Monday, April 24, 2006

Training Success - Principle #2

Back on April 3rd, I wrote an article that brought to light a concept that I've believed in for about 12 years now.

It's a concept that has been proven over and over again by training professionals the world over.

I didn't invent it, but I happened upon it and have used it successfully - whenever I could.

In this post, I'm going to continue with the message from April 3 and discuss the second principle of Training Success, known as "Engage".


Sense-able Follow-up and Execution.

Your communication has to be able to crumble any wall or dissolve any barrier - consciously or subconsciously - that prevents your employees from learning as quickly as they can. The faster they learn, the more effective they'll be, on the job making it count. If these people aren't ready fast enough, or better yet - aren't effectively performing the task at hand... they're gone. And it's all your fault.

Now I know your probably saying to yourself.. "Wait a minute, why is it my fault?" But it is your fault. You hold the keys to their success. It all starts with you.

I've trained people most of my working life. And I did most of my training before there was any real technology that could make life easier. What you did then, you did yourself. Ten years ago I discovered a very important persuasion principle and it changed the way I communicated and dramatically affected the level of influence I commanded over my trainees.

We all know that to properly train anybody on anything - the content must be rock-solid. However, the "training elite", all know of something even more powerful than content alone. Do you want to know the secret to delivering your training messages, with laser-beam accuracy - every time?

And I don't mean just to deliver it. Your trainees must understand AND remember your message, as well. There's only one way to do that every time.

TRAINING PRINCIPLE #2
ENGAGE.


That's where most trainers fall off. They teach, but they don't engage. When you don't engage you short change the employee, yourself and your company. You must engage. In my book - there is nothing more important.

So I ask you - do you engage your employees? Do you deliver training content that interacts with them and stimulates their "inner-learner" to want to know and understand more?
If your not, your failing them.

Engagement is not difficult, but it takes practice. Now I'm not going to give you a training lesson on engagement - however I will tell you the easiest way to engage anyone, whether it be your trainee, a manager or an employee.

To Engage is to Involve Their Senses.

When you involve the senses, your content has a way of permeating the mind at a much faster rate than if they were reading material from a book. It's just a fact. The senses are an "opened" door to your subconscious. Any time you can engage the senses, your employees stand a greater chance of recall.

That's why you can easily remember the words to a song or a line from a good movie. When the senses are engaged, it's easier for the mind to "record" the message.

Now, when you add a consistent, follow-up content delivery plan to your mix - you increase the overall success that your trainee will remember and communicate your message - in the field or on the job - WHEN IT COUNTS!

A Transformation in as Little as 30 Days.

I used to say, "I sure hope things will change." Then I discovered that the only way things are going to change for me is when I change.

The name of this website is cruisecontroltraining. And why is that do you think? Well, the entire idea behind cruise control is the ability to put your training program on autopilot.
Eliminating the day-to-day, arduous "grunt work" from your life is the first step. You need to find a way to minimize your exposure to "administration" and find ways to maximize your efforts towards growth, development and solving problems.

When all of the facets of your training program are working for you in unison – that’s called SYNCHRONICITY. And that is what our clients have come to respect and what you can expect as you move closer towards Training Success. Our goal is to help you synchronize your entire program and automatically schedule, deliver and track it according to your master plan, on time – flawlessly. We've perfected a system that delivers on what it promises.

The truly special part about all of this is that you will now be able to easily create and deliver "engaging" content with automatic, consistent follow-up - leading to improved employee productivity and recall.

Get Up To Speed and Go Remote!

For the first time, trainers are allowed to sit “behind the wheel” and discover the comfort of a smooth & consistent ride; confident enough to flip the cruise-control switch, any time they want to... and put their entire training program on autopilot. Imagine if you would - hiring 10 new people who are all starting tomorrow. With a few key strokes, everyone has a pre-planned, training "blueprint" scheduled and delivered for them automatically. Your entire company is put in "training mode" - where everyone becomes involved, there's never any guess-work and no one misses a beat.

What does that mean to you? Again, the bigger picture. You can now lead.

Don’t “spin your wheels” anymore!

Think constant movement. Think unyielding momentum. The old days of procrastination and "standing still" are over. Remain “cool” and “relaxed” and look forward to the time when 50 new hires are starting.

Why?

One of the most exciting things in life is when you can exceed someone's expectations. When the timing is right - it's true bliss! Imagine a system that automatically grabs hold of your 50 people, maps out their training schedules instantly and delivers your training program in seconds. It just blows people's minds.


Transform your training department today and open the door to....

  1. Increased Productivity
  2. Engaged Employees
  3. Improved Morale
  4. Higher Knowledge Retention
  5. Improved Results
  6. A "Real" Competitive Edge
  7. Better Execution
  8. Improved Communication
  9. Decreased Turnover

"There are two ways to face the future.One way is with apprehension.The other is with anticipation."-Jim Rohn


If you truly want to make a difference, then you need to stop making a living and start "designing a life." You can start by understanding the real reason why most training programs teeter on the brink of disaster.When you discover the final principle and claim it as your own, you can finally live your life on your own terms and deliver an exceptional training program.

If you're ready and want to find out about Training Success Principle #3...
go here: http://www.cruisecontroltraining.com/Train3perception.htm

Stay Loose.

George

Friday, April 21, 2006

Trainers Discover How To Explode Their Productivity By Putting Their Entire Training Program On AutoPilot

Press Release Notification:

Perhaps an article of interest. For those of you who are looking for ways to maximize the impact of their training efforts and available resources - you may want to consider an effective, online trainng alternative.. OmniTrackPlus (www.omnitrackplus.com).

Go here to read up on some new additions, released today.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/4/prweb374355.htm

Regards,

George

Online Training on Autopilot Series – Influence Part 3 of 4

In the previous article on the subject of Influence – we discussed the first three principles of influence – reciprocity, scarcity and authority.

Let’s jump right into the next three.

The Principle of Commitment (and consistency).
Once people haven taken a stand on an issue, once they have publicly taken a position, they’re much more likely to be consistent with it.

People are more likely to follow through with their actions once they’ve publicly announced that they would (especially having done so in your presence).

For example, say you are offering a new training course that you really want people to sign up for. As a trainer you can only recommend that they do. But your recommendation can be worded in such a way that makes them commit based on their own admitted goals and preferences. If you can your audience to publicly admit preferences and press upon those and how they relate to the course your are offering.. you are influencing through commitment.

Another example. You’re running a training webinar or teleseminar and you notice you’re having a big problem with people making reservations and not showing up. The call goes empty and your important course goes wasted. Try this... make the sign up a phone sign up. Have the administrator ask them that if they decide to change or cancel the reservation, to please call, but using these exact 5 words.. “will you please call us?”

In other words, you are requiring the person to make a public commitment to their action, in this case – to call if they can’t attend or need to cancel. Influence is a funny thing. Don’t underestimate it’s psychological power.

Little Hinges Swing Big Doors.


The Principle of Consensus
Social Proof. How powerful is social proof? I can honestly say that I believe it’s probably one of the strongest motivators that exist for influencing someone to take action.

One way that people take action is to look around them at what other people (like them) are doing in that same situation. And then they decide to move based on the fact that many other people in their circumstance have moved, profitably in that direction.

To a salesperson, there is nothing more powerful than to provide their customers with examples and references that closely match the profile of that customer.

Referencing our training course example from before.. if the course is a “hit” and your trainees are benefiting from their new techniques or knowledge.. capture their comments and use it as a social proof “recruitment” tool.

Another example of social proof comes from the infomercial industry. One person learned that by changing little things in their call to action, yielded tremendous results. Before she changed things.. the call to action line went as follows: “Please go to your phone. Our operators are standing by.” You’ve heard that before, right?

That line was changed to the following: “Please go to your phone. If our operators are busy, please call again.” And believe it or not, that created a wave of calls. Why? Because she said.. “If our operators are busy....,” in other words she was telling them, “A lot of people just like you are going to be calling in.”

She also included the principle of “scarcity” as well.... which means, “You better get in now, because our lines are going to be gagged with all of these people.”

Testimonials and social proof are tremendous vehicles of leverage and a very powerful principle to master.

The Principle of Likeability
People will have an easy time being influenced if they like you, plain and simple. It’s human nature. We respond better to people that we like. We do business we people that we like. We build relationships with people that we like. And usually, we have confidence in and trust the people that we like.

If you’re running a national sales meeting and you have a well-known, well-liked sports figure give a presentation talk about motivation – people listen.

Likeabililty is difficult for many sales reps, becaue it seems to be a matter of personality and chance rather than of behavioir and intention. However, likeability is no mystery. To use the principle, find similarities between yourself and your employee, trainee or customer and raise them to the surface. Your background, your hobbies, your likes/dislikes, etc.,

The principle of likeability is complimentary to the principle of reciprocation. If you can try and find something about the person you’re trying to influence that you truly like and respect, then that person will naturally like and respect you. While this may seem manipulative, it’s not – because it’s in how they are treated that will create the reciprocal action.

Now let’s tie all these together.... Once you know what the 6 universal principle of influence are, you can look for them in any given situation. The key really is not to invent them when they don’t exist, but to uncover them like a detective, exploit them, raise them to the surface – make people aware of them, more visible to them. When you do, you steer people correctly in the direction you want them to go.

Here’s the thing.. if you truly are an expert, if you truly have a lot of testimonials, if you truly have similarities, if there are things people stand to lose, and so on... raise them to the surface and set the climate for your interaction.

Setting the climate is key. Be prepared and know your audience – you do this before you ask for what it is you want from them. You set the climate that’s receptive, where people are receptive to your requests.

For more information on how to successfully engage and influence your trainees and employees.. on autopilot - visit www.omnitrackplus.com and discover a powerful online training solution that can revolutionize the way you currently train your employees - affording you a boost in ROI and productivity.

George Ritacco

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Online Training on Autopilot Series... Influence vs Persuasion Part 2 of 4

In the previous article on the subject of Influence – we discussed the three types of influence practitioners: bunglers, smugglers and sleuths and how each uses the principles of influence to change someone’s behavior.

Let’s begin to look at the first 3 of the 6 universal principles of Influence.

The Principle of Reciprocity.
People feel obligated to say yes to those they owe. Clear examples come from the charity organizations. When charities include small gifts (return address labels with your name and address on them) in their direct mailings, they double the response from recipients. As a trainer – to implement this principle, always enter a training situation with the thought of helping or leading through example. Give of yourself. Show them your are genuinely concerned about their growth and advancement. Period.

When you take the personal time to show you care – it will have a positive impact on your trainee. When this is sincerely felt and expressed, it creates an obligation that the employee will find extremely difficult to ignore.

Does this make sense?

Don’t dictate, Don’t Teach. Lead.

It’s one thing when you have a class room filled with trainees or sales reps that are all there by physical obligation (they have to be there), it’s another to “obligate” them to listen and learn, by showing a genuine concern for their growth and advancement. They may be there to learn, but there’s not guarantee that they will. As the leader – you need to use influence to change their behavior and make them want to learn.

The Principle of Scarcity.
There have been studies done in psychology that show that people generally have a stronger reaction towards something they may lose over something they stand to gain. When you start to study this principle in greater detail – it’s all pretty fun to watch.

When you present something that in concept, may be difficult to get in the future – the reaction towards wanting it, increases even more. If your presentation focuses on what they will lose without having or learning your concept – there appears to be a much greater attraction over presenting it in a way that shows what they have to gain. For example if you were running a special training course or program and highlighted what an employee stood to lose by not going through the course over what they stood to gain – chances are there would be much more acceptance and participation.

The Principle of Authority.
Employees are more likely to view you as credible if you’ve positioned yourself as not just a “trainer”, but as someone who has special knowledge or unique credibility. If you can demonstrate a proven track record of providing people with the necessary skill-sets for advancement and success – you can increase their perception of you as an authority. Always reveal anything about your background or experience that would tend to increase their perception of you as a credible, authoritative figure. Another way to use this principle is to emphasize your training department’s reputation and history of success.

It’s all about how you position yourself. The credibility factor is a huge persuasive and influential tool that you must leverage as a trainer.

In our next article, you’ll be introduced to a few more principles. Until the next time then, have a wonderful day! You can find more information on leverage, positioning, perception, leadership and engagement on www.cruisecontroltraining.com

George Ritacco

You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-)

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Online Training on Autopilot Series... Influential Persuasion or Persuasive Influence? Part 1 of 4

Influential Persuasion or Persuasive Influence. PART 1 of 4

Is there a difference between Influence and Persuasion? Yes there is.

Influence is the process of changing someone’s behavior.

To persuade is to alter someone’s attitude or beliefs.

Are the two similar in nature? Sure. But they are not the same and often times many people confuse the two.

While persuasion can be a tool to create influence, as an employee – influence is far more important. Having less customer complaints and higher sales can only come from a positive change in the customer’s behavior.

Here’s something interesting – there is an old wives tale that the ability to influence is a character attribute some possess and others do not. It’s true for some people; the power to influence comes naturally. However there is good news for everyone else. There’s been research conducted over the past 30 years that indicates virtually anyone can apply the principles of influence to change the outcome of any personal interaction. This research is based upon extensive observation of leading salespeople inside a wide variety of industries. By studying individuals in sales situations, scientists have been able to identify certain patterns of behavior and speech that increase the likelihood of someone saying yes to a request.

How Understanding the Principles of Influence Can Lead to Employee Loyalty.

According to Robert B. Cialdini PhD, there are 6 universal principles of influence. Today, in this field, Dr. Cialdini is the most-cited living Social Psychologist in the world. Additionally, he has a reputation as the seminal expert in the science of influence. Dr. Cialdini's bestseller, INFLUENCE, has been published in 20 different languages and in 23 different countries. It has been consistently ranked in the top one percent on AMAZON.com.

The Principles of Influence.

  • First, reciprocation. People give back to you the kind of treatment that they have received from you.
  • Second is scarcity. People will try to seize the opportunities that you offer them that are rare or dwindling in availability.
  • Third, authority. People will be most persuaded by you when they see you as having knowledge and credibility on the topic.
  • Fourth, commitment. People will feel a need to comply with your request if it is consistent with what they have publicly committed themselves to in your presence.
  • Fifth, liking. People prefer to say yes to your request to the degree that they know and like you.
  • And finally is consensus. People will be likely to say yes to your request if you give them evidence that people just like them have been saying yes to it.

Now before we jump into each of them and explain how each one can transform the way you currently train and communicate – it’s important to understand that not everyone uses them optimally. In his own research, Dr. Cialdini was able to detect three kinds of influence practitioners. There are bunglers of influence, there are smugglers of influence, and then there are sleuths or detectives of influence.

Bunglers are the people who fumble away their chances to use the principles in a beneficial way, either because they don’t know what the principles are or because they don’t know how to engage them properly. These people are always dropping the ball when it comes to the influence process.

Smugglers, on the other hand, do know, quite well, what the principles are and how they work. But they import these principles into situations where they don’t naturally exist. An example would be a salesperson who pretended to be an authority on a particular computer system in order to get a customer to buy it. Although the smuggler’s approach often works in the short run, it’s usually blows up in their face, in the long run - because only one person (the smuggler wins). The customer, who gets fooled into buying the wrong system, will be unhappy with it and will be unlikely to ever return to that salesperson or dealer for future business. As a trainer – the smuggler would be the trainer who “passes the buck” of knowledge – never taking the time to understand the true goal of what it is they are trying to teach. Whether it is in understanding the company’s goals, or keying in on how the information they are teaching will be used in the workplace or at a customer’s office... the smuggler is usually clueless to both.

Finally, there are the sleuths of influence, who are more knowledgeable than bunglers, more ethical than smugglers, and overall more successful than either. They approach each influence opportunity as a detective, looking to uncover and use only those principles that are truly part of the situation, and that, therefore, will steer people correctly when to say yes. So, for instance, if our computer salesperson genuinely was an expert on a particular type of system that a customer was interested in, it would be foolish not to share this information with the customer right at the outset.

The training sleuth, on the other hand approaches each opportunity with a cadet or trainee as a detective – looking to uncover hidden motivations and hot buttons that are specific to the individual. It is in understanding these items and relating to them – where the true engagement process begins. To learn more about the power of engagement and how it can instantly change the performance and motivation of your employees, go to: http://www.cruisecontroltraining.com/

When people are engaged, they learn easier and remember much clearer. And if the salesperson, in the above example had been good enough as a detective to find out that one particular system had a unique feature that no other system had, he or she would be a bungler not to say so and make use of this scarcity principle that was a natural part of that situation.

All in all - it’s not sufficient to know what the most powerful principles of influence are. We have to train ourselves to search every influence situation for the principles that reside there naturally, and to use only those principles. That way, both parties can benefit.

In Part 2 of this article, we’ll begin to dissect the first three principles and what they mean to you as the educator, motivator and cultivator of employees.

Monday, April 03, 2006

What the Heck is Training Success? Principle #1

Has anyone ever coined this phrase before?

That's my first question (of many), that I will be asking as I begin my journey into all that is new and exciting about the entity known as "blogging".

Some say blogs serve the self-indulged. Other's say they're a vehicle for "soul-cleansing" and "ranting". I've been told that they are a great vehicle for information sharing.

I have one purpose... to help get the word out about a very unique, alternative solution to how companies train their employees. This system can help corporate trainers, human resource managers and small business owners - basically anyone who has a need to deliver ongoing training - by "infusing" you with more energy and more brain power - and radically transforming how you cultivate your people.

I say "radically" because you will have more time on your hands to do what you want and you're employees will be thanking you for it.

This is an open letter to anyone who is charged with the assignment of cultivating and producing people into a productive workforce.
I ask that you read on and visualize your own work environment as you discover for yourself, three principles that can transform how you deliver your training. But first - just a couple of points.

Do you sometimes feel “overwhelmed” with all of the things you need to accomplish on a daily basis? Does your head ache from the constant pressure of keeping “all those balls in the air? Wouldn’t it be great to just sit back, hit a switch and watch your training program ease over to “cruise-control”?

In the next three minutes, you will discover the three most important principles that you absolutely must know if you're life is invested towards cultivating people into a responsible, productive workforce.

However, before we move on - you need to know that following these principles can change the way you train and develop people, can change your motivation levels, can improve employee morale and finally, can totally transform your role in your organization as not just a "trainer" per-say, but a Leader.

A good objective of leadership is to help those that are doing poorly, to do well and to help those who are doing well, to do better. If an employee is struggling - you help them to do better. If a manager can't manage - you help them to manage better. If your company is struggling - you help develop people, faster, with better skill sets to get the job done.

But it's not always that easy......

Here are the 8 Common “Pains” of Today’s Trainers.

  1. Absolutely "lost" with current training system that doesn't do the job.
  2. Inability to create training material that "makes a difference."
  3. High employee turnover rates and poor morale.
  4. Training delays caused by lack of focus, decreased communication and no consistent follow-up training plan.
  5. No effective way to ensure that regulatory and compliance training is delivered consistently and with impact.
  6. Buried in paperwork, administration, scoring tests and compiling data.
  7. Too much money already lost and basically "stuck" with no ability to increase ROI.
  8. No easy way to quickly determine where employees are in their training, if they're delinquent or if they need more help.

It’s interesting to note that when we introduce this list to corporate trainers, most admit they’ve experienced a combination of “pains” from the list above, not just one.

My team and I work with clients who are now removed from these daily issues. In the process, they’ve been able to leverage their increased productivity and move closer to achieving total Training Success.

TRAINING PRINCIPLE #1
Training Success - What is it?

  1. When you're training program is "making a difference".
  2. When your program is as productive and enriching as possible.
  3. When you can sleep through the night again.
  4. Having the "peace of mind" to know that your training is being delivered flawlessly, by an electronic army of assistants that never take a day off.
  5. When you can deliver more meaningful one-on-one coaching and mentoring (the "real" training, if you will).
  6. When you can "call the shots" and do what you want.. on your own terms!

How can you achieve Training Success? It starts with first understanding your role as a trainer and how it affects the bigger picture. You are not just a teacher of procedures and products. You are a designer. You design learning paths for individuals, a blueprint for growth and development, strategically aligned to the business goals of your organization. For what is training anyway, but an answer for solving problems and achieving your business objectives.

The clearer the path, the more rapid the retention and growth. But again, so many trainers are not designers, really. They can put together some good content, however - through no fault of their own (they've never really been shown a better way) - fail to rally the troops, both trainees and management around their training program. So even from the very start - most training programs are destined to fail.

Increased Employee Morale and Effectiveness!

How important is it that your company “buys into” your training program and as YOU as the trainer? Have you ever wanted to deliver “engaging” course material that could make your training fun and promote the desire to learn more? You can now discover what others already know about delivering meaningful training courses that involve “the senses”.

This is a secret weapon that "elite" corporate trainers
use to increase instant recall, on demand.

How upsetting is it when your employees or trainees don't remember what they've been taught? How frustrating is it when a complaint is logged or a sales call is blown because the employee just didn't apply what they learned during their training?

When the senses are involved, employees learn faster and retain the knowledge longer.

How is this done? Go to www.cruisecontroltraining.com/Train2senses.htm to find out.