Six Sigma Blogs

Unraveling DNA for successful hiring Smart business, at its core, is all about Return On Investment. A sales team that gets results is the most important asset for any company. Since nothing happens without a sale, recruitment and hiring a high-performance sales team should be at the top of a business leader’s priority list. Filling a sales position is frustrating and mistakes are costly: Business owners throw away thousands of dollars in recruiting and training under-performing salespeople, not to mention lost sales and customer defections. (Some estimates place the cost of a bad hire at $100,000 to $250,000.) While there are many different steps one should follow when hiring new sales people, I believe that the most important step is identifying a candidate with the correct DNA.

According to a University of Michigan study, interviews lead to almost 90% of hiring decisions but are only 14% accurate in predicting success. Why? Using resumes and interviews to hire is a little like buying a suit off the rack - it will never fit just right. That’s why it is so important to learn exactly what you need and then buy a suit - a salesperson - with a custom fit. It is a surprising fact that too many business owners hire salespeople without taking the time to analyze what the DNA of a great salesperson would look like in their industry and culture. When hiring criteria is framed in general terms, as it is when relying on resumes and interviews alone, the odds of a good hire drop significantly. So, defining the specific sales DNA for your sales organization is a critical first step.

Defining the requirements of your ideal salesperson: The task of sequencing your ideal salesperson’s DNA breaks down into four components. Here are some examples of areas where you need clarity prior to beginning the search: Profile of your market and industry.

Profile of your market and industry. * How sophisticated are your Ideal Target Clients? * What level in an organization do they need to sell? * What are the technical requirements of the products and services you sell? How large is a typical order?

Requirements of the position. * How much prospecting do you expect from your salesperson? * Will they work on the phone, and do they present to groups? * Is customer service a priority? * How defined is your sales process?

* How do I know if the CRM program I chose is working for my business? A good CRM application will have the ability to compile reports on customer relations, satisfaction, and interaction with your sales staff. Analytics are a crucial part of sales and marketing; this information gives you a comprehensive overview of how your system is performing and whether or not it’s working for you.

* Do I need to get an IT department for my CRM? It depends on whether you choose an on-site CRM or an on-demand (cloud) CRM. Choosing an on-premise option for your CRM solutions means that you will probably need an IT department to do your service and maintenance. This can be a budgetary burden because of the need for extra staff in addition to the cost of the program itself and any appropriate updates and equipment.

By contrast, a cloud CRM application is handled remotely by a host company. The monthly fee therefore includes maintenance, updates, and servicing, which can make a cloud CRM the more economical of the two options.

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We all procrastinate from time to time. Usually a small dose of procrastination is harmless. However for others still it can spell disaster and mean the difference between getting things done and not. If this is the type of person you are it’s most likely as easy as fixing your time management skills. Fortunately this is a skill that most people can master easily. Cut down on your distractions and work hard to develop your skills. Here are some time management tips that anybody can use to help them increase their focus and productivity.

While mapping out your goals and your day is good, it is also good to be flexible. You have to be open to the unexpected, and it can be stressful to impose too much structure on your routine. It becomes more difficult to focus on the tasks you have to complete when you’re tense and uptight. Learn to let some things slide for the sake of your sanity. You can do this and still stay focused on your important objectives. What it does mean is that you don’t have to panic if something you planned to do in the morning has to be put off until the afternoon. In such cases, just go with the flow. Too much structure is not good for your productivity, or even your health!

Begin each day by making a list of the things you need to accomplish before you go to bed that night. After you’ve got them all on paper begin ordering the list by priority. You’ll want to put the items that need to be done first up top and those that can be fit in later near bottom. You can now use this organized list as a “to do” list. The feeling of satisfaction you get by completing a to do list at the end of the day cannot be compared to any other feeling. These lists will save you the time and frustration of wondering what you should do next, instead you can ask what’s next on the list.

Time management experts agree that one of the most important skills you need to learn to better manage your time is delegation. It’s hard to be efficient if you have to do everything yourself. If you delegate some of the less important but time consuming activities, you’ll have more time for truly important ones. This way your day will not be spent on hundreds of trivial tasks and you will be more productive and creative. If you spend too much time on trivial tasks, they can be a real distraction. Delegation is something that many people have difficulty with. If you make it a habit, though, it will soon feel perfectly normal.

You have a lot of options for management skills. Time management is possible no matter what your situation is now. All you have left to do now is begin making some new habits, good habits. You won’t ever have to worry about losing a day to daydreaming again and it won’t take to much time either.

James Spacey is a prolific online wordsmith. As well as writing about time management he also writes about topics as diverse as purchasing car insurance and the PT Cruiser!

In my last post, I talked about the importance for managers manage performance in their organizations, not ignoring performance issues. In this post, I want to go into establishing the performance improvement plan and putting someone on a “measured mile.”

With another global multinational, I saw an enormous flow chart and decision tree. First, it took a whole wall in their offices, so it was a convenient tool for sales people. Second, it tried to anticipate every single outcome from each activity, then mapping the next actions based on each outcome. You know what happened with this process. Finally, and this is what I see most often, the organization has adopted the “out of the box” process from it’s CRM vendor or it’s sales training vendor. Can you imagine this-the same process is used for a major multinational bank, a semiconductor start-up, a retail store, a marketing research firm… Something seems wrong here.

More often, managers just tend to push offending performers to the side. Not really addressing the issues, perhaps isolating them, but leaving them on board-serving as a distraction to everyone on the team. Often, these poor performers may not really know they are poor performers or may never know how to improve performance. When the opportunity comes to do a lay off (or the opportunity is created to lay off people), these non performers are quickly given an exit package. They go off, find another job, probably perform marginally, and the cycle repeats itself.

Developing the process is easy and fast, here’s how to do it: - Every top sales professional has a process they use, it may not be conscious. To develop the sales process, the quickest, most effective starting point is to lock a few of your top sales people in a room-people who are in the front lines, calling on customers every day. I also like to add the “laziest sales people, who consistently make their numbers.” They have reduced selling to the essence. These are the people that know how to sell and produce results. They have the knowledge of what works-in developing the sales process, leverage their knowledge, experience, expertise and pragmatism to develop your first draft of the sales process. Let them develop the first draft-give them no more than a day!

- Next, engage your customers. Talk to them about how they buy, ask them how they want to be sold to-believe it or not, customer want to be sold to, they just don’t want their time wasted. They want sales people to help solve their problems in a meaningful, effective manner. It’s in the customer’s best interests that you have a sales process that’s aligned with how they want to buy-that even helps facilitate the way they buy! Make sure your draft sales process is aligned with your customers’ buying processes.

Putting someone on a “measured mile” is difficult. It’s an emotionally charged time, both for the sales person and the manager. It requires time and focus. Ideally, the coaching managers do pre-empt the need to do this, but there are times when a performance improvement plan is necessary.

In my next post, I’ll talk more about the “measured mile.” When the manager and sales person enter into this process, both must be committed to a successful outcome-otherwise both are wasting time.

If you want an effective sales process-it can’t be developed in a dark room, it has to be developed by and in front of sales people and customers. It’s actually much easier, much faster, and produces profound results. If you want more help in developing your sales process, get our Free Sales Process eBook. It also includes a Self Assessment - look at your current process to see how good it is.

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When I work with clients to structure incentive-based compensation for their sales and non-sales teams, I see many issues. Where many get trapped is that they start in the middle. What I mean is they focus on the compensation itself instead of their business goals. The right incentives reward professionals for contributing to achieving strategic goals. Don’t blame your reps, blame the plan. Remember that not all business is “good business.” If you want to expand into new markets, grow existing accounts, or capture specific clients, be sure to reward the behavior that is important to your strategic growth. Here are four areas that can help improve your compensation plan.

Build Accountability Tie incentives to individual, group, and company performance. At least 1/2 of the incentives should be tied to individual performance. However, we want to encourage team play. The only way to max-out is if your group meets its goals, the company meets its goals, and you meet your personal goals. This creates good peer pressure for an under-performing team member. It also encourages top performers to help less experienced team members. Having a bonus pool to reward across teams can instill a sense of “what’s good for the company is good for me.” - something that has been lost in many companies.

Credibility comes from respect: the prospect respects your approach, your company, your appearance, and/or your mannerisms. Credibility comes from trust: the prospect trusts what you have to say; trusts your company; trusts you. Credibility comes from delivering wanted results: the prospect believes you can deliver what s/he wants; the prospect sees from your presentation s/he will get desired results; or your past performances suggest you’ll deliver wanted results again. Failure in any one of respect, trust and/or results and you’ll have little to no credibility.

There are degrees of credibility in business. They range from no credibility, to (1) getting a meeting with someone, to (2) getting someone to answer your questions, to (3) getting someone to listen to you, to (4) getting someone to believe you, to (5) getting someone to buy from you, to (6) getting someone to use you as a resource/trusted advisor.

Sell at full price, get 100% recognition. As they introduce discounts, the revenue recognition falls. So, at a 20% discount, they may only get credit for 70% of the revenue. The goal is to ensure that reps battle to preserve margin. Of course, there is no substitute for good negotiating and selling skills. Being the low bidder is not selling.

Credibility does not happen automatically. Most people don’t consciously calculate how to build the respect, the trust and the results necessary to develop credibility up front. They just do their thing. If the prospect/customer doesn’t pick-up on your thing s/he will be skeptical, possibly polite, and blows you off, or never calls back, or do nothing to help move you forward in the sale or with him/her. So let’s take note of what you’ve done, and not done, in life.

You could produce better and more leads. It can evaluate probable leads according to your business merchandise and your customer information and pre-qualify the leads which are more possibly be lucrative. Getting all of your divisions connected to the same system could indicate a better cooperation not just on one particular division but to any other as well. Since everyone has the right to use the data and the information, it could be easily distributed all throughout.

Sales force automation systems are of great advantage to any business who understands what they really wanted to acquire and want to have a great success as well. Such business who takes this into consideration will more probably over benefit from their decisions therefore helping them achieve their aims and objectives.

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Time management is a very essential component of any internet marketing plan. No matter what kind of products you promote online, there will be many different areas that you will have to concentrate on in order to build up your online business. If you’re not able to manage your time properly, you’ll either experience slow growth in your business or no growth at all. In this article, we will look at three effective time management tips that all internet marketers should be aware of.

When being interrupted, you need to learn how to tell people no. You will never be able to finish your important tasks if people keep interrupting you. It is mandatory that you learn to say no, whether working at home or in an office. Is there any chance of you getting your work done on time when all your energy and time is spent dealing with distractions? There is no way it will happen. Therefore, you need to employ strict time management and deal with these situations firmly.

Secondly, get rid of all distractions that are eating up your time. Whether it is instant messaging or social media, everything should come second to your tasks.

The thing with these disruptions is that they do not seem to take up a lot of time, but they are the main reason that things don’t get done in a timely manner. Your time management skills cannot be put to good use until you work on what you should be completing and not wasting time on major disruptions.

Last, although it is important to make long term goals, it is very important to map out everyday goals.

There are numerous small jobs that you might miss if you are not concentrating on your to do list. This means that you should make a new daily to do list to make sure that you stay on track and know what to do. Also, this makes it a lot simpler for you to plan everyday and add tasks that might have come about unexpectedly. A lot of leading internet marketers cannot live without their to do lists. This is because it helps them keep their work organized and get tasks done on time. There are a lot of free online applications that you can use to get this accomplished. One of the keys to becoming more successful in any business is to manage your time. None of this is hard to do, and the biggest hurdle is to simply get started on it. Learn more about managing your time, and then create your own personal schedule for how you want to conduct each business day.

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Time flies fast when you need it, more so if you own a business. It is a vital element in today’s business world and the future of your company depends on how you utilize it. To know where business is going and how employees use time, business owners rely on modern time clocks. These smart devices take note of employee time and attendance to make certain that businesses stay profitable.

Labor costs comprise a large chunk of expenses for any business. This cannot be avoided since businesses obviously must pay for the services rendered to them. Hardworking employees need to be rewarded with better pay. Fair compensation has always been a part of every legitimate business, so it is only natural that you follow this rule. However, not all employees may do the work they are expected to do or may not complete their working hours. Worse, they are paid for doing nothing. Time theft is a serious problem that can cost your business a huge amount of money.

Fortunately, biometric technology offers business owners a better way to track time and attendance. Time clocks that employ state-of-the-art biometrics can finally put a stop to time theft. These devices can identify employees by fingerprint, swipe cards or PIN codes. The good news is that this technology is cost-effective and can be used even by small business owners. Biometric time clocks can be installed easily and they can save you a lot of money.

Owing to their accuracy, biometric time clocks eliminate the problem of time theft and promise a better life for your accountants, human resources staff and people assigned to payroll processing. This cutting-edge technology is the answer to huge savings.

In this highly competitive world, biometric time clocks can make your business stand out. As a business owner concerned with profits, you should utilize this new technology to reduce overhead costs. With biometric time clocks, you can take it easy knowing that your employees are doing their job, you are paying them well and your company is secure. For a business, what could be better than that?

To find a time clock that is right for your business and your budget, visit AlliedTime.com.

Each group needs a good mix of personnel with diverse experience and with different skill sets to be able to meet the ever changing company demands. In this kind of a situation, conflicts or arguments can be a frequent occurrence due to the varied approaches and distinct thinking of various team members. You could be a business coach, a family lawyer or a printer repairs specialist, you will still experience these kinds of issues inside your organisation.

However, good business coaches can ensure that this isn’t a worrisome circumstance and if acknowledged and treated in the correct way by the boss, may be minimized.

Conflict resolution at the earliest possible point in time will be necessary since frequently a little work related conflict may develop into inter-personal issues and grow to be bigger and bigger, and in the interim efficiency can be significantly damaged.

A good way to resolve conflicts is to infuse the principle of objectivity, that gives one the perspective to analyze the situation in a way that keeps the concern of both sides in mind, while arriving at a conclusion or determination. The exercise of practicing detachment gives you sufficient time so as not toreact impulsively and thereby opens doors to fair and enduring relationships, both on the personal as well as corporate levels.

You usually have the choice of depending on outside help to deal with situations and to deal with conflicts, nonetheless, it’s important to develop your own capacity to be able of sensing and attending to conflicts before they damage the institution as a whole. This not only is a less expensive solution but also aids in fast resolution. Business mentors who may guide you towards ways to resolve such circumstances on your own ought to be consulted.

To grow and be effective in a business isn’t a very simple process and offers its own problems that will need to be continually addressed. In this situation, it is important to possess a cohesive unit of employees prepared to take on new challenges. Concerns such as conflicts among workers etc will not find their way in and cause other problems if a healthy atmosphere is fostered among team members.

Visit our site business coach site. Let us know what you think.

Ever asked yourself just how some small company owners and managers continually appear cool and in control, frequently getting away in plenty of time for weekends? But many other company managers tend to be continuously in crisis mode, fighting fires, attending to the tyranny of the urgent and even working 70 hour weeks. Every excellent business coaching system lays a major emphasis on personal time management skills as one of the points which will assist a business owner to attain mastery of their company as well as their own life.

The following are a handful of the time management skills that will assist you to become a successful company owner or manager:

Be Organized - Being organized and structured will be the very first step to dealing with ones own time in a better way. Have your month-to-month work schedule drawn up well ahead of the time and have a proper scheduler. Constantly keep an organizer on hand and program your tasks appropriately. Prioritize the assignments at hand. Develop a list of things to do every day and record all things to do irrespective of their particular size. Create a new log book to log your actions and review this log book each and every week to find the exercises that are squandering your time. Make an effort to get rid of the unproductive time wasting pursuits from your schedule.

Action Plan - Document the action plan of the day around the start of each and every day. You can do this either following your morning work out or you can chart it the previous night prior to going to bed.

Delegation - Conserve as much time as achievable through delegating your chores to other people. Issues which do not need your instant attention can be passed over to your subordinates and other assistants. However at the same time, keep these people motivated to ensure that they take responsibility of the task allocated to them. Recognize them for their contribution properly.

Procrastination - This is really a very bad factor in time management. Complete the job at the time you have timetabled it to be carried out and do not postpone it. Always try to beat the work deadlines, instead of just achieving them.

Tackling the work - Undertake the most challenging work initially and then do the straightforward work. When you finish off the hard jobs first, you will be left with a good deal of time for you to complete the small simple jobs. Additionally you will be able to do the difficult tasks more quickly if you understand their particular importance and prioritize effectively.

Negative thoughts - Keep clear of any negative thoughts and stay apart from negative individuals. Negative thinking saps your energy and results in you being too exhausted to do anything. Maintain a constructive perspective on your work and routine.

Want to find out more about the value of business coaching? Visit our site business coach site. Let us know what you think.

Ever asked yourself just how some small company owners and managers continually appear cool and in control, frequently getting away in plenty of time for weekends and travel? But many other company managers tend to be continuously in crisis mode, fighting fires, attending to the tyranny of the urgent and even working 70 hour weeks. Every excellent business coaching system lays a major emphasis on personal time management skills as one of the points which will assist a business owner to attain mastery of their company as well as their own life.

The following are a handful of the time management skills that will assist you to become a successful company owner or manager:

Be Organized - Being organized and structured may be the very first move to dealing with your time in a better way. Have your month-to-month calendar chalked out well ahead of the time and use a proper scheduler. Constantly maintain an organizer on hand and program your duties accordingly. Prioritize the jobs at hand. Create a checklist of items to do each and every day and jot down all activities regardless of their size. Make a log book to keep track of your actions and evaluate this log book each and every seven days to discover the exercises which are wasting your time. Make an effort to remove the useless time wasting pursuits out of your schedule.

Action Plan - Document the action plan of the day around the start of each and every day. You can do this either following your morning work out or you can chart it the previous night prior to going to bed.

Delegation - Conserve as much time as achievable by delegating your own tasks to others. Things that do not require your immediate consideration could be passed over to your subordinates and other co-workers. But at the same time, keep them motivated making sure that they take responsibility in the task allotted to them. Recognize them for their contribution appropriately.

Procrastination - This is really a very bad factor in time management. Complete the job at the time you have timetabled it to be carried out and do not postpone it. Always try to beat the work deadlines, instead of just achieving them.

Tackling the work - Take up the most difficult job initially and after that do the easy work. If you finish off the difficult jobs first, you will be left with loads of time for you to finish the little simple jobs. Additionally you will be able to accomplish the hard jobs more quickly if you know their particular importance and prioritize effectively.

Negative thoughts - Stay clear of any kind of negative thoughts and also remain away from negative individuals. Negative thinking saps your energy and leaves you too worn out to accomplish anything. Maintain a constructive outlook on your work and routine.

Want to find out more about the value of business coaching? Visit our site business coach site. Let us know what you think.

When I started as a network marketer, the biggest problem I had was that there was too much to do in too liittle time - or so I thought. Sounds easy to solve, but there are subtle factors at play, and a solution is not cut and dried

As my business is home based, there are other issues - the family can be a distraction, and when people see you at home, they assume that as you are not “at work” they can get your attention. I found a simple method to cope.

The first thing, you work out the components to your use of time. At home there are 1. Family 2. Sport, and other domestic interests, and 3. Your job.

Next, produce a schedule that includes all of them. This allows you to retain a balance, rather than focusing JUST on work to the detriment of your family or to your outside interests. Be specific about your activities, and be realistic about what you can and cannot fit in.

Take your diary, or a copy of your timetable with you at all times. This will allow you to get back on track after family, friends or other things take your attention away from your allocated tasks. If you are unable to check your progress, you stay off track - check it regularly

Take ten minutes at night before you retire for the day to itemise all the things you want to achieve or enjoy for the following day. Include time for exercise, for playing with your children and time with your partner.

I found the key to efficient time use: two 3 hour blocks of Work, with an hour of exercise, meditating or lunching with friends between them. For each hour of the 3 hour blocks, focus on working for 50 minutes, then relax for the next 10, and so on until the 3 hours are up.

The Paredo Principle should apply to your time. Try to make 80% of you time earn you some money - chase leads, write articles etc. The rest of your time work on your skill-sets

Timing yourself will help the process. There has been research done that shows that prolonged focus may affect your efficiencies. The optimum time for focus is around 50 minutes. So set a timer for 50 minutes, the re-set for the next ten minutes of the hour. Make sure you WORK for the 50 minutes then RELAX. The rinse and repeat until your three hour block is done!

I f you are working part-time, try to complete at least one session - 50 /10 /50 would be optimum.

Don’t fall off your chair when you realise how much you can do by managing your time in an efficient manner. Your annual income could become your monthly income

Don Fuller was a sought after consultant for 30 years. His way of helping clients was to enable financial freedom by harnessing the power of the web. His approach to home business ideas and systems has helped hundreds of clients. For more information on business ideas go to his Blog or website, where you can subscribe to his online business newsletters