November 30, 2007
Why is it that some of the best ideas are never considered and idiotic concepts that we know will fail are? How did AT&T decide to focus on the picture phone and sell off the rights to the cellular telephone? Research clearly showed that the number-one reason people placed a phone call instead of showing up in person was speed and convenience. The number-two reason was they did not want to be face-to-face with the person they were calling. If you are at home on the phone in your underwear, do you really want people to see you? (OK, some of you do, and you know who you are, but let’s move on.) Why did it take so long to get squeeze-bottle ketchup? Squeeze-bottle mustard was on the market 20 years earlier! Were there really people who believed that ketchup in a glass bottle was sacred and could never sink to the lows of seemingly misguided mustard?
The issue is that some of us are just much better at getting people to agree with us than others. It’s why it took so long for people to wear seat belts and yet pet rocks sold instantly. We interviewed some of the most persuasive people in the Wynn Solutions top-performers research pool and found some interesting information about getting people to see things your way regardless of how ineffective your ideas may be:
- Find out what people value most before you start talking. People are much more likely to listen to your ideas if you can prove you know what’s important to them first (agreeing that it’s important will also help a lot).
- Make sure your ideas are clear. It does not matter how smart you are if no one knows what you’re talking about. You may need to have your top expert teach their concepts to your top presenter. A lot of great ideas are not considered because people don’t want to admit they don’t get it.
- Make sure you can explain the basic value in about 20 seconds. People buy into what they can understand quickly. “The longer it takes you to explain value, the more people think you don’t have any.” Show how it will make the person(s) you are talking with look good personally. What’s in it for them?
- Show the similarities first and differences second. The main reason people don’t want to change is that nobody wants to be a “senior beginner.” When things change, people are afraid their expertise will have less value-they may not be as important to the organization as they used to be. Show how the new way is similar to the old way first, and then the new way feels more valuable.
Our research showed that ideas have to be more than great. They have to get supported by humans as they make their way toward implementation. Some pretty weak agendas get moved forward because they are presented 10 times better than an agenda that was …well … 10 times better.
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change, Communication, Marketing, sales | Tagged: business ideas, communicating ideas, effective presentations, gaining agreement, getting people to listen, influencing people, Marketing, negotiation skills, persuasion, selling ideas to companies | 
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Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn
November 29, 2007
I know that listening is important but it can be very difficult when you don’t care about what the other person is talking about. We want to care; we have compassion for people and their problems (OK, some of us do practice pathological leadership) but something about what they are saying is losing us at about 5 seconds in. Sometimes it’s the topic: when my wife talks about Yoga I just stop caring. I saw her in front of the TV doing a headstand while wearing a neck brace. Could Yoga be the problem and not the solution? Sometimes we don’t have the time for a low priority issue right before that important conference call. But every now and then it’s the person who is talking. Some people are just boring! Its not their fault I guess; maybe the were raised by boring parents in a boring environment. Our research at Wynn Solutions shows that making sure people feel heard is the foundation of trust. But what I have noticed over the years and what we now teach our clients, is that if you focus on how someone feels (happy, mad, glad, sad or freaked out) while you are listening to them (not just what they say) you are able to hang in their with the people that would normally send you to snoozeville. Also, you retain much more information (regardless of your poor listening skills) and believe it or not, you start to care more about what they are saying. It’s amazing and I highly recommend you try it.
Wynn Solutions training programs
2 Comments | Communication, Customer Service, Leadership, management, sales, Success Qualities | Tagged: boring people, client relations, communication skills, Customer Service, developing trust, Leadership, leadership skills, learning to listen, listening skills, making people feel important, yoga | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn
November 20, 2007
With all the information out their on leadership/management, I think it’s interesting that we still keep asking ourselves “How do I get my people to actually think”. Knowing “it” and doing “it” seem to have very little in common these days. You can teach people what to do, but is it possible to teach them how to make good decisions? Our interviews with leaders around the world (no, it’s not just an American problem) indicate that we either have a bumper-crop of idiots taking over the globe or we have forgotten how to set effective examples. I think we get so busy and focused on doing more with less (I personally would prefer to do less with much more) that we forget to show our people how to think strategically, anticipate problems, prepare for change and prioritize. If you have the skills you want your people to possess make sure they see you using them. It’s more than leadership by example. It’s setting the pace and explaining your thinking along the way. However, if you totally suck at the skills your people need to have, you need a talented person to do it for you. You often hear “you don’t need superstars, you just need team players (that’s advice from people who may have lacked talent themselves)”. Get yourself some superstars and the rest of the team will get a lot better, fight their way to the middle or quit. A team full of people who don’t think well on their feet will often stumble (we did not need any research to come up with that one).
Leave a Comment » | change, Leadership, management | Tagged: change management, employee change, hiring talent, Leadership, leadership skills, management, management skills, organizational change, strategic thinking, teaching employees to think, team buiding | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn
November 9, 2007
As Orwellian as it may be, if you were to compare a 25 year old high school history book to a modern one (your thinking, this guy has lot of time on his hands) what you would discover is pretty shocking. Not only has the view an opinion changed but so have the facts. Just like the Winston Smith character in George Orwell’s “1984” we are literally changing our history (watch the history channel as proof). When I was a kid, George Washington was a great general and war strategist who defeated the British at ever turn, without lying and sporting a set of wooded teeth (it makes since that a guy with wooden teeth would have nothing to hide). Today, we are taught he only won about 2 out of about 70 battles and midway through the war was going to be replaced for not being effective enough (being 2 for 70 will do that to you). He also never had wooden teeth. They were made from lead and whale teeth (ivory), which means he could have defeated the British with his breath. The question is, did we get updated history information? Or do we write our history to make ourselves feel better about our past? I was talking to a lady from London who informed me that it’s common knowledge in England that they sent the 2nd string warriors to the colonies and the best soldiers were fighting in other parts of the world (sounds a bit defensive but historically makes since). Before I go any further and offend the diehard George Washington fans (if in fact you think you are George Washington this post is not your biggest problem). I would like to state was has not changed in our history about the first president (technically he was 7th or 8th but the first after the war). He was a man in an experimental government that was in trouble early on. The people around him suggested the only way to keep the peace among the colonies was to create an American monarchy and make him King. That would make his descendents heir to the throne. It would have given George supreme power and be much easier to manage since they all new how it worked long term. But George said no, he would not do it, too many people died for the freedom to try something new. That makes him more than just the father of our country. It makes him an extraordinary human being who is responsible for a lot of great things we enjoy about our country (there are a lot things we can improve but people keep moving here from other countries so it must be pretty good). It also makes him a real hero. Changing our history maybe a normal human reaction to time passing, we do it in our own lives. My college days have become more interesting (I’m not sure if I really remember 1984), and as I tell stories of my rise from a good peewee football player to the guy who struggled a bit later on (the truth is I threw 8 interceptions in one game which is some kind of a record I’m sure) it makes sense that time has a way of covering up the facts that don’t help us much (if I’m still telling high school football stories I need to get a life). I think companies do the same thing, we forget what did not work 10 years ago and we try it again. We look back at a merger and say that was not that bad, when it was very difficult at the time. We make history match and support modern ideas as proof that we are on the right track. I’m not sure we can predict the future by looking at the past, but analyzing the real history would surely yield better results than our study of an imaginary one.
Leave a Comment » | History, Success Qualities | Tagged: 1984, american british war, changing history, George Orwell, George Washington, hero, imaginary history, peewee football, wooden teeth | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn
November 9, 2007
A lot of people my age are having difficulty dealing with young people (under 30). As you may know my company has programs on how to manage and motivate younger workers. Its research based, informative and entertaining (I just caught myself plugging my own stuff in my blog, sorry). But the real issue is just adjusting to who these people are. Brilliant and valuable no doubt, but their need to have it their way can be difficult for some. After you’ve reduced the dress code to pretty much a beach party, it’s hard to deal with a 22 year old guy in sweat pants on a Thursday asking if you have casual Fridays. I’m like, sure, it’s called naked Fridays. If we are going to be effective with younger people and have the ability to motivate them we will have to adapt. We also have to see how they view us. I had a young person tell me the reason my computer crashes is because I’m old! Then they said when they asked me a question, they wanted the answer, not the history of the answer! Ok, I get it; I have some how become middle-aged. But it was just yesterday that I was 20, good looking, full of energy and ready for anything. Ok, it was not yesterday its was1982! The question is: If I know that I need to motivate younger people by praising them along the way to the goal because that is what they grew up with; and I know they need short tight deadlines (not the “in twenty years you will have my job” crap)! How can I deal with my opinion about their future? Research shows that each generation is uniquely suited to be effective in the world they will inherit, but will it hold true for these people? I can’t visualize the guy who told me he could not work late because the only reason he took the job was to pay for his Jeep and if he works late he will not have enough time to drive it. As the future of America, If you are under 30 please respond, I would like to hear your comments.
2 Comments | change, Motivation | Tagged: casual fridays, dress code, future of america, generation x, generation y, managing younger people, Motivation, younger generation, younger people | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn
November 6, 2007
Change is not the big problem of course its resistance to change. If things stay the same I will not lose my expertise and my value. Ok sure, I will be “dinosaur man” but I will be an expert dinosaur man. I will be like the guy who works at the museum; my information is old but I am positioned to where old information seems to have relevant value. Sounds Ok I guess, but the truth is I am just resisting the inevitable (no offense to museum employees around the world). My fear of not being valuable has created a reason for me to stay in the dark. It’s like making buggy whips for horse carriages, there is a market for the Amish I guess but even they will upgrade eventually. When we are driving “mind-controlled hover cars”, they will have model T’s (my apologies to the Amish if this is offensive,; of course if you are Amish an on line then you probably have a 72 Buick you keep hidden in town). Changing behavior is not easy when you feel the result of the process will reduce your status and opportunities. Some people will just put Whiteout on their computer screen! Are we willing to take a look at the long term results of our resistance to change?
1 Comment | Business Growth, change, Technology | Tagged: Amish, change, changing behavior, creating value, dinosaur, long term results, resistance to change | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn
November 6, 2007
Customers don’t want service! Customers want things that don’t need any service. They want maintenance-free, self-contained solutions, whenever possible. On average, how do you think most people would rate service after the sale over the course of their lives? Do you really think they are looking for more of that? They want cars that don’t break down, systems that need no tweaking; and they may resent the time required to service their product, preferring instead to spend time making money, forwarding their cause or living life.
We tend to believe our customers want great service because we have solutions that require maintenance. In other words, we put customers in a position to need service. To be motivated, we need to believe that we have exactly what the customer wants. The truth is that the customer wants a permanent solution, and either we don’t want to provide it (for various reasons) or no permanent solution exists. If we have to provide service to customers who are not terribly thrilled about needing it, that service had better be fantastic. It’s like insisting that someone who doesn’t particularly care for hot dogs must eat one. You’d better serve one damn good hot dog or you’re in big trouble.
Mediocre service can be worse than no service in some cases. If we can solve customers’ problems before they know they have any, they will feel much better about their purchase but we will lose the opportunity to generate additional revenue and good will through all that customer service. We have to decide which has more value to the customer and to us.
Strategies to consider
- Offering training, spare parts or an organized, pre-set service program as part of the purchase price (or as a higher-priced add-on) may give you greater customer satisfaction and allow you to offer less service after the sale but give better results to the customer
- Get more deeply involved with customers at the point of sale and uncover more opportunities to help them succeed at a faster rate; and
- Help customers in a way that allows them to learn how to help themselves, proving that your solutions have more long-term value than those of your competitors and are worth the higher price tag.
I realize that this view may not be for everyone; after all, one man’s business-growing customer service is another man’s expensive pain in the butt. But it’s important to find ways to help the customer while at the same time making sure we can stay in business long enough to actually provide that help. Organizations that are not profitable usually give poor service whether the customer wants it or not. So, the question is, what do your customers really want from you?
Customer Service Keynote Presentation
1 Comment | Business Growth, Customer Service | Tagged: Customer Service, customer service stratagies, customer solutions, great service, maintence-free service, products that work, staying in business | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn
November 6, 2007
We hear a lot of talk these days about anger management and frankly a lot of it just makes me really mad (that’s a very revealing sentence)! At the office or at home it’s hard to tell what the real solutions actually are. It is very true that we are responsible for our own emotions. However, if we are surrounding ourselves with people who make the same mistakes over and over again that’s our responsibility too, if we have the power to do something about it. If you have a tendency to be cranky naturally, you may need to take a long look at whom you are spending your time with on a day-to-day basis. The big question is: Are you willing to do everything you can to keep your emotions from causing you big problems, and are you willing to help those around you understand what may be the fuel for your anger. Now, some of you who are reading this blog today may think that I am creating some sophisticated form of blame deflection. And, I will admit, like most of us that I have blamed people seemingly without justification. But that does not negate the fact people have done things to us that would make Mother Theresa snap! Most people who freak-out because they are low on paperclips obviously have other issues. Handling those issues and making sure you have a lot of back-up paperclips would more of a total solution. If everyone makes you angry then it’s clearly you. If the anger is connected to a single person or situation, then we are responsible for finding new people or new situations. If this blog ticks anybody off then I’m willing to say that it may be me!
Communication Skills Training Programs
Leave a Comment » | Success Qualities | Tagged: anger management, anger problem, anger solutions, blaming others, change, cranky, emotional responsibility, having issues, mother theresa | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn
November 6, 2007
One of the discoveries of the Wynn Solutions research is that behavior eventually betrays skill. It does not matter how talented or smart you are if no one wants to work with you. Its like: What do Tonya Harding and Michael Jackson have in common (besides the fact they are both Caucasian women)? They are talented people whos’ abilities were overshadowed by their weird/bad behavior. If people don’t like your behavior they look for reasons not to trust or agree with you. They see your actions and efforts through a filter of distrust. Even people who hate Michael Jackson would rate him as one of the most talented singer-dancers of all-time. The two bestselling Albums in history are “Thriller” and Pink Floyds “Dark Side of the Moon” (which proves that people apparently never get tired of dancing and smoking pot). The sales of Thriller dropped dramatically as Michael went through his court dates, baby dangling and strange lifestyle encounters. Understand I’m not saying that Michael is guilty of a crime, but he’s at leased guilty of nine counts of being big-time weird. The last I heard of Tonya Harding she was “Mud Boxing”. I’m not an expert in the sport but I’m pretty sure you are not at the pinnacle of your career if you are a fighting in mud for money. My point, I think we understand that there is a lot more to success than being the best; but are we truly aware of how our behavior reduces our impact and opportunities on a daily basis?
2 Comments | Leadership, sales, Success Qualities | Tagged: bad behavior, behavior, dark side of the moon, establishing trust, management, michael jackson, mud boxing, pink floyd, sales, talent, talented people, thriller, tonya harding, weird behavior | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn
