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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:
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.
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.
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?
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 7th. 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.
When brainstorming your resolutions, reflect on these powerful business quotes for the New Year:
Mark Twain
"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."
Ben Stein
"The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want.”
Peter F. Drucker
“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.”
Oprah Winfrey
“Step out of the history that is holding you back. Step into the new story you are willing to create.”
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.
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.
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.
As an entrepreneur without a set schedule, it may be hard to put together a routine to keep you in the habit of efficiency and productivity. Here are seven tips from top entrepreneurs on how they structure their days.
Start early
Most entrepreneurs start their day early in the morning. Doing so gives them time to attend to personal routines such as exercise, meditation, or reading the news. It also allows you time to ease into your day, which will make you more productive and happier in the long run.
Eat a good breakfast
A good breakfast doesn’t necessarily have to be a huge production number. In fact, you can even prepare parts of your breakfast over the weekend: Boil some eggs the day before you begin your week and pull them out of the refrigerator in the morning for a quick protein boost. Buy quick-cooking oatmeal that you can microwave in just a few minutes, and stay stocked up on fresh fruit, which makes a great addition to any breakfast.
Exercise daily
Exercise gets your blood flowing and can stimulate your creativity. You can make time for your exercise routine in the morning, take a lunch break to go for a walk or do some yoga, or hit the gym in the evening for a good workout. Getting and staying fit will give you the energy and stamina you need to build your business.
Plan ahead
Take time at the beginning of your day to plan your activities. Set three most important things to accomplish and be sure that your day includes time to accomplish those tasks. Schedule your creative work, exercise, and meetings around the hours that you perform best at those tasks. It might not be a bad idea to also schedule time for skill development.
Visualize future achievements
One of the best ways to help yourself become successful is to decide what “successful” means for you and spend time visualizing yourself achieving not just that level of success, but even greater achievements as well.
Don’t forget family time
It’s easy to get caught up in the mentality that you have to work constantly, but it’s crucial to take the time to sit down and have dinner with your family. If you don’t have family nearby, use that time to do things you like to do, whether it’s walking your dog or playing with your cat, watching a movie, or going to happy hour with a group of friends.
“Unplug” at night
Put away your phone, laptop, or tablet at least half an hour before you plan to go to bed, then keep all those devices away from you—and on silent—while you’re sleeping. Disconnecting from your business and social media will ensure that you have more restful sleep, which will leave you feeling refreshed when you wake up in the morning.
What routines do you use to stay focused and efficient throughout the day? Please share your tips 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.
About Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck
Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., did decades of research on gifted children and adults and discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea: the power of mindset. A mindset is either fixed or growth-oriented; if you have a fixed mindset, you believe you have certain innate talents or weaknesses that can’t be changed. On the other hand, if you have a growth mindset, you believe that abilities can be developed through learning and hard work.
Mindset shows how to use a growth mindset to foster great accomplishments in yourself and in your direct reports.
Why Cydcor Recommends This Book
It gives you the opportunity to explore your own mindset: Do you have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset? It also gives you the tools to adopt a growth mindset and avoid the trap of a “false growth mindset.”
Mindset can also help you understand that you’re not necessarily born with certain talents, but they can be learned. Do you think you’re naturally bad at math? Maybe you’ve been told that so many times you believe it. The truth is that it’s possible to learn and excel at any task if you take the time to develop your skills.
A growth mindset can also help you love what you do, increase your sense of success and fulfillment, and even improve your relationships with other people, whether those individuals are your colleagues, your friends, or your family.
Our Favorite Part
In this new edition of Mindset, Dweck introduces the “false growth mindset” and guides people toward adopting a deeper, truer growth mindset. Cydcor encourages its employees to adopt a growth mindset and break out of self-limiting thought patterns.
This is a great read for managers and mentors because it expands the mindset concept beyond the individual to corporate culture and other groups. This crucial update will help supervisors to motivate those they lead, and to transform their lives at work and at home.
Mindset is well organized and easy to read. It’s serious but provides practical information on how to cultivate a growth mindset.
Our team members are continually reminded to improve their professional development and keep growing. Learn how you can join the Cydcor team on CareerBuilder!
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.
Everybody wants to be successful, but not everybody is. What’s the difference between those who achieve success in their field and those who don’t? It all begins with success-oriented beliefs.
Here are some beliefs from Cydcor that the most successful people hold. If you incorporate them into your life, you will go far toward achieving success in your career.
“I create my own future.”
You are the agent of your success. If you feel you’re at the mercy of others’ actions or you rely on others to create the path to success, it will show in your behavior. If you believe in your heart that you are responsible for your own future and take actions that speak to that, you’ll achieve success.
“I’m grateful for what I have.”
It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that what you already have in life is not enough, especially if you’re struggling to meet your personal and professional goals. Successful people take time to appreciate the good things in their lives, no matter how small or simple. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude, and that will help you achieve your goals.
“It’s okay to fail.”
All successful people have had failures. The difference between successful and unsuccessful people is that successful people don’t give up. They learn from their failures, pick themselves up, and move on with greater wisdom and determination.
“I’m willing to take big risks.”
Success is difficult to achieve if you’re afraid to go beyond your comfort zone. Great risk brings great reward. Set a really lofty goal for yourself. Try a new method of interacting with potential customers. Learn about and practice some of the keys to professional success.
“I live in the present.”
When you’re caught up in rehashing past mistakes or obsessing over what you hope to achieve in the future, you’re not being in the moment with your customers or team. If you’re mentally present, you’ll listen better and go farther toward achieving your goals.
“I focus on what matters.”
It’s tempting to spend time checking your phone or getting distracted by office chatter, but that’s not going to get you to success. Set a few goals and a timeline for achieving them, then make a commitment to spend your time working toward that. Use the phone or water cooler time as a reward for working diligently toward your goals.
“I love my job!”
Every job has elements that are less than fun. But if you embrace the good things about your job, you’ll cultivate an attitude of success. Even when your work is hard and you’re feeling disheartened, remember there was something about this job that appealed to you when you first started; focus on that.
In short, “your attitude determines your altitude,” as the old saying goes. If you focus on the positive, set challenging goals, and understand that you are the one responsible for your success, you will be able to achieve more than you ever imagined.
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.
About Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
How do you become an expert in something? Many people believe true expertise relies on innate talent, but in Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise, authors Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool dispel that myth with compelling research. Instead, they postulate that the potential for excellence exists within most of us. We simply have to nurture and grow that expertise.
Why Cydcor Recommends This Book
Cydcor believes in a “work hard, play hard” culture, and this book perfectly demonstrates the stellar results possible if you put in the work. Ericsson and Pool discuss the “10,000 hour rule,” or the idea that anyone who puts in enough “deliberate practice” can become an expert on any given subject.
The 10,000 hour rule is not a new topic – it’s one that has been brought up by writer Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers. Ericsson and Pool’s book stresses that this kind of deliberate practice, especially if aided by an expert, can help people master simpler tasks and situations and ultimately gain a better understanding of the subject or craft as a whole.
Cydcor’s Favorite Part
Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise not only encourages readers to put in the necessary hours to become masters of their field, but it also emphasizes the importance of setting stretch goals. Cydcor encourages its employees to constantly be learning, growing, and improving—and that makes having a vision for the future imperative.
On top of being chock-full of practical advice (with studies and evidence to support), the book is also well written and easy to digest, making it a must-have for anyone who wants to be a better learner.
Check out this book and let us know what you think! Share with us on Cydcor’s 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.
For anyone working in a sales environment, your relationship with your customers dictates your success. You can turn a one-time deal into lifelong business by how you acknowledge, understand and treat your customers’ needs. At Cydcor, we put an emphasis on this aspect of the job from the start.
Begin by asking questions. Ask them who they are, what they want and what they expect from your business. Conduct surveys, hold events and meet-and-greets, set up customer profiles to help individualize your sales pitch. Let go of your assumptions and figure out what each individual client wants.
We know that customer loyalty is at an all-time low, especially among younger clients who use social media reviews and recommendations as a means of doing business. Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are great ways to interact with customers and ask them the questions that will give you a better understanding of what makes them tick. Through social media you can:
Adding a personal touch to your professional relationship is also key. Gallup’s Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman found four levels of customer expectation that will help build trust between you and your clients:
It’s easy to get caught up in numbers. But the backbone of your business is the loyal, happy customer, and open lines of communication will work in keeping them coming back for more.
Getting in the mind of your customer isn’t the easiest concept to grasp, but it’s valuable in the long run. Have you found any good strategies to understand your customers better? Share with us on Cydcor’s 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.
About Strength Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow
Nearly a decade ago, researchers at Gallup concluded a 30-year study of leadership strengths. Over the course of the project, researchers examined over 1 million work teams, supervised over 20,000 interviews with leaders, and spoke with over 10,000 followers about who the most important leaders in their lives were.
Strength Based Leadership is the interpretation of that information by best-selling author Tom Rath and prominent leadership consultant Barry Conchie. In the book, Rath and Conchie identify strategies that will allow you to find and develop the strengths to improve your ability to lead.
Why Cydcor Recommends This Book
The authors thoughtfully interpret the data Gallup assembled over decades, using their insights to craft a guide that teaches readers to discover and develop leadership abilities.
Some experts might suggest imitating the leadership style of someone famous, but Gallup’s research proves that approach simply doesn’t work for long. Instead, readers are encouraged to be themselves and engage these three key findings from Gallup’s research in a personal and authentic way:
1. The most effective leaders are always investing in strengths.
2. The most effective leaders surround themselves with the right people and then maximize their team.
3. The most effective leaders understand their followers’ needs.
Cydcor recommends this book because it helps guide readers toward becoming a successful leader in a way that builds on their own unique strengths.
Our Favorite Part
Our favorite part of Strength-Based Leadership is that it provides a practical approach to building leadership skills. The Gallup researchers identified 34 leadership strengths. For each one of those strengths they suggest two or three ways to use them at work and in your personal life.
The authors connect the results of the Gallup study with strategies used by real-world leaders. They provide real-world examples to teach readers to continually develop their strength-based leadership skills. These lessons also improve organization and management skills.
Interviews with Wendy Kopp, founder and CEO of Teach for America; Simon Cooper, President of the Ritz-Carlton; and Brad Anderson, Chief Executive Office of Best Buy, provide practical insights into the leadership process that readers can apply to their professional development.
So, 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.