Attacking the Opportunity

In the business you are going to have to attack opportunity when it is available. In most cases people let opportunity slip away they not because they do not see it rather because they assume it will be there again. When teaching sales I have always stressed the importance of taking the customer out of the marketplace quickly. This is for the simple reason that regardless of the product you are selling someone will always promise to deliver it cheaper and with better service. Although this promise is often made the results are rarely honored. This ultimately causes the customer pain and remorse. Here are a couple of sales tips to remember when entering the market:

• Engage the customer into dialogue and build rapport, personal interaction will deliver higher results as the customer feels valued
• Move the sales transaction through the process swiftly, under promise and over deliver
• View each transaction as a relationship, set future expectations with the customer
• Follow up and be accountable to the clients needs
• Return your phone calls
• Give each client individual attention
• Work for referrals, "who else do you know that could use my services?"
• Never downgrade the competition explain what sets you apart
• Never sell based on price, sell based on benefits, (faster, accountable, service)
• Continually touch base with clients
• Ask for the business

Although there are many other areas that you can focus on; however, if you do each one of these effectively you will increase sales and production. Sales is not rocket science however most people make it more complicated than it is. The simple fact of the matter is you have to talk to more people each day who are interested in your products, build long term relationships, and ask for the business. Once you have established yourself in the market place it will be time to refine your sales process as times will change and new relationships will need to be built.

Leading

There are going to be times in which you have to lead and make tough decisions. In organizations I think it is important as a leader to think about the long term strategy rather than the short term gain. I have recently experienced a situation that will be very difficult to handle. I have decided that it is neither in my best interest professionally nor monetarily to address but as a leader I cannot turn a blind eye. I think this is one of the times that will define a person as a leader. As a leader people have to understand you are addressing issues, making changes, or sacrifices based off of their best interest not yours. Until this level of trust has been built it is very unlikely you will be viewed as a leader.

As I have mentioned in the past I think there are 2 characteristics that a person can be categorized into by answering 2 simple questions.

1. When you arrive at an office are people happy to see you, are they glad to spend time with you, and are they upset when you leave?
2. When you arrive at the office are people on eggshells, do they change their behaviors, is the tension in the office higher, are they relieved after you go?

Obviously we would all like to be #1. The challenge is making people feel comfortable giving you the feedback if you are a #2.

Remain Humble

Regardless of your overall success it is important to remain humble. Remaining humble enables you to build relationships that will drive more success. Everyone wants to be a winner but nobody wants to hear the winner tell others how good they are.

Surprise Feedback

Today I had a firm conversation with an employee about perception and leadership. It is amazing to see how people act when feedback is giving. Although she has been an outstanding producer I feel like she has been somewhat misguided when it comes to leadership development.

Unfortunately she is faced with some major obstacles that are in her way that she will have to remove. The obstacles are not going to be easy to change and she is going to have to want to change. As we began to talk she asked me how? How do I change? I said it is simple the 1st step is to identify areas that you might want to change. I once has a manger explain to me the importance of self awareness, although this might seem like a simple concept most people do not understand it. In this case she has been buying her staff gifts, food, etc but ultimately what they want is direction (guess what, that is free these days).

As a leader you have to understand who you are, what you can be, and how you are going to get there. This is not going to happen overnight and certainly will never come to a point when you can say I have mastered this skill. Leadership is ongoing it is not a kit that you can buy in the store. Leadership is individualized not only for you as a person but for the people you are surrounded by. If you are not willing to change and adapt than leadership is not for you.

Perception

How do others perceive you? This is a question that most people cannot answer intern could cause harm in their professional career. Most people have the feeling that everyone likes them and therefore are not constantly looking for feedback in order to change behaviors. I once worked with an employee who said "feedback is a gift." She could not have been more right, and being open for feedback is what will make the leader learn to change and grow.

Leadership is not defined by hitting huge monetary results leadership is defined by leading people to a common goal. I remember being told once you are not a leader until people choose to follow. This comment will make anyone think, what would happen if I left? Would people want to come with me? Could I call them if I needed a favor? Would they run through a wall for me? If the answer is yes than you are a leader! If you are not sure what the answer is it might be time to think about gathering feedback on what you can do to make yourself more productive.

Making people think

Yesterday I was speaking to a former employee who has recently taken over a new team. During our discussions we were talking about performance management and how to develop the metrics that he is going to use. Initially he was thinking about rolling out metrics to each person. As a new manager coming in I warned him that this approach needs to be sensitive as the people who really care about the business are going to take this personally.

Today he called me back and has made a decision to address each one individually. As you think about performance development and management this is the best approach to take. Unfortunately, Corporate America in most cases has to play the role of being fair and consistent to avoid litigation.

As a manager and a leader I would challenge each person to establish a system in which they are coaching their team to higher results. As the results increase begin to set stretch goals for each person individually. Since each person has different motivations you will find this process time consuming but ultimately more rewarding.

Team Meeting

Today we had a meeting with my peer group. The group has a very interesting dynamic and the leader of the group is trying to integrate the team. It is amazing to me to see how people react in group situations. Today we were able to brainstorm a few ideas that were going to take our business to the next level. Some people were very positive and open to ideas others seemed to shoot down everything.

A point that I brought up, that we will be integrating, is to create a mentor system amongst our peers. This is to build good team unity and relationships. The team lacks a sense of loyalty to each other and is working toward making this a focus in 2007. I am really looking forward to working with my peer, she is pregnant and she will be going through some challenges in the upcoming months. This is going to be an outstanding opportunity to build a relationship with someone who is going to be going through an emotional roller coaster.

I really hope to see the team work through this process as if done correctly it can build trust amongst each other. It will be the responsibility of a few of us to create the environment that is open to new ideas and are willing to make changes to adapt to the team. For those who are not willing to adapt and learn it will be their choice if they want to be part of the team in the future.