YOU AIN'T GONNA LEARN WHAT YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW

Growing a Business I have

Growing a Business

I have been working in the "internet media" business, for seven years.

Recently, (last 6 months) - I have been lucky enough to work with a group of clients, who are looking to GROW rapidly, and "scale" their organizations.

The one constant theme I hear regularly, across all the companies I come in contact with is:

"We need to hire good salespeople, do you know any?"

My response is, "tell me a bit about the people that you have...what are the commonalities of your BEST salesperson? What are the common traits of someone not working out?"

Typically, I get many responses, and they vary GREATLY.

Here is one that rips at me: (and I've heard it more than once)

"We have not had a good, productive, salesperson in years, inside this organization.."

Or, "We hire, but our turnover rate in sales is extremely high, we have a lucrative commission plan, but our hires just are not working out..."

WHAT?

HELLO?

This leads me to the point of this topic.

Since the beginning of business, employees complain about the, "lack of training." (no matter the group inside a company)

A small company, or a start up group, just cannot incur the cost to hire a good, effective sales trainer, to help build a sales model.

But, many companies have AVERAGE SALES PEOPLE. Average producers, who generally do not "hit or exceed" their goals, but just are, "plain vanilla."

Sometimes these people make good, Sales Managers.

My best Sales Managers, (in the past) have been less than stellar producing, salespeople -- but have been, VERY EFFECTIVE MANAGERS.
They are typically, balanced, and less emotional. Care about the company -- and most of all, create balance for those around them.

But, in a start up -- or small business -- what should be done with the, "average producer" -- who is NOT management material.

Remember, this employee is below goal, but, THE COMPANY HAS SPENT VALUABLE TIME with this person, they probably, have a understanding of the business -- and most importantly, they just are just NOT a good fit, for what a company might view as a "successful sales producer."

THIS EMPLOYEE IS A GOOD CANDIDATE FOR A "SALES TRAINER/STRATEGIST."

I cannot tell you, how many companies recently have told me that, it is EXTREMELY difficult, to not only hire -- but, enable their sales hires to be, PRODUCERS.

The internet is growing at close to 40% a year.

If the company has a good business model, it is incumbent, FROM THE EARLIEST STAGES TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS A SALES TRAINER/STRATEGIST ON STAFF.

The "sales trainer/strategist" can fill many roles - but should be judged on the success of new hires. Success of activity, learning, and implementing the goals of the organization. They can be responsible for PROSPECTING, and "sharing key data" with the leaders of the company.

They do NOT replace a sales manager...but, allow the SALES manager to really focus on "growing the business" -- the Sales Trainer is focused on MAKING THE SALES PERSON A PRODUCER, within 90 days.

7 new companies (that I've been involved with) over the past 6 months, have had challenges of making their salespeople, successful, and a winning part of the growth.

"Sales trainers/strategist", leverage the talent of a employee who is NOT a great salesperson....but, helps the company by using, KEY KNOWLEDGE to make new hires, better, quicker.

Sales Trainer/Strategist, makes the best use of limited resources in a company. They do this by keeping talent, and aligning them with their potential strenghts -- yet judging them on the success of their role.

Hiring is one thing -- creating a greater probablity that the new hire will be a producer, and a winner for the company is quite another.

And, as MUCH attention should be paid to this (training) -- as the hiring process itself.

Sadly, for many companies it is not.

2 superstars in one night.Watching

2 superstars in one night.

Watching both Lebron James, and Kobe Bryant play in back to back games last night on ESPN was amazing.

Both players stepped up, involved and relied on their teamates, and in the END- created victory.

I've worked with business people on the same level, as Lebron and Kobe.

They were focused, leaders, with passion....who created VALUE....

My hats off to SF and JF, for stepping away for a bit, to catch up, breathe and live life.....

SF and JF, I did not have to see you on ESPN, my seat was courtside., and I can't thank you enough.

Andy Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.

Life's Twists and Turns My

Life's Twists and Turns

My Favorite new TV show....

I have yet to see it.

The plot is still developing.

Rob Burnett is involved, he is Executive Producer.

Quote from the article, about the show --

"Mr. Jagger called at 2 a.m. "He was enthusiastic," Mr. Burnett said. "He asked all the right questions. How was the series going to build? Could the idea sustain? He seemed like a guy who cared a great deal about the quality of work he gets involved with."

Rob Burnett, Mick Jagger.

Oh man.

The story about it is HERE.

In life, never say never.

Can you imagine, if someone told Mick Jagger that when he was 63 years old, he'd be doing a ABC Sitcom. (say, 40 years ago?)

He would have laughed. I know he is a actor, and has played in many movies, but a SITCOM, on a American network?

Seems funny, but I see a funny twist about, "life's twists and turns.."

First off, never say NEVER.

I went to a funeral last week. A man in his 70's passed away. It was VERY SAD. The saddest part was the past 15 years, he did not speak to his only son.

They had a fight.

They stopped speaking.

The father never met his son's children . The son has 2 handsome boys, aged 12, and 7. HIS GRANDCHILDREN.

The boys never met their grandfather.

This is the only time when, NEVER MEANS NEVER.

I learned a valuable lesson at this funeral. Not sure precisely what it was, but I did learn something. The something had to do with, we "don't know what confronts us, in the years ahead, or decisions we will be faced with."

The finality of death, and the decisions that WERE NOT made in life, (healing his relationship with his son) caused this to be a painful ending to, "life's twist and turn."

Mick Jagger in 1970, had no idea he would still be the "tops" in touring, have a top 10 album on the charts, and be a SITCOM star --- at age 63, 36 years later.

My friends father had no idea, he would never get to repair a relationship, meet his grandchildren, and hug his son again.

He put off decisions, thus now, SOLIDYFYING the word, NEVER.

I guess, the bottom line is we never know what lies ahead, while we are lucky enough, to have the choices, make decisions...... and are still alive.

One thing we do know that awaits us, is death -- and then all bets are off, and it is too late.

Mick Jagger amazes me with his many talents, and passion for what he does. That's why I love hearing about his new ventures.

I'm sorry for my friend's family, and their pain.

Two opposite ends of a broad spectrum, about choices, opportunities, and most of all - making the most (or least) of, "life's twists and turns.."

Andy

Accepting the Importance of Email

Accepting the Importance of Email as a Major Component of Business.

The lack of attention paid to email communication is staggering.

Companies are ignoring a MAJOR trend.

I mean MAJOR.

They acknowledge it, with huge infrastructure set ups, servers, and HR rules around email. They backup their systems, they have server farms, huge databases...and much more.

But, do they realize HOW email has transformed "client contact" - as well as, "management of employees?"

Client Contact:

Prior to 1995 there were a few major ways of dealing with, and communicating with clients, and prospects. These were primarily: (but not limited to)
in person contact, phone, fax, handwritten letters.

That was it.

Client contact has moved since 1996 to, EMAIL.

Think about how much your company/organization has utilized email, and most importantly -- without even acknowledging it -- REPLACED IT AS THE PRIMARY CONTACT TOOL TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD.

Here is the amazing part.

When was the last time, or, better yet -- just acknowledged by your organzation, and shared -- BEST PRACTICES FOR SELLING, and COMMUNICATING OVER EMAIL?

Not, powerpoint presentations or marketing materials. That is not email communication -- that just using email to SEND your brochure to prospects.

But explicit acceptance that email (and by extension Instant Message) -- have become the PRIMARY TOOL IN DEALING WITH PROSPECTS/CLIENTS/VENDORS?

I believe companies need to pay more attention in both accepting and training, their employees, and discussing how -- EMAIL plays a critical part in the success, and growth of the organization.

What are the best practices for email communication in your company?

Wins? Losses?

What are the best ways to engage, create value, and convince, a prospect that your company has value?

You see, email has become the BEGINNING, of most EVERY SALES cycle. This needs to be accepted.

Not only the beginning - but the PRIMARY, ongoing dialogue tool, in 2006 - when dealing with folks -- "outside of your companies walls."

Management of Employees:

The management of employees over email is truly astonishing.

Email has really replaced any other means of communication, when dealing with

* accountability of employees
* project mangagement
* sharing of ideas
* social interaction between manager and direct report

This is a HUGE deal.

The endless threads. People CC'd, the constant thread that NEVER quits.

I cannot tell you, (and this has bothered me greatly) - -that until recently, I really had no idea, or could not grasp the fact that:

EMAIL HAS BECOME THE #1 WAY OF COMMUNICATING INTERNALLY ACROSS DEPARTMENTS, AS WELL AS WITH THE MANAGERS DIRECT REPORTS.

Gone are the days, of staff meetings. Daily one on ones. Memo's.

Replaced with email threads, and "high importance" emails.

Email training.

It is a requirement for any organization that wants to GROW, and succeed in 2006 and beyond.

Musical Mashup. Last night at

Musical Mashup.

Last night at the Canal Room, in NYC - I attended a VERY intense, energetic and musical Mashup.

Defintion of a "mashup" --
"A *mashup* is a website or web application that seamlessly combines content
from more than one source into an integrated experience."

This was the Musical Version.

The 5pm session, included non other than Walter Cronkite, on Cowbells.

That's intense.

How many of you have seen Walter Cronkite, with cowbell in hand?

Here was the 5pm EVENT , (borrowed from a music list, thanks to the writer)

From last night - April 21,2006
******************************************
The Setting: 5pm free show on Vanderbilt Ave next to Grand Central
The Bill: Mutaytor (about 15 of em) with special guests Mickey Hart & Baaba
Maal
The Surprise guests: Steve Kimock, Mike Gordon, Angelique Kidjo and . . .
Walter Cronkite (cowbell) - all for the whole set
In the Audience: John Barlow

The 45 min Set:
Supralingua-esque jam >
Jingo
Voodoo Chile
Aiko
Rhythmic Jam while belly dancer & male(?) hula hoop dancer perform
Not Fade Away

******************************

Then, the Canal Room starting at 8pm.

Kimock PERKINS Mathis Waldman
April 21, 2006
Canal Room
New York, NY

show booked as Kimock/Perkins
as part of the Green Apple Music & Arts Festival

lineup:
Steve Kimock - Guitar
Stephen Perkins - Drums
Reed Mathis - Bass
Willie Waldman - Trumpet

with special guest Mickey Hart - Percussion set 2

This was intense. I have never seen Stephen Perkins, (drummer from Jane's Addiction) -- he is VERY VERY good.

Always good to see Mickey Hart, fiddling with his unique sounds. great to see him smoking a good stogey, playing his "percussionary instruments." GREAT to see this musical icon, and a player who provided me, and still does -- many a driving beat, and rhythym, behind Jerry Garcia.

The one constant for me: Mr. Stve Kimock. To my ears, by far -- the best guitarist playing today.

Always good to see him with different musicians, and cooking a different "stew."

This mashup was spicy and good.

Here are some PHOTO's courtesy of ROB.

Here is the Music from last night, on ETREE. (click here)

Enjoy.

Thinking about Philip Balhasan. My

Thinking about Philip Balhasan.

My heart goes out to this family, who lost their Dad, in Monday's bombing in Tel Aviv...This strikes a MAJOR cord, inside of my soul.

"Philip Balhasan's relatives said he traveled to Tel Aviv with his two children, Linor and Uri, after promising to buy them CDs and computer games for Passover. The family was apparently standing next to the fast food stand at the time of the explosion.
Balhasan, who was still conscious, yelled out to his son to grab his cellular phone and call his mother to inform her of the attack. The son, Uri, recounted the moment of horror: "When we heard the blast, dad wrapped his arms around me and Linor and hugged us tightly. Then he said 'grab the phone, call mom and tell her about the attack.'" Shortly thereafter, Balhasan collapsed, but police officers who led him to an ambulance were able to talk to him and heard him say he was hurt by shrapnel and by the force of the blast.

It appears some of the shrapnel hit Balhasan's heart and he died on the way to the hospital."

The article on the family is HERE.

My newer readers, this is especially heartbreaking for my wife and I -- it strikes at us, in unspeakable ways...

We were involved in a suicide bombing in Jerusalem.

That story is HERE. (click here.)

My heart goes out to the Balhasan family.

Steaming Mad... Courtesy of a

Steaming Mad...

Courtesy of a fellow blogger, and someone who I enjoy reading -- Tony Alva, brought this to my attention.

Why is this not making national news?

I'm mad, and this story will make you MAD too. (Tony has pictures and more insight on his blog)

Click HERE for a UNREAL story.

Testing Protocol for Sales.... A

Testing Protocol for Sales....

A good question, and a fine riddle entreprenuers are faced with when starting a company....is building out their SALES group.

Often times, it's done last, as a company figures out a business model, sets up the technology, aligns operations --- and then, poof - Sales should start rolling in.

WRONG.

Now more than ever, I'm officially of the belief that, "Sales Leads the Company."

What does this mean, and why?

It simply means, resources at most companies are scarce. There are not enough internal assets, to complete all projects in a timely manner.

It's a fact, that many companies are facing this problem.....it's called "Scalability."

Many projects, and initiatives, get placed in a que, and processed ACCORDING to operations, immediate needs (fixes) -- or, different and new ventures by key employees.

Testing Protocol for Sales.

(**this is based on when the company is in the critical stage of having multiple projects at once, but has a problem focusing on WHAT'S most important --- and, this is an ongoing problem at most GROWING, STABLE companies. The question is, how to deal with it?)
I've recently seen the model, and have watched it work well - that has the following business rules. (when dealing with operational efficiency, for dealing with Sales Needs, and Internal Processes)

***********************************************

1 - all internal operations issues - which require IT, or technical resources of any kind, are split into TWO camps. This data needs to be filled out BY SALES with EVERY request needed....it is to be clear, and measured.

Is the request --?
a) a fix to a existing program, or current project
b) non-fix - or NEW

2 -REVENUE potential.

a) precise amount associated with request. What is the the revenue model, and case you have built out for this project? (moreso, if it's B above)

Keeping a record of requests, and making sure the data they place in front of the company is realistic, and in fact -- honest. (making it part of a comp plan)

Sounds corney?

The early stages of this being put into place in a company has had stellar results after 90 days.

1 - moral is much higher in the IT group
2 - every employee has a clear understanding of the project they are working on
3 - job tickets are down 60% (requests)
4 - completion rate within a 5-6 days timeframe for all projects is UP 80%.
5 - Productivity in IT/Tech is up...employees are more "involved" and feel part of the team.
WHY?

Because SALES had some input on projects - IT dept. gets to feel a "part of" directly creating value. .

Sales never interfaces directly with IT, but SUPPLIES the information and data to operations. There is typically a point of contact between Sales and Tech...to filter.

But, it's NOT layer upon layer of operations.

As a company grows, and fills out their "organizational chart" -- the end result is usually a BALLOONING of the internal operations that lie between TECH/Sales groups. More employees between 2 VERY important groups.

It just happens that way.

It kills innovations....makes people feel like employees. Rather than "business owners" working in their department.

Communication, and GOOD DATA -- along with using it properly, allows companies to continue to grow..and scale.

Sales Teams want a project done yesterday.
Tech/IT teams are swamped by project after project.

Both need BETTER DATA, to add value.
A common theme amongst TECHNOLOGY employees in any company is "lack of corporate focus." -- and, "not feeling a part of the team."

Testing Protocol allows MORE EMPLOYEES to gain important insight, on the VALUE and importance of the jobs - and projects they work on.

Too often --- they feel as though they are just part of an assembly line.

Creating value is VERY HARD.

Making people feel they are part of the VALUE is another.

This is a beginning. It works well.......

Music online.... Think about how

Music online....

Think about how music gets distributed.

How much has it changed over the past 30 years?

I heard a business plan today, that has the potential to revolutionize how music gets delivered, listened to and purchased ....

LOVE how the web has changed the patterns of usage, and CONSUMPTION...of media.

50% of our media content in 10 years (According to a recent study) will be packaged and delivered to us, in a DIFFERENT FORMAT than we currently receive, and consume it.

I will be writing more on this...but, the point is, if you listen to AM/FM radio now......

That will change.

If you listen to music by CD's or IPOD.

That will change.

In the next 10 years, formats and delivery will be RADICALLY different that n they are today.

Newspapers are you listening?

FM Radio Owners are you listening?

Andy

Suicide Bombing in Israel......As of

Suicide Bombing in Israel......

As of this writing, early reports, 6 dead. 35 severely wounded.

Hamas NOW needs to be punsihed.

If I was Prime Minister, here is the steps I would take immediately.

1) Complete lockdown of PA areas.

2) One mile buffer zone, between Israel border, and PA zone. No mans land. You are there, your shot.

3) One week NO electricity. ZERO. NONE. Israel should supply no power to a terrorist entity. Let them build their own powerplants.

This is a start.

And, its nothing compared to what I would do if it continues.

Before you feel bad for the innocent Palestinians.....think about the 6 dead this morning - eating their lunch, and the 35 wounded.....

Sent and blessed by the LEADERS, of the Palestinians.

If the Palestinians, choose this type of leadership - that's their choice.

But, let them SUFFER horribly for their support of terrorism.

ZERO tolerance for terrorism.

Andy Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.