Business Leadership Skills 01 (Jul 09 - Feb 13)

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Perfect a Great Sales Process By Brian Tracy

One of the main rules of business success is that "nothing happens until a sale takes place." It is amazing how many companies have excellent products and services, excellent people, and excellent plans, but they have given little or no thought to the sales process.

The sales process refers to every single point of contact that you have with a potential customer, from the first time they see or hear about you, all the way through to the closing of the sale and the payment of the price you charge.

You and your sales team must be excellent at prospecting, establishing rapport, identifying needs accurately, presenting persuasively, answering objections, closing the sale, and getting re-sales and referrals from happy customers.

One small improvement in any one of these key areas can lead to dramatic improvements in the number of sales you make, the amount of cash you have coming in, and the profitability of your business.


Source: ETR

[winston]

Some Things You Must Do Yourself by Michael Masterson

Answer the following questions:

1. Do you know exactly how to bring in new customers at an allowable acquisition rate? Could you do it yourself if your top marketer left you?

2. Do you know how resources are allocated to produce an acceptable profit? Do you know how much you must spend on what sorts of marketing campaigns? Do you know what the cost of goods should be relative to revenues?

3. Do your key people look to you for leadership and motivation?

You must be able to answer yes to all three questions. If not, get to work.


Source: ETR

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"He that gives good advice, builds with one hand; he that gives good counsel and example, builds with both."

Francis Bacon

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"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place."

George Bernard Shaw

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"There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else."

Sam Walton

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"A man who cannot command his temper should not think of being a man in business."
-Lord Chesterfield

[winston]

Billionaire Profiles: How Would You Have Handled This?

Billionaires have quick reaction times to both opportunity and crisis.

Here's a great story from Martin Fridson about the importance of quick reaction time to crisis. Future billionaire Phillip Anschutz was contract drilling for Chevron in 1968, when a spark from a truck set his entire field ablaze.

Anschutz found himself facing ruin as he had borrowed heavily to secure the lease. The average person watching his capital go up in smoke would have been forgiven for curling up into a ball on the floor and going catatonic. Not Anschutz.

What he did was quickly buy the lease of his panicked neighbor by assuming his liabilities and then raising $100,000 by selling Universal Studios, the rights to film his burning oil rigs for their film Hellfighters, which had John Wayne playing the famous oil field fire-fighter Red Adair.

The money allowed him to then hire the real Adair to put out the fire. In the end, Anschutz realized a "healthy profit."

How would you have reacted if that had been your oil field?


Source: The Tycoon Playbook

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"The task of leadership is to create an alignment of strengths so that weaknesses become irrelevant."

Peter Drucker

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Blue Ocean Strategy? What In The World Is That? By Steve Blumenfeld

There is a book called “Blue Ocean Strategy” that talks about uncontested market space and making the competition irrelevant.

Here is the main concept: if you market in a specific niche or market like the others do in that same market or niche, then you're doing what's called Red Ocean marketing.

This means that you are all getting bloody trying to compete with each other for a finite market share. Each of you is trying to out-do each other in a market that has a limited number of customers, a limited price point, a limited profit margin, a limited everything!

Let me give you an example. Let's take pizza. All the pizza places (Domino's, CiCi's, Pizza Hut, etc.) are using T.V. commercials, mailed flyers, magazine and newspaper ads, radio ads and more. Everyone is doing the same thing. How low can their prices go before they're losing money? How many customers can they reasonably get? What can they possibly do that the other companies haven't already done, but the bottom line is this – it's still PIZZA!

Pepsi competes with Coke and all the other soft drink companies out there. All they can do is package differently or change the taste. That's about it. And what can the other soft drink companies do? What can an insurance company offer a potential customer that the other insurance companies are not offering?

What can a car manufacturer offer a potential customer that the other manufacturers are not offering? What can a retail store offer potential customers that other retail stores do not offer? You see what I'm getting at here?

Whatever your product or service is, chances are you're just killing yourself by trying to out-do the other companies in your market. You're all beating yourselves bloody in the name of competition.

But you ask, “What else can I do?”

Well, let's look at Cirque du Soleil. There were two major circus giants who were known as the best in the industry. Other smaller circuses tried to compete in the same market and got nowhere. They all tried to use animals, tents, performers doing the same tricks and what happened?

The small ones stayed “small potatoes” or went out of business entirely, and the two circus giants, due to the declining economy, had to raise prices, cut back performances and/or quality, down-size, etc. And the more they did this, the fewer customers they had. That becomes a vicious cycle to nowhere.

So, did Cirque du Soleil follow this formula? No! They created a completely different market and a totally different business model, and even did this with their prices doubled and tripled what the normal circus prices used to be. And they dominate that market! They don't use animals. They use use artists/performers and use story themes in their shows. Wow!

What about Apple? As the electronics market evolves, companies who create new technologies are the ones who prosper. What about green energy? Same thing there.
Blue Ocean Strategy is about creating NEW markets by creating new products, technologies or new services, not competing in the same old, same old.

Even the MLM industry falls victim to the red ocean strategy. It never fails to amaze me that people who want to quit the corporate world and go into business for themselves choose an MLM business that IS COMPETING WITH EVERYONE ELSE in the same industry.

Health products. Electricity. Insurance, for crying out loud. Kitchen ware. Why would you do that? How in the world do you think you will become successful?

Now this is interesting – a totally new product/service comes along that NO ONE ELSE is doing, that the entry fee is ridiculously low, that is cutting edge, like Cirque du Soleil, and do people want to get involved? No! They instead join a company that is one of 20 others just like it. And yet they have high expectations of success.

They work hard for a short or long period of time, they invest lots of money and effort and time, and then they quit. Or they just marginally get by. Then they go tell everyone they know that MLMs don't work. Or they jump to a different MLM company that is, again, one of many doing the same product/service. And these are NOT stupid people!

So tell me, if you had an urge to begin your own business and you are drawn to the MLM business model, which, seriously, is the only way to set your own work schedule and salary limit, wouldn't you want to put the odds in your favor? Wouldn't you consider a company that had a low entry fee, that was super easy to do, that was growing like crazy and that had NO COMPETITION?

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/blue ... he-is-that

[winston]

Blast Through 5 Roadblocks to Success By Bob Cox

Following a proven goal-setting system can help you specify your objectives, measure your progress, and stay focused. But what do you do when you encounter roadblocks along the way? Today, I'm going to tell you exactly what I do to push through, jump over, toss aside, or take a detour away from five of my personal roadblocks in order to stay on track.


Roadblock #1: Perfectionism

Striving to be perfect was always my biggest challenge. My business associates and partners loved giving me projects because I would pull out all the stops and become completely devoted to getting them done... and done right.

Project goals change all the time. So it's better to come within 90% of my idea of perfection and save a little time for the inevitable changes.

Bottom line: Stay in motion. Aim for good, push through the modifications that arise, and then... aim for better and repeat the process until the desired results are achieved.


Roadblock #2: Failure to Compromise

This is a roadblock to my success that still creeps up on me, though it doesn't happen as often as it used to.

Now when I'm working with someone who wants to do a project in a way that's different from the way I would do it, I ask myself:

Is this legal?
Will this is in some fashion move my goal forward?
Can I honor this request?

If I can answer YES to all of the above... then I've taken an appropriate detour around this roadblock. That detour -- known as compromise -- really comes in handy. And it doesn't work only at the office. It works really well at home. (Just ask my wife, Karin.)


Roadblock #3: Lack of Listening Skills

I can become easily distracted if the person I'm listening to is taking a long time to make a point. But when I remind myself to use active listening skills, I am able to toss aside this roadblock.

Through the years, I have developed the following tips to help me do it:

Your ears are for hearing... your mind is for listening.

Listen for ideas and central themes (even take notes).

Don't interrupt. Wait your turn to speak.

Circle any points in your notes that you want to emphasize when it's your turn.

Judge content... not delivery.


Roadblock #4: Reluctance to Ask Others for Help and Ideas

I used to think it was a sign of weakness to ask for help on a project. I was wrong. It only slowed me down in achieving my goals... and created an unnecessary roadblock.

It's better to have a "suggestion box" mindset. In other words, to be willing to ask for and receive help, including alternate ideas and solutions, from all those involved. I often ask for input even from people who are not involved.

You will be surprised at how many good ideas other people have.

And don't forget to thank them. By developing this success habit, you will have lots of extra resources to draw on whenever you're stuck on a problem.


Roadblock #5: Not Understanding the Team Concept

I finally recognized that there are people who are better than I am (go figure!) to lead particular types of projects. It was a tough truth to swallow. But once I accepted it, it made a big difference.

I urge you to jump over this roadblock by letting someone else lead when the opportunity presents itself. Let another team member head the project, let your spouse call the shots for your next dinner party, or let your joint venture partner negotiate an important contract. When you do, you'll realize how much you can learn by taking on the role of his or her assistant.


In addition to the above, you may have roadblocks of your own that you encounter on a regular basis. Here's a simple three-step process to help you navigate through them and keep yourself on the path to success.

1. List three of your personal roadblocks to success. BE HONEST. It's difficult to admit your "shortcomings" or "issues," but that's the only way this technique will help you.

2. Write two or three paragraphs about why these roadblocks are a problem for you and how they are inhibiting your success.

3. List at least three ways to push through, jump over, toss aside, or take a detour away from these roadblocks that keep holding you back from achieving your goals.


Source: ETR