Isn't it amazing where 'The Beatles' sometimes turn up
Apr 03, 2006 | G&M | Harvey Schachter ;-) :-)
Monday morning manager HARVEY SCHACHTER'S GUIDE ON HOW TO HANDLE EVERYTHING FROM OVERFLOWING E-MAIL TO MEETING OVERLOAD HARVEY SCHACHTER
First Item: Lessons from the Beatles
If you saw the Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964 -- with Ringo Starr's drum kit elevated over the stage to make him as much the centre of attention as the three other band members -- you got an excellent lesson in teamwork. In Strategy + Business, consultant Andrew Sobel offers four teamwork principles drawn from the Fab Four:
"Eight Days A Week"
The Beatles may have seemed like an overnight sensation but they spent thousands of hours together in small clubs, forging themselves into a cohesive, tightly knit team. In an era of virtual teams, remember to invest in face time between team members long before they are required to appear together.
"Getting Better"
Most rock groups produce essentially the same types of songs over and over again but the Beatles continually changed. Remember to evolve your "songs" and bring the same level of ideas, new perspectives, excitement, and enthusiasm to your hundredth meeting with a client as the first.
"With A Little Help From My Friends"
The Beatles gave each team member a chance in the limelight in their albums and performances, becoming individual brands as well as a collective brand. Help team members become brands-within-a-brand by giving them a song -- or an idea or proposal -- that will help them to shine.
"I Need You"
Put exceedingly diverse professionals on your team, mixing specialists like George Harrison (lead guitar) and Ringo Starr (drums) with generalists like Paul McCartney and John Lennon, fostering friendly competition to produce the best ideas.
Presentations: Start with the customer, and end with your company
Most presentations and product demonstrations start with a corporate overview of the company doing the selling. Instead, consultant Peter Cohan tells MarketingSherpa you need to save the corporate overview for the end and start with a powerful slide that captures the needs of the buyer. The point is to say: "We understand the specific pain you are in, and we can help you solve it." From there, move on to the actual result if they buy your product -- the increased productivity or sales or other benefit that will come from your services. Now you can take some time to tell them the features of the product or service you are offering, before ending with details on your company. He urges you to leave 75 to 80 per cent of your presentation time for questions from the prospects.
Financing: How to raise capital from angel investors
Raising money from angel investors requires a shrewd understanding of their wallets, inner needs, and spouse, according to venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki. On his blog, he advises you to:
Make sure they are rich enough to never get a penny back, and also sophisticated investors, who can give you advice.
Understand their motivations, whether it's purely monetary or includes paying back society by helping other entrepreneurs.
Enable them to live vicariously through your efforts, reliving the thrills of entrepreneurship while avoiding the firing line. Seek their advice, routinely.
Make your story comprehensible to their spouse, who will have a say if not a veto in the investment.
Power Points:
Return to sender: Only 45 per cent of websites responded to e-mails within 24 hours according to a December study by Jupiter Research, down 5 percentage points from 2000. Thirty-nine per cent of sites took more than three days to reply or didn't reply at all.
Source: CRM Magazine
For your eyes only: Keep your goals a secret while they are in the initial stages, so other people don't dump on them and break your resolve, advises software developer Brad Isaac.
Source: Achieve-IT! newsletter
Phoning it in: "Very few people actually get fired," notes consultant Donald Cooper. "They quit, they give up, they stop trying, but since they have no place else to go, they keep showing up and hope you won't notice!"
Source: Donald Cooper Corporation newsletter
Trade show survival: Prepare a booth kit to help you through a trade show, with a bottle of aspirin, antacid, band-aids, bottled water, and a hand sanitizer and packaged towlettes given how many hands you will be shaking, suggests Owen Wild, marketing director for Amadeus North America.
Source: Inc.com
Share politics: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says the notion of aligning interests of CEOs with shareholders through the ownership of stock is a big lie. Most shareholders are in for the long term; their philosophy is: "I've invested in your company for the future and the future of my family so don't screw it up." But CEOs know they can score big if the stock shoots up in the short term, and are willing to gamble with the long-term future. So the ownership of shares divides CEOs and shareholders, rather than putting them in alignment.
Source: Blog Maverick
Harvey Schachter is a Battersea, Ont.-based writer specializing in management issues. e-mail: harvey@harveyschachter.com