Thursday, 30 May 2013

Know what your customer wants before THEY do!!

4 tips to know what your customer wants before they do!

Why are your customers choosing your competitors?
Customer loyalty, attracting new customers and sustaining your relationships with large-scale clients is one of the biggest problems for any business owner.
Every customer has different needs and expectations, but the key to knowing what your customer wants is understanding how to see the world through their eyes.
To help you keep your customers and understand their needs better, try the following tips with your team.
  •  Walk in your customers shoes: Look outside of your business and understand your customers range of choices, lifestyle and age demographic. This will help you understand your target audience and allow you to better anticipate your competitors moves too.
  • Learn with your customers: Inviting your customers to relevant events or seminars hosted by your business is a great way to show your gratitude for their loyal custom. Plus it will act as market research for you and provide you with greater insight into their mindsets.
  •  Put yourself in your customer experience model: Track your key customers experience with your business and note where and when this experience breaks down. This can be completed easily through role-playing exercises with your team, plus it will give you a greater awareness for the flaws within your customer service.
  • Anticipate your customers needs before they know them: Focus on what your customers will want tomorrow, by thinking about what tools or technologies are being introduced that are going to change their spending habits, customer needs and customer experience expectations.
Remember we can’t predict every action made by our customers, but we can provide them with a better customer experience by focusing on their needs, desires and wants.

With courtesy and full acknowledgement to www.boardofdirectors12.com

Monday, 15 April 2013

Winners win



Here is a 20 point list that discerns the difference between winners and losers. You can learn why winners win and losers lose very quickly by checking this list.


  1. Winners have dogged determination. Losers lack the ability to see any project through to a satisfactory conclusion.
  2. Winners never give up, give in or surrender. Losers quit the moment things get the slightest bit difficult.
  3. Winners make exceptional use of available time. Losers waste time engaging in useless activities.
  4. Winners plan and map their route to success. Losers consider plans belong to builders and maps belong in glove-boxes.
  5. Winners take responsibility for all outcomes. Losers shun responsibility and prefer to place blame on others.
  6. Winners commence a task at the earliest opportunity. Losers procrastinate, delay and run out of time.
  7. Winners learn from their own mistakes and the experience of others. Losers make the same mistakes over and over again.
  8. Winners are committed to projects. Losers display whimsical interest.
  9. Winners make things happen. Losers watch things happen.
  10. Winners are pro-active. Losers are re-active.
  11. Winners have vision and imagination. Losers are backward looking and lack initiative.
  12. Winners encourage and inspire others. Losers criticize and ridicule others.
  13. Winners are methodical and organized. Losers are haphazard and slipshod.
  14. Winners seek information and embrace new knowledge. Losers ignore better methods, concepts and ideas.
  15. Winners ask: "How can I do that?" Losers state: "How do you expect me to do that?"
  16. Winners invest in income producing assets. Losers waste money on depreciating consumer goods.
  17. Winners develop 5, 10, 20, 30 years of experience. Losers repeat one year of experience 5, 10, 20, 30 times.
  18. Winners continually push existing limits and boundaries. Losers feel comfortable operating below their self-imposed ceilings.
  19. Winners take calculated risks. Losers take hazardous gambles.
  20. Winners are inspired to do more to be more. Losers conspire to do less and not be noticed.

Thursday, 11 April 2013

The Successful Sales Call



ENSURING A SUCCESSFUL SALES CALL

It's always good to have a plan for your sales visits that can serve as a quick reminder of the essentials. You can use this checklist as a review before and after each sales call to make sure you cover all the bases. Leaving a sales call and wishing you had remembered to ask a specific question or show the prospect another product idea is a horrible feeling; using this checklist may help you avoid that. Edit this list based on the type of sales cycle you're involved in.



Sales Call Checklist:-



 Preparation Prior to Sales Call

  • Research the account prior to the call?
  • Learn something about the person and their business before the meeting?
  • Send an outline of the agenda to the client before the meeting?
  • Have three value-added points prepared?
  • Bring all materials, brochures, contracts, etc.?
  • Answer the three important pre-call questions:
    A. What is the goal of the call?
    B. What do I need to find out during the call?
    C. What's the next step after the call?



Greeting and Introduction

·         Observe the prospect's office dĂ©cor (e.g., trophies, awards, pictures and so on)?

  • Find out about the prospect's personal interests, hobbies, family and so on?
  • Find out the names of contacts in the account and write them down?
  • Bridge to the business topic smoothly?
  • Listen more than I speak? (Ideally, you should spend 80 percent of your time listening and only 20 percent talking.)
  • Ask the customer about their business goals?
  • Ask the customer what challenges the company is facing?



Qualifying

·         Find out who the decision-makers are by asking "Who else besides yourself might be involved in the decision-making process?"

  • Ask what process they normally go through when considering a new vendor?
  • Find out how and why they made the decision for their current product or service (assuming they are replacing a product or service)?
  • Find out what their time frame is?
  • Find out if funds have been allocated--and how much?
  • Find out their specific needs?
  • Ask if they could change something about their product or service, what would it be?



Surveying

·         Ask open-ended questions (who, what, where, when, why, how, how much, tell me about it, describe for me)?

  • Ask about the corporate structure?
  • Ask about the prospect's role at the company?
  • Ask what's important to them?
  • Ask what's interesting to them and then focus on that?
  • Ask what risks they perceive?
  • Ask how we can help solve their problems?
  • Ask what they think about our company?
  • Ask what they like and dislike about their current vendor?
  • Ask how industry trends are affecting them?
  • Ask "what if?" questions?
  • Ask what they would like to see from a vendor and salesperson in the area of support after the sale?
  • Ask what their short-term and long-term goals are?
  • Ask how I can become their most valued vendor?
  • Ask what is our next step?
  • Establish a specific follow-up schedule?
  • Parrot the prospect to encourage him to expand, elaborate and go into detail about each answer?



Handling Objections

·         Listen to the entire objection?

  • Pause for three seconds before responding?
  • Remain calm and not defensive?
  • Meet the objection with a question in order to find out more?
  • Restate the objection to make sure we agreed (communication)?
  • Answer the objection?
  • Complete the six-step process?
    1. Listen
    2. Define
    3. Rephrase
    4. Isolate
    5. Present solution
    6. Close (or next step)



Presentation

·         Prioritize the prospect's needs?

  • Talk about benefits to the customer?
  • Use layman's terms?
  • Link the benefit to the prospect's needs?
  • Verify each need before moving on?
  • Present myself, company and product in a positive light?
  • Re-establish rapport?
  • Ask if anything changed since our last meeting?
  • Pre-commit the prospect?
  • Give a general overview of the product or service?
  • Keep the presentation focused on the customer's needs?
  • Involve the customer in the presentation?
  • Summarize the prospect's needs and how our product or service meets those needs?



Closing

·         Get the customer to identify all possible problems that might be solved by my product or service?

  • Get the customer to identify the value of solving the identified problems?
  • Get agreement that the proposed solution provides the values identified?
  • Ask for the order ("Why don't we go ahead with this?")?



Customer Maintenance

  • Write thank you letters for appointments, orders and so on?
  • Earn the right to ask for reference letters and referrals?
  • Establish a schedule for follow-up calls and customer visits?
  • Ask for referrals ("Do you know three people who could benefit from my product and service like you did?")?
  • Send thank you notes to lost accounts?
  • Ask what are three important things we can do as a vendor to keep our relationship strong?

This checklist will help you stay focused. Every time you schedule a sales call, run through this list before-hand to make sure you're prepared--and after the visit to see what you can do next time to make the call run more smoothly and increase your chances of success.

Saturday, 30 March 2013

Good to Great (Jim Collins)

One of the books that I have found as an inspiration with regards to Business Strategy is Good to Great by Jim Collins ...





Key Points

  • “Level 5 Leaders” - leaders who have both “personal humility” and “professional will”. These are not rock-star leaders whose companies go into decline when they move on. They are diligent and hard working - more bite than bark. Celebrity leaders often work for a time, but appear to be damaging in the long run, because they don’t create sustained results.
  • Get the right people on the bus - that has to happen before the “what” decisions are taken. That can change if you have the right people, but the wrong people will certainly make the enterprise fail.  You may just have the right people but in the wrong positions!
  • You must always be willing to “confront the brutal facts”. Don’t ignore reality in favour of what your hopes reflect it to become. Only by having accurate information can you achieve success.
  • The “Hedgehog Concept” means having a simple, extremely clear concept (BHAG) of what the business is. That business is something they can:
    1. Make money,
    2. People are passionate about, and
    3. We can be the best in the world at

These are also known as “The Three Circles”

  • A culture of self-discipline is critical, because it creates an environment where people work within a defined system, and yet, because the confines of the system are known, gives them more freedom to act within that system.
  • Technology is an accelerator, not an agent of change. Good companies use it to execute better, but it won’t save a mediocre company.
  • “The Flywheel” refers to the idea of momentum - keep pushing in one direction and you’ll build up a lot of it that will help you to overcome obstacles. Momentum is built a little bit at a time - it’s not a dramatic, 
  • revolutionary change, but constant, diligent work.


Summary

The idea that sparked this book was to answer questions about how good companies might become great companies, and how they went about doing so.

Methodology


The study looks at companies from 1965 to 1995, looking for those that, for 15 years, either tracked or underperformed the stock market, followed by a transition, and subsequently returning at least 3 times the stock market for at least 15 years. The goal was to eliminate “flash in the pan” success from the results. Further filtering was performed in order to ensure that companies also outperformed their industries, so as not to include spurious results showing entire industries that grew by leaps and bounds in a given period. Eleven companies were located that matched these criteria, and were studied in depth, and compared to competitors in their fields.


The companies studied were:

  • Abbot Laboratories
  • Circuit City
  • Fannie Mae
  • Gillette
  • Kimberly-Clark
  • Kroger
  • Nucor
  • Philip Morris
  • Pitney Bowes
  • Walgreens
  • Wells Fargo

Level 5 Leaders

All the companies studied had what Collins describes as “Level 5 Leaders”. Despite sounding like something from a space-alien worshiping cult, what the term refers to is an individual who is very humble on a personal level, but who possesses a great deal of drive and desire to succeed, where “success” is not personal, but defined by creating something great that will outlast their time at the helm. These are people with an unwavering will and commitment to do what is necessary to drive their organization to the top. Most of the good to great executives discussed luck as an important factor in their success.  Level 5 leaders, are, in any case, the kind of people who do not point to themselves as the cause for an organization’s success. The chapter closes with a discussion of whether Level 5 Leaders are born, or made, with the conclusion that many people probably have the kernel of abilities and attitude necessary to attain that status.


First Who … Then What

During the transformation from good to great, rather than concern themselves first with the “what” - products, direction, strategy - the companies studied ensured they had the right people “on the bus” before anything else. By having a strong team, these companies avoided the pitfall of the “lone genius” CEO. For example, think what would happen to Apple’s share price were something to happen to Steve Jobs. “Great” companies are those that have a very solid foundation, and don’t depend on the brilliance of any one person.


The research indicated that compensation did not correlate at all with the “good to great” process. No particular compensation scheme appeared to be advantageous.


Also important was that, while the companies were “tough” places to work, they were because of the general high quality and hard-working mindset, not because of ruthless management. Some practical tips for how to be rigorous:

  • Don’t hire someone unless you’re %100 sure that they’re the right person. It’s better to wait and get someone that you know is a good fit.
  • Once you realize you need to fire someone, don’t put it off. Do it quickly and fairly, but do it and be done with it, rather than put it off.
  • Give good people good opportunities, rather than the biggest problems. Fixing problems makes you good, but taking advantage of the right opportunities can make you great.

Good to great teams were mostly composed of people who had a good sense of balance with the rest of their lives - family, church, and so on. Of course, they had a deep commitment to their companies, but not one that blinded them to the other important things in their lives.


Confront the Brutal Facts

One of the key factors in the success of the great companies was a series of good decisions. The good decisions flowed from the fact that they all made a consistent and thorough effort to confront reality, internalizing the facts relevant to their market. Having lofty goals can be good, but you can never lose sight of what the reality is on the ground, no matter how much you will it to be different.


In a large organization, where it’s impossible to personally poke your nose in all corners of the company every day, it is crucial to create a climate where honesty is valued and honoured. If people aren’t telling it like it is, those at the top may not realize the truth until too late. Some tips to create this kind of climate:

  • It’s often better to ask questions rather than dispense “answers”.
  • Encourage healthy debate. It has to be real debate, not a show put on to make people feel included. It should also not just be argument for the sake of argument - reach a conclusion and move on.
  • When things go wrong, investigate to avoid repeating the mistake, instead of assigning blame. If people are too worried about protecting themselves, it becomes difficult to honestly analyse and learn from failures.
  • Create mechanisms, “red flags” that allow people to communicate problems instantly and without repercussions, and in a way that cannot be ignored.

Amidst these “brutal facts” that must be faced, you must also have faith in your final goal. By maintaining this vision, and keeping your ear to the ground, it won’t be necessary to motivate people - if you’ve got the right people, they’ll be motivated of their own accord.


The Hedgehog Concept

The “hedgehog concept” refers to a parable of a hedgehog and a fox [Isiah Berlin], where the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. The good to great companies were by and large built by “hedgehogs” - this doesn’t mean stupid - au contraire - it just means that they were able to focus on one big important thing that made their companies great. Sometimes it takes real genius to see through all the clutter and grab the one, simple, unique thing that gives you the advantage.


The “three circles” is an idea regarding how to find your “hedgehog concept”: think of three interlocking circles, representing 1) what you are passionate about, 2) what you can make money at, and 3) what can you be the best at. At the intersection of these three things lies the winning target. If you can bring all three things to bear, you have found a way to excel. Learn to realize, as well, what you will never be the best at - those are things you must avoid, if possible. 

The economics of various industries varied widely, but the good great companies were winners, even within industries that weren’t rising stars. One consistent rule of thumb is to identify a ratio, profit per X, (where X could be customer, web site user, per unit sold, per employee etc…) and focus on that. Sometimes it may not be obvious.


Passion, on the other hand, does not come from executive rah-rah sessions with employees, but by doing things that make people passionate on their own. Passion isn’t something that can be forced on people, it has to come from a mission that they truly believe in, that’s more than just a paycheck.

Another practical suggestion is to create a “Council”, of between 5 to 12 people, to discuss and gain insights into the organization. It should meet regularly, not a one-time group. Its members should bring to the table a deep understanding of some portion of the firm. They need to freedom to speak their minds, and always have the respect of the other Council members. The Council exists to help the chief executive, not reach a consensus. It is an informal group, in the sense that it is not spelled out in official documents or org charts.


Culture of Discipline

Great companies have both an entrepreneurial spirit and a sense of discipline. They are both necessary - without the drive to try new things, and some degree of independence, a company becomes a rigid, stifling hierarchy. Without some sense of discipline, things begin to break down as the company grows. The best companies have both latitude for individual action, as well as a culture of disciplined behaviour. This begins, once again, with the right people. It’s useless trying to create rules to force the wrong people to behave correctly - it simply won’t work. Instead, you need to find people who have an innate sense of self-discipline that doesn’t come from above. There is a big difference between having a “tyrant” that enforces a culture of discipline by fear, and finding people who naturally adhere to a disciplined approach. The former will disintegrate when the leader moves on, the latter creates a lasting system.


One helpful approach to discipline is to have a “stop doing” list. Stop doing the things that aren’t central to your business. Stop doing the things that are just clutter, but even more importantly, stop doing even things that might be seen as important, if they are not in your “three circles”.


Technology

“Great companies adapt and endure” - technology is not a differentiator in and of itself, but rather something that enhances great companies. They use it to further increase their leverage, in a conscious, directed way, rather than rushing to embrace it for the sake of its newness. Technology won’t light a fire where there is none, but where there is already good momentum, judicious use of technology can help accelerate it. Technology is an enabler of change, not the cause of it - but the “people factors” must be in place before application of technology will do any good. Technology as a reaction - to the latest fashion, to the competition - was not what was found in great companies. These companies possess a drive all their own that pushes them to be the best in their chosen field, and picking the right technology is a natural part of that.


The “Flywheel” and “Doom Loop”

These two concepts represent positive and negative momentum. A flywheel is a heavy wheel that takes a lot of energy to set in motion - to do so usually requires constant, steady work, rather than a quick acceleration. Great companies’ transformations were like this as well. There was no magic recipe or no ‘aha’ moment when everything changed. Rather, with everything in place, lots of hard work slowly but steadily got the great companies going faster and faster, with a lot of momentum. Once it’s in motion, all that stored energy tends to keep it moving in the right direction.


Conversely, the “doom loop” is the vicious circle that unsuccessful companies fall into, rushing first in one direction, then another, in the hope of creating a sudden, sharp break with the past that will propel them to success. Some attempt to do this through acquisitions, others through bringing in a new leader who decides to change direction completely, in a direction incompatible with the company. The results are never good. The difference between the two approaches is characterized by the slow, steady, methodical preparation inherent in the flywheel, as compared to the abrupt, radical, and often revolutionary, rather than evolutionary changes within the company.


Built to Last

The results from this book were obtained without regards to Collins’ earlier work, Built to Last, but when all was said and done, Good to Great is what has to happen before a company becomes Built to Last. Much of what is present in Good to Great was present during the creation by their founders of the Built to Last firms. Companies that have endured have a raison d’ĂȘtre beyond simply making money - they have distinguishing and unique characteristics, goals and ways of operating that go beyond a simple desire to make money. These core values are preserved, while tactics change continuously to deal with an restless, tumultuous world that never stops.


The “Big Hairy Audacious Goal”, a concept introduced in Built to Last can be either good (as motivation, something to pursue), or bad (if it’s impossible or a bad fit). Good BHAGs are those formulated from a deep understanding, whereas bad ones come from brash recklessness without regard for the actual values and capabilities of the company.


Why greatness?

Because it’s not really that much harder to be great than good, and if you’re not motivated to greatness, perhaps you should consider doing something else where you are.


Notes

Interestingly, CEO salaries don’t seem to be a major factor in terms of their correlation with “good to great” companies.