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January 2, 2013
7 Tips for Communicating with Clarity
These simple steps can make a big difference in your effectiveness.
By Deb Calvert, President, People First Productivity Solutions
Misunderstandings in the workplace cause productivity losses, hurt feelings, and unnecessary conflict. Communicating with clarity can prevent misunderstandings and keep things running smoothly and peaceably. Ensuring clarity in communication is the responsibility of each individual, particularly since our performance is so frequently appraised based on our ability to effectively communicate.
Here are Seven Tips for Improving the...Continue reading
By Deb CalvertPosted in Communication Skills on January 2, 2013
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December 16, 2012
Why Is It So Difficult to Implement Change?
Follow These Steps to Become a Change Leader
By Deb Calvert, President, People First Productivity Solutions
As humans, we prefer a state called homeostasis. It’s the state in which a person’s relationship to the environment is stable. It’s in our very nature to strive for stability and resist change. Physically, we are wired for regulation that keeps our systems operating in a way that is stable and unchanging. Emotionally, we may cling to what or who is familiar.
You may have heard or read before that the top...Continue reading
By Deb CalvertPosted in Communication Skills on December 16, 2012
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December 4, 2012
Sales Professionals: What about the Buyer’s Process?
Having a sales process is good, following your buyer's process is even better.
By Deb Calvert, President, People First Productivity Solutions
Every sales training program and book about increasing sales offers a sales process. These step-by-step processes help sellers to orient themselves and move through a logical progression from opening the sale all the way through to closing the sale.
Having a sales process is a good practice.
Knowing and following your buyer’s process is an even better practice.
The buyer’s process is simple, and...Continue reading
By Deb CalvertPosted in Sales & Business Development on December 4, 2012
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November 18, 2012
You Only Get One Chance to Make a First Impression
Learn to focus your efforts on opening doors for productive customer relationships.
By Deb Calvert, President, People First Productivity Solutions
Before any sale can be made, a relationship must be opened. And if multiple sales are to be made to the same customer, that relationship must be maintained and maximized through continually opening new opportunities and, sometimes, new relationships that will enhance the buyer/seller partnership.
Many sellers focus too much of their time and attention to closing sales. By doing so, they lose alignment with the buyer’s...Continue reading
By Deb CalvertPosted in Sales & Business Development on November 18, 2012
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November 8, 2012
Can You Teach an Old Dog New Tricks?
Six preferred learning styles for adults-Adapt your message for a better response.
By Deb Calvert, President, People First Productivity Solutions
It’s been said that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks (I can say that because I’d qualify as an “old dog”). There would be a true statement if it were slightly modified to read, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks the same way that you’d teach a puppy.”
That’s because adults do not learn the same way that children do. Children are like sponges, soaking up...Continue reading
By Deb CalvertPosted in Communication Skills on November 8, 2012
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October 9, 2012
Ten Ways to Prepare for a Tough Negotiation
Learn to plan ahead or be at a huge disadvantage.
By Deb Calvert, President, People First Productivity Solutions
By the time two parties to a negotiation are sitting across the table from each other, the negotiation may already be over. If you didn’t plan ahead, chances are that you’ve walked in to a fait accompli, a done deal, a ship that’s already sailed. If the other party has prepared in these ten ways and you have not, then you’re at an extreme disadvantage. It’s unlikely that you can recover from this inferior...Continue reading
By Deb CalvertPosted in Sales & Business Development on October 9, 2012
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October 4, 2012
A Model for Active Listening: Master a Skill That Can Boost Your Career
How well do you process what's being heard?
By Deb Calvert, President, People First Productivity Solutions
Research by Korn Ferry International reveals that there is one competency that may be more important than any other in the workplace. That competency, active listening, rises to the top of the list because it is a “compensator” for other competencies. As a compensator, active listening can neutralize the negative effects of a gap.
In other words, while an individual is working to master other competencies or when he or she...Continue reading
By Deb CalvertPosted in Communication Skills on October 4, 2012
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September 11, 2012
You Are the Ultimate in Added Value
How can you (not your company, not your product, but YOU) add value to your customers?
By Deb Calvert, President, People First Productivity Solutions
In selling, the term “value added” has taken on a life of its own. This term has a variety of meanings and interpretations, which is confusing for buyers and sellers alike. Here are just a few examples of what “value added” has meant in different industries:
We will throw in some extra features or upgrades at no additional cost.
We will wine and dine you, give you some baseball tickets, or invite you...Continue reading
By Deb CalvertPosted in Sales & Business Development on September 11, 2012
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September 10, 2012
Building Trust with Co-Workers
What can you do to be sure you are universally and consistently viewed as someone others can trust?
By Deb Calvert, President, People First Productivity Solutions
In the past decade, trust has become a hot topic in business. Maybe it’s a reaction to the big corporate scandals that rocked the U.S. and led to stringent accounting practices or to housing market declines and big business bailouts. Or maybe it’s the lack of trust in companies that rapidly inflate and can’t sustain their growth so they lay off thousands of people with barely the blink of an...Continue reading
By Deb CalvertPosted in Communication Skills on September 10, 2012
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