How To Commincate With The Three types Of Learning Styles

When it comes to learning, everyone has their own unique learning style. The three primary learning styles are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. As a speaker or communicator, or leader, it is important to understand how to speak to each of these different types of learners. Here are some tips for how to speak to visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners:

Visual Learners

• Use visual aids such as slides, diagrams, and images to illustrate your points

• Use descriptive language to create vivid mental images for the audience

• Provide handouts or written materials for the audience to refer to

• Use gestures and body language to enhance your message

• Use color and contrast in your visual aids to make them more engaging

Auditory Learners

• Speak clearly and audibly

• Use descriptive language to create mental images for the audience

• Repeat important points to reinforce them in the audience's mind

• Use rhythm and cadence in your voice to make your message more engaging

• Use music or sound effects to create a mood or tone that supports your message

Kinesthetic Learners

• Provide hands-on activities or demonstrations to engage the audience

• Encourage audience participation through role-playing or interactive exercises

• Use physical props to illustrate your points

• Use descriptive language that engages the senses (e.g. "imagine the feeling of the warm sun on your skin")

• Incorporate movement into your presentation (e.g. pacing, walking around the room)

By incorporating these tips into your communication style, you can ensure that you are effectively engaging with each type of learner and delivering your message in a way that is meaningful and memorable. Remember, everyone has their own unique learning style, so it is important to be adaptable and flexible in your approach.

Do so and you will see you communications land effectively with those you engage with.  If you don’t you can risk having multiple meetings to go over the same topic. Communication is crucial if we are going to lead or teach anyone. 

Have a great weekend.

“Businesses wonder why it is still hard to be thought of as the brand of choice with customers.  How can our business make more profitable transactions and stay out of the commodity battle with low profits?  I equip your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate explosive revenues with greater profits!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lWIVasmkFsoYL4h0AqIZgH6LC3qaw_gI/view?usp=sharing – client profile sheet

https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Process-Uncovered-Success-Influence/dp/0578421518 - Book

The Sales Process Uncovered Membership Page

Six Things To Be An Effective Communicator

Effective communication is crucial for any leader. It is through communication that leaders can convey their vision, inspire their team, and build influence. However, being a good communicator is not always easy, and many leaders struggle to communicate effectively with their team. In this blog post, we will discuss how leaders can improve their effectiveness in communication.

1.     Know Your Audience: One of the most important things to remember when communicating as a leader is that different people have different communication styles. Some people prefer face-to-face communication, while others prefer written communication. Some people prefer a direct communication style, while others prefer a more indirect approach. As a leader, it is your responsibility to understand your team members' communication preferences and adjust your style accordingly.

2.     Listen Actively: Active listening is one of the most important skills for effective communication. It involves fully focusing on the speaker, understanding their message, and providing feedback. As a leader, active listening is important because it helps you understand your team members' situation, issues, and ramifications. This can help you build trust and influence with your team, which is crucial for effective leadership.

3.     Be Clear and Concise: When communicating as a leader, it is important to be clear and concise. This means using simple language and avoiding technical jargon or complex phrases. It also means being direct and getting to the point quickly. By doing so, you can ensure that your message is easily understood and that there is no confusion or misinterpretation.

4.     Provide Feedback: Providing feedback is an essential part of effective communication. As a leader, you should provide feedback regularly to your team members, both positive and not so positive. Positive feedback can help motivate and inspire your team, while the not so positive feedback can help them improve their performance. It is important to provide feedback in a timely and constructive manner, and to focus on the behavior or performance, rather than the person.

5.     Use Visual Aids: Visual aids can be a powerful tool for communication. They can help to clarify complex ideas, make your message more memorable, and keep your audience engaged. As a leader, you can use visual aids such as diagrams, charts, and graphs to help illustrate your points and make your message more impactful.

6.     Practice Empathy: Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. As a leader, practicing empathy is important because it helps you connect with your team members on an emotional level. By understanding their feelings and concerns, you can address their needs and build trust and rapport.

Effective communication is essential for any leader. By understanding your audience, actively listening, being clear and concise, providing feedback, using visual aids, and practicing empathy, you can improve your communication skills and become a more effective leader. Remember, effective communication is not just about what you say, but also how you say it. With practice, you can develop the skills you need to communicate effectively and inspire your team to achieve their goals.

“Businesses wonder why it is still hard to be thought of as the brand of choice with customers.  How can our business make more profitable transactions and stay out of the commodity battle with low profits?  I equip your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate explosive revenues with greater profits!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lWIVasmkFsoYL4h0AqIZgH6LC3qaw_gI/view?usp=sharing – client profile sheet

https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Process-Uncovered-Success-Influence/dp/0578421518 - Book

The Sales Process Uncovered Membership Page

What Is The Most Important Leadership Skill?

I am often asked what about the most important leadership skill.  People want to know the one thing they need to know to be a successful leader.  This is about the time that I burst their bubble about leadership.

I tell them that there is no one thing that makes you a great leader.  There are quite a few things that we need to be able to do and likely we will not be able to be amazing at all of them. 

One area that we can work on to increase our leadership capacity is learning how to communicate effectively.  That is right communication is a key component to leadership.  We can be brilliant at a specific topic, but if we can communicate it in a way that everyone understands it then we are really not that smart. The best leaders can take a complex topic and communicate it in a way that a middle school student can understand it.  That is the sign of a great leader and intelligence.

The first thing we can do is not use very complex vocabulary (words) to break down a topic.  We don’t need to use $100 words when a 50-cent word will work just fine.  Far too often leaders use these large words that confuses others.  This makes them think they are more powerful because they use these large words, but if people don’t understand, how are they going to move forward?  People need to understand more than we need to see ourselves as brilliant.

The other thing we can do is tell stories.  Ever sit around a camp fire and listen to stories?  We love them.  Sitting hearing someone older tell stories about something and the lesson that was learned is how we as a culture have learned since the beginning of time.  Learning how to communicate and tell stories to help others understand the topic is how we relate to others.  Similar experiences that people have in a story will actually build influence and trust.  Learn how to tell stories and you will be able to bring the audience in and teach them.  A great resource of doing this is Storyworth by Mathew Dicks.  It is a great resource to learning how to tell stories. 

Body language is also key in communicating.  That’s right body language.  90% of all communication is nonverbal.  That means our posture, facial expressions, and how we move communicate more than the words that come out of our mouths.  Far too often leaders stand behind a podium that creates a barrier between them and the audience. 

We need that energy if we are going to make points land so get out from behind a podium.  Take an improv class to learn how to make a point land.  Performers know how to make a point land and how to create climactic moments with their body movements and vocal tones.  Being able to help people understand the point and the excitement at the correct time is key.

There are degrees on communication because it is such a complex topic.  We don’t have to major in communication to be able to communicate well, but if we use some of the tips above we can greatly impact our ability to communicate effectively with those around us making us better leaders.

I hope this read has helped you and if you want to learn more about communication in leadership check out my youtubechannel for some videos on leadership and communication.

“Businesses wonder why it is still hard to be thought of as the brand of choice with customers.  How can our business make more profitable transactions and stay out of the commodity battle with low profits?  I equip your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate explosive revenues with greater profits!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lWIVasmkFsoYL4h0AqIZgH6LC3qaw_gI/view?usp=sharing – client profile sheet

https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Process-Uncovered-Success-Influence/dp/0578421518 - Book

The Sales Process Uncovered Membership Page

Communication is Key for Success

It’s not what you’ve said, but how you’ve said it.”  How about, “All you needed to do was communicate and we could have avoided this issue in the first place?”

No one is perfect with their communication, but we have to be good at communication when we are in a sales position or in a leadership position.  Communication is a key ingredient in a successful business.  It is actually the most important quality as a leader as well.

We may be the most brilliant leader, but if we can not communicate with those we lead, then we are not going to be able to go anywhere with anyone. 

Leaders need to focus on building up their communication skills if they want to go far.  There are many different ways we can grow our communication. 

The first way we can become a better communicator is to check our posture.  That is right, the majority of communication is nonverbal.  That means what we say and how we say it are affected by our facial expressions and posture.  If we are walking around like EOR (from whiney the pooh) and are trying to present good news, how does that land? 

When we communicate to communicate a point, we can use stories.  That’s right, stories are what we humans gravitate to when we are learn lessons.  Stories allow the listeners to become a part of the story and learn the lesson that is being communicated with us.  We love stories to learn lessons.  We love to hear a good story and when we add the point to it, we grasp it better.

 Another way we can become better communicators is to not use $100 words.  That’s right too many people like to seem more intelligent by using large words that others may not understand in order to seem smarter.  This is actually counterintuitive.  The best leaders are able to take complex topics and communicate them in a way that a middle school child could understand them.  Being able to break complex topics down into easy to understand language is essential.

There are many ways to improve our communication.  We can record ourselves when we are practicing our speech, we can go to toastmasters to learn how to tell stories better, and we can go to acting / improv classes to learn how to present better.  Using a little humor is like giving a little sugar to let the medicine go down smoother. 

We need to become great communicators if we are going to lead organizations into the future.  Without it we will lose engagement, influence, and profits.

For this year I would highly recommend making it a goal to get better at communicating if you want to excel in your career.  It will pay off greatly when you reach the next level in your career and your future self will thank you.

“Businesses wonder why it is still hard to be thought of as the brand of choice with customers.  How can our business make more profitable transactions and stay out of the commodity battle with low profits?  I equip your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate explosive revenues with greater profits!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lWIVasmkFsoYL4h0AqIZgH6LC3qaw_gI/view?usp=sharing – client profile sheet

https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Process-Uncovered-Success-Influence/dp/0578421518 - Book

The Sales Process Uncovered Membership Page“

The Supply Struggle Is Real

In the past couple of years with a pandemic and supply chain issues, it has become crucial to make sure we still deliver at high levels with low costs.  Organizations have had to pay higher costs to ship goods from overseas, weather has affected larger parts of the country, and there are constant requests from suppliers to increase pricing in the name of higher costs.

As sales people we don’t always want to go to customers with price increase after price increase.  It sometimes feels like death by a thousand cuts as one VP states.  Sales people want to sell and then collect a pay check in most cases and hate the constant requests to get price increases.  It is a difficult balance between customer relationship and keeping our organization afloat.

If you are in leadership, or in sales these issues have been hitting all of us quite regularly.  It seems everything is increasing and there is no end in sight.  There are plenty of factors to blame, but pointing the finger never resolves the issue. 

I’ve worked in organizations that do not want to hedge market stability so they set up raw material adjustments.  Now it seems like there is a request for logistics adjustments that will be needed.  A great deal of purchasing and sales teams are wishing things would go back to what they were, but unfortunately the reality is that it will take a market crash to really level set.  Especially with the consumption of raw materials increasing to where even lumber mills can’t keep up with demand.

There will need to be quite a few things that need to change in order for us to make things get to a calm state and fluctuations to calm down.  Better forecasting will be crucial with greater levels of communication from customers and suppliers.  There will need to be a seize to just in time delivery imposed by some industries.  There will also need to be some holding more materials to support the demand right now.

We all need to work together, customer and suppliers creating a better communication system with lower finger pointing if we are to get back to a better quality of life.  Every industry is impacted with these issues so simply jumping to a new organization is not necessarily the resolution.  We need to really work together to find a better way. 

Yes some ideas that we try, will not work.  But that is the great thing about the lightbulb.  It took over a thousand attempts for Thomas Edison to create the lightbulb.  We now have the technology to improve efficiency, but we need to look at how we can work together, team up, and give each other the benefit of the doubt.  No one software package, communication tactic, or demand will cure this.  We have to have empathy for each other and work together to solve the issues.  

Greater levels of communication and transparency will be required to move forward.  Those are crucial in building trust.  Let’s stop the finger pointing and find solutions and we will all get to a better life soon enough.

Have a great week!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I equip your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate explosive revenues with greater profits!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lWIVasmkFsoYL4h0AqIZgH6LC3qaw_gI/view?usp=sharing – client profile sheet

https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Process-Uncovered-Success-Influence/dp/0578421518 - Book

https://kevinsidebottom.kartra.com/page/5AF12 - Sales Process Uncovered Online Training

https://kevinsidebottom.kartra.com/page/68N10 - Trustworthy Online Training

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