My Better Business Blog

Recruit the Right Sales People

2011-09-05T11:58:00.001+10:00

Better Sales Tip #3: Recruit the Right Sales People – source, recruit, train and retain the right people – get it wrong and it can cost you a lot!

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Set Sales Targets

2011-08-29T11:30:00.001+10:00

Better Sales Tip #2: Set Sales Targets - you and your sales team need to know what they are aiming for - in terms of both $ and units.

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Prepare a Sales Plan

2011-08-15T21:34:00.001+10:00

Better Sales Tip #1: Prepare a Sales Plan – establish objectives and formulate strategies which help you set course for success. FREE Secrets to a Better Business (and more) available - right hand side of this page!

Establish a customer feedback system

2011-07-07T22:04:00.001+10:00

Customer feedback is invaluable for every organisation as it provides direct information usually relating to your customer’s experience. Remember the key marketing objective should be to satisfy the client. Customer feedback is timely information on how effective you are (or are not) meeting this objective.
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Back Up Electronic Data

2011-05-16T20:03:00.001+10:00

It is a critical importance to protect your electronic data (accounting, customer, staff, administration, legal information etc) from loss, corruption or destruction. Data loss through fire, theft, sabotage or accidents can set you back years and even bring down your business.

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Critical Success Factor #5 - The ICT Function

2011-04-11T11:22:00.000+10:00

Information and Communication Technology enables individuals and organisations to undertake information related tasks much more efficiently, and to introduce innovations in products, processes and organisational structures.

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Critical Success Factor #4 - The Sales Function

2011-03-21T14:38:00.000+10:00

A sale is the lifeblood of any organisation. It provides the primary source of funds for an organisation to operate. It is critical for the long term viability of any organisation, that level of sales is sufficient to cover all expenses and deliver a profit / surplus.

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Critical Success Factor #3 - The Marketing Function

2011-03-01T20:25:00.001+10:00

Marketing is basically about generating leads which we hope will ultimately realise a sale. It is critical for you as managers to build awareness of your products, stimulate interest, create a desire and provoke a response from prospective customers - to generate a lead!

FREE Secrets to a Better Business (and more) available - right hand side of this page!

Critical Success Factor #2 - The Human Resource Function

2011-02-07T13:25:00.001+10:00

Recruiting, training and retaining productive and committed employees is critical to the success of any organisation.

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Critical Success Factor #1 - The Finance Function

2011-01-25T13:23:00.001+10:00

Developing a well structured and systemised finance function will help you measure, report, analyse and evaluate your business performance against established benchmarks and will significantly increase your chances of success

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Happy New Year

2011-01-02T11:06:00.000+10:00

May your 2011 be healthy, safe and prosperous!

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Why Business Plan?

2010-12-27T17:36:00.000+10:00

Business Planning helps us understand clearly where a business is going, and how it intends to get there? It also helps us organise and focus our activities so the business is more efficient and more effective.

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Succession Planning - why?

2010-11-30T14:11:00.002+10:00

Succession planning is essentially a planning process which is usually undertaken by a business owner(s) who are considering exiting - whilst ensuring continuity of the business.

Succession planning helps business owners ensure continuity and value of the business in case of:

Change in leadership
Retirement
Bankruptcy
Death
Disability
Incapacity

FREE Secrets to a Better Business available - right hand side of this page!

What is branding?

2010-10-25T14:00:00.000+10:00

Branding is the process of developing a name, term, symbol, design or combination of these to identify a product or service and to distinguish it from competing products.

Successful brands tend to rate highly with consumers in terms of:

Familiarity - well known and easily recognized
Relevance - to target market
Esteem - held in high regard
Differentiation - from competing products

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International Business - interested?

2010-09-20T18:12:00.001+10:00

These are some of the reasons why a business might be interested in international business?

Run down excess stocks
Extend product life cycle
Develop international presence
Achieve economies of scale
Competitive retaliation
Increase growth potential
Access new technologies
Source less expensive inputs (labour, materials etc)
Circumvent unions
Minimise labour force
Enhance production flexibility
Obtain a competitive advantage

FREE Secrets to a Better Business available - right hand side of this page!

Good Customer Service

2010-08-16T10:43:00.005+10:00

Good customer service is meeting the expectations or needs of the client in terms of their experiences and dealings with your organisation. It cannot be defined until we understand what those needs and expectations are. It is your job to find out what they are, and then deliver that experience on a consistent basis.

FREE Secrets to a Better Business available - right hand side of this page!

Top 10 Characteristics of Successful Companies

2010-07-29T15:14:00.002+10:00

Customer Satisfaction Focus – satisfy the customer
Quality Products / Services – provide consistent quality and value in what you do
Skilled and Experienced Management Team – quality management (in-house and/or external)
Loyal, Committed and Productive Staff – effective and efficient employees
Innovative culture – continuously improving/bettering what and how the business does
Solid Financial Management Systems – good control and performance analysis mechanisms
Access to Capital to Develop and Grow – adequate funds to grow and sustain the business
Competitive advantage – establishment and maintenance of a unique point of difference
Quality Planning – establishing the destination and plotting course
Good Corporate Governance, include:

Lay solid foundations for management
Structure the board to add value
Promote ethical and responsible decision making
Safeguard integrity in financial reporting
Make timely and balanced disclosure
Respect the rights of shareholders
Recognise and manage risk
Remunerate fairly and responsibly

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What does a manager do?

2010-06-21T13:02:00.003+10:00

Managers are critical to the success of any business. They can be the owners of the business, employed by the business or contracted to the business.

There are 4 main functions a manager should perform:

Plan - establish objectives and formulate strategies to achieve the objectives
Organise - allocate resources (labour, equipment, funds, time etc) to generate sales and profits
Lead - motivate, educate, demonstrate by example
Control - ensure performance remains on track with targets and objectives.

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Working hard - but not making progress?

2010-06-21T12:52:00.003+10:00

It is very common in business to get caught up in the day to day issues and endless problem solving and not seem to be making any ground.

This may indicate an absence of both planning (short and/or long term) and prioritisation. Take some time out to establish your objectives and how you plan to achieve them. Then set your priorities and knock them off in order of priority.

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Not achieving gross profit?

2010-05-24T12:01:00.005+10:00

Not achieving your gross profit may be as a result of one or more of the following factors:

sell price too low
sales volumes too low
purchase costs too high
incorrect costing
poor input controls
wasteage
theft
incorrect stock counts
incorrect data recording

Managing your gross profitability is critical to your business.

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Getting enough out of your staff?

2010-05-03T16:24:00.008+10:00

Another key issue for any business owner or manager is what to do about unproductive staff?

There could be any of a thousand reasons for poor productivity including lack of motivation, poor training, job role uncertainty, ill health or other personal problems. If you cannot identify and remedy the problem you may need to consider retrenchment. Before you embark on this course of action however, I suggest you seek professional advice from an industry association or employment law specialist - or it could cost you a lot more than you think!

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Are you time poor?

2010-05-03T16:23:00.006+10:00

Feeling as though you are working long hard hours but not seeming to ever get ahead? Difficult to get away and take time out? You role as a business owner or manager must include time to work on the business - and time away from the business.

Clarifying direction through better planning, improving efficiencies though increased systemisation and more effective recruitment and a preparedness to delegate, should help you find some 'me time'.

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Running low on cash?

2010-05-03T16:22:00.005+10:00

Arguably one of the most common issues with any business is poor cash flow. You can be making profits but running out of cash trying to meet all your payment commitments. Cash comes in to most organisations primarily through customer payments whether they be cash or debtor payments. Cash goes out primarily through employee, suppliers, tax, bank and directors payments. Managing a positive cash flow is critical to all businesses.

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Losing staff continually?

2010-05-03T16:21:00.003+10:00

If your business is experiencing a sudden or high rate of absenteeism or staff turnover it may be a symptom of increased employee dissatisfaction. This in turn may be caused by employee uncertainty of what their role is, what expectations there are upon them, lack of training or skills to perform the role, bullying, harassment or a plethora of personal issues.

It is vitally important to your bottom line that your employees are happy and productive or it will cost you!

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Need more sales?

2010-05-03T16:20:00.003+10:00

As international, national and local markets contract the primary concern for many businesses is what impact will this have on our sales? If you do nothing, chances are, in this current economic environment, your sales revenue may start to fall. The question then becomes, what can we do to minimize or reverse the impact.

It is important to understand that sales revenue is a function of price and quantity i.e how much you sell for and many you sell. Increasing your price in the current climate may not be the best strategy, so your focus may well need to be on how you can sell more units (volume)?

The key drivers for selling more units are:

• how many leads you generate

• how many leads you convert to sales

• how many repeat sales you make to your customers

• what additional items can you sell for each transaction

Increase any or all of these drivers and you will most likely see an increase in sales volumes and therefore sales revenue (assuming your sell price remains constant).

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Competitors undercutting prices?

2010-05-03T16:18:00.004+10:00

During economic downturns markets typically get smaller and conditions more competitive. Many businesses cut their prices to win business to survive. If all businesses in a market do this you have a 'price war'. Whilst this may work to some extent in the short term, it is rarely a long term solution - as prices fall, margins contract and profits diminish - placing your very survival at risk.

If you are having to reduce prices (discounting) to win business, chances are that your customer cannot differentiate the value in your product compared to that of your competitor's. If both products appear to be the same the only thing left to differ on may be the price - and the process of price cutting begins.

Rather than discounting, maybe you could consider differentiating your product possibly by adding value or introducing some unique feature.

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Sales inquiries dropping off?

2010-05-03T16:17:00.002+10:00

One of the more common issues facing my clients currently is the drop in inquiries. During the good times the phone rang regularly, email and fax leads were plentiful and business was good. Now with fewer leads and sales, their businesses are beginning to suffer. Waiting for inquiries to appear is 'reactive marketing'.

In tough economic times reactive marketing can be very ineffective. There are a number of strategies my clients can, and have implemented, to become more proactive and more effective with their marketing. Continuous, clear and concise communication with your target market are key elements of any proactive marketing strategy.

In one particular instance, one of my clients has taken the opportunity to rebrand and refresh their marketing materials during the economic downturn to increase their market share while their competitors are pulling back!

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