Why Ask Why?

Top Question for Sales Leaders

 

Lonnie Scambi author of "The Entrepreneur's Yoda" wrote a recent post on why we should never stop asking why. He says that "anybody that has been around children knows the toughest question they can ask always begins with "why."  You can't fudge the answer to a "why" question! Where there's a problem, understanding "why" the problem exists, invariably puts you on the path to solving it.

 

It starts with "Why" do you do what you do? Is the answer the same one that you would have given when you took over you position?  If it's not, what's changed? Is that a positive or a negative? See how the "why" questions are so important?  They trigger other, even better ones. "Why" questions help us better understand ourselves and our function and roll. Note: "Because I said so," is not a valid answer.

 

Here are several critical "Why" questions I use regularly to keep on track:

Why did we win (lose) that sale?

It is crucial to analyze and understand why a sale closed or didn't, and learn from it. Even if you don't analyze all sales, you should know why you lost a sale and learn and build from that experience. A win/loss review should turn each experience into a learning experience.

Why would customers want to do business with us?

It's surprising how many companies take this one for granted, figuring that having a great product/service is the answer.

Why would people want to/not want to work for us?

This is a critical question to which a few businesses answer. It is easy to get caught up about how good their company is and how it is such great place to work. Conduct exit interviews. Ask your customers, vendors, suppliers and employees this question. The answers will aid you in making the changes needed to become world class.

Why do we have that policy or procedure?

Policies and procedures should be in place to make the business operate more efficiently not just as a CYA vehicle for the company or its management.

Why are we/aren't we making the number?

Do you know what's really underneath the numbers? This will drive a whole set of other why questions about costs and their makeup. How often do you really both analyze and communicate this to your team? It's important under either circumstance. When you are making money, you and your team know why and thus, what needs to be done to keep doing it. When you aren't, you know why not, and want needs to be done to correct it.

Why am I doing this?

This is a question that you should not only ask, periodically, but more important, have the answer in the form of a set of key objectives for both the company and for you, personally and professionally."

Additional Why Questions:

• Why does it work this way?
• Why is that our goal?
• Why did you say no?
• Why don't we enter this market?
• Why did you change your mind?
• Why are we having this meeting?
• Why not?

There isn't a more important question for leaders to ask than "why." Why would you ever stop asking it, and, of course, answering it?

Follow Up X 7

Follow Up to Improve Relations and Results

 

One of the most important and yet overlooked skills in business today is follow-up.

This applies to many parts of our business: sales, marketing, customer service and care, leadership, networking, branding, and more. It is a habit and a discipline that, when used effectively and regularly, will change your results and your life.

Kevin Eikenberry with the Sideboard gives us seven ways to incorporate more follow-up into your practices – and therefore seven ways to increase results.

1. Say Thank You - First and foremost, the must-do follow-up habit is to say thank you. Send an email, make a call, or best of all, send a hand written note. It is a terrific opportunity to follow up with the individual right away. Same day is best. Tell the Customer thanks for the new order. Tell the employee how much you appreciate their extra effort (or their normal effort over the long haul). Thank a person for a referral. Thank a colleague for the book or website recommendation. We all sent thank you cards after receiving graduation and wedding gifts. And while you may have done it because it was expected, it was really good practice for the rest of your life. I have a recurring task on my task list. It reads “Who do I need to thank today?”
2. Ask for Feedback - After completing a project, meeting, sales campaign, consulting engagement, or whatever, ask for some feedback. Preface your request by saying that you want to not only make sure that you have met their needs, but that you want to know how to continue to improve. Implement a win/loss interview.
3. Keep Track  - You’ve given an employee, vendor, supplier or customer some coaching or help on a specific issue, so follow-up to see how it is going now and if the results match what had been expected. Follow-up isn’t just a one time deal – it is an on-going commitment. You likely are interested in the progress others are making. Let them know by staying in touch and seeing how things are going and how you might be able to help.
4. Remain Interested  - This is one step beyond keeping track. It is remaining interested in the other person or group’s progress over the long term. Continue to check back on progress. Remaining interested shows that you care and have made the effort to remember about events and goals important to the other person.
5. Remember Important Events  - Top people call friends and colleagues on their birthdays and sings or at least tells them Happy Birthday – live or on their voice mail. I have done this occasionally in the past – but have made it a more normal part of my routine as well. Why? Because it makes people smile. Your kids and parents expect a happy birthday wish, but do your Customers? Your employees? Your vendors? Maybe you don’t sing, but you can still wish people happy anniversary, happy birthday or happy St. Patrick’s Day – especially if they are Irish!
6. Share Information You Know Matters to Them  - Have a colleague who has a rose garden? Send them the article about roses that you read last week. Have a co-worker who graduated from a certain college? Congratulate them when his team wins the big game. Have a Customer who loves tennis? Send them a link to the website you heard about that helps people improve their game. You get the idea. Follow-up by giving people information or comments that they know is just for them. It should be used throughout your career to keep your network fresh and engage. This could mean forwarding an article that you think she’ll find interesting, or congratulating her if you notice she’s been promoted or earned some sort of recognition. Maybe thanking her for a bit of advice that you employed. Keep it simple and brief, and don’t ask for anything back. If that person hears from you and has an update? She’ll absolutely be in touch. Try: “Hi Sue, We spoke last month about the product manager position at XYZ Industries. In our conversation, you highlighted some emerging trends in food packaging. I noticed this attached article about the same topic and thought of you. No response necessary. I hope you find the information useful!”
7. Have a Plan  - CRM systems are a great tool to track your calls and conversations with your contacts regularly. We have a process to connect with our most valued colleagues and Clients monthly. Our plan continues to be tweaked, but we have a plan because we know how important follow-up is. 

These seven suggestions show how valuable follow-up can be.

 

There is little about it that is hard. Being exceptionally good at follow-up requires focus, dedication, discipline, and a decision to do it. If you will make the decision you will become a more effective leader or supervisor. You will become a better networker. You will have greater sales. You will retain your relationships longer. Any of these are reasons enough to follow up.

 

More reasons to follow up:

• 48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect
• 25% of sales people make a second contact and stop
• 12% of sales people make more than three contacts
• 2% of sales are made on the first contact
• 3% of sales are made on the second contact
• 5% of sales are made on the third contact
• 10% of sales are made on the fourth contact
• 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact

Thank you for reading and sharing this!

First Impressions Set the Stage

First Few Moments Set the Stage

Geoffrey James posted this recent blog on  Inc.com that tells us it takes an audience about 15 seconds (at most) to decide whether your presentation is worth their attention. 

These four simple rules will help ensure that your audience sits up and pays attention.
Here's how to begin a presentation so that your audience really sits up and takes notice.

1. Have somebody else introduce you.  Don't waste time explaining who you are and why you're there. Write a short (100 word) bio and a short statement (50 words) of what you'll be talking about. If you were invited to speak, have whoever invited you read this information to the audience. If you called the meeting yourself, put that information in the invite.
2. Do not tell a "warm-up" joke.  I have no idea how the "warm-up joke" became part of conventional business wisdom. Most of the time, the "joke" consists a weak attempt at situational humor (like "why are these meetings always on Monday?") that merely communicates that you're nervous and unsure of yourself. The rest of the time, the "joke" is a long story with an obvious punch line that tries everyone's patience.
3. Do not begin with "background."  Many presentations begin with a corporate background that's intended to build credibility. (Example: "Our company has 100 years of expertise!") The problem here is that at the start of a presentation nobody cares about your company. You're asking them to translate your background information into something that's meaningful to them and their business. Why should they bother?
4. Open with a startling and relevant fact.  To get an audience focused on what you're going to tell them, you must first break through the "mental noise" that causes their attention to waver. This is best accomplished by a slide showing a fact that is new to the audience and important enough to capture their attention. Build the rest of your presentation to answer the business questions that this initial fact has raised in their minds.

Open with:

"Hi, I'm John Doe from Acme and I've been working in the widget industry for 20 years. And boy, has it been an exciting time (just kidding!) Acme is the industry leader in widgets with over a million satisfied customers!! I'm here today to talk to you about how we can help you save big money on your purchases of high quality widgets."

Or:

"Yes, one million dollars." (Pause.) "That's how much money you're losing every year because of widget failure. Fortunately, there IS a better way and I'm going to explain how you can easily save that money rather than waste it."

Needless to say, the slides in the above example are simplistic. The "better" example could probably be made more visually rich, perhaps with an illustration of money going down a drain (along with the $1m).

What's important here is that you realize why the surprising and relevant first slide is far more likely to capture the audience's attention than the typical rambling intro.

Please note that the "startling and relevant" fact need not be an attempt to generate fear.  The fact could just as easily be about possible opportunity, the achievement of a long held goal, or something else that inspires. As long as it's surprising and relevant, the audience will listen.

Chief Visionary Officers Needed

The Business World Needs Chief Visionary Officers (CVO's) at the CEO, COO, CIO, CSO, CMO, CFO Levels by Terry Stidham

See It, Believe It, Achieve It

One of the greatest traditions in sports will commence shortly after the final horn sounds today and tomorrow and two new college basketball champions are crowned.

The tradition of cutting down the nets has its roots in the famed Indiana state high school tournament that provided the real-life story behind the movie "Hoosiers."

In 1947, as the head coach at North Carolina State, Case introduced net-cutting to college basketball. After his team won the Southern Conference title, Case wanted a souvenir. With no ladder available, the players hoisted Case onto their shoulders and he cut the net while cradled in their grasp.

Visualizing winning the NCAA championship and cutting down the net wasn't enough for former North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano; he took it a step further and actually practiced it. At the first very practice at NC State he told the players that he was going to win a national championship and was going to ‘cut down the nets’ - the pinnacle of his profession. Once a year, Valvano would conduct a practice with no basketballs - nothing except scissors. His players would practice cutting down the nets.

Coach Valvano's belief and enthusiasm was contagious and his players too began to believe that they could actually go all the way and be number 1. It didn’t matter who they faced - they believed that they could win. The Wolfpack put the preparation to good use in 1983 in beating Houston for the national title in one of the greatest upsets in tournament history.

 

Leadership challenge.
Answer these questions:

• Do you have a dream and a vision for your company?
• Do you share that vision with your people?
• Do your people believe that you believe?
• Have you stopped believing in the dream that you had when you took your role?
• Have you stopped believing that you can overcome the challenges you had during the past year?
• How is your vision or lack of vision influencing your team?

What many people don't realize is that we have the power to have our subconscious minds to assist us in getting what we want. The act of visualizing your goals/dreams can make them more achievable.

Why is visualization so powerful?

As you see and feel images that portray your desired outcome, the cognitive dissonance in your brain increases. The increased discomfort sends a message to your brain that you are not giving up on this goal. The brain wants to create balance so it will change directions to figure out ways to make your success happen.

As we routinely and intentionally visualize a desired outcome, and step into the belief that it is possible, our brains increase the motivation to make it happen. We become more and more determined to do whatever it takes to achieve our goals.

In addition to increased motivation, you will begin to get creative ideas that will help you to achieve your goal. You may wake up at 2 a.m. with a brilliant thought, or experience a download of pure genius while in the shower. This is because visualization prompts the brain to "wake up" to messages and resources that it previously shut out. Now that it's well aware of your goal it assists you in becoming more aware and open to finding the answers.

"Your brain wants to solve your problems.  When you are 'stuck' it simply means that your mind isn't open to the solutions.  Visualization releases this resistance and allows the brain to do its job and make you happy.

Decide Exactly What You Want

Your goal must be very clear and specific. Let's say that you want to increase profits by 20%. Don't get caught up in the "how and why," those will come to you. Simply get very clear on your goal and make it believable, yet just out of reach. As you become better at visualization you will naturally set your sights higher.

Choose a Goal that Excites You

Choose at least one goal to hold in your mind's eye as you go through your daily visualization process. How will it feel to increase profits by 20%? How will you know that you have succeeded? Capture a visual of your celebration. Take Coach V's extra step - have a mock celebration and start working like you have already succeeded.

Visualize Daily

See that image of success and allow your mind to wander with the image. Step into the feeling and power of this image; make it very real.

You may remember the Harvard Business School study where recent graduates were surveyed about their goals and then ten years later. The result of visualizing their success? Graduates who had had clear goals in mind were making two to ten times as much money as their classmates.

The old saying goes: "If you can dream it, you can do it."

To have an idea, dream or goal, and then to see how you can make it happen, helps shape your plans and defines your goals more clearly.

Many people, especially athletes and celebrities, have discovered the amazing power of visualization and have used it to enhance their careers and achieve their goals and dreams.

Actor Jim Carrey wrote a check to himself in 1987 in the sum of $10 million. He dated it Thanksgiving 1995 and added the notation, "for acting services rendered." He visualized it for years, and in 1994, he received $10 million for his role in "Dumb and Dumber."

Oprah Winfrey openly used visualization techniques on her talk show. She often talked about the power of the subconscious mind and goal-focusing techniques. Oprah said, "The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams."

Nobel Laureate Jonas Salk was asked how he went about inventing the polio vaccine. His reply: "I pictured myself as a virus or a cancer cell and tried to sense what it would be like."

One of the most well-known studies on creative visualization in sports occurred when Russian scientists compared four groups of Olympic athletes in terms of their physical and mental training ratios:

• Group 1 received 100 percent physical training.
• Group 2 received 75 percent physical training and 25 percent mental training.
• Group 3 received 50 percent mental training and 50 percent physical training.
• Group 4 received 75 percent mental training with 25 percent physical training.

Group 4 had the best performance results, indicating that mental training or visualization can have significant measurable effects on biological performance.

Similarly, for many years Russian gymnasts dominated the Olympic Games. The Americans trained hard, but they couldn't compete with the nearly flawless Russians. It wasn't until many years later that the Americans and others discovered the Russians used sports psychologists to help with mental training techniques. They spent a few hours each day visualizing their routines with perfect landings, twists and jumps. Today, most top athletes use the power of visualization to perform at their peak.

People who soar refuse to sit back and wait for things to change. They visualize that they are not quitters. They will not allow circumstances to keep them down. 

Back in 1952, Florence Chadwick became the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel. She had to make two attempts before she achieved her goal. On her first try, she quit after swimming 21 1/2 miles and finishing only a half-mile from shore. The reason? It wasn't the freezing cold water, or the fear of the sharks circling around her. Or even her fatigue. She told reporters later it was because she couldn't see the shore through the fog. She had lost sight of her goal.

Two months later, she swam the channel again — this time with a clear mental picture of the shore that lay beyond the fog. She not only became the first woman to swim the channel — she beat the existing world record by two hours.

History teems with tales of experts who were convinced that the ideas, plans and projects of others could never be achieved. But then someone else came along and accomplished those dreams with a can-do attitude.

See It; Believe It, Achieve It

Dare to dream and to have a goal.  Let your mind paint the picture. Get excited about it. Share it with those around you and in your organization. Stay Focused. Make it happen.

Aristotle “First, have a definite, clear, practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends: wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.”

 

5 Steps towards Becoming a Trusted Advisor

Separate Yourself from the Competition by Terry Stidham

By now you have heard the importance of establishing yourself as a trusted advisor when selling. The question is, how do you reach the level of trust and respect such that prospects come to you for help? The good news is that the journey to achieving this is probably easier and more rewarding than you may think.... 

We have been trained throughout our careers to think of customers as rational, logical decision makers. Our companies tell us to qualify the customer’s business requirements, such as budget and time frame to buy, and to uncover what product features and functions the customer needs. They arm us with facts and specifications so that we can launch informational assaults on customers in order to get them to buy. 

Since most companies understand only this type of direct approach, they train salespeople on the recitation of features, functions, and specifications. But we often lack the training on the essence of how to win hearts and minds of our customers.

The obvious barrier to earning trust faced by most sales professionals is that we are paid to convince customers to buy what we sell as opposed to the customer buying from someone else or not buying at all. No offence, if there were no convincing to be done then we would simply be an order taker.
 
The default assumption made by most prospective clients is that we are probably going to be self-serving, like the all-too-easy-to-imagine stereotypical sales person out there. And so the natural question on the customer's mind is, "Is this person really trying to help me act in my own best interest?" The prospective client will observe everything we say or do to arrive at their answer. 
 
So, how do we actively take an approach that shows our prospects that we are clearly helping them act in their own best interest? How do we help them, look after them, protect them and ultimately make them feel rewarded? Because once they feel that we have established trust they will more likely support, recommend, and do business with us.

5 Steps towards Becoming a Trusted Advisor

1. Put your own offering (and any associated self-serving behavior) aside.
2. Continuously increase your own awareness: of common client challenges, common solutions, your broader organizations solutions, the broader picture within your client organization.
   • Read newspapers, magazines, journals, trade publications and other sources of related business information
   • Maintain membership of appropriate professional organizations
   • Acknowledge gaps in knowledge and taking steps to fill them
   • Locate or developing databases with information on customers, their industries and their own customers
   • Gain an understanding of the issues at all levels of the customer’s organization including strategic, departmental and individual needs
   • Seek to understand the customer’s perceptions of market trends, company direction, plus potential product and service needs
3. Show them that you care. When people care they listen, empathize, they seek to understand. 
   • Refine the way you identify customer’s needs by asking the right questions and listening actively to customer comments
   • Speak at the listener’s level of knowledge
   • Use stories and analogies effectively
   • Ask for feedback on the clarity of your message
4. Once you understand what is important and urgent to your client, use your expertise and awareness to advise or refer in the best course(s) of action (not necessarily your own offering), discussing pro's and con's of various options. Don't overlook the knock on effect of your solutions to other client critical business issues.
   • Familiarize the customer with your own industry and companies
   • Share useful business information even if it does not directly impact on the sales effort
   • Demonstrate the cost-cutting or revenue producing benefits of your products and services
5. Under promise and over deliver

Selling in this way is more relaxing and much easier. And it certainly feels and looks better from the customer's point of view. You're not pushing or pitching anything - you're learning, listening, caring, and then advising what's best for them. By demonstrating comprehensive knowledge, outstanding communication skills and the proper attitude, the salesperson earns the right to move beyond the role of supplier to that of a valued business consultant.  

  

Even if you don't make the initial sale from this approach, you have left the door open for next time and have recruited a potential "fan" and a sales and marketing ally - another set of eyes and ears on the ground who may pick up on opportunities for you and send warmed up prospects your way.

Look after them, they'll look after you.

Patrick Lencioni, author of Getting Naked, presents a compelling case that most sales people and consultants sabotage their best efforts at winning long-term client loyalty by allowing their work to be influenced by three fears:

 

1. Fear of Losing the Business – Because we're afraid of losing a client we avoid some of the very behaviors (like giving away ideas, or telling truths that may hurt egos) that ultimately can grow trust that keeps clients.
2. Fear of Being Embarrassed – Since as business advisers we think we should always look smart, we avoid asking potentially dumb questions or making possibly silly suggestions that might end up being brilliant because we want to avoid risk – even though being vulnerable in questioning and suggestions is another way to build client trust.
3. Fear of Feeling Inferior – To avoid feeling irrelevant or unappreciated, we might avoid getting our hands dirty or even "taking a bullet" for the client, even though those again are demonstrations to the client that everything we do is for them.

 

The simple but powerful advice Lencioni offers for anyone in a sales or business advisor role is to work at being candid, modest, and transparent – that these characteristics at their essence help you to be vulnerable, honest, and authentic with clients. When clients begin to realize the genuineness of these behaviors toward them, that's when true trust can thrive, and both you and your clients have relationships they can count on.