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WWW.CROSSROADS.SANDLER.COM / (208) 429-9275 / NOVEMBER 2018
FIND YOUR EDGE
6 STEPS TO AWESOME MEETINGS
DON’T HOLD ANOTHER MEETING WITHOUT READING THIS FIRST
Have you ever seen that coffee mug that says, “I survived another meeting that should’ve been an email”? It’s a great joke because we’ve all had to live it. Unfortunately, these gatherings continue to happen because many meetings lack organization and a defined purpose. When you combine that with dull content, it’s no wonder a “ “BEFORE EVER HOLDING A MEETING, YOU MUST FIND, PLAN, AND ORGANIZE YOUR GOALS.” joke like that resonates with so many people. That’s why we came up with a six-step process to ensure effective communication and intentional topics for your next meeting.
“Thanks everyone for meeting with me today” goes a long way in establishing genuine rapport.
2. TIME
You’re busy. Your team is busy. Your client is busy. If meeting time isn’t tracked, the likelihood of running over drastically increases. One strategy proven to help teams stay on task is establishing a timekeeper. Giving this duty to someone who generally over- participates is a great way to make sure they stay focused and your gathering stays true to its purpose.
3. THEIR AGENDA
From an employee perspective, nothing is more frustrating than feeling like a meeting is a waste of time. That’s why it’s important to understand what your constituents’ objectives are beforehand and prioritize them. If your employees don’t get their problems solved from a meeting, then what’s the use to them in attending?
1. APPRECIATION
4. YOUR AGENDA
Words of affirmation are always appreciated by employees, and starting your meeting off with a simple acknowledgement of your team’s commitment sets a great tone for collaboration. A phrase like
Before ever holding a meeting, you must identify, plan, and organize your goals. You might be able to get away with winging it once, but
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consistently coming unprepared is a surefire way to get eyes rolling in the room. If you want your teams to be laser-focused on their objectives, you must empower them through effective gatherings.
so we can sit down and go through the verbal skills that will help you in this process. You can contact me at jim.stephens@sandler.com. Together, we can make sure your meetings always do more than an email. –Jim Stephens
5. OUTCOME
Every meeting should have a quantifiable outcome. If you don’t start with an endgame in mind, you set yourself up for failure. When it’s finished, clear and measurable results should be present. Perhaps nothing is more frustrating for someone than attending a meeting only to walk away wondering what the purpose was. We suggest starting off by explaining your intentions and then following up at the end to ensure everyone is on the same page.
6. FEAR
Meetings often include people who don’t participate but have valuable insights to contribute. Approaching the emotional blinders that plague you and your team is never an easy undertaking, but it’s extremely necessary. Without engagement from everyone, group conversations can’t serve everyone’s needs. The best way to tackle this problem is by acknowledging the elephant in the room.
Each one of these six steps comes with effective scripts that help you deploy each concept. I strongly encourage you to reach out to me
DO YOU HAVE A 30-SECOND COMMERCIAL? ONE WAY YOU CAN CONNECT WITH CLIENTS BETTER
FUDWACA
A significant part of Sandler Training is identifying our constituents’ pain and helping them overcome barriers. We teach many tactics that can help promote engaging dialogue, but there may be no better way of finding solutions to problems than what we call the “30-Second Commercial.” Our 30-Second Commercial centers around fleshing out four elements that get to the core of whether or not we can help a client. It presents who we are, what we do, and scenarios that demonstrate common pains and how we can help solve them. The fourth part is a hook question that transitions the focal point of the conversation back to who you’re speaking with. Over time and rehearsal, the commercial functions as a script of sorts, helping you better reach others.
of the issue and more effectively solve the problem.
Most problems don’t stem from facts but a complex web of emotions. Without an emotional appeal to your client, your 30-Second Commercial won’t have any engagement. That’s why we developed the acronym FUDWACA to function as a mnemonic device to focus on emotional trigger words. It stands for Frustrated, Uncertain, Disappointed, Worried, Angry, Concerned, Afraid.
HOOK QUESTION
Once you’ve included an emotional appeal to your commercial, it’s paramount to relate that back to your prospect. Questions of genuine interest such as “Have any of these problems
ever been issues for you?” or “Are any of these areas particularly painful for you to deal with?” can assist in jump-starting a meaningful relationship. Reach out to us today to find out the mechanics of how and when to develop your 30-Second Commercial.
When you can reach a client through any one of these
emotional responses, the common relation points help get to the heart
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SANDLER HELPS ROARING SPRINGS SELL FUN
ROARING SPRINGS
Rated as the eighth-best water park in the country by Tripadvisor, this Meridian landmark draws huge crowds every day during their peak season. While the attendance numbers are staggering, attendees will hardly notice lines at the largest water park in the Northwest. When you combine that with state- of-the-art rides and the heat of Idaho summers, it’s easy to see why this theme park grows every year.
Who says sales can’t be fun? Over the last 10 years, we’ve worked with one of the most entertaining places in the Pacific Northwest. Roaring Springs and Wahooz Family Fun Zone are popular family destinations here in the Treasure Valley. Nestled off I-84 in Meridian, Idaho, their central location offers area residents the opportunity to experience a variety of fun activities for the whole family.
WAHOOZ FAMILY FUN ZONE
Formerly known as Boondocks, Wahooz is considered the premier family fun center for locals. With a brand-new 36-hole miniature golf course
to go with the classic attractions such as go-karts, bumper boats, batting cages, and arcade games, this destination provides wholesome fun you simply can’t find elsewhere. But just as Meridian continues to grow, so does Wahooz, starting with the new Indoor Adventure Park.
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INDOOR ADVENTURE PARK
If you think you’ve seen ropes courses, think again. The Indoor Adventure Park’s 17,000 square feet of twists, turns, tubes, and slides offer up an experience unlike any other. Kids of all ages will enjoy the climbing walls, and those of us who have kids know they’ll love the opportunity to use one of the foam ball blasters to pelt their siblings. If that doesn’t do it, there’s the twister ride, bumper cars, and a laser maze. When everyone is tuckered out, patrons can head over to Pinz for a game of bowling while they eat. When most people think of bowling, it’s common to picture a dusty old lane filled with rickety equipment and food offerings that lack imagination. At Pinz, it’s the same classic game with a clean, modern twist. Flat-screen TVs, comfortable lounge seating, and a menu to die for will change your perception of what bowling can be. Sometimes you need a private room for birthday parties, and while does Wahooz offers those, what if you could have your own private party room complete with eight luxury bowling lanes? Throw in a projection screen and pool tables, and you have to admit it would be difficult to picture a better birthday party for your kids. “A star 20 years in the making is born,” says Tiffany Quilici, marketing and sales director for Wahooz, Pinz, and Roaring Springs. The new Galaxy Event Center will transform the way the Treasure Valley looks at hosting large occasions. When we sat down to discuss the relationship between Sandler Training and Roaring Springs/Wahooz, the buzz surrounding this new venture became contagious. Z LOUNGE GALAXY EVENT CENTER PINZ
The idea started at the footsteps of Meridian City Hall when Mayor Tammy de Weerd called for someone to build a large event center in the heart of her city. “We answered the call. Meridian is so centrally located that it’s the perfect location for a space like this,” Tiffany says. Co-owner Pat Morandi took notice as well and decided to bring in an outside consulting firm to look into the potential for a space such as this. “Meridian needed facilities, so we brought in someone to do a feasibility study. They came in with a fresh set of eyes, and after they were done, they came to the conclusion that Meridian was ripe for the Galaxy Event Center expansion,” Pat says. The only options for large gatherings at the time were The Grove and the Riverside Hotel, which meant visitors from outside Boise would have to drive deep into the city and combat the downtown logistics. It wasn’t just opportunity that drove Pat and his team to start this venture. “We see about 1000 group events a year of all types,” Tiffany says. With traffic like that,
hosting becomes a point of interest for any business owner. “We had an existing event center of three rooms that could accommodate about 220 people, but we were finding that we were selling out,” Pat explains. As demand increased and the volatility of the investment decreased, it was easy for Pat to pull the trigger on expansion. As Tiffany says, the results speak for themselves. “We already have reservations two years out. About 50 percent of the inbound calls we take are asking about the Galaxy.” With 12,500 square feet, room for 600 guests, a state-of-the-art catering kitchen, the ability to make nine separate rooms, and a gourmet chef, the Galaxy Event Center has quickly become the talk of the town.
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY? NO WAY!
When you’re in the business of fun, your employees need to keep that in perspective. Both Pat and Tiffany
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riding, and they’ve had so much fun. Our park provides people of all ages with fun, happy, enjoyable experiences. They can spend time together with friends or bonding as a family and having fun. My job means a lot to me because I get to provide those kinds of experiences.” Just because everyone wants fun in their life doesn’t mean it’s easy to sell. As a matter of fact, one of the target demographics for Tiffany’s sales team is companies with low morale, which can be challenging to generate a meaningful dialogue with. “We work with companies that are suffering from low morale, high turnover, low productivity, and high burnout and are tired of the daily grind. We want to create wonderful cultures that promote loyalty and happiness, but maybe they lack the time or expertise to plan great events,” Tiffany explains. Fun might sound like a complicated concept to sell, but if you ask Tiffany, that’s not the nature of their business. “We sell so much more than fun. It’s about boosting morale, bonding, and friendship, all of which goes to the bottom line and increases productivity.” SELLING FUN
To sell more than fun, Pat reached out to Sandler Training over a decade ago with the objective of empowering his team. “It all started with doing a 360 Review with my managers. We brought Sandler in to do this program with our management team, and it was a growth experienced for everyone,” he says. The managerial training was just the beginning of our relationship. We started working on sales training, and the rest took off. “Managerial training evolved into our sales department. We’ve grown that department from two people to nine.” Pat says. years, Tiffany can testify to the impact she’s seen from Sandler Training. “I’ve had the privilege of going through the management course for two years. What I love about it is that it taught me how to measure, manage, and train my team to have the skills they need to be successful.” All of that starts with making sure you’re operating proactively as a leader. “Sandler teaches us that our whole job as sales managers is to make sure everyone’s head is screwed on straight. We need to address small problems before they become big problems,” What we teach in these courses goes far beyond just tangible sales strategies. Our objective is to get straight to the heart of strengths and weaknesses. “I was very reluctant to engage in conflict. It made me ill,” says Tiffany. “Having to worry about making someone feel bad or embarrassed just isn’t like me. Over two years, we worked through having corrective conversations with someone.” Learning something new and putting it into action are two different ideas that often get lumped together. Just because you learn something new doesn’t mean it always translates to results. It takes SANDLER STEPS IN Having been with Roaring Springs/Wahooz for 18
explain what keeps them focused on entertainment. “We don’t put a ride in we haven’t experienced. I travel around the country trying out different rides, and that’s one of the best parts of my job,” Pat says. If Roaring Springs has that job opening anytime soon, sign us up. Though a job with Tiffany sounds pretty great too. “We have incentives with our team that are worked into the strategic plan. We do zip lining, dinners, and other fun activities. We need to practice what we preach. If we want others to have fun, we’re going to have fun ourselves,” she says. Working on the ground floor of these projects gives Tiffany a unique perspective on fun. “Just the other day, we had folks come in from an assisted living facility. It was on their bucket list to ride go-karts, and they had a blast. When they were done, they wanted to do everything else, so they went through the whole park. I came to learn that this wasn’t an isolated incident. They classified themselves as adrenaline junkies. Many of them have gone skydiving, zip lining, and horseback
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that Roaring Springs has one of the highest safety records in the nation for water parks. Pat explains the success of his park by going deeper into his desire for feedback. “We audit our facility and lifeguards to make sure we are extremely safe. I love when someone points out something we can work on or get better at.”
SUCCESS TAKES TIME
Much of the impact we’ve had with Pat, Tiffany, and their teams
comes from the understanding that what Sandler does is a process, not a quick fix. It’s been 10 years, and we’re still learning how to serve Roaring Springs/Wahooz better, and they are still learning new ways to reach people. “I tell people it’s all about time. Sandler retrains the way you think about sales. It’s not a quick fix; it’s done over time,” Pat says. The results speak for themselves. “Our work with Sandler is reflected in our sales growth, which morphed into the Galaxy. Sandler has been instrumental with that.” The Galaxy opens Nov. 1, but if you want a sneak peek for yourself, head on over to WahoozFunZone.com. If you have an event such as a prom, movie premiere, or conference, you can reach out to Tiffany through the contact form on the website. Don’t wait too long, though; space is going fast!
commitment and a willingness to branch out of your comfort zone to make genuine progress. Tiffany was able to do that with her aversion to confrontation. “Just the other day, one of my assistants failed to do something I asked of them, and it caused us to miss a major opportunity. I knew I needed to address that, and when I did, I was comfortable and confident. She was wonderful, took responsibility, and apologized. We talked about a plan moving forward. I learned she felt underchallenged in her job, and it turned out to be a very productive conversation, all thanks to my training,” Pat also sees a powerful impact from Sandler on his team. “Employees who have been with me for years go to training and come back invigorated. Recently, there was a two-day event called ‘No Guts, No Game,’ and it was exactly what we needed. It retrained our brains to help our team understand it’s about helping people buy rather than trying to sell.” Tiffany concurs with this sentiment. “Sandler gives them the skills to sell in a way that is different than the way anyone else is selling. It’s a deeper level of finding what someone’s needs really are and then finding a way to help.” Courses like these aren’t easy because they require a lot of emotional labor, but that is often the best way to move forward. To enact meaningful change with someone, you have to understand what goes on at the deepest levels of the human psyche. When we train our constituents, we find that sales
strategies aren’t the roadblocks that prevent success. Limiting beliefs and other psychological challenges come from conditioning, and it takes time to overcome those. “We had team members who went through the ‘No Guts, No Gain’ workshop, and they said it made them cry in a good way,” says Tiffany. “It was powerful and drove deep into their sense of self. One of our salespeople revealed a very authoritarian background at home that prevented them from making decisions due to lack of confidence. They moved through that course. Now they have some opportunities to prospect for the Galaxy, and they’re elevating their self-esteem.” product is if you can’t sell it. What about the opposite? You can have sales, but if the product doesn’t back up the promise, you run the risk of alienating consumers — and more importantly, your brand. “We don’t take anything for granted. We love feedback, and we retrain employees if service isn’t up to standards,” Pat says. Roaring Springs/Wahooz employs secret shoppers and other measures to ensure the client experience is up to the company’s standards. “We’re always looking to up our game. We’re always trying to increase the quality of our facility,” It’s hard to improve near-perfection. We met Pat at a conference in New Orleans a little while back, and news broke there QUALITY FIRST Sales 101 will teach you that it doesn’t matter how good your
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YOU ARE NOT THE CLOSER
TAKE A BREAK
In general, salespeople tend to put way too much pressure on both themselves and the prospect because they are constantly trying to close. This does a huge disservice to not only the prospect but also to the salesperson. The salesperson feels responsible for closing when it is not even their role. We believe that the only person qualified to close any piece of business is the prospect themselves. As a salesperson, it is not your job, nor should you try to close anyone on anything. Your role is to ask questions and help the prospect discover the best next step. Very few people want to be closed. What most people want and need is someone to help them buy. Start by asking questions that will help you understand what they’re struggling with, what their issues are, and what they have tried to do in the past to solve these problems. Once you fully understand their problem, determine what they’re willing and able to invest in order to solve the problem. Now you dive into budget and determine whether they are willing to invest the time and energy needed to successfully implement this change. Once you have discussed the prospect’s problem, their budget, and their decision-making process, you can provide your solution. Make sure you only present a product or service that addresses their specific issues, fits within their budget, and is compatible with their decision- making process. After the presentation, if you have followed these steps, it should be very easy for the prospect to say either yes or no. When handled correctly, the prospect closes themselves and you just facilitate the discovery process. A good salesperson helps someone make a purchase that will provide a positive impact. They do not hunt ruthlessly for their bottom line. If you would like help figuring this process out, join us as a guest in one of our sessions. Go to Crossroads.Sandler.com/TNP for more details.
We have 20 complimentary copies of this new book to send out — if you’d like one, email joan.stephens@sandler.com or call (208) 429-9275 to request your free copy!
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1
Don’t Let Your Meeting Be the Next Office Joke
2
The 30-Second Commercial Blueprint
3
Sandler Helps Roaring Springs Sell Fun
7
You Are Not the Closer
8
The Women’s and Children’s Alliance
NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT: THE WOMEN’S AND CHILDREN’S ALLIANCE PROVIDING SAFETY, HEALING, AND FREEDOM TO FAMILIES IN THE TREASURE VALLEY
MISSION Safety, healing, and freedom from domestic abuse and sexual assault • WCA provides safety to domestic abuse and sexual assault victims through our two 24-hour crisis hotlines, our domestic abuse shelter, safety planning assistance, and court advocacy. • We provide healing through therapy services, support groups, and client advocacy. • We provide freedom through case management and residential classes in financial literacy, nurturing parenting, and life skills. Through these core values, we hope to provide security, hope, and empowerment and to break the cycle of violence. For more information on these and other services, visit WCABoise.org. Now more than ever, our society needs to understand how we can put an end to abuse. To learn more about how you can help the WCA achieve their vision, mission, and values, reach out to them today at (208) 343-3688. Awareness is only as good as the action that follows.
Boise is known for being one of the safest places to live in the country, but our city isn’t immune to domestic violence and sexual assault. Women are the most frequent targets of these crimes, but individuals of any gender, race, age, or economic group can be victims of violence and assault. In 2017 alone, the Ada County Sheriff’s Office received over 5,000 calls about domestic violence. Unfortunately, far more of these crimes never come to light. Various studies done by the CDC and the National Domestic Violence Hotline suggest that 50–70 percent of domestic violence cases are never reported to authorities. Burdened by fear, financial dependence, and social stigmas, many women don’t know where to turn. For over 100 years, the Women’s and Children’s Alliance (WCA) has served as a safe place for women in need of assistance, counseling, and a voice. VISION To foster a community where individuals thrive in safe, healthy relationships.
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