How to be Great at Networking

Do you ever find yourself at a Networking event, possibly at your local Chamber of Commerce, a Networking Club, or even at a seminar. You might feel a bit unsure, how to go about it, but you know it's a good thing to do.

Networking is probably the oldest, easiest, most effective and least expensive way to generate new business. It doesn't necessarily involve selling your product or service, but it does mean selling yourself. That doesn't involve a lot of talking - it does involve a lot of listening.

Networking is about making connections with people and building a network of meaningful relationships.
Having good relationships means - these people will either do business with you and/or recommend you to others.
These people are your unpaid sales-force and you must ensure that they do a good job.

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How to Be a Great People Picker

Do you really know what you’re looking for when you interview someone for a job? Let me suggest to you; it’s not about their knowledge, experience, or their intelligence; it’s about their talent to do the job.

Let me ask you another question; how do you like your coffee? I don’t know if you’re a fan of the ‘bean’, but I’m very partial to Starbuck’s Tall Americano with ‘no room for milk’. I’ve been hyped up on it all over the world and it always tastes the same, which is great! And, a bit of extra information thrown in for free; in Singapore Starbucks, they ask you if you want your muffin warm; I haven’t experienced that anywhere else.

Outlets like Starbucks are successful because they provide a consistent experience across the board. We all know where we could purchase a cheaper cup of coffee, but the Starbucks experience draws us in. I also have to say, that the coffee serving process is usually excellent; happy, smiley people and fast service.

The other day, I experienced ‘Mr Grumpy’ coffee person. He was slapping down coffees at the end of the counter and grunting out their contents. I asked him which coffee was mine (I’m not scared) and he growled his response. I had to ask him again, before politely pointing out the error of his ways (I told you I’m not scared)

This guy shouldn’t be there, and I don’t necessarily blame him for his poor customer service. I really don’t believe he should be in a customer facing job, and no amount of training will help. My question is – “Where is the person who put him in the job?”

If you’re a manager or a business owner then I’m sure you’ve interviewed people to join your team. Are you absolutely sure you know what you’re looking for when you interview someone? Let me give you an example of what I mean:

I’ve just read a job advertisement for a Sales Manager for a soft drinks business. It says – “We are looking for someone with excellent relationship building skills, vision drive and energy. They will be results driven and be able to demonstrate leadership and highly developed inter-personal and management skills.”

Now that’s all fairly standard stuff and what I’d expect to see in a job advertisement. If I was trying to find someone for that job, what I’d really be looking for is - ‘someone to increase sales of soft drinks.’ Now I’m not saying you put that in the advertisement, but let’s face it - that’s the outcome you really want. It’s great to have all the qualities listed above, but at the end of the day, can this Sales Manager bring in the business?

Back to the coffee shop; if it was your business and you needed to employ someone to join the team, what qualities would you look for in a job candidate? You might say – “Someone with a bit of experience in a coffee shop, someone who looks clean and tidy and who’s a nice pleasant person.”

All of this is great, what I’d look for is - “Someone who would make the customers want to buy some more coffee or food; who’d make the customer want to come back, and who’d probably recommend my coffee shop to other people.”

Now you may think that the characteristics you described above, would bring the results I’m looking for, and you may be right. However; when you’re preparing to interview someone, be absolutely clear in your mind what outcomes you need from this person. It’s not about their experience or their intelligence; it’s about their talent to do the job.

It doesn’t matter what kind of business you’re in, talent is what you’re looking for. It could be

· The talent to sell

· The talent to detect an engine fault quickly

· The talent to analyse information accurately.

I’ve seen lots of sales people who had great relationship building skills, vision, drive and energy, as described in the job advertisement, but they couldn’t bring in the sales.

You need to ask the right questions, that uncover the person’s talent to achieve the outcomes you require – and I’ll explain that in a further article. Or if you can’t wait – buy my book!

How to Build a Highly Motivated Team and Win More Business

Here is a really simple way to build a highly motivated team:

1. Spend quality time with each individual
2. Give feedback and coach them
3. Believe in them and trust them to do the job

I was speaking to a friend in the gym recently; he works in the corporate division of a major international bank. He was looking a bit down in the mouth, so I asked him how he was doing.

He went on to explain that he and his colleagues were concerned about how the recession was affecting their business, and what affect this would have on them personally.
He said – “We need your services in our place Alan; we’re all feeling a bit de-motivated.” He then went on to tell me, that, at a recent meeting, he asked his manager – “How are you going to motivate us?” The manager answered, horror of horrors: – “I haven’t a clue; I thought you might tell me!”

This is a classic case of a manager who has no idea how to motivate and get the best out of his team. And I’m sad to say, this is prevalent in many businesses today.

So why is this? I believe there are 4 reasons:

1. Because it’s such a difficult job
2. Nobody shows you what to do, or gives you the right training
3. The media and our culture send the wrong message
4. Some people don’t have what it takes to be a manager.

Managing, supervising, being a team leader is one of the hardest jobs in the world, and I’ll tell you why. You’re dealing with human beings, and they are the most complex and complicated pieces of ‘equipment’ you’ll ever have to deal with.
Many of them have similarities but every one of them in this world is unique, and they all work in a slightly different way. Your job, as a manager, is to get these complex humans working as efficiently as possible, there’s no one around to show you what to do, and there’s no instruction manual.

The media and our culture also send the wrong messages. We’ve all heard the old cliché “nice guys don’t finish first” and that has a huge impact on how managers deal with their people. We’re led to believe that successful managers are tough, courageous ‘no nonsense’ type of people. And if you’re weak or soft with your staff, then you’ll get walked on, and taken advantage of.

A manager will often look at ‘successful’ managers in business or sport, to try and understand what makes them successful. The media often portrays these people as tough guys who drive their people by the force of their personality, shouts and threats - no wimps allowed.
It also has to be said that, some people just don’t have what it takes to be a manager. Just as some people don’t have what it takes to be a doctor, a plumber, a lawyer or a bus driver. Whatever job or profession an individual ends up in, doesn’t mean to say it’s the right one for them.

Although I’m saying that some managers are in the wrong job, they tend to be in the minority. If you feel that you’re not having the success you should have, ask yourself if you’ve ever received any help.
I think you’ll find that like many managers, you’ve been left to get on with it. That’s why I’ve written this book. So here comes the commercial – check out the book before you make any decisions about your career as a manager; it will make your life much easier.

Letter Published in April Edition of Management Today

MOCCASIN TEST

I'm with the 'female business grandee', commenting on the venom being directed at Sir Fred Goodwin ( Editor's blog 06-March-09)

It reminds me of my father's reaction to, recently turned 60 pop idol, Lulu - "She can't sing for toffee!" That was about forty years ago and the fact that she was presenting her, prime time, Saturday night TV show to millions of viewers, seemed to have passed him by.

Sir Fred Goodwin, Gordon Brown, George W Bush, Margaret Thatcher; it appears that almost everyone will tell you how useless they all are or were. We, the public and the media all seem to find great pleasure in negatively criticising almost everyone else, be they Chief Exec, Politician or Pop Star. 

I haven't a clue whether it's entirely Sir Fred's fault that RBS are in their current position or that Gordon Brown is wholly responsible for the economic state of the nation. I don't have all the information to make that decision; just as, I can't support the negative criticism of a friend who has recently left his wife. Who knows what goes on behind closed doors, be it No 10 or RBS Headquarters.

What I do know is, that put all those critics in the job, be they Joe Public or Opposition politicians, then things won't necessarily be better. Of course, people have to pay for their mistakes and we have to learn and move forward.

However, we'd all do a great deal better if we concentrate on the factors we can influence rather than criticise what other people do or don't do.

 Let's not vilify everyone and anyone without, to use an old Indian saying, "walking a mile in their moccasins."

How to Change Your Beliefs and Expand Your Comfort Zone

I was listening to, TV presenter, Fearne Cotton being interviewed on breakfast television last week. She was talking about a nine day trip, made recently by herself and eight other celebrities. They climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa, and raised over £3 million for charity. In the weeks before the trip, they trained hard, but it was a gruelling climb and some of the people in the team suffered badly from altitude sickness. Fearne was one of the ones to receive injections for the sickness; however, she made it to the top along with all the others. Well done and good for her!

When asked by the interviewer, "what happens next?" She talked about a similar challenge, still to be finalised, later in the year.

What's happened here is that, Fearne, who has done nothing like this in her life, has now expanded her comfort zone.

You may not want to climb any mountains, cross any deserts or explore the Amazon jungle, but I'm sure there are other goals and objectives, that you would like to achieve in either your business or personal life.

Think about what you're doing each day and ask yourself –

"Is what I'm doing now getting me to where I want to get to?"

If the answer is "No" then do something different. Change your beliefs and expand your comfort zone

The psychologist Abraham Maslow said –

"If you deliberately plan to be less than you are capable of being; then I warn you that you will be unhappy for the rest of your life. You will be evading your own capabilities, your own possibilities."

I hear people saying; "I'm too old, I don't have the qualifications, it's not the right time!"

It's never too late to make that change

There's the famous story of Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonalds. He was over fifty when he started making money. Kroc was a paper cup salesman, who obtained the marketing rights to a multi-mixer invented by Earl Prince. He criss-crossed the US for seventeen years selling these mixers until he met up with the McDonald brothers. Dick and Mac McDonald ordered eight of his mixers and had them churning away all day. Kroc was entranced by the effectiveness of the McDonald's operation and started thinking about building McDonald's restaurants all over the US. He thought he could then sell more multi-mixers. The McDonald brothers weren't too keen on the idea, so they franchised the restaurants to Kroc. He ultimately bought out the McDonald brothers, and as they say - the rest is history.

Ray Kroc's belief in himself was unshakeable, as he noted later – "I was 52 years old. I had diabetes and incipient arthritis. I had lost my gall bladder and most of my thyroid gland." Kroc didn't allow his age or his physical condition to hold him back. Are you going to allow anything to hold you back?

Listen to the negative things you say to yourself and the beliefs you have about yourself – DO NOT allow them to hold you back.

If you do have negative beliefs about yourself, here's a way to change them.

Your subconscious will always attempt to move away from pain and towards pleasure. So start to associate massive pain to your negative belief.

Think about how it will hold you back and stop you achieving what you're trying to achieve. Think about how miserable you'll feel if you don't even try.

Old people rarely regret what they've done in their life, but they do regret what they haven't done. So think forward to when you're 75 or 80 years of age and imagine how you'll feel if you've never tried.

Then start to think of the pleasure you'll receive in fulfilling your beliefs. Think about how good you'll feel when you achieve what you set out to do. If when you're older you look back and think about things you didn't achieve, at least you'll be able to say – "I tried, I gave it my best shot and I didn't sit on the sidelines."

So start thinking big – the size of your success is determined by how big you think. If you think small you'll have small achievements. If you think big – you'll have big success and that's just as easy, if not easier than small thinking and small achievements.

 

How to Remember Names

Feedback; The Good, The Bad and The Delivery

How do you feel about feedback? Do you receive it from your manager; do you give feedback to your team, your colleagues or your friends?

We all feel different about feedback, because we are all different. Some people love it, others are okay with it, and others just hate it.

I'm sure that you have colleagues or people on your team who always want to know "how they're doing." They come and speak to you and show what they're doing. "Is this okay, am I doing this right?" They're constantly looking for reassurance that they're doing the right thing. Then you'll have others who never come and speak to you at all, and get most uncomfortable whether you're giving them the good news or the bad.

Feedback is one of the Top 3 Factors that motivate people at work. The majority of employees want to know when they're doing well and when they could be doing better.

There are managers who are happy to receive feed back and resultantly, are comfortable giving it to others, because they believe everyone feels the same way they do.

And of course, if you look at it the other way round; managers who are less comfortable receiving feedback, tend to believe that their team feel the same way. This is often the biggest danger because many managers don't receive feedback from their manager and subconsciously feel – "Why should I give feedback to my guys when I don't get it?"

Whether you receive feedback or not; whether you feel uncomfortable giving it or not – you still need to do it for your people. Just be aware that they're all different individuals and they might react in different ways. Almost everyone wants feedback – how much, is just a matter of degree.

There are two types of feedback and a way of doing it.

The Good

This is what we call, Confirming feedback; telling a team member that you support whatever you've seen them do or heard them say; it's a compliment or a thank you. It's about 'catching people doing something right.'

Successful managers realise that almost everyone reacts positively to Confirming feedback. They feel better about themselves and they feel motivated to repeat the behaviour. There is a saying that says – "You get more of what you reward."

If you tell someone that you like the way they have completed some aspect of their work, then you'll find that they continue to do that work in the same way or probably even better.

Confirming feedback is worth a fortune to you in terms of motivating your team and achieving your goals and targets.

The Bad

This is what we call, Productive feedback on behaviour you're not happy with. As you spend time with people, you're going to hear and see things that may not ensure your outcomes. Ask yourself; "Is this something that is going to stop me achieving my outcomes of a happy and motivated team who achieve their targets?" If the answer is "no" then you're going to have to do something about it.

There are various things you can do; you can ignore the behaviour you're not happy about, you can reprimand the person, or you can coach them.

Coaching is not a soft option; it's about finding out the cause of poor performance or behaviour and discussing with the other person about how to put it right. You tell the other person what you're not happy with, listen to what they have to say and agree a way forward.

The Delivery

Whether you want to reinforce behaviour - Confirming feedback, or change unacceptable behaviour – Productive feedback, there are certain steps you need to follow to make it work.

You need to do it as soon as possible and in private. Tell them how you feel about their behaviour, not how the organisation or anyone else feels. It's important to focus on one thing at a time and don't confuse the other person with a whole list of behaviours.

You need to be specific and get input from the other person. And most importantly; don't leave them low!

If you get all of this right, you'll have a highly motivated team who, increase customer satisfaction, boost sales and make a positive contribution to your business.