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Better Productivity Through Praise
If there's one thing managers know best, it is this: recognition is a powerful motivator. If you praise your employees and acknowledge stellar efforts on their part, you will make them feel better about themselves and the hard work they put in.The Myth of Raises One of the key factors in improving employee productivity is recognition. In the old days, it was believed that a salary increase is the most obvious tool for encouraging employees to work harder. Since then, several st

Our Growing Dependency on Mass Mediocrity
"The state of the art is whatever Microsoft says it is." - Bryce's LawINTRODUCTIONHave you ever been looking through a mega-hardware store/garden shop and not been able to find precisely what you are looking for? Instead, you settle for something else which you take home, try it, and regret having purchased. Instead of returning it though, you think it is not worth your time and throw it in the garbage. Not only is the exact merchandise not available, merchan

One of the things that salespeople talk to me the most about is qualifying sales leads correctly. Many people have challenges with their pipelines, which I find to be quite interesting. They have a lot of opportunities in the pipeline that are either taking far too long close, they have a low closing ratio or they cannot get return calls anymore (aka the customer has lost interest). This is why I use a sales tool called BANT. Whenever I am prospecting for opportunities or new clients I will use BANT to determine if the opportunity is a legitimate sales lead or that it will turn into an eventual sale. BANT stands for Budget, Authority and Time frame. I will qualify BANT with a customer with the following questions:

If we are able to show a return on this project, do you have the budget to move forward? If they answer yes to this question, I will proceed to ask a number of open ended questions, such as: Who besides yourself would have to sign off on this agreement? With this question I am trying to quantify the process of getting a purchase order, without coming out and asking about the order directly. If they tell me that they do not have the budget for this project. I would ask them what sort of returns they would need in order to free up budget from another department (cost ce

Public Relations for Homeless Shelters
Although the homeless situation in the United States of America is under the radar and is only about 500,000 people, which is statistically lower than any other nation in the world, it still drives people crazy. Additionally we do need to do something about the homeless folks in our nation, but unfortunately homeless shelters are something that no one wants in the community.The NIMBY affect is alive and well when it comes to people who wish to put in a homeless shelter. No one

r too long close, they have a low closing ratio or they cannot get return calls anymore (aka the customer has lost interest). This is why I use a sales tool called BANT. Whenever I am prospecting for opportunities or new clients I will use BANT to determine if the opportunity is a legitimate sales lead or that it will turn into an eventual sale. BANT stands for Budget, Authority and Time frame. I will qualify BANT with a customer with the following questions:

5 Secrets to Saving Your Marketing Dollars
Secret #1 Cut Out Your Advertising Excess Does size really count? Not in this case! Smaller can actually be more effective in the long run! Yes, you can actually cut down the size of your ad and run it more often to receive better results in most cases. The size of your ad does not produce the consumer confidence that consistency does! This first secret alone will save you tons of lost marketing dollars.By running smaller, less expensive, but routine advertising you ca

the opportunity is a legitimate sales lead or that it will turn into an eventual sale. BANT stands for Budget, Authority and Time frame. I will qualify BANT with a customer with the following questions:

How to Get National Press Release Exposure for the Cost of a Local Announcement
Are you using a wire service to extend your press release distribution? Your organization should be capitalizing on this well-priced means of transmitting your press releases directly into newsrooms, news and information databases, and to other newshounds.Journalists use the wire services night and day to find other perspectives, locate experts in a particular field, and catch up on key issues. By using a wire service, you make it easy for reporters and other media professionals

you have the budget to move forward? If they answer yes to this question, I will proceed to ask a number of open ended questions, such as: Who besides yourself would have to sign off on this agreement? With this question I am trying to quantify the process of getting a purchase order, without coming out and asking about the order directly. If they tell me that they do not have the budget for this project. I would ask them what sort of returns they would need in order to free up budget from another department (cost c

Shredder Rentals
Shredders are available for rent. Many companies have the need of huge industrial shredders that shred 20,000 pounds of paper or more in an hour. Shredders of that size are too big to fit into an average office. In such circumstances, renting a shedder is a way out.Shredder rentals usually provide locked bins at your premises. You fill up the bins with everything that is to be shredded. When the bins are full, the workers of the rental company arrive with a truck mounted shredde

etting a purchase order, without coming out and asking about the order directly. If they tell me that they do not have the budget for this project. I would ask them what sort of returns they would need in order to free up budget from another department (cost center, project, etc) to fund the project. If they tell me they would not be able to do that, I would then ask, what would be the requirements to get the project in their next fiscal budget cycle, when that budget cycle is, etc.

The Authority portion of BANT can actually be a little bit more challenging. Many people (especially if you are dealing with people who are low in the organization or in certain departments like purchasing) do not want to admit that they do not have the power to make a decision. I will try the same approach as with the Budget question to begin with.Who besides yourself would be involved in this decision? If they are open and give you some names, I would then begin to negotiate access to those other people. After all you want to make sure that everyone involved in the decision has firsthand information from you on the details of your proposal. If they did not give names (or say they do), I would then start to ask questions that were less around their power to make decisions and move onto more questio

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The majority of business owners are unable to delegate and therefore spend long hours doing work that should be done by others. By understanding what brain surgeons do, they will be better able to leverage their time.

Being proactive when you know your customer will be disappointed (it happens) can save the relationship and is so much better than waiting for them to explode and then never return.

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