Meeting Mr. Donnie

I have been in the same chilly room for the past 40 minutes and there is no sign of my client. The time is almost 4.45PM on a Friday afternoon. What should I do? The jam is going to be really bad. Will I be late for my next appointment? I leave or should I wait? I know my client is busy in the other room. At least that is what his assistant said about 20 minutes ago. I need to finalize this deal. It is probably the biggest project in my entire career. I am not even sure whether it is wise to let myself out to ease my bladder. What if my client comes out and decides to see someone else if I am not around?

At that moment, the assistant signalled me to step inside to my client’s room. As Donnie gestured for me to take my seat in front of him, his conversation on the phone caught my attention. He uttered a couple of specifications which was predominantly from my project. To my horror, I was very certain he said that the project I was hoping to close that day was now awarded to the person on the other side of the phone! Donnie put the phone down with a grin on his face and asked me “Are we suppose to meet today?”

“Yes! We are supposed to finalise the details for the branding project” I answered with an air of disappointment.

“I thought said you can’t match the price that I wanted? ” Donnie responded with a slight hint of surprise. “In fact, I just gave the project to the other supplier on the phone” he added.

“Now, are you saying that you agree to the price I wanted? I think there is still time at this moment for me to call the other supplier. I am sure he wouldn’t have typed everything out yet” said Donnie as he looked at me while holding the office phone.

“Yes! I am certain I can meet your pricing and terms” I replied hesitatingly knowing that this would mean my profit would now be only a quarter of what I initially intended to negotiate for.

“Where do I sign then? ” asked Donnie

1. Did you encounter something similar to my experience above?
2. Was the waiting in the chilly room deliberate?
3. Was Donnie really busy that day?
4. Was the call between Donnie and the other supplier genuine?
5. Was Donnie a good negotiator?
6. Did a negotiation take place?

If your answer is “Yes” to the above 6 questions, you should seriously consider our Signature Programs – “Non-Negotiator’s Negotiation” for internal negotiation and “Highly Evolved Negotiator & Influencer” for Sales Negotiation. In this program, you will discover that Donnie in the above situation was using one of the Dirty Tricks in Negotiation and such tricks can be easily managed.

Effective negotiation is not only for the sales person but it is an essential skill for every level and every job function. The ability to negotiate well allows a relationship to grow, conflict and stress reduced and in sales, better profits and favourable terms.

Get in touch with us to know more about those programs.

Reach us at info@mindpower.com.my.

‘GROWTH Mind-Set’ Questions for Impactful Presentation

by Teoh C.N. & Roy Tan

Standing on stage and delivering a message is never easy – even with seasoned speakers. There is even a saying that people FEAR public speaking more than they FEAR death! Nonetheless, speaking, presenting yourself and articulating your ideas is crucial in any organisation setting.

When one allows themselves to be heard in the shoes of others, then the communication is accurate; the message gets put across. Here are some pre-presentation questions that can help shed light on how you will be delivering your presentation more effectively.

‘GROWTH Mind-Set’ Questions for Impactful Presentation

• What are the key points you want to convey?

Keep them short and simple. Are you clear yourself about your message? Or are you disorganised and all over the place?

• How much does your audience already know?

Knowing who your message recipients and demographics are, will help you prepare information that will add value to to your audience. Redundant information tends to cause distraction, loss of interest and attention.

• What points will be difficult for people to grasp?

Knowing what they know is one thing, know what they don’t is another. As your audience comes from all kinds of backgrounds, understanding and comprehension levels vary, and as such, prepare your presentation to cater for all levels.

• If you were in their place, would this presentation help you reach your goals?

Audiences respond the best when they know whats in it for them. Knowing that they will get value that enriches and empowers their life, makes them wanting to understand and listen to you more. Position your presentation from their perspective and how they are able to get the most from you.

• What can you do to bring it more in line with what your stakeholders are hoping to achieve?

Presentations that impact are presentations that matter. Understand the values of your stakeholders and bring it to their attention of how they can benefit from your presentation. Do this early in your presentation and you will have “hooked” them for the rest of your talk.

Know you have great ideas but unsure of how to deliver them with impact?

Get in touch with us – roy@mindpower.com.my.

Signature program: TRAIN THE TRAINER

The Relationship between Meaning and Performance

by Roy Tan

Are you encountering challenges in retaining skilled talents? Do you find your workforce getting restless after 3-6months on the job?

Of the clients that I have met lately, 80-85% have shared signs that they are in dire need of talent retention and succession planning.

The new generation of workforce now joins an organization not only because of the benefits, but the main reason is being able to add and see more value through what they do. Because we are in the digital age, leaders now need to take on multiple roles in the organization; what not with the new Y-generation and millennials coming into the organization. Leaders now not only need to manage and anticipate strategic changes, but also play a coaching role to build a collective performing workforce – and this is where the power of meta coaching fits in.

Here is the Meaning-Performance Axes:

When people take on new roles or tasks, they begin with high desire, drive and enthusiasm, wanting to learn and know more. However, they most like are unable to perform, thus being high on the meaning and low in performance.

Now, after a certain period of time, they begin to develop the skills and competencies in their tasks and roles – where they have high meaning to what they do, and being able to perform at their peak. This is when they are at their best – having the drive, productiveness, accountability, motivation and self actualised.

However, being in the same role or task for too long a time, they begin to drop in drive and motivation – but still being able to perform – even with both eyes closed! Here, they become, what I like to call “zombies”. They struggle to get out of bed to go to work, get the job done, and procrastinate on potential improvement and growth activities.

So, what meta coaching does, is we help bridge the gap between meaning and performance – helping the person self actualize – to bring more meaning to what they do, or to bring more performance to their meaning.

This is a never ending cycle – because all humans need growth and development!

Would you like to know how we do it as meta coaches? =)

We must first win the inner game.

How? You can talk to me at roy@mindpower.com.my.

Signature program: THE ABC’S OF COACHING

Credit: Sources from Meta Coaching by L.Michael Hall (International Society of Neuro Semantics)