Imagen Consulting

Here’s a great article by Roberta Matuson with five easy ideas/strategies for boosting profitability in 2010. (I’m especially a fan of ideas 1, 3, and 5. Let me know if we can help you!)

Five Ways to Boost Profitability in 2010

#1. Pick One Idea to Move Forward

If you are like most executives, there are at least 20 ideas on your 2010 ”to-do” list. Picking the perfect place to begin can take weeks or in some cases months. That’s just time wasted. Pick one idea from your list and move forward. Don’t second guess yourself for even a minute or you will be right back where you started.

Put the majority of your resources behind this idea so that you move one thing forward a mile, rather than move ten things a quarter of an inch. At first you may feel uncomfortable abandoning everything else on your list. This discomfort will dissipate as you see how quickly you are able to achieve results by remaining focused on the task at hand.

#2. Drop the dead weight

I’m not talking about the few pounds you might have put on during the holiday season. I’m talking about your non-performers whom you’ve been hanging onto because you didn’t want to fire them at Christmas time. Then, of course, you didn’t want to let them go for a myriad of other reasons throughout the year.

This is the year to be lean and trim. Excess weight slows down the organization and in some cases can be the death of companies. Don’t let this happen to you. Identify the people or positions that must be shed and then make it happen. You will be surprised at how easily you can outrun the competition now that you are in shape.

#3. Increase communication

One of the most common complaints that employee surveys keep bringing to light is the lack of communication between employers and their employees. Employees want to do a good job for their employers, yet they feel like they are operating without a roadmap. They no longer know which direction the company is headed, and are having a difficult time figuring it out on their own.

The price to increase communication has dropped substantially over the years. You no longer need to hire a PR firm to craft messages, nor are company intranets only reserved for Fortune 500 companies. Companies of all sizes are using technology to get their messages out to their employees. Some are using webcasts or weekly teleconferences. Others are using a company blog on their intranet that allows executives to immediately post messages to ensure employees stay connected. Finally, do not discount the importance of face-to-face meetings, which are affordable for organizations of all sizes.

#4. Connect with a trusted resource

It is no secret that 2009 was a tough year for most, and it looks like 2010 will be starting off the same way. As you probably have figured out by now, it can be very stressful trying to work through challenging times without a trusted resource or a peer group with whom you can share your thoughts and ideas. Why go it alone when resources are available?

Find a CEO group, an executive group, or whatever group will have like-minded people in attendance. Ask a trusted colleague for a referral to an executive coach or a mentor. Just do something so that you have access to a trusted resource to help push your thinking to a whole new level.

#5. Be the leader everyone wants to follow

How liberating it must be to be a company like Google or Apple. You are so far ahead of the competition that you don’t even have to look in your rearview mirror before changing lanes. Few companies ever reach this position because they are so busy trying to catch up with the competition. These companies move slowly, analyze everything to death, and kill innovation before it even has a chance to germinate into something big.

Imagine what your organization could accomplish if you charged ahead with little regard for others in your industry, took calculated risks, encouraged innovation, and rewarded employees who joined you on this ride. You might create a product others have only dreamed about or build a brand as strong as Coke. You could accomplish some amazing things, which sounds a lot more exciting than breathing the exhaust fumes from your competitors as they zip by you.

A new year is a gift. We have a chance to begin again and to do things differently. How will you proceed? Here’s to a great 2010!

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During challenging times, business leaders start running around looking for new marketing wonder-gigits and social media miracles, believing that, with the RIGHT tool, their marketing needs will be solved and a steady stream of qualified customers will come flooding in the door. But, as much as we wish it otherwise, there are no "shortcuts" to building trust – and trust is the key component to effective branding and marketing.

In the book Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time, Greg Mortenson tells about the process required to build trust in Baltistan (northern Pakistan). He relates a Baltistani proverb: "The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time, you are an honored guest. The third time you become family." Whether your trust building efforts require more or less than three “touches,” the idea is right on. If you want to be welcomed and trusted, you have to be willing to invest the time to be invited and known.

Take a few moments to consider how you could improve your “trust-building.” Once you have a few ideas, give yourself a deadline to put something into practice.

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Studies show that fewer than one-in-five employees utilize their strengths at work. What might happen if you increased that percentage to 40% or 60% or even 100%! Imagine the possibilities!

Improving upon our weaknesses simply moves us to mediocrity, not strength. When we discover and build strengths, we awaken and engage the absolute best in people.

Building leaders, teams, and organizations that are truly strengths-based is a must for organization’s that desire to truly thrive – no matter their size or industry. Organizations that build a strengths-based culture, and create internal processes that drive strengths:

• Retain top talent
• Fully engage individual
• Build high impact teams
• Recruiting better people
• Perform better
• Develop stronger and more balanced leaders

Stop concentrating on your weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Start unleashing the power of your organization’s strengths today!

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Jay Leno isn’t just an entertainer – he’s a consummate sales professional. Leno’s first job was in sales (door-to-door, in fact) and he’s always been active in selling both his TV program and his numerous public speaking engagements.

So what can we learn from this successful comedian? Here are 6 rules from the recent BNET post that encourage the kind of personable sales style — a combination of determination and likeability — that Leno uses.

• Rule #1: Failure is never permanent. Leno wasn’t an overnight sensation.  Some of his early performances on Carson’s Tonight Show were weak and he didn’t appear on television for years. But he kept honing his skills and eventually became a regular guest on Letterman’s show, eventually earning him a guest host gig on Tonight, which led to his current success.
• Rule #2: Work is better than vacation. Leno is famous for spending his free time doing personal appearances that help his career.  He seldom, if ever, takes vacations although he is quite generous in giving vacations to his staff.  The truth is that, unlike people who see work as a way to fund other “fun” activities, Leno see work as something that’s fun all by itself.
• Rule #3: Fake it before you make it. Leno has a history of sticking his neck out to further his career.  For example, when Leno was just beginning to appear regularly on television, his career got a big public relations boost when he was selected “Best Face to Caricature” by the “American Caricature Association,” an organization that he invented.
• Rule #4: Everyone is a potential customer. Unlike celebrities who remain distant from their public, Leno makes a point of being accessible.  He invariably waves and smiles when he’s spotted in driving one of his many rare automobiles. When hired for speeches, he greets and shakes the hands of as many people as possible.
• Rule #5: Give back to the community. One way that Leno builds his image as a likeable guy is to dedicate time to community service.  For example, Leno has been known to fly at his own expense to Chicago or Detroit to do benefits for the homeless.  While Leno’s generosity is clearly genuine, there’s no doubt that it helps his “brand” when people view him as a nice guy.
• Rule #6: Be generous with your thank-yous. After the original article appeared, Leno personally called SellingPower publisher Gerhard Gschwandtner and thanked him for the publishing the article.  He didn’t have to do that, but it gives an clear indication of how Leno thinks. Leno truly is the nice guy he plays on TV — and most of all, that’s why he’s so successful.

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Race car drivers accelerate coming out of a turn instead of waiting for the straightaway. The concept of “accelerating out of the turn” captures some important ideas for leaders at this time. Here are a few ways that you might be able to put the idea to work in your business, practice, or organization:

1. Thoroughly evaluate your market. What areas of the economy and your market are going to be slow to recover or never recover? Which of your clients will you stand by if it takes longer to get back to their former strength? What trends were you counting on that are picking up strength or were shut off by a changing economy?
2. Reclaim your big picture, purpose and vision. Months of cutting, pacing, and wondering have left the heads of many business owners and executives spinning. Cut through the haze – remind yourself what your care about, and what you’re really doing this for.
3. Start staffing (or reassigning existing staff) strategically. Envision what your organization needs to be like to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead. Get people in place and ready.
4. Re-think and reinvigorate your brand, your marketing, and your network. People are ready for an optimistically “new and improved” version of your business. This is a great time to update a tired brand, bring your marketing message and tools up to date, and start talking with your network of clients, vendors, and other supporters.

The economy is thawing – slowly, but it's thawing. Now is a great time to be looking at national trends to see where you can begin to cultivate opportunities. Some of the best opportunities for success will be as the economy comes first comes out of the turn. Make sure you’re not caught with your foot on the brake. Start accelerating now, and you’ll be in a great position to take the lead as soon as we hit the next “economic straightaway.”

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