By Jeff Bowman

If necessity is the mother of invention, then I think I’m onto something! Three times in the past week I have been notified through an electronic circuit panel that I have an issue.  Last Wednesday it was my furnace letting me know through a series of long and short flashes, that I needed to clean the filters.  Saturday, a light on my dashboard let me know with an illuminated picture that my rear hatch was not closed.  Yesterday the display on my hot tub was displaying “FL” which, when I looked it up on the internet means I have a flow issue, usually a pressure switch.  With all the electronic indicators we see these days, why is it we still have to run our businesses using smarts, experience and savvy.

Why hasn’t anyone invented the Business Control Panel, an electronic circuit board that gives us warnings about the things that may be having an impact on our business?  A Business Doppler of sorts.  Send out microwave signals to all the important aspects of our business and then analyze the bounce back frequency to determine where strategic issues may be preparing to rear their ugly heads. Imagine having the ability to get into work each day and have an LED readout telling you information you need to know in order to prevent damage to your business.  It wouldn’t take away the need to be strategically sound in your business, but it certainly would give us early warning signs that we can sometimes overlook or fail to see at all in our businesses today.

Salespeople in particular could make great use of this type of circuitry, directly wired to their briefcase. A quick glance at the display cleverly tucked away under the handle could reveal any number of different error codes which could be preventing them from making the sale. A steady “IO” in Red could mean “information overload”, a flashing “NNI” would indicate “no need identified” or the dreaded “SNV” appearing with small symbols of lightning bolts to indicate the customer “sees no value” in your product or service offering.  Perhaps a sales lag may have nothing to do with your sales presentation, but on the back end from “PCS”, “poor customer service”!

Would these early warning indicators actually make us change the way we approach business, or would we merely hit the snooze button and carry on the way we always have. The fact is that in business today we do have these early warning systems in place. We can gauge our days outstanding or our sales forecasts without having to see a “CIR” message telling us we have ‘cash inflow restrictions”. Sales people can use sound listening skills and basic consultative sales techniques while watching for buying signals or potential objections.  Marketing staff can use social media tools to watch the reaction of the market to any given product or service at any time.  Consumer feedback can provide many of the indicators that your business circuit board would detect, if you really take the time to ask and listen.

Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees, and sometimes we are just too busy with the hectic pace of life and business to really take notice of the small little indicators that forewarn us of impending problems. Pay attention to your gut instincts, use the business tools you know and trust and seek professional advice when you need it.  A simple rewiring of the internal circuit boards we all have.

By Stephen Rhodes

Avon calling. We all remember the famous advertising slogan and I am sure many of you will have had some contact with Avon over the years. Maybe you still do.

There is an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal, republished in The Globe and Mail on Monday titled Avon Is Late to Social Media’s Party, that documents Avon’s slide in market share to companies that are seemingly more Internet savvy.

The company, famous for sending its representatives door to door, is losing traction, particularly in the U.S., where many time-stressed consumers are increasingly buying their cosmetics on the Web.

The door-to-door sales model is not working anymore. The bread and milk industry figured it out 40 years ago. What’s worse is that senior executives at Avon couldn’t see the tide changing as competitors started to emerge.

Avon is a great brand and its personalized service model, built on trust and relationships, is still one to be envied.  In Social Media marketing trust and relationships are essential to success.

It seems a natural fit. Calling Avon.

By Stephen Rhodes

Jeff’s scavenger hunt got me thinking about spring, and the seasonal reboot that tales place once the sun stays in place for any length of time.

By now, you know if your marketing plan is working. Are you happy with the results? If you are, great, keep it up. If not, you need to take a look at the key metrics that you use to measure success. It’s only the second quarter and there is plenty of time to change the trend line.

First, examine your expectations. Were they realistic? Have market conditions put your plan in jeopardy? Has your competitors stepped up their game? Have your customers responded favourably to changes you may have introduced – price increase, new products, improved customer service?

Failure in business often comes from a dogged persistence to stick to a plan that isn’t working. Smart business people are adaptable and open to change.

Smart business people also have their finger on the pulse of their business and have a set of indicators that help them measure success. You need to understand and monitor the metrics that are important to your business.

If one of your goals is to develop new customers and your marketing tools are not getting your message to the people you want to reach, change the tools.

Talk to your customers. Sometimes we get so caught up in the advances of marketing through media darlings like Facebook and Twitter that we forget the old-fashioned telephone can put us in touch with a customer instantly.

There is no shame in adjusting your goals midstream.

If your goal is to drive the top line, revenue, and you have invested heavily to do that, you need to look at what’s working and what isn’t and refocus the investment. If the goal is to protect the bottom line, then you might have to adjust expenses. Hopefully, in any kind of investment in your business, you provided for a reasonable length of time to allow for growth, part of your strategic approach to building your business.

The point here is that there is lots of time to adjust your plan. With a little care and attention, the bulbs you plant this spring will still flower.

Spring brings renewal, and with it I like to take the opportunity to renew some business practices, renew business relationships and the energy and vigour required for a successful business to thrive.  The Spring Scavenger Hunt is an excellent way to accomplish some of these objectives, as it provides you with some realistic goals to achieve in a way that is creative and fun, and doesn’t seem so much like “work”.  Give it a shot!

My scavenger hunt list is simple, commonly found and recognizable items to search out for your business.  What makes it unique, is that you set your own numbers and timetable for completion.  For small businesses, you are competing against yourself.  For larger business, you can create teams in the office, sales teams or management teams to compete against each other. Like all scavenger hunts, there should be a reward for a job well done -a dinner out on the company, a round of golf or, perhaps, a shopping voucher from a local store. Put a little fun and excitement into the office to mark the turning of the season!

Here is the Spring Scavenger Hunt for Business list. (You can fill in your own numbers – set a time limit)

____    New Clients

____    New qualified Prospects (can’t be the same as #3)

____    Referrals from existing clients

____    Testimonials about your product or service

____    New uses/users for your product or service

____    Recognizable ways to expand your local community involvement

____    Things you didn’t know about your competitors

____    Ways to make the office environment more fun to work in.

That’s it.  8 items that, if found will generate more revenue for your business.  This isn’t just a fun game, make sure that once the list is complete you utilize everything you have found.  New clients and prospects speak for themselves in terms of business growth. The ability to generate referrals is an indicator of how well you have developed current client relationships. Testimonials can be used (with permission) on websites, literature, and new prospect presentations. Every company can find new users or uses for your product or service if you think hard enough. Check out http://www.wd40.com/files/pdf/wd-40_2042538679.pdf to see what I mean! New uses translates to more volume sold, as does new users. Community involvement builds social capital for your business.  Knowing more about your competitors allows you to capitalize on any weakness you might uncover.  Finally, making the office more fun to work in reduces stress, increases creativity and productivity.  What business can’t use more of that!

Good luck with the hunt! I’d love some feedback on how it worked for your business!

I have presented to many companies and organizations over the last year on the value of Twitter to their outreach and marketing agendas. I hear the same question with every group, “Is Twitter right for my business?”  My response to them is to figure out if their business is right for Twitter first.  Not all businesses are well suited to using this exponentially growing social media tool.  Many have found that out for themselves, while are others are still struggling to entice followers. The ability to make your point in 140 characters, even less if you are hash tagging or linking an article, is a skill that needs to be honed for most business owners.

Twitter has grown by leaps and bounds over the last couple of years and what started out as an application for brief sharing of information has now grown into a popularity contest among celebrities to see who can out twit the other. Lady Gaga is currently the reigning tweeb with upwards of 20 million followers waiting for the next sentence to be delivered from her twitter account. Justin Bieber is not far behind. The Philadelphia Wings Lacrosse Team now have their twitter handles on the back of their game sweaters.  I fear that soon a player will finish their shift and go to the bench where electronic devices are waiting for them to tweet about the last 45 seconds they played. There are already rules in place in some organizations about not tweeting 2 hours before the game, a rule that used to be reserved for another type of expressive activity!

Recent statistics show that 40% of all tweets are “pointless babble”, another 37.5% are merely conversational.  Only about 8.7% of tweets have any informative or pass along value. How will an organization ever be able to effectively use the medium without getting lost in Babylon? This brings us back to the question is your business right for twitter? There are a few questions to ask yourself before moving forward.

1. Do I have something of note to share?
2. Is my tweeting going to be consistent?
3. Am I looking for total number of followers or will I be selective, with a target demographic in my approach?
4. Is my real intent to spam for sales and business leads?
5. Will I actually follow and respond to those who choose to follow me?
6. Can I be succinct and interesting?

If you have valid answers to the questions above, then your business may be right to enter the twitesphere. The next step is to figure out the type of followers you want.  Be aware that after your first couple of tweets, you will get spam followers, self promoters and an assortment of automatically generated none profiled (eggs) following you. You will need to view each follower’s profile to determine if they are people who might have something interesting to say.  By no means do you have to follow everyone back. I usually check to see how many people they follow, how many followers a contact has and how many tweets they have made.  I’ve seen tweebs with thousands of follows, and single digit tweets over a several month period, as well as those that generate 50 tweets a day.

Treat Twitter with a little respect. Understand that not everyone will find you interesting, and that it may take a long time to build a good following.  Try to pass on quality tweets, retweet things you find interesting and start conversations on important topics to your industry. Everyday there is more and more babble, there is still plenty of opportunity to make Twitter an important part of your overall marketing and communication strategy.

During the first quarter of the new year, we must reflect on the successes and triumphs that we experienced this past year.  It was another complex year in terms of the recession, however I prefer to celebrate the victories we had rather than dwell on the difficulties we may have encountered.  In analyzing our achievements, we can better plan for increasing the business victories in the next year. The first quarter of 2012 is time to rev up the planning of sales and marketing activities for 2012.

2012 will bring many of the same challenges that we experienced in 2011, so we need to highlight our areas of success and plan around them moving forward as a sales organization.  It is important to stress that business should not operate in silos, with marketing having their planning meetings, finance theirs and so on.  A sound strategic sales plan is fully interdependent on the actions of every other employee in the company.  If operations decide to change shipping procedures for example it may impact sales, finance clamping down on days outstanding will result in a more difficult selling experience and then we may have new product introductions or changes in marketing budgets that directly affect sales. An overarching plan must be in place that incorporates the individual ideas, plans and actions from every department.

I recommend you tune your RADIO.  It is an analogy I use to assist business owners to identify and deal with issues affecting their success.

R – Review your successes and performance against your objectives, incorporating frontline accounts and testimonials. The sales force should meet to debrief about their experiences. Special attention should be paid to what was done right, what made the sales process easier, what made clients more acceptable to their calls. Focusing on the accomplishments creates a more driven and motivated sales representative. Who enjoys sitting in a meeting being reminded of negative sales trends, reduction of sales efforts, cut backs in marketing.  These are your frontline people, keep them interested!

A – Ask clients what they like about doing business with you.  Surveys can tell you important information, as well as demonstrate to the client that you are interested in their views. Everyone in the organization represents the company, and everyone can ask the clients for their opinions. If changes are suggested and undertaken, let the client know what you did to improve!

D – Dialogue creation. Focus on the many different ways there are to keep lines of communication to the clients and prospects open.  Twitter, blogs, newsletters, product updates, and surveys keep your name top of mind with the client.

I – Investigate the industry. Keep on top of the competition, be aware of emerging trends, understand where the customer’s real needs are and address then directly. Take the time to train your employees, so that their customer service and consultative sales skills are top-notch. (all employees who have any contact with any prospect or client)

O – Organize, set objectives and obtain results. Analyze the potential that exists in every territory or region that you sell into.  The potential is made up of many variables including the competitive environment, trends, population growth, demographics and is closely affixed to marketing activities. I have been working with businesses for 20 years in looking at “real” versus “imagined” potential, and I can tell you, a good understanding results in increased recognition of untapped potential. Create “realized potential” objectives and monitor the results quarterly.

Tuning into your business needs isn’t as easy as tuning in a radio station, however making the effort to tune into those distant and local areas of concern in the business will certainly improve the reception and your business success.

The Marketing Pad specializes in assisting and facilitating the “Success Planning Process”. Call us today to get you to the next level.  www.themarketingpad.com

Last week I had the pleasure of presenting to a networking group in Bolton who have been meeting monthly for some time now and growing their businesses through a sharing of common experience.

This group was a Ladies Lunch and Learn Networking Group.  A group made up entirely of women entrepreneurs, hence my comment about sharing a common experience.  I was asked to present “Tune Your Business Radio” which speaks to the key areas to fine tune at the beginning of the year to ensure your business gains a strong foothold on its way to building success.

My preparation for the presentation was a little different than usual, as I was the first male to ever step foot into the realm of this female networking group.

I have been presenting workshops and facilitating for over 20 years now in many different industries including construction, nursing, not for profits, small and large business and some government agencies. All of these clients have their own diverse issues, as would a core of women business owners. I have been fortunate enough to work with Momstown.ca, which is a group of exciting momtreprenuers across Canada, so I understood some of the issues around entrepreneurship and motherhood, and the time and resources it takes to do both successfully. However I wanted to do a bit more research.

A couple of issues that I chose to focus on included the allocation of time to the family and the business, and the lack of mentoring resources for professional women entrepreneurs. It is critical that sound business practices and understanding the threats and opportunities that exist within the business are used in guiding the business along the bumpy road we have been on for the last few years. Sometimes it is all too easy for any of us to just throw in the towel and give up our entrepreneurial dreams to take an easier route to financial stability. As the old adage goes, working smarter is the key. Creating dialogue with clients using the variety of mediums out there will give you client-centric feedback as opposed to rumours and educated guesses. Understanding and recognizing true business potential at the start of the year makes the road to success much smoother, utilize facts to avoid basing goals on false potential. Understanding the position your business occupies in the client’s mind, and using potential based planning methodology will take hours off your weekly work routine, hours that can be spent with family.

As far as the mentoring and networking resources go, I am glad to see that there are many groups like the one I spoke at springing up in every city and town.  I believe it is crucial for women to have support mechanisms from other women in business. Check in your areas for groups such as Boards of Trade or Chamber of Commerce women’s groups, and Zonta, however don’t restrict yourself to women only networking or business groups.  There are many business issues that are common to every business, and being aware and informed about those issues will guide your future planning. Support, understanding and affirmation, are required to be successful, combine that with great mentorship and we all have the tools for business building.

By Stephen Rhodes

Esteemed Canadian poet and author @MargaretAtwood has praised Twitter as a literacy tool.

Speaking  at the nextMEDIA conference in Toronto, Atwood proclaimed that we should celebrate Twitter and other internet-based communications as drivers of literacy rather than something to be dismissed. FULL STORY HERE

My favourite quote is this and  it has the Twitterverse abuzz.

“People have to actually be able to read and write to use the internet, so it’s a great literacy driver if kids are given the tools and the incentive to learn the skills that allow them to access it.”

Twitter is a shorthand to a deeper learning experience, a deeper reading experience.

Seldom do I receive a tweet that doesn’t redirect me to something interesting that requires reading to fully enjoy. Fact is, Twitter keeps me reading all day long whether on my smart phone, tablet or laptop.

Bravo Ms Atwood.

What do you think?

Getty Images Photo from huffingtonpost.ca

By Stephen Rhodes

Got that thousand yard Christmas stare;  the vacant look on your face as you stand dead centre in the aisle of your local shopping centre, at least until someone elbows you out of the way?

Christmas shopping can be a terrifying experience.  And as I get older, buying for older friends – many of whom have a houseful of stuff just waiting to be de-cluttered – is even scarier. They have spent a lifetime collecting stuff they don’t need. Daunting.

Enter the gift card. What a marketing phenomenon! Maybe it is not as esthetically pleasing as the big box under the tree but surely more practical.  It gives Christmas Eve shopping a whole new meaning and I don’t even have to go to the retailer whose card I want to purchase, because some marketing genius has placed oodles of these things on racks in convenient retail outlets like Shoppers Drug Mart and Canadian Tire. Even better, I can buy a gift card online and email it to the intended recipient as a simple bar code.

I know, I know, I sound like the Grinch. Hi, Merry Christmas. Check you inbox for your gift. And if you don’t like the card, you can swap it for another. Ho Ho Ho.

Speaking of the Grinch, a consumer watchdog is advising against giving gift cards this holiday season, saying they often go unused and put restrictions on recipients. “Actually, if you see a gift card hanging on the wall, you should run in the opposite direction,” said Bruce Cran, president of the Consumers’ Association of Canada.

Surveys show 86 per cent of people like giving gift cards, but only 40 per cent of people like receiving them. He says 40 per cent of gift cards never get used even though there are companies that will convert your gift card to cash. What a boost for the economy.

Gift cards are a $6 billion a year industry in Canada. I don’t think they are going anywhere soon, and for me it makes buying a gift for that impossible to buy for person easy smeasy.

View our Winter Newsletter.

For those of us experienced (old) enough to remember the channel 7 news from Buffalo in the 70’s and 80’s, “It’s 11 o’clock, do you know where your children are?” was the phrase that led to the nightly news. It was a reminder for all parents to know where their kids are at all times.  In business today knowing where your sales are now, where they will be next month and the long-term projection  is critical to success, yet most businesses don’t analyze their sales strengths, weaknesses and potential until it’s too late.

It’s no secret that if you stop making calls, you will notice  a decrease in sales, and by the time you notice it you are already into the next cycle of ramping up time required to get relationships and sales back on track.  This can cost months of revenue, has cost many salespeople their jobs and has led to many small businesses closing their doors unable to keep up with expenses. How do we get into this cycle, more importantly once in it, is there a quick and effective way to get out?

Time is every businesses enemy, and in bad economies, it seems to work twice as fast against them. Clients react quickly to change, looking for better service, a more reliable business relationship and lower costs.  If you are not on top of your customer contacts, not providing the level of service your clients have grown accustomed to or you are not being competitive, then clients move elsewhere. Sometimes sales tracking, prospecting and diligent client cultivation gives way to reactive, time-consuming measures taken to survive and keep the ship afloat. We quickly lose sight of the simple things in the business that have made it successful.

There is a solution to the problem, and as with most problems the solution starts with the recognition that there is a real issue. Revisit previous years, paying attention to details like number of clients, average order size, buying frequency, seasonality of sales, and types of products or services supplied.

What is different?

Are you promoting your business as much?

What have you cut in order to save money?

Are you listening to your clients?

Are you aware of new competition?

Is there potential for growth?

Once you have some answers to these questions,  planning takes over to eliminate the weaknesses, and build on the strengths. Yes, it is work, and yes there will be a lag between actions and results, but with the proper planning, guidance and sales support you will be back on track. Don’t lose sight of something as critical to your business as sales. Know where they are, where they will be, and where they have been at all times.

View our Winter Newsletter.