Managers have the daunting task of trying to stay on top of all day-to-day activities, training staff and servicing clients; developing a good tracking system for your staff can give you the time and the edge necessarily for success.

Keep your staff in the loop

First organize your sales process into steps, if you have not done so already. For example: Step one- meet and greet. Step two- needs assessment; and so on.

Next develop a system of organization that you can be comfortable checking. It’s always good to have instant access from anywhere at any time.

Also remember that sales never end; even when you’re not on the sales floor you are looking for prospects and handing out business cards. Logging these prospects into your system at any time of the day or night can keep you and your staff on top of these prospects.

The next step to good organization is having everyone on the same page. If you are already using a system make sure you train everyone on the specifics of the program as well as how you specifically want them to use it. This type of training is essential to avoid any employee from veering too far from what you expect from them.

In the rare case your system is still analog make sure everyone knows when and how to log their info. If your system is digital make sure pass codes are up-to-date and that all staff receives continuous training.

The best way to incorporate the continuous training is to hold weekly training and progress reporting for your staff.

First, ask everyone to explain where they are in the sales process and how they plan to find more clients.

Next ask if everyone is current on their logging of new prospects. Make sure to check and see if everyone has completed what they said they did.

By making this a weekly habit and making people responsible for their actions you’ll find that after a while your staff will police itself; putting an end to the constant nagging that is the biggest culprit of staff burnout on the sales floor.

Another benefit is that you yourself will have greater access to your staff and will be ready for problems before they come up.

In conclusion; management sales and organization can bring you more money

Give your staff the cutting-edge in sales tracking and organization and you’ll surely see an increase in sales that means bigger pay checks for all.

Remember great businesses are great because of the systems they use to making things efficient. This is one of the fundamental ideas companies like Walmart and Mcdonalds used to get to the top. It’s time to put these ideals to good use, don’t you think?

A great book that goes over this is “The E Myth” by Michael E Gerber. If you haven’t read it, I do highly recommend it. It’s easy to read, fairly short and has some of the finest management and business tips to this day, and the book was first published in 1985!

If you have any questions on types of programs or organizational tools feel free to leave a comment. We are, after all, here to help you learn and make more money!

Over the past couple of days I’ve been noticing that certain types of companies have not only survived the economic downturn but are actually increasing their successes. How have they done this?

Well, the main trend between the companies is that they are utilizing cutting edge technology making the lives of their customers and their employees much easier, as well as using this technology to market their products more effectively.

I like to call it the “lazy technology trend.” And I think we can all learn from it.

Lazy Technology in business

What do I mean by lazy technology?

I’m not talking about technology for people too lazy to get out of bed. What I’m talking about is technology that feeds the basic human instinct, driving us to make things faster and easier.

Man made fire so it would be easier to eat and stay warm. Man invented the wheel to transport people and goods with less effort and so on.
If you follow this “lazy instinct” through the ages to modern day life, you reach a world where technology is king and fast information is his sword. You can be either knighted or beheaded by it.

Google, one of the most successful companies of our time, has always made it priority to feed this “lazy instinct”.

Their products allow people to make simple searches of the internet, email and video chat, store information, share information, use of word processors, all available on the home page. The list of lazy products they offer is growing daily.

Another example of lazy technology would be Netflix. Originally started as a website where you pay a monthly fee to rent DVD’s by mail.

Now with the use of new technology they have made renting movies and T.V. shows instantly from your computer or TV (with the use of an inexpensive adapter, X-box, PS3 and coming this spring for the Wii) an included part of the monthly service: making Netflix so much more competitive that they’re even taking clients away from cable companies.

An interesting lazy tool for businesses using twitter is Twuffer. Twuffer allows the Twitter user to compose announcements or posts and schedule their release days, weeks, even months in advance.

Companies can use this technology to schedule tweets for upcoming campaigns, promotions, specials, contests etc.: letting twuffer do all the work for them at the appointed time.

Staying on top of technology

All modern day businesses should utilize new technologies to make their products easier to use and more accessible to customers.

Microsoft had to learn this lesson the hard way. They’re just now becoming more competitive online but for years they focused only on building software that you buy at the store. The problem is that the internet and web let people get what they need instantly.

This made it hard for Microsoft to sell their products and gave companies like Google an opening into the market.

A great way to stay on top of available technology is to watch companies similar to yours (especially direct competitors) and find out what they are using to make customers lives easier. Take those ideas and improve on them.

The funny thing is, because of our lazy instinct, technology just keeps building on itself getting infinitely faster and better. To some this is a scary thought because of the competition and uncertainty technology creates.

But I feel it gives us a chance to actually make money and reach more people.

What an exciting time to be alive and in business.

Five Reasons Why Businesses Fail – CLICK HERE AND CHOOSE “SAVE AS” TO GET THIS FREE EBOOK!

In the immense ocean of money and politics that we call “business” having a plan of attack can mean the difference between sinking like a rock and sailing your way into the sunset called success.

Many small businesses overlook the planning aspect of their companies, which explains why most businesses fail in the first three years. Having no plans leaves very little wiggle room when it comes to dealing with problems or even unexpected successes.

I was talking to one of my mentors this week who told me, “Plan ahead, that way whether things go right or wrong you can maneuver to get yourself where you want to go. If you do things blind you’ll be lucky to even get started.”

That made me think about all of the planning I‘ve done for my own businesses, or for other businesses I’ve been involved with over the years, and I realized something– the stronger the plan, the stronger the business.

So I’ve decided to give everyone, and anyone, a chance to utilize my knowledge and experience, to develop a strong plan for free. I think of it as my way of giving back to my fellow entrepreneurs.

Please note that this information won’t all be in one blog. I want to make sure you have ample time for brainstorming, number crunching, inventing procedures and development of marketing ideas. That’s why I’ve decided to give the information as a weekly class of sorts. This week we will cover the four key aspects of planning for a business.

The four things you need to know before starting your business plan.

The business concept

The first step is to develop a clear idea of what your business’s primary form of income will be; what type of service or product you will be providing, and what is your “unique sales proposition” or USP.

The “who does what” of business

Second, figure out who is, or will be, involved in your business administration, labor, sales, management etc. Make sure to take a deep look at your management team and process, establish what the strengths, and weaknesses are, as well as what you expect for the management to accomplish.

Business objectives

Third, be clear about your objectives and why you think you’ll be successful in achieving your goals. Many people have trouble pinpointing all of the objectives a business needs to accomplish to succeed, but if you brainstorm for a good amount of time you’ll be able to come up with your primary objectives. You can worry about the smaller objectives your business may need to tackle as you start writing your business plan.

Business finances

Fourth, make sure you have, at the very least, a basic idea of your finances. Decide whether you will be financing the company or not. If this is the case, know how you will pay the money back and make sure you account for all of the interest you will pay on the loan.

Once you get a vague picture of these points in your mind you will be ready to actually commit to drawing up the first draft of your business plan to paper.

So join me next time when I go over the first section of an effective business plan.

For more information on writing business or marketing plans please contact one of our consultants at (702)339-3855

www.assuranceadvertising.com

Regardless of how you feel about Malcolm X’s politics or religious beliefs you have to admit he had a great mind. Mobilizing and influencing so many people is not the work of a simpleton; there is an obvious understanding of people, business and life in the mind of someone who accomplished so much.

The story

In “The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley” there is a story regarding a rabbit hunting trip Malcolm took as a boy.

He relates to Alex Haley how on this particular trip the farmers would send in a dog knowing that the rabbit would naturally freak out and run in a big circle, eventually returning to the place where it started. So they would wait there and shoot the animal as it came back. An almost sure-fire way to get a shot at the animal.

Malcolm, being the cunning person he was, took the initiative of moving to a position that he knew the rabbit had to pass first before coming full circle and the result is obvious. He shot many more rabbits than everyone else did.

In his own words “…all I had done was improve on their strategy…Any time you find someone more successful than you are, especially when you are both engaged in the same business–you know they are doing something that you aren’t.”

This example of a strong business mind struck a chord deep in my “business soul” as it were. It’s an extraordinary example of how business owners have to think and be innovative at all times.

Imagine if every time you saw someone doing good business you sat down and developed those ideas and incorporated them into your own company. You would be the most innovative person in business, which is what entrepreneurs must strive to get good at.

In this day and age of tough competition you need to make sure you are watching your competitors. Find out why customers like to go to them and improve on their successes. If they are making money they are obviously doing something right.

I’m not saying copy what anyone else is doing exactly; just use their systems and ideas as a platform for your own creativity and innovation.

Your mind loves to be creative why not turn that creativity into sustainability and income?

Create business cards, postcards, letterhead and more with our new user-friendly Printing Tool

Design and print made simple for small business owners

Most business owners want to get good printing at the lowest price, as they should! But they usually lack the time they need to design the job, find a good print shop with competitive prices, and then run it over before the shop closes.

Business owners know that sometimes the only time available is late at night when no print shop is open to take an order to; which usually leads to design issues and costly delays.

That’s why the Online Do-It-Yourself Enhanced Design & Printing Tool, now available on the Assurance Advertising website, is a great solution for the modern day business owner.

Why is this the fast and easy way to do online printing with Assurance Advertising: printing made as Easy as 1, 2, 3.

1. Upload your own artwork, or choose from a library of stock images, fonts and templates.
2. Check for typos or errors.
3. Submit your artwork for approval and processing.

Once it’s been submitted you’ll receive online verification and a phone call to confirm the order and set up payment. Just think about all the time and energy you’re going to save!

The best part is our prices are extremely competitive and the turnaround is just as fast, if not faster, than any print shop in town.

So if you’re tired of talking to sales-reps who may or may not have your best interest in mind, or working around the print shops schedule CLICK HERE now and check out all the great time-saving options that you now have available at Assurance Advertising.com

Not sure what to do? Click on help before you start and follow the easy step by step instructions to get the job done!

Fun Business Expo for Las Vegas Locals

The reason I attended this specific event was to help introduce the brand new Las Vegas branch of Assurance Advertising to some of the local businesses. I expected the usual boring business expo. You know, slow paced and millions of the same types of businesses. But I actually ended up having a blast!

The doors opened to the LV Chamber Expo at 12:00 on Wednesday the 24th of June, and as I walked into the Las Vegas Convention center I could instantly feel the energy radiating from its 200 exhibitors and thousands of attendees.

There were so many great resources to be connected with and tons of innovative new businesses to investigate. Technologies for clean power, video and radio resources, lots of food (including Gudfud’s amazing Hello Kitty-style packaging of jelly filled marshmallows!), and I even got to see the photographer Adam Shane’s breathtaking portfolio.

If there’s one thing to be said about the current day and age and our economy, it’s that we seem (at least in this instance) to be pushing ourselves to use new ideas, cutting-edge technologies and community networking to stimulate business and get sales. There is definitely a transformation happening in business right now, and it’s fantastic!

All in all, it was great to see businesses sporting “can do” attitudes and great new products. Not to mention the amazing job the Chamber did to promote for its members.

Bravo Las Vegas! I hope I get to visit again next year.

Reza Zargari

]]> http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/2009/07/02/2009-lv-business-expo-review/feed/ 0 http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/2009/05/25/free-marketing-and-advertising-seminar-for-southern-california-and-las-vegas-business-owners/ http://www.smallbusinessmarketingandadvertisinghelp.com/blog/2009/05/25/free-marketing-and-advertising-seminar-for-southern-california-and-las-vegas-business-owners/#comments Mon, 25 May 2009 23:08:24 +0000 admin http://assuranceadvertising.wordpress.com/?p=30 Free Marketing and Advertising seminar for Southern California and Las Vegas business owners!