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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: calendar management, career, Coaching Teams, effective manager, employees, feedback, Restaurant Management, Sales Coaching, Small Business CEO, Small Business developing your team members
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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: banking, calendar management, Coaching Teams, conflict resolution, corporate responsibility, feedback, mentor, polotics, Restaurant Management, Sales Coaching, Small Business CEO
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10:11 AM
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Saturday, January 30, 2010
Now I am a Manager, What’s My Job?
I had numerous conversations with managers this week, so many struggling with the production of their teams, struggling with pressures from their superiors and so on. There are many common denominators to the adversity manager’s face, but one shadowed the rest this week. A manager so often believes they are brought in for their “Technical Work” strategies. This is not the case. What is “Technical Work?” Technical work would be the day to day work of a plumber or the day to day work of a sales person, realtor, and mechanic and so on.
A plumber installs piping. A sales person makes sales calls. A realtor shows houses. The mechanic changes oil.
How is a manager measured?
· Production of their team
A successful manager understands they are not measured by their great ideas or solutions, but the solutions created and implemented by their team. This statement may confuse many managers, but take a look back at how you are measured.
What does a manager do?
· Creates a learning environment
· Builds a team
· Emotionally engages their employees
· Recognizes the efforts and successes of the technical work being accomplished
· Opens the door to communication
· Welcomes ideas and solutions
· Promotes Self Discovery…
· Customer Service to employees
· Creates frequent communication forums for their teams
If a manager can immediately adopt a strategy of soliciting solutions from their team, then trust and encourage their employees to see it through. The successes will be endless.
Labels: Coaching Teams, development, employees, feedback model, internal customers, management, management expectations, small business, Small Business CEO, Small Business developing your team members
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9:37 AM
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Thursday, January 7, 2010
Denver Broncos: Dear Coach McDaniel's
As an extremely avid Bronco fan, I found it very important I weighed in on what I witnessed with my team this year!! Countless management mistakes were made, but let’s focus on one.
*Earning the trust of your team
-Recognizing Individual Talents
-One on One communication
Often rookie managers have one idea in mind, "I must prove myself and my knowledge." In this case you (McDaniel’s) being a young coach this common mistake was exaggerated. New managers may have the best tactical ideas on how to perform the tasks at hand, (X's and O's) but lack the people management skills to help deliver their perfect strategy. Human nature is such that people deliver based on how they feel. A team member must be emotionally engaged to deliver.
To build the perfect team, recognizing individual strengths is one of the first tasks at hand! Although you (McDaniel’s) are absolutely correct, "No one person is bigger than the team." You went out of your way not to recognize the strengths of your people. Thus the loss of Cutler and the potential loss of other outstanding talents. Although tactically it may have made sense to rid Cutler, how it was handled was completely inappropriate. Football players or not, people need to feel special and gifted. And more importantly deserve it.
Although McDaniel’s you most likely have a great strategy for the football field. It 100% needs to be coupled with a people management strategy. This is obviously lacking!! "Why the 6-0 start then?" Well Josh, frequently when there is a need for a new leader and one is brought in, a team goes through a honeymoon period! Team members are engaged, motivated to keep their jobs, etc. The honeymoon period typically evaporates after six months, if not sooner. At this point it comes down to strong fundamentals, relationships and sound management practices. Josh over the next couple years you will make mistakes, we all do! However it is how you handle them that makes you a great leader.
McDaniel’s my advice to engage your team is know your people. Their strengths, weaknesses, desires, goals, motivators and so on. And more importantly than anything JOSH!! Confidentiality is a virtue so many managers lack. Build it into your management "system!"
Attached is an article link of one tactical management protocol you could implement into your system to know your people!!!
http://www.valhallabizsolutions.com/resources/Management-One-On-One-Meetings.pdf
Labels: calendar management, Coaching Teams, Denver Broncos, effective manager, employees, management expectations, Small Business CEO, Sports Management
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Valhalla Business Solutions
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9:01 AM
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Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Do What's Right For A Customer?
- Genuinely know your client
- Be a solutions based business
- Follow up to ensure the solutions are correct
Labels: banking, calendar management, Coaching Teams, development, economic crisis, economy, effective manager, internal customers, printing, profiling, Restaurant Management, Small Business CEO
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Valhalla Business Solutions
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7:47 AM
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Monday, May 4, 2009
What to do in Uncertain Economic Times
Labels: banking, calendar management, Coaching Teams, economic crisis, economy, education, effective manager, internationa companies, Restaurant Management, Small Business CEO
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5:00 PM
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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Keep Your Employees
- Hiring Process
- High Expectations
- Recognition
- Feedback
- One on one
- Promotions
- 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?
Labels: Coaching Teams, corporations, economy, human resources, Sales Coaching, small business, Small Business CEO, Small Business developing your team members
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Valhalla Business Solutions
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9:07 AM
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Sunday, April 26, 2009
Assumptive Selling (Don't DO IT!)
- Profile
- Patience
- Listen
- Recommend
So often I witness sales people in action and I have to be honest it is out right pathetic. Three times this week I have had the opportunity to witness some of the most ineffective behavior.
Truth is I watch ineffective sales people have to get 3-4 times the number of clients to reach their volume goals, compared to an effective sales person. Any business owner knows it is significantly harder to obtain a new customer than cross sell one. Most sales people struggle with both.
Sales people please profile, take the time to have targeted customer questions which turn your customers brain on. This will undoubtedly reveal potential needs your company may have solutions for. The number one rule hear is never, ever make a recommendation during this time. It changes the environment in the conversation. Quickly a sales person frequently makes this mistake and begins to discuss cost and provide numerous product information. This will require a lot of patience becauseintuitively a sales person has solutions to fix a customers issues. Make sure you listen and listen some more.
Lastly once you have listened to all their concerns, feelings, fears, wish lists, etc. Make a formal solution based recommendation.
Labels: banking, Coaching Teams, corporations, cross sell, development, economy, feedback, management expectations, relationships, Restaurant Management, Small Business CEO
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Valhalla Business Solutions
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10:08 PM
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Friday, April 17, 2009
Valhalla Introduces New Saving Money 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: Coaching Teams, corporations, cross sell, diversity, economic crisis, economy, effective manager, revenue, Sales Coaching, Saving money, Small Business CEO
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Valhalla Business Solutions
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6:35 PM
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Monday, April 13, 2009
Internal Politics 101
- Gossip with peers
- Managing perception
- Staying networked
- Pursue a Mentor
Truth is politics are a main stay in every environment. Managing them is your responsibility, if success is important to you. This is a broad topic which can be very far reaching, so I will only touch on a few items here.
Understanding where you are on the totem pole is critical. Most people sit today in an environment which they have multiple peers and a ladder on the way up, sometimes 3-5 layers high. If elevating your career is important to you, then the number one rule is remove yourself from peer gossip. In a political environment everything you say and do will be used against you. To establish yourself as a leader elevate your empathy skills and turn those complaining, rumor milled conversations your peers engage in, into positives about the company.
Number two, manage peoples perception of you. This can be a very difficult thing to do, often someones self image is not a true reflection of the perception they illuminate.
Things to consider:
- Appearance
- how you dress
- how often do you smile
- how do you smell etc.
- Taking notes
- with your boss
- with your employees
- in meetings
- Communication
- consulting your boss on any upper management communication
- talk with your boss daily
- say yes to projects willingly
- don't say yes to everything
- Competency
- know your department
- numbers
- forecasts
- employees
Staying networked is important, stay proactive by using the Valhalla Effective Manager Calendar to assist in staying proactive. Which means have a network lunch frequently. Once a week with people of influence or who directly/indirectly impact your development and your department.
Having a mentor internally can do much for your career. Mentors often have been through similar experience which currently face or will face and can help you navigate the political waters. Or help you with tactical advice to make you more successful in your work.
Labels: Coaching Teams, conflict resolution, development, economy, internal customers, learning, management, management expectations, polotics, relationships, Restaurant Management, Small Business CEO
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Valhalla Business Solutions
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6:27 PM
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Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Gaining Commitment From Employees
- Determine team goals
- Brain storm appropriate tasks/behaviors
- Assign time frames
- Solicit employee regularly on progress
- Schedule follow up
I have to opportunity to observe so many managers talk to their staffs and there are many reasons their employees don't commit to action. I also get to hear all the time from managers, "my employees just don't care about their work!" Or, "they just don't do what they know they are supposed to do?" There are so many reasons for this, but almost all the reasons are at the fault of the manager. Team members want to do well, they want to make their goals and they want to be recognized when they do. One effectiveness skill that could amplify a managers results today would be working on gaining a commitment from their team.
Determine team goals! This may sound easy, but can be difficult. In your next team meeting solicit your team for something they would like to accomplish over a period of time. Valhalla recommends at least a goal that requires a month to achieve, but can be longer. Once the team has something they are trying to achieve, it will be easier to have behaviors and tasks to deliver the required results.
Work with your employee to determine what their role looks like to achieve the team goals. A one on one is a great place for this. Details are important here. i.e. Every time a customer walks into our location I will say, "welcome, have you visited us before?" Depending on the answer I will then say, "great I am glad you have been here before, let me tell you about a special we have for returning customers!"
Assign a time frame, ensure you the manager set the bar on time line. It is inappropriate for your employee to ever guess when you want a particular task completed.
Solicit your employee regularly through out the task on what they are learning. Ask, "What things are you learning so far?" This is where they will critique their own work.
Schedule follow up, this is the most important to ensure anything gets done. Schedule frequent follow up to ask for progress. This ensures something does not get missed or skipped along the way. This also presents a forum for your employee to solicit your feedback and obtain your guidance.
Labels: banking, calendar management, Coaching Teams, corporations, cross sell, development, economy, management, management expectations, small business, Small Business CEO, team building
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Valhalla Business Solutions
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4:03 PM
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Thursday, April 2, 2009
Cross Sell, Expand Your Services
Cross Sell, Expand Your Services
- Consider Service Industry
- Apply with your product
I had the opportunity to discuss someones business the other day and to be honest I had never encountered a business quite like it before. She had a type of pillow which was used to help a woman's skin avoid wrinkling. It was a product I had never heard of? I familiarized myself with her business and realized the pillow was the only piece of the business. One thing we work on with each company is your product is not your business. Your business is your product. Customers need a reason to buy the business. We explored at length what could help increase the sales of her business.
We decided she would put together a aging skin care wellness off-site. We discussed the resources she knew in the business and how to apply it. Here is what she came up with.
- 3 Day Wellness Trip (she knew a manager of a hotel)
- Day 1-Skin Care (her product and a make up expert)
- Day 2-Group therapy (her best friend the psychiatrist)
- Day 3-Yoga (her yoga instructor)
When we were done with the conversation, she realized how much a product like hers lead itself to other opportunities to increase revenue by cross selling service and more importantly selling her product.
Labels: corporate responsibility, cross sell, economic crisis, economy, management, management expectations, off-site, small business, Small Business CEO
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Valhalla Business Solutions
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1:15 PM
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Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Valhalla's Effective Manager Calendar
Effectivemanagercalendar.doc
Labels: calendar management, economic crisis, effective manager, employees, feedback, feedback model, management, management expectations, Restaurant Management, small business, Small Business CEO
posted by
Valhalla Business Solutions
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9:10 AM
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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: Coaching Teams, corporations, economy, feedback, feedback model, learning, Restaurant Management, Sales Coaching, small business, Small Business CEO
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Valhalla Business Solutions
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8:34 AM
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Tuesday, March 24, 2009
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: Coaching Teams, corporations, development, economy, recession, Restaurant Management, Sales Coaching, sales process, small business, Small Business CEO
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6:27 PM
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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: banking, Coaching Teams, corporations, development, economy, Sales Coaching, sales process, small business, Small Business CEO
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6:05 PM
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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: banking, Coaching Teams, corporations, economic crisis, Sales Coaching, sales process, Small Business CEO, team building, team goals
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5:13 PM
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Sunday, March 15, 2009
Economic Recessions -- Understand Your Competition
Review the following...
- Pricing
- Competitive services and conveniences
- What they are doing well
- services
- processes
- marketing
- social networking
- Community involvement
Its amazing how much your competition can help you, most people don't look at it that way. Too often I run into business owners that refuse to use another businesses great idea. As if it is an admission of inadequacy? I can only challenge you as a business owner or manager look around you and see who is doing it the best. Use it to innovate processes in your organization.
As the President of our organization, I have yet to refuse advice from experts in their respected areas. I solicit advice from experts in each of the bullet points above. Its critical to build a network that can add value to your organization. (we will discuss networking in a future blog)
The truth is if you as a business owner go to your competition as a customer you begin to understand more of how your customer views your business. Adding value to your customer is your number one priority, be humble and learn from those around you!!
Labels: Coaching Teams, community outreach, corporate responsibility, economic crisis, economy, management, Small Business CEO
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Thursday, March 12, 2009
Corporate Responsibility -- Environment
- Recycle
- Use clean energy where applicable
- Conservation
Environment has to be apart of your culture, document environment as a priority in your vision and values.
There are dozens of companies that manage this process for you, especially when it comes to your record retention and privacy policy requirements. When disposing of paper, electronics, plastic, etc. Set the proper systems that makes this process really easy for your employees, or better yet solicit your team for ideas on how to be more environmentally friendly. Choose a team lead and hold them accountable to the ideas they come up with.
This proposition can be more expensive than others, however solutions can be solar energy, hydro electric and so on.
Conservation is the easiest of things to do, below are some ideas...
- Thermostat regulation
- Water conservation
- Purchase recycled paper
- Turn off lights and electronics as apart of your closing procedure
- Use verbal communication whenever possible
- Reduce print advertising
- No full bleed prints
- Print digitally
- etc.
When making this apart of your organization, remember its not about perfect its about progress. Imagine if every single business in the world just did two of the recommendations above. How much impact would it have in cost alone, not to mention the environment.
Labels: economy, environment, print, printing, recycle, Restaurant Management, Small Business CEO, social responsibility
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5:51 PM
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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: employees, management, Restaurant Management, revenue, Sales Coaching, sales process, Small Business CEO
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3:50 PM
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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: economy, knowing your customer, making money, profiling, Sales Coaching, Small Business CEO, teleconsulting
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Thursday, February 26, 2009
Make Your International Company Thrive in the United States
Your international company must do the following...
- Analyze your value to a U.S. company
- Develop a tele-consulting strategy
- Hire someone in the U.S.
- Ensure their experience is the same every time
Truth is more money is spent in the United States by businesses and consumers, compared to every other country. As an international business what can you bring to a U.S. customer? U.S. businesses have value in mind when it comes to any big decision. Most importantly is how convenient and consistent is what they are buying and secondly will they save money. For example if your a printing company in India, how can you save a corporation money? More importantly how can you deliver consistency and simple process to your customer? For a printing company they could do the following...
- Establish a 800 number
- Create an exact time line for every product you offer from start to delivery
- Authenticate a profiling process to know your customer (i.e., their wants, needs, promotions, hobbies, family, etc.)
- Develop a consistent follow up process (hold your customers hand)
Generate a outbound call strategy to the United States. Most U.S. businesses will do anything to save money, especially during our current economic cycle.
- Use google to narrow down business genres you will target
- Identify how you are going to add value to the company before you call
- Use your authentic profile process
- Have an effective script
- Greeting
- Relationship Connector
- Transition to profile
- Profile
- Recommendation
- Set Expectations
- Request a follow up call
When possible hire a sales representative within the United States. They can really act as a liaison for your company. Their is a culture to how we do business in the United States and someone local will add significant results to your business.
Ensure you make the experience the same every time for your U.S. customers.
- Create order forms
- Establish response times on inquiries, never deviate
- Keep your logo the same
- Use the same sales rep, when possible
- Encourage your customer to ask questions
These steps may seem simple, but are required for success. Everyone around the world knows the business McDonald's. There is a reason why this business is so successful in the United States. McDonald's provides the same thing every time a customer walks through the door. No confusion, only fulfilled expectations. People don't go there for the great food. Their product is consistency in service, time frames, food taste, cleanliness, order process, ease of payment, speed, etc.
Labels: economy, internationa companies, making money, management, sales process, Small Business CEO, tele-consulting, United States
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Valhalla Business Solutions
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Monday, February 23, 2009
Corporate Responsibility -- Community
- Community
- Internal volunteer program
- Support for education needs within the community
- Charitable Giving
- Innovative community outreach
What can this look like in your organization?
An internal volunteer program has to be encouraged and supported by the CEO all the way through each team member. Valhalla for example requires each employee to volunteer eight hours each quarter. Valhalla does not require or put expectations on where or who they can volunteer for, it is the employees responsibility to decide on their own. However Valhalla partners with a number of non profits to make the volunteer opportunities easier for each employee to fulfill. As you can imagine if you have an organization of 100 employees, it translates to 3200 volunteer hours a year. For any organization that is a considerable amount of hours in the community. This type of outreach will be great team building exercises for your team.
Make your volunteer program effective by offering support for education needs within the community. What does this mean for your organization? This is a time to analyze what services you offer. How can these services be of use to help your surrounding communities become more educated. The benefit of this often is a healthier community, better choices for hire and more educated consumers for purchase. For example at Valhalla I spend my volunteer time in high schools educating kids on how to interview well, I also educate them on how I have gotten where I am by hard work and doing the right things for people.
Be innovative in your charitable giving, this does not have to be purely monetary. Often organizations will take time during the year to establish food drives, clothing donations and giving blood. These are simple things to do and can be annual strong holds in your organization. It also can be a great development tool for someone in your organization to demonstrate their leadership skills and further their career.
Lastly innovative community outreach, is another great way for your organization to take the lead in the community. Often an organization has a lot of resources to speer head such projects. Best practices I have seen are youth education programs, conferences educating seniors on preparing for retirement. I have seen lawyers review estates for free, banks educate on how to be fiscally fit and sports teams provide exercise guidance. These are simple things to do the right thing in your community.
Labels: community outreach, corporate charity, corporate responsibility, corporations, education needs, employees, internal volunteer program, management, Small Business CEO
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Valhalla Business Solutions
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12:59 PM
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Friday, February 20, 2009
Corporate Social Responsiblility
Implement your vision of corporate responsibility into your vision and values, by establishing processes for the items listed below. We will go into detail in future blogs on what each one could look like.
- Community
- Internal volunteer program
- Support for education needs within the community
- Charitable Giving
- Innovative community outreach
- Environment
- Recycle
- Use clean energy where applicable
- Conserve energy
- 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
Social responsibility is an unspoken requirement of a successful business. As an observer of this current economic crisis, I ask myself if each company would dedicate the time to live the principals above, they would have the esteemed employees, managers and customers they need to sustain economic downturns. Why? Because they did the right things for the people they touch. Customers, employees and their communities.
Labels: charity, clean energy, community, conservation, corporate charity, corporations, diversity, economic crisis, recycle, Small Business CEO, social responsibility, volunteering
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Valhalla Business Solutions
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5:10 PM
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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: banking, big three, chrysler, Coaching Teams, ford, gm, mortgage, Sales Coaching, Small Business CEO, tiger woods
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Valhalla Business Solutions
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9:37 AM
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Saturday, February 14, 2009
Making Your Internal Customer Relationships Real
- Know your employees, peers and managers
- Acknowledge their desires
- Follow up with what they hold dear
Of all the things that can impact your business, the relationships you establish create longevity for the company. Although this is fundamental, it is frequently skipped or continuously fabricated. For those of you reading this article, take a moment to think about your business relationships. If you are in a corporation, what do you know about your peers, managers and employees? Why they come to work? What motivates them? What is most important in their life? Where do they want to be long term? Have you taken the time to truly care about the people you spend a considerable quantity of your life with?
Now that you have analyzed the business relationships in your life. Were you able to answer these questions about your employees, peers and managers?
How often has anyone asked you the questions above? Would you have a lot to say? My most productive relationships at work, involve a mutual understanding and appreciation for the questions above. If your reading this blog, it is your responsibility to take leadership and acknowledge this about the people around you.
In my years of experience most people don't come to work because they love coming to work. There are external factors that drive them. Such as family, money, vacation, spouse, legacy, relationships, pride, etc. It is your role as a leader to acknowledge and accept what is important to them. As a result you will have employees, management and peers more engaged in your process.
Below is an example of the difference between a great leader and one with cordial relationships...
Average: "John how was your weekend?"
Great: "John I know your were really anxious to see your son Chris's ball game this weekend. How did it go?"
Average: "Cyndee, what outstanding work on your sales reports!"
Great: "Cyndee, what outstanding work on your sales reports, specifically where you highlighted the growth in your effectiveness in customer interactions. You will have that bonus to pay for your wedding in no time!"
Average: "Ralph, you have fallen behind on your sales plan for the third month in a row. I am very disappointed!"
Great: "Ralph, you have talked at length about being number one in sales for the district. I know how important this is to you to make the company sales recognition trip, what can you do to get back on track to being number one?"
Labels: internal customers, management, relationships, Small Business CEO
posted by
Valhalla Business Solutions
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10:51 AM
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Thursday, February 12, 2009
Business Education: After You Designate your CEO
Determine...
- CFO
- Sales and Service Manager
- Human Resources Manager
- Marketing Manager
- Learning and Development Manager
- IT Manager
- Compliance Manager
Above are sample management positions that can be critical to your organization. As we mentioned in the "Designate a CEO" in a previous blog, it is critical to weigh the responsibilities for each person in your organization. This applies even if there is two people in the organization.
Many organizations skip this step and begin to suffer, especially as they grow. It is a monumental benefit to have predetermined roles, so as you do grow it will be easy to hire the most critical positions. This will also prevent for owners or managers from duplicating their efforts.
Below is detailed responsibility for each position mentioned above.
CFO...
- Managing risks
- Company investments, etc.
- Financial planning
- Record keeping
- Paying bills, etc.
Sales and Service Manager...
- Sales and service planning
- Sales and service effectiveness
- Sales systems and processes
- Order forms
- Sales interactions
- Sales tracking and forecasting
Human Resources Manager...
- Selection
- Performance evaluation
- Counseling
- Personnel issues
- Record keeping of personal data
- Confidential resource to internal customers
- Compensation, pensions, etc.
Marketing Manager...
- Creating
- Communicating
- Delivering
- Exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
- Advertising
- Determining and tracking demographics as it relates to purchase
Learning and Development...
- Training process for organizational systems
- Educate new employees on culture and resources
IT Manager...
- Determine cost saving strategies leveraging technology
- Implementation of technological systems
- Establish internal and external customer friendly technology
Compliance Manager...
- Ensure the organization is operating within the boundaries of the law
- Check and balance within the organization
Labels: Coaching Teams, education, new company, Small Business CEO
posted by
Valhalla Business Solutions
at
6:23 PM
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Prior to Hiring an Employee, Hire a Management Consultant
Why?...
- Inexpensive investment in comparison to an employee
- Employees can cost 30k+
- Consultant is significantly less cost
- No health care costs
- Tax advantages
- More monetary return for your investment
- Consultants bring vast experience relative to an employee
- Consultants are proportionately compensated based on incentive
- Sales Management Consultants bring an uncultured perspective
- Consultants can bring resources that save an organization a lot of money
Often we encounter companies who refuse to hire a management consultant. One of the most common objection is cost. When in reality the cost is substantially less in comparison to an employee. Employees have training costs, benefit costs, salary costs, resource costs. (i.e., parking, travel, etc.) In our experience we have helped companies grow 40%- 500% year over year. Very rarely will an employee deliver these results. The bulk of a consultant's payment is directly driven based on the growth year over year.
Frequently business owners, high level executives and managers have an emotional objection based on ego. If hiring a consultant is an admission of inadequacy? Fact is the best and most experienced clients we work with have no strife with reaching out and resourcing the most effective ways to make their team successful. That was what they were hired to do. That's why they started their own business. A manager is hired to drive revenue, help the company grow and advance development of the organization for the future. It is extremely difficult to do on his/her own. Especially if culture change is in order.
Other innovative organizations we've worked with have well-rounded process already. They lead their team, their staffs are well coached and they are delivering double digit growth nearly every year. In these situations we are hired to evaluate the one person who doesn't receive much coaching, the CEO/Owner! This is done for the betterment of the organization. If the CEO/Owner is not being evaluated regularly than their growth becomes stagnant and as a result the company and his/her employees suffer.
Lastly a consultant brings a fresh look to a business. An outside perspective that can diagnose issues much more effectively. Consultants observe hundreds and sometimes thousands of companies in action. Sales Management Consultants will use those insights to help improve your company.
Labels: employees, hiring, human resources, interviews, management, Small Business CEO
posted by
Valhalla Business Solutions
at
7:48 PM
3
comments
Friday, February 6, 2009
Designate a CEO
How many of you have entered a business with a partner? How many of you have entered a business with more than one person?
Truth is, no matter who you enter business with their are challenges to come. Personality conflicts, urgency conflicts, money conflicts and the list goes on. Since conflicts are inevitable there are steps you can take to minimize some conflicts.
- Write an organization chart
The benefits of doing this before you even start can do wonders for your business. It will instill a sense of responsibility in designated areas. This way your efforts aren't duplicated. Also allows you to leverage the talents of each individual.
The CEO is the single most important position that needs to be decided before you start your business. The CEO provides the vision for the organization. Provides the accountability, makes the final decision, etc.
The person you appoint should have the following skills...
- Integrity
- Analytical
- Resourceful
- Sense of Urgency
- Innovative questioning approach
- Leadership
- Good communication
- Empathetic
- Visionary
- Responsible
- Market forecasting
- Insightful
- Articulate
- Strategic
- Prioritizes well
- Team Oriented
- Demands continuous learning
After your done deciding on the CEO their are other key positions that must exist. To be continued...
Labels: Small Business CEO
posted by
Valhalla Business Solutions
at
3:51 PM
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Previous Posts
- Delegation
- Another Email? (Managing Email in a Corporate Envi...
- Pay it Forward
- Now I am a Manager, What’s My Job?
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- Denver Broncos: Dear Coach McDaniel's
- Knowing your Internal Compass (navigation guidance...
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- Do What's Right For A Customer?
- What Organizational Issues Do You Have?
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