Words and Phrases that Sell
To persuade, motivate and influence you need to use the right words in your presentation and your presentation materials. To maximize your impact, try adding these words the next time you have a presentation.
To persuade, motivate and influence you need to use the right words in your presentation and your presentation materials. To maximize your impact, try adding these words the next time you have a presentation.
Studies have shown that the forces, trends, and pace of the business environment have the single greatest influence on shaping organizational culture. But there are even more global forces affecting the business environment in subtle, but profound ways that define how organizations must interact with customers and respond to competitors in order to achieve sustained…
I recently read an article by Ezra Klein that made a strong case for not raising the age of eligibility for social security. In the U.S. it is going from 65 to 67. I have always assumed–without a lot of thought, I might add–that raising the retirement age was a no brainer way to reduce…
In the US Federal Government, as many studies have also shown for private industry, leadership–especially at the senior level–is the primary factor around how employees view their workplace. This comes from the 2010 report on The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government.
In my early years of selling, whenever I got an objection, my heart would sink, my stomach would go into turmoil, and my mind would shift into overdrive trying to figure out how to deal with it. All my early sales training and all the sales books I’d ever read made a big deal about…
Today’s business literature is replete with models of leadership and an entire industry has grown up around coaching leaders. Leadership is arguably one of the most valuable of human activities, yet despite the vast literature on the topic, many people remain unable to identify the basic building blocks that define what leadership is. As Elliot…
I’ve been approached by a prospective client who wants a workshop as part of an internal strategic initiative around communications between the levels. They want to focus on: 2-way communication, down to the employee and upward to the manager what should be communicated and when obstacles to communicating more openly how to solicit communication from…
Often when I suggest to salespeople that they do some telephone selling, a panicky look comes over their faces and you’d think that I’d suggested they pick up a hot poker and put it to their ear! Part of this fear and disdain comes from exposure to extremely poor telemarketers who are blight on professional…
A few months ago, we had the wonderful pleasure of spending a day interviewing 11 people at Oak Ridge Hotel & Conference Center to try to uncover their secret – because they have gotten the formula right on employee motivation. Anyone who has ever stepped into their facility outside of Minneapolis can attest to the customer service mentality that every employee exhibits – from the front desk, to housekeeping, to the chefs, groundskeepers, and even in accounting.
There is a definite difference in how the majority of these employees “show up” at their job everyday and how they view and take care of their “guests”. They are truly a company that is doing something right. Here is a quick overview of some of the findings we found:
Robert Rosen, CEO of the management consulting firm Healthy Companies International, reported in the July/2010 issue of Leadership Excellence magazine on conclusions gleaned from interviews of top executives in forty countries over the past 20 years. He and his team was looking for the attributes of the best leaders. They singled out five key characteristics:…
It’s been almost ten years since I last went on a rant about the sales “profession” and what we can do to make it even more professional. So, here I go again! First off, I want to say that I’ve been in sales for over thirty years and I’ve been proud to call myself a…
Ground-breaking studies like Jim Collins’ books, Built to Last and Good to Great and John Kotter’s book, Corporate Culture and Performance have shown that while an organization’s culture powerfully molds its operating style and can positively (or negatively) affect the performance of work-groups and entire organizations culture has remained an overly-complex and somewhat mysterious topic…
Establishing a sense of congruence or similarity with other people is an important element of building rapport. When you understand other people, and are attuned to their needs and desires, they are more likely to feel as though you’re on the same wavelength.
You see, telling a story about incentive compensation and creating captivating visuals to convey that information isn’t easy. It requires that we make choices about what information we share. It means that we may have to simplify the message. It may mean changing how we present and what types of communication that we use.
Bullies play out their cruel games everywhere. No matter their size, shape, age, or where you find them, bullies are masters of manipulation. To gain control, they deliberately intimidate others and knowingly abuse their rights. They’re not interested in getting along, cooperating, or creating win-win situations; they just want to control, win and rule. Bullies…
No, I’m not referring to a prospect that buys long-distance telephone services. This is about the buyer who is out of reach, the one you can’t contact directly because he or she is too distant. Sometimes this distance is due to geography — the key decision maker is located in some other city or country.…
More than 40 percent of the leaders in our surveys say they spend too little time working with individuals to help them unlock their creative energies. Asking yourself, “Have I found my own creative flow? Am I helping other people find their creative flow?” Take this free work survey to assess your organizational strengths and…
During our recent TeleSeminar on Handling the (Dreaded) Price Objection, I was asked a really good question by one of the attendees — How do you handle situations where your main competitor is always undercutting you by 20 percent or more? It was a dynamite question and one that might be asked by many salespeople…
Leading at Light Speed is a powerful leadership book by Eric Douglas for businesses, public agencies, and nonprofits revealing the 10 Quantum Leaps to build trust, spark innovation, and create a high-performing organization. Quantum Leap #6 is all about how to Stimulate the Creative Flow. With rare exception, teams and work groups should be empowered…
In my new book Leading at Light Speed I talk about the concept of leading through others to relieve pressure in the workplace. What do I mean? Think of flying on an airplane with an open seating plan such as Southwest. You’ve come across an aisle seat. The middle and window seats are open next…