Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Maintaining Relationships

How do you maintain your business relationships?

Communication seems to always be the key to successful relationships.   How often do you communicate to ensure it is often enough and not too often?

Understanding each relationship and treating everyone as individuals instead of grouping them into a "plan" achieves the goal of the right amount of communication.  

Each of us have a threshold of how often we want to be contacted and when you understand this you will see positive results.

What about the little things?  Most relationships are challenged due to the little things.   On one hand these little things do not seem to matter.   On the other hand the make all the difference.  

What little things do you do to maintain the relationship to set you apart from the rest?

We take pride in dropping off products to our clients at no charge and it is appreciated.    Most of the time it leads to a good discussion and and opportunity.

The communications are consistent and proactive.   They are balanced between business and social to establish a well-rounded relationship.

When there are challenges, it is very rewarding for one party to contact the other and share their concern.   Working together on a challenge is the ultimate sign of a successful relationship.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Doing more with Less

Imagine focusing on each task at hand without any interruptions?  Now imagine you focusing on each task at hand without interrupting anyone?

Amazing how much more can be accomplished in a shorter amount of time if we can just focus:   this results in doing more with less!

We need the teamwork and camaraderie as part of our interactions, however, what is the right balance?   Finding this balance is your key to focus on your responsibilities to accomplish your goals.

These are some questions one can ask prior to interrupting someone:    Can I find the answer myself?  Do I require the answer right now?   Can I send an e-mail instead with clear details and realistic deadline for a response?

A good exercise is to jot down each time you are interrupted and when you interrupt someone.   The results may surprise you!

How do you do more with less?

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The Pendulum never Stops

In business, you are either moving forward and growing or you are moving backwards and not growing.    If you stop in business it is over.

The pendulum of business never stops moving.   Being mediocre and complacent is not an option. 

What are you doing to keep the pendulum swinging forward?

What defines successful growth to measure success?   Is it number of employees, gross revenues or net income?  Whatever measurement is used, it needs to keep moving in the direction you define as growth.

In the technology sector, we face "legacy" revenue and we face brand-new revenue virtually on a daily basis.   To survive and sustain growth year over year, we keep moving forward.

Asking our clients where they want to take their business and adding new solutions keep us moving forward in the right direction.

The AlphaKOR pendulum keeps swinging in the right direction thanks to our great team, clientele and community supporting us.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Making your Team Accountable

How do you make your Team Accountable?

Some areas to ensure accountability for all members of your Team include:

Clear and realistic expectations, ensure these expectations are measurable and consequences both positive and negative for meeting or not meeting these expectations.

Managers can personalize their approach for each individual' personality and aspirations, however, including all three areas above contribute to successful accountability on all Teams.

Providing positive rewards or incentives motivate employees to achieve their goals.   As well as having a clear understanding of the consequences if the expectations are not met are what make managers better leaders.