I recently read an article in Entrepreneur blog called, Building a Business Partnership That Lasts, by Toddi Gutner . The article once again verified my belief that two important components of any successful relationship, or in this instance business partnership, is trust and effective (open) communication.

Gutner lists other factors as well but the common theme of trust & communication is evident. My belief is that trust is indeed the most important factor of any successful relationship and the pathway to it is effective communication. My belief follows a simple 5 step communication process that leads to establishing trust:

• You must “connect” with someone before you can “engage” them
• You must “engage” someone before you can “build rapport” with them
• You must “build rapport” before you can “be credible”
• You must “be credible” before you can “be trusted”
• You must “be trusted” before you can have a successful relationship

The pathway is based on a person’s ability to effectively connect, communicate and interact with others. If someone can’t first “connect” with someone how can they “engage”, let alone “build rapport” and be viewed as “credible.” Without that first step of “connecting” the other steps will not follow and in turn, trust will not be developed.

I’ve listed below, the four key components from the article on “building a business partnership that lasts” and as you can see trust & open communication is on the list. The author also lists mutual respect as well as shared vision and values. I’d say, however, that those two will not exist without trust and open communication.

• Trust
• Mutual respect
• Shared vision and values
• Honest and open communication

I’ve attached a link to the article for your review and your thoughts and comments are more than welcome and appreciated. Enjoy!

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220115

I simply walk into the restaurant and I’m greeted by one of the bartenders with an enthusiastic “STEVE!” The bartender greets me with a big smile, a cold drink and quickly informs me of the next seat opening up at the bar.

That’s the initial experience I have upon entering Charley’s Steak House in Tampa. What follows next is an evening of mastery in creating the ultimate customer experience and the creation of the long-term loyal customer. Whether it’s the initial greeting, great food, family atmosphere or outstanding service, Charley’s is the best and that’s why I keep going back…and I’m not the only one.

Creating customer loyalty is a key differentiating point and is crucial, especially in hard economic times. When most people are “watching their wallets”, those businesses that create loyal customers are somewhat insulated. They’re insulated because they’ve created an atmosphere that transcends solely price. Customers may spend less, but they are still spending something, and it will be with those institutions or individuals where they have strong loyal relationships. Whether you’re in sales or in a business, customer loyalty is indispensable as it will sustain you in tough times.

The folks at Charley’s do a wonderful job of knowing their customers – what they like to eat, drink. But it doesn’t stop there as they get to know them personally as well. A night at Charley’s is like a night with family and it actually begins with the management. Manager, Chelley greets customers with a huge hug and warm smile and her goal is to ensure customer satisfaction. And that attitude flows down to the bar staff which is outstanding. Whether it is Kat, Jordan, Jimmy, Kristian, Lauren or Kate, they are personable, attentive and customer conscious. Each and every one of them effectively connects, communicates and engages with their customers.  They “walk the walk” in customer service and that keeps me coming back week in and week out.

Yes, the steaks are outstanding, but I can make a pretty mean steak myself. It’s the atmosphere, and customer service that keeps me loyal. And by the way, they serve many other outstanding food items aside from steak!

If you’re a business owner, or a sales person, or in any role for that matter that involves customer service, are YOU creating the atmosphere that keeps your customers coming back? If not, you’re not creating a value add and not building customer loyalty. And then you’ll be viewed solely on price and not the value you provide – that’s not where you want to be, especially in tough economic times.

So if you’re interested in creating customer loyalty for your clients, just stop by Charley’s to observe and enjoy the experience…and oh, enjoy a great steak while doing it!

A little over a year ago I watched the movie Good Will Hunting. In the movie, Robin Williams made the following statement to the character played Will Hunting, played by Matt Damon.

“You are bound by nothing.”

This quote resonated with me “big-time” for many reasons, but I think especially due to the turbulent financial times we’ve been experiencing. I think the most disappointing thing about the current state of affairs in our world is a lack of leadership…a lack of positive thinking…a lack of excitement at solving problems…a seeming inability or desire to overcome adversity. We seem paralyzed!

There is no doubt that we’re in tough times…but is this the first time? Is this worse than what we faced during the Great Depression…during World War II or the Civil War or most importantly our fight for freedom as a country.

Bottom-line, great men and woman throughout history faced great challenges and overcame them to create a better world for themselves and others. YOU can do that too!

We are indeed in a time of great adversity, but this is not a time to sit back and complain. After all, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, adversity will never go away. There is never a “better time” than NOW! It’s time for YOU to seek the opportunity in the adversity!

This past year, despite the turbulence, has been one of the best years for my consulting business, which is 8 years old. I attribute this success to the belief that I am indeed “bound by nothing.” Miracles, opportunities can manifest with each and every day. We’ve just got to take the initiative, develop strong goals, take action and solve for the obstacles that come our way.

Each and every day offers us the opportunity to achieve your goals, become the person you want to become and live the life you were meant to live – because you are indeed BOUND BY NOTHING!

Never forget – The D-Day Invasion:

June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day’s end on June 6, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy. The D-Day cost was high -more than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded — but more than 100,000 Soldiers began the march across Europe to defeat Hitler.

Earlier today I was asked by Human Resource Executive Magazine for my comments on a recent poll. The poll by consulting firm Lumesse, found that 38 percent of older workers believe they will be recognized and rewarded for working harder and taking extra responsibility, but only 19 percent of Gen Y workers felt that way.

Here is my response to two questions they asked for my input – I thought it might prove insightful – and any questions and/or comments as always are welcome.

Question #1: Are you surprised by the results of the survey?

No, I’m not surprised at all by the results as it is pretty well documented that there are indeed differences in how various generations view life in the workplace. As we transition from Boomer’s to Gen X and then to Gen Y there are very clear characteristics and trends for each generation. Boomers are characterized by their strong work ethic, goal-orientation and competitive nature. So they would naturally believe that once their goals are met, they should indeed be rewarded for their effort.

As we transition from Gen X & then Gen Y, the characteristics become more focused around workplace flexibility, team-oriented environments with freedom from control. So their concerns aren’t as geared towards the reward of the effort as much as being in a gratifying environment of collaboration, freedom and team-work

So again if you look at those differences in characteristics, the survey results make sense. I think the results speak more to how the different generations view the workplace and that came out in the survey

Question #2: How can HR leaders better tailor their R+R programs to better suit both generations?

Although the characteristics are unique to the respective generation, I believe companies should build tailored programs more cognizant of personality and behavioral motivations of people in general and not built solely around the generational characteristics. Yes the generational characteristics are important, but companies really need to look at the individual to validate what’s important and what motivates them. Now I’m not saying build R&R options for every single employee in the organization, but narrow incentives to 4-6 based on core behavioral motivations of humans – you can identify such insights into personality and behavioral motivations with a highly credible Myers-Briggs assessment. So I’d recommend using a simple process:

• Identify core personality and behavioral motivations using Myers-Briggs
• Build incentive options to meet those core motivations
• Ask employees to take the Myers-Briggs assessment so the company has insights into the motivations of each individual
• Conduct a debrief of the assessment with a certified Myers-Briggs administrator, employee and manager to review results and generate a coaching discussion around motivations and incentives built by the company to satisfy respective needs of the employee (as a note, the employee must voluntarily be open to sharing the results of the assessment)

The benefit of this type of approach is that it de-personalizes the incentive based on generation and shifts it to more natural motivations and/or interests of the individual. It’s a more personal approach that is guaranteed to better resonate with the employee. In addition this creates an open dialogue for the manager to not only align motivation and communication during times of R&R, but in their everyday interactions with that employee. This will vastly improve productivity and morale which in turn will have a positive effect on both Top-Line and Bottom-Line.

A few months back I was asked to participate in a Telesummit called Fearless Friday’s and hosted by Sophfronia Scott.  The Telesummit featured 30 Top Experts sharing their secrets for handling one of the toughest challenges of our time: FEAR

The topic of my interview was called Leveraging Your Fear Factor: “How to understand and leverage your propensity to deal with fear, change & risk taking for success”

For your benefit, I have attached the audio in this Blog for your to hear (you may need to wait for 20 seconds before the session starts): http://www.gavatorta.com/audio/fearlessfridays-telesummit.mp3

In this session you’ll learn…

• How you deal with risk taking and dealing with change
• To discover “your Fear Factor”
• How you deal with risk taking and dealing with change
• Practical skills to overcome your fears and take calculated risks and to thrive during change

I hope you find the audio useful and something that can assist you in understanding and dealing with your fears.

In the meantime, you can pick up Sophfronia Scott’s book 

“How the Fierce Handle Fear: Secrets to Succeeding in Challenging Times”  by viewing this link: http://www.HowtheFierceHandleFear.com

Steve

Now even more exciting news about Fearless Friday’s! Every once in awhile it does happen: the right book comes along at just the right moment to give us a new and refreshing way to look at a challenging problem just when we want and need it most. Right now, that book is “How the Fierce Handle Fear: Secrets to Succeeding in Challenging Times”. 

Let’s face it: in these times, learning how to handle fear is one of the most important skills you can master. Otherwise you waste a lot of energy being ruled by your fear. In How the Fierce Handle Fear, an impressive assortment of the most “fierce” and successful entrepreneurs and life coaches, including Donald Trump and Jack Canfield, share their tools for triumphing over the same fears that keep many of us from realizing our greatest potential. This wonderful collection of 22 essays is the recipe for achieving true success and reaching our highest goals.

If you get your copy of How the Fierce Handle Fear  from Amazon.com within the next 24 hours you’ll also get exclusive access to the complete audio collection of the groundbreaking “Fearless Fridays Telesummit”, featuring over 30 amazing speakers, including myself, who participated in 10 weeks of teaching calls offering our best tips on handling fear – my audios you can access  for free in my previous blog about my spot on Fearless Friday’s, but there are 29 more experts you need to here from – how they deal with fear. 

Just go to http://www.HowtheFierceHandleFear.com for details.

I provided you with my segment, but now you can get all of the recordings! 

Just go to http://www.HowtheFierceHandleFear.com. 

Once you get the book and listen to my call, let me know what you think, okay? 

I hope you enjoy! 

Steve

P.S. You are absolutely welcome to share this link with friends and family—in fact we encourage it! The faster we all move forward, the sooner we can move out of these challenging times and on to better ones ahead. 

http://www.HowtheFierceHandleFear.com

A few weeks ago I was asked what I did to scout out my competition. My answer to the question was immediate! Observe the Fundamentals.

I was taught early in my corporate career to build my business plans around the fundamentals of the 4-P’s of Marketing: Product-Price-Placement-Promotion. The 4-P’s provided a strong framework to build my plans. So when I want to analyze my competition, I simply follow the same rule I use to build my business. I learn about my competitions by undestanding how they focus on the 4 P’s. The 4-P’s are as follows:

• Product – I gain a clear understanding of their product/programs/services and how do they rate versus mine
• Price – I gain a clear understanding of how they price their products/programs/services and how they rate versus mine
• Promotion - I gain a clear understanding on how they promote their products/programs/services
• Placement - I gain a clear understanding on where they promote their products/programs/services

After analyzing the 4 P’s of my competition, I then build powerful action plans better than theirs so I can differentiate myself in the eyes of our customer.

If you want to read more about how others “scout” the competition just view the article at the Toiletpaper Entrepreneur website I listed below:

• http://tinyurl.com/2a9cxdm

I was recently asked to participate in an interview with Career Builder about negotiation skills in the workplace. The interview focused on any negotiation that takes place and included salaries, vacations, time off and etc. The article was published and the link is below. I also included Three Key Points for a Successful Negotiation that I think you would all find helpful: 

•  http://tinyurl.com/35tlgwu

 Three Key Points for a Successful Negotiation:

• Be Prepared – Do your homework up front – The negotiation will be won or lost prior to the engagement so do as much homework prior to help ensure success. So it is imperative that you gain clarity of a list of things you know about your needs and those of the other person…It is often difficult to gather insights from the “other side” but the more you can glean and clarify what a “win” means for the both of you the more you can understand where there is alignment Vs differences…this will in turn help you plan and succeed in the negotiation. …some areas of focus include: 
  • Define “a win” – It is imperative to clearly define what an ultimate “overarching win” is for you AND the other person… As an example if you secure a new job and are negotiating salary, it is important for you to know how low you will go to accept the job, and now how high they are willing to pay – if you know this you can identify were the “common ground” or alignment can ultimately be found.
  • Define Shopping Lists– A shopping list includes multiple things to secure “a win” both you and the other person want to ultimately achieve so identify and clarify essentials and desirables.
    • Essentials include what you both must achieve – worst case scenario
    • Desirables include what you both would like to achieve – best case scenario
  • Define Variables – A variable is something that can be conceded during the negotiation which in some way alters the proposition being discussed…it represents what you and the other person are willing to give up…these are the things you give and take (“I you give me X then I will trade you Y”)
  • Define Alignment – Identify the common ground for the “win-win” so during the actual negotiation you are viewed as taking the initiative of showing good will of working towards a common goal 
• Persuade in the Negotiation – I like to look at the negotiation as an opportunity to persuade another person to ultimately accepting your points. If you’ve done your homework and clearly know where the alignment is you can always work towards that goal in a persuasive manner…sticking to the overarching objective of a win-win, securing your shopping lists and giving and taking on variables. Letting them clearly know when you’ve given some thing of value yet, being grateful when they have as well. 
  • Be in the moment, listen and show empathy – When you are totally in the moment, listening and communicating, you can get the other person talking which in turn allows hear more and know what “next moves” you’d like to make (i.e. if you sense fear then help eliminate the fears or leverage it as an opportunity). In addition, chances are that you didn’t get the total picture of their needs in the “homework” phase, so know is the time to hone in what they view as an ultimate win so you can work towards that goal.
  • Aim High – Remember this is a negotiation and you will have “give and take” so start at an aggressive point so you have plenty of room to maneuver…in addition you can be assured that the other person will be taking an aggressive stance and aiming high too.
  • Working the variables and concessions – Use those variables and concessions to work your way toward the aligned “win-win” stance…it’s OK to keep giving the concessions until you’ve reached your “what a win looks like” area…an you keep working them until they reached theirs – don’t be giving if they aren’t giving…know the zone of the “win-win.” 
• Close – Always seek “win-win” but don’t be afraid to walk away – I’m not saying get angry, or negative and closing the door for good, but know when you’ve exhausted options and need to step away…you may need to walk for awhile before they come back….most often than not, if you’ve done your homework up front, and negotiated in good faith during the process, then it is not yet over…it ends when you or they have dipped below what is perceived as the “win-win” point. There are indeed “win-lose” scenarios…but that is not to the benefit of either of you in the long term.

I want to welcome you all to the Steve Gavatorta Group Performance and Development Blog. This blog was created to generate discussion, share ideas, insights and learning’s on the topics of personal and professional performance development.

The  specific topics discussed will be as follows:

• Communication Skills
• Personal & Professional Motivation
• Sales & Selling Skills Effectiveness
• Managerial Effectiveness
• Leadership Development
• Maximizing Team Performance 

There will be additional performance related topics as well. So part of this intro blog is to gather your thoughts on additional topics and/or discussion points that you would find useful…again under the umbrella of Personal and Professional Performance Development. Some examples may also include; change management, conflict resolution, negotiation skills and etc.

With all of that said, I welcome you to participate in this Blog…either by providing your feedback, comments and/or insights on the blogs posted.

In addition, if any of you want to be considered as a guest blogger you are more than welcome. Just send me an email along with your blog and I will post as long as it falls under the topic of Performance and Development.

Lastly, I hope this blog provides each of you with the tools, insights and ideas you need to take you to the next step in your personal and professional development.

I look forward to your participation and hope you enjoy. I look forward to seeing your “blog postings” soon!

Steve