What Successful People Do Each Day…

Starting out from meager beginnings and having reached into what our society considers affluent, I suppose I have an opinion about what successful people do to get to where they want to go. I didn’t get to where I am simply by chance. My clients don’t either. Similar to a sports fan watching their teams, it’s fascinating to study the strategy and execution of people, teams, and organizations within professional service organizations. I see a lot just by observing. This article: “14 Things Ridiculously Successful People Do Everyday” by Travis Bradberry sums up many key tactics. The one addition I’d make is to visualize yourself in your new reality. Whether you want to lose twenty pounds or bring in $1M more in revenue, you have to see it before you become it.

Here are the others that resonate most with me:

1.      Focus on minutes, not hours.

2.      Focus on only one thing.

3.      Make it home for dinner.

4.      Process emails only a few times a day.

5.      Avoid meetings at all costs.

6.      Follow the 80/20 rule.

7.      Delegate almost everything.

8.      Touch things only once.

9.      Practice a consistent morning routine.

10.   Energy is everything. (You increase your productivity by increasing your attention, focus – if you struggle with this – try yoga or meditation).

 

 

Mind Stretching…

ENJOY this article and insight by Madyson Taylor:

Having a flexible mind makes navigating life much easier as you are not thrown off course easily.

Flexibility is the capacity to bend without breaking, as well as a continual willingness to change or be changed in order to accommodate new circumstances. People with flexible minds are open to shifting their course when necessary or useful; they are not overly attached to things going the way they had planned. This enables them to take advantage of opportunities that a more rigid person would miss out on. It can also make life a lot more fun. When we are flexible, we allow for situations we could not have planned, and so the world continues to surprise and delight us.

Since reality is in a constant state of flux, it doesn’t make sense to be rigid or to cling to any one idea of what is happening or what is going to happen. We are more in tune with reality when we are flexible. Being in tune enables us to adjust to the external environment and other people as they change and grow. When we are rigid or stuck in our ways, instead of adjusting to the world around us we hunker down, clinging to a concept of reality rather than reality itself. When we do this, we cut ourselves off from life, and we miss out on valuable opportunities, as well as a lot of joy.

Just as we create flexibility in our bodies by stretching physically, we can create limberness in our minds by stretching mentally. Every day we have the opportunity to exercise our flexibility. We can do this in small ways such as taking a different route home from work or changing our exercise routine. On a larger scale, we can rearrange the furniture or redo a room in our house. If these are things we already do regularly, we can stretch our minds by imagining several different possibilities for how the next year will unfold. As we do this, our minds become more supple and open, and when changes come our way, we are able to accommodate and flow with the new reality.

Madisyn is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the popular inspirational website and daily email, DailyOM and is responsible for all of its content. A recognized leader in self-help and new thought spirituality, Madisyn has more than 25 years experience in personal development and alternative healing methodologies. She has contributed to national publications and is a popular guest on many radio shows. Hay House published her international bestselling books, DailyOM: Inspirational Thoughts For A Happy, Healthy & Fulfilling Day, and DailyOM: Learning To Live.

Your Perspective Is Just That…

Often, we get so wrapped up in our own world, we forget that our thoughts, our feelings, and our perspective is just that – it’s a sliver perspective – not necessarily shared by anyone else.

In business and sales, be mindful of this. Don’t be too strong with your ideas and come across as if your perspective is THE RIGHT and ONLY way. Share your perspective as simply that. Share your observation as that. Clarify communication to gain better understanding. Ask good questions. Try to step into other people’s shoes to see their perspective. Collaborate. Exchange open and flexible dialogue to arrive at an optimal place for the organization you are working with or trying to sell to, etc. Go Grow!

Longer Term Business Development…

Professional service firms often emphasize creating leads now.  Short-term leads aren’t always the best leads. These short-terms prospects have typically been working with another firm for many months, and are ready to buy their services. If you call these prospects, you may be brought into the process, and you may get lucky…but the other firm has dedicated the time and effort to position themselves to win the work. You may appear opportunistic-centric rather than relationship-centric. You may end up simply being a price check.

Most professional services are not bought on impulse. Place a higher priority on generating and nurturing long-term leads. Long-term lead generation takes a “long” time – often 2-4 years. Create a strong list of prospective clients, and use a variety of marketing and business development tactics to progressively show your genuine interest in these people and their business. Simultaneously, build trust and rapport so that your prospects begin to understand your skills, capabilities, and experience.

Incorporate long-term lead generation and nurturing into your business development process, and realize, albeit over a period of time, dramatic growth within your company.

Presentation Skills – 10 Points To Consider…

I recently heard these percentages about what’s important during presentations:

55% – how you look

38% – how you speak (delivery style)

7% – your content (what’s on your slides)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whether these are accurate, we all can attest to remembering the presenter and not necessarily their slide deck! Here are ten points to consider prior to your next presentation:

  1. Set the stage. How do you enter the room? Are you positive, grounded, confident, engaged, and attentive to your audience?
  2. Body Language. Stand firm, grounded, but not like a statue. Don’t be small – don’t fold into yourself. Offer a big presence with minimal ego. Don’t intimidate. Open up your body/language. Gesture and hold the gesture. Don’t be frenetic/fast. Have purposeful movement – move, then stand and maintain balance.
  3. Facial Expression. Your face is prime real estate. Use it! Don’t be expressionless. Don’t be afraid to let your emotions show! And if you get nervous, breathe and fake it until you become it.
  4. Voice. Find YOUR voice. How do you say what you say? Project your voice for authority. Lower your pitch (especially some women). Be careful not to up-speak, where you sound like you are asking a question at the end of your comment.
  5. Eye Contact. Make connections with your eyes. Connect with each person in your audience if you can. Don’t allow your eyes to graze the room. Don’t read from your power point. Be natural. Don’t lock eyes, but do pause and connect. Remember – eye contact = point of trust!
  6. Energy. (I’m a yoga instructor too – of course I’m going to slide in something on energy…!) Find your natural energy – attune to your authentic energy. Show off your own personality and human-ness. Find the best version of yourself. Confident. Positive. Excited to win the project/etc. Don’t be too serious because you’ll end of being robotic. Remember being serious doesn’t mean that you’ll be taken seriously.
  7. Power of the Pause. Nothing commands the listener like the appropriately planned pause! Pauses are highly respectful towards your audience, allowing them time to absorb content. Pauses give you the opportunity to gather your thoughts.
  8. Content. Less is more. Spoken communication has a weight limit – like a bridge between you and your audience. Don’t overweight your message. Tell stories – and tell them in a way where everyone can visualize the meaning and depth of the point you are trying to convey. People remember stories because they relate to stories.
  9. Q & A is where selling really happens. This is where you become very credible. Embrace the questions! Prepare for the questions – as yourself what questions you do not want to be asked and be prepared to answer those! Your answer should address “why hire me/us?” Offer tight, concise answers and send any supplemental information as a follow up after your presentation. Tight answers show you know your stuff.
  10. Last but not least… Breathe! Be Yourself! and Have Fun!

Go Grow!

 

Adaptive Innovation…

Adaptive innovation increases growth – sales growth, operating income growth, market growth, profit growth – etc. Adaptive innovation is about doing things differently and requires a relationship-centric culture with the courage to fail and learn from those failures. It’s often fueled by those at the edge of the business, often closest to the voice of the customer – sales, client-relationship management. It is not about imitating the strategies of others or through traditional value add….but shaping your organization’s own destiny. Innovation is a process with multiple enablers, contributors, and positive components. For example, a single ad never works. Advertising (especially in B2B) just contributes to the noise. When you innovate, the market seeks you out.

Adaptively innovate…go grow!

Rekindling A Former Business Relationship…

It’s hard to keep all relationships active and alive and relevant. Often years will go by before we realize how many relationships  we have allowed to go dormant. Here are five points to consider when rejuvenating a relationship:

  1. Is it worth it?: Sometimes it is best to keep the door closed. Before you do anything, make sure it’s worth the TME….Time Money Energy.
  2. What’s in it for them?: Think about how this reconnection is beneficial to the other person. Are you offering a new service that you think could help them? Has your team grown or changed in a way that could benefit your former business partner? Be creative and always be of service to THEM, not you.
  3. What was then is not necessarily now: Don’t assume that everything has stayed the same. Business and life has likely changed for both of you. Do an assessment of where they are now. Explore new opportunities to help them. Be open to new possibilities.
  4. Provide incredible value: Find ways to be of service and provide amazing value to them. Solve problems they have. Create new opportunities for them to grow their top and/or bottom lines. Become a partner to help them and you’ll have a much greater chance to rejuvenate relationships.
  5. Be a connector and collaborator: How can you connect various members of your team and network with each other to develop new opportunities? I love connecting remarkable people who end up assisting each other. They both win, and they remember who brought them together.

Rejuvenating a dormant relationship can produce incredible results. Take the time to come up with creative reasons to rejuvenate the relationship that will benefit them.

Once you’ve rejuvenated the relationship, do your best to keep it strong this time! Go Grow!

How Are Yoga and Business Development Connected?…

Many people ask me, “why are you focused on two so seemingly different concentrations?”

Business Development Strategy and Implementation and Yoga?

Most businesses want to grow but are stuck in negative patterns that don’t serve them. Many have a lot of ideas about how to grow, but they get stuck figuring out how to implement the ideas, or track the ROI, or stay disciplined in the execution, or be good team-mates. Many professionals have negative mind chatter about their individual capabilities or their organizations capabilities/strengths. Many people quite simply don’t know how to talk about themselves or their organizations in ways that resonate with who they are trying to sell to. I could go on an on about where and how people and businesses get stuck.

Most people view yoga as solely physical postures, or a way to get flexible. Sure, one of the eight limbs of yoga is Asana – physical postures. One of eight.

Yoga is really a way of life. It’s a life practice. It’s beautiful and I hope more people get a glimpse of it’s true essence.

My areas of concentration are perfectly related. I could not do what I do for my (biz dev) clients without a strong, disciplined yoga practice. Yoga allows me to see more clearly at the root level.

It’s easy for me to see opportunities and challenges – but it’s only because of my yoga practice. Similarly, through practicing and teaching yoga, I can read anyone like a book. Your body doesn’t lie. The more aware, open, focused, flexible, disciplined, intuitive you are, the more you can see true opportunities of how to better develop your business to serve your clients. Mind chatter slows down, intuition unfolds. Weed out what doesn’t serve you. Surrender to what’s possible.

Go do yoga – and Go Grow!

 

Persistence Pays…

Inspired from Author Napoleon Hill….and a few other folks!

Persistence Amy Johnson OrganicabrandLack of persistence is a weakness common to business developers and professional services firms. It is a weakness that can be overcome by consistent effort. Conquering lack of persistence is fully dependent upon the intensity of the person or organization’s desire to reach their goal(s). Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.

If you find yourself or your organization lacking in persistence, build a stronger fire under your desires. Annual planning helps – set simple and clear objectives, goals, and take consistent and persistent action. Keep looking at your goals, keep taking action toward those goals.

You may find it necessary to “snap” out of your mental inertia. Be persistent no matter how slowly you may, at first, have to move. With persistence will come success. There is no substitute for persistence. It cannot be supplanted by any other quality. Those who have cultivated the habit of persistence seem to enjoy insurance against failure. No matter how many times they are defeated, they continue to pick themselves up after each setback and keep on trying. They receive, as their compensation, attaining whatever goal they are pursuing. Without persistence, you will be defeated, even before you start. With persistence, you will win.

Go Grow!

 

Why Follow Up On Proposals and Fee Quotes…

After months and months of asking a client to follow up on a fee proposal we had sent out through my client’s firm, I decided to call the prospective client myself. I had talked with the prospect initially so it wasn’t entirely odd for me to follow up. Unfortunately, the prospect had already hired a different firm several months prior and questioned why we hadn’t stayed in touch. He didn’t think we were interested in the project because we never called to follow up. Hmmm.

I recently read a statistic that blew me away. By following up on your fee proposals and quotes (in a timely manner), you will increase your win rate as much as 20%. Prospects are often “on the fence” about who to hire – and if you follow up on your proposals and show some additional interest – this often (apparently) tips the scale in your favor.

What would it look like if you were able to increase your win rate by even 5-10% – just by following up in a timely manner on the fee proposals you spend so much time preparing?

What kind of effort does it take to pick up the phone or resend the email – and touch base and follow up?

This is LOW HANGING FRUIT….isn’t it? Tighten your process by a smidge – Follow up on your proposals and fee quotes. Go Grow!

 

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