Van Smick's Blog

MA Data Breach Law compliance is required by March 1st. Most small businesses DO have to comply with this law and it is something you need to do now. If you store customer/client/patient names along with almost any other identification info (drivers license, social security, credit card info, bank info) you are required to comly with this law.

 There are lots of experts out there and I am not an expert on this. I have pulled together information from several legal groups and you can read the details on the MA Data Breach Info page on my website.

Feel free to comment on anything you see here.

Cheers, CoachVan

I recently saw a presentation by Frank Zych from HR Knowledge -- an HR firm for small businesses. The key points I took away were:

• This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix any employee or policy problems you have in your business. Most employees are grateful to have a job and recognize that businesses are struggling. Frank cited the following examples:
• If you have a legacy problem such as your vacation policy being too liberal, or your sick time/personal days policy being much higher than your competitors', now is the time to fix it
• If you have a poor performing employee, now is the time to replace him/her. And now is a good time to be unemployed in that the benefits and COBRA coverage have been extended.
• If you have not had your employee benefit pricing reviewed recently, do it now. Many benefit companies have lowered their prices. (Insurance, 401K, etc)
• If you have not updated your employee handbook recently, it would be a good idea to look at it now.
•  Many small businesses don't know the risk they are taking by not complying with various regulations.
• For example EVERY employee hired after Nov. 6, 1986 must complete an I9 Form. Failure to do so can result in fines and penalties.
• Penalties can include $250 to $3,000 for improper completion of the I-9 form. Improper completion, retention or making it available for inspection fines range from $100 to $1,100 for each I-9.
• Knowingly hiring or continuing to employ unauthorized workers fines range from $250 up to $11,000 per violation. 
• Sexual harassment issues can be another mine field. Do you have a writen policy? Are your employees trained on the policy on an anual basis? If not, there are potential fines for this as well.

The net take-away I got from Frank's presentation is that small businesses need an HR consultant to help them know what regulations they need to take seriously.  If you'd like a copy of the I-9 form and instructions click here.

The Bad News

We need to get rid of the idea that the recession will end soon and we will return to "the way things were". We're not. The new economic reality is what we see today:

• Companies have learned how to run with fewer employees and they are not going back to the former levels of staffing any time soon
• Everyone is demanding more for less money
• Consumers are going to save more and spend less -- at least for a while
• The news media will blow the good and the bad out of proportion in order to sell more advertising
• Nobody really knows what is going to happen with the economy or when
• This recession will reduce the GNP by 5% or more, so it will rank as a major economic recession. The typical reduction has been 1% in the past recessions.

The Good News

The media will focus on the 5% decrease in GNP -- which would be $700 billion dollars out of the $14 trillion GNP. But looked at differently there will be over $13,300,000,000,000 spent in the US economy in 2010.  In a recession, people are still spending money, but they are spending it differently. And for your business to survive it is critical that you understand where and on what your customers are willing to spend money.

Question: How much of that $13.3 trillion do you need for your company?

 Action Recommended

Victor recommends that you get rid of the head trash that a recession equals bad times for ALL businesses. A recession presents opportunities, just as every other market change does. He tells the following joke: In a recession, your competition expects to lose business -- don't disappoint them. In other words take market share away from your competition because they are expecting it. . 

In a recession there is actually less competition because some businesses will fail and others go into the ostrich position - pull back, hide and wait for the recession to end.  So it is a great time to expand your market share but we need to figure out where people are spending and shift our business to take advantage of that shift.

Another way to say this is we have to adapt to the new economy or die and the speed of adapting is critical. The business which is the first to adapt to the new economy is the biggest winner now and as the recession ends.  And whenever speed is a critical factor then smaller companies have the advantage. How fast can GM change its mindset? How fast can you?

Victor offers up the following rules to survival:

1. Adopt the recession-proof mindset - get rid of the head trash about recessions
2. Solve a Problem that gets Worse in a Recession - this will guarantee demand! So at a time like this go talk with your customers and ask them what they are spending money on and why.
3. Make your Business Competition-Proof - Find a unique way of solving that problem so you marginalize any remaining competition.  Victor uses Coors Brewery as an example because Coors was formed to provide beer to the West Coast during a recession. Why? Because (a) people drink more during recessions and (b) the big breweries on the East Coast had no infrastructure to deliver beer to the West Coast at a viable cost. Coors set up shop in the west and developed the infrastructure to deliver it all over the West Coast. And they had no competition providing beer for many years.
4.  Market More Aggressively. In a recession, the first thing usually cut is marketing.  But if you have found a way to solve a problem that gets worse in a recession and you have found a unique way to solve that problem - then it is time to market your solution aggressively. You will take market share away from everyone else.

Next week I'll summarize Victor's thoughts on Recession Marketing. If you can't wait until next week, visit his website and download his eBook.

 Note: the MP3 file he offers only covers the material I've summarized above but the eBook gives it all.

And if you want help implementing these and 375 other strategies on increasing your profits, contact me for a complimentary coaching session.

I attended a presentation on the new sales model today and the take-aways were worthy of some serious consideration for every business owner and salesperson. Here are the top 5:

•  Even if your clients say they are not using social media in their decision making, they probably are. Google searches social media (Blogs, LinkedIn & YouTube) and therefore when your client does a Google search they are looking at social media. And many people don't notice when they are reading a blog because many look like, or are part of a website.
• If you are not actively participating in social media to influence the perceptions about your company, others are shaping that perception. Only 1% of the population produces 99% of the social media content.
• The 15-25 year olds gets their information and forms their opinions in a fundamentally different way than older generations. They rely on the people in their networks who are the most knowledgeable about a topic. So if they are car shopping they go to the "car expert" and if they are shopping for a lawyer, they go to the "lawyer expert" or the "professional services expert".  And their networks are FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube -- so the "experts" many not be a close friend -- but the power of the expert is significant.
• From a sales perspective, there are two dialogs going on with your prospect: the first is the one with your sales or marketing team. The second is the online dialog about your company or product happening within your prospect's social network. You need to know what is being said about your company or product.
• One major impact coming from social media is a change in the sale process itself. We still have the same three phases in the sales process:
      -   Needs development
      -   Understand options and trade-offs
      -   Resolve any concerns and close
  But the amount of time and the number of interactions required in the first phase has increased dramatically. One speaker said that there are typically 13 touches in the modern sales process and 8 are in the Needs development phase. 

One final thought: Every business needs to make 2010 the year they get educated on this topic and implement a social media strategy. If you don't, you risk being left behind or worse!

Welcome to MyBlog.

You'll find information here about how to improve your business -- in terms of increasing revenue & profits, creating a winning team of employees & strategic alliances, becoming more productive by managing your time and general tips on how to create a THRIVING business.

Feel free to join-in with comments or new postings.

Here's to YOUR success!

The BEST way to get new customers is to have existing customers refer prospects to you. Your customers are more believable that you are and they can sing your praises better and louder than you can. But first you have to ASK for the referral. Second you have to do MORE than simply ask people for a referral - because less than 20% of the people you ask for a referral will ever get around to actually doing it.  You have to offer them a sample referral email which they can edit and email out.

 If you say to them, "To save you time and effort, would you like me to send you a sample referral which you can edit and then send out to your contacts?" 90% of the time the person will say yes.

Then  you write the referral you would like to give you, stating what it is that you did for them and including the action you want the recepient to take.

You can download a white paper from the Business Tips page on the step by step process to get great referrals, called Referral System