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Executive Coach Provides Tips on New Year’s Resolutions

January 4, 2010 By

Will 2010 be your best year ever?  It should be!

Now that the Holiday Season is behind us, it’s time to focus on the year ahead.* If you’re as excited as I am about the year ahead, I’ve put together the following six (6) tips which I believe will allow you to not only establish clear/concise New Year’s resolutions, but actually be able to implement them in order to achieve success.  These tips came about as a result of an executive coaching conversation that I held during the Holidays with a client.  Here are the basics from that coaching conversation:

Client: “I’ve got so many things that I want to work on in 2010… I’m just a little concerned that I won’t be able to get to all of them.”

Sam: “Tell me about the ‘things’ that you want to work on.  Let’s just list them out first in no particular order.”

Client: ”Sales, the organization leaders, organization development, products, our customer retention, team building, performance reviews, marketing, overcoming the economy (again!), succession planning, the company website, recruiting, terminations…”

If you had similar thoughts, or even if you haven’t, use the following six (6) New Year’s Resolution implementation tips for success:

  1. Consistency – Be consistent in your approach to setting, as well as solving, your resolutions.  Consistency from my coaching perspective primarily surrounds the principles of establishing goals that are realistic for you within the timeframe you identify.  While most executives that I coach are “hard chargers” who achieve what others think/forget about, you’ll get more done if you establish a plan of action that is consistent.  Studies have shown that your productivity will come in “waves” during the month (“Employee Engagement: What It Is and Why You Need It” BusinessWeek Online 5/11/09).  The key is to capitalize on those moments through consistent action.
  2. Enjoyment – Do you enjoy the resolution that you’ve come up with for yourself?  Our studies show that if you do, you are 97% more likely to accomplish it.  So if you don’t enjoy what you’ve resoluted, then you’ll really need to focus on the outcomes that it will provide you with.  Here’s an example, one of our coaching clients wanted to focus on time management for the year ahead.  Unfortunately, while he is very productive, he is extremely insensitive to time.  It’s not that he doesn’t care about time, he’s just more comfortable working in his own “time zone”.  When he identified time management as a resolution, we drove towards the outcomes that he would receive when he would master time.  The benefits (primarily get even more accomplished, make even more money, become even more successful) were of great importance to our executive.  It’s this level of importance coupled with his desires that are our primary focal points.
  3. Get Assistance – The amount of information that is available to each of us is staggering.  For example, a single issue of the New York Times contains more literature content that your grandfather encountered during his entire life!  So with information everywhere, which way should you turn?  While it’s simple to say that you need to “decide, commit and succeed” the reality is that it is often much more difficult in the real world.  We recommend researching your resolution for the current best practice that has stood a time-test (Keep in mind that what was successful ten years ago may, or may not be, successful today… Technology played a key role in the extinction of many great productivity tools!  As a result, one must locate strategies that have proven successful for others, as well as ones that can be implemented into your needs.  Finally, you’ll want to establish an accountability program (If you’d like to establish a formal accountability program that will ensure that you achieve your resolutions, contact us at 877-455-3133 or info@pathosleadershipgroup.com).
  4. Be Social – I know that you have good ideas that you want to make great… However, determine if the resolutions that you’ve established are so far flung (advanced) that you couldn’t get there in 2010 with an eleven foot ladder!  All too often I find leaders during our coaching sessions that want to drive towards the “advanced” playing stages without ensuring that they have mastered the foundational “basics”.  Here’s a good tip, take a look around you and determine who in your industry/organization/space already has the resolution that you want to drive towards.  After you identify this individual, reach out to them and ask them for some help.  This will take a certain level of “swallowing” of one’s pride, but it will allow you to (1) engage with an individual who is operating successfully on the resolution you identified and (2) interview them to identify not only how they achieved such success, but formulate your own action plan.  Looking “advanced” is great, but getting “advanced” advice from someone who’s already there will save you considerable time.
  5. Get Scarce – Most of the leaders who approach us here at Pathos Leadership Group like the idea of having an executive coaching relationship, but aren’t certain how they’ll be able to make the time available.  If you look deep enough at what you want to accomplish, and more importantly how you’re spending your time, you’ll find that you probably have a decision to make.  There are unproductive portions of your day.  The key is in identifying those portions of the day/week/month that drive the least productivity for you and cut them out!  One of the executives we coached last year was on several very high profile boards of directors.  While the prestige he received was good for his ego, it was bad for his productivity and pocketbook.  If you’d like to receive our Pathos Leadership Group “Influential Time Management” productivity tool, email info@pathosleadershipgroup.com and we’ll forward one to you.  Please include your contact information (First + Last Name, Company Name and Direct Phone Number) in your request.
  6. Reciprocate – Success is both a journey as well as a destination.  You’ve got to give it back, even when it appears you have nothing to give!  You probably know of a few people that have prepared their own resolutions for the coming year… Why not offer to help them accomplish them?  Here are a couple of recommendations… (1) Ask if you can help without being asked, (2) put yourself in situations where you can be asked to assist, (3) give recommendations after you determine what it is that your being asked to recommend and (4) forward on the link to this article so that you can begin assisting!

2010 should be your best year!  By adhering to the above six tips towards solving your New Year’s Resolutions you may just be in position to establish new “New Year’s Resolutions” prior to the beginning of next year.  Remember… a real leader makes their own luck!

Sam Palazzolo, CPLP, PCC

*While it’s never too late to begin preparing, we recommend a more proactive timing for forecasting.  For example, we assisted most of our clients here at Pathos to begin their forecasting process in Q3 or Q4 of 2009.

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Sales Coach: What Do You Do When They Don’t Buy From You?

August 12, 2009 By

You work hard to sell your product or service, right?  Nothing is handed to you… Sometimes your sales cycle is short, other times it’s long.  Regardless, as a sales professional you are out there pounding the pavement (or email system “virtually” pounding the internet superhighway) every day.  Just when you think you’ve got the sale, the prospect puts the brakes on and calls a halt to the sales action.  You hit the “pause” button as well and move on to another prospect.  When you ultimately do buckle-back with the prospect, you find out that they’ve bought your product or service, just not from you! What went wrong?  What will you do now?  The following “Seven Tips to Offset Lost Sales” are for you if this scenario happens to you far too often (In our sales coaching practice, our clients learn that once is often enough!)

Tip #1 – Qualify the Prospect
One of our coaching clients is in the real estate industry.  They successfully run one of the leading, and largest, real estate agencies in the country.  During our initial meetings, I asked what made them different from the many other real estate agencies out there.  Now I’ve asked that question before and I’m always excited to hear what the answer is.  This time, I have to admit that I was a little surprised!  The answer that I received back was that they do a better job of qualifying the prospect than other agencies.  This allows them to fully serve those clients in their best interest.  In order to avoid losing the sale and sell more, you’ve got to qualify your customer.  Does your offering serve them better than anyone else?  Do they have the budget?  How long will your solution be the answer?  These questions may seem to be way upstream regarding the lost sales conversation, but if you do a better job at qualifying your customers initially you’ll gain more sales!

Tip #2 – Stay in Touch
Ok, let’s get real here.  If you’re like most salespeople you enjoy the hunt, sometimes you enjoy it more than the actual reaping of the rewards from the sale.  So when you have a prospect that says “I need to think about it…” or “Follow-up with me in a few…” you fall for it and move on to the next hunting ground.  When you buckle-back, they’ve bought somewhere else (Just like in the opening example!)  What happened?  You lost the sale because you got greedy and moved on to the next pond to fish when you should have left a line in the water, or at the minimum come back to the pond and fish more frequently.  There’s a reason why people aren’t buying from you right here, right now.  Do you know what they are?  These are the “3 P’s” we discovered regarding why customers don’t buy from you.  Send us an email (info@pathosleadershipgroup.com) requesting them and we’ll send you a special report so you stay in touch better!

Tip #3 – Polish Your Presentation
When was the last time you practiced your presentation?  If you’re like one of our clients, they practice every day on their way in to the office.  Unfortunately, they used to lose sales even with all that practice!  So what was going wrong?  Practice is good, but “Perfect Practice” is better!  Also, if you’re presentation is taking place in a different “realm” (i.e., virtually like on the internet through a web-meeting or on the phone through a conference call) you’d better be practicing in that realm.  No amount of “windshield” practice can prepare you for the challenges of these new presentation realms.  We are convinced that Murphy’s Law is in full-force in these new spaces, so you better practice up!

Tip #4 – Serve the Prospect
Just because you didn’t make the sale on your first conversation doesn’t mean that you’ve lost it for good.  So what do you do with your prospect during the sales process?  In the New Economy sales-cycles have almost doubled.  What could be accomplished leading prospects from introduction to successful sale over seven touches now takes fourteen!  The time period associated with these additional touches gives you the opportunity to outshine your competition and deliver in other realms for your prospect.  What else do they need, that you offer, that you could deliver while they’re in decision mode?  Could you deliver them and help swing the decision making process in your favor?  Stop serving only your current customers and start delivering to prospects.

Tip #5 – Survey the Lost Customer
Sometimes in defeat you can determine your next victory strategies!  Survey your lost customers to determine what went wrong.  Perhaps it was your presentation or follow-up efforts, perhaps you didn’t provide enough detail or perhaps too much detail, maybe you don’t have the right technology, etc.  You’ll never know if you don’t ask, so ask!  The feedback could be humbling, but beneficial in discovering what you won’t do the next time.  Want even better feedback?  Have us interview your prospects after they’ve bought somewhere else. What customers won’t tell you because they’re afraid they’ll “hurt your feelings” they will tell us!

Tip #6 – Know Thy Competitor
So who did you lose out to?  Better yet, why did you lose out to them?  These are common questions that we ask of our sales coaching clients.  I continue to be dumbfounded when I hear “I don’t know!”  You don’t know?  You don’t know? Find out and more importantly find out what they are delivering that you aren’t.  Then figure out how you can deliver it better!  New competitors are everywhere all the time, even if you’re like one of our pharmaceutical clients!  Keep your competitors closer to you and you’ll be more successful.

Tip #7 – Know Thyself
Time to get real again… You know why you lost the sale, so stop BS’ing yourself! Look yourself in the mirror and hold yourself accountable.  If after reading the previous six tips you still don’t know why you are losing sales, perhaps sales is not for you!  Bad news, you’re always selling something.  One of the seminar companies that we did some work for a few years ago coined the term “lifelong learner” in their workshop presentations.  They brought up the term right around the time they’d offer their products for sale.  Guess what happened, people realized that they were not lifelong learners.  However, they wanted to be so they bought!  If you’re not investing 20% of your annual income in lifelong learning activities you’re falling behind your competition.
By following the preceding seven tips, you won’t win 100% of your sales proposals.  However, you will greatly increase your percentage from where you are today by being aware of them, working on them, and implementing them into your sales game plan.

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Sales Coach: Influential Sales – Are You Hungry for More?

August 11, 2009 By

Influential Sales – Are You Hungry for More?
5 Techniques You Can Implement Today to Increase Sales Tomorrow

In business, nothing matters more than selling your products or services.   It doesn’t matter how educated your recent hires are, or how cool your Web site is or how great your products or services are if your company doesn’t have the ability to sell.  And then when sales do occur, it’s as if they are an unquenchable thirst or an insatiable appetite – you constantly want more; your achievements never seem to be enough!  So if you’ve got sales “hunger pains” (and who doesn’t?) here are five techniques you can implement to get more sales today!

Technique #1 – Give It Away! – Yeah, that’s right, give it away!  No, not the farm … your experience.  Right now your customers are concerned about where they are and how they’re going to get back to level ground!  And your products or services can perform better than others in the current economy, right?  Well let your customers know, and let them know right now!  Offer your experience as the differentiator amongst your competition and you’ll rise to the top.  Your current customers will love you more (they do love you, right?) and they’ll receive even more value from the product or service you provide.  Information is like fish: If you sit on it for a few days, it will not get better with age!  This leads us to our next technique…

Technique #2 – Get Referrals – Nothing is such sweet music to a salesperson’s ears as is the soothing sound of a phone ringing from a referral.  Why?  Because referred customers are nearly 80 percent sold on you already, thanks to your current customer base.  Converting them the remaining 20 percent of the way is a no-brainer.  However, most salespeople rarely get this opportunity because they never take the time to buckle-back to their current customer base and ask for the referral.  Now, there is something inherently exciting about the hunt and chase associated with going after new clients, but it’s way too hard!  Contact those people you’re already doing business with (technique #1 provides a golden opportunity) and up your level of service to them.  Once you have, ask them who you might be able to contact that would enjoy a similar level of service!  Done…simple!  Which leads us to Technique #3…

Technique #3 – Introduce Yourself with Influence – The first step to meeting a new client, either face-to-face or over the phone, is an introduction.  The way you’ve introduced yourself in the past won’t work anymore!  It just won’t.  Can you imagine your prospective client answering their phone and hearing “Hello, Ms. Jones, this is John Doe calling from Company XYZ, how are you today?  Did I catch you at a great time?” First of all, they probably have gatekeepers answering the phone!  But if they do answer the phone, you’re going to have to be a lot stronger than the typical, “How are you…Great time?” salesperson.  You’re going to have to introduce yourself as an expert.  How?  You don’t have 30 seconds to rattle off your resume and talk about all the degrees and certifications you’ve got plastered on the walls in your office!  You’ve actually got just two seconds!  Immediately introduce yourself and say who referred you:“Hello, Ms. Jones, this is Sam Palazzolo.  Jane Doe recommended that I give you a call and here’s why.” This is much better, and straight to the point of why you are calling.  Whether your prospect woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day, or happened to be late to an important meeting, he or she is going to want to know why Jane suggested you to call them.  Notice you should not say your company name or title …Why not?  Simple answer … they don’t care!  It just gets in the way right now.  There will be plenty of time to tell them where you work later.  Which leads us to Technique #4…

Technique #4 – Know Thy Stuff – If you are going to tee yourself up with the line “…referred me and here’s why…” the next information out of your mouth had better be the good stuff!  What’s the good stuff?  It’s the merits of why this person would want to do business with you: “Our service drives 500 percent improvement in productivity … You’ll decrease your turnover rate by 300 percent … One of our clients attained a 3x revenue improvement …” Rank order your merits regarding why the customer should do business with you versus your competition and know each one in order of “important” to “majorly important!”  Which leads us to Technique #5…

Technique #5 – Perfect Practice Makes Perfect – There’s that romantic notion that you can get in front of a customer and “fake it ‘til you make it” … wrong!  There’s a simple recipe as to why people succeed; work hard + work smart!  Here’s your opportunity to do both.  As discussed above, practice the merits of your argument both backwards and forwards, and know them inside and out!  When you present them to a prospective client, start with the “important” items and work towards the “majorly important” ones.  But before you communicate the most important merit that drives the most return on investment (ROI) for your prospect, do something that no one else will do.  You know the negatives of doing business with your company, right?  Maybe you’re very expense, have slow production cycles or shipping cycles, or perhaps it’s the cost of your product or service.  If it has lost you a sale in the past, it’s a negative.  Now, right before you give your customers the biggest merit for doing business with you, tell them that negative.  What?!?  That’s right, rattle off the positive merits of doing business with you versus someone else and then right before you tell them the biggest advantage of all, tell them a negative merit!  This is something advertisers discovered years ago which will make you an instant authority.  You will gain incredible ground in the “trustworthy and credibility” areas.  In a matter of seconds you can accomplish what would otherwise take you weeks, months or years!

Regardless of how you’ve performed when  “selling” in past, these five sales techniques will provide you with more influence to achieve more success and feed that sales hunger.  After all, nothing else matters!

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