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A Conceptual Image Illustrating Business Agility With Dynamic Figures Or Symbols Representing Adaptability, Speed, And Innovation In A Corporate Setting.

Key Takeaways

  • Effective systems and processes reduce waste, increasing productivity and satisfaction.
  • Choosing the right tools can drastically improve your workflow.
  • Automation may help by streamlining repetitive tasks, saving time and resources.
  • Continuous improvement techniques ensure long-term success, responsibility, and adaptability.
  • You really can multiply your income in as little as 90 days using these system-based techniques

Why Effective Systems Matter

Efficient systems and processes are the backbone of any successful business because they reduce waste, save time, and increase productivity. Effective processes are even more critical because they help you focus on what truly matters—delivering value to your customers and using your team members’ talents. When processes are streamlined, employees can spend more time on tasks that require creativity and critical thinking, rather than getting bogged down by repetitive, mundane tasks.

The original efficiency experts focused on manufacturing processes and reducing the number of movements required. By identifying and eliminating bottlenecks they found ways to produce more units in less time, increasing its revenue without additional labour costs. This kind of efficiency boosted the bottom line and also improved employee morale, as workers found their tasks more manageable and less stressful.

There was a lot of resistance to bringing these same techniques into service businesses because of the danger of dehumanising relationships. It was a fair consideration which is why the focus in this article is on effectiveness of your systems, rather than pure efficiency. The reality is that doing the wrong things more efficiently won’t help you reach your goals in any area of life.

Maximising Potential Through Systems

Maximising potential is all about leveraging the right systems. Systems are structured frameworks that help you achieve your goals more effectively by analysing what is needed and applying imagination to design a process by which it can be done. Whether it’s a customer relationship management (CRM) system, an internal communications system, or even a simple project management tool, the right system can make a world of difference.

Systems help you to standardise processes, ensuring consistency and quality. They also provide valuable data that can be analysed to make informed decisions. For instance, a CRM system can track customer interactions, helping you understand customer needs and preferences better. This data can then be used to tailor your marketing strategies, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

System Secrets to Optimise Processes

Understanding Core Principles

Before diving into specific tools and strategies, it’s essential to understand a few core principles of system and process optimisation. These principles act as the foundation upon which all other techniques are built. The first principle is standardisation. Standardising processes ensures that tasks are performed consistently, reducing errors and increasing efficiency. This is about defining how a simple thing like acknowledging a receipt or completion of a task can be done – or  how the phone will be answered.

Another crucial principle is measurement. You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Therefore, it’s vital to track key performance indicators (KPIs) to understand how well your processes are functioning. This data will help you identify areas for improvement and measure the impact of any changes you implement.

Here at Life Puzzle, we quite enjoy the challenge of finding ways to measure things that our clients tell us “simply can’t be measured” – you’d be surprised by the ways we have found of measuring everything from friendliness to time-on-task – without intrusive keystroke monitors that demotivate your staff and make them feel like you don’t trust them.

Choosing the Right Tools for Your Systems

Choosing the right tools is a critical step in optimising your systems and processes. The right tool can make your workflow smoother and more efficient. However, with so many options available, it can be overwhelming to decide which one is best for your needs and the danger is that you’ll end up fragmenting your team’s attention and making everything more complicated.

Here are some tips to help you make the right choice:

  • Identify Your Needs: Understand what you need the tool to do. Are you looking for a project management tool, a CRM, or a system to track client touch-points?
  • Research Options: Look at various tools available in the market. Read reviews, ask around your network, compare features, and consider the cost. Budget and usage are key criteria.
  • Trial Period: Many tools offer a free trial period. Take advantage of this to see if the tool meets your needs.
  • User-Friendliness: Ensure the tool is easy to use. A complicated tool can end up being more of a hindrance than a help.
  • Simplify: The question to ask is: Do we need this? The answer may be, “Some of us find it really useful.” And in that case it’s wise to remember that your business is an ecosystem, not machine – not everyone needs to use every tool.

Effective Automation Strategies

Automation is a game-changer when it comes to process optimisation – especially in service businesses. It helps in streamlining repetitive tasks, saving time and resources.

Here are some effective automation strategies:

  • Email Automation: Use tools like Keap or go High Level or HubSpot to automate your email marketing campaigns. This ensures timely communication with your customers without manual intervention and reduces human error.
  • Workflow Automation: Tools like Zapier can connect different applications, as can tools like Go High Level enable you to automate workflows. For example, you can set up a workflow that automatically saves email attachments to a specific folder in your cloud storage and helps with your filing.
  • Customer Support Automation: Chatbots can handle basic customer queries, freeing up your support team to handle more complex issues although, you need to be careful not to over-automate and turn away genuine customers.

Continuous Improvement Techniques

Continuous improvement is not a one-time effort but an ongoing process. Techniques like Kaizen, Six Sigma, and Lean can be applied in service businesses to help you achieve continuous improvement. These methodologies focus on identifying inefficiencies and implementing incremental changes to improve processes and although they were developed for manufacturing, they are extremely effective in service businesses because they help managers and team members to focus on the process.

Real-World Examples of Process Optimisation

Service Business Case Study

In the service industry, process optimisation can lead to significant improvements in effectiveness in customer retention, and profitability.

Let’s look at a case study of a company that successfully optimised its processes.

“A leading IT service company developed a system for following up with customers at various touch points throughout their contract. By ensuring that there was not only one staff member who engaged with the client, they benefited in three ways:

  1. When the primary contact had to leave quickly, they still had strong relationships with other members of the company;
  2. They were able to identify and address concerns early; and
  3. Because they listened to the client, they were able to develop a new service that was even more profitable for select accounts.

This dramatically improved their bottom line and led to some very happy customers.”

Success in the Retail Sector

The retail sector is another area where process optimisation can lead to significant benefits. A well-known retail chain implemented a new inventory management system that drastically improved its stock replenishment process. By using real-time data analytics, the company was able to predict demand more accurately and adjust its inventory levels accordingly.

This optimisation led to a 20% reduction in out of stock items and a 15% decrease in excess inventory. As a result, the company not only saved on storage costs but, also increased customer satisfaction by ensuring that popular items were always in stock.

Practical Tips for Unlocking Process Potential

Identifying Bottlenecks

Identifying bottlenecks is the first step in optimising any process or system. A bottleneck is any point in a process where the flow is restricted, causing delays and inefficiencies. In SMBs, the bottleneck is just as likely to be a person as a tool or operation. Process mapping and flowcharts are helpful tools because they help you visualise the entire process, making it easier to spot areas that need improvement.

For example, in a customer service system, a bottleneck might occur at the point where customer queries are followed up and solutions identified. If this step takes too long, it can delay the entire process. By identifying this bottleneck, you can discover where your staff need more training or more tools, or even where you need more people.

Engaging Team Members in System Improvement

Team member engagement is crucial for successful system optimisation. It’s your staff members who perform the tasks and they are almost always the best source of ideas for improvement as well as the best people to test that processes are accurate and up-to-date.

Part of creating a culture of continuous improvement includes individuals updating and checking their own procedural documentation on a regular basis. Since you’re giving them ownership of the system, you should also expect them to refine the steps. Likewise, grant them ownership over documenting those steps as they evolve..

You’ll probably want a system for reviewing major changes in process improvement, but in an SMB your team members should be responsible for ensuring that their processes and documentation are up-to-date. A team member who doesn’t have any interest in this might need some training so they understand what is required and have a framework for it – if they still resist it is probably because they are either overburdened or uninterested in supporting your organisational processes.

Setting Measurable Goals

Setting measurable goals is essential for tracking the progress of your system optimisation efforts. Measurable goals provide a clear target to aim for and help you evaluate the success of your initiatives. When setting goals, make sure they are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART).

For example, instead of setting a vague goal like “improve customer satisfaction,” set a specific goal like “reduce customer complaint resolution time by 20% within the next three months.” This goal is specific, measurable, and time-bound, making it easier to track progress, identify gaps in your process, and make adjustments as needed.

Using Feedback Loops Effectively

Feedback loops are essential for continuous improvement. They provide valuable insights into how well your processes are working and highlight areas that need improvement. There are several types of feedback loops you can use, including customer feedback, employee feedback, and performance metrics.

Customer feedback surveys provide insights into their experience with your products or services. This feedback can help you identify areas where your processes need improvement. Similarly, regular performance reviews, that focus on development rather than critique, can provide your staff with opportunities to give feedback, as well as insights into how well they are performing their tasks, and highlight any challenges they are facing.

Making Optimisation Sustainable

Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement

I’ve touched on this topic above, but your goal is to create a culture of continuous improvement rather than islands of improvement. This involves fostering an environment where staff are encouraged to identify areas for improvement wherever they see them, and ensure there is opportunity for changes to be implemented. 

Here are some ways to create a culture of continuous improvement:

  • Encourage Open Communication: Create an environment where staff feel comfortable sharing their ideas and suggestions.
  • Teach Staff how to Document Processes: Develop a company-wide procedure for documentation that covers what to document, how to do it, where to store their reports, and how frequently to review/test it.
  • Test Documentation: Every so often, challenge a staff member to ‘swap tasks’ with another person on the team to test their documentation. Frame this as a learning opportunity as opposed to a ‘gotcha’ exercise.
  • Recognise and Reward Contributions: Recognise and reward employees who come up with valuable ideas or highlight areas of improvement. This encourages others to participate and also fosters an environment where flaws or problems are seen as learning opportunities rather than failures.

Monitoring Progress and Adapting

Monitoring progress is essential for ensuring that your optimisation efforts are on track. Regularly review your KPIs to evaluate the effectiveness of your initiatives and make adjustments as needed.

Here is a simple table to help you track your progress:

Metric

Current Value

Target Value

Progress

Customer Complaint Resolution Time

48 hours

24 hours

50%

Production Output

1000 units/day

1200 units/day

83%

Inventory Turnover

4 times/year

6 times/year

67%

By monitoring these metrics, you can identify areas where you are falling short and take corrective action. For example, if your customer complaint resolution time is not improving as expected, you might need to revisit your process and identify any additional bottlenecks.

The Key Lies in Your Sales Team and Systems not in Production

When it comes to unlocking system potential, there’s a tendency to focus on production and delivery. In fact, focusing on your sales team and their systems often yields significant results. Many businesses make the mistake of concentrating solely on production, but the real gains often come from optimising the sales process.

Here are some key areas to focus on:

  • Sales Training: Invest in regular training sessions for your sales team to ensure their mindset is on point, and they are up-to-date with your latest product updates and case studies. We’ve found that incorporating communication and conversation skills training and practice in every training yields greater results than merely focusing on techniques.
  • CRM Systems: Implement a robust CRM system to manage customer relationships effectively and streamline the sales process. Ensure that you are using your CRM to it’s greatest effect and not overlooking capacity that is build into it.
  • Performance Metrics: Track key performance metrics to identify areas for improvement and measure the impact of your optimisation efforts.

Three System-Focused Steps to Achieve 300% Growth

Achieving 300% growth in 90 days might sound ambitious, but it’s entirely possible with the right strategies in place.

Here are three system-focused steps to help you achieve this goal:

  • Automate Your Sales Process: This is not merely a matter of using automation tools to streamline repetitive tasks, such as follow-up emails and lead nurturing. You can also use a system to remind team members to check in with current clients and get their feedback. Our rule is to automate the routine (which includes reminders) so your sales and delivery team can focus on high-value activities. Time slides by, and it’s easy to forget how long it’s been since you spoke to someone.
  • Optimise Lead Generation: Implement strategies to generate high-quality leads consistently so you are not dependent on cold outreach. This could include content marketing, social media campaigns, and networking.
  • Enhance Customer Retention: Focus on retaining existing customers and clients by providing exceptional service and offering unique and valuable products. Happy customers are more likely to make repeat purchases and refer others to your business.

When I talk to business owners, there’s an easy way to discover how they are really doing. When they talk about the production side of their business – products, administration, internal activity – it’s often a sign that they are struggling. When they tell me how many sales they’re making, and how active their sales team is, then I know that things are OK.

That’s why, if you want to three-X your business quickly (say, in 90 days) – focusing on your sales systems is a certain route to success. In fact, one of our programs: Confident Conversion: 90 days to More Cash, More Clients, More Impact helps businesses do exactly this.

Frequently Asked Questions

Process optimisation offers several key benefits, including increased effectiveness, reduced waste, improved quality, and higher customer satisfaction. By streamlining processes, businesses can achieve better results with fewer resources, leading to cost savings and higher profitability.

To start improving your systems, begin by identifying areas that need optimisation. Use techniques like process mapping and flowcharts to visualise your processes and identify bottlenecks. Engage your team members in the improvement process and set measurable goals to track your progress.

Several tools can aid in effective process optimisation, including:

  • Process Mapping Tools: Everything from physical whiteboards to process mapping computer tools can help visualise processes and identify bottlenecks. Neuroscientists have observed that physical representations can be more effective for objective observation and change than computer-based tools.
  • CRM Systems: CRM tools like Keap, go High Level, or HubSpot can streamline customer relationship management. Many industries have their own tools that are specifically designed to track the metrics that are most relevant and to streamline processes that are used daily.
  • Project Management Tools: Tools like Trello, Slack or Asana help manage tasks and track progress.
  • Automation Tools: Tools like Zapier or Integromat automate repetitive tasks, saving time and resources.

Engaging team members in system and process improvements involves creating a culture of continuous improvement. Encourage open communication, involve employees in documentation, provide training and resources, and recognise and reward their contributions. By doing so, you foster a sense of ownership and motivate employees to contribute to system optimisation.

“A close doesn’t always just happen at the end of a sale. If you know your sales steps and have a system, usually there’s an engagement process. Often we refer to Seth Godin’s Coffee to Marriage principle—you don’t meet someone in a bar and propose marriage. You build up to it.”

If your process optimisation efforts are not yielding the desired results, revisit your strategies and identify areas that need adjustment. Monitor your KPIs to understand where you are falling short and take corrective action.

Engage your employees in the improvement process and consider seeking external expertise if needed.

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& Training Programs
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Maximizing Efficiency In The Exchange Office Meeting
Key Insights at a Glance
  • Streamlining meetings starts with a clear, well-structured agenda.
  • Effective meetings have a direct impact on team productivity and morale.
  • Starting and ending meetings on time respects everyone’s schedule and enhances focus.
  • Encouraging active participation ensures diverse input and better decision-making.
  • Assigning clear action items and follow-ups translates meeting discussions into tangible results.

Hit the Ground Running: Setting the Stage for Productive Meetings

Nobody likes to sit through a meeting that drags on without a clear purpose. Yet, we’ve all been there, watching the clock, wondering when we can get back to real work. So, how do we transform meetings from time-sinks into powerhouses of productivity?
It all starts before anyone even walks into the room.

Defining Productive Meetings

Think about the best meeting you’ve ever attended. What made it stand out? Most likely, it was a combination of clear objectives, engaged participants, and a sense that the time spent was valuable and directly contributed to your team’s goals.

Productive meetings should:

  • Have a clear purpose and objectives.
  • Be inclusive and participatory.
  • Result in actionable takeaways.

Simple, right? Yet, achieving this can feel like herding cats unless you approach it methodically.

The Cost of Unproductive Meetings

Before diving into solutions, let’s talk about the cost of getting meetings wrong. Unproductive meetings can lead to:

  • Wasted time and resources.
  • Decreased morale and engagement.
  • Unclear action items, leading to poor team performance.

And the kicker? They can cost businesses an astonishing amount of money. When you add up the hours spent in aimless meetings across an entire organisation, you’re looking at a hefty price that you just paid for nothing..

One Simple Tweak: The Agenda Power-Up

Now, for that one simple tweak that can turn the tide: a well-structured agenda. This isn’t just a list of topics—it’s a roadmap for your time together, a promise to your team that their time will be well spent.

The Role of a Well-Structured Agenda

An agenda is like a compass for your meeting. It guides you through the discussion, keeps you on track, and ensures that every voice can be heard. It’s a tool that empowers everyone to prepare, participate, and propel the meeting towards its objectives.

With a solid agenda, you’ll see improved office productivity along with….

  • More focused discussions.
  • Better time management.
  • Increased engagement from attendees.

And that’s just the start.

Creating Your Agenda: A Step-by-Step Guide

So, how do you create this mythical agenda? Follow these steps:

  • Define the purpose: What is the goal of the meeting? Make it clear and concise.
  • List the topics: What specific items need to be discussed to reach your goal?
  • Allocate time: How much time will you spend on each topic? This keeps things moving.
  • Identify participants: Who needs to be there? Include only those who are essential.
  • Assign roles: Who’s leading each part of the discussion? This ensures everyone’s prepared.

Remember, your agenda is more than a list—it’s a commitment to efficiency.

Turning Agendas into Action: Techniques for Success

Armed with your agenda, it’s time to turn that plan into action. A successful meeting doesn’t just happen; it’s executed with intention and precision. Here’s how you can make sure your meeting isn’t just talk.

Starting on Time, Ending on Purpose

Respect everyone’s time by starting the meeting at the scheduled time. Waiting for latecomers sends the message that punctuality isn’t valued. Likewise, ending on time shows you value efficiency and planning. If you’re running out of time, schedule a follow-up to address unfinished business rather than running over.

Encouraging Participation: Tips and Tactics

Great ideas can come from anywhere, and everyone at the meeting should feel comfortable sharing theirs. Encourage participation by:

  • Asking open-ended questions.
  • Creating a safe space for diverse opinions.
  • Actively listening and acknowledging contributions.

This not only enriches the discussion but also fosters a sense of ownership and collaboration among team members.

Facilitating with Finesse: The Meeting Leader’s Guide

Leading a meeting is like conducting an orchestra – it takes skill, awareness, and the ability to bring out the best in every participant.
Here’s what you need to keep in mind:

Key Qualities of an Effective Facilitator

An effective facilitator is:

  • Prepared and familiar with the agenda.
  • Skilled in guiding the conversation and managing time.
  • Attentive to the group’s dynamics and energy.

These qualities ensure that the meeting stays on track and everyone stays engaged.

Maintaining Momentum and Navigating Detours

Even the best-laid plans can go off track. When discussions veer off course, gently steer them back to the agenda. If an unexpected but important topic arises, note it down for a future meeting. Keep the momentum going and focus on the goals at hand.

Maximising Meeting Output: From Discussion to Results

Discussions are only as good as the outcomes they produce. It’s essential to convert dialogue into actionable steps.
Here’s how:

Assigning Action Items

Before the meeting wraps up, ensure that every task has an owner and a deadline. Be specific about who is responsible for what and by when. This clarity prevents tasks from falling through the cracks and keeps the team moving forward.

Follow-Up Strategies That Ensure Accountability

After the meeting, send out a summary of the action items and deadlines. Schedule follow-ups to check on progress. These strategies foster accountability and help maintain the momentum post-meeting.

Remember, a productive meeting is one where every participant leaves knowing exactly what they need to do next. It’s not just about what’s discussed in the room, but about the actions that follow.

Measuring Meeting Productivity: Are You Hitting Your Marks?

Without measuring, you won’t know if your meetings are truly productive. Let’s look at how you can gauge the effectiveness of your meetings.

Identifying Metrics for Success

Success metrics might include:

  • Completion of action items within deadlines.
  • Participant engagement levels.
  • Adherence to the agenda and time frames.

These metrics will help you understand where your meetings are hitting the mark and where there’s room for improvement.

Continuous Improvement through Feedback Loops

Encourage feedback from attendees on the meeting’s effectiveness. This input is crucial for continuous improvement. Adjust your approach based on this feedback to make your meetings even more productive over time.

Harnessing Technology: Tools That Amplify Collaboration

Technology can be a game-changer when it comes to meeting productivity. Here’s how you can leverage it:

Choosing the Right Tools and Location for Your Team

If you are meeting online, – and most teams need some kind of online meeting platform –  choose a platform that meets your needs and integrates with your other tools. Remember that no matter how useful video conferencing is, human beings communicate and function best in social situations so keep that in mind. If you have important high-level issues to discuss or need a major breakthrough, science supports the fact that in-person meetings are more effective than virtual ones.

Integrating Productivity Apps for Seamless Workflow

Productivity apps are useful tools that help you keep track of agendas, action items, and follow-ups. Find apps that integrate with your team’s workflow and make them a part of your meeting routine to reduce the need for copying and moving items around.

Here’s a look at how you can integrate these apps into your meeting workflow:

Firstly, choose apps that everyone on your team can access and use with ease. Whether it’s a shared calendar for scheduling, a project management tool for tracking action items, or a collaborative document for real-time note-taking, the key is to find tools that fit seamlessly into your team’s existing workflow.

Secondly, use these apps to reinforce your agenda and keep your meeting on track. For instance, you can set up reminders for agenda items or use a timer to keep each part of the meeting within its allocated time slot. This ensures that your meetings are not only productive but also tech-savvy.

Finally, ensure that these tools are used consistently across meetings. When everyone is accustomed to the apps and platforms you’re using, they become second nature, allowing your team to focus on the content of the meeting rather than the tools being used.

The Ripple Effect: Impact of Productive Meetings on Team Culture

It’s not just about the immediate outcomes; productive meetings can fundamentally shift the way your team works together. They can change the rhythm of your workplace and influence the attitudes and behaviors of your team members. Let’s explore the broader impact of running effective meetings on your team’s culture.

When meetings are efficient, decision-making becomes quicker and more accurate. This creates a sense of momentum and progress that can be incredibly motivating for team members. They see the results of their collaboration and are more likely to bring energy and enthusiasm to their work.

Cultivating a Culture of Efficiency

Consistently productive meetings send a clear message: this team values time, clarity, and action. As this culture of efficiency takes root, it influences all aspects of work. Team members become more mindful of how they spend their time, more deliberate in their communication, and more proactive in their approach to tasks.

How Effective Meetings Enhance Team Collaboration

When meetings are run effectively, they foster a collaborative environment where every team member feels heard and valued. This sense of inclusion and respect can lead to increased trust and stronger working relationships, which are the bedrock of any high-performing team.

FAQs

In the journey to improve meeting productivity, questions often arise.
Here are some answers to common queries that can help keep your meetings on the right track.

The time allocated to each agenda item will vary depending on its complexity and importance. However, as a general rule, aim to keep agenda items brief and focused. For example, a good benchmark might be to incorporate simple tweaks to make your office more productive.

  • 5-10 minutes for updates or reports
  • 10-20 minutes for main discussion topics
  • 5 minutes at the end for action items and next steps

Adjust these times based on your team’s needs and the specific context of the meeting.

While a strong agenda is a crucial component of a productive meeting, it cannot fully compensate for poor leadership. The meeting facilitator plays a key role in guiding the discussion, managing time, and ensuring that the agenda is followed. A good agenda paired with skilled leadership is the winning combination.

When assigning action items, clarity is crucial. Best practices include:

  • Assigning each task to a specific individual
  • Setting clear deadlines
  • Ensuring the task is understood and accepted by the assignee
  • Recording the action items in a shared space accessible to all team members

Following these steps will help ensure that action items are completed effectively and efficiently.

Regularly evaluating your meetings is essential for continuous improvement. Consider a quick retrospective at the end of each meeting to gather immediate feedback. Additionally, a more thorough review should be conducted monthly or quarterly to assess patterns and make any necessary adjustments.

Common pitfalls in agenda creation include overloading the agenda with too many items, being too vague about the topics to be discussed, and failing to involve key stakeholders in the agenda-setting process. To avoid these, keep your agenda focused, specific, and collaborative. Ensure that it reflects the priorities of the team and that it is manageable within the time constraints of the meeting.

By addressing these FAQs and implementing the strategies discussed throughout this article, you can significantly boost the productivity of your meetings. Remember, the goal is to create a ripple effect that not only makes your meetings more effective but also elevates your team’s overall performance and satisfaction.

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Sales Graph Hand Drawing By Businessman

“When your sales strategy depends on scripts rather than relationships and communications, any challenge or economic change can quickly become a crisis.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

How to Increase Your Sales Conversion
Rate

When your sales team and management focuses on tactics rather than strategy, you start to see the onset of what I call “Sales Sclerosis” or a hardening of the sales arteries.

Just as hardening of the arteries in your body is indicated by specific health problems – and can kill you if you ignore it – so the hardening arteries in your sales training and sales systems can be seen from some subtle indicators, long before they actually kill your lead flow.

When I was called to diagnose and cure the sales woes of a major Australian recruiting company they were already seeing their new sales decline and struggling to keep existing clients in a changing employment economy.

It turned out that the sales team had all been put through a highly tactical-focused sales training by a well-known company and they had all been told to “follow the script, or else!” Even the sales manager had been seduced buy the reputation of this company and, as sales started to slow and client retention slipped the advice was, “Just keep doing this, you’re learning and these are typical learner struggles.”

It wasn’t until the results for the second consecutive quarter showed a worrying decline that they started to doubt the sales process because, of course, ‘the pandemic changed everything.’ The truth is, that it didn’t really change everything, it just caused some disruption in an economy that had been quite stale for some years. This kind of disruption is part of life, so it should be part of your business philosophy as well.

If you’re trying to hire a sales trainer, there’s one question you need to get an answer to: “Are you teaching a fixed sales methodology?” If they say, “Yes, that’s the fastest way to increase sales conversion rate;” you should realise that it’s also very limiting. The answer you are looking for is: “No,  we teach an empowering mindset and flexible tools so you can sell anything to anyone.”

How to Develop Sales Skills and Cure Sales Sclerosis

Like so many other areas of life, building a successful sales team that delivers results in-season and out-of-season starts with your philosophy of sales. It is far, far easier to teach sales using a fixed script and system… and that method can be effective in specific economic scenarios, BUT there is a glaring problem with this approach: when the economy shifts or the perception of the economy shifts, the methodology stops working and your sales team is stuck with a tool that no longer works.

That is what happened to the recruiting company I mentioned before. The team had been taught a methodology and told to use it no matter what! There were even penalties applied if they were found to have deviated from the script – and of course, as soon as sales calls were shifted to online, recording them became painless. Instead of being tools to help them achieve results, the changing climate turned this methodology into a trap that stopped them making sales.

That’s why I am absolutely opposed to sales trainers that remove autonomy, judgement, and personal development from the sales equation. Techniques and tactics are useful, but the most skilled sales people (those who consistently deliver outstanding results) also hone their communication, judgement, and personal skills so that they have the flexibility to analyse any situation and determine whether the problem lies in the solution they are offering or in the sales presentation they are making.

Why Sales Training is Important

Too many sales people are taught that there is only one way to sell a particular item. That was what had happened in this team, even though several of them had been selling fairly successfully for some years.

When I started working with this team, one of the members was ready to quit. He had simply got sick of being forced into an uncomfortable methodology. His sales numbers had been fine at first, so he had ignored the sense of discomfort, but as his results dropped he really started to hate his job and complained that is was dull, he hated the constant rejection, and team meetings were simply miserable.

His numbers didn’t change right away, but as soon as he was given the tools to read his audience, the freedom to respond to his judgement, and the confidence to determine the root of both rejection and acceptance, his attitude changed. He started to look forward to his sales calls again. Six months later, he had developed his own style of sales that was incredibly flexible and effective and the team had started turning to him to resolve tricky sales situations where the clients’ need was evident, but they were struggling to see the value.

 

Developing a Resilient Sales Strategy

A resilient sales strategy is one that works in every economy. You can identify people who have learned a resilient sales strategy by their confidence, strong communication skills, and flexible thinking. Often, these people aren’t your typical extroverted personalities – they can even be quiet and reserved – which just makes their sales presentation and follow up even more authentic and persuasive.

A resilient sales strategy is a lifelong skill because it can be transferred to any context and media: one-to-many, one-to-one, TV, face-to-face meetings, life audiences, virtual meetings and it results in positive outcomes for (almost) everyone involved.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to develop a resilient sales strategy for your or your team, go to https://3sales.me/morecc to discover more.

“If your habits don’t line up with your dream, then you need to either change your habits or change your dream.”

~ John Maxwell

Too Big, Too Small, or Just Right - Why Size Matters.

Recently, I was reflecting on a comment that Brittany Smith, a cognitive scientist with ADHD, made about habits that reinforced something I had already realised.

If your ‘habit chunks’ are too small, you don’t see any change and give up.

If your ‘habit chunks’ are too big, you get overwhelmed and discouraged.

BUT…

If your ‘habit chunks’ are just right… you get results that keep your motivation high and find yourself kicking goals week after week!

I see this frequently with my coaching and training clients:

Right habit chunk size = SUCCESS

Wrong habit chunk size = FAILURE

So, how can you know if you’ve picked the appropriate chunk size for each of your habits?

Signs that Your Habits Chunks are Too Small:

Habit chunks that are too small are usually related to pre-existing habits in any area of our life. We all have habits that drive how we act and react in every area of life and these are so much a part of us that we are hardly even aware of their existence.

The beauty of these tiny habit chunks is that when we decide we want to change something we can simply expand the habit we already have in place no matter what it is.

***

Sandra was extremely frustrated because she was trying to grow her referral program and couldn’t get the traction, she wanted so she started looking around for yet another tool or strategy to help her.

When we looked closely at what she was doing to generate referrals it was clear that she didn’t need to start over, she simply needed to amplify her existing referral strategy with one additional step. Once that was in place, the referrals started to flow.

***

It happens in every area of life:

  • Exercise programs;
  • Diet & nutrition;
  • Learning and retention;
  • Budgeting and saving;
  • Productivity…

If you feel frustrated with the results you are seeing and know that your strategy has worked for other people, then you can often see the transformation you want simply by amplifying the habits surrounding it.

If Your Habits Chunks are Too Big, Then...

…You’ll probably quit before you see results!

Oversized habit chunks are usually part of a new habit that you’re trying to establish to reach an important goal. Many habit-tracking apps will alert you if you consistently miss your goals and suggest that you edit the habit in order to succeed and you should pay attention to these alerts.

***

Al read the book Shorter and decided that he wanted to restructure his workday and test the hypothesis because the idea of accomplishing more important work in 30 hours than he was currently doing in 60 hours appealed to him.

He plugged the habits he wanted to establish in order to accomplish this into his habit tracker and got down to business… only to discover that day after day he was failing to check off half of the components he’d identified.

When we pruned those habits back to a smaller milestone goal and he was accomplishing them all, Al’s sense of accomplishment and confidence grew and he was soon ready to add another chunk to his habit, and then another.

The habit of success motivated him far more than his failures had and now he does have all the components of that original habit chunk in place.

***

When Your Habits Chunks are Just Right, Then…

Like Sandra and Al, you experience success – not just in achieving the outcome, but in the personal satisfaction of accomplishing a goal. This gives you the same kind of dopamine hit that some people get from checking Facebook, the news, or drugs.

Skipping your habit one day isn’t a disaster, but looking at your week and realizing that you’ve skipped more days than you’ve executed creates a negative neuro-feedback loop that actually saps your motivation to stick to your habit. That’s why you want a habit tracking mechanism that allows you skip days that you choose to without giving you a sense of guilt.

Contrary to popular practice, guilt is a terrible motivator. It’s when you feel good about your accomplishments that confidence grows – and with that confidence the ability to achieve even more.

Habit Transformation Challenge

Habits are such an important aspect of building lives and businesses that serve our goals. Habit-creation tools are one of the most powerful aspects of NLP because once established, habits run on auto-pilot and enable us to progress towards our goals faster and with less friction.

At LifePuzzle, we consider habit transformation so important that it is a part of many of our courses and trainings (both paid and free) including:

  • Periodic 5-Day Habit Transformation Challenges
  • NLP Mastery Academy Group program
  • NLP Certification courses
  • Confident Conversion Sales Academy
  • Outsourced Sales Manager and In-House Sales Trainings

If you are interested in our habit transformation resources, fill in the form below and we’ll let you know when we are running our next course.

I’m Interested in Habit Transformation

“Assumptions are dangerous things to make, and like all dangerous things to make — bombs, for instance, or strawberry shortcake — if you make even the tiniest mistake you can find yourself in terrible trouble.”

~ Lemony Snicket

What Dangerous Assumptions are You Making?

You probably know that not everyone shares your way of looking at situations and events, but have you ever thought just how often your assumptions lead you completely off-track?

Assumptions are risky in every aspect of our lives especially in the context of sales and business.

In my book, Confident Closing: Sales secrets that grew a business by 400% in six months and how they can work for you! I tell the story of a friend who came to visit me from Portugal and how my assumptions about what she would love to do nearly ruined her holiday before we addressed them.

In sales and business people often make some of the following deadly assumptions:

  • What the client actually wants;
  • How much the other person is willing to invest;
  • Whether they have already done substantial research and how much they know about the subject/issue;

Each of these cover a broad sweep of items that have implications for your sales process and more.

How Assumptions Affect Your Outcomes

Recently I was talking with a woman who was offering a program which was very appealing. I had followed a very effective process and jumped through all the pre-qualification hoops, so I was fairly well informed about her product and had just 3 specific questions I wanted answered directly before I said ‘yes’ to the offer.

I anticipated that we would discuss these during the sales call as promised and was rather shocked when we spend most of the call going over the information that I had previously absorbed and she didn’t start asking any questions that didn’t relate to whether I understood her proposition until the time was almost gone. In the end, I bought the program, not because the sales process was so effective… It definitely wasn’t… But because I already trusted this woman and knew the value she offered.

In this case, her assumption that I hadn’t properly understood the proposal or followed the pre-qualification process felt dismissive. Her inability to manage the time we had meant that she didn’t have time to answer my objections, and she (rightly, in my case) assumed that I respected and trusted her enough to make the commitment on the basis of what I had heard already. She took an awful lot for granted… And in a tight economy filled with uncertainty one thing is certain: you cannot afford to take the interest and trust of customers and prospects for granted.

Listen Carefully, So You Can Clarify Your Own Assumptions

I see sales people and business owners all the time who are so concerned that they won’t say the right thing, that they miss all the cues.

They assume that people aren’t biting on the bait they’re putting out there because they’re not getting the words right.  In a lot of cases they’re so caught up on what they’re going to say next or what they’re going to do next that they don’t actually hear the buying signs from the clients… And they definitely don’t hear the real questions that are being asked.

Most people actually tell you what they need if you’re listening carefully enough.  Sometimes I do role-plays with my clients where I actually get them to sell to me and it’s really interesting watching them make assumptions about what my needs should be rather than spending time asking probing questions and discovering what I really am concerned about.

No matter how well prepared you are with material that will interest your client in what you, the best thing you can do when you go into a sales meeting is to ask some questions and then shut up and listen to their answers. Then you listen some more – and if you open your mouth at all, it’s to ask questions about the things they are saying.

If you follow that advice, you will learn what you need to know to close the sale.  You would really be astounded to learn how many sales are lost just because we make assumptions about what the other person is looking for.

One of the most powerful tools of NLP is learning to ask questions and read the other person – not to manipulate them, but to hear what their problems and concerns really are.  The techniques I learned have closed more sales, and resolved more communication issues than I can count and this is especially important in a fragile economy where your prospects are bombarded with opportunities to spend.

What Are You Going to Do About It?

The Confident Closing Virtual Sales Masterclass will help you ask better questions, listen more effectively, and prepare you to develop a tight sales process that sees and seizes opportunities as they arise even in a tight economy.

Click the button below to learn more. You can attend live free of charge or purchase lifetime access along with some amazing bonuses:

Confident Closing Virtual Sales Masterclass

… but you can change that.

“The only person over whom you can and should have total control is yourself. Don’t give that autonomy away… especially to people you don’t like.”

Have you ever said things like,

  • “I will clean the bathroom when my husband stops leaving his toothpaste on the bench?”
  • “I will wash the dishes when my kids stop leaving dirty dishes in the sink.”
  • “I will forgive my mum when she apologises for making my life hell.”
  • “I will talk to my brother when he stops telling lies about me.”
  • “I will raise my prices when the economy improves.”

Ok, so your version may be slightly different to the examples above and could well involve serious physical and emotional harm, but I hope they’ve got you thinking about the ways that you are making your transformation dependent on someone who doesn’t care about your happiness or doesn’t realise that you are dependent on them for happiness.

If you often say things like this, then you are dangerously vulnerable because you have made your happiness dependent on someone over whom you have no control. Even worse, that ‘someone’ is often either impersonal (“the economy”), uninterested in whether you write a bestseller or not (“your kids”), or potentially malicious (the perpetrator).

Don’t Make Your Happiness Dependent on Someone Else!

The truth is, the only person’s behaviour and attitude you can change or control is your own. Unless you have the force of the law behind you, you can’t make anybody apologise, repay, or otherwise recompense you for any damages that you have suffered… and outcomes-at-law are often disappointing as families of murder victims often discover.

If that’s the case, then doesn’t it make sense to ask how you can control and change your own outcomes, without waiting for someone else to take the initiative? And, doesn’t the thought that you could control your own destiny and well-being excite you?

Tough Situations Can Be Overcome

Before I tell this story, I want to make it 100% clear that I’m not justifying abuse, violence, war, or other horrors. Sadly, they happen… and our best efforts don’t seem to do much to stop them. The past is past, we can only change the present and (indirectly) the future. I’d be betraying my own integrity if I didn’t share what I know about setting people free from PTSD, trauma, and other emotional chains.

One of my clients had been abused by a relative when she was 8 years old. She was 48 when we started working together and the scars of that abuse were affecting her work, her marriage, and her kids, as well as her health. During our initial H.O.W.T.O. Session I asked her if she really wanted to release the hurt and anger she had been carrying for so long. She said, “Yes,” so we went straight into a Time Line Therapy® process.

Thirty minutes later, she walked out of my office looking 10 years younger. Over the next few months as we continued to work on the habits and thought patterns she had developed every area of her life started to change for the better. Her health improved, her relationships with her husband and children were transformed, and opportunities opened up at work where previously she had been frustrated.

As she said, “Chandell, I realised during the H.O.W.T.O. Session that I’d been letting this evil man control my life for forty years! As if his original actions hadn’t been damaging enough! I love what’s happening in my life now, but mostly I love the fact that using Time Line Therapy® I didn’t have to dredge through the memory in order to release it. Before that process I don’t think there was a waking hour when he didn’t come to mind, since then, I’ve got bigger and better things to focus on.”

To the best of my knowledge she’s never met her abuser again, so she never got the satisfaction she’d clung to all those years, but she’s free of his power anyway and she’s gone on to do amazing things!

No-one Will Ever Know… or Will they?

“I’m great at covering up my feelings, so my boss will never know I can’t stand him.”

“My husband will never know how angry I feel…”

“My sister-in-law won’t know how much I despise her…”

In NLP we talk a lot about the role of physiology in communication. Your physiology includes your deportment, your facial expression, and your tone of voice. If you are angry, resentful, anxious or in any way secretly unresourceful others will detect it. They may not know what they are picking up, but they will know that something is incongruent and they will respond appropriately.

Therefore, quite apart from the fact that you’ll feel much better about

  • yourself,
  • your life,
  • and the situations you are facing,

It’s important to deal with your negative emotions and limiting beliefs for the sake of your communication and relationships with others.

This is Not Just a Personal Issue… it Affects Your Sales

In my book, “Confident Closing: sales secrets that grew a business by 400% in six month and how they can work for you” I talk about the fact that we’re all in sales. Everyday you need to sell your ideas, opinions, skills, and knowledge to friends, family, and colleagues even if you aren’t officially in a ‘sales’ position. Your happiness does depend on your ability to this successfully.

Unacknowledged limiting beliefs are often the reason why you fail to sell yourself and your ideas. Your listener or prospect picks up on your secret thoughts of inadequacy and you end up sabotaging your outcomes without realising it.

Visualise your greatest dream or highest goal:

  • On a scale of 1-100, how convinced are you that you will achieve it?
  • If you didn’t score 100%, what or who might stop you from achieving it?
  • When did you decide that?
  • Now ask yourself, what is there about this situation that I can control and what do I need to let go of to make that happen?

Most people will make excuses for themselves and provide reasons why they can’t move forward. If that describes you, then you have some issues you need to deal with so that you can achieve your goals faster and with less friction. If you’d like some help or want to learn more visit the Personal Breakthrough Session page on this site or email Ken: support@lifepuzzle.com.au and ask him to send you information about booking a Time Line Therapy® session with Chandell. This powerful technique can help you quickly and easily disperse the negative emotions and limiting beliefs that are standing between you and your goals.

#TuesdayTips

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to get on really well with almost everyone, while others are constantly complaining about the way other people treat them?  The answer probably likes in the flexibility of their communication system.

I used to have a very fixed idea about how people who liked me would communicate – it included smiles, positive words, and general encouragement (all good things, by the way).  The problem with my inflexibility in this area was that if someone was pre-occupied and didn’t really notice me one day I’d think I must have offended them which made me feel bad, and try to make things right.

As I studied and practiced Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) I realised that the problem wasn’t that I had an overpowering desire to be liked – the real problem was that I had such limited flexibility in my communications that I couldn’t really distinguish between people who were pre-occupied and people who didn’t like me.

We all have some people around us who we genuinely dislike and disagree with, but we also have a much a much wider group of people with whom we just ‘don’t really feel comfortable’ – and this is mostly a question of flexibility in communication.

Glass, Perspex, and Rejection

Which is stronger: – glass or perspex?  Most people in my Confident Closing workshops will say glass – although the engineering / practical types will ask questions about thickness and treatments.  Theoretically it’s true – glass is the stronger substance, but it’s not as resilient as perspex.  Resilience is a key characteristic in communication and relationships.

Because glass is brittle, if you put enough weight and pressure on it – it’s going to break.  Whereas the perspex has got some flexibility and so it’s actually going to be able to withstand more pressure.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a business owner, or just want better social relationships you need to become more like the perspex than glass if you want to survive and thrive.  You can guarantee that challenges will come your way at one point or another.  If you’re flexible, you’re able to deal with the situation more congruently, more resourcefully.

Communicating So That Others Hear You

When you focus your communication on the other person, you’ll quickly realise the truth of the Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) principle that says, “The person or the system with the most flexibility will be the one that controls the system.”  If you want to control the outcome of your conversations and sales meetings then you have to able and willing to respond appropriately in any given situation.  This means you have to be flexible in your use of communication tools – not tied to a script or even an outcome, but focused on the other person.

When you focus on your prospect, or your client and really listen to their communications – the words they use, their gestures, and tone of voice – you’ll pick up the cues you need to close more deals.  In some cases you’ll realise that your product or service isn’t appropriate for them, or that they’re just humouring you and that’s fine too, because the quicker you pick that up, the faster you can get out of there, and the less time you’ll waste.

What Do I Mean When I Talk About “Flexibility in Communication”?

We all have a preferred style of communication based on our filters [Link to post].  It doesn’t mean that this is the only way we communicate, it just means it’s our preferred style – and that style includes our choice of words, the speed at which we speak, and the gestures and tones we use.  The more we can use matching and mirroring to reflect the style preferred by the person we’re talking to, the more likely we both are to come away from our interaction feeling understood.

Flexibility involves understanding our own preferred communication style, and become observant when we are around others so that we can become aware of their preferred style of communication.  The more we do this, the more we will find that others like and understand us, and we like and understand them.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) focuses heavily on recognising communication patterns, and it’s one of the things we teach in our Confident Closing Workshop at Life Puzzle.

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By popular demand we have turned many of our multi-day workshops into multi-week online courses with a live day to kick them off. Learn more at https://businessgrowth.mykajabi.com/masteryoursales

#TuesdayTips

Our brain is assaulted by over 11million bps (bits per second) of information, but it can only process a tiny fraction of that – 126 bps to be precise.  So how do you decide which bits are worthy of attention?  That’s the role of your filters.  If you didn’t have filters, you would go into total overwhelm because of the differential between the volume of information that is coming at you, and the amount you can actually process.

You may be wondering what this has to do with your Professional Relationships … and the answer is that your ability to understand your own filters, and the filters other people use will dramatically affect your professional relationships and, therefore, your professional success.  

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) has a very clear and effective model that demonstrates how this works:

We interpret the external world through our five senses – through sight, touch, sound, smell, and taste.   Then your unconscious mind takes over.  It filters them through your memories, your beliefs about who you are, your values and morals that you have accepted from your parents or the surrounding culture, your language and whatever other filters you have in place, so that it can select the 126 bits that are relevant to you and group them in chunks of seven to nine pieces of information and make sense of them.

Therefore, your interpretation of those eleven million bits of information is going to be unique – completely different to any other person’s interpretation of the same information – and it will happen instantaneously and unconsciously.

Great … But how does that help me in my professional communications?

Imagine if you could instantly create connections with other people – connections and rapport that aren’t necessarily based on common interests, long-term interactions, or any other factors that you have no control over.  Would that make it easier to close sales and handle clients?

It did for me, and it has for many of my clients.  You see, our unconscious mind creates these filters so that we are able to handle the sheer volume of information that is coming at us, and we create a picture in our minds made up of just the information we decided to keep.  In Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) terminology we call this an internal representation.  This is as unique to you as your thumbprint – no two people’s filters are the same – and it explains why two eye-witness can give completely different accounts of the same event.  We all delete the information that we don’t think is relevant and we distort and generalise based on the filters we have developed so that we can reduce the information to manageable levels.  

Your internal representation is basically a mental picture about what any given situation means to you.  The details in this mental picture influence how you feel, which determines your physical response to the situation.  Then you use that mental picture to form a response.  If you are talking to someone your response will indicate what that picture means to you.

As a listener this means that if you pay attention to someone’s language, you can quickly learn about their filters.  Thus, whenever you are talking to someone you can speak to them in a way that bypasses their filters.

Language, Learning Styles and Preferred Communication Models

In the ongoing debate about education, you may have heard some of the discussion about learning styles.  I don’t actually agree with most of the discussion around this area.  The prevailing attitude puts people in boxes, rather than opening up new options and making them resources and I think that’s a criminal thing to do to anyone – especially a child!

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) respects people’s preferences – and acknowledges that if we want to build rapport with others, we need to go over to where they are, not expect them to come to us.  Communication styles are very similar to learning styles – we all have a preferred way of filtering the world – through visual, auditory, or kinaesthetic modes (and both our preferred learning style and our preferred communication style are usually linked).  If we can quickly discover a person’s preferred style of communication, and use language that reflects it we can quickly build rapport with almost anyone.

The best communicators in the world – the people whose words everyone listens to, even if they disagree with their ideas – have very flexible communication styles.  If you are speaking to a group, using language that resonates with a variety of communication models is ideal, if you are just speaking to a single person you will find it much easier to build your relationship if you identify their preferred mode of language, and use it with them.

Their pose will quickly change from resistant to responsive.  When we teach this in workshops and our students go out and practice identifying and using the appropriate model we usually get an excited phone call within a day or two from people who say, “I can’t believe what a change this has made!  I talked with X, who is usually quite stiff and resistant, and closed the deal we’ve been negotiating for 3 months.

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By popular demand we have turned many of our multi-day workshops into multi-week online courses with a live day to kick them off. Learn more at https://businessgrowth.mykajabi.com/masteryoursales

#TuesdayTips

“90% of your life is controlled by your unconscious mind, And only 10% of your life is lived consciously!”

When you think about it, that’s a scary statistic!

You may think that you are in control of your life, but the reality is that the way you process information and respond to situations is mostly done on autopilot.  If you’ve ever been in a situation and responded instinctively – or had someone respond to you and thought, “Where on earth did that come from?” you’ve seen the unconscious mind in action. 

It might be a strong reaction to some sound or smell that is totally out of proportion to the cause – like the feeling of sadness that wells up when you hear a song that your memory links to time of sadness or stress.  On the surface it seems like a totally irrational response, but the reality is that it is a deeply-rooted and natural outcome of a habit, belief, or experience that may be so deeply buried in your unconscious mind that you don’t even remember it.

In fact, while many people are aware that they have an unconscious mind they are usually unaware that the unconscious mind controls 90% of their lives.  That means that we are only consciously controlling 10% of our lives, the rest is directed by our unconscious mind – by the habits we form, and the attitudes we learn either deliberately or by chance.

How Learning Happens

When a baby learns to walk, a child learns to read, an adolescent learns to drive, or you learn a new skill, at first it demands all your concentration and you need to work really hard at it.  As time goes by most of those actions sink into your unconscious mind and you do them almost on autopilot.  That is why it’s so important to start out with good habits, and why your first lessons in any new skill are the most important.

We see it in top tennis players like Roger Federer – despite his very successful record he realised that he needed to make some changes in his game to stay at the top, so he changed his tennis racquet, and his coach, and developed a more aggressive playing style.  That didn’t come easily, and under stress he was still reverting to his former style at this year’s Australian Open – but it illustrates the point I’m making.  We can change our deeply engrained habits!

We can change our deeply engrained habits … but it takes conscious planning and some effort.

On the other hand, if the unconscious behaviours and habits you have are no longer working for you (even our worst habits usually worked for us at some time) then isn’t it worth the effort to change? 

I don’t know about you, but I’m a firm believer in the saying that: “Doing the same things you’ve always done, and expecting different results is insanity.”  If I’m doing something that isn’t working I want to find an alternative that will work for me, and help me get the outcome I desire.  That’s why I studied Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and became a Master Trainer – because I wanted to change my life, and help other people change theirs.

Facilitating that change through group training, and individual and corporate coaching is what gets me out of bed each morning.  It’s just so exciting to watch people go from one level of achievement to another as they retrain their unconscious mind and get it working for them, rather than against them.

Meta Description: The idea that you are not really in control of your actions and thoughts is pretty scary.  Most of us like to think that we are in the driver’s seat when really we’re operating on instinct.  Can we change that?

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By popular demand we have turned many of our multi-day workshops into multi-week online courses with a live day to kick them off. Learn more at https://businessgrowth.mykajabi.com/masteryoursales

#TuesdayTips

When we have a problem, we are constantly looking for a solution to that problem.  The difficulty with that is that energy flows where attention goes – so if we’re not careful we can end up having all our energy sucked up in experiencing the problem, rather than looking for a solution.

When you have something wrong – whether it’s a physical sickness, or depression, or whatever you are focused on the problem.  But that makes it grow even bigger in our minds, and sometimes in our bodies as well.  If other people know about the problem, they are also focused on it and so the whole issue snowballs.  The other aspect of this is that sometimes we get attention from other people because of our problems.  That’s called secondary gain.  Your problem attracts attention, so you go around telling people that you want to solve it, but you’re not really looking for a solution at all – or at least, not after the first few days, because you like the attention it brings you.

Another issue is called a double bind –  you’ve probably experienced this sometime (I know I have!)  We enjoy complaining about our problem, but it also gives us a reason not have the thing we want.   Like if I don’t have the confidence to ask for business, but I also don’t really want to ask for business because I think that would be pushy, that’s a great double bind.

We’ve all been taught things that aren’t necessarily helpful or even true, but they shape the way we react and they tie us up in knots.  It might be that you were taught that it was rude to ask personal questions – so you really want to know what’s going on in someone’s life, because you’ve hear rumours or seen things that make you concerned for them, but you truly believe it would be rude and prying to ask.  So you say nothing, but you still want to know – or you do ask and feel embarrassed, as though you were eavesdropping.

Let me give you an actual example – I had a client who was in direct selling and she came into the office to do a process called Time Line Therapy™ which is about letting go of negative emotions from the unconscious level and it’s a process that takes as little as 2 minutes for most people to let go of a major negative emotion – we do it for anger, sadness, fear and guilt.  So this lady comes in and we let go of anger perfectly, we let go of sadness perfectly, we got to fear – and we always ask the unconscious mind for permission to let go of the emotion.  So I said,  “Okay, so is it okay for your unconscious mind to let go of the negative emotion of fear today and for you to be aware of it consciously?” and she said, “No.”

So I reframed and said, “I want to remind your unconscious mind that its highest prime directive is to preserve your body and keep it safe and so holding on to this negative emotion is actually not in line with its highest prime directive.  So, knowing that, would it be okay for your unconscious mind to support us in letting go of the fear today and for you to be aware of it consciously, knowing that we can keep the learning and let go of the negative emotion.” And she said, “No.”

I was pretty curious about this, because this is the first time that this had happened to me – most of the time, with a bit of a refrain to the unconscious mind it loosens it up and they say,”Yes.”

So I said, “Well, could you ask your unconscious mind why? Just tell me the first thing that comes up.”

And she replies, “Because if I let go of the fear then I won’t have an excuse.”

Ka-ching! Secondary gain!  It’s a lot easier for people to accept you saying you’re afraid to make a cold call.  They’ll accept that because fear is an acceptable excuse and then people will feel sorry for her and make excuses for her.  Whereas if she says, “I don’t want to do it” which is what it was really about, people will say “Don’t be lazy, get over it.”  So by having that excuse or hiding behind the fear I can be okay with the fact that I don’t want to do what I should do and what I have to do.

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) teaches us that our unconscious mind wants clear direction.  What could be a clearer direction than focusing your thoughts on something day-in, day-out?  And if all your friends and relations are also focused on that thing then you really do have a problem!  Maybe that’s why our forebears didn’t talk about their problems – and perhaps the idea of a stiff upper lip has its advantages – as long as we can channel our thoughts as well!

The challenge is really to find a healthy solution to the problem of energy flowing where attention goes.

Here’s the simple steps I teach my clients:

  1. Acknowledge the problem, name it, and recognise how big it is (or not) – as long as you pretend it doesn’t exist you can’t deal with it effectively;
  2. State clearly to yourself (and anyone else you talk to) that you are looking for a solution, and set a (short) timeline for action;
  3. Don’t talk about your problem, talk about potential solutions and acknowledge your deadline to anyone who asks;
  4. When your deadline comes, take the first step towards the best solution you have – it’s easier to guide a moving ship than one that’s dead in the water.
  5. Find something positive in your life and focus on making that even better.

If you take those simple steps you’ll find that although they take discipline, they don’t absorb your energy completely and the end result is that you still have energy to get on with your other responsibilities which means you’re not making the problem worse by letting other areas of your life get out of hand.

Meta Description:  Problems need solutions, but we need to be careful not to give them too much attention or we’ll be consumed by them because energy flows where attention goes and the last thing you want is to put all your energy into a problem.

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By popular demand we have turned many of our multi-day workshops into multi-week online courses with a live day to kick them off. Learn more at https://businessgrowth.mykajabi.com/masteryoursales

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