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Agreements come in all shapes and sizes. Some agreements are big, such as promising to give an employee a raise or committing to finishing a project by a certain date. Others are smaller, such as starting a meeting at a particular time.

When you don’t do what you said you’d do, your employees, colleagues, vendors and customers begin to lose trust in you. You lose authority with them. They realize they can’t count on you, and the relationship deteriorates. The fallout can range from a vendor’s reluctance to compromise on a project fee to increased employee dissatisfaction to losing valuable clients.

Breaking agreements also creates messes that require time, attention and sometimes money to clean up. The mess might involve you apologizing and rebuilding trust with a key employee. It might be a situation that requires other members of your team to properly address, such as working overtime to get caught up on a project to avoid losing an unhappy client.

You Pay the Biggest Price

Members of your team aren’t the only ones affected when you fail to keep agreements. You stand to lose the most of all, because every agreement you make is one that you first make with yourself.

When you make a commitment to do something and then don’t follow through, you learn to distrust yourself. You lose faith in your ability to produce a result, which impacts your self-esteem, self-confidence and self-respect. You undermine your sense of personal power and integrity.

Even breaking small agreements can negatively impact you. When you hit the snooze button instead of getting up at 6:30 a.m. to exercise before work, you create confusion and self-doubt in your unconscious mind.

How Many Agreements Do You Break?

In my seminars, I ask participants to agree to a list of 15 ground rules that include things like being on time and sitting in a different chair after each break. Agreeing to the rules is a requirement to participate in the training.

On the morning of the third day, I ask everyone who has broken even one of the rules to stand up. It’s quickly apparent by the tiny number of people left sitting how casually we give our word … and then break it.

What’s most interesting is that the majority of participants know they are going to break at least one of the rules before agreeing to them. Yet they agree to the rules anyway because they don’t want to be the focus of attention, they don’t want to risk a confrontation, they don’t want to miss the training and a variety of other reasons.

Take a minute to think through the past few days. How many agreements have you broken to yourself or to others? How many of the agreements did you know or suspect you would be breaking? Now ask yourself why you broke the agreements – or made them knowing that you wouldn’t be able to keep your word? Using this simple three-question exercise will help you identify what’s undermining your ability to keep agreements, as therefore, your confidence and self-esteem.

4 Tips for Keeping Agreements

Here are four tips for helping you improve your ability to keep agreements:

1. Make fewer agreements. Make a commitment only if you realistically can keep it. If you suspect or know that you will not be keeping your word, do not make the agreement. Check in with yourself to make sure that the agreement you’re about to make are things that you want to do, not something you’re doing to win someone’s approval.

2. Say no more often. Give yourself time to think about a commitment before making it. Consider what you might have to give up to say yes to an opportunity.

3. Write down every commitment you make. One of the most common reasons commitments are broken is that we simply don’t remember making them.

4. Renegotiate commitments you can’t keep. Communicating your inability to keep a commitment as soon as you know about it demonstrates respect for your team members. Once you break an agreement, clean up the consequences and decide whether you want to recommit to the agreement.

A strong team begins with you. Keeping your agreements will strengthen your self-confidence and personal power. More importantly, it will demonstrate to your team members that you are someone they can count on 100 percent.

Jack Canfield, America’s No. 1 Success Coach, will be conducting his annual “Breakthrough To Success” training this August in Scottsdale Arizona! Please click here for all the details for this life-transforming training.

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Too often, business professionals—especially those in sales and marketing positions—falter because they simply stop practicing the art of asking. But if you were to ask successful top executives how they got to where they are, most would admit they “asked to get to the top.” They knew when and how to ask the right questions so they could gather the right information, build their reputation, seek useful referrals, generate new business, and expand their audience or customer base.

The simple act of asking is critical to success. Yet many people don’t do it because for some reason, people falsely believe that asking implies weakness and sets one up for potential rejection. ?
Here are seven asking strategies you can implement in your business (and in life) to boost your results:

1. Ask for Information. You can never have too much information. In fact, the higher up you go, the more you need to know. For example, to win potential new clients, you first need to understand their current challenges, what they want to accomplish and how they plan to do it. Only then can you proceed to demonstrate the advantages of your unique product or service.

Ask questions starting with the words who, why, what, where, when and how to obtain the information you need. Only when you truly understand and appreciate a prospect’s needs can you offer a solution.

2. Ask for Business. It’s shocking, but true: more than 60 percent of the time salespeople never ask for the order after giving a complete presentation about the benefits of their product or service. If you fall into this trap, beware: it’s a habit that could put you out of business quickly. Always ask a closing question to secure the business. Don’t waffle or talk around it—or worse, wait for your prospect to ask you. There are numerous ways to ask, “Would you like to give it a try?” Find the phrasing that feels most comfortable to you and ask.

3. Ask for Written Endorsements. It can be difficult to ask for endorsements if you don’t like tooting your own horn, but well-written, results-oriented testimonials from highly respected people are powerful for future sales. They solidify the quality of your product or service and leverage you as a person who has integrity, is trustworthy and gets the job done on time.

The best time to ask is right after you have provided excellent service, gone the extra mile to help out, or in any other way made your customer really happy. Simply ask if your customer would be willing to give you a testimonial about the value of your product or service, plus any other helpful comments.

4. Ask for Top-Quality Referrals. Just about everyone in business knows the importance of referrals. It’s the easiest, least expensive way of ensuring your growth and success in the marketplace. Your core clients will gladly give you referrals because you treat them so well. So why not ask all of them for referrals? It’s a habit that will dramatically increase your income. Like any other habit, the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

5. Ask for More Business. It’s easier to sell your existing clients more products and services than to go looking for new customers. Look for other products or services you can provide your customers. Another approach is to devise a system that tells you when your clients will need to re-order your products – or to simply ask your customers when you should contact them to reorder.

6. Ask for Feedback. This is an important component of asking that is often overlooked. How do you really know if your product or service is meeting your customers’ needs? Ask them, “How are we doing? What can we do to improve our service to you? Please share what you like or don’t like about our products.” Set up regular customer surveys that ask good questions and tough questions. It’s a powerful way to fine-tune your business.

7. Ask to Renegotiate. Regular business activities include negotiation and often re-negotiation. Many business professionals get stuck because they lack negotiation skills, yet this is simply another form of asking that can save a lot of time and money. All sorts of contracts can be renegotiated in your personal life, too, such as changing your credit card terms and rate. As long as you negotiate ethically and in the spirit of win-win, you can enjoy a lot of flexibility. Nothing is ever cast in stone. It’s only in stone if you don’t speak up!

The 5 Secrets to Successful Asking

The first stumbling block for most people is knowing how to ask. Here are five tips to improve the way you ask, so you achieve results:

• Ask Clearly: Vague or fuzzy questions confuse listeners, making it difficult for them to provide the information or help you desire. Be precise in your asking. Think clearly about your request, and take time to prepare. Use a note pad to pick words that have the greatest impact. Words are powerful, so choose them carefully. For example, if you throw the “How am I doing?” question out without specifics, it may take time for the other person to understand what you’re talking about. Instead, try “How is my attitude toward customers? Do you see room for improvement? Where?”

• Ask with Confidence: People who ask confidently get more than those who are hesitant and uncertain. When you’ve figured out what you want to ask for, do it with certainty, boldness and confidence. Practice in the mirror if you have to, or write out your question in advance.

Try to have an open mind and heart when receive a response. (It’s normal and okay to feel intimidated by the experience, but don’t show it.) Be prepared to hear the unexpected or unwanted. Don’t get defensive if you hear something you don’t like or that makes you uncomfortable. It’s good to get a little uneasy once in a while upon the observations or insights of others. They will inspire you to stop, reflect, and take steps to make a shift for the better.

• Ask Consistently: Top producers know that they can’t quit if they ask once and don’t get a good response. In prospecting, for example, there are usually four or five “no’s” before you get a “yes.” If the approach you’re using doesn’t seem to be working, try a different way of asking and keep asking until you find the answers you want.

For example, if you find a co-worker is reluctant to offer an opinion when you seek feedback about your performance on an important team project, you can ask another team member who is more receptive to the question or rephrase how you are asking the question and try again. Because people don’t normally go around asking others for opinions on how well they are doing, it’s not a question typically heard. So be prepared to ask over and over again before you hear a clear—useful—answer.

• Ask Creatively: In this age of global competition, your asking may get lost in the crowd, unheard by the decision-makers you hope to reach. The way around this is to ask in an unusual way. Use your creativity to dream up a high-impact presentation. Bear in mind that asking someone to stop and evaluate you can seem awkward or time-consuming. Show respect for them first and find the ideal time to ask the question. Here’s one way to engage the insights of a superior: “I highly value your opinion and honest perspective, and would love to know what you think I could be doing differently on a daily basis that would make your life easier and make our clients happier.”

• Ask Sincerely: When you really need help, people will respond. Sincerity means dropping the image facade and being willing to be vulnerable. Tell it the way it is, lumps and all. Don’t worry if your presentation isn’t perfect; ask from your heart. Keep it simple and people will open up to you.

Like speaking a different language, asking takes continual practice until it becomes a regular, reflexive habit. The sooner you build your Ask Muscle, the sooner you’ll see results you’ve been waiting—and searching—for. Remember that asking does not relate only to work-related goals and tasks. Bring this practice home with you to enrich your relationships with your family members, and your friends. You’ll be surprised and delighted at what you discover about yourself in this process – and at the greater results and satisfaction you’ll gain in all areas of your life.

Jack Canfield, America’s No. 1 Success Coach, will be conducting his annual “Breakthrough To Success” training this August in Scottsdale Arizona! Please click here for all the details for this life-transforming training.

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If there are things that you want to achieve this year or even if you’re not clear about what you’d like to achieve this year, then I’d like to offer you a FREE 1-on-1 “Accelerate Your Success in 2011″ Consulting Strategy Session!

Dear Friend,

Are you excited about all the things you want to achieve this year? Maybe you made some New Year’s resolutions to change some aspect of your life? Maybe you want to…

- Start a new business
- Create a new relationship with someone special
- Get a new career (or a raise)
- Lose weight and have better health
- Earn more money
or something else.

No matter what you wanted to change or achieve, the secrets to success are the same…

1. Get clear. As specifically as possible, decide what you want. The more you are clear on what you want to have in your life, the more likely you are to achieve it.

2. Get perspective. Most people don’t tell anyone what they want or what they are struggling with and because of that, they don’t get an outside perspective.

3. Get support. Very few people (if any), achieve anything great alone. Sports stars have teammates and coaches.

Be willing to ask the people in your life to support you!

Special ZERO COST “Accelerate Your Success in 2011″ Consulting Strategy Session

Do you still have something SPECIAL, something important for you to change or achieve this year? If you want to speed up your success rate, then I’d like to help you do it with a special 1-on-1 personal “Accelerate Your Success in 2011″ consulting strategy session where we’ll work together to:

1. Create a crystal clear vision for “ultimate success” so you know exactly what you want, where you’re headed, and what you need to do to make it happen.

2. Uncover hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your ability to make changes that last or that are slowing down your progress

3. Leave this session renewed, re-energized, and inspired to finally achieve the change you seek – once and for all.

If you’d like to take advantage of this very special, very limited, and totally FREE 30-minute “Accelerate Your Success in 2011″ consulting strategy session, please send an email to info[at]focusedon.com.au to register.

At this time as I don’t know how intense the response will be, I can’t guarantee a free consulting session for everyone.

I’ll take as many people as I can and then start a waiting list. You can expect to get contacted by me within the next 2 business days.

If you don’t hear from me, it means I’ve received more requests than I can handle right now, and if something opens up, I’ll get in touch with you at a later time.

Again to take advantage of this offer, simply send an email to info[at]focusedon.com.au with your details.

Best wishes,

Neel Raman
Speaker, Author, Trainer, Consultant
http://www.hoopsandfreedom.com

PS. The sooner you send us your answers, the more likely you are to get a session. Register now!

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Can You Handle The Truth?

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Highly successful people have had more failures than success in their life! That may seem strange or surprising, but failure is a part of winning. Very few people in life have achieved any noteworthy success without experiencing major failures in life.

Don’t take my word for it. Listen and watch what the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan, says about failure! Welcome your failures and learn the lesson you need to from your failure! Please click on the link below.

Failure by Michael Jordan

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Well, I invite you to watch this very short video which hopefully put things into perspective for you. Please click on the link below.

What's Your Excuse Video

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