The Unholy Trinity…Not a Holiday Story!

Our seawall is being ravaged by time and the sea! A month and a half ago I called an engineer (a specialist in the art and science of seawalls) to take a look and make some recommendations for saving our wall, and ultimately, our property, which the sea seems intent on reclaiming!

A good guy, he made some reassuring comments, and then began to peel back the layers of my pain…I was a good prospect, in that I wanted him to know how important the issue was to me and I wanted him to get some sense of urgency! He told me he’d get back to me within two weeks with his take on the situation, and a couple of fixes.

Two weeks passed, with no word…and three weeks! I contacted him and was told… Busy, vacation, stalled projects, holidays, on-it, soon, next week, etc.

There still have been no recommendations.

Last week I was surveying the seawall, and made a observation…no more erosion of soil, not damage to the wall. It seems that the sea has done its worst (knock-on-wood) for the time being. Called the engineer this morning; thanked him for his visit; told him I wouldn't need his recommendations! He said “Are you sure?” I said, “Yes! Why didn't you act sooner?” He said, “Busy, vacation, stalled projects, holidays, etc.”

His inability to make a COMMITMENT that he could keep, hold himself ACCOUNTABLE, and take RESPONSIBILITY for his actions probably cost him $3500 for the recommendations and untold thousands for the actual repairs!

Ever happen to you? More important, did you ever play the engineer’s part?

3 Metrics to Prove to Your Boss That Social Media Marketing is Working | The Customer Collective

I'm really new at this Social Networking stuff, and I know it's going to take awhile to generate results (aka Sales Appointments and $) Meantime, the above article seems like a pretty good thing to review. My friend Andrew Freedman - @humanlearning - tweeted this (hey, folks! How far has the luddite come?) so, thanks, Andrew! What do you think about this resource and information? How's it help you? How will it help me?

3 Metrics to Prove to Your Boss That Social Media Marketing is Working | The Customer Collective

Routines: Try 'Em; You Might Like 'Em!

 "Rainy days and Mondays always make me ________." It's not raining and I have that old feeling! I watched the sun rise with coffee in hand, watered and fed the dogs, had morning the chat with Jacquie and now, I'm at it!

Not hard to know what "it" is…harder to know what to do with "it"! I don't believe in time management! I've written some places, sometimes, that there are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day, and we can't do anything about it! All we can do is figure-out what to put in those packages of time.

I need, for lack of a better word,  a routine. I can't get everything done! You probably feel that way…no matter what your occupation, as my friend says, there just isn't enough "bandwidth".

Being anal, routine is pretty easy for me, once I've got it in place! I described my pre-work, morning routine above. Then there's the once-I'm-at-my-desk routine. I wake-up my computer, go to the internet, and access 3 sites. (secret pleasures…woot.com, the Mandolin Café and JazzMando. They take me about 5 minutes, altogether.)

Then it's on to the rest of the day: routine aimed at productivity! The routine is simple, pre-determined (and would be boring to you; it is to me, sometimes) and focused on generating revenue, fulfilling obligations of committed revenue and exceeding the expectations of those who've paid me!

The routine keeps me focused. It protects me from outside influences, because times to handle those things are all scheduled in my routine. I operate a closed-door policy! Nothing encroaches upon my routine except actual fires. (If you and I were involved in businesses where "real fires" sprang-up we might have to react…most of us aren't!)

If Pete Jones, a client, calls and I'm in the middle of solving a client's problem, taking his call then, as opposed to returning it an hour later, probably costs me a loss of creative time, and momentum. It's not likely Pete can't wait…all due respect to Pete!

And, I might even rather speak with Pete than write! Gotta' stay focused!

My routine is, by some standards (and remember: I'm very anal!) over-the-top! Don't go crazy…try a simple routine of your own. Place your priorities on the calendar 1st. Separate the activities that are time-sensitive for others that aren't. (You shouldn't have sales person one-to-one's at dinner time.) Be sure to leave a space for handling the incoming stuff like Pete's call. You might even schedule breaks.

Then…work your routine!

Dead Flowers and Sales People

My wife was away for two weeks. Anticipating an early return, I bought her a beautiful, lush begonia. The nursery attendant said, as soon as you get home, transplant this into a larger pot. At home, I found a large pot in the garage, complete with soil…albeit gray and rock hard. I managed to soften the soil with water and plant the begonia. Within 3 days, and well before my wife returned, it not only didn't produce any flowers, it died! I wondered why.

Many sales organizations invest money, time and energy in sales training and then greet their returning sales people, some actually improved, with the same organization and management they left. Upper management usually observes that the ensuing results are unchanged from pre-training...and wonders why.

The Sales Force Toolbox

The Sales Force Toolbox

The Sales Force Toolbox is a chance to solve the business related pains of the management team and talk the language CEO’s understand…this is not sales training. It is a repository for the systems and tools to be used by the company to hire, train and manage sales people; to forecast and control new business flow; multiply the cast of characters necessary for the continued growth of the small to medium sized business.

As corporate growth progresses, and the sales department is called upon to grow new business, a struggle often ensues. The fires of the struggle are fanned by the demands to organize a business component which has long withstood organization and structure…the Sales Department.

Large corporations have large sales department guides to help them operate. Small to Medium sized companies, especially in rapid growth modes generally operate their sales departments from the seat of their pants – even in a Chaos mode.

The Sales Force Toolbox was developed to help the company:
• Systematize and develop consistency and control in the sales department.
• Fill the gap in understanding between managers and sales people.
• Develop managers to fill effective and efficient roles.
• Assist the company in controlling growth from chaos (unplanned and unpredictable).
• Increase communication: the company to and from the sales team.
• Make training work for the company.
• Bring new hires into the company sales team smoothly and consistently.
• Match corporate and individual expectations.
• Overcome the black holes of sales management like disciplining and firing.
• Provide inner company career paths for sales people.

1996 The Sales Force Toolbox by RJR