The Top Seven Marketing Mistakes

The Top Seven Marketing Mistakes

by: Ted Nicholas

In my view, nearly all government statistics about reasons for business failures are nonsense.

Undercapitalization, inexperience, or poor management are usually blamed for all business disasters.

Of course, there can be one or several more causes that result in a business going กbelly up.ก

However, from what Iกve seen, marketing mistakes are by far the primary reason businesses do not survive. This includes companies which consider themselves direct marketers as well as those who do not.

Here are the seven most common marketing mistakes:

1. Management treats marketing as a business expense or simply a department rather than a necessary business investment.

Solution: Marketing should be treated as the driving force of any company. It is the only function that brings in cash. The other major functions in a company are necessary. But they all spend cash. This includes the primary business departments of finance, production and research.

To market any product or service successfully, the company must do two things:

A. Provide marketing with sufficient resources

B. Put marketing at the heart of its business strategy

The whole company should be focused on the needs and wants of customers and be prepared to satisfy their demands.

Marketing must be part of the philosophy of all entrepreneurs and managers.

2. Management does not know specifically what it costs to recruit a new customer. Plus, there are no accurate statistics on the average customer lifetime value.

Without this knowledge, it is impossible to make sound decisions. You cannot determine how much to invest in marketing. If you spend more to gain a customer than their lifetime value, ultimately you will go broke. In the absence of this information, many businesses can and often do fail. To make matters worse, few of the casualties understand why they failed.

Solution: Before you invest large sums on marketing, determine the average lifetime value of a customer. An excellent book that I highly recommend on this topic is The Loyalty Factor by Frederick Reicheld.

3. Management makes no attempt to build a customer database. This is especially so with most retailers, restauranteurs and department store owners. However, Iกve seen this in many other businesses.

Solution: A companyกs database of customers is potentially its biggest asset. Itกs much more valuable than equipment, inventory, etc. This is not only true of companies that utilize mail order or Internet marketing. Every single company that wants to survive and prosper needs to build a database.

4. The company does not communicate often enough with its customers. The result is lower sales and profits than are otherwise possible.

Solution: Contact your customers a minimum of once a month. When I started my first business at age 21, I too made many mistakes. The business somehow survived and became a chain of retail confectionery stores called Petersonกs House of Fudge. At first I sent my customers an offer every six months. So I tried sending a sales letter every three months. My business doubled. I then began mailing every other month. My business again increased proportionately.

I wound up with the ideal and most profitable interval once a month.

At first I thought contacting customers every 30 days might be too often and that customers would get turned off.

But that didn’t happen. I got great feedback as well as higher sales. Providing your customers like, or even love, your product or service, as they should, they want to hear from you frequently.

This, of course, is in the context of your sending excellent offers, excellent copy and excellent information.

Indeed, if you are not in frequent contact, your customers will quickly begin to forget about you. Many will start buying from your competitors.

I urge you to contact your customers at least every 30 days (occasionally with special offers a week apart is perfectly fine too).

Your form of contact can be an email, postcard, catalog, telephone call or personal visit. Iกve found the most effective method of regular contact is with a wellwritten sales letter.

Rarely do I find a company of any kind which systematically mines the real gold in any businessthe customer database. Make sure you do not make this mistake.

Making offers to your customer database is often referred to as the กback endก in direct marketing jargon. But every business should cash in on the huge potential of existing customers by simply making frequent offers to them and giving them more opportunities to do business with you.

5. Management has no method of accurately measuring the results from its advertising investments. This is especially so with socalled image advertising.

Solution: The way this is done is to seek a direct response in each promotion. This can be a coupon, telephone call or store visit. Code each promotion. Then when an order is received or a customer visits your establishment, you can appropriately trace it to the particular promotion.

The coding system can be numbers or letters. If you use the telephone you can utilize separate telephone numbers for each advertisement. Or you can simply ask the caller which ad or letter they are responding to.

6. As many companies begin to enjoy some early success, many develop a disease that I call กBigCompanyItis.ก They start having endless, nonproductive meetings. They become bureaucratic. They move as slow as molasses.

Instead of continuing to insist upon a high level of employee performance and keeping a close watch and control over costs, management takes its foot off the brake. Costs can spiral out of control. Employee morale can suffer. Soon the company is in deep trouble.

Solution: The secret is to think big but operate much like a small business. Wellmanaged, large organizations that are highly successful are run more like a small entrepreneurial business. Managers have profit center responsibility. Their job is to help increase revenue or reduce costs, or both. They are held accountable. They maintain the financial controls and quick response of a lean and mean small business.

7. Management has no systemized upselling procedure in place to upgrade both new and existing customers to a larger sale. Result? Lower sales volume and lower profits than otherwise could be obtained.

Surprisingly, companies Iกve observed that market direct to consumers, such as mailorder businesses, tend to be incredibly poor at telephone communications and upselling.

Wellmanaged and properly trained customer service people can add 30%60% in added sales volume without any increase in marketing or administrative costs. Your only cost is the cost of goods sold. Best of all, your customers are the beneficiaries of more value and variety for their money. Everyone wins.

But here is where it becomes really interesting. Your gross sales will be much higher. But your net profit will increase by a huge multiple. Iกve helped companies achieve huge increases in their net profit just by learning effective and professional telephone techniques. Itกs not unusual to increase profits as much as 5 or even 10 times!

Effective telephone communications and upselling are the main reasons for the huge success of my own companies. My clients for whom I conduct training of their customer service representatives have experienced similar results.

Solution: Develop a strategy which includes the following:

A. Create an incentive compensation plan for your customer service representatives (CSRกs) based on added sales. Depending on your profit margins, this can be for example 5% to 10% of additional sales.

B. Run a daily special offered as an กadd onก that provides great value for the customer. For example, you can offer a new product at half price.

C. Prepare a verbatim script on how to present the special.

Tip: The selling price. Your special offer should not exceed 30% of your average order. This makes the decision to accept the special an easy one.

D. Provide your CSRกs with some basic telephone training. This should include the principles of active listening, voice pitch, pacing, learning to present things in a hearable way, and some gentle closingthesale techniques. A big factor is learning the secrets of boosting the sales without any pressure whatsoever.

Regards,

Ted Nicholas

About The Author

Ted Nicholas is one of the highest paid speakers and copywriters in the world. He has sold over 4 billion dollars worth of products and services. Go to http://www.tednicholas.com to subscribe to his free ezine, ‘the Success Margin.ก

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 09, 2003

by Ted Nicholas

IT Inhouse support: Microsoft Great Plains and CR

IT Inhouse support: Microsoft Great Plains and CRM

by: Andrew Karasev

Microsoft Business Solutions is promoting Microsoft Great Plains and MS CRM combination for US and International markets. Microsoft Great Plains as ERP and Microsoft CRM as Client Relation Management system is very robust combination and could serve midsize to large corporation as Business System. Being VP IT or IT Director you need to foresee the positions to have in your IT department to do internal MS Great Plains and MS CRM support.

Let us give you the directions, based on our research and consulting practice.

1. Microsoft SQL Server Specialist – we specially do not name this position as MS SQL DBA, because both Great Plains and MS CRM are not very complex from the database administration side, they do not use indexes optimization, referential integrity, probably do not require complex transaction log backup/recovery scenarios. On the other hand this position requires Great Plains and Microsoft CRM tables structure analysis and some primary Great Plains data fixing skills via SQL queries, described in MBS Customer source techknowledge database. The best candidate should have some accounting background to be able to address ongoing issues to MBS technical support.

2. Network Administrator with good Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory skills. Microsoft CRM uses all the newest Microsoft technologies, and Exchange is a workhorse here. In order to install and upgrade MS CRM this guy needs to understand the underlaying Microsoft technology. In the best case she/he should know Exchange security structure and probably program Exchange handlers, due to the fact that CRM/Exchange connector is not a perfect tool yet.

3. C# or VB.Net programmer with excellent SQL Skills– if you are midsize or large company you should have this position you will need web publishing and MS CRM customization and its support. Currently Microsoft CRM SDK has C# examples so C# programmer would be the best fit, it may have more VB code in the future, so the C# VB balance maybe restored.

4. Crystal Reports Designer/Programmer Crystal Reports is the best tool available on the market to address both Great Plains and MS CRM reporting needs. This position maybe merged with one of the above.

These people should be probably crosstrained in both Great Plains, Microsoft CRM, Crystal Reports, SQL and C# programming, so you do not depend on the unique skills of one person. In our opinion, which is based on our long term consulting practice these skills will allow you to keep the cost of IT support reasonably low and avoid paying high consulting price to your Microsoft Business Solutions Partner.

Happy hiring and training! But in any case you need to select Microsoft Business Solutions Partner/Var/Reseller to be your official representative. This is how MBS has its channel working it assures that Microsoft Business Solutions products are properly implemented. If you want us to be your Microsoft Business Solutions Partner give us a call 16309615918 or 18665280577! [email protected]

About The Author

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies – USA nationwide Microsoft CRM, Microsoft Great Plains implementation and customization company, serving clients in Chicago, Boston, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, Denver, Minneapolis, UK, Canada, Australia, Europe, Russia and having locations in multiple states and internationally ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ), he is Dexterity, SQL, VB/C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer

[email protected]

This article was posted on January 14

by Andrew Karasev

An Embarrassment of Riches Part II

An Embarrassment of Riches Part II

by: Sam Vaknin, Ph.D.

http://www.doi.org/

The DOI Foundation has unveiled the DOIEB (EB stands for ebooks) Initiative in the Book Expo America Show 2001, to, in their words:

กDetermine requirements with respect to the application of unique identifiers to eBooks

Develop proofsofconcept for the use of DOIs with eBooks

Develop technical demonstrations, possibly including a prototype eBook Registration Agency.ก

It is backed by a few major publishers, such as McGrawHill, Random House, Pearson, and Wiley.

This ostensibly modest agenda conceals a revolutionary and ambitious attempt to unambiguously identify the origin of digital content (in this case, ebooks) and link a universe of information to each and every ID number. Aware of competing efforts underway, the DOI Foundation is actively courting the likes of กindecsก (Interoperability of Data in ECommerce System) and OeBF (Open eBook). Companies ,like Enpia Systems of South Korea (a DOI Registration Agency), have already implemented a DOIcumindecs system. On November 2000, the APAกs (American Publishersก Association) Open Ebook Publishing Standards Initiative has recommended to use DOI as the primary identification system for ebooksก metadata. The MPEG (Motion Pictures Experts Group) is said to be considering DOI seriously in its efforts to come up with numbering and metadata standards for digital videos. A DOI can be expressed as a URN (Universal Resource Name IETFกs syntax for generic resources) and is compatible with OpenURL (a syntax for embedding parameters such as identifiers and metadata in links). Shortly, a กNamespace Dictionaryก is to be published. It will encompass 800 metadata elements and will tackle ebooks, journals, audio, and video. A working group was started to develop a กservices definitionก interface (i.e., to allow webenabled systems, especially ecommerce and mcommerce systems, to deploy DOI).

The DOI, in other words, is designed to be allinclusive and allpervasive. Each DOI number is made of a prefix, specific to a publisher, and a suffix, which could end up painlessly assimilating the ISBN and ISSN (or any other numbering and database) system.

Thus, a DOI can be assigned to every ebook based on its ISBN and to every part (chapter, section, or page) of every ebook. This flexibility could support Pay Per View models (such as Questiaกs or Fathomกs), POD (Print On Demand), and academic กcourse packsก, which comprise material from many textbooks, whether on digital media or downloadable. The DOI, in other words, can underlie DCMS (Digital Content Management Systems) and Electronic Catalogue ID Management Systems.

Moreover, the DOI is a paradigm shift (though, conceptually, it was preceded by the likes of the UPC code and the ISOกs HyTime multimedia standard). It blurs the borders between types of digital content. Imagine an enovel with the video version of the novel, the sound track, still photographs, a tourist guide, an audio book, and other digital content embedded in it. Each content type and each segment of each content type can be identified and tagged separately and, thus, sold separately yet all under the umbrella of the same DOI! The nightmare of DRM (digital rights management) may be finally over.

But the DOI is much more than a sophisticated tagging technology. It comes with multiple resolution (see กEmbarrassment of Riches Part Iก). In other words, as opposed to the URL (Universal Resource Locator) it is generated dynamically, กon the flyก, by the user, and is not กhard codedก into the web page. This is because the DOI identifies content not its location. And while the URL resolves to a single web page the DOI resolves to a lot more in the form of publishercontrolled (ONIXXML) กmetadataก in a popup (Javascript or other) screen. The metadata include everything from the authorกs name through the bookกs title, edition, blurbs, sample chapters, other promotional material, links to related products, a rights and permissions profile, email contacts, and active links to retailersก web pages. Thus, every bookrelated web page becomes a full fledged book retailing gateway. The กanchor documentก (in which the DOI is embedded) remains uncluttered. ONIX 2.0 may contain standard metadata fields and extensions specific to epublishing and ebooks.

This latter feature the ability to link to the systems of retailers, distributors, and other types of vendors is the กbarcodeก function of the DOI. Like barcode technology, it helps to automate the supply chain, and update the inventory, ordering, billing and invoicing, accounting, and reordering databases and functions. Besides tracking content use and distribution, the DOI allows to seamlessly integrate hitherto disparate ecommerce technologies and facilitate interoperability among DRM systems.

The resolution itself can take place in the clientกs browser (using a software plugin), in a proxy server, or in a central, dynamic server. Resolving from the clientกs PC, ebook reader, or PDA has the advantage of being able to respond to the userกs specific condition (location, time of day, etc.). No plugin is required when a proxy server HTTP is used but then the DOI becomes just another URL, embedded in the page when it is created and not resolved when the user clicks on it. The most userfriendly solution is, probably, for a central server to look up values in response to a userกs prompt and serve her with cascading menus or links. Admittedly, in this option, the resolution tables (what DOI links to what URLกs and to what content) is not really dynamic. It changes only with every server update and is static between updates. But this is a minor inconvenience. As it is, users are likely to respond with some trepidation to the need to install plugins and to the avalanche of information their single, innocuous, mouse click generates.

The DOI Foundation has compiled this impressive list of benefits and beneficiaries:

กPublishers to enable cross referencing to related information, control over metadata, viral distribution and sales, easy access to content, sale of granular content

Consumers to increase value for time and money, and purchase options

Distributors to facilitate sale and distribution of materials as well as user needs

Retailers to build related materials on their sites, heighten consumer usability and copyright protection

Conversion Houses/Wholesaler Repositories to increase access to and use of metadata

DRM Vendors/Rights Clearing Houses to enable interoperability and use of standards

Data Aggregators to enable compilation of primary and secondary content and print on demand

Trade Associations facilitate dialog on social level and attend to legal and technical perspectives pertaining to multiple versions of electronic content

eBbook software Developers to enable management of personal collections of eBooks including purchase receipt information as reference for quick return to retailer

Content Management System Vendors to enable internal synching with external usage

Syndicators to drive sales to retailers, add value to retail online store/sales, and increase sales for publishersก

The DOI is assigned to publishers by Registration Agencies (of which there are currently three CrossRef and Content Directions in the States and the aforementioned Enpia Systems in Asia). It is already widely used to cross reference almost 5,000 periodicals with a database of 3,000,000 citations. The price is steep it costs a publisher $200 to get a prefix and submit DOIกs to the registry. But as Registration Agencies proliferate, competition is bound to slash these prices precipitously.

About The Author

Sam Vaknin is the author of กMalignant Self Love Narcissism Revisitedก and กAfter the Rain How the West Lost the Eastก. He is a columnist in กCentral Europe Reviewก, United Press International (UPI) and ebookweb.org and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory, Suite101 and searcheurope.com. Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia.

His web site: http://samvak.tripod.com

This article was posted on February 2, 2002

by Sam Vaknin, Ph.D.

Stakeholder Analysis and Stakeholder Management

Stakeholder Analysis and Stakeholder Management

by: David Viney

What is a Stakeholder?

Try ขdefine: Stakeholderข in Google and you will be surprised by the huge differences in the way this simple word is defined. It perhaps proves in a way just how confused people get about Stakeholder Management and how inconsistent the different approaches to it can be!

My simple definition is ขanyone affected by a decision and interested in its outcomeข. This can include individuals or groups, both inside and outside your organisation.

Stakeholder Analysis

The first step in Stakeholder Analysis is to assess the Influence and Importance (two different things!) of each individual Stakeholder or Stakeholder group.

Influence is defined as the extent to which a stakeholder is able to act on project operations and therefore affect project outcomes. Influence is a measure of the power of the stakeholder. Factors likely to lead to higher influence include the extent of control over the project funding and the extent to which the stakeholder informs decisionmaking around investments in technology and business change.

Importance is defined as the extent to which a stakeholder’s problems, needs and interests are affected by project operations or desired outcomes. If ‘important’ stakeholders are not assisted effectively then the project cannot be deemed a ‘success’.

Where Stakeholders are both important and influential, then they are primary stakeholders and must by fully engaged in the governance and steering of the project, if it is to succeed. Where Stakeholders are either important or influential, then they are secondary stakeholders and need to be actively managed during the project.

The second step in Stakeholder Analysis is to understand the current position of each Stakeholder with respect to the project objectives and expected outcomes. For this purpose, a series of Stakeholder Interviews and Surveys should be undertaken, to understand the degree of engagement and the degree of commitment.

Engagement is a measure of how well the Stakeholder understands the challenges the project seeks to tackle and the strategy, plans and outcomes. A low engagement score signals a lack of understanding.

Commitment is a measure of how supportive the stakeholder is. A low score signals hostility, whilst a high score signals strong support.

Ideally, of course, any project wants engaged, informed stakeholders who actively support the project objectives and outcomes. An illinformed supporter can be just as dangerous as a wellinformed objector!

Stakeholder Management

There are many different suugested approaches for Stakeholder Management. In the chapter on influencing (stakeholders) in my (free to access) Intranet Portal Guide, I offer a simple, tried and tested, fourway approach:

1) Partner

Primary stakeholders (with high influence and importance to project success) are likely to provide the project ‘coalition of support’ in planning and implementation. As such, you should partner them to increase their engagement and commitment (revising and tailoring project strategy, objectives and outcomes if necessary to win their support).

2) Consult

Secondary stakeholders with higher influence but lower importance need to be ‘kept on board’. You should consult with them to actively seek their opinions and input for key decisions (and not only those which may affect them directly). It is unlikely you would alter your strategy as a result of such consultation, but you might well alter your tactics (e.g. the who, when or where of project plans) to maintain higher levels of commitment.

3) Inform

Secondary stakeholders with lower influence but higher importance need to be kept informed of decisions taken that may affect them directly. It is unlikely that they would play an active role in making those decisions. However, were they to highlight a particular issue with a decision, it is likely serious consideration would be given to refining the decision made.

4) Control

Control is appropriate where a stakeholder isn’t important or influential and they need help only to respect any decisions taken. Objections to or issues raised are unlikely to be given serious consideration (as they would otherwise divert valuable management attention and resources).

Conclusions

Stakeholders are key to successful Project Delivery in the modern organisation. Both Stakeholder Analysis and Stakeholder Management are vital tools and should be used iteratively throughout a project to keep everyone on the same page. Be aware that different approaches are appropriate for different Stakeholder types. You can’t keep all the people happy all the time. Check out my guide for more hints, tips and tools.

About The Author

David Viney ([email protected]) is the author of the Intranet Portal Guide; 31 pages of advice, tools and downloads covering the period before, during and after an Intranet Portal implementation.

Read the guide at http://www.viney.com/DFV/intranet_portal_guide or the Intranet Watch Blog at http://www.viney.com/intranet_watch.

This article was posted on December 18, 2004

by David Viney

Content Management

Content Management

by: Barry Stein

More and more businesses are recognizing the importance of content management when it comes to their websites. Website content is more important than ever before, and as the Internet matures and changes, it is likely be become even more important. Many smart companies are beginning to make their website content the centerpiece of their Internet presence.

Content management means many things to different people, but it is generally understood to be the concept of separating the design and layout of a website from the actual content contained on that website. This allows a company’s web developer to do his job more efficiently and not get bogged down with endless requests for changes, additions and deletions to the content of the web page. More importantly, it allows employees who are not web developers to update the company’s web page.

When seeing the changes that have occurred to content management over the last couple of years, it is helpful to take a step back. The commercial internet is only about 10 years old. What began as a way for government researchers to communicate their findings with their peers has morphed into the giant commercial enterprise that is today’s Internet. With this explosive growth over the period of just a decade or so, it is no wonder that content management has changed and grown as well.

It may take another 20 years or more until the internet is fully mature, and many more changes are likely to be in store. Seeing those changes coming can put your business on the cutting edge and position you for success.

Putting content ahead of technology is the centerpiece of the content management concept. When designing and updating their websites, smart companies will put the reader first. Try to put yourself in the place of a visitor to your website.

When a visitor first sees your website, what is their first impression?

Do they see an easy to use interface?

Is everything laid out clearly?

Is it easy to find what you want?

Take an objective look at your company website and answer these questions honestly. If you find your website lacking, you can use content management techniques to make your website more intuitive and user friendly.

More and more companies are hiring professional writers and editors as part of their overall content management strategy. This is a strategy that I believe will pay big dividends as the internet further matures. The internet is already the number one source of information for many people, and as more and more people get comfortable with using the internet, those numbers are likely to grow. The companies that can provide the most useful web content, to the greatest number of people, are the ones that will thrive in the 21st century.

By now most major corporations and many smaller firms already have functioning websites on the Internet. This means that the demand for professionals to design and upload websites is likely to shrink in the future. On the other hand, the need for professionals who can update web content and make it useful to customers is likely to grow. The future of content management has never looked brighter.

About The Author

Barry Stein is the owner of aWebBiz.com where he offers cuttingedge tips on all aspects of business. To find more advice, tools and resources to help you succeed in your business, visit: http://www.aWebBiz.com.

Barryกs Internet Marketing Blog: http://aWebBiz.com/blog

This article was posted on February 21

by Barry Stein

Why a Project Manager Manages More Than Just The P

Why a Project Manager Manages More Than Just The Project

by: Blair Ballard

So your Project Manager is responsible for getting your Project whatever it may be, completed. This is going to involve more than just managing time and resources. Above all it requires good people management, in particular managing You, the Client!

Let me give an example from กHistoryก. We were engaged in the development of a large (several million dollar) project. It required development of software, building of a company intranet, a web presence, a big database and overcoming lots of security issues.

The กClientก was actually represented by 4 parties.

An IT Manager, who is in overall control of the budget, but doesn’t actually have any involvement in the hardware or software.

The Systems Manager, who looks after the operating of the Clientกs hardware and software.

The Sales Team, for whom this product is being built.

The boss, who pays the bills, but doesn’t appear to understand what all the money is being spent on.

It is important to appreciate the characters and dynamics involved. I won’t go into too much detail to protect their identities. The IT Manager is extremely demanding. The IT and Systems Managers are best of buddies. There appears to be a power struggle between the IT Manager and the Boss. As will become apparent, we don’t know about the Sales team. By the time I am involved, the IT Manager has already fired 2 project managers, supposedly on technical grounds, but realistically more because the two sides didn’t get on.

Part of project management involves soliciting information from the Client what do you want? How are you going to use it? So far, are we on the right track? As I said this system was to help the Sales Team and to a degree, the Accounts Department. The IT Manager explicitly refused to let us talk to anyone else in the Clientกs company except himself or the Systems Manager. He is the one approving our pay, so what he says goes. He feels that he alone is capable of determining the result of the project and therefore can manage all aspects on behalf of the Client. Unfortunately, project management is all about collaboration.

The Systems Manager, before any coding has started or even the system processes are worked out, decides to spend $300,000 on hardware and some specialized software for this new system. It may be the best, fastest, biggest, most powerful, most prestigious, newest on the market, but at this stage we had no idea whether we really needed something that powerful. As Project Manager, you determine the technical specifications of the project and advise the Client. But at the end of the day, itกs the Clientกs money!

Not surprisingly, with the size of project and the many skill sets required, there were several different people involved on the กSupplierกs sideก. We were in charge of the project management and a substantial amount of the coding. We had 4 people full time working on the project management team. One of our number could probably have been described as fulltime Liaison/Buffer to the Client, while the rest of us got on with the job.

In addition there were yet 4 other parties working under the direction of our project management team.

Party ก1ก was involved in designing the database.

Party ก2ก was involved in building that database and doing the required coding.

Party ก3ก had to provide communications between the several applications we were building.

Party ก4ก had to look after security measures, review code and do final testing (and keep an eye on us).

The project was is to be built in phases. Party ก4ก has just lost the contract to look after the project. It is therefore in their best interests to see us fail. As I mentioned they are to review our work. They have tasks to do for the project and naturally itกs the responsibility of the project management team to ensure it happens properly and on time. So due to the obvious conflict of interest, requiring them to do their part in the project, is always an issue to be handled with care.

Another case of kid gloves: We need the $300,000 worth of hardware and software to be configured in order to set up the environments for our work. Without it, we are spinning wheels, กitกs a Milestone on the Critical Pathก. It transpires that the Systems Manager is in over his head. As a result we have to delay the project. Given that the last Project Manager was fired when she voiced her view that several delays were due to the Systems Manager, we accept responsibility. Unfortunately though, we are not able to address the root cause.

However the environment has all been set up by the Client, since they chose the development teams and had already purchased the hardware and a substantial amount of กOff the Shelfก software. As a Project Manager you cannot really tell what the issues will be until you get into it. Sure, we knew what was needed to do to make the product, but we also needed information from the Client and support from the whole development team. Add to the mix, the fact that we are all working out of the Clientกs offices and that half the team speak English and half French as their first language, communication takes on an even greater significance.

We end up expending significant energy (and hence Client money) on trying to extract this information and keeping the Client happy that work was progressing. All the while knowing that the real end users are yet to have any input into the product.

When we finally finish the product (really just a phase of development) and give a demonstration, we are finally allowed to present it to the Sales Team. They duly watch the demonstration กLooks nice, getting there, but doesn’t exactly do what we need, we have a few questions . . .ก Interesting feedback to receive after supposed completion.

About The Author

Blair Ballard is founder of the MARKET YOUR WEB group. His experience spans from that of Corporate Project Manager to Webmaster for a Non Profit organisation. http://www.marketyourweb.com.

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 22

by Blair Ballard

The Dark Side of Help Desk SLAs

The Dark Side of Help Desk SLAs

by: Hallett German

You just signed a Help Desk Service Level Agreement (SLA) and now think things will get easier. However, you may soon be falling into one of these traps:

1) COVERING THE TRUTH WITH METRICS

In some companies, those under the radar of SLA compliance may resort to doing the minimum instead of really solving the problem. This includes closing or reassigning customer tickets just to meet the ticket queue deadline. While a review of SLA monthly metrics may look like the help desk is meeting or exceeding metrics, in reality the quality of support had started a downward death spiral.

2) DOING ACTIVITIES JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE IN THE SLA

When creating the SLA, the customer/management may ask for services and reports because ‘they are nice to haveก and they perceive them as free. However, once the SLA is in force, the help desk staff discover that the customer/management rarely read the reports or utilize these services. But the staff is forced to keep doing them because they are in the SLA.

3) IGNORING ACTIVITIES NOT IN THE SLA

Changes in current products, organizations, management, vendors, and users may require currently unsupported services to receive some level of support. Helpdesk staff are now faced trying to make both the SLA and nonSLA users happy. But picking the wrong choice may mean that you may be trading a happy today for a thousand unhappy tomorrows.

In conclusion, take the time to create a realistic SLA that both and your management/customer can live with today and tomorrow. Schedule monthly reviews to see if the real needs are being met.

Periodically sanity check the SLA and see which activities/reports should be dropped and which should in the shortterm and midterm. Good luck in your efforts!

About The Author

Copyright Alessea Consulting 2004

Hallett German ([email protected]) is President of Alessea Consulting. is president of Alessea Consulting http://www.alessea.com specializing in Identity Management, Project Management, and Business Development

This article was posted on October 18, 2004

by Hallett German

How Secure Do You Feel At Your Job?

How Secure Do You Feel At Your Job?

by: Jim Heim

We are all familiar with the term ขcorporate restructureข in this day and age. Do you ever think one will ever personally affect you? After being employed by a major Midwestern retail chain for 28 years I didn’t think so. I started working for them in college; you know to get through school. I was studying management so it was only natural to get involved in their management program there. After graduating I was offered a position that required moving. No questions ask, my wife and I packed up everything we owned, left our families and pursued the American dream.

After 25 years in management, working in 3 cities at 5 different locations I had slipped into that false sense of security. Then those meetings started about how the company was going to transform. ขBigข competition was moving into the area the company operated in, there had to be changes to survive and ขmove forwardข. The restructure inevitably meant cuts in overhead which of course translate into staff reduction.

It was early in January, after a successful Christmas selling season, that the tension really began to build. Changes in the wind were blowing strong now. All management personnel were to attend a mandatory meeting on Thursday. At this meeting a sketchy outline was given of the new direction the company was taking. We were thanked for our efforts in seeing the company through its best year ever. Then just as we were to be excused we were informed that over the next two days each of us would meet with the store manager to find out our part, if any in the changes.

The next day was the day I had my appointment. I entered the store manager’s office and sat down. Not 10 seconds after that I knew of my fate, ขas you know the company is restrictingข the manager said. He continued ขyour position has been eliminated, you will be ask to leave after this meetingข. I was astounded that after all the time and dedication I had poured into the company I was ขbeing eliminatedข!

I did receive a charitable severance package but then what. I was thankful that my kids were grown and on their own but how was I going to pay the bills? Could I afford to keep my home? What if the car quits? Energy costs are on the rise, can I heat my home? Can I even afford gas for the car? What would you do in this situation?

After the initial shock wore off I realized life would go on. My girlfriend, who also worked at the same store and suffered the same fate as I, started our own business. We do home repair with a focus on paint and wallpaper.

That works as well as the effort you put into it. Another problem is the Holidays. First, people don’t want their house torn up during the holidays. Second, they can’t afford to have changes because they are paying for the holidays.

Like many people I have a home computer which I enjoy. Hey! Why not make money at home with the computer? I searched around a bit, trying a few ขit’s quick and easy to make cashข programs. Watch out for the ขoffersข that suggest ขfor just $19.95 you can make cash todayข. Also be cautious of programs with a one or two page website. It didn’t take long to figure out it was them making the fast buck!

What I was looking for was a company with a solid background, one that had been around with a track record to prove it. One that offered more than an email address for support or questions, one with no money up front to join. With a bit of time and effort you can find a solid opportunity to invest your time and energy in.

How secure do you feel in your job?

About The Author

Jim Heim has over 25 years of retail management experience. He has his own Home Improvement business. He is an Executive Affiliate with SFI and is willing to help those who wish to help themselves secure their future. Learn more by visiting http://www.takethisjobandluvit.com.

This article was posted on February 09

by Jim Heim

How To Write Web Articles

How To Write Web Articles

by: Dale DeHart

Since online articles can be an additional source of contract leads, it is important that you write them in such a way that they are กweb friendlyกand thus more accessible to your readers. This is especially important for articles you published previously in magazines, journals or other print media. While long paragraphs are visually acceptable in print magazines, they are a bane to Web users.

Web users don’t read; they scan.

When you write for the web, you must first consider how people read on the web. A study by Jakob Nielsen, deemed the กguru of webpage usabilityก by The New York Times, found that only 16 percent of his test users actually read the copy they found online; 79 percent of them simply scanned it.

Given those numbers, webcontent providers who truly want to get their information across to their readers must follow what has become the cardinal rule of web writing: Make it กscannable.ก Web users, notorious for their impatience, don’t want to get bogged down in long blocks of text as they search for the information they need; instead, they want that information to jump out at them.

Keep it short and scannable.

There are a number of ways you can make your text easier to scan:

Use bulleted or numbered lists. Keep sentences and paragraphs short. Make sure all your writing has substance. Say it straight. Use subheadings. Use typeface variations.

Start with the conclusion.

Use your keywords.

To get visibility on the major search engines, your site must be able to be กindexedก by their robotic software. To do this, they must be able to compare the code, keywords & other Meta tags, and the actual written content of the site and reach a consistent conclusion regarding the context of your site. Other factors are important as well, but that is the most basic requirement. Use these guidelines for other online copy.

These guidelines hold true for all kinds of web copy, not just your online articles. Keep them in mind when creating content for your own websites or when contributing articles to other electronic media. The same things that encourage users to read your online articles will encourage them to read your other web copy.

About The Author

Dale DeHart is the President and founder of SOHO Prospecting, a Camarillobased marketing company that provides owners of small and mediumsized independent businesses with the strategy and services they need to compete.

Dale received a B. S. in Electronics Engineering from California State Polytechnic University, and a Masters in Electronics Engineering from Stanford University. Dale also earned a Masters Degree in Business Administration from UCLA. Dale’s technical and business background led him to excel in senior management positions with several leading hightech corporations, including Hewlett Packard, TRW, and Motorola.

In 1997, Dale established his own management consultant company, DeHart Consulting, LLC, providing companies — including California Amplifier, Harmonic, Fujitsu, and XILINX — with business strategy and development support. As an independent management consultant, Dale saw firsthand the challenge companies face in marketing their products and services to new prospects while focusing on the needs of existing clients.

Dale launched SOHO Prospecting as a division of DeHart Consulting, LLC in 2001 to provide comprehensive marketing solutions to companies at the smaller end of the business spectrum. In 2002 SOHO moved into their offices in Camarillo, where six staff members and a number of subcontractors serve the needs of their clients.

ขOur clients appreciate our ability to execute a complete marketing campaign, from concept to completion, without needing to oversee every step of the process or allocate valuable internal resources to the marketing effort,ข says Dale. ขWhile marketing has been defined as the presentation of a company’s products and capabilities to a target audience, here must be a measurable return on your business marketing investment.ข

Dale is active in the Ventura County community and in several professional and community service organizations. A member of the Camarillo Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors, Dale was a founding member of the chamber’s SOHO Connection program, providing educational seminars for small office and home office businesses. Dale also serves as an officer for the Camarillo Breakfast Rotary, and as Vice President, Marketing for the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC).

sohoprospecting.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 24

by Dale DeHart

CRM and Customer Life Cycle

CRM and Customer Life Cycle

by: Bruce Zhang

Customer Relationship Management or CRM is a combination of enterprise strategies, business processes and information technologies used to learn more about customersก needs and behaviors in order to develop stronger relationships with them. CRM software systems automate many customerrelated business tasks. CRM applications are traditionally developed as clientserver software which incurs higher initial cost of ownership. The proliferation of the Internet and the Web has fueled the rapid growth of Webbased CRM or online CRM applications ( http://www.sysoptima.com/crm/web_based_crm.php ). Web CRM systems are widely deployed for web based call center, contact management, trouble ticket, personal information manager and scheduling.

The life cycle of CRM consists of three phases customer acquisition, customer relationship enhancements and customer retention. CRM software streamlines CRM activities at each phase of customer relationship management.

Customer Acquisition

Contact management module and direct marketing module of CRM allow companies to effectively promote and market their products and services to prospects. Those modules help speed up the acquiring processes and reduce the cost of acquiring new customers.

Customer Relationship Enhancements

CRM helps companies better understand existing customersก needs and behaviors and enhance the profitability from existing customers by crossselling. They can customize their products and services to individual customersก needs and preferences.

Customer Retention

Customer service module of CRM system gives the organizations the edge in customer support ( http://www.sysoptima.com/crm/call_center_management_software.php ). They can increase customer satisfaction while reducing the cost of support. Customer retention is critical to the overall profitability of an organization. A customer you spend hundreds of dollars and months to acquire may leave you in seconds as a result of poor customer services.

Copyright @2005, Bruce Zhang

About The Author

Bruce Zhang has over 10 years experiences in developing and implementing ecommerce and ebusiness systems in various industries. He has created a news aggregator http://www.sysoptima.com/newsbot/crm.php that automatically extracts CRM news and new articles from over 50 sources daily to help corporate executives, IT professionals and consultants to keep up with the latest development in enterprise software market. The website offers a knowledge base http://www.sysoptima.com/crm/ for understanding CRM software from a systems perspective.

This article was posted on March 28

by Bruce Zhang

Need of Document Management System (DMS)

Need of Document Management System (DMS)

by: Dr. Vikas V. Gupta

Document Management or Enterprise Information Management is perhaps one of the most important of the enterprise solutions that will provide a solution to the various requirements of SOX. Several sections of SOX have a direct bearing on the manner in which the digital documents/records of the enterprise are created, reviewed, approved, stored, retrieved, transferred, and destroyed.

Knowledge Management: Document & Records Management

Estimates have been made calculating that a significantly large proportion (some say, more than 70%) of the documents owned by an enterprise are in digital format and might never be seen in hardcopy.

According to Gartner’s Editor in Chief James Lundy: Records management will become a top 10 issue for many CIOs in the coming year.

In the following, we will discuss the various sections of SOX that a document management solution might help in complying with.

SOX Sections:

Section 302: According to Section 302, the CEO and CFO have to personally certify the financial statements and disclosures made by the company on authenticity and accuracy. This requires a system in place that will make the CEO and the CFO confident that all the disclosures that the company makes are accurate and authentic. This can be done in two ways:

One is to trickledown the responsibility of the CEO and the CFO to the lower management levels and in response bubbleup the signoffs from the lower management levels on all documents that are inputs to the company filings.

Second is to design comprehensive business processes that produce the company filings. The business processes will be designed in a very rigorous manner to comply with all the provisions and proper implementation and training of all the personnel related to the business processes will be carried out and tested on a periodic basis. Further, the business processes themselves will be open to stringent internal audits that will be carried out from time to time.

One, or a combination of both these practices will go a long way towards ensuring proper compliance.

For both these options it is clear that a strong enterprisewide document management system will provide the foundation on which the compliance will actually be carried out. In the first case, the signoffs can be configured using a workflow module of the document management system. In the second case, the business process itself will be configured in the document management system and all the relevant supporting or input documents too will be part of the DMS and appropriate subordination and linking will be done between the official company filings and all the input documents to it.

As proof of the records supporting the final company financials—as filed or reported—it is important to archive all the emails, excel sheets, instant messages or other communications and documents that were exchanged which led to a final certified filing by the CEO and CFO. This will safeguard the CxO’s claim that all the financial reports are true to their knowledge and due diligence was carried out before certifying the reports.

Section 404: The CEO and CFO need to provide a report assessing and certifying that the ขinternal controlsข have been assessed and are working fine or that there are weaknesses and appropriate action is being taken. Complying with this requirement is one of the most difficult parts of SOX and requires a whole slew of people, processes and technologies. However, DMS has an important role to play in this.

All the emails and attached documents in the chronological sequence will need to be archived for the purpose of proving that the internal controls are appropriate. Ideally, a workflow module will provide added assurance that the internal controls are implemented.

Section 103: requires storing the documents for a period of 7 years for audit companies. The company being audited would naturally want to replicate the documentation to guard against any discrepancy or miscommunication or mismanagement. Also another part of the act requires

Section 409: requires nearrealtime reporting of all material events—whether internal or external to the investors and the regulatory bodies. This can be accomplished by using a single enterprisewide document management system with appropriate ขalertsข and notifications and workflow configured according to the design of the compliancebased business processes. This system would make sure that all relevant information is immediately relayed to the top management (CEO and CFO) and the compliance committee and advisors with minimum delays and latency. DMS provides appropriate capabilities to the compliance advisors to provide a recommendation (within the stipulated time frame) linked to each alert and escalate the reports to the CxOs with the appropriate recommendations. The CxOs can then decide whether it merits disclosure under the compliance act based on recommendations of their Compliance Committee or Advisors.

Section 802: provides for criminal penlties for knowingly altering, destroying, concealing and other activities, such as introducing false records, related to impeding or influencing an ongoing or potentially upcoming investigation by a federal agency. This would call for holding all documents in a secure system where absolutely no one in the company can alter them once they are finalized. Also this calls for a formal document retention and destruction policy which is strictly adhered to (in fact, can be proven to be adhered to) and which involves making sure that no document which any investigating agency would require is being destroyed or deleted. Furhter, the act requires that as soon as the company comes to know about a potential investigation all documents pertaining or somehow germane to that investigation are immediately ordered indestructible to or unalterable by anyone—including the CxOs of the company. This makes it important to have a feature related to creat!

ing and accepting ขalertsข from the legal department of the company about any ongoing or upcoming potential investigations and as a consequence immediate information ขvaultingข of all related documents. This feature will ensure compliance with this particular section and save a potential prison term and a large monetary fine and of course loss of credibility.

This section has a strong bearing on a records or document management policy of a company. The company should develop a proper document management policy and adhere to it in a timely and rigorous manner. If this is not done, the company is exposed to severe costs and damage in terms of providing documents to hostile parties in ขpretrial discoveryข—the legal process of providing all relevant documents to the opposing party in a legal suit. It also exposes the company to accusations of hiding or destroying relevant documents—if done at a later stage—even before any legal proceedings are begun against the company—a la Arthur Andersen’s Enronrelated documents.

Document Management systems provide several benefits to the company. Since an IT system is a business process frozen in a particular software and hardware implementation, it proves that the particular business process is being consciously and diligently adhered to. In the worst case, this proves that the compliance is being followed in spirit. Now whether the compliance is being followed in form can be found out from the results of the particular system and also from the audits of it at various stages of the business process. The capability to follow an audit trail on all documents created or processed through it is extremely useful in executing compliance activities and also in proving compliance at a later stage. The capability to create workflows automatically creates auditable process paths. The DMS also makes possible to access any documents at any point of time with relative ease. It also acts as a centralized repository of documents (both structured and unstruc!

tured). All publicly disclosed documents can be locked in the final form as images and can not be tampered with later on. These can be stored and deleted according to the schedules of various regulatory and compliance Acts of the Government. Document and information which is supposed to be for limited consumption at the top management level can also be strictly screened and internal controls on these can be enforced rigorously. At the appropriate time the documents can be ขpublishedข.

Whistleblower: For this section of the act, it is important that a document management system is provided to log all whistleblower communication—absolutely securely where no unauthorized personnel may be able to access it—and store all communications.

An indirect requirement for Document Management Systems in the enterprise is for the purpose of storing the documents related to enterprise compliance policies, their updates, amendments, the internal control policies of the company and other documents of a similar nature that help in proving the compliance process at the enterprise.

The company needs to make policies about the following aspects of documents:

 Creation

Approvals

Publishing

Retention

Access

Distribution

Lifecycle

This policy will help in implementing the contradictory requirements of document retention for compliance purposes and document deletion for reducing the cost of document retention and improving operational efficiency.

Initial step is to define the document retention policy. The second step is to survey the existing document management systems in place in the enterprise and the third step is to create a proper document management system.

Have a centralized repository of documents.

Have a structured and hierarchical architecture

Have security & access control

 A Report Distribution System or Document Management & Workflow System will disburse this to the CEO and the CFO within the prescribed timeframe and allow them enough time to make their own final judgments about the situation.

Finally, a Public Information Distribution System should exist to quickly disburse this information—if judged important by the CEO & the CFO—to the investors & other stakeholders or relevant authorities prescribed by SOX.

Author: Dr. Vikas V. Gupta.

Email: [email protected]

http://www.inkorus.com

http://www.istrat.co.in

http://www.gemolap.com

http://www.internetsrus.com

http://www.realestatewebsoftware.com

About The Author

Dr. Gupta is the Founder & President of Istrat. He is a B.Tech. from IIT, Bombay & did his M.S.(Engineering) & Doctorate in Engineering Science (Ph.D.) from Columbia Univ., New York. Following his doctorate he has worked at University of California, Irvine as a Research Scientist and as an Asst. Prof. at IIT Kharagpur.

He is responsible for setting the strategy and direction of the company and looks after the strategy and execution of the strategy. He provides a global perspective to the company and provides a bridge between Indian IT resources, including talent and products, and global clients with IT requirements. He provides the Indian IT talent with an understanding of the parameters important to the global client (namely, quality, reliability and delivery, besides cost). Similarly he provides the global clients with an understanding of the breadth & depth of expertise of the Indian IT workforce (namely, Architecture & Design expertise, product development & project management expertise and functional expertise of business processes of various industry sectors, besides low cost programming talent).

[email protected]

This article was posted on October 26, 2004

by Dr. Vikas V. Gupta

Thereกs More to Selling than Finding the Need

Thereกs More to Selling than Finding the Need

by: Mark Dembo

Many of us in sales are taught to believe that the most important job of the salesperson is to ขfind the needข of our prospects. If we can uncover ขneedsข then our job is easy; we just need to show our prospect how our product or service fills that need. Right?

Well, the problem with that approach is that it only addresses part of the pie. Think about it. What do you do when YOU need something? Let’s say you need to buy a new computer; do you sit around and wait, hoping that a computer salesperson is going to call you? NO, of course not; you go out and you fulfill your need.

So, as a salesperson, if people really NEED your product or service they will pick up the phone and call you to place an order. If that’s the case, why aren’t you selling more??? Oh, you say, they’re buying from your competitor. Or, you might tell me, ขWell, they just don’t KNOW that they need my product or service; my job is to ขfind the needข and to ขbuild their pain.ข

Let me give you another way to think about this…suppose, just suppose for a moment, that instead of just focusing on ขneedsข we broaden our thinking: as a salesperson you want to find out about what people DO. Your job is to find out and understand what they’re doing now, how they’re doing it, who they’re doing it with, when they’re doing, why they’re doing it that way, and then to help them do it better. Makes sense, right?

When you adopt the ขDOข philosophy over the ขNEEDSข philosophy, your thinking and the questioning will become much broader. By asking ขdoข based questions you get better information from your prospects, which in turn allow you to make a proposal that will make much more sense to the prospect. And the only reason people buy something is because it makes sense to them.

By asking ขdoข based question you are creating a conversation which engages your prospect. When performed at its best, selling is an extended conversation; it is not an interrogation by the salesperson, and neither is it a ขproduct dumpข where you aim to tell your prospect anything and everything you can about your services.

What are some examples of ขdoข based questions? Well, here are a few:

ขWhat are you currently doing about _______?ข

ขI’m just curious, what made you decide to do it that way?ข

ขHow did you decide to do that?ข

ขWhat are you hoping to accomplish in the next quarter, year, three years…?

ขTell me exactly what you do here?ข Or, ขtell me what your key areas of responsibility are?ข

How was this decision made in the past?

Will the decision process be the same this time around?

Take some time to make a list of questions that you can ask that are relevant to your business. Some of the questions may not seem to have a logical or direct tie to your product or service; that’s OK. In fact, that’s good! By focusing on what your prospects do and how they do it, you are opening up the whole dynamic of your sales call into a true conversation; one that will help you better understand the goals, objectives, and needs of your prospect. By broadening your conversation in this way you are then able to make the proposal or recommendation that will make sense to your prospect.

And, in the end, the only reason people buy something is because it makes sense!

Copyright 2005 Lexien Management Consultants, Inc

About The Author

Mark Dembo; President, Lexien Management Consultants (http://www.lexien.com) Mark has over 20 years of sales, sale management, and business development experience, focused on improving the performance of individuals and organizations. Lexien Management Consultants provides sales training, consulting, and coaching services to organizations and individuals who are motivated to grow their businesses. Each month, Lexien publishes the Sales Success Newsletter.

Lexien Management Consultants is an affiliate of DEI Management Group. You can contact Mark at 9146822069, or at [email protected].

This article was posted on February 14

by Mark Dembo