Continuing education is something I strongly believe in as a Coach and Professor. ?I recently had an opportunity to attend the Assessments 24×7 User’s Conference at the San Diego Courtyard Marriott in Liberty Station. It was a nice change of pace being on the student side of the classroom. I snagged a front row seat. By the way, I always recommend sitting in the front row because you have less distractions and you’re more engaged with the speakers.

I had a chance to connect with two of my mentors, Jim Cathcart, one of the world’s top 5 speakers on sales & service and Tony Alessandra, CEO of Assessments 24×7. These guys are National Speaker’s Association Hall of Famers. It is always a pleasure to be in their company and hear them speak.

I also got to catch up with ?familiar faces, connect with?new people and of course I?learned a lot of great information at the Assessments Users Conference. Here are my top 3 takeaways that perhaps you can apply to your own business:

1. Collaborative Selling: ?Rick Barrera gave a wonderful talk on this topic and a BIG take-away for me was to “NEVER send a Proposal?instead, send a Collaboration Summary!” ?A Proposal is a guess in the dark as to what the prospective client may need?it is rooted in the pursuit of a “transaction” that sells a program. ?Instead, we should seek to “so deepen our relationship with our points-of-contact and decision-makers” that they work WITH US to identify the solutions to their problems. ?When our points-of-contact collaborate with us on the solution, we are not submitting a “proposal” but, instead, a “summary” of the collaborative effort to identify solutions to real problems. ?Go ahead and offer to write it up?but DON’T call it a Proposal! ?The key to all of this is an upfront relationship-focused, open ended and transformational approach to selling that leaves the transactional models where they belong?in the past or on the used-car lot!
2. Success Velocity:? Jim Cathcart, National Speakers Association Past President and Hall of Famer, gave a wonderfully motivational talk on the energy, drive and alignment that make up our “Success Velocity.” ?His concept is similar to what we have heard about “flow” but goes further to challenge our levels of self-awareness. ?Beneath (or falling short of) our Flow is the land of Boredom, Apathy and Depression. ?Above (surpassing what is required for) our Flow is the land of Anxiety, Stress and Burnout! ?It is a commitment to be self-aware (of our Mindset, Actions, Habits, Reputation, Relationships and Desired Future) that keeps us in the sweet spot of flow and determines our overall Success Velocity!
3. Game-ification: ?Faith Ralston, Ph.D. and CEO of Play to Your Strengths Consulting taught us a little bit about “Playing it Up” and sampled three games we can play as trainers to get our clients talking and, more importantly, talking openly about their strengths and weakness. ?Faith has brilliantly developed decks of cards; each containing a behavioral adjective and “psychometric” category that correspond with some major Assessments used in the Marketplace (DISC being one, of course). ?Faith explained that while talking openly about (and getting help with) our weaknesses is valuable, The ROI (return on investment) of playing to our strengths is far greater than energy invested in overcoming weaknesses.

I’m already looking forward to next year’s conference. In the mean time, keep learning! If you want to chat more about what I learned at the conference or ask me any other questions?related to your business, remember to join me for my Power Breakfast on Fridays. I still have a couple free spots open to enjoy a gourmet breakfast with me at the University Club. Who’s going to take action and sign up?

To Your Success!

Jeffrey Klubeck, M.A