When we work hard at something and don’t get the results we hoped for, our immediate impulse is often to change tactics or start moving in another direction entirely. Instead, think back on other areas in your life where you got great results, like losing weight or getting fit, for example.

If you think about it, the formula often goes like this:

Effort, effort, effort, effort, impatience with process, discouragement, effort, effort, effort = RESULTS.

When the desired outcome is achieved, it feels like magic, but there’s nothing magic about it. It’s a direct result of your effort.

So, if you are feeling disheartened with your results there is a very good chance you are closer than you think. Trust that the tactic you chose was a good decision and keep working it. Stick to your knitting and see what happens.

My husband and I recently attended a time-share presentation at a swanky vacation resort. I was expecting it to be extremely “old-school” and canned, and I braced myself for the worst. Surprisingly, it was the opposite. It was immediately clear to me that this organization took every possible effort to update and streamline the buying process. It was fascinating to see an organization truly set themselves apart in an industry that–let’s face it–is at the bottom of the reputation barrel.

What about your organization? Are you doing all that you can? Rate your company with a TRUE or FALSE for each statement below.

___ 1. When it comes to our sales process we set ourselves apart from the competition in a positive way. Our sales process is exceptional and up-to-date.

___ 2. Buying incentives are clearly communicated and are easy for the sales team and the customer to use and understand.

___ 3. We use technology not just to impress but also to make the buying process more efficient.

___ 4. Every single person the potential buyer comes into contact with from our organization is respectful, patient and understands their role in making the sale.

___ 5. Information critical to the buyer (such as terms, rules, limits) is communicated to the potential buyer in the same way by each person from the organization.

___ 6. Paperwork for the buyer is minimal, makes sense to the buyer and is not repetitive.

If you chose TRUE for all of your answers, then congratulations! Clearly you are doing all you can to make more sales. But don’t despair if there is room for improvement–it’s still early enough in the year to examine every stage of engagement from the view of potential buyers and make improvements in your organization. That’s what sales leaders do best!

So who is right?

They are both right. Using the phone is becoming a lost art for closing business. But it is not gone yet and it is a critical part of doing business after the deal is closed, so getting better at it is essential. Those who rely completely on email are missing out on the chance to listen to their clients. If you think about it, email is the equivalent of talking and talking and talking without listening. Speaking to someone on the phone is obviously a more real-time two-way exchange.

Of course, relying on the phone exclusively or even most of the time makes you a dinosaur in the world of selling. In addition to keeping in touch via phone, you need to be a skilled, thoughtful, tactical writer of persuasive emails if you want to get and keep more business. And you must be flexible; using the phone repeatedly with those prospects who prefer email will only irritate them.

Here is a way to gauge whether you should rely more on phone calls or emails: if the subject matter is hard to explain, requires more than two paragraphs of content or is regarding a problem, a misunderstanding or any other touchy subject, by all means pick up the phone.

Then, follow up immediately with an email so the recipient can respond to you in their preferential way. And think about the future of your business–many of you are already combining the power of a voice-to-voice connection with a visual aide by using technology such as WebEx, GoTo Meeting, Free Conference Call, etc., as well as other industry specific sales tools and software to help you sell. Even better!

Finally, if your prospects are under the age of 22, Facebook message them, because they don’t do email. Ha, ha.

Coaching assignment: In the next week take steps to improve the communication area in which you are the weakest. If you are already great at crafting persuasive emails then practice leaving concise and appealing voicemail messages. If you have never tried shared screen technology sign up on a free site and start practicing with friends or co-workers.

If you are feeling increasingly behind and if you hate to look ahead because the future outlook is more of the same, then you need a dose of meaning. No, not a meeting-meaning!

Ideally, managers would have the luxury of setting aside time to contemplate how their jobs have significance to their company and their team, but in the real world, meditating on a beach somewhere during the business day is usually frowned upon. So here is a shortcut to finding a sense of meaning in your work:

Find people to thank!

I know, thanking other people may not seem like a task that would bring meaning to you, but actually it works like a charm.

Part of what makes the job of managing others feel thankless at times is that we spend so much time correcting behaviors and giving people “feedback.” But we rarely make time to thank people who consistently do things right or who are cooperative and keeping their promises to us. This applies to not just the people you manage but also to your customers.

Think about the few customers you have who are a pleasure to serve and how little attention they get because they are easy.

Pick up the phone or send a carefully crafted email thanking them (this gesture should be in addition to the customary thank you gift and with no ulterior motive). Author Daniel Pink even suggests that we go far back in our careers and thank people who helped us get started or gave us a second chance.

Doing this will not only make the recipient of your gesture feel great-but it will add a good dose of meaning to your day immediately.

“Improving one’s ability to use empathy not only makes you a more keenly aware co-worker, but helps you stay in tune with the emotions of the people around you, making you a better spouse, parent, and friend…. you can add meaning to your life by keeping a gratitude journal or writing a gratitude letter to a person you love.” – Daniel Pink: Living on the Right Side of the Brain

Coaching Assignment: Thank five people in the next week without using any monetary or material item (other than a card or stationery). Think about whom you want to thank and why their action was meaningful to you personally or professionally, and then pick up the phone or get a pen.

Oops, I forgot how it feels to be inspired!

The fastest way to get inspired to behave differently is to add learning to your daily habits and to learn from someone you admire. One of the best things about today’s world (see that is me being non-cynical!) is that technology puts business inspiration at our fingertips. You can tune in to talk on Ted.com, download hundreds of free teaching podcasts to your iPod or dig out those old educational tapes in your garage, and just LISTEN. If you prefer live learning, register for a workshop or a class, or join a leads group. They key to inspiration is to let yourself be inspired to counteract all of the cynical, negative voices out there. My recent favorites are Brian Tracy, Anthony Robbins, Ali Brown and Seth Godin.

Coaching assignment: Pay attention to the sources of cynicism in your life and try to limit your exposure. Cynicism is defined as: like or characteristic of a cynic; distrusting or disparaging the motives of others. Does the cynicism stem from an identifiable source such as the news shows you watch? Talk radio? Your dad? Once you identify the source/s see if you can cut back, change the subject or change the channel.

1. You will have more time.
   The amount of time we spend rescheduling appointments is getting more and more ridiculous. Plus, it adds to our stress because rescheduling increases our risk of double- booking or rescheduling for a time that is best used for something else. Instead, just let it go, and pick it up again next week or month or year.
2. You will stop reinforcing the wrong behavior in others.
   If your assistant, co-worker, kid’s math tutor, web designer or dentist has a “flexible” relationship with time you will no longer be in their insane rescheduling loop. It will not take them long to realize that if they want your business or your time or whatever, they will have to show up when they say they will.
3. You will be more conscious when making commitments.
   Pay your personal trainer for a cancellation a time or two, and you will start thinking pretty long and hard about the best time to get your work out in. If you establish that you “don’t do reschedules,” then remarkably fewer things will get in the way of actually doing what you intended to do-at the time you intended to do it.

Give it a try!
“This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sometimes an overqualified candidate can make very a convincing argument for why you should hire them even though the pay is substantially less and their experience is way more than you need. As appealing as these candidates can be to hiring managers, it usually does not work out in the long run. While many components such as cultural fit and, of course, experience are necessary for a successful hire, these two qualities are often overlooked or undervalued. We feel they are of supreme importance:

1. This job is a natural, upward, career progression for this candidate - In an ideal world the job is the “job of their dreams” and the culmination of everything they have ever done in their lives. In the absence of that ideal, the job should at least be a natural next step and definitely a step up for the candidate. Making lateral moves and taking a cut in pay “to break into your industry” rarely pay off for the employer, although the candidates can talk a good game about it. If given a choice, pick the slightly less qualified candidate for whom the job is the perfect next step.
2. This job is an increase in pay for the candidate - The ideal candidate for your job and your industry is one who currently makes less money than you are going to offer them for this job OR there is more money to be made in the near future with your company. Otherwise, proceed with caution when it comes to pay. Again, in spite of the best tales of being “done” with their former area of expertise or being ready to stop traveling, these very things often seem attractive again when the smaller paychecks become a reality. An offer letter from your company should be a moment of joy and elation for the candidate, but when the job honeymoon is over, it’s all about the money.

I find that people can be pretty hard on themselves when it comes to assessing their own skills and abilities. Being self critical may help us move toward improvement, but only for about two seconds—the two seconds it takes for us to realize that we are not where we want to be. After that it is pointless to dwell on how we got there or how slow our progress has been. It’s better to focus on something more helpful-something more concrete.

Keep in mind that quantity is not nearly as important as setting a goal and following through.
One book per year in a category you don’t usually read is a great place to start. But then again, so is one book per year.

Business and Non Fiction

The Mission, The Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander by: Pete Blaber. A great read and very informative with salient points that can apply to business, too. Manly yes, but I liked it.

Outliers: The Story of Success by: Malcolm Gladwell. Fantastic and must read. I listened to this one in my car. He is brilliant and the information is very useful.

Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story by: Peter Guber. This guy makes an art out of name dropping but it is actually a good higher-level sales book. Key points: Know your audience and tell a great story.

Poke the Box by: Seth Godin. Easy, quick read about taking initiative and risks.

Inspiration and Self-Help

Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life by: Byron Katie. I picked this up for my coaching practice and ended up really getting into it. Includes a priceless psychological strategy to use every day.

A Course In Weight Loss: 21 Spiritual Lessons for Surrendering Your Weight Forever by: Marianne Williamson. Wow. Forget the title and do the exercises in this book if you want a shift in your life.

What You Must Know About Women’s Hormones: Your Guide to Natural Hormone Treatments for PMS, Menopause, Osteoporosis, PCOS, and More by: Pamela Wartian Smith, M.D. Hey, it’s my age group! But there was so much conflicting information I wanted to read from the expert with the latest research. Excellent resource.

Getting Into The Vortex: Guided Meditations CD and User Guide by: Esther Hicks, Jerry Hicks. I simply cannot meditate on my own so in accepting this fact I tried a variety and I like this one the best. It is a bit new-age focused and it works like a charm for me.

Fiction

The Help by: Kathryn Stockett. One of the best books I have read. Excellent.

Bel Ami by: Guy de Maupassant. Tale of a social scoundrel in the 1800s. Saucy good read.

(Here is last year’s list.)

It amazes me how often I end up “translating” for the heads of companies and departments, or at least offering some additional perspective to the rationale behind their decisions. Often managers and associates are too close to a situation to really have perspective, and this can seriously affect communication at work—especially with the higher-ups.

Tips for speaking to your CEO:

• Manage your fear and insecurities– The most basic confidence tips apply here as they do in any situation: Stand up straight, care about your appearance, smile, listen, think before you talk and most importantly, stop worrying about how you may be coming across while you are in a conversation. No conversation is life threatening. Just relax and do your best.
• Stop faking it– There is no point in trying to be something or someone you are not. Chances are that the CEO, the President of the Board, or whoever it is got there because they have some experience in the world and they will likely see right through any attempt to manufacture a personality. And, if you are working on #1 above, keep in mind that trying to fake who you are only adds to your fear and insecurities.
• Stop complaining– Using an impromptu meeting or interaction with the CEO to whine about the company is just foolish. Instead, use the opportunity to listen, share an idea or result you are excited about or offer a solution. The way you handle this can either increase your chances of being heard in the future, or create a negative association with the very sight of you. It’s your call.
• Ask great questions– This is really the secret to any relationship—personal, business, sales, or work related. Ask people really good, relevant questions and then listen intently to their answers. It’s magic!
• Show a little empathy– So the CEO has a private jet, an entourage, and a luxurious office. There is an excellent chance that the same person has a crushing amount of pressure on them coming from a variety of sources. Have a heart. CEOs are people too.