All Consultants Are NOT Created Equal!

Every year, thousands of corporations and organizations enlist the services of either an individual consultant, team of consultants, or a consulting firm, to address items that their leadership envisions need addressing professionally, by an impartial eye. Unfortunately, however, nearly anyone can represent himself as some sort of consultant, either in a specific area, or in a variety of areas, and while some of these individuals are excellent, and provide a fabulous, valuable service, others use consulting as a rouse to sell some sort of product or service. Major areas that consultants are called in regarding include, but are not limited to: business, financial, fiscal, and budgetary items; strategic planning; event planning, negotiations, coordination and organization; Board training and evaluation; business planning; etc. You should consider these same parameters, in selecting the best real estate or financial professional, who might best serve your interests!

1. Your preliminary discussion with any honorable consultant should be a getting- to- know- you type of meeting, and should be free of charge to the organization. Observe whether the consultant listens and asks pensive and examining questions, more than he speaks and tries to sell himself. Do not be overly impressed by fancy brochures and literature, or even elaborate presentations. You should be looking for a consultant that does not try to use a one- size- fits- all approach, but customizes his service directly to your needs and your organization's idiosyncrasies. Don't be overly impressed by fancy rhetoric or techno- jargon, because it often has little true value.

2. When a consultant is used for event services, he should guarantee his services will do several things for your event. Firstly, he should take away the hassles and headaches. Secondly, he should be able to negotiate in all related areas and foresee your needs. He should be someone who does his homework before he begins to negotiate, in order to find out what is needed and what the priorities and objectives of the event are. He should gather historical information, in order to gather am historical perspective and better understand the group's heritage and needs. He should never impose his will, but also stand up for what he believes should be done, and be able and willing to explain why. His negotiations should save considerably more money than the total of his fee and reimbursable expenses. He should fully explain his fee up front, and explain what he will do, how he will work intimately with the group's organizing committee, and make relevant suggestions.

3. Beware of any consultant who makes too big a deal about making governance changes, in order to address systemic problems and challenges facing the organization. While in a mostly healthy organization, certain governance models might work better for a specific group, governance should only become a priority during a healthy or relatively healthy stage, and not when there are other challenges. These governance recommendations are usually followed, in gradations and steps to follow, by meetings that you are charged for consultant's time, training sessions (also at a charge), and often with a beautifully prepared governance manual, that often is less valuable to the stability and well being of the organization than the paper it is printed on, etc.

Always ask a prospective consultant about his fees, thoughts, methods, approaches, and what he feels he might be able to do for you, before you agree to his contract. Many organizations have cost themselves dearly by not carefully considering all of the ramifications. While many consultants are great and provide a wonderful service, like in everything else, there are always some "bad apples."

Is It Hype, Or It Fact?

It happens to each of us almost every day. We hear, read, or listen to something, or someone who claims to have some sort of product, service or solution to some sort of situation or obstacle that we need to overcome, or at least get better results in. This may relate to political rhetoric (those often- empty promises politicians make during the campaign season, as well as other times), a new product (which claims to be a must buy because it is so extraordinary), some extraordinary financial figures, or some sports and/ or entertainment. We face the difficulty of determining whether these claims are merely hype or are they fact. When you interview a potential real estate or financial professional, do you consider how much being said is factual, as opposed to merely being hyperbole, empty rhetoric, or hype?

1. Think of the last time you listened to a political campaign debate. How many of those promises resulted in viable results? In fact, how often were the promises even directly related to facts, truths, and realistic plans? Political campaigns and the election results have more often than not been based on who went further in exciting and motivating the electorate, and getting voters to buy into the hype and campaign slogans. On the all too rare occasions that a candidate tell the straight- forward truth rather than the campaign hype, the result has almost invariably been defeat.

2. Think of the hype around various services that are offered. Each company that offers internet service, for example, claims to better, faster and more dependable. In the Long Island, New York area, for example, both Optimum Online (offered by Cablevision), and FIOS (offered by Verizon) each claim to be superior to the other. They each provide data that proves their point. But, how can they both be telling us all the facts? They can't both be better. In the same vane, think of the wireless providers, and their claims. ATT, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint (and even companies like MetroPC, which is now a T-Mobile subsidiary), claim superior service. Yet, for those of us who have been using mobile phones and smartphones for years, we know that results vary in different areas, and none of them are as good as they claim.

3. One of the most successful product marketing companies is Apple. They create anticipate and develop demand for their products like no company has ever done before. They are the masters at the use of the adage, "Sell the sizzle, not the steak," because they effectively convince the masses of the superiority of their products, and that their products are so superior that it is worth paying more for them. However, like every other product and service ever created, there are flaws and deficiencies that require improvement. Apple, however, is a master at even turning that into an opportunity by convincing people that they need their newest upgraded versions, of course needing to make an additional purchase.

4. Every time we hear a piece of financial data, we are told that it either exceeded or failed to meet expectations. Does that say something about the financial results, or rather about how these expectations are derived?

Next time you hear any claim or statement, think about whether it is merely a degree of rhetoric, or if they are factual, true, and/ or real! Is it Hyoe, or Is It Fact?
 

4 Keys To Effective Listening

How often have we all heard someone refer to the need to listen better, more efficiently or effectively? What would seem to be a rather basic or elementary trait or technique for each of us to master, is so often far more overlooked and ignored because most of us think that listening comes naturally. However, it is essential to realize that there is a significant difference between hearing and listening, and often an even greater differential between mere listening and doing so effectively.

There are four basic keys to be an effective listener: 1. Caring/ empathy and asking probing questions to further one's understanding and comprehension; 2. Patience and the willingness and ability to wait for answers, without interrupting, and asking for clarification; 3. Engaging in true and meaningful conversation; and 4. Learning and understanding not only what is being said, but finding the real meaning/ message.

1. All effective listening begins with actually caring what others are saying and feeling. Each of us have different perspective, and one of the primary and essential purposes of listening must always be gaining additional insight, and learning from others. We must always remember that we can always learn from the experiences, expertise, knowledge, and insights of others.

2. One of the most consistent inadequacies in many people's ability to effectively listen is that while someone asks questions, they often do so without any desire to listen to the response. Meaningful conversation includes getting to know and better understand the other parity to the discussion. This only occurs when our questions are used to gain insight, as opposed to the commonly misused approach of merely asking something in order to hear one's own voice. Unfortunately, it seems that many people are far more enamored with the sound of their own voice than for learning purposes. When a meaningful question is asked, the asker must be willing to remain silent and avoid interrupting, and listen to the answer. I refer to this technique as ZTL, or zip the lip, meaning that it is essential to know when to remain silent in order to truly listen.

3. It's all about engaging in conversation. We only are listening when the discussion is a two way conversation. One is never listening when both parties are speaking at each other, rather than to each other.


4. This must all result in learning and understanding what's being said. Unless and until we begin to devote ourselves to not only hearing, but actually listening and contributing to the conversation, there is little meaningful communication.

Is there anything more frustrating than having a conversation with someone, who you are certain is paying less than optimal attention? Success is often derived from becoming a better communicator. This always starts with true and effective listening.

Getting To The Crux of the Matter

Very often, organizations become distracted by unessential extraneous issues rather than getting to the crux of the matter. Generally, this is because many leaders lack the training and skills to adequately identify and separate major from minor issues. This is true, not only for organizations, but also for how each and every business, consultant, etc, pursues its best approaches. Wouldn't you prefer a professional real estate agent, who identified major needs, and in a timely manner, suggested the best course of action, plan, etc. Stop wasting time, money and energy - and get to the crux of the matter! Remember that everything in this articles relating to organizations is equally true and compelling, in nearly everything we do, and prioritize!
 
This is normally a rather simple issue to address if an organization creates a well thought- out, properly structured, professionally designed leadership training program. This program should teach leaders how to effectively listen to first understand what someone is not only saying, but what they mean. It should also teach leaders not to let their own opinions, prejudices, or biases impact their interpretation of any proposal or issue.

Organizations often assume that their leadership is capable of decision making, but if leaders are not adequately trained, they often do not have the structure or format needed to carefully review, evaluate and decide the merits of an issue. However, even the best leadership training cannot teach a leader to "stand up for his beliefs," have courage, and avoid procrastination.

In my review and work with not-for-profit organizations over the last three decades, I have noticed that is far more common for leaders to make costly errors by lack of action, than by action. That is not to say that erroneous and ill-designed actions cannot and are not potentially catastrophic, but that when a leader avoids confronting an issue, and tells me he was "adopting a wait-and-see" attitude, or "didn't want to micromanage," or "couldn't change what happened anyway," etc., then that individual was extremely neglectful in his duties.

Please understand that I am not saying that leaders should act rashly, or take action merely to take action, but rather that leaders need to evaluate an issue thoroughly, and come up with a timely decision based on the facts available, while doing whatever due diligence is possible. Leaders must realize that everyone makes mistakes, but that to just "go along with the crowd" when you disagree, exhibits anything but leadership skills.

Organizations must teach their leaders to get to the crux of issues, and not get bogged down in discussions about less important extraneous issues. Leaders must be trained in the techniques of prioritizing and must "stay on track" if they are to accomplish their mission. Human nature often causes people to lose focus, because of emotionalizing a particular issue or getting "hung up' on one issue without keeping one's focus. That is one of the major reasons that many organizations often do not accomplish what they set out to. Getting something accomplished requires creating a well thought- out action plan, defining and delegating duties, creating a timetable, staying on task, and constant review and follow-up. It often requires some tweaking along the way to assure success. Leaders must truly lead! Be a leader within an organization, or your business life!

Why Action Plans Are Important, & Needed?

We often hear individuals talk about the importance of creating and utilizing an action plan, yet few individuals who are leaders of organizations ever fully take advantage of the usefulness of action plans. Action plans not only provide guidelines and guidance, but create a methodology to accomplish ones objectives. Whether seeking a personal goal, trying to fulfill someone else's (such as done by real estate and/ or financial professionals), or an organization's goals, you'll only get it done, if you develop a well - crafted action plan!
 
The first thing one must do is create an objective or goal of a particular project or goal. This objective should be broken into long-term, intermediate-term and short-term needs. Once an objective has been decided upon, that objective must be examined to assure that it is in line with an organization's (or individual's) mission. If an organization's mission is in contradiction with a particular project's objective, leadership must examine if this contradiction is acceptable, if it makes it unworkable, or if either the mission or the objective needs updating or adjustment. Leaders must fully examine all ramifications of taking such an action, however, before they decide on any such action.

Once this procedure has been accomplished, it must be determined what the priorities of this plan are. There must be long-term, intermediate-term, and short-term objectives and/or goals, and the plan must be a workable program to accomplish the objectives.

This means that an action plan must list each action that needs to be taken, in a time order. It must also include alternative actions that might be used if a plan needs some "tweaking." Each of these actions must be broken up into sub-categories, and the intermediate steps must be listed, and a timetable placed for each one. The responsible individual for each part of the plan must be noted, as well as a "Need by date." In addition, there must be a strategy for thorough follow-up and examination of the action plan on an ongoing basis, as well as a mechanism for making needed adjustments.

Part of the action plan is also a cost evaluation. These costs include not only the actual expense in terms of both monies and possible lost revenues, as well as the costs in terms of personnel costs and time. Possible costs also include potential ramifications from existing members, who may not favor the changes being proposed.

One must always remember that an action plan has little value if it is either undeveloped, not fully developed, or does not move from the exercise stage to the implementation and action stage. Since many leaders prefer using rhetoric to actually taking action, an effective action plan will only work if leaders are properly trained in all aspects of use.

This discussion is only a beginning in terms of the realities of an action plan. However, my three decades of experience have clearly demonstrated that effective organizations, and individuals,  always take advantage of creating and using action plans.

The 5 Steps To Answer Any Objection

In nearly every situation, when people get into a discussion, there are bound to be certain questions or objections. How one handles the situation, and responds to objections, often determines whether one accomplishes his desired results. It is important to understand that all objections fall into two categories, either (1) technical; or (2) emotional. If the initial presentation has been properly presented, the vast majority of objections are emotional. The main technical objection is usually financial, while it takes a finer "ear" to properly understand what each emotional objection might be.
The same five steps are used in all situations. The finesse comes with being comfortable with the concept, listening, and believing in these steps. All major sales and marketing organization teaches this to some degree. The five steps are:

(1) Restate the objection: This is essential so that you are answering the true objection, and not opening up a Pandora's Box by addressing something that is not the objector's concern. An easy way to do this is to say something like, "So you're concerned about... " (Understand the concern may be about a guarantee, reliability, time commitment, ability, etc., but it is essential that you ask, and get a response and acknowledgment from the objector). Also remember the very important "ZTL" rule - - - "zip the lip." Do not speak until the other person answers your question, and if you are not sure of the meaning of the answer, ask again until you are! The ZTL rule says that the first person to answer "loses."

(2) Empathize (Don't sympathize): This can be simply done by saying something similar to, "I can perfectly understand how you feel, in fact I felt the same way, until i realized and understood a few things..."

(3) Answer the objection: Calmly, conversationally, fully answer the objection...

(4) Restate the proposal: "So in light of this information, and in light of the fact that you've told me that you... "

(5) Re-close: "Doesn't it make sense to...?" Then ZTL! I repeat, under no circumstances speak. You must let the other person, agree, say maybe, or give another objection. If they now give another objection, repeat the 5 steps! Keep doing this!

Then, if you believe you have done this long enough--- and after a minimum of 3 times using the 5 steps, there is one more "fall-back" position - - - Say, "May I make a suggestion?" Then, again, zip the lip. Wait-- force yourself --- it almost never occurs that someone will say NO to making a suggestion while they may say "No," eventually to the suggestion, however. It is very important that you get the other person into that "nodding--yessing" mode, because this can be a great lead in (or "trial close") to eventually overcoming the objection, and acquiring a commitment.

I want to stress that this works. I have used it hundreds and hundreds of times in numerous industries, organizations, charities, and personal situations. I have taught thousands how to effectively use these techniques. It initially takes some coaching, and then some practice, but once someone has perfected this technique, their "closing ratio" improves incredibly!

So Much Emphasis on Social Media, But Is It Really Social?

Everyone talks about how important the use of Social Media is today. Depending on how comprehensive a definition you wish to use, social media can include sites like Facebook, Flikr, LinkedIn, Twitter, Active Rain, MySpace, YouTube, etc., as well as Blogs, e-mail, personal or business websites, etc. But are these sites really social? Granted you contact many other people. But far too often these sites are used so that an individual can somewhat anonymously "speak" to others, without having to make eye contact. In many cases, social media has actually had the effect of making people less sociable, preferring to use the less personal avenues because they are often more "comfortable."

While I completely believe in using these media and extensively do, I still believe the "old-fashioned" method of "face-to-face" contact, or picking up a phone, are still more effective. Social media is best used to drive a reader's attention to a more detailed blog or website. Those formats drive business or contacts to the writer or creator of the site/ blog. However, the use and effectiveness of a Blog or a website is ONLY as effective as how well that vehicle stirs interest or excitement in the reader. Blogs and websites must meet a reader's expectations, or they will only be looked at once!

Think about how often you send an e-mail and don't get a response. Or the response doesn't answer the question, or elicits another question. Think of the amount of time and energy that have been wasted, when simply picking up the phone might have quickly resolved the issue. Many people rely on e-mail, for example, rather than the telephone, because they find it easier, more comfortable. Others find it easier to express themselves, especially negatively, in an e-mail rather than in a phone call.

E-mail and social media are best used either as an introduction, or a follow-up to other forms of contact, or when the other more personal forms are impossible to achieve. For example, statistics indicate that the "closing ratio" (or percentage of sales to contacts) is far higher with calls than with e-mails. Statistically, face-to-face is most effective, however.

I fear that far too many are becoming too dependent on this non-personal form of communication, and that important messages might be misconstrued. The argument is sometimes made that it is faster and easier to use e-mail than the phone. While it may be easier at the moment, because of the lag-time, the incorrect interpretations, and the back and forth, the reality is that often a phone call accomplishes a task much more effectively and efficiently. While an e-mail might suffice for simple announcements, or less pressing issues, it often is not the best medium for more urgent issues. Think about it.