Sourcing Information from Website Forums

Up until a few months ago, I was not really familiar with the benefits of participating in forums that are starting to pop up on many company, community, and special interest websites. I belong to a few professional organizations that have an open forum for members on their website, but other than skimming over some eye catching topics, I never took the time to actually read and respond to other member's posts.

Recently I started to seek out websites that have forums relevant to my business or special interests. I began to read some threads, which are basically a topic starter, and the posts that follow, which are a response to that thread. Once you are registered in the forum, you can add your own threads and posts to any of the listed topics. While the majority of the information contained in a forum revolves around people's opinions, you can still learn quite a bit from actively participating in them. If you are looking for information on a particular topic, you can add your question as a thread and then see what kind of answers you receive back.

Some of the benefits I have personally derived from business oriented forums are links to websites and organizations that I never knew existed, advice on a particular issue, and feedback on my theories and opinions that I expressed in my own threads.

There are also many social forums out there on just about any subject imaginable. They provide a great place to exchange experiences with other people who share your same interests.

While every forum may be a little different in nature, they all work on the same basic premise, an exchange of information and ideas. As long as you remember that for the most part people are expressing opinions, not facts you should still be able to use them as a valid resource for obtaining information.

The Power of Self Assessment

I spent close to twenty years as the sales manager for a wholesale distribution company and one of my main tasks was to constantly track and measure the sales team's performance. There would be weekly one on one reviews as well as monthly and quarterly performance evaluations all designed to align individual goals and objectives with those of the company. It was extremely time consuming, but beneficial in driving growth and improving the bottom line. It was this constant assessment that contributed to twenty years of profitable growth.

Now that I work for myself I have adopted this approach to evaluate my own performance. I have put processes in place that track my weekly results in four critical areas that are directly tied to the overall growth of my business. I conduct a monthly review of my efforts to ensure they are in line with my goals and objectives. On a quarterly basis I review my overall marketing plan to make sure it is still on track,and then make any necessary adjustments to my current strategies. This self assessment is designed to keep me moving forward, but more importantly to keep me committed to the vision and mission I established for my company.

I wish I could say that I have accomplished all the goals I set for myself, and everything is going according to schedule. The reality is that starting any business is hard work and extremely demanding. I have changed my business model numerous times and have made countless mistakes along the way. The one constant through the whole experience has been the process of self assessment. This is the single most important reason I even have a business. It has kept me focused and committed to the tasks at hand. It has allowed me to learn from my mistakes and make the necessary adjustments to get me back on track. It prevents me from making excuses and holds me directly accountable for my efforts. Most importantly, it gives me a reason to get up everyday and get back to work.

Assessing your performance is not the easiest thing in the world to do, however it probably the most important thing you can do for yourself. People close to you tend to tell you things they think you want to hear. You are the only person in the world who can honestly assess your efforts and performance. Utilizing this powerful tool and all the benefits it can provide will be directly tied to your eventual success or failure.

Creating a Blueprint for a Sales Call

When a contractor wants to build something they start with a plan that usually involves creating a blueprint. I do not really know that much about construction, but I do know that builders constantly refer to the blueprint to make sure everything they are doing meets the specifications of the project.

Just as a contractor starts with a blueprint, a sales person's efforts need to start with one as well. Anyone involved with selling a product or service needs to develop a specific plan before their initial contact with a prospect. This plan will take you through the necessary steps to execute an effective sales call.

First, you need to thoroughly know the features and benefits of your product or service. This gives you the ability to match these benefits to a prospect's needs. This concept becomes the real nuts and bolts of any sales call and will ultimately determine the positive or negative outcome of that call.

Second, you need to know where you are going to sell your product or service. By developing a target list of prospects that are the best fit what you have, you will maximize your "time to sell". Qualifying prospects eliminates wasting your time calling on people that really don't have a need for your product or service.

Third, you need to know how you are going to sell your product, determining the techniques you will employ to effectively reach your prospect. While most times a face to face meeting is the best way to engage someone, this is not always possible. You need to determine the process you will follow and the means of communication you will use to get your message to the proper decision maker. This will often become a matter of trial and error, but having a set plan helps to eliminate wasted time and effort.

The most important thing a blueprint will provide is confidence. If you are properly prepared for a sales call, executing the call becomes that much easier. By taking the guess work out of your actions, you will come across as professional and an expert in your field. You may not always close the sale, but you will definitely give yourself the best chance to do so.

Potential verse Performance

When I decided to start my own consulting company, I attended a training seminar designed to help get your business off the ground. One of the instructors talked about the concept of potential vs. performance in terms growing your business into a successful venture. As with any start up, I have encountered wall after wall of obstacles that try and derail your efforts. It is your actual performance , not your potential that determines whether you succeed or fail.

Everyone has the potential for greatness in some form or another. By taking a good, hard look at your strengths and weaknesses, you can determine what skills or attributes you possess. These skills, when properly applied, can lead you to success in both your personal and professional endeavors. So if this is truly the case, why do certain people succeed and others fail? Potential alone does not guarantee success, in fact in often gets in the way and leads you on the path to failure.

Performance, that fully utilizes your potential is what will create the proper environment for you to flourish. Remember the Nike ads..."Just do it". Too many times people want to blame everything around them for failure, except a lack of proper execution on their part. The truly successful people in life do not sit on the sidelines, rather they look for ways to constantly get in the game. Everything you do will not be an instant success, rather you learn from trial and error. The mere fact that you try will at the very least be a learning experience.

In the past two years since starting my business I have made numerous mistakes and squandered quite a few opportunities. Fortunately, this was not from inactivity, but from trying and failing. The beauty about this is, there is always another day, and always new opportunities to succeed. You learn from your mistakes and adjust your performance accordingly.

You need to make the commitment to yourself that you will succeed, and that you will do what ever it takes to achieve your vision. You already know you have the potential to reach your goals, however your performance is what will ultimately determine if you get there.

Control the Controllable

As the economy begins to slump more and more each passing day it becomes harder and harder to remain optimistic about growing and expanding a business. With so much doom and gloom in the air many people will be tempted to throw in the towel. While I do understand that things are slow, they aren't stopped. It is the companies that change, adapt, and persevere during these tough times that will not only maintain their business, but grow their business.

One fundamental concept that must always be in the forefront of your mind is to "control the controllable". You can't fix the credit crisis, you can't lower the price of gas, and you can't print money(at least legally), so focus all your energy on what you can do. This is a great opportunity to examine your work processes to look for ways to eliminate waste and raise productivity. That doesn't mean everyone working harder and longer, rather it means worker smarter. This is a great time to get rid of all the bad habits that have accumulated over the years. I guarantee if you take an honest and hard look at how your business is being run, you will find areas that need improvement. Improvement leads to better productivity. Being more productive leads to a more profitable business, and a more profitable business means growth not declines in revenue.

This is also a great time to eliminate the word excuse from your vocabulary. Most likely your excuses for poor results are things you can't control, so why make them. Nobody uses poor performance as an excuse for poor results. It can't be me, it has to be all the negative things that surround me. If everyone takes accountability for their day to day actions and works toward improving their own results, the company will automatically improve their results as a whole.

There is no doubt that a good number companies will not make it through this current economic meltdown, some actually through no fault of their own. However, by not taking control of the controllable you give yourself even less of a chance to make it. Remember "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger".

Stretching Your Advertising Dollar

As the economy heads into the tank everyone will be looking for ways to tighten the budgetary belt to cut costs. The first knee jerk reaction is to cut marketing and advertising dollars as a way to cut costs. This is not the best move but as cash flow gets tight there may be no other choice. So how can you keep promoting your product or service if you have to cut back on traditional ways to advertise?

One way to stretch your advertising dollars is to donate your product and/or time to local charities and other fund raising organizations. Donations to organizations are a great way to generate goodwill for your business. You will gain recognition from the community as well as endear yourself to the fund raising group. This is an excellent way to gain positive visability at a very low cost, not to mention the benefit of helping a worthy cause.

Another way to stretch your dollars is to seek out trade for mention opportunities with the companies you already advertise with. Radio stations are constantly giving things away on the air, why not give away your product. This is far less expensive than the cost of buying more ads. If you already spend money with them do not be afraid to ask how you can get involved with their promotions. Print and other forms of media can be a little more tricky, but opportunities still do exist. The bottom line is to go to your media suppliers to look for ways to leverage your current ad dollars to generate additional promotional value aand exposure for your business.

The amount of exposure you receive from these activities can be worth their weight in gold, as not only to you get your product in front of the public, you create trial and most likely future sales for them as well. The opportunities are out there, the main thing is to find the right ones and make them work for you.

Core Values

Owners will often develop a Mission Statement and a Vision Statement to use as a blueprint to guide the direction of their company. You need to be able to visualize what your company currently is and what you want it to become. Giving careful thought to these statements is very important as they have the power to unite everyone involved into a common bond that will focus on achieving this mission under the guidelines of ownership's vision. One other thing that goes hand in hand with a mission and vision, are core values.

Core values establish the behavior and attitude that will guide the actions needed to carry out the mission, and stay true to the vision. If you strongly believe that honesty is the best policy, then make it a core value that will always be in the forefront of decisions and actions. If think tenacity and persistence are the way to grow your business, make them core values and hold everyone accountable to conduct business accordingly. What ever traits you want to see displayed in people's behavior in the course of the work they do should be communicated as a core value of the company.

Once you have your Mission, Vision, and Core Values make sure you post them for everyone to see. Make sure they are part of your company's culture. Most important of all make sure your actions and behavior as an owner stay true to what you have posted. Always remember you will be judged by your actions not your words.