I have always operated with the idea that all people operate either one of two ways. They operate under fear or they operate with love. When I heard the two wolves story I think I liked it better!

One evening an elder Cherokee man told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside of all people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us. One is fear, It carries anxiety, concern, uncertainty, hesitancy, indecision, and inaction."

Luck occurs at the intersection of random chance, talent, hard work, and perseverance. I believe random events happen every single day in everyone's life. When you use the other three parts of luck, people take a hold of that random event and turn it into something good that happens to them. When that happens people say, "Oh, he got lucky!".

It's like Sisyphus, in Greek mythology, Sisyphus was the king of Corinth who was punished in Hades by repeatedly having to roll a huge stone up a hill only to have it roll down again as soon as he had brought it to the top of the hill. Do you ever feel like Sisyphus?

Many books talk about influence, salesmanship, and persuasion. Through the years I have probably read most of them. One of the best written on the market today is Influence by Robert B. Cialdini. If you haven't read the book, it is a must read!

You really can't blame the public. Everywhere the customer goes people are lying to them and taking advantage of them. I'm not even talking about a sales situation. I'm talking about everyday life. Dealing with people that aren't being honest with you. Co-workers, friends, even family. Everyone (2 Billion people) are on Facebook watching other people have fun, get rich, make it big at something and oh yes, the occasional cat videos.

According to Mckinsey Global Institute the average American hears or reads about 100,000 words each day. Think about the emails, texts, phone conversations, TV, radio, friends, etc. These days your "pitch" or "elevator pitch" or your "story" better be good. It better be very good!

Do you want to stand out in a crowded market trying to get your customers attention in this new world of selling? Marketing and selling? I will call this Attunement Selling. Attunement means being or bringing into harmony; a feeling of being "at one" with another being.

The playing field has changed. The customer now has most of the information that you do. Well, almost as much. But here's the thing. THEY THINK THEY HAVE IT ALL! They think they have everything they need to make a decision! The problem is, they might be solving the wrong problem they have. They also need YOU!

I am not going to take credit for this idea. I must give credit where credit is due. The late great Chet Holmes came up with this idea and I read about it in his book years ago called The Ultimate Sales Machine. This is a great book and I highly recommend that you read it. Once I read this concept that Chet wrote about, I started doing it immediately. It really works great and I highly recommend you implement it ASAP! It is very similar to the 80-20 rule.

Much has been written about influence in selling. If you haven't read it, Robert Cialdini has written a classic book called Influence: The Physiology of Persuasion. This is great book where Cialdini highlights certain behaviors that influence persuasion. He has studied it and worked it for years. It is good stuff!

I try and read the bible everyday. I have been through a lot in my life and I believe having a strong foundation in a higher being keeps me grounded. As a matter of fact people have called my life a modern day Job. That is a story for another time.

Everybody says "listen your way to a sale! I mean everyone in the business says to LISTEN! There must be something to this, right? When you see everyone say the same thing you figure it is important! God gave you two ears and one mouth. It seems like everyone says that one. So why are sales people not paying attention to this major advice?

In my line of work (luxury real estate) it is very important to be able to read people very quickly. I would imagine if you are selling cars, or dealing with purchasing agents in a company it would also be important. But the car dealer and the real estate salesmen are dealing with “walk-in” traffic that just show up.

I have been an avid golfer my whole life! I have played some of the best golf courses in the world. Through my career in the luxury golf community business I always had access to the golf course located within the property.

I felt it was important to write this post about selling with humor. With all of the sales guru's out there I really don't see too much written material about selling with humor. I'm sure people mention it but I just don't see a lot of it.

My step Father was a good man. He had great wit and charm. For most of his life he life he had a great lifestyle. He got to be cranky at the end though. He just didn't seem very happy with the way things turned our. Then one day after he was gone we found this story in his belongings. I really liked it once I read it, so I thought I would share.