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Suggest You - Franchises and Basic Concepts of Business
Today, many corporations have large mobile workforces, in sales and field service roles. Frequently, these mobile workers have little or no remote access to core business applications of their organisation. Voice and paper are still the main communication method for these employees to communicate and interact with the corporate backend. An obvious example is a Salesperson, who has to make a voice call to the corporate office to enquire whether an item he is selling is in stock or not. Typically he would make this call in the middle of his sales negotiation with the prospect. If he manages to close the deal, he would manually fill up the order form, which he would either hand deliver to the corporate office at the end of his day or if the organisation is slightly tech savvy, he would fax it to the corporate office. The inefficiencies in this communication approach are apparent. Imagine if the corporation had implemented an enterprise mobility solution – the Salesperson in our example would be equipped with some kind of PDA – to enquire about the stock information he would key in the item code in the stock query application running on his PDA, which would instantly tell h
Get
Most people ‘get’ this one. This is sales and marketing. Peter Drucker said there are only two things that create value in business - sales and innovation. The rest are costs.
I would suggest that many companies tend to become happy with their existing suite of customers. Or they land the ‘big one’ and all is good. I would also suggest that if there are not constant strategies put in place to continue to get new customers, to get new blood, then stagnation will follow. Landing the ‘big one’ can actually put the business in a very precarious position. It’s called over-trading. If the business relies too heavily on one source for its revenues it can be in big tr
In direct mail, the offer is the incentive or reward that you dangle in front of your prospects to motivate them to respond to your mailing, either with an order or with a request for more information.Offers follow a “you do this and we’ll do that” format. For example: “Place your order before June 3 and we’ll reduce your price by 40%” or “Phone now and we’ll send you a free demo CD.”Here are some examples of offers that businesses use to sell their products and services to other businesses using direct mail. Each of these offers gives the prospect something for free. “Free” is still a word that increases response, though it is not as effective as it once was because readers are more sceptical and because spam filters often delete emails that contain the word (that’s why I’ve disguised “free” throughout this message).1. Free trial Customers try your product or service before paying for it. Example: “Try our product risk-free for 30 days and pay only if you buy.”Pros: Increases response because it eliminates the buyer’s fear of ordering by mail what may prove to be unsatisfactory merchandise.Cons: Increases cost of processing order
Franchising is not a business in itself. It is a business strategy. It’s a business system. That’s a significant distinction that isn’t always clear. McDonalds is in the fast food business – although many people feel they are really in the real estate business, while others think they’re in the entertainment business. Regardless of that discussion, they are not in the business of Franchising. Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consultants is in the business of telecom consulting. Ramada is in the business of operating properties. Snap-On Tools is in the business of selling tools.
Each company uses Franchising as its strategy to penetrate and dominate the marketplace. However, their core business relates to the products and services provided to their customers, using the Franchising strategy to deliver those products and services in a consistent manner. A more in depth discussion of the Franchising concept will follow, but first we need to delve into the basic concepts of business.
If someone says to you that they’re in the business of Franchising, they don’t really get what they’re doing. It’s all about the customer, and if the focus is not on the customer and their needs, then something is awry. Customers don’t need a Franchise. They need hamburgers, telecom consulting, hotel rooms and tools. So therefore Franchisors are not in the business of Franchising.
It has to be about the customer doesn’t it? After all, the customer pays for everything. They pay for salaries, they pay the rent, they pay the utilities, they pay for the costs of delivering the product or service, and they pay the profit. In businesses using the Franchising strategy, the customer pays the royalties, the customer pays for the development of the system, including support and operations, and they pay for everything the business does in its day-to-day activities, both Franchisor and Franchisee.
At Schooley Mitchell, we have a credo that says that ‘Good is the Enemy of Great’. It’s not absolutely original, but we hope our approach is just that. First of all, if greatness is to be achieved, focus must be completely on the customer. We have to continue to strive to have our customers clamor for our services. If we’re satisfied with being good at it, we’ll never be great. I want to be great. We want to be great. Our focus must be entirely on the customer to achieve that goal.
Purpose of Business
O.K, so let’s look at the purposes and objectives of business, regardless of whether the goal is to be good, or great. I don’t think anyone has a goal to be bad, so we’ll leave that one out. First of all, the basic purpose of business is to make money. It is not about your way to give back to humanity. That’s a charity. People that wish to be in business for themselves are doing so in order to make money. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
So how do all businesses make money? As stated above, they focus on the customer. Therefore, the purpose of daily activities, the objectives of business, are to get new customers, satisfy those customers, keep the customers, and grow business, either with, or through those customers.
Get, satisfy, keep, and grow. There you have it. These are the purposes of business. They form the first set of four in a concept we have developed at Schooley Mitchell called our 4 By 4 Concept. The other four will be discussed at a later point. You can’t think of a transaction that happens in business that isn’t aimed at one of these four things. The key is to understand that they are four distinct things, and they each require distinct strategies designed to achieve excellence in all four areas if greatness is to be achieved.
Get
Most people ‘get’ this one. This is sales and marketing. Peter Drucker said there are only two things that create value in business - sales and innovation. The rest are costs.
I would suggest that many companies tend to become happy with their existing suite of customers. Or they land the ‘big one’ and all is good. I would also suggest that if there are not constant strategies put in place to continue to get new customers, to get new blood, then stagnation will follow. Landing the ‘big one’ can actually put the business in a very precarious position. It’s called over-trading. If the business relies too heavily on one source for its revenues it can be in big tro
Ezine Articles - they're everywhere!And little wonder. They're one of the fastest ways of building traffic to your website.But what many people overlook is the Resource Box. It's almost as important as your Article. After all, your traffic comes to you through your Resource Box.Writing your Resource Box is an art in itself. You have very little space (5 or 6 lines) and you want to make the most of it. Here are four key elements your Resource Box should contain.1) Your NameRemember, one of the reasons Ezine Articles are such a powerful promotion tool is that brand your name, they establish your reputation as a an expert.So the first line of your Resource Box should be a short sentence that gives your name and tells the reader what you do on the Internet.2) Your website URLThis is pretty straightforward - you want people to visit your website. But there's another reason for including your website URL.As well as being published in Ezines, your Articles will also be published on websites, often with a live link to your website URL.And that's going to do wonders for your link-popularity. Remember, the majo
If someone says to you that they’re in the business of Franchising, they don’t really get what they’re doing. It’s all about the customer, and if the focus is not on the customer and their needs, then something is awry. Customers don’t need a Franchise. They need hamburgers, telecom consulting, hotel rooms and tools. So therefore Franchisors are not in the business of Franchising.
It has to be about the customer doesn’t it? After all, the customer pays for everything. They pay for salaries, they pay the rent, they pay the utilities, they pay for the costs of delivering the product or service, and they pay the profit. In businesses using the Franchising strategy, the customer pays the royalties, the customer pays for the development of the system, including support and operations, and they pay for everything the business does in its day-to-day activities, both Franchisor and Franchisee.
At Schooley Mitchell, we have a credo that says that ‘Good is the Enemy of Great’. It’s not absolutely original, but we hope our approach is just that. First of all, if greatness is to be achieved, focus must be completely on the customer. We have to continue to strive to have our customers clamor for our services. If we’re satisfied with being good at it, we’ll never be great. I want to be great. We want to be great. Our focus must be entirely on the customer to achieve that goal.
Purpose of Business
O.K, so let’s look at the purposes and objectives of business, regardless of whether the goal is to be good, or great. I don’t think anyone has a goal to be bad, so we’ll leave that one out. First of all, the basic purpose of business is to make money. It is not about your way to give back to humanity. That’s a charity. People that wish to be in business for themselves are doing so in order to make money. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
So how do all businesses make money? As stated above, they focus on the customer. Therefore, the purpose of daily activities, the objectives of business, are to get new customers, satisfy those customers, keep the customers, and grow business, either with, or through those customers.
Get, satisfy, keep, and grow. There you have it. These are the purposes of business. They form the first set of four in a concept we have developed at Schooley Mitchell called our 4 By 4 Concept. The other four will be discussed at a later point. You can’t think of a transaction that happens in business that isn’t aimed at one of these four things. The key is to understand that they are four distinct things, and they each require distinct strategies designed to achieve excellence in all four areas if greatness is to be achieved.
Get
Most people ‘get’ this one. This is sales and marketing. Peter Drucker said there are only two things that create value in business - sales and innovation. The rest are costs.
I would suggest that many companies tend to become happy with their existing suite of customers. Or they land the ‘big one’ and all is good. I would also suggest that if there are not constant strategies put in place to continue to get new customers, to get new blood, then stagnation will follow. Landing the ‘big one’ can actually put the business in a very precarious position. It’s called over-trading. If the business relies too heavily on one source for its revenues it can be in big tr
Are you involved in projects that seem to go nowhere in a hurry?Change usually happens in an organization through projects, which can take many forms, and may not always be called projects. The easiest to recognize is the traditional type, with a beginning, middle and end, such as the launch of a new product or the implementation of a system. Other projects involve developing people and are ongoing, without easily identified phases.The key to keeping projects from spinning out of control is to know the roles that you and others play. Although individuals can play more than one role, it is critical that they clearly understand which role they are occupying at any one time, and that they work within the appropriate boundaries of that role.Often projects fail because these roles are not aligned with each other. The consequences range from:· underutilization of some people while others burn out· resentment· people working inefficiently· work stagnating· all of the aboveIn other words, the status quo reigns.CASE STUDYCarolyn is the VP of Sales in a software development organization, with a number
At Schooley Mitchell, we have a credo that says that ‘Good is the Enemy of Great’. It’s not absolutely original, but we hope our approach is just that. First of all, if greatness is to be achieved, focus must be completely on the customer. We have to continue to strive to have our customers clamor for our services. If we’re satisfied with being good at it, we’ll never be great. I want to be great. We want to be great. Our focus must be entirely on the customer to achieve that goal.
Purpose of Business
O.K, so let’s look at the purposes and objectives of business, regardless of whether the goal is to be good, or great. I don’t think anyone has a goal to be bad, so we’ll leave that one out. First of all, the basic purpose of business is to make money. It is not about your way to give back to humanity. That’s a charity. People that wish to be in business for themselves are doing so in order to make money. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
So how do all businesses make money? As stated above, they focus on the customer. Therefore, the purpose of daily activities, the objectives of business, are to get new customers, satisfy those customers, keep the customers, and grow business, either with, or through those customers.
Get, satisfy, keep, and grow. There you have it. These are the purposes of business. They form the first set of four in a concept we have developed at Schooley Mitchell called our 4 By 4 Concept. The other four will be discussed at a later point. You can’t think of a transaction that happens in business that isn’t aimed at one of these four things. The key is to understand that they are four distinct things, and they each require distinct strategies designed to achieve excellence in all four areas if greatness is to be achieved.
Get
Most people ‘get’ this one. This is sales and marketing. Peter Drucker said there are only two things that create value in business - sales and innovation. The rest are costs.
I would suggest that many companies tend to become happy with their existing suite of customers. Or they land the ‘big one’ and all is good. I would also suggest that if there are not constant strategies put in place to continue to get new customers, to get new blood, then stagnation will follow. Landing the ‘big one’ can actually put the business in a very precarious position. It’s called over-trading. If the business relies too heavily on one source for its revenues it can be in big tr
Do you operate a business with your spouse or significant other? Does your business require capital and time commitments that are too great for you to handle alone? The Limited Partnership could be the ideal legal entity for you to use to operate your business.A partnership is simply a legal entity that is owned by two or more people or entities. There are three kinds of partnerships: The General Partnership (GP)--this is the kind of partnership most mom-and-pop entrepreneurs are talking about when they say that they operate as a "partnership".The Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)--this is a legal entity that is restricted to professionals such as lawyers and attorneys, who are required by state law to use this type of legal entity; this does not apply to most entrepreneurs, so we will not discuss it here.The Limited Partnership (LP)-which is comprised of at least 1 General Partner and one or more limited partners.A partnership can provide a valuable tool for bringing in additional parties to manage or finance your business activities. On the other hand, all partnerships have a distinct disadvant
So how do all businesses make money? As stated above, they focus on the customer. Therefore, the purpose of daily activities, the objectives of business, are to get new customers, satisfy those customers, keep the customers, and grow business, either with, or through those customers.
Get, satisfy, keep, and grow. There you have it. These are the purposes of business. They form the first set of four in a concept we have developed at Schooley Mitchell called our 4 By 4 Concept. The other four will be discussed at a later point. You can’t think of a transaction that happens in business that isn’t aimed at one of these four things. The key is to understand that they are four distinct things, and they each require distinct strategies designed to achieve excellence in all four areas if greatness is to be achieved.
Get
Most people ‘get’ this one. This is sales and marketing. Peter Drucker said there are only two things that create value in business - sales and innovation. The rest are costs.
I would suggest that many companies tend to become happy with their existing suite of customers. Or they land the ‘big one’ and all is good. I would also suggest that if there are not constant strategies put in place to continue to get new customers, to get new blood, then stagnation will follow. Landing the ‘big one’ can actually put the business in a very precarious position. It’s called over-trading. If the business relies too heavily on one source for its revenues it can be in big tr
Technically, it wasn’t Suzi’s fault. She was basically a good dog. I had her since she was a pup, but now, 11 years later, she was behaving as an older dog might. I watched her white-gray-tan form sleeping on the tile floor. When she slept, she was as cute as any other Shih-Tzu could be. But, when a storm approached, she was a terror. It didn’t even have to be a storm, mind you. It could be a change in the wind or a light drizzle. Either way, she reacted in the same fashion. She shook uncontrollably and then she promptly peed on the rug.I had come to expect it. As she grew in years, she reacted more predictably to the impending change in weather. I called her my little barometer. As the outside pressure dropped, her condition increased. So I hardly needed a weatherman any more. Therefore I anticipated the inevitable squatting on the carpet and the dismal aftermath.I had an arsenal of treatments ready to attack the odor and stain. I had spend hundred of dollars buying every pet store product designed for that very situation. But none of them worked. The stain was still visible and the odor lingered. So I came to the conclusion that one of two things had to
Get
Most people ‘get’ this one. This is sales and marketing. Peter Drucker said there are only two things that create value in business - sales and innovation. The rest are costs.
I would suggest that many companies tend to become happy with their existing suite of customers. Or they land the ‘big one’ and all is good. I would also suggest that if there are not constant strategies put in place to continue to get new customers, to get new blood, then stagnation will follow. Landing the ‘big one’ can actually put the business in a very precarious position. It’s called over-trading. If the business relies too heavily on one source for its revenues it can be in big trouble if something goes wrong with that customer.
The solution to over-trading, and to keep generating a steady stream of new customers in order to keep any business vibrant and moving forward, is to implement great ‘get’ strategies. And never quit. That’s certainly not rocket science, but it is a basic tenet of long term survival.
General Motors should have been trying to figure out how to ‘get’ Japanese customers in the 1970’s. That would have led them to understand how to ‘keep’ North American customers. Enough said.
Satisfy
A lot of people really miss the boat on this one. I actually saw a truck drive by me recently that had a slogan on the side in proud, bold letters that said ‘We Deliver Satisfied Customers’. They seemed to be quite proud of the fact that they actually provided what they sell. All customers for all businesses expect to be satisfied or they wouldn’t complete the business transaction in the first place. Boasting that customers are satisfied is like saying, ‘we don’t rip you off’. Well, big deal and thank you.
Satisfaction must be a given. It is required for survival. It is certainly one of the four main purposes or objectives of business, but it is so often misunderstood. Satisfaction is what people buy, so they expect it to be delivered. Michael Vickers, one of our Sales & Marketing instructors at Schooley Mitchell, says that ‘Whatever company, in whatever industry, sets the standard in customer service, moves the bar up for all of us.’ It’s a great message. We must constantly be wary of what customers expect in order to be satisfied, and it’s an ever-increasing standard. However, it’s nothing to brag about. It’s just what you sell.
In a book called ‘If It Ain’t broke – Break It!, Robert Kreigel wrote, “Embrace the unexpected. The only thing that won’t change is that everything will keep changing. Today’s skills, knowledge, and products live fast, get old before their time, and die young. The overnight letter, which was the innovation of the 1980s, is now used only when you’re not in a hurry.” He wrote that message 15 years ago! It’s a clear, and still valid, indication that we need to continually re-tool to meet customer satisfaction goals.
Keep
If satisfaction is a constantly moving target, and satisfaction requires ever-increasing effort and commitment, then to keep customers requires more than just satisfaction. Customers expect satisfaction. They buy satisfaction. People will copy satisfaction. If that’s all that is provided, then it comes down to price, and that’s a losing game no matter what business is at hand. Therefore, strategies are required to provide more than what the customer buys, in order to maintain long-term trusting relationships. Michael Vickers says to “take a standard service offering and up-level it.” That defines the ‘keep’ strategies that a business must employ. Ignoring this one will again create stagnation or denigration.
Grow
Most of us have heard that it is less expensive to do more business with existing customers than to obtain new ones. It is my belief that you must do both.
In order to do more business with existing customers, there have to be consistent strategies in place to educate them about new products and services. In addition, you must understand their business, particularly as it changes, so that it becomes apparent when your products and services can be provided. You must also put practices in play to ask for more business. Complacency is too often the norm when opportunities are in front of us. Companies that implement processes to ensure these things are managed will continue to grow business via the grow s
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