Better Business Focus - May 2012

Better Business Focus May 2012

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Better Business Focus is the essential key for business owners and managers. It achieves that by focusing on the way in which successful businesses

compete and manage their organisations. It focuses on how people are recruited, coached and developed; on how marketing and selling is undertaken in

professional markets as well as in markets with intense competition; on how technology and the Internet is reshaping the face of domestic and home

business; and on how people are being equipped with new skills and techniques. In short, it offers expert inspiration for a better business.

May 2012

Better Business Focus Expert inspiration for a Better Business


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This Month’s Articles: 2 Why The Word 'No' Should Be Heard Regularly By Every Good Salesperson By Ashley Latter

3 10 Key Lessons – From today’s top performing B2B sales and marketing organisations By Bob Apollo

7 You’re The Expert So Why Aren’t You Writing? By Mindy Gibbins-Klein

8 The Power of Priorities By Mark McNulty

9 Innovation Lessons from the Artist By Paul Sloane

10 The Apprentice Is Back… By Gavin Ingham

12 Well Presented By Rob Hunt

13 Non-Financial Due Diligence In Mergers and Acquisitions By Mike Robson

14 Messaging and Product Placement – It can be quite an art By John Stanley

15 Four Marketing Myths That Threaten Your Sales By Bob Leduc

16 Five Issues That Business Owners Tackle Badly By Paul Chapman

18 Three Visual Branding Secrets To Make Your Business Memorable By Karen Saunders

19 Advertising and Colour By Karen Saunders

20 WordPress Plugins I Can’t Live Without By Lilach Bullock

22 lll-Will Blows On Goodwill By Barry Urquhart

23 10 Innovative Ideas for Successful Team Building Events By Ron Kaufman

25 Increasing Sales Is A Gift By John Stanley

26 To Succeed Where Others Fail By Martin Pollins

27 The ‘What’s Next? Process’ For Developing Your Strategy By Dr. Dan Herman

29 Using Assessment Tools: A Must for Today’s Business Partners By Jennifer C. Zamecki

31 Turn Incremental Improvement into Massive Profit Growth By Robert Garibay

Brought to you with the compliments of Bizezia Ltd


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“You might receive a salary, you may get a

car allowance and a pension and possibly

other benefits, but - and it's a big but - if

you personally fail to generate a serious

amount of profitable business for your

company, several times more than what

you get paid, then the marketplace will get

rid of you.”

During a recent coaching session delivered to a sales team of eleven people, the delegates were asked how many of them were self-employed. No-one put their hands up in reply, indeed, one or two looked quite puzzled to be asked this question.

Eventually, after some silence, one person put their hand up and stated, "I suppose we all are". My reason for telling you this story is to illustrate how correct that statement is: that all salespeople are, in a way, self-employed. You might receive a salary, you may get a car allowance and a pension and possibly other benefits, but - and it's a big but - if you personally fail to generate a serious amount of profitable business for your company, several times more than what you get paid, then the marketplace will get rid of you. You are finished, on the scrapheap, looking for another job. Accepting that you are, in effect, self-employed and paid by your results only, do you honestly believe that you could act as a self-employed person would? For example, if your boss came in tomorrow and told you that you would now be paid commission only, but if you reach your existing target you would be paid £5,000 more, do you think you'd behave differently than now? Think about it. Would you take on the new challenge, or do you like the security of a regular monthly pay cheque? By changing to a commission-only basis, perhaps you would waste less time chatting in the office about last night's TV or what you did at the weekend. Maybe you would use your time more effectively, not travelling in rush hour traffic, for

example. You might decide to restrict your client appointments to those who can give you plenty of profitable business. You would probably prospect much more than you are doing now and generally work a lot harder. Perhaps you would put yourself in a position where you hear the word 'no' more often. Although there are many more examples to show how you might change your working habits, this last point is worth looking at in particular. I believe that rejection should be an important key performance indicator in any salesperson's job description. You should be placing yourself in a position where you hear 'no' often and if you are not hearing it several times a week then something is up. It means that you are not asking for the business, you're not asking for appointments, you're not asking for referrals. Hearing 'no' is part of the job. Of course, it's just about possible that you're such a great salesperson you only ever hear the word 'yes', but I've yet to meet anyone who hears that all the time. The problem is that nobody likes rejection - myself included. In the past, I used to take it personally but then I received some great advice from a sales director who told me, "When you hear a 'no', just say the word 'next'. Move on and get over it." Rejection won't kill you and once in a while you might be surprised that the answer you get is a 'yes'. So, try to see yourself as a self-employed salesperson. Look at successful self-employed people/entrepreneurs and examine how they use their time and how hard they work. If you want similar results, mirror them.

Once you start to behave as a successful self-employed person, then it can only impact your business one way - upwards. © Copyright, Ashley Latter

About the Author

Ashley has a unique style where he manages to coach delegates to operate outside their comfort zone and take on tasks that before were deemed impossible. He is the author of Don't Wait for the Tooth Fairy and Helping Patients to say YES.

Co-ordinates

Mail: Ashley Latter The Sales Coaching Business 94 Ringley Road Manchester M45 7LN, UK Tel: (+44) 0161 280 5837 Mobile: +44 (0) 7976 778250 Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Web: www.ashleylatter.com

Why The Word 'No' Should Be Heard Regularly By Every Good Salesperson By Ashley Latter

This

article is about…

The things sales

people ought to

know.



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10 Key Lessons From today’s top performing B2B sales and marketing organisations By Bob Apollo

“Sales and Marketing organisations that can stimulate their prospects to recognise the need to change by bringing a new point of view or who challenge their prospects to think differently start with a tremendous

advantage.”

What is it that allows today’s top-performing B2B Sales and Marketing organisations to stand out from the crowd? It’s clear that having outstanding products or services is only part of their success story.

These top performers have managed to systematically align their sales and marketing activities in a way that allows them to attract, engage, qualify, convert and retain more of the right sort of customers. Are the results worth the effort? We think so, but there’s no need to take our word for it. Research conducted by Sirius Decisions proves that well-aligned organisations consistently outperform their peer group, averaging 24% faster revenue growth over a 3-year period. We’ve carefully observed these top-performers and we’ve identified 10 key initiatives that we believe could enable your organisation to emulate their success . We’d like to introduce each of them in turn to you in this white paper.

1. Ideal prospect profiles Many of today’s top performing B2B Sales and Marketing organisations base their success on identifying the common characteristics of their most valuable potential prospects - and have recognised that conventional demographic factors like company size sector and location are a very inadequate means of segmenting B2B markets. They have taken pains to identify the structural, behavioural, environmental and situational

characteristics that they recognise have a far greater impact on their chances of attracting, engaging and converting more of the right sort of prospects. Pay close attention to the factors that make an organisation a particularly good or bad fit. Think carefully about how you can target these characteristics in your marketing campaigns and identify them in the early stages of a sales conversation. What sort of direct or indirect evidence should you be looking for? Naturally, we recommend that you review the common characteristics of your most valuable current customers and strongly suggest that you involve your top sales performers. They often qualify instinctively - and extracting and sharing their unconscious wisdom with the rest of the organisation can bring tremendous benefits. We recommend that you use this template to capture the lessons learned about your ideal prospects and to share the findings with the rest of your organisation: http://bit.ly/HjFm1t

2. The problems you solve Your prospects may be willing to talk to you about interesting issues. They may be prepared to seriously evaluate your solution if it solves an important issue. But they are most likely to buy from you if you can prove that you solve an identified business-critical issue better than any other alternative available to them. Today’s top performing B2B organisations have learned that targeting these clearly-defined issues can dramatically improve the return on their sales and marketing resources - because they know that the prospect is likely to buy something and they are confident

that they have a strong chance of winning. Here are some of the key considerations:

• What would your prospect call the problem or issue?

• Who suffers from the problem? What are the symptoms?

• Who else is affected?

• What are the consequences of not dealing with it?

• Who is most likely to champion the search for a solution?

• What are their options for solving the problem - including in-house solutions?

Before you claim to have a better solution than the opposition, we strongly suggest that you find ways of showing how your approach is different from and superior to the other options available to the prospect. We recommend that you use this template to capture the lessons learned about the problems you solve and to share the findings with the rest of your organisation: http://bit.ly/HbeHoe

3. Trigger events According to research published by Craig Elias of SHiFT! Selling, Sales and marketing organisations that can identify and react to the trigger events that cause prospects to first start searching for solutions are five times more likely to close the business than competitors who only discover the opportunity after the

This article is about…

Lessons from today’s top performing B2B sales & marketing

organisations.



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prospect has started to define their requirements. Sales and marketing organisations that can stimulate their prospects to recognise the need to change by bringing a new point of view, or who challenge their prospects to think differently, start with a tremendous advantage. Top-performing B2B organisations invest heavily on establishing thought leadership positions that make them the obvious company to turn to when their prospects are trying to learn more about how they could improve their business performance. They are also able to proactively research the market in order to identify and respond to these trigger events, such as a change in a prospect’s management, strategy or circumstances, in close to real time. These top-performing organisations are typically well connected in business social media such as LinkedIn, as well as with the professional bodies and networks that influence the thinking of the key stakeholders in their prospect’s buying decision process. How well positioned are you to detect, or even to initiate, the most important trigger events within your key target markets?

4. Lead quality If you listen to the internal conversations in many B2B organisations, you’ll typically hear sales complaining that marketing aren’t helping them to uncover enough new opportunities and marketing grumbling that sales isn’t following up on all the leads they have generated. In well-aligned organisations, the conversations are different and far more constructive. The sales and marketing organisations have got together to trash out clearly documented definitions of exactly what everybody expects from a “Marketing Qualified Lead” and a “Sales Accepted Opportunity”. There are clear quality standards and mechanisms for establishing who does what when marketing hands a lead over to sales, or when sales returns an opportunity to marketing for nurturing, as well as mechanisms

to ensure regular, structured feedback. The focus is on quality, rather than quantity and there is a shared commitment to drive continuous improvement throughout the process of attracting, engaging, qualifying and converting more of the right sort of opportunities. If your organisation hasn’t yet established commonly agreed standards for Marketing Qualified Leads, Sales Accepted Opportunities and other key stages in the lead-to-revenue cycle - or, just as likely, if you have agreed standards but are not enforcing them, you need to take action. Are your sales and marketing organisations all working to common standards and if not, what are you going to do about it?

5. Revenue performance management In today’s most advanced B2B Sales and marketing organisations, there’s no such thing as separate marketing and sales funnels. They are managing the entire lead-to-revenue process as a single integrated revenue cycle. They are able to track progress from one stage in the process to the next, but they also have mechanisms to recycle and nurture leads that may not be ready to buy just yet. They are able to systematically attract, engage, qualify, covert and retain more of the right sort of customers. A recent study by Marketo suggests that companies that have implemented revenue cycle management have enjoyed an average 46% improvement in the number of sales opportunities and a 17% improvement in sales-win rate. But we’ve seen the greatest gains coming not from just integrating existing marketing and sales stages but from also taking the opportunity to manage the revenue cycle with reference to the key stages prospects go through in their buying decision process. Buying-cycle targeted revenue cycle management appears to offer tremendous scope to align sales and marketing around a common understanding of who their best prospects are, what really matters to

them and how and why they make buying decisions. How is your organisation managing its marketing and sales pipeline? As one integrated whole or as two disconnected flows? Are you basing the process on your internal sales and marketing activities or on evidence-based observations of buyer behaviour?

6. Stage-relevant content According to the American Marketing Association, as much as 90% of the sales and marketing materials produced by organisations has no meaningful role in supporting the prospect’s buying decision process. IDC recently reported that prospects felt that that majority of first sales calls were poorly prepared - and Forrester found that only 1 in 8 sales calls left the prospect believing that they had learned anything of value. There’s clearly a remarkable amount of energy being wasted in many of today’s sales and marketing organisations, so it’s no wonder that a growing number of executives are becoming increasingly concerned about the return on their sales and marketing resources. Today’s top performing sales and marketing organisations are doing much better - by insisting that every marketing activity and every sales tool has a clearly defined role to play at a specific stage in the prospect’s buying decision process. They are throwing out dull, formulaic corporate presentations and are equipping their sales people instead to conduct thought-provoking, constructively challenging conversations and which lead their prospects to want to learn more. How much effort is being wasted today within your own sales and marketing organisations on activities that contribute nothing to the prospect’s decision process? The answer might surprise (and disturb) you.

7. Proactive pipeline management The widely-respected CSO Insights research organisation makes a compelling case for the benefits of



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proactive pipeline management. They report that organisations that have adapted their sales processes to keep pace with changes in the buying process have out-performed their peers with 28% more reps on quota and a 22% increase in sales win rates. Top-performing B2B sales and marketing organisations recognise that the accuracy with which their pipelines are managed has a dramatic impact on the effectiveness of their sales efforts and the reliability of their sales forecasts. Many have shifted from a sales-centric view of the pipeline to a prospect-centric perspective. They have defined the stages in their pipeline based on key phases in their prospect’s buying decision process and they insist on evidence that the prospect has passed clearly-defined milestones before allowing the opportunity to be promoted to the next stage. The effects of this shift are profound. At first, this approach usually results in a reduction in the apparent value of the pipeline - because the previous, sales-activity-centric approach had concealed the true state of the prospect’s decision-making process. But very soon after adopting the new regime, they were able to place much greater confidence in the true value of their marketing and sales pipeline and were able to focus their sales people on tactics that had a proven impact on facilitating the buying process. How accurately do your pipelines reflect the true state of your future revenue potential? And are they guiding your sales people to take the most effective next steps? 8. Progressive qualification Inadequate sales qualification causes a spectacular amount of wasted effort. Sales people frequently (and sometimes habitually) expend a great deal of personal effort and company resources on opportunities that are unlikely ever to buy anything, unlikely to choose their company as a supplier, or unlikely to ever be profitable even if they do buy.

In complex, high-value B2B sales environments, qualification should never be a one-time event - it must be managed as a continuous process that recognises that the prospect's needs and priorities can change over time and that our view of how attractive the opportunity is to us can be significantly affected by things we learn about the prospect. Key questions you need to answer (and regularly review) as the opportunity progresses include:

• How does the prospect stack up against our ideal prospect criteria?

• Has the prospect got a problem we can solve?

• Has the prospect (still) got a strong reason to solve it?

• Are the prospect's requirements (still) a good fit for our capabilities?

• Are we the sort of vendor they are likely to do business with?

• Can we (still) win?

• Can we (still) make a profit?

• Will the effort (still) be worth it? Needless to say, any time the answer isn’t a resounding yes, you need to insist on knowing more - and be prepared to qualify out the opportunity (and replace it with a better one) before even more resources are consumed.

9. Sales velocity and effectiveness Most sales managers would acknowledge that the longer a deal hangs around in the pipeline, stuck at its current stage, the less likely they are to buy. Sales cycle velocity - the amount of time it takes for an opportunity to move from start to finish and from stage to stage - is therefore an incredibly important predictor of sales success. In fact, recent research conducted by the TAS Group found that it takes, on average, 150% longer to lose a deal than to win one. Just imagine the wasted effort associated with pursuing all those losing deals! As top-performing B2B organisations have learned, if you can shorten your average sales cycles you have the capacity - without increasing your resources - to sell more. They monitor sales velocity at the opportunity, sales person and overall pipeline levels and focus management attention on potential bottlenecks.

They also carefully monitor stage-to-stage conversion rates. They have recognised that late-stage losses are usually indicative of poor qualification or inadequate sales execution at key stages during the process. They know that if they are going to lose, they had better lose early, before significant resources have been invested. These two metrics - sales velocity and stage-to-stage conversion success - are critical to the effective management of sales pipelines. How much visibility do you have in these two key areas - and are you using them to direct management intervention and to identify the need for targeted performance improvement?

10. Shared metrics Our final key initiative relates to how organisations choose to measure, motivate and reward their staff. We all know that compensation drives much sales behaviour and there’s no doubt that the metrics you choose to manage by convey incredibly powerful signals to your staff. The top-performing B2B organisations have chosen not to target or measure marketing on the number of leads generated. They recognise that these traditional quantity or activity-focused measures just encourage more of the wrong behaviours. They have switched to outcome-based goals and metrics that reward marketing’s contribution to revenue - in the form of both the increase in qualified pipeline value and the total revenue generated. These organisations report that the centre of gravity of marketing has evolved from a primary focus on lead volume at the top of the funnel to one that emphasises quality over quantity and the progressive facilitation of the buying decision process. They also report significantly increased interest on the part of marketing on the long-term impact and consequences of their activities and significantly greater interaction with the sales organisation when it comes to setting priorities and seeking feedback on the effectiveness of their programmes.



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How are you measuring and rewarding your marketing team today? Are they motivated to assess the impact on revenue of every activity they undertake?

Conclusion We’ve highlighted 10 key initiatives that could help to transform your sales and marketing performance. How does your organisation currently stack up in each of the following areas? 1. Your ability to recognise the

common characteristics of your ideal prospects.

2. The clarity with which you’ve been able to identify the most valuable problems you solve.

3. Your ability to identify the trigger events that cause your prospects to start searching for solutions.

4. The extent to which sales and marketing have established common definitions to define lead and opportunity quality.

5. Your ability to implement an integrated approach to revenue performance management.

6. The extent to which you’ve been able to develop buying-stage related content.

7. Your ability to proactively manage your marketing and sales pipelines.

8. The extent to which you’ve been able to implement progressive opportunity qualification.

9. Your ability to measure sales velocity and state-to-stage conversion effectiveness.

10. The extent to which sales and marketing share common goals, metrics and incentives.

Each one of these initiatives has the potential to improve key aspects of your sales and marketing effectiveness. Taken together, they could enable you significantly enhance the return on your sales and marketing resources. We’ve prepared a short self-assessment guide to accompany this white paper. Why not invest 5 minutes in completing the exercise today by following this link: http://www.inflexion-point.com About Inflexion-Point

Based in Reading UK, we work closely with growth-phase B2B sales and marketing organisations to equip them with the plans, skills, systems

and programmes they need to transform their revenue performance by systematically improving the return on their sales and marketing resources. Our evidence-based approach to improving B2B sales and marketing effectiveness enables our clients to bridge the gap between strategy and execution by ensuring that every marketing and sales action is intentionally and thoughtfully designed to add value to their prospective customer’s decision-making process. The results are typically seen in shorter average sales cycles, higher sales win rates, increased pipeline values, better forecasting and an improved return on sales and marketing resources. Perhaps we could help you achieve the same? Why not start by taking this short self-assessment: http://www.inflexion-point.com/10-initiatives/?

Take the next step We would be pleased to share what we’ve learned from recent client projects and to conduct an initial discovery session that could help you identify how we could help your organisation to systematically transform the return on your sales and marketing resources. For more information, visit us at http://www.inflexion-point.com, contact us at [email protected] or call us on +44 118 975 0595. © Copyright Bob Apollo

About the Author

Bob Apollo is the founder and Chief Strategist of Inflexion-Point Strategy Partners Ltd, a pioneering B2B sales and marketing performance improvement consultancy, based in Reading, UK. Inflexion-Point is one of the UK's leading B2B Sales and Marketing Performance Improvement specialists. Their research-led, evidence-based approach enables clients to increase pipeline values, shorten average sales cycles and improve average sales win rates. Bob now works with growth-minded organisations of all sizes to help them build scalable businesses. He has written hundreds of articles on the subject of sales and marketing performance, spoken at dozens of

industry conferences and events and blogs regularly for a range of thought-leading sites including Entrepreneur Country, My Venture Pad, The Customer Collective and CustomerThink.

Co-ordinates

Mail: Inflexion-Point Strategy Partners Limited PO Box 8087, Reading, Berks, RG6 9GR, UK Email: [email protected] Tel (Mobile): +44 (0) 7802 313300 Tel (Office): +44 (0) 118 975 0595 Web: www.inflexion-point.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bobapollo Blog: www.inflexion-point.com/blog

Happiness is not an accident it is a skill that you can learn. Success is not about luck it comes from positive mental focus. Brian Colbert, Author of The Happiness Habit

If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Wayne Dyer, Inspiration Speaker & Author



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“A good quality book in print is one of the best credibility builders around. Many successful business leaders have written books; however, the average business executive simply doesn’t realise the value

that it can bring.”

So you have your business, you’ve got the knowledge and the pathway to success is open before you. So why haven’t you got around to writing your book?

I’ve heard every excuse under the sun, things like with the hit of the recession there is no time or budget to allow for writing a book – well my argument is always that you cannot afford not to. So here are my five reasons why you should get writing today!

1. When the going gets tough, the tough don’t always get going! So the recession has hit and there is less spare cash lying around, but it’s precisely when times get tough that customers start scrutinising their purchases and looking for the best value for their money. In a market that is already competitive, shrinking demand means fewer pounds flowing around, and those pounds will go to the exceptional companies… So:

2. Stand out In a downturned market Executives should be making a big impact by being bold and opinionated in order to stand out in an increasingly competitive environment. Business leaders and executives need to be able to share experiences and knowledge and, more importantly, be able to share their wisdom and views on key issues within the market if they are to rise above their competition. Quite simply, if you don’t have a speaking, writing and publishing strategy, you are not fulfilling your responsibility as leaders. In the current economic climate you need to be bold and opinionated and if not, well you simply shouldn’t even bother.

3. Marketing alone is not enough! It is impossible to delegate the critical task of thought leadership to your marketing department, and, in my experience, people are spending less on their marketing these days but are still seeing the same results in their business. But, to get real competitive advantage, a CEO needs to get vocal as well. What we need is REAL thought leadership, which asserts the executive’s views and opinions on important issues and provides a vision that inspires confidence in that company. Think about the business leaders that stand out in your mind. Chances are, they have been writing, speaking and quoted in the market. Being visible and vocal is the only way to raise your credibility and stand out from the crowd. It goes beyond strategic marketing; this way you get your own voice heard. It shows faith in yourself and your brand and that is very attractive to a customer.

4. Social media is good But it is not everything. With all the buzz around social media and blogging, many now think that blogging online is enough. I disagree. A good quality book in print is one of the best credibility builders around. Many successful business leaders have written books; however, the average business executive simply doesn’t realise the value that it can bring, not only to their organisation and successors, but in raising their profile and credibility with their target audience too.

5. It will do wonders for your career! I conducted a survey recently among several hundred clients and I asked them what their top

reasons were for wanting to write and publish a book. Over half said that they would do it for recognition, to stand out over and above their competition and be known as an expert in their field. My top two dozen clients have added five figure sums to their businesses just by writing their books! I think this is a fantastic reason to want to get started, because books present people with an opportunity to take away your ideas and read them again in their spare time. This is a great way of achieving a form of longevity to your name, so by writing a book you allow people to stay connected to you, and more people to hear about you. I look forward to hearing about all your success!

© Copyright, Mindy Gibbins-Klein

About the Author

Mindy Gibbins-Klein is an International Speaker and Executive Coach specializing in turning experts into thought leaders and published authors. Mindy is a serial author and her latest book, 24 Carat BOLD has been called ‘practical and inspiring’ by leading business thinkers. She is author of four titles; one of which she co-authored, BusinessWise, achieved number.2 ranking in the Business Books category on www.amazon.co.uk.

You’re The Expert So Why Aren’t You Writing? Five reasons why you should write your book! By Mindy Gibbins-Klein

This

article is about…

The advantages to be had

by writing a book.



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The Power of Priorities By Mark McNulty

“… it is vital to identify the 20 percent of your customers who account for 80 percent of your business. These are your “raving fans” and strategies must be put in place to care for them appropriately.”

A native New Yorker, Mindy currently lives in the UK where she operates two businesses. She is Founder and CEO of The Book Midwife® and Co-Founder and CEO of Ecademy Press, a cooperative publishing house for business authors. She has an enviable list of than 300 published clients who have become real thought leaders and successful authors. Mindy has an MBA in International Business and has taught the post-graduate diploma course for the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK. She has been an international speaker for more than 15 years and has presented to over 10,000 business executives and entrepreneurs in over 10 countries. As a regular media contributor, Mindy has been featured in national and specialist press over the past 10 years. As an Executive Coach on REAL Thought Leadership, Mindy is fast making a name for herself internationally and now regularly works with board level executives and people in the public eye. Co-ordinates

The Book Midwife® Part of MGK Consulting Limited Tel: +44 (0) 845 003 8848 Email: [email protected] Web: www.bookmidwife.com www.mindygk.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/MindyGK

There are two things that business people find very challenging: thinking ahead and doing things in order of importance. Doing these two things makes the difference between a successful business and just surviving. And the same is true for all areas of our lives.

Leadership trainer and author John Maxwell says, “Thinking ahead and prioritizing responsibilities mark the major differences between a leader and a follower.”

Most people have heard of the Pareto Principle, more commonly known as the 80/20 Principle. Roughly stated, in most businesses 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers. Other examples of the Pareto Principle are:

• Reading: 20 percent of the book contains 80 percent of the content.

• Job: 20 percent of our work gives us 80 percent of our satisfaction.

• Products: 20 percent of the products bring in 80 percent of the profits.

• Picnic: 20 percent of the people will eat 80 percent of the food!

So… when it comes to your priorities, 20 percent of your priorities will give you 80 percent of your production, IF you spend your time, energy, money and personnel on the top 20 percent of your priorities. When you do this you are getting a 400%, or fourfold, return in productivity. Think what this would mean in your business! Every business person needs to understand the Pareto Principle as it applies to the areas of customers, team and leadership. In the area of customers, it is vital to identify the 20 percent of your customers who account for 80 percent of your

business. These are your “raving fans” and strategies must be put in place to care for them appropriately.

For your team, you must identify the top 20 percent employees. They do 80 percent of the value that is brought into your business.

In leadership, take an honest look at the question: “What do I have to do that no one else can do?”

Remember a leader can give up everything except final responsibility. You can decide whether you will be reactive or proactive when it comes to the use of your time. The question is not, “Will I be busy?” but “How will I invest my time?” It’s not “Will my calendar be full?” but “Who will fill my calendar?” It’s not “Will I see people?” but “Who will I see?”

Do this and watch your productivity and personal satisfaction rise to new heights! © Copyright, Mark McNulty About the Author

Mark McNulty is a certified business coach with ActionCOACH, the world’s largest coaching business. He is a regularly published business columnist and a frequent business and motivational speaker, and has won numerous coaching awards at the regional, national, and international levels. Coach Mark has helped hundreds of business owners and individuals improve their results through workshops, seminars, training classes and individual coaching. Co-ordinates

Address: 641 Washington Columbus, Indiana 47201, USA Tel: (001) 812-372-7377 Fax: (001) 866-748-5049 Email: [email protected] Website: www.actioncoach.com/markmcnulty

This

article is about… How the

Pareto Principle can help

your business.

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. Ralph Waldo Emerson, American author, poet and philosopher (1803 -1882)



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Innovation Lessons From The Artist By Paul Sloane

Don’t worry if you don’t know what these social media terms mean • Crowdsourcing:

Harnessing the skills and enthusiasm of those outside an organisation who are prepared to volunteer their time contributing content and solving problems (and, often finance too).

• Cyberspace: Cyberspace has been widely used as a general term for the Internet or World Wide Web. More recently blogosphere has emerged as a term for interconnected blogs.

• Dashboard: The administration area on blog software that allows a user to post, check traffic, upload files, manage comments, etc.

• Delicious (del.icio.us): A social bookmarking site and a property of Yahoo! which allows users to quickly store, organize (by tags) and share favourite web pages. Users can also subscribe to RSS feeds of other users and share a page specifically with another user.

• Digg: A social news website where users can discover, share and recommend content from anywhere on the web.

• Digging: Voting a story up on a social news website.

Source: Bizezia’s Social Media Glossary is available through Bizezia’s Online Business Library, the UK’s leading online business library with nearly 700 publications. Every one of these publications can be personalised to your firm. Visit: www.bizezia.com © Copyright 2012, Bizezia Ltd

Have you seen The Artist? It won the best film award at the 2012 Oscars. It is a charming tale about the transition from silent movies to talkies. It is remarkable for a number of reasons – not least because it is a silent movie in black and white with unknowns as stars.

It seems to me that we can learn some innovation lessons from this film and its appeal to audiences. First, the story relates how success is transitory and those who cling to what worked before are rendered obsolete when the market moves onto to new products, services, methods or technologies. If your success is based on what happened in the past rather than what clients will demand in the future then you are at risk of the same fate as the stars of the silent movies who could not adapt to talkies. Secondly, the film deliberately discards current fashion and heads in a completely new direction. Many modern films rely on big stars, fast action, computer graphics or 3D. The Artist has none of these. It tells a simple but powerful story about human emotions and it does it without spoken dialogue or even colour. It purposefully avoids current paradigms in order to make itself unusual and distinctive. If your competitors are adding new features and technologies then perhaps you should innovate by moving in the opposite direction by making your product or service simpler and easier. Can you appeal to basic human emotions in a more direct way? Can you plunder the past to find something which is different and distinctive in the present?

Please see the movie and then ask yourself how you can apply its lessons to your business. © Copyright, Paul Sloane About the Author

Paul Sloane writes and speaks on innovation. He is the author of The Innovative Leader. Paul was part of the team which launched the IBM PC in the UK in 1981. He became MD of database company Ashton-Tate. In 1993 Paul joined MathSoft, publishers of mathematical software as VP International. He became CEO of Monactive, a British software company which publishes software asset management tools. In 2002, he founded his own company, Destination Innovation, which helps organisations improve innovation. He writes and speaks on lateral thinking and innovation. His latest book is The Leader’s Guide to Lateral Thinking Skills published by Kogan-Page. Co-ordinates

Web: www.destination-innovation.com E-mail: [email protected] Tel: (UK) 07831 112321

This

article is about… Lessons from the film, The Artist.

Don't agonize, organize. American civil rights activist Florynce Kennedy (1916-2001)



10

The Apprentice Is Back By Gavin Ingham

“We need to raise the bar on our products, our performance and on our delivery. Only then will we create the lives and the businesses that we truly want and only then will people respect our businesses, our offerings and our worth.”

The Apprentice is back and this year I am going to post only the tips and strategies to the newsletter and focus the details on the blog. This way, whether you watch the programme or not you will be able to read what you want to read. This week, however I am going to post the whole article to the newsletter as I think it poses some interesting questions for all of us.

“I can be like an animal. I will literally roar my way to the top.” “They call me the master puppeteer…” I let people underestimate me…” “When it comes to business I am a shark…” I truly am the reflection of perfection.” Yes, you guessed it, The Apprentice is back: the programme where the business world meets the general public through the medium of TV. On the one hand, this has to be a good thing, as in these changing economic times people need to understand the important role that business needs to play in the success of both individuals and nation. But, on the other hand, The Apprentice often fails to do this, displaying instead a parody of a parody of business in the 1980s. Nick Hewer, the Tonto to Sir Alan’s Lone Ranger, was defending the candidates in the media saying how strong they are and that they should be respected for putting themselves up for the show and its rigours. Hmmm. I cannot agree that putting yourself up for something means I should support you irrespective of your suitability… that would mean that we would have to support every tone deaf idiot who puts themselves up for the X-Factor. And often, the things that the

apprentices say are far dafter than anything you would hear on the silliest of silly reality TV shows. Let’s face it, would you hire anyone who said, “I truly am the reflection of perfection?” No? Me neither. In an economically uncertain world and in a business environment where only the best will succeed, do we really need business people so desperate to succeed that they will do anything to win? Do we really need or want salespeople so desperate to make sales that they harangue customers, creating ill-will and bad reputations? Do we really need individuals so determined to climb the greasy ladder of success that they will knowingly sell shoddy products just to suit their own ends? My answer is an unequivocal, “No.” Indeed, I would argue that the opposite is true. We need to ask how we can help our clients in their lives and their businesses. We need to work tirelessly to add value for our customers, more value than they could have ever expected us to. We need to raise the bar on our products, our performance and on our delivery. Only then will we create the lives and the businesses that we truly want and only then will people respect our businesses, our offerings and our worth. Now, before you get to, “Ah but Gavin, this is just TV”… I know! I know it has been cut and I know it has been pasted and I know that some of this shower may well turn out to be top business people (maybe)… but for us to learn from it, for us to get something out of it, I can only comment on what I see. So, at one minute to 9pm by my watch, we were introduced to 16 candidates waiting to enter the board room with Sir Alan. All dressed in their finery and giving sly glances of superiority at each

other, if they were hoping that the cameras wouldn’t catch these, they were sadly mistaken. After a quick introduction, Sir Alan told them that if he wanted a friend, he would get a dog. That could explain some of his stranger personality traits. He then split them into two teams, boys and girls and set them a simple task of selecting products that could be printed with pictures or words, deciding what to print on them and then selling them in the streets. As usual, the winning team would be the one to make the most profits… so, a simple selling task and one that they should be able to get their teeth into quickly. But, bizarrely and after all of their trash talk, none of the boys wanted to step up as team leader. Success tip: if you say something, do it. Consistency is an important characteristic of successful people whether in business or in sales. If you say that you are a great leader, then step up and lead. Eventually the boys found a leader, called their team Phoenix and decided to print tat (London buses and Union Jack… way to go with the creativity lads) onto cheap looking bears and bags. The girls also found a leader and designed some very cool animal characters which they printed onto bibs, bags and jigsaws. I never really understand why Sir Alan encourages them to do things like print their own bags etc. I realise that he wants them to do everything but clearly there are some things that cannot be learnt in the time that they have and in any case finding a reliable supplier (printer in this case) is an

This

article is about… What we can learn from the TV show

The Apprentice.



11

important business skill. By making them do things themselves seems to pass on the message that what you sell doesn’t really matter as long as you can convince someone to buy it.

The sales day! Next day the girls set up shop in Greenwich market and London Zoo and the boys in the South Bank and at St. Pancras. As this project was primarily about sales I thought we should have a look at some key sales training principles and training tips that came out of this exercise…

Plan and prepare How you spend your time when selling is critical. Just because you can travel somewhere in core selling time does not mean that it makes sense to do so. Planning your activities and how you spend your time can make a significant difference to your sales success.

Be positive Even before the boys started selling, Steven, a sales manager, was moaning that the bears were overpriced. They probably were but this is no way to find out. Once you have lost your positivity and believe that something cannot be achieved, then you more than likely will fail. Don’t ask closed questions of potential customers such as, “Can I interest you in…?” It’s far too easy for them to say, “No” and they probably will. It’s just lazy so design a better approach that engages and connects with your prospects.

Work as a team Sales teams talking over each other in front of clients is not only counterproductive, it is also rude and unprofessional. When more than one salesperson is present at a sale you have to work together, not against each other.

Create excitement and buzz about your product Approaching people with your head down and your voice subdued and looking like your cat just got run over is not going to

build rapport. People buy on emotion so work out what that emotion is and make sure that you create it!

Don’t sell sub-standard products It’s unprofessional, it’s unsustainable and it’s just plain wrong. In an increasingly competitive and global economy this is a sure-fire way to be out of business fast. Remember that you are serving the client and not the other way around. Clients are not there for you to make a sale to. Harassing and haranguing them because you need to make a sale is disgraceful. And saying that you must stop “wasting time” as you turn to leave and in earshot of the client is a sackable offence in my opinion. And that’s only a few sales tips I pulled out from tonight’s programme, mostly from examples of what they didn’t do rather than what they did! Back in the boardroom the boys had won which just goes to show that you can sell any old tat if you try hard enough (you shouldn’t though!) and that, in the case of the girls, you can have a great product but can lose money if you cannot sell properly and at the right price. Project manager Gabrielle elected to bring back Bilyana and Katie. In the first show it really is the luck of the draw who goes but Katie, who had remained mostly quiet (“I’m not going to shout over people to get my voice heard. It’s just not what I want to do.”) was about to get sacked. I sympathised with her and in part agreed with her sentiment but Sir Alan didn’t. He started to tell her that he did not like people who did not get involved.. but Bilyana, not the best communicator in the world, jumped in to argue her case and, despite being told to be quiet, continued her interruption so Sir Alan continued… “So Bilyana, you’re fired.”. I think she was no more aware that she had caused this than she

was that her interruption was counterproductive. The ability to read others and communicate effectively is critical for success in sales, in business and in life, perhaps more critical than pure intelligence itself. Sales training tip of the day: selling is not about the gift of the gab or about persuasion. It is about listening, connecting and knowing when to stay shtum… something that Bilyana failed to do with some flair! Have an opinion about The Apprentice or just want to have your say? You can comment at the end of the blog post or just have your say by visiting http://bit.ly/GDIDhh © Copyright Gavin Ingham About the Author

With a unique background combining sales experience with personal development and communications technologies, Gavin brings an inspirational yet real approach to sales training and coaching. Unlike most trainers Gavin excelled as a sales professional winning a European sales award for a FTSE company in his first year of selling and progressing rapidly through to a hands-on managerial role. After a successful project growing a business from zero to £5m within 3 years, Gavin moved to his most recent role as a Sales and Marketing Director for a FTSE 250. Here Gavin combined high level hands-on selling skills with strategy, staff development and full budgetary responsibilities. Gavin knows how important it is that every investment in training produces real sales results and that is his sole objective when delivering sales training and coaching. Gavin is an NLP Master Practitioner and a trained coach and his depth of sales experience allows him to share true life anecdotes and examples which resonate with sales staff. This shared experience encourages greater learning and application of the skills taught because the trainees know that Gavin understands them. Nowhere is this clearer than in Gavin's approach to objection



12

Well Presented By Rob Hunt

handling where he does not rest until the delegates have beaten every objection they can think of! Or in his telesales training where trainer and trainees alike get on the phone and make lives calls to clients. How many trainers will do that?! During his career Gavin has won business with a multitude of blue-chip clients including IBM, Lloyds TSB, AT&T, Siemens, Vodafone and Citibank and has trained and coached successful telesales teams, sales professionals and sales managers. Whether you want telesales skills, sales presentations or negotiation skills, Gavin will design a course that exactly meets your needs and wins you more business. If you want to create more sales then call now! Co-ordinates

Gavin Ingham, Head of Sales Training and Coaching Performance Coaching International Tel: + 44 (0) 1708 510345 E-mail: [email protected]

At a conference, I was introduced to one of the speakers. Shocked by an outburst in which he described himself as 'brilliant', I watched him carefully to see what I could learn.

He looked just like Hercule Poirot - black greased hair, a thin moustache, pin-stripe suit and bright red tie pouring from a rounded white collar. He spoke with an air of superiority normally reserved for those born with 'silver spoons' rammed in their mouths. I waited sceptically… An eerie silence fell throughout the hall, followed by a brisk entry from 'Poirot'. "Ladies and Gentlemen… good afternoon," he began. "I'm Anthony… and I am here today to talk t'you… no, not to talk t'you… to read you a 'pome'… no, to recite a 'pome' to you…" Using a quiet, yet assertive voice to deliver his phrases, he had the whole audience gripped from the start. The poem was amazing and for twenty minutes it would have been possible to hear a pin drop. When he had finished, he said: "And there… ladies and gentlemen… you have it." He spun on his heels and made a swift retreat. He received a two-minute standing ovation. My thoughts immediately turned to presentation delivery. 'Poirot' had orchestrated a presentation based purely on non-verbal communication - body language and the pitch, pace, tone and volume of his voice. Research tells us that these account for 55 percent and 38 percent respectively, of any impact we make. The remaining 7 percent comes from what we say.

This genius was a brilliant salesperson who, I learned later, had pitched for and won the organiser's PR account. "If I am to win your account, let me show you how to make absolutely nothing inspire a group of 100 - that's what real PR consultants do!' was his message. There are many ways to sell… but none better than inspiring your customer to buy. © Copyright, Rob Hunt About the Author

Rob Hunt FInstSMM FCIM FCMI –has worked in the communications industry for the last thirty years and has operated as a senior manager or director for sales, marketing and training for Royal Mail (RoMEC), Alcatel and Mars. Rob has been personally involved in the training of many thousands of people. Rob has published a number of articles in the sales press about his unique approach to Selling and has a Registered Trademark "Question Styles" Programme which has made a significant impact on a number of subscribing companies. As a faculty member and Accredited Associate of Insights Rob has a passion for interpersonal skills and their appropriate use in the commercial world. Rob has been a Judge for the UK National Sales Awards for the last five years. Co-ordinates

Mail: Rob Hunt Papillon du bois ltd 34 St Mary Street, Thornbury South Glos, BS35 2AT, UK Tel: +44 (0)1454414040 Fax: +44(0)1454414828 Email: [email protected] Web: www.pdub.com

Almost all quality

improvement comes via

simplification of design,

manufacturing... layout,

processes and procedures. Tom Peters



13

Non-Financial Due Diligence In Mergers and Acquisitions By Mike Robson

The financial and legal aspects of due diligence are well developed and practised – but they won’t turn a bad acquisition into a good one! Assess your target carefully asking the following questions.

Vision, strategy and the rationale for the acquisition • How do they define success?

• What is their current strategy – and how does that fit with ours?

• What should the group look like 3 years after this acquisition?

• What benefit will our respective customers get from this acquisition?

• What prospective new customers will become available?

• What are the key measures of success for the acquisition?

Marketing • How does the target’s value

proposition map to ours – and can we credibly combine them?

• What are their products – and how can they be combined with ours?

• Who are their customers, how do they complement ours and how can we keep them?

• What are their routes to market – can we make 1 + 1 = 3?

• Who are their competitors – and why do they beat them?

Sales

• Is their sales methodology well defined and implemented – and does it fit our corporate values?

• Can we keep their successful sales people?

• Is their sales pay and incentive programme compatible with our policies?

• Does their alliance sales infrastructure fit with our strategy?

• Can we use each other’s sales channels for our respective products?

Innovation of products and services • Do they deliver innovation

effectively?

• Is their current innovation roadmap compatible and complementary to ours?

• Can we bring things to market, that we cannot do individually?

Operations • Do we gain valuable facilities –

or can use existing facilities more efficiently?

• Can we rationalise suppliers, or negotiate better terms with them?

• Will our distribution systems combine well?

• Are their quality management systems effective and compatible?

• What do we need to do to integrate IT and other control systems?

• What expertise do we gain?

Culture: A significant cultural clash can de-rail any acquisition • What are the core values of each

company?

• How – and where - are decisions made in the two companies?

• Who will be the most effective leader of the combined operation?

• Do managers and staff understand company’s goals and their role in achieving them?

• Are recruitment, development and retention practises compatible?

• How do the remuneration policies compare?

• What information is communicated to different staff levels in the two organisations?

• What is the work ethic of the two organisations?

Management Making an acquisition – and ending up with a poor or incompatible management team – reduces your opportunity for growth and can destroy value in your company.

Investors often say that the quality of the management team is of greatest importance when assessing an investment. But:

• Many (perhaps most) are very poor at assessing the quality of management teams.

• Post-acquisition leadership and management is key to success. Take time to get it right and get external help.

For impartial help in evaluating your proposed acquisition or for help with integration post acquisition, contact Mike Robson – see details below.

© Copyright Mike Robson

About the Author

Mike Robson is an experienced and entrepreneurial businessman with Board level experience as Chief Executive or Chief Financial Officer in a number of industries both in the UK and internationally. Mike joined Azure Partners 2004 and now enjoys actively assisting a range of owner-managed businesses to develop and, where appropriate, exit their businesses.

For seven years Mike has actively helped business owners through the different development stages (growth, plateau and exit) and with people issues including management structure and the sourcing, hiring, assessing, rewarding and motivation of senior staff. He specialises in merger evaluations, non-financial due-diligence, setting KPIs, dealing with banks and auditors and helping to run effective boards. With colleagues at Azure Partners he is involved in developing efficient and effective marketing and sales capabilities and processes for clients.

Co-ordinates

Mail: Azure Partners, New Broad Street House, 35 New Broad Street, London, EC2M 1NH, UK E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.azurepartners.co.uk Mobile: +44 (0) 7711 21980

This

article is about…

Non-financial

due diligence.



14

Messaging and Product Placement It can be quite an art By John Stanley

I was recently speaking at a conference where one of the other speakers talked about the art of branding. He used a well-known soft drinks company as an example of the art of product messaging and placement as part of the key elements of getting the customer to buy into a brand.

He discussed the fact that most suppliers deliver the product to the retailer and hope that the retailer positions the product to maximise the sales opportunities for both the retailer and the supplier. Suppliers often forget they only have one product or product range and the retailer has to focus on hundreds or thousands of products. One world famous soft drinks company looks at the whole customer journey and believes the messaging before the consumer gets to the product on the shelf is just as important as the merchandising itself. In fact they aim to achieve eight message locations on the customer journey before the customer gets to the product. The eight messages, according to their research, is the number of messages that are needed to maximise sales once the customer gets to the shelf where their product is located. This got me thinking about the other products we sell in retailing and the science of messaging and the relationship of this with product placement as a strategy when suppliers and retailers work together as partners to grow sales. A Danish supplier of products recently told me that as a result of a conversation we had together he had started working with his retailers to plan the position of his product in store and how it would look in the

eyes of the customer, the result was a 33% increase in sales. This was with no extra capital investment, simply just studying the opportunities and then monitoring the changes.

Messaging Product messaging also has to complement the retailer’s brand and, in my opinion, it should not dominate the retailer’s brand. To achieve this, it has to be done in partnership with the retailer and with respect for both brands. A common form of messaging is a supplier positioning a brand sticker on the front door. I think this is ineffective and the customer is more concerned about a retail branding message on the front door, not a supplier sales message. Suppliers need to be more clever in getting their brand message across. Messaging can start before the customer gets to the store, in fact in today’s market the messaging can start when the customer “clicks” onto the store webpage or on a blog or other marketing tool that is being used by the retailer online. Consider the following messaging options: 1. Can the supplier work as a partner

online in a messaging strategy? 2. Does partner messaging work? For

example, “At X store we believe in X” Or “At X retail store we always use X product ourselves”

3. Can the supplier’s product be associated with other products in a messaging journey on the customer’s route? For example, “Don’t forget you will also need X” on suitable linked products

4. Product placement by the supplier on lifestyle promotional material to imply that the happiest customers always use the product. Product placement is often used when you go to the movies or watch a lifestyle TV programme.

Product placement You will need to position the product in a sightline, but you may also want to position the product in a secondary location as well. If the customer misses

it the first time, you then get a second chance at getting them to buy. Whilst many retailers and suppliers are focused on online retailing as the means forward to grow sales, it may also be worth looking at the physical retail journey and not just focus on the product placement, but the messaging journey prior to when the customer picks the product up. The next time you go to buy a soft drink, just count how many messages are communicated to you before you get to the actual product, then compare that with the product you are selling, Do they match? © Copyright John Stanley About the Author

John Stanley is a conference speaker and retail consultant with over 20 years’ experience in 15 countries. He regularly contributes to retail magazines around the world and has co-authored several successful marketing and retail books including the bestseller Just About Everything a Retail Manager Needs to Know (obtainable from Amazon: ISBN-10: 0975011804/ ISBN-13: 978-0975011805). John Stanley Associates produces an e-newsletter specific to retailing; this includes innovative ideas and advice to help you grow your profits. If you would like to receive a regular copy, please visit www.johnstanley.com.au or email [email protected] Co-ordinates

Mail: John Stanley Associates 142 Hummerston Road Kalamunda, Western Australia, 6076 Tel: (+0061) 8 9293 4533 Fax: (+0061) 8 9293 4561 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.johnstanley.com.au



15

These 4 marketing myths can cause you to lose sales if you base your marketing decisions on them. But the related marketing tips I include with each myth will boost your sales if you act on them instead.

Myth 1: People always buy where they get the cheapest price If this were true, only businesses that charge cheap prices would exist. Some people buy where they get the cheapest price. But most people are more interested in getting value for their money than in getting a bargain.

Tip: Look for some low-cost ways you can enhance the perceived value of your product or service. Then test raising your price. Don't be surprised if both your sales and your profit margin go up.

Myth 2: Offering your customers many options will boost your sales Presenting your customers with options usually reduces your sales. Here's why... When confronted with several options, most customers have difficulty making a clear decision. They often react by procrastinating - and never making a decision. When this happens, you lose a sale you already had.

Tip: Try to limit your customer's decision-making to either: "Yes. I'll buy." or "No. I won't buy". Don't risk losing them by including "which one" decisions.

Myth 3: Everybody needs my product/service That's what YOU think. Most of them don't think they need it

...and most aren't ready to spend their money on it. The hazard of this myth is that it causes many marketers to believe they can succeed without doing much marketing or selling. They think their product or service is so special that it should automatically generate hordes of paying customers. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen that way. Building a successful business is hard work - most of it devoted to finding customers. Even if most people can use your product or service, you still need a marketing strategy to reach them and a persuasive sales message to close sales.

Tip: Look for narrowly defined niche markets where your product or service solves a unique need of the customers. Focus your marketing on them instead of trying to reach a broadly defined general market. You'll generate more sales and enjoy a better return on your advertising expense.

Myth 4: Keep changing your advertising or your sales will decline This sounds logical but it's not true. Never abandon advertising that's working. I know many businesses that have been using the same advertising for years and they're still growing. Here's why... The goal of most advertising is to attract new customers. Once someone becomes a customer, they won't respond to that advertising again. But you can use different (and cheaper) advertising to generate additional sales from them. But there's still a large population of non-customers who didn't respond to your regular advertising. Most have not seen it yet... and those who have usually

need to see it numerous times before they will respond. Don't abandon advertising that's working - but keep trying to improve it. And regularly test new things to see how they work for you. If you never make any changes in your advertising, your sales will eventually decline.

Tip: You can automatically keep your advertising up to date by allocating 80 percent of your budget to proven promotions and 20 percent to testing new things. When something new works better than your proven promotions, move it to the 80 percent group and start testing something else in the 20 percent category.

Don't believe these four marketing myths. They're not true. Marketing based on them will cause you to lose sales. Instead, apply the related marketing tips I included after each myth to boost your sales. © Copyright Bob Leduc

About the Author

Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He has released a new edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards and launched BizTips from Bob, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. You'll find his low-cost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: (001) 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV, USA

Co-ordinates

Email: [email protected] Subject: "Postcards". Phone: (001) 702 658-1707 (After 10 AM Pacific time) Mail: Bob Leduc, PO Box 33628, Las Vegas, NV 89133, USA

Four Marketing Myths That Threaten Your Sales By Bob Leduc

This article is about…

4 simple ideas to

make more money for

your business.



16

Five Issues That Business Owners Tackle Badly By Paul Chapman

In our work with clients, Azure has identified five business critical issues that business owners often avoid addressing.

Here they are: 1. Recognising and dealing effectively

with underperformers 2. Good quality forward looking

management information 3. Weaknesses in the 'top team' 4. Dealing effectively with suppliers 5. Planning their ultimate exit strategy

See below for more details:

1. Recognise and deal effectively with underperformers Almost all businesses have personnel who, for a variety of reasons, consistently under-perform:

• We sometimes recruit badly.

• Our companies outgrow personnel appointed at an earlier stage.

• We move into markets requiring skills, knowledge and experience the individual does not have.

But under-performance can also result from:

• Poor communication of company goals and progress towards those goals.

• An inconsistent understanding of the individual's role and responsibilities.

• Inconsistent or subjective measurement of the individual's contribution to the organisation.

• Inadequate training and personal development.

Many of our clients have experienced these problems. Tackling them is often difficult, particularly for people closely involved, but almost always rewarded by a smoother running, faster growing, more profitable

and less stressful operation when they are tackled. Successful companies identify and deal quickly and effectively with the causes of under performance by individuals.

2. Timely, relevant, forward looking management information We all have accountants (internally or externally) and we all know what turnover and profit we achieved in the preceding period. Not all business owners map out the full range of activities that are critical to the success and long term profitability of their business, from lead generation through to a satisfied client willing to provide positive feedback on their company. Some cannot measure the most important of the above activities in such a way that problems are identified before they happen. Fewer still provide relevant staff with easily understandable, consistent information they value and trust in time for them to take action to avoid or mitigate upcoming problems. The key information requirements will vary from business to business, but the following apply in some way to most businesses:

• Sales activitt: what level of activity is required now to achieve target turnover for future periods?

• Sale margins.

• Delivery or resource requirements: what are the trends; where are the peaks and troughs and how can we deal with them?

• Input availability and costs: what effect will this have on profitability?

• Debtor activity: are clients paying us properly?

3. Make sure your ‘top team' is up to the task As companies grow and evolve so do the demands on the ‘top team'. Very often people volunteer or inherit roles and responsibilities based on the need at that time. But this can't be set in stone or as the company grows the management team becomes an obstacle to success rather than the driving force. Ask yourself three key questions:

• Am I personally doing what I am good at?

• If I needed to hire somebody to fill a particular role would I hire the present incumbent?

• Do we have the skills at board / senior management level to drive success?

If the answer to any of the above is not a resounding ‘yes' you need to take steps to remedy the situation or your company's development may be stifled. Equally important is to ensure your management team has a very clear view or what they need to deliver:

• Can each of your directors (and their direct reports) clearly articulate what they personally have to achieve, why it is important to the success of the company and how they will be measured?

• Can they articulate how they will do it? Do you trust them to succeed?

4. Getting all suppliers to work for you We are busy understanding our clients' needs and building client relationships. We are marketing, selling and delivering to customers and we are managing and motivating staff. What about suppliers?

• Are they delivering exactly what we want, when we want it?

This

article is about…

The critical issues that business

owners shy from.



17

• Do they provide a higher quality service to their other customers?

• Have we got the best price and the best payment terms?

• We notice under-delivery, but are they over-delivering at our expense?

• Are they financially secure?

• How can they improve their service to us?

There is often scope to negotiate better terms or a better service from suppliers - and now is a good time to do it.

5. Preparing your business for a successful sale The sale of a business is a key way of extracting value from a business and probably the most important commercial transaction of a business owner's life. For many, planning their exit and maximising the value of the company on sale is on the back burner. In times of recession it is often ignored completely. BUT this may be the best time to act. Preparing a business for an optimum sale can take three years. The early stages of an upturn can be a good time to sell a business. The Mergers and Acquisition market will continue to be slow over the next 12 months but, if previous patterns are followed, will then become much more active as confidence returns and people invest for the next five-year period. Getting your strategy and plan in place now could be a very good move. During easier times, avoiding complex or difficult issues is understandable but for many companies the next 12 - 18 months will be challenging. Avoiding critical issues could be very damaging in the short term. Addressing them pro-actively will make it more likely you will come out of recession in better shape and positioned to take advantage of an upturn. © Copyright, Paul Chapman

About the Author

Paul Chapman had over 20 years’ experience of marketing, sales and general management in the UK, Europe, USA and the Far East in both blue chip and early stage companies. He held managing director and marketing / sales director positions in 3 very high growth companies. He has experienced an IPO on NASDAQ, is a member of the Institute of Directors and has been a company mentor with the Universities of Southampton and Surrey. He joined the Azure Partners board in 2004.

Co-ordinates

Mail: Azure Partners, New Broad Street House, 35 New Broad Street London, EC2M 1NH, UK Tel: (UK) 0207 100 1233 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.azurepartners.co.uk

The Book Uplifting Service takes readers on a journey along a proven path into a new world of service. Through dynamic case studies and perspective-changing insights, readers learn how the world’s best performing companies have changed the game in their industries through service — and how you too can successfully follow this path to uplifting transformation.

Uplifting Service is a break-through book that will surprise, delight and uplift every organisation, team or individual. Inside is a proven process for success, which focuses on the rationale, strategy and actions necessary to build a powerful service culture within five key areas: Why?, Lead, Build, Learn and Drive.

The Author Ron Kaufman is a global consultant, speaker and educator who specialises in building service cultures in the world’s largest and most respected organisations, including Singapore Airlines, Nokia Siemens Networks, Citibank, Microsoft and Xerox. Ron is a regular contributor to Bloomberg Businessweek and Better Business Focus and has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and LIFE magazine. He is the founder of UP! Your Service, a global service education and management consultancy firm with offices in the United States and Singapore.

The Action Buy the book if you want to delight your customers, colleagues and everyone else too.

Publication Date May 15, 2012

Price US $14.95 or available for pre-order from Amazon @ £8.55

Publisher Evolve Publishing

Book Website www.UpliftingService.com

Author Website www.RonKaufman.com

If you do not know how to ask the right question, you discover nothing.

William Edwards Deming American Business philosopher & consultant

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18

“Think of branding as predefining what a company is all about in the minds of its clients. Good branding differentiates your products and services in a positive way that really sticks in the minds of potential customers.”

Have you ever asked yourself why a competitor’s business gets more attention than yours? The answer just may have to do with the elements that go into how memorable the business is. And that has to do with branding.

But exactly what is branding, anyway? Think of branding as predefining what a company is all about in the minds of its clients. Good branding differentiates your products and services in a positive way that really sticks in the minds of potential customers. Let’s say you are travelling around town in your fifteen year old compact car with its miniscule trunk and long lost shocks. There is no way this vehicle can haul the two tons of flagstone you want for your patio, let alone manage the turf, trees, soil and other materials you will need for your backyard landscaping project. It is definitely time for a new set of wheels, but whatever you buy has to be sturdy and commodious. You ponder the possibilities. Almost immediately the perfect vehicle comes to mind, you make a U-turn and you head to your local Chevrolet dealer to look at Chevy trucks, unconsciously singing the words “like a rock,” under your breath. Why did you think Chevy truck?

• Attractive, easy to read and memorable logo.

• Great tag line.

• Consistency of product marketing design elements.

Assuming your own product is fabulous, it all comes down to image. Graphic design can play a huge part in that image. But what are some key things to consider?

A great logo is key You have already given a great deal of attention to your company name and believe it speaks to who you are

and what you do. Great! Now you need to wrap a graphic image around that name to carve out a prime piece of real estate in the mind of your target customer. That is exactly what a great logo can do. Keep in mind that a powerful logo:

• has a strong, balanced image with no little extras that clutter its look;

• is distinctive and bold in design, making it easy to see at a glance;

• has graphic imagery that looks appropriate for your business;

• works well with your company name;

• is done in an easy to read font;

• communicates your business clearly; and

• looks good in black and white, as well as in colour.

A distinctive tag line is key A tag line is a 3 to 9 word phrase that accompanies your logo. It expresses your company’s most important benefits and/or what you want your customers to remember about working with you. Think of it as the words you want to linger in your target customer’s mind about you and what you have to offer. Great tag lines appear to be effortlessly created because they just seem to flow. In fact, creating and refining one takes time, just like designing a great logo. The benefits of taking the time to craft a great tag line lies in their stickiness. Great tag lines stick in your memory. For example, if you saw only the words “Don’t go into the water” flashed on a screen, there is a good chance you would see the gaping jaw of a shark in your mind’s eye, an image straight from the poster for the movie, Jaws. That phrase just happened to be the movie’s tag line and it worked so well that when Jaws 2 was released, it was accompanied by the tag line “Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water…” The Jaws tag line worked because it summarized the entire movie in five words and left an indelible mark on the

memory of anyone who saw the movie. Similarly, the phrase, “Like a rock” expresses what Chevrolet wants people to think about their trucks.

Consistent visual identity is key If you are going to capture that prime piece of real estate in the customer’s mind, you must provide not only a compelling image, but a consistent one. The Statue of Liberty just may be one of the most compelling images in the world. But what if you owned the rights to that image, put it on your business card, then put the image of an American Bald Eagle on your stationery and the Liberty Bell on your website. The American Bald Eagle and the Liberty Bell are also compelling images, but as a group, each dilutes the impact of the other. Each of the three images has its own distinct personality. You may be tempted to give your stationery, website, business card, brochures and other marketing materials different visual personalities, but to do so risks the equivalent of having the Statue of Liberty competing with American Bald Eagle and Liberty Bell. Likewise, if Chevrolet used the famous image of Rosie the Riveter as a design element to sell their trucks, it would certainly convey toughness, but it would be inconsistent with their logo, tag line and the product itself. They stick to images of trucks eating up dirt roads, along with their famous logo and tag line. It works, in part, because it is consistent.

Three Visual Branding Secrets To Make Your Business Memorable By Karen Saunders

This

article is about… How to

make your business or

product memorable

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19

Advertising and Colour By Karen Saunders

What’s the quickest way to create mood without saying a word? Colour! Before they read your marketing piece, they see it – and their feeling about your business begins. So it’s a good idea to take some time to find out what colours mean – and how they can help sell for you. When you learn the psychology of colours you will be able to add a whole new layer to your marketing materials. Here’s how using certain colours will help you attract a specific target market and evoke the desired response.

• The colour scheme you choose for your flyer or business cards can help or hurt the overall tone of the piece. For instance, if you own a gift shop, you would want to work with a lot of yellows, including coral, orange, amber and gold. Why? Because yellow symbolizes joy. It exudes energy and happiness, and is associated with being welcoming and homey.

• Red, which includes mauve, magenta, crimson and scarlet, is the colour of power, romance and vitality. It’s an eye catcher and makes us sit up and take notice. That’s why it’s so often used in the financial arena when the numbers are going in the wrong direction. Red can also have a physical effect, even raising blood pressure! Use red in your ad when you want people to take action.

• If, on the other hand, you need a very friendly, non-threatening campaign, green is your colour. Green and its shades, including lime, leaf green, sea green, emerald, teal and sage, symbolize life and nature. It’s good for us, and your reader will receive that impression about what you are selling as well. In contrast to red, in the business world, green symbolizes growth and prosperity.

• When you need a more serious, classic look that conveys law and order, dependability and trustworthiness, go for the blue and purple palette. This includes sky blue, ultramarine, violet, purple and azure. These colours work great in certain markets, specifically for older, more mature audiences. It’s common in financial institutions, hospitals and the legal and medical professions.

So what kind of business do you have? Do you sell a product or a service? Think about your target market, and try to determine what emotion will appeal to them the most. Now try to match that with one of the above colour palettes when you are designing your ad. With the right colours, your marketing piece is sure to be read.

© Copyright, Karen Saunders

All of the materials that represent you, from business cards to brochures, need to have image consistency in order to be immediately recognizable by your customers…and potential customers…as being related to the unique brand that is your company. Logo, colour scheme, fonts and layout that are consistent from letterhead to business card and from envelope to ad suggest credibility and stability, in addition to taking up more of that prime mental real estate by virtue of repetition. Inconsistency of graphic elements among materials not only suggests uncertainty and sloppiness, it is just plain forgettable. Creating a great logo, writing a distinctive tag line and maintaining consistency among all your marketing materials will take you a long way towards creating a brand that just might be memorable enough to give your company the beach front property in the minds of your customers that leaves them thinking only of you. Have you ever asked yourself why a competitor's business gets more attention than yours? The answer just may have to do with the elements that go into how memorable the business is. And that has to do with branding. © Copyright, Karen Saunders About the Author

Karen Saunders is the author of “Turn Eye Appeal into Buy Appeal: How to easily transform your marketing pieces into dazzling, persuasive sales tools!” Learn about her book and get free instant access to her eCourse: "5 Deadly Design Mistakes that Could Kill a Sale and How to Avoid Them" and audio class: "Put the Bling Into Your Brand" at http://www.macgraphics.net or call toll free (001) 888 796-7300.

Co-ordinates

Mail: MacGraphics Services 3454 S. Cimarron Way, Aurora, CO 80014, USA Toll-free: (001) 888-796-7300 Web: www.macgraphics.net/FreeStuff.php Email: [email protected]

The harder I work, the luckier I get. Gary Player

I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more luck I have. Thomas Jefferson



20

“WordPress is a free and open source blogging tool and content management system (CMS) powered by PHP and MySQL. It has many features including a plug-in architecture and a template system. WordPress is currently the most popular CMS in use on the Internet.”

I love WordPress. I love it because I can use it relatively easily. But what I love most about it are all the fantastic plugins which are available.

I’m often asked which plugins I use so today I thought I would reveal them here with you. I use each and every one of these plugins and love them dearly. Without them my blog wouldn’t run as smoothly and I wouldn’t get the great results I do get. So without further ado here are my favourite WordPress plugins:

• CommentLuv Premium This is one of my favourite plugins. (Check out a full review here). It’s a great way to give back to people who take the time to comment on your blog. CommentLuv Premium allows the commenter to link their name, website and Twitter ID and choose which of their latest posts to link back to on the bottom of their comment.

• Pop Up Domination I wrote a review on Pop Up domination here. Love or hate pop up’s, they work and this is a good starting point if you’re looking to build and grow your list.

• Scribe SEO This is another one of my favourite plugins that’s really helping me writing my blog and improving my SEO. You simply write your post and then hit analyze. Scribe SEO then does its magic and comes up with a score out of 100%. If you don’t get 100% it advises you on how you can improve your blog post to improve your score. I take great delight when my posts get 100%.

• WP Subscribers I love WP Subscribers - it’s such a powerful plugin for building a list. There are so many features, including automatically filling out forms with the person’s name and email address, tick box for people to subscribe when they comment on your blog. WP Subscribers is a pop up haven, there are so many different types of pop up’s you can have. If you’re serious about list building this is a great plugin.

• Gravity Forms This is a fantastic plugin where you can create web forms and manage their entries. I use this for my Fan Post Friday form here.

• upPrev Previous Post Animated Notification

So many of my subscribers have asked what the plugin is that flies out at the bottom of my blog. Well this is the one! This is a fabulous plugin that will display a flyout box with a link to the previous post from the same categories.

• Link Within This is a very useful plugin that you can see underneath a post. It displays recommended stories and associated thumbnails from your blog. In all, a helpful plugin that keeps your visitors on your site for longer.

• Ranged Popular Posts Widget This is a plugin I recently had installed. It displays my most popular posts based on the amount of comments left. You can choose which settings you want, mine is on most recent rather than all-time popular posts. You can see the widget on the right hand side of my blog.

• Thank Me Later A great plugin, that sends a thank you email to those who comment on your blog. (Another plugin that many subscribers asked about).

• Subscribe to comments This allows readers to receive notifications of new comments that they’ve commented on or are watching.

• Genesis Slider I love my slider plugin. Genesis Slider allows you to display your features image along with the title and excerpt from each post.

• WordPress Editorial Calendar This is a really useful plugin that allows you to manage and schedule your posts. I find this useful if I upload several blog posts for the week ahead.

• Tweet Old Post This plugin tweets old posts automatically to your Twitter stream and helps you get traffic to your older posts.

• Really Simple Facebook Twitter Share Buttons

There are so many different sharing button plugins you can use. This one isn’t particularly fancy and I would have preferred one that moved up and down with my blog or was at the side but it wasn’t compatible with my site and kept causing problems. This plugin works well though and if you have a blog you need to have social media sharing buttons on it.

• Google Cards This adds a Google + widget for linking to your Google + profile, showing the number of people in your circles and making it easy for people to add you to their circles by clicking the button. This widget

21 WordPress Plugins I Can’t Live Without Tips to help you blog more easily By Lilach Bullock

This

article is about…

WordPress Plugins you can use to

effect in your Blog.



21

Horse Sense Have you ever wondered why something is done a certain way? Well, here is an interesting story that lends credence to the saying "Question Everything".

US standard railroad gauge (the distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. Why? Because that is the way they were built in England, and English expatriates built the US railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Well, the people who built the pre-railroad tramways used that gauge, and those same people also built the first railroads. The reason that the tramways used that gauge is the jigs and tools they used to build the tramways were the same ones used to build wagons, whose wheels were 4 feet, 8.5 inches wide.

Of course, you are now wondering why wagon wheels were such an odd width. The answer is: Because their wagon wheels would have broken off otherwise. You see, because Imperial Rome war chariots were all made using this gauge, they made huge ruts in the roads, and everyone else's wheels had to fit into those ruts or be destroyed.

But now the most important question, why were the Roman chariots this odd spacing? Because 4 feet, 8.5 inches is approximately the width of the back ends of 2 horses which pulled the chariots. So, a major design feature of one of our modern transportation systems was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of two horses' asses.

Interesting thought isn’t it?

Remember this when you accept something without question. You could be acting like the originator of the design model of modern transportation.

is displayed on the right hand side of my blog.

• WP GreetBox This displays a different greeting message to your visitors depending on which site they are coming from.

• Fast Secure Contact Form Useful plugin so your readers can send you email messages - works well with Akismet too.

• Secure WordPress Beefs up the security of your blog by removing error information on login pages, adds index.html to plugin directories and hides the WordPress version plus many more features.

• Akismet This is one of the most popular anti-spam plugins that checks your comments for spam. A “must have” if you have a do-follow blog.

• W3 Total Cache This one improves the speed and user experience of your site.

• WP Complete Back Up This is a plugin that backs up your blog. It’s last on the list but really should be first – it’s just not very exciting so that’s why it’s at the end of my list! But if you have a blog make sure that you’re backing up…

So there you have it. My favourite plugins that I couldn’t live without! © Copyright, Lilach Bullock

About the Author

Lilach Bullock is one of the UK's most dynamic, well-respected and well-connected businesswomen. She launched and then sold her first business within three years of becoming a mother. Even now, she juggles a demanding home life with commercial commitments. Lilach's contribution was recognised nationally, when she became a finalist at the Best MumPreneur of the Year Award, presented at Downing Street, where she was praised for her entrepreneurial efforts. Her latest venture, Network Waves, launched in 2011 and is a must-have for anyone who promotes their business via the internet. This innovative and exclusive website is a one-stop-shop for

social media and internet marketing needs. Co-ordinates

Tel: +44 (0) 7590 554 292 Email: [email protected] Web: www.sociable,co.uk and www.networkwaves.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/lilachbullock LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/lilachbullock

It’s not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It’s the customer who pays the wages. Henry Ford, American businessman and founder of the Ford Motor Company (1863 - 1947)

High expectations are the key to everything. Sam Walton Founder of Wal Mart



22

Ill-Will Blows On Goodwill By Barry Urquhart

“Think of branding as predefining what a

“Some models and templates which determine the actual worth of the goodwill, which is inherent in individual businesses and sectors, provide for multiples of past and current annual gross or net profits. Many of those calculation structures are

being refined or, indeed, discarded.”

Goodwill and its innate, tangible, attractive and now in many instances, past value for business owners, investors and prospective purchasers has been dealt a foul blow by the consequences of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).

Like, and because of, rampant reductions in prices, goodwill has been extensively discounted. Its fate runs parallel to that of customer and client loyalty... heavily qualified or being a quant recall from the past. The concept of goodwill is founded on the belief, expectation and established record of sales, margins and profits that future income, dividends and competitive advantage are “bankable”. Repeat and referral sales have traditionally been the cornerstones for payment of goodwill, along with the anticipation of stability, growth and sustainability. Some models and templates which determine the actual worth of the goodwill, which is inherent in individual businesses and sectors, provide for multiples of past and current annual gross or net profits. Many of those calculation structures are being refined or, indeed, discarded. The future vision, it seems, is clouded by volatility, change, shifting consumer sentiments and significant structural changes in commerce. It is just another consequence of the “now” society in which we all operate. The concept of loyalty has necessarily been revised, like that of personal relationships. It is a circumstance that futurist Alvin Toffler wrote about in the 1970 book, Future Shock. Transience is the very essence of modern society.

Life partners are inclined to vow monogamy - with a qualification. That is, adherence to “serial monogamy”, in which I will be “faithful” to you when I am with you, but I won’t be for long. For businesses, that makes the currency, appeal and viability of “loss leaders” somewhat redundant. In short, each encounter should be a profitable experience. Delayed financial returns from hoped-for long-term relationships may simply and unreasonably inflate profit projections and goodwill valuations. The short-term horizons applied for the calculations of goodwill related to medical, legal and accountancy practices are understandable. Information Technology (IT) consultants often express frustration about the lack of value that is typically applied to their practices. Perhaps it’s just another virus!

Goodwill attributes Entities which enjoy substantial, consistent and increasing goodwill worth tend to exhibit a common set of attributes. They typically centre on:

• Committed allocations of resources for product/service development, innovation and creation.

• Stable pricing policies, based on offering value, rather than on discounting advantage and the conduct of regular sales.

• Dedicated allocations of upgrading premises, systems and distribution networks. Currency in those attributes generates bankable currency flows.

• Considered, disciplined and scheduled professional training of all staff members and appropriate stakeholders.

• Ongoing investments in upgrading communications networks, because effective, efficient and timely two-way communication is the lifeline for all entities.

• Adherence to the process of structured planning with respect for the need to implement, monitor, quantify and refine time-oriented goals and benchmarks.

• A culture which promotes, supports, recognises, celebrates and rewards change, having fun and a pervading belief in a positive team spirit.

Sadly, there is a noticeably short list of recognisable international iconic businesses that project all of those attributes and the related profitable benefits of goodwill. Apple, Facebook and BMW are examples. Within Australia, Liquor Barons, Liquor Legends and The Coffee Club come to mind. Encouragingly, there is an increasing pool of businesses which are striving to justify their goal to be numbered among the local entities which warrant payment for and the benefits of goodwill. For those in the retail sector, I refer to the acronym so often used by Jeff Rogut, the Executive Officer of the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores, being: R.E.T.A.I.L. – Retail Excellence Takes Attitude, Innovation, Leadership. Focus on those three pillars and avoid the distractions of siren calls for discounting, outsourcing to overseas call centres and constant reductions in staff members, inventory and systems. © Copyright Barry Urquhart About the Author

Barry Urquhart, Managing Director, Marketing Focus, Perth, is an inspiring speaker, author of Australia’s top two selling books on customer service and an international consultant on dynamic innovation and creativity. Barry is author of six books, including the two largest selling publications on service excellence in Australasia. His latest is:

This

article is about…

The impact of the

credit crisis on

goodwill.



23

“Stimulate interest and get involvement by using a full range of team building activities. You may have "hard work" sections with speeches about the future and workshops on current business problems…”

“Marketing Magic – Streetsmart Marketing”. Barry is a regular commentator of consumer issues on ABC radio, is featured on a series of interview topics on “Today Tonight” and contributes articles to 47 magazines throughout the world. His latest presentation is: “Insights on ‘The Big Picture’ - Future-Proof Your Business”. He is one of Australia’s most active keynote speakers and is an internationally recognised authority on quality customer service, consumer behaviour and creative visual merchandising. Marketing Focus is a Perth based market research and strategic planning practice. The firm and Barry consult to multinational, national and local entities in the private sector and the public sector. He is a former lecturer in Marketing and Management at the Curtin University of Technology and has degrees in marketing, political science and sociology. Co-ordinates

Mail: 26 Central Road, Kalamunda, Western Australia 6076 Tel - Office: 006 1089 257 1777 Tel - Mobile: 006 1041 983 5555 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.marketingfocus.net.au

Team building can give a powerful boost to the spirit and effectiveness of any group. Well designed and delivered team building programmes can lead to better understanding, clearer alignment and much stronger motivation.

Organizing a "team building event" is a big responsibility. Use these ideas to make your event a well-planned and memorable success.

1. Set the tone with an inspiring theme Telegraph the tone and purpose of your event with a theme that hits the mark. "The Third Annual Team Building Programme" is not going to excite many participants. Here are examples of themes my recent clients have used to motivate and communicate to their teams: "Rocket to the Top, Together!" (for a software company seeking to achieve dominant market share), "The Winning Team" (for a financial services company seeking to overcome competitors and economic adversity), "Forging a New Alliance" (for a medical services group managing a reorganization of roles and departments).

2. Prime the pump for full participation Use internal communications to get everyone interested and ready for the event. Use memos, bulletin boards, posters and internal meetings to arouse people's curiosity. You might circulate a list of objectives and issues for the meeting. You might conduct a survey prior to the meeting,

announcing actual results during the programme. You might task certain individuals with preparing a business presentation, or selected teams with creating and rehearsing an entertainment item.

3. Conduct the programme off-site Major team building programmes are frequently conducted "off-site". This allows participants to get away from the workplace physically (minimizing disruptions) and mentally (opening their thinking to new points of view).

4. Use a mix of energy, enterprise and entertainment Stimulate interest and get involvement by using a full range of team building activities. You may have "hard work" sections with speeches about the future and workshops on current business problems. You may have "play hard" sections with team games and outdoor challenges. You may include social ingredients through mealtime activities, awards and entertainment. Be sure your range of activities is well-sequenced throughout the day and evening. Be especially careful to follow lunches with activity and to end your programme on a note of confidence and commitment.

5. Allow enough time to process, discuss and apply Allow enough time between each activity for discussion, learning and

Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. Bill Gates

10 Innovative Ideas for Successful Team Building Events

By Ron Kaufman

This

article is about… Making

your team building event a success.



24

application back to the job. It's better to have a full day with two team building games and enough time for discussion, than a "stuffed" day with three or four games with little time for reflection.

6. Focus on new actions with "more", "less", "start" and "stop" During the programme, have participants develop clear answers to the following questions:

• "What do you want (the other person, department, etc.) to do more of?"

• "What do you want (the other person, department, etc.) to do less of?"

• "What do you want (the other person, department, etc.) to start doing?"

• "What do you want (the other person, department, etc.) to stop doing?"

Towards the end of the programme, participants can make another list of personal commitments:

• "What am I committed to do more of?"

• "What am I committed to do less of?"

• "What am I committed to start doing?"

• "What am I committed to stop doing?"

7. Use photographs and video to extend the programme's impact Engage a photographer and/or videographer to document your team building programme. Give copies of photographs to participants after the event. Post the best photographs on your bulletin boards, in the cafeteria, or publish them in the company newsletter. If you put them up on your company's World Wide Web site, then staff's family members can log-in and view them from home. Have the videotape edited with music and some snappy graphics. Show this short but entertaining vignette at another company meeting, social gathering, dinner and dance, etc.

8. Harness the power of peripheral players When selecting participants for your programme, be willing to include those tangentially related to the core group. Internal customers, suppliers, neighbouring departments, etc. can all yield a few participants who are "closely related" to your core group. These "peripheral players" will often add significant value, perspective and insight to your programme. They can also help with communication back into the organization after the event is over.

9. Get personal Make sure everyone sees the link between "group team building" and "individual actions" on the job. Have each person complete a commitment card, action planning list, personal promise statement or some other vehicle to ensure application of appropriate new behaviours. Closing a team building programme by having everyone share their list is a good way to gain buy-in from individuals and the entire group.

10. Reward the organizers Planning and preparing a team building programme is a major undertaking. Be sure to give recognition to those who did the work "behind the scenes". A small but thoughtful gift, given in front of everyone at the end of the programme, will be appreciated and remembered. © Copyright, Ron Kaufman About the Author

Ron Kaufman is an internationally acclaimed innovator and motivator for partnerships and quality service. He is the author of the best- selling book, “UP Your Service!” and the FREE monthly newsletter, “The Best of Active Learning!” For more information and FREE copy of the newsletter, visit: www.RonKaufman.com This month, the world will discover a higher elevation. Following the breakthrough success of his last three bestsellers, Ron Kaufman will unveil his most comprehensive work to date: "UPLIFTING SERVICE: The Proven Path to Delighting Your

Customers, Colleagues and Everyone Else You Meet" Co-ordinates

Ron Kaufman - Active Learning! 50 Bayshore Park #31-01, Aquamarine Tower, Singapore 469977 Tel: (0065) 6441-2760 Fax: (0065) 6444-8292 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.RonKaufman.com

Success is 99% attitude and 1% aptitude. Celestine Chua

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure. Colin Powell



25

“It is easy for me to tell you that you need to grab the attention of the consumer, but the consumer is mesmerized by all these products being offered. The chances are your new product will be lost in the confusion on the retail shelf or bench.”

Imagine being in the food and beverage industry and developing a new product. Your product would be one of around 19,000 new products being launched in the USA alone in that sector in one year. Or imagine you were introducing a new plant to the gardening community and competing with over 250 other new plants being introduced in the same year.

It is easy for me to tell you that you need to grab the attention of the consumer, but the consumer is mesmerized by all these products being offered. The chances are your new product will be lost in the confusion on the retail shelf or bench. If this is a new product, a lot of consumers will be suspicious of it, especially if it is a product you expect them to put in their mouth and taste. The result is that most customers prefer to deal with what they are familiar with and this makes new products even more difficult to launch successfully. The flip side of this is that something new catches the attention and many shoppers love going to stores that consistently offer new items to them. They may not purchase them, but the new item can be a traffic driver. Over recent months there have been various researchers looking at the influx of new items that appear on the retail shelf and how as a retailer or supplier you encourage the consumer to take them of the shelf. According to Professor Richard George at the University of Philadelphia, one of the easiest ways of gaining the customers

confidence and getting them to part with their money is to incorporate a free sample strategy into your marketing and retailing. According to George the two important criteria to success are:

• the product must be of a superior quality; and

• sampling in sales is more effective where a verbal description of a new product is provided by a demonstrator who can communicate the story in a short time period.

In my research when writing “Just About Everything a Retail Manager Needs to Know” I discovered that sample tables and demonstrators should be located around 3 metres from where the product is located on the shelf to be most effective as this gave the customer “thinking time”. I also discovered that 70% of consumers are prepared to get involved in the sampling and 30% of these consumers were prepared to purchase the product. Research carried out by Garson Farm near London on cheese sampling found that the sales of the sample cheese went up around 300%.

“Pop Up” sampling Sampling allows for cost effective market penetration.The sampling can be done in store, at events or as a “Pop Up” activity in the community. “Pop Up” sampling was carried out by the Australian Nursery Industry to launch Office Pets, plants for the office. Gift plants were presented to office workers in the major cities of Australia. According to Snack Factory [Reported in NRF Stores “Something for Nothing” by Karen Kroll – see: http://www.stores.org/STORES%20Magazine%20April%202012/something-nothing] the company invest 15% of their marketing budget on sampling in store and have a conversion rate of 25 to 30%

compared to an industry average, without sampling, of around 5%. One of the keys to sampling is to ensure the demonstrator has the knowledge to educate the consumer. The consumer can then touch, smell and, if necessary, taste the product and then rely on the demonstrator for education, to be told the story. This is critically important if you are hoping to get the customer to change their purchasing decision and buy this product instead of their planned buy.

It’s still theatre Gifting to the consumer is still part of the theatre of retailing. The position and theatre surrounding the gifting area is still critically important. My advice is to position the sampling station at least one third through the shopping experience as the customer is more likely to linger longer. Have a dress code for the demonstrator so that they look the part and invest a small amount of money to make the sample station look exciting. The investment may be shared between the retailer and the supplier as this is a win:win situation. The challenge is that this system works for “new” and a product only has a short period in a customer’s mind what it is ”new”? As a retailer or supplier you may believe a product can be “new” for at least twelve months, whilst the consumers perception of new is a month or less.

Increasing Sales Is A Gift By John Stanley

This

article is about…

The theatre of retailing: from the

retail sales expert.



26

The challenge is you need consistency in providing a gift strategy whilst at the same time you have to keep coming up with new products to entertain the customer. But, that’s show business. The influx of new products on the shelf indicates that this should not be a problem. © Copyright John Stanley About the Author

John Stanley is a conference speaker and retail consultant with over 20 years’ experience in 15 countries. He regularly contributes to retail magazines around the world and has co-authored several successful marketing and retail books including the bestseller Just About Everything a Retail Manager Needs to Know (obtainable from Amazon: ISBN-10: 0975011804/ ISBN-13: 978-0975011805). John Stanley Associates produce an e-newsletter specific to retailing; this includes innovative ideas and advice to help you grow your profits. If you would like to receive a regular copy, please visit www.johnstanley.com.au or email [email protected] Co-ordinates

Mail: John Stanley Associates 142 Hummerston Road Kalamunda, Western Australia, 6076 Tel: (+0061) 8 9293 4533 Fax: (+0061) 8 9293 4561 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.johnstanley.com.au

Many people dream of starting their own business but all too often, when faced with reality, the dream swiftly becomes a nightmare. Many businesses fail not because the product or services they provide are uncommercial, but rather it's because the most basic details essential to survival have been overlooked or ignored.

Doing the right sort of work right One of the main problems that business owners have is that they're very busy. In fact, they work harder for themselves than they ever did when they had a 9-to-5 job working for a boss. The problem is that most of them are doing the wrong sort of work. Let's take an example to illustrate what we mean. Let's assume that we are talking about someone who's a builder. He learned his craft over the years working for various contractors. He was very adept at most things. He could turn his hand to carpentry, or plumbing or plastering or whatever job was needed where building work had to be done. Then one day, he decided he didn't want to work for a boss any more. He wanted his own business. So he started one and unbeknowingly he started work for a lunatic - himself. He didn't work 8 hours a day any more. No, he worked 12 to 14 hours a day. And his weekends were nearly non-existent. And because it was his own business, he had to put his house on the line as security to the bank to finance all this hard work. The problem was that nobody had ever told him anything about

managing a business. He thought that if he knew about the technical things that a business did, he could run a business that did technical things. Wrong! These are two different things. What the builder needed was a crash course in business management as well as understanding the difference between working IN his business compared with working ON it. Working IN the business means doing all the technical things the business does - sawing, cutting, concreting, plumbing and so on. Working ON the business means standing back and thinking about the work that's being done and the consequences of it - such as the financial exposure of taking on too much work too soon or doing work for customers who can't pay. It also means thinking about where the business should be in, say, five years’ time. So that's what I mean about doing the right sort of work - it's absolutely crucial for the health of any business as well as that of its owner. © Copyright, Bizezia Limited

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. Albert Einstein

To Succeed Where Others Fail By Martin Pollins, founder of Bizezia

It is your attitude - not your aptitude - that determines your altitude. Zig Ziglar



27

The old, customary procedure of strategy development has a pure and sound logic. It has been designed to answer the question: “What is it that we should do in order to achieve our goals?”

The process essentially involves three stages: 1. Where are we now? 2. Where do we want to be? 3. How are we to get there? This process is based on Gap Analysis. Supposedly, the competitor who manages to execute it better and more wisely (and also carries out the strategy with consistence and persistence) - will be the one who achieves competitive advantage over the rest of the market. I claim that this time-honoured process is no longer adequate and is insufficient in the current competitive environment. It does not help managers steer their organizations in the direction of success and profitability. I call it “Wishful Strategizing.” Its outcome is - more often than not - failure, and the consequence is that executives lose faith in strategy-making altogether. What is wrong with the classic process? Before all else, its basic assumptions are erroneous:

Assumption No. 1: We know our goals How do we set our goals according to the old process? In the worst but not infrequent case, goals are based on the degree of managerial ambition or aggression - with no true reference to reality. In the better case, it is by evaluation of

potential. Our evaluation of potential is based on the current situation and on consumers’ answers to market research questions. However, the real potential - that which we cannot see while adhering to this approach - is based on “what could be.” Our initiatives and actions continuously change customer desires. Products that no consumer ever wished to exist become vital necessities. Hence the famous historic mistakes in the market-potential assessments of commercial flights, cars, computers and so many other products and services.

Assumption No. 2: The world is stable We assume that if we just define where we want to get to, we would surely be able to either find or make our route to get there. The leading image, in the background of it all, is that of driving through a more or less previously explored landscape that nevertheless remains unaltered while we progress across it. Well, that image could not be more misleading. In the past, companies succeeded by discovering or unveiling unsatisfied customer needs. Today, generally speaking, there is no such thing as ungratified needs. Moreover, customers have become infested with options. Their expectations are constantly rising. Their wants are volatile. If in the past “market share” was a stable index of achievements (as we used to say, “We have achieved a market share of x”), then today, in many fields, the market share data changes by the month, by the week - and even by the day. We can speak only of our average market share. Most managers will admit that there are no more sustainable competitive advantages, and that the mission

has become… the achievement of a repeatable competitive advantage. While the old approach is a control-oriented approach (we aspire for market dominance), the new orientation of marketing behaviour is that of a dance-along with the market trends and customers.

Assumption No. 3: Only we are doing this (or: we do it better) The illusion that we are capable of defining specific goals and moving toward them virtually unimpeded assumes that our competitors are going to continue doing exactly what they have been doing so far. Well, surprise! They will do no such thing. First of all, the competitors of today may not be the competitors of tomorrow. Manufacturing in China, electronic trade and the unlimited openness of customers to novelties have lowered entrance barriers in many market categories. Furthermore, managers now spend less time in their posts. This means that new managers constantly pop up in competing companies and bring with them with new ideas - or at least fresh ambition. In the past, when the game consisted of a rat race toward unfulfilled customer needs, one could know exactly what one’s competition was attempting to achieve. Since then, more and more companies have realized the need for inventiveness and innovation to do something that might succeed and which their competitors have not yet tried.

The New So, then, what is the alternative to the old brick road to strategy? I propose that we move from wish-oriented management to opportunity-oriented management.

The ‘What’s Next? Process’ For Developing Your Strategy by Dr. Dan Herman

This

article is about… What you need to do to achieve your goals.



28

I would like to offer a new process leading to successful strategizing that we have been using in our consulting work for the last few years. It includes four stages: 1. What’s now? 2. What’s possible? 3. What’s feasible? 4. What’s next? The new heart of the process is the question, “What is possible?” Admittedly, the old process does encompass a SWOT Analysis, in which there is an Opportunity component. It is, however, a minor - and usually pretty much neglected - step in the strategy-development process. It has no method, and it has no tools. You just list whatever opportunities come to mind. As opposed to that, the process I am referring to is based totally on systematic examination and thorough scanning of available opportunities. We have developed a comprehensive methodology for doing that and have named it The Opportunity Scan, or, in short, the O-Scan: a set of procedures and tools designed to map the full scale of opportunities that are available to the company at a certain point of time. Judging from my experience, defining goals is much more meaningful, far-reaching and effective - after a proper opportunity scan. We have created the O-Scan after having analyzed, in depth, more than 150 companies that have managed to come up with a “next thing” - and succeeded. That “new thing” usually was:

� A new winning business concept

� A new winning competitive strategy

� A new segment that offers growth potential

� An innovative “hit” product (or service)

� An irresistible brand strategy Our analysis asked the question, “Where and how was the new opportunity found and identified?” Based on the conclusions of this extensive study and our own accumulating experience, we determined that a systematic opportunity search should encompass six modules, for which

we assembled or designed the most appropriate instruments. Here are the modules, in brief: Consumer Fore-search - this module is used for marking potential future consumer wants, and it consists of the following: 1. An analysis aimed at detecting

new market segments and emerging social groups

2. The use of trend-spotting and cool-hunting methods

3. A qualitative research method designed to conduct a Reverse Analysis of the current system active goals (benefits sought), beliefs (mostly unconscious) and emotions at work, in order to predict the possibility of inducing the formation of new such systems (the results guide the development of new products, services and brands).

Competition Analysis - using a methodology designed to uncover the underlying rules of the game in the market and to explore systematically the possibilities to alter them - in order to achieve competitive advantages. Internal Audit - a methodical “treasure-hunt” within the company for identifying competencies, infrastructures, technologies and connections etc., which could be exploited in new ways to serve as bases for future opportunities. Brand Audit - a thorough examination of the brand architecture and each and every brand in it. More often than not, the potential of the brand system is not realized in full and there are opportunities to reshape the architecture, to focus/abstract/extend the brand or to re-brand, to develop the brand drama or to enrich brand realization in more dimensions, such as brand culture, brand community, brand experience, innovations that fulfil and reaffirm the brand’s promise and many other options. Worldwide Lookup - spotting of new ideas and models that have succeeded elsewhere, either in the same industry or in other categories, which could be

adapted and implemented to create new opportunities. Inventive Thinking - exploring, in a creative yet systematic manner, potential alterations and advancements of current technologies, products and practices so as to create new opportunities. The What’s Next? Process for strategy development could be summed by the three “Open Your Is” commandments: Identify, Invent, Implement. The static nature of the old process manifests itself once more in the norm of performing the process of strategy development infrequently, because “one does not change one’s strategy every day.” In contrast, the approach that I’m professing reads: strategy in motion, strategy in constant development that stems from the tension between the need for continuity and accommodation to the changing environment and opportunities. Therefore, the strategy-development process is a continuous one and constitutes an essential element of routine management work. © Copyright Dr Dan Herman About the Author

Dr Dan Herman, PhD, creates Unique Success Formulas for companies and brands. His book: Just-on-Desire Branding is now available. For more information, visit www.danherman.com Coordinates

Tel: (001) 972-3643 6186 Email: [email protected] skype: danherman



29

“The key to the selection process is to hire

for a “best match” to the position and/or

organization, not whom you like, the warm

body syndrome, or who interviews best.

Assessment tools keep you on track for the

best possible hires.”

Using Assessment Tools: A Must for Today’s Business Partners By Jennifer C. Zamecki

Today’s competitive business climate calls for lots of cool tools – “assessment tools” that is! If your business has even a hope of surviving today’s labour shortage, a good place to start is enrolling the assistance of validated assessment tools. Why use them? If the high cost of turnover isn’t enough, then how about hard-to-fill positions?

Here are a few interesting Workforce 2000 statistics that illustrate the need for assessment tool applications in today’s business world:

• In 1973, 60% of jobs were blue collar. This year – only 10% are.

• In 1950, 60% of manufacturing jobs were unskilled. In 2005, 30% were unskilled. In 2012, less than 15% will be.

• New jobs being created are: 50% in service and 50% in wholesale/retail. All require interpersonal and computer skills.

• In 2012, 60% of all jobs require skills held by only 20% of the population.

What’s your plan? This is a strategic business problem – not a human resources hiring issue! If every able-bodied adult started tonight on the people shortage, it would be 18 years until we saw the result. This is a trend that experts predict will continue for the next 25 years. The number 1 business question asked today is: “How do we keep talent from jumping to our competitor?” (Source: Wall Street Journal). Never before has it been so imperative to focus on strategies for retaining top talent.

In a recent National SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) survey on retention, of 3,400 employees, the following was cited for the top three reasons given in seeking a better offer: 1. Open Communication = 65% 2. Opportunity to Balance

Work/Life = 60% 3. Meaningful Work = 59% Applications of assessment tools and recruiting staff training and development add to performance appraisals, team building and conflict resolution to name a few. The key to the selection process is to hire for a “best match” to the position and/or organization, not whom you like, the warm body syndrome, or who interviews best. Assessment tools keep you on track for the best possible hires. Are you throwing away your training dollars? You might be if you are not doing a needs assessment before and after training to measure the results (such as increased efficiencies, productivity, sales, morale, etc.) Multi-rater feedback. or commonly known as 360° feedback, is a very popular addition to the performance management process. This is feedback that uses the traditional top-down approach (originating at the level of your boss) combined with feedback from your peers, subordinates and even clients or customers. Conflict resolution is a valuable skill needed in today’s corporate environment. Studies show that an understanding of people’s differences in communication style, behaviour, attitude and values dramatically decreases conflict and stress.

There are a variety of assessment tools available on the market today to assist organizations and businesses in improving communication, retaining skilled and competent personnel and resolving conflicts in the workplace.

• Behavioural assessments, such as the DISC model, are very popular. DISC, for example, measures behavioural style, which is the “how” of your communication style.

• Attitudes and Values measure the why behind the how. Attitudes and values are both driving forces behind an individual’s behaviors.

• Team assessments measure the performance of a team as opposed to the performance of the individual.

• Competency based assessments that measure the actual skills needed to perform a certain position. This type of assessment is critical in the selection process today, to guarantee that you are hiring the talent that best demonstrates the skills needed to perform the functions of the position.

There are also assessments available for industry-specific positions such as sales, retail and hospitality. A final thought on the use of assessment tools in your organization: Please use only validated instruments with applications to your business. They should always be job and skill

This

article is about…

the need for assessment

tool applications.



30

It’s Better To Be Different Than It Is To Be Better Why trying to be the best - competing like crazy - makes you mediocre

“Every few years a book - through a combination of the author’s unique voice, storytelling ability, wit, and insight - simply breaks the mould. Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods is one example. Richard Feynman’s “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!” is another. Her book Different is for “people who don’t read business books. Actually, it’s more like a personal conversation with a friend who has thought deeply about how the world works… and who gets you to see that world in a completely new light. If there is one strain of conventional wisdom pervading every company in every industry, it’s the absolute importance of “competing like crazy.” Youngme Moon’s message is simply “Get off this treadmill that’s taking you nowhere. Going tit-for-tat and adding features, augmentations and gimmicks to beat the competition has the perverse result of making you like everyone else.” Different provides a highly original perspective on what it means to offer something that is meaningfully different - different in a manner that is both fundamental and comprehensive. Youngme Moon identifies the outliers, the mavericks, the iconoclasts - the players who have thoughtfully rejected orthodoxy in favour of an approach that is more adventurous. Some are even “hostile,” almost daring you to buy what they are selling. The MINI Cooper was launched with fearless abandon: “Worried that this car is too small? Look here. It’s even smaller than you think.” These are players that strike a genuine chord with even the most jaded consumers. In fact, almost every success story of the past two decades has been an exception to the rule. Simply go to your computer and compare AOL and Yahoo! with Google. The former pile on feature upon feature to their home pages, while Google is like an austere boutique, dominating a category filled with extras. Different shows how to succeed in a world where conformity reigns… but exceptions rule. Even the pages in this book are different. Deckle edge books are bound with pages that are made to resemble handmade paper by applying a frayed texture to the edges. Deckle edge is an ornamental feature designed to set certain titles apart from books with machine-cut pages. Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd is published by Crown Publishing Group, Division of Random House Inc., ISBN - 10: 0307460851, ISBN - 13: 978 - 0307460851 and is available at Amazon and all good quality bookstores.

related. There are a variety of choices available today, from the old paper and pencil to the very high-tech web delivery systems. Choose tools that are easy to use and to interpret results - then sit back and relax - because you have made a critical step in addressing the number1 business challenge today. If you would like more information on proven, validated assessment tools, please feel free to contact me. © Copyright, Jennifer C. Zamecki About the Author

Jennifer C. Zamecki is the Founder and President of Well-Run Concepts, a Human Resource Consulting Firm based in Ocala, Florida, founded in 1997, whose mission is to help organizations to define and develop top talent. Jennifer has over 20 years of human resource management and executive operational hotel experience.

Co-ordinates

Mail: Well-Run Concepts 303 S.E. 17th St. Suite 309-170 Ocala, FL 34471, USA Tel: (001) 877 566-2900 (Toll Free) Office: (001) 352 624-2684 Fax: (001) 352 624-2689 Web: www.well-run.com Email: [email protected]

Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions. Oliver Wendell Holmes

Youngme Moon is the Donald K. David Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, where she focuses on marketing and strategy implementation.

Here’s what Amazon said in their book review about Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd

Youngme Moon



31

Turn Incremental Improvement into Massive Profit Growth By Robert Garibay

“…by focusing on incrementally improving each segment, we benefit from the synergistic effect of those small improvements multiplying into massive improvement of the original concept.”

Does this headline sound unrealistic? Today I'm going to further illustrate a little known principle called "Divide to Multiply".

The Divide to Multiply principle encourages us to segment a concept into its finest increments to produce deeper understanding. Then, by focusing on incrementally improving each segment, we benefit from the synergistic effect of those small improvements multiplying into massive improvement of the original concept.

An example is a manufacturing

process. By dividing the

manufacturing process into fine

segments and then focusing on

improving the quality and

efficiency of each segment, the

multiplicative effect is a large

improvement in productivity,

quality and cost reduction for the

company.

Do you want to massively improve

your profits? Pause in your

reading, right now and think about

what a 50% improvement in your

bottom line would mean for your

business and lifestyle. Sound too

good to be true? Hang on - keep

reading.

Is your mindset: Profit = Sales

Revenue less Expenses? Then you

are correct. In that case, we must

increase sales and/or decrease

expenses to increase our bottom

line. How do we increase sales?

"Just do it" as Nike says. "Easier

said than done," you say.

Introducing the 5 Ways Business Chassis! Every business, no matter what

type, (including you professionals

and non-profits) runs on this

chassis. The 5 Ways is a great

example of the Divide to Multiply

principle.

Here it is:

# of Leads X Conversion Rate

= # of Customers X Average $

Sale X Average # of

Transactions = Revenue X

profit margin = Profit.

The items in bold are the 5 Ways

to increase profits. Those behind

equal signs are the results; not the

ways to obtain the results.

What would happen to our

bottom line if we focused on

making small increases in each of

the 5 Ways? Let's take a look at

each of the 5 Ways.

# of Leads The number of potential buyers

with whom you've communicated

(also known as prospects). Can

you apply the Divide to Multiply

principle to # of Leads to gain

deeper understanding? Yes!

Remember my recent article

describing the "Customer Ladder

of Loyalty"?

(http://www.actioncoach.com/Ho

w-to-Develop-the-Ideal-

Customer-

Experience?pressid=847)

Your prospects originate from

your suspects. Additionally your

business might have numerous

target markets, each with a

different set of suspects and

prospects. Do you see how you

can create an additional formula

just for leads and apply the same

principles in play with the 5 Ways

Business Chassis?

One last point; don't confuse

responses, or the number of

potential buyers, with results. The

sound of ringing phones does not

mean that the cash registers are

ringing as well - which allows me

to segue into Conversion Rate.

Conversion Rate The percentage of Prospects that

become Shoppers (the next rung

on the Customer Ladder of

Loyalty). For example, if you

communicated with 10 prospects

today and 3 made a purchase from

you, your conversion rate is 30%.

Do you see how the question of

how to get more customers

becomes clearer? By increasing

our number of leads and our

conversion rate!

# of Transactions

The average number of times an

individual or company purchases

from you in a year. Some of your

Prospects will only become a

Shopper. Others will become a

Customer and others will become

a Member, Advocate, or Raving

Fan. Some will only purchase from

you once, some will purchase

twice a year or maybe as high as

daily, depending upon the type of

business and how well you service

them.

It helps to keep a database of past

customers. Don't make the

mistake of subscribing to the myth

of "once a customer, always a

customer". The average number of

transactions is closely related to

the average sale of each purchase,

which is also over the course of a

year.

Average Sale Value Your total sales volume divided by

the number of sales. This Way is

This

article is about…

How small changes

increment to massive

profits.



32

Important Notice © Copyright 2012, Bizezia Limited, All Rights

Reserved

This publication is published on our

behalf by Bizezia Limited. It is protected

by copyright law and reproduction in

whole or in part without the publisher’s

written permission is strictly prohibited.

The publisher may be contacted at

[email protected] (+44 (0)1444 884220).

Articles and information contained

herein are published without

responsibility by us, the publisher or any

contributing author for any loss

howsoever occurring as a consequence

of any action which you take, or action

which you choose not to take, as a result

of this publication or any view expressed

herein. Whilst it is believed that the

information contained in this publication

is correct at the time of publication, it is

not a substitute for obtaining specific

professional advice and no

representation or warranty, expressed

or implied, is made as to its accuracy or

completeness.

The information is relevant within the

United Kingdom. These disclaimers and

exclusions are governed by and

construed in accordance with English

Law.

Publication issued on

1 May 2012

one of the least expensive and the

easiest to improve. The result of

multiplying these 4 Ways is your

total sales revenue.

Profit Margin The average amount of money from each sale that is leftover after subtracting expenses as a percentage of the sales for the year. For example; you sell something for $100. After subtracting expenses you have $25 left. Your profit margin is 25%. Multiplying your sales revenue by your profit margin, yields your profit. Now that you understand the 5 Ways Business Chassis, are you ready to see how small incremental increases of each component will powerfully impact your profits?

5 Ways Business Chassis Remember the 5 Ways Business Chassis: # of Leads x Conversion Rate = # of Customers x Average $ Sale x Avg. # of Transactions = Revenue x profit margin = Profit. By making small improvement to each of the 5 Ways we can dramatically improve our profits. Once again, stop reading this article, right now and think about what a 50% increase in your bottom line would do for your business and lifestyle. Now let’s create an example to illustrate the power behind this concept. We will assign values to each of the 5 Ways: # Leads 4000 X Conversion Rate 25% = # Customers 1000 X # Transactions 2 X Average $ Sale $100 = Revenue $200,000 X Profit Margin 25% = Profit $50,000

5 Ways base numbers Let’s assume that you have a business coach that has access to 329 strategies for increasing your 5 Ways: 74 Lead Generation strategies 82 Conversion Rate strategies 53 # Transaction strategies 50 Average $ Sale strategies 70 Profit Margin strategies

Number of 5 Ways strategies By selecting a few of these strategies that are applicable to your business, do you think that you could improve each of your 5 Ways? By how much? For the sake of discussion, let’s be

conservative and assume that by selecting 3 strategies for each of the 5 Ways.

Now it’s time to use your calculator to make sure my maths is correct # Leads = 4400 X Conversion Rate = 27.5% = # Customers - 1210 X # Transactions = 2.2 X Average $ Sale $110 = Revenue $292,820 X Profit Margin 27.5% = Profit - $80,526

Results for 10 % increase Can this be true? By increasing each of the 5 Ways by only 10% through deploying 15 of the 329 strategies we’ve increased our revenue by 46.4% and our profit by a massive 61%! Remember my question about what a 50% increase in your bottom line would do for your business and lifestyle? Now, do you think that a good Business Coach might be a worthwhile investment? © Copyright, Robert Garibay About the Author

Robert Garibay ActionCOACH Business Coach. He is no stranger to success as both business owner and competitive player in the corporate world. With an engineering degree from Case Western Reserve University, he has a successful track record in sales, marketing, management, team building, strategic planning and leadership; both in his own companies and in the corporate world. His professional career spans building businesses in manufacturing, R&D, distribution, retail and IT. Co-ordinates

Mail: Rob Garibay 3209 N Flood Ave, Norman, Oklahoma 73069, USA Phone: (001) 405 684-1021 Work: (001) 405 237-0019 Fax: (001) 405 573-4017 Email: [email protected]

Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions. Albert Einstein


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