Tag Archives: business. jobs

You’re either LinkedIn or out: Why your profile should be complete.

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LinkedIn

Image by Christopher S. Penn via Flickr

If you aren’t benefiting from LinkedIn, maybe you are at fault.

Have you done the following?

  • Uploaded recent, good quality photo
  • Completed Summary, Experience, Education, Awards, Contact Info
  • Joined and participated in relevant groups in your industry and fields of experience
  • Asked for recommendations
  • Made connections
  • Customized your public profile and profile url
  • Skills
  • Volunteer Experience & Causes
  • Certifications
  • Additional Information
  • Twitter Connection
  • Additional Apps
  • blog and website links
  • and everything LinkedIn allows!

Aren’t you worth it?

Yes, it’s some work, but the more information you have on your profile, the better chance to be in recruiter search results, a search of  an associate who may want to do business with you, a company looking for employees and more. Work on your profile a little at a time and you’ll be done before you know it.

Already have a job and think you don’t need LinkedIn?

So, if someone were to need someone with your skills and experience and could offer you a better job with better pay, would you decide to keep your skills and experience hidden from them? Well, if you haven’t completed your profile on LinkedIn, you are hidden from possible opportunities.

Think no one’s looking?

There is heavy usage on LinkedIn by recruiters and companies looking for qualified people. Especially with the high numbers of unemployment, it is far more efficient for employers and recruiters to comb LinkedIn via keyword searches. They get relevant results of qualified candidates that far surpass attempts to advertise that only result in a deluge of all kinds of qualified and unqualified candidates.

Your associates are looking, too.

Think you aren’t searched on LinkedIn by potential clients, associates, business partners, job prospects, and even friends? Think again.
I know the first place I go to learn about someone is to search for their social media profiles. And if someone wants to do business with me or vice versa, I definitely check out their LinkedIn profile. If you give me a business card, the next thing I do is look for your profile. If you are a potential client, I use LinkedIn to be able to know what I am getting into and how best to prepare for you.
If you don’t think it matters to be on LinkedIn, search some LinkedIn profiles of people you work with or do business with. You’ll see you might be missing the boat…

Think Groups are a waste of time?

Participating in groups relevant to your industry and interests is also a great way to get exposure for your expertise. People notice what you are saying and will look at your profile and possibly ask to connect.

Having an incomplete profile is worse than no profile at all!

Go here: http://learn.linkedin.com/new-users/ and get started!!!
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“I’ll have what she’s having…”

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“I’ll have what she’s having” is how most customers shop!

Tis the season for all the great Holiday movies and “When Harry Met Sally” is on the top of my list. “I’ll have what she’s having” is how many customers shop. You are losing sales if you are only presenting products or services based on “I’ll have what she’s having.” Here’s how…

Most customers shop with the same method as the older lady in this scene. She has no idea that the food is not why Sally is reacting so excitedly, but she is making her purchase decision based on what she is seeing and hoping it will give her the same results – even though she has no idea she will not get the same results! That is how people generally shop for goods or services!

I had the great fortune to have learned sales skills from a specialty women’s shoe and apparel store owner (“The Shop for Pappagallo” in Miami) back in the 1980’s. I was young, and I remember that while I was being interviewed, I honestly thought he was really over the top in how serious he was about selling shoes. Looking back, I am grateful for him teaching me what true selling was all about.

Don’t just honor their request before they learn all of their options!

His approach was to completely ignore the “I’ll have what she’s having” approach most women had when they came to his store. For example, if a woman asked for a dressy black strappy sandal with a high heel, I was taught to bring her EVERY black shoe we had in her size – sandals, pumps, yes, even boots! We had to bring a minimum of 8 pairs of shoes out to the floor!

At first, I thought he was just a slave-driver – I was 21, and not mature enough to understand his approach. And was this intimidating to the customer? Sometimes, but they soon realized we weren’t pressuring them to buy. We then would open every box and hang the heel of a shoe on the end of the box. This made a presentation like that of the assortment in the glass case at the candy store, only this was a candy store of shoes! It really wowed them and they were ready to try all the “candy!” It was not uncommon to sell them a shoe (or 2) of a shoe that was totally unlike what they asked for. This was an especially good approach for those who requested a shoe that was totally wrong for their type of foot. With our skills and knowledge, we found shoes that made them look AND  feel good. They were much happier with their purchase and often became loyal customers.

What was important was that it showed them their options…

Most people have no idea of the options available to them in any store or for any service, especially if it is their first time. You are really losing many selling opportunities if you only present what you were asked for … and you are not providing your best customer service.

Customers can’t and don’t have knowledge of your entire inventory and services, nor do they have the time to browse long enough to learn. That is why you must have salespeople to listen to their needs and bring the appropriate products to their attention. Even people who appear to know exactly what they want – they still don’t know all their options and it is your job to present them all.

Think about when YOU shop. You probably have a pretty good idea of what you want, but would certainly be open to other possibilities if they were properly presented to you and truly fit your needs.

A customer usually shops based on what his/her friend has, or s/he saw on TV, etc. But, realize that if they were 100% sure of what they seek, they could certainly purchase online. But they drove to and walked into your store! Isn’t that evidence enough that they need more help and more knowledge of the options that might be available to them? Jump on it!

Don’t miss that golden opportunity – a warm lead!

What a customer is actually saying to you when they tell you what they want is, “I think this item is what I need, but it would be great to have choices. But if no one gives me any other options or educates me about other products that would serve me better, …I’ll just have what she’s having.”

Ask and listen! Don’t miss the opportunity to sell them what they really seek! Otherwise, their experience with you is minimal and most of all, not memorable. If you helped them get what they really sought, they would most certainly come back to you over and over because you kept them from wasting their money on a lesser choice.

So bring out ALL the black shoes…!!!

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This economy doesn’t allow for a crap shoot!

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Home Depot IT Habitat build 2010

Image by bennel via Flickr

Whoever said that you are in business for your customer is, to put it mildly, full of it. HOW to run a business is all about providing your customer’s needs, wants and emotions for buying.  But in this blog post,  I’m talking about WHY you are in your business to start with and how to keep it going.

This economy has hindered the best of businesses. But to allow the economy to force a lack of direction is wrong. You can’t wait for the economy to turn around before you start reinventing your business for growth.

If you are burning out in your business because the economy has got you down, that’s somewhat understandable. But blaming a hurting business all on the economy will only make matters worse. You’ll stagnate and become indifferent. You have to think beyond external factors and look within your own business for the answers.

Can you imagine if Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank, Ron Brill, and Pat Farrah had decided to let the economy dictate whether or not they should go ahead with their new concept home improvement store? That’s right. Home Depot opened their first stores in Atlanta right smack in the middle of a bad economy in the 1978. They found their niche – catering to do-it-yourselfer’s homeowners. They knew what they wanted to do and were passionate about it. No matter that the economy was bust at the time, they ignored that and pushed on to huge success.

Their first year they made no money, but by fiscal year end 1980, they had they had 4 stores, 300 associates and $22 million in sales.  And though they had hit success rapidly, they didn’t just rest on their laurels. They kept reinventing themselves and building on their previous successes and today, they have 2,042 stores worldwide, 345,000 Associates, and $81.5 Billion in Sales.

Why? Because while still catering to that same niche customer, they understood that to change is to grow:

  • They created in-store how-to product training seminars in every store.
  • They partnered with Habitat for Humanity – a perfect match with their niche that gave them huge exposure and community connection.
  • They partnered with the Olympics and became the largest employer of Olympic Athletes.
  • They worked together with their customers to help rebuild South Florida after Hurricane Andrew.
  • They were already going green in the early 1990′s by publishing the first Environmental Greenprint for better housing and establishing the Environmental Grant program.
  • They published their own do-it-yourself books.
  • They developed the Kids’ Workshop® to teach building skills and safety.
  • They launched Project Homefront to support military families repairing and maintaining their homes.
  • They opened Landscape Stores to the growing demand for do-it-yourself landscaping
  • They donated $1 million in tools and materials to support the United States military in Iraq and created Operation Career Front, a joint effort with the US Departments of Defense, Labor and Veterans Affairs, launches to attract former active duty personnel and their dependents.
  • They announced a job partnership with AARP to attract older workers.
  • Their Week of Service provides more than 260,000 hours of volunteer service and 1,600 community project renovations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and China.
  • …and the list goes on…

I hope the point is, by now, obvious!!! I could write the same story about Chrysler – Chrysler was facing bankruptcy in 1979 and by 1983 – Chrysler unveiled its new minivans to the public. The industry giants initially laughed at the minivans – especially in those economic times – and you know the rest of that story!

How can you continue to do business the same way everyday and expect better results? Home Depot kept developing and nurturing their market niche with ongoing in-store programs, workshops, books, volunteer service, community partnerships, even NASCAR racing to stay in the eye of their niche customer.

This is far more valuable and successful than any advertising can bring. Not to mention that it all catered specifically to their customer. General advertising simply can’t touch that!

So next time you simply open your store, run it all day, then close it up for the night only to do it the same way again tomorrow, remember Home Depot’s story.

And much of what they did to build the business can be done on a small business level through well-chosen local community partnerships that include your customer niche. First step, if you haven’t done so already, is defining your target customer niche and then finding what efforts will match it.

How can YOU reinvent YOUR business to continue to grow your customer acceptance and loyalty? Get started now!

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5 Reasons You Can Save Money Hiring from the Unemployment “Walk of Fame”

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Have you been hiring cheap because you are afraid to hire better?

Are you afraid that those better qualified will leave when something better comes along?

Are you settling for less qualified labor just to save money?

HUH?  Are you NUTS? The job applicant pool is incredibly better than ever due to the many layoffs and forced retirements.

Yes, they are used to higher wages than you may normally be able to afford, but with only 6 month of unemployment insurance in most cases, these highly qualified people need jobs, too, and are willing to accept less, even far less in some cases.

Even better, many are unwilling to go back to the corporate world and would love to work at a smaller business – less stress, more casual atmosphere, and many other attractive  attributes are common to small business.

In addition, you can potentially save on office space and equipment since many corporate refugees have well equipped home offices and could work from home for you.

Just think, hiring better… hmmm. What a load off your mind. Sit back and imagine these 5 results of hiring better qualified staff …

  1. You’ll be less stressed with a qualified staff that can be empowered and trusted to make decisions within your guidelines.
  2. You’ll have HAPPY customers because they don’t have to wait until someone can “ask the owner/manager” before they can solve the problem.
  3. You’ll spend less time training a staff that not only could easily assimilate the duties of your business, but also can help your business grow because of their experience and know how.
  4. You’ll save money in terms of productivity with a staff that has OFFICE computer skills, social media savvy, operations knowledge, accounting skills, and more.
  5. And last but not least … OMG – Yes, these higher qualified people will attract more customers because they actually have excellent PEOPLE SKILLS!!!

Worst case scenario, even if they only work 1 year because they later find a much higher level position, think of how much they could up-level your business in just that one year…

Why, oh why, aren’t you taking advantage of all these skilled workers who are struggling to find work???

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Troubleshooting – Rate your employees in terms of their ROI

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Are you afraid of your employees?

That may seem to be a ridiculous question, but in all honesty, you must ask yourself that question.

We tend to see what we want to see. And when we catch a glimpse of what we don’t like, we run from it or deny it exists because it may seem easier at the time and we are afraid of confronting them about their weaknesses. You’ve trained and retrained, you’ve shifted responsibilities, and still they are not meeting your standards…

You must think of your employees in terms of their potential ROI. How much time do you and your staff have to hand hold the weak? Seriously – think of the effect this has on your business to have weak employees in the mix.

  • Takes you away from your priorities
  • Increases error rate when you are unable to supervise.
  • Discourages increased sales due to poor performance and community resentment
  • Causes inventory discrepancies due to sloppy entries
  • Hurts repeat business due to lack of consistency
  • And more…

Fact the fact that there is NO ROI on weak staff members!

Yes, it’s difficult to find a new person and train them, but is that really more difficult than having to regularly make up for the shortcomings of employees who are not up to the tasks?

Bottom line – Are you keeping staff that is holding you back? Why?