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Getting Back to the Heart of the Matter

April 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment

OK, this is not going to be a mushy post about emotions, feelings, selling and commercialization. It’s straight talk about who you are as a Person of Worth. Each one of us has a structural underpinning grounded on our core personal values.

When’s the last time you were in touch with your core personal values?

The answer to my question should be: Daily. Consistently. How did you answer my question?

Core personal values involve our ethics and the value system which reinforce our ability to scrutinize situations and guide ourselves through our business and personal lives. Core personal values are not like a set of clothing that you chose to wear sometimes, and leave in your closet for other situations.

Core personal values are your second skin. Your personal mantra. What are yours?

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Filed Under: Professional Development & Social Selling, Sales, Pitching & Business Development, Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

When a Referral Isn’t a Referral – A Sales Horror Story

June 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Having a satisfied client base is a great thing. For starters, your customers should know you have their backs. They trust you. It takes a while to earn their trust. Your actions always speak louder than your words.

And your word must always be your bond.

Serving your clients well earns you the right to ask for referrals, whether you choose to do so or not. Some of your clients are super at providing referrals, especially if they have a diverse professional network. That way, they aren’t referring you to a competitor. Others aren’t comfortable giving you referrals for one simple reason: they don’t want competitors becoming as successful as you have made them. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Professional Development & Social Selling, Sales, Pitching & Business Development Tagged With: , , , ,

Are you “There” yet?

June 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Remember those road trips we took as children? The question we always seemed to be asking our parents was: “Are we there yet?”

Where is “there” anyway?

“There” always seems to be in the future. It’s associated with some hallmark or rite of passage that we are supposed to want to achieve: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Professional Development & Social Selling Tagged With: , , ,

The Nine-Word One-Minute Interview, Andy Paul’s Defining Moment

May 22, 2012 By 2 Comments

My first ever interview for a sales job consisted of one question and lasted less than a minute. How I answered that question, and what followed, was one of the defining moments in my sales career. It just happened to occur before that career had even begun.

 

I graduated from college without a plan for the future. In fact, I was about one day away from taking up permanent residence in my 1963 Mercury Monterey when I submitted my resume for a job opening listed at the campus career placement center for a position with a major computer manufacturer. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Sales, Pitching & Business Development Tagged With: , , , ,

The Road We Traveled in 2011

December 20, 2011 By 2 Comments

The two weeks of the Holiday Season leading up to the New Year are a time of reflection for many of us, although it sometimes doesn’t seem like it. We are lining up our road maps for 2012: identifying  the referral network for our prospecting (because we’ve finally learned that cold calling and churning and burning through leads lists doesn’t work). We are trying to get projects completed and invoiced by the end of the year to insure cash flow. We are deciding whether the roads we travel on are leading us somewhere productive and relevant, let alone profitable.

It can become chaotic and overwhelming. Unless you take a step back to gain a greater perspective of what’s going on. And keep stepping back until you get a 10,000 foot eagle’s eye view of the situation.

What roads will we travel on, together, in 2012? We’ve certainly traversed some interesting technical and non-technical geography in 2011.

As I tee up for 2012 blogging about some great topics, including customer experience, sales and the technical professional, liberating yourself from your professional status-quo, and some tools for smarter selling, I’ve revisited the roads we’ve traveled on, together, this year.

It’s because of our collaborative dialogues, your feedback, and the professional inspiration you’ve given me that I have a book coming out in February! I’ve made some major pivots in the direction of my business this year as well. I am a life-long learner. And I learn from the folks I work with as well as work for. I am always expanding my sandbox, and this year was no exception.

In mentoring and coaching entrepreneurs (both start-ups and and mid-level funding companies), I have the same dialogue I’ve always had when working with manufacturers and engineering-intensive service companies. The venture capital venue provides some very provocative discussions with companies who recognize it’s time to move beyond “the way we’ve always done things” towards “the way we need to do things.” And since they are already “there,” these businesses are open to dialogue and collaboration. Which are very gratifying discussions to have since so many companies are resistant to moving one millimeter outside of their status-quo comfort levels.

In reflecting the roads more, as well as less, traveled together this year, I’d like you to take a look at the page on my blog called Top Blog Posts . I keep it updated based on your comments, re-Tweets, Shares on LinkedIn and relevance to the professional communities and target markets in which I work.

When you get some down time this week or next, or even for a quick momentum-boost, take a look at these blogs which your colleagues found the most intriguing and provocative in 2011.

Your Best Sales Partner May Be An Engineer

Think You Have All The Answers? Did You Ask The Right Questions?

Being Relevant To Your Customers

Do YOU Mean Business?

Are You Chasing Around Customers and Prospects Who Are In Crisis Mode?

Lessons Learned from Spinner Dolphins

Did You Write Your Own Instruction Manual?

So Has It Turned Out The Way You Thought It Would?

Are You Drinking Your Own Kool-Aid?

The Power of Your Personal Brand in Space-Time

Understanding Why You Work for Other People

Your Financial Plan is Your Business Pulse

Take a read and let me know what you think, as you move forward into the new business year. These posts range from business planning to career development to website design to core personal values. There’s a lot of good food for thought.

Thank you for your readership this year.

Most importantly, thank you for your collective and collaborative inspiration.

Looking forward to continuing our dialogue!

BTH

 

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Entrepreneurs and StartUps, Sales, Pitching & Business Development Tagged With: , , , , ,

Are your customers falling in love with you?

December 5, 2011 By 2 Comments

I know what you’re thinking. This is going to be another blog about client service, jumping through their hoops, the fact that they are always “right”, and how you should always put the customer first. You know all about that, don’t you?  I mean, you do know what your company’s client service policy is… 

Your company’s customer service credo has been articulated to you, hasn’t it? And you can see it put into play in the workplace every day, right? Your upper and mid- level management walk this talk constantly and consistently, providing a clear-cut example of applied leadership, right?

Of course you will take me over to the framed company mission statement on the lobby wall so I can (and so can you) read something articulate and tangible about their client service ethic that you, personally, can hang your hat on.  Correct?

Honestly, what does all that yada-yada-yada really mean in the grand cosmic scheme of things? Most of us operate freestyle when it comes to client service, service quality delivery, customer sacrifice and customer experience (if we even are familiar with those latter two concepts).

Whether you are an owner, sole proprietor or employee, it should be second nature to treat others as we want ourselves to be treated.  The Platinum Rule of Tony Alessandra tells us to treat our customers as they wish to be treated. And Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore tell us in The Experience Economy that we should give our clients a rich and compelling reason to do business with us. 

It’s hard to put theory into practice if we, as our company’s internal customers, aren’t treated very well in the first place. 

  • A sole proprietor? Client service delivery goes up and down upon the waves of our ability and energy to win business.  What a virtual economic and emotional roller coaster: win new business and then drop everything and deliver on the won business – ignoring the need to win more business. 
  • Filling a contractor function? Then you are shape-shifters morphing in and out of whatever is required. We never quite fit into these non-permanent positions.  We do busy work and don’t take the time to determine what is required to win a permanent position. 

Yet we have customer contact all the time: an amazing incubator in which to learn about customer service delivery, customer experience and customer sacrifice. So aside from a paycheck, what else are you taking the time to learn in order to build your skill sets for your next tour of employment duty?

A different way to think about things in a flat-world business model, huh?

Your attitude towards client service delivery is like your personal beacon on your personal horizon.  It basically boils down to defining your core personal values and integrating them into your professional actions, day in and day out.

Your personal core values are what you use to get your bearings, whether you are an owner, sole proprietor or employee.  And your personal core values are what your employers and clients can expect, no matter what.  And with that type of consistency, you will respect yourself and, yes, here it comes: love yourself.  And those are the optimal conditions for your clients to fall in love with you.  

  • And while your clients may love you, they may not like you. Because they can’t jerk your chains or push you around. They love what you stand for. They respect you. 
  • Your self-knowledge and consistency represents real value to your clients, and yourself.
  • Your clients become loyal to you.

At the end of the day, it’s all about whether your clients feel comfortable doing business with you. And whether or not they trust you. Because you know as well as I do that client relationships can become a real messy affair from time to time.

Base your client relationships on consistent core personal values.  Mine are ethics, honesty, integrity and respect.   And my clients know this from the git-go.  Because I tell them.  And they have confidence that I will challenge them to define their core personal values as we collaborate.

Think about how your client relationships – and retention rate – might benefit from their knowing your core personal values.  They may just fall in love with you.

I guest blog once a month for CivilEngineeringCentral.com Earlier this year, the original version of this post won in the Favorite Post category of  Top Civil Engineering Blogs.  And the Civil Engineering Central Blog won top overall honors as rated by CivilEngineeringSchools.org. I realized I hadn’t shared it with all of you. Hope you enjoyed!

Filed Under: Angels, Venture Capital, Private Equity, Entrepreneurs and StartUps, Professional Development & Social Selling, Sales, Pitching & Business Development Tagged With: , , , ,

Got Your Priorities Straight For 2010? Five considerations for the New Year.

December 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I’m not even talking about a New Year’s Resolution. I’m talking about defining, or perhaps revisiting, your personal and professional priorities.

Yes, most of us lived under the specter of 2009”s Priority #1: keeping your job – even if it isn’t the right job for you in the first place. Let’s get beyond that. Really. Because asking yourself these five questions should influence your career path and the people who, well, populate your life.

1.What are your core values? What are the values you carry with you day in and day out, regardless of whether you are in a personal or professional situation? You shouldn’t have values that you take on and off like a set of clothes, depending on the occasion. Your core values are what you bring to the table no matter what, regardless of the “occasion.” Your core values are not an act. Your core values are – ultimately – who you are.

2.Have you run out of “learning room?” When’s the last time you read a book that improved your on-the-job performance or perhaps deeply impacted your concept of self and your core values? When’s the last time you challenged yourself to move 1mm outside your comfort level? If you have circled the wagons and live comfortably inside a closed circle of knowledge, friends and ideology, perhaps you should consider rocking your own boat. If you’ve got a substantial set of core values, your boat will withstand the storm. If not, you will build a stronger boat. What kind sailor are you?

3.Where does personal integrity fit into your life? Do you find yourself easily compromised? Do you tell one thing to one group and another thing to another group? Are you just a “yes” man or woman? Do you ”play” people or are you constantly being “played?” (Hint: #1 + #2 = #3)

4.What skill sets can you add to your professional portfolio to improve your value to yourself and, hence, your company? When is the last time you attended a course to improve your knowledge base beyond your current skill set? Attending a certification course to preserve your status quo doesn’t count. In fact, preserving your status quo should not be an optional answer for this question.

5.What will it take for you to become a more confident individual, both personally and professionally? Will it take an earth shaking event to create your epiphany? Have there always been signs and symptoms which you have skillfully ignored? Do you feel your last sales year or your technical degrees buy you job security and define who you are?

It is that time of year for reflection.

In 2010, make reflection a year-around habit, not something you save up for December. It doesn’t matter what generation you are a member of. Media streams are no excuse for not making time for reflection. You are not a product of your media streams or the blogs you read or how many followers you have on Twitter. You are a product of your upbringing, education, experiences and what you make out of yourself in spite of and because of all of these components of Who You Are.

So what are your priorities for 2010?

Think about it. I know I am.

 

 

 

   

Filed Under: Professional Development & Social Selling Tagged With: , ,

What are YOUR Core Values?

June 6, 2009 By Leave a Comment

 

Every day we spend our time trying to justify to our customers and our prospects why they should be doing business with us.  What do we, and no one else, bring to the table?

We develop “account entry strategies” or “value propositions” to get our foot in the door via phone, email, personal or internet customer touch points.   These strategies tell prospective and current customers about our companies’ core competencies.

Well, forget what our companies’ core competencies are.  If, in fact, you/your Personal Brand are one and the same with delivery of your company’s brand / core competencies, what are YOUR core competencies? Do you follow me?

Ultimately, we can’t be switching gears constantly, moving from sales spiel to engineering spiel to personal spiel. I don’t know about you, but unless you manage split personalities, how can you keep all these “spiels” straight? In fact, why should you compartmentalize?

If we say the same thing to everyone, we don’t have to remember what we say. There’s consistency.  Between every facet of who we are as professionals and as people. Because we are one with our Core Values.

A number of years ago, I figured out just what my Core Values are. Took some time, some introspection and in-my-own-face honesty.  I encourage you to think about yours.  Develop your set of core values and COMMUNICATE your values in everything you do.

I have four Core Values: TRUSTWORTHINESS, INTEGRITY, ETHICAL BEHAVIOR, RESPECT.  And no matter what I do, or with whom I speak, or whatever hassles I am dealing with, I return to my Core Values. And my family, friends, clients and prospects know that these are my core values. Because I’ve told them.

Trustworthiness – I am true to my word. I will always be truthful with myself, my family, my friends, my clients and my prospects. Painfully so. It’s better to put the cards on the table and work out solutions from a position of truthfulness than dancing around an issue. Always. Which means people can trust me and entrust me. Which means I must be honest and direct with myself. I accept that responsibility – to myself and to others. And I will not betray the trust that I have earned.

Integrity –  My actions consistently reinforce the high value I place in my relationships with others. I will not impart, use or manipulate the information with which I have been entrusted by my valued family, friends, customers and prospects in order to achieve personal gain. I will honor my commitments to others. Because I honor the commitments I’ve made with myself to my Core Value system.

Ethical Behavior – I will make commitments to and with others that are consistent with my Core Value system.  I will not enter into behavior which I feel compromises my Core Values. If I feel an individual, a situation or a request compromises my Core Values I will contemplate and/or discuss my differences. I am prepared to push back from the table if I cannot reach a viable resolution.  After all, at the end of the day, we all have only One Ultimate Reporting Relationship, don’t we?

Respect – I respect myself. I respect my Core Values. I respect my family, friends, customers and prospects.  I respect their points of view. Because I respect myself, and my commitment to my Core Values, I will weigh what I am asked to do against whether doing or taking action reinforces self-respect or compromises me because of disrespect. My actions reinforce my Core Values, consistently.

So there you have it. At the end of the day, my Core Values are truly my personal brand. Which means that Personal Branding is more than a veneer that exists in an internet blog or an email / voicemail / personal account entry strategy. 

It’s what my life is all about and what matters most to me.

 

Filed Under: Professional Development & Social Selling Tagged With: , , , ,
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