Category Archives: Programs

5 Ways to Get That Raise

Posted on by

 

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of the business and time management book TimePeace: Making peace with time – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.  Steve Wynkoop and I talk a lot about designing and managing our professional careers on a weekly interview on SSWUG TV. This episode was about how to find a mentor.   This article goes into more detail.  And the IT Professional Development Toolkit DVD goes into further details on the who, what, where, when, and why of these topics.

Audio of this episode:

[codepeople-html5-media-player id=1]

Have this ever happened to you?  You get a great performance review; they are very pleased with your work; they say they would like to give you a raise — BUT, due to budget problems, it is not possible at this time.  What do you do to succeed?

The old adage of “hitting while the iron is hot” is significant here. First, congratulate yourself for recognizing and acknowledging that you have the power to make this situation better.

  1. Get the performance evaluation and desire to give you a raise in writing.
  2. If they cannot give you a raise at this time, it is reasonable to ask “when do they foresee that they will be able to give you the raise” .   How you conduct yourself at this point plays an important role into getting the raise.  From this point, act as if the raise is imminent; is going to happen (just not today).     Take them at their word that you deserve a raise.  Get that answer in writing.
  3. Request another salary review every 3 months or every quarter.  This is a way to keep this discussion on the table. If they don’t know when they will be able to give you a raise, follow-up and schedule those quarterly salary discussions. (Squeaky wheels get the grease). You should already be having frequent one-on-one manager meetings (outlined in the Professional Development Toolkit) – so you merely have to periodically bring this topic up in the already scheduled meetings.
  4. Discuss alternative compensations that your manager has discretion over (outlined in the Professional Development Toolkit). This allows him to give you what you want without having to go above his head :
    • 4 day work week schedule; flex time; working from home
    • Additional vacation days
    • Extra time off
    • Allowed to do some community service or volunteering a few hours a month to your favorite charity during work hours.
    • Reimbursement for professional association membership, industry related journals, subscriptions, magazines.
    • Reimbursement for higher certifications, licenses, additional degrees in the company’s industry.
    • Travel on the company’s dime via customer visits, speaking engagements at out-of-town trade-shows, user conferences, and technical seminars.
    • Reimburse for home internet fees because you sometimes work from home
    • If your company does donations or charity work – see if your charity is listed and/or ask it to be listed.
  5. Do your homework.
    • Continue to excel in your performance and career (outlined in the Professional Development Toolkit).  Continue to log, track and measure your own performance in regards to your individual development goals and business commitments.
    • Conduct industry salary investigation.  If you can show that you are currently underpaid in comparison to the industry standard in your region, you have additional ammunition on you side.  http://www.payscale.com is just one website that can help you with your investigation.

There are certainly things you can do now, to re-start the salary discussion. If you would like more information on that, please consider purchasing the IT Professional Development Toolkit or invest in a one-on-one Coaching package.

The Book of Answers: 150 Career Critical Situations also covers the above in more detail as well.

Once again – I go into the who, what, where, when and why in more detail in the Professional Development Toolkit now available at <HERE>.

 

7 Tips to Finding a Mentor

Posted on by

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of the business and time management book TimePeace: Making peace with time  and The Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations– and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.  Steve Wynkoop and I talk a lot about designing and managing our professional careers on a weekly interview on SSWUG TV.

The IT Professional Development Toolkit DVD goes into further details on the who, what, where, when, and why of these topics.

Most successful people believe having a mentor greatly helps them stay on target and even excel quicker.

But how do you find a mentor, particularly with someone who you might not have a relationship
with yet or resides in another location.

7 Tips to finding a Mentor

1)      Outline the items/areas that you are interested being mentored or coached.  There may be several areas that you are interested in.  So – don’t feel that one mentor has to fulfill all areas.  You can have one mentor for “how to better market yourself in your organization”.  You can have one for “how to increase my technical expertise and influence in the organization”.  You can have one for “how to step more into the spotlight in trade-shows, user conferences, speaking engagements”  You can have one on advice for starting your own business.

2)      Once you have your areas outlined – talk to your manager about wanting to improve these specific areas.   Ask your manager’s advice on who in the organization would be good mentors in those areas.  Ask your manager if he/she would provide a warm-introduction (simply touch base with that  person to see if they are open to something like that).

3)      Do the same with your HR representative.  Share your desire to get a mentor with your HR representative.

4)      Ask co-workers and friends if they have been a mentor, have a mentor or have a recommendation on one.

5)   Attend your professional association meetings, networking groups and subscribe/read your industry magazines.  Be on the lookout for people giving relevant presentations/talks at your professional networking groups OR authoring articles in your industry journals.   Introduce yourself by telling them how much you enjoyed their presentation or articles.  Discuss various points that you really connected with.  These are great ice-breakers.  Tell them that you would like to interview them for your article, blog or newsletter. During your interview, share your professional goals – and ask their advice on how to find a mentor in their specific area.

6)   Repeat the above for other experts in your areas of interests. Start adding these contacts to your LinkedIn or Facebook space.  Reciprocate and ‘Like” and provide positive comments on their businesses.  Go out of your way to give them testimonials and endorsements on their pages.  This helps keep you on their radar.

7)      Make use of your facebook and  LinkedIn.com connections.  Do a search/review of your network to see if they have the qualifications necessary to be a guide.  You mentor doesn’t need to be in your current organization or company.  It is actually beneficial to expand your reach beyond your current company.  When you find someone that you want to reach out to – simply state your goal, and that you admire their accomplishment.  Be specific on what you really like about their background and achievements, highlighting any commonalities between you and them.  Admit that they seem to be in the perfect position to suggest a possible mentor.  This gives the person an “out” without alienation.  If they want to mentor you, they will often suggest themselves and a meeting time.  Otherwise, they may offer to connect/introduce you to someone else.  Either way you win.

This last point is MOST important.  Reciprocate either by paying them for their time and expertise; gift their family dinner/theater/entertainment tickets; offer your services in the areas of your expertise, etc.  Avoid taking without giving back.  Otherwise, you run the risk of over-extending your welcome.  And you really want to develop a long-term working relationship with these masters.

In my IT Professional Development Toolkit, I go into the: who, what, where, when and how to accomplish all of the above.   For more information about the toolkit, please contact

 

vConferenceOnline.com/Bits on the Wire, Inc.
6420 E. Broadway, Suite A300
Tucson, AZ 85710
520-760-2400 or (877) 853-9158
info@vconferenceonline.com

 

 

Or sign up for my weekly Time and Career Management Newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/cZ9_-/

 

What’s the Bravest Thing You’ve Ever Done At Work?

Posted on by
The Bravest Thing You’ve Ever Done At Work
Although I’ve done many brave things at work, this  was the most unforgettable because it not only hits an uncomfortable  topic – but shows how a truly, integrity-based company responds when  something is pointed out to them.
I was a manager of 12 developers and testers  at the company; and had just received a glowing performance review  rating.  Since I was a manager, I understood how the raises were  calculated based upon my review rating and current income.
My manager looked very pleased as he asked: “Well,  how do you like your raise?”
“I like the raise very much.  It’s the base  salary that I’m not too happy with.”
His face fell. “What do you mean?”
“I think my base salary is lower than most people  doing my level of work and at my performance level.”
My manager took a looked at my base salary and  nodded to acknowledge that he heard what I was saying.  “Okay.  Let me  look into this”.
“Thank you.  I really appreciate  it.”
The next time I met with my manager he said that I  was right about my salary and described a plan to adjust it.  He said that  because of my query, the company did a department review of all the  salaries and discovered that I wasn’t the only one not being compensated  appropriately.  Because the correction wasn’t just one person, the  company did not have the available funds to correct those  affected, all at once.  But they were going to continually increase  the salary of the affected employees with periodic raises every 4 months until  they were compatible with the average pay scale for our industry and  location.
I very much appreciated their response because it  illustrated two things:
1) The fact that they didn’t want to loose a  valuable employee because of a salary dispute.
2) Their integrity to not only correct my salary,  but anyone else’s salary that was below the national range.
I was very impressed with the way my manager (who  was 1 of  the 4 founders and co-owner of the company) handled the  conversation.  But I suspect that if he wasn’t one of the co-owners, the  story might have had a different ending.
Tell me your story.

Where does ‘hackling’ fit in today’s digital world?

Posted on by

Where does ‘hackling’ fit in today’s digital world?

This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.  In my Professional Development Toolkit package , I go into professional development and real-world IT topics in detail. If you are interested in more training in these areas, get signed up

In business – a successful business person acknowledges the consumer trends/human behavior and adjusts.

A business and finance expert Kevin Price of Price of Business recently asked me the following question:
It seems that in recent years people have become less communicative in spite of all the tools available to interact with others. Or do those tools — smart phones, tablets, etc., make people become weaker in communications? In particular, it seems people have a hard time communicating about deals; they no longer have the skill to negotiate prices (hackle).  Haven they fallen off the face of the earth?

I have a theory about the statement: “people now have a hard time communicating about deals”.  It’s an auxiliary to the “supply and demand” rule.  People are more inclined to hackle or negotiate when there is a “one-of-a-kind” item of their desire.  For instance, if you find your dream home and you are convinced that there isn’t another house in the right neighborhood, near the proper schools, with the right lawn-size, etc. you are more apt to take the time to go back-n-forth on the price.

But, if there is an over-abundance of supply, people will just go elsewhere for an item of similar content.

In today’s digital and internet world, there are a wealth of ebays, craiglists, amazon.com, and various other e-commerce sellers on the internet.  There are also free apps that does the price and feature comparisons for you.  Therefore, instead of taking the time to negotiate and hackle, people tend to walk off and search the internet for a better offer. Most buyers now have an overabundance of suppliers at their finger tips. They no longer feel the need or pressure to negotiate for a better price, because they understand the abundance of world-wide sellers. Buyers are no longer restricted to local retail shops because they have the global market at their command.  Even the conventional ‘brick and mortar” shops understand the need for website and online ordering.

This switches the responsibility for the sale back onto the seller. Because of the abundance of the global competition he faces, it is the seller that needs to make the greater effort for the sale. It is the seller that needs to make the offer more attractive by offering additional training, onsite installation, local support, no shipping costs or delivery charges, personal support etc.  It is the seller that needs to improve their interpersonal communication skills.

Today is it the business owner that needs to better convey their differentials to the buyer. It is the business owner that needs to set themselves apart from the pack. It is the business owner that needs to take better advantage of the digital and internet bargaining propositions.

Once again, it is not the tool’s fault. The tools are simply impacting the way people do business. And successful businesses recognize the impact of tools on human nature and adjusts to the new consumer MO.

In my Professional Toolkit, I provide worksheet, templates and guidance on how to accomplish these things.    In my Book of Answers: Companion piece to the Professional Toolkit, I have 100 work-life scenarios like the above.  The scenarios show how to accomplish your goals in similar situation.
For more information on how to get this toolkit or the “Book of Answers”, please contact:

vConferenceOnline.com/Bits on the Wire, Inc.
6420 E. Broadway, Suite A300
Tucson, AZ 85710
520-760-2400 or (877) 853-9158
info@vconferenceonline.com

Guiding employees on when to use the phone

Posted on by

Guiding employees on when to use the phone

This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.  In my Professional Development Toolkit package , I go into professional development and real-world IT topics in detail. If you are interested in more training in these areas, get signed up
Many workers prefer to communicate by email, IM or text over using the phone, because it’s more efficient. But there are times when it is better to pick up the phone, because it is a sensitive situation. What are the professional situations when it imperative to talk by phone or in person, rather than by email? And how can managers and company owners train teams that are often more comfortable with digital conversations to judge when they need to talk–so they can get better results for the business? Does it ever make sense to have a formal or informal policy guiding employees on this?

Come up with a “proper communication escalation chart” for your department similar to the below
Convey a proper communication escalation chart: (make your own specific to your technology)
1) Post card or snail mail
2) newsletter or bulk email
3) terse, brief text, chat or instance message
4) personal or individual email
5) phone call
6) in-person visit or face-to-face meeting (can be video meeting as well)
Outline the goal of the communiqué
For instance. The goal isn’t to send them a message and cross it off your list. The goal is to make sure they understand the information or message. It’s not sufficient to send something. You also need to validate that they received it, read it, and understood it. If your message had action items, you also need to verify that they have accepted the assignment. Telling someone they need to do something is only a small percentage of the challenge. You also need to make sure they received the message, understood it, and accepts the responsibility. Communication isn’t just a two-way street. It’s a high-traffic two-way street.
Guide them to use your communication scale appropriately. Some examples:
1) Match or escalate the communication style of your client.
For instance, if your client calls you – you call them back (do not respond with a communication style of a lesser urgency). That is disrespectful.
2) Limit text and instance messages for confirmation of meetings or facts. Do not use terse, brief communication for general information, directives or conversation.
3) If you don’t understand their text or email, escalate — call them or visit them for an interactive conversation. Anything below the phone-call communication style is not an effective communication style for clarifying details. It needs to be quick and interactive. The longer you delay in getting the proper understanding, the more risk that the other person is moving forward on mis-information.
4) Apologize in person-to-person communication style (anything higher than a phone call); then follow-up with either a letter, gift or email. But the apology needs to be in person and sincere. It illustrates the proper urgency and respect you feel in correcting the problem.
5) When there is a miscommunication – escalate the communication style. If your text was mis-interpreted, send an individual email. If your email was unclear, pick up the phone. If your phone message was unclear – visit in person.
6) If you didn’t get all the information that you needed or are not getting a response – escalate the communication style. If their email didn’t give you all the details that you needed to complete the job for them – pick up the phone. If a phone call didn’t capture everything – schedule a face-to-face meeting to bang-out the details and get consensus before starting the job. Have the client sign-off on the specifications as well.
If they are not responding to your email, don’t keep sending them email. Go up the escalation scale. Their email may not be working. Same with phone messages, etc. Remember, the goal isn’t to send them the message. Your goal is to validate that they received and accepted the information.
7) Document everything and give your client a copy or link to the minutes, agreements, specifications, etc. Follow-up with a phone call or message, that you sent them an important email with the details. Ask them to contact you back if they did not get it OR if they have any questions. Do everything that you can think of to validate they received your message, understand it, and agree with the actions prescribed.
8) Include deadlines for a response in your correspondences and communiqués. When leaving a message, include all the mandatory information to get to the next step. For instance, if you are on a deadline and need a certain piece of information from this person – avoid leaving vague and ambiguous messages like: “Call me”. This type of vague message might get you a return call on the weekend.
Instead, leave more detail message like: “Joe, this is Jane. I’m working on the X project and I need the input/output parameters regarding your featureY to complete the proposal. I need this information by Wednesday morning. I will be at the office number (xxx-xxxx) until 5:00pm and at home (xxx-xxxx) after 7:00pm. You call me as late as you want. “
You can also text him that he has an urgent voice message; “Joe -please listen to the voice mail that I left as soon as reasonably possible”.
If you are in the same location — just visit his office, leave a message with his assistant, etc. Illustrate and match the appropriate urgency through the method of contact your choose.
9) Get into the habit of using your Vacation or Office-Hours auto-responders and notifications.
Publicize when you are available and when you are not available in advance. Explain, in advance, why you are not answering the phone or responding to email during specific blocks of time. Make use of auto-responders to publicize when you will be able to answer their questions. In your auto-responders, announce your preferred method of communication (by phone, by text, by email, etc).
10) Recommend employees create a communication plan for each of their clients.
Everyone will have a different and preferred way to communication. The better you understand the best way to reach your clients and co-workers, the more successful you will be. Encourage your employees to create a simple communication plans for all their clients and significant co-workers, executives and managers. Include their numbers, emails, and preferred communication method. Include different categories such as:
a) how would they like general information (i.e. status reports in newsletters, on website, some lower communication method)
b) how would they like to be notified of action items (i.e. personal email with deadline in subject line)
c) how would they like to find out about problems or stop-production issues (i.e. by phone call with your solutions)

 

I talk more about this in my Professional Development Toolkit at https://www.lauraleerose.com/it-professional-development-toolkit/

 

In my Professional Toolkit, I provide worksheet, templates and guidance on how to accomplish these things.    In my Book of Answers: Companion piece to the Professional Toolkit, I have 100 work-life scenarios like the above.  The scenarios show how to accomplish your goals in similar situation.
For more information on how to get this toolkit or the “Book of Answers”, please contact:

vConferenceOnline.com/Bits on the Wire, Inc.
6420 E. Broadway, Suite A300
Tucson, AZ 85710
520-760-2400 or (877) 853-9158
info@vconferenceonline.com

Try it and let me know what you think.

Just released: A NEW professional resource from Laura Lee Rose!

Posted on by

 

 

Just released: A NEW professional resource from Laura Lee Rose!  SSWUG_LOGO-NEW190-blacktag
 LRose-ToolkitDVD_banner600

All the Tools You Need to Get Ahead

Keeping a fast-paced, professional career can be challenging. Wouldn’t it be nice to have access to a secret vault of resources that help you save time and plan smart, plus give you actionable steps to kick-start your advancement and demystify what it takes to be successful? The good news is, it’s not a secret!

Blue-StartHere

 
 listen
 read
 watch
 discuss
Learning your way. Our IT Professional Development Toolkit combines four learning medias into one powerful set of strategy, insight, and actionable ideas so you can get momentum in career today. We have a knack for taking big ideas and converting them into smart, sound, and actionable ideas. We have practice scenarios in real-world, real-life working environments to inspire the required change in you and those surrounding you.

Blue-StartHere

Copyright © Bits on the Wire, Inc., All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
6420 E Broadway Blvd Ste A300
Tucson AZ 85710

 

Advice for Managing Mediocre Employees

Posted on by

 

Advice for Managing Mediocre Employees

This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.  In my Professional Development Toolkit package , I go into professional development and real-world IT topics in detail. If you are interested in more training in these areas, get signed up

Mediocre employees are the most frustrating because they’re the ones who aren’t bad enough to reprimand, but they’re far from
being superstars either.  What are some tips for motivating the mediocre?

Well – my recommendation is to simply eliminate “Mediocre Employees”.
Step 1: The most efficient method is to set your job performance criteria such that you are pleased with everyone that meets those criteria. The performance criteria need to be directly tied to the company’s vision, mission, and goals. Those that fall below those performance criteria are ‘below expectations’ and are eventually placed on a PIP (performance improvement plan).
Clearly outline the company’s business goals. Then each department executives clearly outline their individual performance business commitments (PBC – or things they are responsible for doing) to meet the company’s business goals (which are appropriate and directly connected to their department). Then each manager below each department outlines their PBC for their role/responsibilities/department — what will achieve and accomplish their upper managements’ business goal. Then each employee writes their PBC that supports and accomplish their manager’s PBC. These PBC’s are then detailed into SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound goals). SMART goals have very tangibly and visible results (either your passed or failed on your goals).
If you and your team have done your job in clearly articulating and supporting your quality objectives and performance business expectations, then even those that merely meet your expectations (average employees) – are still doing acceptable work in helping the company reach it’s goal — because – after all — you have defined your quality standards and business commitments. If you are not satisfied with their work – then chances are that you have not clearly or effectively conveyed your expectations and business goals. Remember – if you are ‘wishy-washy’ on your expectations, you will get ‘wishy-washy’ performances.
My Professional Development Toolkit DVD discusses all of this in more detail. Contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info for more information on how to get this kit.
Step 2: Make an effort to match the employee’s career goals, skills and passions with the right job or role. If the role/responsibilities are aligned with what the employee wants to accomplish in the long run, the employee will be inspired and can’t help themselves from doing a terrific job. It’s more of a calling for them than a job.
Conduct frequent one-on-one meetings with your employees to discover their career goals, skills and passions. Direct them to roles and responsibilities that align the employee with both their goals and your company’s business goals. Show them the career path and required skill-set that they need to acquire to achieve their career goals. This might mean a change of departments. This might mean some additional certification and training. But this might also mean that they end up leaving the company because (through these one-on-one meetings) the employee realizes that their career goals do not match the company’s path.
My Professional Development Toolkit DVD discusses all of this in more detail. Contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info for more information on how to get this kit.
Step 3) Make the employee fully responsible for their own career. It’s not the manager or company’s responsibility that the employee has a satisfying work-life balance. It’s not the manager or company’s responsibility that the employee is happy at their job. It’s not the manager or company’s responsibility that the employee gets along with his/her coworkers or managers. It’s the employee’s profession; it’s the employee’s career. The manager or company can do is to support the employee in their career goals (through frequent one-on-one meetings with their employees). But the manager or company isn’t responsible for the employee’s career. The employee needs to take full ownership of designing their own career and life.
My Professional Development Toolkit DVD discusses all of this in more detail. Contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info for more information on how to get this kit.

 

In my Professional Toolkit, I provide worksheet, templates and guidance on how to accomplish these things.    In my Book of Answers: Companion piece to the Professional Toolkit, I have 100 work-life scenarios like the above.  The scenarios show how to accomplish your goals in similar situation.
For more information on how to get this toolkit or the “Book of Answers”, please contact:

vConferenceOnline.com/Bits on the Wire, Inc.
6420 E. Broadway, Suite A300
Tucson, AZ 85710
520-760-2400 or (877) 853-9158
info@vconferenceonline.com

Try it and let me know what you think.

How to quantify your performance on intangible roles and duties.

Posted on by

This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.  In my Professional Development Toolkit package , I go into professional development and real-world IT topics in detail. If you are interested in more training in these areas, get signed up
In past articles, I mentioned the importance of quantifying your performance to the company’s bottom line.  This prompted the following question from a reader:

What about employees in positions with less tangible monetary outcomes — what should they be communicating? For instance, someone who performs general office duties or works to build the company’s brand awareness.

Everything can be measured.  All you need to do is design and keep the right metrics.  Create a customer (the people that you service) survey at the start of your performance cycle.  Then keep the proper metrics to illustrate your performance or improvement against those criteria.  For instance, if you perform general office duties – you can note how many daily calls come in, how many dropped calls, how many Questions you answer and screen, how many calls your fielded on your own without troubling others, how many times your work have been returned to you with mistakes, how much time your new Q&A document saved the company, how taking the initiative and placing your Q&A document on your company website increased customer satisfaction and reduced first line help and support calls, how your new automated filing process saved the team time, etc.  Time can always be converted to money saved or spent.  People get paid a salary per hour – with those equations; you can easily calculate the money you saved the company.

For company branding awareness, incorporate customer and branding surveys at the start of your performance year.  You can then create performance metrics based on those success criteria.  Every quarter, you can conduct comparable surveys to illustrate your affect on the branding campaign.  You can also keep track of your website page hits, time between client exposure (client hits) and client purchase, and your lead to sales conversion rate.   The faster the client finds your product, learns about it and purchases – the better for the company.  These are the meaningful metrics to collect and make your performance tangible and measurable.

The key is to find the right metric to track to make your performance measurements.  If you cannot figure these metrics out, then meet with your mentor or business coach for ideas.

In my Professional Toolkit, I provide worksheet, templates and guidance on how to accomplish these things.    In my Book of Answers: Companion piece to the Professional Toolkit, I have 100 work-life scenarios like the above.  The scenarios show how to accomplish your goals in similar situation.
For more information on how to get this toolkit or the “Book of Answers”, please contact:

vConferenceOnline.com/Bits on the Wire, Inc.
6420 E. Broadway, Suite A300
Tucson, AZ 85710
520-760-2400 or (877) 853-9158
info@vconferenceonline.com

Radio interview with Kevin Price and the Price of Business

Posted on by
In a recent Price of Business radio show interview (http://youtu.be/xmeP6m0dfnY) Kevin Price asked me a few questions regarding “What’s going on with communication?” This is a quick follow-up to that segment.  We didn’t really get into how change our behavior when met with difficult clients that fail to return calls or essentially “drop out of sight”.
If the seller is getting frustrated on how people are just leaving them hanging — it’s easier to change your (the seller in this example) MO than the buyer’s MO.
Some quick things the seller can do:
1) Write up a binder (a promise to sign a contract) before the buyer stops communicating.
Having the buyers signature and contact information on something – often pressures them to call you back to tell you that you are no longer interested.
2) Set timelines and deadlines on when the this particular deal will expire. Request a small deposit to hold this particular deal for a certain length of time. After that time, the price would go to the regular rate. This adds a level of urgency in the buyer’s mind.
3) Give them a free 14-day trial – using their credit card or payment information. If they like the product or service, the credit card gets charged after 14 days. But the buyer needs to contact them in some way to discontinue the service.
4) Follow-up and call them back after a few days of “no communication”. The seller takes on the responsibility for the follow-up. It takes two to “stop communicating”. But this means that the seller needs to consistently collect contact information during their initial conversation. If the seller allows the buyer to walk off without giving them any contact information – the seller didn’t do their job properly. Consistently gathering contact information allows the seller to not only follow-up with the buyer, but present them with other offers, newsletters, coupons, and other announcements.
5) Before you leave your client, realize that they will probably be shopping around for a better deal. That’s the arena that we are now living in – with the overabundance of internet and e-commerce sales. Buyers have the global market at their finger tips. So, simply state: “Hey, buddy. I realize that you will probably be shopping around for other deals. If you find a better offer, please give me the opportunity to match or better it. Please call me back and allow me to try to match or better it.
In general – if you are frustrated with someone else’s behavior, there are often things you can change in your behavior to offset their behavior.

Video of the previous interview:

How do Companies prevent remote workers from feeling “left out”?

Posted on by
  • Have that one project that you have been stalled on?
  • Need  objective eyes on your problem?
  • Need just a different way to look at the solutions?

I have helped people on a per project basis.  For example: mapping out the pros and cons of two job offers; revamping their resume to attract more corporate interest; managing their boss; and narrowing the direction of their next steps.  I have reasonable rates for per project consulting.  No long contracts and discounts for continued enrollment.

If you haven’t taken advantage of your introductory career and time management coaching session, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info   You’ll be surprised how one conversation can change your life.

How do Companies prevent remote workers from feeling “left out”?

I recently received the following question:

How do companies prevent remote workers from feeling “left out”?
Incentives, such as bringing in lunch to headquarters staff and allowing casual attire in the office after employees meet certain goals, do nothing for those who work from home. What techniques improve or solve this issue?

I’m not a fan of handing off the responsibility of our own career and growth to someone else.

  • It is not the companies’ responsibility to make their telecommuters to ‘feel included’.
  • It is not the companies’ responsibility to make sure their employees network and build the proper working relationships with the right co-workers, sibling departments, other managers and executives.
  • It is not the companies’ responsibility to make sure their employees keep their jobs.
Career management and business networking is each individual professional’s responsibility. By placing the ownership of making the employee “feel included’ into someone else’s hands is a loosing proposition, because everyone is different. What works for one telecommuter will fail on the other. And then the company will resent the employee for not fully appreciating the efforts that the company made in the wrong direction. It is best if each individual takes full responsibility for their own career.
The very best way to “feel involved” is to simply to “get involved”. Some things that the telecommuter can do to “feel more included”:

1) Conduct and facilitate Brown Bag Lunch professional development series on new technology or operational procedures. Teleconference technology like Skype allows remote employees to both attend and present. Take the initiate to present on high-profile, company driven topics. Arrange for guest speakers that are expert in these areas. Request that the company cater in lunch for these special training and educational events.

2) Go into the office for face-to-face business networking. Even though you have the benefit of telecommuting, this does not relinquish your responsibility in your own business networking goals. Schedule monthly or bi-monthly visits into the office. Line up the important meetings with co-workers, managers, executives and mentors that are beneficial to your career growth and professional advancement. Your career is your responsibility – and the adage “out of sight, out of mind” is very relevant to telecommuters.

3) Schedule weekly or bi-monthly one-on-one meetings with your managers and mentors. Stay on your manager’s and mentors radar by scheduling frequent and regular one-on-one meetings. Have agendas and meeting goals/purpose identified in advance, so that you are not wasting these important people’s times. YOU facilitate and conduct these meetings to show your intentions and initiative. Ask about your performance and share the type of projects that you would like to be assigned to. Review the gaps in your skill set that you need to accomplish to gain those desired positions. YOU suggest/ask for things that you would like as rewards for meeting certain goals.
These are only three things the employee can do to take charge and ownership of their own professional advancement and career management.

Bottom line: If you leave it up to the manager to guess about your own desires, they will guess wrong. You will be unhappy and they will resent you for not being appreciative for their attempts to make you happy. Take ownership of your own happiness.
In my Professional Toolkit, I provide worksheet, templates and guidance on how to accomplish these things.    In my Book of Answers: Companion piece to the Professional Toolkit, I have 100 work-life scenarios like the above.  The scenarios show how to accomplish your goals in similar situation.
For more information on how to get this toolkit or the “Book of Answers”, please contact:

vConferenceOnline.com/Bits on the Wire, Inc.
6420 E. Broadway, Suite A300
Tucson, AZ 85710
520-760-2400 or (877) 853-9158
info@vconferenceonline.com

Try it and let me know what you think.

To experience the entire SSWUG TV career management series, <<click here>>


If you liked this tips, more can be found at www.lauraleerose.com/blog or GET SIGNED UP to my weekly professional tips newsletter.
The weekly newsletter contains tips on:
1)      Time management
2)      Career maintenance
3)      Business networking
4)      Work life balance strategies

If you haven’t taken advantage of your introductory time management coaching session, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

Try this and tell me what you discover…..

About Laura Rose    Trainings    eCourses    Contact Us