by: Mike Dugan, MBA

Three Keys to Successfully Handling Difficult Conversations with Employees

People managers rarely become great leaders without the ability to handle tough conversations well. A leader’s ability to successfully handle difficult conversations with employees is imperative. All parties (the employee, the organization, and the leader) benefit when such conversations are handled constructively.

Step #1: INTENT.
Intent is of paramount importance. One must approach difficult conversations with a caring and helpful intent. If a leader goes into a difficult conversation “looking for a pound of flesh”, the likelihood of the meeting going well is greatly diminished. Remember, words represent only 20% of our communication. The other 80% consists of body language, tonality, and other micro-behaviors that signal our true feelings. Don’t walk into a difficult conversation until your intent is that of a helpful and caring leader. I’m not saying this mindset is easy to achieve. However, I am saying this is mindset is enormously important.

Step #2: SEPARATING THE PERSON FROM THE BEHAVIOR.
As leaders, regardless of industry, our priority should be the protection, safety and motivation of our employees. We should strive to keep them motivated and energized. As a sales-leader specifically, I want my sales folks to believe they can run through brick walls. I want them highly motivated, highly confident and highly engaged. It is therefore critically important that we never tear-down our employees. Instead we must strive to continually build them up. We must do our very best to instill a high level of confidence and capability within them.

It’s important not to intentionally damage, lower or degrade a person’s confidence, motivation or self-worth. But how does a leader ensure she won’t damage the employee when entering into a difficult conversation? This can be accomplished by separating the person from their behavior. You see, in difficult conversations we are simply trying to correct behaviors and performance. We’re never trying to change or correct the individual – the person. That would be crazy, as it is very difficult, if not impossible to change an individual. We can only hope to change a specific behavior or performance level.

Let’s look at a quick example: Bill is not meeting his sales number for the third quarter in a row. It’s time to have a difficult conversation with Bill. Once we ensure our intent is “right” we then begin the process of separating Bill from his behavior/performance. We might say: “Bill everyone on the team really likes you. We believe in you. You’re an important part of our team, and we value you a great deal. However, we’re becoming concerned about your sales performance. We know you’re concerned as well. What steps can we take together to help improve your performance?

In the example above, we first share with Bill that he is valued as a person and capable contributor. He is immediately informed of our confidence in his ability to perform. Yet we must also ensure that his poor sales performance is addressed directly and specifically. The critical take-away in this example is that we never degrade or de-motivate Bill. We only call-out Bill’s poor performance. We never degrade him as a person. Hence the critical importance of separating a person from their behavior.

Step # 3: THE FINAL STEP – A PLAN OF ACTION MOVING FORWARD:
It’s very important to develop an action-plan that will allow the employee to improve his performance. Without such a plan, a change in behavior (increased sales performance in this example) will not occur. The improvement plan should originate directly from the individual, not the organization, nor a manager. Having employees develop their own plan of action has the powerfully impact of creating employee “buy-in” to the plan. When an improvement plan instead comes from the organization or a manager, the employee has less vested interest in the plan’s success. In this scenario, because Bill developed the plan himself (although perhaps facilitated by his manager) he will work infinitely harder to ensure is ultimately successful.
Difficult conversations with employees need not be problematic.

Follow these three easy steps:
1.) Ensure your intent is correct.
2.) Separated the employee from their behavior/performance, and
3.) Allow the employee to construct their own plan of action.
PS: This method also works great at home, for modifying our kids’ behavior!

With over 25 years as a successful Fortune 500 VP of Sales, Mike Dugan now helps small and mid-size companies in Southeastern Virginia and Richmond grow and scale their sales organizations. Reach him at mdugan@salesxceleration.com or 757-679-4321.

by: Mike Dugan, MBA

From Inside Business

Why You Shouldn’t Treat All Employees The Same | Expert Column

September 6, 2018

You could’ve heard a pin drop. That is, until the screaming started. I’ll never forget that day! Bob was a successful corporate leader. He was managing over $40 million in annual revenue. Yet he was currently behaving like a man possessed.

Curse words exited his mouth with fervor. His face was red, and the veins in his neck were protruding. It was a sight I won’t soon forget. This was totally out of character for Bob.

We coach and motivate people differently. That’s OK.

The year was 1993 and I was new to civilian leadership. I had been a leader in the military for eight years and had experience leading men (100-plus at one point). But civilian leadership felt different. My boss in civilian life was different too. As our divisional vice president, he led four regional managers like me. I in turn, supervised 10 account managers.

TREATING EVERYONE THE SAME
Bob was a good guy and a great boss, in most respects. He did his job well. In fact, he was ranked the No. 1 VP in the company the prior year. He seemed to get the most out of his people. I watched Bob and tried to learn from him.

Just five days prior to his “meltdown” I asked him – “what’s the secret to your success Bob?”
He replied quickly: “That’s easy Mike – simply treat everyone the same, play no favorites, treat everyone as equals.” That seemed to make sense at first, but when I thought longer about it – I became confused.

EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT
While I agree we don’t want to play favorites, I do believe all people are unique. Each person is as different as their fingerprint. What motivates one person will likely not motivate another person. We all have different hot buttons. We all come from different backgrounds. And we all have our own unique baggage.

I slept on it, and the next morning it came to me! It’s not about treating people the same or treating them differently – instead it’s about holding everyone accountable to the same standards. Each individual must be measured against a common standard – and held accountable for their performance.

THE IMPORTANT DIFFERENTIATOR
The important thing is how we motivate and lead each unique individual to that same standard. Yes, we need to hold everyone accountable to the same standard, but our way of accomplishing that is as unique as the person herself.

Yes, we coach and motivate people differently. That’s OK. In fact, that good. Bob’s boss treated him as he treated all of Bob’s peers. Yet Bob was different. He had unique strengths and needed a unique type of attention that Bob’s boss never gave him. Bob didn’t get what he needed from his boss. He became frustrated and with no one to vent to, he exploded. As you might expect, he was terminated the same day.

Bob was a good man, a mentor to me, and he was also our top performer. But because Bob was being treated “just like everyone else” we lost him from our organization. It was a tragedy for everyone. Everyone has different motivations and hot-button topics. Everyone is unique with unique motivators. A strong leader seeks to understand each individual on her team. The research tells us great leaders know the individual motivators of each and every member of their team.

But don’t be confused. Accountability is extremely important. And great leaders also hold all members of the team (most importantly themselves) accountable to the same standard. Motivating others differently and yet holding everyone on the team accountable to the same standards are not mutually exclusive.

With over 25 years as a successful Fortune 500 sales executive, Mike Dugan now helps small and mid-size companies in Southeastern Virginia and Richmond grow and scale their sales organizations. Reach him at mdugan@salesxceleration.com or 757-679-4321.

Direct Link To Newspaper Article:
PilotOnline.com/InsideBusiness/News/

by: Mike Dugan, MBA

From: Inside Business Columns

Secret Revealed for How Not to Lose Clients to the Competition | Expert column
By Mike Dugan

Jul 6, 2018
There is one secret Fortune 500 sales executives use to retain business indefinitely. And it’s not rocket science either. Let me first ask a question.

When does your organization get credit for the value you provide to your customer?
Very few organizations rarely (if ever) get credit for the value they deliver. This unfortunate fact makes many companies very susceptible to competitive threats. It also allows your customers to forget about the value your products/services provide to them daily – potentially making you vulnerable to competitive discounting (price erosion). Until you consistently and systematically schedule quarterly meetings to tell your customers about the benefits you provide (money saved, revenue grown, service levels exceeded) – they will quickly forget about the value your product/service provides them. This quickly leads to lost clients.

85 percent of business “never get credit for the value they deliver.”

Only through a quarterly business review (QBR) can organizations get credit for the value they bring clients. Less than 15 percent of all organizations use this powerful review process. According to Harvard Business School, businesses that have a consistent review process retain over 85 percent of their customers year-over-year.

A QBR is simply a quarterly business meeting scheduled with clients on a predetermined date – and it only needs to last 60 minutes. Business are great about “selling value” to their customers. They are also great about “providing value” – otherwise they’d be out of business. However, 85 percent of business “never get credit for the value they deliver.”

HOW REVIEW SHOULD WORK
Step 1: Once you secure new business with a client, immediately schedule four quarterly meetings with them (60 minutes each). They will likely ask, “What for?” You’ll reply, “To ensure we are providing you the value and service levels we have promised you.” Trust me – they will be extremely happy to schedule all four quarterly meetings immediately.

Step 2: In the QBR meeting presentation, consider all the “value” you promised your client in the sales process. Gather all the relevant KPIs (key performance indicators) and easily graph them on a document or PowerPoint. Keep it simple. Don’t make this difficult. The goal is just to remind your client/customer the value you are providing for them (as promised), while also nurturing the relationship.

KEY TO CUSTOMER RETENTION
If you are not continually getting in front of your existing customers, I can guarantee your competitors would love to. This is a mandatory and powerful key to sales retention. The QBR not only allows you to systematically inform your customer of the value you continue to provide, but these meetings also get you in front of your clients regularly. The review allows you to position your product/service as “best in class” every three months with consistency.

Imagine how hard your competitors are working to get just one meeting with your client (with all decision makers present). They are begging for that sacred opportunity. With the QBR, you gain this important and highly desirable meeting four times a year. Many organizations are good at selling value. An even greater number are good at providing value. Yet very few organizations (less than 15 percent according to Harvard Business School) ever get credit for the value they provide their clients.

Ensure your organization systematically provides each client a review four times every year. Client retention will soar, and the revenue results will amaze you.

Good selling!

With over 25 years as a successful Fortune 500 sales leader, Mike Dugan now helps small and mid-size companies in Southeastern Virginia and Richmond grow and scale their sales organizations. Reach him at mdugan@salesxceleration.com or 757-679-4321.

Direct Link Below:
PilotOnline/Inside-Business/News