Jul 15 2008
No one sets out to create a hostile work environment, but once you hire that first employee, you must understand and comply with sexual harassment law. Linda Johnson, a labor relations lawyer from Manchester NH, joins us with information about preventing harassment in the workplace.
Links:
Guidelines on Maintaining a Harassment-Free Workplace (pdf)
Technorati Tags: sexual harassment, hostile work environment
Jun 24 2008
Probably the scariest hire for any entrepreneur is hiring the first sales person or sales manager. In the early days, we do everything ourselves, slowly adding staff to take on roles like finance and operations as the business grows. But many entrepreneurs continue to manage the sales effort well past the time they should, perhaps adding a sales person or two but stopping short of that critical step of bringing a sales manager on board. What are some of the signs that it is time to get out of “do it yourself” mode and trust a sales manager to spearhead this critical function for you? And how do you find the right one? Today, sales management and training expert Nick Miller joins us to answer these critical questions.
Links:
Technorati Tags: Nick Miller, sales, sales recruitment
Jun 04 2008
At some point in its growth, whether it’s at 10- employees, 50 or 100, the company realizes that it needs a formal new hire training program. What’s the best way to go about it? Training expert Ronna Caras is here today to give us some guidance.
Technorati Tags: Ronna Caras, new hire training, training
May 12 2008
It goes without saying that all businesses want to avoid wage disputes, but wage and hour issues are often the cause of huge problems for growing small and midsized businesses that just aren’t prepared for them. Linda Johnson, the lead employment attorney at McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton, a New Hampshire law firm, is here to give us some ideas on how to prepare our businesses to avoid wage and hour mistakes.
Top Ten New Hampshire Labor Law Violations (PDF)
Overview of New Hampshire Laws Governing Payment of Wages and Hours of Work (PDF)
Technorati Tags: human resources, employment law, Linda Johnson, McLane
May 03 2008
Our guest is Eli Szklanka, GuideMark’s managing partner responsible for development and client services. Last time Eli joined us on Business Forward, we talked about what small businesses need to do once they’ve outgrown their Excel spreadsheet and entry level accounting package as their principal business management tools. Not that we’ll ever eliminate spreadsheets.
Today, we’re talking about that next IT step - what to do when you’ve outgrown your initial business system investment, a problem that almost affects businesses as they make that transition from small and new to mid-size and more mature.
Technorati Tags: small business, information technology, business systems, GuideMark
Apr 15 2008
We know how important sales skills are for our sales people. But what about employees in other customer-facing roles, such as customer care and support? Are we maximizing upselling and cross selling opportunities with our customers when they contact us in the normal course of business? Training expert Ronna Caras joins us this week to share some of her proven techniques for teaching customer service and call center reps how to identify a selling opportunity.
Resources:
Technorati Tags: sales training, upselling, customer service, Ronna Caras, Caras Training, sales skills, cross selling
Apr 01 2008
Small businesses don’t have IT departments. We do the best we can - recommendations from friends and colleagues, and reconnaissance missions in Best Buy or online. We probably run our business on some combination of Excel, an accounting package and some sort of contact manager. We know that as we grow - in fact to grow - we’ll probably need to do something different. The question is, when, and what do we do? How do we go about it?
To get some answers, today we’re talking with Eli Szklanka, the GuideMark Managing Partner responsible for development and client services. Host: Susan Getgood
Technorati Tags: business system, information technology, GuideMark, IT
Mar 26 2008
It may be cliché, but it’s also quite true: employees are often our most valuable asset. But raw qualifications for the job are not enough to ensure that our customers have the best possible experience with our company. You want to be certain that your customer-facing employees in sales and service roles are properly trained about your products, services and businesses processes. And more than just trained - you really want to be sure they are performing at the top of their game. The question is, how? Training expert Ronna Caras joins us today with some tips for small to medium business owners on what they can do to help their sales and service employees maximize customer satisfaction and company revenue.
Resources: For more valuable tips on customer service, coaching and developing training that sticks, check out Ronna’s blog, For the Face of Your Business. And for a glance at the headlines from a variety of small business-oriented blogs (including this one), we recommend Alltop Small Business.
Technorati Tags: customer service, Ronna Caras, training, business management, mentoring, coaching
Mar 17 2008
This is our second program focusing on distribution channels. Last time, SAP channel VP Dan Kraus gave us some advice on making channel sales successful. In this episode, we are joined by SAP channel marketing manager Jennifer Walsh who guides us through the often-complex world of channel marketing programs, co-op advertising and marketing development funds. She also offers some great marketing advice that applies to any company, even if you aren’t building or participating in indirect channels.
Reminder on terminology: To keep things simple, we refer to distributors, resellers or Channel Partners collectively as “Channel Partners.” The terms manufacturer or vendor are used interchangeably to refer to the firm that produces or manufactures the product.
Technorati Tags: SAP, SAP Business One, distribution strategy, channel sales, channel marketing, lead generation tactics
Mar 11 2008
Distribution channels are an important consideration for businesses of all types, sizes and product mix. Some companies are part of the distribution channel for others, such as wholesale distribution companies or resellers of business technology. Others, like manufacturers, must decide how to build their own channels of distribution. They may start with a direct sales model, but when growth, market or economic dynamics change, a strategy to use Channel Partners for distribution is often the least risk, highest reward choice.
Either way, for the small to mid-size business, navigating the complex waters of distribution— which varies by industry, target market and geography— can be daunting.
If you are a Channel Partner, how do you connect with the right manufacturers? And, once you do, how can you best profit from the relationship? Most companies who use a channel strategy have a variety of programs to help their Channel Partners succeed. These may include cooperative marketing and advertising, sales support, training, financing, seed product, and a host of other considerations.
And if you are a manufacturer looking to build a channel for your own products, how do you find the right players? And once you do, what programs should you offer to help them be successful?
We turned to SAP for help in answering these questions. One of the largest business technology companies in the world, SAP knows how to support and focus its Channel Partners on helping our mutual customers to be more successful. In Business Forward #6, Dan Kraus, a Vice President from SAP’s US Channel Sales organization, joins us with some advice on making channel sales successful.
Resources:
Technorati Tags: SAP, SAP Business One, channel sales, distribution strategy
