I went upstairs, still no decision.

Tuesday when I arrived at the department, Bill greeted me with

"We want you to start in the morning. We want you because you're the only person that has enquired, even once, about our decision process. We know you want the job."

Next morning I went to work in white shirt, tie and polished shoes.

It had taken six visits. I would learn later in my career, that over 60% of all buying decisions are made after the fifth sales contact. I had been selling and they were buying. I had competitors; I made six sales calls, and asked for the order in some way, every time. They trained me: I went to night school at Illinois Institute of Technology, and had a fantastic, fun, experience. The original reasons for going to the furniture factory were wrong; that company does not exist any more, but that job was the beginning of a rich life helping others.

Wes Zimmerman

Zingers

New Evidence! It Happens After The Fifth

Zingers Promos

In March we began an email promo campaign to acquaint folks with and acquire email subscriptions to Zimmerman's Zingers, a monthly publication consisting of a true story, a few questions and perhaps a moral, that will help business owners and anyone managing people. Our first effort, three mailings that described the Zingers and what people said about them, was a statistical failure.

For our second effort we have been emailing actual Zingers. The first mailing is a Zinger with a "click below to subscribe" box, the second, four weeks later, is a Zinger with a few more words added to the "click to subscribe" box. Three weeks later we send a two-sentence email saying watch for the Zinger coming in seven days. In seven days it arrives with a message above the "Click to Subscribe" box saying we can't continue sending these free, forever.

Three days after that mailing I visited Ron Cortez, founder of Cortez Coffee Company, to buy really great tasting coffee. He has been receiving this latest Zinger Promo mailing. In the roasting room he asked,

"Do you believe in the barter system?

"Yes, I use it regularly."

"Good, I am really enjoying your Zingers and want to keep getting them. I will keep you supplied with coffee, you put me on the Zinger paid subscriber list. Ok?"

"Done! And thank you."

"The latest Zinger, about the gasoline filling station, proves that we all buy from an individual, not a company. I have always believed this; the Zinger proves it. Every coffee house owner needs to know this. "Wes, every coffee house owner needs the Zingers. The information is invaluable and so easy to read and understand the message. Send the promo to all of them."

This is the third Zinger in the promo; the first two ask for the order in a very low-key, manner. The third is also a, low-key, request with a statement that gets your attention; as in get off your duff and do it now. I will continue the effort for up to a total of five, maybe six, Zingers and two additional separate reminders, which will make a grand total of eight contacts, or sales calls with each person, before I stop the effort. It will take five, almost six months before I stop.

Why continue so long, you ask.

My experience and that of countless sales professionals, shows that at least fifty percent (50%) of all buying decisions are completed after the fifth contact with the sales person. Ron's is the first order from this promo effort, and it comes after the third contact/call. I'm betting there will be more and more for two key reasons. The Zingers are doing the talking on each call and each call is valuable to the prospect: Cardinal rule of selling, deliver value on each contact. Secondly, buying and selling are educational processes during which a trusting relationship develops. It gets stronger each time and is realized after the fifth contact.

The tools we use to educate each other in the buying selling process have changed with technology, but our brains, perceptive acuity, and humanness/human nature have not. We still buy from a person (s) we like and trust. It is the first immutable law of sales success.

Wes Zimmerman
Have you read my Sales Book?

You bring this to an employer

You bring this to an employer

Three people I know and like have unexpectedly found themselves looking for new employment, during the last three months. This came to mind last week as I was writing Blog # 21, Why Did He Hire Me? My three friends all chose and were accepted by new employers in a short time. Why? Reputation; each had built a personal reputation.

Each one had been conscientious and done the best job they could with their God given talents, during the time they worked for their former employers. They made certain the products they worked on were good and they never spoke ill of their employers or peers. None of them had looked for a new position in at least three years. Yet they created a reputation that went before them and made them desirable to the employers they chose.

I often audio record my seminars and workshops. I particularly do this when the material is new, as in, the first time I have done a seminar on the subject. The experience of these three people prompted me to listen to a seminar I taped some time ago because in it I had stressed the point that we must always do the best we can in our present position. What I heard was me exhorting the audience to do everything in their power to make the company they work for, successful. I repeated that message three times because the company was going through a difficult time and they were the only people, who could bring it back to health.

I gave them a reason for doing this that some had not thought of: their personal reputations. I told them there are no secrets in this world. Your company's competitors take the trouble to know what kind of quality you are putting into your products. They know the pricing. They know what your customers think of the product you are delivering and how well you care for them. I pointed out that their company's competitors knew of its problems and were watching to see if they would be overcome.

Those competitors are the people you will be talking to for employment when you leave your present positions. If you have made this company successful in overcoming its problems, you will be looked at as desirable and will be able to choose who you work with. If you have not, you will be in a weak position because every employer will know that it failed because you and your peers didn't do your best. Your reputation will speak for you.

This answers the question posed in Blog # 21. Mr. X hired me because of my reputation. I did not know or realize this then, but it was the only reason he could have had. I'd communicated my experience, work habits, attitude toward work and life, to the professor during the two semesters of night School at IIT. He knew I was punctual, listened, thought before talking and paid attention to details, which showed in my test answers and top line grades. I didn't think about building a reputation, I just did my best. I was too young at 25 to know that attitude was so important and so visible. Six years later my employer, Ralph Sweeney, would drive home its importance.

In my book, The Perception Of A Difference, The Power In Buying, Marketing, Selling, Customer Care (page 185) I tell the story of my first selling career promotion; it was totally unexpected and I asked Ralph,

"Why me, I'm the least experienced, lowest seniority salesperson in the District?

"Attitude . . .attitude . . . attitude." (He said it slowly, firmly, with conviction.)

You will have to read the book to know what he said to reinforce that, but I learned that when doing your best for others and your employer, is your attitude your reputation makes many good things possible.


Wes Zimmerman