Alfred Nobel, the man behind the Nobel prize once said, “If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied.” Here are a few ideas we want to share with you this month. Hope you can use just one! And (way cool) we have a new blog! Check it out on our brand new homepage: www.bates-communications.com.
Cheers,
Suzanne
5 Star Boss Series: “You’re Such a Great Listener!”
Have you ever had a boss that really listened to you?
Chances are, if you did, that boss was your all time favorite.
Why does this matter, or should it matter, for any business? Because people who believe their bosses listen feel valued and connected to the organization. Companies spend millions of dollars every year on employee engagement surveys, and spend hours in meetings trying to brainstorm ways to make employees happier. Mostly what employees want are the simple things, like a boss who cares about their opinions.
I rarely meet a person who tells me that he or she is a bad listener. We think we’re pretty good at it. Yet our experience in the world proves otherwise. Most of us have only a few friends and colleagues who truly listen to us.
Some of us are autobiographical listeners. We don't necessarily listen with an open mind, let alone reply with one. How can we become a focused listener? What mental cues can we give ourselves to listen better? What should we be listening for?
Here are 6 tips that will change every single meeting you have with a colleague or employee.
- Value a "listening mindset." A listening mindset is one that values others and respects their opinions. What we're really talking about is how you "live" the golden rule -- to treat others as we want to be treated. All of us want other people to value our opinions and respect us as individuals. You earn that opportunity every day, by valuing and respecting others.
- Avoid jumping to conclusions. This is one of the most damaging things you can do to a relationship. Even if you think you've heard it before, you may be wrong. For example, if someone makes a mistake or you hear of a problem that involves them, invite them in and start by asking them this question: "What happened?" Then, allow them to explain. If you begin with a corrective message or assumption it was their fault, they will shut down. You haven't given them the opportunity to share what happened from their point of view. Never fall for the "first person in the door" routine -- in other words, don't assume the first person to complain has the correct perspective on the situation.
- Ask open-ended questions. This is the most important thing you can do when trying to sell or influence others. You must ask great questions and keep asking until you fully understand all aspects of their position. People are not interested in what you know until they see you're interested in what they know. Open ended questions allow you to become a person of influence, as you gather critical information that can help you find the win-win. In sales, an open ended question can lead to such a productive conversation that the prospect actually sells himself on working with you.
- Stop multi-tasking. Focused listening requires all of you. It is tempting to multi-task, especially if you are talking with someone on the phone. I once had a client who used to check email while on long conference calls with her sales team. The outcome was she was not fully present, and they knew it, so they kept talking, hoping to win her over. And, as she tried to write while listening, her emails also suffered. When she changed her approach, and did one task at a time she dramatically cut down the length of her calls, which gave her more time to manage her email.
- Balance confidence with humility. What makes a focused listener stand out is the fact that they don't believe they have all the answers. They are willing to admit that their experiences are important, but that no one has a corner on the "truth." Humility is a very fine quality in a person, especially when you balance it with the confidence of experience. Every great leader I've ever worked with has a nice balance of these two qualities.
- Listen with all of you. We often hear the advice to fully focus on people, to look them in the eye, open up our arms and use relaxed body language. What you may not know is that this is not just for the benefit of the person who is speaking. It's for your own benefit, too. When you look people in the eye, and open up your body language, you are giving your own brain a cue to stay focused and to be open to what they have to say. It is so much easier to listen in a focused way when you physically "listen," too.
Love the Customers You Have:
How to Tap Into Those Great Customer Relationships, to Increase Revenues and Profits
By Sarah Woods
One of the most common questions among business owners and corporate leaders is “How can we increase revenues?” The answer might be to build sales, expand market share, extend product offerings, or reduce expenses. The formulas are the same among most companies. But what can differentiate you is your ability to leverage what works into revenue growth.
Here’s what you can’t influence – the economy, the business climate in your industry, what your competition is doing, and to some extent, the resources you have to work with. So what can you influence? The answer lies with your customers.
It is human nature to equate growth with change. After all, it’s been said that “if the shoe fits, you’re not allowing for growth.” However, consider the missed opportunity for growth if you view increasing sales as a purely linear process… asking only “who else needs our products or services?” Most companies invest their marketing budgets on extending the company’s reach by providing “air-cover” for sales efforts, and teeing up new opportunities. But one of the most overlooked yet richest sources of new revenue comes from your existing customer base.
Your satisfied customers already buy in to the value you offer. Your unsatisfied customers bought in, but were disappointed. Within both groups are ripe opportunities for new revenues…but you must tap them. How will you increase revenues? By reconnecting with your customers, and building long-term value that will generate new business repeatedly over the life of those relationships.
So instead of racking your brain to uncover undiscovered markets, follow some simple steps to leverage what works:
- Put in the time and money to know your customers. If you don’t have a database that gives you easy access to who’s buying your product or service, build one…it’ll pay you back in spades.
- Mine your data. Use the resources you have to know who’s buying WHAT, WHEN, WHY and HOW. Whether you have comprehensive data on purchasing history and customer satisfaction indices or simply an accounts receivable report, you have information you can use to build new sales.
- Get back in touch. Your sales organization would love nothing more than to reconnect with a happy customer…if they only knew who they were. Believe it or not, they would also love nothing more than to talk with an unhappy one. Every unhappy customer is an opportunity.
- Get strategic. If they bought that product or service then, they may need this product or service NOW. Know the lifecycle of what you offer, and the prompts in your current customer’s life when the next cycle will come around. THAT’S your moment of opportunity. Help them plan for it.
- Become a partner…you’ll gain an advocate. If the name of the game is increasing the VALUE of the relationship with your customer base over the life of that relationship – do so by knowing how to solve their problems before they know they have them.
Every business has a wealth of new revenues that lie untapped
year after year in the file cabinets and databases of their organization.
You have the opportunity to either leverage that unparalleled
resource, or let it languish and ultimately, dissolve. As the
19th century novelist George Elliot said, “The strongest
principle of growth lies in human choice”.
Nine Questions to Ask Your Boss
Suzanne Bates contributed to this great article on cnn.com about communicating with your boss. Click here to read it!
Executive Corner: Check Your Calendar – Do Your Appointments Reflect What You Said You Would Do in Your New Year’s Resolutions?
When you started the year, just two short months ago, you probably made some resolutions. The goals had action steps. You determined they were important to making 2008 a great year.
As the flowers are blooming and spring is in the air, it's a great time to go back and look at what you said you would do. These are promises you've made to yourself! Don't wait before you start putting activities on the calendar!
Break up the big goals into smaller steps. For example, if you want to develop better presentation skills, identify an event coming up and put more practice time on the calendar prior to that meeting. If your goal is to develop a communications plan for a new initiative, set up a meeting with your team to brainstorm ideas. What gets on the calendar gets done. It's as simple as that.
One way to track whether your busy lifestyle is actually supporting your growth and development is to look at your calendar. See if the appointments there represent action steps on major goals. You won't believe what a powerful sense of control you feel when you are making progress toward those goals and the evidence is there on your daily planner.
On the other hand, if you note that many of your appointments and much of your time is getting frittered away on things that are not moving you toward your goals, that's a big red flag. Take a step back, evaluate some of those regular meetings and activities and determine if you can do something different with that time. Make sure what you are doing is aligned with those priorities.
Here are some action steps you can take right now to get on track.
- Highlight every appointment that you dread, doesn't feel right - or doesn't move you ahead on a top priority;
- Delegate, delete or delay every single one you possible can;
- Leave a blank space there, for now;
- Take 25% of that time and allocate it to top priority action items related to goals;
- Block off another 25% and call it: strategic time (you will use it later, as appropriate);
- Leave the rest entirely blank, because other priority projects will come up and you want to have the white space to do them;
- Now step back and breathe a sigh of relief. You actually have now made time for what's important.
In coaching many executives over the years, I've noted that when we apply this process, it creates all kinds of time for them to develop their communication strategies and skills. Suddenly, they have a ton of time to do things they know they should do, but never seem to have time for…such as brainstorm a "big idea" they want to present; practice a presentation so they "ace" it; prepare well for a meeting with the boss, etc.
What are you looking for on your calendar?
- Time to practice a really great presentation for the sales meeting;
- Time to work on a great story that makes a point for an employee meeting;
- Time to prepare to effectively answer Q and A for investor conference or a board meeting;
- Time to sit and talk, and perhaps coach a high potential leader in the company;
- Time to pick up the phone and communicate with a customer or prospect.
Be ruthless with your calendar. Your most precious commodity in life, and in business, is time. Make sure your calendar reflects your priorities. This is beyond "time management." It is business management, and life management!
In this Issue
Upcoming Events
and Boot Camps
(pdf 4MB)