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Risk Management Best Practice 5 – Ongoing Risk Monitoring

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Best Practice ArticleEvery organization is challenged by risks manifest through its many different day-to-day operations. To help monitor and manage these risks, most organizations employ groups providing performance and compliance risk assurance so that significantly adverse consequences are avoided. These groups typically carry out their function through the conduct of periodic, in-depth assessments of those areas representing the highest risk to the company. Such assessments are both costly and time consuming; their accuracy rapidly diminishing with the passage of time since the assessment’s performance.

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About the Author

Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Principal is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.

Do your people WANT to listen to you?

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I’m at a corporate conference about to give my 90-minute, customized, personalized talk. I spent hours preparing it – as I do all my talks – and I’ve spent the last 20 years improving my speaking, presentation, and performance skills.

I’m not just a speaker. I’m a student speaker.

Anyway, before my talk, the two corporate leaders of a multi-billion-dollar company addressed the gathered 200 in the audience. The attendees are eager to hear their words and looking for (hoping for) inspiration and direction.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get either.

The leaders, although smart and capable, are HORRIBLE presenters. I guess they don’t consider the skill important enough to master. Not good. They have a responsibility to be GREAT. Their people are counting on it.

REALITY QUESTION: How’s your leader? How are his or her presentation skills? REALITY QUESTION: How good of a presenter are you?
REALITY QUESTION: Do your people, your audience, and your customer WANT to listen to you? Or do they HAVE to listen to you?
REALITY QUESTION: When you’re giving a talk or making a presentation, how compelling is your message?
REALITY QUESTION: Are you afraid to give a talk? NO – you’re just unprepared. Or not prepared enough to own the talk. NOTE WELL: You can never own the prospect, the customer, or the audience if you don’t own the presentation.

When you give a talk or make a presentation, make certain you understand:

  • What your engagement points are.
  • How you want the audience to walk away feeling.
  • What you want the audience to do tomorrow?

BIG SECRET: Think of it as a performance, not a presentation.
BIGGER SECRET: Never stand behind a podium. Get down off the platform and walk around.
BIGGEST SECRET: Learn to perform by singing Karaoke. (I did.)

If you’re giving a speech (and you should be in order to be perceived as a leader), or making a presentation, there are some strategies and elements you must employ in order to ensure maximum attraction, engagement, connection, and maybe even sale…

1. Use genuine humor. Start with a comment or story that leads to BOTH laughter and learning. Go on YouTube and look at my videos. They will provide answers tohumor and education. At the end of humor is the height of listening.
2. Ask poignant questions. Ask people what they’re hoping for. Make the people you’re addressing THINK. Especially about themselves.
3. Ask intellectual questions. Talk about their experiences and yours. Show wisdom. Ask about subject matter knowledge.
4. Tell a story that relates to you AND them. Real life experiences are both relatable and create incentive to take action. NOTE WELL: Facts and figures are forgotten. Stories are retold.
5. Customization based on their real world. The people you present to only care about themselves and their issues. Focus on that.
6. Incorporate their philosophy, mission, brand, and theme. The more you do, the more respect you will gain.
7. Give 5-10 major points they can walk away with and use immediately. Give ideas they canuse. That’s what preparation is all about.
8. Have simple slides. Make certain your slides are easy to follow, fun, and readable. And there should only be one point per slide.
9. Very little talk about you. Not who you are. Rather, what you do and how you can help them.
9.5 End with emotion. (Maybe even ask for the sale.) Family or other concepts the audience can relate to and identify with.

At the end of your presentation/performance…

  • You want the audience to react and respond. Buy, do better, do new things, applaud, or STAND and applaud. The quality of your talk will be the determining factor.
  • You want the audience (or the prospect or the customer) to remember you and the moment. The only way that happens is if you perform remarkably.
  • You want outcome and buzz as a result of your words, ideas, value, and inspiration. You seek a favorable outcome. So does the person receiving your message. Was it ho-hum, or worth talking about? Was it value driven to a point of taking action, or was it without punch or inspiration?

The ultimate goal is to have impact over time. If you are able to follow-up by getting people to subscribe to your blog or ezine, you can actually document and measure the success of your ideas, product, or service. And that feedback can drive your success if you pay attention to it.

Want a report card? Video your presentation and watch it twice. Once for the pain, and once to take self-improvement notes. The best and toughest presentation skill lesson in the world is the one you give yourself.

Want a path to success? Commit to personal presentation skills improvement. Take a Dale Carnegie course and join Toastmasters. Give talks at your local civic association. Not only are sales leads there, it’s also a relaxed, learning opportunity. Take it.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

Personal Needs vs. Customer Relationships

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Many companies talk about the need to establish strong ‘relationships’ with their customers. Some compile complex Customer Relationship Management algorithms to develop and maintain these relationships. And, these companies rightly recognize that the transactional interactions of the past are ineffective in creating loyal customers.

The concept of customer relationships makes sense in the context of meeting personal needs. As in all interpersonal relationships, from friendships, to marriage, to company and client, trust and the promise of mutual benefits are the foundation for growth and development. When we put others’ needs first in relationships, we’re more likely to make those relationships work.

Emotional Needs Not Yet a Business Priority

After decades of formally documenting the stages of business-customer relationships, we’ve learned that many companies become complacent in their endeavor to understand, satisfy, and embrace the emotional needs of consumers. Companies understand the meaning of ‘relationships,’ but rarely consider what it takes to make their audiences’ needs a priority. They seemingly cross their fingers hoping that what brought customers to their company will cause them to be loyal. Just as in most human romantic relationships, business-to-consumer relationships fall apart when one party (the business) fails to track the evolving needs of the partner (the consumer). The challenge of sustaining long-term value pushes businesses toward considering short-term relationships as the easiest route to profits.

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About the Author

Mark Ingwer PhD is a consumer psychologist and the managing partner of Insight Consulting Group, a global marketing and strategy consultancy specializing in market research and consumer insights. He has over 25 years of experience applying his unique blend of psychology, marketing, and business acumen to helping companies optimize their brand and marketing strategy based on an in-depth understanding of their customers. He is the author of the book, Empathetic Marketing published by Palgrave.

StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 67 – An Interview with Jeffrey Gitomer, author of 21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling

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StrategyDriven Podcast Special EditionStrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.

Special Edition 67 – An Interview with Jeffrey Gitomer, author of 21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling explores the actions anyone can take to achieve extraordinary selling success. During our discussion, Jeffrey Gitomer, author of 21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling: Proven Actions You Must Take to Make Easier, Faster, Bigger Sales….Now and Forever, shares with us his immediately implementable insights and experiences regarding:

  • StrategyDriven Podcast Special Editionthe importance of personal and customer perception
  • why buying decisions are emotional and then justified logically
  • the importance of social media to the selling process
  • the power of video testimonials and how to get and record them
  • why selling should not be systematized

Additional Information

In addition to the outstanding insights Jeffrey shares in 21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling and this special edition podcast are the resources accessible from his website, www.Gitomer.com. The entire collection of Jeffery’s books and webinars are now available at www.GitomerVT.com.   Jeffrey’s book, 21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling, can be purchased by clicking here.

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About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer, author of 21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling: Proven Actions You Must Take to Make Easier, Faster, Bigger Sales… Now and Forever, is one of the most sought-after international and inspirational speakers in the world; having delivered thousands of corporate and public seminars to the largest national and multi-national corporations. His Little Red Book of Selling is the best-selling sales book of all time, appearing on national bestseller lists in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Business Week more than 300 times. Jeffrey is also a StrategyDriven Principal Contributor, sharing invaluable insights with us on sales, business, and leadership every Monday. To read Jeffrey’s complete biography, click here.

Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Principal is a StrategyDriven Principal, and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.

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Golden Rules for Dealing with Asian Businesses, part 2 of 3

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6. Never cause anyone to lose face
No understanding of Asian mentality is complete without a grasp of the concept of face. Having face means having a high status in the eyes of one’s peers, and it is a mark of personal dignity. You should always be aware of the face factor in your dealings with Asians and never do or say anything that could cause someone to lose face.

7. Suggestions, especially criticism, must be indirect
Open criticism, especially of a personal nature, is taboo in Asian cultures. If one disapproves of a statement or course of action, alternatives may be suggested in a humble manner, as indirectly as possible (“we tried something like that last year… ” or “another thing we found useful… “).

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About the Authors

Kai Hammerich received his M.B.A. from Northwestern University, Kellogg Graduate School of Management and his M.Sc. in economics from the University of Aarhus, Denmark. Based in London, he is a consultant with the international search firm Russell Reynolds Associates. Kai has conducted numerous CEO and board-level assignments for major global companies. He has in-depth experience advising clients on how to align a company’s talent portfolio with its overall business strategy and company culture. Kai has been nominated by BusinessWeek as one of the most influential search experts worldwide.

Richard D. Lewis is a renowned British linguist and founder of Richard Lewis Communications – a language school for executives as well as a company that advises on cross-cultural business issues. He is the creator of the Lewis Model of Cross-Cultural Communication and author of many books including the bestselling When Cultures Collide: Leading Across Cultures.