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Cross Link Consulting, LLC |
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Transforming Businesses through Strategic Management and Process Innovation |
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The Cross Link Communicator |
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When entrepreneurs and companies build their business plans, it’s easy to remember elements like marketing plans, competition, and revenue. But there is one element often overlooked which is critical to the success and profitability of a company in today’s business world: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). |
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K. Keith Drew, Executive Consultant |
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Business Plans—Impacting the Way People Perceive You |
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Vol. 1, Issue 2, August, 2008 |
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Book Review: The Chic Entrepreneur |
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What is it that makes one entrepreneur successful and another, with a similar idea, unsuccessful. In her book, The Chic Entrepreneur: Put Your Business in Higher Heels, 1 Elizabeth Gordon would say it has to do with a multitude of factors she labels as “chic.” “Being chic is about how you carry yourself and the choices you make. It’s not about the clothes you wear or the way you cut your hair; it’s about your attitude and your actions.” 2 She goes on to give concrete examples of how to be a successful entrepreneur by first taking YOU into account. |
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How Chic is your business? |
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One of the worst mistakes we can make as sales people is to assume, yet we all do it to one degree or another. We assume we know what the customer wants. Some sales “professionals” go so far as to believe that customers don’t know what they want until we tell them. Experience shows this to be untrue. It’s like the old adage, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” Or put another way, true communication doesn’t take place until both parties agree. |
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Sales Presentations—You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know |
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September, 22-23, 2008: Improving Sales Presentations: A Workshop on Sales and Group Dynamics Register TODAY! at 770-378-6904, OR on-line at: |
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One government agency recently projected that the number one employer in America will soon be “Self.” One reason is the vast number of women entering the marketplace with small businesses. This book is wonderful in the way it challenges the reader to be more than another flash-in-the-pan start-up, and does so from a woman’s perspective and experience. Yet the book is solid economics and business sense for all readers of both genders. Often, when women put together business plans, their plans are solid, but their goals are not near as lofty as their male counterparts. As a part of a college course on building businesses, an instructor recently shared how the plans of the men and the women in the class were very similar, with one exception; the women in the class tended to make revenue targets 3-10 times smaller than the men in the class. This target represents more than a desire for money. It represents the critical mass to often move an entrepreneur from being Self-employed to being a business owner. Gordon gives quality examples of successes and failures, as well as a nine-dimensional model for success that she calls The Flourishing Business Methodology.3 It includes developing a Value to the Marketplace as the center, or focal point, of a business. It is surrounded by 8 petals, or dimensions, much like a flower. They include the following: Focused Strategy, Planning and Measurement, Employee Engagement, Outsourcing and Partners, Predictable Cash Flow, Systems and Processes, Customer Loyalty, and, Marketing and Sales. Each of these topics is cleverly covered, with tips and questions to ponder woven into the tapestry of this must-have for entrepreneurs starting or growing a business. As Gordon says in the book, “Entrepreneurship is not something you try; it is something you must commit to in order to be successful.”4 At Cross Link Consulting, we offer consulting services for business owners who need an outside source of encouragement, as well as challenge, and resources to grow your business and take it to the next level. We work with you to set the structure and vision for growth in your company as an agent for growth, not just change. To learn more, visit www.crosslinkconsulting.com, or call us at 770-378-6904. ______________________ 1 (Bandon, OR, Robert D. Reed Publishers), 2008 2 Ibid, p. IX 3 Ibid, p.204 4 Ibid, p.202 |
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CSR has a plethora of definitions as companies claim to be eco-friendly (green) or a positive influence in their communities. On a broader scope, CSR can be defined as the ways in which a company is intentional at impacting the physical and social environments it touches on a regular basis. It can be as simple as implementing a recycling program in the break room, OR, as complex as the establishment of charities and foundations for the betterment of our world. However it is implemented, success of any company CSR requires both intentionality and the buy-in of both the employees and the communities they touch. Why? Because how people perceive your company impacts your business in more ways than most people realize. Sales is the obvious benefactor to a positive company image. Sales is also just as quick to be hurt by a negative image of your company or its products. But while sales is often a key motivator in improving a company’s public image, other factors are just as important as a company considers its Corporate Social Responsibility. One such factor is the ability of your company to hire and keep quality employees. People, today, often want more than just a pay check. In a confidential employee satisfaction survey of over 400 employees at a southern manufacturing plant, being concerned about the wage they earned didn’t even make the top 10 concerns. What does concern people, frequently, is how they feel about their job and the company for which they work. That perception is greatly influenced by whether or not the company truly cares about the world in which they live, work, and play. In a recent panel discussion before the PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) chapter of Georgia, the importance of CSR in the work place was discussed by representatives of 3 CSR departments of major corporations in Atlanta. While each approached CSR differently, the pride generated by outreach and concern for the environment not only improved the companies’ ability to hire quality employees, it also improved each of the companies’ ability to retain quality employees and reduce costly turnover. What does your company do to give back to the community in which you live? Is there an intentional plan, or does your company simply react to whomever walks through the door? What would you like to see your company do in an effort to improve the environment/the community in which you live? At Cross Link Consulting, we can work with you and your company to develop an intentional plan for Corporate Social Responsibility. To learn more, please contact us at info@CrossLinkConsulting.com, or call us at 770-378-6904. Don’t wait! Today may be the beginning a better image for you and the people with whom you work, live, and play! |
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Business Plans—Impacting the Way People Perceive You, cont. |
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Sales Presentations—You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know, cont. |
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on what is being said. The truth is the more we know about the wants and needs of our customers, the more likely we are of obtaining a sale. The problem is we often don’t even know with whom to communicate. Many sales approaches are one-size-fits-all. In a world filled with people of differing shapes and sizes, the chances of looking good become slim and narrow. So we tend to throw everything at our customers, including the kitchen sink, hoping that some of it will hit the mark and lead to a sale. As a professor of mine used to say, “When you cover the material, that’s what you do…you put a blanket over it.” What she meant was there was little chance for life and new possibilities when we don’t allow for dialogue and true communications. This is true in both learning and sales. So, then how do we approach sales from a perspective which improves our chances? We must all be willing to dedicate time to improving our communications skills. These skills include asking questions, listening, and dynamic presentation skills combined with an understanding of group dynamics within an organization. Would you make the same presentation to the CEO that you would to the receptionist? In some few cases you might, but typically the answer is no. What makes a CEO different from a receptionist (other than their bank account)? Part of it has to do with the way they perceive the company. Most C-level leaders are focused on the strategic aspects of a company. The larger the company, the more this is true. They are focused on the visions and goals of a company, not whether or not paper needs to be ordered for the copy machines. So how do you take this knowledge into a sale with you…and hopefully to the bank? One way is through training: getting an outside perspective on your sales skills from someone you neither report to, nor someone who reports to you. This kind of impartial insight is critical to improving your skills. At one company, the sales people often brought the prospects to the demo room and allowed the managers and support staff to make the presentations. However, these people were the first impressions being made to prospective clients. So the sales management decided to role-play the presentations with the sales reps to find out just how well they communicated the product. The results showed that while reps could be successful in the company’s sales model without good presentation skills, those who had them were much more successful than they would have been without them. A sense of confidence and poise, the ability to ask questions and tailor the presentation to the answers, and the ability to understand an audience and “play to it” all made for a much more successful sales professional. On September 22-23, Cross Link Consulting will be holding the first in a series of courses for sales and business professionals as a part of Cross Link Learning. The course is entitled Improving Sales Presentations: A Workshop on Sales and Group Dynamics. This two-day course entails a full day of studying the dynamics of decision-makers in a sales presentation, as well as techniques and content enhancement. We study the value of having a good company story. We evaluate the typical personalities involved in a business sale. We also study how to identify the Irreducible Minimum you are trying to convey as the goal of your presentation. Day Two includes a chance to practice what you learn through a “teach-back.” This exercise includes a professional evaluation and a plan for improvement. An optional video of your presentation will also be made available to you for your learning and improvement. The book Hope Is not a Strategy, by Rick Page, will be used as an outside study source. A copy of the book is included in the price of the course. The course will be held at the beautiful Simpsonwood Conference and Retreat Center on the banks of the Chattahoochee River in Norcross, Georgia. Lunch and supplies will be provided. To register, go to www.crosslinkconsulting.com/register.htm. Do it TODAY, as registration is limited to 16 students. |
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