Sales Training: Do You Have Sales Hope?

by Mark Bowser

Sales hope is a little thing that carries big dividends in the sales process. Webster defines hope as, “A desire of some good, accompanied with a belief that it is attainable...” The Bible talks about faith, hope, and love being of tremendous importance with love being the most important. As we can see, hope is a necessary ingredient to being a success at selling and to live an empowered life. When we believe something good is attainable we are more likely to take action to achieve it. Also, our thinking will be right. We will begin to visualize ourselves as successful at selling. We will begin to believe in our dreams. We will begin to see the possibilities of those dreams realized.

Sales Training: Sales Motivation

by Mark Bowser

Sales motivation without direction is dangerous. Sales motivation with positive direction is success!

There is the story of an American soldier by the name of Murphy who was part of an American Tank Unit fighting with the British in the Libyan Campaign. The young G.I. soon found himself and his unit many, many miles deep into the desert. They went days without seeing any action. Boredom set in. One day, the commanding officer of this unit found this young man walking across the sands as if on a mission. The only problem was that the young American was wearing swimming trunks.

The commanding officer shouted, “Murphy! What on earth do you think you are doing and where are you going?”

“Well, sir,” said Murphy. “It is such a nice day and I have a few hours off so I thought I would go for a swim.”

“You must have been out in the sun too long. The ocean is 500 miles away.”

“Boy!” said Murphy. “It’s a beautifully large beach, isn’t it, sir.”

You see my sales friend, of all the problems Murphy may have had, motivation wasn’t one of them. However, he did have a big problem when it came to direction. A friend of mine likes to say that you run into trouble when your mind gets idle.

So, what is your sales answer today? The answer is purpose. If you have a purpose in selling then your motivation will have a positive focus. And, positive focus plus motivation equals success. Grab hold of your sales purpose and your sale motivation will take care of itself.

Sales Training: An idea is the Greatest Sales Investment

By Mark Bowser

Not too many years ago when I was struggling in my life, I heard five powerful words spoken by motivational speaker Les Brown. The words he spoke touched my heart. His words were, “You’ve got greatness within you.” Since the day I heard those words, it has been my understanding that one of the most powerful forces in the universe is a positive idea that is acted upon. I acted upon that idea and my life was ever changed for the better.

How about you? Do you have any good sales ideas stored in your brain that you never bothered to act upon? Well, I challenge you now to pull those sales ideas back out. Dust the cobwebs off the ideas and run with them. TAKE ACTION! You may discover that you can double your sales in a very short time. WOW! What an idea!

Sales Training: Happiness in Selling

by Mark Bowser

Happiness in selling is always created from the inside, not from the outside. Where does happiness come from? Is it given to us? Can we earn it? Happiness is given to us. It is ours for the asking. Happiness is a choice. We decide how happy or unhappy we will be. Wisconsin Odd Fellow wrote a poem titled “Happiness Is Within” which says, “It’s not so much the world outside that makes us laugh or smile; it’s more the thoughts within our hearts that make life seem worthwhile.”

I know a story about an old wise man. This wise man lived in a small town. Every day this man would sit outside the local gas station and watch the cars go by. Every once in a while a car would stop and he would have the opportunity to talk with a neighbor or even a tourist passing through. On this particular day, the old man’s granddaughter joined him at the gas station.

After some time, a car pulled up to the station. A man got out of the car and started to look around. The wise old man did not recognize the stranger and figured he was a tourist. The tourist came up to the older man and asked, “What kind of a town is this? Is it a nice place to live?”

The wise old man looked at the stranger and asked, “What kind of town are you from? Is it a nice place to live?”

The tourist said, “It’s an awful town. Everyone is critical of each other and negative about the future. They gossip all the time too. I am glad to be leaving.”

The old man said, “That’s how it is in this town too.”

After an hour or so, another car drove up. This time it was filled with a family of strangers. The mother jumped out in a hurry with two small children and asked where the restroom was. The old man pointed to a ragged, decrepit sign and the woman thanked him and hurried off with the children.

The father got out and walked up to the wise old man and his granddaughter. He asked, “What kind of town is this?”

The old man asked, “What kind of town are you from?”

The young father looked at the old man and said, “It’s a great town. I wish we didn’t have to leave. Everyone is very close. There is always a friendly hello and smile throughout the day. I feel we are leaving family.”

“That is exactly like this town,” said the old wise man.

After the nice little family had driven away the old man’s granddaughter looked up at her grandfather with a puzzled look and said, “Grandpa, why did you tell the first man this was a terrible town and the second man it was a great town?”

The old man looked down at his beautiful little granddaughter and lovingly said, “Sweetheart, the truth is that people see exactly what they want to see. Our attitude is what makes the difference. The attitude we have determines whether it is an awful or marvelous place in which to live.”

Well, there we have it. We choose whether we are going to live a happy or unhappy life. Are you a happy sales professional? Kind of an interesting question, isn’t it? It was Abraham Lincoln who said, “People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Well, I don’t know about you but I have made up my mind. I’m going to live a happy sales life!

Sales Training: Relationships - True Friendship is a Growing Plant of Shared Sacrifice and Commitment

by Mark Bowser

George Washington said that “True Friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.” Friendship is one of the great blessings from God. Norman Vincent Peale used to tell a fantastic story of a friendship of shared sacrifice and commitment.

It was a wonderful day on the west coast. On a beach near San Francisco, two San Francisco State College freshmen decided to go for a swim. Shirley O'Neill and Albert Kogler flung themselves into the refreshing surf. Al took the lead. The two freshmen swam out about fifty yards to calm water and then began floating lazily in the California sun. Little did they know that they were being watched. Being sensed is more like it. One of nature's most dangerous creatures was stalking its prey. A great white shark was moving in for the kill.

All of a sudden, Shirley heard a scream. Al was being pulled down by something. His head reappeared caked with blood. Al yelled in agony, "Get away, Shirley! Get away! It's a shark!" Al didn't want her help. If sacrificing himself would save her then it was worth it.

Shirley was paralyzed with fear and shock. Al's words rung in her ears. After what seemed like an eternity, she turned toward shore and began swimming for her life. But then she stopped. She couldn't leave her friend. She had to help him...if she could.

The water was full of red blood. She reached for Al's hand and then pulled back in terror. His arm had been ripped from his body. She wrapped her arm around Al's chest. He was alive. Shirley began kicking her feet and stroking with her free arm. The two friends began the slow journey toward shore. Would the shark return? Would it bring its friends? Shirley was getting tired. Al's body seemed to get heavier every second. But she would not let go. She would not leave her friend.

Finally, Shirley could touch bottom. At this point, she was exhausted. She could go no farther. She tried to scream for help. All that came out of her mouth was a weak yelp. Nobody would be able to hear that. Miraculously, Joe Intersonine was fishing some distance down the beach. His eyes for some reason turned. He could hardly believe his eyes. Joe began running toward Shirley and Al. He then flung his cast like a cowboy with his rope. The line perfectly landed beside Shirley and Al. Shirley wrapped it around her waist and Joe reeled them into safety.

By this time, many people saw the trouble and ran to help. They laid Al on the beach and put a blanket on top of him. Being a devoted Christian, Shirley asked if she could baptize him. Al had never had any use for religion but at this moment his heart softened. He nodded "yes" to Shirley. Shirley ran to the water and gathered some in her swimming cap and baptized Al. Al was taken to the hospital and died two hours later.

Many of us will never be in a situation to sacrifice our lives for someone else like Shirley and Al. But that doesn't mean we don't sacrifice our lives. If our motive and desire is to put other people before our self then we do sacrifice our self. Sacrifice is a necessary ingredient of loving people.

As the Ancient Writer told us, "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged."

Sales Training: Patience in Selling

by Mark Bowser

Patience is a sales weapon that can reveal miracles. Patience in selling (and in general) is something with which I have difficulty. I am a go-getter who doesn’t like to wait. But the truth is, we all need to learn patience. Through patience and persistence in our sales career is usually how success happens.

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Dr. Thomas Cooper took on the tedious task of editing a known dictionary. He also improved it in other ways including adding thirty-three thousand words. Dr. Cooper had already been working on his project for eight years when his hateful, ignorant wife went into his library and burned every note he had on the project. She believed she was saving him from killing himself from too much study.

A short time later, Dr. Cooper went into his library and found the burnt mess. He inquired about who would cause such tragedy. His wife boldly and proudly said that she had done it. Dr. Cooper looked at his wife and said, “Oh, Dinah, you have just caused me a lot of trouble!” He then sat down and began another eight years of work to replace the notes she had destroyed.

Wow! Now that’s patience. My friend, do you have that kind of patience in your sales career? Do I? I don’t know. I hope I would possess the same courage and conviction as Dr. Cooper to start again, don’t you?

Sales Training Success: You Can’t Succeed Alone Because That is Not Success

by Mark Bowser

Let us suppose for just a moment that you could get to the mountaintop of success all by yourself. You have worked very hard and finally you have made it. You have reached the peak. Your success is secure. You have won the trophy. Something is not right though. It is too quiet. Where is all the clapping? Where are all the cheers? You look around and discover that you are all alone. Where is everybody? Then you remember you succeeded by yourself. All of a sudden your joy turns to sorrow. Your head falls, your shoulders slump. It wasn't supposed to be like this. This was supposed to be the best day of your life. As a tear rolls down your face, you throw the trophy off the mountaintop. You watch it descend to the valley. When it impacts it breaks into a thousand pieces just like your spirit.

My friend, what fun would success be without people to share it with? We need people and they need us. The great wonderful fact is that we can't reach the mountaintop of success all by ourselves. Only with people will we be truly successful. We help them succeed and they help us. It is a team effort. It was Jim Rohn who said, “You cannot succeed by yourself. It’s hard to find a rich hermit.”

We don’t want to be rich hermits. We want to be build rich teams. Rich in relationships, rich in money, rich in skills, and rich in faith. When you have accomplished that, that is when you know you are a success.

Sales Training: Successful Selling isn’t about Being Perfect

by Mark Bowser


A sales winner is not a perfect human being. There are no perfect human beings. A sales winner is an imperfect human being striving to be better.

Sometimes I can be a perfectionist. Because of this, I am sometimes too critical of myself and others. What I have to remind myself of is that we aren’t perfect. Because of this fact, we will make mistakes. Sometimes they will be stupid mistakes. Well, that’s part of life. When we make a mistake, we have to own up to it and then forgive ourselves. If the mistake can be fixed then fix it. If other people make a mistake, then forgive them. Mistakes are part of life. When they happen, we need to look for the good in them. What can we learn? Where did we go wrong? How can I improve this situation? How can I show people I love them in spite of their imperfectness? Where do we go from here? These are the questions of a sales winner and you are a sales winner.

Sales Training: A Sales Champion Harnesses The Power of Questions

By Mark Bowser


I read a fascinating story about a little girl named Markita Andrews. When Markita was eight years old, her father abandoned her and her mother. Markita's mother worked as a waitress to support them. One day, she said to Markita, "I'll work hard to make enough money to send you to college. You'll go to college and when you graduate, you'll make enough money to take you and me around the world. Okay?" That thought ran around Markita's mind. How would she ever be able to afford a trip like that?

When Markita was 13 years old, she read in a Girl Scout magazine that the one who sold the most cookies would win a trip for two around the world. Here was her answer. She had to go for it. She could smell that trip like you can smell those good cookies. Markita's aunt gave her some invaluable advice, which included asking people to invest in her cookies not just to buy cookies. Markita started telling people her dream of earning a trip around the world for herself and her mother. She then would close with, "Would you like to invest in one dozen or two dozen boxes of cookies?"

Markita sold 3,526 boxes of cookies that year and you know what? She and her mother went on a trip around the world. What was it that has taken Markita to the top? How was she able to sell so many cookies? Well, there are many factors to her success but I believe one of the key ingredients was the questions she asked her self. I imagine she asked herself good questions like, "How can I win that trip? How can I succeed? What is going to go great today?"

You see, God created the greatest computer right between your ears. If you ask your brain a question, it will search and search and search until it finds an answer. The problem is that many people ask themselves lousy questions. They get up in the morning and the first thing they ask is, "I wonder what is going to go wrong today?" And before they know it, their brains give them a whole list of things that could go wrong today.

We don't want to be like that. We need to use to the best of our abilities the computer in our heads. We need to ask ourselves good questions. Get up in the morning and ask yourself, "What is going to go great today?" or "What will I enjoy today?" When you ask those questions, your brain finds answers to them as well, which will motivate you in the direction of success. How we feel and where we are headed in life is in direct relationship with the consistent questions we ask ourselves.

The next time you are in a bad mood try to stop and catch yourself. What kind of questions have you been asking yourself? I can almost guarantee that you have been asking yourself some pretty lousy questions. Let's change that pattern right now. I encourage you to take some time and really answer the following questions. Roll them around in your head. Spend some time with them and then write down your answers. When we change our questions, then we change our answers, that in turn changes our focus, which then leads to our success.

1. What are you excited about today in your sales career?



2. What can you learn today?






3. Think of a challenge you are having right now in your sales career. How can you make it better or even solve it?





4. How can you serve your prospects and clients today?





5. How can you make a difference?

Sales Training: Great Leaders Capture The Power of Vision

By Mark Bowser

Throughout time, great leaders have always had vision. Vision is one of the most important elements to being a champion. The Ancient Writer states it this way, "Where there is no vision, the people perish….” Vision keeps us on track. It even shows us where the track is. So, if vision is so important to success and happiness then where do we get it? That is not an easy question. One way is to ask yourself where you want to be ten years down the road? What will you have accomplished? Where will you live? Who will be with you? Questions like these will help you discover your inner vision for your life.

I believe that there are two elements we have to keep in mind if we are to be successful with our leadership vision. One, the vision needs to be a challenging vision to stretch you and your team (REMEMBER: In order to reach your vision, you are going to need to get people on board with it which means you have to lead them. Every great leader has a vision that is worthy of following and the confidence and integrity to get people to follow them).

When I think about a leader with a challenging vision, I think of President John F. Kennedy. In 1961, he stood before the nation and said, "I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth." That would be a challenging vision for NASA to repeat today let alone in 1961.

Let me remind you where we were when JFK made that statement. In 1961, we had just successfully launched Alan Shepherd into space as the first American into space. Up until that point we had had failure after failure. It was a miracle we didn't kill Alan Shepherd in the attempt to get him up there. Rocket after rocket had blown up in our faces. The Soviet Union was stomping on us in the space race.

Then, we have one success and President Kennedy said we are going to the moon. Our scientist probably wanted to send him to the moon. What an outrageous statement. Did we know how to accomplish it? Probably not. Was it possible? Some of them probably weren't sure. But what happened at 4:17 P.M. in the afternoon on Sunday July 20, 1969? The spacecraft ever so smoothly landed on the lunar surface. Neil Armstrong called back to earth, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." Later, as he and Buzz Aldrin stepped out of Eagle onto the moon, Neil said, "That is one small step for man one giant leap for mankind." We had done it! We had landed two men on the moon and we did return them safely back home to earth. You see, a challenging vision isn't one you necessarily have all the answers to at the beginning, but one that will stretch you to accomplish something you didn't know you were capable of. It makes you stronger and better.

The second thing we have to keep in mind in order to make our vision a reality is the courage to put it into action. Michele Borba tells a story about Rocky Lyons. When Rocky was five years old, he and his mother Kelly were traveling in their pickup truck down a country two lane road. Rocky was asleep with his legs resting on his mother's lap. When they turned onto a narrow bridge, the truck hit a pothole. Trying to get the truck out of a rut, Kelly sped up and turned the steering wheel. Rocky's foot got caught between the steering wheel and Kelly's leg and she lost control of the vehicle. The truck tumbled over a 20-foot ravine.

The crash woke up Rocky. He looked at his mother and said, "What happened, Mama?" Kelly was hurt bad. She was covered with blood. Rocky said, "I'll get you out, Mama." He crawled out the window and tried to pull his mother out of the truck. It didn't work. He climbed back into the truck and somehow used his 40-pound body to push his 104-pound mother out of the wreckage.

Rocky was planning on climbing to the top of the ravine to get help for his mother. Fearing he would get hurt, Kelly refused to let him go by himself. Inch by inch they struggled along. Rocky not only had a vision to save his mother, he also knew how to motivate her to success. He told his mother to remember that little train. He was referring to the train in that children's classic The Little Engine that Could. In Rocky's own version of that famous line, he kept motivating his mother by saying, "I know you can, I know you can."

Well, they made it to the top and Rocky flagged down a vehicle. They got Kelly to the hospital and after 8 hours of surgery and 344 stitches, she was put back together. She looks much different today then she did before the crash. BUT SHE IS ALIVE! She is alive because a five-year-old boy had a vision to save his mother and the courage to put it into action. Rocky just did what he had to do. He wasn't trying to be a hero. He just did what he was called to do.

That is what vision is all about. A challenging vision which will get you out of your comfort zone and the courage to put it into action. What is your vision? Is it to change the entire world or just your corner of it? Whatever it is; wherever it is, GET THAT VISION AND MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Take some time right this moment to think about and answer the following questions. Then, come up with 3 action steps to start the ball rolling towards your vision.

1. If you knew you could not fail, what would you want to accomplish?



2. Where do you want to be in your career in five years?



3. Where do you want to be with your relationships in five years?



4. If you were able to hear the eulogy at your funeral, what would you like to be said about you?

Sales Training: Giving 100%

By Mark Bowser


There is a wonderful sales lesson in a story I found about Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln once took a sack of grain to a mill whose owner was said to be the laziest man in Illinois. Abe watched the man for a while and then finally commented, “I can eat the grain as fast as you’re grinding it.”

The owner of the mill grunted and said, “Indeed; and how long do you think you could keep that up?”

Abe looked at the man and replied, “Until I starve to death.”

Do you know any sales people who never give it their all? They are always looking for the short cut, the easy way, the fastest way. Well, selling is hard work. The quickest, easiest, fastest way is not always the most productive way. A short cut is not short cut if you “cut” corners. Give it your best and watch the sales orders come in.