by Dr. Richard Harte
SPECIAL REPORT:
This report is based on personal experiences of the past 12 years which have changed my life. As you read, imagine yourself doing exactly what I did.
When designing treatment plans for clients, hypnotists of all kinds have learned they need to perform a thorough assessment of the presenting problem before offering solutions. The same is true for Trainers and Consultants who design training programs for employees in the corporate world. The following is an actual recent case that illustrates the impact of performing such an assessment and how it led to a consulting assignment that paid six figures for three years. It is my belief you can do the same.
In this specific case, the client is a 100-year-old midsized industrial publishing company that wanted an innovative sales training program to introduce at its national sales meeting. Invited to a meeting with the VP of Sales and VP of Marketing, I knew these facts:
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The prospect had already met with a company that offered traditional sales training;
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The VP of Marketing was favorably impressed by what the other company had offered;
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Both VPs of sales and marketing would be passing along their recommendations to the Company President and all three would decide on the winner.
My approach needed to clearly differentiate me from the competition. In this case, I wanted to demonstrate how truly “out-of-the-box” my thinking was, and how it would quickly impact sales by identifying the prospect’s pain (which is now my signature approach, known as The Harte System).
After introducing myself to each VP, I decided to get right to it and uncover their points of pain. Each, of course, had a different agenda; so I put them through an assessment, asking them what their thoughts and feelings were about the situation they had presented to me and what, if anything, they were currently doing about it.
During the assessment, I was able to probe each one’s specific short and long term goals, the benefits they envisioned and the obstacles in the way of progress. I then asked: “If I can help you find a total solution that works are you willing to partner with me to create an on-the-spot action plan to overcome all obstacles and achieve your goals?” This was a commitment I had to get before going forward. Both VPs responded in the affirmative and the entire meeting took less than a half-hour. Little did these decision makers know at the time that they were already immersed in my training process.
To gain commitment I knew I had to get the prospect to agree to take action. The way I did this was to reach out and have them partner with me to create an action plan together, as a team. Here’s how:
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Establish a common goal with your prospect. Be very specific.
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Establish the benefits that will arise out of the goal(s).
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Uncover the real obstacles standing in the way of success.
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Agree upon the specific action steps necessary to overcome the obstacles.
I finished my meeting by asking both VPs if they would like a training program that put their sales people through the exact same process. When they reacted positively, I went for the close by asking them if they were willing to move forward with me. The VPs were obviously impressed but said that they needed the President’s buy-in. As soon as they met with her and took her through the same process she gave the go-ahead. I was hired for the conference which led to a close relationship with the President who hired me as a consultant on retainer.
With a fresh contract in hand, my main responsibilities were to spend 20% of my time coaching the President and 80% of my time working with the VPs of Sales and Marketing to help increase the company’s sales (which in 2001 were in a down market trend). Business was bad and morale throughout the company was poor. Employees were being let go and the stress level reached new dimensions daily. I put together a Stress Management Program which I implemented throughout the entire division both internally and externally. This gave me an opportunity to work in the field as well as with each department and I got to know many of the employee problems during the process. From this experience I was able to design two accountability programs which I presented to top management. The first was a sales accountability format which I monitored on a monthly basis and the second was an internal program which each department manager was responsible for. My responsibility was to train each direct report of the President and each department head and then review monthly the results with the President and all VPs. I became a true consultant at all levels within the Corporation and my name became known because we called the reporting function “The Harte Charts”.
At first there was tremendous resistance to being held accountable. Believe it or not, the most resistance came from top level executives who at times would sabotage my efforts. However, over time, with the support of the President, I was able to enforce the accountability program and make it part of the Company’s culture. Those who resisted were found out by their managers and steps were taken to either improve their performance or dismiss them.
After nine months of implementing these programs, training and coaching when necessary, I was rehired for a second year at the same fee arrangement. I met at the highest levels with senior management to help them adapt to the changes that were taking place. The President, a woman who easily became stressed out, needed lots of support during these tough times. She also became my champion when she met with other division Presidents and on one occasion was asked by the VP of Human Resources if I would be a good choice to coach and counsel a senior manager of the International Division who was having a difficult time managing his subordinates. She recommended me and I was hired for this additional project.
The senior manager was European who had a very authoritative management style which did not go over too well with his team. He was very talented but lacked many of the management skills necessary to motivate and encourage his team to perform. I was able to establish an excellent rapport with him and taught him how to hold his team accountable by establishing realistic goals and action plans. I also taught him to delegate and stay away from confronting individuals directly. He learned to use his managers which gave him more of an opportunity to do what he did well, that is, bring in sales.
I met on average a few hours per week with the senior manager and during this time was introduced to the President of the International Division. He saw the results of my efforts and we negotiated a one-year agreement at six figures. This too became a fun assignment on my terms and gave me an opportunity to travel to Europe four times during 2002/03. Many of the programs I designed and implemented for the International Division were the same as those I put in place at the U.S. division of the Company. In fact, the sales and management programs are offshoots of my work during the 1980s and 90s with Corporations such as Motorola, Estee Lauder, Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Co., Sanofi Beaute, Peppercom and others in various industries. I’ve constantly updated, revised, adapted what worked in the 80’s to the present time and the methodology is extremely effective.
With this client, the result manifested itself quickly in that the downturn in sales leveled off and because of the accountability standards that were implemented weak sales people and sales managers were dismissed and those that performed started making money. Communication at all levels between marketing and sales improved, putting everyone on the same page in their message to the customer. Management met more frequently but with set agendas and each meeting ended with “next steps” action plans. A company mission statement was developed and short and long term action plans were decided.
The Harte System incorporates many of the skill sets taught in the NGH Train the Trainer program and includes:
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Assessment, Goal Setting and Reinforcement and Encouragement techniques
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Pain-based questioning skills
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Suggestion management – necessary for making a great presentation
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Listening skills
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Persistence and Imagination techniques
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How to deliver an effective Stress Management Program
It is this author’s belief that all Hypnotists with a background working in the business world should consider augmenting their income by becoming trainers and consultants. It’s financially rewarding and lots of fun.
