Entries from July 2009
I have become fascinated by the concept of time management. We all have the same “bank” of time and how we choose to invest that most precious of resources will greatly determine how successful and happy we will be, however you define either of those conditions.
I recently read several books on the subject of time and how we “spend” it, one of which was a completely radical departure from the traditional view of time management. The one common factor I have been able to determine from my studies on this subject is that you can either work harder or you can work smarter. Both are possible, although not often realized. The work harder or smarter axioms are both proven and defined by a couple of well recognized principles.
The first principle that applies to how time is “invested” is the Pareto Principle. Vilfredo Pareto was a world renowned economist who established what has become almost universally known as the 80/20 rule. As it relates to time management, the rule would apply that 80% of our positive results from the time we spend at work are the product of 20% of the time we spend; and conversely, we are probably wasting the other 80% of our time on low yield activity. The same principle unfortunately applies to how we spend our personal time, as I demonstrated so well last evening by watching several hours of television! We can certainly use this rule to help us analyze and maximize our productivity by doing our best to find the 20% is that is yielding 80% of our results and spend more time on those type of activities. We can also eliminate much of the 80% that is low yield. This is the principle that both shows us how to work smarter and provides the road map as to how we might do that. Theoretically, you can potentially free up 80% of your work time by effectively leveraging this one principle. So why don’t people often work harder and smarter? Because most enterprising people who are leveraging the Pareto Principle on the job are using most of that extra time to do something more fun than working!
Let’s take a look at the principle that governs the “working harder” side of the equation. C. Northcote Parkinson discovered and published what was to become known as Parkinson’s First Law. The law states that work will expand to fill the time allotted it. In other words, if you have eight hours allocated to work in a day, your workload will always expand to fill it. You will be busy but not necessarily productive (see Pareto above). When you decide to work harder you are expanding the time you are spending on work related activities even though the results may not be proportionate to the extra time spent. In applying this principle we are almost always playing right into the negative side of the 80/20 rule. Boy, we sure are busy though!
Chuck Terry is the Executive Vice President and CSO of Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s blog – Executive Insights
Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide.
Categories: Business · Business Presentations · Sales · Sales Management · Sales and Leadership Insights · dps sales training · sales growth
Tagged: closing more sales, dimensions of professional selling, improved sales, poor sales, Positional Selling, sales effectiveness, Sales Management, Sales Skills, Sales Training, selling skills, time management
Everyone with a pulse has heard the analogy about the glass being half empty or half full. The point of the analogy is a good one, because it is about positive focus versus negative focus. Technically, of course, both are true; the glass is simultaneously half full and half empty. People seem naturally inclined to see it one way or the other. In today’s business climate, many of us may struggle to see the opportunity that resides in the half full glass on a consistent basis.
There is another axiom that coincides with the glass analogy — the concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy, which states that you get what you think about and focus on in terms of positive or negative results. In short, positive thoughts yield positive results and negative thoughts will eventually manifest negative results. I have found that both concepts hold true more often than not. If you have doubts, one way to prove it to yourself is to get behind the wheel of a race car. One of the absolute rules of racing is to focus on where you want the car to go and not the wall. Take it from me, if you focus on the wall, you WILL hit the wall!
As a friend of mine often says, “So what? Now what?” I believe the “so what” is that the current economic downturn in our country has presented us with the classic case of determining if the glass is half empty or half full. If you are among the 10% of America that is unemployed, it may look half empty. If you’re among the 90% that is still employed, it is easier to see it half full. If you are considering investing in the stock market, you could make the case (and many are!) that this is the worst time you could possibly have your money in the market. You could just as easily see the half full perspective and determine that this is EXACTLY the time to move money into the market because every dollar buys more than it did just twelve months ago. Is this the worst time to invest in your business or the best time? Is this the best time to start a new company or the worst time? I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.
The “now what” is to focus on and work toward the future we desire for ourselves, our families, our business and even our country. The economy will actually BECOME what we collectively choose to focus on. If enough of us see opportunity in the stock market, guess what will happen to our investment? The self fulfilling prophecy will be that the large number of people in “buy” mode will send the market skyward and we will all look pretty smart. The same momentum is possible within individual businesses and industries.
Of course, good things in life are the result of more than just positive thinking. Bringing to fruition the glass being half full requires a leap of faith, a little luck, wise investment, and a lot of hard work. All things being equal, better to have the power of positive energy propelling you forward — it’s much more productive than the alternative!
Chuck Terry is the Executive Vice President and CSO of Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s blog – Executive Insights
Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide.
Categories: Business · Business Presentations · Sales · Sales Management · Sales and Leadership Insights · Uncategorized
Tagged: Motivation, Positional Selling, positive energy, positive selling, professional selling, Sales, sales develoopment, sales development, sales excellence, Sales Force Management, Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Sales Skills, Sales Training, Selling, selling skills
I am a huge fan of music. I’m an avid listener, concert attendee, and also play the guitar myself. It was with great interest that I read the WSJ article about venerable high end guitar maker C.F. Martin beginning production of a lower priced, no frills, guitar in response to the economic pressures created by the latest downturn in consumer spending. Is nothing sacred? Apparently, in the real world business of music, decreased discretionary spending is also having an impact on high end instrument purchases. Recording artists and their labels have been feeling the pinch for a while now, as the proliferation of music downloading sites has created downward pressure on the price point of purchased music as well as nightmares associated with royalty collection. When there are fewer discretionary dollars to spread around, no industry is immune from the effect.
The point is simple, really… the fewer discretionary dollars consumers or businesses have to spend, the tougher it gets when you are, or can be viewed as, a discretionary expenditure. So the challenge becomes how to cut through the competition to earn what little discretionary money remains. How can you position your product or service as an INVESTMENT versus a COST? Here are a few ideas:
1) Know Your Clientele: I am not talking about their buying preferences or habits, but about understanding how they create value for THEIR customers. If you can understand their “value chain” or the points within your client’s company where they create the value for THEIR customers, you can align your products and services in a way that aids in their value creation process. When you are helping them add incremental value, you become an investment rather than a cost.
2) Identify the Perfect Prospects: When times are tough, there are also fewer dollars to spread around for advertising and marketing. Laser alignment and a dogged focus on prospecting to a narrow band width can be invaluable. Don’t waste time and effort targeting prospects that don’t meet rigid criteria of the parameters of a “perfect” potential customer. If someone wants to buy something, by all means, sell it to them; but don’t divert time and energy chasing prospects outside your ideal customer definition.
3) Good, Better, Best: An additional approach used by many companies is to adopt the C.F. Martin strategy. The strategy involves developing products at a lower price point to compete in an additional (lower) price range, while keeping your premium priced lines positioned where they have always competed successfully. As with any strategy, there is risk, such as diminishing the marquee value of the overall brand. BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche are good examples of companies who have adopted this strategy successfully without diluting the perceived “high end reputation” of their brands.
These are just a few ideas of how you can cut through the “noise” of intense competition to create some “beautiful music” for your company in a tough, competitive marketplace.
Chuck Terry is the Executive Vice President and CSO of Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s blog – Executive Insights
Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide.
Categories: Business Presentations · Sales · Sales Management · Sales Presentations · Sales and Leadership Insights · Uncategorized
Tagged: Customer Relationships, differentiation, Positional Selling, pricing issues, Sales Force Management, Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Sales Professionals, Sales Skills, Sales Training, selling in tough market
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