As the holiday season approaches, it's so important to put a strong focus on sales techniques. Effectively communicating the holiday expectation with your team gets everyone on the same page. The National Retail Federation has reported there will be a continual and steady rise in consumer spending again this year. The best way for your business to take advantage of this increased spending is to be prepared. Here are three tips to improve your sales methods and make this holiday season the best ever. 

One of the most self-destructive ways to listen in business and personal situations is listening with what I call the "yeah, buts."  This condition occurs when there is a kernel (or more) of truth in something negative that is being said but you don't want to hear it.  You are defensive about what the speaker is saying, so the first response out of your mouth is "yeah, but."  

Whether you're listening to a customer, boss, or spouse, you've got to put the automatic "yeah, but" response on hold.  These responses keep you from hearing the other person.  You block out any chance you have of learning something from this person.

-Michael C. Donaldson, Negotiating for Dummies

I am competitive and hate to lose- personally, professionally, and athletically.  "Losing" doesn't necessarily mean that I lost; instead, it might mean that I defeated myself because I didn't try hard enough, dwelled too much on mistakes, and more.  When I don't "win," I learn from my mistakes, pick up the pieces, and create the game plan for how to do things different next time.  I have found that this is the only way to be successful.  I literally stumbled upon a terrific article that lists 33 characteristics that separate winners from losers, and understanding these differences is paramount as we all attempt to achieve success in life.  We all want to be WINNERS.  Where do you truly fall?

Always leave blank spaces in your calendar to accommodate the unexpected, because the unexpected is often more important than the expected.

- Lee Cockerell, Creating Magic

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Whether or not you're into time management and keeping a careful schedule, you know how quickly an emergency can derail even your most carefully laid plans.  And that's the thing about planning - you can't plan for the unexpected.  Or can you? 

I was raised to care deeply about the lessons my parents instilled in me in regards to manners. They were completely inflexible about my saying "please" and "thank you."  It was expected that I would address adults with terms such as "Yes, sir," "Yes, ma'am," and "Mr." and "Mrs."  My mother also taught me how to write a proper thank you note, and to this day, I will still write three paragraphs, just like she taught me. So why do I mention all of this? Where have manners gone?  In the hospitality industry, one would think manners matter and would get the focus it deserves with people serving people. Yet, still, we are unpleasantly surprised with the poor manners displayed around us in the service industry. 

“Did You Know? Over 90% of #business #marketing budgets are spent to get customers to call. Only 6% is spent to actually handle the call.” (Tweeted by @Conrecept.) Now if this is true, and I suspect it is based on what we witness and evaluate each day, think of the money that is wasted and the customers that are lost because focus is just on sales, marketing, and PR. Scary and sad. And to further shock you, according to the "2015 Global State of Multichannel Customer Service Report" published by Parature, from Microsoft and Microsoft Dynamics CRM, today's consumers have increasing expectations for customer serivce.  In fact, according to the report, which surveyed 4,000 consumers across the globe, 60% have higher customer service expectations than a year ago.  What you need to do is obvious- you have to step up your customer service game!