9:53 AM

So there are no easy answers to today’s economic problems. With that said there are a myriad of ways out of the problem and opportunities to grow. This post is about the importance of having a business that is able to re-think, re-engineer and re-tool so you can increase sales in an economic downturn.

It’s an awesome sunny day and I hop in my old car (it’s a 2005) and fly off to the Apple Store to pick up a new case for my laptop. I arrive at the mall seven minutes early. It’s 9:53AM and there are about 10 people milling around the door, 2 men and the rest were women.

As I walked up you could tell a few of the folks were hurried. I on the other hand I was content that I had arrived seven minutes early and welcomed the short break from the hustle and bustle of being a business owner, husband and proud papa of 3 girls.

My attention turned to the three women who found a common bond in their iPhone. Being the proud papa of two iPhones, one MacBook, one MacBook Pro, one iMac and and a Mac Mini; it pains me to make the following admission; they were all having trouble with their iPhones. Here is the punch line of this blog. Two of the three women had the new 3G and the other one had the first version that she sheepishly referred to as the “old one”.

Get out! Since when did one year become the end of a product life cycle? All the businesses I consult for are still using flyers that are 5 years or more old and the product mix has changed so little that they can actually pull this off. Other than the printed materials being dated, their products or services have changed very little.

So what am I trying to say, change, change fast, change often or die. There is a reason Google has nearly three times the number of searches when compared to Yahoo who is second; Apple maintains 70% market-share of the iPod market and commands more profit per machine than any other computer manufacturer. Moreover, if you look at any other organization or individual that is number one, change and evolution is part of their DNA. Tiger Woods is clearly the best golfer, when he walks off the course, he shifts his attention from competition to figuring out how he can be better.

Exercise Room:

If clients lined up at your door from one year ago:
1.) Would they see any improvements in your service or product offering?
2.) Are there any product or service changes in your product or service pipeline that could be rolled out within a year?
3.) Do you have the mechanisms or individuals within your team that can drive change that positively affects sales results?

Call us to ask how we can help and check out Bob Kriegel to learn more about the importance of being change ready.

Focus To Grow is a SMarketing company, providing inbound marketing and sales execution services for b2b companies.

According to the NIST, eight out of ten businesses are looking for ways to increase sales and grow their business. Please keep reading to uncover one of the greatest tools I have come across this year to help your company increase sales.

This is my hypothesis, genius does not drive product and service breakthroughs, they are driven by tapping into the mind of the consumer. In turn, small busineesses that are dialed into the mind of the consumer will be on the cutting edge of creating breakthrough products and services.

Luke Hohmann, author of Innovation Games has uncovered the next generation of product and service development. Essentially, he has developed a system that allows you to collaborate with clients to drive innovations and breakthroughs. Innovation Games is a proven qualitative market research technique, designed to answer specific questions.

There are two particular aspects of the Innovation Games model that stand out:

First, it is built on the platform of collaborative play with customers. Traditionally, small businesses and owners send out surveys and assemble advisory boards to gain feedback from consumers. The Innovation Games model would have these same small businesses and owners interact with clients trying to answer specific questions using games. Additionally, Innovation Games puts the control in the hands of the consumers leaving ample room for product and service breakthroughs to evolve.

Second, is the aspect of multidimensional communication; not everyone learns or communicates in the same way. Innovation Games creates a variety of mediums for customers to communicate. I can't think of the last time I filled out a survey, however, if you ask me what is wrong or how I would improve something, get ready to sit down and take notes.

Going back to my original hypothesis, consumers control the throttle on innovations and breakthroughs. The myth of product or service geniuses is simply untrue. The genius is the ability to dial into the consumers mind, extract what is in their head, and build a product around it. Steve Jobs' genius is not the iPod; it is his ability to dial into the customers mind.

If you are a business owner or small business and want to increase sales, read Innovation Games and start working with customers to drive innovations and breakthroughs.

EXERCISE ROOM

How frequently are you interacting with clients to drive product or service enhancements?

When was the last time you revised your products or service offering?

Focus To Grow is a SMarketing company, providing inbound marketing and sales execution services for b2b companies.

Often times, when my phone rings it is a company looking for strategic advice or creative solutions to resolve problems they are experiencing in their own business. My interest is peaked and I listen as the business owner describes the situation in detail. I respond by conducting a straight forward line of questioning which goes something like this, “Help me understand the problem. What are you trying to accomplish or what are the barriers to the situation?” My responses vary yet, as anticipated, the business owner will often say, “I already tried something like that once.” While the conversation winds down and the business owner thanks me for my time and new perspective, I find myself wondering why the heck they called if they are not going to try something more than once or entertain an innovative way of thinking. In fact, I wondered why people are reluctant to explore opportunities to improve, period.

I was reading the book Inside Steve’s Brain by Leander Kahney (link to cult of mac.com) and the answer came to me when Kahney shared the following, “Apple’s labs are littered with prototype products that never made it out the door.” Apple has accepted the fact that many great ideas and innovations will never make it to market. Yet, they continue to explore innovative ways to generate revenue while realizing full well many will never be implemented.

It struck me that businesses are afraid to explore innovative ways of thinking and new ideas for fear of not being able to return to their old ways of business. Companies typically do not explore new ideas or innovative solutions because they simply do not know how to say no to some of the prototypes. In light of their inability to say no, many companies tend to avoid any creative pursuits all together.

In a sense, innovation and breakthroughs are cut off at the pass because companies are concerned they will have to bring any new discoveries into fruition.

Apple, on the other hand, understands how to say no. They can safely make their way down the innovation trail because they know full well they will not execute all of the prototypes. When you are unable to say no, great ideas get stifled, companies cannot make the distinction between forward thinking and forward acting.

In addition, there is a huge difference between great ideas and the process of bringing a concept to fruition. Many times, an innovation or breakthrough can happen without making any radical changes to a product or service. Sometimes, a simple change of perspective can have a huge impact on the way in which a company resonates with a client.

The ability to say no is one part of the equation in keeping the throttle on growth idle. Companies today are missing the boat by having many “sacred cows” and in effect, remaining clueless about the “customer experience.” Please keep your RSS feeders on as I shed some light on the throttle to driving more profit for your company.

Exercise Room:

At some point it becomes important to step back and ask yourself some questions. If I strolled through your company today, how many artifacts (product or service concepts) would I find?

Is your organization guilty of squashing innovation and fresh thinking for fear you will have countless prototypes to develop? What impact would it have on our business if you could roll out one new product or service innovation that your clients are willing to pay for?

Focus To Grow is a SMarketing company, providing inbound marketing and sales execution services for b2b companies.

As I stated in my initial posting, all of my observations and writings are birthed from consulting laboratory, and this subject is no exception.

“In so many companies there is this Us-Them mentality between sales and marketing and operations. “You have the people who sell the product, and you have everyone else. The communication channel is very tough to keep open between the two groups. There’s a great divide that is often magnified by misperceptions.”

“For example, one of my clients has a Director of Operations that was perceived as being cold and harsh and unyielding by sales. She got peeved if reports weren’t turned in on time or if policies were sidestepped. She was high on Deliberative talents, meaning she liked to plan ahead, she was vigilant, and she always tried to anticipate potential minefields and avoid them. Seen in the right light, those are great traits for the person who is responsible for getting the customer the right product in the right timeframe and at the right price.”

From the perspective of the Director, the sales people were soft, always wanting to bend the rules and make exceptions. To her, they were disrespectful about her requirements and deadlines and rules. “Again, viewed in another light, you could see that many of those sales folks were high on Empathy talents”. “They’re able to see things through the eyes of the client, they anticipate needs, they draw clients into deeper relationships with the company.”

“Sales are dialed into what the client needs. Operations are a master of delivering quality and creating a profit. Having a common language about how individuals on each side of the divide help achieve the ultimate goal is very beneficial. It shifts perception and bridges the gap between the two functions.”

Utilizing The Strengths Finder 2.0 is a practical approach to aligning teams, departments and organizations.

We have a link under the resources tab of our website. Feel free to visit www.focus2grow.com

Focus To Grow is a SMarketing company, providing inbound marketing and sales execution services for b2b companies.

Employee & Staff Motivation The Role of Management - by Larry Josephs www.mnsalestraining.com

When employees and staff no longer feel that they have a “career path” they lose their sense of dedication and commitment to their employer. They now have “just a job” and with that comes lost productivity while they have “one eye out the window” in search of their next job; and “one eye on their work”, doing just enough to justify their existence and not get fired.
Motivation for Employees - The Role of Management
As a leader in your company you can empower employees and improve motivation in the following ways:

Place yourself in their position.
Employers are too well insulated at the top and they have lost touch with the rank and file employees and no longer can relate to the employee and feel what they are feeling in this uncertain world. Even if the CEO is not stealing the profits and converting them to a hefty bonus or incentive plan, the perception may well be that, after the ENRON and WORLDCOM cases came to light.

The job of upper management is to find out what the employees are feeling, and reconnect with them on all the reasons why they chose to work for the company. Rekindle the fire about their Career Path and give some assurances that your Strategic Plan calls for the company to be around well into the future and that you are financially solid.

Another great reason for doing this is the TEAM will come together again and the increased productivity will in fact underwrite such a positive move by management. The employees need to know that they are in control of their own destiny, since any lost productivity will further damage their very existence that they were worried about in the first place.

The real problem is, the new generation tends to think that they should be paid first, then they’ll do the work. That’s like asking a Pot-Bellied Stove to first give you heat, then you’ll add the wood! You hear it everyday. It’s the employee’s famous radio station WIIFM: “What’s In It For Me?” Human Resource Managers conducting interviews will point to WIIFM as the biggest mistake candidates make when they interview, and in some cases before they agree to the interview…they are quick to fall back on the WIIFM and they totally forget about the need to “sell themselves” during the process.

It’s never been a question “Can the employees do their job?” They would not have been hired if they could not do their job. The question always has been: “Will the employees do their job?”

Management has an obligation to their employees, no different than a Battlefield Commander has an obligation to their soldiers. Before you go headed into battle…“take care of your soldiers” and should you find yourself in a tough situation…“your soldiers will be quick to take care of you!” If your employees truly believe that you are doing your best to make it a great place to work, and you show recognition and appreciation for their efforts, the sense of commitment comes back and they will once again enjoy their work, and forget about looking for another job.

Oliver Wendell Holmes once said: “The human mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions!” Point your employees in the direction of a Career Path and help them achieve their goal of safety and security for their families. That’s all they expect of their employer. Enjoying the job is an added bonus.

Ralph Waldo Emerson gives this advice to management: “If you have developed the ability to handle people, you don’t need anything else. However, if you haven’t developed that ability, it really doesn’t matter what else you may have. The removal of human friction is 90% of the job of handling people.”

Larry Josephs is the founder and seminar leader of MNSALESTRAINING.COM, INC. www.mnsalestraining.com and has been a consultant to management and international Seminar Leader on sales training and motivation seminars since 1973. Ljosephs@mnsalestraining.com

Focus To Grow is a SMarketing company, providing inbound marketing and sales execution services for b2b companies.

Dave Kurlan is someone who I believe has perfected the science of building and maintaining a high performance sales organization. A smile often comes across my face when folks begin to talk about all of the things they believe make a good professional organization. Generally they could not be further from the truth; please consider a professional evaluation of your sales force if your top line is a priority in 2008.

• 2008 Dave Kurlan*
  This post on the Blog at IDC said the the number one agenda item for CEO's in 2008 is sales. With a weakening, uncertain economy, that shouldn't really surprise anyone but thanks to the researchers at IDC, now we can confirm it. With CEO's now beginning to worry about the top line in addition to their existing concerns about the bottom line, I predict that we'll see a lot of fringe, underachieving, complacent, overpaid (paid as salespeople but actually performing work of an account manager) salespeople losing their jobs this year.

The question is are those descriptions conditions or symptoms? That's the very reason for evaluating the sales force - so you can tell the difference. Are the conditions described above chronic, where those salespeople won't change or improve; or are there reasons why they exhibit those symptons (not conditions) and can they be fixed? A Sales Force Evaluation will answer those questions and more!

Focus To Grow is a SMarketing company, providing inbound marketing and sales execution services for b2b companies.

Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote "...The human mind, once expanded by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."

My passion is helping sales and marketing leaders re-think and reinvent themselves. In my pursuit to develop my skills as a transformational business leader, I have come across as wide array of enlightening thought leaders and concepts. The primary purpose of my writings are to share how I have applied this body of knowledge within my consulting company.

Please stay tuned as I continue to share the experiences from my lab, Top Line Growth Consulting.

Focus To Grow is a SMarketing company, providing inbound marketing and sales execution services for b2b companies.