How to Achieve Greatness Through Gratitude

In the business arena, especially today, two simple words – thank you – have given companies and individuals a serious edge in the marketplace. A simple heartfelt thank you message can create a huge competitive advantage.

Think about it - when was the last time you got a personal greeting card in the mailbox? When was the last time you had a handwritten card on your windshield, on your door, or even on your pillow? A little better than an email, eh?

Consider the example of Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mark Kay Cosmetics. She build a $1.2 billion cosmetics empire because she understood the importance of gratitude. Her personal philosophy, which she taught to her sales reps , was to send out three hand-written thank you notes every night before bed. This practice not only expressed her gratitude to the people she met and did business with, but also allowed her to maintain a positive attitude all day long as she sought out people to whom she’d send these thank you notes. Today Mary Kay Cosmetics has 1.5 million sales people in 32 countries. She knew how to harness the power of thank you.

Clearly sending notes and cards isn’t the only way to say thank you. But it just might be the best way.

A phone call is nice, an email does the trick, but it’s the actual note or card that sets you apart - big time. Think about it. You hang up the phone. You delete the email. But what do you do with the card? How many old greeting cards do you have around that you’ve saved – for whatever reason? There’s something about a heartfelt note or greeting card that makes a person feel special.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

When is it too late to say thank you? The answer is: Never

"The challenge these days seems to be in finding the time". Right - that's a poor excuse for inaction. Fortunately, I found a service that makes sending out cards quick, easy and painless. Jump on the website, choose a greeting card, personalize it and hit the send button. No running to the store, buying stamps and licking envelopes. The card is sent for you - for less than than you'd pay if you did it all yourself.

Check out their website and see for yourself. (And yes, this link is an affiliate link to my partner site)

Best success and say thanks!

Norm www.normanbain.com

Prioritizing a List of Ideas

I was reminded of a great quote by George Bernard Shaw; "If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples then you and I will each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange those ideas, then each of us will have two ideas".

Teams in the workplace today have little time for in-depth analyses of issues. They look for ways to streamline their work. Ideas that are generated during brainstorming sessions often result in long lists containing 100 or more ideas. So how does a team prioritize such a list quickly?

The first step in the process is to group similar ideas. IT IS IMPORTANT DURING THIS PROCESS TO WRITE BOTH IDEAS TOGETHER AS THE GROUPED IDEA AND NOT JUST CROSS OUT DUPLICATES. People maintain ownership of their ideas and may withdraw if the impression is left that their idea was thrown out.

If there are still a large number of ideas (over 40) then use an ishikawa diagram (fishbone process) to group ideas into similar categories. Common groupings may be the 6 M's (Machine, Method, Materials, Maintenance, Man and Mother Nature), the 8 P's (Price, Promotion, People, Processes, Place / Plant, Policies, Procedures, and Product) or the 4 S's (Surroundings, Suppliers, Systems, Skills). Encourage the group to come up with its own natural groupings based on the ideas generated during the brainstorming process.

Once the grouping have taken the ideas down to a smaller, more manageable list (less that 40 items), use the 10-4 voting method to Pareto the ideas into the highest priority.

10-4 voting

Each person is given 10 "points" that they can "spend" on any idea. No more than 4 points can be used on any one idea. All 10 points must be used by each participant. Number the ideas for easy reference. Have the group spend a few minutes to determine where they want to spend their points. Then, in rotation, have each team member tell you how they want their points distributed. Ensure that each person spends all 10 points and no more than 4 on any one item. No saving points for future consideration. Once the votes are done, add the total points on each item to generate your top 10 list of items to tackle. Assign teams to work on the top items on your list.

Explain that while all the items generated are important, we have limited resources, so the team will focus on the top items first, then come back to the remaining items as time and resources permit. Once the top items are completed, repeat the process with the remaining items.

Note that this method of Pareto analysis is based on group opinion. In some situations, the top items should be validated with data to ensure the group opinion is aligned with the current actual situation. Often the group opinion and data will not align, as thorough analysis has not been done.

The 10-4 voting system can be used with sticky dots, available from a stationary store. Each person is given 10 dots, and can put their dots on any item with a maximum of 4 on any one item.


Norm
www.normanbain.com

Lean Product Development

Thinking Lean is usually associated with manufacturing processes. Many people lose sight of how to apply lean concepts outside the manufacturing plant floor. Articles and case studies are readily available to assist someone starting their lean journey in manufacturing. Not so much is available for those in office environments, accounting departments, engineering teams or in service industries like health care.

While this blog post is geared toward lean product development (concept, design, engineering, production readiness), it applies to lean thinking in many venues. It may provide some insight on how to approach your lean journey.

How would you feel if you reduced your product design cycle by 50%. Kudos all around! How would you react if you were tasked by your boss to deliver your next design project to the market in half the time. How would you approach this challenge? These are the results that design teams are achieving through lean product development. Read on to discover how you can apply these tools in your facility.

In applying lean to the product development process, there are six key issues to explore; focus, clarity, alignment, ideation, WIFM and strategy. We’ll briefly explore each.

Focus

Lean thinking demands we develop our skill in identifying and eliminating waste. We focus our effort on the value stream – the things that provide value for our customer. In office environments, waste manifests itself in several forms. The two most common are distractions and lack of coordination.

Distractions come in the form of interruptions. People requiring assistance, problems that arise, email and spam, letters and correspondence. Each of these place demands on our time – and the result is time, our most precious resource, is wasted. Consistently, in time studies, 60-70% of our day is spent on activities that do not add value to the customer in the product development process. We’re too busy fighting fires.

Lack of coordination translates directly to rework. Priorities change, steps are missed, specifications change, the customer requirements shift. Typically meetings are twice as long as they need to be and have the wrong people at the table. Several people in a typical meeting room do not contribute to the discussion and distract others by texting away on their blackberries. The people who should be in the room are too busy to show up and do not send updates or designates. Meetings don’t start on time and consistently run overtime.

In fact, the first step in improving lead time for product development is waste elimination through time management and communication. Meeting rules, email rules, 5S for the office cubicle, standup coordination meetings and dedicated time for project work are a good place to start.

Clarity

The workplace is a social experience. Many people love to tell stories and debate trivial or low priority points or tasks. Some people spend more time figuring out how not to do something than it would take to just get it done.

Communication in all forms should be clear, concise and to the point. Verification that the intended message was received and understood is essential. The social media site Twitter is a lesson in showing us how to be concise. Summarize your message in just a few lines, and link me to more information if I need it. Tell your story in the subject line of your email – then I don’t even have to open it! When we get good at shortening our message, we don’t have to use the kids acronym language to convey our message. We just become more thoughtful and concise – we think about the customer, the reader, and how they will interpret our message.

Developing lean communication skills should become a priority for your team – and like any skill it must be learned and developed through practice. Develop a safe feedback method to identify and correct team member undesired behaviour and provide tools for your team to measure progress as they improve.

Alignment

In many organizations the structure of the design team itself leads to inefficiencies. Most designers have several bosses and many projects underway simultaneously. While most of us believe we are good multi-taskers, in reality few of us are. We struggle to move each project forward at the same time and all projects are delayed as a result. Traditional design houses are organized by function. This creates its own problems with islands of expertise – similar to departments in manufacturing. Ideally, the organization should be re-arranged by value stream (work flow through cells). In practice, a matrix organization typically develops and this creates its own unique challenges.

Utilize visual management tools focussed on project deliverables to align your team. Toyota’s Oobeya (the big project room) is a great model for this. While many companies do not have the resources to create this type of focussed room, the tools of this model can be readily applied. Use the lean moto “borrow with pride” or “steal shamelessly”. Where you see a good idea that will make you more effective – use it!

Oobeya starts with a model, a visual representation of what we are building to ground the team, focus on the customer and facilitate Quick Problem Solving (QPS). Out of the model flows a graphic representation of the project objectives with links to the corporate strategy or larger project plan. From the objectives, the expected outcomes are displayed and reported along with any urgent issues. From the expected outcomes, the team develops metrics to measure performance and report progress using a Red/Green stoplight approach. Quality, cost and project timing are all included so the team gets a full picture of project status. Next to the metrics, a project schedule defines deliverables by department. This is broken down on a decomposition board to schedule items requiring urgent attention more closely. Issues are clearly posted, whether they are potential or real and the resolution is displayed for communication of lessons learned. From the issues board, an escalated items area is dedicated to issues that require involvement from outside the team, typically decisions by management. The room reads like a storyboard and tells the story at a glance of how the project is progressing as well as how the team is identifying and dealing with issues.

Adopting just a few of these visual tools in your project area will help align your team and smooth the work flow.

What’s In It For Me (WIFM)

Surprisingly, for people not regularly exposed to design teams and engineering professionals, accountability can be a real problem. As professionals we think we know how to manage our projects effectively and do not react well to feedback on performance. Managers tend to step back and let the team work the black box magic that it takes to create the design. Delays and missed project milestones result.

So how do we instil accountability in an organization? Typically, it starts with clarification of roles and responsibilities. Everyone must understand what they are responsible for in terms of expertise, deliverables and timelines. The players themselves must determine how they are going to approach and deliver their tasks on time. The leader asks questions to assure themselves that the expertise and approach will deliver the desired result. Ease off the questioning and pressure as they “get it” and provide positive feedback as results are delivered. This coaching approach will instil accountability and earned trust in the organization.

Transforming the culture of an organization is a never ending and primary task for the leadership. Re-enforcing desired behaviour through constructive feedback is key. If you have read Leadership and Self Deception (Berrett-Koehler Publishers) you will identify with being “out of the box” when you do this to be effective.

Ideation

Ideation is the process for forming ideas or images. Using lean visual management and story boards in the product development area to generate and capture ideas, solutions and improvements will yield surprising results. The creativity and collaboration possible with visual problem solving continues to amaze me. When used with creative teams, the results are impressive. Get out of the cubicle and get some group think happening.

Approach

So what is the approach to implementing lean product development? Where do I start?

Lean’s PDCA cycle is a great model to follow. Start with an assessment of where you are – how lean are you and what are the wastes. A day in the life of your team member is a great place to start.

Once the status of lean in your group has been established, identify the top wastes to be addressed and provide an introductory orientation/training session for the team. Starting with lean communications is appropriate in most design teams.

As you implement the corrective action ideas, pay close attention to what the team is saying. This will give you clues of where to dig for more wastes. Have the team validate and prioritize your list and you have their commitment to proceed with implementation.

Continue this Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle and you’ll soon be mapping processes, validating data and becoming lean.

Learning as you go is the best way. Lean is a journey, not a destination.


Norm
www.normanbain.com

Staying in touch with your customers

Several months ago, I joined Linked-In. Its a pretty good tool for connecting with people if you are job hunting, or looking for someone at a particular company. My direct linked in network has grown to over 4,000,000 people over the past few months!

Last month, we talked about starting a newsletter and a direct marketing campaign for our products and services. Great idea! We have lots of customers and people we network with!

Ha! I discovered, after some painful research, that our opt in list of people that we can contact directly is really quite small.

So I set out to see if we could purchase a contact list. I found a good company that had great referrals on their website and I discovered I could get a targeted list for just over $229. The list was several thousand names. Seemed like a pretty good start!

Working on the list, I pared it down to my target start area, eliminated duplicate companies, and discovered my list had dropped to 671 names. But 8% of the mailing addresses bounced at the post office (and that, it turns out, is MUCH better than the 20% bounce rate others have experienced). So, when all is said and done, $0.47 a contact is what I paid. At a less than 1% response rate, this is not a great way to get leads!

There must be a better way.

I have heard alot of buzz about this thing called attraction marketing ... but the secret to its success seems elusive. While my network of contacts has grown substantially over the past few months, my network of customers - those that pay the bills - has not! In fact, in this economy, its shrinking at a steady rate.

Remember Kevin Costner’s character in “Field of Dreams”? He based his plans on whispers from the corn fields … “If you build it, they will come”. And in the movie, they actually did come. The real world takes a lot more work.

Start by listing everyone that you know. You’ll be amazed at the size of the list you come up with. According to Jeffrey Gitomer, all things being equal, people prefer to do business with people they know - their friends. So listing the people you already know is a great place to start building your network.

Now that you have a start, don’t be afraid to ask if these contacts know anybody else who should be on your list. Assuming you’re pleasant and not too pushy, they’ll be glad to help you. Remember, its not who you know that makes you successful - its who knows you!

Get out from behind that computer and get some face time! A great way to build your pipeline is to get out and meet new people. Look for relevant events or trade shows in your area where you can network and collect business cards.

Don’t forget to network with other local business owners as well. Strategic partnerships are built by businesses seeking similar customers, but for completely different, non-competitive products or services.

Next, do some research. Head to the local library and check out recent issues of trade journals relating to your business. You’ll find articles about people who buy what you have to offer. Check the daily newspapers, particularly in the business section.

Keep building your list and touching base with your contacts. Remember that it takes between 5 and 8 touches to a prospect before they may decide to buy from you!

Best Success! And happy Networking!

Norm
www.normanbain.com

PS: If you are looking for great on-line tools to help you stay in touch, try the links below:
http://www.stayintouch.onlinenow.ca
http://www.freecrm.onlinenow.ca

The CRM search

Customer Relationship Managers - CRM.

So, my first attempt at CRM was the same as many folks; outlook on my personal laptop. I was simply looking for way to manage client conversations and an easy follow-up system. While it worked great for my email, outlook seemed too cumbersome for this task.

So I migrated to a similar product called Chaos Intellect. I found it much simpler, friendlier and flexible in managing emails and accounts. But the functionality for client conversations was simply not there.

I hired a telemarketing company last year who did some impressive and significant work on a shared outlook database. While I found it fastinating and useful, it was cumbersome and was not delivering what I was looking for – there must be an easier way, I kept thinking.

With my limited success I began searching for a web based product. Alas, all the CRM systems out there seemed horrendously expensive, in fact many did not even quote a price on their site. So I set about to identify what I want this software to do.

Here's my list so far;

1) Manage my contacts. Keep my contact information at my fingertips and be available anywhere I want it, anytime.
2) Conversation tracker and followup reminder. I have many people that I touch base with and need a good reminder system to ensure I am regularly following up with prospective customers. Several prospects that I missed calling back signed on with other companies. Sucks when you drop the ball.
3) Relationship tracker. People move about quickly these days and its good to know where they worked before and in what roles.
4) Campaign scripting. Unfortunately, cold calling is still a big requirement at this stage of the game. What I learned early in my career (and again from the telemarketer) was that scripting not only helps, its absolutely essential.

A few cool tools may be on the radar for the future, but they are not needed just yet. These include:
a) While sharing my data with others in the sales team is coming, its not high on my agenda right now.
b) an auto-responder for signups on my website with inclusion in my contacts list.
c) tag tracking for emails, newsletters and websites so I can see which of my contacts are interested in what topics.
d) Newsletter (email) delivery and tracking software.

The first stab at developing a CRM came from a family genealogy search I was doing. I created the site networking.onlinenow.ca which looked quite promising. But other demands pulled resources from the project and it lay dormant far too long.

The second stab at CRM came as a result of a job search. I created the website findtalent.ca as a search engine and built a CRM into it. While it worked fairly well, its interface was not as simple as I envisioned it should be. Back to the drawing board!

So I set about to “build a better mouse trap”. As part of the business made easy suite, I've included a CRM in the frey. Surely I'm not the only one looking for this! So its being tested and released for free use by all. As I get feedback on what works and what doesn't, the mousetrap gets better!

So if you find yourself in the same boat, post your thoughts on what features you need. The voice of the customer makes the best product, so I’m all ears. Try the pilot at freecrm.onlinenow.ca Lets build an affordable and power packed tool for the small business entrepreneur.



Norm
www.normanbain.com