Making 2009 a Great Year

As we come to the end of 2008 it is important to reflect upon what we have accomplished, celebrate what our successes, and learn from what has transpired. In the next week I want to encourage everyone to capture in writing your perspective on what we have done in 2008 and what the most important things you have taken from what we each have done.

This is also the time that we are very focused on preparing for the year ahead. Now is the time to clearly define what role we need to each play and the goals that we each need to own/drive. We have to find alignment in what we each or doing so that we can leverage our strengths and THRIVE in the midst of a potentially very challenging year. With clarity and preparation we can make this the Best Year Ever.


Questions for each of us to answer

• What are you most passionate about in your work today?
• What are your greatest talents and how would you like to utilize these talents?
• What are the greatest opportunities and or challenges are we facing in your business?
• What role do you see yourself playing in the year ahead to make the greatest contribution?
• What are the top 3 to 5 goals would you see yourself accomplishing in the year ahead?

Here is to an awesome year ahead.

Bob Coulter

We're on a mission from...

MORE THOUGHTS ON 'MAGIC' AS A STRATEGY

This week's (12/26) People Solutions Newsletter closed with a caution to not use "MAGIC" as a strategy. You know, "Somehow, the work always gets done." or "When we just keep digging in and working at it, we just seem to it hit our sales goals each quarter." Magic as a strategy is based on the idea. . . . work. . . work . . . work and it will just happen. There is nothing wrong with a commitment to work yet if it is not with a purpose or plan then it is easy to proclaim that we, "somehow, someway, magically got it done. It is awesome to acheive the goal, but what price was paid along the way in stress, waste, anger, and a host of other not so magicaly word?

I wondered about this question after writing the People Solutions Newsletter and thought you might have some comments or thoughts. I put a few thoughts down. . .

"How can we know when we are using MAGIC as a STRATEGY?"

• No Meetings believing the information and communication will just happen.


• A budget is not used to guide financial decision making.


• Training is not consistent or thought out.


• Planning is happening at any level.


• Never asking the customer for their opinion of our service.


• The process of recruiting is taking whoever walks in the door.


• The marketing process is connected to the sales process


• Recognition of acheivement is few and far between.

Do you have anymore? Click on comment below and help us out.

GO GET EM,

JIM PALUCH

December Sales Jam Recap

Thanks to everyone that participated in today’s Sales Jam Teleconference. I am always inspired and energized by the fantastic individuals that are a part of our Sales Jam Community. Being able to interface with individuals over the last seven years has always produced fantastic ideas and examples of what is possible. In this day and time it is very important for us to focus upon what is possible and the opportunities that we can control. I thought that those of you that were not able to join us today would get some benefit from the notes from our discussion.

How are you dealing with the bombardment of bad news in the media?

-Continually looking for ways to grow personally with reading and classes
-Stop watching the news
-Challenging ourselves to look for new ways to do business
-Surround myself with positive people
-Work on the processes inside our company that we could improve upon
-Understand what our customers are thinking and spend time partnering with them
-Learn from what we have experienced in the past
-Create different budget scenarios that we can adjust to based upon the circumstances
-Be positioned to shift our focus to the highest impact areas
-Have Faith
-Tweak our business model and customer mix
-Control the things we can control
-Stay focused on our positions and set short term goals that you can hit

Having the right frame of mind and having a belief window that sees us winning is crucial in dealing with the challenges that are in our path.

How do we build a fence around our existing customers?

-Realize the service is becoming a commodity and so we need to look for ways to deliver personalized service
-Be an active listener to understand what they both want and need as a customer
-Provide multiple solutions based upon their needs so that they don’t have to look elsewhere
-Work as a partner in understanding their budget status and provide solutions that meet their needs
-Make them look good to their stakeholders
-Insure that we are the subject matter experts that provide them with a solid understanding of their options
-Communicate – Communicate and then Communicate some more
-Be present in proactive touches with your clients
-Include our key customers in our business as advisors or as a client forum

What will it take to make 2009 a GREAT Sales Year?

-Understand the customers that we want serve and the conditions of the marketplace
-Know what we do well and what our competitive advantage should be
-Clearly frame what we are offering and communicate our value
-Have GREAT processes in place that make us easy to do business with. (Utilize the Working Smarter Training Challenge as a vehicle)
-Insure that we are taking care of the basics and do what we say that we are going to do
-Have our customers serve as our sales people
-Be proactive in getting referrals
-Look at the entire customer experience today and what it should look like (Look to do a Kaizen Event as a part of the Working Smarter Training Challenge)
-Be flexible to put together projects that meet the clients needs that might be out of our company norm

We wish each of you a Happy Holidays and an awesome 2009!

Bob Coulter

How do you know when you are LEADING?

Another great question from the 12/18 webinar came in for Mark Hjelle asking, "How do you know when your leadership is having an impact on the team and that impact is going to help the company survive troubled times?"

Mark responded...

When you see an empowered “front line” person or a team taking action, an action that you never “asked” to be done or you could have thought of yourself as the leader, and that action is executed in alignment with the strategy or goals outlined by the leader, it is at those moments that as a leader you know your leadership is having impact. This could be a guy on a crew who has an extra flat of flowers leftover and he takes an action without checking with his supervisor to plant those flowers in an area of the property that we are not required to have flowers in. He does this because he knows that this one thing can make a huge difference in the appearance of the property and delight our customer, and that this is one small way to do “whatever it takes” to keep that customer. This is exactly what the leader of this Branch has inspired his team to do!

How hard do you push for payment before risking loss of a client?

As we promised, the JP Horizons team will try to address each question that was submitted during last week's webinar. One question that came in for Stephen Hillenmeyer asked, "How hard do you push for payment before risking loss of a client?"

Stephen responded...

I would hope and assume that someone in the company has a relationship with the customer. If so, I would first go speak with that team member in person. Everyone of us has probably had a situation that would justify a late payment. Find out if there is a reasonable reason they haven’t paid, make sure there are not any current service issues to resolve (especially if someone in the company has agreed to do so). Once all that has been done, you're clear to ask when they will commit to clear up the past due account. You will have to agree to the terms and use your judgment since every situation is different. Last, if you come to terms you both agree with and they don’t keep them, I would proceed to step up collections. First on my list is to put a lien on the property. I promise this will get their attention.

NORTH AMERICAN WEBINAR...A GREAT TIME TO BE IN BUSINESS

For all those that attended the webinar, hopefully you gained a new perspective from the presenters...

Take advantage of the opportunities that are all around you!
Continue to develop relationships with your customers!
Be a great leader to your team!
Be proactive and manage your financials!
Stay inspired by the vision you have for the company!

For those that were not able to get in, you can listen to a recording of the session at http://www.jphorizons.com/ . Just the fact that you took the next step and made it here to the BLOG tells me you are ready to take action and take advantage of the opportunities that are all around you. While you are here, why don't you post a comment by clicking on "comments" in the space below the blog post. Keep the discussion and ideas going that will inspire all of us to TAKE ACTION AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

I would like to challenge each of us as we continue to build businesses and navigate through troubled waters. . . KEEP IT SIMPLE. Take actions on things that will make a difference and can be easily implemented. Many simple steps are more likely to get you to where you want to be than trying to take a great big leap. . . WHAT IS THE SIMPLEST THING YOU CAN DO . . .

GO GET EM,
JIM PALUCH



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