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

Lean Tools Crossword

Looking for a diversion? Need some training tools?
Try our Lean Tools Crossword.

Just print it out and have some fun!
http://leanjourney.ca/LeanCrosswordPuzzle.htm

For those who get frustrated, we've provided a link to the solution.

Norm
www.normanbain.com

Standard work for leaders

One the fundamentals of lean is the concept of standard work. Where there is no standard work, there can be no kaizen. Kaizen roughly translates to “change for the good”. But our people must establish, agree on, and become proficient at the current method before they can improve it.

Its fine to ask our newest people to raise the flag and ask “why” we are doing things a certain way. But if everyone does things differently, how do we make any improvement at all? The answer is to adopt a standard way, then improve on it. Our peoples job is to do the work and to improve the work.

Have you looked at standard work for supervisors, for managers, for team leaders? Perhaps if we adopt standard work for our leaders, our improvement initiatives will be smoother. What is it that our leaders should do every day to help us succeed? How do we know they are doing it?

The links below are some templates for thought starters. I’d be pleased to hear your success stories with leader standard work!

Team Leader Standard Work
Supervisor Standard Work


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

Strategy and Approach to Value Stream Mapping

What is Value Stream Mapping?

All businesses consist of processes. Processes for purchasing materials, receiving materials, storing materials, modifying materials, making parts, moving parts, assembling parts, packaging parts, verifying parts, shipping parts, creating invoices, receiving payments, keeping score, recruiting talent, rewarding talent, training talent ... the list as endless as the imagination and complexity of the organization.

However, many of these processes do not add value for the customer.

The customer is defined as the person who uses your product or service. Your customer may not particularly care if you have a harassment policy and have everyone trained in its application. Your customer may not see value in the time your team spends waiting for instruction or searching for tools. We can all identify several activities that, if viewed through our customers eyes, would not be considered adding value.

To be considered value added, the activity must meet three conditions; (1) it must be something that the customer would be willing to pay for, (2) it must change the “thing” as it moves through the process, and (3) it must be done right the first time. Rework in any form does not add value.

Value stream mapping looks at the flow of product through your entire process and links together the steps that add value. At each of these steps we determine who is involved involved, the time it takes, the value added time it takes, the inventory of parts and product on hand, the signals and instruction that tell us what and when to build.

A value stream map displays a picture of how material and instructions move product through a value stream. So the first step in creating a value stream map, is identifying the value stream. What product, or family of products are we trying to map?

Key things to consider; What products share common processes? Where does the value stream start and end (order entry to shipment)? Are there optional processes? Does everyone on every shift perform the tasks in the same sequence, using the same equipment and the same procedure? Have we asked the people currently doing the work if this is how they really do it today?

Once the map is complete, it will clearly show how long it takes material to flow through the value stream (our lead time) and some opportunities for improvement will become apparent.

A value stream mapping exercise typically starts with a “scoping exercise”. This exercise looks at each step in the process and identifies;

(1) What is the main activity at this step? What comes in and what goes out?
(2) How long does it take (best time, worst time, average time)?
(3) How much of that time is adding value?
(4) What materials are required, how much do we have, how much do we need?
(5) What is our cue to do work (a schedule, an empty shelf, supervisory instruction)?
(6) How long does it take to set up the equipment/job?
(7) How do we move material into the station and out of the station? What is the cue to move?
To complete the scoping exercise, someone who is familiar with the work performed at this step needs to be present.

Once we have completed the scoping exercise, others working in the area should review the result to ensure nothing was missed or overlooked.

Once each step in the value stream has been identified and documented in the scoping exercise, we can transfer this information to a value stream map. The map will present a picture of how our value steam functions and give some insight into how the process can be improved.

The following steps are required in value stream mapping:




The value stream mapping exercise will clearly show where problems/opportunities exist with material and communication flow through the facility. The leadership of the area along with the work team can use this information to formulate an improvement strategy to improve this flow through the value stream.

Value stream mapping is a powerful tool to provide insight to value stream throughput improvement.



Norm
www.normanbain.com

Why do CI tools fail to deliver results.

I had an interesting discussion with a client this morning. We have been talking through his organizational challenges and he was pondering which tool we should be using next.

I received an email from Seth Godin today that struck me following this conversation. Seth’s message was that “to a person with a hammer, every problem seems like a nail”. While I had heard this axiom before, it really hit home today.

Perhaps this is why many people are not seeing the results that they are striving for with their continuous improvement initiatives. Rather than looking at their organization systematically and identifying the opportunities for waste elimination, we look in our toolbox and select which tool to play with next.

With all the focus on tools, we can easily lose perspective on a systems approach. The opportunities in the organization drive the need for the tools. Our understanding of lean thinking helps us select the right tool to apply. We should not be selecting the hammer and go hunting for loose nails.

Perhaps this is a common problem when learning the tools. Perhaps this is why I hear “we tried that before - lean does not work here”. I’d hate to see the doctor for a head cold and be told he recommends surgery, just because he is a surgeon.

Food for thought.

Norm
www.normanbain.com

The Journey to Whole Business Improvement

Why do change management initiatives fall short of the mark after delivering such promising initial success? Why are gains in one area of the business difficult to duplicate in others? Why are many businesses disappointed with the results of their improvement initiative? Why are the concepts of lean manufacturing difficult to apply outside the factory? How can I engage the entire organization in the improvement plan? These are the questions answered in this brief discussion on whole business improvement by applying “Lean Thinking”.

How profitable is your organization? Profit is the lifeblood of business. Every business needs profit. Without it, they will not be in business for long.

This graph from www.p360.org,

shows the typical profit margins for selected industries. Most fall between 1 and 20%.

A company with a 6% profit margin must generate $983,000 in sales to pay for a $59,000 improvement project. Is that what your employees think about when they propose that new computer system?

Most manufacturing operations have a profit margin of less than 8%. While the target gross profit margin is typically much higher (35%), the finance and G&A costs erode that number significantly.

While other industries can generate higher profit margins, we commonly hear the following statements in traditional organizations:

• It takes too long to get products through the process.
• Administration costs are climbing faster than sales.
• We need more people.
• Problems with our products go undetected until our customers are using them.
• Things are fixed, but they don’t stay fixed.
• Our inventory is too high. Yet we don’t have what our customer wants in stock.
• We tried that before. It won’t work here.
• You don’t understand the culture here. That’s not the way we do things. Its different in our industry.
• We have quality teams, continuous improvement teams, ISO programs, re-engineering efforts, balanced scorecards, six sigma trained black belts. Its like the flavour of the month program, yet we are not seeing the results in real numbers.

When you hear the word Lean, what do you think about? “Manufacturing”, is the usual first response. “Lean Manufacturing”. Toyota is the example most often used. Toyota and Cars. Assembly line manufacturing. That’s what most people think Lean is.

Manufacturing is also the first place many people look to implement improvements. Yet manufacturing processes typically account for less than 20% of the total process lead time (the time it takes from when you get a customer order, to when you cash the cheque).

It may seem surprising, but Lean thinking has nothing to do with cars - or manufacturing. It is about eliminating waste and solving problems in processes. Any process.

The challenge with lean is in seeing the problems, identifying the waste.

In most manufacturing operations, only 5% of activities add value for the customer. Adding value means (1) it changes the thing going through the process, (2) the customer is willing to pay for the activity, and (3) it is done right the first time. This implies that 95% of what we do does NOT add value and is potential waste. In offices, the waste is even higher.

Managers and supervisors will only see 2% of the waste.

In office and administrative service environments, supervisors and managers only see 2% of the waste. They are too far removed from the daily work to see the waste.

The people doing the work have learned to live with the waste. They may have created work-arounds in the system to get things done. These, in themselves, add more waste.

What are these unseen wastes? The time it takes to find a document. The extra signature required on an expense statement. The rework on a proposal because the correct template was not used. The time it takes to walk across the building to photocopy a report. A power point presentation made, just in case the boss asks for it. The meeting that does not start on time or runs too long. The manager who “walks the floor” to “see what is going on”.

In a typical office, it is assumed that if people are at their desks and look busy, they are adding value. All seems well, especially if they have a good attitude.

A purchasing person who works hard, never takes breaks and is always helpful will be seen as a stellar employee. The fact that he takes 25% longer to complete the task due to poor training or lack of resources will be overlooked.

When we apply Lean Thinking in an organization, we look at how we do the work, how the system can be improved, what waste we can find and eliminate. Its not about the person doing the work - whether they are a “good worker” or not. Its about improving the work methods, standardizing processes, providing training and increasing skills.

Lean thinking is about is solving problems, elegantly, with innovation

Learning to identify and eliminate waste is fundamental to lean thinking. We must learn to see waste, and systematically eliminate it.

Thinking of problems as opportunities is not something we are trained to do. With lean, we need to learn to treasure problems - celebrate finding them – this is our opportunity to improve!

Once we clearly see the problem, the root cause must be identified. This requires some structured problem solving. We need to avoid treating the symptoms. Unless we identify the true root cause, the problem will re-occur.

Once the problem and its root cause is clearly understood, we can create solutions. An elegant solution can be a single tiny idea that changes everything. Quite often, this solution is not spending capital.

An elegant solution is one in which the desired effect is achieved, with the least amount of effort. John W. Gardner, the former US Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, once said, "We are continually faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insolvable problems."

Elegant solutions are not obvious, except in retrospect.

Organizational Change.

Leaders like silver bullets. Take this tool, transplant it to my organization and everything will be magically fixed.

That’s the flavour of the month.

We end up with so many tools and initiatives underway that we can’t support them all. We keep dropping the ball.

Lean requires a more systematic approach. It has some well known tools to use, but requires discipline, structure and mentoring to make it work. This is why so many organizations report they are disappointed with their lean initiative results. The tools are applied without the systematic approach. “Lean does not work here”, they say.

A flaw with Lean is in the tools themselves. They are simple and when observed in the factory, they seem like common sense. So leaders take the tools from the plant floor and transplant them on their office or service organization. They don’t transplant easily. I don’t see accountants and engineers respond well to tape outlines for their stapler and keyboard.

Truth be known, Lean Thinking works anywhere. Health care, offices, engineering design, sales teams, construction projects, mining industries. Anywhere work gets done, Lean Thinking can be applied. However, it takes a strategic and systematic approach to be successful.

How do I do that?

Working on how we do the work.

A key limitation of traditional improvement initiatives is that they focus on ...

Click here to download the rest of this article.

Norm
www.normanbain.com

An on-line 5-why problem solving tool

I have had several questions come my way lately about how 5-why can work as an effective tool for problem solving. I explored this topic on this blog at this post in the past.

I thought it might be fun to create a tool to manage the 5-why process for team problem solving on-line. I could not find one, so I built a 5-why problem solving website. Its free for anyone who wants to try it.

You can explore it by adding a problem here:
http://www.leanjourney.ca/5Why/5why.php

To explore the 5-why example in the earlier post click below:
http://www.leanjourney.ca/5Why/problemsolve.php?qid=1&qcode=uocz3vae

Have fun!


Norm
www.normanbain.com

Business problems show up as inventory

Have you heard the business axiom "business problems show up as inventory"?

Whether you count inventory as WIP, raw materials or finished goods, the health of your organization is generally apparent in the level of inventory on hand. Many companies recognize this simple truth and adopt a goal to reduce inventories. The senior leadership typically sets a target for a 20% inventory reduction. Most companies typically carry 30-40% more inventory than they need to.

But without effective tools to identify excess inventory and properly manage it, most companies fail to achieve and, more importantly, sustain this inventory reduction goal. The impact of poor sales and operations planning, poor scheduling, engineering changes, material shortages, long lead times and cycle times, batching and large order quantities, overzealous buying and early material receipts are often blamed as causes for excess inventory. Without a structured approach, sustained inventory optimization is difficult to achieve.

Many companies have applied ABC categorization of inventory. This time tested approach states that by paying attention to a small percentage of line items in your inventory (20%), you can manage the lion's share (80%) of your inventory value. Most MRP systems are based on this premise.

The next step in achieving inventory reduction (as a focussed initiative unto itself) is to use the IQR methodology. Inventory Quality Ratio (IQR) is a ratio of your high moving items to the total inventory value. This is typically 30-40% in most companies. By further categorizing your inventory into active, excess, slow moving and non-moving inventory, you can improve this quality ratio enormously - typically identifying, achieving and sustaining a 30% reduction in inventory on hand.

While Lean Thinking as a strategy will yield impressive results in WIP and inventory reduction, the results can take from 6 to 18 months to see. Using IQR as a tool for rapid inventory reduction deployment, expect to see step change results in 3-6 months. Contact us for more details.


Norm
www.normanbain.com

Lean Resource Guide

Confused about lean concepts or terminology? Then visit the NBI knowledge center or our management library. Our on-line education and continual learning resource guide!

Norm www.normanbain.com

Gain focus with Strategy Deployment through A3

I received a timely note from Jim Womack this morning. He touched on the topic of strategy deployment and the loss of focus at GM in these trying times.

Several companies I contact are struggling with aligning their teams and establishing priorities. Even in this difficult economy, I’m surprised how many of these folks report their order books are overflowing and they are unable to keep up with customer demand. Between expediting materials, cooling the blazing customer calls and keeping product flowing out the door, there is little time for improvement initiatives. Juggling these demands means they are clearly unable to see the forest for the trees. It’s difficult working ON your business when you are so busy working IN your business.

Strategy deployment is all about focus. Many companies get overwhelmed with too many initiatives on the go. We seem to think we need a lot of different projects going or we’re not doing "it" right. During a recent value stream mapping exercise with a client, the team identified over 130 “opportunities” for improving their processes. While this low hanging fruit could help the organization, getting it done is the challenge. And how do we determine what to tackle first? Success is about getting the right things done.

Do we start at the top with senior management, or do we work on one departmental initiative to show success that we can build upon. In transitioning from a being a planning organization to becoming an execution based organization (just do it!), initiatives are driven from both top down and bottom up. We meet somewhere in the middle. The focus is on your zone of control, be it a team, department or facility.

Probably the most important thing to tackle is team leadership thinking. Transitioning from “thou shalt” to “what do you think” requires leaders to take responsibility for developing their people. Once that door has been opened, people come forward with ideas for eliminating waste and making process improvements that could not have been foreseen at the outset. Getting the people who do the work engaged in improving the work is key to success. The “thou shalt” philosophy is so ingrained in business culture that it has spawned a great following in the Scott Adams Dilbert cartoon series. We know its there, but exposing it directly could be a CLM (career limiting move). Many organizations utilize coaches, mentors or consultants to challenge the leaders mental models and guide the organization to better understanding.

How well your strategy will be implemented depends on how persuasive a story you can tell. How well have you engaged your team in developing the plan? How simple is it to explain to others?

The A3 process works because it is simple. Plans must be defined well enough to be presented on a single piece of paper – if you can’t express your plan on one page, you probably don’t understand it well enough. The A3’s tell a persuasive story, using the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) methodology with its roots in TQM from the 1980’s. Using a storyboard format, the elements of storytelling are covered – what do we need to achieve, how did we do last year, what have we tried before, how did it work, what do we need to achieve our objectives, what is the plan, are there unresolved issues, what help do you need. Keeping the action plan tight – no more than 5 key action items – ensures that work will get done. Using SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Reasonable, Trackable) goals ensure we know where we’re going.

Aligning the A3’s to the organizational goals is a key part of the process. The senior leadership defines the organizations “True North”. The “mother A3” aligns the strategy with the true north. Departmental initiatives build on the mother A3 with “baby A3’s”. Using this methodology, activities and efforts are aligned and everyone starts pulling on the same rope.

Defining the True North can be a challenge. One of the first questions to ask an organization is “What is your purpose”. The typical response of “to make money and grow” has nothing to do with the customer. Developing a customer focus is essential. The customer provides the money the organization needs to grow and prosper. So making money, growing and increasing shareholder value is an outcome of your strategy, rather than the strategy itself.

This takes us back to Jim Womack’s email this morning. In it, he told the story of GM losing focus. In 1921, GM's leader Alfred Sloan produced a simple memorandum on the topic of "Product Policy" that defined GM’s purpose for generations to come. Sloan stated that General Motors would provide a carefully configured range of products for "every purse and purpose", from used Chevrolets at the lower end of the market to a "fully loaded" Cadillac at the top end. This simple memo rationalized GM's chaotic product line-up so its vehicles would not overlap in the market. Instead, they would each have a clearly defined place in a status hierarchy and would always be more refined, a bit "classier" with a higher price, than competitor products in each market segment.

Somewhere, GM lost its focus. Like the Titanic sailing across the ocean oblivious to the dangers ahead, it crashed and burned, taking a world economy with it. And now they are restructuring. But before you restructure, state your purpose.

Your entire organization needs to align on your true north to focus the strategy. Many organizations have put significant effort into defining Vision, Values, and Mission statements. Refining that into your True North, and developing a strategy deployment plan will move the vision from its resting place on the lunchroom wall to a living, breathing process on your workplace floor. And that will create an execution culture in your organization with the mindset of “Get it Done”.


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

Making 5-Why work for you

One of the simplest tools to use in solving problems is a 5-why analysis. It is also one of the least understood and poorly applied tools. It seems that simple concepts can be the most difficult to apply and execute.

In almost every instance where I have seen it used, the answers to the "why" seem shallow and the root cause of the problem - or even the real problem - is seldom identified or resolved.

So how does a tool that we all learn to master at an early age become obsolete as an adult? Kids at 4 years of age are masters at this … why-dad, why-mom, why, why, why, they’ll drive you nuts if you let them. And they get the answers and the understanding they seek through the process. But we lose that mastery when we grow up and enter the world of business.

Problem solving can be a bit like swatting flies. We see a fly (the problem) and swat it. But we don’t get to the source of the flies … what is attracting them and what the cause is in the first place.

In many businesses, problem solving takes a similar approach. We solve the problems as we find them, but we don’t know if we are working on the right problem, or the biggest problem with our limited resources.

That becomes increasingly important in these tough economic times. When everyone is tightening their belts, how do I make sure my limited resources are focused on the biggest problems in the organization?

Using 5-why is not enough. The 5-why process is most effective when it is used in combination with “therefore” and “so that”. If that sounds confusing, its because we lost the art of asking “why” when we grew up. As 4 year olds, we did not accept an irrelevant answer. So lets re-learn the key to making this work.

Think of problem solving as the branches of a tree (or the file structure in your computer).

5-why is useful in identifying potential causes of the problem. The “why” opens up more branches of the tree. This gives us many more potential avenues to pursue.

Using “therefore” moves us closer to the trunk. If the answer opened by the “why” question can not be returned by a “therefore” test, the answer to the why is not relevant. For example, if we follow the line of questioning that Kent Blumberg used on his blog post:

The “why” process takes us DOWN the chain

The gas bill is high, Why
The gas consumption is high, Why?
We turned up the thermostat, Why?
We shiver if it is set lower, Why
We are wearing shorts

The “therefore” process takes us UP the chain

We are wearing shorts, therefore
We are shivering, therefore
We turned up the thermostat, therefore
The gas consumption was high, therefore
The gas bill is high

By validating the “why” answers with a “therefore” statement we ensure the path remains relevant and we are on track. This process will help eliminate the shallow responses.

Now that we have validated the “why’s” with “therefore’s” we need to ask “so that”. The “so that” statement relates how effective our solution is to our goal.

We are not wearing shorts “so that” the gas bill is not high.

Our solution of “not wearing shorts” to meet our goal of “lowering the gas bill” may not be the most effective. Perhaps we could have had a better answer when we asked why the gas consumption was high.

By combining the “why” analysis with “therefore” checking and “so that” validation we have an effective tool to get to the right problem and the right solution.

How did problem solving become so complicated? It seemed so much simpler when we were 4 year olds.



Norm
www.normanbain.com

Flexibility to manage your business remotely

Your folks are busy working on the road. They need to buy stuff to keep your projects moving. Time is of the essence. They know they are under the gun to get the job done.

You know this too, but you need controls. Spending seems out of control. Paperwork does not get done. And the accounting staff is spending way too much time trying to untangle the mess.

What do you do? Add more controls and slow down the project? Give everyone credit cards to buy what they need?

Many companies struggle with this situation every day. And the company computer system is not able to cope with different needs of the organization – keeping the road warriors effective while keeping the accounting books straight and timely.

That is where we come in! We’ve been there! Having managed people working in every corner of the world, we understand.

Why can’t the people on the road just complete the paperwork and send it in?

Why can’t life be simpler?

It can be!

You don’t pay your road warriors to do paperwork. So make it easy for them to get the job done. Give them the tools to easily meet your needs, and theirs. Enable them to record expenses as they make them, either through their laptop at the hotel or through their web enabled telephone. You see their expenses as they enter them, from anywhere in the world. And they can easily compile them into an expense report and send them off to you – electronically. For bigger purchases, they can create field Purchase Orders that you can see, approve and track – on top of the action as it happens. The POs can be sent through the approval process as well. Securely, electronically.

Designed to make your world smaller, easy to manage and easy to use.

Sound pretty cool? Take a FREE test drive today! Then sign up and lock yourself in for 80% savings for as long as you are a member! Our designers and developers are behind. This project is past due ... our launch date has passed and the site is not fully released. So YOU get the bonus! 80% off for as long as you remain a member. This is a limited time offer - our developers are working 24/7 to complete the project. And when its ready, this discount ends! So sign up NOW and lock in your savings for LIFE!

Purchase Orders, Expense Forms, Time Sheets - Simple, efficient, effective!

Running your business should be this simple! http://www.expenses.onlinenow.ca

Norm
www.normanbain.com

2009 Professional Development Schedule

NBI is pleased to offer our Professional Development schedule for the first half of 2009.

In this time of economic unrest and turmoil, NOW is the time to upgrade your skills and to develop your staff.

It is estimated that North American manufacturing will lose 100,000 jobs in the first half of 2009. How well prepared is your team to deal with these uncertainties. Are your people overstressed and underappreciated? Do they have the skills to fill the gaps in your organization should key people leave? NOW is the time to prepare to run your business more effectively!

Our interactive workshops provide awareness of the productivity enhancing tools and resources available by introducing and demonstrating key concepts. Delivered by experienced industry practitioners, these programs develop core skills for employees at all levels of your organization.

Offered at strategic locations across North America, these sessions can be combined to maximize the training experience.

Click here for details.

NBI, committed to helping you and your company be more successful.

Regards

Norm
www.normanbain.com

Elegant solution to remote email problem

Here is one of the downfalls of being a consultant - business travel. Most of what I do is outside the office and usually outside my home town.

Are you a business traveller? Are you always on the go between home and work, travelling to different cities, or even different countries? If you travel as much as I do, you have likely struggled with getting emails to work properly remotely.

Your favorite email software (Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Apple Mail likely does not work properly from hotels, airports and internet cafe's. Even at my customers sites, I have experienced this lack of connectivity.

I have, thankfully, recently found a solution to this dilemma.

This whole problem is caused by many internet service providers (ISPs) blocking what is called "Port 25". This is the port used to send e-mail. They are doing this to cut down on the amount of spam that is sent from their networks and allow traceability to spammers. All e-mail sent from a computer directly connected to the Internet is routed through port 25, the channel used for communication between an e-mail client and an e-mail server. Port 25 blocking is quickly becoming the industry standard.

However, this filter can create problems for travellers and e-mail servers, blocking legitimate e-mail as well as spam.Port 25 blocking allows ISPs to block spam sent out through their networks, but it frustrates those that have a need to send e-mail through servers other than those belonging to their own ISP. The ISPs that block port 25 require their SMTP server to be used instead of the remote SMTP server or a SMTP server running on your computer. But getting hotels or internet cafes using these ISPs to release their credentials to you is unlikely. In fact, my experience has been that most desk clerks don't know WHO their ISP is, never mind giving you email credentials.

What this translates to for the business traveller, is heartburn. Your outlook will not work from any connection other than your home base. Hotels, airports and other locations will allow you to retrieve emails, but will block you from sending them.

To resolve this problem, many mobile users switch between their regular email program and a web-based email program like Hotmail. Obviously it's possible to use a web-based program anywhere in the world, but these systems have their own drawbacks. Not only do you have to send mail from a highly unprofessional email address (steve8564@hotmail.com, for instance), but it's also hard to keep track of your emails when you're hopping between your different email accounts. This is compounded by many companies now blocking "free" accounts like hotmail.

Who needs the drama? Wouldn't it be better to just use the same account, and the same email program, wherever you are?

That's what I think. I've recently found a simple and elegant solution that I'd like to share with you. Simply use this service as your outgoing mail server and never worry about problems sending emails ever again. Setup takes only minutes. You can send emails from anywhere in the world — from home, the office, I've used it all over Canada, the US and Great Britain with no problems - and use your favourite email program! They offer a free 7 day trial. Put an end to the hassle that plagues today’s business traveller. And get back to using your favourite email software (Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Apple Mail etc.) Chick here to try the service

Happy Travelling!


Norm
www.normanbain.com