The Art of Gaining Access There are so many variables that come into play when you go after companies and individuals to gain access. These include tenacity, persistence, referrals, creativity, connections, and so much more. But the one that seems to be the determining factor for not only gaining access, but also closing the business is a deep-seated belief in the value that you bring. Jump start your confidence Action is always the kick start of any type of confidence. Let go Have you ever experienced a call where you spoke truly from your heart...no mind? Learn what works for them To gain access, you need to have a deep understanding of a client's business, goals, challenges, and passions. But the bottom line is having a real solution that will have a big impact on their company and bottom line results.
Become a Great Negotiator: 5 Steps Although everyone claims to want a "win-win" deal, the sad truth is that most businesspeople are competitive and subconsciously want to "win" by making the other person "lose." Even when you enter negotiations with the best of intentions, it's fair to assume that, at some level, your counterpart wants to see you "lose" at least something. There's also probably a part of you that probably feels the same way about them. The trick to moving out of this mentality is to "increase the size of the pie," according to Dr. To accomplish this, you treat the negotiation as a way to expand the deal to include items that both parties want but may not have identified or realized when they first entered the negotiation. 1. When Dr. In most business situations, people who are working together--rather than competing--tend to sit next to each other, sharing what they know in order to reach a higher level understanding. 2. 3. 4. 5.
The Psychology of Language: Why Are Some Words More Persuasive Than Others? Agreed. My jaw dropped when I saw "What we easily forget on a very high level is that using less words builds trust." LESS words? It's FEWER. If it's countable, it's "fewer." Moreover, the above is pulled from a paragraph entitled, "Avoiding Adjectives in Writing and Speech." "Reading this, hit me like a rock and couldn't make it any more clear I think." And then the appended "I think" could actually use the comma, but it still undermines the prior idea. It is one very confused sentence in an article about clear writing.
Beyond CSR: Integrated external engagement - McKinsey Quarterly - Strategy - Strategic Thinking Traditional corporate social responsibility (CSR) is failing to deliver, for both companies and society. Executives need a new approach to engaging the external environment. We believe that the best one is to integrate external engagement deeply into business decision making at every level of a company. Are companies doing well at external engagement? Properly understood, external engagement means the efforts a company makes to manage its relationship with the external world. That traditional approach has had some positive effects. Many executives recognize that their current approach is inadequate. Where are companies going wrong? Executives should not blame themselves alone. What is wrong with CSR? First, head-office initiatives rarely gain the full support of the business and tend to break down in discussions over who pays and who gets the credit. Third, CSR focuses too closely on limiting the downside. Finally, CSR programs tend to be short-lived. The logic is simple and compelling.
Networking Science: 6 People Who Determine Your Future How many "best friends" do you have? Social scientists say most people count just four friends with whom they can discuss very important matters, but the maximum possible number of such friends is around six. With rare exceptions, it's just not practical for anyone to maintain close, truly meaningful relationships with more than six people. Super-successful people know this better than anyone. In the survey research I did for my book Business Brilliant, I found that the wealthier you are, the fewer "best business friends" you have. The reason is very simple. Size Is Only One Part of a Strong Network Researchers who study networking, however, say that network size isn't the most important thing. Here's how to do it: 1. These are the people you would go to tomorrow for help in finding new work of the kind that you do best. 2. Let's say you lead a cake-baking business. 3. You've now identified the six people on whom your livelihood and dreams depend, at least for the near future. 4. 5.
Convince Others Your Ideas Are Great Being able to build a following in your organization is important when you are working on innovation or dealing with change management. More often than not, it is beneficial to fully convince someone to change their attitudes toward your work or your idea—you don’t want them simply to go along for the sake of it, but to really believe in it and support you with enthusiasm. But changing an attitude is a longer-term process than simply getting someone to do what you want. Here are six actions you can take that start the process of changing attitudes: Emphasize Logic If the person you are trying to persuade (your “audience”) is highly interested in the topic, has many opinions about it, and it is one that affects them personally, they are likely to be persuaded by logical arguments. Emphasize Credibility and Organizational Politics Sampling or Piloting Continued Effort Present a Two-Sided Argument Don’t just approach people with a pro list why your chosen solution is the right one. Eva Rykrsmith
12 Rules for Great Customer Meetings Sales great Brian Tracy once spent an hour with me one-on-one, coaching me on how to meet face-to-face with new customers. Here's a list of rules that emerged from that once-in-a-lifetime experience. Enjoy! 1. Do your homework. Learn everything that you can about the customer. 2. This should consist of exactly five or seven questions that focus the conversation on the customer's needs, going from the general to the specific. Note that you should put the agenda on your company's letterhead and have the customer's full name spelled out, with the time and date. 3. Begin by thanking the customer for their time, and acknowledge that you realize how busy they are. 4. Give the customer a copy of your agenda and explain that you've prepared an agenda because you know they are busy. 5. Think of the presentation as the torso of a skeleton, with the questions in the agenda as the spine and the resulting discussions as the ribs. 6. 7. Do not make the mistake of talking solely to the senior manager.
Network the Hell Out of People: 6 Expert Tips Launching and growing a business is hard. You need all the help you can get. Over my years in CEO roles at Priceline.com, uBid.com, Competitive Technologies, and others, I learned to build a rapport with a large network of people. There are a lot of people out there who can help you, but they won't just ring the doorbell. Here are several tips to help you effectively expand your business network. 1. Make a list of potential relationships you'd like to forge, either by individual's names, or by companies and positions. 2. The most important part of this regular communication is to make sure you are acutely aware of their needs, not just yours. 3. Make a list of the interests of the people on your go-to list. 4. Discuss their work, congratulate their accomplishments, and keep them in your discussions. 5. Once you make this relationship list, it needs maintenance and updating. 6. Send out handwritten notes.
How To Network Like A 'Celeb Wrangler' How to Drive Consensus: 7 Secrets There's probably no such thing as an established definition of the word leadership, but I'll tell you what it means to me: The ability to get people moving in a single direction. Perhaps the most critical test of leadership ability in a business environment is in driving consensus. When you've got a management team made up of highly intelligent, highly opinionated people, let me tell you, building consensus can be remarkably challenging, to say the least. Especially when it's a critical decision on a controversial topic. Even more so when it means things may have to change. Having done this sort of thing I don't know how many times, here's a seven-step process that seems to work remarkably well. 1. You may think that everyone's on the same team so their goals are aligned. Since you may be a consultant and the group may not report to you, get to know them individually and try to identify their interests in the matter at hand. 2. 3. 4. 5. Keep one thing in mind. 6. 7.
Networking: 4 Smart Ways to Make the Most of Your Connections Getting a personal introduction to a strategic investor or business partner means everything to an entrepreneur. Likewise, executives depend on being able to pick up the phone to get insights into a new market or find the world's greatest marketing guy. Business life has always been about connections. Unfortunately, you may be doing just that. Here are four ways to building and maintaining a network made up of strong, quality relationships that will last forever. 1. To market a product successfully, you've got to come up with your bulls-eye target customer base and position to meet their specific needs. You should do the same thing with your network connections. For example, some of my connections are top executives, VCs, and clients. Contrast that with my readers. 2. These days, it seems that people are feeling more and more pressure to use their connections, to get the most benefit from them, especially on social network sites like LinkedIn. And never spam them. 3. 4.