Ideas to understand.
Tools to apply.

Think about your team for a moment.

You probably have certain qualities you want to see in your people: responsibility, initiative, respect, reliability, perhaps a willingness to speak up when something is not working.

But how do people learn that these qualities really matter?

Not only from what you tell them.

They also watch what you do.

They notice how you react when someone makes a mistake. They notice whether you listen when you are busy. They notice whether you keep your word. And they certainly notice whether the standards you expect from them also apply to you.

You may tell your team, “I want people here to take responsibility.”

But what happens when something goes wrong?

If your first reaction is to look for someone to blame, what are your people learning from you?

Perhaps to protect themselves before taking responsibility.

Try this

Choose one quality you would like to see more of in your team.

Now ask yourself:

“When did my team see that quality in me during the past week?”

Can you think of a specific moment?

If not, you may have discovered a good place to begin.

Key takeaway

Before asking your team to change, ask what they are learning from you.

Reflect. Apply. Grow.Ami Grunberg

Think about your last sales conversation.

How long did it take before you started talking about your product, service, features, benefits, or price?

It is natural to want to explain what you sell. You know your offer. You know its advantages. You want the customer to understand them too.

But there is a question worth asking:

Did you know what mattered most to that customer before you started presenting?

Suppose your service can reduce costs, save time, and make a complicated process easier.

Which benefit should you emphasize?

You cannot know until you understand the person sitting across from you.

Maybe reducing costs is their priority. Maybe employees are wasting hours on manual work. Or perhaps they are simply tired of dealing with the same problem every week.

Until you know what matters to the customer, you are deciding what to emphasize without enough information.

Try this

In your next sales conversation, resist the urge to present too quickly.

First try to understand:

“What is this customer trying to change, solve, improve, or achieve?”

Listen carefully.

Then decide which parts of your offer deserve the most attention.

You may find that you can say less and still make your offer more relevant.

Key takeaway

Understand what matters to your customer before deciding what matters most in your presentation.

Reflect. Apply. Grow.Ami Grunberg

Think about your next presentation.

You have twenty minutes to speak, but enough material for an hour.

What will you leave out?

That can be surprisingly difficult.

When you know your subject well, almost everything feels important. So you add another example. Another statistic. Two more slides. One final point you are reluctant to remove.

The audience receives more information.

But does it receive a clearer message?

Now imagine meeting someone who heard your presentation the following morning.

You ask:

“What was the main idea you took from my presentation?”

What would you want that person to say?

If you cannot answer that question yourself in one clear sentence, your audience may have an even harder time answering it.

Try this

Before building your next presentation, complete this sentence:

“Tomorrow, I want my audience to remember…”

Write one clear idea.

Then look at your presentation again.

Does each major section help your audience understand, remember, or act on that idea?

If not, perhaps it does not need to be there.

Sometimes becoming a better presenter means having the confidence to leave good material out.

Key takeaway

Do not try to make everything memorable. Decide what you want your audience to remember.

Reflect. Apply. Grow.Ami Grunberg

Think about an important problem you are dealing with right now.

You may already be considering possible solutions.

But before you choose one, there is another question worth asking:

“Am I sure I understand the real problem?”

Suppose sales in your business have fallen for three consecutive months.

You might quickly conclude:

“My salespeople need more training.”

Perhaps they do.

But what if fewer good prospects are reaching them? What if a competitor has changed its offer? What if customers no longer understand why your product is different?

You could spend time and money implementing a perfectly reasonable solution and still see very little change.

Why?

Because you solved the problem you assumed you had rather than the one you actually had.

Try this

Take one important decision you need to make and complete this sentence:

“The problem I believe I need to solve is…”

Now challenge your answer:

“What evidence do I have that this is the real problem?”

If the evidence is weak, do not rush to choose a solution.

You may need to redefine the problem first.

Key takeaway

Before searching for the best answer, make sure you are answering the right question.

Reflect. Apply. Grow.Ami Grunberg

Think about someone you would like to motivate.

An employee. A colleague. A member of your team. Perhaps even someone in your personal life.

What would you offer them?

Recognition? More responsibility? Money? Independence? A new challenge?

Now ask yourself another question:

“Am I choosing this because it matters to them, or because it would matter to me?”

That distinction is important.

Imagine two people who have both done excellent work. You praise both publicly at a meeting.

One leaves feeling proud and energized.

The other smiles politely but would have preferred a private word of appreciation and the opportunity to take on a more challenging assignment.

You gave them the same recognition.

They experienced it differently.

Try this

Choose one person you want to motivate more effectively.

Ask yourself:

“What seems to give this person energy, satisfaction, or a sense of progress?”

Watch what they respond to. Listen to what they talk about. Notice what they ask for.

And when appropriate, ask them.

You may discover that what matters to them is not what you expected.

Key takeaway

If you want to motivate someone, begin with the person, not with the reward.

Reflect. Apply. Grow.Ami Grunberg

Think about the words you normally use when presenting your product or service.

How often do your sentences begin like this?

“We developed…”
“Our product includes…”
“Our service provides…”
“Our system has…”

There is nothing wrong with any of those statements.

But while you are explaining your offer, your customer may be listening with a very different question in mind:

“What does this mean for me?”

Consider these two sentences:

“Our system includes automated reporting.”

“You can prepare your reports faster and spend less time doing them manually.”

The feature is the same.

What changed?

The first sentence asks the customer to understand the product.

The second helps the customer see what the product could do for them.

That small shift in perspective can change the way a sales message is heard.

Try this

Take three sentences you regularly use when talking about your product or service.

After each sentence, ask yourself:

“So what does this mean for my customer?”

Now rewrite the sentence from that point of view.

Do not exaggerate. Do not promise something you cannot deliver. And do not change the facts.

Simply make it easier for the customer to see the relevance.

Key takeaway

Do not make customers work to understand the benefit. Help them see what your offer could mean for them.

Reflect. Apply. Grow.Ami Grunberg