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Leadership By Persuasion

As a leader, your success depends upon your ability to get things done: up, down and across all lines. Today’s organizations are politically complex and fluid, which blurs lines of formal authority. 

To survive and succeed, you must learn to persuade people: to convince them to take action on your behalf and under your direction, often without formal authority. Even when you do have formal authority, you may be hesitant to use it. 

Persuasion is widely perceived as a skill reserved for sales and negotiation. Now, it’s an essential proficiency for all leaders.

Defining Our Terms

“Effective persuasion becomes a negotiating and learning process through which a persuader leads colleagues to a problem’s shared solution.”

—Jay A. Conger, PhD 

Professor of organizational behavior, London Business School

Author, Winning ’Em Over: A New Model for Management in the Age of Persuasion 

 

Persuasion involves leading people to take a position they don’t currently hold. You must not only make a rational argument, but also position your information, ideas, approaches and/or solutions in ways that appeal to basic human emotions. Dr. Conger describes the traditional view of persuasion: “First, you strongly state your position. Second, you outline the supporting arguments, followed by a highly assertive, data-based exposition. Finally, you enter the deal-making stage and work toward a close.”

Discovery, Preparation, Dialogue

Any attempt to persuade may provoke colleagues to oppose and polarize. If, according to Dr. Conger, persuasion is a learning and negotiating process, then it must include three phases: discovery, preparation and dialogue. 

Before you even begin to speak, you must consider your position from every angle. Getting ready to present your ideas may take weeks or months of planning, as you learn about your audience and prepare your arguments. 

Dialogue occurs both before and during the persuasion process. You must invite people to discuss solutions, debate the merits of your position, offer honest feedback and suggest alternatives.

To effectively persuade, you must test and revise ideas to reflect your colleagues’ concerns and needs. Success depends on being open-minded and willing to incorporate compromises. 

Four Steps to Successful Persuasion

Leading through persuasion requires you to follow four essential steps:

1. Establish credibility.

2. Understand your audience, framing your goals in a way that identifies common ground.

3. Reinforce your positions with vivid language and compelling evidence.

4. Connect emotionally with your audience.

To avoid failure, your strategy for persuasion must be as compelling as your arguments. 

The Importance of Credibility

Credibility develops from two sources: expertise and relationships. Listen carefully to your audience’s suggestions, and establish an environment in which they know their opinions are valued. Prepare by collecting data and information that both support and contradict your arguments—a step that sheds light on your position’s strengths and weaknesses. Place others’ best interests first so you can validate that you truly care about the team’s well-being.

Frame for Common Ground

You must be adept at describing your positions in ways that illuminate their advantages. The primary goal is to identify tangible benefits to which your targeted audience can relate. This requires multiple conversations, meetings and dialogue to collect essential information by asking thoughtful questions. This process will often prompt you to alter your initial argument or include compromises.

Identify key decision makers, stakeholders and the organization’s network of influence. Who is supportive, unyielding or neutral? Pinpoint their interests and how they view alternatives. 

Provide Evidence

Persuasion requires you to present evidence: strong data in multiple forms (stories, graphs, images, metaphors and examples). Make your position come alive by using vivid language that complements graphics. In most cases, a rock-solid argument: 

o Is logical and consistent with facts and experience

o Favorably addresses your audience’s interests

o Eliminates or neutralizes competing alternatives

o Recognizes and deals with office politics

o Receives endorsements from objective, authoritative third parties

Connect Emotionally

Your connection to your audience must demonstrate both intellectual and emotional commitment to your position. Successful persuaders cultivate an accurate sense of their audience’s emotional state, and they adjust their arguments’ tone accordingly. Whatever your position, you must match your emotional fervor to your audience’s ability to receive your message.

Virtual Teams

It’s even harder to persuade when your relationships are electronically based. Without face-to-face meetings, you cannot gather critical nonverbal cues that help you connect with others. If you usually communicate by email, arrange frequent phone conferences to interact on a more personal level. While actual meetings require travel expenses, they may be well worth the cost.

Four Ways to Fail at Persuasion

Most leaders attempt to persuade through logic, persistence and personal enthusiasm. In reality, this model is a setup for failure. You blunder when you:

1. Make your case with a hard sell. Assailing colleagues with preconceived ideas from the get-go gives potential opponents a clear target for battle.

2. Resist compromise. To buy into your proposal, people want to see if you’re flexible enough to respond to their concerns. Compromises often lead to more sustainable solutions.

3. Think the secret of persuasion lies in presenting great arguments. Your credibility—as well as your ability to create a mutually beneficial framework, connect on the right emotional level and communicate through vivid language that makes arguments come alive—are equally important.

4. Assume persuasion is a one-shot effort. Persuasion is a process, not an event. It’s rarely possible to arrive at a shared solution on the first try. 

Resources

Conger, J.A. (1998) Winning ’Em Over: A New Model for Management in the Age of Persuasion. Simon & Schuster. New York NY.

Getting People On Board. (2005) The Results-Driven Manager Series. Harvard Business School Press. Boston MA.

Power, Influence, and Persuasion: Sell Your Ideas and Make Things Happen. (2005) Harvard Business Essentials. Harvard Business School Press. Boston MA.

Paul Anovick

AnovickAssociates.com

Developing Potential, Producing Results

Has Broadcasting Nuked the Fridge?

In the 80’s the term “jumped the shark” emerged from the very popular show “Happy Days”. Fonzie water-skied over a shark, which signaled the beginning of the show’s decline.

Now from the movie “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” we have Harrison Ford surviving a nuclear blast by hiding inside a refrigerator…HELLO, this franchise is over, past its prime. Has broadcasting nuked the fridge?

If you watched “Mad Men” last night, you know there was one commercial during the entire 60-minute program…BMW sponsored the show in a clever way. Go check it out :http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/, interesting tie-in. This was more product placement than network advertising. This is but one of the many signals of a major shift in where broadcasting is headed.

Many of you are in marketing, advertising and related fields, if not, you are a consumer of radio or tv. Therefore, you can relate to this: the days of “Mass Media” are over, sending your message out via broadcasting has “nuked the fridge”.

Several associates recently suggested I read “Purple Cow”; if you have not read this please go get it NOW! This completes the thinking of Tom Peter’s “Pursuit of Wow”, Pepper’s “One to One Future” and “The Tipping Point” by Gladwell. The past 15 years has completely changed how we communicate, how we think and how we use media.

When I launched my company less than two years ago, I began with assumptions based on 30 years of broadcasting and media experience. I knew how markets worked and I know the four P’s…well guess what? It is a whole new world out here.

In broadcasting we send the “message”, music or show out and speak to the target market. What has occurred during the past 15 years is a shift in that communication. People want what they want, when they want it on the device they want to use. The “Six O’clock News” is irrelevant. By six we already know what we need to know, we don’t have to wait for the Networks to tell us what is important.

This is a very exciting time in our history; let me know what YOU think.

Paul Anovick

AnovickAssociates.com

Developing Potential, Producing Results

Persuasion

The Brain Science of Persuasion:

7 Automatic Triggers

People make two major mistakes when trying to persuade others:

1. Using the argument that would work best on themselves

2. Overestimating the power of logic and rationality

Instead of researching what makes people buy or make decisions, they ask themselves, “What would motivate me to participate in this program or buy this product?”

The fact is, persuasion can be defined, learned and successfully incorporated into anyone’s communication abilities. It doesn’t matter if you work in sales, marketing or another field directly related to persuasion. Every leader or manager depends on getting things done through others.

Getting Things Done Through Others

Your boss may give you specific powers, but execution and results come from successfully influencing others.

So, what does brain science tell us about the natural processes of decision-making and being influenced? 

• With the recent advent of real-time brain-imaging technology, we can now look at what happens inside the brain as we process information, make decisions and respond to others. 

Feelings First, Logic Later

Most of us try to persuade by using our best arguments, best data, logical flow charts and rationality to generate the thinking, decisions and actions we seek. Business leaders still believe everyone relies heavily on logic and reason to make decisions. We’ve traditionally believed that emotion wreaks havoc on rationality, especially in business.

As science evolves, we’re starting to realize that emotions come first. Not only do they guide our decisions and actions, but we’re incapable of making decisions without them.

We use the emotional parts of our brain to make rational decisions. Emotional context helps us make the best choices, often in a split second, long before the rational centers of the brain are even activated.

The Brain Science of Persuasive Powers

We respond to persuasive attempts either analytically or automatically.

Those who respond analytically use a reasoned evaluative approach to come to a decision, but  this requires enormous energy. The brain uses up reserves of glucose and calories whenever it evaluates. And because it’s human nature to conserve energy, most of us won’t respond with the extra effort required to be analytical. In fact, most people slip into automatic-response mode whenever possible. 

This doesn’t mean you can skip logical arguments, but it does place less emphasis on reason and more on emotion. When you understand that people want to make rapid, automatic and accelerated decisions, you can make it easier on those you’re trying to influence.

How do we generate automatic influence? With triggers. Everybody has them. A trigger is any stimulus that will help us make a non-thinking decision or action. A trigger activates a person’s immediate compliance with an attempt to influence. It’s simply a shortcut to avoid the pain and effort of mental activity.

Let’s examine the seven triggers that automatically influence others.

1. The Friendship Trigger

We are more easily influenced by people we like, and liking is a prerequisite for the other triggers. Friendship generates trust, and trust activates a strong internal trigger. Find connections and common interests, and listen to the people you wish to influence.

2. The Authority Trigger

We respond with unthinking, automatic compliance to those we believe have authority, credibility and power. Managers and leaders may think they have authority by virtue of their position, but without the likeability factor, this trigger is weakened. The authority trigger works because we assume the person in position of authority has done the evaluation work for us.

3. The Consistency Trigger

Our internal guidance system compels us to be consistent in the way we see ourselves and the peers we admire. We are slaves to consistency and conformity; in fact, these drives are hard-wired into our brain. When it’s time to make a decision, we call up an emotional memory that’s similar to the situation at hand, and we’re guided in the same direction.

4. The Reciprocity Trigger

Reciprocity is the well-documented psychological desire to give back to someone who has given us a gift. It’s another automatic response hard-wired into our brains. Marketers have been using bonus gifts and free samples for years. 

5. The Contrast Trigger

Framing a proposition so it appears more desirable than an alternative is a proven automatic compliance technique. Always present the most onerous approach first, followed by what you really want.

6. The Reason Why Trigger

When you present a valid reason to accept a proposition, you achieve compliance. 

7. The Hope Trigger

We are easily persuaded by those who understand our hopes, wishes and dreams. Once we perceive an opportunity to satisfy them, we seldom rely on cognitive thought or logic before we act. 

Six Steps to a Persuasive Presentation 

Here’s a proposed outline for framing a successful presentation that persuades others to act in the direction you desire:

1. Write down your persuasion goal, what you hope to accomplish, what you expect others to do and the ideal time frame.

2. List the questions you’ll ask your audience to determine their perceptions on the issue.

3. List each of the seven internal triggers. Under each one, list every possible item that could apply. Select and prioritize the three or four triggers best suited to the situation.

4. Frame your presentation with the beginning and ending that have the highest impact. The friendship trigger, coupled with the reciprocity trigger, is a great start. You’ll also want early application of the authority trigger.

5. The body of the proposal, including the logic and data, will follow the other trigger information. Minimal application of logic and data will reinforce a positive decision.

6. Finally, frame your closure by defining precisely what you want your audience to do, and determine how you will ask for this action.

Paul Anovick

AnovickAssociates.com

201-445-2822

Developing Potential, Producing Results

Managing Energy is the Key to Sustaining High Performance

This is part two of the Blog posted on Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Lack of Energy, Lack of Full Engagement

Full engagement ought to be a bottom line priority. Companies incur unnecessary costs in the billions because of unengaged people who are just showing up for work—estimated at $350 billion a year by the Gallup Organization. Few executives or managers understand energy management and how to build it into daily routines. Yet the ability to sustain drive and passion throughout the work day—and have some left over for family at the end of the day—is based on acquiring a few positive habits and understanding energy management concepts.

These principles were discovered by studying the differences between highly successful professional athletes and those who “also ran.” At top levels, most sports stars are highly talented. The difference between the consistent winners and the others is in their ability to manage and conserve their energy. Top tennis players, for example, use certain rituals between games to help them remain focused and manage negative emotions. Their heart rates can drop 20 percent between points. Other talented players who do not engage in positive recovery rituals do not show such recovery signs and are not consistent winners.

The 4 Principles of Energy Management

The same principles can be applied to corporate executives. Here are the basic concepts, from Loehr and Schwartz:

1.    Energy has four dimensions: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. It is necessary to draw energy from each domain and to manage it in all four.
2.    Energy is best managed when there is oscillation between stress and recovery. Stress in this case is meant in a positive sense. Stress is what makes us stretch ourselves and use our talents and skills; however, it must be balanced with recovery and rest, and most of us don’t know how to do this.
3.    Pushing beyond our usual limits builds our strengths. Building mental, emotional, and spiritual capacities is similar to physical training to improve our strength or cardiovascular abilities. We must push in order to grow.
4.    Creating specific positive energy replenishing rituals sustains and expands our energy. This is the key to recuperating and making our energy reserves fully available to us.

Too much energy spent with insufficient rest and recovery leads to trouble. Life is not a marathon, but rather a series of sprints. All of life and nature is built upon rhythms and oscillations, including the tides, the sun, the moon, and our physiological functions. Yet, so many of us are in a hurry because we think in terms of linear time; we forget to create quality moments. Most of us are in a race against the clock and make incredible demands on our energy reserves as if we had unlimited resources.

Creating More Physical Energy

Executives can perform successfully even if they smoke, drink, and weigh too much. Much of their work is sedentary, yet they may excel without having any regular exercise routine. Obviously many do live and work this way, but they cannot perform to their full potential or without a cost over time to themselves, their families, and the corporations for which they work. It can be compared to trying to get peak performance out of a computer whose hardware and software is several years outdated. High mental, emotional, and spiritual energy requires that the body be in good physical condition.

Most approaches to high performance in executives and leaders deal with cognitive or emotional competencies. Some theorists have addressed the spiritual dimension as well, how deeper values and a sense of purpose influence performance. Surprisingly, almost no one has paid any attention to the role played by physical capacities. An integrated theory of performance management addresses the body, mind, emotions, and spirit, considering the person as a whole.

The body is our fundamental source of energy, and anyone concerned about high levels of performance under intense pressures must be concerned with the physical domain. Sports science is clear about the body’s need for both stress and recovery. For any muscle to grow stronger it must be stressed and then given time to heal. Repeated demands combined with recovery result in increased strength. Conversely, failure to stress the muscle results in weakness and atrophy. These same principles are true in all four domains of energy sources: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Growth occurs when there is demand, stress, and recovery.

Even if you are at a desk most of the day, you need physical energy. It begins with attention to breathing, a healthy diet, good sleeping habits, plenty of water, daily physical exercise, and recovery breaks every 90 to 120 minutes.

Although this may sound like hackneyed common sense everyone already knows, the evidence is clear: those executives who build into their daily and weekly routines exercise, healthy eating, good sleeping, and energy recovery breaks have more energy and are able to sustain performance under intense pressures.

Creating More Mental Energy

Physical and emotional energy help mental functioning. There is a correlation between productivity and positive thinking that generates mental energy. The most successful sales people have an optimistic explanatory style.

Thinking takes time, yet most jobs don’t build in time for rest, workout breaks, and thinking. They should. In fact, one of the most productive ways to think is during exercise, breaks, walks, jogs, a simple game, or just daydreaming. Build downtime into your day and allow your employees to do the same.

Other ways of creating more mental energy include varying activities so that different parts of the brain are used. Mental preparation, visualization, meditation, introspection, and reflection are all pathways to creativity and innovation. Taking time to connect with your organization’s mission, your personal purpose in life, and your true values are all ways of accessing your drive, passion, and energy.

Creating More Emotional Energy

Emotional energy expresses itself in self-confidence, self-discipline, sociability, and empathy. It’s possible to build positive emotions just as one would build muscles and physical strength. Professional athletes know how important it is to manage negative feelings during crucial points. Frustration, anger, or fear are toxic and can bring performance down. Executives who want to be able to perform well under stress must learn to “keep their eye on the ball” and manage negativity. The studies from the Hay-McBer Group have shown that leaders communicate their moods to their work groups in ways that directly affect the corporate bottom line.

Too few people recognize or try to create feelings of pleasure and joy, especially during grueling negotiations and intense business meetings. Research has shown, however, that humor and good feelings are contagious and can actually increase the chances of success in business relationships. Friendships are critical at work and affect job performance. Time taken for relationship building is crucial.

Creating More Spiritual Energy

Spiritual energy, in the sense meant here, has to do with your personal connection to your true values and deep sense of purpose. It depends on taking care of yourself and others with profound respect. It means honoring your values, paying attention to your gut instincts, and doing the right things. It is an amazing source of passion, fortitude, and commitment. Those people who connect with a purpose greater than their own personal interests demonstrate the most passion and energy. Spiritual energy also depends on developing past your limits and rest, recovery, and renewal.

The Power of Positive Rituals

Getting in shape to fully engage in life and work means deep involvement with purpose, values, and self-examination and the establishment of effective energy replenishing habits. First you must define your true values and what is most important to you, being positive and unselfish. Then you must be honest about where you are now and be willing to admit that your excuses are no longer good enough. Third, plan to take action on three positive rituals that will make a difference in your energy levels. Be precise about when you will engage in these positive rituals—what time, for how long, and on which days.

Some busy executives who have built breaks into their already overburdened schedules have been astonished at how they have expanded their capacities in all four domains of energy. These breaks can include deep breathing for a few seconds, doing a quick meditation, rereading a vision or mission statement, calling a loved one, running up and down stairs, taking a quick tour around colleagues’ cubicles for friendly chats, doing a few sit-ups or stretches, eating a healthy snack, or walking around the block. It doesn’t matter what one decides to do, but it is crucial to be specific about the time and activity. The idea is to reconnect with purpose and recuperate energy reserves.

Working with an executive coach is a good way to reevaluate your performance in the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual domains. Get real, get honest, get positive—stretch your capacities and then recuperate your energy. It is your most precious resource.

Paul Anovick
AnovickAssociates.com
201-445-2822

Recommended reading:

Bruch, H. & Ghoshal, S. (2004). A Bias for Action: How Effective Managers Harness their Willpower, Achieve Results, and Stop Wasting Time. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Groppel, J. L. (2000). The Corporate Athlete: How to Achieve Maximal Performance in Business and Life. N.Y.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Loehr, J. & Schwartz, T. (2003). The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal. N.Y.: The Free Press/Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Managing Energy is the Key to Sustaining High Performance

“To be fully engaged in our lives, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused, and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interest.” – Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, The Power of Full Engagement (2003) 

Some executives thrive under pressure, others wilt. There is an epidemic of stress and burnout in our personal and work lives. We pride ourselves on our ability to multi-task and use computer aids to organize the demands on our time; we become more efficient and take on more responsibilities, and with them, more stress.  

Even when managing our time well we still end up exhausted and stressed, unable to concentrate, keep focus, and be productive. That’s because the problem isn’t time management, it’s energy. One major quality that executives seek for themselves and their employees is sustained high performance in the face of ever-increasing pressure and rapid change, and that takes energy.

The tools for sustaining high performance are not taught in business schools. Leadership development courses rarely broach the issue of energy management, either individually or organizationally. Depleted energy may be one of the reasons more than two-thirds of employees feel less than fully engaged at work (Gallup Organization, 2004).

Some of the secrets of sustaining energy and high performance come from studying professional athletes. Professional athletes spend most of their time training and, at most, a few hours a day actually competing. Corporate executives, however, have almost no time for training and must perform at peak levels under intense scrutiny and competition for often 12 or 14 hours a day. Most professional sports have an off season of several months. The typical executive has several weeks of vacation; even then, as many as 47 percent report taking their laptops to answer e-mail during their breaks. The career of the athlete spans 7 years on average; that of a corporate executive may last 40 or 50 years.

The skillful management of energy—both individually and organizationally—makes sustaining peak performance possible. According to authors Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz in their book, The Power of Full Engagement (2003), we need to rethink much of what we’ve believed about organizing our lives. We need to learn two new rules:

1. Energy is the fundamental currency of high performance.

2. Performance, health, and happiness are grounded in the skillful management of energy.

Will be continued...

Paul Anovick

AnovickAssociates.com

201-445-2822

A Winner Listens. A Loser Just Waits Until It Is Their Turn To Talk.

The customer needs assessment, or CNA, is the vital step in the sales process if you’re truly interested in making customers, not just sales.

 

A good CNA gives us the information we need to develop a winning strategy to produce results, while simultaneously uncovering the true feelings or objections we need to sell our ideas. The CNA is the road map of the sales process and will guide you in utilizing the best approach in each of the remaining steps…presentation, negotiation, closing, service and selling again to a satisfied customer.

 

Here are some questions that produce responses that are particularly revealing, engaging, and most importantly, useful.

 

·      How did you begin in this business, and what did you do to achieve your current position?

·      In your opinion what is the single greatest misconception people have about you business?

·      What aspect of your business would you be most interested in improving?

·      What is your most expensive (product or service)? Why do people choose it when cheaper ones are available?

·      What do you like most about your current (insert your category, i.e.: computer, accountant, etc.)? What do you like least about it?

·      What would you like to know about my (product or service)?

·      Who else is involved in making this type decision?

 

Don’t waste your valuable time on a CNA with a gatekeeper or a non-decision maker. The CNA should only be conducted with a real decision maker—a person who really knows the business, and most importantly, cares or profits from the results.

 

The CNA bridges the gap between selling and marketing. Selling is based on your needs. Marketing serves the customer’s needs. Simply, the effective CNA uncovers those needs, so that you can provide a win-win solution.

 

Paul Anovick

AnovickAssociates.com

paul@anovickassociates.com

201-445-2822

 

Leadership and My Son...July 5th

On July 5, 1992 my third son was born…I now have four sons, I love them all and I am very proud of who they are. Today I want to focus on my July 5th son.

Kahlil Gibran:

“Your children are not your children.
They come through you but not from you.
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
So He loves also the bow that is stable.”

So why is this important to you? Leadership is like parenting. The qualities of effective parenting are consistent with effective leadership. Your children watch what you do not what you say. Only ask of them what you are able to live up to. Lead by example.

Gibran says: “You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.” An effective leader tells people what to do, not how to do it. They may surprise you with their creative solution.

On July 4th, 1992 we missed by a few hours of having a “Born on the 4th of July” baby, our son was born on July 5th. This young man has been an inspiration to me ever since. As a young man he has faced adversity and overcome challenges that most people would pray they would not have to deal with at any time in their lives. He has dealt with cards life has given him and moved on with courage, grace, stoicism and wisdom. This young man is an inspiration to those who know him. On this day I honor my son and feel secure in the future of our country knowing that we continue to produce fine young people such as this man.

We're Wired For Stories: Telling and Selling

If you want to sell more, tell more tales. A good sales story stimulates the mind and engages people to conversation. If you are selling and people are not tuned to what you are saying, it's almost impossible to move them to action. Executives and world-class sellers tell stories to get people involved.

Stories are not more important than features and benefits; they help emphasize points and create feelings. Combining data and left-brain logic with emotional right-brain stories is a powerful and professional way to make dramatic sales points. Executives, politicians and professionals tell stories to start people thinking and make important points.

What sells people is how they see benefits working for them. Storytelling engages people in their own minds, emotions and imagery. Although decisions are largely formed with logic, data and information, decisions are mostly made with right-brain subjective emotions. Storytelling is a strategic sophisticated sales tool. We know that people are going to forget data and information but are unlikely to forget a good story.

President Ronald Reagan exploited his age and was nearly 70 when he became president. He left office at 78, the oldest man ever to serve in the office. He joked about himself and repositioned a problem to an advantage with wit and humor:

One of my favorite quotations about age comes from Thomas Jefferson. He said that we should never judge a president by his age, only by his work. And ever since he told me that, I've stopped worrying, and just to show you how youthful I am, I intend to campaign in all 13 states.

Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series has sold over 26,000,000 books since 1997 and has earned tens of millions of dollars. You may have read his books or seen him on TV. Three of his books, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Rich Dad's CASHFLOW Quadrant and Rich Dad's Guide to Investing, have been on the top 10 best-seller lists simultaneously in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the New York Times.

Much of the success of Rich Dad is not simply because Robert wrote a book. The message of becoming a better money manager, understanding taxes, dealing with expenses and using the power of leverage to create wealth created a story that challenged conventional thought: only high income leads to wealth.

Robert crafted a story of logic and emotion so he could repeat it virtually word for word in seminars and in radio, TV and newspaper interviews. He took a simple boring subject about money and made it visually and emotionally unique by telling a story.

The story of two fathers is an unusual message. Without that story, Rich Dad would likely have been like so many other books telling of money and investing. Robert is a gifted storyteller and his messages are motivating, entertaining and lead to his record-breaking success as an author. Robert is a master of sales.

·  Are you successful because you simply sell a product?

·  Do you master sales because people relate to you, your values and your knowledge?

·  Do you get people emotionally involved?

·  What makes you unique and a standout in a crowded field?

What Are Stories?

Stories are images and eye candy for the brain. Words are ways of communicating the images in the mind. When we tell stories well we are actually imagining what happens in the story and using words to describe what we see.

Remembering And Telling

Storytelling has a common problem. More salespeople would use stories if they could just remember how to tell the story.

It's the same problem in public speaking. Remembering words can stump people. People try to memorize things that are far too difficult to remember. Unless you have a photographic memory, remembering word for word is out of the question. That is why we invented computers, to keep track of lists and words.

To tell stories naturally, imagine what happens in the story. You can use the same words every time if that comes easily to you or you can use different words every time to tell a story. As long as you connect the words to the images in your mind, you can deliver a good story.

Three Keys to Storytelling

1. Learn The Story. Focus on the story and get the image in your mind. It is far easier to remember scenes or sequences of several images of things like sounds and pictures than the literal sequence of many hundreds of words. Remember, it's never the story; it's always the emotion that communicates the real meaning. Tell the story from your memory of how it made you feel.

2. Telling The Story. Relax, have fun and enjoy the story; it will be easier to tell. Imagine what is happening in the story. Use your natural style and expression.

3. Remembering The Story. You will not easily forget a good story. Images stay with you. However, words escape you. As long are you are confident that you do not have to remember word for word, the story will be easy to remember.

The Secrets Of Story Strategy

We tell stories in sales situations because it helps compel people to action. It is hard to make a computer chip exciting, a stack of lumber enthralling. That's why selling features and benefits are rarely enough to bring people to action. People make decisions in their minds, not from your mind. Draw pictures for people and reach them emotionally.

Use Stories As Sales Tools:
1. Use stories to keep ideas in order and show ideas sequentially: First this happened and then that happened
2. Use stories to point out how this happened or that happened
3. Use stories to help others understand why things happen
4. Use stories to share information and to illustrate
5. Use stories to help illustrate principles that can be used in other situations

Stories Stimulate Even More Stories

Have you noticed people clamoring to tell you their story before you finish your story? When people listen to your story, they are actually visualizing their story.

Stories stimulate more stories and start conversation. You learn a lot from talking to people and when people tell you their stories, you learn even more about them.

If people don't talk back to you, you will have a problem selling them anything. Passive listeners may be thinking about dinner or picking up the dog from the veterinarian. Even worse, they may be thinking, "when is this presentation ever going to end?"

A client telling you a story is very likely the one to be telling you to write down orders. A storytelling client is an order waiting to happen! Remember that features and benefits are boring but people engaged in a story are emotionally connecting to you.

People see things through their paradigms. Be sure your story develops not simply from your point of view but a story that will stimulate a positive associate idea in others.

What sells people on your story is not your story; it's how they interpret the story for their own benefit or viewpoint. A story should not simply jump out of your mouth. It should be constructed to achieve your objective.

The key to crafting a story is the logical flow. It must have a beginning, middle and end. However, it needs a trigger to set off an emotion. The trigger can be something that will literally force the prospect to ask a question. A trigger can set off ideas of what to buy, when to buy and how to buy because your story is compelling.

How To Craft A Story

·  Start with simple recognizable truths

·  Show the way out of problems and situations

·  Show how customers win

·  Show why your products or service works better than competitors

·  Show why your products or service has more value

·  Use scenarios of what and why to make things work and happen

·  Leave room for the listener to have their own points of view

·  Have fun telling stories, be real, be alive

What will make you a great storyteller will be how well you craft stories to fit situations. Ad-libbing stories without following an outline and strategic thinking may be hit-and-miss. Without a roadmap in your mind, a story told differently every time might have a different meaning every time.

You may be adding things that will get you off track, forgetting important ideas and getting yourself into twists that may alter the outcome. Critically, you may miss using an emotional trigger in the right place. You cannot expect the best results if you wing stories.

Develop a bank of sales stories that you can use to illustrate important points, scenarios, answer objections and show benefits though real-life situations or people and how others can meet their needs from your stories.

By Brian Bieler, author of The Sales Operator, visit Brian’s website at www.brianbieler.com.

Motivation Is What Gets You Started. Habit Is What Keeps You Going. Jim Ryun

What is your purpose?  During the past week we lost Tim Russert. On Saturday, Peggy Noonan wrote in the WSJ, “A Life’s Lesson" (opinion, 6/21/08)

No doubt you have heard Tim’s story, small town, Big Russ, hard work, preparation, taking care of those you love, self sacrifice, self discipline, religious faith and enjoy life. This may sound “old school” to many; however, it describes the  “habits” to build a worthwhile, successful life.

This question often comes up when we discuss “purpose”, many say, “be true to yourself”, or “hold firm to your ideals”.  Well, what if you can’t answer these questions?

Several years ago I spent time developing my personal “mission statement”.  Which required much reflection and looking inside myself to answer these questions. The result follows.

“To make a contribution to the world by being a living example of; Love, Understanding, Compassion, Trust and Wisdom.

Starting first with my family I will help each develop the strength and courage to lead an independent and fulfilling life. Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

I will live by the values of integrity, compassion and self-discipline. I will strive to keep commitments not only to others but to myself as well. I will not make excuses or blame others. I will keep my mind and body healthy and strong so that I am able to live my mission.

My mission is to be a force for positive change and to inspire others to greatness through being a catalyst for action and through developing a shared vision of that which is possible.”

The outpouring over Tim Russert, the people who knew him, worked with him, they were honestly grieving. It caused me to sit back and think…wow; will my family, customers and those I know react like that when I die? Why not, we make choices each day that influence our legacy. What can you do better? Are you spending your time the way you want?

Winston Churchill said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.”

Paul Anovick, 201-445-2822
"Developing Potential, Producing Results"
anovickassociates.com

Time Management-A Power Tool for Salespeople

What keeps salespeople from selling more? They don't spend enough time selling! Twenty-five to thirty-eight percent of salespeople spend time specifically devoted to selling. That translates into the average salesperson spending approximately 19 weeks out of 50 weeks selling. No wonder salespeople feel overwhelmed with other things to do besides selling.

 

 

 

Here's a tip to get more sales time in. Stop prioritizing your daily schedule.

Instead, schedule your priorities. Get important things done first or the false alarms, fire drills and urgent but unimportant things may eat up valuable time. A theory for effective time management is the idea of "fit" or knowing how to fill up a jar.

 

 

 

Start with a large jar. To fill the jar completely, put the big rocks in first.

Next, add the pebbles and finally, fill the jar with sand. If you have a jar filled with rocks, pebbles and sand, you have effectively filled in the space.

 

 

 

However, if you empty the jar and fill it with the sand first, you will not be able to put all the rocks and pebbles back in the jar. If you manage your time effectively, you will be working on the important things first just like getting the big rocks back in the jar.

 

 

 

Sorting out the big and important from small less important is no small task.

Salespeople that manage time more successfully have better odds of sales success. If you have little sense of priority, critical time may be eaten up dealing with things that have little to do with achieving sales performance.

 

 

 

Selling is measured and competitive. Salespeople simply cannot afford to have time working against them. Sales skills, strong desire and a good attitude alone are not enough to create success if time is not managed for performance.

 

 

 

Develop a habit of dropping what's not working. Put the emphasis on doing what works. Manage time effectively.

 

 

 

Brian Bieler is author of The Sales Operator. Reach him at www.brianbieler.com