Business – A-Head for Success

Influence and Manipulation – What’s the Difference?

July 25, 2016

When they first start to work with me, some of my clients don’t like the idea of learning how to influence because they see it as the same as manipulation. But there is a significant difference. One that sets the influencer apart, builds trust and is a significant factor in helping you achieve your goals in life and in your business.

What is Influencing?

Influencing is the ability to have people buy into you, your idea, your business. It can smooth relationships so that they are more collaborative and harmonious, even in times of challenge. It requires the ability to understand the motivations of the other person, their hopes and fears, as well their objectives. This knowledge, through skilful influencing can help you achieve your own objectives with greater ease.

What is Manipulation?

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Business, Emotional Intelligence, Influencing

Business, Influencing, Manipulation

Customer Retention is Boring

February 20, 2014

customer retention I recently signed up for a very expensive service from someone who positions himself as an expert, no, THE expert in his field. I was given a lot of promises which made the large investment a no-brainer.

I have pretty high standards and, over the years, I have learned to lower them. And lower them some more. So, even with the hype, I wasn’t expecting everything which was offered to the degree it was positioned.

However, after a possible 20% delivery and 80% disappointment, and having given said-company ample time to catch up with themselves, I was told they were too busy to deal with it. They had new customers to deal with. New customers are EXCITING. Problems are boring – or so they believe. He is operating the customer churn and burn strategy.

This individual is pretty charismatic. He is good at winning new business. However, his reputation is being tarnished because he is good at customer attraction and very poor at customer retention. Given that keeping a customer is less expensive than attracting a new customer. And that there are only so many customers in the world, no matter how charismatic you are, looking at how to keep the ones you have is an important part of your business strategy.

Brand management and reputation management are key to this. So, a couple of questions for you:

Do you have a customer retention strategy?
How effective is your customer retention?
What would your customers say about you if you weren’t in the room?
What would your customers say are your most redeeming qualities?
What would your customers say is most frustrating in dealing with your company?

Here are some of the customer retention strategies I teach my clients:

Make sure your systems make it easy for them to do business with you
Offer only quality service and quality products
Have a quick turnaround on queries
Be easy to get hold of
Acknowledge every communication
Treat existing customers with as much care as you do prospects, if not more so
Under-promise and over-deliver – this on its own will set you apart from the competition
Stay in touch

Your customers will forgive you a lot of you care about them.

Tricia Woolfrey is an integrative business coach helping people like you and companies like yours perform at their best, so that you can be more profitable, with less stress and with your integrity intact. Call 0845 130 0854 for a free telephone consultation.

Business, Business Coach, Customer Service

Business, Customer retention, Customer service, Success, Tricia Woolfrey

A-Z of Business: Y – YOU – Are you the Problem or the Solution?

December 5, 2013

You and your business Whether you are in business for yourself or working for others, it is natural in times of success to take credit for it. But it’s tempting to blame external factors (other people, customers, the economy, market forces, etc) when things go wrong.

However, to do so is no help at all except that it massages a fragile ego. You are still stuck. The mark of a successful business-person is one who looks to themselves in times of challenge. In this way, they retain control rather give away their power to outside forces. To avoid looking to what you could do differently is to be a victim, powerless to make changes. In this competitive world, it is unsustainable. The power is in the ability to evolve.

All it takes is a different perspective. Look to yourself for the solution and ask yourself the right questions:

What factors have contributed to this problem?
In what way(s) have I contributed to this problem?
Where did I take my eye off the ball?
What didn’t I do which I should have done?
What did I do which I shouldn’t have done?
What didn’t I do which I could have done?
What steps can I take now which can remedy the situation?
What steps can I take to avoid this happening in the future?
Is this part of a bigger pattern?
What else can I learn from this?

By putting yourself “at cause”, you take control, you evolve and you build a more robust business. It takes courage, insight and humility. Do you have what it takes?

It can be difficult doing this for yourself and this is where a good coach/mentor can really help. Why not book a session now? Call me on 0845 130 0854 to find out more. You’ll be glad you did!

About Tricia Woolfrey – click HERE to find out about the author.

Business, Performance, Problem Solving, Strengths

Business, Business coaching, Challenge, Problem solving, Success

A-Z of Business: V – Values – Your Guiding Principles

October 2, 2013

You may think of value as being the value you provide to your clients. This, of course, is important. After all, if you are not providing value to your clients (or customers), why should they work with you? The value of your product and service needs to be clear and tangible to them if you are to have a sustainable business.

However, just as important are the values which drive you in your business. Values are what you consider to be important. They link into your vision, your mission and your strategy. They are your guiding principles.

Values are also part of your brand – the personality of your organisation.

As well as guide you, they can be a barometer in decision making. Let me take an example. Let’s say your values are:

Quality
Teamwork
Integrity
Customer delight
Innovation

If there is an opportunity to buy into a joint venture which stacks up financially with a quick and generous return on investment, but the quality of the offering is lower than your current product or service offering, this will undermine your values of quality, customer delight and possibly integrity. So, while on paper the deal may appear lucrative, the net effect is likely to be negative as people stop trusting your brand and you lose customer loyalty. If you lose customer loyalty, this will, in turn, impact your revenues. Remember it is more cost effective to keep an existing customer than it is to attract a new one.

But more important than that is your reputation. Working counter to your values undermines your brand and your brand values become different to your espoused values. They become your reputation – what people are saying about your company when you are not in the room. It is important to really understand the values which underpin your business. So, here are some questions for you:

What is important to your business? Truly? (This is no time for self-deception)
What do you want your clients and customers to be saying?
How is this different to what you imagine them to be saying now?
Are your values supported in your decision-making processes?
Your marketing?
Your logo?
Your website?
Your communications?

Remember that everybody in your organisation is an ambassador for your business (for good or ill), so it is important that they buy into your values with their own behaviours and attitudes. To what degree are your values reflected in the following:

Your hiring processes?
Your hiring decisions?
Your inductions?
Your training?
In your leadership style (and that of your other managers)?
In how you the performance of your staff is managed?

Perhaps your lived values are different from the values you would like to be known by? If so, it is possible to change them. However, it requires a structured and integrative approach. They need to weave into everything and to underpin everything with buy-in from each and every member of your staff – otherwise it is just a PR exercise which will backfire. Getting this right can create more customer loyalty, more employee satisfaction and attract new business to you.
© Tricia Woolfrey 2013

About Tricia Woolfrey – click HERE to find out about the author.

Branding, Business, Customer, Customer Service, Image, Performance, Strengths, Values

Business, Integrity, Performance, Strategy, Values

A-Z of Business: U – USP – Why You Need One

August 19, 2013

Do you really need a Unique Selling Point? What happens if you don’t have one? Well, unless you are in an industry with no competitors then your USP is what will set you apart. It will give your prospects a reason to go with you instead of someone else.

In a struggling economy, you need all the competitive advantage you can get. And if you are looking for a job, you need that competitive edge too.

So, why should someone buy your product? It is no longer enough to say “we are the best”, you need to say how. And it needs to be based on reality rather than an aspiration that you are working towards.

There was a wonderful sign displayed which went like this:

“We offer three kinds of service – Good, Cheap or Fast. You can pick any two. Good and cheap won’t be fast. Good and fast won’t be cheap. Cheap and fast won’t be good. ”

At the gym yesterday, my personal trainer said the best advice he was given is to always think of yourself as number two so that you would still strive to do better. This reminded me of the Avis USP which is “We are number two – we try harder.” What a great USP which succeeds in turning a negative into a massive positive.

Apple’s USP is to think differently – they are the company best known for their innovation, having broken many technological boundaries. They can be relied upon to be innovative, fun and customer-focused.

If you are finding it difficult to identify your USP, go back to testimonials you have been given by your customers. It is easy to forget these but hopefully you have kept a log of them. Also, consider what your competitors are doing and what they are promising. How are you different to them? What are the problems you are solving for your customers?

Let’s take an example. For an IT support company, their customers may suffer from not being terribly IT literate, having to wait a long time before an engineer can fix their problem, or their technology is stopping them from getting on with their work

Let’s look at the customers’problem, potential USPs and their corresponding straplines:

Waiting a long time for an engineer
- USP – getting their IT problems solved quickly
- Strapline – Your IT Support within 24 hours or quicker
Not very IT literate
- USP – use jargon free communication so that the problem is easier to understand
- Strapline – Taking the Jargon out of IT Support
Technology stopping them from working
- USP – getting you up and running quickly
- Strapline –Helping you to work when your computer doesn’t
Frustrated that every problem seems to mean a new computer
- USP – providing the simplest, most cost effective solutions
- Strapline – Simple Solutions to Complicated Problems

Whatever your USP, do make sure that you live and breathe it. You don’t want your USP to be “tried and failed” – it should enhance your reputation, not undermine it.

About Tricia Woolfrey – click HERE to find out about the author.

Business, Image, Marketing, Products, Sales, Strengths, Success

Business, Customer service, Marketing, Product, Sales, Services, Strengths, USP

A-Z of Business: EQ – The Difference Which Makes the Difference

May 13, 2013

In this A-Z of Business series, we have reached the letter Q. Now, I could have talked about quotas, quoting or questions if I was being a purist. But, if I look at the balance of what’s been written and what’s missing, I think that EQ (Emotional Intelligence) is far more important. Anything which omits this key area of business success is lacking. So I decided to break my own rule and hope that’s OK with you?

In case you haven’t come across this before you may be wondering why it’s called EQ when it refers to Emotional Intelligence (EI)? The Q refers to “quotient” which is the amount of a specific quality or characteristic, in this case, emotional intelligence. But, what does it mean? It is the capacity for self-insight, for understanding and managing your emotions and having empathy for others’. In this way you can better manage your relationships and your stress levels.

It is such an important skill that it is thought to be more important than IQ in helping to get you promoted, in creating sales and in building collaborative effort. Research suggests that it accounts for around 90% of managerial success as opposed to IQ which only accounts for 20%. Not that IQ is not important. Of course, it is. But you need both. The ability to put your knowledge, your expertise, your skills into effect in the most constructive way possible is said to be the difference which creates the successful business person whether you work for yourself of for an organisation.

So, ask yourself:

How well do you respond to setbacks?
How well do you understand people’s different motivations and behaviours?
Do you have a balanced view of your own strengths and weaknesses?
To what extent are you able to control your responses in situations which challenge you?
Are you good at building collaborative relationships?
Could you be described as someone who is level-headed, positive and flexible?
Do you inspire trust?
Do you manage conflict well (rather than avoid it)?
Are you self-motivated?
How good are you at bouncing back when things go wrong?

You can learn more HERE on our website.

Emotional intelligence is one of those concepts where you need a lot of it to know you have it. So if your EQ isn’t as high as you think it is, it will almost certainly be inhibiting your progress. To be sure what your level of EQ is, why not book an assessment? It’s well worth it and can put you on track for success like nothing else. Call me on 0845 130 0854.

About Tricia Woolfrey – click HERE to find out about the author.

Business, Emotional Intelligence, Performance, Success

Business, Coaching, Customer service, Emotional intelligence, Employees, Performance, Stakeholders, Success, Tricia Woolfrey

A-Z of Business: P – Product: Ten Questions You Need to Ask Yourself

April 23, 2013

Products and Services If you don’t have a product or service which delivers value to your customers and prospects, it makes building a profitable business almost impossible. Having an inferior product isn’t something you want to risk your business or reputation. In this day and age, competition is very tough, consumers are fickle and markets are constantly changing, so it’s important to make sure you are delivering what your customers want.

Having the best product or service isn’t enough in itself if you don’t have everything else right. However, it is an essential component. When looking at your products, consider what are you offering and how does it benefit your customers? What need is it fulfilling? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the product or service? This is where you really need to listen to your customers. It’s easy to acknowledge compliments – they make you feel good. It takes a lot of strength to be open to negative feedback. However unreasonable it may seem, there is always at least a grain of truth in in it. Be gracious in receiving negative feedback because you can really turn around a negative situation and create a raving fan out of a disenchanted customer if you handle it right.

Customers can fulfil a need in a number of ways. For example, if your business sells washing machine repairs, then your customer has the option of either repairing their washing machine, getting someone else to do their laundry, buying a new washing machine or resort to hand-washing. So it’s important that you get your product right so that you become the obvious choice.

If you want your product to be a best-seller, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

What need is your product (or service) designed to fulfil?
What are the strengths of your product (or service)?
What are the weaknesses? If your customers were being really picky, what would they be saying?
What are you doing to address those weaknesses?
Who are your top 5 competitors?
What do they offer that you don’t and how can you address this?
What is another way your prospects might fulfil the need?
How can you make your product a better option?
What feedback about your product (or service) have you been ignoring and what are you going to do to address it?
What processes do you have in place to make sure your product (or service) is the best?

Steve Jobs, one of the greatest innovators of our time, talked about surprising and delighting the customer by looking at how to excel, not just meet the competition. He thought in terms of simplicity, elegance and sexiness (of the product, of course!). By contrast, I know of a man whose business failed because he insisted on providing his service using old, outdated technology and old, outdated principles. You have to constantly re-invent and improve if you want to thrive.

About Tricia Woolfrey – click HERE to find out about the author.

Customer, Customer Service, Products, Strengths

Business, Feedback, Product, Services, Strengths

A-Z of Business: L – Leadership-v-Management: Are You a Manager or a Leader?

January 29, 2013

How do you know if you are a manager or a leader?

There are few job titles with the word “leader” in them. Manager or Director (depending on your level of seniority) seem to be the titles of choice – Customer Services Manager, Finance Director, Marketing Manager, Human Resources Director, etc. Yet, the title is not an indication. Being a manager is as important as leadership. However, without leadership, you are missing a crucial element in business success – winning people’s hearts and minds.

Management can be thought of as being the ‘nuts and bolts’ of your role, with duties such as:

Planning
Allocating resources
Organising and co-ordinating
Controlling and directing
Measuring and evaluating
Solving problems
Short term thinking for managers, medium-term thinking for directors
Managing systems and procedures
Maintaining
Concerned with the “when” and “how”

All of these are absolutely essential and create a framework, structure and systems to achieve results which are monitored and course-corrected on a regular basis.

A leader, by contrast will be more of a visionary and will motivate and inspire people to follow. Their focus will be on the long-term and they will be concerned with:

Establishing a vision
Inspiring co-operation and trust
Developing ideas and people
Concerned with the “what” and “why”

Creating a vision will usually require change and a good leader will inspire the team to be motivated for that change which might otherwise be met with resistance. A leader paints a picture that people want to be part of and want to help make happen.

Managers deal with “shoulds” (the realms of necessity) while leaders deal with “coulds” (the realms of possibility).

Of course, leadership and management are not mutually exclusive. There is a lot of overlap between the two. A good leader will need good management qualities. A good manager will require good leadership qualities. If you tend to be a good leader but are not good at the planning, implementation and problem solving, it’s essential to have a very good, reliable and loyal team to do this for you. If you are a good manager without the leadership qualities, you will need a good leader managing you to help you pass on the vision to your team. Both skills can be learned and, with both skills, you will be a rounded professional contributing fully to the success of your team and your business.

And, to close, off, the wonderful Stephen Covey said “Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.” You have to have your vision right, otherwise you are managing the wrong things.

If you would like to have greater insight into your leadership and management skills, book a psychometric profile session. This helps overcome blind spots and highlights development opportunities for you. Call 0845 130 0854 to find out more.

About Tricia Woolfrey – click HERE to find out about the author.

Business Coach, Decision Making, Employees, Leadership, Management

Business, Business coach, Decision making, Delegation, Image, Influencing, leadership, Management, Motivation, Strengths, Success, Tricia Woolfrey

A-Z of Business: K – Knowledge – Your Competitive Edge?

January 17, 2013

It is estimated that 15% of success is from your technical skills whereas 85% is through gaining trust and respect. So, what has knowledge to do with this? Plenty, as it happens. Knowledge covers the whole spectrum. Good technical skills are, of course, important. But not if the knowledge is out of date. Technology is changing all the time – as are trends – and it is essential to keep abreast of what’s going on in your market place and in your profession.

Solicitors and doctors go through years of training in their profession before they are able to practice. Yet, how much training have you had to run your own department, or your own business? How much knowledge have you acquired to help you be successful? Whether you are running a department or a business of your own, the knowledge you need to be effective is extremely broad and most people simply muddle through. In the meantime, what happens to the trust and respect essential to 85% of your success?

The following table helps you to understand some of the fundamentals for trust and respect and the kind of knowledge you need for them:

TRUST AND RESPECT	KNOW-HOW
Good people and rapport skills	Influencing and leadership
Doing what you say you will do	Planning and organising
Doing an excellent job	Technical and delegation
Managing complaints effectively	Problem solving and conflict management
Meeting your obligations	Business acumen and resource management
Emotional intelligence	Understanding of people and yourself and how to manage yourself and your relationships in times of stress

Business knowledge – such as sales, marketing, finance, operations – is important whether you run your own business or manage a department as you need to see how everything fits together. These will help you to exploit strengths, minimise weaknesses, seize opportunities and handle threats from a point of strength.

So, how can you increase your knowledge? Through coaching, training, reflective learning and study. Often, you don’t know what you don’t know (in the case of business, ignorance is not bliss) and it is helpful to have someone there who can help you see your blind-spot. Having your own coach and mentor is an excellent step to take to help you stay on top of your game. For more information call 0845 130 0854 for a no obligation chat.

About Tricia Woolfrey – click HERE to find out about the author.

A-Z of Business: J – Judgement: The Key to Effective Decision Making

December 19, 2012

Judgement is your ability to assess a situation and to draw sound conclusions. This is a key factor in your decision making process. How do you judge whether something is right for your business or not? And how do other people judge you and your business? When you understand this, it can really help you:

a) make decisions which serve your business well
b) help you to help other people make judgements in your favour

There are various ways in which we may be convinced of something-

Number of examples – ie the third time you see something, you are sure it’s right
Automatically – you don’t take too much convincing, you just automatically trust that something is right
Period of time – you need to think about something for a while before deciding, even if it is an obvious solution
A trusted source – if you hear it from someone you trust, or know they are doing the same thing, that’s enough to convince you
Logic – you need to evaluate the facts before deciding if something is right for you
Emotion – you tend to trust your gut
Impact on the bottom line – you will not be convinced of anything unless you see how it will affect the bottom line
Tried and tested – you need to see something working somewhere else before you think about it for yourself
Cynics – you are never truly convinced of anything

None are right or wrong in themselves. However, it’s possible to rely too much on a particular method which could leave you vulnerable. For example, going on gut instinct without checking the effect something has on your bottom line could affect the profitability of your business; relying on a period of time may mean that an opportunity is lost; being automatically convinced can be dangerous as there is no evaluation of the possible impact something may have; cynics can fail to take opportunities because they always find fault; depending on tried and tested methods can mean you are behind the curve in terms of your competition; relying on logic alone can mean that you are ignoring the not inconsiderable power of your intuition; depending on a trusted source requires that the trusted source be right 100% of the time or that their circumstances are the same as yours.

Ask yourself, what other factors do you need to consider when you are formulating your decisions? Do re-read the decision making part of this series.

Finally, what to do with this information when considering your customers and prospects? You will be well-advised to consider an example of all the above criteria in relation to your products and factor in where appropriate. For example, Jack has a strong gut instinct but likes to back it up with number of examples, so you might want to either find three ways of proving your product, or expect to make your case over three appointments, and follow that up with “What does your gut tell you about the suitability of our product for your business?”

Or, Sally may make her decision solely on the bottom line. So you may want to take the approach of showing the cost savings your product will give her, or the revenue potential, or perhaps some other way of impacting the bottom line.

If you aren’t sure about what someone else’s convincer strategy is, ask them how they decided to buy their latest car, computer system or even holiday. This should give you a lot of clues.

Even the most successful business people have made bad judgements in their time. However, you can minimise yours by considering all of your options to make a more informed decision.

If you would like to discuss you own business decision making strategy, or change the way others judge your business, please contact us on 0845 130 0854.

About Tricia Woolfrey – click HERE to find out about the author.

Business Coach, Decision Making, Performance, Problem Solving, Success

Business, Decision making, Finance, Performance, Problem solving, Success, Tricia Woolfrey