Flexing Your Leadership Style – “People Follow You”
When I recently discovered that Jeb Blount had a new book out called “People Follow You”, I was very excited! I have been thoroughly enjoying his content since I started listening to the “Sales Guy – Quick and Dirty Tips” podcast last year. I really enjoyed this video on leadership and am sure you will too! Stop by and check out the website for his new book at:
Saturday Music Memories – Bruno Just Gets It!
If you follow popular music you will know who Bruno Mars is. His music is catchy and he leaves it all on the stage during his live performances. That is something that I admire greatly.
His recent collaboration with Sting at the Grammys was spectacular. You can hit YouTube to see that live clip.
Bruno’s smash hit “Locked Out Of Heaven” has almost 100,000,000 views. Check it out here and have an awesome weekend!
Have A Laugh Fridays – Email Insanity!
Corporate Comedian Greg Schwem has a funny take on trying to end email “conversations” as quickly as possible.
Sometimes it does not turn out as planned!
Have a great weekend everyone..
Why Follow Up Is A Waste Of Time!
It’s time-consuming- It can start a series of telephone tag or long email correspondence
- It may dig up potential issues that you don’t want to deal with; feels like you are becoming a complaint handling department
- Don’t want to bother people
- Don’t know the right amount of time to wait if you need an answer
- Would rather focus your efforts on getting more business if in a sales role, or fulfilling other more enjoyable business activities in general
TOUGH LOVE MOMENT – Suck it up!
Imagine if all of your competitors thought this way! You should be embracing follow-up and becoming your customer (or prospect’s) go to person!
Customers will respect you because your relationship with them is not complete after the purchase order number is given. They have put their hand up and said “treat me special“. Don’t take your current customers for granted and follow-up regularly.
- If you have quoted a prospect, be sure to follow-up. Don’t expect that they will magically call you and give their decision either way. It may only take a brief clarification to secure the business
- If you are following up to check on a previous issue, it may help prevent future issues
- If it is follow-up after a sale, it may take care of minor issues before they escalate in to bigger ones
One of my biggest pet peeves is when a project stalls with somebody in the organization, due to the fact that others have not responded to them. That is always unacceptable. If you need to follow-up frequently via email, phone, or in person, get the answers that you need to move things forward. Never use others as scape goats for things being held up by you.
Successful sales and business people do things that they do not like to do every day to continue to grow and achieve a cut above the rest.
If you are not ready to “get your hands dirty” the time to change is now. If you are already a master of the “circle of follow-up“, congratulations!
Communication Breakdown – My Stuttering Journey
I Once knew a boy…
- Who was horrified to get called on to speak out loud in grade school class
- Stood behind his mom or dad’s leg every time as a child when people tried to speak to him in public
- Answered the telephone by saying “Yeah” at home and not “Hello” when he had trouble saying the word
- Would cry himself to sleep on occasion as a child wondering why he was different and did not speak like everyone else
- Once had a teacher stop him from speaking out loud in class, came up to him, asked him to open his mouth and checked if “there was an answer” to his speech issues in there
- Would sit for what seemed like hours afraid to pick up the phone before calling a friend when he was afraid to stutter
- As a teenager, would never go through the drive-thru to order food because he was afraid to mess up his words
- As a young adult, would only order drinks at a nightclub only if he could say the word properly, even if he did not even really like the drink
- Would get lazy and only say words that he could say smoothly throughout the first 18 years of his life, and not work on the difficult words
- As a high school graduate focused on getting in to a profession where he would not have to interact with many people, and could keep to themselves
That boy was me, and growing up I felt like I was the only person in the world that was dealing with a stuttering issue. We have all dealt with stuff in our lives, and fought through adversity in our own ways. I look forward to sharing my entire speech journey at some point in the future but for today, you only need understand this.
I have not allowed these issues to take control of my life. I changed my area of study in school because I hated the courses that I was hiding behind when I felt scared to face the world. I have always been in a very relationship oriented professions, and speak in front of groups of people regularly. I have cold called face to face, in person, and been in pressure packed speaking situations more than I care to remember.
But you know what, I made it through every situation, some more easily than others. Today I am involved with Toastmasters, doing video on my blog, and am not afraid to tell my story to the world.
We are not here to judge each other on what is, or is not significant in terms of what is causing issues in our lives. But we need to be there to support each other and aid in getting past these hurdles.
I am convinced that if I did not have those speech issues growing up that I would not have become as touch a customer as I am today. Perspective is a powerful thing, and when I attended an info session recently to volunteer at a stuttering clinic, I realized that I did not have it so bad after all! It just seemed like it at the time, because all eyes were on me as I struggled day-to-day.
- What is holding you back?
- Is there something that others can help you get through to become who you really want to be professionally and/or personally?
It may seem like a big deal now, but once you conquer it you can look back and say,
“That was a turning point in my life!”
If you have a story that you would be comfortable sharing, I would love to post them on my blog in the next couple of weeks. Please send them to:
TimMushey@gmail.com
Some Awesome Zig Ziglar Quotes!
I was flipping through the latest edition of the Toastmasters International magazine earlier this week, and stopped in my tracks when I spotted a Zig Ziglar article.
The late great motivational speaker, author and sales expert was known for many things, including creating memorable quotes. They included five awesome ones at the end of the article:
- “If you go looking for a friend, you are going to find that they’re very scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you’ll find them everywhere.”
- “Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.”
- “Your attitude, not your aptitude will determine your altitude.”
- “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.”
- “People often say motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”
Make it a great Thursday!
Have A Laugh Fridays – There Is Only One Terry Tate!
Since it is Super Bowl weekend, it seemed appropriate to post another Terry Tate, Office Linebacker video.
You can go ahead and draft new recruits, but there is only one original Terry Tate baby!
Who are you cheering for during the big game?
Have a great weekend.
The Five Star 5 – Why I Am Loving Toastmasters!
You should stop by a Toastmasters meeting if you are interesting in developing your speaking and leadership skills. The best way to find out what this organization has to offer is to see for yourself!
Here are the top 5 reasons that I am loving Toastmasters:
- Practice public speaking in a very positive environment
- Develop as a leader
- Meet new people (network within your club and district)
- Hone organization, preparation and time management skills
- Have fun and laugh!
If you want more information on Toastmasters stop by http://www.toastmasters.org/
I have started a Facebook page for my Toastmasters group. If you have any questions you can post them at:
Or email your questions to:
TimMushey@gmail.com
I will let you know about my personal experiences as part of this fantastic organization!
What Are You Prepared To Give Up – Right Now?
My name is Tim Mushey, and I am a “hockey-a-holic”. The labour strife in the National Hockey League ended a couple of weeks ago, and hockey is finally back!
I am super excited that the coolest game in the world is back, but I had to make a decision. I quit all of my hockey pools, cold turkey! For the first time in many years, I am not in one hockey pool, NOT ONE! To be clear, this was never about the money. It was about fun with friends, and the competitive spirit to try to out do each other.
Although I miss it a lot, it had to be done. I have gone from checking the scores around 25 times a night (not joking) to maybe twice. I don’t have to watch all the highlights before bed, just when I have time.
That extra time I have every day can now be spent working towards my goals. Perhaps it is writing my blog, connecting and following up with social media activities, or learning and planning my next steps online.
If feels good that my time is being put to better use now, and I can also focus more on my family.
- What do you have to quit “cold turkey”?
- What is going to help you move closer to achieving your goals that you have not been focusing on?
Remember, a little bit every day is still a great place to start!
I miss hockey pools, but it won’t help me retire early 🙂
Have A Laugh Fridays – Trouble Connecting With Customers?
I stumbled across a cool company on YouTube today called Second City Communications. They are doing very cool things about video training with a humorous twist in the workplace.
This trailer discusses connecting with your customers.
You can check them out at :
Website: http://www.secondcitycommunications.com/
Twitter: @SecondCityBiz
Have a great weekend!
Sell, Lead, Succeed! 