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Best of thoughtLEADERS 2013: The Greatest Posts EVER

December 17, 2013/0 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Books, Business Toolkit, Career, Communications, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership, Project Management, Sales, Social Media, Strategy, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

It’s time again for our year in review list of the BEST posts we’ve published in 2013. It’s time for the 2013 edition of The Figgies which are the awards we give ourselves for writing awesome blog content (here are the 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 editions of those awards).

This is an annual event at the thoughtLEADERS Blog. This list is comprised of our most viewed, most forwarded, quirkiest, most provocative work. There’s also a kicker bonus post on the list just for good measure. Enjoy. Share. We’ve loved writing them. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading them. I don’t ask a lot of you folks so I have two small requests as your holiday gift to me (you are getting me something, right?):

1. Invite all your coworkers, friends, and family to come check out the blog and become readers. The only way we all get better is by raising everyone’s game. I’m not asking a lot here. If you found this blog helpful at all this year, here’s your chance to return the favor for all our hard work. Just email folks and tell ’em to come take a look.

2. Pick up a copy of One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful Personal Leadership (especially if you’re looking for last-minute holiday gifts for bosses, team members, or your mom – she’ll love it). I talk a lot about the book because I’m evangelical about the topic. Buy it. Read it. In the words of Roland Smith (former CEO of Wendy’s/Arby’s) “It could change your life.” To get a sense for what the book is about, read this free ChangeThis Leadership Manifesto which is based on the book. If you like the manifesto, you’ll love the book.

Thanks for your incredible support in ’13 and best wishes for ’14! We hope to be a part of your future success!

Enough blahbitty blah. Here’s the best stuff we’ve written all year:

How Value Really Builds Trust, Credibility and Longevity for Your Brand

November 20, 2013/2 Comments/in Books, Guest Blogger, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Brian Church, author of Relationship Momentum (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

“Try not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” — Albert Einstein

Webster’s definition for the word value is, “A fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged; relative worth, utility, or importance.” Without value, your product, project, or purpose will live a very short life. value is the proverbial glue for the ideas, people and profits you seek to create.

The Emperor Has No Clothes

There’s an old Danish fairy tale by Hans Christen Anderson that tells of an emperor who cared for nothing more than his wonderful clothes. One day, a pair of swindlers came to town and boasted of a special cloth that was invisible to those who lacked wisdom. Concerned over whether or not he could see the clothes himself, the emperor instructed two of his servants to view the cloth. The servants were too worried to admit that they could not see the clothes, and they pronounced their brilliance.

The emperor then clothed himself in the imaginary garments and proceeded to parade himself through the town. The townspeople, also hearing of the fallacy surrounding the cloth did not want to appear unwise, and they too praised the emperors garb. Finally, a child near the end of the precession shouted, “But he has nothing on.” The people began to whisper until everyone watching the emperor began to shout, “The Emperor has no clothes!”

The fairy tale was crafted to illustrate the truth that is often found behind the eyes of a child. Children often see through the pomp and circumstance, the proverbial noise of a situation, and can clearly expose its true identity. Despite the power of the emperor and the Brand of the office he held, he ultimately became a laughing stock. Everyone realized that his greatness was no more than a facade. When true value is present, it’s not hard to see. It is pure, and it is real.

Building Successful Brands: Real Purpose Isn’t Built in a Day

October 30, 2013/1 Comment/in Communications, Customer Service, Guest Blogger, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Chuck Wall, author of Customer CEO: How to Profit from the Power of Your Customers (CLICK HERE to get your copy). Here’s Chuck…

Tired of hearing brands blather on about how much they really care about their customers? Wouldn’t it be a lot more honest if they would just admit their real passion is to separate people from as much of their money as possible for stuff they don’t really need?

Maybe that’s a bridge too far, but there’s clearly something different happening in this social era. In Customer CEO: How to Profit from the Power of Your Customers, I write about what I call the Power of Purpose. This customer power confronts every business leader with a new reality; that today’s customer is thirsting to do business with brands they can really believe and believe in.

In my customer research work over the years, I have heard people say “Just do the right thing” more times than I can count. What customers are saying is they want to share values with the companies they do business with. These values have nothing to do with price. They are talking about being honest, showing integrity, providing fair treatment, demonstrating a caring attitude, being loyal, and doing it consistently.

Let’s be frank: for many companies facing the complexities of modern business, it is too much work to create, teach, and live values. They often cut corners and look the other way. Leadership either refuses to lead with values or tolerates poor values in their management ranks. Many customer-facing employees are left in their jobs far too long. The customer experience becomes a bad joke. This is why there is such a huge disconnect between the flawed advertising spewing forth from these brands; it hardly resembles the reality the customer encounters on a daily basis. Read more

If You Want Your Company to Grow, Fish for Whales

September 16, 2013/2 Comments/in About Us, Entrepreneur, Sales, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

You can’t get big without thinking big right from the start. As an entrepreneur starting a business, it’s easy to see yourself as “the little guy.” If you do, you’ll forever stay the little guy.

Too many times I’ve seen entrepreneurs name their companies after themselves (e.g., Tom Jones, LLC). Sometimes they stretch to seem bigger (e.g., The Tom Jones Group). Sometimes it’s a “creative” stretch (e.g., TJG Strategies – like we’re too dumb to figure that out?). Unfortunately all of those names are transparent and smack of small thinking.

The impact of small thinking is you’ll never get the big opportunities. As a B2B company, you’re looking to land the whales – those huge companies who will buy massive amounts of your products or services. If they get the sense that you’re small, they’re not going to give you a chance to serve them because they worry about supply disruptions, financial strength, and your ability to meet their gigantic needs. This is one of the reasons I went with thoughtLEADERS from the start rather than “The Mike Figliuolo Group.” A corporation is much more willing to work with another corporation than they are to work with an individual.

Fortunately, the answer to this problem is quite simple.

How to Sell Without Selling

July 8, 2013/2 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

I hate salespeople. I especially hate the ones who doggedly pursue me hocking their wares even after I’ve repeatedly told them I’m not interested. The worst of the lot end up with a special caller ID in my phone so I know what to do when they call: “Don’t Answer,” “Moron – Don’t Answer,” “Clown from New York – Don’t Answer,” and for the worst offender, “DON’T &$^%@*&@!* ANSWER!”

I asked myself the other day if perhaps I have a similar caller ID in a prospect’s or client’s phone. I’m hoping I don’t (and if I do and you’re reading this, I’m sorry I was so pesky at some point and hope you’ll take my call next time). I’d like to think I’ve found a way to sell without selling which leads people to want to pick up and take my calls. Before you stop reading and say “I’m not a salesperson” – keep reading. We’re always selling. Whether you’re out searching for a job (selling yourself), looking to hire someone (selling the role and your company), or convince people to adopt a recommendation (selling ideas), you’re always selling something and the following guidance can help you be more successful in those efforts.

So here’s the trick to sell without selling: stop selling.

Huh?

When you’re selling, you’re pushing a product (product, service, yourself, the role, etc.). When you’re pushing, you aren’t listening for the needs of the buyer. If you’re not meeting their needs with what you’re selling, they’re not going to buy. Period. Or if they do buy, they’ll do so grudgingly and will only work with you that one time. There’s a better way to sell that will get you better results.

Grow Your Business by Not Charging for Your Services

June 3, 2013/10 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Sales, Strategy, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

Want to grow your business? Give it away.

I love the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Great tunes especially at 3AM on a Friday night. They’ve also got an incredibly relevant message for how you can grow your business: Give it away, give it away, give it away now! (I’ll spare you the repeats).

No. I haven’t fallen and hit my head again. I routinely give away our stuff. Our services. Our content (ummm… yeah, you’re reading a FREE blog full of our intellectual property and the only price I ask is comments and telling your friends – you are telling your friends, right?). But I give it away deliberately and with purpose.

Have you ever been in that “free seminar” that was nothing more than a disguised sales pitch? Infuriating, huh? Did you buy the speaker’s stuff? Didn’t it grate on you when they’d say “so those are the first two steps in our secret ten step process. Buy the other eight steps for just $999.99!”

Those folks aren’t successful long term. They need to learn how to give it away. So do you. Allow me to explain. Read more

How Partnering with Your Competitors Can be Good for Business

May 1, 2013/4 Comments/in Guest Blogger, Sales, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

Today, Erin Schwartz of 123print.com discusses the benefits of cooperating rather than competing with your competitors.

The traditional approach in business is to regard competitors as enemies. In keeping with that philosophy, when a competitor succeeds, wins a customer, or lands a deal, the result is lost business opportunities for you. However, that old attitude toward competition needs an adjustment if you’re going to adapt to the realities of the modern business world. These tips will shed light on how working with your competitors can actually enhance your business.

Distinguishing Yourself

If you are competing with another company for the same customer and you’re both offering the exact same goods or services, you’re likely stuck in the dog-eat-dog mentality. In that kind of business culture, it’s difficult to partner with competitors, and success usually means lowering prices. No business owner wants to slash revenue in order to succeed and there are things you can do to avoid getting caught in that kind of uninspired business model.

Rather than offering identical products or services that others already offer, aim for specialization. If you differentiate yourself and find a unique niche, you’ll ultimately improve your business because you’ll have an easier time focusing and striving for improvement. By concentrating on your strengths, you may appeal to a smaller market, but you’ll have that market cornered. And if your would-be competitors adopt the same approach, you can easily refer customers to one another.

Referrals from Competitors Carry Great Weight

Read more

Perception Is Reality: 8 Steps for Changing How Others See You

April 17, 2013/7 Comments/in Books, Career, Guest Blogger, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest post is from Joel Garfinkle, executive coach and author of Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level (CLICK HERE to get your copy). While all our guest bloggers are great, every once in a while a guest writes a post that I read and say “I wish I had written that!”. This is one of those posts. Enjoy!

James is an up-and-coming sales manager for a Fortune 500 company. He sees himself as outgoing, friendly, fast-moving—a real deal maker. Some of the people he works with, however—as well as some of his clients—see him as a fast-talking backslapper and a bit of a phony. Which perception is accurate? And why does it matter?

The “perception is reality” adage is most often applied to the way each of us sees our own environment. If we see the glass as half full, we will operate from that reality and the glass will always be at least half full. But what if we turn that adage inside out? What if the reality we’re experiencing is due in part to how others perceive us?

Carly Fiorina, former Chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, stated: “Leadership is a performance. You have to be conscious about your behavior, because everyone else is.”

Let’s revisit James for a moment. He sees himself as a deal-maker, but lately the deals have been drying up. He’s having trouble getting appointments, even getting clients to return his phone calls. And the people on his team are working around him, leaving him out of important conversations and meetings. James is in serious need of a perception correction. So how do we create the “me” we want others to see? How do we change perceptions? There are a number of actions we could take but we need to begin with behavior.

7 Proven Steps for Increasing Sales

March 27, 2013/1 Comment/in Books, Guest Blogger, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by David and Marhnelle Hibbard, authors of Soar Selling (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

Many salespeople have a love-hate relationship with sales. They love the profession, but they often hate bringing in net new logos. It’s the classic case of wanting to have it all without the most dreaded aspect of the process.

If you’ve been in the business of selling for many years, you know that most of your new business will come from old clients, repeat customers, and a referral here and there. But isn’t it time to go beyond just doing well and instead create exceptional results? Of course it is … and that means making “the call”—the dreaded cold call, that is.

Why is a simple phone call so dreaded? Why is calling into a new account so hated? So resisted?

After two decades of leading sales pros, we have found that if there is no pain “I am doing just fine the way I manage my business” or there is no vision of what is possible “I am comfortable to stay with business as it is”, then there is no change. However, if you want to create new results, you need to get out of your comfort zone and into a new way driving your business.

So the question begs itself, do you want to create substantial results this year? How much is substantial? Do you want a 5% increase, a 30% increase, a 50% increase? No matter what the percent of increase, if you are interested—NO, DRIVEN—to create exceptional results, you need to take a fresh look at a technique that will rock your world and deliver on your efforts.

That technique is cold calling. Go ahead and say it: “Cold calling is an out-of-date approach to finding new business,” “I’ve been in sales for a while, so I don’t need to call cold,” or “calling cold is for rookies.” Right?

WRONG! Read more

The Crazy, Backward Sales Technique That Will Make You Rich

March 20, 2013/3 Comments/in Communications, Guest Blogger, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Robert D. Smith, author of 20,000 Days and Counting (CLICK HERE to get your copy). Here’s Robert…

If you’re in sales, you like the word “Yes” a lot more than the word “No.”

“No” is just a word you’ve learned to live with. You tolerate it as a reality of the job, as a permanent obstacle you will always have to work to overcome.

But what if it didn’t have to be that way? What if, instead of pursuing the “Yes,” you dedicated all your time to seeking out the “No’s”?

What if looking for “No’s” actually got you more conversions than you ever saw when you worked so hard chasing down the “Yes”?

Well, forget “what if.”

Here’s the truth—“No’s” will make you rich.

Let me explain.

How to Differentiate Between Experts and Fraudsters

February 4, 2013/9 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Innovation, Sales, Social Media /by Mike Figliuolo

Warning: this post is a bit of a rant (but does have a story and some practical advice). Does it seem like every day there’s a new pile of “experts” cropping up on every subject imaginable? Social media expert. Blogging expert. Communications expert. Strategy expert. Wingdings font expert. It’s enough to make me gag. Sorry but having a bunch of twitter followers or being at the top of the twitter elite for a podunk little town doesn’t make you a “social media expert.”

Even worse than the seemingly-viral proliferation of these “experts” are the egregious rates they expect for their services. Just because you call yourself an “expert” it doesn’t mean you’re entitled to the fee levels “real experts” charge (then again, if you’re the individual hiring an “expert” and paying them ridiculous fees, I can’t save you from your own insipidness).

Lastly, the worst aspect of these “experts” is the damage they can do to your organization. In some cases I’d love to sue some of these folks for malpractice of the trade they proclaim they’re an expert in.

So how can you as a leader of your organization protect yourself from the damage false experts can cause and how can you find the real experts among that mess? How can you ensure the expert isn’t like the false tailor and you end up like an emperor with no clothes?

It all boils down to asking the right questions. Read more

How Unexpected Savings Can Cost Your Company Millions

January 2, 2013/5 Comments/in Books, Business Toolkit, Communications, Guest Blogger, Leadership, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Paul Smith, author of Lead with a Story (CLICK HERE to get your copy). You can learn more about him at the end of the post. Here’s Paul…

The best lesson I ever learned about financial management came from a guy whose budget I was supposed to keep tabs on. In 1997 I had just taken the job of Finance Manager at manufacturing plant in California. If you’ve ever worked at a high-efficiency plant, you’ll recognize the culture. We measured everything: quality, throughput, inventory, safety, on-time delivery rate, and of course, cost. Every engineer in the plant had a target to hit on multiple metrics and wanted to exceed them all.

With most measures, doing better than expected was a good thing. But with cost, our objective was to spend what we forecast, plus or minus a margin of error. If you spent significantly less than you forecast, it didn’t mean you were great at saving money. It meant you were lousy at forecasting spending. And as the plant Finance Manager, my job was to make sure we delivered our cost forecast—no more, no less.

At one point during my first year, we underspent our forecast several months in a row. I met with the engineers in charge of departments that spent the money, trying to convince them of the importance of forecasting better. I was doing an awful job of it. It just didn’t make sense to them. How could spending less than expected be a bad thing? Explaining that it made me look bad on my performance appraisal didn’t seem to win any sympathy. And my theoretical discussion about the value of keeping financial processes within control limits just drew yawns.

After I exhausted every explanation I could think of, Mitch Weckop stood up. Read more