When asked about New Year’s resolutions, common responses are losing weight, getting a new job, and saving more money. For entrepreneurs, the answer is more complicated as business New Year’s resolutions require greater specificity and accountability, and the motivation to see them through.

As you and your team plan for the year ahead, consider these six, actionable business New Year’s resolutions:

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1. Connect with More Customers

A new year means new opportunities to connect with more customers and grow your business. Learn as much as you can about them from social media, analytics platforms, internet forums, and blogs. Check in with existing customers and get feedback for improvement. Your customers will appreciate your proactive interest in them, and in turn, you’ll be on track to strengthen relationships and build new ones.

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2. Communicate More Effectively

Miscommunication wastes time and affects morale. Nobody likes repeating themselves, and time spent clarifying is better spent knocking out approaching deadlines. Save time and help your team feel heard by asking for feedback and advice on what works best for them. Whether it’s less emails for more one-on-ones, or using a productivity tool, effective internal communication helps make all other goals seem more possible.

3. Learn a New Skill

Successful people are always learning; their student mentality keeps them open to new perspectives and innovation. Whether it’s to benefit your work or fuel a passion project, learning a new skill will help boost your confidence and give more opportunities to network with others in classes and workshops.

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4. Make Time for Yourself

Running a business is hard, but it’s harder when you’re burnt out. Resolve to make time for yourself this year and set expectations with clients and colleagues, even if it’s only for a lunch break or turning your phone off after dinner. Often, complicated tasks become less complicated when you’re feeling refreshed. Taking time off allows your mind the room it needs to wander and connect the dots in unexpected ways.

5. Expand Your Comfort Zone

Make an effort to take more calculated risks and tackle different projects. It seems daunting, but the benefits far outweigh the intimidation. Expanding your comfort zone creates room for real growth and empowers you to chase new opportunities for your team, your business, and your clients. Plus, it shows that you’re versatile and bold, who wouldn’t want to do business with someone like that?

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6. Set More SMART Goals

Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely goal setting is how successful people get large projects done. That also goes for New Year’s resolutions, which have a tendency to get dropped around January 7^th. Keep your business New Year’s resolutions on track this year by setting more SMART goals, and ask your friend how that gym membership is coming.

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When brainstorming your resolutions, reflect on these powerful business quotes for the New Year:

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Mark Twain
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"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one."

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Ben Stein
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"The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want.”

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Peter F. Drucker
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“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.”

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Oprah Winfrey
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“Step out of the history that is holding you back. Step into the new story you are willing to create.”

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As you go into the New Year, effectively manage your resolutions by ensuring they stay top of mind. Consider printing them out and giving everyone a copy, and sending reminders when appropriate. Although these are business New Year’s resolutions and quotes, the advice is timeless and will help inspire greater work across a variety of teams.

You don’t have to be in sales to benefit from a great elevator pitch. The right elevator pitch can open doors. It can help you land a new job, sell a product or service, earn new clients or investors for your business, or propose a new idea to your boss. Your elevator pitch is the way you tell someone everything they need to know about you or your business in a very short amount of time. The goal is to hook them; to whet their appetite for more information. An effective elevator pitch takes some thought, but perfecting your pitch is more than worth the time and effort. The right elevator pitch can be your secret weapon. It can stop strangers in their tracks and convince them you’re someone worth listening to.

Here are some surefire tricks for writing an elevator pitch that does the selling for you:

Start with a Headline: If you were the top story of the day, what would your bold print say? Start with an introduction, followed by a quick statement that summarizes you or your business and what you do. Keep it concise and easy to understand.

Know your Audience: To really wow your listener with your elevator pitch, you’ll need to tailor it to your audience. Not every listener will be interested in the same details. Whenever possible, do a little research about the person you’ll be pitching to or their business, and try to adjust your tone, style, and the details of your pitch to their specific interests. What is most important to this person, and what will they most want to know?

Think Like a Brand: Leading brands like Nike, Apple, and BMW, are unmistakable. That’s because brand marketers expend a lot of time, money, and effort developing strategies to set brands apart from their competitors by identifying their unique selling propositions. Treat yourself, your business, or your product like a brand by thinking about the one thing you or your business can offer that no one else can. Incorporate your unique selling proposition into your elevator pitch to communicate to your audience why they should choose you over anybody else.

The Rule of Three: An elevator pitch doesn’t have to tell everything about you or your product; in fact, it shouldn’t. Your pitch should communicate only the most important selling points. Save the details for later. Instead, to get your foot in the door, to get them to pay attention, or to persuade them to listen to what you have to say, stick with no more than three big ideas you’d like to convey. Write down all the top benefits of your business or service, and assign each of them a rank by importance. Once you’ve identified your top three, come up with a sentence or two that clearly communicates those benefits as succinctly as possible.

Talk About Benefits, Not Features: Cool product features are fine, but they aren’t really why customers buy. Customers buy products and sign up for services that provide a benefit to them. They help fulfill a need, fix a problem, or make their life easier or better in some way. Figure out what you, your product, or your company does to benefit the customer, and weave those ideas into your pitch.

Provide some Proof: Anybody can say they’re the best, but a great elevator pitch leaves the listener with little reason to doubt, because it’s backed up with evidence. What have you or your business accomplished? How has your service saved customers money? What results have you produced? Don’t bore the listener with a lengthy list of accomplishments, but pick one or two compelling details or facts that prove your case.

Take the 30-Second Test: Your elevator pitch should be short and sweet – about the length of an elevator ride, to be exact. Time yourself as you recite your pitch, and be strict about sticking to 30 seconds or less. This doesn’t mean you should sound like an auctioneer. Speak slowly and clearly, and be honest with yourself. If it takes longer than 30 seconds to recite, get out your red pen and do some editing. Keeping your pitch under 30 seconds is a great exercise in getting to the point.

Call to Action: Don’t forget to tell the listener what they are supposed to do. It seems obvious, but without a clear request for an investment, a purchase, or a job offer, your audience could feel confused about the point of your speech. Make it easy for them to give them what you want, by including a clear request at the end of your pitch.

Rehearse: Ironically, it takes a lot of practice to sound like you’re speaking off the cuff. Practice presenting your elevator speech at least 50 times, and you may be surprised how much you’re able to improve it as you go. With practice, you’ll also begin to sound more confident and convincing.

Here’s an example of how to put it all together:

Headline: Hi, I’m Dee Signer, and I’m an award-winning web and graphic artist, and I’ve been helping companies like yours stand out in a crowded marketplace for the past seven years.

Target your audience: I know that your industry, home landscaping, is very competitive, and having a great logo and website can be critical to helping you attract new customers.

Unique selling proposition: But, I have created a one-of-a-kind, design system, guaranteed to deliver a unique logo and website design that gets you more clicks – and more customers.

Three big selling points: My system is simple to use, includes a free, one-on-one consultation, and when your design is finished, you own all rights to it for life, no strings attached.

Proof: After using my system, my past three clients have gone on to see their web traffic increase by 30%.

Call to action: Why don’t I help you fill out your online design request form right now, so we can get your one-on-one consultation scheduled for this week. Ready to get started?

They say you only have one chance to make a good first impression, and your elevator pitch can ensure you make the most of those precious moments. Mastering your elevator pitch also helps you identify the most important benefits of your product or service.  It can also produce better results by quickly grabbing the listener’s attention and by quickly focusing the conversation on the things that matter most.  The perfect elevator pitch will help you transform casual encounters into lucrative business opportunities.

Technology is changing rapidly, but no matter how advanced digital media and market research becomes, direct sales is still one of the best ways to acquire new customers and grow your business. There are just some things a computer can’t do, and until they can, people talking to other people through face-to-face sales is still the best way to build trust, overcome objections, and turn prospects into buyers.

Here’s why face-to-face sales is one of the most effective ways to acquire new customers:

• Building Rapport and Trust: Most customers spend mere seconds reading and watching ads on TV, the internet, and in magazines, but it can be much harder to give a real person the brush off quite as quickly. That means that direct salespeople have more time, and a greater opportunity, to build rapport with and identify the needs of potential customers. They have the chance to make a case for why the person should trust them in a way that other sales and marketing channels simply cannot.

• Answering Questions in Real Time: When a customer researches a product or service online, they may give up if they can’t find the information they’re looking for or if the service doesn’t seem to fit their needs. In-person salespeople, however, can answer customer questions on-the-spot to keep the conversation flowing and to help customers through the purchasing process.

• Addressing Unique Objections: Traditional media and online marketing can address and overcome some customer objections, but they can’t respond to individual concerns that only apply to that one person. Face-to-face salespeople can address someone’s unique situation to get at exactly what is holding them back from making a purchase.

• Educating the Customer: Most people don’t pay much attention to the details when they watch commercials or view ads online, but a direct salesperson can make sure the customer understands why the product or services will benefit them. They can educate them about the product in a way that highlights its value to that individual.

• Recognizing Non-Verbal Cues: People communicate a lot with their faces and bodies, and no online marketing algorithm can replace a real person’s ability to pick up on these non-verbal cues. Face-to-face salespeople can slow down when the customer looks confused, pick up the pace when they look bored, or go for the close when the customer looks excited.

• Putting a Face to a Brand: Marketers spend a lot of money building their brands’ personalities, but no matter how well they’ve accomplished that goal, nobody is worried about hurting Arrowhead Water’s feelings. But when there’s a real human being standing in front of you, suddenly it’s not just a product or a service, it’s a person. A direct sales rep becomes the face of the product, and when customers like the person connected with the brand, they are more likely to buy. People like buying things their friends recommend- buying a product from a salesperson you like and respect is the next best thing.

• Banking on Reciprocity: Studies have shown that people feel a strong drive to return the favor when somebody does something nice for them. This puts face-to-face salespeople at an advantage. When they give their time and energy to potential customers, people feel that they should make a purchase in appreciation of the person’s effort and great customer service. When they don’t buy, some people feel guilty for having wasted the salesperson’s time or they may feel that they are letting the salesperson down.

• Getting Referrals: Referrals are one of the best ways to get new customers, but few people are willing to hand over contact information for their friends and family to a computer or phone solicitor. In-person salespeople, however, have proven themselves trustworthy and likable. Customers feel like they’re doing their friends and family a favor by referring them to an honest sales rep who will offer them great customer service.

Some people may call it old-fashioned, but direct and face-to-face sales work. The reason in-person sales is most effective comes down to one factor: people. People relate better to other people than they do to TV commercials, online marketing, billboards, print ads, or any other form of advertising. It’s natural. Direct sales are built on relationships with a specific sales rep, and it allows customers to feel a personal connection to a product or service. Face-to-face sales build trust, which gives the customer the confidence to buy. That’s why in-person sales are a smart investment for any company looking to grow.

We all want to get ahead, and figuring out what’s keeping your goals out of reach can be tricky. It takes asking a lot of important questions and making sure all the pieces are in place to ensure your success. You’ll want to be sure you’re getting the right training, connecting with the best possible mentors, and working for a company that positions you for growth. But, don’t forget to take a good hard look where it matters most: yourself. Your attitude and the way you approach life, your job, and the people around you can be the critical factor that decides your fate. Luckily, your workplace attitude is the one piece of the puzzle entirely within your control. All it takes is accepting responsibility for the role your attitude plays, along with a willingness to change.

Here are 10 easy ways to change your attitude for the better:

1. Stop Complaining: Everyone complains from time to time, but a nonstop stream of complaints gives the impression of someone who’s constantly dissatisfied. While it’s normal to be occasionally frustrated when things don’t go your way, nonstop complaining shows an unwillingness to take action on your own behalf. If you’re miserable in your job or hate where you live, ask yourself what you can do to change your circumstances.

2. Banish Excuses: If you have the bad habit of justifying your own behavior, you’re missing a lot of opportunities for growth. Only by being accountable for your own mistakes can you hope to learn from them. Taking ownership is necessary to improve your performance in the future.

3. Assume the Best: Instead of adopting a can’t do workplace attitude, be optimistic and focus on what you can do. If you assume things will not go your way, why would you try at all? Your negative assumptions could be keeping you from taking risks and trying new courses of action, which could produce exciting and unexpected results.

4. Stop Sweating Everything: When everything bothers you, and you’re almost always angry and  stressed out about something, all that tension drains energy you need to be great at your job. Getting caught up in your emotions also prevents you from being able to objectively look at situations to try to understand why problems occurred so they can be avoided in the future.

5. Own It: If you spend a lot of time explaining why things are not your problem, you’re also missing the opportunity to take credit when things improve. Passing the buck may protect you in the short term, but it cheats you out of chances to grow and take on positions of greater responsibility.

6. Learn to Compromise: It may seem like you’re standing behind your beliefs, but people who never compromise can make collaborating with others a miserable or even impossible process. What you call your independence or strong mindedness could be preventing you from making valuable contributions to team projects, or you might be derailing the team’s efforts altogether. Instead of drawing a line in the sand, strongly state your concerns, but listen to other ideas as well. The best course of action is often somewhere in the middle.

7. Embrace Questions: When people question you, it can feel like they’re doubting you. The reality may be that they are just seeking clarity or shedding light on a detail you overlooked. Questions from others can help you provide critical support for your own ideas, which could bolster your argument and give your proposals a better chance of being approved. Instead of bristling, welcome questions with open arms.

8. Stop Jumping to Conclusions: You call yourself decisive, but others would call you impulsive. While overthinking every situation could slow you down, not thinking at all before you speak or act can mean overlooking the potential consequences. Try to tame your kneejerk reactions, by taking just a few moments to cool down and think about how your response might be perceived by others.

9. It’s Okay to Be Wrong: You associate making mistakes with weakness, but nobody can be right all the time. Refusing to admit that you might have made an error or might not fully understand something, doesn’t make you look smarter; it often does the opposite. People who don’t acknowledge their errors appear not to know they have made them.

10. Celebrate the Achievements of Others: When others around you succeed, it can feel like it’s hurting your own chances for success. The praise others receive sometimes makes you feel invisible. But you might be overlooking how your colleagues’ successes contribute to your team’s overall growth. Instead of resenting their achievements, appreciate the way their stellar performance inspires you to up your game.

It’s never fun to admit that you might be the source of your own problems, but taking responsibility for your own workplace attitude is an essential step to overcoming those hurdles. Don’t beat yourself up. Instead, take an honest look at yourself and your interactions with others, and make a list of areas you’d like to improve. Write down tangible actions you can take to avoid being viewed as having a bad attitude at work in the future. You may even want to ask your coworkers how they perceive you. While their impressions may be hard to hear, their outside perspective is likely to offer insight into behaviors you weren’t even aware of. Understanding the problem is the first step toward being able to fix it.

Cydcor’s annual ‘Keys to Success’ event is almost here for 2017! Every year, Cydcor and its network of sales offices and leaders come together to build on their excellent business skills, jump-start the year with new relationships and ideas, and recognize top performers.

To spark up our excitement, Cydcor is pleased to announce a special contest for the Keys to Success attendees on the Cydcor Facebook page. You can win a Front of the Line Pass. Yes! You can go right to the front and skip the line at registration, and the best part is that we have 5 passes for five winners!

To enter, all you have to do is head over to Cydcor’s Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/CydcorLLC) and share your best and original “Keys to Success” tip.

To win, you must be a Keys to Success 2017 registered attendee (Cydcor employees are not eligible). Multiple comments per entrant will be allowed. The contest begins at 4:00 PM PST on Friday, January 20, 2017 and runs through Tuesday, January 24, 2017. The winners will be picked by Cydcor, and announced on Cydcor’s Facebook page on Wednesday, January 25, 2017.

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Terms and Conditions (Facebook)

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 registered attendee of Cydcor’s Keys to Success event (Cydcor employees are not eligible). Multiple comments per participant are allowed. Profanity or inappropriate language, as determined by Cydcor, in its sole discretion, will be disqualified. Five front of the line passes will be awarded. Contest begins at 4:00 PM, PST on Friday, January 20, 2017 and ends at 11:59 PM, PST on Tuesday, January 24, 2017. The five winners will be selected by Cydcor, in its sole discretion, and announced via Cydcor’s Facebook page on Wednesday, January 25, 2017 no later than 6:00pm PST.  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.

About The Coaching Habit: say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier

Coaching is an important skill for leaders, but often, managers are too busy or overworked to coach their direct reports well. However, author Michael Bungay Stanier argues that coaching can be done in increments of 10 minutes or fewer.

Drawing on years of experience on training managers through his consulting company, Box of Crayons, Bungay Stanier argues that coaching can be a regular, informal part of every day by asking seven essential questions:

• The Kickstart Question: get straight to the point in any conversation by discovering what’s on a mentee’s mind.
• The AWE Question: stay on track by allowing people to generate more options to deal with the issue at hand.
• The Lazy Question: save hours of time by asking a simple question: “How can I help?”
• The Strategic Question: reach the balance between saying yes and saying no.
• The Focus Question: focus on the core problem, not the first problem.
• The Foundation Question: get to the root of what a mentee really wants.
• The Learning Question: ask what was most useful to the mentee during the coaching exchange in order to become a better coach.

Why Cydcor Recommends This Book

In 242 easy-to-read pages packed with anecdotes and explanations of the seven essential questions, Bungay Steiner offers a fresh and innovative take on the classic how-to manual. He combines insider information with research based in behavior and neuroscience to provide a new way to coach mentees. The book contains question-and-answer sections that will help readers identify old habits and start new behaviors.

The seven essential questions are also a great tool for sales professionals. They’ll help them get past the five basic objections to a product: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust. By using the seven questions to uncover what is actually important to a customer, it’s much easier to get to a “yes.”

Our Favorite Part

Each of the seven essential questions has its own chapter. The graphic design, including bulleted lists, pullout quotations, and other visual aids, helps readers to understand the highlights of each question. The book even has spaces and lines for readers to write about their thoughts and the actions they can take to develop the habits Bungay Stanier recommends. At the end of each of the seven chapters is a “Masterclass” section that helps to solidify the points the author made, allowing readers to strengthen their new habits.

Check out this book and tell us what you think. Share with us on Twitter and follow us @Cydcor.

We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company based in Canada to garnering a reputation as the global leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor has come a long way. We’ve done this by having exceptional sales professionals and providing our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.

Sales can be an extremely rewarding and lucrative profession. In order to reach that stage in your career, think about the things the best sales professionals do and emulate them in your daily work. Here are some things they do every day to be masters of their careers.

They create goals and persist until they reach them

When the best sales professionals set a goal, they commit 100 percent to achieving that goal. Then, they don’t stop until they do what they set out to do. Obstacles are normal, so they expect them and work hard to push through until they achieve success.

They do the hard stuff first

It’s easy to do the least effort-intensive tasks first, thinking that will leave you plenty of time to focus on the harder tasks later. But instead, you might find yourself without enough hours in the day to accomplish a difficult task that really needs to be done. Instead, the best sales professionals do the hardest, highest-priority task first and reward themselves for accomplishing that by doing smaller and less intense tasks afterwards.

They only check their email a few times a day

It’s easy to get used to responding to every beep or vibration from your phone, but the most successful sales professionals keep their phones in their pocket and focus on making sales. They set aside some time during lunch, or at the beginning and end of the day, to go through their emails and respond to those that need their attention.

They study their craft

You might think of sales as a profession that doesn’t require a lot of education to do well. The truth is that the best sales professionals continually learn. They do this by talking with teammates to learn about successful sales techniques, or by reading books to learn the art of persuasive speaking and making effective sales pitches.

They learn from their mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes, but the best sales professionals learn from them. It’s natural to want to hide your errors to prevent being judged by others or even to drown in negative self-talk after making a mistake. Instead, take some time to think about the mistake and see what you can do better in the future.

They take care of themselves

The best sales professionals establish a healthy morning routine. They get enough exercise and sleep, make time to spend with their family and friends, and don’t skip meals. They also “unplug” at night so they can wake up refreshed and ready to hit the streets.

They don’t use to-do lists

This may be surprising and even counterintuitive. However, according to Entrepreneur magazine, only 41 percent of items on to-do lists ever get done. Why? Again, it comes down to the fact that people tend to do the easy tasks before the difficult ones. The best sales professionals schedule their “to-dos” on their calendar because it holds them accountable to complete tasks at a specific time.

What do you do every day to be an excellent sales professional? Share your tips in the comments or tweet @Cydcor with your stories.

We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services located in Agoura Hills, CA. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company based in Canada to garnering a reputation as the global leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor has come a long way. We’ve done this by having exceptional sales professionals and providing our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.

In this age of technology, we’re constantly surrounded by information about what we should do and when we should do it. There are so many conflicting opinions and things to consider about every decision we could make that it’s easy to get sucked into “analysis paralysis” and never make a decision at all. But sometimes, trusting your gut may be the way to go.

So how can you develop your decisiveness and get better results? Here are some tips from the experts.

Use your emotional intelligence. When presented with a high-stakes decision that needs to be made quickly, it’s easy to respond with emotions such as fear, overwhelm and anger. These emotions can cloud your ability to make a good decision, so make a point of reining in your emotions to allow yourself to do more clear-headed thinking. Instead of denying the emotion, which will only make it stronger, acknowledge the emotion and allow it to move through you until you reach a state of calm.

Manage uncertainty. Don’t waste time with dozens of choices, because that will lead to the infamous “analysis paralysis” mentioned earlier. Instead, use your intuition to narrow the number of choices down to two or three, and then study those in more depth. By trusting your intuition, you’ll be more satisfied with your decision in the long run.

Listen to your team members. Their thoughts can help you consider the consequences of various choices. It also makes them part of the process so they too will be more satisfied with your decision.

Act quickly. Business moves fast, so your decisions need to be made quickly, too. ”When decisions need to be made, effective managers gather the facts, analyze the situation, consider alternatives, and decide on the best course of action—and they do it quickly!” say Denny Strigl and Frank Swiatek, authors of Managers, Can You Hear Me Now?: Hard-Hitting Lessons on How to Get Real Results. “They don’t procrastinate, and they certainly don’t stand around wringing their hands.”

Don’t be afraid to be wrong. Much indecisiveness is caused by the fear of making a mistake. However, the ability to make important decisions quickly is the key to achieving success. “Business is a contact sport, and you can’t be afraid to make a mistake,” says John Wittaker, marketing director of information management solutions at Dell Software. “You can always course correct if you need to, but you can’t make up for failing to take action when action is needed.”

It can be difficult to make tough decisions whenever they arise, but it’s worth it in the end. Decisiveness is a needed trait for every aspiring leader, and by doing so, you set an example for your team to follow.

How has decisiveness helped you achieve better results? Please share your thoughts in the comments or tweet @Cydcor with your stories.

We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services located in Agoura Hills, CA. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company based in Canada to garnering a reputation as the global leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor has come a long way. We’ve done this by having exceptional sales professionals and providing our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.

If you know what an elevator pitch is, you probably think of it as something only businesspeople use. In reality, it can be applied to many different fields. An elevator pitch is everything you need to say to impress your potential customer in 30 seconds or fewer—about the amount of time it would take to travel a few floors in an elevator. It’s also the perfect opportunity to showcase your uniqueness. The elevator pitch is a crucial tool for sales representatives, so here are a few tips on how to craft a perfect one.

Step 1: Brainstorm about what you want to say. Take a blank piece of paper and write down the most important things you want to tell your customer about your service, product, or company. Focus on interesting or memorable facts that make you stand out from the crowd.

Step 2: Edit ruthlessly. Eliminate jargon, repetition, and unnecessary information. As you edit, remember that an elevator pitch consists of three main parts: The benefit, the differentiator, and the ask. Make sure your pitch tells the customer what impact your product will have, what makes it different from the competition, and how you’ll proceed if the customer is interested.

Step 3: Write your pitch on a piece of paper. Spend extra time thinking about how to phrase the differentiator or value proposition in order to get your customer interested. What makes your product unique or places it above similar products offered by your competition? If you can back this up with a simple number—for example, “95 percent of customers say they’d buy the product again”—that strengthens your proposition.

Step 4: Practice your pitch. That means saying it over and over again until you don’t have to refer to your piece of paper. You don’t have to say the exact words you wrote down, but you do have to convey the important ideas. Rehearsing will allow you to speak off-the-cuff and will keep you from getting flustered if you flub your pitch or your customer reacts in an unexpected way.

Step 5: Record yourself. Make sure your voice sounds natural, that you’re not speaking too quietly or in a monotone, and that you’re not talking too fast. You want your pitch to sound like regular conversation, not a script.

Step 6: Get feedback. Ask your teammates or a trusted friend or loved one to listen to your elevator pitch. Make sure they know you’re looking for constructive critique on everything from the wording of the pitch to your body language.

Step 7: Hit the streets! Now that you have your pitch down, it’s time to take your pitch and turn it into action. You may need to tailor it for specific audiences. Not everyone is going to respond in the same way to your value proposition, so you may need to have a couple of others in the back of your mind.

An elevator pitch is a dynamic thing, so be sure to let it evolve as you grow in your career.

What tips do you have for mastering the art of the elevator pitch? Please share them in the comments. For additional blogs from Cydcor, be sure to check out https://www.cydcor.com/media.

We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services located in Agoura Hills, CA. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company based in Canada to garnering a reputation as the global leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor has come a long way. We’ve done this by having exceptional sales professionals and providing our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.

Sales is a unique profession that requires passion, extroversion and charisma. Leading a high-performing sales team and helping your direct reports get the best out of their own skills takes a little something extra. The good news is that as a sales team manager, you have that extra something inside you. Here are some tips on how you can take your own passion for your product or service and pass it along to your team members.

Set them up for success

Authenticity matters when it comes to sales. Few people come in with a fully developed talent for sales, so it’s important to meet your team members where they are and ask them what would be most helpful to them so they can achieve success. For some it will be a need for more product knowledge; for some it may be coaching or a “walk-along” with a high-performing team member.

Give them context

Your team will get better results if they have more information than simply a list of names or addresses. Help them understand the product they’re selling and how it compares to other similar products. Then assist them in finding reasons to be passionate about that product. This will drive good conversation, and thus increase conversions.

Provide them with training opportunities

It’s critical that you not only understand your team members’ unique needs but that you provide ongoing training to help them meet their goals and build confidence. Leading by example means that you also take training courses to enhance your knowledge of the latest news and best practices. That will help you to be a better mentor and a better sales professional in your own right.

Have high expectations of them

Your team will rise to the expectations you set, so set them high! On the other hand, don’t set them so high that your direct reports think they’re impossible to achieve. In order for those expectations to be met, you need to help your team feel supported and positively reinforced. Clearly articulate your goals and expectations and hold your representatives accountable for achieving them. Also, check out these motivating sales quotes that deliver motivation!

Let them specialize

Don’t treat everyone on your team the same. Some people understand certain business sectors better than others. Allow your specialists to take the lead in the area of their expertise. They may be able to help your other team members as well. The more your team understands about the product or service they’re selling, the better they’ll be at selling it.

What other tips do you have for leading a high-performing sales team? Share with Cydcor on Twitter @Cydcor.

We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services located in Agoura Hills, CA. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company based in Canada to garnering a reputation as the global leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor has come a long way. We’ve done this by having exceptional sales professionals and providing our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.

About Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

Renowned psychologist Angela Duckworth shows through her own personal history and stories of others that success doesn’t just come from natural talent or people who can help you get where you want to go in your career. Instead, she says, the secret to success is a blend of passion and persistence that she refers to as “grit.”

Duckworth developed this hypothesis through years of teaching and business consulting. She saw that people who found their passion and kept trying were ultimately more successful than those who had a natural talent but lacked the perseverance to follow through.

Why Cydcor Recommends This Book

Duckworth offers a concrete path to developing grit. It starts with identifying a burning interest, practicing it a lot, developing a sense of higher purpose, and finally, overcoming pessimism by developing what psychologist and author Carol Dweck calls a growth mindset. She tells us that any effort you make counts twice toward your goal.

Some of us come into adulthood already having learned grit through dealing with difficult times and getting through them. But, Duckworth says, grit can be learned regardless of IQ or circumstances, and shows you how you can do it. Anyone can become gritty. By learning grit and making effort to grow your passion, you too can achieve more than you might have thought possible.

Our Favorite Part

In Grit, Duckworth shares specific examples of people who exhibited grit in their own lives—whether those people are West Point cadets going through grueling initiation rituals, a young national spelling bee champion, or teachers working in some of the toughest schools in the country. By sharing these real-life examples, Duckworth shows us how her formula of passion, practice, and persistence can lead to success.

Check out this book and let us know what you think. Share with us on Twitter and follow us @Cydcor.

We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company based in Canada to garnering a reputation as the global leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor has come a long way. We’ve done this by having exceptional sales professionals and providing our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.