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  Tips to Deal with Inter-Departmental Conflict in Your Organization
  No matter where I work, regardless of the region of the country, there's one situation I encounter that virtually all businesses have in common -- some degree of internal conflict between sales, operations and administration.Operations Manager: "Those sales guys are prima donnas. There's one -- Kevin -- who is the worst offender of all. He'll invariably blast into my office at the eleventh hour with an emergency delivery one of his customers absolutely has to have the next morning on a “first-out.” He is always armed with every reason imaginable as to why he couldn't give me more notice, but the bottom line is that he wants me to "bump" another customer's order and slide his customer in its place."I'm telling you, I've had it with him. Last week he got in my face once too often; we had it out. I told him that he could either get his orders phoned in and scheduled like all the other salespeople or his customer could just wait. I told him that his customers are no more important than the company’s other customers."Now, Kevin won't speak to me. He now communicates with me through a manager. You'd think that a man making a six-figure income would be organized enough to get his act together and plan ahead. I can't possibly do my job when every order he enters is an exception to the rule."Salesperson: "Getting our operations manager to cooperate is the biggest hurdle I face every day. He has never grasped the concept of customer service. He does everything in his power to keep me from taking care of my customers' needs. Just last week he told me that I had to get on a schedule like everyone else or my customers could just wait.
  and a P.P.S. to emphasize new product introductions, special sales, and special events. In this way, every email provides a branding and promotional opportunity for you.

  3. Getting people to return your telephone calls is challenging for everyone. Using a different approach can make all the difference in the world. Mike, a client, shared this with me and it's guaranteed to be different. If someone very important is not returning your telephone calls use this approach. Buy a coffee mug and print these words on the mug. "Let's talk business over a cup of coffee." Put a packet of Starbucks coffee into the mug and include a note with your business card and the times you'll be available to take his telephone call.

  4. Here’s a business card idea. Why are business cards printed one side? Use the blank side of your business to differentiate yourself. You can stamp an inspirational quote. You can stamp the 7 reasons why customers like doing business with you. Use red ink to make it stand out.

  5. This is a small tip though it's an effective one. Most promotional literature is produced on standard size 81/2” X 11” paper. Since most people are overwhelmed by the amount of work on their desk - they simply create stacks of sales rep literature. Go to an Office Depot and buy brightly colored 9 X 12 paper. Affix your literature to the 9 X 12 paper and it’ll standout in any stack of literature. Use the open space on the colored paper to write a note, a reminder, or even your phone number.

  6. Visibility is more important than ability. Every contact counts. Develop a (one-two-three) follow-up system every time you meet and/or talk to a new prospect. Here’s my recommendation - within 24 hours send an e-mail, within 72 hours send a handwritten note, within 10 days send a handwritten note with an article to your prospect. Within two weeks you have a total of four exposures with your new prospect. Now that's impressive.

  
  7. Prepare creative organizational charts for your biggest proposals. In your business, if you do proposals especially for larger deals, consider using a very creative organizational chart. Think about the five to seven people in your organization who interact with your customers; you, your sales manager, your Vice President of sales, customer service, technical service, you get the picture. Create an organizational chart using boxes and include in each box the following: name, title, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address, and a digital photograph. This introduces your entire team with photographs to your new potential customer. It's easier for a prospect to say no to a salesperson than it is to say no to the entire team.

  
  The real difference among salespeople is what's inside their heads - their ideas. To offer generalities when customers are begging for specificity misses the mark completely. Don't permit generalities to skewer the real differences between you and your competitors.

  Being boring, bland, and benign won't cut it in today’s very competitive marketplace.

  If you want to make a difference you have to be different.

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  Why Training Fails
  Sometimes when I conduct my workshop on Effective Meetings, one of the participants will ask, "Where's my boss?"And I say, "Your boss claimed to be an expert on holding effective meetings."Then the person laughs. "My boss needs to attend your workshop more than anyone in our company. And without our manager's support, no one will use this."This is bad because if no one uses the ideas presented in a workshop, the client will conclude that training doesn't work. And then the company might abandon all training.Here are three important issues that determine the effectiveness of training.1) People follow the leader. Any training program will be more successful if management supports it. This is why I always involve top executives in planning my workshops. I also ask them to attend. And I recommend follow-up sessions to review the material covered in the workshop. In fact, I only work with people who value and support learning.Training has earned a bad reputation because many programs were just thrown over the fence at employees who were sent to be fixed. It’s unlikely that any training program conducted under these conditions will accomplish much.Key Point: Gain management support before scheduling any training program.2) Each of us has control over our area of responsibility. And each of us lives in the environment that we create.The participant mentioned above can conduct effective meetings, even if top management continues to hold bad meetings. In fact, someone who demonstrates sound leadership by holding effective meetings could end up replacing the boss who holds
  out in any stack of literature. Use the open space on the colored paper to write a note, a reminder, or even your phone number.

  6. Visibility is more important than ability. Every contact counts. Develop a (one-two-three) follow-up system every time you meet and/or talk to a new prospect. Here’s my recommendation - within 24 hours send an e-mail, within 72 hours send a handwritten note, within 10 days send a handwritten note with an article to your prospect. Within two weeks you have a total of four exposures with your new prospect. Now that's impressive.

  
  7. Prepare creative organizational charts for your biggest proposals. In your business, if you do proposals especially for larger deals, consider using a very creative organizational chart. Think about the five to seven people in your organization who interact with your customers; you, your sales manager, your Vice President of sales, customer service, technical service, you get the picture. Create an organizational chart using boxes and include in each box the following: name, title, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address, and a digital photograph. This introduces your entire team with photographs to your new potential customer. It's easier for a prospect to say no to a salesperson than it is to say no to the entire team.

  
  The real difference among salespeople is what's inside their heads - their ideas. To offer generalities when customers are begging for specificity misses the mark completely. Don't permit generalities to skewer the real differences between you and your competitors.

  Being boring, bland, and benign won't cut it in today’s very competitive marketplace.

  If you want to make a difference you have to be different.

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  Opportunities For High School Graduates
  ConsequencesThis situation can be particularly difficult for those who require financial assistance in continuing college education, which requires 3 to 4 years for completion. As a result, high school graduates are increasingly taking up low-end, monotonous jobs of lesser importance, challenge and value. These have little potential in offering a lucrative and rewarding career. The recent tendency of employers seeking professionals who already posses pre-developed skills and talents instead of hiring fresh high school graduates who need training, has further worsened this scenario. Moreover, be it from the point of view of salary increases or promotions, or simply a foundation for taking up post graduation courses, college graduates always enjoy an extra edge over high school graduates.New Age SyllabusNevertheless, there are some schools that work towards helping their students in choosing a suitable career path and succeed in post high school career opportunities. These schools work in alliance with organizations that identify the common skills of students and place them on the right path. Such programs allow the students and teachers to work together while combining studies with technical instructions and vocational training. Some of the major streams that students may choose from include industrial and engineering services, arts and communications, information technology, business and management, environmental and agricultural systems, health services and human resources. These programs are usually a certificate course and allow the students to directly enter the work field after completing their graduation from a high school. A
  their ideas. To offer generalities when customers are begging for specificity misses the mark completely. Don't permit generalities to skewer the real differences between you and your competitors.

  Being boring, bland, and benign won't cut it in today’s very competitive marketplace.

  If you want to make a difference you have to be different.

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  Old Outdated Tactics
  Research shows the old style techniques of persuasion and influence have lost their effectiveness. So after timeless research and application, I found the answer to persuasion and influence. I used to think you could be successful by just reading the books. That is a great start, there is some great information there and I believe in reading the books, but you need a little bit more than that. If you want to learn how to play basketball you can read the book. You will understand the rules, but if you look at Michael Jordan, the book wasn't enough. I don't even know if he read a book. He went out and found a couch and found a mentor. There are two ways to learn in life. You can learn by trial and error or you can learn from somebody else. Success is found in the practice and the proper application of the right techniques. Success is an open book test, the answers are there and that is what I want to give you. Great persuaders have the right tools. I want to give you a new set of tools because one size does not fit all your prospects. You can't force all of them into the same mold and use the old school tactics. Why? We know persuasion has changed.In the past we did not know how our consumer thought, what persuaded them to buy or take action. Most people in sales and marketing were shooting in the dark. We hoped or guessed what we were doing what working. Sure it worked some of the time, but I hope you are not happy with that success rate. In fact Dr. DiMaggio of Harvard University said, "We've learned more about the human brain in psychology in the past ten years than we have in the entire history of
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