At NNC we often discuss some of NLP’s Motivational Thinking Styles and how our patterns of thinking translate into our attitudes, behaviours and ways of communicating. The one that has had the biggest impact on understanding myself and how I interact with others is called Motivation: Toward & Away. This Thinking Style relates to how we are motivated and in which direction we will move – either toward achieving an objective or goal; or away from potential problems or consequences. There is a questionnaire we often give clients to complete which helps them to identify their Thinking Style preferences, but even without this I instantly knew that I was more Away from.
What’s interesting is the conflicts your Toward and Away motivations can cause in life. Being more Away in my thinking has not just been positive in inspiring me to challenge myself and work harder, but has also often held me back from doing many things. Thinking about the things I value most in life, I have a strong desire for success, achievement and personal growth (my Toward values). On the other hand, I’ll do anything to move away from feeling fear, failure, inadequacy or disappointment (my Away values). I can think of hundreds of times when my fear of failure and looking stupid or inadequate has stopped me from trying something new – literally stopped me from having the success, achievement and personal growth that I’ve wanted. Anthony Robbins talks about Toward & Away in terms of Pleasure and Pain…and when the Divinyls sang about it ‘being a fine line’ they certainly knew what they were talking about! Risking the option of pain, humiliation or failure didn’t seem worth the potential enjoyment and accomplishment I might have been rewarded with…….or was it??
Imagine a life where you’re so afraid of what MIGHT happen, that you create that world for yourself before it’s even a reality. And despite never really being able to have a guarantee that you won’t fall on your arse a few times, what’s worse….always wondering ‘what if’, or suffering a few minor setbacks on your way to glory (wow, there can actually be more pain in not doing it, then giving it a try!) So although that little ‘devil’ Away voice is still useful at times - when I want to think practically about how to avoid potential problems or pitfalls - my ‘angel’ Toward voice often spurs me on to look at the solutions to overcome these bumps in the road and summon the courage to at least give it a shot. Let’s face it, for many people public speaking is a fate worse then death and ten years ago I would have joined them in that club. Now I stand up in front of groups delivering training programs as part of my job – still nervous and a little insecure at times, but willing to slap that fear in the face and do it anyway. Who would have thought it? At times I still have to battle with some of my Away thinking, but having some self awareness and focusing on being the ‘Little Engine That Could’ (“I think I can….I think I can…”), then I can continue to look forward rather then backwards and score goals that I never thought possible.
For more about NLP Thinking Styles or completing a profile, contact me on T: (03) 9555 7955 E: gina@neuralnetworks.com.au
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Influence
It was 10am on a Saturday morning and I was walking home from a friend’s apartment in Sydney when a man in construction style clothes, covered in dirt and white paint, came up to me in the street and asked if I would please give him some assistance. As he was so polite, I followed him to see how I could help.
He lead me to his Holden Commodore (probably 5 years old) and began to show me where thieves had scratched the door panel and broken the lock to the drivers side door. He continued to tell me how his mobile phone, wallet and sunglasses were all stolen. He also showed me that the thieves had attempted to start the car by jamming something into the ignition because it too was scratched.
Still unsure of what the man wanted, I asked “so what can I do to help?” He responded by telling me that the car only had about 5 Kilometres of petrol left and that he needed to get to a petrol station to fill up. He then asked me for directions to the nearest petrol station. I gave him directions and he thanked me kindly for assisting him. Just before he let me go, he also asked if I could possibly give him $50 for petrol because he would also need to pay for it and get home. He promised to take my details and pay me back.
I reached into my pocket and I had $20 which I gave to him because he obviously needed the help, of course I did not ask for him to return the money because he clearly needed it and it was no great burden on me.
This was a great lesson for me on the power of influence! As I reflected on the situation, I wonder if the man had simply walked up to me and asked for $50 because his car had been broken into and he needed to get home and didn’t have his wallet or phone… would I have obliged? I seriously doubt it.
The man completely involved me in his story. He gave me a background of what had happened, showed me how it impacted him and the result of what the thieves had done. Because I felt so involved, I felt obliged to help him out of his situation. Walking away at that time would have created a major values conflict for me. How could I walk away and not help this man?
It’s not how you make your request that makes the difference in life; it’s what you do before you make your request that ultimately decides the outcome.
He lead me to his Holden Commodore (probably 5 years old) and began to show me where thieves had scratched the door panel and broken the lock to the drivers side door. He continued to tell me how his mobile phone, wallet and sunglasses were all stolen. He also showed me that the thieves had attempted to start the car by jamming something into the ignition because it too was scratched.
Still unsure of what the man wanted, I asked “so what can I do to help?” He responded by telling me that the car only had about 5 Kilometres of petrol left and that he needed to get to a petrol station to fill up. He then asked me for directions to the nearest petrol station. I gave him directions and he thanked me kindly for assisting him. Just before he let me go, he also asked if I could possibly give him $50 for petrol because he would also need to pay for it and get home. He promised to take my details and pay me back.
I reached into my pocket and I had $20 which I gave to him because he obviously needed the help, of course I did not ask for him to return the money because he clearly needed it and it was no great burden on me.
This was a great lesson for me on the power of influence! As I reflected on the situation, I wonder if the man had simply walked up to me and asked for $50 because his car had been broken into and he needed to get home and didn’t have his wallet or phone… would I have obliged? I seriously doubt it.
The man completely involved me in his story. He gave me a background of what had happened, showed me how it impacted him and the result of what the thieves had done. Because I felt so involved, I felt obliged to help him out of his situation. Walking away at that time would have created a major values conflict for me. How could I walk away and not help this man?
It’s not how you make your request that makes the difference in life; it’s what you do before you make your request that ultimately decides the outcome.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Retention Matters
It’s great to be able to acquire new clients. Imagine how much better you would feel if you could also keep the ones you already have?
A large number of the organisations that I visit as part of my travels with Neural Networks, place massive focus on growing their client base through sales activities. What is wrong with placing all your focus on sales activities? Simply put, while they are focusing heavily on getting people through the front door, they may not be noticing the ones leaving via the back door.
A lack of focus on retention activities can also directly relate to the financial performance of organisations. Every year organisations traditionally spend large amounts of money on improving overall sales capabilities and usually align this to their strategic objectives and sales targets to increase revenue generation. Often this turns out to be a wasted investment if they fail to minimise leakage, particularly in relation to existing customers.
One of the things that we heavily focus on at Neural Networks is building value around the products and services that organisations provide to new and existing customers. This is integral in not only ensuring that they meet the customers criteria, but also assists with creating a strong and lasting relationship with the customer based on experience. Further to this, if organisations are not identifying and meeting the true criteria of their new and existing customers every time they have contact with them, they may not be leaving a good impression. Organisations can make it harder for their customers to leave by providing excellent service to them at every opportunity. This way the thought of leaving will not have any reason to enter their mind. People will often pay a higher price and stay where they get good service that always meets their criteria.
There is a real opportunity for many organisations to increase the level of focus that they place on customer service and ultimately retention activities. The idea would be for organisations to place the same level of focus on these areas that they do on sales. This will assist with ensuring that their people are not losing revenue at the same time as generating it. Sales people tend to focus solely on sales activities, because that is their job, and that is what they get rewarded for. It is also easy to identify the rewards that sales people receive for achieving or exceeding target, because this usually takes the form of cold hard cash. A question that I always ask when working in service environments is how do you reward your service representatives for providing great service? The scary part is that I rarely get an answer!
Another interesting observation that I have made recently, is that people in both sales and service environments do not hear the signals that customers provide in relation to ceasing their business relationship. I often suspect that they hear the customer providing a hint, but lack the skill and confidence to be able to retain them. In this instance, they may take the easy way out and find a way to agree with the customer, therefore proactively opening the back door and watching them drive off into the sunset. Addressing this issue is a quick win for many organisations in relation to achieving sustainable growth by plugging the leaks and gaining maximum benefit from acquisition activities. The process can start by simply educating people to listen for the signals and actively respond to the customer’s criteria relating to why they want to change the current situation.
In a nutshell, I feel it gets down to three things:
· Get the sales – but realise that this is only step one
· Provide outstanding service to your new and existing customers – do not provide them with a reason to leave
· Pay attention to the whispers before they turn into screams – look for the signals that a customer is providing and actively respond in an attempt to keep them
To talk more about customer service and retention matters, please call me (03)9555 7955 or E: scott@neuralnetworks.com.au or visit our website at http://www.neuralnetworks.com.au/
A large number of the organisations that I visit as part of my travels with Neural Networks, place massive focus on growing their client base through sales activities. What is wrong with placing all your focus on sales activities? Simply put, while they are focusing heavily on getting people through the front door, they may not be noticing the ones leaving via the back door.
A lack of focus on retention activities can also directly relate to the financial performance of organisations. Every year organisations traditionally spend large amounts of money on improving overall sales capabilities and usually align this to their strategic objectives and sales targets to increase revenue generation. Often this turns out to be a wasted investment if they fail to minimise leakage, particularly in relation to existing customers.
One of the things that we heavily focus on at Neural Networks is building value around the products and services that organisations provide to new and existing customers. This is integral in not only ensuring that they meet the customers criteria, but also assists with creating a strong and lasting relationship with the customer based on experience. Further to this, if organisations are not identifying and meeting the true criteria of their new and existing customers every time they have contact with them, they may not be leaving a good impression. Organisations can make it harder for their customers to leave by providing excellent service to them at every opportunity. This way the thought of leaving will not have any reason to enter their mind. People will often pay a higher price and stay where they get good service that always meets their criteria.
There is a real opportunity for many organisations to increase the level of focus that they place on customer service and ultimately retention activities. The idea would be for organisations to place the same level of focus on these areas that they do on sales. This will assist with ensuring that their people are not losing revenue at the same time as generating it. Sales people tend to focus solely on sales activities, because that is their job, and that is what they get rewarded for. It is also easy to identify the rewards that sales people receive for achieving or exceeding target, because this usually takes the form of cold hard cash. A question that I always ask when working in service environments is how do you reward your service representatives for providing great service? The scary part is that I rarely get an answer!
Another interesting observation that I have made recently, is that people in both sales and service environments do not hear the signals that customers provide in relation to ceasing their business relationship. I often suspect that they hear the customer providing a hint, but lack the skill and confidence to be able to retain them. In this instance, they may take the easy way out and find a way to agree with the customer, therefore proactively opening the back door and watching them drive off into the sunset. Addressing this issue is a quick win for many organisations in relation to achieving sustainable growth by plugging the leaks and gaining maximum benefit from acquisition activities. The process can start by simply educating people to listen for the signals and actively respond to the customer’s criteria relating to why they want to change the current situation.
In a nutshell, I feel it gets down to three things:
· Get the sales – but realise that this is only step one
· Provide outstanding service to your new and existing customers – do not provide them with a reason to leave
· Pay attention to the whispers before they turn into screams – look for the signals that a customer is providing and actively respond in an attempt to keep them
To talk more about customer service and retention matters, please call me (03)9555 7955 or E: scott@neuralnetworks.com.au or visit our website at http://www.neuralnetworks.com.au/
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