Tweet

Dr. Rick Johnson Articles

Written by: Dr. Rick Johnson

Is Your CFO REALLY a Chief Financial Officer - Click To Read Article
No offense to all those dedicated, competent, excellent performing CFO’s out there but I have to admit that I run into a number of individuals in business that hold the respectable title of CFO (Chief Financial Officer) that shouldn’t be the Chief of anything. Oh, some of these CFO impersonators do a good job as an accountant and some may even qualify as a Controller. But, there are some that just shouldn’t hold the title of Chief Financial Officer. “The chief financial officer (CFO) is a corporate officer primarily responsible for managing the financial risks of the corporation. This officer is also responsible for financial planning and record-keeping, as well as financial reporting to higher management. The CFO is also responsible for analysis of data”. So…… ask yourself; is your CFO really a Chief Financial Officer.

The Power is in the Question - Click To Read Article
Does sales management seem to be lost in the wilderness at your company? Was your sales manager your top rated sales person that you promoted based on sales performance? Did your sales manager ever receive any formal sales management training? Do you think your sales force needs to be more aggressive? Are you following best practice principles?

The Realities of Service Excellence during Recovery - Click To Read Article
The primary focus of your company’s operations especially during a recovery period should be on having uniformly “Excellent Customer Service”. We define Service Excellence simply as “doing what you say you will do”. This involves setting customer expectations and then delivering on them. If Reality Exceeds Expectations then the Customer Will be Happy

Sales Management ---- Do the Inmates Run the Asylum - Click To Read Article
Handling sales people that can put up the numbers but break every rule in the book, ones that can’t get along with their peers and drive inside sales people crazy can be very challenging for a sales manager. This will create a situation that ultimately will affect overall company performance regardless of this sales person’s individual success. This is especially true if this sales person holds the sales manager hostage knowing his numbers help keep corporate off the sales managers back.

Sales Growth --- The Key Objective - Click To Read Article
Isn’t sales growth the primary of objective of every sales person out there. It makes the company happy and puts more money in the pocket of the sales person. When the fish were jumping in the boat, sales growth was easy. Today, due to economic uncertainty, the fish are as cooperative. So…….. How do you grow sales today?

Sales Management --Unmask the Confusion of Territory Account Assignment - Click To Read Article
When I carried a bag, sales territories were defined geographically. Of course, that was in the old days. My daughter calls it the days of Black & White Television. In reality, color television came out when I was still only seven years old. But in the days when I was a field sales rep, the 70’s & 80’s, a sales person got a chunk of geography and you were told this is your patch of dirt. You go out and you farm the territory and you build the business. However, for the most part, if you are going to grow your territory it has to grow by taking market share from the competition. Territories today need to go from being geographically defined to being key account assignment defined. So, in other words, when you use the term, ‘territory’ today, you’re not referring to a patch of dirt.

Do you have Non-Performance Issues on your Sales Team? - Click To Read Article
All companies are in constant need of aggressive, creative and resourceful salespeople to have their products specified, accepted and used by customers. Without informed and capable field salespeople, no distributorship could hope to compete in the marketplace today. How often have any of us stopped to consider the fact that good salespeople, the kind who can help a company really grow, don’t just happen to come along by chance or fate. There is no such thing as a “born salesperson,” because selling ability is much more than an intangible given that a person either has or doesn’t have.

The Challenge of Hiring - Click To Read Article
Interviewing a new job candidate sounds easy. After all, you are in control. You have something to offer. You can select anyone you choose to select. Right? That sounds good but in reality interviewing a person to fill a job opening is one of the more difficult tasks you may face as a manager. It does require specific skills to do it right and increase your chance of hiring the ideal person for the job; the person that will stay and fit in with the culture of your company. Whether you employ one person, or five hundred, choosing the right employees can be a challenge. How do you k now for sure which person you interview is the right one for your company?

Star Status in Sales - Click To Read Article
Being number one on your sales team just isn't that difficult. Salesmanship is a learned skill. You can perfect that skill. Yes, it does help to have an outgoing personality, high self-esteem and an ego. But, these attributes alone won't make you successful. Confidence in yourself, confidence in your products and confidence in your company is a key ingredient. The only way to gain this kind of ultimate confidence is by attaining knowledge. Study your products, understand your value propositions and understand what your competitive advantage is.

Reflections of a Lone Sales Wolf - Click To Read Article
How time flies. I remember back in the mid 1970's when professional selling was easy and a whole lot of fun. We were Lone Wolfs back then. We controlled everything, we were professionals, we owned a patch of dirt. All we had to do to maintain ownership was to produce sales. We had our tools, a company car, trunk files, brochures, samples and a calendar/card file. As time passed, some of us even got car phones. Sure, we did call reports and had sales meetings, but make no mistake, we were pros. We owned that patch of dirt and most of the customers who were on it. If we chose to leave for greener pastures, most of our customers went with us. We had respect. Everything focused on relationships. I mentioned how I even remember my first sales training seminar, "Needs Satisfaction Selling." I was a rookie and having the time of my life.

Don't Drive in the Dark - Click To Read Article
We recently utilized our airpower against Libya arguably by numerous people from both side of the aisle without an End Game. To me, that is like driving in the dark. At that point we have no idea of the outcome. Without lights, euphuism for an End Game, the odds are not in our favor. You don’t get up in the morning and get in your car without knowing exactly what your destination is. That is what an End Game is all about; what exactly is your destination. You can’t run a company effectively, maximizing all opportunity without creating a long term plan. And, there is no such thing as a long term plan that will work without a defined End Game. The Libya situation reminds me of what I often see in companies every day. It’s either a lack of serious long term planning or the lack of a defined End Game.

Demonstrating Leadership when Handling a Disgruntled Employee - Click To Read Article
"Are you kidding me?" ---- "I can't believe you are doing this to me!" -----"This just isn't fair" Have you ever heard those words or similar words from an employee? Have you ever had to handle a situation where an employee is so upset they become very emotional? If you haven't and you are in management, you will. It's just a matter of time.

Don’t Let your Smile Run Away from Your Face --- The Piano Man - Click To Read Article
There is a song called The Piano Man that uses the phrase - "The smile ran away from her face." That phrase reminds me of the look on many Sales Managers faces as they discuss sales training at their respective company. The least effective and the most expensive method of training sales people unfortunately is also the most common! Although a new sales person may have experience, simply providing product training for your line card is just not enough. The marketplace demands that sales people provide more than product knowledge, a product catalog and a price list. If that is the type of training you provide, chances are it is the root cause of management frustration, low productivity and high turnover not to mention lack of profitability. Training sales personnel appropriately can be expensive.

Conquering the Counter Conundrum - Click To Read Article
Counter sales personnel face many of the same issues that inside sales and customer service (IS/CS) people face. In fact, the counter sales life becomes one of juggling several balls in the air at the same time and becoming skilled at multi-tasking. Dealing with "will- calls," customers at the counter, inbound phone calls, picking and packing at times and demanding sales representatives create quite a challenge for the professional counter person. More importantly, this counter conundrum puts customer retention and value at risk.

Termination Procrastination - Click To Read Article
"Profit covers many sins". That means that many of us may have become a little complacent and tend to procrastinate when it comes to problem employees... Maybe we didn't quite run our business following absolute best practice. Maybe some of us overlooked less than the best performance expected from our employees. Maybe we were a little too compassionate regarding employee effectiveness and as a result we haven't "weeded the garden" to allow our good employees to flourish. Instead, we just procrastinated on making these kinds of decisions. If your company is one that got caught in that viscous web of easy success and thought that prosperity in the market wouldn't end and you didn't quite pay attention to basic best practice business acumen, you may have fallen prey to the "Procrastinating Concept of Profit Covers Many Sins".

Bosses Gone Wild - Click To Read Article
The reason people follow any leader, especially in the business world, is due to trust. The only way to develop trust is through communication - talking to people with respect to gain their respect. Respect is a key ingredient in developing trust. Trust is gained when people think their employer cares about their welfare and recognizes the role each plays in creating a profit. People have to think that the company not only cares about their problems, but that the company will make every effort to solve them.

2011 ---- Ten Success Reminders - Click To Read Article
The market forces have been very tough the past few years. However, 2011 is a brand new year and there are encouraging signs of growth in our economy. Creating acceptable levels of growth and profitability in 2011 is a goal that I am sure is shared by virtually 100 % of the individuals and companies that read this article. So, let's review some principles that can help us maintain our focus and create the kind of success in 2011 that you can be proud of:

A Common Purpose - Click To Read Article
A leader has to win the hearts and minds of his management team to create a Common Purpose. This doesn’t happen by accident. It depends on values, beliefs that create the foundation for how the team works together. It is imperative that the leader understands these values and beliefs.

Be a Sales Professional - Click To Read Article
Being number one on your sales team just isn't that difficult. Being a "Professional" Sales person should be your primary goal. Salesmanship is a learned skill. You can perfect that skill. Yes, it does help to have an outgoing personality, high self-esteem and an ego. But, these attributes alone won't make you a Sales Professional. Confidence in yourself, confidence in your products and confidence in your company is a key ingredient. The only way to gain this kind of ultimate confidence is by attaining knowledge. Study your products, understand your value propositions and understand what your competitive advantage is.

Developing a Proactive Sales Strategy - Click To Read Article
In today's economy customers have less time to meet with you and they are much more skeptical which results in anxiety, stress and feelings of frustration on the part of your sales force. This leads to a reactive mindset instead of a proactive mindset. A sales person's mindset is powerful and it has a direct impact on self-esteem, levels of expectations and ultimately leads to poor performance, call reluctance and an attitude of complacency. Opportunities are missed and relationship equity with many customers may suffer.

Feelings of Entitlement - Click To Read Article
It is difficult for most kids who are working in the family business to not have some feelings of entitlement. After all, the main reason most entrepreneurs’ start their own business is to provide for their families. Once that is secure, thoughts of creating a legacy and passing the business from generation to generation become a natural progression for most founders, even though statistics show that business failure is alarming in second and third generation leadership. In fact, The Family Business Institute reports that only 12% of family businesses survive the third generation. Feelings of entitlement are not necessarily a bad thing. It’s the attitude of the owner’s child that really matters.

Do You REALLY Value Your Employees - Click To Read Article
Listen carefully, if you don’t treat your employees like your most important asset --- Then they certainly will not act nor will they perform like your most important asset. And that means you are missing the greatest opportunity in the world to leverage talent in creating competitive advantage in your market place. Make no mistake, it is your employees that create core competencies and core competencies create competitive advantage. However, I have to go further and say; you really can’t treat them like an asset but like associates that you really care about.

Commodity Value Proposition - An Oxymoron? - Click To Read Article
How do you find your value proposition when everything you do and everything you sell seems to border on being a commodity because everybody is trying to do the same thing to create competitive advantage? “Oh, but we’re different. We sell our World Class Service.” Right ………………………. How many companies do you know that don’t say they have world class service. Many say that servicing the customer is their core competency. If they truly do have world class service, service is not their core competency it’s what they are doing to create and maintain that level of service that is their true core competency.

Where is the Red Cape --- Maximizing Counter Sales - Click To Read Article
As a counter sales person, when a customer walks through the door, you are generally the person they are looking for. The customer wants to place an order and expects you-the counter sales person-to take care of them. Although this encounter is usually brief, let's examine what the customer's overall expectations may be. What do customers expect of counter sales professionals? Since the customer's perceived value of you as a supplier drive their expectations, knowing the answer to this question is important to meeting expectations and building relationship equity. Today's customers expect more than free coffee and popcorn at the counter. They expect a more than satisfactory experience with the people that represent the company they are doing business with.

Whine or Shine ---- Sales Management - Click To Read Article
Jimmy Jo Bonds was hired by ABC Heating as their new Vice President of Sales. ABC Heating and Air Conditioning has seventeen branches across the Midwest. Jimmy is replacing the former VP of Sales due to stagnant sales (zero growth) that did not improve for five years running. Jimmy has quite an impressive resume as a "Product Manager". Jimmy's primary challenge was stated very clearly by his boss the President...... "I need you to focus on Growing Market Share!" The president went on to promise Jimmy all the support and resources he would need to get the job done. Jimmy has eighteen sales people and a National Accounts Manager reporting directly to him.

Recovery or Double Dip Recession - Click To Read Article
Recovery or double dip recession; That issue is sharply dividing many economists, because no one is sure what impact the current nonsense we keep hearing over the airwaves will have on the overall market and the broad economy. What impact will the November elections have on our economy? What about the Bush Tax cuts, Cap and Trade and the impact of "Health Care Change"? These four questions alone represent a lot of uncertainty. Terms like "Jobless Recovery" -- "The Summer of Recovery" and "Jobs Saved" almost make me want to puke.

Puddles in the Parking Lot - Click To Read Article
It was a cold October morning in Dayton, Ohio and as I left my house at 7am the skies opened up and it began to pour. It wasn't cold enough to turn the rain into ice but it was still chilly enough that I turned on the heater. Today we were having customers in. Not just any customer - General Motors was visiting our branch and we were going to make a presentation trying to secure all the distribution business for two of their local manufacturing facilities. We had a plan and we had rehearsed our game plan over and over.

Leveraging Your EMT (Executive Management Team) - Click To Read Article
First of all we need to define exactly what an EMT (Executive Management Team) is. Your EMT can be anything you define it to be. Predominantly it should be made up of your most trusted Managers currently playing an important role in the company's success. The top managers in your company are the ones to carry the message and insure execution of your plan. If you have high level managers that you don't trust or you don't feel can contribute to the team effort --- you might just have the wrong person in that position.

What if Your Boss is a Jerk - Click To Read Article
So, if your boss is a jerk, so what. He can not control your attitude. Keep things in perspective. Life is too short to let someone else determine your level of happiness. When you get up in the morning, look in the mirror. Don't scream, put some clothes on first and then tell yourself that you are the best at what you do. Tell yourself you are a success and you will help someone else become a success. Now, Go to work and no matter what happens during the day keep that upbeat attitude and search for opportunities to make a difference. Remember what Zig Zigler said. "You can get everything you want in life by helping someone else get what they want." That includes your boss. Focus on positive thoughts, success thoughts. You are what you think and if you think the day will be a great day, chances are in your favor that it will be.

Why is Sales Management so Tough - Click To Read Article
This question has challenged every business and leader since even before the days of "The Death of a Salesman" a great book by Arthur Miller. Managing a sales force is quite different from selling to a customer. It requires different skill sets. And yet a common mistake we make when filling the Sales Managers position is that we take our top sales person and promote them to Sales Manager. That decision fails more often then it succeeds. The reason is simple --- "A Sales Managers primary responsibility is not to focus on selling". The Sales Managers primary responsibility is to focus on the promotion of sales. It's about leadership.

Truck Drivers --- Some of our Best Sales People - Click To Read Article
I can't tell you how many times I have heard people say exactly that --- "Our Truck Drivers are some of our Best Sales People." In fact, I often made that statement myself when I ran my own Steel Processing Distribution Center. During seminars and association meetings I still often hear CEO's and other executives make that comment over and over again. But ------ When I ask for a show of hands as to how many people actually train their truck drivers on sales techniques very few hands go up.

Succession or Termination in the Family Business - Click To Read Article
Succession Planning is often like riding a Roller Coaster Selecting one child over another to become President and run the business will likely be the most difficult decision you will ever have to make as the owner. There will be ups and downs in the process. However, before you come to the conclusion that you are actually going to hand Aunt Lilly or your son the Presidency, you must be sure that you have exhausted every possible option and scenario imaginable to ensure the future success of the business.

Is Your Management Team REALLY a Team - Click To Read Article
Creating a Culture of teamwork requires leadership being able to interact with employees, peers and many other individuals both inside and outside the organization. Leaders must gain the support of many people to meet or exceed established objectives. This means that they must develop or possess a unique understanding of people. The ability to coach-mentor and teach leadership skills to others is the driving force that will create a winning organization. It is the driving force that can bring those employees that are outliers, those that are skeptical of management into a team environment.

Is Your Underperforming Employee Incompetent or is it AADD - Click To Read Article
AADD - Adult Attention Deficit Disorder is often difficult to understand. This is especially true when it exists in one of your key employees. It may often be disguised as peer relationship problems, moodiness, forgetfulness, lack of commitment, complacency and even substance abuse. Now for the disclaimer --- I am not a medical doctor nor do I profess to be an expert on AADD. The objective of this article is simply to bring to your attention that erratic, unusual and unacceptable behavior can sometimes be related to a medical condition that often is overlooked. This condition is called Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. If this article suggests any familiarity of circumstance with any of your employees then seek a professional medical opinion.

Companies that Win are Companies that Teach - Click To Read Article
Winning organizations seem to have a knack for leadership development throughout their organization. One key principle that I have found present in this type of organization is the fact that they hire well and they fire better. Generally their managers have been trained on the interviewing and hiring process. This is rare phenomenon. Ask yourself how many of your managers have really been trained on the interviewing process? Companies that actually do train their managers have a high success rate for finding and keeping good employees is above average. Recruitment and retention becomes part of their culture and the responsibility of everyone. Leadership is more than just a word in these companies and leadership potential is sought out, encouraged and developed. Who has Leadership Potential?

Average Performance Isn't Good Enough - Click To Read Article
Many astute leaders took the opportunity presented by the recession to weed the garden and upgrade their work force. Most businesses that survived this latest recession are much stronger as a result of it. Unfortunately some failed and did not make it. We must now be cautiously optimistic as we close out 2010 and enter into 2011. That includes revisiting our hiring practices to make sure we learned from past mistakes. We need to make sure we don't recreate the same culture or level of complacency that we had to address in dealing with the recession.

Are You a True Salels Professiona - Click To Read Article
Salesmanship is a learned skill. You can perfect that skill. Yes, it does help to have an outgoing personality, high self-esteem and an ego to become a real pro. But, these attributes alone won't make you successful. Confidence in yourself, confidence in your products and confidence in your company are also key ingredients. The only way to gain this kind of ultimate confidence and become a true sales professional is by attaining knowledge. Study your products, understand your value propositions and understand what your competitive advantage is. Success is rarely an accident. Success is generally the result of a combination of motivation, attitude, skill and knowledge. Not everybody can be a professional sales person. If you are --- you are special.

Three Value Disciplines --- Which One Defines Your Company? - Click To Read Article
The selection of a value discipline is a central act that shapes every subsequent plan and decision a company makes, combing the entire organization, from its competencies to its culture. The choice of value discipline in effect, defines what a company does and therefore what it is. It is effectively possible that some companies can create a fourth discipline by combining any two of the three disciplines listed.

Winning Organizations - Click To Read Article
Effective leaders must have an edge. They must be courageous enough to take risk and have an unrelenting readiness to act. Popularity is not a requirement, but the ability to generate respect from the employees is, without a doubt, one of the most critical attributes. They must be relentless in their efforts, unconcerned about personal sacrifice of their time, and willing to go beyond normal expectations. Tough decisions are commonplace; uncharted territories will be the norm. Honesty and impeccable character are musts.

Window of Opportunity - Click To Read Article
In a practical sense, what this means is that you view tough economic times as providing you a unique window of opportunity to cut the non-profitable elements of your sales and marketing system away, to pare down to a dedicated and competent core, to sharpen the focus of every element of your system, and then to expand your market share so that you can weather the hard times and be stronger when the economy inevitably turns.

Today's Employees Hold Leaders More Accountable - Click To Read Article
Times have changed, leadership has evolved. The days of the "Lone Wolf" leader at the top who dominates with power are gone. Successful privately held organizations have gone through the leadership evolutionary process. They understand that today's leader must create change in the organization to meet the needs of their customers, to meet the needs of their vendors and most importantly to meet the needs of their employees. Today employees hold leaders more accountable for their actions. They ask tough questions; sometimes very quietly, sometimes boldly. They want to know where you are leading them. Do you have a vision? Can they trust you? Do you respect and trust them? Will you empower them? As a leader in your organization you are held accountable by a variety of people on a regular basis.

Success Starts with Self Awareness - Click To Read Article
Every manager, every employee and every leader that has any drive at all strive to be successful. Success starts with self awareness. That means understanding your personal strengths and weaknesses. It also means having enough humility to work on those weaknesses.

Ten Tips on Motivation - Click To Read Article
Tough times weigh heavy on employees. They know when a company is not performing without seeing the profit and loss statement. The good ones start to abandon ship and seek employment elsewhere. Add restructuring and employee terminations to the formula and keeping your good employees becomes the most life threatening issue you are likely to face during tough economic times. Losing good employees has a high cost associated with it.

Reinventing the Partnership with the Manufacturer - Click To Read Article
Distribution will always play a role in the supply channel. Manufacturers just can't do what distribution does effectively. But, distributors must recognize that change is upon them. They too must adjust to the evolution taking place in the supply chain. Today's distributors have the opportunity to reinvent the relationship and create a model that is mutually beneficial to both parties.

Seven Sales Facts to Ponder - Click To Read Article
From a management perspective, the goal of any sales initiative should be to improve the quantity and quality of the sales efforts of your salespeople. Its primary purpose is to provide focus-process and discipline that will enhance territory performance. This enhancement will lead to an increase in the sales, profitability and market share for each individual territory.

Shoot From the Hip Sales Mentality - Ten Steps that Focus on Sales Success - Click To Read Article
Sales people all do what they do with good intent and because they believe... it is the right thing to do! However is it the most productive thing to do? Remember, sales people will sell what you pay them to sell. If you want them to sell shovels but their incentive is based on selling hammers --- they will sell hammers. We as human beings are habitual; and habits form routines. As sales people we all form a subconscious sales approach or routine. During tough economic times sales people do not change. Instead they become extreme in their behavior. They may run faster but not work smarter. The solution is not simple but it's obvious that doing more of what isn't working is not the answer.

Sales Planning --- A Critical Component of Sales Success - Click To Read Article
A sales plan is a schedule of events and responsibilities that details the actions to be taken in order to accomplish the goals and objectives identified during the contingency - recovery - strategic planning process. The plan ensures everyone knows what needs to get done, coordinates their efforts and keeps close track of progress. Sales plans must define the objectives, time line and resources required to meet the growth objectives of the business unit, department or branch. This level of detail is unnecessary in the overall initial planning process.

Off the Cuff --- Sales Execution - Click To Read Article
Execution involves the day-to-day activities of the salesperson. For most industries, this entails both planned, proactive tasks and opportunistic, reactive events that the salesperson uncovers by doing the right things in the right place at the right time. It's critical that the progress of the tasks in target action plans is carefully monitored to avoid surprises. This is the equivalent of monitoring your daily exercise before the effects start to show up on the scale. The SEP circumvents the most common mistake made in distribution today: trying to manage results. You must manage activities because it's the activities that produce results. Once the results are in, the horse is out of the barn and everything you do from that point on is reactive. If you proactively manage the activities, the expected results will follow.

Off the Cuff --- Eight Tips on Sales Process Management - Click To Read Article
The role of field sales in the past focused around selling products to customers. The role has now shifted rapidly to developing solutions and programs for customers that, once sold, allow product to flow through the business-to-business relationship. When developing process management tools for use in the field sales management function, the tips below should be addressed carefully.

Panic Response Management - Click To Read Article
Panic Response Management is, in effect, crisis restructuring. There's nothing wrong with crisis restructuring by itself. However, this restructuring is more apt to occur from the bottom-up versus the top-down. In other words, revenue producing functions or people may be prematurely cut. These people or positions may be, at a minimum, covering their variable expense and contributing to some degree toward fixed costs. This creates a redistribution of fixed expenses which may now jeopardize the profitability of some other segment or division. This can create pressure to close other divisions and business segments or cut deeper into revenue producing functions that are contributing at least a portion to fixed costs, thus creating "The Death Spiral."

Manage your Assets but Lead your People - Click To Read Article
I have had suggestions made to me by owners, presidents and CEOs that would baffle the mind of most professionals that have integrity. For example, I once was asked to fire an individual because his wife's illness had caused the company to reach their catastrophic cap in their insurance program. This same owner would intentionally run mail that contained checks to his vendors through the meter at two cents so they would arrive with postage due. He thought this was a great cost savings idea until the government sent him a cease and desist letter.

It Gets Lonely at the Top - Click To Read Article
Being a President, CEO or the owner of a company can get lonely at times. This is true even if you are an excellent leader and have developed a top notch executive staff. Often times you face decisions, challenges or just thoughts that you can't even divulge to your most trusted employee. Some CEOs use executive coaches to help them during these times. I personally do some executive coaching. Often times coaching is just affirmation and validation of one's own thinking but it is important to have that outlet.

Has Your Sales Force Lost Their Passion - Click To Read Article
Nowadays, salespeople must be problem solvers able to generate solutions for customers in their time of need. Therefore, they must possess a great deal of knowledge about your customers' business. They must actually define what those needs are because the customer may not know, nor take the time to explain if they do know. Customers want you to have the knowledge and intelligence to comprehend and analyze their problems before showing up at the door. Customers will listen and buy from the salesperson that finds the "pain" and takes it away. Sometimes going back to the basics is part of the answer to rekindling the passion. That means revisiting best practice in all areas including targeting, goal setting, customer profiling and action planning.

Gutless Management - Click To Read Article
I would doubt that there are many companies out there that don't have at least one or two employee issues that have been overlooked or ignored in the past for a myriad of reasons. Let me tell you a secret, the majority of your good employees know long before you do which employees are carrying their weight and are worth keeping. How many times have you struggled with an employee problem only to finally let them go and your employees said ---- "it's about time."

Conducting an Effective Territory Review - Click To Read Article
All companies are in constant need of aggressive, creative and resourceful salespeople to have their products specified, accepted and used by customers. Without informed and capable field salespeople, no company could hope to compete in the marketplace today. But how often have any of us stopped to consider the fact that good salespeople, the kind who can help a company really grow, don't just happen to come along by chance or fate. There is no such thing as a "born salesperson," because selling ability is much more than an intangible given that a person either has or doesn't have. Granted, selling does require certain attributes in a person. He or she should, for example, be basically outgoing in manner and capable of making a genuinely favorable impression almost immediately.

Consultants Can Be Scary but Do They Provide Value - Click To Read Article
As a CEO before I became a consultant ten years ago I had very little time for consultants and did not have a high opinion of them. One of the things that always stuck in my craw - and still does for that matter -- is to see a consultant conduct sales training that never actually carried a bag themselves. Some have very little if any experience in the field as an outside sales person. Even more concerning is to watch a consultant give leadership or business acumen advice when that consultant never had to meet a payroll or run a company personally. Consultants can provide real value on many occasions but they can also be your worst nightmare.

Creating Intelligent Action Takers - Click To Read Article
You need "Risk Takers." You need "Mavericks." Identify every employee in that category and empower him or her to go out and get the job done. So what if they bend the rules sometimes. As long as they don't break the law, violate corporate core values or embarrass the company, "Turn Them Loose." You have everything to gain and nothing to lose. The employees will see this as a demonstration of trust and empowerment. Word will travel fast. Promote that concept. Send a monthly memo to everyone praising individuality that result in improvements. Title your memo, "OFF the CUFF" for it's informal straight talking honest feedback from the top. Reward and recognize the risk takers. Commend the change agents. Then align both management and the employees behind the new vision.

Developing Your Management Team - Click To Read Article
Your management team must have an edge. They must be courageous enough to take risk and have an unrelenting readiness to act. Popularity is not a requirement but the ability to generate respect from the employees is without a doubt one of the most critical attributes. They must be relentless in their efforts, unconscious about personal sacrifice of their time and the willingness to go beyond normal expectations. Tough decisions are commonplace; uncharted territories will be the norm. Honesty and impeccable character is a must. Being decisive, doing the right thing, setting clear objectives, motivating and inspiring employees and creating a sense of urgency are challenges that must be met by all members of the management team. Every single member of your management team has to make a difference.

Are You a Real Leader or Just an Imitation? - Click To Read Article
The easiest way to suppress discretionary energy, the energy given willingly - no matter what it takes, is a style often used by "Imitation Leaders" that scrutinizes every decision an employee makes. It can kill the employee's spirit. It destroys trust. Leadership imitation is often just a symptom of ineffective planning, too much compassion and the inability to judge performance and develop bench strength. The "Imitation Leader" usually has a shoot from the hip mentality that encourages micro management and does not allow employees to develop their skills and maximize their potential. One of the many warning signs is a high turnover rate. The reason is simple; good employees just won't tolerate micro management and they will leave to find employment that will challenge them and help them grow.

Change on Purpose - Click To Read Article
More than ever before, our current economy demands 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. Without change your company becomes stagnant, uncompetitive and boring. A leader's major responsibility is to create change, instigate change and then manage change effectively. In spite of the fact that creating change is a key competency required to be an effective leader, most people resist change. This includes leaders themselves. However, effective leaders accept change as a positive force and they are able to convince those that follow them that change is nothing more than a road map to a new and better destination.

Check Your Attitude to Avoid The Pygmalion Effect - Click To Read Article
The wrong attitude can create a Self Fulfilling Prophecy. It's called the Pygmalion Effect. You must believe in yourself. You must believe in your own ability, the ability of your team. You must have the will to succeed even though times are tough. You must openly demonstrate the desire to succeed. Look inwardly at your own thoughts. Thoughts are powerful as they shape your attitude and your attitude shapes your beliefs which control your actions. Hard work is a direct expression of your beliefs.

Striving for Greatness - Click To Read Article
Being an effective leader, striving for excellence and being inspirational is essential to creating a great company. There is no doubt that during these tough economic times that average is not good enough. Look around, if you have average performing employees that can't seem to reach the level of performance that is in alignment with your vision, "Now is the time" to do something about that. However, don't let great be the enemy of good. Good employees are not easy to find or replace. Yes, great employees are what we all would like to have but everyone can not be great. Sometimes good is good enough. Remember that when evaluating individual performance in your organization. Good employees can make your company great.

Surviving the Narcissist Leader - Click To Read Article
CEOs or Presidents, who attain positions of power, reach these positions for a variety of reasons. The reasons are not always a result of competency and hard work; these positions are not always earned. As a result employees find themselves under the rule of various kinds of leaders. Even those leaders that have earned their position can be impossible to work for and it’s difficult to be happy and satisfied doing it. I personally have worked for two Narcissist CEOs during my career. Both of them were extremely vain, egotistical, conceited, selfish and paranoid. Each demonstrated one or more of those character flaws to an extreme. One actually threw a stapler at his secretary. Another had bugging devices installed in his executive team's offices. Both were believed to have Bi-Polar personalities by many.

Silo Busting - Click To Read Article
In the old days we had sales guys and we had marketing guys and we had purchasing guys. The sales and marketing guys hated the purchasing guys. They never bought enough stuff, right? The wagon was never full. A common quote coming from some sales people: . "Our purchasing department sucks; I know there is an extra 5% discount out there. Purchasing is forcing me to sell at these high prices; we are just not buying right." The purchasing guys, in the mean time were saying; "Our sales guys are goofy. They keep saying they can't sell from an empty wagon. They want the wagon so full the wheels will come off. They say-"Put this in and I will sell it" and they never sell it. These kinds of feelings, these quotes were like a tradition. It describes a natural silo between sales and purchasing. It's not really supposed to be funny.

Selling is a Profession that Requires Professional Leadership - Click To Read Article
Sales management holds the key to meeting company objectives. Effective sales management must build the platform for success. Salespeople are not the easiest group in the company to manage. If they were they would not be salespeople. Selling is not easy. It takes a special talent, self motivation, self discipline, a passion to succeed and the ability to accept rejection. The reality of the situation is simple. The majority of salespeople are not managed well. Today our sales environment leans toward a more multifaceted atmosphere; salespeople must become strategists with a plan. This plan requires more knowledge about the business, better relationships and better solutions. Some old school (Lone wolf) salespeople may believe they know what it takes. They have the experience. They've been around a long time.

Mentors - Don't Live with Regret - Click To Read Article
Do you remember who your mentors were? Do you currently have a mentor? Is there someone in your organization that you really respect, someone you look up to, someone who's actions and words have a real impact on how you live your life, perform your job and think about your future? If you do, whether you or they know it or not, they are mentoring you. Or, you may be mentoring them. Of course it is much more effective if it is done in the conscious state and both of you acknowledge your independent obligations to the process. Regardless, today mentoring is becoming more popular within organizations as an effective leadership tool for both the mentor and the recipient.

Leadership is about Taking Action - Click To Read Article
Leadership is often measured by your ability to take action. Yes, sometimes that means shooting from the hip by taking "calculated" risk. It becomes a function of how fast you can analyze a situation, take action and make things happen. The more proactive you are, the more productive you will become. This earns trust and respect. There is no greater reward than accomplishing a difficult task. However, you can't complete a project if it never gets started.

Interviewing Techniques to Improve Your Success - Click To Read Article
The first thing we need to establish before we go through any interviews are the objectives of the selection process. Interviewing should not be just about filling an open position. Anytime you have an opening to hire someone, you have an opportunity to build bench strength, organizational effectiveness and the opportunity to introduce fresh ideas and new insights into the organization and it doesn't matter what level in the hierarchy the opening exists in. Consider the following key objectives of the selection process.

Five Principles of Effective Change Creation - Click To Read Article
As a leader you must implement change to create continuous improvement. It's a hands-on process. You can't lead from afar. A former colleague of mine used to always say; "It's easy to be brave from a distance." Arguably that may be one of the truest statements made when it comes to the instigation of change. Change is hard work. It requires process tools that are sensitive to your organizational culture.

Empowerment - Ten Tips to Avoid Micro Management - Click To Read Article
I deal with a lot of leaders that confuse delegation with empowerment. I am often told, "I don't micro manage, I empower my employees." However, when we start digging into specific situations, we often uncover the difference between delegation and empowerment. It is really not that difficult to ascertain the difference. Delegation is simply getting someone else to perform a specific task for you. "Tom, can you move these for pallets for me to make some room for a new shipment coming in tomorrow?" Empowerment sets a little higher expectation that encourages the employee to use their own creativity and innovation.

Creating Personal Success - Click To Read Article
Creating Personal Success ---- Every manager, every employee and every leader that has any drive at all strive to be successful. Success starts with self awareness. That means understanding your personal strengths and weaknesses. It also means having enough humility to work on those weaknesses. Both the Democrats and the Republicans were preaching change in the presidential election. I only mention that because I really like the buzz words --- "Yes We Can" that have been used by both campaigns during the Presedential election process.

Change is a Fact of Life --- Six Keys That Make a Difference - Click To Read Article
Without change your company becomes stagnant, uncompetitive and boring. A leader's major responsibility is to create change, instigate change and then manage change effectively. In spite of the fact that creating change is a key competency required to be an effective leader, most people resist change. This includes leaders themselves. However, effective leaders accept change as a positive force and they are able to convince those that follow them that change is nothing more than a roadmap to a new and better destination. How do these leaders minimize that natural born resistance to change?

Accountability - The Secret Ingredients for Execution - Click To Read Article
We all "Talk the Talk". We understand that we must introduce accountability into the organization if we have any hope of achieving our objectives. Yet, many companies struggle, some unknowingly, with this concept for many different reasons. Long term employees can become complacent, competencies can be limited, a free pass is sometimes given for a variety of reasons and the "Peter Principle" is still alive and in existence today; Promoting people beyond their ability to perform. That's not to say that many employees, often the majority, understand the concept and want to be held accountable. But, what about those that don't?

Ten Tips to Avoid Micro Management - Click To Read Article
Micro managing may make you feel in control but in reality you are only hurting yourself and the company. It only limits an employee's ability to be innovative and creative. This can cost the company thousands of dollars because it is the creativity and innovation of your employees that maximize the profitability of your company. Micro Management is often just a symptom of ineffective planning, too much compassion and the inability to judge performance and develop bench strength. Developing a strategic plan for your company is a very effective way to address any or all of these challenges. I often tell my clients that the most valuable part of a strategic plan is the development process itself. Running a company with a shoot from the hip mentality often encourages micro management and does not allow employees to develop their skills.

The Three C's of Leadership --- Curiosity, Creativity, commitment - Click To Read Article
Most of us are not born leaders. However, a good percentage of us long to become leaders of men and make deep connections in our careers seeking that ultimate leadership position. It may be Sales Manager, Warehouse Supervisor, Vice President, CFO or even CEO. People who get results are high impact leaders. They are consistent, explicit and concise and they command a presence when they walk into a room. They have enough charisma to turn the dullest moment into a high-energy event. When they move on, others want to go with them. Their openness and honesty creates a legacy which people admire and look up to. They gain commitment and foster trust.

Crisis and the “Black Swan” - Click To Read Article
Black Swans are important events, either good or bad, that are highly improbable but happen nonetheless. Using the term Black Swan is a metaphor for an event that just is weird or unexplainable before hand using logic. None the less, Black Swans are explainable after the fact. Most are rare events that have extreme impact on the business. (Taleb, Nassim Nicholas. The Black Swan. New York: Random House, 2007.)

Striving for Greatness with Good Employees - Click To Read Article
Being an effective leader, striving for excellence and being inspirational is essential to creating a great company. There is no doubt that during these tough economic times that average is not good enough. Look around, if you have average performing employees that can't seem to reach the level of performance that is in alignment with your vision, "Now is the time" to do something about that. However, don't let great be the enemy of good. Good employees are not easy to find or replace. Yes, great employees are what we all would like to have but everyone can not be great. Sometimes good is good enough. Remember that when evaluating individual performance in your organization. Good employees can make your company great.

Sales --- Woe is Me! - Click To Read Article
I hear a variation of the following statements quite often these days. Sales people complain about the economy as well. But, are comments like these a fair assessment or explanation for the sales challenges faced in this economic environment? Are they true statements? "Sales just doesn't get it. They aren't getting the results we need and the economy is their easy excuse." "Maybe we need to change our compensation plan." " We need a new Sales Manager." "Training hasn't been effective." "Our sales people have lost their energy." "The Economy Sucks." Let's examine the reality of the situation that most of us find ourselves facing today.

Don't Let Strategy Puzzle You - Click To Read Article
We sometimes have a tendency to try putting our strategic plan together without having a real picture of where we want to go, and what we really want the business to become. It's like driving in the dark or putting that puzzle together with no reference at all. Often times action plans are even written, segment and product initiatives are developed and the management team attends a retreat where they come up with fifty four grand ideas, drink the same Kool Aid and sing the same motivational song. Six months later they have accomplished very little, and they can't figure out why they aren't achieving great success.

Crisis Creates Leaders - Click To Read Article
What a profund statement. Crisis creates leaders. Crisis is certainly more prevalent and dramatic during tough economic times. It is no wonder that we are all being tested during these tough economic times. We must recognize and understand crisis and change management during these times to become more effective leaders to reposition our companies to thrive during recovery. This requires specific recovery and repositioning strategies.

The Sky Isn’t Falling - Click To Read Article
Some of you may be taking the attitude that now is the time to hunker down, cut costs and go into a cautious no risk taking mode while putting duct tape on your wallets and purses. Although I believe caution is prudent and contingency planning may be essential I’d like to stress that you shouldn’t make blind assumptions and react too quickly without doing a complete analysis of your independent customer base and markets.

Your Role in Today's Economy is NOT to Increase Sales - Click To Read Article
The emerging role of the sales professional today is not to increase sales. Let me repeat that--- your role today is not to increase sales. Your role as a sales professional today is to systematically and consistently increase the number of customers who choose you to be their #1 supplier. You must become----The Supplier of Choice----which means you always get-----The First Call----and The Last look! Don't make the rookie mistake of thinking that your customers don't give last looks. If your customer doesn't give you the last look, then that means somebody else is getting it. It's time to evaluate the relationship equity you have built with that account.

Lone Wolf Leaders Just Don't Get It - Click To Read Article
Success today is created by caring about more than profitability and growth. Growth and profitability are created by employees. Trust and respect for employees is paramount to creating success. However, when discussing success, especially in today's economic turbulent times, I often ask clients exactly what is it that makes them different than their competitors? The answers are wide ranging and include things like: • World class service • Exceptional new product introduction • Technology • Experience • Our Chinese connection • Our design capabilities • Our Pricing • Operational excellence • One - Stop - Shop • Our logistics system • Locations • Our size All these things are good. In fact some of them may even be classified as "Core Competencies". However, the answers I receive to that question are often disheartening.

Where is This Country's Integrity --- Navy Seals - Click To Read Article
Media sensationalism can have a dramatic impact on public opinion. It's often times hard to ignore. Think about the Tiger Woods incident or what the American Idol's Adam Lambert who Tracy used to adore until he performed his perverted sexual imitation on stage at the American Music Awards. Then there are the White House party crashers; the media just can't seem to get enough of these stories that really have nothing to do with the substance of society except that they demonstrate how low we have sunk. The major news papers and most of the television news channels just can't get enough of "Balloon Boy", "The Octamom", Tiger's Sex Life", "The Health Care Fiasco" and many other non sense stories and yet one of the most devastating- patriotism destroying morale destroying decisions of the century is getting very little coverage.

Targeting – The Most Critical Tool for Growth during Tough Economic Times - Click To Read Article
Targeting is the process of selecting high potential customer accounts to receive intense sales focus. Goal setting translates that high potential into achievable numeric objectives, i.e. revenue and margin growth. Each Territory Manager should select a predetermined number of Target Growth Accounts (TGAs). Creating focus on this group of selected accounts doesn't mean a Territory Manager should ignore other accounts; he/she is always expected to service their entire territory. When making decisions regarding their time, however, they should always consider these selected Target Growth Accounts a priority.

Recession --- Its Time You Ended - Click To Read Article
We should have recognized the signs. We should have seen the red flags. Thousands of employees were being laid off. Now, we are told things are starting to get better. We are in recovery, albeit a "Jobless Recovery". Give me a break. Every time I hear that term I want to puke. Until the unemployment rate decreases in the majority of our states - we will all feel the results of the recession. Tell those people in the unemployment line that the recession is over and risk getting punched in the face.

On the Lighter Side - Click To Read Article
What a tough year. I am sure most of you are glad it is over. The recession has had an impact on every one of us. But, now is the time to look back and be grateful; grateful for who you are and who you want to become. December, unlike years of the past was very busy for me. This is only because in prior years I always took the month of December off. This year due to the tough economy that just didn't seem like a good option. So, I spent time in Cleveland, Dallas, Tampa and Montreal. I froze in Cleveland & Montreal, didn't take a coat to Dallas and should have and I went to Tampa during Florida's coldest temperatures in years. Over the holidays Tracy and I visited friends in South Carolina and got to see a calf born on a cattle ranch and took our dog to the ocean. (It was way to cold to even consider swimming.)

Strategic Planning Takes GUTS - Click To Read Article
Developing a strategic plan may not seem to be a walk in the park. It may become the most challenging task you have ever undertaken as a leader. It starts with your ability to articulate a vision in writing that your management team can use as a baseline to build a "Roadmap to Success"; the strategic plan. This vision for the future or "End Game" as I call it can be used at any time in the future to measure whether the business is maximizing success or on the road to failure. As a result, many presidents and CEO's will put this strategic planning process off as long as possible. However, those leaders that step into the strategic planning arena quickly come to realize an abundance of benefits.

Family Succession --- The Final Challenge - Click To Read Article
How can you turn the business over to your children without creating chaos--- This is probably the toughest question any business owner that has family working in the business will ever face. However, the answer is simple. The answer is..... It depends. It depends on how well you (the owner) have prepared yourself and your child for this transition. Have you planned this out? Has your successor been trained, developed and prepared for the transition?

Creating an Effective National Accounts Program - Click To Read Article
This article is intended to help everyone gain a better understanding of National Accounts Programs, including the motivation for creating one and the steps toward a successful process. While it is not intended to definitively answer every question regarding national accounts, it serves as a set of guiding principles for those in the company who are responsible for the success of the program. The executive management needs to be committed to the program and would benefit by understanding the process and concepts.

Buiding the Right Culture -- The Key to Retention - Click To Read Article
Almost every Human Resource expert will tell you that employees must enjoy their work to be effective doing it. Enjoying work is not limited to the task itself. What this really means is simply "enjoying work is exceptionally dependent upon the culture which the works resides in." In other words, the company must build a culture that the employees embrace. One that encourages self development, empowerment, social inter action, accountability and recognition. If your employees don't enjoy working for you and at your place of business, retention will become an issue.

Success is Unattainable Without Documented Goals - Click To Read Article
Past studies indicate that the top three percent of successful companies all have written goals. Most companies have an idea of what they are trying to accomplish but the question becomes how many of these objectives are actually documented in detail. I mean documented beyond the typical objective of growing sales by X percent. In other words, every goal should have an attendant action plan with the desired results listed for each task, a time line for completion and assigned individual accountability for completing each task.

Its Time to Revisit Strategy - Click To Read Article
This year has been a tough year. Even the most respected economists can’t say for sure when we will see the real recovery. The good news is that there are positive signs. Even better news is the fact that you made through one of the roughest recessions in our history. That means you have cleaned out your closets, weeded your garden, upgraded your work force and created a team of employees that are the best of the best.

The Consequence of Leadership Incompetence - Click To Read Article
How do you identify a member of your management team that just doesn’t get it when it comes to getting their employees to release their discretionary energy that is critical to success especially during the turbulent times we are facing in 2009-2010? Sometimes these individuals that don’t get it exist simply because they have been around a long time. I often have CEOs tell me about problems with specific managers that aren’t promoting the vision, values or core principles of the company. The majority of the time these managers have been around a long time.

Reduction in Force needs to be a “Surgical Strategy” - Click To Read Article
During tough economic times a reduction in force (RIF) often becomes a necessity for many companies. Let’s face it; payroll expense is probably the biggest expense for the majority of companies in business today. Unfortunately, many leaders have a tendency to panic and make across the board cuts without regard for the long term effects, including employee morale and the overall health of the company and its ability to weather the economic storm.

Don’t Let the Media Kidnap your Intellect - Click To Read Article
These days it seems the message being sent to everyone is how to survive in this turbulent economy. However, if you are following best practice you should be looking for ways to thrive instead. Media sensationalism tries to kidnap your intellect through continuous coverage about the economic downturns; lay offs, and stock market fluctuations. How you react to this attempt to smother you with negative information is what will determine your success or failure.

Understanding Customers - Click To Read Article
Companies must create and use formal methods to gather customer feedback and improve communication. Best Practice companies have a source of information about what customers think of them that does not come from their sales people. Sales people make stuff up; sorry, they do. Sales people often provide customer information and that is fine. You need to listen to your sales force. There is no question about that, but Best Practice companies have a way of getting input directly from customers. • What do you think of us? • How are we doing? • What are the practices that our competitors provide to you that you really value?

Don’t Get Trapped by Success - Click To Read Article
Make no mistake ---- It’s extremely difficult to maintain business success if you don’t maintain personal family success. You don’t have to be trapped by success. Success is a good thing but part of being successful is creating balance in your life. There are steps you can take to create the kind of balance that will not only improve your personal life expectations but they will enhance your business platform for success. The Very First Thing Sit down with your family and have an open honest discussion. Ask for their input, their observations and their opinions. Don’t get defensive and don’t act like a martyr. Listen, listen and listen some more. Refocus some of that entrepreneurial energy on creating family success.

Leadership Development during a Recession - Click To Read Article
Listen, times are tough. Some of you may even be facing economic crisis. Keep in mind that as a leader you don’t create crisis. But, a crisis can create leaders. Now is the time to leverage the current economic crisis to enhance leadership development within your company. Ask yourself these questions: • What kind of example are you setting during these tough economic times? The majority of your employees have probably never experienced a recession. • What kind of knowledge or experience are you passing down? • Are you living up to your responsibility to have a personal impact on leadership development within the organization? • What kind of mentor have you been? • Are you allowing your employees to stretch – to fail – to grow? • Are you empowering and demonstrating faith and trust in your employees?

Training and the Cost Cutting Dilema during Tough Times - Click To Read Article
Most company executives decide to spend money on training because it's popular, especially when economic times are good. There is a view that it's “good," and it's also something that responsible leaders are “supposed to do” to prepare for the future. Unfortunately, training becomes the first activity to be cut when times get tough. There is also no objective measure that calculates the business case of return on investment for training. Actually, training, education and coaching should be the absolute last consideration when investigating cost reductions during difficult economic times. However, continued spending of money on training isn’t the only answer. Training alone will not produce the kind of results that training combined with coaching and education can produce.

Accepting Credit Card Payments --- Is it Really Worth It? - Click To Read Article
Do you accept credit card payments on your web site? Do you accept credit card payments against processed invoices sent to your customers? Do you have a store on your website that allows customers to purchase your products and pay for them instantly by using a credit card? If you don’t, you may be overlooking one of the basic best practices in marketing strategies. Strategies focused on customers buying habits, convenience and levels of comfort. Regardless of the value propositions presented by your company, people want to be comfortable with the way you handle their transactions. This is true whether they are ordering by phone, by fax, at your counter or from your website. Tread on their comfort level by not providing enough options and they will go elsewhere or limit the amount of product purchased from you.

The Service Factor during Economic Turbulence - Click To Read Article
Improving and maintaining good customer service is not an exciting endeavor. It involves detailed study and steadfast execution rather than temporary brilliance or inspiration. Therefore, customer service improvement is fundamentally an effort of continuous improvement. You must develop a basic competency in process improvement to attain and sustain high levels of customer service. This means that it is absolutely critical during tough economic times that you don’t make the mistake of cutting resources that support service excellence in your attempt to control operational costs.

Economic Turbulence – A Window of Opportunity - Click To Read Article
The state of the economy is a fact. How you feel about that fact and what it means to you personally is a belief. Your beliefs have a major impact on your employee’s attitude. Beliefs that drive your sales behaviors are the keys to becoming successful in a down economy. If you believe that this economic crisis can provide you with opportunities than your attitude will drive the behavior of your employees.

Profit Covers Many Sins --- Cleaning Up the Mess - Click To Read Article
Simply put, there are good times when things are going well and it’s easy to make money, and there are bad times, when it’s much more difficult to make money. Prior to 2008 we had a run of good times that exceeded most of our expectations. I have often said that it didn’t take a genius to make money during that run. However, “Profit covers many sins”. That means that many of us got a little complacent. Maybe we didn’t quite run our business following absolute best practice. Maybe some of us overlooked less than the best performance expected from our employees. Maybe we were a little too compassionate regarding employee effectiveness and as a result we haven’t “weeded the garden” to allow our good employees to flourish.

Sales Planning during Economic Crisis - Click To Read Article
A formal sales plan for 2010 is probably the most important activity that you should engage in during the economic challenges we are facing now and throughout the year. I am not talking about the typical DREF, (Delusional Rectal Exaggerated Forecast) that many of us have become accustomed to. I am talking about a realistic, documented plan that lists the specific activities required to accomplish the objectives set for targeted accounts with identified growth potential... A sales plan is a schedule of events and responsibilities that details the actions to be taken in order to accomplish the goals and objectives necessary to be successful during these turbulent times. The plan ensures everyone knows what needs to get done, coordinates their efforts and keeps close track of progress.

Leadership Courage --- Don't Get Bit by Your Own Rattlesnake - Click To Read Article
Honest negative feedback is difficult to accept. It takes tremendous courage. I learned that twenty years ago. I thought I knew just about everything there was to know about running a company let alone a smaller $100 million dollar division. I had owned and sold several successful businesses and that success certainly enlarged my ego even though I didn’t realize it at the time. I was a little too self-indulged and my self confidence bordered on arrogance and stupidity. I even had a rattlesnake sitting on my desk with a statement that can’t be printed exactly as it appeared, due to censorship.

Are You a Procrastinator - Click To Read Article
“Procrastination is like a disease. It develops slowly, often over a long period of time.” It can be like an anchor around your neck. We have to learn to deal with it if we are to become effective at whatever we choose to do. You see, procrastination is the breeding ground for incompetence. If we don’t learn to conquer it, we will not maximize our effectiveness and become everything we can be. Experts have written that only twenty percent of employees reach the level of effectiveness based on individual potential. I believe that procrastination contributes to that negative statistic. Procrastination can drain your energy, affect your attitude and suppress your creativity.

Succession ----Have You Taught Your Son or Daughter How to Swim? - Click To Read Article
If it is your true desire to keep the business in the family and pass it on to the next generation, you have an obligation to yourself, to the business, to your employees and yes to your son or daughter to make sure you are doing everything you can possibly do to help them prepare to take over the business. I can offer one simple piece of advice; when they are ready, back off and get out of the way. There are all kinds of published recommendations on this subject regarding family qualifications etc. If Dad is a typical old school autocratic type of leader who believes that sweating blood, an exceptional work ethic without concern for balance and shows no interest in discussing the emotional feeling side of succession, the kids will have difficulty maintaining a clear sense of expectations for themselves.

Leadership Tips - Click To Read Article
Success in any organization often depends on leadership ability to adjust quickly to a changing environment both internally and externally. Trends, regulations, competition and yes the economy may force organizational change. This change has a direct impact on employees often creating a decrease in morale which can lead to complacency and apathy. To circumvent these consequences leaders must justify, communicate and explain the long term benefits to the company and the employees. Sometimes it may simply mean survival. But, even survival can be positive when it relates to maintain security for the employee.

Future Shock - Click To Read Article
Adam Toffler wrote a book by this title about change in 1970. Many of the principles he explained then still apply today. But... this article isn't about change. This article is about compassion, leadership, integrity and "Mentors". Do you remember who your mentors were? Do you currently have a mentor? Is there someone in your organization that you really respect, someone you look up to, someone who's actions and words have a real impact on how you live your life, perform your job and think about your future? If you do, whether you or they know it or not, they are mentoring you. Or, you may be mentoring them. Of course it is much more effective if it is done in the conscious state and both of you acknowledge your independent obligations to the process.

Can Your Son or Daughter Really Run the Business - Click To Read Article
How can you turn the business over to your children without creating chaos--- This is probably the toughest question any business owner that has family working in the business will ever face. However, the answer is simple. The answer is..... It depends. It depends on how well you (the owner) have prepared yourself and your child for this transition. Have you planned this out? Has your successor been trained, developed and prepared for the transition? This is pretty easy if you only have one child in the business and he/she just happens to be the next Jack Welch of wholesale distribution. This child has worked outside the business for someone else for a minimum of five years. They have completed their MBA and they worked their way up in your organization starting in operations or customer service.

Empowerment – The Rewards are Greater Than the Risk - Click To Read Article
Employees must take ownership in the success of the organization. This means they must become part of the strategy employed by the company. Acknowledge their presence and contributions, and praise them at every opportunity. But, be sincere. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, had a favorite method of sending personal handwritten notes to employees who demonstrated some form of success. This is an employee issue that cannot be emphasized enough. Employees want to know how they are doing and they want to be held accountable. Winning organizations continuously build leaders at every level in their organization. Leaders, who actively attempt to mentor, coach and build other leaders gain respect throughout the organization and transfer knowledge, ideas, values and an attitude about success.

Gone Are the Days… Revitalizing Sales Reps for the New Century - Click To Read Article
As an "A" player in the New Century you must build business-to-business relationships through channels that other team members can service. The special buyer/salesman relationship isn't dead, golf is still allowed, entertainment is still acceptable, but the degree to which these tools are used has changed. Certainly, the focus and the gray matter behind the sales planning process must contribute more to the long-term goals of the organization. The sales representative in the New Century ensures that their products, their services and their company becomes the channel of choice. The primary objective is the same. "First Call and Last Look," but the methodology has evolved to a higher level. Transactions are no longer managed by the field sales representative.

Hiring is not Easy ---- Interviewing Techniques to Improve Your Success - Click To Read Article
Hiring the right individual, with the right skill set, that has the right attitude and the right personality to fit in can be one of the most challenging endeavors any manager will ever face. Leveraging your chance of success by using the team approach, profile testing and seriously checking references helps. But, if you have several qualified candidates it's still like flipping a coin. You just can't be positive about your choice until you see the individual in action. Sometimes it takes months, even years to see the real person you hired whether it's really good or really bad. Finding the really bad ones months after you have hired them can be extremely expensive. Face it. What you are trying to accomplish in the selection process is to predict the way an individual will behave in the future in your environment.

How Do I Fire My Son Toby? My Wife Won’t Allow It - Click To Read Article
"I love Toby. He's my oldest son, he's Vice President of Sales but he just doesn't get it. My daughter should be running this business, she's brilliant but she's married to a surgeon and doesn't want anything to do with wholesale distribution. She's quite happy with all the charity work she is involved in. My youngest son has potential but he's only twenty two and just isn't ready to take over a 0 million dollar distribution business. Two events have occurred recently that are wearing on me a little. First, I transferred 75% of my stock equally to my three kids, 25% each. All three receive a salary although my daughter rarely appears at the office due to her charity work. The second event occurred after I hired a succession consultant to help me transition into retirement. He told me that Toby was incompetetent.

You Survived Economic Crisis ------ Now What? - Click To Read Article
Is the recovery on its way? Some will have you believe the signs are there. At any rate, you have survived what seems to be the worst that can be thrown at you from an economic stand point. What now? We can’t possibly believe that its time to return to business as usual. That questionable beginning glow of the recovery beam, although welcome, must not cloud your judgment in preparing to face an entirely different business landscape that requires that we run our businesses differently.

Wounded Wolves --- The Journey Forward - Click To Read Article
This is a story about finding your way. It's dedicated to any and all people that may have found themselves lost, confused, powerless, in a dead end career, going nowhere and those who may have lost sight of what they really want from life. It's a story about "Wounded Wolves" and making the journey forward. Forward to success, self esteem and pride. Maybe a few of you can relate to this as it's happening now. Or, maybe you were wounded once and remember the journey you had to make to create happiness and success in your life. Being wounded can be a result of many things - a personal crisis, family life, a bad marriage, the way you were raised, poor life decisions, limited exposure to education and learning, and sometimes just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The Employment Interview --- How Hard Can It Be - Click To Read Article
Interviewing a new job candidate sounds easy. After all, you are in control. You have something to offer. You can select anyone you choose to select. Right? That sounds good but in reality interviewing a person to fill a job opening is one of the more difficult tasks you may face as a manager. It does require specific skills to do it right and increase your chance of hiring the ideal person for the job; the person that will stay and fit in with the culture of your company. That being said, I personally don't know of one company that has a formal program to train their managers on how to conduct an interview. Interview training is much the same as training managers how to conduct a performance review. It is a rarity to find a company that actually does it.

Stay Calm --- Don’t Panic - Click To Read Article
Forest Gump once said – “Stuff Happens”. Yes it does -- anytime and anywhere. You can prepare for just about any type of economic disaster by developing a Contingency Plan and being prepared to execute under even the most difficult circumstances. What people usually do not prepare for is how to be effective leaders when a crisis begins.

Success Isn’t a Mystery in any Economy - Click To Read Article
My first piece of advice on success today for anyone willing to listen is simply to turn off the news. Don’t listen to CNN. Turn off the Fox News network, NBC, CNBC and all the other networks that are sensationalizing everything that is happening in our economy on a minute to minute basis. I have made a conscious decision not to listen because a high percentage of what you see on television today is pure garbage designed simply to improve ratings. I refuse to listen to a constant diet of negativity. In fact, I refuse to even associate with negative people. I suggest that each and every one of us has an obligation to protect our attitude.

Purchasing Management ---- The Driving Force to Maximizing Success during Tough Economic Times - Click To Read Article
Purchasing managers, purchasing agents and buyers are the life support system of your supply chain. This has become much more apparent during these tough economic times. I often use the phrase in leadership training; "You're only as good as the people you surround yourself with." That phrase also applies to one of the most critical functions in distribution, the Purchasing Manager. So what does being the life support systems to supply chain management mean? It means purchasing is the center of the universe, the equator, the fulcrum when it comes to meeting customer demands. This is a common fact. We all know it. Most of us say it and yet few of us really understand it.

Maximize Performance through Understanding - Click To Read Article
The most effective leaders seem to have both a unique ability to pick the right people for their team and they are superior in reading and understanding people. Getting to know and understand people really doesn’t take an enormous amount of time or effort for effective leaders. I often perform business assessments and one of the most effective tools in determining the challenges facing the business is simply meeting with individual employees for an hour and listening to them. I mean really listening. It is amazing what employees will tell you by asking a few precise questions and having the discipline to then shut up and listen.

Maintaining Company Stability --- Contingency Planning - Click To Read Article
A “Contingency Plan” is a plan developed for a specific situation when things “could” go wrong or are going wrong. Contingency plans include specific strategies, initiatives and actions designed to deal with identified variances to assumptions. These variances usually result in a particular problem, emergency, or state of affairs. The plan also includes a monitoring process and “triggers” for initiating planned actions.

Let’s Face It --- The Economy Sucks - Click To Read Article
Let’s face it --- “The Economy Sucks.” But, being in a recession is not something most of us havn’t ever experienced before. Simply put, there are good times when things are going well and it’s easy to make money, and there are bad times, when it’s much more difficult to make money. When this recession started, officially at the end of 2007, we enjoyed an extended period of exceptionally good business conditions. Revenue and profits exceeded most of our expectations. During these times leadership and success often came much easier than it should have. Too much good can often dull the edge necessary to excel in tougher times.

Jobless Recovery --- An Oxymoron - Click To Read Article
Jobless Recovery ----- Every time I hear this term I want to vomit. Wikopedia states ---- A jobless recovery or jobless growth is a phrase used by economists to describe the recovery from a recession which does not produce strong growth in employment. How can we possibly recover if we aren't creating jobs? The September unemployment rate is in. We lost another 263,000 jobs and unemployment in this country is now at 9.8%. Tell one of those hundreds of thousands of people that are out of work that the economy is in recovery and they are liable to smack you in the mouth.

First Call --- Last Look - Click To Read Article
A former colleague of mind was fond of quoting what he considered "less competent" sales people who claim--- "My customers don't give last looks." His response; "Well, that just means someone else is getting it - Batman!" I really love that quote. Unfortunately it doesn't go far enough. The real question is what do you do when you get last look? Do you automatically match the low price? Unfortunately, that is the first response of most sales people. In fact, it is often the first response of many managers. The real test is how you maintain the business at a price that is profitable, acceptable and meets your margin objectives. Can you sell the customer at a higher price when he has a lower priced quote staring him in the face?

Consignment --- A Sales Adventure - Click To Read Article
Once upon a time, many years ago when I was a young, ambitious salesman selling flat, rolled steel, I called on one potentially large account for months and months with zero success. I was going nowhere fast. The only thing I got from this rather large, burly looking professional purchasing agent was frustration. He knew I was young and short on experience and, I believe he actually enjoyed watching me squirm month after month. I tried every sales technique I had ever learned. Of course, he was familiar with every one of them and had seen them many times before. Nothing seemed to work on this guy. I just couldn't reach him. So, I went back to something very basic that most of us in sales (especially we Baby Boomers) learned from day one. I remember the words from my most cherished mentor, "Build a relationship son. Get the man to like you

Cash for Clunkers -- Was It Worth It - Click To Read Article
The cash for clunkers program is over; at least for now. My initial thought was --- what about the cash for doors, refrigerators, guns, forklifts --- you name it? Why can't every business get a boost? Of course, I am being facetious simply because I believe we were only kidding ourselves by thinking the Government can actually "create demand". That is simply not true. Only the free market can create demand.

Are You Doing the Moon Walk --- Going Backwards While Moving Forward - Click To Read Article
The death of Michael Jackson recently was a tragic event. No matter what you thought of Michael personally, there is no doubt that he was one of the most talented entertainers of all time. His singing and dancing talent showcased so effectively by his performance in the video and album “Thriller” will be remembered forever as the Capstone of his career. I, like millions of his fans, mourn his passing. However, the one thing that I remember the most is his invention of the “Moonwalk”. The “Moon Walk” is a dance move that looks as if you are going forward when in reality you are moving backward. Michael made that move famous. His tragic sorrowful death reminded me of that move. The Moon Walk itself brings to mind how many businesses often struggle to achieve success; doing things that are supposed to gain market share and create success.

Avoid Being the Dumbest Competitor - Click To Read Article
Pricing is the tip of the profit spear. It is often said that profit is made on the buy side of the equation in wholesale distribution. That is a true statement. However, it only holds true if you are disciplined enough not to give that profit advantage away during the quoting and pricing process. The Quotation - Pricing Process "Your customer has no need for you to make a ‘fair' profit unless there is no other distributor willing to take your place." This is quite a sobering thought, but one that we should keep fresh in our minds. Pricing strategy starts by providing guidelines for your quotation process. If we do not have a vehicle, a scorecard or some methodology to determine how we are doing then we are driving through a tunnel with our lights off. Not having a formal quotation process increases our chances of becoming the





Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

African Technology Development

Too Many Sales Reps Are Wimps

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.