The ‘Co’ Factor
Posted on September 17, 2008
Filed Under Coaching, Digital Age, Reflections | Leave a Comment
I was coaching a client on the values and benefits of ’soft power’ as opposed to his more traditional ‘hard power’ directive approach. The client has made huge (and measured) changes in his leadership style - so much so that he is getting positive recognition and re-inforcement of his change from his own immediate boss and is able to influence and persuade his team to move to even higher levels of performance.
However in explaining what ’soft power’ means, I was struck by the number of ‘co’s’ that appear in its values. Co-Leadership, Co-Operation, Co-mmuncations, Co-Creation and so forth. It seems that ’synergistic leadership’ is a factor of ‘Co’.
What is meant by ‘Co’ - simple - parity of esteem - shared understanding, ownership and commitment (another ‘co’!).
Objections Are Better Than Indifference
Posted on September 12, 2008
Filed Under Sales, Selling | Leave a Comment
I am constantly amazed at how fearfully many sales professionals face objections to their propositions.
Wouldn’t the world be a wonderful place if everyone immediately understood the huge value that we bring to them and opened their cheque books and wallets to us without question? But seeing as they don’t - we need to consider sales objections in a different light - as something positive rather than negative.
Look, I can work with an objection - I can probe it further, I can change the way I’m communicating. If they’re objecting to what I’m presenting at least they are engaged in the sales process and trying to understand what it is we are presenting. They are looking for more information, or clarity or a reason to buy.
What I can’t sell to is indifference, where someone has zero interest in what I’m selling. This can only occur where we got our prospecting criteria wrong in the first place and we are talking to the wrong person. Alternatively it may be happening because I have committed some major ‘faux pas’ that I’m not aware of, that has caused them some degree of annoyance and hence passive resistance to me or the proposal.
Either way, it’s time to move on - selling is about service, not about trying to ram what we have to offer down their throats - that was the old days. The age of ‘hard power’ selling and not the modern market place where ’soft power’ selling is required. The world is an abundant place and it is so much easier to sell to those who have a need and desire for our services and products.
Where objections can never be met by probing, engagement and uncovering the real need behind the objection - retreat, re-group and move on.
Feng Shui Your Client List
Posted on September 4, 2008
Filed Under Business, Customers, Sales, Selling, relationships | 1 Comment
I’m working on a new article and CD/workbook programme called Rebel Secrets of Beating the Recession and thought I’d throw a few of the ideas out here in the blog.
The first one is:
Feng Shui your client list. Feng Shui is the Chinese art of moving and placing objects within a room or space, so that positive energies can flow and benefit the inhabitant of that space. It can be used to create a highly relaxing environment or to attract health or even good luck to a room or building.
To me, while I am sure that there are powerful and ancient principles at play, it often seems like it’s an exercise in de-cluttering and minimising.
De-cluttering is a good thing to do. It frees up space (either physically or mentally) and allows the opportunity for new things to come and occupy that space. Therefore we should consider de-cluttering our client databases.
Over the years we have collected clients that are neither productive nor profitable. These clients act as a drain on our time and resources. The demand, they complain and they want everything for nothing. Instead of holding onto these clients we should actively remove them from our databases or de-prioritise the communication or the degree of sales contact that we give them.
Such negative clients also create opportunities for sales executives to ‘hide behind’ and justify their poor performance. They serve as ‘black holes’ for productivity and profit.
Get rid of them – aggressively. Give them a business opportunity elsewhere. You want them out so that good clients can inhabit the space and benefit from the resources they are currently draining.
Stop Imagining!
Posted on August 31, 2008
Filed Under Business, Coaching, Digital Age, Reflections | Leave a Comment
Most of my work as a coach involves helping clients change limiting perceptions and raise their expectations. It is true that expectations drive behaviour and then performance - I have seen it too many times over the last 11 years in this field not to believe it so. But what it is that drives our expectations?
My youngest son (he’s only 6..) told me a joke today. He said: ‘Imagine you were stuck in a box with chains on it and then they dumped the box in the water - how would you escape Dad’ When I scratched my head and told him I didn’t know he said: ‘STOP IMAGINING!!’ and fell over with laughter at how stupid a dad can be…
Stop Imagining….what are the problems we are creating for ourselves through overactive and undisciplined or externally manipulated imaginings. How long will the ‘tough times’ last in business or will wars continue or all the inadequacies of the world remain - as long as we imagine them or when we can start to imagine (and then act to create) a new and different future.
It was once said that ‘whatever the mind can imagine, mankind can create’. We have demonstrated this simple yet profound fact many times through history. Perhaps it’s time to start imagining and now creating a r’evolutionary personal, business and societal future.
