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SMALL BUSINESS GROWTH MAGAZINE - Issue #2
Small
business
Issue 01 / Sept’12
MAGAZINE
How to motivate
your new
Growth
GEN-Y
workforce
page 36
How to Create
A successful
linked-in
group!
page 12
*
g
n
i
n
i
a
r
T
o e!
e
d
i
V Insid
10
powerful
social media
monitoring
tools
page 41
3 SMART Steps to capturing new customers
Small
business
Growth
MAGAZINE
brought to you by
© Copyright 2012
Executive Strategy Group, LLC
210 Odiorne Point Road
Portsmouth, NH 03801
E-mail: smallbusinessgrowthmag@executivestrategygroup.com
Web: http://www.executivestrategygroup.com/smbgrowth
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Contents
Contents
Small Business Growth Mag - Issue #2
Features
08 3 Smart Steps To Capturing New Customers
by Kevin McCann
12 How To Transform Your Business By Creating Your
Own Linked-In Group
An Interview With Ken Lubin - Founder, Executive Athletes Group
by Ken Lubin
19 The CXO Killer
Misunderstood and Mismanaged Stakeholders
by By J. Allan McCarthy
ARTICLES
06 Editor’s Note
16 Keys To Managing a Successful Generation-Y Team
by Jenny Rhoten
18 Breakthrough Marketing Begins By Asking The Right Questions
by Jodie Nielsen
24 How To Sell Technology Into The SMB Marketplace
Part 1: Checklist for Success
by Will Gibney
on the cover | photograph of Casey lockwood by ryan denning photography - http://alpine-live.com
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
4
Contents
Contents
Small Business Growth Mag - Issue #2
ARTICLES
27 Are You Paying Your Sales Force Enough?
by Paul DiModica
32 How To Lead Without Being a Push-Over
by Chris Yonker
36 Meet Your New Gen-Y Salesforce
6 Steps to Achieving Sales Success Using a New Paradigm
by Casey Lockwood
41 10 Powerful Social Media Monitoring Tools
by Kevin McCann
on the cover | photograph of Casey lockwood by ryan denning photography - http://alpine-live.com
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
5
Editor’s Note
Editor’s Note
Momentum Time....
W
ow! It has been an amazing month since we launched
the first issue of Small Business Growth Magazine!
We have had over 520 downloads from over 45
countries around the globe! Our mission to help
100,000 small business owners grow their companies
has begun!
I have heard quite frequently that many business owners have found
quite a bit of information on WHAT to do to grow their businesses, but
in my experience, business owners and entrepreneurs have been
under-whelmed by the information available on HOW to do these
things.
In this issue we are introducing some more video-based content and
“How-To” ideas to get your juices flowing. I provide a feature on “3
Smart Steps To Capturing New Customers” that I created as a result
of a few recent client consulting engagements.
We are also witnessing a change in the workforce landscape as more
and more “Gen-Y’ers” enter the game. This is creating many changes
in privately owned companies in the areas of culture, work ethic,
compensation adjustments and overall company growth strategy. The
challenge is that these Gen-Y workers are not motivated the same,
were not educated the same, hold different paradigms around
technology and information accessibility and have different intrinsic skill
sets than those of previous generations.
Kevin McCann is the
President and CEO of
The Executive Strategy
Group, LLC, a strategic
management consulting
firm that specializes in
the integration of
strategy, marketing,
sales, operations and
financial management
for growth-directed small
and medium sized
businesses.
www.executivestrategygroup.com
You may be thinking that this is no different than any advancement
from one generation to the next, but on the contrary, the pace and
impact of the changes are increasing exponentially as the access to
technology becomes more and more pervasive.
We take a look at what these changes mean to your CULTURE and
your SALES TEAM in this issue! As always, thanks for reading and
thank you for your support!!
Warm regards,
Kevin A. McCann
kmccann@executivestrategygroup.com
www.executivestrategygroup.com
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
6
Feeling Like You
Missed Something?
Don’t Worry!
You Can Buy SBG Issue #1 Here
* How To Think Like A Surfer and Increase Your Business Growth
* 5 Stunningly Effective Ways To Exercise While You Are Traveling
* 3 “Must Have” Productivity Improvement Apps
* Finding Power in Your Blind Spots
* The Top 10 Qualities of Successful Sales Talent
...and MUCH MORE!
Lead Generation
3 Smart Steps To Capturing
New Customers
If you are struggling to build the Sales Funnel, here are 3 Quick Steps that will
help get things back on track.
By Kevin McCann
Video
Internet Connection
Required
Introduction
In this mini-video series that we have created for you, we’re going to cover three smart steps
to capturing new customers and growing your sales pipeline. One of the main challenges we
address when working with CEOs, presidents, and executives of companies is the challenge
of generating NEW business from ‘NET-NEW’ prospects.
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
8
Lead Generation
STEP 1: Identify Your “Perfect-Fit” Prospects
Video
Internet Connection
Required
STEP 1A: How To Create Your List
Video
Internet Connection
Required
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
9
Lead Generation
STEP 2: List The ‘PAIN’ They Have and HOW You Can Solve It
Video
Internet Connection
Required
STEP 3: Automate Outreach and Communication
Video
Internet Connection
Required
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
10
Lead Generation
TOOLS Referenced in Videos
Need Some Help? We’re Here For You!
Video
Internet Connection
Required
*
Looking for a Little
Help? Tap Here
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Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
11
Social Media
How To Transform Your
Business By Creating Your
Own Linked-In Group
An Interview With Ken Lubin Founder, Executive Athletes Group
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o
k
ec
h
c
to
p
a
p
T
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the g
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
12
Social Media
“I believe that athletics, the quest for optimal
health and high performance are highly
synergistic in order to be the best that you
can be in life, as well as in the business
world. ” - Ken Lubin
W
e recently caught up with
Ken Lubin, Founder of the
Executive Athletes LinkedIn Group and asked him a
few questions about the
success he has achieved
with his Linked-In group that now has more
than 8000 members.
{SBG Mag}: “Ken, what is the mission
statement of your Executive Athletes
Group on Linked-In?”
{Ken}: “Executive Athletes is dedicated to
the growth of human potential and human
performance of the executive and athlete,
while bringing the world together through
business and athletics.”
{SBG Mag}: “When and Why did you
start the group? Can you provide a little
background?”
{Ken}: “I actually started it during the
recession. Selfishly, I’m a recruiter in the
financial services industry and wanted to
call on people that had similar traits and
interests that I did. I was looking for the
following: athletes, type-A personalities,
aggressive and disciplined.
I was interested in starting a community
and figured there has to be a way to bring
people together that are passionate about
the same things I was. It turns out, many of
the people who have joined the group are
more passionate about what they do in
their personal life than at work. I think that
has something to do with our success.
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
13
Social Media
{SBG Mag}: “What are the Top 3 Benefits
{SBG Mag}: “What is something you
of starting your group and how has this
impacted your business?”
didn’t expect to happen when you
embarked on creating a Linked-In
group?”
{Ken}: “1. Personal Branding and
Awareness: I have met with Olympic
athletes and coaches, World-Class skiers,
and other amazing people that continue to
exhibit the discipline to train an enormous
amount - even with full-time jobs. It’s all very
inspiring.
2. Worldwide Network Expansion and
Recognition
As weird as it seems, I am now being
recognized as a bit of a thought leader
around the globe. For instance, my boss
recently traveled to Singapore, and while he
was there, he met a man from Australia that
told him that he loves my Executive Athlete
group. I’m blown away that the message has
traveled so far in such a short period of time.
3. Huge Increase In Sales Opportunities
I now have 8000+ members of the group,
which gives me unique access to some
amazing candidates for my clients and, on
the flip-side, has also provided me with
many more client opportunities as a result.
I also created two other groups. Executive
Athletes is a personal passion for me, and
the other two are professionally focused
Boston Banking and Financial Services
Professionals. This group has approximately 7000 members
G l o b a l L e a s i n g a n d L e n d i n g P ro fesssionals. I have another 4000 members
in this group. “Niching-out” my groups
allows me to find specialized people for my
searches.
{Ken}: “Creating amazing contacts and
talking to my heros in the Ski Racing world
like Phil McNichol (Coach of US Ski Team)
and Doug Lewis (World Cup alpine ski racer).
Also, swapping business ideas and chatting
about goals with these guys is unb e l i e v e a b l e ! A n d h o n e s t l y, g e t t i n g
highlighted in this magazine (Small Business
Growth) was an unexpected bonus! :-)
http://usskiteam.com
{SBG Mag}: “How do you continue to
find relevant and compelling content to
provide to your groups to keep them
engaged?”
{Ken}: I put together Networking events for
the members and leverage tools like
Hoosuite that enable me to push out daily
content to all of my groups. Things like
inspiring quotes, videos and relevant articles
are valuable to the group.
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
14
Social Media
For example, in the near future I will be
holding a few “Excellence Events”. These
are still under development, but will likely be
2 day events with Keynote Speakers on
relevant topics to the group, and then for
fun, the attendees will be able to meet with
skiers like Tommy Moe, ex-head coach of
US Olympic Ski Team, Doug Lewis, Phil
McNichol, etc.
Bottomline, you have to differentiate yourself
no matter what group you create. You have
to be thoughtful about it, you can’t be
moronic - otherwise people will have no
interest in the group.
Start by asking yourself what are you
passionate about, and then build from there.
Before you know it, people will start
following it and contributing!
{SBG Mag}: “What tips would you
recommend to a business owner looking
to start his/her own group?”
{Ken}: “I read the book ‘LinkedIn Working
by Lewis Howes (a retired Football player,
and co-author of LinkedIn success book,
LinkedIn Master Strategies book and
LinkedWorking: Generating Success on the
World's Largest Professional Networking
Website.)” He is a great sports industry
networker - he has roughly 100,000+
members in his Sports Industry Networkers
Group.
{SBG Mag}: “Any closing tips to share?”
{Ken}: “Again, I highly recommend Hoot-
“I used to compete for the thrill of victor but
now I have shifted to the satisfaction of the
journey.The fulfillment of the training,
discipline and getting to the start line is just
as rewarding. ” - Ken Lubin
suite as a great tool to use for quickly and
easily posting to multiple social media
accounts like Linked-In, FaceBook and
Twitter.
Ken Lubin is the Managing Director of ZRG and Founder of the
Executive Athletes and Boston Banking & Financial Services
Professionals Groups on Linked-In.
Currently Ken is a Managing Director/ Executive Recruiter with ZRG
Partners www.zrgpartners.com and is responsible for leading the
global Search initiative while executing on critical roles in sales, sales
management, operations, and senior leadership professionals
nationally as well as globally.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/klubin
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
15
Company Culture
THINK DIFFERENT
KEYS TO MANAGING A
SUCCESSFUL
GENERATION-Y TEAM
By Jenny Rhoten
generation Y
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
16
Company Culture
I
n one of my graduate courses, we
watched the short documentary called
“The First Macintosh”. In it, a young
Steve Jobs revealed managerial
secrets that aided in the success of
Apple at the time.
He hired bright, fresh talent that weren’t the
seasoned pro’s of the day … they were just
good, smart people with a common vision
and passion. The quote that resonated
most for me was the following:
“The greatest people are self managing they don’t need to be managed. What they
need is a common vision, and that’s what
leadership is...getting a consensus around
that common vision.”
What’s interesting is that the people in this
video are now the parents of Generation Y,
who are starting to dominate today’s
workforce. Like the members of Steve’s
Macintosh team, today’s Gen Y workforce
thrives in a similar environment - an
environment in which creativity and laissez
faire management run amuck.
Recently, I surveyed my team (primarily filled
with Gen Y talent) and asked them why they
liked working for our company (a rapidly
growing, late stage start-up in the heart of
Silicon Valley).
Here are some of their responses:
➤ A competitive but supportive
atmosphere
➤ Advancement opportunities
➤ Work hard, play hard with strong accountability from management
➤ Little to no micro-management
➤ Teamwork with shared goals
➤ Open, fun company with a family
atmosphere
➤ Recognition for hard work
➤ Change and innovation
““The greatest people are self
managing - they don’t need to be
managed.” - Steve Jobs
Tons of articles have been written on how to
manage this new workforce. As you can
see, they just want an open, collaborative
environment and be surrounded by coworkers with a common vision under the
guidance of management that are hands-off,
yet keep them accountable.
Going back to the “First Macintosh,” Steve
Jobs acted as what they called “the new
manager” - the “head coach,” if you will,
who led the team while allowing them to
have the creative freedom necessary to
innovate. There is a secret sauce to managing the new
generation - you just have to “Think
Different”.
Jenny Hayes Rhoten has been a leader
in the technology and staffing industries
for more than 10 years. She has a BA in
Psychology from the University of
Oklahoma and will be graduating with
her MS in Organization Development
from the University of San Francisco in
2013.
www.jennyrhoten.com
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
17
Marketing
Breakthrough Marketing Begins
By Asking The Right Questions
By Jodie Nielsen
When we boil it down, marketing succeeds
or fails based on gathering and
disseminating information. That's why
asking the right questions is not just
important, it's vital.
So often a marketing team will ask “How do
we increase leads by X%?” instead of
asking “How can we best help Sales?” The
latter question leads to a broader thought
process and helps focus us on the whole,
not just a piece of the whole.
Have you ever asked “How do we best show
features?” when in fact the better question is
“How do we best show benefits?” Your
audience cares about how your product or
service enriches their life. That's it. That’s
the critical question you need to ask and
answer.
Which brings us to the biggest question,
“Who's the audience and what do they
want?” Sometimes the audience is
comprised of clients, sometimes it’s your
internal sales team, sometimes it's a partner,
vendor or manager. No matter who you are
marketing to, asking the right questions
about their needs and wants will enable you
to craft a message and a solution that will
not only help you to engage, but also build
and strengthen relationships.
Some questions have no answers or
unacceptable answers. Don’t be afraid to
push for better. When a company says they
want to grow market share, ask by how
much and why they want to grow. Knowing
the true goals and underlying reasons for
those goals, helps you support the audience
as they migrate from point A to point B. Be
fearless and deliberate with your questions. The answers are the foundation to a strong,
productive relationship.
“Have you ever asked ‘How do we
best show features?’ when in fact the
better question is ‘How do we best
show benefits?’ ”
Jodie Nielsen is the Co-Founder and
Managing Partner of EPIC, Inc. - a
marketing agency specializing in helping
technology companies achieve
exponential growth.
http://www.epic-inc.com
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
18
Strategic Management
By J. Allan McCarthy
The CXO Killer
Misunderstood and Mismanaged
Stakeholders
Most discussions of decision making assume that only
senior executives make decisions or that only senior
executives’ decisions matter. This is a dangerous mistake.
—Peter Drucker
If, as an executive or leader or someone with
responsibility, you are not actively managing
the stakeholders in your sphere of influence,
then your longevity in your role is at risk.
Yes, your job is at risk even if you are doing
exactly what the organization needs and
wants you to do to drive a sales and/or
marketing agenda.
What’s a stakeholder?
The term, “stakeholder,” was first used in a
1963 internal memo at the Stanford
Research Institute. It defined stakeholders
as “those groups without whose support the
organization would cease to exist.”
This definition has evolved over the years to
mean “someone, a group, or entity that has
an interest in a deliverable or outcome.”
This can be expanded to state: “A person,
group, or organization that has a direct or
indirect stake in an organization because it
can affect or be affected by the
organization’s actions, objectives, and
policies.”
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
19
Strategic Management
Stakeholders in a business include, for example,
customers, directors, employees, agencies,
owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, creditors,
and the community from which the business draws
its resources.
Stakeholder power is increasing
Stakeholders today have more influence over an
organization than in the past. Stakeholders also
have a higher degree of sophistication, education,
and expectation that, if left unmanaged, might lead
to unfortunate consequences.
“All stakeholders are not equal and different stakeholders or
stakeholder groups require different levels of consideration.”
If you want to be a successful executive and/or
leader it’s absolutely essential that you: 1) identify
your stakeholders, 2) understand stakeholder
needs, expectations, and current perceptions, and
3) proactively manage these stakeholders’
perceptions. If you don’t, yours may be the next
CXO obituary in The Wall Street Journal.
How to identify and manage the stakeholder landscape
All stakeholders are not equal and different
stakeholders or stakeholder groups require
different levels of consideration.
In this light I have devised a very simple,
straightforward method to ensure that stakeholders
are identified and managed and that related
actions are incorporated into the plan. There are no
hard and fast rules here. What is important is that
time is invested in identifying, evaluating, and
determining those actions needed to gain
endorsement and support from key stakeholder
entities.
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
20
Strategic Management
I advise executives and leaders to examine
stakeholders on two levels: 1) Impact: what
influence does this stakeholder have on my
ability to get things done and achieve
success? and, 2) Perceived Status: is the
stakeholder supportive of my plan and
progress to date?
Stakeholder Impact is separated into three
categories: 1) A sponsor or someone or
some group that needs to endorse my
agenda (rated “A”). Without it I can’t
proceed. Sponsors might have final approval
of budgets and/or headcount and hire/fire
power over the leader performing the
stakeholder analysis. There should be only a
few stakeholders with an “A” rating, 2)
Individuals or groups that need to buy in,
commit to, or, at a minimum, support the
agenda (rated “B”). Without their help on
some level, it will be difficult to achieve
success, and 3) Individuals or groups with
whom it’s politically correct and important to
include in the information loop and keep up
to date (rated “C”).
These stakeholders exert indirect influence
that may or may not have immediate
consequences. What is important here is to
recognize that these stakeholders do exist
and may have underestimated power over a
leader’s agenda and related actions.
Including them in this process helps
eliminate surprises and facilitate the agenda;
exclusion can undermine it.
The Perceived Status rating is your best
guess (or the leadership team’s, if
performing this activity as a group) as to
whether or not the stakeholder is in fact
supporting your agenda (i.e., positive),
indifferent or unsure about your agenda
(neutral), or directly or indirectly hindering
the achievement of the agenda (negative).
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
21
Strategic Management
In rating each stakeholder individual or entity
on Impact and Perceived Status, you have the
making of a working document that can be
managed over time.
I tell all clients that a stakeholder with an
Impact rating of “A” or “B” coupled with a
Perceived Status rating of “neutral” to
“negative” is a red flag. Many such ratings on
the stakeholder slate are an indication that it
will be extremely difficult to implement
intended actions.
“His reason for leaving? After identifying and meeting with
key stakeholders, he didn’t believe that he could implement
the necessary sales agenda to achieve success.”
After having clients perform the Stakeholder
Analysis, I’ve had many of them recognize that
it may be impossible to be successful in the
environment and/or that the path forward will
require too many compromises—leading to an
undesirable result.
Don Smith (named changed to mask identity),
the fifth head of sales for Acme Networks in
seven years, left the company after six months
on the job. Acme Networks had been
purchased by a large European telecommunications company. His reason for
leaving? After identifying and meeting with key
stakeholders, he didn’t believe that he could
implement the necessary sales agenda to
achieve success.
The Acme stakeholder landscape was too
complex and had conflicting expectations
about what constituted a successful sales
agenda.
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
22
Strategic Management
After resigning, Don went back to Cisco
Systems where he knew the stakeholder
environment would be supportive of his
ideas and methods. Don said he left Acme
because the environment there had too
many powerful stakeholders with very
different ideologies and views about the
sales/product road map. “I didn’t think I
could be successful there—and it wouldn’t
have been fun trying.” To me, this was a sign
of an astute executive. He was able to read
the stakeholder environment and make
proactive choices.
What if I dislike a stakeholder, disagree with
a stakeholder’s agenda, and/or the
stakeholder won’t work with me? These are
common concerns. You don’t need to like
the people you work with. It certainly helps,
but it’s not a prerequisite. In this case it’s
important to figure out how to be compatible
and reach alignment on expectations. This is
usually doable. It is possible for one to
inherit a situation in which alignment is not
possible among key stakeholders.
In such a case I would argue that it is better
to make this determination quickly upfront,
as opposed to waiting until a tipping point or
event occurs that causes a crisis.
Sometimes the best that can be done is to
e s c a l a t e t h e i s s u e u p t h ro u g h t h e
management hierarchy—even to the board
level, if necessary. And if resolution isn’t
possible, it may be better to cut your losses
and move to a new opportunity as Don
Smith, mentioned earlier, did.
A few final parting thoughts: 1) involve your
management team, 2) know your
stakeholders and proactively manage these
relationships, and 3) include this activity in
your normal planning algorithm. If you don’t
manage stakeholders then stakeholder
perception will surely manage you. As John
Kenneth Galbraith said, “In any great
organization it is far, far safer to be wrong
with the majority than to be right alone.”
Investing appropriately in stakeholder
management will allow you to take the right
path with supportive stakeholders who are
endorsing and pulling for your continued
success.
J. Allan McCarthy, principal of J.A. McCarthy & Affiliates, has more
than 20 years of experience across 15 industries and more than 200
companies.
Allan McCarthy is a scaling expert and author of Beyond Genius,
Innovation & Luck: The ‘Rocket Science’ of Building HighPerformance Corporations (www.mccarthyandaffiliates.com). He
specializes in determining how to best align strategy, structure and
workforce capabilities.
Allan earned his master’s of management from Golden Gate
University, a Stanford University AEA MBA refresher, and has worked
with many international companies, including Cisco Systems,
Raychem Corporation, SAP Inc., Redback Networks, BEA Systems
and Ericsson.
www.mccarthyandaffiliates.com
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
23
Sales Tips
How To Sell Technology
Into The SMB Marketplace
Part 1: Checklist For Success
By Will Gibney
Selling technology solutions to the SMB market place is much different than
selling to a mid-size company or enterprise level organization. First, let’s define a
small-to-medium size business (SMB). Everyone seems to have their own unique
definition of what constitutes an SMB. The broadest definition I’ve ever seen was
IBM’s. They define SMB as any company under 1000 employees. The more
realistic definition for most companies who sell into this marketplace is 25-250
employees, or 10-100 employees depending on your solution.
#1: Is Your Solution A ‘Tailored
Fit’ By Vertical?
Most SMBs are completely nontechnical and more resistant to
change than mid-market companies.
Using an engineer to provide a
product demo in your first meeting, is
probably one of the worst things you
can do. You need to fully understand
their situation and identify any pain
they are having. Many of us have seen
the glazed-over look that quickly
occurs when a business decision
maker has been given an overly
technical presentation. You should
limit all the bells and whistles, and get
to know them first. You can always
show them how to customize once
they become comfortable with the
base features or features specific to
their vertical.
However, if you truly understand their
needs and have sold to the marketplace like healthcare, it makes sense
to customize the demo specifically to
their industry. Just wait to do the
demo as a follow-up meeting. A great
example of this is a product called
“My Way” by Allscripts, who sells EHR
(Electronic Health Record) systems to
the small physician market. Talk about
SMB, many of the doctors they sell to
don’t even use computers!
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
24
Sales Tips
During their demos, Allscripts shows
their prospects specific features that
are relevant and unique to them,
based on discovery that was uncovered in the first meeting. Like
doctors, most SMBs are not technical
and don’t want to know the details on
how the technology works.
#2: Is Your Solution Perceived
As Easy To Implement?
In many cases limited IT staff also
means less trained IT staff, or no IT
staff at all. SMBs are not open to
complex solutions that may add
additional functionality but require
either a significant amount of training
or more IT staff. Rather, they are more
interested in easy-to-implement
solutions that have a realistic timeline
and limit any perceived downtime.
They are very concerned about any
negative impact on the productivity of
their staff during a technology
upgrade.
If you are selling a solution over the
phone and expect the non-technical
SMB to effectively implement your
solution, it better be very simple.
Looking again at the Allscripts example, they use local channel partners
to handle the installation of their
solution. In addition to training the
doctors, the also train the entire staff.
Although this model does require more
time investment, the pay-off in terms
of a highly satisfied customer is well
worth it.
In summary, SMB’s respond differently
than larger companies when buying
technology solutions. Your approach
has to be much more business
oriented, simplified, and you must go
the extra-mile to make the implementation process go smoothly. They
want to feel confident you’ve done
this successfully for other customers
in their vertical or niche, and that your
solution is proven in the market.
We’ll cover more on how SMBs prefer
to adopt mature technology, and how
to position your solution in next
month’s issue.
Will Gibney is the CEO of a hybrid inside
sales staffing and lead generation
offering for companies looking to build
their own sales force.
www.21doorsgroup.com
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
25
Sales Management
Are You
Paying Your
Sales Force
Enough?
More than ever, the future of companies lies in the
hands of their dedicated sales force.
Gone are the days when clients called you with
RFP's, exploding budgets and money to burn.
Gone are the times when a salesperson could wait
for the marketing department to supply leads.
It is more than just the new economy . . . it is a
new sales model. Those firms which have an
outbound sales model will survive; those who
don't . . . will fail.
By Paul DiModica
➜ In the past, the intellectual property of your
company was your product or service.
➜ Today, the intellectual property is your sales
distribution capability.
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
27
Sales Management
“The trouble with business cycles is
there just aren't enough people
pedaling”
or no money on sales training,
subsequently cutting the success of their
sales force.
If companies are seeking to grow their top
line revenue this year, they need to launch
new sales training programs to support the
existing sales staff.
As Sharyn Katalinich once said, “The
trouble with business cycles is there just
aren't enough people pedaling.”
If your sales force isn't pedaling, then your
bike isn't moving and your tires (sales)
eventually go flat!
Many salespeople who launched their
careers in a booming economy were not
effectively trained. Instead of learning the
correct methodology to sell senior
executives in an outbound market, they
launched their sales careers during a great
market growth. Inbound leads were
automatic, so sales training was minimal.
These salespeople became “half-cycle”
salespeople who, today, are being unfairly
punished. Instead of giving these sales
reps sales training to help them adapt to
the new transitional sales model,
management teams continue to invest little
To increase sales, increase commissions!
Today, many commission plans still use
older business models that penalize
aggressive salespeople who bring in new
business. The terms “Farmer” and
“Hunter” are used frequently in sales
management discussions to describe the
sales practice of house account
salespeople and outbound salespeople.
Most sales compensation plans provide
equally for both. However, management
teams should reward Hunters with larger
commissions due to their ability to create
higher sales success. Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
28
Sales Management
The key element in growing top line
revenue is by proactively managing the
lifetime value of a client. You can easily
calculate this by looking at annual service,
support, training, add-on sales, and
maintenance fees, then carrying the gross
revenue forward three to five years.
When comparing this forecasted revenue
over multiple years, your smallest client
cost should be your sales cost.
So, why are so many firms hesitating to
raise commissions?
“However, management teams
should reward Hunters with larger
commissions due to their ability to
create higher sales success.”
Pay salespeople (Hunters) who hunt for
business from new prospects more than
other salespeople in your company. They
are the lifeblood of current and future
revenue.
So what should you pay your salespeople?
It depends on what you sell and what your
business costs of goods or gross margins
are.
Many firms pay between 8% and 14% of
the assigned sales quota (target) in total
compensation to their salespeople
including salary, commissions and
bonuses.
Many times, it is just a belief by an
executive that there should be a maximum
ceiling on sales compensation and in fact,
there should be. But many times comp
plans actually limit new business growth.
In today's economy where firms seek to
extend the longevity of client relationships
beyond five years, paying higher
commissions to sales-people who have
the skill sets to break new accounts is
just good business.
If your firm is seeking to raise corporate
revenue immediately, start paying your
sales force higher commissions for new
business immediately. It is the easiest way
to grow your top line revenue, increase
your sales staff retention, and turn
Farmers into Hunters.
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
29
Sales Management
The key to the right sales compensation is to have business metrics tied to financial
incentives (salary, bonus, commissions) and action steps you want your sales team to
perform.
➜ Do you pay bonuses on how many cold calls your account managers
make per week?
➜ Do you pay higher commissions to your account managers based on
how many sales to new prospects they make (versus sales to existing
customers)?
➜ Do you pay higher commissions to account managers who sell vice
presidents (and above) instead of account managers who sell middle-level
managers?
All of these are sales compensation options for you to pay your salespeople more money
and to induce performance changing sales habits so they sell more.
Pay your sales team more money the right way . . . and increase your corporate
revenue.
Paul DiModica is a High Tech strategic business success
management consultant and has advised with more than 600 IT
companies and their CEOs and addressed more than 45,000
people worldwide as a keynote speaker, seminar leader and IT
business success strategy consultant.
He has written and produced more than 10 audio learning IT
business success programs and written three books including High
Tech CEO Success Strategies, Value Forward Selling, and Value
Forward Marketing.
Paul speaks to corporate, associations and public audiences on the
subjects of technology business growth, sales, marketing and
strategy success.
http://www.valueforward.com
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
30
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Leadership
By Chris Yonker
How To Lead Without
Being A Push-Over
You may have seen the 1994 movie Swimming with Sharks, starring
Kevin Spacey. The movie is about a naïve, young assistant who finally turns the tables
on his irrational, micro-managing boss. Now, to be clear, I am not suggesting that you
manage your people by acting like Kevin Spacey in this movie.
I have coached leaders that are like Kevin Spacey in the movie; micro-managing, overbearing and condescending. And on the other end of the spectrum, I have seen more
frequently that the business owners and leaders I work with, find it very difficult to
confront their employees and hold them accountable, because they don’t want to
come off as a jerk.
Video
Internet Connection
Required
Swimming With Sharks - Movie Trailer
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
32
Leadership
From my experience, one of the top, selfproclaimed weaknesses of entrepreneurs
and business leaders today is that they
consider themselves to be a “push over.”
Oftentimes, issues build and stockpile until
finally, the last straw is broken. Frequently,
the challenge is that your top performing
employees are negatively affected by a
lack of accountability.
From interviews, I have found that most
business leaders want to be liked by their
employees, they focus on trying not to be
too “pushy” or “bossy.”
Herein lies the issue. You cannot be one
thing while focusing on trying not to be
something else. The solution is to clearly
define the type of leader you would like to
be, and then to develop yourself to
become that person.
Here are 3 things to consider to raise your
game as a business leader.
1. Manage By Metrics:
First and foremost, you must build an
environment that uses proven analytics
and measures performance based on
driving these numbers. You are not doing
your company’s bottom-line any favors by
trying to be your employee’s best friend.
Whether you are buddies or not, your employee just needs to respect you, they do not need
to be your ‘wing-man’ at the bar on Thursday nights.
2. Build a High Trust Environment:
Secondly, build a high trust environment by being a person that does what they say. Having
integrity is the number one attribute of powerful leaders. When you make a commitment to
your people on an action, you need to follow-through and do it.
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
33
Leadership
If you are making commitments and not following through 100 percent of the time, you
send mixed signals to your people. In addition, if you ask someone else to own an action
and they fall short, you need to call them on it. Find out why they missed the deadline and
be firm on your recommendations, while exercising compassion.
Whether you are buddies or not, your employee just
needs to respect you, they do not need to be your ‘wingman’ at the bar on Thursday nights.
3. Understand What Motivates Your Employees:
You need to understand what motivates and drives each of your people. Poor leaders try to
motivate the same way they are motivated. Unfortunately, this works only a fraction of the
time. Determine the personality type and motivation ‘style’ of each person in your
organization. Half of the general population is “Carrot Motivated.” These types of people
are looking to move forward towards a goal. When communicating with these people talk
about things they want to obtain. The other half of the population is “Stick Motivated.”
These people will do something to avoid a consequence. Example “I don’t want to go
broke”. When talking with these people, explain how an action you want them to take will
help them avoid a consequence. Understand that this is not an excuse to start to threaten
your staff.
Many entrepreneurs and business leaders think that leadership and influencing others is an
art. The reason for this, is that they have not found ways to replicate success in managing
behavior from employees to drive specific results.
Here at the Executive Strategy Group, we have modeled leaders that are able to create
impactful results. We have taken the formulation of those successful environments and we
have built a system to share these strategies with others so they too can achieve the same,
or better, results.
Chris Yonker is the co-founder of the Authentic Success Group, LLC. As a transformational consultant and trainer, Chris helps his clients
remove limiting beliefs and realize their true potential. He is a veteran
sales professional with over 20 years of experience as a top performer
and team leader for a Fortune 100 Company. Chris is a 7th degree black belt in Sanchin-Ryu karate, practices
Ashtanga yoga and enjoys hitting the road on his bike.
www.chrisyonker.com
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
34
Video
Internet Connection
Required
Tell Your Customers You LOVE
Them......the easy way!
✓ Show your prospects and customers you appreciate them
✓ Set yourself apart from your competition
✓ Automate your marketing with meaningful cards & gifts
✓ Never “forget” your client’s special dates (birthdays,
anniversaries, renewals, etc.)
Sales Management
By Casey Lockwood
Meet Your New
Gen-Y Salesforce
6 Steps to Achieving Sales Success Using
a New Paradigm
The question isn't, 'What do we want to know about people?', It's, 'What
do people want to tell about themselves?'
- Mark Zuckerberg
The next generation of workers will help
transform the way businesses are run. As a
young business professional that statement
is not designed to be over-confident or selfserving, it's just a fact. I am considered to be a part of Generation
Y, born in 1986 and raised in the decade of
Atari, the Slinky, the Walkman, and hair
metal bands. What makes this generation so
unique, however, is not our updated wardrobe or gaming systems (thankfully), but
rather in how we are motivated, use
technology, and the education that we bring
with us.
Here are some generalizations you should
be making about me (and they're not all that
off base):
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
36
Sales Management
☞ I Am Unafraid
I was raised by the baby boomer
generation (the ones that were at
Woodstock, saw the Vietnam war, and
fought for world peace). I was told since
day one that I am important. I welcome
failure with open arms. I have been allowed, even encouraged, to fail for the
sake of improvement.
☞ I am Tech Savvy
I grew up through the technology revolution, and because of that, technology is
my preferred method of communication.
☞ I am a Global Citizen
Access to the world is one click away, and
has been since I was a child.
☞ I am Goal oriented
I have given myself big shoes to fill. Technology has given me very short
feedback loops and I work to achieve short
term goals for long term gains.
☞ I am Impatient
Instantaneous access to media and
information has now become the rule. ☞ I Don't Want a Boss, I Want a
Coach
Sometimes this is perceived as a lack of
respect, but it's not. I don't believe in
absolute truth, I believe in relative truth. I
want to create new knowledge and see
myself as central to the learning, creating
and teaching process. ☞ I Have a Lack of Critical Skills
Because technology has given me access
to “all” information instantly, critical skills
are not memorized as easily. I will need
active training.
Managing Gen-Y Workers
There are challenges in managing, and
extracting output from Gen-Y, but that's
not our fault; we are responding to a
change in the culture of education. Search
has shown us that memorization is a fading
craft. Access to more information, and a
demand to contribute and collaborate have
changed the way we learn, and thus,
changed the way we respond to
management.
The ‘New’ Sales Process
The customer is changing. The sales
process is infinitely different in comparison
to just a few years ago. There are now
many more channels to engage and learn
about customers, as well as ways for
customers to engage and learn about you.
We need to recognize that the sales
process is also much more complex across
all industries and verticals. Sales
professionals are now problem solvers,
consultants, and challengers.
Today, a sale is made through an
engagement process rather than a sales
process. As you might imagine, this new
skill-set required of sales teams insists on
a new engagement strategy. Learning (and
teaching) ways to utilize Social networks,
creating content, and solving problems are
now requirements on any sales resume. It's
no longer good enough to just be
"consultative". Because the educational
system promoted problem solving rather
than memorization for Gen-Y, we are
problem solvers at our core.
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
37
Sales Management
This does not mean that we will all be great salespeople by any stretch of the imagination.
It does, however, begin to lay a path towards training and management. There are some
differences between the old sales process and today's model of engagement. The old
model was about compliance to the message, and delivery of positioning statements and
handling objections. Today, it's about working with your customer to self-identify needs,
about tailoring an approach for each sale, and about taking control of the process. Here a few ways to extract the most out of me as a Gen-Y salesperson:
1.) Make it simple to be involved, encourage networking, encourage participation. We
have been taught through participation and problem solving. Making us a part of the
process will help boost engagement significantly. 2.) Develop a sense of community - use digital media & social media to encourage
global and local community. More than ever the ability to connect and continue
conversations around performance, metrics and training create a platform for continuous
improvement. 3.) Focus not on Work/Life balance, but rather Work/Life integration. The past has had
a focus on a hard line between what happens at work, and what happens outside of work. Today devices and connectivity allow us to stay “plugged in” 24 x 7. Our generation is
used to a continuous conversation and seeks to find integration between their “life”
activities and their “work” activities. Examples are working remotely, flextime, and
batching help to enable a work/life integration framework.
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
38
Sales Management
4.) Grant us Autonomy. When it comes to
solving complex problems, self-direction is
better. Management does a great job at
delivering compliance, but if you want
engagement; self-direction delivers. This is
not an endorsement to let all Gen-Y's offleash, but the autonomy to solve problems
and work on our own will help provide
satisfaction and quality of work.
5.) Let us become ‘Black Belts.’ We want
to get good at what we do. Give us opportunities to learn, attend conferences, and
improve. Training and coaching will keep us
excited and energized for the job.
It's not just a businesses' responsibility to
change to meet the needs of Gen-Y either. As part of that generation, I understand that I
must conform to business social norms as
well. I would suggest that meeting
somewhere in the middle is the key towards
long term growth and success.
Research tells me that as a rule, I am excited
and energized and I'm proud to say that
that's true. Never before has a more
educated generation come into the job
m a r k e t . A s t e c h n o l o g y, i n n o v a t i o n ,
education, and energy combine, amazing
things are in our near future.
6.) Have a sense of Purpose. We want to
believe that we are doing something positive. When profit gets un-moored from purpose,
bad things happen. Let us see the vision and
keep it light. Maybe have some fun. By
understanding that our work has a greater
purpose, we will work harder, smarter and
more efficient.
Casey Lockwood is a Sales Executive at a software solutions
company in Portsmouth, NH that specializes in providing crosschannel customer experience solutions for the financial services
industry.
As part of an ambitious and energetic new guard of sales
professionals, Casey is knee deep in sales training, alignment, culture,
measurement, and time management. Blogger, and certified inbound
marketing professional, Casey continues to evaluate his own
performance and looks for ways to increase productivity, improve
performance, and bring more value to the table.
When not contributing to Small Business Growth, his personal blog
(http://www.caseylockwood.com) and other publications, Casey can be
found outdoors surfing, hiking, snowboarding and spending time with
his family.
http://www.caseylockwood.com
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
39
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Tech Corner
10
powerful
social media monitoring tools
by Kevin McCann
1. HootSuite
2. TweetDeck
3. SocialPointer
Offers premium social media
monitoring tools to help
enterprises maximize the
reach and efficiency of social
media outreach and listening
efforts. With the Enterprise
packages, you’ll receive VIP
service and significant
b e n e f i t s f ro m u s i n g t h e
complete selection of tools.
Tweetdeck unifies Twitter,
Facebook , LinkedIn, and
M y S pa c e t o g i v e y o u a
convenient way to use and
monitor social media. What’s
nice is that when your
keywords are referenced, you
have an easy way to quickly
respond without having to
leave the program.
SocialPointer is a real-time
social media monitoring and
marketing platform for
m a r ke t i n g a g e n c i e s a n d
individuals, It enables them to
track, monitor and respond in
real-time to relevant social
mentions and user
conversation.
5. MentionMapp
6. Wildfire
Explore your Twitter network.
Discover which people
interact the most and what
they’re talking about. It’s also
a great way to find relevant
p e o p l e to f o l l o w. T h e
visualization runs right in your
browser and displays data
from Twitter. Mentionmap
loads user’s tweets and finds
the people and hashtags they
talked about the most. In this
data visualization, mentions
become connections and
discussions between multiple
users emerge as clusters.
Measure your performance.
Glean insights about the
growth of your social media
fan base on the leading social
networks. With daily tracking,
you have visibility into growth
trends small and large. Gauge
your social media success
against others in your
industry by comparing your
follower bases across the
leading social networks. Alert
system will inform you of
meaningful trends and
activity that’s relevant to your
social presence.
4. SocialBro
Get accurate information
about your community using
different search criteria that
will help you to make
s t r a t e g i c a n d e r r o r- f r e e
decisions. Take advantage of
knowing exactly who shapes
your community: where your
followers are from, which
language they speak, their
activity on Twitter, etc.
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
41
Tech Corner
7. Topsy
8. Meltwater Buzz
Instantly access realtime and
multi-year social web data.
Detect and follow breaking
news. Analyze your own or
your competitors’ campaigns
and web-sites. Correlate
social web activity with realworld data to accurately
predict outcomes.
Effortlessly create, publish
and manage compelling
F a c e b o o k Ta b s w i t h
M e l t w a t e r B u z z ’s n e w
Connect Module. Go beyond
‘Likes’ and draw connections
and engagement with current
and new fans. The Connect
Module makes it easy!
9. Sysomos
Comprehensive real-time
monitoring dashboard to
collect all relevant online
conversations to gain insights
with detailed metrics and
intuitive graphics.
10. Social Mention
Social Mention is a social media search and analysis platform that aggregates
user generated content from across the universe into a single stream of
information. It allows you to easily track and measure what people are saying
about you, your company, a new product, or any topic across the web's social
media landscape in real-time. Social Mention monitors 100+ social media
properties directly including: Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, YouTube, Digg,
Google etc.
Small Business Growth Magazine - Issue #2 |
42
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