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The Enterprise

April 26-May 2, 2010

I'm not in a slump, the economy is!

In case you hadn't noticed, the economy presentation. Take them with you on sales calls. is still hurting. And the universal cry of sales- Get a coach. people not making enough sales is, "IT'S THE Visit your mentor. And have a new plan to ECONOMY!" discuss when you get there. Get to work an hour before everyone. Put in In a slump? Not making enough (or any) sales? Feel like you're unable to get out of the rut? more productive time. Is it the economy, or is it YOU? Stay away from pity parties. Don't make Maybe you're not in a big slump, but just a slump worse by whining or hanging around a can't seem to hit the quota numbers. Let's be kind bunch of negits and underachievers. and call it "sales under-achievement." Hang around positive, successful people. Don't panic. Don't press too hard. Don't get The best way to get to success. Have some fun. Go to a comedy club. Do a down on yourself. Don't get mad. little extra of what you like to do best (unless too And above all don't quit. OK, OK. there's a slowdown (a recession), much fun is the cause of your slump). Spend 30 minutes a day (in the morning but don't be too quick to blame your lack is best) reading about your positive attiof performance on '"it" before you take a tude. Then listen to attitude CDs and sales hard look at "you." And take a closer look CDs in the car ALL DAY. at "slump" before you blame "economy," Listen to your favorite song just before a Here are the prime causes of sales presentation. Go in to your next call singslumps: ing. Poor belief system. I don't believe that my company or product is the best. I Take a day off. Chill out, take stock, don't think that I'm the best. make a plan, re-group, re-energize and return with renewed determination and Poor work habits. Getting to work Jeffrey better energy. late, or barely "on time," Not spending your Gitomer time with people who can say "yes." Rearrange your office. Shake things up Misperceptions that lead to sour grapes, a little, make them look new. Record your presentations live. Then listen I think my prices are too high or my territory is in the car immediately afterwards. Take notes. Act bad. Outside pressure. Caused by money prob- to correct. lems, family problems or personal problems. Videotape your presentation. Watch it with Poor personal habits. Too much drink, too others who can give you constructive feedback. much food or too much after-hours play. Take the best salesperson you know out on Boss giving crap instead of support. calls with you for a day. Get a written evaluation Someone who says, "You'd better do it," instead after each call. of, "I know you can do it." Take your boss with you on calls for a week. Events that go against you. New salesperson You'll get more feedback than you can handle, but passes you, someone else gets promoted and you it will help. knew it should have been you. Avoid negative talk and negative people ike Customer cancels a big order. Weakening the plague. Find people who will encourage you, your personal belief or causing severe money prob- not puke on you. lems or both, Become more valuable to your customers. Competition cuts price and steals the order. Send a weekly value message by e-mail to everyone (it can be the same message to all). Tweet a This is the new reality of business. value message or inspirational message daily. Getting depressed. From any of the above. When you're in a slump, you begin to press The best way to get out of the rut is keep the for orders instead of working your best game plan slump in perspective. Once you accept the fact that (which is "sell to help the other person," and let you can change it, you can begin to recover. Be your sincerity of purpose shine through). When cool you're the greatest, if you think you are. you have the pressure to sell, the prospect senses Believe in the most important person in the world. it, and backs off. You! Then things get worse. You can't seem to sell THINK ABOUT THIS: When a baseball at all, and begin to panic. Oh my gosh. I can't sell player is in a batting slump, he'll do anything a thing, I'll get fired and miss my house payment. to "change his luck." Things from superstition Aaaahhhhhh! False fear. Relax, you're better than (rabbit's foot, not shaving, wearing the same that. underwear) to changing batting stance, to video What causes a slump? You do. Therefore, you watching, to extra coaching. But the one thing that usually breaks the slump is extra batting practice are the best (only) person to fix it. to regain the groove. Here's a prescription to help cure sick sales: Fundamentals, baby. Study fundamentals Usually what's wrong is not complicated. In fact, you probably They, like you, have the professional abilknow what's wrong. Your problem is that you think ity, but temporarily lost it. They, like you, need to it's someone or something else's fault. Wrong. List revisit the raw fundamentals to regain lost talent. two or three areas that need immediate care. Have If you want to leam my secret for long-term the guts to take action, name recognition and loyal customers, go to www, Revisit your (or make a new) plan for suc- gitomer.com and enter the word NAME in the cess. Today. GitBit box. List five things you could be doing to work smarter AND harder. Make a plan to work as smart as you think (or say) you are. Hard work can Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible and The Little Red Book of Selling. President of change your luck, Charlotte, N.C-based Buy Gitomer, he gives semi Change your presentation. Try a different nars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts approach. Take the customer's perspective. Internet training programs on selling and customer Talk to your five best customers. Ask them to service at www,trainone,com. He can be reached at evaluate your situation. (704) 333-1112 or salesman@gitomer.com. Get someone you respect to evaluate you 20W All Rights Reserved

Choosing continuous improvement

A renewed international move- of championing change in the comment is gaining traction in the busi- pany. Thomas Jeflerson said, "Every ness community. Continuous or generation needs a new revolution," Business Improvement (BI). as it is This is very possibly the current known, is once again gaining popu- business generation's best opportularity. Once known as Kaizen, Six nity to innovate and succeed. Sigma, the Deming Cycle and Total Here are the main challenges Quality Management, these move- facing a company taking on the ments focus on process improve- challenge of becoming world-class. ment to accentuate business sucLack of clear direction A cess. poorly defined strategy to direct In today's dynamic business business improvement only serves environment, fueling growth and to create confusion and conflict success requires operational excel- across all levels of the company. For lence. This can only be achieved by initiatives to be adopted and create desired improvement, they committing your company must be aligned with comto continuous improvement. pany strategy and goals. While companies often start by focusing on key deliverInability to make a comables, serious leaders will pelling case for change focus on business improvePeople in the organization ment for the entire comneed to have a compelpany. ling reason to embrace and stay committed to change, Organizations wantJoseph especially when the initiaing to be known as worldLever! ch tive gets to the difficult class leaders in their industry stage of switching from will commit to continuous improvement, even creating a posi- the old to the new. tion in the company encompassNo leadership accountability ing those responsibilities. Business for the results A failure to estabimprovement is not a themed item lish responsibilities and accountabilfor a month or quarter initiative; it is ities for the results of any business a long-term commitment to address- improvement leads to poor acceping necessary changes. With the new tance and adoption of the changes economic climate, each company is by businesses. struggling to fmd ways to continuLack of strong leadership supally improve and implement these port and commitment to change ideas as a business process. Leaders set the tone through Change is difficult. It is human their own attitude and behavior. A nature to resist change. History management team in charge of makis packed full of examples where ing a change must truly support this touted changes never quite hap- change, and not simply provide lip pen. One example is the adoption service. of the metric system in the United Failure to empower the team States. Congress passed a law in to make change happen It is dif1975 to work toward making the ficult enough to engineer and strametric system the standard measure- tegically navigate a new initiative ment system in America. In 1988, it from inception, but the failure often was decided the government must comes at implementation because convert to metric before it could people do not want to change their expect the private sector to follow processes even if they are shown suit. In 1991, government agen- to be unprtxluctive. If the team in cies were required to file an annual charge of a new initiative is not report on their efforts to go met- given authority to implement, adjust ric. By all apparent measures, the and improve the change, these inination as a whole still follows the tiatives are doomed for failure. old system even after 30 years of Stepping outside the comfort laws, committees and public service zone Tnie business improvement announcements, mostly ignored. requires courage to face facts, accept Business leaders are very reality and recognize that change much aware that there have been needs to occur, even though at times changes in their specific industries it may be unpopular. Spearheading and the way business is conduct- change involves responsibility to do ed. It is evident that these changes it right and accountability to get it have affected almost every sector right. Difficulties in making of business - cell phone providers, auto dealerships, retail, construc- the changes stick - Continuous tion, and likely, your business and improvement requires continual industry. Organizations are aware of change. Resistance alone can be the changes they face while most do enough to thwart change, let alone not know how to consider the impli- ego, fear, sacred cows, or discovering ineptness of people. cations or how to address them. The importance of change and Keys to Successfully lmplemcnting adopting improvement in today's Continuous Improvement Make sure each BI, big or world cannot be overstated. To small, has strategic imporiance. achieve exceptional results, many Set up a team or BI executive leading businesses have created a position of Business Improvement by providing the infrastructure to Officer with the sole responsibility see LEVERICH page 11

April 26-May 2, 2010

The Enterprise more important for wotnen than for men. This concept means that people will not take special notice of what you wear. The purpose of business dress is to allow others to get beyond your clothing and recognize how well you get the job done. For Men Fashion Mistakes to Avoid Things move at an incalculable pace today. As people are pressed for time, only the things that immediately catch our eye capture our attention. This goes for ads, magazine covers, product packaging and, of course, people. 1. White socks with dre^ shoes. Teaming white socks with dress shoes may have enjoyed brief popularity as a quirky style statement In the mid-'90s, but there is a good reason this combo has failed to make a strong comeback. Dress shoes should only be wom with dress socks, which are wool or cotton socks in dark hues like black, blue, gray and brown that go up to the knee. White socks, in contrast, should be reserved solely for pairing with athletic shoes and track pants. 2. Buttoning blazers incorrectly. Even with a well-made suit, fastening the wrong number of buttons on your blazer can cause it to pull and stretch in awkward directions, making it seem ill-fitting, so pay attention to the advice that follows. Doublebreasted jackets should nearly always be buttoned. With a twobutton suit, fasten the top button and with a three-button suit, you have a choice between fastening the top two buttons or the middle one only. No matter what kind of blazer you are wearing, always unbutton it when you sit down. 3. StufTcd pockets. Your pants pockets are a place to put your hands, some spare change and perhaps a slim wallet. They are not places to keep a bulky wallet filled with cash and twomonth-old receipts, your cell Develop an improvement approach and tactics to sustain improvements in your business from planning to full implementation of each project. Make business improvement a mainstay of your business to be a leader in your Industry. Your organization can continue business as usual hoping with a full economic recovery your company wili be as it was before. Or, you can embrace change and count yourself among those in your industry who are world-class. "body-ski mm ing" is not synonymous with "skin-tight." What I am referring to are clothes that glide comfortably over your body and show your physique to its best advantage. If you are not sure whether you are supersizing your clothes, try going one size down from what you normally wear next time you go shopping and compare the difference. You will know your clothes are too big if you have trouble discerning your body shape in them. 5. Mismatched suit and shoes. Making a blunder with regard to the color of your shoes practically defeats the purpose of suiting up, which is to look your most presentable. Unfortunately, men too frequently select shoes in shades that do not complement their dress clothes, like brownhued footwear with black trousers. Follow this advice, however, and you will avoid this common fashion faux pas: pair black suits with black shoes; gray suits with black or camel shoes; brown suits with brown or camel shoes; and navy suits with black, camel, tan or ox blood-colored footwear. This includes belts. Everything adds or detracts from your professional

11
appearance. 6. Backpacks on professionals. When you are a student and you needed to carry around 10 pounds of books each day. a backpack is precisely the bag you needed. Once your college glory days are over and you enter the job market as a professional, you will need to leave behind your backpack just like you did your baseball cap. To complement a work wardrobe of blazers, dress shirts and the occasional suit, you need similarly polished accessories, so splurge on a leather messenger bag or briefcase and save your backpack for camping. 7. Wearing running shoes outside the gym. Generally speaking, active wear should not be day wear. This rule holds true especially when it comes to wearing running shoes in any environment that is not fitness-oriented. Even if they have no obvious scuff marks, the fact that you wear your runners at the gym during heavy sweat sessions makes it nasty to even consider donning them on any other occasion. For a justas-comfortable alternative without the "ick" factor, pick up a pair of
see FASHION ne.xt page

FASHION
frorti previous page

In their quest to be in style, they completely miss the most important part of being stylish: customizing a trend to suit their own btxly. age and circumstance. 10. Not wearing hose at appropriate times. Assuming, because so many women do not wear hose that is it appropriate for you is misguided. Bare legs require extraordinarily toned legs and beautiful flawless skin. You ;ire venturing into territory that may put your professionalism at risk. Hose cover up a multitude of Haws. Always place yourself in an advantageous position. 11. Too much perfume. Perfume and even scented hand lotion is inappropriate in the office. If your scent is overwhelming and lingers after you are gone you will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. 12. Chipped nail polish. You Jo not necessarily need acrylic salon nails, but your nails should be clean and groomed. Chipped polish looks lazy and is distracting. Ditto for toes and bare heels. Chips nail polish and rough, callused heels are very unsightly and people notice your lack of personal care and pride. 13. Too much make-up. Make-up has the ability to (latter and highlight, but a heavy hand, garish colors and miss-matched lip liner detract and are not appropriate for the office. On the other side, too little makeup can be distracting too. Even if you are not a inake-up person, at the very least wear lipstick. 14. Hair care. At a minimum, hair should be clean. Hair should be away from the face and not detracting from eye contact. H'tipping hair and playing with hair is submissive and flirtatious behavior and should be avoided. Dressing professionally is

The purpose of business dress is to allow others to get beyond your clothing and recognize how well you get the job done.

phone, three sets of keys and a stash of business cards. Bulging pockets detract from an otherwise streamlined look, so if you notice any square lumps in your pants, it is a sure sign that it is time to get a bag. An all-purpose bag that translates easily from work to piay is a messenger. Briefcases for business-minded men and carryalls for active men are additional options. At the very least, rather than stretch out your pants by filling your pockets to the max, you should consider donning a blazer with interior pockets to distribute your daily necessities over a larger area and maintain a sleek appearance. 4. Oversized clothes. One of the greatest male fashion fallacies is that loose clothing looks better than more fitted threads. The truth, however, is that even on larger men, body-skimming styles are more flattering. Of course,

Small Business Enterprise Outreach Meeting

Utah Data Center Camp Williams, Utah Solicitation Number: W912DR-10-R-0015 Agency; Department of the Army Office: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Baltimore

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HenselPhelps Construction Co. Trautman A Shreve

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JACOBS
The Hensel Phelps - Wasatch ~ Trautman & Shreve Joint Venture (HPWTS JV) and design partner. Jacobs Engineering bave been selected to participate in the Stage 2 Design-build proposal phase for design and construction of this project. Project Scope: The magnitude of this project is greater than $500,000,000 and consists of the design and construction of a Tier III. 65 MW technical data center, located on Camp Williams, Utah. We invite all interested small and targe business firms to do the following: 1. Submit a compfeted pre-qualification form for consideration if your firm has not already done so on or before May 7, 2010. This form and ail information regarding the HPWTS JV team and this soliciiation are available on the project specific website at www.hpvrtsjvudc.com. Attend the Subcontractor / Vendor Outreach Informational Meeting scheduled for May 12, 2010 @ 4:00 PM MST at the Sheraton Hotel. 150 West 500 South, Salt Lake City. Utah 64101. Tel; (801) 401-2000 Fax: (801) 5343450. This meeting will give your ftrm a chance to meet our Team's key personnel face to face, gather more information regarding this project, and discuss business opportunities that exist. Refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP" for this meeting by Wednesday, May 5, 2010.

HUFFAKER
from pafie 9 are so urgently seeking. Don't e.\pect the phone to ring, and don't wait for someone to walk in the door placing a large order. It won't happen. As difficult and challenging as the current economy is, there is still all the business your company can handle if you have well-trained, proactive salespeople who are working harder that they have in the past. Don't accept any excuses from your sales department. There is no reason your sales can't be better this year than last. Increased sales can be a reality if you apply the correct formula discussed in choice #3. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.
Tim Huffaker is the president of The Business Performance Group, a sales training and coaching firm headquartered in Salt Lake City. The company teaches core sales principles and skills, allowing clients to double their sales. Huffaker is the author of hundreds of sales articles and can be contacted at (801) 5574571 orfinn@bpgutah.com.

LEVERICH
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change. Expectations of successful change include defining and how to measure success, and who Is accountable for results. Support initiative change with a team of people who will embrace it in all departments. Focus on what is important. Take time to properly engage all of your stakeholders and align them to the change effort. Business improvement must be fully supported by management, including a commitment to seeing change occur. It is Ukely you will need to confront and remove roadblocks lo change.

2.

Joseph P. Leverich, CPA. is managing partner and president of the Leverich Group, a Salt Lakebased CPA and management consulting firm. E-mail comments and questions to jleverich@leverich. com or phone (801) 364-4949.

**AII RSVP's, responses, and correspondence should be mailed to: 226 Airport Parkway #150, San Joso, CA 95110; or amailed to brusher@henselphelps.com. Attention: Bruce Rusher.

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