Management - Page 6

In the last few weeks, we've encouraged you to study your capacity and the division of work in your business. As we've noted, the knee-jerk reaction for many businesses when things start to get busy is to hire, but it's not always the only solution. Below are a few internal solutions that can sometimes prevent the need to hire.

Last week, we asked you to start digging into why you think you need to hire by looking at the true problem.  This week, continue to get clarity around the problem your business has, which is capacity, by looking at the functions of your business by position.

Quote:  "If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions." - Albert Einstein

Is it time to hire?  The question seems so simple to answer on the surface, especially if someone has just handed in their notice or worse, just quit on the spot. This month, we're going to challenge you to dig deeper into the hiring question. We're going to challenge you to view hiring decisions not just from the business' short term needs, but also from its long term strategic needs.

This month we've focused on taking your prospects on a sales road trip. One that is clearly mapped with each step in the process identified in advance. By doing so, you and your prospects know what's coming next. The final piece is to make sure you do it consistently.

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. 

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.