by Admin | Dec 14, 2014 | Business Relationships, Goal Setting and Achievement, Networking
What an amazing year! And like the one before, it seems to get faster and faster as we get older. One of the greatest benefits of aging is gaining wisdom through life experiences – both your own and others. As we reflect on 2014 and look through our experiences, I encourage you to think of who enriched your life this year. If your schedule is like mine, holiday parties, family activities, gift buying, wrapping up year end, etc all seem to take every spare moment until there is not a single moment to just be. I encourage you to really take a few moments, carve them out, and look back on who really added to 2014. I was reading a great article this weekend in the Huffington Post that talked about the 5 lists to make in reviewing your year. After reviewing their list (and enjoying the post tremendously) I thought I would share with you my own top 5 lists to make. And in the spirit of our tagline – SalezWORKS where relationships meet opportunity, I will talk with you about the top 5 lists of relationships to develop, nurture and grow in 2015. 1. Let’s start with your top new relationships in 2014 – this one is a pretty obvious place to begin. Take a look back at the people who have led you to great new clients, introduced you to new productive referral partnerships, enriched your knowledge base or has just proven to be a fabulous person to know. All of these are critical components belong in your center of influence. If you wish...
by Admin | Oct 20, 2014 | Networking, Referrals
With referral partners? Made you look, didn’t I? This topic of conversation has arisen this week even more than it usually does, which inspired me to write this post. We cultivate relationships with referral partners hoping to gain those quality introductions, not be one of 3 on a list that is emailed over with no added insight from referrer. Introductions are something many struggle with to obtain from referral partners. It makes the difference between a 10% chance of getting the deal to a nearly 90% with a highly influential referrer. We often run with ‘you can use my name when you call’ permission from the referrer just because we don’t want to push our luck. What does this have to do with monogamy? The question is, should you only have one referral partner in a given profession? Is it cheating to have more than one? Let’s consider a few factors…. When an introduction is made, risk is taken by the referrer opening a door to a valuable relationship that could be lost if you screw up. I think just about anyone who has been in business for a significant time has been present and accounted for at a train wreck and I know of a few that have even caused the death of a few companies. Much is at stake. Trust is key. Which necessitates open doors of communication with referral partners about exactly who is, and who is not, a great referral. When I ask ‘who is a great client for you?’ and the response is ‘anyone who has a business, job, pulse, etc’ I am immediately...
by Admin | Sep 29, 2014 | Goal Setting and Achievement, Prospecting, Sales
Eeek! I’ve got all these things I have to get done this week and I just don’t know where to start to make a dent! I am behind on my quota and not quite sure where to go or what to do to hit my numbers for the year/month/week. Sound familiar? Let’s talk prioritization… This is actually an area I find the most challenging. Typically we gravitate towards those activities we are the most comfortable doing and procrastinate on those we are less comfortable with. Most sales professionals have their favorite activities and these are those that get done consistently, I like many sales people, hate reports. I will procrastinate with the best of them to avoid filing out my own sales projections, invoice requests or following up with that billing issue. “The new phone book has arrived, I bet there are businesses I haven’t contacted yet, I have to get my prospecting calls in” is my mantra when it is time for bi-monthly billing. And then I have that Midwestern work ethic fulfillment from prospecting (my favorite activity). We all deal with this issue, just in different areas and some better than others. Let’s talk through developing your priorities for sales. Who has already engaged you? What have you sold that you are responsible for delivering on those commitments. Take care of those who are committed to you because of you. Remember your prospects bought because of your ability to prove to them you were the solution to their issues. Deliver. What have you committed to? Many sales people fail to follow through on their commitments. This is...
by Admin | Aug 5, 2014 | Business Relationships
I remember my dad’s advice at a young age – the best way to ensure mediocrity is to attempt to make everyone happy. It reminds me of a quote from Aristotle, “There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.” It seems as if you are taught early in your career, the customer is always right is rule #1. And rule # 2 is when the customer is wrong, read rule #1. That is instilled into us early and often in our career and in my humble opinion – it sets us up to be doormats. Miller Heiman talks about how our relationships with clients fit into one of 4 quadrants – win/win, win/lose, lose/win and lose/lose. We know we want to live in the first quadrant, but yet often set ourselves up for one of the others through expectations that are established. We then second guess or undermine our own position, try to anticipate what the other person wants and in general make life much harder than it has to be. Here are a few ideas I myself continue to work towards in win/win relationships. Know when I win. Whenever I am looking at an opportunity, I am thinking about what does a great outcome look like for me. This seems simple but often times we think of a superficial outcome without really looking deeper into the implications. Think of the really really big client that could represent a lot of revenue or income to you personally, but limits your ability to find any other accounts. You may end up losing in the...
by Admin | Jul 7, 2014 | Business Relationships, Networking, Social Media
It all started with the Super Bowl. In our household (males are well represented) the Super Bowl is the evening program that is not to be missed. This year, like many other folks, I found my entertainment in the commercials and conversations on Twitter. I have found Twitter to be a delightful way to keep up with content delivered by thought leaders across many industries and listen in on great conversations. One of the conversations I was enjoying regarding commercials was led by my Linked In hero – JD Gershbein. This blog post features how social media created one of the most exciting events I have been privileged to participate in and has opened the door to a fabulous relationship. There’s a lot to this experience and we will be sharing in several posts over the next few weeks along with lessons we learned along the way. My mentor on social media is my business partner, Joyce Layman. I have listened to many ideas she shares on making the most of Twitter. One of the basic tasks on Twitter that often gets missed is acknowledgement of mentions. It is one of the few platforms that you can stand out amongst a lot of noise and engage directly with some pretty cool people. During the Super Bowl JD shared a great article that I enjoyed enough to retweet to my followers (all 186 of them want to be my friend on Twitter? I need more friends). Of course JD immediately acknowledged my retweet (He is the most gracious gentleman you will ever meet) and I responded with a reply to...
by Admin | Jun 17, 2014 | Business Relationships, Networking, Uncategorized
The roads and sidewalks are full of runners and many of my friends on Facebook are posting pics of their 5K, 10K, Half – Marathons and my die hard Marathoner friends. Summer time is here (the pool is open right?), and I am reminded of the draw of the outdoor sports to many of us. All of this training is leading up to an event or competition where the goal is to finish, improve your personal results over last trip, or win. Social media allows us to follow our friends along on a journey and I am constantly reminded of the amount of effort put into preparing for these events. A lot like setting your goals for sales results this year and then committing to the action plan to attain. Today’s post is about maintaining your pace even when you get tired or distracted by mid-year stuff. Halfway through the race, you typically can’t see the finish line, you know you are halfway there, but it’s not real what that actually represents. I know many folks give up at the mid year point, we can see the activity remains consistent until the kids get out of school, vacations hit, prospects go out of town or they get wrapped up in their own activities. I am not picking on those who have other pursuits beyond their sales careers. With 4 kids, 2 businesses and the host of challenges experienced by the sandwich generation, I’m right there with you which is why I’m sharing 5 tips to keep the activity consistent and not lose ground at the mid year mark. 1....
by Admin | Mar 8, 2014 | Employee Engagement
More than 85% of people currently employed are looking for other opportunities. Did you get that percentage? It wasn’t a typo. Here’s the study from Gallup that proves just how disengaged employees are: Study. It was formulated from data in 2010-2012 and is one of the more complete explanations for how and why employees are tuning out. Do you think it’s gotten any better? It hasn’t. The scary part for employers is the economy has improved enough that your team is jumping ship for what they perceive are better opportunities. Which do you think are most at risk? Your bottom performers? Middle? Or the most productive of your team? So what do you do about it? Just how in touch are you with your employees personal goals as well as their professional? Are you aware of their career plan? In tune to what they aspire to for growth? Do you recognize that generationally you are probably speaking different languages? These are all things to consider with your team. Many companies are doing business as usual circa 2009 when people were scared to move or do anything. Times have changed. To change with them, you need to recognize accomplishments of your team, let them know you appreciate them. Because people don’t leave jobs. They leave leaders. So go take you’re A+ team members to lunch, talk to them about what they want this year to look like in their career. How about next? Where do they see themselves? And how can you help them get there…. Remember to get what you want, help others get what they want is Emerson’s Law of...
by Admin | Feb 16, 2014 | Business Relationships
This month our theme is all about 30 second commercials and your messaging. This is an area I see screwed up on an hourly basis at networking events. It seems as if we are a bunch of kindergartners who are conditioned to spew as much of our credentials, experience and certifications as possible in the 30 seconds we are granted which turns into a minute and your audience’s eyes are glazing over. Enough! You are disengaging people who would be good prospects with your self-absorption. I know you’re nice and don’t mean to be arrogant. Just stop. It’s not helping you. It’s hurting you. It’s hurting the people who are leading the group thinking graciously about how to cut you off, when they should be thinking about who they can introduce you to. So here’s a personal challenge – see how long you can have a conversation without referencing yourself once. Just focus on someone else. What they do, what challenges they have. Describe yourself from the perspective of what problems you solve. The client perspective is all that matters. It’s not about you, really. It’s about them. If you are struggling – download our free whitepaper. Please. It’s our public service to fix the world of networking – 1 30 second commercial at a time. When you do a better job, it makes a better event for everyone. It’s about connecting. And relationships. And yes it’s Valentine’s Day, the day for love. So love the people you network with and give them a reason to love you. And we know it’s not about us, so if you are...
by Admin | Feb 10, 2014 | Mindset, Networking, Referrals
Someone asked my husband once what I did for a living and he responded with – she drinks a lot of iced tea and hangs out in coffee shops meeting people. Doesn’t that sound like my job isn’t work? I am one of those coaches who believe you must practice what you teach to have credibility with your audience. And also, this stuff really works. This blog is a little about the day in the life of a SalezWORKS coach. We work with a large segment of clients in the financial services arena. One of the foundations of our process is to be able to offer a comprehensive solution to our clients for their growth challenges, which means we spend our time looking for coaches and resources our clients might be in need of on their path to success. We have a financial service advisor we are partnering with who referred us to 2 resources he has worked with successfully. Our blog is the result of those 2 meetings and to share with you characteristics we have found are present in great partners for us. And probably they’ll be present in your great partners. And even more importantly – how do you recognize a partnership that will be a one way street not heading your way… Meeting #1 – Highly successful career exec who has been in a leadership role in a fast growing company about a year. He’s known as a problem solver, innovative thinker and all around good guy. Scene – Coffee shop in the a.m., he arrived 15 minutes early, Joyce and I were right on...
by Admin | Feb 3, 2014 | Influence, Prospecting
One of my favorite Sunday School stories was of the poor woman who only had enough oil in her bottle to prepare one last meal for her and her son. As the story goes she was gathering wood for a fire to make their last meal and were visited by the prophet Elisha who requested she prepare a meal for him. She explained her circumstances and he commanded her to prepare the meal and also told her that her bottle of oil would not run dry until the famine was eased in the land. This story reminds me a lot of how influence works. Times have been pretty tough the past few years in a lot of industries. We have become a part of the statistics in our household with the closing of plants, losing jobs and contracts evaporating. But much like the widow woman we have something left – and that something is influence. Influence is one of those tricky words in the English language that pulls an extra heavy load, it is a noun and a verb. Meaning it is and it does. And the interesting thing about it is that the more it’s exercised, the greater it gets. And the less it’s used, the more it diminishes. You can ‘Be all you can be’ but if you don’t ‘Do what you can do’ it’s pointless. So how is influence used? It’s pretty simple. You help people. By demonstrating genuine interest and caring about other people, you find opportunities. I teach people how to prospect. One of their first assignments is to go meet with someone that they hold...
