In This Economy ...

2012-02-01T21:51:00.000-08:00

In this present day economy, we need a competitive edge. And that edge can come through what I call "committed speaking and listening".

In brief, what I share are some tools of language that bring about different ways of being, acting, and producing. For example: If I say "let's get together over lunch and discuss the possibilities for our working together on a project that may benefit both of us", and your listener says, perhaps, "Yeah that sounds good", and that is ALL that gets said, then while we have invented some possibility in that speaking, there is something missing. What is missing is ACTION.

What is present is a conversation that may or may not lead to the future action of actually sitting down at a lunch table and getting into a conversation for that possibility, but there is no actual commitment to DO that anytime soon. So what happens? We have no clue. Whether or not a meeting takes place seems left to chance or fate somehow.

What shifts this conversation from possibility to action? Consider this: After your listener has said, "Yeah, that sounds good," YOU say, "Good. How about tomorrow at 1 PM at The Four Seasons?" That is a clear REQUEST for the creation of a future that was not going to happen anyway. And the response comes, "Cannot do it tomorrow, but Friday will work" and you say (if your calendar is clear), "Done". See you there at 1 PM Friday. Now you have a designed future that you are both committed to. That ... requesting, and promising, is ACTION (language or speech acts) that creates a future ... and the promises made are in fact ACTIONS, and NOT merely "talking about", or speculations leading nowhere, or mere opinions.

This simple example may give you a taste of what our executive coaching is about. If you want to know more or schedule a trial session, contact Charlie Hayes by e-mail: Charliehayes36@yahoo.com ... or call +1 580 701-4793 between 10 AM and 6 PM Monday thru Friday.

The invitation is in your hands. I invite you to call or e-mail within 24 hours to explore what might be possible if YOU could gain a fresh perspective ... and a true "Competitive Edge".

Thank you for your time and attention.

Respectfully,

Charlie Hayes

Get more sales & profits, with less effort & struggle: Free intro Session!

2011-11-14T22:40:00.000-08:00

Learn the language of results - Requests, Promises, Declarations, and Assertions. If there is one thing I can isolate that makes the most difference in the success or lack of success closing deals, it is knowing how to make things happen. In language. When you don't settle for "I'll get back to you,” but rather insist politely but firmly, "OK, let's set a time - how's Thursday afternoon for you?" - where you create the next committed action by requesting a promise for a specific action at a specified time. This, my friends, IS the "heart of the matter."

Knowing how to produce commitment, and being willing to ask for commitment from others, is the one essential skill for negotiation, marketing and sales. If you are not a master in this area, get someone to teach you. (Yes, I do teach this stuff... plug fully intended with an absolute absence of false humility!)

YOU can learn many MORE powerful tools to sell more with less effort. We guarantee that!

We offer powerful Sales Training and Coaching for people who sell products or services in all fields, as well as for Customer Service personnel, entrepreneurs and managers. The trainer, Charlie Hayes, has over four decades experience in this work and has coached leaders in sports marketing, auto sales, seminar marketing and more.

There are a few simple yet rarely taught principles of communication for breakthrough results, principles that are tried and true. These simple points and ideas can work for you. We offer a money back guarantee that you will find what we offer to be of lasting value: All we ask is TRY OUT what we teach in your business dealings, and your life, for 60 days. If you are not satisfied at that time you will receive a full refund upon request with no hassle (minus only a small processing fee).

Consultations start at just $100 per hour by telephone or at your site (with added cost for travel time and expenses). We also work with people in person at a public venue in Enid, Oklahoma. A FREE 20 minutes introductory telephone session of about 20 minutes is available, just call or e-mail and ask for an appointment! All sessions are recorded so you will have the ability to review and deepen the work as often as you like. A free MP3 audio will be furnished; CDs are also available at additional cost.

For more information or to schedule a session, please contact Charlie Hayes at +1 580-701-4793 or e-mail charliehayes36@yahoo.com.

And may the buck be with you!

2011-01-19T16:39:00.000-08:00

Top Ten HOT TIPS to help YOU Get Sponsored

From the book, “Get Sponsored”:

Charlie Hayes, former "Top Ten" Worldwide Racing Driver and Sports Marketing Executive, author of “Get Sponsored,” offers his Top Ten HOT TIPS to help YOU Get Sponsored

Here are the ten ideas and actions that have proven over the years to be most useful and productive in getting and keeping sponsors.

Hot Tip #10: Don't send out proposals! As we have discussed in the past, there is NO sense in sending an unsolicited, unexpected presentation or proposal to a company without having prepared the ground. If it ain't expected it will go in the round file. Because, these are busy people, and they simply do not have the time to devote to reading the zillions of racer proposals a
typical company gets. (According to one Fortune 100 executive I know, he gets about SIX TO SEVEN HUNDRED "sponsor proposals" a week.

The only people getting any dollars from him are the people he pays to pick up all that stuff for recycling!)

It all starts with the design conversation. Once you have gotten a design for the project done, then (and ONLY then) you should send out an overview of what you have discussed. Do this with a graphic presentation with demographics, illustrations, examples of companies successfully using Motorsports and most important, the ACTIONS you will take for the company to help create sales.

Hot Tip #9: The essential points to cover in any presentation you DO send out - at the right time, to the right person:

1. Who are the people involved? After a cover page, introducing the possibility that this project could increase the company's sales, continue with a one page biographical sketch showing you as a person who can help their company. The company wants to see this right up front. Adding a picture is just about essential here -- so they can both see you and read about you. This is a super important part of the material, because you are going to be promising ACTION and you need to produce trust in your competence, and trust that you'll keep your word. (1 page)

2. What are the market, venue, and audience opportunities? This starts with a brief (like 1 page) series presentation and list of venues and markets (NOT a "schedule of races!) 1 or 2 pages ... leading into:

3. Who uses Motorsports? List some examples of major companies already using Motorsports as a marketing tool -- ideally, you will have one or two of their competitors here. (1-2 pages)

4. Who does Motorsports (and your particular project) reach? Show them audience statistics (demographics). These should show essential facts like Household Income, Percentage of Married people who attend races, Age groups and the like. You can usually get current demographics from your event or series organizers. (2-3 pages)

5. Actions you'll take. These will be recaps of the actions you have designed into the program in your previous conversations. Typically, there will be at least two pages here. (2-4 pages)

6. A summary page, showing why they would want to do a Motorsports program, and a signature page showing how to reach you. (1-2 pages, total 10-12 pages)

You do not want to say much on "racing" in these things. Rather, the focus in these materials, as it is throughout the whole process, is on how we can help the firm sell their products or services. We keep hammering on this point because it is very easy for racers to forget that, from the marketer's perspective, racing is (usually) irrelevant. All that counts to a marketer is, can these guys, with this program, help my marketing team produce cost-effective results?

Hot tip #8: Play The Pricing Game to WIN

Racers often ask, "How do I price program action offers?" This is a good question, but it needs to be preceded by a more fundamental question: What actions will I be taking for the sponsor? Will I build a show car and take it to store openings? Do they need a speaker at their annual meeting and/or sales conferences? Will I offer hospitality at events? And so on.

The thing is, you don't want to try to figure out what any and every possible action you might offer is going to cost in advance. Not unless you want a full time unpaid job pricing actions! What I suggest is this: find out what you are going to be selling FIRST. Then get the pricing.

Now look: I can already hear someone yelling: "How do I have ANY idea what this kind of thing costs? I can't even make a ball park guess at it." Okay, that's fair. What you need to do is, if you have NO idea, do a minimum of checking so you get some feel for what you're looking at. For example, call a couple of tracks that run your type events, and ask them what it costs for extra passes, hospitality and seating, special sections in the stands and bulk tickets (50, 100 etc.) and so on. Call car builders or look in the race car for sale ads for a rough figure on a sled you can turn into a show car (remember, it can have a dummy engine and gearbox -- keeping it cheap).

You could also check with a race team in your series that has a show car and ask them how they put it together. Then look in the phone book for Public Relations firms and find out what press releases, newsletters or a media kit will cost. Look in the yellow pages and find a clipping service; find out what they charge to clip mentions of your program that you can show a sponsor evidence that the program is working. Call Joyce Julius & Associates at 734-971-1900 (International: 01.734.971.1968 ) and find out what it will cost to track TV mentions or exposures for your series. More evidence! For most actions you will develop, you can just do the same sort of investigation you would for any other commodity you would be shopping to buy. Their web site is at www.joycejulius.com.

Hot Tip #7 Learn how to create commitment.

Learn the language of results - Requests, Promises, Declarations, and Assertions. If there is one thing I can isolate that makes the most difference in the success or lack of success in getting sponsored, it is knowing how to make things happen. In language. When you don't settle for "I'll get back to you,” but rather insist politely but firmly, "OK, let's set a time to talk - how's Thursday afternoon for you?" - where you create the next committed action by requesting a promise for a specific action at a specified time. This, my friends, IS the "heart of the matter."

Knowing how to produce commitment, and being willing to ask for commitment from others, is the one essential skill for negotiation, marketing and sales. If you are not a master in this area, get someone to teach you. (Yes, I do teach this stuff... plug fully intended with an absolute absence of false humility!)

Hot Tip #6: Persistence Pays!

Some time ago I wrote about a racer named Milt Gedo. Milt is a drag racer with a Super Comp car running out of Denver, Colorado. The thing that sticks most in my mind from some of our early conversations was Milt's sense of frustration, of "spinning his wheels" and going nowhere, like An Endless Burnout. He was "doing all the right things" but "nothing was happening."

Milt had contacted a slew of corporations, and had been turned away by all of them to date. He had experienced more rejection than a nerd in a sports bar. Almost inevitably, he had had the recurring thought that "something's wrong here!" Yes, he wanted to give up. Yes, he was as frustrated as the guy who qualified 34th at Indy. But, he kept at it. And eventually, he got his major sponsor! Remember Milt's and my motto: Just Keep Going! The old saying is still true: Quitters never win and winners never quit.

Hot Tip #5: Automate!

The more you can turn your daily drudge tasks (letter writing, scheduling follow-up and checking for time conflicts, for example) over to electronic robots, the more time and resources you will have for creating new possibilities, speaking with new prospective sponsors, brainstorming with others, researching new companies and the like. Computers are obviously here to stay: If you don't have one GET one! And get Symantec's Act! For Windows (3.0 is good, 4.0 and 5.0 are better) or another top line "Contact Management" software program to manage your search.

Hot Tip #4: Learn to Learn - REALLY learn!

I have known a whole lot of racers - and others - who were convinced they knew everything they needed to succeed at getting sponsors (including an alarming percentage of doctors and attorneys!) See, knowing a lot about the law, or medicine, or even other sports and event marketing, is NO assurance of competence in this unique business of getting racing sponsorships. It takes a big person to surrender to getting coaches, mentors, asking for help. But the expertise of others is invaluable to those who are serious about getting sponsored, because, as you MUST already know, it ain't easy! You need to get every advantage you can.

So pick the brain of anyone you know who's succeeded at this business, AND learn to separate the "wheat from the chaff:" If you ask a successful racer how he did it, and he says, "Oh just luck, I was in the right place at the right time," you can consider that chaff AKA a blowoff. What you are listening for is, "Hey, I just knew if I could get this guy's attention I had something he would want with my marketing program. So I camped out on his doorstep until he finally agreed to see me." That could be a useful piece of information. Listen for the difference!

Hot tip #3: Learn To REALLY Listen To Others:

All of the racer-marketers I have worked with have shared with me how they had communicated before starting our program, and virtually all report that they realized they did not know how to listen until we showed what listening really is. Some wag once described listening as "pretending to hear whilst waiting my turn to speak." Sound about right? Listening, as I define it, goes beyond "waiting your turn" or even hearing what the other says. You need to hear what requests are present in the person's speaking, requests that perhaps you could fulfill. What declarations are they making ("I am interested in the East Coast markets" is a declaration, for example.)? Then what promises or offers for promises of action can you make - that FIT what you have listened to?

This tip is designed to encourage you to think about listening, and the possibilities for coordination of action and development of mutually beneficial programs through effective listening.

Hot Tip #2: Give and Keep Your Word!

I have already urged you to learn the language of results - Requests, Promises, Declarations, and Assertions. If there is one thing I can isolate that makes the most difference in the success or lack of success in getting sponsored, it is knowing how to make things happen. In language. When you don't settle for "I'll get back to you," but rather insist politely, but firmly, "OK, let's set a time to talk - how's Thursday afternoon for you?" - where you create the next committed action by requesting a promise for a specific action at a specified time.

However, knowing this is worse than useless unless you have -- or are willing to develop -- the character and integrity to keep your word, do what you say you will by when you say you'll do it. How many times has someone made a promise to you, and ignored it when it was due? What is the result? Don't you now distrust that person to keep their word in the future? Not keeping one's word costs dearly - it destroys trust, and makes future mutual action highly unlikely.

Let's say you have made a promise to a marketer to call her on the 15th. On the 19h you realize you forgot (See Automate! above!) Then you procrastinate about calling her because you are embarrassed. Compounding the error. When you and this gal finally do talk, how open do you expect she'll be to you promising to take a show car to ten store openings, appear on her behalf at radio and TV shows, etc? Not very. You have blown it before you even got to first base.

You MUST be rigorous in keeping your word if you expect to do well in ANY business. And, if you fail, you need to clean up the damage ("I apologize, Ms. Marketer, I was swamped. It will NOT happen again. If you were inconvenienced in any way by my failure to keep my promise to you, please let me know how I can make it up to you.")

The keyword for success in business relationships is: Responsibility -- which brings us to ... Ta Daaaaa ... Hot Tip Number One!

Hot Tip #1: Be Responsible: It Works! Never EVER blame another person, or circumstances, or ANY thing outside yourself for any lack in your life. If you are not successful at getting sponsored, don't blame the companies who "just don't understand the value," or the media who "don't ever give a fair shake on coverage," or the engine builder or chassis man or team manager or anyone else. There is NOTHING more unattractive that a racer who fails to understand - and demonstrate - that always, ultimately, it's the guy or gal that you see in the mirror who is in fact responsible. When you blame, you appear to others as a victim of the world (ugh.) And you rob yourself of power ("I couldn't help it. It's not my fault ... whine...complain.")

Give it a rest! Take on being accountable and responsible, and never blame anything outside yourself, and you WILL have a power to accomplish results that you've never before dreamt of!

George Bernard Shaw once wrote about this: "This is the true joy in life, the being a force of nature, instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world would not devote itself to making YOU happy." So be a force of nature. Make and keep promises for action. Get off the whiny position that says "I can't do it because ... (fill in the blank). Look: There are essentially just two kinds of people in this game: Those who do what it takes to get what they want, and those who collect reasons why they don't have what they want. Do NOT be one of those people who have all the reasons why they don't have what they want. Be the one who makes it happen!

I invite you to BE responsible and accountable, to take action, to be a person of your word, and to do what EVER it takes (as long as it is legal and ethical) to get sponsored.

If you would like to tap in to Charlie's Expertise please CALL To schedule a 60 minute exploratory session call USA +1 580-366-4083. The cost is $150, and your satisfaction IS guaranteed. Just try what I give you for a month. If it doesn't work for you, just call for a refund minus a $25 Transaction Fee.

Copyright 2000 = 2007 By Charles David Hayes, 1111 S Oakwood Rd. #1308, Enid OK 73703
Intellectual Property. All rights reserved worldwide. You may not copy, distribute or disseminate any part of this document without the express written permission of the author.

The Power Of Communication

In This Economy ...

Get more sales & profits, with less effort & struggle: Free intro Session!