In
This Issue…
-
The
Art of Keeping It Simple
-
Tip: Take
the time to Make it Simple
-
Humour: Making
things Simple
=======================================
The
Art of Keeping it Simple
=======================================
A
lot of business success these days come from simple
things.
One
business leader I met with recently had a simple
sales training
process.
Due to its simplicity, it was so effective that they
could take
recent
graduates, and put them into high performance mode in
less than
six
months. The company continues
to enjoy enormous growth.
Another
business leader I spoke with had a simple value
proposition. The
product
line went from zero sales to $1B in five years.
Customers
want things to be simple. Besides, they can
only internalize so much information.
( The amount of information coming at customers these
days is
gargantuan.)
A
confused mind always says, "No."
Do
you want your customers and prospects to be blown away
by the technology of
your products and services, by the broad range of
financing options, or by a simple statement on how it
will meet their needs?
=================================
Tip: Take
the Time to Make it Simple
=================================
Whether
your customers are speaking with sales, engineering or
customer
service,
they want to hear the same message. The simpler
that message is, the
simpler it is to carry across the organization.
Despite
communication paths being more numerous than ever (with
email,
instant
messaging, telephones, cell phones, Blackberry's, etc.),
the message
that
is being sent still needs to be understood (especially
with asynchronous
communication
such as email). Keep it simple, and it will
propagate easily
across
the organization.
If
you want to convey to your customers, suppliers and
employees just
what
business you're in, how you're different than the
competition, and/or
your
company's strategy/vision, then follow these simple
steps:
1)
Avoid industry jargon. eg. MPLS, DCP, VOIP, etc.
2)
Stress benefits, not features. Although being the
leader in VOIP may
gain
you recognition at IEEE, customers (who pay your
salaries) are
looking
for results -- reduced costs, increased profits, greater
market
share,
more prestige.
3)
Use common words. Although your business may offer
a plethora
of
results, or superfluous benefits, the message will be
remembered
better,
and travel further when all levels of people across the
organization
and
in your client base can understand immediately the
meaning of
the
message.
4)
Show visually, if possible. Different people have
different learning
styles,
and a picture is worth a thousand words.
Coming
up with a simple message is not necessarily easy, but it
can
be
very beneficial. The
better it is understood inside the organization, the
less
waste there is. The better it is understood
outside the organization,
the
more sales there are.
==============================
Humour: Making
Things Simple
=============================
" If
I had more time, I would write a shorter letter."
... Mark
Twain
==============
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=============
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