Answer this question:  Are you happy right now?  At this very moment, as you are on your computer, are you feeling content?

All of us have different ideas of happiness but for the most part, we can all agree that happiness is a sense of fulfillment, satisfaction, and over all well-being.  While what makes me happy may not necessarily make you happy, the general idea here is that we are all searching for the same feeling.

What we tend to forget, however, is that we are in control of our happiness level.  Having realistic expectations is the basis for achieving happiness. Often times we compare ourselves to others and feel disatisfied when we don’t have the nicer car or the bigger house.  We may feel envious when others seem carefree, jubilant and satisfied.  We ask ourselves, “Why don’t I feel like that?”

Having realistic ideas of what brings us happiness will save a lot of time and heartache.  The person who has truly reached the highest level of happiness is one who shares the wisdom in knowing it’s not money that brings us fulfillment.

Do you feel in control of your happiness?  In psychology, we refer to this as, “Locus of Control”.  This refers to a person’s belief about what causes the good or bad results in their life, either in general or in a specific area such as health, relationships, work, etc. It can either be internal in which the person believes that they control their results, taking full responsibility for what happens in their life or external in which they believe that their environment or other people control their decisions and their life.

Having an internal locus of control allows you to take responsibilty and act proactively towards your goals.  It also allows you to feel good about your achievements, knowing you played a key role in them.  Furthermore, it helps you progress in looking at your mistakes and learning what you did or didn’t do so that you grow from the experience.  This is directly related to our happiness because we have control over it.

Happiness is knowing where you are headed, having a plan in how to get there, while living a balanced & fulfilled life.  It’s the  proper mix of being involved in healthy relationships while spending the necessary time in taking care of yourself. Being connected with nature and spending time in prayer and/or meditation is also part of the happiness equation.  Taking time to focus on these things brings you peace and clarity.

What will you do to bring happiness to your life?  Stop waiting for life to change or for things to get better.  You can begin right now…you are in control of your happiness.

Make it great!

Renee Kennedy-Edwards, MS
President & Executive Coach

WHAT IS YOUR SALES STRATEGY?

Robert Kennedy-Edwards
Sales Trainer

It’s easy to focus on all the negative aspects of today’s challenging market. That being said, there are some opportunities for success even in these tough times. When the market was “hot” many people experienced good fortune without much effort assuming they were skilled salespeople based on their financial success. Now that the customers are not lined up at the door and the phone is not ringing as often, some people are finding it hard to make ends meet. So Now What?

Now is the time to go back to the basics and start really working on your skills. Many salespeople stop learning after they have been in sales for more than a year or two and think they have it all figured out. If you are not happy with your paycheck you only have to ask yourself one question: What can I do to improve it? Here are a list of items salespeople can work on to increase their effectiveness:

Always remember YOU control your destiny not the market. If its slow you need to work harder, close stronger and be more effective. Just think how good you will be when the market really heats up!

Strong Selling,
Robert Kennedy-Edwards
Sales Trainer

I was waiting in the lobby at the doctor’s office with my daughter when a lady arrived to check in at the front desk.  The woman behind the desk asked for her name and then immediately stated in a stern loud voice, “You’re late!”.  The patient looked astonished that she would be reprimanded by the receptionist, as if she were a little girl getting yelled at by her mother.  I felt bad for the patient, even if she was late, she doesn’t deserve to be treated in a degrading way.

Furthermore, I thought to myself, “This receptionist should be treating her with the utmost respect, especially because if it wasn’t for this patient, the employee would be out of a job. Okay, if you’re late, you may have to wait longer or you may even have to reschedule your appointment. Either way, no one deserves to be treated this way, especially by an employee.

What message does this send to the patients waiting to be seen by their doctors? It sends out messages that say, “you aren’t important”, “you are a burden to my day”, “we don’t care about you”, “we are doing you a favor by being here”. How is that for quality customer service?

We must train our employees to see the big picture. They need to realize the patients, clients and customers are the only reason they have a job. If the business loses customers, the employees are out of a job.

It sounds simple and frankly, it should be. However, employees tend to think in “us and them” terms and believe they are doing right by supporting the owner or boss (or doctor in this case). Yet, they don’t realize they need to respectfully work with the customers as if they were on their side. If they can come from this angle, the clients feel acknowledged and respected and problems are easier to work out. Even if the customer is in the wrong, by listening to them and assisting them through the issue, they can often come to a peaceful solution.

Training your staff to deal with challenges objectively instead of subjectively will boost their self confidence in dealing with difficult issues before they become confrontations. Learning how to keep emotions in check will help employees deal with the facts instead of bringing in personal opinions and judgments.

For more information on coping with emotions in the workplace, contact us at  239-948-8080 239-948-8080 239-948-8080.
Renee Kennedy-Edwards, MS / President /COACHING 4 SUCCESS, INC.

1. No one can close a sale unless it has been opened properly. Therefore spend alot of time building rapport with the prospective client and earning trust.

One also needs to look at the overall environment to make sure it is organized properly. Common files in the computer system should be labeled correctly and filed appropriately so that any staff member can find it. The management of the computer files should be delegated to one specific person so that a consistent organizational method is followed at all times. By giving all documents to this person for filing, you are ensuring that consistent standards are being met, saving valuable time for everyone.

The administrative department plays a crucial role to the overall productivity of the staff. Forms, contracts, etc. should be kept up to date so that the employees are consistently using the correct forms. Filing should be completed daily to assure everything is in its correct place and is current.

2. Are you following an effective routine?
Once you have adopted an effective system – be sure to use it consistently. When it becomes a routine, you save time by focusing on the project versus wasting time focusing on the means to accomplish it. Don’t feel you need to reinvent the wheel when adopting routines. When you find a way that works – keep it – and make sure all staff members do the same.

3. Do you have a structured schedule?
Following a somewhat structured schedule is best in order to stay focused on your tasks and goals while also measuring your achievements. By keeping a daily log of these, you are able to review the week’s progress and assess how successful you are towards accomplishing your goals. You will also be able to see where you are wasting valuable time if you log everything that you do in a day. By doing this for a week, you will quickly see where your time is challenged. It’s quite common to set out wanting to accomplish 5 goals for the day. But at the end of the day, you see only 3 goals accomplished and feel like a failure, wondering what happened with your time. The culprit can be due to other tasks that evolve, taking precedence over your original goals. By logging these “unexpected occurrences”, you will have a clearer picture of your time management and will then feel more productive. It’s also wise to allocate time for these occurrences if they happen regularly. By scheduling out time on a daily basis to manage the unexpected tasks, you will feel more in control and less reactive.

4. Are your employees working to the best of their abilities?
Many companies make the mistake of delegating tasks to employees who are overqualified for the project. When delegating jobs to employees, it is important to take into account the person’s role within the company and their pay scale. It isn’t good business sense to be delegating a $10.00 per hour task to a $25.00 per hour employee. Time is a valuable commodity that needs to be treated appropriately in order for you to get the most “bang for your buck”. When you organize the employees in this way, you will be better equipped to work at 100% capacity.

5. Do you offer a healthy balance of work and down time?
While I don’t recommend structuring your work environment in a hard core style, it does need to be structured enough to achieve maximum productivity. One of the common mistakes in work productivity is in having a workhorse mentality. There is a delicate balance between working to capacity and working to death. The most productive workers are those who are balanced with social, relaxation and work time. When you take the time to eat lunch, socialize with co-workers and accomplish your tasks, you feel a sense of achievement and will be more motivated to work. Employees who work long hours without breaks and/or social time will quickly feel drained and burned out with their work and will be less motivated to tackle projects.

By focusing on the steps above, you will be able to better understand how effective your staff is in managing their time and working at maximum capacity.

Continued Success,

Renee Kennedy-Edwards, MS President – Executive Coach

www.LeadMeToSucceed.com

1. Salespeople trying to sell you something they want to sell versus selling you something you want to buy.
2. Salespeople that tell you what you can and cannot do or buy.
3. Salespeople that do not believe that you are interested in buying (or buying today) and therefore do not take you seriously.
4. Salespeople that pre-judge orpre-qualify you before they find out anything about you.
5. Salespeople that talk and sell before asking questions and listening, which would have allowed them to find out what it is that you really want or need.

There are a lot of very good salespeople that commit some very common mistakes. The easiest way to prevent making these mistakes is to not only analyze our defeats but to also analyze our victories. We can learn a lot from both transactions of the things we did right along with the things we care not to repeat. One way to evaluate this is to see it through the eyes of the consumer and consider how they felt during the process. The customers that felt that their salesperson listened to their wants and needs is usually presented a solution to the problem that fits, and therefore a sale is made. Listed above is a list of some of the most common “turnoffs” that customer’s state about salespeople. You will see there is a common theme throughout the 5 turn offs that center around listening to the customer. This requires the salesperson to ask a question then remain quiet, allowing the customer to respond. When salespeople spend the time to find out the wants and needs of the customers the sales process becomes a lot easier for both the salesperson and the customer.
“In the world of sports you look for your opponent’s weakness and exploit it however, in the world of selling you look for the prospects weakness so you can strengthen it by selling them your goods or services”.

- Zig Ziglar

Strong Selling,

We need to re-energize ourselves and it begins with feeling hopeful.  When we turn ourselves to the positive way of thinking and feeling, we become more optimistic and this energy spreads to others.  Believe me, it really stands out these days.  People are attracted to people who are enthusiastic, motivated and happy.  It makes you feel good about yourself and others when you are around positive people.

I’m not suggesting you hide from reality and deny the fact that our economy has changed.  I’m simply stating that it won’t get any better if we give up and get sucked into the chain reaction of  the “doom and gloom” surrounding us.

We’ve all been in challenging situations in our lives. The hard times we have experienced are necessary in order to learn, grow and become stronger.  If you think about any difficult situation you’ve been in, you will most likely find something positive that came out of it.  Usually, we learn more about ourselves in tough times and we realize we are much stronger than we had thought.

This is my suggestion to America:  Acknowledge the current state of our economy and accept the fact that it has changed.  Realize we are all in this together and we have the ability to change it together. Re-energize your state of mind by focusing on the positive.  Focus on what you DO have versus what you don’t have.  Get tough by being proactive and creative.  Diversify your talents by looking at the variety of ways you can make a living based on your unique set of skills.  If you lost your job, mourn it, and move on.  Change can be good if you allow it to be.  Change can make us try things we may never had dreamed of doing.  Change forces us to step outside of our comfort zones to learn and grow.  It is a natural stage of progression.  It is up to you whether you allow it to help you grow and succeed or fall back and fail.

Keep a positive person in your corner with a personal or executive coach.  Call us for more information on our coaching programs that assist people in life transitions and career changes.

239-948-8080

• Looks for the positive in people and situations

• Avoids the negativity being spread by many others

• Always sees the glass half full and seeks out opportunities

• Continues to improve themselves by constantly fine tuning their process

• Finds new and creative ways to satisfy their customers

• Knows if the market is down 15% that still means 85% of the market is buying

• Is fun to be around and makes others feel good

• Knows that they control their own destiny

• Finds a way to win no matter what the circumstances they face

• Is the type of person we like and trust, therefore we feel comfortable doing business with them

In order to be a successful salesperson, you need to fully understand quality customer service and most of all have a Great Attitude. Your attitude determines how others perceive you and if you are seen in a positive light good things can happen. Conversely, if you are harboring negative thoughts it will come through loud and clear to potential clients, along with anyone that comes in contact with you. The greatest thing about this is that we have the power to control our attitude. I agree it may not be easy especially when we live in a challenging time but you, and only you, can decide the limit of your success.

- Robert Kennedy-Edwards
Sales Trainer

84%  Health Insurance

82%  Clear Policies & Procedures

82%  Job Security

76%  Retirement Plan

71%  Flexible, Family-Friendly Workplace

69%  Quick Decisions on Work Issues

68%  Working with Talented Managers

66%  Creative Work, Intellectual Stimulation

66%  Potential for Promotion

65%  Pay

The good news is that as an Employer, you have the ability to control most of the items listed.  Now is the time to review your current organizational structure, including your goals in managing, leading and growing your employees.  By focusing on your staff now, they will be ready to plunge ahead when we experience our next growth spurt (and we will!).

We are here to assist you.  Call for a free consultation in how we can help your organization grow to its fullest potential.

Learning an effective management style that encompasses age and personality differences is key to leading successfully.  An effective way to implement this is to assess your current staff regarding their strengths, weaknesses and motivators.  An effective manager will take these results into account when dealing with his or her staff.

At Coaching 4 Success, we offer employee assessments that measure factors related to motivation, management and personality styles. We don’t stop there.  Programs can be designed around your assessment results to ensure you are running the most productive and profitable team.  Call for details and a free consultation           239-948-8080
239-948-8080 .Source: HR Executive Magazine

“Everyone is in sales, no matter what you do. Your entire life is a continuous process of communicating, persuading, and influencing other people. The only question is; how good are you in these areas?”

The Top 5 Sales Strategies

1. Become an expert on what you sell, whether it is a product or services. Knowledge is power. The more you know about your product/service the more ways you can relay the benefits of it to a prospective client.
2. Build good relationships.  When you are attempting to earn someone’s business you will be more successful if you have established trust by building a good business relationship. People do business with people they like and trust.
3. Ask good questions and sharpen your listening skills. The customers will tell you how to sell them if you ask good questions and really listen to their responses. Always remember that selling is something we do with or for the customer not to the customer.
4. Handle objections. When a customer has an objection you should be excited because this is a signal s/he is ready to buy. Now all you need to do is successfully overcome the objection. (refer back to #1 and #2)
5. Persistence Removes Resistance. There is a huge difference between being “pushy” and being “persistent”. When you are really trying to earn a person or a company’s business it may take many attempts to close the sale, so never give up. Remember 80% of all sales are closed after the 5^th closing attempt.

For more information on Sales Coaching and Sales Training services, please visit our website at