As a business leader, you’ve done everything you can think of to hire the right team. The credentials are excellent. The references are outstanding. The personality testing leads you to believe that each executive is perfectly suited to his or her job.

Yet, the brilliant managerial candidate doesn’t seem to be managing all that well and there is a lot of turnover. The zealous and driven sales person you thought would be amazing and turn things around…is doing just that in the wrong direction. The formerly smart and competent manager seems to be having trouble with an admittedly heavy, but one that you think manageable, workload.

So what went wrong? Simply put, you hired your team based on all the right criteria: personality, technical expertise, industry knowledge, and skill set. What you weren’t able to assess, was their Emotional Intelligence: Their ability to manage their emotions with skill in any given situation. Often referred to as “soft skills.”

Traditionally a cooler head prevails in business. The context is slightly different, but who can forget the first line of the inimitable poem “If,” by Rudyard Kipling: If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs….” Nowadays, one quite often hears people in the office jokingly say things like: “Just Shoot Me!” Or “I’m on the ledge and I’ll jump!” I also recall the scene in the movie Network, where the character played by actor Peter Finch screams out “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

These types of situations arise out of a lack of understanding more than anything. The emotional balance has been disturbed in some way and the result is stress and chaos. For cooler heads to prevail there must be emotional understanding at all levels in an organization. The supervisor must understand to some degree the pressures placed on their employees that can lead to overload, disagreement, misunderstanding and even anger. The resulting lack of respect becomes even more damaging. A supervisor who understands how his employees feel and function will know whether an employee is suited to a particular task or responsibility and will comprehend individual limits and make adjustments accordingly. With a technical expertise, the difference is more obvious. You would not hire a car mechanic to do your taxes or vice versa, have your accountant fix your car.

Emotional Intelligence doesn’t do away with your current skills testing and evaluation practices, it lets you go beyond the obvious labels to discover whether, for example, your customer care supervisor will have the right kind of empathetic abilities to deal with difficult customers, yet not let the often impossible job lead him or her to despair or callousness. For future hiring practices, you can easily adopt a screening assessment for emotional intelligence. But for your current leadership team, you need to be sure that you all understand the role that our emotions play in our everyday interactions with each other and how they can affect business decisions at every level. We need to recognize our emotions and the emotions of others and harness these emotions in the most appropriate way to run the business successfully. Some people are more sensitive than others, and yet others can be over-emotional in their decision-making. Furthermore, we need to learn how to work with others and manage their and our own emotions.

There are many examples of how emotional intelligence has helped improve businesses. Companies that have increased profits and production, by simply ensuring that staff are in the most-appropriate role for their emotional competencies as well as their technical expertise.

As salespeople, we often equate our jobs to finding and closing new customers. Sometimes, though, the most important sale isn’t the one we get with an exciting presentation, or gather after months of prospecting – it’s the same one we’ve made again and again to our existing customers.

It’s not exactly breaking news that it’s much easier to sell to an established customer than a new prospect. We all know that it takes a lot less time, effort, and money to close the second order than the first. That’s why it’s so surprising that lots of producers – even some who are great at winning the business in the first place – let so many profitable accounts slip out the back door because of poor customer service.

By failing to take care of the clients we have, we cause ourselves a number of self-inflicted wounds. First, we stop the flow of valuable add-on sales and upgrades that we could have gotten; few buyers will come back to you after they’ve seen that you don’t care about keeping their business. Second, we leave the door open for other salespeople to step in and steal the accounts away, simply by paying more attention. And, we actually make it harder to open future accounts, since word of poor service usually spreads quickly. Worst of all, though, is that we turn our careers into treadmills, forcing us to constantly hunt and search for new clients just to maintain any level of income.

Luckily, giving top-notch customer service is usually pretty easy. Here are a handful of suggestions to get you started:

Don’t make promises you can’t keep. This is probably the simplest way to avoid customer service problems, and the one that salespeople seem to have the most trouble with. Certainly, it can be tempting to say anything to close a new sale, but promising something you can’t deliver will come back to bite you nearly every time. Having to disappoint a customer is bad enough; letting them find out you didn’t tell the truth is many times worse.

Get to know your support staff. You’re probably not the only person responsible for taking care of your clients, so it’s a good idea to make sure the other members of your team are pulling their weight. Usually, spending a bit of time explaining what you need will do the trick. Not only can it help fill in gaps of information, but also by simply communicating with the rest of your customer service staff about your accounts you send the message that you’re paying attention. You don’t want to lose customers and income because your staff doesn’t understand their responsibilities, so spend some time being sure they know what’s important.

Pick up some product knowledge. This one is pretty easy to understand: it’s hard to help if you don’t know what you’re talking about. Learning about your products reduces the amount of time you need to handle customer service questions that come up, and as an added bonus, it’s likely to help your closing ratios as you find new uses and features of what you sell. For that reason, it’s well worth it for you to devote a few minutes each week getting product knowledge from manuals, sales literature, or even other employees.

Spend more time educating clients. In the same way, it’s important that you take the knowledge you have and pass it along. When you complete a sale, make sure your customers know exactly what they’re getting, and how to use it. An enormous amount of time and trouble can be saved by just making an effort to go over the benefits of your products one more time. Don’t leave it to your customers to figure out what they need to know – make their lives easier by offering to show them personally.

Show Your Appreciation. As the philosophers like to remind us, it’s all in the little things. A handwritten thank-you note, a small gift, or even a quick phone call can remind your customers that you appreciate their business. While that might sound like a customer service task, it’s a well-known fact that buyers like to buy from professionals that they know, like, and trust. By showing that you’re grateful, you increase their appreciation for you, which makes them less likely to feel like they’re getting bad service. The bottom line is that treating your clients like they’re important is part of service; so don’t forget to do it.

Existing clients and repeat orders are the lifeblood of any sales career, and the meat and potatoes of a producer’s commission check. Follow these guidelines and take care of your customers; do it well enough, and you’ll build a base of orders and referrals that no competitor can ever take from you.

Note From Carl Henry: I have posted this great article from Len Kloeber the author of: Victory Principles Leadership Lessons From D-Day

Check Out All His Great Articles A Ezine Articles

The Three Big Challenges for Successful Leaders – What Every Leader Must Do

Leadership is a complex undertaking that is not easily defined. There have been lots of books written about what makes a great leader, and still there is no cookie-cutter formula for leadership success. Yet, from ancient times until the present, effective leaders are easily spotted by their ability to identify what needs to get done, rally people to their cause, and get results. Although different leaders may use different approaches, every leader must address three universal challenges. Whether they are leading a local school board, a multinational company, or even a country here are the three things every leader must do:

First, Make Sense of the World: Throughout the ages, people have always had to deal with problems. When the problems are big and require collective action to solve them, then leaders emerge. The first task of any leader is to “make sense of the world.” There is always a complex operating environment where there are multiple problems and lots of information. Often the information is not easy to understand, and the primary problem itself is that it is often difficult to decide what problem to solve when there are a variety of problems at hand. The 21st Century is a world of extreme complexity which makes the leadership challenges even greater than ever before – multiple interrelated problems, constant change, and massive amounts of information. So the leader’s first task is to help everyone understand the primary challenge, the root causes of the problem, and what needs to be done to solve it. The leader must have a compelling point of view, a vision that “makes sense of the world.” This is what leaders do to rally people to their cause, get others to follow them, and to take collective action towards a better future.

Second, Build the Team and Organize the Effort: A core responsibility of every leader is to identify key people who can work together as an effective team. Even where there is a charismatic leader, the only chance of success is to make sure that the leader has enlisted the help of key subordinates. Even Napoleon had his marshals, and Jesus had his disciples! Everyone, including successful charismatic leaders, has strengths and weaknesses. Successful leaders find people who have personal strengths that offset their own shortcomings. Together they organize the effort, develop plans, and designate key people to oversee the execution of the plans. The bigger the challenge, the more important it is for the leader to make sure that they have key subordinates in place. Leadership is a team sport.

Third, Take Action and Deliver on the Promise: Without action, plans are nothing. Leaders make things happen. They lead by getting things done through others who take collective action towards common objectives. If the leadership team is effective, their collective action will drive results that deliver on the promise of a better future as envisioned by the leader. Successful leaders get results, and thus they are recognized as being successful.

Every situation is different, and thus effective leaders will use a variety of leadership styles depending on the circumstances. Where time permits, effective leaders will generally be more democratic in their approach; however, in crisis, a leader will often be more directive since time may not be available to engage others in lengthy consultation. Even when the circumstances are similar, different leaders may achieve success using different styles. No two leaders use identical styles on “how they get things done.” Nevertheless, every successful leader must focus on “what needs to get done.” They will define their vision, organize their people and the plan, and then take action. If you want to be a great leader, focus on these three core leadership challenges. You may use your own approach, but you can never succeed without addressing the three big challenges for every leader.

Leonard Kloeber is an author and leadership consultant. He has extensive leadership experience as business executive and as a military officer. He has been a hands-on leader in a variety of organizations large and small. Most recently he was a human resources executive for a Fortune 100 company. His book – Victory Principles, Leadership Lessons from D-Day – illustrates seven bedrock leadership principles that all successful leaders use.

Download a free summary of the Victory Principles at: http://www.victoryprinciples.com and find other bonus materials for leaders.

Contact him at staffride@gmail.com

This Article Is Excerpted From

“15 Hot Tips That Will Supercharge Your Sales Career”

Click To Buy Book Now

Hardly any flag was ever planted without help. When explorers would arrive in new lands, one of the first things that they would do – before sending word to the king or queen, before gathering riches or even naming some place after themselves – is find a native guide.

From Columbus and Coronado to Lewis and Clark, every conqueror and conquistador along the way relied on locals to help them find their way in a new place. For these explorers, having someone around who knew the lay of the land wasn’t just a convenience, it meant the difference between living and dying. Guides could communicate and negotiate with tribes and villagers, tell them what was safe to eat, or give valuable warnings like ‘that swamp is filled with alligators.’ With the right introduction, you were the guest of honor at a grand feast. Without it, you might find yourself as the main course. Your sales career is no different; it’s good to have someone who knows where the alligators are.

Let me give you an example from my own career. Brooke Sykes used to work for a company that I did a series of training sessions for, dating back more than a dozen years. He had been with this particular firm more than 35 years, and knew the ins and outs like the back of his hand. No department, no product area, no relationship within the firm was outside of his knowledge.

As I worked with Brooke, he began to help me understand the intricacies of his organization. Time and again, he steered me toward the right person to sign off on a project, showed me who to call to be sure I could get the equipment I’d need for my presentation, or where to direct my invoices. His help made my relationship with this firm easier than it would have otherwise been. There is no way that I, as an outside salesperson, would have been able to figure out how such a large company ticked on my own. But through his assistance, I delivered dozens of programs to hundreds of their people over the years. It was a natural win-win for both of us. I continued to get more work, while Brooke was credited with having the foresight to bring in quality training for the staff. From working with Brooke, I learned the importance of having a local on your side.

When facing a large group, don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Within every company you work with, or want to work with, there is someone who is intimately familiar with its inner workings. Look for a person who can show you the ropes and guide you in the right direction. These are the people who know the people, and can point the way. Cultivate coaches from your customers.

What makes a good coach?

For starters, they must have a deep knowledge of the group or company that you’re trying to infiltrate. They need to be connected and know the people that you will sell to, the people who will ultimately decide whether or not to buy from you.

It also helps if they’re respected within the organization. This is just good common sense. After all, you’re going to be counting on your coach to suggest you for future work, and any recommendation that they make for you is going to be exactly as strong as their reputation. If their colleagues think that they do a great job and generally make good decisions, then they’ll probably listen when your coach sings your praises. On the other hand, if your coach is better known for sleeping at his desk than he is for spotting talent, his word might not get you very far. Make sure that your coach has a good reputation, or you might find that yours will suffer as well.

How do you find a coach?

In the beginning, you’ll have to work hard to come up with coaches. When you’re new to your prospects, no one knows you or likes you. But keep reaching out, and eventually you will start to make contacts. Cultivating coaches is different than prospecting or customer service. Instead of digging around for new prospects, you’re just trying to establish a better relationship with customers that you already know and like.

Most coaches come from satisfied customers.

Think about the people you do business with. Are there any that you connect with especially well? Do you consider them to be friends as well as clients? If they’re known and respected within their company or industry, they’re probably a good candidate. As your career moves along, you should take special care to build these relationships. Work with your clients and show them that you’re willing to go the extra mile.

Make it easy for them to like and respect you as well. It might take dozens of calls and lunches, but it’s worth the effort. The more coaches you have in your corner, the easier your life will become.

Having a coach in an organization can make all of the difference. When the discussion comes around on what to purchase or whose services to use, the squeaky wheel will indeed often get the grease. Put another way, in any group decision, it is often the person who wants it the most who will get their way. If your coach believes in you and your work, they will not only be a strong endorsement, but one coming from a voice that is known and respected by his or her coworkers. From there, it should be easy for you to break in and make a sale.

A good coach can not only get you in the door, but can also help you leverage your way into multiple sales and a long-term relationship with a company.

They can even move you along into new ground and introduce you to more clients. The wonderful thing about people who are connected is that they tend to be connected beyond their own walls. When someone has been working in the same company or industry for a long time, they are bound to come into contact with suppliers, competitors and even their own customers – all groups of people that might be interested in buying from you on the recommendation of a friend.

To cultivate your coaches, rely on steady communication. When they meet with you, whether it’s in person or over the phone, listen carefully to what they say. Get to know them and their interests, both at work and away. Make a phone call or take them out to lunch. Keep an open eye for anything you see that might interest them. If you come across a book or article that you think could help them do their jobs better, pass it along. If you discover something new in their business, let them know. Don’t be annoying, but become a valuable source of information while letting them know that you appreciate the time and input that you’ve received.

Early in my sales career, I learned a trick that’s served me well. If I read something that seemed unique or interesting, I forwarded it to the coaches on my list. If it was an article, I made copies and sent them. If it was a book, I bought multiple copies and sent those. This simple act only took a few minutes here and there, but it was a steady reminder that I wanted to work with my coaches and wanted them to share in my success.

Why Would Someone Help You?

You might be wondering why a coach would take the time to help you. It’s basic psychology at work.

There is a simple and innate need for people to want to help others. If your coaches know you and like you, they’re going to want to give you a hand. This is, of course, dependent on doing strong work. All of the reminders, and all of the lunches in the world, won’t be able to help you if you don’t treat your job like a profession or do sloppy work. As always, quality and hard work are a salesperson’s best friends. Give your coaches a chance to brag about your performance and you’ll go a long way toward opening new doors.

Cultivating coaches shouldn’t be a one-way street. Just as your coaches can help you, be willing to help them as well. More than anything, you want your coach to succeed. When you do good work for them, they in turn look good to their peers for having made a smart decision. If they recommend you to some one else, give 110 percent. Let your coach look like a hero for making the good call. The praise that they’ll receive will be motivation to recommend you again.

In addition, your coach might move on to a higher position. The farther they go, the greater their influence and decision-making responsibilities will be, meaning more work for you. Besides, any relationship should be give and take. If someone is willing to put in the time and effort to help your career, do the right thing and help them, too.

All of this might sound familiar to you, and it should. It’s very close to the concept of relationship selling – the idea that people like to do business with people that they know. There is a feeling that after decades of use in companies around the world, relationship selling is dead. The modern competitive age killed it, they say, now it’s all about the product, the price, and the bottom line.

Those people are only half right. The old days, if they ever existed, when you could take a customer out on the town and make sales by showing him a good time, are gone forever. Your skills and products must be able to stand on their own. If your customers don’t see the value in what you’re selling, they’ll look elsewhere for lower prices, and if you don’t deliver, the best relationship in the world won’t matter. But in this competitive world we live in, relationships are more important than they ever were. When your clients like you and trust you to give them quality work at a fair price, then you’ll be able to circumvent the competition before it gets in the door.

Become the Trusted Adviser

The modern world hasn’t killed relationship selling it’s enhanced it. Cultivate coaches and take care of their needs – it’s a simple way to give yourself a raise while making your job easier. When you move into a coaching relationship, you move beyond selling. You and your client are in it together. The normal trials and objections are replaced with trust. You become sounding boards and confidants to one another. You no longer have to beat each other up over prices and terms, because you can be confident that you’re looking out for each other. Isn’t that what every salesperson, and every client, should be aiming for?

You don’t have to do anything unusual to cultivate coaches. Instead, you should just make a point to do what comes naturally – doing great work for people you like, and then keeping in touch with them.

Coaches are just lifetime allies, mentors and friends. Remember that, and the rest will take care of itself. When you connect with a customer beyond the sale you are moving into a coaching relationship. It just starts with doing a great job. When you exceed your customer’s expectations and they are one hundred percent satisfied with your product or service, you have planted a seed that can grow from customer to coach.

Click the video now to learn more about the webinar

Register Today 704-847-7390

Sell Something Everyday

Are you striking out in sales because you’re always looking for the home run? In the book Sell Something Everyday, Carl Henry shows why lots of salespeople make their careers harder than they need to be by mission out on the steady stream of business that’s out there waiting to be found – and then he show them how to go and get it.

Click To Buy...NOW!

In each short chapter you’ll find the keys to consistently exceeding your sales goals, including tips on finding confidence, ways of searching for new business, advice on dealing with coworkers and support staff, and learning how to negotiate better margins. Incorporating them into your sales career won’t just make things easier – it will put more money into your pocket.

Much has been made over the years in countless books and seminars about how selling makes things happen. And it’s true – without a sale taking place, no one at your company has anything to do. There is no need for accounting, maintenance, human resources, or any other department for that matter, until money is coming in the door.

Purchase Sell Something …Now!

Amazon Book Store

The 8 Chapter Titles:

1. Sell Something Everyday
2. Sell Yourself First
3. You Don’t Get Paid To Almost Sell
4. Sell Deep Into The Organization
5. Sell Inside Support & Customer Service
6. Sell Strong In Any Economy
7. Sell At A Higher Price Than Every Before
8. Sell Your Solution, Not Your Time

How To Uncover Personality styles of the Buying Powers: Blue-Red-Green-Yellow Dots:

By learning to identify and work with the basic personality types that we all fall into, you can skyrocket your sales production. I’ll warn you that learning the styles can be a difficult skill to master at first, but with time and practice, it will become second nature. Click on the 3 minute video below to learn how to read the 4 personality styles.

Why are so many of my clients begging me to stop teaching The MODERN Selling System™? In more than 20 years of showing average producers how to become sales superstars – and the top performers how to get even better, I’ve had dozens tell me that they don’t want the word to get out in their industry.

In every case, they meant it. So what is it that your competitors don’t want you to know? They’re afraid you’ll learn The MODERN Selling System™ because it works. This isn’t a set of sales tricks or gimmicks … it’s a set of real-world tools picked up over decades of finding, qualifying, and closing new customers.

When you master my sales system, you learn:

1. A proven sales process for closing more new orders
2. The best way to engage prospects in product & service demonstrations
3. How to speed up the sales process by slowing yourself down
4. Top ways to earn higher margins on new & existing accounts
5. And a whole lot more

Best of all, you can get your entire sales team talking about opportunities and challenges with the same language and methodology. That’s the first step towards building a true sales-driven organization.

Find out what the competition is desperate to keep from you by contacting me today at 704.847.7390 to schedule The MODERN Selling System™ seminar for your team.

Think of your best salesperson, the one who sets the bar for the others to follow. How certain are you that this person is really the best you could get, and not just somebody who stands out because they’re a “C” player who just looks great on a team of “D” performers. Sounds impossible, right? I would agree… except I see it all the time.

In lots of sales departments around the world, and in more companies and industries than you’d think, are “C” salespeople impersonating top performers.

How do they get away with this trick? By working for owners and sales managers who have never correctly benchmarked the position – men and women who never hired stronger salespeople because they didn’t know what kind of people and performance they could have been getting all along. But know it or not, you can bet they’re paying for what they don’t know every day.

Here’s why: A true sales superstar will open two, three, or even five times as many accounts as an average salesperson will.  Not only that, but also the orders they bring in will typically be higher grossing, and the clients will remain with the company for a much greater period of time. But even assuming that they only open up twice as many accounts, consider the difference in value that hiring one of them represents. Let’s say you run a company with a staff of 10 salespeople, and your best producer brings in two new accounts worth $50,000 every month. That works out to $1.2 million every single year.

That might be good for your company, but if they are a “C” salesperson masquerading as an “A-list” player, then your poor hiring decision is costing you another $1.2 million a year – money that you’ll never even notice is slipping out from under you because it doesn’t show up on the balance sheet.

Worse yet, your nine other salespeople probably aren’t even performing to that standard, effectively crippling your business without any further indication.

And really, that’s the problem: that poor sales performance isn’t always easy to spot, and its effects are nearly impossible to quantify. Business owners and sales managers don’t always hire correctly, and when they don’t, there isn’t a clear way to spot their mistake if they haven’t brought in superstars in the past. So how can you tell if you’re making this mistake, or stop duplicating it if you already have?

The answer in both cases is to properly assess your current sales team – and certainly anyone you’re seriously considering hiring – before it’s too late. Modern science has shown that certain individuals, because of their selling styles, attributes, and motivations, are many times more likely to succeed in sales than others.

Like any tool or guide, assessments aren’t completely foolproof, but history has shown them to be incredibly accurate… especially when compared to the impressions you can get from interviewing a candidate without any sort of objective backup.

If you aren’t currently assessing salespeople within your company, I can almost guarantee it’s costing you a lot of money – and most likely, money that you never even knew was missing.

With that in mind, I invite you to get in touch with me today 704-847-7390 to find out what kind of team you have, how you should really assess for top talent, and which qualities and traits you need for the people finding new business in your specific industry.

“C” and “D” level salespeople cost companies enormous amounts of money in lost prospects, missed orders, and damage to any sales territory. The only way you can make the problem even worse is by pretending that they’re “A” performers in the first place.

Bad days, and bad news, are an unfortunate part of a salesperson’s life. But how long you dwell on them, and what you do to get over a bad mood, will play a big part in whether you can find success again quickly. Here are five ways to shake off a bad mood and get your sales day back on track…

To listen to some sales trainers and motivational speakers, you would think that selling as a profession was nothing but a steady diet of record-breaking orders, massive commissions, and incentive trips to tropical islands.

I hate to burst your bubble, but that isn’t always the reality…

Of course, you already know that, but the point is that selling isn’t always as easy as people make it sound. Moreover, being a salesperson isn’t always as much fun as people seem to think. You are going to have bad days… even a few that are terrible. There are going to be problems with your orders, clients are going to go out of business or try to back out of contracts unexpectedly, your company will go through changes, friends will leave or get fired, and the sky will otherwise fall once in a while.

But, these times aren’t going to last forever – in fact, they are rarely even going to last for very long – and the faster you can get over them, the sooner you’ll be back to making money. With that in mind, here are five ways to shake off a bad sales day, from the mildly eerie taking to the outright depressing, and get yourself back on track:

1. Think creatively. Before you go off the deep end, remember that a piece of news isn’t always as bad as it seems. For instance, your best client leaving for a new job could seem like a tough break. But, if they can buy from you in a new position, and you can keep selling to their replacement, then maybe things are actually looking up. Before you get too upset about anything, see if you can find an upside to the situation.

2. Give yourself an hour. On the flipside, sometimes there just isn’t a lot of good news to be found. Despite what posters with kittens might have to say on the matter, some things are just bad luck no matter how you look at them. If that’s the case, don’t try to pat yourself on the back and paint a good picture on the situation. Instead, go the opposite direction and give yourself an hour to wallow, be depressed, and even complain to your friends and colleagues. Once that one hour has passed, however, decide that you’re going to get over it and move on. The difference between a bad hour, a bad day, and a bad week is usually how long you let it go on.

3. Find some motivation. As humans, we like to think that we have a lot of control over our own moods and actions. The reality, however, is that we are incredibly susceptible to the messages coming in from all around us. For that reason, one of the best ways to break out of a slump is simply by listening to something motivation or uplifting. It might sound like an over simplified piece of advice, but give it a try – often a little bit of humor or something inspirational is all it takes to turn your day around.

4. Remember a success. Most of us have some sort of award certificate, letter from a satisfied client, or other reminder of a semi-recent triumph we can turn to. Well, now is the time. Look to your past victories for inspiration; remembering that big success in the not so distant past can be in big motivator to push forward.

5. Take the day off. If none of this works, and things are really getting you down, then take some time away from the office. Go out for a cup of coffee, see a friend, or even take in an afternoon movie. It might not be the most productive use of your time, but as long as you’re only doing it once in a while, there’s nothing wrong with spending a bit of time away from work. Getting away from the problem or situation for a little bit might give you a different perspective, and even if it doesn’t, at least you won’t spread negativity to your colleagues. You wouldn’t want them bringing you down with bad news very often, so return the favor and take some time away if you can’t break out of a bad mood.