Atricle Dump - Business

Every Industry is a Service Industry
The other day I was involved in a discussion group in which a sales rep for a small IT company was asking for suggestions on acquiring more leads. Several good suggestions came up. One person offered that the most important thing the sales person needed to do was understand his company's product. Another recommended creating a detailed client profile. Still others offered thoughts on everything from cold calling to direct response.I think we confused the poor fellow.Here was a person who was trying to attract more customers to his company, but he wasn't being given any clear direction as to how to go about doing so. No wonder he was so eaten up with anxiety. He wanted simple solutions for bringing in business leads.We were all off base in the suggestions we gave him.Time and again companies face the same difficulties: Attracting customers. Retaining the customers they have attracted. Helping customers be successful with their products and services. Keeping the right employees engaged and focused on delivering the company's unique value to both external and internal customers. When companies lose their focus, they do none of these well.It is a company's focus on (a) what it does consistently well and (b) what sort of business it sets itself up to be that makes the difference. When the company's focus strays, customers know it and start looking elsewhere for answers to their problems.What keeps companies focused is attention to the right things as modeled by its leaders and practiced by every employee, every single day. You cannot store attention. You must remember and reinforce what the company does consistently well, what its chosen business principles are, and who it serves not just once in awhile, but ideally in every meeting, at every point of contact, in every moment.In the case of the IT company sales person looking for leads, the most important thing his company can do is take stock of what it is, what it does, and who it serves. It must use those elements to create the compass that points toward its ideal customers. Armed with such information, the sales rep cannot help but be successful.It all comes down to who we serve, doesn't it, and how we serve them, not the other way around. It isn't our products or services that matter.It's our focus on serving the wants of the customer that makes all the difference.###

s of Joe Roitz, AT&T. Roitz said, “Telework alone generates over $150 million annually in productivity increases, real estate savings, and enhanced retention for AT&T.” These statistics suggest business recognize change and develop strategies for successful change.

Tucker, Kao, and Verma (2005) write there are trends in employment that organizations cannot ignore. One point they make is the work force globally is getting smaller. They also recognize that cultural norms are different now, more loose. Adding to the mix is more freedom for people to move globally. They point out there are personnel tr

Time And Attendance
Time and attendance is a human resource protocol designed to track actual employee hours and the leaves taken, in order to provide details to payroll. It is one of the largest categories for timesheet systems on the market and is a serious component of most payroll systems in manufacturing units, government, airports, border checkpoint, healthcare, retail, financial institutions, and educational organizations. Time and attendance helps to control time consuming in time tracking related processes. It is mainly used by companies which have more than hundreds or thousands of employees. It is used to simplify the workforce in the management of a company. Time and attendance provides a range of features including creation of comprehensive shift, rotation patterns, and pay schemes.At the heart of time and attendance is a time tracking device. Different types of time and attendance equipment, systems, and software are available. In highly developed forms, devices can distinguish people simply by reading their fingerprint, hand or retinas. Time and attendance systems are designed to provide cost effective services in the areas of data collection, access control, job costs, and bell ringing. It offers all the features needed in the pay rules and the systems capture time, edits, assign costs, accounting details and reviews, and approves timesheet submissions to payroll.Time and attendance automatically computes employee wages and time using the payroll policies of the company. In addition, it gives a clear management report that helps to control overpayment of employees and distribution of labor. By using this solution, job labor costs are forecasted and then compared to actual totals. Time and attendance helps to increase greater control over productivity by granting the accuracy needed in the business operations.Most time and attendance packages offer schedule management that allows supervisors to maintain and create a schedule for each employee. Additionally, there are rules for scheduling the staff on the basis of overtime, holidays, absences, and break times. A number of companies choose software that allows staff to enter their flex-time hours, vacation time, sick days, and other information directly.

The future of business is not in brick and mortar institutions as historically viewed. The proliferation and miniaturization of communications mediums, cellular telephone, fax, Internet, personal data devices, and lap top computers, make offices available where people are – not where the office is. Carpenter (1998) wrote the internet is more versatile for communication than any medium available today. People can interact with individuals or groups, they can identify by name, pseudonym, or be anonymous. She says the internet is “…a virtual community where people meet, engage in discourse, become friends, fall in love, and develop all of the relationships that are developed in physical communities” (pg. 1).

However, the internet may not be a panacea. The internet goes beyond technology into social interaction. Organizations face a dilemma of encouraging successful interactions and community building online. Statistics suggest almost ten million people work in virtual offices and that 40 percent of large organizations have policies on telecommuting. Yet, Carpenter (1998), cited above, says virtual employment equals only seven to ten percent of the work force.

Why hasn’t the virtual office flourished? Sociologists suggest it is the need for informal interaction – office banter. Organizations are stubborn to accept virtual teams believing team projects work best carried out over conference tables and virtual workers can only participate in individual assignments. Still other organizations believe virtual workers do not receive adequate supervision. However, is the problem supervision or trust?

Kohrell (2005), an adjunct professor at Bellevue University, is president of Technology As Promised. He is a specialist in developing virtual teams and addresses developing trust on virtual teams. He explains virtual trust in simple terms. Virtual trust is getting on an airplane, not knowing the air traffic controllers, yet trusting they are doing their jobs correctly. He explains building virtual trust through communication – frequently, with integrity, with certainty and predictability.

Other data, taken with Kohrell’s, also supports the economics of the virtual office. Verma (2005) offers some information that shows senior executives from Europe, Asia, and the Unites States report cost savings (69 percent) and increased productivity (64 percent) when using telecommuting. Verma cites comments of Joe Roitz, AT&T. Roitz said, “Telework alone generates over $150 million annually in productivity increases, real estate savings, and enhanced retention for AT&T.” These statistics suggest business recognize change and develop strategies for successful change.

Sales and Up-Selling is No Joke
Everyday in addition to the basic spam of email, friends send me jokes. Some are funny, some are not. Those that are truly funny have a nugget of wisdom or enlightenment within. Here's a story that I like and it not only makes sense, but delivers a common sense sales message that we can all learn from. And, that's no laughing matter.A young guy from South Dakota moves to Florida and goes to a big "everything under one roof" department store looking for a job. The Manager says, "Do you have any sales experience?" The kid says, "Yea, I was a salesman back in South Dakota."Well, the boss liked the kid and gave him the job. "You start tomorrow. I'll come down after we close and see how you did."His first day on the job was rough but he got through it. After the store was locked up the boss came down."How many customers bought something from you today?The kid says, "One".The boss says, "Just one? Our sales people average 20 to 30 customers a day. How much was the sale for?"The kid says, "$101,237.65".The boss says, "$101,237.65!!" What the heck did you sell?"The kid says, "First I sold him a small fishhook. Then I sold him a medium fishhook. Then I sold him a larger fishhook. Then I sold him a new fishing rod. Then I asked him where he was going fishing and he said down the coast, so I told him he was going to need a boat, so we went down to the boat department and I sold him a twin engine cabin cruiser. Then he said he didn't think his Honda Civic would pull it, so I took him down to the automotive department and sold him that 4x4 Expedition. Ah, that was all."The boss said, "A guy came in here to buy a fishhook and you sold him a BOAT and a TRUCK?"The kid said, "No the guy came in here to buy Tampons for his wife and I said, "Dude, your weekend's shot - you should go fishing."In sales, like in life one thing leads to another. It's simple. If we know our customers, we can help them. There's an educational video series on sales called The Principles of Sales and Marketing: The Power of Ethical Selling. The series outlines the principles that should underlie all sales and marketing transactions. Each program contains solid advice and concrete lessons that teach effective skills. My favorite is called Keep It Simple, which is really the essence of sales and up-selling."Customers are constantly bombarded with all kinds of information, misinformation, or jargon, which is used to cover for the absence of information. The successful salesperson is the one who can communicate most directly and simply the benefits to the customer of the product or service being offered. This program explains the advantages of keeping things simple, how to find an information level

fall in love, and develop all of the relationships that are developed in physical communities” (pg. 1).

The Fallacy Of References in Sales
I ran into something very interesting today. I had an experienced sales person run into an unusual situation for himself.He was selling a new product that he was not that familiar with and even though the company was a giant company his product knowledge was limited. He went on to tell me that he almost had the sale when the customer told him that he could have the sale if he could fax over the names and phone numbers of about 5 present customers that are already doing business with the company. What the young man ( remember All of you out there are young to “The Specialist”) failed to realize was that what the potential client was saying was that there was a trust issue. Somewhere throughout his relationship he did not win over the client’s trust.I proceeded to explain to this sales person that all the references in the world would not change the equation. First off all the good intentioned references seem to always say great things but usually qualify their reference with something like…”after the initial bumps in the road it has been great working with the company”. Something like this or a variation. The road to hell is paved with good intentions!Also unless you sell everybody the exact same product at exactly the same price you leave yourself wide open. How I told the salesperson to handle the situation is a standard reply that I have successfully used for years. What I say is, “Mr. Jones obviously there is a trust issue here and unfortunately due to confidentiality we are not allowed to give out that information…not to mention no one wants to be bothered all day by people calling for references. I know Mr. Jones you wouldn’t like it either”.Having said that I go on to reiterate that since it is a trust issue why would he put himself in a position to ask the very person that he is skeptical of to give him 5 references. I could easily have 5 friends waiting for his call to say nothing but how great the company is. I go on to show him how foolish it would be to base a financial decision on this. At this point I go on to re-summarize all the national accounts that are with the company and stress that none of these accounts would be there if the company did not deliver what they promised. I then continue on with the remainder of the presentation and wrap up the sale.By the way since I am “The Specialist” this problem only occurred in my early years before I mastered sincerity (one of the 8 basics). As you develop in this great profession you will find out that 99% of all the objections you run into can be dealt with long before they become OBJECTIONS!“The Specialist”

rished? Sociologists suggest it is the need for informal interaction – office banter. Organizations are stubborn to accept virtual teams believing team projects work best carried out over conference tables and virtual workers can only participate in individual assignments. Still other organizations believe virtual workers do not receive adequate supervision. However, is the problem supervision or trust?

IT Marketing: Using Testimonials
In IT marketing, testimonials can be a great selling point for your business. In this article, you'll learn how to use testimonials to your fullest advantage.Testimonials Give You CredibilityIf you want to have believable, credible testimonials, they have to be real: fully attributed with first name, last name, job title, company name, and at the absolute minimum, a city and state. It shows your prospective clients that you mean business-you're not messing around and these testimonies are real.People are a lot more apt to believe your other clients than they are to believe the claims that you make. People believe third parties who don't have a vested interest in this much more than they're going to believe your own IT marketing and sales copy.What Testimonials Should IncludeYou want strong benefits-focused testimonials written on your clients' letterhead discussing how your company has helped them over the years. You want specific examples that talk about the return on investment, how reliable and dependable your company has been, what kind of response time you generally show, that you'll always be there for emergencies, that you understand their business needs, and that you work within their budget and time constraints.IT Marketing: Getting TestimonialsHow do you get your clients to do this?o Interview them and guide them with certain questions in whatever direction you want to take them.o Draft suggested testimonials and e-mail it to them. You can ask them to review it, edit it, and approve it. And have your clients put it on their letterhead and sign off on it.o Put together five or six suggested bullet points for them to address in their testimonial (like a survey).o Take clients out to lunch or breakfast and interview them. Jot down some notes and go back to your office, type it up, email it to them and ask them if they could just review whether it accurately reflects your conversation. If they feel it does, ask them to put that on their letterhead and sign it so you can put it in your file and use it for marketing purposes as a testimonial.Make it easy for them and they'll likely give you the IT marketing testimonials you need.The Bottom Line on IT MarketingGetting testimonials from your current clients can help greatly with your IT marketing. Make it easy for your clients to provide you with the testimonials you need to help your prospects gain trust in you.Copyright MMI-MMVI, Computer Consulting Blog. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

explains virtual trust in simple terms. Virtual trust is getting on an airplane, not knowing the air traffic controllers, yet trusting they are doing their jobs correctly. He explains building virtual trust through communication – frequently, with integrity, with certainty and predictability.

Silicon Injection Molding
Silicon molding services produce molded components made from silicon. Silicone rubber is a two-component, synthetic, flexible rubber like material made from silicone elastomers that can be cured at room temperature into a solid elastomer used in molding. It is heat resistant, durable and free of allergens or leachable chemicals. Liquid silicone is similar to normal silicone, but has different processing characteristics. It is purchased as a two-part raw material with a grease-like viscosity. Nowadays injection molding of liquid silicon rubber is becoming increasingly important. One reason for this is the increased performance requirements of the finished articles. In addition, more and more producers of rubber parts are seeing benefits in the high level of automation and productivity.Various ways of silicon molding: Molding processes used by providers of silicon molding services include cast molding, compression molding, dip molding, injection molding, reaction injection molding, rotational molding and transfer molding. Whereas in the cast molding process, liquid material is poured into an open mold, in compression molding a slug of silicone is pressed between 2-heated mold halves. On the other hand dip molding is a process similar to hot dip coating, in which the finished product is the fused plastisol stripped from the dipped mold. However in injection molding liquid silicone is forced into a cooled mold under tremendous pressure. In the Reaction Injection Molding (RIM) process two or more reactive chemicals are mixed at high speed as they are being injected into a mold. In rotational molding hollow molds filled with silicone material are secured to pipe-like spokes that extend from a central hub. In transfer molding, the two mold halves are clamped together and silicone is forced by pressure into the mold.Why the preferred use of silicon rubber in injection molding Silastic silicon rubber is a shear material and so its viscosity depends on shear rate. As the shear rate rises the product becomes lower in viscosity. It is this effect that is very favourable for the injection molding process. At the beginning of the injection process the injection speed profile should be programmed in such a way that the volume flow is high enough for the liquid silicon rubber not to begin to vulcanize before the cavity is filled, in order to avoid scorch of the material. Thus liquid silicon rubber is widely used for the process of injection molding due to its following characteristics: - Solvent less with low and versatile viscosity. - Easy mixing and pigmentation - Rapid processing compared to solvent dispersion and usually allows a complete coating to be applied in a single pass - Prime less adhesion to glass and some other subst

2. Increasingly global

3. Highly virtual

4. Vastly diverse, and

5. Autonomous and empowered

They conclude that leadership focus within these trends “demand a new generation of talent management.” This new talent management has to take some strategic steps to manage the new work force in future oriented organizations. Those steps are:

1. Predictive Workforce Monitoring and Strategic Talent Decision Making

2. Flexible and Anticipatory Talent Sourcing

3. Customized and Personalized Rewards and Communications

4. Distributed and Influential Leadership

5. Unified and Compassionate Cultures

Computer-mediated Communication (CMC)

It is important to discuss CMC as virtual workers depend on – rely on – computer-mediated communication. Jones (1998) cites Patton (1986) in discussion about highway building as a means to connect people to one another. Patton observed that highways have not connected us rather increased our sense of separateness. Cities are divided, neighborhoods split, city intimacy destroyed. From this negative view, Jones concludes the internet may actually do what highways failed to do Computer-mediated communication, it seams, will do by way of electronic pathways what cement roads were unable to do, namely, connect us rather than atomize us, put us at the controls of a “vehicle” and yet not detach us from the rest of the world. (pg. 3)

CMC offers new realms for social scientists to study. Traditionally, social scientists observed communities within certain identified boundary. However, new cyber societies exist without bounds and determination of membership in cyber society does not satisfy traditional categories given community.

Education in Cyber Society

What does this mean in terms of education? The United States Department of Education (US-DOE) provides a look into higher education statistics for twelve months 2000 to 2001. US-DOE figures from that period show 56 percent (2320) post-secondary two- and four-year schools had online courses. Another twelve percent desire to go online within the next three years. Finally, 31 percent said they would not go online. Clearly, two-thirds of colleges and universities have or want online educational opportunities for students. What does this mean for faculty? The following paragraph ad

HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.articledump.net/article/47043/articledump-Virtual-Teams-in-Education.html">Virtual Teams in Education</a>

BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.articledump.net/article/47043/articledump-Virtual-Teams-in-Education.html]Virtual Teams in Education[/url]

Your strategic marketing plan gives the company, and everyone in it, a benchmark to measure all marketing activities against. A well-developed strategic marketing plan not only gives you a structured strategic and tactical outline, but also defines your target audience, messages, goals, and objectives, in a way that allows flexibility.

Venturing into your own business is indeed taking a risk. You have no way of knowing if your business will be successful or not. There are many factors that affect the growth, development and expansion of a business. One of these factors is administration and management.

Many of us have dreamed about making a living doing something we love, enjoying each day to the fullest and living that content, peaceful life we long for. For many of us, becoming a professional artist would be our highest aspiration, but even for those lucky enough to have the talent, making a good living as an artist can be extremely difficult.

Tags

Links

Atricle Dump - Virtual Teams in Education

Related Articles: