Articles
Articles written by iSpeak master instructors and collaborators to continue to help you better your business life.
Fish and Eggs
I think everyone will agree that life is full of mysteries. Is that what we should call them, “mysteries?” or are they just “creative puzzles that have yet to be solved? By searching for solutions that are not immediately obvious or even possible through traditional means, you are practicing lateral thinking. The more cliché nomenclature used today is “thinking outside the box.”
Three Roles of the Leader
As a leader, do we want our followers to “want” or “need” us? It should be obvious that we want our team to “want” us, not “need” us. To be a strong leader, how can we promote an environment where our team “wants” to follow us? The answer lies in three key roles the leader must serve with their teams. These three roles are called Observer, Coach and Guide.
Balancing Power in Relationships
It only takes a matter of seconds to discern someone’s status. At work, it’s easy to pick out the VP in a room full of people by how others treat her: making room for her to walk by, greeting her enthusiastically, and allowing her to initiate conversations. Learn how to get more relational power in relationships and a few simple principles you can apply.
Speaking up for businesses when called upon
The 10 years of work Russ Peterson and Kevin Karschnik have put into iSpeak, a business educational training company, paid off as they won the Best of Round Rock Award in 2009 and 2010 from the U.S. Commerce Association in the Professional Development Training category, as well as the Best Sales Trainer honor at the American Business Awards in 2009.
iSpeak Receives 2010 Best of Round Rock Award
For the second consecutive year, iSpeak has been selected for the 2010 Best of Round Rock Award in the ‘Professional Development Training’ category by the U.S. Commerce Association. Each year the USCA identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community.
Exceeding Customer Expectations
It is amazing how much time, effort and money is invested in sales education. However, customer service is not given the same level of resources. If you think about selling as a process, the final phase is never “closing” the sale, it is “servicing” the customer. Once you have been awarded a new customer from an effective sales process, it is now a matter of customer service that determines whether or not your customer is going to stay with you.
Managing Classroom Chaos
It doesn’t happen often, but occasionally you walk into a class and have issues with one or more of the students. Your key concern is to maintain classroom control and preempt the problems before they begin. You can be prepared for the unique challenges that these students bring to the classroom. When you are prepared, you will recognize the situation and understand how to better handle the circumstance.
How can I get my kids to clean their rooms?
“I’d like you to get your room cleaned up now.” If you are a parent, you’ve probably used this phrase yourself. Rather than demanding it be cleaned, I tried a different approach using some negotiating techniques used in business. It worked! After negotiating with my son successfully, I realized that we can utilize business negotiating techniques even on the homefront. Understanding the two common elements present in every negotiation can help you successfully navigate disagreements.
ZoMexa Launches Innovative Online Business Networking Service
ZoMexa introduces members to top professionals they don’t already know, but should. ZoMexa offers an innovative and much-needed solution to people who want to discretely find their next job, recruit employees, find partners, or locate new clients in a private, efficient manner. By becoming a member of ZoMexa, a free service, users are connected to key professionals who can help them achieve their goals.
What do Texas Hold ‘em and Communication Skills have in common?
According to Dr. Albert Mehrabian, when the words you speak, the tone of voice you use and your portrayal of body language are not in complete alignment, your message becomes less believable.
Training Strategies to Maximize Results
Training is about imparting knowledge, developing skills, and changing attitudes. Exercises in training programs must be designed properly to maximize the desired results. Effective training classes incorporate the appropriate level of exercises for you to achieve those results. Do you know the four levels of learning exercises? Do you know the best training method and format to achieve the desired level of learning?
Team Productivity
Success in any business can be traced back to the motivation of its employees. People who are motivated are more productive because they push themselves to achieve more, resulting in more productive teams. When the members of your team are experiencing difficulty improving productivity, it may be that their motivation is waning due to a misalignment between their challenge and their capabilities. By adjusting one or the other, team motivations and productivity can also improve.
Motivating Your Team for Success
The success of your company will depend on how well you and other team members operate together. The collection of individual and team actions will determine the success of a team. Thus, motivating your team becomes a necessary element of successful management. Should you motivate your team with money? Is fear the best motivator? Does motivation change?
Training and Development in 2010
The past 18 months have been challenging for many companies. When budgets are tight, training is often the first to get cut. However, now is not the time to scale back on employee development. Now is the time to get the most from a downsized staff. Learning opportunities for employees show you value their growth as an employee and increases employee morale at the same time. Let’s look at what core training competencies you should be focusing on in 2010 and how you can offer training and development on a limited budget.
Developing Employees for Peak Performance
Developing employees is a cornerstone to improving the performance of any organization. As the manager, coach and leader of any team, developing will be done through the delivery of proper feedback. Successful managers and leaders play the role of coach for their teams on a daily basis.
Servicing4Success at The Holiday Inn
Kevin Karschnik of iSpeak will present the importance of Customer Service and teach you how to build loyal and lifetime customers at the Holiday Inn New Braunfels on July 21, 2009. You will understand what all customers want from an organization while learning the iSpeak Customer Service model for servicing customers.
Where do you want to go?
The mind has the capability to imagine and picture accomplishments as if they had already been achieved. The more focused and detailed your goal, the greater the sense of reality in your mind on achieving certain objectives.
Managing4Success at The Leander Library
Russ Peterson of iSpeak, Inc., based in Round Rock, Texas, was named “Best Sales Trainer” at the the 2009 American Business Awards. With over 2,000 nominations, only 40 Stevie® Award Winners were announced in New York City on June 22, 2009.
Russ Peterson wins “Best Sales Trainer” at the 2009 American Business Awards
Russ Peterson of iSpeak, Inc., based in Round Rock, Texas, was named “Best Sales Trainer” at the the 2009 American Business Awards. With over 2,000 nominations, only 40 Stevie® Award Winners were announced in New York City on June 22, 2009.
Appreciation for Communication… the Human Dilemma
Why is it that poor communication seems to be at the root of so many issues? Why do 97% of Fortune 500 executives believe that communication played a key role in the advancement of their career? There is actually a simple answer to these questions: Communication is everyone’s dilemma, but if properly mastered, it can be one of our leading strengths.