Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

Why You Should Stop Trying to Sell

When I took the Dale Carnegie class many moons ago, I remember the instructor saying that the worst thing a door-to-door salesperson could do is show up at a prospect’s house and launch into a speech like this:

“I want to sell you a new vacuum cleaner. I saw this thing pick up dirt off my floor, and it had the best suction I’ve ever seen. I can give you a great deal on this baby.”

I, I, I. This salesperson would be lucky if she didn’t have the door slammed in her face.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again

Here’s a cardinal rule of human nature: people don’t care what you want, they want to know what’s in it for them. If the salesperson wanted to sell a vacuum cleaner, she had to first find out why the prospect desperately needed one (e.g. he was feeling frustrated and inferior because his home was unkempt, and it was unkempt because he could never get his carpets completely clean). She had to first help him identify a problem. Then and only then could she present a solution (e.g. a vacuum cleaner with more powerful suction).

Bestselling author John Jantsch has long been teaching how to be effective on a shoestring budget, reminding us of common sense that’s uncommonly used. In his book, Duct Tape Selling, he agrees with one of my favorite mantras that we’re all salespeople. And John suggests that in trying to get people to do anything for you – whether it’s supporting a pet project or buying a vacuum cleaner – you have to be useful.

The pitch transformed

According to John, the traditional sales pitch is no more. Instead, listening carefully is the new prospecting. With so many online tools available, we have no excuse for approaching people with little or no knowledge about them. So if you want something from a colleague, manager, or client, find out where her head is at first. And think through a message that will directly align with that state of mind.

For more advice from John, check out the full post at Intuit's Fast Track blog.

Should I Request a Different Boss?

As I shared the other day, I recently contributed to terrific site DailyWorth.com.  This week and next I'm featuring questions asked by readers over there.

We're undergoing some organizational changes at my company and a new manager is joining my department. The one coming in is known for being a micromanager, while the existing team leader is excellent. Both teams do similar work — but I want to be moved to have the “better” team leader. How can I bring this up? — Nancy, Massachusetts  

Here was my response:

The short answer? Delicately. First, approach your current manager at a time when she is not overly busy or stressed and there aren’t other people around. A private lunch or coffee would be the best scenario. Tell her you know there are changes coming and you want to reiterate how much you enjoy working with her and being part of her team. Say that it’s your preference to stay with her because you feel that you still have things left to learn and accomplish. 

 
During the conversation, make sure your tone is earnest and sincere and doesn’t slide into patronizing or syrupy brown-nosing. Also, avoid saying anything negative about the new manager. Should the conversation take this turn, you’ll be pegged as a complainer. 

This is the best strategy for getting the excellent manager in your corner in the likely event she can influence who stays on her team and who is transferred to the new manager. I would not, however, express a clear preference to the higher ups: It’s too risky the new manager could find out, and then if you end up with him, you’re toast. 
 
Finally, realize that during any organizational change, your goal should be to maintain your reputation as a can-do, roll-with-the-punches employee. In these situations, there are a lot of factors at work — many of which have nothing to do with you or your performance. So don’t take the events as a personal affront. 
 
Some anxiety and disappointment is natural, but recognize that people will be watching to see how you react to the changes. This means you have to be careful who you talk to about this situation (work friends included), and put on a good face even if you don’t get the outcome you desire.
 
And by the way, ending up with the micromanager isn’t the end of the world. Should this happen, go out of your way to cement a positive relationship with him immediately. Schedule a sit down, go over your goals and ask him how he prefers to work on assignments. While you don’t want to mention his micromanaging directly, it can’t hurt to say you value working independently and you will work hard to establish his trust.  Hopefully this will pre-empt too much interference as the two of you start working together.

Interview with Christine Hassler and Lindsey Pollack on Repeat Business

It takes far less effort, time, and money to keep an existing client than secure a new one. Yet getting customers to buy over and over again still presents a challenge for many professionals. To address this, I spoke with two colleagues who have excellent track records when it comes to growing their businesses through existing customers.

Alex: You both have built an impressive following of loyal customers over the last several years. What’s your secret?

Christine:  I’ve made providing quality content and inspiring information my priority rather than making money or building a platform. Being relatable to and vulnerable with my audience has created deeper connections to my customers. They feel like they know me, so they want to be loyal. Also, by starting with a specific niche I was able to establish a solid base of customers on whom I could depend once I decided to expand.

Alex:  Talking B2B, once you’ve gotten a customer to buy a product or service, how do you get them to buy from you again?

Lindsey:  First and most important is letting clients know I appreciate their business. I like to send thank you notes and (appropriate) gifts. I make phone calls the day after an event or project has ended to show my gratitude. I invite clients to any live or virtual events I can, including webinars, events, or seminars that I think they might find valuable.

I also communicate regularly with existing clients through a monthly e-newsletter and interaction on LinkedIn and Twitter. When it comes to social media, I find that engaging with the content my clients are posting is more important than posting my own content.

Finally, I’m always happy to chat with a client about a problem their organization is having or recommend another consultant if they have an issue unrelated to my work. It’s about being of service and genuinely helping them as much as possible.

For more from Lindsey and Christine, head over to the full interview at Intuit's Fast Track blog.

How to Be Useful Instead of Salesy

When I took the Dale Carnegie class many moons ago, I remember the instructor saying that the worst thing a door-to-door salesperson could do is show up at a prospect’s house and launch into a speech like this:

“I want to sell you a new vacuum cleaner. I saw this thing pick up dirt off my floor, and it had the best suction I’ve ever seen. I can give you a great deal on this baby.”

I, I, I. This salesperson would be lucky if she didn’t have the door slammed in her face.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again

Here’s a cardinal rule of human nature: people don’t care what you want, they want to know what’s in it for them. If the salesperson wanted to sell a vacuum cleaner, she had to first find out why the prospect desperately needed one (e.g. he was feeling frustrated and inferior because his home was unkempt, and it was unkempt because he could never get his carpets completely clean). She had to first help him identify a problem. Then and only then could she present a solution (e.g. a vacuum cleaner with more powerful suction).

Bestselling author John Jantsch has long been teaching how to be effective on a shoestring budget, reminding us of common sense that’s uncommonly used. In his new book, Duct Tape Selling, he agrees with one of my favorite mantras that we’re all salespeople. And John suggests that in trying to get people to do anything for you – whether it’s supporting a pet project or buying a vacuum cleaner – you have to be useful.

The pitch transformed

According to John, the traditional sales pitch is no more. Instead, listening carefully is the new prospecting. With so many online tools available, we have no excuse for approaching people with little or no knowledge about them. So if you want something from a colleague, manager, or client, find out where her head is at first. And think through a message that will directly align with that state of mind.

For the rest of John's advice, head over to Intuit's Fast Track blog.

Getting a Sponsor For Your Project

Depending on your organization, your project may have an official or unofficial sponsor. Most people seem to have a vague idea of what it means to be a sponsor, but in the event that you are one or need one, I thought it might be helpful to zero in on some specifics.

The overall role of a project sponsor, first off, is to provide executive management ownership of and oversight over an initiative intended to accomplish a major business goal. An effective sponsor is placed high enough in the organization to smooth the way for timely decision making and appropriate resource allocation. She typically works behind the scenes, allowing the project manager to run things on a day to day basis. Her main responsibilities include:

Minding the big picture

Project sponsors understand why and how this project is critical to business operations and the relationship it has with other parts of the company. They make sure the initiative is always well-aligned with the organization’s major goals and direction.

Getting buy-in

The project sponsor persuades the higher-ups that the project is worth supporting – before, during, and after the project is completed. He sustains organizational commitment and keeps the project top of mind when more pressing issues threaten to bury it.

For more project sponsorship tips, have a look at the full post at Intuit's Fast Track blog.

The Right Way to Make Connections on LinkedIn

LinkedIn, which years ago was known as Facebook for old people, is now the top social network for professionals. It boasts more than 200 million users and is used by the majority of the Fortune 100. If you’re not on it every day, you need to be. And there are some tricks to making connections on LinkedIn.

When I was new to the business world, you had to attend in-person networking events to meet anyone. But then, along came the marvelous invention of LinkedIn, and suddenly you can interface with an exponentially larger number of contacts in a fraction of the time.

There is, however, a right way and a wrong way to meet new contacts on LinkedIn. Here are a few dos and don’ts.

Don’t wait for people to find you.

Although this will happen eventually, it’s much more efficient to proactively connect with people by searching for former colleagues and business associates (the search function is on the top of every page). When you start typing a person’s name, a list of potential connections appears. You can also find connections by perusing the “People You May Know” section, as well as your current connections’ profiles.

For more where this came from, have a look at the full post at the FlexJobs blog.

Networking for Remote Workers

One of the benefits of working in an office is the people. Every day, you are exposed to a variety of similarly-minded professionals from whom you can learn and grow. However, when you telecommute or are a remote worker, it’s easy to become isolated. Here are a few ways to keep your networking efforts up to par when you don’t have the crutch of encountering new colleagues as a matter of course.

Join a Third-Party Association

Scout out the industry organizations in your field and become a member. Attend their events and conferences, and volunteer to help organize activities. You’ll learn more about your business while simultaneously building your contact database.

Start a Meetup Group

Meetup.com is a terrific way to get acquainted with other local remote workers, share war stories, and pool resources. It’s also nice to have a group with whom you can go out for the occasional happy hour!

Like what you're reading?  Check out the rest of the tips at the FlexJobs blog.

Use Your Brain to Build Better Relationships at Work

According to Judith Glaser, the CEO of Benchmark Communications and the author of the new book, Conversation Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust and Get Extraordinary Results, the key to success in life and in work is to prime your brain for trust, mutual respect, and partnership.

Based on advances made in the neuroscience field over the last decade, Glaser’s framework involves understanding what kind of conversations trigger the lower, more primitive brain, and what kind activate higher-level intelligences such as integrity, empathy, and good judgment.

I asked Glaser for a few examples of how neuroscience affects the way we handle challenging workplace relationships and how we can leverage our brain’s natural tendencies to better these relationships, and here were her top tips.

Our Brains Are Designed to Be Social

The need to belong is more powerful than the need for safety. Rejection activates our fear networks and increases the levels of cortisol, which move us into protect behavior. Focus on being inclusive and using physical and verbal touch in order to reduce the level of cortisol and increase the level of oxytocin, which promotes bonding.

Appreciation Reshapes Neural Networks

Appreciation activates a large framework of neurons that are part of the functions of sight, hearing, and perspective. It enables us to see more broadly and think bigger. Better your relationships by focusing on appreciating others’ perspectives even if you don’t agree.

Like what you're reading? Continue to the full post at Intuit's Fast Track blog.

In the Homeland, Learn and Share with the Pros

For those who haven't yet Netflixed Homeland, you should. In it, thirty-something CIA operative Carrie Mathison is actively mentored by her fifty-something senior colleague, Saul Berenson. It’s a good thing that Carrie is trying to learn everything she can from Saul now, because within a matter of years, Saul will likely retire from government service. Carrie is ensuring that all of the knowledge he has gleaned from decades of work in the field doesn’t disappear into a black hole.

In the next ten years, the massive Baby Boom generation (born 1946-63) will exit traditional jobs en masse, resulting in a major brain drain. You may be well acquainted with many of these Boomers now, but waiting to pick their brains until they’re out the door is not a good strategy. It’s much better to strike while you have easy access. To that end, here are a few knowledge sharing and gleaning recommendations to employ immediately.

Be a Joiner

Get involved in extracurricular activities sponsored by your company (sports teams, volunteer initiatives, etc.) and third-party industry associations so that you are naturally exposed to senior people inside and outside your field. Become a regular at events that take place more than once, and every time you meet someone, show genuine interest in their work and ask lots of questions.

Practice Reciprocal Mentorship

An evolution of reverse mentoring, reciprocal mentorship is a two-way relationship in which advice and information pass easily between a senior and junior-level colleague. The senior colleague may mentor the junior colleague on general business and career matters, while the junior colleague may provide guidance on twenty-first century workplace efficiencies and technologies.

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

Why Your Networking Isn't Working

We’ve all heard about the importance of establishing strong business relationships a million times. After all, it’s important to be able to go to people close to you, who you trust, when you’re in need of advice, contacts, or a job.

Right?

Weak ties actually get better results

According to Wharton business professor Adam Grant, author of the new book, Give and Take, you should not in fact be relying on your closest networking contacts to help you get ahead. Grant cites a study by Mark Granovetter, which demonstrated that people were actually 58 percent more likely to get a new job through weak ties than strong ties.

Could this simply be a numbers game? After all, we have many more weak ties than strong ties. Grant says no. Apparently, despite their good intentions, strong ties tend to give us redundant knowledge. They travel in the same circles that we do, and have similar perspectives. And in a competitive job search or difficult career change situation, this may not cut it.

Weak ties, on the other hand, know different people entirely and can offer us more efficient access to novel information. So by reaching out to a weak tie, you are much more likely to hit upon something that wouldn’t normally come your way.

Like what you're reading?  Have a look at the full piece at Intuit's Fast Track blog.