The Entrepreneur's Mentor

Making Your Organization a Sales Organization

Every business sells a product or service, hopefully one that is desired by the buying public. How they sell varies from industry to industry, profession to profession and business to business.But in order to achieve long term success, businesses must become sales driven. They must recognize that their sole purpose is to satisfy customer needs and desires on an ongoing, continuous, time after time basis. How do they achieve that purpose?

In theory, it is not hard at all. In practice, it takes focus and determination and strength of character and convictions. The first step is to have a clear vision of what you want to be as a business, what you want to achieve. As part of this an owner must clearly and consistently communicate that vision to the employees. Owners have to paint a clear picture of a believable future. And the future must be one that employees desire and believe in.

Part of what creates that belief is the values of the organization. They are the road the owner chooses, the path to completion of the vision. They say as much about what the organization stands for as anything else. And they are a major part of the brand. The values tell the employees, the vendors, the suppliers, the customers and the public where the organization's head and heart reside.

Do we want to achieve our success by trashing the competition, cheating our suppliers and scamming our customers? Or do we want to treat everyone with dignity, respect, honesty and fairness? Do we love nature and want to do what we can to preserve our environment or do we not care?  Our values as an organization speak to things like that.

Having great, strong values is very important but it does not end there. An organization must consistently exhibit behaviors consistent with those values. This means from the top down, not once in a while but every day. Employees look at their leaders and either believe or disbelieve in the values of the organization by the behaviors of the leaders. They must "walk the walk."

If the leaders model the right behaviors, employees will believe. And then they will be engaged. They will take pride in what they do and what the company does. They will be enthusiastic and they will be great representatives of the company in dealing with customers, suppliers and the public. They will be part of the company's brand, a very positive part.

Engaged employees lead to loyal customers. There is significant data to back this up. And to go one step further, they lead to more positive financial results.

So, step one in becoming a true sales organization is not to hire that "monster" salesperson. It is to build the foundation within your organization that makes good people believe in you and your company and want to work for you and serve your customers.

You can start that process today and begin paving the way for change.

Too Much at Once

Wow. Who would have thought six months ago that President Obama would be evoking such strong negative feeling for trying to solve the country's major problems?

But look at how he has done it. He has attacked many large problems at once. He has not provided the American people (his stakeholders) with clarity. He has not built consensus around his sense of urgency. He has used his political capital (i.e his authority) to push through what he wanted.  He left us behind and what lingers is a sense of a huge amount of debt, and instead of hopefulness, fear.

This is not a comment on whether he made the right moves or the wrong moves. It is more a look at what was wrong with his methodology. In a corporate setting, bringing about change is recognized as a process that takes time. There has to be buy in on a few levels. There has to be a carrot and a stick, rewards and accountability. There must be clear communication and there must be a vision of a believable positive future. Confusion cannot be allowed to reign- clarity is a must.

Well, who is clear on TARP? On the stimulus? On the healthcare reform plan?  Obviously, not enough people. How can we be so against fixing a system that doesn't work? It is because Obama doesn't own the conversation- he let opponents fashion the communication. Rumors, negativity, outright lies and a total lack of clarity prevail. All of this is on top of a prevailing environment of fear at the huge deficits we have incurred already.

He may be doing everything right while he is communicating it and executing it all wrong.

Stop for a minute and think about instances in your business when you have been positive what you are doing is right and you haven't bothered to be thoughtful in the way you present it to others.

There are proven, successful ways to implement change. Take the time to do it right and do it well and your chances for success are multiplied. many times. Try to push it through just because you are the boss and have the authority to do so, and you will be dragging your team along unwillingly and the effort will wear you out and end up giving you a less than satisfactory result.

Multiple change initiatives pushed in the same timeframe are almost impossible to sustain unless your team is primed for them, incentivized and motivated. Typically, doing too much at once is a prescription for failure. It dilutes the focus on any one thing, making everything equally important or unimportant and therefore leaving no prioritization.

Do one thing. Do it right and do it well- embed it in your culture and then move on to the next initiative.  Too much at once will be lost on everyone.

Keeping Your Wits About You

Times are tough- of this there is no doubt. And they are going to get worse. Many people live from paycheck to paycheck, and for them, a layoff would be disastrous.

Many entrepreneurs, especially those in the early stages of their business, are also living from hand to mouth. They have put everything into their business, and if things go bad, they lose all.

It would be easy to panic. It would be easy to roll into the fetal position and moan. But if the leader does that, what will the employees do? They will panic and that can bring a quick end to a business.

Employers need to keep their wits about them. Now more than ever, cool heads are required. Every move becomes strategic. Each decision needs to be geared toward the survival of the business in the best shape possible. Whatever cuts are made, the business still needs to do business.

And here is where the leader must be a communicator. Employees need to know what is going on, what the thought process is and what it means to them. They do not need evasion or lies. When there is a lack of information, rumor and falsehood move into fill the void. This is not a time for the grapevine to do damage. It needs to be pumping out a positive message based on leadership's communications.

It is easy to panic. But it is better to seek calm. It is better to get good advice than to run around in circles screaming "the sky is falling, the sky is falling." Some of that advice could come from employees; some from customers; and some from outside advisors. Don't sit on your hands until it is too late.

Act- calmly, positively and in a communicative style. Be true to your vision and values. Do the best you can and do it with a clear head.

Goals for 2009

We are one week into the new year- just about 2% of the year is over, never to be seen again. What have we done so far? How did we use that 2%?

Remember, those 2%s add up quickly. So, it is time to get moving. Instead of letting the year just happen to us and around us, why not decide what we want it to be? While we cannot control world events or the economy, we can control how we are going to function. We can decide on what we can and what we must control.

Many of us know that our businesses may be in jeopardy. So we know that we must do something to keep them going. They are our source of income, our livelihood, and in may cases, our identity. So, if we must keep them alive, we need to identify what the biggest and most critical success factors are. And then we must set goals for each of them, and act on those goals. This isn't going to happen by itself.

The President-elect spoke today and talked about his huge stimulus package, and all of the jobs it will create. How can we position ourselves to help in some way, as an act of national service, but also to help our businesses? Opportunity exists- go after it.

Many entrepreneurs find their biggest opportunities in the wake of disaster. Instead of putting our collective heads down and rolling around in self-pity, we need to get up and take advantage of whatever conditions exist that might provide opportunity. Find them - they are there.

2009 can be a great year, even if you have wasted the first 2%. We have 98% of the year left to do something meaningful.  Assess the conditions, set goals and get moving. The ones that do will be here one year from now. The ones that don't.........

What Do Entrepreneurs Want from Santa?

I know, I know. Entrepreneurs are supposed to be cynical, worldly wise, street smart folks. We know there is no Santa, no free lunch. We know the check is not in the mail. We know when our employees call in "sick" rather than coming to work and pulling their weight. We've heard most of the excuses out there and recognize new ones when they come our way.

Nonetheless, we love pleasant surprises just like everyone else. We love to dream - it was our dreams that made us entrepreneurs in the first place. So, why not accept, at least for a few moments, the existence of Santa Claus. What would we want him to bring us?

Of course there is the usual crew- world peace, an end to hunger and poverty, good health for all. After those we are usually pretty well covered, but not this year. This year, I would add the following:

• A US government focused on getting us back on the right track internationally and domestically.
• More concern for the planet on which we live and the environment in which we live.
• A steadily recovering economy
• Common sense from the banks in making money available to the entrepreneurs with ideas that will help society.
• A common sense, transparent, efficient and effective health care system providing affordable and high quality care
• Realistic confidence
• Business leadership with a social conscience, focused on the present and the future.
• Wisdom that will enable us to take the experiences of 2008 and put them to use in our future thinking,
• Thought leadership
• Continuous innovation
• Renewed passion
• Less partisanship and contentiousness and more cooperation and collaboration
• Patience, which entrepreneurs as a group need

There is so much more, but we can't be too greedy. Okay, one last thing. We need to surround ourselves with the right people- friends, allies, strategic partners, advisers, mentors, suppliers and customers. We need to understand how to use this social and business network to achieve results. We have much to offer each other.

So Santa, did you get all of that? You can spread it around to everyone. We all need these things.

Happy Holidays to all.