Tip #380: 10 Tips To Help You Become A Better Leader

Greetings!

When a business hits some turbulence, an executive's instinct is sometimes to focus on greater efficiency and productivity by tightening control. But the truth is that giving up authority and giving employees independence can improve innovation and success, even during crises. With that in mind, we have put together a number of tips to help you or someone you know become a better leader in the coming months.

10 Tips To Help You Maximize Your Leadership Skills.

Tip #1: Build Better Relationships -- Great leaders know the value of relationships. They know who people are, what is important to them, and what motivates them. Knowing this will help you understand their goals and how you can support them. When you help people, they will care about you and your goals in return.

Tip #2: Get To Know People On A Personal Level -- If you take the time to get to know people you like, they will no doubt come to like you, too. Furthermore, it is always nice to ask people about their families and interests. You will also find that, if people like you, they will be more open to helping you and taking the extra time to get things done.

Tip #3: Develop A Mentoring Program -- Great leaders know that mentoring someone will not only help develop that person's career, but also help leaders refine their skills.

Tip #4: Be Upbeat And Stay Positive -- In the business world, it is easy to criticize what everyone does and to be negative, especially in this economy. As a leader, you need to find ways to stay positive and find ways to do things better, faster and more effectively. It is important to remember that people are not perfect, and while you do need to address poor performance, great leaders know the value of acknowledging when people are doing things correctly. Doing so builds a positive work environment that helps make people feel appreciated.

Tip #5: Know Your Strengths -- We each have strengths and weaknesses. That being said, you will find that it is better to spend time working on your strengths rather than your weaknesses. By doing this, you will find that you can rise to the expert level sooner than you would be by working on your weaknesses. Bottom line: Know what you are good at and keep at it.

Tip #6: Surround Yourself With People Who Complement You -- As I mentioned above, we all have strengths and weaknesses. Great leaders know what their weaknesses are and find people who support their shortcomings. Not because they need to cover their weaknesses, but because they know the benefit of having a strong team -- and when the team wins, everyone wins.

Tip #7: Look At Your Career, Not So Much At The Company -- Great leaders know that they are the ones who will create their own career paths; therefore, they will work on making it happen. And once they become an expert in their selected careers, they will find that they can go almost anywhere they want to go.

Tip #8: Respect Your People -- If you do not like to be around people, let alone lead people, then do not take a leadership position. Conversely, if you do want to be in a leadership position, start building relationships with people by respecting what they do. Additionally, it is important that a great leader never misses an opportunity to learn more about the people behind them. Great leaders never skip an employee's birthday gathering or a holiday party because they are too busy -- they know that work will always be there.

Tip #9: Balance Your Work And Personal Life -- Great leaders are often times driven people, but they know the key to success is to balance work and family. Life is too short for you to live at your job. One day, when work is winding down, you will think to yourself I wished I had done things differently. Unfortunately, it will be too late to do so. Great leaders set career boundaries and know when to spend more time with family and friends. Doing this will make stronger leaders.

Tip #10: Evolve Into Someone You Aspire To Become -- Great leaders know that they are individuals and that, as an individual, they are not required to be like everyone else. They also know that they can take the path less traveled, as the risk is sometimes greater than the reward. To be a great leader, one must become a person of great interest who has great skills.

Executive Summary: When it comes time to lead people, great leaders know the power of information, information they gather from listening to people they respect. They also know what to say, how to say it and when to say it so that during tough times things get done.

For more information, check out our website!

Tip #379: 9 Tips for Getting More People To Open Your e-Mail Campaigns

E-Mail marketing is a cost-effective way to proactively communicate to your database of clients, past clients, prospects and referral sources. And because it is so cost-effective and easy to use, e-mail marketing campaigns have been flooding everyone's inbox - including yours and mine.

Most People Ignore And Delete These e-Mails From Their Inbox

When sending out mass e-mail marketing campaign (through your own server or a third party service like Constant Contact), you need to know that it is easy for someone to not only delete your e-mail but also ignore it. In fact, the national open rate published by Constant Contact is 13%. That means that 87% of the people who receive an e-mail are not opening it. Not only that, it is easy for people who use generic e-mail services like AOL.com, yahoo.com, etc., to click on their "spam" button. And once enough people label your e-mail as "spam," services like Constant Contact will cancel your account.

If you are interested in maximizing the open rate for your e-mail marketing campaigns, we have collected 9 tips and suggestions for you.

9 Tips For Getting More People To Open (And Read) Your Next e-Mail Campaign.

1. Spend Time Writing Your Subject Line: Your subject line is actually your campaign's headline. And as all great copywriters know, a great headline represents 80% of a campaign's success. With that said, we recommend using emotionally driven headlines like: "5 Sure-Fire Ways To Close Your Coldest Prospect" versus "January e-Newsletter." Another one would be: "7 Must-Have Apps For Salespeople (Inc. Magazine Article)" versus "Article By Inc. Magazine."

2. Know Your Subject Line's Length: Excessively long subject lines will also play a role, because long subject lines can distract a reader from opening your e-mail. But more importantly, you need to be cognizant of how e-mail comes across on a smartphone, because you will find that most smartphones will only display about 27 characters - so make sure that the most compelling part of your message is visible first.

3. Pay Special Attention To Your Frequency And Recency Rate: This is an area that you need to spend time on. The reason being is that too many e-mail campaigns in too short of a time span (recency) can do more harm than good. How can you determine the frequency of a campaign? Ask yourself this one question: Is your e-mail list an "opt in" list or one from which you just gathered names from business cards, websites and chamber/association lists. If it is the latter, you need to tread lightly.

4. Make Your Message Easy To Read: It is one thing to get your e-mail opened; it is another to have it read. With that said, make sure that you write your messages in short sentences and paragraphs as well as add short and snappy headlines to introduce new paragraphs. It is also recommended that you use bullets/numbers in order to make it easier for people to read.

5. Be Better At Writing Copy: Compelling marketing messages will not only motivate people to take action, but more importantly, get people to want to read your e-mail campaigns. To help you become a better writer, we recommend buying both of these books: Tested Advertising Methods Fifth Edition by John Caples and The Copywriter's Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide To Writing Copy That Sells by Robert W. Bly. Also, keep this in mind when writing copy:

1. Your subject line is the headline for your campaign.

2. Your content should help/educate people about their job or what your organization does that makes it unique.

c. Use sub-headlines in the body of your campaign to make it easy for people to skim its content.

d. Always provide readers with a risk-free invitational offer to help them take the next step in the buying process.

6. Check Your Spelling And Grammar Before Pressing The Send Button: People reading your e-mail campaigns will catch your spelling and grammar errors. It is a fact of life, so get used to it. Although most people strive for writing perfection, mistakes do happen. To help ensure that your campaign is close to perfect, we highly recommend cutting and pasting your final copy (once it is in the final format) into a Microsoft Word document, and run your spelling and grammar checks. The results will shock you. But be careful still, because Microsoft Word does not catch all grammar and spelling mistakes.

7. Pay Special Attention To The Name Used In The Sent And Reply Field: People will open your e-mail if they know you and/or your company. This is why we recommend, in some cases, that a person's name is used in the 'from' field versus a company name.

8. Avoid Spam Words In Your Subject Line:The majority of e-mail servers use spam detection software to automatically filter (meaning block) e-mails that contains certain words and symbols in their subject line, words like free, stock, eBay, password, mortgage, exclamation points (see below), etc.

Click here to access 100 words that will trigger spam software

9. Don't Use An Exclamation Point In Your Subject Line: It is good practice to not use an exclamation point at the end of your subject lines. In fact, Google bans all types of punctuation from its AdWords ads.

Executive Summary: Outside of the list you are e-mailing to, 60% of your open rate's success is directly related to 1.) Who the e-mail is coming from and 2.) The subject line used. As a good reminder, do not be clever or misleading in your subject line. Additionally, just concentrate on sending your target audience relevant information that can be easily read - and don't forget a call to action by including a risk-free invitational offer.

For more information, visit our website!

Tip #378: The BANT Formula (Developed by IBM)

No matter what you sell, you need to build a relationship with a prospect during the sales cycle. And just as important as that is, you first need to determine which prospects have a greater probability of closing (immediate buyers versus tire kickers). If not, you can waste countless hours talking with prospects that have a low probability of closing.

Originally developed by IBM, the BANT formula is a great tool for sales leaders and salespeople alike. Why? Because it can help them quickly determine if a prospective buyer has the budget, authority, need and time when buying what you sell.

What Is The BANT Acronym?

B = Budget: Determines if there is a budget for what you are selling.
A = Authority: Determines if the person you are talking to has the authority to make a purchasing decision.
N = Need(s): Determines if there is a business need for what you are selling.
T = Time: Determines the timeframe for implementation.

Why Is The BANT Formula Such An Excellent Tool For Salespeople And Sales Leaders?

The BANT formula is an excellent tool for salespeople and sales leaders to use as it helps them quantify the subjective sales process (salespeople are notorious for chasing prospects that have little to no chance of being closed). More importantly, sales leaders now have a simple tool to help a salesperson manage a new sales opportunity.

One Key Component Of The BANT Formula:

Determining if a prospect has the budget for what you are selling is a critical step in the closing process. Without it, a prospect will always be thinking, "That would be a nice thing to have - if I only could afford it." Specifically, the budgeting process typically falls into three categories:

1. Does a prospect have the funds in the company's budget?
2. If a decision maker(s) does not have the budget; can they find the money?
3. If they don't have the funds, will it be available in the future (annual budgets are typical in larger companies)?

Although the "budget issue" is typically one of the most difficult parts to discover, it is one of the most vital parts of the BANT formula. Why? Because 1.) It helps a salesperson to determine if a prospect has the monies to fund the sale and 2.) It helps a salesperson to properly complete their sales pipeline report(s), AKA, a sales forecast.

The Key To The BANT Formula Is Asking The Right Questions.

There are many elements to a successful sales call, but the two most important ones are 1.) Being in control of the sales call and 2.) Asking targeted and specific questions. Seasoned salespeople and sales leaders alike know that it is best to avoid a sales pitch early in the sales cycle; instead, they know the best approach is to take a step back and ask some open-ended probing questions to ensure that there is a good fit and need for what they are selling. Oh, by the way, if you ONLY talk about the features and benefits of what you are selling, a prospect will quickly tune you out.

Know More Details (By Asking The Right Questions).

To help you determine if a prospect is actively looking to buy what you sell, we recommend taking this multi-step process.

Step 1: Determine why the prospect is taking the time from their day to talk with you.
Step 2: Determine what it would mean to them financially if they solved their problem (most people make buying decisions (in a B2B sale) if your product/services can make or save them money).
Step 3: Determine what the prospect's decision-making requirements are when buying what you are selling.
Step 4: Ask the prospect how their company makes buying decisions as well as this person's role in the decision making process.
Step 5: Determine if the person you are talking to can make the final decision when buying what you are selling.

Executive Summary: Ultimately, you need to start the relationship building process with a prospect by asking the right case-building questions - ones that will help you fully understand a prospect's needs, problems, frustrations and desires. Once this is done, you can segue to the budget discussion without asking if a prospect has the money to buy what you sell, putting you in a better position to forecast a sales opportunity.

For more information, please visit our website.

Tip #377: 4 Quick Tips To Help Lead In Tough Times

The phrase "changing times" conjures up a wide assortment of meanings in today's world. Whether you are facing tight cash issues, adverse government regulations, loss of a key staff member or losing a top client, you need to take a step back and look at what can be done to overcome issues like these.

To help you lead during tough times, below, we have compiled four leadership tips in order to help you focus on the key issues that are important to successful managers during tough times.

Click here for another great article about leading during turbulent times at Salary.com

4 Tips For Leading During Tough Times Are:

Leadership Tip #1: Learn How To Navigate -- Anyone can maintain course in calm waters; however, the biggest and most noticeable difference is how a leader performs during tough times as oppose to calm times. Take a step back and develop a vision by seeing what could be done to change things or what could be looming around the corner. Do this for it will help you to be better prepared should something bad happen.

Leadership Tip #2: Avoid Being Just A Manager -- The difference between leaders and managers is that leaders are able to motivate everyone in their organization whereas managers tend to manage the "status quo" or the current process. Should you find that the "status-quo" be the norm in your organization, don't just follow along. We suggest looking into some type of leadership course, buying books or visiting the local library for books on leadership. It would also be to your advantage to see what other leaders are doing by joining network groups or industry associations.

Leadership Tip #3: Work On Creating A Positive Change -- If you truly lead, you will, by default, cause positive changes in your organization. And this change is important, because it breathes life back into an organization. To help you create a positive change in your organization, look for some high-profile leaders and professional coaches in your area or industry, and see what they are doing. To help you get a new perspective on things, you should also consider a subscription to business magazines, like Harvard Business Review, Entrepreneur or SUCCESS Magazine.

Leadership Tip #4: Talk With Your Team Regularly -- Picture yourself on an airplane that is hitting a lot of turbulence. Wouldn't you want to know what is going on and how long it will last? Better yet, what is the captain doing to find a smoother altitude? The same goes for your employees when your business starts to hit tough times.

Executive Summary: While you cannot predict all of the events that will affect your business, you can employ the above four strategies to navigate your way through tough times. Leaders who invest time in communicating with their staff, reviewing alternate strategies and staying close to key clients are implementing some of the best practices for leading in both good and bad times.

For more information, please visit our website.