Business Ideas

Archive for August, 2010

Decision Making: Identifies Issues Problems And Opportunities

Recognizes issues problems or opportunities and determines whether action is needed.
What sparks the decisionmaking process? In some cases it’s a request such as when your leader asks you to choose equipment to purchase reduce costs or delegate work. In other cases you might be aware of an issue that needs to be addressed. For example you:

• Receive repeated feedback from customers about a product problem.
• Believe an improvement to a current process could bolster productivity.
• See an opportunity to increase market share by improving a product feature.

Even when you’re not the person who makes the decision you can improve the quality of the decision by identifying problems and opportunities. As a result people develop confidence in your ability to spot opportunities and contribute to good organizational decisions.

1. Recognize issues problems or opportunities.
Effective decision makers are proactive. They stay aware of issues unresolved problems or opportunities they can take advantage of. Chances are there’s a decision to be made if you have ideas for:

• Improving work processes.
• Reducing costs while maintaining quality or efficiency.
• Improving customer service.
• Increasing enthusiasm of associates.
• Bolstering sales or profits.

Example: John noticed that his team’s overtime hours had increased over the past year yet output levels had remained the same. When he asked the team why John learned that requests for custom packaging had gone up 25 percent but due to the current equipment custom packaging orders took longer to fill. He also found out that the organization charged the same price for custom and regular packaging. By correctly recognizing the problemsincreased overtime amount of time to fill custom orders and potential lost revenue on custom ordersJohn and his team faced two decisions: how to decrease overtime and whether the demand for custom packaging justifies modernizing the equipment and raising the price for custom packaging.

To determine if you have a “decision in the making” ask yourself:

• Are coworkers frequently complaining about work?
• Are deadlines being missed or jobs being done incorrectly?
• Are there an unusual number of misunderstandings or conflicts between/among departments?
• Is there a trend in customer feedback?
• Do I have an opportunity to provide a product or service that the competition can’t?

To obtain specific information about your potential decision check the following sources:Includes sales or performance records ideas taken from suggestion boxes and informal communication gathered via your network team meetings task forces and quality committees. Includes competitor information research reports and customer surveys and feedback.

• Internal data.
• External data.

2. Define the desired outcomes criteria and decision.
After recognizing that a need or opportunity exists write a clear description of your desired outcomes the criteria your decision needs to meet and what you hope to decide. Doing this helps you:

• Determine whether a decision or action is needed.
• Confirm that you’re addressing the “right” situation.
• Ensure that your decision yields the results you want.

Desired outcomes refer to the results you want to achieve for example exceeding customer expectations or increasing productivity. Outcomes also might include how people should feel about the results. When defining desired outcomes consider:

• What you hope to accomplish.
• How you want those affected by the decision to feel or act.

For example if you want to buy a winter coat your desired outcomes would be to stay warm and to receive comments such as “That’s a stylish coat.” are the measurable and observable characteristics the decision must meet. Criteria are broadly categorized into quality cost and time. Your criteria for buying a new winter coat might include:

Criteria

• Warmth provided quality.
• Money you’re willing to spend cost.
• The need to purchase the coat before winter arrives time.

A decision states the specific choice to be made. By knowing the results you want you can clearly describe the decision to achieve those results.

Defining your decision accurately depends on identifying the desired outcomes you want to achieve and the criteria the decision must meet. Another key element of your accuracy is involving others. Seeking others’ input helps to ensure that the right decision is made and that people support and understand the decision. Otherwise if you assume the desired outcomes and decision criteria you risk defining the decision incorrectly and getting results much different than what you expected.

Example: A large beverage manufacturer spent millions of dollars and many years trying to outdo its competitors’ packaging based on an inaccurate decision definition: “What bottle shape can we develop that will be as memorable as theirs?” However the manufacturer’s actual desired outcomes were for people to drink more of their beverage and ultimately increase market sharenot to have recognizable packaging. After reassessing its desired outcomes and redefining the decision accurately as “How can we get people to drink more of our beverage?” the manufacturer freed its thinking and invented the successful large plastic liter bottle. Market share soared Russo and Schoemaker 1989.

3. Determine whether action is needed.
Now that you’ve defined the situation in terms of desired outcomes and criteria and checked the decision to be made you’re in a better position to determine whether action is needed. Consider the time and energy it would take to work through the decision and determine whether your and others’ efforts are worth the investment. Think about:

• Who needs to be involved in the decision. Are they available and will they be supportive?
• What actions might need to be taken and who will initiate them.
• Whether your leaders would support your decisionmaking process.
• What time and money are needed to research the decision.
• How confident you are that you know the cause of the situation.
• Who else might be working on a similar decision.

Compare the time and energy it would take to work through the decision to the impact of not making the decision. Is it worth the investment? Based on the information you’ve compiled you might determine that action isn’t needed. If one or more of the following situations exist don’t take action:

• The process will take too long and the opportunity will be missed.
• The effort is greater than the reward.
• There is little to no consequence for not taking action.

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Our story at 104Inc is simple: We like to help others. Imagine a team that consists of family and friends who all have the same passion in life. Imagine a group of individuals who sacrifice so much everyday inorder to attain their goal and one day live their dream. Now imagine the amount of effort motivation and discipline it takes for ordinary people like us having a burning desire to accomplish something extraordinary. Here at http://www.104Inc.com we have the opportunity to do all of that. We have the aspiration the zeal and the motivation to help others in areas where they are less fortunate including our own family and friends.

It’s Simple. It’s 104Inc Approved.

Crucial Tips To Overcoming Objections In Network Marketing

An expression from your prospect of what appears to them to be a reason why they cannot buy or consume what they have a need want or desire for what you have to offer is a good definition of an objection. Unless you are extremely rude to a person during your conversation objections rarely have anything to do with you.

Objections always come from a FEAR False Expectation Appearing Real. How many times have you had a fear of something with which you didn’t even have an experience? I have a fear of snakes but why? I’ve never encountered a snake been bitten by one or even known anyone personally who has had a bad experience with a snake.

The reason we have a fear for something that is unjustified is because we assume we are afraid of it. It is this reason that people will be skeptical without even having tried your product or service. They heard a rumor through the grapevine that someone loses all their hair when they took the product you represent. Again this has nothing to do with you.

The good news is that because assumptions are unjustified there are techniques you can use to show a person the logic behind their way of thinking. Once you do that you can then show how the person needs what you have enough to justify the logic of parting with their money. Taking this approach with a targeted audience is the essence of proper marketing.

After having been in Network Marketing for over ten years I have heard just about every excuse in the book. Everything from “I have to talk to my doctor first” to “My neighbor’s cousin took those products and her left toe turned green.” Whether it’s skepticism or procrastination people make excuses because they don’t have a strong enough want need or desire for what you have to offer.

Talking to a spouse is the number one excuse that most people use as a procrastination technique and it’s not legitimate either . If it was you would feel the need to call your spouse in a grocery store every time you are trying to decide what food to buy. But because the items in your cart provides a need want or desire and the store is credible you buy and logically justify it without talking to our spouse.

The concept of money and what is considered expensive or cheap is emotional. It’s not based on fact because everyone makes different amounts of income and lives in different areas. A doctor in Iowa can make more money in Las Vegas but not as much to equal the cost of living. It all comes down to a scale.

If you make a 100000 a year in Iowa and a house cost 90000 to live in you’re in pretty good shape. But if you pick up and move your practice to Las Vegas you can make 150000 a year but the same house will cost you about 300000 to live in. The cost of living suddenly increases and this is how the concept of money becomes emotional.

Knowing the mindset of the person you are speaking with is an extremely important part of overcoming objections. In order to show them how they can justify the logic of trading their money for your product or service you have to know what kind of person they are and what problems they have on a daily basis.

If you are talking with someone in New York City for example they are likely to punch you with questions to see how you will bounce back. This is not objecting to you or your product it’s simply their way of getting to know you. They put up a defense. You have to get to know them first before they will trust you.

You can’t treat the person in New York City in the same way that you would a person living in California. That mindset is more focused on making you think they are wealthy enough to afford your product but in reality they might not be able to. You would have to encounter their objections in a totally different way.

Overcoming objections in Network Marketing is something that must be mastered in order to succeed because it is a part of the business. It will never go away and you will always have to deal with it. The more eduaction you receive on how to properly market the better your skill set will become and the more successful your business will be.

About the writer:  William Winch is a Business Growth Specialist whose mission is teaching other struggling entrepreneurs how to expand and explode their homebased businesses without breaking the bank. A former High School and College Business Educator and Counselor he mentors from his home office in Rochester NY. If you are interested in learning additional information on how to explode and expand your homebased business click on MLM Training or by calling William directly at 585 2345283 for a free business consultation.

Creating A Team

Teams come in all shapes and all sizes from a two member couple racing against time and the environment in ‘The Amazing Race’ to crowds cheering slogans and admiring the skills of the soccer teams of Real Madrid and Manchester United. History is witness to the success and failure of teams with the clicheacute;d yet true adage that ‘United we stand and divided we fall’. For people torn between national religious cultural and ethnic sentiments the team concept has percolated down to all aspects of our society.

Certain intrinsic characteristics and motivations drive teams in all fields of life towards achieving their dreams both at the group level and on a personal front. The same way a diamond is graded according to its 4Cs teams are built towards success on certain ground rule ‘C’ principles. Team formation is governed by a set of people who adhere to fixed rules which can be categorized as a Charter. It is the binding force forming the do’s and don’ts of participation. Clear expectations from the leader of the team or the team itself need to be determined at the very beginning so that the operating principles are clearly defined. The reason for the team to be functional could range within any known bounds of rationality.

There are people of different skill sets talents and capabilities. If all performance were on a constant measurable scale mankind would not have progressed very far on account of different levels of tasks requiring specialized requirements. A good team is a balanced one with each specific advantage that every member holds over the other in harmony. Blended collaboration ensures that all members contribute in a significant capacity to bring out the best in each one of the team players.

The two keys factors for success in any field is Commitment and Consistency. If the goal or the end result is the same for all the team can become a force to be reckoned with. As much as we would like to believe that Michel Schumacher is extremely talented behind a set of hot wheels car racing is team work as with any other sport. Ensuring the car is serviced to the prime guiding through the racing track and ensuring that the wheels sets are changed to the count of seconds speaks volumes of a team geared to work at the optimum level of efficiency.

Control over the known and unknown factors to the maximum extent implies that the team not only functions knowing the set of variables but also keeps a margin for errors as well as adequately prepared with backup contingencies. Sending the Pathfinder to Mars had its own share of mishaps and setbacks but the success story is an inspiration for future generations of space lovers and star seekers.

Mankind progression was quantum in nature with the invention of the wheel the discovery of fire and the will to realize that quality of life improved through innovations. Caution must be exercised between innovation merely for the novelty of the idea and creative innovation which implies challenging the known frontiers of concepts towards something more profound and beneficial for humanity. People had scoffed at the idea of man being ever able to fly in the beginning of the last century yet 45 years later Bomber planes were flying over uncharted territories. Creative innovation is one of the driving forces for progress on all fronts.

There can be consequences to innovation and collaboration … 9/11 is an example to the horrors unleashed within a span of a few seconds. Teamwork was as crucial as the mastermind behind the chain of events which shocked the world.

Effective communication channels should be a two way process to avoid misunderstandings ensure a smooth flow of dialogue and act as a motivator to urge the team towards excellence.

Ballads have been sung for great heroes down history. Team dynamics have grown more sophisticated and cutthroat as everyone vies to be the best in their respective fields. We vote for our leaders but it has never been a one man show. The new President of the United States is proof that with a great team one can start rewriting history and perhaps the beginning of a success story.

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