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Posted by experiencebusinesssolutions | Filed under Management Consultancy
16 Tuesday Apr 2013
16 Tuesday Apr 2013
Posted Management Consultancy
inNot long after the Boston Marathon bombings occurred on Monday afternoon, several Twitter users noted that these kinds of real-time news events illustrate how incredible the service is as a source of breaking news, but at the same time how terrible it is.
Sure enough, there were plenty of fake news reports to go around on Monday, from reports of suspicious vehicles to the arrest of alleged perpetrators — just as there were during superstorm Sandy and the school shootings in Connecticut. But does that invalidate Twitter as a news source? And should the service try harder to filter out bad information and highlight verified news reports? I think the answer to both of these questions is the same: No.
Erik Wemple of the Washington Post noted that in some cases Twitter can act as a “news ombudsman,” pointing out that there were a number of people…
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16 Tuesday Apr 2013
Posted Management Consultancy
inYet again, when Americans ponder their future, it all comes down to “it’s the economy, stupid.” New Gallup research shows that people in the United States remain preoccupied with their jobs and economic health. Until a strong recovery of gross domestic product may wipe that out, finances will trump all other worries among most Americans, including those worries that are supposed to be pressing.
Few Americans mention guns or immigration as the most important problems facing the nation today, despite the current attention lawmakers in Washington are giving to these issues. The economy still dominates as the top concern, followed by jobs and dissatisfaction with the general way in which Congress and the government work.
The recession has pushed what might be core concerns about society to the point of barely being secondary ones, which means the shadow of the recession remains. Based on a close look…
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04 Thursday Apr 2013
Posted Customer Loyalty, Interesting Blog, Leadership
inTags
business, Business Experience, Business Processes, business solutions ltd, customer relationship, customer satisfaction, sales and marketing
There are few things more valuable (or more rare) than customer loyalty. Customer loyalty cannot be bought. It must be earned… not just once, but every day of the customer relationship.
The following rules contain the essence of dozens of conversations about customer loyalty that I’ve had over the years, with some of the smartest sales and marketing folk in the world.
Uniqueness is the price of entry into the world of customer loyalty. Unless you have something that nobody else can offer, you’re selling a commodity and customers are never loyal to plug-and-play vendors who supply commodities.
Furthermore, unless the customer perceives that something to be of value, it can’t possibly earn the customers loyalty. However–and this is important–the uniqueness need not be a product feature. In fact, that kind of uniqueness is often temporary.
There are two uniquely valuable things that are far more permanent: 1) your positive reputation as a businessperson who can be trusted and 2) your firm’s reputation as a reliable and hassle-free business partner.
It’s a complete myth that most customers are well-informed about the kind of products and services that you offer. While it’s true that the Internet contains a wealth of information, real decision-makers don’t have time to wade through it all.
Quite the contrary. Customers expect YOU to know all about their business without having to take the time and effort to brief you on it. They want and expect you to make things simpler and easier for them, not the other way around.
Ideally, you want your customer to think about you as somebody who’s part of the customer’s industry–not your industry. When you’re seen as “one of us,” you’re seen as somebody worthy of loyalty.
Even if you’re selling something unique and you’re a huge expert in the customer’s industry, if you can’t add value every time the customer deals with you and your firm, you’ll never earn loyalty.
It means bringing something new and interesting to the table every time you talk. It means dealing with customer problems before the customer realizes there’s a problem. It means respecting (and never wasting) every single second of the customer’s time.
When earning customer loyalty, there are no second chances. Never assume a customer will cut you slack because you’ve got a long history together. To earn loyalty, you must constantly prove to the customer that the relationship is crucial.
Here’s a hard truth: customer satisfaction is a joke. Show me a customer who’s merely “satisfied” and I’ll show you a customer who’s ready to find another vendor. “Exceed your customer’s expectations” may be a bromide, but it’s the true price of true loyalty.
Exceeding expectations does not mean offering huge discounts and free products, though. Quite the contrary. Discounts and freebies cheapen a relationship rather than strengthen it.
What’s the secret? Simple. Find your customer new customers. No customer expects that from you and every customer is both grateful and delighted. More importantly, only an utter fool wouldn’t be loyal to somebody who brings them new business.
Geoffrey James writes the Sales Source column on Inc.com, the world’s most visited sales-oriented blog. His newly published book is Business to Business Selling: Power Words and Strategies From the World’s Top Sales Experts. @Sales_Source
04 Thursday Apr 2013
The worst managers have a fundamentally broken understanding of workplace, company, and team dynamics. Don’t make these mistakes.
A year ago, in 8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses, I contrasted the great bosses with average ones. Many readers commented that what I described as an “average” boss was actually an awful boss.
Not so! Truly horrible bosses have beliefs about work and management that are so dysfunctional that they can’t even be measured on that scale. Based upon my experience and observation, the absolute worst bosses believe the following:
Horrible bosses think their job is to order employees to do things and make certain that they do them.
Smart bosses know that the job of managing is mostly helping employees be more successful and making difficult decision that employees can’t make on their own.
Horrible bosses are convinced that employees who don’t want to work 60-hour work weeks are slackers and goldbricks.
Smart bosses know that numerous studies have shown that any attempt to consistently work more than 40 hours a week reduces productivity.
Horrible bosses put all their energy into making certain that the numbers come up right, even if it means changing the numbers.
Smart bosses know that the only real way to get good numbers is to help your people make their numbers.
Horrible bosses think of themselves as the star performer who can fix any problem by yanking back authority and responsibility.
Smart bosses realize that true leadership entails motivating people to own their own successes and failures.
Horrible bosses are so risk averse that they require mountains of information before making any important decision.
Smart bosses understand that there’s a point (and it usually comes fairly quick) that additional information merely muddies the waters.
Horrible bosses take the credit when things go well and point the finger when things go poorly.
Smart bosses know that their real job is to 1) fix the failures before they happen and 2) publicize the wins that employees achieve.
Horrible bosses play their cards close to the chest and never let employees into the decision-making process.
Smart bosses know that decisions are more successful when those tasked with the implementation of them are involved from the start.
Horrible bosses sandbag their complaints, criticisms, and advice until the employee’s performance review.
Smart bosses realize that employees panic when they’re bushwhacked and can only change behavior when they’re coached gradually and regularly.
Horrible bosses are so puffed up with grandiosity that they can’t be bothered to control themselves.
Smart bosses know that corporate bullies eventually get what they deserve–a staff of lickspittles whose lack of talent destroys the company.
Geoffrey James writes the Sales Source column on Inc.com, the world’s most visited sales-oriented blog. His newly published book is Business to Business Selling: Power Words and Strategies From the World’s Top Sales Experts. @Sales_Source
04 Thursday Apr 2013
Posted Advice, Lifetime of Skills, Methods & Techniques, Sales Setbacks
inTags
Business Experience, business solutions ltd, communication process, david fairweather, Global Knowledge Base, Motivation, professional exchanges, Sales Process
David Fairweather of Experience Business Solutions Ltd looks at how to make your words work for you in your sales campaigns.
One could easily think that in today’s abbreviated, jargon laden text culture that more traditional written communications is a lost art, but despite all those misspelled and poorly punctuated messages exchanged between friends there is still a definite place within professional exchanges for well written and precise prose.
Selling is a Communication Process
This must therefore be especially true for sales professionals, as selling is a communication process in which you educate, and persuade someone to take action, though in essence the word persuade may be better understood as “motivate the service in return.” Certainly a part of that process involves the ability to speak persuasively. We also use written communications such as follow-up emails and formal proposals to confirm agreements, establish mutual plans and maintain presence in between discussions.
It is imperative that the benefits gained during sales calls should not be undermined by weak writing skills, and yet common mistakes like typos or missing punctuation still prevail and are generally on the increase. Other times, the message itself may be confusing or clouded by too much jargon or just too much text which can be a real turn off to time-starved business executives.
There’s not one formula that works for each sale; your choice of words and how to present them will depend on who you are addressing. Here are some writing tips to support your sales efforts:
Tailor your words
Remember the customer. Be sure to use words and concepts familiar to your prospective or current customer. It’s important that as you review your written communications you are capturing the client’s point of view, not the sales’ perspective. This means less “I hope” and “I believe” and more factual information the customer would appreciate. As part of your qualification process you will have received answers to key questions so try to use the customer’s words as much as possible, particularly ones you will have used in your summary questions and agreements, such as “We agreed that……” or “you stated that…..”
Be Concise and Succinct
Try to be concise. This can be difficult for some who believe that more is always better, but in writing, it isn’t. After you create a draft, edit it down to the essentials. Then edit it again to avoid redundancies and eliminate words and phrasings (maybe even entire paragraphs) that don’t contribute to the point you’re making. The clearer your message, the higher probability your customer will remember it. If you have the luxury of additional time it is sometimes best to leave the document overnight and check it again the following day before sending. You may be amazed at how much you may want to edit when doing this.
Make it Attractive
Make it attractive. So many people these days ignore aesthetics in writing and the fact is that people do appreciate copy that is attractive to the eye — that is, shorter paragraphs instead of long, rambling ones. Busy people often scan longer documents, so bullet points are an effective way to break up copy into bite-sized pieces they can more easily digest. Remember you want and need people to read your work so motivate them to do so with maximum effect!
Check and check again!
Don’t trust or rely solely on spell checkers. These types of program to double-check our spelling are useful, but they are far from perfect. For instance, words such as they’re, their and there escape notice since they are correctly spelled no matter how they are misused. And we’ve all read of hilarious and often embarrassing words that a phone’s auto-correct function creates during quick text message exchanges. Don’t let the joke be on you, carefully read what you have written before you hit the send button. As a footnote, the writer Samuel Johnson once said….
“What is written without effort is generally read without pleasure.”
02 Tuesday Apr 2013
Posted Management Consultancy
in02 Tuesday Apr 2013
Posted Future Vision, Productivity
inTags
Take a look at Microsoft’s Video, Productivity Future Vision (2011) We find that each time you watch it you see something new; brilliant use of customer relationship management; communication and collaboration tools that make an amazing difference in both a personal and business scenario; and exceptionally concise and powerful presentation of business information.
All of the above can be implemented today in almost any business, but most importantly they tackle the challenges that businesses of all sizes face.
We hope that watching the video will spark your imagination and open up possibilities that are genuinely worth exploring. Of course, we’d be happy to explore them with you.
02 Tuesday Apr 2013
Posted Inspiration, Interesting Blog, Tools
inWatch “A Day Made of Glass” and take a look at Corning’s vision for the future with specialty glass at the heart of it.
Inspired, let us know your thoughts…….
02 Tuesday Apr 2013
Posted Management Consultancy
inI chartered a sailboat for our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. It was clear, sunny, and we could see the shores of St. Croix, when the captain invited me to “take the helm.”
Even a former farm boy can steer the boat in calm waters. I felt more important than I was. But…
Leaders matter most during storms.
Turbulent times and threatening circumstances call for skillful leadership. People depend on you. Challenging times make or break you and those around you. Rise up.
Your response impacts their response.
7 Surprising secrets to sailing in rough seas:
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