Some of you will have heard about SMART Goals and how the formula helps guides us when we are in the process of goal setting. As we all have different goals to each other even in a family; each member will probably have many different goals to each other.

The same applies to company employees all having different goals and aspirations, not everyone wants to be the CEO….phew that’s good if you are a CEO…a bit more job security. In a business sense a company will have goals and objectives as set out in its business plan and in most cases the smart goals principals will have been adopted

A company can then use smart goals to align individual employees goals to the business plan/goals thus encouraging employees to commit to higher levels of productiveity. Potenial win/win for both the company and employee as long as the company and personal goals can be aligned.  

Whether you are setting goals for a personal or a professional aplication using the smart goals process is an excellent option.The acronym SMART has a number of slightly different variations, which can be used to provide a more comprehensive definition for goal setting:

S – specific, significant, stretching

M – measurable, meaningful, motivational

A – achievable, acceptable, action-oriented, agreed upon, attainable

R – realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented

T – time-based, timely, tangible, trackable

Below is an overview of how the orginal smart goals concept as first introduced by George T. Doran in the November 1981 issue of Management Review

Using the Six W’s defines for

Who:      Who is involved?
What:     What do I want to accomplish?
Where:    Identify a location.
When:     Establish a time frame.
Which:    Identify requirements and constraints.
Why:      Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

Specific

• Using the Six W’s provides well defined description of the goal

Measurable

• Lets you knew if you are hitting the defined achievement or mile stone by the dates set in the goal statement often these are referred to as key performance indicators.
• Questions like how much, how many, how long, will indicate if the goal is measurable.  

Achievable

• Goals which are perceived as not being achievable will generally not be attempted. There will be no real commitment for goals which are to far out of reach.
• Having a goal which is a bit of a stretch is healthy as recent research suggests we tend to get motivated and respond to a challenge. 

Realistic

As realistic goals are very similar to achievable most definitions of Smart Goals refer to the R as relevant.

Realistic: a goal can be considered achievable, however if a team has several projects on the go at the same time, it might be therefore be deemed as unrealistic to expect a team or an individual to undertake an additional goal or project with the current work load. Or there maybe unrealistic costs associated with the execution of certain goals.

Relevant: Goals must tie in with the business plan and vision of a company otherwise a lot of activity will be futile and end up costing time and money which could have been employed gainfully within the business.

Time Based

Goals have a start date and a finish date, additionaly there may be mile stones or events in between the start and finish dates which should also have a date attached.

By Steven Hudson

0411 051 633

steven.hudson@tenbyintl.com.au

One of the biggest challenges companies will be facing in the short to medium term is keeping talented staff.

As employee’s become more confident about job opportunities there will be a mind shift from “I want to be secure in my job…..to…….I want to investigate what opportunities are out there”.

Most of us when thinking about staff retention it is all about earning capacity, while this is important it is not the main motivation for someone to start looking for new employment opportunities. 

When we look and try to understand the reason why people leave an organization we get a better insight how to retain talented staff. 

1. Lack of communication
2. Downsizing or restructuring
3. Sought new challenges or opportunities
4. Ineffective leadership
5. Poor relationship with manager
6. Privacy invasion
7. To improve work/life balance
8. Contributions to the company were not valued
9. Better compensation and benefits  
10. Unmet expectations
11. Harassment and discrimination
12. Mismatch skills
13. Lack of coaching and feedback
14. Limited growth opportunities
15. Bullying
16. Feeling unrecognized or devalued
17. Overworked
18. Loss of confidence in senior leaders
19. Inadequate compensation
20. Boredom

This is an interesting list when the number one reason people leave is due to lack of communication is an easy fix. Considering the number one asset a company will have is its employees, how much time is your company investing in real communications with you employees?

By Steven Hudson

0411 051 633

Steven.hudson@Tenbyintl.com.au

As a salesperson understanding why people buy is the most fundamental skill you can have. When we first start to think of why people buy there seem to be endless possibilities however when you examine the reasons which come to mind they can be put into two main categories and they are Needs and Wants.

Typically, many purchases are initiated by a need, for instance we buy food and clothing to satisfy our basic human needs for survival. However when we come to selecting the type of product or even the brand the decision are based on other factors, usually we want to satisfy an emotion.

So we can summaries here by saying we buy based on emotion, i.e. wants and justify the purchase logically based on needs.

Drilling down to uncover the needs of a prospect is vitally important for example if you are a sales person selling whitegoods and you have a prospect walking through your store looking at the fridges you have on the floor, it would be an advantage to you to know why they need a fridge, if their current refrigerator has just broken down you would know in most cases they would need to replace their refrigerator that day. This knowledge could minimize objections such as price or availability.

Similarly if you are selling to a business have an understanding of their needs creates a picture of how that company operates and what requirements your product or service will need to have. We refer to these requirements as functions and features, the prospect will use these functions and particularly the features of your product or service to justify the purchase logically.

Once a prospect has been convinced that the product or service you are pitching fulfils all the needs there also has to be an emotional fulfilment, some emotional value returned to the purchaser, we call this the Benefits of the product or service, i.e. what’s in it for ME.

To move a prospect to a purchaser in the buying process we have to understand their buying motives, in summary there are three basic buying motives called the “Three P’s”.

1. Peace of Mind
2. Prestige
3. Profit

Peace of Mind- The reason most buyers search for peace of mind is based is the influence of fear and there are two basic fears a prospect has when they are making the decision to buy and they are; 

1. Fear of Change
2. Fear of making the wrong decision

These two fears come in all shape and sizes; different paper work, will have to speak to different people and they may have to explain the changes to their work colleagues. When purchasing electronic equipment we fear the new item might not be compatible with our current equipment hence we could make the wrong decision.

In a business situation a wrong decision could be a career defining moment, so our future could be on the line if we get wrong. A big motivation to not do anything. So as a sales person you need to remove any fear a prospect may have and deliver peace of mind by selling the function, features and benefits of your product or service.

 Prestige- When we think prestige we are talking about good image, professionalism, impressing our clients with the right address or a great view over the bay or a great reception area. On a individual level expensive watch, new suit which has a great cut and is made of fine material, new hair cut……In my case a good polish. All the things that create a good first impression and separate you from the rest of the pack.

 Profit- The purpose of any company is to remain in business, and one of the ingredients to achieve this is for the company to make a profit. Simply, put making a profit is generating more revenue than our costs of doing business over a given period of time.

 Additionally a prospect will be considering things such as value for money, increased markets through faster production or delivery. More sales, faster turnover of product.

 While price can have a direct impact to profit it might not necessary be the motivation for a change, for example a cheaper supplier may be failing to supply hence empty shelves i.e. missed sales. This opens up an opportunity for a supplier who can deliver on time and in full but at a higher price, this leads to more sales and ideally more profit for the prospect.

 In conclusion, all customers buying motives fall into the same basic categories, but it is important to understand and remember that each prospect is different and should be treated and sold to with this in mind.         

By Steven Hudson

0411 051 633

Steven.hudson@Tenbyintl.com.au

Packaging provides marketing an opportunity to communicate vital information plus acts as a selling aid. As production normally places product in the packaging it has a strong interest in the size, shape and type of material of the packaging, any abnormal variations could affect production efficiencies.

There are six core functions packaging provides to logistics, marketing and production
1. Contain
2. Protection
3. Apportionment
4. Unitization
5. Convenience
6. Communication

Contain
Packaging first function is to contain the contents within it. Ensuring the contents within the packaging doesn’t shift.

Protection
Packaging provides the protection to the content while moving within the supply chain from production to warehousing, pick and pack, transportation and the end user.

Apportionment
The third function of packaging is apportionment; this refers to reducing the production output in a size and shape required by the end user.

Unitization
This allows packages to be consolidated into larger packages for storage, shipping or transportation.

Convenience
Allows easily usage by the end user, such as folding handle flaps to enable easier lifting or to enable safe stacking.

Communication
In a production, retail, transport and logistic environment this would refer to the packaging contents, use by dates, weight and volume. For the consumer it provides marketing messages and additional information regarding safety and environmental issues.
So you can see packaging provides various useful functions to enable your product to move through the supply chain to the end user efficiently and safely.

By Steven Hudson

0411 051 633

Steven.hudson@Tenbyintl.com.au