How To Become a People Magnet

By Dani Johnson
Keys to increasing your sales, client retention, referrals, company morale and more!
I grew up in an abusive drug afflicted home and was told by my father my whole life that I was fat, ugly and good for nothing. I had no dreams, no goals, no self-esteem – nothing.

So when I was first exposed to the business world, I did not believe I could succeed. After six months of failure, I was blessed to find a mentor who taught me some key principles that turned things around.

Then I got married to a guy who drained my bank account and left me with $35,000 in credit card debt. I became totally homeless living out of my car and had to start all over again. Within two short years I became a millionaire at the age of 23.

Below are some of the foundational key skills I learned early on, and have since taught tens of thousands of other entrepreneurs through our coaching programs and live seminars, that will give you an immediate change in the results you are getting and will turn you into a people magnet that others want to follow.

Learning and consistently applying these simple skills will increase your sales, client retention, referrals, company morale and loyalty. If you are in sales, this formula below will change your closing ratios dramatically. If you are married or have kids, these simple steps can turn around any relationship on a dime or make a good relationship great!

Smile. 93% of communication is non-verbal. Smiling may be the easiest way to change your non-verbal communication with others. Smiling shows confidence and builds curiosity. It relaxes others, and can immediately change the energy in a room. It will attract others to you and make them want what you have.

Make sure you smile while talking on the phone. This is so important. Smiling on the phone has raised people's closing ratios by more than 50%. Smiling changes your posture and says, "I know where I'm going, even if you don't." It's says, "I'm excited, I have energy! And I'm going with or without you!"

When I was homeless, living out of my car, I searched for one positive thing I could focus on that would make me smile. That one thought changed my focus, gave me something to smile about and was the beginning of my situation turning around. The next 10 hours in my business, I made $2000 which got me out of my car and into an apartment.

Be yourself – not an amateur sales person. It's very important to be yourself. If you're yourself, then your guard is down, and guess what? So is the other person's! You want to build a relationship with the person you are talking with and this is what we call, "friends first". When I get on the phone and I'm being myself, the whole goal is to build a friendship with the person on the other end of the phone.

I start my conversation off in a very friendly way and that builds trust right away. If they trust you, they're going to do business with you. If you're being yourself, the prospect or client can tell.

Encourage sincerely. Develop the habit of sincerely encouraging your prospects, clients, employees, friends and family members. When you first meet someone, find something to encourage them on. Be sincere, don't flatter. Most people go months without someone else showing any interest in them – be that person who encourages and appreciates them and you'll have an instant friend who trusts you.

One of my goals that I built my business on is to be a positive and encouraging influence on every person I come in contact with. If your heart is in the right place this is simple and makes an impact on everyone around you. With a prospect, it begins that relationship that moves them from just a "short term sale" to a long term referring "client".

Ask questions. Learn to become a good interviewer. Use the acronym F.O.R.M. to find a person's needs, strengths and goals.

• Ask them about their family (F), where they live or grew up, if they have any kids, if they are married, etc.
• Ask about their occupation (O) or what they do for a living. Ask what they like about it and what they don't like.
• Ask about what they do for fun or recreation (R).
• And finally, offer a message (M) or solution to their needs or goals.

You can use this formula to get to know someone and discover what motivates them as well as what they are dissatisfied with in their life.

Truly listen to people when you talk with them. Don't just think about what you are going to say next. Make eye contact and repeat back to them their needs, strengths and goals. This works beautifully for problem solving, resolving personal issues and even discovering their personality to make sure you are maximizing their strengths.

Speak to their personality. Learn how to identify and speak to each of the 4 primary personality groups:

• Rubies are generally motivated by challenge, money and being the best.
• Emeralds like to have all the facts before making a decision.
• Safires are motivated by fun and being part of the team and
• Pearls are motivated by a cause and helping others.

Learn how to focus on the other person's strengths and put them in positions that allow them to excel. Don't make the mistake of talking only about what gets YOU excited or is important to YOU. The other person may not even care! Talk about what gets them excited and now you have their attention! Listening and asking questions is how you find out what the other persons hot buttons are.

Be a winner NOT a whiner. Don't complain or talk about your problems, no one else really cares. All they care about is their problems and if you can help solve them! I had every reason in the book to complain, whine, murmur and blame. And for several weeks, I did that and that's why I was homeless. When I stopped nursing my problem, cursing my problem and rehearsing my problem – and I started looking for one good thing that I could focus on I then took action and went on to make my first million. So be a winner, not a whiner!

Offer a solution. When working with people, let them know what the next step is to get closer to their goal. If you can help others get what they want, you will always have what you want. So think in terms of what does my prospect, my client, my spouse, my kids, my boss, my employee want? Then figure out a way to make that happen.

Have faith. There is one thing I know beyond a shadow of a doubt: If you don't fight the trial, the person, the circumstances, the issue, the pain, the suffering – and you just by faith trust God and move forward – you will always come out better on the other side of the trial!

Don't freak out the next time a bomb drops on your life…have faith and say, "Okay I know something good is going to come out of this one. What do I need to learn out of this so I can be better next time?"

The bombs are going to drop, that is for certain. But it's how we deal with them that determine sour success in every area of our lives.

Practice consistently. You may be saying, "Dani, there's nothing new here that I didn't already know or hear before." My question to you is, are you using it? Do you practice it consistently? If not, why? What is stopping you? For many people, the issue is a matter of the heart. You have to be willing to drop your ego and get over your own insecurities and issues to focus on others first.

The key to attracting people to you and positively influencing others is realizing that you are NOT the issue! If you want long term success and peace of mind, you must have a clean heart with pure motives. Anyone can learn some techniques and use them to manipulate people. But if your heart is pure and you truly have that other person's best interest in mind, and you learn to be a servant first, then you are sowing good seed. Do that, and there is no level of success you cannot attain – and your influence with others will be positive and eternal!