This question came from a busy professional needing a time management tip.

 I need a Time Management Tip for people who Work-From-Home 

What are some of your secrets to successful time management when working from home? I know the usual suspects: Create a dedicated workspace, get dressed for work, etc., but what are your most interesting and creative ways to manage your time?

One of the most effective and creative way to help manage your time is to actually “measure” how long it takes you to accomplish your regular tasks.  After all, how can you improve your time management skills if you don’t know where your time is going?

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This question came from a busy professional not looking for advancement.

Looking to speak with a career counselor about how to communicate with your boss when you are content with your career or not looking for advancement at this particular time.

This is a tricky one because you don’t want to give the impression that you never want to improve yourself, advance yourself or receive a salary or bonus.  The exception is if you are planning to retire from the workforce in the next few months.

Why you don’t want to do this

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A busy professional asks a question regarding negotiating for a better salary.

I need some tactics to negotiating for a better salary.

Whether you are negotiating in a hiring interview OR negotiating for a raise, there are several things you can do to put yourself in the winning position.

Here are a few:

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At the end of the day, I transform the way you run your business into a business you love to run.

Although there’s only one chance to make a good first impression, there are actually multiple ways to make a “bad” first impression.  I am talking about all the ways your potential customer can meet you and your business for the first time.

Below is a list of the top 5 customer experience touch points in a small agency example.  Any one of these “first impressions” can either make or break the deal.

Customer Experience Touch points

Mission – To be client’s lighthouse and guide their clients to a solution to their problem and closer to their business goals.

Incoming Call

• Answering machine message
  • Should be friendly, helpful and direct their client’s next step
  • Should be updated regularly with new promotions, calendar of events, etc
• Receptionist phone/sale script to get contact info
  • Should be updated regularly with new promotions, calendar of events, etc
  • Should collect ‘Where did you hear about us? info
    • Collect metrics and data on where the leads are coming from
    • Without collecting this data – you cannot determine ROI
  • Recommend a Telemarketer/Receptionist for the front area
    • Telemarketer stays busy taking and making calls
    • Telemarketer also logs calls and script/questionnaire answers
  • Keep metrics and know your numbers
    • Understand how many “in-coming” calls you need to make your revenue goal
    • How many sales do you need to make your revenue goal
      • Example: Need 50 sales a month to make my revenue goal
    • How many appointments you need to make a sell
      • Example: On average, I have an 80% conversion. For every 10 people I meet with, I can close 8 of them.
    • How many incoming and outgoing calls do you need to make until you get an appointment
      • Example: For every 5 incoming call, I get 1 appointment. For every 15 outgoing calls, I get 1 appointment.  Therefore, I need (5X 10 X 6) or 300 incoming calls a month
    • Focus newsletters/email/social media and other promotions to increase incoming calls
      • Example: My in-bound promotions generate 10 in-coming calls a month.  Therefore, I need to both increase the in-coming call rate AND supplement with outgoing calls
    • Telemarketer/Receptionist salary could be part commission via appointments made
      • Allows performance based pay option

Outgoing Calls (Telemarketer/Receptionist can be used for lead generation activities)

• Above example illustrates that incoming call rate cannot sustain revenue goal. You need a combination
• Use exchangeleads.io or other lead generating tools to get batch qualified leads
• Design scripts for following up on leads
• Contact people when they have downloaded your offers/white papers/videos
• Send Thank you notes/calls for calling/visiting/requesting information
• Promotional calls for upcoming offers/campaigns
• MIA calls for clients that have disconnected (and you want them to engage back)
• Keep metrics and know your numbers
  • Goal of how many outgoing calls to make an appointment
  • Goal of how many appointments you need to make a sell
  • How many sales you need to be successful, etc.
  • Track actual against goals

Newsletters/Emails

• Distribute on a regular schedule
• Update with current promotions, campaigns
• Provide interesting, usable content and relevant context for your “ideal” client
• Collect metrics on leads generated, inbound links, content performance by author, content performance by topic, content performance by format
• Collect metrics on social proof/share-ability

Introduced through Website and Social Media

• Make sure website is up to date on News, Staff/Team info as well as blogs
• Provide valuable opt-ins and Qualifying Questionnaires
• Collect metrics on customer generating performance

First In-House Visit:

• Make sure your office is inviting and understandable. Confirm the client knows where to go and who to meet.  If you have multiple entries, make sure they know which door to go through and who to ask for.
• If you give the client a tour of your offices, have suggested script for both client and staff introductions, roles/titles, and how instruct staff on how they are to respond, etc.

Conclusion

In general, a confused or unsure mind says “no”.  Therefore, from the start, make every client touch point very clear, comfortable and inviting.

I know your unique situation is different.  If interested, please setup a complimentary one-on-one discovery call, so that I can learn more about your circumstances and supply a more customized recommendation.

For additional information on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally.  It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

At the end of the day, I transform the way you run your business into a business you love to run.

I just attended a team meeting in which the CEO gave (what could be interpreted as) a reprimand to his entire production team.  Because of what I witnessed, I wanted to share with you some tips on how to best deliver bad news.

Tips

• Decide if the news is good or bad news.
• If it’s bad news, see if there’s a way to make it uplifting.
• Include your management team in the crafting of the message. They know their team better than you.
• Decide how you will handle any fallout from the announcement. For example, many people will discuss the announcement with co-workers and/or managers.
• Coach your management team on how to handle any fall-out from the announcement. For example, how do you want them to handle hallway discussions, etc.
• Execute your fallout plan.
• Meet with you management team a few days afterwards to check on how the teams are doing with the news.

Real World Scenario 1

Sales cycle and end of the month was coming to an end at a small agency.  The CEO was trying to push the sales team to close their sales.  One of the sales team members expressed the concern that the design team would not be able to keep up with the demand, if all the sales did go through.  So the CEO went to the design team and said:

“Team, the sales team is working hard to close several of these outstanding deals in the last five days of the month.  They really admire and depend upon you.  They have got your back – so much that they worry that they will overload you.  I need you to support your sales team.  We know you are not at full capacity.  We see your hours and we know you are not working your full 40 hours.  So if you are feeling overloaded, keep it to yourself.  Don’t talk to the sales team about it.  Go to your car and scream if you have to.  But don’t talk to the sales team.”

As you can image, after that uplifting meeting several designers huddled behind closed doors.  They could have been discussing the weather…. But that is unlikely.

Several things can now happened, because of the way the CEO expressed himself.

• Designers could start padding their billable hours to make sure they hit 40 hours a week. And those hours would cost the client and affect future sales.  Everyone understands that a 40 hour work week, isn’t truly 40 hours of design work.  And only the billable hours are being tracked.  BUT … there are lots of non-billable meetings, administration time, lunch hour, vacation/personal time, and investigation/learning in a regular work week.  Now that the CEO has sent the message that they are determining how hard everyone is working via the billable hours – there could be some negative accounting fallout.
• Designers do not stop working when they clock out. Their minds are constantly working, designing, creating better ways to do things – at night; over the weekends and even while they sleep.  The CEO isn’t paying for 40 hours.  The CEO is paying for the years of experience and quality talent.  The CEO is paying for what actually happens in the teams’ imagination: their creativity.  To bring it down to “how long it takes the designer to manifest what’s in his head” is a disservice.   The better talent may decide to look elsewhere for work.
• The managers heard the news exactly when their staff heard it. Therefore, the CEO treated the management just like everyone else.  So, when the team disbanded after the announcement, they went directly into their manager’s office to complain.  Since the manager was unaware of the message ahead of time, he was not prepared and may have empathized with his team.

Scenario 2

If the CEO had included the management team in his decision, they may have come up with a better message such as:

We are working hard as a team to close some important client deals before the end of the month.  The sales team really needs your support to keep this momentum up.  Please help them in any way that you can.  This is an amazing team.  And the sales force really admires and depend upon you.  Let’s show them we have their backs.  As we close more deals, we’ll have more funds to hire additional help.  So – don’t worry about the workload.  I have your back on that.  You have my promise.  Don’t give that another thought.

The same message could have been given in a different way.  And now the management team has a better idea on how to handle any fallout.

For additional information on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally.  It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

Today’s question came from a busy professional.

Should you hire someone with a bad reference?

I interviewed two candidates recently. One of the candidates really out shined the other. This person was quick to answer all my questions intelligently, seemed really passionate about the role and had the right amount of experience. However, when I followed up with their references, one of the former employees described the candidate as undependable. Capability and dependability are very important for this role. Would you still hire this person despite the bad reference?

First, I want to congratulate you for following through on checking the references.  Many do not take the time, because they assume that the candidate would not include someone that would provide a negative review.  But, as you see, that is not always the case.  Depending upon the current job position and circumstance, you can find out some interesting things.

How much weight do you place on a bad reference?

If you talked to five people and only one reference was negative, then I would not necessarily shut the door on this person.  Everyone’s tolerance level is different.

Capability and dependability is very important in most roles.  No one goes out of their way to hire an unskilled and unreliable employee.   But there are also different interpretations of these traits.

For instance, that reference may have expected your candidate to decide X and your candidate did Y instead.  Y may have even been the right solution.  But because it didn’t match the reference’s expectations – the candidate is considered undependable or not capable.  That reference may also be the type of person that “never gives anyone an A” (we’ve all had professors like that).

If this was just one reference out of 5, then consider that it’s more about that reference (that person) versus your candidate.  The reference could also be having a terrible day and just doesn’t like anything or anyone that day.  It’s difficult to say.

If you don’t personally know the reference – then their opinion should not carry more weight than anyone else’s.   And there is nothing wrong with calling back the other references to explicitly ask about your concerns.

What if I only have two references:  one is positive and one is negative?

Get additional input from people not on the reference sheet.  Ask other people from that company; take a look at the candidate’s Linkedin profile, Facebook, their websites and online reputation.  Check into the professional groups the candidate participate in, etc.  With today’s technology, there are many ways to find out about the candidate’s working relationships.

Trial Period:

Remember – you initially enjoyed the person in the interview.  But it’s very difficult to foresee how this person will fit into your work culture after just a few hours.  So, there’s nothing wrong with setting the expectations of a 3 month trial or probation period.  This strategy is very useful if there is a discrepancy in salary requests.
For instance, if the candidate is requesting 20% increase in salary, you can discuss a 3 or 6 month trial period at your initial salary (with the understanding that you will re-evaluate salary at the end of the trial period).  This gives you the opportunity to see if the performance is worthy of the increase.  And it appeases their anxiety because they are assured that you are listening to their request.

Keep your eyes open

At the end of the day, keep your eyes open.  Now that you have been made aware of a possible issue, avoid giving them substantial responsibilities at the start. Continue to ramp them up until you fully trust they capabilities, especially if they will be dealing directly with clients.
For additional information on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally.  It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

Today’s topic is centered on fully satisfying the client.

I’ve worked with several companies that have every intention of fully satisfying the client and consistently miss the mark.  Often times, this stems from

• Assuming that the client actually knows what they want.
• Allowing the client to drive the schedule and feature scope
• Allowing the client to dictate the terms of the project.

You are the expert

What most business owners and even employees forget is that “YOU ARE THE EXPERT”.  If the client had all the answers, they would not be hiring you.  Many clients need to be guided, directed and even instructed toward success.  And they have come to you for that service.

Take ownership of your expertise

Don’t wait for the client to tell you your job.  Be transparent on what you can and cannot accomplish within the timeframe.  Provide the project schedules and timeframes.

Also, outline what you expect from your client as well as what they can expect from you.  Do this at the beginning and before they sign the contract.  This lays the foundation for working together.  Don’t be less afraid of losing a client than gaining an unmanageable or unreasonable client.

For instance, clearly state that you will be providing them with multiple opportunities to review and give feedback; and then outline that you expect them to return feedback on the deliveries within 2 business days so that you can stay on schedule.  Tell them upfront that you will also be following up after 2 business days to gather that feedback.  If the client needs additional time (which will be fine), set the expectations that time will be added to the delivery schedule.

If you sit back and just wait until they have the time to give you feedback, your schedule is worthless.  They have other projects and tasks on their lists.  Managing your project schedule isn’t their top priority.  But it should be yours.  Therefore, you should be the one driving the review schedules and following up on their deliverables to you.    Don’t wait for them to drive it.  It’s not their responsibility.

Showcase your talent and skill

Keep the client informed as you go, and provide frequent status, prototypes and demos of you work along the way.  Update the schedule as you go along.  Make if your mission to provide the answer before they ask the question.

Continuous and frequent demos build client confidence and satisfaction.  It also provides early opportunities to correct your course, should you be going in the wrong direction OR the client changes their direction.

Fill talent gap with other resources

Often times you can get your clients going in the right direction but they may need more services than you can provide.  Fear not!  You don’t need to be all things to all people.  But you should create a business network of talent.  Supplement your offerings with those that compliment.  Use your LinkedIn and professional organization network to create a full-circle offering for your client.

There are many ways to build your business relationships, product funnel and client roadmaps.

I know your situation different and unique.  For additional information on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally.  It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

(Templates, Checklist, Scripts – Oh My)

Today’s topic is centered on the magic of templates.  Templates come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  They can be as simple as a checklist, or as complicated as a manual, report or contract.  Regardless of the focus, the goal of a template is the same: to provide an easy, reproducible, and successful outcome.

Checklists

A checklist is a repeatable To-Do list that assures the same outcome each and every time – regardless of the person that is executing the list.

I recommend that anytime you are repeating a series of steps (over and over again) – you document it in a checklist.  This allows you to hand-off this task to other people when you are going on vacation or wanting to delegate to others.  Being able to hand-off to someone else frees you to do other, more exciting tasks that will actually advance your career.

Meeting checklists

One of the most effective tools to keep a meeting on track is the Meeting Checklist – or Agenda.  Your agenda should include the purpose of the meeting, and only topics that are aligned with that single goal.  If the group starts discussion something off-topic, you simply place that aside for a different meeting.  For sample meeting checklist, send me an email at LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

Scripts

I recently called a company for some information regarding a competitor of theirs.  Their response was “No, we don’t know anything about that company.  Sorry we could not be of more help.”   Although very friendly, they never asked my name or why I was interested in a competitor of theirs.  They also missed an opportunity to show me that their company was a better fit for my needs.  If they had a well-crafted phone script for in-coming calls, they would have made a sell.

Phone scripts

Phone scripts are critical in any organization for consistency of branding message.  Your incoming and Voice Messages are often your clients first impression of your company.  Therefore, having all your staff using the same phone script not only provides your company with a consistent and professional message but allows every employee to answer your phone with confidence.  It would assure that they collect the valuable name, number and “how you found out about us” questions.  It would provide a natural sales-lead opportunity.

For sample in-coming call phone script, send me an email at LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

Sales scripts

Sales scripts are crucial to a strong sales force.  They not only provide the valuable sales information to the target client, but your sales force is providing the same message.  Including branding and informational videos and presentation provide even more consistency and cohesion.

For a sample sales script, setup a chat session with me using this link: Appointment Calendar

Video and Presentation templates

Creating a company presentation and video template allows every department the same look and style, as well as assuring all the critical information is included.  This allows a junior sales or technical staff to be seen as a seasoned professional.

There are some critical points that need to be covered in a presentation.  Having a presentation template assures that all those points and perspectives are considered.

For a sample presentation template, setup a chat session with me using this link: Appointment Calendar

Email Templates and Signatures

Email is not dead.  It is still how most businesses handle day to day activities.  What has changed is the mechanism in which email travels.  Email is not limited to a computer, but is now on mobile devices.  It has also taken different forms such as Facebook postings, LinkedIn postings, and texting.  Take a few moments to create a professional signature or even a professional “canned” response, to make sure your customer interfacing materials are consistent and client-attractive.   Consider adding your photo to your signage as well.

Administrative Templates

Administrative templates help you create all the materials you need for running and organizing your business or organization.  Create certificates that validate achievements or training, fax covers, organizational charts so that everyone can see who’s who on the team and much more.

For additional information on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally.  It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

Today’s comment came from a busy professional and an entrepreneur:

Last week I attended your It’s a SNAP presentation at the NCTech4Good conference.  It was very good, but I could not see how to convert the Product Funnel Strategy to my side-job or even a non-profit organization.   After all, they don’t sell a product or service.  Their company just offers “good works” and my donors just donate money, because it’s the right thing to do.

Well – all companies are in the business to make money (profits and nonprofits alike).

And if you make it “good business” to do business with you, you will attract more business (i.e. donors), who also like to do “good work”.

The key is “understanding your client’s business” and what will help their business thrive.  Because when their business thrives, they will donate more.

Product Funnel Example for a fund-raising based operation:

Goal is to attract new donors as well as entice current donors to not only continue to donate but increase their amounts.

• One thing that all Companies have in common: They are in the Business to Make Money.
• One thing that most individuals have in common: They want more time for the things that they love.

Use those two facts to build a product funnel that entices people to continue to move down your product funnel list.

The above example isn’t meant to perfectly fit your business model.  It just illustrates the concept.  In the above example, you are providing your donors additional more Effective Marketing Opportunities.  This means that their “donation bucks” are also working as their marketing dollars (above and beyond their name as sponsors in the front of back pages.)  It allows their target market to actually get a taste of their business and hopefully continue to buy from them.

Make better use of these two facts:

• Clients/donors have to spend marketing dollars to make dollars.
• People do business with people they know, like and trust.

Therefore, provide more opportunities for the “right public” to get to know more about your donors and their businesses.  Learn about your donor’s “target client” and create an effective marketing strategy for that donor.  Some examples are below.

Provide bundles to entice them to go further down the list, such as:

• 1-full page advertorial* strictly on the donor’s business. You distribute this article to all your magazines, ezines, websites, social media pages, blog-sites (including affiliated partner sites) – that go out to your donor’s target clients/market. They also receive the files for their own distribution.  Each advertorial includes links, coupons and ways to contact the donor’s business.

*An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of editorial content. The term “advertorial” is a blend of the words “advertisement” and “editorial.”

• 30 minute professional video interview on the donor’s business. You distribute this article to all your magazines, ezines, websites, social media pages, blog-sites, TV Stations (including affiliated partner sites) – that go out to your donor’s target clients/market.. They also receive the files for their own distribution. Each advertorial includes links, coupons and ways to contact the donor’s business.
• You arrange to have your donor on a TV or Radio program that is specifically for their target market. This could be an interview, a guest spot, an infomercial, or whatever best fits your donor’s demographic.
• Place a Billboard for their company at a location of their choice (you will have your logo on it to sponsor them).
• Contract that X number of your staff members will post positive comments on the donor’s website/social media pages for a total of 3 posts a week for 3 months.
• Contract that X number of your staff members will do a video testimonial for your donor’s business.

• Create a Networking Event for your donors to meet and do business together. Officially introduce them to each other and make it easy for them to do business together.  Have these events at one of your donor’s facilities.

Once again – these examples may not fit your business model.  But the idea is to design a product funnel strategy that will help your donors do better business.  When your donor’s business thrives, their donation amounts will increase, and therefore, you will thrive.

Let’s talk more about this.  Schedule an appointment <HERE>