Sell Don't Tell

I'll always remember the first sales course I ever attended. The definition of selling was drummed into my brain. "Selling is the art of creating a desire in the mind of a buyer and satisfying that desire so that buyer and seller benefit."

Now this notion may seem a bit old fashioned for many of today's salespeople but this article isn't about selling. I believe the principle still holds true in many situations, especially when you want to achieve a 'win-win' outcome.

If you want one of your team members to do something, how do you approach them? You can 'tell' them what you want, but 'telling' just makes your job a lot harder. The Motivational Manager gets 'buy in', so everyone benefits. There's sometimes a case for 'telling' but it's hard work. Sometimes you have to keep telling them if you want results.

Here's how a Motivational Manager would do it:

• 
  Recognise that your team members are your 'internal customers'. You need them to 'buy' from you in order to get the job done. And in order to get them to buy; you need to be a good sales person. I'm sure you've heard the phrase - 'get buy in.'
  
• Get better results by selling not telling. Use good sales and persuasion skills when dealing with your team, your colleagues, even your boss. The sales or persuasion process is very much part of our world, and it's far better to sell than to tell.
  
• Focus on achieving a win-win outcome. Any good salesperson or negotiator knows, a 'win-win' outcome is what you should always aim for. If you want one of your team to do something and they see a benefit for them, or they're just happy to do it, then you have a 'win-win' situation.
  

"You can get everything you want in life if you just help enough other people to get what they want" - Zig Ziglar

Now you've no doubt noticed that I've started to talk about sales people and buyers. It's because I believe we're all sales people and buyers from the moment we enter this world till the moment we leave it.

A baby crying for food, attention or a change of nappy is trying to persuade you to take action. If you don't respond to this initial 'request' then they step up the volume until you do. Because we love that child, because we care, we are very open to their persuasion.

It follows throughout our life; if people care about us, if they respect us, if they have good rapport with us, then they're more likely to respond to our persuasion.

If people understand the benefits for them, then they're more likely to respond in a positive manner. You're on to a winner if you benefit as much as the other person. If you get into a 'win-lose' situation, then you may not have used selling or persuasion, but manipulation, control or coercion. A win-lose situation doesn't benefit anyone in the long run.

So whether we like it or not, selling and persuasion is going on all the time. You need to utilise these skills if you are to be a successful Motivational Manager.

Motivation – You don’t need a carrot or a stick

The term, Carrot and Stick alludes to enticing a horse or a donkey to move by dangling a carrot before it, so urging it forward.

The term should really be Carrot or Stick; the carrot being offered as a reward for moving forward and the stick used as a punishment for refusing to do so.

Some organisations and managers still use the Carrot or Stick approach to motivate their people. They reward good behaviour and punish bad behaviour.
However, that's not what motivation is all about because, you don't in fact motivate people; you create the environment where they motivate themselves.

So how do you do this? It's quite simple really; here are 3 points to think about:

1. Spend some quality time - You need to get to know the individuals in your team better and they need to get to know you. You'll gain a much better understanding of them and how they're handling the job. It will also give the impression that you care about them and show that you're there to help with problems both personal and business.

2. Give feedback and coach -You need to regularly tell each member of your team when they're doing well and when not so well. Some managers still believe - "Why should I praise people when they're only doing what they're paid to do." The Motivational Manager knows better! It's also important to tell people when they're not performing. There are too many managers who either ignore poor behaviour or come down on the person like a ton of bricks when they do something wrong. There are particular ways to give feedback and coach the individuals in your team and they need to be learned.

3. Be a believer - You need to empower each individual team member. It's important to utilise the knowledge, skill, experience and drive that's already within each individual. The majority of people in teams and organisations throughout the world are severely under utilised. Your team have probably more to offer in terms of skill, knowledge and experience and if you utilize that, you'll achieve your business goals and you'll lead a highly motivated team.

So there you have it; 3 very important points which will help you get the job of managing done and do it without carrots or sticks.

PS: Check out ‘How to be a Motivational Manager’ at Amazon.

Customer Service Training is a Waste of Time

A waste of time! That may sound a bit strange coming from someone who has delivered hundreds of customer service seminars over the past fifteen years. However, there are two provisos.

Customer service training is a waste of time unless managers, supervisors and team leaders:

1. Attend the same training

2. Are trained to motivate and coach their staff when they return to the workplace

Managers, supervisors and team leaders need to experience the training undergone by their staff and then support the training outcomes by daily on the job coaching.

They need to spend quality time with their staff, walking the job, listening and observing interactions with customers either face to face or on the telephone.

When they see or hear something they do like, they need to tell the team member about it. When they see or hear something they don’t like, they need to tell the team member about it.

It’s important to do this coaching in a positive and productive manner in order to support good behaviour and rectify not so good behaviour.

To help managers and supervisors become more successful, I’ve developed this stimulating and highly interactive seminar – Motivating for Customer Service. This will give managers, supervisors and team leaders, the skills and abilities that will help them motivate their staff and support the customer service efforts of their business.

For more details check out my website.