Prioritize your Goals - Work smarter, not harder

I work in sales.  There are days when I expend a frustrating amount of effort and energy and end up having nothing to show for it.  On other days, I do very little and achieve my highest sales goals.

It’s easy to get sucked into a busy schedule dictated by a manager or supervisor.  It’s easy to constantly respond to co-worker requests including phone calls and instant messages.  When interruption happens, all of your associated hard work ends up doing little to accomplish goals, and misaligns your priorities and efforts.

You should always consider the reason for undertaking a particular task and set your expectations for fulfilling it.

 1.  Write down everything you are doing, or are planning to do, in order to achieve your personal goals.

 2.  Organize the items on your list by time horizon: career targets and plans, yearly objectives, and weekly goals.

 3.  Rank your objectives by their relative importance, taking into account both external demands and internal priorities.  Start by thinking about what you want to do, what you’re good at, and what others need from you.

 4.  Rank your targets by their relative importance – both those serving your objectives and those assigned to you by superiors and supervisors.

 5.  Estimate and review your actual time expenditures, and compare your findings with your prioritized set of objectives and targets.

6.  Understand and address the reasons for mismatches between your goals and your time consumption.

So, what does this mean for Google Apps resellers?  Well, we know the products work.  We can demonstrate, over and over, the obvious value of the product set to our prospects and customers.  But, so can our competitors.  Lets shift our approach, not just in our demos, but in each and every conversation.  Sales is about art.  It is art.  Anyone can log into Gmail and show someone where the compose button is and how labels work.

But, you can listen to your customers.  Really listen to them.  Understand their concerns and challenges, and then paint them a picture.  Paint them a picture using the bold colors that are our products, and show them how Google Apps and the cloud will change everything.  This is the real value of the platform.  We can be painting masterpieces for each and every prospect; this is the true value that can be brought to the table.

Now, I never said this would be easy.  It will be hard.  It means learning about their business, maybe even their industry.  It means knowing our product and process, inside and out.  We’ll all confront customers who don’t get it, who aren’t interested in change, or who just want to hear the numbers.

Each of us will have these challenges.  Remember, we’re in this together.  With every challenge, there is an opportunity in disguise.  If you are struggling with a prospect, and reaching the end of your creativity, keep your eye on the real prize, The Magic Moment.  That is the moment when your customer is watching a demo, listening to your solution, or just trying to understand the value, and then BAM, it just clicks. His face lights up, you can hear it in his voice, and he ‘gets it’.  Right at that moment, he realizes that Google Apps will change everything.  We all should be striving for that moment with every single customer.

To resellers selling the value of Google Apps, I present a challenge.  I challenge every one of you to stop for a few minutes, sit back, and think.  Think about the role you all play with your customers, and the conversations you have.  Ask this question: “Am I delivering value to my customers.  Do I paint the picture of a solution that will lead to a magic moment, and change everything?”  When we stop selling product, and start pitching solutions; thats when the game will change completely.

Here is a link to a powerful  Google Security Whitepaper.   You may also find this blog post helpful.
When it comes to security, customer data is sharded and stored in fragments across multiple servers and across multiple data centers to both enhance reliability and provide greater security than can be achieved by storing all data on a single server. When only fragments are kept in any one place, the chance that a possible physical or computer-based compromise could result in the loss of meaningful information is greatly reduced.

Here is a link to a video detailing some of the many steps Google takes to ensure data center security.

Need references?  Hoards of organizations that require top-notch security have recently “Gone Google”.

The U.S. Department of the Interior and General Services Administration recently transitioned to Google Apps, as well as intellectual property sensitive corporations such as Genentech and Motorola.  And, of course, Google!

I recommend the following resources to learn more:

1. Google’s technical publications (Top 10 reasons to trust Google blogpost, Security First Site.)
2. Top 10 Stengths of Google’s Cloud
3. The auditing and reporting tools available in Google’s products.
4. The public record. In addition to Google’s transparency report, there are several information security organizations which produce incident reports.

In order to reduce the administrative overhead for customers who perform SAS70 (now SSAE16) audits,  SSAE16 is now in place as well as ISO 27001.  The auditors have clearly indicated that these instruments are not intended to be used for sales and marketing purposes.  Therefore Google doesn’t encourage customers to consider certifications in and of themselves sufficient proof of security.

• There are many other auditing standards and Google uses to regularly evaluate their relevance to customers.  For example, FISMA was added in 2009 to accommodate federal agencies.  FISMA is closely related to the ISO27001 suite of protocols but as of now, they have not yet adopted ISO27001.
• One should also note that state and local governments are usually not required to have FISMA Certification.  Consequently, most of these government entities can sign up for the Google Apps for Business version and do not need to worry about being out of compliance with stricter federal security mandates.
• Finally, please know you can add two-step verification for an extra layer of security.  When you sign into your Google Account, Google can require you to have access to your phone as well as your username and password.

1). How much storage comes with Google Drive?

Each user gets unlimited storage with Google Docs, and 5GB of free storage for other file types. This can be managed by easily converting .doc, .docx, .xls files etc. to the Google Docs format. Additional storage can be purchased on an as-needed basis.

2). Can Google Drive storage be pooled?

One benefit to Google Drive is the ability of administrators to control and allocate storage. While storage cannot be pooled, it can be purchased specifically for the users who exceed, or are likely to exceed, the 5GB threshold.

3). What file types are supported?

Google Drive viewer helps you preview over 16 different file types, listed below:
Microsoft Word (.DOC and .DOCX)
Microsoft Excel (.XLS and .XLSX)
Microsoft PowerPoint (.PPT and .PPTX)
Adobe Portable Document Format (.PDF)
Apple Pages (.PAGES)
Adobe Illustrator (.AI)
Adobe Photoshop (.PSD)
Tagged Image File Format (.TIFF)
Autodesk AutoCad (.DXF)
Scalable Vector Graphics (.SVG)
PostScript (.EPS, .PS)
TrueType (.TTF)
XML Paper Specification (.XPS)
Archive file types (.ZIP and .RAR)
Text files (.TXT)
Markup/Code (.CSS, .HTML, .PHP, .C, .CPP, .H, .HPP, .JS)

4). What’s the frequency of taking data backup?

Your data is instantly saved and stored in Google’s secure data centers in real-time. If you feel that you need additional backup security, you have the option to add an independent plugin that runs daily automated backups. The backup system will even further protect your data from hacking, user error, malicious deletion, and other forms of data loss. The backup tool is priced at $3 per user, per year.

5). What’s data backup retention? (1yr, 2 yr,… or forever)

Data will be backed up for as long as your account is active.

6). Can we take our data back once we decide not to renew the services? Any service charge if we need to transfer all the data back from Cloud to our hands?

You will absolutely continue to own your data and can easily retrieve your data and files, if for whatever reason, you choose to discontinue Google solutions. Google has an entire department catered to moving data out of Google.

Google also authors a blog devoted to this specific topic. There is no charge for independently moving data. If you would like to outsource data removal, we can assist with the transition, and the price would depend on the amount of data to be transferred.

7). Is subscription fee going to be increased at each renewal?

Google Apps has maintained the exact same price point since it hit the market in 2007. Since then, numerous valuable features, functionality have been added at no additional cost. I can’t guarantee that the price will never change, but there are no plans to do so at this time.

8). Are Cloud data centers located in the US or overseas?

Here is a link to a useful Google security Whitepaper. You may also find this blog post helpful. Customer data is chunked and stored in fragments across multiple servers and across multiple data centers to both enhance reliability and provide greater security than can be achieved by storing all data on a single server. When only fragments are kept in any one place, the chance that a possible physical or computer-based compromise could result in the loss of meaningful information is greatly reduced.

Here is a link to a video detailing some of the many steps Google takes to ensure data center security. For security reasons, Google doesn’t disclose the locations of all of its data centers. However, the data centers are intelligently distributed to ensure security, and to protect against natural disasters and other potential threats. A partial list can be found here.

9). Can a “super user” admin account be setup so he/she can manage everyone’s user account?

Yes.

10). Is there a historical report/log available to show who had accessed (add, change, delete, view) the file?

Yes.

Google Apps for Business is a great way to tap into the collaborative potential of your workforce, reduce IT expenses, and enable your employees to work from anywhere and on any device.

The power of Google Apps truly comes into play for managers in the retail sector. Today’s shoppers walk through retail doors armed with more information than ever before, and it is essential that retail store associates are equipped to answer customer questions and provide valuable insight not readily available on the internet. To make this possible, retail organizations must ensure that employees can quickly access the latest product and competitor information.

Google Apps for Retail can help store associates easily access training materials, enable operations managers to effectively track inventories, and allow managers to track and share recruitment best practices.

Retail Challenges:

• Modern retailers have locations spread across the globe – spanning multiple time zones and languages. As a result, they often have difficulties engaging each and every store employee, and are left without an effective means of communicating urgent business issues to stores.
• Store employees often lack mobile access. This can be an enormous crutch when considering that most shoppers will enter their respective stores with devices in hand.
• Store associates can’t easily access their work schedules, or the schedules of fellow co-workers. Consequently, they are forced to place a phone call to a manager when requesting a shift change.

At this point, you may be asking yourself, “So what is Google Apps, and how will implementation address these concerns?”

At its core, Google Apps essentially encompasses a number of different productivity and collaboration solutions.

Email – The suite includes gmail for business, with 25GB of storage per user and great search functionality.

Drive/Docs – Google Docs was recently rebranded as Google Drive. The name wasn’t the only thing that changed, as users can now easily share files of all types with others. By enabling Google Docs, workers can collaborate in real time on projects, and avoid having to email attachments out across the organization. You can control permissions to allow collaborators to edit, view, or comment.

On a personal side, my wife and I use drive for grocery shopping. But the real power of Drive comes is leveraged by business users. If you have sales reps who are on the road, they can access all of their files, product information, and more from their mobile device. Drive supports over 25 file types, so maybe you need to access an adobe illustrator or Autodesk AutoCad (.DXF), or SVG file, but don’t have the software installed on your machine. You can access it in Drive.

Drive allows you and your colleagues to collaborate in real-time. For instance, I take notes on a document saved in my browser. This way, I avoid writing notes on paper and can keep my desk clean, and I never lose an email address, phone number, or any other critical piece of information.

Google Talk – Google’s instant messaging and voice feature that is just as easy to use as gmail.

Google Groups – Allows easy online discussions to take place which can be organized into folders, favorites, and rich-text editing.

Calendar – Google’s shared calendar solution that makes it really easy to view and share calendars both internally and externally. Google calendar is a great way to quickly schedule meetings and appointments, and it eliminates the need to engage in email back and forths to set up a time to meet.

Google Sites – Sites is a user friendly web development tool that is often used intranet solution that allows individual users and admins to create collaborative pages.

Google Message Security – GMS allows you to secure your inbound and outbound email from spam, viruses, phishing, and other email-borne threats. It also enables set central email policies to manage content and compliance requirements – and those policies are automatically enforced. A lot of companies dealing with sensitive information like the TLS support it provides. Google’s SLA provides 100% virus protection and 99.999% uptime.

While GMS isn’t always the primary reason customers choose Apps, but once they’re on they realize how much spam they previously received.

You can’t always control the decisions made by your employees.  Some will choose to relocate, become pregnant, or continue their education.  Sometimes, an employee’s decision to leave is a direct result of something that has happened, or is currently happening, within your firm.  For instance, some may leave because they don’t like their boss, were denied a promotion, or have problems with the organization’s culture.   It is vital to understand the reasons behind your employee turnover to improve your management decision making in the future.

Interview Template

The goal of your questioning should be to gather as much information as possible.  You should allow your departing employee to be honest, open, and as straightforward as possible.  With this in mind, it is critical that you consistently ask the same questions of all exiting employees to allow you to draw conclusions from your data.  The following template can help you consistently ask questions that will allow you to effectively gather and use data.

1.  Why are you leaving?  Is it something specific to the company, such as management or culture, or are you leaving for a personal reason?
2.  What did you enjoy most about working here?
3.  What would you say was the biggest difficulty in being employed by XYZ Corporation?
4.  On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your manager?
5.  If given the opportunity to change one thing about this company, what would it be?
6.  What would you say it takes for an employee to be successful at XYZ Corporation?
7.  How often did your manager provide you with feedback?
8.  How helpful would you say this feedback was?
9.  What advice, if any, would you give to your replacement?
10. Are you planning to stay in the same industry?
11. How will you be compensated at your next place of employment?
12. If given the opportunity in the future, would you return to this company?

Exit Interview Musts

There are several factors that are necessary to make an exit interview successful.  For your exit interview to achieve its goals, you should offer:

Private:

It is important that the departing employee’s direct manager or supervisor not conduct the exit interview.  This can often lead to misleading or dishonest answers.

Secluded:

The exit interview must be conducted in a part of the office in which no other employee can hear what transpires.  If the departing employee is afraid that someone might hear him, he may not be forthright with his observations.

Voluntary:

Finally, the exit interview should not be forced upon a departing employee.  Only accept feedback that is freely offered.  Doing so will help glean the most honest and straightforward answers.  

The unfortunate result of many performance appraisals is that managers spend a large chunk of their time trying to justify their company worth or value. This is what you want to avoid. After all, many of the most important things an employee does are not always measurable by tangible performance metrics. Effective managers can create an appraisal system that links an employee’s compensation to specific performance metrics.

Performance management systems can help managers achieve the real objective of staff development and company progress. Managers can choose to concentrate on the specific areas in which they want to see improvement and development.

Managers often feel that the employee review process is front loaded and time consuming. By creating a system to review all employees, managers can avoid many of the headaches involved with performance development meetings.

The following is a checklist that can help managers implement an overall performance management and employee review process.

1. Identify job description and obligations
2. Set realistic goals and associated metrics
3. Determine job function priorities
4. Create a calendar for manager and employee feedback sessions
5. Create a tentative plan for action should employee not reach objectives

Performance Development Appraisal Meetings

Preparation

First, a manager should schedule an appointment with the employee to discuss and review job performance. The manager should prepare for the PDP session by analyzing the employee’s work habits, up-to-date job performance, attendance records, and solicit input from colleagues. The employee should come prepared with a self assessment of work done on the job so far. It is also common for managers to ask for personal feedback in his own job performance.

At the PDP Meeting

Managers should set a designated area where all PDP meetings will take place. This can mean a conference room, personal office, or any other section of the office that can be cordoned off for privacy. Both the manager and employee should reach an early agreement about the meeting’s objectives. The manager should ask the employee to define both his personal and career goals, and what needs to be done to make them become a reality. Once these basic principles have been established, the manager needs to come up with some basic suggestions about how they can be achieved, and corresponding performance metrics for later evaluation. The employee and manager should also agree on a time in the future for a follow-up PDP meeting.

Difference Between Strategic Planning and Business Planning

Strategic planning should be universal. It is typically defined as the process of specifying the higher level, birds-eye mission of an organization. Depending on your goals, the strategic planning process can take on many different shapes and forms. It’s important to remember that strategic planning should cut across all departments and divisions of a company.

Business planning is more closely tied to individual products, services, or merchandise. Your company should set different plans in place in accordance with the specific line of product. After all, different customers buy different things, so you need to craft unique plans for each set of them.

Organizational Structure

Organizational structure and size will affect the way you implement your plans. Your process will depend on whether your company is public, private, a C-corp, S-corp, or non-profit. You must take numerous things into consideration such as tax status, and whether or not your financial information is required to be published.

What Strategic Planning Can do for Your Business

1. Specify and articulate the company’s mission or objective.
2. Outline goals company-wide to speak to all employees and ensure understanding.
3. Enhance employee accountability.
4. Narrow organizational focus to a specific set of priorities.
5. Create benchmarks and scorecards.
6. Establish consensus and agreement among management.
7. Bring employees together and make sure that everyone is on the same page.
8. Team building.
9. Increase management visibility.
10. Increase cost-assurance and employee productivity all company divisions.

1. Focus

Innovative companies meticulously and relentlessly seek an understanding of how to transform customer service. Instead of favoring every last revenue and sales opportunity, innovative companies move beyond products and services that don’t add customer value. They eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy at every corner – regardless of their best intentions. Successful companies solely target the core aspects of the business about which customers care the most. Additionally, contemporary innovators target the most loyal and profitable customer segments.

2. Channeling the Customer

Innovative managers have an uncanny ability to tap into the collective consciousness of their customers. They listen actively and intently, and pay attention to their thoughts clearly.

3. Collaboration

Furthermore, you must collaborate with your entire company. Today’s companies must be both responsive and flexible to dominate the field in providing products and services. This cannot be done without collaboration across differing business divisions. This shouldn’t mean that you set up teams simply for the sake of setting up teams. You must first and foremost set up effective teams which are empowered to effectively share and process valuable information.

4. Enthusiastic Customers

Merely delivering a quality product or service is no longer enough. To gain competitive advantage, you must perfect your interactions with customers to garner enthusiastic support. You should aim to beat your competitors by not only providing a superior product, but by outperforming them in the way your product is sold, serviced, and promoted.

5. Shared Leadership

For your company to be a leader, your employees need to be leaders. Regardless of their role within the organization, your staff should be empowered to offer input, ask questions, help customers, and contribute in any way possible.

Process Oriented

Innovative managers won’t be able to truly hit their targets by cautiously tending to minor and specific tasks and thinking “inside the box”. To effectively implement change, managers must evaluate processes as a whole that transcend organizational boundaries.

Ambitious

Without ambition, managers will struggle to realize breakthrough change. Trivial improvements just won’t cut it. Innovative managers think big.

Irreverence

Managers must disregard tradition and rethink their processes. They must do whatever it takes to ignore long-held assumptions related to specialization, timing, and role definition.

Creativity

Breakthrough companies move beyond the “old way” of doing business by quickly adopting new technology to implement new process models. Technology can be a vehicle through which your company can radically introduce new methods.