by Tech Support | Jun 13, 2013 | Leadership, Motivation, Performance, Training
Did you miss the webinar yesterday? You have another chance to see it. We always post the most recent webinar on our website. It’s a little like hide and seek to find it but worth the effort! And if you want access to all the webinars we’ve ever created then sign up for Xpress Training.
We talked about motivation yesterday. It’s a popular topic. I don’t think many weeks have gone by that someone hasn’t ask me, “how do I motivate my employees?” My number one answer yesterday and every day is to be sure that you hire self-motivated people. I’m pretty sure that’s not the answer anyone is looking for; however, it is the shortest path to success in my opinion.
My number two answer is keep yourself motivated. People are paying attention. If you are the owner, manager, supervisor, or even someone working side by side with others, know that they are taking their cues from you. I personally think that if everyone believed they had a responsibility to help lift others up that it might be easier to stay motivated. We all need a purpose in order to stay engaged, inspired, and encouraged to keep on keepin’ on!
Dan Pink, a 21st century motivation scientist, writes a wonderful book entitled Drive. If you want to know more about motivation, read anything he has written and go watch every youtube video he’s created. If I had to sum up the webinar in just a few words here’s my take on the top topics.
- Hire motivated people
- Keep yourself in check…pay attention to what motivates you and keep doing that!
- Ask new hires this question, “When you must do something you don’t won’t to do, how do you handle that?”
- Audition new employees so that you can see their motivation to perform BEFORE you hire them.
- Let go of the bottom 1/3. Take an inventory of your -A-, -B-, -C-, players. Take a stand for performance and service and let those “C’s” go. They are creating zero motivation for themselves, others, you, your guests, and your business.
- Establish a culture of service and performance. Create a purpose for your team to cling to.
- Pay people more-It doesn’t have to be a lot more. My theory is that one really good person is like 2 or 3 un-motivated C team members. In the long run you’ll come out way ahead. AND if you have invested more financially you are less likely to put up with poor performance. I believe you’ll hold people more accountable and invest in their success.
- Pay attention to your people. If you want to motivate them, you have to talk with them. Find out what their purpose is. Why are they working for you? If it’s money, then money for what? Is it family, security, community? When you know their “why” it will be a lot easier to understand how to best motivate and inspire them to succeed.
- Watch or read ANYTHING by Zig Ziglar. He’s truly the father of motivation!
- Train your people. Invest in them and their future. Help them be absolute “Masters” of their job. Dan Pink says that in order for people to really be happy and motivated in the workplace they must have a sense of Autonomy, they need to have Mastery of the job, and they must have a Purpose.
I hope you’ll check out the webinar on the website. The 50+ people that attended had great input, questions, and feedback. I’d love to hear what you think. There is a slight little mistake at the end. We made the point that investing in your people is important so we gave a $10 gift to everyone who attended the webinar. That gift is good for you to. It can be used on any e-learning course. I goofed on the coupon code in the webinar. The correct code is listed below.
As always, I really appreciate you taking time to read our newsletter each week. If you’ve got GREAT motivation tips or questions, please leave us a comment below or go on to Facebook to pose that question or include your words of wisdom to our community.
by Tech Support | Jun 6, 2013 | Sales
Here’s a quick and easy sales tip that’s not as obvious as it might sound. “If someone tries to give you their money,
TAKE IT.”
I had to place an order for something fun to include in our new Everything Birthdays Party Boxes and I tried to place an order online. Well there was a problem with my online account. Barrier 1.
I went ahead and just called the big red toll free number on the top of my screen. I talked to a lovely gal who picked up right on the first ring. She told me she’d transfer me to someone who could fix the account. Barrier 2. When I got to the other person, I got voicemail instead of a live person. Barrier 3.
I think many people would have stopped here-you know, Strike 3 and you’re OUT!
I hung up and called back and said, “Hi again, I got voicemail, so I’d like to just go ahead and order now with you if that’s ok.” The representative said, “well I see that your account manager is Robin and she’s not in yet, but I can get you to her voicemail.” Barrier 4. (plus the added irritation that I’ve already told this woman I wanted to order with her and that I’d hung up on one voicemail already.)
I’d now given them four chances to take my money and they’d failed. Finally, I said, “I’d rather just order from you, is there some problem that prevents me from being able to do that?” Pause. Finally, she took the order, but I think she thought about putting up a fifth barrier.
How many barriers are people in your center unknowingly putting up because they’re not the “party booker” or the “one who takes care” of league sign up, group events, or field rentals?” How many “no’s” do you think your busy customers are willing to tolerate before they call your competitor? Are you willing to find out? I’m not!
To be clear: if someone tries to give your center money, take it! We know that sales is about relationships, and it’s critical to have experts like party coordinators, pro shop supervisors and field managers. However, every single person who answers your phone should have the tools and training necessary to take the order. Your experts can always call customers back, confirm orders and thank them to deliver that personalized “wow factor” you want to be known for.
Break down those barriers!
I’d love to hear from you! Post on Facebook or comment below!
See you next week,
Sherry Howell
Trainer & Project Coordinator
