How do you create lasting connections?

Becky McKinstry of Open Lines visited today with Carolyn Holly of KTVB about creating connections to build your business and help your customers build their businesses, too!

Check it out here!

A New Take on SMART Goals

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With the New Year fast approaching, almost everyone I know is thinking about what they want to accomplish next year.  Though few express it, I believe there's a bit of overwhelm in the air as we all go about this ritual of committing to goals that will help us better ourselves, our businesses, our health, our surroundings. Why the overwhelm?  I think we feel overwhelmed at the beginning of the process for the very same reason we find ourselves on the brink of abandoning ship on many of our goals before we accomplish them - they are things we think we SHOULD do and not things that we truly WANT to
do.  Let's turn the overwhelm into overdrive!

What if we made our goals about making shifts that truly build on our strengths and cultivate new habits that support our growth?  What if we kept our thoughts about ourselves positive?  Just because there's something you could do better or something else that you need to start or stop doing altogether doesn't make you a miserable person or a failure if you have to go at it more than once. Be kind to yourself on this journey!

As I'm putting my goals in place for 2012, I've decided to not only make them SMART goals, but to make them energizing goals. I truly want to achieve these goals because they're MY goals - they mean something to me, I know that achieving them will make me feel great and open my mind to fresh possibilities.

Here's a new way to look at SMART goals:

Specific/Simple:  Be specific, but keep it simple.  Don't be tempted to make things more complicated than they need to be.  We can change the world by starting with our own little piece of it. If gaining control over your paperwork happens to be one of your goals, "getting more organized" isn't a goal...it's a wish.  Commit to a system that will help you operate more effectively.  For example, each time you return from a networking event, immediately enter the contact information and pertinent notes for all the people you met into your database.  Then file or toss the cards. No piles of business cards all over your office and wondering why you have them a month later.

Measureable/Meaningful:  Why track something that doesn't have a real impact on your life?  As you think about your sales goals for the New Year, quantify absolutely everything.  How many appointments do you need to gain one new account?  How many new accounts do you need each week to meet your goals for the year?  What will it mean to your life and your business to meet your goals?  Think about all the benefits, not just the monetary ones.  How will your life improve when you're not buried in mounds of paper and worried about what you've forgotten to do?

Attainable/Authentic:  Here's where the SHOULD's should be tossed out the window.  Not only do your goals need to be attainable, but for you to succeed, they need to have heart.  Your heart.  What do you truly WANT?  What will make you feel successful, satisfied, confident, worthwhile?  Authenticity is the key to unlocking your greatness.

Relevant/Rejuvenating:  If your goal is really important to you, you'll find a way to achieve it.  And because you begin with the end in mind, getting there will be half the fun!

Time-Based/Timeless:  Funny about us humans...we're so time-conscious, if we don't give ourselves deadlines, we can just procrastinate ourselves out of doing something.  Either we do it by MM-DD-YY or we assign it the "whenever" designation.  We all know that doesn't work.  Give it a date and make it something that will make an impact well beyond the foreseeable future.  Maybe you want to shed a few pounds or exercise regularly each week or start an IRA.  Achieving those goals can impact your life forever.

I know we can achieve what we really set our minds on!

To Great Success in 2012!


     

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Get Social!

Image by budcaddell via Flickr

Social media continues to rise as a key component of overall marketing strategy.  Great time to get started if you haven't already...chances are your competition has!

Check out this report.

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How to Build a Successful Sales Team

Becky McKinstry, owner and founder of Open Lines Training visited with KTVB's Carolyn Holly today on her "It's Your Business" segment.  Check it out!

Training Your Sales Team

Top 5 Ways to Beat the Holiday Momentum Busters

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Yes, Santa Claus is coming to town, but I highly doubt that his bag is full of new clients for us…no matter how good we’ve been.  Don’t be lulled into believing this is the time of year to slow down and kick back.  This is actually the perfect time to kick your business up a notch or two!

1. Close all the business you can before year-end.  What have you done to make a compelling case for your prospects to see the advantages of buying now?

2. Make sure the pipeline is full going into 2012.  Have you checked in with your existing clients to see how satisfied they are with your product or service?  If there was a problem, did you swiftly and courteously correct it?  Have you asked for referrals?

3. Take an objective look at your systems and processes.  Do they support your business-building efforts?   Are opportunities to provide value and say ‘thank you’ to your client base part of your process?

4. Check your attitude.   How do you respond when you get a ‘no’?  Are you focusing on the right stuff and truly hearing what your clients need?
 
5. Write down your goals and dreams for next year.  What do you need your business to look like in order to create the life you love?
 
Use the last few weeks of this year to your advantage, and start 2012 prepared for the best year ever!

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The Giver Mentality

Image by betsyweber via Flickr

How do you sell your products and services?

Are you getting the results you want?

Do you work with strategic partners who serve the same target market?

How do you add value?

Do you know how to be a good referral partner?

It all comes down to giving more than you take and focusing on relationships instead of selling.    

Remember to ask people what they need and how you can help them.

Remember to share information with your clients that is pertinent to their business.

Remember to say thank you....
thank you for your business...
thank you for the opportunity to earn your business...
thank you for the referral...
thank you for thinking of me...

ASK

LISTEN

SHARE

APPRECIATE



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It Doesn't Have to Be So Hard

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I meet with clients all the time who are struggling with the very systems that are supposed to make their lives easier.  They've got CRM's, smartphones, processes, tracking mechanisms, calendars, reminders, you name it...and they still feel more overwhelmed and less organized than ever.  Technology is great, but technology overload can be paralyzing.  The best systems in the world won't work for you if you don't use them.

My suggestion is to stop and take a good objective look at two things:  1) what details are critical for you to manage in order to be productive in your business on a daily basis, and 2) how do you work best?  I'm a visual person, so I need to have my most important tasks and projects right in front of me when I'm working.  I use a combination of high tech and low tech solutions...writing down certain details cements them for me.  Some of my colleagues think it's funny when I break out my old-fashioned planner, but hey, it works for me.

As we all cram more and more into already packed schedules and sometimes cluttered minds, it's important to keep the things that can be simple...simple.

A great friend and mentor of mine shared this tidbit with me some time ago, and it pops up for me almost daily.  Maybe it will help you.  When you're responding to an ever-changing list of shifting priorities, details to be managed and other demands, evaluate them using this criteria:  What's ESSENTIAL?  What's EFFECTIVE?  What's ENOUGH?

Put your energy into what's essential and effective and enough to support your workstyle and business.

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