Randy Clark's Blog, page 58

Reducing Constant Interruptions at the Office

I’m privileged to work with organizations and businesses on leadership development. What I do most often is give presentations, facilitate meetings, or conduct classes based on one of my books. And although all are rewarding, they’re not my favorite. The leadership coaching that I enjoy above all else is when I have the opportunity to sit one-on-one with a manager, listen to their challenges, ask about their needs, brainstorm actions, and offer my advice. Today, I’m writing about helping an office staff member by reducing constant interruptions at work.

My Approach

I approach these sessions with an open mind, I don’t want to prejudge or preclude. I begin by asking the following:
Where could you use leadership help and advice?
What are your biggest challenges in management?
What are your biggest frustrations as a manager?
How can I help you?

I’ll be writing about some of these sessions as I complete them. Hopefully, I’ll share a few ideas that can help you and others.

Front Office Staff Member – Constant interruptions

When I sat down with this member of the front office staff their biggest challenge was constant interruptions. This was exacerbated by the fact that her workstation was in an open area, she was the most accessible staff person, and she disliked telling anyone no. This would create problems for most of us.

Critical Projects

There were times of the day when she was working on a critical project that being disturbed not only slowed her work but caused her to make mistakes. Being interrupted during a task means you must remember where you left off, and that’s not always easy. I know for me I’ve left out a step in a task after being intruded on and then going back to it.

I advised her that it was okay to politely tell co-workers she was in the middle of something. It can be as easy as, “Thanks for asking, I need to finish this right now, can you check with me at 3:00?”
Sometimes an interruption is unavoidable, in that case, it’s important to mark where you are on your task. For me, it works best to make a note to myself about where I stopped.
I also suggested she communicate with staff about times when she’d appreciate not being disturbed.
She allowed herself to be interrupted even when the topic wasn’t anything she could help with. I advised her that when she was asked about things outside of her area to politely let teammates know she wasn’t the person to ask. She’d most likely have to repeat this several times, but eventually, this action would eliminate some of the interference.
Next, I suggested she enlist her staff co-workers to help her. First, by limiting when they interrupted her, and then by running interference for her – help her by reducing the number of people who interposed on her daily routine.

As of now, she is still interrupted. However, by setting expectations, educating others about her responsibilities, and teaching teammates how to treat her, she has reduced the number of times she’s interrupted per day.

Photo by Amy Hirschi on Unsplash

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Auto-Incorrectness

Auto-Incorrectness, we’ve all seen it. Sometimes it’s hilarious, and sometimes it happens to us. Whether it’s a voice activated text, Word document, or social media post, autocorrect can change our intent and meaning. In other words, autocorrect isn’t always correct. It’s often auto-incorrect.

Sorry For Your Inconvenience

A few years ago I wrote a letter of apology to a customer whose service appointment had been cancelled by the business I worked for. We rescheduled the service, but I wanted to let the customer know that we were sincerely apologetic for missing the appointment and any inconvenience it might have caused. Except, when I drafted the letter in Microsoft Word I misspelled inconvenience, and Spellcheck corrected it – almost.  I clicked okay to the Spellcheck suggested correction, and then didn’t proofread the letter. So the snail mail letter that the customer received said, “We are sincerely sorry for any incontinence you may have experienced.” Yep, I said incontinence. Sigh.

If it Walks like a Duck

A dear friend shared with me that often when she attempts to text a friend using the F-bomb, autocorrect changes it to duck, for example, “duck this, no ducking way, or what the duck?” I kinda like it, it has a good feel to it, and I may begin using it. Ducking A!

Give it a Shot

Another friend said, “Anytime I type “Let’s give it a shot” it always makes it change to “shit”! I must have a swearing problem!”

What Kinda Call?

My friend Glenn was sending a voice activated text, to a customer, while he was driving. Somehow the text changed from, “Please call me if you have any questions” to “Penis call me …”   The customer, thank goodness, had a great sense of humor. When she called Glenn in response, she told him she didn’t know what a penis call was but she couldn’t stop laughing. It had made her day. I couldn’t make this stuff up. Which reminds of this from Pinterest “I hate auto erection, I mean erection … correction, autocorrection.” Speaking of Pinterest what about this one, “The hamster life is the life for me!” Does anyone know what the hamster life is? Is it going around in circles on a wheel while eating carrots?

Wait, There’s More

A follower told me he texted his mom once that he wanted “Baked Alaskan” but it was auto-incorrected to “Naked Alaskan”. Wouldn’t they get rather cold?

“The most bizarre autocorrect fails are the most inexplicable ones, like this one, which changes “honey” into something that isn’t even a word. Example: “If you’re still at the store, can you grab some hiney?” — Is Autocorrect out of Control?  They’d arrest for that, wouldn’t they?

Some of my favorites are misspellings, such as misspelling mispelling, or changing grammar to grammer. And changes like “crochet” to “crotch” can drastically change the meaning of a communication. You think?

You Had to Be There 

Like this text sent to the boss, “How does sex sound tomorrow?” “OMG, OMG Six, I mean SIX!” — Awkward text fails to the boss.

“A friend at a media company told of sending out an important analytics report to her company with a subject line that read, “Weekly Anal Report.” — When Autocorrect Goes Wrong (And So So Right).

Grammarly shared a text about their blog post Autocorrect Text fails; their text went like this, “Autocorrect text falls.” They failed the text.

Auto-incorrectness is Here to Stay

Auto-incorrectness is part of the world we live in. It’s unavoidable, and often hilarious. So, my advice is don’t let auto-incorrectness fester in your brain, instead embrace it, enjoy it, and whenever it happens to you have a laugh on yourself.

Do you have a favorite auto-incorrect? If so share it in comments!  We look forward to your autoconnects. I mean corrects, autocorrects, ah … duck it.

This post first appeared on We Are Recruiters. 

Photo by Blake Barlow on Unsplash

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Are You Going to The Race?

If you live in Indiana when someone asks if you’re going to the race you know exactly what they’re talking about, the Indianapolis 500. There aren’t many events in the world that people refer to as the. If someone asked if you were going to the ballgame, the show, or the museum you’d most likely need to ask what ballgame, show, or museum, wouldn’t you? But not the Indy, it is the race.

Taken for Granted

I live near the track and drive by it frequently. But it’s not until I have visitors from out of town that I realize the size and scope of the facility. I forget that it is the single largest one-day event in the world.

I take the signage for granted too. But when I look at this iconic logo, I realize how effective the signage is. The logo has become part of our culture. Like McDonald’s Golden Arches, Starbuck’s mermaid or Nike’s swoop the Speedway logo needs no words. All it needs are golden wings, flags, and a tire.

When the Race Got its Wing

The first Indianapolis 500 was in 1911. The program for the race in 1911 shows cars speeding into a curve side by side on the greatest race course in the world. IMS wasn’t a household name in 1911, but it wouldn’t be long before the initialism, IMS, only stood for one thing. What’s interesting to me is right there on this 10 cent program are the legendary and iconic wings of the Indy 500. And the wings are still flying high 107 years and 102 races later.

Have You Got Your Ticket?

The Indy 500 is more than a race; it’s a spectacular spectacle full of traditions. If you’ve never been to the race, you should go, and if you’ve been, you should go again because it’s always the same and always different, kind of like the logo and signage.

So, are you going to the race?

Photo Credit: ATOMIC Hot Links via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

 

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How to Keep Your Team Busy When It’s Slow and On Task When It’s Busy

I was working with a group of team leaders. For most of them, it was their first experience in management. I began the training by taking them through my book, The New Manager’s Workbook a crash course in effective management. When we had completed the 13 modules, I handed them a survey to complete about the training. Among other questions I asked what they’d like to discuss further, and what challenges they faced as leaders.

A member of the management class answered that one of his biggest challenges was keeping his people busy. I asked if it was due to lack of work or keeping teammates on task. He answered, “both.” He told me that when business slowed down it was a challenge to keep his team focused and find work for them. However, when it was busy, they’d jump from one task to another without completing the first. Here’s what I shared with him.

Keeping Your Team Busy When It’s Slow

When the work has slowed, it can be a challenge to keep your team busy. There will be times that there just isn’t enough work to go around, which can lead to reduced hours and layoffs. However, before cutting hours, a manager should take a hard look at the department and determine if there are tasks at hand that would benefit the operation and keep employees busy. Here are a few ideas.

Train

When work is slow, it can be the perfect time to train your team. You can accomplish this in groups or one-on-one depending on the needs of the team. If there are multiple jobs within the department, consider cross-training.

Be Prepared

I work with a landscaping company in the Midwest. They know as winter approaches their work will slow down. The company added snow removal to their resume, but that doesn’t replace all the work or keep all their employees busy. There are times they have no choice but to lay people off. However, they do take advantage of the time to train, organize, upkeep, and maintain. The slow time gives them a chance to get to tasks that they had continued to put off. Before work slows down make a list of work you need to get to but keep putting off – it’s a chance to mark it off your list.

Help Other Departments

At TKO Graphics the production division is made up of five departments, digital, screen, plotter, finishing, and quality control. Ten years ago, they didn’t spend much time helping each other. But over the years, through cross-training and leadership development that has changed. For example, the finishing department has been very busy. The screen print department isn’t as busy, so they’ve jumped in to help finishing. That’s great teamwork, good leadership, and excellent time management.

Make it Better

When business is slow, it could be the perfect time to improve processes. Gather the team to take a close look at current procedures and identify areas of potential improvement. If you don’t have checklists – make them. If you don’t have a procedural manual – create one. Use the time to make your team more productive and efficient.

Keeping Your Team on Task When It’s Busy

Okay, we’ve covered a few ideas to use when things are slow, but what if that’s not your problem? What if your department is so busy that employees are getting lost? Here are a few ideas.

Stay on Task

If you have team members that leave one job to go to another without your approval, you need to put a stop to it by letting them know they are not empowered to make that decision. Inform them that if anyone asks them to leave a job and go to another to tell that person the need to come to you, the manager. Switching tasks before completion slows the job and often leads to mistakes. Whenever possible avoid switching tasks before completion.

Break it Down

With some larger tasks, it may be best to break them down into smaller components. While working with a home remolding company, I watched a senior window installer training a new hire. Rather than give him a window to replace. The experienced installer broke it down into smaller tasks. Remove furnishings near the window, remove the existing window, replaced weathered or damaged casing, install the new window, trim the window. Not only did this help the trainee, but the senior installer could inspect each step of the installation.

Set Priorities and Goals

Let your team know what the most important tasks are and set goals to achieve them. You can’t just “do” a goal you must identify and share the actions needed to hit the goal. When you don’t set expectations with your team, who knows what they’ll do next? I know this for certain — you don’t. You need to set expectations on production, the time needed to complete the goal, and the activities to reach the goal.

Limit Distractions

The first step in limiting distractions is to make it clear to other managers, salespeople, marketers, and customer service reps to come to you with questions not your team. Next, don’t become a distraction yourself. Try not to interrupt your teams work. Before you distract a co-worker, consider the consequences, will it slow them down, cause them to start over, or hinder their production in any way?

Recognize Achievements

One of the best ways to keep people on track is to recognize positive behaviors. When you recognize teammates for their activities, character, and results many of them will repeat the behavior.

Have Some Fun

When your team is overloaded with work and deadlines loom like a guillotine blade held over their collective heads it can be an effective strategy to have a little fun. Order pizza and have a group lunch, start a fun competition, or decorate the office. Here’s more on having fun at work while still getting the job done, 10 ways to promote fun at work.

Keeping Your Team on Track

Whether your business is slow or so busy it’s hard to keep your head above water; it can be a challenge to keep your team on track. When it’s slow, you should stay ahead of your team with worthwhile jobs they can do. And when it’s busy, it’s your job to keep them on task until work is completed.

I have a challenge for you. Pick one action from keeping your team busy and one from keeping your team on task and try them. If you already do them then take it from good to great. Let me know how it works. Have a great day.

Photo by Carl Heyerdahl on Unsplash

 

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Training Isn’t One Size Fits All

I was talking with a group of mid-level managers last week about conflict resolution when the topic of corrective action came up. We discussed when corrective action should be taken or more accurately when it shouldn’t. When a team or individual doesn’t deliver the expected activity or results a manager should determine the causes before jumping to disciplinary action or critiques. The leader should determine if there were outside consequences that affected the result, did the teammates involved have the tools they needed, and were they properly trained. Because if they weren’t given the needed trained, they don’t need discipline they need training.

What is Proper Training?

So, what is proper training? It means that they have the knowledge and skills to follow the training. They know what to do, and how to do it. It doesn’t mean they were shown one time or handed a checklist. Proper training means giving the trainee the training he or she needs to fit their learning style.

My youngest daughter is an award-winning AP Macro Economics teacher. Teachers from other districts and even other states visit her classroom to monitor her activities. They want to know how she maintains her high-level classroom test scores. She even spent an hour meeting with the head of the federal reserve, Janet Yellin. (Okay, the proud dad might be bragging a bit.)

One of her teaching methods is the day before an exam she sets up several tables where students can study within the learning style that fits them best, visual, kinesthetic, audio, and more. She adapts her teaching to the needs of the students.

Covering all the Bases     

An installation manager I worked with would hire inexperienced people of character and then train the installation position. He onboarded by distributing a manual to trainees before training began. During training, he gave them a checklist and then showed them each step. After he completed a step, he watched as each trainee did the same. Next, he would assign tasks, leave, but check progress throughout the task. Before a trainee “graduated” they took an open book test using the manual he had given them. Some of the trainees grasped the trainee in one or two sessions. Others took longer. However, before any new installer was sent to a job site, the manager knew they had the skills to complete the job.

The manager also gave the trainees expectations throughout the training, which continued when they went on the job. He didn’t talk training done – he acted.

How Do You Know What Training Your Team Needs?

The easy and obvious answer is you ask them. Ask how they study, what ways do they learn, and what doesn’t help them. You can also do what my daughter does and share multiple methods or do what the installation manager did and cover all the bases. The important point is to understand that not everyone learns the same way you do. So, what training methods do you use?

If you enjoyed this post you might also like, Why you should set expectations with trainees from day one.  

Photo by Ferran Feixas on Unsplash

 

 

 

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Prejudice is Alive and Well in the 21st Century – Unfortunately

Here’s a story from a couple of years ago. I was enjoying a pleasant experience at a suburban men’s clothing store the other day. My salesperson, John, was enthusiastically taking my money, and I was excited about the clothing he had up-sold me. I only went in for a shirt. The alterations on my new sport coat and two pairs of slacks would be ready in two days. We headed to the counter. That’s when prejudice reared its ugly head.

An Interruption

John was interrupted by another salesperson,” He doesn’t want me to wait on him.” John said,” What?” and was answered, “He wants his own kind.” John stopped and looked at the other employee and said, “Excuse me?” The employee repeated, “He doesn’t want me to help him.”

What Year is this?

This is 21st century. I’m shopping in a nice, suburban neighborhood, retail outlet. The customer refusing help is a clean-cut, well-groomed, professional-looking, 30 something. Is this for real?

With clenched jaw, John went to the store’s manager. The manager helped the customer.

The employee whose help had been refused was an African American. I learned from John that his co-worker was a 70-year-old retired military man. He fought for our country and defended us all.

Too Much Hate

If you Google “Hate Groups,” there are over 900 hate groups listed. Should we start a Dexteresque hate group – a hate group that hates hate groups?  Well … no. It’s a reminder that racism continues to exist. It can be anywhere and is everywhere. It’s the responsibility of people to work against it, and it starts with our children. Do not assume they know what is right – teach them, show them, lead by example.

A Day at My Parents Business in 1964

When I was 13-years old, my parents owned and operated a neighborhood convenience store. A small cafeteria was attached to the store. Mom ran the cafeteria. Dad ran the store.

The cafeteria did a lively lunch business supported by a few local businesses. One warm summer day, a local power company service crew stopped to eat. One member of the service crew was an African American. Several regulars from a local gravel operation began heckling the man, “You know where the colored section is? It’s out in your damn truck you ___!” The taunting became worse. My dad took off his white store apron, handed it to me, and asked me to run the register. He was going to lunch. My dad went through the line, got a tray of food and sat down with the African American man. It was a lesson. The cafeteria closed a short time later. It had been blackballed. Over the years, my dad taught me we all have prejudices, but must understand they are wrong and work to change them.

Teach Your Children about Prejudice

The lesson here is to teach your children. We as parents have THE talks with our children including the drug talk, sex, stay away from strangers, and more, but shouldn’t we have the tolerance talk? Shouldn’t we warn them about prejudice? Yes, we should. Because, it’s our responsibility to share about prejudice with our kids. So, yes it should be our job to teach them tolerance. Here are three resources.

Kids Health teaching your kid’s tolerance

Anti-Racists Parent

Civil Rights Project

 

 Photo by Larm Rmah on Unsplash

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Everyone Isn’t You — So Quit Treating Them as if They Were

What may be the biggest mistake that human beings make is when we assume others think as we do. We know this isn’t true, but instinctually we interact with people as if they were just like us. Everyone isn’t you.

We’re not all motivated alike

We’re not all motivated by the same things. However, we assume people are motivated by what motivates us. For example, I’m not primarily motivated by money. When I was in sales many of my teammates were money motivated. It confused my superiors and co-workers when a bonus didn’t motivate me to do more. I’m more motivated by recognition and competition. I want to win and then be appreciated for it. The money isn’t as important as winning for me.

If you want to know what motivates people – ask them, but be aware that motivations evolve. Motivators change with life milestones and experiences. For example, motivators may change if someone marries and then once again if they have children.

Everyone doesn’t learn like you

We assume others learn the same way we learn. For example, if you’re a visual learner, you’ll most likely train others within your learning style. But when a trainee doesn’t have the same learning style as you, it leads to frustration. I’m kinesthetic, a hands-on learner. The best way for me to retain a lesson is to do it. Hearing or watching is a difficult and unproductive way for me to learn. If you were introducing me to a new app the best way to show me is let me use it, walk me through it, or give me a checklist but if you only show and tell me what to do, I may not grasp or remember how to use it.

Not everyone wants an email

We believe everyone communicates the way we do. This assumption is two part. The first is how we use language; the second is our choice of media. I’ve recently advised several businesses to adopt something my good friend Mandi Welch uses at her company, We Are Recruiters. One of the first things she does with new clients is to ask their communication preferences. What media do they prefer, email, text, a phone call or? Does the preferred media depend on the situation? A client may prefer email in most situations, but if Mandi has scheduled a candidate interview for them, they might prefer a phone call. And it’s not only what media do they prefer but also when do they want communication and what do they want to be made aware of.

Your talents aren’t universal

We trust that others have the same talents that we have. I was sharing this concept with a management team when I used my wife and me as an example. You see, I have an almost perfect sense of time; I usually know what time it is without looking. And I always know how long something will take if there are no hitches. My wife doesn’t have this and yet after 27 years of marriage I’ll ask her, “When will you be ready to go?” She doesn’t know. That’s not one of her talents.

On the other hand, she always knows the compass direction, you could spin her round and round in an unfamiliar landscape, and she could point to the north. Me, I’m DC (directionally challenged.) I was once driving A1A on the east coast of Florida when my daughter who was riding with me said, “Turn east here.” I said, “Which way is east” she answered, “Toward the big blue water.”

A manager who attended the meeting told me later that being made aware of this changed his life. He had assumed some of the differences between him and his wife were disrespectful – that she was pushing his buttons on purpose. After the meeting, he realized their talents weren’t the same. He no longer takes it personally. He accepts their differences.

It’s easy to get caught up and assume others think like we do. To believe other people are motivated, learn, communicate, and share our talents is a common misconception. If you want to understand human beings, you must be vigilant as to the needs and wants of others because we’re not all alike, are we? Everyone isn’t you.

Photo by Mario Purisic on Unsplash

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How to Protect Your Small Business from Cyber Crime

We’ve all heard of cyber-attacks on large organizations such as these, “Hackers stole the credit card information of 70 million customers from retail giant Target in 2013 and 56 million from Home Depot in 2014; in 2015 health insurer Anthem announced that cyber thieves swiped 80 million social security numbers from its computers; and online auction site eBay suffered an intrusion involving 145 million user records.” — Fortune Magazine. This graphic clearly shows the extent of the problem, The World’s Biggest Data Breaches and Hacks, but what does that have to do with your small business? Why should you be concerned? And how can you protect your small business from cyber crime?

Because you could be next

Small businesses aren’t immune to cyber-attacks. Hackers no longer only focus on large corporations and government agencies. Chances are someone has already investigated your electronic footprint and if they haven’t you can bet, they will, and soon. Believe me, it’s not farfetched because it happened to my friends at TKO Graphix, TKO Tech Talk: Website Security. Unfortunately, in the small business world, there are a lot of easy pickings for cyber thieves. Don’t be the low hanging fruit.

What can you do?

Back up important documents and information on a weekly basis. Save customer records, financial data, confidential product information, images, and important word docs.
Train your people. Make people aware of possible threats. Teach them what documents NOT to open. As Eric mentioned in the TKO Tech Talk linked above, use strong passwords and change them periodically.
Put your security software to good use. Stay on top of upgrades for security software and operating systems. Limit access to software and be certain firewalls are in place and functioning properly. Set scans to automatically review your site daily as well as encrypt and secure onsite Wi-Fi.

Will that be enough?

Maybe, but if someone really wants in, they’ll find a way. The key is to not make your online presence attractive to hackers by making it easy.

As an example, as we were discussing neighborhood crime, what house do you think a burglar would attempt to rob — the one without a security system or the neighbor with a full system, lights, and sirens? Don’t let your house be easy to break into. Start with the three points above but don’t stop there. The SBA (Small Business Administration) offers a free training seminar SBA Cyber Security Training for Small Business. How do you protect your business from cybercrime and what have you learned?

Photo Credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/xIVhD5xI0oQ

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7 Steps to a Sale

Okay, you got me, there is no absolute seven steps to every type of sale for every product to every customer in every business. However, some basics usually apply. They might not always flow in this one through seven order, and you might not require every step, but I think most are essential to making a sale.

Put the Customer at Ease

The prospect might already be at ease, but they aren’t always. If they’re uncomfortable, nervous, or stressed it will be difficult to make a sale. To put the customer at ease, find common ground to discuss. It could be their need for the product, the local team, or the weather. Begin by asking a few questions and then share a little about yourself.

Build Trust

The only way to completely build trust is to deliver on your promises after the sale has been made. But you can establish trust by sharing credentials. Information such as time in business, associations, accreditations, and awards add to a business’s legitimacy, but nothing beats positive testimonials and reviews from satisfied customers for building trust.

“How important are reviews? Let me ask you a question. When you’re considering a company for a product or service where do you begin the vetting process? Is it online? And if it is online what do you look for? Do you search for reviews and testimonials? The vast majority of consumers and businesses do the same. A company searching for your product will likely review you online five or six times before making contact. — How Important Are Reviews for Your Business?

Understand the Customer’s Need

What problem does the customer have, what do they want, and what do they need? Only by learning this will you be able to offer a solution to their problem. To understand their needs, it might be that you need to inspect their facility, watch their team work, or it could be you need to conduct a survey with customers, employees, management or all the above. Regardless, until you understand the client’s pain, you can go no further.

Offer a Solution

If you’ve done your homework and learned what the prospect’s problems are, and not just offered a one size fits all solution that everyone gets from your company, then you have the opportunity to help them. However, if you don’t have the solution, please don’t over promise. “The first key to keeping promises is to know what can be delivered. Don’t guess and don’t lie. What’s that you say? You’ve never lied to a customer? Good for you, but are you certain? Have you ever withheld information from a client because you were afraid of losing their business? How’d that plan work for you? Lying by omission is still a lie.” —  Under Promise and Over Deliver? How about just Keeping Your Promises?

Make Your Solution Affordable

One of the keys to finding an affordable solution for your client is to establish a budget early in the conversation. By explaining to your customer that you want to offer the best solution available within their budget you can begin a conversation about what they want to spend.

Ask for the Sale

I asked a group of sales leaders what some of the most common mistakes among new salespeople were. One that was nearly unanimously agreed upon was not asking for the order. To email an estimate or lay a contract in front of a client isn’t asking for the order. If a salesperson has diligently followed the steps above, they have the right to ask for the order, and it doesn’t have to be a pushy hard-sell ask. It can be as simple as, “Would you like to get started on this?” The point is to put the ball in the client’s court and ask them to make a decision whether it’s yes, no, or maybe you’ll at least have an idea where you stand.

Follow up

It would be nice if every customer said yes the first time you ask, but that’s unrealistic. The problem is the average consumer says no 4 to 6 times before they get to saying yes and the typical salespersons asks for the sale 2 or 3 times. Do the math. And you don’t have to be overly pushy to ask for the sale on follow up. It’s as simple as a routine check back by email, phone, or face-to-face. “I know most people think of questions after I leave so, I wanted to follow up to answer any questions you have.” If they have questions – answer them, and then ask if they’re ready to get the ball rolling.

The Path to Yes

Like I said, this list of seven doesn’t fit every client, salesperson, or situation, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know and understand how to use all seven. Putting a customer at ease, building trust, and finding solutions to their problems within their budget is good start to closing the sale.

 

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Try this at Your Next Networking Event – Single Purpose Networking

Have you attended networking events with little or no plan? I have. Showing up at a networking event without a purpose isn’t much different than going into work with little or no idea what you’re going to do, is it? So, what is single purpose networking? I’m getting there, but let’s discuss what’s not working.

Too Much of a Good Thing isn’t Always Good

I’ve attended networking events with no plan and on the extreme other end with too many intentions. I wanted to meet so and so, promote my business, talk to vendors, look for potential clients, and more. So, how do you think that worked out? At least for me, it usually didn’t. Not being focused, my efforts were diluted and ineffective. I needed to concentrate on what was most important to me – not throw darts at a board and see what stuck.

Single Purpose Networking

So, here’s the idea. Rather than attempt to network without a plan or focus on mutiple needs, pick one. Focus on one reason for being at the event, with one purpose in mind.

Know Your Need

It begins by knowing your most critical need. What would be the best outcome for you at the networking event? Where do you and your business need the most help? What problems do you need to resolve?

Choose Who Can Help

Next, look at the attendee list and chose the person who is most likely to be able to help you. Choose one or two back-ups in case your first choice isn’t available.

Plan What to Say

Think about what you want to ask and how you will approach the person who might help. Write out your questions and role play what you want to ask. Also, consider what collateral material you might bring – brochures, business cards, one-pagers, or?

Understand How You Might Help Each Other

Not only think about what you need but also how you might help each other. How could you help them? What do you have to offer in return?

What’s Next?

The next step, follow-up, is easier than when you’ve attended events and gathered a dozen cards, half of which you have no idea who they’re from. You can focus on following up with one person.

Is it Time for Single Purpose Networking?

So, what do you think? Yes, I know there are holes in the plan and believe me if you’re like me and are attracted to the next shiny thing it’s hard to focus on one goal. However, I’ve successfully focused single-mindedly at an event, and you can too. Why not give it a try at your next networking get together? It might be time to be more single-minded.

Photo by Club KLM on Trend Hype / CC BY-NC

 

 

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