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Jeffery Scott Articles |
The Secret To Reducing Stress And Increasing Joy At Work (And In Life)
During this crazy and challenging year, everyone could use more kindness in their life.
The ongoing uncertainty of COVID seems to be hammering away at people’s feelings of well-being. Even the healthiest people I know are feeling the pressure of the constant changes.
What can we do to compensate and stay refreshed and elevated?
I read a timely article in the WSJ, Why Being Kind Helps You, Too––Especially Now by Elizabeth Bernstein, which gave perspective to this issue, and a solution based on the art of being kind.
To sum it up, you can gain a higher level of happiness for yourself by helping others. The inspiration is in the details.
Two ways to help, in my view:
You can either help an organization by giving your time, money, access, and ideas or, you can help an individual person in need.
I plan to do both by supporting Son Of A Saint. It is the New Orleans version of Big Brothers Big Sisters. It was started by Sonny Lee, who’s father, Bivian Lee Jr. (a New Orleans Saints' defensive end), died tragically at the age of 36. Sonny was just three years old but had plenty of support growing up. He started this foundation at the age of 29, as a way to pay it forward to all the single moms and fatherless sons out there. It has really taken off, and I am proud to be involved.
How about you? Many local associations need your help.
According to the WSJ article, you can help people in two different ways.
1. Giving where a return is expected:
- Giving to a community project where you expect a boost to your company
- Donating money to get a tax break
- Helping your employees in times of need
2. Giving where no return is expected:
- Handing out gift cards unexpectedly to people who are serving you
- Buying the coffee of the person behind you in line
- Anonymous donations to help the needy
- Taking on low profile community projects where no PR is involved
According to the WSJ article, giving and helping others creates a chemical reaction in your brain that increases good feelings and decreases anxiety. Studies have shown that people who regularly give look more confident, beautiful, and generally more attractive. Who knew?
I’m proud of the fact that in the US, we have a history of giving and charity. I also see that proud tradition in our green industry.
Your Challenge:
Give yourself a break.
Find ways to weave kindness into your life:
- Inside and outside of work
- In planned and impromptu ways
- In anonymous and recognizable ways
Even a kind word and a smile to the person serving or helping you will make everyone happier. Personal happiness starts with you.
Regards, JeffreyHow To Grow Your Company With An Effective Sales Team
If you truly want to scale your lawn and landscape business, you must grow an effective sales team.
And to do that, you must become quite good at both marketing and sales management.
Are you?
They don’t teach Sales Management at school or university - almost nowhere, really.
So, how do you learn to be a great sales manager?
Paul Reder, CEO of Reder Landscaping, knows the answer.
I have known and worked with Paul and his partners for about eight years now, and I have watched (and helped) them grow their business and business approach dramatically over the past decade.
Paul, who is a member of my community, volunteered to be interviewed for my recent podcast (coming out soon) and he shared his insights on becoming an excellent Sales Manager.
Here are seven takeaways that we covered (plus there are more in the podcast):
1. Become an encourager. Paul realized that being a transactional manager won’t cut it. (He is also the company’s CFO, which requires analytical thinking). Paul shifted to being more of an encouraging coach and his sales team grew and flourished.
2. Use incentives to break through your own thinking. He thought it might be possible for his salespeople to hit even higher sales goals. By being creative with his incentives, he found that his salespeople made immediate improvements of $100k-200k in sales from one year to the next.
3. Data is your friend. Paul changed his commission plan to tie into the profitability of the work as built. He had the data to back it up, so his sales team went along with the changes. Now, his salespeople and production people are tied in together.
4. High earners DON'T want ceilings. Paul discovered that he could attract the very best salespeople to his company by showing them how to earn large payouts, with no ceilings to what they can earn. The sky is the limit for the very best.
5. Salespeople like to sell. In the winter, Paul does not distract his dedicated salespeople with production (snow anyone?) and instead keeps them focused on initiatives focused on building marketing and sales. He doesn’t see a lot of snow, so it’s easy for him. Not every company can do this, but it is an interesting concept.
6. Become a marketing expert. If you want to grow your sales, you must provide the branding support and name recognition (and lead flow if you are doing residential work). Great salespeople want to work for great companies with great branding and marketing.
7. Operations must keep up. To scale your business with great salespeople you need scalable operations, which is what Paul's two brothers, Mike and Dave, and their teams, provide. Great salespeople must believe in your operations.
Your Challenge:
It’s pretty clear if you want to scale your business, you must become a very good (if not great) sales manager.
- Someone needs to be the sales manager in your firm; not just a note-taker, but have good analytics, bring accountability as well as support, encouragement, and sales strategy.
- It takes personal effort and drive to learn sales management skills. Make it a personal learning goal.
- It requires the entire company to support and stand behind your salespeople. They need to “believe” in your operations 100% and if they do they will run through walls for you.
Regards, Jeffrey