Welcome to WinningStance’s WinBlog

We have titled this blog WinningStance.  You can read more about WinningStance on the “About” tab up above.  Our focus is professional development skills with a specialty in medical and graphic arts capital equipment. 

Many of you in the graphic arts industry, which we will henceforth refer to as graphic communications or GC industry, already know Ron.  For those of you that don’t, he has long history, about 29 years of industry experience. Mariana comes from the high tech and  telecommunications sector.  She is multilingual and supports our international efforts. 

This is a B2B oriented blog and discussion points around the GC industry as well as marketing, selling and professional development are areas of interest to us and hopefully those who might read this.  So let’s see what happens…

A learning organization

Not only WinningStance revolves around learning, since the services we offer are training workshops, but we also understand the importance of being “adept at learning”, as Donald Schon (1973) observes about learning societies that need to transform themselves when there are changing circumstances (cited in Smith, 2001). Definitely, this is what makes my organization a learning one. Not only we are immerse in the constant learning that allows us to the transformation that is needed to overcome obstacles, but we also share values and principles that are exhibited in our organization, and are necessary to obtain the desired results. Furthermore, one of our most important values is that every experience is a learning experience. Every mistake, every success, every obstacle that we face or every step we move towards our goals, we consider them as learning experiences, which makes the organization continually growing and progressing.

One practice that we incorporated in our learning systems is to consider and study not only the best practices, that is the actions that result in the desired outcomes, but also the worst practices, that is the actions that result in the wrong or undesired outcomes. We base this concept in the analysis developed by Jim Collins (2001), who studied the difference between the good companies and the best companies in each industry and concluded that only the best companies make learning and analysis of good and bad practices a priority.

We understand that, in order to build a shared vision and achieve our organizational goals, learning is a process that needs to be constantly present in our organization.

References:

Collins, J. (2001). Good to great: Why some companies make the leap… and others don’t. New York: Harper Collins. 

Smith, M. K. (2001). The learning organization. The Encyclopedia of Informal Education. Retrieved on May 8, 2009 from http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-organization.htm.

Employee Motivators and Marlow’s Hierarchy of Needs

According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, every individual would be motivated to work if he or she meets the basic needs, in the following order: physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem and self-actualization (Jones and George, 2007, pp. 329-331). Only after satisfying one range of needs, the individual would pursue satisfaction of the next range. In the case of a weak economy, when the unemployment rate is high, individuals that have a salary to provide for food, clothes and housing have the physiological needs met. Workers are more motivated and are more satisfied with their jobs during a recession because having a job allows them to provide to themselves and their families with the means to meet the physiological needs.  Therefore, satisfying the physiological needs is enough motivator to be satisfied with their jobs.

 On the other hand, safety needs are met when the employee has adequate medical benefits. During a recession, a company does not need to consider these medical benefits as a priority. The reason is that as long as an individual feels that his physiological needs are being met, contrary to so many other unemployed people, this creates more job satisfaction than in the past, when the unemployment was not as high and physiological needs were already met by default. When this happened, the motivator was acquiring more medical benefits and participating in better interpersonal relationships at work.

What is very interesting is that most employees find very relevant the ability to improve skills to enhance the employee’s value to the company. I can see that many managers may not have the same perception. However, being able to improve one’s strengths is a powerful motivator in a time of economic turmoil. Because of the lack of job security, an employee may find it important to develop him or herself professionally in order to increase his or her value even in case of being laid off, so he can compete with the high offer of unemployed professionals.  During times when the unemployment rate is high, receiving a benefit such as training becomes more attractive because the employee sees it as an opening to find more job opportunities if he or she loses the current job, in order to continuing meeting the physiological needs. 

References:

Jones, G. R., & George, J. M. (2007).  Essentials of contemporary management (2^nd ed).  Boston:  McGraw-Hill.

Shepherd, Leah Carlson. (2008). Employers adjust benefits in a weak economy. Employee Benefit News. Retrieved May 6, 2008, from   http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1545952181&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=74379&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Tradeshow Tidbits

Tradeshows are a significant investment and in todays economic environment it is vital that you maximize your time spent at your next show.  After many years of experience I put together a set of guidelines that I have found very useful and thought I would share them.

The Top Five Tibits

The Demo:  This is the primary reason that an attendee elects to attend a trade show.  They are there to see the product demonstrated live.  You need to have your demonstrations well scripted, prepared and customer centric.  Have you done your research on the attendee, are you demonstrating to their needs? You may be very proud of your products features but they are meaningless if they are not delivered with the customer need in mind and the resulting benefit.

Six degrees of Separation:  Use your network.  If your booth is recommended to a potential customer by someone else than the likelihood that they will visit is much higher. 

Personal Invitation:  Use your sales force and the relationship that they have built with their customers and prospects.  Today a personalized invitation signed by the sales rep inviting a prospect to the booth can be very effective.

Location Location Location:  We have heard it many times in many areas but there is no doubt that this is a key contributor to the success of your booth.  If your customer can’t find you then it is going to be pretty difficult to deliver an effective trade show demonstration. 

Size Matters: Like it or not it’s a fact the biggest booth gets the most attention.  Even if you need to manage your budget, creative signage and layout can give you the illusion of having a “big booth”. 

About your Prospect

Never Underestimate ANYBODY

They may be wearing jeans, they may be younger than you expect, and they may be asking casual unrelated questions.  No matter what treat every person that walks into the booth as a potential buyer.  I remember a tradeshow where the gentleman handed me a business card with the title “trouble maker”.  We later sold him $750,000 of equipment for his printing firm in Hawaii.  (you know who you are).

We don’t need no stinkin’ badges….

There is a reason that badges are issued to attendees, so you can read their names.  After you do, use them!  “So Tom, tell me what area is your firm looking to make improvements, you have invested the time to attend so….”

Early Riser Or Late Bloomer

This person shows up right when the doors open.  They may not appear to be anyone special; however they are often your power buyer.  It is also typical for the power buyer to hang around when things are winding down.  They me be perusing your booth after most have left and asking a lot of questions, this is more than likely someone who is ready to buy.

Don’t Ignore Prospects

One of the rudest things you can do is ignore a prospect . . . even for a few seconds.  Nobody likes to be ignored.  If you’re busy when someone approaches, either acknowledge him/her to try to include him/her in your conversation.  If you’re talking to a booth mate or neighbor, break it off immediately.

It’s All About You!

Party Time… Not!

OK, let’s be realistic tradeshows can have a reputation of being an opportunity to be a little wild.  Don’t get caught up in the excitement, let your competition whoop it up.  The next morning when the potential buyers walk in and you have had your 7 – 8 hours sleep who is going to be ready to address their questions and concerns? 

Competitive Edge

Tradeshows can be consuming.  I have heard many of my peers comment “ we were so busy we never got out of the booth”  too bad, what venue other than a trade show gives you an opportunity to hear your competitions entire pitch, new product announcements, key solutions, the trade show.  By planning and scheduling your staff effectively there is ample time for someone to gather the information necessary to maintain your competitive edge. .

Etiquette

These should be obvious but I have to mention them because it still occurs; chewing gum, eating, drinking, sitting and even reading the newspaper should NEVER occur in the booth.  Nothing is more irritating to a tradeshow attendee then walking into a booth and seeing any or all of these in combination. 

Clustering!

One of my pet peeves…  OK, you work for a large international corporation and you have offices around the world.  Wow what a great opportunity to catch up with or even meet the people that you have been e-mailing back and forth for the past year.  Do yourself a favor and have pre-show meeting the day before so you can get that out of the way.  You are there to talk with the tradeshow attendees, your prospects, not each other! 

You Are What You Eat (And Drink)

A nice steak, couple of martinis, maybe a bottle of wine, now that’s what I call customer entertainment.  It is also what I call having a rough morning the next day.  Stay away from heavy and rich foods and alcohol.  Let’s face it, this is only for a few days you can do it.  You will be much better “on your feet” the next day.

Grooming

I know, it’s all the rage to wear a cool sport shirt with your company logo, maybe even ball caps that are monogrammed.  Personally I think it is time to get back to basics.  Whatever happened to a nice conservative 2-piece suite for a man or dress suit for women when working the booth?  Who would you rather do business with?

Lanyards Are So “Techy”

I carry a small clip with a plastic loop that snaps through the lanyard badge.  That way I can clip it on my right lapel where it is visible, turned facing the customer and to his or her left.  When I lean in to shake their hand they can clearly read my badge eliminating the embarrassing “oh your badge is turned around on your lanyard so what is your name again?”

Keep it Clean

I like to call it “I get no respect” that is if the booth could talk.  Empty paper cartons, food containers, drink cups, the list goes on.  Keep it off the show floor and most certainly out of the booth.

This Is A Lead Generating Opportunity!

OK, I can accept that this is one of the key reasons for attending.  On the other hand if your customer is coming to the show to buy, who are you to discourage them!  Yes folks this is an order writing opportunity as well!

Three Factors in Emotional Intelligence to Improve Communication

Emotions are an underestimated component in a business environment. However, an individual that possesses a high emotional intelligence quotient has the ability to engage in a much more effective communication, managing successfully any crisis and organizational conflict.

Emotional intelligence is a highly relevant component of an effective communication because it involves three aspects that are crucial to achieve this goal. Having high social insight and empathy to listen actively and understanding each of the members of the organization are necessary in order to motivate them effectively. It is also required to have a high level of interpersonal assertion, in order to identify and control one’s own emotions and be able convey the message clearly and proficiently. Finally, leadership is a crucial component to establish a valuable communication, not only in authorities in the organization, but in every member, since leadership allows the individual to influence and persuade others to move towards the achievement of the organization’s goals.

In order to take advantage of the benefits that emotional intelligence embraces, an organization should make it a goal to identify and hire only personnel with a high emotional intelligence quotient. Additionally, the organization should invest in improvement coaching to enhance this ability in their staff. By increasing the knowledge of emotional intelligence and developing these skills, the sensitivity in each member of the organization increases, which, in turn, enhances the value of the organization in its entirety.

The value of good communication

As it was very well observed by Lorenzo Sierra (2003) in his essay “Sierra’s Theory of Communicativity”, the value of good communication is difficult to observe, and it may not be so evident to understand the relevance of communicating our products or services in a valuable manner.

Poor communication carries a higher cost than what we can perceive. In my business, if our communication is poor, then our prospects do not see the value of improving their skills when they are presenting a product. As a result, their presentations end up being forgettable, and their products seem too similar to their competitors’ products, which, in turn, makes their client think that they are hiring or buying a commodity (no matter what kind of product we are talking about) and end up choosing product based solely on price. A product well communicated, brings actual value to the customer, and is perceived as a solution, an investment, and a need to their business. 

 A simple way to measure the success of the communication in a presentation is counting the number of sales versus the number of presentations. Our clients understand the importance of good communication, which creates the differentiation from their competitors, and connects them as consultants and partners, instead of mere sales representatives, and, as a result, increase their sales.

Reference:

 

Sierra, L.  (2003, June). Sierra’s theory of communicativity. Communication World, 20(4), 38.  Retrieved March 24, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 357794181)

 

 

How to handle our business when the economy is rough

I remember a story that I read in one of Zig Ziglar’s books, where he talked about a real estate company meeting, where he was chatting with some people about the low demands in the real estate market. The first person was very upset, shaking his head, stating that with the low demand it was difficult for him to find clients that wanted to buy a house or list, and that it was a waste of time and money to invest anything in marketing. At the same time, another realtor was excited about the situation, explaining that her market share had increased, since there were fewer realtors in the market, nobody was doing any marketing, and the customers that were interested in talking to her were actually serious.

I always have this story in mind, especially because every time we think about this recession and economic turmoil, we think about budget cuts, layoffs, and lower revenues. However, we can always use a spin point, and think of ways to take care of our current customers to sustain retention and loyalty, or create new products to respond to new market needs. This is the time to think strategy again, and look for new venues to maintain the position that we had in the past, so we can keep being the Top Producers we once were, regardless of economic setbacks.

Time to Improve

Things are tough all over, in fact if you think things are tough for you try checking out the Printing Industry, talk about a challenging environment.  So we have a couple of choices; one choice is to cry in our beer or curl up in the fetal position and hope that everything goes back to “normal”.  Not a choice that I am considering or that is productive, in fact the “hope” that everything goes back to normal is in itself the definition of hopelessness.  So like always I am looking at the glass half full and so are many of our customers. 

It is interesting to me the customers that decide to capitalize on every situation no matter if it is positive or negative.  We have several innovative and dynamic companies that have made the strategic (and tactical) decision that it is “Time to Improve” .  Yes, some of them have had to make hard decisions, downsizing, layoffs, budget cuts, however they are investing in improving their foundation, the remaining staff that will need to get the job done with less resources and manpower.   

One great example is a customer that has studied the number of product demonstrations they would typically perform and how many they would have to win in order to hit their revenue targets.  As they studied the numbers they quickly discovered that the win ratio they have been traditionally maintaining (which was pretty good) isn’t going to cut it going forward.  Why?  There are less deals in the pipeline, less demos being delivered and therefore the number of wins no longer can produce close to what it used to.  The answer; IMPROVE!  Using professional development programs (like ours for example) they have been able to sharpen the skills of their team, make less mistakes, use fundamentals and techniques and significantly increase their win ratio.  Food for thought.

2009: A New Start

The year is ending, and most of us start evaluating the positive and negative situations that we lived throughout the year. This was not an easy year, and some of us reviewed and adjusted our expectations. But my idea is different: let’s just adjust the how, not the what and the why. We have a purpose in life, and our passions are still the same. The fact that we encountered some obstacles on the road can be a blessing in disguise. We just have to keep finding the positive in everything.

Have a wonderful New Year’s Eve and a great start! 2009 is THE year!!!

Let’s take a minute to talk about time

One of the most notorious differences in the way that each country has in conducting business relates to time.

For example, American people are very reliable when they arrange a time for a meeting, even in the social aspect, so when somebody in United States arranges to meet you at 11:00 AM, you can be sure that she will be waiting for you at 10:59 AM. They also arrange the length of time that the event will take place, so it is a good habit to always verify how long the person has available to dedicate to the event right at the beginning.

On the other hand, the Latin-American person is not as punctual. It is common that a meeting that was arranged to start at 11:00 AM, for example, actually starts at 11:30AM, and if somebody arrives late nobody feels offended. This habit is particularly observed in social events, where it is considered not only unfashionable to arrive on time, but it could even be impolite since the hosts do not expect anybody on time, and may not be ready.

European people are different. Northern Europeans are very punctual, and also plan and announce the length of time that each event will take. Southern Europeans, especially Spanish people, tend to be a little more relaxed about time, but not to the extreme that is observed in Latin-Americans. However, they will actually feel disrespected if you arrive late to your appointment. The main difference is the time of the day that a work day starts. Even though Italians and Portuguese people start later than Americans, they do not start as late as Spanish people. It is very common to start working around 10:00 AM, have lunch around 1:00 or 2:00 PM, stay 2 or even 3 hours in the restaurant, and leave the office at 8:00 or 9:00 PM, sometimes even close to midnight.

If you plan to do business internationally, you may want to take this cultural aspect into consideration.

The new blog from the WinningStance team…

My name is Mariana Ciaburri and I am very excited to be part of WinningStance’s new communication medium. Our purpose is to provide information, news and practices that will be useful to all our friends and collegues that read this blog.

My main expertise is in the multicultural marketing and account management. I have delivered our workshop series and have trained people in many different languages and countries. This experience taught me a great deal on how to approach clients and staff from different cultures. My idea is to bring some of those experiences into this blog and share them with all of you.

Finally I would like to add that some of you may have different opinions or experiences regarding some of the topics and posts that will be shown here. We invite all of you to leave here your comments, no matter how opposed your opinion is. The idea is: the more debate, the more all of us will learn.

Thank you! Gracias! Grazie! Obrigada!