Grow From Here

Communication is like the hidden grease that makes the wheels turn smoothly in a business – when it’s there, you don’t notice it at all, but when it’s not the pain (and costs!) can grow very rapidly.

One organization that I find often has interesting and valuable resources related to communication is HumaNext, and they recently came out with their top 10 communications topics for 2012, which rang a lot of bells for me so I thought I would share the wealth.

According to their posting, they don’t use surveys to gather data, but rather look at where companies are actually investing money in communication tools and products in order to determine the hot trends.  From that data, they have identified the following top 10 communication trends for 2012 (comments in brackets are mine):

1. Employee engagement (due to the current economic challenges and need to stretch resources, this keeps its place as a hot topic)
2. Strategic Communications (more and more communications efforts need to support strategic objectives – which has the pre-requisite of needing the strategic objectives to be understood and communicated!)
3. Managers as Communicators (ties in the previous item with the need to communicate the strategic objectives)
4. Communication ROI, Measure and Audit (it’s important to know what the ROI of communications is, but the challenge is a little like preventative health – how do you measure the reduction in cost by preventing problems?)
5. Leadership Communications (leaders need to be able to communicate effectively and powerfully both within their organizations and to the outside world)
6. Managing Generations at Work (we’re all familiar with the challenges of different generations working together, but it’s not only the different expectations and attitudes, even the means of communication may be different from gen Y to the older generations)
7. Electronic Newsletters (companies are doing this more and more, but is the effectiveness still there?  are we getting into information overload / newsletter blindness – I think there are some interesting conversations to be had here.)
8. Cross Cultural Communication and Global Competence (what is a truly international communication? how do you sell to multiple very different cultures?  what does it mean to be a global organization, or, particularly, to become a global organization)
9. Diversity and Inclusion (aging workforce, growing awareness of physical and mental disabilities, more and more diverse cultural groups working together, immigration issues, minorities – the discussions can be difficult and even risky for companies)
10. Social Media (is it a fad, a tool, a money pit?  It’s definitely a hot topic and can give rise to both high potential risks and potential rewards…  Who is it useful for, and how?  And what is the actual payoff?)

All interesting questions that are part of the every day conversations in business, but I found the list interesting and a good starting point for potential discussion.

One other conversation we have been having internally relates to working remotely – while some companies have this nailed and extremely effective, others still struggle with the what, the how, and the maintaining the effective and close working relationships while at a physical distance.

Where are tbe communication challenges in your organization?  One of the above, or something different?

Business Growth, Communication

The International Franchise Association has published their 2012 economic outlook. It’s interesting both for those in the franchise industry, and for any business, because if a business in growing in the franchise sector, it’s probably growing in general. You can see the full study at http://www.franchise.org/2012forecast.aspx or the quick fact sheet at http://emarket.franchise.org/EconOutlookFactSheet12.pdf.

The Coles Notes version is that the IFA expects franchising to grow by 1.9% in 2012 and economic output to grow by 5% in the same year.  However, this outlook for growth is highly dependent on which sector one happens to be in.  The highest expected growth within the franchising sector is in Personal Services (which include educational services, health care, entertainment and recreation, personal and laundry services, veterinary services, loan brokers, credit intermediation and related activities, and personal transportation), followed by Retail Products and Services.  Quick Service and Table/Full Service restaurants are expected to surpass all other business formats in growth in 2011 (not just within franchising).

The report has lots of interesting numbers and charts and is created for the IFA by ISH Global insight.

Lastly, for those who really enjoy statistics (and there are lots of them this time of year), here are the Globe and Mail’s predictions about growth industries for 2012: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/starting-out/top-5-industries-to-start-a-business-in-2012/article2287411/, or for more similar information about franchising, have a look at http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222412.

Enjoy the new year, and remember that while the statistics are important, what you do in your own business is equally important and growth challenges can hit any company in any industry, but they’re certainly better than the alternative

Business Growth, Franchise

What is your motivation behind starting a social media campaign?

Social media is all the buzz; it’s unavoidable whether you are at work or play.  It is extolled online by bloggers and web writers, and is ballyhooed in traditional learning environments like conferences and seminars.

Not only are we constantly being bombarded by social media, we are being sold on it.

Most of the information serves to hype the various platforms and to illustrate how ‘easy’ it is to get up and running.  This hype gets people eager to join in, or feeling like they should join in when they don’t want to.  A critical component has been left out.  The secret weapon behind a successful foray into social media lies in your answer to one question:

What are you trying to achieve?

Without asking this question first, it is easy to get overwhelmed and confused.  Multiple options, peer pressure and media hype can leave you stressed and unsure where or how to begin.  You may shut down at this point, or -worse- jump in feet-first, ending up frustrated and entangled in an unproductive task.

Once you know clearly what your goals are, building an effective social media strategy is almost formulaic – just follow the steps to get to your goal.  Social media is a tool to help you get where you’re going:  it is not an end in itself.

A social media campaign is strategically no different than a traditional marketing campaign: it all begins with specifically identifying what you want to accomplish.

You can’t hit a target you can’t see, and you can’t see a target you do not have. (Zig Ziglar)

This means that before you commit to a social media plan, you need to know what the success measures will be.

• Are you looking for more customers?
• Increased sales from existing customers?
• Are you looking to increase traffic to your website?  If so, why?
• Is it a branding exercise?  A public relations move?
• Are you trying to build credibility with prospects reached by your sales team?
• Are you trying to find strategic partners to work with?

Know what you want to accomplish, and then check out companies that have successfully done what you want to do, and see how they did it.  For example, Blenz Coffee has been extremely successful in getting great PR using social media.  They also use it to increase sales to existing customers and to find new customers.  Do a simple google search for ‘Blenz Social Media’ for some great examples of ways to get achieve business results.

But before you try to jump in, remember the question – what do you want to accomplish? And if you look at the best ways to accomplish your goal, is social media the right tool for your company?

Best Practices, Business Growth, Technology, Tips

A great quote I came across this week:

An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew hoping he’ll quickly learn how to chew it.

-Roy Ash, co-founder of Litton Industries

It made me laugh, but it’s so true – how can we ever make progress if we don’t do more than we know we can?

At our team meeting this week we were talking about being extraordinary.  Today is not a day for clear answers – rather it’s one for good questions, but biting off a little more than we can chew is often not a bad idea…

What successes have you found from biting off more than you can chew?  And what has made you smile this week?

Business Growth, Communication, Fun

There have been a few examples recently of potential vendors who waste their opportunities to do business with us. It got me thinking about what makes for a waste of time.  Because I really do want to do business with other companies, but I want them to make it easy for me and to show me how great they can be.  (I know I sound curmudgeonly as I write some of this, but it’s from the heart…)  So here’s what I do and don’t want, and then what we commit to for our potential customers.

The biggest errors from potential vendors to us in the last few weeks have been:

1) Lack of clear message

I was at an event where a series of presentations were made. One of them looked interesting – an opportunity to support a group I would like to help by using their skills. Unfortunately the presenter didn’t know his core differentiator or how to describe his offering clearly – or if he did, he wasn’t able to articulate it to the group. During question period attendees asked ‘but what do you do?’, ‘what can you do for me?’, and unfortunately the answer was essentially ‘almost anything you want’. Instant loss of credibility when talking to a business.

2) Process for the sake of process

A company I was interested in doing business with sent me an introductory questionnaire, including questions that I didn’t even understand like ‘A story about your relationship with this industry or company’.

I’m sorry – what relationship with what industry or company? Not only is the question impossible to answer, but I don’t see how it will move us closer to doing business together.

On top of that, the questionnaire had lots of deep probing questions about our business strategy, marketing strategy, etc. Again, none of those will help move us closer to doing business. All they do is take up my time filling in the answers or make me think that you don’t know what you’re doing and so are asking lots of generic questions that are really ‘fishing for a problem’ so you can propose a solution.  They don’t tell me what solutions you offer or help me narrow in on whether I can use one of them.

Lastly, the questionnaire asked for our company’s address, website, phone, email, fax, social media links, my name, phone, email, etc in great excrutiating detail. Again, a waste of my time. Ask me for our contact us page & maybe my contact details (if you don’t already have them) & then go do the research yourself. Until I have decided to do business with you, ask me only what you need to know to help us both get closer to a solution, and please help me understand how answering the questions you do ask will benefit us both.

3) Meeting mania

You’ve learned that a meeting will get you to get closer to doing business with me. That’s fine. But make sure the meeting provides me with value and is not just to ‘move the sales process along’.

If I take the time to meet with you, please come with an agenda, a plan and a clear way that we will each benefit from the time. Once you have established that rapport, please try to send me what you can by email, with any questions clearly phrased so I can respond at my convenience. Please don’t ask for frequent meetings so you can build rapport – if they’re not adding to my perception of your value in a tangible way, I will hesitate to do business with you because I’ll be afraid that it will take too much face time.

4) No clear qualification process

One vendor I met with recently (yes, a meeting first!) asked me lots of questions about our business and our needs, said that he would go away and find out how they could solve our problems, set a follow-up meeting time, and then never showed up. My assistant followed up with his company to see whether he was just running late & apparently they couldn’t reach him. We never heard from him again.

I have no idea whether he decided our needs weren’t big enough for the service they offer, or were too hard to solve, or whether he just forgot. But I’m guessing that it’s the first one – we don’t need a lot of his solution. If so, that’s fine, but I really appreciate vendors who pre-qualify clearly. If you say to me ‘we want to work with company of size x-y’ and if I’m not in that size, then neither of us is wasting time exploring options, and goodness knows we both have lots of other things to do!

Which leads to my commitment to our customers & potential customers

1. We will tell you what differentiates us.
   1. If it’s not clear enough, please let us know! We’ll fix it.
   2. If the message has no value, please let us know! We’ll fix it.
   3. If you couldn’t care less about what we think differentiates us, please let us know! We’ll fix it.
2. We will not ask you for information that we can find on your website or through a little research. We value your time and respect the great things you are doing.
3. If we ask you for any information where you don’t see the direct benefits to what we are asking, please let us know. We don’t need to know everything about your business plans and strategy – we only need to know what may have an effect on what we are doing together.
4. Especially in the first phases of getting to know each other, we want to help you quickly either rule us in or out as a potential vendor. If you’re not going to work with us, we know you have other business strategies to move forward.
5. We will absolutely respect your time & do as much as we can to move things forward without your involvement.
6. We will come to each meeting or conversation with a clear agenda and goals to achieve. If you want to change that on the spot, feel free.
7. We will not ask for meetings to make us feel good; warm and fuzzy is lovely, but if it’s not moving your business forward, we have no business taking up your time.
8. We know what qualifies companies to work with us and helps them get the most value. We will not be afraid to tell you what it is. We will tell you if you do not fit that criteria; not to offend you but to save your time. And if at all possible, we will suggest other companies who do work with your type of business.
9. We will not miss scheduled meetings or be late without letting you know. We are proud when our customers laugh at us about how prompt we are to scheduled meetings. Every minute you spend waiting for someone to arrive is a minute you are not making money – we want you to make money and grow your business.

If we miss the mark on any of these, please let us know.  And feel free to share with us anything else we can do to be better prospective vendors for your company.

Best Practices, Business Growth, Communication

Communication can sound fuzzy, but a team with solid communication can accomplish miracles.

At Open Box, we’re all a little obsessive about communication - what works, what doesn’t, and how to have fun doing it.

Nothing can be as exciting and good for a business as good communication where people building on ideas and creating together.

And nothing is as destructive as bad communication – passive aggressive, stonewalling, talking at cross purposes…

We have created a series of short videos about the communication game – we hope you enjoy them, and do suggest more ideas for great communication tips – all suggestions gratefully welcomed

Business Growth, Communication, Fun, Video Tips

… and what makes it scary

I just relearned a lesson that I have learned before – asking for feedback is a huge winner for me and for our company.

We talk a lot about feedback at Open Box, both internally with each other and externally with customers and partners.  We try to end every project with a request for feedback on how the process went and whether it reached its business objectives for the customer and what we did well and what we can improve.  Last year we reached out to past customers asking if we could shoot some video about their experiences working with us.  Then in July our company was nominated for an award that also relates to the personal values of the entrepreneur running it, so I reached out to people in the community that know me well enough to comment on my values and how they have affected the community around us.

It makes me wonder why we don’t do this more often…

I think sometimes we see the little glitches and magnify them mentally so we are afraid to ask.

I think sometimes we are too busy to remember to ask.

I think sometimes we are afraid that if we ask for feedback, then we will need to do something with it, and maybe we feel too busy to want to take that new stuff on.

I think sometimes we take for granted the things we do really really well and forget the impact they can have on customers.

Every time we’ve asked for feedback, the results have been amazing; touching, humbling and very affirming about where we excel.  Feedback

• invigorates the team
• reminds us that we are providing the kind of value we want to provide
• remind us that our vision (setting people free to be their best using technology) is not just words on paper, but actually takes life in the projects we do
• gives perspective, encouragement, validation and fresh energy.

I shared this idea with one entrepreneur I know a while back when she was struggling with how to market her company, and her past customers came through big-time; giving her phrases that were much stronger and more powerful than anything she would have come up with on her own.  So there’s another benefit – getting great marketing content and materials.

What have you learned through asking for feedback?

If you want to learn more about the type of feedback we’ve received, check out our customer testimonials or our videos (all done thanks to the amazing feedback we’ve received).

What have you learned through asking for feedback?  Did it hurt?

Best Practices, Business Growth, Communication

The world is full of great quotes.

Here are five that give me energy & determination today:

• “Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”~~ Saint Francis of Assisi

• “We don’t grow unless we take risks. Any successful company is riddled with failures. “~~ James E. Burke

• “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day, saying “I will try again tomorrow.”~~Mary Radmacher

• “An idea not coupled with action will never get any bigger than the brain cell it occupied.” ~~Arnold H. Glasgow

• “Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia. ~~ Charles Schulz

Business Growth, Communication, Fun

Reduce the number of choices you offer your customers.

Sound too simplistic?  In a way it is, but what matters more is that it works.

People faced with too many choices will be drawn and interested, but less likely to buy.

There have been some fascinating studies on this topic, starting with Sheena Iyengar and her jam experiment at Draeger’s.  For all the details, read her publications (links below) or watch her Ted talk (broader than this one question – she branches into the question of whether choices are linked to upbringing and culture – but fascinating) or check out her telling her story about this experiment and what led to it.

In short, she set up an experiment where people had either 24 choices of types of jam, or 6 choices.

The findings were that the 24 choices drew more people to look at the options, but actually led to fewer sales.

6 choices made it easier for people to make a selection and actually complete the purchase.

I know which one I prefer

To quote Sheena Iyengar, “they were actually less likely to make a choice if they had more to choose from than if they had fewer to choose from.”

Psychology Driving Business Growth

I’m fascinated by how psychology & the knowledge of psychologists can help drive business growth.  It’s not actually surprising – what we as people chose to do and buy and be is rooted in our brains – but it’s easy to think of psychology as a slightly wishy-washy ‘how do we feel’ science.  Where the real value comes in is the data driven research that helps us learn about how people behave and how we are wired – that will all tie in to helping drive business success.

For those who want do want more choices, here are some other fascinating links:

Related to Sheena Iyengar & the jam experiment:

• Her bio & links to her actual publications
• Her TED talk
• Talking about her famous jam experiment – great details on exactly what they did & the numeric results

Other useful articles online referencing this study or other similar ones and drawing additional conclusions:

• Product Variety Management & Sales Volume – references the Sheena Iyengar study
• Too Many Choices – references another paper called “When More Alternatives Lead to Less Choice.”

Interesting (and useful) psychology links:

• Mind-Blowing Psychological Facts – part 1 – from BusinessInsider.com
• Mind-Blowing Psychological Facts – part 2

Have you ever tried this?  What psychological insights have helped grow your business?

Best Practices, Business Growth, Communication, Marketing, Tips

I was reading some interesting articles online lately and this one by Paul Segreto stood out because it gives a realistic impression of Franchise Candidates’ changing needs and perspectives. Paul as always, kindly, agreed to let me post it here (it’s from a while ago, but just getting more true with time).

By Paul Segreto
A look at today’s franchise candidates will reveal they are more sophisticated, better educated, and more technologically advanced than ever before. In addition, and even more so because of the economic downturn, they are extremely cautious.

Today’s candidates are spending more time researching opportunities, and doing so at a much slower pace. In order to be diligent in the process, more time is spent online pouring through page after page of information, constantly bookmarking, and moving back and forth from new information to saved information. They’re comparing notes with other franchise candidates on social networking sites. As well, they’re gaining invaluable insight monitoring online discussion groups and forums.

Ultimately, today’s franchise candidate desires, needs, to be certain the franchise opportunity is as close to perfect for his or her situation, as humanly possible. In the past, and especially after previous recessions, franchise candidates took their capital gains and invested in a franchise opportunity. Many times leaving the principal investment untouched. There was a sense of throwing caution to the wind because they were investing profits. Many times ungodly profits, at least by today’s standards. Does anyone remember when money markets kicked out 17% profit margins?

Unfortunately, many individuals looking at franchise opportunities today are looking at things differently. They have to. Many are transitioning corporate executives staring at the back end of illustrious careers trying to squeak out just ten more years before retirement. Facing the challenge of younger talent, new technology, and a rapidly changing business environment, many opt to “buy” a job and explore franchising and small business ownership.

What Changed?

Here’s the difference between today’s recession, and of those in the past. As huge fortunes have been lost, and large gains have not been realized in current financial markets, today’s candidates are forced to invest all or part of their remaining nest egg in order to enter the world of business ownership. Of course, everyone knows and fully understand the risks involved in owning a business. But in yesterday’s business environment, many franchisees and business owners were “gambling” with profits.

Certainly, no one wanted to lose money in a business venture. But, many had fallback positions with funds still in retirement accounts and of course, if they had to, employment. For many of today’s candidates, failure is not an option because fallback opportunities are fast becoming non-existent. Actually, I believe many of today’s candidates might not have even considered franchise or small business ownership in the past.

So, as many individuals explore their options, they will focus more and more of their efforts online. Franchisors must embrace this fact, and dedicate more resources to the internet and look to social media to complement, not replace, their traditional franchise marketing strategies. By doing so, they’ll realize multiple benefits for their entire system including:

- Creating or further developing brand awareness with franchise candidates and consumers alike
- Generating franchise leads that are genuinely interested in exploring what franchising and small business ownership has to offer, and how a particular concept may be the vehicle to achieve their goals and objectives
- Establishing an interactive environment of communications and information sharing that will become the backbone of future franchise relationships throughout franchise systems

Last, it used to be that many franchise candidates viewed franchising and small business ownership as a way of achieving their wishes, hopes and dreams, regardless of what they may have been. Today, it’s more about goals and objectives, and necessities. We, as an industry need to fully realize this, and understand the mindset of today’s franchise candidate.

To see the original post go to:
http://franchisessentials.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/franchise-candidates-a-changing-mindset/

Best Practices, Business Growth, Franchise, Marketing Franchise, franchise candidates, franchise market strategies, franchisees, Paul Segreto, recession