Retail Marketing

Don’t Hit Send! Avoid These Common E-mail Pet Peeves

By Jean Kelley

Spam…e-mail chain letters…obnoxious or off-color jokes…these are just a few things that annoy business professionals when it comes to daily e-mail. While you’re likely not sending any of these things, what if your e-mails to people are just as annoying?

Unfortunately, many people are unknowingly irritating co-workers and clients with bad e-mail etiquette and habits. Even worse, the offenders are tarnishing their reputations in the process, unaware that their e-mails reflect their personal and company brand, their image, and their credibility.

If you’ve ever wondered why people don’t take action on your e-mails or why this productivity tool seems to waste more of your time than it saves, you may be guilty of exhibiting a few e-mail pet peeves. Following are the top five e-mail pet peeves in the workplace. Avoid them so your e-mail messages are most effective.

Having sensitive conversations via e-mail: Sensitive and emotionally charged conversations have no place in an e-mail. If you need to fire someone, express disappointment, or apologize, do it face-to-face (most preferred) or via phone. When a topic has emotion behind it, the recipient naturally escalates that emotion when reading the e-mail. Why? Because it’s virtually impossible to display emotion in an e-mail (aside from some carefully placed emoticons, which not everyone appreciates), and humans by nature look for the worst in a message rather than the best. So your innocent question of “Why did you call Mr. Smith?” gets read as an accusatory question, as if you had asked, “Why on earth did you of all people call Mr. Smith and bother him?”

Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that many people write things in an e-mail that they would never say in person. They view e-mail as a way to have “safe” conflict without being face-to-face. So they may snap back at someone in a sarcastic way or slam someone professionally or personally. Some people even enjoy this type of conflict, as it gives them a charge. The bottom line is that if your message has any type of intense emotion behind it, don’t send the e-mail. The matter is best addressed in a face-to-face meeting or phone call.

Using “reply all” versus “reply”: Just because you were one of many recipients on a message does not mean everyone needs to hear your reply. For example, a supervisor may send a group message out to the entire department asking who will be present at the quarterly meeting. The only person who needs to see your response is the person who initiated the message, not the entire group. If the group contains 100 people and each one does a “reply all” saying, “I’ll be there,” you’ll have a very cluttered inbox and 100 annoyed people.

Therefore, really think about who needs to see the message before you reply. Obviously, if your company requires that you do a “reply all” for business e-mails, then by all means do so. Otherwise, use the “reply all” button judiciously. And remember that with a “reply all,” everyone, even someone who was in the BCC line, will see your comments. So you never really know who is getting your message.

Using poor grammar and spelling: A typo every now and then is not a big deal. However, consistent bad grammar and spelling is obnoxious. E-mail is a form of written communication, so respect the written word. Additionally, this is business, and everything you do, say, and write is a reflection of your professionalism.

When people read your messages, they naturally and automatically make a judgment about you based on your writing. If your writing is poor, everything else about you is in question. After all, if you don’t care enough about your writing, what else don’t you care about? Your product? Your service? The reader? Remember that the written word stays out there forever, and no e-mail message is ever really deleted permanently. Make sure your lasting impressions are good ones – even when you e-mail.

E-mailing complicated information: If you have to give someone technical, detailed, or complicated information, do it with a phone call and an e-mail as a backup rather than relying solely on the e-mail communication. E-mail is best suited for short messages that don’t require a lengthy response. If your e-mail is more than a couple of paragraphs, pick up the phone and talk to the recipient. Use the follow up e-mail to send needed documentation or a recap of your verbal instructions, but don’t expect people to read and act upon a lengthy or complicated message.

Additionally, if you are the recipient of a detailed message and need time to work on the reply, send back a short acknowledgment message that states, “I received your message and am working on the needed items.” And if the reply requires real discussion, then pick up the phone and talk about it. Don’t rely on e-mail for every topic.

Writing bad subject lines or not using subject lines: Unless you’re doing e-mail marketing and relying on your messages to sell people, use straightforward subject lines that reflect the true theme of the message. Leave the cute and clever wording to the marketers. For day-to-day business purposes, plain and direct work best. So rather than have a subject line that reads, “Want to pick your brain,” write, “Need your input on the Jones project.”

Realize, too, that many people use their e-mail as a filing system, and they rely on the subject lines to find key information later. So if all your subject lines are vague (as in “A message from Tom Smith” or “Info you requested”), or if you don’t use subject lines, people won’t know what the message was about when they search their files later. So always write detailed subject lines, as in “Dates for Singapore conference” or “Files for Smith project.” And should the e-mail’s subject change as the conversation ensues, then change the subject line to reflect the new theme.

Get Your Message Across: E-mail has certainly come a long way in the past couple decades. What was initially viewed as a novel way to share key information in the 1990s is now the preferred method of business communication. But remember, just because something is commonplace and expected doesn’t mean you can become lazy with it. Always use e-mail properly and for the purposes and subjects it was intended. By doing so, not only will you avoid these pet peeves, but you’ll also gain productivity rewards as you enhance your professional reputation.

 

Jean Kelley is president and founder of Jean Kelley Leadership Consulting and Jean Kelley Leadership Alliance. She works with corporate leaders all over the world to achieve their highest potential. With her Alliance, Jean has helped more than 500,000 businesspeople enhance their careers. She is the author of “Dear Jean: What They Don’t Teach You at the Water Cooler,” and “Get A Job; Keep A Job Handbook.” For more information, please visit jeankelley.com.

Why You Should Create a Business Plan

By Gene Siciliano

 

We all nod knowingly when anyone talks about the importance of vision, mission and business planning—and then most of us go back to what we were doing before the interruption. As it happens, I often ask small business owners if they believe business planning is an important management tool. I don’t think anyone has ever said "No." But when I follow up with the question, "Do you have a current business plan?" only one in 10 answers "Yes."

This will not surprise 90 percent of those reading this article, I’m sure. But why is it that most business owners (in my admittedly unscientific surveys) see the value in business planning and then almost universally forego it? Could it be because business planning is seen as:

• Not very easy?
• Not very much fun?
• Not guaranteed to produce what we want?
• Not on the list of things we got into business to do?

Have I missed any of your personal favorites? The truth is that business planning is not as much fun as creating your own business. And it’s certainly not guaranteed to accomplish anything, unless we actually do something with our business plans, which of course means more work. Business planning wasn’t on my list of reasons for starting a business, either. But want to know something? It works. And that goes a long way in my book toward making up for its shortcomings in the fun department. If it does in yours, too, then read on.

Four Reasons to Plan: We’ve all agreed that business planning is important, but why is it important? After all, that’s a pretty big idea to accept on faith. I believe there are four powerful reasons to create a written business plan:

1. Clarity: The ability to see exactly where you are going is greatly enhanced by the simple act of writing it down. Unless you have extraordinary conceptual capacity, you will only know what you want your business to look like by writing it down. Include all the details you can think of to enhance the picture. Some people are gifted with that kind of vision without ever picking up a pencil, but for most of us the picture needs to be more concrete. The more detailed the description of the end result, the more easily you will recognize what you must do to get there.

2. Roadmap: When you are traveling to a place you’ve never visited before, you probably need a roadmap to help get you there: to recognize which roads to take and which ones to avoid because they lead in the wrong direction. Your business plan serves the same purpose in getting you to your business goals, which is another “place” you’ve never been to before. It’s much easier to avoid wrong turns when your best path is laid out for you in writing.

3. Communication: Many of the people you meet—employees, colleagues, customers, family members and friends—will be instrumental in helping you achieve your goals if you tell them exactly what you want to achieve. There is great value in having an easy, concise way to tell others what your goals are and how they can assist you. Making it up along the way will send confusing signals to those who support you, rather than helping you concentrate the power of their support in a common direction.

4. Empowerment: Often we hear people speak of their dreams and goals in a way that tells us they want to achieve them, but they don’t really believe they ever will, or even can. A clearly defined business plan will reveal a series of small, achievable steps along the path, and you can actually begin to see how they fit into your grand design. Accepting the possibility of success a step at a time is much easier for most of us and can be the most important key to achievement. Your written business plan makes huge goals somehow seem not only manageable, but even achievable.

Where Do You Start? I believe you start with a personal value-based vision statement, followed by a congruent and carefully formed mission statement. Together, these should be the foundation of your business plan. So what is the difference between a vision statement and a mission statement? Do you need both? I have for many years used a plain language definition that goes like this:

• Your vision is how you want the world to be.
• Your mission is your contribution to making it that way.

When you look at it this way, it’s easy to see that you should include both in your thought process. Whether they evolve as one statement or two is unimportant. What is critically important is that together they are the first step in your business planning process. About now you might be saying to yourself, "Sure, all I have to do is decide what I’m going to do with my life. And after lunch I’ll just zip over and solve the Iraq and Afghanistan situations. Give me a break here!

"Hold on, now! I’m not suggesting that you only get one shot at this. In fact, everyone’s mission statement will evolve over time, even if they’re right on target, because the world changes and where we are in it changes too. However, each change in you mission and vision statements should be carefully considered, firmly adopted, and then acted upon.

A good business plan represents a sizable piece of work. A life devoted to building a business without a plan is considerably more work, however, and usually for considerably less reward. By contrast, a business plan that truly guides you in the direction you really want to go brings daily rewards. Add up the value of greater work satisfaction, the rich experience of a balanced life and a successful business that’s meeting its goals. And unless there’s a hole in your bucket, you will have earned some very large profits along the way, and you’ll have had a heck of a good time doing it.

Hey, is that exciting or what?

 

Gene Siciliano, CMC, CPA, is an author, speaker and financial consultant who works with CEOs and managers to achieve greater financial success in a dramatically changing economy. As "Your CFO For Rent®" and president of Western Management Associates, Gene has spent more than 23 years helping his clients build financial strength and shareholder value through applied knowledge and process improvement. His best selling book, "Finance for Non-Financial Managers," (McGraw-Hill, 2003) is available in bookstores and online. More information and free articles are available at www.GeneSiciliano.com. To book Gene for your next event, email gene@CFOforRent.com

Focus on the Fundamentals of Your Business

By Tracy Eden

Here’s one thing about a recession or economic downturn that most people don’t think of: It forces most business owners to focus like a laser on the fundamentals of their business. You know, things like making sure you deliver quality products and great customer service.

Perhaps most importantly, tough economic times prompt many owners and entrepreneurs to take a hard look at how they’re managing their business finances. Is inventory being managed efficiently? Are receivables turns stretching out too far? Is monthly cash flow positive or negative? Where is money being spent wastefully? Is debt getting out of hand?

When the good times are rollin’, it can be easy to let the financial side of things slip a little. But when times get tough and sales start slowing down, most companies find it beneficial to go back to the basics of sound financial management. Here are five key areas you might want to go back and reexamine if you haven’t lately:

1. Inventory—Think of poorly managed inventory as a pool of trapped cash that you can see but you can’t put your hands on. Excess inventory ties up cash in the form of goods sitting on your shelves, as well as wasted money spent on storage space, insurance and other overhead. The cost of carrying excess inventory can be as high as 30 percent of the initial value of the inventory per year when you factor in storage and handling costs, obsolescence and damage.Make a commitment now to scrutinizing your inventory with a fine-tooth comb. When you view excess inventory as cash sitting on your shelves—which is what it really is—it looks a whole lot different. It’s especially important to monitor your inventory turnover ratio, which measures how often your entire stock of inventory turns over during the course of the year. To find out, divide your average inventory value by the cost of goods sold.

2. Receivables—Collecting accounts receivable promptly should always be a priority, but it’s especially important during a slow economy when everyone is holding onto their money a little longer. The result can be a domino effect that looks like this: Your customers are getting paid slower, so they pay you slower—and before you know it, your cash is no longer flowing, but just trickling.

In order to stay on top of collections, you must first know the current status of your receivables. This requires that you create and maintain an accounts receivable aging report to track the payment status of all your customers. An aging report will categorize customers by their payment status—for example, current, 0-30 days, 30-60 days, 60-90 days, and past 90 days. It should also indicate how much each customer currently owes so you can prioritize your collection efforts.

It’s also important to establish credit files on all of your customers with whom you work on open account terms. These customers’ credit should be monitored on an ongoing basis and their files updated regularly to reflect their current credit status, which can change quickly and without warning during volatile economic times like these.

3. Cash flow—Unfortunately, many business owners don’t understand the fundamental difference between cash flow and profits. So, to recap briefly: Cash flow is the actual cash (or checks) that’s collected by your business each month and deposited into your bank account. Profit is the cash left over that you get to keep after you’ve paid all of the expenses incurred in the manufacture and delivery of your product or service.

Companies that collect cash at or near the point of sale sometimes find themselves cash-flush. Restaurants are a good example: They usually receive cash from customers before they leave the restaurant, or at worse, from the credit card processor within a day or two. However, expenses must be paid out of this cash—everything from rent, utilities and labor to the food and ingredients themselves. Not understanding the difference between cash flow and profit is one of the main reasons so many restaurants fail.

Conversely, lots of other companies don’t collect their cash until 30, 60 or even 90 days or longer after they’ve delivered a product or service. These companies may look at their operating statement and see a nice profit, but the business could fail before it’s ever realized because cash flow is insufficient to keep operations going.As noted above, your receivables management will have a direct impact on your cash flow, which makes improving collections vital to improving overall cash flow. And never forget one thing: While profits are always nice, cash is the undisputed King.

4. Expenses—Cost-cutting has taken on a new meaning within most companies these days as owners and managers look high and low for ways to shave expenses. A few ideas:

Talk to your vendors about ways they can help save you money. Remind them that your success is ultimately their success as well.

Try to renegotiate your office lease with your landlord, if possible. It’s a tenant’s market in many regions of the country today.

Scrutinize travel and entertainment expenses and pare them back, where possible.

Reexamine subscriptions to publications and memberships within trade and industry associations to make sure they’re worth the cost.

Raise your insurance deductibles, which can cut your auto and property insurance premiums by 10 percent or more immediately.

5. Debt—Financial ratios can help you determine how much debt your company should be able to handle comfortably. The main one is what’s known as your debt service coverage ratio. Here’s the calculation:(Net income + amortization or depreciation + other non-cash and discretionary items) divided by  (Principle, interest and lease repayments)

In general, lenders prefer that a company’s debt service coverage ratio not exceed 1:25. One alternative for companies with a high ratio is factoring, whereby they would sell their outstanding accounts receivables to a commercial finance company at a discount of usually between 2-5%. In exchange, the business would receive cash right away, instead of waiting 30, 60 or 90 days (or longer). Factoring companies also perform credit checks and analyze credit reports to uncover bad risks and set appropriate credit limits.

While it’s beginning to look like the worst of the economic crisis may be behind us, it’s always a good idea to refocus on business fundamentals—regardless of the state of the economy. These five key areas are a good place to start.

Tracy Eden is the National Marketing Director for Commercial Finance Group (CFG), which has offices throughout the U.S. CFG provides creative financing solutions to small and medium-sized businesses that may not qualify for traditional financing. To learn more about alternative financing solutions provided by Commercial Finance Group, please contact us at 800-757-5195. You can also learn more by visiting www.cfgroup.net. Tracy’s email is tdeden@cfgroup.net.

Manage Your Time Without Losing Your Mind

By Theresa Rose

We all know about “Time Management”: that dreaded art/science where we are supposed to become productivity machines, getting as many high priority tasks accomplished as humanly possible.  How’s that been working for you?  Are you getting everything you wanted done?  Are you spending your time wisely, or does it feel like it is being wasted?  More importantly, are you spending your time joyfully?

Most of us have learned the traditional method of time management, where all items on our to-do lists get prioritized as high, medium or low, and we are instructed to attack the top of the list with gusto. While this approach looks good on paper, it doesn’t take into account one critical component of the human condition: We never do anything we don’t truly want to do.  If we continually force ourselves to work when we don’t want to, we either collapse from fatigue or chuck the whole process and resign ourselves to never having “enough time.” 

If you are tired of constantly running on the hamster wheel of life without much to show for your efforts, maybe a different approach is in order.  Here are several ways you can do more with the hours in your day while maintaining a sense of balance and happiness:

Get the juices flowing.  You will always be more productive if you move your body first.  Consider starting each day with some form of movement, whether it’s light stretching and deep breathing, a brisk walk around the block, or a 90-minute killer kickboxing class at the local gym.  By bringing some much-needed oxygen to your cells, you’ll find that you will stay healthier, think more clearly and have significantly more energy throughout the day.

Honor your clock.  We each have a unique internal clock, and our productivity levels can dramatically shift depending on the hour of the day.  If at all possible, schedule your most challenging tasks for the hours when you have the most energy.  If you notice that your energy level dips in the afternoons, try to perform those activities that aren’t as mentally or physically challenging.  Needless to say, crafting that all-important e-mail to your boss’s boss while in the depths of your mid-day slump is not an effective use of your time.

Do the fun things first.  If you start your workday with the most joyful task, you will set a pleasant tone for the rest of the day.  Whenever we experience pleasure, we automatically get a burst of serotonin secreted from our brains.  Use that serotonin buzz to your advantage as you address subsequent items you dread.

Reframe the Uglies.  Unfortunately, there will always be odious things we have to perform at our jobs, such as creating budgets, completing expense reports, or writing status reports.  Instead of incessantly complaining or devising new and different tactics to avoid them, try viewing them through a different lens.  All of those ugly tasks can be also be seen as important and necessary elements to the employment you’ve chosen, and they don’t need to rob you of your power any longer.  Approach each task as if you want to do them instead of have to do them, because that is truly the case.

Slow down.  We often cause errors or omissions when we operate at a fever pitch for an extended period of time.  Instead of rushing through the day, try to savor each task.  Spend just a few more moments with each one to make sure it is properly completed.  Not only will you save time by avoiding mistakes, you will enjoy the process a great deal more.

Choose healthy distractions.  Let’s face it; there will be times when you just want to goof off.  This desire to escape is a natural response to the intense work environment that has been cultivated over the years.  Instead of wasting precious minutes surreptitiously watching YouTube, playing an online game, or surfing eBay, think about going to the kitchen to get a nutritious snack, take a walk for fifteen minutes, or simply step outside for a breath of fresh, non-corporate air.  Getting away from your desk to clear your head can actually improve your productivity and provide clarity on issues you are struggling with.

Celebrate victories.  When you finally complete that big project, pop the champagne!  Oftentimes we jump so quickly from task to task that we don’t stop to appreciate how much we accomplish every day.  The next time you finish an assignment, take a few moments to reflect on your efforts and acknowledge your skill and determination.  This will give you the fuel you need to tackle the next initiative.

When adopting this new approach, it is important to recognize and accept that there will never be a moment when you get everything done; there will always be undone items on the to-do list.  Instead of perceiving your job as a constant battle between tasks and limited time, look at each new day as another opportunity to accomplish great things in a joyful manner.  By incorporating these mindful techniques, you will find that you will get more done in a shorter period of time.

Ultimately, each of us wants to enjoy ourselves both personally and professionally, not work ourselves into an early grave.  If you find yourself fixated on the elusive destination instead of enjoying the journey of your life, then maybe it is time to stop managing your time so rigidly and start managing your joy.  In the end, happiness is a state of being we can all choose, whether our high priority items ever get done or not.

 

Theresa Rose is an inspirational speaker and award-winning author of the new book, "Opening the Kimono." As founder of Serious Mojo Publications, Theresa specializes in fresh approaches to energy management, productivity and creative development.  Her experience includes owning a healing center, senior manager of a Fortune 100 firm, and vice president of a consulting firm. For more information, visit www.theresarose.com.

The three biggest barriers to small business success, and what you can do to break through.

By Donna Williams

Have you ever wondered why some people achieve small business success while others find themselves sitting on the sidewalk watching the parade go by?  Well, here are the three biggest barriers to small business success.

Unfortunately, there are many external reasons why people fail.  But the good news is that most can be simply remedied through external solutions.  For instance, if your business lacks cash then you may need to seek creative financing methods. 

Or if lack of time is holding you back, then perhaps a few time-management courses are in order, or maybe it will take hiring an assistant.  The first step in breaking down external barriers is identifying them.  Then you can craft solutions that work best for you.  Once you remove those external barriers, success is simply a matter of time and perseverance.

On the other hand, internal barriers are a little more difficult to identify and to overcome – which is why it’s the topic of our discussion today. 

I have found that the biggest barriers to success are the internal ones we place on ourselves  that we dredge up from the deep, shadowy recesses of our minds.  In particular, these three are especially nasty:

Barrier #1:  Fear

Hands-down, fear is the biggest barrier to small business success.  Fear has kept countless millions of people from achieving their dreams - cowering in the corner afraid to venture outside the safe.  Some of these people fear failure; others fear success.  Some fear change, some fear sameness.  There are as many fears as there are people.  But one thing is for certain, all fears can be paralyzing if we allow hem to get a foothold in our thoughts and actions.

The best way to overcome fear is through cultivating courage. 

-    Start being deliberately courageous in the decisions you make regarding growth, risk, and day-to-day operations.  The more you practice courage the more courageous you will become.
-    Resolve to never again “take the easy road.”  Have a clear understanding of your beliefs and core values, so when situations come up, you know where you stand. 
-    Accept personal responsibility for the decisions you make, and encourage those around you to do the same.
-    Make sure the people you hire and promote are also courageous people.  Surround yourself with fearless people you’ll discover what a powerhouse organization you can become.

Courage can conquer fear and help speed us on our way to small business success.

Barrier #2:  Lack of Vision

Unfortunately, many small businesses are so focused on the day-to-day business of keeping the doors open  that they neglect this incredibly important  aspect.

Vision.

Vision is what defines who you are as a company, your core values, and your future aspirations.  It truly is your “reason for being.” 

Additionally, having a clear, strong vision motivates, inspires, and empowers your employees.  A vision that starts at the top and threads through the organization is an excellent loyalty and retention tool because employees like being part of a company that knows where it’s going and how to get there.  Remember, too, that your employees – more than anyone else – will be the driving forces behind your vision.  They will be the ones to bring your vision to fruition. 

If you don’t have a vision for your company, it’s time to develop one.  After all, if you don’t know where you want to go, how can you expect to get there?

Barrier #3:  Lack of Faith

I’ve heard it said by many wise people that you can only achieve that which you believe. 

Do you believe you can achieve your dreams of success?  Do you really believe it?  If not…why not!

If we don’t believe in ourselves and our ability to achieve, then success will always be just beyond our reach.  If you don’t have faith in yourself and your dreams, how can you expect anyone else to believe in you?

Truth is, some people lack faith because they are afraid to hope too much, fearing that they will be disappointed.  I say don’t just hope…expect!  Expect good things to happen! Have faith that you success is imminent! 

Let me tell you something:  wide-eyed optimism will take you and your company a heck of a lot further than always viewing life through the eyes of Eeyore. 

Believe in yourself.  Believe you can achieve…and you will.

On your road to success, don’t let barriers – either external or internal - detour you or stand in your way to realizing your dreams and  goals.  Face them down and get on with it.

 

Donna Williams is the founder and creator of BusinessBurrito.com - a website dedicated to helping small businesses grow to their maximum potential.  She is also a 25-year advertising / marketing executive, creative director, writer, and producer.  Together, Donna and her husband currently own and co-own five small businesses.  To read more of her articles, or to sign up for her free e-newsletter, visit her website at http://www.businessburrito.com

Creating Your Destination Statement: How to Get From Here to Where You Want to Go

By Holly G. Green

When Roger Bannister was attempting to become the first athlete to break the four-minute mile, all the “experts” told him it was impossible.  Some even suggested he risked death by pushing his body beyond human limits.  Of course, we now know that not only did Bannister not die, but the week after he broke the barrier, another runner followed in his footsteps, followed shortly thereafter by several more. 

Clearly, the sub-four minute mile wasn’t impossible; someone just had to envision doing it.  When asked how he accomplished the feat, Bannister replied, “Physiologically impossible or not, I just saw myself doing it.”  To this day, many Olympic athletes use this type of success visioning to achieve their goals.  The difference in skill levels at premier levels is often not discernible.  What differs is the mindset, the clarity of vision on what winning looks like.

Leaders and managers don’t often employ this approach in strategic planning, or even in simple delegation today.  Most of us are running so fast, we don’t take the time to get clear on winning; we just run and hope we are on the right track, running the right race.   But organizations are now beginning to understand what world-class athletes have long known - if you can picture the destination and get clear on what winning looks like, your chances of getting there dramatically increase.

Painting the Picture: One tool for painting a vivid picture of where your organization needs to go is destination modeling.  Designed to create powerful visions in the mind of each and every employee, destination statements provide cohesion, direction and behavioral guidance.  They tell people what you are doing, what you are not doing, and what you will be doing when you get to where you want to go. 

Some companies develop one over-arching destination statement for the entire company.  I find it more useful to develop a number of statements, or destination points, for each critical area of the organization.  In fact, I often use these statements as a starting point when working with clients.

Examples of destination statement categories include:

•Key operating achievements (the big three or four).

•How the workplace culture will be, including attitudes, beliefs, values and operating principles.

•What skills, knowledge and abilities will exist in the organization?  In each business unit?

•What organizational structures will be in place, company-wide and at each business unit?

•What work processes and metrics will be used?

•What tools, systems and technologies will be necessary, both internally and externally?

•What products will be in the market?  What products will be in development?

•Who will our customers be?  How many will we have?

•Who will our competitors be?  What type of companies will we compete against?

•What will be our greatest competitive advantage?  Our biggest threat?

•How will we be known?

•What will our brand represent?

Remember, your goal as a leader or manager is to paint as vivid and rich a ‘picture’ of success or winning as you possibly can.  To create your company’s destination points, draw a vertical line down the middle of a sheet of paper.  On the left side, put all the categories listed above and any others you come up with.  On the right side, describe for each category what it will look like when you get to where you want to go.

A few short years or even months ago, companies frequently looked out five and even 10 years into the future.  In today’s fast-paced world, three years makes more sense.  Recently, all of my clients are doing one-year destination modeling and plans.  The rate of change today is so great that anything beyond that and you are likely just wildly guessing as to what is possible. 

Validating Your Destination: Once you have identified your destination points, measure each one against the following criteria:

•Consistency.  Is it consistent with the mission statement (the why you exist)?

•Clarity.  Is it easy to understand?  Is it easy to tell what is in and what is out?  Does it tell you what you need to do (directionally)?

•Specific.  Does it provide enough details to initiate a level of measurement?  Does it paint a picture employees can relate to and a place they can envision?

•Flexible.  Is it flexible enough to include evolving business needs?

•Pride.  Does it make you feel proud to be part of the effort?

•Inspiration.  Does it compel you to want to go there?

Once you have clarity on your destination points, repeat the process (using the same categories) to define your current state.  This will identify any gaps that need to be addressed and enable you to plan appropriate action steps and time frames.  Always start with the end state and then compare to current reality.  When you work from the end state backwards, the likelihood of you getting there increases exponentially.

Getting Clear on the Language: As you go through the process of creating your destination points, keep in mind that clarity of language is essential for ensuring that people are looking at the same picture.  People often use the same words to describe very different things, and if you’re not careful you can end up with many different pictures rather then one unifying vision.

For example, I once worked in a company that proudly described itself as “best in class.”  When employees were surveyed, however, more than half said they had no idea what that meant or how to work toward it.  And the employees who thought they knew had very diverse opinions on what the phrase meant.  As a result, “best in class” looked good on the boardroom wall, but it meant nothing to most employees and did not serve to guide behavior or lead people toward the ultimate destination.  This doesn’t mean you can’t use phrases like “best in class.”  Just be sure to define them in ways that are clear, objective and measurable so that everyone knows exactly what they mean.

To get the best of what your employees have to offer, your organization’s future needs to be more compelling than the past.  Picturing your destination and describing it in vivid language will make it easier and much more likely your organization will achieve its goals and break its own four-minute mile.  Especially as businesses begin to recover and reset for a different (and hopefully better) economy, it is critical you are clear on where you are now going, why you will still win and what it looks like when you get there!

Holly’s top selling book, More Than a Minute: How to be an Effective Leader & Manager in Today’s Changing World goes beyond the theory of leading and managing by providing practical, action-oriented information. She writes a column for the Worldwide Association of Business Coaching, and is a highlighted expert on Bizmore.  Holly has contributed to two other best-selling books, Shift Happens, and A Cup of Cappuccino, Vol. II.  For more information, please visit www.TheHumanFactor.biz and morethanaminute.com.

 

Creative Ideas for Filling the Revenue Gap

By Don Farrell and Joe Creegan

B to B or B to C … whatever business you are in, you have lulls and voids, or gaps during times of the day, week, month or year when your product or service does not sell because of various factors.  What are these factors? 

• Wrong time of the day for your consumer to buy from you (they are working, they are home etc).

• Not the right season to buy.  Not thinking about winter in August just yet. 

• The weather, tar balls or the devaluation of their 401K has scared them away.

Whatever the reason, you have times when you have a void or gap where selling hasn’t been an option before because customers just didn’t have a good reason to buy.     It’s time you were dedicated to re-thinking how to sell in those time periods.  Accepting the current paradigm is passé.  Now is a good time to explore ideas to sell stuff that hasn’t moved in the past.

Thinking tactically.  When is your business slowest?  What days of the week; hours of the day; times of the year? Most businesses, when analyzed closely, have dead times that can be turned into strategic opportunities.  Stores once operated only 9am to 6 pm.  Then came 24/7 store hours; double coupons on Thursday’s; sampling products; product usage seminars, etc.  The idea of subterfuge selling is old hat, now. 

  It was rumored the guy who invented the idea of subterfuge selling was an ex-auto maker employee.  As the story goes, he would leave his factory job pushing a wheelbarrow full of sawdust past the guard gate every night.  Each time the guard would sift through the sawdust feeling certain items were being stolen from the factory; but never found anything.  After months of trying to catch the man he finally conceded and asked, “Charlie, I know you’re stealing something.  What is it?”  To which the man replied “wheelbarrows.” 

Customers are people who enjoy a joke, an education, and something new.  Engaging your customer in an experience goes a long way to building long term relationships.  The suggestion here is:  make your customers “want” to frequent your business.  Give them experience verses a chore. Think of ways to create more value for your customers and to be thought less of as a commodity.

Free seminars, for example, can create interest … provided customers aren’t suspect of a “hook” attached.  Offered monthly or quarterly, they can build a following.   You can broaden your subject matter to include handouts/speakers who can talk about “Life Savers” … things consumers can do to add value to their day:

•  How to make a nutritious meal in 15 minutes

• How to not “over-coach” your kid’s sports activities

• How to get your children into college

• Health and exercise tips

• Best ways to use coupons

• Stress buster activities

Rules For Selling During Gap Periods: Some things to consider when planning events to drive business during slow periods:

Get creative:  What would motivate prospective buyers to move out of the norm or habit and change for you?  It has to be a compelling reason and a strong message.  Sometimes the most obvious is the seed of the most creative.  What do you take for granted in your business?  What does your customer take for granted?  What can you do to make the buying of your product or service an experience:

• Smell good

• Taste good

• Feel good

• Sound good

Make your void period offers more of an experience and less of a transaction: In doing so you will be making it harder for your competition to copy you.  That’s why price cutting alone won’t get it done in the long term for you.  What do you want your customer to experience in using or buying your product or service?  When your car is in repair, you want it fixed right?  What if, while you were waiting, videos were playing that gave credibility to the dealership or mechanic working on your car?  What if a person was attending to your comfort in the waiting area?  What if?

Help the consumer to make it a habit by joining your club, or receiving loyalty rewards if they buy during void periods, etc.  Why should your customer come back? 

The world has evolved to become fragmented and, consequently, a fragmented marketplace.  But the good news is, it sets businesses up for opportunities to “re-join” humanity.  “Clubs” have become the venue to drive loyalty, such as:  Sam’s Club, Costco, major hotel chains and airlines.  But it’s going to take more than just frequent flyer/buyer programs to earn loyalty now.  Companies have to engage customers:  (And, by the way, employees, too.)  In the spirit of what made this country great, business needs to understand what customers want and give it to them. 

Read other articles and learn more about Don Farrell and Joe Creegan.

The Three Pillars of Success

By Eric Adler

A pillar is defined as a firm upright support for a superstructure.  Getting ahead in life is like building a superstructure and in order for the structure to stand securely it needs supporting pillars.  Three are all you need and here they are:

Pillar #1: Get out of Your Own Way: The majority of people tend to get into a comfortable rut.  They know what they will be doing each day, each week, and each year.  Within certain guidelines, their lives are predicable and stable. 

Predictable and stable, however, are not factors that lead to success.  Risk taking and instability are the keys to going from mediocre to stellar.  Most people have a difficult time moving out of a comfortable situation and into one of insecurity and unknown turns. But this is exactly what you have to do to become successful – get out of your own way.

The best way to do this is to take small steps towards a larger goal.  Realize that there are four major areas that make up our comfort zones: Geographical, personal, activity-related, and mental.  That is:

•Geographical: Where we live, work, and play

•Personal: Our friends, family, and co-workers

•Activity-Related: Our entertainment and hobbies

•Mental: What and how we think

Now, the trick to expanding one’s comfort zone is to not change all these areas at once.  Try one or maybe two at a time, get used to that and then move on to the others.  Changing any one area can be stressful. Doing too much, too soon will send you scurrying back to your comfortable rut.

Understand that expanding doesn’t mean getting rid of what’s already there.  You can make new friends and not abandon the old ones.  You can pick up a second hobby and still enjoy the first.  This is an addition not a subtraction process.

Pillar #2: Know Where You Want to Go and How to Get There: It’s easy to say, “Set goals.”  It’s not so easy to set ones that are actually meaningful to you.  We sometimes get so comfortable that we lose sight of what else there is to strive after.  So our list ends up looking like everyone else’s New Year’s Resolutions: Lose weight, exercise, and spend more time with the family.  We all know how successful these broad, half-hearted goals are – made on January 1, forgotten by February 1.

There are three factors that need to be put into play when setting goals:

•Set Your Own Goals: Don’t let others decide for you. If a goal isn’t meaningful to you, you won’t develop the enthusiasm needed to achieve it.

•Make Your Goals Concrete and Specific: Don’t just say you want to make more money. Set an exact amount and a firm time frame in which to make the goal.

•Determine What Effort is Required: If you don’t know what you need to do in order to reach a goal, it’s a wish not a goal. Be very clear about how much energy, time, and resources are going to be needed to be successful.

Pillar #3: Stop Talking and Take Action: Deciding to move out of one’s comfort zone and setting the goals to get to new levels are the easy parts.  These are the planning stages. Now comes the time for action.  Too many times people stop after setting up the parameters for success and then never take another step. 

•Don’t Announce Your Goals: Telling others only invites people who will tell you how hard it will be or why it can’t be done.  Keep your goals to yourself to avoid all the naysayers.

•Never Move Backwards: Don’t let setbacks stop you.  If things are temporarily going wrong, don’t use this as an excuse to retreat.  Analyze what went amiss and what is needed to get back on track.

•Reward Yourself Along the Way: Break a large goal into many mini-goals.  Once you achieve a mini-goal, reward yourself. This will help keep your enthusiasm high and give you many small successes leading to the big success at the end.

Establish these three pillars and you can accomplish anything you desire. 

 

Eric Adler is a trainer and mastercoach in the fields of communication, motivation and mental training. He is an Austrian-based, best-selling author who developed a unique method for measurable and verifiable personality development. A public study that consisted of 800 adults and teens documented that Eric’s unique form of personal development training had a very effective impact. His know-how is widespread in the licensing system in Europe, and he now issues licenses to trainers, speakers, coaches and consultants in the U.S., as well. For more information, email adler@asc12.com.

 

 

Motivation - The Heart Of Self Improvement

 by: Chris Carter

 Pain may sometimes be the reason why people change. Failing a test make us realize that we need to study. Debts remind us of our need to look for a source of income. Being humiliated gives us the push to speak up and fight for ourselves to save face from the next embarrassment. It may be a bitter experience, a friend's tragic story, a great movie, or an inspiring book that will help us get up and get just the right amount of motivation we need in order to improve ourselves.

With the countless negativities the world brings about, how do we keep motivated? Try these tips:

A - Achieve your dreams. Avoid negative people, things and places. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

B - Believe in yourself, and in what you can do.

C - Consider things from every angle and aspect. Motivation comes from determination. To be able to understand life, you should feel the sun from both sides.

D - Don't give up and don't give in. Thomas Edison failed once, twice, thousands of times before he came up with his invention and perfected the incandescent light bulb. Make motivation your steering wheel.

E - Enjoy. Work as if you don't need money. Dance as if nobody's watching. Love as if you never cried. Learn as if you'll live forever. Motivation takes place when people are happy.

F - Family and Friends - are life's greatest 'F' treasures. Don't lose sight of them.

G - Give more than is enough. Where does motivation and self improvement take place at work? At home? At school? When you expert extra effort in doing things.

H - Hang on to your dreams. They may dangle in there for a moment, but these little stars will be your driving force.

I - Ignore those who try to destroy you. Don't let other people to get the best of you. Stay away from toxic people - the kind of friends who hate to hear about your success.

J - Just be yourself. The key to success is to be yourself. And the key to failure is to try to please everyone.

K - keep trying no matter how hard life may seem. When a person is motivated, eventually he sees a harsh life finally clearing out, paving the way to self improvement.

L - Learn to love yourself. Now isn't that easy?

M - Make things happen. Motivation is when your dreams are put into work clothes.

N - Never lie, cheat or steal. Always play a fair game.

O - Open your eyes. People should learn good sense. They see things in 2 ways - how they want things to be, and how they should be.

P - Practice makes perfect. Practice is about motivation. It lets us learn ways we can recover from our mistakes.

Q - Quitters never win. And winners never quit. So, choose your fate - are you going to be a quitter? Or a winner?

R - Ready yourself. Motivation is also about preparation. We must hear the little voice within us telling us to get started before others will get on their feet and try to push us around. Remember, it wasn't raining when Noah build the ark.

S - Stop procrastinating.

T - Take control of your life. Discipline or self control jibes synonymously with motivation. Both are key factors in self improvement.

U - Understand others. If you know very well how to talk, you should also learn how to listen. Yearn to understand first, and to be understood the second.

V - Visualize it. Motivation without vision is like a boat on a dry land.

W - Want it more than anything. Dreaming means believing. And to believe is something that is rooted out from the roots of motivation and self improvement.

X - X Factor is what will make you different from the others. When you are motivated, you tend to put on "extras" on your life like extra time for family, extra help at work, extra care for friends, and so on.

Y - You are unique. No one in this world looks, acts, or talks like you. Value your life and existence, because you're just going to have it once.

Z - Zero in on your dreams and go for it!

About The Author: Develop your self esteem! Join us at http://selfimprovementclub.com/a/free-interviews-top-self-improvement-experts. The author invites you to visit: http://selfimprovementclub.com
 

 

Are You Asking the Right Questions?

As a business consultant, behavioral scientist, and keynote speaker, much of what I talk about runs counterintuitive to conventional leadership thinking. Identify and discard the best practices that made you successful but are no longer relevant to today’s world.

I constantly urge business leaders to slow down to go fast.  Unlearn to learn.  Stop making stuff up (or at least be aware when you are).  Regularly challenge what you think you know about your customers, your markets, and your industry.  Here’s another one: stop trying to have all the right answers and start focusing on asking the right questions.

A generation ago, when the world didn’t move so quickly, leaders had ample time to gather information, analyze the data, and make informed decisions regarding the strategy and direction for our organizations.  Fully armed with all the information, we could look out into the future and come up with the answers needed to achieve our strategic goals. 

But times have changed.  The increasing speed and complexity of our world now makes it impossible to have all the information we need to make fully informed decisions. That’s why today’s leaders must develop the critical skill of asking questions rather than having all the answers. The trick is coming up with the right questions.

Too often, leaders ask questions that keep people focused on problems and obstacles rather than on solutions. We don’t do this intentionally.  It’s just that we almost never pause to think about whether the questions we’re asking are producing the results we want.

For example, suppose your company has set a target of 20% sales growth but the numbers keep lagging behind the goal.  The typical approach involves asking the sales team questions like:  Why aren’t you selling more?  Why can’t you work together more effectively?  What are you going to do differently to sell more and catch up to plan?

On the surface these seem like reasonable questions.  The sales team isn’t performing, so it makes sense to ask them what is causing the problem and what they intend to do about it.  In reality, these types of questions usually produce negative rather than positive consequences.  First, they focus everyone’s thinking on problems rather than solutions.  They also cause the sales team to feel attacked, which puts them on the defensive.  This, in turn, causes them to look for scapegoat answers that have nothing to do with achieving the goal.

“Customers aren’t buying right now.  We’re in a down economy.  Our competitors keep undercutting our price.  Our marketing collateral sends the wrong message.”  The litany of excuses goes on and on.  If you hammer the sales team hard enough with these kinds of questions, sales may go up.  But more likely you’ll end up with continued sluggish sales and a demoralized sales team.

How do you ask the right questions?  It starts with a process I call “success visioning.”   This involves focusing on where you want to go (your target destination) and then picturing what it looks like when you get there.  Not if you get there, but when you get there.  Once you have a clear picture of what winning looks like for your organization, ask a series of future, active, past-tense questions that presume the target has already been achieved. 

For example, ask “When we have achieved our sales growth rate of 20%:

•How did we conduct outreach to our customers?

•What channels did we use?

•What products did we sell most effectively?

•What words or phrases did we use to clearly differentiate ourselves?

•Who did we build the strongest relationships with in the market?

•What does our brand mean?

•What systems did we use to track and support our progress?

•What testimonials did we leverage?

•How did we deepen our contacts at each client?

•How did we monitor and respond to changing market conditions?

See the difference?  Asking people why they aren’t selling more focuses their brains on the problem.  It keeps them stuck on what they are doing now rather than what they need to be doing to get the desired results.  Asking future, active, past-tense questions focuses their brains on filling in the blanks of what they did to achieve the goal.

Success visioning, coupled with future, active, past tense questioning works because it shifts your attention from what is stopping you from reaching your destination to what you are doing when you have gotten there.  It asks, “When we have done this (achieved our 20% sales growth target), what are we doing and what does it look like?  How did we get here?”  Your brain then begins to fill in with all sorts of options on how to achieve success. 

So, first get crystal clear on what winning looks like for your organization.  Then use open-ended questions to get people thinking and acting like your future desired state is already happening.  This process works equally well with the organization as a whole or with divisions, departments, teams, or smaller business units.  It can also be used on organizational tools, processes, systems, customers, market share – virtually any aspect of your business.

In a world where you can no longer predict the future with any degree of accuracy, the success of your business may hinge upon your ability to ask the right questions at the right time.  What are the right questions for your business, and when do you plan to ask them?

Holly’s top selling book, More Than a Minute: How to be an Effective Leader & Manager in Today’s Changing World goes beyond the theory of leading and managing by providing practical, action-oriented information. She writes a column for the Worldwide Association of Business Coaching, and is a highlighted expert on Bizmore.  Holly has contributed to two other best-selling books, Shift Happens, and A Cup of Cappuccino, Vol. II.  For more information, please visit http://www.thehumanfactor.biz/ and www.morethanaminute.com.