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.

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?

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.

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

Day One. March 2, 2009

Ok, So I'm new to blogging. Not reading just creating. The Agile Marketer will be updated regularly and I encourage you to use the resource to forum, share ideas, share strategies, beliefs,etc.

Blog you soon,

The Agile One