Category Archives: personal development

Working with teams across the world?

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Today’s question came from a busy professional and business owner.

communicationHow do I work with team members located in different parts of the world?

I want to work effectively with team members located in different parts of the world. How do I ensure that location, time difference, culture and beliefs and personality will not affect my work with the team?

 

 

Whether you team members are across town or across the world, creating a Communication Plan fits the build.

Communication Plan

 

Your communication plan includes (but not limited to):

 

1) A directory of your significant members, preferred method of communication, telephone numbers, email addresses, Skype id, Time Zones, etc

2) How you plan to convey regular Status information (daily meetings, weekly meetings, emails, phone calls, etc)

3) How you plan to convey Critical or High Priority information (phone call? text?)

4) Your Service Agreement or Response time expectations (respond by EOD, within 1 business day, within 2 hours).

5) What is expected when someone misses a meeting.  Are you going to have the meetings recorded?

6) Where you are locating your shared meeting minutes, presentations, audios, or other materials.  Will you be recording your meetings and placing them on a shared location for people to refer to, etc.

7) Incorporate weekly or twice-a-month one-on-one meetings with each team member.  Regularly scheduled one-on-one meetings (via phone or in person) eliminate much confusion that email may cause.

8) Supply templates and checklists to assure the work gets completed the way you way, each time.  Consistency eliminates confusion and errors.  If people are getting your status in the same way each week (and vice-versa), they know what to expect and how to respond.

 

Vacation Considerations

 

You communication plans should also consider vacation schedules.  Regardless of your holiday hours, make sure you consider the following:

  • Make sure everyone has all their vacations identified early (by mid-year).
  • Make sure all your project schedules block out for their vacation time.
  • Make sure that all your procedures, outstanding items, and possible issues that may arise during the holiday season is clearly documented and shared with those responsible for handling these issues during the break. This includes creating, publicizing and updating your communication plans.  If you don’t have a communication plan, please setup an introductory consult to discuss that important tool.
  • Make sure the staff has been trained on the outstanding issue.
  • Make sure your clients have been informed about the holiday schedule far in advance.
  • Make sure your clients provide you with all their requirements far in advance so that you can accomplish their goals before the holidays.

 

 

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

 

Numbers Move People Toward a Decision

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Today’s take-away is that Numbers Move People.

If you need a way to move coworkers, clients, managers, family members or even yourself toward action, consider adding a number to your conversation.

Numbers help people move toward a decision and action.  Whether it’s a calendar date, a meeting time, a price for service or product, salary, or even that pesky number on the bathroom scale; numbers move people into action.

Consider the number ZERO – as in A Complimentary or Free eBook, White Paper, or other offer.  That Zero Cost item attracts many people to share their contact information with you.

Numbers are our friends:

Ways to influence others with number come in many forms.

  • You can assign time limits to performance issues, product deliverables, customer review/approval processes.
  • You can make a recurring calendar date with your manager for weekly one-on-ones.
  • You can devise quality metrics to verify your performance, your service, and your products.
  • You can improve company and product exposure by increasing your social media metrics and website click-through.
  • You can time yourself on certain tasks, to enable you to better estimate and schedule certain activities.
  • You can continually increase your work-out repetitions to improve your stamina.
  • You can chart your weight and measurements to show progress toward your health and fitness goals.
  • You can count your calories and glasses of water.
  • and more.

How to make the numbers to work for you

 

Whether you are in the corporate environment or starting your own business, you need to understand your numbers.

Business owners

If you are in business for yourself, you need to understand:

  • Your revenue goals (how much you want to make this year)
  • Your leads to sales ratio (how many people you need to meet/talk with – to make 1 sale)
  • How many sales you need to make your revenue goals
  • How many leads you need to create to make those sales…
  • And the list goes on

Staff or employee

If you are in the corporate world, you need to understand:

  • Performance Evaluation ratings
  • The performance rating you want to achieve
  • The items and quality metrics required to achieve that performance rating
  • What is required to achieve bonuses and additional compensation…
  • The dates and delivery schedules for your work assets
  • The raise/salary you want to achieve
  • The number of hours you want to devote to work, family, community and self

 

Making numbers work for clients

If you are working with clients, and they are on the fence on something; find a way to add a number to the conversation.

 

Some examples could be:

 

  • Additional discounts or promotional offers tend to help move clients down the buyers journey.
  • Putting a deadline on an offer adds a sense of urgency to the decision.
  • Requesting clients to review/approve by a certain date moves the project along and enables you to make your delivery dates.
  • Assuring that you will follow-up in 2 days in order to answer any additional questions – keeps your product and service on their radars.
  • Having a SLA of always responding to any support issue within 2 business days – sets the proper customer service expectations.

 

These are just a few ways numbers can influence us and keep us moving forward.

 

For additional information on how to use numbers to your advantage, 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

 

The 6 biggest pitch deck mistakes you may not know you’re making

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The 6 biggest pitch deck mistakes you may not know you’re making

 

Today we are very fortunate to have a TV program to emulate regarding the perfect pitch deck. If you haven’t already watched ABC’s the Shark Tank, make the time to watch and take notes.

 

It gives you a very good illustration of pitching to investors. Even though the ABC’s reality show “Shark Tank” is available for all to learn from, I am always surprised when an entrepreneur shows up unprepared.

If you are interested, I have a list of the most frequently asked Shark Tank questions in a separate article Things we can learn from Shark Tank

 

For now, below is a list of 6 big pitch deck mistakes that you may be making:

 

  1. Not knowing your audience
  2. Not getting to the important stuff quickly
  3. Not including a summary
  4. Not knowing your numbers
  5. Not incorporating the investor’s terminology or experience
  6. Having one pitch deck for everyone

We will cover each mistake separately.

 

1.     Not knowing your audience

Many entrepreneurs are so focused on their own product, their own needs, and their own wants – that they forget the true goal of this presentation. Your goal is to adequately interest the investors such that they will want to do business with you.

People do business with people they know, like and trust. And the quickest way to earn trust is to show the investors that you already know them, what their needs and wants are, and how your product or service can help them reach their goals.

In other words, why should they care about you and your products or services?

Use Stephen Covey’s 5 Habit from his top-selling 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: “Seek first to understand, and then be understood”

Spend time researching your investors. Find out what excites them. Find out how they make their investment money back.

2.     Not getting to the important stuff quickly

 

Your prepared pitch should be no longer than 5-8 minute in length. So you really need to get your investor’s attention quickly. If they are interested, they will ask additional questions and will get to know you better. Your pitch needs to interest them quickly.

Once you have a better understanding of your audience, make sure you get to the important stuff as quickly and succinctly as possible. What is the “important stuff”? The important stuff is the stuff that the investors care about (and not necessarily what you care about).

This is where watching the Shark Tank will help. Here are some of the typical questions you need to cover, and a fuller list is available at: Things we can learn from Shark Tank

  • What problem are you solving?
  • How prevalent is this problem? (size of the market)
  • What you need financially to make that much money?
  • Who are you competing against?
  • How are you going to grow? How are you going to use their money?

 

3.     Not including a summary

A pitch presentation falls into the category of a training presentation: “Tell them what you are going to tell them; tell them; tell them what you have told them”. But many forget the summary or “tell them what you have told them” part. Your summary should end with a CALL TO ACTION.

4.     Not knowing your numbers

Investors are interested in a quick return on their investment; therefore, make sure you understand your numbers. And just knowing the dollar figure isn’t enough. You need to be able to articulate where these numbers are coming from, on what platform, are they driven by promotions, and what sort of partners are you working with? Is the marketing working? What does it cost to produce? What are your expenses?

Know your sales information inside and out.

5.     Not incorporating the investor’s terminology or experience

You won’t have much time; therefore, make the best use of that time. Incorporating the investor’s terminology and experience into your pitch will not only eliminate miscommunication but lead them to feel that you already speak the same language. That you are connected.

6.     One pitch deck for everyone

Don’t fall into the trap of creating 1-perfect-pitch-deck. Consider having a “perfect-pitch-deck template”. By understanding your audience, their terminology, and their unique interest in your products or services, you can tweak and quickly customize your single-perfect-pitch-deck template to win-over each unique investor.

Added Bonus

Now that we’ve discussed mistakes to avoid, below is a quick list of things to think about when preparing your “pitch”.

Things to think about when preparing your “pitch.”

  1. What your business makes or does?
  2. What market you serve?
  3. How will this business make money?
  4. How your business compares to similar businesses?
  5. Why you will succeed?
  6. Your ultimate goals for your business?

Conclusion

At the end of the day, there are various Do’s and Don’ts to keep in mind. The best recommendation is to run your pitch deck past a “mock Shark Tank”. One such “mock Shark Tank” panel are the experts at Crowdsourcia. You can’t go wrong with this set of experts.

 

 

Is it better to terminate or reassign an employee?

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Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of TimePeace: Making peace with time – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff.  I have a knack for taking big ideas and converting them into smart, sound, and actionable ideas.

 

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

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

Is it better to terminate or reassign an employee that is not working out?

I have spent a lot of time training an employee. She is a great person, but I have to remind her several times to do something. I am not sure if she is just not in the right role or if she will always need too much oversight. I am curious how others have handled something like this.

You are not alone. Many new business owners struggle with this same question.

One thing to keep in mind (at all times) is that you are in the business to make money. You essentially hire staff to help you achieve your business goals.

You are not responsible for your employees’ happiness or success in their roles and responsibilities. You can encourage, support and train them – but you are not ultimately responsible for their success. They are.

Your Responsibilities:

What you are responsible is to provide clear goals and directives. You accomplish this by several methods:

  • Visible Mission, Vision and Purpose goals
    1. Do you have a company mission, vision purpose statements?
    2. Are they strategically visible where all your employees can see them?
  • Regular and frequent one-on-one meetings with your employees
    1. Are you conducting frequent one-on-one meetings with your employees?
    2. Have you validated that they not only understand the company mission but how it translate to their individual roles and responsibilities
  • Clear directives
    1. Do you have your business goals clearly documented in the form of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals
    2. Does each of your employees understand how their tasks and business goals support and accomplish those business goals?
    3. Does each of your employees have a PBC (Personal Business Commitment) plan that documents their SMART goals to achieve the company goals?

Once you have clearly articulated and published your business goals and validated each employee’s roles and responsibilities in achieving those goals, you can start determining whether a specific employee is “right” for your company.

Have you provided proper training?

Before you hire staff, you need to verify that your training and orientation materials are in place. If you don’t want to be spending time reminding your employees about the tasks and procedures, make sure they are documented in such a way that they can easily reference.

 

Some examples are:

  • Provide Checklists and document your procedures
  • Conduct frequent status meetings to review their progress and checklist status
  • Institute the buddy system in which a more senior staff is buddies with a junior staff member.
  • Delegate team leaders such that they oversee team progress and staff reports
  • Automate the more tedious and error-prone items to reduce error and rework
  • Automate and optimize items that are done over and over again
  • Optimize the procedures to only items that are MUST DO to bring in revenue, reduce costs or increase client satisfaction
  • If you cannot associate a Business Reason (example: revenue generating reason) for the task, reconsider the need for that task

 

Once you have streamlined your processes and policies, you can be assured that you have provided your employees with the best possible road-map to success.

Is she right for the job?

Once you have done your homework regarding setting up SMART goals, it is easier to assess each employee’s fit. Since you have established your Success Criteria and how you are going to Measure against your Success Criteria, you can determine if your employees are meeting expectations.

Several things that might help further are:

  • Have you documented all the tasks and expectations in a Personal Business Commitment (PBC) document? In other words, have you outlined for each employee – how their role and responsibilities are achieving your business goals?
  • Have you documented their PBCs in the form of SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound)?
  • Do your employees understand the consequences of not meeting those PBC metrics? (for instance: being placed on a Performance Improvement Plan, on probation or fired)?
  • Have your employees signed their PBCs, acknowledging that they understand their commitments and consequences of their performance.

Once you have clearly articulated the expectations for the position in this manner and streamlined the responsibly and procedures, more often than not – it is the employee that will decide if this position is right for them.

For example: A SMART goal would be:

  • If you have to remind her several times to do something – are those
    “things” explicitly documented in a checklist? (Being very specific)
  • Do you have a way to measure or tell if she has accomplished those items, on time and with the quality that you have previously defined? Does she have to report on the status or update a tracking system? (Measurable)
  • Is it reasonable that someone in that position can accomplish that task in the defined time frame? (Achievable) Or would some automation and optimization reduce the error-prone nature of the task?
  • Can you describe the How and Why this task is relevant to bringing in revenue? (Relevant to your business goals)
  • And does this have a time limit. Does she need to do this task every day? once a week? When should it be accomplished? (Time-bound).

If she needs to improve upon her performance – what specific things does she need to accomplish in a certain amount of time.  What are the consequences for not achieving those specific and measurable tasks within the deadline?  (This is what is known as a documented PIP or Performance Improvement Plan)

Conclusion:

If you are “wishy-washy” on your expectations, it’s easy for your employees to give you “wishy-washy” results.  Having your expectations and consequences well documented (and signed by your employee) will make the next steps of performance evaluation much easier.

If you need additional help on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

Or sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

 

How can I get credit for work I’ve done that someone else took credit for?

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

How can I get credit for work I’ve done that someone else took credit for?

 

There are several versions of this issue. Your employer could have taken credit for your work; your co-worker would have taken credit for your work; and your business competitor could have taken credit for your work. In all three versions, the solutions are very similar. Let’s take a look at each.

 

Your employer could have taken credit for your work

If you are dealing with your employer or company, you need to check your contract with them. Most employers pay you for your work. Therefore, even though you did the work, they own the results. This also includes any patents, published books, etc that you have authored during your regular work hours.

 

  • Check your agreement with them.

If they have paid you for the work, they own the piece. Review the contract or employment agreement. Most times they state the ownership expectations.

 

  • Keep records on authenticity of the work.

If you can demonstrate your authorship in a time sensitive way then that will clarify who came up with the ideas first.

  • Talk to them.

It’s always best to have a heart-to-heart with them about the issue. Often times it’s a miscommunication or misunderstanding. More often than not, the offending party (once realizing their oversight) will do their best to amend.

Once again – it goes back to what you agreed to in your employment agreement.

 

Don’t have an employment agreement? Use that one-on-one (heart-to-heart) to co-create one on the spot.  If you would like to keep your intellectual property rights, include that in your agreement. This will eliminate similar issues in the future.

 

Your co-worker would have taken credit for your work

It’s important to realize that ideas are free. It’s what you do with the ideas and the results of your efforts that matter. Often times many people have the same ideas without “stealing it from others”. They may experience similar situations that lead you to those thoughts. They may have been working in the same field or shared the same background that leads you to those same thoughts. Just because someone ends up with a similar solution doesn’t necessarily mean that they stole your work.

 

In either case, preventive medicine is best. It’s much harder to correct, after the damage has been done.

 

  • Continue to share your work progress with your manager on your regular one-on-one meetings. If you are transparent with your manager, then he knows who did the work on this project.

 

  • Keep good records on your designs.

If you can demonstrate your authorship in a time sensitive way then that will clarify who came up with the ideas first.

 

  • Talk to the co-worker about it.

Perhaps it was just a coincidence and perhaps you can collaborate on the next steps. Also share the fact that you have been sharing your project progress with your manager all along. If your co-worker is knowingly taking credit for your work AND they know that your manager has been involved in your work – it’s likely they will back-off.

What if it’s a business competitor that is taking the credit?

  • Consistently place your copyright or trademark on your work.   This is one way to illustrate authenticity.
  • Keep design records of your concepts, prototypes, etc. This will help if you decide to go through litigation.
  • Talk to them about it. Perhaps some type of affiliation or partnership can be derived by this synchronicity of ideas.

Conclusion:

It’s much harder to correct, after the damage has been done. Therefore, keep good records, copywright your work, and share early prototypes, demos, and specs with trusted individuals.  If you are in business, ask those individuals, you are sharing your ideas with, to sign a NDA or confidentiality agreement.

 

For help on leading a more effective staff meeting, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

 

Or sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

 

How do you deal with workplace bullying?

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

How do you deal with workplace bullying?

bullyMy friend at work had a computer crash. So he came to me since I know about the environment.
The computer crashed on him, he reset it, but while the program was down, and was costing client’s money. His manager says he does not have time to deal with this. The supervisor says he has to deal with it. This means he would have to pay out his own pocket. How would you deal with this without making a fuss? My advice was to phone the area manager, but there are no rules on what to do here. Do you have better advice for him?

First of all – I am not sure this is an example of “workplace bullying”. Many times “workplace bullying” is in the eye of the beholder. People that do not want to take responsibility for their situations are more comfortable taking the “victim” role than the hero. In this article, we’re going to focus on what you can do as the hero in these types of situation – instead of the victim.

Secondly, “The supervisor says he has to deal with it.” — Doesn’t automatically mean that “he would have to pay out his own pocket”. This is an assumption on your part. What the manager actually said was that the employee needs to use his own best judgment on this issue.

One suggestion is to ask your manager that – since he doesn’t have time to deal with this, would he like you to contact the 2nd line manager (his manager) about this. Or does his manager have someone else you should contact. Asking your manager “point-blank” if you should go to his manager often gets your manager’s attention. Now that you have your manager’s attention – you can work on a solution together.

Take advantage of your one-on-one manager meetings

If you have been following any of my webinars, articles, and blogs, you know how much importance I place on scheduling frequent and regular one-on-one meetings with your manager.   Having these critical meetings actually eliminates or greatly reduces misunderstandings between employers and employees.

The better working relationship you have with your manager, the less likely that your manager will “blow you off” or “bully you”. The one-on-one meetings are just the thing to build a better working relationship with your boss. Take a more active role in building that better working relationship.

I have more tips on how to impress your boss in the webinar: 5 Keys to Impressing Your Boss. If you are interested in more information on that webinar, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info or setup a one-on-one chat using https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

Document the solution

Just because there are “no rules on this” or (no current procedures) doesn’t let you off the hook. Anything that you encounter needs to be properly documented. Once you run into an issue, you need to document the issue and its subsequent solution. Forget that “it’s not my job”- take the initiative and make it part of your regular MO.

Conclusion:

The key to avoiding this situation is to be proactive. Document your work, be transparent with your manager, and talk to the offending parties.   It’s more difficult to get credit for something after the fact, without looking petty. So be proactive on your copyrights/trademarks and “document, document, document.

 

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

 

Or sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

Get ready for a Terrific 2016!

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Get ready for
a Terrific 2016!

Year-End Specials From Rose Coaching!

Are you ready to have an incredible 2016?  The new year is just a few weeks away, and Rose Coaching is prepared to help you grow your business with THREE SPECIAL packages to help you hire the right people, increase team productivity, and make 2016 your best year yet!

1.  Rose Selection Bundle – A quick job-fit diagnostic

  • Clarifying your 2016 business goals
  • Assisting in outlining your ideal candidate for a position
  • Three Kolbe A™ Indexes to outline strength and compatibility indexes
  • One hour Rose Coaching Consultant to help you analyze reports and determine specific needs for a position
  • Cost is $500 (50% off retail price of $1000.00)

2.   Rose Coaching Team Productivity Bundle – Designed for teams of four-five employees

  • Clarifying your 2016 Business Strategies and staffing needs
  • Five Kolbe A Indexes to outline strength and compatibility indexes
  • Assistance in identifying the best roles and responsibilities for each employee that successfully supports the your current business goals.
  • One hour with a Rose Coaching Consultant to help you maximize team productivity to maximize your current business goals
  • Cost is $800 – (53% discount off of our retail price of $1500.00).  An additional $85 is charged for  each additional employee (after the first five), up to a maximum of ten.  Call us for teams of more than 10 employees.

3.  Three-Month Trial of Team Workshop and Mastermind Groups for $322.50.

  • Clarifying your 2016 Business Strategies and staffing needs
  • Clarifying your 2016 Business training needs
  • Twice-Monthly team workshops on specific team issues and business goals (FMV $1000)
  • Big discounts on Rose Coaching On-Line Professional Development Courses (FMV $1000)
  • Individualized monthly one-on-one employee coaching/mentoring  (FMV $450)

If you have any questions about any of these offers, contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info .
Not sure which program fits best?  Schedule a complimentary chat to see which program is best for you at  <MAKE APPOINTMENT NOW>.

These prices are available only until January 31st, 2016.  SO DON’T WAIT!  Gear up now and make 2016 your best year ever!   And by the way…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

How do you deal with the pains of customer service?

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Today’s question came from a busy entrepreneur about his customer service plan.

How do you deal with the pains of customer service?

I work in the hospitality industry, and I spend a lot of money on what I call “guest investments” where I give some sort of discount, free merchandise, etc. in order to win back customers when something goes wrong. I can’t tell if it’s working or if I’m throwing money away. How does your business deal with the challenges of customer service and keeping people happy?

This question came up at a very appropriate time. I had recently discovered that my bank offered a “Private Bank Level” for clients that have 1 million dollars invested with the bank. At that level, they receive premiere customer series and 24 hour concierge service.

Consider doing this with your own customer service strategy. In an earlier article (Should I have specific segmented brands or one brand that does all at different price levels?) we discussed the Product Funnel.

Product Funnel Strategy for Customer Service

Give low-interaction help instructions for clients that are taking advantage of your free products and services. Low-interaction help instructions can be in the form of (but not limited to):

  • FAQ articles and cheat sheets
  • Community Discussion Groups
  • Email response within 2 days

As the client invests more in your products and services, they get more access to support.

Structure your customer service as a product line of service. Give premium service to the people that are actually doing the most business with you. This will transform the “pain of customer service” into a product or business of customer service.

Customer Referral and Loyalty Programs

Also, don’t wait until there is a problem to implement your customer service program.   Be proactive with customer referral and loyalty programs. Visualize your product funnel in there area and incorporate rewards programs based on the amount of business your client is currently doing with you. Use your rewards program to entice your customers to do more business or move into the next price-point of programs and service.

Creating a great referral/loyalty/retention program not only elevates your customer service focus and energy – it automatically solves the “pains of customer service” as well. Take time to clarify what your Mission Statement and vision is regarding Premiere Client Service. Start dealing with clients instead of “customers”. Start building raving fans that will ultimately market your products/services for you – and simply release the customers that do not fit in your plan.

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

When you clearly identify your niche or target market, some people will not fit. When someone doesn’t fit, there is only one thing that will make them happy. That one thing is to release them and direct them elsewhere.   This is where affiliated partners and business referrals come in.

You are still providing customer satisfactory solution – it’s just not with YOU. You are still making the client happy.

Quick summary:

  • Clarify your Vision of your target or ideal client
  • Create affiliated partnerships with those clients that are not ideal
  • Design a referral partnership agreement with those partners
  • Design a referral/loyalty/retention program for your target/ideal clients

I know your situation is different. Why don’t we schedule an appointment, where I get to know more about your unique situation? And then I will be happy to make recommendations on what your best steps are moving forward. To schedule an appointment, book it HERE.

 

 

Should I have specific segmented brands or one brand that does all at different price levels?

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Today’s question came from a busy entrepreneur about his marketing plan.

Should I have specific segmented brands or one brand that does all at different price levels?

All markets have different performance and cost needs. Should we have multiple product brands – i.e. low cost/low performance and mid/high or have one brand that can stretch across multiple performance levels and price according to options? It makes sense to economize the product manufacturing chain but, what is everyone’s experience when consolidating a full portfolio into a single brand lineup?

Your Brand should solve a specific problem for a specific niche or class of people. If you have multiple visions/missions you should have separate branding and marketing strategies. For example: Sarah has her Health Coach business and she also sells her own brand of peanut butter.   Sarah should have separate branding and marketing strategies for those very different product and businesses.

 

product funnel2Product Funnel Strategy

Within each separate brand – you should have a product funnel strategy that leads your target client up your product/service pricing structure. Normally people start off with free samples – to allow the target client to get to know you (like a first date). In Sarah’s example, she may offer a complimentary discovery health sessions, newsletters, articles, short audios/video for her coaching; and free samples of your peanut butter for her other brand.

 

Then you create some low, mid, high end offers for each separate brand. In Sarah’s example, she can create group workshops, subscriptions based programs, one-on-one coaching programs, and then high-end product bundles with personal trainers, personal chef, image consultant, and a high-end shopping spree when your health goals are met.
If you only want to sell your coaching and peanut butter to High-Profile, Affluent clients (that’s your target client) — then you advertize, market and visit only the places where the High-Profile, Affluent people are. Your price points are selected to match the budgets of your target niche/clients.

 

Do you have an umbrella Brand that covers all your products?

You will have an Umbrella Company that owns the Health Coach and Peanut Butter business. But the branding will be different. For instance, Kraft owns Kool-Aid, Velveeta, Miracle Whip and Maxwell House. But each of these products have their separate branding, target market and product Funnels.

 

I know your situation is different. Why don’t we schedule an appointment, where I get to know more about your unique situation? And then I will be happy to make recommendations on what your best steps are moving forward. To schedule an appointment, book it HERE.

 

 

How do I deal with a 50% business partner who can’t hold up his promises?

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How do I deal with a 50% business partner who can’t hold up his promises?

 

Today’s question came from a busy entrepreneur – but this issue occurs for both small business owners and corporate employees.

Right now I own 50% of a technology startup aimed at real estate agents. I am responsible for developing and maintaining the upkeep of all the software associated with our business. The other partner is in charge of selling the product, however, he gets way too distracted with other life things such as his real estate work. Although he makes promises and tries to motivate me to keep working on our business because he will “sell the crap out of it”, I still don’t feel a solid effort on his part. Should I try to find a way to kick him out or continue to engage him to sell our product? Thanks.

Whether you are a small business owner or an employee of a large company, you probably have had experience working with partners or co-workers that you feel are not pulling their weight.

Business Owners with partners:

If you have not done this already – take up the time to document a business plan with roles and responsibilities for each partners. The business plan should include some SMART goals for each partner (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant to your business, and timely/time-bound). Your business plan needs to include consequences (what happens when the SMART goals are not met or delivered).

Including SMART goals (milestones on when you both agree that the goals will be met) – you will have a better footing on whether he is making a solid effort. If/when those milestones or deadlines are not met – then you follow-through on your “consequences” –or next steps that you both agreed to upfront.

Taking the time upfront to map this out – saves you a lot of anxiety in the future.

Employee with project partner:

This may seem like a totally different situation, but it’s not.  As an employee, (if you haven’t done this already) write out your Personal Business Commitment (PBC) plan.  This document has YOUR business commitments, roles and responsibilities.  It outlines what you expect from your manager as well as what they can expect from you.  It also includes “consequences” such as rewards for making quotas, etc.

After you have these plan outlines and approved by your manager – you have frequent one-on-one meetings with your manager to continually review your performance against your PBC.

Taking the time upfront to map this out – saves you a lot of anxiety in the future.

 

If you need help with your next steps on this – feel free to contact me and let me know what you decide to do.