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Category: Personal Development

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Best Practices Growth Management Personal Development

MLK’s Dream is More Than You Think

On August 23, 1963, civil rights leaders led a march on Washington, DC. Speeches were given and music played to show support for civil rights legislation and to protest racial discrimination. One of the speakers was Martin Luther King, Jr., a minister and civil rights activist. His speech “I Have a Dream” is one of the most well-known speeches of all time. His message was powerful and based on a dream for our country.

The address took place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. King said, “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “Unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” King pointed out that it was a “sacred obligation” that America promised its people.

His words are a direct quote from The Declaration of Independence. King is reminding us of the promises that our founding fathers, the architects of our republic, made when they established America. He is holding our country accountable, which is the duty of the people.

He goes further by reminding the government that “Unalienable Rights” along with “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” are promised for all people. Black people, white people, everyone. Later in his speech, he quotes The Declaration again when he says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” King is taking the foundation of our country, calling our leaders to uphold those words. He is taking the original message of our national documents and staying true to them. By quoting the Declaration of Independence King shows he has grounded his leadership and his ministry to a firm base. To stay strong as a people and as a nation, we have to uphold our foundation.

Dr. King’s dream for America is the original American dream that “all men are created equal.” His speech is about equality, freedom and making a nation strong. He even tells us how to achieve it. Unfortunately, we don’t usually hear that part of his message. Instead, we get five minutes of the I have a dream part and not the rest of his message that addresses how to make equality happen. King didn’t just talk about civil rights; he set a plan of action into place. Yet we don’t hear that part. The actual “I Have a Dream” speech is 17 minutes long and filled with so much more than we are exposed to. It’s worth listening or reading the entire thing.

Unfortunately, that may be difficult to do because of “public domain.” This term refers to a creative material that is not protected by intellectual property laws like copyright, trademark, or patent laws. In other words, if something is public domain it is owned by the public so anyone can use it.

Dr. King was the one who obtained the rights to his speech. He decided to do that about a month after he gave the address. There were two companies who started selling unauthorized copies of it. Dr. King put a stop to it by copyrighting the speech. Since then his family has received income from anyone who wants to use the material.

I understand why the family would want to keep the rights so they can control where and how the speech is used. There have been historians and civil leaders who have tried to get open access for all to the speech but to no avail. Unfortunately, since it is challenging to find the entire speech and video, most people don’t know what is in it.

What we don’t see is all the wisdom that Dr. King talked about. He tells about the injustice of blacks and the urgency of changing things now. He doesn’t just talk about how things could be; he tells us how to do it. He specifically instructs black men on what he is to do, and educates white men what to do. Dr. King doesn’t just throw out what is happening and what it should be. He tells us how to fix it.

I was able to receive permission to print the entire speech in my book “Who’s Changing the Meaning?” Through the right channels, they allowed me to put the speech in its entirety for $600. I felt so strongly about getting people to read the document that I agreed to pay for it.

This is one of America’s greatest speeches If we expect things to change we have to change. And change will occur if we follow what Dr. King suggests. You need to read the entire speech. It is even more powerful if you get to watch Dr. King’s presentation while you read the words. It will affect you! Change has to happen. Why not follow the man who not only dreamed of what could be but also showed us the way.

Soli Deo Gloria

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Skills Women In Business

4 Action Steps to Protect Your Reputation Monday to Monday®

Click here to watch 4 Action Steps to Protect Your Reputation Monday to Monday® 

Your reputation – good or bad – precedes you. Your reputation enters the room, your clients’ offices, your meetings and your one-on-one conversations before you ever get there. Your reputation enters your readers inbox before you hit send on that email.

You’re always on display, and your reputation is always on the line. The big question is, are you okay with the reputation you’ve created?

Categories
Growth Management Operations Personal Development

Five Customer Service Tactics to Increase Sales

You might be looking at that headline wondering if this article should fall into the category of sales tactics, but it is all about customer service. It is about the way you engage with customers and how you make them feel – which also happens to be an indicator of whether or not they will want to do business with you again. And, although the examples focus on retail interactions, the lessons can work for any type of business or industry.

1. Engage with your initial greeting. Offer a strong, sincere welcome to make the customer feel comfortable and appreciated. The first impression sets the tone for the rest of your interaction with the customer.

2. Ask a question that will elicit a specific answer. Simply asking “May I help you?” is not enough. Ask the customer an open-ended question such as, “What can I help you find today?” The answer to that type of question will be more likely to offer specific information about how you can best serve the customer.

3. Ask a follow-up question. Often, this second question will be “Why?” Once you know what the customer is in search of, more knowledge about why it is needed or how it will be used may reveal additional selling opportunities. (Or simply the opportunity to be helpful by sharing some knowledge or expertise.)

4. Upsell. Those “additional selling opportunities” from the follow-up question and conversation with the customer can lead to appropriate upselling. Which, by the way, is a form of good customer service. For example, at Ace Hardware, if a customer comes in to buy a can of paint, the associate would be amiss if he or she did not ask about the customer’s project and whether any additional painting supplies are needed. It’s about making customers’ lives easier by ensuring they have everything they need the first time.

5. Make sure the customer is satisfied. Don’t forget to ask if there is anything else that the customer needs. Asking, “Did you find everything you needed today?” or “Is there anything else I can help you with?” gives the customer a chance to reflect and perhaps make an additional purchase. They may even let you know if there is an item that is out of stock – which is valuable business information for you as well as an opportunity to let the customer know when it will be available.

Bonus: One final tactic – never forget to say, “Thank you!” This is one of the most important tactics. Always end with an expression of gratitude for the customer and leave a strong last impression.

Interweaving customer service into the process of selling is essential. Hire the right people and train and motivate them to engage with the customers to provide an excellent customer experience.

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling business author. For information, contact 314-692-2200 or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs, go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

Categories
Accounting Best Practices Body Language Economics Entrepreneurship Investing Management Marketing Negotiations News and Politics Skills Women In Business

8 Words That Will Make You a Better Negotiator – Part 2

“Words have an impact! Choose impactful words carefully when negotiating, they’ll determine your degree of effectiveness.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

This article is part 2 of a two-part article. It contains an explanation of the second group of 4 words that complete the 8 words you can use to become a better negotiator. Here’s the link to part 1 of this 2 part article  http://www.themasternegotiator.com/8-words-will-make-better-negotiator-part-1-2-negotiation-tip-week/

Now imagine the new you, not limited, because you are instantly free.

There are 4 words contained in the sentence above that will make you a better negotiator. Do you know which words they are, how to use them, and why they’ll give you an advantage when negotiating? After reading this article, you’ll know why those 4 words have such power, and how to use them in your negotiations.

Communications can be challenging when negotiating. That’s one reason why you should always be mindful of the words you use, the impact they’ll have, and how such words will position you in a negotiation.

The 4 words are, now, imagine, limited, and instantly.

4. Now – The word, ‘now’, implies in the moment. You’re not in the past or future, you’re in the present moment. That’s the power of ‘now’. It makes you focus on the situation at hand while clearing the cloudiness that other aspects of the negotiation might present.

Use the word, ‘now’, to focus the other negotiator’s attention on what’s being discussed in that moment. The word can also be used to distract from items that may attempt to conflate matters that may or may not have relevance to the negotiation.

6. Imagine – ‘Imagine’ is a wonderful word to use in a negotiation. It can take the negotiation from the here-and-now to a place where happiness or dread awaits.

You can use the word, ‘imagine’ when you want to transform the other negotiator’s perspective from a more or less agreeable point to one that is more aligned with what you seek from the negotiation. Use the word, ‘imagine’, to allow him to become transfixed in an emotional state where harm does not exist or where it looms voluminously.

7. Limited – This word implies that there’s not a lot of what you’re discussing; “if you don’t grab this soon, it’ll be gone and you’ll miss out.” That’s what, ‘limited’ implies.

Good negotiators will test you when you state that something is limited. Still, if your boast is proven to be true, you’ll move the other negotiator to action by using this word as a call to action. Just be mindful of how and when you use it. If its use is proven to be untrue, you might cause irreversible harm to the negotiation.

8. Instantly – Everyone seeks gratification. For some, the need for such acquisition is greater than others. The word, ‘instantly’, implies that you can have what you seek, right now.

You can enhance a negotiation by giving the other negotiator a sample of what he seeks from the negotiation; make sure it’s something that he really wants. By doing that, you’ll be instantly giving him a taste of what he can acquire if he adopts your position. If this tactic works with him, you will have also uncovered his need for gratification, and to what degree he’s willing to control it to obtain what he wants from the negotiation.

You now have new insights into how the above words can instantly increase your negotiation abilities, and just imagine, you acquired these words for free because you read this article. Imagine what this new knowledge will do for you. Don’t let yourself be limited, use these words in your negotiations … 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 #psychology

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Health and Wellness Human Resources Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

Too Much of A Good Thing? New Strategies to Enjoy Real Work-Life Harmony in the C-Suite

Early morning board meetings, late evening client dinners, conference calls, international travel, a jam-packed family and personal schedule. It’s all good, but it may seem like constant non-stop busyness all the time. Are you doing more, but feeling less satisfied and more frustrated?

Fortunately, there are strategies to increase the real goodness and harmony in your life. Your ability to prioritize and optimize all the abundance you enjoy comes from making the right decisions about what is “important to do” rather than what is simply “nice to do.”

Evaluate and set your criteria. Determine the key professional and personal priorities, causes and activities that are truly aligned with your core values and highest intentions for the short and longer term. Turn inward and evaluate where you are accomplishing the most good and receiving the most personal satisfaction. Are you saying “Yes” more often and “No” less frequently because you are afraid of being left out? Learn to say “No” to the ordinary to be able to say “Yes” to the outstanding. Take a stand for what you really want!

Plan and prioritize. Look at your week and month and list your intentions and commitments. Sort the important from the merely workable. Think of your life in three pillars: career/business, health/family, faith/education/renewal and consider adopting the 8-8-8 model for your daily schedule. Designate eight hours for work and business, eight hours for yourself and your family priorities and eight hours for rest.

Make time for yourself every day. Part of your personal pillar should include some “me time” for peace, quiet, reflection and rejuvenation. Consider rising thirty minutes earlier and starting the day off with some movement, stretching, meditation, self-hypnosis or quiet contemplation. You will feel more successful and grounded versus feeling scattered and off balance.

Be consistent. Make regular deposits into your body’s energy savings and reserves account by eating whole, real food and engaging in regular physical activity and prioritizing restorative sleep. Inevitably you will need to make energy withdrawals when you are involved in challenging projects or are working long hours. With enough reserves, you have enough goodness to draw upon and your energy account will be charged and healthy!

Real work-life harmony takes courage and awareness. Model these traits for yourself, your family and your organization. Your life will be better for it!

Kathleen Caldwell, is CEO of Caldwell Consulting Group, an Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapist, a C-Suite Network Advisor, Women Who Dare Council Member and the founder of the WHEE Leadership Institute ® (Wealthy, Healthy, Energetic Edge) of Woodstock, Illinois. She works with leaders and teams to energetically and enjoyably produce record breaking results. For more information, Caldwell can be reached at www.caldwellconsulting.biz, Kathleen@caldwellconsulting.biz or by phone at 773-562-1061.

Copyright © 2018. Caldwell Consulting Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development

DON’T Bother with Strategic Planning

For just a moment, forget goal-setting. Forget the New Years resolutions you jotted down last month. Forget the binder-long strategic plan that sits under a stack of papers.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I totally believe in the power of setting goals, identifying ways to improve, and in creating a plan to get you there. But as an executive leader working with a team, I urge you not to get the cart before the horse.

Many of the problems experienced by organizations and businesses today are not due to lack of strategy, or the wrong annual goals, and they’re not even necessarily due to poor execution. Most of the problems experienced in organizations today are due to “people problems.” Yup, you heard me right.

DO NOT even bother with strategic planning until you’ve first asked yourself these questions regarding your leadership and your team:

Do we truly function as a team? Leadership teams are often not really teams, but a group of individuals – and a dysfunctional group at best! All the plans, goals, and strategies in the world won’t get your organization to the next level unless you first fix your team.

Malfunctioning teams are usually a group of individuals whose motto is “May the best man – or woman – win.” This is because most leadership team members see each other as rivals. They’re all competing for resources, dollars, and favor for their functional teams and departments. How could a group of individuals with that mindset ever join together to set goals and make strategic plans for the organization as a whole, when all they’re worried about is their own departments?

Am I a strong leader? Strategic planning with a weak manager at the helm is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. It is futile and I have graciously declined to work with more than one leadership team because I knew that the leader was the root of the team’s problems. So, put your big girl/boy britches on and get some feedback. Ask team members questions like “Is there anything that I’m doing that is getting in the way of you doing your job?” Or ask, “How might I better lead and support you?” If you’re not lovin’ the responses you get, run –  don’t walk – to get yourself some leadership coaching.

Are team members willing to disagree and debate issues? When a CEO tells me that there is no conflict among team members, I’m tempted to respond with something like, “Oh yeah, well I’m the Tooth Fairy.” The fact is, her team doesn’t agree 100% of the time, but they just don’t trust one another enough to stick their neck out and offer another perspective. This is a very risky place to be. Bad things happen – accidents, injuries, and gigantic mistakes – when team members won’t engage in productive conflict.

Do we regularly take time out to work ON the business? Teams (individuals, business owners, and yours truly) get caught up working IN the business – in the day-to-day activities/responsibilities/weeds – and neglect to periodically take a step back to see how they might be more efficient, effective, or productive. And trust me, having a once-a-year offsite meeting is not enough! Here in Louisiana, many organizations take a WEEK off during Mardi Gras to celebrate, reflect, and well, just take a break.  Remember, priorities will shift, markets will change, and customer demands will require you to alter your direction from time to time.

Scheduling outlets for the team to get above the fray and, as Stephen Covey says, “sharpen the saw,” will allow you to move forward more efficiently. It’s also important to make sure that everyone is clear about the goals and is rowing in the same direction.

Do we have a culture of accountability? Are you having those “spicy conversations” with an under-performing team member? Let me tell you a true tale. Names have been changed to protect, well, the guilty. “Mark” is not pulling his weight or honoring his commitments. Other team members become pretty frustrated with him. Then the frustration is transferred to “Mary”, the team leader, because she’s not holding Mark accountable for his lackluster performance. Before long, the team culture, (and thus, that of the organization because it spreads like a bad flu bug), is one of complaining, resentment, and distrust. If allowed to continue, Mary will be left with Mark – alone – after all of the top performing team members have moved on to other opportunities. End of story. I can’t overemphasize the importance of creating a culture of accountability.

Maybe you answered “No” to some of these questions, take heart! All is not lost. You just have some work to do to create a true team so that you can go forward and effectively execute your best laid plans. Creating a cohesive, collaborative team won’t happen overnight, but it is totally doable. If you’d like some help with doing just that, ring me up. There’s no time like the present to get started! Just DON’T get started on your strategic planning until you have your people problems covered.

YOUR TURN:

  • How do you make sure all of your team members are rowing in the same direction?
  • What challenges are you having with your leadership team?

I’d love to hear about your experiences. Leave a comment on our blog and share your insights with our community.

Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development

DON’T Bother with Strategic Planning

For just a moment, forget goal-setting. Forget the New Years resolutions you jotted down last month. Forget the binder-long strategic plan that sits under a stack of papers.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I totally believe in the power of setting goals, identifying ways to improve, and in creating a plan to get you there. But as an executive leader working with a team, I urge you not to get the cart before the horse.

Many of the problems experienced by organizations and businesses today are not due to lack of strategy, or the wrong annual goals, and they’re not even necessarily due to poor execution. Most of the problems experienced in organizations today are due to “people problems.” Yup, you heard me right.

DO NOT even bother with strategic planning until you’ve first asked yourself these questions regarding your leadership and your team:

Do we truly function as a team? Leadership teams are often not really teams, but a group of individuals – and a dysfunctional group at best! All the plans, goals, and strategies in the world won’t get your organization to the next level unless you first fix your team.

Malfunctioning teams are usually a group of individuals whose motto is “May the best man – or woman – win.” This is because most leadership team members see each other as rivals. They’re all competing for resources, dollars, and favor for their functional teams and departments. How could a group of individuals with that mindset ever join together to set goals and make strategic plans for the organization as a whole, when all they’re worried about is their own departments?

Am I a strong leader? Strategic planning with a weak manager at the helm is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. It is futile and I have graciously declined to work with more than one leadership team because I knew that the leader was the root of the team’s problems. So, put your big girl/boy britches on and get some feedback. Ask team members questions like “Is there anything that I’m doing that is getting in the way of you doing your job?” Or ask, “How might I better lead and support you?” If you’re not lovin’ the responses you get, run –  don’t walk – to get yourself some leadership coaching.

Are team members willing to disagree and debate issues? When a CEO tells me that there is no conflict among team members, I’m tempted to respond with something like, “Oh yeah, well I’m the Tooth Fairy.” The fact is, her team doesn’t agree 100% of the time, but they just don’t trust one another enough to stick their neck out and offer another perspective. This is a very risky place to be. Bad things happen – accidents, injuries, and gigantic mistakes – when team members won’t engage in productive conflict.

Do we regularly take time out to work ON the business? Teams (individuals, business owners, and yours truly) get caught up working IN the business – in the day-to-day activities/responsibilities/weeds – and neglect to periodically take a step back to see how they might be more efficient, effective, or productive. And trust me, having a once-a-year offsite meeting is not enough! Here in Louisiana, many organizations take a WEEK off during Mardi Gras to celebrate, reflect, and well, just take a break.  Remember, priorities will shift, markets will change, and customer demands will require you to alter your direction from time to time.

Scheduling outlets for the team to get above the fray and, as Stephen Covey says, “sharpen the saw,” will allow you to move forward more efficiently. It’s also important to make sure that everyone is clear about the goals and is rowing in the same direction.

Do we have a culture of accountability? Are you having those “spicy conversations” with an under-performing team member? Let me tell you a true tale. Names have been changed to protect, well, the guilty. “Mark” is not pulling his weight or honoring his commitments. Other team members become pretty frustrated with him. Then the frustration is transferred to “Mary”, the team leader, because she’s not holding Mark accountable for his lackluster performance. Before long, the team culture, (and thus, that of the organization because it spreads like a bad flu bug), is one of complaining, resentment, and distrust. If allowed to continue, Mary will be left with Mark – alone – after all of the top performing team members have moved on to other opportunities. End of story. I can’t overemphasize the importance of creating a culture of accountability.

Maybe you answered “No” to some of these questions, take heart! All is not lost. You just have some work to do to create a true team so that you can go forward and effectively execute your best laid plans. Creating a cohesive, collaborative team won’t happen overnight, but it is totally doable. If you’d like some help with doing just that, ring me up. There’s no time like the present to get started! Just DON’T get started on your strategic planning until you have your people problems covered.

YOUR TURN:

  • How do you make sure all of your team members are rowing in the same direction?
  • What challenges are you having with your leadership team?

I’d love to hear about your experiences. Leave a comment on our blog and share your insights with our community.

Categories
Best Practices Human Resources Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

There’s No Crying in Baseball – Or Business

“Are you crying?… There’s no crying in baseball!” That line was immortalized forever by Tom Hanks as baseball coach Jimmy Dugan in the 1992 hit movie A League Of Their Own about the women in professional baseball during World War II. The sentiment was echoed by a panel of executive women last night at an event I attended. When the moderator asked, “Is it ever okay to cry at work?” all four women gave an instant and simultaneous thumbs-down. This started me thinking about other emotional behaviors that are not acceptable for women or men, and how to express them more appropriately in the workplace.

Beyond tears, I think the most challenging one is anger. Anger is an emotion that we all feel at times, but how can it be expressed appropriately? We’ve all probably had the misfortune of witnessing a boss berating an employee, often in sight or earshot of others. While the employee is momentarily humiliated, the person who loses more respect is the boss who lost control and felt compelled to tear someone down in public. Regardless of the error made or how justifiably furious you are, there are right ways and wrong ways to express it.

First, you need to ensure that the language stays professional, not personal. Asking (even if not calmly) “How could this have happened?!” is very different from yelling “How could you be so stupid?!” Even if you’ve had multiple conversations with the person about costly, sloppy work in the past, it’s important to keep the discussion focused on the behaviors: “This is the second time you have missed critical details that have cost us time and a significant amount of money. You got an oral warning the first time, so this time I need to make a formal note in your records. If it happens again, I’ll be required to escalate it with HR.” If you want to curse and scream and call him every name in the book, fine – but do it in your car on the drive home when nobody can hear you, or take out your frustrations on the heavy bag at the gym. When you return to the office the next day, keep discourse civil and focus on finding solutions.

Anger is also toxic because it tends to lead to other destructive communication behavior, particularly scapegoating. Maybe nobody on your team made an egregious error, but perhaps a client backed out of a deal you were desperately counting on. Or a blizzard in the Midwest wreaked havoc on your delivery schedule across the region. While these kinds of situations are understandably stressful, it’s important to manage that stress and be careful not to take out your frustrations on others, whether your peers, employees, vendors, other clients, or family.

If you know that you get short-tempered and tend to snap at people when you’re in a bad mood, proactively communicate this to those around you: “I know we’re all working as hard as we can to solve this problem, and none of us caused it. For the next day or so, if I seem particularly short with you, let me apologize in advance; please know that it is not about you so do not take it personally. Thanks for your diligent efforts and patience at this difficult time.” Then, of course, make sure that you don’t make the language personal, and if you do speak harshly to someone who didn’t deserve it, be sure to apologize to them personally afterwards.

Of course, as with all communication, context is key. Someone else on yesterday’s panel made reference to a double standard in which it was okay for Joe Biden to cry in public, but it would not have been okay for Hillary Clinton to do so. I think that was an overstatement, given that Joe Biden wasn’t crying time and again out of frustration because the Republicans were pushing back on the Affordable Care Act. He only cried once in public, and it was while talking about the tragic loss of his son. It was a moment of palpable grief, and the country mourned with him. In a similar situation, if – heaven forbid – something equally awful had happened to Chelsea, and Hillary had wept as Joe did in the moment as a parent overcome with grief, I think it actually would have helped her. Ironically, it would have made her appear more human and relatable, which were two deficits that plagued her campaign. There is a time and a place for everything.

In the end, there are certain emotional behaviors that have no place in business. Recognizing what they are is crucial, but so is having coping mechanisms in place to deal with those triggering emotions when they arise. Not only does incorporating these mechanisms help you do your job more effectively, but doing so transparently and explicitly so others understand your intention is a great opportunity to mentor and teach leadership by example.

************

Do you or does someone you know struggle with managing how they express their emotions in the workplace? Or do you have other questions or feedback about this issue? If so, contact me at laura@vocalimpactproductions.com or click here to schedule a 20-minute focus call to discuss it with me personally!

Categories
Best Practices Growth Health and Wellness Human Resources Management Technology Women In Business

Use Technology to Unplug from Technology

Distractions are everywhere. For a lot of employers – they are killing productivity. A recent study by CareerBuilder offers the top productivity roadblocks in the workplace.

  • Cell Phones/texting
  • The Internet
  • Gossip
  • Social media
  • Email
  • Interruptions from coworkers
  • Meetings
  • Smoke breaks/snack breaks
  • Noisy coworkers
  • Sitting in a cubicle

If you’re ready to increase your daily value and the contributions you bring to the workplace, reduce your stress and contribute to boosting profits? Pay attention to these seven strategies productivity strategies and stop killing time:

Extinguish Email. Too many of us are guilty of allowing email to dictate our daily tasks and priorities. It winds up stealing focus and tempts us to venture down paths that aren’t aligned with the priorities we’ve established necessary for the day. Utilize tools, such as Glip, to minimize the back and forth unnecessary chatter email creates. It cuts down on keystrokes required to draft and send messages, the clutter endless back-and-forth emails generates and helps teams get organized in their communication strategies.

Own it. Be honest with yourself. Consider what you’re allowing to become a distraction, keeping you from remaining focused. Is your phone, with their never-ending barrage of text messages, personal phone calls and messages distracting you? Consider implementing the the Moment app. It tracks just how much you’re on your device and allows you to set time limits so you start to step away from the 24/7 phone attachment and step into the present, productive moment.

Be hyper-conscious to what is on your task list this week and prioritize, prioritize, prioritize. What five things are non-negotiables and absolutely have to be accomplished first? What can you delegate? What is just a time-waster and not vital to your vision? Knock those projects out first. The accomplishment will reduce your stress, give you a sense of completion and allow you to move on to other tasks requiring more time and creativity.

Nix the Internet. If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to put off what needs to be done in exchange for a few moments surfing Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube or checking personal emails. Before you know it, you’ve been sucked into a time warp, sacrificing productivity and valuable time. Take a look at the Freedom app to block certain personal websites (including time-draining social media) and allows you to set controls so you can stay on task.

Time-Block. Use your schedule to work with you. Carve out times for periodic breaks where you can check personal messages, social media, get a stretch or go for a walk. Taking mindful breaks will allow you to maximize your focus when it is time to work.

Be clear. In some of the most productive workspaces I know of, team members get creative about sharing when they are in focus mode. Clearly communicating when you are in “do not disturb” mode is vital. Some have signs up when they are on prospecting calls for example. Others use headsets to buffer the noise around them and signal they are “in the zone”. My organization uses Glip’s feature of indicate when we are not to be disturbed, away or available. Using the tools feature helps share with coworkers when you are ready to chat or when you’re in focus mode.

Be mindful. Getting caught in a trap of office politics, gossip or personal chatter can not only be unproductive to your reputation, it can be a real time suck. Utilize days of the week or hours within the day to work remotely when possible. Capitalize on tools like Glip to stay connected without being physically interrupted and side tracked in your day.

Pay attention to what’s pulling at you. What’s taking you away from bringing your best and brightest self to the workplace. Don’t let daily time killers get the best of you and your ability to accomplish what is necessary for success. Which of these strategies can you put in place today to change how you deal with distractions?

 

Categories
Best Practices Management Marketing Personal Development

Why Discovering Value is THE Foundational Skill for Customer Focus

Since customer focus is really value focus, selling processes and methodologies must make your anyone in a customer-facing role better at discovering value gaps. The reason: customer perceived value is the life-force driving all commerce. It’s the “invisible power” inside of Adam Smith’s unseen hand. A sale only occurs when a customer perceives value in excess of price. Prospects only agree to take meetings that are worth the time. Click-throughs are positive responses to a value proposition. When a leader wants their company to be customer-centric, the kernel inside that drive is to be focused on customer value.

Sales is a process of discovering and leveraging value to influence a decision. Dissatisfaction with status quo, aspirations for a better future state, then connecting value to a proposed change.

First layer: Value Discovery

The foundation of customer value focus is conversation skills among any person touching a customer throughout the arc of the customer journey. The ability to uncover value should be a responsibility at every customer touch-point. This doesn’t have to mean sales training for the people in accounts receivable, but it does mean a purposeful development of certain abilities. For groups who interact regularly and deeply with customers, there are several sales methodologies for helping sellers facilitate needs –satisfaction discussions. I happen to love those of the Miller Heiman Group.

Surprisingly, few methodologies guide customer conversations to the critical point where a customer internalizes and measures value. Establishing a value-discovery methodology to all customer-facing roles is a huge competitive advantage for any company pursuing a customer intimacy value discipline……. A fundamental sales skill is helping a customer build a mental value picture.

Second level: Business Acumen

Understanding the customer’s world empowers us to sell conventional value propositions. Understanding their world exceptionally well allows us to connect our solution into a more detailed, more compelling value picture. For this reason, many sales leaders have realized that building business acumen for sellers and customer –facing roles is a big performance booster. Being a trusted advisor requires that a seller knows their customer’s business well enough to give valued insights…and you can’t know your customer’s business unless you know business.

Business acumen gives us the ability to look at a prospective customer’s business insightfully. Demonstrating a deep understanding of the prospective prospect’s business builds the credibility foundation needed to trust a seller’s perspective. Without that credibility, you risk being just another annoying know-it-all spewing a misdirected “credibility deck” in a prospect’s direction. Value messaging turns into old-fashioned “telling” if the perspective is not anchored in customer insight.

Business acumen is needed to discover value that is hidden to average sellers.  It supports a more detailed “map” of value landing points: personas and roles within the target company where the seller’s differentiation generates value. A tool called “value networks” builds this high-level selling practice into a repeatable system for entire sales teams.

Elite level: Achieving higher Win-Win Prices.

Gaining customer insight allows us to not only build a deeply engaging case for change., but to have the customer engage that perception of value in relation to price.

Using great customer conversation skills and methodologies with customers to define and monetize the value they perceive accomplishes two things:

  1. It solidifies a higher win-win price (either minimized discounting on standard products/services or more productive price-setting on custom ones)
  2. Reinforced perception of value, stronger preference. Customers pay higher prices for value received, but only pay higher prices they can’t justify in the short term. Raising prices isn’t the trick; getting them to internalize the price justification is. Once a customer has built their own value case for your pricing, that case tends to stick. When you do it right, customers build a preference for your product/service into their justification for your price

Putting it together

Building teams of elite sellers is a passion. Building businesses driven by discovering and delivering superior customer value is an even bigger calling. And it all starts with a great conversation; the ability to uncover and build value (because the only kind of value in the world is customer-perceived).

My upcoming book will expand on these subjects. If you don’t want to wait for publication date, feel free to contact me; I’d love to learn how I can provide some value and perspective.

To Your Success!

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