Fail Your Way to Success!

Sales Rep Radio

2008-03-11T17:22:00.000-07:00

Listen to us talk a little about Go for No! at Sales Rep Radio. This is a great service and you can sign up for free! If you are looking for sales training, sales tips, sales techniques, advice on selling, sales training experts and ideas for success this has it all. We were honored to be selected as guests, check it out: http://www.audionewsletter.com/salesrepradio/021708.htm

The Greatest Success Strategy has a Movie!

2008-02-13T06:37:00.000-08:00

Okay it's not "the secret" (though someday we will make Go for No into a movie-movie) but we are really excited that we have a new 3 minute movie that teaches people about "go for no."

We've been challenged over the years as we have crafted our 30 second "elevator speech" or our single line USP about what it is we actually do.

Well, we finally feel like we have all that down but we still wanted something else that would help us communicate our "go for no" message (a tool that no sales training program or sales and marketing professional should be without!) But something not so short as it's in seconds, but not so long as "read our book and you'll be enlightened."

Hence, the movie. A Portland Co., AngelVision, were the designers of the movie and we got to be kind of executive producers, writing most of the copy, suggesting graphics, and selecting the voice over talent. We loved the process and even more we love our movie!www.impactmovie.com/goforno

Fail More in 2008

2008-01-14T06:48:00.000-08:00

If you're like many people, you may already be thinking about your New Year's Resolutions... many revolving around how to be more successful. Well, we want to add one to the list and as you might expect from the "go for no" people it has to do with failing more!

Before we explain this in more detail let's take a recap of your failures for 2007. This requires a bit of work and thought on your part. So grab a pen and first, list the five biggest "failures" you had this past year. The ones that you hesitated telling your siblings or parents about. Yes write them down. Okay... now look at the list. Are you still alive? Yes, great. Okay failure didn't kill you so let's move on.

Next, let's look at these failures and come up with at least one great lesson from each of them. Write it down. Will wait. No really, write it down. Okay good. So we failed we survived and we learned.

Now here's the final question... did any of you have to struggle to come with five things you failed at? Did you have search your memory banks? Did you have to start searching your brain - stopping momentarily on a burnt meatloaf because you played it so safe this year that you really didn't feel like there were any actual failures?

Failing and by extension "going for no" is what we prescribe for your year!
Get people to tell you "no" multiple times, multiple ways, over and over. If you are not hearing NO you are not failing enough! Try new things, meet new people, get out there and be willing to fail! Come to the edge and see how good you can really be if you are just willing to stop playing it so safe! May next year, be the year that you say... Five things, just five?

Start the Year Out and Learn to Go for No! Get the book and 3 CD Training Program TODAY.

Retailers and Selling this Season

2007-12-16T10:11:00.000-08:00

When shopping the other night, I (Andrea) was pleasantly surprised at the assertive nature of most of the associates in the stores I was entering; specifically: Origins, Aveda, Saks, Moonstruck Chocolate (a Portland Oregon specialty), Something Silver, The Fossil Cartel, Sharper Image, Swarovski and L'Occitane.

bebe's attention to customers was noticeably absent. We don't judge a company on one shop however, and in fact have had previous good experiences (from our retail service across America tour) at bebe. The associate was hurrying me out of the store (without my purchase that was still laying on her counter) - no "go for no" behaviors there.

So, almost all stores had people who were proactively greeting, asking if they could help (normally we don't recommend such an approach but for the "purpose-driven" shopping season this works) and overall communication WAS happening! People were actually selling! In retail stores! And "going for no!" ... at least in the beginning.

Still retail store teams lacking in getting "no's" from customers in the closing phase of the interaction (asking for the sale) and in the moment where they ideally should adding on to the sale; suggesting additional products etc.

But still I was intrigued by the increase in assertiveness across the board. Could it be that some of the "fear" of failure... rejection... upsetting customers has been temporarily lifted since after all it is Christmas and people are in fact, shopping and buying. I wonder...

Sorted Book Project

2007-11-25T11:28:00.000-08:00

We learned of this site through Tom Peters. It is called the Sorted Book Project and looks rather simple - but it seems some of the most unique works of art are radically simple.

In this case, to quote the web site (of Nina Katchadourian) "the project began in 1993... taken place in many different places over the years... From private homes to specialized public book collections. The process is the same in every case... pulling particular titles, and eventually grouping the books into clusters so that the titles can be read in sequence, from top to bottom... then displayed either as photographs of the book clusters or as the actual stacks themselves... the clusters aim to examine that particular library's focus, idiosyncrasies, and inconsistencies — a cross-section of that library's holdings."

What struck us was the photo of one sorting with the following titles: "When I Say No I Feel Guilty, then "God Always Says Yes", followed by "Don't Say Yes When You Want to Say No"...

It seemed to us this combination desperately cries out for a copy of "Go for No!" at the end of the collection. Looking at our collection of books on yes, no, failure, success, we could have quite a book sort ourselves on the topic.

Andrea took a quick shot of the books that have made their way onto our book shleves most recently. We did not attempt to sort them per the 'book sort' process yet maybe as you look at these you'll see a connection. Darn, forgot "Go for No!" again.

Go for No - Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz -- COS BOOK TRAI

2007-10-06T16:19:00.001-07:00

Our new "Go for No!"
edu-merical... Go for No is the Greatest Success Strategy in the World!

High Perfomers International

2007-09-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

Richard Fenton will be the speaker for the September 19th event at the Oregon Convention Center teaching the 400+ audience at High Performers Intl, a Portland based professional development seminar company how to go for no!

The fear of "no" and people's need to not just to overcome it but to embrace it is a full time occupation for us!

Two letters, N and O. Too many of us avoid it at all costs, the result of which not only stifles our own experiences in life but potentially those of others too. Have you ever not asked someone something for fear that they'd tell you no? If so, why? And did you ever find out that the decision NOT to ask actually made things worse? Go for no is not just a 'sales philosophy' it is a life philosophy too.

Perspective of Failure

2007-08-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

Our mantras; things like, "fail your way to success" and "go for no!" require us to re frame our perspective. It's one of the core concepts we talk about in our go for no "sales training program" and in Rich's "go for no" seminars.

Example: when you walk into a room with stuff scattered around... you make a judgement about the state of the room based on your perspective. Maybe to you, it's a total mess. But someone else may see it as almost clean based on their perspective.

So you've called on ten prospects and gotten ten no's. Some see this as a failure, a disaster. We choose to see it as making progress - the stepping stone on the way to success. How you choose to frame the word "no" will dictate how well you can learn to harness the power of no to your benefit!

Dealing with Fear

2007-07-31T13:25:00.000-07:00

A big part of being willing to fail is to get over the fear. There are lots of different opinions on how to do this and on our Courage Crafters Show we are interviewing experts on the topic.

One is Amanda Murphy, the Courage Lender. We like Amanda's take on many things including her thoughts surrendering to the outcome. This really does allow you to stop the constant fear and worry from taking control of your life.

Our next Guest is Susan Jeffers, author of Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway! The show is this Thursday, August 2nd. Be sure to come listen and download this podcast as well as all our other shows!

A Perfect Mess

2007-07-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

Are you stalling out on your plans because you are afraid to fail? AKA: You are a perfectionist! You might be relieved to find out about the book, "A Perfect Mess".

There is some compelling research that shows a messy desk isn't as disastrous as previously believed. Could it offer some benefits of its own? The answer seems to be Yes! This is great news for me. I actually enjoy piling everything on my desk and sorting through. Tom Peters has a great interview with one of the authors of the book, Dave Freedman, on his website.

Stop Letting What Others Think Rule Your Life

2007-07-18T18:45:00.001-07:00

One of my (Andrea) favorite "fun" books - not business books - is "Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination" by Helen Fielding. She also wrote the Bridget Jones books. It is a fun read about a crazy-ish girl who ends up as a "spy" in all kinds of unbelievable situations.

The main character, Olivia, has some Rules for Living that she goes by. Her "rules" while not maybe as powerful as those from Tony Robbins or Jack Canfield or other personal development gurus are actually quite profound.

Examples include: Rule 1) Never panic. Stop, breathe, think. Rule 10) Only buy clothes that make you feel like doing a small dance. But here is my favorite:

Rule 2) No one is thinking about you. They're thinking about themselves just like you.

This is a huge element to being willing to fail your way to success, to learn to go for no, to do things that stretch you that others may doubt your sanity over! Do you keep yourself from doing what you want because of others? Many people are willing to easily give you their thoughts, even criticsm but then they go on their own way - worried about their own lives, not even thinking about you!

Don't let your worries of what others will think of you ever, ever, ever stop you!

Go for No Video

2007-07-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

As part of our upcoming Go for No! Workshop-In-A-Box program, we include a 49 minute video of Richard Fenton delivering his Greatest Success Strategy in the World keynote presentation. Watch a clip of this video now on You Tube.

Repotting

2007-07-05T16:34:00.000-07:00

We sure love talking about the power of "no." Today's episode on our VoiceAmerica Business - Courage Crafters Show was all about "Go for No!"

Next week, we have on the authors of "Repotting" Ginger Pape and Diana Holman. These ladies have written a great book. I think my favorite quote (although there are many) was Rule 6 in the "Rules of Repotting" which is to Find Your Authentic Self - Write Your Story. They say, "Women toady are asking themselves: Why put off being who I really want to be? We don't have the luxury of living a "practice" life."

We believe that life should be crazy, fun, mixed up, and an experiment. Fail! Succeed! Repot!

So, on the subject of "repotting" I, Andrea, had actually never repotted an actual plant. Truth be told no plant ever survived long enough. Except... for the last two years I have had a wonderful plant that has grown and grown despite being under my care.

So I took my plant, got in the car and went to the local nursery where I planned to have them repot my plant. However, as the nice woman at the nursery explained to me - who I was going to PAY MONEY to for this repotting service - they don't do it.

With instructions, a new yellow pot, and soil I left to repot. As it turns out the roots of this plant had become so twisted, tangled and long that I literally had to cut off the pot to finally get it out. The amazing news is I did it and the plant is still living. I was so excited that I called my mother to tell her and, buoyed by my success I repotted my other 2 plants.

So, lessons I learned: 1) If you don't repot often enough your roots get so long and tangled it gets harder and harder. 2) No one will repot for you. 3) I am a repotter both in my plant life and life-life.

Listen to our next show The Courage to Grow next Thursday, July 12th at 10 am!

The Courage Crafters Show

2007-06-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

We did our 7th episode of the Courage Crafters Show yesterday with speaker and sales trainer Joel Weldon. What a classy guy and so knowledgeable about how to build sales and serve clients.

In Joel's own business (and for the last 30 years) he doesn't cold call, he doesn't "market"or mail flyers, he doesn't use booking agents, it's all referrals! And Joel believes in the power of the go for no philosophy.

Listen to show now by downloading the MP3 and hear to Joel Weldon discuss his philosophies on selling and his amazing ideas on how to generate high quality referrals. We can say... if you do it right, you'll have more business than you know what to do with and it's probably not what you think!

The Man Who Paints with His Nose

2007-06-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

The next time you feel like life is not giving you all you want and deserve, you must step back and gain some perspective.

We know, it's hard when you are too busy worrying about what you don't have. Really you have to snap out of it. It's what helps us make "failing our way to success" fun and do-able! When things go wrong, we make a mistake, a business idea flops, we step back and gain that perspective.

Last year we were in our old hometown of Los Angeles walking through Santa Monica's 3rd St. Promenade. We noticed a man in a wheel chair in his own world painting away... but he wasn't painting with his hands or fingers. Or even arms. Or feet. He was painting with his nose. Afflicated with cerebal palsy since birth, Gille Legacy has had no use of his arms or legs. But for the last 40 years he has been painting. He has also written and published four books of poetry and short stories. They are all typed on his compuer. With his nose.

To try to explain to you something about this person is like describing a perfect sunset, you have to see it. Not only does he have talent he has an amazing perspective. We encourage you to visit Gille's web site; learn about him on his amazing video The Man Who Paints With His Nose.

It has been said that excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure. Gille makes no excuses.

Chasing Tom Peters

2007-06-12T16:37:00.000-07:00

Chasing might be a strong word. Slowly cornering.

We decided that one of the important marketing strategies when it comes to spreading the word about our book, Go for No! is to get endorsements from high profile business leaders, consultants and experts. Our first choice is Tom Peters. We have not gotten a "no" from him yet. We haven't gotten anything yet actually. I mailed a copy of the book a couple weeks ago. That was step 1. Step 2 was to ask listeners of the Courage Crafters Show to hook us up if they know Tom or know someone who knows Tom. Nothing yet.

Why Tom Peters? Tom inspired us to leave our corporate jobs and start our own business. He is an awesome speaker, genius observer of all things business; we love his radical ideas and ability to make you think differently. We wanted to do some of those ideas and when we saw they weren't going to fly in our own jobs we wanted out even more. Plus Tom believes the failure-success connection as do we.

So, until we get a "no" we'll continue to go for no with Tom.

Mastering the Ultimate Strategy for Failing Your Way to Success

2007-05-31T07:30:00.001-07:00

In our book "Go for No!" we make the case for getting more people to say NO to you so that you increase your sales success - and actually it works for just about everything in life. But now we have finally taken the sales strategy blown it up by releasing our "Go for No! 3 CD Audio Program" that takes listeners through the 20 core concepts to Going for No!

For example, we explain why if your success rate is over 30% you probably aren't challenging yourself enough.

We encourage you to get big No's! It takes no more energy to get a big no than to get a small one. For example, do you talk yourself out of going to the "head honcho" or the "big client" because you don't think you deserve it. Hey, if you are going to get a "no" make it worthwhile!

We talk about why "yes" and "no" should be of equal emotional intensity and how to do that. For example, do you feel awful when you her "no" but great when you hear "yes"? That's a natural responses but there is a better way!

We discuss in detail when quality of presentation is critical as compared to quantity of presentations... and why... and how to use this in your business.

We are thrilled that we have this program because we really believe that by going for no you can increase sales, increase profits, learn to overcome your fears of failure and rejection by seeking failure and rejection, and create satisfied and loyal clients... and ultimately helping you achieve what you want in life.

Failing Okay with Dr. Laura

2007-05-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

Dr. Laura had a great position on her radio show yesterday. A woman called in concerned that she was teaching her son to be afraid of failing. It seemed that her and her husband had made his success in little league so important that he was getting stressed out and almost not wanting to play anymore.

Dr. Laura suggested that the woman involve her son in activities where she knew they would fail. Dr. Laura said something to the effect of, get out there and do something - some activity and at the end of it, even though you won't be successful, reinforce the fun of it just for having tried... don't even mention the failure, just talk up the activity itself. Encourage the boy to want to do things and try things regardless of the outcome; the success or failure.

Dr. Laura applauded the woman for being a good parent, and she's right. Fear of failure is a great harm to us all. This young boy will hopefully be taught a valuable lesson early enough that his whole life will go differently... When was the last time you did something or tried something even though you knew you would or could fail? Do you hate failing so much that you shrink from enjoying new and different activities in life?

The Success Network Group: Conquer Your Fear!

2007-03-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

The Success Network Group: Conquer Your Fear!

Jobs4.0: Good advice, from Mr. Backus

2007-03-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

Jobs4.0: Good advice, from Mr. Backus

Failing Your Way to Success Part 2

2007-03-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

When it comes to our ROAR! E-Zine, we are definitely living the fail your way to success philosophy more than we probably ever imagined. This evening I am faced with yet another technical difficulty (the e-zine was sent basically "unreadable") and I realize that I have a choice.
Having recently began an in depth study of the book Play to Win! Choosing Growth Over Comfort in Work and Life by Larry & Hersch Wilson (a brilliant book) I know that the key strategy in these moments is to: 1) Stop 2) Challenge and 3) Choose. The challenge part being to challenge our assumptions and paradigms about how bad the situation really is. The reality is many of us take failures to an extreme with "end of the world" thinking.

When we started our business, almost ten years ago now, Rich and I had a printed newsletter that we mailed out to subscribers. We would agonize for hours editing and making sure everything was perfect. Upon getting our second issue back from the printer we discovered that the footer of the front page still said 'Premier Issue'. We then agonized and debated on what to do about this. Finally we decided to print out fluorescent stickers (labels actually) with a little message to our readership. It fit perfectly over the words premier issue and looked decent enough. I remember being quite upset about this "fiasco" at the time plus all the extra work it caused but I think this story illustrates two key points.

The first is, we are brilliant problem solvers and the second is... we now look back on that and laugh. We aren't nearly as crazed. We know now that turning "failures" into catastrophes does not serve us. Failing is art of the joy of what we do, it means we are living, learning, and growing.

So I choose to relax, understanding that this is at most inconvenient and that some day soon even this minor annoyance will weave itself into the tapestry that are the failures and successes of my life experience.

The Only Thing Standing Between You and Success...

2007-03-02T09:08:00.000-08:00

... Is you.

At Courage Crafters one of the main elements of what we talk about has to do with fear. Yesterday on the mian page of Comcast.net there was a segment on "Scared Celebs" - celebrities with fears; such as: mirrors, shaking hands, pigs, revolving doors, and chewing gum (this is supposedly Oprah's). As ones who make it their business to study fear, we find this very interesting. Most of us have some phobias, many of which are completely unfounded but some do keep us from harm. We have a huge phobia about jumping out of an airplane without a parachute for example.

But these unique phobias, (for example: gymnophobia which is the fear of nudity) tend not to influence our success. However, it is the common fears; fear of failure, rejection, the word "No" that truly impede us from achieving everything life has to offer. And it is these fears under which we actually have the most power and control. That is the good news because we have somewhere to start - we start with ourselves, our thoughts and our actions. It is these fears that inspired us to create our 2 CD set The Fear Factory. A unique story, done in what we call an "audio play" format, the Fear Factory might be just what you need to get beyond these common fears to achieve everything you desire.

Failing on the Streets of LA

2007-02-20T15:20:00.000-08:00

When were in Los Angeles last week for Andrea's appearance on the TV Guide Channel Show "Idol Chat" we got a chance to drive around our old neighborhood. Andrea has an amazing knowledge of the streets of Los Angeles, having us turn here and there as if she drove them everyday still.

And her amazing ability is from...? As she explains, "I got lost so many times I really learned how to navigate my way around." Another good example of a positive "failure" which has now led to a highly successful navigator of Santa Monica and surrounding environs. As Andrea explains...

"I realized even at the time I was driving around and taking extra time to get places that I was discovering the right ways by doing it all wrong. It actually helped reduce my frustration level too because I was able to see the positive side."

This is an important lesson, one we remind ourselves of consistently; when we are failing at something, we are still learning and that ultimately will help us be more successful.

Courage Crafter Engages in 'Idol Chat'

2007-02-12T15:24:00.000-08:00

This past Friday we had an exciting opportunity. Andrea was invited as a guest (Failure Expert)on the TV Guide Channel's "Idol Chat" hosted by former Idol Contestant Kimberly Caldwell and Reality TV Pop Star Rosanna Tavarez.

The topic was from our recent press release entitled "Failure Experts Claim that Rejected American Idol Contestants are More Successful than Most Americans." Obviously, we are not referring to the success around the "singing"but rather the courage to be in the competition; to try and be willing to fail. Ultimately, the willingness to face rejection will propel these contestants (maybe not in singing and dancing!) to higher levels of success than most. It's a trait that is unfortunately not exercised by most of us that prefer to sit on the sidelines and judge.

We have no idea how Andrea did on the show as we haven't even seen it yet but as people who believe in always taking the risk and having the willingness to fail; she did exactly what we wanted - she did the interview.

After the interview we went Palm Springs for some much needed R & R. Because we are intimately aware of the behaviors-results connection, we both recognize that Rich's behaviors were not in alignment with the results we were after on his Fail Your Way to Success Diet Challenge. Some good behaviors: tennis over 2 days and some light swimming. Not so good behaviors: Two amazing dinners at LG's Steakhouse in Palm Desert and BOA in Santa Monica, and lunch at In-N-Out Burger (at Andrea's insistence). However, never ones to cower in defeat or failure, we press on and promise an update next week.

Working to Failure Has Its Costs, Benefits

2007-01-29T09:52:00.000-08:00

One week ago I (Rich) started what I call my 40 Day “Fail Your Way to Fitness” Challenge (see last week’s blog for details). Well, working to failure has its benefits… and its cost. First, the benefits.

Apparently, I have lost weight. I say “apparently” because (per the rules) I did a blind weigh in and was not allowed to see the results. But Andrea says they were stellar (see scale photo that Andrea has inserted in the blog). As with most diets, I can feel the difference but can not yet see it in the mirror yet. And when trying on my suit I can see I still have a long way to go. But progress is being made!

To stay within the rules of not being “results” oriented (focusing only on behaviors and working to “failure”) here’s how I changed my workouts. Typically I would count the number of “reps” as I lifted weights. Instead, I simply started lifting and repeating the mantra, “Work to failure! Work to failure!” As such, I have NO IDEA how many reps I did on each machine. I only know the following…

1) I did more reps than I would have done otherwise, and with heavier weight.
2) I hurt like hell.

To be specific, I can barely lift my left arm (having irritated an old rotator-cuff injury) and every thing else, hurts, too! But I can honestly say that the five times I went to the gym last week were the five best workouts I’ve had in a year, including previous workouts with a personal trainer.

So… the approach is clearly working. I am working to failure. I am destroying muscle (perhaps too much!) And I am going to stick with it. March 4th (the date I need to be in my suit) is rapidly approaching, and I know I can’t think myself thin – and, as it is with every other worthwhile achievement in life – I will have to work.

More next week!