InnerActive Consulting – Insights » 2009

4 Strategies for Closing the Sale When You Lead

There are four strategies for closing the sale when you lead in the sales process. These are the most common strategies and tactics used by sales people to close a sale. It is similar to having a two minute game plan in college football. How do you burn the clock faster and win the game?

This is the same thing that sales people must deal with everyday. When they are the front runner, the leader in the game to close the deal – what can the sales person do to get it done. Over the next four days, I will into each strategy in more detail to explain what is happening in the background to speed up or slow down a sales process.

Here are the four strategies for Closing the Deal when you are ahead in the sales game:

To Do Nothing
Continue to Use the Same Plan
Use a Full Press to “Burn the Clock Faster”
Get the Officials to Call the Game Early

Each of these strategies will lead you to victory, eh, to closing the sale. Remember, in sales being in second place is a really bad thing. Pick the right strategy for your situation and get the contract signed.

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Posted by Voss Graham on April 15, 2009 at 5:12 am under Sales.
Tags: B2B selling, Closing a Sale, Tactics and Strategies to closing the deal
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How to Hire High Performers

The universal question appears to be “How Do I Find High Performers for My Company?” And it seems to get more focus and debate everyday.

First let’s deal with a myth that Hiring High Performers is impossible. The reason is, there are so few – by some estimates less than 1% of the population. Well, while I don’t want to debate the issue of just how many high performers are there in your market. The real issue is “Can you Top Grade Your Staff?” Can you find the best fit for a position at this moment in time. Continue reading ‘How to Hire High Performers’ »

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Posted by Voss Graham on April 14, 2009 at 5:43 am under Hiring, Selection and Retention.
Tags: Hiring High Performers, Mismatching Jobs and People, selection process
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How to Choose the Right Assessment for Your Company

How do you choose the right assessment from so many choices? That is a question that shows up every day. Some people have the answer and others just keep using the one that was introduced to them while in school. Others use the ones recommended by their boss or someone they trust or respect.

The above methods are subjective at best. So how do you choose the right one for you or your organization? There are seven factors to review, so let’s get started:

Price – Some choices are made only based upon price. Price per assessment, per project or per group. Price is a consideration, yet, it should not be the only issue to review for using assessments. There are other more important considerations.
Validation – Now this is another important area, yet it can be overused. Validation of personal assessments should be validated in several areas – accuracy, relationship, construct, and consistency. However, not ALL assessment are in need of validation. There are numerous situations that call for job related accuracy only. In fact, we see this element being a key factor in several assessment processes – are there job related benchmarks being used in the interpretation?
Legal – Are the legal requirements of the assessments being met? In the 50′s and 60′s some assessments were used in an illegal manner to eliminate certain classes of people from employment opportunities. And, laws were passed to stop this practice. However, today, several people still have a misunderstanding of what is legal and what is illegal in the use of assessments – particularly in the hiring and selection of people. While you will want to check with your legal advisers – the EEOC and the Department of Labor are very clear on the use of assessments. It is perfectly fine to use assessments – especially if they are focused upon the needs of a job or position rather than an individual. Benchmarking that is job specific is good for legal requirements.
Norms – What norms are being used by the assessment provider? If the provider cannot “show” you when and where the norms for their assessments were established, then decline to use them. There are many “copy cats” in the marketplace that have not done any research and development to keep their assessments current. Most behavioral assessments were normed on the baby boomers population. Therefore, the X and Y Generation individuals do not get accurate results. Thus a disconnect between the report generated and the belief that the information is accurate. Your norms should be set from the 21st century not the early 20th century.
Easy of Use – The assessment process should be difficult for the user or the benefactor of the results. The instructions and deliverable should be easy to understand and implement. Simple and clear is the key.
Support – Do you have a provider that has experienced and certified individuals to support the debrief of information provided from the assessments. To often, you will have a “certified” individual that has no practical experience. Therefore, the insight into how certain factors or combinations impact an individual or organization could be missing. This lack of insight will hurt you in the long run.
Language – During the 20th century one language was okay. However, today with the global presence and multi-cultures in the marketplace the question of “What languages are available for this assessment?” is key. A quality assessment should be available in multiple languages over the same system that everyone uses. By the way, our experience is the base language spoken by participants is important for taking assessments. To much time is wasted trying to interpret the definitions of words used in the assessment with misunderstanding and inaccurate results commonplace. However, when people use their primary language while taking the assessment – the accuracy is improved.

Review these points before making your decision as to how to which assessment or combination of assessments you should be using to get the results you want. If you need samples of assessment reports, then go to our assessment only site – use the Individual Focus or Corporate Focus tab to find the specific report you want. Call us if you want to get an assessment – 901-757-4434.

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Posted by Voss Graham on April 13, 2009 at 5:19 am under Using Assessments.
Tags: assessments, DISC, How to Select, validity of assessments
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We need More Common Sense and Less Stupidity!

Okay, one more rant from me and I will get back to business topics. Yesterday I wrote about thinking more. Today, I’m writing about using Common Sense more and the true meaning of intent. So here’s my story:

Last night I was at my favorite restaurant with my wife and ordered a drink before my meal. To my surprise, I was carded! Now for some of you reading this being carded is no big deal. Well, it was for me since I am 60 years old and passed the 21 barrier many years ago – and it shows! Therefore, I asked what was the reasoning for type of action?

I was told several reasons: 1. Everyone is carded now. 2. We have to ask everyone to show “current” ID. 3. The ABC board is using stings to catch servers breaking the law. 4. A new law was passed making it the responsibility of the servers to check for “expired” IDs. 5. We are honoring older customers by asking for their ID. Okay, only four of the five are real – sort of like the real situation.

Here are my thoughts about this injustice and lack of common sense by some administrator or lawmaker. There is no common sense reason for this type of rule. To force one of the lowest paid workers to have to work in fear of being arrested or fined because they didn’t ask for ID from a person who is several decades past the minimum age to order a drink is just plain wrong AND STUPID!

The intent of the law – if using common sense – is to keep young people from drinking before they are of legal drinking age. That is okay as a law and should be a focal point of training in restaurants. However, to use these same people to “catch” people who have not maintained a “current” ID should not be a law or rule. And, to harass servers by using stings to catch one who did not ask an older person for ID is really stupid.

Customers should not be harassed while relaxing at their favorite restaurant because some bureaucrat decided this would be a method to “catch” people breaking some rule. What this really boils down to is let people enjoy their time out in the marketplace without harassment. Common sense could rule the day – if you look older than say 30 no carding. If anyone looks younger or if you are not certain – ask for ID.

This entire situation is due to someone deciding to be sneaky and have someone to “blame” when others do not follow base rules of civilization. To blame a server for someone not having a current ID is ridiculous. It’s bad enough that the terrorist have made simple tasks difficult – such as getting on an airplane, visiting an office building or a government office. But to make restaurant servers fearful to the point of asking 60 year old people for ID – well common sense has been eliminated as well as thinking.

Have a Happy Easter and Weekend.

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Posted by Voss Graham on April 10, 2009 at 5:01 am under Uncategorized.
Tags: Common Senses, Stupid rules, Voss Graham rants
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It’s Time to Think for a Change!

Okay, it’s time for me to rant about things that I don’t understand. During the past two weeks I have had to deal with “stupid” customer service issues from several different organizations. It amazes me that people are not allowed to think about what they are doing or just refuse to think while using “rules” as their excuse – eh – reason.

While I know I’m not perfect, I will attempt to think about the issues before I act on things. However, when confronted with rules – people can not think or even use common sense.

In one case, after I raised the issue about a “rule” that appeared to only be a revenue generator for the company I learned that a manager actually asked about the rule. The manager learned that it was one of those “rules” that was unwritten, unknown as to when and why it was implemented, and no one could explain the reasoning for the rule. This is a clear example of no one taking the responsibility to question a rule that only aggravated their clients.

There have been several other examples of “stupid” rules that I have had to deal with over the past two weeks. My question is why do people (who are educated) not thinking and taking action? It appears there are four reasons: Continue reading ‘It’s Time to Think for a Change!’ »

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Posted by Voss Graham on April 9, 2009 at 5:30 am under Performance management.
Tags: adaptive thinking, Blind Loyalty, Fear, Laziness, Style Bias, Thinking, Voss, Voss Graham rants
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Are You Speaking the Same Language?

Are you speaking the same language as the other person you are communicating with today? Really, this is a serious question. No, I’m not talking about English vs. other Foreign languages (however, this is a subject for a later blog post!).

I’m asking about using the same representational system language so others will understand you and get the real message you are sending. Okay, so what are representational systems? These are the ways your brain prefers to think. There are five different systems – which three are primary.

The three primary systems are visual, auditory and kinesthetic. The other two are smell and taste – which are not used as often – yet are in play in some professions such as taste for chefs. A chef will understand the variations of taste and can accurately express their thoughts regarding the taste of food.

To match the language of others you must study the visual, auditory and kinesthetic languages and practice using the words for each group. Practice is a key part of learning to speak the same language as others.

An example of this information is visual thinkers. Visual thinkers use words such as “I see the big picture.”; “the vision of the future is clearing up for me.”; “Let’s look into…”; “This issue is cloudy for me.” If you look into the words used you will see the visual language. Then when dealing with type of thinker you want to use visual words so they can see the message in their minds clearly.

Auditory thinkers use words like hear, sounds, clear as a bell, I like the tone of this, it’s music to my ears. As you read this you will hear the tones and rhythm of the message and it will music to the listeners ears. Use the same language and your message will ring true.

Kinesthetic thinkers are the doers and touchers of the world. They grab things, handle issues, get in touch with others, hang on to ideas, play the game, and hit the home run or carry the ball. These people are the ones that need to hold on to things in order to get it. Once they get a handle on the issues they can carry on.

Okay, there is the crash course on the three primary representational systems and the words that each will use. The key is to get the other person talking and then listen for word patterns. Then use the same pattern as you reply and you will be in rapport. Then you can discuss any topic with objective understanding. Learn to speak the same language and watch your effectiveness in communication increase.

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Posted by Voss Graham on April 8, 2009 at 5:30 am under Effective Communication.
Tags: Auditiory, Effective Communication, Effective communication skills, Kinesthetic, NLP, Representational Systems, Visual
2 Comments.

Use Questions to Control the Conversation

Most of the time I watch people telling their story, thinking they are controlling the situation. Wow, what a mistake! What is really happening? Most of the time they are disengaging their audience. The disengagement comes from not being a part of the conversation – unless they want to interrupt the talker.

Control comes in various forms, from the highly effective to the totally ineffective. Lets go through some of the stages of control starting with the totally ineffective:

Out of Control – you are talking to fill air time. No confidence and no knowledge, just opinions without certainty. Here the talker is usually nervous and it shows to everyone listening. Random and spontaneous without a clear agenda or logic. Lost their listeners by talking with no interaction with the listeners.

Ineffective Control - Most of the time a person in ineffective control is talking without a clear understanding of what they are talking about. They are boring the listener, yet, have no clue about what is really happening. Some information is presented, unfortunately, since the listener is bored, they may have been thinking about something else and missed the point!

Some Control – Actually have a dynamic or unique style and others listen due the presentation rather than the subject. These are the attention gainers, who if they had a great message and a total understanding of their topic could gain total control. Yet, most of the time it is a presentation only format with a total lack of interaction. Thus, while the presentation showed promise, the real learning and understanding is missing in action. Most speakers and sales people are in this category.

Total Control – Be using questions to guide the flow of the conversation, this communicator is both effective and efficient. Because this person knows their subject very well, they know how to ask questions to gain both the attention of the listener and learn how much the listener knows about the topic. Now the real key is the questioner is engaging and using a process that allows for a self-discovery of information and wisdom.

The key for you is to practice your questioning so you can ask questions easily and with a natural flow of curiousness. This natural curiousness allows for you to ask more questions for both clarity and understanding. And, you will control the direction and flow of the conversation. The amazing thing about this process is others will see you as the great communicator as they do all the talking! Start today – ask more questions.

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Posted by Voss Graham on April 7, 2009 at 5:48 am under Effective Communication.
Tags: Effective Communication, efficiency and effectiveness, Using Questions
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Lose the WHY Word When Talking to Others

I am amazed that people use the “Why” word so often while talking with others. And, then get offended when the conversation becomes emotional driven. Stop using the why word – today. In the only time you can use this word is when you are talking to yourself.

What’s wrong with using WHY? The reason is simple. When asked “why” people feel they must justify their answer. This justification usually becomes defensive in nature since they are expecting you to tell them the reasons their answer is wrong! This places the situation in an emotional state and objectivity leaves the building.

Before using the why word, think about what you really want to know. Then ask a question that leads to the results that you want. Better starting terms to a question include: What reasons lead you to this decision? What factors were involved in this decision? When you made this decision, did you consider this…?

The reason the why word has become a problem is due to parents tendency to ask their kids during heated discussions – Why did you do this? Thus the start of being told what a bad decision this was. And the cycle is started. Whenever others use the why word – we immediately begin to justify our response.

Take time to think about what you doing and what outcome you want from your communication with others. It will make a difference. Show respect for the other person and they will show respect back. Think equals or in psychological terms – adult to adult – it makes a difference.

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Posted by Voss Graham on April 6, 2009 at 9:20 am under Effective Communication.
Tags: Communication, Effective communication skills, Questions for Action, Using Why
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What’s the Stock Market telling us Now?

What is the stock market telling us today? If you are a seasoned watcher of the stock market and have watched it go up and down during several decades you may know the signal. So what is the signal you may ask? The stock market is a good forecaster of the direction of the economy.

Since the 1960′s when I was first taught a few things about the stock market, there has been rule of thumb in play. The rule is:

“The stock market is always ahead of the economic numbers by six months.”

So, what is the stock market telling us now? If the six month rule is correct, then we will see so major improvement in the economy during the end of the third quarter and definitely the fourth quarter. So start your planning right now and get ready for take off!

This means it is time to get ready for business to pick up. So there are four things to focus upon during the current quarter:

Training and Development - Get your people ready for the upswing in business. Use this down time to pull people out of line positions and develop their skills and knowledge. Because once the up turn begins there will be no available time for this.
Hiring and Selection – Get your hiring and selection process working overtime. There are very talented people in the job market. So now is the time to find them and begin the upgrading of your human assets. Talented people will be harder to find once every knows the economy is back AND it will cost you more to employ them when more bidders are looking for experienced and proven talent. Keep your personnel expenses lower by starting the process before everyone else does.
Upgrade your Systems – Now is the time to get new systems and technology into your organizations. Currently discounts are strong for new products so the initial savings are significant. Then the longer term savings due to productivity increases will kick in and you will be seen as a genius.
Review your Processes – Closely tried to the systems is the quality of your current work processes and work flow processes. Now is the time to check out the effectiveness of the processes. Are there any steps that could be removed to shorten the process cycle? Are their redundancies that could be eliminated, thus saving more money and improving work flows? Test the processes now because productivity will be very important as the economy upturns. Profits will be higher.

Take note of these ideas and launch into improvement today because soon you will have no additional time for people to respond to these changes. Growth is coming – Will You Be Ready?

We have been assisting our clients in all four areas over the past 20 years and we can assist you also. Contact us if you want to discuss how to implement any of the four projects in your organization. Our phone number is 901-757-4434 – call today and start while them is time to implement the change and improvement projects.

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Posted by Voss Graham on April 3, 2009 at 5:37 am under Leadership.
Tags: Coming Economic Expansion, hiring and selection, Stock Market signals, System and Process for Results; Stategy, Training and Development
1 Comment.

Coaches help You Learn by Thinking Differently

Yes, the purpose of having a coach is to help you think differently. New thoughts or a new way to think about issues allows for learning at the highest levels. Self discovery of the answers to either an old or new problem is the way of the winner. Are you using a coach? Are you learning new things or ways to handle old problems?

Good coaches know how to ask the right questions to help you discover the new answers to any type of problem, issue, challenge or opportunity. A good coach is usually a generalist in pure knowledge or has years of experience – applying knowledge in different situations. Thus, the experience is practical rather than conceptual. Beware of the ivory tower type of coach who tells you everything. These people have not necessarily been on the field of play in any capacity. Some get degrees and teach, some get certified (without any practical knowledge) and others are just looking for work and become a “coach.”

When you are looking for a coach to help you or your team get to the next level, look for people who have been real experience. And, while experience is a good thing, good to great performance is more important. So, if you are looking for sales coaching find someone with sales experience. If you are looking for a management or leadership coach, find someone who has been running a company for many years.

Use a coach to learn to think about things differently, with greater clarity and with a focus upon results. Getting results is still the real game. Getting results is the key to people noticing who you are and what you do. When you do things very well, others want to work with you because you are one of the best.

Even the great Tiger Woods has a coach to remind him of the right ways to approach the game of golf – including the basic swing mechanics. This is the number one golfer in the world AND HE HAS A COACH.

Do you have a coach who can get you to the next level? Are you an expert at everything you do? Is there something that you want to do better, yet, are not sure how to do it? Are you technically outstanding – with people skills that hinder your success? You can improve – if you want to improve.

If you are looking for a good business coach, there are good ones available. We have been coaching executives, fast trackers, sales managers and sales people for over a decade with outstanding results. At one company, we have the reputation of the “promoters” since we got so many people promoted using our processes. Can me at 901-757-4434 and set up a time to discuss what you want to improve.

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Posted by Voss Graham on April 2, 2009 at 5:30 am under Coaching.
Tags: Coaching, Getting results, Leadership Development Process, Think differently, Tiger Woods
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Archive for April, 2009

4 Strategies for Closing the Sale When You Lead

How to Hire High Performers

How to Choose the Right Assessment for Your Company

We need More Common Sense and Less Stupidity!

It’s Time to Think for a Change!

Are You Speaking the Same Language?

Use Questions to Control the Conversation

Lose the WHY Word When Talking to Others

What’s the Stock Market telling us Now?

Coaches help You Learn by Thinking Differently

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