Discover practical advice, inspiration, and insights to help you succeed in business and grow both personally and professionally.
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Head over to Cydcor Media for advice regarding business, leadership, and office life.
Communicating in a clear and effective way is always important, both in real life situations and especially in business communications. We converse so much that we often forget to stop and think about what we are saying. When communicating in a professional context, you need to be aware of the little nuances that are held in your words and actions.
Here are some tips for becoming an influential communicator:
Have a clear goal and benefits for all parties.
Transparency is important. The worst thing that could happen is having your conversation be misunderstood. Therefore, you will want to make a clear goal when talking with a client, or potential client. It also helps to make sure that you frame your message in a way that presents the benefits for that party.
With that said…
Know your audience.
Your audience is whomever you are communicating with. Who are they? What do they want? How do they speak? What do they know? Understanding your audience is incredibly important because it provides you all the information you need to tailor your communications to be the most effective for that specific person or group of people.
Knowing your audience makes it less likely that you will waste time explaining things that are already known, glossing over important details that you assume are understood.
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Be sure to ask the right kinds of questions
Learn to strategically drop “leading questions” that prompt longer answers than “yes” or “no.” This will help guide your conversation in a productive direction.
Ask important qualifying questions to ensure that your leads will turn into a prospect. Largely, you’ll be asking questions that are focused around answering these key questions: Can and will you be able to authorize on the sale? What can I do for you to close on this sale?
Naturally, you should take information you learned from your audience and tailor the question accordingly for them, but these simple questions capture the essence of what you need to find out from your prospect.
Here is Cydcor's review of Cutting Edge Marketing Analytics: Real World Cases and Data Sets for Hands On Learning by Rajkumar Venkatesan, Paul Farris, and Ronald T. Wilcox:
About Cutting Edge Marketing Analytics: Cutting Edge Marketing Analytics calls itself a practical guide to modern marketing analytics. It looks to introduce today’s most valuable marketing methods and tools by introducing case studies that apply analytic techniques to real problems.
Each chapter of the book provides technical notes that look to show statistical background as well as case studies. All the case studies provided are accompanied by real date and used by the protagonists to make decisions. Methods and tools provided by the author include product analytics, customer analytics, and the effective implementation of such analytics into your business or organization.
The authors look to help people identify the right data and analytic techniques by conducting the analysis and obtaining the insights from those data points. They also look to connect those insights to strategic decision-making.
Head to Cydcor's YouTube page for additional information about the company.
Why Cydcor recommends this to future leaders: This book is an excellent roadmap for managers looking to make the most out of marketing resources. The material presented strikes the right balance of rigorous analysis and strategic relevance.
Our favorite part: Cutting Edge Marketing Analytics takes an excellent look into how the Internet and mobile technologies available have combined to create an unprecedented level of insight into consumer behavior and customer preferences. This mastery of marketing and customer analytics has become the ‘table stakes’ for understanding and pleasing the customer. This is a great book for practitioners looking for real world applications.
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When you think of productivity, being constantly active might come to mind. But while always being in motion can improve your productivity at times, it can also lead to mindless “productivity” where you waste time doing something that you don’t need to do.
The real trick is to work intelligently. Great time management skills are the first step to becoming a smart worker. Here are some helpful time management techniques that will help increase your productivity.
Do regular reviews of your productivity and take action to resolve issues with your productivity. You might want to do reviews either weekly or monthly—not so often that you begin wasting time evaluating everything, but not so far apart that their benefit is diluted.
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Here is Cydcor's review of Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors by Michael E. Porter:
About Competitive Strategy: Published in 1980, Michael Porter’s book still resonates with many individuals today and is the basis for much of what is taught in MBA programs regarding Business Strategy. In fact, the author himself is a professor at Harvard Business School and is a lead authority on the subject. The book has nearly sixty printings in English, has been translated into nineteen languages, and has transformed the theory, practice and teaching of business strategy throughout the world.
Why Cydcor Reviews recommends this to future leaders: Competitive Strategy is fantastic in its simplicity, and the analyses provided can be used as powerful competitive tools and examples on how one can being structure to the task of strategic positioning.
Porter provides the framework for predicting competitor behavior and has given rise to the newer discipline of competitor assessment. It’s a must read for managers, consultants, students and those in business who wish to take up leadership roles in businesses—big or small.
Our favorite part: While the first chapter alone is worth the cost of this book, Cydcor recommends it for the wisdom contained in its entirety. The chapters are organized into three parts: General Analytical Techniques, Generic Industry Environments, and Strategic Decisions.
Porter, being an expert on competition, analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of businesses in the very first chapter. His focuses are the threat of new entrants, pressure of substitute products, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers and the intensity of rivalry among existing competitors. These five forces are the roadmap for determining the competitiveness of individual companies, and are truly eye opening.
For more information about Cydcor and the many opportunities we offer for future salespeople, connect to us on LinkedIn today!
Cydcor is excited to announce the success of our ‘Week of Smiles’ campaign, which served as a great opportunity for to work together to raise money for Operation Smile! Operation Smile is a children’s medical organization that helps children who have cleft lips and palates receive new smiles. It has offices across the country to raise awareness and funds. Cydcor is proud to be a part of the Operation Smile network.
Our ‘Week of Smiles’ has raised over $30,000 for Operation Smile. With these funds, doctors, volunteers and equipment will travel to an area where access to healthcare is difficult, providing screenings and surgeries for children. Cleft lips and palates can often make eating and drinking difficult, and Operation Smile looks to restore smiles and give those children a better chance at thriving.
At the beginning of 2014, Cydcor volunteers traveled to San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, where they were able to meet some of the individuals that directly benefited from their fundraising efforts. In about a month, another team of ours will be headed to Guatamla for our third mission. In all started In 2012, volunteers made a similar trip to Brazil, where more than 600 surgeries were provided to children. Cydcor is proud of its partnership with Operation Smile and plans to continue working with the organization in the future.
Once again, thank you to everyone in the organization who worked so hard with their fundraisers, we truly couldn’t have done it without you!
Follow Cydcor on Facebook for more news and updates regarding our company, as well as our latest activities with Operation Smile.
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Here is Cydcor's review of Thriving in 24/7: Six Strategies for Taming the New World of Work by Susan Helgesen.
About Thriving in 24/7: Thriving in 24/7 takes a look into the “new” work rules in today’s 24/7 environments. Cheap and portable networked technologies have made communication in the professional landscape simple and fast, but at the cost of being flooded with options that can interrupt our own personal lives. Thriving in 24/7 looks to show another way of setting forth new strategies for working and living appropriate for post-industrial lives.
Why Cydcor recommends this book to future leaders: It’s incredibly easy to be on-call 24/7 with cell phones, tablets and laptops coupled with free wi-fi in nearly any public area. This book looks to help one to be successful while still establishing personal boundaries by setting concrete ways of working. The book emphasizes the importance of locating your inner voice and taking inventory on a regular basis.
Thriving in 24/7 demonstrates ways to create your own work by articulating your values and integrating your passions. It also demonstrates how to incorporate renewal into each day by identifying the true sources of your joy, practicing mindfulness, and cultivating the elements of Slow.
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Our favorite part: The author’s first strategy is to start at the core. If someone wants to create work that suits their individual needs and talents, they must be aware of the forces at work in the world. She also explains that we must also develop a thorough knowledge of ourselves and an understanding of what we have to offer.
“We have to know our priorities, values, temperament, character and ambitions. We have to understand where our blocks life, what emotional legacies might be holding us back or pushing us forward. We have to understand what we fear, what makes us feel stuck or overwhelmed.”
Helgesen also states that starting at the core is crucial in an area of new technologies, as we have so many choices to make every day. By narrowing in on ourselves, we can place an emphasis on the niche that gives us more opportunities to create work that reflects our individual interests.
Cydcor is gearing up for our annual R&R event, and this year we are looking forward to several days off for fun in the sun for attendees from the network of independent sales companies!
This year’s R&R Owners Weekend is being held in late October in Nassau, Bahamas, at the beautiful Atlantis Paradise Island. Our primary focuses are on rest and relaxation for the hundreds that will be in attendance and celebration of the successes of the past year.
Sales company owners will enjoy a weekend full of events, including themed meals, a Junkanoo-themed dinner, our 3rd Annual Talent Show, a private pool party with a DJ, and our 7th Annual Charity Tournament and Carnival! There will also be a beach volleyball charity game, which will fundraise for Operation Smile, an international children’s medical charity treating cleft lips and clef palates around the world.
We’ve already kicked off R&R 2014 with a Bahama-themed postcard caption contest, with the winning entry from Ryan Caugherty. Ryan won $100 toward food and fun by participating in our Facebook contest. Thank you to all who entered!
With water parks, nightclubs, “Paradise” beaches and dolphin swims, there’s no lack of fun options for our owners and their friends and families. We can’t wait to start packing!
For more information about Cydcor, head to our page on CareerBuilder.
Head to LinkedIn to find out more information about Cydcor, located near Los Angeles, CA in Westlake Village.
Here is Cydcor's review of Quiet: The Power of Introverts In a World That Won’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain.
About Quiet: The Power of Introverts: This book looks to explore the “Quiet Revolution” by explaining how one-third of people we know are introverts. Introverts being the ones who prefer listening to speaking, who love being creative and innovative but dislike self-promotion and who favor working independently than in a team.
In Quiet, the author explains how we dramatically undervalue introverts and evidence she provides shows how much we lose in doing so. Cain shows the rise of the “Extrovert Ideal” as it expanded throughout the twentieth century, which praised witty, high-energy public figures. Often the world repeatedly overlooks the quiet introvert, that the author demonstrates through excellent research, and relatable stories of real people in history who were well-known introverts.
Why Cydcor recommends this book to future leaders: A large reason for our selection of this book is to acknowledge that the concept of a ‘leader’ doesn’t always mean someone who is brazen, bold or loud. It can be the quiet ones who offer a game-changing idea or a unique perspective in a team approach.
The author describes herself as an introvert, and when an interviewer asked why she wrote this book, she answered, "For the same reason that Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique in 1963. Introverts are to extroverts what women were to men at that time—second-class citizens with gigantic amounts of untapped talent...Our bias against introversion leads to a colossal waste of talent, energy, and, ultimately, happiness."
Quiet is filled with well thought-out research and interesting case studies, and services as a refreshing corrective to decades of unfamiliarity with introverts.
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Our favorite part: It may seem at first that Cain is trying to say that introverts are better than extroverts, but reading through the whole work she does a wonderful job of challenging introverts to grow in certain areas. She also challenges extroverts to consider the benefits that introverts are able bring to the table.
Cydcor is gearing up for fun with our annual R&R event only weeks away! We have had a stellar year so far, due in large part to everyone in the business. We plan to celebrate and reward our organization’s success by holding our R&R 2014 event in the beautiful Bahamas! We have some amazing things planned!
For starters, we’re kicking off R&R 2014 with a Bahamian-themed postcard caption contest on our Facebook Page. To enter, go to www.facebook.com/CydcorLLC , and submit an original caption in the comment section. Cydcor will select the winner with the best caption. The winner will receive $100 toward food and fun during R&R 2014 in Nassau, Bahamas!
As such, all entrants must be a primary registrant to the R&R event (primary registrants’ guests and Cydcor employees are not eligible), however, we greatly encourage ‘likes’ for contestant entries and shares among friends and family!
Contest begins Wednesday, September 24, 2014 at 12:00 PM PST and closes Sunday, September 28, 2014, 11:59 PM, PST. Our winner will be announced on Monday, September 29, 2014, on Cydcor’s Facebook page.
With the dedication of valued teams, we continue to grow and expand our business and our family. We truly wish to recognize and appreciate all of their hard work!
Complete Contest Terms and Conditions:
Valid entries are comments that caption the related post on Cydcor’s Facebook page. To be eligible, entrants must be (i) at least 18 years of age and (ii) a primary registrant attending Cydcor’s Bahamas R&R event (primary registrants’ guests and Cydcor employees are not eligible). Only one comment per participant is allowed. Profanity or inappropriate language, as determined by Cydcor, in its sole discretion, will be disqualified. The $100 non-transferrable credit will be awarded onsite at the event and can only be used during the event. Contest begins at 12:00 PM, PST on Wednesday, September 24, 2014 and ends at 11:59 PM, PST on Sunday, September 28, 2014. The winner will be selected by Cydcor, in its sole discretion, and announced via Cydcor’s Facebook page on Monday, September 29, 2014. This promotional offer is not intended to create a partnership, joint venture, co-ownership or other association between Cydcor and the participant. This promotion does not have a connection with Facebook in any way and is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. By entering the contest, participants agree to fully release Facebook from any and all liability.
Check out Cydcor on Youtube to see our latest video: Cydcor Executives Define the Difference.
Here is Cydcor's review of Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations By Nancy Duarte .
About slide:ology: slide:ology by Nancy Duarte is filled with practical approaches to tell your visional story for a presentation that can be applied to anyone. Whether it’s for a boss, a prospective client, your team members or the general public, Duarte offers tips and tricks to give the best presentation possible. Important business presentations to higher-level executives are common, especially in the business world. This book looks to combine inspirational design, insightful case studies from the leading brands of the world and conceptual thinking that can assist anyone into connecting with their specific audience.
Why Cydcor recommends this book to future leaders: In the world of business, presentations can be extremely high-stakes opportunities. slide:ology looks to challenge the traditional approaches for a presentation by showing you case studies and examples of visual thinking.
At some point, future leaders will need presentation skills and public speaking under their belts of experience. Author Nancy Duarte looks to explain how to sketch and diagram effectively, utilize the newest technology and create graphics that allow an audience to process information easily.
Our favorite part: An interesting chapter discusses how to display data and the technical aspects of laying slides out in a grid. Interesting psychology comes into play, with what images work best when communicating to a group. For example, images of people looking toward the written content, rather than away, have been shown to help people process the information.
The book is rife with tips that come from studies and research on human behavior. Recommendations include starting your first data set for a pie chart at the 12 o’clock position, removing the legend and moving the key into the graph itself, and using color to highlight what you really want the audience to focus on in the graph.
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Here is Cydcor's review of Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn By John C. Maxwell.
About Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn: This book looks to tackle the universal fear of failure. Whether big mistakes or small missteps, author John C. Maxwell takes you through how to learn from experience and apply that insight into the future.
Why Cydcor recommends it to future leaders: When we hear about books on leadership, most of the time, we think about big companies, CEOs, and entrepreneurs. However, Sometimes you Win, Sometimes You Learn deals more with the topic of losses, as that is an experience that goes across all cultures and types of people.
Author John C. Maxwell shares personal experiences about his own losses and their consequences in his own life: financial, emotional and professional. He uses these as examples that can also point towards the lessons learned.
The main point the book tries to convey is that it doesn’t matter if you’re in a position of leadership or if you believe you’re a leader or not. If you’re a student, worker, parent or just someone who is willing to take action and start learning in every situation, good or bad, this book is for you.
Our favorite part: Overall, the best parts of the book are the incredibly helpful and practical frameworks Maxwell provides the reader, offering solutions that everyone can apply to their unique situation. The best part of the content is that one can learn from the stories in the book and see how someone can take a negative situation and launch it into a power opportunity for success.
Watch Cydcor executives define what makes our company different from the rest on the Cydcor Sales YouTube page.