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How To Sell $80,000 Worth of Product Per Week!

January 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Would you like an employee that sells $80,000 worth of product on a bad week and $400,000 on a good week?

Well the Princess Cruise Line has one such employee and I am going to outline exactly what he does to sell this amount of product. What was the product I hear you say, it was art. Now before you say but art is expensive,

Consider this.

1. The art ranged from a couple of hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. This is probably the exact price range of some of your products and services.
2. The purchasers were typical mums and dads, I was there watching the whole event with great interest.
3. Art is not an inflexible commodity, or in English it’s not like food you do not have to have art to live. Hair and beauty products are far more essential to purchase for our wellbeing than pieces of art.

So how did he sell this amount of art?

The employee would tell an interesting story about the artist that would educate the crowd not only about the artist, but why this piece of art was valuable and would be a good investment. He then closed with the good old guarantee, if the art you purchase does not increase in price the cruise line will take the art back and re sell it and give you your money back. This guarantee stands for 10 years.

Interestingly this is exactly what all the emotional direct response marketing gurus like Dan Kennedy tell you to do and that’s educate your clients using stories that clearly show the value in the product or service and then have a great guarantee to take the fear out of the purchase. Plus the employee also creates a call to action by saying this piece of work is on sale for the next five minutes after which time he moves on to talk about another product. I must say this again, he is only an employee.

Good weeks and bad weeks.

Yes the employee has good weeks and bad weeks. A good week was prior to the credit crisis and he sold $400,000 of art per week. Currently he only sells $80,000 a week, but heck wouldn’t you want one of your employees to just sell one tenth of this ($8,000)?
Do you want staff who can really sell in your business?

Finding the sales stars has been has been made extremely easy due to the development of some highly effective psychometric tests. These tests predict with pin point accuracy if you have someone who will meet your sales targets. The research shows time and time again that someone who does well in one of these tests will sell three times the amount than someone who does poorly in the test.

Why spend time and energy trying to get staff to do something they are not inclined to do?

The Profitable Personnel psychometric assessments that will tell you in 5 minutes  if you have someone who is going to meet you sales targets or you have someone you are going to have to “mother” to get them to achieve even the most mediocre results.You can use these tests on staff who are currently working for you and also on people applying to work with you. Blush Day Spa in Perth use these tests religiously and now, for the first time in years they have a team that is building their business. They have also managed by using these tests to reduce the staff sick days from 28 per month to zero per month.

If you want employees selling like crazy just like the employee on the Princess Cruise line, then I highly recommend considering using a psychometric test that has a track record of revealing who will really get you the results you want from your business.

Committed To Building Your Business With The Right Staff.

David Osborne

David Osborne

www.profitablepersonnel.com

Filed Under: Psychometric Testing

How To Guarantee You Do Not Hire A RUDE Employee Ever Again

January 6, 2009 By 2 Comments

What one of the world’s richest men realised

John D. Rockefeller said “I will pay more for the ability to deal with people than for any other ability under the sun.”

Why?…..

Before reading on please think why this quote is so important.

Most people communicate without thinking about the implications of their  behaviour. Good communications is not just about being understood it is also about the communication being respect and it should not trigger negativity and resentment.

Why do I have this view?

Well I used to study the managerial communications between the trucks and diggers in an open pit gold mine. What I noticed was the way they communicated and the consequences of that communication. Often the communication was a barked order that sometimes verged on verbal abuse.

This type of communication ensured the primary activity was done, E.G Moving earth, but it caused negativity and resentment. The dollar impact of this situation was apparent when machine operators rammed the bucket of their machine into rock so the bucket’s teeth broke. The truck drivers would run over sharp rocks to split a tire that would then cost at least $50,000 to replace. The machine operators admitted to me they adopted these “payback” behaviours when they were rudely spoken to.

Masterful communication

I have learnt in life that the masterful communicator is one that ensures the message is understand, respected, honored and action is taken if required with a positive disposition. The alternative is you will pay one way or another.

In a six year longitudinal study on workplace sabotage, researchers found that 65 percent of all acts of sabotage stemmed from discontent with the management and its perceived unfair behaviour toward the workers.

Dissatisfaction with management leads to reduced loyalty and once the loyalty is destroyed, an employee is more likely to commit an act of sabotage.

The Union Carbide plant explosion in Bhopal, a Pacific Southwest Airline crash in California, and a devastating hotel fire in San Juan, were allegedly initiated by disgruntled employees with a score to settle.

The recall of Firestone’s tires in 2001 revealed similar patterns of corporate damage. Examining all the data on Firestone two economists from Princeton University found, circumstantial but broad and consistent evidence that a disproportionate number of flawed tires were made at the firm’s Decatur, illinois plant, when labour and management were battling.

More of the tires that were likely to fail were made at a non unionised plant.

“There is great force hidden in a gentle command”.

       George Herbert

So John D. Rockefeller did have some great insight when he said “I will pay more for the ability to deal with people than for any other ability under the sun.”

Psychometric testing

I have looked at and used numerous psychometric tests and if your want to eliminate hiring someone who does not have the ability to get on well with people I would use the Harrison Assessment. Shortly you will have a chance to try out the Harrison assessment tests for FREE on this site and I will be happy to discuss their application in your work place if you would like.

A psychometric test is only at best 30% of any selection process. However they are a brilliant tool to ensure you only hire staff who have the “ability to appropriately deal with people.”

Committed To Building Your Business With The Right Staff.

David Osborne

David Osborne

www.profitablepersonnel.com

Filed Under: Psychometric Testing

How To Audit Your Business To Uncover The Hidden Profits.

January 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment

OPTIMISATION or Best Practice standards are crucial to you maximizing profits.

The value drivers for business are:

1. Getting New Clients / Sales

2. Retaining Your Clients

3. Retaining Your Staff

4. Providing a Quality Service

5. Providing a Quality Product.

6. Process and System Improvements

7. Safety of Staff and Clients.

 The Sub Value Drivers Getting New Clients / Sales Are:

 1. Getting New Clients / Sales

1.1 The Recruitment procedure for acquiring staff who can achieve THE MARKETING / SALES goals.

1.2 The Quality of the MARKETING information being used to train the staff. 

1.3 The Quality of the TRAINING procedure that will ensure the staff can adequately ACHIEVE MARKETING / SALES goals.

1.4 The Quality of the IMPLEMENTATION procedure for the marketing.

1.5 The Quality of the MONITORING and MEASURING procedure of the Marketing Results.

1.6. The Quality of the EVALUATION and DECISION MAKING procedure.

1.7 The Quality of the COMMUNICATION procedure being used by the manager and the team.

The secret is to map out what are the sub value drivers for each of the MAIN value drivers so that can now look for ways to improve your business. The sub value drivers are like the smaller components of a car engine, and by knowing what part they play in your business, you can now start to fine tune them.

I have seen groups of managers given goals to improve a procedure by over a 1000% and the managers had to overcome their own skepticism and be driven to achieve. They all did achieve but the expectation was from an external source and there were plenty of times when the managers would have accepted a lower standard.

So let’s examine how we could improve these sub value drives.

 1. Getting New Clients / Sales

 1.1 The Recruitment procedure for acquiring staff who can achieve THE MARKETING / SALES goals.

 Example the optimum recruitment process

 - The new target total cost of recruiting the new team member $4000

- The team member can return a 350% return on investment within 4 weeks.

- The new target total cost of training the new team member $3000

 Previously the results were:

 - The cost of recruiting the new team member was $11000

- The team member returned 350% return on investment within 6 weeks.

- The cost of training the new team $7000

 If the new optimum targets are achieved.

$15000 has been saved from the recruitment costs, plus an extra two weeks of salary (at $1000 per week) where they were unproductive. The total cost savings to the business will be $17000.

So you can see if you know:

The value drivers
The sub value drivers
 And Establish standards of optimization / best practice you can drive improved business performance through the belief and expectations that the standards can be achieved.

                    “It is a funny thing about life: If you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.”

                                                                                      W. Somerset Maugham

Committed To Building Your Business With The Right Staff.

David Osborne

David Osborne

www.profitablepersonnel.com

Filed Under: Training

How To Optimise Performance To Maximise Profit.

January 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment

You are leaving thousands of dollars on the table unless you optimize performance.

When you coach or train anyone you need to accurately bench mark the person’s current performance status. The benchmark standard you need to use is VALUE. Because this is a holistic measure, and by this I mean all the good things the manager does and all the poorer things a manager does are put onto a VALUE BALANCE SHEET or score card so that the TRUE VALUE of a manager can be identified.

This is by far the best quarterly performance review anyone could have.

                                     A VALUE BALANCE SHEET

Credits

1. The dollar value of new clients / sales obtained by their team over the last financial year.
2. The dollar value of clients retained by their team over the last financial year.
3. The dollar value of retaining good staff over the last financial year.
4. The dollar value of providing a Quality Service (Measured in referral sales)
5. The dollar value providing a quality product. (Measured in additional sales)
6. The dollar value of process and system Improvements obtained by their team over the last financial year.
7. The saved money by the team from safety improvement initiatives.

Debts

1. New Clients / Sales – What is a realistic optimum target that should be achieved in this area?
2. Client Retention – What is a realistic optimum target that should be achieved in this area?
3. Retaining Good Staff – What is a realistic optimum target that should be achieved in this area?
4. Providing a Quality Service – What is a realistic optimum target that should be achieved in this area?
5. Providing a Quality product – What is a realistic optimum target that should be achieved in this area?
6. Process and System Improvements – What is a realistic optimum target that should be achieved in this area?
7. Safety improvement Initiatives – What is a realistic optimum target that should be achieved in this area?

Take the credits away from the debts and you have the manager’s TRUE VALUE to your business.

We see a similar process undertaken during sports matches like football where ground covered by a player is measured against the average ground covered by someone in that position. What the coaches are looking for is any statistics that would help the player improve or clarify where they are underperforming. The reason why this is done is to ensure the player adds VALUE to the team.

What the debts do is clarify exactly the optimum standard that is expected in that position. This indicates clearly to the manager the IMPACT of their performance on the business.

Important point

The impact of a manager’s performance when measured in dollars is a key catalyst to managerial behaviour change and a great motivator to take action.

Committed To Building Your Business With The Right Staff.

David Osborne

David Osborne

www.profitablepersonnel.com

Filed Under: Training

The Seven Pillars of Real Staff Value

January 5, 2009 By 1 Comment

How Key Performance Indicators might not be giving you the full picture.

The first secret to coaching or training anyone you is to accurately bench mark the status of the person’s current performance. Most businesses are very poor at bench marking managerial performance. The benchmark standard you need to use is VALUE.

VALUE means the value this person adds to your business.

Most businesses use a few Key Performance Indicators to measure the performance of a manager. However these indicators do not give the business owner a true picture of value.

 Key Performance Indicators are the components of VALUE.

EXAMPLE: If you had a manager that ensured their team achieved their sales targets, but upset staff to the point that staff actually resigned. Then the cost of these resignations must be deducted from the value of achieving the sales targets.

 Adding value means to add value on all fronts. To build a business you need to measure the key value drivers in your business.

 Value Drivers

 The value drivers for business are:

1. Getting New Clients / Sales

2. Retaining Your Clients

3. Retaining Your Staff

4. Providing a Quality Service

5. Providing a Quality Product.

6. Process and System Improvements

7. Safety of Staff and Clients.

 The Managerial Value Drivers

1. Getting New Clients / Sales – Recruiting and managing the team who do this

2. Retaining Your Clients         – Recruiting and managing the team who do this

3. Retaining Your Staff            – Recruiting and managing the team who do this

4. Providing a Quality Service – Recruiting and managing the team who do this

5. Providing a Quality Product – Recruiting and managing the team who do this

6. Process and System Improvements – Recruiting and managing the team who do this

7. Safety of Staff and Clients – Recruiting and managing the team who do this

 The Managerial KPI’s That Would Indicate VALUE

1.  The dollar value of New Clients / Sales

2.  The dollar value of Client Retention

3.  The dollar value of Staff Retention Levels

4.  The dollar value of Providing a Quality Service (Measured in referral sales)

5.  The dollar value of Providing a Quality Product. (Measured in additional demand)

6.  The dollar value of the Process and System Improvements

7.  The dollar value of the savings from improved safety statistics.(Lost time injuries)

 If you have a manager who runs a SERVICE BUSINESS then the KPI’s that would measure their value to the business are:

 1.  The dollar value of New Clients / Sales

2.  The dollar value of Client Retention

3.  The dollar value of Staff Retention Levels

4.  The dollar value of Providing a Quality Service (Measured in referral sales)

6.  The dollar value of the Process and System Improvements

7.  The dollar value of the Savings from improved safety statistics.(Lost time injuries)

 If you have a manager who runs a PRODUCTION BUSINESS then the KPI’s that would measure their value to the business are:

 2.  The dollar value of Client Retention

3.  The dollar value of Staff Retention Levels

5.  The dollar value of Providing a Quality Product. (Measured in additional demand)

6.  The dollar value of the Process and System Improvements

7.  The dollar value of the savings from improved safety statistics.(Lost time injuries)

When you talk about someone’s value to a business, you are talking about how they are impacting the business on all fronts. Too many businesses put up with toxic managers because they are good in one aspect of the business, but fail to measure the cost of their performance in other areas of the business.

Committed To Building Your Business With The Right Staff.

David Osborne

David Osborne

www.profitablepersonnel.com

Filed Under: Training

The Seven Secrets To Avoiding Dangerous Resumes.

January 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Phony resumes are dangerous for your health!

 A hospital in America was recently found negligent in hiring a kidney transplant coordinator who was unskilled in reading medical charts. As a result, a patient was given a transplant of a cancerous kidney, which resulted in his death. Only in America I hear you say, well perhaps not.

Over 37% of resumes are phony, over 85% of University graduates have admitted cheating whilst at University and one third of all higher education qualifications are false especially PhD’s.

So here are seven secrets to spotting phony resumes and eliminating deceitful duds from infiltrating your business:

 1.    Ensure applicants who say they have degrees and certificates provide the original certificate then ring the College or University and make sure the number on the certificate is valid.

 2.    Ask candidates “who were some of the lecturers who taught them” and then check with the University.

3.    Words on the resume like, “more than”, and “over” suggest the applicant is exaggerating.

4.    Ensure the applicant is very clear on the achievements they suggest are theirs and if possible narrow them down to numbers, dates and actual figures, so you can undertake a very precise check on their claims.

5.    If someone has been reassigned or their work has been reorganised, then there may well be a deeper darker implication behind the use of these words.

6.    Other words that should trigger suspicious interest are, conceived, managed, and implemented. Check exactly what they mean by the use of these words in their resume.

7.    If a resume states they were self employed and now out of work and looking for a job, this often signals employment issues that should be investigated.

 The moral of the story is vet the resumes thoroughly and don’t be a negligent recruiter. The best way to get it right is to follow a done for you process. The Profitable Personnel Business Owner’s recruitment process is a done for you system that is easy to use and gets brilliant results.

Committed To Building Your Business With The Right Staff.

David Osborne

David Osborne

www.profitablepersonnel.com

Filed Under: Recruitment

10 Ways To Spot the Interview Liar

January 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

According to a leading recruitment specialist Brad Smart, 75% of recruitment decisions are wrong. One of the reasons for this is ‘conversational blindness’. This means we often have an inability to detect a discrepancy between the question asked and the answer delivered, or in lay terms a smooth talker can easily slip us a fast one if they are confident.

Research from Harvard Business school reveals that that “a successful dodge occurs when a speaker’s answer to the wrong question is so compelling that the listener both forgets the original question and the answer they were wanting to hear”. So it is easy if you are smooth and confident to completely dodge a question and answer another question and have the interviewer eating out of your hand. So you need a few more tools to help you spot the interview liar.

There is no foolproof method to spot a liar. However if you find a number of the following indicators all occurring at the same time, then you may be talking to a liar.

1. Liars sweat and fidget because they are uncomfortable with their lies.

2. Eye contact should be made for about seventy five percent of any conversation. Liars avoid making eye contact for this duration and often look down.

3. Liars use their hands to stop the lie from coming out, and so hands that come up to the face or cover the mouth, or even scratch the nose or ear, are indicating that a lie has been said.

4. The pupils of liars appear dilated and the vocal pitch is raised.

5. There will be a timing difference between the spoken word and their accompanying facial expressions.

6. When the liar smiles it is often a false smile where only the muscles around the mouth are used. A natural smile can be seen in the eyes squishing and displaying “crows feet’ from the corners.

7. Liars are less cooperative than those telling the truth.

8. A Liar will lack details about an event, and their story if questioned on a number of occasions it will have inconsistencies.

9. Liars like to change the subject and often use humour to sidetrack the conversation.

10. Liars often use saying to evoke trust like “trust me”, or “I’m as honest as the day is long”.

If you want to reduce workplace conflict turnover and managerial stress, it would be a good idea to become fluent in the language of behaviors because they reveal far more than the spoken word.
 

  

Committed To Building Your Business With The Right Staff.

David Osborne

David Osborne

www.profitablepersonnel.com

Filed Under: Recruitment