Personal Note From Anne:
Cliff Clavin or Thomas Edison: Which are you?
The standing joke on Cheers was Cliff Clavin spewing forth some unknown fact. He knew something about everything. One of those people that would talk your ear off while leaving you bored to tears.
On the flip side, you have Thomas Edison- a man who tinkered with everything from light bulbs to phonographs to create new products and services. He held a record 1093 patents! This is a man that took any bit of knowledge he had and put it to good use.
So here is my question for you, which are you? Cliff Clavin- you know a lot but don't necessarily do anything with it? Or Thomas Edison- where you put to use what you know immediately?
I see the difference between these two types of people in our programs. The Cliff Calvin's are excited to learn and years later they can recite all they learned but they aren't doing anything differently because of what they learned. The Thomas Edison's quiz you in class and when you talk to them years later they have not only implemented what they learned but they have modified and adapted it to fit them and their situation.
Take Action: May you make 2009 a year in which you are a Thomas Edison who constantly adds value to all you touch!
- Anne
How to Write Emails That Get Positive Results
Use as a training tool: Present the situation below to the group and have them brainstorm how they would best handle the situation. Then share the Outcome Focus® answer and see how it relates or differs from solutions the group found.
Situation:
Dear Anne,
Last week I received an email reply from an associate that surprised me. I thought I was asking a simple question about when a project would be completed and it seemed to me that the other person over reacted and got defensive. So lately, I find myself second guessing my emails. Consequently, I think I spend too much time reading and rewriting them in order to avoid problems down the road. How can I make sure I write an email that gets a positive response?
Outcome Desired:
You want people to read your emails and take the appropriate action without you spending endless hours agonizing over writing them. At the same time, you want to avoid any misunderstandings that can happen.
Other Person's Perspective:
They may feel inundated with emails and respond too quickly. They may see your email as attacking them or what they did. They want to do a good job and be viewed as a partner.
How to Handle:
Email can be a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because at any point in time you can put your thoughts together and email them to as many people as necessary with a minimum amount of effort. The curse is that so many people send out email as just an FYI and don't take the appropriate time to send it to the right parties or people use it in place of having a face to face talk!
So here are a few techniques to make sure your emails are opened, understood, and responded to:
- Make sure you use the subject line to tell the reader what you expect from them or what they can expect from your e-mail. Subject lines such as "November program," or "case study customer," or "Project Johnson," have no meaning to the email reader. It does not tell them what you expect of them, and it is not easy for them to quickly skim their emails to decide on its priority.
- Don't brain dump in your email. If your email looks like one big long paragraph, I guarantee that you are brain dumping.
- Use lots of white space in your email so it is easier for the reader to see your thoughts.
- Put questions on separate lines so that people can easily see what they need to answer.
- Avoid sarcasm. Assume your email will be read defensively and get rid of any language that may be seen as negative, condescending, sarcastic or reprimanding.
|
||
|
Quotable Quotes “The clearer you are in your thoughts the easier it is for things to vibrate in resonance with you.” - John Assarf
|
|
Why do businesses succeed or fail? HINT: It's not just sales. By Jeffrey Gitomer Someone from Success Magazine called and asked me for a quote about being a successful entrepreneur and salesman. Here's the quote I gave: "Everyone has heard the phrase 'The American Dream.' I look at it as 'The American Reality.' When you're in business for yourself you write your own history, you write your own success story, you write your own legacy, and most important you write your own paycheck. When you write your own paycheck, you control your own destiny. Being in business for yourself gives you the opportunity to work your heart out for something you love." Nice thirty thousand-foot view of entrepreneurial success. FAST-FORWARD FIVE MINUTES: Today's American reality is that there's a day-to-day ongoing drama in the saga of business, and on this particular day, I was dealing with major drama. I was in an informal staff meeting trying to resolve the ancient issue, "Why can't everyone just get along?" The meeting was civilized. Apologies started even before I entered the room. By the time I walked in, resolve had begun. Everyone was talking about how to make things better - at least for the moment. During the discussion with my employees I remarked (among other things) that I was looking for long-term harmony, not just a momentary truce, or a week of peace. I wanted to get to the root of the issue, not just put a band-aid on the surface skirmish. I decided to talk more about what it takes to have a successful business instead of a petty disagreement. I thought if I got into more detail about how the whole business ran, maybe they would have a better understanding of what they did, and how important it was for each of them to be harmonious with the other. Below is the essence of what I said. Compare these elements with those in your business. I believe this list to be essential for business success and sales success in any company - including mine - including yours. These are the elements that have driven my business to success: 2. Harmony within. Each person must decide to "get along" with everyone else. This means their attitude must be positive, and they have to understand and be able to get along for the common good, even through personality conflicts, minor disagreements, and major disagreements will occur. They can get over it, and get on with it. 3. A continuous flow of ideas. From everyone - especially me as the leader. 4. Unless you have sales, you have no business. Products and services that are understandable, have perceived value, have gained market acceptance, and are easy to purchase. There are lots of sales on the books because the product is in demand. 5. Money. Don't confuse sales with money. Money comes from making profitable sales. My father once told me "You can have lots of business -- but no money." Learn your profitability, and transfer it to your sales and your salespeople. 6. Creativity and willingness to risk. Trying new things and new ways. Your customers demand it but your competitors hope you'll do "business as usual." 7. Earn loyalty from everyone. Loyalty is stability, growth, and profit all rolled into one. Loyalty has 3.5 parts. You must earn from (1) your customers, (2) your vendors, and (3) your employees. The best way to get loyalty is (3.5) to give loyalty. 8. Wide open communication. Speak your mind and say your peace - truthfully. This may mean drop the PC and get real world, real life. Maybe that way you'll have a real business. 9. Freedom to succeed and fail. No one fails on purpose. I give everyone freedom to learn, freedom of expression (without fear of reprisal), and freedom to take risks. 10. A respected liked (loved) leader. I am the leader. The passionate, lead by example, cheerleader leader. I love what I do, and it's contagious to all. 10.5 A fun atmosphere and a fun environment. We won an award a few years ago "Most fun place to work in Charlotte." Could your company win that award? NOTE WELL: This list is by no means complete. I am certain that as you read this you had some additional thoughts - please post your ideas for the benefit of all at: www.gitomer.com/salesHelp/SalesForum.html. One final success element: I have never thought of my employees as a team, because in many ways people work independently of each other. Rather, I think of them as a family. I treat them that way, respect them that way, take care of them that way, teach them that way, and love them that way. Copyright 2009, Jeffrey Gitomer, All Rights Reserved About the Author |
| About Anne and IMP |
|
Anne Warfield, CSP*
CEO Impression Management Professionals 15768 Venture Lane Minneapolis, MN 55344 952-921-9421 952-921-9420 Fax Email to: ezine@imp.us.com Visit us at: http://www.impressionmanagement.com/ "A true leader is not one you look up to because they are the best. A true leader is one that draws the best out in you." Anne Warfield *CSP- Certified Speaking Professional; a designation held by only 7% of all speakers nationwide Member of the National Speakers Association |
| Special Note: |
Send Anne your situation to be included in an upcoming E-zine.
E-mail to: ezine@imp.us.com If your situation is used we will send you a $15.00 Starbucks Card so please include your contact information. |
|
Copyright 2009, IMP. Feel free to share information you learn. All we ask is that you credit us as the source as everything we are putting in here is copyright protected by our office. Copyright note: Submission of an e-mail message or artwork affirms that you are able to and have given Anne Warfield non-exclusive permission to reprint the content of your message in all forms, electronic or otherwise, in all languages throughout the world. Privacy Statement: We will not distribute your address to anyone. Period. If you received this from a friend and you want to receive your own copies, just email to:ezine@impressionmanagement.com and put "Add me" in the subject line. To remove yourself from this mailing list, simply follow the instructions at the end of this email or, |
I used to have 300 sales people giving 300 different sales presentation messages. I now have 300 people delivering a consistent message in their own authentic style.
-Brad Boyer,
American Woodmark
If you had ever told me a group could transform so much after just two-days I never would have believed it. The power of sustaining it afterwards with your long-term coaching/HOT sessions has caused everyone to constantly apply this way of thinking. Our discussions, meetings, and trust have gone to such a higher level. As a Vice President that makes my job so much easier. We no longer avoid the elephant in the room!
-Tricia Dege,
HealthPartners
