Tara Landes

Hey Darren, you’re best to start with very specific goals, evaluate all of the alternatives for achieving them (blogging being one) and then deciding. I started the blog for a very specific and non-SEO reason, and I’d say I didn’t really accomplish it. So I’m not a huge fan, but I’ll give it more time. It can be time consuming and depends on your goals. For marketing, my permission based mailchimp has been much more productive, and I use the articles I write on my wordpress website to improve SEO. Happy to talk to you about it further off line.

People spend a lot of time and money staging their houses for sale….much more than their business.

The first house we owned was just off the Danforth in Toronto and was built in 1916. The previous owner was born in the house and died in it too - a “fixer upper” with lots of “potential”. The kitchen had no cabinetry. The flooring was original. So was the wiring. But the windows were clean and framed the view of hydrangeas in full bloom in the back yard. And the realtor did something very clever to sell this house. On the dining room table, he displayed interior photos of the house two doors down. Identical to ours on the outside, but completely renovated on the inside. It was easy for us to picture our lives in that house.

When staging your business for sale, highlight the intrinsic value, of course. Just don’t forget to paint the picture of potential - what the business just like yours in a different locale has been able to accomplish. People want to buy potential.

Have you ever said any of the following?

• Our staff are the reason our customers love us
• People are our most important asset
• One of the best things about our company is the culture

Yes? Then finding, motivating and retaining people is the single most important success factor for your business. The rest can fall into place with great people. So if you don’t know the best practices for recruiting, learn them. If motivation is confusing get training. If you have a retention problem (retaining the wrong ones or losing the right ones) fix it quickly. And if you’re great at all of these things but your managers aren’t then run, don’t walk, to get them up to speed. 

A word on outsourcing your core competency (people): Don’t use a recruiter unless you have a very specific and well defined or very low level box to fill. They typically don’t have access to the A-players of the small business world. If a recruiter can fill your company with great people, then those people aren’t going to make you unique for much longer.

A sales meeting should be as valuable for the sales people as it is for you, their manager. If you hold the meeting to update you, without giving them something in return, stop wasting everyone’s time.

1.  Work Smart: Always complete a comprehensive “submit/don’t submit” check with everyone involved before proceeding.
2. Follow a Strong Process: Ensure the RFP response is managed efficiently and effectively. Appoint an executive sponsor and a project lead for the response to create accountability and ensure deliverables are met. Rushed or last minute responses are never as strong.   
3. Be Concise and Clear: format your response to mirror the RFP exactly. Answer all the sections completely but never “pad.” Have the final version edited, and be sure its appearance is professional.
4. Be Compelling: identify all the competitive advantages that will make your response stand out and be the winner. Make a clear case. Be persuasive.
5. Keep Score and Always Learn: maintain a scorecard of your company’s RFP response successes rates. Take debriefs (even on the phone) whether you win or lose and share the learning with your team so your next response will be even stronger. 

If you win everything you respond to AND you make money on it, stop reading. Do you ever wonder, though, what your competitors’ proposals look like? Everyone wonders about the price, of course, but if the prices and specs are about equal is there a way to tip the scales in your favor?

The quick answer is no. There is no one way, there are dozens of ways. A benchmarking of your company’s proposal process would allow you to quickly ascertain which best practices you are using and to what degree. Which will effectively teach you your competitors secrets…at least the secrets of your competitors that are winning business.

I was speaking to the a president of a family business recently who said:

“When my dad retired, he just walked away. This one Monday, he didn’t show up. Again, on Tuesday, no dad. Then Wednesday, another no show. Totally unlike him. Finally, on Thursday, I called him and said, ‘So are you coming in today?’ and he said, ‘I don’t really feel like coming in any more.’ And he never did again.”

Clearly this was not a “best practice” delegation plan. But it’s astonishing how often people hand off tasks with little warning or no instructions on how to complete them. When you delegate, and not just big responsibilities like running the whole company but smaller tasks too, you don’t just walk away and hope it will all just happen without you. Always hand off tasks through controlled delegation. Here’s how:

1.   Communicate verbally what you want done. Be clear about the frequency of the task and the process they must follow. Example:

“Sue, I’m only going to check the daily sales stats weekly, but I want to make sure that you do it daily. What I look for are these three factors. They allow me to follow up on the specific accounts that are weak. You may already be doing this too, but I want to reinforce that I’m not going to do it anymore so there will be no double check. Can you take this on?”

2.   Get them to restate in writing what you said (to make sure they understood your instruction). Revise if necessary.

Email: “Sue, today I mentioned I’m not reviewing daily stats any more. Please email a quick outline of how you will do it, how often, and what you’ll look to confirm we’re on the same page.”

3.   Officially make it their duty by updating their job description.

4.   Check in with tight frequency to see how it’s going. Make adjustments.

5.   Taper off the check ins.

Controlled delegation is an important management tool. The more you use it, the more time you will gain back and be able to do the things that are really important, the things that only you can do.

A common internal language for your company can shortcut communication and take discussions to much deeper levels faster than you dreamed. Where I work, we do business in English, but have our own words as well.

“Don’t WUCIS me on that.”

“I E.P. Beaver’ed but messed up the verify.”

“We missed the morning call. What happened?”

Anyone who has worked for us (and most of their significant others) know exactly what those phrases mean and not just technically. There is an emotional resonance associated with these words built over time and consistent application.

You probably have your own set of words as well. “Meeting,” for example. 

“Tom called a meeting for Tuesday” or

“I had a first meeting with the new prospect” or

“The operations meeting was really productive”.

Consider not just your personal definition of the word, but also the emotional response the words generate in others. If I interviewed 10 people in your company, how would they describe a “meeting” in your world?

If you get asked for an impromptu on camera interview, as I did here, remember to look at the interviewer. They, in turn should stand close to the camera so that it looks like you are almost looking at the audience. 

And if you can manage it, get a much shorter camera man. Because I’m much taller than that - the guy holding the camera was about 7’!

If they are asking you to speak to the audience directly, then look directly into the camera. Here’s a piece I did for the Vancouver Sun: “How to give a company address.”

There was a very big decision to make yesterday. As with most big decisions, I sought my husband’s counsel. “Do I begin the 5th book in the Game of Thrones series tonight, or should I finish my book club selection Crucial Conversations?” Sorry MRSI. You’ll just have to wait until the 15th for my thoughts on Conversations. Tyrion awaits! Such an imp…..

20 - 40 year olds, take note! Every so often, an owner grabs my arm and furtively pleads, “I need a succession plan. Now. Help me. Now!” 

In case you’ve been hiding in a media-free cave, the Boomers are turning 65 this year, having waited a decade already for the promised “Freedom 55.” The markets have them sticking around in their jobs longer than anyone thought, but a transition of power to the next generation is inevitable (Prince Charles being the exception that makes the rule).

If you were born after 1965, very soon you will be busy at work (not enough people to fill those senior roles), likely stretched from your comfort zone (you won’t have all that experience to fall back on), managing those tech-savvy millennials, paying more for your house than your grandparents could have possibly imagined and knowing, knowing, that retirement is a long way off.

Ask yourself:

1. How can I build my career to transition to part time work later in life?

2. What am I doing today to protect myself from burnout?

3. If I am fortunate enough to have enough money to retire, do I also have enough hobbies to keep me entertained?

Today I’m emceeing a technology conference. Between speakers, I’m offering tips on how to network at events such as these – always tricky, particularly if you don’t already know someone.

 Don’t be an “elevator” person just there to pitch people. Build meaningful karmic networks and reap the rewards.   

PS: Take 30 seconds to customize the LinkedIn invitation. The generic ones are forgettable at best, insulting at worst.

Off to a conference? Approach it with this level of enthusiasm. If you’re doing something, DO IT.

In Mastering Crucial Conversations (our MRSI book club pick) they recommend you be simultaneously 100% honest and 100% respectful. A tall order in emotionally charged situations, I suspect, and requiring a degree of self-awareness across the table.

Well run one-on-one meetings motivate, focus efforts, resolve issues before they become problems, and keep everyone informed at the requisite level of detail. There is no simple substitution for a one-on-one, yet managers avoid them. “Too time consuming,” “too stilted,” “I talk to them all the time anyway,”…there are lots of reasons. Here’s the minimum requirement:

Five minutes, every second day. It can be a stand up meeting at the water cooler or popping your head in their door. The agenda:

1. What are you working on this week?
2. Any roadblocks?
3. Any notables from yesterday?

Ideally, you then scribble some quick notes so you can follow up on what they said for the next go ‘round. Try it for a couple of weeks and let me know how it goes.

The first house we owned was just off the Danforth in Toronto and was built in 1916. The previous owner was born in the house and died in it too – a “fixer upper” with lots of “potential”. The kitchen had no cabinetry. The flooring was original. So was the wiring. But the windows were clean and portrayed the hydrangeas in full bloom in the back yard. And the realtor did something very clever to sell this house. On the dining room table, he displayed photos of the house two doors down. Identical to ours on the outside, but completely renovated on the inside. It was easy for us to see what we could do and what our lives would be in that house.

When staging your business for sale, highlight the value you have instilled, of course, but also demonstrate what it could be - what the business that does just what yours does but in a different locale has been able to accomplish. People don’t just buy value. They buy the dream. They buy potential. 

Well hello. To get things moving over here, we have decided, at MRSI, to form a book club. Reading the latest business books is important for us as management consultants, but, let’s admit it, finding the time can be hard. Enter (re-enter?) Ashley’s book club. We are encouraged by the work of Chris Taylor over at Actionable books, and will begin by tackling his latest recommendation:  Crucial Conversations: tools for talking when stakes are high. Chris gives a wonderful intro to the book here. 

So, give us a little time to read it, and we’ll be back in full force to discuss.