Management & Sales Training Newsletter

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“Reaching Your True Potential”

How much potential do you really have? Many of us think that we are working at full capacity…that we simply couldn’t do anymore. Well, the research tells us differently. Studies show us that the number of combinations of brain connections that we have is greater than the number of molecules in the known universe. In other words, if we put the number one at the top of a page followed by eight pages of zeros, row after row, page after page, it would only begin to equal the number of combinations of brain connections we have. We only use 1-2% of our brain capacity. Einstein, one of the most brilliant minds in human history used only 10-15%.

Are we as creative as we could be? Again the studies show us a very interesting phenomenon. A study done of young children demonstrated that 95% of kids ages three to five are tested as highly creative. Only 5% of the same kids tested as teenagers are highly creative. What happens? We learn how not to be creative! Society tells us that if we want to get along, we should just go along and we shouldn’t challenge authority or be different. Your creativity is inborn, but you must exercise it just like a muscle. If you don’t use it, you lose it!

Reaching your potential takes planning and discipline. Setting goals that you’re excited about achieving inspires you to reach higher and accomplish more. If I were to ask an audience of one hundred how many of them had goals, how many would raise their hands? Nearly 90% of the audience would raise their hands! Do they really have concrete goals, though? No.
They’re more like vague ideas of what they think they want…wishes and dreams. A goal is a dream with a deadline!

If I were to ask the same audience how many of them had written goals, how many would raise their hands? Close to 20-30% would raise their hands.
Now, what if I were to ask the killer question of how many of them had their written goals on their person or in their planner so I can come over and look at them…how many in the audience would raise their hand at that point? Zero, one, or two out of an audience of 100. Now, what is that telling the audience about their goals? That they’re not as serious and committed as they may have thought they were. A lot of us good real good at practicing the art of what is called self-delusion.

You should spend the first 3-5 minutes of every morning writing and reviewing your goals and write your goals in the present tense as if they already exist. For instance, if you want to make $100,000, don’t say to yourself, “I want to make $100,000 a year.” Instead say, “I earn $100,000 a year.” If you want to quit smoking, say, “I’m a non-smoker.” If you want to lose weight say, “I weight x amount of pounds”…whatever your ideal weight is.

Your statements to yourself should always be in the positive and present tense. When I mention this exercise to people they often say to me, “Well isn’t making such statements merely lying to yourself?” I always respond with “No. It’s telling yourself the truth in advance.” Tell yourself the truth in advance. Your accomplishments have to happen in your mind before they can happen in reality!

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“The Right Questions”

Your prospects want to do things for whose reasons? Your reasons or their reasons? Their reasons, of course. Did you realize your prospect’s favorite radio station is WIIFM or What’s In It For Me! And how do you find out what’s in it for them? By asking questions.

The following story illustrates the point…There is a blind man on the street corner and a guy walks up to the blind man and asks, “Sir does your dog bite?” The blind man answers, “No my dog doesn’t bite!” The guy reaches down to pet the dog and the dog scratches, claws and mauls his arm. The guy glares furiously at the blind man and says, “You told me your dog doesn’t bite!” The blind man responds, “That’s not my dog!” So it’s not really about asking questions, is it? It’s about asking the right questions!

So, what is a right question to ask your potential customer or client? Very simply, you can ask, “What’s most important to you in ___________?” If you’re selling a service you can ask a variation of the same question…”What’s most important to you in our relationship with me as your __________?” For instance, in the automotive business you might ask, “What’s most important to you in a vehicle?” In real estate you might ask, “What’s most important to you in a home.” As a realtor you could also ask, “What’s most important to you in our relationship with me as your listing agent?” In the life insurance business you might ask, “What’s the most important thing you’d like to see happen should something happen to you?”
In the investment business you might ask, “What’s most important to you in our relationship with me as your financial advisor?”

Are these good questions? Yes! Why are they good? Well, what is your prospect likely to tell you when you ask them these questions? They will tell you how to sell them your products and services, right? Is it important for you to get your prospects to tell you how to sell them? It’s critical. Why? Because your prospects want to do things for whose reasons?
Their reasons!

Let me give you a quick example of what I’m talking about…I was in a mall and I walked into a men’s clothing store. I proceeded to go over to the suit rack and I saw a suit in my size on the rack. As you can imagine since I’m over 6 and a half feet tall, I have a hard time finding suits that fit!

This suit was a navy suit. Now, I already have a navy suit, but this suit was a different cut or style and it was on sale. So what did I start doing?
I started to creatively talk myself into buying a suit I didn’t need.

Now at that very moment a salesperson walked across the store towards me and started to lay out all the features and benefits of why I should by the suit. He mentioned the fabric, the weave and where it was made.

Now the question is…Did I buy the suit? No. Why? Well, whose reasons did I want to buy the suit for? My reasons or the salesperson’s reasons?
My reasons of course. And what were my reasons? The suit fit me, it was on sale and it was a different cut or style. Why was the salesperson trying to sell me the suit? The fabric, the weave and where it was made? Guess what?
I didn’t care? He just talked me out of something I was talking myself into. Have you ever done that before? All of us have.

Maybe a better strategy for that salesperson was to say, “Sir, I noticed that you’re checking out that suit. Do you mind if I ask what you like best about that suit?” Would he have been more likely to sell me that suit?
Yes!

Why is this such a good question? Well, when you ask someone what’s most important to them, how does that make them feel? Important, right? What are you also telling that person? That you care and are interested and concerned. Is it important that your customers feel that you care? You bet! What is most peoples image of salespeople historically? Positive or negative? Negative.

So the question now becomes how do you move yourself away from the image of a so-called salesperson and into more of what is viewed as a consultant.
How do most people typically view a consultant? A consultant is a trusted advisor who is there to help you make an educated decision. In contrast, a salesperson is someone there to cram something down your throat sideways, whether you want it or not.

By the way, what’s people’s favorite topic? Themselves, right? So, when you’re asking your prospect questions about themselves you’re positioning yourself in their mind as a consultant. You’re also letting them know that they’re important, that you care, that you’re concerned, and that you’re interested.

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“Five Ways to Deal with Price Issues”

Rules to remember when dealing with price in negotiating are:

1) Early concessions don’t create value for the customer. They tell the customer that the price and terms are not fixed and there’s more to come.

2) Buying desire must precede concessions, just as the buying desire must come before the presentation and price of your solution. Everything is too expensive when there’s no value behind it and customers initially consider you, your company, products and services as commodities. They think they can get virtually the same thing from anyone, anywhere.

3) When you’re asked a question regarding your price, premium, rate, commission or fees remember to answer a question with a question. The party asking the questions is always in control and is calling the dance and calling the shots.

If your customer asks you how much your product or service is, you can respond with what is called the sharp angle method and bounce off the question to get a commitment. The following are a few sharp angle
methods:

“Does that mean you want it?”
“How soon would you be willing to go ahead?”
“How many are we talking about?”

4) When the customer wants a better or lower price you should remain strong and keep in mind that many times customers ask for a lower price because they feel obligated to and not because they expect to actually get a concession. Remember you have a good product or service that is priced competitively and you, as a sales professional, deserve to make a good commission for your time, effort and skills.

Some effective responses to the customer asking for a lower price
are:

“I’d like to negotiate, but these are the prices that I’m given and our company has shaved these prices as low as they can.”

“We’ve come a long way. Surely you’re not going to let $2000, which over the life of your product or service is only about $5 a day, stand in your way of enjoying the benefits of our service, are you?”

5) When dealing with a low-ball offer (when you’re given an offer that’s much lower than the set price and maybe even below profit level) never offer to split the difference. Always let the other side offer first.

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“Proceeding to the Presentation”

At end of your initial sales conversation you should have asked the proper questions to elicit enough information and emotion in your prospect to suggest that you have a solution to a specific problem. It’s only at this point that you can and should ask for an advance in order to transition into the presentation. What’s an advance? An advance is commitment to move onto the next step and to propel the sales process forward to its ultimate conclusion.

Prior to asking for the advance you must decide whether or not it’s appropriate to present at the initial meeting or to schedule another time in the future to present your solution. For instance, if you’re providing a detailed financial plan for investing it would not be appropriate to suggest a solution in your first meeting, but only after you’ve digested the answers to your questions and analyzed their current financial situation and goals.
However, if you’re selling a simple health insurance policy to a young, healthy single person with no children, it is probably suitable to suggest you already have the solution in the first meeting.

How do you go about moving onto the presentation? One effective way is to use the approach commitment method as a transition and say, “May I make a suggestion? Why don’t we spend a few minutes so that I can share some of the reasons why others have chosen to work with me. All I ask is that you listen to what I have to share with you openly and honestly and determine whether or not it applies to your situation. And tell me at the end of my presentation, whether or not, yes or no, if this is applicable to you. Fair enough?”

The approach commitment method is an excellent way to set up your presentation. Why? Because you’re creating what is called an upfront contract, meaning that you’ve implied that your prospect will give you an answer at the end of your presentation and not simply respond to your presentation by saying, “I think it over”.

If it’s not appropriate to proceed to the presentation right away and you must get back with your prospect, you might say, “Based on what you’ve told me, I feel that there are some ways we can help you to solve the issues you’ve mentioned.” (Make sure to focus here on solving their specific
problem.) “Why don’t I take this with me and come back to you with a proposal? If you have your calendar handy, why don’t we set a specific time and date and arrange for any others to be there?”

This script is an outstanding way to suggest that you feel you can help the prospect solve a specific problem, but that you, as a professional, must do some homework to make sure that the solution you present is the proper one.
You then take control by advancing to the next step, which is to set up a subsequent day, time and location for the next meeting. Don’t expect your prospect to move your sale forward. It’s your job to be the ball-carrier and to move your sale or relationship forward…it’s not the job of your prospect.

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“Problem, Probing and Solution Questions”

-Problem Questions-

After discovering information regarding your prospect’s current situation by asking situation questions, the next step in the sequence of your sales conversation is to ask questions that will elicit problems that your prospect has that your product can solve.

These so-called problem questions will be harder for you to ask and harder for your prospect to answer. Why? Because situation questions merely define certain benign aspects about your prospect’s circumstances. On the other hand, problem questions draw out negative feelings about their current situation. Keep in mind that many of your prospects don’t realize how bad off they are in their current situation until you’ve done a good job for them.

Some examples of problem questions are:

Do you mind if I ask what motivated you to invite me in today?

If you were ever going to upgrade or change in the future, what would cause you to do so or what would you have to be convinced of first?

Where do you expect to be in 2-3 years and how will your needs be different at that time? What steps would you be thinking of taking between now and then so that you’ll stay ahead of the curve?

Are you completely satisfied with the way it’s working now?

What sort of issues or frustrations are you experiencing?

What types of challenges does your current product or service give you?

I sense that you’re frustrated by that…am I right?

Am I hearing you say that you’re not able to get the turn around time you need?

What other concerns do you have regarding follow up and support?

-Probing Questions-

Once you find what the problem or pain is, the next step in the sales process is to help the prospect find the true cost or significance of their problem. You achieve this by asking probing questions. These questions will define the so called depth of the problem. Remember, once you discover the pain or problem, you must bring it to the surface, stir it up, press on it and magnify it. Why? Now your prospect is motivated to do something about the pain or problem.

Probing questions are characteristically more difficult to ask than problem questions because they delve into the pain associated with the problem.
These questions are so important because you must be able to show your prospect the gap between where they are and where they can be, how you’re the bridge to that place and most importantly, what it’s going to cost them to not be at that place.

In certain sales conversations you may even witness prospects actually getting angry or cry. Why? Because you are helping them relive the pain of their problems and the consequences of those problems. Part of your job as a professional in selling is to give your prospect the binoculars so that they can see the dead-end sign at the end of the road they’re on.
Obviously, that can be painful sometimes.

Examples of probing questions are:

If you don’t do anything regarding this problem, how will that affect you?

What do you mean by saying that it’s not working?

Tell me more about the responsiveness issues?

Would you elaborate on the problems with your current contract?

Give me an example of your service issues?

What are the disadvantages of no local service?

How do you feel about your problems with coverage?

What does that cost you?

What happens if you continue this way?

What all is involved in dealing with your current issues with this product or service?

What are you going to do if you cannot solve that?

How will this affect your future financially, emotionally?

How much is it increasing costs, decreasing income, or wasting your time?

-Solution Questions-

The last set of questions to ask your prospects are far easier to ask and often times enjoyable because they focus on exactly how the customer will benefit from your product or service.

Solution questions explain how your product or service solves their problems and the consequences of those problems. These questions also show how your product or service works and what it does specifically for the customer in terms of how they benefit. Keep in mind that benefits mean different things to different customers. Benefits can mean more money, more time, more productivity, more efficiency, ease of use, better looking, etc.

Following are some solution questions:

If you could alleviate that problem what type of impact would that have?

What would it mean to you if you were able to solve the turn around time issue?

Have you thought of the difference our response time would make?

Have you thought of how much better off you’d be with our guarantee?

Have you thought of the cost, savings, and value?

If this could improve your sales by 20% what would that mean for you and your company?

Suppose you had 24 hour availability, how would that help?

Would you explain how better terms would help?

Would that be the most important benefit of more coverage to you?

What other benefits do you see?

Are there any other ways this tracking system could help you?

Do you see the benefits of having one point of contact?

Would it be of value to you to be able to get immediate delivery?

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“Situation Questions”

The examination is the first step that a doctor takes to find out if his or her patient has a problem and what that problem is. Depending on what the physician finds through the examination process they move on to a diagnosis and finalizing the process with the prescription. The same is true in professional selling.

The first order of business is to perform an examination and you do this by asking what are called situation questions. It is only after the situation questions have been asked and answered that you move onto the later stages of your sales conversation and ask problem questions, probing questions and solution questions. Why? Because the situation questions will yield the information you need to uncover a pain or problem, which can create an opportunity to sell your product or service as a solution.

Take note that included within the category of situation questions are sub-set questions called budget/money questions and decision-making questions. Also keep in mind that some of the best situation questions are the hypothetical questions. These questions are excellent because they are non-confrontational by nature and get your prospects thinking of possibilities that suggest your products or services as the solution.
You’ll notice all the hypothetical questions will usually start with the word “if”.

Situation Questions

-What do you do for a living?
-How long have you been in that position?
-What are your responsibilities at home or at work?
-What are you using or doing now?
-How long have you had (been using) it?
-How is that working for you?
-What are you trying to achieve, avoid, preserve?
-What do you see as your objectives or goals in this area?

Decision-Making Process Questions

Part of the process of finding out the situation of your prospect is to ask how the decision regarding what you’re offering will be made. Too many times salespeople do everything right except finding out how the decision will be made and then end up losing the sale because of it. Some examples of situation questions that are focused on the decision itself are:

-Who in addition to yourself would be involved in a decision like this?
-When you bought this sort of thing in the past, how did you make your final decision?
-How do you decide between this and something else?
-Assuming you want to move forward, how is it going to happen?
-If I show you exactly what you’re looking for, when and how would you ideally like to proceed?
-If this was your decision, would you move on it now?

Money or Budget Questions
Also included under the situation question category are the money or budget questions. These are probably the most fear-induced questions for salespeople, but they are all too necessary for you to be able to deal with the situation head on so that you don’t waste your time and you don’t waste your prospect’s time.

-If this service or product were free, would you take it?…Do you mind if I ask why?
-If price was no object, what would you do in this area?
-If you had the money in your budget, would you go ahead with this?
-Do you have a budget or money set aside for this?…Would you mind sharing it with me in round numbers?

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“Types of Negotiating Power”

There are three key types of power to look at in regard to negotiations:
reward power, information power and time power.

The type of power that your customer or client has that is often most recognizable is what’s referred to as reward power.

Reward power is the ability of your customer or client to be able to give you rewards by way of testimonials, commission increases due to the size and/or quantity of the sale, and/or referrals. The potential of future earnings, status, and repeat and referral business can loom large in a sales conversation and give your customer a distinct advantage in negotiations.

Another key factor in negotiations is information power. One way to tip the scale in your favor in regard to this type of power is through good open-ended questions, which by the way are: who, what, where, when, why, how, and sometimes which.

Here are some key questions you can use to gather information to help negotiate a better deal:

Why do you feel we’re here and what would you ideally like to accomplish in this meeting?
How important is that to you on a scale of 1-10?
Why do you say that?
Where did you get that information?
How did you come to that conclusion?
How did they calculate the numbers last time?

In order to gather even more information, it’s a good idea to ask questions of others who have done business with that company or that individual before and ask other employees in their company about how decisions are made.

Other information that is extremely important deals with your competition.
You can use information about your competition to your advantage with a comment like, “Let me save you some time. If you talk with the XYZ company they will have this… If you talk with the ABC company they will have that…” You simply inform the other party of the specific about your competition based on research you’ve done upfront so that you can control the information and how it’s perceived.

Time is the last major factor of power in negotiations. Time can create pressure on either side. In reference to the 80/20 rule or Pareto Principle, 80% of concessions are received at the last 20% of time left in the deal. So work out all the details up front and don’t go for a stall ploy like, “We’ll work that out later”. And remember to never reveal your own deadline if there is one, because the other party can use that against you.

You should always set your own deadlines whenever possible, use silence to your advantage, and don’t be afraid to walk out of negotiations. Silence is powerful and most people can’t stand it. Walking away from a conversation is a valid negotiating technique.

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“Initial Mindset of Your Prospect and Starting Your Sales Conversation”

There are four situations your prospect will be in when you begin your sales process.

1. Your prospect is unclear of a need. To put it in different terms, they’re unclear of the difference of where they are and where they could be.
For instance, someone may feel relatively happy with several thousand dollars in the bank and a good job, but they haven’t thought much about the future cost of educating their children.

2. Your prospect feels dissatisfied, but they don’t understand whey they feel this way. It’s hard to propose your product or service as a solution if the prospect is unclear of what’s causing their dissatisfaction. For example, your prospect may feel that they’re not getting anywhere financially, but they don’t realize that the reason for this is that their investments are getting extremely low returns.

3. Your prospect is clear on their need. This is obviously a prime situation for you, as a sales professional. Your prospect knows there’s a problem to be solved and knows what the problem is. The prospect should be open to a solution to their problem assuming you establish rapport, build value in your proposition and establish urgency.

4. Your prospect has no need for your product or service. Your prospect has a product or service that is meeting their needs to their satisfaction and there is little, if anything, you can do to significantly improve their situation.

This is when you exit the sales process and ask for referrals and/or the opportunity to follow up in the future. Don’t underestimate the opportunity to build credibility by saying no to your prospect when you’ve uncovered no need for what you offer. The saying, “Do no harm” is used in the medical profession and is one of the operating principles in that field. If the same standard was used in the sales profession, don’t you think we might have more credibility in our field?

So now that you’ve thought through the mindset of your prospect, how do you begin your sales conversation when you meet? Well, if you know that prospects are often guarded about opening up to you and your questions, what should you do? Think ahead to reasons that they don’t want to talk to you and bring them up so that it becomes a non-issue. For instance, you might ask yourself, “Why do my prospects not want to open up or talk to me?” When you come up with answers, you simply bring them up at the start of your sales conversation.

Let’s look at an example as if you’re in the mortgage business and you are speaking to a realtor about recommending your services to their buyers. You might say to your prospect, “Sometimes when I talk to realtors about what my services – and I may not be the case here – they tell me one or more of the
following:

1. They see all mortgage companies as basically being the same;

2. They had a bad experience the last time they tried someone new;

3. They feel there is really no reason to make any changes because they have had a long-standing relationship with their current lender of choice.”

Once you’ve brought all the options up you ask, “Which, if any of these, is a concern for you?” Then, you probe on their answer to find out their motivation behind it…once they respond with a reason you can say, “Really.
I’m surprised at your answer. Why did you pick that one?”

Another good technique for beginning dialogue in your sales conversation is to simply ask, “Do you mind if I ask what motivated you to invite me in to speak with you today?” This will get your prospect focused on his or her primary pain or problem that they are aware of. Now keep in mind that, although they may know of a problem, they might not know the specific problem or how much you can help at this point. This is where you, as the professional, go to work.

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“Developing Your Sales Case”

It’s always a good idea to look at your proposal from your prospect’s point of view. The best trial attorneys always develop their case by first making a case for the other side. So if you’re a defense attorney, you develop a case only after you’ve thought about how the prosecution will make their case. Shouldn’t it be the same in selling? Make the case your prospect would against either meeting with you or buying from you and then develop your sales strategy from there.

There are several key questions to consider when developing your “sales case” from your prospect’s point of view. The first question your prospect has is, “Why should I listen to you?” Most of your prospects are mentally asking themselves this question on your initial approach. When you say, “This is Bob Jackson with XYZ Company and we have a new line of widgets that we’re introducing to the area…” your prospect is uninterested in who you are and what you’re doing. They just want to know W.I.I.F.M. or what’s in it for me? Answering this question will give you a big clue as to where to begin your approach and help you figure out a better opening question or benefit statement.

After your prospect is satisfied that they should listen to you, the next item they’re concerned with is, “What are you offering or what does it (or
you) do?” After they’re satisfied with what it is that you’re offering, your prospect wants to know, “What do I get and what is the specific benefit I will enjoy from what you’re offering?”

You should always think of the reason someone would trade their money for you product or service in terms of how it specifically will benefit the customer. Why? Presentations with specific rather than general benefits are shown to have a 27% higher commitment ratio over presentations done with general benefits. How? Well, let’s say a product may help your prospect save money, but this is a general benefit. The specific benefit you’ve uncovered is that the money they save will allow your prospect’s family to take a vacation they’ve want to go on. The key is that when the benefit is personalized and related to your prospect’s specific desires it gives your presentation the power it needs to motivate your prospect to move forward.

The next question to answer in the mind of your prospect is in regard to what is called the herd mentality. What’s the herd mentality? Well, no one wants to be the first or only one to try something, do they? It’s too risky! We want to feel that there is little or no risk when making a decision because others like us have made this decision before and had good results. So the corresponding question your prospect has is, “Who else have you worked with?”

The last question that your prospect has is, “Who says you will deliver what you say you’ll deliver (other than you)? Testimonials can be very impactful. They give assurance that you will deliver on your promises, especially when they come from recognizable and reputable sources and are specific in terms of benefits realized by that individual or company.

To recap, the key questions to cover when structuring your sales case
are:

1. Why should I listen to you?
2. What are you offering or what does it (or you) do?
3. What do I get and what is the specific benefit I will enjoy from what you’re offering?
4. Who else have you worked with?
5. Who says you will deliver what you’ve said you’ll deliver (other than you)?

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“Becoming Everything You Want”

-Five Areas of Goal Setting-

There are five areas to goal setting. Most people tend to focus on just the area of financial, but this is just one of those five areas. Money is very important to people, but it may not be for the reasons you would assume. To some people $30,000 a year is plenty of money to live the kind of lifestyle they want to live. However, for others $300,000 is not enough. It simply depends on the person.

Money is only important to most people in that if they don’t go out in the world and earn the amount of money to live the lifestyle they want, they’re constantly consumed and focused on the money to the exclusion of everything else. It’s only when you go out and earn the amount of money to live the lifestyle that you want (whether it’s $30,000 or $300,000) that you can focus on the things in life that are truly important, such as your relationships with others who are important to you.

I mentioned that there are five areas to goal setting and financial is just one of them. Any idea what the other four might be? The other four areas of goal setting are: physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental.

-Three Categories of Goal Setting-

In addition to the five areas of goal setting, there are also three major categories of goals. One category of goals is your career and financial goals, which are the goals geared toward the following question – What do I want to be, have or do? The second group of goals is your family or personal goals, which are the goals centered around this question – Why do I want to be this, have this or do this? The last group is your personal development and professional development goals, which are focused on the question – How do I become this, have this or do this?

A good question that may assist you in discovering what it is you’re seeking out of life is to ask yourself this question – What would my life look like in five years if it were perfect in every way (without limitations)? Then, in order to accomplish this ask yourself the following – What would I be doing for a living?…Where would I live?…Who would I be married to?…How many kids would I have?…What vacations would I take?…What kind of neighborhood and home would I live in?…What car would I drive?

An excellent follow up question to this might be the following – What would have to happen to achieve this life (making no compromises)? Then ask yourself – Who would I have to have help me?…What kind of resources or books would I need?…What courses or additional training would I have to take?

The answers to these questions are quite powerful because you begin to get a clear picture of what you really want and how to get it. Keep in mind that one of the keys to getting the most out of these questions is to promise not to sell yourself short. Refuse to cheat yourself. It’s much more inspiring and motivating to dream big dreams. Aspire to be the best in whatever you do. Life is too short to be involved in anything you don’t want to be the best at.

-What’s Your True Potential?-

How much potential do you really have? Many of us think that we are working at full capacity – that we simply couldn’t do anymore. Well, the research tells us different. Studies show that the number of combinations of brain connections that we have is greater than the number of molecules in the known universe. In other words, if you put the number one at the top of a page followed by eight pages of zeros (row after row, page after page) it would still not equal the number of combinations in your brain connections.
The average person uses only 1-2% of their brain capacity. Einstein only used 10-15% of his brain capacity.

Are you as creative as you could be? Again the studies show us a very interesting phenomenon. A study done of young children demonstrated that 95% of kids ages three to five are tested as highly creative. Only 5% of the same kids tested as teenagers are highly creative. What happens? We learn not to be creative. Others tell us that if we want to get along, we need to go along. We’re also told that we shouldn’t challenge authority.
Your creativity is inborn, but you must exercise it just like a muscle. If you don’t use it, you lose it!