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Day: January 18, 2018

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Growth Management Personal Development Women In Business

The Value of Paying Attention

ATTENTION is defined as the act of applying the mind to something.

Every day it seems more difficult to do.  With work, family, the world and multiple electronic devices feeding us information at the same time, it’s a wonder we get anything done well.  The value of paying attention though shows up in increased productivity, safer working conditions and higher profitability.  The simple act of paying attention creates higher quality work, whether in services or products. Having fewer failures, errors, quality defects, and accidents leads to an increase in the bottom line and the overall morale of a workplace environment. On an interpersonal level, truly paying attention to a colleague creates a bond that transcends every interaction you have together. In a world where we see millions of bits of information every day, paying attention has become a skill that needs to be reintroduced and retooled.

How can you do this?  Simply take the time to pay more attention to what is going on around you. Deliberately make a choice to create space in your day to notice a colleague doing something well. Acknowledge what you observe directly to them and explain exactly what they did. Instead of a nondescript “Good job”, be specific: “You handled the interaction with Mr. Smith well.” Timely and personal attention is appreciated deeply.

How many times a day do you stop to notice what those around you are doing? How often do you express an encouraging word?

“The quality of your life is determined by the focus of your attention.”

—Cheri Huber

Excerpt from Blueprint for Employee Engagement – 37 Essential Elements to Influence, Innovate & Inspire.

Julie Ann Sullivan has the cure for retaining good talent and increasing productivity. Want a free copy of her book, Talk to Julie Ann @724-942-0486.  Julie Ann hosts the Mere Mortals Unite and Businesses that Care podcasts on C-Suite Radio .  For more information go to http://julieannsullivan.com/

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Growth Management Operations Personal Development

Customers Ask Questions. Make Sure You Have the Answers!

There are some experiences in life you just never forget. Having dinner with my good friends Kim Tucci and the late John Ferrara is one of those experiences. This was over 30 years ago. But like I said, some things you just never forget.

We were in Phoenix, Arizona and this dining establishment was a very nice one. John’s son Ben was with us. At the time, he was only 12 years old. When the server came along to take our drink order, we were curious to know what the daily specials were. When he mentioned a seafood dish, my friend Kim asked, “Is the fish fresh?”

This is the part that has stuck with me after all these years. He told her, “The fish is so fresh it hasn’t even thawed out.”

He was saying two different things, and I was a bit lost. The fish was fresh. But it was also still frozen? What could he possibly have meant? I wasn’t the only one who thought this was odd. Ben, although just 12 years old, was also looking at the server in complete confusion. It turned out that when he said fresh, he was simply implying that the fish hadn’t come from a freezer aisle in a grocery store.

In this case, our server gave the wrong answer to the question. That is the whole point. In every business, there are simple questions that customers are going to ask over and over again. Great employees will know the answers to these questions, because great employers will train them to.

Think about your business and your industry. What are the common questions that get asked time and time again? In a restaurant, a few of them might be about pricing, ingredients in the dishes, side items offered, or substitutions. As a frequent restaurant patron, here are some of the top questions that I regularly ask:

  • What’s the soup of the day?
  • Does this entrée come with a salad or side dish?
  • How is the fish prepared?

That first question, the one about the soup of the day, is one that always puzzles me. It’s amazing to me (in a bad way) how often the server doesn’t know the answer to this. Their response is almost always, “Let me go back to the kitchen and ask the chef.” What blows my mind is how could they not know? What’s just as bad is, how could the manager have someone on the floor who doesn’t know the answers to these simple questions.

So, here is a little homework. There are three main steps to the assignment:

  1. Come up with the top three questions your customers ask your employees.
  2. Create the best responses.
  3. Train your people to know the correct answers.

Once this is done, everyone in your company should be able to answer these questions, from the newest hire to the person who has been there the longest, from the lowest paid employee to the highest paid. Once all of your employees know the answer to these questions, train them on three more. Continually do this, as often as you see fit.

When your customers realize that your employees have the answers to their frequently asked questions, this will instill trust in your company. Trust turns into loyalty to your business.

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How to Use Reverse Questioning to Win More Negotiations

“The degree of success you experience in life and in negotiations is based to a degree on asking the right questions successfully.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

You no doubt know what reverse engineering is, right? Reverse questioning in a negotiation is the process of identifying the questions you need to ask in order to obtain the answers that will lead to a successful negotiation outcome. It’s also a way to identify how you’ll control the flow of the negotiation.

As a quick example, if you wanted to exit a negotiation paying $1,000 for a product you’d work from the outcome sought back to the beginning of the negotiation; you might also consider working back from that point to how you would position yourself prior to entering into the negotiation. To perform the latter, you’d assess the requirements needed (i.e. how you’d position yourself) to have your persona projected in a certain light/manner.

The following is what the step-by-step process would look like.

  1. Identify the most and least favorable outcome you’ll seek from the negotiation, along with why you’ve identified those points of juxtaposition. As a benefit, having that insight will help you identify exit points from the negotiation.
  2. Assemble a list of questions that might be asked of you as you would go through the negotiation.
  3. Create answers to the questions posed in step 2 that are needed to drive your efforts towards a winning negotiation outcome, while formulating questions you’ll ask to keep the negotiation on track; these will be your defensive questions. Identify points where you can answer a question with a question; remember, the person asking the questions is the person controlling the negotiation. That’s due to the fact, that person is gaining more information.
  4. Once you create and address step 3, create a list of questions that you might ask of the other negotiator that’s separate from the ones you might use to respond to his questions; these will become your offensive questions. Offensive questions are questions that move your negotiation efforts quicker towards the end of the negotiation; they are questions that the other negotiator has to agree with because they’re based on what he’s previously stated as his beliefs or truths; you’ll be weaponizing his thoughts and questions against him. Some of these questions will also come in the form of questions that answer questions.
  5. Assess how the opposing negotiator might respond to your scenario.
  6. Continue going over steps 1 through 5, in an attempt to uncover additional questions that you’d not considered that need to be included in the process.
  7. Once you feel you’ve honed the questions to a point that the other negotiator has to follow a prescribed path that you’ve created for the negotiation, test your hypothesis in a mock negotiation. This will allow your questioning process to become more refined and may uncover better/additional questions.
  8. Once you feel totally prepared to utilize your questions in a negotiation, do so. Engage with the confidence in knowing that you’ve created a stealthy way of capturing better information as you go throughout the negotiation.
  9. Save your questions in a repository to be used for comparison to past and future negotiation situations.

 

The wrong question asked at the right time in a negotiation may do incalculable harm. The wrong question asked at the wrong time in a negotiation may lead to a negotiation impasse. Create and test your questions before entering into a negotiation and you’ll have more of a chance to reach a successful negotiation outcome … and everything will be right with the world.

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d really like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com 

To receive Greg’s free 5-minute video on reading body language or to sign up for the “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here http://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

Remember, you’re always negotiating.

#HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #Bully #Question

#psychology

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Best Practices Growth Leadership Personal Development

It’s 2018, But What Makes This Any Different than 2017, 2016 or Even 1999?

How did you feel this morning?  Are you still as enthused and as energized as you were January 1st (Or maybe January 2nd or 3rd depending on how you spent New Year’s Eve)?  Most people hit the gym or went to work with a new sense of purpose on Tuesday the 2nd.  A new sense of purpose that was fueled by resolutions to do better or achieve more in 2018 but, what makes this any different than 2017 or 2016 or even 1999?  You probably started those years with the same level of optimism and desires, but by the end of March that year looked no different than the year before.

Being inspired to do better is the easy part.  Envisioning the “new you“ is very satisfying and makes you feel happy, self-satisfied and inspired.  In a sense it is a very spiritual and uplifting feeling of being unburdened by your past habits and behaviors. Sadly, however, that feeling will be short lived for most people as they slowly get sucked back into their old ways.  Why? Mostly because they weren’t prepared.  They may have a vision, but they failed to plan their actions or develop a plan that would alter their behavior in a positive way.

If you want to maintain that happy, shiny new feeling throughout 2018 you need to do these 6 things:

  1. Create a Vision of Yourself or your life as the new you. If you can’t see it, you can’t be it.  This is your chance to dream and ask yourself; where do I want to live?  How do I want to look and feel like physically? What do I want from my relationships with family, friends or my partner? It’s your dream so go ahead and imagine your happiness.
  2. Set Meaningful Goals using the WHY SMART formula. These are goals that are Written, are Harmonious with one another and with your life, and they are Yours – not someone else’s goal for you or what you think someone else expects.  These are your goals and they must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound.
  3. Put your Goals in Writing. There are few things more powerful than writing down your goals.  It is a commitment and you own it. Studies have shown that those who write down their goals achieve significantly more than those who do not have written goals so, go ahead and write them down and then put them in a place where you see them and are reminded of them throughout your day.  Or, better yet, share them with someone in your life who is non-judgmental like a personal trainer, a life coach or mentor.
  4. Set Action Plan and Benchmarks. This goes hand in hand with your WHY SMART goals. Goals must be supported by an action plan that details all of the things you must do to overcome the obstacles that have hindered your success in the past.  These actions are the steps you are going to take along the way to achieve your vision.  Benchmarks, on the other hand, are the mile markers along the way that recognize the progress that you are making.  So for instance, if your goal was to lose 20 lbs. in 5 months you might break that down into 4 lbs. per month, or even a pound a week.
  5. Maintain a Positive Attitude. Attitude is everything – it is the secret sauce to success, if you will.  There will be any number of things along the way that can sway you from your new behaviors.  Deadlines at work, unexpected business trips, family emergencies are just a few, but you must realize these distractions are normal.  They are not unusual circumstances that allow you to set your dreams aside.  Yes, there will be some backsliding – 2 pounds gained instead of a pound lost – but you must maintain a positive attitude that you will achieve your goals. Be assured that the same positive attitude will go a long way in getting you through all of life challenges.
  6. Don’t forget to Celebrate Success. Reward yourself for achieving your benchmarks and let them be a reminder of your greater vision. Achieving a vision can be hard work at times but celebrating your small wins along the way will keep you motivated and determined to reach the next benchmark.

It is never too late to start taking charge of your life, and there is no time like the present to create your vision, commit it to paper and begin your journey to the new you.

 

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