Blog 42: The Change Series (Part 5) —Change Your Perspective and Focus Instead on the Process!

The Problem—

Like it or not Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) or Key Results Indicators (KRI) are a fact of my life!

They’re a management tool used to drive my focus and measure my outcomes against business expectations.

If KPIs/KRI’s are not met, consequences follow.

A few individuals regularly exceed their KPIs, the bulk fall within acceptable ranges and then there’s the others…

Frustration—When results fall short of Key Performance Indicators

The story—

For months I struggled to meet one particular KPI.

Some months I would scrape over the line and others I would fall short. Despite my focus, at months end there was the stress of failure and threat of performance management.

The target was four per month, with month end approaching, regardless of my focus, no customer was interested.

What were those who succeeded, every month, doing that I wasn’t?

I’d watched and listened but there was no simple solution. If there had been I would have picked up on it already.

I was under target, over-stressed and totally frustrated!

Targets and goals are meant to stretch me, not stress me. They are supposed to be realistic, achievable and personal. This goal was none of the above. This was a target set by others, based on statistics, standardisation—Normal Distribution Curves, means and averages.

That’s what I thought of them; mean and average.

The bitter taste of desperation lingered in my mouth.

‘God’, I prayed, ‘there must be a better way. Am I missing something that You’re trying to teach me?’

The answer came back—CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE

Successful Stories

As you know I regularly listen to Audio Books and Podcasts.

Listening to others who have gone before is one of my favourite ways to learn.

Donald Miller (Don) provided an answer in a way that was totally out of left field. I discovered that every one loves a story. That was what I needed to do!

Tell a story that my customers could relate to.

Better than that I also discovered that all successful stories follow a basic 7 step formula.

What Donald Miller was saying about script writing rang true. The principles involved translated to sales.

Here was the missing piece of the sales jigsaw, I had been missing all those years.

Perhaps, just perhaps I could use this tool to succeed and shine!

This was a game changer. I had the formula for success.

More importantly I understood why the formula worked. I could follow these 7 steps and succeed.

For once I couldn’t wait for Monday’s arrival—to get back to work and try out what I had discovered.

Here’s why it works

The 7 principles of story-telling:

Hero—Every story needs a character, Luke Skywalker. In my story, the Customer is the hero of my story.
Problem—Luke wants to join the rebellion but is prevented by his uncle. My Customer has have a problem. They may not know it yet, so it’s up to discover what it is. (Ask open questions).
Guide—The guide in Star Wars is Obi-Wan Kenobi That’s where I came in. I am the guide. I offer a solution.
Plan—Luke has to learn the way of the force. In my story I offer a solution to my customer.
Call to Action—A decision must be made. Luke either accepts or reject the challenge. In my story I ask my customer to accept my offer.
That results in—Luke accepts the challenge and goes on to become a Jedi Knight. In my story there will hopefully be a sale.
Success or Failure—The customer leaves with a service that meets a need or decides against it. The choice is his or hers.

The Outcome

Rehearsal—I used the script often,Every call was a rehearsal. It didn’t matter if a sale resulted. I became more familiar with the story. I became confident using it.
Fine Tune—I used every opportunity to fine tune the script I was using. Over time it became more natural. remained shut.
Fun—This became an important aspect of the call. I interacted with the customer.You could say that there was a chemistry present. Like when two good actors interact.
Outcome—I didn’t focus on the result. I focused on the process—on the story and the results took care of themselves.

What I’ve learned

Understand the process —People respond best when a story is told. Make it their story. Make them the hero, ready to overcome the challenge that faces them and their families.
I’m the guide not the hero—The customer is the hero. Focus on their needs and try to meet them.
Some will, Some Won’t … So What! I can never pick who will take up the offer and who won’t. Offer it to everyone and let them decide.

It works

Goal—I set a goal. (5 sales)
Discipline— I used the approach on every suitable call.
Results—Within a week I had 11 sales, by month end 27.
Success—I’ve continued this approach over the past 6 months, and with exception of one month the approach has been successfulShare—I’ve had the opportunity to share with team mates and see them improve their results.
Satisfaction—Learning and sharing. I think that’s the way God wired me.

Tweet this: ‘Story is the best way to compel a human brain.’—Donald Miller.—https://bit.ly/2ywAih2

Over to You

When facing a problem when was the last time you looked for the story in the situation?
Start developing your own story today?
Testimony is just a churchy word for story The story of God's grace in your life. What is your story