Posted: May 21, 2012 | Categories: Management

Last night I was at a social event with some old friends.  My friend Bob started talking about his job and the company he worked for.  He was frustrated. He is the sales manager for a contracting firm.  It is a family company that has now entered their third generation of leadership.  Bob described his situation to me:

Being a contractor, they bid for work.  Like most contractors today, they are finding they must compete against many other bidders rather than just 2 or 3 like before the economic crunch.  Current conditions dictate that they must fight harder for a “bigger piece of a smaller pie” This means smaller profit margins, and with rising fixed costs and pricing pressure, the focus turns to building a more productive team.  To get a more productive team, leadership, teamwork, and communication must be strong.  Bob saw a gap here.  Rather than listen to him complain, I threw it back to him and said, “So what needs to be done?”  In his answer, he “nailed it”. Here are the steps he outlined:

Build a business plan:  They need a business plan…I mean a real business plan that details specific goals and well-crafted strategies that clearly map how to reach your objectives.

Define roles:  There is a lack of clarity and that is creating confusion.  This results in gaps, overlaps, things slipping through the cracks, misinformation, finger-pointing, blame, etc.  Imagine major league baseball if roles were not defined.  You would have people colliding with one another and no one covering for a player who was drawn off base or out of position.

Compensation plan:  Bob did not have a compensation plan.  Strong companies take the time and care to personalize compensation plans that help direct people towards desired goals.

Create team synergy:  Get the whole team involved in problem solving.  Create an environment of idea fluency, problem solving, and positive action.

Summing it up, to keep healthy profit margins, keep your people happy and engaged by:

1.  Building a business plan with clearly defined goals
2. Create a team environment that is open and knows how to solve problems.
3. Build quality compensation plans that are personalized and designed to motivate.

Most important to remember:  Strive to keep your team happy, engaged, and at the lowest possible level of frustration.  When we are frustrated, we are not focused.  When we are focused, we are positioned to be most productive.  When we are productive…up go profits!

Posted: April 4, 2012 | Categories: Management, Team Building

“Interrogate reality, promote learning, tackle touch challenges, enrich relationships…success occurs one conversation at a time”

Susan Scott
Fierce Conversations

If there is one common denominator among all the companies I work with, it is that they want to increase sales and improve profit margins.  To triumph in these objectives, selling is important, and just as important is communication within teams and among departments.  When a sale is made, the customer expects the product or service to be exceptional and they anticipate that the work will be completed on time and within budget.

When companies conduct surveys about how things can improve, the topic of communication comes up consistently as a key focus area.  The quality of communication helps ensure that important information is transferred and things don’t slip through the cracks.  In addition, good communication strengthens teamwork by increasing engagement and reducing toxic finger-pointing and blame.

Let’s take a look at some important fundamentals and components that make up quality communication:

Trust: A strong platform of trust and mutual respect must be built.  This doesn’t means that everyone has to like each other.  Chicago Bulls legends Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen did not like Dennis Rodman.  They did  trust him and respect his work ethic and playing ability.  That was enough to get them more than one championship.

Focus: Mistakes, problems and challenges occur every day.  When they do, there are often two or more people involved in solving the problem.  The first step of the conversation is to clarify and maintain focus by asking the questions:

1. What is the focus of our discussion?
2. What would be a desirable outcome (A corrective action plan defined and committed to)

List all possible solutions:  Without judgment, get all ideas and possible options on the table.

Evaluate options:  Determine action.  After identifying the decision-making criteria, which of the options makes the most sense?  Who is going to do what?  When are they going to do it?

Remove Barriers: When we committed to a task that involves a change in pattern, much can get in the way.  At this stage, we flush out all the possible barriers, and have a strategy to help prevent the potential barriers from impeding our progress:  Here are some questions we can ask;

1.  What might prevent you from succeeding?
2. What’s missing?
3. What resources do you need?
4. What are the roadblocks you expect or know about?

To operate profitably and efficiently, look for ways to collaborate with each teammate on improvement opportunities.  Focus, list options, evaluate options, formulate action steps, remove barriers, and commit to action.  You will solve one problem after another as a team, and your team will keep getting stronger.

Posted: March 27, 2012 | Categories: Management, Sales

We all know why gold and diamonds are so expensive: They are in high demand and the supply is limited.

The same rules apply to you and I regarding our product or service. If what we do and how we do it is exceptional, in demand, and rare, we can make more profit. This is why it is so important for us in business to find our “gold.” Here is a process that can help us do that:

1.  Think of all the problems we solve for our clients.
2.  Consider all the competencies we have to solve those problems.
3.  Make a list of these competencies
4.  Put the list in a chart form with four columns
5.  Label the columns: Me, Customer, Competency, and Competition.

Here is what the headings stand for:

Me = How important do I think the competency is?

Customer= How important do my customers think it is?

Competency: Of all the competencies, where am I most strong and competent?

Competition: How strong is my competition in this area?

To complete heading #2, you will need to survey a handful of your most important customers. Ask them to rate the competency on a scale of 1-10. After you have tabulated the information, look at the data to determine:

• Consider what both you and your customers think is most important
• Evaluate how it matches up with your greatest competency
• Research your competition’s website and see how strong they are in that area

In most cases, what you will come up with is an area where you are uniquely qualified. Once you have done this, you have now discovered your “gold.” This is your unique selling proposition, and also where your greatest profit margin should be. Clients will pay you well since they do not believe they can replicate what you do for them.

Posted: March 26, 2012 | Categories: Management, Self-Improvement

One thing I love about coaching is the opportunity to get to what is most important.  In every conversation I have with clients and teams, they all start the same way.  It all boils down to focus and desired outcome.  What my clients are really saying is, “This is my “Here and now” and here is my “then and there”…How I get there?

The outcome of such a conversation always involves one or both of two components:  Building a new competency or skill and forming a new habit.

This morning I was talking to a client who was looking to connect with a person in a key position.  Jim had been thinking about calling the VP for several months.  He kept postponing the phone call.  So what was getting in the way?  Selling skills.  We did some role-playing practicing some key fundamentals, and at the end of the conversation Bill had both a commitment and eagerness to call the prospect.

Jim’s situation is one we can probably all relate to in some way:  When we are avoiding doing something that needs to be done, there is a reason.  If we can identify the reason, we can make the adjustment in our skill or habits to turn it around.  The other option is to keep avoiding the task, and we all know the definition of insanity.  Simply put, “If nothing changes, nothing changes”.

From this point on, as Jim and I continue to work together, he will become more and more competent in his selling skills.  As he does, sales will become easier and more enjoyable.  In time, what was once avoided will become a productive habit.  His skill and attitude will have changed, and making this new activity into a habit will be a natural evolutionary process.

Here is what we can do right now:

Ask ourselves:

1.  Am I where I want to be in my career and life?
2. What new habit or skill do I need to move forward?

Once we have  determined the key action we need to take, remember the 4 rules to build a new habit or skill:

1. Seize the first opportunity
2. Launch the strongest possible initiative
3. Keep the faculty of effort alive with daily practice
4. Never allow an exception to occur

It’s simple! (But not easy)

Posted: March 15, 2012 | Categories: Management, Self-Improvement

 There are some indicators that our economy is getting better, and you may be one of those whose business and profits are robust.  If so, here is some wisdom I will pass along to you courtesy of the late Peter Drucker:

“An organization should not grow faster than its ability to manage”

 That is the “what”.  Now we can turn to Ben Franklin to get a better idea of “how”.

Benjamin Franklin built his success on defining and living by clearly defined virtues.  He used these virtues every day to check the rightness of his actions or thoughts.  He originally had 12 virtues.  After a short time, he realized he needed to add one more – humility.  As he put it, “Every time I find myself getting very good at something, I start to feel too proud about it”

In his painfully helpful book, “How the Mighty Fall”, “Good to great” author Jim Collins analyzes five key phases in the decline of success.  Sears, GM, Motorola, and Circuit City are some examples he studied.  Here are the five steps as outlined by Mr. Collins:

1. Hubris born of success

2. Undisciplined pursuit of more

3. Denial of risk and peril

4. Grasping for salvation

5. Capitulation to irrelevance or death

He also emphasized that stage #1, “Hubris of success”, is the trigger that leads to the remaining steps of decline.

Let’s see how Webster’s Dictionary defines “hubris” and “humility”

Humility:  Refrain from boasting. Minimize personal accomplishments in favor or building others.

Hubris:  Wanton insolence or arrogance resulting from excessive pride.

Which word do you like better?  (I thought so)

Many businesses believe that their toughest challenge is generating more revenue.  In my experience, I find that the most stressful situation is when we are making tons of money.  There is a strong tendency to let our pride get out of hand, and when that happens, we can make some stupid decisions.

GM didn’t see foreign cars as a threat.  Sears didn’t take Wal-Mart seriously.  Motorola chose to be more engineering driven that customer driven.  As Mr. Collins puts it, “they lost sight of the underlying factors that created their success in the first place.”

So if you are at the top of your game, and enjoying profits beyond your dreams, take some time to do the following:

1. List the underlying factors that created your success

2. Determine which one needs the most attention

3. List and commit to one or two specific action steps you can do to improve the area of focus.

Have a “healthy discontent” with where you are at!