The Four Basics of Business - Any Business

The more I travel world and meet and work with companies large and small the more convinced I am that the credit crunch and it's consequences over the last two or three three years has been a good thing for business. It has forced organizations out of complacency and highlighted the need to get back to the basics of business - for everybody, no matter your size or sector.
So what are these basics of business?
There are four:
Prospect for customers
Exceptional at what you do
Great place to work
Bottom line
That's it!
Prospect for Customers
This is the one that seems to be forgotten most quickly in the good times.
That's when I find that organizations, and indeed Sales Managers and entire sales forces often, forget that no-one has a divine right to customers and if you want to have any control atall over your business it is your responsibility to constantly, proactively seek leads which you can turn into orders.
Every business has an average conversion rate of leads into orders and it must therefore be a fact that the more leads you generate the more orders you will have.Equally, over time the reverse must apply. I can name any number of organisations who have forgotten this and suffered badly as a result with the most consistent offenders being the professions - lawyers, accountants and even architects - some of whom who seem to think that potential customers will always find them and that somehow it is a little beneath them to actually go out a try and convince people to buy their services.
There is a simple process that every business needs to address:
You need to decide which markets you wish to serve, define who your potential customers are and then generate leads from those customers using as many compelling mechanisms as possible. There is then, of course, a whole process involved in addressing those leads and successfully turning them into orders but initial, vital focus has to be the generation of leads and this is where all of us need to spend time addressing, revising and constantly updating.
Exceptional at what you do
No one can be mediocre these days. Frankly if your mediocre in terms of your product or your service - or indeed the way you treat your customers - then you now run the risk of simply disappearing. You do, of course, need to focus on your products or services being exceptional but increasingly I find the differentiator is more about the service you give to your customers and the way you treat them from A to Z.
You may have seen my "Golden Helicopter and "Ditched Helicopter" awards that I give to organisations that I have experienced or I have been told about that are giving on the one hand, exceptional service and on the other, simply lousy service to their customers.
Do have a look.
Great place to work
I still come across companies whose culture seems to be one of assuming that they are doing people a favour by employing them!
Employees have a choice - and increasingly, most particularly the latest generation, they are exercising that choice based upon all kinds of considerations. It is not simply based the their prospects for advancement and remuneration on offer as maybe once was the case. Those considerations include evaluating how the organisation is viewed locally and nationally, it's ethics, how it treats all stakeholders, the values that define it and whether it's leaders are people they admire.
Business leaders and their HR departments have a big role to play here and it is one that is not always given the priority I believe it should.
I feel for HR departments around the world. Over recent years they have seen the introduction of more and more employment legislation, more and more health and safety legislation and more and more focus on defining and implementing corporate social responsibility policies - and all these have been dropped in the lap of HR. These are generally all 'left brain', procedural and compliance activities and as a result many HR departments have become focused much more on these areas rather than their absolutely vitally important role - their 'right brain' role - that is focused on the people.
In most organisations there are only two people can go anywhere and talk to anyone. They are the Chief Executive and the Head of HR and both of them should be using that privilege to help ensure that it truly is a great place to work.
HR's job is to enable the business to be successful through it's people - all it's people - from the top to the bottom.
I was particularly impressed in hear the other day to read about HCL Technologies, the $1bn Indian software company, where every manager and Director (including the CEO) has regular 360 degree reviews by staff which are then placed on the web anonymously.
Transparency is becoming more important to employees and with leadership styles worldwide tending to move from autocratic through democratic to meritocratic such transparency is a vital ingredient in ensuring a thriving and successful organisation that truly is a great place to work.
Bottom Line
Many would argue that this should be number one in the list. Whether you are a publicly traded company, a family business, a not-for-profit organisation or a charity the only way by which and you can grow and prosper and achieve your fundamental purpose is by generating profit and reinvesting into the future growth of the organisation.
Many organisations seem to forget this basic need and in difficult times it is the ones that 'get it' that are thriving.
There are of course many elements to making money but important amongst those is: charging the right prices, selling to people who have money, and with people being the largest single cost for most, maximising "productivity".
This means ensuring that each and everyone in the company is enabled to maximise the time they spend utilising the expertise for which they were employed - rather than all the other activities we may seek to get them involved in.
You may have seen the Ericsson research I quote which gives the breakdown of time spent by a typical field sales engineer in Europe.This shows that, on average, only one third of their available time is spent actually selling. Over half their time is spent in travelling and administration - appalling.
So those are four basics of business but let me just mention two supplementaries:
Leadership
When times are hard it is very easy for CEOs and other leaders to get immersed solely into the detail and the day-to-day activities. You must not do that - you need to regularly get up in your helicopter and look over the horizon to refine your strategy if you are to be successful.
Something else I see is that leaders are not smiling very much these days. You may say that that is not surprising - they may not have much to smile about but I would refer you to the recent research that asked the question:
"Why do you follow someone?"
and the overwhelming result which was:
"Because of a feeling of fun and energy and excitement"
As a leader is your responsibility to ensure in each and every one that your employee's feels that from you - no matter what you are feeling inside!

A Must-Read Google Local SEO Overview

Owing to our modern-day technology, international and local businesses presently play equals when it comes to promotional strategies of their products and services - thanks to the power of online marketing. Local businesses' whereabouts, profile, and the like can now be easily found by their patrons or potential customers. All they have to do is to type the keywords that these businesses are using for their webpage optimization. This opportunity for local businesses to target their local clients is in courtesy of Google local SEO. While local businesses benefit from it, people looking for local services profit from it too. They no longer have to scan through thick yellow pages and phone directories just to look for someone to hire or to order any product. They could just key in their queries in the online search engines and a host of webpages filled with the information they need pops up.
Identifying that this is a great tool for business promotion, small business owners need to know some important facts in order for them to fully take advantage of it. The primary step to take is to enlist our business in the Google local business directory. Assuming that you already have an account with your company profile, you must then make sure to place it in local directories for greater visibility in your local area. A very important directory to subscribe to is the Google Maps. It holds a very friendly application process and it only takes eight weeks for it to be enlisted. Afterwards, expect an increased traffic generation to your website. Although it is advisable to have multiple listing for various local areas, it is essential that your business only have one listing for each local area it serves.
Google generally depend on quality and relevant links and as a feature of the said search engine, the same holds true for the Google local SEO. If your business is thriving to top the local SERP rankings, it needs to draw quality backlinks from respected domains in local areas. When local SERPs start to optimize your local based keyword, higher search engine result ranking for your website would be easy to achieve.
Apart from quality links, search engines also regard all contact information pertaining to your business just like what you see in the printed yellow pages. All the basic information like address, zip code and phone number are pertinent details. Including all these company information on all the pages of your website would be a wise practice to exercise. If you want your website to be appealing to viewers, inserting a short description about your business and one to three apt photos could also improve your company profile. Knowing and applying these Google local SEO facts will certainly help in your local business promotion.
Then again, Google algorithm changes once in a while if not regularly. And as a result, the way Google returns search results may also be affected. By default, the search engine now recognizes the location of the searcher who is looking for information and typing his inquiry. Subsequently, it will provide results depending on the keywords that are qualified by the physical location of the searcher. This may sound negative, but if you provide your website with the qualified keywords such as the city, town or state matched with original keyword searched it could create a new keyword function that your business can utilize for its gain. This is another Google local SEO fact that you can benefit from as you reach your target customers in various locations. Just develop your business website in accordance to these points and everything will work out fine.

Janitorial Services Give You More Time to Work With Customers

Never in history has there been a more complex, uncertain time to own and operate a business. Every day, technology opens up new venues for business to explore. To stay competitive, business owners must always be vigilant, pursuing the newest and most effective ways to operate their businesses.
Customers have come to expect, knowledgeable, qualified, passionate employees, no matter the business. With all of this attention that must be paid to the day to day operations of the business, one must ask: do I really have time to worry about the cleanliness and appearance of the office.
Obviously, how the office space looks is crucial to creating a warm, inviting atmosphere for customers. But do your employees really have the time to deal with the time consuming process of keeping an office or industrial space clean? In order to give your employees more time to work with customers, perhaps you should consider using a professional janitorial service to clean and maintain your office space.
Trained janitorial service companies have a number of benefits. First and foremost, the time that they spend cleaning your office is time saved for your employees to focus on their work. While janitorial services are an additional expense, the amount of employee time saved can more than make up for the additional cost.
Secondly, janitorial experts may be able to deal with cleaning matters specific to your type of business. For instance, medical practices may have biological or chemical waste and spills that an accountant's office may not. Experienced cleaning services may be able to deal with your businesses specific needs, following all state and federal guidelines for disposing of waste safely and legally.
Furthermore, janitorial services offer many types of cleaning that your employees may not be able or willing to perform. Using complex industrial solvents and equipments, these trained professionals can offer a comprehensive, deep cleaning of your office space.
While your employees may be able to recognize the bigger messes, they might be unable to spot the deep down stains and messes. These hidden messes can create foul odors and potential even environmental hazards such as molds and fungi.
Today, many janitorial services use what are commonly referred to as 'green' chemicals and technologies. Using chemicals and equipment that offer a comprehensive clean while doing no harm to the surrounding environment may be an attractive selling point for your business.
In concert with other green initiatives, you may be able to market your business as a 'green friendly' workplace, which will in turn benefit your business by attracting new, Earth conscious customers. Once again, a little extra expense may end up making you a great deal of money done the road, all while saving the planet.
To find a janitorial service that fits your businesses needs, talk to your friends and peers in business. Taking their recommendations into account, go online and research different options that suit your specific businesses needs.
Find the janitorial service that seems to fit your needs, and ask them any questions specific to your business. At the end of the day, you'll be glad you decided to let your employees do their job and left cleaning to the professionals.