Sharpen the Saw

"There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self." Aldous Huxley

The most successful business people are those who are continuously learning to perfect their craft. Even if you're the best sales person in your organization, there is always room for improvement. That type of improvement comes from getting sales training in a professional setting that allows you to role play, brainstorm and explore new ways to uncover opportunities you may be missing. Even the seasoned sales professional can get set in his ways and while successful, could be leaving a lot of money on the table. As Stephen Covey says in his 7 habits of highly effective people, it is important to sharpen the saw (http://www.stephencovey.com/).

Whether you are an accountant, health care professional, legal professional, or are a member of a trade which requires a certification or license to practice, you are mandated to complete a certain number of continuing education classes to maintain that license or certificate.

Sales professionals should impose similar requirements on themselves as if their "certification in sales" were at stake. The canvas is changing all the time. People used to "cold canvas" i.e., knock door to door to sell their products. Now you don't even have to meet - all you need in some cases is connectedness over the internet. Through online/social networking sites, internet sites and blogs you can outsource some of the less productive functions to a third party - giving you more time for selling. The point is that you have to keep yourself fresh and on top of all the new trends, not just from your products and services and those of your clients and prospects, but also of new ways in which people want to buy. You need to stay fresh by participating in sales training on a regular basis. Change happens quickly and you need to stay on top of everything that is going on so that you can win in the game of business.

To help you sharpen your saw, Possibilities Unlimited offers a Sales2Win course. The program is 8 one-hour telesessions conducted over 16 weeks. Ralph White leads this course with the assistance of Bonnie Landau, our online marketing, search engine optimization, web development, and social networking expert; Lee Ann Farmer, our time management, productivity and sales efficiency expert; and me, Mary Mullenhoff, our prospecting, sales strategy, marketing strategy, getting in at the highest level of an organization expert! Our combined diverse experiences make us the perfect team to add to your mastermind alliance (http://www.naphill.org/points/). We team with you to help upgrade your sales pitch, acquire high quality, high revenue and highly profitable targets and develop winning strategies to turn them into satisfied customers. Email us or call to reserve your spot in the next Sales2Win class (for every friend you refer to us, we'll give you 10% off of your 8-session fee!)It's a win/win for all!

Are you ready to win?

The Coach/Client Relationship - What to Expect

"I learn golf from golfers. I learn winning from coaches." - Harvey Penick, American Pro Golfer and Coach

We get a lot of questions from prospective clients who have never before worked with a business coach. If you haven’t been through that process, it’s tough to know what to expect. What will the coach bring to the table? What benefits will I get from coaching? And one of the most common concerns of all – how will this coach know enough about my business to help me?

Here’s some insight into the coaching process and the coach/client relationship. It might help you to zero in on the coach who is best suited to support your set of circumstances.

1. A coach’s job is to hold you accountable for the results you want to achieve. The coach should not have too many opinions about your goals and objectives. They are your goals and objectives. The coach is there to make sure you show up and deliver on those intentions.

2. A good coach does not need expertise in your field of endeavor. A good coach should speak the language of business, not necessarily the language of your industry. We are not here to tell dentists how to be dentists or manufacturers how to make things. We are here to open up new possibilities for getting the business to work.

3. Expect objectivity. The coach should not become attached to your situation. The coach is there to help you identify the core issues that are standing in the way of your success, and give you tools and actions that will get things working.

4. Expect commitment. Your coach should be committed to helping you deliver on your intentions. Part of that commitment may involve some “tough love” – intrusion into your circumstances and willingness to confront what isn’t working in your business.

If you are ready to get some help in your business, give us a call for a free initial consultation. We’ll give you a feel for the coaching experience and map out a structure for getting results. Remember, every elite athlete needs a coach to achieve his peak performance and win the game. Business is no different. Working with a business coach will keep you in action to win the game.

Are you ready to win?

Guilty Pleasure or Common Sense Business?

“Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you’re willing to pay the price.” Vince Lombardi, Professional Football Coach 

Even business professionals have to indulge in a guilty pleasure every now and then. One of mine is Tabatha’s Salon Takeover, a reality show where a seasoned veteran salon owner comes in to a struggling hair studio and whips the whole place into shape in the space of one week.

Let’s admit it, the fun of reality TV has to do with the exaggerated personalities and situations. Tabatha is no different. How she finds these salons teetering on the brink of ruin week after week, is a mystery to me. The stylists are mostly larger than life characters whose spandex-wrapped egos invariably clash with Tabatha’s reality checks.

The challenges, however, often mirror those we find when we work with entrepreneurs and business owners:

• Employees are not functioning as a winning team.
• The manager is caught up in day-to-day details and doesn’t have a handle on the numbers.
• The manager isn’t actively marketing the salon.
• There are no systems and structures in place to insure quality, financial stability, or even safety.
• The employees have no written job descriptions and are not committed to the salon’s success.

And that’s the tip of Tabatha’s iceberg. What I found interesting as I watched the show, is how Tabatha gets real with the salon owners. She challenges them to look at how much money they need to make and how many customers they need to pull in. She gets them to see that the current situation isn’t working, and then leads them down a new path to what will work.

This is the very thing we stress to our own clients. There is no room in business to put up with what isn’t working. And it’s everyone’s responsibility to be aware of what isn’t working. You have to be committed to what will work, even if that means making tough decisions like letting go of poor performers or firing problem clients.

While Tabatha’s world may be a bit more colorful than most business environments, the principles are still the same. Commit to a result you want to achieve in your business, and then work hard every day to achieve that result. Working with a coach is one of the best ways to hold yourself accountable to what you have set out to do. We make sure that you deliver on your intentions, and that you are always doing what works.

Even a guilty pleasure can have winning results!

Are you ready to win?