They totally "get it." They both studied the Unlock The Game Mastery Program carefully and quickly, and now they’re using their new selling insights every day in ways I never imagined possible.

A little about their business... Bob is a composer, performer, and producer of original music in a New Age fusion of solo piano and smooth jazz. He also has a hardcore background in traditional sales (quite an interesting "fusion"). Gwen, who has no background in sales, works with him to get retailers and other outlets to stock his music.

This is their story told by Bob.

Gwen and Bob's Story

Gwen’s and my discovery of your selling approach has had a remarkable affect on us personally -- and an almost-instantaneous positive effect on our bottom line.

What had become a grueling ordeal has become an exciting journey -- a relaxing ‘walk’ in which I encounter new and interesting people and find those who share a sincere interest in what we have to offer. Does this sound "Pollyanna"?

Let me just ask those of you who are reading this, "When was the last time you woke up excited about making cold calls and making them an enjoyable part of your day?"

I’ve been selling -- successfully for more than 30 years. I started out selling the Encyclopedia Britannica and in the 1980s was one of the top 5 multilevel marketing trainers in the US. Then I created a radio production company that’s still considered one of the top 50 in the country, with clients as diverse as Kroger’s and NPR. Clients sought me out, and I didn’t have to explain who I was or what I did.

So, how did I become afraid of cold calling?

It happened after I decided to live out my dream of putting my music out into the world. So Gwen and I launched our record label. She took on all the design and graphics tasks for our website and packaging while I "lost" myself in the creative process for a year. We launched our label with 6 CDs of my music in several different genres.

Then I had to face promoting and distributing them.

I found myself sitting at the telephone physically unable to make a call because fear had robbed me of all my old salesman’s "juice."

I finally came to a frightening and painful realization. The creative process of making music had taken me so far into my "right brain" that I had become a different person. The guy who had always won the sales contests wasn’t who I was anymore. Something was missing. Learning to surrender to my creative self had made me a different person.

I couldn’t bring myself to make the cold calls needed to successfully distribute my music, so I did the only thing possible.

I made Gwen do it!

She had no experience in selling, but she was a natural salesperson with a fantastic personality. Of course, I "trained" her in all the standard sales techniques and strategies I had learned so well (we all know what they are). And the couple of times she asked me, "Why aren’t you making cold calls?," I would tell her, "Because you need to learn this so down the road we can hire people to do it"-- and slither back to the safety of the studio.

The inevitable happened. Two or three days went by with her attitude and activity sinking like stones. I started looking around to see if there were any new answers out there. That’s when we found you, Ari. And in searching for a solution for Gwen, I found the solution for myself too.

You see, I had a mental block. I associated cold calling with the worst of what selling was all about -- the "going to war" concept where you put on your armor and play a word and mind game with someone you’ve never met.

But I couldn’t be that person anymore. I didn’t want to even attempt to be that person. But imagining that I’d have to do that again build my record label scared the hell out of me.

But we found your website and began looking deeply into what you had to say.

Frankly, yours was the third or fourth sales training website we looked at, but something was noticeably different about yours. You weren’t a "trainer." You didn’t offer "closing secrets" or "opening lines."

You were proposing a mind shift that turns all the old-style ideas of manipulating, turning, guiding, playing, and closing into one simple human act: building a relationship -- making friends and doing business with people you like and who like you.

It was the testimonials on your site that convinced me to order your Mastery Program. I heard the voices of real people who I knew intuitively were the real deal, and who weren’t so different from me. Like me, they wanted to find a way to be themselves and enjoy the journey.

As soon as your program arrived, we stopped making calls and immersed ourselves in it for the next five days.

The following week, Gwen’s sales exceeded all the sales of the previous 6 weeks put together. Plus, I added a new national client for Baran Productions and added a new artist with three albums to Gathering Wave, all in five days.

We’re both convinced it’s because we stopped being "salespeople". We started to have fun, and we were amazed at how people responded to us. What’s more, at the end of the day we weren’t burned out. We were energized, and truly happy.

Just as I had to learn how to let go and surrender to the creative part of myself as a composer and musician, I believe you’ve accomplished the same thing in the art of selling. Thank you for bringing the right brain into selling. You are an artist.

Your friend,

Bob Baran

And here’s a note from Gwen:

Hi Ari,

I’m getting much more comfortable using your mindset and languaging. I can’t believe how much more relaxed I am now when I make my calls, and the great responses I get, like "I enjoyed talking with you. Thank you for your help" after people order, is amazing.

My sales have increased dramatically and I'm making a lot fewer calls. I’m on the phone longer, but now I'm getting sales on my first call as well.

Something else I found with your "right-brain" approach is "what you say, you believe." If I'm saying, "That's not a problem," then I believe that there are no problems. I'm more relaxed on the phone and in my everyday life.

Thanks, Ari, for your intuitive "right-brain" approach to selling!

Your friend,

Gwen Baran

6 Strategies You'll Learn from the Mastery Program

Here are 6 key take-aways from the Mastery Program, based on Bob’s and Gwen’s experiences that will help you shift your sales mindset so you can begin tapping into the power of your right brain.

Because the right brain is...

1. Involved in process (not outcome)

Before you make a cold call, think to yourself, "My goal is not to make the sale but to create a conversation based on how I can help the other person."

2. Intuitive (not calculating or manipulative)

Avoid changing who you are when you make your call. There’s no need to be on "stage" or to sound enthusiastic. Just be your everyday relaxed self, as if you’re calling a friend. People know when you’re being genuine, and when you’re not.

3. Flexible (not linear)

Avoid changing who you are when you make your call. There’s no need to be on "stage" or to sound enthusiastic. Just be your everyday relaxed self, as if you’re calling a friend. People know when you’re being genuine, and when you’re not.

4. Concrete (not abstract)

Develop two or three specific problems that you know your product or service solves.

5. Holistic (not compartmentalized)

Let go of thinking "buyer-seller," and view the person you’re calling as another person, not as a "prospect."

6. Open-ended (not rigid)

Let go of worrying about driving the conversation "forward." Instead, open your call with a problem statement that generates the response "What do you mean?" or "Tell me more."