Posted: June 20, 2022 | Categories: Leadership, Sales

Country music legend Barbara Mandrell once gave some advice to her younger sister, Louise, who is also a performer.  She said, “Remember to always appreciate your audience.  They are giving you the most valuable thing they have…their time. This same rule applies in sales.  We demonstrate that we respect a client’s time.

Early in my career I learned a lesson about respecting our prospect’s time.  I was meeting with a decision maker and we had agreed to a 30-minute meeting.  The meeting progressed nicely, and when the 30 minutes had expired, the prospect kept going and the conversation continued to evolve.  I decided to let him roll, and the meeting ended up lasting close to an hour. I thought it went great.  Later on I found out the prospect was upset that I agreed to a 30-minute meeting and went beyond that.   Huh?  But, but, but…  He was the one who kept talking!

The next day I shared this frustration with my coach/mentor Ed.  Ed said, “You were leading the conversation.  You let that happen”

Then Ed tauaght me something that has worked for me ever since.  Ed said, “If you have agreed to a 30-minute meeting, keep track of the time.  If you reach the 30 minute mark and you are really in to it, you say, “Mr/Ms _______, I noticed that we have reached our 30 minutes we agreed on.  I have allowed some extra time.  Would you like to continue or should we set a follow up call?”  This puts the decision on their shoulders, and shows us that we respect our time as well as theirs.  We are also taking charge of the meeting.

Posted: June 20, 2022 | Categories: Leadership, Management

“Teeth…ignore them and they will go away.”  -1960’s ADA media message

The phrase quoted above has been embedded in my brain for over 50 years, and it has worked for me.  Other than my 3rd molars, I still have all my teeth.

Let’s move from teeth to turnover.  In today’s business workplace adequate staffing is one of the biggest concerns to deal with.  How do we find good people and keep them?  Often, it is all about paying attention.  Here is an example:  I have a friend who recently quit his job.  Here’s what happened:  When he was hired a year ago top management told him how much they appreciated and encouraged new ideas that can make the company more profitable.  That excited Phil and he began looking right and left for ways to preserve profit and generate more revenue.  His ideas were detailed and well thought out.  He began presenting them.  Top management did not respond or acknowledge them.  That was discouraging for Phil, and over time his eagerness subsided.  He became “checked out”, and no longer felt he could represent the company with the right attitude.  He resigned and it was an amicable departure.

The best we can tell, about 90% of turnover is a result of dissatisfaction with an immediate supervisor.  What is the cause of that dissatisfaction?  Too many times it is the preoccupation or lack of attention to our direct reports.  Let’s remember the most important objective of a manager:  “To build others and make them more successful”.  To do that, we need to pay attention, welcome their ideas, and carefully weigh them.  Otherwise, we can ignore them, and they will go away!

Posted: May 25, 2022 | Categories: Leadership

“Listening builds trust…listening builds trust…listening builds trust”

-Brian Tracy

Just about every boss I know is always looking for ways to be stronger leader.  This means being a better listener.

One of the quickest ways to thwart the listening process is to be a “story topper”.  We all have lives filled with experiences and events that we love to share and often carry a message or lesson.  A “story topper” is one who pretends to listen to our story but is really just thinking of a story they could tell that could top ours.  You can usually tell a story-topper by the phrases they use like, “Oh, that’s nothing…listen to this”.  I know a couple of people who are story toppers and I usually don’t share much with them.  I find it to be frustrating and a waste of time.

We don’t want to be perceived as a story topper.  We won’t be if we subordinate our desire to share a story in favor of listening to theirs.  We can show that we are listening by asking questions along the way for clarification, and using phrases like, “Tell me more” or “And then what happened?”.  At this point you might be thinking, “But wait a minute…What if I have a good story that I think will add to our discussion?”  Fine.  Tell it.  We just need to be sure that we are listening to the other person’s story first with both ears.

Posted: May 25, 2022 | Categories: Customer service, Self-Improvement

Have you ever seen skywriting?  Skywriters fly planes carrying banners with special messages on them.  The message could be an ad or it might be a marriage proposal above a football stadium.  Whatever the situation, you can bet that a high price is paid for each word.  There may be a lesson here for all of us.  The fewer words we use to communicate a thought or idea, the easier the message is to absorb.  Here are some examples:

“at this point in time”                                                   change to                                “at this time”

“keep in mind that…”                                                   change to                                “remember that”

“held a meeting to discuss”                                         change to                                “met to discuss”

“in the event that”                                                         change to                                            “if”

“Until such time you are in a position to…”            change to                                “when you are able to”

“Your check in the amout of $360”                          change to                                 “your check for $360″

”

Keeping our communiation simple and direct allows us to be better understood and more likely to be influential

Posted: April 20, 2022 | Categories: Management, Sales, Self-Improvement

“Successful people form the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do” `

`                                        -Albert Gray: “The Common Denominator of Success”

Do you have a vision?  With all your gifts and abilities, do you have a picture of what you want to achieve, and who you want to become?  Let’s assume the answer is “yes” to both of these questions.  Next step:  A plan of action!

We know that realizing your vision will require much planning, persistence, and hard work.  When we plan, we list all the tasks, activities, and resources we need to make the vision happen.  We categorize and prioritize these tasks and list them in proper sequence.  Once we have our momentum established, we will be doing specific things each day that are taking us toward our vision.  But what if we are not in the mood to do our “single daily action”?  It doesn’t make any difference! We have planned well and we know that the task before us is the most important thing we need to be doing.

Here’s an example: My first task today was writing this blog.  My first thought was, “I’m not in a writing mood today.”  Then my special self-discipline angel on my shoulder gave me some tough love:  “Steve, the deadline for your newsletter is this week.  You know this is the most important thing you should be doing now.  Do it, whether you want to or not!”  I did.  Here it is.  How do you like it? (Now I’m in the mood!)

I conclude by asking another question posed by Albert Gray:  Do you prefer pleasing methods or pleasing results?  Your answer to this question can tell you where you are at with “The Common Denominator of Success”.