Archive for October, 2009

Rekindle Your Inspiration!

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Are you inspired? Does your life currently hold within it surpassing brilliance or excellence? Are your dreams becoming a reality?

All accomplishments begin with an idea, a seed, or a dream. It is impossible to emphasize strongly enough the power of a creative and uninhibited imagination. Every achievement has emerged as the end result of a dream, a vision, or what may even have seemed to be a far-fetched idea. When is the last time you exercised your inspiration?

It is so easy to get caught up in the function of business and life that often times we forget to stop and think about what we are really working for or toward. Our daily routine becomes just that … a routine. We get used to going through the motions, and our dreams and inspirations start to take a back seat to the job, the career, and the family—and then slowly slip away into oblivion.

Have you ever created a Dream Inventory©. A Dream Inventory is a continuous, life-long list of ideas and dreams no matter how extravagant or insignificant. It is a list that contains everything you ever wanted to do, to have, to be, and to become. It is an exercise that allows you to take off the blinders of probability and possibility and throws out the filters of whether you need it, deserve it, or are worth it. It is lifelong exercise that gives you permission to exercise your inspiration.

Create a personal Dream Inventory and fill it in spontaneously. It will later provide clues to the kind of things that will motivate you. Many of the dreams that you put on your inventory may seem totally out of reach and that is okay. As you begin to grow and achieve, some of your dreams will become goals and some never will. Keep in mind that this is an exercise of dreaming and inspiration so give no thought to your ability to obtain the dreams. Many of your dreams may seem too small or insignificant to list in your inventory but list them anyway. There is no such thing as a small dream. If a dream has value to you, it is important.

I filled out my first Dream Inventory in 1985 when I started working for my current firm. In 1996 as I was updating my Dream Inventory, I listed I wanted to become President of my current firm. I listed it with really no thought as to a specific action plan, but I knew that role was what I was inspired to become. In 2002, I became President of the firm and remain in that role today.

The power of capturing your dreams and inspiration is life altering. The power of capturing an idea in writing, placing the thought in your subconscious, and letting your subconscious work on the action plan is a science we are only beginning to understand. What we do know is many inspired individuals throughout history have harnessed the power of dreaming to create surpassing brilliance and excellence! I challenge you to create your Dream Inventory today!

Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, leadership development, executive coaching, and youth leadership. For more information visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.

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Posted in Goal Planning, Personal Development | 4 Comments »

Solve the Mystery of Increasing Sales

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

In today’s market, sales teams are getting hammered for more sales.

Companies are looking for ways to conserve cash and increase revenue, and sales departments are caught in the cross hairs. The fundamentals of sales that drive success remain the same and are even more critical when times are economically challenged.

There are some important keys to success in sales, and we have found that most of these key elements apply to any industry, product, or service.

Seek to Build a Relationship Not Just Make a Sale

Making “a” sale is important. But many may argue that is a shortsighted view. Building a positive relationship with a customer and really understanding their business and their specific as well as their ever changing needs will lead to the first of many sales. Look at your current customer base through the lens of customer loyalty. Are you and the rest of your company creating relationships with customers who want to work with and buy from your company alone? The concept of selling through the lens of customer loyalty may take a bit more time up front, but it eliminates a lot of extra work on the back end. Building loyal sales relationships is about you working smarter not harder, all the while exceeding your customers’ expectations and making them want more.

Provide Value Before the Sale as Well as After the Sale

Every interaction with a potential and existing customer should provide value and exceed their expectations. Many sales teams say they believe this but often their behaviors tell a different story. If we know providing value is important, how can a sales person or sales team create a measurable process to make sure that value is received with every interaction? Every sales team may need to look at the concept of a measurable process differently however some examples of knowing that value has been received may include: a thank you note or letter, a verbal thank you due to an unexpected follow-up call or visit, a referral, or a repeat order. Look closely at your process and start measuring these subtleties as they tell you a great deal about the customer’s perception of value within the sales relationship.

Questions Sell, Answers Do Not.

People don’t want to be sold, they want to buy. Therefore the sales process should be about identifying and understanding a clients needs, not about the features and benefits of your products of service. The best way to truly understand a customer’s needs is to ask questions that seek to engage the customer, to uncover his or her real needs, and to understand the benefits of making a buying decision to the organization. How will the organization measure the benefit? As a sales person you will know by the dialog whether you have a solution for their situation and at some point you may spend time explaining why your product or service will achieve the measurable outcomes they are seeking. But most decision makers often don’t care about “the how” (your features and benefits) until you uncover “what” they need and “why” (their need and their measurable outcomes).

Really Listen

The second most important component after asking questions is really listening. Asking questions is not effective unless you really listen to the answers. Being present and really listening for understanding still does not give you the right to get into features and benefits. If your sales dialog typically flows question, answer, explain feature and benefit, you are missing opportunities. Asking questions and really listening gives you permission to ask the next right question. The sales dialog should be about digging as deep as you can to understand the problem, the magnitude of the problem, and why it is important for the problem to get solved. It is only after this deep line of questioning and effective listening that you will get permission to talk about your solution because now in the decision maker’s mind it has direct value to his/her needs. Do yourself a favor and stop losing sale opportunities because you don’t really listen.

Be Proactive Faster and Stay Close

Speed is essential today, and sales are no different. Some folks say timing is everything but I believe having a proactive process in place to stay in close contact with your prospects and customers makes all difference in the world. If you or your department has a process in place, you don’t have to rely on the old adage of “timing is everything,” and being proactive links directly to developing loyal customers. Customers want to know that you are there and that they can count on you. Building that confidence starts in the first step of any sales process. Being there creates trust, and trust is a key component to establishing loyal customers and generating more sales.

Have a Great Attitude and Contagious Sense of Humor

This component is fairly straightforward. Have a great attitude all the time, as attitude is everything! But in addition to having a great attitude, have a sense of humor. I am not suggesting a comedic level of humor but the ability to laugh and make others laugh. Life and business is serious stuff, but that does not mean that we have to take every moment seriously. Life is to short not to enjoy it! “Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects.” Arnold Glasgow

Be Authentic

If you are not authentic, you will not be easily trusted, and it is pretty tough to build relationships and loyal customers without trust and authenticity. Be true to your personality, spirit, and character, and use them to your advantage. People want to do business with people who are real.

Often when times are good we forget about these fundamental components for success in sales because sales come easier and faster. “It doesn’t seem that we have to work as hard.” I believe when the business environment becomes more challenging we have a tendency to forget about the fundamentals, and we start combating the symptoms of current times. We wander away from what we know works. To solve the mystery of sales in a tougher economy, stop looking at the symptoms but rather identify the root cause and attack it; and most importantly, never give up on the core component of successful sales.

Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, leadership development, executive coaching, and youth leadership. For more information visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.

Posted in Attitudes, Customer Loyalty, Sales | 4 Comments »

Building a Successful Team

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Everyone in an organization plays an important role in its overall performance.

It’s no longer enough to be good, you must be exceptional. It is no longer enough to have satisfied customers, you must seek to develop a loyal and delighted customer base. It’s no longer enough to maintain. You must be aggressive, responsive, and quick. Your challenge is getting everyone on your team or in your department committed and focused on achieving organizational success. As an effective team leader, your role is to build the best, strongest, most productive team possible. Your team or department’s results, or lack thereof, will be in direct proportion to the cohesiveness of your team.

Creating a winning team begins with creating a culture in which your employees are encouraged to challenge, to question, to create, and to innovate. Surround yourself with the best people the organization has to offer. Don’t limit yourself by focusing only on people with seniority or rank. Bring people into the team as they are needed based upon their expertise or abilities. The ideal team should include all four types of thinkers, so you get a blend of perspectives. For example, some team members will naturally focus on short-term efficiency issues (doing things right) while others will focus on short term effectiveness (doing the right things). Others should be selected for their natural inclination to focus on long-term efficiency, while others should be selected for their natural focus on long-term effectiveness.

Create a culture where people are encouraged to be their best and perform their best. As the goals or projects dictate, you may want to involve multiple team members in different aspects of the project as needed. Furthermore, it may not always be necessary to involve everyone from beginning to end. Always be sure; however, the goals are specific and that they are aligned with the vision, values, and strategies of the organization as defined by management. Alignment must also occur between the department’s activities and its outcomes. If continuous improvement is to occur, your team needs to focus on continuous improvement in all areas. Therefore, measurements and expectations must be developed and reviewed regularly. Get team members involved and delegate ownership of processes and challenges which rightfully belong to them.

The momentum of the team keeps a project going so the probability of success is enhanced. A team’s collective power is much greater than that of any one individual!

Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, leadership development, executive coaching, and youth leadership. For more information visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.

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Posted in Team Leadership | No Comments »

Really Good Listening Habits Are Hard to Find

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

When is the last time you had a conversation with someone where you really felt like the person you were talking with was engaged in the conversation and was really interested in what you were communicating?

Their body language, eye contact, and tone of voice were focused and inviting and surrounding distractions seemed irrelevant. Every one of us can remember a meaningful conversation and what it felt like to “be heard.” Being heard is an important component to how we measure our self-worth and self-confidence.

Emails, voice mails, text messages, and the limit of 140 characters on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are the very common forms of today’s communication. Technology has given us the ability to share ideas with anyone, at anytime, and anywhere in the world. Our global environment requires this technology to be successful, and it will foster continued innovation at an awe-inspiring rate.

However, the true essence of business is built around people and the future innovations people can and will inspire. Every piece of technology existing today and every new innovation that will inspire our world tomorrow is a collaboration of people listening, communicating, and working together.

I am the first to admit the advances to communication portals and the speed at which we can communicate are necessary. I am only suggesting that we do not forget to really listen along the way. Take a step back and evaluate your listening ability and techniques. Do any of the following apply to you?

  • Check and answer email while talking on the phone (personally or professionally)
  • Respond to texts while in a meeting or at your child’s soccer game
  • Watch your children IM or text while doing homework or at the dinner table
  • Spend time updating your Facebook wall instead of reaching out to someone meaningful and having a real conversation
  • Engage in a conversation with an employee, while you shuffle papers and respond to a receptionist call that Mr. Smith is on line two

If we are honest with ourselves, we are all guilty of one if not many of these listening infractions. We get caught up in the crazy and scattered pace of life. Let’s take a step back and remind ourselves that good listening is essential to effective communication, and here are some simple habits that can improve our listening ability:

  • Take time to listen. Stop, take a deep breath to clear your mind, and really listen to an employee sharing ideas or to how your son’s day at school unfolded.
  • Be attentive. Put the world on hold and pay 100% attention to the person talking with you. They believe what they have to say is important and so should you.
  • Listen with an open mind. Don’t be judgmental. Listen to everything the person is communicating and before judging the value of the information, ask questions to better understand the scope and depth.
  • Listen for feelings. People repeat those things that are important to them. Listen to what is said but also to how it is said. Feelings often speak much louder than words.
  • Listen for retention. While listening, summarize the highlights of the conversation in your mind so you can play it back to the person with whom you are talking. It will help you implement the important details later, and it will send the important message that you were really listening.

Finally, listen to others like you want to be listened to … you will be astounded as to how much more you will get accomplished and learn if you stop and really listen. And, you will be amazed how much you miss if you don’t!

Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, leadership development, executive coaching and youth leadership. For more information visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.

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Posted in Communications | 5 Comments »