Customer centric messaging is key to Social Media

I have had the opportunity to attend an array of  training seminars accompanied by lots of eager business people, anxious to learn the tools of marketing and social media for business.
After a short while and particularly in the Question and Answer sessions it becomes apparent that the zero minus one question has not been answered.
What do I mean by zero minus one?? Whether it be Twitter, Facebook, Blogs , even after all this time, there is still an assumption that if you get your story out there good things will happen.
I began designing marketing campaigns with brochures designed, developed and posted but no matter the methodology the purpose is the same .
This is about engagement with new or existing customers and social media has become an industry , sometimes using delusionary tactics, where clients are convinced that in and of itself Social media is key to success.
Horses for courses is my motto. If you know your target audience..not always!! if you have engaged with them about their issues...and if you have engaged that you have a solution to their problems social media starts to work.
I see blogs that are three years old, newsletters so out of date they are meaningless so why expect an audience to be interested if your own company isn't

Skills assessment : Fact or Fiction??

Organisational development and skills assessment has hit my to do list again. In the SME and Corporate world there is a need to ensure that the skills sets and business processes are in line with the needs of the business.
It never ceases to amaze me though, that the way in which this is done varies considerably between businesses, and the criteria for deciding what works can be arbitrary to say the least.
Applying 360 degree assessments to a lifestyle business where everyone built their skills around volunteering to do tasks and learning on the job leads to the inevitable missing link.The issue becomes the  lack of definition of what good looks like.
We start off judging and categorising people in terms of their usefulness but not what the business actually needs and therefore assessing all employees in a grading and pay structure that works both for the business and the individual is vital to make genuine productivity gains.
Repeatability of performance, Right First Time customer service and profit growth are the ultimate measures of how successful a business is, but leaving people development to chance can lead to significant problems

Profit trumps knowledge

I have been working recently as a consultant assisting start up businesses and have been reflecting on the fact that, actually, I have seen the same shareholder and management traits in well established businesses as I do in start up ventures.
In reality the passion and enthusiasm, plus expenditure on a new product or service, is matched by a lack of of reality about the market problem or market opportunity that the idea is addressing.
In management speak, managers believe that because they have knowledge they will automatically make money. I mean, after all, surely the potential customers must see that what they know and are selling is a must have.
As an example,  a young entrepreneur who has developed a great safety product for the construction sector exhibited at a show, and advised me, that he had fantastic feedback from the limited PR material he distributed, and that it was necessary to discuss price tactics, when in fact he had absolutely no understanding on how he was going to fulfill commitments and whether he was ever going to make money.
When I reflect on sales initiatives in various businesses I have run in different sectors, those traits were apparent in suggestions made to me by highly competent functional managers.
It is a disease that profit seems to be an issue for someone else, and I even see this with entrepreneurs spending their own money who believe God or their accountant will prevail to ensure profit will result from their endeavour.
My mantra is that it is not what you know but how you convince the market that your idea solves a problem and makes profit as a result. It is a process not a dream.
Sometimes I find myself on the wrong side of the shareholder or manager looking inquisitively at me asking, surely you can see why we will make money?
Gratifyingly I received a call from the young entrepreneur this morning, who said I see where you are coming from now.
I look forward to a successful outcome !!!!!!!!

Root cause is the only way

I often speak with business owners who advise me that they have processes in place and the people just don't do their job. I interview managers and of course they say a similar thing.The problem often however is two fold.
Firstly the communication and the training of employees does not necessarily lead to right first time behaviour.
Secondly the problem being identified, is often, the symptom of a deeper fault in a process which is not addressed.
In fact, if you combine the previous point, and the issue that the process and employee behaviour is not designed to succeed, the result is more repeated failure and damage to the business.
Consequences of these flaws inevitably lead to failure when compared two measures. These are customer service and profitability.
In my experience the lack of effort managers or business owners put in to get things right, all the time, can lead to fatal results in terms of the two measures.
In order to fix these issues we need to work back from the problem and get to genuine root cause.
Simply wallpapering over the cracks just hides the problem from view it does not cure it

Communications is not just top down

It is funny how people view communications.
The challenge when helping business owners is that they often start from the point where they believe they are right.
The effectiveness of good communication is not seen as a project in itself but as part of a belief that if I say it then it must be done.
We used to read and learn about the effectiveness of the silo hierarchy or network organisations , where style of communications was key to effectiveness.
I asked an owner the other day to stop everything he was doing, gather the troops, and explain why team work to achieve common goals was essential to help achieve business goals.
The reason I suggested this was that he was advising me that until their roles were totally defined to the point of chronic detail that they could not possibly understand how to communicate to each other.
"How could I know as I was not always here..."he cried.
"Doesn't matter" said I , "I can see what is happening by the results". Events occur , it is true, because roles are ill defined but we have met often as a team recently to expect , of each team member, that they can converse with each other , to solve business issues without necessarily reverting to higher authority.
"They are not trained to do that , they have only ever worked here ....!!!!! "
"Stop putting obstacles in the way I said", "and I am speaking about you".
 Communications will never be totally perfect but communications is not just about you to them but between team members
The other point is you do not have all the answers to the problems that others create, the problems are past the point of no return by the time you hear about them, and all of this happens,in the main, in front of customers.

Thankfully he asked for more help !!!

Anyone can do it

I was reading an article on linkedin about being oneself in business.The theme was that despite the formulaic sales techniques that are taught to sales personnel , the real risk is that they subvert their natural behaviour and undermine their sales skills as a consequence.

It got me thinking. Slightly off piste, if we apply a similar theme, to the fear that some business owners and managers have about running businesses, we can reach a similar conclusion.

Keep it simple I often tell clients , stop over complicating things , but more importantly see the facts and use your own skills and experience and you will make the right decisions.

"Why pay you then," I was asked the other day. I replied , I can teach you but when you practice you have got to combine your new found knowledge with your natural ability , but trust yourself to be able to succeed.

The main manifestation of this is dealings with people. Customers, bank-managers, employees suppliers.Think about what both sides will get out of your interaction , decide the best way of reaching your goals but do it your way and thus convince your business partners that you are sincere and professional.

Self belief can be a cancer or a cure but parrot fashion theoretical management techniques can destroy confidence and be self defeating.

Help is at hand but have faith in yourself !!!!!

What is an Interim Manager

Working for the self styled owner of a business brings its own rewards and frustrations but what did I expect ?

Some days I am expected to be everything he does not want to be on the day , but  usually when there is a problem, self inflicted or unforseen.

The key is that when I was running businesses for the Corporate Pound, I was the main decision maker but with help from all of my employees we usually made the right decisions, at least most of the time.

Also we had a clear strategy which was born out of a desire to give the customer the ultimate service and of course the shareholder the best available Profit performance.

Humility is key in this situation as the present owner is unaware about the processes of business management , but how much commitment , I ask myself, does he have to change and remember all that key learnings from our journey thus far.

This , I am sure is typical of the SME business owner dare I say, but my main mission is to help him understand the concept of "making haste slowly".

Nothing changes till it changes and things do not happen by divine intervention whichever god is preferred, so road-maps and commitment to improve things underlines my solution.

Oh and reserves of patience that I did not even know I had.

Welcome to my world !!!

Knowledge Counts

I was watching the Jose Mourinho documentary last night and was struck by the courage of the man in pursuing his passion to be a football manager.
His  management pedigree was not fashioned out of a brilliant playing career but in fact a desire to study and learn the game he loved.
It is inevitable, in hindsight, that his personality assisted him to reach expert status , but as someone said to me years ago in a business context, drive plus detail equals success.
I was pleased to hear the contributors to the Mourinho story express both surprise and admiration for the journey and , without question his success.
As a consultant, so called , to the SME community in East Anglia , I find it difficult on occasion to convince some life style business owners that vision and the grind of developing a business go hand in glove.
The other thing , as naturally with a huge degree of humility, I remind them that I started business life with jet black hair , but I was determined to be a General Manager , in other words a student and practitioner of a whole business , and all that entails.
My wife was speaking to a former employee of mine the other day and he said to her , the difference between the current management and when your husband Hugh was running the business is that " he cared" for the  people in the business.
I believe, despite his apparent tough management style, Jose also demonstrated a connection with the people he managed.
I loved football also.....perhaps I should have done my coaching badges !!!!

Age versus experience

I was speaking to a consultant in London recently and he was advising that when one applies for a job advertised on the recruitment network at my age I have a 5% chance of ticking all the boxes.....and anyway even 40 year olds are struggling now!!!
Two days later I was ensconced in a discussion with a business owner who asked me to join him to take his business on to the next level.
I am bemused that in times when business has never been so difficult, and business owners and stakeholders are striving to make profit and in many cases survive that we are still having this debate at all.
The marketing of oneself and knowledge is an art and a science,  but fundamentally what I know and what I do has resonance and substance supported by evidential results that knowledge based on experience is vital. This is not as a substitute for bright, highly trained personnel.
This situation is not new but if we are to prosper and see off the ravages of economic instability we need to get help from wherever we can.

Business Management can be more simple

I am constantly asked by business owners to help them either achieve their aspirations , or help define the tasks which need to be performed to make the management of the business easier.
In the current economic climate starting or running a business is fraught with difficulty, but it is never an easy thing to do at any time.Even if a business is doing really well , I used to say, even in Germany where I ran businesses, the wolf is never far from the door.
I feel like I am preaching to the converted , but having now decided to help small businesses I genuinely feel that I am being underused as business is really simple to understand and difficult to do.
I want to help people, however get over the , cannot be bothered gene, present in everyone and start them developing simple disciplines that make the running of business so much more straightforward.
I was not born with these wisdoms but I started helping business as a young 13 year old, in my stepfathers shop, and have been learning ever since.

Permission vs Interruption selling : Be brave

I was working recently in a couple of businesses that shared the same dilemma. One had an existing external sales team and one was trying to move from Mail order orientation to outbound selling with an in-house order taking team .
The dilemma was how, having convinced staff that selling things to make an order was their reason to be, in light of trading circumstances, the task was now one of nurturing relationships, both directly and through web or direct mail.
A huge amount of research has been done about permission marketing, meaning that you engage with new and existing clients in a way that obtains permission to make contact on a regular basis.
The expectation of the client thereafter is that they would expect regular communication, which allows a company to build a strategy which satisfies a new or latent need in the client.
Here comes the dilemma . In order to ask the question, can I engage with you?, I have to do the opposite, and actually interrupt the client and ask them to put their hand up and give me permission.
In both companies both sets of personnel said, if I am doing that then I may as well try and sell them something .
It was hard, but without losing control, we discussed this to a conclusion. If you do not try and sell, but build a relationship you will sell more.
Initial reaction was passport to the easy life, no need to get orders .
When it happened though, sales persons had leads being delivered direct from the client and on a consistent basis, it became clear and easier to understand.
The courage is with the manager, in believing this strategy works

Coaching : Not just a title

Listening to Tony Robbins this morning on the web about the philosophy of coaching . I find it interesting that someone , as accomplished as him , had the same dilemma about what a coach really is.
The question is , does it really matter what the coaches title is , as long as there is a process which defines a start point , situation today , leading to a steady state of improvement with measurable results ,meaning a great deal more satisfaction with life.
I enjoyed his definition of what the process is. I call it tough loving , or support
but clearly it is to help a business owner through the minefield of issues , most businesses face . The task is to help and make them believe that the answer is actually in their own hands.
There are new technologies but the running of business is the same as it has always been.
Give the customer something that they both need and want and maintain relationships.
Just doing these things consistently , systematically and having the reserves of motivation to do them requires a helping hand.
Tony does that by giving advice and bases payment on results.Results are actually the
measure of the difference

Business Help: How easy is it to sell ?

In the turmoil that goes on around us at present , it is easy to assume that many businesses want and need help.The reality is , that there is evidence that things are so difficult for business owners , concern is growing , that paying for help may make the situation worse.
Perfectly understandable , but business is about taking risk , and as a newly practicing business mentor , the task is to convince owners of the relevance of the experience one has , in context with the business in question.
The key to that is to be in the business and to understand the dynamics of a business then prescribe suggested improvements which by the results define the value of the advice.
There is a process of assessment that is tried and tested which is a simple audit , going through a business phsychometric test , arriving at a conclusion about where the focus should be to improve the business.
Business is either growing or subsiding , it cannot possibly stand still. Where would you say you are today and what are your measures ??

Owning a business versus Managing a business

The last three years for me in business have been a real revelation.When one is busy managing a career in the Corporate industrial business world , one is too busy learning and being driven to build a career that sometimes it is difficult to imagine that you could ever help a small business owner run his or her business.

The facts are very different.

When I was managing many different businesses in competitive environments , the most significant contribution to be made was to manage people and business processes to achieve two things.

These are Customer Service and Profitability.

In making the transition to the SME world I assumed those things would be omnipresent, more immediate and natural instincts for owners whose entire livelihood was dependent on employees and customers.

The common feature however, is that people management and therefore attention to detail , and well managed business processes are not necessarily the attributes of the boss.

I feel very comfortable now because I am able to help.

Two owners recently actually asked me to review organisation and re-set the dials , so to speak , to get the heartbeat of the team working with common purpose and goals

The biggest issue was delegation and follow up.If you don't do the first there is no need to do the second...Not good !!

The second biggest issue is learning to trust , even those with whom the owner has been working for years.

The third thing is that to change culture and processes one has to start with the knowledge already available in the skills of the employees.To crank that up the owner has to manage people.

Ah the old chestnut returns !!!!!!!!

Everyone has to be a sales person

Is it me ? , or has this concept of outward facing management focus been around for a long time.

I mean by this that , especially in difficult trading circumstances , everyone has to think about customers and drive their behaviour accordingly

I see so many organisations who have fantastic sales personnel but never visit people in the business or communicate the challenges , other than the occasional e mail.

Where did the great drive of 70'S and 80'S to get people to be 360 degree re customer service? Instead we are more focused on silo organisations , mainly in the hope that makes us efficient.

There has never been a more important time to change habits profoundly , to set measures and apply management processes that ensures the revenue source is protected to the maximum.Customer Service is the only real measure and it is simply to apply.

Sales is not just for the sales team , the delivery of the order involves everyone in the organisation.

Management of people counts even more now

As I made the initial transition from the Corporate day job earning a salary,to one of advising business owners and shareholders I initially struggled about what to call my business and how to present myself.

Consultant thought I , but that comes tainted with the principle of asking clients questions and replaying the information back to the client....I jest of course.

Mentor , a new word for me , which means you coach or teach people how to run a business. Sure that is what I wanted to do and that is what I do now , but it is more than that.

I have spent some months helping businesses and the truth is that I do build operating processes , I do recommend financial prudence and control , develop appropriate sales and marketing strategies , but even more valuable teach people how to manage other people and situations.

I meet clever people all the time, some are bordering on genius , but the first rule of running a business is often overlooked.Excellent business processes reduce the need for personal intervention and involvement,but hands on support is a vital tool in helping employees meet targets consistently.

However bizarre this sounds , I was told in management development to welcome problems. This infers human interaction and understanding and it works. I did not need to be taught, I say with no arrogance , as it seemed a natural thing for me to do , but demonstrating leadership is the root of the problem and solution

Social networking is the medium by which 500 million people interact with humankind on Facebook alone.Bosses today have to compete for attention of employees in a world where competition is Global and economic growth is uncertain.Staying in touch with people in the business is key

Whole business management

I was invited recently to meet the board of a family company who were clearly developing a strategy to diversify and manage the risks to the group. They were also aquisitive and had a desire to develop into high added value manufacturing with low overheads on sales and marketing .

Initially the discussion revolved around operational and manufacturing improvements ,as they were considering a merger with another like company .Clearly there was a disconnect about the selling and marketing strategy , which has a significant bearing on the correct manufacturing approach.

Furthermore , after asking a few questions around the business , the management of product related margins ,design and sales and operational planning issues were unanswered and decisions being considered meant they were building on unsteady foundations.

The point I made was that business has to be managed as a whole business . It does not matter what starting point you use to build the jigsaw , but recognition about whether all the pieces are available is key to a successful outcome

I am looking forward to helping them reach their goals

Self Marketing

At a recent Network event it occurred to me that the likely possibility of securing business with the type of businesses represented made the task of marketing myself a great deal harder.

Two main points were obvious. Single person life style businesses do not want to pay for advice , and many other smaller businesses with up to five employees often are not yet aware how improvements can be brought about , because they are still learning.

James Caan said recently that it is difficult to know what you do not know , and I agree but there lies the challenge.

Good advice is not about when things are already so obviously wrong . Good advice is about the business education process , the learnings from people like me , who have endured many different business experiences , in various companies in different sectors.

Running a business to achieve the goals for a private owner is often the first experience ever of running a business.If I want to avoid severe plumbing or electrical DIY issues , I employ an expert.

Business is about knowledge of what to do, and also , how to reduce the risks of either making the wrong decisions or in fact drifting into situations which are obviously avoidable to the trained eye.

Business advisors can explain their background and give testimonials which help you to assign a value. The key word is value not a cost. Choosing the right sort of help can enable you to Profit from Experience.

Its not a V dip

Its official we are not suffering the V shaped recession but if anything we could be heading for a W recession.Latest punditry from the CEO of Shirlaws has worked out a model which times the cycle where the economy is compared to other finance market events.

The conclusion is that we are in the flat part of the unusually shaped W , where the upturned v in the middle of the W has a table top. At the end of the flat period we then go into a dip followed by a period of growth, perhaps for a as many as 5 years

Hope you are still with me , as there seems to be a great deal of sense in this prediction.The key for businesses however , is that they need to be in a state of readiness for the upturn , rather than still being in the cave waiting for the storm to blow over.

The fact that markets are starting to recover has no bearing on the fact that business is out of step with the fund management cycles which actually started in March 2008.Markets are saying we are at the end of the first part of recession , and business is still cutting cost rather than investing so future growth is unlikely for a while.

My own view is that businesses in any case should be measuring performance based on
use of cash to generate profits and cutting waste to build for the future . That way they will be ready for the next push. Reality is that businesses should be doing that anyway.

Free consultations available : Just ring 01953 605499

Cash Management

I was asked by a small business owner yesterday about the management of finance in his business , and in particular cash.I explained to him that the finance management was not just about creating a set of management accounts and filing a year end report.

It seems rather insulting when speaking to a courageous business owner but the reality , as with many , he did not know what he did not know.

I explained that the main components of cash control were planning /forecasting ,spend control,margin analysis,working capital and debt management.

Seems rather obvious when one sets it out but only if one has experienced it , does it become obvious. This intrigues me because , having gone to countless courses and with a University education ,it is the day to day management of very practical things that actually is missed off the curriculum.

The reality is that many businesses fail because there is not a complete understanding throughout the business about what is actually happening on the ground in relation to financial impact.

We were able to help by looking at his own systems and allowing him to gaze through the looking glass to understand his business in a more definitive way.As an entrepreneur in a hurry, he was told "make haste slowly " and the business will prosper.Decisions based on data make for better business management.