Metrics

“Good” isn’t enough, bring me the data!

17 Apr
by Bridget DiCello

“How is … going?”  You fill in the blank.  What have you asked your team about?  Projects?  Sales?   Customer satisfaction?   Daily tasks?

And have you heard in response, “Good!” or “Fine.” and wondered just what those phrases really meant?  Sometimes they mean to communicate:

  1. “Things are not all that great right now, but we’ve got a solid plan to address them.”
  2. “I’m really not sure how things are going, but nothing appears to be in fire, so I think we’re okay.”
  3. “If I say, ‘Good!’ or ‘Fine.’ you will not worry as much and give me some room to go figure out how things are really going.

This is not only the case if you have a few slackers on your team who avoid accountability.  In many very successful businesses, even good performers may not have a handle on specifically how things are going.  There is this common aversion to data collection and analysis in many organizations because it requires time and effort that could be spent doing things instead.

Brad Robertson, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) St. Francis Hospital has a sign hanging in his office which reads, “In God We Trust, all others bring Data.”

What data might your team need to bring you?

  • Customer service metrics
  • Sales and Pipeline data and pipeline building activities
  • Profitability, and the related pricing, expenses, execution, rework, delivery
  • Company overall health – current assets, long term liabilities
  • Where we are, where we’ve been, trends, projections
  • Industry specific measurements

How often do you need to see this data?

Part of the objective of gathering data is that the process can become part of the daily routine, so metrics are gathered and reviewed routinely (at least monthly, more often for some metrics), not only by a leader, but by team members as well.  If a doctor had to assess you without any tests, lab results or equipment such as a blood pressure cuff or stethoscope, and only saw you once in a while, an intuitive doctor might be able to make some guesses, but you would not have the same opportunities for good health.  It’s the same for the business or department you lead.

Identify the right data to gather, the easiest way to obtain it, a set time to review it, a consistent way to use it for making solid decisions, and stay consistent in that process.

On a final note, for those of you reading this who think that data is fabulous and you could spend all day just gathering and analyzing because there is so much good information to be gleaned, be careful to balance the value of gathering and reviewing accurate data with the objective of using it to improve business processes and ensure greater success.

Top 5 Non-Technical Sales ‘Musts’

16 Jan
by Bridget DiCello

I never wanted to sell.  I fought selling tooth and nail because I found salespeople annoying and time consuming.  I just wanted to be a trainer and a coach.  But, if no one sells, the company ceases to exist.

And if you think there is no sales in your job because you are not the owner or the official salesperson, think again.  You sell your ideas, your concerns, your approach, your strategies and your objectives every day to team members, strategic partners and your boss.

Since that time of resistance, I’ve learned a few things, and below are the non-technical (not the nuts and bolts of how to sell) things you must do to be successful.

The ‘Musts’:

  1. You must make connections with new prospects.  Sound simple?  Many people rely too heavily on current customers for recurring or new business, and keep calling on those same prospects they think will buy, but haven’t yet.  You must find new prospects whether you cold call, network, obtain referrals, initiate a marketing plan or hire a telemarketer.  Within your organization, make new connections with those involved elsewhere in the chain of events of which you are a part.
  2. You must track your sales activities.  I’m fanatical about tracking operational metrics in a business because it is the only way to measure what you are currently doing, assess how much more you want/need to do, and tweak your systems.  If you are not selling enough, but don’t have a concrete picture of what you are doing now, and therefore don’t know what to change, you will start shooting in the dark with sales strategies.  Track activity – calls, appointments, proposals, etc.  Whatever your goals, track your key activities that will get you there.
  3. You must ask curious questions.  As a leader, if you want to build powerful relationships and be able to motivate and inspire your team, you must connect with them.  Connecting occurs when you can understand where they are coming from, meet them there, and lead them in the right direction.  This also applies to the prospect.  Learn about them before you push your product on them – lest it be the wrong fit.  Get them talking to the point where they are selling themselves!  This is the best way to build strong relationships in every area of work, and personal life too!
  4. You must know yourself, as Socrates would tell us.  A major obstacle to a leader’s success is a lack of understanding of why you and others do what you and they do.  Are you driven by results, by the journey, the pat on the back, security or by the happiness of those involved?  This greatly affects how you sell, and why your prospect will or won’t buy.  Spend time in 2013 understanding you and others – read up on Emotional Intelligence.
  5. You must get some training.  If you need to sell, you need to learn how.  I often think that the skill most often assumed, but not present, is the ability to lead others, which is why so many exceptional employees who are promoted to leadership, then struggle with the new role.  However, I think the ability to sell is also very often assumed, especially if you happen to land a big sale or two at the outset.  It requires a very specific set of skills, which must be developed and expanded over time.  Within any organization, the ability to connect with others is critical, often undervalued and not natural to most people – so get some training to develop those skills.

I’ve learned to greatly enjoy selling because I enjoy the process of connecting with people who I can help and who want and need my professional expertise.  Take a look at your sales function.  Does it need an overhaul this year?  Greater revenue certainly helps to buy time to fix a whole lot of operational issues.

Need help with sales?  Contact my all-time favorite Sales Trainer and Coach, Andrew Gieselmann http://www.csp.sandler.com/  He handles the technical, the nuts and bolts and all the details I’ve left out of this article…

Build an Expectation of Accountability

15 Jun
by Bridget DiCello

Without a strong expectation of accountability:

  • Performance is mediocre
  • Fire fighting takes a lot of time
  • Lack of ownership
  • Constant follow-up
  • Recreating the wheel
  • Missed deadlines
  • Lackluster results
  • Repeated mistakes

Building an expectation of accountability is no easy task.  You must:

  1. Say It – Communicate Accountability
    1. Share expectations in a written form and discuss these expectations in a forum where everyone is speaking and contributing
    2. Continue to reinforce expectations with ongoing conversations ‘on the go’ as well as in structured interactions or coaching sessions.
    3. Include an expectation of individual professional and company growth in all you write, say and do.
  2. Plan It – Realistic Accountability Roadmap
    1. Create a written plan based on clear goals and objectives, documenting how things will get done.  Testing reality is a necessity and everyone’s input is required.
    2. Literally plot the plan on a calendar or chart and assign responsibilities and deadlines.
  3. Act on It – Do What You Said You Would Do
    1. Identify your problem solving process clearly, and follow that process when it becomes a challenge to do what you had planned or you get off track.
    2. Utilize each person’s skills, strengths and focus on the goals and objectives.
    3. Use the Opportunity Space™ (the moment between when someone does or says something and you respond) to respond purposefully and create stronger relationships within your team.
  4. Report It – Critical to Accountability
    1. Set expected, routine times and venues for each person to report their own successes and challenges.  Create agendas that lead the meeting and hold people accountable.
    2. Identify key metrics, measure and discuss them routinely, and involve others in the gathering of information and reporting, especially their own, results.
    3. Celebrate success and address shortcomings through curious conversations and asking good questions to get others to talk – when they are talking is when they are thinking, committing and engaging.

You lose credibility when what you promise, what you expect or what you set as a goal, does not happen.  Your credibility is very difficult to rebuild.  However, many work environments do not have the components of accountability in place and therefore experience repeated issues, mistakes, frustrations and negative results.

Each individual should demand accountability.  It is an opportunity to celebrate your success, ask for help if you need it, and proactively prepare for others’ changing expectations or disapproval.

Do you work in an organization that focuses on accountability?  What will YOU do TODAY to begin to create that focus?

New Beginnings

12 May
by Bridget DiCello

I guess it’s only natural to start thinking about new beginnings in business when one has a baby!  Typically, I see business owners and managers fall somewhere in between constant newness and staleness in their business.

Are you the type of owner or manager who needs newness just for the sake of newness?  Are you trying new ideas, strategies and processes because they are exciting but don’t check if they are needed?  If you are, you might spend unnecessary dollars, experience limited return on your investment and use a lot of employee energy for limited success.

Or are you the type of owner or manager who believes that if it isn’t broke, we should not spend our time trying to fix it? If you are, your processes, systems and strategies may get a bit stale and work, but fall short of their potential.

Is there a happy medium? I think there is and it is found in the answers to these two questions:

1.       What is it that we are trying to achieve?  What does our vision of a successful company look like?  What do we want to be known for?  How do we want to do business (our values)?

2.      What do our metrics tell us about how well we are achieving our desired vision, results and values with how we currently do things?

Any exciting new idea should be tested with, “What do we hope to achieve with this change?” and “What is the probability that the benefits will occur?” and “What resources will be needed to test and implement this new idea?”  In other words, what are the good reasons to implement this change, and how do they weigh against the costs and probability of success?

Every process, especially when there is a problem or issue, should be met with, “Do we need to revisit this process overall?” and “What do our metrics tell us about how well we are doing?” and “When’s the last time we looked critically at how we run this process?”  If the issue is an anomaly, there is no reason to spend time analyzing the whole process, but if the issue is in fact a warning sign of a larger problem, it is time to revisit the process before it crashes.

What is something new and exciting that you decided to implement?  How did you make the decision to put energy in that area?  Do you have a process that needs to be revamped that you are avoiding?

 

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