What we’re saying is if you’re going to message somebody, if you’re going to advertise or whatever you want to call this new medium, the best time to do it is right in that stream of commerce. So you go to that site to sign up for a paid subscription. It’s $21 a year. That’s a great time to say, when their wallet is now … [ Read more ]
Author: Drew Rayman | Source: Interview with i33 CEO Drew Rayman | Subjects: IT / Internet / E-Business, Marketing / Sales
How to prevent the loss of knowledge when people leave the company – “Knowledge bounties.” New hires fill a ‘job workbook’ with job descriptions and answers to major questions:
– What are the key components of your job?
– What does it involve, from a knowledge standpoint?
– What do you think you need to learn?
By asking these questions early on, … [ Read more ]
Author: Polly LaBarre | Source: People Go, Knowledge Stays | Original Publication: Fast Company | Subjects: Human Resources, Knowledge Management, Management
Want a simple way to foster a culture of innovation and find out who has hidden strengths? Allow people to draw on the walls.
One thing that works particularly well for our firm when we are looking for new insights, or ways to tweak a product or service offering, is to paper the walls of a room with flip chart sheets. We write thought-starters and … [ Read more ]
Author: G. Michael Maddock | Source: Finding Your Company’s Great Thinkers | Original Publication: BusinessWeek | Subject: Innovation
Peter Drucker’s thirty-year-old concept of creating a “manager’s letter” probably remains the best performance-management technique to use with senior executives. Each executive writes an annual letter to her superior, spelling out the objectives of her own job and those of the superior’s job as she sees them. She then sets down the performance standards she believes are being applied to her. She lists the goals … [ Read more ]
Author: Dick Grote | Source: Passing Judgment | Original Publication: The Conference Board Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Management
When exporting a product, it is a smart practice to ask a distributor what they anticipate selling in the first year. Then, request that their first order be 20% of that anticipated volume, prepaid, which allows them the opportunity to have exclusivity. You should expect the balance of projected sales to be ordered during the rest of the year (preferably in quarterly periods), with each … [ Read more ]
Author: Laurel Delaney | Source: 10 Deadly Sins To Global Sales Failure | Original Publication: MarketingProfs | Subjects: International, Marketing / Sales
Keep competitors off guard by avoiding the obvious. For instance, the usual reaction in a downturn is to tighten customer payment terms and increase collection efforts in order to boost cash flow. Instead, consider giving your most profitable customers or target accounts more lenient payment terms in order to capture more of their business. Make terms stricter for less attractive accounts. You’ll likely find that … [ Read more ]
Author: Udo Jung | Source: Winning in a Downturn: Six Actions to Take Now | Original Publication: Boston Consulting Group | Subjects: Customer-Related, Finance, Management
Instead of making wholesale layoffs, more companies should try layoff alternatives, such as:
Seek employee input for thoughts on these altenatives and for suggestions for other alternatives.
Author: Shari Caudron | Source: Another God That’s Failed | Original Publication: The Conference Board Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Management
Recruits are not addressed as “Marines” for nearly three months; they must first pass through the crucible of training. Why is it we, in private enterprise, greet our new employees with “Welcome to the team,” without creating the conditions that make for a meaningful graduation from our own training? We should be saying, instead, “Welcome to the best training program in the industry. In a … [ Read more ]
Author: Dan Carrison | Source: Mission Ready: Motivating Without Money | Original Publication: The CEO Refresher | Subject: Human Resources
Source: Get Business to Come to You | Original Publication: Inc. Magazine | Subject: Marketing / Sales
Require anyone who spends time in a seminar, conference, or training class to come back and share what they have learned and how they will apply the knowledge. This not only reinforces the learning but also creates a ripple effect in a learning circle. Follow-up within a short time frame to see if the employee has put any of the ideas into practice.
Author: Eileen McDargh | Source: Retention Strategies Focus on Education | Original Publication: The CEO Refresher | Subject: Human Resources