Posted by gary holt on Fri, Nov 04, 2011 @ 07:51 AM
Not too many businesses succeed without looking at how their operations perform. This may be a simple looking at the books at the end of the month to see whether there is any money left or not, but the businesses that really succeed, and as we here at Holt Marketing and Management Services believe in- those businesses that have nearly unlimited growth and amazing cash flow achieve this feat by REALLY measuring their businesses performance and acting upon what they learn.
The name of the game is metrics and measurements. Every action or process your business has should have a means to measure or gather some type of metrics data from it. Large companies do this all the time, the system that has grabbed a hold of big business is the Six Sigma quality process developed by Motorola in the 1980’s. The biggest company singing the praises of Six Sigma (aka metrics and measurements) is GE with a touted $12 billion in savings their first five years of use*. Well you may not be able to get $12 billion but you can save a huge amount for your company by looking at your own results in everything your business does!
Think what it would be like to take your production data, for example, and realize that you could save money by making process efficiency changes and tracking the results to make sure you attain that goal. A 5% cost reduction or efficiency improvement should be worthwhile in any category of your business. What about 15%? What about more? The key is you need to gather accurate data, analyze, keep tracking, and make informed decisions on how to make changes.
The best way to track progress and data, especially if employees have any direct input and maybe even a benefit by seeing success, is by having a score card. Score cards are the visual tracking elements that you put your results in and watch how the process and changes track. It’s a great visual tool to share progress and get others involved in reaching success.
If you have questions about how best to put together a metrics plan or a score card or how to make your business come to life by capturing process data and releasing the power it contains (something we call the Synergy Factor), contact us. Ask for a copy of our owner’s great book- The Synergy Factor or even a short meeting with him. Contact Holt Marketing & Management Services today.
*Appreciation to Discovery for GE Six Sigma facts- http://money.howstuffworks.com/six-sigma.htm
Posted by gary holt on Fri, Oct 28, 2011 @ 11:03 AM
The measuring of anything is not what most people want to do. When issues seem urgent the last thing our instincts tell us is to stop to measure, but your instincts could be wrong.
The tendency for measurement is to put it off until later. We make the excuse that we don’t have the time. Let’s wait until later and of course later doesn’t come. Because measurements are considered important but not urgent it goes to the back burner. We forget the wisdom to measure twice and cut once, we cut first and measure later only to discover that the decision we made was very wrong and the cost and time to make corrections because of a critical mistake is very high.
The very essence of making intelligent decisions is based on facts rather than guesses. If the number of sales leads declines, then sales decline, the solution lies in the marketing and sales systems. The variances are only identified by its measurement. You can increase sales leads by analyzing each marketing and sales process and changing the process that aren’t producing. Sales are increased by setting lead generation goals, developing lead generation strategy and tactics and measuring the variance from the goal. The success lies in the process of innovating until you achieve a better result.
Sometimes it’s a challenge to measure a tactic- for example we have a small business branded Errands. Our tactics include direct mail, brochure, Facebook, website, y.p.com, and finally we performed a specialty designed vehicle wrap. Leads increased every month, but because we measured we discovered our likes on Facebook and our vehicle wraps earned us the better leads.
So how did we change? We invested more on Facebook Rewards for ‘Liking Us’ as well as training our people in great customer service. We spent less on direct mail and brochures and guess what? Last month was our best month ever! For more information go www.marketingholt.com.
Posted by gary holt on Mon, Oct 24, 2011 @ 08:54 AM
Why all organizations need to develop strategies that increase productivity faster than before.
Despite all the job losses, and organization closings the U.S. remains the most productive in the world. Once again productivity is the essential method to grow organizations into the future, the need to drive substantial and ongoing productivity gains, just to stay even. The needs of controlling costs while delivering higher quality, more specialized services, and products faster. To be an effective leader you have to become more familiar with the strategic use of the use and implementation of technology to achieve goals. The problems leaders face include:
- Increasing insurance costs.
- Increasing energy costs.
- Increasing payroll costs.
- Increasing equipment costs.
- Difficulty increasing revenue to pay for additional needs and growing costs.
- Difficulty obtaining credit.
The urgent need for productivity gains is like never seen before. Productivity gains have been caused internet enabled operations and efficiency programs. These trends removed waste and unnecessary steps, but the gains are now only incremental. It’s important for leaders to understand that these strategies alone won’t be enough.
Decision points for moving forward.
By investing in indicator tools and programs that increase effectiveness of established communications, organizations can tap into a flow of feedback and dialogue. This information flow will reveal gaps that can be closed with process technologies. Based on research we suspect that these will be where most organizations find problems:
- Time to get work done. Speed continues to be a proven strategy to improve results in all areas.
- Lower costs/higher quality. Research has shown that costs have increased or stayed the same in the past two years. Driving down costs while delivering better service will require investments in technology, especially in process control.
For more information-
Holt has been assisting organizations to increase productivity and growth for over 25 years. Our solutions can leverage organizations to accomplish more by performing critical tasks faster, improve quality of work, and provide a method for constant improvement.
For more information, go to- www.marketingholt.com
Posted by gary holt on Fri, Oct 14, 2011 @ 11:42 AM
The last series of articles has talked about Change Management and how important it is to have employees on board with your businesses plan. Unfortunately that can sometimes not be the case and how you implement your change management through the use of your leadership team’s abilities and the vision of the future state of your business are critical keys to the success of your change management. There is one more aspect to successful change management that is important to having success and also to ensure that you and your business follow appropriate work steps in order to discipline or remove workers who will not comply- that aspect is Coaching.
Coaching is HOW your leadership gets applied to your workforce, it’s the TALENT and the SKILL used to implement and instill that vision you crafted for your business’ future.
Coaching is the positive positioning of the new procedure or task, it’s the not being forceful to ‘ram’ the new policy into place. Its introducing it, giving an explanation why it is needed, and how it will benefit not only the company but the workers too (even if its job security). If when you position your case for change this way and you still have push back, then you try to deal with it in a positive way.
You take to the next level of coaching to listen to the employee(s) to find out why they do not agree, won’t follow the procedure, or simply just won’t get on board with the vision. Listen to their issues, address them the best that you can and emphasize that whatever is left over needs to be set aside so that the business of the company can go forward. Forward for the team is always a good approach to use.
If there is still push back or refusal to comply then you, as stated in an earlier article, can implement corrective actions finally onto the employee. These need to be spelled out in advance the first time they are levied from the discipline being used then to what the end result will be for non-compliance. Make sure that the infraction is spelled out exactly and it is supported by the employee policy manual. If not you will have the risk of being exposed to a wrongful discharge suit.
Keep the proceedings firmly in your control but don’t be a dictator, dictating will only keep the person against the organization and change. And while you may think losing one employee who will not comply is ok, the larger picture is that you, as the employer or management team, have to appear fair and level handed to all who work for you.
Want to discuss coaching skills further? Feel that there is a lot to know so that you and your organization can get control of and improve your change management? Contact Holt Marketing & Management Services for a consultation and advisement meeting.
Posted by gary holt on Fri, Oct 07, 2011 @ 11:47 AM
In change management a company’s management uses leadership to implement the change to processes, policies, etc with the desired result being acceptance and following by the employees. We know that this can be a challenge but a company that takes the time to create a story to tell of where they plan on being in the future and how in general they will get there will have better prepared employees. That story, that picture for the future, is the company’s vision.
To create a vision management must know the status of the business as it is today. From there they take their business plan to create a scenario of what the business will look like in 5-10 years. Some may find that their scenario is pretty general and stable, other companies who may be initiating new policies or procedures may find that their scenario is only good for the short term only but either way knowing where they imagine themselves being during that time frame is the goal.
Next management writes something about where the company will be (example leader in making widgets) using what they feel are the quality tools at hand (ISO, Six Sigma, workflows, process diagrams, written job descriptions, etc) to ensure that (defects are at a certain level or minimized, productivity increases to a certain level) and that management will provide positive tools (coaching) to reach these goals with 100% employee involvement.
So in summary the vision has-
- Where the company will be.
- How the company will get there.
- What management will do to get these results.
- Everyone will be on board to reach those goals.
By having the vision statement ready, introduce it to the employees in a manner that will give them time to take in what is being presented to them and to ask questions. Answer the questions but always leave no doubt that management has chosen this path and that everyone is expected to be involved with the process and attaining the results.
This will open up issues with change management and allow you to start addressing them in an orderly fashion using leadership and coaching skills.
Having a unified Vision and vision statement is a rewarding task giving purpose and meaning to what the company does but it can be a challenge to write one that captures the points above in an engaging way that allows for the inclusion of new policies, procedures, and maybe quality controls and limits the amount of negative push back from employees.
If you have some change management or leadership issues consider making sure that there is a vision statement there to be used as the future framework for management decisions. Have questions or need help in getting these issues situated? Contact Holt Marketing & Management Services to discuss your situation and how Holt can help you!
Posted by gary holt on Fri, Sep 30, 2011 @ 09:41 AM
If dealing with change management in your work force feels like a battle of wills then you need to step back and rethink the issue. When changing any part of the structure in the workplace such as procedures, processes, or responsibilities, getting the employees ‘on board’ can be handled in two ways- a dictate from management passed down to be followed by fear of punishment or a change to be implemented through the leadership of your management.
Battling wills is never the route to go through as you are likely always to have at least one employee who recognizes that the change is just that, a battle of wills, and they don’t feel like changing. To get this employee on board and to give them a structured opportunity to agree with the new approach before negative actions have to occur, takes leadership.
Leadership is knowing how to get the most from your employees, that you communicate with them in a positive fashion that makes them feel empowered to take on a new procedure or added responsibility. Leadership is an extension of the vision management has for the organization- the guiding ideal (which will be discussed later). That each manager or supervisor knows this vision and uses positive leadership to get each employee to feel a positive connection to the company and WANT to contribute to the business’ success.
Its positive psychology, it’s not letting the negative attitudes of an employee turn your leadership approach negative. It’s the approach you take or coaching (which will be discussed later) that conveys that positive attitude. It’s taking charge, taking control of the problem and directing the energies of everyone involved towards the desired outcome.
If through your positive leadership and direction that if the employee still has reservations then its okay for them to know you understand but that you need them onboard for the company and the success of everyone else- for the team. If the employee still won’t comply or if you have an employee who is still openly negative and hostile about the change being implemented and they have worked with management through the many stages of coaching to try and understand the importance of you are trying to lead them to then it is okay to take corrective action but again good leadership says that you do this one on one and discretely. Be it a write up, warning, or time off for the blatant act of repeatedly disregarding direction from management. Good positive leadership with feedback and learning for the employee also covers you and your business from risk of harassment or willfully trying to get rid of an employee. It shows that steps were taken to confront a behavior and that positive actions were attempted to get compliance. The lack of compliance from the employee is the paper trail to cover your right to punish and discharge them if needed.
Don’t let them or the paper work needed to make your workplace operate effectively stop you. Have questions or want assistance- give Holt Marketing & Management Services a call at 800-698-2449 x15 or contact us via the web.
Posted by gary holt on Thu, Sep 22, 2011 @ 12:38 PM
One often finds that even after successfully implementing process maps and workflows that there are still obstacles in the way of their operations. Since the work already done was a systematic analysis of how the process should be done, it may not mirror how people who operate the process think and behave. This difference in how they view the changes and implementation of a standardized ‘method of thinking’ may be enough to cause them to resist the changes that have been implemented by the efforts of the process mapping.
Process mapping does not have to be the only change in a workplace to cause issues. A promotion, an opportunity to learn a new skill or to train a new person may all be other opportunities to have personality issues cause strife in the operations.
People are driven by their intentions and how they view the world- what has the world, person, or place immediately related to what is happening to them done to or for them? Has an opportunity been taken away from them in a manner that wasn’t explained clearly? That wasn’t sensitive to their feelings? Well then they are likely to have negative feelings towards that experience and perhaps people who were involved.
Did something go well, did they receive praise, or respect by being pointed out as valued resource or holder of a skill? Well in that case they likely feel positive towards that process, experience, people or event and will go out of their way to follow the process, take ownership of it, and have a sense of pride in what they do.
Amazing what a change of perspective will do! But people are made of what they believe they have been through or experienced with a touch of what will supporting ‘this event’ give me. While being a psychologist is not required helping people understand their beliefs and getting those beliefs to come into alignment with what you and your organization need is the key to harmony in the workflows and the efficiency to your organization.
Change Influence or Change Management is accomplished through you and your organization’s leadership and via the coaching that superiors provide to their subordinates in order to get their beliefs and feelings to be in agreement with what is necessary for the organization.
Need help in changing attitudes and perceptions? The next couple of weeks will feature leadership, coaching, and vision in our blog discussions but needing training now to get the changes you need is as simple as contacting Holt Marketing & Management Services.
Posted by gary holt on Fri, Sep 16, 2011 @ 11:50 AM
In today’s economic climate a business cannot simply sell its way out of a profit problem. The economy has caused demand to decline and competition is responding by cutting prices in an effort to increase their sales. Unfortunately excessive price cutting can be disastrous to everyone’s profits.
Improving gross margins is a powerful method to improve profits and Holt Marketing Services has developed a Gross Margin Matrix that offers a proactive systems approach to achieving that goal. To illustrate, a $1,000,000 operation that can increase its gross margin rate by 3% will add $30,000 to their gross margins and a $20,000,000 company will add $600,000 to their gross margins.
The Gross Margin Matrix, created by Holt, incorporates all of the key indicators for the gross margin into a systemized profit improvement plan. There are four key indicators that drive gross margins:
- Product/Project Mix
- Pricing Policy
- Sales Strategy
- Advertising & Merchandising
Each of these key indicators of gross profit must have goals, measurements, and training to implement behind it.
A gross margin planning system is a sustainable process that has synergy, meaning that utilizing all the components produce results that are greater than the sum of their parts. The objective of the gross margin matrix is to increase gross margin goals by 5 to 10%.
The overall steps to complete the gross margin matrix are:
- Plot all categories, products, and projects, which have high gross margins dollars or high margin percentages.
- Develop a sales system that focus’ on increasing sales of what is listed in Step 1.
- Identify areas where prices can be increased without losing sales.
- Redesign signage and displays to attract customers to these areas or products.
Example:
Current New Matrix Change Results
$1,000,000 Sales $1,000,000
40% Gross Margin % which is +7.5%* 43%
$400,000 Gross Margin $ $430,000
$370,000 37% Overhead $370,000
$ 30,000 Profit $ 60,000
*($430,000 / $400,000 = $30,000 or 7.5%)
And by following the strategy laid out in the Matrix guide and video to harness its synergy for growth, the business manager or owner has the knowledge at their fingertips to go forward and increase their profits.
If you have further questions or would like to have someone from Holt Marketing Services work you through the Gross Margin Matrix guide, then give us a call or contact us. This guide is just one of dozens in our Perpetual Entrepreneur’s Sales & Marketing System Guidebook and for sale on Holt Marketing Service’s website.
Posted by gary holt on Fri, Sep 09, 2011 @ 11:30 AM
In the market over the next five years, small companies will have to create strategic alliances to grow because the Pace of Change will not allow them, by themselves, to accumulate all the skills and resources required to leverage opportunities before their competitors do. I’m talking about two or more organizations forming a collaboration for mutual economic gain.
The problem smaller organizations have is that it has a smaller capital base, say $50,000 to $5,000,000 vs. a large organization that has a capital base of hundreds of millions or billions of dollars. So how does a strategic collaboration help solve this problem?
Collaboration allows a smaller business to seize an opportunity without spreading too much of its capital base and overhead. Strategic alliances allow more new opportunities without the risk of going it alone. Alliances increases knowledge and capacity without the risk of over stepping and without the pain of laying people off when the market changes, as it always does.
For example, our company, Holt Marketing and Management Services, has used strategic alliances to survive 26 years and become the top marketing and management firm in our market. Although we have developed sales in the millions of dollars, we only have eight permanent employees and one small office. Holt Marketing sits at the center of a huge network of alliances including consulting arrangements, service contracts with other marketing firms, web developers, social media experts, and video production experts to subcontractors, manufacturers, retailers, construction contractors, medical service providers, and government agencies. Businesses will simply have to collaborate to succeed in the future market place.
What Holt Marketing Services will do for you.
Holt Marketing and Management’s mission is to teach growing organizations how to use strategic alliances to survive and grow in the future. Our process provides a step by step method for using alliances to:
- To increase sales and profits,
- Enter into new markets, services, and industries.
- Innovate and improve quality and speed.
- Leverage money and find money.
Looking to leverage the advantages of a strategic alliance, want to learn more about how the process works? Contact Holt Marketing & Management Services to learn more TODAY!
Posted by gary holt on Fri, Sep 02, 2011 @ 09:08 AM
Apple earns the title of the most valuable US Company on the stock 
market Thursday! With the heavy losses being seen by nearly every stock on the exchanges, it is not too amazing to see a company that is an icon for everything new and technologically savvy to do well on the exchange and even see its value rise above that of oil giant and traditional head of the exchange, Exxon-Mobile. The markets valued Apple at just under $7 billion over that of Exxon-Mobile.
How does a company stay strong in this kind of viscous market cycle? Well by sticking to the same common core threads that we here at Holt Marketing and Management Services advise our clients to follow everyday in order to be the best in their market segment.
Here are things that Apple has done and that we tell our clients to do in everything we work and advise them on:
- Customer Focus- if you lose sight of who your customer is and what they want, your company will quickly see the impact in its bottom line.
- Innovation- know what your customer and the public want. Provide them with the latest and best ideas and they will flock to your door. Remember, sometimes the best ideas are not from focus groups but from your gut.
- Surround yourself with intelligent, game changing employees- find those that think differently, that don’t need.
- Value- even if your product is considered pricey, service, quality, and meeting the customer’s needs exactly can dictate a price higher than the rest and as long as you don’t let your customers down, your product will support that higher price point.
- Make the public happy- don’t conduct shady deals that will draw bad public attention to yourself. Try to conduct your business as openly as possible and keep in mind how you will need to handle damage control.
While the oil giant may not let Apple keep its place for long, people know where value lies and though it may lose its #1 spot, it will be valued amongst the best on the exchange because it does those things that every company should be doing from the start.
Want to be more like Apple- want to increase your customer focus, innovation, value of your products? Well contact Holt Management Services for a discussion on what can be done to get you through this market storm and be well prepared to succeed even after the rough waters are subside. You can even review our Marketing & Sales as well as Management product pages to review.
