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Find Out if Your Message Attracts or Detracts

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You are broadcasting messages every day, both verbal and non-verbal, and they tell others what you and your company think of yourself and the world. If you are not aware of the messages you are sending, others are and one’s perception has impact on your strategy’s bottom line.

Your company culture is vital to attracting, retaining, developing and advancing talent. So how do you discover what it is you are “saying?” A little self-examination should start with knowing what your beliefs, attitudes and biases are about yourself and others.

This quiz will help you explore behaviors based on what you believe (consciously or unconsciously), how you show up and recognize some views and behaviors that hamper success. Select the most correct answer for you.

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About the Author

Rosalie ChamberlainRosalie Chamberlain is the author of Conscious Leadership in the Workplace: A Guidebook to Making a Difference One Person at a Time and the owner of Denver, CO-based Rosalie Chamberlain Consulting & Coaching. A thirty-five year organizational culture and eighteen year coaching veteran, she specializes in maximizing talent and productivity within organizations.

Alternative Selection – More Efficient Processes Can Increase Costs

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StrategyDriven Alternative Selection ArticleThere is a common misperception that being more efficient necessarily equates to being more cost effective. However, that relationship does not necessarily exist. While seemingly desirable to be more efficient, the benefits may not necessarily be cost reductions. In fact, depending on where the efficiencies are gained within a given process, higher costs may be incurred. Consequently, leaders must articulate their goals as a specific outcome to be achieved, cost reductions being one, and not simply as a desire to be more efficient.

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Additional Information

Additional information on determining the overall value, including cost reduction potential, of initiatives can be found in the following StrategyDriven articles:

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.

The most coveted prize in selling besides a sale… is a referral.

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Everyone tells you to get referrals. And most people tell you to “ask” for them.

“Don’t forget to ask for a referral.” Horrible strategy. Totally offensive for the most part. Borderline rude. And asking the same customer twice is a death wish.

MY DEFINITION OF A REFERRAL: A name and contact information provided proactively by someone you have a relationship with (most likely a customer) who believes a third party would be willing to, or would benefit from doing business with you – AND they are willing to introduce you and provide a testimonial.

“I know a guy looking for…” “don’t use my name…” “here’s someone to call…” those are not referrals – they’re leads.

Now that that’s out of the way, suppose you actually DO get a referral. Ask, beg, get one proactively, earn one (the best way), whatever, let’s say you have the referral in hand… NOW WHAT?

No one tells you that part. What to do next to ensure the sale? How do you approach this person? How do you maximize the selling power of a referral? And what do you risk with the wrong approach?

Here’s a strategy that will work. CAUTION: It’s significantly slower than you would like, but it WILL WORK. The key is not just patience, it’s a combination of your preparedness, the strength of your relationship with the person giving you the referral, and execution of strategy to build confidence and rapport BEFORE the sales process begins.

Here are 8.5 rules and guidelines to ensure your success:
1. Approach with care, be prepared, don’t move too quickly. Timing is everything. Don’t appear to be too anxious to get the sale (money). Proper set up will breed a long-term relationship (more money) instead of just a sale.

2. Arrange a three-way call, then a three-way meeting. Setting the stage for the first meeting/communication can make it or break it. All three people together will set the perfect stage. Your customer will sing your praises and help make the sale in front of the referral.

3. Connect socially. LinkedIn, and the entire suite of social media. Subscribe to whatever – their blog or ezine. And keep in mind when they see you connect, they will do the same. Rule one: Be at least one notch higher in social profile than your customers and prospects. Not having solid social presence is a fatal mistake.

4. Get personal information about the referral before you make the first contact. Start with mother Google, and advance to cousin LinkedIn and all other members of the online social family. NOTE WELL: Don’t just look for information, look for similar interests, similar people, and similar situations. Common ground will establish immediate positive rapport. LINK STARTERS: Business information, personal information, recent successes, likes, last vacation, children’s schools, hometown. Having their personal information is an advantage. Having web presence is an advantage. Not having personal information is a fatal mistake.

5. You don’t have to sell at the first meeting if your customer is with you. In fact, the less selling you do, the more credible you will appear. You only have to establish rapport, gain confidence, and arrange a second, private meeting where you can get down to business.

6. Try to get the prospect to prepare information for your private meeting. If you can get the prospect to gather and/or compile information, you have an interested prospect who will be willing to talk and listen.

7. Don’t send too much information in the mail or email. The mail and the email, like the phone, is not where a sale is made. It’s just a sales tool. Send just enough to inform, create interest, and make a meeting.

8. Write a personal note to the referral within 24-hours. Brief, but positive. Don’t slobber all over the note with thanks, and thanks again. Just tell him or her it was nice to get acquainted and you’re looking forward to the next meeting.

8.5 Deliver! Failure to follow up and deliver as promised makes you and your customer look bad to the prospect. Failure to deliver also eliminates any chance of another referral. This rule is the most important of all. It’s a breeding ground for your relationship AND your reputation. What kind of reputation have you got?

How valuable are real referrals? One third-party introduction and endorsement is worth a hundred presentations, if you know what you’re doing.

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

About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey 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].

Five Things You Should Advise Your Client to Do with That Defensively Registered Domain

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As a trusted legal advisor, you have taken valiant measures to protect your client’s brand against evil cybersquatters, typo-squatters, domain tasters, and other nefarious enemies by defensively registering a domain. Your client has already spent money to buy the domain, so why not provide your client additional value by encouraging him or her to put the domain to work instead of letting it just gather dust in the registrar account?

Indeed, defensive registration of a new domain is an exciting opportunity for a brand to tell its story, and perhaps more importantly, to attempt something bold, innovative, and exciting. Here are five inexpensive and easy ways your client can utilize that new domain right now:

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About the Author

Statton HammockStatton Hammock is responsible for guiding Rightside on business, legal, and policy matters related to its registry operations. Prior to joining Rightside, Statton spent five years with Network Solutions as Sr. Director of Law and Policy, where he provided legal and strategic business advice related to the protection of intellectual property rights, Internet governance, data security and privacy, and compliance with ICANN policies related to the provisioning, sale, and use of domain names.

Demystifying the Workplace “Unicorn”: The 5-Hour Workday

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The five-hour workday isn’t just this mystical “unicorn” you’ve heard about around the water cooler. It’s real, and it can work for your team.

Why is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the magic time? It’s been used for so long that it’s become immortalized in song. While the traditional 40-hour workweek remains the norm, you’ve changed the way you work.

What used to take all day — making phone calls, waiting for the mail, driving for hours to buy supplies — can now be done with much greater efficiency.

Being an entrepreneur requires you to be efficient and productive. But filling the traditional eight-hour day by churning out more work just means you’ll burn out or run your health into the ground. It’s almost impossible to produce high-quality work for eight hours straight.

I think you can do a better job in five hours.

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About the Author

Stephan AarstolStephan Aarstol is the author of The Five-Hour Workday: Live Differently, Unlock Productivity, and Find Happiness. He is CEO and founder of Tower, a holistic beach-lifestyle company, which includes Tower Paddle Boards, Tower Magazine, SunglassesByTower.com, and a direct-to-consumer surf- and beach-lifestyle company at TowerMade.com .For more information, please visit www.fivehourworkday.com and www.towerpaddleboards.com and connect with Stephan on Twitter, @stephan.aarstol.