Sales tips, leadership communication skills insight and more from Steve Giglio, sales training professional for more than 25 years.
I am currently on safari in East Africa in the Serengeti Game Reserve and have been blown away by our guide/tracker “Ray.”
Throughout each game drive, Ray has educated us every step of the way. With my passion for African wildlife, I really appreciate his openness to learn and further appreciate the land.
In this Harvard Business Review blog, the authors make great sense about turning “obstacles into assets.”
For years I have used my wife’s phrase and lifelong adage: Turn lemons into Lemonade. So much of what the authors speak about resides in how we “choose” to see and experience an issue.
Train yourself to see each situation as a solvable puzzle versus an attack from the universe.
It’s really fascinating to observe Apple’s consistency in innovation, design, efficiency and service. I’m among the many who disregarded price in favor of the brand’s reputation for quality. My iPad goes where I go.
I agree with this Fast Company article. Review the list and keep questioning your offerings to insure their indispensability.
A client recently shared a difficult situation with me. She was meeting with an existing good client and had, in earnest, prepared a presentation deck to take him through her 2012 recommendations. Her client bristled. Why?
She didn’t initiate her meeting with a conversation. The presentation took the immediate spot light. The client wanted a conversation illustrating that she understood his goals and challenges without any prompts… just her commercial insight.
This type of initial conversation speaks louder than a deck ever will. It says “I’ve understood your issues and have designed a solution that’s easy and turnkey. I’m interested in our mutual dialogue about it.” The presentation becomes support for the recommendations; your ace in the hole!
How does this compare to your most recent client contact? Let me know!
I am very excited to let you know that today, my first “expert blogger” piece was published on FastCompany.com.
I really hope you will take a moment and check it out. Also, I would be honored if you would post a comment. The more comments I get, the more likely I’ll be asked back! A repeat performance!!
Often in my executive development programs, a client will lament that their direct reports need to fundamentally change how they operate to achieve their goals. Sound familiar?
As I work with them to pinpoint each team member’s development areas, I often ask them what they’ve done to alert their employees to these areas of growth. I go further to inquire about whether they have created a development plan for each associate? Many times, the answer is no. Other times, it is yes but the plan hasn’t been revisited in ages. In either case, the executive has put the responsibility of development on the shoulders of the associate with little or no guidance. Is it any wonder that there isn’t much change month to month, year to year?
I can’t think of a time when forging sincere relationships is more important in our business lives.
What you can learn, including recent company news, changes in title/position, background information, is mission critical walking into a prospective client meeting. In fact, if you don’t walk in with it, be ready to be x-rayed for it. It is quite impressive to say to a prospective client, “congratulations on your promotion last week” or “it’s clear from your declaration in XYZ news that your company is in this business to stay.” Conversationally articulating this discovery lifts your dialogue along with your credibility.
Have you Googled someone and had it produce a surprising outcome? Let me know!
As we roll into the holidays and 2012 my wish for all of us is that we perform as our client’s steward, not their custodian.
A steward really acts as an advisor with a fiduciary focus versus a custodian who merely reactively looks after a client. One works to prevent messes the other is only there to clean them up after they’ve happened.
In 2012, prove to your clients that you’ve earned the right to be their steward. You’ll do that by demonstrating the depth and understanding you have of their business and the forward-field view you present to them showing your preemptive vision. The more the stewardship the stronger the client bond, and the more prosperous their, and your, 2012 will be.
Earlier this week, I was coaching a senior level executive who is quite talented in her profession. Her Achilles heel, she explained, is that “people just don’t get it when I explain something.”
Through a lot of questioning, I discovered the reason. She often jumps to the end of her thought path without leading her team there. She assumes she is speaking to people at her same knowledge level and that they are as familiar with her thought process as she is. When she finally looks up to see if they are with her, they are so far lost that they really aren’t “getting it.”
Showing your path requires a sincere level of commitment that your audience sees the situation the way you see it. However, their only chance of seeing it from your frame of reference is to teach it to them at their level of comprehension, NOT yours. You have to remember that YOU know where you are leading them…but they don’t. And if you take short cuts, you run the risk of getting to the end but being there alone. The patience and empathy required to show them your thought path will be seen and appreciated by your team, elevating your image as an effective coach versus a harried leader.
