Posted: July 8, 2012 | Categories: Management, Self-Improvement

Strategy:  The gift that keeps on giving

OK.  You know what you want and you have set specific goals.  It is time for the fun to begin.  We are now ready to develop our strategy.  This is our roadmap to get to our goals.  A strategy is our own special recipe for achieving specific goals, and it should be as unique as our fingerprint (and far more exciting!).  Like any good recipe, there are important ingredients that need to be blended together in just the right portion.

Strengths:  When we look at what we want to achieve, the first thing we do is look at our strengths.  Our strengths are the characteristics and qualities that have gotten us to where we are today.  What are your strengths?  If you need help in answering this question comprehensively, ask a friend or visit helpful websites like strengthfinder.com.  Find your strengths.  We need to know them and use them.

Activity:  Keeping in mind our strengths, we need to look at what mix of tasks and activities we will need to put into play.  Here are some points to consider:

• What activities, if done consistently, have stood the test of time in generating desired results?  This could be networking,  giving programs, participating in golf tournaments,  or attending seminars.
• How can you create synergy by matching your strengths with selected tasks and activities?  If you are strong in one-on-one situations, you will probably look for several networking activites.  If you are good at public speaking, you may seek out organizations, associations, and civic clubs to deliver you valuable message.  How about if you have writing and analytical skills?  How could they be effectively leveraged?
• What new innovative ideas and activities would you like to initiate?
• How will you plan your year, month, week, day?

Habits:  Albert Gray said it over 70 years ago in his essay, “The Common Denominator of Success”:  “People form habits…habits form futures”  What habits are working for you?  What habits are not helping you (see barriers)?  What is the single most important habit you need to work on?  How soon can you get started on it?  How can you ensure you will sustain your momentum?  What results do you expect for your efforts?

Putting it all together, your strategy should consist of your ideal blend of strengths, activities, and habits that come together to drive you towards your specific goals.  The next step…EXECUTE!

Posted: June 22, 2012 | Categories: Leadership, Self-Improvement

When I am coaching teams, one of the key components I use is a working agreement.  To maximize ownership,  a working agreement is built by input from the entire team.  Each team member is asked to write down all key characteristics and qualities of a working environment that enables them to be the most productive.  One word that has been popping up more frequently is “fun”.  In addition to all that good stuff like a sense of belonging, self-fulfillment, and good benefits, they want to have fun!

At first, some seem timid when they suggest “fun” to be on the menu.  Possibly they are afraid that they will be perceived as not taking their work seriously.  Let’s remember what baseball great Harry Caray once said:  “I take my responsibility seriously, but I don’t take myself seriously” Say what you want about Harry Caray…he knew how to have fun.

In his best-selling book, The Happiness Advantage, Harvard Scholar Shawn Achor has concluded that “bosses who discourage fun for their employees are at a double disadvantage, because they tend to be people who are most negative themselves.  In short, sacrificing fun in the name of time management and efficiency actually slows us down”

Southwest Airlines is the only major commercial air carrier that has made a profit almost every year they have been in business.  Here are their top three priorities in order of importance:

1.  Employees are #1

2.  Having fun

3.  Making the customer happy

If you have ever flown on Southwest Airlines, you probably know what I mean.  They are one zany bunch.  They even went so far as to do a rap song to deliver the standard safety message required before each takeoff.

Here are some ways we can make work more fun:

1. Check your fuel gauge before the day begins.  Thoreau referred to the first hour of the day as the “Golden Hour”.  He believed that our thoughts and attitude in this time frame were critical to our attitude the remainder of the day.  We must do what it takes to get our attitudes on “full”.  Do some inspirational reading, listen to some zesty music, or watch a motivational video.
2. Plan your day well.  Dr. Hans Seyle said, “A successful life is a series of successful days”.  If we want to feel fulfilled at the end of the day, we need to plan it well.  We all know what happens when we don’t plan our day well:  We end up caught in the trap of hurry and indecision.
3. Make a game out of it:  If we have tasks to do, we can set a goal and see if we can beat it.  Occasionally, when I have some tedious work to do, I will use my stop watch on my cell phone, and track my time per item.  Of course, the goal is to keep improving on the time without compromising the quality of my work.
4. Have your favorite video and audio clips available when you need a pick-me-up.  I have mine.  One of them is a famous Three Stooges clip.  Another is the MAD TV Bob Newhart clip called “Stop it”.  It is always good for laughs, and helps get me back on track when I get in to a funk.
5. Take breaks:  A walk around the block or a breath of fresh air can reduce stress and spark creativity.
6. Play a game with co-workers.  This can be anything from dollar-bill poker to video basketball.  It is a complete diversion, and it is fun.

 If none of these appeal to you, just Google, “Ways to have more fun at work”, and you will find scores of additional ideas.  I close with a quote from Dr. Wayne Dyer:  “There is no way to happiness…happiness is the way.”

Posted: June 18, 2012 | Categories: Sales

The price objection….welcome it!

A couple weeks ago, I was having a conversation with an entrepreneur business client.  She had checked around with her competition, and was considering lowering her prices to be more competitive.  We talked about her situation and took a “deeper dive” in to this dilemma.  After doing so, she came to the firm conclusion that lowering her price was not the solution to the problem.  Instead, she decided to focus on selling the added value she had to offer.

A Chevy is cheaper than a Cadillac, and they sell a lot more Chevy’s than Cadillac’s.    Cadillac has an added value that people are willing to pay for.  How do we sell added value?  Let’s break it down:

1. Determine exactly what the prospects want and why they want it.  (http://www.durhamcoach.com/blog/2012/06/06/selling-vs-telling-the-critical-factor/)
2. Know about how your product is unique and be able to communicate this distinction.  Break down your knowledge into facts, features, and how they relate to the needs expressed by the buyer.
3. Be able to create a word picture that can take the prospect forward.

To illustrate, let’s use an example:  Here is the situation:

You are at the point where you are looking to close the sale.  The prospect says they are going to shop around:

Me.:  “That makes sense.  In fact, I like to make sure I shop around myself when considering an important purchase.  As you do your shopping, here are some key features you can keep in mind as you are preparing.

1. This event will be an exclusive.  You people will enjoy personalized treatment
2. We have twice the average number of servers.  You mentioned how important that your guests were responded to promptly
3. Each server receives 6 months training in our special customer service program.  That means you can count on us serving your needs with excellence and professionalism.

(Word picture)

Cheryl, as I understand your situation, you want your wedding to be fun and memorable, and you would like your guests to reflect positively on the whole experience for many years to come. Is that correct?  Let’s imagine it is your wedding day.  Here you are walking in with your new husband.  As you enter….

From this point, we would project a picture that was clear, vivid, and unforgettable.  Here are the fundamentals:

1. Details
2. Present tense
3. Positive

One of my friends describes this part of the sales process as “play the movie”.  We all like good movies, and when a sales professional is able to put us in a nice picture, they touch off our positive emotions, and make us want to move forward.  This process creates added value, and can be very powerful.

Summarizing, the next time you are tempted to lower your price, make sure you have made time to take stock of your qualities.

Posted: June 6, 2012 | Categories: Sales

“There are two reasons people do things…the real one, and the one that sounds good”

– John Pierpont Morgan

 To be a top sales producer, we need to be good at learning what people want and why they want it

Recently, I was talking with a neighbor about yard work. Bill, (not his real name) said that he could not understand why I put fertilizer on my 1 ½ acre lawn. Counting the lawn care service and the $4 gallon gas that my mower uses, we probably spend well over $1000 per year, and that is just for the lawn. As reflected in the J.P. Morgan quote above, I had two answers to his question.  First, the one that sounds good: I respect my neighbors, and don’t want to grow weeds that will blow on their yard. Doesn’t that sound nice?  OK, now for the real reason: I like hitting golf balls in my back yard, and I love the feel of soft, cushioning grass as I walk along. I imagine that I am playing on one of the most beautiful golf courses in the world. Quirky, Huh? Here’s another story…

A client of mine just spent nearly $2000 for hardwood mulch for his house. He doesn’t like mulch, and he certainly doesn’t like spending $2000 for a bunch of old, ground up wood. So what does he like? As he puts it, “When I drive up to my house after coming home after work, I want to be proud of the way my house looks. I want to feel good just looking at it”. Is that feeling worth $2000 to him? Yes.

Why is this important? The whole sales process hinges on us finding out that emotionally driving factor that will be most dominant in a person wanting to buy our product or service. When objections arise, we will always go back to what they said they wanted (like that feeling of driving up the driveway). When we refer back to this dominant buying motive, we are in a much better position to sell. If we haven’t uncovered this information, we run the risk of hearing that dreaded phrase, “Let me think about it”

So how do we find the dominant driver? We ask for it. What do we need to do before we ask? Build trust so they are comfortable sharing their silly motive.

I leave you with this thought: There were over one million drill bits sold last year. Here is the funny part…there are very few drill bit collectors. When people buy a bit, they have something they want it to do, and we need to make sure we uncover what that is.

Posted: May 29, 2012 | Categories: Management, Self-Improvement

Having more free time is great…but…

What if you awoke tomorrow morning to discover you had been given all the money you needed and could do or own anything your heart desired?  In addition, as a bonus, you have been given all the free time you desired.  Does that sound like a nice picture to be in?  Not so fast.  Studies have shown that people who win big in the lottery do not necessarily become the happiest people.  It has also been noted in the book, “The Millionaire Next Door” that 70% of all millionaires did not get their money from inheritance.

Just having what we wish for does not automatically mean we will manage well.  Managing money and time takes skill and  discipline.

Some of you may have heard of Parkinson’s Law.  It says, “Work expands to fill the amount of time available” I remember one time when I was involved in a weekly evening commitment that lasted once a week for 14 weeks.  Towards the end, I was thinking, “That will be neat with I get that extra day back.  There is so much I could get to”

The end of the commitment came, and what did I find myself doing on that newly re-gained evening?  Yes, I decided to just crash and watch television – for the most part, a passive activity.   There were all these hobbies I had thought about starting, and groups that I wanted to join and courses I wanted to take.   All that stayed in the deep freeze.  I fell victim to Parkinson’s Law.

This taught me a lesson:  If I work on my time management skills to free up extra time, I need to have a plan for what I will do with that time.   I enjoy working on my scrapbook, riding bikes, being involved in Church activities, and spending time in our den engaged in quality conversation with my wife.  So you might be saying, “Hey, that is fine for you.  For me, I just want to lie in the hammock” No problem.  If you have taken time to think of what is important to you, and lying in the hammock is at the top of the list, go for it.  The key here is that you activity is intentional, and not by default.  Who knows, you may dream up the world’s next greatest invention while in the hammock, or figure out a way to communicate better with your kids.

Let’s boil it down to five steps:

1. Decide how much time you want to free up.
2. Take inventory of your time.
3. Ask yourself:  What can I combine, eliminate, or delegate?
4. Compute the amount of free time you will free up.
5. Make a plan for how you will improve the quality of your life with that time