Monthly Themes Drive Focus and Direction 

When the former President of Aurora, Michael Quinn, instituted this activity into our weekly meetings, I originally thought we could not sustain it.  Secondly, I thought the reps would react to it in a negative way, saying that it may be “fluffy” or not applicable to their success.  We’ve been doing it now and for over a year and the response, participation and the quality of perspective the team shares has been great.

Each month we pick a company theme.  Past themes included Winning, Momentum, Skill, Planning, and Execution.  The theme always correlates to what we feel is needed to drive the necessary behavior and ultimately results during that particular month.  Then, each week, the leadership team selects a quote that best supports the theme and direction for the week.  We start each Monday morning call with the quote and ask for perspective from the team members.  It’s a 10 minute exercise that sets the tone for the call and the week.  Throughout the call we draw upon it and refer to it as the week progresses.  The quote often serves as guiding light of sorts.    

We are in the midst of a merger and as you can imagine there is still a lot of anxiety around territory alignment, rules of engagement and  team consolidation.  Perseverance seemed like a great theme for February as we need everyone to stay positive and focused on doing the right things.

Although the themes change monthly, you can imagine how they can build on each other.  Often account executives recall the lessons from previous months and apply them to a daily situations months later. 

I always send the quote and any video links the night before, so the team members have a chance to reflect on their interpretation and we don’t waste time during the meeting watching videos.  This week’s Video is definitely worth a look.  You probably have heard of Amy Purdy.  Very inspirational story!

See today's email with the weekly quote and video link below. 

Team,

I hope you had a great weekend.  Below is our quote of the week and a link to a short video.  I think both support our February theme of  “Perseverance” very well.  I look forward to your comments and perspective during our call tomorrow morning.

Quote: “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier”. - Colin Powell

Video:  Living beyond limits

"You're Welcome" may not me the right response!

Have you been programmed to say "you're welcome" every time someone says "thank you"? Adam Grant, Wharton professor and author of GIVE AND TAKE give us a new perspective on the often used phrase.  (I love the last part of the article)  Read on..

Are you in your perfect job?

What is your definition of a perfect job?

As I consider changing careers, I have pondered this question quite a bit lately. It's not easy because there are many factors that go into it. Here are my top items that came to mind right away. I'm curious what you think.



The Work
Obviously the work itself has to be meaningful, add value to society and is needed in the world ("Gung Ho" by Ken Blanchard). There is nothing better than a client feeling better off today because they partnered with us and we made a significant difference. Do you love it? Do you wake up in the morning with excitement ready to take on the day? Friday afternoons, do you wish it was Monday? If you do, you have found something special. At the perfect job we are really good at it or at least have the propensity and willingness to improve. Skill, Knowledge and Attitude are our responsibility. Most organization worth anything will provide opportunity and training to make us better, but its up to us to take advantage of it.

Leadership
At the perfect job, we love our boss. He or she sees our hidden talents and is able to bring out the best in us. I don't need them to be a friend. I want the tough conversations and a high level of accountability, but I also want to know they have my best interests in mind without hidden agendas. I also want leadership that is transparent and invests in the employees providing great training and tools that make work easier. There have been times where I felt like I was asked to rake a 12 acre field and given forks to do it with. Don't get me wrong...I welded 100 forks together and got it done, but at my perfect job the leadership will make the right investments in the infrastructure to make work productive, efficient and effective.

The Team/Culture
Co-Workers on your team and the company can make a huge difference. If you do not fit the culture of the organization, it can make for a long day. In my career, I was fortunate to be part of several teams where it felt like "corporate nirvana"; twice as a sales rep, once as a manager and once as a senior leader. That's pretty good considering many people never find that team and culture fit. In every situation the players were competitive, driven and cared about each other. We collaborated, fought, competed and always had each other's backs. If you stepped out of line it was never the boss who addressed the issue. We "policed" each other...with a net, a net that caught you from falling, not one that caught you doing something wrong.

The Money
Although many of us have thought about just working for "the love of the game", unfortunately the banks don't take love as a form of payment for our mortgage and car payments. The perfect job is one that pays you what you are worth and gives you the opportunity to make as much as you want as long as the results support the reward. At the same time, we have to be careful not to chase money. One of my mentors told me that if I do the right things, invest in myself and work hard, money will always chase me. So far, his advice has been... "right on the money!" (pun intended)

I'm sure there are other critera that make up the perfect job. What are yours?

The one thing "bad days" have over "good days," is that they're completely optional.Happy Monday!

What Separates the Sales Pros from Sales Joes

Many sales people spend years working for a company before they turn their "job" into a "career".  Have you made the turn?  To see where you stand, click here and watch my short video.  I think you will know right away where the "pro's" fall.

Enjoy!

My Mom is a Hero!

My Mom is a hero and I can prove it!

As a very young girl, she survived through the end of WWII while taking shrapmetal in her arm when German tanks tore through her town in war torn Poland. She helped her single mom through the tough times when my grandfather decided to start a new life in South Africa. She saw the value in education and studied to gain a Phd in Chemistry while caring for our dying father. Became a widow at 39, and never allowed my sister and me to feel like we lacked anything. She took us to England in 1974 so that we could learn English and have an opportunity others would not. For a year and a half she worked as a seamstress so we could pay for the one room the three of us lived in. In 1976 she applied for a job as a Chemist at the Woods Hole Oceanography Institution and got it! Then, took a leap of faith, left it all behind and took us to the US so that we may have a better life outside of Communist rule. She built a house, made it a home, and kept the doors open to anyone who wanted on needed to come in. She bought more homes (and made one bigger) so that her kids and grand kids will have ties to Cape Cod for years to come. When most moms her age sit in rocking chairs knitting sweaters, she skis with her grand kids or swims across the pond for exercise. My Mom is a hero not because she's she made a great life for herself, but because she has always worked hard so that others can have it better.

We love you, Mom! Happy Mother's Day!

Jarek and Kasia

6 Ways to Handle Rejection

I’m someone who has a need to be liked. Although I have improved with great coaching and awareness, you can imagine that I do not like rejection. If you’re like me, you will benefit from these steps I developed over the years!

1. Be the Best at What You Do

Study, train, practice all aspects of your profession. Being a subject matter expert at your craft will not only reduce the amount of times you lose to your competition, it will also build your confidence to move on and go after the next sale. Inspired to improve, you will not walk away with a inferiority complex.

2. Take It Personally!

I know everyone says not to. I say you should. There are always things you could have done differently to improve your chances of winning. Lacks of knowledge, skill or attitude on your part probably lead the customer to go with someone else. It’s very funny to me when I ask a representative or manager what they could have done differently and the answer is “nothing”! There is always something! Only those who take it personally will be motivated to learn from their mistakes or omissions!

3. Know Your Stats

The best baseball players in the world fail 7 out of 10 times. Do you know your stats? You averages? Do you know how many calls you need to do to get one appointment? How many appointments lead to proposals and how many proposals lead to closes? Knowing your stats will allow you to deal with the losses. When you know your stats, regardless of your skill level, you realize that a win is just around the corner. It’s a numbers game!

4.Get Customer Feedback

Ask your customers what you could have done better and don’t settle when they tell you that you lost because of price! This will work for rejection on a sales call or a phone call. Can you imagine what you will get when you call a customer who hung up on you the week before simply to learn what you could have said differently in order to get an appointment? Wow! Try it!

5. Go for NO!

It takes 5 “no’s “ to get a “yes”! I heard of this 22 years ago and it’s still true today. If you get a no and take steps to improve or add value with every call after that, your persistence will be rewarded. If all else fails just remember this…”Sticks and stones will break my bones, but No’s will never hurt me”

6. Change your Paradigm

Personally I have never lost a deal. My customers, however, have made several poor decisions! Enough said!

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Nido Qubein: Leaders Go From Communicating to Connecting

Great communication is not enough! You must connect with people!


I never heard of Nido Quebein until today. Found him on YouTube and became an instant fan!

The power of the word "AND".

Several years ago I attended an annual luncheon of the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce.  The presenter was Kat Koppett, a Training Director at the Mop and Bucket Co., Capital District's premiere improvisational theatre company. Kat  is an accomplished speaker with corporate experience. MopCo uses improvisation to teach teamwork, collaboration and goal setting to business leaders through the use of improv.


What I learned during that luncheon changed the way I speak, how I think and how I react to people. Not only did I learn the power of the work "AND" , I also learned the negative aspects of the word "BUT".


After the introductions Kat asked 4 audience members to come up to the front of the room and stand in a line facing the crowd. She then set the stage and instructed them to make a statement with the rule that the next person in line had to start their sentence with the word "BUT". The topic was... "We're planning for a business meeting in London"


Here is how it went:


Person 1: “We're going to have a meeting in London”
Person 2: "BUT it rains there”
Person 3: "BUT the traffic is terrible”
Person 4: "BUT the people there don't like Americans”


By the time they rotated back to the first participant the energy in the room and in the contestants was noticeably low. The enthusiasm was not there. Does this remind you of a real meeting you recently attended, where the "BUT's" just brought everyone down leading to very little progress?

Kat then asked the group to do the same exercise and instead of using the word "BUT", the next person in line had to begin his sentence with "AND".

Person 1: "We're going to have a meeting in London"
Person 2: "AND we can bring our families"
Person 3: "AND there's so much to do at night"
Person 4: "AND we can get so much done"
Person 1: "AND I can see the Queen"
Person 2: "AND maybe we can invite guests"
Person 3: "AND we can raise some funds through our vendors"

The process continued for three or four turns with each person "building" on what the previous individual said. The excitement was obvious, the collaboration was evident and the room overall was engaged and focused. In improv and in business, we need more "AND's" in our people interactions.

I once wrote an email to my boss which went something like this. "Boss, I'm excited to inform you that the planning for our product launch is going great! All of the committee members are engaged, we have the venue picked out and the manufactures are reviewing the agenda."
His reply was "Thanks for the update Jarek BUT, I would speak with Bill to make sure he's on board." Ugghhh!!!  I wrote back to him and explained that I just attended a seminar on the usage of the word "AND" and suggested he rewrite his email like this: "Thanks for the update,Jarek AND I would speak with Bill to make sure he's on board." My boss replied with a ;-) and started to use the word "AND" instead of "BUT" at every opportunity.

Will you start using the word "AND" instead of "BUT"? Give it a try! While you're at it, get rid of "HOWEVER" too!

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What value does your work bring to the world?

"What was your most meaningless job?"

For the last 10 years, I've asked this question to many new hires who just entered into the office technology industry. As you can imagine I've heard many different answers including ice cream server at Dairy Queen, assembly line worker at a toy manufacturer and gas station attendant.

My follow up question is "what do you consider some of the most meaningful jobs in the world?" The answers I typically get are Doctor, Lawyer, Teacher, and Scientist. So what job is more meaningful, a doctor or a dish washer? Doctors save lives and that’s pretty meaningful. Dish washers clean dishes. I probably would not win this debate, but Ken Blanchard in his book "Gung Ho" insists that a dish washer's job is more meaningful than we think.

The example he uses is a college cafeteria kitchen where a young man in charge of washing dishes, allows dishes to pile up and while rushing to get them done, could potentially aid in students contracting bacteria and becoming ill from the unclean dishes. What if one of the students dies? What if the same student could have been a future Nobel Prize winner for discovering a cure for cancer? To some, this is a farfetched notion yet it does not diminish the value of clean dishes and the value of the work. So far I've been able to bring true value to every "meaningless" job a new hire has mentioned. 

In some cases, I have seen the value first hand. I have three kids and I see the joy every time they receive a toy on Christmas or a birthday. If I could only bottle the excitement during a trip to Dairy Queen or an Ice Cream parlor. The mornings when I'm running late and need to fill up with gas, I am grateful for the gas station attendant who showed up on time to open the station for the day.

Over the past 22 years, in numerous capacities, I have sold or helped in selling business equipment to thousands of customers. Until recently, even I have taken what I do for the world for granted. I don't save lives, produce cures, or teach future Nobel Prize winners. Or do I?  Xerography evolved from what many consider the greatest invention of all time, the printing press. Producing, managing and sharing documents has been at the core of human interaction since we were able to put ink on paper. With the invention of the printing press we have been able to impact the world by getting the information to the masses more effectively and efficiently than ever before. So what would the world be like without the printed word?

Could we introduce latest life-saving drug without the ability to review and sign the thousands of documents necessary for FDA approvals? Could our children learn in school without books, course packs and exams? What would you do at your job if you could not print or receive the necessary documents you use to run your business? (A Note to those who strive for a paperless world. Maybe our grandchildren will have a paperless answer. So far, I have seen more paper documents than ever before.) Needless to say, my industry has had a big impact on the world and I'm honored to be part of it. Regardless the line of work, everyone needs to realize that every job has a significant impact on something or someone!

Eight years ago, while at my previous employer, I called on a present account with a local sales representative. It was a major Toy Manufacturer with a centralized copy center. We had provided and serviced their production copier which was used to produce training material and other mission critical documents for the company. We were called in by the end user and copy center supervisor to discuss a problem she was having. As we walked in we noticed she was visibly upset with tears in her eyes. The documents which Jan produced for the board meeting had major omissions on the financial pages caused by debris on the transfer belt of their OCE High Speed Copier. The company printed onto three part forms and after every print run some glue from the preprinted forms would inevitably rub off on the belt. Our technician would be called into clean off the belt after every three-part form run. This time he must have missed a section which left a blank spot a different portion of every page. The company could not finish the financial section of the board meeting which frustrated the board members who flew in from different parts of the country. She then proceeded to tell us that she may lose her job over this issue. "I'm 55 years old, battling cancer, who will hire me?" she exclaimed while crying. There was little we could say. I'm not sure if she actually lost her job, but the impact of poor service on the individual and the organization was significant. After the incident, I made sure every technician understood the impact their service quality has on a person or business.


What value does your work bring to the world?


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