Six Leadership Tips to Practice Sincerity in Praise

Here are a few tips for leaders to consider with giving statements of appreciation to employees and team members.

Understand there are 3 types of compliments:

1. Directly given to the person
2. Indirectly given about the person to someone else
3. Sharing with the person through someone else

6 Tips to ensure the perception of sincerity:

1. Don’t compliment or thank the obvious.
2. Never compliment or thank the [what],unless you tell them the [why].
3. Compliment and thank actions and accomplishments versus appearances.
4. Compliment and thank everyone!
5. Pass on compliments you hear about someone.
6. Written compliments and thank you notes go a very long way!

 Take the Compliment Challenge! 

I agree to give ______ sincere compliments per day for _______ days. Of these, at least _____ per week will be written

The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team – Powered by DiSC or All Types

The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team Pyramid

You have been asking for it and now we are excited to offer The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team^™ Powered by All Types^™,   The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team powered by All Types gives *Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (aka MBTI®) and other personality type assessment users a way to implement this powerful, life changing team program using a similar tool.  Like the original Five Behaviors product powered by Everything DiSC and based on best-selling author Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. This program is an assessment-based learning experience that helps teams to achieve greater effectiveness and productivity. This version of the product utilizes “All Types^™,”  the new Wiley proprietary assessment, which is designed specifically for teams that currently apply tools based on Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types (like the MBTI® instrument*) as their preferred indicator of personality.

 

“Even a healthy, well-functioning team can be made up of a variety of personalities,” says Barry Davis, Vice President and General Manager of Wiley’s Workplace Learning Solutions Group. “With the All Types assessment, we can help even more teams discover the value of their unique personalities and how they can work together to the team’s advantage.”

 

If you are or you want to be a Five Behaviors practitioner, you now have the opportunity to reach more teams in your organizations with this new tool. With this product, teams can continue working with their organization’s accepted language and approach to personality while connecting them to the pillars of The Five Behaviors: Trust, Conflict, Commitment, Accountability, and Results. Participants in The Five Behaviors program discover how to effectively work with their team members and contribute to the collective success of the team.

 

This new iteration of The Five Behaviors (view flyers for All Types or Everything DiSC versions) is now available through Wiley’s Authorized Partner Network of facilitators, business coaches, and consultants.   Peak Performance Solutions is an authorized partner and accredited facilitator, so please contact us to learn more about how you can bring this powerful tool to your team, no matter what assessment you are a fan of.

 

*NOTES:

1. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Myers-Briggs, MBTI and MBTI Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Myers & Briggs Foundation in the United States and other countries.
2. The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team, Everything DiSC, All Types, and associated logos are registered trademarks of Everything DiSC, a Wiley Brand

 

Value vs. Price – Five Sales Tips So You Do Not Undervalue Your Products

“We don’t argue with those who sell for less as they know what their product and service is worth.” – Lee Dubois

Anyone who knows me knows that I love what I do and would do it for free. Does that mean I should lower my price every time I get the price objection?  No! As a matter of fact,
that can backfire and create a perception that the product or service is not worth the value.

I recently I had an opportunity where I did not fall victim to the price war. In this example, the client knew I wanted the business. After arduously working on a proposal that met my HR contact’s business needs, timeframe and budget; the company’s purchasing department got involved. They stripped my services and then asked me for the best price as they were comparing it to others who charged less, i.e. “the shopping around objection.” So what did I do? Per their request, I stripped the add-on services and I raised the price on the main offering. The lower price in the original proposal was based on volume discount and this revision changed the numbers, disqualifying them from the previously offering pricing.

While I did not really feel the shopping around objection was valid.  I also felt if they did not value the results they have already experienced from our offerings then they should in fact go with their other option. When the third party negotiator gets involved, often purchasing, they treat programs that change lives as they do a commodity. While they may have the power to choose to have cheap toilet paper for their employees, I and others in sales must realize we offer value over price.

5 Tips on How to Sell Value over Price:

1. Don’t undervalue your products and services. Know the value of your offerings, know your competition and create the right price point.
2. Sell the value of your offerings. Use statements including our product offers XXX and what that means to you is……
3. Break your total price into components, example: $X per employee versus only giving the total
4. Deliver a piece of meat with the onion. When people see price, they often have a psychological response that says, “I don’t want to pay that.” After you lay out the price, in the written proposal or the spoken word, state what happens when they do this business with you.
5. Identify decision makers. Ask your contacts what the process is for securing business and ask them what they need from you to help support this any other parties that may be involved in making a discerning decision.

You might ask, “Did I close the deal?” The answer is “No.” Remember, the first objection is not usually the real one. While they used the “shopping price objection,” I later learned that there were no other competitors. The purchasing manager was using this as a negotiation tactic to get me to lower my price (lower than the already built-in volume discounts) to make up for some other losses the organization incurred for projects outside the scope of my work.

So remember to do as I teach, “Know your Value, Sell your Value, and Defend your Value.”

Everything DiSC Program Goes Mobile with MyEverythingDiSC.com!

MyEverythingDiSC.com is a mobile-friendly, interactive learning portal that is exclusive to the Everything DiSC® solutions. This follow-up site extends the lessons that users are introduced to in their Everything DiSC profiles and classroom experiences, extending their learning into the future.  The MyEverythingDiSC site enables users to actively incorporate their new DiSC® knowledge into their daily work. It offers them insights into their own DiSC style and strategies for working and communicating with others.  People who have completed a DiSC assessment can connect with coworkers to run 1-to-1 comparisons or group reports. Check out the video at the bottom of this post to see an example of how it works to improve communication on-the-job.

With MyEverythingDiSC.com, users can:

• Upload a photo to their Account and view their Profiles once they have been given access via email by their authorized DiSC partner.
• Review DiSC theory and watch videos to understand the assessment tool and learn how to use the site.
• Learn more about their personal DiSC style as it helps them understand at a glance where their strengths are and where they spend more effort through interactive DiSC maps.
• Invite others to create Comparison Reports and access site-exclusive tips for working with individual team members, as well as with family or friends who are on this site. (Please note that this application does work with all Everything DiSC® profiles, however it does not currently work as part of The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team.)
• Create their own Group Maps of their team members, project groups, or others in their department. This feature presents a whole new level of value for team building; as well insights for coaches, managers, and change agents.
• Create Customer Interaction Maps for improving sales relationships. (Please note this option is only available to users who have completed an Everything DiSC® Sales profile.)

Wiley Names Davis Couple as Diamond Level Sales Partner Team

At the March 2016 MindLab48 conference in San Antonio, Texas, Wiley announced 2015 Diamond award-winning Partners for Everything DiSC.  Roy Davis of Davis Success Solutions was one of the winners, along with his wife Mary Anne (Wihbey) Davis.  The top two award levels (diamond and emerald) are achieved by only two percent of the independent consultants who are Wiley partners. The official press release regarding 2015 award can be found at Dallas Business Achieves Highest Sales Honor.  The press release includes quotes from Roy and Mary Anne Davis; as well as from the Vice President and General Manager of Wiley’s Workplace Learning Solutions, Barry Davis.

L to R: Sarah Gonzalez, Mary Anne Davis, Patrick Lencioni, John Kessell , Roy Davis

 

Roy and Mary Anne have have earned the prestigious diamond award three times.  In three years prior to those awards, they achieved emerald level awards as well.   Since the inception of their training businesses, the Davis’s have been using DiSC type products and formally partnered with Everything DiSC in 2004.  The couple’s companies partner with each other to co-teach Everything DiSC and the other Wiley products and programs they offer.  To find out what the letters D-i-S-C mean, watch the Davis’s DiSC videos showing them in action teaching the concepts. To find out more about DiSC assessments and training options, see links found in post Focus on DiSC Training Options.  To find out how useful this communication enhancing program can be, read the TD Magazine article Training That Is Vitalizing Communication in Healthcare.

 

In 2014, Wiley added a new employee development tool that incorporates the DiSC behavior model.  This program is designed for work groups and  is called The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team.  To find out more about the team program, see the post Measuring Team Growth with the Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team. To find out how useful this team building program can be, read the TD Magazine article Team Evolution in the Public Sector.

 

Roy and Mary Anne Davis both have training companies specializing in the business needs of most organizations.  Their training categories include career development, computer skills, leadership and management, sales and service, plus more.  To find out more about Roy’s company, visit DavisSuccessSolutions.com.  To find out more about Mary Anne’s company, visit PeakPerformanceSolutions.com.  Members of the press may get a press kit form either company by selecting the ”Press Info” option from the “Home” drop-down menu on either website.

 

Google Shares Five Characteristics of Effective Teams

In an article recently released, Google shares what they have discovered as five characteristics of effective teams within their organization.  When reading this article, I saw how much of what they shared is in The Five Behaviors of Cohesive Team program based on the best-selling book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Below I have done a quick comparison of their characteristics to what is shared in the program based on Patrick Lencioni’s research and writings.

The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team Pyramid

1. Psychological Safety = Trust, specifically, vulnerability based trust, leads to honesty as team members feel safe to share their weaknesses or even state when they are over their head and need help.
2. Dependability = Accountability means team members are willing to take action and be responsible for task and project completion. More importantly, peers are able to hold one another accountable versus running to the leader and grumbling and complaining.
3. Structure and Clarity includes the basics of establishing roles, making plans, managing meetings, and setting goals for beginning teams. Without this initial structure any team is due to fail. The Five Behaviors program pyramid shows Conflict because without a culture that embraces productive conflict, the structure may never come to fruition.
4. Meaning = Commitment to decisions where all members have shared ideas, opinions, and debated the best way to proceed. As Patrick Lencioni states, “When people don’t weigh in, they don’t buy in”.
5. Impact = Results as the goal for any team is to make an impact and achieve results. This can only be done, when people can put the common goal ahead of personal or departmental goals.

Are you working on an effective team, or are you a collection of people reporting to the same manager?   Do you have team goals that inspire you to put them ahead of your own goal? Great teams, who can work together: can conquer the competition, win battles, and lead people towards something worthy that encourage them to get up every day and contribute.

 

 

Making the Most of your Networking for Sales Professionals and Job Seekers

One of the greatest complaints from corporate executives about attending professional networking events is they feel like a target for hungry sales people and job seekers.  One client of mine will not divulge her title and avoids sharing her company name at all costs.  I invited another client to a meeting and they shared with me they received six sales calls the next day, thus to say, they never came back again.    Below are ten best practices for networking, becoming known for what you know, and having your target prospects see you as a valued resource.

10 Best Practices for Network Meetings

1. Reciprocity is the rule. If the group is one that hosts your typical prospects, get involved and serve.  Remember, give and you shall receive – it works as simple as that. The difference is, it means you have to give your time and energy versus making a quick call to someone who you see as your prospect.  You will meet people in a servant role versus your sales role.
2. People Watch. Look out for newcomers or introverts.  Introduce yourself to them and others.  Next meeting, they … you got it, will look for you!
3. Connect through meaningful introductions. Become a connector and when you introduce any two people, create a little 10 second introductory commercial that states a claim about the person. As an example I was introduced recently in a networking setting as “This is Mary Anne, I describe her as the glue that holds the world together”.  She then had a nice statement about the person I was being introduced to.
4. Do not interrupt two or more parties. If you want to join a conversation, stand behind and find a nice time or place to interject then reach out and make an introduction.
5. Forget about yourself completely. Ask open ended questions about them, their interests and business.  You can certainly state your 30-second commercial  when asked what you do.  Be sure it is compelling.  As much as possible, keep the conversation on your prospect.
6. People will lose your card. Networking is not about handing out cards.  I rarely carry them.   I do however ask people for cards and follow up with a signed note and my business card.
7. Offer value versus follow up. If you learned about their interests, take notes promptly so you do not forget.  Then, instead of calling to “follow up”, send them something they might find of value including information that matches the interests or business they mentioned during your conversation.
8. Practice networking. If you are introverted, and networking is difficult for you. Make it a point to only meet two or three people.   Twenty or more years ago, I walked into an international meeting for trainers (ATD).  Although an extrovert, I was nervous; my background is sales, these were trainers.  I was a Bostonian, these were Texans.   I got my drink (yes, they served drinks back then), and I hovered in a corner, looking for what to do next. Two women walked up to me, shook my hand and I remained friends with them for many years and am still active in that association.  They later told me, they were “practicing networking.” If they did not introduce themselves, I may not have made it back to the next meeting.
9. Ask before you spam. Do not add people to your mailing list without their permission.  If you do, they may look at your email promotions and newsletters as spam versus the valuable content it really is.
10. Use “by the way…” prospecting. If you do all of the above, serve with your heart, make connections to help people; you will know when the time is right to say, “By the way, could I share a bit about our business”. Or to say “By the way, I would like to have a coffee, learn more about what you do, share what I do and see if there is any way to assist one another.”  Going for the appointment without the relationship, more often than not, is a turn off.

Happy Networking!