Leadership by Guss

Alpine Link Corporation

www.alpinelink.com

By Mike Hawkins

Dogs are great pets, but I’m giving our 3 year old mini-goldendoodle a promotion from great pet to great leader. While a friend of ours was snowshoeing with Elizabeth and me, we were talking and watching our dog Guss. It dawned on us how many great leadership qualities he exhibits. I’ll admit to being a bit biased toward my buddy Guss and a dog lover, but maybe you will agree.
 
Here are twelve important leadership characteristics we observed, one for each month of the new year, that we would all do well to imitate in 2012:
 
-Leads by example. While we were heading to our destination, our leader Guss was always in front. Not so far that we couldn’t see him, but just far enough ahead that we could observe him as he created the path and set the direction for us to follow.

-Serves. Our leader was constantly seeking to serve and please us. He proactively brought us valuable resources (bones, sticks, and balls) without having to ask for them. He put us first and himself second. While not counting on it, he knew we would return the favor.

-Exhibits temporal intelligence. Our leader had a good sense of timing. He knew when it was best to wait and when it was best to take action. When we weren’t quite ready, he sensed it and waited patiently. When we were ready, he sensed it and jumped into action.

-Displays emotional intelligence. Our leader was good at reading us and picking up on subtle cues. He noticed our body language and voice inflections. He could tell when we were upset or happy. He knew when to stay away and when to approach us.

-Works as a team player. Our leader had a genuine interest in being with us and part of our team. He stayed with us even when other distractions could have drawn him away. We knew we could count on him to protect us and watch out for our best interests.

-Garners trust. Our leader was honest, authentic, and competent. He never said or committed to something that he didn’t back up with action. He was never misleading. He always let us know what he was thinking (with his wagging tail).

-Displays courage. Our leader was courageous. He was goal oriented rather than risk averse. He didn’t let any fear or doubt hold him back. He didn’t make excuses or blame others. Even though our journey was not completely safe, or known, he fully engaged and finished it.

-Continuously learns. Our leader didn’t get stuck in the rut of complacency. He didn’t remain satisfied with what he knew or could do. He pursued higher levels of performance. He continuously learned (new tricks) as we progressed on our journey.

-Adapts and resolves problems. Our leader adapted to the environment we were in. He confronted and overcome every obstacle we encountered (fallen trees and snow drifts). He made adjustments when they were needed and never lost sight of our objective.

-Works intentionally and persists. Our leader didn’t give up when the going got tough. He stayed focused. He didn’t put off his responsibility until the next day or week. Neither did he consider his work complete until we had fully reached our objective. He worked tirelessly and intentionally.

-Makes decisions and takes action. When it was time to take action, our leader was ready. Without delay, he was the first to go. He asserted himself. He didn’t wait until everything was perfect or until our plan had been repeatedly reviewed until it was diluted down with everyone’s petty desires.

-Motivates and has fun. Our leader did his job, but didn’t take it too seriously. He was always in a good mood. He liked to work hard, but he liked to play too. He had fun and cheered the rest of us on. We couldn’t help but take on his enthusiastic spirit and can-do positive attitude.

 

 

Making Conflict an Asset Rather Than a Liability

Alpine Link Corporation

www.alpinelink.com

By Mike Hawkins

Is conflict good or bad? Do you look forward to a vigorous debate and exchange of opinions or do you avoid it like the plague? Many people avoid conflict, yet when it is engaged constructively it is beneficial. It is through healthy disagreement and debate that problems are solved. Healthy conflict enables people to build on each other's ideas. It challenges people to raise their performance. It helps people grow and develop. It helps people understand each other's personalities, motives, and needs. It enables better collaboration and synergy.

In contrast, conflict is unhealthy when disagreements turn into arguments. Conflict is unconstructive when the conversation turns from sharing perspectives to defending positions, proving each other wrong, attacking each other, or seeking revenge. Conflict that is unhealthy is costly. Improperly handled, conflict contributes to unnecessary work, low employee productivity, low morale, low engagement, and high turnover. It creates stress and illness. It tarnishes an organization's image. It exposes organizations to legal issues and the costs of litigation.
 
Working with people is not always peaceful. People have different values, perspectives, motives, and personalities which cause differences of opinion and disagreement. As in a marriage or best friendship, conflict at work is unavoidable. The issue then with conflict is not about avoiding it, but in properly handling it.

Marriages that last do so because the spouses know how to handle their disagreements. It is not because they don't disagree. All couples disagree. But marriages that last do so because the spouses, or at least one spouse, knows how to disagree constructively and manages their disagreements. Anyone
can handle agreements. It is how people handle disagreements that determine the quality and longevity of a relationship. It is how well people handle the unhappy moments rather than the happy ones that matters most.

Conflict can tear people and organizations apart, or it can enable top performance. It depends on how it is engaged. Follow these six principles that start with letters that spell out the acronym "LEADER" to make your disagreements constructive dialogs instead of unconstructive arguments:

Listen - Listen and understand each other's perspectives and
motives. Many arguments are the result of simple misunderstandings that could have been avoided had the people just taken time to listen to each other and understand why each person did what they did.
 
Empathize - Put yourself in the other person's position. Admit
that you might not feel, think, or behave any differently. Mention your own mistakes to show that you're not perfect either. Validate the other person's feelings and needs even if you disagree with their thinking.

Agree - Agree on common ground before focusing on differences.
Establish an equal level of appreciation for the benefits of maintaining a positive relationship. Build an equal motivation and commitment to resolve the issues. Establish a cooperative spirit on both sides.

Demonstrate respect - Give a complement or perform a gesture of kindness to show a willingness to be civil. Maintain self-control and professionalism. Be careful not to say or do something that trips the other person's defense trigger and draws their ire.

Explore - Explore new perspectives and solutions beyond what each person initially supplies. Identify different solutions that address both parties' concerns. Create blended solutions that incorporate both parties' ideas rather than just one party's. Agree on win-win solutions.

Review - Review and evaluate progress regularly. The resolution
to the dispute isn't complete until it has been fully implemented and any desired behavior changes have become a part of the normal routine. Gently and considerately hold each other accountable until it is no longer necessary.

Follow these principles and you'll enjoy the benefits of more harmony and less hostility.

 

 

8 Questions to Enable More Accomplishment and Less Churn

Alpine Link Corporation

www.alpinelink.com

By Mike Hawkins

Does it seem there is an ever increasing amount of time spent each day churning rather than accomplishing, or is it just me? I'm on my way to a doctor's appointment when I get stuck in not one, but two different traffic jams. I get to the doctor's office and forms that were just filled out last year have to be recompleted. I find out I need a minor "procedure" which can't be done today, so I have to schedule another appointment for next week. On my way back to my office, I stop in to get a haircut and find my
barber is out for the day, so I try another one down the street and she has four people already waiting. I run into the post office to discover my tax assessment is too high which I'll need to protest. I then get a call from my wife to pick up something from the grocery store because she is stuck on the phone debating our most recent cell phone bill with our phone service provider. I go to check out, but don't have my customer loyalty card. I get back to the office and my computer freezes up while I'm on a conference call as I review my notes for an upcoming meeting. Wow, is it already 5pm? Where did the day go? And oops, I still need to go to the bathroom, which I've needed to do for the last hour.
 
And then there is electronic communications. How many webinars, e-newsletters, YouTube videos, emails, voicemails, text messages, tweets, links, Facebook updates, and blogs is enough? At what point should we concern ourselves about moving from having knowledge and being informed to taking action? Is there a point at which we should be concerned that our "business" is perhaps more appropriately called our "busyness"?

I fully endorse effective communications, but I get about twenty webinar invitations a day, about a dozen online articles, another dozen e-zines, several on-line surveys, and hundreds of emails including far too many advertisements. I know people put a lot of thought into these events and messages, but I only have 24 hours in a day and I have other work to do.

I try to keep my daily-unplanned to-do list of activities to a one page list. But with all the extra electronic communication, equipment hassles, errands, traffic jams, maintenance activities, and life's general administration - I'm finding page two of my to-do list is getting more and more use.

So what is the answer? What might we do to make our world less complicated and keep our to-do list to a manageable level? How might we do more doing and less reacting, responding, redoing, restarting, resolving, and churning? I don't think we can count on advertisers, insurance company support representatives, doctor assistants, social media developers, or department of motor vehicle clerks to do it for us. The answer is we have to do it for
ourselves.
 
Next time you think about adding complexity and busyness to your already overcrowded schedule, ask yourself:

1. Does this need to be done? Is this important, or merely urgent and convenient? - Politely say no to requests that are not important to you and your stakeholders. Or put lower priority requests on your proverbial back burner for when you have more time.

2. If I do this, what am I not going to do that might be more important? - Consider what you are not going to do when you do something else. Something might be important, but is it as important as what you are going to have to defer?

3. Does this add sufficient value to justify the time and effort? - Think about what your time is worth. You might save money by doing something yourself, but what if the time it takes you costs you more than you save? What if maintaining your loyalty program membership, using reusable coffee cups, and searching for discounted offers costs more in time than it saves?

4. Could someone else do this better than or instead of me? - Consider who else might have more time or be better capable of doing what you are tempted to do yourself. Delegate tasks to others. Let go of your controlling nature. Empower others with authority. They will usually surprise if not delight you with their abilities.

5. Is there an effective way I could do this from my office or home without traveling? - Don't make two trips when you can make one. Consolidate your customer travel, errands, and meetings where possible. Take advantage of conference calls and web-based meetings when meeting face-to-face isn't absolutely necessary.

6. Is there an automated or more productive approach that I could use without sacrificing effectiveness? - Take advantage of productivity tools, systems, and repeatable processes. Build templates rather than recreate your letters, proposals, agendas, plans, and guidelines from the beginning.

7. How might I change this situation so that it takes up less time and heads in a more productive direction? - If a situation is clearly out of control, don't perpetuate the nonsense. Change the situation. Call attention to the activity that needs to stop. Reframe the decision that needs to be made. Solve problems at their root cause rather than applying temporary fixes to symptoms.

8. When making a purchase, ask, "Do I really need to buy this? What are the longer term implications of maintenance, repair, taxes, storage, and disposal?" - Everything you buy requires some degree of maintenance. A friend of mine and I once discovered that between us we had over fifty gasoline powered devices, which required storage, oil changes, repairs, and
maintenance. Consider renting, leasing, or borrowing instead of buying if you truly need something.

Much of our typical day is allocated to the essentials of life and work. For
the discretionary time left, be discerning about how you spend it.

 

 

Five Tips to Avoiding Burnout and Handling Stress

Alpine Link Corporation

www.alpinelink.com

By Mike Hawkins

Studies reveal that over 75 percent of adults are stressed out beyond healthy levels and on the verge of burn-out. They have high-blood pressure, a weakened immune system, or other stress related illnesses. Their leading cause of stress: excessive work.
 
People work so many hours that they lose their work-life balance, get less sleep than they need, run themselves down, and chronically feel behind on their commitments. They lose their mental edge, operate at a sub-optimal level, and make mistakes they wouldn't otherwise make. In some cases people spend more time making up for their poor performance than the time they put
into their performance to begin with. Many people live their life on a "treadmill of busyness as usual".
 
Counter-intuitively, the biggest issue with not having enough time has nothing to do with getting more work done. If you are like most people, you find ways to get your work done. The casualty of not having enough time is not having sufficient time left for strategic interests. It is not having time to learn, develop your skills, or develop the skills of your team. It is not having time to spend time with your family. It is not having reflection time to think and innovate. It is not having time to build social relationships and business partnerships.
 
Decide what is most important and put your focus there. You can only do what time allows. As long as you are working productively on the most important activities to the best of your ability, you can't do any more. Continue to seek help from others and delegate where you can. Look for ways to improve your productivity and skills. But as long as you give the current day with your current priorities your best effort, you are doing the best you can. Don't be anxious or stressed by what you aren't getting to if you are already doing all you can. It is of no consequence. Accept that you will have competing priorities and you can only give the time and effort you have to give. No more, no less.
 
Here are five key principles to follow in helping to avoid burnout and handle your stress:

1. Take your work one day at a time. If you do the best you can, you are doing all you can. The rest has to wait until tomorrow. Don't compete with the reality that there is only 24 hours in a day.

2. Be thankful for what you do have. Look at the glass as half full
rather than half empty. It could always be worse. You could have two broken legs, be without a job, and have the bank foreclosing on your house.

3. Continuously seek improvements. Seek ways to be more productive. Look for opportunities to delegate. Say "no" to unimportant requests. Or say "yes, if ." to put conditions on a "yes" that needs reasonable limits.

4. Don't tie your mood, attitude, and confidence to the opinions of others. Rise above your circumstances. Decide your own mood and make it a good one. You may have to live with the actions of others, but others don't have to dictate your attitude.

5. Appreciate adversity. Adversity is where learning, patience,
appreciation, and character come from. If you can get to the point where you "delight in your suffering", your stress might even turn into something you can enjoy.
 
Follow these principles to make your day the best day you can. Then smile and appreciate that it will be okay.

 

Couching

By: Rob Bahna

Most sales training tells us that we need to uncover the problems, needs and wants of our customers. And of course – that is sound advice to truly being a consultative sales person.

Many sales people ask similar questions to do this:
What do you like about…..
What don’t you like about or what would you change about if you could…
Are you having any problems with…
What are your biggest challenges…
 
I won’t get into what I really think of many of these questions – but I will say that customers hear them all the time – so their value to you as a sales person is limited. Customers learn responses to questions (Like do you want fries with that?). You need to differentiate yourself.
 
And – what if your customer is someone you don’t know well and you are asking about sensitive information? Do you really believe someone who does not know you well is going to open up and give you sensitive information and tell you their problems?
 
Ask any sales manager how their team is doing and you will get the same answer – great. Ask the CEO how the sales team is doing and you are more likely to get the truth. Why – because it is not a direct reflection of their responsibilities on a daily basis. You could ask the sales manager – are you any good at your job? It is the same question..
 
But you do need sensitive information at times from people you don’t know well. One technique to help with this is COUCHING. Couching is designed to:
 
Make it o.k. for customers to share their challenge because they are not alone. Help them understand where you are going since they want to be in control. Give them genuine compliments to help learn their thoughts/opinions/feelings. Differentiate you from all the over-used questions they hear every day.
 
Since we sell an automated CPR device to help improve patient outcomes – a couching question I might use would look something like this:
 
We know that despite all of our collective efforts, the national average for out of hospital cardiac arrest survival rate is still around 8%. How does that compare with what you are seeing with your patients?
 
You mentioned that you have been a medic for 15 years. In that time frame, how many changes have we had in the way we do CPR? Could you share with me what the compression to ventilation ratio was when you started? What are your thoughts on these changes?
 
Be different. Be better. STOP doing things the same way and break out of those comfort zones and your results will STOP being the same.

 

Ten Steps to Leading as a Coach

Alpine Link Corporation

www.alpinelink.com

By Mike Hawkins

As an avid skier, mountain biker, and outdoor enthusiast, I'm always looking for pointers on how to improve my athletic ability. I find that regardless of the sport, there are five capabilities that consistently determine athletic performance. Whether an individual or team sport, mechanized or human powered sport, or indoor or outdoor sport, improving performance comes down to five qualities. They are:
 
 - Technique
 - Mental Fitness
 - Physical Fitness
 - Equipment
 - Teamwork
 
As professional athletes know best, if you don't use the correct technique, have the proper frame of mind, maintain physically fitness, employ the right equipment, and leverage the help of others, you don't win.

These same five qualities enable top performers at work too. Top performing professionals are skilled and technically competent. They are positive and mentally acute. They are energetic and physically fit. They have enabling tools and equipment.They leverage the support and help of others around them.
 
It should be no surprise that great leaders, like great coaches, emphasize these five qualities. They help their people develop skills and leverage strengths. They encourage and exhort their people to believe in themselves and develop a can-do attitude. They have their people practice, build strength, and cultivate endurance. They equip their people with resources, tools, and processes that enable high productivity and quality of execution.
They foster collaboration and teamwork.
 
To lead like a coach, here are ten steps of good coaching to employ as you help develop and enable people in these five areas:
 
1. Understanding - Get to know the person you are coaching including their strengths and their development needs. Understand the ecosystem in which they operate. No one succeeds or fails on their own.
 
2. Goals - Explore the person's ambitions and goals. Discuss the skills, attitudes, and behaviors needed to reach their goals. Jointly create an individualized coaching agenda that targets the specific skills to be developed.
 
3. Mindset - Cultivate the person's mental fitness. Develop their eagerness to develop. Motivate and encourage them. Create an improvement mindset. Attitude comes before aptitude.

4. Awareness - Investigate any obstacles preventing their desired behaviors. Ask questions to uncover root causes. Observe them in action to facilitate deeper understanding. Establish awareness of any habits that need to be changed.
 
5. Solutions - Discuss the alternative solutions available to building their desired skills and behaviors. Evaluate the different options. Take into consideration the time, energy, and resources required. Agree on a solution and plan of action.
 
6. Incremental steps - In developing new behaviors, start with the basics. Review and practice the basics before moving into more advanced capabilities. Break goals down into incremental milestones. Practice and make progress in small steps.
 
7. Resources - Engage others in the process of providing them with encouragement and support. Provide any enabling equipment, tools, systems, or processes needed to facilitate continued development and proper execution.
 
8. Opportunity - Move the person from practice to production. Move them from building knowledge and methods to putting them into application. Put them into the game. Give them assignments without the "training wheels".
 

9. Feedback - Monitor their performance and progress. Provide candid feedback. Encourage, praise, and recognize their efforts. Constructively critique them where they need to improve.
 
10. Reinforcement - Continue reinforcing their desired behaviors. Help them practice and refine their technique. Facilitate ongoing adjustments as needs change. Challenge and exhort them to continually develop. Build and maintain their confidence.

Follow these essential steps of good coaching and watch the performance of your people take off.

10 Reasons to Manage as a Coach

The Management Attribute Most Desired by Employees.

Alpine Link Corporation 
www.alpinelink.com

By Mike Hawkins

Relationships between employees and managers take many forms. Some are collaborative while others are competitive. Some are vibrant while others are antagonistic. There are managers and employees who have great respect for each other and work closely together like partners who help each other out. Others hardly see each other or wish they never saw each other. 

The nature of employee-manager relationships depend on factors related to the manager, employee, and organization. An organization's culture, policies, and HR systems have an impact. The manager's leadership style, span of responsibility, and leadership competence have an impact. The employee's level of performance, skill level, role, and attitude have an impact. But more than any other factor, it is managers and their leadership style that most determine the nature of the relationship.  

Some managers operate as "super-contributors" who are individual contributors with a higher level of responsibility. They often have a peer level relationship with their employees. Some act like military commanders who tell their people where to go and what to do. They have an authoritarian relationship with their employees. Some act as charismatic politicians who like to make promises and strive for popularity. They have a superficial relationship with their employees. Some managers are disengaged and not materially involved in managing or leading at all. They have no relationship with their employees.  

The most effective relationship and approach a manager can employ is akin to a coach working with an athlete. It is a coaching style of management that utilizes coaching best practices. It is a style that inspires people to be their best. Managers as coaches not only hold their employees accountable, they encourage and enable their employees. They help their employees develop and improve their skills. They establish a nurturing and motivating relationship with their employees.

Here are ten reasons why managers should lead as coaches and develop a coaching approach to leadership: 

1. Managers spend weeks if not months recruiting, interviewing, and hiring top talent to put on their team. Employees are their most important assets. Employees are worth the investment. 

2. Coaching improves employee performance. Studies find that employees who receive coaching perform up to 200 percent higher than employees who don't. 

3. Surveys find the top attribute most desired by employees in their manager is an ability to coach. Employees want individualized help in improving their skills. 

4. Annual performance reviews are pathetically insufficient to helping employees become top performers. Annual reviews are not a substitute for continually working with employees on their professional development. 

5. Manager conversations with employees about sales forecasts, budgets, project status, and other operational issues don't get to the root issues that prevent top performance and are most deserving of discussion.  

6. Practicing and honing basic skills are what differentiate good
performers from top performers. Yet employees don't regularly practice and work on their skills without the exhortation and attention that comes with coaching. 

7. No one is successful on their own. Top performers are part of an ecosystem. It is the help, encouragement, advice, facilitation, and enablement from others and in particular from their manager that enables their top performance. 

8. A primary reason that top performers join an organization and subsequently stay with an organization is the potential for professional growth. Top performers place great value on learning and development. 

9. When successful people are asked about the aspects of their career that most enabled their success, they consistently mention a mentor, athletic coach, or boss who took the time to work with them individually on their development.

10. Studies find that over three-fourths of organizations have a skills shortfall that will prevent them from reaching their goals. Helping to improve people's skills has to be a manager's top priority.

Consider your relationship with your employees or boss. Think about how your relationship could be improved through coaching. Talk to your boss or your employee about improving a skill or leveraging a talent through coaching. The time you invest in it will pay huge dividends in improved performance and relationship.  

In next month's article, I'll highlight the five coaching areas that most impact athletic and employee performance.

Article written by Mike Hawkins, award-winning author of Activating Your Ambition: A Guide to Coaching the Best Out of Yourself and Others (www.activatingyourambition.com), and president of Alpine Link Corporation (www.alpinelink.com), a consulting firm specializing in leadership development and sales performance improvement.  

For other articles on reaching your peak potential, visit
www.alpinelink.com/Leadership_Sales_Management_Consulting_Papers_Tools_Templ
ates.aspx.  

 

A Team Versus a Collection of Individuals

Alpine Link Corporation 
www.alpinelink.com

By Mike Hawkins

Contrast two teams each within a different company. The first team calls itself the "Silos". The Silos are very talented people. Each person is intelligent, experienced, and competent in their field. But they rarely ask for help or offer to help others. They work in silos. When their work interfaces with someone else's work, they quickly hand it off so they can go back to their own work. When they attend meetings, they often withhold information and protect resources for themselves. When there are issues on the team, they are quick to blame others rather than take responsibility. The team often feels uninformed because there isn't a spirit of collaboration or transparent information flow.

The second team calls itself the "Band". They are not as individually talented as the Silos, but they work as a team. Rather than depend on their own individual capabilities they leverage each other. Everyone knows each other's strengths and weaknesses. They proactively assist each other so that their weaknesses are minimized and their strengths are amplified. They encourage and praise each other. They brainstorm, plan, and make decisions together. They have clear roles as individuals, but work in jointly agreed upon interdependent processes that ensure efficient handoffs. Because they help each other, they know what everyone is doing. There is good information sharing and peer accountability.

Comparing the Band and the Silos, which team do you think is the most productive? The most fun? Innovative? Which team would more likely attract and retain good people? I know I would prefer to work for the Band.

Here are a dozen characteristics of high performing collaborative teams to consider as you evaluate your team and strive to improve teamwork:

1. Unselfishness - Teamwork starts with a collaborative mindset. Collaborative team members see their work as a part of the team's work, not merely their own work. They consider themselves and their resources to be the team's resources.

2. Conscientiousness - Team members are conscientious about each other's needs. They spot opportunities to help others rather than wait to be asked for help or told to help.

3. Competence - Each team member is knowledgeable and skilled in their area of competence. They treat each other with respect and admiration because they see each other as experts in their field who can be depended upon.

4. Transparency - Conversations on collaborative teams take place publically with the team rather than privately between individuals. If someone has something to say in a meeting they say it rather than saving it for a post-meeting gripe session.

5. Communications - Team members communicate frequently staying up to date on what others are doing. They are invited to regular team calls making them feel informed and in the know about important team activities.

6. Feedback - Collaborative teams promote feedback. They give each other praise and encouragement for work well done as well as constructive criticism when they spot opportunities for improvement.  

7. Decisions - Team members feel involved in setting the direction of the team because their opinions and ideas are sought after. They are asked to give input into important decisions.  

8. Empowerment - Team members are delegated the flexibility and resources to get their work done. They feel ownership for their work because they are given the responsibility and authority to get it done.

9. Conflict - Collaborative teams manage their  conflict. They remain constructive when they challenge each other. They debate ideas and actions rather than personalities and feelings.

10. Roles - Team members know their roles on the team and the dependencies that others have on them. They interact efficiently because everyone's responsibilities are clear.

11. Processes - Work processes are well defined with interdependencies clearly stated. Emphasis and detail is added where teamwork is expected.

12. Accountability - Team members are held accountable for their contributions to the team and for being a team player. Recognition is given to those who perform. Candid conversations with improvement plans are given to those that don't.

As the legendary baseball player Babe Ruth said, "The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime."

 

 

13 Tips for Selling Your Ideas

Alpine Link Corporation 
www.alpinelink.com

By Mike Hawkins

There are few positions that don’t require sales skills. Not everyone is in sales, but everyone sells. Everyone has customers, either internally or externally. Everyone is in situations where they need to influence someone. Everyone has ideas they want others to embrace. No matter what you think about sales, there is no escaping the reality that having selling skills is extremely valuable.

If you have an important idea that you want others to adopt, here are 13 consultative selling best practices to employ that will give you the best chance of success:

1. Idea – Before you attempt to sell your idea, fully understand it. Refine it. Research available background information. Talk to others. Be able to clearly articulate your idea in a compelling way. You only have one chance to make a good first impression and win someone’s support. Develop your expertise and become proficient on your topic.

2. Audience - Determine who to sell your idea to. Identify the specific people who would be most impacted and interested in your idea. Consider who has the authority to act on your idea or allocate the resources you need. Learn as much about your target audience as you can and personalize your proposition to their interests and needs.

3. Outcome - Think about your desired outcome. Clearly determine what you expect to achieve in the interaction you will have with your target audience. Do you want them to trust you, refer you to someone, approve something, buy something, or endorse something? Be clear about your expectations of next steps and possible outcomes.

4. Contact - Set up a meeting or call with your target audience in a setting and manner that is appropriate for your topic and their level. Use a more formal style for people you don’t know, particularly those in more senior positions. Leverage common acquaintances and reference common interests to help secure the meeting if you don’t already have a relationship with them.

5. Rapport - When you first meet, take a few minutes to make proper introductions and exchange relevant background information. Focus on establishing your credibility before outlining your idea or proposition. As time and the other person allows, develop the foundations on which you can build a trusting relationship.

6. Problem – Start your proposition by describing the overall problem to be solved or opportunity to be leveraged. Create context for your idea. Build a baseline of awareness of the overall topic. Make clear the impact of the problem or size of the opportunity you are addressing to set proper expectations and capture their attention.

7. Alternatives - Identify the relevant alternatives to addressing the overall problem you outlined including your idea and other ideas that compete with yours. Include “doing nothing” to ensure at least one alternative to yours is considered. By giving alternatives you move people from thinking about a “yes vs. no” decision on your idea to a “which is the best” decision between multiple alternatives.

8. Funneling - Funnel down to your proposed alternative by successively eliminating the other alternatives. Establish the criteria by which you are funneling and one by one reduce the alternatives down to your proposed alternative. You not only bring out the differentiating qualities of your proposition, but establish implicit evaluation criteria.

9. Value – Reinforce the unique value of your idea. Identify not only any monetary or strategic value, but other value that might engage their emotions. Mention how your idea might reduce risk, simplify complexity, increase respectability, or promote harmony. Build their intrinsic motivation to accept your idea.

10. Believability - Make your idea believable and actionable. Identify any anticipated obstacles to implementing your idea. Outline contingency plans or solutions to dealing with them. Give examples and stories where others have succeeded. Give a demo if applicable. Outline a plan of action in sufficient detail that makes your proposition seem doable.

11. Hook - Create a sense of urgency to act on your idea. Answer the questions “why me?” and “why now?” Avoid being manipulative or applying negative pressure. Focus on the positive benefits of acting quickly. If you need to emphasize the negative consequences of not adopting your proposition, do it in a non-threatening way.

12. Close – Suggest next steps. Give them an opportunity to accept your proposition or take whatever next steps you are proposing. Be clear about any decisions you want them to make. By asking people to take action, you either facilitate the next step or uncover their objections – both of which are good outcomes that keep you moving forward.

13. Implementation - When you get the go ahead, don’t celebrate too long. The real work now starts. You may have successfully finished selling your idea, but you now have to deliver what you promoted. You’re not finished until you have implemented the idea and made it work as promised. The credibility on which you will make your next sale depends on fulfilling the promise of this sale first. A sale is only a success after it delivers the value that you promised.

Apply these consultative selling principles and watch the adoption of your ideas soar.

 

 

Your First Ninety Days in a New Management Position 

Alpine Link Corporation 
www.alpinelink.com

by Mike Hawkins 

First impressions are hard to change. So are “first actions”. What you do in your first ninety days after assuming responsibility for a new organization is critical. Your first actions are closely watched by your direct reports, boss(es), peers, and customers. Your first actions set your tone and planned direction for the organization. Your first actions determine the likely outcomes and results you will produce. 

If I were taking a new management position, I would concentrate my energy in the first ninety days on learning as much as I could about my organization and the market we serve. As I learned, I would formulate opinions on what was working and what needed to be changed. I would resist the temptation to get sucked into tactical operational execution. By the end of ninety days, I would make my assessment of the organization and set the direction for it.

Listed below are the primary areas that I would focus on if I were taking over an organization as a new senior manager. These are also the areas I would assess as a management consultant if I were on a broad business assessment engagement. I hope you can put this list to good use someday.

To view list click here.

 

Embrace the “New Normal”

Alpine Link Corporation
www.alpinelink.com

by Mike Hawkins   

Call it a recession, downturn, or tentative recovery. It doesn’t matter. The current economy still has significantly more capacity in it than demand. We know painfully well how difficult times are compared to what we enjoyed a couple of years ago. In the “good old days”, sales for some could be won by just showing-up. Not anymore. There are no “leftovers” to be had.You may long for the return of the good old days, but they are not going to return the way they were before. Buyer behavior has shifted permanently. What we are dealing with is not a temporary fad. Business models and markets have changed forever. There is no latent demand that is about to burst open. Instead, there is a “New Normal” that we must accept. The burden is now on business owners and workers to reset to the new reality. Here are five “A”ttributes that business owners and employees can embrace to be successful in the New Normal:

to view the five "A"ttributes click here.

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