Easy Way to Create a Flowchart

Some time ago I had to prepare couple of very detailed and complicated marketing and sales flow charts for a new company. These flowcharts were to show the marketing plan and the sales plan in a visual way and were part of the business development process. I started making the flowcharts with the usual MS Office suite. However, as I was laboring on preparing these flowcharts I thought that there must be a much easier way to prepare them. I searched online for flowcharts making programs and came about a program called "SmartDraw" (www.smartdraw.com). I tried this program and I must tell you that I stronglly recommend it to anyone that needs to make impressive and professional flowcharts. It is a great, easy to use tool, with many charts templates that make the flowchart making process a breeze. 

The most effective and least expensive marketing/promotional tools

A few days ago I saw a question on LinkedIn as follows:
"What are the most effective and least expensive marketing/promotional tools for a Small Business Owner (1-2 people) in any given market-place?"


The straight answer is that it depends on the type of the business. Different types might use different marketing approaches. However, here are few ideas that hopefully will get you on the right track:


1) Online presence is important and even crucial to some business. If you have a good eye for design and you don't require anything too complicated, you can start by using one of the free site building services (personally, I like http://www.wix.com/). As per SEO (Search Engine Optimization), it is true that some SEO services will deliver great results. However, if you do not have the budget for it start with very simple things:


    (a) Submit your site to ALL search engines
    (b) Make sure to update and add content to your site regularly
    (c) Use as many social network sites (e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) to post information about your business with a link to your site.
These are just a few basic methods, and obviously a professional service might be able to offer you greater and faster results.


2) Write Press Releases and submit them through a press release submission service, a recommended one is: http://www.prweb.com/. You can also use free PR distribution services, however, be careful to check their reputation before using them as some of them are noted for sending spam and can actually cause more damage then help.Press releases are especially useful if you have a website.


3) Make sure to register your business on as many free directories. There are many free directories online and all you have to do is to search them on Google and start registering with them. Try to add as much relevant information and keywords in your ad.


4) DON'T underestimate the power of cold calling. Indeed it is an old tried method, with no sex appeal, but this method has probably generated more business then all other methods combined; and with today's low low rates from VOIP services (e.g. Vonage.com), phone calls cost next to nothing.


5) Word of the mouth. Make sure you give great value (not to confuse with price) and service to your customers and they will make sure to tell about your business to the people they know.


6) Don't be shy. If you have a satisfied client make sure to ask the client if knows anyone else that might be interested in your business. You'll be surprised are people are happy to refer you to someone they know.


7) Mailing list. Mailing lists can be a great tool to drive business in your direction. Make sure that your mailings are relevant and are worthwhile for your customers to open them. Always include in them, information but also promotional offers.


8) Discount Sites. Sites like groupon can help you get business.


9) eBay. While trying to sell your product on eBay you might be able to get additional exposure for your business, in the form of including its name, website, etc. in your ad.


10) Try to see if there are any governmental agencies that might have an interest in promoting your business (e.g US EPA in case you are cleantech company). These agencies can get you free promotions through publication and speeches they give.


11) Last but not least. Make sure to include your logo, brand-name, slogan, etc. on your product! (and obviously on all stationary). 


The above list is just a basic starting point for marketing your business, but there are many other promotional and marketing methods and they are limited only by your imagination and ingenuity. Make sure to dedicate the time to research and think about how you can promote, develop, and market your business.

The 150 Most Influential Headhunters in the World

Bloomberg Business Week has just published a list of the "150 Most Influential Headhunters in the World". The list allows for customization and sorting of the information by several columns, like: geographical area, title, function, etc.
Hope you will find this list useful. 
http://www.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/recruiter.html

The Importance of a Sales Team

A few years ago I was involved with a technological company. This company had a cutting edge technology and where out in the market before anyone else was out there. However, the CEO of the company decided that out of the 150 employees he had in the company, only 1 should be in sales. Furthermore, when the economical crisis hit the company, the same CEO decided that even this 1 sales manger was too much and that he himself can do the job. Needless to say, that within 2 years the company was down to less then 30 people and on the brink of bankruptcy. 

The above story is real and comes to show the many times in the past I was amazed by how many mangers and CEOs overlook the importance of good, qualified sales team. A lot of mangers view the sales team as a bunch of easily replaceable people. This is especially prevalent in technological companies where the technical personal is seemed to be the most highly respected and with the most prestige as they are creating and doing what the company is all about - Technology. 

However this is a mistake. All companies (aside from NPOs) need to remember that their purpose is to sell. It doesn't matter if the company is selling products, services, expertise or anything else, the reason the company exists is to sell. Therefore, it should be understood that everyone in the company is in a supporting role. Everyone in the company is to support the sales team. Whether it is the R&D (supporting by providing products to sell), Logistics (supporting the delivery of the sale), or the CEO (providing the sales team with the bet tools to do their job-sell). Moreover, it should be understood that it doesn't mater how great the product, service or technology is, without sales it as useful as an ashtray on a motorcycle. 

Furthermore, many times, and specifically in technological companies, it is expensive to replace and train new sales people. Just imagine how much time it takes to train a sales person. The need to teach that sales person about the service, product, or technology. The need for that sales person to exactly understand the business environment and models involved in what he/she need to sell. Like with any new employee, there is a learning curve that sales people have to go through, however, since their job is to generate cash-flow and income for the company, managers should look more carefully how can they help these most important people in the organization.  

Another factor many managers overlook, is that sales people are the face of the company. These are the people who crate the relationship with the potential and actual customers. Many times business will be conduct because of these personal relationships. However it should be remembered that relationships are not created within a day. They need time to be established and this time need to be given to the sales people. Furthermore, high turnover of sales personal can reflect badly on the company where customers and prospects are starting to ask themselves "what is wrong with the company/product that the sales personal is changing all the time?".
A good company is built from all kinds of factors but at the end of the day it is important to realize that the company must have a good qualified sales force to make the sales, without it the company is sure to fail.  

From Small Business CEO to Big Business CEO

So you made it! Your start-up company, that you started with your own two hands has become a "real" company. You have a nice turnover and several 10's of people in the company. Now it is a crucial time in the future of your company. Becouse, you see, managing a start-up is not like managing a big company. There are many adjustments that you as a CEO need to make in your handeling and attitude in order to make the transition from a small business CEO to a big business CEO. As a small business CEO, you are probably used to be in control of every aspect of the business; all the decisions are yours to make and everyone is being managed by you. However, now that you have become a big business CEO, you need to make one of the most difficult things and that is to delegate responsibilities. You need to understand that you cannot stay in control of every aspect of the business, and that from now on others might need to make decisions instead of you.
As CEO you have to remember that your job is to give direction to the company, and make sure that its future is as bright as its past. However, if you will keep micromanaging your employees, and the daily routine work you will not be able to fulfill your duties as CEO. You will become overworked with managing the sales, marketing, HR, R&D, etc. This workload will not allow you to dedicate the needed time to think about the future as you will be buried under the daily workload.
The above does not mean that you should keep your hands off of the daily goings. Rather it is to say that you should be like a ship captain where you supervise a crew of people that are able to do the job and you are to make the necessary adjustments when the ship is going off course, or if there is a need to make a new course. This is why it is so important that at this stage you will have good managers in your organization that can take good decision and deliver the necessary results.  

Sales Vs. Marketing

Often when I discuss with people what I do, they use the words marketing and sales interchangeably. I find myself always having to explain that these two are not the one and the same.
Sales involve all the processes that are directly connected with the actual sales process. The actual process of selling the product to someone. Marketing involves all the processes that bring knowledge and attention to the product/company/service.
Sales processes may include:
Sales calls
Meetings
Selling through a channel
e-commerce (website that people can buy on)
Stores
and other like activities


Marketing activities include:
Preparing and distributing catalogs
Advertisement (printed and digital)
PR (public relations)
Trade-shows
Events
etc.


Simply put the purpose of Marketing is to create a positive attitude towards the sale.
Sale is the actual act of selling something to someone.

Google's Successful Management Rules

Recently Google decided to view its own management behavior in order to make sure the company keeps crating a supportive environment, even as it keeps on growing.  

As everything else at Google this project was taken seriously and after much research Google came up with the following list of Excellence in Management. I recommend ALL managers and businesses to look at it closely and adopt it. 

Imitation is the Sincerest of Flattery

Charles Caleb Colton, (1780 - 1832), already said "Imitation is the sincerest of flattery", often misquoted as "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". This is correct also in the business world. Although, invention and ingenuity are crucial to most businesses, you don't have to "invent the wheel". Many times what you are trying to accomplish was already done by others and successfully so. Therefore, take the liberty to learn and to be inspired by what others have done. 

This is specifically relevant when we discuss design. 
When you are about to start designing or redesigning your website, catalog, and other brand elements, make sure to look at what your competition and other companies have done. If there is a market leader in your field that is also known for its design (Apple anyone?), make sure to look closely at the elements that make its branding. I do not encourage or propose copying or imitating, but being influenced and learning what make others successful is important and can save you a lot of time, resources, and costly mistakes. Make sure that you look at other companies work and write down what you like and what you dislike in the way they present the information to you. Look at their websites, do you like the cluttered ones or do you like the ones that are clean designed, do you like the ones that are using many colors or do you prefer the ones that are employing minimal use of colors. 
Same goes for other aspects of branding and marketing. One aspect that can be very important to your company might be the catalog. Make sure to look at other catalogs and note if the information is presented in concise way or did the company just tried to put in as much information as possible. Are the products in the catalog presented in a technical way or in a more consumer friendly way. 
Be aware that what might work in one industry might not work in a different industry. Each industry has its own standards and customer's expectations. 
While keeping the above in mind, remember, the design of your branding elements should be unique to your company and should reflect the idea behind your company or product. 

Make Sure Everyone on Your Team Has the Information They Need

In my past I had to manage the sales force of a startup company that was spread over 3 continents. If you worked for a small company and needed to manage information between several locations you know that getting the information from one place to the other and keeping it synchronized can be a a frustrating and a painstaking job.
That is why I want to recommend a very powerful, yet simple, tool that can help you organize the information between different locations effortlessly. And since this tool is free it is perfect for small enterprises and startup companies, even though I used it also in much bigger companies. The tool I'm referring to is the Google Docs web based application.
Google Docs give you the option to use its "Office" like web based applications from anywhere in the world, as long as you have an internet access and a Google account (in case you don't have a Google account, you can open one in a few minutes). The Google Docs applications include a word processing application ("Word" like), a spreadsheets application ("Excel" like), a presentation application ("PowerPoint" like), and a form maker application.
However, to an enterprise that has MS Office, all of the above still doesn't carry an added value. However, the real added value of Google Docs is that it lets you effortlessly corroborate and share your documents with other people.An example can be found in a case where you want to share a potential customer list between all your sales people, so they can see the association of different accounts with each of the sales team members as well as to see if they can help each other with certain accounts. In this case all you have to do is to open an appropriate spreadsheet on Google docs and allow each member of the team to view it. Furthermore, if the circumstances are right you can give authorization to one, few or all members to make changes to the spreadsheet. However, it is important to emphasis that only members that you, as the originator, gave permission to can view or make changes to the document. It is important to clarify that Google docs documents are not open to the public and are private documents.
Moreover, if more then one person are watching the document the system allows them to see who is online watching the document at any given time as well as to see any changes made to the document in real time. Therefore, you can have your sales team, or just the sales manager update the spreadsheet in real time and have all the members see the changes as they occur.
Another example, is where you can have a presentation opened and then have several people working on  it at the same time as they discuss and make the changes in real time. Just think how much time and back and forth of email exchange you can save with this!
Another great feature of Google Docs is that it lets you import other documents already made on your computer with programs such as MS Office to the Google Docs application. Therefore, if you already have a document made with Excel, Word or PowerPoint you can just use the import function and start working on it with Google Docs.
Nonetheless, like almost any other application out here, Google Docs comes with its own faults. Some examples include the limitation on the size of embedded images within documents (currently 2MB) and the limitation on the overall size of a document (currently 1GB). Granted, these faults will not effect most users but they are still there.

Return Merchandise Authorization - RMA

In many companies one might be asked for the RMA procedure. Simply put, the RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) procedure defines the terms, conditions and procedures that need to be taken when a company or an individual want to return a product to the seller for either, replacement, refund or repair .  

Definition of Above the Line (ATL) and Below the Line (BTL) Marketing

A few days ago, I was asked by an associate what is the difference between Above the Line (ATL) and Below the Line (BTL) Marketing techniques. 


In the business environment there are several interpretations to ATL and BTL. However when we discuss marketing approaches the meaning is, to put it simply, to define the marketing and sales activities that the company is engaged in to sell its products.


These two techniques use the line as the differentiation point between marketing activities that are considered as mass marketing, ATL marketing, and marketing activities that are focused at a specific individuals according to the individuals needs and requirements. 


The success of ATL activities is usually measured in brand recognition, rather then in increase in revenues.Examples for ATL activities are mass advertising, such as TV and radio advertisement, printed advertisement in traditional printed channels, etc. 


BTL activities are usually easier to measure, and translate into monetary values, then ATL activities. Now days, due to increase costs of traditional media, and the increase in buying decision made on impulse, many companies are engaging in BTL activities. BTL activities can be defined as all marketing activities that target specific individuals at a very specific location. An example for a BTL is a coupon dispenser on a pharmacy shelf where the customer is making the buying decision. Another example for BTL that can be found in retail environments is when brand representatives on the retail floor offering trials for new products of the brand.


Both ATL and BTL has justification for deployment and a company must recognize its marketing goals and budget when deciding weather to use ATL, BTL, or  as usually is the decision, a mix of the two.                

Euroshop Fair Düsseldorf Germany

Hi All,


Last week I had the opportunity to be part of a company that exhibited at the Euroshop Fair in Düsseldorf, Germany (http://www.euroshop-tradefair.com/). To those of you who are part of the retail industry and are not familiar with this event, I strongly recommend following it. The event takes place every 3 years and is the world's largest retail trade show.
This year over 106,000 visitors came to the event over the 5 days it took place. 


I was amazed by the amount of people and quality leads we got during the show. At times we were 12 people from the company and still we couldn't help all the people that stopped by.  


Most importantly, if you decide to exhibit in Euroshop make sure you regard it as the "Academy Award" of all trade showaround your budgets. There were too many companies that didn't put enough effort in presenting their products and ideas and therefore didn't get the attention they wanted, or were just overshadowed by other companies with more impressive booths.


Like with every trade show that you exhibit in, define clearly what you want to achive, look at the competiotion, build a unique concept and build it around your budget. However, I will dedicate a whole post to trade show visibility and exhibition in a different post.

Welcome to Sales, Marketing, and Beyond

My name is Dorian Shifman, and since 1996 I have been a sales, marketing, and business development professional. My goal here is to offer you, the reader, a location where you can find a wealth of information to help you with your business activities. I have specialized in distressed businesses and in businesses that are looking for revision and growth. I have been down in the tranches as a sales and marketing guy and worked my way to the CEO position.

Please read, think and share with me your thoughts.

Dorian Shifman