It’s no secret that salespeople are the lifeblood of any business. Without them, they would not bring in new customers or generate revenue. Therefore, businesses need to find ways to motivate their sales staff and keep them productive. In this blog post, educator Jonathan Osler discusses how businesses can do just that. He provides several tips that will help any business get the most out of their sales team.
1. Set Clear Goals:
One of the best ways to motivate salespeople is to set clear goals. This means establishing what the business wants from the sales team to achieve and then putting in place a system that measures their progress. Salespeople need to know what they are working towards and how they can improve their performance. An excellent way to do this is by setting measurable goals, such as increasing revenue by a certain percentage or acquiring a certain number of new customers.
Another way to set practical goals is by using SMART criteria: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Jonathan Osler says, “Without specific, measurable goals, it’s difficult to determine whether a salesperson is successful or not. By setting SMART goals, you can help your salespeople achieve their targets while also monitoring their progress.”
2. Offer Incentive:
Another way to motivate salespeople is by offering them incentives. This could be something as simple as providing a bonus for hitting specific targets or giving employees a gift card or other reward for reaching their goals.
However, to be effective, incentives need to be relevant to the individual employee. For example, if an employee is motivated by money, awarding them a cash prize would be the best incentive. However, if someone is more driven by recognition, giving them public praise or putting them in the spotlight might be better.
It’s also important to change up the incentives on occasion. If employees feel like they’re always getting the same rewards, they may become less motivated over time.
3. Providing Feedback:
One of the best ways to motivate salespeople is to provide them with feedback. This could involve giving them regular updates on their progress or giving feedback after each sale. Salespeople need to know what they are doing well and where they can improve to continue being successful.
It’s also essential to be honest with the employees. If they are not meeting expectations, it’s better to tell them than have them continue down a path that will only lead to disappointment. Providing constructive feedback is one of the best ways to help someone improve their skills.
4. Developing Skills:
To be successful, salespeople need to develop their skills continually. This means taking the time to learn about new products and technologies and learning how to sell them effectively. Sales training is an integral part of this process and should be offered regularly.
Businesses can also help their sales team by providing access to resources such as eBooks, whitepapers, and case studies.
Sales motivation doesn’t have to be complicated, and these tips should help. Businesses can help their salespeople achieve their targets while keeping them motivated and inspired.
Planning to start a business? Want to convince people to invest in the business? A business plan is important for all entrepreneurs, such as Alexander Djerassi, as it helps them determine if a business will be viable. It is a detailed guide of a business’ objectives, financial and operational plans, and how it will go about achieving its goals.
Business plans are also used to encourage people to invest in a business. There are many different business plans and each depends on the goal of the business. Most business plans can either be a traditional or lean start-up. A traditional business plan is more detailed and has more information that covers marketing and finances. Businesses that already have loyal consumers and historical data are more inclined to use traditional business plans. Start-up business plans are shorter and outline assumptions about the management and finances of a business.
The Importance of a Business Plan
Before Djerassi starts a business, he develops a business plan to help him focus on how to make it succeed. Some may argue that a business plan is not important, but it outlines the short-term and long-term goals of a business.
No one goes on a hiking trip without first consulting a map. A business plan helps business owners, entrepreneurs, and their employees not get lost on the journey of growing or starting their business.
Here are four more reasons a business plan is so important:
1. A business plan will encourage investors or bring in new partners because it shows that the owner is confident in the business.
2. Creating a business plan allows business owners to understand their competition within an industry.
3. Business plans encourage businesses to make better products, and services as it analyzes customers and identifies target markets.
4. Starting a business comes with many risks. A business plan reduces some of those risks by guiding the decision-making process.
How to Build a More Compelling Business Plan
Alexander Djerassi is aware that writing a business plan may seem intimidating and take a lot of time, but has major benefits once done correctly. A good business plan has the following elements:
1. Executive Summary
This summarizes the entire business plan and is written after all the other sections are completed. It outlines the goals and objectives of the
business, and the purpose of the business. An executive summary also includes details and highlights that will encourage potential investors to invest in the business.
2. Business Description
The business description outlines the industry and its various markets that will directly or indirectly affect the business.
3. Market Research & Strategy
This allows the business owner to identify the target market and establish pricing, distribution, and advertising strategies.
4. Competitive Analysis
A business plan must have a competitive analysis as it helps to identify the strengths and weaknesses of current and potential competitors.
5. Operations and Management Plan
The section outlines the responsibilities of each person within the business, from management to employees. The operations and management plan covers the organizational structure of the company, operating expenses, cost of goods, and capital requirements.
6. Financial Data
This is usually the last section of a business but is essentially the most important element. It includes the income statement, cash flow statement, and balance sheet.
· The income statement, otherwise called the profit-and-loss account, shows the income and expenditure of a business.
· The cash flow statement outlines how much money is needed to run the business.
· The balance sheet is broken down into three sections: equity, assets, and liabilities. Assets and liabilities can either be long-term or current. Equity is the difference between the total assets and total liabilities.
Writing a plan for a business is a big step for entrepreneurs and will determine the success of any business. The thing that is most important to do before writing a business plan is to be mentally prepared and motivated to enter the business world. It will not be easy but being prepared will make a world of a difference.
Ethical issues in business are often overlooked. In today’s global business environment, ethical issues are a significant concern for many organizations. The emergence of globalization and the internet has created new opportunities for companies to expand their operations into foreign markets.
Still, it also presents more significant challenges concerning managing these new risks. This blog post will explore some of the most prevalent ethical dilemmas businesses face in an increasingly complex social context.
1. Ethics in Accounting Practices
Father George Rutler believes that businesses in today’s society are expected to operate ethically and be transparent. This means that accounting practices must comply with all laws and regulations, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
The FCPA prohibits companies from giving anything of value to foreign officials for obtaining or retaining business. While this legislation has been on the books since 1977, the US government has made enforcement of this law a priority in recent years. This is important because accounting practices are essential in running business operations effectively and maintaining financial transparency for investors.
2. Ethics in Pricing Decisions
Pricing decisions are important because they impact the success of a business. For companies that sell products globally, it is essential to price goods and services appropriately based on local market conditions while complying with all applicable laws. This includes making sure prices do not violate antitrust or competition rules when setting prices for products.
This means that businesses can adapt their pricing strategies under changing market conditions while remaining competitive and profitable. They also ensure they do not violate rules governing price-fixing or predatory pricing. A business sets prices artificially low to drive competitors out of the marketplace, enabling them to control the industry.
3. Ethics in Marketing Practices
When it comes to marketing, several ethical issues need to be considered. These include:
– The sale and use of illegal products such as drugs or firearms. – Deceptive advertising practices mislead customers into purchasing goods they did not intend to buy.
– Unfair business competition practices such as price-fixing and predatory pricing.
– The exploitation of children for marketing purposes.
Several companies have been criticized for unethical practices relating to their advertising campaigns, particularly when it comes to younger customers. This is an area where businesses must be careful about how they market products or services because there are legal limits on the acceptable type of advertising.
This means that companies must adopt ethical marketing practices that are sensitive to the social and cultural environment in which they operate while remaining profitable at the same time. This may involve creating campaigns geared towards specific demographics based on age, gender, or ethnicity rather than targeting everyone equally across different groups.
4. Ethics in Workplace Practices
Worker exploitation is one of the most significant ethical issues facing businesses today. This includes human trafficking, unfair labor compensation, and unequal treatment of workers based on race or gender. While companies are expected to abide by all local laws regarding worker rights, many have been criticized for not ensuring they are not involved in unethical labor practices.
Father George Rutler suggests that businesses must ensure they comply with all applicable laws and regulations to protect the rights of their workers, including ensuring workplace safety standards are met and banning any form of worker exploitation such as human trafficking for work purposes. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights issued by the United Nations (UN) in 2011 states that businesses are responsible for respecting human rights.
Businesses who violate ethical business practices may be subject to legal penalties and sanctions, including fines, lawsuits, reputational damage, and reduced sales due to loss of customer trust.
According to Rutler, the key to successful business practices is adhering to ethical principles and ensuring that all employees adhere to the same standards for dealing with customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders. This means implementing a practical, ethical framework within a company’s business operations and creating internal systems such as grievance reporting processes so any unethical behavior can be dealt with promptly before it affects the business’s bottom line.
With the rise of online, fashion firms are no longer competing only for foot traffic and brick-and-mortar sales. They’re vying for internet shoppers’ late-night clicks and early-morning purchases.
Unless a person has a lot of money, the most excellent method to promote their clothes company these days is via internet marketing and social media interaction. Indeed, an increasing number of individuals are purchasing apparel online, making it much simpler to reach one’s target demographic than via retail and conventional venues.
Displays of Windows.
Window displays may be described as the art that effectively showcases an establishment’s merchandise for sale via the use of a variety of items and materials. The power of window displays should never be underestimated, as shown by the fact that one of the most popular pastimes while traveling is strolling along the golden sidewalks or major metropolitan thoroughfares where one can examine the display windows of the big enterprises.
Organize a giveaway campaign to debut one’s brand.
Giveaway programs are very effective and, when executed correctly, may result in a flood of publicity for an individual’s apparel business within its first month of operation. It’s all about brand exposure at this vital early phase. The majority of firms are focused on sales and do not consider the larger picture.
While revenues are critical, brand awareness should take precedence at launch and even afterward.
Helen Lee Schifter urges people to create one-of-a-kind freebies. It might be a personal item or another kind of gift. The critical point is that the giveaway campaign should be aggressively promoted on the company’s website, social media platforms, and other public relations outlets.
Paid Advertising.
Paid advertising is an excellent option. If a person has the finances and technological knowledge, they may efficiently advertise their apparel business via sponsored advertising.
Paid advertising’s primary component is an online advertising plan, which can only be implemented via the assistance of online advertising businesses.
A person may market their clothes brand online using several different tactics. This alone is a significant revenue generator. AdSense income is increasing while revenue from media and other sources is declining.
Helen Lee Schifter says that the superb strategy to sell a person’s clothing brand is to target various niche markets and experiment with multiple advertisements. A person’s efforts may then be refined and focused as they progress.
Associating a Brand with an Influencer.
In terms of social media, some of the most influential fashion social media campaigns use influencers. For those unfamiliar, influencers are those inside one’s industry who have a sizable fan base and demand attention. When one influencer makes a post, others take notice.
One of the most effective strategies to advertise one’s clothing business is to have influencers Tweet images of themselves wearing the brand’s apparel. At its core, influencer marketing is comparable to high school; influencers are the famous students, while their followers are the other kids who look up to them and want to be exactly like them.
When the above strategies are implemented in a clothing business, there will be high-profit returns.
Many professional resources these days are aimed at entrepreneurs just setting out on creating a new business. While this is an important area of study, it also neglects another important question that is often encountered along the business journey — how do you reinvent an existing business that may be underperforming? To help to answer this question, we’ve turned to information from Jesse Willms. The well-known e-commerce entrepreneur has a long litany of business wins that help inform his outlook on what can be done to best set an endeavor up for success.
Jesse Willms Sets Focus on Identifying Potential Problems
Before you can innovate a solution for a business’s underperformance you must identify what may be causing that underperformance in the first place. While this can seem obvious on its face, this concept can actually be more difficult to accomplish than one might think. That’s because entrepreneurs are often known to fall in love with their business ideas, causing blind spots to the issues that may be present. This is understandable, since a business can be a very personal venture requiring long hours of work. By the time it gets to any level of viability, an entrepreneur may have a lot of personal time and mental energy invested in the undertaking.
To avoid allowing such a blind spot to take over your analysis of what problems may be present within the business, it can be helpful to use a methodical approach here. A list highlighting the parts of the business that are performing well and the parts that are underperforming can be a way to zero in on the issue. If an area is underperforming, you might be able to trace that back through a sequence of events to identify where it is going off track. Perhaps the supply chain is too costly to allow you to turn a profit, perhaps manufacturing has become inefficient, or perhaps marketing efforts can be stepped up. It may also be the case that the product is simply having trouble finding a receptive target audience.
To that last point, we can look to the work of Jesse Willms with his latest venture — a vehicle history report website. That website is the result of an in-depth process of product innovation where he looked to customer needs around the purchase of pre-owned vehicles and how he might best satisfy those needs. This process included analysis of social media, customer testimonials, and a range of diverse internet-based resources. A similar process can be of use in your own journey to hone in on whatever issue may be affecting your business.
Hypothesize Solutions
Once an issue has been identified, solutions can be hypothesized. This process can vary in difficulty depending on the complexity of the issue. Sometimes, a systematic assessment of an issue can surface a pretty straightforward fix. For instance, you may find that a key component of the manufacturing process has just become too expensive and you may need to search for a cheaper alternative. This can be a simple matter of searching for a new manufacturing partner or quick product redesign to incorporate the need for an updated manufacturing process.
However, some solutions may be more difficult to ascertain and the pursuit of innovating a new path forward may be much more difficult. An example here may be a product that simply isn’t finding a home amongst its target audience. It can be difficult in such a situation to know whether the product isn’t viable or whether it may actually do better if aimed towards a new segment of the marketplace. Regardless of the eventual fix, it can be critical to at least hypothesize your solution here before you move forward. Without such a hypothesis, you’re essentially taking shots in the dark about what may keep your business moving forward.
Jesse Willms Partners with Teammates
The work of Jesse Willms presents us with another important step in the business reinvention process after you have developed a potential path forward — building a strong team. This has been a key focus for the entrepreneur along many stages of his business innovation processes. While you may have existing members of your staff that are contributing to your overall mission, a time of change for your product can also represent a time of growth for that team. You may want to seek out ways in which your team can grow its expertise by adding new members that have new competencies not currently present on your staff.
Once you’ve brought in your team members, they can help you further hypothesize solutions and innovate ways to move forward with those potential fixes. A new team member may also bring a fresh perspective as to what’s causing the issue in the first place and what may be the road towards a new product direction. While such a move may also need to be balanced against a business’s existing staffing resources, it’s at least a potential area to explore that can bring with it large benefits.
Test Your Fix
Once you’ve identified a problem, hypothesized a solution, and brought in team members equipped to move your business forward, it’s time to test out your proposed fix. You may want to dive into this process cautiously, as it can sometimes be difficult to unwind a change once it’s been set in motion. That said, it can also be important to put your full efforts into a new path rather than investing in half measures.
To this end, institute your changes and carefully monitor their effect. If the change is in your manufacturing process, for example, look to costs and see how the changes affect buying patterns. If the change is for the positive, roll it out on a broader scale. If unintended consequences pop up, or the change is ineffective in resolving the issue, it may be time to go back to the drawing board.
While resources for reinventing a business can sometimes be difficult to find, this area of the entrepreneurial journey can be a critical one to study. Identifying a problem, hypothesizing a solution, building a team, and testing a fix can be an important cohesive solution to turning around a failing endeavor and finding renewed success. The work of Jesse Willms presents a useful guide to finding this kind of success in a range of endeavors. His methodical approach to business and penchant for product innovation can be a goal to aim for no matter where in your business’s life cycle you may find yourself.
As a business owner, you might have been required to have a mask mandate in your business. Some business owners might just feel like this requirement is a nuisance.
However, mask requirements can actually help businesses boost sales. Check out these reasons why consumers would likely go to a store more if they have a mask requirement.
Safety
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, millions of people have been staying at home to help protect themselves from getting the virus. However, many of these people can’t fully rely on online delivery, making them have to go to physical stores.
Having a mask mandate in your store will ensure that people who want to be safe are more likely to visit. Just make sure you enforce the mandate for everyone who comes in as you might find that customers will leave otherwise.
Sick Employees
COVID-19 is a very contagious disease, even more so than the average flu strain. If you don’t have a mask mandate in your business, you might find that your employees will all get sick from COVID-19.
If your employees are sick from COVID-19, you might be forced to shut down your business for a while, as your employees need to be all feeling well for your business to be open. Make sure you have a mask mandate if you don’t want sick employees around.
Mask Sales
Depending on what kind of business you run, you might have been selling face masks in the last year. You can even work with a company that can create face masks that directly advertise your business.
By forcing a mask mandate in your business, you might have customers coming in to purchase your masks so that they can wear them next time they come into your store. Think about enacting a mask mandate if you sell masks at your business.
Law
In some states, businesses have found that they have been forced to be shut down for a while. This is due to these businesses not enforcing the mask mandate their state gave them.
By enforcing the mask mandate of your area, you can make sure that your business isn’t going to be shut down because of any legal issues. You can also grow your business from consumers that can’t shop at a business currently shut down from not enforcing the mandate. Look more into how legal mask issues could actually help you grow your business.
Conclusion
If you’re running a business, you’re likely always going to be thinking about how you can maximize your products. That’s a totally ok mindset to have if you own a business, as you want to always make sure that you have enough profit to make up for bad sales as a business leader.
All of this advice should help you decide to enforce masks in your business. However, you should start thinking with the mindset that you want to do things that positively help your local community. By wearing face masks in your business, you can help stop COVID-19.
Striking a balance between one’s home life and a fast-paced career is one of the pillars of achieving success and attaining happiness. Yet, according to Nicolas Krafft, mastering a fulfilling work-life balance is one of the biggest challenges faced by today’s workforce. This year in particular has made that clearer than ever before. As the COVID-19 pandemic has confined people to their homes and forced most jobs to be worked from the confines of our houses, people are deliberately focusing on striking that balance between work and home as both now share the same roof.
Most people, if not all, could benefit from a better work-life balance and Nicolas Krafft, a former L’Oreal executive, knows this. Nicolas has spent a large portion of his career traveling, which has forced him to find balance between a demanding career and a personal life.
What is Work-Life Balance?
Nicolas Krafft’s career has taken him around the globe and back countless times, often for extended periods of time. This extensive travel schedule, coupled with demanding business responsibilities, is what required Nicolas to be productive and forced the former L’Oreal executive to work on striking a healthy work-life. In short, a work-life balance is the ability to balance work and life so that neither is neglected and both receive the attention necessary to be successful long-term. It could also apply to one’s life outside of the office on work trips.
A balanced work-life balance is not only fundamental to one’s well-being and happiness, but also to overall career success. According to Krafft, a good work-life balance enables one to take a step back and see the bigger picture. In order to free his mind and recharge, Krafft would turn to running and climbing, which would clear his mind and allow him to see through dense issues in a much simpler, refreshed way. During his extensive business travels, he would make sure to carve out some time for local activities such as shopping at a market on his own or informally with some members of his team. This, according to Krafft, enabled him to satisfy his own curiosity as well as develop a sense of the local culture that ultimately drove business decisions. Striking a work-life balance and allowing space for activities and conversations outside of the purview of work, even with coworkers, will undeniably allow for a fresher mind and a sharper perspective, both of which will directly and positively impact one’s work.
Striking a work-life balance can indeed mean putting up boundaries and leaving work at work, but it can also mean melding work and life together in a way that breeds positive outcomes instead of negative outcomes.
The Detriments of Bad Work-Life Balance
There are several things that can lead to an unhealthy work-life balance. Some of the most common are longer working hours, assuming conflicting roles, balancing conflicting objectives, and not spending enough time with family and friends. Nicolas Krafft believes that having a clear understanding of how a company can positively impact the lives of its employees and customers is imperative to manage such situations, as is understanding how your focus on work is affecting your well-being and your family.
Nicolas Krafft adds that there are several reasons why companies have increasingly begun to prioritize a more sound balance between work and home demands for their staff. They have realized that a healthy work-life balance leads to fewer health problems, enhanced engagement among their teams, high productivity, and an increased sense of mindfulness and pride in their employee’s work.
How to Establish Work-Life Balance
Photo by Bram Naus on Unsplash
Nicolas Krafft shares that he has established routines that enable him to maintain a strong work-life balance. His routine includes adjusting his flight schedules so that he can sleep on the plane, exercising during his trips, and not working on the plane. He also makes sure to prioritize spending as much time as possible with his family, something he deems as crucial. He takes steps toward reducing the length of his trips and works to schedule video conferences for follow ups whenever possible to avoid weekend travel.
Work-life balance in 2020 is obviously much different than it was in 2019. We are working from home, we’re not travelling, and we’re not sharing space with people who are not our family. But while striking a work-life balance this year doesn’t require us to work around a busy travel schedule, it does require us to navigate an unknown entity: a global pandemic. The stage is different this year, but the stakes are just as high.
Working from home and separated from your core work group means that the team needs to be able to set boundaries and expectations so the company mission isn’t lost and the work continues unabated. Working from home also requires us to work towards a work-life balance, but from a different angle. Now that we are all working from home it has become increasingly hard to “leave work at work”. Our work is now accessible to us 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which makes it that much easier to work later hours and weekends. A separation must be struck so that work doesn’t overtake our home life. Working and living in the same space can be beneficial but we need to make sure we leave work behind when the day ends and give ourselves the time to decompress and experience our home lives.
Final Thoughts
Overall, establishing a flexible and clear work environment can be one of the most effective means by which work-life balance can be struck. Not only will this lead to greater job satisfaction, but it will also decrease stress, help team members establish and maintain healthy habits, and increase engagement.
During unprecedented times like the ones we currently find ourselves in, flexible work hours and an ability to work from home enable a more satisfying work experience overall. Ultimately, ensuring that a team has the resources in place to strike an effective balance between personal and professional demands will lead to increased loyalty and retention. This doesn’t come without its possible determinants, though.
This year has thrown all norms out the window, and that includes the normal definition of work-life balance. We now work where we live. Can we separate the two and allow for continued productivity? A balance must be struck, but it is possible.
About Nicolas Krafft
Nicolas Krafft is a former L’Oreal executive with more than a decade of expertise in the cosmetics industry. He began his career as a product manager at L’Oreal Professional and subsequently moved up through the ranks to become vice president of Global Business Development for L’Oreal USA, leading the go-to-market strategy of one of the strategic brands of the professional division. Based in NYC, Krafft oversaw the transformation of its business model across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. Krafft ultimately became the international general manager for the Pulp Riot brand. He worked on launching new product lines, growing market share, and developing an international presence for L’Oreal-owned brands like Kérastase, Matrix, and Biolage.
