Do want to be known as "The Expert" or "The Guru"? Do you want to advance your career and income? If you answered yes to both of these questions then you need to become a “Top Performer” in your profession. Whether you are now a Manager, Executive, Consultant, Sales or Service Specialist, then Communication and Questioning skills will be one of the keys to your success. Experience and knowledge in your area of specialty may make you an above average performer, but to be a “Top Performer” start implementing the following 13 Communication and Questioning skills and action items today.

Top performers are successful by being honest, respecting a clients intelligence and focusing all their energies on how to make a difference in a clients life. After reviewing the following “Top Performer” Communication skills and action items, you will know how to be more effective, efficient, and successful.

Improve written, verbal, and listening skills to get your meaning across to key decision makers.

1. Always tell your customer why they should buy/use your offering. Use plain English (no technical terminology) and describe the benefits. Example, “Produce a widget in ½ the time” or “Services are performed in ½ the time and at ½ the cost”.

2. Listen naively instead of defending and debating. By keeping an open, unbiased mind and keeping the customer talking, provides valuable information that can be addressed in the future.

3. Customers will better understand information if told as a story. Instead of showing and describing numbers, statistics and technical points, tell them a story about customer experiences with the offering, how they used it, and the value they received.

4. You have a 50% greater chance of success by translating raw data into simple words, knowledge, and wisdom that customers can use to make smart decisions. Turn raw data into a story.

5. Highlight how easy your offering is to use.

Questions to ask your customers daily.

1. Ask your customer, “What makes our offering different over a competitors?” This will provide honest, unbiased feedback that will help position your offering with current and future customers.

2. Call customers personally to see how they like your offering. Ask, “Does “XYZ” offering meet or exceed your expectations?”. Then ask if they have any questions.

3. Ask customers, “What can I do to win more of your business?”. This direct question will provide valuable information for the future.

4. Continue to ask your customer “What’s new?” You will increase your odds of learning more, quicker. Do not assume you are up to date on what is going on.

5. Ask customers open ended questions using “Why”. Example, “Why is it important to increase your production?”.

6. Ask the customer “What are the little things that annoy them?”. Then fix these details.

7. Ask the customer “Do you ever expect to make a purchase?”. This sets off events of deep thought and consideration.

8. Ask the customer “What are they looking for and what is most important?”.

For some, charisma is a mysterious attribute. It's challenging to describe someone who exudes charisma because there's really no way to quantify the effect this kind of person seems to have on others. It seems it's a black or white issue; that is, you either have charisma or you don't. Charisma is not leadership, assertiveness or enthusiasm nor is it exactly personality either. It's its own unique characteristic. Charisma empowers others to like you, even if they don't know much about you and even when there hasn't been enough time to develop trust in you. If you have charisma, not only do people want to be around you, but whether they realize it or not, they also want to be influenced by you. Charisma gives you power over, allegiance toward and devotion with your audience, without leaving them feeling powerless. At the same time, it creates instant support. So, the question remains, are you born with charisma or is it learned? The answer is both! Some attributes are inherent, while others can be acquired.

The word "charisma" comes from the Greek goddess Charis. Charis's character was one of total beauty and charity. Today, the word has to do with an individual's magnetism, intensity, vivaciousness and so on. Gerry Spence has perhaps summed up the concept of charisma best:

Charisma is energy from the heart zone. If the speaker has no feeling, there is nothing to transfer. Charisma occurs when the speaker's feelings are transferred in the purest form to another. Charisma is not a diluted feeling. It is not disguised. It is a raw feeling. Charisma is the passing of our pure energy, our pure passion, to the other.

People who are charismatic often hold us in awe. Their energy prods us, motivates us and inspires us. They fulfill our need for heroes. We feel better for having met them, seen them, listened to them and interacted with them. Why and how do charismatic people have this effect on us?

Jay Conger has identified four general characteristics of charismatic leaders:

1. They have a strong and clear vision, and they know how to present it so it best fits the context of their audience's needs.

2. They know how to present their vision so that the weaknesses of the present condition are apparent and the recommended changes are not only justifiable but also desired.

3. They have a history of success, expertise and vision to make educated departures from old traditions that may be less effective.

4. They possess the behavior they encourage others to have. They model the results of change themselves and thus help their audience feel motivated and empowered to do likewise.

So, how would one go about developing charisma? The following are eight ways to do so:

1. Develop self-confidence in yourself and in your message. Don't appear nervous or out of balance. Be confident that you possess self-worth and that you know your message.

2. Show a lighter side. Find your sense of humor and happiness and have fun. Don't take life too seriously. Learn to laugh at yourself.

3. Have great presence and energy. Project a presence of the Five Cs of Trust: character, competence, confidence, credibility and congruence.

4. Have a definite opinion about your subject. Be knowledgeable about your subject matter and make sure that knowledge is based on a solid foundation. Develop a sense of your audience's emotion and conviction for your subject.

5. Look good. Make sure your clothing, hair, shoes and jewelry match your message's tone. Dress the part.

6. Be able to inspire and uplift others. Be sensitive to people and their needs. Develop rapport with your audience. Connect with them and become a great listener.

7. Be organized and easy to follow. Make your points connected and your structure clear.

8. Be dramatic, unique and enticing. Be interesting to be around. Make sure the things you talk about are exciting. Tell spellbinding stories.

An inspired and motivated workforce is essential for any business that hopes to stay ahead of the competition. But just how do you motivate people? What kind of leadership do people respond to? And how can you improve the quality of leadership in your business?

The Inspiration Gap:

In a survey of more than one and a half thousand managers, people were asked what they would most like to see in their leaders. The most popular answer, mentioned by 55% of people, was ‘inspiration’.

When asked if they would describe their current leader as ‘inspiring’, only 11% said yes. The two attributes that people actually mentioned most often when describing their leaders were ‘knowledgeable’ and ‘ambitious’. As well as this thirst for inspiring leadership, there’s also evidence to support the idea that companies with inspiring leaders perform better.

The Sunday Times publishes an annual survey of the ‘Best Companies to Work For’, which is compiled from the opinions of the companies’ own employees. One interesting fact is that those ‘Best Companies’ that are publicly quoted consistently outperform the FTSE All-Share Index. Five-year compound returns show a 5.7% negative return for FTSE All-Share companies against a 13.6% gain for the Best Companies. Over three years, the returns were -11.3% and 6.7% respectively while, in the last twelve months, they were 23.1% and 44%. The ‘Best Companies to Work For’ have also performed impressively on staff turnover, sickness rates, absenteeism, and the ability to recruit good quality people.

The stereotype of the inspirational leader as someone extrovert and charismatic is the exception rather than the rule. Looking at best practice across business, though some inspirational leaders certainly do fit this mould, a large number do not. Many are quiet, almost introverted The following are some of the most commonly observed characteristics of inspiring leaders:

Strong Strategic Focus:

They are very good at ensuring that the business only does those things where it has the resources to do a good job and where it can add real value.

Lateral Thinkers:

They are particularly adept at drawing on experiences outside their own sectors and taking a much broader view than the norm. They look at things very laterally and encourage their people to do the same.

Vision And Communication:

An inspirational leader has a very strong, customer-focused vision of where the business should be going. Importantly they are also able to communicate their vision so that their people feel they own it and know where they fit into it. The best leaders are great communicators who prefer plain speaking to jargon.

Principled:

They are deeply committed, courageous, demanding of themselves and their people and confident, albeit often in a quiet and under-stated way. What singles them out is an exceptionally strong set of values built on honesty, openness and true respect for their people.

What makes an inspiring leader?

Reflective:

What distinguishes them is genuine humility and not being afraid to show vulnerability on occasions. This comes from regular periods of reflection and an unquenchable thirst for learning.

Risk Takers:

They have a marked tendency to ‘bend the rules’, take calculated risks, and, on occasions, be guided by their gut-feelings. They also tolerate this in other people, recognising that a certain amount of flexibility is essential to adapt to circumstances and make real strides forward.

Accessible:

They make time to get out and speak to people. This informal and personal contact is a very powerful motivator. Equally, when they are at their own desk, they aren’t cosseted behind a wall of PAs.

Value Attitude:

They value skills and training very highly, but they also focus heavily on attitude, believing that, without the right attitude and motivation, nothing will be achieved.

In the previous section, we looked at the qualities of inspiring leaders. The question is, why do these traits produce results?

Pay is only one component of job satisfaction. Other factors like respect and prestige can be tremendously important in making staff feel good about their jobs. The reason that inspiring leadership produces results is that it contributes directly to fulfilling many of people’s emotional needs.

The following are some of the ways that best practice in leadership contributes to improved job satisfaction, motivation and productivity.

Still dripping with the fresh idealistic views of a young professional, our hero proudly takes the stage. All eyes watch as he enters his first job and steps into the world of the sales profession.

Those with sales experience quietly stand by and think to themselves, “Be strong, young man.” They secretly wish him the best of luck, knowing that in just one moment he will be blindsided by their abrasive world.

Then it happens – our young hero is bombarded with brochures, thrown into an orientation class, and quickly strapped with quotas. While those around him tell him that he shouldn’t worry about hitting his goals, he is still eager to impress. Anything short of excellence will undoubtedly leave its mark.

Our hero is led to the field, following those he has been told he has much to learn from. He is quickly overtaken by an uncomfortable feeling rotting in the pit of his stomach. This is his first time cold calling.

The wily veteran shows off for our rookie, constantly reminding him that it really is just a numbers game. He tells our young hero that he shouldn’t let the rejection bother him. After all, he’ll get used to it.

Feeling like a fish out of water, our young salesman wonders why he feels so uncomfortable just talking to people. His newfound colleagues don’t seem to be bothered at all by the gut-wrenching experience of cold calling.

Our young hero concludes that if only he understood the product better, he too would have the confidence needed for cold calling. He spends countless hours learning and studying brochures without ever knowing the real problem. It is not his lack of expert product knowledge that makes him uncomfortable; it is his lack of understanding himself.

The biggest mistake companies make when recruiting new salespeople is trying to make them into something they are not. They force them into a cookie cutter approach that stifles the salesperson’s growth and only increases the company’s extraordinary turnover rate.

Being successful in the sales profession takes more than just learning some sales process. It takes learning oneself; discovering one’s own unique sales philosophy, and unlocking the natural sales skills that reside deep within each and every one of us.

The company’s methods can be the same, but the way they are individually received and executed should be as unique as the personalities of every person on the team. When these unique characteristics are encouraged, supported, and applauded, young heroes can be comfortable and confident in their ability to be effective. This is the only way they can accurately represent the company and its products.

If a salesperson takes a journey of understanding why things are done in a certain way, then they will have the confidence to carry out the methods in a way that actually leads to results.

A salesperson with confidences communicates more effectively than a skittish salesperson. When comfortable in his own skin, our young hero can look Mr. Big in the eye and tell him that the product will be there on time. With that kind of confidence, Mr. Big will trust him and will feel just as confident buying from him.

When you make the assimilation into the profession such a nose bleed process, you are eliminating those salespeople who can actually empathize with the customers; those who enter sales as a way to help the greater good; those people who, with time and intelligent training, will truly set your company apart from your competition.

Changing your recruitment process will change your organization and the people within it. Rather than constantly replacing your staff, you’ll attract talented salespeople and become a successful company just by letting your sales team be themselves.