Business Map

What type of people would you love to work in your dream team? Just take one look at sports teams who have experienced failure and you’ll see that the problems lay in leadership and the line-up itself. But when they get it right, it’s like one smooth motion to success, and you can bring this to the office!

Fortunately for your business, creating a dream team starts with its leadership, which means the power lies in your hands. It’s key that you train members on both the team concept and the subject matter. Before the team holds its first meeting, you should really explain the team’s ethos to each member and show how the organization will benefit from his or her individual participation.

To start off on the right foot, a few clear events need to take place: get everyone together for an open discussion and come to an agreement about the work to be achieved and process for doing so. You’ll find that by defining each member’s role and getting them all to agree collectively on the work before the process starts, the conflicts of different ways of working or having different goals will be avoided.

The thing is, bringing together a high-quality skill-set is not enough. Looking good on paper can sometimes mean very little – some of the businesses I work with have reported that bringing in even a highly qualified member of staff was a bad decision because they didn’t work well with others.

This is not to say that highly qualified staff are not an important asset to you, of course they are, just a note to remember that the highest performing teams are not always those with most experience or the most prestigious qualifications – they are a group of people with the right skill set, good communication, a common goal and a desire to succeed as a team.

This type of team works for each other. They communicate effectively and have a clear plan and tactics. Of course a major strength I have noticed time and time again is that the most successful teams will sacrifice individual glory for the common good of the business. This may sound like the dream team and it’s not out of reach. Here are 3 starting steps:

1. Make sure that you generate a sense of camaraderie amongst the team. Don’t pit them against each other because highly competitive environment doesn’t breed loyalty from your staff.

2. Acknowledge success. (And make sure the team do so for one another too!)

3. Operate an open office. Team members need to feel free to ask any other member for help with any given topic they may be working on.

And finally, I’m afraid it’s not all about support and praise, you, as leader, need to be prepared to make tough decisions. You must be prepared to remove a team member who drags the process down, they’re not contributing to the success of the team and inaction to handle this weakens your teams trust in you. You must act in their best interests and they’ll act in your.

Lesley Meechan

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How does it feel when you walk into your office? Open? Light? Heavy? Welcoming? Closed? Do you feel like you want to come into work? Working in a high energy environment rubs off on everybody and positivity spreads like wildfire. So how do you develop this atmosphere?

I’m a firm believer in striving to create an environment where customers want to engage with you – it opens the lines of communication, creativity and productivity. And you know what else? Creating a positive and high energy office is a great way of showcasing your teams’ talents. Clients will look upon you favourably if you show them a proactive attitude – show clients that you believe in yourselves and they’ll believe in you too!

If you’ve realised that the atmosphere in your office is a little heavy and could do with a facelift, don’t fret! You’ve noticed, you can easily change things – it’s usually down to bad habits.

A common (easily avoidable) downer I’ve noticed in many offices is mindless complaining. Make the effort to avoid this as it sets a negative tone and does tend to catch on. Take a problem solving approach and there’ll be no need to raise issues other than to discuss how to approach and overcome them.

An open and productive office is one which doesn’t engage in office politics – proven time and time again. Don’t accept or validate gossip and one-upmanship because in a small team this can become a little intense. It may bond the gossips but it alienates those being gossiped about and doesn’t contribute towards the high energy, positive atmosphere you are striving for.

I always find that the key to developing a positive attitude amongst staff is to strengthen relationships. How about organising more socialising outside of work? Go for a drink, attend a sporting event together – something fun to give staff common ground and shared experience… and a laugh!

Getting to know each other is a sure-fire way of working well together and truly pulling together as a team. Knowing that colleagues are on-side does wonders for energy levels as it creates a feeling of camaraderie – things are always easier when we work as a team!

Top tips for lifting the mood:
- Acknowledge your workforce – praise good practice, it’s a great energiser for people when they know their hard work is appreciated

- Be aware of your communication style – are you a cup half empty or a cup half full person? People appreciate honesty but solutions and possibilities are better than doom and gloom

- Be inspirational – your own positivity and engagement with staff and clients will inspire others to share your attitude

Liz Metin

I am often surprised by the focus many business owners put on winning new customers and the lack of time they spend thinking about how to retain existing customers. They are your livelihood after all: ignoring them is madness!

The cost of finding and wooing new customers can be high no matter what type of business you run. Think of all those man hours, the travel costs and promotion costs! The cost of keeping customers is almost always far less, so whilst you may want to gain additional customers you need to keep the ones you already have!!

The lifetime value (how much they spend with you through all the years they give you their custom) of a customer is different for every business and customer but when you use the concept of lifetime value, rather than just what the customer spent with you this month or this year, you start to realise the customers true value to you. 

So how do you keep them coming back?

Whilst there are often a number of reasons why customers give their custom to the same business again and again the one principal that is consistent for all businesses is service.

So take a long hard look at your own business and ask yourself if the service you are giving to your customers is the best it could possibly be. Could be better? Well – sort it!

Whilst there may be some very obvious things that you can get on and sort immediately my advice is always to take a structured approach – step back and look at your business from your customers’ point of view. Talk to key customers and ask for feedback and suggestions for improvement. A customer survey might highlight aspects of your service that are fantastic and it might reveal some surprises.

One simple approach you could consider using is the ‘Moments of Truth’ method:

1. Map out your customer’s experience of your company starting from their first interaction with you – this might be when they call you or when they walk into your showroom or perhaps  when they place their order on line
2.  Note down each touch point  whether it is a telephone call, an email or a face to face interaction
3. Now find out what happens at each of these touch points – these are ‘Moments of Truth’ for your customer. They are the moments that are creating your customers experience of your business.
4. What do you want your customer experience to be at each ‘Moment of Truth’? What is actually happening? And why? What needs to change?

Involve your managers and staff – ask them for suggestions. They are your ambassadors – the ones providing customer service. They may want to provide great service but often the systems and processes can hold them back. They probably know what needs to change and just need you to empower them to do it. And whilst some may need to improve their customer service skills – happy, motivated staff are more likely to make your customers smile too!

Liz Metin

For more insights in business follow me on Twitter @Liz_Metin

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The tough economic climate has changed our business environment dramatically and for many businesses things won’t go back to the way they were. The astute business owner is continually re-assessing their market place and looking for new opportunities and new ways of growing their business.

Perhaps you are already seeing an upturn in business – great! Or maybe you have bucked the trend and have succeeded in growing your business despite the challenging environment – brilliant!

When your order-book does increase, can you handle it? The British holiday company Goldtrail, which specialised in holidays in Turkey, collapsed last week in the middle of the holiday season that has seen the highest ever number of holiday makers travelling to Turkey. Whilst I have no inside knowledge I suspect that sales will never have been so good for the company – yet unfortunately for them and many of their customers, they haven’t survived.

Of course, ‘upturn’ is the buzz word at the moment, something everybody is hoping for but it can bring challenges. If you don’t have plans in place to take advantage of the upturn when it arrives for your business you are leaving the playing field wide open for (better prepared) competitors to forge ahead.

So what are some of the key areas you should be reviewing to prepare your business for an upturn? Here are a few pointers to start with:

1. Business strategy – do you have the right strategy? And the right business model? Have you reviewed your whole approach to doing business? Has the business climate changed how your industry is working? Given that the environment has changed you may need to change your approach
2. Marketing – how do your customers see you? Have you got the right products and services? Are you offering value from your customers’ perspective? Are you using the most appropriate mix of communications to reach your customers? The use of social media to engage with customers is revolutionising how some businesses engage with their customers – does this apply to your industry and business?
3. Finances – it is going to be essential that you can finance any increase in sales. What are your options? Have you got them in place? We all know that the wheels never turn quick enough when you want secure finance – so get some expert advice and start working on it now!
4. Systems and processes – whether you provide a service or make products the efficiency of your operation will dictate whether you make money out of any increase in sales. So how efficient are you? Could you produce more with the resources you have? Or will you need to scale up?
5. Know what you need to track – what do you need to keep track of? What tells you, at a glance, that your business is healthy? Of course knowing you have made a profit is key – but what are the earlier indicators? You need to know so you can take appropriate action to keep your business healthy.
6. Management and People – have you got the right team in place? You need to be free to run your business and not let it run you! Have you got a team you can rely on? Managers who you can delegate to and know the job will get done? Perhaps you have good people and you need to develop their skills so they can contribute better to help you make your business more successful? It is important to assess what you need and get your dream team in place!

This is by no means an exhaustive list and the focus will be different depending on your business situation. My advice is to consider what is right for your business – input from someone outside your business can be invaluable, just make sure they have the experience and expertise you respect and trust.  And the most important thing – take action!

Liz Metin

For more insights in business follow me on Twitter @Liz_Metin

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But they taste great………….

I can remember my grandmother always used to say to my brother and me “You children know the value of nothing!” I thought at the time this was a little harsh. For instance, I knew just how many black jacks I could get for a shilling. I knew they tasted great and altogether I thought they were fantastic value. My Grandmother thought they were cheap and disgusting and would rot my teeth.

It just shows you how very different people’s perceptions of value can be. But then value is only value when it is perceived as such – I thought black jacks tasted great and you got lots for your money. For me that was real value at the time.

Which brings us to value in business and what it is.

The key starting point is in recognising that: value is defined by the customer, not by you. It doesn’t matter one bit how wonderful you think the value is that you offer, if the customer doesn’t see it that way, then you aren’t offering value – or at least not the value your customer wants.  

Of course you will want to spend time thinking about your overall value proposition, the generic view of what you offer your customers, but this will then need to be tailored to the specific needs of the customer with whom you are dealing. However, you will only be able to do this if you can find out what it is that your customer does value. So what kinds of thing are likely to be important?

One of the problems we have found is that not only do people have difficulty defining value, they also have difficulty in recognising its constituent parts. The instant answer is price, but price and value are simply not the same thing. Indeed, sometimes there is no obvious connection between the two at all.

For example, in 1999 Tracey Emin’s soiled bed, My Bed, was sold to Charles Saatchi for £150,000. Mr Saatchi clearly saw a value in the “artwork” that few others could see. To him the value was obviously worth the purchase price although, since I can’t speak for him, I have no idea what that value is.

Even within a business, different people will have different views of the value of various products and services. Think about the differences of opinion that occur in your own firm when you are making significant purchase decisions. Then think about your suppliers and how, if they really understood the things that you, your colleagues and your business truly valued, they would be so much better positioned to deal with you. And then think how much better positioned you would be to deal with your clients if you really knew what they valued (and by really, I mean really, not just your best guess!)

Harry Macdivitt

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Is Your Business Social Media Savvy? Does It Need To Be?

There is a lot of buzz around using social media at the moment and it is certainly revolutionising how some businesses communicate with customers. So is it right for your business? My advice is don’t just jump on the bandwagon, evaluate whether it is right for your business as it may not be for everybody.  But where do you start? One piece of advice I would give is don’t base this on research into your competitors – just because they aren’t using it doesn’t mean it isn’t right for you. It could be that they’re blind to the benefits, giving you the opportunity to become a pioneer in your industry. Brilliant!

Here’s a non-exhaustive idea of what social media could do for you:

• Engage with your customers easily to keep them coming back again and again
• Make more people aware of your business and brand
• Facilitate a simple way for clients to refer others and recommend your business
• Broadcast the personality of your brand to customers and potential customers effectively
• Conduct market research for free! (Simply search for @yourbusinessaccount to see every single mention of your company on Twitter)

If it is for you, where do you start?  Firstly, watch, research and learn from others. Admittedly this takes time but it is effective in that you can pick up others’ strengths and avoid their failings.

It has to be said however, social media is not all smiles and new customers. The obvious advantage is that the tools are free to use, but businesses must be aware of what they are getting in to. A misplaced message (think back to Habitat) could highlight flaws, damage your reputation and deter new business, so correct management of these tools is key. If you’re unsure, take a course and build the skills you need for success in this area – you’ll be kicking yourself if the wrong message online loses you a new contract.

Another factor to take into account, ‘doing it right’ is not enough. There is a commitment of time needed and it is not a task that can be left to an office junior (unless you are lucky enough to have a social media super star hiding in your office, and even then they will need to have a clear remit).

As powerful as social media can be, it most certainly cannot be your only tool. It should compliment your business practices, sales and general operations as a whole. A further note, this activity needs to be implemented as an integral part of your marketing communications, and responsibility for this sits firmly with a senior person, whose expertise need to be channelled to reflect the expertise of your business. After all, it’s called social networking and you certainly wouldn’t send an office junior to network on your behalf in any other platform – so why do it online?

How you enter the social media world will depend on who you are and how you like to work – I’d always suggest getting help from an expert – the investment up front for some expert advice could prevent you from wasting time, getting it wrong or creating a poor image for your business.

Despite your like or dislike for social media, one thing is for sure – it’s here to stay and you can either jump on board, or be left behind.

My colleagues at The GO Group are working in partnership with Blether Media to offer expert help to businesses who want to use social media effectively. If you would like information about the service please follow this link  http://bit.ly/arkHj1

 Liz Metin

For more insights in business follow me on Twitter @Liz_Metin

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Why offer value? Odd question I know, but why bother?

First of all, customers are going to be taking a long, hard look at their suppliers as the business situation tightens and for the foreseeable future. Those they see as not offering value are likely to be in for a very hard time. The most likely pressure will be to drive down prices, and if you have nothing else to offer other than cheap prices, times are going to be tough – very.

However, if you can offer value, the true value that matches the key value drivers of your clients, then you may well be able to demonstrate that you can help in ways other than simple price reduction. If you can help them generate more revenue, reduce their costs or reduce risk (emotional contribution), then price reductions won’t be necessary.

So think about value from your own firms perspective (or your own perspective) as we take a look at the three elements of: value’

Revenue Gain.

If you can show your customers or clients that your solution will deliver a quantifiable gain in revenue, then the chances are you are delivering the kind of value they are looking for. Revenue gain is usually about the ability to sell more, or sell more at a higher price or even gain more revenue through achieving better market share. So how can you help your clients do that? This usually means that you need to understand what your client does for their customers, and help them to do it better.

Cost Reduction.

Many businesses have focused a great deal on cost reduction as a means of improving margins and profitability. As the current market situation develops it is likely that further reviews of costs will take place and, clearly, any firm that can demonstrate that they can help reduce a business’s costs will be listened to seriously. However, do not confuse cost reduction with price reduction. They are not the same thing. Saving a customers’ costs does not mean you have to lower your own prices. If you are an existing supplier you are likely to be asked to reduce your prices, but what customers are really looking for are ways of reducing costs. Price is just the easy option. Indeed, if you can lower a customers’ costs in a way that other companies have not considered or cannot do, this may be a differentiation that even allows you to increase your price!

Emotional Contribution.

It’s amazing how many business people I see using their Mont Blanc pens and gazing at their Rolex watches. Does a Mont Blanc write better than other pens? Does a Rolex tell the time any better than any other watch? Probably not, but it does make you feel good using it or wearing it. Emotional contribution is about that and more. It’s about feeling good about the people you want to do business with. It’s about reducing risk and building relationships. It’s about the much more subjective side of decision making. In many ways, it’s the most important part of decision making. The only person who made decisions completely logically was Spock on Star Trek. So unless you’re Spock it is likely that in your own decision making there is a degree (possibly a high degree) of emotion. Your clients are just the same. But to understand the emotional side of their decision making you really need to understand them deeply. However, now is not necessarily the time to rely purely on the quality of relationships. Everyone is under pressure to review costs so don’t fall into the trap of over-estimating the value of the relationships you have (but don’t under estimate them either!).

As a starting point to understanding the value you offer, you need to understand all the elements of value as they apply to you and your business. However, perhaps more importantly, if you want to sell on value, then you need to understand the things that your clients see as valuable – their value drivers.

Harry Macdivitt

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As most of you will know, the Emergency Budget was announced on Tuesday. Over in an hour, fast and painless (sort of) – like ripping a plaster off. Today, right now in fact, we all need to take a step back and assess our situations. Here’s a few key areas to focus on – I’ll start with a high.

There is good news for us here in Scotland. Start-up businesses outside of London, the South East and the east of England will experience Tax breaks. The government is trying to stimulate growth in particular geographic areas where it is needed most so we have a real chance to make the most of it. Employers in selected “enterprise zones” (that’s us) will be granted a one year National Insurance contribution holiday for their first ten employees, which should make life a little easier when starting out. Hoorah!

And now for those dreaded negatives… VAT will increase to 20% next January, something which we all need to bear in mind in terms of the cost of living and for business that sell direct to consumers with vat inclusive prices it means your prices will rise. That haircut is going to be a bit more expensive!  

As a start up business or small business owner, it is important to make sure that, if appropriate, you are VAT registered so that your business can claim VAT back on purchases.  If you are eligible, do this – today. Otherwise the costs of your supplies will be higher, nobody wants that.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Because VAT is a tax on consumption, an increase which is scheduled for January should encourage a temporary acceleration in retail sales before the increase comes into effect (and most likely a fall in sales afterwards). The question savvy business owners should be asking themselves is, ‘How will I make the most of the opportunity before the January VAT increases?’ Decisions. Decisions.

Something to make you and your employees happy: Income Tax allowances will increase by £1K per head from April 2011, so those on lower wages will be protected a little more than industry commentators first thought – and we all know the knock-on effects of happy staff!

I started with a positive, so I’ll end with perhaps the biggest positive. Corporation Tax, the direct tax on your profits will be cut to 27% next year and a further 1% per annum until it reaches 24%.

So there we have it, some positives and some negatives. Lets hope it does the job that needs to be done to help economic recovery and get the UK on a firmer financial footing.

Would be great to hear your thoughts.

Liz Metin

Think back to the last meeting you attended. Have you forgotten what it was about? Did it contribute towards improvements at work? Did you just sit there and daydream or ‘go through the motions’? Did the meeting actually help you achieve anything?

It wasn’t surprising to learn from a recent survey that Scottish employees spend an average of a year and a half of their working lives in meetings as I’ve seen some of them in practice and my goodness do they lack focus! Almost 70% of the business people who were surveyed admitted that the majority of the meetings they attend are a waste of time. And meaningless meetings leave them feeling fatigued, which makes them inefficient.

As we all know, Scotland is only just emerging from recession, our economy is still in a very fragile state and businesses need to be running as efficiently as possible in order to survive.

With this in mind, it is important for business owners and managers to think about the way they plan and manage meetings or risk failing to meet their objective and lower the team’s morale. Or, dare I say it, you might consider having no meeting at all – if there is no clear purpose, perhaps you need to reassess if the meeting is really necessary.

My top tips to avoid wasting time in meetings:

• If the purpose of the meeting is to pass on information then send round an email and cancel the meeting.
• Be sure to start on time and finish in time – even early if possible!
• Be clear who is responsible for leading the meeting
• Always agree and use an agenda – it doesn’t need to be any more formal than an agreed list of topics
• Try to keep attendance at a minimum. Think about who is actually needed at the meeting and invite only the essential people
• Agree actions required as a result of the meeting and identify the person responsible for carrying them out and the time by which they will be completed
• Make sure that the meeting ends on a high note
• Circulate a note of the agreed actions to all who attended the meeting

If there is a follow up meeting make sure you start with a review of actions from the original meeting and if things haven’t been completed you can agree revised timescales

Liz Metin

For more insights in business follow me on Twitter @Liz_Metin

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Not all entrepreneurs have the same level of success and I often wonder why this is. May be is it their skill-set? Luck? Timing? Whilst I am sure these all play their part, from the many business people I meet, and those we all recognise, I have think there are some key attributes shared by the ones who have achieved the greatest success:

• Ability to see opportunities where others only see challenges
• Clear vision of what they want to achieve
• Ability to focus on what is important in both the short-term and long-term
• Ability to inspire and motivate others such as investors, customers and their team
• Determination to succeed
• A view that there is no failure – only feedback

Successful entrepreneurs take charge of business situations. Instead of merely allowing events to unfold, they know what they want and do all they can to shape the outcome. This mindset can be developed – easily said, I know. It takes practice and determination to change the way you think.

The advice I give to the business owners I talk to is to set themselves a goal and break it down into manageable parts. Each day, choose one thing you are going to work on – it could be taking on challenges with a new attitude or working on improving staff morale.

I think taking things step by step is the best way. It makes it much easier to achieve results, rather than trying to change everything about yourself and your business in one day.

So what about you? Do you need to work on your mindset?  It’s so easy to get sidetracked by the many challenges that we all need to deal with every day – isn’t it? Perhaps if we changed our mindset we might get different results.

Liz Metin

For more insights in business follow me on Twitter @Liz_Metin

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