Valhalla Business Solutions - Business Management Consultants

Sales Management Consulting Specializing In... Sales and service Systems, Managing younger generations, Management protocols Coaching effectiveness


Thursday, March 11, 2010

Delegation

Identify tasks/projects to complete

· What can be delegated

· Choose the right person

· Delegate

Delegation is rarely used as effective as it could be. Often managers are perfectionists, they prefer to take work home or work late. They will override decisions made by their team frequently. Consequently, managers teams struggle when they are absent from the office. Their teams don’t take initiative or accountability for the operations of their department. These managers when absent from the office come back to large piles in their inbox, email, etc.

If you don’t delegate, you are not a good leader. Delegating to team members provides empowerment, development and accountability to the team. Anticipate and be comfortable with mistakes, your team will display much more initiative if they feel they can learn from their mistakes.

How?

· Identify the task to complete

o Analyze your job function. What are you evaluated on? When you write down the things you do daily, weekly and monthly. Which of these things can be done by your subordinates?

o Choose the right person. Contemplate your team’s talents and hard skills. Also consider their interests and career ambitions. What exposure will my team member get? How will this improve their skills?

· Delegate

o Request help. “Chris, I need your expertise on this.”

o Communicate why. “You have the best relationships with our marketing department and design team!”

o Seek acceptance. “Would you be willing to take on the preparation for the sales teams trade show in Denver next month?”

o Describe the details. “Here is what’s involved…”

o Affirm deadlines and standards. “Design, materials and travel arrangements need to be coordinated by the Friday the 22nd at 11:00 a.m. Please have final complete for me to review on the Wednesday the 20th at 11am as well.”

o Discuss check in points. “This month let’s start your one on one 10 minutes early to review your progress on this specific project. How does that sound?”

o Acknowledge you are a resource. “What do you think you need from me on this? This is your show, but if you need further guidance don't hesitate to ask and I will direct you the right resource or show you how to complete.”

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 10:10 AM 0 comments



Thursday, February 11, 2010

Pay it Forward

Be a Mentor

o Have a quarterly meeting

o Consider an agenda

o Be a confidant

o Choose someone who will give more than they take

o Consider someone in another department

o Observe them in action

Early in my career I had an upper level executive reach out to me. He had one motive, pay it forward! At first I had a hard time understanding why he reached out to me. This was especially true considering my perceptions of the corporate world. It had been, at least till that point every person for them self. His intent he made very clear! He communicated to go out of my way to share my knowledge with someone. He encouraged me to go out of my way to create opportunities for that person and so on. Unfortunately he left the organization shortly after that. Although he left, his message was clear be a helping hand too many

Although most books, articles, and personnel will encourage you to seek out a mentor, we at Valhalla consider becoming a mentor even more critical to your growth as a leader. Although having a mentor should not be discounted, you may gain more development from being a mentor.

Have a quarterly meeting- This relationship should be regular enough to create a frequent two way communication. Creating an atmosphere that encourages your mentee to reach to you. Most successful executives I witness schedule a one on one once a month. This should be easy to do if you are already calendaring your one on ones with your direct reports.

Consider an agenda- Although this time should be primarily about fielding the mentee’s agenda. It is critical to bring content that can help them grow. Concentrate on bringing them in on a project that won’t impact their current work production. Also contemplate their hard skill gaps? How can you assist in developing those skills? Their manager can be a great resource for skill gaps.

Be a confidant- This is almost needless to say, however a mentor is an escape from the political battles that may exist. It is critical to establish a trusting relationship where you can help coach them through those political battles. Too often a mentee may not have a relationship with someone where they can vent and brainstorm appropriate solutions.

Choose someone who will give more than they take- Find out who is talented within the organization!! I often get asked how they should approach this person. Consider the story above; reach out to someone under the pretense of Pay it Forward. This person is someone who will bring content and questions to your one on ones. This person is naturally a giver rather than a receiver. It ensures they pay it forward.

Someone in another department- Choosing someone outside your department allows the mentee to feel free to confide in you.

Observe them in action- Whether they are a sales person, customer service, technical worker or manager. Observe the mentee in action, performing their duties. The trust you have established with your relationship will add immeasurable feedback, they may not get elsewhere.


Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 10:11 AM 0 comments



Wednesday, May 20, 2009

What Organizational Issues Do You Have?



Management Consulting Companies today can add so much value to a corporation, small business and teams within an organization. Some of the biggest issues in management today stifle companies from growing and furthermore attracting the right talent to their organization. This only translates into poor product to the customer.

Here are some of the issues that exist in businesses today...
  • Wasted expense
  • Improper Pricing
  • Goals
  • Communicated Vision
  • Values
  • Expectations
  • Consistency
  • Complicated Vision and Values
  • Infrequent Communication
  • Development

Management consulting companies take these issues head on, specifically Valhalla. The issues listed are problems Valhalla addresses head on.

Wasted expense- as a business owner or leader in your department, when was the last time you spend time auditing your credit card processing bills, telecoms, employee time sheets, insurance premiums, 401k, etc. Often when reviewing these monthly fixed expenses there is an opportunity to save as much as 30 percent on their monthly expenses. As important as this is, leaders accept it as an acceptable ongoing expense. Those opportunities to increase capital are critical, especially during economic downturns.

Improper Pricing- this is a direct result of not understanding competitor pricing and not managing your fixed costs appropriately. Management consulting companies work with thousands of companies and often can add immediate value to pricing based on revenue goals and reducing your fixed costs.

Goals- If you don't know where your going, how do you build a plan to get there? Truth is your can't. Organizations usually do one of two things. They don't establish goals or establish too many goals. When there are know revenue goals, strategy goals, timeline goals, etc. Your team has no chance of meeting the expectations that so frequently fill a leaders mind. On the other hand some companies establish too many priorities or goals and handicap growth and productivity because each employee is an expert nowhere.

Communicated Vision- Many times a company will have a vision, mission statement or sometimes both. Countless times as management consultants we walk into an organization and ask an employee the company vision and no one knows what their company cares about.

Values- Have a core to how you do business, something that sets expectations for your team without saying a word.

Expectations- many companies have too much room for discretion amongst their team. They often call it empowerment, etc. However this never seems to be the result. So often each and every issue that comes up in a organization requires the person handling it to make a educated decision. While this sounds great and often they take care of an issue appropriately, the door to inconsistency has been let in the door. Meaning every time the same problem arises it requires a new solution and worse yet the customer gets a different solution from the time before.

Consistency- this falls hand in hand with expectations. Management consulting companies help establish the proper systems to deliver what your customer deserves.

Complicated Vision and Values- So often companies will have a well thought out way of doing business, lists of ideals, etc. Yet if you were to ask anyone in the company what they are, would they know? The answer is no, the lists can be so long that employees don't read it or recall any of the information. Management consulting drives home the most important ideals, keeps it simple and helps managers cement it into a way of life with their groups.

Infrequent Communication- Management does not communicate with their people enough. Why? There is no expectations for managers on how to manage. So often a manager is put into a role and asked to do it his/her way. Which is great, however you may have 200 managers and they are all doing it different. Can you guess how consistent of a product your people are delivering in all 200 locations? Management consulting companies assist organizations on implementing management communication standards. This keeps messages flowing consistently to all levels of companies.

Development- How often as an organization do you have to recruit talent outside your organization? Organically developing your staff can be the most beneficial revenue producing strategy you can have. The more educated your team members are, obviously the better asset they are. What is your strategy for developing your people?

Management consulting companies provide a unique niche in today's business world. They address entire organizational problems such as the issues listed above or can address specific areas for development. As a leader, if you care about your organization and your people, hire help. Before you even hire your next employee, take the time and analyze what revenue opportunities am I missing short term and long term by not hiring a management consulting company?

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 6:49 PM 0 comments



Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Financial Management Consulting

This day and age much of how a company cuts costs is by laying off workforce. It is a frightening time for so many individuals, corporations and even local municipalities. The last thing anyone wants to do as a leader is let go of people who have been such a large part of a team. Financial management consulting can help avoid ever getting to this type of situation. Specifically in new companies, there is an opportunity to set up their business for success and potentially avoid massive layoffs in the future. For a new business establishing a defined organization chart with detailed job descriptions. This may seem simple, but simple does not define easy to execute. Financial management consulting helps define organization charts, job descriptions and lastly the appropriate pay for the job description. Again this sounds easy, but we see many organizations pay way too much for positions and often pay for positions that shouldn't even exist. Financial management consulting focuses on other business needs beyond their biggest expense, employees! Their are investment strategies, distribution strategies, and cost saving strategies that must be implemented regardless of the businesses age.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 3:30 PM 0 comments



Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Keep Your Employees

Keep you Employees

  • Hiring Process
  • High Expectations
  • Recognition
  • Feedback
  • One on one
  • Promotions


I felt compelled to write this after a conversation I had with a client. This manager was truly torn with the idea that one of his employees was leaving his organization to work for someone else. He really struggled with the lack of loyalty. When the truth is what process have you as the business owner done to create loyalty? You may as the manager emotionally feel it. You have invested time, money, etc. However that is what a business owner values in a relationship. An employee has different values.

Valhalla has many solutions for creating loyalty, however here is some simple steps...

Hiring process- Behaviorally determine if this employee has a track record for loyalty. Ask questions such as...
  • Talk about a job you were truly passionate about, why?
  • Tell us about a time you felt your loyalty was in question, what was the situation? What did you do?

These are questions that can assist you in determining loyalty. However loyalty absolutely cannot be your only basis for hire.

High Expectations- A manager often has really high expectations for themselves, but as they begin to hire folks, they begin to negotiate the standard to win over their employees emotionally. Never, ever negotiate a standard. In the long run your people will lose respect for you as the employer. Employees frequently need to be challenged and they deserve to have high standards. Your customers deserve the same.

Recognition- this may seem simple, however it is not done nearly enough. Valhalla believes a worst case scenario would be recognizing once a day. Recognition is NOT gift cards, time off, celebrations. Recognition is catching people in a behavioral act doing it right. Then providing feedback.

Feedback- your team deserves to hear what is correct and incorrect from you regularly. Team members want to know they are doing it right. Or what they need to do to improve. If they are not growing they are more likely leave.

One on one- this is just a piece of Valhalla's "Effective Manager Calendar," but its the most important. Your team members deserve their time with you. Time discuss successes, concerns, personal life, etc. It is another great tool for evaluating progression. This is where they need to hear about how they are progressing in their career. They need vision and goals to obtain.

Promotions- Promote good results, good behavior and good skills. Tenure means absolutely nothing. If tenure is your value I wouldn't recommend anyone work for you, nor would I patron your business. I want the best service every time! Setting performance as your standard encourages better performance.

Labels: , , , , , , ,

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 9:07 AM 0 comments



Monday, April 20, 2009

Sales Process (Manager)

Sales Process (Manager)

Establish what each customer interaction looks like...

  • Greeting
  • Profiling
  • Recommendations
  • Exit

To make things simple for a leader to coach, there has to be foundational processes to your customer interactions.

Greeting, solicit your team in your next daily kick start or team to explore what and how a greeting should look from your organization to your customer. How can use the greeting to impact your sales? What would it sound like? How can you use your greeting to transition into a profiling session with your customer?

Profiling, the most important piece of any sales process and far and away the most absent in almost every business I visit. I challenge you and your business to make this a central part of who you are as an organization. Why? If you really care about what your customers need and want, you have to ask them. In almost every business I patron nobody ask or cares. They jump straight to recommendations. How can you assume you know what your customer wants. Its arrogant and condescending.

Recommendations, this is what most sales people think they excel at. "They can talk to anybody!" There is no one good at this unless the profiling step has properly been executed. You as a manager have an obligation to your customers and your employees to help them uncover the needs of your client.

Exit, this can have a lot polishing as well when it comes to business. Again as a manager solicit your team for what this should look like. Probe around referrals, commitments in future contact and elevating yourself from the competition.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 11:39 AM 0 comments



Friday, April 17, 2009

Valhalla Introduces New Saving Money Program

Budget CC Program

  • Save money immediately on expenses
    • Analyze utility statements
    • Analyze telecom statements
    • Review advertising and marketing budgets
    • Review bank statement fees
    • Review credit card processing
    • Insurance
    • etc.
  • Marketing Solutions
  • Immediate cash flow
  • Budget Analysis

Valhalla is an expert in saving clients money, beyond the sales, service and management expertise, Valhalla brings an immediate value added feature to businesses. Truth is businesses can become complacent with their fix costs. Since they have already budgeted for the cost, they don't take the time to save themselves money and reallocate their budgets towards revenue producing strategies. Valhalla brings a team of experts to analyze and diagnose cost saving techniques which will immediately have a monetary benefit.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 6:35 PM 0 comments



Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Valhalla's Management Expectations -- Feedback Moments

Valhalla's Management Expectations -- Feedback Moments

Who:
  • Catch team members doing things right
  • 5:1 Rule five positive feedback sessions to every one developmental
  • Identify specific behaviors
  • Feedback immediately after behavior

Where:
  • Entire location

When:
  • Daily
  • Schedule specific time

Why:
  • Encourages team to repeat good behaviors
  • Team member develops
  • Conveys to team managements willingness to get hands dirty
  • Opportunity for manager to model good behavior
    • Team sees behaviors done correctly

How:
  • Role play, practice doing things right
  • Feedback
    • Identify specific behavior observed
    • Associate it with a skill
    • Display how it impacted the team or customer
      • i.e., "When you followed up with that customer and remembered their upcoming vacation, you displayed again how important it is to you to do the right thing for your customers. Thank you for staying so disciplined to the sales process you have earned another lifetime customer! At this rate our team will have a great chance to meet our goal today. Thanks to you!"

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 8:34 AM 0 comments



Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Valhalla's Management Expectations -- Team Meetings

Valhalla's Management Expectations -- Team Meetings

Who:
  • Entire team

What:
  • Team builder
  • Share vision
  • Turn in calendar for the week
  • Brain storm around business priorities
  • Review team scoreboard
  • Recognize, recognize, recognize
  • Training
  • Internal customer presentations

Where:
  • Conference room (team should be sitting)

When:
  • Weekly
  • One hour

Why:
  • Stay abreast to internal issues
  • Direct communication with the entire team
  • Create team buy in
  • Better team relationships
  • More educated teams

How:
  • Team builder for the first 5-10 minutes to engage team
  • What does the our vision mean to you?
  • What are the team goals, and how will our priorities get us there?
  • Highlight substantial accomplishments
  • Have team members recognize each other for the last 10 minutes

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 6:27 PM 0 comments



Valhalla's Management Expectations -- Daily Exits

Valhalla's Management Expectations -- Daily Exits

Who:
  • Direct reports only

What:
  • Discuss what was accomplished for the day
  • Discuss the days learning
  • Review high impact priorities
  • Review scorecard
  • Follow up on Daily Kick Start commitments
  • Recognize specific behaviors

Where:
  • Area large enough to have all your direct reports

When:
  • Daily
  • 15 minutes

Why:
  • Team learns from each other
  • Increased accountability
  • More urgency from your team
  • Develops consistency which transfers to your customers
  • Reinforces the importance of the day's activities

How:
  • Ask
    • Based on your learning today what changes would you make?
  • Follow up
    • i.e., you talked about scheduling three appointments this morning. How did that go? What did you learn?
    • i.e., Paul you mentioned you needed three more presentations for next week. Where are you with your goal?
  • Celebrate
    • i.e., Kelly you surpassed your goals again for the third day in a row! What is working so well for you?

NOTE: The daily exit is critical to the management process, but cannot be the only activity. The Daily Kick Start is critical to making your Daily Exit effective

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 6:05 PM 0 comments



Valhalla's Management Expectations -- Daily Kick Start

Valhalla's Management Expectations -- Daily Kick Start

Who:
  • Direct reports, followed by entire team

What:
  • State vision
  • Ask team to review week's business priorities
  • Ask team to review team scorecard
  • Ask individuals to review team goals
  • Ask individuals how they are going to make it happen today?
    • What will it sound like?
    • What will it look like?

Where:
  • Room large enough to have your team standing up

When:
  • Daily
  • 15 minutes with direct reports
  • 15 minutes with the entire team

Why:
  • Set tone for the day
  • Have the entire team on the same page
  • Reinforces team goals
  • Reinforces vision for the team

How:
  • Deliver vision
    • i.e., "Our focus is growing and developing as a team. We believe we are only as strong as our weakest team member. We also believe we have a moral obligation to help our customers succeed, by always doing what is right for the customer."
  • Ask
    • What does our vision mean to you?
    • What are the business priorities?
    • What are we trying to accomplish as a team?
    • Walk us through how you will help the team meet its goals today?

NOTE: This activity should never be skipped, this is a foundational process to keep your team moving with a sense of urgency. Without this many of the other coaching expectations lose value

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 5:13 PM 0 comments



Valhalla's Management Expectations -- One on One

Valhalla's Management Expectations -- One on One

Who:
  • All direct reports

What:
  • 10 Minutes about them
    • What do you wanna talk about in your 1:1?
    • Recognize specifics
  • 10 Minutes for you
    • Scorecard
    • Specific projects
    • etc.
  • 10 Minutes development
    • Work on specific skill development
    • Career progression

Where:
  • Private place on-site! (never off-site)

When:
  • Weekly (same time if possible)
  • 30 minutes

Why:
  • Removes lack of communication as a reason for failure
  • Prevent reactionary management
    • Solving crisis after the fact
  • Communication forum to keep goals at the forefront
  • Give employees the time they deserve
  • Anticipate unscheduled time off from your employees
  • Acknowledge what motivates your employees
  • Develop strong relationships with your direct reports

How:
  • What is your primary motivation for getting up in the morning?
  • Spiral for each employee
  • Talk about what you have been working on?
  • Talk about your scorecard?
  • What updates do you have....?
  • What insights do you have on the recent changes implemented?
  • What challenges are you facing?

NOTE: The one on one is the primary coaching protocol in Valhalla's process. Without this fundamental coaching expectation the rest of the coaching expectations are not nearly as effective.

www.valhallabizsolutions.com


Labels: , , , , , , , ,

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 4:48 PM 0 comments



Sunday, March 22, 2009

Corporate Social Responsibility -- Diversity



  • Diversity
    • Board of Directors should match your communities
    • Establish a work environment conducive to...
      • Disabled employees
      • Women and minorities
      • Gay and Lesbian
      • Diversity of thought
      • Promotions
    • Work and life benefits
    • Products and Services
    • Benefit the economically disadvantaged
    • Quality of services
    • Employee Relations
      • Healthy and safe working environment
      • Retirement plans
      • Profit sharing
      • Internal non-political resource groups

Diversity as a priority must start from the top. It must be important to all senior management to be apart of a companies organizational structure and culture.

First, if you have a board of directors make a conscience effort to mirror the communities in which you are present. Not only does it make good business sense to have a cultural understanding of the communities you do business in, it is critical to establish a work environment conducive to those cultures.

In your Vision and Values take the time to make an organization that holds diversity at the very top. One of the best organizations I have seen has internal resource groups for disabled employees, women and minorities, gay and lesbian and so on. These internal resource groups recruit membership within the organization and become a nucleus for networking, skill enhancement and giving back to the community. Each of which should be a priority for any organization. These groups can influence benefits, recruiting efforts, community involvement and the quality of service you deliver to the diverse groups in your communities.





Labels: , , , , , ,

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 11:10 AM 0 comments



Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Setting Revenue Goals-Basic


  • Set appropriate revenue goals (net income should be considered)
  • Establish goals per employee

Set appropriate revenue goals (net income should be considered)

When setting revenue goals you must first look at your revenue for previous year. If you have revenue of one million dollars, this years goal must be larger. A good rule of thumb is to analyze the growth you had between your last two years. If you grew by 10% this should give you an adequate barometer of what might be feasible in the upcoming year, especially if your organization did this by accident. 10% is a great number to start with every year. It means your making a commitment to grow your business at a pace that which will outlive your competition. This does not always guarantee a significant growth in net income, however it speaks volumes about the fiscal health of the business. It also sends a message to investors that growing your business is a priority.
Net income needs to be factored, setting an expense budget is critical. Use last years growth in this category as well. For our organization we always make the gap between revenue growth and expense growth at least 10%. If we have revenue of $1,000,000 and expenses of $500,000 for 2008, our 2009 goals could look like 15% revenue growth and 5% budget growth ($1,150,000 revenue, $525,000 expenses)

Establish goals per employee

Average your expenses per employee. What does each employee cost (salary, health care, retirements, etc.) Set goals appropriately, where can you cut costs, can you add an employee? Adding a resource sometimes can be the fastest way to reach your new revenue goals. However you can run the risk of diluting your work forces effectiveness. This can't be your only strategy.
Break down how much revenue is produced per employee. How much will each revenue producing employee have to produce to make the new goals? Account for added staff. How much revenue will have to be produced per day per employee? Now analyze your most profitable products you offer, which has the highest retention and the greatest opportunity for cross sell.
For example lets take the goal from above ($1,150,000) and pretend its a printing company with 10 sales employees. Their highest profitable product is marketing consulting. The company averages $4000 of revenue for each marketing consulting project and average a cross sell of 3 prints per marketing project. How many marketing projects would each employee have to produce to make the entire revenue goal? (29 projects/year) How many is that a month? (2) Now if you set the cross sell goal of 3.5 what would you average per project? Setting these goals sets your employee to have a foundation to ensure you make your revenue goals.

Labels: , , , , , ,

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 3:50 PM 0 comments



Saturday, February 28, 2009

Profiling Your Customer


Understand Your Customer

  • Analyze your products and services
  • Work backwards assessing needs for your products and services
  • Develop an open ended questioning system

The first step is to categorize and write down all of your products and services. In this case lets use a cleaning services company.
  • Products
    • Environmentally safe cleaning aids
    • Carpet cleaner
    • Super Vac
  • Services
    • Commercial cleaning
    • Emergency event cleaning and set up
    • Cooking prep and clean up

2nd step take each product and assess the potential needs for each product and service
  • Carpet cleaner needs
    • Unexpected stain
    • Large party
    • Allergy issues
    • Pets in home
  • Cooking prep and clean up
    • Large wedding
    • House party
    • Graduation
    • Christmas party

3rd step establish an open ended questioning system uncovering current needs and potential future needs.
  • Current Needs
    • What is the reason for your call?
    • What type of party are you having?
    • What kind of allergy issues are you having?
    • How many pets do you have in the home?
    • What are your thoughts for the wedding?
  • Future Needs
    • What do you do when you have an unexpected stain?
    • What types of hosting events do you have in the next six to twelve months?
    • What months are your allergies the most intense?
    • What other life events are you anticipating in the upcoming future?
      • i.e., pet purchase, new child, Christmas party, etc.

Developing a detailed questioning process will set you up to be very successful at cross selling and scheduling future contact points. Taking this step in your business, not only helps you understand your customer better it creates an easy sales process. Discovering what is important to your customer sets you up to be a solution oriented business. Consumers by solutions, not products.

Labels: , , , , , ,

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 11:10 AM 0 comments



Tuesday, February 17, 2009

CEO Coach


Does a CEO Need a Coach?

Benefits of a having a skills coach...

  • Non bias feedback
  • Non political evaluation
  • Improved communication with the team
  • Safe environment to forecast the future
  • Improved leadership and coaching skills
  • Increased revenue

When you think of the fortune 500 companies, a good percentage of them work with a mentor or coach. Why does the number one golfer (Tiger Woods) in the world have such an intimate relationship with his coach. In business there is a general rule, if you are not growing, your dieing. You can see it across the country right now, companies are struggling. This same fundamental rule applies to personal growth as well.

With Valhalla Business Solutions I maybe the CEO, however that does not mean I don't have a coach. I have someone evaluating my performance all the time. He listens to my conference calls. He takes notes during presentations and then provides honest feedback on my performance with our clients. This way we can continue to grow as an organization. I have a core belief not only as it relates to business, but spiritually. Life is about evaluating your performance and developing as an individual. If you as a leader don't create a learning environment for yourself, my thought is your most likely are not creating it for your organization.

Note I mentioned self evaluation, this is key when it comes to growth. My coach sets up environments for me to learn. Asks me why I say certain things to clients, internal customers, etc. Really this allows for me to diagnose my process. He also evaluates my communication skills, from empathy to building rapport with a client. These may seem very small to improve on, however it is apart of a much larger fol-ossify. If you are not growing, your dieing. CEO's

Valhalla's Advice...
aren't challenged on their process enough. Do you think this could have impacted some of the larger banks and car companies who are failing? Truly how can you as a CEO say "yes" you can afford this home. You have to do what is right for your customer!! Every time!!! Lastly, don't your internal and external customers deserve the best. The best from you, the face of the organization.
  • Pick a mentor, no matter what level of an organization you are at
  • Hire a coach
  • If you don't hire a coach, recruit someone from human resources or your learning and development staff to evaluate you on a regular basis (this may apply for specific skill feedback, not recommended for challenging company process or fol-ossify)

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 9:37 AM 0 comments



Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Ask for Referrals

How do you reach your Revenue goals through other people?

Of all the successful businesses we work with, there really are no secrets to why they are successful. In fact almost all of them have similar marketing, sales and service systems. What differs many times between the successful companies and the struggling companies is poor execution.

What ideas have you had with your business to improve your marketing or sales? When you think of those ideas, how many are still sitting on the shelf? Valhalla Business Solutions will you give you something that you can implement tomorrow at a grass-roots marketing level that will work every single time. Better yet, it won't cost you anything, and will do wonders for your business, especially as the months pass.

Ask for referrals!! Wow, that's your secret? It’s so simple! Think about every sales, service and marketing position in your organization. How many people actually prospect referrals? How many managers expect it? Valhalla takes pride in showing you how to execute the most basic fundamentals. If you skip the simplest of things, such as prospecting for referrals, how can you as an organization execute anything more difficult?

Here is what we would encourage you to think about before your next meeting: Is this a standard I want to expect from my sales and marketing teams? Next, think about exactly the way it should sound. When it comes out of Jane Doe's mouth, what will it sound like exactly? In a conversation with a client, when and how should your team-member ask for a refferal? Lastly, think about how am I going to introduce this as a standard in my next meeting?

Tip:
In your staff meeting set asking for referrals as the standard, then solicit the team on how to make it effective. This will help the team own the new standard.

Labels:

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

posted by Valhalla Business Solutions at 9:37 PM 0 comments




Feedback Form