Making the Right Business Decisions

Making the Right Business Decisions
Making the right decision every time is probably the
toughest challenge faced by any company director. Unless
'up to the minute' business information is available at
their fingertips the average company director simply has to
rely on guesswork. Okay, these may be 'educated' guesses
but, believe it or not, there is a much better way to run a
business.

Business Intelligence (BI) is all about getting things
right first time. In financial terms this makes sound
business sense. If there is nothing to fix then costs are
lower and profits rise. So what is business intelligence
and how can the average business person implement BI and
make it work for them?

Let us start with a brief definition of Business
Intelligence: In its broadest sense, business intelligence
is a wide range of applications and technologies which
gather, store, analyse and provide access to information
that will help decision makers make better business
choices. BI applications can include the activities of
decision support systems, query and reporting, online
analytical processing (OLAP), statistical analysis,
forecasting, and data mining.

Let us start with basic data gathering and analysis. These
days most businesses have websites that enables users to
complete an online enquiry form if they want more
information about products or services. The data gathered
by this process (often simply the enquirers name and email
address) can be stored in a database and used for marketing
purposes or market research.

Analysing stored data with specialist decision support
software can suggest a wide range of business options. For
example: geographical data and purchasing trends combined
can prompt effective marketing decisions (it is logical to
sell beach towels alongside sun tan lotion in Brighton
rather than alongside fur lined boots in Helsinki).

Other information that a decision support application might
gather and present could include comparative sales figures
between one month and the next; projected revenue figures
based on sales estimates or the consequences of different
decisions based on past experience.

Decision support systems are designed to be easy to
understand and may present information graphically as three
dimensional models and may even include an element of
artificial intelligence as part of their analytical
processing capability. The most important characteristic is
that the system should allow the user to selectively
extract and view data from different points-of-view.

For example, a user can request that data be analysed to
display a spreadsheet showing a company's ice cream sales
on Brighton beach in the month of August, compare revenue
figures with those for the same products in September, and
then see a comparison of other product sales in Brighton in
the same time period. Data mining or the discovery of
relationships between data items is a powerful part of
Business intelligence operations and can offer a huge range
of decision making options. Investigation and research into
BI potential will quickly show that to stay competitive
executives always need to be making the right decisions.
Anything that helps them do this can only be good for
business.

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Business Intelligence is all about making sure that a
business owner knows what is going on in their business.
This is just what Contemporary a leader in the field of
Business Intelligence offers. Training, hardware and
software can all be provided. http://www.contemporary.co.uk

Yes, You Can Let Your Prospects Know You (Actually, You Should!)

Yes, You Can Let Your Prospects Know You (Actually, You Should!)
Every experience is an energy exchange. If you're focused
on only what you can get from a prospect, your fear of not
signing on the prospect or being withholding about the
amount of time you're spending with this person, your
energy will be resonating at a very low level. This makes
all the difference in the world when you're interacting
with someone (actually, even more than the words you say!).

So it might come as a surprise to you when I say, I highly
recommend NOT offering a free sample session of any kind.
This is what I compare to the perfume counter at Macy's.
When you walk by the perfume counter, you know you'll be
asked to try something for free. You feel no connection to
the person offering it and the value of the sample
registers as pretty low. Maybe you'll take it, maybe you'll
leave it, but you, the customer, are in the driver seat.

You want to create a different energy when connecting with
a prospect. You want it to be a co-creative experience. You
and your prospect are coming to this meeting on equal
ground. You don't need to prove anything. You just need to
meet together to connect.

When you do this in a way that sets the stage for sparking
the energy between you, then you're set up to move to the
next level of relationship (prospect into client).

Now think about it...when you're about to buy something or
are exploring working with someone, do you want him or her
to rush you through it or actually have an experience
that's about someone really wanting to get to know you and
your needs?

Now also think about this...do YOU want to rush into a
relationship with a new client or customer without getting
a sense of if she's YOUR ideal client or not? (Think about
any not-so-great client or customer relationships you've
had in the past...want tons of those? I didn't think so.)

Setting the Stage

Setting the stage is getting on the same page energetically
with the person you're connecting with. You start any
serving opportunity by allowing in energy of trust. Below
is a list of questions/steps for you to sample as part of
forming an initial trusting connection with a prospect. As
you read through the questions, consider what is important
for you to include in your initial prospect meeting, ask
your inner guidance: "What parts of this sample feel good
to me? What would I like to incorporate into my own
Process? What would I want someone to ask me?" Make note of
these answers.

Questions to Ask Your Prospect

Start by gathering information about the prospect's current
experience:

How did they hear about you?

What/Who brought them to you?

Ask, "What would you like to experience from our time
together today?"

Be clear about what they can expect from you in this
conversation.

These types of questions put you in a place to truly
connect as PEOPLE and this makes all the difference in the
world when preparing to move to the next level of a
relationship. And yes, you CAN do this in any business.
Imagine more people being more invested in your good
interest...your mechanic, grocery store clerk, doctor,
lawyer, accountant...feels good, right? Only good can come
(for you and the people you serve) from taking the time to
create this connection.

Next, be willing to share parts of you and your experience
that relate to and connect with what you've heard. Tell a
brief story, share a little tid-bit of a similar
experience; be honest and be human. Be willing to share
what it is about you and your business that connects to
their situation. Let them know they aren't alone in this.

When I used to work as a high school teacher, over and over
I saw the same pattern in teachers who struggled with
discipline and getting high-achieving results from their
students: They did not treat their students as people; they
blamed the lack of success on the students; they didn't
really trust (or believe) that their students could succeed.

Not quite an invitation to thrive, huh?

Now, please know I am not saying to give away oodles and
oodles of your time or information for free. I am simply
inviting you to embrace joyfully giving your time and
energy in a thoughtful and systematic way when you connect
with future clients, rather than starting a connection off
by "making sure you aren't giving too much or being taken
advantage of." Only abundance can come from really taking
the time and energy to truly connect with those you're
meant to serve (and to really make sure you're a match!)
The type of energy you start a relationship with makes a
HUGE difference in effecting the results you're looking for.

Call To Action:

1)Make up your own list of "setting the stage" questions.

2)Get very clear about what YOU want when connecting with
someone for the first time (Just think about how you would
like to be treated as you prepare to invest in something.)
What do you want/need to make the experience an easy,
joyful one?

3)Set up a practice conversation with a "prospective
client" using the questions and practice sharing of
yourself, too.

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Heather Dominick, EnergyRICH® Entrepreneur Success
Coach http://www.EnergyRichCoach.com
I give you every piece of the Proven Prospects to Profits
Process™ AND the steps you need to make it
authentically, naturally your own:
http://www.EnergyRICHBootCamp.com .

Managing Out-of-Hand To Do Lists - These 5 Steps Get Ideas Into ACTION!

Managing Out-of-Hand To Do Lists - These 5 Steps Get Ideas Into ACTION!
There's nothing so marvelous as being able to look back at
the end of a day, a week, a month or a year and see
everything that's been achieved! I don't mean crossed off
of a list, but rather put on a 'done' list that lets you
appreciate what's been accomplished. And too many
entrepreneurs and professionals have too short a list!

If you're like most people who are running a business, as
an owner, an executive or an independent professional you
get to the things on your To Do list in an ad hoc fashion.
In truth, you have more on that list than you will ever get
to. But wouldn't you agree with me that inconsistency in
putting things into action creates inconsistency in your
results?

Successful leaders and managers don't escape from having
full To Do lists. They're just very effective at keeping
their attention on the High Pay-Off activities that will
get them to the results they're set on. The reason they can
act with such consistency is the clarity of their goals and
their ongoing system of step-by-step techniques are keeping
them on track and avoiding distractions.

If you were to follow these folks around for a day you'd be
able to spot what they've learned to do. They use
repeatable techniques that systematically move ideas off of
lists and into action. Here are the 5 steps they're using
that you can use to boost your own effectiveness on a daily
basis.

Step 1 - List It All

High Payoff results require being able to focus your time
and attention, and you cannot do that if you are trying to
hang on to all your ideas in your mind. Get them out and on
paper where you know the idea is ready for you to give it
the attention it deserves. Success Catalyst subscribers who
listened to the free audio mini-course learned a technique
for listing 'everything' and report that this immediately
frees up their mind and attention.

Step 2 - Prioritize It All

The tighter you evaluate the things on that list, the
shorter your list will grow. This is particularly so if you
use a tool like the Daily 4-in-1 sheet I supply with the
audio mini course. When you designate each item as ones
you'll take action on 'today', or 'tomorrow', or 'delegate
today' it becomes immediately apparent which ones you know
will have a High Payoff if they get attention versus what
you'd vaguely "like to give attention to because they seem
like they 'might' be worth pursuing."

Step 3 - Assign It To Get It Done

It may seem that if you've decided what you'll take care of
and what you'll delegate, it's get done. Sorry! All that
means is that you've made a really good list! Now you need
to set those items up to be shifted from ideas to action
and that means each of them must have an 'owner'. If the
owner is not you, then you need to notify the person you're
delegating it to that they are being given the
accountability and responsibility for that action.

Before you hand it off, decide what the goal is for that
activity, and how you'll track and monitor that it is being
accomplished. Be sure that the person taking it on knows
what you expect, AND that they are in agreement with what
they're supposed to be handling and how you're to be
notified of its status.

Step 4 - Supply the Resources

It may have taken 5 minutes to decide 'who' should be doing
the task, and 5 minutes to notify them, but without
resources no progress is going to take place. There is
nothing more certain than ideas won't move into action if
the support system doesn't exist to guarantee action can
take place!

Action requires investment and your role is to guarantee
that the action has a realistic likelihood of taking place.
That means you need to put your wallet behind your
assignments. What's needed? Staffing? Computers? Supplies?
Time? Your next step is to ensure those resources get lined
up and made available so that the idea isn't just moved
onto yet another To Do list!

Step 5 - Calendar It

Action requires commitment and follow-through is only
guaranteed if time is blocked out for uninterrupted
attention on getting it done. Your strongest guarantee of
action is... putting it on the calendar for attention and
action. If the idea is on your To Do list, then it should
be on your calendar. The same holds true if you've
delegated it - it needs to be on the other person's
calendar. And that includes the status meetings where
they'll report back to you that it's being accomplished.

Make these steps techniques that you use and you'll soon
find yourself consistently ticking things off of your To Do
list and being able to rewrite them on your
'Accomplishments' list. And you'll know that the rest of
your team is handling their To Dos as well.

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© 2008 Linda Feinholz Management expert, consultant,
and coach Linda Feinholz is "Your High Payoff Catalyst" If
you're ready to focus on your High Payoff activities, boost
your professional and personal results and have more fun,
get her FREE audio mini-course "7 Quick & Simple Steps to
Increase Your Focus, Ease Your Effort & Accelerate Your
Results" and the free weekly newsletter The Spark! Visit
http://www.YourHighPayoffCatalyst.com