Do you leap out of bed every morning full of energy and enthusiasm? Do you go home at the end of the day full of energy and enthusiasm? Would you like to remember what it’s like to have energy and enthusiasm?

The successful business person needs lots of Energy!
You need Brain Energy and you need Body Energy. However as with any other kind of energy, it’s constantly being drained away and needs replacing.
Dealing with people, your customers and your team, can both drain your brain and your body – and you probably don’t need me to tell you that.

But for the moment, let’s look at Brain Energy.

Imagine that you receive a call or an email from your boss saying – “Could you come in and see me, I need a word with you.”

If you react to that with – “Oh no! What does he want, what’s wrong now? What have I done?” That sort of reaction drains your brain of energy and gives you stress.

Successful business people don’t react – they think!

Reacting drains the brain – thinking, less so.

Get the thinking bit working and say to yourself – “I’ll phone him now; I’ll speak to him and see what he wants. If it’s about the poor business results, then what information do I need to make my case? Perhaps he wants to talk about that vacant manager’s position that I could fill.”

Whatever you’re thinking – stop the negative stuff – it’ll kill you!

If one of your colleagues comes to you with a problem or you receive a complaint from a customer; don’t react!
Start thinking – “Let’s see what I can do about this.”

Do not, and I repeat – Do not say – “Oh no! What am I going to do now?” Every time you say – “Oh no!” Your brain has a huge drain of energy, and that leads to stress!

People will tell you that there’s good stress and bad stress. I’m talking about bad stress, and it occurs when your brain is drained of energy. Some business people seem to believe that it ‘goes with the territory’ and some even wear it as a ‘badge of honour’ telling you how stressed they are all the time.

They also believe that it can’t be avoided; it’s part of being in business and the world we live in. Organisations do have a responsibility to minimise levels of stress in their workforce, but we have a responsibility for ourselves.

It’s very important to minimise your levels of stress and you can do that by thinking rather than reacting. Challenge your inbuilt programs, stop saying – “That makes me really mad” or “That really gets on my nerves.”

Start saying – “This is something I have to deal with, and I’ll deal with it” – You have the choice.

I know your probably thinking (or is it reacting) – “That’s all very well Alan, but its hard sometimes not to get stressed.”
You’re absolutely right however; let me give you some more reasons why you need to work at minimising it.

Stress can cause heart disease, sleeplessness, sexual problems, overeating, drinking too much, loss of concentration and stomach upsets.
Research is now telling us that many, if not most of our illnesses can be related to stress.

When we get stressed, a chemical is released into our bloodstream called Cortisol, sometimes known as the Stress Hormone. High levels of Cortisol can lead to diabetes and skin problems.
There is also a suggestion that Cortisol attacks our immune system and leaves us vulnerable to many of the bugs and viruses that come along. This also includes cancer.
So if you’ve ever suffered from skin complaints or perhaps too many colds, it could very well be the results of stress.

I don’t want to scare you death, or give you any more stress, I just want you to – think!

If you want to listen to this article or download it to your MP3 player, please click here

Let me ask you a couple of questions. Do you want your customers or clients to come back to your business and spend more money? Do you also want them to say positive things about your business to other people?

I think I can answer these questions myself – of course you do! Because, as you’re no doubt aware, it costs five times as much to find a new customer as to retain existing ones.
A quick story – a few weeks ago, I broke my reading glasses; well, to be more accurate, they fell apart in my hand. As you’ll gather, I wasn’t too pleased, especially as I’d bought those super-duper, titanium, ‘unbreakable’ ones that would last forever.
On Monday, I took them back to the opticians. Turns out I’d bought them about two years before, however, the receptionist said she speak to the optician about them.

Later that afternoon, she phoned – “Mr Fairweather, we’re going to replace your glasses and I’ll phone you when they’re ready.”
Next day, Tuesday, she phoned to say that my new glasses were ready to be picked up. However, they closed at five thirty, and I told her there was no way I could get there in time. “No problem” said the receptionist, “I’ll drop them off on my way home.”

The next day the receptionist phoned to ask – “Did you get your new glasses okay, are they alright? If you need them adjusted just drop by and the optician will fix them for you.”

Now I don’t know about you, I think this is fantastic service. Not only did they replace the glasses and deliver them to my door but they kept in touch checking that everything was okay.

They made the balance between the business side of this customer interaction and the human side. They made me feel special and that my business was important to them.
I’m due to have my eyes tested in July and I’ll probably need new lenses; guess where I’ll be taking my business? I’d be too ‘embarrassed’ to go elsewhere.

So there you have it, if you want customers to return, spend more money and tell other people about your business – make them too embarrassed to go elsewhere.

You do this using logic and emotion. It’s not enough just to replace a faulty product; that’s the logical business part of the customer interaction and your competitors will be doing much the same thing. You need to meet the customer’s human needs by showing that you’re interested in them and that you care. And that’s something your competitors are less likely to be doing!

If you wnat to listen to this article or download it to your MP3 player; please click this link.

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• Good Customer Service (timesunion.com)

Just imagine for a moment that the weather has been really good and you decide to have barbecue this weekend.

You phone all your friends to invite them over, and one of them says, “We have a couple of things to do that day, but we’ll try and come.”

What does that statement mean to you? When I put this scenario to a group of seminar participants, the majority come back with, “Your friend’s not coming!” Some people think the friend might turn up, and the others have no idea.

If you use the word ‘try’ to another person, the majority tend to hear it as a negative. “I’ll try to get this in the post tonight” means “You probably wont” “I’ll try and phone you tomorrow” means “You won’t”
Of course, it all depends on your relationship with the other person and perhaps their tone of voice and their body language, but I repeat; the majority of people hear the word ‘try’ as a negative.

So ‘try’ is a word to avoid whether you’re dealing with a customer, a colleague or a member of your staff. It can be replaced with something more honest such as – “This is what I can do” or “This is what I’m unable to do”

Instead of saying; “I’ll try and do this for you today” Why not say; “I’d like to think I could do this for you today, but I will do it for you tomorrow morning.”

You could even be more direct and say; “I’m unable to do this for you today, but I’ll be pleased to do it tomorrow morning.”

Customers, staff and all other people would rather know where they stand rather than hear the ‘wishy-washy’ ‘try’ word.

“Do, or do not. There is no ‘try’ - Yoda (from Star Wars)

To listen or download to your MP3 player, please click this link: There is No Try

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• Words to Avoid when Managing Difficult People (managedifficultpeople.com)

When you’re interviewing someone for a job, what do you look for? Perhaps you look for previous experience, technical expertise, a particular level of intelligence and probably many other qualities and characteristics.

Can I also suggest that you pick someone with the talent to think, the ability to control their own mind.

Old style management doesn’t encourage employees to control their mind, they aren’t encouraged to think. That was certainly the case when I started work back in the bad old days however it’s still prevalent in many businesses today.
It’s evident in many of the organisations that I work with that there’s a culture of – “I’m the boss – I tell you what to do – you don’t question it.”

The successful manager doesn’t react that way, they employ people who think; people with a mind of their own who aren’t afraid to say what they think and feel. You need people who question, and who challenge you as a manager. Now I know you’re getting scared but a successful manager needs courage!

I remember sitting in on a second interview with a manager colleague of mine who was interviewing candidates for a sales job. One of the candidates was a guy called Phil; he was a very strong character, full of questions and suggestions on how the job should be done.
John, the manager turned to me when Phil left the room – “That guy’s good, I reckon he’d be a good salesman for us, but I don’t think I could handle him.”

John, the manager, was a much quieter type of person than Phil, and I knew he felt uncomfortable with his style.
So I asked John – “What do you want this new salesman to do?” “I want him to bring in new business” says John. “Do you think he can do that” I asked. “Of course I do, I just think he’ll be difficult to handle.”

It all comes down to outcomes; of course, you’ve got to consider how you’re going to work with a new team member, but you sometimes need courage to take a risk.
John hired Phil and he brought in the new business that John needed. Phil always was a handful and a challenge for John but they learned to work together.
So look for clues when you interview a job candidate such as:

1.    Do they run their own mind or does someone do it for them. – You’ll be listening for clues such as: “My husband suggested I do this” or “My mother says that I should”…or “My family were all engineers so that’s how I ended up becoming one.” None of this is wrong in its own right but it will give you an indication as to whether this person runs their own mind or not.

2.    Can they solve problems - Do they think things through and try to find a solution? Or do they let someone else do it for them? You’re listening for – “When I get a difficult customer I believe its best to let my manager deal with them.” Or alternatively – “I had a real crisis on my hands so I considered what options I had and …..”

3.    Are they fairly disciplined – Is there structure in their life and work, or do they just react to circumstances. You’re listening for – “Before I start a job I like to plan how I’m going to do it.”

4.    Are they creative – Do they look for new ways to do things? You’re listening for – “We always used to fill out reports in a certain way but I suggested to my manager a way that would save time.”

5.    Can they arrange things – Do they have the ability to organise themselves and others? You’re listening for – “One of the team was leaving so I organised a going away party.”

6.    Do they think about their own performance – Are they questioning themselves and thinking about how they could do better? You’re listening for – “I was really unhappy with my results so I decided to…….”

Put this to the test right away and it will ensure you get the best people on your team.

If you want to listen to this article or download it to your MP3 player; please click this link

Don’t you just hate it when people won’t listen and accept what you say?

I’ll always remember the first sales course I ever attended and the definition of selling that was drummed into my brain.

“Selling is the art of creating a desire in the mind of a buyer and satisfying that desire so that buyer and seller benefit.”

Now that may seem a bit old fashioned for many of today’s salespeople; but I believe the principle still holds true, particularly if we’re attempting to persuade another person. That could be a member of your team, a colleague, a customer, of even someone in your personal life.

If you’re going to persuade someone to change their behaviour, their viewpoint, their attitude, any other aspect of their business or personal life, then you’re talking about changing a mindset.
If anyone is going to change their mindset, then they need to envisage benefits for them that outweigh their present circumstances or situation.
If you’re the person doing the persuading, then you need the following skills, qualities and characteristics which make you believable and credible.

Belief - Successful persuaders believe in themselves and what they’re talking about. After all, if you don’t believe in what you’re saying, how do you expect anyone else to?

Enthusiasm – I’ve known people who totally believe in what they’re saying but fail to communicate with any enthusiasm or passion. Many people find difficulty with this; however, if you want to persuade someone, you’d better find a way to get enthusiastic about it.

Knowledge – you must know what you’re talking about, so make sure you have all the information, facts, figures and statistics to make your case.

Empathy – Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. What do you think is important to them? Consider carefully why they should accept what you’re saying.
If someone is frightened of flying, then there’s no point in telling them not to be silly and to stop behaving like a baby. You need to think about how you might feel in these circumstances, and what might persuade you to change your mind. You need to outweigh the fear with benefits relevant to the individual.

Persistence – if you want to persuade someone, don’t give up on the first “no” or rejection of what you say. Persist and persist – but do it nicely!
People wont necessarily react in a negative way to your persistence when they realise you really believe what you’re saying.

There’s a fine line between being persistent and being a nuisance. Watch the other person’s reactions, and if it looks like you’re persisting too much – stop!
Energy – put energy into all your interactions with other people. Energy fuels enthusiasm; we are persuaded by people with energy.
Many TV presenters use their energy to sell us their ideas. Think of the celebrity chefs on TV persuading us to produce fabulous meals, or other presenters who get us all excited about re-modelling our homes or gardens.

Consistency – Everything you do or say is important, everything counts. If you want to be a powerful persuader then you must be consistent. If you’re trying to persuade someone to keep their promises, then you must always keep yours. If you say – “I’ll phone you back in ten minutes” then phone them back in nine minutes.

To be a powerful persuader you need many skills, qualities and characteristics. Even with them all in place, there is still no guarantee of success. However, people are more likely to be persuaded by people they trust, they like and have a good relationship with.

If you want to listen to this article or dowload it to your MP3 player; please click this link.

Have you been late for anything or anyone today, or are you one of these people who is always on time?

In any interaction between people, there will always be:

The way they see it – The way you see it – The way it is.

Take the example of Dave who usually arrives about 10-15 minutes late for a meeting.

The way he sees it is - ‘We’re supposed to meet at 8 and I’m here just after that. I don’t suppose anyone expects me to be here dead on 8 o’clock.’

If you’re an on time person then:

The way you see it is – ‘Dave is so selfish, he just shows up whenever it suits him. I’ve been here since 7.45 so that we can start at 8 o’clock; he has no respect for me or any of his colleagues.’

The way it is – Dave arrived at 8.12am

Your programming tells you that people should show up early or dead on time for a meeting. Dave’s programming, tells him that; ‘It’s only a meeting, it’ll be boring anyway, so we’ll try to have a laugh, and I’ll get there when I get there!’

I’m the person who always turns up early for an appointment, be it business or pleasure. I have friends who are like me, and always turn up on time; and I have other friends who arrive just when they’re ready. At one time I might have allowed this to annoy me; but now I try to think rather than react. I realise that this is the way these friends are, and in no way does it make them any less of a friend.

Let’s pick on Dave again; he might say to a customer – ‘I’ll phone you back in a couple of minutes.’ He may intend to phone them back when he has all the information. That could be within ten minutes, thirty minutes, one hour or the next two hours. The other person on hearing that Dave is going to phone back in a couple of minutes, may sit by the phone waiting for it to ring. When it doesn’t, they phone back, in a negative frame of mind, and then Dave has a difficult person to deal with.

Personal relationships often come to grief because of this inability to see it the way the other person does. A man may stop for a drink with his friends after work and phone his wife to say that he will be home later. She translates later as perhaps 8 to 9 pm. But he believes later is – ‘you’ll see me when you see me;’ guess what happens?

We are all very different. How often have you been to a play or a movie and thoroughly enjoyed it; however, the person you were with, didn’t enjoy it at all. You think – ‘What’s wrong with them; they must be stupid, or perhaps they’re just being difficult.’

When someone doesn’t see things the way you do, there is potential for you to get stressed and collect negative feelings. What then happens is; you dump these negative feelings on the other person, and then you have a difficult situation. The way to avoid these negative feelings is to:

• Accept people the way they are
• Decide not to react to other people’s behaviour
• Be responsible for your own feelings
• Change you expectations
• Ask for help when you need it
• Think before you communicate

Some food for thought; next time you have to deal with a difficult person, remember, they may just be running a different programme from you.

If you want to listen to this article or download it to your MP3 player, please click here

Have you ever heard a manager say – “I don’t care if my staff like me or not as long as they respect me.” – What a load of baloney!

It doesn’t matter if you are in business or in sport. If you want a highly motivated team who produce results, then it makes a truckload of difference if they like you!

I’ve been reading reports about the football teams in the World Cup and the relationships with their manager.
Before England was so decidedly beaten by Germany, and in the build up to the Algeria game, one newspaper reported – “the squad have grown sick and tired of Capello’s off-hand attitude. One senior player complained that the Italian had walked past him in the team hotel without even saying hello.”

Now that may or may not be true, but other reports suggest that Capello may be respected by the team, but they certainly don’t seem to like him.

Phil Neville the Everton, England and ex Manchester United footballer once    commented – “If the players like you, then that decides ninety-five percent of your success as a manager.”

If you read my article ‘What Makes Good Managers Good’ you’ll see that successful managers such as Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho are very much liked by their team members.

That human connection is what separates the respected managers from the highly successful and liked ones!

‘How to be a Motivational Manager’ is available for all football mangers and anyone else who wants a successful team

Do you remember how you felt after your last interaction with another person either on the phone or face to face? That person – it could have been a customer, a colleague, a salesperson, a friend or even a member of your family.

• Did they make you feel good, uplifted and more positive?

Or

• Did they leave you feeling neutral?

Or

• Did they make you feel down and more negative?

Unfortunately, most of us have grown up in a negative culture where it’s much easier to tell people what they did wrong rather than praising them when they succeed.

Research in the United States found that 65% of employees received no recognition for good work in the past year.  Similar research in other countries of the world shows comparable results.
Other research has shown that the number one reason people leave their job, and customers take their business elsewhere, is that they don’t feel appreciated.
And if you think about it; many people leave their partners for the very same reason!

If customer’s leave an interaction with you or one of your team feeling better than they did before, then they’re much more likely to:

• Come back
• Recommend you to other people
• Spend more with you.

If one of your team feels better after an interaction with you then they’re much more likely to pass that feeling onto a customer.

“The way you treat your staff is the way they’ll treat your customers” – Karl Albrecht

If you give five positive comments to one negative comment to the other people in your life, then you’ll have:

1. More happy customers
2. A workplace that’s more productive and more fun
3. More friends
4. Better relationships
5. A healthier, happier and longer life

Remember – “Hand out warm glows, not dampeners.”

To listen to this post, please click -  The Benefits of Positive Feedback

Do the people you come into contact with know what your business is all about or what you do for a living?

I was talking with my friend Susan recently about another friend, Carole, who has just started her own business. “I’ve asked Carole twice about her business and I’m still not sure what she does” said Susan.

We both agreed that the business had something to do with event organisation but we weren’t really clear.

This is a real pity because Susan, as the General Manager of a local business could use the services that Carole offers. However she’s unlikely to do so when she doesn’t know what it’s about.

When people ask you what you do or what your business is about, make sure you say something that grabs their attention and makes them want to hear more.

What you say needs to be:

• A brief description that says exactly what you do and who you do it for
• A benefit statement that offers value to your customer or client
• Short and punchy – 10 to 20 seconds maximum
• Not glib or sickly
• Variable – you should have different statements depending on who you’re speaking to
• Delivered with enthusiasm and energy
• Associated with good feelings – appeal to the emotions
• Something you can use on various occasions – over the phone – on your business cards – brochures – website – email signature – letterheads
• Something that grabs attention and makes the other person want to learn more

Here are some examples of benefit statements from people in -

A computer or software business – “I show small business people how to get more out of their computer systems so that they can improve their customer service and get more sales.”

A marketing business – “We improve a company’s image so that they can get more profit from their business.”

A financial business – “I show people how to save money so that they can have an enjoyable retirement.”

So put this to the test – write out your benefit statement and practise it until you’re comfortable with it and it becomes part of you.

Book review taken from BuilderJobs magazine:

“The author worked as a manager in sales and customer service for 15 years, so he should know a thing or two about dealing with difficult people, and his practical expertise certainly shows. This book is stuffed with sound advice, although Fairweather can be a trifle self-indulgent at times. Covers all the bases, from identifying difficult people to developing strategies for success.”

I wonder what the reviewer means by ‘self-indulgent’!?

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• How To Manage Difficult People – Book Review (managedifficultpeople.com)