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Sales Management InformationThe Surest Way to Boost SalesIf you have a small business and you are looking to boost your sales and make the public aware of your business, how do you going about doing this? There is one sure way that I know to boost sales and create awareness. It may not be sexy, but it WORKS! The Achilles Heel of Management CoachingWhile heading home at day?s end, you begin reflecting on a coaching meeting you had earlier that day with an employee, Chris. You hope that, this time, you finally succeeded in getting her to understand the importance of spending less time in disruptive socializing in the office and more time elevating her performance. If not, you feel that your only remaining alternatives are to give her a poor performance evaluation or demotion or may even fire her. You?re reluctant to do either of the first two things because you know these would disrupt the positive work relationship you?ve had with Chris. And you don?t really want to fire her. On the other hand, you?re running out of patience; this is the fourth time you?ve said something to Chris about the situation. Admittedly, the first few times, your comments may have missed the mark because you gave her only some casual feedback. But about a month ago, you held a formal coaching meeting with Chris, in which you discussed the situation in depth and came away thinking that she understood the need to change her behavior. In fact, she did change. But after a week or so, she was back to her old behavior. Retail Operations - Effective Branch Manager Support and GuidancePerformance and behaviour management is by far the most difficult aspect of any manager?s job and the reluctance to ?grasp the nettle? when performance or behaviour issues emerge is certainly a concern in many organisations. But at the end of the day that is what managers are paid to do and not doing so will certainly affect service, team morale, sales and ultimately the bottom line. How to Maximize Account Penetration and Jump-Start SalesMaximizing account penetration is one of the most critical functions in sales. Why? The depth of account penetration has an enormous impact on revenues and profitability. Profitable Relationships: Is It Amateur Hour or King of the Hill??We?re in the relationship business?...airplanes are what we use to provide a service.? remarked Colleen Barrett, President and COO Southwest Airlines remarked, The Get Dangerous Quickly Approach to Product/Service TrainingIn 2000 a computer distributor hired me to help them build a software specialist sales team. The distributor had more than 100 "generalist" salespeople, but these salespeople were doing a poor job of selling software. The distributor's management felt a team of specialists could help jump-start growth in software sales. How to Improve Your Management Procedures UsabilityAre your people consistently following your procedures? Each year, organizations lose thousands of dollars through common mistakes and lapses in usability. But what does that mean for business owners and executives? Project/Program Management Best Practices for Success in ANY Industry!Where is our success? Although there have been improvements, over 60% of projects/programs failed and many were canceled in 2003 (ref:The Standish Report CHAOS)! Our goal for 2004 and beyond is to contribute to a 60% and better, project/program success rate! STOP THE MADNESS-MANAGE AND CONTROL PROJECTS Producing Premium PerformanceOne of the major issues that arises in managing a small or medium size business is in the area of employee performance. Many business owners are frustrated with the poor performance of their team or some individuals within their team. No matter how hard they try, they don?t seem to be able to create a sustainable improvement in performance. The tendency is to blame the employees for poor performance. However, more often than not, the problem stems from not establishing an effective performance management framework. Do You Really Want Local County Contracts?If you really want to secure government contacts at the county level; there is a lot more than just getting on a list and bidding on a solicitation. Government even at the country level is a little corrupt and insider-ish. You can complain about the evils, backdoor deals and wasting of tax payers money or you can remember that the imperfect system is run by humans and what goes on in generally what should be expected. No difference than the shenanigans of the Catholic Priests. Pointless TargetsI recall a heated discussion with a sales director some time ago where I proposed that the long-term effect of setting activity targets for salespeople would eventually lead to failure. He vehemently made the point that he had systematically imposed activity targets on his sales force and that the result had been to treble average income per salesperson within 18 months. How to Beat the 80/20 Rule in Sales Performance -- Part 1Business executives and sales managers frequently bemoan "80/20" performance on their sales teams, where approximately 80 percent of sales are produced by approximately 20 percent of salespeople. Why do salespeople perform so differently? What is it about top sales performers that enables them to achieve such vastly superior results? How to Beat the 80/20 Rule in Sales Performance -- Part 2Another key reason why companies suffer from 80/20 performance is their processes for hiring, training and managing salespeople rely almost entirely upon subjective information. Think about it:What are resumes? They are an individual's subjective portrayal of their capabilities and experiences. All Small Businesses Need to Gather Community IntelHow well do you know your community? As business owners it is essential that we know our communities intimately. Have you ever made the effort to learn more about your town; Do you even know where to look. Lets discuss some ways to gather intel for your community based marketing efforts. Disclosure Laws Favor International TerroristsThe Federal Trade Commission has rule that are supposedly in place to protect franchise buyers from fraud from franchisors who might attempt to mislead them into purchasing a franchise. Part of the franchise rules are addressing required disclosure paperwork. In this disclosure document, which is required to be given to franchisees 10 days before any purchase is made are the names, addresses, phone numbers of all franchisees in the system. For smaller home based franchises this means home numbers, addresses and personal information.
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