Simply put- it means to own up to a task at hand and complete it!
It is easier said than done, especially in todays environment of global teams, matrix organizations and just in time production!
The Human element is still the most important part of an organization and the DNA of an organization is defined by how humans link themselves in a complex format to engage in the tasks at hand!
The secret lies in three things-
Attitude
People with the right attitudes and personality types- that is Starters, Thinkers, Makers, and Finishers in equal measures! above all everyone must exhibit the can do attitude and paranoia as Intels chief Andrew Grove likes to say should be used to rive the organization to new heights not stop it from progress.
Communication
Second - clear communication lines and tools to enable it. The tools are easy but clarity in communication across cultures and non native speakers and departments- a whole new ball game!
Finally
Leadership- some one has to take the bull by the horns! Yes leadership is more important than management because with all the information and data, management is easier than it ever was, it is assisted by a myriad of tools like CRM, ERP, MS Projects. But that has also made leadership all the more difficult. Leading by example in frustrating situations, holding yourself accountable, day in day out t lead by example, and then knowing when to step back to be the shepherd- is the order of the day!
more on this tonight - how it ties to make an effective team and why....watch this space!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Water footprint reduction, My new passion
It has been sometime since I blogged!
I was mainly busy in personal move from one division of the company to another. Now I find myself in a new division working with analytical measurements. It has struck me in my first few months here, that water footprint is a burning problem but unfortunately does not have the same visibility as the global warming issue. In fact for many countries and parts of the world- time is running out or should I say WATER is running out. Yes potable water is needed for everything but we are doing to little for it. This is why I have turned my focus to reduction of the water footprint!
from now I will be immersing myself in ways to help companies to reduce water usage and "soaking" them with ideas surrounding waste water reduction and recovery! So from a a general energy reduction I will hone myself specifically down to water! This blog will be splashed with related stuff- so watch this space!
I was mainly busy in personal move from one division of the company to another. Now I find myself in a new division working with analytical measurements. It has struck me in my first few months here, that water footprint is a burning problem but unfortunately does not have the same visibility as the global warming issue. In fact for many countries and parts of the world- time is running out or should I say WATER is running out. Yes potable water is needed for everything but we are doing to little for it. This is why I have turned my focus to reduction of the water footprint!
from now I will be immersing myself in ways to help companies to reduce water usage and "soaking" them with ideas surrounding waste water reduction and recovery! So from a a general energy reduction I will hone myself specifically down to water! This blog will be splashed with related stuff- so watch this space!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
5th Dimension of research for a probing dialog
In my last blog I wrote about researching about the person, the job function , the company and the industry
Finally time to complete the research piece for the dialog- In the mean time I found that some these ideas have been greatly dealt with in terms of the search engines and how to use them in a new book called "take the cold out of cold calling" http://www.takethecold.com/.
Take the time after putting your research on the above 4 dimensions to think like the person you will meet and try to find the top three likely competitors that may be on the fray. make sure you do a comparative analysis between your company products and services and theirs.
Yes this mans a lot of homework- but it only means you do it one time - after this your life is easier-!
Once you have done all you research - make a file for this customer , practice your pitch- and then get ready to make a phone call or meet in person! Since you can clearly focus on what the person is looking for- the dialog will be fruitful-
Let us take an example-
You get a lead from your web department that Mr John Carefull at AQUA Engineering downloaded brochures about equipment for desalination processes and identified himself as the design engineer.
Let us say your research reveals that aqua engineering designs and specifies and on occasion acts as the equipment buyer for global companies setting up plants in coastal areas with water restrictions. On their website they state that they wanted to be seen as the designer of the most reliable equipment. Also a quick linkedin search shows that John worked at GE before coming to Aqua Engineering- and you lucked because there is a facebook friend who is common to the two of you! Talking to your common friend you discover- they don't know each other well but meet off and on at the local bowling alley and John is an avid bowler!- So if you want to meet him directly, you know how to find him!
If you get john on the phone- that will be great but you could reach his voicemail- so have a powerful message that will make him call back- prepare this before you call-
such as
Hi John , I am ABC from XYZ company and we noticed you are interested in reliable equipment for desalination plants- In our latest equipment we particularly focused on long term reliability and maximum uptime and have some unique ways to achieve this. we have our own service centers in 24 strategic locations near coastal areas around the world to back this with great service. I would appreciate the opportunity to talk with you more about how we can best serve your needs and help you achieve your goals with your customers. Please call me at your earliest convenience
my number is....
I you get him on the phone- be prepared to talk about the same things and getting an appointment. Keep it short- create curiosity about your capability - your goal is to meet this person.
Next some probing questions and a template for account development!
Finally time to complete the research piece for the dialog- In the mean time I found that some these ideas have been greatly dealt with in terms of the search engines and how to use them in a new book called "take the cold out of cold calling" http://www.takethecold.com/.
Take the time after putting your research on the above 4 dimensions to think like the person you will meet and try to find the top three likely competitors that may be on the fray. make sure you do a comparative analysis between your company products and services and theirs.
Yes this mans a lot of homework- but it only means you do it one time - after this your life is easier-!
Once you have done all you research - make a file for this customer , practice your pitch- and then get ready to make a phone call or meet in person! Since you can clearly focus on what the person is looking for- the dialog will be fruitful-
Let us take an example-
You get a lead from your web department that Mr John Carefull at AQUA Engineering downloaded brochures about equipment for desalination processes and identified himself as the design engineer.
Let us say your research reveals that aqua engineering designs and specifies and on occasion acts as the equipment buyer for global companies setting up plants in coastal areas with water restrictions. On their website they state that they wanted to be seen as the designer of the most reliable equipment. Also a quick linkedin search shows that John worked at GE before coming to Aqua Engineering- and you lucked because there is a facebook friend who is common to the two of you! Talking to your common friend you discover- they don't know each other well but meet off and on at the local bowling alley and John is an avid bowler!- So if you want to meet him directly, you know how to find him!
If you get john on the phone- that will be great but you could reach his voicemail- so have a powerful message that will make him call back- prepare this before you call-
such as
Hi John , I am ABC from XYZ company and we noticed you are interested in reliable equipment for desalination plants- In our latest equipment we particularly focused on long term reliability and maximum uptime and have some unique ways to achieve this. we have our own service centers in 24 strategic locations near coastal areas around the world to back this with great service. I would appreciate the opportunity to talk with you more about how we can best serve your needs and help you achieve your goals with your customers. Please call me at your earliest convenience
my number is....
I you get him on the phone- be prepared to talk about the same things and getting an appointment. Keep it short- create curiosity about your capability - your goal is to meet this person.
Next some probing questions and a template for account development!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Preparing the probing dialog- Research tips
So I am back from vacation, and I realize I had promised everybody that I will help with tips on how to prepare for the probing dialog using modern tools and plain old common sense so here goes some excerpts from my upcoming book-
Now more than ever this is exactly what you need. Why?
People don't have time and money to loose - every penny is important, every purchase, every payment under scrutiny. so please don't go unprepared to your customers - it is very annoying and very detrimental to your sales
First and Foremost- the important thing is that you are pitching to a person working for a company- yes say that out aloud- I am pitching to a person working for a company-
The research you do must entail the interests of the person- their work role and style - and the company- yes all three are equally important! if you want to be a winner- maintain a file - digital or paper on your contact- any information you can get- Google them, - on their position and role- and the company they work for-
the web is changing the way people think but it is also making them more "transparent" so find out if they are on Linkedin, classmates.com or whatever- this will allow you to make relevant talk- not just small talk- you can find out where they graduated, may be they are active in a non for profit - may be they have a passion for diving- whatever you find out- store it at the back of your mind - no matter what people say- hobbies and private life have a great impact on how people work and operate!
Research the title of the person in the relevant industry in various career websites and maybe salary.com- this will give you a good idea on what they do or are suppose to do.
Research the company website for any company initiatives, the company mission statements, products and technologies.
Now research the web for more about the processes that could exists in their plants or business - and their top competitors- send out emails to your organization and contacts asking if anyone has dealt with any of their competitors- and if yes- you are in luck- ask for what was the killer criteria to sell your product to the competitor- regardless if your coworker was successful or not
Finally , please research the industry- even if you have to spend some money to download a research- hey you can resell it on e-bay or to a coworker
now in the next part we will structure your research- and then the do's and dont's of the probing dialog
Now more than ever this is exactly what you need. Why?
People don't have time and money to loose - every penny is important, every purchase, every payment under scrutiny. so please don't go unprepared to your customers - it is very annoying and very detrimental to your sales
First and Foremost- the important thing is that you are pitching to a person working for a company- yes say that out aloud- I am pitching to a person working for a company-
The research you do must entail the interests of the person- their work role and style - and the company- yes all three are equally important! if you want to be a winner- maintain a file - digital or paper on your contact- any information you can get- Google them, - on their position and role- and the company they work for-
the web is changing the way people think but it is also making them more "transparent" so find out if they are on Linkedin, classmates.com or whatever- this will allow you to make relevant talk- not just small talk- you can find out where they graduated, may be they are active in a non for profit - may be they have a passion for diving- whatever you find out- store it at the back of your mind - no matter what people say- hobbies and private life have a great impact on how people work and operate!
Research the title of the person in the relevant industry in various career websites and maybe salary.com- this will give you a good idea on what they do or are suppose to do.
Research the company website for any company initiatives, the company mission statements, products and technologies.
Now research the web for more about the processes that could exists in their plants or business - and their top competitors- send out emails to your organization and contacts asking if anyone has dealt with any of their competitors- and if yes- you are in luck- ask for what was the killer criteria to sell your product to the competitor- regardless if your coworker was successful or not
Finally , please research the industry- even if you have to spend some money to download a research- hey you can resell it on e-bay or to a coworker
now in the next part we will structure your research- and then the do's and dont's of the probing dialog
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
You can harvest rain!
· 1 inch of rainfall on a 5,000 sq. ft. roof generates 3000 gallons of water a year that can be reused.
· That same roof in a region receiving 30 inches of annual rainfall generates 90,000 gallons of reusable water.
· A plant with 50,000sq ft – could generate 900,000 gallons = roughly 4000 USD savings in the water bill per year taking PA (one of the highest) prices and 2000 taking the average
· It is soft water
· It is easily purified
· It is free!
· The initial investment is low – piping and tanks and a pump- ROI of say 8-12 months !
· If nothing else- you can use it for landscaping and floor washing applications!
· Does not include the cost of sewage – which you reduce by 900,000 Gallons as well!
The total savings including treatment could easily be between 4 to 6000 dollars depednding on your location.
Think about it!
State Rainfall
(in./yr.)*
Alabama 56.90
Alaska 53.15
Arizona 7.11
Arkansas 49.20
California 17.28
Colorado 15.31
Connecticut 44.39
Delaware 41.38
Florida 49.91
Georgia 48.61
Hawaii 23.47
Idaho 11.71
Illinois 33.34
Indiana 39.12
Iowa 34.71
Kansas 28.61
Kentucky 43.56
Louisiana 59.74
Maine 43.52
Maryland 41.84
Massachusetts 43.84
Michigan 32.23
Minnesota 26.36
Mississippi 52.82
Missouri 33.91
Montana 11.37
Nebraska 30.34
Nevada 7.87
New Hampshire 36.53
New Jersey 41.93
New Mexico 8.91
New York 39.28
North Carolina 42.46
North Dakota 15.36
Ohio 37.77
Oklahoma 30.89
Oregon 37.39
Pennsylvania 40.26
Rhode Island 41.91
South Carolina 51.59
South Dakota 17.47
Tennessee 48.49
Texas 34.70
Utah 15.31
Vermont 33.69
Virginia 45.22
Washington 27.66
West Virginia 40.74
Wisconsin 30.89
Wyoming 13.31
· That same roof in a region receiving 30 inches of annual rainfall generates 90,000 gallons of reusable water.
· A plant with 50,000sq ft – could generate 900,000 gallons = roughly 4000 USD savings in the water bill per year taking PA (one of the highest) prices and 2000 taking the average
· It is soft water
· It is easily purified
· It is free!
· The initial investment is low – piping and tanks and a pump- ROI of say 8-12 months !
· If nothing else- you can use it for landscaping and floor washing applications!
· Does not include the cost of sewage – which you reduce by 900,000 Gallons as well!
The total savings including treatment could easily be between 4 to 6000 dollars depednding on your location.
Think about it!
State Rainfall
(in./yr.)*
Alabama 56.90
Alaska 53.15
Arizona 7.11
Arkansas 49.20
California 17.28
Colorado 15.31
Connecticut 44.39
Delaware 41.38
Florida 49.91
Georgia 48.61
Hawaii 23.47
Idaho 11.71
Illinois 33.34
Indiana 39.12
Iowa 34.71
Kansas 28.61
Kentucky 43.56
Louisiana 59.74
Maine 43.52
Maryland 41.84
Massachusetts 43.84
Michigan 32.23
Minnesota 26.36
Mississippi 52.82
Missouri 33.91
Montana 11.37
Nebraska 30.34
Nevada 7.87
New Hampshire 36.53
New Jersey 41.93
New Mexico 8.91
New York 39.28
North Carolina 42.46
North Dakota 15.36
Ohio 37.77
Oklahoma 30.89
Oregon 37.39
Pennsylvania 40.26
Rhode Island 41.91
South Carolina 51.59
South Dakota 17.47
Tennessee 48.49
Texas 34.70
Utah 15.31
Vermont 33.69
Virginia 45.22
Washington 27.66
West Virginia 40.74
Wisconsin 30.89
Wyoming 13.31
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Time is right for proposing a new kind of executive officer- CPEO!
The time is just right for B2B sales people to propose good enduring practices on plants - but is anybody really listening?
This is a key question- as plant equipment design and manufacturing continues to be outsourced or off-shored- more and more skids are being made with the short term and warranty periods in mind- the long term OPEX and reliability is taking a real hit- and so is innovation in manufacturing technology. No one can afford to spend millions of dollars every few years- so low reliability designs have to be kept in service with a lot of hand work, modification and yes compromise. Can you imagine how this is hurting productivity and competitiveness?
What large companies really need to do is focus on long term "sustainability" and not just plant start up investment costs- this will ensure a long term commitment from skid and equipment manufacturers! I cant believe how many times I see half botched designs that are expensive to run or just plain failure prone- have long down times inherent to their design and design flaws, being used at plants- maybe the time is ripe for a new executive office. A chief production engineering officer! CPEO. A sort of guru who leads a team to find low energy usage, high reliability and high throughput equipment for plants. Focuses on best engineering practices- A sort of balance to the CFO and the market demands- a healthy balance between good reliable long term plant engineering and cost control and quarterly profits!
The time for engineering to sharpen productivity and long term sustainability is here!
This is a key question- as plant equipment design and manufacturing continues to be outsourced or off-shored- more and more skids are being made with the short term and warranty periods in mind- the long term OPEX and reliability is taking a real hit- and so is innovation in manufacturing technology. No one can afford to spend millions of dollars every few years- so low reliability designs have to be kept in service with a lot of hand work, modification and yes compromise. Can you imagine how this is hurting productivity and competitiveness?
What large companies really need to do is focus on long term "sustainability" and not just plant start up investment costs- this will ensure a long term commitment from skid and equipment manufacturers! I cant believe how many times I see half botched designs that are expensive to run or just plain failure prone- have long down times inherent to their design and design flaws, being used at plants- maybe the time is ripe for a new executive office. A chief production engineering officer! CPEO. A sort of guru who leads a team to find low energy usage, high reliability and high throughput equipment for plants. Focuses on best engineering practices- A sort of balance to the CFO and the market demands- a healthy balance between good reliable long term plant engineering and cost control and quarterly profits!
The time for engineering to sharpen productivity and long term sustainability is here!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Winners, prepare to have a "Probing Dialog"!
I have already made my point that the consumers and customers have easy access to know your product and review the product features and competitors. So what can they not do on the Internet? That my friends is now the key to be a winner- Probing Dialog!
Sounds simple? It is but then it isn't.
If you get some time to prepare, it could be a tad easier. If you are in B2B business , you are in luck. You can do the same thing a consumer is doing to you- surf the web, check the news reports, check the products they sell, any reviews about the company. If they are public and global it becomes even easier as there are certain things they have to divulge by law.
Now go a step further- research any information that would pertain to the usage of your product.
If you are in the B2C business , the game plan changed a bit. Now you need to be a little more of a research agent about demographics , usage patterns, regional preferences.
In both cases- beware- be no hostage to any filters - the real customer profile must be built only through probing dialog!
Since I have dedicated my professional life to B2B - this is what I shall tackle first. B2C will come second - tackled through the eyes of a very difficult but consumer friendly customer- ME!
So the next post will talk about combining plain old common sense- "pocs" with modern analysis , technology and preparation to have a probing dialog in a B2B environment.
Sounds simple? It is but then it isn't.
If you get some time to prepare, it could be a tad easier. If you are in B2B business , you are in luck. You can do the same thing a consumer is doing to you- surf the web, check the news reports, check the products they sell, any reviews about the company. If they are public and global it becomes even easier as there are certain things they have to divulge by law.
Now go a step further- research any information that would pertain to the usage of your product.
If you are in the B2C business , the game plan changed a bit. Now you need to be a little more of a research agent about demographics , usage patterns, regional preferences.
In both cases- beware- be no hostage to any filters - the real customer profile must be built only through probing dialog!
Since I have dedicated my professional life to B2B - this is what I shall tackle first. B2C will come second - tackled through the eyes of a very difficult but consumer friendly customer- ME!
So the next post will talk about combining plain old common sense- "pocs" with modern analysis , technology and preparation to have a probing dialog in a B2B environment.
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