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Wednesday, November 11, 2009 02:31 AM

It's not just what you ask, it's how you ask

Getting referrals from existing customers can be the lifeblood for salespeople. At allbusiness.com, sales coach Paul McCord offers practical steps for generating more responses:

ASK

This tip may seem obvious, but most salespeople don't ask for referrals, whether out of fear or forgetfulness (or both). And if they do ask, it's in such an offhand or vague way that it's not clear a referral is being sought.

ASK AGAIN

If you're afraid to ask, then getting out the request once can be extremely difficult and the last thing you would contemplate is asking a second time. But Mr. McCord advises that statistics show if you ask for referrals twice, you'll get twice as many as if you only ask once.

REALLY ASK

Don't be mealy mouthed. Make a direct request for referrals. "Studies have also shown that the majority of salespeople and business owners who ask for referrals don't really ask - they suggest," he writes. That means something safe like, "If you happen to run across someone who could use my service, would you give them one of my cards?" The salesperson then hands the customer some cards that end up in the garbage can.

DEFINE A GOOD REFERRAL

Don't assume the customers knows what a good referral is. Explain your business, and what you're looking for - be specific about who, exactly, would be a strong referral.

PROMPT THEM

Go even further by offering suggestions of the types of people your customers might know, with whom you would like to connect. "If you're selling insurance and your client builds homes, whom do you think they might know? Tons of contractors, realtors, vendors and suppliers, that's who," Mr. McCord says. "Suggest some of those folks you know you'd like to be referred to - they just might know them."

GIVE THEM TIME

Generally, salespeople ask for a referral and expect an immediate response. They'll be lucky to get any suggestions, and certainly not a bundle of referrals. Mr. McCord says it's better to give your customer time to think of who fits your parameters: "Ten or 15 seconds won't cut it if you want quality referrals." Make the request and then let your customer know when you'll get back to them for the referrals.

GET INTRODUCED

Don't settle for names and phone numbers. Push for more than that: Ask the customer to phone the individual or send an introductory e-mail, or better yet set up a lunch with the three of you.

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POWER POINTS

Get right to the point in your e-mail subject line

Make your e-mail subject lines say what you want done - and by when. For example: "Please print, sign and return the contract by Oct. 9."

Jason Womack newsletter

Think outside the shelf in your marketing

If you were marketing Campbell's chicken noodle soup, where else might you want it placed in a grocery store besides the soup section? In cold/flu remedies, of course. And the fact Campbell's is getting such placement in some stores is an example of the creativity needed for marketing, consultant Drew McLellan says.

The Marketing Minute

HR can cast net wider with teleconference interviews

HR specialist John Sullivan says while most of the media coverage these days about recruiting is devoted to social networking, mobile recruiting and blogging, the technology that may have the most impact is interviewing candidates live from remote locations by teleconferencing. It allows you to cast your net wider, reduces fatigue by interviewee or interviewer through reduced travel, and speeds the time to fill a vacancy.

drjohnsullivan.com

Reward staff by donating to favourite charities

Your organization may have a charity it supports. But consultant Mike Kerr suggests starting a file listing every employee's favourite charity. Then when it comes time to honour that individual, one option would be making a donation to his or her charity of choice.

The Hump Day Humor-Gram

Forget being efficient when trying to innovate

Best-selling author Patrick Lencioni says the only way to be really creative and innovative is to be joyfully inefficient: Efficiency requires subduing our passion and allowing it to be constrained by logic and convention. But innovation and creativity require us to toss aside logic and convention, even when no near-term payoff seems possible. "Embracing both at the same time seems to me to be a recipe for stress, dissonance and mediocrity, and yet, that is exactly what so many organizations - or better yet - leaders, do," he notes.

The Table Group newsletter

A keyboard shortcut to the bigger picture

If you want to use your entire screen when working in Microsoft Word or Excel, tech writer Rick Broida advises to hit ALT V and then U, which will enable full-screen mode. Tap ESC to get out of it.

PC World

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DATA: Move from reports on past to forecasting future

Companies today rely on a variety of technologies to understand what is going on in their business. But most technologies used today tell us where we were rather than where we are going, says Anne Milley, senior director of technology product marketing at software and services company SAS Canada. "They are a bit like looking at yesterday's weather forecast: Interesting and helpful in guessing what the weather will be like tomorrow but not something you'd like to rely on," she says.

Typical are the plethora of internal reports that tell companies how much they sold of a given product. Even OLAP (online analytical processing) software tools that allow you to analyze multidimensional data in a database are focused on the past.

Tomorrow's technology, she says, focuses on predicting what is happening, why it is happening and how best to react to it. As with weather, the key is understanding the impact of a forecast. Thirty centimetres of snow tomorrow isn't a big problem for most Canadian cities' snow removal system. But 10 days in a row of it is.

"Businesses need to spot trends to understand the long-term implications of them and they can only do it if they have an accurate forecast. The forecast helps answer the question: What If? If sales are up, does a new plant need to be brought online, or can existing plants handle the demand? What is the cost associated with each combination and permutation," she says.

Companies, she stresses, confuse forecasts with plans. They are different, but linked. Your plans will be better if you have high-quality forecasts.

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OFFICE CULTURE

Restoring team spirit

If you need to clear the air to restore team harmony, try the four-round process recommended by consultant Bruce Tulgan on his Rainmaker Thinking website:

Round 1: Gather your group together; going around the table, everyone offers one thing they appreciate about each member of the team.

Round 2: This time everyone offers something about each individual that they think that person should improve.

Round Three: Now each person offers one thing they think they can improve on.

Round Four: Everyone cites one thing about the team that could be better and pledges how they will contribute to that improvement.

 

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 04:12 AM

A good boss is hard to find. If you are one, hat's off to you

Wall Street and Detroit auto executives have become the objects of mockery in the past year for their managerial foibles, and most of us never miss an opportunity to vent about our boss's flaws. But the world depends on many unsung, dedicated, and competent bosses - you might even be one of them. Management consultant Lisa Haneberg celebrates them with verse, on her Management Craft website

BEING BOSS

It is not always easy to be the one in charge

In charge of fixing the daily conundrums

That inevitably come up at 4:30 on Friday

The Friday you have ball game tickets with a pal

Having to make the calls can cause nerves to flare

Flare with fear and raw vulnerability for what's unknown

And the issues get more gnarly as the day wears on

Wearing patience thin and testing tired brain cells

Why would anyone want to be the boss?

The boss gets all the complaints and aggravation

Constant interruptions render plans obsolete

Obsolete and out of touch before clearing the gate

Being boss comes with these and many more challenges

Challenges roller coaster emotions and energy

These diversions don't overshadow the reason to lead

Leading is about people, connection, and excellence

Leaders can see and develop our potential

The potential to fully express and utilize our talents

The boss cares about whether people are engaged

Engaged and unencumbered by rolling crud

Hats off to all leaders who get through the muck

The mucky muck of business to help people be great

Jobs would be unbearable without great bosses

Bosses who get what leading is really about

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POWER POINTS

Getting stuff done

You have probably heard the advice to start your day with the worst thing on your to-do list, getting that unappetizing chore completed. But it's also sensible advice to start the day with your most important task. And often those rules won't lead to the same task. Former Synnex CEO Jim Estill says that, in such situations, attack the worst thing first, but limit yourself to 15 minutes, which you can always spare, before getting on to the most important. jimestill.comExistential process Process improvement is wonderful, but even the best process improvement experts don't ask: Should we be doing this process at all? kevineikenberry.com

Negotiauction strategy

In negotiations, the competition is between you and the individual or team on the other side of the table in the deal. In auctions, the competition is with others on the same side of the table vying to buy the item. Traditionally, we have viewed negotiations and auctions as separate avenues to purchase assets, but Harvard University professor Guhan Subramanian says that increasingly - mergers and acquisitions with several bidders are a prime example - the process is a combination, a "negotiauction," that will call for a strategy alert to the different interests. hbswk.hbs.edu

Consumers prefer e-mail

Direct marketers are now shifting their eyes from e-mail to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. But the 2009 customer preferences study by ExactTarget, while charting a decline in e-mail usage, still found that almost all consumers - 90 per cent - prefer to interact with marketers through e-mail, saving social sites for friends and family. 1to1media.com

PowerPointers

The top three complaints about PowerPoint presentations from a recent survey: The speaker read the slide to us; the text was so small I couldn't read it; and full sentences were used instead of bullet points. thinkoutsidetheslide.com

Go mouseless

If you use Firefox and want to reduce the strain on your hands from constant mouse clicks, try the mouseless browsing add-on (http://www.rudolf-noe.de), which allows you to tap in numbers from the keyboard to navigate to other pages. news.cnet.com/workers-edge/

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SELLING

Capitalize on 'trigger events'

When cold-calling a prospect, his or her initial instinct will be to get rid of you. Your instinct, in turn, must be to find a "trigger event," Calgary-based sales consultant Craig Elias observes on RainToday.com.

A trigger event is something that occurred - whether recently or in the past - that ignites interest in your product or service. It might be a bad experience that has soured the prospect on a current provider; a change in people, places or priorities, such as a shift in the account representative handling the product you wish to provide; or awareness of the need to change for legal, risk-avoidance, or economic reasons.

Mr. Elias says that during the first minute of your call, you should try to understand which of the following three buying modes the user is in:

Status quo

The prospect is completely happy with where he is - no trigger event in the past, although one might occur in the future, so start a relationship-building process.

Searching for

an alternative

The trigger event occurred a while ago, the person has searched for alternative suppliers, landing on a favourite. Position yourself as the buyer's No. 2 choice, to be called first if the current favourite falters.

Window of dissatisfaction

The trigger event occurred recently, the buyer knows the current supplier is insufficient, but has not yet acted. If you are told to call back in a few months, persist now, since you want to get ahead of any competition.

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OFFICE CULTURE

What's taboo and what isn't

Financial Times columnist Lucy Kellaway says discussion of sex is accepted these days in open-plan offices, as workers have loud conversations with their divorce lawyers or discuss disastrous dates. Strong emotion is now viewed as a good thing, and skimpy or scruffy outfits are no longer banned.

So what is taboo? "By far, the biggest workplace taboo is the truth - or at least any truth that punctures the self-importance of work," she says.

There is also a taboo surrounding ambition - you can't have too much, or too little, but, like Goldilocks, need just the right amount. Finally, it is deeply taboo to criticize your own company.

 

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 04:10 AM

Reassessing risk management

With risk management under fire after the recent economic meltdown its adherents failed to prepare for, corporations are reassessing how to protect themselves in the days ahead. In Harvard Business Review, Nassim Taleb, author of the best seller The Black Swan: The Impact Of the Highly Improbable, and University of London’s Daniel Goldstein and Universa Investments’ Mark Spritznagel outline six mistakes that executives make in risk management:

TRYING TO PREDICT EXTREME EVENTS

We are inept at trying to predict unlikely events - the so-called "black swans" that Mr. Taleb highlighted - such as periodic financial crises or the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. By focusing attention on extreme scenarios, we neglect more likely possibilities, leaving us vulnerable.

Instead, companies should concentrate on the consequences of extreme events, as nuclear plants have done by shifting from trying to predict when an accident might occur to preparing for such a crisis. If a small but unexpected fall in demand could set your company reeling, rather than trying to predict the likelihood or when it might occur, pay attention instead to how it could withstand the impact.

STUDYING THE PAST

We are convinced that studying the past will help us manage risk, but black swan events don't have precedents. Moreover, today's world is more interdependent, so organizations can get sideswiped easier.

NOT HEEDING CAUTIONARY ADVICE

In a profit-seeking world, managers ignore cautions in their zeal to pursue opportunities. Risk managers place a greater emphasis on making money than avoiding losses, despite the fact that companies can advance considerably if they prevent losses while rivals go under.

PUTTING FAITH IN STANDARD DEVIATION

Standard deviation, the measure used routinely in finance to evaluate risk, and the models that flow from it, such as regression analysis, are poorly understood - to the point that even quantitative experts have trouble fully comprehending their meaning. Besides, the authors stress: "Anyone looking for a single number to represent risk is inviting disaster."

FRAMING RISKS POORLY

Two mathematical descriptions of a risk may be the same but provoke different responses. For example, if you tell investors they risk losing all their money in 30 years, they are more likely to invest than if you tell them they face a 3.3-per-cent chance of losing a certain amount every year - same probabilities, but different responses. Always look for ways to present risk to ensure that the response is appropriate. In particular, keep in mind that providing a best-case scenario usually increases the appetite for risk.

SEEKING EFFICIENCY

Trying to be more efficient can increase corporate vulnerability. Companies that are highly leveraged (a prized situation, because it's financially efficient) can go under if a sales forecast is missed or interest rates change. Companies that become specialists in one product, industry or geographic area are more vulnerable when something goes awry than are companies that have a more balanced portfolio.

IGNORING DISINCENTIVES

The mythology is that capitalism is about incentives, but what about disincentives? "No one should have a piece of the upside without a share of the downside," the authors state. "Moreover," they argue, "we shouldn't offer bonuses to those who manage risk establishments such as nuclear plants and banks. The chances are they will cut corners to maximize profits. Society gives the greatest risk-management tasks to the military, but soldiers don't get bonuses."

'MANAGEMENT TODAY IS MORE OF A RELIGION'

For the past five years, consultant Adrian Savage has offered some unconventional management advice at the Slow Leadership blog. But in his last commentary before closing the blog, he moved from slow leadership to no leadership:

"The very best leadership, I am convinced, is engaging in as few 'managerial' activities as possible." That means spending less time - or no time - creating plans and budgets, setting strategies, setting up mergers and acquisitions, holding meetings, analyzing data and developing marketing schemes.

"Nearly all such actions get in the way of real business and lie at the heart of most problems that leaders face. If you must do something, encourage and train your staff, talk with customers, monitor quality and spend as much time as you can with 'non-managerial' actions like inventing new products and services and improving old ones," Mr. Savage says.

He contends that "management has become a self-replicating and self-justifying process we would be better off without."

Management schools, of course, are caught up in that justification in order to exist, even though he says their own statistics show nearly all "managerial" activities - like mergers, marketing and fancy financial engineering - destroy value on a massive scale.

"Management today is more of a religion, based on unquestioning belief in semi-sacred texts and dead prophets, than a useful and practical way of spending time," he says. "My ideal for each of you, as a manager and a leader, is that you never waste your time and talent again on any conventional 'management' tasks."

PRESENTATIONS: APPLYING SUMI-E TO POWERPOINT

Want to improve your PowerPoint presentations? Garr Reynolds, on his Presentation Zen blog, suggests hewing to the prescriptions of the ancient art of Japanese brush painting known as sumi-e:

More can be expressed with less.

Never use more colour when less will do.

Omit useless details to expose the essence.

Careful use of light and dark is important for creating clarity and contrast.

Use colour with a clear purpose and informed intention.

Maintain balance, clarity, harmony and simplicity.

POWER POINTS

Maximize productivity

Make an energy map of your days. With your spreadsheet or weekly planner create a sample week. Then, during the day, periodically write what you are doing and how productive you feel, on a scale of zero to 10, with 10 as productive as you can be. Blogger Trent Hamm says this map will illuminate your natural energy levels, allowing you to slot important or high-concentration tasks into periods where you're highly productive and less important or low-concentration tasks in non-productive periods.

The Simple Dollar

Create a client culture

There is no hotter prospect than your current client. "Why aren't you talking to them? Why aren't you telling them more about you? Why aren't you asking them more about them?" asks marketing consultant Drew McLellan. The Marketing Minute

Know your boss

One of the most important things to understand about a new boss is his or her personal style of communication. How much information does the boss want, how often and in what time length of briefings?

Management Today

Dainty Dells anyone?

Dell laptops will be coming soon in nail-polish colours. Are you ready for "Strawberry red" and "Kyoto pearl?"

Springwise newsletter

Don't lose those links

When redesigning your website, remember to make sure that existing links to your company on third-party sites will still find the appropriate page. This can be arranged by a webmaster through redirects.

MBA Depot blog

Tracking time zones

If you're holding virtual meetings with folks from other time zones, your Outlook calendar can help you by displaying other time zones right beside your own, so you know what time it is for the other individual.

Right click on the listed meeting hours, select Change Time Zone, and check the Show An Additional Time Zone box. If you're travelling, you can switch your Outlook to reflect the time zone you're in by applying the Swap Time Zone button.

Katherine Boehret, Wall Street Journal

 

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 03:37 AM

Seven principles for strong planning

harvey@harveyschachter.com

THE PRINCIPLE OF PASSION

Passion gives planning energy and focus. "Passion narrows our vision so that the plan dominates our attention and distractions fade into the background," he observes.

THE PRINCIPLE OF CREATIVITY

In planning, there's always a lust for concreteness - something solid to wrap our minds around. That diverts us from tackling the harder, more difficult dilemmas facing us. Take time to think creatively about the issues you are tackling and encourage your team to be creative as well. Don't rely, as all too often happens, on just one person to be the creative thinker on your team, but get everyone involved in inspired thinking.

THE PRINCIPLE OF INFLUENCE

The support of other people will help to make or break your project. So when you're preparing your plans, consider whether you will be able to persuade others, so you can get what you need. Learn what matters in their lives, and how you can assist them, in an effort to gain reciprocal help from them on your project.

THE PRINCIPLE OF PRIORITIES

Before planning your career, determine your purpose - the priorities in your life. "It's important to find your purpose so that you run, not on the fast track, but on your track," Mr. Maxwell says.

THE PRINCIPLE OF FLEXIBILITY

Not everything will go according to your plans, so be prepared to improvise. "Some of the best things I've received in life have been surprises that I could never have planned in advance," he notes.

THE PRINCIPLE OF TIMING

Life has its ups and downs. When we're in the valleys of life, we don't see clearly, and our decisions therefore are skewed toward escaping our problems. That's a good reason not to make any major decisions when in a valley.

THE PRINCIPLE OF TEAMWORK

Get others to help you with your plans, so you can overcome your weaknesses and blind spots.

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MARKETING / HOW TO SPOT YOUR COMPETITION

We usually assume our competition sells the same goods or services we hawk. So, an Indian restaurant competes with other Indian restaurants. But of course, it's not that simple. As Rohit Bhargava notes on his Influential Marketing blog, on any given night that Indian restaurant may be competing with a fast food restaurant or even a grocery store. He offers these two ways to expand your thinking about your competition:

Competition by location: People decide which dry cleaners or gas stations to patronize based on whether they are conveniently located. So think about geography and distance when pondering who to reach and who your competitors are.

Competition by emotion: Your business serves some need for your customer. For that Indian restaurant, for example, it could be satisfying hunger or providing a spot for a romantic encounter. Thinking of the underlying needs may help you to better understand your competition.

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LEADERSHIP / THE FIVE PS OF CHANGE

It has long been accepted that change initiatives fail because of a failure of leaders to communicate. Consultant Deborah Mackin says communication is often faulty in such situations because leaders don't know how to construct a proper message for discussing change one-on-one with subordinates. On newdirectionsconsulting.com, she urges you to organize your conversations around five Ps:

Purpose: Open the dialogue by explaining why the initiative is important.

Picture: Create a picture or metaphor of what the initiative might look like. This image will remain with people longer than your specific words.

Plan: Explain briefly how the program or initiative will be approached - the specific steps you have planned.

Performance measure: Define the criteria you will be using to measure effectiveness - for example, the initiative rolled out by the end of the year.

Part: Explain what part in this effort you expect this person to play. "When we have participants in training practise the five Ps with partners, they remark about the change in attitude that occurs when the leader invites the person to participate with a specific request. They comment that it makes them feel needed and a part of the effort," she stresses.

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POWER POINTS

FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS

Best-selling author Curtis Sittenfeld says that when she is at her computer and needs to focus on her work - writing - she closes all windows and files other than the document she is working on. When she is away from the computer trying to get something done that's not writing-related, she turns off the computer - and with it, the nagging feeling she should keep checking for e-mails. Slate.com

JUST DO IT

"Make more decisions" should be your three-word leadership mantra, consultant Seth Godin says. They don't have to be perfect decisions. Just make them, and move on.

Seth's blog

HIRE 'EM HUNGRY

George Zimmer, chief executive officer of Men's Wearhouse, says in hiring salespeople look for likeability, hunger and honesty. Likeability is easy to sense. For hunger, test by asking if the person is comfortable working on commission. As for honesty - the hardest to gauge - be leery of a candidate whose answers seem pat or calculated.

Inc.

THE 48-HOUR FOLLOW UP

When you meet someone new, blogger Trent Hamm, building on the ideas of networking wizard Keith Ferrazzi, says to follow up within 48 hours, reminding the individual who you are. If the person is important to you, mark a note in your calendar to follow up again within a month.

The Simple Dollar blog

LOCATION VOCATION

Last week we passed along marketing consultant Roy Williams' observation that the most important person in your company is the person who selects the inventory. Who is the second-most important? He suggests it's the person who chooses the location for your store.

Monday Morning Memo

FONT MAGIC

To quickly decrease the font size of a word or block of text in Microsoft Word, select the text and then press CTR+[ (open square bracket). Each time you press those two keys together, the font size will decrease by one point. To increase: CTR+] (close square bracket).

Allen Wyatt's WordTips

 

Saturday, October 17, 2009 03:05 AM

Building leadership

As leaders grow, their focus should shift through five possible domains in which they can focus their time and energy, leadership coach Steve Buchholz writes in Executive Excellence magazine. For some, that leadership growth might come as they take on successively higher responsibilities in the organization or the business they started matures, while for others all five levels might be present from their first day as a leader but they have to develop the awareness and skills to handle the different domains effectively. Here are some tips for managing that growth:

LEVEL 1: KNOW THYSELF

The leader must go inside to discover his or her essence, and articulate a personal framework for leadership. That will include thinking through such matters as purpose, values, and vision.

LEVEL 2: ONE-TO-ONE LEADERSHIP

Leaders must directly interact with and manage others in their work unit. "In some cases, a leader perceives that leadership starts and ends here," writes Mr. Buchholz, with no perceived need to advance leadership skills beyond this level.

LEVEL 3: HIGH-PERFORMANCE TEAMING

If the number of people reporting to you increases and time doesn't allow for one-to-one interaction with each, the leader must figure out a new approach. That involves what Mr. Buchholz calls a "one-to-team approach," creating a team environment in which more responsibility is shared.

LEVEL 4: LEADING THE WORK CULTURE

At a higher level, the leader can strive to influence the overall work culture so that there is higher performance. Issues to consider would include creating a culture of opportunity, accountability, free-flowing communication, appropriate rewards, and support for staff.

LEVEL 5: INFLUENCING THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Leaders focus on how to influence those beyond their domain through strategy, partnerships, community outreach, and mergers or acquisitions.

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E-MARKETING: PERCEPTION, EMOTION, AND TIME FRAMES

As users interact with websites, they have expectations of what will happen in certain time frames. "Usability" guru Jakob Nielsen, in his Alertbox, highlights these expectations, moving through time by a factor of 10:

0.1 second: To create the illusion that the user has caused something to happen on the screen, it must occur in 0.1 seconds. For example, if you click on an expandable menu and see the expanded version in less than 0.1 second it feels as if you made the menu open, rather than the computer doing something.

One second: Between 0.1 second and one second, it feels as if the computer is causing the result to appear but the user still feels in control of the interaction. But if it takes longer than one second - for example, for a Web page to display - the user does not feel he is navigating freely.

10 seconds: After one second, the user will become impatient, but after 10 seconds the flow of the human-computer process is so broken that the user will leave the site because he or she has used the interval to think about other things.

One minute: Mr. Nielsen says users should be able to complete simple tasks on a website in about one minute. "Awkward sites that require much more time than a minute for basic tasks - such as transferring money from a savings account to a chequing account - will be abandoned," he warns.

10 minutes: This is a long visit to a website. When Mr. Nielsen tracked a user researching a business purchase, the longest time on any site was seven minutes.

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LEADERSHIP: 3 FOR 3 GOALS

Business coach Susan Clements says the way to build your business is through a process called "3 for 3" goals.

Start by identifying the results you want for your business three years from now. Then delineate which activities you need to do in three time frames to make that happen: this year, this quarter, and this month. "Set aside one hour each week to track your progress toward your three-for-three goals and refine your activity plan," she writes in The Marketing Minute newsletter.

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POWER POINTS

multitasking

Fifty-two per cent of people enjoy multitasking while on a conference call - such as answering e-mail, text messaging, or surfing the Web.

Meetings Around The World II study

miscarriage

Careers writer and entrepreneur Penelope Trunk stirred outrage when she tweeted that she was in a board meeting having a miscarriage. Her response to the reaction: An estimated 25 per cent of pregnancies end in miscarriages and most miscarriages happen at work; because they can run their course over several weeks, the women go on about their life. "This means that there are thousands of miscarriages in progress, at work, on any given day. That we don't acknowledge this is absurd. That it is such a common occurrence and no one thinks it's okay to talk about is terrible for women," she says.

Brazen Careerist blog

inventory rules

Marketing consultant Roy H. Williams says the person who selects a company's inventory is the most important person in the company.

Monday Morning Memo

creativity

A study of 3,000 creative executives by Jeff Dyer of Brigham Young University and Hal Gregersen of Insead found five skills distinguish them: making connections across seemingly unrelated ideas; questioning; closely observing details, particularly of people's behaviour; the ability to experiment, continually trying out new experiences; networking with smart people who have little in common with them, but from whom they can learn. The most important was connecting problems or ideas in unusual ways. Harvard Business Review Editors' Blog

calming technique

Consultant Catherine Bell advises taking a deep breath before you answer your phone so you will sound calm and focused, the day's stress not coming through. Image Communiqué

future e-mail

Want to check your progress on a goal at some time in the future or remind yourself of something important? FutureMe.org allows you to write yourself an e-mail and have it sent at any future date you specify.

The M.A.P. Maker blog

harvey@harveyschachter.com

 

Monday, October 5, 2009 09:55 AM

Maximize your potential, keep that ego in check

CONCERN WITH APPROVAL

In the corporate world, approval of others can be important. But that approval will come if you act authentically and honestly and work hard. You need to be independent of the good opinion of others, doing what you feel is right. Your ego, in that situation, is not craving recognition and thus not likely to carry you astray.

FEAR OF SEEKING HELP

If you are afraid to ask for help or don't want to ask for help because you want all the credit, then it's likely your ego is driving you. Mr. Rao recalls a project where he tried to go it alone and flopped, his ego leading to the failure and the loss of friendships with colleagues he had spurned.

COMPARING AND COMPETING

Continually comparing yourself with others - and having to achieve superiority - is not only a sign of ego issues but also a losing battle since there is always somebody better. "If you keep seeing your life as a competition with those around you, then you will continually be dissatisfied and the ego will drive your life."

GREED

The constant need for more is another expression of ego. It's also a waste, if it's simply for the sake of always having more to satisfy that ego lust.

LACK OF PRESENCE

Ego-driven people continually live in the past and plot their future, rather than living in - and dealing with - the moment. If you're always thinking about the next great phase of life or celebrating past victories, you are succumbing to ego and not gaining as much as you can from the present.

NEED TO BE RIGHT

Beware if you need to win every argument and prove you are always right. "Leaders with this attitude ultimately alienate all those who work for them, and eventually stop receiving the kind of input that can propel them forward because they are so adamant about being right," he warns.

*****

MENTORING: CORRECTING NEGATIVES

There's a tendency for mentors to always be positive and supportive. But in The Elements of Mentoring, psychology professors W. Brad Johnson and Charles Ridley stress that no one is perfect and even the sharpest protégé can benefit from constructive criticism. "Failing to offer correction when it is needed is a disservice to the protégé," they note.

So address subpar performance, failure to be attentive to details, ethical lapses, and even bad work habits that threaten health.

But the authors urge you to vary your style according to the length of time of the relationship. Early in the mentorship, precede a correction with a healthy dose of encouragement and affirmation. Later on, the advice can be more direct and the protégé won't feel as threatened.

"Confronting a protégé may surface some pain, but it shows caring. On the other hand, avoiding a confrontation may spare the protégé some pain but cause greater vulnerability to costly errors and unchecked dysfunction. Mentors who really care confront problem behaviour," they conclude.

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SELF-MANAGEMENT: GAUGING YOUR CONCENTRATION SPAN

Productivity expert Julie Morgenstern has focused attention on something she calls the concentration threshold, which is essentially the period of time in which you can be attentive to a task.

On the Tools For Thought blog, technology writer Andre Kibbe explains that it ties into procrastination, because if we know there is a task on which we can effectively concentrate for only 20 minutes before being tired or bored and there is an hour at hand, we'll procrastinate for 40 minutes before starting.

This will vary with different tasks, so he advises you not to see yourself as a procrastinator in general but as a person who procrastinates on certain tasks where this concentration threshold is asserting itself.

Become sensitive to your concentration threshold for various tasks, and allot only the amount of time it took you last time, from when you actually started working to completion. That's likely your concentration span for that activity.

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POWER POINTS

Set an extra place

Want to become more attentive to customers? Consultant Lynn Hunsaker notes that Amazon chief executive officer Jeff Bezos once started an executive meeting by announcing that the empty chair at the table represented "the customer" and was to be included in comments and thought processes, as if they were actually present. The practice continues at Amazon, and may be one to consider at your company. Customer Experience Optimization blog

The leasing option

We know that startups depend on banks for external financing, as well as on friends and relatives. But while 70 per cent of the top 50 startups in Profit magazine's annual compilation received money from banks, and 42 per cent from friends and relatives (coming in second place), 46 per cent of the startups used leasing - rather than buying - assets, to get them at acceptable terms and avoid a large upfront cost.

Profit magazine

E-mail energy

Processing e-mail doesn't require much energy, so reserve it for low-energy times of the day.

Ian's Messy Desk blog

Young tightwads

Venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki says a discussion with a panel of young people ranging from high-school students to recent college students revealed that they hardly pay for anything online (other than Xbox Live) - and don't intend to. If a popular site such as Facebook started to charge, they would switch to one that doesn't. OpenForum.com

Tip-top meetings

Record every action required in a meeting, and don't adjourn the meeting until you have assigned each to someone with a completion date. Start meetings by reviewing the action items on your list.

Kevin's Remarkable Learning Blog

Type sizing

If you want to zoom in or out on a Microsoft Word document, so you can see the type larger or smaller, use the CTRL (control) key and the wheel in your mouse. Pushing the wheel forward will make the type look larger, and rolling it backward will make it appear smaller.

Allen Wyatt's WordTips

 

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 03:17 AM

Want to teach employees new tricks?

The failure of so many corporate change efforts has led many managers to conclude that human nature is intractable and it is impossible to teach old dogs - and long-term employees - new tricks. But David Rock, a consultant who uses the latest in brain research to help organizations improve their leadership teams, notes in Strategy + Business that the brain is, in fact, highly plastic, and new behaviours can be learned and entrenched behaviours changed. The problem with change efforts is that managers arouse the classic "threat response," which dates back to our cave-dwelling ancestors' fear of danger, and in today's organizational context makes employees less efficient. In fact, he says, we should be looking to kindle the "reward response," helping staff members feel good about themselves. In that vein, he suggests executives focus on five qualities that minimize the threat response and enable the reward response:

STATUS

Humans are constantly assessing how situations enhance or diminish their status. Leaders should avoid organizational practices that stir fear among employees, such as standard performance reviews or the custom of offering feedback. Mr. Rock likens the phrase "Can I give you some feedback?" to the fears aroused when hearing footsteps in the dark. Enhancing status need not come solely by promotions - praise can do wonders as well.

CERTAINTY

When the brain registers ambiguity or confusion, the threat response is triggered - the brain registering an error, gap, or tension that must be corrected. That is why humans crave certainty. Mild uncertainty can have its advantages, attracting interest and attention. But too much uncertainty can undercut focus and performance. "Leaders and managers must therefore work to create a perception of certainty to build confident and dedicated teams. Sharing business plans, rationales for change, and accurate maps of an organization's structure promotes this perception. Giving specifics about organizational restructuring helps people feel more confident about the plan, and articulating how decisions are made increases trust. Transparent practices are the foundation on which the perception of certainty rests," he notes.

AUTONOMY

Studies show that the degree of control available to an animal confronted by a stressful situation determines whether the ability to function is undermined or not. It's the same in organizations: If people feel they can execute their own decisions without much oversight, their stress remains under control. So leaders must support this need for autonomy in their staff, especially when those individuals are part of a team or working with a supervisor. Give them options, allow them to organize their own work, and even grant them the chance to set their own hours.

RELATEDNESS

Every time we meet someone new, our brain makes a friend-or-foe distinction. If the person is perceived as different, it raises uncomfortable feelings and stress. Mr. Rock says that means teams of diverse people cannot be thrown together: "They must be deliberately put together in a way that minimizes the potential for threat responses. Trust cannot be assumed or mandated, nor can empathy or even goodwill be compelled." Time and repeated social interaction are required to allow strangers to be perceived as friends.

FAIRNESS

When an event has been perceived as unfair, hostility and mistrust are stirred up. We know that people are willing to fight and die for causes that they believe are just, and give fervent loyalty to organizations that are perceived as fair. So fairness is essential to a high-performing workplace. Transparency builds a sense of fairness. Cutbacks can be endured more easily if they are viewed as handled fairly.

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E-MARKETING: NON-VIRAL VIDEOS ARE VALUABLE

Stories of videos that quickly go viral - with millions of views in a few days or weeks - can leave companies afraid to try videos as part of their marketing strategy because the chances of hitting the viral jackpot seem infinitesimal. But consultant Rick Burnes, on hubspot.com, argues that businesses should put time into videos because, even if they don't go viral, they can bring many benefits.

Video gives your company a voice. It's one thing to read a paragraph about a company; it's far different to spend four minutes listening to the company's founder explain the vision and purpose of the company. "Video adds a personal dimension to company websites, which are typically heavy on impersonal text," he writes.

Videos offer another channel for your content. Different forms of information require different forms of communication and, as you experiment, you will find some will be more effective in video.

Videos are marketing annuities that grow over time as more and more people see them.

Videos build company culture. They are fun, and show that your company can have fun.

Don't fear video. He advises they are easier and cheaper to produce than you think. The video doesn't need to be perfect, he stresses. And the more videos you have, the more likely someone will choose from your video portfolio to learn more about what your company can do for them.

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LEADERSHIP: 10 TOUGH QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

Here are 10 tough questions managers need to ask themselves, according to information technology executive Phil Gerbyshak on the Slacker Manager blog:

  • Why am I doing what I am doing?
  • Is my team still doing work that is valued?
  • How does my daily work contribute to the firm's bottom line?
  • How can I do more that is more meaningful to the business?
  • How can I do less of what isn't meaningful?
  • Is what I'm doing right now helping or hindering my team's growth?
  • Is there a better way to do this task?
  • How can I reward this team for doing the great work they're doing?
  • What new skills do I need to learn and what skills do I need to teach my team?
  • Do the right people know the value my team brings to the table?

POWER POINTS

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

The meeting is set for 10 a.m. Do you arrive at 9:50, bright and early; 9:55, early but not so far ahead that it looks like you're wasting time; at 9:59, just in the nick of time; exactly at 10:00; or at 10:05, since meetings don't get going for the first five minutes? According to Calgary consultant Jeff Mowatt, the answer is 9:55, because arriving late is disrespectful to others; arriving 10 minutes early suggests you don't have enough to do; and arriving at 9:59 or 10:00 makes you look rushed and disorganized. Influence With Ease newsletter

BRAND-BUILDING RFPs

Consultant Gwyneth Dwyer asks that you take a good look at the requests for proposals (RFPs) your organization sends out. Often they are patched together quickly, and the highest standard they meet is "good enough." But RFPs must be worthy of your brand, and "good enough" simply isn't good enough. Marketeingprofs.com

COLOUR-CODED CORDS

Use coloured electrical tape to mark the cord on your laptop so you can pick it out of the thicket of wires on your power strip when you are working at home. Lifehacker.com

SOCIAL MEDIA CRITIC

Michael Schrage, research fellow at the MIT Sloan School of Management's Center For Digital Business, urges you not to be deceived by Facebook, Twitter and other social media's ability to take information you find and post it for wider consumption on a "wall" or a "stream" or a blog. What's missing? The customization and one-to-one connection of taking that same information and sending it on to friends, each with a specially written explanation of why it is relevant to them. Harvard Business Publishing

A GRAND IDEA

Productivity expert David Allen says your mind is a great place to have ideas, but a terrible place to organize them. Write your ideas down and, as in karate, seek a state of "mind like water," clear and ready for new ideas. Productive Living newsletter

CONTACTS ON MENU

Client Lunchbox is an online tool that allows realtors and others in similar sales work to enter details about their prospects, build a cycle of sales activity for following up, and receive regular e-mail reminders. Drew's Marketing Minute

harvey@harveyschachter.com

 

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 11:00 AM

Making time management one of your top priorities

KNOW YOUR PRIORITIES

Executives are extremely focused on their priorities. Brian Fetherstonhaugh, Global CEO of OgilvyOne, has a flip chart in his office with his top priorities marked down, to remind him. Michael Cloutier, former CEO of AstraZeneca Canada, uses a technique he calls "Three Balls" to classify and handle his priorities. Glass balls must be handled in 24 hours as they are urgent - and if you drop them they break, with the direct consequence a missed opportunity. Rubber balls are the second priority level - drop them and they bounce back once, giving you a second shot. But that's all you will get: Just one more chance. The third level are lead balls, which fall to the ground and lay there if dropped; although you would like to deal with them, the reality is that their impact is usually small and often they will remain there, as you juggle the more vital glass and rubber balls of your life.

FOCUS ON ONE THING AT A TIME

Research shows that focusing on one thing at a time improves personal productivity. Mr. Fetherstonhaugh considers focus to be like a muscle, that you must keep strong. At the same time, he is alert to when he is losing focus, and switches tracks if he needs a refresher, focusing on something else. Tim Penner, president of Procter & Gamble Canada, says if he's in a meeting he maintains his focus on the discussion, not answering his BlackBerry.

More

 

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 11:03 AM

Polish your interview technique to find the right employee

Interviewing job candidates requires finding the right questions to help probe their abilities and fit. Here are some suggestions by Paul Falcone, vice-president of HR at Nickelodeon, from his book 96 Great Interview Questions to Ask Before You Hire

What was your favourite job position, and what role did your boss play in making it unique?

As with the question we often ask about greatest strength, this query early in the interview allows the person to reflect on positive and comfortable moments. It also sets up the tougher question that should follow, and will change the temperature a bit: "What was your least favourite position and what role did your boss play in your career at that point?"

More

 

Monday, September 7, 2009 10:38 AM

Women feel undervalued, underserved, study finds

Despite the vast strides women have made in economic and corporate power in recent decades, a new study finds they still feel undervalued when it comes to making purchases. “It’s still tough for women to find a pair of pants, buy a healthful meal, get financial advice without feeling patronized,” Boston Consulting Group’s Michael Silverstein and Kate Sayre, who conducted the global survey of more than 12,000 women, report in Harvard Business Review.

They found six industries with the greatest potential for targetting women

FINANCIAL SERVICES

This is the industry least sympathetic to women, according to the survey, and the one in which companies have the most to gain if they can change their approach. Women feel that the industry lacks respect, and then cite other complaints that they might well share with men, such as poor advice, contradictory policies, one-size-fits-all forms, and red tape. There’s a big opportunity for companies that can provide financial education to women, financial advisers that understand and cater to female life events, and equal treatment with men.

BEAUTY

Women are fundamentally dissatisfied with beauty offerings – what is being offered and the fact too many choices exist. “It’s a male-dominated industry in which men make hit-or-miss guesses about what women want, and products come and go at a rapid pace,” they write.

A good first step would be to put more women at the top in the industry, so they can make key decisions that reflect their sense of what resonates with female consumers.

FOOD

Women remain responsible for the lion’s share of grocery shopping and meal preparation. This is an area where they can be convinced to trade up, buying some luxury goods instead of their low-cost counterparts, if the appeal is strong enough. That’s why, the consultants note, Whole Foods has succeeded despite its high prices, targeting well-to-do “fast trackers” – higher-earning, highly educated women. But convenience can also be a big appeal to time-strapped women (the consultants call them “pressure cookers”) who are married with children and are under tremendous time pressures.

FITNESS

About two-thirds of the survey respondents consider themselves overweight, but although they say fitness is a priority, in reality it’s on the back burner because the women are putting more emphasis on their children, spouse or parents than their own health.

The consultants say the challenge is to make fitness more acceptable for women, with fitness centres, which are usually designed for men, less like a nightclub filled with bodybuilders. “Generally, women are less interested in pumping themselves up than in shedding a few pounds, improving their cardiovascular health, and getting toned. Bright lights, electronic music, sweaty men, and complicated equipment are often a turnoff,” they write.

APPAREL

Most women are not a perfect size six, the consultants note, and don’t like to be reminded of that fact every time they shop. For most women, trying on clothes is often an exercise in frustration that just reinforces their negative body images. The consultants point to Banana Republic, which has won a loyal following among women by taking steps to solve the problem of fit, particularly for pants.

Cost is also an issue, and the reason Sweden-based H&M is drawing plaudits for its inexpensive, trendy clothes.

HEALTH CARE

Women reported dissatisfaction with their hospitals and their physicians (which in Canada we don’t usually view as an industry in the same way as other countries do). Female respondents were irritated by the time spent waiting for doctors and lab results, and generally pay more for health insurance than men. Again, the consultants see opportunities for health providers that cater to women.

Morning Manager Contributors

Harvey Schachter

Harvey Schachter is a Battersea, Ont.-based writer specializing in management issues.