Trains run on tracks for a reason

Trains run on tracks for a reason

Take the most reliable train on the UK network, the Parry People Mover, and put it on a Tarmac road. What happens? Well this great piece of simple technology will end up going all over the place, ruin the tarmac, have lots of disgruntled passengers, and become less reliable every minute it runs. In fact in a very short space of time it will be put out of service as it is of no use to anyone.

Such my friends it what we expose ourselves to each any every day. No, this is nothing to do with the train or tube you get to travel on to work each day. What it is to do with is the guidance system we operate within, in order to deliver the results we need for our organisation. It is the tracks the train runs on that makes it efficient and gives it direction. The ease with which it slides over the track makes each journey enjoyable.

So, to our business then. What are your tracks? Is it the strategy, the business plan, project plans, personal developments and career plans? Maybe it's the appraisal process, the performance systems or the CRM. Is it the relationship we have with our boss or our colleagues, our clients and suppliers?

Well, it's all of these and for most of us it is truly ALL of these. If just one goes wrong we are inefficient. When more that one goes wrong we become frustrated, annoyed, perhaps angry and stressed. What about if we workforce an organisation without these 'tracks' to guide and smooth our progress? The answer is as unthinkable as it is unfortunate.

Knowing how to develop these tracks and build our business around sound principles that create efficient organisations takes knowledge, skill and a positive attitude that they will deliver the results.

For evidence that they will, give us a call and we'll show you how.

Top Tips For Communicating In The Digital Age

Mark Fitzmaurice of Dale Carnegie, shares his top tips for communicating on social media platforms, in the Bdaily Business Network.

There’s no doubt that technology and social media has transformed the way we communicate, both in a work and home environment. For all the advantages however, there are various pitfalls that have the potential to damage your reputation and do you and your business more harm than good.

To mark its 100-year anniversary, learning and development organisation Dale Carnegie has updated and re-released its classic ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’, originally written in the 1930’s, to identify with the scenarios facing businesspeople in an age of increasing technology.

Many of the key principles Dale Carnegie set out all those years ago still apply today and have been adapted to suit the modern age. They include:

1. Take your criticism offline. Little good comes from public humiliation, whether it’s by Tweet or blog post. The rise of anonymous message boards and online comments seems to incubate negativity, but engaging in that kind of back-and-forth does little good.
2. Commit to self-improvement instead. Instead of telling other people what they could do better, save the harshest criticism for yourself.
3. Focus on other people’s interests, not your own. This might be a hard one to follow but social media users must resist the temptation to talk about themselves. Instead, ask about others, comment and inquire about their own updates, and focus on what interests them, not you.
4. Engage with others. Social media, after all, is all about interaction, and people use those platforms with the hope of hearing directly from their favourite author, celebrity, or company. Companies like Zappos take advantage of this fact and use social media to build their brands.
5. Smile. Recent research that analysed Facebook profiles found that people who frown in photos tend to be on the outskirts of social networks instead of in the centre of them. In other words, smiling gets you more friends (and influence).
6. Spread positivity. On that same note, if you can make other people smile, you’ll also grow your own popularity. Tweeting positive thoughts is far more effective than tweeting negative ones. In fact, skip negative Tweets and posts altogether.
7. Don’t argue. Has anyone ever won a back-and-forth over Twitter? Or by leaving snarky comments on an online article? Even if the answer is “yes”, the potential damage to your reputation by such an exchange makes public arguments bad ideas.
8. Engage and be responsive. One of the best way to build your network either personally or in business is to engage with others and be responsive to other people’s needs.
9. Be a good listener. Even on line, listen to what people are saying, look for the message behind the message, sometimes people will say things on line that they won’t say out loud, we just need to listen in a different way
10. Make other people feel valued and important. In any that you can, on line or off line if you make people feel valued and important they will be loyal to you and give you much more in return


For more information on how Dale Carnegie can help you in the digital age, contact us, or purcahse the How To Win Friends and Influence People In The Digital Age which is available in all good retailers.


Stephanie Fletcher

To continue reading this article visit
http://bdaily.co.uk/news/technology/10-05-2012/1336492916-top-tips-for-communicating-in-the-digital-age/

The value of Teamwork

There has been a new addition to my household recently. One which has bought uncontained joy into the hearts of my family and myself. It was a long and hard struggle to get their but the delivery eventually took place on Friday 11th May at 12:16pm. Comments from friends have poured in telling how beautiful the pictures I’ve taken are. I’ve wanted one for such a long time and to finally get one for so cheap I am over the moon. I never thought I’d see the day…. but today I can say, with a beaming smile across my face that I have my very own exercise bike.

I’m sure many of you have found yourself in the position I currently face. You’ve purchased an item and it has arrived in bits for you to assemble. You take out the parts and place them in random order on the floor. Taking out the instructions, you attempt to familiarise your self with pages of diagrams, complimented by very little written instruction, as though the pictures accompanied by a frenzy of arrows should be sufficient for you to know how to assemble your newly purchased wonder. Suddenly, my exercise bike wasn’t as glamorous as when first arrived.

It did however get me thinking. Like me, you may have heard numerous quotations about teamwork like;

‘Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.'


‘A unit is only as strong as its weakest link.'

'Teamwork is essential - it allows you to blame someone else.'

Okay maybe scrap the last one but my point is we’ve all at one time been lectured on the importance of teamwork. Putting together my bike however, it was reinforced to me that we all have a part to play in the team / organisation we work for and if we do not work to our fullest capacity, the collective will never be as successful as it could be. Take my bike as an example. If I had no handlebars then I’d have nothing to grip, if I had no pedals then I could not generate any movement and if I had no saddle…well a trip to A+E would be on the horizon.

Keep teamwork at the forefront of your mind. Ensure that not only are you seeking your teams help but make sure you’re available to help others. Encourage those around you and praise them for their achievements. Be accountable to one another and ensure that unity is at the forefront of everything you do but above all else…above all else…if you know anyone who’s constructed an exercise bike before, get them in touch with Dale Carnegie London as that saddle won’t attach itself.

Power of Presentations

Last week Wednesday I had the enjoyable experience of being part of a judging panel for the Jack Petchy Foundation, Speak Out competition.

This competition provides a platform for young children between the ages of 14 - 16 from previously disadvantaged areas to talk for 3 minutes about a topic which they are passionate about.

I was involved in the Hackney regional final, where the winner of this event stood the chance of presenting in front of 900 guests at the main gala event on the 2nd July.

At the event there were 15 youths who took to the stage with enthusiasm and passion, whereby each took the opportunity to persuade us with their personal ideas. I was extremely impressed with the level of the presenters, conscious that many of these youths mostly likely never had a platform to present to such a large audience.

We had to mark the presenters in three areas namely, content, deliver and structure.
The overall winner was a young lady who talked about gang wars and how youths are killing each other over the simplicity of a entering their territory which is defined by the post code they live in. When she arrived at the stage she went straight into the incident of when she was personally involved in a turf war scuffle, using excellent body language and vocal verity she allowed the audience to get a glimpse of what it's like to be right in the middle of a extremely hostile and dangerous time a place. At the end of the 3 minutes she left us with a defining question of is it really worth dying over a postcode?

But the evenings success was not just one talented young lady but each and every one of the presenters, because it showed me how important it is to empower our youth. The evening also taught me how getting on stage really develops a person's self confidence. I'm sure everyone of those participants are looking to the future with more confidence that they will be able to secure employment and go on to become leaders of the future.

Therefore I encourage you after reading this blog to see where you can get involved to empower the youths of the future.

Mark de Stadler

Cold Calling Test

This True/False test will help clarify some common myths and misperceptions about cold calling. We've based the "correct" responses on research found in books written specifically on cold calling and on our own experience as a global sales training provider.

Keep in mind that some of these questions could have different correct responses in special cases. So be sure to answer from a general sales perspective rather than from the perspective of a unique selling situation.

1. The only goal for any business-to-business cold call should be to schedule an appointment.

TRUE: Salespeople often make the mistake of selling their solutions when cold calling. This is a big mistake.. Sell only one thing at a time. If the person is willing to talk now, focus on getting the appointment.

2. Cold calling will generally generate results that are just as good as referrals.

FALSE: Referrals tend to have higher closing ratios for appointments.

3. It is not a high priority to qualify prospects when cold calling. The key is to set up as many appointments as possible.

FALSE: Save time for you and your prospects by ensuring you have qualified leads before taking the time to make and attend an appointment with a prospect.

4. You should leave a message for the buyer when you get voicemail instead of the actual person.

TRUE: Never miss an opportunity to leave a positive impression about you and your company. Also, remember that many people use caller ID. They may be wondering why you called and then failed to leave a message.

5. Most salespeople stop cold calling a prospect after four tries.

TRUE: Unfortunately, most salespeople give up after only four tries.

6. After you've made a certain number of cold calls, it becomes less important to keep records of your results.

FALSE: Most salespeople hate paperwork and keeping records, but it is the only way to find out what is working. And just because something works (or doesn't) this year, that doesn't mean it won't change next year...or next week.

7. Always make friends with the gatekeeper.

FALSE: Good relationships with gatekeepers can be a salesperson's best asset. These individuals can give you a positive look into the customer's organisation. So you should always be friendly with the gatekeeper, but you don't need to necessarily befriend the gatekeeper. These individuals may feel that your interest is an intrusion and suspect that you are trying to manipulate them, or they just may never have contact with any decision-makers in the company. Be cautious about feeling that you are making great progress when you could be wasting your time and theirs.

8. If a prospect doesn't want to talk to you, it's probably personal.

FALSE: You have no idea what is going on in a person's world when you cold call. Remember not to take anything personally.

9. Less information is better when leaving a voicemail.

TRUE: Thirty seconds is about as long as you can hold someone's attention with a voice mail.

10. Experienced salespeople don't do prospecting anymore and develop all their business from current clients and referrals.

FALSE: Over time, we all lose customers because they go out of business, relocate, change their business, and for a host of other reasons. Experienced salespeople plan for this loss of clientele and continue to look for new prospects.

11. Experienced professionals use scripts when prospecting on the phone.

TRUE: Scripts help us make sure we are using the words with the maximum impact on prospects. Professionals practice them enough so that they don't sound like scripts.

12. Cold calling doesn't have to be a constant activity. Once your business gets going, you should be able to eliminate it.

FALSE: The majority of your business should eventually come from existing clients and referrals, but if you stop cold calling, you are missing potentially valuable business opportunities


Corina Balaneanu

One in four managers 'don't know how bad they are'

It has been reported in todays Telegraph, that millions of managers fail to realise “how bad they are at managing”, which is undermining company efforts to boost productivity and growth.

One in four of the UK’s line managers – almost 2m people – have an inflated opinion of their ability to lead teams, the study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has claimed.

Ben Willmott, head of public policy at the CIPD, said: “Management capability continues to be an Achilles heel for UK plc, despite mounting evidence that these are ‘skills for growth’.

“Too many employees are promoted into people management roles because they have good technical skills, then receive inadequate training and have little idea of how their behaviour impacts on others.”

If you are 1 in 4 managers who spends more time dealing with stressed staff, absence or conflict, rather than providing high-quality feedback to their teams, or if you have been promoted to management, and do not want to become a "bad manager", then come to our free Inspirational Leadership seminar, or contact us for further information on our Leadership Training for Managers, where we can ensure that you become more than a "good leader", but a "great" inspiration.

Stephanie Fletcher

To read more on this article visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/9241249/One-in-four-managers-dont-know-how-bad-they-are.html