Perhaps one of the most important and often times forgotten skills is being aware of what is going on in the process during sales conversations. This is true in retail or business-to-business sales. Those who master the art of being aware of where the customer is and what they are looking for and how to match their needs to products or services will almost always become a top producer in sales.

Ask Great Questions

Asking great questions is the first key in becoming aware of what is going on in the prospect’s mind.  Of courseif you don’t have favorable attention or credibility through your questioning, then asking about wants and needs will fall flat. So make sure to establish rapport first. During the discovery of wants and needs the questions will be closely related to one another. After each question, pause to process the answer and then ask the next appropriate question. Each question should have a goal of identifying where the prospect is in the buying/selling process. Know what the prospect is thinking or you will find yourself in peril of losing the sale.

Listen and Shut Up

We have two ears and one mouth for a reason. We need to listen twice as much as we talk. Few people want to listen to a mouthy pushy salesperson. Remember, it is all about the customer, not you. Build your relationship by listening and helping each customer solve his or her problems.

Ask For The Sale

Finally, do not be afraid or hesitant to ask for the sale once you have uncovered and matched the needs of the customer with your solutions. This is how you assist the buyer in making the right decision to fulfill their needs and wants.  Closing with a question like. “How many of these would you like?” or, “Should we box these up for you?” or “ Shall we start the project next Tuesday?” should seem natural.

Ask If There Is Anything Else

And finally, ask if there is anything else that you can help them with? This is important because:

1. They may have forgotten something since you started the conversation
2. The new purchase may have uncovered the need for something else
3. Adding on to an existing sale is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to increase sales.

Be aware of how you’re holding conversations: asking questions, listening, asking for the sale and asking if there’s anything else. Watch your sales soar!

Please add to this conversation. What thoughts about your sales conversations would you like to share?

To borrow a phrase“it’s the little things in life that matter”.  This is so true when talking about improving our lives. How often is it that when we accomplish the little things in our lives they quickly add up to huge results? It’s true in life and business. Right? So if this is true, what can we do about getting those little things done so that we can have “big” lives? Let us look at a few things that might help.

Allow Enough Time

Often, we do not allow ourselves enough time to do the little things as we are marching through our tasks and responsibilities. This is because we are over committed to too many projects and have not allotted the proper amount of time to complete them well. Learn to say ‘no’ more often to free up time that can be used for the little things. Build cushions of time to allow for the unexpected. How many times have you been rushed to get something done due to time constraints only to make one small error that requires substantial re-work or starting all over?

Live In The Now

I run into people all the time who are talking about how it will be next year or how it was in years past. Although, occasionally we need to look at those things forwards and backwards, the majority of our focus needs to be on what we are doing today and right now at this moment. That single-minded focus can create masterful work with details delivered that add up to a super product. So, check yourself daily to see that you are in fact “living in the now”.

Look Out For Others

Always seeking out what others need and want in their lives will drive us to do the little things for others that build lifetime relationships. The old adage “talk is cheap but action speaks” really is true. People will remember what we did for them and the thoughtful words of encouragement at the right time backed up by our own actions.  We were all put here on the earth to serve others. That is the reason any business exists. Therefore, we must be focused on others in order to do the little things that matter to them.

If you manage your time, live in the present and look out for others you will naturally accomplish the little things in life that will result in a great life for you and others. So go ahead, find something “little” to do.

Please share some ways that the ‘little things’ have come up for you. Or some habits you’re developed to get the ‘little things’ done. Thanks

Let’s use an Olympic athlete as an example. She probably was introduced to the sport like downhill skiing at age 5took lessons, practiced, started to shine by age 9, took advanced lessons, attended special camps, traveled to where the best teachers were for private instruction during her teenage years, spent hours every day at the gym honing and strengthening her body, spent countless hours prepping her mind for success, participated in competitions all over the world, read many books about successful people and the will to win. She went through trials just to make it to the Olympics.

Now it’s the official day and all her training and preparation have to come together for her seconds-long run down the mountain. Today is the Moment of Truth. It’s where the rubber meets the road. It’s when all the preparation, training, support from parents and friends, coaching from her coach, excitement, passion for the sport, equipment selection, and fierce will to win all descend into a couple of runs down the mountain that take only seconds. If she brings everything together well, her name will live on forever. If her moment of truth is lackluster, she’ll remember and so will those close to her, but no one else in the wider world. The moment of truth is the culminating moment.

In our businesses we intend to understand our target market and their needs, we prepare products or services, we train our people, we strategize with business plans and strategic partners, we strive to do things better by improving our internal systems. But our moment of truth is when the customer or client says, “I’ll buy,” or “I’ll buy again.” That moment is the culmination and validation that everything we prepared was valuable enough to someone else that our time was worth being put in this direction. The version of ‘truth’ is the customer’s because he is the one making the purchase.

So what if your product/service is not selling well? Is it just because the salesperson is weak? Perhaps it’s because the support systems, product/service design, emotional intelligence, brand positioning, attention to customer experience, leadership or a host of other factors are not coming together well enough to create a strong enough structure to support a successful ‘moment of truth.’  It is leadership’s role to see it and fix it.

Or perhaps many things have been put together well and the final person who handles the customer relationship and is expected to communicate this culmination of value, the frontline employee, is one of the least trained, least paid, and least valued persons in the business. Think of bank tellers, wait staff in restaurants, customer service reps, store clerks, telephone sales reps, receptionists, junior accounting staff, paralegals, etc. Sometimes the culmination of all the value of the firm is put into the hands of people who are considered the least important. Really they are the most important because they deal with the customer all the time delivering the value handling those moments of truth.

So many organizations consider their frontline employees as ‘churn and burn’ because they only stay a short time. Perhaps they need to re-evaluate the impact of the frontline employee, develop a different profile, hire differently, expect the person to stay a long time and invest in heavy duty training and compensation for this important person who delivers the organization’s moments of truth. The fate of the organization relies on it.

If you have some thoughts about how and by whom Moments of Truth are handled in your industry/organization, please share.

It seems you can’t go anywhere without someone asking you what your goals are! What’s up with that? You want to buy life insurance…what are your goals for the future? You want a financial plan… what are your goals? You say you want to sell your businesswhat are your goals and strategy for the future?  It’s gotten so bad that I turned on the TV, and on the way to another channel, I listened to a 350 lb. guy on a show called the “biggest losers” say his goal was to have a six pack.

I don’t know about you, but I think a big part of his plan ought to be staying away from those 6 packs! Whether we think he can do it or not, it should be obvious to most that by committing to a goal and by adopting a disciplined mindset, with the willingness to work hard… it is achievable. In that regard, he is exhibiting some of the same characteristics of a successful entrepreneur.

What do you think? In the book "The Entrepreneurial Mindset," authors Rita Gunther McGrath and Ian MacMillan offer characteristics that are associated with successful entrepreneur behavior. How many of these traits listed below do you possess?

• Successful entrepreneurs are action oriented and they also simplify.
• They possess superior conceptual abilities. This helps them identify relationships in complex situations and to quickly identify problems and solutions.
• Passionately seek new opportunities. Entrepreneurs are relentless in pursuing their goals and are supremely confident in their ability to achieve those goals.
• They pursue opportunities with enormous discipline. Successful entrepreneurs have tremendous discipline when it comes to evaluating opportunities and ideas. They have a comprehensive awareness of the overall situation and fully understand the ramifications involved in each decision they make.
• Pursue only the very best opportunities and avoid exhausting themselves and their organization by chasing after every option. By focusing on the vision and organizational goals, successful entrepreneurs limit their exploration of ideas to only those that are in concert with the company's mission.

Are you a goal setter? Without goals our work, passion and energy are more often like a flash of lightning – capable of making a short and fleeting impact. But by adopting the discipline of goal setting, we can reduce the amount of time and energy we squander on the way to achieving the outcomes that are most important to us. So, if you do get a chance to meet that 350 lb. entrepreneur with a goal, ask yourself who is better off….

We are Driving IR, a consulting and coaching company and we welcome your input and comments….

If change were an acronymwhat would it be?

C.H.A.N.G.E.:  Constant Havoc Amidst Needy Grumbling Employees or

C.H.A.N.G.E.:  Challenging, Hostile, and No-Good Edicts (from management) or

C.H.A.N.G.E.:  Corrosive Headaches Arriving and Not Going (away) Effectively

We laugh because it is funny, and we laugh because it is true.  Even organizations and employees who claim to thrive on change reach their limits, and as a rule, we all struggle with the pace of change.

Recently, an organization was faced with several changes happening simultaneously – a change in leadership, a change in policy and practice, and a change to the way peer teams worked together.  That change was causing internal conflicts, office behavior issues, and other related challenges.  The employees were struggling to be productive and stay focused.  Many organizations find that employees shift their focus to the change and the challenges that come with change, and then find it difficult to return to work as usual.

Can we all agree that organizational change happens, if not routinely, then certainly regularly?  If that is true, then how can you help your organizational teams – your colleagues – manage that change emotionally, and work through it in order to get back to productivity as soon as possible?

One strategy is to use a version of the Tuckman model to encourage your employees to work through their own challenges with whatever change is occurring.   Information on the Tuckman model is widely available should you want to know more, but in essence Tuckman outlined four critical stages – or phases – of change, as follows.

In the first stage of change, Forming, the team (and individuals) are forming.  They learn about the opportunity and challenges, they begin to tackle the change head-on. Team members tend to behave quite independently. They may be motivated and are usually on their best behavior but very focused on themselves. At this stage, you may begin to see how individual team members respond to change in general and to specific pressure points.

In the second stage, Storming, the group hits the proverbial “wall.”  The individuals react in various ways to the change, and emotions run high.  Different solutions compete for consideration.  The group may feel chaotic or dysfunctional in this phase.  In some cases storming can be resolved quickly. In others, the team members begin acting out or focusing on minutiae to evade real issues.  Here’s the secret, though.  The storming stage is critical to the growth of the team. It can be contentious, unpleasant and even painful to members of the team who are averse to conflict.   But every team – for every organizational change – will go through a storming phase before getting to the last two phases.

In the Norming phase, teams begin to work together naturally.  Productivity begins to increase; team members agree to rules, professional behaviors, and working tools.  Trust goes up and motivation increases.

After time, most teams will reach the Performing stage. These high-performing teams are able to function as a unit as they find ways to get the job done smoothly and effectively without inappropriate conflict or the need for external supervision. Team members have become interdependent.

If your organization is in the throes of change, consider this application of the Tuckman model to allow your team the space and the time to identify in which of the four phases they find themselves, and to define what the characteristics of each phase look like.  One organization recently brainstormed what the four phases looked like for their organization, and came up with this list:

This activity allowed the organization to openly discuss how each team member felt, and to process through the various stages and raise awareness.  Try this for your team!  And, let us know how it worked for you.

I’ve been studying company culture for awhile now. At its’ best it drives profitability. At it’s worst you’re replacing staff every time you turn around. Who is responsible for creating your company’s culture? If  you’re the business owneryou are!!! That means you can change it if you don’t like what you’ve got. You change it by changing how you lead.

What are the benefits of creating a great culture? Why should you care? I could name dozens of reasons, For today let’s just name 4 biggies.

• 32% more productivity
• 25-100% more profit
• Ability to take a vacation
• Growth of the asset value so the company sells more easily, for more money

Here are some things that great cultures develop:

1. Culture book – a small book that employees contribute their comments to, almost like hard copy blog. It can be used to build pride among employees. It also can be used as a recruiting device.
2. Five minute beginning-of-the-day meetings where people get on the same page, share what they are going to accomplish that day and ask for resources from others. This is a stand up meeting.
3. End-of-the-day huddles where staff share great moments from the day. An appreciative customer’s comments, something that went really right, thanks to each other for specific kindnesses or making the ‘transaction’ go so smoothly. These can be video or audio recorded and loaned to prospects and new staff to show them what it’s like to work there.
4. A clearly communicated vision for the company’s future that everyone understands and is motivated to contribute to.
5. Clearly communicated values that everyone lives, especially leaders who model value oriented behaviors for everyone else.
6. Very selective hiring practices that prioritize alignment of vision and values before task related skills.
7. At least 4 institutionalized programs that give appreciation, respect and encouragement (ARE) to employees.
8. Random acts of ARE that happen often and unexpectedly
9. Development of the character of employees in addition to the job related skill training. Development indicates that the company is interested in growing the individual as a leader, that you will be better at whatever you do if you know your personal vision and values so you can see whether or not they align with the company’s
10. Survey of the employees at least once a year
11. Managers who regularly ask their frontline staff, ‘How can I best support you?’
12. The philosophy that the frontline staff person who talks to the client everyday is the most important employee of the company.  He’s always touching the ‘boss’ that pays everybody’s salaries (the customer) he gets the best feedback (which contributes to innovation), he handles most of the customer complaints, he’s in the best position to ensure that the customer continues to spend their money with you.

Please add your thoughts and comments. I’d love to hear from you.