Your Smile Is Your Logo.

“Your smile is your logo, your personality is your business card, how you leave others feeling after an experience with you becomes your trademark.” — Jay Danzie

Too often, we tend to hide our real connecting abilities with brochures, pamphlets, websites, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and a myriad of other distractions. Not that they are BAD per se, but they sometimes get in the way of what REALLY counts.

SMILE: 
When you first meet someone, do you project a REAL smile? 

Are you genuinely happy to meet them? Or are you faking it? Step back and understand WHY you might not be fully engaged in making a new friend. Are you insecure? Are you tired? Are you distracted? The more present you are when connecting with people, the more successful you'll be in life because you are projecting true authenticity. You’re there to make a new friend.

PERSONALITY: 
How can you kick up your personality? 

Most people think they can't — the personality they have is the one they're always going to have. That's bunk. You can change your personality instantly by kicking up your enthusiasm, engage your body language, pump up your patter — talk faster, a bit more forceful, change the intonation frequently. Act like you are excited to meet them and learn all about them. Make connecting stick.

MAKE THEM FEEL GOOD: 
Take a genuine interest in the other person you're connecting with.

Ask powerful questions, "What new things are you doing this year? How are they turning out?" Ask lots of questions and really try to understand who they are, what they do, and how you can help them. Follow up with my favorite three-word phrase: “Tell me more!"

"The more goodwill you spread out into the world, the more it will circle around and come right back to you.” — Rich Gee

3 Ways To Make This Monday Rock.

I have this problem. When I wake up Monday morning (around 4:15 AM), I don’t feel the happy, energized, and focused self most of my clients, colleagues, and friends see when they encounter me later in the morning. At least not until I’ve taken my meds. : ) A lot of people I know feel this way in the morning and unfortunately, it extends into most of the day and it is especially more intense on a Monday.

It could be for many reasons, you had too much fun on the weekend, you hate your job, you hate your commute . . . a myriad of rationales.

Mondays suck. So what do I do to immediately turn them around?

1. I Say To Myself: “It’s not going to last.”  Usually when I am up and taking a shower in the morning, I start thinking of all the BAD things about my business, career and life.

For me, I call it the ‘Morning Seritonin Slump’. It’s my initial body chemistry starting to rev up and it’s going to take a little while to get my car into 5th gear. So I let the bad thoughts wash over me and say “It’s not going to last.” — and guess what — it goes away as fast as it came.

2. I Plan Ahead.  I usually make a list of things I need to get done the night before. Not a huge checklist which would choke a horse, but a simple list of 3-5 items I know need to be attacked first thing in the morning. This immediately give me purpose and focus, two things I desperately need in the morning.

Also — dive right into work. Take action and stop obsessing how bad the day is or will be. Once you start attacking your to-do list, you begin to feel better immediately.

3. I Stretch and Smile.  The physical affects the mental. If you are feeling down, don’t focus on the stinking thinking zipping in your head, get physical. Even if it’s five minutes of stretching in your bedroom, a run outside, or a quick trip to the gym, physical activity gets the blood flowing and the mental malaise changing.

In addition, make yourself smile — we tend to go through life with a flat or angry look on our face and candidly, it affects our mood. Try to make yourself smile, hum, move your head to music, sing in the shower! You’ll feel a major sea-change in your mood immediately.

How do you make your Monday ROCK?

Are You Wasting Your First Impression?

First impressions occur in the first seven seconds of meeting someone. Here's something even scarier — a series of experiments by Princeton psychologists Willis & Todorov uncover it takes is a tenth of a second to construct an impression of a stranger from their face. Longer exposures don’t significantly alter those impressions (although they might boost your confidence in your judgments).

Like it or not, judgments based on facial and overall appearance play a powerful role in how we treat others, and how we get treated.

The moment a person observes you, their brain makes a thousands of calculations —  are you someone to like or to dislike? Can you be trusted or feared? Are you important or are you a lackey?

Each calculation is made at lightning speed — making major decisions about one another in the first seven seconds of meeting.

Let's break it down to each individual item:

Body Language/Body Image:

• What is your posture like when you walk? Are you hunched over? Are you straight and proud?
• Do you walk like Jason Bourne — A bit faster and with purpose?
• Are you shoulders square and are you looking straight ahead?

Facial Expression/Eye Contact:

• Are you smiling? Not a fake smarmy smile — a REALLY big smile?
• Do you 'brighten' your eyebrows when meeting someone?
• Are you looking them right in the eye?

Voice & Tonality:

• Do you introduce yourself energetically? "Hi, I'm Rich Gee. What's your name?"
• Do you say it with pride and enthusiasm or low and weak?
• Do you punch key words and emphasize your phrasing?
• Do you follow up with additional questions, "Tell me more!"
• Do you take a SINCERE interest in what they have to say?

Dress & Appearance:

• Are you wearing a sharp & clean uniform (suit, skirt, slacks, shirt, tie, jacket, etc.)?
• Does it suit your size? Age?
• How are your shoes?
• Are you wearing too much makeup? Cologne? Perfume? Jewelry? Accessories?

Handshake:

• Are you actually taking their hand and shaking it? Or just letting it lie there?
• Is it a firm (not killer) handshake? Is it a dead handshake?
• If you know them well — are you grasping with two hands? Giving them a hug?

Your first impression is so important. Practice, Prepare, and Present! They're going to LOVE you!

The One Secret To Look More Confident.

There are hundreds of books out there. Thousands of speakers. And they all talk about confidence. But it's really easy. Here's the secret (don't tell anyone):

Walk 25% Faster and Smile.

That's it. Now you might be saying, "Rich — that stupid. I need to work on my confidence daily."

Here's the skinny:

If you walk 25% faster (just pick it up a little bit):

• You exude confidence.
• You look like a successful person.
• You embody: "I've got someplace important to go and do."
• If you don't believe me, watch this (start at 2:00 minutes in)

If you Smile:

• It gives you confidence.
• It deflects fear.
• Boosts your spirits.
• Check this out (TED speakers are some of my favorites).

Appearance says a lot about who you are and what you do. It allows you to look like the kind of person you want to be.

Look sharp — think sharp.

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. Do you sometimes lose confidence at work or with clients? Let's talk. I've worked with many clients who have the same problem — and we developed a successful strategy to make things happen. If you’re not a client . . . pick up the phone and call me (203.500.2421) — I offer one (and only one) complimentary session each week.

10 Ways To Guarantee Clients.

Okay — let's get down and dirty with this post. You want clients, you know they're out there, and it's just a matter of getting them to see you and closing them effectively. Here are 10 ways you can get A LOT closer to some of your best clients, pull them in, and make them YOURS:

1. Develop Value & Status It's simple: The more expensive a product is, the more the prospect infers better quality. The more it makes them successful, more hip or more accepted by their peers the more they value it. How can you build in value and status into your product offering - from the minute they hear of you to the final closing sale statement?
2. Be Prepared Know who your best prospects are, where they are located, where they go, what they do, when you can approach them, how you can approach them, and the most important — why they need you. If you have these answered (I've taken many of my clients through this in about an hour), your success rate will double.
3. Look Professional You are in business. The more that you define 'business' and the less you define 'hobby', the more successful you will be. Bottom line — you have to spend money to make money. Look the part, dress professionally, carry professionally designed and printed cards, have a professionally produced web site — play the part.
4. Act Confident & Composed First impressions are key — you need to have the right attitude and appearance. Smile, approach the prospect, be the first one to speak, welcome them, smile, look into their eyes, be interested in them, stand straight and tall, stand up/no sitting when meeting, don't carry a lot of bags and SMILE. You know your business cold — act like it.
5. Take Action . . . Frequently So many people get themselves all ready to go out and conquer the marketplace, but are afraid of taking the next step by actually doing it. Get out there and touch your prospects. Make that phone call RIGHT NOW. Send that letter TODAY.
6. Ask Lots of Questions & Listen Make this meeting about THEM, not you. Learn all about their day, their business, their goals, their obstacles, their business interactions, their vendors, their family, and even their shoes. The more that you learn about them, the easier it is for you to position and inculcate your products and services into their life.
7. Deliver Solutions Selectively When I sell a prospect, I don't barrage them with a myriad of offerings and services. I ask questions, listen, and pitch a single solution. If they bite, great. If not, I ask them what's holding them back, and then I either modify my current offering or pitch an alternate solution. Too many people try to show the whole store in one sitting — that's a mistake.
8. Go For The Close Too many people out there don't know how to close. Here are a few simple close phrases that you can use. Remember, once you say it to a potential client, shut up. Let them respond. Too many people blabber on and lose all the power of a perfect sales close. (many of these come from my friends on the LinkedIn Group, Sales Playbook!): - "How does that sound to you?" - "Does that sound fair?" - "When would you like for us to get started?" - "If everything looks good, why don't you go ahead and approve this and I will take care of all the details." - "So, let's do this. I will be here every step of the way to make sure everything goes exactly as we discussed." And my favorite: "Sounds like you want to go ahead with this."
9. Go Above & Beyond Once you get them as a client, don't sit back and catch your breath. This is the most important time to quickly manage their expectations and serve them. Follow up and send them a thank you email and mail a personalized, hand-written card. Endeavor to deliver the first step of what you agreed upon ASAP, exceed their expectations. This one little action will define your relationship for a long time.
10. Be Persistent If they need to think about it, give them space, but ensure that you have a solid follow up date and time to get back to them. If you can, make it an in-person meeting and try to bring additional information or answers they might need to that meeting. If they turn you down, it's usually about fear of spending money or lack of information about your product/service. These are two areas that you can remedy pretty quickly with some basic follow-up sales questions.

7 Ways to Be Happier at Work.

A recent report listed the happiest nations in the world. Guess what? The US didn't even make it into the top ten. So much for the American dream. Why are we so unhappy? Let's start by looking at the origin of the word. Happy is derived from the Icelandic word happ, meaning luck or chance. Is happiness then, by its very definition, elusive due its randomness? With that in mind, here are a number of suggestions that I hope can turn our collective frowns upside-down:

1. Smile. Turns out, smiling is directly linked to happiness. It may have started as a correlation but, over time, the brain linked the two. Don't believe me? Try this: smile (a nice big smile) and attempt to think of something negative. Either you will stop smiling or you won't be able to hold the negative thought.

2. Stop worrying. Worrying happens to be one of humanity's best traits. It is the underlying emotion behind foresight, planning, and forecasting. We worry because some future event is uncertain and that feeling is a cue for us to start thinking about how to address it. The problem is, we worry too much about things that are out of our control (like the economy, stupid). The US has one of the highest rates for mental disease and yes, worry is among the leading indicators. While it's true that there are plenty of things to worry about these days, take a deep breath, America, and stop sweating the small stuff.

3. Take a break. The US is one of the most overworked industrialized nations. But this is counterproductive for a nation of "knowledge workers." Overworking people to exhaustion is a horrible way to extract knowledge from people. Taking a break provides an opportunity to reflect and often it is during such times when the best ideas, our deepest insights, emerge. I insist on taking lunches out of the office; I insist that my colleagues do the same. Call it a siesta, naptime, or a mini-vacation. It works for many of the happier nations too.

4. Do things differently. Part of the problem at work for many people is boredom. We are stuck in a rut where we come in and do the same thing over and over and over again. Get your enthusiasm back by doing things differently. Make every effort to learn, to grow, and to challenge yourself. Take on more responsibility or attempt something you never thought you were capable of doing. Even if your responsibilities don't allow for much flexibility, try a different approach to your existing responsibilities.

5. Stop managing and start leading. If you're in management, you need to find ways to motivate and stimulate your employees. How? Stretch their minds. Empower your team by giving them more responsibility, more decision-making power, more autonomy. Equally important: be inclusive. Explain what is happening in the company as a whole and give your employees a broader perspective on how their jobs influence the overall business.

6. Delegate. One of the most destructive and counterproductive byproducts of the downsizing era is fear — many managers are scared to let go of control for fear that doing so will make them obsolete. I have news for you: if you feel that way, you already are obsolete. Being controlling is bad for business, not to mention bad for your physical and mental health. The best leaders always look for people better, smarter, and more capable than themselves. 7. Have fun. Here is some tough advice: If you don't like what you are doing, stop doing it. Life is too short to not have fun. I love what I do and when I stop loving it, I do something else. Even in this economy, you will be in high demand if you are good at what you do — and can do it with a smile on your face.

What are your tips for being happier at work?