We fall within the category of SMEs (small to medium sized enterprises). How can we work strategically, analyze customer and consumer behavior, and have smart marketing plans when we have very limited resources due to our size?

There are two elements attached to results: knowledge and application. If it’s knowledge you seek and you can’t afford interesting interactive workshops, then welcome to the Age of Information. With help from the Internet you can find plenty of resources that will educate you about different management topics. The challenge in this step is to know where the right resources are. Publishing words online doesn’t make them automatically reliable. If you want to evaluate the seriousness of a certain magazine article look for reviews about the writer you’re interested in on sources other than the magazine. Is s/he trying to indirectly sell you something? Do they have the expertise in the area they’re writing about? What makes them such experts? Remember, doing something for a long time doesn’t always lead to ‘expertise’.

If you have the knowledge but lack the experience on how to apply it or if you can’t afford to hire the right talents full time to help you implement it, then think of project base hiring even if the talent is not in your market and can only work online from United Someplace, as long as you can agree on deliverables and deadlines, it can work. Other options are to work with consultants who are suitable for the kind of service you’re after and cater to companies of your size. If your business is too big for them they might not be able to deliver. If it’s too small, you might not receive the right level of attention. Most of all, keep your plans short, clear in their focus, easy to understand and shared with everyone responsible for a part of them. Complicated documents and presentations are not impressive, they’re disruptive…and that’s just my two cents.read what others have read

• two cents: meet the franchisors
• two cents: ethical business?
• two cents: mr. stock market, may I come in now?

My company works in the IT industry. Management asked me to solicit some leads through LinkedIn since cold calling is impersonal and ineffective. After sending bulk requests our database grew to almost 300 contacts. The problem is that we couldn’t turn this list into serious prospects. Is LinkedIn a dead end for marketing our business?

Calling someone you don’t know with a message that comes across that’s beneficial to you more than the prospect is usually met with a cold reaction. When you start a relationship with a new friend you don’t ask them for a favor from Day One not to give the wrong impression of being selfish. A new business relationship is not that much different from a personal one. The fundamental difference is that a financial transaction is expected in one while it should be avoided in the other. However, in this case the relationship didn’t even start yet. A connection request is not the same as connecting. How well do you know these 300 contacts and how well do they know your company?

One of the best ways to building strong and mutually beneficial long term business relationships is to reverse the purpose of your call. Try this: instead of approaching a prospect to sell something, connect them with another contact you know whom you believe can be important to this prospect’s business. This attitude builds you a bank of credit with your LinkedIn network or any other network. As a result, the next time you call, you’ll find a very warm voice on the other end who’ll be a lot more welcoming to your offer…and that’s just my two cents.read what others have read

• two cents: when your title kills your career
• the lion is hungry. now what?
• two cents: juggling 14 horses at work

Over the years, I had my share of hiring wrong employees who didn’t demonstrate enough loyalty to me or to the company. What can I do to get the new hires to be more loyal?

Be careful of what you wish for. Let’s say you hired a new graduate in a customer care position who had a genuine desire to benefit the company. One day, our newbie thinks that he’s being loyal by dismissing a customer’s request for not matching with the current setup of the operation only to end up causing this customer to churn with anger. Next month, out of loyalty to you personally, he delays informing you about certain updates because he knows you’re too busy and he doesn’t want to add to your overload. As a consequence, you missed an important opportunity to fix a bigger problem. Does that mean you should hire soulless robots or backstabbing gold diggers? As adrenaline pumping as such a working environment could be, the answer is no. Hire decent people who match with the personality, behavior and skills you need.

The key is to shift the recipient of loyalty from being you or the company to the position employee holds. Loyalty to the job the person does is far more powerful because you’re asking the employee to focus on doing what’s right for the best quality of his production. By explaining that it’s not only the company’s reputation that will be affected by this employee’s outcome but his own as well, he will think twice before skipping the process or not delivering what a customer truly deserves. This kind of loyalty is realistic and fits with many employees who look after themselves regardless…and that’s just my two cents.read what others have read

• two cents: the spy who hired me
• two cents: a singing waiter. keep him or lose him?
• two cents: crisis? freeze

Many of our competitors brag about the different awards they won in the last few years. The application and qualification processes are time consuming. Is it really worth it? Do customers actually care about companies who have won awards?

Breaking News: The security guard in your apartment building won the “Super Security Guard of the Year” Award. Sweet, but it’s not something that will make you decide to stay if you were not satisfied with the property management standard of service. However, let’s take a look at your security guard for a moment. Knowing about the award, he became familiar with the rules and started to improve his performance, appearance and efficiency so he’s ready for the committee’s review. The security guard’s real benefit was the journey he was on to up his game. Even if he didn’t win the award he gained a better performance.

If participating in awards will help your business improve internally, then by all means, select the one that will have the most significant impact on your processes and go for it. Keep in mind that improving your working standard to comply with the award’s terms and conditions is the ultimate reward because it will reflect positively on your employees, customers’ experience, and in return, boost your returns. Simply, it’s about the journey, not the destination. So, winning the award should always be looked at as the icing on the cake; but without the cake the icing is just not as tasty…and that’s just my two cents.read what others have read

• two cents: promo in wonderland
• two cents: new franchise.
  location ‘unknown’
• two cents: one size fits none

HR gave me a written notice about my attire for being too casual. There’s nothing in their policy that talks about what clothes to wear at work. Why should I listen to them?

Oh, Dior! Someone call the Fashion Police. You could be the person to win the Most Fashionable Employee of the Year award, if there was ever one, however, your sense of what’s fashionable is not the point. It’s not about HR or your manager’s personal taste either. The real issue here is the absence of a brand guide that explains the personality, values, spirit and tone of the business. While many global brands are more comfortable not providing a uniform for reasons such as cost cutting and not killing the employee’s individual sense of style and identity, they have this subject covered through clear guidelines. The idea is not to restrict the employees by telling them what to wear, but to inform them about what not to wear.

Look at banks, for example. Most bankers wear formal outfits because they see that it’s crucial to reflect confidence so customers feel that their deposits and investments are in good hands. Yet, not all employees are in the same departments or levels. Tellers are never responsible for the investments of high net worth clients; so why can’t they dress more casual or less formal? The answer is, “There’s no one fixed answer” – How would you feel if the Starbucks Baristas took your order in a suit? It will most likely backfire on the brand. If a company chooses not to address this matter, they leave it to each employee’s own standard of what’s acceptable to wear at work. In that case, blame no one but their big bosses for not taking the right measures…and that’s just my two cents.read what others have read

• two cents: three-year-old and rich
• two cents: to care or not to care
• two cents: clueless boss

Employees get trained all the time, but their performance hardly changes. Is there a point of spending all that money or should we just look at corporate training as a reward and some time off?

Changing behavior is one of the greatest challenges for mankind. We’re designed to follow patterns. There are moments or experiences that can be life transforming for some. Yet, others may go through similar situations without being affected at all. The military (watch the Royal Marines Commandos classic ‘99.99% need not apply’ advert) trains people for years on how to endure pain, face their fears and be willing to die for their country and fellow soldiers at the drop of a hat. Can you imagine the military achieving such results with a five-day training workshop?

Training should be looked at as a reward only for those who care about learning, but the idea of travel and extra cash must never be used as incentives. Think of training workshops as opportunities managers put in employees’ ways with the hope that a change for the better can be inspired and materialized. The question you need to ask yourself is: What can you do at work to help your recently-trained employees turn that inspiration to reality? Without creating an environment that support new thoughts and initiatives and without embracing mistakes as learning opportunities employees won’t be encouraged to overcome this difficult task of changing their behavior or way of thinking.

Knowing why you’re sending an employee to training, clearly identifying the expectations for their behavior after this opportunity, and creating a facilitating environment can improve your Return On Training Investment. How can you be a great facilitator at work? Welcome mistakes that result from genuine attempts to change things; this is what science is about, a series of experimentations and trials. Provide constant encouragements for efforts, guidance and coaching. Above all, be selective. Hands-on interactive workshops are much better than one-way seminars and lectures. If all fails, send your employees to the military…and that’s just my two cents.read what others have read

• two cents: training happens
• two cents: do as I say, but I won’t
• two cents: war at work

What’s the best way to measure the brand’s perception?

There are books, articles and lectures that talk about metrics for gauging brand perceptions. The tricky thing about brands is that the word brand itself is nothing but an impression in someone’s mind. It’s a mix of rational and irrational feelings, thoughts and experiences. Regular quantitative research with multiple options and tables is incapable of truly understanding that impression. Customer Satisfaction surveys can’t reflect the brand’s core perception. 40% of satisfied customers leave the businesses they purchase their products or services from regardless. Qualitative methods like focus groups can’t provide accurate information because there’s a certain gap between what people sometimes think, say, and do. It requires the mastered skill of research design and moderation to reach reliable results.

So, what’s the solution? Face impressions with impressions. Get off of your desk and go to the showroom, take phone calls from the Call Center, or answer their emails. Interacting with customers will give you a vivid picture of how they feel and behave around your brand. Another method is to know what they didn’t tell you when they interacted with you by searching your brand’s name on social websites and blogs to know what their raw and impulsive feelings are…and that’s just my two cents.read what others have read

• two cents: I say quality, you say price
• two cents: how do I email thee?
  let me count the ways
• two cents: saving private Facebook