No business can afford to stand still. Global competition and rapid innovation are raising the bar for organizations to continually develop new products, increase customer satisfaction, improve quality, and reduce costs. Every organization needs operational excellence.
In some cases, business leaders may know where they have opportunities to improve. In other cases, however, the task can be overwhelming, with business processes spanning multiple functions across multiple geographies. Where do you focus your business process improvement efforts to gain the greatest benefit with the least amount of effort?
Our Approach to Process Management (BPM)
A comprehensive effort to improve all business processes is rarely justified. Our consulting approach, rather, is to identify the areas of highest priority, with the greatest payback, and where the recommendations have the greatest likelihood of being implemented.
We do this with a broad-based data collection effort to prioritize the business processes most critical to organizational success and also in most need of improvement. For each selected process, our business process consultants then conduct a high-level business process framing exercise to define process boundaries, process owners and key actors, major steps, issues, and the vision for improvement.
Process Enablers: workflow, information systems, incentives, human resources, policies, and facilities. If the effort is warranted, we also map the processes in their “as-is” state.
Not every process needs the same level of business process improvement. By prioritizing your needs and focusing your efforts, you can achieve significant improvement in profitability and gain competitive advantage in the shortest time possible.
Strategy
Vision
Governance
Comparative Advantage
Structure
Power & Authority
Information Flow
Organizational Roles
Human Resource Management
Work Feedback
Training – Industry Specific
Reward Systems
Compensation
Rewards
Bonuses
Business Processes & Lateral Links
Networks
Processes
Integrative Roles
Matrix Structure
Most people don’t realize how important selling is—unless your paycheck depends on it! Every time I mention selling, I always hear, “It’s not for me”, “You have to have the knack for sales”, or “I just can’t do sales” – but this can’t be farther from the truth. Salespeople aren’t the only ones selling something. In Robert Hergovich’s (Entrepreneur) latest book, “You Don’t Have to Be a Shark,” the premise is simple: great salespeople are made, not born, and no one achieves success in life without knowing how to sell. Think of the last time you convinced your kids to finish their vegetables or convinced your parents to let you borrow the car for the weekend – believe it or not, you’re selling something! Regardless of what you’re selling, it’s easier than most people think. Just keep the following 5 tips in mind…
First Things First – Sell Yourself.
Forget about the product or service. If whoever you’re selling to doesn’t like you, they’re not going to listen to you. Make sure you know the product and present yourself well. Be the salesperson you’d buy something from.
Listen More, Less Talking…
Bad salespeople can’t get over how amazing their product is—they go on and on about it! But good salespeople listen to what their clients are saying. They pay attention to the clients’ needs from the start and present accordingly.
Knowing who to Sell to.
If you’re selling a widget that costs $50K, don’t try to sell it to the guy whose widget budget is $2k. A common mistake salespeople make is trying to sell to anyone and everyone. Make sure whatever you’re selling fulfills your potential client’s needs and is realistic for them. You’re much likely to get that sale!
Understanding the other sides Motivation.
Why should people care about what you’re selling? How is your product or service providing value to them? Pay attention to what’s driving your potential client to take your meeting in the first place and address that in your pitch.
Keep it simple.
Don’t overcomplicate your pitch just because you want to sound more knowledgeable. The mark of true knowledge in anything is how well you can explain to the average person. Keep your pitch simple and under 30 seconds—practice your elevator pitch!
The key to selling successfully is to think about the person you’re selling to. Make your approach about their needs and think about how they’ll feel after the pitch/meeting. There is no such thing as a ‘natural-born salesperson’. Take it from me – anyone can learn to be good at sales, including you!