Phone fear is based, usually, on the fear of rejection, and fear of rejection is pretty darn typical in any type of sales position. I mean, seriously, who wants to get yelled at, hung up on, or even politely told, "No thanks."?  Not me, not you, not anyone. All of my students and most of my clients and audiences suffer some kind of phone phobia. People are afraid of looking silly, messing up, getting rejected or forgetting what they wanted to say. In fact, when I have students of clients role-play with me, they frequently forget what they had planned on saying. They just go blank. Ever happen to you?

 Now before you pull out the old, "use a script" defense, let me tell you something. Scared is scared, period. If you think someone reading a script sounds less afraid or sounds more confident, call me about some ocean front property I'm trying to unload here in Sacramento! Truth is, scripts can and do support and enhance a telephone or in-person "presentation" so long as-and this is the big thing-the agent is confident to begin with. And even then, I encourage my clients to massage scripts to suit their own personality, linguistic style, vocabulary, etc. Otherwise, the script is straight off the shelf canned, and if you got it from a trainer, that means so did a thousand other agents.

 And this isn't just about cold-calling either. A mega business coach confided in me last week that he, himself, gave a real estate agent 9 hot leads and that agent did not call one of them. Not one. And this isn't an isolated case. It's amazing how many agents fail to return calls from prospects, calls regarding their listings, and Internet leads. Leads they pay to receive, they refuse to call back. Phone fear. It's no wonder that when the typical FSBO finally lists, it's with the agent who called him, on average, 5 times. Those agents that do call, usually only call once or twice (if at all), so the constant caller gets the gold.

 The real secret to overcoming phone fear is forthcoming, but first, let's lay some groundwork. It is perfectly normal human nature to want people to like you and to not reject you, so there is nothing inherently wrong with getting the general butterflies in the tummy feeling when you pick up the telephone. Top Producers pick up the phone, but that doesn't mean they don't get nervous.

  I've been fascinated with phone fear for sometime now and researched it pretty thoroughly. The interesting thing is that when I interview top producers and brokers---and yes, brokers have phone fear too (how do you think they recruit agents?), I find that everyone of them admits to 1) feeling a bit nervous; and, 2) incorporating the tactics I will share with you. Whether they were born confident, which I doubt, or developed it through personal and professional development and training, the results are the same: they pick up the phone, they get the deals. It doesn't get much simpler than that.

  Because of my own training in psychotherapy, hypnosis, I am huge proponent and student of the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind houses all of our fears and past programming. For instance, most of the time when you react to someone and then later on wonder what in the heck you got so mad about, it was a trigger from a past experience that set you off, even if you have no clue what it was. All that said, I've found the strategies I teach for top producing success are perfectly suited for phone fear...again, reiterating the idea that if you worked through phone fear, much of your business would improve (of course you must market and communicate well also). So going around the conscious mind via hypnosis can be quite effective in quelling your fears. We are currently producing a hypnotic CD on phone fear, but you can find others CDs or hire a professional hypnotist (gets pricey) to get the ball rolling.

 Visualizing, seeing yourself successfully making the calls, is another key component. And just don't visualize yourself on the phone; see and feel yourself smiling, setting the appointment, and thrilled beyond description about how easy it is to initiate contact. See and feel the person at the other end just as pleased as punch that you called him. Make it as real as you can manage. Creative visualization really is key to getting your subconscious mind open to the idea that picking up that telephone could be a good thing.

 Feel the fear and use it. So many of us hide from fear like it's an enemy. It's not. It's your ego's way of telling you that you're doing something new and uncomfortable and so it feels threatened and wants you to run for cover. When we step outside of our comfort zone, fear is a natural occurrence. Unless you're being chased by a big bear, chances are you will survive a phone call. Virtually all the top producers I have interrogated about phone fear have confided that they feel it too, but unlike the rest of us, they USE it. They transmute it into enthusiasm and energy. And guess what? That passion comes shining through at the other end of the phone. Don't you love to talk to people who seem to be bursting with enthusiasm?

 These are the three most effective means I know of to deal with the subconscious mind concerning phone fear. You can also add positive affirmations, too. For instance, writing , "I LOVE calling prospective clients," "Talking on the phone is a fun and profitable," etc. Affirmations, when repeated, posted on your computer screen, or written down daily can really add to your effectiveness.

 If you'd like to receive an email when our "Phone Fear" segment, covering both conscious and subconscious approaches, is on our Internet radio show, we'll have live discussion and call-in questions, drop me an email at Tamara2@surewest.net

The art of sales is replete with plenty of lead-generation and marketing systems, websites and toll-free hotlines that promise to bring prospects knocking down your door. But is it possible that there's another factor-one that we only give periodic lip service to- that might be the real missing key to top producing success?

 Napoleon Hill made his mark in the early 1900's with his landmark book, Think and Grow Rich. In fact, it's no surprise that many, if not most, of America's noted self-development gurus admit that Hill's book opened doors (& minds) and served as the catalyst for massive and on-going success. Interestingly, numerous real estate coaches and top brokers and sales coaches and trainers from all industries will note the same claim to fame. What was it about Hill's book that hit home for so many? He acknowledged the power of the mind: we get what we think about.

 Not to insinuate that Hill's ideas suggested we think nice thoughts and then sit around on our   laurels waiting for prospects to drop from the sky. Indeed, action is the impetus of measurable results, but before anything-comes the power of thought. When Hill wrote his book, some of his ideas seemed a little bit beyond the ozone layer. However, something gave rise to his credibility. Since steel magnet Andrew Carnegie commissioned Hill to set about the 20-year task of interviewing the richest men in America-men who had last names like Firestone, Woolworth and Wrigley, not to mention Thomas Edison himself-credibility was difficult to challenge.

Fast forward 100 years or so and let's consider how we can use that ageless wisdom and technique to find prospects and close transactions. While Hill's verbiage included less explanation than what today's quantum physics can define a bit better, the fact is that we get what we focus on. If you focus on a deal falling through, catching a cold or getting a flat tire, please don't be surprised when the dreaded event occurs. In fact, with enough consistency, you can almost bank on it.

 While so much press has been given to the movie, The Secret, that it's surely not a secret anymore, many advocate viewers seem to miss the whole point, and others insist it's because the whole point isn't included in the film. In writing somewhere around seven books now (I only lose track because I've written hundreds in my mind!) I can tell you that my very first book, Girl Gets World, from 2000, focused on the law of attraction and every book thereafter (with the exception of one real estate book that was more pragmatic). That said, hundreds, no, make that thousands of authors, speakers, trainers and gurus alike have been major proponents and teachers of "the secret." So why all of a sudden did America seem to wake up and run to the video store?

 My guess is that it was simple and "dumbed" down in a way that everyone could "get it." You see a beautiful diamond necklace, you imagine yourself wearing it, and presto! You wake up and it's on your neck. So no, it's not that easy as most of us have figured out. However, and this is what's important, the idea of "the secret" has gotten more people interested than ever before into understanding a bit about the law of attraction and how it can improve (and sometimes save) lives. And, I suspect if Napoleon Hill had created a Technicolor movie replete with catchy sound bites from Andrew Carnegie and Thomas Edison, well, Mr. Hill might just have won an Academy Award.

 There are no tricks or patentable "methods" for using the law of attraction. In fact, it works with or without your buy in, effort or attention. Like gravity, but more difficult isolate and prove. It's there, though, trust me. So, we all-especially those of us in sales!-would do well to explore the not-so-secret-secret should we wish to excel beyond all rhyme and reason.

 The trick is to use this technique to create a healthy business. To constantly keep your mind as focused as possible on the results you do want as opposed to worrying about those you do not want. Unfortunately, we live in a time when negative focus is the order of the day. Just think about it. People are always talking about how the economy is bad and things could get worse; that kind of focus is creating more of the same even if we don't mean for it to transpire that way.

Fortunately, some-not most, but some-salespeople are aware that success in sales starts with the mental aspect; your mind-set. Even top producers in any industry who have never read about or understood the power of their thoughts are using those positive thoughts to create more sales.

 Why not take a chance and try embracing the practice of positive thought and expectation? See the preferred end-result in everything you do, every action you plan on taking. Then take that action, keeping your mind constantly and powerfully focused on the excellent outcome you want to occur. Watchdog worrisome, negative thoughts and fears and replace them with determined, desired results. It might be worth the effort...what do you think?

 I love to hear success stories to include in my articles and books, so feel free to pass yours my way!

Spending years training new and soon to be agents one thing that drives me crazy, still, is when someone gets into this business to make money. When that's the single driving factor, they almost never do. Last week one of my college students (new licensee) had the gall to tell me, "I don't really like people."! I said, "Buddy, you are in the wrong business and the wrong classroom...see ya!"

Don't get me wrong, money is a terrific motivator, but if you don't like people, stay home. Who do these agents think they'll be selling homes to, pet monkeys? The bottomline is this, you better be past the I-can-tolerate-them level when it comes to your people skills. And, just to back that up, it NEVER fails that when I interview a top producer for my website, books or just to gather more research, that they tell me how much they ENJOY PEOPLE and LOVE TO SERVE. I'm not talking about penny-pinching producers either, in fact, I just interviewed Brent Gove not too long ago and this guy makes more money than Bill Gates (not really, but got your attention, right?) and the major theme of the interview was how darn much this guy loves people.

Hmmmm....think there's any correlation in an agent who likes people and the fact that maybe, just maybe, people (read: prospects and clients) can tell?! Wow...what a cool concept: if you like people they know it and give you their business and you become a top producer.