DEVELOPINGNEWSALES:BUILDINGGOODHABITS ABOUTTHEAGILITY&SUPPLYCHAINMANAGEMENTCENTRE TheAgility&SupplyChainCentreconsistsofateamofspecialistsinoperationsmanagement,manufacturing processimprovement,newproductdevelopment,andmarketingbasedwithinthemanagementschoolat TheUniversityofLiverpool.TheCentrewassetupinJanuary2000whenitwasinitiallyfundedfortwoyears fromtheeuobjectiveoneprogrammeformerseyside.thecentreinitiallyhadaremittoassistlocalsme sin themanufacturingsectortogrowtheirbusinessesusingthetoolsandtechniquesassociatedwithagility.the centredevelopedanimplementationframeworkwhichcomprisedasetofauditingandplanningtoolsthat guidecompaniesthroughtheagilityadoptionstages.youcancallthecentreon01517953641. DEVELOPINGGOODMARKETINGHABITS Thisinformationsheetisintendedtomakeyouthinkseriouslyabouthowtogrowyourbusiness.To dothis,youshouldbestructuredinyourapproachandorganiseyourlearningsothatyoudevelop goodhabits.anexampleofhowgoodmarketinghabitscanbedevelopedisgivenbelow. MARKETINGHABITBUILDER Learning new marketing skills does not come easily. On average it takes around 20 days for an actiontolodgeitselfintothesubconscious,suchthatabehaviourbecomesahabit. If you commit to actions you will be surprised how your marketing skills will develop over time. Hence,commityourselftodevelopatleastONEmarketinghabiteveryweekorso. Example: Problem:Ineedtomakenewcustomersawarethatweexist Action:EverydayIwillcommitonehourtotelephoningnewpotentialcustomers
MARKETINGHABITBUILDER IWILLDEVELOPTHEFOLLOWINGNEWMARKETINGHABITOVERTHENEXTMONTH: THEBENEFITSOFDEVELOPINGTHISNEWMARKETINGHABITARELIKELYTOBE: HEREEXACTLYARETHEACTIONSIWILLTAKETODEVELOPTHENEWHABIT: THEIMPORTANCEOFGOALSETTINGFORYOURBUSINESS Mostofusknowthatgoalsareimportant,butwhyaretheysoimportant?Thetruthis,without themwewouldneveradvanceinasystematicway.goalsarewhatenableustomakethejump fromoneleveltoanother,ortogofromnothavingtohaving.butwhyisitthatsometimesweseta goalandstickwithit,andatothertimeswesetgoalsandaccomplishwhatwesetouttoachieve? Theanswerliesinsettinggoalsthatarestructured,attainableandfocused. Good goalsaretheonesthatarefeasibleandmotivateustotakeaction,whilstpoorgoalscan makeusfeeloverwhelmedandmayactuallypreventustakingaction.sohowcanwemakesure thatwearesettinggoodgoalsandnotbadones?thereareafewkeycharacteristicsof good goals.thesecharacteristicsare:specific,writtendown,visualized,achievable,timeconstrained, manageable,identifiesproblems,minimisesconsequences,andultimatelyyieldsrewards. Specific A"good"goalsaysexactlywhatwewanttoaccomplishandleavesnoroomforquestioningwhatwe wanttheendresulttobe.beingspecificinourgoalsettinggivesusafinishlinetoaimfor,thatway wedon tlosesightoftheendalongtheway.beingspecificalsokeepsusfromturningouroriginal goalsintoanother,easiergoal.forexample,ifwesay wewanttoincreaseoverallcompanysales byx%thisquarter thenthatisourobviousgoal.but,ifweweretostateourgoalas wewantto increasesalesbyx%thisquarter withtheintentoffocusingoncompanysales,thenattheendof thequarterifwedidn treachourgoalwecouldalwayschangeourgoalbysaying weincreased departmenta ssalesbythedesiredx%soweaccomplishedourgoal.
WrittenDown Whileitmayseemtrivialtowritedownyourgoals,itisactuallyveryimportant.Wecanall daydreamandwishthatsomethingwouldhappen,butuntilwetakeactionourdreamswillneverbe realised.adaydreamorawishisnotagoal,anditdoesn tbecomeagoaluntilitiscommittedto. Afterithasbeenwrittendownandrecognised,thenitcanbecommittedtoandcalledagoal. Visualised Weneedtobeabletoseeourselvesachievingourgoals.Wehavetopicturetheresult,the moment,andourfeelings.muchofourenergyforreachinggoalscomesfromthedesiretoattain them.usually,themorewedesiresomething,theharderwewillworktowardachievingit.takefor exampleasalesmanwhohaswonseveral salesmanoftheyearawards. Heaccomplisheshissales goalsbyvisualizinghisawardofreceivingtheplaqueandwinningthetripeachyear.heseeshimself walkingacrossthestage,beingcongratulatedbytheceo,andenjoyinghismomentinthespotlight. Wheneverheishavingaslowdayhecanvisualisetheresulthewantsanditwillrenewhisenergy. Achievable Goalsshouldreallysetouttochallengeourskillsandabilities,withoutdiscouragingoureffortand performance.forexample,whenimplementingaqualitymanagementprogram,companiesdonot usuallytargetaprestigiousandwell knownawardastheirfirstgoal.instead,theyestablishless stringentqualitygoalsatfirstsothatworkteamscanexperiencesuccessinreachingthosemore realisticgoals.ascompetency,success,andconfidencegrows,workteamsmaythendecideto stretchforthehighergoal. Time Constrained Goalsneedaschedule.Wearemorelikelytotakeactionwhenwesetarealistictimeframefor accomplishingourgoals.weshouldscheduleenoughtimetoreachthegoal,butnotsomuchtime thatweloseinterestinit.amuchhigherpercentageofpeoplemeettheirgoalswhentheyrecord theirspecificintentionsandplaceatimeconstraintsonthem. Manageable Sometimesagoalcanseemoverwhelmingbecauseofitssize.Butifitisdividedintosmaller components,thenitbecomeseasiertomanageandisachievable.ifyouweretotellyoursales peoplethatyouwantthemtobringin60newcustomersthisyearthismaysoundunrealistic.butif wethinkofitintermsof5newcustomerseachmonth,thenthegoalismoremanageable. IdentifiesProblems Asweestablishgoals,weshouldconsiderthestepsthatmustbetakentoaccomplishthem..We needtoanalyzethegoalforpotentialproblemsthatmightgetinourway.criticalthinkinghelpsus coveralltheanglesandstayonthepathtowardachievingourgoals.
MinimisesConsequences Thisisthefollow throughforidentifyingpotentialproblems.atthispointweidentifytheaction requiredtoremovethecauseoftheproblemorminimiseitsconsequences.someproblems, however,canbedealtwithbyminimizingtheirimpact.forexample,inmanufacturingthereisoften apotentialforequipmentbreakdown.theconsequencescanbeeasilybeminimisedbyadoptinga scheduledmaintenanceprogramme. YieldsRewards Westaymotivatedtoworktowardourgoalswhenweknowanddesiretheresultingrewards, whatevertheymaybe.asweestablisheachgoal,weshouldidentifyatleastonemeaningfulreward forourselves.itmaybemoney,recognitionorthequietpleasurewefeelforajobwelldone. HOWTOWRITEGOALS Asstatedpreviously,itisimportantthatwemakeourgoalsSMART(specific,reasonable,achievable, andmeasurable).whatfollowsaresomeexamplesofsmartgoals: Examples: Bad Iwilllearnhowtodesignandwriteanewsletter Good ByDecember15th,Iwillbeabletodesignandwriteregularnewslettersfor**** Bad Iwillevaluatetheeffectivenessof*******advertising. Good ByMarch20th,Iwillfabricate,duplicate,distribute,evaluate,andproduceareportonthe effectivenessofouradvertising. Bad Iwillincrease******salesalot. Good BytheendofJuly2008,Iwillincrease********salesrevenueby5%. STEPSTOWRITINGGOALS WHATDOYOUWANTTOACCOMPLISH? Example:Iwanttorevisethecurrentofficefilingsystemsowecanachieveamoreefficientmethod ofhandling,storing,andretrievingrecords. Example:Ialsowanttoincreasesalesby10%withinthreemonthstime. HOWAREYOUGOINGTOACCOMPLISHIT? Knowexactlywhatstepsyouwilltaketoaccomplishyourobjective.Whichactivitieswillyoudo? Howwillyouacquirethelearning?Underwhatconditionswillthelearningoccur?
Example:Iamgoingtoexperimentwiththreesalestechniques;keepajournaloftheresultsfortwo weeks,andthendeterminewhichisthebestonetouse. Example:Iwillresearchthevariousmethodsoffilingsystemsavailableforimplementation HOWWILLYOUMEASUREYOUROBJECTIVE? Whatevidencewillyouhavetodemonstratethatlearninghastakenplace?Whatcriteriawillbe usedtoevaluateyourevidence? Example:Myperformancewillbejudgedbymysalesrecord. Example:Itwillalsobejudgedbytheacceptanceandimplementationofanewlyrevisedfiling systemthatcontainsmyideas. Thefollowingexampleisagoalthatwassetusingallofthesesteps: ByDecember1st,Iwill increasesalesby10%.forthefirsttwoweeksofthesemesteriwillexperimentwiththreesales techniquesandkeepajournaloftheresultstodeterminethebestonetouse.myperformancewill bejudgedbymysalesrecord. DEVELOPINGACTIONPLANS Actionplansareveryusefulbecausetheyprovideanincentivetoaction.Whereactualnamesand duedatesexistthenthisisevenbetter.themorerigorousyouareaboutassigningactionsanddue datesthemorelikelythatjobswillactuallybedone. Whendevelopingyourmarketingstrategyyoushouldbespecificaboutwhatyouactualgoalis.You shouldthenthinkaboutwhatstrategiesyoumightadopttoachievethis.anexampleactionplan relatedtodevelopingnewsalesisgivenbelow. Newcustomersalescampaign Goal Task1 Cost estimate Timelineto completion Whois responsible Evaluation measure