So what does it take to get a business running at full steam? Should you consider training or is there an alternative to baring your soul?
• Do you want to get more profit from your business?
• Do you want to make business easier and less stressful?
• Do you want customers to be happy?
• Do you want to build your organization?
• Do you want to let someone else take the load?
• Do you want to take vacation time?
• Do you want to work fewer hours?
• Do you want to choose when you want to work?
• Do you want to take the time to plan your goals for the future?
• Do you want to determine your own destiny?
The business keeps changing; with new techniques and guidelines so you can improve yourself, be happier, more focused, etc., but for most it just doesn’t make sense. So much effort and little reward. Take a minute to consider why you started in the first place. Your dreams, ambitions and goals seemed almost within reach, but why has it become so extensive, so technical? The business used to be simpler, but now in order to compete, the business owner must be multi-skilled and highly competent. If not, you are destined to endure a frustrating business life.
Work practices, internet, technology, public relations and marketing, and sales require significant awareness.
Work practices now include:
• Home workers
• Remote Workers
• Network Offices
Marketing and public relations:
• Internet
• Public relations news services
• Blogs
• Electronic journals
•Search engine optimization
• Websites
• e-books
• Web chat
• Video
Sales:
• Telecommunications
• VoIP
• Software, CRM
• Contact centers
All of the above practices require a new integrated knowledge of technology and technique, one cannot function properly without the other.
Many people wouldn’t know that search engine optimization could have an effect on the number of people you talk to over the Internet, not just in browsers, or that a company could broaden its expertise by employing staff in other countries while maintaining your current base in your home country, even phone calls can be transferred free of charge to anywhere in the world. The boundaries have been broken and now there are none.
To compete we must all use the resources that our competition has at its disposal, however, “the one who is most creative” wins. Today we have to understand that this is the technology that will prevail and help our success. We all need to make sure that the systems we use can work together and that they can be maximized for our benefit. This should be the paramount factor that all companies should pursue.
Technology was designed to make our lives easier and help us earn money. Most businesses have a website, a phone system, and a computer network. A few tweaks can help any business thrive. The skill is in combining technology to create a business process and achieve success as a manager and motivator of people.
typical training
Business, executive and corporate coaching has expanded in the last 10 years to become a multi-billion dollar industry. It is possible to do coaching sessions at work, at home or even in vacation destinations and some, not so welcoming, like boot camps. But, nevertheless, coaching is here to stay. But does typical training mean admitting defeat or does it mean you’re ready to take your business to the next level?
Either way, when it comes to coaching, the business owner must expose a lot of information about himself and his business. This presents the situation that the prevailing problems in the business are due, at first sight, to the personality of the owner and his business acumen.
Business Systems
Perhaps it is due to the personalities that the business is experiencing problems for, however, there is one important factor that is never analyzed or reviewed, and that is technology. This is mainly due to a lack of experience in this field and I mean a combined awareness of technology and how it affects business processes.
Every business man or woman is expected to be fully aware of all the connotations and implications of technology, regardless of their background. What makes matters worse is that many companies are practically ashamed of not buying new technology and the common excuse is that the company is too busy or not bothering to research new equipment. This negative relationship between “business and technology” will continue as there is no express correlation between weighing the business process alongside the technology process. The problem seems to start quite early in life, ie at school. IT studies and business studies are two separate GCSE qualifications, however in reality the crossover is immense.
One only has to look at the role of the IT Manager; his job description states that he should ensure the smooth running of IT systems etc. It doesn’t say that he should come up with financial solutions to business problems, nor does it say that he should redefine the organization’s business processes to increase profitability—if he did, the IT manager would be running the business! I accept that large organizations may have IT managers who are capable of performing such a task, however, in general, smaller companies do not have staff who are capable of performing such a task simply due to inexperience.
Our opinion is that before a company decides to employ the services of a business, executive or corporate trainer, they first review their technology. There are many beneficial reasons for doing this, however perhaps the main one is that the emotional strain of admitting or accepting that there is a personal problem can be difficult to accept.
Technology has no feelings!
If a company can be sure that their technology is working at the optimal level along with productivity and performance, then it can be a great opportunity to take their business to a new level by engaging an executive or corporate coach. Consider the following:
• According to Vodafone, not replying to an email within two hours can cost a business £18,000 a year.
• Home workers 21% more productive than office workers.
• Technology training increases knowledge by 21%, minimizes errors and saves approximately 1 hour per day.
• Integrated solutions, ie CRM, phone systems and contact software can increase productivity by up to 100% or more.
The statistics are endless on ROI related to technology and training, however the only person the entrepreneur should trust for advice and information is a salesperson, selling their product for their goals!
Over the years a mutual distrust has developed between those who know and those who need to know, that is, the seller and the customer. Because of this distrust, there is a reluctance on the part of the business owner to investigate the possibilities of the technology due to (a) no one has enough experience or time and (b) a reluctance to believe the vendor.
There needs to be a general change in the approach of providers. While this would be difficult at first, there is a win-win scenario. The buyer can see the benefits, and the seller increases their introduction stats (ie, the more people introduce, the more likely they are to connect with someone who wants to buy).
If there is no change in the relationship, the long-term impact of poor and uninformed decisions will prevail.
It has been said many times that the rise of technology is neither different nor dissimilar to that of the industrial revolution, and today this means that organizations must continue to absorb the importance of technology in affecting financial results.
Technology Performance Coaching
As mentioned above, there is an expectation that business owners know what technology can do and how to implement and merge it into a business process. A rather difficult task if no training ever takes place. It is a well-known fact that training an individual is far more effective than simply doing the job on someone else’s behalf. Therefore, understanding the benefits of coaching is an important part of business life and is becoming more and more important.
Before settling on a course of action involving executive and corporate coaching, first look for businesses that are capable of evaluating their technology infrastructure. A technology coaching organization should be able to provide your business with a formulated and structured approach to evaluating systems and those who use them, combined with supporting recommendations on how to improve performance and productivity.
It may seem like a new thought, but taking a holistic approach to technology is the first step to ensuring maximum performance. It also ensures that your business processes are in order before you feel like you need personal training.
Creating a work-life balance means you can prioritize and manage your workload. If your technology is bringing you down, you will never be able to separate/differentiate between the different issues you are experiencing and the factors that can help your business change.