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“Creating Successful Leaders”

Category Archives: Communication

March 25, 2015 The Power of Storytelling in Sales

“A good salesperson knows how to talk; a great salesperson knows how to tell a story.” –Rivka Willick, story coach and writer

It is human nature to listen to and trust stories. Ever since we were children, we’ve been surrounded by narratives—on television, in movies, in books, from our grandparents. Sure, stories are fun, but they are also powerful and there are scientific reasons as to why people are attracted to stories. According to neuroeconomics pioneer Paul Zak, “Stories that are highly engaging and contain key elements — including a climax and denouement – can elicit powerful empathic responses by triggering the release Oxytocin. Often referred to as the ‘trust hormone,’ this neurochemical promotes connection and encourages people to feel empathy.”

So, how can you use this powerful technique to gain trust and win sales? Here are a few methods:

1. Keep it relevant

It’s great if you have an amazing story about fly-fishing in Montana, but is that really what your prospective wants to hear? Instead, focus on the material you’re presenting. How can you bring it to life with a relevant story? Perhaps you have a tidbit about how your product positively affected someone? Or maybe you have an interesting story about the products’ development or value? Brainstorm and jot some ideas down on a notepad. Then, run them by your co-workers or friends to gain their input.

2. Have a beginning, middle, and end

This point may seem obvious, but it is absolutely crucial. Storyteller Kambri Crews said in an interview with Entrepreneur.com that, “The beginning should hook your audience, while the end, the call to action, must be clear.” If your story is jumbled, your prospective client may have trouble deciphering the main message or become disengaged.

3. Remember the “elements of a good story”

Sales Benchmark Index has some great advice on using basic storytelling elements to create a compelling tale. They break down a story into the Hero, Stimulus, Conflict, Crossroad, and Moral. Here is an explanation of the elements:

  • Sympathetic main character, AKA the Hero. The audience should be able to see themselves in the hero and the situation.
  • The Hero encounters a Stimulus, which leads them in the direction of resolution or transformation.
  • Tension or a Conflict is exposed. Our Hero now must maneuver challenges and obstacles.
  • A Crossroad where the final transformation takes place. In your Use Case this is where the customer purchased your solution.
  • The final chapter in the story is referred to as the Moral of the Story. The Hero has navigated the Conflict and appears transformed in an ideal state.

4. Practice, practice, practice

Like most things in life, you have to practice your pitch in order to perfect it. First develop it on your own and practice giving your pitch in front of a mirror. Then, practice with others, allowing them to interrupt or make comments (which is likely to happen in a real-life sales situation). Practice sounding natural and unrehearsed and don’t forget to let your body language be relaxed, open, and friendly.

Need help developing your story? Feel free to contact me for guidance.

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March 18, 2015 Margaret’s Guide to De-Stressing Communication

When I give a presentation on Communication, I always devote a slice of time to the topic of stress as it relates to communication. If you take a moment to consider the situations that can cause stress in your life, you may realize that some of them involve your interactions with others. If you commit to developing a strategy or plan for overcoming the situations that cause stress, you can change your life for the better.

Now, this may not be what you want to hear, but managing stress doesn’t actually have anything to do with straightening out the behavior of others. Instead, it’s all about management of your own emotional state. We can base our stress-reduction action plan on two unwavering facts:

Fact #1: You only have control over yourself—your actions and your emotions.

Fact #2: People will continue to be, well, PEOPLE. Their actions are completely beyond your control, and often reflect a perspective, rationale, and behavioral preference different from your own.

With the reality that you can only control yourself in mind, consider the following pointers for improving your daily communication:

  1. Recognize the situations that stimulate your energy. When are you most comfortable? When do you perform at your best? Seek out these situations and find ways to alter or eliminate the situations that bring you down.
  2. Be consistent in what you do to control stress. Once you’ve identified a cause of stress and created an action plan, be persistent in your new habit. If you decided to reorient your role during the weekly meeting, build a short reminder of your new habit into that morning’s routine.
  3. Be authentic in your emotional expression. Nothing can wreak havoc on your emotional state worse than a misleading façade. Until you’re honest with yourself and others about what’s tough for you, you won’t escape the stress and dread of the situation.
  4. Combat the “If only she/he would…” reaction. Remember facts 1 and 2? Instead of blaming others for your stress or feelings of frustration, realize that the best way to avoid feeling this way in the future is to ask yourself, what can I do to avoid feeling this way in the future? Whether it’s altering your own expectations, resolving not to feel so deeply about an issue, or finding a way to circumvent the scenario that created the communication issue in the first place.
  5. Oftentimes stress in communications simply comes down to differing communication styles. Instead of jumping to conclusions of ill will or incompatibility, make the effort to observe how others listen and speak, and match your own style of communication with the person to keep them engaged, interested, and trusting.

Dedicate yourself to developing a plan. Learn from each new experience and looks for areas for improvement. If you’re interested in learning more tools for de-stressing your life and improving communication, feel free to send an email or phone call in my direction!

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February 25, 2015 Millennials Are Saying…

We’ve been gathering a lot of information about Millennials for the brand new book we’re writing about Millennials and leadership. The book will be a guide for Millennials, their co-workers, and the people who train or lead them.

We recently sent out a survey to dozens of Millennials asking them a variety of career-related questions and received some very insightful responses to our questions. Here’s what Millennials are saying…

What does your ideal workplace look like?

“My ideal work place allows a lot of flexibility, and does not require me being chained to a desk all day. It offers variety in terms of working independently and in teams, and variety in location for meetings, training, or even the flexibility to work from home or a coffee shop occasionally.” –Laura, public health professional

“My ideal workplace is collaborative. I thrive when I have access to brainstorming sessions with whiteboards, and conversations that combine the Big Ideas with actionable steps.” –Jolene, grad school student & writer

“Ideal workplace would be in an ever changing environment.” –Amy, assistant archaeologist

What are the characteristics of an ideal manager?

“Someone that is more of a leader than a boss.” –Patrick, project geophysicist

“…kind, tactful, promotes equality, empathy, can look at situation from multiple sides, weighs risks to best they can, trusts employees to best they can.” –Laura, museum manager

They’ll mentor and guide you in positive ways, and will offer advice rather than constant criticism. – Brooklynn, project manager in marketing

“An ideal manager is supportive, knowledgeable, flexible, and open to letting me grow in my position.” –Anna, professor

What do you look for when job hunting?

“Am I growing as an individual? Am I learning things about the world that make it a richer place? Am I able to help people? Do I make a positive contribution?” –Lee, senior application scientist

“I look for openings with organizations that have a clear mission. I try to find jobs that fit with my big goals. I look for client ratings on various sites because if none of the clients don’t like that company, it’s a pretty good indication that there are many problems within the company.” –Mary, fundraiser

“Something that I’m passionate about. The last few jobs I’ve really sought after were ones quite different from each other, but they were all positions that I thought I’d do well in, and that I thought I’d enjoy and be proud to do.” –Nathan, newspaper editor

“Office culture that is cooperative.” –Tara, attorney

Do you care about leadership and titles? Why or why not?

“I don’t worry too much about whether I am a ‘coordinator’ or ‘planner’ or ‘manager’ I worry more about what my job responsibilities are.” –Laura, public health professional

“Proper leadership is important. Without dedicated people taking the helm, large, collaborative projects would never happen. They just wouldn’t. And as for titles, they’re just the names we give people to describe who they are and what they do (or at least that’s what they should be).” –Nathan, newspaper editor

“I do not care for the recognition or attention that comes with leadership roles. For me, titles can become meaningless and are only useful if they connote the roles or responsibilities of the one who holds it.” –Brittany, barista & editor

“I don’t care about titles. I’m annoyed with people who are obsessed with their titles and use it as an excuse to stay within the boundaries of their job description or fail to adapt when the job changes.” –Jolene, grad school student & writer

What are the advantages of frequently switching jobs? Have you done this in your professional career? Why or why not?

“I like to not feel like I’m ‘stuck’ or just going to work and punching the clock, I want to know that what I’m doing matters, and that it stimulates me, or I don’t want to do it and I’ll move on to the next thing.” –Laura, public health professional

“The longest I have stayed with a company is 2.5 years. Switching frequently has helped me experience different styles of leadership, given me exposure to a huge network of people, and also has helped me make more money. In my experience, I have learned that you can get a larger salary increase by finding a new job rather than getting a promotion at a current job.” –Brooklynn, project manager in marketing

“I guess an advantage would be you can’t get sick of your job if you switch often. I have been in the same job since I became a nurse. I enjoy what I do so I have not left yet but I have seriously considered it.” –Sarah, RN

What do you think a typical workplace will be like in the future?

“More collaboration, less defined boundaries. People working for fulfillment and sense of purpose rather than prestige of title.” –John, marketer

“Less defined by a physical space.” –Tara, attorney

“More teleworking, more VTCs, more conference calls. Less traditional office time.” –Marjorie, chief of safety and occupational

What are some of the positive features of the Millennial generation? Negative features?

Positive:

“We travel the world, we grew up with the internet and we’re really good at finding information, we want to collaborate and work together (because that’s what you’ve been teaching us to do since kindergarten), and we want our work to match our values.” –Jolene, grad student & writer

“Multi-task, women and racial equality, have a can-do attitude, are used to change” –Laura, museum manager

“Hopefully, once some of us are able to work in our field, we will be eager and hungry to perform well. Most of us have worked less-than-excellent jobs between graduating and a “career-type” job so we have an appreciation for a good job.” –Brittany, barista & editor

“I think early millennials are hard-working, responsible, and willing to learn. I think we are explorers, and volunteers, and teachers. We care about family values like trust, loyalty, dedication, honesty.” –Rain, graduate assistant

Negative:

“Some might have broken spirits and have become embittered after being underemployed.” Brittany, barista & writer

“We don’t know where to settle down, we know lots of information but sometimes lack deeper understanding, we need better models for collaboration that leads to results, we’re picky about where we want to work but during the recession we didn’t have a lot of choice…” –Jolene, grad student & writer

“Instant gratification, too nice, sometimes can’t work on their own” –Laura, museum manager

“I think technology advances have been very detrimental to the success of our generation. Instant gratification and the ability to commit seem to be a challenge for many Millennials.” –Sarah, RN

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