goals - Artful Thinkers

January 28, 2013June 13, 2017

Over the Hill or Through the Woods

The beginning of every year is an opportunity to set your direction and communicate your path forward. It gives you the chance to review and define your goals, personally and professionally. For everyone else, it gives them the ability to know how to best support and follow the leader. Does everyone that can impacts your business know your 2013 plan?

The lack of a defined plan for the year, leaves everyone taking their “own” best path forward. In the end, this may not produce or represent the organization’s goals or objectives. People will be moving, activities will be happening, yet you may be headed to exactly where you did not “plan” to go. It is up to you to stop the wandering effect of your business and your followers. Set the direction. Communicate your exact plan. If you don’t have a plan, create one now — before it is too late.

If you have a plan and you have not shared it, this is the week to get it done! People and businesses need goals and plans. You can work endless amounts of time, expend great energy and spend a lot of money to end up in the wrong place. How did that happen? Usually it is because everyone is not working collectively on the same outcome. Everyone is heading in a direction, but it may not be the “right” direction.

As a leader, it is critical to everyone working with you that they understand your strategy and goals for the business. A plan provides the road map empowering you to define the activities and tasks. It opens the door to assigning responsibilities and setting accountability. More importantly, it gives you the capability of making a pivot or shifting your plans by creating a benchmark for how you will measure success along the path forward.

Working on a shared and communicated plan, gives business leaders a reason to stay in touch with employees, measure their progress and assess performance. People thrive on accomplishments and desire feedback. Knowing how they are contributing to the success of the business can only be measured by stated goals and objectives.

Get everyone working together. Options may be limited or options may be bountiful based on the path you choose to take the business. Communicate your choice. Will you be headed over the hill or through the woods. What will be in the basket full of goodies you will offer to your customers, vendors, employees and partners. How do they prepare to avoid risks? What will be awaiting when they arrive at the determined destination?

Your team is waiting for you to tell them the story. How it begins this year and how it will end. Provide regular updates and know that people will be looking for you to lead them in the direction you have shared.

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” — Henry Ford

Jamie Glass, Founder, President and CMO of Artful Thinkers

January 13, 2013May 31, 2017

Take the Chill Out of Cold Calling

Call reluctance is experienced by all business professionals, no matter their role. Executives returning messages from upset customers, accounting personnel calling on past due notices and technology team members shopping for service providers. Imagine if your entire day’s success was measured by the number of calls you made to convince strangers to buy your goods and services.

No. Not right now. No, thanks. Not interested. Maybe. Not in our budget. Hang up. Send me information. Yes. That is the typical day of a sales person who is building their pipeline, repeated over and over again. And we wonder why it is hard to find and retain great sales people. There are not many of us who would put at the top of our career ambitions to be rejected several times a day.

Cold calling is rarely listed as a favorite work activity; however, for millions it is what pays the bills. Selling is fundamental to our economy. There is no business until something is sold. Embracing the fact we all need to make cold calls, how can we take the chill out of one of the most important activities in business? Here are a few tips to prepare for a day of cold calling:

1. Know your target market. Every buyer is unique; however, they will have similar demographics, sociographics and psychographics. Spend time understanding the common data characteristics, along with behaviors and motivators. For example, if you are targeting a small business owner, know what drives them to change. What fears do they face in making buying decisions? What would benefit them the most personally and professionally when they say yes? The more you know about them, the easier it will be for you to make a “warm call” into a known, targeted buyer.

2. Feel the buyer’s pain. There is a natural tendency for inexperienced cold callers to talk about their reason for calling more than finding out why the buyer would benefit from their products or services. Stop. Listen. If you are doing the most of the talking, you are losing. You will never hear the buying signals when you are spewing facts, features, and generic benefits. The best technique is to understand and relate to your buyer so they have confidence you are doing what is best for them, not you.

3. Quantity matters. It is far easier to deal with rejection if you can get a “win” during your calling spree. Plan with enough time in a single day to make calls in blocks of several hours. One, right after the other. Hang up, dial the next. If you stagger your calls throughout the day or over longer periods, you are simply prolonging the pain. Dial until you get to yes and then dial more. Target how many yes calls you need in a day to hit your weekly and monthly goal.

4. Needs analysis pays off. Do your research on your buyer. You will be expected to speak to their individual business needs. There is no excuse to cold call blindly. “Google them”. It takes seconds now to find valuable data online about buyers. You have access to profiles in LinkedIn, you have company websites with executive profiles, products and company information, public reports and news. Do your homework.

5. Call with intent. What is your goal in cold calling? What qualifies as a “yes”? As with any business function, have a goal and objective with every call. The only way to get to the yes is to ask – ask for the sale. Get agreement along the way of your presentation and make sure you are aligned in your mutual objectives. You are solving a problem for the buyer. Countless deals are lost because people think making the call is the goal. That is not the win. The win is getting the deal. Ask for their business. It only counts when they say yes. When they say no, ask again.

A sales person has to remain calm in the chaos of measurable rejection. They have to keep their eye on the “prize”. One more call to a yes. One more opportunity to use their real skills and talents of negotiation and the power of persuasion to fulfill a need.

Respect and reward those that you depend on to make the calls to grow your business. If you are the cold caller, prepare to win. Know your target, be diligent in your process and never forget to ask. It is the glimpse of hope, the possibility of acceptance and the incredible satisfaction of closing a deal that keeps a cold caller motivated. Commissions aside, most sales people will say they get the greatest reward from winning. Winning when a customer says yes!

“For every sale you miss because you’re too enthusiastic, you will miss a hundred because you’re not enthusiastic enough.” – Zig Ziglar

Jamie Glass, Founder, President and CMO of Artful Thinkers

Additional Sales Related Posts by Artful Thinkers

https://artfulthinkers.com/prepare-to-hire-a-sales-person

https://artfulthinkers.com/questions-sales-candidates-ask-that-should-stop-the-interview

https://artfulthinkers.com/a-bad-sales-hire-can-crush-a-small-business

https://artfulthinkers.com/5-essential-topics-for-a-winning-sales-proposal

December 31, 2012December 31, 2012

2013 is Here to Stay

Another New Year. We made it, despite the ominous predictions of the Mayans and challenges that seemed insurmountable. We have a whole year to put four new numbers at the end of every month and day — 2013 is here to stay.

As the hours tick away and we realize there is no turning back to a year gone by, we may spend time reflecting on the past for all the greatness or demands that became part of our personal history. How much time should we reflect on what was and what might of been?

We put a lot of pressure on ourselves and others as we leap ahead into the first day of a new year. Though the date is only a marker in time, it brings significance to recall where we have been and where we want to go. We are conditioned to set goals, broadcast resolutions, make commitments. We are all lined up in business to start our annual sprint toward revenue targets, profits and sales quotas. Departments and executives lay out the vision and business plan. We stand and cheer as we round the corner and “pass go” to do it all again. We give ourselves and others another year to achieve great success.

Yet it can be hard to forget some of our nagging challenges and failures of the past 365 days. The reflection of what we did not accomplish can cloud our view of what lies ahead. Obsessive reflection deters progress. Could have, would have, should have really needs to be can, will and shall in the coming year.

We are all moving forward, together! The earth is rotating and time is passing. We can not stop our momentum. Some may want to slow the inevitable; however, there is not a time machine to take us back. If we continually reflect on the better days of the past, we will miss the turns we need to take in the future. We will be left behind. It happens to very successful businesses and leaders as they get mired in their own greatness and fail to see what lies ahead.

We must focus on what can get done, what we will accomplish in the New Year. Historical performance gives guidelines of the best path forward. At every fork, we need to turn to previous decisions and analyze how well we executed on each task or goal to determine the reality of which turn we take in the future. We don’t drive always looking in the rear view mirror. Watching what is behind, does not allow us to focus on what’s ahead — in life or in business.

Memories serve great purpose. Predicting the future requires history. It is important to use past performance, decisions, data, research to better predict future outcomes. It does not mean we should get buried in our past or mesmerized by our own reflection so that we fail to see the path forward.

We should all take time to reflect – briefly. Use our past to build our map to the future. Know our goals. It’s time to move ahead. The 2012 bus is leaving the station. The calendar tells us so.

As we move forward into 2013 with celebratory optimism, it is up to everyone to make choices that make us better and more prosperous. Hope burns eternal. So, clink that glass half full and let the confetti fly! One thing is absolute, 2013 is here to stay.

Happy New Year!

Jamie Glass, CMO & President of Artful Thinkers and Managing Director of Sales & Marketing Practice at CKS Advisors.

October 28, 2012

Be in Your Business Now

As a business leader, you have three options of where to put your focus. The Past. The Future. The Now. Being present in your business now, gives you better leverage to improve from your past with the valuable foresight to manage risks and opportunities in your future.

21st century businesses require real time accessibility and responsiveness to meet the changing tides of immediate customer demands. Innovation is quickly driving businesses forward and leaving many behind. Being disciplined on the point of convergence of past and future, enables you to put 100% of your business efforts into the business now.

It is important to know who you are, where you are coming from and where you are going. The past provides insights that can help your business pivot and shorten learning curves. As a leader, you depend on the knowledge gained through good and bad experiences to improve performance and business outcomes. There is only one path to progress. You have to move from the past to the future through your business now.

Living in your business past, with regret or admiration, does not give you the necessary focus to be centered in the now. “When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” ~Alexander Graham Bell

Leaders that spend time relishing in their great accomplishments may be ignoring the unknown threats or countless competitors looking for better, faster ways to knock you off your pedestal. Put the plaque on the wall, file the kudos and at-a-boys and know that your business needs you to be working on what’s next – now.

Likewise, if you are spending your business now redefining vision statements, missions and the company’s next BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal), you may be missing the bumps and obstacles that threaten you from achieving important milestones in your daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly journey. Your revenues depend on you to zero in on the now.

One way to keep you in the now is to have a mission statement that puts you squarely in the present moment. Starbucks puts its’ employee, partner and customer focus in their business now with their simple mission statement. It says, ”Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.”

There is no arguing that you need business goals, strategies and plans. The only way to work in the business now is to know where you are headed. Every business needs short and long term goals. There is a big difference in working in the future or working on the future — now. You can be working on inventions that will change the world. If you focus on how the world will be versus your invention, you will lose your edge in getting the invention to market. A daydreamer trap for the creative mind.

Have you ever met an entrepreneur that has hundreds of ideas. When you talk to them, they focus on all the ways they can improve on an idea, open new markets and make millions and billions — in the future. They have 20 solutions for every problem. Yet, there is always one thing that is missing in their enthusiasm for what’s ahead, their business now.

How is your business today? What is holding you back this week? What challenges are stopping you from being that billionaire NOW? When you are steadfast on living in future, you are probably not paying attention to the work required to get you there. If your employees always see you so far ahead of them, they often lack accountability to what they need to do to make the business a success today.

There is a fragile difference between a vision and an illusion. Apple is a perfect example of a company dedicated to the business now. We often look at each new product as ahead of it’s time. Some will remark, how visionary! Apple looks at their new products as another completed project. The next Apple inventions we will be enamored with are already in production. Apple is constantly improving products ahead of their time by working in the business now. They do so with an eye to the future, short term and long term goals; however, they produce and service in the now. Innovation is part of their work culture. We, their consumer, are focused on their future. That does not deter them from meeting our demands now, it only keeps us loyal.

Use your past to better predict your future. It is good business intelligence. Being present for your customers, employees, partners today is what has the greatest impact on revenues now. Investing in your future, is working on your business now! Don’t ignore what’s right in front of you. What you uncover by working on the business now could define you and your company evermore.

“Forever is composed of nows.” ~Emily Dickinson

By Jamie Glass, CMO & President of Artful Thinkers and Managing Director of Sales & Marketing Practice at CKS Advisors.

October 7, 2012June 13, 2017

Vision Statements are Worthless without Disciplined Focus

Entrepreneurs can spend countless hours crafting their vision and mission statements. It is often assigned to every leader as a required task in strategic planning. Business investors and advisors will ask you, what is your vision? Imagine answering, “I don’t know!”

Do you have a vision? A mission? Business values? Often guilt rises in those that have not defined their vision when questioned by those that “know”. Thus the ritual begins. The business owner starts to define the grand vision: What do I want to be? What is our ideal universe? What is our big hairy audacious goal (BHAG) as a company? What motivates us?

Tah-Dah! The task is complete. Yes, you have a company vision. Check the box. Your purpose for existence as a business, which is now articulated in a small paragraph, makes it’s debut on websites, in business plans and sales presentations and supported in company marketing communications. What is the value of this exercise? Can you translate it to revenue? There are businesses that have you memorize the vision. Vision testing. They are driven by the belief that if everyone is united by a common vision, they will achieve more.

Granted, there is no argument that you need a strategy to win. If your vision consists of words to satisfy the strategic planning process, your vision is worthless. A vision must be supported by disciplined focus to accomplish your business goals. It is what differentiates the good from great. Why? It is the ability to look beyond the visionary clouds and execute on your strategy. Disciplined focus delivers results.

Vision is unlimited. Vision gives you big picture, inspiration and motivation. Focus influences your capability to execute on what is most important. Real power to deliver on a vision comes when you narrow your focus, allowing you to concentrate and build confidence. Disciplined focus enables you to positively face challenges and create sustainability in your business. It is the foundation for growth. “My success, part of it certainly, is that I have focused in on a few things.” — Bill Gates

Have you ever watched a 3 year-old in a grocery store walking along side their adult companion. They seem to lack much interest in the whole shopping experience. Suddenly, they set their sights on what is intentionally positioned at their eye-level to grab their attention. They make their escape with remarkable strength. Bolting in a straight beeline, with determination, to the prize! They have disciplined focus on the outcome. They grab and go! Vision. Focus. Results.

If you have a vision or are thinking you need to craft a vision statement, take a few minutes to define the expected outcomes from your declaration. How does the vision help you focus on what is most important for your business? How do you use your vision as motivation? How will the vision help employees be better in their roles? How will the vision drive the business forward? Once you know the desired results, you can apply the disciplined focus to execute your strategy and accomplish your business goals.

“A clear vision, backed by definite plans, gives you a tremendous feeling of confidence and personal power.” — Brian Tracy

By Jamie Glass, CMO & President of Artful Thinkers and Managing Director of Sales & Marketing Practice at CKS Advisors.

September 16, 2012September 27, 2012

Be Happy and Achieve More in Your Business

In a recent presentation by best selling author and NCAA Division I tennis champion, Roger Crawford, he asked the audience of business owners and executives, “Are you listening to your own head trash?” He explained that anxiety is focused on negative outcomes and it eliminates the possibilities. Do you start your day thinking of the angst or promise of your business?

Several years ago, I was managing a small inside sales team for an entrepreneur with big dreams. We were in the midst of creating the world’s largest, biggest, best company, EVER. We had a vision, a defined mission and we believed all was possible.

I hired a small group of spirited, eager professionals that were responsible for driving the majority of the company revenue. Failure was not optional. Every work day, they had to pick up the phone and convince businesses they needed our offering. In fact, the expectation was they had to sell 5-10 businesses a day. Many days were filled with rejection and disappointment. Despite the constant “no”, they persisted. Dial more, ask again, always be closing, fax another brochure were our mantras. The result, we took a small company and nearly doubled in size every year for five years.

Looking back, there is no doubt that persistence paid off. We all knew that if we made enough calls, heard enough no’s, we would get to the yes. Four people dialing for dollars soon turned to a couple dozen sales people and eventually two floors of people making outbound calls. We had the formula. We had a predictable model that scaled. Open a territory, launch a new product, buy more leads, add more sales people, increase price, and the business doubles again. It was simple math. No anxiety, just possibilities. Followed by success.

There was only one real threat to our growing business — mindset. We needed to hire believers. As a business, we had the tools, the resources and the product. We needed people that believed in “yes”, despite all the “no” they might hear. Our culture would not tolerate negativity. Our success was built on a foundation of positive attitudes. We could train and manage aptitude. Attitude was the difference between making our number or not. Negativity was eradicated quickly to draw in more positive thinkers. Only winners need apply.

Do you believe in your possibilities? Do you inspire winning? Perhaps the real inhibitor from achieving success in your business is mindset. Happiness is proven to contribute to the top and bottom line. Regardless the perceived “insurmountable” roadblocks of any small business, belief and persistence are your best allies as an organization. Positiveness rolls down hill. It is your primary responsibility as a leader to project happiness and the “can do” attitude. Prospects respond to cheerful problem solvers. Vendors like doing business with people that make them feel good. Employees are more productive in happy workplaces. Investors want to believe, in you!

In a 2012 released study, “Happiness as a motivator: positive affect predicts primary control striving for career and educational goals,” researchers Claudia M Haase, Michael J Poulin, Jutta Heckhausen noted in the report abstract, “…when individuals experience positive affect, they become more motivated to invest time and effort, and overcome obstacles when pursuing their goals, in part because they believe they have more control over attaining their goals.”

How do you set up your day to experience a positive affect? Do you have a happiness ritual that puts you in the frame of mind to win? How do you encourage happiness and inspire your employees? In the startup phase of the company mentioned above, I would begin by blasting a song on the boombox in our little office. My favorite play, “Here’s a little song I wrote, you might want to sing it note for note, don’t worry, be happy In every life we have some trouble, when you worry you make it double, don’t worry, be happy.” -Bobby McFerrin

When I cranked up the volume each morning, I might see a little sneer. We started at 7AM. In the end, it was this song and our collective attitude that launched many successful careers. We mastered our own happiness. We mastered our destiny. We mastered hearing no and converted it to a yes. Yes to success.

As a business owner, you will face rejection by investors, vendors, partners, and customers. Prepare yourself and set your vision on the possibilities. Remove the head trash. If you read, listen or surround yourself with negative information, it probably will not encourage you to go out and do more. Negativity creates anxiety. Turn it off. Walk away. Choose to believe your hype, not others.

How can you inspire others to take your business to the next level? Focus on what you and your team can achieve. Set goals. Share the vision. Dream big. No matter how many no’s you get, believe in yes! And of course, Don’t Worry. Be Happy!

Inspired by the motivational Roger Crawford, the Delivering Happiness movement and all those believers at Mastering Computers.

By Jamie Glass, CMO & President of Artful Thinkers and Managing Director of Sales & Marketing Practice at CKS Advisors.

July 29, 2012July 29, 2012

Competing is Winning the Gold

There will be a total of 302 gold medals awarded at The Games of the XXX Olympiad. There are more than 10,500 athletes competing from 200 nations and territories. Every four years we create an engaged global audience that together watches, cheers and celebrates the world’s best compete for gold. Humans love competition.

The definition of compete is to strive consciously or unconsciously for an objective as in position, profit, or a prize (Merriam-Webster). When we join forces to compete, we become one. Competitors seeking a prize. Competing to win. That makes us all winners.

We look beyond borders and differences and we unify to revel in athleticism. We encourage those competing to push harder, overcome challenges and fight to cross the finish line first. We celebrate individuals, teams, countries and the world.

Some say showing up is success. It takes more than showing up. It takes competition to engage us. Why? Competition motivates, inspires and rewards. It drives us. It excites us. It makes our heart beat accelerate. It is an experience. Flags wave faster, people stand taller, crowds cheer louder and we watch more intensely when the competition heats up. Good competitions get everyone involved in celebrating success. Showing up is just doing a job. Competing is striving to win! We want to be with the winners.

Have you created a competitive culture in your business? Does everyone on your team compete to win? Whether we are awarded gold medals, business awards, new contracts, customers or simply a thank you, the best motivator to drive us is competition. To win in business, you need to compete. When you compete internally and externally, you will be rewarded. You will win.

There are many ways to compete in business. You can easily set up internal competitions to meet deadlines, achieve sales numbers, launch products faster, reach new levels of customer satisfaction, increase profits, grow your customer base, or decrease errors. There are great financial gains awaiting through external competitions. Winning new business contracts, opening new markets, reaching higher industry standards, increasing shareholder value, gaining on the competition for market share, all will reward your business and will help drive your team to strive for more.

The worst statement made to an investor is “We have no competition.” Beyond the absurdity and audacity, is the fear that if you have no competition, you won’t be motivated to win. Investors love to put money in businesses that are competing in a race to the finish line. In the eyes of an investor, the finish line may be an exit with a 5 or 6 multiple return on investment. What is your finish line? You always have competition, inside and outside of your business. You always compete. We invest in those competing to win.

If 200 nations understand the value of competing to win the gold, what is stopping you from doing this in your business? Competing is winning. Cultures that compete, win. Create a culture that embraces winning. Teams win when they know the goals and they have leaders that encourage them to complete. They will compete when they are rewarded for winning.

The Olympic spirit is not a myth. It is a reality. It inspires us. It is a feeling that touches us deep in our gut and makes us feel emotional about trying hard to achieve something far beyond the reach of most of us. This same spirit has the power to unite millions from around the world to participate by simply watching others go for gold. When they win, we win. Every gold, silver and bronze medal for Team USA, feels like all Americans win! Every country feels the same about their exceptional team of athletes. That would make us all winners. Worldwide winners!

Most people want to be a part of a culture that celebrates winning and achievement. When is the last time your brought your team together to motivate them to compete. Provided an opportunity to win. When did you last recognize others and reward individuals, teams and the entire business for winning?

Now is the perfect time for you to inject more competition into your business, into your culture. You can blame it on the Olympic spirit!

Businesswoman shouting her victory to the world — We won!

By Jamie Glass, CMO and President of Artful Thinkers and Managing Director, Sales & Marketing Practice at CKS Advisors.

January 2, 2012

Be Resolute and Ban Resolutions

Do you remember your declared resolutions of 2011? Did you succeed in keeping your resolution for the entire year? If so, congratulations! The fact remains, if you did keep your resolution for 365 days, you are one of a very small percentage of those that actually set a goal and achieved it.

I typically do not set out the year with a new resolution. I can only recall setting a goal to read a book a week a few years ago, and yes, I did accomplish my goal.

According to a research study sponsored by the Ford Foundation, 67% of the population has a general idea of what they want; however, they do not have any plans for how to get it. The same study suggests that only 3% of people say they achieve their goals.

Why compete with a 97% likelihood of failure? It is not very encouraging, to say the least. If we do succeed, we can at a minimum say we accomplished something most people will not. I believe declaring annual resolutions is setting a plan for failure on the first day of a new year. Our odds of staying “resolved” for the entire year aren’t in our favor. In fact, they are quite dismal. Time for a change!

Let’s ban the annual ritual of “resolving” goals. Instead, we simply need to be more resolute! Random House Dictionary defines resolute as firmly resolved or determined; set in purpose or opinion and characterized by firmness and determination, as the temper,spirit, actions.

In 2012, let’s all be more resolute! Imagine what we can accomplish. The fact remains we have far greater odds of succeeding in our goals if we put action and determination into our daily purpose. Temptation to stray from our goals happen when we lose our resoluteness. We need a “Make it Happen” attitude. If we lived our lives with such steadfastness, we don’t need resolutions.

We may still fail and fail often; however, by being resolute every day, we have far greater chance at succeeding at something. Being resolute allows us to look back every day to see what we accomplished. I suggest that if we are resolute about everything we do, all day and every day, our confidence will soar, and we will do more.

Time to ban resolutions! I did not set a 2012 resolution this New Year. Instead, I will be resolute. I am certainly determined to do more and be more this next year, and I am resolute to make it so!

Happy New Year