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Polished People = A Trusted Brand

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Busting the MSP Myth That Appearance Doesn’t Matter

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You have seven seconds to make a first impression. What message do you want your appearance to convey to customers and prospects?

Click here to read this article and others on ChannelPro.

I participated in an initial sales meeting once that “looked” like this: The first salesperson sat in my conference room chair in a too-tight button-down untucked shirt, exposing bulging buttons and abdominal hair. His female colleague wore jeans and a tank top that was distractingly low. The only professional aspect of her outfit was a snug black blazer.

If you were in that meeting, where would your attention be? Bulging belly, cleavage, or their pitch?  [Read more…] about Busting the MSP Myth That Appearance Doesn’t Matter

You Are Being Watched! Exercise These 3 Positive Leadership Behaviors

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A leader’s actions—good and bad—impact the energy of an entire business.

Leadership Behavior
Click here to see this article and others on ChannelPro’s website!

Does your company staff meeting look like this? Your CEO is constantly cutting team members off to ask questions. One engineer is rolling his eyes, another is looking out the window, and yet another is checking email on her phone. How do you FEEL after leaving your meeting, accomplished and validated, or ignored and agitated? [Read more…] about You Are Being Watched! Exercise These 3 Positive Leadership Behaviors

Four Lessons to Becoming a Respected Leadership STAR!

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Learn the four keys to being a leader who inspires.

“If you get the culture right, everything becomes easier. If you don’t get it right, all is hard.” – Jack Daly, author of Hyper Sales Growth

Click here to see this article and more IT tips on ChannelPro’s website!

Microsoft Inspire is a remarkable trade show. Thousands of IT geeks like myself fly in from all over the globe to connect with colleagues and vendors and get “inspired”by Microsoft’s new innovations. Since taking the leadership helm in 2014, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been driving two main initiatives: launching innovative cloud solutions like Office 365 and Azure and, just as importantly, radically turning the company’s “old” corporate culture of individual kingdoms into a more collaborative environment.

Corporate or departmental culture starts at the top. Nadella is making a concerted effort to encourage his department heads and managers to collaborate versus finding issues with each other’s ideas. While his efforts have certainly been met with trepidation, Microsoft is seeing change in their cultural mindset.

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Personal Branding 101: Leadership Strategies for the Busy MSP

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A bit of polish and preparation can help an MSP and other channel professionals build a trusted brand that commands respect and attention.

Click here to read this article online at ChannelProNetwork.com

HAVE YOU EVER been in a bidding war with two or three other MSPs and won? Think back to that glorious moment and remember what set you apart from your competition. Was it your technology solution or the size of your corporation? Chances are, it wasn’t price.

A colleague of mine recently won a deal over multiple competitors. His quote was the highest of the three submitted, but his sales professional was polished and prepared. He also presented the prospect with a list of testimonials from familiar businesses to help differentiate his company and build credibility—and he spoke confidently. That tone created a feeling of trust that undoubtedly helped seal the deal.

Perception is a real factor when building a brand. It’s human nature to make assumptions or value judgments based on our own experiences. You can often approximate a person’s age, education level, and wealth without even saying “hello.” Prospective clients expect that, as an IT firm, your team will have strong technical skills. However, you still need to earn their trust and build credibility. [Read more…] about Personal Branding 101: Leadership Strategies for the Busy MSP

How to NOT be “THAT” Co-Worker 5 Tips to Building NOT Repelling Office Relationships

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Click here to see my article & others on SMB Nation!

You all know them, THAT employee in the office or colleague that just doesn’t get it.  That person who rolls their eyes or always responds to your questions in an exasperated, angry tone.  Are you picturing “that” co-worker in your mind?  I knew you were!  Every office has one or maybe two.  I call them the “Culture Crusher.”

In the IT SMB world, the Culture Crusher is often ignored or tolerated because there is always a client or some other pressing emergency to deal with.  Taking the “I-will-deal-with-it-later” approach often leads to much greater issues.I employed a Culture Crusher. Full disclosure, I’ve had a few of these challenging employees over the past 25 years.  As tech-savvy as this Engineer was, his people-skills, or lack-thereof, ultimately cost us a managed services client. We kept justifying his behavior because he had the tech skills our organization needed.  Had we known then, what we know now!Our client called our office one day requesting a different Engineer because the one we assigned to their account, made them feel “stupid.”  Probing the upset client further revealed that this Engineer had a condescending tone. This tone carried over into our office and included eye-rolling, when a co-worker did not understand a tech issue.  Our Culture Crusher put a kink in my otherwise well-oiled chain.  He not only cost us a valuable client, we also lost productivity because his co-workers did not want to approach him when they had a tech issue, that only he could answer.  Are you the business owner nodding your head feeling sick to your stomach?  Or maybe the co-worker, who fell behind on completing a ticket and got into trouble because you did not want to approach your Culture Crusher, for fear of being berated?

Whether your office is a one-man band or 50 plus employees, behavioral awareness always makes the difference between building trust or burning a bridge.  A true leader is not necessarily the C-Level Executive, it is often someone who focuses on these skills:

  1. Friendly Phone Skills – How many client IT issues can your company resolve remotely?  Cloud solutions have changed the dynamic from needing to go onsite to needing to pick up the phone to work with your clients.  It is more important now to pay attention to your tone of voice, volume and how fast you talk.  Do you or a team member have an engaging tone, sound happy and confident and speak at a slow enough pace to enunciate each word?  A phone call is often the only experience a client has with your company.  How you handle the phones sets the tone for building a relationship.
  2. Choose Your Attitude – Don’t be the angry guy!  IT is a very emotional industry.  One-minute a client is singing our praises, the next they are screaming at us because “you (our IT provider) lost our files!”  Yes, we get blamed for all tech issues, even if they were out of our control!  This emotional rollercoaster takes a toll on our nerves.  An inspirational leader, takes this ride in stride and tries hard to consciously maintain a can-do, let’s deal with this attitude.  It’s easy to let this pressure seep under your skin and ooze out of you in the form of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  This hairy green monster, often hits a plateau in their career growth due to lack of maturity and a perceived inability to handle challenging problems.
  3. Notice YOUR Nonverbal Behavior – Did you know, “We listen with our Eyes?”  Before a person utters a first word, their on-looker has surmised their wealth, health, hobbies, and whether they are management material or not.  We make “value judgements” based on what we were taught during our childhood.  Those ideas of what you “should” wear and how you “should” act, shape the way we view the world today.  In other words, people’s perceptions create their reality.  Take ownership of your actions.  Appear groomed and professionally dressed.  Stand tall versus slouch. Smile and make eye-contact.  Send the message to your client, prospect, employee that you genuinely care about what they have to say.
  4. Adapt to Team Culture – Here is a secret:  A key component to a thriving, fast-growing business, is a cohesive team culture, an environment that fosters collaboration. Each team member appreciates the positive contributions of the extroverts and introverts alike. Listens to the hard-chargers and is thankful for the great peace-makers.  Makes a concerted effort to share corporate values and resolve issues based on the needs of the team and company versus having their own personal agenda.  There is no “I” in team!
  5. No Geek Speak – Know your audience!  If you are speaking to a fellow techy, then go ahead and use technical jargon.  Talking to your client who doesn’t know the difference between a hard drive and a thumb drive, requires an entirely different approach.  An empathetic leader has the ability to describe a technical issue or resolution and be understood by all.  Your mission is to make others “feel” calm, comfortable and validated, not inadequate in any way.

The next time you communicate with a client or co-worker, think, how do I want to be perceived by others?  Cultivator or Crusher, the choice is up to you.

Do you have a Culture Crusher in your office?  Contact me today for a FREE 30-Minute Consultation!

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FIVE BRANDING STRATEGIES WHEN TECHNOLOGY SKILLS ARE NOT ENOUGH

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Talking Corporate Branding Strategies to 400 IT Business Owners

A couple of days ago, my high school daughter was given the task to write a short essay on whether technology connects us or disconnects us.  With marketing running through my veins for over 25 years, my curiosity was instantly piqued.  I looked at her sweet face and asked, “What do you think?”  Her answer was honest and predictable, “It connects us, because I can talk to my family in other states and talk to you whenever I need you.”  “True,” I said. Probing further I asked, “Do you think technology disconnects us?”  “Well, it can.  We are not sitting down and playing board games that often and sometimes we choose to text rather than talk and look at each other.”  “Yes!” I thought, my heart skipping a beat.  Just like that it sank, when she closed our conversation with “but it connects us more than disconnects us.”  And with that, she snapped a selfie and “Snapchatted” it to a friend.  End of our face-to-face discussion.  Sigh.

[Read more…] about FIVE BRANDING STRATEGIES WHEN TECHNOLOGY SKILLS ARE NOT ENOUGH