- 3 Secrets of World Class Manager
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Employee engagement is critical to the success of a team and the organization they belong to. While it may be difficult, it is possible for a team to be successful with a bad manager. However, it is nearly impossible for a manager to succeed if she doesn’t have the support of her team. The quickest way for a manager to engage employees and gain the buy-in necessary for everyone to succeed is through the use of praise and appreciation.
There are many different methods for giving praise and recognition. However, there are three methods in particular that I have had tremendous success with throughout my career. Unfortunately, I don’t remember if or where I picked up these methods. I would love to give the right folks credit, so if you know who developed these ideas, please let me know so I can properly acknowledge them.
The Praise Triangle
Oftentimes when you praise a co-worker it can feel like you are sucking up. One way to get around this is to talk about co-workers behind their back—in a positive sense, of course. When you hear one co-worker saying something positive about another co-worker, pass on the praise to the deserving co-worker.
In this way, everyone wins. You don’t look like you are sucking up because you are passing along what someone else said. The person who made the comment wins because now they have won favor for talking behind someone else’s back in a positive way. Most of all, the co-worker who earned the praise feels great because they have been appreciated by two people.
The Traveling Trophy
Choose a behavior or skill you want to reinforce on your team. Examples could include teamwork, customer service or innovation. At a team meeting, award a trophy that is symbolic of the meaning of the award. Explain what the employee did to earn the award. Let the employee know they will be responsible for awarding the trophy to the next employee who has earned it in their eyes. This is effective because it takes the power of praise and recognition and puts in the hands of the employees.
From the Top Down
Typically, the higher the level of management you reach, the more problems you will face. It can become exhausting to hear only bad news all the time. When you have an employee that is doing an outstanding job, pass the news on to your supervisor, and to higher levels than that if possible. Ask that supervisor to thank your employee for doing a great job. This exercise will have significant meaning for the supervisor, and especially the employee.
There is no perfect way to praise employees. It can be different for each employer, each employee and each supervisor. To give yourself the greatest chance for success, make praise and appreciation a regular part of your conversations using these techniques, or any other method you think can help your team feel the love!
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- Marketing vs. Sales
In the next couple of weeks I will be filming a video session with Patrick Galvin of Galvin Communications. As you know, I am passionate about sales and helping you close more sales. Well, Mr. Galvin is “one of those” marketing guys. He is as passionate about marketing as I am about sales. Now, before you marketing folks send me your hate mail; know that I believe marketing is a critical component to the success of many organizations. Patrick does an outstanding job and the power of his marketing expertise cannot be denied. Well, our passions led us to an interesting conversation. Is marketing more important than sales or does sales reign supreme?
Using our blogs as our weapons and video as the battlefield, we are going to settle this debate once and for all! To warm up for the marketing vs. sales showdown I am sharing my ideas here for you to comment on and help me prepare for battle.
1. Close Ratios
Quick! Think of three brands of cars. Car companies spend millions to be the first car that came to your mind. So let’s say you go look at those three car brands that came to mind. Does the buying experience impact your decision? Of course it does. If you aren’t sure of what car to buy then you need someone to help you by identifying what you are looking for and then make sure they put you in the vehicle that delivers you the best solution.
This is where sales training comes in. Sales training should teach you how to ask the right questions to match the customer up with the correct product. If a sales rep does not know how to do that then they are much less likely to get the sale. If you have outstanding marketing that drives people to the business, but you cannot close the sale when they get there then what good is marketing at all? Having well trained sales reps that know how to close business makes the most of every prospect.
2. Referrals
When a customer has a great experience with a sales person the buying experience is a pleasure and it creates repeat customers and referral sales. Let take a restaurant as an example. My mother has a waiter at a very posh restaurant that makes a Caesar salad that is amazing. The waiter is friendly, funny and extremely knowledgeable. He has built a relationship of trust with Mom and she tells everyone about this waiter. Countless people have gone to the restaurant because of her recommendation.
With so many choices available people are turning to the opinions of their friends and family to cut through the clutter. It is a relief to know you are going to buy from someone you can trust. Without that waiter being a great sales person the restaurant would not have the best marketing tool available; referrals.
3. The Two “P’s” of Sales
If you take a basic marketing course you will hear that marketing is about product, packaging, pricing and placement (add promotion to wow your marketing teacher). Sales is about people and profits. Sales people build relationships (see #2) and protect profit margins.
I had a client that spent tons of money on marketing that generated great traffic. The problem was that the sales reps did not know how to sell and so they were discounting almost every transaction! If the profit on a product was $100 they would take off $60 to get a sale. However, once sales training introduced the concept of building product value prices were rarely cut any more. Even if marketing nails the four (or five) P’s, it will not do much good without well trained sales reps building relationships and protecting profits.
So what do you think about my arguments? Do you agree that sales is more important than marketing? Help me refine my argument before the big showdown! I will post the video on my blog at www.steppingstonesolutions.com after the showdown takes place.
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- 5 Warning Signs Your Goals Will Fail
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You set goals with the best of intentions. Your goals put you on a path to accomplish something important and you are excited to cross the finish line. However, some of your goals may be doomed to fail from the beginning. By watching out for these five warning signs your goals will fail you will stand a much better chance of accomplishing your goals.
Warning Sign #1: Believing SMART goals are enough.
SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. These SMART goals fall short because they don’t help you focus on actions. SMART goals create a framework that will tell you if your actions have been successful, but they don’t force you to determine what those actions should be. Wanting to lose twenty pounds in three months is a very SMART goal. However, what actions need to be taken to get there?
Warning Sign #2: Not creating daily activities.
People can become so overwhelmed by the size of their goal that they give up. Imagine counting how much further you have to run in a marathon versus how far it is to the next mile marker. The finish line is overwhelming, but the other is achievable. If at the end of each day you review your actions that day you will know if you are making the right choices to achieve your goal or you can make the needed small adjustments to keep you on the path of success.
Warning Sign #3: Not reviewing activities daily.
Even if you know what you are supposed to do each day it won’t help if you don’t sit down and track your success for that day. It becomes easy to forget about daily action you have committed to making if you aren’t hold yourself accountable each day. The only way that happens is if you are reviewing your activities each day.
Warning Sign #4: Beating yourself up when you aren’t perfect.
Mistakes happen and they are an expected part of improvement. Mistakes are an indicator that improvements in your daily decision making are needed to establish long lasting change. When you measure your daily actions each day don’t become frustrated if you weren’t perfect. Simply come up with a plan to avoid the mistake in the future.
Warning Sign #5: Not telling others about the goal.
Most of us hate letting others down. When you are by yourself you might convince yourself it is okay to order that big beautiful burger. It is much more difficult to order that same burger if four friends sitting around the table know you want to lose twenty pounds. Also consider working with others who are set the same goal as you so you can hold each other accountable.
Avoiding these five warning signs will greatly increase the likelihood that you will achieve the personal and professional growth you seek. Of course, it will take more time to plan out your goals, but isn’t it worth it to feel the thrill of accomplishing those hard earned goals.
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