Building a strong foundation

Everything you do with a prospect, from the beginning of the sales cycle to the end, builds your case for a powerful referral.  To make sure you end up with a delighted customer, you need to listen carefully, ask good questions, uncover a customer's key needs, present a solution—and then follow up on every detail. In the initial stages of the sale, ask your prospect: "Do you know what our goal is?"  Usually the customer will say something along the lines of, "Yes, to sell me something." Your reply should be: "It's to eventually use you as a strong reference."Let them know that your business is built on the success and satisfaction of your customer base and that you're in it for the long run.

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7 ways to get your employees off their butts

I wanted to share this article i found on entreprenur.com, I found it quite interesting....

Does it feel like it takes you less time to do something than if you were to give the job to an employee? Whether they're freelancers or full-time employees, slow-moving, uninspired workers are the bane of many small business's existence. 

How can you get workers fired up and motivated to achieve your company's goals? Here are seven tips:

1. Hire right.  Start down the road to motivated employees by hiring the right person for the right job. Too often, time-strapped entrepreneurs will hire a neighbor or acquaintance because they don't want to sift through a big stack of resumes. Instead, take the time to properly vet candidates. Then, hire someone who is qualified for the job and, more importantly, is a fit with your company's culture.

2. Offer clear goals. Do your workers know what their top priorities are, and what needs to be done by what deadline? Vagueness is a big motivation-killer.

3. Manage by walking around. The owner of a successful southern California regional hardware chain once shared with me that he constantly popped in at his various store locations, with no set schedule. Productivity stayed high, as workers never knew when he'd be back. "Workers do what you inspect," he explained to me. "Not what you expect."

4. Share your finances. I know several entrepreneurs who have an "open book" policy at their company, where they share revenue, expenses and other financial figures with workers. This transparency can be a big win -- workers feel they're privy to inside information, and they understand exactly how much business they need to get in the door for the company to grow. This makes profit-sharing programs really work, as employees know exactly what it takes to hit the profit point. Owners fear releasing this information, but as one owner of a cabinetry business recently discovered, sharing company financials including his own salary can be a positive step.

5. Do incentives right. Incentive programs can backfire if they are a way to entice workers to do something that makes them uncomfortable or that they feel is not achievable. Set realistic benchmarks and make sure they are relevant and enticing to your staff, or the program may just lead to more lethargy and inaction.

6. Build trust. Workers do things for leaders they believe in. To increase trust, admit your own mistakes, show empathy for workers' concerns, and be honest about how difficult it will be to meet your goals. Instead of making pronouncements, listen and involve workers in decisions.

7. Treat workers like people. Do you know your workers' personal aspirations? Tap into theirpersonal desires, and you will be able to motivate them to excel

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