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Professional development is a process that improves your job skills through ongoing education and training. As you study and as your skills improve, you will have greater mastery over your assignments. Cydcor encourages investing in professional growth for our employees and sales associates. Your confidence will grow and you will become a better and more valuable employee.
Download a podcast application to your phone to make it easier to find, subscribe, and listen to your podcasts. Several podcast apps are available for iPhones and Androids. Imagine having an entire professional development library on your phone! Here are some of our favorite podcasts for professional development:
Todd Henry has spoken to tens of thousands of people around the globe in a range of industries. He and his guests will teach you how to bring creativity and passion to your work. You will learn new strategies for solving problems while achieving a healthy work and life balance.
Erik Fisher interviews experts who have solutions for problems you face every day. If you’re determined to complete your to-do lists, then this podcast is for you. Recent guests include Chris Brogan, a bestselling business strategy author, and Dave Delaney, an authority on problem-solving skills.
Michael Auzenne and Mark Horstman are management experts. Career Tools will teach you how to build business relationships and networks. You’ll discover your leadership skills and you will learn to use them wisely. You’ll learn practical suggestions for gaining recognition and career advancement.
Harvard Business Review IdeaCast
Hear cutting edge ideas about management and innovation from Sarah Green, the editor of Harvard Business Review. Her Harvard connection gives her the clout to attract guests like Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet, Inc., Google’s parent company.
Podcasts for professional development are an inspiring resource. Try to have a pen and notebook nearby while you’re listening. You never know when inspiration may strike—and you don’t want to lose a great idea.
What are your favorite professional development podcasts? Listen to those that we’ve suggested and then let us know which ones you like best. Post your story on Twitter, follow us @Cydcor, and share this article with your friends to start a conversation with your community.
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.
Getting close to your customers is one of the most important business strategies you can master. Learn how to change your mindset to keep the customers you have—and get new ones!
As a sales professional, you live, die, and breathe for customers. Simply stating that customers are vital to your success would be a massive understatement—customers are everything!
Instilling a customer-focused mindset into your employees and salespeople will keep their eyes on the ball and lead to some seriously good results for your business. In fact, according to a study by the Institute for Corporate Productivity and the American Management Association, companies that don’t foster an environment and culture of pleasing customers fail to succeed.
The study found that the best organizations -understand and leverage customer-focused initiatives that require a blend of attraction, engagement, satisfaction, collaboration, and retention.
Have we convinced you to make a change within your own business? If so, here are a few ways to start manufacturing a customer-centric cultural shift in your business:
Find A Good Place To Start
Begin by benchmarking your current level of customer focus. By completing an audit of your ongoing efforts, you can actually determine where to begin and how your team could improve.
Know Your Audience
Naturally, you’ll need to know who your customers actually are if you want to serve them properly. Try customizing your approach for your customers at every opportunity. Learn from the past and the present to see what they like and dislike about your current strategy so that you can refine your efforts in the future!
Consistency Is Key
Creating a consistent standard that your customers can anticipate is crucial. Standardizing training and protocols for your customer-facing employees is essential for maintaining a consistent brand image.
Think Of The Big Picture
Help your employees see the actual impact that their work has on customers. Forging this relationship is incredibly important to getting your employees invested in the customers that they serve. Employees that can see the fruits of their labor tend to be more productive as well!
Communication Matters Most
Maintaining open communication with your customers at all times is another essential. There’s a reason large companies have 24/7 customer support—it pays always to be there when your customers need you. While it may not be possible for all businesses to have a dedicated 24/7 customer support team, do the best that you can with the resources available to you. Your customers will be able to tell that you’re working hard for them.
Hire Help
Are you having trouble making the shift happen? If all else fails, try making your next hire someone that already has a customer-focused mindset. This will help you fill your ranks with right-minded individuals!
For further reading about creating a customer-focused environment in your business, check out this insightful article from Forbes.
Constructive communication with your customers will help you close a sale today and let you know who to call tomorrow. What are your secrets for staying connected with your customers? Share the skills you’ve developed with us. Post your story on Twitter, follow us @Cydcor, and start a conversation with your network.
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.
About Leading Outside the Lines: How to Mobilize the Informal Organization, Energize Your Team, and Get Better Results by Jon R. Katzenbach and Zia Khan
Focusing on the modern workplace, Leading Outside the Lines is a great book for managers and leaders who are looking for success with their team. Katzenbach is one of the better sources for tips on organization and leadership, and this book is a great example. It’s tough to find success with organization in the 21st century, but looking at the right research and striving to live a life with value can help discover that success. Katzenbach also offers great guidelines for company leaders and provides examples of companies that use these strategies, including New York City schools systems and Home Depot.
Why Cydcor Reviews recommends this to future leaders:
Developing skills on how to think correctly about the informal systems at work is key for many business owners today. This book provides a well-written overview for developing these informal aspects of any organization. Since the book reflects the current times, most notably the advent of social media and its affect on organization. This is a great book for people who will find benefits in becoming a better leader.
Our favorite part:
Most management books find it difficult to simplify the challenges that workplace cultures tend to face. Katzenbach and Khan provide a clear explanation of ways to tackle this type of culture. Being a manger is far from easy, but this book is a great place to start if you lead a team and need a way to think outside the box. The case studies are great examples that can be applied for any organization and are just one of the book’s many strengths. Cydcor recommends this book for anyone looking to improve their leadership skills.
We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services. Check out our open job positions at the Cydcor CareerBuilder page.
A lack of motivation at work is a difficult problem for many. There are many elements that can contribute to it: perhaps you feel overwhelmed with many tasks or have personal and family stressors that make it challenging to come into work raring to go.
Get your motivation back by incentivizing yourself. Schedule something mid-day with co-workers, such as lunch or a quick trip for coffee. Make plans to do something fun after work, like a nice dinner or a meet-up with friends. Having something to look forward to is a great motivator to start your day off with a positive attitude.
If you’re struggling to feel productive, choose or create one goal that you can get excited about. It will be a lot easier to put time and energy into an objective if you’re invested in the outcome and not just going through the motions. You’re much more likely to be motivated towards something that you genuinely want to achieve, and starting and finishing such a project is a great way to transfer that momentum to other tasks.
Many feel they are great at multi-tasking; however, it can sometimes be difficult to get everything done when there are too many goals involved. Write down one priority goal each day. It is much easier to focus on one goal at a time, giving it your full attention. Don’t overload yourself trying to do several important asks at once—instead, prioritize. When you do complete your goal, check it off and move to the next one.
Your environment can be a sneaky de-motivator. Check your desk and office space for things that might be a distraction. A messy space can often pile on extra stress without us realizing it. Talk to your boss about different options available as well, such as changing to a window desk, organizing your area, or the possibility of working from home on some occasions. Sometimes a clean, refreshed environment can promote a better mind-set, thereby increasing motivation.
Cydcor is a leading outsourced sales company. We specialize in dealing with people and convincing them we have the right product or service for them. While Cydcor knows the best way to win customer loyalty is to always do the right thing for the customer, new prospects are often suspicious of sales representatives. Beginning new customer relationships takes effective communication to help your prospect feel comfortable around you. Here are some tips for building an effective customer relationship from the very beginning.
DO:
Be upfront about who you are representing. Start the conversation with “Hello, my name is _______ and I am here to tell you about ________ company, offering you a great service.” Also add in details about the service or product that will pique interest, such as money saving deals or upgraded features.
Take an active interest in the customer’s needs. Know why you are selling your product and why you customer should want it. Be sensitive to new customers’ current challenges and see if you have something that will make their lives easier.
Assure them that they are getting the best you can possibly offer. New customers like to feel like they are getting special treatment, that because of their interaction with you they are getting something no one else has access to. You can do that by offering exactly what they want, as long as it is within the boundaries of possibility.
DO NOT:
Be pushy. If someone says no it is okay to offer one or two more pieces of information that may change someone’s mind, but it is important not to push customers too hard, or not only will you lose them, but they may get annoyed and tell others.
Lie. Do not tell customers you can give them something that doesn’t exist, or twist the facts around so that they will be disappointed. There is a fine line between emphasizing the positive and just making things up.
Get emotional. Stressing too much or getting upset when someone says no will give you a reputation for being unprofessional. Always be kind, courteous and gracious.
Cydcor is a sales company. We send teams of professionals out into the world and drive revenue on behalf of our clients. Sales is a competitive field, and can be prove to be daunting for many people. At Cydcor, team members are driven through professional training, perseverance, and a fun work atmosphere. Many sales companies to try peddle “the ultimate secret” to selling, but the real secret to a career in sales is that there is no secret. Sales takes hard work, a winning personality, and persistence.
Hard work means that when you are starting out, sales people need to practice refining skills, building conversation tools, collecting leads and making plans. Time management skills are crucial, and the ability to learn how to accept rejection. It is important to stay organized, keep track of which leads need what you are selling, who to follow up with, and what is a good use of your time. It can sometimes mean long hours, putting in extra time and going the extra mile to make sure that you are coming out on top.
Cydcor sales teams learn that great sales success comes from developing a warm, outgoing persona that is devoted to customer service. Sales is about giving customers what they want and need, and success comes when they believe you have their best interests in mind. Smiles, knowledge and solutions go a long way.
Persistence is key to succeeding in any business. Knowing the difference between “no thank you” and “not today” can make a huge difference. It is important not to be annoying to customers who are truly not interested, but there are others who may be just not ready, or more open minded later. A simple email once a month will help your leads keep you in mind.
At Cydcor, we reward team members who take the time and energy to become successful. Promotions from within, sales contests, awards, conferences and team night celebrations are a common part of the culture. If you are interested in a career at sales, check out the Cydcor Career Builder Page.