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How to turn conflicts into your growth engine

Xavier Lederer of Ambrose Growth is a member of XPX Hartford
Xavier Lederer
Ambrose Growth
1 month ago

“Conflicts look bad. I always prepare touchy agenda points with my 2 senior leaders before leadership team meetings. This way senior leadership presents a united front,” recently mentioned the CEO of a 200-people company. Most leadership teams have too few open, healthy conflicts. This makes them less effective, reduces decision quality, and ultimately slows down business growth.  How can you step outside of your comfort zone and mine more healthy conflicts? Healthy conflicts help propel your business forward Many CEOs stick to their comfort zone: you avoid some conflicts and embrace other, based on your natural conflict style – not based on what is best for your business. Artificial harmony created by conflict avoidance is treacherous, as this 

Jun 12, 2024
Hartford
Member News

Choosing ERP/WMS Software for Your Company

Dan Kaplan of SMC Data Systems is a member of XPX New York
Dan Kaplan
SMC Data Systems
3 months ago

The Red Sea disruption forcing ships to go around Africa creates a new Supply Chain reality. It can lead to late deliveries of inventory resulting in disruptions affecting business globally. One of the noticeable issues is the Reuters report, “Tesla, Volvo Car in Europe Pause Output of Certain Car’s models.” Besides the production disruptions, late inventory arrival can result in order cancellations, often creating excess inventory which affects the warehouse. Besides the additional labor cost, it often results in using a 3rd party warehouse or purchasing/leasing additional warehouse space. These disruptions can lower profit margins and cause cash flow issues. Today’s reality of business disruptions makes companies realize that their outdated ERP Software, should be replaced with new integrated ERP/WMS Software that has a Warehouse Management module enabling companies to avoid business disruptions by having the features below: • Inventory availability after it was allocated for production or future orders. • Real-time Analytic information reflecting sales activity, what products should be ordered, and when. • From which vendor to purchase based on analytic information of promised delivery dates. • Customers’ buying patterns of products ordered. If the customer’s current purchases are less than in the past, the reason for this should be investigated. • If the accounts receivable overdue payment days have increased, the customer’s financial stability should be evaluated. Selecting New Software Before the software selection search starts, a committee should be established. Its members should be key people from each department and a requirements list should be developed. • The end users can provide important information that will be needed when the demos are conducted and they will have emotional investment once the software implementation starts. • The developed requirements list should be addressed at each demo. • All the demos should be a “workshop style” rather than a “slide show” with “bells and whistles.” • Not having the “workshop style” demo often results in purchasing the wrong software that does not meet the business’s unique requirements. • Having to change the business model to meet the software requirements will result in business disruption and the end users having a large learning curve. • Software functions that are beyond the users’ ability to learn will result in long implementation, and the project might be eliminated. • Before the decision to purchase the software is made, a visit to the software provider’s client in the same industry should be arranged. • Three people should be met at the vendor’s client site: the CEO, CFO, and IT manager. • The main question the above people should be asked: “How good is the software house hotline support?” • This is a crucial factor that should be considered. Not having good hotline support will result in severe business disruptions when an issue occurs and immediate support is not provided. Issues Arising from Multiple Software Often companies that have legacy software choose rather than replace it with new integrated ERP/WMS Software that has Warehouse Management they choose to buy it from Warehouses Software Vendor and have it integrated with the legacy software. Doing it will result in the issues listed below. • Stand-alone warehouse software can result in integration issues resulting in inaccurate inventory. • Having multiple software platforms creates issues when it’s upgraded. • Excess user efforts accessing multiple software results in business disruptions. • Often when one of the vendors has a software upgrade it might result in integration issues. • When having to contact multiple hotlines, vendors often don’t take responsibility resulting in business disruption. Case Study: Multiple Software • Large Food Manufacturers/Distributors decided not to upgrade their legacy software and purchased four software platforms from different vendors hoping it would enable them to meet their business requirements. • It resulted in the users having to access multiple software platforms resulting in excess efforts retrieving the needed information. • When one of the software platforms was upgraded sometimes it affected the main software platform or the other platform resulting in business disruptions. • When connecting the software hotlines each vendor claimed it was the other software vendor that caused the issues. • After a few incidents the management team decided to purchase new single database software that will have all the software modules needed supported by one vendor. • Before starting the software, a search committee was established having key end users for each department and a requirements list was generated. • The list was presented to each software vendor who gave the demo and made sure that besides addressing the business requirements the end users could master it without a large learning curve. Benefits of Single Data Base ERP/WMS Software • The end users without having to access four different software platforms instantly find the information needed. • The customers were able to place orders on smartphones and have a web portal where they could view various needed information. • Inventory in the warehouse is picked by using Voice Pick which has multiple language capabilities addressing today’s labor reality and RF Guns. • Streamlining the operation resulted in lowering operating costs and improved customer satisfaction. Overseeing Software Implementation Manufacturers and Distributors, who had outdated software, experienced production, and inventory control issues. It resulted in shipment delays leading to products being returned, excess inventory in the warehouse, and penalties affecting the accounting department which had to issue credits and adjustments, often missing the vendor’s early payment discount date. When the shelves were consolidated to receive new inventory, products sometimes were misplaced and were not found until the physical inventory took place. This resulted in excess inventory becoming obsolete. To resolve these kinds of issues, new ERP/WMS Software was purchased from the company we represent. The computer manager designated to oversee the software implementation was related to the president. Unhappy with the decision, feeling that the 20-year-old software he developed met the company’s requirements, he decided that purchasing the new ERP/WMS Software was the wrong decision and became an obstacle to implementing the software. His behavior resulted in implementation delays. The users, seeing his attitude, lost interest in the project and did not practice what they were taught. The president, with whom I had a long-term working relationship, asked me to meet him for lunch and expressed his concerns about the ERP/WMS Software going live on the targeted date. I asked the president to assign a different person to oversee the project. To prevent a family rift resulting from this action, I suggested the person be called the computer manager’s “assistant.” Extensive individual training should be given to the manager to enable him to get over the fear of learning the new software. After the training ended, the manager got comfortable with the new ERP/WMS Software, assumed the project’s responsibilities and the end users practiced what they were taught every day. Case Study: Benefits of the New Software Twelve months after the company went live with the new ERP/WMS Software, the president invited me for lunch again and told me: “I would like to thank you for helping resolve the issue I had with my relative. It prevented a family rift. The new integrated ERP/WMS Software streamlined the production and enabled my company to ship the products the same day, The company operating costs were lowered and the inventory accuracy is 99.6%.” Key Person Overseeing Implementation The large Distributor who bought the ERP/WMS Software from the company we represent had a computer manager who was eager to learn the new software functions. As soon as the project started, he addressed the users’ concerns about learning the new software and made sure they practiced daily. It resulted in going live on the estimated date and budget. The end users, before having the new ERP/WMS Software, had to access multiple software platforms to retrieve needed information. They were happy being able to retrieve information instantly without having to access multiple screens. this resulted in decreasing their workload and improved customer service. Implementing Software without Parallel Run • Before the Software implementation is conducted, the business requirements study should be conducted and a test environment should be established. • The legacy software data should be downloaded to the test environment daily and verified for accuracy. • Data verification will eliminate the need to run parallel software. • The end users should be trained in a test environment that has the information they are familiar with. • Software vendor key personnel should be assigned to each department i.e. accounting, warehouse, and purchasing. Going Live with New Software • Company-wide tests should be conducted in which the end users create errors in the “test environment” and then be able to correct their mistakes. • If the users cannot correct their mistakes, the going live date should be postponed and additional training should be given. • After going live with the new ERP/WMS Software, the training and technical staff should remain on-site to assist with any issues that might arise. ERP/WMS Software Case Study Attending the event at a major accounting firm I met the large Food Manufacturer/Distributor CEO who was the keynote speaker describing his experience of going live with the new ERP/WMS Software he bought from the software company we represent. “I had a sleepless night before we went live with our new ERP/WMS Software concerned about shipping the daily 800 orders to our customers who depend on us. I was relieved that we didn’t have any issues because the ERP/WMS Software House training and technical team were at our location. If any of the users had an issue, it was immediately resolved. The training and technical team stayed at our location until they were convinced that our users were proficient. I was also pleased that our ERP/WMS Software house Hot Line support personnel are all technical. When my users call, they get an immediate response, and any issues they experience are immediately being resolved.” About SMC & Dani Kaplan: Since 1980, Dani Kaplan has worked with Manufacturers, Distributors, and Food companies as a trusted advisor helping them lower their operating costs, streamline their operations, and control the inventory. Dani can be reached at Dani.kaplan@smcdata.com  

Apr 22, 2024
New York
Business Value Growth

4 Tips to Avoid Promoting to Failure

Xavier Lederer of Ambrose Growth is a member of XPX Hartford
Xavier Lederer
Ambrose Growth
3 months ago

“I should demote myself!” joked the head of sales. “It looks like I am better at selling than at managing a sales team.” We were looking at his team’s individual sales numbers. He was selling more when he was a regular salesperson than his whole team today. We too often promote the wrong person into a senior leadership position. The reason is: the promotion criteria we use are poor predictors of people’s leadership potential. How can you better identify potential senior leaders and avoid painful mistakes – so you can grow faster and with less pain? Why are we so bad at promoting the right people into leadership positions? We are all biased. We tend to overestimate specific traits we mistakenly believe indicate leadership potential. Common biases include: Past successes. Unfortunately prior performance is not a good predictor of leadership performance. 

Apr 16, 2024
Hartford
Member News

Many business owners are really accidental entrepreneurs – and struggle to sell their business

Paul Cronin of True North Advisors Group, LLC is a member of XPX Greater Boston
Paul Cronin
True North Advisors Group, LLC
3 months ago

The other day, a marketing expert asked me for “a hook” to explain what I do. I replied, “I sell smaller companies to larger companies, I am an M&A Advisor”. The truth is that I often say no to a lot of owners who ask me to sell their business, or hear no from a lot of buyers who take a look at my clients. So painful. You see, many business owners are really accidental entrepreneurs. If you are a business owner, maybe you got good at something working for someone else. Then you got ticked off at your boss, or the company goes out of business (because THAT owner failed to build business value), and someone hires you to do a job. That job turns into two, then 10, then 50, and so on. Before you know it, you have to hire employees (ugh), and you have a business. You work every day – Sundays too. 60, 80, 100 hours a week. Skip vacations. Miss your kids’ birthdays and soccer games. Whatever it takes. Why, because “no one else can do the job better than you”. 25 years go by and you feel an ache in your back, or your hip, or your head, and you say – “maybe I can sell this thing”. So you ask your CPA for some names of brokers or M&A advisors and make some calls. Then you get stabbed in the heart, when people like me tell you that your business is not really a business – it’s a job with employees, and late invoices. Hard to relive 25 years – isn’t it? If you want to change this outcome – there is hope, BUT it takes time and money to make your business sell-able. It starts by swallowing your pride and doing the work ON your business. You can turn things around over a few years, and come back to me with real profits, proven systems, and a key manager or two that you trust to run the business. That is when I say, “I can sell your business”. And the pain starts to go away. Maybe you even start to smile – again. It can happen, but it’s your choice: “Whatever it takes” or “Whatever happens” Which do you choose? ********************************* If you are a business owner who’d like to think more deeply about your business, try the

Apr 9, 2024
Greater Boston
Business Value Growth

Is it time to revamp your leadership team?

Xavier Lederer of Ambrose Growth is a member of XPX Hartford
Xavier Lederer
Ambrose Growth
4 months ago

Homogeneity among your leadership team is like a decadent creamy chocolate cake: it feels tempting, but when you resist it, you get in much better shape. Increasing diversity on your leadership team leads to better decisions – and better financial results. However we have a natural tendency to surround ourselves with people similar to us: diversity is harder. How do you know whether your leadership team is diverse enough? Why is diversity important? Plenty of research has demonstrated that increasing diversity on your team enhances your top and bottom lines. Among others, as this 

Mar 11, 2024
Hartford
Member News

Nominate Your Clients and Prospects for one of the SECAF Annual GovCon Awards

Robert (Bob) Webb of Miles & Stockbridge, P.C. is a member of XPX DC Metro
Robert (Bob) B. Webb
Miles & Stockbridge, P.C.
5 months ago

The Annual Government Contractor Awards celebrate Small Emerging Contractors Advisory Forum (SECAF) members and other government contracting organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to industry excellence. Award categories showcase companies of all sizes, plus key projects and outstanding executives. Your clients and exit prospects  in the GovCon industry can benefit from the exposure that comes with being considered for one of these prestigious awards.  This event is attended by many organizations and private equity firms with interest in acquiring smaller government contractors and nomination can give your clients visibility before the larger acquirer community. Award winners will be selected from a group of finalists in the following categories: The SECAF Government Contractor of the Year award recognizes companies that have shown a compelling and profound commitment to excellence in financial performance. There is one award per revenue category: SECAF Government Contractor of the Year (under $7.5 million in revenue) SECAF Government Contractor of the Year ($7.5 to $15 million in revenue) SECAF Government Contractor of the Year ($15 to $27.5 million in revenue) SECAF Government Contractor of the Year ($27.5 to $50 million in revenue) The SECAF Award of Excellence award highlights organizations that represent excellence within their respective communities, the government contracting industry and towards employees. To qualify for this award, organizations must have under $50 million in revenue and be an active SECAF Member. The SECAF Government Project of the Year award recognizes companies that have delivered an exemplary program with significant value to the federal government. To qualify for this award, organizations must be an active SECAF Member. The SECAF Executive of the Year award is presented to an Executive (such as a CEO, President, Founder) who has shown a profound commitment to excellence to their company, the community, the government contracting industry and towards their employees. There is one award per category: SECAF Executive of the Year (Under $25M) SECAF Executive of the Year ($25M to $50M) Visit for more information.  

Feb 8, 2024
DC Metro
Business Value Growth

Why Are You So Harsh On Yourself? How to Tame Your Inner Critic

Xavier Lederer of Ambrose Growth is a member of XPX Hartford
Xavier Lederer
Ambrose Growth
6 months ago

“You don’t belong here: you are a fraud! Why would smart people ever want to listen to you?” whispered the manager to the salesperson. Galvanized by this wake-up call that he desperately needed, the employee rose to the occasion and exceeded all expectations. Does this sound realistic? Of course not! Who would feel upbeat by such senseless, demotivating speech? This scenario obviously never existed – and yet the speech is 100% authentic: I heard it from a sales executive last week. It wasn’t directed at a team member though: it was directed at himself. Your inner critic: your #1 judge. We all have an inner voice that continuously judges us. Its main message varies from person to person; in next week’s newsletter, we will see how to identify your inner voice’s main messages. In this week’s newsletter, we will discuss its negative impact on yourself and on your ability to grow your business, and what to do about it. One of my client CEOs’ inner voice calls him a “loser who sets the wrong example to his team and will never be a successful entrepreneur” when he doesn’t take over what his team members fail to accomplish. My inner voice calls me “lazy and complacent who will fail as an entrepreneur and a father” when I am idle for more than 2 minutes, even on vacation – and makes me feel guilty and shameful every single time it happens. Our inner critic pretends to be helpful and necessary to our success, but its long-term impact is unequivocally negative. Why do we keep listening to our inner critic, even though it is obvious that its message is utterly uninspiring and demotivating? What can we do about it? How does your inner critic afflict your performance? Our inner critic constantly finds faults with self (for past mistakes or current shortcomings), with others, and with circumstances. This judge sounds helpful at first sight by shedding light on our shortcomings. While it has the appearance of a helper, it is a bully that blackmails us with shame and guilt, with pretty dramatic consequences in the long run. It tells you: “Without me pushing you, you will be unworthy of love / attention / success.” Your inner critic negatively affects you in three significant ways: Your inner critic has a long-term damaging impact on your own performance. Your inner critic acts like a radioactive armor: it pretends to be protective but its long-term impact on your performance is always disastrous. Let’s get back to the two examples above: Client CEO: To respond to the guilt of not being the ideal leader his inner critic describes, this CEO feels the pressure from his inner critic to micro-manage his team when they don’t deliver, at the risk of becoming his company’s #1 growth roadblock – with the negative consequences on his team and on business growth that you can imagine. In response to my guilty feeling of missing out on learning opportunities for my children (and hence of not being a good father) if I am idle on vacation, I take them on high-tempo sightseeing trips (“We only live once, let’s get the most out of it”, right?) –  with, here again, the exact opposite long-term impact on my effectiveness as a father. “The inner critic is harmful because it triggers our self-protection mode, MIT Sloan sr lecturer Giardella says in

Jan 16, 2024
Hartford
Member News

The e-myth – why entrepreneurs need to let go to maximize value

Robert Latham of IBG / Altapraem M&A Advisors is a member of XPX Houston
Robert Latham
IBG Business M&A Advisors
6 months ago

If the value of your company would suffer in your absence, the biggest threat to its marketability might be you. “Buyers generally aren’t interested in paying top dollar if the business is overly reliant on the owner for its success.” That excerpt from a long-ago IBG Business article (“article on industry rollups), the company may be worth its book value and little more. Solutions in Print. While Gerber does a masterful job of describing the problem, the real value of The E-Myth and its progeny is that they provide therapeutic steps that can help an entangled business owner execute a pivot, breaking free of their comfort zone and morphing into a more valuable leadership role, maximizing business viability and value separate from their incessant presence and hands-on involvement. In addition, Gerber’s 1995 sequel, The E-Myth Revisited, provides a business development process that serves as a framework for developing turn-key systems throughout an organization to produce predictable results and grow in a sustainable way. Guidance in Person. It should go without saying that we think the E-Myth series is a valuable read for business owners who, looking to sell some day, have decided to get serious about preparing their business to stand on its own two feet. And that’s where IBG often enters the story. For us, the business is the product. To help shape a good company into an attractive acquisition target, we often start our preparatory work two years before the company is ready to go on the market, focusing on such priorities as: cleaning up and recasting financial information; improving cash flows; selling off or disposing of unproductive assets, product/service lines, and inventory; diversifying client and vendor concentrations attracting and developing key employees and fostering an effective management team on which a new owner can rely; identifying and protecting intellectual property and other intangible assets (trademarks, patents, copyrights, and any other proprietary information) that set your company apart from competitors; documenting key processes; and identifying and building on the business’s competitive advantages and attractiveness to the best-fit buyer. In the process, we invariably invest time and energy in the owner, helping them prepare mentally and emotionally for the rigors of the sale experience, and identifying roles in the company’s management and operations that the owner should no longer fill if the business is to achieve optimum value. As a business owner, it’s important to recognize that the value of your company lies not just in its assets and profits, but in its ability to exist independently of its owner. This means taking steps to establish a structure, management environment, and culture that can thrive with or, ultimately, without you. That’s a tall order, one that you don’t need to tackle on your own. To find out how we might help, contact an

Dec 29, 2023
Houston
Business Value Growth

The 5X fallacy, relying on multiples to value a business

Brent Eugenides of BE Financial LLC is a member of XPX Fairfield County
Brent Eugenides
BE Financial LLC
7 months ago

Ever heard of the 5x fallacy?  Hint: It  has to do with business valuation. Using a multiple of X. Try this among your peers, other business owners, and ask your CPA. 1.Ask:  What is a good multiple I should use to estimate the value of my business? You will get all sorts of answers, 5 times EBITDA or 2 times revenue, all sorts of “benchmarks”. 2.Ask people at your industry association. What do they think is a good multiple for a quick estimation of value? 3.Next, assume you were going to buy out a competitor, similar to you in size, and profit. Ask yourself, how much would I spend my own cash for it? Or put another way, if you were to buy a similar business like yours to grow your business thorough an acquisition, to add $ X in added profit, with a reasonable rate of return on your money, what would you be willing to pay for it, in real after tax money? What we see, people are NOT willing to pay anywhere close to as much for another similar business as they think their current business is worth.  Even if the business is a good strategic fit. They want to get a deal, buy at a discount, pay as little as possible. The reason is not greed. Its because you can’t really be sure of “hidden” features in the target business. You don’t know what will “pop up” after you buy it. It’s been private and therefore not transparent. Some people call this the skeletons in the closet. This is why asset sales oftentimes are a protective move for buyers. Don’t buy the business, and assume the unknown liabilities. This can help mitigate some things, but still does not fully cover the risk of buying a private business.  So in reality there is a higher risk premium required with private business transactions and to offset this you need to pay less to cover the risk, or at least to try to offset it if you are buying or investing in a private business. Multiples don’t accurately account for this risk premium. Too vague. Most of the unknowns ( risks)  are because private business is just that, private. The customer base loyalty is not necessarily easily transferable for example. The operations, people, staff, managers, etc. are doing things their way, not necessarily how best to manage a business as a financial investment. There are always inefficiencies in processes and management. The goal is to identify them and have a reliable way to measure the impact of these inefficiencies on the value of the business. It is not always obvious or easy to do. Therefore using or relying on any sort of multiple of revenue, or EBITDA. or other financial metric is NOT anywhere close to giving you any real world idea what a business is worth on the open market, at time of sale or transition.  My suggestion. Don’t ever use multiples ever. It’s not real, it will lead to bad decisions and bad long term personal planning if you are relaying on a liquidity event ( sale of some sort of cash out) to fund your retirement or other financial goal. On the positive side, value growth can be manufactured using a formal process, over time. You can manage and control value build. Do an assessment of your business ( selling or buying it’s the same process), of the operational risks and intrinsic risks to uncover where value gaps exist in the enterprise. Use a dedicated formal process of evaluation with data that is real, and comparable.  Look deeply under the hood at how the business is managed. Do you ( or your purchase business), have things buttoned up, contracts in place with vendors, HR, and documented processes for all operational areas. Good financial reporting that ties profit to each activity is critical as well. Most private business do not do this all that well. There are always gaps and higher risks embedded in most private business. Intrinsic risk is not easy to quantify. Using a formal process to evaluate things in terms other than a financial metric like 5X, or other meaningless ” rules of thumb”.  Value can be manufactured and realized systematically over time.

Dec 20, 2023
Fairfield County
Business Value Growth

The Secret to Unlocking Your Small Business’s Full Potential

Maria Forbes of FIREPOWER Business Catalyst, LLC. is a member of XPX Atlanta
Maria C Forbes
FIREPOWER Business Catalyst, LLC.
8 months ago

Your best competitive advantage is your people. But are you truly empowering your team to drive sustainable growth? As a strategic workforce planning and onboarding expert, I’ve seen firsthand how critical it is to align your employees’ strengths and passions with well-defined roles. This not only boosts employee ROI and retention but also unlocks innovation that accelerates success. Yet many businesses miss this opportunity. Without an intentional approach to talent development, you risk disengaged teams and stalled growth. Don’t let that happen to your company! FIREPOWER Teams offers a customized 90-day onboarding concierge service for small businesses ready to ignite their full potential. We work closely with you to attract and retain top talent through strengths-based role design, onboarding plans, and leadership analytics. Where people meet process, our mission is to facilitate success at every level of your organization. Want to empower your team to drive sustainable growth? Let’s connect! Please send Maria an email at maria@firepowerteams.com

Nov 13, 2023
Atlanta
Business Value Growth

Selecting the Right Sales Training Platform for Your Business

Mike Lindert of Sales Xceleration is a member of XPX Chicago
Mike Lindert
Sales Xceleration
10 months ago

INTRODUCTION Effective sales strategies are crucial for success in the dynamic landscape of modern business. Business owners recognize the pivotal role that sales teams play in revenue generation and customer acquisition. As a result, they must invest in training programs to enhance the skills and capabilities of their sales force. Two complementary approaches are “Sales Skills Training” and “Sales Training Platforms.” The first half of this article focuses on the distinction between “Sales Skills Training” and “Sales Training Platforms,” the second half focuses on which types of Sales Training Platforms and Sales Skills Training align better with certain types of businesses. I’ll also leave you with a table listing the various sales-related business attributes (relationship vs. transactional, long sales cycle vs. short, etc.) to illustrate which types of sales training platforms align best with your business. Sales Skills Training: Fostering Personal Mastery Sales Skills Training programs, often illustrated by the offerings of Dale Carnegie, Franklin Covey, Huthwaite’s SPIN Sales Training, and many of the Sandler Sales Training programs, typically focus on honing an individual sales representative’s skills and capabilities. These programs often focus on developing interpersonal skills, communication techniques, and emotional intelligence. While some emphasize developing a relationship and becoming a “trusted advisor,” most promote more direct sales techniques to motivate a customer to sign. The core premise of most sales skills training is to equip sales professionals with the training, tools, and finesse to navigate diverse customer personalities and tailor their approach to identify and quickly develop solutions that meet specific customer needs. Dale Carnegie’s program, known for its enduring legacy, emphasizes relationship-building as a cornerstone of successful sales. It teaches participants how to establish rapport, handle objections gracefully, and foster genuine connections with prospects. Sandler Sales Training takes a more direct approach, emphasizing the importance of customer pain points while probing and quantifying the impact of inaction while trying to persuade the customer to take quick action. Both are effective given specific circumstances but are not interchangeable because they rely on different approaches. Each is most effective when aligned with the type of sale you’re executing. For example: Is it transactional- or relationship-based? Is it an indirect sale with a standard contract or a complex deal with a highly engineered solution, customized agreement, and multiple decision makers/influencers? Sales Training Platforms: Systematic and Comprehensive Approach Contrasting with, and yet supplementing, the individual-centric Sales Skills Training described above, Sales Training Platforms like Miller Heiman’s “Strategic Selling,” Holden International’s “Power Base Selling,” and Wilson Learning’s “The Counselor Salesperson” all provide a more systematic and comprehensive approach to sales training. These platforms offer structured methodologies and frameworks that guide sales teams through various stages of a more complex, relationship-based sales process. Individual Growth vs. Team Alignment One of the primary distinctions between Sales Skills Training and Sales Training Platforms lies in their focus on individual growth versus team alignment. Sales Skills Training programs prioritize enhancing personal skills, allowing sales representatives to refine their ability to engage and persuade clients effectively. These programs are particularly beneficial for developing rapport and trust one-on-one. In contrast, Sales Training Platforms emphasize a collective approach. They provide a unified framework that ensures sales teams operate cohesively, following a structured process that aligns with organizational goals. This team-oriented approach is especially relevant when dealing with complex, multi-stakeholder sales scenarios where coordinated efforts can make or break a deal. Adaptability vs. Systematic Consistency Another key difference revolves around adaptability versus systematic consistency. Sales Skills Training programs often equip sales representatives with a toolkit of interpersonal skills, allowing them to adapt to various customer personalities and situations. These programs empower sales professionals to think on their feet and adjust their approach as needed, fostering flexibility. Conversely, Sales Training Platforms offer a consistent methodology that guides sales teams through standardized steps. While this approach may appear rigid, it can be highly effective in maintaining quality control, especially in organizations with a large and diverse sales force. It provides a common language and process that everyone follows, ensuring a streamlined and predictable sales process. Conclusion One of the most critical aspects of developing an effective sales training program for your business starts with understanding the distinction between Sales Skills Training and Sales Training Platforms. While Sales Skills Training focuses on enhancing individual sales representatives’ interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence, Sales Training Platforms offer systematic methodologies that guide teams through the sales process with consistent and coordinated efforts. Both approaches have their merits, and the choice between them should be based on an organization’s specific needs, go-to-market strategy, and the complexity of the deals they pursue. Ultimately, whether through the personal mastery cultivated by Sales Skills Training or the systematic consistency of Sales Training Platforms, the goal remains the same: to empower sales teams to achieve unparalleled success in a competitive business landscape. If your business needs a comprehensive, customized sales training program to elevate your Sales Team’s performance, let’s

Aug 31, 2023
Chicago
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A Dozen Questions to Begin the Exit Planning Discussion

Larry Gard of Hamilton-Chase Consulting is a member of XPX Chicago
Larry Gard
Done With Work Retirement Coaching and Consulting
9 hours ago

As an advisor, your role is to help clients prepare to exit their business, yet many people resist thinking about the future because it involves so many unknowns, decisions, and choices.  And emotions typically complicate matters further, sometimes derailing the process altogether.  Here are some questions that can help you establish rapport with your clients, learn more about their concerns, and move the conversation forward. How are you feeling about your work/profession/business these days? Which aspects of work are you still enjoying, and which are you ready to leave behind? Do you envision retiring from work at some point, or are you contemplating an encore career? What part of planning for your future feels most challenging? How do you imagine your life in retirement will be different from how it is now? What process are you using to figure out what you’ll do next after you retire? What would you like to see happen with your business long term? What options have you considered for the transfer of your business? What steps have you taken to make your business more attractive to a potential buyer? What are your concerns about transitioning your firm to new ownership? What would be your ideal scenario for transitioning out of your company? What topic(s) have we touched on today that we should put on our agenda to revisit? So, what happens after you pose a few of these questions and your clients open up about emotional matters?  Remember, the most helpful thing you can do is to listen attentively.  You’ve created a valuable opportunity for them to talk about things they may not share with other advisors.   Here are some tips for managing the conversation when clients raise emotionally loaded topics: Don’t try to “fix things” by immediately offering suggestions. Doing so sends the message that you’re uncomfortable hearing their concern.  You can offer suggestions but do so later. Don’t say anything that conveys the message that their feeling or concern is unwarranted. “There’s really no need to feel that way” or “I’m sure it will be just fine” may sound reassuring to you but could be experienced as dismissive by your client. Don’t immediately offer a logical counterpoint to your client’s emotion. Remember, feelings don’t have to make sense; they’re “as is”.  Put another way, if feelings made sense, they would be thoughts. People report concerns and characterize their feelings differently from one another, so it’s in your best interest to seek amplification and clarification by inquiring as follows . . . “I want to make sure that I understand exactly what you mean by ___.  Can you tell me more?” “People sometimes mean slightly different things when they talk about ___.  What does ___ mean for you?” “Before I suggest anything, I’d like to learn more about it from your perspective.” It’s possible that during early conversations your client may hint at mixed feelings about exiting their business.  That’s perfectly normal, but you need to bring it out into the open.  You want to foster an atmosphere such that your client keeps you apprised about where they’re at.  If they keep their ambivalence to themselves, it has greater potential to blindside you and complicate the sale.  You can say: “In my experience, it’s normal to have some mixed emotions about selling.  Those thoughts may not always be top of mind, but when they do pop up let’s be sure to talk about them.  Believe it or not, they can help inform our process and alert us to aspects of the sale that are important to you.” You may also find that your client is overly risk averse.  If so, consider saying the following: “Our work together won’t be comprehensive if we only plan for what could go wrong.  That’s just half the equation.  It’s fine to be conservative and err on the side of caution, but to be truly realistic we should also consider a range of possibilities both good and bad.”   Author’s Note:  The concepts in this article are derived from Robert Leahy’s book, Overcoming Resistance in Cognitive Therapy.  New York:  Guilford

Jul 26, 2024
Chicago
Practice Tips

Southern States Fight Back Against Union Wins in South

Robert Brody of Brody and Associates, LLC is a member of XPX Tri-State
Robert G. Brody
Brody and Associates, LLC
1 day ago

For five decades, the southern United States has been an attractive location for automakers to open plants thanks to generous tax breaks and cheaper, non-union labor. However, after decades of failing to unionize automakers in the South, the United Auto Workers dealt a serious blow to that model by winning a landslide union victory at Volkswagen. In an effort to fight back, three southern states have gotten creative: they passed laws barring companies from receiving state grants, loans and tax incentives if the company voluntarily recognizes a union or voluntarily provides unions with employee information. The laws also allow the government to claw back incentive payments after they were made. While these laws are very similar, each law has unique nuances. If you are in an impacted state, you should seek local counsel. In 2023, Tennessee was the first state to pass such a law. This year, Georgia and Alabama followed suit. So why this push? In 2023, the American Legislative Exchange Council (“ALEC”), a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model legislation for distribution among state governments, adopted Tennessee’s law as model legislation. In fact, the primary sponsor of Tennessee’s bill was recognized as an ALEC Policy Champion in March 2023. ALEC’s push comes as voluntary recognition of unions gains popularity as an alternative to fighting unions. We recently saw this with the high-profile Ben & Jerry’s voluntary recognition. Will this Southern strategy work to push back against growing union successes? Time will tell. Brody and Associates regularly advises its clients on all labor management issues, including union-related matters, and provides union-free training.  If we can be of assistance in this area, please contact us at info@brodyandassociates.com or 203.454.0560.  

Jul 25, 2024
Tri-State
Business Value Growth

My Interview with Jerry West on Management

John Dini of The Exit Planning Coach is a member of XPX San Antonio
John F Dini
The Exit Planning Coach
2 weeks ago

I once had the thrill of interviewing Jerry West on management. He was “The Logo” for the NBA, although back then they didn’t advertise him as such. Only the Laker followers knew for sure. In 1989 the “Showtime” Lakers were coming off back-to-back championships.  Pat Riley was a year away from his first of three Coach of the Year awards. 

Jul 9, 2024
San Antonio
Owner Life & Legacy

Can You Offer too Many Product Versions to Your Customers?

Steven Lustig of Lustig Global Consulting is a member of XPX Atlanta
Steven Lustig
Lustig Global Consulting
2 weeks ago

Can you Offer Too Many SKUs to Your Customers? The short answer is YES! A SKU, or Stock Keeping Unit, defines each different product version that you sell and keep inventory of.  There may be different SKUs of the same overall item based on size, color, capacity (think computer or cellphone memory), features, and many other parameters.  For build to forecast businesses, that number of variations can quickly explode and become difficult to manage. Your customers are busy and want ordering simplified. Of course, they may need (or want) more than one variation of a product. That is reasonable and a common aspect of business – one size does not fit all! But there is a point where too offering too many SKUs is not value added either for your customer or your business.  In his April 30, 2013 article “Successful Retailers Learn That Fewer Choices Trigger More Sales” in Forbes, Carmine Gallo discusses his experience and a study about “choice overload” by other authors. He writes about a retailer that “has discovered that giving a customer more than three choices at one time actually overwhelms customers and makes them frustrated…when the customer is faced with too many choices at once, it leaves the customer confused and less likely to buy from any of the choices!” Choice overload is well-documented in consumer studies but can apply in B2B as well. While customer satisfaction is important, another key concern is the often-hidden costs associated with a business offering and managing a large number of SKUs for a given product type. These costs include holding inventory, S&OP (Sales and Operations Planning) team time, small production runs, and scrapping inventory. Holding inventory takes up space, which may come with a cost or utilize racks that could be used for other products. Scheduled inventory counts take up employee time and may result in blackout periods when the warehouse is not shipping product.  The more SKUs there are, including extra SKUS, the greater the potential impact. The Sales team’s forecasting and the Operations team’s purchasing reviews that are part of the S&OP process can occupy more of their valuable time if they need to consider these times. If small orders or forecasts require a new production run, this could be costly and create excess inventory. Whether from this new production or past builds, eventually it will make sense to write off and scrap old inventory, another cost impact to the company. How do you know which SKUs to focus on if you wish to look at reducing your total number of SKUs? Start by examining SKUs that have: Low historic sales over a period of time Small variations between SKUs that customers do not value Older technology or model when newer option SKUs are available This requires a true partnership between Sales and Operations. It starts with educating both teams on the costs involved – neither group may be aware of the money and time impact to the company. Periodic (such as quarterly) reviews of SKUs that meet the above descriptions should become a fixed part of the calendar. A review of the data and other available for sale options should result in the identification of SKUs which may not be needed. At that point, it is helpful to have a customer friendly EOL (End of Life) Notice process by which you inform customers of last time buy requirements for this SKU and alternates available. It is usually best to provide some time for the last time buy in the interest of customer satisfaction, although that may not always be necessary. At a company that designed and sold electronics, a robust SKU rationalization process was implemented to help address these issues. A representative from the Operations team analyzed SKUs that met a version of the above criteria and suggested candidates for the EOL process. Next, a member of the Sales team reviewed them and, where appropriate, issued product change or EOL notices to customers, providing them time for last time buy orders when needed. These steps helped reduce the work involved in maintaining these SKUs while not leading to any customer complaints. A final note – sometimes it makes sense to continue offering low selling SKUs – to support customers buying other items (hopefully in larger quantities). It may be worthwhile to encourage them to keep coming back to you for all of their product needs and this may be a way to accomplish that. But it helps to understand that this is truly the case and not assume that this customer would not be equally happy with another, more popular, SKU.   Steven Lustig is founder and CEO of Lustig Global Consulting and an experienced Supply Chain Executive.  He is a recognized thought leader in supply chain and risk mitigation, and serves on the Boards of Directors for Loh Medical and Atlanta Technology Angels.

Jul 9, 2024
Atlanta
Business Value Growth

Owners are a Minority

John Dini of The Exit Planning Coach is a member of XPX San Antonio
John F Dini
The Exit Planning Coach
3 weeks ago

When it comes to careers, business owners are a minority of the population. In conversations this week, I mentioned the statistics several times, and each owner I was discussing it with was surprised that they had so few peers. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), there are over 33,000,000 businesses in the US. Let’s discount those with zero employees. Many are shell companies or real estate holding entities. Also, those with fewer than 5 employees, true “Mom and Pop” businesses, are hard to distinguish from a job. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Association, lists businesses with 5 to 99 employees at about 3,300,000, and 123,000 have 100 to 500 employees (the SBA’s largest “small business” classification.) Overall, that means about 1% of the country are private employers. Owners are a small minority, a very small minority, of the population. Even if we only count working adults (161,000,000) business owners represent only a little more than 2% of that population. So What? Where am I going with this, and how does it relate to our recent discussions of purpose in business exit planning? It’s an important issue to consider when discussing an owner’s identity after transition. Whether or not individual owners know the statistics of their “rare species” status in society, they instinctively understand that they are different. They are identified with their owner status in every aspect of their business and personal life. At a social event, when asked “What do you do?” they will often respond “I own a business.” It’s an immediate differentiator from describing a job. “I am a carpenter.” or “I work in systems engineering,” describes a function. “I am a business owner” describes a life role. When asked for further information, the owner frequently replies in the Imperial first person plural. “We build multi-family housing,” is never mistaken for a personal role in the company. No one takes that answer to mean that the speaker swings a hammer all day. Owners are a Minority We process much of our information subconsciously. If a man enters a business gathering, for example, and the others in the room are 75% female, he will know instinctively, without consciously counting, that this business meeting or organization is different from others he attends. Similarly, business owners accept their minority status without thinking about it. They expect that the vast majority of the people they meet socially, who attend their church, or who have kids that play sports with theirs, work for someone else. There are places where owners congregate, but otherwise, they don’t expect to meet many other owners in the normal course of daily activity. This can be an issue after they exit the business. You see, telling people “I’m retired” has no distinction. Roughly 98% of the other people who say that never built an organization. They didn’t take the same risks. Others didn’t deal with the same broad variety of issues and challenges. Most didn’t have to personally live with the impact of every daily decision they made, or watch others suffer the consequences of their bad calls. That is why so many former owners suffer from a lack of identity after they leave. Subconsciously, they expect to stand out from the other 98%. “I’m retired” carries no such distinction.       This article was originally published by John F. Dini, CBEC, CExP, CEPA on

Jul 1, 2024
San Antonio
Owner Life & Legacy
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