If you haven’t done so already, you might think about getting your strategic plan out of the bottom drawer (where it shouldn’t have been in the first place), dusting it off and reviewing it.

Things to look for:

Vision

Is your vision still relevant and realistic? Or have you embarked in a different direction that will need you to review your strategic plan?

Mission

Are the purpose and activities of your business accurately reflected in your mission statement? Take some time to walk around your organisation and ask a few people what the mission of the company is. you might be surprised by the answers.

Values

Is your business being run in accordance with your values?

Goals

Have you achieved your goals – is it time to set new ones?

Objectives

Do your objectives support your goals?

Strategies

How are your strategies contributing to achieving your objectives?

That’s only the start. Now you need to vet yout business plans to make sure you’re heading in the right direction!

Good luck with all that.

The different approach to sales training in these economic conditions is interesting, to say the least.

One company I have just finished a workshop with believes that now is the perfect time to gain sales and a market advantage over their competition, by making sure their sales force is trained to the max. Another says they are hunkering down until after Easter and will consider their options then. Which is right?

Let’s look at a military analogy. The enemy is coming in force, what do you do? Read the rest of this entry »

Report writing is something most of us have to do in our work lives or as members of associations we belong to. Here are ten tips for you.

1. Follow a Structure

There are many articles and publications on how to structure a formal report. At the least include;

• Introduction
• Body
• Conclusions
• Recommendations

2. State the aim/purpose of the report in the introduction.

Even if you have to be blunt, put a big H2 heading saying “Aim” and then state:

“The aim of this report is to….”

It lets us all know what the report is about.

3. Use the “Journalistic Six” in developing the body.

The “Journalistic Six” is a checklist reporters use for developing their stories. It answers the questions:

• who
• what
• where
• when
• why
• how

4. If you have lots of technical information, attach it as an appendix.

Winston Churchill was really hot on this during WWII, when, as you can imagine, he had lots of bumf* to read.

5. Know your audience.

If the report is going to be read by the CEO, CFO and HR Manager you will have to express it differently than if it is going to be read by the Chief Engineer.

6. Do not use technical words, acronyms or jargon.

Unless you are absolutely sure that everyone who is going to read the report understands them, do not use the above, especially TLA’s (three letter acronyms). In general use plain English without foreign words.

7.  Separate facts and opinion.

Otherwise it detracts from the credibility of your report.

8. Conclusions and recommendations must be supported by the body of the report.

Firstly, make sure that you do have conclusions and recommendations. Reports without them that peter out into nothingness are frustrating to read. Also make sure that you have achieved your aim.

9. Review the document for accuracy, brevity and clarity.

Revise, revise, revise. Get someone else to proof read your document.

10. Follow George Orwell’s advice.

• Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
• Never use a long word where a short one will do.
• If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
• Never use the passive where you can use the active.
• Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
• Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Miller-Heiman’s Strategic Selling Workshop (Blue sheet)is a fantastic process for organising your information about your sales opportunity, leading to an action plan to close the business.

Last week I delivered a program to group of technical people who had to convince customers to use their services. They were impressed with the strategic selling process because:

• the process was logical and sequential,
• it was not not just a series of opinions and inferences about the target account,
• although the information gathering requirement was much more complex than they were used to, the time saved overall was significant,
• they hadn’t realised that there were four types of buying influence, and this new understanding would help them close the sale.

The Strategic Selling process has been around for thirty years. Competitors and detractors might say that it’s “old hat”, but compare it to the automobile which has been around since 1769. The principles are still the same, but refinements are continuous. The same with Strategic Selling.

Strategic Selling works because it’s based on the continual analysis of the real life experience of successful sales professionals. What made them successful 30 years ago  makes them successful today; commitment, hard work, persistence, and above all, a superior constantly refined process!

For more information on strategic selling click here.