A tale of two salesmen

I had the great fortune to sit next to a professional fund-raiser today. I asked him the the secret of his success, and he said, "It's all in the listening. I ask them what matters to them, I listen to their emotions, and then I put all that together in a proposal." He repeated, "It's all in the listening." Later in the day I called a company to ask about getting an expensive service. I told the salesman what I needed, stressing that convenience was important in this case. He told me the way the company worked, which was definitely not customer-friendly but was employee-convenient. I told him why I needed it be more convenient to me, and he said "We don't do it that way." Case closed, sale lost, employee clueless. Are you in the business of selling ideas, services or products, informally or as a profession? Remember the fund-raiser's words: "It's all in the listening." Knowing what matters to your prospect helps you emphasize vital points that will make a sale. As for the emphatic "We don't do it that way", that leads to closing of the wallet! Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in verbal skills, including sales and executive communication skills. Training options include in-person coaching and convenient e-books! Check us out at www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com  .

A secret of employee retention - at no cost

A well-educated manager and single mother stopped before the displays of roses and other flowers right before Valentine's Day. She admired them and said sadly, "I wish someone would appreciate me!"

This woman works hard to make sure her employees and children feel appreciated. When was the last time her manager did the same for her?

Although Valentine's Day is about romance, everyone needs to be appreciated. Take time today or tomorrow to tell each employee (and colleague, if appropriate) one specific thing you appreciate about him or her. Maybe it's the fact that the employee reliably comes in early and makes coffee, or took time on her lunch hour to run an errand for the department. Maybe he corrected an overlooked error in your report, or did a rush job on that assignment. Whatever it is, make your praise specific, and frequent. Appreciated employees stay longer, and that's money in your bottom line. After all, wouldn't you like to feel appreciated by YOUR boss?

Business Speech Improvement (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com) provides intensive, targeted training in executive communication skills and other verbal communication skills. Check out the upcoming open enrollment seminars, individual coaching and e-books!

Executive Communication: Inter-departmental Communication Issues

Do you ever say, "I wish that the people in the sales/marketing/operations/customer service/accounts receivable office would give me the information I need to handle this, without my having to ask again for it?"

Insufficient inter-departmental communication can lead to frustration, lost productivity and a reduced bottom line. To resolve it, have all project managers or department chiefs write a list of the information their teams need from internal customers or other departments, on a routine basis. For example, is a project number, invoice or special code needed when sending requests to the accounts payable department? What other information do they need from other departments so they can handle their jobs more efficiently? What data does the IT Dept need to handle help requests? With a list of this data needed by each department, employees can be more efficient in their inter-departmental communications.

Business Speech Improvement (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com) provides training in executive communication skills, presentation skills, accent modification and many other aspects of verbal communication. Training is provided via in-person coaching, e-books and more! Open enrollment classes, company-specific classes and individual coaching are all available. Great speech makes business sense!

Checklist for assessming your company's communication skills

How well do your employees communicate? Poor communication can turn away prospective customers, frustrate employees, and cost your bottom line.

Rate your company's communication skills!

Check any statement that applies to your company. For some items, you may need to call the company from the outside and pose as a prospective customer or employee.

______1. Employees who are foreign-born and whose pronunciation is difficult to understand at times have all been offered speech training by the company.
The company understands this training can increase communicative efficiency and is very supportive to the employee's career growth.

______2. Local employees can all be clearly understood on the telephone and in presentations to people from other parts of the country.

______3. Employees who give presentations know how to prepare and deliver them effectively.

______4. Managers all have high levels of professionalism in their listening skills, and understand different communication styles.

______5. Sales staff and front desk staff have excellent skills in making small talk with prospective customers and others.

______6. Brainstorming sessions actually result in many new, applicable ideas.

______7. Employees consistently answer the telephone with a cheerful greeting, which is clearly pronounced and easily understood by a prospective customer.

______8. Employees all use standard grammar in speaking and writing, which promotes the company's professionalism.

______9. Employees can all state why their work is important to the company's mission or purpose.

______10. On performance appraisals, all employees receive acceptable ratings on their communication skills.

Key: For each missed area, visit http://businessspeechimprovement.com to learn about available coaching . Concise, practical e-books are also available at www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com/ebooks.