What’ New with us:  It has been a busy month with some great news. We have changed our name from Character of Excellence of ND to Business Architects! One of our affiliates, Character of Excellence out of Omaha made a strategic choice to focus on only one area of expertise. Up to now we were using their web site and other services prior to this. We now have the opportunity to create our own identity and focus on what we are strongest at; hands on training in Sales, Management, Communications and Teambuilding. This gives us the opportunity to work closer with Zig Ziglar and other sources of high quality programs. Hopefully our web site will be up very soon with a full plate of information on us, our services and this newsletter.  

MORE GREAT NEWS! We are now an affiliate of Kevin Hogan and “The Psychology of Persuasion”, how to persuade others to your way of thinking. If you are not familiar with Kevin’s work, he has been a nationally note for the past 10 years as an expert in communications and sales. He takes communications of all types and applies “Emotional Intelligence” to help us get the results we want in a win/win style. We look forward to providing Kevin’s powerful research and experience to our offerings.  

Selling Skills for the Month:  This past couple of weeks our follow-up sessions for the sales programs, have been focusing on objections. The one thing I’m observing is many salespeople still seem to go for the product as soon as an objection is raised. We need to remember that “Sales” is really a higher level of “Communications”! Virtually every time we get that tough objection or resistance, what is said is not the real “Issue”. This is not because the customer is lying or trying to deceive us, rather they are not really seeing or understanding the “Issue” themselves. Therefore the salespersons duty is to lead the customer through the communication process and help them get a full understanding of the “Issue”. This also helps the salesperson to get the same picture and now can address the true “Issue” and solve the customer’s problem.  The key to doing this: Be inquisitive and investigative using open questions until both you and the customer are seeing the same picture. You will find that items such as price, size, operation, past bad experience and prejudicial attitudes can be overcome.  In Kevin Hogan’s “The Psychology of Persuasion”, he indicates this type of skill is at the heart of the “Master Persuader”.  The old saying goes: “A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still”! This means we, as salespeople, need to lead people to a different conclusion.

Management Skills for the Month: This past month, in many of my conversations with managers and salespeople, I have heard both sides of what Sales Management should be? Managers want to track and have information so they know the team is going in the right direction, while salespeople want to be able to get it done with out police action. One conversation this week indicated the manager was really reacting to their boss’s perception of what should be done. The problem is, the top boss does not know or understand the local market and is coming from old paradigms. Yes, management should be monitoring activity, but is it productive activity or activity for activity’s sake? We question ideas such as, “you need to make 30 cold calls this week”, “what did you sell today”, “you need to have more activity”. Are these focused on results or just activity? We suggest management look at their product and the “Cycle” needed to create a good productive customer. Now a short, one time, here it is sale such as a retail clothing sale will have a very short “Cycle”. Selling a half million dollar piece of equipment may have a much longer and complex “Cycle”.  In a retail setting, “what did you sell today”, may be valid. With the large equipment sale, “how have you moved them through the cycle this week”, would be more valid. Once a “Cycle” is developed for each product, the manager needs to now become the “Coach” and assist the salesperson through the “Cycle” and monitor the progress. Most sales people are looking for assistance in getting through the sale, not a police state.  

Food for the Attitude: In a recent presentation about “Frustration and How to Grow From It”, I got thinking about choices. We all make choices every time we encounter another human being. The way I see it is, we make one of two types of choices, a “Passive Choice’ to do little or nothing with the encounter or an “Active Choice”, which means we get involved and may take risks.  

Let’s say you come to the office and Sue, the front desk person, is frowning and in a fowl mood. You note this and say good morning, but little to no response is given. You choose a “Passive Choice” and move on. So what is happening in your mind? “Sue sure is negative today, she needs to get a life”. This might be the message that is stored, starts building and affecting your image and relationship with Sue. For the balance of the day, every person that comes in contact with Sue may get the same treatment and opinion, workers and customers alike.  

Now let’s take an “Active Choice”, we note Sue’s mood, say good morning and get little response. We stop and might say, “Sue, you seem a bit down this morning, anything I can help with”? She responds, “Oh, I guess I didn’t realize that, I was up all last night with sick kids and didn’t get a lick of sleep”.  Now Sue is aware of her mood and both you and she have options as to what comes next. The key point is that your view of Sue is now positive and she is aware of and can alter her mood.   

Zig Ziglar says: “How you see em is how you treat em”! So if we are continually taking “Passive Choices” with people and then wondering why the relationship is not great, maybe we need to take a more “Active Choice” approach?  

Zig Ziglar, Dale Carnegie, Kevin Hogan and others continually indicate that relationships take work, communication, people skills and risk. They also indicate that if you have the best interest of the other person in mind, you will almost always say the right thing. Take a chance and make more “Active Choices” in your life. 

Interesting Info for You: Identy Theft: Everyone hears about it, some of you may have been victums, and most of us have heard of someone who has. I came across this office memo from an attorney. Perhaps we could implement some of these ideas.  

1.      When you have your checks printed, have only your intials printed instead of your full name. If someone gets your check book they do not know how to sign your name, but your bank does.  

2.      Do not sign the back of your credit cards, instead put “PHOTO ID REQUIRED”. 

3.      When writing checks to pay your credit cards, do not put the account number on the check, only the last 4 didgets. The credit card company knows the number. Also anyone who process or handles your check can not get the number.  

4.      Put your work phone number on your checks instead of your home. If you have a POBox use that instead of your address. If not, put your work address on the check. NEVER have your SS# printed, anyone can get it!  

5.      Copy the entire contents of your wallet with a copy machine, do both sides. Keep it in a place you can find and you will always know what you had and have the phone numbers.  

Unfortunately this attorney lost his wallet and within a week the thiefs orderd an expensive monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy Gateway computers, received a PIN mumber from the DMV to change his driving record information online and more. But here is what you can do if it does happen.  

1.      We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep them where you can find them.  

2.      File a police report immediately in the jursisdiction where your credit cards were stolen. This proves to crdit providers your were diligent and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there is one.) 

3.      Little know but the most important: Call the3 credit rreporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. He had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell him an application for credit was made over the Internet in his name. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows you information was stolen and they have to contact yo by phone to authoize the new credit.  

By the time he was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done. There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves purchases, none of which he knew about before placing the alert. Since then no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw his wallet away that weekend (someone turned it in). It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks.  

Now here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet, etc, has been stolen: 

                  1. Equifax:                                          1-800525-6285 

                  2. Experian (formerly TRW)             1-888-397-3742 

                  3. Trans Union                                                1-800-680-7289 

                  4. Social Security Adm (fraud line)   1-800-269-0271