I was recently interviewed on BFM to speak about Generational Diversity. It was fun to talk about how we can learn and apply techinques to deal with the different generations in our everyday life as well as our professional life.
Juarez Lowe on the Bigger Picture
Attached is a link to an earlier interview on Negotiation Skills.
Juarez Lowe – Negotiation Toolkit
I have just started writing for Live and Inspire Magazine. My first article is on business lessons from the local pirated DVD shop. Do click here to read it.
Corp Talk : Lessons from the local DVD shop, by Juarez Lowe
I teach classes on leadership and professional skills. One of the frequently asked questions in my classes is for an example of a well-run business. People often look at GE, Nike, Apple and other multi nationals.
I like sharing the example of the local pirated DVD shop. This shop is quite small (less 500 square feet) and ironically located in front of a police station. Click here to read the rest.
Jason Zimdars showed that he really wanted his job. He showed his willingness to join the new company by setting up a website designed for his job application. His website was detailed and focused and more importantly – it was tailored to the company and the role.
What I like about this website was the amount of time Jason spent tailoring his resume to the job. His layout is perfect splitting the cover page into “Let’s talk about me” and “Let’s talk about you”. He establishes the following:-
1. He has done his research on 37signals and is very candid about the company.
2. He gives examples of great design which help illustrate his passion for design. When you hire someone, you want to hire someone who is passionate about their work. Here he cites the “designed by apple in California” as the most brilliant thing to appear on a package. His interests are definitely a step up from the “travel, read and write” I have read on so many resumes. Again indirectly he shows his passion for his hobbies as well as a passion for excellence.
3. He doesn’t put down his current employer. In fact he has really good things to say about it. Refrain from complaining about your current employer. This makes you appear infinitely more mature.
He also goes on to list testimonials about his work as well as his design process. At the end of each page he has his contact details with the words “So what do you think?” at the top.
People like Jason think out of the box and will definitely stand out among the ocean of resumes. You may also want to look at the Inc article “Never Read Another Resume” by his employer, Jason Fried, co-founder of 37signals.
Key learnings
1. Stand out from the crowd. Think about how you can differentiate yourself in your job application or resume.
2. Tailor your resume to the company. Write your cover and resume in terms of what you can do for them.
Using this will help you get the job of your choice.
Cross selling is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as
“the action or practice of selling among or between established clients, markets, traders, etc.”
or “that of selling an additional product or service to an existing customer”.
To highlight this, lets look at my favourite little Iranian stall at the Gardens Mall Food Court. It’s a simple stall run by an Iranian family. The food is simple, fresh and tasty. A lot of the customers are from the Middle East. Personally, I love their kebabs, rice and salads.
Recently, I noticed the stall started selling phone cards (with low rates to Iran and the Middle East). This is an ideal product for their customer base which will generate them extra revenue with minimal external outlay. Capital expenditure is small. They just need to purchase (maybe even on consignment) and offer the phone cards for sale. Placement was in a clearly visible area. Comparing the two products:-
1. Food products – limited lifespan, labour intensive, fluctuations in taste.
2. Phone cards – long lifespan, no labour, no fluctuation in rate and consistent quality.
Given the similar target market it would make more sense to sell this complementary product as opposed to even perhaps introducing a new dish!
The other product placed there was an Iranian magazine called Monorail. It was very focused on the Iranians in Malaysia with relevant advertisements and articles. This was probably a targeted placement by the magazine which produced a win-win for publisher and stall owner. The stall owner has a magazine for the lone diners (which attracts them thus increasing sales) and the magazine can hit its relevant target market (hence enhancing advertising sales).
This is a simple and easy to understand case on cross selling.
Key takeaways
1. Understand your target market – what do they need and are these needs being met?
2. If not – what additional value add could you give to them?
Revisit this on a regular basis and you will be surprised at your new revenue.
Here’s a few tips on how to get the most out of your training provider.
1. Determine your objectives from a company point of view. What does the company hope to acheive with the training? This will help you plan out the training for the year. Eg. If you are looking at a turnaround plan for your team you would probably need 9 days of focused training and not a one day program. List down 3 key objectives of the training.
2. Look at your training providers list of clients. Call up their references. Are the clients from a single group or are they from a diverse group of companies? If the client base cuts across industries and size of companies, this means that the training provider is able to tailor their material according to it’s clients.
3. Look at the trainer. Do they have real life working experience relevant to the training? E.g has the negotiations trainer conducted high level negotiations between companies? Has he/she achieved positive results?
4. Look at the training methodology used. The lecture style is very tired and will induce sleepiness! How much of the training is focused on interactivity and implementation of the theory vs just the theory. For example our negotiation courses are 20 percent theory and 80 percent activity/role-play and de-brief.
By using these methods you will be able to work more effectively and efficiently with your training provider.
We are donating 2 days of training in Strategic Negotiation Skills for this charity auction. The online bidding is live now at www.melium-tatlercharity.com. Proceeds go to WAO, SIS, Yayasan Nur Salaam and Institute Tengku Ampuan. Do show your support by coming (tickets are RM1,000 or bidding either online or in person).
juarezlowe Corporate Training - Charity Auction picture
Recently, my wife had the misfortune of being checked into a hospital. She was referred by our GP and we took her to the A&E section. When checking her in, the hospital asked me which type of room we would like. I was offered a double room (shared with one other occupant) – RM188, single room – RM288, deluxe single room – RM388, executive room – RM488 and the executive suite – RM688. I was already in a rather stressed state. My question of what’s the difference? – got me shown a list of all the furniture in each room. In my stressed state I couldn’t really work out the difference was in rooms with an extra side table or fridge or microwave and took the basic single room.
Possible improvement. A hospital room is a fixed cost to the hospital. What should they do to maximize this revenue? They could take a leaf out of the hotel industry and look at occupancy rates and have variable pricing, i.e. should occupancy be low, they could offer upgrades at lower prices. In this case the lady could’ve informed me that the rate for the single room was RM288 and the deluxe single at RM388 but for this evening, I could upgrade to the deluxe single for RM350. During the entire time I was there the executive suite was empty which is a lost opportunity cost to the hospital. Offering an upgrade to the executive suite for RM490 would have generated incremental revenue to the hospital.
Customer focus - The check in staff should have been trained to look at the room from the point of view of customer benefits. They should’ve sold the room not based on the furniture but ask key questions (see below for egs).
Sample sales pitch
“Do you have a lot of people who will be visiting? Will you need to take a nap there as well? Maybe you should then upgrade to a room with a sofa.”
After the check in we discovered that hospital food was really bad (big epiphany!). Yes, we are not booking into a hotel, but really, the food was not just bad, it was inedible. Given the location of the hospital, it would probably make more sense to close the cafeteria and outsource all the cooking to one of the nearby restaurants. They could hire a motorcycle rider/van and just bring food in whenever necessary. They would have to deal some other issues such as low fat and healthy food and food hygiene during transportation, but that should be easily overcome with the right chef.
Summary
The hospital industry could benefit from the following:-
1. Customer focus – looking at things from the customer point of view from food to rooms.
2. Cross industry learning – taking lessons from hotel and restaurants in terms of processes.
One of the expectations of a recruiter is that the interviewee should have read the company website and conducted a google search on the company. Prior to your interview, you should find out the company vision, mission and values. When you look at the values, what core values do you share with company core values? When you read about the company vision and mission, how will YOU add value by helping the company achieve it? You may also want to conduct some analysis about the company, its competitors and where the industry is headed in the next 5 years.
E.g.1 Application to pharmaceutical company.
Pharmaceutical companies face the challenges of :-
1. Increased government regulation
2. Increased income from outside the United States
3. Increased competition from generic drugs
In view of these challenges, my background as a lawyer will be able to understand and communicate the increased government regulation. As an international business major, I will be able to work within the global marketplace. My experience managing a team of 50 people will allow me to effectively manage a sales force’s challenges while maintaining profitability.
This example demonstrates your ability to tie in your past experience with the company direction.
E.g. 2 Targeted interview
Interviewer : Are you a hard worker?
Interviewee : Yes, of course.
Interviewer : Are you an ethical person?
Interviewee : Yes, of course.
I learned the targeted interview method when I was interviewed by Johnson & Johnson. Almost every interviewee will tell you they are hard working and ethical. The targeted method is where you ask the following questions:-
Interviewer : That’s great. Please give me an example of a time when you worked harder than expected. Can you describe the :-
1. Situation that you were in
2. Task that you were given
3. Action that you took
4. Results of 3. above.
1-4 is the Situation, Task, Action and Result (STAR) approach.
Very few interviewees actually prepare in this thorough and detailed manner. This will enable you to stand out from your peers.
During my one year as a brand manager, I learned how to use Power Point. I learned how people misused Power Point. I sat through ”brief” presentations of 200 slides or more. I prepared slides linked to videos, jpgs and Excel spreadsheets and jpgs.
Setting up my own business was a totally different ball game. As some entrepreneurs write, the change was as drastic as night and day. Presentations to clients were sometimes done in the lift or on the way to the car park. Surprise, surprise, these presentations were shock horror, without Power Point slides!
My business now has 5 trainers and we work with Petronas, Maybank, Johnson & Johnson, YTL, MIDF, IBBM and Kuwait Finance House. At the end of every month, as a good former MNC trained brand manager, I conducted an analysis of my business. I determined where the business was from (which company & industry and which was the most profitable).
Around 8% of my business resulted from making Power Point presentations. 92% of the business resulted from meetings/presentations without using Power Point slides. In all the meetings, I did have slides prepared. It was just that the meeting went quite well without the slides.
Not setting up a projector made the presentation feel a little more relaxed. Feedback from my clients showed that most of them were tired of endless slides. Most meetings would begin by questions on what exactly the client needed. To summarize, you should always have a set of slides in case, but you may find that more than 90% of the time, you may be better off without them. Obama’s Democratic national convention speech was over 45 minutes long, extremely riveting and given without a single slide.
Some of your clients may feel a need for slides and will want to sit through a Power Point show. If you do have to prepare some slides, take a look at www.presentationzen.com and the post below on Pitfalls in Presentation. This is quite a comprehensive guide to presentations that advocates getting to the point and making a focused presentation.
Seth Godin in his blog talked about 9 steps to a great Power Point presentation. Step 1 tells you not to use Power Point. Does that make sense?
Having closed new clients by cold calling, I would have to agree that sometimes you can do without a Power Point. One of the strongest openings is to do a brief (I mean 1 minute maximum) introduction of your company and then ask key questions about the other person’s business. Engaging my prospective customers in an interactive dialog helps me to understand their needs and better position our services and solutions.
Do you think Power Point is necessary?
Post your thoughts and ideas here. If you are someone who makes purchasing decisions, do you think that you must sit through a Power Point for at least 30 minutes?
If you are someone who is involved in sales, do you find that you need the Power Point to close the deal?
JuarezLowe