Why “Culture Starts at the Top” Is Not Enough
By Holly Mitchell & Jaime Lisk
You have likely heard the phrase, “Culture starts at the top.” While there is certainly merit to this statement, it’s not the full story. Organizational culture is shaped by shared patterns of values and behaviors that define the social and psychological environment within a group. You see “culture” everywhere—within your family, friends, fitness studio, department, and certainly in your company overall. The first step is acknowledging the culture. Then you must decide: Is this our desired culture or is there work to be done?
As a leader, it’s important to understand the sphere of influence you have over shaping the culture of your organization. Top-level leadership has the most influential, long-term impact on workplace culture. The decisions you make, behaviors you choose to ignore, and the way you walk, talk, and dress all impact the culture. When leaders are working in sync and living out the tenants of the desired culture, it won’t go unnoticed by the rest of the organization.
Read More
Using Assessments to Motivate Your Sales Team
By Holly Mitchell
When I owned my small business in Boise, Idaho, I decided to run an incentive program amongst my sales team to help them be more goal oriented and to drive sales. I told them that the first person to reach sales of $25,000 for the month would be celebrated with a spa day provided by the company. I encouraged the team members to text the group every time they made a big sale, in the hopes of motivating everyone to compete.
This was a tactic that had worked for me in my own sales career over the years. As a highly self-motivated person, I am always energized by others’ success. What I didn’t realize at the time is that this tactic doesn’t work for everyone. In fact, it did the exact opposite for one of my employees. She didn’t say anything for quite some time and even participated in the group text. However, one afternoon she came into my office completely in tears. She told me that the contest wasn’t helping her. It made her feel inadequate and had even decreased her motivation. Read More
Holly Mitchell Joins Price Associates Team
Price Associates is pleased to announce that Holly Mitchell has joined the team at its Boise office.
Holly is a leadership coach, sales trainer, and speaker. She works to empower businesses and individuals to transform their sales strategies, leadership skills, and company cultures—and reach their highest potential. Her work focuses on training leaders to grow in confidence and influence; creating environments that enhance creativity, collaboration, and learning; developing a vision and strategy for success; building high-performing, cohesive teams; and increasing sales by identifying and optimizing strengths.
Holly spent 14 years working for large corporations, including a Fortune 500 company. As part of her corporate career, she facilitated strategic planning with executives to deliver strong financial results, gain market share, support futuristic buying patterns and align sales forces throughout the United States. She also pioneered new sales territories and built long-term relationships that resulted in more than $200 million in annual sales, and an increase of 16% in 2019 for the second largest livestock distributor in the United States.
Read More
Four No-fail Selling Techniques
By Holly Mitchell
Early in my sales career, I landed a golden opportunity with a high-end customer who had already identified she needed what I had to offer. All I had to do was gain her trust and become the expert in her eyes. The only thing standing between me and sealing the deal was my ability to listen, ask the right questions, and shine with confidence. I showed up to the sales meeting with all my tricks—plus information on every product I had to sell. I told her about all the different features and what I believed were the benefits. As I went on and on, I started to notice her eyes getting glassy. I was losing her attention because I wasn’t giving her what she needed.
My “almost” customer wanted me to ask her the right questions to ensure she was getting the right product for her needs. She was counting on me to understand those needs and be expert enough to give her a recommendation. I failed miserably at asking her the right questions and listening. Not only did I lose the sale, but my customer became overwhelmed by my rambling sales approach and ran the other direction to a competitor.
Read More