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Answer Upon - Critical Success Factors
Touring the country with my sales seminars and customer service training programs, I came across a gentleman from Kentucky who spoke unusually slowly.He was my program sponsor, so I was particularly interested in cultivating his good will, yet I found the temptation to try to speed him up nearly irresistible.I would almost automatically machine gun back “uh-huh” and “right” and “okay” and other words of feedback to encourage him to pick up the pace.When I did this, he slowed down, even more!Finally, I gave up, or rather gave in, to his pattern.I forced myself to relax, to allow him to mosey along at whatever pace was comfortable for him.And from that moment on, we got along like the best of pals.Too often, as salespeople, we’re rushing for no good reason. Instead of calibrating our tempo to our prospects, we push them without knowing it, merely through our speed of vocal delivery.And, as you know, most prospects are wary of “fast-talkers,” concerned that we’re trying to slip something by them.So, inadvertently, we create barriers to communication, needless hurdles, because unconsciously we’ve allocated only so much time to speak to every prospect.By slowing down, we can avoid this problem, while creating the kind of atm
A plan designed as a platform for growth and profits must consider each of the following critical success factors:
Money factors: positive cash flow, revenue growth, and profit margins.
Acquiring new customers and/or distributors -- your future.
Customer satisfaction -- how happy are they?
Quality -- how good is your product and service?
Product / service development -- what's new that will increase business with existing customers and attract new ones?
Intellectual capital -- increasing what you know that's profitable.
Productivity -- how efficient are you? How effective?
Strategic relationships -- new sources of bus
There are many benefits you and your business can reap from publishing your own newsletter.1. Keeping In Touch -- Your customers and clients are the lifeblood of your business. What better way to stay in touch with your existing customers than through a newsletter? A newsletter allows you to add personal touches to your relationship and celebrate milestones, both your own and your client's. In addition to furthering your relationship with your clients, a newsletter can also allow you to introduce new products, offer special sales or discounts to your existing client base, and encourage referrals.2. Hook In New Customers -- Unless they have an immediate need or came to you through a powerful referral, most potential customers won't buy right away. Often they will shop around and compare which means you will likely never see them again. However if you have a free newsletter that offers interested clients the opportunity to learn more about you, your business, and your products for free and they can also learn more about your interaction with your existing customers. A newsletter can be a very simple strategy to turn a one-time visitor into a lifetime customer.3. Establish Your Expertise -- No one knows more about your business than you do which makes you an expert. Like
(Note, although this article was written in early 2002, it is totally relevant. Right now.)
About three weeks ago I was surprised by this headline in the morning paper:
"Fed says September 11th hurt economy."
Wow!
"What did I miss here?" Was this news? USA Today thought it was. I was shocked the Fed saw fit to announce it.
And this week, another one: "NBER Confirms Recession."
Hey, Greenspan! Get out and talk to people. All over the country people tell me that if they break even this year, they'll consider it a win. If that's not a "recession"…
But have you ever wondered what it takes to end a recession? Not the textbook answer: two consecutive quarters of growth. Have you ever wondered what causes those consecutive growth quarters in the first place?
The economy turns up when enough people get tired of the economy being turned down.
Companies need things. They need new people or new services like marketing and sales. Some need new premises or new equipment. You might be saying something like "We really need this or that but we're not spending another dime until the economy gets better."
So we suffer from a cascade effect where you are waiting for someone else to make the first move -- and the economy spirals downward -- getting worse and worse -- until…
Until people begin to say, "I'm tired of this," or "I can't wait anymore," or "Let's get going." And as if by magic people start spending money again, and poof -- the recession's over.
I'm a growth strategist -- I help people figure out the best way to build their businesses and make more money. I'd like to know when this recession will end, but I'm not an economist and that's to difficult a question. Instead, I ask know how much longer can people sit on their duffs before they finally get so tired they have to act again.
I expect early next year people are going to reach that point. Although The Fed just made it official, many businesses turned down in the third quarter of 2000, and haven't picked up since.
Aren't you bored with all the do-nothing? Don't you want to start building your business again? Of course you do. What do you think everybody else thinks?
(Side note: This forecast is right in line with the "professionals" who say the recession will end mid- to late 2002. That will only happen if entrepreneurs and consumers start spending early in the year.)
So what are you going to do about it? What are you personally going to do to end the recession?
What are you going to do to start making money again? (I agree with President Bush. You don't have to put that flag away, but the most patriotic thing you can do right now is start spending money. If enough people take that leap of faith, the global economy will take off like a rocket.)
Are you going to be ready?
Now is a good time to prepare yourself for the next time when people decide to start "doing business" again.
Last month I outlined a way to polish and even rethink your business strategy. Here I will quickly review the critical factors which will insure your success.
A plan designed as a platform for growth and profits must consider each of the following critical success factors:
Money factors: positive cash flow, revenue growth, and profit margins.
Acquiring new customers and/or distributors -- your future.
Customer satisfaction -- how happy are they?
Quality -- how good is your product and service?
Product / service development -- what's new that will increase business with existing customers and attract new ones?
Intellectual capital -- increasing what you know that's profitable.
Productivity -- how efficient are you? How effective?
Strategic relationships -- new sources of bus
Career planning is the process through which employees: Become aware of interests, values, strengths, and weaknesses. Obtain information about job opportunities within the company. Identify career goals. Establish action plans to achieve career goals. All career planning systems include the following components: Self-Assessment helps employees determine their career interests, values, aptitudes, and behavioral tendencies. It often involves the use of psychological tests. They help employees identify their occupational and job interests, the relative value the employees place on work and leisure activities. Reality Check. Employees receive information about how the company evaluates their skills and knowledge, and where they fit into the company’s plans. For example, in Coca-Cola’s career planning system, employees and managers have a separate meeting after the annual performance review to discuss the employee’s career interests, strengths, and possible development activities. Goal Setting. Employees determine their short- and long-term career goals during this phase of the career planning process. These goals usually relate to desired positions, level of skill application, work setting or skill acquisition, and written into a development plan. Action Planning. During this phase
The economy turns up when enough people get tired of the economy being turned down.
Companies need things. They need new people or new services like marketing and sales. Some need new premises or new equipment. You might be saying something like "We really need this or that but we're not spending another dime until the economy gets better."
So we suffer from a cascade effect where you are waiting for someone else to make the first move -- and the economy spirals downward -- getting worse and worse -- until…
Until people begin to say, "I'm tired of this," or "I can't wait anymore," or "Let's get going." And as if by magic people start spending money again, and poof -- the recession's over.
I'm a growth strategist -- I help people figure out the best way to build their businesses and make more money. I'd like to know when this recession will end, but I'm not an economist and that's to difficult a question. Instead, I ask know how much longer can people sit on their duffs before they finally get so tired they have to act again.
I expect early next year people are going to reach that point. Although The Fed just made it official, many businesses turned down in the third quarter of 2000, and haven't picked up since.
Aren't you bored with all the do-nothing? Don't you want to start building your business again? Of course you do. What do you think everybody else thinks?
(Side note: This forecast is right in line with the "professionals" who say the recession will end mid- to late 2002. That will only happen if entrepreneurs and consumers start spending early in the year.)
So what are you going to do about it? What are you personally going to do to end the recession?
What are you going to do to start making money again? (I agree with President Bush. You don't have to put that flag away, but the most patriotic thing you can do right now is start spending money. If enough people take that leap of faith, the global economy will take off like a rocket.)
Are you going to be ready?
Now is a good time to prepare yourself for the next time when people decide to start "doing business" again.
Last month I outlined a way to polish and even rethink your business strategy. Here I will quickly review the critical factors which will insure your success.
A plan designed as a platform for growth and profits must consider each of the following critical success factors:
Money factors: positive cash flow, revenue growth, and profit margins.
Acquiring new customers and/or distributors -- your future.
Customer satisfaction -- how happy are they?
Quality -- how good is your product and service?
Product / service development -- what's new that will increase business with existing customers and attract new ones?
Intellectual capital -- increasing what you know that's profitable.
Productivity -- how efficient are you? How effective?
Strategic relationships -- new sources of bus
Seldom does an opportunity come along where you can not only build a career for yourself but also make a huge difference in the lives of everyone you touch. There are not many professions where not only can you help yourself achieve your career and professional goals but you can help others reach where they want to be as well. Not many professions can give you the personal satisfaction that becoming a Life Coach does.Now the first question that comes to mind is – What is a Life Coach?To answer that question first you must realize that each person is different from the other. Everyone has their own set of goals and dreams to achieve. Not everyone is at the same place at the same time mentally or emotionally and not everyone wants to reach the same destination. Goals, dreams, and satisfaction come at different levels. Some have personal goals or problems; some have professional or business goals or barriers they need to cross. Few of us are already where we want to be and are now seeking a new goal or desire.This is where a Life Coach comes in. A Life Coach analyses each client in terms of where they are right now and where they would ideally like to be and then helps them close that gap. A Life Coach will listen to their clients, share their thoughts, learn about their
I'm a growth strategist -- I help people figure out the best way to build their businesses and make more money. I'd like to know when this recession will end, but I'm not an economist and that's to difficult a question. Instead, I ask know how much longer can people sit on their duffs before they finally get so tired they have to act again.
I expect early next year people are going to reach that point. Although The Fed just made it official, many businesses turned down in the third quarter of 2000, and haven't picked up since.
Aren't you bored with all the do-nothing? Don't you want to start building your business again? Of course you do. What do you think everybody else thinks?
(Side note: This forecast is right in line with the "professionals" who say the recession will end mid- to late 2002. That will only happen if entrepreneurs and consumers start spending early in the year.)
So what are you going to do about it? What are you personally going to do to end the recession?
What are you going to do to start making money again? (I agree with President Bush. You don't have to put that flag away, but the most patriotic thing you can do right now is start spending money. If enough people take that leap of faith, the global economy will take off like a rocket.)
Are you going to be ready?
Now is a good time to prepare yourself for the next time when people decide to start "doing business" again.
Last month I outlined a way to polish and even rethink your business strategy. Here I will quickly review the critical factors which will insure your success.
A plan designed as a platform for growth and profits must consider each of the following critical success factors:
Money factors: positive cash flow, revenue growth, and profit margins.
Acquiring new customers and/or distributors -- your future.
Customer satisfaction -- how happy are they?
Quality -- how good is your product and service?
Product / service development -- what's new that will increase business with existing customers and attract new ones?
Intellectual capital -- increasing what you know that's profitable.
Productivity -- how efficient are you? How effective?
Strategic relationships -- new sources of bus
More than ever before, 2007 will demand of most companies the ability to achieve measurable results that are specific to profitability, growth, cost containment and operational effectiveness. Of course, none of this will be possible without leadership and organizational change.This challenge will become a common theme in 2007 that will go uncompromised by the potential market gymnastics that we are likely to face. Without a doubt, success in 2007 will be directly dependent upon both individual and team performance. More importantly however, is the driving force that creates both individual and team effectiveness. That driving force is leadership at every level in the organization. It doesn’t matter what your position is or what your title is. Leadership does not restrict itself to the caste system of power positions we have come to know. Leadership can and must be demonstrated throughout the organization. In my years of experience in wholesale distribution I have met effective leaders at all levels in a company including employees that simply drove a forklift to inside sales people and of course at the CEO level. That withstanding, I have also seen a lack of leadership at every one of those levels I mentioned.Are You Prepared?You need to ask the following questions a
So what are you going to do about it? What are you personally going to do to end the recession?
What are you going to do to start making money again? (I agree with President Bush. You don't have to put that flag away, but the most patriotic thing you can do right now is start spending money. If enough people take that leap of faith, the global economy will take off like a rocket.)
Are you going to be ready?
Now is a good time to prepare yourself for the next time when people decide to start "doing business" again.
Last month I outlined a way to polish and even rethink your business strategy. Here I will quickly review the critical factors which will insure your success.
A plan designed as a platform for growth and profits must consider each of the following critical success factors:
Money factors: positive cash flow, revenue growth, and profit margins.
Acquiring new customers and/or distributors -- your future.
Customer satisfaction -- how happy are they?
Quality -- how good is your product and service?
Product / service development -- what's new that will increase business with existing customers and attract new ones?
Intellectual capital -- increasing what you know that's profitable.
Productivity -- how efficient are you? How effective?
Strategic relationships -- new sources of bus
Imagine you could choose between a job that you'd really like where you'd make so-so money, and a job that you'd hate but where you'd earn twice as much money.Although it's easy to say, there is more to a career than the amount of money you'll earn.I feel that people should plan for the long term when making career decisions. It's hard to plan for the long term when you are talking about taking a job that you feel you're going to hate.You might not last long enough in that job to even worry about the long term if you hate it as much as you think you will and end up quitting to look for a job you'll like. You might find that earning the amount of money you're expecting just isn't worth it.Will making twice as much money in this job be worth the fact that you'll hate it?Are you absolutely certain that you will actually hate the job?Is there any chance that the job you'd like might end up being more lucrative than you expect?At the end of the day, you'll need to make the choice yourself but when making career decisions it's usually best to look beyond just the money that's involved.You never know when the job (or the money) will run out or when its importance will suddenly not be worth the hassle.
A plan designed as a platform for growth and profits must consider each of the following critical success factors:
Money factors: positive cash flow, revenue growth, and profit margins.
Acquiring new customers and/or distributors -- your future.
Customer satisfaction -- how happy are they?
Quality -- how good is your product and service?
Product / service development -- what's new that will increase business with existing customers and attract new ones?
Intellectual capital -- increasing what you know that's profitable.
Productivity -- how efficient are you? How effective?
Strategic relationships -- new sources of business, products and outside revenue.
Employee attraction and retention -- your ability to do extend your reach.
Sustainability -- your personal ability to keep it all going.
For each factor ask these three broad questions.
1. What can you learn from last year's experience in this factor?
What did you do right? What worked? Always start with this question. Why? Because it's positive. That's why! It's shocking how people naturally drift toward the negative. Even when I ask -- verbatim -- what did you do right, more than half the time people respond with something they did wrong.
How can you do more of those "right" things? How can you make them even better? How can you apply what you learned in this area to some other?
Only when you've exhausted this line of questioning ask, what did you do wrong? Not to beat yourself -- to make sure you don't repeat it and discover ways to repair or improve the process.
Next, ask what is missing. What could you add which will improve your effectiveness.
(Effectiveness can be stated as the ratio of OUTPUT to INPUT. Efficiency, on the other hand, is how many INPUT actions you take per unit of time. For instance, you can increase the number of calls you make per hour -- that is an increased efficiency. You can increase the volume of sales for the same number of calls -- that is increased effectiveness.)
Random examples of things that might be missing include consistency in marketing, new products or services, more sales people, a source of new leads, an employee (or a self-) development plan.
2. What are your goals related to this factor?
Setting new goals can, all by itself, transform your business. Your goals should be bold and dynamic -- big enough to inspire you and everyone around you. Goals work best when they are objective and quantifiable. And you must believe they are achievable - regardless of how difficult or impossible they might seem.
Some examples of bold goals: dominate your market niche; double last year's sales; top of the list in prospect mind- share; 100 percent customer repurchases; three new products developed and shipped by mid-year; customer problems solved in half the current time, a career path for each employee, sufficient cash to cover any business emergency.
3. How are you going to achieve these goals?
A successful plan to achieve your goals has several components:
Who will be accountable for each goal? Not you? then which executive? Which managers? What department?
Some factors map directly onto a specific department, like revenue is owned by sales and marketing. But factors like intellectual capital or customer satisfaction - they don't fall clearly into one department.
Even so, someone still has to 'own' the factor. Figure out who. If no single person is accountable - guess what - it won't happen.
Whoever accepts accountability for a specific goal should answer the remaining questions.
What strategies and tactics have a good chance to realize the goal?
If you've set bold objectives, you probab
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