A summary of things you should know about What More Can I Say according to Dianna Booher: Introduction In this episode Dianna Booher takes a deep dive into her book,Read More
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]]>In this episode Dianna Booher takes a deep dive into her book, What More Can I Say, where she discusses why communication fails and what you can do about it.
In her book Booher gives you examples of messages that succeed along with a practical nine-point checklist that addresses the common reasons that your communication is causing you to fail your goals. The goal of her book is to help you build solid relationships, increase your credibility, get your point across clearly, and become a more influential communicator.
This book is perfect for entrepreneurs who are trying to become credible public figures and need practical advice that helps them overcome the typical failures of communication.
I tried to base this book on sound research and not just on survey data.
You can read it all the way through or jump in and out where needed.
I would give you two; the first one is that words matter. Words control how you think. The second one I would say to never depend on logic alone to build a persuasive argument, you have to address the emotional side of an issue as well.
What More Can I Say has nine counter-intuitive principles for success in getting your point across, expanding your influence, and persuading others to change their mind and behavior.
If I had to say what the most important law was it would be the trust law. If you don’t trust someone you are never going to believe them. Most people don’t realize how they can communicate distrust and there are many ways that you can communicate distrust that you are unaware of.
The second law that I talk about is the difference between monolog and collaboration. Often when leaders make a decision they think of the pros, the cons and go through all the reasoning and then they announce a decision and expect people to go along. The way other people often look at this approach is that they were given no chance for input. People believe their own data and like to have a part in that decision making.
Another law I talk about in the book is why communication fails to persuade sometimes and it’s because complex. Complex language obscures ideas and priorities; people don’t know which fire to fight. If things look hard or feel hard than people are slow to do them. But communication that is really successful in persuading is clear and simple. Clear language sharpens the focus and drives action.
These are just a few of the principles that are in the book about persuasion that I think were fascinating. If you can actually base what you are doing to be persuasive on concrete research then you know where you are going.
NOTE: That was just a summary. To get the full deep dive, play the audio clip at 06:52
“You can change your world by changing your words; remember death and life are in the power of the tongue.” – Joel Osteen
I have been working with executives and people that want to improve their communication for about three decades. I have been coaching people, teaching business writing, technical writing, presentation skills, and just working with organizations who want to improve their productivity by increasing their effectiveness.
For months we have been in to the situation where both sides politically are engaged in what I call an uncivil discourse. In business everything that happens, happens as a result of communication so when I sat down to unravel miscommunication in a business or organization I wanted to know why it was that people can’t change others minds. I started researching why some people can’t persuade effectively and that’s the reason why I wrote the book.
Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
Buy What More Can I Say by Dianna Booher on Amazon today
Visit WhatMoreCanISayTheBook.com to learn more about Dianna’s book and additional resources
Follow Dianna Booher on Facebook and Twitter
Download the full transcript here (coming soon)
Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud
Related books:
Charisma on Command by Charlie Houpert
Powerhouse by Mike Clayton
EDGY Conversations by Dan Waldschmidt
Relevant advice and tips:
How To Become an Effective Communicator in the Business World
7 Steps To Improve Networking Skills For Entrepreneurs
What did you like and not like about this episode? Fill out this one minute survey here.
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]]>7 Reasons Why Your Sales Skills Suck Every business needs to sell. And to do it, every entrepreneur needs to possess specific sales skills. You may be quite good atRead More
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]]>7 Reasons Why Your Sales Skills Suck
Every business needs to sell. And to do it, every entrepreneur needs to possess specific sales skills. You may be quite good at every other aspect of managing a business, but if you suck at sales, you won’t be as successful as you wish for.
How do you know whether your sales skills are good enough? To do it, you have to identify the signs that spell otherwise. With this knowledge, you can get rid of the negative sales behavior and focus on the positive points.
Let’s take a look at the 7 reason why your sales skills suck:
Failure to identify prospects: Are you still stuck with cold calling your prospects? The sales world has come a long way since then, and if you cannot keep up with the changes, you are in for failure.
Newer avenues of prospecting have come up; requesting for referrals, speaking at events, writing a blog, participating in an association, collaborating with a complementary business, and many others make it much easier to land new prospects.
No track of sales activities: Another sure sign of deficiency of sales skill is when you don’t keep track of whatever’s happening in this area. And just periodic updates of your sales activities aren’t adequate.
Continuous tracking of sales activities keeps you on top of the numbers and figures. It ensures that you are capable of identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the sales team. Also, it helps you spot any problematic areas in the sales cycles.
Improper communication: Asking the right questions is important; asking something such as ‘what’s your budget?’ won’t really engage a potential customer. A suitable alternative will be to focus on how much the challenges are costing the prospect.
Communication is a two-way thing – if you just talk, and never listen, it will be of no use. Only when you pay attention to what a prospect says, will you be able to tailor your approach to match their needs and demands.
Too much focus on quantity: Do you focus more on the number of prospects you contact or on whether you can get most of them to close the sale? If you have the former approach, it won’t be the best thing to do.
Consider this – will you like it better if you can call up 100 prospects in a day even if most won’t even listen to you? Or will it be better if you can focus on 25 prospects and tailor your approach so that most of them lead to sales? The answer’s pretty obvious.
Zero presentation skills: Preparation is the key to good sales presentations. If you spend less than 10-20 minutes on each prospect, you won’t have appropriate and adequate idea about the approach to take.
Instead of preparing a general presentation for every prospect, focus on customizing your approach to fit the prospect in front of you. Take your time to understand the challenges of the prospect and focus on how your solution helps them overcome it.
Emphasis on wrong prospects: Sometimes, a prospect remains a prospect – forever. Even if it’s a really lucrative prospect, it won’t do your business any good for the simple reason that it will never end up as a sale.
How do you identify a wrong prospect? If the delays become incessant, and the closure doesn’t come even after a considerable time (this depends on your business type), it is perhaps best to move on to the next potential customer.
Improper handling of objections: It’s not always smooth sailing when it comes to sales. But you have to learn how to handle the hurdles in a smooth manner too. Prospects will have objections; and you need to learn how to handle them.
Before you offer a solution, ask for permission to do it. If you aren’t sure, clarify it beforehand. And always be understanding and respectful. You aren’t supposed to be impartial, but don’t be too biased either.
Slowly Getting rid of these 7 reasons why your sales skills suck overtime will help you strengthen your ability to close.
Are you looking for some awesome books on fresh sales tips, tactics, and takeaways?
I recommend you to take a listen to my episodes on the following books:
1) Pitching and Closing by Alex Taub
2) The Entrepreneur Mind by Kevin D Johnson
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