Episodes

Blueprint to Business is the ultimate guide to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Bestselling author and CEO Mike Alden puts aside the rainbows and sunshine, gets real about what it takes to 'make it,' and gives you the real-world guidance you need to hear. Through anecdotes and advice, he shares his experiences along with those of other top founders and entrepreneurs to give you a realistic picture of what it takes to build a business. It's a bit of tough love, a healthy dose of reality, and a...

Inside the World of Objections and Concerns When you become a great persuader, you will view objections differently than most people do. You will even welcome objections and enjoy handling them. Why? You will realize that when people voice objections, it indicates that they are both mentally interested and emotionally involved in whatever it is you are proposing, even if they are skeptical. Interested and involved—what more could a persuader want from their audience? It may be surprising, but w...

Charisma is influence. In other words, getting others to do what you want them to do and like doing it. People get uneasy when you talk about influence, but just like power, it is neutral. Some feel it can’t be learned, others get uneasy that it might get misused and some pretend it is not that important. Charisma and influence go hand in hand. It can be used with your leadership, your company, your children and even for making the world a better place. Influence can get people to accept your id...

Negotiation: Face-to-Face, by Phone or via E-mail In our age of ever-expanding communication possibilities, researchers have been drawn to answer the question of which communication mode is most likely to lend itself to successful negotiation. Their answer? It depends. Face-to-face communication is more likely to alleviate any possibility of miscommunication or deception. When you’re actually there, in person, you are more apt to pick up all the nuances of the exchange. That way, you will be be...

Reduce to the Ridiculousness (JND): This technique involves paring down your request to something that seems manageable, easier to comprehend or easier to monetize. Let's say you are trying to convince someone to purchase a life insurance policy. The client wants a $250,000 policy and you feel that is not high enough for his needs. To adequately take care of his family, you suggest a $500,000 policy. His perception is that the monthly payment for a $500,000 policy is too high. So you break it do...

"Door-in-the-face" is one of the most common techniques for implementing the Law of Contrast. Basically, an initially large and almost unreasonable request is made, likely to be declined—hence the "door slammed-in-the-face" as the prospect rejects the proposal. Then a second smaller and more reasonable request is made. People accept the second request more readily than if they'd just been asked outright because the contrast between the two requests makes the second one seems so much better. The ...

Never fight on price. Price in not the issue – you are the issue. Only 6% of things are bought on price. Anybody can fight on price. Let’s learn 14 techniques to make price a non-issue. "Price is what you pay. Value is what you get." Warren Buffett This is all about human perception. The human mind has to find a benchmark or comparison to make judgments, especially when we are talking about unfamiliar situations or new products. People need to make comparisons with their past experience and kn...

Verbal Packaging & The Leverage of Language The more skillful a person is in the use of language, the more persuasive they will be. People are persuaded by us based on the words we use. Words affect our perceptions, our attitudes, our beliefs, and our emotions. The words we use in the persuasion process make all the difference in the world. Language used incorrectly will trigger the wrong response and decrease your ability to persuade. Word skills are also directly related to earning power. Suc...

Robin Dreeke FBI Interview Did you ever leave an interaction saying to yourself, "That could have gone better?" Do you want to improve your leadership, interviewing, sales, and trust building skills for every aspect of your life? A counter-intelligence expert shows readers how to use trust to achieve anything in business and in life. Robin Dreeke is a 28-year veteran of federal service, including the United States Naval Academy, United States Marine Corps. He served most recently as a senior...

Dave Negri’s Secret Price Weapon Using “pricing” as a marketing strategy is often overlooked by entrepreneurs. It may be a little scary, butsometimes all you need is a higher price point to become more attractive to your target market. The affluent tend to associate higher prices with higher value. When someone is looking for the “best” - choosing the cheapest person is not the path he or she will take. When you are QUALITY-focused, slogans like “highest quality AND lowest price” don’t fit tog...

Amy Cuddy – Non Verbal Link I have already spoken at length about the necessity of positive mental programming and the initial steps one must take to put this powerful tool into practice. Great persuaders gain control over their destiny by controlling and directing their thoughts. Considering that our actions are emotion-driven, and our emotions are thought-driven, we've got to get our thoughts on track. They determine everything! You can always remind yourself of this powerful reality by keepin...

Anthony Iannarino - Becoming The Trusted Advisor What Is Not Advice Your product is not advice. Nor is your service. Nor are the solutions that you happen to sell. The features, benefits, and advantages of what you sell are not advice either. Your management team isn’t advice, and as impressive as your board members may be, they aren’t advice. You know what else isn’t advice? All of your locations, and all of the logos of the big, recognizable, widely-admired companies you serve. As remarkable ...

Negotiation Versus Persuasion Let’s talk about where negotiation fits into the world of persuasion and the difference between the two. Persuasion occurs when your ideas are so convincing that the other party ends up adopting your point of view. With persuasion, there is no compromising as there is in negotiation. Rather, the other party willfully and enthusiastically abandons their position to embrace yours. This abandonment is not brought about by manipulation because the other party clearly se...

This episode features guest Scott Ingram - In this episode learn all about why mindset and belief in yourself is absolutely fundamental. And the tips and tricks in getting yourself there. And how to show your customers/prospects that you truly care. Kurt and Scott discuss how important it is to be constantly learning, absorbing and surrounding yourself with the best. They also discussed how most top sales people are more than willing to talk you about their sales process and share the informa...

The Value of the Simple Statement Simple is better than complex. Since we are unable to recapture or replay our spoken words, we hope that they will be correctly interpreted the first time they are heard. Unfortunately, spoken words can be the most misread and misinterpreted form of communication, and therefore, can be a great hindrance to effective persuasion. When you're in a persuasive situation, use simple, direct, and concise language, rather than fretting about how eloquent you're sounding...

What Does Improv Have To Do With Business? With guest Kelly Leonard from The ability to thrive amid change requires 4 things: · The ability to recognize where you are in any given moment...

This podcast is going to focus on how to handle the heckler and maintain audience control in any situation. One of the key factors is getting to know your audience. It is critical that you understand where your audience is coming from and what their needs and wants are. What do they really want to know? What are they searching for? What information can you present to bridge the gap between what they feel and what they want? It’s important to understand your audience as a general group and also ...

Synchronized Beliefs Very closely related to directing our thoughts are our beliefs or belief systems. Just as airplanes have guidance systems to direct them, so do we have systems guiding and shaping what we think, do, and believe. Without these influences, we will miss our intended destination, just like an airplane out of touch with the control tower would never be able to land. What if you had two control towers telling the pilots what to do? The results would be devastating. What many of u...

Jon Gordon's best-selling books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. His principles have been put to the test by numerous NFL, NBA, MLB coaches and teams, Fortune 500 companies, school districts, hospitals and non-profits. He is the author of numerous best-selling books including The Energy Bus, The Carpenter, Training Camp, The Seed, You Win in the Locker Room First and The No Complaining Rule. Jon and his tips have been featured on The Today Show, CNN, CNBC, The Golf...

Charismatics have the ability to focus quickly in the moment similar to great athletes. To master the area of focus and concentration, we must implement what athletes do before, during and after the competition. • Visualize the win or the outcome before it happens • Constant self-discipline even when it hurts • Refocus after failure and learn from those mistakes • Instantly replace negative thoughts with positive ones • Have the ability to quickly change their state of mind • Able to conce...

Many think that when they get into positions of leadership or prominence that others should be serving them or looking up to them. This is great way to turn people off and decrease your ability to be charismatic. If your only focus is on you, then eventually all then the focus will be off you. Sure others might run to your attention, but they are doing it for money or recognition, they are not doing it because of who you are. When you start to focus on others, show some kindness and offer goodwi...

Passion is very contagious. When you transfer this passion, the people around you start to radiate that passion. They perform better, if it is at work, it is no longer work. They become more proactive, more willing to work as a team and become more optimistic. When you have tapped into this passion you become more determined and it increases your persistence. It starts to become a burning desire and consumes you and it radiates to others. A word of caution, just because you are passionate does n...

Rapport: The Instant Connection Rapport is the secret ingredient that makes us feel a harmonious link with someone else. It is equivalent to being on the same wavelength with the other person. Rapport is the key that makes mutual trust materialize. Have you ever met a perfect stranger and just hit it off? Finding plenty to talk about, you almost felt as if you had met before. It just felt right. You could talk about practically anything and you lost track of time. You developed such a strong bo...

Similarity: Similar Is Familiar Similarity theory states that familiar objects are more liked than less familiar ones. The same holds true with people: We like people who are similar to us. This theory seems to hold true whether the commonality is in the area of opinions, personality traits, background, or lifestyle. I can remember walking in a foreign country, taking in the unfamiliar sights and sounds, and then running into someone from my own country. We could have been from opposites sides ...