Here is another FUN BIZ QUIZ that you and your employees can take.  The QUIZZES will help you test your knowledge, compare yourself to the Best Practices of great companies, and uncover gaps and needs that you probably should address.  Questions?  Call me!  Ron DeLorme, 248.396.5031. 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Fun Biz Quiz:  Employee Performance

What do you believe?  Read the Owner/Manager Statements below.  Answer Agree or Disagree.

• “Just about anybody can answer my business phone and take an order while being nice to the customer.  What is so difficult?!!”
• “Just about anybody can be nice to customers and co-workers.”
• “I told the employees how to answer the phone, fill out the forms, complete the computer screens, etc. – that’s all the training they need.”
• “Sure, sure, every employee has what he/she needs to do the job, they don’t need anything else.”  
• “I am not going to give everyone a pat on the back for doing their job!”
• “Written procedures?  Heck no!  Whatever I say is the procedure employees must follow.”
• “Listen to the ideas and concerns of employees?  You gotta’ be kidding!”
• “Business is about making money!  It’s not about how I treat people!”
• “Rewards?  They get a pay check every 2 weeks, that’s their reward.”
• “Customers are crazy.  I tell them what they want to hear and then I do what I gotta’ do.”   

So, how many statements did you AGREE with?  How many did you DISAGREE with?  Based on my experience working with hundreds of businesses and thousands of managers from every sector of our economy, I DISAGREE with every statement above.  Below are some important things I have learned.

The job performance of your employees is greatly impacted by how you run your business…and how you run your business is driven by your beliefs.  If you answered AGREE to any of the statements above, you may have some beliefs that are “turning off” your employees and getting in the way of your business success.  How you TREAT employees and customers is one of the 5 most important factors impacting employee performance and your company’s performance.   Here’s a brief explanation about each of the 5Ts that impact employee performance most.       

Employee job performance is driven by the 5Ts:  Talent, Training, Tools, Treatment and Timely Rewards.  If you have the 5Ts strongly in place, you can expect much better Employee Performance, Productivity and Quality – and these drive corporate performance and Profitability.

If you want to reduce employee and customer problems, and improve quality and profitability, take a closer look at the 5Ts and make sure they are being executed well in your business.      

5Ts ESSENTIAL for your Success!  

Talent              A person’s natural skills and abilities; shaped by education, experience, training, acquired competencies and skills; plus the ambition, attitudes and motivation the person brings to the workplace.  Manager’s Goal:  Recruit and Choose the best Talent you can find (do NOT settle)!  Chances of changing an “average” performer into a Star?  Slim!  Look for and hire a Star!  Train that new employee to be a Star for your company!

Training          1) The education, training, coaching and learning the person brings to your workplace and

2) the education, training, coaching, etc. that YOU provide once the person starts working for your company.  You can’t rely on the training received at another company.  Only YOU, your certified staff member or a certified training consultant can provide the “job training” needed that will ensure that the job duties at your company are executed well!  Manager’s Goal:  Design and Deliver the best Training you possibly can.  Great Talent + Poor Training = Mediocre Results.    

Tools               The information, machinery, time, equipment and resources (written procedures, training, materials, etc.) you provide to get the job done.  If one minor tool or resource is missing, employee productivity suffers.  EX:  I’ve seen office employees invest hours into looking for “sticky notes” and more time complaining that they did not have the office equipment they needed to get the job done. Cost?  Thousands of dollars!  Manager’s Goal:  Make sure that each and every Tool needed to do the job is present all the time.  

Treatment       One of the biggest reasons employees leave a company is “how the manager treated me.” Your Management Style matters!  Are you ethical, moral and lawful? Do you … say “please” and “thank you;” acknowledge employees’ achievements; listen to and show some respect for their ideas and requests; treat other employees well; “play favorites;” treat customers really well?  And dozens of other things employees think are important.  Manager’s Goal:  Provide best-in-class Treatment to your employees and customers! 

Timely             You may think a PAYCHECK is a reward.  Your employees probably disagree.  Your

employees may think that a paycheck is an even exchange = “I work 40 hours, I get paid for 40 hours.”  To the employee, rewards are those things Above and Beyond the paycheck and benefits.  Things like a pat on the back, bonuses, raises, concert/sports tickets, time off, praise, awards, recognition, etc.  Savvy managers use Timely Rewards to quickly reinforce desirable job behaviors and recent achievements – which helps to ensure that these desirable job behaviors are repeated tomorrow and in the future.  Manager’s Goal:  Don’t take solid employee behavior for granted, be quick to recognize and reward desirable job behaviors.  A Reward Delayed is Reward Denied.    

There are hundreds of things that impact employee performance but none are more important than the 5Ts.  It has been my experience that the businesses and managers who focus on the 5Ts can expect …

• Higher Productivity
• Higher Quality
• Better Customer Service
• Higher Sales
• Fewer Customer Complaints
• Fewer Employee Headaches
• Higher Profits
• Greater Success

If these sound good to you, I suggest that you focus on making the most of the 5Ts! 

Okay, you’re a believer - the 5Ts are important.  Now, how do you make the 5Ts work for you in your company?  Just contact me, we’ll work together to put the pieces in place.  Good luck! 

Ron DeLorme  B.S., M.A.

Manage Max Performance Improvement, Inc.

248.396.5031

training_pro@hotmail.com

Helping improve the performance of individuals, work groups and entire organizations for over 30 years!

Fun Biz Quiz:  Well-Run Companies

Recently, I was speaking to a group of business owners and I kept using the phrase “well-run companies” do this and “well-run companies” do that.  An audience member asked, “Can you define what you mean by a ‘well-run company?’” 

I went on to explain that 100 years of analysis has proven that successful, “well-run” businesses are built upon a foundation. That foundation, or business infrastructure, is comprised of key components and business practices that make a company successful, year after year, whether it is a one-person company or a very large company.  If those key elements are present, business success is much more likely.  If those key elements are missing, business success is much more UNlikely.  This is important:  Your customers look for some of the same “success factors” and business practices.  Ready to exceed your customers’ expectations and improve your odds for success? 

Below, I share some Key Components for Business Success that every business should have in place.  Also, I have included some items that are not necessarily helpful to businesses at all.  Take the Fun Biz Quiz and see if you can identify those “key components” that are very important for every business to have in place [whether you have 1 employee (you) or 100,000 employees – these key components are proven to lead to business success]!  Then, compare your answers to mine and ask yourself the questions that follow the Scoring section.  Have fun! 

INSTRUCTIONS

Read the statements below.  After each statement, place a T (True) if you think that item has been found to be truly instrumental in the success of small or large businesses.  Enter an F (False) if you think that component has not been found to be related to business success.  HINT:  What you think is “just good common sense” may not have been found to be relevant to business success.  Good luck!

Key Component for Business Success – or Not?   

• Business leaders with a “kick-butt and take names” attitude.                                                              

• Business leaders with extensive, advanced college credentials and high grades.  

• Written business practices, job descriptions and customer service practices.      

• All employees have extensive experience in your industry.              

• Written, measurable goals for the business, for each department and for each employee

combined with an inclination to measure everything (i.e., business performance, individual

job performance of employees, sales results, financials, customer satisfaction, etc.)

• Leaders who are decisive (can make decisions quickly). 

• Leaders who make decisions that result in good business outcomes (good judgment).  

• Extremely well-trained employees. 

• Exceptional Customer Service practices, training and focus.           

• Customer Satisfaction Surveys are used regularly and survey results are used to improve

products, services, policies, business practices, employee training, etc.

• The cheapest prices for products.        

• Very high and rigorous standards for hiring all employees (from entry-level to the CEO).

• Hiring and promotion practices that attract, reward and retain exceptional employees.  

• Products and services that distinguish you from the competition.                                              

SCORING:  Key Components for Business Success

How did you do?  .

• F
• F
• T
• F
• T
• F
• T
• T
• T
• T
• F
• T
• T

14. T

How does your business measure up?  The TRUE answers above cite just a few of the Key Business Components that “well-run companies” use to become more successful and, thus, are very important for you and your business – whether you have 1 employee or thousands.  Don’t have these key items in place?  Start now!   

Now, ask yourself the 5 questions below.   

• All customers want to do business with a “well-run company!”  Why?  Because at “well-run companies” …
• the employees know what they are doing.
• they do not rip off the customer.
• they stand behind their products/services.
• their business policies and practices demonstrate that they have the customer’s best interest in mind.
• they are serious about being the best they can be (and better than the competition).  
• they hire, train and retain only the best people, etc. 

In other words, companies who put in place the Key Components cited above actually reduce customer concerns, which makes it easier for the customer to do business with these “well-run companies!”  In your customer’s mind, do you qualify as a “well-run company?”  How do you know – have you surveyed your customers and asked them?

• If Key Components are missing in your business, these act like a Caution Flag to customers:  They wonder if they should do business with you.  What Key Components are missing or incomplete in your business?

• Poor business infrastructure is the most common reason for business failure, in my view.  The business owner/leader was never serious about operating a “well-run business” (i.e., was never serious about using the Key Components and business practices that would lead to a better customer experience and better profitability).  Is your lack of a strong business infrastructure hurting your profitability and holding you back?

• Are your current customers referring a lot of new customers to you?  Why or Why Not?

• What should you do, right now, to become a “well-run company” that attracts and retains more customers and has growing profits?   

I look forward to hearing your reaction to this Biz Quiz.  If you disagree with me, or just want an explanation for my answer, contact me.  Glad to hear your views and explain my answers. 

Ready to take your business to the next level?  Ready to become a “well-run company?”  Contact me.

Ron DeLorme

Manage Max Performance Improvement

248.396.5031      training_pro@hotmail.com

Fun Biz Quiz:  Scary Manager Quotes

Business Managers and Leaders can say the darnedest things.  Over the past 30+ years, I have worked with thousands of CEOs, Senior Managers, Middle Managers and front line Supervisors from every sector of our economy – yes, even the sector you work in!  I work hard at gaining the trust of business leaders and I work hard at keeping that trust.  Once that trust is earned, some managers “let their hair down” and share all kinds of interesting views.  It doesn’t matter what type of business they are in, what their education is, or how much money they make - managers can say the darnedest things. 

Below, I share some interesting statements from managers.  You decide if the comment is TRUE (something a manager actually said) or FALSE (nobody said that, Ron is making it up).  Have fun!

INSTRUCTIONS

Read the statement, mark if you think it is True or False, then check your answers against my answers in the Scoring section.  Have fun.  Good luck! 

“Fair?  We don’t try to be fair!  Life isn’t fair!”                                                                                          

CFO to VP:  “I wasn’t paying attention.  What did ‘she’ just say?”  (“She” is the Supervisor standing in the same room with the CFO and the VP.)

“You want us to reward employees for just doing their job?”                                                            

“Continually train employees in Customer Service, why?  It’s not rocket science!”                 

“Anybody can count money, its simple math!”

“There’s no need to train employees before they work with customers.  Employees learn    the most when actually doing the job.”

 “We don’t care what the guys in the Training Department say.  When new employees come out to the job site, we tell them to ‘forget all that stuff they taught you in training.’”

 “Forget that stuff in the Employee and Procedure Manuals!  I’m the boss, whatever I say   

is the company policy!”

 “What coaching method do I use?  I find that getting angry and yelling works pretty good!”          

Senior VP to VP:  “You are so useless!”                                                                                                      

VP speaking about unionized employees:  “How will this new policy impact the                      

UNprofessional (union) employees?” 

SCORING for Scary Manager Quotes

Sad to say, ALL the statements above are TRUE!  So, every one of your answers should be T. 

Here’s my view:  None of the statements above should be said by any manager, to any employee.  If you want to get the most out of employees, and that IS a manager’s job, there are more constructive and effective ways to communicate your dissatisfaction with the employee’s statements or job behaviors.  A manager’s words can instruct, build people up, inspire and motivate or they can be hurtful and tear people down.  It is never a manager’s job to be insulting and hurtful or to undermine company policy.  There is no payoff to the company for being obnoxious, hurtful, overbearing, rude, arrogant or stupid.  And some of the statements above are flat out stupid (and a possible lawsuit)!   

Do you agree/disagree with me?  Fine.  Contact me and let me know why I am right…or wrong.  Share your stories with me.  Need some help creating more constructive discussions and comments?  Contact me.

Ron DeLorme   Manage Max Performance Improvement   248.396.5031   training_pro@hotmail.com

EXCEPTIONAL Customer Service Survey

Is your Customer Service EXCEPTIONAL, Very Good, or just OK?

Answer the questions below and find out.

INSTRUCTIONS 

Read the 10 questions below.  In the space provided, place a Y for yes or an N for no. 

See SCORING section below.

                                                                                                                                                                  Y / N

1.        Does your company have a “corporate-wide Commitment to EXCEPTIONAL                   _____

           Customer Service?”

2.        Does your company have “very strong Customer Service Policy statements?”             _____

           statements?”

3.        Does your company have “very high Customer Service ‘performance’                                 _____ standards for the company and the employees?”

4.        Does your company have very “customer-friendly business practices?”                           _____

5.        Does your company “only hire managers who have a very strong Customer                    _____

           Service orientation?”

6.        Does your company “only hire customer contact employees who have a very                 _____

           strong Customer Service orientation?”

7.        Does your company “provide exceptional, on-going Customer Service Training           _____

           and Coaching?”

8.        Does your company “measure everything related to Customer Service?”                          _____

9.        Does your company “use benchmarking, internal data, ideas and suggestions             _____ from all sources to improve Customer Service?”

10.      Is  your company “married to Continuous Improvement – in Customer Service              _____

and everything?”

SCORING for EXCEPTIONAL Customer Service

8-10      YES answers = EXCEPTIONAL!  Congratulations!!!  You are among the BEST! 

Your service is so good it will earn you more customers and more money!

5-7        YES answers = Very Good!  Better than most, but not the BEST!  May not be better

than your toughest competitors…or…not as good as your customers want you to be. 

2-4        YES answers = Good.  Better than some.  But this level of service won’t keep current

customers for long or draw customers from miles around.

0-1        YES answers = OK.  Average service.  Better than some, worse than others.  Can

              easily lose current customers.  Having trouble attracting and keeping customers?      

Q:       Need to Attract and Keep more customers?  Have 7 or less YES answers? 

Working together we can improve your Customer Service, your customer retention, your referrals and your profitability – starting right now!  Contact …

Ron DeLorme     Manage Max Performance Improvement

248.396.5031      training_pro@hotmail.com

Improving Business Performance

(A series of articles designed to help you improve employee and business performance)

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It’s Time to Create Your 2011 Operating Plan!

Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.  Great advice for business people.  Here’s another:  People Don’t Plan to Fail, they Fail to Plan.  2 sayings, one message:  Planning can make you more successful.

Lots of research shows that Planning leads to better business results.  But Planning must be timely - and NOW is the time!  If you want a more productive and more profitable 2011, with a lot less stress and hassle, now is the time to establish your operating plan for 2011.  Need some motivation?  OK, did you know that your best and toughest competitors are preparing their 2011 plans right now?  What’s their motivation?      

• They know they need a PLAN of action for 2011 so that they can hit the ground running on January 1!
• Their PLAN is designed to eat your lunch and kick your butt by being faster, smarter and better than you!      

Maybe you better have a plan of your own, eh?  Below, I provide 20 Key Questions that will help you analyze 2010 results and identify how to move forward in 2011.  Answer these questions honestly, then, based on your answers, develop a WRITTEN Operating Plan for 2011.  Your plan needs to capitalize on your strengths, minimize your weaknesses, measure your progress, state who executes each step, show Completion Dates, etc.    

Let’s get started.  How would you answer these 20 questions?                                                 

• What is your 2011 goal for Gross Sales Revenue and for Net Profits?  Write these numbers down – they can be your driving force for all the activities in your 2011 Operating Plan.
• How can you save money on essential activities and expenses like advertising, supplies/services from vendors, taxes, building space, office equipment and systems, and so on?
• What 1-5 things should you have done in 2010 that would have increased revenue or decreased expenses?  Put your action steps to solve these issues near the top of your 2011 Operating Plan.
• What caused you the biggest or most frequent HEADACHES last year?  How can you prevent or minimize those headaches in 2011?

• What new markets (or specific customers) do you want to reach in 2011? 
• How will you advertise to find new customers in 2011?
• What new/different messages do you want to communicate to new and current customers in 2011? 
• What will you do differently to advertise to, and improve your relationship with, current customers in 2011? 
• Have you set aside enough money for advertising, marketing, promotions, etc.?

• What have you learned about your competitors that gives you an advantage in 2011?
• What do customers like or dislike about your products, services and pricing?  (You did survey your customers, right?)
• What can you do to improve Customer Service?  (You did survey your customers, right?)
• What can you do to improve AR (accounts receivable) like on-time payments, full payments, and so on?

• What must you do to increase Sales Revenue in 2011?  (e.g., Change or add value to your products or services?  Reduce or raise your prices?  Advertise more/less?  Change how, when or where you advertise?) 
• Are you or your staff talking to lots of customers but getting very few sales? 
• How many customers did you lose in 2010?  How many new customers did you gain in 2010?
• What incentives can you offer customers, employees and others to increase referrals and gross sales?

• What can YOU, your MANAGERS and your EMPLOYEES do better in 2011?  (Set aside $$$ and time to train everyone to perform better.)
• Do you know how to “coach, train and develop employees” (or yourself) so that all of you are much better at Prospecting; Identifying Customer Needs; Overcoming Objections; Closing the Sale; Customer Service and Handling Difficult Customers (in person, on-line and over the phone); Teamwork; Communications; Reducing Waste; Selecting and Developing staff; Managing the work of others and getting optimal productivity and quality; and so on?
• Do you know how to create a results-oriented Operating Plan that you can follow throughout the year?       

This is a great start!  Now, figure out what else needs to be addressed, then, start writing your 2011 Operating Plan. Next, start finding the resources you will need to take your business to the next level.  Need some help planning for and executing your 2011 Operating Plan?  Just contact me.

Have a great holiday and good luck in 2011!       TIP:  You’ll have more “luck” if you create a plan for 2011!

 Ron DeLorme       Manage Max Performance Improvement       248.396.5031      training_pro@hotmail.com

Improving Business Performance

(A series of articles designed to help you improve employee and business performance)

___________________________________________________________________________________

4 Easy Steps to Better Management Practices and Better Business Result$$$!

• Complete this FUN “Best Practices in Management” Quiz.
• Compare your answer to the Answers provided.
• Be sure to share these Best Practices with your employees and to

apply the Best Practices in your workplace!

• Reap the Reward$$$$$$!

Best Practices:  In any business, there are Best Practices that managers can use to reap the highest payoff at the lowest cost.  Using Best Practices ensures that your business is getting the most “bang for the buck” from employees, from business workflows and procedures, in managing money, in customer service, and more. Over the next few months, I’ll provide a series of FUN “quizzes” that will highlight accepted Best Practices in different business skills.  Managers and Business Owners, if you want optimal results, apply these Best Practices in your workplace!  You’ll get better result$$$!  Have fun!      

Instructions: 

1. Print the Best Practices Quiz. 
2. Read the statement then circle the answer that you think is “correct.” 
3. Check your responses against the Answers provided below.
4. Now that you know the correct answer, ask yourself these questions:
1. “Honestly, do I use these Best Practices on a daily basis?” 
2. “Would I (or my employees) be more effective and efficient if we applied

these Best Practices in our work place?” 

Now, make any adjustments to improve your effectiveness and apply daily in the workplace.

1. Ask your employees to complete the Best Practices Quiz and to check their answers.  Then, ask your employees these questions:
1. “Do you use the Best Practices when you are working here?”   
2. “Would you be more effective and efficient if you used these Best Practices every day?”
2. Get everyone to use the Best Practices daily. 
3. Reap the reward$$$!

Fun Quiz:  Best Practices in Time Management

•  Great time management is not about getting everything done, it’s about “getting the right things done.”
• True
• False

• Research shows that, compared to mediocre Time Managers, the Great Time Managers not only get more done in the average work day, they “get more of the right things done” each day because they concentrate their efforts on high-payoff activities.
• True
• False

• In every job, at every level of a small or large company, there are hundreds of tasks and duties that need to be done.  When choosing what to work on, workers at all levels have a tendency to work on the task that is most enjoyable, tasks that are the least difficult, etc. and tend to put-off working on the more difficult or less enjoyable tasks.
• True
• False

• Great Time Managers “plan their work, and work their plan.”
• True
• False

• Things that Great Time Managers avoid are procrastination, waiting until the last minute, working on things that pop-up, getting caught in a pattern of putting out fires or allowing a phone call or e-mail to make them lose focus on high-payoff activities.
• True
• False

• Great Time Managers know that they must “manage their time” or their many responsibilities will “manage them.”
• True
• False

 

• One way Great Time Managers manage their time is to “budget” their time by allocating 60 minutes to the most important project, scheduling 15 minutes to a lesser project, and so on.  This ensures that they work on and complete the most important, high payoff projects.

• True
• False

• Great Time Managers know when they are most productive, whether in the morning or the afternoon.  To the degree possible, they schedule their most important, high-payoff activities or most difficult projects to coincide with their peak productivity periods because this is when they are “at their best.”
• True
• False

• Great Time Managers may set aside “quiet periods” during the day when they can NOT be disturbed.  This allows them to focus on important business issues without being interrupted. 
• True
• False

• Interruptions are considered one of the biggest TIME WASTERS in a person’s day.  Interruptions can take the form of phone calls, e-mails, paper mail that comes in, people walking into your office, etc.
• True
• False       

Bonus:  One method often used by great Time Managers to “plan their work” is to rank each major activity to be done on a scale similar to the one shown below and to focus on high-scoring tasks only.  The possible scores for Importance are 1-3 where 3 is the highest Importance.  The scores for Urgency are also 1-3 where 3 is the most Urgent.  Thus, the Great Time Manager will focus on items ranked 9 first and will defer working on lower scoring items until a later time.

Activity/Task                                                                              Importance     X     Urgency     =     Ranking

Schedule meeting with Sales staff for next week                3              X            1           =           3

Complete payroll by tomorrow, 8:00 a.m.                            3             X             3           =           9

ANSWERS to the Fun Quiz:     

All answers for questions 1-10 are …   a. True.   

If you got all the answers right – congrats!   

However, it’s not what you “know” about Time Management that is important.  What is important is how YOU ACTUALLY MANAGE YOUR TIME.  So, it’s great that you knew most or all of the correct answers but …

• Do you follow the Best Practices above?
• Do all your employees follow the Best Practices above?
• Could you or your employees use a little help in managing time better?
• Do you need some Time Management worksheets that will help you and your employees to apply the Best Practices and get better results?

I’ll be glad to help you or your employees to apply these Best Practices in Time

Management and help you to start Reaping the Reward$$$!  Just contact me.

Ron DeLorme

Manage Max Performance Improvement, Inc.

248.396.5031  or  training_pro@hotmail.com.

Job Fair is a BIG Success – Chamber Members Responsible! 

The St. Daniel’s Parish Job Fair was a BIG success!  It was held on Monday, September 20 at St. Daniel’s Church in Clarkston.  24 local employers participated and this included many Clarkston Chamber members and members from other Chambers of Commerce.  In only 4 hours, nearly 150 job seekers stopped by and talked to the employers. 

Feedback from job seekers and employers was very positive.  Job seekers could talk to 24 employers in one location.  Employers made great contacts with job seekers and other companies.  Hopefully, some companies will find a great employee…an employee will find a great company…and together they will improve the performance of the company and create a more positive business atmosphere for our entire community.  How cool is that?!!!!!!!!!!!!          

My sincere thanks to all who participated and made this event a success!  Much of the credit goes to members from several Chambers of Commerce!  Also, I need to thank all the volunteers, all the employers and all the job seekers.  In particular, I want to thank the following:

• Fr. Chris and St. Daniel’s Parish - Clarkston (for making the whole thing possible)
• St. Daniel’s Job Ministry members, Marylou Enneking, Rose Mary Smith and all the great folks at St. Daniel’s Parish.
• The Clarkston News (who ran articles and ads for the event – wow!)
• The Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce
• The Orion Chamber
• The Rochester Chamber
• The Oxford Chamber
• The chamber members who spread the word about the Job Fair to job seekers and other employers.
• Clarkston 411
• Clarkston, Orion and Ortonville Coffee Clubs  
• All the nice people at the Brandon Township Library who helped spread the word.
• My brothers and friends who volunteered at the Job Fair 
• All the other volunteers who made the event work very smoothly
• And Nadia, my wife, who worked with me for months on every aspect of this very important event.  

Thanks, again, to everyone who contributed to the Job Fair’s success and for helping St. Daniel’s Job Ministry to reduce the hurt that joblessness causes in our community.  

Need a little help finding and keeping great employees?  Just contact me. 

Ron DeLorme

248.396.5031

training_pro@hotmail.com.

Manage Max Performance Improvement, Inc.

How Your Business can become a Great Company – and Stay that Way!

Great houses are built upon a strong foundation and must have a great infrastructure (i.e., framework, plumbing, electrical, heating/cooling, etc.).  If you want to build a great business, you need a great infrastructure, too!   

After working for and studying hundreds of best-in-class companies, I can tell you that the “infrastructure” of most Great Companies looks very similar.  What makes-up the infrastructure of a Great Company?  The Big 10! 

I know a very small Great Company, in the Detroit area, that has grown very rapidly and been very profitable the past 2 years!  Wow!  This small Great Company has the same Big 10 Infrastructure that large Great Companies have.  Great Companies (from 2 - 100,000 employees) tend to use most or all of the following Big 10 items: 

• They offer great products and services
• They have very strong Customer Service standards and policies
• They have written statements regarding Mission, Core Values and Guiding Principles
• They study their own methods of doing things, refine them and write down what works best (Best Practices).
• They study the best practices of other companies and incorporate those into their procedures.
• They provide written Job Descriptions for each job in the company
• They use written Performance Appraisals that are conducted regularly and on-time for every employee
• They have Company, Operating and HR policies and procedures – in writing
• They use “best people practices” for hiring, developing, and promoting staff
• They set measurable goals, they communicate those goals to each employee and make sure (using the Job Descriptions) that each employee’s job contributes to achieving the corporate goals.  Later, they report on their success or failure to reach those goals and search for the reasons why:  If Successful, they try to repeat those practices.  If they Failed, they try new practices and approaches. (Continuous Improvement)       

Why do very small businesses invest the time and money to build their infrastructure?  Because these “management tools” help create a high-performing culture and help to keep the employees (and the company) performing at a high level.  A strong infrastructure provides management with tools that can be used to reduce problems and increase the productivity of employees and the company.  Payoffs of a strong infrastructure?

• Clarify the Purpose and Goals of the Company:  Mission, Values and Goal statements send a clear message about what the company does, what the company values and what it expects to achieve.  
• Optimize the Company’s Productivity by Managing Individual/Team Performance:  Written Job Descriptions and Performance Appraisals provides management with the tools it needs to clarify job duties, re-direct staff, make assignments, communicate productivity requirements and to measure job performance.  Based on those measures, it allows managers to reward top performers or remove those who are not performing.
• Protection:  Once employees have read and signed that they understand your written mission and values statements, operational and HR policies, etc., the employer (you!) are in a stronger position to remove and replace the employees who break your policies/procedures.
• Substitute Manager that Reduces Confusion and Arguments: Having written policies and procedures reduces confusion and complaints and greatly reduces occurrences where staff “make-up” their own rules.  “Anything goes” when there are no written rules or guidelines or when you are not around to clarify - Joni’s views are as valid as Jimmy’s views.  Written procedures act as a substitute manager when you are busy or not available.  Furthermore, confusion about how to do one’s job is the biggest cause of wasted time and money in most companies.  Be a Great Company and Reduce Waste and Confusion:  Create procedures!   
• Alignment:  Once these pieces are in place, it is much easier to orchestrate the work efforts of individuals and teams and to ensure that their labors are “aligned” with corporate goals.  Misalignment = workers not doing the right things or doing things wastefully or wrong.  Misalignment = Poor Productivity and High Waste!  Creating procedures allows you to DESIGN INTO THE JOB a reduction in confusion and waste and guarantees better alignment (all employees doing what they should be doing – working on corporate goals)!           

Want your business to be a Great Company?  Build your infrastructure!  If you need a little help with creating mission/values/goal statements, policies or procedures, or creating job descriptions and measures that will help you improve the bottom line, just contact me.  Let’s make your company a Champion of the Big 10!    

Ron DeLorme,  Manage Max Performance Improvement.   248.396.5031  or  training_pro@hotmail.com

Improving Business Performance

(A series of articles designed to help you improve employee / business performance)

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Customer Surveys:  Useful and Inexpensive!

Here’s some great advice that I share with my clients:

• KNOW Your Customers!
• It’s not good enough to THINK or ASSUME you know what customers want.  You got to KNOW!
• Customer Satisfaction Surveys are great tools that will help you KNOW your customers.

There is only 1 way to KNOW what customers want, value and prefer – ASK the customer!  If you have not asked your customers, you don’t KNOW your customers!

One of the most effective, and least expensive, ways to KNOW what customers want is to create a Customer Satisfaction Survey and run it by as many customers as possible.

What are the Payoffs to you for gathering this customer information?  Plenty!

• You learn what customers really think and feel about your business (products, pricing, service, etc.).
• You learn which products/services they like the most (and the least).
• You learn what products/services they may be looking for in the future.
• You learn why some customers have not been shopping with you lately.
• You learn where to make improvements that will keep the customers coming back to you (instead of going to your competitor).
• You show your customers that you CARE about their satisfaction, wants and needs.
• Your survey acts as a Marketing/Advertising tool….keeping your name in front of the customer.

Customer Surveys can be created quite quickly and cheaply.  Sure, you can create a survey with 100 questions but I’ve found that 10-20 questions will gather most of the information you need – especially if you craft the questions correctly!  And you can use the same (or similar) survey on paper, on the computer or over the phone.   

To be useful to you, survey questions have to be based on the key functions of your business like product selection/quality; helpfulness of staff; and so on.  Asking customers whether they like/dislike the new awning on your building may not provide you with the most valuable information about how to improve your business and flourish. 

OK, let’s review:

• Getting to know your customers IS important!
• Customer Surveys can help you to get to know your customers better…quickly!
• Creating and administering Customer Surveys is not necessarily expensive or difficult!
• Customer Surveys can be administered on paper, on the computer or over the telephone.
• Customer Surveys can help you to sell more products/services and can help you retain customers.

How Do You Measure-Up?

• Have you ever ASKED your customers to answer a series of 5-20 questions about your products…your pricing…your sales and service personnel, and so on?

2.     If YES, how long ago did you get this input from customers?

3.     If YES, what changes did you make based on the customer’s input?

4.     If NO, shouldn’t you be creating a Customer Survey right now?

Need a little help building a Customer Satisfaction Survey that will help you KNOW your customers’ wants and needs and help your bottom line?  Just contact me. 

Ron DeLorme at 248.396.5031 or training_pro@hotmail.com.

Manage Max Performance Improvement, Inc.

Improving Business Performance

(A series of articles designed to help you improve employee / business performance)

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All your business problems are PEOPLE problems!  And will require PEOPLE solutions!

For over 30 years, my job has been to FIX business problems – by improving procedures, removing obstacles to performance or by building the skills and behaviors of employees.  Over all those years, at hundreds of different companies, there has been one constant:   The improvement plan has always relied upon improving the “People Skills” of leaders, teams or individuals.

My conclusion:  All Business Problems are PEOPLE Problems.      

Here are some things that I have learned over the past 30+ years.  I hope they help you!

• All Business Problems are PEOPLE Problems.  That is, the CAUSE of all business problems has a PEOPLE element … and the SOLUTION will have a PEOPLE element. 
• If your business is having problems with sales, customer service, teamwork, management effectiveness, employee relations, etc., one of the root causes of those problems will be the lack of People Skills.   
• No set of skills is more important to a business than People Skills.  Every employee, at every level, in every department, needs People Skills - and the stronger those skills, the better!  Where strong People Skills are present, there are fewer problems.  Poor People Skills always creates more problems in the work place.
• People skills are more important, and much more rare, than most business leaders think.
• The term People Skills is an over-arching phrase meant to include all the skills involved in human interaction.  Fact is, there are so many unique, discrete People Skills that they are very hard to list and describe!  Here’s a small sample:  The communication skills of Questioning, Speaking and Listening.  “Reading” people.  Identifying and solving people problems.  Clarifying, educating and motivating people.  Knowing how to “work” a roomful of people. Knowing when/how to use finesse.  Knowing when to speak-out or shut-up.  The appropriate use of Body Language and Humor.  And many more.    
• Many business leaders assume that living or schooling has (magically) developed People Skills in job holders and in job seekers.  Wrong!
• Most high schools and most college specialties (i.e., accounting, business, medicine, law, computer science, engineering, math, literature, history, etc.) offer little/no coursework in the People Skills.   
• In business, People Skills are used in all manner of internal and external interactions.  Often, managers assume that the parties involved already possess People Skills and are using these skills to achieve more productive and gratifying outcomes for all concerned.  Not true.
• Technical skills are great and necessary, but your engineers, accounting and computer systems folks need to communicate and get along with other employees, as well.  And that involves People Skills.
• Unfortunately, the skills associated with the art of human interaction are often referred to as “soft skills.”  A term that is, in my opinion, derisive and inaccurate.  There is nothing “soft” or easy about People Skills.  People Skills includes scores of large and small sets of skills and behaviors.  Learning how and when to apply them in different situations can be very difficult.  If acquiring and applying People Skills were so easy, why do I see so many “people” problems in so many workplaces?    

My Advice:  Realize that all your business problems have a People Skills cause and People Skills solution.  If you want to solve your current business problems, and prevent future business problems, improving the People Skills of your employees is a great place to start.    

Need a little help building your People Skills or the People Skills of your staff?  Just contact me. 

Ron DeLorme at 248.396.5031 or training_pro@hotmail.com.

Manage Max Performance Improvement, Inc.

Improving Business Performance

(A series of articles designed to help you improve employee / business performance)

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Great Local Businesses:  Give ‘em a try!

Buy Local/Buy from Chamber Members:  I’m a BIG supporter of the Buy Local movement!  It’s microeconomics in action and, in Michigan, it is the right thing to do!  You name the item - I try to buy it locally and, if possible, from my friends in the Chamber of Commerce.      

Have you read Penny Shanks’ 12/20/09 Chamber Blog on the positive impact of buying local (“Think Local, Buy Chamber”)?  Here are a couple of excerpts that demonstrate the POWER of BUYING LOCAL: 

“Did you realize that when $100 is spent locally at an independently owned business (restaurant, retail or service provider) $68 of that immediately stays in the community through payroll, taxes, rent, supplies and other operating expenses.”

“Keeping money in the community is important. www.buymichigan.com reports that $1 spent locally can cycle 7x through the community before leaving for another community. SEVEN TIMES. That's powerful.”

Want to help the local economy get better and make it possible for others to buy your services?  Buy locally!   

Below, I list some local businesses that have provided great products/services to my family recently and over the years.  Consider making your next purchase from these local businesses who are, also, Chamber of Commerce members.

Champs Cleaners  Champs is a family operated business.  This was my 1st experience.  They were eager to help, upbeat, courteous, had good prices, did a nice job on the shirts.  (6315 Sashabaw Road, Clarkston.  Near Waldon & Sashabaw.  248.620.0104)

Flagstar Bank   Great service, very helpful.  Manage Max Great Customer Service Award winner.  (5720 Sashabaw, Clarkston.  North of the intersection of Maybee and Sashabaw.  248.625.3487)

Fountains Golf & Banquet:  You gotta’ give the new owners credit, there is something going on here all the time!  We like the comedy upstairs; dance music downstairs; affordable meals; the patio in the summer.  FUN!  (6060 Maybee, Clarkston.  Between Dixie Hwy. and Sashabaw.  248.625.3731).

Crittenton Medical Equipment:  Very knowledgeable and helpful management and staff.  Very good selection of products.  2nd location in Rochester Hills.  (1176 S. Lapeer Road, Lake Orion.  Just south of the intersection of Clarkston Road and Lapeer/M-24.  248.693.5384)       

Coffee News:  I know several business owners who state that the Coffee News has helped to increase business.  Might be right for you.  (2668 Aubrey Drive, Lake Orion.  Call Martha,  248.391.6730).      

Snap Fitness:  I like the Snap Fitness approach:  Low monthly payments, lots of machines and free weights, open 24/7, you can get assistance/advice or do your own thing.  Owners/operators are nice people, very helpful, easy to work with!  This explains why my wife and I have been members for several years.  (5900 Sashabaw - north of the intersection of Maybee and Sashabaw)   

Waterfall Jewelers:  We know the family that operates Waterfall and they have always been very helpful and fair to our family.  Nice store, good selection, full service, knowledgeable staff.  Check ‘em out!  (5649 Dixie Hwy., Waterford.  248.623.9422)

Want your customers to brag about your products and services? 

Contact Ron DeLorme:  248.396.5031  or  training_pro@hotmail.com

Manage Max Performance Improvement, Inc.      Chamber members always receive a BIG DISCOUNT! 

Improving Business Performance

(A series of articles designed to help you improve employee / business performance)

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You know the definition of I N S A N I T Y, right ………..

“Doing the same things over and over and expecting different results!”

Are you ready to make changes/improvements so that you can get Better Results in 2010? 

Doing the same things over and over will NOT help you get new and better results! 

Below, I’ve listed some great ideas that WILL help you make 2010 a much better year!

Let’s start with Goals for 2010!

Goals for 2010

• Commit to doing things differently, and BETTER, in 2010!  Break out of the “box!”
• Commit to finding your true strengths/weaknesses and those of your staff.  Then, assign

        tasks to those persons who have the talents and skills to execute those duties well!

• Reduce/eliminate wasted effort, wasteful steps, procedures that don’t work, etc.!
• Increase sales revenue in 2010!
• Greatly increase PROFITS in 2010!

If those Goals sound good, read on.  The next step is to take a Hard Look at your Company.

Take a hard look at your COMPANY

Keep the very best:  Products, services, employees, procedures, vendors, advertising, etc.

Unload the rest:  Get rid of anyone and everything that is not helping you be more profitable!

Improve whatever you keep:  increase and improve your most effective advertising.  Keep and improve your best products and your best people. Improve your guarantees and warrantees.  Improve your services, response time and customer service.  Improve your procedures by making them “customer-focused.”

Identify gaps or weaknesses:  After you jettison everything that is NOT working for you, do you have any gaps in your product/service mix?  Do you have key positions that MUST be filled? 

Fill the gaps:  Fill the gaps with high-quality products, services and personnel ONLY!  Again, this probably means that you will need to use new, and BETTER, employee selection techniques; BETTER product design approaches; Best-in-Class guarantees and customer satisfaction; etc.

Study your Customers:  Your customers can tell you what you need to Start doing and what you need to Stop doing….ASK! 

Study your Competitors:  Who are your most successful competitors?  What are they doing/offering that makes them so successful?  Why do customers like them?  Adopt whatever you can from your competitors so that you can offer the same or better products/services. 

You ain’t done yet!  As a business owner or manager, you need to take a Hard Look at YOU!

Take a hard look at YOURSELF

Keep the best:  You do some things well, other things not so well.  Keep whatever you do well and do more of it.  Want honest, accurate feedback about your business strengths and weaknesses?  Ask your spouse (or significant other).  Are you really serious about doing things better in 2010?  Ask your employees to fill out a Performance Appraisal on you!

Unload the rest:  Reassign or outsource the things you don’t do well to someone who is good at those tasks or eliminate those tasks!   

Improve whatever you keep:  If you are really good at Marketing, do more of it and find ways to do it better.  If you are mediocre at interviewing/selecting employees, find someone who is very good at it!

Identify gaps or weaknesses:  Since no one is good at everything a business requires, be honest with yourself:  What should you be doing that is left undone?  What business tasks do you HATE doing?  (probably the same tasks that are left undone)  In what business tasks are you a Poor or Average performer?  Your business suffers if you do these tasks poorly!   

Fill the gaps:  Honestly now, are you suddenly going to become a GREAT performer in those things that you Hate?  Are you suddenly going to become a great Marketer if you have performed poorly in this area the last 10 years?  Find someone, internally/externally, who can do these jobs well!

Study your employees:  You may have an employee who will do a great job completing the tasks you hate!  Reassign these tasks to those persons!  Then, you can focus on doing what you do best!      

Getting better results in 2010 will require that you do things differently and BETTER!  Are you ready to make changes and improvements?  If not, you will get the same results as last year…and that just might be INSANE !                                            

Don’t act  INSANE!  Take action NOW!

Get the assistance and insight you need to take your Sales and Profits to the next level! 

I can help you identify and prioritize the changes you need to make in 2010!

Contact me.  Working together we can make 2010 a better year!

Contact Ron DeLorme,  Manage Max Performance Improvement

248.396.5031  or  training_pro@hotmail.com

Chamber members always receive a BIG DISCOUNT! 

“It’s not what you KNOW about business/management that makes you successful – it’s what you DO!”

Improving Business Performance

(A series of articles designed to help you improve employee / business performance)

___________________________________________________________________________________

Start Using these NOW!

Best Practices of Best-in-Class Companies

Quick Review:  Previous articles in this series have explained many Best Practices of Best-in-Class companies.  Use these practices and you can transform your employees, improve your customer service and increase your sales.  Best Practices #1-6 are shown at the end of this article.    

This month, we examine Best Practice #7:  Make your company “Demanding but Rewarding!” 

When employees at top-performing companies are questioned, they often describe their company as “Demanding but Rewarding!”  What employees are saying is that they have to work really hard but, if they do, they are rewarded.  Creating such a workplace is a Win-Win-Win for you and your company:  The Customers Win, the Employees Win, and the Company Wins.  It doesn’t get much better than this!    

Therefore, it is smart management to set high (but achievable) standards and it is even better if employees feel rewarded by the company for reaching peak performance.  How do you create a “Demanding but Rewarding” workplace? 

Creating a rewarding work environment does not have to be difficult, expensive or a mystery.  Here are 12 management BEST PRACTICES, used by Best-in-Class companies, that helps them to get peak performance from employees, year after year.  

• Management realizes that nothing is more important to an employee’s job satisfaction than the work conditions created by the management team (many of those conditions are explained in this article).  Great companies develop and keep great employees by providing as many as possible of the conditions shown below.
• Clear job descriptions and performance expectations.
• All the resources needed to do the job well (training, time, tools, resources, encouragement, information, etc.).
• Managers/co-workers who help the employee to develop their skills and to master the job tasks.
• Managers who focus on “catching employees doing something RIGHT” more than they focus on “catching employees doing something wrong.”  This changes the whole work environment, every management practice and every employee-manager interaction.  Employee mistakes are dealt with quickly and constructively, not used as an opportunity to demean and devastate an employee.
• Exceptional job performance is rewarded!  Employees have a fair chance to earn a top score on their Performance Appraisal and a raise (or valuable reward) if his/her performance warrants it.

Too many workplaces have a Performance Review system that uses a 1–5 point rating scale and nobody gets a 4 or 5 because, officially or unofficially, a 4 has come to mean “walks on water” and a 5 has come to mean “walks on mist.”  (Silly me, I thought we were assessing Human performance, not the performance of Deities.)   

Guess what?  This DEmotivates employees and kills performance!  Companies using this approach have guaranteed that no employee is going to give extra effort or try to excel!  Why?  Because there is no reward for doing so!  The Slacker employee gets the same/similar rating and reward as the Superstar employee!  Employees learn quickly what is valued, and rewarded, by management.  For most employees, there is no reason to work extra hard if it is not recognized and not rewarded.

• A positive work environment where the manager “talks the talk AND walks the walk” by setting the tone for professionalism, fairness, cooperation, teamwork, continuous improvement, good communication and all other valued management practices.  Managers treat employees respectfully, courteously, fairly, etc.  No double standards or mixed messages, where the manager’s behavior says “I can lie, cheat, come in late, steal, take 3 hour lunches and drink on the job…but you employees can’t!”    Great role model, huh?
• A manager who will not tolerate, and who will apply corporate punishments to, anyone who back-stabs, sabotages, gossips about others or undermines others on the team.
• Managers give credit where credit is due and who do NOT take credit for the work of their employees.  No favoritism, no games and no unnecessary surprises.
• Managers who are positive, upbeat, encouraging, etc.  Managers who find out the facts before rendering decisions.  Not managers who are cranky, negative, demeaning, screamers, accusers, manipulators, etc.
• Lots of rewards available to managers and managers are required to use these rewards to influence employee behaviors, based on real job performance (not allowed to withhold rewards from top performers or to hand-out rewards to his/her favorites only).
• Rewards come in many shapes and sizes – the most effective reward (the reward that has the most utility in shaping employee job behavior) is the reward most valued by the employee.  Since every employee is different, having a wide range of rewards to dispense increases the likelihood that the manager can offer something that appeals to every employee.

Yes, money is an important reward and a powerful one.  Surprise!  For many employees, money is NOT the most important reward.  Employees also value appreciation; recognition; fairness; positive work group relationships; opportunities to learn, grow and advance in the company; a fun workplace; awards, certificates, being mentioned in the company newsletter or local newspaper; time off the job; a great boss; being asked for his/her opinion on work-related issues; a preferred parking spot; and many others.  Savvy managers provide lots of the rewards above, especially when money is not available.

13. BONUS: Fact is, employees want to admire, respect and learn from their bosses.  So, act in an Admirable way.  Be someone they can Respect.  Be a good educator and coach.          

As I mentioned in the last article, and as you can see from the listing above, members of the management team are the individuals with the most impact on corporate performance.  If the employee population is turned-on and really producing, you probably have some superb managers.  If you have employees who perform at a low level, who seem like misfits in the jobs they are assigned to do, and who spend more time grumbling and backstabbing than producing, you probably have some pretty poor managers.

Giving managers the guidelines and tools they need, like those described above, will help you to create a high performing, “Demanding but Rewarding” workplace that is operating at a very high level for employees, customers and your company!

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all my friends in the Clarkston Chamber.  Contact me if I can help you make 2010 a better year!     

Contact Ron DeLorme,  Manage Max Performance Improvement

248.396.5031  or  training_pro@hotmail.com

Chamber members always receive a BIG DISCOUNT! 

Improving Business Performance

(A series of articles designed to help you improve employee / business performance)

___________________________________________________________________________________

Start Using these NOW!

Best Practices of Best-in-Class Companies

Quick Review:  Previous articles in this series have explained many Best Practices of Best-in-Class companies.  Use these practices and you can transform your employees, improve your customer service and increase your sales.  Here’s what we’ve covered so far: 

Best Practice #1:  Provide Top-Notch Training to Employees and Lots of It!

Best Practice #2:  Develop job descriptions for each position in your company, that are aligned, integrated, specific and complete listings of job tasks, with corresponding performance standards for each task. 

Best Practice #3:  Be dedicated to EXCELLENCE in EVERYTHING and Measure, Measure, Measure!

Best Practice #4:  Continuously Improve Everything!  You are NEVER done improving!

Best Practice #5:  Hire only the best employees! 

This month, we examine Best Practice #6:  Look for managers who get results AND who “have a way with employees.”     

Members of the management team (e.g., supervisors, managers and senior leaders) are the individuals with the most impact on corporate performance.  Managers have input and decision-making power over everything that makes the company successful:  Products, Pricing, Policies, Procedures, Public Relations, Personnel, Marketing, Customer Service, Sales, etc.

If the employee population is turned-on and really producing, you probably have some superb managers.  If you have employees who perform at a low level, who seem like misfits in the jobs they are assigned to do, and who spend more time grumbling and backstabbing than producing, you probably have some pretty poor managers.

Best-in-Class companies get it!  They know that great managers --> great employees --> great company performance.  So, not surprisingly, Best-in-Class (BiC) companies work hard at developing their current management team and at attracting external managers with an impressive track record of success. 

CAUTION:  Before you hire a manager from another company, find out what that manager’s employees thought of him/her (there are ways to do this).  If most of the employees thought this manager was “great” or “really good,” keep the process going – you might have a real winner!  If, however, you find that most employees are lukewarm or negative about the manager, look out!  Here’s why.

To a large degree, the job of Management is “getting work done through others.”   Those “others” are usually subordinate employees.  If the manager cannot get a positive rating from those “others” (employees) who are so important to getting things done in any business, something is wrong.  Maybe you will find out that this manager bullies others into getting results; or causes a tidal wave of discontent and turnover; or scares away great employees.  The candidate you want gets results but has little or NO human wreckage in their wake.  In fact, these great managers are often described as “having a way with their employees.”           

“Having a way with their employees” is shorthand for saying things like the following:  This manager knows how to reach employees; knows how to develop employees; knows how to get employees working together towards corporate goals; knows how get the most from employees; and so on.  Further, these managers know how to keep the best employees and how to off-load the anchors and trouble-makers.            

In short, these are Best-in-Class Managers – Superstars of the Management world.  Often, Super Star Managers are high-achievers who know how to influence and develop employees to get the big results the manager wants to achieve.  Super Star Managers may require a little more money.  They may ask for more leeway in how they run their department.  They may be unconventional in their approaches.  But Super Star Managers are worth it!  They know how to get results! 

If you want to attract and keep a Super Star Manager, be willing to “bend the rules” and to remove the handcuffs that many organizations put on managers.  Turn this guy or gal loose.  They will pay you back with BIG results and employees who work like demons! 

Need help Developing or Attracting Super Star Managers? 

Contact Ron DeLorme,  Manage Max Perform. Improvement

248.396.5031  or  training_pro@hotmail.com.

Chamber members receive a BIG DISCOUNT! 

Improving Business Performance

(A series of articles designed to help you improve employee / business performance)

___________________________________________________________________________________

Start Using these NOW!

Best Practices of Best-in-Class Companies

In this series of articles, Best Practices of Best-in-Class companies, I share the Best Practices that are used by the best companies in the world.  You can use these Best Practices to IMPROVE sales, customer service, employee job performance and profitability – FAST!  I study Best-in-Class Businesses and Superstar Performers, I find out what they are doing that makes them so successful, then, I share those techniques and approaches with you.  Use these Best Practices and you can start Making More Money and Saving More Money!   

Quick Review:  In past articles, I explained …

Best Practice #1:  Provide Top-Notch Employee Training and Lots of It!

Best Practice #2:  For each job title in your company, create Aligned, Integrated, specific and complete listings of job tasks (job descriptions) with corresponding performance standards for each task. 

Best Practice #3:  Be dedicated to EXCELLENCE in EVERYTHING and Measure, Measure, Measure!

Best Practice #4:  Continuously Improve Everything!  You are NEVER done improving!

This month, we examine Best Practice #5:  Hire only the best employees! 

Many employers make the mistake of hiring someone fast and, essentially, they wind-up throwing a body at an open position.  This is a sure way to get mediocre or poor business results!  Best-in-class companies take a different approach – they put a lot of time and effort into hiring only the best candidates!  

If you need an employee, you need one who will perform at a high level.  This means your goal should be to hire someone who is in the top 10-15% of the talent pool.  And here’s some good news:  Given Michigan’s economic climate, the talent pool in Michigan is filled with very talented, very motivated people, who want to produce!   

Don’t assume that these talented people will not work for your business.  Many talented people are looking for a whole new career, a more meaningful career, a job closer to home, etc.  I helped one of my small biz clients find a dynamite employee who had worked at a billion dollar company previously.  This new employee has become the best employee my client has ever had (and my client has employed hundreds of people over the years).   

So, how do you find great employees who work hard and contribute to your success?  Try these steps - they work for my clients!

• Write a detailed Job Description for the position you are trying to fill (Best Practice #2).
• Set very high standards – you don’t want a “body,” you want a superstar.  Resolve to hire only the best (Best Practice #5). 
• Cast a big net.  Advertise the job everywhere possible.  Talk to your business contacts (and friends at the Chamber) and ask for their assistance in finding the right person. Observe employees at other companies – do any of these people meet your needs?  If you see a superstar at another company doing a job similar to what you need, consider contacting that employee…maybe he/she is interested in making a move.
• Create and use interview questions that are “behaviorally-based.”  Behaviorally-based questions ask applicants to describe their successes, challenges, strengths, etc. based on past work experiences.
• Don’t hire too quickly.  Waiting for the “right” person is better than quickly hiring the wrong person.
• Consider altering your compensation package to include “incentives” for achievements (this appeals to the high-achievers you are trying to attract).
• The high-achievers you are trying to attract expect to be trained well and treated well.  Now is the time to develop high-quality on-boarding and job training programs (Best Practice #1) and to amend your business and management practices (Best Practices 3 & 4) to ensure that high-achievers want to stay at your company.
• Great employees are like pure Gold coins:  They are rare, they are very valuable and once you have some, you don’t want to lose them.           

Need help with Job Descriptions, Interview Questions, Job Training programs or Incentive programs?  I can help!

Contact Ron DeLorme, Manage Max Perform. Improve., 248.396.5031 or training_pro@hotmail.com.

Chamber members receive a BIG DISCOUNT! 

Improving Business Performance

(A series of articles designed to help you improve employee / business performance)

___________________________________________________________________________________

Start Using these NOW!

Best Practices of Best-in-Class Companies

Goal:  Share Best Practices, from Best-in-Class companies, with YOU!  So YOU can start improving sales, customer service, employee job performance and profitability – FAST!

Process:  I study Best-in-Class Businesses and Superstar Performers, I find out what they are doing that makes them so successful, then, I share those techniques and approaches with you.  

Payoffs to You:  You save time and money because I do the research and share the Best Practices that I find with you!  You get to Make More Money and Save More Money by applying these proven practices!

Quick Review:  In past articles, I explained …

Best Practice #1:  Provide Top-Notch Employee Training and Lots of It!

Best Practice #2:  For each job title in your company, create Aligned, Integrated, specific and complete listings of job tasks (job descriptions) with corresponding performance standards for each task. 

Best Practice #3:  Be dedicated to EXCELLENCE in EVERYTHING and Measure, Measure, Measure!

This month, I share Best Practice #4:  Continuously Improve Everything!  You are NEVER done improving!

Every business task and process can, and should be, continually examined, refined and improved.  Best-in-class companies analyze everything and they continually tweak, refine, remove steps, reduce costs, and so on.  If something is NOT working, they examine it so they can improve it.  If a business process IS working, they examine it so that they can learn WHY it is working, WHEN it works, and HOW to replicate those factors throughout the company. 

One of the services I provide to my customers is BENCHMARKING.  I study my client’s best and toughest competitors and learn what they are doing really well and not so well.  I report these Strengths and Weaknesses to my clients.  Then, my savviest clients start making adjustments to meet the challenge.    

By studying my clients’ keenest competitors, I have uncovered a list of actions that many successful businesses are taking.  These keen competitors examined every aspect of their business operations and took some/all of the following steps to continuously improve their business processes and their bottom line.   

• Lowered prices.
• Added new and better products and services
• Improved delivery times and every part of the Customer Experience (from Sales-to-Service)
• Enhanced their guarantees
• Reduced their “cost of doing business” by finding ways to save money
• Downsized, right-sized and moved to less expensive business locations (reducing costs)
• Added incentives for buying from them (not from you)
• Took the time to train their employees to be more knowledgeable and more skilled than yours
• Off-loaded marginal staff and hired more talented, more aggressive staff
• Greatly increased marketing and advertising

I’ll bet you have seen the same behaviors from your competitors.  But, what are YOU doing to improve your operations, your quality, your employees’ abilities, your sales, your service, and your bottom line?  Dedication to Continuous Improvement (in everything) will help you examine, and improve, every part of your business.       

If you need help knowing what your competitors are doing to beat your brains out, or need help analyzing what your employees/company are doing well (or not so well), contact me.  We CAN raise your game, decrease costs and increase your profits.  Chamber members receive a BIG DISCOUNT!     

Contact Ron DeLorme B.S., M.A., Manage Max Performance Improvement.

248.396.5031 or training_pro@hotmail.com.             

Start Using these NOW!

Best Practices of Best-in-Class Companies

Goal:  Share Best Practices, from Best-in-Class companies, with YOU!  So YOU can start improving sales, customer service, employee job performance and profitability – FAST!

Process:  I study Best-in-Class Businesses and Superstar Performers, I find out what they are doing that makes them so successful, then, I share those techniques and approaches with you.  

Payoffs to You: You save time and money because I do the research and share the Best Practices that I find with you!  You get to Make More Money and Save More Money by applying these proven practices!

Quick Review:  In past articles, I explained …

Best Practice #1:  Provide Top-Notch Employee Training and Lots of It!

Best Practice #2:  For each job title in your company, create Aligned, Integrated, specific and complete listings of job tasks (job descriptions) with corresponding performance standards for each task. 

Everyday, I work with employees who have never seen their job description or whose job description is so vague and outdated that it is useless as a performance management tool!  Ouch!  How can employees EXCEL at their jobs if they do not know precisely what their job is, how well it is to be done, when it is to be done, etc.?  And more perplexing yet, how can a manager give specific, constructive feedback to employees about job performance when the job is ill-defined or not defined at all?  These problems are avoided at Best-in-Class companies because job descriptions are accurate, complete, detailed and current.

Best Practice #3: Be dedicated to EXCELLENCE in EVERYTHING and Measure, Measure, Measure! 

There is a valuable saying in the management and leadership training field:  “It is impossible to manage something if you cannot observe it or measure it.”  So, Best-in-Class companies measure everything…customer satisfaction; employee engagement; costs in all categories; ROI for marketing/advertising, training, recruiting, computer systems; etc.

Fact is, you can measure just about everything in business…and great managers (and great companies) do measure investments, outcomes, processes, costs, time, headcount, sales, most lucrative customers, and so on. The more you measure, the more you know.  The more you know about a business issue, the easier it is to manage.  The more you know, the better your chance of improving results! 

If you see the value of MEASURING more but don’t know how to get started, give me a call.  I’ve learned that there are many ways to measure hard data, business processes, and even fuzzy things like customer attitudes and opinions.  Since all of these impact your business, you need to know!  Once you know the facts, you can manage it to get better business results!    

Contact Ron DeLorme B.S., M.A., Manage Max Performance Improvement.

248.396.5031 or training_pro@hotmail.com.

            Chamber members receive a BIG DISCOUNT!

Improving Business Performance

(a series of articles designed to help you improve employee and business performance)

___________________________________________________________________________________

Start Using these NOW!

Best Practices of Best-in-Class Companies

Goal:  Share Best Practices, from Best-in-Class companies, with YOU!  So YOU can start improving sales, customer service, employee job performance and profitability – FAST!

Process:  I study Best-in-Class Businesses and Superstar Performers, I find out what they are doing that makes them so successful, then, I share those techniques and approaches with you.  

Payoffs to You: You save time and money because I do the research and share the Best Practices that I find with you!  You get to Make More Money and Save More Money by applying these proven practices!

Quick Review:  In my last article, I explained Best Practice #1:  Provide Top-Notch Employee Training and Lots of It!  Best-in-Class companies offer their employees more training and higher quality training than do Average performing companies (24-40 hours of training/employee/year is often a “requirement” for Best-in-Class companies).  Best-in-Class companies believe that Great Training leads to Great Employee Performance and that leads to Better Business Results!  And, they hire training pros to design best-in-class training programs that are guaranteed to get results!

Best Practice #2:  For each job title in your company, create Aligned, Integrated, specific and complete listings of job tasks with corresponding performance standards for each task. 

Below, I provide a To Do list to get you started.  Remember, this is what Best-in-Class companies do and this practice helped them become “One of the Best in the World!”  See the PAYOFFS section, too. 

• For each job in your company, create a specific, complete list of all the duties and tasks associated with that job (job analysis). 
• Review the list and make sure job tasks and duties are still needed and that none are missing.
• Review your final job list and make sure that all duties/tasks are ALIGNED with corporate goals and needs (in many companies, many job duties, and even entire jobs, are NOT aligned at all with corporate goals).   
• Build your Job Descriptions and Employee Training around these key job tasks and duties. 
• Establish performance measures (how much, how fast, how often, acceptable outcomes, etc.) for each task and duty, then, build your Performance Appraisals and your Rewards and Recognition Program around the achievement of these performance measures.   
• Now, job tasks are INTEGRATED into, and part of, your HR, Recruitment, Selection, Training and Performance Management corporate systems and you know, for sure, that the job tasks are ALIGNED with corporate goals.  
• Once done, employee job performance is MUCH easier to measure, manage, coach and reward.  With specific performance measures in place for each job, Below Average, Average and Superstar performers are easily identified. 
• Once you know who the Superstar performers are, you know who the best candidates are for your Succession Planning and Management Development programs. 

PAYOFFS:  As you can see, completing a Job Analysis for every job and implementing the steps above can literally transform a company’s recruitment, employee selection, employee performance, succession planning, productivity, profitability, etc. and it ensures that all employees are pulling in the same direction!  All these great uses and payoffs started with a Job Analysis - the creation of specific, complete listings of job tasks and corresponding performance outcomes.  

If you haven’t done so already, START NOW!  Listings of specific job tasks and performance measures are among the most powerful tools an employee, a manager or a company can have!  These are the foundation of every job and help to ensure that all employees are pulling in the same direction and that each employee’s job is designed to achieve your business goals – including profitability!  

Need a helping hand …

• conducting Job Analyses?
• creating Performance Measures/Standards?
• designing performance-based training programs?
• Integrating ALL your HR programs to get better results?

Contact me!  I’ll be glad to help you take performance to the next level!

Contact Ron DeLorme B.S., M.A., Manage Max Performance Improvement.

248.396.5031 or training_pro@hotmail.com.

            Chamber members always receive a BIG DISCOUNT! 

Improving Business Performance

(a series of articles designed to help you improve employee and business performance)

___________________________________________________________________________________

Many thanks to all the great Clarkston Chamber members who attended my Leadership Lessons luncheon meeting at MacPhee’s Restaurant on 5/28!  Great group, great ideas, a great lunch and a great time!  

Start Using these NOW!

Best Practices of Best-in-Class Companies

Goal: In the next few articles, provide YOU with Best Practices that you can start using right away to get better service, better sales, better job performance from employees and better business results – fast!

Background: I am fascinated by EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCE!  I study Best-in-Class Businesses and Superstar Performers like some people study history or sports statistics.  For decades, I have researched and talked to Superstar Companies, Superstar Salespeople, Superstar Leaders, etc.   

What I Have Found:  Best-in-Class companies do almost everything differently, and better, than Average companies – which explains their great success!  The same is true for Superstar Salespersons, Superstar Leaders, and so on.  I have uncovered dozens of Best Practices that are working for great companies like Disney, the Ritz-Carlton and others.  I build my consulting services, training programs and articles around these Best Practices.  Keep reading these articles if you want to know more about Best Practices from the real world!   

Process and Payoffs: I share the Best Practices that I have found with you - my readers and my customers.  If my readers apply these Best Practices to their businesses, they will quickly start to Solve Business Problems, start Making More Money and find dozens of ways to Stop Wasting Money – just like my customers!  I strongly encourage you to implement these Best Practices ASAP! 

Best Practice:  Provide Top-Notch Employee Training and Lots of It!  

Best-in-Class companies Recruit, Interview and Hire differently than average companies.  They choose the most talented candidate (not just a warm body), then, they train and develop the employees differently – they offer high-quality training and much more training!  Best-in-Class companies know that Great Training = Better Business Results!  Poor Training = Poor Business Results!   Poor Training can be dangerous and costly, too!  Here are 2 True Stories that support my point.

True Story:  My Uncle Bill lost 2 fingers working on a lathe in a Detroit job shop.  His co-worker (informal trainer) “forgot” to tell Uncle Bill about those pesky safety features and procedures.  Ouch!

True Story:  I have a friend who was a manager at company A.  She was downsized from company A but found a non-management job at company B.  My friend’s co-worker at Company B was supposed to train her how to use the different computer systems.  The co-worker was also new to the job and didn’t have a clue how to train my friend.  It took over 4 weeks for my friend to learn how to “access” the different computer systems at her new company– she still has not had formal training on how to use the computer systems or how to do her job.  This greatly lengthened her TTP (Time To Productivity) and frustrated the heck out of her – she wants to do a good job but doesn’t know how to use the computer systems!  This is costly and wasteful (and a stupid business practice).  My friend is looking for another job and Company B will lose a very good employee!

Bad Training (or No Training) is COSTLY in many ways!  Great Training is necessary for top productivity and high profitability!  Great Training is the backbone of Great Companies!

What Best-in-Class Companies Believe:  Better trained employees …

• perform the job better and help us attract and keep customers. 
• give our business a competitive edge over competitors who provide poor or little training. 
• sell more, provide better service, offer better improvement suggestions and are less troublesome.
• have fewer job accidents (thereby costing us less money).
• are able to excel in their current jobs and, if trained and retained properly, will be the future leaders of this company. 

Is this how you view employee training?   

“Best Training Practices” from Best-in-Class Companies:  

• To get the most from each employee, and retain them in the long run, the company must offer excellent Orientation and On-boarding programs; excellent job training; career paths and succession planning with integrated learning programs/OJT/coaching and mentoring; and we have to have Great Managers who treat employees right!
• Sloppy, informal training won’t do!  Informal training is always incomplete (ask my Uncle Bill) and you never know what the “co-worker/trainer” is saying about the company, the boss, or the job.      
• If the job training is important to the company’s success, the training must be Designed and Delivered by professionals who can guarantee learning outcomes (yes, guarantee!).  Training should not be done by the guy/gal in the cube next door (unless they have had special training in the Design and Delivery of training programs).  
• If our employees will do the training, we must get them skilled-up to be able to Design and Deliver high-quality training programs that will produce guaranteed results.
• Employee training is NOT the place to cut corners or scrimp – this is directly related to our profits today and our success tomorrow!

Did you know, Best-in-Class companies …

• often require new employees to complete 8-80 hours of initial Orientation before ever being allowed to do their job?
• often require each employee to complete 24-100 of hours of training each year?
• severely limit the amount of “informal training” done by co-workers (I often am hired to undo the harm caused by informal trainers – co-workers - who are ill-equipped to train others).  
• get the best people to do the training:  Whether inside experts or external experts.  There is no substitute for high-quality training!  Ever had a brilliant teacher/professor/worker who could not explain to you what they did, how they did it, when they did it, etc.?  Not everybody is a good teacher/trainer!
• get high-quality training to employees FAST to reduce TTP (Time To Productivity).  It should be every company’s goal to get employees trained and producing as quickly as possible – this is just good business sense and, therefore, it needs to be one of YOUR Best Practices!   

Low-cost employee training that is GUARANTEED to get results can only be Designed and Delivered by individuals with specific skills, credentials, etc.  I acquired my training Design and Delivery skills by completing 2 college degrees, completing dozens of specialized certifications and by working with hundreds of companies over several decades.    

When you need help designing and delivering training programs that are

GUARANTEED to get results, contact me!  I’ll be glad to help you!

Contact Ron DeLorme B.S., M.A., Manage Max Performance Improvement.

248.396.5031 or training_pro@hotmail.com.

            Chamber members Always receive a BIG DISCOUNT! 

Improving Business Performance

(a series of articles designed to help you improve employee and business performance)

________________________________

Many business improvements pay off big and are really inexpensive!

Here’s a tip borrowed from companies like the Ritz-Carlton and the Disney Corporation (companies renown for excellent service):  Use a Customer Satisfaction Survey to find strengths and weaknesses in your products, services, policies, procedures and personnel. 

Many of my current clients are using Customer Satisfaction Surveys for the first time ever.  In the battle for customers, these small and large businesses have learned that customer feedback helps them to …

• identify weaknesses in policies, products and personnel!
• retain existing customers! 
• attract new customers!  
• improve employee performance!
• make changes to improve the Customer Experience (it’s all about the Customer’s Experience)! 

Here’s more good news:  Many of the weaknesses cost very little money to fix!  

True Story:  I recently helped a client create a Customer Satisfaction Survey, then, we tried it out on a small sample of customers.  One customer would not give the sales rep a score of 5 (Excellent) in several categories and when asked if she would “refer family and friends to this business” her answer was an emphatic “NO!” 

Before the customer left, the manager and I asked the customer why some of her scores were low and why she would not refer friends or family members.  She replied, “Because NO ONE SMILED the entire time I was here!”  

Easy Fix:  “Did the employee greet you with a smile?” is now the 1st question on the Customer Survey! Results?  Employees now know they are being rated on “smiling” and, according to the manager, employees are smiling more when working with customers AND when working with each other!  That’s an easy, inexpensive fix that improved customer service, and employee relations, without costing a lot of money.       

Couldn’t happen at your business?  Don’t be so sure!  If you really want to be sure, ask your customers!

(Need to know more?  Want better results?  Contact me - see contact information below).

Local Business Shout-Out!

Not too happy with your auto or home insurance rates?  Consider stopping in to see either of my 2 friends at the Clarkston AAA Sales Agency:  Denny Arney and John Meader.  What’s the Biz portion of the Clarkston News (4/29/09) just reported that the great service provided by Denny and John placed them in the top 3% out of the hundreds of agents at AAA Michigan – wow!

I’ve known these guys for 20+ years and I helped train them when they were new sales agents.   Being in the top 3% of all agents places them in a very small and talented group - they know how to address your insurance needs and they will treat you right.  Give them a call and ask about the new auto and home insurance products – maybe they can save you a few bucks….maybe a bunch of bucks! 

Denny Arney:  248.625.4486                                         John Meader:  248.620.9120

6751 Dixie Hwy. / Suite 112                                           6751 Dixie Hwy. / Suite 103       

Need help creating a Customer Satisfaction Survey that will help you keep current customers, help you to attract new customers and help you to improve employee job performance? Contact Ron DeLorme, Manage Max Performance Improvement, 248.396.5031 or training_pro@hotmail.com.

Improving Business Performance

(a series of articles designed to help you improve employee and business performance)

________________________________

The Battle for Customers:  What Best-in-Class Companies are Doing! (Part 2)

Last month, we discussed the intense, competitive nature of the current business climate and I put my money on the most likely winners of the “survival of the fittest business” contest – those companies  who 1) have the optimal mix of Products, Pricing and Exceptional Service and 2) are best at Reaching and Retaining customers.   

Also, I provided a Survival of the Fittest Business Trilogy - a list of Best Practices that are designed to help your company survive in this dog-eat-dog climate.  Last month, we covered steps 1 and 2 in the trilogy:  

1.  Improve Every Aspect of the Customer Experience. 

2.  Get More from Fewer Employees.

This month, we examine the final step in the Trilogy and it is just as important as the first 2 steps.

3.     Remove Unprofitable Products/Services and Eliminate Unnecessary Costs (but don’t hurt the Customer Experience). 

• Analyze what products/services are generating money and eliminate those that don’t. 
• Review ALL company and work procedures and remove anything that is ineffective or inefficient (Effective and Efficient are not the same). 
• Reduce expenditures in every category except those that have a positive return-on-investment.  Eliminate marketing and advertising mediums that are not producing more customers and more profit.            
• Find less expensive ways to reach new customers. 
• Find vendors/suppliers who are reliable and less expensive.
• Research your personal and business insurance providers and costs – can you do better?
• At the end of the day, turn out the lights and turn off electronic equipment when not in use (many companies have started to do this and you can save a lot)!
• When documents are being used internally only, use the other side of the “scrap” paper that piles up at the copier (scores of companies are doing this to lower costs).
• For some communication purposes, use e-mail instead of paper mail (saving letterhead, envelopes and postage).
• Reward employees who find ways to save money and those who help you make money.

There are hundreds of simple ways to save money.  CAUTION:  Make sure that your cost- saving efforts do not harm the customer experience! 

The first step in the survival trilogy was Improve Every Aspect of the Customer Experience.  If you harm the customer experience by diminishing your product or service quality, you may be pushing customers away – oops!  The goal is to diminish costs and improve quality WHILE attracting and RETAINING customers.  A delicate balance, but it can be done!      

You can win the “survival of the fittest business” contest!  And now, you have many of the tools you’ll need to succeed!  See you in the winner’s circle!  

Need more information?  Contact Ron DeLorme, Manage Max Performance Improvement, 248.396.5031 or training_pro@hotmail.com.

Improving Business Performance

(a series of articles designed to help you improve employee and business performance)

________________________________

The Battle for Customers:  What Best-in-Class Companies are Doing!

Current conditions, from Wall Street to Main Street, have created a Darwinian Dream.  The business world has been divided into Predators and Prey and only the strong (prepared) will survive.  In this economic environment, the most successful companies will not settle for “their piece of the pie,” they’re going after each one of your current customers!  Don’t put yourself, or your customers, on the lunch menu! 

So, who will win this titanic struggle for customers?  My money is on the companies who 1) have the optimal mix of Products, Pricing and Exceptional Service and 2) are best at Reaching and Retaining customers.    

Best-in-class companies are ruthlessly looking for ways to save money, improve products and ATTRACT and KEEP every customer.  If we condense their efforts and goals, we derive a Survival of the Fittest Business Trilogy.  Use this trilogy as YOUR “to do” list and you just may win the most important contest of your career:  The “survival of your company” contest.         

1.  Improve Every Aspect of the Customer Experience. 

Improve the quality of every product and service you offer and find a way to lower the price. 

Provide EXCEPTIONAL customer service to every customer, every time. 

Offer better warranties and guarantees. 

Offer rebates and quantity discounts. 

Offer rewards for becoming a customer and rewards for referring new customers. 

Study your customers’ preferences and re-align your products/services to meet their needs. 

Study your competitor’s products, pricing, services, guarantees, etc. and adopt their best ideas.

Increase your advertising in only those mediums that result in more sales.

Continually ask yourself, employees and customers:  “What more can we do for the customer?”    

2.  Get More from Fewer Employees. 

Identify employees with valuable job expertise and train them to effectively train other employees.

Then, train employees to do their current jobs better, faster, more efficiently. 

Train employees to do new or additional job duties.   

Train employees to analyze business issues and to develop and implement solutions. 

Reward employees for any suggestion that improves business performance or profitability.  

Get input from employees about how to improve business policies and practices so that your company can react and produce more quickly, with less cost. 

Train employees to take on some reporting and/or supervisory responsibilities in addition to their normal jobs.

Reward employees for bringing in new customers.

Learn to identify, develop, reward and retain only the Top Performing employees. 

Next month, step 3 in the Survival of the Fittest Business Trilogy:  Removing Unprofitable Products/Services and Eliminating Unnecessary Costs. 

Final Note:  Your competitors are lean and hungry.  They are preparing to eat your lunch, your customers and your entire business – don’t let them do it!  Start executing as many of the best practices above as you can, as fast as you can, as well as you can.  As you complete every step, you will remove a business weakness and create a business strength – and that makes you more likely to survive in these Darwinian times.

Need a little help getting started?  Contact Ron DeLorme, Manage Max Performance Improvement, 248.396.5031 or training_pro@hotmail.com.