Sleep is incredibly important to your health. Getting enough of it improves your immune system, lifts your mood, and can help prevent heart disease, just to name a few benefits. Getting too little sleep, however, increases your chance of accident and injury, makes you irritable, and, if chronic, can lead to some serious health conditions. If sleep comes easy for …
Top 4 Tips to Get to Know Your Co-Workers
I’m having a hard time getting to know my co-workers. They all have known each other for a long time and it’s hard to feel included in casual conversations. How do I get to know them better? – Mona in Tuscaloosa, AL Answer: Getting to know your co-workers follows the same path of forging any new relationship. You start with …
Is Now the Right Time to Start a Family?
I’ve started my own business, try to keep a healthy lifestyle, and now want to start a family with kids. How does one balance all this out? How do you ensure you spend enough time with your kids while running a successful business? – Marina in Pawtucket, RI Answer: Marina, it’s wonderful that you’re so ambitious and have love to …
How Can You Create Energized and Relevant Follow-Up?
The first step in maximizing the impact of your prospect follow-up is to know your objective. Take the ubiquitous follow-up call or email: Your objective should be more than just checking in; it should be to move the sale forward in a meaningful way. And while it goes without saying, I’m going to say it: Follow up in a timely …
How to Master Public Speaking for Once and for All
Moving to the front of the boardroom, classroom, auditorium, etc., to give a presentation – the nightmare. Your hands are shaking, you’ve got cotton mouth, and you’re strangely pale. The words stick in your throat, you stutter, you forget your place. The audience is staring, waiting for you to make your point, and you just wish the floor would open …
“Time’s Up” – How Companies Must Do Better Right Now
The #MeToo movement is changing dynamics in the workplace as the staggering scope of the problem has come to light. Companies need to reexamine their internal policies, encourage change in corporate culture, and address sexual assault, harassment, and discrimination claims more directly. In short, companies must do better. How can they do this? Here are key lessons to take from …
What is the Key to Handling Mistakes at Work?
How do I address mistakes in the workplace? Whether I was the one who made a mistake or a co-worker is the one in error, how do we resolve them and move forward professionally? – Fernanda in San Diego, CA Answer: Maya Angelou said, “People may not remember exactly what you did or said, but they will always remember how …
How to Handle Sales Rejection with Your Self-Esteem Still Intact
Self-esteem reflects a person’s attitude towards themselves. This evaluation may come from career success, relationships, lifestyle, appearance – or a combination thereof. We tend to feel good about ourselves when we achieve certain goals, and typically appreciate acknowledgement of others when we reach milestones. When you work in sales, you may base your success on how many sales you make …
How Will Social Media Impact My Job Hunt?
Many job applications require me to include links to my social media profiles, including Facebook and Twitter. I’m not very active on either one anymore. What are they looking for on there, and should I start posting more often, or more of a certain kind of content? Should I be worried about them seeing my wedding photos or political articles …
How Can You Stay Cool Under Fire?
We’ve all had those pressure-filled days that push us to the brink. While no career professional ever wants to lose their cool, there is an added burden in sales. A failure to keep your equilibrium in check can have huge consequences in a client relationship. The damage to the relational capital you worked so hard to build can be wiped …
How to Build a Relationship and Ask for the Sale
I’ve been building up a relationship with a potential client for months. We have really great conversations, but she hasn’t made a commitment. I’m getting impatient to make the sale, but I don’t want to harm the relationship I’ve worked so hard for. How can I get this client to actually buy – soon – without alienating her? – Coleen …
How to Deflect the Doubled-Edged Sword as a Working Mom
As women make gains in the workplace, there remains a dreadful hypocrisy against being a working mom that women face almost every day. It’s a double-edged sword. On one side, we navigate the path to be successful female leaders. On the other side, we must prevent our peers and managers from forming the perceptions that we prioritize our children over …
How to Enjoy Business Lunches Despite Vegan Dietary Restrictions
I often need to attend business dinners and lunches, and often do not have a say in the choice of restaurant. I’m vegan, and many restaurants do not have food options that I can eat. How can I participate in these professional meals without going hungry or looking impolite? – Danielle in Lancaster, CA Answer: Everyone with a dietary restriction, …
How Can I Excel During My Six-Month Trial?
My company hired two people for one sales position, and we have a six-month trial period. Whichever of us is more successful will get the position permanently. It’s been a couple of months, and my co-worker is getting more sales than me. How can I boost my performance and not let the stress get to me? I really like this …
How to Attract More Woman Business Owners
I work for our city business development commission. What advice would you give to a city looking to attract more woman business owners? – Maggie in Big Bear Lake, California Answer: Female business ownership is an important component of working towards gender equality. Owning a business is a huge investment and opportunity for financial growth, but only 36 percent of …
How 3 Practical Skills Unlock New Opportunities
Every day we wonder, what’s coming next? What’s on the other side of the tremendous disruption from the Coronavirus pandemic? How will we navigate the new normal? What practical skills will help us do so? Working moms are unsung heroes. We support our families, friends, and co-workers while grappling with unknowns. We can never lose sight that we have the …
How to Transition from Retail to Sales
I’ve only worked in retail before, but I’m interested in pursuing sales as a career. Does my floor experience transfer well into sales? What more do I need to learn? – Courtney in Knoxville, TN Answer: Careers in sales open up a world of opportunities. From any starting point, such as customer facing retail, you have the ability to learn …
What Can You Do When You’re Working with a Bottleneck?
There is someone I work with who is a bottleneck and I need to work with her daily. I’ve tried talking with her and have done everything I can think of to get what I need from her. I’m so frustrated. I’m dependent upon her so I can complete my work. What can I do to get her moving? – …
How You Can Break Down Barriers… With Play-Doh?!
When you read the title of this post, many of you may wonder, what the what? Let me explain. When we’re in meetings and presenting to a group of individuals, many people arrive with preconceived notions, are set in their way of doing things, or have a completely different agenda on their mind. The most important thing you can do …
How to Deal When You Don’t Appreciate That Fragrance
“I have allergies to perfume and other fragrances. How can I navigate this scented world and escape the fragrance?” – Connie from Federicton, New Brunswick Answer: For those of us with allergies, many scents can trigger a reaction: perfume, incense, and candles, to name a few. We live in a very social world and it is difficult to carry a …