• Nancy Nardin has 4 reasons why dumbing down your sales process is the smartest way to sell.
• Alen Mayer wants to show you how to use persuasion techniques in sales.
• Leanne Hoagland-Smith can help you with 5 Tips on how to lose the sale before you realized you lost it.
• Finally, Michelle Davidson wants to know how strong your client relationships are.

The post Sales Recap: May 17 appeared first on Rapid Learning Institute.

But are you unintentionally stunting the careers of the people you allow to work from home? A new telecommuting survey by recruiters Korn/Ferry International suggests you might be.

In the survey, 60% of the 300+ executives surveyed said they believed working from home limited an employee’s opportunity for career growth. Out of sight, out of mind, it seems.

And these aren’t execs who hate telecommuting: 80% allow it throughout their organizations, and 94% agree it’s a key option for working parents.

Stop the disappearing acts
If you don’t want your work-from-homers to “disappear,” try these steps:

• Program a certain number of days per month when they come to the office.
• Make sure they attend relevant meetings, either live or by teleconferencing.
• Keep them involved in office functions like lunches, parties and the like.

Check out the Leadership & Management Rapid Learning Center FREE. Get instant access to a collection of 6- to 10-minute modules perfect for training supervisors and managers throughout your organization.

The post Don’t let your work-from-homers turn invisible appeared first on Rapid Learning Institute.

Memory researchers say putting the easy stuff up front is the most efficient learning strategy. Students who use this approach end up doing better on tests than those who don’t.

This prioritization process seems to have three benefits:

• It creates quick victories that build momentum. The early momentum gives learners a running start for tackling tougher concepts.
• It builds a minimum base of learning. So if the learning gets interrupted, learners don’t have to start over from scratch. They’ll already have achieved some mastery.
• The task of prioritizing is valuable in and of itself. The process repeatedly activates memory retrieval, which boosts the likelihood of remembering later.

As a trainer, help learners create an easy-first study strategy.

For example, say: “What do you think will be the easiest part of this to master? Work on that part first, then move on to the more challenging
material.”

Schwartz, B., et al. (2011). Four principles of memory improvement: A guide to improving learning efficiency. The International Journal of Creativity & Problem Solving, 21(1), 7-15.

The post Study strategy: Master easy stuff first appeared first on Rapid Learning Institute.

“I wish Petra had come directly to me, but I understand you’re good friends, so she was comfortable talking to you,” Molly continued. “And telling her to go to HR was fine. Any complaint can be reported either to HR or to a supervisor.”

“So if what I told Petra isn’t a problem, what is?” Dee asked. “Why have you called me in?”

Spreading the word
“I understand you’ve been talking to a number of people in the company about the harassment complaint,” Molly said. “People in several departments other than this one – some of them friends of yours – are aware of the details.”

“You assume I told them?” Dee replied indignantly.

“I’m not assuming a thing,” Molly said firmly. “I have it on the word of people you talked to.”

“Well, even if I did, what’s wrong with that?” Dee asked. “Are you trying to protect that creep who harassed her?”

No ‘protection’
“We’re investigating, and nobody is protected,” Molly said. “We talk to everyone – accused, accuser, witnesses – and then make an impartial determination about the facts and what to do.”

“But the point is that while we’re investigating, we haven’t yet decided what actually happened,” Molly went on.

“That’s one reason why we ask everyone involved to keep quiet. It’s the best way to be fair to all, and it’s also policy. So please don’t discuss the complaint, even with Petra herself.”

Who’s talking?
“I’m not the only one talking about this,” Dee said stubbornly.

“I’ll be making an announcement reminding everybody of the policy,” Molly said. “But frankly, I had special concerns about you.”

“That wouldn’t be because I’ve complained in the past about discrimination against women in the company, would it?” Dee sneered.

“Absolutely not,” Molly said. “There’s no connection.”

Later, Dee applied for a promotion and was turned down. She sued for sex discrimination and hostile work environment, based in part on the conversation with Molly. Did she win?

‘Handling Employee Complaints: What Every Manager Needs to Know’

The Decision
No, Dee didn’t win her hostile work environment case. The court said it was “not unreasonable” for a supervisor to ask an employee to refrain from talking about a co-worker’s sexual harassment claims. Nor did Molly’s directive to Dee amount to hostility based on gender.

What can supervisors learn from this case?

It’s important to maintain as much confidentiality as possible during complaint investigations, for several reasons: to protect witnesses, to avert any tampering by accuser or accused, and to shield the reputations of people who may not have done anything wrong.

Supervisors should follow company policy on confidentiality. But don’t promise complainants absolute confidentiality when they first come to you; a certain number of people in the organization have to know the facts in order to conduct the investigation.

Cite: Warf v. U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs, No. 11-2570, 6th Cir., 4/11/13. Fictionalized for dramatic effect.

The post Did boss err in telling worker to keep mum on harassment probe? appeared first on Rapid Learning Institute.

Remember that customer who loved you loved you loved you six months ago? Since then, someone else has been whispering in her ear. They’re telling her that your product quality isn’t what it used to be. That there’s been a lot of turnover in your management. That other customers have complained.

Now your buyer has some doubts about you. Even worse, she tells herself that she always had these doubts. “I was afraid something like this would happen all along,” she thinks. And suddenly that customer who was crazy about you and your product is telling you, “The truth is, I never really loved you.”

Ouch.

She’s not lying. That’s really how she remembers it, according to one research study.

The study examined a group of moviegoers who’d given high marks to a movie they’d just watched. Later, these same people were shown a negative review of the same film. Then they were asked to recall their initial opinion.

After reading the negative review, the moviegoers were more likely to say they hadn’t liked the film when they saw it. Think about that for a moment. They weren’t saying they now liked the movie less. They were saying they’d never liked it.

What this finding means for salespeople: Memories do more than fade. They get rearranged to fit the buyer’s current frame of mind. So you have to constantly refresh the buyer’s enthusiasm. [Tweet This Quote]

There is an upside: The study found that this effect goes both ways. When moviegoers who had a negative first impression were later shown a positive review, they were more likely to remember that they liked the movie all along. So if your customer relationship got off to a rocky start, you can change how the buyer remembers it.

The bottom line is that customer loyalty and satisfaction aren’t set in stone. You earn it every day.

Free Training Video - "Account Retention: Little Signs of Big Trouble"

Source: Braun, K. A., Zaltman G. (1998) Backward framing: A theory of memory reconstruction. MSI’s Working Paper Series, # 98-109.

The post I never really loved you appeared first on Rapid Learning Institute.

William Irby Jr., 54, of Corvallis, MT, climbed fifteen feet up an oil tank to take measurements at an asphalt plant where he worked. While taking the measurements, he slipped off the tank and hit his head on the concrete pad that supported the tank. He died at the scene.

Source: www.missoulian.com

The post Fatal fall from oil tank appeared first on Rapid Learning Institute.

• You tried to sell me something that I didn’t want. You didn’t care enough to learn about my preferences, my needs and my constraints.
• What you offered me was style, while my concern was substance.
• I wanted something that would do a little more, or something that was made a little better, with just a little better workmanship.
• What you offered me was just a little too expensive, and budget was my primary concern.
• The terms and conditions you offered were designed mainly as a solution to your problems. They didn’t address mine.

It was all about you
In short, I am not your customer today because I sensed that this sale was all about you – what you wanted to sell and when you wanted it sold, for the benefit of your sales quota or commission or whatever.

I was really looking for someone who would listen – truly listen and respond to me. Someone who’d care enough to take the time to find out what I really wanted. Someone who’d find a way to satisfy my true concerns and preferences within my means.

Instead of making it your business to ensure that I would drive away with what you offered, your obvious lack of concern just wound up driving me away.

I should have been your loyal customer. But you didn’t care enough.

So I became somebody else’s loyal customer.

Adapted from “Throw Away the Textbook and Be a Better Manager,” by Fred Jordan, ISBN 1575240114.

Free Training Video - "Customer Engagement: Why YOU Need to Drive It"

The post Loyalty: How you can win it, or lose it appeared first on Rapid Learning Institute.

The answer: inability to adapt to a new organizational culture.

We all attempt to explain our company culture to new hires. We put code words in recruiting ads such as “high-energy,” and “fast-paced.” We repeat them in interviews and at new-hire orientations.

The ‘secret sauce’
But culture is intangible. It’s hard to convey the values, unwritten rules and behavioral norms that

• give a company its unique personality; and that
• new hires MUST assimilate in order to succeed.

Fact is, your initial effort to explain your company’s “secret sauce” to new hires is just the first step in a long-term coaching process. Even in the best cases it takes months for new hires to adequately experience the nuances of a new culture and align their behavior with its values.

Now, “learning by experience” doesn’t mean throwing new hires into the deep end and letting them figure it out. Even the most talented new hires have a hard time decoding a complex organizational culture on their own. They need help from colleagues, mentors, and most of all, they need coaching from the person who hired them and who’s the key to their current and future success – their boss.

Easy as 1, 2, 3
Good bosses expect new hires to struggle with a new culture, and prepare accordingly using what we call “Onboarding Teachable Moments.”

Teachable Moment #1: the Crisis Intervention. This Moment is triggered when the new hire becomes engaged in a conflict with another employee. Usually this happens when a new hire encounters a practice or policy incompatible with what they’re used to. In these moments, managers need to clearly explain the company’s practice and its relationship to the company’s culture.

Teachable Moment #2: the Opportunistic Coaching Session. These can happen at any time. Opportunistic Coaching Sessions highlight something that the new hire did well, and why that action or behavior illustrated an understanding of your company’s culture. These work so well because they rises organically from the workday and is often seamless. Sometimes, the employee might not even know she’s being coached.

Teachable Moment #3: the Routine Check In. This is the most structured of the three Moments and includes a scheduled weekly meeting with the new hire – a “listening session”- in which you ask basic questions. How’s it going? What are you struggling with? How are things with your colleagues? Are your expectations of the job being met? After hearing the employee’s responses, it’s essential that you again relate your answers to the company’s culture and how your new hire can best adapt to it.

When using any of the Three Onboarding Teachable Moments, it’s important to be encouraging (“Don’t worry. In time you’ll figure it all out”), and above all, patient. Most successful onboarding efforts take six months to a year.

The post Company culture decoded:
The 3 Teachable Moments
appeared first on Rapid Learning Institute.

For those unfamiliar, The Selling Essentials Minute is a series of videos that offers one sales idea in about sixty seconds. You can use the Minute to kick off a sales meeting, push an idea out to your team, start a discussion or reinforce your training.

On today’s episode: When selling, the value equation seems simple; benefits create value, which lead to sales. But that doesn’t mean more benefits will necessarily mean more sales. Why not? Watch this episode of The Selling Essentials Minute to find out.

Don’t forget: The Selling Essentials Minute is also available on our YouTube page and on iTunes. While you’re there, don’t forget to like and subscribe to them as well!

The post The Selling Essentials Minute, Ep. 24: The Value Equation: Less Is More appeared first on Rapid Learning Institute.

It’s new data from Gallup that has me asking. The venerable polling organization reports that as hiring has increased in the U.S. over the past four years, so also has self-reported engagement on the part of employees — especially managers and executives.

Managerial engagement surges
Gallup said that overall, 30% of the 150,000+ employees they surveyed for 2012 said they were engaged in their jobs, compared with 28% in 2009. The rise in engagement was particularly strong among managers and executives, surging to 36% from 26%.

Meantime, 40% of managers said their organizations were adding to their workforce, compared with just 26% in 2009. Reinforcing the trend, just 18% said they were cutting headcount now, compared with 30% in 2009.

So what’s the direction of the relationship between these two phenomena, increased engagement >->-> stronger hiring, or vice versa?

Could go either way
I’m going to disappoint you here with an equivocal answer. That’s because even Gallup admits it doesn’t know for sure which leads to which.

The polling organization says two things. First, “It is possible that employees are more engaged because of their organization’s success or more disengaged because of their organization’s lack of progress or the fear of layoffs.” But on the other hand, Gallup notes, according to recent research, “employee engagement predicts financial performance more strongly than financial performance predicts employee engagement.”

Let’s stop a minute to remember why we care about employee engagement. It’s because engaged employees are deeply involved in and enthusiastic about their work, and are actively contributing to their organization. Disengaged employees, by contrast, are doing the minimum they need to do to keep their jobs. Obviously managers want to increase the number of the former and reduce the number of the latter.

Free Training Videos - "Employee Engagement Series for Managers & Supervisors"

Working for improvement
So what conclusions can managers profitably draw? I see two:

• Irrespective of any specific data about hiring or organizational success, there are actions you can take over time to improve employee engagement. These include demonstrating your competence, proving your trustworthiness and creating a “safe haven” where employees can honestly strive without fear of undue, unfair or unexpected consequences.
• But there are also episodic actions you can take to improve engagement, actions that are suggested — although not proved — by the data. Gallup’s latest report suggests that one of these actions may be letting employees know loud and clear when your organization is hiring, as well as trumpeting other measures of success like increased sales and/or profits.

 
To sum up: Building employee engagement is a long-haul strategic process. But you can try to help it along with some short-term tactical boosterism. And because you’re more likely to feel personally engaged these days, per paragraph 3, a booster may be just what you feel like!

The post Employee engagement and hiring — what’s the connection? appeared first on Rapid Learning Institute.