I am one of those people who fuss about time.  If you would like to make a sales presentation to me you better make an appointment and come on time.  If you are late,  I will only see you until the agreed period ends, and this means you have less time than planned. It is unlikely that I will buy from you.   

If you knew this about me in advance, how would you prepare yourself? Critically,  how do you know that you are going to meet someone like me?

In the book What Colour is your Brain Sheila N. Glazov says that you can find clues in the first phone call you make. If the person immediately refers to an appointment calendar then he is a 'rule abiding critical thinker' or a 'yellow brain, as Susan classifies it. Don't you be late when you are meeting a yellow brain.  You should rather reschedule.

If the person goes on about her relationship with the person who referred you to her and then happily helps you out, she is a 'blue' brain, intuitive and creative. Blue loves the chitchat before a meeting and doesn't really get comfortable until you connect with her personally

"Problem solving contemplative loners thrive on innovation" and will be difficult to catch as they rarely answer the phone. When they do, they want facts and only facts.  These are 'green' brains. When you meet with them don't waste time on chit chat. Go straight into the facts, and the facts better be correct.

Finally, Susan describes 'orange' brains.  These people are eager and spontaneous.  When you get to a meeting with them, get to the point quickly, but forget the facts and figures. They're just looking for results and a spontaneous conversation.

Susan's classification highlights the importance of understanding the person you are selling to as a key factor for success.  This suggests that even if your sales pitch is standard, your approach should not be the same. Clearly, your own 'brain colour' will influence your personal approach and a good understanding of yourself helps you appreciate your own approach and how it might impact the other person. This means you can make a conscious effort to mitigate any potential tensions between you and people with different, or similar, brain colour.

This approach works in sales, and elsewhere. And before you say you  are not a sales person, think about it.  Have you ever tried to convince your friend to accompany you to a function? Or to get your family to choose a certain house over another? Or your boss to post you to town X instead of town Y?  These are all 'selling' conversations. You tried to get the other person to buy your point of view.

What colour is your brain, and how is it impacting your business?

JUST DO IT! 

IDEA TO ACTION QUOTE:  The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems. - Mohandas Ghandhi.

The first time I made ugali I was 12 years old.  My father popped his head into the kitchen where I just happened to be standing, and said, "make me some ugali".  Looking back I don't imagine it occurred to him that I wouldn't know how.  And for me, I didn't stop to think that I hadn't done it before.  Kitchen duty was a privilege for the older ones and with 5 ahead of me, I never got the chance.  Still, I had watched ugali preparation so many times that I was confident I could do it.  And so I did,  and thus became, officially, an ugali maker.

Sometimes things are thrust upon us like that. Totally unexpected. Yet, if we stop to think about it, we realise we are prepared. Or at least we know we have most of what it takes to do it.  All that's missing is to go ahead and do it. To act.

Other times it takes more to get to having most of what it takes.  And before we can get there we have to do it again and again.  To practice.  Every time we do it we get closer to that place where we can say 'I can do it'.

Whichever way it is thrust upon you, the critical thing is to go ahead and do it. It is the action that moves us from thinking about it or wanting to do it, or wishing to do it.  Without action it simply remains something that we might have done.

And, as Susan Jeffers says in Feel the fear and do it anyway, there isn't much point in dwelling on analysing the negative behaviour patterns that might stop you from doing it. ..."simply start from where you are and take the action necessary to change it".

If you are lucky you will have someone who has absolute confidence in you, and who doesn't stop to think you cannot do it.  If you are very lucky, you will be the person that knows you can do it.  And if neither of these statements seems true for you, start doing something.

Do you have unmet needs? How do they drive you?

What are your core values?

Are you honouring your core values by the way you live?

If you are unsure about any of the answers to these questions come to our

Needs and Values workshop

Date:  5 March 2011

Place : 1st Floor Luther Plaza

Time: 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm

Your investment: 2850/= including  workshop materials, snacks and parking.

 O5 March 2011

 Needs and Values Workshop  

 Register Here

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International IDEA TO ACTION

WORKSHOPS IN 2011