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Category: Personal Development

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Investing Leadership Marketing Personal Development Sales

5 Sales Strategies Not Found in How-To Books

As a salesperson, you’re trained to ask customers what they want in terms of your product offerings. That’s wise advice but it’s incomplete. If you only ask customers what they want and then give it to them, you’re missing the biggest opportunity that has ever come in front of you – the chance to sell innovation.

Technology allows us to do things that were once thought impossible. While it is important for salespeople to ask customers what they want and then deliver on it, all that will do is keep you in the game – not ahead of it.

Chances are your competitors are asking customers the same questions, they’re getting the same answers, and they’re providing the same solutions.

So how do you break through to the next level of sales and become an anticipatory salesperson? Below are six strategies you won’t find in most how-to sales books.

1. Follow the Golden Rule of Sales

The Golden Rule of Sales is to give people the ability to do something they currently can’t do but would want to do if they knew it was possible. In other words, the Golden Rule is to help your customers be anticipatory. It’s called the Golden Rule because it’s much more profitable than simply giving clients what they ask for.

The key is that you have to look a little bit further into your customers’ predictable needs based on where they’re going. Only then you can see unmet needs and new opportunities.

2. Get Comfortable Around Technology  

One stumbling block in selling technology can be that the end user is awkward with new types of technology and related products. But another stumbling block could be that you, as the salesperson, are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the tech-driven solution you could be selling.

This is where the value of a time travel audit, one of the core components of my Anticipatory Organization Model, can prove essential.

3. Practice Anticipatory Selling

Anticipatory selling offers enormous opportunity for those who recognize that the very nature of sales is shifting and, further, that there are strategies to leverage that change.

One key strategy of anticipatory selling boils down to something I call a pre-mortem. Unlike a postmortem, which is an examination after the fact, a pre-mortem is focused on anticipating objections, problems and issues before they occur – and, from there, pre-solving them before the sales process even begins.

4. Raise the Bar on Trust  

You need to shift from being a vendor to being a trusted advisor. A vendor simply supplies a product. A trusted advisor supplies true advantage.

When you seek that higher ground and become a trusted advisor, your clients trust you more.

Remember that the future is all about relationships. Relationships are all about trust, and you gain trust by earning it. So never teach people to distrust you by stretching the truth or hiding some pertinent information. To differentiate, you need to raise the bar on trust.

5. Commit to Finding the Customer’s Truest Needs

When you focus on redefining what you already have, you can take your current offering and leverage it to new levels. That’s when you become a sales leader. It’s not because of some fast-talking sales pitch, it’s because of your commitment to your customers and their true needs.

So focus on relationships, trust and truth, and you’ll be able to give your customers tools and solutions they never dreamed possible. As a result, both you and your company will attain new levels of success and realize the profit potential you always knew existed.  

Want more tips for anticipatory selling? Get my book The Anticipatory Organization: Turning Disruption and Change into Opportunity and Advantage, available now at www.TheAOBook.com

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Management Marketing Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

How to Negotiate Better and Avoid a Liar’s Beating

 “To avoid beatings, avoid their cause.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

When you negotiate with a liar, be cautious. Identify him as fitting into one of three categories, a habitual liar, a loose attendant with facts, or one that honestly misstates information. There’s a distinct difference between those three mindsets. To negotiate better and avoid a liar’s beating, know those differences and how to address them. This article notes the distinctions and gives insights into doing just that.

Habitual Liar

This is the negotiator that will lie for the pleasure of deceiving you. He obtains a ‘high’ when viewing himself as a master trickster. He’s also the most dangerous negotiator type that you can encounter because, at times, he’ll lie just to be lying. Don’t let your guard down with this type of negotiator. If you do, you may pay a high cost for your lesson.

Loose with Facts

The negotiator who uses facts loosely may be someone that seeks to sway you with information. He may do so if he senses your logic is driven by data. In his attempts to sway you, he may quote statistics and/or facts that aren’t as valid as he professes them to be.

If you suspect he’s playing loosely with facts, pull out your mobile device. Ask your favorite Internet site about the validity of his statement. Do that in front of him. You may have to do that a few times. He’ll get the hint that you’re not someone swayed by the tactics he’s employing.

Misstates Information

Something that’s stated as the truth is a lie if it’s not true. And, everyone misstates facts at times. This may occur due to faulty memory. Because of that, your guard doesn’t have to be as high as with the other two types. Nevertheless, you should still note the degree of misstatements he makes. If he projects a demure demeanor while doing so, he may be using that as cover to hide his deceit.

Test the Liar

Regardless of the liar type, test him. As an example, cite an erroneous fact pertaining to the negotiation. Observe what he does with it.

  • The habitual liar may embellish it, or attempt to use it to his advantage quickly; this may occur at any point in the negotiation.
  • The loose fact individual may extend your version while waiting to see where it might lead; he’s not ready to bite on your bait. If he brings it up later, note when he does so. That’ll be an insight into how he plans to use such information.
  • The misstates facts person may not say anything; that could be a clue that he’s not overly enamored with facts or the lies that extend from them. But, if he attempts to use the erroneous information to his advantage, consider moving him into one of the other categories.

If you sense deception, use the web the other negotiator is spinning to capture you, to ensnare him. To do that, if you’re speaking in-person, watch his expressions. Observe the degree his eyebrows rise; to the degree they do so, you will have surprised him. Note what he does next (i.e. stammer, clears his throat, rubs his eye(s)). Those gestures will indicate that he knows you’ve caught him. And he knows that you know it.

In every negotiation, a negotiator will lie to some degree. You should be most concerned with those that continuously lack conformity to the truth. They’re the ones that will attempt to expand the negotiation pie, only to steal it from you in the end. Thus, the more adept you are at recognizing and knowing how to negotiate better to avoid a liar’s beating, the less likely you’ll incur that beating … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

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 “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here http://www.TheMasterNegotiator.com/greg-williams/

#Liar #Avoid #Beating #Negotiator #Negotiations #bodylanguage #Business #Management #SmallBusiness #Money #Negotiating #combat #negotiatingwithabully #bully #bullies #bullying #PersonalDevelopment #HandlingObjections #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #psychology #NegotiationPsychology

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Best Practices Growth Leadership Personal Development

Are You Ready to Promote Someone?

Are your people ready for their next step up?

Promoting from within can be an excellent method of filling the ranks within a growing organization, but there are several pitfalls for senior leaders to consider when organizing their promotion plans and elevating people into new or elevated managerial positions.

These considerations fall into the broad categories of technical skills, peer relationships, and leadership attitude.

Promoting from within is never easy for organizations, but there are concrete steps to ensure that new managers are set up to succeed in their new roles and that their teams are not left leaderless and directionless.

Managers, especially new supervisors, are often promoted on technical merit. After all, if someone is good at a particular job, it can be easy to assume that they are ready for a direct supervisory role over others in the same or similar functions. Job functionality is only part of leadership competence. New managers often find themselves lacking or having little organizational, strategic, and interpersonal skills for their new roles.

For these managers it can be stressful adapting from actively being engaged in one project at a time to managing multiple projects over time, keeping track of each and ensuring accurate and positive outcomes for each. Just the same, they often cannot see how their job affects others inside and outside the organization on a more strategic basis and can have difficulty in finding the appropriate solutions to their teams’ larger-scale problems. As these problems intensify, new leaders can feel additional stress and become further removed from building the crucial relationships with their teams in establishing themselves as a growing leader and functional manager.

Compounding these interpersonal worries — and having the appropriate interpersonal skills to manage, direct, inspire, and review their personnel — is the aspect of their past peer relationships. No one should ever be denied a promotion because they have close friendships in an organization, but these friendships enter a new dynamic when one is promoted over the other, especially if the newly promoted manager finds themselves in a direct supervisory position over their former peers. These new leaders will need additional coaching and support in this environment, as it will be comfortable to either fall back on old relationships creating a possible fraternization atmosphere or become stressed because of the new dynamic and begin to withdraw and craft avoidance behaviors around their former peers.

Attitude is everything in an organization, and it can be an unpredictable aspect to a newly promoted manager. New positions and responsibilities can mean new stressors, and it can often be difficult to ascertain beforehand how someone will react when placed in a higher-responsibility situation. Leaders should be grown into a new position, not thrown in. Proactive mentorship can provide growing leaders an opportunity to hone their skills, develop the mindsets off of a positive role model, and seek resolutions towards smaller problems and apply these outcomes towards larger ones.

New and growing leaders require support in all aspects of their development. It is no simple event to promote someone and then expect them to have the success in their new position as their last. Senior leaders must cultivate a strong strategy in their organizations for how their personnel will grow and develop over time, provide concrete goals, and paths for how careers can, and will, progress.
These pathways should include adequate support at all levels, in both formal training and education, and informal mentorship. Also, there should be planned job enrichment and expansion for growing leaders to give them time to cultivate and hone these skill-sets which can vary widely from their traditional roles.

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Best Practices Body Language Culture Health and Wellness Human Resources Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

Please Pass The Puppy

Up until a couple of years ago, anyone who knew me fairly well, knew that I had a wonderful little mascot, Stewie the Shih Tzu. We’d been hanging out together for 13 years and he accompanied me to many places: to work every day when I was in my home office, on the road whenever I could, to my hairdresser, and he sat on my lap in the dentist office.

What you may not know is that Stewie has participated in a number of marketing research, training and creativity events.

It started when he was a two month old puppy. At that time, I had a facility on Long Island. My partner and I were running a creativity session with a pharma company and it’s agency. There were 16 people sitting around the table for many hours, coming up with new ideas for several categories of products. Since Stewie was still so little, I brought him along.  After getting permission from the group, we set up a make shift puppy playpen in the corner just behind my chair.

Not surprisingly, early in the session Stewie started whining a little, so I picked him up and held him in one hand while I continued conducting with my pen in the other.  [Later one of the participants told me that Stewie’s little head kept bobbing up and down following the pen as it drew invisible lines and circles, mirroring the movements of my improvised baton.  Can you tell this puppy was my child?!  I thought everything he did was adorable.]

This was a fairly typical brainstorming session – the group was charged with identifying areas we wanted to develop, getting spontaneous downloads of ideas, using creative excursions to move away from the problem at hand to make new associations, generating possible ideas from the new input and then doing it all over again.  While much of the time was spent in spontaneous talk mode, there was some head down writing involving focused concentration.

For some people that part is tense.  At one point during a writing exercise, a woman lifted her head, turned to me, arm extended and commanded, “Please pass the puppy”  — which of course I did without a blink.  Stewie continued to travel around the room at various times throughout the day providing comedic and warm fuzzy relief when people needed a break or wanted to lessen stress.

Stewie continued his apprenticeship over the years, listening in while providing licks and entertainment to my clients.  Most of the people I work with were thrilled to have him attend and several actually requested him. Why? Because he brought “love” and innocence into the session. He’s spontaneously silly, engaging in hilarious antics that are entertaining. He cuddled, invited petting and patting, gave licks, asked for what he wanted, and was genuinely and obviously appreciative of any attention given to him.

One of my clients, James, loved to have Stewie along. In addition to just enjoying Stewie’s presence and clowning around, he also relished the opportunity to take the pup “out for a walk” – a euphemism for grabbing a smoke.

On one occasion, we were conducting a series of one-on-ones with MD’s on a set of concepts for a new medication.  It was suburban Philly.  We were interviewing 15 docs per market. After interview #10, James said, “Hey, I have an idea. We pretty much know how we’re doing here. [This was the final of three markets.] What would you think of bringing Stewie into the front room to see what happens.  It would be research on research!”

I asked if he was sure he wanted to take the chance of forfeiting the interview results, and he replied with an enthusiastic “YES!”  So, I greeted the psychiatrist in the waiting room and told him that I had my dog with me.  How did he feel about dogs? How might he feel about allowing the dog into the interview room?  The doctor said it was fine with him.

Imagine the set up. My back is to the mirror.  The doctor is facing the mirror.  I have two tables set up in an L with stacks of materials as well as discarded papers in a pile under the table ready to be shredded.  We start the interview with the purpose of the talk and an introduction of the doctor; medications he currently writes for his patients, etc.

Then we switched to concept exposure.

Stewie started out laying at my feet.  That lasted for about 10 minutes before he started exploring.  The first thing he found was the pile of papers on the floor. Stewie saw an opportunity to earn his keep and started aggressively shredding the paper. Meanwhile the doctor continued to talk as if oblivious to the noise and distraction, while I’m thinking to myself, “oh well, I guess this isn’t going to work.”

I picked up Stewie and got him to settle down on my lap while we progressed in the interview, showing more ideas for the doctor’s feedback. I don’t know what you know about Shih Tzu’s, but because of their short snouts, they have a propensity to snort and snore. In fact Stewie can snore louder than my Grandmother who was queen of sawing wood, honking and whinnying while she slept.

Internally, my virtual eyes were rolling, but I stayed with the process, asking questions, probing, clarifying, moving onto the next set until we finished. Surprisingly, after a couple of giggles of acknowledgement of Stewie’s off key concerto, we got through the entire interview covering all the materials.

As were winding down, I asked the doctor what it was like to have the pup in the room. His answer was very interesting. He said that he’d done interviews before and that even though he knew he was being asked for his honest response, he generally found himself trying to give the answers he imagined the interviewer wanted to hear. But this was different. He allowed himself to be authentic and say what was really on his mind.

In classic interviewer style, I said, “interesting, what might have contributed to the difference in your response.”

He said there were two things. Having the dog in the room gave him the sense that his own playfulness and creativity were encouraged. To him this translated to allowing himself to be relaxed and open. In addition, my accepting of Stewie without punishing his behaviors said that I would be accepting of whatever he had to say. The result was he was comfortable taking the risk of telling me how he really felt about the product concepts.

James, who had been laughing his head off in the backroom, sobered up and took notice. James was in charge of the internal research training program. His company holds a bi-monthly Lunch and Learn event that is offered to all in the research department of his company. The doctor’s reaction was so intriguing, that he actually wrote it up and distributed it to the VP of Research as well as his peers for future consideration.

There is a dynamic relationship between people and animals. Each influences both the physiological and psychological state of the other. In the presence of animals, people seem healthier and happier and actually experience improved health benefits: lower blood pressure, less anxiety and a general sense of feeling good about themselves. In fact, pets can add to longevity. Grieving elderly widows and widowers left with pets survive years longer than their counterparts without pets.

Animals are a natural source of genuine affection. They create an emotionally safe, non-threatening environment that can encourage people to open up. In the presence of friendly pets, people relax and calm down. They forget about their worries, loneliness, sadness, pain and fear. They laugh and feel moments of unselfconscious joy.

Did you know that 20% of American businesses allow their staff to bring companion animals along with them to work?

The value of a cute pup or pet in work situations has been researched. Results of a survey sponsored by The American Pet Products Manufacturers Association indicated positive outcomes as a result of bringing pets to work.

Participants agreed that bringing their pets to work led to:

  • An increased willingness to work longer
  • A decrease in absenteeism
  • Improved relationships with co-workers
  • An environment that fosters creativity
  • Higher productivity

So, do you have a pet that might like to give back? Maybe become an assistant researcher or facilitator?  Just be sure to protect anyone who might have fear of fur and get their permission before introducing your pup.

To learn more interesting tips on making work less like work and encouraging employee engagement click http://www.future-proof-your-career.com

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Best Practices Human Resources Management Marketing Personal Development Sales

There Are Two Kinds of Training. Only One Works.

For as long as I’ve been working, I’ve experienced training. We all have. We also know that it doesn’t’ always “stick”. This is especially true of sales training. Let me share one big “why”.

As my role transitioned into sales leadership, and now consulting, I had to figure out why some training works better than others. When an initiative involves training, whoever owns the results of that initiative (sometimes different from who leads the training) must understand why…and what to do about it.

There Are Two Kinds of Training.

The two kinds of training are really related to two kinds of content:

  1. Content that trainees can “know”.By this, I mean that information in the training is simply transferred with little or no behavior change. Examples in the sales world are how to prepare a bid or enter an order, or how to find collaterals. General examples might be how to log into the company networks or get help, where to go for an access badge, etc. In banking, we had “how to spot and report possible money laundering” training. The point: learning is simple knowledge transfer. Training works fine for this kind of content.
  2. Content that addresses what trainees “do” (behavior content).A lot of sales training falls into this category. It introduces and defines specific selling behaviors…perhaps with some role-playing for practice. A training department might erroneously measure “success” via post-course content retention testing. By contrast, the vice president of sales owns results responsibility; for him or her, success means permanent behavior change. Millennial-friendly hip multimedia content, video role-playing or easily digestible micro-eLearning modules won’t change behavior. These innovations are great at achieving “know”: they effectively transfer knowledge and introduce desired behavior, but they don’t drive behavior change.

The second kind of training doesn’t work…without help. Behavior change training alone works for only a very small percentage of self-starting and highly capable sellers.

I have watched many companies fail to distinguish between the two kinds of content. As a result, they unconsciously cripple a “sales training” initiative by applying a “know” solution to a “do” problem. They fail to adequately reinforce behavior change after a “do content” training event.

Changing Behavior is Simple, But Not Easy.

The difference between “know” content and “do” content is the level and type of follow-up required. “Do” requires follow-up coaching. Until recently, coaching required a personalized coaching regimen delivered via old-fashioned human interaction. (more about new innovations in that area below). The graphic above shows a table of the difference between a training event and coaching for “do” content. Notice how coaching focuses on adopting or changing behaviors. The differences are pretty self-explanatory.

The gold standard of coaching behavior content is and has always been manager-delivered. Due to the one-on-one nature of effective coaching, a seller’s immediate manager is the logical person to deliver effective coaching.

I was one of the first in my company to become fully certified in the full suite of (Miller Heiman Group) coaching methodologies. I now help not only my own clients, but those of several colleagues to build coaching acumen in their management corps. It’s a hugely rewarding part of my consulting practice: I grow sales careers by growing sales managers’ careers.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Comes to Coaching

The promise of AI is that it can act as an expert system that tirelessly monitors behaviors looking for gaps. An AI system has the time that a sales manager lacks. This is a powerful management tool. It also requires a huge underlying data set to “teach” the system to recognize both behaviors and behavior gaps.

I work with one of the first systems capable of recognizing critical selling behaviors. It diagnoses selling gaps proactively. It’s able to spot deal risks and recommend corrective selling behaviors in time to change the deal trajectory, a major innovation. This system operates from an expert system database built from the deepest experience base in existence: the largest, most successful B2B selling organization in the world. This knowledge base is poised to become the first to use machine learning (one form of AI) to diagnose sales opportunities via CRM data. This requires a different CRM that collects behavior data rather than today’s usual “activity-based” tracking. For instance, you can’t coach from “how many calls did this salesman make”. You can coach from data about meaningful conversations. CRM data isn’t today’s activity-based tracking; it’s metrics with insight into a buying decision…selling behaviors.

While personal coaching is still the gold standard, an expert-based system focusing on selling behaviors lightens the load on front-line sales managers. Sales managers are a very overloaded group, and can use the help.  A system which can automatically catch and notify sellers of the most common behavior gaps allows managers to concentrate their coaching on higher-value issues. Managers can follow up when sellers don’t react to machine-based suggestions, coach for more subtle points, etc.

Don’t Address a “Do” Problem With a “Know” Solution

If you and your company want to embark on a sales performance improvement journey, make sure your plan distinguishes between “know” and “do” content.  Then make sure that you do “do” correctly: with a robust coaching component. Also look for a solution which has a clear future into automated ongoing coaching using AI or some similar technology.

If you’d like a fresh set of eyes on your situation, I’d be happy to spend some time hearing your situation out, and your thoughts. Contact me at mark@boundyconsulting.com if you’d like to access a free sounding board. Comment below if you have any additional insights or questions to share.

To your success!

Categories
Best Practices Marketing Personal Development

Why Your Website Needs an FAQ

You probably know that few businesses can thrive these days without an online presence. Sometimes, though, even the largest corporations neglect to have an essential web site element: a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page. All web sites need one for a number of reasons.

It Answers Questions

How much of your employees’ time gets spent answering potential customers’ questions by phone or email? How much time can be saved through a thorough FAQ page? The answer to both questions is: a lot.

In addition, an FAQ can answer questions during the hours when your business is closed, thus allowing you to serve potential customers 24/7. People can get to know your company better by studying it.

What Goes on Your FAQ?

 The specifics depend, of course, on the particular nature of your business, but some general principles apply.

A good web site will have a lot of information about products and services, but the information in it can’t answer every question. In addition, the information is often spread across a number of pages.

An FAQ provides a highly condensed distillation of the most important facts for your customers and potential customers to know. If you’re not sure what’s important, do this:

  • Ask those who answer customer questions what the most commonly asked questions are.
  • Take this a step further by brainstorming additional possible questions.
  • Study your competition’s FAQ pages. This gives you ideas.

Sometimes it’s best if your answer is a link to another page. For example, if your company sells vacuum cleaners, people might ask the difference between Model VC-20 and VC-30. This tells you the benefit of a page dedicated to a chart that clearly shows the different features of various models. Your FAQ can link to that page.

Basic and Essential Questions

  •  What payment methods do you accept?
  • What warranties and guarantees do you offer?
  • What are your return policies?

This last question is very important and a subject in itself. I recommend that every page have a link to your return policies page and the information on it be repeated on the FAQ page.

An FAQ Page Tells More About Your Company

 A common question in FAQs is “Why is your product better than X’s product?” This provides a great opportunity to both show your expertise and praise your product.

A question about how fast you ship products allows you to state that customer satisfaction is your highest priority.

Demonstrate Your Company’s Unique Qualities

 Make sure that your answers are engaging in character. Show a sense of humor when appropriate. Create answers that use the simplest and clearest language possible. Make it clear that you care about communicating to your customer.

People Will Still Call

 You won’t be shutting down your customer service lines. Some people won’t understand the answers in the FAQ. Some will have questions you never dreamed anyone would ask. Others find it important to speak to a live person because it gives them more confidence in your company.

Nonetheless, having an informative and engaging FAQ can do a lot to help you attract—and keep—customers.

Pat Iyer is an editor, book coach, ghostwriter and online course creator who assists busy business executives share their knowledge. Find out more about her services by visiting www.patiyer.com

Categories
Marketing Personal Development Technology

AI Improves Your Website as More People Use It

Plenty has been written about how AI gets smarter with experience, the way people do. If you perform a task 100 times, you are faster and better at that task the 100th time than the first time–and AI models have that same quality. The more experience they have (usually expressed as the more data they have seen), the more patterns the models can recognize to make better sense of each new thing they see. I do a lot of work with AI models around website customer experience–often focused on how web users search and navigate company websites. The AI models reveal insights of where web users get stuck, or, more happily, which content seems to answer their needs.

That’s very powerful, but even more powerful is connecting AI models to automated actions. You see, if all the models do is to provide better insight to humans, those models are useful, but they will always be gated by the time and cost of humans taking actions on those insights. I have heard clients express to me in frustration that “the last thing [they] need is another dashboard”–even a smarter one populated with keen AI insights, because it still leaves them with more and more manual improvements to make.

What if the models could directly drive updates to the website that make it better?

My recent work with SoloSegment [full disclosure: I am a Senior Strategist and partner with SoloSegment] has opened my eyes to how AI can lead to immediate and continuous improvement of a website. You can use behavioral data to make searches on the site more successful. You can recommend content based on what has worked for others in the past. In other words, your website becomes more autonomous–a living, self-improving entity–that gets better the more people use it.

None of this means that you don’t need people to do the vast majority of the tasks of creating content, improving design, and all the rest of the things we do for our websites. But, for the first time, there are some things that humans don’t need to do, because the AI models, coupled with automated actions, can make some of the improvements in hands-free fashion. I don’t know about you, but this feels like a breakthrough to me, where we finally have linked the intelligence of the models to quickly and automatically improving the customer’s experience. And I can’t help but think there is much more to come.

Categories
Best Practices Management Marketing Negotiations Sales Women In Business

Are You Afraid of Losing to Progress?

“If you fear losing what you’ve gained, you’ve already lost it.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

When you think of progress, do you become afraid? Do you even consider what progress is and what it means to you? Progress will occur whether you’re afraid of it, don’t consider it, or choose to let it pass you by. It’s the one thing that’s constant in life. So, if you want to evolve in the ever-evolving environment that you’re in, you can do that by considering the following.

1. Define what progress means to you and why it has that meaning; you should realize that your definition will change over time. Recognize when those changes occur and what brought them about. Then, use markers to identify and measure how close you are to a goal. Make readjustments when they’re required. If you become apprehensive about making them or you do nothing to address them, consider whether you’re afraid of losing to progress. You may have a mental barrier that’s holding you back.

2. Ask yourself, when did you most aggressively seek progress? Why did you seek it? Other questions to ask are:

  • What changed in your life to cause you to seek progress?
  • How did you feel while you were going through what promoted the need for change, for progress?
  • What has change done for you?

3. What do you fear the most about progress? Is it change itself that causes angst? Other questions to ask are:

  • Are you fearful of leaving those you’ve known behind?
  • Are you concerned about where progress might lead you?
  • Will you regret not following the path of progress later in your life? If so, what does that thought do to you? How do you feel about it?
  • What has frustrated you the most about progress?

When you won’t move forward to embrace a goal, especially if it’s one that’s important to you, something’s holding you back. If you explore all realms of possibilities and you still can’t identify the silent hand that’s gripping you, you might be afraid of losing to progress. To test the theory, ask yourself the questions above. You’ll find answers to your dilemma in those questions. When all else fails let that be the last thought that you tackle. If fear is the culprit and you successfully combat it, you’ll slay that gobbling … and everything will be right with the world.

What does this have to do with negotiations?

Fear prevents some negotiators from being more aggressive. Because of that, they’ll lack the drive to obtain more in a negotiation. While you should exercise caution in a negotiation, caution based on fear can be self-demeaning.

If you fear progress, due to the gains you’ve acquired in a negotiation, assess the mindset that’s motivating you. There are times when leaving too much on the negotiation table is just as bad as attempting to gain too much. In either case, you can appear to be inept. When you display that type of demeanor it can be the setup that signals the other negotiator to be more aggressive with you. That could also be what signals him to push you harder by seeking more concessions. And, that’s a position you don’t want to be in.

Remember, you’re always negotiating! 

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 “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here http://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

#Losing #Fear #Progress, Afraid #Success #Emotion #Business #Progress #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions

Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development

Delegation Is Not A Choice—It Is a Requirement To Your Success!

We tell everyone, “Do what you do best, and delegate the rest!” It’s kind of like saying, “If you want it done right, do it yourself!” Can you find a middle ground where you have time to focus on advancing your company with your skills without being disappointed by those you rely on?

As advisors to small and medium businesses, we always see owners trying to do everything on their own. This prevents growth, and also prevents the company from succeeding. Owners think they’re saving some cash when they do everything themselves. Or, they may think they’re saving the company from failure. But in reality, they stretch themselves too thin and try to perform beyond their skill set.

As advisors, our job is to find the skills and tasks that must be delegated in order to move the company forward. Here, we face two major obstacles—One of them being that the owners think they can do everything themselves, to the point where their business is hurt by their limited skill sets. And the other obstacle is that the owners just don’t understand how to delegate.

Most owners thoroughly believe in their mission and their concepts. It’s the reason they left their careers and bet their success on a positive outcome. It’s the reason they work 18 hours a day, almost every day, without breaks. But does this mean they’re good at managing people? Not always.

Yes, they own the company. They think they’re the boss. And yes, they’ve done all the hiring to the point where they see a positive cash flow. Now that they’re expanding, though, they must bring on a full, skilled staff. Who does the hiring, training, and managing?

When it comes to knowing how to hire and direct people to get the job done, most owners take it for granted. They may never consider that they’ll need a professional to do this work down the line, as their business grows. But we think they should consider this first.

As businesses grow through the four startup stages (startup, buildup, buildout, and enterprise), they require different managerial skill sets. But, if the owner can carry the business through the dreaded startup phase and score some clients in the buildup phase, why can’t this same owner scale and expand their business in the buildout phase? Most businesses fail during this phase because they drastically underestimate the work that’s required to take care of their new accounts and clients.

This is where delegation comes in—where the business needs a skilled professional who understands the challenges to come, knows how to look for the “perfect” new hires, is able to identify and communicate deliverables, and establishes a sense of accountability to ensure all tasks are done—and most importantly, done right!

In most cases, this skilled professional is not the owner. At this point, it’s tough for owners who have carried “their baby” so far, only to give up some control in order to see eventual success. It was hard for us, too, and our business was actually held back for a few years because of it. Once we finally bit the bullet and put professionals in charge, we started seeing the growth that we always knew would happen.

But don’t get us wrong! We made a bunch of false starts. With every mistake, we learned even more about what we could do ourselves and what we could not. We still had the last word on new hires, for example, but we let our managers create their own plans of accountability (and we approved those, too).

The accountability plan was our key to successful delegation. Just answer these questions: What needs to be done? Who’s going to do it? Are they able to do it, and do it well? When will it be finished? How often will status reports be created, and what will they include? When is the final deadline?

Delegation is not easy. It will be a roller-coaster ride for the first few years. Most business-owners are scared to give up any control! But as time goes on, you will get better at it. And if someone you rely on doesn’t perform to your expectations, feel free to use our favorite four-letter word: “NEXT!”

For more, read on: http://c-suitenetworkadvisors.com/advisor/michael-houlihan-and-bonnie-harvey/

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Investing Management Marketing Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

How to Win More Negotiations by Framing Better

 

“Framing is the impactor on one’s sensibility.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

When framing anything, the better the frame, the greater the chance for a successful outcome. Consider a wall, versus a fence, versus a barrier. You can use all of them to protect those that are inside. They can also be what keeps those on the other side from gaining entrance. And, you can state that they can protect those on either side. So, what’s the difference from a framing perspective? The difference lies in the perception of how you define the barrier. That’s why framing is so important.

When you frame content to be discussed in a negotiation, your framing of it determines how it will be perceived, how it will be discussed, and how the negotiation will flow.

The following are a few insights you can use to win more negotiations by framing them better. Doing so will increase your chances of having a winning negotiation outcome.

Value Proposition:

Before you attempt to frame a discussion, you should know what someone’s value proposition is. Because, if you make a concession that’s not perceived as being valuable, you might open yourself to a greater request (e.g. I don’t need that, but how about ‘x’). If you’d not intended ‘x’ to be discussed, you could have framed your offer by stating, I can concede on this, but not ‘x’. By doing that, you take ‘x’ off the table before it has the chance of entering the offer proposition. Mind you, the other negotiator can still request to have it, but you will have set a marker for denying him his wish. If you’ve used it as a red herring, you may turn the perception of its value to a greater benefit to your position. Then, if you wish to concede it, you should request something substantial in return.

Framing Mindset:

“He was right before, isn’t he right now?” Be careful of how you validate or accept a point as being valid. Just because an entity has been right 99 percent of the time, doesn’t mean that it’s right this time. Then again, if the other negotiator subscribes to such a thought, use it to your advantage.

You can do that by stating that you’ll be discussing ‘x’. Then, state that ‘x’ has been proven to have a 99 percent accuracy factor. Framing any point in that manner lends more credibility to it. There’s also a sense of security implied in the statement, because most people like the perceived sense of being surrounded by others.

Combating Opposing Framing:

If it doesn’t serve your purpose, be prepared to refute the framing attempts of the other negotiator. While doing that, have your own talking points ready to rebut his attempts to refute yours.

A good negotiator knows the hidden value that lies in framing a negotiation. Therefore, there will be an aspect of ‘give and take’ as you and he spar over the process you’ll use, and how you’ll frame those processes, to engage in the negotiation. During the planning stage of the negotiation, give serious thought to how you’ll frame your points and the strategies you’ll use to alter the other negotiator’s perspective.

Personas:

How are you going to act? The persona you project during the negotiation, confidence, or a lack of, and when you project that persona, will impact the negotiation. So, you should plan for how and in what circumstances you’ll promote a certain persona versus another. That’s also where framing comes in. If you synchronize the framing with your persona, you’ll have more perceived credibility.

Framing can serve as a silent ally that lies dormant while waiting to lend assistance in positioning the negotiation. When used stealthily, it can be what gives you a hidden advantage that the other negotiator never sees coming. Thus, using it wisely can enhance your chances of winning more negotiations … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

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 “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here http://www.TheMasterNegotiator.com/greg-williams/

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