Ali Ghaemi

Workload Stress And Promotion

 Management, Marketing  13 Comments »
May 182009
 

Many studies and surveys correlate handling pressure and a crushing workload with being seen as responsible and effectiveness. Such studies probably over-emphasize the impact of hard work and dedication and diplomatically minimize talk of office politics and the politics of the corporate jungle. Nevertheless, there is no denying how managing one’s workload is conducive to being seen as efficient not to mention maintaining one’s sanity. Ironically, as corporations lay off people they expect the remaining employees to cover for those that were let go.

In fact, to move up in a corporate structure one must be seen as cool, calm, collected and in control. Nothing says ready for promotion than underutilized and not busy enough!

This is why it helps to be efficient.

  1. Place calls early. Busy people are more likely to pick up the telephone or respond between 8:00 to 9:00. Moreover, an early message is more likely to get returned on the same day.
  2. Multi-tasking is your enemy. Concentrate on one thing at a time. Place the telephone on ‘ Do Not Disturb’ and uncheck the notification alert on the email program.
  3. Report more not less. Delivering more does not signal that you need a bigger workload; rather it tells your manager and company that they do not need to look over your shoulder.
  4. Never, lose your cool. It is imperative that you show grace under pressure and never melt under a deadline.
  5. Most importantly, be organized. Take time upfront to develop a rational yet simple filing system whether in a drawer or on the computer. You never know when a graphic may come in handy once again.

These tips help one finish the job without sweat and make it home in time for dinner.

The path to promotion or potential advancement is hardly a mystery then if the political end is taken care of. Aside from efficiency and control, company executives are expected to:

  • Be educated. A Masters degree is better than a Bachelor’s is better than a Diploma, which is better than a high school degree.
  • Maintain a professional image including personal hygiene and quality attire.
  • Have a more diverse background. Being at the same company in the same country for 15 years means you are stuck.
  • Sneak in some operations responsibility, duties or a job into the business or technical mix of things.
  • Work or communicate with other offices or emphasize it should you be well-travelled.

10 Strategies For Selling And Operating In A Recession

 Marketing, Selling  2 Comments »
May 172009
 

1.    Consider Hosted Services, Outsourcing or Cooperation/Collaboration with another service provider in lieu of acquiring new products or adding new services. This way it is possible to offer an immediate service as part of the larger offering and broader service without committing time and capital resource. Obtain an SLA (Service level Agreement) from your provider that ensures your good name is intact with your customer.

2.    Offer two-tier pricing: higher rate is for immediate service and the lower means delayed gratification and priced for the recession. Say you normally charge $175/hour for service. Regular 3-day response can be $125/hour, while the immediate or same-day service is priced at $250/hour.

3.    Use ‘down-time’ to motivate and train employees. Human resource is more important than lip service. Whether it is offering your staff courses, training or coaching now is the time. Make your sales team part of an implementation or service call and the services team part of the sales strategy. Teach everyone how to act in an industry-specific or market segmented way. Can these groups articulate an ROI (Return On Investment)?

4.    Analyse your expenditure and revenue sources. Do some customers/vendors/partners cost you more than they bring in? Now is the time to discover them and ditch them. Be brave about it.

5.    Be Japanese not American! Do not sacrifice short-term revenue for profitability by thinking long-term. Now is not the time for a fire sale. Companies shoot themselves in the foot and are setting themselves up for both a loss now and sustained low margins in the future. Remember: it is the net margin that counts and pays the bills not the revenue coming in.

6.    This is not the time to stand still. Hire the best talent and obtain the best products and services at a bargain. The best talent and acquisition is available now for cheap and probably leads to a higher income than 2% return on bonds in the bank. Buy now and you get a bargain. It sounds simple, but this requires thinking that is confident and against human nature.

7.    Solution selling in a recession does not mean denying the recession. There can be a powerful argument for recognizing the recession – especially when combined with the above notion that now is the cheaper and smarter time to buy. Do not deny that everyone is caught in hard times. The economy is real, tangible and a shared pain for you and your customer. Instead, explore how you product can help lessen the impact of a recession on your customer.
o    Could your Business Intelligence software tell your customer how much exposure they have to a downturn and indeed how much they need to cut (when the economy is on the upswing they can turn the software back to measuring transaction costs or the profitability of advertising, etc.)?
o    Are you in the banking business? Can your service tell customers how much liquidity they need to maintain in order to weather a global recession? The downturn can and must be your friend.
o    Could your manufacturing process tell them firms which configurations need to be produced less of and what the market will demand more of?

8.    Focus on the industries that are better weathering the storm or even profiting by it. Country Clubs might be in trouble, but Tim Hortons sure isn’t. Discrete manufacturing is in trouble, but auctioneers are not. There is a recession in New York City, but did you know that Nebraska has a 4.6% unemployment rate, thank-you very much (New York is 7.8% as of March, 2009).
o    Click here for statistics: http://data.bls.gov/map/servlet/map.servlet.MapToolServlet?survey=la&map=state&seasonal=u

9.    Revisit old leads, old customers for more opportunities and when all else fails, generate good will and future business by showing even better customer service now and add to your personal touch. Take advantage of your competition’s turmoil and their lay-offs, which are lowering their service levels.

Remember that it is less costly (some say by 50%) to tap your existing clients than to acquire new ones. Sell more often, sell more dollars on average and collect faster from your existing clients. Can your customer base support a direct referral program that compensates them upon your completing a business transaction with a company they referred?

10.    Don’t be a living self-fulfilling prophecy. Remain active and on the job! Less business requires more work and activity – not less!

Former Cisco CEO John Chambers is quoted as saying, “companies break away during downturns.” Think about it. He guided Cisco during the 2001 meltdown and the Great Recession.

 

*Things That Need To Go Away: Buying High And Selling Low. It Is For Lemmings.

 

Selling By Sitting On The Other Side Of The Table

 Articles, Selling  4 Comments »
Nov 022008
 

Years ago my employer paid me to play a game, er, I mean to take a course.

It was called Decision Base. http://www.pantelisinc.com/decision_base.htm

The courses teaches one to think from the perspective of a business owner or a manager and make decisions about hiring, lay-offs, investment, buying, borrowing and more.
Good idea, isn’t it?

How do your customers make decisions and what forms their strategic vision for their business? Where does your product or service fit in? Think about these components of strategic and tactical envisioning:

Automation: Lower Headcount, Higher Productivity, At-will Availability, Fast Access…
Example: Self-Service Human Resource Management System for employees

Delegation: Line-of-business employees who are given permission to make their own decisions. What does it take to make this happen? The right information, training or workflow perhaps?
Example: A bank manager who – with the right training – can offer a pre-approved loan without needing approval from the headquarters.

Control: Knowing what is happening in real-time accurately through a single source of truth.
Example: Automated alerts via email, mobile messaging or executive dashboards. The accuracy and timeliness of information translates into effective management and decison-making. Real-time knowledge equals quicker intervention.

What Motivates Employees (continued)

 Articles, Management  1 Comment »
Jul 132008
 

When in March, 2007 we looked at factors motivating employees salary (i.e. money) came out on top. A year later InformationWeek has conducted a survey focusing on Information Technology workers and affirms the same.

In a survey of 9,653 IT professionals “base pay” ranked as #1 on the list of things that matter the most to employees. It was most important for 57% of staff and 50% of managers. The ranking is rather similar for both management and staff ranks, except “challenge of job/responsibility” which matters the most to 45% of staff (ranked third), while it stands at 55% for management!

The same survey finds that the median raise percentage this year is 2.9%, down from last year’s 3.3% which is possibly reflective of the difficult economic times. managers, in the meantime, are getting a median raise of 3.7% in the United States.

The survey is a confirmation of my assessment that the current generation of workers is looking for base (pun intended) benefits that are concrete and tangible. The millenials and, to some extent, Generation Xers have been raised in a more secure and confident environment and thus have higher demands.

While other factors remain important and helpful it is the amount of money on the pay cheque that determines the level of motivation and happiness of most employees. Once again, let us not kid ourselves.

What Matters Most To Staff

Base Pay 57%

Benefits 52%

Challenging Job 45%

Job Stability 42%

Flexible Work Schedule 39%

Respect 33%

Source:
http://www.informationweekanalytics.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=42

*Things That Need To Go Away: reserved parking for salesman of the month – unless a salesperson likes the idea.

Not Competing On Price

 Articles, Marketing  Add Comments »
Jul 062008
 

Hands up anyone out there who isn’t tired of competing on price. Why is it that everyone insists they do not compete on price, but ends up wheeling and dealing, bargaining, being haggled and giving a discount? Vendors are sick of it, customers know they can get away with asking for less and spend precious time playing the game instead of tending to what they really should be doing and resellers routinely hit up their product’s publishers for rebates.

It is a vicious circle. No one admits they are part of the problem either.

What is a poor seller to do? Differentiate yourself with both substance and marketing.

The difficult part first. Knowing yourself leads to knowing your value proposition, which in turn leads to figuring out what you do better than everyone else (if you honestly cannot answer that question then you are in trouble). Now put some substance behind it. Stop compensating your sales department for short-term goals. Incorporate customer satisfaction and long-term revenue into the remuneration package. Make sure everyone at the company is aware of your value proposition, your differentiated value proposition and is consistently educated in that field. Can your salespersons, consultants, implementers and customer service team explain what specific industry or business result you specialize in and can they hold an in-depth discussion about it with your customers?

For instance, if you have accidentally or consciously decided you are after the public sector business, can your entire team speak to the requirements of the levels of government you serve? Do they understand who is who, what the language of government is and what results governments demand?

The simpler part is the marketing. Does your website, collateral and discussions focus on your differentiator? Your website has to target your core competence with the appropriate business requirements and testimonials. Does the company’s brochures lay claim to your specialty instead of talking about the company’s history and management and who knows what else? Does your channel carry the knowledge around with it? Focus on branding your focus and who you are and make sure you walk the talk.

The implication? You are ready to walk away from non-core business and no one can beat your knowledge of the domain. That is value that for which the customer can safely pay more.

It is only now that your company can confidently stay away from discounted business and the price concessions that have become so prevalent. You are not commodity and you should be priced accordingly.

Artful Persuasion: How To Command Attention, Change Minds, And Influence People by Harry Mills

 Book Reviews  Add Comments »
Jun 232008
 

Knowledge Deployment 101 – 103

artful

Artful Persuasion is a compilation of tips, tricks and wisdom on how to persuade others, change their minds, align, and influence people favourably.
Just shy of 300 pages, Harry Mills introduces and expounds on the topic through chapters divided into ‘Thoughtful Persuasion’ (credibility, impressions, talking, asking targeted messaging. et cetra) and ‘Mindless Influence’ (contrast, reciprocation, consistency, authority, scarcity, conformity and liking). The book also features several quizzes, by-lines and diagrams to better illustrate the point. Oddly enough, the book ends with a chapter wherein an expected explanation on examples of influence and leadership goes awry and becomes a silly iconography of sorts.
That little biased narrative aside, Artful Persuasion is an informative book, even if it soon becomes apparent that there are no short cuts per se; just techniques that need to be learnt and practiced.
A bigger question, in the meanwhile, is the legitimacy of such techniques. You decide.

SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham

 Book Reviews  Add Comments »
Feb 082008
 

As Good As It Gets Given The Subject’s Limitations

spin

Having some knowledge of the subject, I am of the mind that selling is next to impossible to teach, learn and predict. This may raise eyebrows, but let’s deal in veracity, shall we?
Man has not invented or perfected the science which can predict human behaviour, reaction or rsponse. Psychologists and sociologists may well be the first to tell you so.
Given this context, no text can claim to have mastered the art of selling – it just is not a possibility.
Having said that, SPIN Selling does as good a job as any; having researched and field-tested its recommendations and results. That is as good as it will ever get – and yet, as mentioned earlier, there are no guarantees.
As such, I admire the book for being best-of-breed, but have to believe that neither this nor any other method will come close to covering it all or covering it precisely.

Favourite & Useful Links

 Links  2 Comments »
Jan 202008
 

 

 

Is It A Sale Or Not?

 Articles, Negotiating  Add Comments »
Jan 202008
 

There comes a time in every salesperson’s professional career in which he or she is at the stage where the hard work pays off and a sale is imminent – and then the prospect goes silent. It is a bewildering time assuming one has done all the right things. Why was one promised and consequently presumed success only to be confronted with silence instead of a Purchase Order? Where has the contact gone? Why are they not returning your calls? Did you miss something or have circumstances changed? Who knows?

It is time to call a meeting!

Without news or updated information it is impossible to act, react or interact and to find out whether a deal is happening or not. If not, why not? Is it something that can be addressed? If yes, when and are there any modifications at hand?

It is time to invite the prospect’s team to a meeting – telephone, videoconference or in-person. It is important to invite a team from the customer for several reasons. A larger team can bring any concerns to the table. It can give one different perspectives and open up the flow of information. It signals a sense of immediacy and a desire to resolve the issue.
It also has the effect of nudging your contact(s) into action. It is likely that this escalation will help one receive the information one needs either through the group’s collaboration or by forcing the other party’s hand, providing momentum and illuminating the situation. Their acceptance or rejection of the meeting will yield plenty of information either way.
Of course, isn’t it time your customers started feeling like collaborators and part of the team and accepted periodic meetings?

GETTING STARTED IN CONSULTING BY ALAN WEISS

 Book Reviews  Add Comments »
Nov 072007
 

So You Want To Be A Consultant, Eh?

gettingstarted

Pondering a career as a consultant? Wondering whether a career as an independent consultant is feasible? Not sure how to go about it? Need help setting up a business consulting in the United States? Then Getting Started In Consulting is the right book for the budding consultant rookie.
In a book drawing from personal experience Alan Weiss covers the A to Z of how to set up a business as an independent consultant in virtually any field. The topics range from the mundane (office furniture, gadgets needed, etc.) to the more germane such as obtaining financing, fee structure and structured networking, marketing and selling.

Divided into neat chapters including useful sidebars and summaries and providing succinct checklists at the end of the book Getting Started In Consulting is an easy to read and digest book by someone who has walked the walk. The knowledge that this is more than a mere academic study is in fact reassuring.
Nevertheless, the book is not perfect. The obvious, and Weiss is forthright about this given the title of the book, issue is that certain aspects of the book are quite elementary. Furthermore, some of the discussion regarding technology is already dated – and the book is only three years old. Finally, the author’s insistence on finding the least expensive options when obtaining the services of others, compensating others’ services cheaply, shopping at Wal-mart and so forth are not only symptomatic of the petty and cheap society we live in, but also go against Weiss’ own advice on how to structure one’s consulting fees, charging customers and asking for superior remuneration and are moreover counter-productive on a macro scale. If adopted universally, these tactics will perpetuate what consultants themselves face day in and day out. Namely, everyone’s top concern is minimizing costs and getting a service cheaply.
All in all, Getting Started In Consulting is a valuable book for consultant rookies or those with ambitions to rev up their practice and is a good investment for the reader.

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