Core Values - Honesty and Integrity

Often I see companies with "Honesty and Integrity" as core values. While these as essential elements of any company, do your people really know what they mean.

Today with your staff ask them to write down what their definition of these two values. When you have collected all the answers how many of them are the same?

The difficulty with these two words is that they mean different things to different people. So how can you align peoples behaiviour in your business or organisation when no one is clear on the definition?

Have fun with the exercise and tomorrow I will discuss what to do about it

Karl

Core Values

I was in a consultation with a company and we were discussing Values. Values are the biggest driver of peoples behaviour and every issue with people I guaranteed he could trace back to his company values.

I Challenged him pretty hard and until he understood that until all the people in his business knew the values how could their behaviour reflect them consistently. He asked if all my staff knew ours and I said yes.

He came out of the office and went up to one of my staff and asked "do you know your company values?" She said yes and he asked "what are they?".

Without skipping a beat she rattled them off like a pro!

It was fantastic and a moment that made me extremely proud – great to have a culture where our values are so alive! One of our values is "Live what we Teach"

Imagine what would happen in your business if all of your people could do that?

Before their behaivior can reflect them, do you really know what they are?

hint - they should never include the words honesty or integrity - tomorrow I will tell you why

Building on the Buzz

Last evening we ran a "Thinking Growth" seminar, in conjunction with Westpac, presenting to 88 Canterbury Businesses. One of the amazing things about it was the level of audience interaction in a group of over 100 people. That people were so engaged gives an indication of just how relevant the topic was and just how much of a need for such information is out there in the market.

Of course a few beers afterwards just cemented what was a very good networking opportunity.

Karl

Thinking Growth....Time for Action!!

There is definitely a buzz in the air at the moment and whilst not much has changed the attitudes of people we work with are! Things are much more positive and there is a real feeling that the market might just start to lift a little after a long slow winter.

Today we have our "Thinking Growth" seminar (link here) at the Holiday Inn and we have over 150 people attending from many different company's. Why the big response? Well Simon Mundell is an inspirational speaker for starters and as a Director of Results.Com is passionate about what we do. On top of that I think it is just the positive attitudes out there. Business owners are now feeling it is the right time to do something different that will really kick start their business and position it to take full advantage of the economic recovery.

Hope to see you there.

Karl

The Layers Of Complexity

Working with different Business Leaders and Company owners everyday means I hear about their challenges and frustrations. One common theme is the growing layers of complexity they face each day in their business. There are a number of contributing the factors to this. Firstly the complexity (red tape) that large company's seem to drown their team leaders in. Complying with the requirements of the parent organisation can actually dictate much of the days work and hugely reduce productivity. Who reads these reports? Why is the ability to make decisions not pushed down to the managers on the job so they can be made and dealt with?

Complexity caused by growth is also a common issue. All businesses experience added complexity as they add client numbers, staff numbers, different products or enter new markets. The challenge is to get these company's focused, efficient and their leaders free from daily clutter so they can work on their businesses. It is the evolution of all organisations that as they grow and evolve so too does complexity and this requires new systems and an awareness of the likely problems that will present and tools to overcome them.

Whilst solutions to these issues are also varied the main focus should be on ensuring leaders int he organisation have the delegation and authority to make decisions as they need to rather than having to create a bottleneck by having to push them up the chain. Having simple team KPI's, measuring the numbers that are important to the lifeblood of the business and focusing the whole team onto some simple relevant quarterly goals is essential.

Of course the fact a business is growing in itself is good news.....making it fly is just gold!!

Karl

Follow The Money

"Historically, smart people have always turned to where the money was. Today, money is turning to where the smart people are." Financial Times

Karl

We need your opinion

I'd appreciate it if you could take part in this one question opinion poll;

Will the world economy lift initially only to drop again below where we are at currently in Aug 09? (link)

Role Playing

It seems odd when we look at it in isolation.....but why do Sales Managers let their people practise their trade on actual clients? In most other fields there is training and role playing in preparation for the real thing. In the military they train for years before being sent into the fray, the Police role play hundreds of scenarios before putting officers on the beat (and then with a mentor), Bus drivers practise before they do a schedule....in fact they do a license! Firemen train and role play, teachers role play......and so it goes on!!

So tell me again why sales people do not role play.....practising to identify personality types and then their approach based on the personality type of the person they are talking to, knowing the 7-9 reasons a prospect will give them "not to buy their product" and know how to counter these. Beats me....most sales people do a product familiarisation course when they join a company and then get sent on the road...as if they have some divine power to sell!!

Beats me

Karl

Sins of Sales...By Jack Daly

Jack Daly is passionate about what he calls the "Sins of Sales". Don't do it he said....no yelled at us! Here they are;

1. Having a Managing Director double hatting as the Sales Manager.
2. Taking the best sales person you have and making them the Sales Manager, and the worst
3. Taking the best sales person you have and making them the Sales Manager whilst they continue to service their client book.

Don't do it. ....Sales Managers have one role....developing and supporting Sales People!

Are you a sinner?

Karl

Touch Systems: Worth their Weight in Gold

If there was one thing Jack Daly got across in Auckland it was the value of having a formal touch system in your company. One that ties in with data bases but allows for reaching out and touching past, present and future clients (and people of influence who champion your business) with a personalised card, note or whatever you choose. Just do it Jack says!

Being unique from from your voice mail to after sales follow up means you remain top of mind and become part of a conversation or a referral. Hand written cards or personalised notes are gold in an age of e-mail and printers. A quick hand written card gets placed on a desk or in a prominent place and keeps on selling the message.

It also builds trust and people do business with those they like and trust....simple as that. Selling is the the transfer of trust. So try it.....one of the team here got a call from a prominent business owner yesterday thanking him for his follow up card and note after a meeting. Do you think that person will mention it to others? You bet!

Karl

"Straight Talking Through the Universe"

One of the values at Results.com we live by is "Straight Talk". This involves having the courage to be honest and tell people how it is. We encourage it amongst the team as we bounce ideas, discuss decisions, offer feedback about an individuals style, presentation or when we are peer reviewing client interaction.

Straight talk needs to exist in a culture where there will be no consequence for being honest and telling how it is. I think an organisation that can challenge anyone in the company in a safe and constructive way has more robust decisions. The team also knows they will be challenged if they are not achieving goals and likewise can challenge others.

Think about it. Hows your culture?

Karl

Getting Stuck In...!!

As another week screams to a close what have I learnt? Most of the businesses I come across have the same issues time and again. Namely lack of sales, lack of accountability, a bottleneck with the owner and concerns around how to make the business get some traction in this market.

Across my team it is the same with those they are working with.....accountability (setting realistic targets, getting buy in from those who need to hit them and then holding them accountable when they don't!), measuring KPI's, Planning, internal communications (the right info to the right people in the company), having a unique point of difference on which the business bases marketing and sales pitch and most of all the bottleneck that the Owner of the company causes....because all key decisions have to come to them.

It is time for some time out before we roll our sleeves up next week and get stuck in again.

Karl

Sales Tips- Thanks Jack Daly

Right now getting more sales is the number one priority for company's we work with right now. Here are a few tips Jack Daly offered;

• Be unique- from reception to voice mail.
• Never make a call without a purpose.
• Ask questions and listen.
• Selling is the transfer of trust.
• Never quote until you establish value.
• Goals not in writing are dreams.
• People like to buy, not be sold. Help them buy.
• Trust trumps price all day.
• Things that get measured get done.
• The best sales people don't wing it.
• Model the masters. learn from the best.
• People are different. Sell accordingly.
• We are what we think we are. Raise the bar.

So what are you going to do differently? The same things produce the same results.

Karl

The aftermath: Jack Daly

As alluded to last week our day with Jack Daly really left me with some fantastic learning's. After 8 hours of drinking from the proverbial fire hydrant of high impact learning I have reflected on quite a few things.

Sales people are a certain type of person and right now critical to the lifeblood of any business. One thing this recession has changed is their role from order taker back to sales representative...i.e. they have to work for and make the sale rather than have the customer walk in and give an order.

Sales Managers are again having to develop and train sales representatives. One of the big sins in business today is the Managing Director/Sales Manager double role. Sales Managers should also not be making too many sales if their focus is on training and developing their people.

How many sales teams today incorporate daily in house training or role playing? How many list the 8-10 main excuses or reasons clients don't buy from them and role play the ways to counter these? Not many I suggest......most let their sales team train in real time on real potential clients!!

Karl

Jack Daly: Learning From the Market Leader

What a day last Friday was. Results.Com brought Jack Daly down under from the USA to speak to the team and clients about Sales, Sales Management, leadership and developing culture.....and what a day it was, full on and full of information, learnings and real life examples.

Pictured here (with Peter Macdonald and myself), Jack has owned and grown multi million dollar, fast growth company's. His dedication the sales training, ongoing skill assessment and development and his belief in growing a strong organisational culture left us all frantically taking notes. You can find out more about Jack at this link http://www.jackdaly.net/.

What a day and I'm now looking forward to delivering some of the learnings to those we are working with in Christchurch.

Karl

Making it Safe For Staff to Discuss Things

I have always believed that the test of a healthy work place is whether or not your staff can talk freely about decisions, offer ideas or improvements etc without fear of retribution. Don't get me wrong here because decisions ave to be made by the leaders and once it has been made the team should adopt it as their own.

I'm talking about robust discussion, input to the big decisions and feeling like they are part of the team to the extent that they can offer ideas or improve current systems in place. After all those actually doing the hands on graft know what works and what doesn't.......this builds on the adage that people are not a business's biggest asset, their skills are!

Here at Results.Com the team are free to challenge me or anyone else and speak freely. This does not come without a need to swallow some pride or eat a bit of humble pie, but it certainly makes for a great culture and adds to the decision making and accountability of the overall team.

Karl

The Hardest Things For a Business Owner to Grasp?

It is the realisation that they need to step aside and get out of the way of the growth of their business. It is coming to terms with the reality that they are restricting their own business growth by being slow to change and evolve, by not seeing the extra skills their team can offer, that they are indeed the No 1 bottleneck in the company taking that next big step!

Now that's a challenge for anyone let alone a persona who grew the company from scratch, has a large amount of emotional attachment and passion......it is reality though!

Karl

Guess What? Growing a Team takes focused Effort

I ran a workshop today about “How to grow a Powerful Productive Team”. It was well attended and a really interactive session. The one thing that I took away from it was that businesses across the board need more  from their teams and in order to get them to deliver that bigger output some basic things need to be in place....namely core values, KPI’s for each key team member or function and accountabilities. Working out what to stop doing is also key to free up time.

Karl

Execution is what the AB's lack!

Like many things in the world, you can have all the theory and motivation in the world but actually putting it into an execution plan and adjusting to conditions takes a lot of skill. We see it in business and we saw it yesterday with the All Blacks. Good tactics theory, good training and then poor execution. Get it right and they will achieve extra ordinary results. Keep getting it wrong and they will just be another average team!

Of course it is easy to be critical from the couch, not so easy when you have 140kgs of Afrikaner breathing down your neck!

Karl