“No one likes to be sold; everyone likes to buy.”
Professional sales people get a bad rap. Sales is an honorable profession, but it has been sullied by poor practitioners of the craft . . . sales people who are determined to make the sale regardless of the needs and wants of the customer. We’ve all run into pushy sales people who are clearly more interested in their commission than they are in helping us. So they lose our trust.
The fact is, good sales people are problem solvers. They ask questions, they listen intently to the answers, and they get a clear picture of the problem the customer is trying to solve. In some cases, the sales person may have to say, “I understand what you’re trying to do, but I don’t think our product (or service) is the right answer for you.” Of course, that loses the sale today, but it earns the respect and trust of the customer. Is that customer likely to bring you back the next time he has an appropriate need? You bet! Is s/he likely to feel comfortable referring you to others? Absolutely!
Contrast that with the poor sales person who is motivated by self-interest and will try to fit a square peg into a round hole to make the sale. S/he loses the trust of the customer, may very well lose future opportunities, and almost certainly will not get any referrals.
Hopefully, your sales people are not “selling” in the worst sense of the word. Instead they should be creating a trusting relationship, allowing the customer to buy with confidence and enthusiasm.
For more small business blogs, visit my website at www.rocksolidbizdevelopment.com.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
If You Don't Plan, You Plan to Fail
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
I have talked about planning here before, but I continue to run into small business owners who seemingly just don’t get it. They don’t plan because they don’t see the value in it. So I continue to hammer away at it in hopes that the lights will come on and they will finally “get it.”
Think of a driving vacation. You can get in the car and start driving, hoping you end up someplace you’ll enjoy. Or, you can plan your trip, deciding where you want to be at the end of each day, what you want to see and do, and what your ultimate destination will be. If your goal is to have a fun vacation, which method is more likely get that result? Jump in the car and hope for the best, or plan it out?
Does a plan guarantee you’ll hit your goal? Of course not. But it does guarantee you’ll come a lot closer to your goal than you will if you try to just wing it.
We used to talk about 3-year and 5-year plans, but business conditions are changing so fast that it’s questionable how useful those longer term plans are. However, you should have some over-arching goal (i.e., we’re a $5 million company and we want to become a $20 million company). Then each annual plan should move you down that growth path at a pace that gets you there within an acceptable time frame.
Many companies refer to their annual plan as a budget. I suggest you lose that term in your corporate culture and substitute “profit plan.” “Budget” sounds confining, restrictive, and it’s there to restrain our spending. “Profit plan” is more positive, and it’s more descriptive of what we’re doing. It’s saying, “Here is the profit we expect to make this year, and here is how we intend to do it.”
If you’re not already doing it, start building annual profit plans that move you toward your long-term goal(s). If you embrace each year’s plan and really work it as a management tool, your company will move more sure-footedly and more profitably down the road you have chosen for it. Guaranteed.
For more small business blogs, visit my website at www.rocksolidbizdevelopment.com.
I have talked about planning here before, but I continue to run into small business owners who seemingly just don’t get it. They don’t plan because they don’t see the value in it. So I continue to hammer away at it in hopes that the lights will come on and they will finally “get it.”
Think of a driving vacation. You can get in the car and start driving, hoping you end up someplace you’ll enjoy. Or, you can plan your trip, deciding where you want to be at the end of each day, what you want to see and do, and what your ultimate destination will be. If your goal is to have a fun vacation, which method is more likely get that result? Jump in the car and hope for the best, or plan it out?
Does a plan guarantee you’ll hit your goal? Of course not. But it does guarantee you’ll come a lot closer to your goal than you will if you try to just wing it.
We used to talk about 3-year and 5-year plans, but business conditions are changing so fast that it’s questionable how useful those longer term plans are. However, you should have some over-arching goal (i.e., we’re a $5 million company and we want to become a $20 million company). Then each annual plan should move you down that growth path at a pace that gets you there within an acceptable time frame.
Many companies refer to their annual plan as a budget. I suggest you lose that term in your corporate culture and substitute “profit plan.” “Budget” sounds confining, restrictive, and it’s there to restrain our spending. “Profit plan” is more positive, and it’s more descriptive of what we’re doing. It’s saying, “Here is the profit we expect to make this year, and here is how we intend to do it.”
If you’re not already doing it, start building annual profit plans that move you toward your long-term goal(s). If you embrace each year’s plan and really work it as a management tool, your company will move more sure-footedly and more profitably down the road you have chosen for it. Guaranteed.
For more small business blogs, visit my website at www.rocksolidbizdevelopment.com.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Failures Are Learning Experiences
“Success is not determined by the flawless execution of a plan. It is determined by how people react to failure.”
“I haven’t failed. I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”
“The way to succeed is to double your failure rate.”
“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”
Lots of thoughts about failure, but it’s an important aspect of business life. It’s the consequence we must consider anytime we try something new. What if this new thing we’re trying doesn’t work out? What if the market doesn’t accept the new product we’re rolling out? What if we don’t reach the ambitious goals we set for ourselves next year? And sometimes, we do fail. We had what seemed like a good idea, we studied and researched it, we planned well, we executed well, but for some reason, it just didn’t work the way we thought it would.
We learn by our mistakes, don’t we? So then failures are a learning experience. They teach lessons about the business we are in and the markets we serve. Not that we should seek out failures or take them lightly when they happen, but nor should we jump out the nearest window. Successful organizations are places of learning. They get back up, brush themselves off, and say, “OK. Now what did we learn from that?” Unsuccessful organizations play the blame game and look for a scape goat.
So how do you treat failures in your organization? Not stupid mistakes or careless errors, but honest, good faith efforts that simply didn’t pan out. Is it OK to fail at your place? Do you punish those who show initiative and are willing to take a risk while rewarding those who keep their heads down and play it safe? Hopefully not.
In employee satisfaction surveys, “Being in a place where I can learn and grow” always ranks near the top of the list. So be a learning place. Treat failures, not as tragic events, but as teaching opportunities . . . lessons to be learned. You’ll attract and retain better people, and you’ll build a stronger, more dynamic organization.
For more small business blogs, visit my website at www.rocksolidbizdevelopment.com.
“I haven’t failed. I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”
“The way to succeed is to double your failure rate.”
“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”
Lots of thoughts about failure, but it’s an important aspect of business life. It’s the consequence we must consider anytime we try something new. What if this new thing we’re trying doesn’t work out? What if the market doesn’t accept the new product we’re rolling out? What if we don’t reach the ambitious goals we set for ourselves next year? And sometimes, we do fail. We had what seemed like a good idea, we studied and researched it, we planned well, we executed well, but for some reason, it just didn’t work the way we thought it would.
We learn by our mistakes, don’t we? So then failures are a learning experience. They teach lessons about the business we are in and the markets we serve. Not that we should seek out failures or take them lightly when they happen, but nor should we jump out the nearest window. Successful organizations are places of learning. They get back up, brush themselves off, and say, “OK. Now what did we learn from that?” Unsuccessful organizations play the blame game and look for a scape goat.
So how do you treat failures in your organization? Not stupid mistakes or careless errors, but honest, good faith efforts that simply didn’t pan out. Is it OK to fail at your place? Do you punish those who show initiative and are willing to take a risk while rewarding those who keep their heads down and play it safe? Hopefully not.
In employee satisfaction surveys, “Being in a place where I can learn and grow” always ranks near the top of the list. So be a learning place. Treat failures, not as tragic events, but as teaching opportunities . . . lessons to be learned. You’ll attract and retain better people, and you’ll build a stronger, more dynamic organization.
For more small business blogs, visit my website at www.rocksolidbizdevelopment.com.
Monday, December 7, 2009
How Good Is Good Enough?
“Good enough is never good enough.”
- Jack Welch, General Electric
“When you’re better than ‘good enough,’ your price is too high.”
- Sam Bowers, business professor and lecturer
It’s hard to argue with a business legend like Jack Welch. And he’s right. We need to continuously tweek and refine our product or service to meet the changing needs of our customers or to better serve their existing needs.
But Sam Bowers is also right. Price is always part of the equation. Marketing executives deal with this every day. Yes, we have the technology to make an improvement to our product, but it will add $10,000 to the price tag. If our customers are unwilling to pay an additional $10,000 for our product, then the message is clear. The old product was good enough.
I could put higher octane gasoline in my car but it would cost more, and you know what? My owner’s manual says the car is designed to run on the lower octane gasoline, so it’s definitely good enough.
I have a wrist watch that I bought for under $100 and it keeps amazingly precise time. It never gains or loses a second. I could have spent thousands of dollars for a fancy Rolex, but all I require is dependable time keeping. So my watch is good enough.
The message is simple. We must always strive to understand and meet customer needs. But before we “surpass our customer’s expectations” (as many companies claim to do), we better look at the cost/benefit relationship from the customer’s point of view. In many cases, dependably and professionally meeting our customer’s expectations is good enough . . . particularly when “surpassing” means eroding our profit margins or raising our prices.
For more small business blogs, visit my website at www.rocksolidbizdevelopment.com.
- Jack Welch, General Electric
“When you’re better than ‘good enough,’ your price is too high.”
- Sam Bowers, business professor and lecturer
It’s hard to argue with a business legend like Jack Welch. And he’s right. We need to continuously tweek and refine our product or service to meet the changing needs of our customers or to better serve their existing needs.
But Sam Bowers is also right. Price is always part of the equation. Marketing executives deal with this every day. Yes, we have the technology to make an improvement to our product, but it will add $10,000 to the price tag. If our customers are unwilling to pay an additional $10,000 for our product, then the message is clear. The old product was good enough.
I could put higher octane gasoline in my car but it would cost more, and you know what? My owner’s manual says the car is designed to run on the lower octane gasoline, so it’s definitely good enough.
I have a wrist watch that I bought for under $100 and it keeps amazingly precise time. It never gains or loses a second. I could have spent thousands of dollars for a fancy Rolex, but all I require is dependable time keeping. So my watch is good enough.
The message is simple. We must always strive to understand and meet customer needs. But before we “surpass our customer’s expectations” (as many companies claim to do), we better look at the cost/benefit relationship from the customer’s point of view. In many cases, dependably and professionally meeting our customer’s expectations is good enough . . . particularly when “surpassing” means eroding our profit margins or raising our prices.
For more small business blogs, visit my website at www.rocksolidbizdevelopment.com.
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