Hello everyone!
I had a wonderful experience today at the WBEC South Business Expo held at the Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans. I have met so many people, and I just could not get enough of it! This organization is ALL about helping women-owned businesses thrive and what a great opportunity to talk with other WBEC members (all certified!) about their experiences within this organization and out.
I also had the privilege to be a speaker at one of the workshops. The title was How to Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say! I think everyone had a good time and one of my goals was to have everyone bring one tool they learned back to the office with them and see how it worked with their colleagues. If you were one of the attendees to my seminar, please give me some feedback! I would like to know if you enjoyed it and what I can do to improve it!
Everyone - please check out WBEC South 's website (www.wbecsouth.org) if you are not familiar with it! If networking is your thing or if you want networking to work for you, why not spend your time with others that need to share the same information?
Thanks for reading my blog! Thoughts or suggestions?
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Practice Makes Permanent
As a society we are used to the cliche "Practice Makes Perfect". However a very wise man recently told me this is not the case.
Actually, PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT.
Take a child learning to play an instrument in her school band. She may practice her flute daily working on her fingering chart, practicing her scales, and focusing on the new music given to her by her teacher. However even if she practices every day, this does not mean she will be a better flutist. If she is not taught/shown the proper way of performing a task (playing an instrument), then the practice is only going to make the incorrect mannerism a habit, and a bad one at that.
This is also true when working on our communication skills both at home and at the office. If we are not taught effective ways to communicate with others, and we will continue to repeat the same problems, and we will not improve our communicating style, we will only reinforce bad habits of poor communication.
Let's say you want to improve your communication skills by putting more time and effort into your responses. However, how many times, for example, do you find yourself thinking about your response even while the person is still asking their question? Many times the most important information is missed because we have tuned out after the first 5 seconds! If this practice continues, this will surely become a habit hard to break!
So what can you do? In most industries, there is opportunity for hours of training to help employees perform better in their jobs. Unfortunately, communication skills classes are not offered as much as they should be!
You may have to take it upon yourself to get communications training on your own. Read self-improvement books, attend workshops, and participate in work groups all focused on communication skill development. Toastmasters, for example, can help you improve your speaking and listening skills - and you actually have peers to help evaluate you and offer advice for improvement.
Find opportunities to first learn the correct way to communicate and then begin practicing those new skills. Then practice will make perfect!
Actually, PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT.
Take a child learning to play an instrument in her school band. She may practice her flute daily working on her fingering chart, practicing her scales, and focusing on the new music given to her by her teacher. However even if she practices every day, this does not mean she will be a better flutist. If she is not taught/shown the proper way of performing a task (playing an instrument), then the practice is only going to make the incorrect mannerism a habit, and a bad one at that.
This is also true when working on our communication skills both at home and at the office. If we are not taught effective ways to communicate with others, and we will continue to repeat the same problems, and we will not improve our communicating style, we will only reinforce bad habits of poor communication.
Let's say you want to improve your communication skills by putting more time and effort into your responses. However, how many times, for example, do you find yourself thinking about your response even while the person is still asking their question? Many times the most important information is missed because we have tuned out after the first 5 seconds! If this practice continues, this will surely become a habit hard to break!
So what can you do? In most industries, there is opportunity for hours of training to help employees perform better in their jobs. Unfortunately, communication skills classes are not offered as much as they should be!
You may have to take it upon yourself to get communications training on your own. Read self-improvement books, attend workshops, and participate in work groups all focused on communication skill development. Toastmasters, for example, can help you improve your speaking and listening skills - and you actually have peers to help evaluate you and offer advice for improvement.
Find opportunities to first learn the correct way to communicate and then begin practicing those new skills. Then practice will make perfect!
Pain is Not Necessarily a Bad Word!
Many times business professionals look for ideas to get their potential customers to "make a move" and finalize sales. Business owners look to help its sales force by utilizing marketing techniques such as advertising, joining networking groups, and offering sales training classes.
No matter what form of strategy you use to find potential customers and to get them interested in your product or service, we all know we need to find out what "pains" them in their businesses or personal lives. Unfortunately it is the "pain" that motivates people to make a move. It's almost like telling a child not to touch the hot stove, but sometimes they don't believe you until they do touch it and get burned. We can provide preventive information all day long that can help customers, but until they actually experience the pain of the problem is when they are finally ready to make a move.
So now what do you do? How can you get customers to be more proactive in preventative care for their businesses?
For starters, learn more about your target market. Especially in today's economy, no one can afford just anything. People are starting to be more cost conscious and they look for ways to save money instead of spending it. When you learn more about your target market, learn to ask the appropriate questions that focus on their potential "pains". For instance, if you are an IT company looking for customers who can benefit from off-site backup of their databases, then asking questions about what the costs it would take to replenish all of the data if their network were to suddenly crash or their office were to suffer from a natural disaster. Use examples to illustrate the importance of the preventative measures you are asking them to take.
What if you are a staffing company looking for opportunities to find placement for temporary administrative professionals, then you might ask the questions of how much does it cost to supply health insurance, worker's compensation insurance, training, and other start up costs when hiring an individual when you can utilize a staffing company to take those responsibilities for you? What other job responsibilities could they be handling instead of screening potential employees?
In the end, we have to ask questions that people are asking themselves right now in order to save money and raise revenue. So for your business, ask yourself if it is easier to find customers where you can lower their monthly expenses, or are you looking for customers that need to have their revenues increase?
The solutions you provide must be able to provide relief to them in order to get them to move forward with you.
Therefore, business professionals, are you focusing on the "Pain"?
No matter what form of strategy you use to find potential customers and to get them interested in your product or service, we all know we need to find out what "pains" them in their businesses or personal lives. Unfortunately it is the "pain" that motivates people to make a move. It's almost like telling a child not to touch the hot stove, but sometimes they don't believe you until they do touch it and get burned. We can provide preventive information all day long that can help customers, but until they actually experience the pain of the problem is when they are finally ready to make a move.
So now what do you do? How can you get customers to be more proactive in preventative care for their businesses?
For starters, learn more about your target market. Especially in today's economy, no one can afford just anything. People are starting to be more cost conscious and they look for ways to save money instead of spending it. When you learn more about your target market, learn to ask the appropriate questions that focus on their potential "pains". For instance, if you are an IT company looking for customers who can benefit from off-site backup of their databases, then asking questions about what the costs it would take to replenish all of the data if their network were to suddenly crash or their office were to suffer from a natural disaster. Use examples to illustrate the importance of the preventative measures you are asking them to take.
What if you are a staffing company looking for opportunities to find placement for temporary administrative professionals, then you might ask the questions of how much does it cost to supply health insurance, worker's compensation insurance, training, and other start up costs when hiring an individual when you can utilize a staffing company to take those responsibilities for you? What other job responsibilities could they be handling instead of screening potential employees?
In the end, we have to ask questions that people are asking themselves right now in order to save money and raise revenue. So for your business, ask yourself if it is easier to find customers where you can lower their monthly expenses, or are you looking for customers that need to have their revenues increase?
The solutions you provide must be able to provide relief to them in order to get them to move forward with you.
Therefore, business professionals, are you focusing on the "Pain"?
Sweet Smell of Success!
How do you measure your success? This can be personal and/or business. Is it having a net profit at the end of the year? Is it the ability to purchase large ticket items such as a larger home, family car or other luxury items like a boat? Or is it reflective of the amount of time you can spend with the family?
No matter what you define as your “success” in life, an important element is realizing what inspires you to motivate you to strive for that “success”.
Gardeners may measure their success based of the health of their plants and flowers. How many buds and blooms can I get my roses to produce this year? What types of food, amounts of water, and maintenance of chemicals will I need to keep the rose bushes healthy and happy?
The gardener, year and year, through experience, can tell you what strategies he or she uses (formulas) that will produce the results they are looking for (success).
Owning a business, whether large, medium, or small, uses the same kind of mindset. Success can happen by chance now and then, but to ensure continued success, one must discover certain elements in order to reproduce their results and achieve success year after year.
Here is a brief synopsis of what elements are needed to produce a calculated “success” for a business:
1) Define what success looks like for your business.
2) Define what motivates you as the owner to work towards your success.
3) Write down the steps you believe will be necessary to achieve your success. This is an important step because you may need the advice of veteran business owners (successful ones of course!) or better yet a business coach to help you identify in detail these steps.
4) Break down your steps into realistic, achievable goals. A goal is defined as an objective one is trying to reach after a period of time. The time element can by short term (less that a year) or long term (greater than a year). It is important that the short term and even the long term goals are realistic and achievable. If they are not, then you may be setting yourself for disappointment and eventually failure. Again, a coach can help you put things into perspective.
5) Determine how you are going to keep yourself accountable for working on your goals. You need to keep reminding yourself that your goals exist for a reason and that they are an important part for you achieving your success.
6) Feel good about your achieving your goals. Achievement is definitely an accomplishment! Working towards your short term goals (30 – 90 days to start) and better yet being able to achieve these goals will help you gain confidence and gain more motivation to keep working toward your ultimate goal – your success!
7) When you feel you have lost track of your goals or you have gone astray, go back and review your goals you have written down. Remember what motivated you then to create these goals and relive that mindset. Put back into action what you have written down for yourself to do. Sometimes adjustments need to be made depending on the circumstances that caused you to get distracted from your goals. The gardener, for instance, may need to change his chemical formula if the roses are being affected by a disease or insect that was not yet accounted for. He may need to consult with a horticulturist (business coaches) to help him identify what he not did do in the beginning to foresee this problem. I bet he will learn to account for this problem next time as well!
Once you get to the point of getting close to achieving the success you have defined for yourself, how do you keep that success ongoing? One thing is for sure. Do not attempt to make drastic changes in your formula especially all at one time. As challenges come along, you make specific changes to accommodate those challenges. But make sure these changes are calculated and well thought out! Otherwise your rose bushes may not last through the next season!
No matter what you define as your “success” in life, an important element is realizing what inspires you to motivate you to strive for that “success”.
Gardeners may measure their success based of the health of their plants and flowers. How many buds and blooms can I get my roses to produce this year? What types of food, amounts of water, and maintenance of chemicals will I need to keep the rose bushes healthy and happy?
The gardener, year and year, through experience, can tell you what strategies he or she uses (formulas) that will produce the results they are looking for (success).
Owning a business, whether large, medium, or small, uses the same kind of mindset. Success can happen by chance now and then, but to ensure continued success, one must discover certain elements in order to reproduce their results and achieve success year after year.
Here is a brief synopsis of what elements are needed to produce a calculated “success” for a business:
1) Define what success looks like for your business.
2) Define what motivates you as the owner to work towards your success.
3) Write down the steps you believe will be necessary to achieve your success. This is an important step because you may need the advice of veteran business owners (successful ones of course!) or better yet a business coach to help you identify in detail these steps.
4) Break down your steps into realistic, achievable goals. A goal is defined as an objective one is trying to reach after a period of time. The time element can by short term (less that a year) or long term (greater than a year). It is important that the short term and even the long term goals are realistic and achievable. If they are not, then you may be setting yourself for disappointment and eventually failure. Again, a coach can help you put things into perspective.
5) Determine how you are going to keep yourself accountable for working on your goals. You need to keep reminding yourself that your goals exist for a reason and that they are an important part for you achieving your success.
6) Feel good about your achieving your goals. Achievement is definitely an accomplishment! Working towards your short term goals (30 – 90 days to start) and better yet being able to achieve these goals will help you gain confidence and gain more motivation to keep working toward your ultimate goal – your success!
7) When you feel you have lost track of your goals or you have gone astray, go back and review your goals you have written down. Remember what motivated you then to create these goals and relive that mindset. Put back into action what you have written down for yourself to do. Sometimes adjustments need to be made depending on the circumstances that caused you to get distracted from your goals. The gardener, for instance, may need to change his chemical formula if the roses are being affected by a disease or insect that was not yet accounted for. He may need to consult with a horticulturist (business coaches) to help him identify what he not did do in the beginning to foresee this problem. I bet he will learn to account for this problem next time as well!
Once you get to the point of getting close to achieving the success you have defined for yourself, how do you keep that success ongoing? One thing is for sure. Do not attempt to make drastic changes in your formula especially all at one time. As challenges come along, you make specific changes to accommodate those challenges. But make sure these changes are calculated and well thought out! Otherwise your rose bushes may not last through the next season!
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