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Tag Archive: sales

Become A Top Performer in Customer Relations

Become A Top Performer in Customer Relations

Do want to be known as “The Expert” or “The Guru”? Do you want to advance your career and income? If you answered yes to both of these questions then you need to become a “Top Performer” in your profession. Whether you are now a Manager, Executive, Consultant, Sales or Service Specialist, then Customer Relationship skills will be one of the keys to your success. Experience and knowledge in your area of specialty may make you an above average performer, but to be a “Top Performer” start implementing the following 24 Customer Relationship skills and action items today.

Top performers are successful by being honest, respecting a clients intelligence and focusing all their energies on how to make a difference in a clients life. After reviewing the following “Top Performer” Customer Relationship skills and action items, you will know how to be more effective, efficient, and successful.

Building a strong relationship with your customer will last a lifetime and will be your #1 success factor in your career.

1. Show off your offering “Live” by hosting seminars. Customers viewing offerings first hand will dramatically improve positive reactions.

2. Make mentoring available to your customers. Provide one day a week, one day bi-monthly, or one day monthly where you are available face to face with the customer. Give them a list of what you can do during this time period. Example, training, audits, project reviews, etc.

3. Do a 20 customer road show twice a year. Nothing beats going into the field and meeting customers face to face to better understand what they need and show them what you have to offer.

4. Make the selling process as easy as possible. A long, complex selling process will turn off customers and drive them to your competitors.

5. Showing or presenting an offering three or more times to a customer will result in a more positive impact.

6. Setup an annual meeting with your customer to discuss where there business is going the following year and review your companies long term vision.

7. Connect with a customer on a personal level through common interests and goals. Make efficient use of the buyer’s time, be courteous and polite.

8. Create a pattern of dependability by making small promises and over delivering on results.

9. Be an honest advisor. Present both the strengths and weaknesses of your offering. It is better for the customer to learn about your weaknesses now than to discovering them later.

10. Reduce customer stress. The easier it is for the customer to do business with you the greater their likelihood of repurchasing.

11. Be polite and respectful of a customer’s time and schedule. Always ask when the best time to see and talk with them.

12. Ask for small things first. A customer who says yes, is more likely to say yes to bigger requests later.

13. Positive momentum creates positive momentum. Ask a customer first, “How are they doing?” When the customer states they are feeling good, they are more inclined to give you a positive response to your next request.

14. If you smile, people will respond in kind and be more open to your message.

15. Keep your tone upbeat. Make a point to elevate everyone you come in contact with . When they hear your name, their mood will be lifted.

16. When a customer can’t buy or won’t buy, fall back and ask for names who might have an interest.

17. When a customer says no to your first big request, ask for a smaller one. Customers feel obligated when you make a concession. Present your most expensive option first.

18. We prefer to buy from people we like. We really like people who like us. Being likeable is as simple as helping customers feel happy, relaxed, and even feel good about themselves.

19. The more you make a relevant, yet unexpected connection with their lives, the greater chance of gaining their interest.

20. Mimic your customers feelings, tone, attitude, and gestures. They respond better to like people.

21. Meeting over food and drink has a positive impact on customers reactions to your offering. Dine, drink coffee, listen, talk, connect. Sharing meals has significant impact on customer attitudes.

22. Remembering a customers name and personal details can have a dramatic impact on your ultimate success. This shows that you value them.

23. Keep silent. When you don’t speak, you create the need for the customer to make a decision or keep talking providing you with more information.

24. Pay attention to details. Customers make a direct connection between attention to detail and competence. Pay attention to spelling, out of place items, grooming, dress, hotels you use, etc.

May 7, 2014 Today's Business, , , , , , , , 0 Read more >

Selling: The Anticipation Of Your First Sale

Selling: The Anticipation Of Your First Sale
What’s the a biggest motivational tool out there when you start an internet home based business? Well for me it was the anticipation of making my first sale.

When I started my internet home based business I quickly learned that nothing comes for free and you have to work at it to become successful. I thought that I could make lots of money in a short period of time; well I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Yes, I got into the get rich quick scams to begin with, searching on the internet for ways to make money fast. First there was the “get paid for doing surveys” scheme. Then I thought that I could sell things on e-bay to make a quick buck. While there are lots of people doing this it’s not a way to get rich quick. Next was the pyramid scheme. As time went on the money kept going out and nothing was coming in.

I could have quit there but I was determined. I changed my way of thinking and started to search for legitimate ways to make money online. That’s when I found my first no “B.S” internet home based business. I learned everything there was to learn about it, applied the strategies and then reread it all to see if there was anything I missed. Doing those simple things can make all the difference.

While working my new business online I soon learned that one business wasn’t going to be enough to sustain me working at home. So I decided to take on four more legit home based businesses so that I could obtain multiple streams of income. If I could get each of them making $500.00/month that would be enough to allow me to stay at home. I dedicated myself to learning everything about them as well and all the while I kept repeating the things I had learned. Repetition and Duplication are the keys to making any home based business work.

Things started to happen after a month and a half had went by. My site was indexed from the search engines and I got a few signups to my affiliate programs. This in it self was enough to keep me plugging along, but still no sales. I was more determined than ever now, spending countless hours at my desk.

And then it happened….I got my first sale. I couldn’t tell you how happy I was.

Things have been picking up more steadily each and every month. The more I apply the things I’ve learned the more successful I become. The more I repeat things I’ve learned the more successful I become and the more I track and duplicate things I’ve learned….well you get the point.

May 4, 2014 Today's Business, , , , 0 Read more >

Ethics Leadership in Business Development

Ethics Leadership in Business Development
In the 25 + years of working with some of the best people in Business Development within the power generation industry, we have found some unique characteristics that separate these individuals from the rest.  It doesn’t seem to matter what organization they work for, or the services, the client base or the economic climate.  We find that these individuals are in fact the top 3% of the professionals in their field.  In addition to learning to think as CEO’s, Presidents, entrepreneurial leaders of Business Development units, we’ve discovered they have acquired the behavioral characteristics of a leader. They have learned how to set strategic and operational objectives in putting together plans, how to be visionaries and see opportunities for their organizations that other individuals may miss, and in the role of Business Development, they have mastered the 12 Core Competencies, a benchmark to measure leaders.

One of the most compelling definitions of a leader is an individual whose mere presence inspires the desire to follow. When asked if leaders are born or bred, the general consensus is that leadership can be taught.  While few of us have had the opportunity to be formally trained or mentored in leadership, all of us are called to be a leader at different times and circumstances in our lives.  Leadership is first about who you are as an individual, not what you do, and the term character best describes the core characteristic of a leader.  It is this part of an individual that inspires other to follow, so we see character as the summation of an individual’s principles and values, core beliefs by which one anchors and measures their behavior in all roles in life.  Principles and values of a positive leader include loyalty, respect, integrity, courage, fairness, honesty, duty, honor and commitment.

If character is the summation of our principles and values, then ethics is the application of them. To understand more about character development, we can reach back nearly 2500 years to the writings of Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics.  Aristotle taught that moral virtue is acquired by practice.  Ethics, according to Aristotle, is moral virtue that comes about as a result of habit. Ethics has as its root ethike, formed by the slight variation of the word ethos (habit). Aristotle explained that moral virtues do not arise in us by nature; we must accept them, embrace them and perfect them by habit. Leadership training emphasizes that understanding leader values and attributes is only the first step in development.  A leader must also embrace values and practice attributes, living them until they become a habit.

In the Business Development role, success requires a fusion of who we are as an individual, along with our principles, values, ethics and their application.  It’s a unique combination of what we know, how we apply it and what we do.

Bill Scheessele is CEO/Founder of MBDi, a Business Development consultancy based in Charlotte, North Carolina. For the past 27 years, MBDi has assisted client firms in leveraging their high level expertise into bottom line business. Information on the company and the MBDi Business Development Process™ access: www.mbdi.com.

April 15, 2014 Today's Business, , , , , , , 1 Read more >

7 Marketing Tips for Your Small Business

7 Marketing Tips for Your Small Business

Here are 7 low-cost but highly effective marketing tips to help any small business find customers and generate sales quickly.

1. Don’t Advertise Like a Big Business

Big businesses advertise to create name recognition and future sales. A small business can’t afford to do that. Instead, design your advertising to produce sales …now. One way to accomplish this is to always include an offer in your advertising – and an easy way for prospective customers to respond to it.

2. Offer a Cheaper Version

Some prospective customers are not willing to pay the asking price for your product or service. Others are more interested in paying a low price than in getting the best quality. You can avoid losing sales to many of these customers by offering a smaller or stripped down version of your product or service at a lower price.

3. Offer a Premium Version

Not all customers are looking for a cheap price. Many are willing to pay a higher price to get a premium product or service. You can boost your average size sale and your total revenue by offering a more comprehensive product or service …or by combining several products or services in a special premium package offer for a higher price.

4. Try Some Unusual Marketing Methods

Look for some unconventional marketing methods your competitors are overlooking. You may discover some highly profitable ways to generate sales and avoid competition. For example, print your best small ad on a postcard and mail it to prospects in your targeted market. A small ad on a postcard can drive a high volume of traffic to your website or generate a flood of sales leads for a very small cost.

5. Trim Your Ads

Reduce the size of your ads so you can run more ads for the same cost. You may even be surprised to find that some of your short ads generate a better response than their longer versions.

6. Set up Joint Promotions with Other Small Businesses

Contact some non-competing small businesses serving customers in your market. Offer to publicize their products or services to your customers in exchange for their publicizing your services to their customers. This usually produces a large number of sales for a very low cost.

7. Take Advantage of Your Customers

Your customers already know and trust you. It’s easier to get more business from them than to get any business from somebody who never bought from you. Take advantage of this by creating some sp

April 13, 2014 Today's Business, , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Read more >

Growing Your Small Business Sales Through Creating Connections

Growing  Your Small Business Sales Through Creating Connections
Your mission as a business owner is to develop a marketing strategy which offers your potential clients/customers a way to improve their situation in a certain way, solve a problem, provide more value, or open new opportunities for them which will motivate them to pick up the phone and buy from you. This requires that the focus of your marketing plan be placed on your customer – NOT ON YOU! Taken from The 90 Day Marketing Marathon Blunders from A to Z these ten powerful tools will support you in creating meaningful connections with your clients/customers and providing real time solutions to their challenges of the today.
1.   Custom Assessments.

By using a tool such as Assessment Generator you can build custom assessments which will allow the visitors to your website the opportunity to engage with you while providing value which is memorable.  With Assessment Generator you as the business owner will receive the basic results of the survey to see if clients are where they want to be in their lives or their businesses.
2.   Online Survey Tools.

A well-designed online survey can greatly empower business, academic, and charitable organizations by finding out quickly what is on the minds of your current and prospective customers/clients. Creating an online survey can be extremely simple and convenient with a free survey tool such as Advanced Survey or Zoomerang. By designing a survey and sending this to your database, you can poll targeted groups quickly and in detail while obtaining real time results.
3.   “Feedback” Hot Links.

As you update your website, author articles, or launch new products and services, add a “feedback hot link” to your site or to your e-mail signature. This link can state “Send me feedback” or “Send me your comments” and will automatically link to an e-mail which can be used for your website visitors to provide you with insight into what is working and what is not with your products and services. The key is to make communicating with you as easy as possible.
4.   Weblogs With Comments.

A weblog is a simple yet compelling online environment, which will allow you to put your thoughts, ideas, and experiences on the web via a journal, photo album, or diary. With a tool such as Typepad you can provide your clients and customers with access to your online journal AND allow them the ability to comment to your posts. If you are blogging around a topic which creates discussion or a topic which can generate ideas for your new products and services, you will find that blogging with a tool which allows for comments will take your products and services to a more advanced and sophisticated level quickly and with the support of your customers/clients.
5.   Client Scenarios That Create an Emotional Tug.

What are the typical challenges of your clients, what do they complain about to others, and what do they really want in life? Do they say things such as:
·    I am a CEO, and I cannot seem to motivate my team.
·    I am a pet owner, and I am looking for a Veterinarian I can trust.
·    I am a Solopreneur who is working for a lunatic.
·    I am a business owner who is looking to invest my money to double my financial wealth.
·    I am a new college graduate, and I am looking for the career of my dreams.

By honing in on what’s most important to your website visitors and actually posting these for the world to see, you will begin to connect with these folks in a way which calls the emotions to be tapped.  List these client scenarios in bullet form on your website, and link each scenario to a very tangible benefit of what you can offer.

Example: If you are marketing to pet owners who are looking for a Veterinarian he/she can trust, link this client scenario to a special report on “The Top Ten Questions to Ask When Hiring a Veterinarian for Your Pet.”
6.   Data Driven Landing Pages.

Landing pages, also known as “jump” pages in the world of marketing, are self-contained web pages that visitors are driven to for a specific purpose (usually for the purpose of collecting e-mail addresses.)  Landing pages are very focused and usually contain a message, in most cases to allow you as the web host to determine what visitors click on as well as other statistics.  A data driven landing page contains a form requesting the user to enter contact information, usually in order to get something, such as a free special report, newsletter, or to register for an upcoming event. By including a question on this page such as “What is the thing you most want in the area of _______________” (fill in the blank) you will be able to see trends of what folks most want, which can be key to the growth of your business.
7.   A Research and Development Team.

A Research and Development team is a group of people you invite to join you in developing your products, programs, and services.  Your R & D Team may be as small as ten people or as large as 1,000 people. It is recommended that you call on your R & D team at least two times per month, as they will provide you with valuable information about what is working/not working in your business, and they will tell others about what you are up to.  As your business grows, you will want to continue to add people to your list so that you have a cross section of people, ideas, and perspectives from people from all walks of life and all corners of the globe.
8.   A Mastermind Group.

The purpose of a mastermind group is to share thoughts, ideas, opinions, and information.  To be successful in business, it is important for this group to be supportive and to care enough about you and your business to provide you with honest feedback about what they see is possible for your business.  Spend at least one hour per week with your mastermind group, and use the feedback gained to grow your life, both personally and professionally.
9.   A Product/Service Development Team.

Are you ready to develop a new product or service, and you just don’t know where to begin or how to make it happen?  If so, invite ten of the coolest people you know to support you in developing the new product or service in exchange for a slice of the pie once the product/service is launched.  People love to share their wisdom, especially when they know that they are involved in development of something that will be financially rewarding in the end.
10. Risky Business.

One time per month, add one product or service that is out of the norm or a little bit risky for you and your business.  Why?  Because it will keep your mind moving and will allow your customers to sample something which is cutting edge and exciting!  Example: You are a bookstore owner, and you host a “Mystery Night.”  Invite the public to preview the 12 hottest mysteries by attending a masquerade party on the premises of your bookstore – loads of fun, intrigue, and excitement.  A suggestion/comment box can be situated near the door, inviting guests to contribute feedback and ideas for the next big event for your biz.

March 8, 2014 Today's Business, , , , , , , , 0 Read more >

Building Referrals Builds Profits and is The Best Customer

Building Referrals Builds Profits and is The Best Customer

Referrals are the key to exponential and cost-efficient business growth.

Supply a topnotch product… let your customers know how advantageous your brand is… and provide exceptional service.
Do that and you’ll encourage customers to willingly send their families, friends, acquaintances, and business associates your way.

There’s no easier sale than the sale made to a “pre-sold” prospect. This kind of favorable condition can only arise as a result of the shared enthusiasm from another delighted buyer. Word-of-mouth advertising generates top quality referrals. As a marketing tool, it simply can’t be beat. Word of mouth promotion cannot be purchased for any amount of money… it can only be earned.

Referrals happen when one friend willingly shares information with another. What makes referrals so effective is that no true friend would recommend a business, service, or product that they didn’t completely approve of themselves.

The foundation for building your business with referrals is a solid product or service — one that not only meets, but exceeds your advertising claims. One way to achieve customer satisfaction is to “under promise” and “over deliver”.

It doesn’t mean you should weaken your advertising materials. Simply focus on providing more for you customers – more than you promise. That’s another formula for success. People are always thrilled to get a little something extra with a purchase they’re already happy about.

Write powerful sales copy that clearly positions your product as the overwhelming favorite. Make a huge promise… and deliver even more.

Treat your customers as the most important component of your business. Customers are vital to your success – even to your very existence. People want to be treated fairly, with respect, and courtesy. The golden rule still applies – treat people the same way you like to be treated. Remember, nobody likes to wait beyond a reasonable amount of time for an order to be filled.

When you get in the habit of delighting customers, you’ll find that people are only too happy to tell others. As word spreads about your product or service, you’re business is propelled to new heights.

Your success in business is predicated on your ability to satisfy customers, and to continuously grow your customer base. In all your communications with customers, you need to encourage them tell others about all the benefits your product or service offers.

Let loyal buyers know that you’re always seeking new customers. Remind readers that you’ve built your business by thoroughly satisfying customers and having those customers tell others in turn.

Ask buyers if they know anyone who would like and could benefit from your catalog. As soon as a name is provided, fire off an information package… and send a thank you note to the customer who fed you the lead. Referrals make it easy to grow your business.

Provide discount cards for new customers. Offer a 10% to 15% discount on their first purchase and then make these available to your existing customers for distribution to others. Give them an extra reason for handing these discount coupons out.

Offer points towards free gifts, free premiums, for each discount coupon redeemed, or simply acknowledge them as a “builder” of your organization, complete with their picture and certificate, proudly displayed for all to see.
The best way to get customers to refer others is “in the moment” — when they’re still enamored with your product or your high level of personal service.

While customers are enjoying these positive emotions about your company, that’s the time to ask for a little favor. Ask… “Is there someone else you know, who might want to… grow their business by 37%this year? … get that older car looking showroom-clean? … transform any weed-filled lot into a lush green lawn and garden?

Simply fill in the end of the sentence with the big benefit you’ve just delivered on. Plant the seed of referrals and referrals will come your way.

March 5, 2014 Today's Business, , , , , , , , , 1 Read more >

Creating Superior Customer Experience by Up-Servicing

Creating Superior Customer Experience by Up-Servicing

About once a week I grab my laptop and head to a café to work, brainstorm, and map out business plans. I usually enjoy a latté, cappuccino, or green tea while I work and I’ve found the change of scenery ignites my creativity and jump starts my productivity. For years I’ve gone to the same café on Yale Avenue for my weekly ritual, but last week I stopped into a Barnes & Noble Cafe. I approached the counter to purchase a latté and the sales person immediately responded with an “up selling” offer. She asked, “Can I get you a slice of cheesecake to go with your Caramel Macchiato?“

I wasn’t even thinking about dessert, yet I somehow let the unexpected query: “Can I get you a slice of cheesecake to go with your Caramel Macchiato?“ entice me into accepting a rich slice of cheesecake.

The lady at the Barnes & Noble Café flawlessly executed the “up-selling” technique and without any hesitation I accepted. Not once in the three years of my attending my usual café has anyone tried to upsell me. As I enjoyed each delectable bite of the cheesecake I wondered, “What would it mean to Barnes & Noble’s bottom line if every salesperson in the Café attempted to upsell beverage seekers? What would it mean to the bottom line if just 2% of customers everyday were upsold?” What would it mean to your bottom line if every one of your employees flawlessly upsold your customers?

In my experience both as a consumer and as a Business Growth Strategist, I have discovered that many businesses avoid up-selling because they’re concerned that the customer may feel irritated or pressured, and often customer service professionals are reluctant to upsell because they’re uncomfortable with a “selling” role. But here’s the thing: If you don’t try to upell you are 1) Leaving money on the table and 2) Withholding value-added services from your customers. When done right, upselling offers translate into sales 5-20% of the time. And research shows that most customers appreciate up-selling when they are offered additional benefits that are relevant to their needs. Read on to get 5 tips to help you confidently and successfully upservice your customers.

Think of upserving as “Up-Servicing” – When done right, upselling is simply offering a “suggestion” to an already receptive buyer to enhance the value of her service. This is exactly what I experienced at Barnes & Noble Cafe. I was already a receptive buyer and the cheesecake most definitely enhance the value of my experience. When viewed as truly upservicing as opposed to upselling, selling doesn’t feel so overwhelming.

Make sure your upserving offer is always relevant to the customer’s needs. Offering a buyer of a latté a book on Feng Shui tips may not be relevant and is likely to be rejection waiting to happen. But offering dessert truly offers to enhance the receptive customer’s experience.

Be more interested in being of service than in getting a commission. Always focus on offering products or services that are relevant to the customer’s needs and will arguably enhance the customer’s experience. If your sole objective is to get a commission, customers will smell you a mile away. And trust me, they will not buy.

Recognize that upservicing increases customer satisfaction. Surveys and research has found that offering products your customers might find useful is a proactive effort on your part that conclusively leads to increased satisfaction and loyalty.

Think of “up-servicing” as a proactive service initiative. When you add upservicing to your skill repertoire, you will increase customers satisfaction and grow your bottom line.

March 1, 2014 Today's Business, , 0 Read more >

Marketing Magic: There Two Little Words Can Make A Difference!

Marketing Magic: There Two Little Words Can Make A Difference!
In his classic best-seller, How To Win Friends And Influence People, Dale Carnegie’s second chapter is entitled The Big Secret of Dealing With People. The secret is summed up in this principle: Give honest and sincere appreciation.

Carnegie said there is only one way to get anybody to do anything — by making the person want to do it. How can you encourage customers to say good things about you and give you referrals? By giving them what they and all human beings crave: honest and sincere appreciation.

The Two Magic Words

The big secret of dealing with people (or customers) is often overlooked or forgotten. It’s simply saying “thank you” consistently, personally and, above all, sincerely. These two words work marketing magic because customers want to feel important.

Saying “thank you” is an act of kindness, besides. But don’t say “thank you” for the sake of flattery. It must be sincere. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “You can never say anything but what you are.”

“Thank You” Promotes Referrals

The uncertainty of referrals can be disconcerting. Can you control them? No. Can you influence them? Absolutely.

First you must provide a valuable product or service for customers. (You’re already doing this, right?) But perhaps you can make an even bigger difference in their minds by your continued interest after you’ve delivered the product or service.

Each customer has a different level of satisfaction with your products and services. However, all customers to whom you say “thank you” are satisfied that they’re important to you. This can determine whether you’ll continue a relationship with them and get referrals.

“Thank You” as Direct Mail or E-mail

If you’ve never used direct mail and are considering it, start a thank-you correspondence program. If you’ve used direct mail or e-mail but haven’t sent thank-you letters or e-mails, start now.

The thank-you letter or e-mail to your customers is targeted (you know them, they know you), personal and effective. It’s guaranteed to receive a positive response.

Furthermore, it’s a pleasant surprise if it’s snail mail. They see your envelope. They think, this must be something for me to review, to sign, or worse a bill. Surprise! They’re appreciated; they’re important. And you’re the one telling them so.

Write a thank-you letter or e-mail at every opportunity. But don’t send one with an invoice or other correspondence. Always send it separately.

Writing the Thank-You Letter or E-mail

The thought behind a thank-you letter or e-mail may seem simple, but writing one can be tricky. Here are 9 tips for writing a winning thank-you letter or e-mail:

1. Keep it brief. A half dozen lines (or fewer) are sufficient.

2. Make it sincere. This is crucial. If you aren’t careful, it can sound awkward, even when you’re trying to be sincere.

3. Start with “thank you.” Dear Ms. Johnson (or first name, if appropriate): Thank you for …

4. Make the tone warm, but professional. Be friendly, but keep it businesslike.

5. Reinforce a positive. Jog their memory of a positive aspect of the relationship.

6. Offer your continued support. If I can help, please call …

7. End with “thank you.” Thanks again for …

8. Use an appropriate closing. Sincerely, Best regards.

9. No ulterior motive. Make it a pure “thank you,” otherwise sincerity is jeopardized.

Remember: Saying “thank you” is part of building strong customer relationships over time. Use these two magic words consistently and watch your repeat business and referrals grow.

(c) 2005 Neil Sagebiel

February 19, 2014 Today's Business, , , , , , , 0 Read more >

Leadership & Ethics in Business Development

Leadership & Ethics in Business Development
In the 25 + years of working with some of the best people in Business Development within the power generation industry, we have found some unique characteristics that separate these individuals from the rest. It doesn’t seem to matter what organization they work for, or the services, the client base or the economic climate. We find that these individuals are in fact the top 3% of the professionals in their field. In addition to learning to think as CEO’s, Presidents, entrepreneurial leaders of Business Development units, we’ve discovered they have acquired the behavioral characteristics of a leader. They have learned how to set strategic and operational objectives in putting together plans, how to be visionaries and see opportunities for their organizations that other individuals may miss, and in the role of Business Development, they have mastered the 12 Core Competencies, a benchmark to measure leaders.

One of the most compelling definitions of a leader is an individual whose mere presence inspires the desire to follow. When asked if leaders are born or bred, the general consensus is that leadership can be taught. While few of us have had the opportunity to be formally trained or mentored in leadership, all of us are called to be a leader at different times and circumstances in our lives. Leadership is first about who you are as an individual, not what you do, and the term character best describes the core characteristic of a leader. It is this part of an individual that inspires other to follow, so we see character as the summation of an individual’s principles and values, core beliefs by which one anchors and measures their behavior in all roles in life. Principles and values of a positive leader include loyalty, respect, integrity, courage, fairness, honesty, duty, honor and commitment.

If character is the summation of our principles and values, then ethics is the application of them. To understand more about character development, we can reach back nearly 2500 years to the writings of Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle taught that moral virtue is acquired by practice. Ethics, according to Aristotle, is moral virtue that comes about as a result of habit. Ethics has as its root ethike, formed by the slight variation of the word ethos (habit). Aristotle explained that moral virtues do not arise in us by nature; we must accept them, embrace them and perfect them by habit. Leadership training emphasizes that understanding leader values and attributes is only the first step in development. A leader must also embrace values and practice attributes, living them until they become a habit.

In the Business Development role, success requires a fusion of who we are as an individual, along with our principles, values, ethics and their application. It’s a unique combination of what we know, how we apply it and what we do.

Bill Scheessele is CEO/Founder of MBDi, a Business Development consultancy based in Charlotte, North Carolina. For the past 27 years, MBDi has assisted client firms in leveraging their high level expertise into bottom line business. Information on the company and the MBDi Business Development Process™ access: www.mbdi.com.

February 18, 2014 Today's Business, , , , , , , 1 Read more >