April 2016
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Published by Emily Huling Selling Strategies
Copyright 2016 Emily Huling. All rights reserved.
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In this April 2016 issue:
- Thoughts from the Road
- Have you read…?
- Josmo’s Cafe
- Stay Energized
- Emily Live
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Selling Strategies website has a new look! Hope you like our fresh and fun look as much as we do! A favor, please. If you find any errors or links that don’t work, please drop me a note. Thank you!
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- Thoughts from the Road
I love Fargo!
No, I don’t mean the cult classic movie by the Coen Brothers. I mean the real city of Fargo, North Dakota. After my first visit to Fargo five years ago, my clients sent me the book How Fargo of You by Marc de Celle. Marc and his family moved to Fargo from the Southwest in 2005. He found that the people of Fargo go far beyond being nice, kind, thoughtful, and generous. He coined the expression “how Fargo of you” to best describe Fargo interpersonal behavior. His book relays dozens of stories confirming that in Fargo, people come first. Watch this brief interview from 2010 when the book was released.
“How Fargo of you” is contagious. In February I was on my connecting Expressjet flight from Chicago to Fargo with about 50 passengers on board. In the seat in front of me was a young mother traveling alone with her coughing, crying two-year old. To keep her child as amused as possible, the mother had cartoons for her daughter to watch on her laptop. That’s normal on planes, right? What made this unusual is that they did not have headphones, which I guess would be difficult for a two-year old, dontcha know? The entire plane listened to 90 minutes of cartoons that were loud enough to be heard over the noise of the jet engines. Complaints by anyone on this flight to Fargo? Of course not. How Fargo of the passengers!
Lucky me! I now have two clients in Fargo and have visited several times. I learned during my visit in February (Extra lucky! The weather was dry and temperatures were in the 20’s.) about a satirical website FMObserver created and written by two of my client’s associates, Johnny and Nick, and a few others. A 2013 news item about a man clearing snow with a flamethrower by Nick was picked up as a true story by several newspapers. Another favorite of mine is Johnny’s Fargo’s new Uber Jet program. Enjoy!
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2. Have you read….?
The Optimistic Workplace by Shawn Murphy is the newest addition to my recommended reading list for leaders and managers. In addition to reconfirming that a positive environment fuels energized associates and leads to greater success for both individuals and the organization, the author provides doable strategies to shift culture. Here are a few of his thoughts that align with my consulting philosophy and approach.
- The purpose of the both the organization and teams must be clearly defined and articulated.
- Culture change begins with individual’s belief and confidence in the purpose, values, philosophy, and leadership of the business.
- When leaders walk their talk, associates’ behaviors and actions follow suit. If it doesn’t, people should move on.
- Silos must come down between management and staff, departments, and positions.
- Frequent one-on-one meetings with direct reports provide meaningful information and dialogue that quickly moves change forward.
- A leader’s responsibility is to provide employees the resources they need to reach their potential.
other books on my culture-shift reading list are:
It’s Your Ship by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff
The Culture Secret by Dr. David Vik
The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud
Start with Why by Simon Sinek
If you’re interested in some of my client culture shifts, I describe my approach and client success stories on my website.
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3. Josmo’s Cafe
Key Lime Bundt Cake is so good, I just have to feature it again! I was with one of my baking buddies at the NetVU conference last month and we were chatting about how much we love Bundt cakes. It’s one of those desserts that gets better each day it sits. Bad news is that it rarely last very long! Enjoy!
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 that recipe 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
17 Terrific Tips to Promote Positive Energy is the newest addition to the series. Positive energy is contagious. These tips will assure that what you’re spreading is healthy and beneficial for both you and those you encounter.
Visit the Business Building page on our website to find articles, free stuff, and more 17 Terrific Tips.
April Energizer Minute – Exuding Calm – 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 now available! Join the hundreds of agents who have just completed the 52-week audio course. Service professionals learn tips, techniques, and tools to deliver exceptional service to every client, every day. Start your in-house service-selling development program to write and retain more business!
“What a godsend! We kick off our Monday morning office meetings – there are six of us – with Supercharge ideas we have been using from listening on our own. We hear each other use the ideas every day.” Angela Eubanks, CISR, Commercial Account Manager, Evans & Associates, Kinston, NC
Follow me on Twitter @EmilyHuling to read my weekday Energizer Moments.
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Planning your 2016 membership, agent, or employee events?
2016 Convention and Meeting Topics are available! Improve teamwork, advance management skills, increase producer sales, enhance customer service, and fast forward career success. My guarantee – participants will be energized, inspired, and will learn strategies to improve performance and results.
For information about availability and fees, please get in touch.
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- Emily Live
- Private client workshops and consulting – Montvale, NJ – April 11-14, 2016
- NAMIC Underwriting Webinars – Underwriters: Sell is Not a Four-Letter Word – April 18 and May 2, 2016
- United Independent Agency Alliance Annual Meeting – How to Become the Agent of Choice – Columbus, OH – April 26, 2016
- Private client workshops and consulting – Blue Ridge, GA – May 11-13, 2016
- AAMGA Annual Meeting – Scottsdale, AZ – May 22-24, 2016
- Agency Management CIC, Richmond, VA – June 1-3, 2016
- Agency Management CIC, Anaheim, CA – June 8-10, 2016
- Agency Management CIC, Fargo, ND – August 24-26, 2016
- Agency Management CIC, Kansas City, MO – September 21-23, 2016
- NAPSLO Annual Conference – Atlanta, GA – September 25-28, 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.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]