Business is great! Whose fault is that?

In late 2006 I was asked to coach a large an outbound sales team who were experiencing a four month slump in sales revenue.

To get to the potential causes, I asked them ‘What are the reasons when you do hit your sales targets?’ On the whiteboard I noted the answers they enthusiastically called out… ‘We follow up leads’. ‘We ask good questions’. ‘We serve our existing clients well’. ‘We use our sales time well’…

I then asked the reasons behind when they missed their sales targets over this 4 month period, and these were their responses. ‘The market is flat’. ‘The promotions department are not running any good specials’. ‘The election has got people spooked’ ‘There’s been supply issues’…

Looking at the two lists, I clarified, ‘So, when things are going really well, that’s your fault right?’ The word ‘fault’ threw them a bit, but they agreed that yes it was. I then asked, ‘And when things are going pear shaped that’s not your fault…right?’

An uncomfortable silence engulfed the team as they looked at the conflicting lists. To their credit, they soon understood when I broke the silence by saying ‘Guys, you can’t have it both ways. Responsibility isn’t a part time job!’

If you or your team are patting yourselves on the back when things are going great (as you ought to), but there is collective finger pointing when things go sour, please consider this. A business that instils a culture of ‘accepting responsibility’ when things are good and bad means they have the power to replicate the good and the power to fix the bad – because both are their fault. A business whose people do not accept responsibility (or do it part time), render themselves Powerless!

Yours in prosperity and fun

Jeff Austin
Actual to Ideal
Bunbury Business Coach

The most underused communication

You don’t need to read a business improvement article to know that the quality of your relationships (business or otherwise) will depend on the quality of your communication. (But please keep reading anyway!)

So we know that communication is important – and I’m confident that you had some formal training in communication – right?

Reading? – You bet. Writing? – For sure. Speaking – Very likely. Listening – –what? Perhaps not?

Of all the communication processes that build trust and in-turn quality relationships, isn’t ‘listening’ the most influential one? Can you recall the last time someone did not listen to you? How did you feel? Did it frustrate you that they just wouldn’t take time to understand?

And there is the crucial difference between listening (or hearing) and active listening – or ‘Listening to understand’. The truth is, when we are in conversation with someone we are generally listening to respond – that is, thinking about what we are going to say next (my ex-wives will attest that I was great at that!)

Like all communications, listening is a skill and like all skills, it can be dramatically improved upon – if you want to improve it! And active listening does not have a down side. Depending on the discussion, you will likely;

• gain a deeper understanding of needs
• allow the other person to unload and thereby relax somewhat
• appreciate why someone feels the way they do
• get a new/broader insight into something
• learn something
• build rapport and trust (we all crave to be understood)

And if you need more reason to improve your active listening – ‘understanding’ someone does not compel you to agree with them – but you will understand and therefore give yourself the greatest opportunity to respond effectively and accurately.

So next time someone is annoyed with you, go ahead and give them a damn good listening to!

Yours in prosperity and fun

Jeff Austin

Actual to Ideal
Bunbury Business Coach

Article 50! Is that worth recognising?

A while back I was meeting with the team of about 20 from an industrial company and I asked them how they knew when they were doing a good job? They replied, “When the boss is not kicking us in the arse!” Thankfully that ‘boss’ has grown and the team now has some more measureable performance benchmarks in place.

This month’s article is the 50^th since the Bunbury Chamber first asked me to contribute a little over 4 years ago. Although unlikely to make it onto the list of gazetted national holidays, I felt it was worth acknowledging.

We often overlook these small milestones due to a lack of measurement. For example, had I not numbered each article in my records, this mini milestone would have come and gone with no recognition at all.

‘If you can measure it, you can improve it’. Further to that, ‘if you do measure it, you’ll know when you have achieved it’ And there are a multitude of ways that you can set simple measurements (Key Performance Indicators) for any area of business. Here are a few examples

• Sales departments –Revenue and GP % targets
• Customer Service People – Customer Satisfaction benchmarks (results gleaned from a concise survey)
• Manufacturers  – Lost time to injury (LTI) or rework benchmarks
• Specialists who bill by the hour – Billable hours (productivity) and efficiency benchmarks
• Manual labourers -  Punctuality or peer satisfaction benchmarks

And when you are setting KPIs/benchmarks be sure they meet these 3 criterion

1. They are relatively easy to measure
2. Those aiming for the goal have a strong influence on reaching it (i.e. it’s not out of their control)
3. The attainment of the goal benefits business, team and ideally, the customer

Why do they have ‘goals’ in sport? Without them, you’d have nothing to aim for.

Yours in prosperity and fun

Jeff Austin

Actual to Ideal -

Close the Gap

Bunbury Business Coach

Now here’s a big topic shoehorned into one column – Hiring and developing the right people. The single most important management function…Period!

Yes, even above customer service delivery– because if you have a team of people working with you, who’s behind most of the service delivery?

Being a zealot when it comes to recruiting takes time and effort, however compared to the pain caused by doing it haphazardly; it’s a no-brainer.

Here is a summary of 7 essentials when recruiting. Drop us a note for more in-depth information.

1. Place a large, ‘sexy’ (aka different) empowering & challenging ad. Invest what is needed to stand out. Have applicants telephone to initially apply.
2. Conduct brief initial interviews over the phone to save time (yours and theirs). Be confident that applicants meet your ‘must have’ criteria, so you can determine who the actual candidates are.
3. Ask for CVs only from candidates (not applicants) and ensure they provide a detailed work history including 3 or more referees
4. Contact at least 2 listed referees and one who is not listed, but is part of the work history (ask candidate for permission). Ask the referees great discovery questions. Their answers will help you build valuable interview questions
5. Conduct a thorough first interview to unearth candidate attributes. The candidate can learn about you if they proceed to a second interview. For important sales or service roles, also consider psychometric profiling.
6. Invite only the top 2 candidates back for a second discussion; this time for them to interview you and key staff
7. Provide the top candidate with a highly detailed pre employment information pack before you allow them to accept any job offer you make

If you don’t have a detailed (and documented) recruiting process that’s followed every time you hire, can I encourage you to put it high on your 2011 commitment list.

Whether in Bunbury, WA or across the nation, hiring the right people may at times seem like a fairytale; but it is absolutely achievable and of course, immensely rewarding.

Yours in prosperity and fun in 2011

Jeff Austin

Actual to Ideal

Bunbury Business Coach

Good to see you here in 2011 with yet another business year ahead – and with the mining boom mark 2 looming, that means potential revenue bonanzas and staff retention dilemmas! This article was written by leading business consultant, Kevin Gray this time last year. It possibly resonates even more into 2011 – Enjoy

Hoping for a raise in 2010? How about a nice pat on the back?

The economy may be showing signs of life, but that doesn’t mean managers and employers are starting to shower their people with cash. Far from it. Instead, they’re turning to an old-timey, feel-good technique to motivate their overburdened workers: praise.

“It’s probably the most powerful driver of performance known to mankind,” says Bob Nelson, a workplace consultant who has advised Fortune 100 companies on the use of praise. “Whether it’s an employee or a spouse, you get more of what you want when you praise someone.”

As a motivational tool, of course, praise has been around forever, long before the self-styled experts began teaching us how to practice it. But the praise-making industry only came into vogue as the coddled offspring of Baby Boomers — the kids who got soccer trophies whether they won or lost — entered the workforce en masse and required constant complimenting.

Then the economy blew up, leaving empty cubicles, cut wages, forced furloughs, and a whole lot of insecure workers. Today, it’s not just Gen Y that needs emotional reinforcement. It’s everyone. All employees and their managers are more stressed than ever, working faster and with fewer resources. And lots of managers mistakenly think they are too busy to give praise.

“The only time you hear from the boss is when you made a mistake,” says Nelson, “And bosses think they don’t have to do this because you’re lucky to have a job now. People need it more but tend to get it less.”

Make your praise tangible

Giving out praise isn’t as easy as you might think, and the approaches vary. One strategy, says Nelson, is to make praise visible. Visit the offices of BankBoston, for instance, and you’ll spot gold embroidered stars all over the place, little decorative rewards from managers to good workers. “You walk around and people have these stars on their cubicles maybe attached to their name tags,” says Nelson.

Elsewhere, companies are trying to add a little levity — perhaps as a way to lessen the risk that forced praise in bad times can seem insincere, even hokey. Nelsen recommends gag trophies. At TRW in San Diego, managers buy a piece of junk at the flea market each year, say a lamp or a pitcher, that they pass around each month to recognize a job well done, says Nelson. The winner decorates the trophy to give it personal flair.

Other companies are tossing in some prizes — a little something to sprinkle on the thank you in these dire times. At the Universal Orlando theme park, which last year shed jobs due to the slump, managers give each other S.A.Y. IT! cards, which stand for Someone Appreciates You, and are redeemable for movie tickets, dinners, and other gifts. Says Rhonda Rhodes, vice president of human resources at Universal: “You take care of your people and they will take care of your customers.”

Even Bank of America, with 200,000-plus employees, is in on the praise action. Part of its motivation program rewards workers with recognition points that they can redeem for gifts. The idea, says BofA’s spokeswoman Kelly Sapp, is to “keep associates engaged and ultimately drive business results.”

Change the way you talk

Perhaps the most effective praise doesn’t come with a coupon, but rather from human interaction. And this often the most difficult, especially for managers for whom praise doesn’t come naturally. Jerry Pounds, who has consulted for Wal-Mart and Ford and writes a blog called Positive Influence, advises managers to praise intellect and problem-solving skills, working the flattery into everyday discussions. “If the boss comes out of the office and shakes your hand then goes back in that’s no good,” Pounds says. “There’s no need for gimmicks.”

Nelson, who wrote the book “Keeping Up In a Down Economy,” advises managers to create a new mindset. When the thought crosses your mind that someone has done a good job, act on it. Pick up the phone, jot a note, or send an email. Better yet, says Nelson, go find the person no matter what they’re doing.

“Have you ever interrupted someone in a meeting to give them good news?” says Nelson. “It’s exceptional. You say, ‘Hey, I know you’re in middle of something, but I had to let you know. We blew past last quarter’s numbers. No way that could happen without you and your team.’ That little 10 seconds is going to be conversation at dinner that evening.”

The words you choose are critical, so tread carefully. Mark Holmes, an employee-retention consultant and author of “The People Keeper: How Managers Can Attract, Motivate and Retain Better Employees,” advises his corporate clients to find specific attributes that show that you, the boss, really are paying attention.

“You can simply say, ‘I want to say thank you for being somebody not afraid to tell me what you need to say,’” says Holmes. “Or you say, ‘The thing I appreciate about you Joe is you’re consistent.’ Or ‘Suzie, you are great as a mentor with our younger employees.’ Or ‘I love your contribution. I love the way you speak up in meetings.’ It all means the world to an employee.”

Oddly, the best workers are often the ones who get overlooked by the praise givers — like the good kids in a family, who are seen as capable and directed. Yet those are often the people bosses need to go out of the way to praise in bad times so they stick around in good. “It’s not uncommon for a high-performing employee to leave companies because of a lack of feedback,” says Holmes.

Turn praise into dollars

Anyone who doubts that proper praise can boost a company’s bottom line along with its morale should listen to what happened at Houston-based Tetra Technologies, a service company in the oil and gas industry. Steve Hardwick, the global vice president of business development, brought Holmes in 2008 after a dozen big Tetra accounts had shrunk. Holmes worked with the sales and marketing teams on building teamwork and recapturing that business. A big part of what Holmes did was to make sure specific achievements were recognized.

“He made a big deal of saying, as we rolled out a new product and sought accounts, “’Look what Joe did over here,” says Hardwick. “Or he’d say, ‘Bob’s got it, look at what he told customers.’”

Tetra ended up bringing all of those lapsed accounts back into the fold. It also recently extended its contract with Shell — one of its largest accounts — for an additional three years. Two of his top guys had led the effort. “I took time to take both of these guys to dinner one-on-one and tell them how much I appreciate them,” says Hardwick. And while Hardwick says the company does its best to compensate high performers, he says praise is often equal to money.

“Money is inert,” he says. “A few thousand here or there isn’t going to be the reason you leave a job. What’s important is how you feel about how you’re fitting in, producing, contributing as part of the team, all non-monetary issues.”

True enough. Even so, most of us wouldn’t mind a few extra thousand along with the praise!

Kevin Gray January 2010

Cheers

Jeff Austin

Actual to Ideal

Bunbury Business Coach

Why wait until Christmas to thank your customers?

Have a look around your work premises. How many Christmas cards/messages did you get this year? Without looking inside them, how many can you recall the sender? Now how many did you send out?

Yes I know. I sound like Scrooge McDuck again (long time readers know I sulk at Christmas). I am not suggesting that sending messages of thanks to customers at Christmas is wrong – quite the contrary. But what I am saying is, why limit those ‘thanks’ to a time of year when you are competing with everyone else’s ‘affections’?

We all agree (don’t we) that our customers are the only reason we come to work – right? Naturally without them, the job we do would soon become obsolete. So given how much we need them and how hard we work to get them – how frequently do you let them know things like;  “We appreciate that you choose to trust us with…. Thank you!”

Depending on your industry, method of transaction and frequency of purchase etc, one or more of these random customer acknowledgments might work.

• Send a hand written note and a small gift a week after they’ve made a purchase (gourmet tea & coffee, scratch & win, chocolate & lollies etc)
• On customers birthdays (not hard to find out) send a gift – even (especially) if they haven’t purchased for a while
• Discover key customer interests and send tickets/vouchers for something they love
• Send a written (note typed) thank you card and have staff sign it
• Out of the blue, personally deliver wine, flowers etc – and just say ‘thank you’
• Send bulk thank you cards out at no particular calendar event
• Every day for a month, drop into a different customer with coffees and muffins at 10am

When you are sending notes, make them personal & specific. There’s little impact made from mass produced messages

Sure; some of these efforts will take up some time and cost you a few bucks, – but is it really a cost, or just a wise and thoughtful customer loyalty investment?

Please come back in 2011 – safe, refreshed and ready for a great year.

Yours in prosperity and fun

Jeff Austin

Bunbury Business Coach

Life in a Jar – A Time Management story

A well travelled Time Management story – but a good one for those who feel ‘time poor’.

A University professor stood in front of his bright students and placed a large jar on the table. He said, “This jar represents all the time you have”. He proceeded to place large rocks into the jar until they reached the brim.

“Is it full?” he asked the class. An eager student in the front row enthusiastically said “yes!” The professor then took a handful of gravel and poured the small stones into the jar and they fell around the gaps between the rocks.

“Now is it full?” asked the teacher. “No”, exclaimed several students who were now onto his cunning plan! The professor brought out a small bag of sand and poured it into the jar until it reached the top. “Is it full now?” he enquired. “No” said one student cautiously.

Without a word, the professor took a jug of water and poured it into the jar. The water filled the minute crevices between the sand grains. “How about now?” he asked. “Yes!” came the consensus response.

The professor questioned “What’s the moral?” One student called out. “No matter how busy you are, you can always cram more stuff in!” Another called out, “Even when your day seems full, there is always time for a drink!” (General laughter)

The wise professor said, “The large rocks represent all the important things in your life. Your health, relationships, career, business, education etcetera. The gravel, sand and water represent all the other things we fill our lives with. What would have occurred if I had filled the jar with sand and water first?” There was silence as the class absorbed the moment.

The message is; fill your life with the things that matter and those you desire – first! You will always still find time for the less important things. However, if you find that you never seem to move towards those things important goals, there’s a good chance that you are filling your life with sand gravel & water!

(learn about Bunbury & Perth time management courses here)

Yours in prosperity and fun

Jeff Austin

Bunbury Business Coach

Your Brand. It’s talking about you behind your back!

Over the past 6 months, I had the privilege (and challenge) of developing a new brand for an existing division of our business. The process proved once more that ‘the more I learn, the less I realise I knew’!

The Bunbury co-developer of our new brand (see it below), Adam Taylor of Logofolio – pushed my understanding of branding and its power & purpose to new levels. So, at the risk of shirking my column writing responsibilities this month, here is a brief insight into a big discussion.

Your brand has a lot to say about you and your business.  The question is – do you like what it’s saying?

Whether you’re creating a brand for a new business or working with an existing one, you can determine the messages it sends.

But before you start thinking about the colour palettes, font choices, layout, icons, symbols or strap lines that make up brand identity, consider what you want your brand to say – to whom – and how will it be said?

• What? – Your brand ought to communicate your core point/s of difference, illustrating the core attributes, qualities and connotations associated with your business
• Who? – Your brand must engage your target audience in a meaningful way. Saying a lot to the wrong people, or saying little to everyone will not engage or begin to build those loyal relationships
• How? – If you consider what’s important to your target customers and what they want to hear, it is then not hard to determine if your brand is speaking their language.

When you get the What – Who – How sorted, be delighted that your brand is talking about you behind your back – After all that’s its job!

Thanks Adam!

Yours in prosperity and fun

Jeff Austin

Bunbury Business Coach

Body language can speak louder than English Language in Sales

Because you are reading this article, I’m assuming you speak and understand English – and perchance you will be adroit in articulating a treatise with virtuosity (what?) – maybe you can talk and read good!

But no matter how well you can string words together, the true impact of the message comes not from the words you use, but from these 2 other factors

1. Voice quality
2. Body language

And before I steal his thunder, here are the fundamental findings of Albert Mehrabian’s famous communication study. When it comes to the effectiveness and interpretation of spoken messages, the breakdown of the 3 communication elements are

1. The actual words we say                                7%
2. The voice tone & quality while saying it          38%
3. What our body is saying while saying it          55%

Try these examples. For a voice quality test, say the line ‘I didn’t say she stole the money’ and repeat it 5 times, each time emphasising only one of the underlined words. Does it take on a different context each time? For a test on the impact of body language, say to a member of staff ‘I think you’ve done a great job’ and roll your eyes while saying it… Positive words that would instantly smack of insincerity.

Many business operators will coach their teams on what to say to customers (important), but the right message delivered ineffectively or with unintended meaning, will render the message somewhere between uninspiring through to inflammatory!

Whether you are in retail sales, Business to Business sales, or Business to consumer Sales, by focusing on what your body is saying and the quality of the voice you use, you’ll spend less time worrying about what to say, with more attention to the message being interpreted as ‘Warm – Welcoming -  Interested – Helpful – Passionate etc.

Furthermore, this means you don’t need a Doctorate in Wordology to be an effective communicator.

Yours in prosperity and fun

Jeff Austin

Bunbury Business Coach

Wanted: Caulking Gun – willing to pay $250,000.00

A young tradesman from a Bunbury building company drove to the outskirts of Collie to complete a job. Upon arrival, he set to work only to find his caulking gun was not in his toolbox. Irritated, he drove to a local hardware store and found a $7.95 caulking gun. He then discovered he’d left his wallet at home. With no charge account at this store, he called the boss’s mobile – No answer!

2 long hours later, he was back on the job site with his new 8 buck caulking gun and a head full of frustrated determination to fix the reoccurring problem by buying a carton of the things.

The next day something transformational took place. The 18 team members were gathered and told of the previous day’s events. They were asked if they ever spent time either looking for tools around their huge workshop, or discovered tools missing when out on jobs. 18 hands went up!

Each person was asked to estimate how much time they felt they wasted each day searching for misplaced / missing tools. Their estimates were extrapolated over 12 months and multiplied by both their average hourly rate (cost) and their average productivity rate (lost opportunity).

The resulting number on the whiteboard knocked them on their collective backsides. $251,000.00 per year!!

This real story from a real client has a positive ending. Because they now realised that they were not dealing merely with errant caulking guns – but a massive systemic gap in their systems – they implemented checklists, tool registers and with a change in mindsets, they dramatically reduced the real gap.

If the point is not obvious enough – When you find gaps in your business, investigate sufficiently to discover the (often-systemic) root causes. Don’t just stock up on caulking guns!

Yours in fun & prosperity

Jeff Austin, Bunbury Business Coach