Women on Business: Taking the Lead and Making a Difference

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The balance of power is tipping toward the feminine with more women taking on the workforce by graduating en masse from higher education well and above their male counterparts as well as starting businesses and taking a leading role in how major companies around the world are run. When it comes to women on business, they are coming out on top, but there is still more that they can do to make a difference and help to stimulate the economy on the road to recovery.

Here are some key areas where women can help other women start taking the lead:

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About the Author

Michelle PattersonVisionary and lauded business accelerator Michelle Patterson is President of the Global Women Foundation and The California Women’s Conference – the largest women’s symposium in North America that has featured esteemed First Ladies, A-List Hollywood celebrities, and high caliber business influencers. Michelle is also the CEO of Women Network LLC, an online digital media platform dedicated to giving women a voice and a platform to share their message. Michelle may be reached at WomenNetwork.com.

Corrective Action Program Best Practice 6 – Condition Report Causal Codes

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StrategyDriven Corrective Action Program Article | Condition Report Causal CodesCondition reports provide detailed information on the organization’s performance deficiencies, operational events, and opportunities for improvement. That information, however, is typically captured in a voluminous long text format unconducive to the type of aggregate analysis providing insights to the underlying causes and precursor challenges required of proactive management action. Applying standardize, short text causal codes to condition reports helps overcome this analytical challenge.

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About the Author

Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Principal is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.

Why your sales process or sales system doesn’t work.

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Are you being forced to sell someone else’s way?
Are you uncomfortable using a ‘system’ of selling?

I read a report yesterday stating that 70% of all sales systems and sales initiatives fail. I have no idea who created that number (personally, I use 74% for all my statistical reports), but the point is clear. A system of selling and its accompanying sales process are pretty much doomed to failure before they begin.

NOTE: Please do not email me, telling me your system is the greatest and it works. Somebody is staking their claim that 70% or more do not work, and if yours is among the few that do, congratulations. If your system works it means you have a very small sales force, or that your system has been in place for so long that it’s refined to favor the customer, not the company.

For years I’ve written about why systems of selling fail, but please be clear about my beliefs: Almost all systems of selling do not work, and along with them are the failures of the manipulative sales processes that are attached to them. I’m about to tell you WHY the system doesn’t work, and then offer strategies that do work. Maybe it will help you in your awareness and decision-making process as you try to elevate your sales skills – or your sales results, or even your sales team – to a level of superior.

FIRST FAILURE: The sales system is all about the company that prepared it. It’s not relevant to the salesperson or not engaging enough to the customer. It’s too much perceived work on the part of the salesperson for not enough results. It’s too much of a hassle. The person that trained it sucked.

SECOND FAILURE: The sales process is at odds with you AND the market. The process doesn’t include mobile application. The process is old. The process deals with manipulation. (“Find the pain,” “what keeps you up at night,” and “qualify the buyer.”) The process deals with things uncomfortable for the salesperson. The process is not compatible with the way the company does business.

THIRD FAILURE: The sales leader who bought it isn’t convinced it’s going to work, he’s just using it as a CYA tactic. There is forced participation rather than joint buy-in. The sales leader is more interested in his or her salespeople being accountable to him or her for their activity, NOT being responsible for themselves and their outcomes.

FORTH FAILURE: Senior management has not endorsed or used the process. Senior management won’t use the process themselves.

FEAR of FAILURE: The salesperson thinks it will cost them sales. Period.

Want more reasons systems fails? Here’s a bunch – in no particular order. Pick the ones that best apply to you:

  • No buy-in from salespeople BEFORE purchase
  • No collaboration with the people who will actually USE the system
  • The system and/or the process is too manipulative
  • Lack of proof that the system actually works in your environment
  • No proof that the system or process actually works in your market
  • The system does not match the salesperson’s style or personality
  • The system is not in any way customized for your salespeople or your customers
  • The system is not flexible
  • Natural resistance to change
  • Fear of lost sales
  • Resentment for being forced
  • Poor training by the launch person
  • Too much work perceived for not enough sales
  • Sales are low right now, and this is a stab at resurgence
  • Trying to fit a round sales peg in a square sales hole

RESULT: You lose sales, lose salespeople, and there is lower morale. YIKES!

NOTE WELL: It’s most likely that many of these reasons apply to you or your system. Damn.

ALSO NOTE WELL: Sales is NOT a system, nor is it a manipulative process. It’s a series of STRATEGIES that are in harmony with salespeople AND their customers.

Here are some sales STRATEGIES that do work:

  • Create a ‘go to sale’ strategy that everyone is comfortable with: friendly, engaging, value-driven, conversational, and backed with proof from video testimonials.
  • Everyone should participate in creating the sales strategies from the CEO down.
  • Collaborate with the sales team – they’re the ones that will USE the strategies.
  • Create strategies that are flexible and comfortable. Have several different opening questions to choose from. Offer alternative ways to engage or close the sale.
  • Have a ‘Value Proposition’ in favor of the customer.
  • Whatever the strategies are, they MUST start with social attraction.
  • Whatever the strategies are, they MUST work in your environment.
  • Whatever the strategies are, they MUST be easy to use and time efficient.
  • Whatever the strategies are, they MUST be state-of-the art and state-of-the-market.

MAJOR CLUE: Collaborate with existing customers. Get them involved with and in agreement to (accept) the strategies you use.

AND NOTE REAL WELL: Sales are all your revenue and all your profit. Salespeople are the conduit for all that revenue. Why would you jeopardize your money and your profit with a system that everyone will fight?

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

Confident Communication

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In a professional setting, projecting confidence can make or break an interaction and have a significant impact on how others perceive your character and professional abilities. Those who appear confident are often assumed to be more capable in their jobs and more worthy of trust and respect.

Your communication style can play a significant role in projecting confidence. Changing the way you speak is one of the first and most important steps in achieving an air of confidence and success. Your tone of voice, rate of speech, and other non-verbal cues often say more about your message than your words themselves. Subtle changes in your voice and presentation create a significant difference in how your message is received.

One key aspect of speech that can be modified to project confidence is how quickly you speak. Many people, when nervous or excited, tend to speak too quickly. Rushing through your words not only makes it difficult for others to understand you, but also makes it seem as though you are nervous and trying to get speaking over with as quickly as possible. Be aware of this pitfall, and concentrate on using a controlled, even rate of speech. This will help you to appear confident and knowledgeable about the topic on which you’re speaking and give your listener the impression that what you have to say is worth taking the time to listen to.

Intonation can also play a role in projecting confidence. One intonation pattern that can be particularly damaging is upspeak or high-rising intonation. Upspeak, made famous by the 1980s “Valley girl” accent, is characterized by raising your pitch at the end of a sentence so that statements sound like questions. This pattern gives off an air of insecurity and makes it seem that you are unsure of yourself and seeking your listener’s approval. Take care to avoid this pattern, and end each sentence authoritatively.

Another speech habit that can be fatal to projecting confidence is the use of ‘filler’ words. People often pepper their speech with words such as “um”, “uh”, “like” or “you know” which contain no content, add nothing to the message, and interrupt the flow of speech. For example, many people find themselves in the habit of ending sentences with, question words like “okay?” “right?” “see?” or “you know what I mean?” Others use “um” at the beginning of sentences or when transitioning from one thought to another. In order to reduce your reliance on filler words, try identifying where you most commonly use fillers, and briefly pause instead. Many people avoid pauses because they are uncomfortable with silence, but a brief pause will give you a moment to collect your thoughts, allow your listeners to absorb your message, and will sound much more confident and professional than needless fillers.

Finally, take note of your volume when speaking. A strong, well-projected voice makes you sound authoritative and like a natural leader. While you don’t want to shout, speaking with a strong volume gives others the impression that you are saying something worth listening to. Speaking too quietly can make it seem as though you’re not fully sure of what it is you’re saying, or that you don’t feel it’s really important.

Strong professional communication skills are critical to projecting confidence and achieving success in the workplace. By following the strategies above, you can change your communication style to one that tells clients and colleagues that you are a confident leader with a message worth listening too. If you’d like to make more significant changes in your communication style, you may want to enlist the help of a corporate speech-language pathologist who can provide communication training to target your specific needs. Learn to communicate with clarity and confidence, and take your career to the next level!

About the Author

Jayne LatzJayne Latz is an expert in communication and CEO of Corporate Speech Solutions, LLC. She has worked as a speech trainer, coach, professional speaker, and has co-authored two books titled, Talking Business: A Guide to Professional Communication and Talking Business: When English is Your Second Language. She was recently featured in The Wall Street Journal and on The TODAY Show.

If you are interested in learning more ways to improve your business communication skills, contact Jayne at [email protected] or visit www.corporatespeechsolutions.com.

Corrective Action Program – Minimum Condition Report Data Requirements

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StrategyDriven Corrective Action Program Article | Corrective Action Program - Minimum Condition Report Data RequirementsCondition reports capture adverse conditions or trends data so to enable an appropriate organizational response. Consequently, those documenting issues must provide enough information for responders to evaluate the condition within a timeframe consistent with its significance. Concurrently, too much data must not be required such that reporting problems is administratively burdensome or time consuming; creating a barrier to reporting. To ensure these objectives are met, minimum data reporting standards must be in place and reinforced.

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About the Author

Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Principal is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.