Halloween is always one of those American holidays that intrigues me. It seems to me that every year on Halloween, everyone’s alter ego comes out.

Yesterday, for example, I was at Capital One bank opening up an account and was helped by a pirate and a construction worker. (In real life, they are bank associates.) Today, when I was at the gym, there was a magician, a “Lance Armstrong” look-a-like, and a woman who normally has blonde hair, died her hair black and wore all black. (I don’t really know what she was supposed to be… just someone in black?)

Okay, I was thinking. It’s all good…

As I was working out with my trainer, Dom, he was telling me that he is having a Halloween party this evening and he was going as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. “I just bought red sparkling slippers in a size 12,” he told me and I was trying to do crunches. “I was thinking about shaving my legs and arms for the occasion….”

Okay, I was thinking. It’s all good…

My son told me last night that he wanted to go as a ghost for another year. “It’s an easy costume,” he said, “you just need a white sheet and cut two holes for eyes and your done!”

Okay, I was thinking. It’s all good…

My close friends recently sent me a photo of their dog, Chloe (pictured above). This year Chloe is going as a pumpkin but she dresses up every year as something different.

Okay, I was thinking. It’s all good…

And then, I was reading the Wall Street Journal this morning. There was a story about how in Boulder Colorado, they have naked pumpkin runs. More than 100 people put their sneakers on and a pumpkin mask and run around the streets of boulder butt naked!

Okay, I was thinking. It’s all good…

And as for me…. well, I think I’ll go this year as me.  I’ll try that one out and see how it works out…
So tell me about your Halloween story… I would love to hear about it!

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One of the more challenging people that I had working for me was my lead technician, who I will call Joe. He was prejudiced against most people, including African-Americans and women.

About a year after I started the business, I hired a female salesperson, who I will call Alice. She had her challenges but the sales manager and I certainly felt that she was competent and had the kind of potential that we were looking for. As part of her job she had to interface with the technical people, and given the above remarks this was obviously something of a flashpoint.

Of course, the relationship between sales and service is always a potential flashpoint because sales “gives it away” and service has to pick up the pieces, but this was exacerbated in this case by what Joe saw as female behavior to get her way.

One day I heard that Joe had referred to Alice as a “token,” that he had said some other things by way of illustration and that this had all been reported back to a tearful Alice, who was not feeling very secure about her place in the organization or her relationships with co-workers.

I thought at some length about the best way to handle this and I realized that the situation required careful handling. I had to find a way to defuse the situation and to keep Alice as a motivated, happy and “non-suing” member of staff but I knew that any accusation I leveled at Joe would be vehemently denied, and that I would not get anywhere with that line of attack.

Having thought about it for a while, I managed to get together with Joe in the computer room for a casual chat. It was important that I didn’t call him into my office and elevate the discussion to one where his guard was up and he became defensive, and I figured that talking to him in his own environment would be the best way to sneak up on him from behind and get what I wanted.

The conversation went something like this:

“Joe” I said softly in my understated, English style that I use most effectively in confrontations, “I heard something a little disturbing today and I wanted to talk to you and to alert you to something that is going on. The rumor going round the office like wildfire is that you referred to Alice as a “token” and a waste of space, and while I haven’t spoken to her, I gather that she is pretty upset”

Joe reddened, and I saw that my words had hit home. “I never said anything of the sort” he said defensively “How could you think that I did?”

“I never thought for a moment that you did,” I said quietly, “but here is the issue. Somebody started a rumor, and it had enough credibility that people accepted it at face value. The issue that we have to deal with, Joe, is that there is evidently something in the way that you present yourself that makes this inherently believable to other people. That’s what I find troubling, and that’s what we need to address together.”

He looked at me as though I had hit him over the head with a piece of lead pipe, and I reflected to myself that I had certainly sandbagged him quite effectively. He thought for a moment and said “you got me Steve….. what do you want me to do to help fix this situation?”

I was astonished at how easy this has been and once I had his compliance [if not his enthusiastic support], the actions that needed to be taken were relatively simple and straightforward. He agreed that he would talk to Alice in the presence of the sales manager, deny ever making the comments and say that he would never say or do anything like that and that there must have been some kind of misunderstanding.

It worked. This is a technique for addressing behaviors that cannot be directly confronted that I have been using ever since…

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Stephen Davies founded and ran a cutting edge IT services company that grew at 45% a year for eight consecutive years and became one of the premier companies in its industry. He writes about what he learned there at and in this series of blogs, he talks about some of the more entertaining employee behaviors he saw.

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This morning I attended “Smart Selling with Jack Daly,” at the New York Enterprise Report small business seminar series. I had heard a lot about Jack Daly but I never attended any of his seminars.

Besides from being full of himself, he did offer a lot of valuable information. Some of the takeaways included:

➢ Create a culture that is fun and enjoyable by your staff; if your staff is happy they will help you grow your business.
➢ Measure everything – if someone is not producing get rid of that person. Daly says, “People will fight for goals they set!” Make sure to rank salespeople at least once a month.
➢ Hire slowly and fire quickly
➢ Daly says that every salesperson should maintain the following baskets – prospects (those you never did business with), customers (those who buy once and a while from you) and clients (those who buy from you all the time). He says, “Better salespeople will call the right people and only call the high opportunity accounts more frequently.”
➢ When someone new enters your office, spend time with him or her, Jack Daly says. “Throw them a party and the welcome mat. Why is it that we always throw parties for those who leave us? There’s something wrong with this picture!”
➢ Make sure to “Role Practice” every week!
➢ Don’t sell to everyone the same way, adapt and become a chameleon.
➢ Make sure you have a written plan to achieve your goals and then evaluate every week!
➢ Be memorable. Make sure to change your Voice Mail every day, send out cards immediately after the appointment.
➢ Finally, Jack Daly says, “Success is in the palm of your Hand!”

Thank you New York Enterprise Report for providing small businesses with an opportunity to see Mr. Daly! This was a fabulous seminar and to be honest, I don’t say that very often….

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Kristie Galvani is HJMT’s Senior Vice President. She has been with the firm for almost 9 years. She started off as an office assistant and has worked her way up to account executive, senior account executive, account supervisor, VP client services, and now Senior Vice President.

Want to get to know Kristie a little better? Check out her answers to the following questions…

How did you first hear about HJMT?
I attend a broadcasting convention in NYC. One of HJMT’s past employees was on a panel. I was really interested in HJMT and everything they did. They seemed to offer so many different elements on PR. I went over to the employee afterwards, introduced myself and got Hilary’s email. After a few months of emailing and calling (and almost giving up) I finally secured myself an interview. Soon after I landed the job.

What was your first job?
Well besides from babysitting, my first job was working at a convenient store handling the lottery machine. Wow, did that teach me a lot about dealing with people and being very careful. Let me just say people were not the nicest if you made a mistake on their lotto numbers.

Are you married? Any kids?
I’ve been married to my husband, Darren for about 3 1/2 years. We are expecting our first child (it’s a boy) this January.

What do you like to do outside of work?
I love to ski. I’ve been skiing since I have been able to walk. I’ve ski almost everywhere on both the east and west coast. My favorite resorts are Vail and Copper, both in Colorado. Otherwise I enjoy entertaining and spending time with family and friends. As of late I have been spending most of time buying a house. My husband and I are in the middle of closing on a house. It’s been a long process but it should be coming to a close soon.

List some of you favorites:
Food – Pizza and right now just about everything (I am pregnant)
Movie – Gone with the Wind, The Notebook, Wedding Crashers
Music – I have a really broad taste in music. My iPod goes from Billy Joel to Dixie Chicks to Barenaked Ladies to Britney Spears
Sport – Right now I like to watch Football. Go Big Blue!
TV Show – 24, Lost, and Sex in the City

Where was your most recent vacation?
Disney World last March for my 30th birthday. It was so wonderful I think I want to move to Disney World.

What was the most recent book you read?
“What to expect when your expecting” and “Everything you ever wanted to know about social media but were afraid to ask.”

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
I actually love Long Island and would probably stay here but in a much nicer house and I would also have a few vacation homes – one in Colorado, Key West FL, and of course one at Disney.

Do you have any special talents?
I do but I can’t give it away. Sorry

If you could pick anyone for President who would it be?
President David Palmer (President on Fox’s 24) and I would be Vice President.

What’s a typical day like as a Senior VP?
I love this question. As a senior VP I handle new business development and firm growth. The fun part is my day is never the same. One day I will go on a new business meeting, work on monthly projected revenue budget, attend a speaking gig to sell copies of Hilary’s book and work on a new podcast schedule and the next day I may regroup with the staff to strategize about clients, review our monthly activity reports, develop a proposal for a potential client, make about 20 follow up calls for new business, and talk with a few clients. I also update the HJMT Facebook page and check out 200 emails a day.

I do have a blog – http://shakingupsalesstrategies.blogspot.com/ about my sales successes, failures and challenges. I think it’s kind of interesting especially if you are in sales.

What’s your favorite part about HJMT?
I love that everyday is a new challenge. Every day brings something different, something new, and something exciting. I get to meet tons of new people and have developed some great relationships with the HJMT team, clients and other business friends.

What are you doing tonight after work?
Going to JC Penny’s to return maternity clothes that I ordered online, then checking out some dining room furniture, going home, heating up leftovers for dinner, watching How I Met Your Mother, checking out my baby registry online, and probably playing on Facebook. Okay I’ll be honest, that is what I hope to accomplish but I probably won’t get out of work until about 7:00 (by choice cause I’m addicted to my job) and will want to go home, lay on the couch, and do nothing.

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Do you have to sell for your business? If so, are you always looking for new ideas and ways to generate revenue?

I know I am and that’s why when I saw this seminar, “Smart Selling with Jack Daly: Strategies to Dramatically Increase Sales Today” I immediately registered.

I usually shy away from these types of programs, but more than one person told me that Jack Daly is outstanding and this is an event that can’t be missed!

Apparently, Jack Daly has a proven technique that according to some of my Entrepreneur Organizations’ friends, will “change your life.”

According to the New York Enterprise Report‘s web site, attendees will learn: how to increase revenue by enhancing sales management; attracting more new business while reducing marketing costs; and implementing sales leadership techniques & manage your sales staff more effectively. Daly will also cover: goal setting and measurement; getting past the gate keeper; leveraging prospects, customers and clients; getting around price objections and more.

It seems like it’s going to be a great seminar and I’m looking forward to attending…. Hopefully I’ll see you there?