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5 Tips to Win at Working Remotely

5 Tips to Win at Working Remotely

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Believe it or not, cold calling success isn’t about the script you use or the structure of your call.

Those are important elements, of course, but they aren’t what matters most.

What does move the needle, you ask?

Keep reading to learn 15 advanced cold calling tips that anyone can master — all but guaranteed to boost your success rate and help you hit your numbers faster.

Let’s dive in…

15 Cold Calling Tips

Target the Right Prospects

Set the Right Expectations and Goals

Use the Right Script

PRACTICE, practice, practice

Get Through to the Right Person

Make Your Reason for Calling Clear Immediately

A Lesson from Stevie Wonder

Pay Attention to Your Body Language

Have a Plan for Handling Objections

Anticipate Questions

Don’t take it personally 🙂

Document the Call

End the Call With an Action

Follow Up

Make Your Call Matter

Cold Calling Tip #1: Target the Right Prospects

Narrowing down your qualified prospects can take some time, but it’s better than wasting time tearing through a list of contacts you have no chance of closing. You want your prospects to be as qualified as possible to maximize your time and resources.

In addition, ideally, your first contact with a prospect won’t be a cold call. Warm them up by reaching out via other channels first (think InMail, Twitter, email, or a postcard) so that when they do get a call from you, they’re at least somewhat familiar with your name.

Tip #2: Set the Right Expectations and Goals

When you make a cold call, what are you expecting to get from it? If you answered “A sale,” you’re doing it wrong.

Your objective is to get leads so you can move them through your sales funnel. For a cold call to be successful, it should result in a follow-up action, such as scheduling a meeting, setting up a demo, or sending additional information via email. Your goal isn’t to make a sale, but to establish contact and move your lead to the next step. That’s all.

Whatever your goal, it needs to be clear and actionable. Without this, your call is going to be pretty pointless.

I recommend you set a small goal to get you started and celebrate every time you hit it. As your success rate climbs, you can adjust your goals too, and you will see a gradual improvement in your efficiency and success rate.

Tip #3: Use the Right Script

It’s hard work to get prospects on the phone, so when you finally do make contact, the last thing you want to do is botch the opportunity with a terrible sales pitch.

So should you use a script or not?

Many salespeople believe they’ll sound robotic or phony if they use one – but this is usually only true if they don’t practice or use it effectively. The advantage of using a script is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you call a prospect.

Scripts take the guesswork out of what to say when you get your prospects on the line. You’re not wasting valuable time making small talk, adding useless filler, or trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Instead, you’ll be able to stick with your objectives and make it clear why you’re calling. Scripts work very effectively when you think through your sales process and know exactly what you should be saying to turn a cold prospect into a warm lead.

There’s an art to writing an effective sales script, though. Before you decide to use one in your sales organization, make sure you’re working with a professional who can help you get the most out of every word.

Tip #4: PRACTICE, practice, practice.

You must know your product cold.

Know what you’re talking about. Do your research before you start calling potential clients. Understand the problems your product solves and how the potential client will use it – and then practice communicating this with them.

Remember: You have 10-15 seconds to get their attention, so make sure they count.

A lack of practice is where failures tend to happen — either by the sales organization or by the overconfident “how hard can it be to call” sales rep.

The first is a BIG company failure. (That’s not on you, sales rep.) The second can be resolved very fast. (But only if you apply yourself! This one is totally on you, rep.)

Think about actors for a moment…

The best actors in the world practice like crazy before a role. They deep dive into the role and become the character they’re going to play.

In 1989, when Daniel Day-Lewis starred in the film My Left Foot, in which he played an Irishman with cerebral palsy, Lewis did not leave his character’s wheelchair. Crew members were required to spoon-feed him. He also adopted his character’s slumped posture, which eventually caused two of his ribs to break.

I´m not saying you need to go to those extremes, but to become great at your work, you need to practice!

First, make a script. It will help you stay focused, especially in the beginning. Think of the script as your wingman. When you need support, it’s there.

As you grow more comfortable with your script, you’ll start to personalize it. Eventually, you’ll have a unique script that fits within the framework but is all “you.”

Now, let’s look at 3 ways to practice delivering your script.

1. Listen to others and let them listen to you.

This is more helpful than you might realize. Some years ago, I managed an outbound call center, and every time we started a new employee, we quickly got them up to speed by giving them:

A predefined script

1:1 training without the phone (role-playing)

Dedicated time for listening to some of our best reps

Later we let them try it themselves — with one of us listening to them and giving them constructive feedback. Using this approach, you never feel alone. You listen and learn from the best.

2. Practice with your colleagues, manager, etc.

You will find your own style — and the more natural it sounds (be you), the better and more confident you will feel. (And I promise, the people you call will feel it.)

There is also a ton of software that lets you tape your sales calls so it’s easy to review your calls for training and to be sure you follow the script.

3. Focus on your voice.

Remember, on cold calls, you can’t display your body language or facial expressions. Your voice needs to communicate everything. You’ll do that by moderating your pacing, your tone of voice, and your volume.

Pace. Speak a little faster than the person you speak to. That will help them feel like you’re thinking and working in sync. People from different regions can have completely different pacing, so pay attention to the other person’s speaking style, and then adapt to it.

Also, vary your pacing. If you use the same flat pace with no variation, it will sound boring (and scripted). It sounds more conversational to vary your pace, depending on what you’re saying.

Tone of voice. Similarly, you should change your tone, depending on what you are talking about. This can be difficult at first, but when you begin to lower and raise your voice in the right places, it tells your listener that you’re engaged and interested.

Volume. I´m not recommending you scream but speaking out a little louder than you normally would transmit security and confidence

Tip #5: Get Through to the Right Person

This one might sound obvious, but sales reps will know it’s trickier than it sounds.

One of the biggest reasons cold calling can be frustrating is that it can be a struggle to get around gatekeepers. Ideally, this is where your previous outreach via LinkedIn or email can be helpful with name recognition.

Even if you think you know who you’re supposed to be contacting, don’t always assume you have the right person. Your pre-call research should reveal who you need to speak to at a particular company before you call, but job roles change, and sometimes different departments or decision-makers are involved that you might not be aware of.

So it’s important to confirm if the prospect is the appropriate contact as soon as you get them on the line. Just ask them (or the gatekeeper) – and if they aren’t the person you need, hopefully, they’ll be willing to connect you with the right decision-maker.

Take it a step further by asking for an email address or the best time to call so you don’t end up in an endless phone tag session. Remember, it can take an average of eight attempts to connect with someone on the phone and turn them into a lead.

If you have absolutely no idea who you need to talk to, your first priority should obviously be to get a name and a direct line or extension. Auto attendants can be a cold calling goldmine if there’s a company directory you can browse through.

Tip #6: Make Your Reason for Calling Clear Immediately

When your prospect answers, you’ve got about 30 seconds to make a good impression.

According to a recent cold calling challenge, one of the best ways to do this is to say something along the lines of “I know I’m interrupting you; can I have 25 seconds to tell you why I called, and then you can decide whether to hang up or learn more?”

It’s a unique, attention-grabbing “in” that also gives your prospect an “out.”

Tip #7: A Lesson from Stevie Wonder

Weirdly, the #1 cold calling tip can be summed up in an old Stevie Wonder song.

Here’s what I mean by that…

It might not be the first thing you say to someone when you cold call them, but Stevie Wonder nailed it with his lyrics, “I just called to say I love you. I just called to say how much I care.”

My tip? You must have the right mindset.

To truly succeed at cold calling, you need to care about the person on the other end of the line. Treat them as a person, not a phone number. And to express that concern, you need to have a positive mindset.

Think about it…

Your mindset affects your tone of voice. When you’re feeling positive and upbeat, your voice is brighter. When you’re tired, depressed, or angry, it’s flat and less inviting.

All of this gets transmitted to the listener. And it sways them unconsciously to stay on the line… or not.

So Tip #1 is this: Go into your cold calls with the right mindset.

Now, to be clear. It doesn’t change the fact that you’ll get a ton of nos, but as the old saying goes, “No is one step closer to the Yes.“

With the right mindset, you’ll stay positive and upbeat no matter what. Even more important, you’ll brush off negativity and respond to the nos politely and professionally.

Tip #8: Pay Attention to Your Body Language

It seems odd but it works. It’s hard to “fall asleep” or “be boring” when you move your body in the right way.

Here’s how to do this:

Stand up while calling.

Put a smile on your face.

If you have the option to walk around a bit, you will be surprised how much it affects your tone of voice and confidence.

One piece of advice: If you start pacing up and down the office floors, your co-workers may not like it, so make sure it’s ok with your colleagues.

Tip #9: Have a Plan for Handling Objections

You will get objections. Period.

If for no other reason, you’ll get objections because your prospects get calls all the time, and their default response is one of 3 things:

I don’t have time.

Send me an e-mail.

I’m not interested.

So be prepared with a response that disrupts this default pattern. Just make sure it fits into the goal of your call (meeting, trial, or a direct sell).

Tip #10: Anticipate Questions

Similarly, no matter how much you want to stick to your script, if your prospect is engaged then they will have questions.

One of the easiest ways to turn off your prospects is not being able to answer their questions or stumbling over their objections. The best sales reps are forward-thinking about the questions or objections they’re likely to hear and will have responses ready.

This can take some practice, especially for new companies and reps that are just starting a cold calling strategy. Good notes are critical so you can set a baseline for future cold calls.

Tip #11: Don’t take it personally 🙂

Cold calling is a tough job. You’re going to get a lot of Nos. So think about it like this:

The people who give you a well-deserved Yes are one step ahead of their competition (who may have already given you a No). You are making a difference to their business. Well done.

Tip #12: Document the Call

It’s best practice to take notes as you go, but if you’re using a script or otherwise concentrating on the conversation, typing notes into a CRM might not be an option.

Immediately after hanging up, document call details while they’re still fresh in your mind. Don’t leave out anything, even if you think it’s not significant. When you review the call later, those details can really stick out and may create talking points for future conversations.

Alternatively, consider recording your call so you can listen back later to identify important details or see what you could have done better, or have a refresher ahead of your next call.

Tip #13: End the Call With an Action

There should always be a takeaway from every call, for both you and your prospect. Make it as easy as possible for them to follow through, too. For example, if you’ve agreed to set up a follow-up call, utilize a tool like Calendly to share a scheduling link that allows the prospect to easily and automatically select a time that works, without all the back-and-forth.

Tip #14: Follow Up

Regardless of how the call went, send the prospect a quick follow-up email immediately after hanging up to thank them for their time and outline the next steps, if there are any. This extra touchpoint gives them a way to easily contact you and leaves them with a positive impression of you and your company.

If it will be longer than a week before your next touchpoint (i.e. a scheduled meeting, follow-up calls, etc.), send another email prior to the next step to let them know you’re looking forward to your upcoming conversation.

Tip #15: Make Your Call Matter

Get ready, here’s the golden rule. Your call needs to matter. 

Remember, you’re reaching out to people who have no idea who you are or why they should give you their valuable time.

Your objective for the call should be important to the person you’re calling, first and foremost. If there’s something in it for them, you’ll have a much better chance of getting them to take your call.

Bottom Line

Some of these tips may be obvious, and they may sound simplistic. But you’d be surprised at how often they’re forgotten.

    Go to our website:   www.ncmalliance.com

15 B2B Cold Calling Tips to Boost Your Success Rate (& Keep It Fun) Believe it or not, cold calling success isn’t about the script you use or the structure of your call.

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By HR Daily Advisor Content Team

A new survey has found what many of us suspected: A large percentage of the workforce does not want to go back to their office. So many have worked from home for a few months now, and they see no reason they shouldn’t continue working from home.

Sadly for them, only 12% said their time at home has made them want to go back to the office environment. Forty-three percent said they would want to work remotely more often going forward, and another 35% said they would be OK with going back to their formal schedule. The survey was conducted by getAbstract and sought to understand something simple: Will employees want to return home when the pandemic ends? I think some employers are hoping that being trapped at home will make employees want to come back to the office.

It should be added that 8% of respondents indicated they had already been working remotely full time. That number is staggeringly low when you consider that some estimates put current work-from-home rates at 50%.

Will Employers Remain Flexible?

Experts have been extolling the value of working from home for quite some time now, but it seems no one was ready to listen. The major factors have always been work/life balance and flexibility. Respondents were asked what they thought their workplace would be like with regard to flexibility after the epidemic is over.

Some remain positive that their workplace will allow more flexibility after COVID-19. Twenty percent indicated they were aware of discussions surrounding this topic among leadership and that it has been communicated to employees. Another 26% say they do expect more flexibility after COVID-19, but plans for that flexibility have not been communicated. The largest percentage, 31%, believe their organization was not flexible before and won’t be after either.

Why Do Employees Want to Work Remotely Full or Part-Time?

Participants were asked why they want to work remotely all or part of the time after the pandemic is over. The top response by far—at 55%—was the desire not to have to commute. As someone who has been on a Manhattan-bound train at 7 a.m. on a weekday, I cannot stress this point enough. Other top responses included having a more flexible schedule (48%), being more productive (37%), and having more time with friends and family (34%).

Potential Downsides to Working from Home

Survey-takers were asked if they foresaw any downsides to working from home after COVID-19. The top response, given by 27%, as they would feel isolated. Another 20% said telecommuting technology doesn’t always work well, and 19% said it would be hard to feel connected to their company.

Final Thoughts

When this is all over and organizations start hiring all of those unemployed workers, remember that those employers that retain flexible arrangements will appear more attractive to candidates. You can view more of the results here.

  Go to our website:   www.ncmalliance.com

I’m Not Going Back to the Office By HR Daily Advisor Content Team A new survey has found what many of us suspected: A large percentage of the workforce does not want to go back to their office.

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Please take advantage of this super program provided to you at NO COST.   It will add a spark to your team. One of Over 101 presentations released every Monday.

I know it will be a huge benefit to your sales team and papers.  Several small papers have told me, they have no resources to attend conferences and meetings or to provide training, but your sales team needs the encouragement and communication to help bring them to the next level in your organization.

Many of you I have spoken with, will take the material and use it to train NEW salespeople, who join your team later, to jump-start them.  I insist you add your own stories to the presentation as well. Plus, many of you want to do a Sales Training Manual to share with NEW employees and the current team as well.  Having the Digital files will help you keep these files on hand plus add more of your own material.

This material is EASY to present at your Sales Meetings and I am sure your team will look forward to seeing and hearing them plus it shows you are interested in their personal growth for your company. Again, just add your own stories along with the presentation.

I hope in my small way to give back… I have helped you, your Team, your Organization, and Our Associations, many of us belong to.

J.W. Owens

          Starting Monday…Every Monday – “A Perspective 101 Series” Training Series Please take advantage of this super program provided to you at NO COST.   It will add a spark to your team.

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Learn more about Paws With A Cause and to find out how you can help

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by Rob Steffens

When it comes to relationships, most are like coffee – the warmer, the better!

That’s definitely the case when you want to connect with a decision-maker by phone.

For decades, cold calling was seen as one of the most powerful tools in any sales pro’s kit. However, even in its heyday, cold calling had a dark side.

It took up a tremendous amount of time and energy for the seller and prospective buyers alike. And, the average salesperson dreaded making those calls, and the average buyer dreaded receiving them. It’s a lose-lose situation.

A tiny handful of sales experts may have built successful businesses on the back of cold calling, but for each one who did, there were hundreds or thousands who simply wasted their time.

Today, cold calling is being supplanted by a much more valuable alternative: Warm calling.

What Is Warm Calling?

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Warm calling is an approach to prospecting that puts relationship-building first by highlighting common interests.

When you come in cold, you are asking someone who has never heard of you before to sacrifice an uncertain amount of their time for a conversation they have no reason to look forward to.

On the other hand, warm calling ensures a prospect has an enticing taste of the value you can offer.

When companies embrace warm calling along with an end-to-end inbound marketing strategy, they build deeper customer relationships on a foundation of respect.

Warm Calling vs. Cold Calling: What’s the Difference?

It’s not just a temperature thing.

Cold calling and warm calling fall on completely different sides of the spectrum when it comes to prospecting. Here are some of the biggest differences:

Interruptive vs. Invited

This is the biggest thing that distinguishes a cold call: It’s an interruption.

The seller picks out a name, dials a number, and expects to be patched through immediately. Attempts to find the “best day” to make a call hardly softens the underlying assumption that others owe you their time.

Unlike cold calls, the best warm calling comes after buyers show an interest in what you offer. Ideally, this means a personal recommendation from someone they trust – but that’s not the only way. Buyers often signal interest when interacting with your content.

For example, if someone downloads The Ultimate Blogging Checklist offer, they have signaled a pain. They want to start blogging, or they’re interested in what’s needed to start blogging efficiently.

Demographics and Patterns vs. Personalized Research

Cold calling is usually adopted as a way to hurry through the sales process as quickly as possible.

To capitalize on the expected time savings, cold callers generally look at statistics like company size, industry, region, and recent buys. They know little (or nothing) about the individual buyer.

With warm calling, you use personal insight to create a genuine connection with a buyer.

You can see what pages on your website he or she has read, for example. Researching the challenges and opportunities confronting the prospect can help you foster trust.

Early in the Process vs. Later in the Process

The theory behind cold calling is that you can “drum up” business.

Cold callers don’t really expect to connect with someone interested in a solution like theirs: Instead, they want to create a desire that’s not there. Thus, cold calling is early in the sales process … often, step zero.

On the other end, warm calling is a natural outgrowth of an ongoing relationship with your brand. It’s up to you to find the sweet spot where prospects know a bit about you and are ready to have a meaningful conversation.

“Seller First” Worldview vs. “Buyer First” Worldview

Cold calling is all about the seller’s needs. If you’re not interested in a given solution – or don’t even think you have a problem – that’s ok.

As long as you fit the profile, you are a prospective buyer, and the seller will do everything possible to exhaust (“overcome”) your objections.

The final goal of warm calling is to motivate sales, of course, but the strategy is very different.

When you warm call, you acknowledge not everyone is a good customer for you. Open-ended questions and active listening are crucial to truly hear what buyers have to say.

7 Warm Calling Tips That Will Get Your Prospects Talking

3 Things to Look For Before the Call

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Warm calling starts by selecting a prospect based on your business goals. The more carefully you’ve considered your buyer personas and segmented your list of prospective buyers, the better.

Once you’ve identified a prospect, it’s time to dive into his or her background as much as you can.

You’re on the hunt for some “kindling” you can use to spark a professional relationship.

That usually means one of three things:

1. A Trigger Event

A trigger event is a change in the prospect’s business situation that causes them to have new or unmet needs.

Trigger events can be positive or negative. Although it’s a lot easier to get people to talk about positive events, negative ones can be even more urgent.

Some of these include:

The opening of a new office or retail location – locally, out of state, or internationally.

The launch of a product (or other steps in product development, like test marketing.)

A new industry award, honor, or major publication on a respected industry platform.

Downloading content from your website that highlights their pain/challenges.

Trigger events are usually related to the company as a whole. Your goal is to figure out how the individual prospect fits in: When you can talk about how their individual effort contributes to corporate goals, your conversation partner will know you invested real effort.

2. A Common Connection

In virtually any sales or marketing situation, the best advantage is to come recommended.

Sites like LinkedIn make it incredibly easy for you to find common connections. However, this does introduce another step that can take a few days.

Many LinkedIn users add people they don’t know personally, so you should message the common contact first.

If you find your contact has strong first-hand insights about your prospect, it might even make sense to have them introduce you via email or LinkedIn. This way, you can segue into requesting a conversation with some momentum behind you. You’re much less likely to get rejected.

3. A Common Interest

If you can’t find anything big and strategic to talk about, it’s ok.

You can set up a warm calling by introducing something you have in common. This is where you can deploy your knowledge of your prospects’ achievements, for example – if they gave a speech or they won an award, attribute that to them, not just the company at large.

Common interests can include anything from where you grew up to where you went to school. Some of the best warm calling experts routinely bond with their prospects over their shared love of basketball.

It’s not right for everyone, but it means you get people talking about a subject that interests them.

No matter what approach you take, this is the part of the warm calling that makes it warm. You want to start discussing the prospect’s world, then get him or her to agree to a quick phone call.

4 Things to Do During the Call

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The opening minutes of a warm call can make a tremendous difference in the outcome. Luckily, you’re much more likely to reach your goals this way than if you called up out of the blue!

Remember these pointers:

1. Remind the Person Who You Are.

Decision-makers, especially in B2B, have a lot on their plate. They could have a dozen calls and meetings in a single day.

It might seem obvious, but the first thing you should do is ensure they remember how you met. If you built rapport, the recollection starts you off on the right foot.

2. Ask Open-Ended Questions.

On a warm call, asking lots of open-ended questions is especially important.

You should think of this as a “discovery call,” since you might have limited information about the prospect’s needs. This helps you tailor your answers (and your solution) to the situation at hand.

3. Listen and Reflect.

Active listening is vital on a warm call.

When you set up the call, you give your prospects an invitation to talk about what matters to them: What they need to be done, fixed, or solved right now is usually near the top of that list. Repeat key phrases so they know you are absorbing everything.

4. Shift the Conversation Slowly.

A cold call often turns adversarial as the caller tries to get a word in edgewise over the prospect. With a warm call, be prepared for the possibility that 75 percent of the conversation may be the prospects talking.

Once they’ve got it all out of their system, shifting to solutions is easier.

Warm Calling: It’s Just Plain Better

When it comes to convenience for your prospect and better outcomes for both of you, warm calling blows cold calling out of the water.

Plus, it sets the tone for a productive, long-lasting relationship – and that’s the inbound way of doing business.

Although a warm call has several steps and requires a lot more research than the average cold call, it’s likely to double or even triple your response rate. Your follow-up emails and calls are also more likely to inspire action on the part of qualified leads and current customers.

If it seems complicated or you hit a snag, remember the golden rules:

Take a genuine interest in others and…

Always look for ways to add value!

  Go to our website:    www.ncmalliance.com

7 Warm Calling Tips Guaranteed to Get Your Prospects Talking by Rob Steffens When it comes to relationships, most are like coffee – the warmer, the better!

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By HR Daily Advisor Content Team

It’s just a matter of time before organizations start opening their doors to employees and customers again. The way they reopen, however, can make all the difference between a safe and unsafe workplace. The National Safety Council in concert with the Safe Actions for Employee Returns (SAFER) task force has identified 10 universal actions every employer must consider before reopening.

Phasing. Rather than having everyone rush back to the office all at once, consider creating a phased transition to return to work aligned with risk and exposure levels. Here are a few suggestions:

Have a certain percentage of the workforce come in on certain days. For example, have 50% of your employees come in on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The rest could come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Then switch every other week. This will prevent your office from being crowded.

Have certain percentages come in each week for a week. For example, have 25% of your employees come in for a week and get trained and used to new safety procedures. Then have them work from home the next week, and bring a different 25% in for the same thing. By the end of the month, you will have everyone trained while minimizing exposure. Then you can switch to another schedule.

Screenings. Before employees return, disinfect the workplace. That means having all surfaces professionally cleaned, considering air purification systems, and other precautions. Make sure you have a plan for regularly disinfecting the workplace. Also make any physical alterations needed for physical distancing, such as spreading out desks and workspaces and analyzing whether confined spaces like conference rooms or individual offices are safe for more than one person to be in at a time. There should be people in charge of maintaining these physical alterations, as the hustle and bustle of the workplace might move those alterations or prove they are inadequate.

Screenings. Develop a health status screening process for all employees. Use the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for developing this process, and remember that even healthy-looking people might be infected. Have a plan for making sure you don’t leave yourself open for infection because you overlooked important details like these.

Hygiene. Create a plan to handle sick employees, and encourage safe behaviors for good hygiene and infection control. That includes hand-washing, making hand sanitizer and personal protective equipment (PPE) readily available, and being prepared to stay up to date on the latest guidance from the CDC and other professionals on best practices.

Tracing. Follow proper contact-tracing steps if workers get sick to curb the spread of COVID-19. The CDC has guidance for contact tracing, including training plans.

Mental health. Commit to supporting the mental and emotional health of your workers by sharing support resources and policies. That includes reexamining what mental health-related benefits your organizations offer and effectively communicating the existence of those benefits to your employees. Make sure you stress the discrete nature of many of those benefits to help combat a lack of participation due to anxiety of retaliation or being exposed.

Training. Train leaders and supervisors not only on the fundamentals of safety, such as risk assessment and hazard recognition but also on the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health and well-being, as employees will feel the effects of the pandemic long after it is over. Make sure you adjust your training as new guidance and procedures become available. Consider methods of reinforcing training on a regular schedule.

Engagement plan. Notify employees in advance of the return to work, and consider categorizing workers into different groups based on job roles, bringing groups back one at a time. Be careful about how you categorize workers, ensuring you are not grouping people based on a protected class. Make sure you are sensitive to employees who might be at a higher risk of having serious complications should they contract COVID-19. Brush up on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other laws that pertain to such individuals to be certain you are both being sensitive to the needs of your employees and protecting yourself from litigation.

Communication. Develop a communications plan to be open and transparent with workers on your return-to-work process. Consider a multifaceted communication approach. That includes e-mails, announcements on the intranet, social media posts, and even phone calls and text messages. Get all managers on board with your plan so you can better coordinate your efforts.

Assessment. Outline the main factors your organization is using as guidance to provide a simplistic structure to the extremely complex return-to-work decision. The more organized you are before you start rolling out these new policies and procedures and bringing people back into the workplace, the better able you will be to handle unexpected complications and unforeseen consequences.

Of critical importance to every one of these steps is your ability to be flexible and adaptive. The nature of the epidemic has changed drastically over the last few months. It will continue to change as we are met with new challenges but also new solutions and a better understanding of the disease. Make sure you build the ability to change into your procedures and have a structured and measured way to incorporate changes as they arise.

  Go to our website:   www.ncmalliance.com

10 Things Every Employer Needs to Do Before Reopening By HR Daily Advisor Content Team It’s just a matter of time before organizations start opening their doors to employees and customers again.

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A listing of some of the PowerPoint Show and PDFs presentations of “A Perspective 101 Series” A Preview VIDEO  Click below A listing of some of the PowerPoint presentations and PDFs…

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Experts weigh in on approaching difficult conversations around mask-wearing, social distancing, and other safety protocols.

  BY DIANA SHI

As coronavirus rates continue to skyrocket across the United States, many of us are following protective measures, such as washing our hands frequently and wearing masks. But despite the evidence that mask-wearing and social distancing decrease COVID-19 infection rates, not everyone is doing their part. In a recent Gallup poll, 18% of Americans said they either “rarely” or “never” wear a mask when outside their homes.

So how do you respond when your fellow grocery shopper, coworker, or even your friends and family are sliding back on—or choosing to actively ignore—safety precautions?

According to two experts—Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton and Laurie Weingart, educators specializing in intergroup relations and conflict, respectively—these situations can be fraught and can depend greatly on the situation.

Here are some tips for approaching these nuanced conversations effectively: 

HOW TO TALK WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY

Despite climbing case numbers, many people are understandably missing the social aspect of normal life. Finding ways to connect with others is important to personal well-being, especially in stressful times. But it’s important to know that risk is a spectrum, and some social activities are more dangerous than others. If you’re considering a socially distant meeting, set expectations beforehand with your friends or family.

To start, both experts we spoke to recommend beginning the conversation from a place of respect. “By the time you’ve gotten to the bar or the party with your friend group, it’s probably a little late,” says Mendoza-Denton. “I would advocate for setting the norms and making those norms clear before you engage in the activity. Once you get that initial agreement, you can move forward. And if you can’t reach that agreement, then you have a choice of either excluding [those people] or taking yourself out of the equation.”

Your friends and family may disagree over mask-wearing and social distancing because of divergent ideas over individual needs. Weingart, a professor of organizational behavior and theory at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, says excavating these root causes can help people better manage tense situations. She says, “We have this big conflict over wearing a mask, social distancing when in reality this is a conflict between ‘Do you care about me and my safety?’ versus ‘Do I care about you in terms of your autonomy?’”

These different ideas can create a lack of understanding without proper conversation. “If we don’t surface those things, as well as how we’re going to address both simultaneously, we’re never going to solve the problem of under what circumstances should we wear masks, social distance, et cetera.”

When having difficult conversations, especially with people you’re close with, try your best to catch them at a time when you believe they aren’t on the defensive. “It takes a certain skill to talk with someone with empathy while invoking empathy for them. You have to choose your moments,” says Mendoza-Denton, who is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

“If you are out with a group of friends, it’s better to try to talk with that person at a moment when they are ready and when they are not defensive and there is a feeling of closeness among each other.”

In the case of entering into social gatherings where it can be difficult to control your surroundings, and thus the potential presence of the coronavirus, preparation is the first step. From there, try your best to set expectations of wearing masks and limiting the number of people within a six-feet-distance beforehand. It may be helpful to choose a place where mask mandates and other health protocols are established and enforced. This way, you won’t need to take on the weighty mantle of “rule enforcer.”

If you want to talk openly with your friends, pay attention to your tone. Between expressing yourself and emphasizing and keeping the conversation even-keeled, it’s a complex balancing act. Weingart emphasizes “keeping a lid on the intensity of things, so things don’t escalate—but at the same time be direct in sharing your concerns.”

Keep in mind, if your friends and you have had difficult conversations in the past and survived, this is a similar case where you shouldn’t be scared of talking. In fact, research shows that people frequently mispredict other people’s reactions to open and honest communication.

HOW TO TALK WITH COWORKERS

As people begin to return to offices, more people will be navigating these tricky conversations with coworkers as well.

With your work colleagues, Weingart suggests focusing initially on the positive, including practicing active listening and empathy and taking into consideration shared goals. If you notice a coworker is not wearing a mask or washing their hands frequently, you shouldn’t jump down the person’s throat immediately—especially since this may result in a defensive response.

Instead, consider that your coworker could be temporarily slipping up and is not intentionally neglecting the rules. Approach your colleague with non-constraining language—avoid “should” phrases—and give them the insight to empathize with you. You might share that you are at risk or live with individuals at risk of contracting the virus.

“You’re not immediately going in and pointing out someone’s mistakes or accusing them of bad behavior. You’re going back [to them] with the understanding they’re just not coming from the same place you are,” says Weingart.

When having these conversations with coworkers, addressing shared goals will give you a mutual jumping-off point. For instance, you can bring up your goal of “staying healthy” or “stopping the spread of the virus” and see if your colleague is on the same page. Ideally, you and your coworker can agree on these basics of overcoming the pandemic.

When finding a setting for these discussions, choose a place out of public view, so it doesn’t feel like one person is ganging upon another, which can escalate a conversation into an argument.

Finally, if all else fails, Mendoza-Denton says deferring to management or other authoritative bodies is always an option—especially if your workplace has already instated clear guidelines. “I don’t advocate being the person on the moral high ground in a situation where there is a clear institutional directive,” he says. “You can bring up your concern once, but then it is better to call management and make sure they enforce it. It’s your right to be protected by the company and let them deal with it.”

To help prevent uncomfortable exchanges among workers, your management should focus on setting safety precedents, by making preparations before the workspace reopens. This means instituting official policies but also modeling norms-based behavior they want to see in their employees. Also, managers shouldn’t forget that many of these health measures are not fully ingrained. Many employees will need reminding.

Says Weingart, “Putting up signs around the office might seem silly and redundant, but I think they’re really helpful to help to remind people that, ‘Oh yeah, I need to wash my hands or use hand sanitizer regularly. I need to keep my mask on.’”

HOW TO TALK WITH STRANGERS IN PUBLIC SPACES

With many states reopening on different timelines, public spaces can feel distinctly unsafe. When you’re going to the grocery store, post office, or restaurants, both experts emphasize focusing on situations you can control. If you encounter someone who is failing to abide by health measures, you can politely request that they put on a mask one time. But after that, do not feel pressure to mediate the situation yourself.

It may be time to extricate yourself or hand over enforcement to a manager or authority within the public space. “In order to avoid an argument, the best option may be to disengage and call management, as hard as it may be. It’s management’s responsibility to enforce social distancing rules,” says Mendoza-Denton.

Particularly in instances where you’re interacting with strangers, it can be very difficult to determine how receptive a person would be to speaking politely or opening themselves to another perspective. However, if you feel uncomfortable around the fact they are not wearing a mask or social distancing, the behavior in itself is an indicator. Says Mendoza-Denton, “With strangers, in particular, you don’t have the dimension of knowing when they are more ready to listen. But if they’re not wearing a mask or social distancing, it tells you about their likely attitudes.”

If your exchange with a stranger becomes heated, take a moment to review the stakes of the situation: Do I need to be at this restaurant or park? Can I come back tomorrow to pick up this grocery item? When another person escalates an exchange into an argument, a smart response is a calm, nonantagonistic reaction.

“There’s nothing so important we’re doing in a grocery store that we can’t just walk away,” says Weingart. “I think it takes the air out of people when you ignore them, and it gives them oxygen when you react.”

Ultimately, your job is to protect your own health and priorities. While other people may make decisions which go against guidelines or don’t make sense to you, don’t feel pressure to fix things if your own health is in jeopardy. “In the heat of the moment, it can be very difficult to have these conversations,” says Mendoza-Denton. “But it’s important to keep in mind, it’s not your responsibility to expose yourself to vitriol or potential personal harm.”

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    How to ask friends, coworkers, and strangers to wear a mask Experts weigh in on approaching difficult conversations around mask-wearing, social distancing, and other safety protocols. BY DIANA SHI…

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As Director of the Revenue Enablement Institute and member of the Forbes CMO Practice, I teach growth leaders how to grow revenues, profits, and firm value and maximize the return on growth assets and investments.

The coronavirus is battering the economy and creating uncertainty about future demand. The global economy is forecast to contract by 3% as billions of employees, customers, and consumers are unable to leave their homes, travel, shop or in some cases work. This has paralyzed entire industries, although created opportunities for others. The uncertainty about the future is so great that 20% of the corporations in the S&P1500 have withdrawn investor guidance on revenues and profits for the coming year.

Every economic crisis has both winners and losers warns Dave Reibstein, Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School of Business. “During various major crises that affect the economy—9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, and now the global spread of Covid-19 – all the players in the economy are not affected equally. Certainly, large segments like retail, restaurants, and travel are negatively impacted; but, there also will be economic benefactors with Covid-19. Some of the obvious businesses that gain sales are hand sanitizers, remote communications technology, home food delivery, and streaming services, just to name a few. Still, others will adapt to seize the opportunity in the crisis. We are already seeing a variety of businesses pivoting their focus to help scale drug testing and health care capacity, supporting the virtual enterprise, or plugging holes in broken supply chains.

In a crisis like this, leaders must laser-focus their organizations on survival, employee health, liquidity, protecting customer relationships, and maintaining supply chains. For the past 90 days, sales and marketing leaders around the globe have been leading crisis task forces to understand and manage the immediate impact the Covid-19 virus is having on-demand and consequently on sales and marketing resource allocation, budgets, investments, and plans.

  REVENUE ENABLEMENT INSTITUTE

In addition to making painful budget choices, growth leaders must also remain aware of the structural changes going on around them and keep an eye on the long term. Because when the “bottom” comes into sight in several months, every business will turn their attention to rebuilding and adapting to the new normal. “Many of the gains made during the crisis will become permanent” notes Reibstein. “For example, we can fully expect a faster transition to virtual meetings, classrooms, and selling models that will become permanent after the crisis is long past. Direct online selling will get a boost that will not just rebound back to its pre-disease levels, but we will find a hysteresis, that is a long-term effect.

Mo Katibeh, the CMO of AT&T agrees. “We are seeing a variety of businesses benefit from the dramatic increases in usage of video games, OTT streaming video, and unified communications in the wake of shelter-in-place orders. And longer term, we expect that telehealth and tele-learning will gain a strong foothold in a post-Covid economy. There will also be secondary effects of changing behavior – such as the accelerated growth of available but not yet broadly adopted technologies like robotics in retail, augmented reality in selling channels, and as a training enabler, and Business 5G deployed at hospitals, factories, and entertainment venues.”

There are seven questions every growth leader needs to be asking at the dawn of the Covid-19 economy to anticipate the short, medium, and long-term impacts on their growth potential and strategies.

1 HOW CAN MY FIRM CONTRIBUTE TO THE SOLUTION? In the wake of the coronavirus, companies are either victims, essential services to surviving the crisis, or quickly pivoting to become part of the solution and recovery. CMOs must ask to what degree is their business able to solve problems and provide relief to build customer goodwill, reinforce their brand purpose, and support their corporate social responsibility agenda? “A lot of our clients are looking for help pivoting to reposition in this environment and take advantage of opportunities, address existential threats, and invent new services and solutions that address the disruption caused by the Covid-19 outbreak,” according to toEd Keller. “Our clients are largely trying to either maintain essential services/functions in a remote work environment or rushing to position for aid from the $2 Trillion CARES act. I’m using Maslow’s hierarchy as an example – people are focused on meeting basic, existential needs; clients aren’t interested in strategy work or even mundane operating improvements. They are really focused on running the basic machinery.

2 IS THIS THE TIME TO BE CUTTING? As the economic toll of Covid-19 mounts, there will be constant pressure to reduce “unnecessary” expenses. “Every business is taking a hard look at all spending, including sales and marketing, to survive in the Covid-19 crisis,” reports Chris Hummel, the CMO of United Rentals. “We’re no different. Marketing can be a particularly juicy target for cost-cutting, especially since the cuts are considered “painless.” Not so fast. Cuts in marketing usually drag down demand and sales, so what happens when the revenue hole created outweighs cost savings?” Professor Reibstein reminds business leaders with the luxury of retaining marketing spend to consider the opportunities a crisis like this presents. “Cost cuts are inevitable in the crisis and marketing expenditures are often fungible. That said, while others are spending less, it makes whatever spending remains more effective,” according to Reibstein. “Those that invested during the 2008 financial crisis, thrived while others fled. “Share of voice” will never be greater. Massive industries, such as all travel-related as well as political advertising are down considerably at the same time people are in front of their screens more than ever and attention may never be greater. This may be the time to invest, that is if the business can afford to.”

3 HOW DO WE LEAD AND ENABLE REMOTE REVENUE TEAMS IN A CRISIS? Managing, coaching, and motivating sales, call center, and service employees in a work in the home environment are creating immense challenges for sales leaders. “From a sales channel perspective, organizations are quickly adapting to having tens of thousands of salespeople, call-center representatives, and customer support agents working from home, shares Mo Katibeh of AT&T. “They are rushing to provide their front-line customer-facing employees with the systems, support, and communications infrastructure they need to engage, retain, and acquire customers in a work at home setting. This includes fundamental hardware like PCs, mobility enabled hot spots, collaboration applications, and remote access VPN capability to give them the secure and scalable access to the applications, systems, networks, and databases they need to do their jobs from home productively as well as support high quality videoconferencing experiences.”

4 WHERE WILL CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT COME FROM? Sales teams will need to replace the millions of face-to-face sales meetings that vanished with restrictions on business travel and the cancellation, delay, or digital conversion of thousands of industry conferences, events, and forums. For example, SXSW canceled its annual event which draws 280,000 attendees. “A big change will be adapting to selling without the benefit of face-to-face interaction in sales meetings or the many sales conferences, events, or trade shows in the industries we serve” shares Ed Keller, the CMO of Guidehouse. “In particular our relationship leaders are facing challenging times when forced to work remotely because they rely heavily on in-person buyer engagement to build the trust needed to acquire net new client relationships.”

5 WHERE WILL THE MEDIA EYEBALLS COME FROM? CMOs must find ways to replace the billions of “live eyeballs” that were lost with the cancellation or delay of live sports, entertainment, and arts sponsorship events to build awareness and demand for their offerings. Before the coronavirus struck, brands were forecasted to invest over $68 Billion in sports, entertainment, cause, and event sponsorship properties in 2020. Since then, thousands of these events have been canceled or delayed – including the delay of the Tokyo Olympics – where brands had invested over $5Billion to reach a global audience – and the cancellation of March Madness.

6 HOW QUICKLY CAN WE DEVELOP AND SCALE DIGITAL SELLING CHANNELS? How and how quickly can your organization develop and enable digital and virtual selling channels has emerged as a critical issue in a market where these channels have become essential to transacting with work-at-home buyers and consumers. In general, we’re seeing businesses that embraced digital-first business models are doing much better than those that did not,” reports Joe Galvin, the Chief Research Officer of Vistage Worldwide. “Businesses that invested in building a strong digital infrastructure are benefiting from this dynamic because they have the ability to support DTC commerce and virtual selling models.” Chris Hummel views scaling back on digital channel investment as an existential risk. “Customers are moving online. They expect a great experience online. And increasingly want to buy online. Remote working in the wake of the coronavirus is only going to accelerate this shift. Before the crisis, some reports suggest that 12% of the sales of B2B products and services across industries were online. That number will only grow in the new normal. So, the impact of digital cuts on revenue will be dramatic and quick.” 

7 WHEN IS THE BOTTOM AND WHEN SHOULD I START REINVESTING? The big questions are when is the bottom and when should we begin to reinvest?” according to Joe Galvin. “Business leaders will stay focused on crisis management until we find the bottom of this one and can assess the damage and determine how long they can survive at this velocity. CEOs are asking when will we have a line of sight on when the pandemic is under control so we can shift from crisis to recovery and reactivate face-to-face events, sponsorships, and selling channels as part of the go-to-market mix.” Professor Reibstein reinforces the importance of getting this timing right. “ It’s a very difficult balance for a business leader. Do we wait until the bottom, or do we start reinvesting before we get there? Do we have to wait until full recovery, or will that be too late? Will the cost to regain lost ground be higher than it would have been if we had invested earlier? Mo Katibeh at AT&T shares the same perspective. “Tactically, we’re starting to ask when we will hit peak usage because there are only so many remote users and so many minutes of use in a day. The good news is so far the networks are handling this traffic well. Beyond that, when the “COVID winter” will end, what steps they need to take in the recovery and what stasis (the new normal) will look like are all open but critical questions right now. In a strategic sense, these short-term changes in usage are not the only dynamic to look at. We anticipate the response to the virus will bring about fundamental and long-lasting changes to the mix and composition of traffic over corporate and consumer communications networks, and the infrastructure that underlies them.

To help CMOs lead in the crisis and keep an eye on the long-term while addressing the short-term, Professor David Reibstein of the Wharton Business School has been conducting research with senior leaders to get management insights on the short, medium and long-term impacts the coronavirus will have on sales and marketing strategies, resource allocation, budgets, investments, and plans. Marketing leaders can learn more about his findings and participate in the study at this link.

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  Seven Questions Every Growth Leader Needs To Ask In The Wake Of The Covid Crisis As Director of the Revenue Enablement Institute and member of the Forbes CMO Practice, I teach growth leaders how to grow revenues, profits, and firm value and maximize the return on growth assets and investments.

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BY MOHIT TATER

When identifying the traits that make a good leader, there is one quality that immediately rises to the top of the list, and that is confidence. This element of human behavior is the defining principle that precisely defines what a leader is. However, there are also many other lesser aspects that many great leaders throughout history have shared. In this article, ten other attributes found in powerful leaders will be examined so that a more well-defined concept of this topic can be better developed.

1. Peaceful Bravery

There is a significant difference between arrogant courage and peaceful bravery. Oftentimes, arrogance does not always provide emotional stability and is often difficult to maintain. However, true bravery is filled with peace and allows leaders to remain calm and collected in the middle of a chaotic storm, so they can make correct decisions and overcome a greater number of the adversities that they must constantly face.

2. Ability to Communicate in Many Ways

Great leaders know how to speak. They also know how to listen. They also know how to steer conversations and ask the right questions at the appropriate times. There are many different forms of communication, and a great leader is a master of each one. This communicative ability is highly intuitive and is not something that can be taught in the classroom.

3. Inner Knowledge

It has been said that a wise man knows others; however, an enlightened man knows himself. This is true with almost every great leader that has ever walked on the face of the earth. If a leader is not completely honest with himself, then he will not have the mental fortitude required to lead others. In addition, he will not have the wisdom to maintain any level of power for a sustained period of time.

4. Having a Mission and Sharing It

One of the things that draws people to leaders is that they have grand visions and want to share their dreams with their followers so they can all work together to make them come true. Many people enjoy having a shared purpose with other people, and great leaders make this happen.

5. Know-How to Delegate

This could very well be the most important skill of a magnificent leader. Mighty leaders know they only have so much time and limited resources with what they can do by themselves. However, they know what areas they can assign to subordinate managers, and they intuitively know how to select the correct candidates for these roles.

6. Inspire Others

Leaders inspire others. More precisely, leaders have innate qualities that cause others to do things for them. These qualities are usually personality traits and superior oratory skills; however, the greatest leaders supplement these qualities by having a virtuous lifestyle that is free from excess.

7. Learn From Other Great Individuals

The leaders who know that they do not know everything are the wisest leaders of all because they know that they must learn from other great minds in order to keep growing as individuals. In addition, many leaders also know how to learn from regular individuals. Knowledge is knowledge, and quite often, there are lots of important things that normal people have learned. True leaders are quite aware of this phenomenon and will learn from anyone who possesses real knowledge.

8. Be Punctual

Leaders are always early. In fact, many leaders state that if they are early, then they are on time; however, if they are on time, then they are late.

9. Stay Informed About Current Events

Leaders are immersed in all of the world around them. They do not live in bubbles. They are aware of all of the current events around the globe because everything is interconnected and relevant to each other.

10. Experiment With Well-Defined Boundaries

While leaders are continually experimenting with different things, they know that they must keep these experiments within zones of practical safety. To experiment beyond these boundaries has led to the downfall of many great individuals throughout history.

This article is represented by MidTerm.us academic term paper writing company.

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10 Habits That Make a Good Leader BY MOHIT TATER When identifying the traits that make a good leader, there is one quality that immediately rises to the top of the list, and that is confidence.

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Quote of the Week Go to our website:   www.ncmalliance.com

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By DCG Communications

A rundown of the financial programs and guidance available through the SBA for small businesses recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic

Our nation’s small businesses are emerging from an unprecedented economic disruption due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is dedicated to helping small businesses get back on their feet. Below are resources and services to support you during this challenging time.

Financial Resources

The loss of income from COVID-19 has presented significant obstacles to small business owners and their employees. SBA programs that have helped offset the economic impact from COVID-19 include:

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP): Accepting new applications through August 8, the PPP is an SBA-backed forgivable loan that has helped small businesses and non-profits continue to pay their employees during the COVID-19 outbreak. The PPP Flexibility Act, passed last month, has extended the covered period for loan forgiveness to 24 weeks after the loan disbursement and lowered the amount of loan proceeds that must be used for payroll costs from 75% to 60%. Forgiveness is mostly based on the employer maintaining or quickly rehiring employees and maintaining salary levels. Forgiveness will be reduced if full-time headcount declines, or if salaries and wages decrease. The loan forgiveness form and instructions include several measures to reduce compliance burdens and simplify the process for borrowers.

Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL):  EIDL helps small businesses overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These loans can be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster (and that aren’t already covered by a PPP loan).

SBA Express Bridge Loans: These loans allow small businesses who already have a business relationship with an SBA Express Lender to quickly access up to $25,000.

SBA Debt Relief: As part of SBA’s relief efforts, the agency will automatically pay the principal, interest, and fees of current 7(a), 504, and microloans for a period of six months. SBA will also automatically pay the principal, interest, and fees of new 7(a), 504, and microloans issued prior to September 27, 2020.

SBA also works with lending partners to provide SBA-guaranteed export loans. These loans – such as Export Express loans – can help to export businesses respond to opportunities and challenges associated with trade, including COVID-19.

Educational Resources and Local Assistance

In addition to funding options, there are a variety of educational resources available for business owners seeking guidance on how to stay afloat and safely reopen. Guidance for federal contractors affected by COVID-19 is available here. Small business owners can refer to CDC guidelines on how to protect your workforce during the outbreak and the CDC’s decision tree for businesses preparing to reopen.

For step-by-step help navigating SBA relief and loan programs – and for advice on how to manage other aspects of your business during this time – connect with a local SBA resource partner. The SBA resource partner network (including SCORE, Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, and Veterans Business Outreach Centers) is offering business consulting, mentoring, and training services remotely via video chat and phone.

Resource partners are also providing webinars, blogs, and other helpful content for small businesses, including:

Small Business Resilience Hub (SCORE)

Checklist: Reopening Your Small Business After the Coronavirus Shutdown (SCORE)

COVID-19 Small Business Resources (SBDCs)

Federal Resources for US Small Businesses (SBDCs and WBCs)

This is an extraordinary time for all Americans, especially small business owners. SBA is committed to supporting you every step of the way as our country emerges from this pandemic. Ongoing updates regarding COVID-19 resources for small businesses can be found at sba.gov/coronavirus.

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COVID-19 Resources for Small Businesses By DCG Communications A rundown of the financial programs and guidance available through the SBA for small businesses recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic…

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BY JOE VENNARE

Are you a leader?

Some people hold a leadership position. And, while most aspire to lead, others just lead regardless of their job title.

That’s because real leadership goes beyond a title.

Leadership brings with it the illusion of power and prestige. In reality, unless a leader is able to rally others, said leader is nothing more than a figurehead. Anyone who can bring the necessary people and pieces together in order to fulfill a vision and accomplish a task is a leader – no matter their title.

Of course, uniting people in pursuit of a shared goal is easier said than done. And, the approach to getting the job done differs. You could simply call yourself a leader, and then order others to follow your lead. Or, you could inspire others to follow your lead.

  You Must Learn to be the Kind of Leader People Want to Follow

Think Big – People want to be part of a breakthrough. If you set out to identify and then accomplish the next big thing, you will attract the right talent, the people who can bring the project to life. Look into the future and think about what could be. And then ask; who’s coming with me?

Be an Upsider – When in doubt, be positive. No one wants to follow the lead of a pessimist. As a matter of fact, they won’t even want to be around you. The world is full of cynics. Don’t play devil’s advocate; look on the bright side instead. It’s possible to be realistic and upbeat at the same time.

Share – Build authentic relationships and a loyal following by sharing your power, ideas, and the rewards with others. When things go wrong – and they will – take your share of the blame. When making decisions always be transparent, not private. Collaborate. If you give more than you take you will be rewarded handsomely.

Show Them Where, Not How – It’s your responsibility to identify the mission, mobilize the team, and keep everyone focused on the end goal. If you assembled the right team you won’t need to tell them how you will just have to point them in the right direction. Allow the talent, their passion, and entrepreneurial spirit of your team to determine the how.

Accept Criticism – You are not perfect, none of us are. You know it and so does your team. Just admit it. Commit to improving and learning by remaining receptive to criticism. But, listening to criticism is not enough. You must accept it and act on it. Don’t be afraid of bad news. Encourage constructive debates and disagreements. Ultimately, you and you’re team will be better for it.

Be Consistent – Leaders set the tone for how others conduct themselves. Everyone in the room, office, and company will take their cues from you. If you’re emotions and actions are all over the map, everyone will be walking on eggshells waiting for you to explode. Don’t be unpredictable, be reliable. Model the energy, enthusiasm, and passion you want others to emulate.

Care – Put people first. Your team deserves your personal attention. Talk to them. Listen when they talk. Pay attention to their needs. Provide them with feedback. Coach them to be better. Or else, they will fail. And, when they fail, you fail.

Make Things – This point can be summed up in one word; execute. Ideas don’t matter until you actually make something. But, part of making things means allowing your team to try and fail. Sometimes you have to figure out what doesn’t work if you expect to determine what does. Encourage your team to follow through on the transformative ideas that they have by making more things.

Then, Ship Them – Steal a page from Seth Godin’s playbook and commit to shipping what you make. We’re all afraid of being judged, of not being good enough. That fear keeps us from sharing our ideas and creations with the world. Instead of tweaking and tinkering with what you’ve made to avoid shipping it, just put it out there. It’s the only way to make a real and lasting impact.

The only purpose of starting is to finish, and while the projects we do are never really finished, they must ship. – Seth Godin

Connect – Whatever you’re trying to do, know that you can’t possibly do it on your own. That’s why you must connect with others – to build something bigger than yourself. Once you start you will be able to unite ideas with individuals. You’ll meet people who are likeminded, people who balance you and others who challenge you to think differently. But, they all will propel you forward as you build your team and pursue your vision.

Follow Through – If you want to earn respect and trust, do exactly what you say you will do. Keep your word. That’s how you will build a reputation for making things happen. Don’t make empty promises. Come through in the clutch. Know that the follow-up is part of the follow-through. Get in the habit of following-up with clients, employees, and prospective customers. Make sure everyone has what they need.

Maintain your Convictions – The worst kind of leader is gutless. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the best leaders stand up for what they believe in. They make their expectations, values, and beliefs known to others. They give everything they’ve got and expect others to do the same. They will go to bat for their people. If need be, they will take one for the team. They will put their job on the line if it means maintaining their convictions.

Break the Mold – challenge others to question “standard operating procedure.” The status quo stifles innovation. Allow your team to think freely. Encourage them to experiment, participate in multiple projects, and move ideas forward. Flexibility encourages productivity and makes for an engaged and effective team. And, that’s exactly what you’re going for.

If you’re willing and able to do these things, you will become a leader. People will begin to follow your lead, no title necessary.

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13 Ways to be a Leader People Want to Follow BY JOE VENNARE Are you a leader? Some people hold a leadership position. And, while most aspire to lead, others just lead regardless of their job title.

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  Renowned doctor David Agus discusses the nuances of face coverings in the workplace while some businesses weigh their necessity.

Welcome to part three in our series about returning to the workplace, in conversation with renowned physician David Agus. Today Dr. Agus discusses the high probability that many of us will need to wear face coverings, aka masks, if we go back into offices this year. Will we have to wear masks forever? Probably not. But for now, it’s not only encouraged, but may be required by some companies — even if people think it infringes on their rights. (All of this said, some companies are opening up a whole different can of worms by prohibiting their employees from wearing masks.)

Here, Dr. Agus shares his projections and recommendations about the wearing of masks in offices. The following are excerpts from our conversation with Dr. Agus. They have been lightly edited for content and clarity.

How long will we need to wear masks?

Well, that’s the million-dollar question. I would say it’s 12 to 18 months. But because of the very encouraging vaccine data that just came out from Oxford University, the talk is: we could start to have a vaccine as early as this fall of 2020, which means that we could have herd immunity literally months later.

So by standing on science now, I think we have 12 to 18 months of optimization, to where we can get back to what will be a new normal, but enable things to happen that can’t happen today. And I say that from a very optimistic point of view. I think there is hope now that wasn’t there before. That hope is driven by data and science.

How will the wearing of masks play out in offices?

We have to figure out a way wherein workers can feel comfortable wearing a mask. And there are going to be certain personnel that cannot wear masks. If you’re on a phone call all day, you probably can’t have a mask on. Your words may be garbled. So we have to figure out a way for that personnel to take their calls and not potentially infect others.

Remember, wearing the mask is not for you. It’s for others. And so we really must rethink the workplace in a very powerful way.

In summary, wearing a mask is one of many ways to help stop the spread of COVID-19. And while it may not be the most comfortable or fashionable, they are quickly becoming a way that we express ourselves. As companies figure out how to safely bring people back to work, protocols will change over time. But for now, the smart thinking is: wear a mask.

This article follows two other pieces wherein Dr. Agus discusses how health will impact the workplace and the need for contact tracing to help fight COVID-19.

    Go to our website:   www.ncmalliance.com

Why Masks Will Likely Be Necessary at Work Until 2021   Renowned doctor David Agus discusses the nuances of face coverings in the workplace while some businesses weigh their necessity.

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by Erika Giles

With so many branding strategies to choose from, it may be difficult to pinpoint which branding types work well for your business. Some of the best ways to select the proper branding strategy begin with understanding what branding is and defining your brand identity.

Once you learn how to position yourself as a brand and you take advantage of brand strategies, you will be on your way to earning brand loyalty, recognition, equity, and awareness.

What Is Branding?

Branding is a marketing practice that helps individuals to differentiate your business’ products or services from others. Branding often involves creating elements such as a logo, mission statement, and design that is consistent throughout each marketing communication type.

Your brand is a representation of who you are as a business, and using effective brand strategies can help your business to grow and reach beyond your target audience.

7 Types of Branding Strategies

There are several types of branding that may add value to your company depending on your target audience, industry, budget, and marketing campaigns. Here are seven types of branding strategies that have the potential to build brand equity for your business.

Personal Branding

Personal branding describes branding that is used for an individual person, instead of branding for a whole business. This type of branding is often used to establish a person’s character, personality, or work as a brand.

Celebrities, politicians, thought leaders, and athletes often use this form of branding to present the best version of themselves to the public.

For example, Seth Godin, entrepreneur and author of over 20 marketing books, positioned himself as a business and marketing expert. Seth has a recognizable personal brand, and individuals now associate him with his short blog posts that pinpoint one idea at a time. People want to hear from Seth Godin rather than a company or organization due to the effectiveness of his personal brand.

Product Branding

This is one of the most popular branding types. Product branding focuses on making a single product distinct and recognizable. Symbols or designs are an essential part of product branding to help your customers identify your product easily.

For example, Monster Energy drinks have distinct packaging and logos that make it easily distinguishable from Red Bull energy drinks.

via GIPHY

Corporate Branding

Corporate branding is a core value of the business and a philosophy that a business develops to present itself to the world and its own employees.

Effective corporate brands often seek to display the company’s mission, personality, and core values in each point of contact it has with prospective customers, current customers, and past customers.

For example, Nike’s core values and mission are recognizable across all of their platforms and products. Nike’s mission statement is “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.” And its slogan, next to its famous swoosh checkmark logo, is “Just do it”.

As a corporate brand, Nike positions themselves as a brand for athletes, sports enthusiasts, and anyone who is passionate about fitness. They also make it clear that they believe anyone can be an athlete.

Service Branding

Service branding leverages the needs of the customer. Companies that use service branding seek to provide their customers with world-class service. They aim to use excellent customer service as a way to provide value to their customers.

For example, Chick-fil-A is known for its excellent customer service – making it now synonymous with its brand.

Co-Branding

Co-branding is a form of branding that connects companies together. Essentially, co-branding is a marketing partnership between two or more businesses. This helps brands impact each other positively, and it may result in one growing its business, spreading brand awareness, and breaking into new markets.

For example, Frito Lay and Taco Bell came together and made the Doritos Locos Taco that appealed to both audiences.

Online Branding

Online branding, also known as internet branding, helps businesses to position themselves as a part of the online marketplace. This type of branding includes a company’s website, social media platforms, blogs, and other online content.

Most companies use some aspect of online or internet branding in today’s marketplace.

No-Brand Branding

This type of branding is also known as minimalist branding. These brands are often generic brands that seek to let their products speak for themselves without all the extras many others provide their consumers with.

Some of the most noteworthy no-branding branding examples include Brandless and m/f people. As you can see on Brandless‘ website, their packaging, colors, and the overall aesthetic is very simple. This aligns with their mission of providing fairly priced food to people without a typical brand.

Despite the fact that Brandless recently announced its closure, it is an excellent example of no-brand branding that saw great success for several years.

m/f people adopt simplicity in everything, from their branding and packaging to their product designs. For example, their skincare products are packaged in bottles with black and white colors and a simple font.

This decision to opt for simplicity aligns with their commitment to making gender-neutral products and pursuing their overall mission: “We aim to make life simple, so you can focus on what matters most.” They don’t need loud colors and flashy font. They want a minimalistic appeal.

How to Select the Best Branding Strategies For Your Business

Many businesses use several brand strategies to reach their goals. Selecting the right strategies is important for your success. Follow these steps to find the best approach that fits your business.

Define Your Brand Identity.

Before you select the proper brand strategies for your business, you should define your brand identity. This involves asking yourself and others involved in the marketing and sales process a series of questions, such as:

What are my company’s mission and core values?

If I had to describe my company in three words, what would they be?

What do I want to be known for in the marketplace?

What kind of difference do I want to make in my industry?

What do I want my brand to look like visually?

Asking yourself these questions helps you to determine your goals and direction in the marketplace as a unique brand.

Determine Your Brand Objectives.

Once you identify your brand identity and answer the key questions mentioned above, you should be able to determine your brand objectives. For example, your objective may be to position yourself as an industry leader in a set period of time or to increase customer interactions through reviews, website visits, or online product purchases.

This way, you’ll be able to select a brand strategy that aligns with your business goals and objectives.

Define Your Brand’s Audience.

The best way to define your target audience is to consider what they’re interested in, where they’re located, their age, what they think of your brand currently, and how you will attract them to your services or products.

Knowing your target market allows you to gather enough data to solidify your message and select the correct brand strategy that helps you appeal to your target audience.

Consider Your Industry.

Each industry likely has different goals and objectives it would like to achieve. Each brand strategy has different things to offer your business. However, not every strategy will fit your specific industry.

To help you decide which brand strategies to choose, you may consider conducting a competitive analysis with the competitors in your industry. Conducting such an analysis will help you to uncover your opportunities and threats in your respective marketplace.

Best Practices for Building Your Brand

It takes time to build a brand, and as your credibility and reputation grow, your brand strengthens. Follow these best practices to expedite this process and foster trust with your audience.

Perfect Your Use of Visual Content.

Visuals are an important part of branding and marketing.

In fact, according to a study conducted by HubSpot, visuals are processed and retained by individuals at faster rates than text. And visuals such as infographics are 3X as likely to be shared on social media over other forms of content.

Visuals make up a large part of what your prospects and customers remember about your brand. Make sure your visuals are related to your overall brand theme and core values.

This provides you with brand consistency and makes it so that your customers can easily identify your brand later on when they see similar images.

For example, the manufacturing company, General Electric, provides its customers with engaging and interesting visuals on its social media channels. This visual content helps them to tell their story to consumers and it establishes their brand identity.

Their Instagram shows real people using their products. Their captions provide descriptions of specific products, like their a-CT7 engine mid-frame in the bottom left image.

Their post describes what the engine is, where it’s made (in their GE Additive Pittsburgh Center), and how their team simplified the assembly process. They do a great job of educating their audience about their offerings and telling a story that is visually appealing.

Humanize Your Brand.

Making your brand more human means finding something to believe in and marketing that message to your prospects and customers.

The best way to do this is to find unique solutions to your consumers’ problems by understanding that their problems have three parts: external, internal, and philosophical.

When you identify their needs and problems, you can begin to weave a story into your marketing messages that provide your customers with a value and make them believe that you have the answers to their problems.

For example, the SaaS company Drift provides its prospects and customers with the idea that the internet is a conversation. This helps them to tell their story that “emphasize(s) the value of human interactions and connections” as stated on the about us page of Drift’s website.

Although they sell software that isn’t very “human,” the market and appeal to people through their stories and what they believe in. They do these things while addressing their customers’ internal, external, and philosophical problems regarding the internet and software.

Keep the Conversation Going.

A large part of positioning yourself as a strong brand includes getting people to talk about your brand and contributing to the conversation.

Keeping the conversation going involves having a strong online presence that allows you to post and comment about the things that your brand cares about.

Give back to your customers and thank them for remaining loyal to your brand. Direct interaction with your prospects and customers in person and via phone, email, or social media helps you to maintain and increase engagement, which leads to building a strong brand.

For example, the tech giant Google perfects their customer and engagement by keeping the conversation going with its customers on social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram. They respond directly to customer complaints and concerns on Twitter and post meaningful images on Instagram that keep people engaged and talking.

Building a brand includes various elements that require patience to develop and execute. As you move forward with understanding the needs of your business and what you hope to deliver to your consumers, you will be able to select the right brand strategy for your business, and your brand will grow and delight your customers.

  Go to our website:   www.ncmalliance.com

7 Types of Branding Strategies and How to Select One (+ Examples) by Erika Giles With so many branding strategies to choose from, it may be difficult to pinpoint which branding types work well for your business.

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We tend to avoid cleaning our electronic devices because we’re not sure how best to do it. What do we do when something spills on a device or keyboard? Here are a few tips and tools to consider.

Is it necessary to regularly clean mobile and other devices?

It’s a fact that most of us prefer to ignore. Our mobile devices accumulate dirt and grime during everyday use, and can do with the occasional (well, OK, regular!) cleaning. We take great care to clean other tools, clothing items, utensils, and surfaces we use less frequently, but most of us have not yet adopted the habit of cleaning our electronic devices.

Most of our customers use our field sales app and are therefore entirely dependent on mobile phones and tablets to complete their daily business activities. These customers don’t just handle their devices all day long but expose them to more dirt than the average user. Devices are used on the go to capture and retrieve relevant information as they visit building sites, factories, farms, and various other potentially grubby places.

It’s not only mobile devices that are in need of cleaning but also office-based electronic devices (PCs, laptops, Kindles), often handled by multiple users.

Most of us put off cleaning our devices because we’re not sure how best to do it. Below are a few do’s and don’ts and other tips and tools you need to make sure your devices are clean and ready for use.

Which cleaning tools and substances to use and which to avoid?

We recommend having a cleaning kit containing appropriate tools and substances available in your office or in your car if you’re mostly on the road. Once you compiled a kit, you’re more likely to clean your devices more regularly.

You need no more than these four things:

Microfibre cloths (avoid clothes made for general cleaning as they can scratch glass screens)

Toothpicks (use gently; great for cleaning ports and grooves)

Rubbing alcohol (specialty cleaning products are luxuries rather than necessities)

Compressed air canister (for removing those unreachable cookie crumbs and cat hair)

  Never…

… clean a display screen with abrasive chemicals

… clean a device connected to a socket

… stuff cotton wool into spaces where it can get stuck in a device

… expose your device to water unless cleaning it with a moistened microfibre cloth

… take a device apart to clean it unless you’re certain about what you’re doing

  Note: check manufacturer instructions before using any cleaning substances on your device; resulting damage could lead to the annulment of warranties.

  How to clean and disinfect mobile phones and tablets

Getting into the habit of cleaning your mobile phone or tablet surfaces daily is a good idea and takes very little effort: simply wipe it off with a dry microfiber cloth.

For a less regular, more thorough clean:

unplug and power off the device

use a slightly dampened microfibre cloth

be very careful not to get moisture into any openings

wipe dry with another, fresh microfibre cloth

leave to dry completely before plugging devices back in or powering them on

use a toothpick to remove dirt from hard to reach ports and grooves

  Claims that smartphones and tablets are more germ-ridden than toilet seats are unfortunately not just filthy rumors. A further option, therefore, is to occasionally disinfect your devices. Follow the same steps as above, but:

apply rubbing alcohol to microfibre cloth – this is how you can make an alcohol-based cleaning solution at home (touchscreen-safe antimicrobial spray is a more expensive alternative for those who prefer not to use alcohol – remember: consult manufacturer instructions)

allow to sit for the amount of time noted on the product packaging if using antimicrobial spray

  How to wash your tablet cover

It’s a good idea to also wash your tablet cover from time to time. This can be done using dish soap and a microfibre cloth:

remove your tablet from the cover

mix a few drops of dish soap with warm water in a bowl

dampen the cloth with the soapy water and wipe down the cover as much as necessary

rinse the soap from the cloth and wring it out until it’s damp again

wipe the soapy residue from the cover

allow the cover to air dry

ensure the cover has properly dried before re-inserting your tablet

How to clean your computer or laptop screen

Even though they’re not touchscreens, you’d be surprised how many smudge marks accumulate on computer and laptop screens. An occasional screen clean is not a bad idea. Here’s how to clean your computer or laptop screen in a few simple steps:

turn off your machine’s power and unplug the device – unplug individual monitors where necessary

unplug laptops and remove their batteries if your model allows for this to be done

use a microfibre cloth to wipe smears or dust from monitors/screens

use a cloth dampened in a solution of dish soap diluted in warm water for more stubborn grime

wipe your display with the dampened cloth

rinse the soap from the cloth and wring it out until it’s damp again and wipe the soapy residue from the display

finally, gently wipe your screen using a dry microfibre cloth

  How to clean your computer keyboard

Whether you work in an office or remotely from home or a coffee shop, it’s likely that you snack or eat your lunch while working on your computer. Crumbs, hair, and dust are bound to get lost between the keys that already show evidence of grime build-up. Here’s a simple approach to cleaning your computer or laptop keyboard:

turn off your machine’s power and unplug the device, then unplug the keyboard from the computer

if you use a wireless keyboard or a laptop, remove the batteries

use canned air to blow leftover crumbs or dust from keys and ports

lightly dab a cotton wool pad in rubbing alcohol

wipe each key using a circular motion (do a spot test first to ensure alcohol doesn’t remove any lettering)

dry the keys using a microfibre cloth

do not replace any batteries or plug in your machine until the keys are completely dry.

What if my device gets wet or falls into the water?

Accidents do happen, as we hear from our customers who use their devices on the road, visiting customers in industrial and outdoor settings. All is not lost, act quickly, and do the following:

turn your device off immediately and remove the battery if possible

allow it to dry for as long as possible before turning it back on

never use a hairdryer, oven or microwave to try and accelerate the drying

people have had success with leaving a wet device in a container of uncooked rice to help extract moisture out of it, but results may vary – give it a go and see what happens

  Do you have any cleaning tips or device-saving stories you’d like to share with us and other readers? Let us know down below.

  Go to our website:   www.ncmalliance.com

What’s the best way to clean the mobile and other devices? – 6min read We tend to avoid cleaning our electronic devices because we’re not sure how best to do it.