WHAT IS
THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMITMENT AND URGENCY!
Whether
you are in a sales scenario, dealing with a peer or subordinate, customer or
vendor, you must include Commitment and Urgency in the equation.
The dictionary
defines commitment as: “The state of being bound emotionally or
intellectually to a course of action or to another person or persons.”
My
personal definition or what I call a “Mancusoism” is:“An
agreement to do something….anything… or nothing at all.”
So many
times in my consulting assignments I’ve had managers tell me that their
employees aren’t performing to his/her expectations.But when I question the
process of dealing effectively with other people, most of the time the
“commitment” is extensively missing from within the blueprint of a successful
path of respectable achievement.
They
will say: “I’ve told them many times what I want done” or “I’ve shown them many
times on how to do it” but they just don’t seem to get it.And I ask, “….Did you
confirm that they GOT IT?” Did you verbally get them to say, “I GOT IT
AND I CAN/WILL GET THIS DONE?” I’ve
advocated in many of my weekly newsletters that you must get employees to take
ownership of the process, the result of their actions and their words in
general.A commitment is an agreement herein to “do it” or “get it done” or
“follow up” or say, “I can’t, won’t or just don’t understand!”You as the
manager/leader need to know, feel and believe the commitment or lack thereof!
This is
no different in the sales process. You must get a commitment from the
client. The commitment might be a date certain to come back and continue
or it might be a commitment to never come back again. But there must be an
agreement to do something. And by the way, this commitment concept works
both ways. Don’t be one who gives the orders but one who demonstrates
professionalism by giving your commitment to get theirs.
Now
let’s move onto value of Urgency.
Dictionary:“The
Quality or condition of being urgent, pressing importance.”
Mancusoism:“Setting
the listeners hair on fire!”
If your
team, employee or prospective clients’ “hair is on fire” and
he/she should be looking for a way to eliminate the pain. If you happen to be
the fire extinguisher sales person and the sales person next to you sells
gasoline, which one will he/she choose?Which one would you choose if your “hair
was on fire”?Logic, common sense and urgency, demand the pain reliever and not
fuel for the fire.
Ask the
questions in a proper order; Ask the right questions that provide you with the
details of the customers need to relieve the pain (fire); Become one with the
buyer; Clarify the understanding of the pain; THEN you will be able to
effectively explain the VALUE of YOUR pain reliever (fire extinguisher) and
affect the outcome of the sale or project.
This
works exactly the same in dealing with employees. It amazes me how “busy”
a manager can get that he/she forgets to include the employee in the process.
Once you become “one” with the employee, your manager job becomes easier.You
become the leader the employees want and look up to and respect.
Remember, just because you are a manager, does not guarantee you are a
leader.Leadership is an earned level of achievement when dealing with people at
any level and that includes sales, customer service, managing a process,
division or a company. People follow
leaders because they WANT to.
I
always look forward to hearing from the people who receive this newsletter
every week, because I too learn how to help put the fires out. If you
have any comments, questions or suggestions for upcoming newsletter, I welcome
any and all.
And
finally I’d like to say thank you to all of you who have forwarded my weekly
brief newsletters on to colleagues, friends and family with a suggestion they
to sign up for our weekly discussions. I continue to be available for
public speaking events and growth consultant engagements for qualified
companies.
Regards,
George F. Mancuso
George F. Mancuso, CPC
