Posts

Business Performance Assessment Program Best Practice 14 – Separate Fact from Opinion

/in , /by

StrategyDriven Business Performance Assessment Program Best Practice ArticleBusiness performance assessment findings drive organizational actions. Consequently, a great deal of care must be taken when deciding what to include within a self assessment report. Findings based on logically derived conclusions founded on observable, quantifiable facts provide leaders with insightful information on how to improve performance. Findings built on opinion-based conclusions or founded primarily on individual experience frequently lack the vigorous underpinnings necessary to ensure a performance improvement opportunity. Thus, these suggestion-type findings should be excluded from formal self assessment reports.

Hi there! Gain access to this article with a StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription or buy access to the article itself.

Subscribe to the StrategyDriven Insights Library

Sign-up now for your StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription for as low as $15 / month (paid annually).

Subscribe Now!

Not sure? Click here to learn more.

 Buy the Article

Don’t need a subscription? Buy access to Business Performance Assessment Program Best Practice 14 – Separate Fact from Opinion for just $2!

Access the Article Now!

Return to the Business Performance Assessment Program Forum

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.

The NEW TRUTH about closing the sale.

/in /by

Every salesperson is looking for the fastest way, the best way, and the easiest way to ‘close’ a sale.

More than human nature, for salespeople, closing the sale is both a desire and a need. And the results are totally measurable. Either you win, or you lose. There is no second place in sales.

Many people think that ‘closing the sale’ is the fulcrum point of the process. All of those people are wrong. Closing the sale begins when the sales presentation begins.

A sale is not ‘closed.’ A sale is earned.

In my career I have learned two powerful words that complete the selling process. They allow me to complete the sale without a feeling of discomfort or hesitancy. When it’s time to deliver those words, I know in my heart of hearts the sale is mine.

The two words are: fair enough, and they are delivered to the prospect in the form of a question. “Fair enough?”

‘Fair enough’ are the most powerful words to affirm the prospect’s intention to buy. You may be erroneously referring to the prospect saying ‘yes’ as ‘closing a sale.’ Not good.

‘Fair enough’ asks for a commitment and validates the value and the fairness of your offer. If your offer is valuable, or perceived as valuable by the prospect, then the words ‘fair enough’ will always be followed by the prospect’s affirmative answer. And vice-versa.

The words ‘fair enough’ are also a self-test. Do you perceive that your offer is so valuable, that when you ask the prospect, “Is that fair enough?” you know in your mind and in your heart that in fact it IS fair enough. Always ask yourself the ‘fair enough’ question BEFORE you give a sales presentation. If you can answer ‘yes’ to your own offer, it’s likely the prospect will answer ‘yes’ as well.

The words ‘fair enough’ ask for a ‘yes’ and a confirmation to move forward. They are direct, completely understandable, and are non-manipulative. They don’t contain the phrases, “Can you see any reason not to move forward?” or worse, “Is there any reason you could not do this today?” Those are old-world, BS sales expressions of the worst order.

‘Fair enough’ is pointed, powerful, and positive. And you don’t have to wait until the end of your presentation to ask. You can slip it in once or twice as you’re presenting to make certain you and the prospect are in agreement and moving forward.

‘Fair enough’ gives you a transition from your presentation to earning the business.

THINK ABOUT THIS: If you have a bunch of presentation slides and offer to send some kind of proposal at the end of your presentation, you can never use the words ‘fair enough.’ Your job as a salesperson is to figure out how your presentation can culminate with the words ‘fair enough’ and that there’s enough perceived value in your presentation for the customer to say, “Yes, that’s fair enough.”

If the prospect says, “That sounds fair enough,” or gives you some form of yes, that’s not just a purchase, it’s also a report card that your offer was perceived as valuable enough to move forward.

START HERE: Review your entire sales presentation and see where the words ‘fair enough’ fit into it. If there’s no place for them, then your offer is most likely not fair enough, and will be met with some kind of resistance or stall.

This review process requires work on your part, and may mean you have to revise your sales presentation. This is a good thing! It will most likely mean you have to ask more questions, discover what the buying motive of the prospect is, and make certain you have value offerings that are in harmony with their true needs and motives to buy.

If you are able to give prospects the answers they’re hoping for, you will have created the ultimate buying experience. Asking the question ‘fair enough’ will become a joy. A financially rewarding joy.

I just provided you with a major secret of selling – a secret that, when mastered, has the potential to double your sales and increase your earnings significantly. All you have to do is create a strategy to incorporate it. Fair enough?

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].

7 Ways to Build Muscle and Teamwork in the Office

/in , /by

We often spend more than a third of each day at the office. That’s a lot of time to often be sitting at a desk or in front of a computer. It’s to our advantage to make those hours more active not only for our health, but for our professional life, too. Even simple activities like walking help to get blood and creative juices flowing. If your office has a gym, definitely use it. Get some colleagues together for a workout or walking group and make it your own recurring ‘meeting.’

Here are 7 more ways you can get active and build office camaraderie while you’re at it:

Hi there! This article is available for free. Login or register as a StrategyDriven Personal Business Advisor Self-Guided Client by:

Subscribing to the Self Guided Program - It's Free!


 

About the Author

Shana Schneider is a fitness expert and founder of FITWEEK™, a fitness company that helps women turn every week into a FITWEEK™. As a “FitStylist” with a busy schedule herself,Shana helps women incorporate individual fitness into their everyday lifestyle by providing unique insights, tips, advice and how-to videos through her FITWEEK™ website.

The Advisor’s Corner – ‘Strategic Action’ is better than just a Plan

/in , /by

‘Strategic Action’ is better than just a PlanQuestion:

My boss wants a strategic plan next month. It’s a really short window and I don’t know where to start. Any ideas?

StrategyDriven Response: (by Roxi Hewertson, StrategyDriven Principal Contributor)

Just saying the words, “We need a strategic plan,” often elicits a groan and eye rolls. This is the response because most strategic plans come to nothing or almost nothing.

I wish I had a dollar for every ‘Strategic Plan’ or ‘5 Year Plan,’ sitting on a dusty shelf in this country. Every one of those musty shelf-dwelling ‘Strategic Plans’ cost those leaders and their organizations a great deal of human effort and lost productivity. In fact, strategic planning has gotten such a bad name many people only do ‘it’ because someone tells them they have to.

And yet, everyone likes to have a clear sense of direction, a plan, and an end goal that they believe can and will be accomplished. That’s why we need to create a smart plan of action. I call it Strategic Action because it’s about doing, not just thinking about doing.

A plan is the precursor to the action to be sure. It can even be fun to plan. When done well, planning should engage people and generate fantastic ideas — and still it’s only half the loaf. So how do we get where we need to go?

I have walked many clients through this process and it works every time. It’s simple, makes common sense, and can be shaped to engage any and all stakeholders. This is a summary, but it will give you a good idea.

5 Steps to Strategic Action

Step One: The Mission, Vision, and Values of the organization must be clear, shared, communicated, and understood by everyone on the staff and with appropriate others (Board members, key stakeholders, etc.). Revisiting the Mission, Vision, and Values statements is essential to the process even if they are just being validated. If necessary, create new ones so a solid foundation is in place first.

Step Two: Test the Vision. For a vision to be effective over time, it must be inspiring, clear, credible, and create a strong commitment in everyone guided by it. Always test your vision to see if it meets those criteria well enough to be the overarching, driving force that a great vision needs to be.

Step Three: Identify those significant few (2-3) big strategies on which you will focus for the shorter term (1-3 years for instance) that are aligned with your mission, in harmony with your values, and most effectively advance your vision. In this step you may need to conduct a SWOT analysis and an Environmental Scan look at both the internal and external factors you should be considering. By engaging your stakeholders, you give them a voice in influencing the strategies that will ultimately chosen by you and your leadership team.

Step Four: Action plan the strategies! Once the strategies are established, ownership and accountability for each strategy must be determined and action plans must be put into place with deliverables and time lines. Good communication across the organization is an essential part of this step.

Step Five: Action plan the tactics! Determine what specific actions will ensure the 2-3 big strategies are accomplished on time, on budget, and with high quality. This work is led internally by those accountable for the execution of the strategies — individually and on teams. Pay attention to both the head and heart of this process, making sure the tactical goals are balanced with the impact on people.

If doing this well requires more time than suggested, try to bargain for more and explain why. When you follow all five of these steps you will have a ‘strategic action plan’ which should satisfy any boss!

About the Author

Roxi HewertsonLeadership authority Roxana (Roxi) Hewertson is a no-nonsense business veteran revered for her nuts-and-bolts, tell-it-like-it-is approach and practical, out-of-the-box insights that help both emerging and expert managers, executives and owners boost quantifiable job performance in various mission critical facets of business. Through AskRoxi.com, Roxi — “the Dear Abby of Leadership” — imparts invaluable free advice to managers and leaders at all levels, from the bullpen to the boardroom, to help them solve problems, become more effective and realize a higher measure of business and career success.

The StrategyDriven website was created to provide members of our community with insights to the actions that help create the shared vision, focus, and commitment needed to improve organizational alignment and accountability for the achievement of superior results. We look forward to answering your strategic planning and tactical business execution questions. Please email your questions to [email protected].

Sharon Drew Morgen, NYT Business Bestselling Author, Writes Column for StrategyDriven

/in /by

 
Sharon Drew Morgen joined StrategyDriven as a Principal Contributor and columnist. Morgen authored the NYTimes Business Bestseller, Selling with Integrity, and will offer StrategyDriven readers advice to help them think about the changes they need to make in order to achieve personal and professional excellence.
 
 
Sharon Drew MorgenNationally renowned executive coach, speaker and author, Sharon Drew Morgen offers StrategyDriven readers insights about how their individual biases cloud their ability to effectively communicate. Sharon Drew imparts invaluable advice to executives and managers at all levels: helping them solve problems, become more effective, and realize a higher measure of business and career success.

“We are thrilled to have Sharon Drew as part of the StrategyDriven team,” says Karen Juliano, StrategyDriven’s Editor-in-Chief. “Her extensive experience and unique perspectives brings invaluable insights to our readers on listening and communications.”

Through her column, Sharon Drew will help StrategyDriven readers overcome the biases hindering their communications so as to enable them to truly understand their impact on their people and organizations. Her articles will help readers boost performance in the mission critical facets of their business; including client communications, vision communications, negotiations, decision facilitation and sales.

About StrategyDriven

StrategyDriven provides executives and managers with the planning and execution advice, tools, and practices needed to create greater organizational alignment and accountability for the achievement of superior results. We believe a clear, forward-looking strategy, translatable to the day-to-day activities of all organization members, is critical to realizing success in today’s fast paced market environment. Not only does a compelling, well-executed strategy align individuals to common goals, it ensures those goals best serve the company’s mission.

At StrategyDriven, our seasoned business leaders deliver real-world strategic business planning and tactical execution best practice advice – a blending of workplace experience with sound research and academic principles – to business leaders who may not otherwise have access to these resources. StrategyDriven refers to the family of organizations comprising StrategyDriven Enterprises, LLC. For more information, please visit www.StrategyDriven.com.