Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Experience Better Business Success with Better Presentations
Your
presentations help you get business done!
They may help you close a deal, persuade leaders to make a decision, teach something new, or gain alignment.
To get business done as efficiently and effectively as possible requires thinking about the outcome of your presentations on two levels. This article explains what those two levels are.
Your success as a business presenter always exists on two levels. On one level it is determined by whether the stated goal of the presentation is reached. Did the buyer agree to buy or did your team see the need for the new procedure you’re asking them to follow?
This type of success is fairly easy to measure. The other level of success is more difficult. It is a measure of how effectively you managed the process of presenting. Or, did you manage the conversation in an appropriately orderly fashion?
The second level of success often determines the first. Many times poorly managed presentations leave the audience frustrated, indifferent and a waste of time. Such presentations can hardly be considered a success.
The thing to remember is that presentations are part of everyone’s day-to-day work. So when presenters fail to manage the process well, they’re making it difficult for audiences to do their jobs. When that happens, audiences are stuck. After all, many times audience members are captive! They don’t have the option of walking out or flipping to a new channel. So what they often do is silently disengage. They might feel a sudden need to check their email / social media or think about dinner, doing whatever they can to cope with a bad situation.
Most of the time this reaction has little to do with the goal of the presentation and everything to do with whether the presenter is managing the conversation effectively.
For example, if you’re delivering market research to a group of sales people, your audience wants to understand the research, but they also want you to make understanding it easy. That level of success goes beyond the information itself. It involves:
- Emphasising context and relevance
- Providing perspective
- Leaving out information that isn’t useful to your audience (whether you want to or not)
- Caring about their understanding and buy in
- Being responsive to the in-the-moment needs of the audience
Business presentations are a collaborative process. Pulling your slides together and having a specific goal is only the first step, and that step alone will never guarantee success.
A successful presentation is one in which the audience and the presenter work together in a fruitful, efficient and effective process.
All the best with your future presentations!!!
Posted in
Business presentations Conference presentations Presentation skills training Sales presentations
by effectivecommunication.com.au
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
SALES – HOW TO BE UP WHEN SALES ARE DOWN
Let's face it
– every now and then sales don't seem to be going our way and we can begin to
be concerned about making our numbers, making our mortgage, taking that
vacation, etc.
While we may not be able to control the ebb and flow of sales, what's important is that we keep control of our attitude and expectancy level. In other words, keeping positive, reflecting on wins, and expecting success is what always drives a top producer through the seemingly slow times in sales.
Keeping an ‘UP’ attitude can be compared to how a pilot tries to stay on the radio beam when flying. A directional beam is projected to guide the pilot to his destination, and as long as he stays on the beam, he's safe and he'll make it through just fine. It doesn't matter that the weather may be temporarily blinding him or that he may not be able to see where he is or where he's headed, as long as he can locate and stay on that beam, he'll be all right.
It's the same with sales. If things are temporarily not going your way, or if you have to start prospecting again, or if that big client or if those deals didn't close, that's OK. All you have to do is to get back on the beam of being positive, expecting to close more sales, and continue to reflect on your sales goals. If you can do this (and that may sometimes be a tall order given the temporary appearances), then you'll be fine as a result.
What you can't fall victim to is negative (DOWN) thinking. Such thinking only leads to deflated attitudes, less activity, and poor sales skills. It tends to feed itself and you start looking for reasons to fail, and you often find them!
You know when you're "off the beam" if you're experiencing more fear than faith, if you get agitated easily, if you become resentful of others or if you begin feeling depressed in any way.
If for any reasons these negatives happen, you can simply apply the following 4 ways to get back on the beam:
1. Reflect Back On Your Previous Wins
Get quiet and begin reliving all the times when you closed big deals, when you made your goal and when you got new clients and closed deals. Remember those feelings…
This will immediately move you back towards the beam.
2. Remind Yourself That Your Very Next Phone Call Could Result In The Biggest Deal Of Your Career
This is not only true, but by dwelling on it you'll begin to want to make more calls, and you will actually begin attracting that success to yourself.
3. Review Your Financial Goals & Begin Imagining How You Feel Now That You've Achieved Them
Relish those feelings. Get excited about what you're enjoying now that you've reached your goals. This is visualization 101 and remember that your subconscious mind can't tell the difference between a real event and one vividly imaged with feeling.
4. Change Your Attitude Into One Of Absolute Service To Others Rather On If You're Going To Get A Deal
Start each phone call with the thought, "I'm here to be of maximum service to this person." That will not only take the pressure off of you, but your prospect will feel it – and respond to you.
Any one of these techniques will get you back on the beam. If you combine all 4 of them you'll avoid the ‘DOWNS’ of a temporary slump in no time and you'll be closing deals like the top pro you know you are.
While we may not be able to control the ebb and flow of sales, what's important is that we keep control of our attitude and expectancy level. In other words, keeping positive, reflecting on wins, and expecting success is what always drives a top producer through the seemingly slow times in sales.
Keeping an ‘UP’ attitude can be compared to how a pilot tries to stay on the radio beam when flying. A directional beam is projected to guide the pilot to his destination, and as long as he stays on the beam, he's safe and he'll make it through just fine. It doesn't matter that the weather may be temporarily blinding him or that he may not be able to see where he is or where he's headed, as long as he can locate and stay on that beam, he'll be all right.
It's the same with sales. If things are temporarily not going your way, or if you have to start prospecting again, or if that big client or if those deals didn't close, that's OK. All you have to do is to get back on the beam of being positive, expecting to close more sales, and continue to reflect on your sales goals. If you can do this (and that may sometimes be a tall order given the temporary appearances), then you'll be fine as a result.
What you can't fall victim to is negative (DOWN) thinking. Such thinking only leads to deflated attitudes, less activity, and poor sales skills. It tends to feed itself and you start looking for reasons to fail, and you often find them!
You know when you're "off the beam" if you're experiencing more fear than faith, if you get agitated easily, if you become resentful of others or if you begin feeling depressed in any way.
If for any reasons these negatives happen, you can simply apply the following 4 ways to get back on the beam:
1. Reflect Back On Your Previous Wins
Get quiet and begin reliving all the times when you closed big deals, when you made your goal and when you got new clients and closed deals. Remember those feelings…
This will immediately move you back towards the beam.
2. Remind Yourself That Your Very Next Phone Call Could Result In The Biggest Deal Of Your Career
This is not only true, but by dwelling on it you'll begin to want to make more calls, and you will actually begin attracting that success to yourself.
3. Review Your Financial Goals & Begin Imagining How You Feel Now That You've Achieved Them
Relish those feelings. Get excited about what you're enjoying now that you've reached your goals. This is visualization 101 and remember that your subconscious mind can't tell the difference between a real event and one vividly imaged with feeling.
4. Change Your Attitude Into One Of Absolute Service To Others Rather On If You're Going To Get A Deal
Start each phone call with the thought, "I'm here to be of maximum service to this person." That will not only take the pressure off of you, but your prospect will feel it – and respond to you.
Any one of these techniques will get you back on the beam. If you combine all 4 of them you'll avoid the ‘DOWNS’ of a temporary slump in no time and you'll be closing deals like the top pro you know you are.
All the best with your ongoing sales!
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
LEADERSHIP - 7 KEYS TO SUPPORT YOUR BUSINESS DURING 2014
The New Year
is an exciting time because it is typically brimming with potential and
fabulous intentions.
Whilst we are not a fan of casual resolutions, We do recommend that leaders create and commit to goals. And track results that are achieved along the way. With this in mind, We offer you the following seven reasons why your leadership this year will drive great outcomes.
Whilst we are not a fan of casual resolutions, We do recommend that leaders create and commit to goals. And track results that are achieved along the way. With this in mind, We offer you the following seven reasons why your leadership this year will drive great outcomes.
1. CLEARLY COMMUNICATE THE VALUES OF YOUR ORGANISATION
Whether your organisation has created formal core values or not, you will make certain that team members know the common thread of values you expect to see running through everything they do.
In fact, you are so committed to this goal, that you have marked your calendar once per week to remind yourself to reinforce your organisation’s values.
Finally, you have committed to linking the behaviors you observe in the workplace to the feedback you will share with team members every day. In the process, you realise that your consistent feedback will help your team to gain a visual image of the values that serve as the bedrock of your organisation’s actions.
2. SHARE THE EXPECTATIONS YOUR TEAM MEMBERS WILL COLLABORATE WITH
Highlight that collaboration across departmental and functional lines is not only expected, but that it is essential to the success of your organisation.
Commit to sharing feedback with team members and individuals in order to ensure that they grasp the intense level of workplace collaboration you expect.
3. SET & MAINTAIN THE PRIORITIES OF YOUR ORGANISATION
The work environment is ever-changing, and the pace of change is increasing each year.
As such, you can help your team to be fluid and agile, while not losing sight of the big picture. In order to help team members cut through the swirl of priority distractions, you can utilise communication techniques to help your team keep their eyes on the real drivers of your organisation.
4. ATTRACT & PLACE THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT POSITIONS
This will also require you get the wrong people ‘off the bus’.
As a result, you will assist your top (and average) performers to do what they do best every day! This will help productivity to escalate.
Also, you can help some team members realise that the work bus left the station years ago and they did not get on it. In other words, you will help your poorest performers realise that their skills and abilities have not kept pace with the changing needs of your work marketplace. Nice people? “Yes.” Perhaps more productive in a different work environment? “Yes.” Enough said.
5. MANAGE THE PERFORMANCE REVIEW PROCESS EVERY DAY
You can share feedback so that team members have a clear gauge as to the quality of their work performance.
In addition, you can catalog and document your feedback in an organised fashion. You may use an electronic feedback capture system, or you may use old-fashioned paper that is placed in a file folder.
No matter the system, you will be organised in cataloging your feedback. Your efforts will pay off in a big way because performance evaluations at the end of 2014 will simply be an affirmation of the great coaching you have delivered during the year. In other words, no one will be surprised by their review results.
6. FOCUS ON SELF-DEVELOPMENT
You can grow your leadership skills.
In addition, you can seek to elevate your level of physical fitness and mental toughness. Who knows, you might actually get adequate sleep, eat right, and grow your spiritual self along the way. In other words, raise your personal bar this year more than any year prior. Raise it high. And do it with less effort than you think by enabling a trident that includes self-discipline and a coach.
7. HAVE MORE FUN & LAUGH MORE THIS YEAR
Ensure that you and your team better enjoy the rocket-ride that most people call work.
Seek and plan to enjoy more fun with your team this year. Plus, try to laugh every day.
Research shows us that the average four-year-old laughs 300 times a day, while the average 40-year-old laughs merely four. Granted, not many four-year-olds are paying a mortgage, a car payment, and who knows what else, but they are a happy lot. Plus, research also shows us that laughter reduces stress, increases endorphins, and even helps blood flow more freely.
Despite all of our responsibilities, there is a lot of room to enjoy and laugh more, so this year seek and plan to enjoy and laugh more than you have in the last 10 years combined. Please do this!
BOTTOM LINE
This year you and your team can soar. But, only if you choose to lead in a manner that enables everyone to fly.
Highlight your favorite advice from the above list and track your progress throughout the year. If you consistently succeed at all seven points above we guarantee that you and your team will have a great year.
All the best with your leadership!
