Sales & Marketing – Page 47 – Management Library

March 8, 2011July 3, 2022

Backup Your Blog

Buttons letters saying backup in a red background

“What would happen if your blog disappeared one day?”

Of the 70+ emails I received one day last week, that message caught my eye. It was written by Cathy Stucker, The Idea Lady. You may remember that I interviewed her last summer about her great service BloggerLinkUp (to help bloggers find guest bloggers, and writers find guest blogging gigs.)

Her Husband’s Blog Crisis (almost)

In the email, Cathy tells the story:

“I was doing some file maintenance and deleted the test version of his site. What I didn’t realize was that the live version used the same data base the test version had used. Oops.”

Ohno!

Everything wiped out. I don’t know about you, but I would’ve had the shakes. Gut-wrenching scared. (Well, maybe not that bad … but close.) To date, I’ve written 90+ posts, 45,000+ words, images – what if they were all gone?

Cathy seemed to handle it all with ease and grace. Because, being The Idea lady, she and her husband used their smarts and had it covered. Both the hosting company AND her husband had recent backups. So all they had to do was a few minutes’ work and he was back on track. Yay!

How to Protect Your Blog

The Idea Lady suggests that everyone with a blog:

Back up REGULARLY. (I personally like automated, realtime backups.)
Store backups OFFLINE, too.
Make sure that you back up the database AND the design files – especially for WordPress.

Cathy Shares the Answers – How To:

Back up a self-hosted WordPress blog

Back up a WordPress.com blog

Back up a Blogger blog

For other blog platforms, search for “automated blog back up for __________” and, of course, fill in with your blog platform.

Thanks a million, Cathy. You may have just “saved” someone’s life or business stories – the powerful marketing juice on which marketers depend.

What blog backup services have you found – good or not so good?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Ms. Chapman’s new book has a name change! The Net-Powered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide will be available very soon. With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

March 3, 2011January 26, 2022

Five Keys to Clear Communication

How much time do you spend each day communicating person to person? You may be solving a problem with a customer, leading your team on a project, holding a meeting, or discussing performance issues. I bet this is a huge part of your workday. Yet most of us give very little attention to what kind of communicators we are, or what habits we have built over time. Use these five suggestions to be sure your communication is clear and effective.

1. Make your nonverbals match your message. When all channels are tuned in to the same frequency, the message gets through more clearly. Whenever there is a mismatch, we tend to believe the nonverbal message. Often, our nonverbals are based on habit, and we may not even be aware of what nonverbal message we are sending. For example, if you have a serious message, but deliver it with a smile on your face, your listener is likely to discount your seriousness. Therefore, take time to be aware of your nonverbals, and decide whether they are helping or hindering your communication goals.

2. Eliminate barriers. Noisy rooms, distractions, or bad timing can cause your message to get lost. When you need to have a conversation, choose a good time for both parties, and find a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted. Whether you are having a social conversation or a serious business discussion, finding the right time and place can make all the difference.

3. Eliminate weakening words. Kind of, sort of, could, might, maybe, hopefully, I think, I guess—all of these weaken your message. Consider the difference between these two sentences:

“I was kind of hoping we could sort of discuss this and maybe come up with a solution that I guess we could both hopefully live with.”

OK, that is an exaggeration, but you can see how the actual message gets lost when you add too many qualifying words. Instead:

“Let’s discuss this issue and identify a mutually acceptable solution.”

You probably won’t get rid of every qualifying word or phrase, but cleaning out the excess will help you be a more direct, impactful communicator.

4. Eliminate vague words. A little, a lot, many, not too much, soon, as soon as possible—any of these words can easily be misinterpreted, leading to major misunderstandings. Edit your words so that your meaning is clear.

“I would like you to clean up that report a little, and get it back to me as soon as possible.”

“I would like you to make the changes we discussed, and email the expense report to me by 4:30 tomorrow.”

5. Check for understanding. You thought you were clear, but did your message get through? Before you end the conversation, check to be sure. It is a great practice to ask the other person what they heard, or to summarize your conversation, or together decide what actions each of you will take as a result of the conversation. And take time to capture your version of the conversation. Even a short statement such as, “it was great getting to know you better” or “I will be waiting to see your final report” summarizes your understanding of the conversation and what it means.

Communication is never perfect, but by following these guidelines you will have a great start to being a clearer, more effective communicator.

What do you do to build great communication habits?

March 2, 2011July 3, 2022

New Networking Tip!

How to Meet Local Professionals

Tom Kern, VP and Relationship Manager at Civic Bank & Trust, told me how he networks in a delightful way! It’s fast, easy, and FREE! It’s a brilliant way to meet new business connections, because YOU set the parameters, then wait for lunch requests. Or, simply register and they’ll find you.

Three easy steps to join – according to Tom, it took about 60 seconds to sign up. www.gograblunch.com/register

Never Eat Lunch Alone™

“GoGrabLunch facilitates one on one networking lunches between business professionals who have never met.”

The best explanation comes from their site:

“We connect you one-on-one for lunch with professionals you do not currently know, based on parameters predetermined by you. Once you have entered your profile and networking preferences, we provide you a list of matching members who have open lunch times at a specific restaurant. You choose the member and attend their lunch. Or, you enter your own lunch schedule, pick the restaurant, and wait for another matching member to choose your lunch.”

A few inspirational and helpful tips from their blog:

http://gograblunch.wordpress.com/

“Networking and sales have a truly symbiotic relationship. Both have always been a numbers game. The more contacts you make the greater the chance for you to close a sale.”

“Be sure you are vetting out your contacts to determine if they are a good place to be putting your efforts.”

“Even the smallest of pebbles can make big waves. Networking is truly an art that takes time to become proficient at. Because of this many people avoid even getting started.”

“My advice is just to jump right in. As you get more use to the variety of networking type events your skills will improve.”

“Throw small pebbles, but throw them often.”

“Networking is about connecting with someone who knows someone, who knows someone, etc. Well all those “someones” know business owners and recruiters that are looking for qualified candidates.”

“I recommend … accepting prospects into your pipeline regardless of how busy you are.”

GoGrabLunch.com is based in Knoxville, TN – but when you share it with your Facebook and LinkedIn networks, it grows like wildfire. Please Tweet this, post a Facebook Update about it, and generally spread the word.

(NOTE: I don’t know these guys, and have nothing to gain – except terrific ways to expand business. Let’s give them a boost!)

Have you come across any great new ways to get your name out there?

——————

For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..
ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:
Ms. Chapman’s new book has a name change! The Net-Powered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide will be available very soon. With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

February 26, 2011July 3, 2022

Build Your Social Media Plan Right – From Scratch

How to Reach Your Target Audience

In addition to your primary site, social media sites leverage your messages online. The wonder of social media is that it naturally connects people who have similar interests. You want to reach your friends, and your friends’ friends.

When you engage in discussions online through social media, your message can even “go viral”, gaining momentum and reaching well beyond your friends’ friends. The ultimate goal of an internet marketing campaign is to create a meaningful message that reaches its target audience and is virally spread to others who are interested in the topic.

Social Media Plan Fundamentals

Build your social media presence and interaction very deliberately. Certain basic fundamentals will make your social media efforts most rewarding:

Write down your business goals.
Find and listen to the conversations that are already taking place online about you, your products, your competitors, and your competitors’ products.
Find and listen to your ideal customers’ needs. Remember, when you offer a solution that solves a pressing problem, fulfills an urgent need, or gives them hope and joy, people will eagerly buy it.
Choose key social media sites for your target niche and establish your online profile.
Integrate those sites for maximum exposure, brand-building, and traffic.
Engage in conversations.
Build your network or following. Build your email database.
Track and monitor activity and results.
Tweak to continually improve results.
Repeat.

Listen, Engage, Add Valuable Content

A site that allows users to interact and add content (comments, links, photos, video, etc.) is social. Use first person. Make your interaction sound and feel genuine. The people you meet online will be attracted to you (and what you offer) when you add helpful, meaningful input. If you’re new to social media, it is widely recommended that you first LISTEN to the conversation in order to become familiar with its unique style and flow.

Do you have success tips for getting your work associates to support this process?

——————

For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Ms. Chapman’s new book has a name change! The Net-Powered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide will be available very soon. With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

February 24, 2011February 16, 2023

How to Make Your Online Ad Campaign Profitable

Don’t Keep Losing Your Shirt!

It’s all about the numbers, so here’s the down and dirty. It sounds harder than it is. Follow this step-by-step and you’ll go from losing money to making money.

When people search for your chosen keyword, Google, Yahoo! and Facebook display your ad that contains a link to your site. The keywords you choose are critical to the success of your campaign. First, decide how much you’re willing to spend on the campaign AND what returns will make that campaign profitable.

Ad campaigns use a pay-per-click (PPC) model. With PPC, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Facebook also offers a cost-per-impressions ad model, or CPM. With CPM, you pay per thousand impressions, whether they click or not.

Calculate the Payback

Start by calculating your conversion ratio: Divide your monthly click-throughs by your monthly sales revenue from those click-throughs. Then, to convert that number into a percentage, simply multiply it by 100. For instance, if you get 10,000 click-throughs and sell 250 products, your conversion ratio is (250/10,000) x 100 = 2.5%. Or, for every 100 click-throughs, you sell 2.5 products.

You charge $125 for the product, so for forecasting purposes, your revenue from that ad should be $125 x 2.5 = $312.50 for every 100 click-throughs.

To determine how much you can bid on a keyword in the campaign, divide your revenue per 100 click-throughs by 100 ($312.50 / 100 = $3.12) and this is your breakeven bid – $3.12. This is the most you are willing to pay for that keyword, anticipating breaking even. If you paid more, you would anticipate losing money.

Increase Your Ad Profits

When you use longer tail keywords that are less expensive and your click-throughs remain high, your profitability increases. Experiment and tweak the ad, sales page, or call to action to increase the click-throughs, thus further increasing profitability.

Each of the advertising programs works a bit differently, and it’s quite important to spend time learning the ins and outs before you dive in. If you don’t, you could waste a lot of time and money. Each of them offers instruction, but the real tips are often available in forums, articles or blog posts on specific topics. Search Google for information like, “How does Google AdWords work?” or “How does Yahoo! Search Marketing work?” for consumers’ explanation of their experiences and insider tips.

Do you have success stories or tips for profitable ad campaigns?

——————

For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

February 23, 2011July 3, 2022

10 Ways to Encourage Continuous Learning in Presentation Skills

So you want your team to be better at presentation skills. You know it will pay off in in winning new business, better reporting of projects, and better visibility for your team. But given tight budgets and limited time, what activities will give you the biggest payoff for your efforts? Consider one or more of these:

More rehearsals, especially dress rehearsals. Bring in a small audience to challenge presenters by asking demanding questions. Management can be present at the beginning to stress the importance and offer support, but may or may not sit in.
Have junior people observe rehearsals of senior presenters. They can provide feedback on what was clear and engaging or confusing. They can also ask the challenging questions. This way they are learning to evaluate effective presentations, and learning how to give and receive feedback. They are also learning the content.
Suggest that people record their presentations and review them by listening. This will help them maximize vocal skills and habits; a must with so many presenting virtually where voice is key. Encourage people to record their presentations and listen back. They can do this right on the computer or by recording online meetings.
Create or add to a business library. There are so many great books on current thinking in design and communication we can all learn from. Ask people to read and report back to (or teach back) someone else. Reading inspiring books and articles can provide inspiration while preparing for a big presentation. Alternatively: give books or credit for online books as a reward for performance.
Have everyone learn PowerPoint™ so that they can use it to deliver a presentation easily. While this may not always be the media of choice, everyone should know it and be comfortable using it. At a minimum, they need to be able to start, advance, click on hyperlinks and end their presentations without fumbling.
Have everyone use some kind of electronic delivery system that allows them to click easily through their presentations. Make sure they spend their delivery time with the audience, not dealing with the technology. This can also be done by having someone else run the technology. Also be sure they have a remote to advance slides.
Consider offering a series of clinics or short training units on various topics: eye contact, voice, acing your openings, power closes, responding to challenging questions, using humor, storytelling, etc. These would be a great refresher for experienced presenters and a good starting point for newer associates.
Advanced-level workshops. This would be a great challenge assignment for experienced presenters who need a brush-up. Select a small group (3-6) Have each person bring 10-15 minutes of a presentation to deliver. They receive practice and feedback from peers and/or a coach. Run it right before a round of new presentations, at the start of a new project, or a when working with a new client.
Buddy system. As people begin to present, give them a mentor—an experienced presenter they can ask questions of, practice with, etc. Both parties will benefit.
Coaching for specific issues. Some people will continue to struggle with building confidence, or using body language or voice effectively, targeting their content, etc. Encourage them to get one-on-one coaching to address the issues that might be holding them back. A small investment of time that will pay huge dividends in performance and confidence.

What do you do to help your team continuously improve their presentation skills?

February 19, 2011July 3, 2022

Social Media Strategies

What Works?

There’s a virtual explosion of social media tactics and tools available to help you in your online marketing campaign. How do you choose those that ‘fit’ your company?

Start with a great social media STRATEGY. Developing one always revolves around your marketing goals and objectives. Examples of some of the more fundamental social media goals include:

To increase overall awareness and/or goodwill
To increase engagement
To increase referrals
To increase conversions/sales

Ideally, you want to build a loyal base of Brand Advocates – individuals who “blow your horn” for you. They absolutely LOVE your company – and they will trumpet the benefits you provide – a totally unpaid army of PR agents.

Real World Social Media Strategy – Case Examples

Strategy – Brand Advocates:

360i Digital Marketing invited select bloggers to an exclusive screening of NBC’s “Kings,” which included a set tour and Q&A with the cast and Executive Producer, resulting in advocacy well above traditional Digital Word Of Mouth benchmarks.

Strategy – Tie-in to Offline TV:

NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” Facebook Page leverages the show’s interactive nature.

Strategy – Make a “Task” Fun:

H&R Block found that in order to truly engage taxpaying consumers in a meaningful way, they’d have to set up shop in a variety of social environments, making taxes funny, interesting and/or personal – depending on the audience and unique attributes of each platform. On MySpace and YouTube, H&R Block created the spoof character Truman Greene, who sang parody songs about his love of taxes.

Strategy – Focus on the Consumer

Skittles took quite a different route. In a bold move, the candy brand re-launched its Web site and put the focus almost entirely on consumer-driven conversation. For the new site, primary navigation was designed to overlay three main conversation hubs: Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, along with “official” content such as product information.

Strategy – Celebrity Attention:

Vitamin Water launched a campaign starring LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, putting an existing social platform, Facebook, at the center of its hub and spoke architecture.

Commonalities

Successful strategies all have one very important thing in common – they KNOW their audience. Keeping their audiences’ passions in mind, strategies directly appeal to them, their online content engages them, and they have areal opportunity to achieve their objectives by developing these relationships.

(Thanks to 360i Digital Marketing for the inspiration.)

What online strategies have worked for you? What HASN’T worked?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

February 16, 2011July 3, 2022

Size Does Matter…When It Comes to Audience

It always happens to trainers who are well-versed in speaking/communicating in classrooms and smaller groups. Inevitably they are tagged one day by their bosses to speak at the regional or national conference, participate in the plenary, or even act as a master of ceremonies. To the trainer perfectly comfortable in his or her training environment, the idea of speaking to a larger, dispassionate group is daunting. For the boss, the caveat is the assumption that a good communicator should be easily able to speak anywhere to any audience as if it makes no difference at all.

But size does make a difference. Some would think in fear level, but that can be dealt with more easily than you think. Personally, I like a bigger audience. I like the idea that I have to bring them all to me like The Pied Piper, and thus find it more challenging. The bigger the crowd, the more impersonal the individuals. For most of us that makes the audience seem less ferocious. Yet, the smaller audience is more attentive to your every move–or hesitation. Both groups want you to succeed, however.

While I love the smaller groups, I have more experience with the larger groups of 250 to 500 at National and Regional conferences. I am an introverted actor, if you can believe that, but I still love doing public speaking. Size does matter when it comes to an audience. There are some differences.

The transition from classroom to auditorium is not an easy one, but it’s not as scary as you think. In fact, the audience is not watching you nearly as closely–if you think about it.

Theatre actors know this because theaters differ widely in the size of the house. I performed Hogan in O’Neill’s MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN in The Littlest Theatre in Oregon City, Oregon–just outside Portland; the theater prided itself on seating only 36 guests. In Colorado Springs, Colorado, I directed BLITHE SPIRIT and ROMANTIC COMEDY to an audience of 1600.

Although the performance space on stage was slightly different, the actors had to expand their gestures and movements so the entire audience could receive comparable performances. Sound must also be amplified. Sound can be improved with the use of strategically placed mikes or mikes hidden on the actors themselves. Musical theatre has been using them for years. Even so few theaters use them for non-musical plays–even with 1600 in the audience, preferring the age-old use of actor projection.

My character, Hogan, is a blustery and loud fellow, which would have made the larger audience pretty easy to play to. I had the opposite situation so I had to make sure I didn’t scream at my audience. The small, closer audience can see every wrinkle, every misstep, every expression, or lack thereof; for an actor, that means you can’t let up for an instant on character. In the same way, the trainer doesn’t want lose focus on learning and leave one smaller scale audience member behind either.

Naturally, it makes sense that with a large group that you can’t be quite as intimate as you can with a smaller group, and you need to be a bigger you. Like an actor on stage versus the actor in front of a camera. The bigger the area, the bigger the facial expressions and the gestures.

Here’s how I do it. While you can’t connect with individuals as you can in a small group, you can connect with groups who will think you are connecting with them personally. Don’t worry it’s a good thing; just don’t tell them. I try to connect with people in various locations in the room so I can spread my wings and move a bit, and concentrate my talk in their direction and in the other focused directions as possible without making it really obvious. Notice I said I wasn’t talking to them directly but about twenty people seated around them think I’m speaking to them directly as well.

It’s a bit like lion taming–only with more lions. Hopefully, no one in your audience has in mind having you for dinner.

Still, it’s like being a lion tamer–only with more lions. You can still tame them with your charm; your charm just has to be bigger to fit the room. You can’t be demure. And, you may have to get a read on your audience when you’ve said something important or profound by turning to the other side of the room and ask, “Right?” “Do you see?” Something like that.

Actually, if it is possible to transition to the larger audience, the best way to get started is to have a partner you feel very comfortable sharing the stage with. First, you follow your partner’s lead with the audience, and then your own lead as you feel more comfortable. Soon you won’t need the partner.

I happen to like the dynamic of two speakers or trainers working a group this size because you can more easily keep the audience engaged and surprised from time to time. For me, that’s fun. If you need a partner, give me a call.

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For more resources about training, see the Training library.

February 16, 2011March 27, 2023

Best Practices and Marketing Case Studies

Stories, Test Results and Lessons Learned

In this time of information overload, contradictory messages, and fast-changing marketing ‘Best Practices”, some of the most intriguing advice comes from real experiences from real companies. So I took great interest in the MarketingSherpa’s Wisdom Report 2011, which shares a collection of their best marketing case studies and customer insights.

Over-arching lesson: COMMUNICATE

Companies tended to focus on marketing fundamentals in 2009. They took stock of basics and planned strategies and tactics for their 2010 campaigns. This makes enormous sense, since 2009 exploded with new tools and thought leaders who convinced us that without a strategy to achieve our goals, we wouldn’t achieve them.

So 2010 was a year for the execution of those strategies, in which companies, large and small, focused on their communication. Some extended the simplest expressions of “Thanks”, while others spent untold hours and budgets devising complex social media marketing strategies and tactical campaigns.

A few marketing case study excerpts from Marketing Sherpa’s report are intriguing, as you consider key elements in your digital communication strategy:

LESS IS MORE

“Since digital marketing is cheap (and often free), we tend to over-do it.

More links, more content, more email newsletters, more pages…

Seth Godin once said:

“Once you overload the user, you train them not to pay attention. More clutter isn’t free and is a permanent shift, desensitization to ALL the information, not just the last bit. More is not always better. In fact, more is almost never better.”

“Put simply, try reducing your company’s newsletter to above the fold or limit it to just one link.”

(Contributor credit: Nathan Potter, IDES, www.ides.com)

GUERRILLA MARKETING TRIUMPHS IN BAD ECONOMY

For one client in the business of education: “In this down economy, the pursuit of new students becomes challenging. Our marketing / communications department worked to strengthen our email marketing campaigns with great results. We added student testimonials to our campaign and prospective students responded to our present students.

“We also began to ask our present students to refer their colleagues and friends to us with an email campaign that succeeded beyond our estimation. One can prosper in a down economy by looking at guerrilla marketing tactics to reach prospective customers.

(Contributor credit: Dr. Raymond Guilette, The National Graduate School, www.ngs.edu)

EMAIL MARKETING

MarketingSherpa’s client wanted to increase renewal rates among members completing their first year of email marketing membership.

According to their client: “After pouring over MarketingSherpa’s Best Practices in Email Marketing Handbook, (excerpts at this link) we

recommended a “postcard”-type email format to deliver single-focused messaging. The outcome was a series of email blasts, by life stage segment, that were blasted every two weeks, PLUS a series of “special” emails that universal appeal, which were blasted based on calendar date or triggered event.

“Open rates of the first “Welcome” email were 2.5x higher than the previous benchmark and clickthrough rates nearly 300% higher. Open rates of the first

Segment-specific email were nearly 350% higher than the benchmark and clickthroughs, depending on the subject matter in the email, were well above benchmark metrics.

“After 16 weeks of blasting, segments were still at 30% open rates and 15% clickthrough rates. Event-triggered emails enjoy open rates of 50-80% with clickthrough rates between 70 and 95%. While retention rates are just starting to be measured, we know we increased engagement with the brand, so we’re hopeful that we see that reflected in renewal rates.”

(Contributor credit: Carolyn Goodman, Goodman Marketing Partners, www.goodmanmarketing.com

What communication tips do you have to share from YOUR experiences?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

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February 13, 2011July 3, 2022

5 Ways to Foster Healthy Communication in Conflict Situations

We all want to approach conflict situations with clear, honest communication that leads to a productive solution everyone can feel good about. But old habits and norms sometimes block direct, open communication. Use these suggestions as a checklist to see if you are communicating in the best possible way at your organization. If you aren’t, an open discussion and agreement to use these practices might be just what is needed to foster healthy, open communication in conflict situations.

Talk directly to the person you need to talk with. Don’t go around them. Don’t talk about them. Don’t email them. Talk to them face to face if possible, or on the phone if necessary.
Before engaging in a discussion, stop and ask, do we have the right people in the room? If others are needed to resolve the issue or to add input, get them into the discussion right away.
When you are bringing up an issue or problem, be sure to also bring ideas for a solution. Don’t just bring up issues to get them off your chest or to complain, but rather come with either a request for help or possible solutions.
Seek to understand the other person, whether you or the other person is bringing the conflict to light. How do their personal energies and styles differ from yours? How are they emotionally or rationally engaging with you? What are their perspectives? What are their perceptions?
Use a simple model to help unravel the situation. Be sure you focus on the goal of the interaction, the facts leading up to the situation, the possible solutions, and the decisions you will make. Decide who will do what, and when. Enlist others as needed to complete the action plan. Follow-up to see that what you agreed on happened.

Conflict in communication is universal; being human, we have different wants and needs, and we don’t always communicate perfectly. Keep the lines of communication open, and keep an open mind.

What other suggestions would you make to help work through conflict with healthy communications?