Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water.
After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.
Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.
After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been done around here.
And that, my friends, is how a company policy too often begins.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Tolerate or accept?
Big ballot issue here in Maine today.
Question one asks voters if they want to reject Maine's same-sex marriage law, allowing individuals and religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages.
I had a very interesting conversation I just had at the voting booth. As I was leaving, I was exit polled about Question 1. I got the sense that the poller wasn’t exactly an independent body if you know what I mean. They asked me point blank how I voted on 1. I proudly said that I voted NO. The reaction I got was one of questioning I guess. The poller then said..” so what you’re saying is that you can tolerate Gays. I was quite taken aback and offended by the question but I chose not to react. Instead, I calmly and sincerely said. “I’m so very sorry that you see the world and others in it through a filter of tolerance.” The poller was left speechless I must say!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Is there an App for that?
So, The Agile one is now officially a member of the cool kids club. I bought an iPhone. Of course I immediately began to justify the purchase as a "need." But who's kidding who. I wanted it. I felt like an 8 year old on Christmas morning..ripping the package open to play with my brand new shiny red fire truck. What should I do first? Read the manual? Boring..plus I'm a guy. We don't need no stinking directions and we most certainly wouldn't ask if we did. Nah, I just started to play. After 2 weeks the novelty has yet to even come close to wearing off. I feel like a parent; protecting my child. Keeping it clean, dry, out of the direct sun. You know..over protective. Well I will say this. SMART phone technology will change your life. If you have any doubts about how much you'll grow dependant, then my advice is keep with old Nokia flip. Because the smarter you're phone gets the lazier you will. I know there's an App for that.
The "SMART" and Agile one
The "SMART" and Agile one
Friday, September 18, 2009
The Up Front Contract (UFC)
When I train new sales reps or continue to train seasoned pros, one area of intense focus is the creation and implementation of an Up-front Contract. Simply put a UFC is a mechanism by which the salesperson and the prospect agree, before a meeting, to exactly what will take place during the meeting. The UFC contains five basic elements:
1. Define the purpose of the meeting
NOTE: Remember "up-front" does not mean that you make a UFC only before the first meeting or contact with a prospect. It means that you do it before ANY meeting or contact.
1. Define the purpose of the meeting
- Explain why your are meeting. The purpose should move the selling process forward
- Discover what the prospects agenda is
- Discover what their expectations are of you
- Explain to the prospect what you will be doing at the meeting
- Explain what your expectations are of them, including what information you will need.
- Schedule the date, time and location.
- Allow enough time to cover all necessary points
- The outcome should be the decision to continue with or stop the entire selling process, or the prospects decision to buy or not to buy
NOTE: Remember "up-front" does not mean that you make a UFC only before the first meeting or contact with a prospect. It means that you do it before ANY meeting or contact.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Vacation: Pros and Cons
Greetings friends.. It's been 2 weeks since my last post due to what was thought to be a vacation. How surprised was I when I immediately realized that the entire concept of a vacation was to relax, smell the roses, recharge the batteries, etc..etc..etc.. WRONG! The point of a vaca these days is for you to realize how little time you actually have for the things that are most importatant. Or better put..the things that should matter most. My best advice when planning your next vacation is to not plan at all. Be spontaneous. Be flexible. Throw caution to the wind. just as long as you make sure to include thos that matter most. Oh yeah, don't forget about a little me time trown in there too. The benefits will pay off.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
What Makes a Top Sales Performer?
Attitude most certainly is not everything. But, in this climate it becomes more important than ever. Your own attitude and effort is the one thing that you can influence everyday. Stay positive and the results will be there.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Your "Sweet Spot"
If you want to be successful in life, you need to stay in a state of mind that creates an emotional resonance with what you are doing.
There is a common misconception that simply working harder will allow you to achieve more results. However, even though a more concerted effort will net more results, you are still swimming against the current unless you can find a way to do your work in a manner that pleases you.
You will accomplish far more in an hour of hard work when you are "in the groove" than that same hour of hard work whenever you are unable enjoy your work or to stay focused on your tasks.
Ask yourself the who, what, why, when, and where questions about your environment, and make any changes necessary so that the answers to those questions will create an environment that allows you to work easily and effortlessly.
WHO: Who are you doing the work for? If you are working for an employer, the obvious answer would be that you are doing the work for them. However, that is totally false.
You chose to work there, and you continue to choose to remain there day after day. You keep that job because it brings you something that you want, not something that your employer wants. By realizing that your job is something that you have for yourself, one of two things will happen:
* You will start to enjoy your work more because you realize that you go to that job every day because you choose to, or
* You will realize that you are unable to enjoy the fact that you are working for someone else, and you will find a way to make your own money.
WHAT: What are you doing? Did you ever stop to think about that? Oh sure, there are plenty of tasks in front of you that need to be accomplished, but do you ever stop to think about what it is that you are actually working towards?
Do you even care about the big picture that is related to whatever it is that you are working towards? For that matter, do you even know what you are working towards, or are you just mindlessly doing the work without really thinking about what it is that you are trying to accomplish in the long-term?
If you are aware of and actually care about the results of your efforts, then you will resonate with the work that is required to attain those results. Whether the outcome in question is weight loss, child rearing, or corporate minutia, knowing what you are working towards gives you the opportunity to decide if you care enough about it to actually enjoy the work.
WHY: Once you know what it is that you are doing, now it is time to ask yourself why you are doing it to begin with. This is the tricky part that trips a lot of people up.
Your "why" reasons are almost never what you think they are at first. Most "why" reasons go much deeper than the surface answers that come to mind when people ask themselves why they are doing any particular thing.
People who want to lose weight tend to cite reasons such as looking good in a bikini, being healthy, having more energy, etc. However, by digging deeper, reasons such as low self-esteem, lack of confidence, bad past experiences, etc., are usually the real "why" reasons.
Most people who are looking for financial success will cite reasons such wanting a nice house, a secure future for their family, a sense of accomplishment, etc. However, when it comes down to it, a lot of people are actually battling self-limiting beliefs about money, they are looking for the freedom that money can buy, they want to prove to themselves or others that they can do it, etc.
Trying to get a nice house, a nice car, or a large college fund for your children is not nearly as motivational as knowing why you truly want those things.
WHEN: This is Goal Setting 101: When do you want to accomplish your goal by?
Even if you work for someone else, you need to have a target date for whenever you want to accomplish some very specific goal. Maybe it is to reach a certain level in the company, maybe it is a certain sales goal, or maybe it is a salary level that you are after. Either way, if you leave the target date open to "some point in the future," there will never be the sense of urgency that is needed in order to push yourself hard to accomplish your goal by that certain date.
If you own your own business or have some other self-employed status, when do you want to attain a certain level of security? When will your business be solid enough to allow you more time for yourself? When will you be able to start delegating work to others?
Again, the idea here is not to set up some mindless productivity calendar, but rather to motivate yourself to succeed by knowing when it is that you want to accomplish your goal. By working towards a goal that you have personally set for yourself, you will enjoy the work because you are doing it for you, not for someone else.
WHERE: Your work environment can play a huge role in the emotional state that you have whenever you are working on your tasks. If you do not enjoy being in your work environment, it will be very difficult for you to remain mentally sharp, to enjoy your work, and to keep up a high level of productivity.
If you work for someone else, then do everything that you are allowed to do in order to make your environment an enjoyable place for you to spend a lot of your time. This could include any or all of the following: decorate your environment, put up motivational reminders where you will see them frequently, make the environment physically comfortable with proper furnishings and accessories, play music that helps you to focus on your work.
If you work for yourself at home or in an office, then use the freedom that self-employment brings and pull out all the stops in order to make your work environment exactly what you want to be. Also, if you work at home, be sure to keep your work environment separate from the rest of the house. That is your space - keep it free from the negative or stressful vibrations that sometimes permeate other areas of the house.
Also, if you work on a laptop computer, don't be afraid to simply leave any environment that does not resonate with you. If you are more comfortable working in a local coffee shop, at the library, or outside on your deck, then go there! Don't feel that in order to run a professional business that you must work in an office. Your professionalism will come from you working in your natural state of flow, not from sitting in an office that makes you uncomfortable.
The bottom line to maximizing your productivity is that you need to remain in an environment and a state of mind that you actually enjoy being in - your own personal circle of Light.
Ask yourself the who, what, why, when, and where questions about your working circumstances, and find answers that resonate with you. If you fail to do so, you'll just keep swimming upstream, fighting the current rather than letting it carry you easily along.
There is a common misconception that simply working harder will allow you to achieve more results. However, even though a more concerted effort will net more results, you are still swimming against the current unless you can find a way to do your work in a manner that pleases you.
You will accomplish far more in an hour of hard work when you are "in the groove" than that same hour of hard work whenever you are unable enjoy your work or to stay focused on your tasks.
Ask yourself the who, what, why, when, and where questions about your environment, and make any changes necessary so that the answers to those questions will create an environment that allows you to work easily and effortlessly.
WHO: Who are you doing the work for? If you are working for an employer, the obvious answer would be that you are doing the work for them. However, that is totally false.
You chose to work there, and you continue to choose to remain there day after day. You keep that job because it brings you something that you want, not something that your employer wants. By realizing that your job is something that you have for yourself, one of two things will happen:
* You will start to enjoy your work more because you realize that you go to that job every day because you choose to, or
* You will realize that you are unable to enjoy the fact that you are working for someone else, and you will find a way to make your own money.
WHAT: What are you doing? Did you ever stop to think about that? Oh sure, there are plenty of tasks in front of you that need to be accomplished, but do you ever stop to think about what it is that you are actually working towards?
Do you even care about the big picture that is related to whatever it is that you are working towards? For that matter, do you even know what you are working towards, or are you just mindlessly doing the work without really thinking about what it is that you are trying to accomplish in the long-term?
If you are aware of and actually care about the results of your efforts, then you will resonate with the work that is required to attain those results. Whether the outcome in question is weight loss, child rearing, or corporate minutia, knowing what you are working towards gives you the opportunity to decide if you care enough about it to actually enjoy the work.
WHY: Once you know what it is that you are doing, now it is time to ask yourself why you are doing it to begin with. This is the tricky part that trips a lot of people up.
Your "why" reasons are almost never what you think they are at first. Most "why" reasons go much deeper than the surface answers that come to mind when people ask themselves why they are doing any particular thing.
People who want to lose weight tend to cite reasons such as looking good in a bikini, being healthy, having more energy, etc. However, by digging deeper, reasons such as low self-esteem, lack of confidence, bad past experiences, etc., are usually the real "why" reasons.
Most people who are looking for financial success will cite reasons such wanting a nice house, a secure future for their family, a sense of accomplishment, etc. However, when it comes down to it, a lot of people are actually battling self-limiting beliefs about money, they are looking for the freedom that money can buy, they want to prove to themselves or others that they can do it, etc.
Trying to get a nice house, a nice car, or a large college fund for your children is not nearly as motivational as knowing why you truly want those things.
WHEN: This is Goal Setting 101: When do you want to accomplish your goal by?
Even if you work for someone else, you need to have a target date for whenever you want to accomplish some very specific goal. Maybe it is to reach a certain level in the company, maybe it is a certain sales goal, or maybe it is a salary level that you are after. Either way, if you leave the target date open to "some point in the future," there will never be the sense of urgency that is needed in order to push yourself hard to accomplish your goal by that certain date.
If you own your own business or have some other self-employed status, when do you want to attain a certain level of security? When will your business be solid enough to allow you more time for yourself? When will you be able to start delegating work to others?
Again, the idea here is not to set up some mindless productivity calendar, but rather to motivate yourself to succeed by knowing when it is that you want to accomplish your goal. By working towards a goal that you have personally set for yourself, you will enjoy the work because you are doing it for you, not for someone else.
WHERE: Your work environment can play a huge role in the emotional state that you have whenever you are working on your tasks. If you do not enjoy being in your work environment, it will be very difficult for you to remain mentally sharp, to enjoy your work, and to keep up a high level of productivity.
If you work for someone else, then do everything that you are allowed to do in order to make your environment an enjoyable place for you to spend a lot of your time. This could include any or all of the following: decorate your environment, put up motivational reminders where you will see them frequently, make the environment physically comfortable with proper furnishings and accessories, play music that helps you to focus on your work.
If you work for yourself at home or in an office, then use the freedom that self-employment brings and pull out all the stops in order to make your work environment exactly what you want to be. Also, if you work at home, be sure to keep your work environment separate from the rest of the house. That is your space - keep it free from the negative or stressful vibrations that sometimes permeate other areas of the house.
Also, if you work on a laptop computer, don't be afraid to simply leave any environment that does not resonate with you. If you are more comfortable working in a local coffee shop, at the library, or outside on your deck, then go there! Don't feel that in order to run a professional business that you must work in an office. Your professionalism will come from you working in your natural state of flow, not from sitting in an office that makes you uncomfortable.
The bottom line to maximizing your productivity is that you need to remain in an environment and a state of mind that you actually enjoy being in - your own personal circle of Light.
Ask yourself the who, what, why, when, and where questions about your working circumstances, and find answers that resonate with you. If you fail to do so, you'll just keep swimming upstream, fighting the current rather than letting it carry you easily along.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Time! Using or wasting?
A fundamental aspect of successful time management in business is knowing which activities constitute work. In other words, what is your job description? What tasks do you have to perform to get the job done? It is helpful to divide these tasks into two categories: Pay and no-pay.
As a salesperson you visit prospects with the goal of spending as much time as possible with them in order to help grow their businesses.
Pay time: Basic time management requires that pay activities be performed during pay time. These are the hours during which customer/client is most likely to be available to do business. Pay time for a salesperson is defined as the time the prospect is open for business, usually 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The responsibilities and actions the salesperson has during pay time are those directly related to the generation of income.
No-pay time: No-pay time is any time outside the boundaries of your normal working schedule. This is the time for reading up on product materials, making sure the car is clean and has plenty of marketing materials, new marketing promotions and customer surveys; for completing reports and paperwork and planning goals. These activities must be done in order to be effective but are non-income generating tasks.
As a salesperson you visit prospects with the goal of spending as much time as possible with them in order to help grow their businesses.
Pay time: Basic time management requires that pay activities be performed during pay time. These are the hours during which customer/client is most likely to be available to do business. Pay time for a salesperson is defined as the time the prospect is open for business, usually 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The responsibilities and actions the salesperson has during pay time are those directly related to the generation of income.
No-pay time: No-pay time is any time outside the boundaries of your normal working schedule. This is the time for reading up on product materials, making sure the car is clean and has plenty of marketing materials, new marketing promotions and customer surveys; for completing reports and paperwork and planning goals. These activities must be done in order to be effective but are non-income generating tasks.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Wanna make a change?
I hope this post finds you well. I just wanted to thank you all for all of your hard work and remind you of the difference you make in many peoples lives everyday. That is so important to understand.
You may or may not be a Michael Jackson fan and you may or may not have watched any of his memorial service. But either way, I found some very inspiring themes throughout the coverage and more importantly from his words and music.
Although it’s very difficult at times, I choose to live my life with one primary focus. I want the world around me to be better today than it was yesterday. And, if I can help influence that, then I feel completely fulfilled. I ask myself regularly what I need to do to influence that change or help make the world around me better. The only answer I keep hearing is that the change I seek has to start with me.
Why the Michael Jackson reference you ask? Well these lyrics from Man in the Mirror really struck me and I thought I’d share them..
..If you wanna make the world a better place take a look at yourself and then make a change.
Pretty powerful statement. Change on any level is very hard to do. But true change in oneself, as hard as it may be, can be so incredibly inspiring and moving. Sometimes the hardest step to take if you want to change is the first one. It takes courage. It takes commitment. It takes trust in yourself. It might hurt along the way but I’ll bet you find that it’s well worth it.
You may or may not be a Michael Jackson fan and you may or may not have watched any of his memorial service. But either way, I found some very inspiring themes throughout the coverage and more importantly from his words and music.
Although it’s very difficult at times, I choose to live my life with one primary focus. I want the world around me to be better today than it was yesterday. And, if I can help influence that, then I feel completely fulfilled. I ask myself regularly what I need to do to influence that change or help make the world around me better. The only answer I keep hearing is that the change I seek has to start with me.
Why the Michael Jackson reference you ask? Well these lyrics from Man in the Mirror really struck me and I thought I’d share them..
..If you wanna make the world a better place take a look at yourself and then make a change.
Pretty powerful statement. Change on any level is very hard to do. But true change in oneself, as hard as it may be, can be so incredibly inspiring and moving. Sometimes the hardest step to take if you want to change is the first one. It takes courage. It takes commitment. It takes trust in yourself. It might hurt along the way but I’ll bet you find that it’s well worth it.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Should I cut my Marketing Budget? Are you kidding?
Oh my, the sky is falling and we are in an economic downturn. It’s on the news and it is in the papers. Everywhere I turn we hear of the downward spiral of our economic state. I know what you are thinking; it's time to cut that marketing budget. Signs of recession are all around us. Let's start slashing costs and marketing is the first to go. Makes sense, right? No! Let me explain.
Don't you dare cut your marketing budget. That is one of the first mistakes businesses make during times of economic crisis.
It's time to get smarter about your marketing dollar and spend it to bring results. Sounds good doesn't it? However, I can hear you - how do you do it? If ever customer intelligence was important it's now.
The key is to look at your marketing dollars as an investment not an expense. Use the customer knowledge that you have and implement SMART marketing during these times of financial distress.
SMART marketing consists of the following
S - Strategize
M - Maintain market spend
A - Assess and allocate the budget
R - Research your customer thoroughly
T - Target and reach out to them
Stand fast during this time. I can not stress to you the importance of seeing your marketing spend as an investment during this time and not an expense. Companies have survived difficult times and have come out strong. You don't have to take my word for it. I came a across a fantastic and informative study done by Penn State’s Smeal College of Business entitled Research: Proactive Marketing During Recession . All business owners should read this article. In this study they remind of us of companies that weathered the storm and succeeded. A few examples include:
* Procter and Gamble - During the Great Depression they pushed Ivory soap.
* Intel - In 1990-1991 during economic difficulty they pushed out the campaign "Intel Inside".
* Wal-mart - Walmart launched their "Every Day Low Prices" campaign in 2000-2001.
I am sure you recall all of these campaigns as I do. Even when there are difficult times well-positioned companies can in fact survive and thrive in them. It truly is about being SMART and taking marketing seriously now more than ever.
A major key is to know your consumer. Know them inside and out. Know what they think and know where they are. Know how these economic times are hitting them. Create your message around that pain. Reach out to them. Look and revise your product line if necessary. Look at developing lower cost solutions if possible. Be flexible, but at the same time be aware and always assessing.
Consider this - if you in fact cut your marketing budget, how will your consumers find you? You have severed your business lifeline and future hope of potential growth. Perhaps you have a secret that I'm not aware of and can reach that success without marketing. If you do I'm always willing to learn and I’d love to hear from you.
I stand with you during these times and wish you most prosperous marketing campaigns. Success can happen and it can be done, but marketing is involved.
Don't you dare cut your marketing budget. That is one of the first mistakes businesses make during times of economic crisis.
It's time to get smarter about your marketing dollar and spend it to bring results. Sounds good doesn't it? However, I can hear you - how do you do it? If ever customer intelligence was important it's now.
The key is to look at your marketing dollars as an investment not an expense. Use the customer knowledge that you have and implement SMART marketing during these times of financial distress.
SMART marketing consists of the following
S - Strategize
M - Maintain market spend
A - Assess and allocate the budget
R - Research your customer thoroughly
T - Target and reach out to them
Stand fast during this time. I can not stress to you the importance of seeing your marketing spend as an investment during this time and not an expense. Companies have survived difficult times and have come out strong. You don't have to take my word for it. I came a across a fantastic and informative study done by Penn State’s Smeal College of Business entitled Research: Proactive Marketing During Recession . All business owners should read this article. In this study they remind of us of companies that weathered the storm and succeeded. A few examples include:
* Procter and Gamble - During the Great Depression they pushed Ivory soap.
* Intel - In 1990-1991 during economic difficulty they pushed out the campaign "Intel Inside".
* Wal-mart - Walmart launched their "Every Day Low Prices" campaign in 2000-2001.
I am sure you recall all of these campaigns as I do. Even when there are difficult times well-positioned companies can in fact survive and thrive in them. It truly is about being SMART and taking marketing seriously now more than ever.
A major key is to know your consumer. Know them inside and out. Know what they think and know where they are. Know how these economic times are hitting them. Create your message around that pain. Reach out to them. Look and revise your product line if necessary. Look at developing lower cost solutions if possible. Be flexible, but at the same time be aware and always assessing.
Consider this - if you in fact cut your marketing budget, how will your consumers find you? You have severed your business lifeline and future hope of potential growth. Perhaps you have a secret that I'm not aware of and can reach that success without marketing. If you do I'm always willing to learn and I’d love to hear from you.
I stand with you during these times and wish you most prosperous marketing campaigns. Success can happen and it can be done, but marketing is involved.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The Top Twenty Time Wasters for Salespeople
The Top Twenty Time Wasters for Salespeople
Time is equal for everyone, so why is it that some people get so much more done in the same amount of time? With more distractions piling up everyday, it is now more important than ever to manage your time wisely. Here's a list of things I've identified as the biggest time wasters for your salespeople. Look familiar?
1. Setting Priorities
2. Paperwork & Email Management
3. Not Having a Well-Defined Sales System
4. Being Too Detail Oriented
5. Indecisiveness
6. Sidetracked by Non-Moneymaking Tasks
7. Taking Too Much Time on Unprofitable Opportunities
8. Not Spending Enough Time With Proper Decision Makers
9. Disorganization
10. Deficient Delegation Skills/Resources
11. Limited Sales Skills
12. Food Distractions
13. Internet Surfing
14. Office Work
15. Handling Client "Emergencies"
16. Poor Territory Management
17. Personal Phone Calls
18. Office Chatter
19. Un-Planned Sales Calls
20. Unprepared For Presentations
Time is equal for everyone, so why is it that some people get so much more done in the same amount of time? With more distractions piling up everyday, it is now more important than ever to manage your time wisely. Here's a list of things I've identified as the biggest time wasters for your salespeople. Look familiar?
1. Setting Priorities
2. Paperwork & Email Management
3. Not Having a Well-Defined Sales System
4. Being Too Detail Oriented
5. Indecisiveness
6. Sidetracked by Non-Moneymaking Tasks
7. Taking Too Much Time on Unprofitable Opportunities
8. Not Spending Enough Time With Proper Decision Makers
9. Disorganization
10. Deficient Delegation Skills/Resources
11. Limited Sales Skills
12. Food Distractions
13. Internet Surfing
14. Office Work
15. Handling Client "Emergencies"
16. Poor Territory Management
17. Personal Phone Calls
18. Office Chatter
19. Un-Planned Sales Calls
20. Unprepared For Presentations
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Does new mean improved? Not necessarily.
It is popular to talk about social media, influentials and Web 2.0. But does that mean the old school marketing has stopped working?
No, it means that there are more ways to reach people and depending on your target market, you have more options that all may be less effective than in the past when there were fewer options (and more people condensed into fewer communication channels.)
Here are some old school marketing techniques that still work.
1. Press Releases - When it used to be really read by the press, it was appropriate to call it a press release. Now I would call it a news broadcast. I do not believe a press release will usually find any major writers but I do think that you are going to get some good exposure and good back links to your website. Also, if you focus on a niche or use the more expensive services you may still hit some great media outlets.
2. Email - Way more attention seems to be given to social media than email marketing. However, email marketing will still generate a lot more money for you. It is an essential part of your marketing and if you bought the whole Email is Dead crap, you jumped on the wrong bandwagon. Most marketers I speak to make most of their money from email and SEO.
3. SEO - Search Engine Optimization is not the new hot thing, but if there is one area that is actually using social media well, it is the people that get how SEO and Social Media tie in together The key with SEO is that if you are in a tight target niche with little competition, you can probably pay for a one time project and reap the rewards for a long time.If you are in an even slightly competitive market, you need someone that goes to war on your behalf every month to increase ranking and get more pages indexed.
4. Old Websites - Do you have one of those old websites sitting around that looks like late 90’s and does date back to then? Don’t touch it without talking to a professional! The age of your website is very valuable and the pages should not be changed unless you have someone that can look at your ranking first. I've had clients update one of these old sites after some research and got fantastic results within 3 days - I am talking #1 rankings where a lot of other people were fighting for it. These old sites have great credibility in the eyes of search engines and can be ignited by a good search engine specialist.
5. Directories - Things like directories seem out of date, but getting listed in a good directory still gives you a valuable back-link and can generate a steady (if not huge) stream of traffic. Some of my favorite are technorati and blogcatalog - but the older (less shiny) ones are still effective if you get into them too.
6. Link Exchanges - These things have a bad name, and anything that automates the process I would stay away from. However, doing an occasional link exchange with someone else in your industry will help - not hurt - your website. If link exchanges actually hurt websites, most blogs with blog rolls would be thrown out of Google long ago since they often link to each other. This is one of those things that still works, you just have to be smart about it.
7. Word of Mouth - The oldest of the old school marketing is the new cool. Finding ways to get people to talk about you are the holy grail of cutting through the clutter. But it may just not work for you - you really have to be differentiated.
Dead Marketing - Some things are really gone
Yes, there are some marketing techniques that are really gone. Do not do the following -
* Pass out your audio book on 8 track tape.
* SPAM - Does anyone fall for that now?
* Dressing up as a gorilla and selling encyclopedias door to door - OK, this still works but don’t do it.
Most things will still work with good execution and message. Just be realistic about how people’s attention has scattered. You need to scatter your message where your niche market is to make sure they can find you. But that does not mean you throw the old school marketing in the garbage.
Good Marketing..
The Agile One
No, it means that there are more ways to reach people and depending on your target market, you have more options that all may be less effective than in the past when there were fewer options (and more people condensed into fewer communication channels.)
Here are some old school marketing techniques that still work.
1. Press Releases - When it used to be really read by the press, it was appropriate to call it a press release. Now I would call it a news broadcast. I do not believe a press release will usually find any major writers but I do think that you are going to get some good exposure and good back links to your website. Also, if you focus on a niche or use the more expensive services you may still hit some great media outlets.
2. Email - Way more attention seems to be given to social media than email marketing. However, email marketing will still generate a lot more money for you. It is an essential part of your marketing and if you bought the whole Email is Dead crap, you jumped on the wrong bandwagon. Most marketers I speak to make most of their money from email and SEO.
3. SEO - Search Engine Optimization is not the new hot thing, but if there is one area that is actually using social media well, it is the people that get how SEO and Social Media tie in together The key with SEO is that if you are in a tight target niche with little competition, you can probably pay for a one time project and reap the rewards for a long time.If you are in an even slightly competitive market, you need someone that goes to war on your behalf every month to increase ranking and get more pages indexed.
4. Old Websites - Do you have one of those old websites sitting around that looks like late 90’s and does date back to then? Don’t touch it without talking to a professional! The age of your website is very valuable and the pages should not be changed unless you have someone that can look at your ranking first. I've had clients update one of these old sites after some research and got fantastic results within 3 days - I am talking #1 rankings where a lot of other people were fighting for it. These old sites have great credibility in the eyes of search engines and can be ignited by a good search engine specialist.
5. Directories - Things like directories seem out of date, but getting listed in a good directory still gives you a valuable back-link and can generate a steady (if not huge) stream of traffic. Some of my favorite are technorati and blogcatalog - but the older (less shiny) ones are still effective if you get into them too.
6. Link Exchanges - These things have a bad name, and anything that automates the process I would stay away from. However, doing an occasional link exchange with someone else in your industry will help - not hurt - your website. If link exchanges actually hurt websites, most blogs with blog rolls would be thrown out of Google long ago since they often link to each other. This is one of those things that still works, you just have to be smart about it.
7. Word of Mouth - The oldest of the old school marketing is the new cool. Finding ways to get people to talk about you are the holy grail of cutting through the clutter. But it may just not work for you - you really have to be differentiated.
Dead Marketing - Some things are really gone
Yes, there are some marketing techniques that are really gone. Do not do the following -
* Pass out your audio book on 8 track tape.
* SPAM - Does anyone fall for that now?
* Dressing up as a gorilla and selling encyclopedias door to door - OK, this still works but don’t do it.
Most things will still work with good execution and message. Just be realistic about how people’s attention has scattered. You need to scatter your message where your niche market is to make sure they can find you. But that does not mean you throw the old school marketing in the garbage.
Good Marketing..
The Agile One
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
THE ENTHUSIASTIC EMPLOYEE
Enthusiastic employees out-produce and outperform employees who are not motivated to perform. Most people are enthusiastic when they’re hired. What happens to dampen their enthusiasm? Management.
Managers spend too much time dealing with difficult employees. The biggest problem is the vast number of workers who aren’t openly troublesome but who have become indifferent to the organization and its goals.
How does a company tackle this kind of problem? It can operate in one of two ways: It can pressure employees to do more or it can treat its workers to a series of rah-rah events, speakers and programs. Neither approach will do much good.
There is little conflict between the goals of management and those of employees. The key question us not how to motivate workers, but how to sustain –and prevent management from destroying –the motivation that employees naturally bring to their jobs.
Every successful company has to address three crucial factors: equity, achievement, and camaraderie.
Employee enthusiasm results in enormous competitive advantages for those companies with the strength of leadership to manage for real long-term results.
The Three Factor Theory of Human Motivation in the Workplace
There are three primary sets of goals of people at work: equity, achievement, and camaraderie.
1. These three sets of goals are what the overwhelming majority of people want.
2. No other goals are nearly as important.
3. These goals haven’t changed over time.
4. When your organization works to achieve these goals, the result will be high work-force morale and firm performance.
Human Motivation
The essentials of human motivation have changed very little over time, but management is acting in a different way and is reaping the consequences. As an example, if you treat workers like disposable commodities, which began to happen with the downsizings of the late ‘80’s and the ‘90’s you should not be surprised that workers are no longer “loyal.”
Employee Enthusiasm and Business Success
Many companies have enjoyed long-term success –ranging from Barron’s Magazine to the Mayo Clinic to Starbucks. They share one thing: the morale of their workers is much higher than most other companies. The higher morale of their workers is a result of specific policies and practices that engender enthusiasm in their employees about their jobs and their companies.
About 16.4 percent of the business units surveyed can be characterized as having highly discontented and perhaps, hostile work forces. Hostility differs from enthusiasm, but they are both highly motivated states that impel people into action. Anger is primarily a product of a sense of injustice. The motivation of a hostile employee is to do less and somehow harm the organization.
The People Performance Model
• People and their morale matter tremendously for business success, including customer satisfaction.
• Employee morale is a function of the way an organization is led.
• Success breeds success. The better the individual and organization perform, the greater the employee morale is, which in turn boosts performance.
Research shows a strong correlation between pride in the organization and the overall satisfaction of workers with that organization. People want to work for an organization that does well but also does good.
There are four main sources of employee pride:
Excellence in the organization’s financial performance.
Excellence in the efficiency with which the work of the organization gets done.
Excellence in the characteristics of the organization’s products such as their usefulness distinctness and quality.
Excellence in the organization’s moral character.
The first two of these factors relate to doing well and the latter two relate to doing good.
Motivated By Camaraderie
People don’t want to come to work to fight. Although employees derive pleasure from associating with others, such as during breaks, their greatest satisfaction comes from interacting as a team on the job in the service common performance goals.
The Total Organization Culture and How to Change It
A partnership culture is the surest path to a high-performance organization.
Partnership organizations emerge when senior leadership—in most cases it has been the CEO—has the foresight to see what can be and not just what is.
Managers spend too much time dealing with difficult employees. The biggest problem is the vast number of workers who aren’t openly troublesome but who have become indifferent to the organization and its goals.
How does a company tackle this kind of problem? It can operate in one of two ways: It can pressure employees to do more or it can treat its workers to a series of rah-rah events, speakers and programs. Neither approach will do much good.
There is little conflict between the goals of management and those of employees. The key question us not how to motivate workers, but how to sustain –and prevent management from destroying –the motivation that employees naturally bring to their jobs.
Every successful company has to address three crucial factors: equity, achievement, and camaraderie.
Employee enthusiasm results in enormous competitive advantages for those companies with the strength of leadership to manage for real long-term results.
The Three Factor Theory of Human Motivation in the Workplace
There are three primary sets of goals of people at work: equity, achievement, and camaraderie.
1. These three sets of goals are what the overwhelming majority of people want.
2. No other goals are nearly as important.
3. These goals haven’t changed over time.
4. When your organization works to achieve these goals, the result will be high work-force morale and firm performance.
Human Motivation
The essentials of human motivation have changed very little over time, but management is acting in a different way and is reaping the consequences. As an example, if you treat workers like disposable commodities, which began to happen with the downsizings of the late ‘80’s and the ‘90’s you should not be surprised that workers are no longer “loyal.”
Employee Enthusiasm and Business Success
Many companies have enjoyed long-term success –ranging from Barron’s Magazine to the Mayo Clinic to Starbucks. They share one thing: the morale of their workers is much higher than most other companies. The higher morale of their workers is a result of specific policies and practices that engender enthusiasm in their employees about their jobs and their companies.
About 16.4 percent of the business units surveyed can be characterized as having highly discontented and perhaps, hostile work forces. Hostility differs from enthusiasm, but they are both highly motivated states that impel people into action. Anger is primarily a product of a sense of injustice. The motivation of a hostile employee is to do less and somehow harm the organization.
The People Performance Model
• People and their morale matter tremendously for business success, including customer satisfaction.
• Employee morale is a function of the way an organization is led.
• Success breeds success. The better the individual and organization perform, the greater the employee morale is, which in turn boosts performance.
Research shows a strong correlation between pride in the organization and the overall satisfaction of workers with that organization. People want to work for an organization that does well but also does good.
There are four main sources of employee pride:
Excellence in the organization’s financial performance.
Excellence in the efficiency with which the work of the organization gets done.
Excellence in the characteristics of the organization’s products such as their usefulness distinctness and quality.
Excellence in the organization’s moral character.
The first two of these factors relate to doing well and the latter two relate to doing good.
Motivated By Camaraderie
People don’t want to come to work to fight. Although employees derive pleasure from associating with others, such as during breaks, their greatest satisfaction comes from interacting as a team on the job in the service common performance goals.
The Total Organization Culture and How to Change It
A partnership culture is the surest path to a high-performance organization.
Partnership organizations emerge when senior leadership—in most cases it has been the CEO—has the foresight to see what can be and not just what is.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The Salesperson
Have you ever taken a moment to truly appreciate all that your sales people do?
Salespeople are Problem Solvers: They help people buy what they need. The goal of the salesperson is to help customers make good decisions, thus creating satisfaction before, during and after sales. Their first responsibility is to determine needs and locate the product, services and information that help customers reach their business goals.
Salespeople are Influencers: They act as a catalyst or influence buying decisions by applying their knowledge and persuasive powers to convince the customer that one of the solutions offered is viable and profitable.
Salespeople are Facilitators: As new products and services appear on the market, decision makers in all industries and segments face many choices. Salespeople make it easier for the customers to focus or uncover their most important needs. This requires questions, careful listening and identification of various priorities and solutions. This information allows them to facilitate a sound and profitable buying decision for the customer.
Responsibilities of Salespeople
Sales responsibilities obviously vary in different firms and these responsibilities have a purpose, involve a specific task and have a beginning, middle and end. Many of these tasks must be completed on an ongoing basis. Salespeople are responsible for bringing product and services to the market, fitting them to the customer needs, persuading them that the product is of value to them and in the process develop and nurture a strong relationship. In all these cases, the customer has control of the decisions.
There are basically two types of responsibility: Direct and Indirect.
Direct and Indirect Selling Responsibilities
Direct
1. Prospecting
2. Pre-call planning
3. Building customer relationships
4.Attracting customer attention & interest
5. Uncovering customer needs
6. Making sales presentations
7. Handling objections
8. Closing the sales
9. Servicing accounts
Indirect
1. Handling complaints
2. Maintaining customer relations
3. Market intelligence
4. Maintaining technical competency
5. Collecting accounts
6. Networking
7. Trade and public relations
8. Office work
9. Managing information
a. Direct Selling Responsibilities: Those that affect how the salesperson implements the sales process and works when he/she is face-to-face or over the phone with the customer. It is the first function of the salesperson and involves getting organized in your territory, finding new customers (prospects), planning sales calls, building relationships, uncovering their needs, attracting their interests in your solutions, making recommendations and presenting them, closing sales and following-up after the sales with service. For true sales professionals these activities happen over a period of several calls in formal or informal sequences.
b. Indirect Selling Responsibilities: Involve all the responsibilities salespeople must carry out to get themselves ready to sell, satisfy customers and create climate for continued sales. It may take more of a salesperson’s time than direct selling and includes extended services performed for the customer, the company or industry.
- Customers may require more services many times during the year –“touching base” with the customer is important.
- Companies may require salespeople to stay “smart” on new technologies through various training or continued education.
- Industry: Salespeople may spend many hours learning about what is new in their industry.
The following are indirect selling responsibilities;
1. Handling Complaints: When customers have problems with a product or service they express dissatisfaction back to the salesperson who sold the product. The way salespeople handle complaints can win them customers for life or cause customers to look for another supplier. Most firms provide guidelines for handling complaints. Resolving complaints may involve several steps or repeated calls or visits with the customers.
2. Maintaining Customer Relationships: When salespeople become insensitive to customer feeling or when customers feel they are taken for granted, they are taken over by competitors who can give them the attention they deserve. The warning signs to lack of customer attention include customers not returning calls or putting off appointments.
3. Market Intelligence:
Refers to info about customer trends, competitor activities, economic influences – i.e market conditions. Mkt intelligence is not salespeople’s formal job as firms have mkt research & analysts acting as “investigative reporters”. But the salesperson is the firm’s “front line” in the battle for customer business. Thus salespeople must have current knowledge of mkt conditions at all times.
4. Maintaining Technical Competency
Most sales rest on some sort of technical foundation as results and profits are based on how technology is adopted, purchased, used and evaluated. Professional sales people have to be up-to-date on current technology in their field. Many firms provide training to them in this regards.
5. Collections
A sale is incomplete until payment is made. Many firms give salespeople the responsibility to identify “credit worthy” accounts, and to assist with the collection process. Salespeople also explain the credit terms and policies, and to remind customers when accounts are overdue. The difficulty lies with placing too much responsibility on a salesperson to not only sell the account but to collect on bad debt as well.
6. Networking
A professional salesperson is expected to maintain contacts with numerous networking entities. These might consist of industry partnerships, associations, chambers of commerce, etc. Building and sustaining network contacts only leads to a larger more thriving customer base.
7. Educating Customer
As problem solvers and influencers, an important part of a salespersons job is to educate customers through meetings, seminars, one-on-one with customers, service contacts etc.
8. Office Work
Salespeople’s job includes some computer time, paper work, budgeting, administration, completion of weekly call reports, market conditions, order forms, etc.
9. Managing Information
Salespeople need to “plug in”, must be comfortable with computer, internet, email, and filing system etc.
Salespeople are Problem Solvers: They help people buy what they need. The goal of the salesperson is to help customers make good decisions, thus creating satisfaction before, during and after sales. Their first responsibility is to determine needs and locate the product, services and information that help customers reach their business goals.
Salespeople are Influencers: They act as a catalyst or influence buying decisions by applying their knowledge and persuasive powers to convince the customer that one of the solutions offered is viable and profitable.
Salespeople are Facilitators: As new products and services appear on the market, decision makers in all industries and segments face many choices. Salespeople make it easier for the customers to focus or uncover their most important needs. This requires questions, careful listening and identification of various priorities and solutions. This information allows them to facilitate a sound and profitable buying decision for the customer.
Responsibilities of Salespeople
Sales responsibilities obviously vary in different firms and these responsibilities have a purpose, involve a specific task and have a beginning, middle and end. Many of these tasks must be completed on an ongoing basis. Salespeople are responsible for bringing product and services to the market, fitting them to the customer needs, persuading them that the product is of value to them and in the process develop and nurture a strong relationship. In all these cases, the customer has control of the decisions.
There are basically two types of responsibility: Direct and Indirect.
Direct and Indirect Selling Responsibilities
Direct
1. Prospecting
2. Pre-call planning
3. Building customer relationships
4.Attracting customer attention & interest
5. Uncovering customer needs
6. Making sales presentations
7. Handling objections
8. Closing the sales
9. Servicing accounts
Indirect
1. Handling complaints
2. Maintaining customer relations
3. Market intelligence
4. Maintaining technical competency
5. Collecting accounts
6. Networking
7. Trade and public relations
8. Office work
9. Managing information
a. Direct Selling Responsibilities: Those that affect how the salesperson implements the sales process and works when he/she is face-to-face or over the phone with the customer. It is the first function of the salesperson and involves getting organized in your territory, finding new customers (prospects), planning sales calls, building relationships, uncovering their needs, attracting their interests in your solutions, making recommendations and presenting them, closing sales and following-up after the sales with service. For true sales professionals these activities happen over a period of several calls in formal or informal sequences.
b. Indirect Selling Responsibilities: Involve all the responsibilities salespeople must carry out to get themselves ready to sell, satisfy customers and create climate for continued sales. It may take more of a salesperson’s time than direct selling and includes extended services performed for the customer, the company or industry.
- Customers may require more services many times during the year –“touching base” with the customer is important.
- Companies may require salespeople to stay “smart” on new technologies through various training or continued education.
- Industry: Salespeople may spend many hours learning about what is new in their industry.
The following are indirect selling responsibilities;
1. Handling Complaints: When customers have problems with a product or service they express dissatisfaction back to the salesperson who sold the product. The way salespeople handle complaints can win them customers for life or cause customers to look for another supplier. Most firms provide guidelines for handling complaints. Resolving complaints may involve several steps or repeated calls or visits with the customers.
2. Maintaining Customer Relationships: When salespeople become insensitive to customer feeling or when customers feel they are taken for granted, they are taken over by competitors who can give them the attention they deserve. The warning signs to lack of customer attention include customers not returning calls or putting off appointments.
3. Market Intelligence:
Refers to info about customer trends, competitor activities, economic influences – i.e market conditions. Mkt intelligence is not salespeople’s formal job as firms have mkt research & analysts acting as “investigative reporters”. But the salesperson is the firm’s “front line” in the battle for customer business. Thus salespeople must have current knowledge of mkt conditions at all times.
4. Maintaining Technical Competency
Most sales rest on some sort of technical foundation as results and profits are based on how technology is adopted, purchased, used and evaluated. Professional sales people have to be up-to-date on current technology in their field. Many firms provide training to them in this regards.
5. Collections
A sale is incomplete until payment is made. Many firms give salespeople the responsibility to identify “credit worthy” accounts, and to assist with the collection process. Salespeople also explain the credit terms and policies, and to remind customers when accounts are overdue. The difficulty lies with placing too much responsibility on a salesperson to not only sell the account but to collect on bad debt as well.
6. Networking
A professional salesperson is expected to maintain contacts with numerous networking entities. These might consist of industry partnerships, associations, chambers of commerce, etc. Building and sustaining network contacts only leads to a larger more thriving customer base.
7. Educating Customer
As problem solvers and influencers, an important part of a salespersons job is to educate customers through meetings, seminars, one-on-one with customers, service contacts etc.
8. Office Work
Salespeople’s job includes some computer time, paper work, budgeting, administration, completion of weekly call reports, market conditions, order forms, etc.
9. Managing Information
Salespeople need to “plug in”, must be comfortable with computer, internet, email, and filing system etc.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Selling as a Science
The last 50 years have seen more changes in the profession of sales than arguably at any point in history. Some changes were good and of course, some were bad. The end of World War 2 brought a huge influx of dollars, customers, salespeople and opportunities. The economy of the world had changed forever. It continues to evolve and grow at what can only be described as a staggering pace. Over this last half century we’ve seen marketing innovation, product explosions, the dawn of the information age and the growth of sales as a profession. We’ve also finally seen the first significant commitment to meaningful sales research; both obtaining it and using it. Formalized selling “systems” have been developed and implemented as the next best thing. Who hasn’t listened to a selling skills audio tape or watched a how to close video? The teaching of selling skills has become an industry in and of itself, a veritable landslide of opportunity for trainers and training organizations. If you have a system, someone will want to use it.
The last fifty years have also included a complete transformation of the sales professional. The Science of selling has evolved from the days of the high pressure, ultra-aggressive “slick” salesperson, through the kinder, gentler consultative account manager to today’s solutions based selling professional who has extensive knowledge and background to boot. And now, the twenty–first century offers a whole new set of obstacles. The challenges are more demanding, more complex and require superior skills than those approaches could only hope to solve. For example, today’s sales professionals need to call on the right level of buyer, perhaps multiple levels. And, they need to penetrate accounts more deeply than ever before. They need to interact with customers more strategically and position themselves as business professionals who provide long-term, effective, beneficial solutions. This process has gone far beyond the face-to-face phase of the sale and now includes everything before and after.
Even though tremendous effort has been made over the past 50 years to professionalize sales, the true growth of the sales profession has stalled because to many old practices still exist. The Market has changed so significantly over the past few years that if organizations revert to those “old-fashioned” techniques then they are risking losing the race for new business and retention.
Here are a few changes that make old-fashioned techniques somewhat irrelevant and even counter-productive.
1. Trust is now even more essential to the sale- If your customer can’t trust you than what is the point?
2. The marketplace has become more crowded, more competitive, more mature and much more sophisticated. If sales professionals don’t, they will lose!
3. Purchasing decisions have become more consensus-based and less about relationships. Nobody wants to be the “Joneses”
4. The ability to focus on value rather than price has become more significant than ever. Sticker shopping is not what drives today’s customer.
5. Buyers are looking for advisors or business experts who deliver results that are beyond expectations. They don’t want salespeople who present themselves as salespeople.
6. The buying process is much more complex and exists at multiple levels.
The Science of selling must take into account the changes or risk creating more bad habits that will affect negatively the business climates in the future.
The last fifty years have also included a complete transformation of the sales professional. The Science of selling has evolved from the days of the high pressure, ultra-aggressive “slick” salesperson, through the kinder, gentler consultative account manager to today’s solutions based selling professional who has extensive knowledge and background to boot. And now, the twenty–first century offers a whole new set of obstacles. The challenges are more demanding, more complex and require superior skills than those approaches could only hope to solve. For example, today’s sales professionals need to call on the right level of buyer, perhaps multiple levels. And, they need to penetrate accounts more deeply than ever before. They need to interact with customers more strategically and position themselves as business professionals who provide long-term, effective, beneficial solutions. This process has gone far beyond the face-to-face phase of the sale and now includes everything before and after.
Even though tremendous effort has been made over the past 50 years to professionalize sales, the true growth of the sales profession has stalled because to many old practices still exist. The Market has changed so significantly over the past few years that if organizations revert to those “old-fashioned” techniques then they are risking losing the race for new business and retention.
Here are a few changes that make old-fashioned techniques somewhat irrelevant and even counter-productive.
1. Trust is now even more essential to the sale- If your customer can’t trust you than what is the point?
2. The marketplace has become more crowded, more competitive, more mature and much more sophisticated. If sales professionals don’t, they will lose!
3. Purchasing decisions have become more consensus-based and less about relationships. Nobody wants to be the “Joneses”
4. The ability to focus on value rather than price has become more significant than ever. Sticker shopping is not what drives today’s customer.
5. Buyers are looking for advisors or business experts who deliver results that are beyond expectations. They don’t want salespeople who present themselves as salespeople.
6. The buying process is much more complex and exists at multiple levels.
The Science of selling must take into account the changes or risk creating more bad habits that will affect negatively the business climates in the future.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Is Your Organization Slowly Dying or is it Deeply Changing?
I’ve spoken to many business leaders about many serious topics. None more serious
than this. Is your Organization slowly dying or is it deeply changing? Most often the reaction I get is one of defense and denial. Who wants to even consider the slow death scenario? Well, I ask you to pay attention to what actually may be happening.
Consider the following statements I’ve heard from top executives at two different organizations:
· I’ve been in this position for four years, and every year the work pressure has increased. My people are doing all they can just to hold on. I’m fifty-seven, and I’m doing all I can to hold on. I know we need to implement this thing. I just don’t think we can do one more major change.
· From a long-run perspective, there is no choice. But, to tell you the truth, I’m not sure I have it in me. Of the eight vice-presidents, three are simply not up to taking this on. We’re all around the same age, and we’re all thinking, “If I can hang in just a couple of more years, this problem will belong to someone else.” The issue is not what’s good in the long run; it’s how to survive right now.
While both executives have recognized that a deep change is needed in their organizations, both have opted to do nothing. They have chosen short-term personal survival over long-term collective responsibility. The problem will eventually become a crisis.
The practical implementations of this deep change, or slow death dilemma, are illustrated by the following statements:
· Slow death is what we are about – little long-range planning; no vision; denial of all external criticism. We are on a course that is clear to all.
· We are dying. In the meantime, my boss goes around reducing everything to numbers and charts. He leaves the real task of leadership to others.
· I think our company has about twelve to eighteen months, and then it will be too late. I think we keep very busy because it’s a kind of opium. We don’t know how to confront the deep change process. There is no vision from the top, and the changes continue to be incremental. We are very clearly choosing slow death.
Slow Death: The Organizational Phenomenon
Slow death begins when someone, confronting the dilemma of having to make deep organizational change or accepting the status quo, rejects the option for the deep change.
The process of slow death has a number of common characteristics.
Pervasiveness:
It is especially common in conservative, “don’t rock the boat: cultures. It is not unusual to find pockets of experienced, competent, and well-intentioned people who have opted for slow death. Change is needed, but this need is denied.
Violation of Trust:
The decision makers may fully recognize the pressures for change. Instead of initiating the change, however, they choose to do other things. In this sense, the phenomenon of choosing slow death is not the same phenomenon as the often-told boiled frog story.
The boiled frog story is based on a laboratory experiment. A live frog is placed in a container of water that is gradually heated. Eventually, the water boils and the frog dies. In contrast, if a frog is taken from the cold water and placed in a container of hot water, it immediately jumps out and thus manages to survive. Organizations are said to be like the frogs in the experiment. They are likely to be unconscious of slowly evolving changes.
When an executive admits that a change is needed but opts not to make it, the executive is making a conscious choice. “If I can hang on just a couple of more years, this problem will belong to someone else.” When the executive leaps to safety, the rest of the workforce is left with the problem. This might be referred to as the “dead tadpole story”: the frog leaps to safety and the tadpoles are left to boil. Self interest triumphs over collective responsibility.
To avoid that slow death you must be committed to making the hard choices. Good leaders surround themselves with talented, open-minded, dedicated peers that can help navigate the waters of a difficult situation. Lean on them. Rely on them. Don’t let your own ego get in the way of progress.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Good News on the Employment Front Lines
Tired of all the gloom and doom? I know I am. My company just released this little nuggett.
With the largest applicant pool in years, and jobseekers aggressively looking for the best local employment opportunities, the JiUS network recorded nearly 1.8 million visits in March. This represents a 13% growth over February 2009 and, is one of the single largest months in the company’s history.
Job losses may still be on the rise but local employers posted nearly 8,000 open positions on the JiUS network in March. This marks a 10% increase over February and is the second consecutive month of growth in this very important statistic.
“We only allow job postings from legitimate, in-state employers, so the increase in postings is truly reflective of the increase in actual employment opportunities.” said Jason C. Blais, Director of Business Development.
JiUS has been operating state specific job internet sites since 1999 and remains at the forefront of the industry through innovation, solid sales, distinguished marketing techniques and there-when-you-need-us customer service.
The JiUS network of state specific resources includes JobsinME.com
, JobsinNH.com, JobsinVT.com and JobsinRI.com
Contact:
Steve Dodge,
Director of Marketing and Sales
Monday, March 30, 2009
Effort wins everytime!
I've always been stirred by this simple but sometimes less than obvious statement. "Successful people plan actions, they don't plan results." Simply put, the old adage of hard work paying off has never meant more than it means right now. No matter how difficult the times, or how bad the news continues to be, the one thing that all of us can control is the effort we put forth. Stand strong and stick to your personal value statement and you'll learn a lot about yourself.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
12 Characteristics of a strong workplace
We here at the Agile Marketer are always striving to identify opportunities to share knowledge and best practices. What is a strong workplace? Do we even know? Have we ever asked our employees? Take a look at this list and see where your business is at. Ask yourselves these questions.
1. Do I know what is expected of me?
2. Do I have the equipment and material I need to do my work right?
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?
5. Does my supervisor or someone at work seem to care about me as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my work is important?
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
11. In the last six months, have I talked to someone about my progress?
12. This last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow?
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Stategy updates
As marketers and business managers, we always claim to seek the highest ROI, but if you ask me that is not the case. Strategies slip when things are going well. We get lazy when profitable choices abound and go for easy instead of best. We conveniently forget the strategically sound practices of evaluating alternatives and scrutinizing spending.
That’s why an occasional recession is good for business: it brings us back to basics. Here are three ideas to consider while dealing with a shrinking economy:
* Find your customers who haven’t been slowed and please them into doing more business with you. They are looking for ways to spend their dollars, so double your efforts at understanding their wants and provide a product or service that meets them.
* Customers who cut back on a luxury may substitute it with something else. Discover what that something else is and you may also discover a new opportunity.
* Take a look at your own marketing programs. Get rid of those that do not work for you, and replace them with programs that have more promise.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Lemons to champagne part 2
Play #2: Don't Downsize, Upgrade
Personnel costs, especially for the sales force, offer a tempting target for cost reduction. Many companies, however, make the mistake of approaching a reduction in force solely from a budgetary standpoint instead of considering the value of their most important asset. For example, they may compare the compensation for each sales rep against the total gross margin of his accounts and shoot the guys with the worst ratios. Unfortunately, this approach won't account for growth, differences in territory potential, strategic sales objectives or other factors that are vital for your company's success. A better approach is to let the poorest performers go and then rework the account assignments as necessary.
Most companies also make the mistake of failing to exploit labor market opportunities during an economic downturn. They focus on reducing headcount instead of upgrading the quality of their staff. Remember when it was impossible to find good salesmen or managers even at ridiculous salaries? Well, this is your chance to grab that top talent that wasn't available to you last year (and may not be available next year). Also, don't limit yourself to the unemployed. In their "defensive" zeal to cut costs, many companies have reduced compensation plans or increased the workloads for top performers, creating a pool of disgruntled candidates.
Once you've determined that a force reduction is needed, think strategically to get the maximum benefit from a painful exercise. Keep in mind that approximately the same number of people will be terminated in any scenario - your options are limited to determining who will be sacked rather than how many.
- Don't rely solely on department managers to select the staff cuts. The managers will invariably select the people who will be "easiest" to let go rather than the poorest performers. You will tend to lose more of the lower level employees (because their jobs are easier to re-assign), thus mitigating the cost savings. You will have lost the opportunity to weed out poor performers simply because their removal would inconvenience their managers. A better approach is to use recent performance appraisals and solicit input from additional sources like customer surveys and other managers.
- Don't depend on voluntary early retirement. Although it may seem a fair and simple approach, you will tend to lose the best performers who are most marketable elsewhere. Also, this option usually entails substantial payouts to be effective.
- Don't cut "rank and file" pay. Another reasonable sounding alternative that almost always turns out bad. Unlike layoffs, pay cuts leave the affected people in place to spread bitterness and resentment. You will hurt morale and also lose the opportunity to unload your poor performers. Across-the-board reductions in upper management pay, in contrast, are a viable tactic. Your top management team should be more receptive because they have a bigger stake in your company's future and better visibility of its financial condition. In addition, such cuts will probably save more money and send a strong message of commitment to the rest of your staff.
Turn lemons into champagne
In a down economy, fight the temptation to accept the "circle the wagons" mentality. It is understandable but not always productive. It may allow you to weather the storm but it will not distinguish you from your competition or position you for long term success. It is fundamentally reactive and defensive. As an alternative, consider opening your offensive playbook for ideas on transforming the downturn into a strategic opportunity. Here are some offensive "plays" that may help you to regain the initiative.
Play #1: Focus on the Other Guys
Obviously, you're not alone. Everyone that you deal with, including your customers, employees, competitors and suppliers, is facing many of the same challenges. Most of them are probably in the "defensive" position described above. They are seeking guidance, leadership and certainty. They are probably reluctant to make long-term commitments. They are likely to have reduced expectations of acceptable performance in areas like profitability and sales growth.
By looking at the recession through their eyes, you have an opportunity to achieve a competitive advantage over those who are obsessed with their own condition.
For example, consider the following possibilities for exploiting this anxiety:
- Commit to sustained and improved customer service. Businesses typically react to an economic downturn by reducing inventory and /or cutting staff. Both can have a major negative impact on customer service. If your competitors are taking this approach, you have a golden opportunity to gain market share and maintain sales volume.
- Add some new product lines. This is an ideal time to revisit your product portfolio. The world's economy has changed forever.Are you prepared to provide the tools your customers will need when the economic pendulum swings back? Can you add branches to your product tree while maintaining profitability? Should you? Might be time to survey your customers. Let them tell you what they need.
These examples are intended as food for thought; they may or may not be appropriate for your company. I suggest a brainstorming session to discover appropriate actions based on your own specific situation. List the recessionary effects that you think your partners are experiencing and then try to identify actions that you can take to exploit each one.
You will come through this. We all will.
Until next time..
The Agile One
You will come through this. We all will.
Until next time..
The Agile One
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