Tag Archives: Increase

Is Team vs. Individual Project Responsibility More Effective? Four Thoughts

Situation: In the past a company assigned R&D projects to individual employees who were responsible for shepherding the project through to completion, seeking input from others as necessary along the way. The CEO has instituted a new system built around teams of specialists. In this new system the team is responsible for the project, not just an individual. This leverages people to do more with fewer resources, seems to be increasing throughput rates, and may reduce the impact of the departure of a single individual. Is team vs. individual project responsibility more effective?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • This seems a positive move, particularly if the groups seem to be responding positively.
  • Factors that will help:
    • Assure that there are strong leaders within the individual teams; leaders who are sensitive to individual team member’s contributions and needs.
    • Try the following theme – there is no “I” in Team, but there is an “I” in Win. Individual contributions still play an important role and must continue to be recognized.
    • Be proactive and sensitive to difficulties arising within particular teams. Work actively to resolve these difficulties so that they do not harm the team.
  • Another CEO has successfully used teams in development projects. When it comes to bonus time, she assigns a lump total bonus pool to the team, and asks them to come up with the distribution scheme within the team, subject to management review. The review is to assure that nobody on the team takes advantage of the others.
  • Immerse yourself in the literature on team structure and dynamics, to understand both the benefits and pitfalls of team management. This will help the company move smoothly through the transition.

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How Do You Raise the Bar on Personal Performance? Five Suggestions

Situation: A CEO is constantly striving to increase her skills, both personal and professional. She has sought and participated in a number of workshops to facilitate ongoing improvement. Some have been helpful but others less so. What have others done to sharpen their professional skills? What about their personal skills – the human side? How do you raise the bar on personal performance?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Focus on improving and sharpening your strengths, not on overcoming or improving areas that are not so strong. Look for ways that existing strengths complement each other and build on these combinations. This will naturally yield two benefits: raising performance and bringing greater satisfaction.
  • Create personal objectives that will help to sharpen existing strengths.
  • Conversely, develop workarounds for those areas which are not as strong. Look for talents among the others within the company that address the areas which are not as strong. Have them assist in work pertaining to these areas. They will enjoy this work because it complements their strengths, and you and the company will gain the desired results.
  • Take time to reflect and to recharge the batteries. Check current objectives and assure that these objectives compliment your long-term goals. Assure that you are focusing on the right priorities for YOU.
  • Find a mentor – in or outside of your industry. This will be an individual with experience who can provide you with guidance and clarity as you address both day-to-day and long-term challenges.

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How Do You Build and Develop the Right Team? Four Points

Situation: A CEO has two issues. One concerns her COO about whom she is receiving complaints from staff as new processes are implemented, and the other is beefing up the sales team. On the latter issue she is concerned about both her ability to pay the high-level seller-doers that are needed to support growth and potential turnover. How do you build and develop the right team?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The COO has already put the right process in place. Coach this individual to lighten up and allow everyone to adapt to the new regime.
    • As new processes are implemented coach him not to implement them rigidly at first. Allow people time to get used to the new process. Allow some flexibility in implementation so that the new processes can be adapted to the individual styles of the key players.
    • Over time tighten expectations gradually until each process is fully in place and running smoothly.
  • Have the COO communicate to the company that it’s growing, the focus is now on hiring, and the task facing the company is revenue growth.
  • For new salespeople, the investment cycle can be 6 months to full function.
    • In the mix of salary and bonus, weigh the bonus side heavily – the side that won’t become payable until the new individual produces.
    • This becomes an incentive for new salespeople to get up to speed quickly. It also helps to weed out those whose talents aren’t as sharp as they represented in the hiring process.
  • The salespeople are the key marketers for this company as well as the rainmakers and producers. It may be necessary to commit to this investment to ensure future growth and adjust the company’s annual earnings forecasts accordingly.

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How Do You Improve Sales Skills? Four Points

Situation: A company is staffed by a team that is not made up of salespeople, per se, but individuals who have grown with the business and who understand the customer. The staff is divided into teams who serve the company’s customers but with differences in effectiveness. The CEO seeks advice as to how they can best increase their selling level. How do you improve sales skills?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Comparing the teams, what are the differences in effectiveness in sales?
    • The individual with the most classic “sales” personality struggles with sales.
    • An individual with an HR background who knows the customer well is more comfortable with sales and is the highest producer.
    • There are instances of hoarding of information which could improve sales, but this is more frequent within teams than between the teams.
  • Dale Carnegie Sales Courses are a wonderful resource that can improve the skills of individuals both with and without a formal background in sales.
  • Engage in customer research to understand and know the customer.
    • Ask the sales leads in each team head up this research.
    • Their task will be to share their observations about customers and develop new strategies for approaching and meeting the needs of different customers.
    • This sharing should be both within the teams and between the teams.
  • Consider a sales coach.
    • Ask colleagues and search the Internet for a local resource.
    • Look for a consultant who specializes in working with individuals to overcome sales blocks, as well as to develop individualized sales styles that are effective for each person.

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How Do You Create a Good Lead Generation Campaign? Five Thoughts

Situation: A CEO wants to increase the company’s customer base. What have others done to generate leads in order to expand their customer base. What techniques have worked best? How do you create an effective lead generation campaign?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • One CEO who targets large customers used outside telesales at first but found them to be ineffective. They have since gone to an inside team. There is a learning phase, but with experience this can be an effective solution.
  • Another company uses an inside telesales team. This started with one individual and has become a team. Because this provides more control, one can hire for quality. This is often older callers who sound very professional on the telephone. It also provides the opportunity to tweak the telephone script for special promotions or circumstances.
    • For this company the number of calls per lead and closed account are high – up to 5% for leads and 1% for closed accounts. With a disciplined team and proper incentives, this is very doable.
  • Investigate the availability of local business lists such as Craig’s List or Rich’s Business Lists These lists are searchable by industry and business parameters.
  • Consider small professional conferences that attract target personnel of your key potential prospects. These are great networking and lead generation opportunities.
  • Make sure that there is a good link between the telemarketing and sales teams. This includes tracking, credit and rewards for landing accounts, and similar incentives.

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How Do You Boost Awareness of Your Products and Services? Seven Suggestions

Situation: A CEO wants to increase awareness of company products and services. They have a strong customer list and a long history of successful projects. How to they increase awareness among potential customer decision-makers? How do you boost awareness of your products and services?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • There are three stages to a good awareness strategy:
    • Visibility
    • Credibility
    • Profitability
  • The company already has great products and services. Hire a quality PR Firm and have them highlight this for company trade shows, blogs, YouTube, etc.
  • The objective is not broad awareness but getting to specific decision-makers – what will get to them?
    • Generate broad awareness of company capabilities through entertaining videos to excite the team members of prospect companies who report to the decision makers.
    • This is a complex strategic sell. If recommenders think that the company’s stuff is cool they will pass the word – create a campaign to encourage this.
  • The priority is to close more business. Why not brand or co-brand and promote the company’s products? This may ease reaching the target decision makers.
  • The PR advice is good – but how will this play to the crowd that’s writing the check?
    • What makes current customers comfortable working with the company? Is it repeatability?  Credibility? Creativity? Referenceability? Decide which it is and highlight it.
    • Everything that the company is doing on the “cool” side falls under the marketing strategy. Efforts in PR and sales must support this marketing strategy.
  • Consider a campaign on YouTube – How do the parts of “Sally” work? How did we design it?  This attracts a smaller audience, but it may be the right audience.
  • Within company capabilities, there are two distinctions to clarify – both are important but require different emphasis:
    • Innovating the product
    • Innovating the process – making it happen

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What is the Best Way to Roll out a Business Opportunity? Six Suggestions

Situation: A CEO is reviewing options for introducing a new offering. The target customers are small companies or projects within larger companies. The offering includes both an initial product and follow-on services. Education or training will be a component of the offering. What is the best way to roll out a business opportunity?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • It is best to position the offering as a straightforward proposition at launch and develop proof of concept. This will provide experience and an income stream to fund more complex offerings based on the initial model.
    • It will also provide insight on how to sell the product and service in different markets – manufacturing, service, and software.
    • Leverage this experience to pursue more complex models.
  • Build a portfolio of case studies before pitching to paying companies.
    • Use companies with whom relationships already exist as the proving base. These will become references for new clients.
    • Develop data to show actual cost savings from the use of the product and services.
  • Establish a relationship with an existing company for which the offering is complimentary and cross-offer products and services on an ad hoc basis.
    • Trial the product and service with one of their clients in return for a royalty or share of the profit.
    • Ask that company to make the introduction.
  • Target start-ups – offer an initial package for a low price. Offer the product to start-ups for free and get them hooked as long-term customers.
  • What would be needed to roll the offering through growth equity firms or venture capitalists?
    • This will require some proof that the offering increases the ROI to growth equity and VC portfolio companies and funds.
    • Note that the portfolio companies of growth equity firms are larger and farther up the growth curve
  • In current economy the key message to prospects may be that the offering will help them to “right size” their company.
    • Take a closer look at the offering and determine whether it is configured appropriately for the current environment.

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How Do You Build in a Declining Market? Five Solutions

Situation: Revenue for a product and craft business has been slipping. At the same time, their competition has been disappearing. It is clear to the CEO that demand is and will continue to be present because of the market that the company serves. The question is how to maintain the profitability to survive long-term. How do you build in a declining market?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The keys to recovery in a business like this will be in two areas: improving sales and increasing margins.
  • To increase sales the choices are more aggressive marketing and selling to existing customers or creating new markets like previous generations did when they started the business. Consider services that you could bundle with your products to augment the ways that customers use them. It will be the responsibility of your sales and marketing teams to demonstrate these product/service bundles to increase sales both to new and existing customers. This will help to solve the revenue slippage.
  • The other side is ongoing efforts to reduce cost which will, in turn, improve your margins. Costs can be reduced in creative ways that are not obvious. These include improvements in purchasing, reduction of waste, recycling of component materials, and inventory controls. It will be the responsibility of your production, purchasing and inventory management teams to develop these solutions. Assure that these teams are recognized and rewarded for their solutions.
  • Look at the segments of your product offering. Are they declining at the same rate or are there differences? This will help you to focus your efforts, as a company, to grow market share even if the overall market is declining.
  • Other suggestions for increasing sales:
    • Take advantage of the craft trends. Do this with NEW talent – not tired talent.
    • Consider partnerships and collaborations.
    • Set up contests and craft classes.
    • Look at how other industries promote to the craft industry and follow their lead.
    • Consider kitted craft products.

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Is It Time to Raise Prices? Six Suggestions

Situation: A company will be losing a client in the near future. However, the client is still buying from the company as sole source supplier while they develop alternate suppliers. Should the company raise prices, and if so by how much? Is it timely to raise prices?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • A factor in this decision will be your history of raising prices in the past. If you have increased prices to keep pace with inflation and your costs, look at the frequency and magnitude of these increases. Provided that the increase that you are considering is not out of line with past practice, it should not come as a surprise to your client. If you have not raises prices in the past, be prepared for push-back.
  • However you decide, be sure to maintain the relationship. You have a long relationship with this client and you never know what their future needs will be. As to the amount of the price increase, if they are reducing the volume of their purchases, you can raise your prices by 10-20% based on the loss of volume to cover your overhead.
  • Be prepared with logical arguments to explain the price increase to the client.
  • If your discussions with the client’s representative have become tense, it may be better to have someone else within your company lead this discussion. It’s OK to tie the emotional component – having to lay-off employees, etc, – into your story.
  • If you have an advocate within the client company, involve them in the discussion and give your advocate the ammunition that they need to support your case.
  • Adjust your staff and costs to fit the new reality.

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How Do You Introduce a Product to New Customers? 7 Thoughts

Situation: A company produces a high performance product which is priced modestly higher than competing products. They are finding customers resistant to cost increases, even when they acknowledge the advantages of the higher cost product. The company needs to develop a new way to position their product. How do you introduce a product to new customers?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Don’t compete directly with existing technology. Position yourself distinctly, as a new solution to address unmet needs.
  • Sell your solution “for those times when you need to save time.” Once they start to use your product, they will find it simpler and easier to use than the old product and will convert themselves to your product.
  • Use the pitch: Book an extra client today because this will save you this much time. This plays to customers’ incremental revenue opportunities to justify the cost.
  • At conventions, conduct contests among attendees – try our product versus your old product. Those who can use it fastest, or below a set time have their business card placed in a jar for an iPad drawing several times a day.
  • Sell a lower priced “starter” kit – or provide a free sample with easy to follow directions. Once the customer is sold on the product’s advantages they will be less resistant to the modest cost increase.
  • Conduct seminars:
    • Local gatherings
    • Regional meetings
    • Larger companies
  • Focus on specialty functions within larger target clients – the functions that will benefit the most from your product’s advantages.

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