eKourier Oct 2016

FEATURES

to maintain integrity among unforeseen circumstances. I see this as the Manager that recovers well after a tough few months. Instead of wasting time making excuses for poor performance, they continue to work on the small things that count, so they are ready when the market comes good again. Don’t sweat the small stuff and don’t let it snowball until it becomes a much bigger problem than it really is. If you lose a couple of customers to rent increases and another couple of new customers to your competition, how do you respond? If you move into a ‘fear response’ you will believe your prices are too high, your rent increases are too high and before you know it, your two or three setbacks become 100’s in your mind. Now you don’t believe in your product, so how are you going to sell? Their fear of failure is worse than the failure itself. problem? They look inwards, check and recheck what they are doing. Highlight opportunities for improvement and work on them. They would also understand that you will lose a few customers along the way. Expecting to win every battle is to aim for perfection over excellence. How does someone with Courage and Resilience respond to the same Teddy Roosevelt Wrote “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strived valiantly; who errs, who comes again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achieve- ment, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” OAR-BED ‟If you live in Blame, Excuses and Denial, you make your BED and must lie in it.” Lynda Walsh Operations Manager NSW/SA Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.

H ow do you respond when you have a bad month, bad quarter or bad year of results? Do you look for excuses or reasons? Storage is a reason- ably competitive business and experi- ences peaks and troughs, not unlike many other businesses. Of course, every Team has its challenges and the ultimate value of a Team is the ability to work together to overcome these challenges and produce great outcomes. But when problems mount rather than diminish, that’s when the Team shows what it is really made of. Think of our Training and Development Manager Bill McLean’s favourite saying in training – OARBED Ownership: We own the problem and the outcomes. Accountability: We are accountable for current and future results Responsibility: We take responsibility for getting things back on track and achieving our targets. Blame: “The problems are someone else’s fault.” Quick to point out what other people have done wrong and in doing so try to make themselves look blameless. Excuses: “There are good reasons why it couldn’t be achieved” “Our prices are too high” “People are moving out because of rent increases” “The Centre nearby is doing well, they must be taking our customers” “We weren’t

trained for this.”

‘ Rejection is inevitable when you’re in the game of sales, but the trick is not to let this discourage you. Denial: “The situation is not as bad as people are making out” “The other centres near me aren’t performing so it’s okay, it must be the market” “There’s no problem really, what’s wrong with losing 10% Occupancy.” Rejection is inevitable when you’re in the game of sales, but the trick is to not let this discourage you. Highly effective sales people don’t fear rejection, they have Courage, Resilience and they focus on the small things that make the biggest difference. “Courage” is the ability to cope with fear and failure. The courageous salesman is not afraid to lose a sale or customer, but rather embrace it as part of the process. They understand there are lessons in defeat and that perseverance is required for high achievement. “Resilience” On your way to greatness you will stumble. Resilience gives you the strength you need to get back up, dust yourself off and keep going. It’s the ability

‘

6 Kennards Kourier Oct 2016