Manola will speak on “Knowledge + Curiosity + Guts = An Effective Communication Cocktail to Close Sales”. The conference is offered for business professionals of all levels to help them improve their performance and achieve their goals.

Manola is a sought-after speaker and trainer on leadership, diversity management, and small business development.  She also works with decision-makers at small and mid-size businesses to increase their profitability. Her proven, holistic approach to strategy, operations, sales, marketing, and human resources has led clients to say, “Calling Manola is an absolute must for anyone wanting to revitalize their company.” She is past president of the Institute of Management Consultants Georgia Chapter.

Robison Management Consulting is an annual Gold Level Sponsor for ABWA’s New-Roc Chapter. ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse backgrounds to provide them with the opportunity to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support and national recognition.

For more information about the services offered by Robison Management Consulting, please visit our services page. To learn more about ABWA, please visit www.abwa.org.

Daily we speak and hear others as they speak.  Much of what is uttered goes into our brain sometimes even without our complete awareness of what our brain has captured.

I believe that if we bombard ourselves consciously or unconsciously with positive words, thoughts, and actions, the results can only be positive outcomes, joy, and happiness in our lives.  This is why I believe in the power of the positive tense in our communications.

It was not until I moved to the United States that I realized the impact of words on my life and the lives of those around me.  At first some people pointed out that I had a cute cliché that I asked in the negative tense.  My husband used to respond with a question most of the time.  For example if I asked, “Don’t you want some coffee?” he would say something like: when did I say I didn’t want coffee?  He was instrumental in bringing my negative inquiries to my attention.

I also had another pivotal experience.  In 1982, I was assistant store manager in operations at a retail store in Topeka, Kansas.   A city ordinance required all retail establishments to post clearly that the ordinance did not allow smoking inside the store premises.  Of course, I immediately ordered stickers with such language and plastered every door of the store.  Well, a few days later my corporate boss showed up in our store and immediately demanded I take down all those negative signs from the doors.  I tried my best to let him know that it was by city ordinance that we posted them and that we would get a fine if we took them down.  In a very stern voice he said, “Unless the ordinance demands the use of those exact words, you better find a positive way of saying it; I will have no negative tense used in my stores.”

My English was more limited then than it is now, so I ran a contest among all employees and the winning entry replaced the old signs. It said,  “By city ordinance, smoking is permitted only outside of the premises.”

The more I realized and internalized the power of words the more obsessed I became about changing my lexicon and influencing my daughters’ language.  For instance, every time they said something like, “Mom I need a new pair of jeans” or some other garment, I would reply, “Honey what is it that you want?”  Eventually after a few years of hearing that reply, and once they got old enough to question me, one day one of them exploded and said, “Mom what is the big deal of having to say want instead of need?”  I replied, “Honey you have all you need; food, shelter, and a loving family.” 

When you think and say you need something, you are telling your brain that you have a void of something essential and your brain triggers sad and dissatisfactory thoughts and feelings.  When you say you want something, you trigger desire and a wish for a positive acquisition.  Negative thoughts and feelings produce toxins and poison your body, positive thoughts and feelings produce endorphins, the “feeling good” chemicals, which give you a sense of self-confidence and the ability to tackle difficulties with strength and conviction.

I have also made an effort to eliminate the word “but” from my vocabulary.  “But” denies everything said before it.  For example see how you feel when I say,  “I like you but I wish you would smile more often.”  Do you feel that I really like you, or just almost like you?

What if I were to say, “I like you and I wish you would smile more often?”  Do you feel more liked than in the other case?

Words create thoughts, feelings, and expectations. They sway how we think. Since thoughts determine actions, there’s a powerful connection between the words we use and the results we get.

Poorly chosen words can kill enthusiasm, diminish self-esteem, lower expectations and hold people back. Well chosen ones can motivate, offer hope, give life, impact thinking, and alter results. I learned my words have power over my thoughts and actions. They also influence people around me.

As the Internet quote said, “You can close the windows and darken your room, and you can open the windows and let light in. It is a matter of choice. Your mind is your room. Do you darken it or do you fill it with light?”

It is my hope that you will fill your minds and lives, and the lives of those who listen to you, with joy and light by communicating with positive tense words.

I want to share with you the three pillars that sustain my faith in the promise of my dreams.

St. Francis of Assisi said: “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” Couple this idea with what we heard in the Walt Disney film: Cinderella told us that a dream is a wish your heart makes, and that if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true. 

These are the three pillars: Believing, doing what’s necessary, and doing what’s possible.

Believing is as important to achieving your dream as fuel is to the tank of your car.  Neither can get far without it. The dictionary tells us that to believe is to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something – although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so.  So we don’t have to justify or lessen our beliefs in the possibility of our dreams even if they appear impossible at first.

Only if one believes in something can one act with full purpose toward its achievement.  Most of us tend to dismiss that which we don’t believe.

When we set our minds and hearts into something that we desire, believing is essential.  Yet to me, there are two other key elements that help us make our dreams come true. St. Francis of Assisi said it way before I thought of it: “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” I will add, do it all with a strong conviction.

I have witnessed these three concepts: believing, doing the necessary, and doing the possible in some of my business clients, and one man in particular who was born in Cameroon, Africa.  When he called me, for all practical purposes he was bankrupt and over a half million dollars in debt.  He owed taxes to the government, was losing his office space for lack of payment, and owed payroll to his four employees who were ready to leave him.  His wife divorced him and his friends abandoned him.  However, my client firmly believed that he would succeed in creating a certified IT training school, and later he would obtain the funds to franchise his business in Africa, to help his people come out of poverty.  That man made all the necessary sacrifices and used ingenuity like I had never seen before.  There was very little I could do other than let him know that the depth of his convictions, his ethics, and his hard work assured me that he was going to succeed. I kept in touch with him on a consistent basis.

That was in 2005. Here is an e-mail I received from him December 2010:

“Manola:  I am doing well and doing the same thing – Running School and Federal Government contracts for Training & Staffing in IT. Head count 5 (includes self).
We have managed to turn the corner and are currently profitable and debts free both company and self. We are starting to really grow again. Currently at an average of 1.5M Gross with EBITA of 10%. Just bought a new house this month and currently moving.”

It is my hope that the story of my client from Cameroon may inspire you to combine Cinderella’s advice with that of St Francis of Assisi.

For that dream inside of you now; or for the next time you think of a wish that you want with all your heart, even if it appears impossible at first, go ahead and pledge to yourself to believe that you can make it happen, to do what’s necessary, to do what’s possible and your dream may come true.

What are your dreams? Robison Management Consulting can help you achieve them.

1. The content of the message should be customer centered, about the customer, not your company, product, or service.
2. Is your message addressing one or many or your customer’s potential concerns or problems?
3. Is your message demonstrating to the customer that you have the best suited solution to address the customer’s care, problem, or desires?

Let’s use an example to illustrate the method:

“XYZ Services is a locally owned mechanical contractor. Founded in 1967 HVAC Services focused on providing quality service and commitment to customer excellence”

What is the content of your message about?
In this case it is about the company – ALL OF IT! So your customer reads it and thinks, at best: That’s nice. The next question the customer’s mind is most likely about price.
How relevant to your customer’s reality?
In the example it may or may not be relevant depending on the circumstances, yet the customer probably knows a dozen other companies who are also locally owned and founded a long time ago who also claim that they provide quality service and are committed to excellence. Perhaps you already have the same thought as your customer, so what?
Which problem of your client are you addressing?
In the text above, none of the potential customer problems are addressed, particularly if we are talking about HVAC. If it is summer the customer is probably facing some kind of cooling problem, if it is winter then probably a heating problem.
If we do not catch the attention of the customer at the onset of the message, why do we expect them to continue giving us their attention?
The value is perceived when the customer hears loud and clear in your message the answer to their question “WIIFM” What’s In It For Me?
Just for fun, not that the following message is perfect, I invite you to read it and if you care to share a comment go ahead.

Whether you are too hot or too cold, we will restore your comfort with just one call!

In my consulting I have found that some CEOs confess to me that they know their employees are “cheating me of time for which I pay them.”  Some have gone as far as placing a “Check-in board” that each manager has to write down where they are if they are not at their desk.

In this situation certain questions immediately come to mind, for example:

• Are you sure you TRUST your employees?
• If you do trust them, then why is controlling time more important than controlling results?
• How do you hold your people accountable for results?
• What do you measure?

 Trust your employees, or fire them.  Then we can work on a One Page Business Plan that captures what really matters, serves as a daily or weekly accountability board, and aligns the entire organization to the goals, mission, and vision of the company.

 Sounds too simple to be true?  As a TV commercial of the seventies used to say “Try it, you’ll like it.”