AFTER THE MEETING… ACHIEVING RESULTS

For the last two weeks, we’ve been examining meeting best practices to ensure we make the most of time spent at business gatherings  In the last two weeks, you’ve probably attended at least one meeting… perhaps even a few.  If you were running the meeting, did you make sure to only invite those that needed to attend, set it at a convenient time and place, and then prepare and distribute an agenda prior to the meeting?   If you were attending the meeting, did you review the meeting agenda and ensure you were fully prepared to contribute to the meeting? Continue reading →

MAKING THE MOST OF EVERY MEETING

Last week, we determined that it is important to use best practices to ensure that the myriad of business meetings we attend are productive.  Specific actions were recommended to ensure that every person attending a meeting is fully prepared to participate and contribute. Continue reading →

PREPARING FOR THE MEETING

Most business people spend a substantial part of their day in meetings.  Meetings with clients.  Meeting with coworkers.  Meetings with stakeholders.  Department meetings.  Project meetings.  Board meetings.  All of these meetings consume time, energy, and focus.  Continue reading →

Email has become an indispensable part of business communication today.  Just how indispensable is it?  Ever seen what happens when email communication breaks down at work?  Frustration rises in equal proportion to the drop in productivity.  Indeed, much of our day-to-day communications occurs via email… and these emails are digitally encrypted in corporate hard drives and servers forever. Continue reading →

Stress is no laughing matter . . . or is it?  According to a report by the United Nations International Labor Organization, “Stress has become one of the most serious health issues of our times.”  While stress is part of everyone’s life and there are many ways to contend with stress – everything from jogging to biofeedback and from aerobics to herbal tea – apparently the quickest and most effective way to relieve stress or diffuse a bad situation is literally to laugh it off. Continue reading →

Non-stop negativity.  Chronic complaining.  Wearisome whining.   Persistent pessimism.  Know anyone like this? It seems like every workplace and every social group has at least one “Negative Ninny” – a person for whom the weather is always too something (hot, cold, wet, dry, cloudy, sunny…), the brother is annoying, the food is lousy, the vacation was a drag, and… well, you get the picture. For this type of person, the proverbial glass is always half empty.  No matter how good things are, this naysayer can only see the bad…. and worse, feels compelled to express it to everyone else. Like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, for this person the “Outcome always looks sort of gloomy.”  Continue reading →

THE ART OF DEVELOPING MORE REFERRAL SOURCES

It’s not news that referrals are an excellent way to get more business. We all ask people we know when we’re looking for a new product or service.  We rely on our friends and colleagues for advice in these situations in order to make the best decisions.  The more complex or important the service or product needed, the more we turn to trusted sources for advice.  Legal advice.  Financial assistance.  Medical help.  Real estate transactions.  These, for example, are all areas where a referral by a friend or colleague carries more weight.  Continue reading →

YOUR COMPANY THROUGH YOUR CUSTOMER’S EYES

• Ever placed an order and found that it was not ready when it was supposed to be? 

• Ever asked about a product or service and found that the salesperson did not know the answer? 

• Ever called a place of business at numerous different times of the day and got voice mail every time?  Continue reading →

HOW TO INCREASE YOUR MARKET SHARE BY SELLING TO EXISTING CUSTOMERS

It takes a lot of effort and a lot of marketing dollars to reach and then sell to new customers.  It’s often easier and more effective to sell more to existing customers than it is to acquire new ones. The first step is to understand why your existing customers turn to you.  Once you understand why your existing customers come to you, you can examine ways of getting them to buy more, more frequently or other products / services. Continue reading →

11 WAYS TO REACH THE DECISION-MAKER

No matter what business you are in, chances are that it requires some degree of ‘sales.’  And anyone involved in sales can tell you that selling is a process.  There are steps.  Once you thoroughly know your product or service and you know your audience, the first step in business-to-business sales is to identify and contact a decision maker at a company that could use your product or service.  If you trying to reach a big company, it might be someone in the procurement department.  If you’re selling to a mid-sized company, it could be a department manager.  If you are selling to a small company, it might be a director or owner.  No matter who, communicating with the decision maker is often a challenge, especially without an introduction. Continue reading →