Author Archive
In Praise of the Scripted Response
Posted by: | CommentsThe boutique was packed, perhaps more than usual for even a Saturday afternoon due to the gray drizzle keeping everyone from the beach. My shopping companion, Julia, had found a pair of earrings she liked in a locked case. She asked whether someone could help her take a closer look.
The reply was instantaneous.
“We’re very busy helping some other people right now so it is going to be a while before we can get to you.”
Ouch!
Can you say “deal breaker”?
Can you be any clearer about how unimportant my friend was made to feel?
Or how explicitly the salesperson conveyed, more than anything else, that a sale to Julia was a very, very low priority?
Which, in turn, left us thinking –earrings or no earrings — that other shops were beckoning pretty strongly pretty darn quick.
All that from one careless response?
Yes, all that.
You know its true.
You get exactly one chance to make a first impression.
The words you say convey only a very small portion of your message – tone of voice, inflection, facial expressions and body language speak the rest for you.
Channel Your Inner Donut: Be Consistently Good
Posted by: | CommentsWriting in a last week’s issue of New York Magazine about the surprising quality renaissance of the just ended television season Michael Hirschorn leads off with the punch line– “When all else fails, try being good.”
Our relentless quest for perfection can distract us from the power of being consistently good.
But if you’re consistently good over time you’re probably great.
When you’re consistently good you’re reliable.
You’re dependable.
You can be counted on to deliver what you’ve promised, at the level required or better, when it’s due or sooner.
You put the time and effort necessary in performing each task so that it comes out well done.
But you don’t overdo.
You are well informed and always prepared.
You are thorough, comprehensive, creative and resourceful.
If the project changes you adapt.
If there are complications you communicate and facilitate a resolution.
You take the initiative when necessary and play well with others in team situations.
Those with whom you work know that you will be as good this week as you were last week and that next week you’ll be that good, or better, again.
The Most Effective Way to Improve Your Marketing
Posted by: | CommentsWe are just past the midpoint of the second quarter of 2010.
Are you on track?
Is your business showing the returns and growth that you want to see?
If not, consider changing your relationship with your marketing plan.
Work With A Written Marketing Plan
I’m assuming you have a marketing plan and that it is current. In other words that your marketing plan is in writing and that it was updated within the past 6 months to reflect current market conditions, opportunities and objectives.
If not, let’s start there. The most effective way to improve your marketing is to make a marketing plan and then follow it.
Why a marketing plan?
Your business needs sales for success and, ultimately, you need marketing to generate sales.
Unfortunately the business of doing business can take up so much time that marketing feels like an extra – an optional item to be squeezed in haphazardly when there is time.
A marketing plan completely reverses this dynamic.
A plan gives direction.
This makes your marketing organized and deliberate.
And ultimately more effective.
Track Your Marketing Efforts — and Results
The Power of Persistence
Posted by: | CommentsIs there some connection you’ve been nursing along for quite a while?
For so long, in fact, that the original professional objective, perhaps a long shot to begin with, is starting to look like more fantasy than reality?
As a coach specializing in goal setting I’m called on daily to encourage optimism. The notion that stating your goal and going for it puts you on the path to eventual success is a cornerstone of my work with people seeking both personal and professional objectives.
Is it really true?
The answer is yes, absolutely.
Sheer persistence can bring amazing returns.
The Meeting That Took a Year to Schedule
Consider the story of the salesman trying to land an appointment with a big account. As the story goes the salesman called his target weekly on the same day of the week for a year. Each time he called he reached his prospect and asked for a meeting. Each time his prospect gave the same response.
Finally, the prospect became exasperated and asked the salesman what it would take to get him to stop calling. The prospect replied “take the meeting.” The prospect agreed, the meeting took place and the sale was made. A profitable business relationship resulted benefiting both – because the salesman persisted in his weekly calls.
Learned Anything Recently?
Posted by: | CommentsAre you one of those people who “knows” you should keep up with reading a certain periodical but has a tall pile of unread copies on your bedside table or office floor?
The benefit continuous learning brings is summed up in one old-fashioned phrase “You don’t know what you don’t know.” What we do know takes us only so far. New information opens up new methods, strategies, techniques, and opportunities that can bring many positives. Until we get that new knowledge we can’t know what these are.
For this reason, our learning orientation can significantly impact our success. Understanding how you feel about learning, and what your actions reveal about those feelings, can position you to make key changes essential to advancement.
Take a close look about how you feel about learning. Where does learning fit into your life? Do you aspire to learn something new every day or every week? If so are you usually successful? Do you learn on a need-to-know basis if at all? Are learning activities such as continuing education or special interest classes built into your regular schedule?
Attacking and Beating Sales Reluctance With the Right Mindset
Posted by: | Comments“I don’t like selling. But I’m the best salesperson we’ve got . . .”
Have you heard someone saying this recently?
Or, worse, have you caught yourself making this comment or something similar?
Many professionals suffer from sales embarrassment – the notion that selling their services is somehow unseemly or demeaning.
They know they need sales to generate revenue.
They know that selling is part of sales.
But they feel bad about it.
They “sell” reluctantly, imagining their sales call, conversation and offer are an imposition on their prospect.
There’s a problem with this approach.
Selling reluctantly doesn’t work as well as selling enthusiastically.
In other words, if you don’t like selling there is a good chance you are hurting your sales.
What causes sales embarrassment is the subject of much debate. Some point to negative experiences with “pushy” salespersons in the past, others to a natural fear of rejection.
We don’t necessarily need to know the causes of sales reluctance to limit its destructive impact on our work.
The key is to know that it can be an issue and develop a responsive strategy.
Are You Aligned For Success?
Posted by: | CommentsWhat if multi-tasking was the enemy?
Not the root cause of world war, poverty, and hunger, perhaps. But still a huge contributor to the myriad problems we experience on the job and in our personal lives every day.
How can that be, you ask?
Multi-tasking is the solution.
It lets us get more done in less time so that we can actually juggle all the different things on our plate.
That’s the theory anyway.
But how well does that work in practice?
Multi-tasking is [Not] the Solution
Let’s look at a few common multi-tasking scenarios. The issue of cellphone use while driving (for texting or talking) is an issue everywhere right now. Research has shown that someone using their phone can be as much as 4 times less attentive to the road than someone not on the phone.
What does multi-tasking bring in that case?
Accidents and injuries.
Do you find that too drastic an example?
Think about when you’re sitting at your desk, talking on the phone while reviewing a document up on your computer screen. Notice how neither the phone call nor the document have your full attention.
Your Results File Is Central To Your Results
Posted by: | CommentsAre you collaborative or competitive?
It can be tempting to think of these as mutually exclusive traits, to describe oneself as one or the other and understand that description to apply generally to your approach to a variety of situations.
In fact, success in many situations requires strategic, flexible application of both.
Career advancement is one such category. No matter what your professional position, someone is almost always keeping score.
Keeping a results file is an excellent way to maintain your own set of back-up data. Let’s take a look at how this is done and when it can help.
A Results File Is Your Own Personal Greatest Hits Album
A results file, sometimes called a praise file, is the place to record and store documentation of your success, acknowledgements and compliments. In other words, records of things that make you look good.
Two kinds of records fall into this category, namely, those sent to you and those you generate yourself.
A Place to Put “Pats on the Back” That Come Your Way
Acknowledgement is a funny thing in the workplace. We never know exactly when, or from what source, a positive comment will appear.
Power Up Your Networking With 3 Key Strategies
Posted by: | CommentsBy now you’ve gotten the message that networking is a crucial element of career success.
If you’re going to make it you’ve got to connect.
And you’ve read the rules – dress well, be sincere, be interested in the other person, follow-up to develop and build relationships, and so on.
Does it still sound intimidating? So much so that you’re still holding back?
Or maybe you’ve put a toe in the water to give it a try but feel like you’re still not quite getting the hang of it?
Try these three key strategies to make your networking efforts that much more successful.
Network In Your Own Way
It has been nearly 15 years, but I can still remember the amused, sideways glance a colleague shot in my direction when I asked whether he entertained clients socially on a regular basis. He was right to give me “the look.” A reserved introvert with a magnificent brain he was the opposite of a social butterfly and it should have been obvious that socializing with clients was not a priority for him. No doubt he would sooner have a root canal without anesthesia than entertain regularly. He did, however, maintain a wide professional network.
Got Goals?
Posted by: | CommentsHave you set job-related goals? Are strategic goals included among the goals you’ve set?
These questions came to mind after a recent coaching session with a long-standing client, Jen H. (not her real name). We were discussing goals. It wasn’t our first conversation on the topic. As soon as she accepted the new position, a lateral move after nearly 15 years in a similar post at a different company, we set goals for the first 90 days on the job.
The first few months went well. She asked if I would help her set goals for the next year. I did and that went well. We did the same thing the next year. As the months passed a positive review and hefty bonus confirmed that she remained on track.
This year Jen had a different question. Instead of asking for my help in setting goals she said she had set some goals for the coming year and was hoping she could run them by me. I agreed and she rattled off a list of 3 objectives that would definitely serve her well in the months to come. We honed the list to include a strategic component and once again the ball is in her court to make it happen.
