Soltys, Inc.

Target

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 18:39:00 +0000

Campaign Strategy (Part 2)

There are a number of reasons why campaigns either succeed or fail. Over the next few days, we will look at these beginning with targets. Perhaps the number one reason that campaigns fail or succeed is the definition of the target. A target is not as simple as being a person, a demographic, or a type. Those are all characteristics. The target for a campaign must also be defined in terms of the actions you want to occur that will allow you to win.

Take for example the current political campaigns which are certainly a business. The target is defined as voters who will vote for the candidate and allow them to win the election. Sounds good initially because there is an action required of the target but this is so general, it will inevitably cost much more than a targeted campaign. If a political campaign were run like a business campaign, some of the parameters defined might be as follows.

1. How many votes are needed? If you are looking at the actual vote count the answer is an easy one more than all other candidates. However the US uses an Electoral College system in which the popular vote in essence is a vote for the electors who will cast the vote in the vote of the electors on the second Wednesday in December. That certainly changes the target. But if it was based on raw votes and there was no plurality rule, your campaign needs to reach less than 62% of eligible voters – the ones who vote.

2. How do you find voters who will vote? Of the approximately 207 million people in the US who are potentially eligible to vote in the next election, it is estimated that less than 150 million will vote. Since voters must be registered to vote and their voting history is recorded and publically available. In fact the US Census Bureau has great data, to do data mining in which you can begin to build a better target group. You will also be able to find out how many newly eligible voters generally vote to help you define your target as well as voters who can no longer cast a vote. With probable voters defined, you can now begin to think about how to reach them and get them to vote for your objective.

3. How do you find the ones you need to win? With voters defined, there is more information than can tighten the work of your campaign. Looking for consistencies as well as inconsistencies of actions will define your approach, methods and strategy to enhance the outcome of the vote. For example - A certain percentage of the voters who vote, do so along party lines without fail. This has averaged approximately 37%. So the target voter is now making sure that the portion of the 37% that can be counted and the portion of the 63% that can be influenced are moved to your side of the vote.

As you can see in this example (used because it is a current issue and applies well to almost any business model) rather than needing to target potentially 207 million people the actual target is less than 60 million people who will potentially cast a vote. It is those votes that will determine the election. It is still a large number but through the use of data mined, targeted strategies can be employed which always produces a better outcome with greater efficiency and less cost than a general campaign.

If we were looking at this as a business rather than as politics, we would have to question spending. Perhaps spending very little in general campaigns and the bulk of the money on targeted voters would be a better use of funds.

In this example, spending attempts to reach everyone in the general population in hopes of reaching voters. Spending a small amount on general campaign costs for example 5 - 10% of the dollars per vote on general efforts and 90 - 95% per targeted voter, the same proportionate dollars that were needed to win votes targeted might reduce the cost of the campaign by over fifty percent. While that number is extrapolated and might be high, any number over 10% when you are talking the quantity of dollars spent in these campaigns would most likely get the attention of every person in a “C-level” role of a company.

The bottom line – in campaign strategy, no matter what type of campaign – business, political, military or any other – an undefined target will always be costly and reduce the chance of winning.

Campaign Strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 17:22:00 +0000

Campaign Strategy (Part 1)

Campaigns are all about a methodology that produces a win. It does not matter whether it is a marketing campaign, military, political, fund raising, branding, customer loyalty or a big sale: the bottom line is the same did you win or lose? How you get to the win is where the strategy comes in.

The series of steps, interwoven activities, milestones and planning are a kind of a puzzle. Unlike a simple sale where there is little that leads to the exchange of dollars, campaigns often begin with a battle for the mind of those involved in the objective. Campaigns are process driven machines that not only consume energy but create energy and drive results.

Within each campaign, there may be multiple sub campaigns that are occurring sequentially or simultaneously. There are many moving parts at any given time all tied together with the central objective and focus on the win.

Right now, we are witnessing political campaigns for the presidency of the United States. If these were dissected, we would find that they are a lot like any business campaign. Like most business and military campaigns even once the prime objective is accomplished the campaign has a long tail of after effects that are set in motion during the campaign. Effects may be either good or not so good.

Great campaigns bring long term value and results because the machine and all of the energy does not cease when the objective has been won.

This month, our series “Campaign Strategy” will explore the components of campaign strategy – what works and what does not and how to make campaigns work for your business.

Buy, Sell, Share, Trade & Leverage

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 03:11:00 +0000

Enterprise by Design (Part 11)

This month we have explored many facets of enterprises. Whether built by design, formed by need or the result of an accident, the components of an enterprise are assets to be bought, sold, traded, shared and/or leveraged as a method of creating value and money.

A great example can be found in professional sports teams that need players with skills, talent and experience. These are a type of an enterprise. Each player added to the team is not only a player in the game but also part of a commercial machine that has the capability of generating money and driving value. That money comes from the winning power of the game, ability to draw fans and the sales of items fans will buy because the player is on the team. Building the best team is not restricted to winning games, it is all about winning dollars. These are an enterprise by design.

Enterprises that can quantify the value of all components have the advantage over companies where valuation and revenue generation are tangled and not able to be isolated. Like the sports player, there are absolute costs that can be tied to the player as well as revenue streams that are generated as a result of the player being a part of the team. There is an isolated value as well as the value that the team derives as a result of the assembled players.

The next factor of valuation is performance. An asset such as a player has value even if the team does not have a winning season but if the performance factor is added and the team has a great winning season, the team’s value escalates. If the player is an outstanding individual performer in addition to being on a winning team, the player asset has value that may be greatly increased by leverage. The leverage may be to bring value to the team or it may be for what the team gets in return in a trade.

An intangible part of the value that drives real value is loyalty. Does a consumer spend more money in the enterprise because of loyalty to the enterprise through brand, quality or convenience? In our sports analogy that equates to fan base where the rational consumer changes to the consumer who embraces and owns a relationship with a team or a player.

Leverage is not restricted to the enterprise but often adds to the value of the enterprise and businesses who can leverage the assets of the enterprise. If you do not think that is possible, consider the amount of television time devoted to sports and money generated to the enterprise and vendors who license the team images and branding. The trail of the money is long and complicated.

The bottom line is that in the analogy and the best enterprises any component has valuation and potentially the opportunity to increase the value of the enterprise whether bought, sold, shared, traded or leveraged. Enterprises built by design, recognize that any component is an asset and the greatest value may not be in holding the asset.

Thank you for following the Enterprise by Design series. We hope that you have found the content valuable and insightful. Comments are always welcome. The September 2012 series will be Campaign Strategies.

The Cost of Impulse

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 18:39:00 +0000

Enterprise by Design (Part 10)

It is not unusual for an enterprise owner to be approached by an ambitious person with an idea that will expand the enterprise to a new business or location. More often than not, these are not an idea for the enterprise but a partnering or other relationship in which the person seeks ownership and participation. These can be great or tear apart the enterprise, with costly consequences, if they are not set up correctly in the beginning. Last week, I had a call from a lady desperately hoping that I could help her out of the mess she was in.

She had approached the owner of the enterprise with an offer to help him expand into a lucrative market where she was established. She would manage and build the location. The business would be a hand in glove fit with the existing enterprise expanding the base of business to transact with businesses already under the enterprise umbrella. He knew her and her background and knew that she was the type he would hire if he were going to expand into that market. He had also been trying to put an exit strategy in place but did not have any candidate successors. She was also to invest some cash to get this started so it was definitely worth considering.

Once the two decided that it was worthy venture many components were initiated. They found a location to lease, agreed to use the operational infrastructure in place for other locations in the same genre of business under the enterprise and begin to submit requests for approval to the various government entities as well as the franchisor. Things were moving along quickly and people were being recruited to work there. Everyone was very busy.

The relationship of the parties and percentage of ownership were verbally defined and agreed with a handshake. The enterprise owner would have the majority stake in the venture which is not unusual. Everyone made promises to put everything in writing and some documents were drawn but none fully executed or filed. The use of the funds and consideration of costs including working without pay during an initial building period as a part of the investment were in many cases assumed or not discussed.

A few years have passed and no one is happy. Communications are primarily stiff, awkward and non-productive. There is a desire to dissolve the business relationship but no mechanics in place to do it in a business-like fashion. No matter how this is done, there will be hurt, resentment and financial loss.

All of this could have been averted with a few preliminary structures and knowing that the investment of time in setting up any business relationship correctly usually mitigates risk and establishes the boundaries where everyone can win.

You do not have an agreement that will stand unless it is in writing and signed by all shareholders and stakeholders.
Engage legal and financial help at the beginning, it is less costly than if you have to undo things later.
Make sure that you have a strong Buy – Sell Agreement that address what happens if:

You want to change the percentage of ownership;
A partner is no longer able to take care of the business responsibilities and/or financial commitments to the business;
The business segment is to be dissolved.
A partner wants to be bought out.

Make sure that you have set up the valuation methodology and criteria that will be used for any change in ownership or investment.
Make sure that the agreement addresses what happens if more capital is required beyond the initial investment and how continuing financial obligations such as leases, mortgages and loans will be handled.
Have all working arrangements, roles and responsibilities detailed and agreed in writing with specific review dates, accountability measurements and achievement criteria.
Write and agree to a business plan for the business segment that is more than a spreadsheet. The how is often times more important than the projected results.
Determine, as a part of the agreement, non-compete criteria should the business be dissolved or a partner leave the business.
If the business is such that there is potentially an impact on people where factor such as loyalty to a person or relationships may impact the ongoing business, these should be considered in the initial agreement so that there are no questions later.
If the severance of the business was to occur, what happens with other business relationships within the enterprise? Will the severed entity still be able to transact business as a customer?
Consider payouts and valuation for remainder or follow-on business as a result of the business segment or partners efforts.
Consider how will data, databases, customer relationships, proprietary methods and or processes be treated if there is a separation of interests or parties.
Consider ownership of all branding and identities. Define who owns what and what will happen post severance? This includes web sites and social media.
Make sure that use of space, names, and information procured as a result of the partnership is defined if there is dissolution or severance. Define whether or not setting up email forwarding or other methods of sustaining data, information and internal or customer communications is allowed or prohibited post separation.
Define references that may be made to the past relationship in future marketing as in “formerly known as” or “formerly affiliated with”. This is follow-on marketing using the association. Such practices may or may not be in the best interests of the remaining entity if the severed entity is engaged in the same or a similar business.

In some ways partnering regardless of the percentage, even if it is an employee, is like getting married. Writing the agreements and making the decisions up front is similar to a prenuptial and can save a lot of time, aggravation and money in the end.

No matter how exciting the opportunity may appear or the external factors that suggest short cutting it never is worth it in the end. If you must take advantage of a situation and do not have time to do it right, at minimum put a written agreement in place that outlines the initial structure with a definitive date for the detailed agreement to be written and agreed by all parties with a “what if” clause if it does not occur.

An enterprise built by design is always documented and reduces the risk that impulsive decisions and actions bring.

The "Doers"

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 03:31:00 +0000

Enterprise by Design (Part 9)

Yesterday we talked about the dreamers who can put ideas together, tell others about them with a lot of detail but in many cases never execute the dream. The next group is the “doers.” Thinking about doers, the person who instantly comes to mind is my uncle Roland.

Roland loved to tell stories that began with walking a mile in the snow to go to school through the calluses earned through hard physical work ending with his success as the Vice President for a major regional bank. He was a proud man who worked his way up the ladder and earned his status. Status, wealth and tangible possessions were important to him. He sacrificed just about anything legal to meet his objectives including relationships.

Roland was an extreme example of a doer. He never built anything. He did his job very well and was very focused on exceling. He had trouble engaging others in processes, tasks and especially when it came to sharing the spotlight. He was a great guy to have in an company as he could be counted on getting the job done and done right.

There were moments where we thought that Roland might step out of his comfort zone and take initiative that had not been in a task that he had been given. Some of these times came after he had conversations with my Dad who was a dreamer. Dad would paint his dream showing the opportunity and the path. Roland would listen intently with ears that really picked up with my Dad’s statements such as “If I had your money I would…” or “Can you imagine how much money you could make if you did …”

Each time when it looked like he was going to reach, he drew back into a task orientation that was highly risk adverse. The mold and path were set, to him deviation was first calculated in cost which caused a blindness to the opportunity.

Most doers will take some chances and some actually can take a well outlined idea or dream and make it a reality. Few if any of these have any size and rarely are usually vertical businesses not enterprises. The challenge to growth for the doers is in most cases, ability to trust someone else to do the job as well as they do. They have difficulty considering initiatives that they are not tangible where they can get their “hands dirty”.

Just like the dreamer, the doer is a contributor to the organization and important in achieving objectives. To build an enterprise, it takes an entrepreneur.

Enterprise Dreams

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 03:09:00 +0000

Enterprise by Design (Part 8)

We all have dreams and visions of the rewards we will gain if our goals are achieved. Achievement is not always what is important if you are a dreamer. My Dad was a classic dreamer. He always had a dream and could tell you how it would work in detail as he spun the future in his imagination. His smile was a mile wide and his chuckle throaty as he considered options and benefits.

Like many dreamers, Dad never had extra money and when he did, he was likely to give it away if he met someone who needed it more or if it would bring joy to someone. He was never a status seeker and wealth was not something he worked to accumulate. That was a part of the problem in converting his dreams to reality. He was good at telling us that it took money to make money, but it was not from experience, it was because he knew it in theory.

His enterprise dreams were the most elaborate of all. In his mind and scratched designs on paper, he built companies under a benevolent umbrella that would employ every family member and friend. He thought of the products and services that would be created and sold to both internal and external consumers. He understood the woven fabric that creates the most successful enterprises.

Dreamers inspire others with their ideas but often never really start anything. Beyond money or resources, dreamers are not doers and do not want to be harnessed to the work it takes to make their dreams a reality. Dreamers like my Dad have a very pleasant world in which their imagination lives and grows. They work through day to day tasks to make a living while they look forward to the time they can dream of great things they will probably never touch.

Being a dreamer and enjoying your dreams is not wrong or bad as long as there are no contingencies or dependencies that will suffer. Dad’s dreams of his business enterprises probably inspired many others who were doers to build businesses. They might not have had the original dream but could use the ideas and concepts of a dreamer. Someone else using his ideas and enjoying success was always a source of pride for Dad. There was never any remorse. He did not look back or get into the ruts of shoulda, coulda, woulda. He was genuinely happy and loved the freedom of his dreams that could be enjoyed without encumbrance or work.

When you encounter a dreamer, do not dismiss them as worthless. Listen to the ideas they share when you can. They often have time to think of things that are great ideas just waiting for a doer to put to work. They are contributors, just not in the traditional sense.

When I was a child outside with my Dad, whenever we saw great puffy clouds in the sky, Dad would say that they were the ideas generated in brain storms traveling to destinations unknown. Today, he would have been 83 and I am sure that he is happily puffing out dreams and ideas to float past the doers who will put them to work.

Happy Birthday Dad!

An Enterprise of One

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 12:45:00 +0000

Enterprise by Design (Part 7)

Can a single person with a small and closely held business be an enterprise? Yes, it is about the way in which the person makes money, often through disconnected business interests where there is little interactive relationship of customers.

Many independent contractors are an enterprise of one. An example may be helpful. A real estate agent in most cases is an independent contractor. Whether they are also an independent one person brokerage or affiliated with another brokerage, they are still independent with few if any restrictions on being involved in other businesses. Many have several businesses that they are involved in simultaneously and do not necessarily share a common customer base. They might sell a line of retail products, write and sell books, create and deliver training and or seminars. Some additionally offer property management services and broker price opinions for companies such as relocation companies. You will find these people also invest passively and actively in other companies.

This example shows that the person is a single individual with many lines of making money, there are no common employers, they may not employ anyone else and customers may not even be aware of their other business activities.

People who operate as an enterprise of one have to be highly organized to be successful. No matter how many skills, talents, or business interests they may have. They have one universal and limiting factor – Time.

Time forces the growing enterprise of one to engage in both active and passive businesses to generate money. In the example above, selling books they have written can be contracted to a third party requiring the management of the vendor rather than significant investment of time.

Perhaps what I find most interesting about people who fall in this category is that they are also the ones who often take leadership roles in the community, give their time, money and expertise to help others. They have learned to utilize their resources, energy and time on a level that brings envy and admiration.

An enterprise of one person does not necessarily lack focus at all. In fact due to their personal organization skills and use of time and resources, they are a highly desired contributor, vendor and service provider. These people do not do well in companies that limit business activities or require that they own all work product created during employment tenure. Consequently, most are independent.

Imagine the power a company could have if it engaged and utilized people who are an enterprise of one. Perhaps more exciting would be if the education and training people receive from early years through business activities opened the thinking and style of work to embrace the skills found in the people we call an enterprise of one.

Webs, Atoms & Enterprises

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 03:48:00 +0000

Enterprise by Design (Part 6)

Webs, atoms and enterprises actually have a lot in common. All are connected. Through those connections and interactions that create a continuum of energy. From that energy; new dollars, relationships, transactions, and “stuff” may be created, transformed and or vaporized.

Enterprises utilizing the connections and energy grow with less investment and structure. The challenge is that many enterprises do not use the power and scope of the business to attract and engage customers and prospects. The Internet (web) is the perfect partner to empower the enterprise.

Take for example General Electric. Their site www.ge.com has integrated all of the websites in several easy to navigate formats including an A – Z listing with links. Each company under the GE umbrella has a stand-alone website with similarities in style and navigation that helps promote the feeling that you are doing business with the same company. There is not much about the parent company in any of these sites except that you can get to the company site by clicking on the link at the bottom. While some of these would never share the same customers, there is the opportunity to port a positive customer experience throughout the GE branded sites.

It was not long ago when many NBC shows such as the Today show co-branded NBC with GE as a parent company. Today under NBC Universal, GE still has a 49% ownership share however there is little if any utilization of this major ownership stake from either the media companies or GE. The question that has to come to mind is with that large of an ownership state, it would seem like an opportunity for continued cross branding and customer experience.

Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. is highly diversified in its portfolio. What is interesting is that the featured product on its website http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/ is GEICO Insurance. You have some digging to do for other companies but you can buy Berkshire Hathaway Activewear on the homepage.

Prudential www.prudential.com leverages brand name across its business interests. No matter where you click on the site, you will be aware of the expanse of the enterprise. However, once you are transacting business or viewing a company related site separate from the corporate site, the enterprise is lost to the business you are viewing or working with. Customer experience and leverage are immediately limited. These become like electrons orbiting the nucleus of an atom, each on its own path but not necessarily interfacing with any other electron, orbit or even directly with the atom.

These are all examples of fairly large and diverse enterprises used as examples that will apply to even the smallest enterprise. One customer who buys two things through the same enterprise is worth double a single customer with a single purchase. A customer who buys from many companies within the enterprise is a lot more valuable especially if some of the products or services will create a repetitive purchase (annual renewals, upgrades, add-ons).

If the enterprise can leverage trust, consumer experience, value, quality and integrated needs, marketing and sales are less costly and more profitable. If we were to look at you enterprise, would the customer find many paths or find themselves in a dead end wherever the first point of engagement with your company occurred?

1099's in the House

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:52:00 +0000

Enterprise by Design (Part 5)

It’s a vendor, it’s a customer – no, it is an independent contractor. Independent contractors, 1099’s, are a significant part of the American workforce. There are certainly 1099 vendor only contractors but these are easier to work with and defined. The 1099’s that impact operations and relationships in an enterprise are those that blur the definition with activities and characteristics as both a customer and a vendor.

The opportunity and challenge is in knowing which hat each party is wearing at the point where money is a part of the conversation. This is particularly true in companies that use independent contractors as their primary staffing of projects and sales organizations where the sales are not necessarily company driven.

Consulting companies, particularly IT services companies, frequently employ 1099’s to bring specific expertise to client projects. This use makes sense as hiring a permanent employee for a limited time project would not be a good decision. It allows the company to meet demand without having high overhead. It also means that resources are not necessarily instantly available when you need them.

Real estate companies, due to licensing laws have a special arrangement with independent contractors that aligns the 1099 with the company closer and for longer terms than the 1099 who is basically a freelancer. A real estate agent, associate broker who affiliates with a broker is differentiated from staff first by compensation.

Particularly in situations similar to the consulting 1099’s and real estate licensee 1099’s, the enterprise needs to see them and provide interaction to meet the needs of both customer and vendor relationships.

They are a customer in that they need tools, services, expertise, management and resources of the company and purchase these with either a fee or a portion of earnings. They are a vendor in that they have tools, services, expertise and in some cases, either relationships or inventory that the company will leverage and profile as its own through the affiliation buying these at a negotiated rate, contingent fee, or fee for service.

So where do the challenges occur? Recruiting is a great example in both consulting companies and US real estate companies.

It seems that the pursuit of the independent contractor due to either need or competitive pressures often seems to have what the company is offering of value fade to the background. The independent contractor feels the power that is driven by the passion of the company’s pursuit and the balance that should be the value received by both vendor and customer, in the negotiation is lost. It is almost as if these companies come in with wallet open saying what do you want and what will it take to get you?

Most recruiters in the pursuit not only abdicate negotiating position but also set in motion an expectation that will continue throughout the tenure of the relationship and into any subsequent negotiation. It is often the beginning of a management nightmare. A lot of this occurs because the recruiter is compensated on immediate recruiting results rather than good judgment, quality or alignment with the long term needs of the company.

The impact to an enterprise is even more significant than a company that has only one core business. The value and opportunities that could be leveraged across the enterprise have not been a part of the value proposition in the beginning and will be difficult to engage without significant work, probable negotiation and competition of outside relationships that the 1099 may have had prior to affiliation or contracting to a project.

It is both a customer and a vendor relationship that should be defined by value given and received. The 1099 strategy for staffing is a great option but one that needs a business focus from the beginning.

Perhaps in negotiations some of the lyrics from either the Black Eyed Peas song called “House” or LMAO, Steve Aoki song – “I’m in the House” should resonate in the owner and recruiter’s heads.

The Cross Marketing Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 13:38:00 +0000

Enterprise by Design (Part 4)

In an ideal world cross marketing products, services and value would occur in an enterprise like dominoes creating a ripple effect through the company resulting in additional sales each time a lead, customer or transaction occurred anywhere in the enterprise.

That concept is the dream and objective of the enterprise but rarely has a real chance to occur. The reason is that there are no systematic pathways of processes in most companies to facilitate the process and few rewards for additional effort.

Most companies initiated from a core business. The ownership saw opportunity to sell products and services under the company to the same set of customers which created an added value of convenience for the customer and company alike. However since it was very important to keep the core business machine producing it created a silo effect.

The silo effect was the result of each business component growing with relative independence to all others. Each had different leadership, different sales teams, and different incentive/compensation systems. Right from the beginning, a new hire from orientation through training and recognition received for achievement was on a path to contribute to the silo they had been hired into. The information and introduction to other components of the business were there and the opportunity was there but it was not on the path, most often it was on branches that required taking a bit of detour from their primary path. When it occurred, it was seldom by plan.

Marketing personnel also tended to be focused on the silo where they had been assigned responsibility with little training in thinking of integrated marketing that potential would have multiple touch points and potential results.

The sales teams did not have real cross market understanding of how to integrate opportunities into sales and in most cases see little if any compensation for their efforts if they do try. In some industries this has led to business being referred to a friend who at least appreciates the effort or a company who will exchange something of value directly to the sales person with no benefit to the company.

Management teams viewed cross selling as an additional responsibility bringing more problems and challenges for them to deal with in transactions. Since most managers also need the respect, loyalty and like of the people they manage, there were few reasons to invite the challenge, especially if there was no compensation to be earned.

KPI (Key Performance Indicator) reports to the leadership gave great information on the state of the silos and the overall state of the enterprise but little information regarding the efforts or results of internal cross marketing. As a result, the challenge was invisible until it reared its ugly head from time to time when a competitor directly benefited because someone in the company gave a reference to an outside resource.

The fix is not simple and it is multi-dimensional, touching nearly every component structurally and strategically for businesses who want to cross market. There are both passive and active options to be considered for efforts. It also requires a change in culture to incorporate enterprise thinking and a machine with well-meshed cogs to produce optimum results. No contact should be forced to find resources internal or external to the company if they exist in the enterprise. Nothing is impossible if it is incorporated in the mission and processes which support the mission, it is enterpriseby design.

For additional information on operational machines and KPI’s, you may want to read the Operations and Opportunities series.

Value, Transactions & Customers

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 15:47:00 +0000

Enterprise by Design (Part 3)

Designing an enterprise requires an understanding of all of the components. Today, we will do a little open mind surgery to expand thinking and definition. Expanded thinking always creates opportunity.

In all customer and vendor relationships there must be an exchange of value. Without an exchange of value, there is no transaction and without transactions, there is no business.

So does the transaction define the customer or does the customer define the transaction? In truth it is value that defines the transaction and the customer. Since value is the center component, what defines value?

Value is not always products, services and or money. Value can be ideas, concepts, methodologies, relationships and of course exchange. It can be transacted in many ways from direct sale to barter. Value fulfills, gratifies, builds, enables and achieves.

Fulfills – wants, needs, dreams and desire
Gratifies – brings good feelings, positive energy or position
Builds – resources, capital, structure, esteem and power
Enables – progress, other transactions, and relationships
Achieves – goals, direction, and mission objectives

Transactions as stated are an exchange of value. Transactions without value given and received should be considered either charity or marketing.

Customers – The most common customer considered in business discussions is the external customer. However in enterprise design, there are two other types of customers to be considered. These are the Internal Customer and the Shared Customer.

External customers are not related to your company, business or enterprise except by a transaction in which the company, business or enterprise is the vendor

Example – You go to the store and buy groceries.

Internal customers are those under the company or enterprise umbrella where the transaction facilitates a critical process, another transaction, or are required in the value chain for the external customer to transact business with multiple components of the enterprise as a shared relationship.

Example – You go to the hospital and while there you see doctors, have tests and or procedures. Each doctor or service linked to the hospital is an internal customer to the hospital. You may receive an aggregated bill or separate bills but everything was linked to your hospital experience.

Shared customers are those that have stand-alone transactions with companies within the enterprise, partners or related services and are linked by shared relationships.

Example – You buy a property through a real estate company and need a mortgage, title insurance, inspections, an appraisal, moving companies, utility services and more. Some of these may exist under the enterprise, some will be partners and others simply related services where is often coordination and dependent conditions. All are related by the relationship to the customer.

Value, transactions and customers are required for all businesses but enterprise design requires open mind surgery to consider vision and concepts that expand and define the enterprise and relationships it will enjoy.

Follow the Money

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 01:44:00 +0000

Enterprise by Design (Part 2)

How are enterprises created? It begins when someone catches the scent of opportunity. They begin to check to see if whether what they sense is a part of a path worthy of following. As they travel the path, they are likely to be greeted with other scents as the path branches. Some of the branches will lead to deadends and false starts, others will promise options worthy of pursuit.

The decisions on the paths worthy of commitment have another feature. Money. Money that is tangible, trackable and obtainable. As a lady with the initials of LK would say, nearly as a mantra: “Follow the Money.”

Although her instruction was more from an audit perspective, it works when you are in pursuit of opportunty too. In the post, What is an Enterprise?, we gave a number of examples and kinds of enterprises. All were initiated when someone caught the scent and followed the money.

Questions that will help you find and pursue the paths that will become the linkages of your enterprise include:

Do I share customers with a company offering different products and services than I offer?
Do these customers buy from companies offering those products:

At the same time they have a transaction with my company?
Before the transaction with my company?
Following the transaction with my company?
How often does this occur?
Would the customer buy these products and services from my company if they were offered?

Would this increase customer “stickiness”?
Does it result in dollars or discounts due to the relationship of companies under my business umbrella?
Will the additional products or services be ancillary, stand alone or become the core?
Will brand extension be an asset or a hinderance?
Who will be the customer?

Internal
External
Affiliated

If it is a stand alone with no relationship to the core business or other businesses under the umbrella, why do you want to pursue this?

Interest
Passion
Influencer
Opportunity

These questions will not be the end of the questions but will get you started. In each case, as the follow the money question – Can we make money? Each question will help you develop a series of linkages that may be important in your consideration.

An example that may be helpful, there are obvious linkages in a real estate transaction of products and services that are necessary to complete the sale. However the number of home buyers that buy a new or different car within 90 – 180 days is very high.

Does that mean that the brokerage should own a car company or an interest in one? Probably not as there is no guarantee that the customer will select the brand or type offered.

The preferred arrangement that has money and relationship is to create relationship with car vendors who are in the car business to create an affiliate relationship. These help provide stickiness and extend the customer relationship with very little cost but benefit in customer satisfaction, retention and referrals.

Catching a scent trail does not mean that you will find the meat but if your nose is not to the ground and checking the air, it is unlikely you will find the scent. In addition to scent, follow the money.

· The dog pictured is Blue, a Bluetick Coonhound owned by our daughter. He has a passport and follows scents all over the US and in many countries. A working dog, he carries his own pack.

What is an Enterprise?

noreply@blogger.com (Blog Owner) — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 20:26:00 +0000

Enterprise By Design (Part 1)

Enterprise by Design is the theme this month. Many businesses have features or functions that would be found in an enterprise but do not capture dollars that are available because they are not thinking like an enterprise.

So what is an enterprise? Most definitions offered in dictionaries make the term synonymous with business, firm or company. But then how do you differentiate the company that owns multiple companies and business interests under one umbrella? For the purpose of this series, we will look at the enterprise as a business that is complex and may have multiple businesses, interests, transactions and customers that may or may not be shared with the core business, if there is one.

A few examples may be helpful.

There are many kinds of enterprises including:

Related customers
Related products
Related products and services
Related transactions
No Relationship – all stand-alone but common ownership
Affiliated services and relationships
Core business with ancillary services
Core business and tangential products or services
Sales to internal and external customers
Brand related
Related product lines

In essence, the business becomes an enterprise when it expands its sources of revenue. This creates complexity and opportunity and in some cases “happened” rather than resulting from a plan.

This series will explore types of enterprises, enterprise thinking, methods to expand your business into an enterprise and or expand an existing enterprise, case studies and more. We hope you will enjoy following this series.

‘Twas Five Months ‘til Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Blog Owner) — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 17:19:00 +0000

Christmas In July (Part 13)

‘Twas five months ‘til Christmas and all through the company house

Everything was stirring, opportunity beckoning like a march from Strauss.

Business plans and strategy reviewed with care

Dollars promised through December would be there.

The producers digging for business widespread

While visions of dollars danc’d in their heads.

The CFO is counting and sees no cap

It will not be the usual fourth quarter nap.

Out in the market we have caused such a clatter

What they think really does not matter.

The impact grew like fire in a flash

The momentum will be more than a splash.

The glint of rewards beginning to show,

The work is not over I truly know.

I am in wonder at what is beginning to appear

The best in our people with awe I revere.

Even the most senior of our staff are lively and quick

They too are energized by the business uptick.

Faster than ever deals begin to frame

The teams called out each mentioned by name.

Now Leaders, Now Managers, Now Staff and Producers

On market, On leads, On partners and consumers

To the top of the market and over the brawl

Now close the deals, close the deals, close the deals all.

As anticipation mounts when the wins begin to fly

Every obstacle is met making challenges nigh.

So to the top of business the producers flew

More dollars for each and bonuses too.

Then in the market I heard the poof, poof

Competition backing down under our hoof.

I knew it was not the market turning around

100% market share is aways available I’ve found.

Reasons for failure were given the boot

Winning for all is such a hoot.

The dollars and rewards of the attack

Are building and not one is looking back.

Their eyes, how they twinkle and attitudes merry

Changes in culture forward we carry.

Armed and ready we draw our bow

New targets in sight, hit with results to show.

We have dug in our feet and shown our teeth

Our integrity, mission and vision we keep.

We’ve cut a broad swath with fire in the belly

The market has opened up like a deli.

I feel the passion and energy of my old self

Leading, laughing, thinking, it’s all top shelf.

Looking back now fear was all in my head

Being proactive means nothing to dread.

It is easy and exciting each day as I go to work

The hum and pace are more than a perk.

Tensions, concern and anxiety no longer pose

A threat to prosperity on the path I chose.

Awakened from my thoughts as if by a shot from a pistol

The newest numbers make everyone whistle.

All indicators suggest a December that will be off the charts

A very merry Christmas bringing dollars and joy in our hearts.

An adaptation by Pat Soltys of the poem “Twas The Night Before Christmas” written by Clement Clark Moore.

This post concludes the Christmas in July Brings Dollars in December series. Our next series is Enterprise by Design.

Using Money

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 20:16:00 +0000

Christmas in July (Part 12)

The Christmas in July initiative was already showing promise for a very good return on invested time and energy. The owner of S and Company had done a masterful job of not only including everyone but also engaging their participation and ownership of the objectives. Reward systems had been set up that would leverage dollars brought in. New ideas for making money and saving money had been implemented.

Being an entrepreneur, he knew that using money proactively brought greater opportunities. The time was ripe with the momentum that had been created to put some ideas into action that would use money effectively. While there were many opportunities, he selected one that was politically, socially, culturally and most important economically advantageous. He knew that the popular environmental movement would work on his behalf.

The idea came as he saw a number of posts on Facebook regarding the impact of plastic water bottles in landfills. The posts talked about the cost and challenges to produce, package, store, refrigerate and dispose of use and toss bottles. A little research brought up many sites with facts, costs and impact of bottled water. What had been a convenience now was turning into consciousness.

He asked the accounting department to pull information related to the cost of supplying bottled water in his company with calculations as to the approximate cost per bottle with everything from procurement to disposal calculated. He was surprised to find that even though the price per bottle ranged from .30 to .50 depending on whether they bought custom labeled or not, the total costs were closer to a dollar per bottle. The number of bottles that were being used, consumed and disposed of in his company alone represented staggering cost and impact numbers. It was a line item that had basically been hidden as a part of “kitchen supplies”. The number had taken a big jump each year for the past few years but no one had broken out the costs.

He began researching what it would cost to have nice customized, reusable water bottles in sport and other formats and found costs ranging from .50 to $5.00 in quantity. There were even ones in which an individual’s name could be individually applied. It would not take very long before the cost spent was fully recaptured as long as there were viable sources for refilling the bottles.

Most of the larger locations had water fountains permanently installed. There were refrigerators (many with water in the door) in the smaller locations, access to water fountains in the mall kiosk locations and a number of water coolers installed. Access and refrigeration should not be the problem.

Working with the marketing team on the design for the bottles, an order was placed so that there would be at least one bottle per person and two for the staff who were always in the office. The bottles ordered were designed to have a name written in permanent ink to identify and personalize the bottles and were dishwasher safe. Additional bottles were ordered to be sold through the company store as replacements or used for marketing purposes. Even if sold at cost, there would be a positive net gain at the end of the year. For a reasonable additional cost, sales people could have a quantity of the bottles further customized with their name in addition to the company name and logo.

The next manager’s meeting was just around the corner and the owner decided that it was a perfect opportunity to launch the campaign and begin distribution of the bottles. It would be an internal and external promotion leveraging the green aspects, social responsibility and letting those in the company know that this was another way that the company was also looking for ways to achieve the goals that had been set.

It was a good use of money. The only bottled water that would be bought in the company would now be for the water coolers where there was not another bottled water source and those would be bottles that were refilled and delivered. No more storage, no more bottle refrigeration, no more picking up bottles left around and there would be a lot less sent to recycling. It was company, budget and environmentally friendly. An investment of less than 8% of the annual cost would reduce the overall cost nearly 72% of what it had been in the previous year.

Saving Money

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 16:36:00 +0000

Christmas in July (Part 11)

Recognizing and taking advantage of an opportunity is a skill that only the best of leaders possess. It goes beyond ideas and people skills as it requires an awareness of the environment and sometimes the guts to do something about it.

The owner of S and Company decided to focus on the money this week in his Christmas in July initiative. His attention on making money would not turn to the flip side of the coin – saving money. Every fiber of his being loved the proactive side of business. He had grown his businesses and lived by the axiom –

“You can’t save your way to wealth.”

He knew in this initiative that rather than trying to save money by making large cuts or changes, it would be the small things. He wanted to create a pro-actively efficient operation that would change the culture and habits of people from users to stakeholders.

The opportunity was in front of his eyes. In the Christmas in July initiative, everyone had an opportunity to win and rewards were based on profit. He had the opportunity to utilize peer influence to create savings especially in the small things. It would take a little education but that did not have to be formal excepting with the management team. Everything else could be subtle, he could even have some fun with it and probably leverage the momentum he had set in place by working to make the company a green friendly company. Red and Green as colors also worked well as a part of his plan. Best of all, if it was a peer movement, it would not be seen as a top down mandate. It would create ownership of the action and results.

Through the peer representative group that had been established, he knew he could start the ripple that would become a peer objective.

He told the group that since the rewards for achievement that were based on profit, there were ways in which each person could contribute to the goal through little things. He outlined some of the ways which were small and yet could make a difference. If everyone simply encouraged others to be proactive, it would be easy.

Turn off the lights – if a room is not being used and it is not a safety issue, turn off the lights. The savings would not only be in power used but also light bulbs and maintenance.
Think digital – the need for hard copies has decreased significantly yet habits often still mean that we print and copy even when there is little future use for the paper afterward. If printing for review purposes, consider using black and white mode unless color is important. Since copier and printer toner, paper and maintenance were fairly big individual line items, this could have real impact.
Courtesy Copies for groups, charities and yard sales that are well-intentioned, still cost money. In essence, it makes everyone in the company support an individual effort when company equipment is used for individual purposes. Savings would be in paper, toner and maintenance.
Mail or Send Electronically – Delivery by email has a lot of advantages when appropriate as it allows attachment, time and date stamp as well as receipts. It also costs almost nothing and requires the same or less effort than mailing or preparing a delivery. Savings is in cost of mail, delivery and printing were easy to capture.
Meeting Deadlines – turning in transactions and other work on time allows staff the opportunity to better manage their workload and facilitate everyone’s needs. Reducing and or eliminating special handling and emergencies has a savings in potential overtime paid as well as fines that can be assessed for late filings.

All of these were really small things that did not require extra effort but rather a consciousness and would also apply to their own business practices. The peer representative group and the managers saw these as easy wins and asked if there could be some sort of reporting on the monthly impact.

The owner agreed that he would produce a graph that would show overall and line items that had change that were impacted by everyone. They also gave a number of suggestions on their own. The time between the initiation of these cost saving measures through the end of December with reinforcement through the impact graphs and recognition would create new habits that would carry well beyond the Christmas in July Brings Dollars in December initiative.

Making Money

noreply@blogger.com (Blog Owner) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 16:14:00 +0000

Christmas In July (Part 10)

The owner of S and Company knew that he had done so many things right in the kick-off of his Christmas in July initiatives. The stage was set to keep the momentum going to produce revenue that would make the fourth quarter and December one of his best ever.

This week he decided to turn a lot of his attention to the money side of the business. He decided to group his efforts into making money, saving money and using money. Money is not simply the end result of a business initiative, it is a tool, it is security and it is leverage. The initiatives that he put in place would produce revenue, but not necessarily a greater percentage of money that would hit the bottom line unless he changed something.

His margins in his core business were pretty skinny due to market and competitive pressures, so energy and time spent in that area would yield little additional return. He had many other components in his enterprise that had higher margins. Some of these were stand-alone products and services but most could be sold with the core business transaction. In fact, almost every one of the products and services in the group would be needed and purchased somewhere by the customer on the course of the transaction.

The answer had been in front of him all of the time. He had built a great enterprise but it had a lot of elements that were not connected and the customer base was not leveraged to create multiple purchases.

What were the roadblocks that kept this from occurring naturally? Thinking about it, the answers were fairly simple but the solutions would be more complex.

WIIFM – The sales team focused on the core transaction or business segment that they were involved in as they saw the most personal benefit there. Ancillary product or services did not necessarily bring them any additional rewards that they could see. Managers were often seeking favor with the sales team concentrating on problem solving.
Education and Orientation – The Company had spent a lot of time and money educating the sales teams and the management teams on selling their core business but little time in understanding how to leverage the other products and services in the enterprise to their advantage. Sure they were told about the other business components in orientation but there was no reason for continued top of mind awareness. Each business unit, due to structure, orientation and default, was in a world of their own with little interaction.
Promotion – The consumer was not introduced to other products and services except by default. Web presence, social media, presentations, and marketing pretty much focused on the core transaction. There was little if any opportunity for the consumer to engage the enterprise with or without a transaction.

A visit to the grocery store gave him some ideas. What if the web site which drove most of their business and was a resource for consumers and sales people had virtual end caps? What if at different points when they visited part of the web site a virtual nudge appeared to bring awareness to a related product or service? Could he place other triggers that would bring all tangents together and in focus?

Could he also leverage his customer care group for presales rather than focusing on post-sale only? Were there metrics that would give the sales team confidence that leveraging the enterprise did add to their rewards in terms of easier transactions, customer stickiness and friendly internal vendors?

The more that he thought this, it also struck him that the education in the company by default created an adversarial relationship where salespeople were individual hunters rather than having a business partnership with the company. He realized that market pressures had created the thought process that the salesperson would not make as much money if the company made more money.

There was a lot of work to do. Lots of opportunity and he could see that a few tweaks would change the picture so that revenue also had a higher profit margin by focusing on the enterprise rather than individual components. It would not be a quick change but more of a systemic change that would touch almost every component of the company. He knew that individuals and the company would be stronger as a result with tighter bonds which meant a long term return on his investment.

Ripples that Make Waves

noreply@blogger.com (Blog Owner) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 16:11:00 +0000

Christmas In July (Part 9)

The owner of S and Company was humbled by the accolades he received from the Christmas in July launch meeting. He had empowered and gained the gift of empowerment that would change the way he led the company. He shook almost every hand as they exited the meeting and accepted the statements of support, passion and drive they shared. He was surprised by the number of flashes he saw in the audience as pictures were taken.

He realized that the meeting had been like a stone dropped in the water or a radio wave broadcast, the ripples created energy that would touch all in the wake. This was emphasized when he saw the postings that began to appear on Facebook through the company page and individual pages. He got a few calls from the media and some of his competitors wanting to know, “What Happened?” Since the meeting was staged so quickly, the rumor mill had been denied the chance to alter the message, intent or impact. Reactions that would follow did not have the power that an initiative well-launched, brings.

He had engaged from the stage. His presentation featured pictures of people and success stories and there were many shout-outs of recognition and thanks. Each manager, division leader and peer representative had been recognized and tasked with accountability now spread throughout the company. He had also asked them for their help, support and shown a transparency that was greeted with appreciation. A genuine request for help with a worthy reason seemed to bring out the best in people, including willingness to pitch in.

Pitch in they did! Several had back burner deals that with a little work could be posted. Others had things they intended to work on at some point that they could bring to the forefront. Perhaps most interesting was the number of people who loved the strategic concepts he had shown where certain types of buyers were most likely to result in multiple sales, approaches to relatively low hanging fruit and ways to utilize company campaigns. They asked about teams, additional information and requests for leaders in these pursuits.

It was interesting to see that when they were pulling together as a team, the individual interests that were often thorns in everyone’s side seemed to take a back seat. Activity and focus on the objectives also brought natural talent to the forefront. Winning together meant that each one also would win. He had not thought that it could be done with such a large company, spread over a lot of geography.

He knew that he would have to keep feeding the wave so that energy was constantly renewed. It occurred to him then that every achievement organization from scouting to armed services to sales used recognition as a fuel. Whether it was a milestone reached, a competency conquered or entrance to a select group, recognition was the fuel – frequent, meaningful and the more public the better. It needed to include not just the planned points of recognition but small items as well, including personal touches. He also made sure that in the recognition, family and friends would be able to witness the limelight.

He decided to write a letter to the family of each person in his company thanking them for their ongoing support. He would briefly outline the initiative and let them know that this meant that everyone was putting forth a bit of extra effort. He would let them know that there were rewards and bonuses for successful completion of the goals. The letter went out the next day.

The waves had expanded from a single point to gaining energy of their own. Each time a barrier was encountered it did not stop the wave, but rather sent it in a new direction with more energy. The activities built around the initiative helped him discover many gifts from strategic surprise through recognition and inclusion. It certainly was Christmas in July and he felt that the dollars would be reaped well into December and beyond.

Leadership In Action

noreply@blogger.com (Blog Owner) — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 18:41:00 +0000

Christmas In July (Part 8)

Through this series, we have been following the owner of S and Company as he implements his Christmas in July initiatives. He has now engaged everyone in the company and outlined the market opportunity he sees, but knows success will never come on autopilot.

He has always loved history and learning about the great leaders of the past and present, gaining an understanding of what set them apart from all others. As he thought about them, there were several traits that became apparent.

Those leaders were connected with and engaged the people who followed them. While there was hierarchy it did not get in the way of relationships.

Their followers were loyal and willing to pursue the objectives they set because respect, trust and alignment to mission had been earned. The respect, trust and alignment were mutual.

Those leaders communicated directly making each person feel that they spoke directly to them.

Those leaders brought people at every level into tactical and strategic plans with each person having ownership in the success of the objective.

The leaders demonstrated a thirst and drive for the win, not for their own glory but for everyone participating individually and as a group.

He had to lead. This was not something to be delegated. As the company had grown and there were more layers, he found himself heavily engaged in the administrative and financial side of the business, harnessed to the enterprise. A lot of his interaction was with a very small group even though he had always stated an open door policy. His communications had become “State of the Company” and communications which were one way via the company communications channels.

Sure he was at each awards ceremony, welcomed new people at orientation and tried to squeeze time in to walk around and talk to people but none of this really made him feel engaged. Creating the peer representative group really felt great and was invigorating. He had been surprised that many of them felt that he had been “untouchable” with access restricted by a number of gatekeepers.

The speech given by George S. Patton the day before D Day came to mind. He was never thought of himself as a desk commando but a man of action, inspiration and leadership. It brought back memories of when the company had been small and struggling where he was hands-on and motivating people without money.

He felt the excitement building. He had the traits; some had become dormant over the years or grown a bit soft. It was time to really bring these out. Like a commander looking at maps of the battlefront, he devoured all of the information and ideas that had been put together in the initial strategy meeting that he had called Gifts In The Market. Rather than presenting this through others in many small meetings, he decided that he needed to present it “Patton” style.

A venue was secured that could hold the whole company with large screens. It would not be a long meeting but would give the platform to launch the initiative and personally speak to each person. He decided that it would be an early morning meeting. Buses would be available from each location to bring teams to the meeting that was titled Market Assault. Very little additional information was given as to the content of the meeting. He went to work on what he would say, how it would be presented and how he would work to engage each person.

Sure it was going to cost a little bit but the rewards and the timing would make it all worthwhile. The Christmas in July Initiatives would be launched in with panache, style and strength. This was a win-win that would allow the company to accelerate the dollars in December goals.

All managers and division leaders were tasked to make this a success in terms of attendance as well as all of the components that would follow to ensure momentum.

Gifts in the Market

noreply@blogger.com (Blog Owner) — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:58:00 +0000

Christmas in July (Part 7)

Christmas in July is sometimes about discovering the gifts that are waiting for you to receive them. In this series, we will continue the story of the owner of S and Company who has embraced the Christmas in July initiatives.

The owner of S and Company really wanted to make sure that everything possible was in position to make sure that the company and the people in the company would reach their goals. As he was searching for opportunities, a news story on the web caught his attention. It was about how change occurs in communities that is fairly subtle and a series of separate events. Once the changes accumulate, the landscape is changed and totally different. Because the changes are not necessarily related and have little relationship in timing, the change does not really stand out.

He thought about the market place. Each year when the company writes the business plan, the marketplace data is used as a part of the metrics. But what actually changed in the marketplace that might have created unseen opportunity? All of a sudden, it hit him. While some of the revenue and units available in the community had not changed greatly, the competitors had. One group of companies had a major brand change; others were suffering an identity crisis as their brand had been sold. Several companies had merged and a couple of others were closed. There were others that were doing better than ever and some in which owner age, health or other challenges meant that changes for those companies would soon occur as well.

The more that he thought about what had occurred in not even a year’s time, he realized that the way the company had been using market place data in their business plan hid significant opportunity. There were gifts in the market just waiting to be claimed.

Some of the opportunities were fairly small, others had great potential and all would require a strategic pursuit. He realized that the cumulative value of even a portion of these opportunities more than guaranteed that the goals for dollars in December would be met. It would take a team effort and it would require both internal and external messages. It would also require that the company operat from a position of strength.

He called the managers together, as well as the division heads across the company, to explain the opportunity he saw. Excitement grew as each person in the meeting realized what this would mean. He told them that this would require a team effort and each of them would have a significant role as individuals and in the way they would work as a company. The meeting had been planned to continue through a working lunch so that he could take advantage of the excited mood in the planning, tasking and launch. The buzz was infectious.

At the conclusion of the meeting, campaign names and dates were established, targets and strategies defined. He came back to operating from a position of strength and asked each what that meant to them. There were a variety of answers, some that did not match the people who offered them. In the end he said that there were many times in which he felt that they had each, and as a company, been playing defense – countering, protecting and explaining. This was quite natural as all were at least in part problem solvers. While problem solving would not go away, he wanted them to understand that no new ground is gained in playing defense. He wanted each one to assess their own strengths and the company strengths and to utilize those to drive momentum. Let others play defense while they moved forward and conquered targets. This would be important in being effective and efficient as the one playing offense rarely had to play defense.

The Support Team

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 01:34:00 +0000

Christmas in July (Part 6)

The owner of S and Company had decided to go full speed ahead with a Christmas in July initiative. The meeting with The Managers went very well and actually created goals a bit beyond the ones he had in mind. Everyone seemed to be on board and the coaching/accountability meetings would give him a lot of insight, opportunity to work directly with the managers and really gave him a chance to feel the pulse of business that seemed to get lost in the corporate offices.

He had turned the tables so that the producers were participating in helping their managers achieve their goals and really contributing to the growth of the producers and the company. The representative team loved having a role and the buzz that had been created throughout the company could be heard just about everywhere.

The group remaining that he really needed to bring on board was the support team. This team included everyone who was a part of the company supporting the business but not a producer or manager. Basically, these were all of the people who kept the wheels on the bus going round - front desk, administrative, IT, marketing, accounting as well as the corporate leadership team. The corporate leadership team and the departmental managers had been in the manager’s meeting, mostly on the sidelines.

As he thought about the group, excepting most of those on the corporate leadership team, these people were task oriented, well trained in their area but with little connection in terms of either role or tasks with most of the company. Some had little interaction or communication with producers and managers other than something related to one of their tasks. They knew how to keep the wheels on the bus but did not know how their job impacted the speed and/or destination of the bus. Their training and orientation included a few words about the importance of their job to the company but nothing that made them a part of the team. They were important to the success of the goals and initiatives, but it was difficult for them to see when focused on tasks.

He decided that first he and the corporate leadership team, with the divisional managers, had to make sure that they saw why their job was so important and what it would impact if they were backlogged or for some other reason became a bottleneck. They also had to understand the impact of their communications when talking to managers or producers. Finally, they needed to understand what they could do to help build opportunities and revenue in the company.

The decision was made to set aside a portion of the net profit that exceeded the year end objective as a bonus pool specifically for this group. He then decided to feature one or two a week with a brief bio and personal statement on the company Intranet to introduce each as more than a person others saw coming and going. A part of this was to be written by them as a short "here is what I do". Each of these jobs became a part of a puzzle in which the picture, when completed, showed everyone as a puzzle piece connected to others.

The departmental managers were tasked to come up with a method of distribution for the bonuses which would require participation, recognition of extra effort and reaching out to be a team player. Word spread that they would be included in the Christmas in July initiative, even before the bonus plan was finalized. There was a noticeable difference in energy, more smiles and seeking information to learn what they could do to help achieve the goals. Unexpectedly, one of the first things that happened voluntarily was that they asked about the vacation schedule so that they could help by providing cross coverage.

The distribution plan was modeled on the concept of "catch me doing something right". An online system was set up on the company Intranet to collect responses. The departmental managers also decided that there needed to be interim awards and recognition. Each person who was recognized on the Intranet each month was put in a drawing for lunch with the boss.

It was beginning to look like things were really coming together for the Christmas in July initiative. The next step was to take a strategic look at how to leverage the market.

The Producers

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 03:47:00 +0000

Christmas in July (Part 5)

The owner of S and Company knew that the Management Team would face challenges while executing the ambitious Christmas in July goals that had been laid out in the meeting unless they could change their methods of operations and working with their teams. The production team’s expectations of the managers were not necessarily the actions and activities that would promote business growth.

All but a couple of the managers had been in their roles for a number of years, long enough that it took a lot to get them excited. They maintained more than motivated. Growth came primarily as a result of their team’s production, even though they were quick to take credit for the growth.

The producers were a fairly independent group. About 40% were seasoned professionals who needed little from their managers until they ran into a problem. The next tier, about 30%, had been in the business and the company 2 – 3 years and would remind you of teenagers with their behavior. Another 20% were newer with two years or less under their belt and the remainder would be consider new.

Very few, if any, of the producers had reached their potential and each had needs that the manager should be able to leverage to help them and the business grow, The ones who would probably benefit the most and bring the greatest return on invested effort were also the most difficult to work with. They were in the 30% group and had just enough experience, success and tenure to think they had outgrown the manager’s ability to help them. The managers felt little love from this group and, in general, felt if they came to the manager it would be because they had a tough problem or wanted their compensation increased.

Compounding the challenges that existed in the company and the marketplace was timing. It was the middle of summer. Summer vacations, the lure of summer events and family commitments added to the breather many wanted to take after working hard through the spring and early summer busy times. It is always difficult to start an ambitious initiative in the summer.

The owner knew that he needed to really change things to make this work. He hoped that the behavior he was modeling would transfer to the managers, but knew that the group they would use these skills with would be the new and newer producers who still allowed them a pedestal. He decided to turn the tables.

He decided to create a contest in which the production team would stretch their managers by giving their manager points for positive and productive work with the producers. He asked for two representatives of each production tier to meet with him and be the courier of the information back to the producers and act as a leader in this project. He told them about the goals, with the largest being that everyone would grow as they achieved. He knew that spreading responsibility and roles for the short term would bring great results.

A point system was designed so that any producer could give four points to the managers score card for a growth activity which included strategy and planning sessions. Three points for proactive group activities which could include great meetings, lunch and learns or marketing activities. Two points would be given for standard training and/or coaching and one point for problem solving. Managers could also be given a negative point if it was felt that they were not leading, not available (business hours) or several other items that the production team voted to put on the list. A reward was set for the winning manager and team. To win, managers would need to have not only the highest point count but also had to have points awarded by each person on their team.

The managers and representatives worked together to present the contest and goals at the next meeting. Producers liked being able to help their manager gain points to win and everyone seemed to be excited. The peer representative changed the tone from top down to working together.

The managers each stepped up their game as they could not control points being given and did not know where they stood. Skills and ideas that had gone dormant were brought new life. Producers were involved and finding new value in their manager and the atmosphere was great to drive production. It was a great initiative with everyone having the opportunity to win. The changes were definitely the best gift delivered through Christmas in July and the owner knew that these would bring dollars in December.

The owner was pleased with the process and initial enthusiasm, but knew that there was one other group that had to be brought on board. If the operational staff and core support teams were not a part of goal, they could potentially be the wet blanket. The next post will tell that part of the story.

The Management Team

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 12:33:00 +0000

Christmas in July (Part 4)

Last week in Who’s on Your Team?, we suggested a review of the players who would help you execute the Christmas in July planning and be able to lead the implementation of the plan. Integrating new energy and ideas through a specialty group must work with and through your existing management team if you want all hands on deck and pulling in the same direction. Gaining buy-in, involving and holding each member of the management team accountable will bring better results. The story of S and Company tells how one company decided to motivate their managers.

It was early July and the management team was assembled with the meeting room arranged in U shape seating to encourage interaction, allow viewing of presentation materials and make sure that the presenter was not only a focal point but could see the reactions exhibited by everyone. The meeting started in the normal fashion rounding up stragglers from phone calls, pre-meeting breaks, conversations and other distractions about five minutes after the time that was designated. As everyone took their seats, personalities were readily apparent. There are a total of 22 on the management team each with personality, needs, and an ego.

The owner of the company brought the team together to announce a new business strategy which would change the company’s branding that had been in place for at least two generations. The change would also bring new tools, systems, opportunities and would create much needed changes in the company.

The meeting started with the usual agenda of updates, issues and opportunities. When the opportunities section came up, the owner walked to the front of the room. On the screen behind him, a picture of a Christmas tree appeared. Underneath the tree were gifts with names of each person in the room on them. There were also gifts for everyone in the company and others labeled for the people the company served. The room became silent waiting for the owner to speak.

He asked each to write down what they wanted for Christmas as a gift. They also were asked to write down what they would want professionally, for the area that they managed and for the people who worked for them.

It took a while as people decided how to answer - a politically correct answer, what their head told them or where their heart led them. The owner said that they had tried to get Santa involved but since he was already booked, each of them would need to figure out how to get what they wanted. Each manager was given all of the stats relative to the area that they managed and asked to determine what they would need to do to have the gifts they wanted under the Christmas tree in December.

This was a surprise as several of the managers were used to dumping problems and challenges on the company in part to cover what they were not doing or change the focus. The meeting progressed with each person working on their plan, sometimes collaborating with others. Individuals were called out to meet with the owner in an adjoining room to discuss their “gifts” and plans. It was both a midyear planning session and a personnel review.

Near the end of the meeting, the owner came back in with the collective list of what each wanted to achieve by Christmas. The numbers were posted as well as the goals and it kind of took everyone’s breath away. It was an awesome but possible goal. It required that they work as a team, leverage tools and business systems and required high accountability. The best part was that each person had determined how they would be held accountable. The accountability aligned with the company’s methodology only now it was their idea rather than company direction.

The finale of the meeting was when the owner brought in the team that had been assembled to bring new ideas and help move the company toward year end goals. They were introduced as resources to work with the managers to accomplish individual and company goals.

The owner asked each person to take initiative, collaborate and push their comfort zone to accomplish the goals they shared earlier. These goals would become the company goals. Finally the owner asked if they would be willing to share the risk of the pursuit with him. He offered to a bonus based on exceeding goals with up to 50% of the net profit beyond the goal put into a bonus pool. Managers who exceeded their goals would share in the bonus directly related to the percentage of goal they and their area exceeded. Managers who did not make their goal and did not make the company requirements for the area managed would lose 1% of their incentive compensation for each 10% mark where the requirement was not met. In essence, meeting company requirements would mean no loss in compensation but exceeding goals would have rewards above and beyond the compensation plan.

There was quite a bit of discussion as some were fearful that they had set their objectives too high and others who felt confident they would meet and exceed their goals.

The owner then announced that he would again be meeting with them within the next week to review requirements and set final goals. The strategy they had created and could refine before the meeting would also be reviewed. Each month they would meet again. While there would be accountability the owner would assume a coaching role to help each of them achieve. Each was encouraged to deliver information ahead so that they would be able to gain the most from the coaching meeting.

Each management meeting afterward focused on achieving the goals. In the first of December meeting, the owner brought in 22 gift wrapped packages. Each package had a thank you note and a check for 50% of the additional bonus earned to date. The packages could not be opened until the meeting was adjourned. Those that had not reached bonus had a small amount, a gift, to encourage them to push hard through the remainder of the month.

Team spirit was high and the best end of the year strategy meeting the company had ever had was held. The Christmas in July meeting brought dollars in December outperforming every company in the market and created a leadership training program for the resource team that had been brought in to contribute new ideas and energy. Best of all, many of the managers adopted the accountability and coaching style modeled by the owner with their teams creating change that would continue through the next year.

Who’s on Your Team?

noreply@blogger.com (Blog Owner) — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 14:50:00 +0000

Christmas In July (Part 3)

Yesterday, my husband, Mark, and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. It is more than a celebration of the number of years we have been married, it is the celebration of a partnership with complementary skills, shared goals, an aligned vision and two people jointly willing to pull their weight without dependency. We are a team.

Companies that embrace the concept of Christmas in July mid-year planning and employ initiatives necessary to realize the revenue in December need a committed team. The owner or one member alone will not accomplish the goals no matter how great the ideas are or how hard you work. Santa without elves probably yields a pretty empty sleigh.

First, do you have the people on your team who are ready, willing and able to take leading roles, fully commit to the objectives and bring a passionate focus to the mission? Does your team work as a team or are they a collection of individuals that share little, including risk and reward? Are your team members willing to be mutually accountable?

Before you say yes, because you have leadership, really take a tough look – have the roles and responsibilities become the job where energy, creativity and willingness to push are a bit tired? (see post called Fearless.) You may want to bring in a string of players tasked with key areas for making the initiative successful. Your existing leadership team may be re-energized by the spirit and enthusiasm that those who have not had the opportunity to play a key role in an initiative can bring. It is not going around your team it is working through the team.

Once you have decided, who should be on the team, consider the challenges and opportunities that each team member brings. You need to get ready to “sell” your concept and create buy-in. It may seem strange that you need to “sell” to your selected team but you will produce far greater energy and creativity with less resistance than any mandate will bring. How you sell and get people excited will most likely ripple through the people they talk to.

Once your team is in place and you have gained the commitment necessary, defined the objectives and tasks/roles have been accepted, there is a lot of work to do. A number of pointers can be found in the post “When the Ink is Dry.”

Mark and I never would have guessed as high school sweethearts where our partnership would lead. It has been filled with opportunities, a few adventures, great times and some decisions that were not our greatest. Over the years we have met people who were a part of our team for a project or a time period, others who are permanent members of our team and had the opportunity to really enjoy the energy and pride that our children brought to our story. Those children, now grown, are taking everything that they experienced with us and through us to levels far greater than ours.

That is the true reward of a great team, when the benefit, experience and achievements are greater than the initial plan. The team you build, whether for an initiative or a lifetime, is a powerful force not to be harnessed but given guidance, objectives and counsel with freedom to exceed.

Celebrating Independence

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Soltys) — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 00:54:00 +0000

Christmas in July (Part 2)

Today, July the 4^th, Independence Day, is a great day to kick off your companies Christmas in July. Christmas and the holiday season are all about celebration, good will, and sharing kindness so it is perfect that Christmas in July begins with a holiday celebration complete with fireworks, parades and lots of fun. Consider the activities you participate in as ignition for ideas that you might incorporate into your company.

To help you with some starter ideas, a lot have been pulled together and presented to you as a fictional company we will call Independence Realty. The ideas could work in most industries with a little change to align to that company’s industry and activities. You will notice that all of these activities align to the objectives of the company and are revenue builders.

The owner of Independence Realty noticed the same cycles in business that everyone talked about. Within those cycles, July was usually a good month but nothing stellar. It was in the middle of vacations, summer heat, and a time of the year when people were not highly motivated in the business. It seemed that, from Memorial Day to after Labor Day, customers and staff kind of coasted. People who had begun the buying or selling process would complete transactions but there was a significant drop in new customer inquiries and activity. All of this was, to a degree, related to the fact that sales professionals and companies spent the greater amount of marketing activities and efforts in the early spring and fall.

What would happen if the week of the Fourth of July was celebrated with events and activities such as you might find around a Midwest state fair? The owner decided to go big and go grand with focus on participation from the staff, families and community and of course business.

On-Track Awards

The on-track awards were designed to give individual and public recognition to people and offices in the company that were at minimum on track for their annual goals. The goals had been set in the fourth quarter of the previous year. Each producer in the company had worked with managers to set goals that would meet their income and business needs. Managers worked with the leadership team to set goals for the office and the leadership team set goals for the company. The On-Track awards combined revenue, commissions earned, sales count and new inventory listings to create the standards. The big factor was to qualify for the award, winners could not have a goose egg month with no listings or sales in the first six months of the year. There were several awards groupings including several that focused on saleable listings added each month. Recognition would be made through the week’s events to community and peers in multiple venues including significant web presence.

Staging Exhibition

Each office would host an exhibition in which the associates would profile on a display board listings that were prepared for market and “staged” shown through pictures and descriptions on a foam core board. Each listing presented for the exhibition and an award had to show before and after, explain objectives and give results with a bit of the associate’s bio. During the first week of July, these were featured on the company’s web site and in the offices. Judging was through a panel from the community.

Office Open Houses

Each office location hosted office open houses within the week. Main Street offices where there were community events were coordinated with the community calendar to maximize impact. Mystery visitors will come through the open house to judge the office on reception, readiness to assist and appearance. These open houses are a time to be on your toes – opportunity and recognition follow. The open houses culminated with a picnic or barbeque for staff and families.

Freedom to Choose

Celebrating the Freedom to choose a career, the company offers free tuition for licensing to new recruits signing on in the first week of July with a commitment to stay with the company at least two years. Perks are available for milestone activities once the person has joined the company including during the pre-license period. Experienced associates moving to the company within that week will receive a jump start package.

Participation in Community Events

If there is a celebratory event in the community for Independence Day, each office and the company participates whether through a float in a parade, volunteers at races or creating an event at their location.

There are many other ideas that can be incorporated. Each idea executed needs to push production and include participation from the community, associates and families. Using activities to create a mid-year jump start can change the business cycles that are perceived to be norms. Initiatives that are focused on objectives definitely will bring dollars into the company.

We have so much to celebrate with the freedoms we have as citizens and entrepreneurs. We have the freedom to establish businesses, create concepts and ideas. We can make as much money as the market will allow if we use our skills, creativity and make sure that we recognize others.

Celebrate the birth of our country and our freedom!