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Category: Personal Development

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Leadership Skills

Selling Your Ideas Up: How to Overcome Objections and Get Your Ideas Approved

In an era of fiscal and time constraints, is it possible to sell your ideas to company leaders? Yes, but the success depends on how you frame the opportunity.

The first step is to avoid talking about the idea itself. While that may sound strange, it’s the primary sales rule that most people break. You may love your ideas, but the feeling isn’t always mutual. When you’re selling your ideas to others, you shouldn’t focus on your preferences. You must focus on the other person, and here’s how:

  • Understand the pain of the person.

Forget about how excited you are about the idea you want implemented. If you’re going to sell your idea, you have to understand where the other person’s pain is. Maybe they’re dealing with upset stockholders or perhaps sales are down. Do your research and uncover the main challenge they’re presently dealing with.

Once you know the other person’s pain, you can position your idea to sell as a solution to it. Essentially, you have to show the person that there’s a direct payoff to them if they approve your idea. If you know that the CEO’s greatest pain is a lack of communication between departments, then you have to consider your proposal and figure out how it can ease the pain and bring resolve to the situation.

Be sure to state it clearly to avoid guesswork. For example, you could say, “I know you’re dealing with poor internal communications. I’ve come across some things that I believe can help you overcome those challenges so the company can grow.”

Then talk about the new idea in terms of solving the current problem only. Don’t go into all the benefits, functions, features, or costs. Right now, you’re simply getting the decision maker on board with the idea and its problem-solving potential.

  • Solve the predictable problems in advance.

As you have this discussion, you’ll also have to address common objections. Plan for them in advance by figuring out what their objections could be and solve them before the discussion.

For example, if you’re talking to the CEO about your idea and you know budgets are tight, you can deduce that they will say, “This sounds great, but the CFO won’t approve this right now.” However, because you’ve anticipated this objection, you can reply, “I’ve already run this by the CFO because I knew it was important.”

Of course, before going to the CFO, you’ll have identified their greatest pain and presented the idea to solve it. If what you’re proposing is really a solution, and you showed how it benefits the company’s strategic imperatives with a good ROI, you will have a receptive CFO.

The goal is to overcome the potential blocks before they arise.

  • Use the power of certainty to your advantage.

When you’re selling your ideas, the people you’re talking to are thinking risk. Alleviate this fear by remembering that strategies based on uncertainty have high risk, while strategies based on certainty have low risk. Prior to the discussion, ask yourself, “What are the things I’m absolutely certain about regarding this idea? What are the current hard trends? Where is the industry, company, and economy going with or without this solution?”

Make your list the things you’re certain about. For example, mobile devices are quite popular. Is this a trend that you know will continue, or will people eventually trade in their mobile devices for an old flip phone of yesterday? The answer is obvious: people won’t go back. Look at sales trends, customers, the economy, and everything around you. Get clear on what’s a hard trend and what will pass.

Additionally, look at the strategic imperatives of the company and the current plan. Determine if your proposed idea is an accelerator or decelerator of that plan. You want to show how your idea can accelerate the plan and how your solution can help increase sales, innovation, and product development.

Go into your list of certainties by saying, “Here are things I’m certain about in the marketplace and in our company. Based on this certainty, here is why implementing this idea is a low-risk winner.”

An Anticipatory Approach to Selling

It’s important to remind yourself before the meeting that if you haven’t done the groundwork to excite the listener, you’ll lose them. As you’re busy talking about features and benefits, the other person is thinking about costs, risks, and uncertainties. Having a preemptive solution is an anticipatory approach to selling – you’re anticipating the problems, rejections, objections, and concerns so you can overcome them.

Anyone who has worked with C-level executives knows that leaders get excited about many things while carrying the weight of costs, controls, and constraints. Challenge those issues by making what you offer about priority, relevancy, and strategic imperatives to sell your ideas.

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Management Skills Women In Business

Building Credibility for the Win

Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart. It takes guts, a rock solid belief in yourself and patience. Success is not going to happen overnight, you’ve got to work. Hard. I started my coaching business three years ago. I floundered for a while with my message (too broad) because I wanted to help all the people. I switched gears a few times with regard to my niche (not specific enough) because I wanted to help all the people. You see the recurring theme here – I wanted to help all the people. The problem was, none of the people knew who I was (most of them still don’t!). So how was I supposed to get them to buy my coaching services and book me to speak at their events if I was an unknown?

I needed to get visible. I needed to build some credibility.

Over the last few years I’ve focused on every aspect of my business with one major thing in mind – building credibility by establishing myself as an expert in my field. You may be wondering how one does that – build credibility when they’re new in their business and have no idea where to start. Well, my friend, today is your lucky day because I’m gifting you with my top 5 tips for gaining credibility in your field. Hopefully this will help you accelerate your success and bring you clients!!

1. Network. Research and attend events in your area where your ideal client lives. Join associations. Get outside of your comfort zone and mingle with real people. Shake hands, pass business cards, talk yourself up like it’s nobody’s business. You are your greatest asset, use it.

2. Leverage Social Media. Get active in all of the social channels you hang out in. Create a Facebook Business Page and if it makes sense for your business, create a private Facebook Group for your followers. Join other groups that are relevant to your expertise and start building connections there. Over on Instagram and Twitter follow people/influencers you admire and build a relationship via likes, comments and direct messages. The lead time for client conversion is longer as opposed to in person networking, but the reach is greater.

3. Give it away for free. Seriously. Offer free coaching calls to anyone who will take one. Volunteer to speak for free at local events that are related to your business. Give away free advice, tips, and tools whenever you can. This shows your prospects you mean it when you tell them you’re there to help AND by providing useful information to them, you’re building the know, like, trust factor.

4. Contribute. If you write a blog (who doesn’t?) then you’re ahead of the curve. Reach out to publications and blogs that are in line with your message and offer to write articles and blog posts for them. Build a relationship with the editors so they promote your pieces. Become a go to authority for them. Then you can go write your book!

5. Be a Guest. This is one of my favorite things to do – being a guest on a podcast, video show or any kind of live media is so much fun! It allows you the opportunity to have a great conversation with a live person who is interested in your product or service. It showcases your expertise and gives the listener/viewer a flavor for your voice.

Credibility is so important when you’re building your personal and business brand. Everything I do when it comes to my brand includes my hashtag #WhyAmIYelling on it. In the last three years, I’ve partnered with some of the leading names in the media – Forbes, The TODAY Show, Thrive Global and HuffPost to name a few. I’ve been on a ton of podcasts, video and radio shows. I’m continually curating my network of experts, collaborators and mentors to help me continue to grow and expand my knowledge and business. And I wrote a book. Phew – that’s a lot!

And while some days it feels like I’m behind the curve on where I want to be with my level of success. The reality is that I’m exactly where I should be. So if you’re feeling like you’re not getting the results you want (yet), keep going. Stay focused on building your relationships and getting visible. You may think no one is noticing, but I can assure you, a lot of people are.

Categories
Best Practices Growth Personal Development

Do You Have These 7 Powerful Success- Building Characteristics?

Many successful people have similar personality traits. If you don’t have these seven, start cultivating them now.

Successful people have many of the same characteristics in common. The following are seven characteristics that highly successful people have that are critical in both business and life.

1. The disrupter mindset Successful people passionately seek out opportunities for change or ways to disrupt their industry altogether. So, learn how to break the rules to stand out in your industry. Always look for the chance to profit from change and/or an innovative way to adjust how business is done so you can stand out and succeed. Don’t get me wrong — you need to start with a useful idea. But when you think you have one, don’t hold back. Take the core concept and turn up the disruption dial to the highest volume.

For example, Sean and Thora Dowdell are the owners and founders of Club Tattoo, a chain of tattoo studios in Arizona and Nevada. They turned the tattoo business model on its head by avoiding the unapproachable atmosphere of typical tattoo parlors. Instead, they took a high-end, modern, customer service-focused approach to the studios and retail stores, which brought the tattoo business into the mainstream and built a multimillion-dollar business for them in the process.

2. A vision for opportunity

Successful people seek out opportunities everywhere. But finding good business opportunities isn’t going to mean anything if you can’t recognize them. Recognizing good opportunities takes talent — you have to know what to look for and you need to be able to envision the future of that opportunity. Understanding the type of opportunity you’re looking for and having a few goals in mind is crucial and will help determine which factors make it a good opportunity for you. The first step is to remain on high alert to spot opportunities while remaining ruthlessly disciplined about limiting the number of projects you pursue. Go after a tightly controlled portfolio of opportunities in different stages of business development. Link your strategy with your choice of

projects rather than diluting your efforts in many areas. Make quick decisions instead of over-analyzing new ideas, and execute a plan of action.

3. Shared belief system

Successful people build a great support team. One characteristic of a strong supportive team is a shared belief in the same set of values, which helps create a bond so the team works and supports one another. Shared values serve to connect team members at a core level, and this, in turn, serves to validate and strengthen their support for you as their leader. Their support continues to level up your success.

Begin to engage the energies of everyone inside and outside your organization in the pursuit of good opportunities. Successful people create and sustain powerful networks and business relationships rather than go it alone. You know how to best leverage the wisdom of experts and other resources to help achieve your goals. Business associates and joint venture partnerships can help move you miles ahead of your competitors.

4. Common business sense Successful people have good common business sense and are always looking for ways to continue educating themselves.

Developing good business sense is about continually seeking to understand the ever-changing business environment. It’s not a skill you can learn from a book. It’s something you acquire through hands-on experience and trial and error, but it can also be fostered through the wisdom of others. Brainstorming with seasoned business professionals can give you insight into how successful people with good business sense think and make decisions.

5. Motivation to learn

Successful people continue to learn throughout their lives with great enthusiasm and motivation. When you learn more about your business and successfully implement the strategies you discover, you become enthusiastic about learning even more.

Successful people become sponges to absorb anything that can help take their business to the next level. It’s almost as if they can’t get enough! Call them engaged, devoted, enthusiastic, or even obsessed — successful people believe in their mission so much that it’s contagious to everyone around them, who marvel at their commitment and dedication. This energy can fuel you to remain focused on your mission and help you persist through difficulties.

6. Ability to adapt

Successful people keep moving forward and adapt as needed. They’ve learned to change and reinvent their business often as the world and their industry change around them. If you fail to adapt, you’ll simply get left behind.

To keep growing, you must continuously think of ways to improve. Allow time in your busy schedule to learn new things and come up with new ideas. Successful people remain in constant motion by investing in learning because they’re eager to pursue knowledge. They understand the world is always changing, so they need to adapt to avoid getting stuck in a rut. Successful people keep moving forward and reinvent themselves when required.

7. Observant communicators

Successful people are observant communicators who pay close attention to how other people react. Communication is an activity, skill, and art that incorporates lessons across a wide spectrum of human knowledge.

One of the most likable characteristics of successful people is how observant they are. They give their full, undivided attention to others. Those who’ve mastered this are great communicators who go far in business.

Successful people learn this skill by being more self- aware. Being observant requires practice to perfect. These seven key characteristics will move you forward every day, keeping you in constant pursuit of a creative purpose that inspires you. You’re more likely to get three to 10 times more accomplished in a day than the average person because you’ll stay focused on what empowers you the most.

Categories
Leadership Marketing Personal Development

Is This the Best a Brand Can Get?

Gillette has caused quite a stir this week with the web ad they released to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their slogan “the Best A Man Can Get.”

The new “The Best Men Can Be,” campaign is intended to address such negative behavior as bullying, sexism, and “male toxicity,” and to encourage men in this #MeToo era to practice more positive behavior in order to be their best. The campaign includes $1 million a year donations to organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs of America for the next three years.

The initial ad, called “We Believe,” focuses on negative behavior among men, and then says, “ We believe in the best in men: To say the right thing, to act the right way” because “the boys watching today will be the men of tomorrow.” Razors and blades are barely mentioned.

It’s a daring move. Some people think it’s great. Others hate it. Still others think it’s a nice try but poorly executed. Some are comparing it to the ads Nike ran featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick for the 30th anniversary of the Nike slogan, Just Do It. Those ads led to some customers boycotting Nike products, but also resulted in a 30%+ year over year increase in online sales for Nike.

It’s too soon to know whether or not this campaign will pump up Gillette’s sales. But one thing is certain: People who haven’t thought about Gillette for years (or ever) are now talking about the brand.

In this industry, the razor is usually given away to sell the blades. Once a customer has Gillette’s razor, they’re hooked—switching costs are high. But today, there are more interesting and lower-cost offerings, like Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s, aimed at younger men. Millennials likely aren’t hooked on Gillette products and probably think about Gillette as the name on that stadium in Foxboro, MA where the New England Patriots play. Until now.

One way to be heard above the noise is to do something different and a bit outrageous. Yes, you run the risk of getting cut when you shave too close. But is it better to slip away into obscurity because you’re afraid to sharpen the blade?

Linda Popky is an award-winning Silicon Valley-based strategic marketing consultant who helps organizations get heard above the noise and the author of Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters. She is also the Executive Director of the Society for the Advancement of Consulting.

Categories
Best Practices Leadership Personal Development Sales

Boundy’s Bookshelf: The Silo Effect. Are Your Sellers Siloed?

I just finished reading The Silo Effect.  The Peril of Expertise and the Promise of Breaking Down Barriers, a 2015 Book by Gillian Tett of The Financial Times.  I recommend it to anyone in a business leadership position.  For my own work with clients, I found Ms. Tett’s observations helped me clarify how important and valuable a company-wide focus on customer valuewill be to any company.

Most business people know that the word silo refers to “a system, process, department etc. which operates in isolation from others”.  Organizations establish specialty sub-organizations while pursuing efficiency, manageability, and other worthwhile goals.  The term silo tends to be used when dysfunctions arise: information hoarding, parochialism, competition for resources.

Silos sometimes contribute to more than mere aggravating dysfunction.  According to the book, regulators over-compartmentalized in the early 2000s, causing them to fail to connect all the contributors to the 2008 financial meltdown.

Siloed Sellers.

For me, a seller is anyone who touches the customer.  In many companies, this can include a wide variety of specialty roles:

  • New customer sales
  • Existing customer account management
  • Sales engineering, technical sales
  • Demonstration specialists
  • Inside sales
  • Bid/RFP services
  • Customer service
  • Technical Support
  • Implementation/customer success
  • Finance/accounts receivable/billing/credit
  • Key account managers
  • Channel management
  • Marketing
  • ..and more.

Forget all of the non-seller functions in your company: there are a lot of potential silos just among the roles that interact with customers.   And that’s a problem.

Your customers hate your silos

We’ve all had frustrating experiences when each new person we talk to needs us to explain a full backstory…often made more frustrating when they don’t believe what their last co-worker told us. All of these experiences tell us why we shouldn’t inflict negative experiences on our customers.

Worse, avoiding negative experiences is setting the bar far too low.  I advise that every seller (anyone who touches a customer) be equipped to talk to customers about their needs, problems, and aspirations.  Better, your people should be able to uncover and develop value with a customer.  Further, every seller role probably looks into your customer from a different angle; combining value insights into a single de-siloed view is something few great companies achieve.

De-siloing.

In The Silo Effect, Tett describes how data technology is coming of age to share information across silos.  She also maintains (as do I) that such technology is valueless if there is not strong leadership and a vision that busts down silos.  She shares stories of several organizations with strong leaders dedicated to silo-busting business models.  It’s an interesting read (made even more interesting when you imagine what one of those companies learned about its blind spots in 2016, the year after the book was published…unending vigilance and a little healthy paranoia is the lesson, I think).

I love working with clients to unite every seller role around customer-perceived value.  The key is finding the right leadership, and helping them operationalize the tools.  Companies who pursue a corporate “culture of continuous value improvement” use technology and training to translate a customer value focus into a cohesive corporate culture.  It’s probably not the only way to bust seller silos, but you seldom go wrong trying to deliver too much customer value.

If you’d like to discuss a more coordinated approach to your customers – say, the important ones you would hate to lose – reach me at mar@boundyconsulting.com.  You can also comment below.

To your success!

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Personal Development Women In Business

When Your Toilet is Clogged You Don’t Hire a Chef

No one likes to think about turnover, but it’s a problem that keeps general managers (GM) and business owners up at night. Why? Because deep down you know how critical it is to the bottom line.

Here’s a scenario:

You run a multi-million-dollar dealership and you are hitting the numbers despite margin compression. (Hallelujah) You’re managing to win the volume game. The below-the-line money is essential to keeping the lights on and your team manages to keep their Customer Service Index numbers at passing levels. If you are the GM, the owner stays away for the most part while you continue to help money hit the bank account. If you are a hands-on owner, you cannot stay away because you are steering the ship. This is your legacy.

So, why are you losing sleep?

Could it be the fear of missing your bonus program requirements from the manufacturer and losing the “below the line” money that is vital to your survival? Or is it the fact that you know your toxic sales manager is on the verge of creating a mass exodus on your sales floor and all you can think is, “Hiring is a bitch.” Maybe it is just that you don’t have time to get everything done in a day.

The fact is, you know you have a few core needs that require a shift and you know you need help to make those shifts happen. What you don’t know is where to begin. After speaking with dozens of GMs and owners, it’s become clear to me that, time and again, the place to start is a deep dive into your ethos and an understanding of your level of employee engagement.

When your employees are disengaged, your showroom floor or service drive is a disaster, and your customers turn right back around to the front door to get the hell out of dodge. When you finally get a new employee to start, either they quickly feel the vibe of a lackluster culture and bolt, or they hang on a bit and join the disgruntled masses.

Either way, your managers are tired. They are pushing to hit the numbers to keep you off of their back and their family fed. They don’t have the bandwidth to rein in the culture or to hire right. Frankly, you know this is your responsibility, but, damn it, how can you do it all? The answer is: you can’t and shouldn’t.

When you need your computer fixed, you go to an expert that specializes in technology. When it’s time to replace your air conditioner, you hire an HVAC specialist to do the job. How about your toilet? When it’s clogged, you’re not hiring a chef – or at least I hope not. The reality is that no one person can do everything well, and a successful leader hires the right people to close gaps whether they are environmental or performance-related.

At Shift Awake Group, we specialize in closing the gap on the two critical topics of culture and employee engagement. In order to repair your culture, you have to find out where the bodies are buried and work to mend the cracks in the foundation. Once your culture is repaired, the focus shifts to hiring right the first time while elevating employee engagement and kicking turnover to the curb.

I do not know a single owner or GM that doesn’t want to increase their gross profit margin. Unfortunately, too many believe that focusing on volume will help their income statement and, in turn, everything else will just fix itself. While this can work sometimes, it’s more advantageous to focus on a different, more sustainable metric by increasing your Operating Profit Margins (OPM). When you reduce turnover, costs affecting your overhead are reduced at the same time OPM is increased. When employee engagement improves, simultaneously, there is the perfect storm of opportunity to positively impact gross profit margin with a happier, more fulfilled workforce selling the perfect vehicle to your customer.

If that perfect storm sounds like it could help you finally get a good night’s sleep, it is time to empower an expert to take control of these two pain points that will not spontaneously heal and, in fact, are likely to get worse the more you say they will “fix themselves.”

How can we serve you?

Jacqueline Jasionowski is the founder of Shift Awake Group. Her “soul” mission is to help others connect with their purpose through a higher level of consciousness that will both drive results and enable innovation along the way. Please contact 614.403.6540 for info.

Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development

9 Insights From Slowing Down in Life…

Recently I had the opportunity to take a vacation with my family.

Vacation is primarily quality time with those who mean the most to me, however, vacation is also time to slow down and go deeper within myself.

These insights are from some of those slower moments I had and what I need to hold on to to be a more effective me.

1. Busyness Doesn’t Equal Effectiveness.

I need to get better with my delete list.

Ask me on almost any given day if I’m busy and my answer will always be yes. However, after doing a deeper review of my time and how I fill it, I realize that I can become comfortably numb to being busy and not being very effective.

My solution is simple. I need to evaluate the return on the things I am most busy with and delete everything that doesn’t take me where I am trying to go.

What needs to be on your delete list?

2 – A Significant Conversation is Worth More than Many Shallow Talk

On vacation I intentionally had 3 very significant conversations with men I trust at very high levels. The 3 talks totaled about 3 hours and to say that each of them, and the cumulative of them, had a significant impact on me would not be an exaggeration.

What made them significant? 

It was a cumulative of the following:

My willingness to be vulnerable, candid and inquisitive and their willingness to do the same.

The height and depth of the conversations. We were able to not dumb-down the conversation and we also were able to keep it deep where it needed to be. It’s not unusual to talk with others who either can’t allow the conversation to remain high altitude or who aren’t comfortable with the seriousness of it. These men each were able to do both.

The lack of petty questions or small talk. I can talk with the best about almost anything in life. However, there comes a time when pettiness is only a distraction from the need of the moment.

They all were fire lighters not firefighters. When you’re sharing your dreams, you need someone who can elevate your flame instead of putting it out. We all need more firelighters in life.

My willingness to reach out and ask for their input. It’s too easy to go alone. However, we all need someone in our corner.

Who do you need to reach out to? When will you reach out to them? What do you need to talk to them about? What do you need to ask them?

3 – Fear Lives in the Illogical Space of My Mind

This actually came from one of those talks. When I was asked to answer a couple questions and I couldn’t, the revelation of how fear was abiding in that space became very clear. The insight was, “vagueness creates uncertainty”. I’ll never forget that moment and how it all made sense. Once we filled the same space with logic and a plan, the fear was 99% negated. It was incredible!

What role is fear playing in your life? What information do you need to negate it?

4 – Nothing Replaces Action

Well intended thoughts or plans are a dime a dozen. Until we act on our dream, absolutely nothing is happening.

If you and I will just stick with something long enough, the stats are in our favor. Most people either never start or their ability to endure is lacking and they bail when things become “too difficult.”

What’s one dream you’re not moving on? Determine now that you will take the first step.

5 – There’s a Balance Between Getting Help & Getting Started

It’s too easy to blame others for not helping you, or for not being there when you thought they should be. And while you sit and sulk, the vision is slowly fading away.

I can get lost in analysis paralysis and want everything to be perfect before I even start. I can blame others for not helping…for not showing up…for not doing what I assumed they’d do…and more.

When I get caught in that mentality, I become frustrated and angry and nothing happens.

There comes a time when you have to start. Period.

Who may have let you down? It’s time to let it go and move on.

6 – I am Addicted to Information

That’s not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. However, when reading one more book, one more article, watching one more video is the next step…information has gotten out of control.

The truth for me is that I have enough information on most things that I keep learning about. I need to apply what I know and move into transformation. I can be more worried about failing than I am about winning. I have learned to move on and learn.

What do you know enough about already?

7 – Life is Too Short

I love the quote that says, “it’s never too late to start, but it’s always too late to wait.”

It’s go time. When everything in me wants to wait, I have to make myself do the one thing that makes all the future things easier.

Enough said on this one.

What are you putting off that you need to get started doing?

8 – I Have to Have Better Boundaries 

It’s not an ongoing challenge, it’s a moment to moment challenge for me.

For example, when one of my kids wants to talk, I need to do a better job at stopping what I am doing and talk. I mean, I need to give them my greatest attention, not my divided attention.

I have learned to set better boundaries on things I’ll not wish I had more of in the future. I’ve learned to give greater attention to those who mean the most to me. It’s paying off.

Where do you need to do a better job with boundaries?

9 – Sometimes People See Things in You That You May Need Help Seeing

When you have the right people in your life, they don’t help make excuses for you. They will challenge you to rise to your full potential.

My core/tribe/group has evolved in the last year and the impact of this cannot be overstated. It’s said that those closest to you determine your level of success. They also say that you are the average of the 5 people you’re closest to. Again, the 3 conversations I’ve had this past week prove the truth of both of these statements.

I’ve intentionally worked on my tribe and the handful of those I am closest to.

Who’s in your circle? Does it need to change?

Have a great day – it’s the only one you have!

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

After That, Then What?

“Action without thought is like a squirrel driving a car. It’s nonsensical.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

Why did you do that? Were you aware of what you were doing? Those may be the questions that others ask you when you’ve engaged in senseless behavior. Most of the time the answer to the questions are, I don’t know; I guess I wasn’t thinking. To avoid senseless behavior ask yourself, after that, then what.

Thinking ahead:

Before you engage in activities, do you think of the consequences that might occur as the result of those actions? Most people are aware that there’s a reaction for every action. Some people forget that truism. And, sometimes forgetting it leads to unexpected circumstances. Don’t let that happen to you. Before engaging in a deed, to be more aware of what might happen after it, during the decision-making process, ask yourself, after that, then what.

Understanding your mindset:

At different stages of the day, your decision-making process shifts. That’s because, as things happen throughout the day, the accumulation of the day’s activities causes you to alter your perspective. As an example, if someone has angered or vehemently challenged you about a point, you’ll be more likely to refudiate someone else that attempts to convey the same sentiment. Thus, you should always be aware of the mindset you possess when making decisions and what has occurred to influence your thoughts.

Timing:

When considering, after that, then what, be thoughtful about the timing of your decisions. Sometimes, you’ll have the power to bring your decision to fruition at that moment, other times you won’t. Thus, depending on the importance of the decision, it may behoove you to delay its implementation until a more favorable time.

Remember, decisions have two spectrums, haste makes waste and, he who waits too long loses opportunities. Thus, it may befit you to balance those spectrums on the pendulum of time.

If you want to avoid taking two steps forward and one step back in your life, before engaging in a decision, make sure you engage in, after that, then what thinking. Your decision will lead to an action. That action will lead in one direction versus another. If you don’t want to find yourself in a desolate place tomorrow, be more aware of the decisions you make today … and everything will be right with the world.

What does this have to do with negotiations?

Sometimes, offers and counteroffers flow quickly during a negotiation. Quick responses can lead to unwanted positions and disadvantage your standing. To sustain your negotiation efforts and enhance your chances of having a winning outcome, be mindful of where every concession and offer may lead. If you’re astute, you can use the, ‘answering a question with a question’ tactic to gain information (e.g. what do you mean? what do you think I mean?). That’s also a tactic you can employ to slow the other negotiator’s attacks when he’s bombarding you with questions. To insulate yourself even more from his bombarding, ask yourself, after that, then what.

Suffice it to say, when you’re in the heat of a negotiation, the way to ensure that you don’t act too hastily is to always ask, after that, then what. Doing that will lessen the chances of you wandering into a negotiation minefield. It will also allow you to maintain greater control of the other negotiator, yourself, and the negotiation.

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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Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development

Time for 2019 Resolutions

“I think in terms of the day’s resolutions, not the years’.”  ~Henry Moore

As 2018 closes, you welcome 2019 with all the optimism to grow your business beyond from where it is right now. As the year begins to unfold, most New Year’s resolutions are already falling by the wayside. Now is the time, however, to get serious about the New Year’s resolutions that will make a difference in your business success.

The kinds of changes that will make your business more successful, enjoyable and sure can be made at any time, but there is a psychological impact to making formal resolutions at the beginning of the year.

Throughout the world, people use the first month of the New Year to announce their resolve that the rest of the year will be better than the year that just ended. That sense of optimism and opportunity provides a good start for implanting long-term changes or resolutions.

“The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.” -Melody Beattie

Build in success by requiring everyone involved in the identification of New Year’s resolutions for your business follow these rules:

  1. Formalize the resolutions by writing them out. Post the final resolutions on a prominent bulletin board, and distribute copies to all employees and members of management.

 

  1. Assign responsibility for implementing each resolution. Select a date for reporting results for each resolution, including an ongoing report during the year, if possible.

 

  1. Identify a benefit to the business for each resolution. When possible, set a realistic benefit goal in quantifiable terms, such as percent, numbers or dollars.

 

  1. Identify a potential benefit to employees for each resolution. Give as much thought as necessary to providing recognition and rewards for employees who assist with implanting the resolutions.

 

  1. Affirm management’s commitment to making the changes by providing sufficient support for each resolution.

 

“And now we welcome the New Year. Full of things that have never been.” -Rainer Maria Rilke

With these expectations in effect, invite all employees and members of management to make one or more suggestions for making business better, bigger, more efficient, more profitable, more satisfying- whatever improvement that each individual’s unique perspective can identify. The specific areas – employee retention, recapturing customers, waste reduction, improve public relations. This may include an upside down corporate pyramid where management empowers and supports employees. Be careful not to inhibit the identification of other areas that may be invisible to management but potentially significant to company success.

From the participants, form a committee representing all groups within the company to review the suggested improvements and to prioritize those changes according to criteria that is relevant to the business. Top management can then select the top five or 10 suggestions that will become the formal New Year’s business resolutions for the year.

Limiting the number of resolutions tends to focus attention and minimize the likelihood of having these meaningful areas that need attention fall by the wayside along with so many other well intentional but short-lived New Year’s resolutions. With individualized resolutions in place your business can look forward to a full year of improvements.

Categories
Best Practices Culture Growth Management Personal Development

The Effectiveness of Social Media is Directly Linked to Your Tone of Voice

According to Statista, the statistics portal, it is estimated that 2.34 billion people use some form of online social media worldwide. There is an immense amount of information traveling the web for anyone to access. And access they do. In the Philippines, they are on social media sites an average of 3.7 hours per day, while the U.S. is on these sites approximately 1.7 hours a day. This is just social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.

Not only are users reading the material posted, but they are also commenting on it too. Folks of different backgrounds, interests, beliefs, and skills are reaching out with their opinions. This makes online social media a tremendous tool for people to experience and glean knowledge they otherwise would not have discovered.

We value different viewpoints. It’s how we grow. Staying in your own little world will never result in productive, worthwhile ideas. It is being exposed to as many resources possible to receive valid, educational information.

It’s these differences that may cause contention between users. For some reason, people feel they should comment on posts in a critical manner. They attack the author with hateful remarks, believing their own opinion is the right one. This begs the question, why do people who comment on posts think they can throw the rules of courtesy out the window?

People don’t have the nerve to say what they think in public, but hiding behind the computer somewhere else they will say whatever they like. Nevertheless, the same rules for in-person interactions are still to be used on social media; be polite.

Criticism can be used to help inform another, but not when it comes in the form of hateful comments. Assaulting a post is hurtful and nonproductive. If sharing your information involves attacking another person, especially someone you don’t know, the result is you venting just to make yourself feel better. You believe you are making a point, but you aren’t.

Everyone has the right to voice their opinion. It’s how it’s done that determines the effectiveness of your message. If your purpose was to be mean and force your opinion on them, don’t post a comment. It doesn’t help the author or other readers. Moreover, it doesn’t help you since you aren’t open to learning. If your intent is to give your opinion, make it in a positive tone or no one will listen or learn.

For anyone to take criticism, the delivery has to be in a kind, teaching way. Humans don’t like being told they are wrong so they will immediately negate the comment. If you really want to educate, you convey the message in a way it will be gladly received.

We learn and flourish because of the different backgrounds, interests, beliefs, and skills each of us have. Social media is a tool to help us grow and it promotes teamwork. We all benefit as we share politely and don’t condemn each other. Online social media is a powerful tool if used correctly. Let’s take advantage of this medium and use it for its purpose; to connect, learn, and experience things that we might not be exposed to without it.