Page Index:

Back to Basics in Sales and Marketing

Key Strategies for recruiting better sales people
Some key strategies that you should use to recruit better sales people.

Sales Effectiveness: Focus on four areas
Focussing on 4 key areas to increase sales effectiveness.

Top Tips for the Newly Appointed Sales Manager
'As a newly appointed sales manager, your main challenge is to display leadership and build a successful sales team,' says Roger Billings, founder of Roger Billings and Associates and a regular speaker with Canadian Management Centre. 'There is little time to make the transition to management. The manager's job is to develop people and leave them stronger!' Here he provides 10 top tips to help any newly appointed sales manager do just that.

Close that Sale
Why do your prospects elect to do nothing, despite the best efforts of yourself and your sales representatives? There are four major reasons.

Why You Should Gear Up Your Marketing in a Slow Economy
You're concerned. Revenues are down. Things had been going so well, but with the state of the economy, you're now feeling the pressure. 'The market is just not buying now, so let's cut discretionary expenses until the market bounces back,' you think. Right decision? Probably not.

Back to Basics in building an effective B2B sales organization
An ideal reade for sales directors who are in the process of improving the sales organization in a business to business sales environment. This article covers areas of strategy structure and people, as well as process systems and skills. It further touches on the key element in sales success, motivation.

Product Life Cycle
The Product Life Cycle model can help analyzing Product and Industry Maturity Stages. Read more on this from this article written by: Cycle Fox,Adopted from: Wasson, Hofer, Anderson & Zeithaml, Hill & Jones.

23 Questions You Should Ask When Designing Your Marketing Strategy
Interrogate 10 companies and review their marketing strategies, and you will get an interesting mix of answers. You might get a fifty page document that would get an 'A' in any business school class, right down to a few pages on the tactics they plan to implement by year end. Many companies say, that they have a Marketing Strategy as work in progress, and others will say that their environment changes too rapidly for them to have a firm and committed strategy in place.

Customer Appraisal KPI's
Some suggested performance measures for Customer Appraisal.

Customer Service KPI's
Some suggested performance measures for Customer Service management.

Retail KPI's
Some suggested performance measures for Retail Management.

Sales Representative KPI's
Some suggested performance measures for monitoring Sales Representatives.

Back to Basics in HR and Labour Management

Make Your Attitude an Asset Think of Your Employees as an Investment
Why is it important to think of your employees and investments?

101 Ideas for Motivating your People
Have you ever asked yourself what you could be doing to get your people motivated? It's an ever occurring issue, and for those managers who need to regularly get their people going, we have put together some ideas which may assist you in pushing the right motivation buttons.

Employee Retention Requires More Than Good Benefits
Read an article by Leigh Branham giving some insight as to employee retention.

Ten Tips for Improving Your Communication Effectiveness
Ten items from the MIPAC to challenge your thinking and provide 'Ten Tips For Effective Performance Appraisals'.

The Five Levels of Leadership
Becoming an effective leader is a lot like being in the stock market. You don't make your fortune in a day; you make it daily.

Team Climate Assessment
A short survey to check the effectiveness of working teams.

Advice for Trainers - Set the right example
If you are a trainer, you know that real learning infrequently has a distinct beginning and end. Instead, it is an ongoing process—a lifelong process. Here are some tips to help you establish a cycle of continuous learning.

360 Degree Feedback
Oh what a gift to see ourselves as others see us! -Robert Browning, 1700's.

Winning Training Projects
Meyer recommends a seven-step process that focuses on defining success for your internal customers or training sponsors.

Training KPI's
Some suggested performance measures for training.

Human Capital Metrics and Decision Making
There are many approaches to HC measurement, and each may serve a different purpose.

Secrets of Effective Feedback: Knowing What to Avoid
If you're serious about improving your feedback skills, give this article to your team members. Ask them to check off any Donts that you've made regarding providing feedback. It could be an eye opener.

Recruitment KPI's
Some suggested performance measures for Recruitment Management.

Employee Relations KPI's
Some suggested performance measures for Employee Relations.

Back to Basics in Operations Management

Meeting Management
Some useful tips to ensuring your meetings are productive.

Ten Obstacles to Successful Decision Making
Some traps to avoid when making decisions

Meeting Effectiveness
A useful checklist to measure the effectiveness of meetings in the workplace.

Managing in Uncertain Times: Transforming Employees from Comfeartable to Courageous
Bill Treasurer asks and answers the questions What's a 'comfeartable' employee? and also gives insight as how to manage them.

Responsibilities of the new Supervisor
Key expectations of the supervisor in the workplace

Business Process Reengineering
Learn about the 4 segments of Business Process Reengineering as it relates to your company's competitive advantage. Examine the process required to redesign organizational structure and define the strategy that will get you where you want to go. Adopt Kaizen techniques to humanize your workplace, improve productivity and eliminate waste while adding value to your organization.

The Value And Reality Of Implementing Better Project Management
Experience and examples from the field points to the following critical steps in becoming a better project management organization.

Supervisory competencies
A basic competency analysis tool to evaluate the effectiveness of supervisors in the workplace.

How to Manage Change and Ensure Project Success
An article written by David A. Peck, PMP discussing how to manage change and make sure the projects are a success.

Tips to Help Run a Project Team
Learning how to manage projects in todays team-based organizations.

Quality KPI's
Some suggested performance measures for quality management

Production KPI's
Some suggested performance measures for production management.

Maintenance KPI's
Some suggested performance measures for maintenance management.

Back to Basics in Supply Chain

Purchasing and Procurement KPI's
Some suggested performance measures for Purchasing and Procurement management.

Supply Chain Management
A basic description of what supply chain management is.

Warehouse Best Practices
Companies are constantly trying to find ways to improve performance and warehouse operations is area where supply chain managers can focus to gain maximum efficiency for minimum cost. To get the most out of the operation, a number of best practices can be adopted to improve productivity and overall customer satisfaction. Although best practices vary from industry to industry and by the products shipped there are a number of best practices that can be applied to most companies.

Back to Basics in Strategy and Business Planning

Top 10 Tips for Writing a Business Plan
Writing a business plan can seem a daunting challenge. However, this skill is a vital requirement for any entrepreneur or business seeking to increase their chances of survival. Here is a list of my top ten tips for writing that winning plan:

Top 10 Business Plan Mistakes to Avoid
The importance of business planning is widely documented; however, guidance as to what constitutes good business planning is less clearly defined. This article aims to redress that imbalance by describing 10 of the most common mistakes that occur in business plans.

A guide to developing a Strategic Business Plan
Read more about what a business and strategic plan is and the steps required to make sure your plan is a success.

13 Actions That Will Grow Your Business
Read about 13 key actions that will help you grow your business

Building Competitive Advantage
Key actions that will grow your business - Adopted from Michael Porter

The Keys To Strategy Execution
Essential elements of successfully implementing your defined strategies.

Back to Basics in Finance

Five Reasons you Need a Business Plan
Without a plan, a business is essentially rudderless, and day-to-day activities are likely to be haphazard and reactive, in stark contrast to those businesses implementing a well thought out business plan.

The 10 Absolutely Must-Follow Cash Flow Rules
A useful article on the critical aspects and rules of cash flow

The essentials of cash flow
A short article on the key components and key influences of cash flow in the business.

25 Finance Tips
Some essential tips on improving the effectiveness of the finance discipline.

Analyzing Financial Ratios
Managing a business effectively includes understanding some key financial ratios. This document and spreadsheet helps you understand and calculate some basic yet essential ratios.

Back to Basics in Consulting

Tips for Project Managers
How to Implement Standard Operating Procedures as Part of a Process Improvement Project

Project Scope Is Like a Box of Cracker Jack
Here are some quick hits to avoid project scope problems:

Basic Guidelines to Problem Solving and Decision Making
7 easy things to remember to addressing problem solving and decision making

How to Use Consultants
Tips to help you know why you need to use consultants and how to get the most out of the exercise.

Making an effective presentation
The ins and outs of how to make a presentation effective.

Mind Mapping
What is a mind map and how can creating one benefit you and your business needs.

How to Manage Change and Ensure Project Success
An article written by David A. Peck, PMP discussing how to manage change and make sure the projects are a success.