You Need The R in Trust

Ever have someone tell you they will do something for you and they don’t follow through?  Ever been that person that says they will be somewhere at a certain time and you forget?  These types of situations actually affect trust.  It’s when we don’t do what we say we are going to do that trust actually decreases.

Today, let’s talk about the second variable in the trust equation, Reliability.  How reliable are you?  When you say you’ll do something will you do it?  Will you do it to the best of your ability?  Do you forget to do it?  Will you do the right thing when no one is looking?   Do you think it is that big of a deal to be reliable?

It's a BIG DEAL!!!  Trust is won or lost by our actions, not just our words. 

I remember when I was younger, my father telling me to always do what you say you are going to do.  Do not waiver.  He also stated to do the right thing if everyone is watching and when no one is watching.  Don’t tell me, show me is the slogan I have heard all my life from my father.

I remember when I first met my wife’s parents.  We were up at their cottage grilling steaks and I was assisting my future father-in-law.  I told him that I usually every spring season the grill grates after the first steaks have been cooked by applying foil to the top of the grates and turning the heat up high while I ate and then it would bake in all the flavor.

What I didn’t know is that his grill grates on his expensive grill were actually anodized aluminum and not steel… 

Did you know when you crank up the heat and use foil that reflects the heat back into the grates that are anodized aluminum, they actually can’t take that much heat and melt and then break in half?  Yep, it was an awesome first time meeting them let me tell you… 

I told him that I would replace them even though my future father-in-law said don’t worry about it.  The next day I was on the phone with the grill manufacturer ordering the new grates.  I was originally going to order just two, but they informed me that they had two different sizes in that grill…. so, I ordered a complete set.  Did you know that anodized aluminum grates cost more than any grill I have ever bought?  Yep that’s right almost $300 for grates.

That weekend was the most expensive steak dinner I have ever had, but by doing the right thing and doing what I said I was going to do our relationship has grown and he has put a great deal of trust in me.  He knows that if I say I will do something that I will get it done. 

When we interact with our teams, customers, family, or friends we need to make it a constant effort to be reliable.  Without being reliable it is almost impossible to have a trusting relationship.  Especially when we are first getting to know others.

Here are a few things I do to make sure I follow through:

List it and do it – As you can see from the picture of this blog, I love to utilize post-it notes for my action items.  I will literally list out something I need to do and stick it to my wallet when I leave so I do not forget what I set out to do.  Some people use an app, but I am low tech.  A side note is that when people cross things off list they feel good and empowered.  If you are someone that keeps forgetting to do things, then maybe making a list and keeping it with you as a reminder might be a good tool.

Action It – I am bombarded with requests regularly and if I set something to the side I tend to forget about it, so I make sure I do it right away if I can.  CEO’s have utilized this method of acting right away of forgetting it.  Emails are a way they sort through action items to either take action right away, or throw it in the recycle bin.

Delegate it – If you are unable to do something and someone else is better equipped to handle the item then delegate it.  John Maxwell has endorsed this idea of delegate to elevate.  My wife and I set up weekly meetings to look at things that need to be done and delegate things that each other can do.  It allows us to work more efficiently, communicate effectively, and flow in our strengths.

L.A.D. are three helpful options that I we can all utilize to make sure we are reliable.

Is there a time that pops in the back of your mind where someone else has fallen short being reliable?  How did it make you feel?  Did you lose a little trust in that person? 

I know I will fall short sometimes, but I make it my best effort to do what I say I am going to do and if I am going to come in short, I communicate the situation and try to better the situation to the best of my ability.  We need trust in order to keep moving forward with others.  We need to focus on how we can make sure we are doing what we say we will do and apologize to anyone that we may have fallen short with. 

Being reliable is essential in building trust.

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Sales People..., don’t fear it, embrace it

How many of you like to hear the word no?  No is not typically something people want to hear when they are trying to sell a product or service.  While working through the sales process with the customer we are envisioning the finish line, checkered flags waiving, confetti, and then we hear…”No”

Most sales people have had the experience early on in their careers to keep sitting in the selling phase of the sales process and not asking for the order.  They do not want to hear the word “no” from the customer.  During this buying decision far too many sales people will start spouting off more benefits and features, price dropping, etc. before the customer even provides feedback.

When we start justifying our price as soon as we send it, we immediately devalue our proposal.  Now the customer has no other course, but to challenge the price.  The old saying less is more applies here.  When the sales person sends over the price, they need to stop speaking.  Just like in a negotiation, the first person that speaks loses. 

Now I temper that with a statement that submitting pricing is not an us vs. them situation.  We are trying to help the customer here, but we need to also be paid for our services.  What I am saying is that when we submit the pricing, we need to not devalue our proposition to the customer.  Now the discussion should be on the customer to decide if they see the value of the investment, or if they have more questions.

Maybe the customer needs a little more information because we did not answer one of their needs that is high value.  That’s okay because we can address that need quickly to help them make sure this is the best product / service they are about to purchase.  Maybe the customer is in the research phase of decision making.  This should have been discovered early on in the first buying decision, but maybe they are trying to budget.  Then it is up to us to make sure we identify the next step for them to take and how we can help the customer.

There is nothing wrong with hearing a no right after we have provided the price.  This is how we adjust and understand what may be limiting the customer from making the purchase.  Just like shooting a rifle from 1000 yards away from a target.  Sometimes a small adjustment needs to be made to hit the target in the center.  This is our opportunity to correct and address the customer’s needs and help them see the value.

It is our job as sales professionals to help the customer’s needs get answered and help them win in this investment.  If we simply walk away when we hear “no,” we are missing a large opportunity to correct and help the customer.  Maybe a large need changed due to the organization’s direction.  Maybe the purchasing team has been reshuffled and there is a new buyer.  That happens quite often doesn’t it.   

If we don’t sell the product / service right after the first time we submit a price, that is okay.  Sometimes there is a better option for the customer, but if we have done a great job, the customer will tell us why we may have lost this sale, but they will tell others how we helped them if we walk with them through the five buying decisions correctly. 

As a side note most sales people never go back and find out why they lost a sale.  This is valuable information if that happens to adjust the sales approach going forward!

We just need to make sure we do no devalue ourselves, or our offerings while working through the sales process with them.

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Why Trust starts with the letter C

Trust is in high demand today. 

Some would say that it is harder than ever to build trust with others.  Far too often people let us down and keep moving on as if they don’t even care.  It’s not true, but that is what our feelings tell us.  Trust is a very expensive commodity.  Businesses can lose large accounts because of trust.  CEO’s are let go for violating trust.   

Employees and management need to establish trust more than ever especially with the working remote situations.  In uncertain times, it is trust that is the key ingredient in moving forward and achieving desired goals.

There are many aspects to trust and how to build high levels of trust.  Different environments also require different levels of trust.  I have been asked many times for a simple roadmap in building trust.  Something simple for people to remember and be able to apply.  I have also spoken to Multi-Billion dollar organizations to help teams build trust by using this equation.  That is why I have created the Trust equation. 

For today let’s focus in on “Credibility.”  Yes we need credibility to be able to build trust.  Ever read an article that states I had a credible source?   Credibility actually has a few components to it and some that most people don’t think about.

Credibility is typically linked to knowledge.  A person goes to school, gets a degree and then they are finally credible on a subject.  While that is very true, there are other aspects to Credibility that many do not think about.  One is effective communication and the other is what I call call “being the bridge.”

I have seen very intelligent individuals lose credibility because they could not effectively communicate with others.  That’s right, just because they have a great deal of knowledge, does not automatically grant them credibility.  Everyone needs to be able to communicate effectively!  There are many courses that help on effective communication topics, but the biggest effect on communication is the ability to break complex topics into easy to understand language.  That means not using really big dictionary words when a simple word can be used.  If we can communicate effectively then we can build trust and generate credibility. 

Now the other component I mentioned earlier is what I call “being the bridge.”  This is something that I learned when I first got into sales.  If I was able to connect people needing help in a certain area with those that had the knowledge, I actually built credibility.  That’s right because I was bridging the gap for them, then I am deemed a credible source as well.  When we bridge others together, we are associated with one that adds value.  Adding value is key in trust building and being a bridge will help us gain influence.  This is one of the main ways I have been so successful throughout my career.  I have built a great deal of credibility by bridging others together.

Knowledge, communicating effectively, and being the bridge will allow us to become more credible and help others trust us more.

If you’d like to learn more about trust and the trust equation I have a click here for my online training.

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

How Good Is Your Why When Goal Planning?

Ever wonder why 80% of new years resolutions fail?  Ever wonder why your team just doesn’t seem to hit goals?  Why do most people not even set goals?

The main reason is that growth whether it be personal, professional, or physical is painful.  Growth is not easily achieved which is why there are so few people achieving the next level results. 

I recently took my son to the orthodontist to start his journey for a better smile while getting braces installed on his teeth.  He asked me what it was like since I had them twice.  Yes, it typically takes me double to achieve results than most people 😊  I told him that the initial process is not very hard as they apply the torture devices to your teeth, but that he should expect to have a 6 out of 10 on the pain scale for his teeth for the following few days.

His response was that he was okay just not getting braces.  He didn’t care that it would improve his smile, or fix some issues in his mouth that would help him.  He just wanted to avoid pain and discomfort.  It dawned on me in that moment that I am not alone.  I don’t always want to do the hard things because it will cause me discomfort. 

Most individuals will avoid pain at all costs to live an comfortable lifestyle.  What I’ve learned is that nothing worthy is every easy.  There is some level of pain and risk associated with any worthy venture. 

If we want to grow financially for most cases, we need to gain education, work hard, and budget.  None of this seems fun or comfortable either.  My mother always said, “ nothing ventured, nothing gained.”  I added to that that no pain, no gain.  Okay I may have borrowed that from some weight lifter somewhere. 

If we want to grow, we need to put in effort and accept levels of discomfort / pain.  When we want to gain muscle, we are actually ripping apart muscle strands during weight lifting exercises that repair themselves when we are sleeping that increases their size.  The same is true with anything we want to grow in.

We must accept that we will have some levels of pain to grow ourselves in whatever venture we take on.  We need to review our why and figure out the cost of achieving that why.  If the why is not greater than the costs, then we will have no chance at success. 

We should be adding to the process of goal setting what our why is next to each of our goals to decide if this is a good goal or not.  Otherwise, we are just hoping that we will make it and likely will fail to hit that goal. 

Over the pandemic I had to review quite a few things I wanted to do with my business and had to go through quite a few pain points when I created all my videos, online trainings, marketing ideas, and personal decisions like losing weight.

Each and every one of these things required me to sit down and figure out my why.  If I had a great why I have achieved my goal, but if my why was small or something superficial, I did not achieve that goal.

If you have a goal for yourself, it is a great step to review your why before setting out the goal.  Yes, we need to make goals that are easy to understand and measurable, but we also need to make sure we factor in the pain level we will have to endure to make these goals possible before we set out.  We risk a higher levels failure when things get tough if we have not done this planning.

As we are heading into the fourth quarter of 2021 lets start reviewing our goals that we created for the year and understand why we failed at some and why we succeeded at others.  The why will be a great area of focus. 

If you’re curious I did lose quite a bit of weight during 2021 by dieting which was very painful, but worth it!

If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this topic more, feel free to reach out, I’d be glad to have that conversation.

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Why Some Leaders Are able to Gain Influence and Trust, While Others Don’t

Good morning everyone,

I hope you are doing well and have been learning through my blogs and youtube videos to gain influence with your team members and customers.  Today I’d like to talk about why some leaders are great at building trust and influence with people while others just don’t.

Ever have a manager that made you feel like you could do anything and you would fight for them to your last breath?  Chances are that you would not go that extreme, but you stayed at your current job because they were a great leader.

The majority of managers are focused on keeping people and process moving steady and having the least amount of push back for the organization.  They want to stick around for a pay raise, or a position raise inside the organization.  These same managers push for their team members to keep moving along and getting their jobs done while hoping to not have to keep replacing people which slows everything down.

Very few leaders take it upon themselves to truly work on building influence with their team members and focus on helping their team members be successful.  When we as leaders turn the focus off ourselves and what we need to how we can help our team succeed, that is when amazing things start to happen.  Buy in goes up, people stay around longer, they even work harder, engagement increases, etc.

Culture, engagement, influence, and a whole bunch of high energy words are thrown around as focus points, but here is the simple thing that leaders need to do to achieve great results with their teams.  Leaders need to answer three questions on a daily basis to their teams.

Do I like you?

Do I trust you?

How Can you help me?

These three questions are what the team members are asking each and every time they interact with each other.  If trust is low, and the members believe they are just a number instead of a team member that is when people start lacking energy at work and looking for other avenues of employment.  Leaders need to really understand this.  If they want to retain employees, and have a culture of growth, the focus needs to be how leaders can help the team grow.

For those that say, what if I invest time, energy, and money which results in the future, the employee leaving…What if we don’t and they stay with lack luster effort?   

When trust is high speed goes up and costs go down.  That means that profits go up.

If Leaders are focusing on answer the three questions every time they show up with their team members, they will gain influence, gain engagement, and create a great culture.  In this great environment people will know that they are valued and will go the extra mile day in and day out to make sure the mission is a success. 

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Why Customer Service Reps Dislike Their Sales Reps…

Good morning everyone,

Have you ever experienced tension between customer service and the sales team?  Has there been passive aggressive exchanges between the two groups in your organization?

Ever have a customer service representative blindsided by a customer agreement?

Today I want to dive into an area of opportunity to help serve your customer as well as your organization.  In many organizations there are sales people and then there are account managers/ customer service representatives. 

Two separate people supporting groups for the customer and if communication is not great, two separate messages being communicated to the customer.  This drives customer satisfaction down as well as cross functional teams to argue and point fingers when issues arise.  Anyone that has been in sales for a while will be able to relate to this tension.

After a sale the sales person rides off into the sunset never to be heard from again which I have preached about in the past as being the ultimate sin in sales!  That’s right about 99% of sales professionals fall into this trap.  This hurts the relationship with the customer, effects return customers, and puts the customer service representative in a bad position when the customer asks for their deal that the sales professional made with them.

 Ever have this situation happen to your customer service team?  The sales person negotiates something different from the standard terms and conditions leaving the customer and customer service representative in a sparing contest to see who will give in.  The customer continues to get irritated stating, “ This is not what I agreed to!”  I’m sure some other adjectives are also used.  The customer service representative is also irritated and the customer experience has just blown up.  It does not even matter if the sales person resolves this issue, the customer already has an opinion of how this organization will support them in the future. 

Remember the organization is the second buying decision, even before the product is sold so we need to make sure we are all working together to make the customer experience exceptional. 

I worked for an organization where the sales people were all over the place with making side deals outside of the normal parameters.  The customer service representatives were processing orders without this knowledge and issues started popping up.  Customer relationships were paying the penalty.  Business was starting to erode and the owner of the organization was getting calls from large customers venting their frustration.  This was a bad situation.

To remedy this, the sales people were brought in for a sit down to understand how to get sales done following the standard program.  There needed to be conformity because there is something else that happens because our customers talk.  They will brag about the deal they received only to make the other customers resent the sales person for not giving them the same deal.  Profits were eroding and things were just not flowing in the organization.

When selling a product / service the customer service teams as well as sales teams need to have an understanding of the program and where there are opportunities to make small changes if needed.  Sales people and customer service representatives need to be on the same page so there is one message communicated to the customers at all times.  This helps when some of those slick customers try to get “a better deal.” 

Communication is key!  If sales professionals are not communicating terms of the deals and with the customer service representatives then there will be opportunities for misses with the customer.  The sales professionals also need to address as much of the terms of the agreement in writing so there are no issues for others to action against.  It is up to sales professionals to support their teams and not just hoping others will just figure it out. 

Both teams are extremely busy!  One idea that I have shared is to use a sharepoint directory so that our customer service and sales teams can reference the signed agreements so that way they can check what was agreed to.  Having this one location is crucial to the success of the organization!  This way we can serve the customer effectively, maintain relationships, and keep profits up!  Everyone needs to be on the same page when communicating with the customer.  Otherwise, the customer experience and profits suffer.

Have a great day everyone and happy selling!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

How Entrepreneurs Can Find Opportunity During the Pandemic Recovery

I am grateful for Curtis Fisher and his support of young entrepreneurs. This week’s blog post has been written by Curtis and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Small business owners everywhere have dealt with the economic impact of the pandemic. If your small business was considered “non-essential,” you may have had to close your doors for a period of months, only to return to limited operations afterwards.

Now, as the world begins to open up again and restrictions are gradually rolled back, you can slowly prepare for a return to normal. Maybe you need to revise your budget, get in touch with business and leadership consultant Kevin Sidebottom, or change your approach to marketing. No matter what you plan to do next, these tips will help you navigate this period of the pandemic.

Administrative Items

Business might not be back in full swing yet, but you can take advantage of this lull by working on administrative tasks instead. For instance, this might be a good time to go over your business plan and determine how you can tweak it for the upcoming year. You could also spend some time getting your digital files and paper documents organized.

In addition, now’s the time to register your business with the state in which you operate. Choosing to structure as a limited liability company (LLC) is optimal for many small businesses, primarily due to benefits like reduced risk to personal assets, less paperwork and greater tax advantages. You can use an affordable online formation service to get this done quickly and easily. Zenbusiness not only walks you through this process and helps you file, the site provides information on items like getting a statutory or registered agent.

Budgeting and Finances

The past year may have been rather lean for your business. Some sectors have benefitted from the pandemic while others have struggled. And if your business was categorized as non-essential, there’s a good chance that you’re wondering how to make up for lost profits.

First, it’s a good idea to create new financial projections for the coming year to see what you can expect in terms of your finances. Next, you’ll need to update your business budget by cutting expenses. What can you reasonably cut? Clean Tech Loops recommends nixing any software programs that you do not use regularly, switching to paperless files whenever possible, and considering a long-term remote work plan or renting an office space in a cheaper location.

Develop a Safety Plan

Depending on COVID case counts in your area, it might be time to bring your employees back to work in-person. It’s a good idea to consult with your employees before you make this decision. If everyone is on board to come back, Work Design recommends spacing out workstations with six feet in between them, stocking up on hand sanitizer, and having the office cleaned regularly. And if you have a retail space or waiting room where you’ll be allowing customers, make sure to put signs indicating that they are required to wear masks.

You may find that some workers aren’t ready to ditch telecommuting, especially those who live with people who are particularly vulnerable to the virus or those who simply feel much more productive while working from home. If this is the case, you’ll need to develop a plan for permanent remote work. Virtual Vocations recommends working with your employees to establish codes of conduct and decide which communication tools should become standard.

Delivery and Pickup Systems

Even though restrictions on businesses are slowly coming to an end, some of your customers or clients still might not be able to conduct transactions in person yet. Some people may still want to take care of business online or purchase items through a delivery or curbside pickup system. Make sure that you continue making efforts to accommodate this for the foreseeable future so as not to lose any customers.

New Offerings

The world is turning over a new leaf, and this could be the perfect time to introduce new offerings from your business. For instance, you could invite your customers or clients to a series of workshops that are held virtually for the time being and will shift to in-person gatherings as soon as it is safe. If you run a retail business, you could launch products that customers can easily enjoy outdoors this summer, since people will be looking forward to getting back outside.

Sales consultant and speaker Kevin Sidebottom blogs about the importance of knowing what customers crave. “What is the customer really asking us each time they interact with us whether [it’s] face to face meetings, calling customer service, on social media, etc. What is it that the customer is trying to communicate to us? We need to be intentional to reach out to them to figure out what they need. It’s that simple.”

Marketing Strategy

As people continue shopping online while others venture out, you’ll need to focus on combining both digital and offline advertising in your marketing strategy. You can rely on social media marketing, email campaigns, and search engine optimization to bring in new customers through the internet. In addition, set up fun window displays to attract more foot traffic to your store!

As restrictions are rolled back during the recovery phase of the pandemic, small business owners will have some breathing room to expand. You may want to use this time for administrative tasks, reworking your budget, or finetuning your marketing strategy so that you can speak to what your customers need right now. By looking forward with an optimistic attitude, you can prepare for profitable months ahead!

Back To Normal…Back to Staying Fit While Traveling

Now that vaccine numbers are up and the COVID numbers are getting lower in many locations in the US.  Business organizations are starting to open up customer visits and traveling to see customers.  In person events are even starting up.  Things are starting to get back to normal.

With things opening back up, the question is how to we stay fit while traveling.  Maybe it’s summer vacation, maybe it’s work travel, maybe it is even trying to shed the COVID 15 lbs.

What fitness programs can we do anywhere at any time?

How do we schedule time for fitness as our schedules get tighter and tighter?

I have spent a great deal of time on the road in my career and I can say that it is extremely hard to stay fit when traveling.  I have spent hours trying to plan workouts whether traveling for business or pleasure and was mostly unsuccessful.

Some things I would do was research where I was traveling to in order to find hotels with fitness centers that were not just a treadmill and an exercise bike, map out gyms near hotels, or figure out routes to run.  I would get so exhausted from all of the planning that I would usually just give up and find something on tv to watch.

My epiphany happened one day I was watching informercials when I could not sleep from an extensive business trip.  One caught my attention mainly because it was stating that fitness could be done in a small amount of space with limited workout equipment.  The infomercial was for P90X taught by Tony Horton.  This is where my beach body adventure started.

I bought the program and I have to say it worked.  I was able to get in the better shape than I was in college.  The program worked so much that I have done it at least once a year for the past decade.  I was able to travel with minimal workout equipment.  Usually just fitness bands and running shoes.  I could also plan my workouts.  I could do plyometric training, kick boxing, and yoga while I was on the road.  I was even able to use a small 8’ x 8’ space to workout at home.  Beach Body now has streaming service called Beach Body On Demand (BOD)

There are over 40 different workout programs on this system with different coaches. There is a great variety of workout programs on this service so whatever you are feeling like that day you can push play and get to work easily on your schedule.  Now here is the cool part about this.  You don’t need a gym membership, a bunch of gym equipment at your home, or a great deal of space.  You also don’t have to waste time waiting for people to get done sweating over equipment you need to use.  It’s efficient and wide open for you to decide what you want to do that day.  You can also stream it on your phone from the app, or from a laptop.

They even have nutrition programs that go along with the workout programs.  One stop shop to help us stay fit when traveling.

Peloton, Nordic track, and mirror all have similar formats for working out without needing much equipment.  Some work out facilities and hotels even have equipment set up to use these programs as well. Getting outside and walking / running is also a great way to see the location, but that will take some planning on how far you want to go for your fitness goals.

No, I am not a beach body coach, I don’t sell the materials, or their magic shake formula (which I don’t use), but I do endorse this format especially if you are a busy individual.  It works if you put forth the effort and push play.  I have used this workout formula which helps me mitigate stress, process ideas, and clears my head.  If it worked for me then it can work for anyone. 

Also, when I finish a workout program entirely, I treat myself to something as a way to set a goal to complete a program.   

We are getting back into the swing of things as well as the summer travel so it will take some planning and execution if we want to stay fit as we get back to normal.  It is achievable, but we need to start now if we want to hit our goals!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Simple Ways to Keep Learning as a Leader

Today’s blog post is written by Curtis Fisher from www.tradesbright.org.

I hope you enjoy it!

The best leaders are always learning. As Harvard Business Review explains, engaging in lifelong learning is loaded with benefits, personally and professionally. Career-wise, those who continue to learn and grow can ensure ongoing financial success as work becomes more technologically-oriented. On a more personal level, pursuits like reading are wonderful stress-busters, and problem-solving can be extremely fulfilling. Some types of learning, such as playing a musical instrument, can even help to counteract cognitive decline. And living in a manner that is open and curious can be a boon to your social and networking efforts.

Some of the greatest successes of our time — Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Barack Obama — made lifelong learning part of their formula for success. It should also be part of yours. Here are some great resources to get you started!

Enroll in Online Programs

You don’t have to quit your day job to further your education. Look for remote learning opportunities through online courses and programs.

●        Sign up for a leadership program from Kevin Sidebottom to learn how to be a conscious and purposeful leader.

●        Earn your business degree from an online university that offers flexible courses.

●        Take a course through your local small business administration (SBA).

Listen to Podcasts and Audiobooks

Podcasts and audiobooks, like the ones listed below, are great for learning while you’re commuting to work or doing the dishes.

●        The TalentGrow Show podcast.

●        The Leadership Biz Cafe podcast with Tanveer Naseer.

●        Biographies and autobiographies about the most successful business leaders of our time.

●        Leadership books recommended by the world’s top entrepreneurs.

Read Online Articles and Guides

You can learn almost anything online. These are some great articles that every leader should read at least once:

●        How to avoid micromanaging your employees.

●        A distilled list of the top leadership traits of great leaders.

●        Understanding the difference between being a boss and being a leader.

●        Articles that have inspired other successful leaders.

Become a Teacher

One of the best ways to learn is to teach someone else! Consider mentoring someone, launching a blog, or creating your very own course.

●        Become a mentor to a first-time entrepreneur.

●        Create a blog or a website where you can share your knowledge.

●        Produce informative and engaging YouTube videos.

No matter how long you've been working in your leadership role, you can always benefit by learning something new. Even the most successful leaders can find room for improvement! Keep learning by seeking out articles, podcasts, books, courses, and coaching programs that will help you reach your full potential.

Are you looking for leadership coaching? Kevin Sidebottom can help you acquire the skills you need to thrive as a leader!

By Curtis Fisher

curtis@tradesbright.org

photo by pexels

Short Term Profits, or Raving Fans, Which Do You Prefer

Good morning everyone. 

Last week we spoke about customer loyalty.  Today let’s talk about how to generate “Raving Fans” which is what we all want.  Have you ever been to a concert standing next to thousands of other people singing the same lyrics as you as the band performs on stage?  Have you ever been to a sporting event where you and the people around you are cheering for your team and sharing memories of how WE beat the rivals?  How about a restaurant experience that you couldn’t help but tell others that they need to go to?  Wouldn’t it be awesome if we had that kind of following for our businesses? 

In today’s world it is easier to get a company launched and with social media it is even faster to come to market with new products.  Business owners are trying to find the quick ways to generate profits and return customers.

Here’s the secret sauce for doing this.  It takes time!  Sad, but true it takes time to generate loyal customers and raving fans.  As a business owner we need to define what we want.  Do we want short-term profits or long-term success?

When customers buy a product / service from most organizations that is the end of the transaction.  Unfortunately, the 90 days after a purchase are the most crucial for the customer.  They need our help to be successful with this new investment.  If we simply take the payment and say, “Good Luck!”  we’ll be looking at lower sales in the future.  Without repeat customers and customers reaching out to others on our behalfs, we will have to keep pushing hard with effort to grow sales.  We need to serve our customers well, or suffer the consequences of burn out and becoming a commodity. 

The 90 days after a purchase are crucial to make sure the customer is using the product or service to its full potential.  Think about some of the products / services we have bought only for them to be collecting dust because we did not know how to use them properly.  We fell that infomercial we watched late at night lied to us. 

Today with social media being easily accessed a small business owner can reach all customers with emails, videos, and webinars at the click of a button and with low cost.  Why not make sure the customer has all the tools to help them be successful with our products?  What about group events when we travel to a city to invite those customers out to network and offer support?

No magic, just simply focusing on the customer to make sure they are successful.  They are investing their hard, earned money with us so we need to treat them like they are making an investment in us.  Customers are taking a risk on our products / service so let’s help them be successful.  Constantly reaching out with successful tips and trick and not just selling the customer something else is how we serve them well!  

I have read a great book called “Fanology” by the David and Reiko Scott.  They have great insight on how organizations have generated awesome fan bases that sustain long-term success.  One part of the book that really stopped me and made me think was this quote:

“The relationships we build with our customers are more important than the products and services we sell to them.”

If we want to generate more “FANS” for our products / services we need to focus on how we can make them successful with our products / services that we offer.  If we are not focused on serving the customer and building relationships with them, then our products / services become a commodity.  The only differentiating factor in a commodity is price.  It’s also not sustainable for long term growth for your organization because each day there are similar products coming to market for a cheaper price.

Focus on making the customer successful and building a relationship with them.  Wouldn’t it be awesome serving and connecting with customers so well that they become fans and sell our products / services for us?  Who wouldn’t want that a sales force that we don’t have to pay because they are so passionate about our product / service?

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Customer Loyalty, We Want It Right?

Good morning everyone,

Everywhere you look you see articles on how to build customer loyalty.  Just about every major retailer has a loyalty program.  Offers are given with point systems in hopes of retaining customers.  These are all great things, but there is one area that businesses are falling short.

What about the new customer that does not know our brand and has no idea how awesome we are?  What are we doing today to keep them for a lifetime?  These individuals want to believe that if they join our “club” we are going to take care of them, but they have been taken advantage of so many times they may be a little skeptical.

All of us can be Starbucks and Chick-Fil-A in the future with lines for the drive through wrapping around parking lots and disrupting street traffic flow.  What we need to do is think about ways to serve customers so well that they want to keep coming back.

Both Starbucks and Chick-Fil-A do one thing really, really well.  It’s customer service.  That’s right they are always going above and beyond the call to serve the customer. This is resulting in customer loyalty, a Fanocrocy, and great business success even during pandemics.  People will literally wait in 20 min lines for a cup of coffee, and chicken sandwiches. 

Chick-Fil-A also has one thing they do every time they serve us when we say thank you.  They respond immediately with “it’s my pleasure.”  They literally ingrain each employee to be customer service focused.  It does not matter which location we to go, we still get great consistent service.

When an organization focuses only on profits and not on serving the customers it never ends well.  Doing the right thing consistently over time creates loyalty.  Making sure we have set up a solid customer service focus no matter how long the customers have been doing with us is key to achieving customer loyalty.

Focusing only on maintaining the customers we currently have loyalty with will erode as they expire.  Yes, I have checked the data everyone expires!  If we only focus on those that have bought several products from us to generate loyalty at the risk of making things right for a new customer, we will LOSE!!!

Too many organizations focus on short term profits.  One main driver for this is publicly traded companies focusing on making their stock holders more money as their main goals.  All organizational goals serve this one main goal.  How do we make shareholders more money? 

Organizations should also not focus on helping only those that have pledged loyalty to their brand, but consistently doing the right thing to generate future loyal “Fans.”  When “Fans” pledge their loyalty to us, they tell others how awesome our organization are.  They share stories of how we have helped them and rave about our service.  We have sales people selling for us that are not on our payroll.  Wouldn’t you like that?

Do not take the customer’s payment and walk away from the transaction waiting to see if the customer will buy from us again before we give extra effort.   Give the extra effort up front and every time we engage people and we will be rewarded!

Check back in next week and I’ll help you with a few ideas on how to grow more loyal customers and some ideas of how to gain more fans that will sell your brand.

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

To Influence We Need To SEE

Good morning everyone,

How many times have you just believed that the people around us should follow us because we have a title that they report to?  If we are trying to gain influence with direct reports based off organizational title to keep the team following our lead we will fail. 

We all want to have influence over those we connect with whether it is family, work associates, a ministry, etc.  If you’ve been reading the past two blog posts, you’ll be following a core to building influence.  It’s a process to get the focus off of ourselves and on to those we are needing buy-in from.

Let’s review the crucial steps to accomplish influence:

Week 1 C.I.A – stands for being curious, intentional, and asking questions.

Week 2 Developing questions to pull out the needs from those we are building influence with

Week 3 Figure out if we are on the right track.

We want to make sure that what we believe the needs to be are in fact resonating with those around us.  It’s time to step out and test our thought process and start getting into activity to find out.  So how to we figure this out?

Today we are going to SEE if we are on the right track to building influence.

The first step is to Set up a meeting or a time to review with those that we are working on influence with.  Don’t do a drive buy ambush to validate we understand their needs.  Let them know that we value their time and respect.  Look at their calendars and set up a meeting with the purpose in the title or go one step further and walk up to them asking for a good time to meet.  I know some introverts will say, but I don’t like engaging people.  Maybe that is a growth step for them.  I am an introvert by nature, and I speak to groups of people because I took small steps each day to grow. 

Show them respect by being prepared for the meeting.  We can also give them a few details we would like to review so they have time to prepare for the discussion.

Be Engaged.  Turn off emails, close doors, and pay attention. Be engaging with this meeting as best you can.  Ask them questions to pull out their needs as you have drafted from last week’s blog.  Let them do most of the talking like a 70/30 ratio with you mainly asking questions and them answering.  Find out deeper needs than just a paycheck and insurance benefits.  Find their WHY they are continuously showing up.

Encourage them to come to us with questions, help, ideas for their growth, and to keep an open dialogue.  Let them know we truly care by encouraging them.  We don’t need to have parties for them but showing them that we care and encouraging them to take steps for growth and reaching out will help us gain influence.

Now if they have needs that we have not already identified from our prep work, then this is our homework to review and make sure that we can answer those needs.  It is better to know that we are not meeting their needs now so that we can either work on being able to meet those needs, or help those that report to us find somewhere in our organization, or another organization that will allow them to find their place best suited for them.  Keeping someone that limits them is not a long-term play and will slow down progress.  Yes, sometimes we may need to help the reports find a better suit for them and look for someone else.

People are not cogs in a machine, but individuals helping to support a vision we have.  This is a concept that far too many organizations fall into because they are just trying to keep moving and not focusing on their individuals and how to help those individuals. 

Helping those that we are influencing know that we truly care will build a great foundation to help us in the future to move further faster together.

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Want Influence? Understand Their Needs!

Last week we talked about C.I.A. and how using these three letters are essential in growing influence.  Today we are going to really grow our influence with those around us.  Today we are going to find out the needs. 

Whether it is a customer, a team we lead, or the nonprofit we are in charge of.  We need to truly understand the needs of those around us.  Deeper needs than just food, water, clothing, and a paycheck.  People have many different levels of needs.  Some of my therapist friends refer to the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs for personal needs.  It is a great diagram to understand need levels.

There are also business needs that need be addressed.  If we can help people with both of these needs, we are going to be generating high levels of influence.  Now that is the influence I love to have.  Not for the power aspect, but that I am helping people.  That is why I wrote my book and write this blog every week.  To help people understand sales and influence so they can be more effective with others around them.  I want to help as many people as I can get better and serve those around them by helping them get to where they need to go. 

So…how do we begin with that level of influence you are probably asking?  We ask deep questions to really understand what people around us need.  Most people do not think this deep that is why when we ask them how they are doing most people instantly say “good…”  Going deeper with those people we want to address some of the deep-rooted needs they truly have.

For a salesperson they are trying to make sure their product truly answers the needs of the customer.  For an employee that we are leading, they may need to feel a sense of belonging and that they are doing something meaningful.  Without that impact most employees resort to a paycheck being the only differentiator for work.  How is the turn-over in your organization?

We need to take time to understand the needs that our organization addresses to help society, the need our product addresses, the need that our team’s role addresses to help the organization grow stronger.  We need to build list of needs that are addressed. 

Let’s say we are an IT group, that is tasked with monitoring organization computers against cyber-attacks. The features are the software and team members in our group.  The benefits our group provides the organization is protection from attacks and support if someone is cyber attacked.

I remember a phishing scam that had employees giving away their log in credentials and changed the location to where the employee checks were delivered.  The IT team quickly closed the loop on this and saved dozens of employees from losing their paycheck in the matter of hours.  Do you think that people were grateful for that help?

After we have understood the benefits, then we need to understand the needs that are answered by these benefits.  Using the above example, the benefit creates a sense of security and peace of mind for the users of the computers which are powerful.  The users of the computers typically do not understand all of the code used to create a virus and how to remedy.  Our team is also enabling the rest of the organization to function efficiently and safe.  The IT team is like ninjas jumping around saving those they serve. 

Cascading what we are doing for others and how we are helping others is very motivating to our teams.  We need to take time and think of some of the needs that our teams answer.  The larger the need the more we can impact.

Now that we have the needs figured out, we need to structure questions to ask so that we can start finding out if we are answering the needs of those that we lead.  If we are asking the individuals their needs and we are answering their needs our influence will skyrocket!  Keep in mind that everyone is different, so being intentional and sitting down with individuals to make sure we are understanding their needs and if we are identifying them on a deep level, we will have deep rooted influence.

Have a great week everyone! 

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Why Leaders Need CIA For Building Influence

When Leaders set out to lead a group of individuals, some fall short.  It’s not because these leaders are incompetent.  It’s mainly because they don’t understand how to build influence.

John Maxwell who is the leadership guru of the 21st century has a quote that states “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less...”  If we want to lead others, we need to know how to build influence.  That is where the sales process uncovered comes in.  By applying the principals, people are able to grow influence with others. 

When we are working with others, we need influence in order to move forward with them.  We start by learning about them, their families, their hobbies, etc.  This is the same as building rapport in the sales process.  Unfortunately, rapport is only the beginning of building influence and not the end all. 

Just having rapport gets us in the door to have a conversation, but Influence is a deeper relationship with that individual.  Influence is building up relational collateral like a bank account.  It takes time to high levels of influence in order to get the person jumping all in with us.

When we start taking a deep interest in other people, we will start gaining influence with them.  That person will start to open up in areas that they feel they can share as well as ask for input. 

I use the 3 letters when trying to learn more about others to build influence.  The letters are C.I.A.  No, not the government agency. 

C-stands for being curious.  Be curious like a child that never stops wanting to know more.  Be curious to learn more about our relationships whether they are customers, teammates, family, friends, people we just met, etc.  Be curious to learn about them as much as we can.  People love to talk about themselves and are craving that connection.

I-stands for being intentional.  Be intentional about our relationships.  While we are asking questions do not stare at a phone while the other person responds.  Look them in the eyes and pay attention to what they are saying and how they are saying it.  We’ll learn a lot about a person when we pay attention to their posture, their tones, their words.  Even when someone is saying they are fine… if their tone sounds like they are about to scream, they are not fine.  Pay attention and see if there is a way we can help.

A-stands for asking questions.  Ask a great deal of questions.  This being paired up with curiosity and being intentional helps us really learn about the relationships.  What is really going on with our teammates, our customers, our family members?  Similar to the sales process where we do a needs analysis in my book “The Sales Process Uncovered”, we will ask questions to see if there is a way we can help the person get to where they want to go.  People of great influence are not those that take from people, but are people that give as much as they can without expecting anything in return.  That can be time, money, clothing, etc.  Dale Carnegie, Mother Teresa, Jesus Christ are all people of great influence.  These people started most of their conversations with questions.  These individuals wanted to learn about the situation and where they could help.  They stepped in.

For today, focus on using C.I.A. when you interact with people you come in contact with.  Not for the sole purpose of gaining influence, but for connection and stronger relationships.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

If You Knew When You Would Die, Would Your Dash Change?

Just like the title asks, what would you do if you knew you only had a limited time left to live. 

Recently someone very close to me was given a diagnosis with a very limited life expectancy and it started my mind into reflection.  What would I do, if I only had a limited time left?  Would I just quit doing this or that, create a bucket list, take up a new hobby, etc.? 

The truth is all of us have a limited time left here on this planet.  A limited number of days to wake up, a limited number of hours to spend with people we enjoy spending time with, and a limited time to live. Time is not something that we can add to or multiply.  We can only subtract and divide. 

When we a head stone in a cemetery, we can see a name, date born, and a date when someone has moved on.  There is this thing in between the dates though.  It’s a dash.  The dash is their life.  The dash is their experiences.  The dash is their impact on this world.  This dash is  significant.

If we are to truly live, we need to make sure we live out the dash.  We need to make sure we take time for the fun stuff and not get super stressed about work.  Work is what we do, but it does not define us.  I do this blog and help people understand the sales process, how it actually helps people build influence, but this is not who I am.

Who I am is a husband, father, son, friend, and someone who steps in to help whenever possible.  Too often people think that their work is who they are.  How many times when asked the  following question, “tell me about yourself”, have we started with our profession to describe ourselves?  We focus on this detail more than the other details of our lives.

Are we mainly defining ourselves because that is what society believes, or do we share that detail because that is what we think we should be defined as?  Why do we lead with that detail?

Why don’t we lead with who we really are?  Do we not really know who we are?  Should we ask others to describe us?  Typically, when we are at funeral services, we get to hear what others think about the person that has passed on, but I think that is a little too late for a reflection like that.

Shouldn’t we be asking what others see about us sooner?  Are we too afraid to ask the question because we are worried about what we might hear?  Are we just not thinking about it, because we don’t want to think about that time when we pass on?

When I am laid to rest, I want that dash to represent a person that loved to help, inspire, and enable people to flip the script for their dash.  If I can do that I will have succeeded at life.

What would you like your dash to represent?

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

What’s your Coaching Style?

How are you at coaching your team and your family? 

Are you like a coach on the sidelines constantly sending in orders hoping the team will execute?

Business leaders think being a coach means constantly sending in orders like a coach on the sideline.  The leader believes they should tell the team what to do and how to do everything and then the team will just execute.  The issue is that the employees do not learn to think for themselves.  They constantly come to the leader for the answers for everything essentially slowing down the organization.

This style of coaching does not promote effective thought in individuals and does not allow them to grow.  If there is no growth then the business, team, family will suffer.  

What I learned in 2016 from John Maxwell’s Certification is that coaching is not about telling people what, or how to do everything.  Coaching is instead asking questions for the individual to produce their best answer for the given situation.  It’s encouraging them to look within for their best answer.  Not telling people what and how to do things.

Most of the time in business, we are trying to answer questions and get to solutions fast.  Because of the speed at which business is evolving we keep perpetuating the same cycle.  When we arrive home at the end of the day, we are still dictating what needs to happen, how it needs to happen, and when it needs to happen to our families if we are not careful.  Will that help our families thrive?

We may get things accomplished, but we need to grow others around us so that they can make decisions and still move forward.  If we are not coaching these individuals correctly, we are actually hurting them.  I also am learning to not have people do it the way I would do it.  I need to let go of control and let them do it their way.  By doing so they will grow confidence in themselves and their decisions which will make them more efficient their way.

As coaches, we can not be the sole source of answers.  We need to help cultivate a culture in our organizations of aligning with the core mission and vision, and individual solutions that align with that direction.  We have to give them trust and let them have some bumps and bruises at the beginning.  Yes, it’s slower at first, but speed will pick up speed over time.  We need to guide them and coach them before they are free to make those decisions. 

We need to continually ask those thought provoking questions to help individuals come up with better decisions.  Even if those decisions do not align with what we believe is best at the time, we still need to trust the process to help them grow. Over time we will gain that trust of the individual and their decision-making process.  If not, then we will never be free for family, vacations, and our own growth. 

Ultimately, we will expire and it is on us to grow those around us.  If we expire and we leave those that looked up to us without this essential decision-making process, our legacy will be in jeopardy and they won’t be able to move forward.  How do you think that will benefit them?

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Do What Wealthy People Do

What do Wealthy individuals do?  That is a question the majority of our population have.

I have sat with quite a few millionaires and learned this some interesting things.  First thing I learned is that 99% of wealthy individuals did not inherit their wealth.  Yep, that is right, they built it from the ground up.  Almost all of them did not win the lottery either.  So how did they do it?

The main reason these wealthy individuals did it is by using a Budget.  Yep, I used the B-word! They use budgets financially, with their time, and when they decide to take on a new venture. 

Hardworking individuals believe the B-word as a taboo discussion topic.  I get it!  I fought against using budgets until I took a class that helped me understand that if I tell my money what to do, it actually does what I want it to do. 

When I learned how freeing budgets can be, I was left wondering why I did not do this sooner.  I would have had so much more money at the end of the pay period and would have been able to invest more of my hard, earned money.  Yes, budgeting can be freeing for you and your loved ones.  My wife can use her money to buy whatever she wants with it. 

My wife and I started out our marriage with the monthly budget meeting.  We go through all of the line items including clothing, vacations, gifts, food, electric, etc.  If she decides to buy a whole bunch of coffee, she is free to do so without me condemning her because it is her money to budget for whatever she wants!  Have you ever had a fight over your significant other buying something that you haven’t agreed on? 

The monthly budget has helped our communication greatly as a by-product.  If you are in a relationship then you already know communication is huge in a relationship. 

Budgeting has been one of the single most effective ways for my wife and I to prepare for emergencies, taking vacations, date nights, etc.  We have had times where we had emergencies and by having a budget, we were able to overcome those emergencies quickly.  We also need to buy a new roof for our house that we have been planning for.  Roofs are pretty expensive and we will be able to afford it because we put it in the budget. 

You know what else has been great?  We actually give our kids a budget for clothing and after school activities that they can manage how they choose.  They just need make sure they can afford it.  If they don’t have enough money, then they don’t do the activity.  Now the emotion is taken out of the discussion and the focus is on saving up so they can do that activity in the future.  My hope is that they will keep budgeting for the rest of their life so they can retire with even more money that my wife and I.

Had we started earlier on investing into retirement we would have millions more when we retire.  Not a million…Millions! 

If you want to be successful and have a great retirement, you need to start with a budget.  I do not make any money off of this, but I also highly recommend you take financial peace university from Ramsey Solutions!  It is the class that started me on my financial journey over a decade ago and has helped our family with getting on track for a better future.

What is keeping you from sitting down and doing a budget? 

Do you not have the time? 

Does it seem like you don’t know where to start? 

What if I told you that if you emailed me, I would send you a FREE excel file that you could use for your own budget?   It does all of the calculations for you.  

Would that be helpful? 

If you want to become wealthy and have HOPE for your future, email me today and I will send you a copy of the budget file we use so that you can get on the road for a better future.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com