Friday 29 March 2013

Business Development - Blotting out the bloopers


Whether you're negotiating a deal, building a relationship with new prospects, or focusing closely on a loyal client, it's imperative that you stay on top of your own language bloopers.

Most of us have them and it's annoying to be on the receiving end of them.

Example 1:

I attended a session delivered by a well renowned trainer and coach. As expected, her content was great, but it seemed that every other word in her vocabulary was 'fantastic'. So I started to wonder:

- Can everything in her world really be that 'fantastic'? If not, why is she saying it is?

- Is anyone else picking up on the fact that the word 'fantastic' appears to be in every sentence and used in every context?

It took my attention away from what the coach was saying and it made me wonder how such a seasoned presenter, had formed such a bad verbal habit.

Example 2:

Last year I was approached by one of my participants after delivering a business development workshop and he asked me, "do you know how many times you said, does that make sense?

When I checked with my wife later that night, she admitted that whenever I explained something, I had got into the habit of asking, 'does that make sense'?

So what are your bad verbal habits? The fact is, that we all have them and they change over time.
Whatever they are, you're likely to be using them in all contexts, at home and at work and in order to make your language more engaging for your business colleagues and customers, friends and family, you'll need to identify and eradicate them.

Tips for developing better language:

1) Ask those closest to you to help you to identify your annoying verbal habits.

2) Ditch management cliches such as, 'can't see the wood for trees', 'blue-sky thinking', 'employee buy-in' and 'square pegs and round holes'. They're irritating to hear and can be misleading.

3) Speak clearly and opt for plain english rather than using jargon and trying to impress with long  words. When I develop the branding for my workshops, I work on the basis that if my 12 and 9 year old daughters can't understand what I'm trying to explain, it's too complex and needs to be simplified.

Thanks for reading

I help people to achieve more by developing their resilience, influence and productivity: 

Call me - 0121 420 3457 / 07760 444 946
Email me - enquiries@impactlife.co.uk
Connect with me on Linkedin - http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpain
Like me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImpactLifeUK
Follow me on twitter - www.twitter.com/andrewpain1974
Check out my website - www.impactlife.co.uk

Sunday 24 March 2013

Leadership Howler 9 - Straight Talking v In-Your-Face Talking


Many leaders revel in their ability to straight-talk.

"I say it how it is"

"I cut through the c**p"

"I say what needs to be said"

"What you see is what you get"

They can see it as a major strength, as something which demonstrates sharp thinking, courage and intelligence. But whether or not their straight-talking has been successful, can only be judged by the outcome, much of which is determined by how the people on the receiving end of it feel.

For the people who have to endure it, straight-talking often demoralises or creates resentment because it lacks sensitivity and is delivered prematurely, whilst for the straight talker, it's an opportunity for an ego boost and to let off steam.

If you see yourself as a straight talker, it's not necessarily a bad thing and it can be an important strength. But in order to use this strength wisely, I recommend you adhere to the following tips, so that your straight talking leads to a positive outcome, rather than a cold smack in the face for the people who have to endure it.

- Never straight-talk via email or text.

- Always straight-talk after you've stood in the other person's shoes and considered how your straight talking would best be delivered.

- Always deliver it with a clear win/win outcome in mind.

- Always deliver it after a full consideration of the facts, and never before.

- Always deliver it after you've weighed-up the crucial question. Is this an ego boost for me? Or is it genuinely to create a positive and win/win outcome?

If your straight-talking is in-your-face-talking, people won't warm to you and if they don't warm to you, delivering long-lasting influence is virtually impossible.

Thanks for reading

I help businesses become more profitable by developing their people: 

Call me - 0121 420 3457 / 07760 444 946
Email me - enquiries@impactlife.co.uk
Connect with me on Linkedin - http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpain
Like me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImpactLifeUK
Follow me on twitter - www.twitter.com/andrewpain1974
Check out my website - www.impactlife.co.uk

Saturday 23 March 2013

Valentine's day - help your clients feel the love!



Valentines Day      -      Christmas      -      Guy Fawkes     -       Easter      -       April Fools

These dates offer excellent opportunities to be creative with your message but in seizing the moment on the calendar, nail it! ... don't miss & cause yourself an injury!

Example:

On Valentine's Day, two years go, I received an e-shot from a business trainer.  It started with ... "Hello lover" and had some love hearts on it in order to cash in on the fact that it was Valentine's Day. But that was it. The valentine theme wasn't carried through the message, there was nothing amusing, no clever message, no gift and nothing of particular interest.

It indicated to me that this particular individual didn't put much time into his message ... so I guess I won't be using him anytime soon.

In contrast, my mother (proud owner of a Honda Jazz), received a Valentine's card from Honda. The message was witty, it cleverly used the valentine theme and it made us all smile. It was made of good quality card and inside were some vouchers which gave my mum a free service for her car. So she got her Honda serviced … and last year, guess what?... she upgraded her Honda by buying yet another Honda!

So what?

I'm definitely in favour of using the dates in the calendar to provide imaginative themes for my marketing material. However, when I cash in on these dates, I tread a very cautious line and ask myself two key questions:
  • Will it make my customers smile? 
  • Does this message offer anything useful to the people who receive it?  
If I'm hesitant in my answers, I'd rather pass and give it a miss, or head back to the drawing board to start again.

My best marketing campaign yet:

Last year I nicked Honda's marketing idea and developed it for my own campaign. I sent valentines cards to my existing clients and to my most desired prospects. The cards were witty, colourful, made on good card, sent in pink, hand-written envelopes (to ensure they got opened) and were specifically themed with slightly different messages for men, women, existing clients and prospective clients. Each card also contained a small gift in the form of a lucky-dip lottery ticket. I had plenty of replies, all of them warm and from the campaign alone,  I won several pieces of business from clients who have since given me repeat business.



Thanks for reading

I help people to achieve more by developing their resilience, influence and productivity: 

Call me - 0121 420 3457 / 07760 444 946
Email me - enquiries@impactlife.co.uk
Connect with me on Linkedin - http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpain
Like me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImpactLifeUK
Follow me on twitter - www.twitter.com/andrewpain1974
Check out my website - www.impactlife.co.uk

Thursday 21 March 2013

Leadership Howler 8 - Responsibility Shirker


I was at a major retail outlet recently and as the queues for the tills got longer, so the waiting customers got stroppier and the staff working the tills got more stressed. There were clearly not enough staff to handle the volume of customers. 

Suddenly, the fire alarm went off and we all filed outside. It was at this point that the store manager made his first appearance and joined us on the forecourt. 

The fire alarm finally stopped and we headed back inside. Unfortunately for the staff working the tills, the queues were now in utter chaos as people jostled to the front and argued about who was first before the fire alarm went off and who was queue jumping. At that point, I noticed the store manager take one look at the situation, before disappearing quickly into a back office leaving his poor staff to deal with it. Interestingly, one of the staff in the middle of it all, glanced up to see him make his sharp exit. 

This is a true story by the way ... one small incident and one quick decision by a store manager which will cost him dearly for a number of reasons:
  • His staff won't care, because their leader clearly doesn't.
  • His staff won't respect his authority because he's just proved that when things hot up, he runs for cover. 
  • His staff won't go the extra mile for him because he didn't for them.
  • His staff won't commit to his cause or follow his leadership because no one follows a scaredy cat.
  • His attempts to get the best out of his staff will be purely academic from now on because his actions speak louder than his words.
Good leaders recognise that in difficult times they must be present, acting decisively in the situation for the good of the team. This may well take them out of their comfort zones, but it's part of leadership. The alternative is to stay in your comfort zones and let others deal with the mess, but your team will notice and they will judge you for it. 

Thanks for reading

I help people to achieve more by developing their resilience, influence and productivity. 

Call me - 0121 420 3457 / 07760 444 946
Email me - enquiries@impactlife.co.uk
Connect with me on Linkedin - http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpain
Like me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImpactLifeUK
Follow me on twitter - www.twitter.com/andrewpain1974
Check out my website - www.impactlife.co.uk

Sunday 17 March 2013

How to handle the tough times (according to Everton manager, Roberto Martinez)


Roberto Martinez became the manager of Everton Football Club, following a successful period at Wigan Athletic. Given the budget and size at his disposal when he managed Wigan, it's extraordinary that they survived in the premier league, season after season and when finally relegated under his leadership, they at least did so in style, winning the FA Cup in the same season!

Martinez is highly acclaimed as one of the best managers in the premier league and when interviewed  by the BBC, he offered some invaluable insight on handling your team when times are tough.

"Don't torture yourself with the maths. The moment you are trying to reach a specific points tally you are going to be clouding your aim. Everyone in the bottom 10 is playing against each other, which means it is impossible to tell the points tally needed. The easiest way to approach it is with the mentality that you can get something out of every game and try to get as many points as you can."

So surely this is just about football? What's it got to do with business?

Martinez elaborates further that being tortured by the maths spoils the enjoyment of football for the players at Wigan Athletic and once they don't enjoy playing, their performance is undermined, something which will make their predicament worse.

What's true for football is also true in business. When times are tough, it's easy to become obsessed with targets and figures but the more you get bogged down in the numbers, the less mental energy you'll have for lateral thinking and the more your morale will dip. We obviously all need to appreciate the mathematical picture of our businesses and keep in mind the steps we will need to take to hit our targets, but we'll achieve more if we focus on our minds on our performance and how to make the business happen ... whilst trying to enjoy the process at the same time.

Tip 1:

When it comes to your business performance or team performance, find the balance between mathematical appreciation and mathematical obsession!

Tip 2:

Coach performance not results and when you're on the back foot, find the small yet real victories within each of your defeats and be thankful for them. 

Thanks for reading

I help businesses become more profitable by developing their people: 

Call me - 0121 420 3457 / 07760 444 946
Email me - enquiries@impactlife.co.uk
Connect with me on Linkedin - http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpain
Like me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImpactLifeUK
Follow me on twitter - www.twitter.com/andrewpain1974
Check out my website - www.impactlife.co.uk

Tuesday 12 March 2013

Business Development Tip - Making the most of your meetings


It could be a formal presentation to a group, a meeting with prospective clients at their offices or meeting someone in an informal and neutral setting: regardless of what kind of appointment it is, give yourself the best chance of securing business by exploring 5 'P's prior to the meeting.

1) Position: Are the people you're meeting really the decision makers? If so, do they need to liaise with others in order to make the purchasing decision and how long will this process take? What do their job titles really mean in terms of purchasing power? Be clear you really know who you're meeting and that your expectations of them are realistic.

2) Profile: What are the profiles of your prospective clients? What are their buying personalities? Are they; a) skeptics, b) visionaries, c) followers, d) thinkers, e) controllers? Each will have different needs and you'll need to alter your approach to meet their needs.

3) Pains and aims: What challenges do your prospects face and what is the impact of those challenges on your prospects and the organisations they represent? What are your clients hoping to achieve and how will your product/service assist them in achieving it? In sales, it's a bit like exercise ... NO PAIN = NO GAIN (ie no client PAIN = no seller GAIN)

4) Purpose: What is the purpose of your meeting? A face to a name? Establishing a link? Or are your prospects reviewing their suppliers and ready to buy? What do you want from the meeting? It's important to state your intentions and ensure that your purposes match those of your prospects. If they don't match, you could well be wasting your time.

5) PowerPoint: What kind of meeting do your prospects want? An exploratory and informal discussion? A formal presentation? Some people hate PowerPoint, others appreciate the visual aid, often it depends on the stage of discussion you're at. Check in with your prospects and find out what they want from you.

Attend your meetings with credible answers to the above questions and you'll deliver something which your client wants to receive, and will be far more likely to win the business you are looking for. Without these answers, your business development activities are based in guesswork and guessing in business is a bit like playing darts blindfolded: you're unlikely to hit bulls-eye!


Available now on Amazon in paperback & digital format: The Impact Code - Unlocking Resilience, Productivity & Influence http://goo.gl/leAeae

Thanks for reading!
Call me - 0121 420 3457 / 07760 444 946
Email me - enquiries@impactlife.co.uk
Connect with me on Linkedin - http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpain
Like me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImpactLifeUK
Follow me on twitter - www.twitter.com/andrewpain1974
Check out my website - www.impactlife.co.uk

Wednesday 6 March 2013

Business Development Tip: Turning services into products


I used to promote my time management sessions as...yes, you guessed it....Time Management. That's it, no punch-line, no hook and no groovy title!  

I had designed my time management sessions so they could be experienced in half and full-day workshops, as well as two hour-long soundbites and they all followed my unique 5 principle process:

1) Time Planning 

2) Prioritising

3) Decisiveness

4) Delegation

5) Boundaries

The sessions evaluated really well when I delivered them, but unsurprisingly, with such a bland and unimaginative title (Time Management), it was always difficult to attract fresh interest. So I reflected on the branding and subsequently renamed my time management work as:

Clockwise - 5 great time management principles, so you get more done, more often, more easily.

The title is original, it contains a clever play on words, and the accompanying tag line says something about the workshop and how you will benefit from attending. It's no coincidence that it's now easier to secure fresh bookings for the Clockwise brand rather than the old Time Management brand.

Whatever your business does, whatever the product or service, whether you deliver recruitment, accountancy, legal, training, cleaning or any kind of service, branding your offerings so they become desirable products, will make a huge difference to your ability to sell them. 

Thanks for reading

I help businesses become more profitable by developing their people: 

Call me - 0121 420 3457 / 07760 444 946
Email me - enquiries@impactlife.co.uk
Connect with me on Linkedin - http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpain
Like me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImpactLifeUK
Follow me on twitter - www.twitter.com/andrewpain1974
Check out my website - www.impactlife.co.uk