Mike Figliuolo's Blog, page 65

How to Ask Good Discovery Questions While Maintaining Your Authenticity

  Preserving authenticity is fundamental for generating a sale. Ask these simple discovery questions in your next client meeting.  Today’s post is by Jeff Kirchick, Vice President of Enterprise Sales at Next Caller, and author of Authentic Selling: How to Use the Principles of Sales in Everyday Life (CLICK HERE to get your copy). In traditional sales programs, you are typically taught to ask certain questions. The problem with being taught to ask certain questions is that you are fundamentally changing your behavior when you ask them. Generally speaking, you are probably changing your behavior out of self-interest – to generate a sale – rather than asking in the interest of the customer. And the thing about sales is that you should always be focusing on the needs of the customer....



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How much of a perfectionist are you when it comes to deliverables for clients, customers or senior executives?

Our reader poll today asks: How much of a perfectionist are you when it comes to deliverables for clients, customers or senior executives? Extreme: Everything has to be absolutely perfect. 28% Very much so: A small error here or there is OK but no more than that. 55% Kind of: Perfect is the enemy of done. I’d rather get things done than perfect. 14% Not much: As long as the work is good enough, I’ll deliver it. 2% Not at all: I tend not to focus on perfectionism. It’s annoying and slows me down. 1% Quality matters. A strong majority of you (83%) are perfectionists or close to it when it comes to client, customer, or senior executive deliverables. Deservedly so. While it may only be a presentation, a business case, or a memo in many cases, the quality of that work is...



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SMART Goals: How to Make Your Goals Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound

Part 2 of 2: Use the SMART acronym to set better goals. Learn how to make your future goals achievable, relevant, and time-bound. When you go to set goals, I suggest you try to set smart goals. Smart is an acronym. It stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. These are the key characteristics of a good goal. Now there are multiple versions of smart out there, but they all get to the same thing: creating clear and actionable goals that matter. This week, we’re talking about the last three SMART characteristics: achievable, relevant, and time-bound. If you missed the first two characteristics—specific and measurable—check out last week’s post here. Achievable Another characteristic of a good goal is that the goal is achievable. If a goal is too...



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3 Ways to Serve Your Clients With Empathy

Customers don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Learn how to improve your sales pitch by taking the time to understand your customers. Today’s post is by Joe Paranteau, author of Billion Dollar Sales Secrets (CLICK HERE to get your copy). Even if you are the best sales person with an airtight pitch, you might fumble your sale if you don’t make space to listen to what your customer has to say to you. Steamrolling ahead without listening to your customer will cause you to miss key cues about what’s important to them, their hesitations, and their goals. Without this information, you’ll never achieve value alignment.  Listening well is your single biggest asset when it comes to selling. People fundamentally want to be understood, but many salespeople get so...



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How resilient of a leader do you believe you are?

Our reader poll today asks: How resilient of a leader do you believe you are? Extremely resilient: I can handle any challenge and bounce back easily. 10% Very resilient: I can handle a lot and bounce back reasonably well. 74% Somewhat resilient: I can handle most challenges but sometimes struggle to bounce back. 12% Not very resilient: I struggle with challenges and bounce back slowly. 1% Not at all resilient: I feel like I’m at a breaking point all the time. 3% Bouncing back quickly. The vast majority of respondents feel pretty good about their ability to bounce back from adversity. Just be careful during extended periods of uncertainty and adversity. Each setback is harder and harder to bounce back from. If you’re not pacing yourself and taking care of yourself day to day, you’ll...



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SMART Goals: How to Make Your Goals Specific and Measurable

Part 1 of 2: Use the SMART acronym to set better goals. Learn how to make your future goals specific and measurable. When you go to set goals, I suggest you try to set smart goals. Smart is an acronym. It stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. These are the key characteristics of a good goal. Now there are multiple versions of smart out there, but they all get to the same thing: creating clear and actionable goals that matter. This week, let’s focus on the first two smart characteristics: specific and measurable. Specific The first characteristic of a good goal that you should focus on is that the goal is specific. Make the goal unambiguous. Tell people what to do, why they’re doing it, who’s accountable, and what the performance standards...



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Who’s the Best Person for the Job? 5 Tips to Find ‘Culture Fit’ in a Candidate

The way a potential hire interacts with your staff can be just as important as their resume. Keep your team chemistry strong with these hiring tips. Today’s post is by Joel Patterson, founder of The Vested Group and the ForbesBooks author of The Big Commitment: Solving The Mysteries Of Your ERP Implementation (CLICK HERE to get your copy). Many factors go into a company’s decision to hire someone: the candidate’s experience, talent, skills, and ability to communicate, for starters. But while a sparkling resume and impressive job interview are still important considerations, a job prospect’s ability to fit the company’s culture has never been more critical in the hiring process. Companies head into a new year full of uncertainty and are coming off a year of so much change and disruption....



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How much have you grown as a leader in the last 12 months?

Our reader poll today asks: How much have you grown as a leader in the last 12 months? Somewhat. I’ve grown in a few specific areas: 50% A lot! My leadership skills have improved dramatically: 22% Not much. I’ve grown in very few areas: 15% Not at all. I’m about the same as I was a year ago: 14% A decent amount of growth. 72% of you report at least some up to a lot of growth over the past 12 months. For those who feel you didn’t grow, ask yourself why. Was it because you didn’t have a development plan? Weren’t provided growth opportunities? Didn’t take advantage of opportunities presented to you? Simply not interested in growth? If we stagnate, we fall behind because everyone around us continues to grow. For the coming 12 months I encourage you to identify your skill...



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The 4 Negotiation Styles: Which Should You Choose?

Your negotiation style should change depending on the situation. Learn four negotiation styles and when to use them. You should be deliberate in choosing a specific style of negotiating. The way I encourage people to look at choosing a style is first, understand the importance of your relationship with the other party. The relationship can have low importance (somebody you’re just meeting for the first time and you won’t have an ongoing relationship with), or high importance (a strategic, long-term relationship). The second thing you should consider is the importance of the outcome of that specific negotiation, from low importance (there’s not a lot of value on the table), to high importance (there is a lot of money for your organization or it’s a high-risk...



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5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Taking The Leap to Entrepreneurship

Don’t underestimate the commitment it takes to become an entrepreneur. Ask yourself these questions before you dive into a new business endeavor. Today’s post is by Tim Mercer, founder of IBOXG, and the ForbesBooks author of Bootstrapped Millionaire: Defying the Odds of Business (CLICK HERE to get your copy). As COVID-19 causes layoffs and extends uncertainty about employment in 2021, many people are considering new options, reinventing themselves, or trying to decide whether working for themselves is more desirable than finding another 9-to-5 job that might not last. Entrepreneurship brings a lot of freedom, responsibility, and risks, and before people commit to taking that big step there are several important questions they should ask themselves. Entrepreneurship is a career that...



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