July 2016
Strategies for Success Newsletter July 2016 Issue 127
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Published by Emily Huling Selling Strategies
Copyright 2016 Emily Huling. All rights reserved.
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In this July 2016 issue:
- Thoughts from the Road
- Thoughts from the Office
- Josmo’s Cafe
- Stay Energized
- Emily Live
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- Thoughts from the Road
Sink or swim?
Mike, client and proud grandfather, shared with me his video of Maggie, his 2-1/2-year-old granddaughter taking the final test of her YMCA toddler swim program. This class teaches youngsters to master the art of water survival. Maggie demonstrated how to float on her back, flip over, and swim to the edge of the pool. She did great!
For most of the two weeks, Mike told me, Maggie cried, hung on to her mother, and resisted getting in the water. As difficult as it was for Maggie’s mother, she made Maggie stick with it.
Fast forward two weeks. Maggie and her mother were at the pediatrician’s for a routine visit. The doctor asked Maggie, “What’s new?” Maggie beamed and proudly told her doctor that she had learned to swim. Her mother added, “Now we can’t get her out of the water!”
Moral of the story: No matter what age, it can be frightening to learn something new. When you feel like giving up, stick with it. Breaking through your mental barrier builds confidence and skills. And who knows, you may even learn to love it!
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- Thoughts from the Office
All in the family.
I’m thrilled with the number of family members, including children of owners, coming into the agency business. However, it concerns me that family operations may inadvertently fall into bad practices that harm the business in the long term. Here are a few thoughts to avoid the pitfalls.
Apply consistent employment practices. Job descriptions and personnel manuals apply to family members also. Set up a job training schedule employing the assistance of unrelated coworkers and managers rather than a relative. Utilize personality and skill assessments to uncover issues that may affect job effectiveness. Not only are these resources great management and development tools, having an objective third party perspective can help avoid or handle uncomfortable situations.
Office rules apply to everyone. Generally, family businesses are family friendly. Be careful that young children of family members don’t take liberties that non-family children don’t have. Disrupting workers, playing on the computers, and making a mess in the break room are behaviors that I have seen occur. Non-family employees rarely if ever complain to the owners about this. Instead, they silently fume.
Recognize the perspective of non-family members. Right or wrong, non-family employees believe that family members share information with the owner. Employees may see a family employee as unapproachable on certain subjects, wondering if a conversation will be kept confidential or what impact certain private information will have on his or her job. Be sensitive to the situation that employees are in when working with family members.
Don’t allow employees to play one family member off another. “But I talked to your wife (or son, daughter, father) about …” can be used by employees to get what they want in a situation. All family members need to understand the limits and boundaries that exist in their job position. When a family member is approached about a matter that falls outside his or her responsibilities, he or she must refer the employee to the appropriate person.
Recognizing, acknowledging, and addressing these issues up front with all parties involved will support, an emotionally healthy and professional business environment.
Summer rerun – originally published November 2009
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- Josmo’s Cafe
It’s the perfect month for sweet corn on the cob! Everyone has an opinion on the best way to make it – boiled, grilled with the husk on, grilled in foil, or microwave. Watch this short video on how to make corn on the cob in the microwave. This is our preferred method. It is it easy, fail-proof, and all the corn silk is removed! Give it try!
Check out other Josmo’s Cafe recipes. The choice for the month appears at the top of the page and also in its proper category. We hope this will help you find the recipe that you read, liked, and can’t seem to locate!
Please let us know how you like our recipes. We love hearing from you!
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- Stay Energized
Our 17 Terrific Tips series now numbers nine with the addition of 17 Terrific Tips When Visiting Clients. The most popular are 17 Terrific Management Tips and 17 Terrific Negotiating Tips. Visit the Business Building page on our website to find articles, free stuff, and all the 17 Terrific Tips columns.
July Energizer Minute – Five Tips to Remember Names – Get supercharged with Energizer Minutes – one-to-two-minute audio stories told by yours truly to energize, invigorate, and inspire!
Service Selling Supercharge on CD is available! Join the hundreds of agents who have completed the 52-week audio course. Service professionals learn tips, techniques, and tools to deliver exceptional service to every client, every day. To write and retain more business, start your in-house service-selling development program now!
“We love it! Supercharge ends our Tuesday staff meetings. We listen as a group. I have to pause the recording there are so many ideas to write down. This material has made us better agents!”
Lori Augustyniak, CPA, CIC, President, Horizon Insurance, Bradenton, FL
Follow me on Twitter @EmilyHuling to read my weekday Energizer Moments.
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- Emily Live
- Private client workshop – Building the Business – Las Vegas, NV – August 8-10, 2016
- Agency Management CIC, Fargo, ND – August 24-26, 2016
- Private client workshops – Revving up Production – Montvale, NJ – September 12-15, 2016
- Agency Management CIC, Kansas City, MO – September 21-23, 2016
- NAPSLO Annual Conference – Atlanta, GA – September 25-28, 2016
- NAPSLO NextGen Leadership workshop – Atlanta, GA – Leading with Certainty in Uncertain Times – September 26, 2016
- Private client – strategy consulting – St. Joseph, MO – October 3-6, 2016
- Private client workshops – Working Together for Success – Fargo, ND – October 31-November 4, 2016
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Selling Strategies: Strategies for Success Newsletter is published by Emily Huling Selling Strategies. For further information, contact emily@sellingstrategies.com.
© 2016 Emily Huling. All rights reserved.