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[H1826]Hunting For Hidden Gold

by Suegold, Sue

In many companies, most of the company seems to operate by a completely different set of rules and communicate in a different language than those the IT or computer services sector of the business. This division is somewhat artificial and partially maintained by the IT people themselves because of a certain culture technical people have about their specialized knowledge and application areas. But at heart, those strange people down in IT have the same goals as every other business person which is to succeed both personally and corporately in shared projects.
But those of us on the business side of the corporate landscape depend on the computer folks to let us know how things are going with that highly valuable asset that we have in our IT systems, hardware and software. Most medium to large businesses run very high capacity computers or multitudes of computers connected through a network and those systems must perform at top capacity each day to accomplish the goals of the business.
The upgrade and maintenance budgets for the computers that run your business no doubt represents a fairly sizable percentage of the corporate budget each year. But because those systems are what make you competitive in the marketplace, that investment is worth the money to assure that the mission critical jobs those powerful systems do get done on time each week and month.
When a computer begins to show signs of straining under the load of work, we are giving it, that can be a cause of significant concern for a business. If your business paradigm dictates that the load of traffic or system resources could be pushed to beyond what the computers can do with their existing computing power, that weakness in the IT infrastructure represents a significant risk to the company should the system become overloaded when there is a large body of work to be done by these machines.
What not every business person knows is that there may be a hidden goldmine of computing capacity already resident in your IT resources that simply is not being tapped to its fullest. You know that it isn't uncommon for your IT professionals to report that your systems are at 80-90% capacity and must be upgraded to handle the next big increase in business.
That hidden goldmine is a discipline that has actually been around for quite sometime but is infrequently tapped in the modern business world. That discipline is called ?capacity planning?. By implementing a capacity planning office and monitoring function, you can put the tools and the talent in place to precisely measure scientifically if your computer systems are at capacity of if there is just a need for system tuning or realignment of computing schedules to get more out of the systems you already own.
Recently a large oil company in the Midwest noted that many of its mission critical functions were being delayed in processing, seemingly because the computer systems were overloaded and in dire need of an expensive and time consuming upgrade. Capacity planning measurements were taken and the system was diagnosed to determine what the real problem was and it was found that job priorities of new functions were not tuned to the load of the system at critical time frames. The adjustments were made by talented systems administrators and the IT infrastructure continued to perform at top-notch capacity and the delays were eliminated with no additional hardware or upgrades needed.
By utilizing capacity planning software tools and enabling your IT team to take advantage of this highly scientific computer measurement and prediction method, the business can get the most out of its computer resources and use its corporate resources to further the business objectives of the company. And that benefits everyone.

Boost your sales with an easy to execute plan for gaining recommendations from your customers. For small business owners, referrals are one of the most overlooked means of increasing revenue. Here's some advice and a sales lesson so you don't miss this gold mine of opportunity, plus a few tips to help you feel comfortable doing it. The last and most effective step in the sales process is "ask for the order".

This applies to referrals. Try it with your customers instead of taking a passive approach waiting for someone to recommend your product or service. Contact your existing clients and ask. You may be surprised with the results. This advice works equally well for land based or online businesses. Your customers appreciate what you do. Most of us lose touch or just forget to say thank you. By tactfully asking for a referral, most clients will jump at the opportunity.

Contact them. Thank them. Ask "How would you feel about referring me to your business neighbors or peers?" Most will say "Sure.", so be prepared to help them in the process with "Great! Thanks. What can I do, or what can I provide to help? You need my brochure, web address, or business card?" Hint: Begin your question open ended. If you simply ask "Will you give me a referral?" the answer can be "yes" or "no", so let them open up. "How would you feel..." gives the person an opportunity to explain in more depth. My scenario may not fit your business precisely, so think through how you would offer to help, but ASK. Your customers are yours for a reason. They appreciate what you do. They just haven't found time to thank you. With this request for a recommendation, you open the door for them to do something for you that costs them nothing except a few moments of their time.

Can this backfire? No. You may get an angry response which means you have an unhappy client. One day I'll write a new report on my favorite subject: "Why I LOVE Angry Customers and How to Gain Their Loyalty Forever". Hint: The best ex-customer is the one who tells you why. You can't fix a relationship until you know it is broken. Staying in touch with all your clients will help you identify the dangerous ones that quietly go away, and you realize it 2 years later! Dig deeper if they adamantly refuse to offer a recommendation.

Next, you may want to consider this short lesson in sales to help determine the best approach with your customers. The easiest sell is to an existing happy client. Not every small business owner is comfortable selling, so many use passive methods of advertising or a reactive approach once someone contacts them. Perhaps redefining sales will help increase the percentage of referrals, so here's a mini-lesson. Successful sales involve a 5 step process:

1 Preapproach
2 Approach
3 Presentation
4 Answer Objections
5 Close the Sale

You could fill a library with how-to books on sales techniques that follow this simple outline, so no details are required here. A bonus tip is included below that covers #4, but for now let's consider the last step because with an existing customer, you already passed the test on 1 through 4. Tip: Sometimes a referral can be as simple as handing someone your business card, flyer, or brochure and asking them to "Tell a friend", or you may want to add "and if you're unhappy, tell me!"

Sales are NOT an agreement between two parties for payment of a product or service. Following the roadmap, a successful sale is achieving one goal in the 5 step process on your way to actual revenue. You "sold" something if you made it past any one goal in the outline. If you have an appointment and get tossed on your butt, don't give up. You made it to step 3. Million dollar orders may take years, yet they use this same outline. Now you have a new goal: Get a recommendation from an existing customer. You are not looking for what most people mistake for sales, an offer and money in hand. You are selling to achieve this one goal, so let's go back to the 5 step process. Reapply each step to this new goal and then strategize the best approach based on your business and your customer list. Finally, just do it.

Bonus Sales Tip: Answering objections, step 4 above, is another very misunderstood part of the sales process. As a small business owner your first reaction when faced with an objection is to fix it. Avoid the temptation, and take advantage of this mini sales lesson based on years of experience studying the sales process. Silence, well timed, can be powerful. Any objection is meaningless if not fully understood, so use silence to get the details of what your customer is truly saying. Here's an example handling the big one: price.

The best answer to the statement "Your price is too high" may be as simple as saying "Oh?" and then saying nothing. It is human nature to accommodate customers, so many salespersons will immediately reply with a discount offer. Try the short question "Oh?", and silence instead. This will be very uncomfortable for you, and the customer. 2-3 seconds may seem like eternity. 10-15 seconds demands a response. Understanding the mental process during this silent standoff it the key to success. Your silence means you're done and eventually the client will realize it's their turn. Guess what happens? They will tell you in great detail why they said your price is too high.

You may find that they meant compared to 5 years ago or to a competitor who went out of business, or perhaps they will simply quantify the objection with a dollar amount. Regardless, understanding the nature in detail allows you to respond to something specific instead of blurting out a 25% discount when the customer may have been thrilled with 5% off. Try uncomfortable silence. Everyone wins.

In conclusion, repeat business and new business is much easier once you devise your plan and ask for referrals. Do this at least once for each of your customers. In the process you may identify some that quietly went away to your competitor. You may never recover the angry customer, but at least you invested enough time to learn their reasons which will allow you to improve your business model. Thank people often enough and you may get that gold mine of referrals without ever asking.

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Both Suegold & Jim Degerstrom are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Suegold has sinced written about articles on various topics from Information Technology, Aquarium Fish and Work From Home. The author Chris Williams manages the website which offers quick and easy access to all reputable Nigerian newspapers online and. Suegold's top article generates over 246000 views. to your Favourites.

Jim Degerstrom has sinced written about articles on various topics from Small Business, About Branding and Computers and The Internet. Jim Degerstrom offers small business advice based on 30 years in management, sales, and marketing, including President or General Manager of small companies in 5 states. He is proficient in website and graphic art design, and runs his online Small Busines. Jim Degerstrom's top article generates over 33100 views. to your Favourites.