Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

How to Make Sales Work for You

Back in the fall, I wrote a piece about how we are all in sales to some degree.  Even if you’re not selling a product to an outsider, chances are you still have to sell an idea to an internal constituency or a promotion to your boss.

Earlier this year, my friend Dan Pink launched a new book that’s much along the same lines.  In To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others, Pink says that sales is really about moving people and convincing them to cooperate with you.  Anyone who has to influence or persuade in his or her job is a salesperson.  For example, Pink found that in a survey of what people spend their time doing at work, 40 percent of time is spent doing non-sales selling – regardless of role or profession.  Pink’s book is chock full of great stuff as always, but here are some of my favorite gems:

Tip #1: Be An Ambivert

Pink cites research from Adam Grant at Wharton Business School, which found that the most successful salespeople fall right in the middle between extroversion and introversion.  Why?  Apparently extroverts can be too pushy, but introverts can be too cautious.  A happy medium leads to greater trust from the “buyer.”  Check out Pink’s site for a quiz to see where you fall on the scale.

Tip #2: Don’t be Stone-Faced

You are not playing poker, so smile!  Show positive emotion and believe in what you’re saying, and others are likely to respond in kind.  Note, though, that being too bubbly can backfire, so pay attention to cues from the other person that you may be headed over the top.

For more tips, please check out the full post at Intuit's Fast Track blog.

How Do You Get Past No?

In their famous book, Getting to Yes, Roger Fisher and William Ury provided a negotiation strategy that has become standard for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in personal and professional conflicts.  The model is based on five propositions, including:

• “Separate the people from the problem.”
• “Focus on interests, not positions.”
• “Invent options for mutual gain.”
• “Insist on using objective criteria.”
• “Know your BATNA (Best Alternative To Negotiated Agreement)”

I learned about the BATNA in particular years ago and have used it on several occasions.  BATNA is the course of action that will be taken by a party if the current negotiations fail and an agreement cannot be reached.  A party should generally not accept a worse resolution than its BATNA.  According to Fisher and Ury, however, care should be taken to ensure that deals are accurately valued, taking into account relationship value, time value of money, and likelihood that the other party will live up to their side of the bargain.

While Fisher and Ury’s strategy was generally accepted as being revolutionary, there were critics who responded to it with challenges such as “What if the other party refuses to work with you?” and “What if they try to trick you into an agreement?”  Ury addressed these questions in a sequel called Getting Past No.  This second book takes the original model to a new level, detailing the process of negotiating through obstacles and obtaining win-win agreements with people who are initially resistant to such approaches.  Ury’s five steps to an effective breakthrough negotiation are:

Go to the balcony

Don’t react to provocations and let your emotions get the best of you.  Step away from the scene, calm down, and carefully plan your response.  Do not respond automatically, because most automatic responses are negative and further escalate the situation.

Step to their side

Listening carefully, acknowledging and even agreeing whenever you can, helps the other person feel heard and tends to disarm hostility.

Don’t reject, reframe

To change the game, change the frame.  If you take whatever is said and cast it as an attempt to deal with the issues, you’ll get further than if you simply reject it out of hand.  Ask questions like: “Why is this add-on important to you?” or “What if another member of our team could participate?”

For the rest of Fisher and Ury's steps, check out my full post on Intuit's Fast Track blog.

How to Handle Stepping Down from a Promotion

A reader recently asked this question:

I’ve been at my current job for two years and really enjoyed working here until the last six months. In a nutshell, I was given an account management position when the old acct manager quit, and was left doing a two-person job by myself until I finally announced I was not prepared for this and wanted to step down. It was decided I would still be doing most of the account manager duties, but that my supervisor would be the “face” of the company when dealing with clients. It’s still a lot more work than I was used to, but I find it manageable and even enjoyable most of the time. 

At the time I stepped down, my boss was very sympathetic and supportive. Now, however, she seems to be going out of her way to make me feel like an idiot. Whenever I ask a question in a meeting or make some sort of comment, her reply is always impatient and often sarcastic. This is something I have much difficulty dealing with; I can take it once in a while, but not multiple times every single day, and I’m at the point where I just can’t keep my mouth shut. Whenever she makes some rude or sarcastic remark, I find myself firing right back at her, even in front of others (including my direct supervisor). I’m just not sure what I did to inspire her attitude toward me, or what I can do to make it better. I’m not sure what she expects of me. Any insight would be much appreciated.

And here is my advice:

Turning down or stepping down from a promotion isn’t necessarily bad in and of itself, and it sounds like you acted in your own best interest as well as the best interest of the organization. However, without more detail, it’s hard to know exactly what transpired when you announced your resignation. If you weren’t as diplomatic or positive about the situation as you could have been, it could have sullied your reputation with this particular manager, who may now think you’re not as dedicated and/or competent as before. She may also resent your decision because it means more work and/or agita for her. And finally, every time you and the boss get into an argument in public, it escalates the problem and it sounds like you are now near the point of all-out war.

I understand how upsetting this must be for you, and feel that it’s time to nip it in the bud. Invite her to lunch or coffee. Sit down with her, swallow your pride, and acknowledge that your relationship has suffered since you stepped down from your prior role. Ask her what you can do to ensure that the two of you can work more effectively together. Even if you feel that the unpleasantness is mostly her fault, taking ownership and responsibility for getting things back on the right track will endear you to her. After all, it’s hard to be too critical of someone who earnestly wants to improve things. Hopefully, the conversation will also be a wake up call in the event that she is truly clueless about how her remarks are being perceived. Even though it’s hard to address conflict directly, a response like this is the mature one, and both of you will be happier and more productive in the long run.

For guidance from three other amazing career experts, check out the post on Intuit's Fast Track blog.

 

Real Gender Differences in Communication

Remember Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus?

Romantic relationships are one thing, but no one talks much about how Mars and Venus fare at work.  In fact, there are significant verbal and nonverbal differences in the way the two genders get their messages across in the office.

Verbal Communication Differences

In the area of verbal communication, men tend to speak more concisely while women tend to elaborate or explain their points of view.  Men tend to assert their ideas as if they are fact, while women tend to phrase their ideas as questions and add disclaimers (“I might be wrong…”) or hedges (“Maybe”).

Men engage in verbal bantering and derogatory comments to establish rapport while women think a certain level of formality is more appropriate.  Men make demands of the team while women try to gain consensus first.  Men want to talk about plan specifics while women want to talk about needs and feelings.

Men don’t give positive feedback as frequently, whereas women think it’s important for reports to feel valued.  Men more often make decisions based on careful analysis of the facts, whereas women are more likely to spot the right decision quickly, often as a result of intuition.

For nonverbal communication differences, have a look at the full post at Intuit's Fast Track blog.

Is a Promotion Always Good News?

A reader recently asked this question:

I have been at my current workplace for 2.5 years, and I’ve had 3 raises and 2 promotions during that time. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, the thing is, I worry that these promotions are largely circumstantial and that taking them on might cause me problems in the long run. The first promotion was caused by a colleague who quit at a crucial time, and I inherited her job because I had worked on all of our department’s projects with her. The second promotion (last week) is caused by a general restructuring of the company. I was the most convenient employee to move into this new role because it overlaps a bit with my current role, so presto change — another promotion.

Both promotions created sudden changes in my job description with new responsibilities, just at the moment when I had started to feel comfortable in the old position. I was not even asked if I wanted the new mandates– both times, it was a fait accompli (which I find really strange).

My concern is that I might not have gained the experience necessary to succeed in my current role, which will now include partial managerial responsibility. I only worked for a little over a year in both my previous positions. I don’t feel that’s given me enough experience to be able to handle all the different variables that can arise in my line of work. In so many ways, I feel like I am being asked to run before I finished even learning to crawl.

How do I make sure that I don’t fail at my new position? I’m really excited about the potential I see with this job, but I also feel overwhelmed with all this new responsibility that I never even asked for and frankly would not have asked for until a few more years had passed. When people are promoted to quasi-managerial roles, how much experience is it common to have?

Here was my advice:

A person who excels at his position is often rewarded with a higher position and eventually reaches a level that exceeds the employee’s field of expertise.  This is called the Peter Principle, a concept that was put forth in the 1960s by Dr. Laurence J. Peter, a psychologist and professor of education.

Why does this happen?  Well, as in your case, most companies prefer to hire from within because internal candidates are considered to be more trustworthy and have a better understanding of how their organizations work.  For the same reason, qualified internal candidates keep getting promoted until they aren’t qualified anymore, and at that point will be stuck in a situation where they feel insecure about their abilities and produce work of less value to their companies.

It is possible to turn down the promotion without losing your reputation.  Start by graciously thanking the person in charge for the opportunity and telling him how much you appreciate his faith in you.  Then, explain why you feel it’s best for the organization if you stay in your current position.  You might say, for example, that you really love your job and still feel like you could add a lot of value to the role and learn more within it.

Remember that by turning down the promotion, you are creating a problem for management – now they must fill that job some other way.  So as best you can, try to compromise and perhaps even come up with an alternative solution.  For instance, maybe you can volunteer to assist in hiring a more senior individual and take on more responsibility until that person can get up and running.

All in all, this is a good problem to have, and you’re handling it in just the right way.

For advice from three other terrific career experts, check out Intuit's Fast Track blog.

Reader Question: Dealing with a Micromanaging Peer

This question was submitted by a reader at the Fast Track blog:

I’d like to get your input about how to deal with a coworker who micromanages laterally. I am a manager, and one of my peers, another manager, often takes it upon herself to tell the other managers how they should run their departments (even though we haven’t asked and it’s not within her realm of responsibility). It doesn’t happen all the time, but every few months or so she’ll go on a tirade and drive all of the managers crazy. For example, she’ll get on a dress-code policy kick and scrutinize every article of clothing staff wear, and then send repeated emails to department managers saying that it needs to be dealt with. The most recent time this happened, when I went to check on the “offensive” clothing, they fell completely within the code — perhaps she just didn’t like what the person was wearing?

She tells us which staff members need disciplining (when they don’t), tells us how to deal with clients, recites well-known procedures to us over and over, and will even go so far as to reorganize our service desks because she doesn’t like how they look! And I don’t mean just a little — I’m talking moving computers to a completely different location, and leaving post-it notes everywhere about why something isn’t right or shouldn’t be the way it is.

Usually I try to see where she’s coming from and consider whether she has a valid point, but often it’s just trivial things that don’t matter or don’t make sense. I’ve tried ignoring her, giving in to her, and being firm and telling her why my department chooses to do things a certain way and that we won’t be changing it. Nothing seems to help. I think she acts this way because she cares about our organization and likes to see things run smoothly, but it’s too much at times, and ultimately not her responsibility. Our organization functions well and overall our staff have good morale. I am perfectly capable of handling my team and, if I do say so myself, do a darn good job of it. How can I get her to back off when she gets like this?

Here was my advice:

I think it’s time you had a formal sit down with the micromanaging peer.  Ignoring her might be the path of least resistance, but at this point it sounds like her behavior is negatively impacting the productivity of your team – and this is a problem that’s yours to remedy.

Ask her to lunch.  If it isn’t completely out of the ordinary, go offsite so you won’t risk being interrupted or joined by another teammate.  Tell her there’s something important you need to talk to her about, and preface the discussion with a comment along the lines of what you said in your e-mail to us:  “I admire how much you care about our organization and I know that you want to see it run smoothly.”  This will help to mitigate her natural response (i.e. defensiveness) to what you’re about to say.

Next, tell her that while you appreciate her input on your team’s discipline, dress, etc. you are capable of managing these issues yourself and that you’d prefer it if she would confine her improvements to her own group.  Use a “this is what’s best for the organization” type of argument, such as “Right now my staff feels that it’s getting confusing cross-direction, and their work is suffering.”  Try to be assertive rather than wishy-washy.  You are a manager for a reason and your judgment should be trusted.

If this doesn’t work and she continues to interfere and wreck havoc around the office, you should talk to your boss on the down low.   Just remember to be solution-oriented and bottom-line focused in your comments, as the last thing you want to do is come across like you are whining or complaining.  You are not a tattletale and this is not a mere personality conflict.  Be clear that you are genuinely concerned that because of this woman’s actions, the organization is not operating as optimally as it could be.

For guidance from Fast Track's other amazing experts, check out the full post.

What No One Tells You About Getting Raises

According to Tribe HR’s  Pay Raise Index, women received more pay raises than men during 2012, but men earned larger pay raises. TribeHR analyzed salary and workplace recognition (“kudos”) data from 20,000 employees at 2,200 small to medium-sized companies between Q1-Q3 2012, and found that, 7.4 percent of women received raises while only 6.2 percent of men received raises.

Overall, the Index reported that average salary increase for employees at small and medium-sized businesses grew by almost 11 percent between Q1 and Q3 2012. The size of the average salary raise grew from 8 percent in Q1, to 13 percent in Q2, but then dropped to 11 percent in Q3.

Peer Recognition: An Under-the-Radar Influencer

More interestingly, however, the study also examined the correlation between salary increases and employees who had received documented recognition for a job well done. It found that 85 percent of documented recognition was given by peers, and that employees who received recognition from peers were two to three times more likely to earn a pay raise.

So it’s recognition from peers rather than recognition from managers that matters most.  Go figure.  In any case, it has always been important to purposefully raise the visibility of your terrific contributions within the organization.  But given this new information, it’s now essential.  If you want a raise this year or next, it’s up to you to document as much positive feedback from your peers as possible.

How do you do this?  Find out more over at Intuit's Fast Track blog.

The Solution for People Who Suck at Sales

Some of you know that I’ve been spending the last year honing my sales strategies, and boy has it been tough.

See, I’m not in a situation where I’ve traditionally had to sell.  My first book, They Don’t Teach Corporate in College, was released to great media attention and sales while I still had a full time job.  If someone read the book and came to me asking if I could speak at their event or consult for their organization, that was gravy.  I already had money, and I didn’t need them.

Then, however, I left the stable job and started my own business.  At first things were okay, because I was still getting a lot of inbound inquiries.  Incredibly, I still had enough to keep me busy through the first two years of the recession.  But in early 2011, something shifted.  My pipeline dried up, and I suddenly had to go out and proactively interest potential clients in my offerings.

I got turned down a lot.  I’m still getting turned down a lot.   It’s nothing personal.  I’m just “not in the budget.”  I’ve thought long and hard about why this is the case, and I’ve concluded that even though my services solve a critical workplace problem (brain drain caused by Boomer retirement, retention of skilled younger employees), my prospects don’t yet view this problem as a priority.

According to Eric Slife of SalesGravy.com, the primary reason prospects reject sales proposals is that an offering is not tied to their Critical Success Factors (CSFs), or things that keep the business afloat.  In a down economy especially, companies will do what they have to to protect their CSFs, and everything else will fall by the wayside.

We are all salespeople to some degree.  Even if you’re not selling a product to an outsider, chances are you still have to sell an idea to an internal constituency or a promotion to your boss.  Given that, I thought it would be helpful to share some of Slife’s tips for mapping your offering to a CSF and increasing its priority:

Change the perception of your offering

Too many salespeople are still selling value added benefits and opportunities.  Unfortunately, that’s not what’s making people pull the trigger on decisions now. Your prospects are focused on lost sales, lost profits, and surviving.  In other words, fear is their number one motivator.  You need to position your product or service in such a way that brings some peace of mind to your prospect’s worried state.

Head over to Intuit's Fast Track blog for lots more!

How to Avoid Self-Destructing on Foreign Soil

On April 20, 2010, the oil rigger Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, causing the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.  After the explosion killed or injured 28 workers and released 4.9 million barrels of crude oil, the gushing wellhead was finally capped. British Petroleum (BP), the multi-billion dollar oil and gas company, was indisputably responsible.

Instead of expressing true remorse and compassion for the disaster, then CEO Tony Hayward committed a series of cultural gaffes that enraged U.S. citizens and lawmakers. For instance, well before the Gulf crisis was resolved, Hayward proclaimed that he “wanted his life back.” Then, as efforts to plug the leak continued feverishly in the U.S., he casually took in a sailing race with his son off the Isle of Wight in the UK.

Hayward’s American Disconnect

This behavior was consistent with Hayward’s work/life balance philosophy.  He once said publicly that he didn’t work weekends and took all of his holidays no matter what.  What the British Hayward failed to realize was that most Americans don’t necessarily agree with this point of view. It is the American way to take responsibility for one’s mistakes and do everything you can to remedy a bad situation. Until the problem is solved, free time does not exist. Since Americans were affected most when Deepwater Horizon exploded, many wanted to see Tony Hayward on a boat participating in the clean-up.

Although much of his business is conducted in the U.S., Hayward did not demonstrate strong global competence. His lack of understanding regarding how the crisis would be received in the U.S. led to a backward slide of goodwill and a plunging stock price for BP. That summer, it would also cost him his job.

To find out how you can avoid a Tony Hayward-like PR catastrophe, read my advice over at the AMEX Open Forum.

 

Talking Your Manager into Flextime

Happy New Year, everyone!  It's "Reader Mail" time! 

I’m a manager in a small department and have to get approval of flexible schedules for staff from my Boss.  Boss wants everyone to be at work during normal business hours, doesn’t like flexible schedules, and sees all requests as the same (trying to get out of work).  Yes, I’m confused about this thinking and believe Boss doesn’t really understand flextime and its advantages, but I’m wondering how to best discuss this.

Boss tends to overreact whenever I bring up the topic and gets into the issue of “not trusting the employee to really work and not goof off.”  I see a request to temporarily change a schedule by arriving earlier and staying later on some days and leaving early on other days because of family schedules/child care issues to be different from a request to work at home on certain days on an ongoing basis.  The first example involves working all hours at the office for a limited amount of time and the second example involves working some days at home with no finite term, but Boss lumps all these requests together and denies all of them.  Any suggestions or advice on how I can approach the subject and try to get Boss to logically consider these requests?

For answers to this quandry from four career experts including me, check out the full post at the Fast Track blog.