All lasting motivation is self-motivation. The "carrot-and-stick" method works only for a short period of time. Employees can be "hit over the head" or clients enticed with a "good deal" only for so long. Eventually they will learn not to get "beaten" or that "good deal" isn't so good.

Here's the dilemma. You want your clients to make the proper decisions (from our perspective) when their system isn't running or it is getting old and almost beyond repair. You want your employees to follow the rules and do things that are in the best interest of the client without your "having to beat them over the head" with threats.

How do you do it so that your employees and your clients think that it is their decision? Is this a "trick" question?

Most "tricks" don't last for long. For employees, they have to want to do a good job and follow the rules. Otherwise, they won't stay. A client has to trust your employees and sales people otherwise they won't be a client for long. And, a bad experience will motivate the client to tell others about the pain that they went through and suggest they never use your company.

So, how do you get your employees and clients to want to work and do business with your company without coercion? First, your employees must be part of the goal setting process so that they will work towards the same goals that you are working toward. Your clients have to be curious enough, desperate enough (in the case of broken equipment), or thoughtful enough to start and continue doing business with your company. When they have a great experience (and this is the key) with your company employees they will likely stay as long as you keep giving them concise, educational information that will help them save money. Out of sight still means out of mind.

This is proven each time I ask a contractor to do a mailing or contact clients they haven't spoken with or contacted in at least 18 months. The response rates are usually more than 8 percent (as compared to a response rate of less than 1 percent for non-targeted direct mail). Usually we get comments like, "I thought you had gone out of business...I had forgotten about you..." and others like these.

Each person you come in contact with is different. We have different ways of communicating, different personal needs, different ways that we look at the world. For example, I'm sure you've experienced the situation when your best technician went to a client's house, fixed her problem and the client hated the technician and called complaining. In other cases, your worst technician went to the job, didn't fix the system, the client calls back and doesn't complain about the technician even though he didn't fix the problem. In the first case, the technician didn't communicate well. In the second case he did.

When your technicians go into a client's home, they have to be able to communicate well enough to motivate the client to approve the repairs and feel good about the repairs that were done. If it is 20 degrees outside and the furnace isn't working, the client is motivated to get warm again and will probably spend anything it takes to fix his system...even if it is several hundred dollars. A few days later there might be "buyer's remorse" and a complaint call to your company asking for money back. This occurs if the technician didn't communicate well enough to make that client feel good about spending the money.

If it is a maintenance issue that needs to be taken care of, the way that your technician talks to that client will be critical to motivate him or her to approve the repairs.

From a sales perspective, the sales person must make the client feel comfortable enough to motivate that client to buy from him rather than your competitor. He must create the environment that will allow the client to buy. This means understanding how to communicate, how to identify the needs and wants, and how to design a system that the client understands will satisfy those needs and wants.

Here are some specific things that you can do:

• Listen. Ask questions and really listen to the answers. Look the person in the eye when he or she is talking. If you don't understand the answer, ask another question. Many times it is the third or fourth question that really gets to the heart of the matter.

• Observe. Actions always speak louder than words. What an employee or client does is often more important than what he or she says. If their actions 180 degrees opposite to what they said, they are likely not to do what they say.

• Follow the employee's or client's lead. If a client speaks softly, your employee should speak softly. If your client likes to talk a lot, make sure that the employee that you send to that client's home likes to talk (within moderation!).

• Be willing to change your style. To create an environment where others will be motivated to do the things you need them to do, you have to be a chameleon. You must change the way that you speak, ask questions, and communicate to fit their style. This doesn't mean to be unethical or do things that are illegal. There is nothing wrong with becoming an actor if it means that you achieve the goals that you want and you keep your employees and clients happy in the process.