Coaches Corner v.03.02.2023
In Coaches Corner v.03.02.2023, Coach Floyd Jerkins discusses sales mix and closing ratio analysis of behavior metrics.
In my last article, Behavioral Sales Metrics for Coaching Equipment Industry Sales Teams, I laid out some framework for measuring sales activities. This article is the second in the series to analyze the behavioral metrics sales mix and closing ratios.
CRM systems are full of good information that sets in a hard drive or the cloud waiting to be accessed. The data quality is only as good as what gets input into the system. Just like a financial statement, the numbers tell a story and provide a pathway to improvement. When you follow a sales system, some patterns emerge in the sales manager’s and sales team’s behaviors.
Let’s look at an example:
10 salespeople x 20 days x 5 customers per day = 1000 customer experiences
% Per Category # of Customers
25% New Customers 250
35% Repeat Customers 350
20% Referrals 200
20% New Business 200
If this is your operation, it shows you a view of the customers engaging with your business. The mix of customers in this example is all face-to-face. Also, measuring whether the contact was an incoming call to the dealership is equally essential. These incoming calls can be more profitable with handling the call correctly. I address part of this in another article called “9 Tips for Handling Incoming Calls“.
Sales Mix Based on Your Products and Market
In this example, 35% of your sales opportunities come from repeat customers. Based on the business model, that could be a super great number or not.
With the Ag market, more corporate farms aren’t a fad, and the volume of customers is declining. Competition is fierce, and the notion that customers only buy locally isn’t the same today. Buying cycles can be long and require various strategies to make a sale, so sales teams must stay close to the customer and make the proper interpretation of why the customer isn’t buying today.
New customers and customer segments are emerging every year in the rural lifestyle market. Many customers buy on their first visit, so the sales process must support that environment. Adding F&I sales is also growing, finally, as a means of adding additional revenue. Additional sales support may be needed to handle the volume of customers.
Construction and heavy equipment related markets are booming. Brands that once could hang their shingle out and command sales and margins are being challenged. The sales cycle for these products can be long, with customer demands unheard of in recent years.
Inventory
In all segment’s, getting inventory is a current issue and who really knows when relief will occur. And to think of the market as having preordered only products may be closer and closer to reality. That requires new thinking to manage a salesforce. Your inventory value isn’t like fine wine. The “turn and earn” practices replace the “buy it and hold it” inventory practices.
Analysis & More
The sales mix analysis shows you a path and insights that you must look at your business model and market to reveal your findings. However, there is more to the story because we must sell stuff to make money.
Closing Ratios That Cause Pain & Pleasure
If you’re following the rationale so far, then you start to get that there must be a sales flow followed. I call them the Steps to the Sale. A sales team can call them whatever you like or whatever your CRM system supports, but the key is to have a known system that you and your team follow.
Following a sales system lets you know where you are in helping a customer buy. When a sales team works under the same guidelines, a sales manager can more easily identify how many qualified leads are in the pipeline. But wait, it shows you so much more because it’s like music to your ears, not excessive noise in the background.
What if the Closing Ratio of each of these were:
Sales Mix Total Closing Ratio Sold Unsold
25% New Customers 250 10% 25 225
35% Repeat Customers 350 15% 53 297
20% Referrals 200 18% 36 164
20% New Business 200 20% 40 160
1000 154 846
Face-to-Face Contacts
Sold Units
Closing 10% of your New Business isn’t a great number at all. To improve, you must start by addressing the interpersonal and selling skills of the sales team. The average closing ratio of 20% should be the very minimum standard of sales performance. A focused effort is required to increase this number regardless of your sales environment. At 10%, you are walking around one-hundred-dollar bills to pick up nickels.
In a dealership where sales teams are seeing 35% Repeat Customers, a 15% closing rate is alarming. Repeat Customers close at a high ratio because they already know about your products and services. Carefully examine the sales team and sales manager’s behaviors because you are losing and churning through customers’ experiences. And don’t be naive here; to increase the repeat business ratio, a key ingredient is looking at the personality style between a salesperson and their customer. Just because a customer is in a salesperson’s territory doesn’t mean they have matching personalities. Trade territory management in many operations has too many old-school attributes.
The 225 “New Customers” that were priced and not sold require immediate and calculated strategies to close deals and create a customer for life. Each of them should have an NDOC (next date of contact) assigned with a prescribed plan based on where they are in the steps to the sale. Often, prescribed follow up doesn’t happen because the salesperson is told to go out and get the next sale vs following the customer for life.
For a customer to refer to the dealership is different from being referred to a particular salesperson. For a commissioned salesperson, they want that referral. They also have to “train” the customer to receive these referrals. In this example, 20% of customers were referrals. If this was your operation, then a big tip of the cap to you. That means your marketing and parts and service are doing a good job.
Referral-based selling and servicing offer a huge upside to creating more sales and margins. They will naturally come forward because of your dealership’s presence in the market, marketing efforts, and various relationships with team members. The goal is to make asking for referrals an intentional practice vs. something that happens occasionally.
In closing…
Ok, we’ve made it this far, and you are still reading. That’s a good sign because we’ll continue exploring these new sales metrics in more detail in the next article.
Did you enjoy this blog? Read more great blog posts here.
For our course lists, please click here.
Is Innovation in Dealer Systems Dead?
Is Innovation in Dealer Systems Dead?
Guest writer John Anderson doesn’t ask the easy questions in this week’s blog post: Is Innovation in Dealer Systems Dead?
There is an urgent need for disruption in the industry.
As a former evangelist for dealer systems, I have spent over 30 years preaching the gospel of innovation to dealerships across the country. From John Deere agricultural dealers to small Bobcat dealers to the largest multi-store Komatsu dealer, I was always on the hunt for the next important thing. But lately, as I’ve returned to the industry, I can’t help but wonder: has innovation in dealer systems died a slow and boring death?
Sure, we have data analytics and integration to other industry applications, but is that really enough to keep us ahead of the curve? As I attend conferences and seminars, I cannot help but feel that the dealer systems industry is stuck in a rut. Instead of pushing the boundaries and taking risks, we’re settling for incremental updates and rehashed ideas.
The problem is, the world is changing faster than ever before. Technology is evolving at a breakneck pace, and we need to keep up if we want to stay competitive. We need to find visionaries and free thinkers who are willing to take risks and pursue new ideas. We need to challenge our system suppliers to do better and think outside the box.
One of the most exciting areas of innovation in dealer systems is the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Imagine being able to request a detailed repair order complete with parts requirements, technician instructions, time requirements, and skills matching, all from historical data and some AI. Even less experienced mechanics could receive technical instructions and AR vision to help ensure a quality job. These are the kinds of game-changing ideas that should be driving the industry forward.
Of course, there are challenges to implementing these kinds of innovations. It takes time, money, and a willingness to take risks. But the rewards are worth it. Not only will innovative dealer systems make dealers more efficient and profitable, but they will also make customers happier and more loyal. When was the last time you were genuinely excited about the technology and systems you use every day?
So, what should you be looking for in a dealer system supplier? You should be seeking a company with a great history and knowledge, but one that isn’t constrained by its own legacy. Look for a supplier that is developing new and needed applications that you can really get behind. You should be getting monthly updates on what’s new and what it means. And, most importantly, you should be challenging your system suppliers to show you what they’re working on. Make them develop a skunk works.
Innovation in dealer systems does not have to be dead. It’s up to us to breathe new life into the industry and push it forward. The entire world is changing at an unprecedented rate. Is your dealer business system doing the same, or is it just trying to keep up? Do not settle for mediocrity. Demand more and be a part of the solution.
Did you enjoy this blog? Read more great blog posts here.
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The Importance of Purpose
The Importance of Purpose
Guest writer Christopher Kiely has written today’s blog post, The Importance of Purpose, as a continuation of his thoughts on meaning and purpose in the workplace.
As we discussed previously, one of the main contributors to the malaise about work and the lack of desire of a quarter of workers ages 20-34 to participate in the workforce was the lack of meaning and purpose found in the modern workforce. People were looking for “what it all means”. Members of the younger generations have seen their parents dedicate themselves to the 9-5, only to end up on the endless treadmill of unfulfilling work for narcissistic bosses assigned to them by uncaring and demanding companies. Running in place for decades for the opportunity to retire in the twilight of their life. And those are the lucky ones. Many others have seen their parents wind up laid-off, cast aside and dismissed after dedicating years and even decades to the treadmill.
Since writing that initial blog on this subject we have seen the mass layoffs in tech with the depressingly informative website “Layoffs.fyi” ¹ putting the numbers so far this year at over 100,000. That is on top of the 159,846 they tracked in 2022. These are the jobs the younger generations were told are the “jobs of the future”. Well, the future is now and apparently there is way too many of them. That is unlikely to provide anyone with much sense of purpose.
On a recent trip back from Nevada I took an Uber home from the airport. My driver was a millennial finishing up their Uber shift and we got to talking about mining (I was coming back from a mine), electric cars (we were in a Tesla), professions, and life. Turns out the Uber gig was only one of three jobs or “hustles”, as the kids say, all part of the “grind culture”. The Uber job paid for the Tesla, insurance and charging costs, plus some. The second hustle was real estate. They were going to do some “staging of a condo” for that hustle after the Uber gig, it was already 1AM. The third hustle was coaching, “legit sports coaching, not the life-coaching variety”. I have known a few of those… they often require the most life-coaching. But hey a good way to learn is to teach or coach. So, fake it until you make it, I guess. But I digress.
The millennial-hustler and I spoke about the layoffs in tech, he just chuckled unsympathetically. The notion of relying on that traditional relationship with a company seemed completely foreign and foolish to them. Keep in mind, they still depend on corporations and institutions for their hustles. There is no Uber-driver without Uber. Only the relationship has changed. My driver was the exact type of “worker” corporations used to be on the hunt for: intelligent, confident, charismatic, driven, self-motivated, multi-tasker, willing to work long hours, etc… and for years our schools cranked out willing workers conditioned to seek approval from institutions, including corporations. But the new hustler of the grind culture has no time for those systems of control and authority when there are apparent by-passes everywhere.
Along the way that whole system has worn out and broken down, call it a lack of foresight, poor planning or malicious neglect, it really doesn’t matter. I’m not here to pick sides and theories. But I will view with suspicion and/or slight pity anyone that does not recognize the current state of our institutions. From education, to healthcare, to government itself, all have been shown to be questionable in their authority of late. This does not go unnoticed by our youth. I know, I have a few in the house. They trust in very little and have “faith” in even less, including our venerated institutions. They believe more in their phone than they do in much else. The opportunity technology provides youth is underestimated and under-appreciated by older generations. They will have no time for our institutional systems of control and authority. Not the smart ones anyway. The emperor has no clothes.
But, replacing a treadmill with a grind does not sound like much of a step-up, and certainly not a step-off. I worry that in pursuit of “what it all means” in a world of deep cynicism there is a risk of repeating the same old mistakes while making all new ones. The lesson seems to have been learned that corporations, jobs, the 9-to-5, do not provide a life of purpose. That is good, because in and of themselves, they don’t. But as I said, there is still no need for an Uber-driver without Uber. Only the nature of the relationship has changed. While the young hustling-grinder sees freedom and opportunity to work as they please. The corporation has a workforce it views as contract and replaceable, the backdrop of dystopian sci-fi. Some will say it has always been that way and the notion of loyalty to employees was just a façade. I would hesitate to disagree but would argue the façade kept some people dedicated and loyal. Removing it all together is certain to affect such things negatively and the façade crumbling to the ground in their lifetimes as they are due to continue the charade, is bound to impact a generation.
We have a generation of youth that seem to be trading a treadmill for a grind combined with a new type of corporate disregard for people that provides people with little reason to want to work for many corporations, beyond hand-to-mouth necessity. All at a time when our institutions seem strained by expected everyday use. I understand the younger generations being disillusioned by it all. I was disillusioned when I was their age, I still am frankly. What disillusioned me then has not become any better. Now whether all this hustling and grinding leads anywhere different than the treadmill of old remains to be seen. My driver certainly seemed to be focused on the ever-arriving future, a state of being we continue to mistake for purpose and tends to lead us to look back with regret. I have the feeling both the corporations failing to harness passion and provide any sense of purpose and the young generation choosing to use passion to grind for purpose, are both failing one another.
Corporations that are serious about the quality of life they provide their employees (really serious, not sort-of-serious in a CSR, good-PR type of way), need to be honest with themselves about what passions and purpose employees have the opportunity to find in their companies. Are there any? Maybe there really is not. What passions and purpose are some jobs capable of providing?
Why do employees want to come to work? If most companies are honest with themselves, they really haven’t thought about it much more than “you should be happy you have a job here” and “we pay you” levels of thought. “Good” companies add occasional pizza, barbecues and donuts, maybe a “family atmosphere” type pitch. Top tier companies provide daily fruit and granola bars, rock climbing walls, and mental health programs (hmm… sort of like they know).
If the reality is, most people work for money and little other “passion or purpose” and on the flipside most companies have no real passion or purpose to provide and will ditch you and your job ASAP in order to stay afloat or satisfy investors, then maybe it is time we are all simply honest about that? I am certainly not one to argue with the frank reality of things.
A company that still wants the top hustling-grinders of every generation, will need to develop a new way of relating to and renumerating their employees. Hierarchies are overrated, yearly reviews are lazy, mandated hours for many jobs are unnecessary, quit wasting time training unqualified managers how to manage themselves around those they manage, (i.e., leadership training). Leadership is learned in grade school and most schools don’t teach it anymore. Besides, most workers do not need leaders, they need mentors and cooperative peers. Corporate structures need to be re-examined, or corporations will struggle to attract the brightest and best of the younger generations.
A company with passions and purpose to provide, should understand how to recognize, provide and cultivate it. Otherwise, they should encourage and allow employees the freedom to find those things elsewhere in their lives while they support the pursuit. As for the young generation hustling for the grind and grinding for the hustle, don’t mistake constant work and the endless pursuit of future things to be purpose. The treadmill itself wasn’t the trap for the older generations, it was not being happy on the treadmill while thinking it would lead somewhere better. No one can tell anyone what their life’s passions and purpose are, or even provide it to them, but I do know it is found in the now, not in the future.
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Web 3.0 Is Changing Education
Web 3.0 Is Changing Education
Guest writer Anna Horoneskul contributes to our series on Lifelong Learning with her blog post Web 3.0 Is Changing Education.
The evolution of technology has drastically changed the way we live, work, and learn. EdTech, in particular, has revolutionized the field of education, making it more accessible and convenient for learners of all ages and backgrounds. The emergence of Web 3.0, the next phase of the internet, has brought even more exciting possibilities for education!
Web 3.0 is based on blockchain technology where data is decentralized. It allows more security and transparency. Alongside, Web 3.0 enables absolutely new models of learning.
One of the most significant advantages of Web 3.0 is the ability to create a decentralized educational system. Currently, the education system is centralized, with institutions and organizations holding the power to determine the curriculum and the delivery method. With Web 3.0, learners can access educational content directly from content creators, eliminating the need for intermediaries.
Another advantage of Web 3.0 is the ability to create secure and transparent educational records. With blockchain technology, learners can have a digital record of their educational achievements that is secure, and accessible from anywhere in the world. Thus, earners can be recognized for their skills and achievements, regardless of their geographical location or socio-economic status.
Web 3.0 also allows for the creation of more personalized and adaptive learning experiences. Currently, most educational content is designed for a broad audience, which can make it challenging for learners with different learning styles and abilities to engage with the material. With Web 3.0, educational content can be tailored to the learner’s individual needs and learning style. It allows a more engaging and effective learning experience.
Finally, Web 3.0 enables the creation of a more collaborative education system. Currently, learners are often isolated in their learning experiences, with limited opportunities to collaborate with peers or experts in the field. With Web 3.0, learners can connect with others who share similar interests and goals, creating a community of learners who can collaborate and learn from each other.
However, there are also challenges associated with the use of Web 3.0 in education. One of the main challenges is the need for digital literacy. Web 3.0 relies on blockchain technology, which is still relatively new and complex. Learners and educators will need to develop basic skills in blockchain technology to participate in decentralized education platforms.
Another challenge is the potential for increased inequality. Educators and learners who do not have stable access to the internet and the necessary gadgets to participate in Web 3.0 platforms could be left behind.
Privacy is also a concern with Web 3.0. While blockchain technology is claimed to be more secure and transparent than traditional technologies, it can be put in danger too. Thus, learners’ personal information could be leaked or hacked. Recently, blockchain hacks have drastically increased as hackers have discovered that vulnerabilities do in fact exist. Since 2017, public data shows that hackers have stolen around $2 billion in blockchain cryptocurrency. However, Web 3.0 is still evolving and becoming more resistant to attacks.
To sum up, Web 3 is a wonderland where technology and education could collide and create a new way of learning and sharing information. As with any new invention, it should be learnt closely before taking a decision to use it. It also can take some time and effort to get new skills to navigate it and get adapted. But it is worth it!
Did you enjoy this blog? Read more great blog posts here.
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Friday Filosophy v.03.03.2023
Friday Filosophy v.03.03.2023
Friday Filosophy v.03.03.2023 offers quotes and words of wisdom from Robin Williams.
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills[ and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedies alike, he is regarded as one of the greatest comedians of all time. He received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and five Grammy Awards.
Williams began performing stand-up comedy in San Francisco and Los Angeles during the mid-1970s releasing several comedy albums including Reality … What a Concept in 1980. and He rose to fame playing the alien Mork in the ABC sitcom Mork & Mindy (1978–1982). He made his first leading film role in Popeye (1980). Williams went on to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Good Will Hunting (1997). His other Oscar-nominated roles were for Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), and The Fisher King (1991).
Williams also starred in the critically acclaimed dramas The World According to Garp (1982), Moscow on the Hudson (1984), Awakenings (1990), Patch Adams (1998), One Hour Photo (2002), and World’s Greatest Dad (2009). He also starred in box office family films such as Hook (1991), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), Jack (1996), Flubber (1997), and the Night at the Museum trilogy (2006–2014). He lent his voice to the animated films Aladdin (1992), Robots (2005), Happy Feet (2006), and its 2011 sequel.
After suffering for many years from depression, paranoia, memory loss and insomnia, Williams died by suicide at his home in Paradise Cay, California on August 11, 2014. He was 63 years old. His autopsy revealed that undiagnosed and severe Lewy body disease had spread widely in his brain. His illness and death sparked debate over the conflation of psychology with neurology.
The Time is Now
Did you enjoy this blog? Read more great blog posts here.
For our course lists, please click here.
Coaches Corner v.03.02.2023
Coaches Corner v.03.02.2023
In Coaches Corner v.03.02.2023, Coach Floyd Jerkins discusses sales mix and closing ratio analysis of behavior metrics.
In my last article, Behavioral Sales Metrics for Coaching Equipment Industry Sales Teams, I laid out some framework for measuring sales activities. This article is the second in the series to analyze the behavioral metrics sales mix and closing ratios.
CRM systems are full of good information that sets in a hard drive or the cloud waiting to be accessed. The data quality is only as good as what gets input into the system. Just like a financial statement, the numbers tell a story and provide a pathway to improvement. When you follow a sales system, some patterns emerge in the sales manager’s and sales team’s behaviors.
Let’s look at an example:
10 salespeople x 20 days x 5 customers per day = 1000 customer experiences
% Per Category # of Customers
25% New Customers 250
35% Repeat Customers 350
20% Referrals 200
20% New Business 200
If this is your operation, it shows you a view of the customers engaging with your business. The mix of customers in this example is all face-to-face. Also, measuring whether the contact was an incoming call to the dealership is equally essential. These incoming calls can be more profitable with handling the call correctly. I address part of this in another article called “9 Tips for Handling Incoming Calls“.
Sales Mix Based on Your Products and Market
In this example, 35% of your sales opportunities come from repeat customers. Based on the business model, that could be a super great number or not.
With the Ag market, more corporate farms aren’t a fad, and the volume of customers is declining. Competition is fierce, and the notion that customers only buy locally isn’t the same today. Buying cycles can be long and require various strategies to make a sale, so sales teams must stay close to the customer and make the proper interpretation of why the customer isn’t buying today.
New customers and customer segments are emerging every year in the rural lifestyle market. Many customers buy on their first visit, so the sales process must support that environment. Adding F&I sales is also growing, finally, as a means of adding additional revenue. Additional sales support may be needed to handle the volume of customers.
Construction and heavy equipment related markets are booming. Brands that once could hang their shingle out and command sales and margins are being challenged. The sales cycle for these products can be long, with customer demands unheard of in recent years.
Inventory
In all segment’s, getting inventory is a current issue and who really knows when relief will occur. And to think of the market as having preordered only products may be closer and closer to reality. That requires new thinking to manage a salesforce. Your inventory value isn’t like fine wine. The “turn and earn” practices replace the “buy it and hold it” inventory practices.
Analysis & More
The sales mix analysis shows you a path and insights that you must look at your business model and market to reveal your findings. However, there is more to the story because we must sell stuff to make money.
Closing Ratios That Cause Pain & Pleasure
If you’re following the rationale so far, then you start to get that there must be a sales flow followed. I call them the Steps to the Sale. A sales team can call them whatever you like or whatever your CRM system supports, but the key is to have a known system that you and your team follow.
Following a sales system lets you know where you are in helping a customer buy. When a sales team works under the same guidelines, a sales manager can more easily identify how many qualified leads are in the pipeline. But wait, it shows you so much more because it’s like music to your ears, not excessive noise in the background.
What if the Closing Ratio of each of these were:
Sales Mix Total Closing Ratio Sold Unsold
25% New Customers 250 10% 25 225
35% Repeat Customers 350 15% 53 297
20% Referrals 200 18% 36 164
20% New Business 200 20% 40 160
1000 154 846
Face-to-Face Contacts
Sold Units
Closing 10% of your New Business isn’t a great number at all. To improve, you must start by addressing the interpersonal and selling skills of the sales team. The average closing ratio of 20% should be the very minimum standard of sales performance. A focused effort is required to increase this number regardless of your sales environment. At 10%, you are walking around one-hundred-dollar bills to pick up nickels.
In a dealership where sales teams are seeing 35% Repeat Customers, a 15% closing rate is alarming. Repeat Customers close at a high ratio because they already know about your products and services. Carefully examine the sales team and sales manager’s behaviors because you are losing and churning through customers’ experiences. And don’t be naive here; to increase the repeat business ratio, a key ingredient is looking at the personality style between a salesperson and their customer. Just because a customer is in a salesperson’s territory doesn’t mean they have matching personalities. Trade territory management in many operations has too many old-school attributes.
The 225 “New Customers” that were priced and not sold require immediate and calculated strategies to close deals and create a customer for life. Each of them should have an NDOC (next date of contact) assigned with a prescribed plan based on where they are in the steps to the sale. Often, prescribed follow up doesn’t happen because the salesperson is told to go out and get the next sale vs following the customer for life.
For a customer to refer to the dealership is different from being referred to a particular salesperson. For a commissioned salesperson, they want that referral. They also have to “train” the customer to receive these referrals. In this example, 20% of customers were referrals. If this was your operation, then a big tip of the cap to you. That means your marketing and parts and service are doing a good job.
Referral-based selling and servicing offer a huge upside to creating more sales and margins. They will naturally come forward because of your dealership’s presence in the market, marketing efforts, and various relationships with team members. The goal is to make asking for referrals an intentional practice vs. something that happens occasionally.
In closing…
Ok, we’ve made it this far, and you are still reading. That’s a good sign because we’ll continue exploring these new sales metrics in more detail in the next article.
Did you enjoy this blog? Read more great blog posts here.
For our course lists, please click here.
In the Spotlight!
In the Spotlight!
A quick update from our Curriculum Designer, Caroline Slee-Poulos, about our day in the spotlight!
Today is the day that Learning Without Scars is the Spotlight Provider. IACET selects a provider of Continuing Education to be featured on their website and social media, and today is that day for our company.
You can learn more about IACET and see our moment in the spotlight by visiting the IACET website.
We are also featured on their social media today, on their Twitter page, and their Facebook page as well.
We are proud of the work we do, and so proud to be in partnership with each and every one of you!
Belonging is good for business and benefits the bottom line!
Belonging is good for business and benefits the bottom line!
Guest writer Sonya Law brings back our human resources perspective with “Belonging is good for business and benefits the bottom line!”
According to Harvard Business Review: “If workers feel like they belong, companies reap substantial bottom-line benefits.”
The bottom-line benefits are:
Raising questions?
Creating a Sense of belonging has been given more attention, post pandemic, because People are:
How do you create a sense of belonging:
Creating a sense of belonging helps you to hold on to your Brightest & Best TALENT!
Develops cultural awareness – focusing on what employees are telling you in your employee survey, will guide your next steps!
A sense of belonging creates unintended benefits:
“A sense of belonging helps create resilience and ‘people stickiness’ to the organisation of your high potentials!!”
‘Take care of your people and they will take care of your business.’
Did you enjoy this blog? Read more great blog posts here.
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What’s More Beneficial, AI, or Stakeholder Analysis?
What’s More Beneficial, AI, or Stakeholder Analysis?
Guest writer Sara Hanks continues the conversations about widely accessible artificial intelligence in this week’s blog post: “What’s More Beneficial, AI, or Stakeholder Analysis?”
The advances in artificial intelligence are creating a lot of buzz these days, with the launch of several image creation software tools and ChatGPT. It reminds me of one of my first Artificial Intelligence projects from 2017. In this project, the AI algorithm was able to read a PDF, extract important information and convert it into metadata, which is data stored in a specific and structured way. The model performed well, and the engineering team was excited to turn it on. However, when it came time to install it on the server, the IT infrastructure team denied the installation. The project was killed. We had failed to include all the stakeholders in the project communication.
Stakeholder management is a critical aspect of the success of a project. Managing people in projects that don’t work for you, or worse are your senior leaders, can be challenging. I’ve found that an interest and influence matrix is a good tool that can be used to think through the complexities of managing stakeholders. For each stakeholder, you assess the amount of interest they have in the project, as well as their influence or power over the project. Essentially there are 4 quadrants of the matrix: high interest/ high influence, high interest / low influence, low interest / high influence, and low interest / low influence.
High Interest / High Influence – Work Together
Stakeholders with high interest and high influence have a significant impact over a project’s success. These are the people that need to be engaged. If the person is a peer, then they should be on the project team. If the person is a leader, then they should be involved in the decision-making process in a project. Additionally, when issues or changes arise, it is important to inform the stakeholders. In the event there is an issue, I recommend proposing solutions to show that you’ve thought through it some.
High Interest / Low influence – Keep Informed
The stakeholders in this category may not have high decision-making power, but they are still interested in the project’s outcome. When people are interested in the success of the project, they can be evangelists of the project. It is good to keep their interest by keeping them informed.
Low Interest / High Influence – Keep Satisfied
These are the stakeholders that could be lurking in the corner, waiting to come out and throw up a roadblock. I go out of my way to keep these people satisfied by leaning into what I believe are their biggest concerns. Don’t hide anything from them and when you communicate, be sure it is concise.
Low Interest / low Influence – Monitor
The low interest and low influence stakeholders have little interest and should be communicated with sparingly. However, it is good to see if they have moved into a different quadrant. Sometimes their reality changes and they either become interested or suddenly have more power.
Once you’ve assessed the stakeholders, you can create a communication plan accordingly. A communication plan may include meetings, email updates, newsletters, and direct conversation.
Here are some best practices with meetings:
For the high interest / high influence quadrant, I hold a core team meeting on a regular basis that fits the timeline of the project. For projects that span 6 months or more, I try to meet on a bi-weekly basis. For shorter projects or software related projects, I meet more frequently. In these meetings, we review the project plan, discuss proposed solutions to issues and risks, as well as assign and follow up on tasks. With the leadership team, I hold meetings less frequently than the core team meeting. In addition to the content that comes out of the core team meeting, highlight areas that require decisions or escalations. In these sessions, it is valuable to create a standard template that can cover all the topics and use it consistently.
I invite the Low Interest / High Influence stakeholders to the core team and leadership meetings. While there is a cover your behind element to it, I believe it is best to be inclusive of this group. During the meetings, lean into the concerns this group of stakeholders may have. Not only will you drive engagement, but you’ll establish credibility as well.
For the High Interest / Low Influence stakeholders, I prefer to copy them on the meeting minutes and inform them of project status on a more informal basis. Water cooler talk, or an impromptu message through the companies chat is an effective way to keep people informed without taking too much of their time.
Assessing each of the stakeholders for their interest and influence can be useful to dissect the complexity that comes with managing different people in a project. By putting people into the 4 categories and creating a communication plan that aligns with the category, you’re sure to offset risks and alleviate challenges caused by people being surprised.
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Operating a Business in the “Learning Space.”
Operating a Business in the “Learning Space.”
For the week’s blog on Lifelong Learning, our Founder Ron Slee addresses the topic of operating a business in the “Learning Space.”
Our backgrounds, Caroline and I, are in education. More specifically in Classroom Face-to-Face Teaching. As teachers we are concerned with our students and their growth and learning in the specific subjects that we are teaching. We have tests, quizzes, and discussion groups to help us in tracking the learning levels and growth of each student. And, please, never forget that all of these different aspects of teaching allow us to understand what is working and what is not. Many people overlook that aspect of tests and report cards.
In the e-learning world there are many more challenges in the creation of products that will help in employee development. The first question we must ask ourselves is “does our current offering, the assessments, classes and lectures match what the market needs?” This is an ongoing challenge as the market is constantly changing. The question becomes “are we delivering the proper learning products to the proper people in a manner that they find interesting and productive?”
Of course, we have to first define our purpose which with us is very straightforward “We want to assist people in the identification of their individual potential.” However, as you will no doubt realize, that is a challenge all by itself. We also add that our goal goes further in that we want to offer products and services that allow each of the interested people to realize that potential.
That meant that we had to identify the specific aspect of the employee population that we could help with the most. Our conclusion was that we wanted to touch everyone who led people and everyone who interacted with customers or supported people who did interact with customers. That covers nearly everyone in the product support disciplines, the distribution channel, in the capital goods industry. We recognized that although there is different jargon and some different practices that most of the capital goods industries needed similar things. Construction, Agricultural, Light Industrial, Material Handling, Engine, On Highway Truck and Trailer, Marine are some of the industries we are focused on today.
We have a lot of operational experience in these industries and we have multiplied that experience with our large group of Contributors who contribute to our market with blog posts and podcasts and assist in our newsletters. These Contributors, all forty eight of them, have deep understanding of all aspects of the operations of dealers and distributors.
One of our challenges is to bring our product to the market. It is a rather daunting task to attempt to cover all of these companies by ourselves. In order to penetrate this huge market worldwide we have created a smaller group of specialists to help us. They are aimed at educators, the industry associations, the manufacturers of the equipment as well as influential dealers and distributors.
We first communicated directly with industry associations. This is, of course, where I was first teaching in the distribution channel, with the Associated Equipment Distributors (AED). I personally did all of their parts and service operational training from the early 1990’s through 2015. We did Parts Management, Service Management, Product Support Selling and Parts and Service Marketing training. We also provide training services to manufacturers, in some cases worldwide. Companies such as Caterpillar, Deere, Komatsu, Volvo, Ditch Witch and Vermeer to name a few. I also was involved in many industries convention and annual meetings.
We recognized that we need to have a community of influencers.
We were very fortunate to have the help of Steve Johnson. Steve, until he retired was the Vice President of the AED Foundation. This foundation was the area of training and employee development for the association. Steve has been in touch with a large number of schools across the US and Canada establishing, what he calls, Centers of Excellence. These are the schools that he has selected to represent Learning Without Scars across Canada and the United States of America. We are extremely excited about this aspect of our business.
We have established two streams of learning products: one for academic credit and the other for workforce development. For the academic credit stream, we have created classes that will earn seven academic credits (that is fourteen classes as two of our classes earn an academic credit). For the workforce development stream, we have one hundred and eight classes; thirty-six for the parts business, thirty-six for the selling and marketing businesses, and thirty-six for the service business. We also have eighteen job function skills assessments for the workforce development stream. We are currently working with university professors to create a selection of Lecture Series. We hope to have the Lecture Service earning Academic Credits as well. There is a lot of work involved and a lot of effort put in by a lot of people. This is not an easy thing to get done.
One of the challenges for industry is being able to identify the individuals who are the best fit to help companies succeed in their businesses. Universities do this will various tests, such as the Executive Function Test. Businesses do this with various personality profiles such as Briggs Meyers, Personalysis, Caliper and many others. Associations do this with their individual “certification” programs. Manufacturers do this with their technician training and certifications.
As an Accredited Provider with IACET, The International Accreditors of Continuing Education and Training. We are the only ones in the world with this accreditation. We are going to be pursuing further accreditations this year to make our products even more unique to the marketplace.
I hope this gives you a more complete understanding of the “business” we have been building for the parts thirty plus years. I would like to extend my thanks to all of the students, the more than twenty-five thousand of you, that we have had in our classes all around the world. I sincerely mean it when I tell you that this would not have been possible without the contributions that each and every one of you have made I the classrooms with me. Thank you all so very much.
The Time is Now.
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A Huge Thank You!
A Huge Thank You!
Shifting things to an attitude of gratitude, our Founder Ron Slee offers a huge thank you to all of our contributors for their incredible contributions.
Many years ago, I started writing a Friday Filosophy as a communications tool. It predated our Learning Without Scars LLC startup in Hawaii. I had several different people expressing an interest in contributing their thinking to the mix.
That got me thinking.
I wondered if I could interest people that I viewed as forward thinking in our industry and have them “pay it forward.” I call them Thought Leaders, Experienced Executives and Revolutionary (Radical) Reformers.
As a result of a major redesign of our website several years ago we added two categories; Colleagues and Contributors. The Colleagues are the people and businesses that we regularly do business with or are in regular communication. The Contributors were those individuals who were willing to share their wisdom.
I have been overwhelmed, to be sure, with the quality of people that have stepped forward and the talent that they bring to us. We have some very educated and accomplished people in this group. I am hoping that this collage that we have included here will allow you in one place to see this wonderful group of people.
The Time is Now.