Business Owner Newsletter - Page 22

We want you to think about your last sales appointment. What was your objective? The most common response is, "to make a sale." But, is it really?

We want you to think about sales this month. Yes, we understand the year is almost half over and we know your sales goals for 2016 were set months ago. But, do you know how it will happen? How will you increase production if needed? How do you get back on track? Or, maintain current momentum? Ultimately how will you meet your year-end goals?

This month we've discussed technology, the point of view you have around technology, working with vendors, and resources to improve your tech abilities. As we wrap up this month, we want to focus on one more issue:  Implementation. It's one of our favorite words. 

This month we've discussed the point of view a business needs to have regarding technology and the importance of working with your IT providers. Once you've created the right mindset, it's important for your business to have basic knowledge. Again, you don't have to be an expert, but you have to be knowledgeable enough to ask the tough questions. So where do you get the knowledge? Thankfully there are many resources to learn about your technology needs. Here are a few of our favorites:

Quote: "The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency."  - Bill Gates

Chances are you'll be working with a vendor to implement technology in your business. These vendors might be web designers, social media experts, or even sales people for technology tools such as CRMs or email marketing software. We often find that the communication between the vendors and business owners often halts, muddies, or even worse completely ruins many attempts at implementing technology in a business. Here are a few tips to ensure that as a small business owner you are prepared to talk the talk with your technology vendors.

Technology! You can love it or hate it, but there's one thing that is clear:  it's here to stay. This means that as a business owner you must learn to deal with it. Otherwise, your business can suffer. Does that mean you need to adapt right now to technology? Absolutely not, but it does mean you need to think about technology from a strategic point of view. Today we'll be looking at the productive points of view business owners need to adopt when discussing technology:

This month we've focused on understanding how you decorate your rut. We looked at ruts that feel safe and comfortable, and discussed the need for small action steps to escape ruts. This week we want to focus on ruts that feel uncomfortable.
 

Last week we challenged you to identify a rut and to think about how it's decorated.  This week we want to focus on the ruts that feel safe and comfortable.  Examples of ruts that feel safe and comfortable might be: