Accomplishment Coaching

A colleague asked an interesting question recently… one that resonated with me personally as it pointed to an area of my business that once did NOT work and now DOES work. 

He asked, “When making sales calls, are the questions we’re asking offering up the right answers?”  Much depends on how we each define “right answers”, but who really has the those anyway? 

As a technical expert, it’s likely your professional training didn’t prepare you for the world of sales.  That’s a challenge if you own your own a business or have been promoted to a business development role in your organization.

Many technology professionals (and even die-hard salespeople) will say that cold-calling or sales calls don’t work in their business or industry.

B.S. – they can work.  You just need to make a small shift in Intention and Process.  Here’s what I’ve learned:

Challenge – In my own experience, cold-calling isn’t the most effective way to generate leads. Likely, the biggest reason is that I just stink at it.  However, I’m in the sales business, so at the very least, staying on the phone is a key practice for me and it CAN generate results.

Learning – First, I’m facing a losing battle if my intention in making sales calls is to get immediate business.  Second, I need to come to grips with the fact that whether I stink at sales calls or not, I have resistance to making them.  Third, my services require a depth of intimacy with clients that are best initiated through a trusted source (i.e. referral).  It’s critical that I create a system in which folks I’m calling: a) feel comfortable with my call, b) are willing to assist me, and c) qualify themselves right away as decision makers.

Application of Learning – I’ve  created a business feedback interview.  It’s nine questions that focus on three areas: a) what does the person with whom I’m speaking know about my industry/business, b) what do they feel are the best ways for me to market my services including defining possible objections, and c) what events or people do they know about that I should be aware of.  I now use this system exclusively when making cold-calls / sales calls.  I simply ask for 10 minutes of time and proceed.  My intention is no longer seek immediate business, but simply seek a gift from each person I speak with – usually at least one introduction to a prospect, speaking opportunity or networking event.

Results – Just this week, I’ve been introduced to two new prospects, one new speaking opportunity, and been invited to two exclusive networking events I’ve been interested in attending.  And it’s only Wednesday morning.

If I had stayed with the two traditional methods (that I was trained in for years) of: a) simply unloading rhetorical questions and a scripted sales pitch, or b) avoiding the calls altogether, I’d end up with what I used to get – nothing.

A simple shift in Intention and Process has opened a huge door for me.  It might just work for you as well.

Leadership Practices:

1. Email me with a request for my business feedback interview – I’m happy to share it and help you customize it for your business.
2. Dedicate at least 30 minutes a day for making sales calls – start slow with just a few and work yourself up to higher numbers.
3. Notice where you deny that you’re in the sales business.  If that’s really true, perhaps another career would be more appropriate (and comfortable).

Don’t let sales calls bother you.  As a business professional, one of your primary jobs is to sell.  Embrace it by having it work for you.

Happy Interviewing,

Coach Preston

www.technobizcoach.com

I ran across an interesting question on LinkedIn Answers today…

“When you telecommute, how do you stay connected with your place of business?  Today, we are seeing a shift in the workplace and the number of remote employees is on the rise. Technology has aided in this transition by allowing for businesses to be run from home. We know that employees are able to work effectively from home, but how do remote workers remain connected to their organization? How do they establish themselves as present employees who are part of the team despite their location?”

What a great question as it touches on a topic / situation that goes well beyond just “tele-commuting” – it addresses the more contextual challenge we have in creating relationships that make a difference.

These ideas may fall outside of what you see and I invite you to consider them anyway:

Relatedness – where are we practicing or not practicing the following: sympathy, understanding, compassion, authenticity, vulnerability, connection?

Responsibility – where are we practicing or not practicing the following: being answerable, dependable, being “at cause”, looking to oneself as the source of the relationship (in any condition), choosing rather than blaming?

Integrity – where are we practicing or not practicing the following: entering conversations complete (unimpaired by the past), wholeness, acceptance, honesty, have my speaking / intentions / actions all in alignment?

Communication – where are we practicing or not practicing the following: being open, willing to say what there is to say regardless of interpretation or consequence, definite, flexible, speaking from heart, generous, listening for another’s greatness rather than faults, revealing (vulnerable)?

As great as technology is to enhance the “efficiency” of communication, it does not increase “effectiveness” of communication – i.e. we’ve all read an email that, although well intended, upset the recipient. In fact, consider with the increase of communication technology, we’ve actually become less intimate. As I reply to this LinkedIn Answer, I’m alone typing away – the irony is magnificent.

I’m certainly a big fan of technology – most of my clients are in that business. And a possible Achilles Heel might be in technology’s inability to create truly intimate relationships – a key to effective “connectedness” regardless of geographic location.

What’s possible for any of us if we kept “relationship” at the forefront of communication rather than technology?

Here’s to relating,

-Coach Preston

Life and work, at times, feel like an uphill struggle.  We constantly second-guess our careers, our roles, our projects, our life, our relationships and … and … and…

I do it too.  Maybe more than anyone else.

The thing is, where does it get us?  Not very far, although I keep trying to prove that theory wrong. 

A recent email from an out-of-work IT professional sparked some thoughts on how to make life / business a bit less of an uphill climb:

• Consider there is no such thing as perfection.  Perfection is an invented conversation whose only purpose is to keep us confused and disengaged from pursuing what we really want.  It’s sneaky too as many people say “But I’m not trying to be perfect.”  If you’re experiencing frustration about where you are in life, you are engaging in some type of “perfection-seeking”.  So, stop looking / striving for it.
• Stop pursuing what you think is the “right” career path (the one everyone else tells you to follow)  and start pursuing what you’re heart is telling you.
• Make time daily for prayer and reflection. If all you do is spend 10 minutes per day in silence, your world will change for the better almost overnight.
• Cancel all of the following as of today: a) Newspaper / magazine subscriptions, and b) Cable/satellite TV
• Stop watching, listening or researching the news – period.  The media is poisonous and it’s 100% deadly when you’re down.  There is nothing important about the news.  If there is, it will find you without you seeking it.
• Find a book club, professional group or recreational group to hang out with.  Make sure the folks are in it for the activity and to support one another.
• If unemployed, stop hanging around unemployed people.  They are almost as poisonous as the media and are likely not in a position to hire you.
• Sigmund Freud has a brilliant quote, “What you resist, persists.”  All the ways you’re trying to “fix” yourself will only make you more broken.  Fixing is the easiest way to resist what we don’t like about ourselves, but will result only in the persistence of our perceived brokenness.
• How do you find what will work for you as a career?  In my case, I followed my heart and said “f-you” to all the folks who said I was nuts or wrong.  Not a very “coach-like” method, but it initially got me into a career I love.
• Don’t stop when it gets tough.  If it’s getting tough, it means you’re almost at the point of breakthrough.  Seth Godin wrote a brilliant book called “The Dip”.  He explains this thought in detail.  Read it.

Regardless of how steep life’s hill is, I realize I have a daily choice:  a) allow my circumstances and stories to kick me to the curb, or b) go make a difference for someone.  Which should I choose?

Trust,

-Coach Preston

Send Out Card reps, be prepared – I’m going to stir up the pot.

Yesterday, I received this in an email – it’s the third such email I’ve received in two weeks:

“Hi Preston – I just got your card in the mail and thank you so much!  What a personal way of connecting.”

You’ve got to be kidding.  I’m not sure which is more disconcerting: a) that someone acknowledged a hand-written note with an email, or b) that many of these comments have come from people who are in the same business as me – a business whose foundation is built on intimacy.

In a culture that increasingly promotes “efficiency”, we are rapidly losing touch with intimacy.  You know, that close, familiar, and caring relationship we have with people.

As a technology consultant or professional, you understand the benefit of being more efficient – who wouldn’t want to move through one task more quickly to get to another you’re more interested in?  Plus, you’re perfectly positioned to help folks leverage technology to be more efficient.

But why are we trying to move more quickly through the “task” of creating a close, familiar and caring relationship?  The irony is amazing.  How much time does it really take to write a note, lick the envelope/stamp, and put it in the mailbox?  Is the time saved worth NOT making a deeper connection?

If you’re wondering why more people aren’t identifying themselves as prospects, why clients aren’t buying more, or why your staff seems so resistant to change, you might consider your emphasis on “efficiency” is doing more damage than good.

At what cost are you “benefitting” from efficiency?

Leadership Practices:

1. Get “thank you” notes printed and MAIL them after every sales meeting you have.
2. Stop sending computer generated “thank you’s” (email, computer generated cards, etc).
3. Schedule 30 minutes a day to connect with just one of your staff – leave work out of the conversation completely.
4. Notice where you feel you can’t be yourself in relationships.
5. Notice what scares you most about being vulnerable – i.e. what’s the real fear?

Your technical skill and knowledge is a gold mine – prospective and current clients value it tremendously.  Just beware that the “pull to efficiency” may be doing more damage to the growth of your business than you realize.  Revitalize the concept of intimacy in your business and notice the result.

Think about it,

-Coach Preston

Running a business can be one of the most interesting experiences of our lives.  It can also be one of the most confronting and challenging.

I’ve realized one of my biggest opportunities (i.e. started out as a challenge) is ensuring my target audience understands what I do clearly.  In other words, in 10 words or fewer, my audience understands exactly what I do and how I might help.

If you’re a technology consultant, IT, or computer services business owner, I’d greatly appreciate it if you’d share your thoughts on the following survey – click here to participate in survey.

For those who are not in the technology field, you are welcome to complete the survey as well.

Thanks so much,

-Preston

www.TechnoBizCoach.com