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3 steps to great decision making

June 21, 2018 by Malcolm Gallagher Leave a Comment

You want to make the right quality and timely decisions. You can’t afford to wait and see so your decisions need to have velocity alongside quality.

I was intrigued to read recently that the Consultants, McKinsey, said that businesses who make decisions well use 3 ingredients. How are you performing in all of the following 3?

McKinsey found first of all that winners use SPEED as part of their process. Those winners will often make a decision with just 80% of the necessary information rather than waiting for it all and possibly lose out to a competitor.

Its sensible here, as the business leader, to identify what decisions ONLY YOU can make and delegate the rest. Make sure your decision process allows you to move good ideas forward quickly.

The second ingredient of decision winners, says McKinsey, is that they favour interaction amongst themselves over the process of deep analysis. Good interaction sparks off great ideas and it also has the extra benefit of heading off biases with the result that everyone is in tune together.

And the third ingredient is to what they call “Choreograph the decision process”. Hey, if you have been to a stage show or even watched Strictly Come Dancing you know how effective and impressive good choreography can be. Without choreography, your decision making could become turgid with countless reviews and approvals. Craft it so the decision process is made in one place.

So that’s a brief look at a key soft skill of decision making. Sharpen your process now and you’ll be more fit to compete for any business opportunity. Are you using all 3 steps?

Ready for business growth? 6 key questions

June 20, 2018 by Malcolm Gallagher Leave a Comment

Ask yourself these 6 key questions to see if your timing is right for growth

says, Malcolm Gallagher of BizVision,

A key question at the moment should be “Is your business ready to grow”? Irrespective of what is happening in the bigger “Brexit” picture at the moment. In growth, timing is crucial.

You need to decide if your business is in what I call a sensible position to journey on a growth strategy. To help you make this decision, coming up are just 6 deep dive questions to ask yourself.

How is your business performing against your budget in sales, and costs? I hope you are using some key ratios here. If not then email me mg@bizvision.co.uk and I’ll send you the top 3 ratios for small businesses
Thinking of your available resources, how is your business using those resources to generate profit? Or is it not? Sometimes resources such as assets are bought and they lie unused or underutilised. Also, have you sold off old equipment (say on eBay)) – a few pounds is better than nothing
Is your market sector expanding or contracting? Or where is it changing? We have seen horror stories about retailers recently and problems about construction businesses. But these changes usually mean there is opportunity elsewhere. Are you missing it? Is your radar working to seek out opportunities?
How are your competitors behaving? Rationally or not? What are they saying publicly? If you don’t know, you need to start what I call a Comp Set. Take your top 5 competitors and monitor them, benchmark your elf against them, keep a watch for news on their website with RSS feeds or use services such as Mention.com or Talkwalker.com to get a hold of what they are both saying and doing.
Ask yourself the truthful question of how much cash have you got that is readily available to fund growth. Likely it is not enough so you need to go searching for funding. Do it soon not last minute.
How well do you use your working capital? Funders will want to know but you should know this NOW not when you want more money.

Okay, there’s your six key questions to get you truly ready for growth. Armed with the answers you can make your growth decision. Which are the most relevant to you? Have I missed any key ones?

Ride The Change Maker Tricycle of Customer Service

September 6, 2016 by Malcolm Gallagher 1 Comment

Using symbols and models can help people grab concepts, making things easier to understand. So here’s a way to communicate to your people the importance of an all-round positive customer experience. It’s called the Change Maker Tricycle of Customer Service.

Whilst this item is aimed at the hospitality sector, it is applicable across most businesses. Just adjust to suit yours!

Your Three Wheels

There are three wheels to the tricycle

Service efficiency where everything needs to be working to get satisfaction
The quality of your product or offering meeting their expectations
And the Hospitality Skills of your people

Service efficiency

Service efficiency is the need to ensure that you have systems and procedures in place to help your people deliver the right type of product or offering. Efficiency and timeliness is vital. These can be policies for handling problems or complaints or it could be the right type and effective technology systems

Quality offering

Having the right quality of your physical product or offering means that the ‘bricks and mortar’ elements at least meet if not exceed the expectations of your customer. This can include the cleanliness and fittings in the bedroom, restaurants, lounges, fitness centres.

Remember quality means fit for purpose so it doesn’t have to be totally overboard.

Hospitality skills

The first two components represented the back wheels of the tricycle. But it’s the front wheel, BIGGER than the other two which steers your tricycle in the right direction.

Most managers are smart enough to teach people about welcome skills and most teach new staff about using technology, systems and procedures. Unfortunately most only skim the surface on teaching hospitality skills

Using the Change Maker Tricycle of Customer Service

Lose a rear wheel?

What happens if a rear wheel comes off? For example, the quality offering wheel. Let’s say they get a warm greeting and check-in and then go to their room which is dirty or things not working. The result is that their experience has been marred.

If it’s the service efficiency wheel then let’s say again they get the warm greeting but something goes wrong in the service such as the key system not working, the credit card machine inoperable, the computer system down, slow service at check-in causing the tired and hungry guest to wait 20 minutes for the key.

But the front wheel?

The two rear wheels are usually handled by sound training which most people have or should be given. But the front wheel, the one that steers your tricycle is often ignored. You see this as someone arrives at reception and sees the top of a receptionist’s head “Checking-in?” It almost wants to make you say “No, I’m standing here with my suitcase as it’s a hobby of mine seeing how many hotel lobby’s I can visit with my suitcase!” I know that sounds facetious but I’m sure you get the gist. Or when you go into the dining room by yourself and the waiter says “Just for one?” in a condescending manner.

It is important that the front wheel doesn’t come off and that your people are taught hospitality skills in the form of interactive communication. They need to know to smile, make eye contact, have the right body language, and anticipate guests and how to start the right kind of customer interaction.

Everyone is in the driving seat

It is important for staff and managers to know that everyone can be in the driving seat of the tricycle. Everyone can bring out their best side. Everyone can work to anticipate customer needs and make sure that all three wheels work in harmony to meet customer needs.

How to use this Change Maker learning

Use the Change Maker tricycle model for your next training session or meeting to illustrate to them the importance of the three wheels and that everyone needs to ride the Tricycle of Customer Service to provide hospitality excellence.

What’s your thoughts?

What’s your experience with standards of customer service? Are they improving at your organisation? Where are you making changes? What are you doing to monitor and measure service standards?

Do you have these 4 core attributes to be a great supplier?

September 5, 2016 by Malcolm Gallagher Leave a Comment

How do you score on the supplier four?

Over the last few years we’ve had some frenetic activity at The Preferred Supplier with our programmes and presentations, filming of buyers and coaching on tendering. But one thing has arisen a number of times.

I’ve been by asked many what I think are the essential attributes of a great supplier. I’m not talking skills, resources or facilities here but instead the spine or the core that gives form to the selected or differentiated supplier.

My suggestion to you is that the difference lies in the four core areas of CRIC – Committed, Resilient, Innovative and Compliant.

Here’s a brief overview of each of the 4 parts of CRIC. Read through and think how they apply to you and how you score with each of the four.

Committed is about a commitment to continuous improvement and the ability to be evidential about that improvement. Now, wrapped up in this is commitment to quality, commitment to consistency and commitment to customer service. It’s also about “keeping your promise to your customer” such as commitment to delivery on time. Far too many suppliers reckon they are committed to say quality because they have ISO qualification but forget that it is daily living that commitment that sets the excellent apart from the average. You can measure yourself and be evidential in your commitment by asking us about The Preferred Supplier balanced scorecard.

Resilience was something addressed by Nick Edgar, of IP Group who are fund managers, when speaking at our The Preferred Supplier event. Resilience is not totally internal, for example about your financial strength, but also external about resilience within your own supply chain and the market your serve. Start thinking, how strong and reliable are your suppliers because that’s what your customer is likely also thinking if they are to select you?

Innovative is to-day becoming an abused word! My friend, Charles Sellers, is an acclaimed expert on innovation and passionate about the need to start thinking just what is true innovation. When I talk about innovative actions he makes me think if it is truly innovative by asking which of these three things can be said about the innovation. Is it the same as, similar too or different than? I can’t stress how important innovation is in being the preferred supplier but, at the same time, it has to be true innovation.

Compliance is something far too many suppliers hope will go away – but it won’t! A recent CIPS survey showed that 54% of companies expect compliance demands to increase this coming year with only 2% thinking it will decline. But compliance is an all-embracing word. Compliance in what? It differs across company, organisation and sector but don’t ignore the essentials of inclusion, environmental and health and safety.

CRIC is my core four attributes or make-up of a selected or preferred supplier. Have I missed anything truly essential? How do you measure up to the four? Where is your biggest challenge?

How to make your meetings more productive

September 5, 2016 by Malcolm Gallagher Leave a Comment

7 Change Maker ways to improve meetings

One area where you can make quick and productive change in your organisation, and show your leadership as a Change Maker, is to make your team meetings more effective and productive. Coming up are my suggested 7 steps check-list to help you achieve this.

A few smart changes can result in meetings that get more done more quickly and cause fewer headaches for everyone.

How to be a Meeting Change Maker? Here are 7 practical action steps:

If the meeting has no clear purpose, don’t have it! It’s amazing how many meetings are held because they’ve always been held. The biggest culprits are those “same day, same time” sessions that people have carved into their calendars. For every meeting, try to come up with a compelling statement that describes the purpose, and identify at least one intended outcome. If nothing worthwhile seems to surface, the same will happen during the session.
Take the agenda seriously, but not too seriously. There are times when digressions are worthwhile and when certain issues should move up in priority. It’s a fine call every time, but sometimes that fixed agenda has to go out the window.
Don’t use meetings to rubber-stamp decisions. Often teams come together and try to pretend a group decision when they’ve already “pre-decided” the outcome. If you simply want to communicate information, save everyone’s time and use e-mail.
Strive for meaningful dialogue. When six people are around a meeting table, it’s like having six computers at the ready. In fact, people are far better than computers because they also have hearts. Instead of “leading” the meeting, learn to facilitate the session. Instead of making statements, ask questions. Instead of raising objections, ask more questions.
Be your own constructive critic. Are you talking too much? Are you holding back? Are you listening to understand? What would you say about you if you were sitting across the table from yourself?
Wrap up each meeting with a group evaluation. With everyone contributing, decide what went right during the session, what could’ve gone better, and what should be done differently the next time. Commit to one or two practical improvements.
Cut down on those meeting minutes. An hour-long meeting should yield a page or two of notes at the most, and these should be circulated no more than two days after the meeting. Use them to keep track of major discussion points, decisions, and assignments.

Have you any extra tips to add to the checklist? What works for you? How do you avoid time-wasting meetings?

Spread The Risk – The Change Maker Winter Check-List

August 25, 2016 by Malcolm Gallagher Leave a Comment

As I write this, there’s glorious sunshine here in Northumberland and I’m about to be asking you to think about planning for Winter!!

However time marches on and before you know it, the snow, ice, rain, floods cold and slush could affect your business. Change Makers plan ahead which is why they are winners. Below you’ll find my 7 part Change Maker check list to help you spread the risk of winter hurting your business.

Watching the TV news of the floods in many parts of the UK (my home city of Carlisle has suffered badly over the last years and my mother has now been flooded 3 times) just think of the disruption to local businesses. And then think of the knock-on effect with power outages, road and rail lines blocked, staff unable to get to work, customers that can’t be contacted.

Now think of the impact of winter on your business -it’s enough to make you shudder with the cold of it!

It needn’t be a disaster for your business.

Work through the winter 7 check list and you should be able to effectively plan to minimise risk by anticipating how bad weather could impact the various areas of your business and its activity.

To-day customers are also asking their suppliers what they are doing about planning for bad weather to ensure continuity of supply and service. This check-list exercise could help you both win and keep and customers – especially if your competitors have taken no action, made no changes!

The Change Maker “watch phrases” that come from the check-list are:

Increase your resilience
Plan for continuity
Make it a team effort

The 7 part Change Makers check list

Don’t wait –plan now

Depending when and where you are reading this, it may already be too late! The TV weather-lady may already be giving you a weather warning! But doing something is better than doing nothing so get on with determining a strategy that will help you protect your business and make it resilient.

Here are your prompts to consider:

What do we do that is essential to keeping our business going? Is there any of that activity we could time-shift or postpone in the vent of bad weather?

What do we need to think about regarding our people? Who are the most vulnerable to weather because of their location, health or other factor? What’s the least amount of people we need to provide our essential services and keep us going?

Are we capable of remote working?

Is there the possibility that, if weather is really bad, your people could work from home or even another base? This doesn’t mean you are going to encourage staff to stay at home but it does mean that you understand and have considered the resources and processes needed for remote working and how it can be both managed and controlled.

Your prompts to consider are:

Are our people equipped to work from home, both in access to technology and also in knowing how to do it and what they will do? Where are our concerns?

What work could our people do from home or take home to do it? Are we putting ourselves at any risk here with documentation leaving the office?

How can we turn working from home into an advantage for us and get good productivity from say them having “away time for planning? Where is our upside?

Are our I.T. systems and processes truly in place so that people can get access to information and also share and work collaboratively?

Customers are key

The way you care for customers and maintain service to them in times of bad weather will form their opinion of you for years to come. Look after them well and they will be loyal – forget about them and they’ll soon forget about you!

This part of the check-list is all about communication with customer s- talking to them in advance about any adverse weather preparations that may be necessary.

Your prompts to consider are:

With which of our customers do we have strict service level agreements (SLA’s) where we could experience severe penalties if we don’t meet standards. What do we need to discuss with them?

How can we use technology to maintain customer service? Have we considered:

A web portal with updated information and also with the ability for customer service calls to be logged and responded to by staff working remotely

Do our key customers have the mobile and home numbers of their key account managers?

How will our customers judge us during this bad weather? How tolerant will they be and how can we WOW them?

Our people are important

It goes without saying that the health and safety of staff should be a prime consideration. But it is essential to set down some ground rules, not because staff may abuse the “bad weather opportunity” but because they may be too diligent and put themselves at unnecessary risk.

Here are some prompts:

Have we communicated to our people what we expect from them during bad weather? Are they clear about our expectations from them? Have we written it down for them?

Have we set up systems so they can sensibly judge if travel is necessary and know how to re-schedule any visit?

Do our people know and have easy access to other members of the team who may be able to make a visit in place of the existing contact?

If they can’t reach a customer, do staff have other work they can do that is productive for the company?

If staff have to travel in bad weather, have we given them guidance on aspects such as adequate winter clothing and back-up elements such as blankets and drinks. Are we truly showing we care?

Have we instructed staff in how to plan changes to routes and allow for longer time. Do they know how to access up to date information such as using the AA site at www.theaa.com

Have we communicated our policy on absence “due to circumstances beyond our control” to our staff so that they know exactly our policy of pay in times of bad weather. Have we considered all aspects of the impact of employment legislation?

Our equipment and premises are fundamental

In tougher times with tighter budgets, it can be easy to overlook essential things such as vehicle or plant servicing. And so just when you need it most comes the let down!

Here are some prompts:

Have all our vehicles had full winter servicing including any necessary changes such as winter tyres?

Have we got adequate power back-up for our systems and places? What will happen if we have a long-term power loss? Have we had our stand-by generators serviced?

Are we happy with our IT back-up systems? Are we making good use of “the cloud” back up which can also help with remote working?

Have we looked at possible winter weather damage to our premises, including flooding and even tree damage?

Have we discussed with our IT team what contingencies may be necessary and ensured that any vital equipment or paperwork is not exposed to risk?

Our suppliers

You only have to consider the impact of the tsunami in Japan in 2011, to realise the impact on a business of a key supplier being unable to deliver. It is therefore sensible to consider your suppliers in your winter planning.

Here are your prompts:

Which of our suppliers are essential to our continuity? What would happen if they were unable to deliver?

Have we got a list of alternative suppliers if our prime suppliers let us down? If we need them in an emergency, how are they likely to deal with us on pricing?

Are we happy with our stock control and that we have sufficient levels of stock to see us through any adverse weather period? How will we monitor those stock levels so that we are not over-buying but also not running out?

Have we protected ourselves

Insurance can often be seen as a grudge purchase and it can be tempting to under-insure. Other governance aspects can also leave the business open to risk.

Have we recently examined our insurance policies and checked the small print to see that we are adequately covered? Are there any areas where we are exposed?

Have we considered how we will meet all governance and compliance issues in the event of bad weather? Statutory bills still need to be paid (e.g. HMRC) along with staff wages.

The way a business responds to bad weather can often be a good indicator as to how well it is managed and how well it is led.

The Winter 7 Check-List is not meant to be comprehensive but instead to prompt your thinking in key areas helping you be a more professional supplier and a resilient business.

How to handle them when they ask for a discount

August 25, 2016 by Malcolm Gallagher Leave a Comment

With tougher times comes bigger demands from customers for more substantial price reductions. All too often, and out of fear or desperation, suppliers yield and drop their prices. Often to below profitable levels, writes Malcolm Gallagher of BizVision

Here’s how to resist those price cut demands and turn then tables on your customer. Let’s start with how you handle discount requests.

When someone asks you for a discount, what do you do? Do you just give them a discount?

If you give in here’s what happens

If you give in or yield, then your prospect is going to think one of several things:

You seem desperate for the sale.
I wonder how far you will lower your price and maybe I should have asked for an even bigger discount.
The price you originally offered was not the real price. Are you trying to trick me? Can I really trust you?
You don’t set a very high value on your own services and products if you are prepared to discount so quickly.
You agree your price is too high. This is a problem.
Next time I come to buy anything from you, I’ll ask for a discount again – an even bigger one.

Just giving a discount sends the complete wrong message and has a significant impact on whether your prospect trusts you or not.

Plus giving a discount can cost you the sale or get you a sale you regret later.

So what must you do instead of just giving a discount?

Instead of just giving a discount when asked for one, turn the whole conversation around and go for a higher priced sale. I know this is counter intuitive but it is not that hard to do and it works.

Next time you’re asked for a discount, what if you could increase your sale by 10%? What if you could in fact double the price of your sale? What would be the revenue value to you?