As business people, it is critical to understand how the world is changing around us. It is with this understanding that we can make proactive decisions about strategic direction and actions that we may want to take.

Our world here in the Capital District has been evolving and changing for years as a high tech economy has grown in R & D and now manufacturing.

Here is a presentation on the impact of GlobalFoundries on our community. Down load the text here and follow along on the power point below.

Creating a loyal customer base is one of the most important things you can do for your business.  It’s something that impacts your ability to grow, and not only survive but to thrive.

Loyal customers will, by definition, buy more from you and refer others to you.  This is something that needs to be measured both internally (employee engagement and satisfaction) and externally (your customers want to be heard.)

If it is measured, it can be managed.  If it is managed, it can be improved.

Here is what you need to be looking at:

• Your Strategy-  This determines the loyal customers that you want to get and maintain.  How clear are you here?
• Your Leadership, Management, and Operations Systems- You want to make sure that it is as easy as possible for your people to do their jobs and for customers to be able to do business with you.

When these systems are in place, it leads to ensuring that your internal customers, your people, are happy and satisfied.  The more satisfied and loyal your people are, the better chance that every interaction with your clients will be a positive emotional experience.

Each point of contact or client interaction has been dubbed a “Moment of Truth.”  It’s critical to your business that every “Moment” be as positive as possible.  And since your people are the face of your business to your clients and prospects, you need to start with them!

This is how you create a competitive advantage!

Here are a few questions to ask of your organization:

• Do your employees feel as though they are working for a higher purpose as opposed to just doing a “job”?
• How is your strategy communicated?
• What processes are in place to allow employees to share ideas?
• What processes are in place to receive customer feedback?  How are they working?

If you struggle in this area, here are a few things that you can immediately do to improve:

• Make sure that your systems and policies are employee and customer friendly.
• Take a look at everything that  your people are doing and saying at every point of connection with your clients.
• Make sure your people feel valued.

If youy are not working on building a loyal customer base, you just can’t wait any longer.  The long term success of your business depends on it.

If you need to jumpstart your thinking, feel free to give me a call.  We’ll talk about where you are, where you want to go, and develop some action steps you can immediately take to get you there.  Sometimes an objective, experienced,  third party opinion can be invaluable!

There is nothing more important than making sure your plan gets implemented in an efficient and timely fashion.  Execution disciplines help improve the linkage between your plan and your desired results.

If you are not getting the results you want in your organization, this presentation will be invaluable to you!

If your experience is anything like mine, you find that more goals get set than achieved.

I give you a lot of credit for setting goals.  (If you’re not, that’s a different issue…)

If you are not achieving what you want, the cause doesn’t have to be complicated and neither do the solutions.  If we look at this almost over simplistically:

• Are the attitudes and habits in place which are conducive to achieving your goals?
• Are there skills and knowledge obstacles?

Skills and Knowledge obstacles break down into the following categories:

• Are there technical obstacles?
• To what degree do you understand what it means to “be in business” and how to best serve your customers?
• How well can you or your people manage others and get results through others?
• How well do you really understand sales and marketing?

This is just a quick checklist for you.  Answer these questions truthfully and you will have your areas to focus on.

You can find information on the internet or in books to strengthen skills and knowledge areas.  So clearly define the information you need and go and get it.  You may need some help implementing that knowledge though.  Remember, it’s only use of knowledge that is power.

Next, take a look at your thinking and your habits and behaviors.  Are they results oriented?

Sometimes this is harder to see because you’re dealing with your subconscious.  You could have a lack of clarity on your direction, self-confidence issues, or an inability to stay focused on your goals.  There are many variables which could be leading to lack of achievement.

Fortunately, these variables can all be measured.  I am certified on a diagnostic profile that is specifically designed to measure these kind of traits that may be holding you back from the goal achievement that you want.

If you don’t know specifically what is holding you back, you can’t begin to fix it.  You know what insanity is, don’t you?  It’s doing the same things and expecting different results.  And you just can’t afford financially or emotionally to do that any longer.

Self awareness and being true to your natural talents are traits that all top performers have.  To get on YOUR path to a higher level of performance, productivity, and achievement click here.  You will be directed to a page which will show you how you can determine what attributes you have that you can leverage to achieve success quicker.  And also, 5 areas that you absolutely must shore up because they are like “driving with the brakes on.”  It’s only with awareness that you can start to make changes.

Your business depends on you being the best that you can be for yourself and the customers that you serve.  You just can’t ignore this any longer.  So check out this page, or contact me today for a no cost, no obligation meeting.  We’ll talk about where you are now, where you want to go, and what you need to do to get there.  I will leave you with some ideas that you can immediately implement to get on the path to success that you want.

It’s not uncommon that I ask a CEO or President what sales means to their organization and am told: “Howard, It’s real simple.  ‘Name, Sales’.”

So then I’ll ask: “Is it important who your people are talking to?”

“Well, yes.”

The conversation may continue this way…

“And is it important where these people are located?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Is it important how things are getting priced and what the margins are?”

“You bet.”

“Are these things written down anywhere?”

“Well, kind of, sort of.  OK, no they’re not”

You see, it’s a little more complicated than “Name, Sales”  There are two things that are critical to the implementation of your sales plan:

1) You need the plan which identifies your market niches and your strategy for reaching each one.  Part of the plan needs to include processes which make it as easy as possible for your sellers to do their jobs.

2) You need to develop your people to be able to operate at more of their potential.

There are interpersonal skills necessary for a professional seller such as:

• Effective Communication,
• Ability to Relate to Others,
• Self Image,
• Confidence and,
• Time Management.

There are also selling skills necessary such as:

• Prospecting,
• Developing Rapport,
• Questioning Skills,
• Building a Case for Action,
• Gaining Committment and,
• Follow Up.

If you are not addressing both your strategy and developing your people, why not?

You just can’t afford to ignore these any longer.

The success of your business depends on having and executing the right plan, and developing your people to be the best they can be for themselves, your organization, and the customers they serve.

Remaining status quo is just not an option anymore.

If you don’t have a sales plan in place, start working on one now.  If you don’t have a process in place to help your sellers with the critical skills they need, design and implement one now!

Don’t wait any longer to address this on your own.  If you feel that an objective third party could help you, call me today to meet.  I’ll leave you with action steps you can immediately take to increase your sales teams effectiveness.

My natural gifts lie in my ability to understand the immediate needs of a situation and establish an effective action plan to produce desired results.  Also in understanding and identifying strengths and weaknesses of individuals, evaluating them against the requirements of a job or goal, and designing processes which will effectively elevate a persons skills to the level they need to achieve success.

Stop leaving money on the table.  Address these two important areas and ensure the sales results that you really want!

It’s not uncommon that I ask a CEO if they have a business plan and the answer is “yes.”

But when I ask the follow up question “To what degree do your actions or the actions of your people match what’s called for in the plan?” the answer is “That’s purely coincidental.”

Can you relate?  There is nothing more important than making sure your plan gets achieved in an efficient and timely fashion.

To make sure that your organization is operating to it’s fullest potential and not leaving money on the table requires two things:

1. You need a strategy or plan that identifies business opportunities and organizational resources and objectives.
2. You need to develop your people to be able to carry out the plan.

There are necessary interpersonal skills such as:

• motivation,
• communication, and
• attitudes.

There are also necessary management skills such as:

• planning,
• decision making,
• goal setting and,
• time management.

So, I’ll ask: Do you have a plan in place nd is it being used to drive your business forward?  And, What are you doing to ensure that your people have the necessary interpersonal and management skills?

These are things that many people struggle with.  If this is true for you and your people, you just can’t wait to address it any more.  Because you are losing time you can’t get back.

My expertise is in professional development and what it takes for organizations to be the best they can be for themselves and their customers.  Call or email me if you are serious about achievement for your organization.  I’ll start you with steps you can immediately take to address the business challenges facing you right now.

Do you have long and short term sales goals and a plan to make them happen?

Do you organize your time to be as productive as possible?

Are you effective at networking and prospecting?

Do a high percentage of your proposals turn into business?

Do you easily get in front of decision makers?

If not, WHY NOT?

Remaining “status quo” is just not an option anymore.

Your company and your customers expect more from you than ever before.  You have to develop yourself to be the best that you can be in the following areas:

Interpersonal skills such as:

• Communication
• Relating to others
• Self-Image
• Time management

Also Sales Skills such as:

• Prospecting
• Developing rapport
• Questioning
• Building a case for action
• Gaining committment

You just can’t afford to ignore these any longer!

You’ve got to do something TODAY to develop and maintain YOUR competitive advantage.

So what if there was a way to focus on the areas of improvement YOU NEED THE MOST RIGHT NOW?  The easiest way to get better results is to learn something new.

But it’s not just knowledge that is power, it’s ORGANIZATION AND USE OF KNOWLEDGE THAT IS POWER.

I have your answer.  Based on how you answer your personal sales profile (download your profile here), I will tailor an “Improve Your Sales” coaching program just for you based on what you feel are the most important areas to confront RIGHT NOW.

Imagine that!  A personalized sales coaching program which is tailored just to you.  One that gives you the additional skills and knowledge you don’t have that when applied, will help you increase your sales WITHOUT WORKING ANY HARDER.

Sound hard to believe?  It can really happen.  When you fill in skills and knowledge gaps, you can’t help but improve your performance.

Here is what the process looks like:

• We will have an initial meeting to review your sales profile, determine what your top areas of need are (the ones that will give you the greatest payback in the quickest time), and how best to address them.
• We will have three workshop style sessions for approximately one hour each (over the phone) which will include teaching you new skills, and coaching you on how best to apply the new knowledge.  We will also address the most pressing issues you have and create action steps to move you forward.

As a bonus, I will include an additional session to debrief a profile which will help you discover what is holding you back from the success that you really want, and what attributes you have that you can leverage to achieve success faster.

You will discover a minimum of 5 attributes you absolutely need to shore up because they are like “driving with the brakes on” and a minimum of 5 attributes you already have that you can better leverage.  This is your quickest path to success.  (A $250 value!)

Before you decide that you can’t afford to do anything, ask yourself “What is an average sale worth to me?  And “If I was a better seller, could I possibly make enough more sales to cover the cost of this program?

If you think that you could recoup your money in the next 3-6 months, that is enough of a return on investment to make this a “no brainer”.

Your investment in yourself for a personalized sales coaching program is $547.  Or take a 2 payment option of $299 each.

This includes an initial kickoff meeting, 3 laser focused coaching sessions (approx 1 hour each) on the areas you need to develop the most, and your personal talent profile debrief (approx 1 hour).

The total value of this package is over $1000! (I normally bill at $250 per hour)  My gift to you for the Holidays.  You will be getting over 5 hours of individual coaching with me.  Plus I will include any materials necessary to aid in your learning.

Call or email me if you are serious about your success.  Don’t wait because you will lose time (and possible money) that you can’t ever get back.

Download your personal sales profile here.  And then contact me to set up a time to meet.

I can be reached at howard@howardlitwak.com  or 518-664-5033.  I look forward to hearing from you and the possibility of working with you to accomplish your goals!

If so, this is reactive, rather than proactive thinking.  Which do you think is less stressful?

The cause of this may be simple:  Your organization may be operating in “silos”.

Here is what I mean.  It’s not uncommon to have a group of people playing with strategy, a group of people managing people, a group of people who go out and get and maintain customers, and a group of people who manage the systems.

If these groups operate independently of each other, they might as well have walls around them ten feet high and ten feet thick.

You might recognize some of the symptoms:

• Competition between departments
• Lack of communication
• Short term thinking
• “Winners and Losers” type of behavior

Guess what…It’s these symptoms which lead to customer complaints and dissatisfaction.  And that is completely unacceptable.

The solution is easy to say, yet harder to implement.  The company culture needs to change so that the entire organization is viewed as a system, with a focus on common goals and taking care of the customer.

Some things may be standing in your way though, such as:

• Lack of flexibility
• No teamwork orientation
• Unwillingness to change and
• Lack of practical thinking

Fortunately, all of these things can be measured.  It’s with awareness that you can start to make changes.  You might want to consider profiling yourself or your people to see if these are the root cause of your business challenges.  I am certified on some of the most cutting edge personal and organizational profiling tools available which will help you discover what is in the way of the success you want.

If you have any of these symptoms, your business depends on correcting them NOW.  You just can’t wait any longer.  Remaining “status quo” is not an option.

Feel free to contact me today to talk about what may be standing in your way.  No cost.  No obligation. I promise you that you’ll leave our meeting with something you can immediately implement to be better than you already are!

Many professionals have told me that they have a problem with time management.  Can you relate?  But time management is not a time management issue.  Here is another way of looking at it.

This is a GOALS CLARIFICATION issue.  When you are clear on what your goals are and have them prioritized, you will know how best to invest your time.

So, I ask you: Do you have clearly defined goals?  That could be your issue.

Your action step is to review your goals daily and take results oriented actions.  If you don’t have goals, set them right now!

“I will persist until I succeed.  For now I know one of the greatest principles of success.  If I persist long enough, I will win.  I will persist and I will succeed.” Og Mandino

I often ask groups I am working with “who is the one person, current or historical, that you would most like to take to lunch and why?”

For me the answer is Abraham Lincoln.  He failed at everything his whole life.  He had a failed law practice, numerous failed political bids, he failed at love.  And yet at age 60, he went on to become one of the greatest Presidents that our country has ever known. 

I take a powerful lesson in persistence from this.  He never gave up. 

Persistence is continuing on in the face of unexpected obstacles.  Stay focused on what it is that you really want and you will find the inspired action which moves you closer to your goals.

Persist and you WILL succeed!