Selling is a process of communicating sufficient value so that a buyer says “yes” and a sale is consummated. Many buyers perceive higher value if they feel they are being treated as special. Oftentimes, we feel special when offered a bargain, a sale or a premium — among many ways.

“Special offers” can be offered in refined and attractive ways or, at the opposite end of the continuum, “deals” can be crude and even consulting — sometimes even counterproductive for the salesperson. Kin Hubbard defines bargain as:  ”A bargain is anything a customer thinks a store is losing money on.”

Do you currently offer discounts and bargain pricing to your customers? What are your reasons either way?  Are customers more or less demanding for deals and discounts in our current economic environment? Are you a “deal shopper”?  What have been the best ways for you to offer deals to your customers?

Is your mind sufficiently open to change it if the circumstances which were part of your original decision have changed?  Some people pride themselves in never looking back – saying, “A decision is a decision.”  Others constantly second-guess themselves and doubt their choices.

A workable middle ground can be:  make clear decisions based on your core values; and if circumstances change favorably in alignment with your core values, be open to reconsidering your decision.

Author, Robert Collier said, “One comes to believe whatever one repeats to oneself sufficiently often, whether the statement be true or false.  It comes to be a dominating in one’s mind.”

Flexibility is key to having an open mind.  Stubbornness in holding on to a decision may mis-serve us because that old decision may harden and have us experience being stuck.  Giving people and situations the benefit of compassion, understanding, and empathy can bring balance to issues where changing your mind could be a better choice.

I once had the occasion to see Zig Ziglar speak to 12,000 people at the Anaheim Pond.  At an intermission, he drew my business card out of a big barrel of cards – which entitled me to win books and tapes (at that time) for a half dozen of his programs.  I went on stage to shake his hand, and I got to see how fun it is to stand in front of 11,999 people.

He said that the primary motivator for human beings is victory – not winning over someone else, but personal victory.  Being victorious in this sense means manifesting a result that is consistent with your core values.  Joy and delight were primary among the core values that I felt in that moment – and he was right: it felt like victory.

How do you define victory?  Has the concept of victory engaged competitiveness for you in the past?  If so, it may not be pure victory.  In fact, a focus on competition may miss the point of victory altogether.  What is the distinction between winning and victory?  There is no struggle in victory.

What are the best ways to respond to others when they do not keep their promises?  Clearly, responses like anger, resentment and recrimination are counterproductive.  What kinds of positive choices are available?

A basic first step is to appeal to the core values that may have been the foundation for the promise in the first place.  Appealing to basic values like fairness, integrity and truth may shift the result.

The desired degree of action about a broken promise is most often a function of its importance and impact.  At their most extreme, broken promises can result in significant emotional distress and other kinds of difficulty.  Yet, the principle of a broken promise can be deeply troublesome even if the issue is primarily one of keeping one’s word.

How have you wanted to be treated when you have broken promises in the past?  What are the extents to which you have gone to have others live up to their promises?  What are your limits and boundaries about broken promises?  Most importantly, what have you learned about promises and how to engage in productive promise-making that produces great results?

How does one renew exactly? Three key steps:

One: Realize that every moment is new. We can choose to drag in the baggage of the past, but we don’t have to. It’s renewing to learn and apply life’s lessons, but to leave out looking at the past with regret.

Two: Ground yourself in what you really care about deep in your soul. Values like honor, integrity, joy, freedom, love. Promise yourself that you’ll be vigilant in living in ways that are consistent with those values.

Three: Take action on your values . . . . knowing that you’ll make mistakes, but that being “perfectly imperfect” is the nature of the human condition.

Accelerate the renewal with hope and optimism for the future.

Copyright 2009. E. B. Hutt Bush and Coaching for Results, Inc.