Archive for July, 2010

STAPLES BizTIPs: Preparing your sales call

By Small Business Expert Roger Pierce, BizLaunch

 

Business to business selling can be complicated. It can also be intimidating, because you’ll likely have to present your product or service to a panel of people.

You can dramatically increase your sales by simply being prepared for your next prospect meeting. Follow these simple suggestions:

• Know your prospect. Do your homework to find out everything you can about the prospect before your sales appointment. Learn about their industry, identify and understand their primary competitors and discover their challenges.

• Identify pain points. Without dissatisfaction, there is no action. Your job as a seller is to provide solutions to your prospect’s problems, so make sure you know their pain points.

• Anticipate objections. Prepare logical and compelling responses to common buyer objections such as price, timing, quality or reputation. Rehearse.

• Arrive early. It may seem trivial, but aim to arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled meeting. You’ll have time to relax, be able to compose your thoughts, and, most importantly, impress your prospect with your punctuality.

 

You can learn more about this and other how-to topics in a free STAPLES BizLaunch Webinar. To find one near you, please visit http://www.staples.ca/bizlaunch today.


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ROGER PIERCE is passionate about helping entrepreneurs achieve success. Co-founder of Canada’s largest small business training company, BizLaunch.ca, he’s launched eleven small businesses of his own and personally experienced what he calls “the good, the bad and the ugly” sides of entrepreneurship.

BizLaunch advises thousands of Canadian startups through its popular how-to seminars and webinars delivered with partners such as STAPLES.

Posted by Lynnette in STAPLES BizTIPs on July 30th, 2010

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What's in a logo?

Along with your business name, your logo and word mark your meaning and say a lot about your company’s personality. Like dressing well in an interview, a clean, smart and iconic logo won’t guarantee success, but a bad one can send the wrong signal to your potential clients.

Take for instance, Apple’s original logo:

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Now there’s no way of knowing whether ditching this logo for the iconic apple with a bite out of it was key to the company’s success. But few of us would look at the logo above and think “progressive design and technology leader.”

Graphic designer Jacob Cass lists five important design elements that all good logos share. They are:

1. Simple: A simple logo design is easily recognizable and often features something unique.

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2. Memorable: Simple logos, because they’re simple, tend to stand out and are easy to recall – something we can picture in our mind’s eye. Think of McDonald’s, Nike or BMO.

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3. Timeless: None of us can predict the future, but when you look at a logo does it look too trendy? Are the font, colour or graphic too similar to other logos you’ve seen recently? AT&T’s logo from the 1990s was similar to a variety of other logos designed around the same time.

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4. Versatile: An effective logo ought to work in different mediums – online, print, TV, point-of-sale – as well as in different sizes and either horizontally and vertically.

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5. Appropriate: Are you designing a logo for a children’s product or a mutual fund? You can imagine a logo treatment for one audience or product wouldn’t work very well for the other.

Cass also points out that a logo doesn’t have to be literal. Nike’s doesn’t show shoes and Harley Davidson’s logo isn’t a motorcycle. In fact, he says 94% of the world’s top 50 brand logos don’t visually describe the company at all.

But sometimes, they sort of do:

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Keep in mind too that while many logos include icons like a panda or a globe, it’s not required. A stylized word mark – Coca Cola is a classic example – can be just as powerful.

For a wonderful repository of logos from around the world, click here.

Posted by Lynnette in Getting Started on July 29th, 2010

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3 free ways to boost morale.

Money may make the world go around but in this lingering recession there may not be enough money to go around to keep your employees motivated.

Fortunately, there are a variety of inexpensive or free ways to boost morale and hopefully retain the most prized members of your team:

1. Get their input: “If they feel they legitimately have a say and that their opinion and ideas matter, they’re going to feel better about their job and the company,” says small business advisor Scott R. Gingold, adding that you may be surprised by the ideas you get and who you get them from.

2. Provide cross-training: No, this isn’t about fitness, it’s about versatility in the workplace. Training employees to handle different jobs makes it easier to shift them around when gaps emerge – for example, when one staff member goes on vacation – and they’ll appreciate the chance to expand their résumé.

3. Help with family: Consider freeing up some office space for a makeshift daycare so employees don’t have to worry about taking time off when their children are sick and can’t go to school.

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Business Development Canada also offers some useful advice including:

· Avoid micromanaging your top performers and give them room to do their best.

· Get your employees involved in writing their job description so they feel they have genuine input.

· Praise them whenever you get the chance and give them regular feedback on their performance.

· Write them a personal note to thank them for their great work.

· Create an internal newsletter to, in part, recognize high-performing individuals and promotions.

· Consider offering employees flexible hours where possible or allow them to work from home.

· Give them time off in lieu of more money.

· Consider holding an informal gathering or party at your home.


What techniques have you used to motivate your team and boost morale?

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on July 28th, 2010

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How to manage your staff in a rough economy.

It’s no surprise that in tough economic times, many businesses’ knee-jerk reaction is to lay off workers. Salaries and benefits are a huge part of any enterprise’s bottom line so in many ways, it makes sense.

Unfortunately, job cuts bring with them other costs: severance pay, administration costs and legal fees, not to mention the knowledge and skills costs a company loses when employees are terminated. And there’s another set of factors even more difficult to measure:

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“In the face of layoffs, remaining staff often experience lower morale and productivity, higher levels of absenteeism and job-related stress and a loss of faith in the business. Your best employees may start seeking other opportunities. And, when business does improve, the costs of finding and training new employees are very high.”

Canada Business Services for Entrepreneurs makes these three practical suggestions:

1. Think long-term: Recruiting new employees is expensive and can damage relationships with customers, so try to avoid layoffs if you can. Instead, reduce employee costs through work reorganization, multi-tasking and learning new skills.

2. Recognize and reward: Acknowledge employee contributions one-on-one and in staff meetings. Offer incentives tied to your business reaching its goals. Give low-cost perks like days off or access to a coveted parking spot.

3. Keep it positive: Despair and negativity can spread like wildfire. Give your staff continual feedback. Offer flexible scheduling, job sharing and reduced workweeks. Have a strategy to deal with stress and conflict.

If you do have to cut staff, Whole Foods founder John Mackey suggests you use the ‘pull the Band-Aid off quickly’ philosophy:

“It’s important to make the cuts deep enough so you won’t have to do it again soon. Your employees will forgive you one round of layoffs. But if you do it a second time, you will lose their trust as people start thinking, My God, when am I going to lose my job?”

That’s just one of the 8 useful tips Inc.com offers here.


What has worked for you?
Share your experiences below!

Posted by Lynnette in Getting Organized, Lifestyle on July 27th, 2010

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Business ethics 101: Doing the right thing.

If you’re a regular visitor to the STAPLES How’s Business? blog, you’ve likely read a variety of posts including lists of hints and tips to help you run your small business more successfully.

In today’s post, we’re going to offer you another exhaustive list, this time on business ethics. Here it is:

1. Do the right thing.

That’s it.

Well, you might be asking yourself, I know what doing the right thing means in my personal life – be honest, show compassion, show generosity, do no harm – but what does it mean in business?

It means exactly the same.

Doing the right thing or doing business ethically isn’t just a good idea because it’ll make you feel good – which it will. It’s actually better for your business in the long run because a company that’s run ethically and that treats everyone with respect is one that employees and customers feel inordinately loyal toward.

Business ethics, of course, isn’t a one-way street. Making your employees more ethical can positively benefit your company’s bottom line.

Behavioral economist and author of Predictably Irrational  Dan Ariely has conducted exhaustive research on why people cheat and has drawn some fascinating conclusions on human nature and ethics in business.

One simple way he’s discovered to make people more ethical is to have them sign an honour code before they begin a task – something you might want to consider instituting in your dealings both with customers and employees. Ariely explains at 4:24 in the video below how this honour code works and the cost savings one company experienced.

 

 

Finally, Paul Spiegelman  breaks down business ethics this way:

  • Live the values: Make sure your core values are not just a plaque on a wall, but the essence of how the company operates.
  • Make employees come clean: If an employee does something to violate the core values of the company, hold them accountable. Others are watching your example.
  • Communicate purpose and vision: If your employees understand the mission and vision of the company, and their purpose for making the world a better place, your risk of people getting off track is diminished.

 Why do you think some businesses stray from ethical behaviour and what can be done about it?

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on July 26th, 2010

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STAPLES BizTIPs: Connecting others is good for business

By Small Business Expert Roger Pierce, BizLaunch

It’s amazing how small the world really can be, especially in the business community. Supporting the ‘six degrees of separation’ theory, it seems we’re all separated by only a few handshakes. The person you meet today could know someone who knows someone who could become your biggest client.

That’s why it’s important to connect people through your small biz. Not for immediate business gains, but to just help out other entrepreneurs. If what goes around truly comes around, the introduction you facilitate today might just generate a fantastic new connection for your business tomorrow.

Here’s how to connect people you know:

  • Think for people. Keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities you come across that may benefit someone in your contact list. Does someone you know need an accountant, some publicity, a new marketing assistant or an investor?
  • Make third-party introductions. It’s a wonderful feeling to connect two people through an email introduction. If you think the two recipients might have something in common, do a short note to connect the two. Your thoughtfulness will be appreciated and you’ll get known as a well-connected business person.
  • Come up with ideas. If you know two business people fairly well, you likely have some ideas how they might work together. Let your creative juices flow to make suggestions for synergy or cooperation and share them with those two contacts.

You can learn more about this and other how-to topics in a free STAPLES BizLaunch Webinar. To find one near you, please visit http://www.staples.ca/bizlaunch today.


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ROGER PIERCE is passionate about helping entrepreneurs achieve success. Co-founder of Canada’s largest small business training company, BizLaunch.ca, he’s launched eleven small businesses of his own and personally experienced what he calls “the good, the bad and the ugly” sides of entrepreneurship.

BizLaunch advises thousands of Canadian startups through its popular how-to

Posted by Lynnette in STAPLES BizTIPs on July 23rd, 2010

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What's in a name?

What’s in a name? Well, sometimes a lot. For instance, would Barry Alan Pinkus’s songs have made women swoon in the 70s if he hadn’t changed his name to Barry Manilow? And one wonders whether John Wayne could have ever gained the reputation he did with his birth name: Marion Morrison.

Choosing the right name for your business, just as those stars did for theirs, is an important exercise that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

If you can’t spend tens of thousands of dollars to hire a branding agency – and if you’re a small business, you probably can’t – Susan Ward at About.com  suggests you assemble a group of family, friends and colleagues to help you brainstorm a few possibilities. You can start with these questions and considerations:

1. Is the name memorable but easy to spell? You’ll want customers to be able to find you in the phone book or on Google. Says Ward: “choosing a business name such as ‘Crychalwellyn’ is a bad idea. Unique is good but difficult spellings are not.”

2. Does it call up an image in your head? “Generally, we are hard-wired to ‘see’ images when we read or hear language and incorporating a visual element into your business name can be a powerful aid.” Think of how suggestive ‘Twitter’ is of what the service provides.

3. Does it have a positive connotation? NameLab’s Ira Bachrach says even if a name is made up, like ‘Acura,’ it should bring to mind a positive image: “Although it has no dictionary definition, [Acura] actually suggests precision engineering [because the word segment ‘acu’] means ‘precise’ in many languages.”

4. Does it include information about what your business does? If the name you choose doesn’t automatically suggest what the business does – say, like the name ‘Bakeria’ might – it’s a good idea to incorporate a descriptor in the name like, for instance, ‘Smith’s Landscaping.’ Even Apple, which is now a globally recognized brand name, was until recently ‘Apple Computer.’

5. Is it short? Partly an extension of #1, you want your name to be memorable. Practically speaking, you also want it to be able to fit on a business card, on a sign, in an ad and – if it’s still available – as a URL.

Whale meat kabobs? Think carefully about how your business name might be interpreted

Whale meat kabobs? Think carefully about how your business name might be interpreted

Keep in mind, however, that as with all focus group/decision by committee type situations, the final decision ought to rest with you. You’ll need to be able to live with your enterprise’s new name. Make sure it’s something you’re proud of.

Posted by Lynnette in Getting Started on July 22nd, 2010

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Asking your bank to show you the money.

Getting a business loan or credit has always been challenging for small businesses. The upheaval in banking – especially in the US – has made lending ever more difficult for entrepreneurs. Difficult, but far from impossible. In fact, making it harder to get financing in some ways helps out the entrepreneur in the long run – if you’re not able to get a loan or credit for your business, there might be a few holes in your plan that you may want to plug up or rethink first.

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Small business banking expert, Tom Burke, says, despite all the ups and downs in the market, the basics to approaching a bank for a loan are essentially the same:

· Have a detailed but concise business plan. Understand where you want your business to go and what Plan B is if things don’t go exactly as you expect. Come up with a most-likely scenario for the success of your business as well as conservative and aggressive options – your banker will want to consider all three.

· Analyze your finances and have an accountant help you by preparing business projections that can show your financial institution how you intend on repaying.

· Make sure your personal credit is healthy too. With little else to go on, banks may look at your personal credit history, financial statements and tax returns as a good gauge of your ability to manage your business’s money.

· Demonstrate you know your business and understand the environment and industry you’re operating in.

As well, Burke says, consider the industry your small business is tied to:

“Industries tied to consumer discretionary spending [are tough]: restaurant, retail to a certain degree, service hospitality. These industries have been hit more than others. We don’t see a lot of startup manufacturing now, unless it’s a startup that’s already got government contracts.

“On the other hand, professional services is a fast-paced, growing area: medical, legal, accounting. Anything that has to do with a professional license or degree seems to be doing better.”

Finally, be honest.

“People sometimes try to hide details because they think it’ll harm their application, but it’s amazing what people may have done in their past that may not impact their loan request.”

For additional resources, check out the Government of Canada’s Canada Business Services for Entrepreneurs website and blog.

Do you have any additional concerns about getting credit? Send us your questions and we’ll be happy to try and find answers for you.

Posted by Lynnette in Getting Started on July 21st, 2010

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7 ways to build your brand with social media and 3 ways to ruin it.

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Social media is becoming a force to be reckoned with in terms of building your company’s brand equity and strength. And according to brand expert  Jennifer Bourn, there are a handful of steps you ought to take to maintain and build your brand’s value:

1. Secure your social media brand: Register your name and business name on a variety of social media sites. Even if you don’t plan on using a site, you might want to consider securing your name anyway for future use. NameChk.com and Knowem.com are two free sites to help you get started.

2. Keep your message focused: “By keeping a consistent message across all social media sites and platforms, you build brand recognition that pays off over time.”

3. Provide value your audience will appreciate: “Providing links to valuable articles and resources, sharing your recent blog post, etc., are all ways to help your audience and share your expertise.”

4. Showcase your personality: “Share posts that give your network a glimpse into your personal life…These posts will provide opportunities for your network to connect with you on a deeper and more meaningful level.”

5. Remember to be social: “Social networks are just that – social networks. If all you do is post information and links [without interacting] with your audience, you are missing the most important part of building a successful social media brand – building strong relationships.”

6. Keep your avatar/profile photo consistent: “Using a photo of your dog or cat is useless to your network and frankly, it makes you seem unprofessional.”

7. Help others: “When you read a good blog post, article, press release or social networking post, tell other people about it and share the link.”

How about damaging your brand using social media?

While social media has the power to help humanize your brand and connect you with your customers, Internet strategist, B.L. Ochman, cautions businesses to use some common sense when they wade into the new medium.

1. If you start a Twitter account or Facebook page, use it: “All it really takes to slow down an issue is a human being responding quickly to say something as simple as ‘Thanks for making us aware of this issue. We are checking it now.’ And then, the company has a reasonable amount of time to say what went wrong.”

2. Track your brand with monitoring tools: “The Internet is 24/7. Brand monitoring has to be constant. Pick [a tool]. Use it.”

3. Don’t keep your social media program a secret: “Corporate silos just don’t work in social media.” Make sure everyone in your company knows about your social media presence.

How have you used social media to enhance your brand? Where do you feel social media falls short?

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz, Marketing on July 20th, 2010

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14 keys to building your sales team.

Many larger companies deal with a friendly – or not so friendly – rivalry between sales and marketing, each of which believes it holds the key to the enterprise’s success. It’s, however, a little like asking whether a heart or brain is more important to your survival: no company can do without either a sales or a marketing team.

The reality with most small businesses though, is that a handful of people – or even just you – wears many hats, sales and marketing being just two.

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When it comes to sales, as your organization grows, you’ll want to start giving thought to building a well-defined team. And entrepreneur, Dharmesh Shah, has developed several keys to help you do just that, including:

1. You don’t need sales people, you need sales. Don’t get caught up in fancy titles, he says, focus on dollars in the door.

2. Don’t hire several sales people at once. Your goal is to figure out the “pattern” of what kinds of people are best based on what you’re selling and who you’re selling to.

3. Resist the temptation to create complicated compensation plans. Start simple.

4. Agile methodologies can work in sales. Refine your demo script, slides and collateral. Capture the lessons learned by the best-performing people and spread it to the rest.

5. Always connect incentives to ultimate customer happiness – not just rewards for getting deals done.

6. Understand the economics of your business. Figure out your total cost per customer acquisition – including sales people, marketing people and marketing campaigns.

7. Your pricing should be in line with your sales structure. For example, you can’t expect to have an outside sales force that meets with customers in person if your average deal size is only $10,000. The math won’t work.

8. Start watching the shape of your “funnel.” How many leads are you getting a month? How many turn into opportunities? How many are converted into paying customers?

Adds Ann Damani-Mckinney, of Conceivable Solutions : “Team building is huge for creating a great sales team. You want to create desire and excitement; however, be careful not to create a cut-throat environment if you want long-term success.”

And click here for 9 more marks of a great sales department.

What successes or hurdles can you share about building your own sales force?

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on July 19th, 2010

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