All Kinds of Glass

Crystal Clear

5 Steps to Crystal Clear Communication, Says Top Customer Service Speaker & Telemarketing Speaker

Cato the Elder used to punctuate every speech to the ancient Roman Senate with the battle cry: "Carthage must be destroyed!"

At long last his unrelenting injunctions became policy and the Roman legions marched on Carthage.

Cato "won" because he did 5 simple things:

(1) He decided upon a concrete objective.

(2) He formulated a crystal clear communication to share his message.

(3) He aimed his crystal clear communication at folks that could do exactly that for which he was calling.

(4) He appended this crystal clear communication to every larger message he conveyed, to all of his speeches, and I presume, conversations.

(5) He repeated his crystal clear communication, without fail, never questioning its merit.

As I say in the audio program, "The Law of Large Numbers," if we do anything enough, we'll get good at it; Do more, and we become experts; Surpass that amount, and we become legends, and absolutely unstoppable.

But let's apply Cato's wisdom to sales and service, shall we?

(1) What's the key objective for a customer service call? No, it isn't making the call shorter, so you can get to the next call, unless you are using a special call path designed for that reason. The objective is to produce recommitment, a stated vow by the customer that he or she is going to do more business with you. Plus, we need to arouse the right tone of voice to confirm that vow. Once you have clearly defined your goal you begin to separate your service from everyone else's. Different aim=Different results!

(2) The great majority of sales scripts and customer service conversations are scattershot affairs, undisciplined exercises in "spraying and praying." They confuse more than clarify, while wasting everyone's time. Much of my telemarketing speaking and customer service consulting is aimed at simplification, cutting away the fluff and confusion. Michaelangelo said he didn't create his perfect work, the statue of David. He merely released it from the marble block in which it was captive. Leonardo Da Vinci said "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Do a review of all of your "standard" customer-facing messages, and improve them, now.

(3) Salespeople incessantly try to sell to people that are the wrong people, to those that are unqualified to buy, and often to those that are hostile toward the buying process. Cato's message was aimed at Senators who could authorize a war, and it was approved. Had he urged the same action in the streets of citizens that had no genuine power, he would have gone hoarse without dispatching a single chariot. It takes a better strategy to identify and then to effectively communicate with the empowered, but it's worth the effort.

(4) "What do you do?" is a question that we hear, everywhere. Do you have a proven reply that informs and persuades in every medium? Are you saying one thing at networking mixers, another in your public relations, and a third at your kids' Little League games? Cato wouldn't.

(5) Repeat, repeat, and repeat again your crystal clear communication. You're not just convincing others; you're reinforcing yourself!

Especially in a challenging economy, we need to marshal every advantage. One of the most overlooked is creating clarity.

If we do that, we can build sales and help customers, immensely, and profit handsomely, too.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the #1 ranked telemarketing speaker and #1 ranked customer satisfaction speaker at Google, and a distinguished, sought-after sales speaker, negotiation speaker, and attorney. He is a frequent TV and radio commentator and the best-selling author of 12 books and more than 1,700 articles that appear in 25,000 publications. President of Customersatisfaction.com, Gary conducts seminars and speaks at convention programs around the world. His new audio program is Nightingale-Conant's "Crystal Clear Communication: How to Explain Anything Clearly in Speech & Writing." His web site is: http://www.customersatisfaction.com, and professional speaking, seminar, and consulting invitations can be addressed to:gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._Gary_S._Goodman

About the Author

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top speaker, sales, service, and negotiation consultant, attorney, TV and radio commentator and the best-selling author of 12 books. He conducts seminars and speaks at convention programs around the world. His new audio program is Nightingale-Conant's "Crystal Clear Communication: How to Explain Anything Clearly in Speech & Writing." He can be contacted at gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Have a Crystal Clear Focus

"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate." – Carl Jung

You've heard a lot about the Law of Attraction. Recently, I've been using it consciously to create my ideal life, on a daily basis, in addition to taking disciplined action steps. 

With anything in life, if you don't know where you're going, you'll either eventually get lost or it'll take you a long time to get there, much longer than necessary. If you're heading out to drive cross-country and choose to do it without a roadmap, it may not even make sense to head out in the first place! Worse, if you don't consciously choose what you want, you will continue to attract by default what your unconscious mind wants to attract. 

One of the best things to start doing today to keep you focused on your end result is to get CRYSTAL CLEAR on your destination. It doesn't matter if your desire is to change a job, become a better parent, create more financial abundance, pay off your mortgage or run a marathon. Each of us has something in us that wants to aspire for "more" – however big or small.

Since coaching in the last year, I've noticed that certain clients were really wishy-washy about what they want or why they want it. BIG mistake! A single focused vision that is a reflection of something that is deeply inspiring will help you manifest what you want, much faster. Not knowing what you really want, why you want it and doing it because someone else thinks your "SHOULD" do it creates confusion. 

In order to help you execute decisions that are of deep importance to you, you've got to get clear on exactly what you want, determine why it's important to you and then create a detailed picture of the end result. 

Here is what I mean. Say one day you decide that you want to change your job to one that is more fulfilling, and you set that intention. But the next day, you decide that instead, you're interested in finding a promotion within the company you're already in. That same afternoon, you decide your work is fine as it is and that you'd really rather not go through the process of having to mix up your normal routine. 

When you keep changing your mind, you will never arrive at your destination. YOU are the one and only reason you are in this place.

Now imagine that this is exactly what's happening when you aren't clear about what you want your life to look like, how many hours you'd ideally like to work vs. play or the salary you'd like to make, etc. Many people do this every day. And as you keep changing your mind, your "destination" is never reached. This may seem so simple to you, but look deeper and you're probably making that same mistake (lots of my clients have been guilty of this.)

Your indecision is what gets in the way! If you're not clear about what you want, you're sabotaging both your outcomes AND your manifesting. In terms of outcomes, you'll find yourself waffling, not really knowing where to focus your efforts etc. In terms of Manifesting, you'll wonder why what you want isn't "arriving" quickly enough. This is why it's absolutely essential that you get CRYSTAL CLEAR on what you really want. 

So, get really clear on your picture. Write it out in details (mine is on my vision board and another document is about 2 pages long). Imagine what the scene will look like, what are some of the scents, who will be with you, how will it feel when you have achieved this end result, how will you know when you've arrived? Close your eyes and focus on this vision. Breathe into every cell of your body the feelings of how this will feel for you. (In my own mind I see fireworks, get goose bumps, feel giddy and imagine a marching band with cheerleaders in my honor!) This is an NLP technique called anchoring. 

The next step is to constantly remember this vision and revisit it daily. Tack pictures on your wall, carry it with you so that you can read it when times get tough. Read your plan out loud a few times over in the morning, afternoon and evening. 

I remember when I first started doing this I felt like I was on a skit from Saturday Night Live and I got quite the chuckle. Now, after time I'm seeing my own mission statement and vision starting to take form and manifest in my life. I'm realizing how by having a clear end result, it creates unwavering faith, courage to take the next step, confidence to make the next best choice and inner commitment to do what it takes to get there. And then WHAMO – I've arrived!

And as my own coach said, it's not difficult to get up, go to work, pay your taxes and settle into a routine. It's not convenient to have lofty goals. It does take commitment, clarity, effort and patience to set meaningful intentions and stay focused on your end result.

You're Assignment: 

If you're ready to mix life up a bit, stretch into more of who you'd like to be and get more fun and success into your days, take a few minutes to imagine what it is you'd like to achieve and get clear on the details. Take yourself out for a coffee, glass of wine or for lunch and have a brainstorm session. Then write it out and revisit it daily.

About the Author

Jackie has been a successful entrepreneur since 2002. She completed more education hours than needed in massage therapy and filled her massage practice in less than a year. That same year she trained and became certified as a Stott Pilates Instructor and a faculty member of The Foothills College of Massage Therapy. Her keen curiosities for the mind body connection lead her to deepen her learning with Bowen Therapy, Neurolinguistic Programming and Co-active coaching.

Jackie is the founder of Your New Face of Success. She currently uses her life to support professionals who are struggling with feeling "stuck in a rut".  As a result, clients re-connect back to themselves, re-evaluate priorities, and then re-orient their path towards taking actions and creating positive changes they so deeply desire. She has a white hot desire to help other professionals experience true freedom on the inside and outside.

Whether focused on career success, career transition, stress and anxiety management, physical health or balanced well-being, Jackie coaches you to arrive at a new level of mastery, success, joy and balance.

Jackie's signature style combines a mix of stimulating and thought provoking questions, mind/body release techniques, assessment tools, accountability and support, with her own personal and business expertise to give her clients satisfying results in the time that works for them.