Do Business Well

Deadlock and its near cousin, breakdown, are uncomfortable. Nobody enjoys them. They erode or undermine the trust that has painstakingly been built up during the early stages of your negotiation; they bring you face to face with the risk of losing your hoped-for outcomes. But, like most things in life, they have, hidden within them, an opportunity. For the way that you handle them will make a significant difference to both the outcome of your negotiation and the way that people see you as a negotiator. Handle them well and it’ll be a turning point — for both the negotiation and your career as a negotiator. Handle them badly and both will suffer. Continue Reading »

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Whether the employee is at the end of a trial period, or whether he is just struggling along in his current role, it is still difficult to bring him bad news. It is still difficult to tell him that he needs to move out of his role. During Gallup’s interviews, many managers, both great and average, confessed that they were physically sick before each conversation of this kind. No matter how you approach it, no matter how accomplished you are as a manager, removing someone from his role is never easy. Continue Reading »

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How to exercise the Power of Choice: pause, evaluate, decide, act, be slow to anger, be quick to forgive

Many would-be entrepreneurs fail even though they have the ability, the resources and the passion. You know why? Because they dare where angels fear to tread. They fire before knowing where they’re even aiming. They become victims of their passion and temper. They allow their hearts to rule their heads.

Being a highly successful entrepreneur is a high-wire balancing act. On the one hand you have to be able to pause and coolly evaluate a situation. On the other hand, you must be decisive. On the one hand you must be passionate about what you’re doing. On the other hand, you can’t afford to take it too seriously. On the one hand, you must rarely lose your temper. On the other hand, you must always forgive. On the one hand, you must trust others. On the other, you must be extremely vigilant. Continue Reading »

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Life is a numbers game

The more times you step up to bat, the more times you will hit the ball for a six. But you have to be prepared to lose a couple of wickets along the way. In fact, in the game of life, it doesn’t matter how many wickets you lose. What matters is how many times you get back ontothe pitch to face another ball.

Let us ask you this question: How many people do you know whohave the quality of true persistence? Think about those people who endure against all odds, who roll with the punches and come back stronger than ever, who sustain their spirit in the face of defeat and disappointment. Can you think of any? We guarantee you that these special human beings are the people who make all progress happen. They understand that success is a life game with no time outs. They know that true achievement is the result of thousands of everyday efforts that culminate in victory, glory, wealth, contribution and happiness. Continue Reading »

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2. SET YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE RULES AND THEN IMPLEMENT THEM RELIGIOUSLY — DESIGN AND EXECUTE THE SERVICE PLAN.

There is an old business saying: Everyone knows what to do, but not everyone does what they know. The basic rule of customer service is very simple: Do whatever it takes to make and keep customers so happy they come back for more again and again. Not difficult is it? We’ll tell you where the difficulty arises: executing that rule with passion, discipline and consistency.

How many companies do you know who provided magnificent service when they started and then faded into mediocrity? Stand guard against this danger destroying your business. Make customer service your personal mission. Drive customer service from the top, but always discuss and encourage your staff to be open about it so that everyone can turn around dissatisfied customers. Continue Reading »

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‘It’s fun being in the same decade as you.’

Think back over the past month. Did anyone do anything for you that was kind, helpful or considerate that you now feel was worthy of a thank-you note — but you didn’t send one? Could writing a note now come more easily, realising that it makes you virtually unique in this marketplace? For the cost of a card and a postage stamp you become memorable. And I mean a postage stamp, not a swift pass through the franking machine.

Mark the envelope ‘personal’, address it as neatly as you can, put a proper stamp on it, and it will slip straight through to the recipient’s desk. Your card will give pleasure that day and you will be remembered for sending it. Continue Reading »

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‘Most of our future lies ahead.’

We have all seen it: colleagues holding the phone at arm’s length and making winding motions with their other arm. The person at the other end is just not going to hang up.

Being caught on the phone is a sign that you have lost control of the conversation. Ending your call efficiently is as important as starting it correctly.

It is unlikely that you will ever get a long goodbye from Aspirers (the, entrepreneurial type) because they are in such a hurry to hang up. If you do want to say goodbye first, put the reason for ending the call firmly back into the other person’s zone.

Say, ‘Thank you for your time. I won’t keep you any longer because I know you’re busy’ Continue Reading »

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First, let’s address the subject of rejection. All over the world when I speak to groups I ask, ‘Put up your hands if you have ever had a second call from a sales person to whom you first said no.’ About 10 to 15 per cent of hands are raised. Then I ask, ‘Keep your hands up if you have ever had a third call from a sales person to whom you have said no twice.’ Virtually all the hands go down.

Yet we know that it is in the fifth cycle of three-monthly or less call backs that we really get the appointments. ‘So why this fear of calling back?’ I asked myself. Remember as children how you never took no for answer; you simply nagged until you got what you wanted — be it an ice-cream, a skateboard or whatever the ‘in’ thing was at the time.

I now call this the ‘Ice-cream theory’. You ask for an ice-cream and the answer is ‘No’. You nag and keep on nagging and 10 years later you have had 1 000 or more ice-creams. So when did we start believing that ‘No’ meant no forever? When did rejection start to hurt so much? Continue Reading »

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