Sales Progress Blog

According to the experts the top 5 major forms of communications are:
(1) Face-to-face
(2) Telephone
(3) Texting
(4) E-mail
(5) Social media

The most EFFECTIVE forms of communication are face-to-face and telephone.  Keep this in mind when you need to speak to fellow employees especially when confronting someone. Bringing up an important issue may be more comfortable to do through email or text, but it can be totally ineffective.

Make sure you discuss important issues through face-to-face methods or at least  over the telephone if needed. In this overly connected world of social media, email, and text messaging meaning can sometimes be lost.  Written messages such as text or email leave your message open to interpretation.  People could take your message harder than you meant and become offended, or may fail to see the importance and blow it off all together. A real conversation is the only way to avoid the confusion.

Confrontation is never easy, but by facing the situation head on, you can ensure the problem will be addressed properly right away, and getting it taken care of right away means you can get back to work quicker. Using the right communication medium is the first step in developing strong communication skills.

If confronting someone face-to-face makes you nervous there are a few things you can do to put yourself at ease.  First, confront the other person when you are in a calm mood.  Attacking someone at the height of your frustration will only escalate the situation.  Second, practice what you want to say.  Having a script to go into the conversation with will help put you at ease and ensure you share everything you need to say. Third, if your really uncomfortable or the situation is a pretty big issue, ask a superior for help or even have them sit in on the conversation to help mediate.  A coaching session with your manager can help come up with the best plan of how and when to confront the issue. Being able to confront issues with strong communication skills is imperative to having a strong team, don’t let your comfort level or lack of skills create an on-going problem.

We would love to hear stories of communication gone wrong.  Share your stories or opinions below.

Shannon Gburzynski Sales Training Behavior, coaching, communication skills, employee training, Enhance Performance, sales coaching techniques, Sales Staff, socialmedia, team building, workplace training

You have worked your butt off all week and you made it to Friday, now it’s time to enjoy the weekend… Isn’t It?  For many professionals the weekend doesn’t equate to 48 hours of pure personal time, it’s actually quite clouded with work.  If you are a working weekend warrior there are a few things to think about, before spending your Saturday afternoon working instead of relaxing.time management, business opportunities, sales skills

1. Are you using weekend time to make up for slacking off at work, or poor time management?  You may think you are the hardest worker in the office because you are one of the only ones doing work on weekends, but if you are one of the only ones this could be a good sign you aren’t using your time during the 9-5 work day effectively.  Try to become conscious of how much time you spend socializing, or checking non-urgent email.  Maybe your spending a little too much time checking your Facebook or LinkedIn accounts.  Schedule your days out the night before, giving yourself the right amount of time it SHOULD take you to finish a task, then stick to the schedule.  You may find you get everything done when you don’t allow yourself the distraction of tasks not on your schedule.  Who knows maybe you could start enjoying your weekends again?
2. Does what your working on REALLY have to get done.  Weekends are meant to refresh you to make it through another hard working workweek, but if your spending your weekends also working you aren’t getting the break you need.  Before you fire up your computer or drag yourself into an empty office, ask yourself, “Could this wait till Monday?”  If it can wait and get done first thing Monday morning, then wait.

By taking a look at WHY your working weekends, it may lead to a great opportunity to develop your skills to further increase your productivity, business opportunities,and getting your weekend back.

Shannon Gburzynski Sales Training business opportunities, Enhance Performance, sales skills, sales techniques, time management, workplace training

A recent survey, conducted by Robert Half technology, shined some light on the use of technology and manners in the workplace. With the emergence of new mobile technologies, smaller and smaller laptops, and other portable devices comes a decline in our everyday courtesy for others. According to their work 51% of CIO’s surveyed said that the increased availability of mobile electronic gadgets has increased “breaches in workplace etiquette.”

A whopping 22% claimed that the increase in gadgets led to a significant reduction in workforce etiquette, while 29% said it decreased somewhat.

Think back to your last meeting, did you check your email from your blackberry, maybe you texted a client or friend?  Have you ever picked up a phone call when you were in the middle of a conversation?  We have all done it, or had it done to us, and although we are aware these activities can be rude, they continue to happen.

The top 5 rudest activities identified by the survey were:

1. Multi-taskers who email or text message during company meetings. While for the most part multitasking abilities are regarded highly, don’t do it at the expense of paying full attention to what others have to say.
2. Workers who send emails instead of having conversations face to face. Try to make at least 80% of your in house communication in person or over the phone.  Talking is most instances is actually quicker than email, and leaves less room for misinterpretation, plus it helps team building.
3. Workers with big mouths, who constantly talk to loudly while on the phone.  Welcome to 2010, they have done marvels with reception and phone quality so there is no need to yell into the phone.  Still having troubles? Maybe it’s time to update your phone or carrier?
4. People with blue-tooth’s permanently attached.  Are you crazy or just really busy, sometimes it’s hard to tell.
5. And workers who tried to be polite by putting their phones on vibrate, but then neglect to shut off the buzzing while in a meeting.  If you’re expecting an important call or message leave your phone on vibrate, but in your pocket so only you know when it’s going off, otherwise turn it to silent just to be safe.

Everyone should become more aware of their manners with regards to technology.  If problems continue to get worse, it may be up to management to put rules in place, so ensure the happiness of their entire staff.  Technology helps businesses run easier, but lets make sure it doesn’t come at the expense of basic courtesy.

Shannon Gburzynski Sales Management, Sales Training Behavior, Blunders, employee training, sales effectiveness, sales skills, team building, workplace training

According to independent consultant Joe DiDonato , in his article “The Future Workforce” published in the December/ January edition of E-Learning magazine, training is leaving the classroom in favor of more interactive and successful training methods.  He looks to the emerging overload of new information and proposes the best new model for training to be

20% Classroom
30% Non- Classroom
50% Performance Support

It’s important to note that 80% is to occur outside of the classroom! Keep this in mind as you consider your new training efforts.  If the proposed program includes almost exclusively classroom training, then you should reconsider it.  Successful training now requires more than one-day workshops. Training reinforcement activities, management coaching, and real world problem solving are all now imperative to successful employee training and retention.

Research by Sales Performance International supports this shift, according to them participants of typical sales training methods forget half of what is taught within 5 weeks.  Protect your investment in your employees by choosing a program that supports retention of skills and changes in behavior.

For more information on picking a successful training program, download our free whitepaper : Four Steps to Sales Training Success.

Shannon Gburzynski Sales Management, Sales Training business coaching, coaching, effective coaching, employee training, Enhance Performance, free whitepaper, Learning, learning strategies, managment training, sales coaching, training and development, training reinforcement, training techniques, workplace training

We constantly talk about the importance of coaching, and tips or strategies to do it better, but why should we incorporate coaching into our organization anyways?

Here are the top 7 reasons why your organization needs to coach it’s employees.

1. Employee Retention, research proves coaching increases employee retention, which therefore decreases hiring costs.
2. Managers who get close to employees work can solve real world challenges.  A manager’s knowledge is one of the best resources an organization can have, coaching allows managers to have insight into their employees work allowing them to apply their knowledge specifically to real world issues.
3. Coaching creates better succession planning due to internal talent growth.
4. Coaching creates an organizational energy of growth and learning.
5. Programs build coaches within all leadership circles.  The more coaches an organization has, the more “performance-improving” employees it will have.
6. Business requires employees to constantly grow and develop new skill sets.  Organizations with managers who are coaching create a competitive edge because they become more adaptable to needed change and growth.
7. Employees who experience a continuous increase in skills and work performance actually become more open to change and challenges.  This, in itself, is enough to start an organization wide coaching initiative.

If you would like more information on coaching your employees, attend our Free Breakfast Presentation: Why Coaching Builds Business Success , or email Tim Hagen at Tim@salesprogress .com for more information.

Tim Hagen Sales Training business coaching, coaching, effective coaching, Leadership, management leadership training, Manager, sales coaching, Sales Coaching Methodology, Sales Manager, workplace training