Sales Thought: Make sure you position your sale as close as possible with the person for whom the goal is important and urgent.

Daily Sales Thoughts

It is a really sinking feeling when the person for whom the goal is important and urgent parachutes into the selling process
at the final stages, just when you thought you were moving to a close.  Should this happen, you can rest assured that your opportunity for a fast close will fall apart!  If you are lucky, you might get to start the process over, with the opportunity to
sell to the real WHO on the account.  The worst case is that you are seen as not understanding the WHO’s goals and URGENCY (since you have never spoken to them directly!) and therefore lose your selling credibility within the account.

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Sales Thought: Sell Close to the Person for Whom the Goal is Urgent and Important – Through Quid Pro Quo

Daily Sales Thoughts

In some Sales Cycles, you are blocked from the Decision Maker.

However, It is a question of what you do next: if you don’t push to get that point early in the cycle, you may not get there at all!  3 Key Words: Quid Pro Quo.  Get to that person Early and make sure you don’t Keep Giving without Getting in Exchange.

It is a really sinking feeling when the person for whom the goal is important and urgent parachutes into the selling process at the final stages, just when you thought you were moving to a close.

Should this happen, you can rest assured that your opportunity for a fast close will fall apart!

If you are lucky, you might get to start the process over, with the opportunity to sell to the real WHO on the account.

The worst case is that you are seen as not understanding…

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5 Ways to Create a Culture of Empowerment (Guest Blog by Sarah Pike)

The Comm Entrepreneur

The following post comes to us from returning guest blogger, Sarah Pike. Sarah is a freelancer and teacher with a passion for sharing innovative ideas about entrepreneurship, productivity and company culture. Be sure to visit her author’s bio below to learn more and connect!

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5 Ways to Create a Culture of Empowerment

If you’re tired of obscure strategies about more meetings and holding monthly birthday parties, try out some of our ideas to help your team feel empowered (and maybe even a little inspired). While communication and making sure employees feel heard are important, they are hard to quantify. The five tips listed below can help you take empowerment out of theory and put it into practice.

Give Snaps

This idea is a twist on the usual public acknowledgement idea – and it was inspired (without any shame) from the movie “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde.” Everyone on the team writes down something…

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The truth is….

Kristin Barton Cuthriell

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Do Your Customer Service Policies Show You Trust Your Employees? 5 Strategies to Consider

Blanchard LeaderChat

I’ve got a pet peeve when it comes to customer service policies. It annoys me to no end when front-line employees have to get a manager’s approval for even the simplest, low-dollar merchandise return.

I recently had to return an item to an office supply store (a national chain) where I encountered this very situation. The item had not been opened from its original packaging, cost less than $20, and I had the receipt of purchase from the same store just a few days prior. The cashier was as helpful and polite as he could be but he couldn’t process the return on his own. He had to call his manager over for approval and get him to unlock the register with his “magic” key so he could take back the item and refund my money.

Really? For a $20 item that hadn’t even been opened? Are you telling me you…

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Four Steps to Being More Coach-Like in Your Conversations

Blanchard LeaderChat

“How did you do that?”

This is a question we hear often from Blanchard clients. In a recent conversation with an organizational sponsor, I was asked to explain how Blanchard coaches were able to consistently help leaders in a high potential coaching program to make changes that stuck.

Our client knew all about the skills we used—listening, asking powerful questions that foster client insight, and a number of other techniques. What she really wanted to know was more about the engine behind the coaching.

The four-step coaching model Blanchard uses isn’t linear. It’s also not a script. There is a fluidity that comes with all great coaching, and it can be described in four simple and elegant elements.

The first step is to Connect. Connecting is about building rapport and trust. This is one of the most critical things a coach must do, and it takes only seconds. It’s more…

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Trouble Setting Boundaries at Work? Ask Madeleine

Blanchard LeaderChat

Dear Madeleine,

I have a lot of friends at work and we have a lot of fun. I am an easy going person and like to joke around, but I was recently promoted to manager and now there’s a problem. 

One person on my team assumes he can take breaks whenever he wants without asking. It feels like things are getting out of hand. How do I put a stop to this without making him hate me?  –Getting Serious

Dear Getting Serious,

As a very informal person myself, I really can sympathize with your dilemma.  Although you definitely had a hand in creating this situation, it is also true that you are being taken advantage of.

The first thing we need to do is take a hard look at what got you into this pickle: your need to be liked. Many lovely, friendly, delightful people have this need.  It is…

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