Corrective Action Program Best Practice 16 – On-duty Operations Staff Notification of Operational Deficiencies

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StrategyDriven Corrective Action Program ArticleOn-duty operations personnel are responsible for a facility’s safe and reliable operation. To ensure they are capable of meeting this obligation under normal, abnormal, and emergency conditions, operations personnel must be aware of the performance status of the equipment under their control. Therefore, these watchstanders must be immediately notified of deficiencies that currently or will potentially diminish facility performance.

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About the Author

Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Principal is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.

The risk of 9 to 5. And the reality of BEFORE and AFTER.

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95 percent of all salespeople try to fit their sales day into a normal workday. They want their day to be from 9 to 5, maybe from 8 to 5, maybe even from 8 to 6, but very little before that or after that.

The reality is, that 9 to 5 is the riskiest time and the worst time to make sales. Especially a new sale, a sales call, or a cold call to a prospect. People are busy doing THEIR stuff from 9 to 5.

NOTE WELL: If you have a solid relationship with your customer, and are doing ongoing business, you have a good chance of making a daytime appointment. But a new sale, or a new prospect, you have virtually zero 9 to 5 chance.

And salespeople continually beat their heads against the wall, and sales managers continually demand more activity, even as foolish as cold call, in order to get their numbers up, when in fact numbers do not go up from 9 to 5, unless they are with existing customers.

From 9 to 5, people are busy working, not buying. Real salespeople make sales from 7 to 9 in the morning, and from five until seven or eight in the evening, and at breakfast and lunch.

Only about 5 percent of sales people get this. The 5 percent that make all the sales.

My financial planner, Walter Putnam says, “The best thing to know is: the best time to have meaningful conversation. And the best way to find out is to ask the prospect or customer. And get a date at the same time.” In other words, when you ask the question, make the appointment.

This self-assessment will reveal your opportunities or missed opportunities:

  • How many hours a week are you working or networking BEFORE the workday starts? Five hours a week is a great number.
  • How many hours a week are you working or networking AFTER the workday is over? Five hours a week is a great number.
  • Who are you meeting for early morning coffee? Why not have a daily coffee with a customer?
  • Who are you meeting for breakfast? Why not have 2 business breakfasts a week?
  • Who are you meeting for lunch? Have lunch with an existing customer once a week and bring a prospect for them.
  • Where are you networking before 9 and after 5? At least two events or groups per week.
  • Are you a member of a business development group like BNI? At least one group.
  • Where are your face-to-face meetings occurring in order to maximize your exposure, and your sales opportunities? Where are your sales taking place?
  • Who is NOT returning your calls? WHY?
  • Who is NOT setting an appointment? WHY?

These are challenge questions to determine the productive use of time before and after normal work hours. From 9-5 you’re busy chasing people, leaving voice mails, and being frustrated by a consistent lack of progress. More than half of your time will be wasted (you just don’t know which half).

Sales require relationship building. Not just for loyalty of existing customer base, but also to earn referrals and testimonials. Early and late sales meetings net positive outcomes. And early-late prospecting is MUCH MORE relaxed.

What can you do? Here are 7.5 things to enhance your relationships and your sales results. CAUTION: They require WORK.

1. Establish a mutually agreeable game plan with EACH existing customer. Not just how to sell, but also how you will help them.

2. Discover and document ‘best times,’ ‘best topics,’ and ‘most important.’

3. Reach and engage customers and prospects socially.

4. Meet for early morning coffee every day if you can.

5. Send a weekly value message to everyone.

6. GIVE referrals.

7. Seek leadership positions in every group you join.

7.5 Study your struggles and your successes. Identify where your last ten sales came from, because it’s likely your next ten will come from the same places.

The key point of understanding is the difference between a job in sales, and a dedicated, relationship based sales career. Which do you have?

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

Leadership Inspiration – Foregoing the Advantage

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StrategyDriven Inspirational Quote“Next to knowing when to seize an opportunity, the most important thing in life is to know when to forego an advantage.”

Benjamin Disraeli (1804 – 1881)
Earl of Beaconsfield

The Women’s Economy Starts Here

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For the first time in this nation’s history, women are now the majority of the work force and what a force that is. As the number of entrepreneurial women rises, it is clear that this country’s economy can begin to move in the right direction as long as these women begin to be treated equally; however this isn’t the case. Just recently, the pay equity bill failed to pass that would ensure equal pay for women. On average in this country, women make $0.85 on the dollar compared to men- and that’s Caucasian women, it drops dramatically when you look at other Ethnic groups. This is a trend that we have to focus our efforts on to change.

According to “JOBENOMICS, A Plan for America” by Chuck Vollmer, small businesses are the backbone of the US economy. With more and more female entrepreneurs, it is vital that they are equipped with the tools to be successful. Vollmer shows that small businesses “generated 64% of all new jobs over the past 15 years…employ more full-time people…and are far less likely to outsource jobs overseas.” But small businesses are still suffering, even as the economy is recovering, which is why women play such a vital role in this turn-around. If female-owned businesses were to have access to more resources and tools, this would in turn have a massive effect on the state of the nation. Vollmer also explains “Several common misperceptions about small business are that they do not produce as many jobs, and are more likely to fail relative to big business. Neither is true.”

Women are also the most influential consumers. Contributing to the total $7 trillion in consumer and business spending in America, women influence 85% of all purchasing decisions, including half of products that would seem more oriented to men, such as automobiles, home improvement items, and consumer electronics. The impact that women have on this country’s market alone is substantial. For products related to home life, it’s been reported that moms represent a $2.4 trillion market. These statistics make women the key target audience for any successful business.

With such a large impact, women are truly becoming the leaders of the U.S. and as leaders, it is vital to be prepared, educated and equipped for the task at hand. This is why events such as the California Women’s Conference are such an essential part of helping women network, grow and be inspired to succeed in their ventures. Being a business owner can be a risk and risk is scary for most people.

Five important keys for women to remember:

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About the Author

Michelle PattersonVisionary and lauded business accelerator Michelle Patterson is President of the Global Women Foundation and The California Women’s Conference – the largest women’s symposium in North America that has featured esteemed First Ladies, A-List Hollywood celebrities, and high caliber business influencers. Michelle is also the CEO of Women Network LLC, an online digital media platform dedicated to giving women a voice and a platform to share their message. Michelle may be reached at WomenNetwork.com.

Corrective Action Program Best Practice 15 – Condition Report Review Meetings

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StrategyDriven Corrective Action Program ArticleEffective corrective action programs promptly and consistently screen newly reported issues for their impact on the organization’s vision, mission, values, and goals. These screenings prioritize and aggregate corrective actions from all business areas with the organization’s strategic initiatives and day-to-day operations; ensuring optimal resource use. Consequently, condition report review meetings are frequently used to review and prioritize newly submitted condition reports.

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About the Author

Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Principal is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.