Chris Kiersch

by Chris Kiersch

I think every seasoned professional believes that they are good (or great) jugglers. They have a certain confidence in managing between tasks, priorities, business relationships, and multiple projects. But how many of you REALLY know how to juggle well?

I taught myself to juggle about 25 years ago during my time in the Navy. I did singing telegrams to make extra money, and juggling was part of my act. Last week I felt it was time to take lessons and enhance my skills further. My friends and family thought it was kind of odd, especially since my two classmates were both 11 years old. It was time to step outside of my comfort zone.

It takes a great amount of focus and practice to juggle, 3, 4, or 5 balls. While juggling it’s difficult to see the whole, or complete picture. As one falls into the hand, that hand needs to let go, and throw the best throw to the other hand, just as the other hand is doing its job. This exchange must happen within the periphery of juggler’s complete view of what is happening, with practice this awareness begins to happen instinctively.

I improved quickly primarily because of the impact of my juggling coach. By the end of my first class I was working with 4 balls.

I realized that the consulting we provide with implementation of marketing automation solutions has a very similar impact on our clients. They have all been juggling the tasks involved to be successful in business, but with the added training and leadership we offer, it’s amazing how quickly they can add more balls. The sales and marketing tools available today allow anyone to become a great juggler. Age and time in business are no longer barriers for new competition. Stand next to an 11 year old juggler, and you will really get the picture.

Are you practicing advanced juggling today? The trend in business is to have small, talented teams who are constantly adding new tools that allow them to keep more balls in the air. What are you doing now that will enable your teams to become remarkable jugglers? Does your team have the tools to (PLEA) Plan, Listen, Engage and Assess; can they keep those four balls in the air? What are you doing to help them reduce the number of balls that they drop?

The business equivalent of a juggling coach is a marketing automation system, that is expertly designed to juggle the assignment of tasks, follow up activities and reporting, automating the buying experience. These allow you to put on a show for clients and prospects, and share knowledge.

If you are interested in becoming a better juggler, click here to schedule a complimentary consulting session. In the course of our consultations we will use a mindmapping tool and create a visual representation of your current situation. This is a powerful collaborative tool which will help you grow your business, drive ideas with your team and win customers.

To prove my claim, I promise to post a video of my juggling skills in 5 weeks once I have completed the class! I will demonstrate juggling 5 balls at once.

Have you ever been to a wrestling match? My son is a freshman wrestler in High School. I have attended several matches over the last few weeks, and came to the realization that wrestling and business have a lot in common.

Most wrestlers go into a match not knowing much about the talent they are wrestling. But after the initial match (especially if they lose), the wrestler becomes more aware and begins paying attention to his next opponent. Similarly, many sales and marketing people do not initially know much about their customer. They resort to “wrestling” to get attention, or wrestling them down to give their sales pitch. If they are like a smart wrestler, they will begin paying more attention to the needs of the customer in order have more success in the business “match.”

When you look at a wrestler who has been focused on training and conditioning, it is very obvious. In the same way, if a client or prospect is getting relevant, timely and purposeful content, they can identify a winner. Unfortunately, most organizations do not have the process and tools in place to exercise ongoing communications.

I have also noticed that once a wrestler wins a match, his attention seems to sway back to his team. The individual wrestler becomes more interested in how well their team is doing, and how their match will impact the team’s score. What can he do to support his team members in victory and defeat? In business our teams are not usually all at “the meet;” they seem hesitant with sharing the background of their wins and losses. Sales and marketing colleagues are in many cases wrestling with each other rather than sharing experiences and learning together. This will limit their opportunities as an organization unfortunately.

After the meet wrestlers want to know their stats: what is their year-to-date average of wins vs. losses, point spread, how many people did they pin, what do they need to improve on? They are eager to get access to the data. Most wrestling teams don’t provide easy access to these statistics. I have noticed that the really strong teams with great coaches, have implemented processes that make it very easy to access the data. They know how to identify, inform, and lead their talent. A sales organization must provide such relevant and accurate data as well to be successful.

If you are going to ask your team to exercise, and work smart in order to become a fit organization, then the appropriate processes and tools need to be available before and after your wrestling matches. Our team at AscendWorks has spent thousands of hours perfecting these processes.

If your organization is in the process of reviewing the wrestling matches that happened in 2009, and defining how you will win in 2010, we would enjoy the opportunity to put our talent to work with your team. I look forward to seeing you at the next “Meet”.

I enjoy being an innovator. Most of my career I have been involved in the early stages of game-changing innovative technology. Product and service life cycles are much shorter now, and innovation is imperative at every stage of the process – from the original product or service idea to the marketing and delivery to the customer.

I recently read a blog posting from Seth Godin,  about the rules of what it takes to be a “Great Client.” It made me think again about the importance of innovation and the inherent creativity “cap” we reach when trying to achieve something on our own. We often need others to step in and lead us to a new level of success. This can be reached by hiring a professional who can act as the innovator; the customer’s job would then be to foster innovation.

Fostering innovation is difficult, but crucial. It requires both discipline and time investment. Basically, it is hard work to clearly define what you are about and where you are headed as a company or even within a project. Without clarity, though, there is no opportunity for creativity.

There are only two things that separate success from failure in most organizations today:

1. Invent things worth talking about.
2. Tell stories about what you invented.

I have an “innovation challenge” for you. Pick one of the topics below, and we will provide a complimentary mind mapping session to define innovative solutions that you can implement in 2010. Click here to to review my schedule and book a meeting.

• Winning a new customer
• Communicating a new direction
• Aligning a team towards a common goal
• Getting things done
• Creating business structure for execution
• Collaborating on project work

The difference between good and great is your attitude, motivation, and commitment to innovate!

by Chris Kiersch

Last summer I had the opportunity to take an assessment that provided me with a tremendous amount of insight. I was looking to learn how I could enhance my business performance and results by integrating and improving personal “style.” The process started by using our online assessment tool to gather relevant data that assists in develop an understanding of my style, the styles of others, and the issue of style itself.

I took the test at a critical time in my career. I have had a number of successes and “expensive experiences” since I entered the technology industry in 1987. But when I took the assessment, I had the opportunity to step back and reflect on what might have influenced those successes and failures. The test provided a comprehensive snapshot of my strengths and blind spots. After taking the test, Don Dalrymple interpreted the results with me, and we mapped out a plan that would allow me to focus my talent and deliver the optimum value for our team. I was encouraged to play all out in my “sweet spot” and trust and depend on others to complement my weaker areas.

I am a salesman. My value lies in connecting people together in opportunities. Knowing that and living into that, also means recognizing what I am not. I’m not necessarily an implementer or administrator. When trying to play in those domains, I experience much more friction, frustration, and “failure” and less passion and speed. I’m a peacekeeper and optimist, which is great when journeying through successful ventures. But when misunderstanding and conflicts arise, I lack the clarity needed to navigate successfully through tense situations. I can trust others’ intuition and “sweet spot” when I am lacking.

In addition, I now have a frame of reference from which to view all people, understanding the consequences of our different “wiring” and “scripting.” We all see the world through a different set of lenses. Knowing that helps me to communicate more effectively with those who are different from me, maximizing the effectiveness of working together on a team.

When a client engages with us, AscendWorks provides participants with a written assessment and a dialog for clarity around their personal style of behavior. This workshop is designed for groups, teams, or individuals. The process ensures that we are getting the most out of the one thing that defines the success of an organization. Individual TALENT – identified and maximized in the context of a larger unit or team.

I encourage you to take a few minutes and review the process at www.knowmystrengths.com. By collecting information through our assessment tool called the Style of Influence, AscendWorks assesses individual behavior to a predictive level. This is done by using established methods of measurement with exceptionally high statistical accuracy. Through our team workshops, AscendWorks helps teams learn how to interact with each other and leverage the strengths of members. For individuals, AscendWorks highlights the very characteristics which will be the foundation for success for a person.

Luck is a form of intelligence, not just opportunity meeting at the crossroads with preparation. Get into your Sweet Spot! In this time of assessment, without clarity and execution, there is much lost opportunity. If you and your team can align with your Sweet Spot, you will be able to achieve much more in your endeavors and avoid losses in time, money and productivity.

by Chris Kiersch

Do you know how to attract a customer? What do you say to identify with someone’s business need and convince them that you can meet that need?

According to a Yale University study, the twelve most persuasive words in the English language are: “save, money, you, new, health, results, easy, safety, love, discovery, proven, and guarantee”.

I thought it would be fun to define how some of these words live within the space of sales and marketing automation for our clients and team at Ascendworks.

• Save: Automating follow-up and sending the right message to the right person at the right time, saves a lot of headaches.

• Money: The more content that’s automated, the more time there is to meet with clients to make more money.

• You: Our mantra is to always put yourself in the customer’s shoes – you’ll win every time.

• New: The best part of this business is learning something new everyday.

• Results: Results involve rapid access to reports and real-time updates – It’s really all about results.

• Easy: How easy can we make it for your customers to do business with you?

• Safety: The “safety” in sales and marketing automation comes with finding someone with lots of experience and being willing to “fail forward fast”.

• Love: Love what you do; authenticity and passion reap credibility and results

I have found that many organizations struggle with knowing exactly how to connect and how they will measure the impact of their communications. Most companies do not have a clear strategy for subtly persuading a prospect to take the next step in buying from them. We would suggest that you consider an audit of your current sales and marketing processes.

Consider mapping out how your customers move through the “buying process”? You will discover a lot about your business going through this process. What is different about that process today compared to  five years ago? What are you doing to allow your prospects to become more educated before they contact you?

Once you have defined content that will support your buying process, you’ll want to complement that with the selling process. When was the last time you reviewed and mapped out your selling process? With a strategic map of your buying process and selling process in place, content requirements and next steps will become crystal clear. You will be prepared  to put the above persuasive words into action.

If you would like to experience and receive a complimentary map of your business process, and are willing to invest 30 minutes of your time, click here and I will invest my time to help you achieve what I think is a must do for any business serious about growing and becoming more proficient. I will assure you it is well worth your time and one of the best things you can do in your business right now.

One last thought, I would like to add one additional word to the list above and that is “Thank you”.

Cheers,

Chris Kiersch
Sales Director
Ascendworks
314-918-0032

If you desire to learn more about document collaboration for your writing team, I have a great opportunity for you. Register for our GoogleApps Webinar — just click here. We are offering this at a very special price of only $25!

Friday October 23, 2:30 – 3:30
More than 1,000,000 businesses run Google Apps — why aren’t you?

by Chris Kiersch

Definition: un-sanity; (Experience, instead of noun, verb etc.)

When you have become so un-attached with spending money that you invest in what you have been doing instead of investing in what you should be doing. Brought on commonly by someone who has decided to stop learning, or should I say someone who has begun dying.

As a child, you probably looked to the sky and dreamed about what it would be like to sit on a cloud.  Back then you could “ignore everybody” who said it couldn’t be done. But in 2009, it has become about what you should be doing, not what you could be doing. What stops you from pushing those limits?  What makes you adverse to change? I would argue it’s because you have decided to stop learning, or you decided it’s okay to start dying.

Do you make it a point to stay educated about your technology investments, or are you only reacting when things go wrong or when you realize that your competitor is on the fast track? It’s much harder to stay on top than it is to get on top. The cost of complacency and ultimately the decision to curtail your competitive edge, is a chance you can’t afford to take in this economy. Most organizations are still following the sales processes that were put in place 10, 15 or 20 years ago. Customers don’t want to be sold, but they do want to buy, and they like to buy from the most educated resource. The company who has decided to continually educate themselves about the resources that are available to make them faster, smarter and more collaborative are the companies that are viewed as the educated resource, and therefore will excel.

Are you ready to start learning about how to cut infrastructure costs, give your team access to processes and online tools that will shorten sales cycles, increase productivity, and provide a memorable experience? If so, let me extend an invitation for you to join us for the upcoming online Google Apps Bootcamp Training to grow your business and increase productivity. More than 1,000,000 businesses are running Google Apps, why aren’t you? Have you become stagnant? If you want to play to win, the Google Apps Bootcamp is a must. I promise you; it will make a profound difference in your business and your life.

The Google Apps Bootcamp Training session is online and will be held at 2:30 p.m. central time on October 9, 2009. Don’t delay just complete the form below to register.