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TOP OF THE WEEK TO YOU!
(by realwired! CEO, Brenda Dohring)
Top of the Week to You! is designed to offer the inside scoop and latest of what's important in the world of technology as it relates to the commercial real estate industry. | |
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Task Masters at Work
Why does assigning tasks work? Asking someone to do something even if it's yourself is, of course, useful. We operate by "doing" things all the time. I find that while everyone tasks, it's the assigning of tasks and the follow up to tasks that is a huge problem. Having a "system" or software that automates can really help. I know lots of folks in our industry that use highly customized tracking solutions, but it seems that even those tend to be for specific processes. Outlook becomes the defacto and it's just not collaborative. For tasking to work at its most basic and be the most useful, it needs to be interactive. Rarely is a task assigned or started and finished with only one party. Tasks worth tracking tend to have a series of handoffs that occur at different times along the way. It's very useful keep track of where the task is...you know, that whole..."is it really being done?" thing.
It seems to me that as I work to help companies and individuals do a better job of tracking their projects, and as employees and partners progress, using Excel spreadsheets and the like is starting to wane. And for good reason; it's not interactive enough. Even Outlook Tasks isn't a connected forum that keeps everyone in the loop to ensure something is proceeding along as expected or not. And come on, don't you wake up in the middle of the night sometimes saying "Dang, I know I need xyz for tomorrow and I never heard back from "Sally" on whether we were able to compile everything we needed". What if as "Sally" moved along in the process, a single check in a box got updates to your email? And, if you wanted to know more or ask questions, you could click a link and be part of the task to view what has been occurring or to update something, add additional people or simply communicate with the others involved. It might make for more restful nights, successful meetings, presentations and just better everyday business.
The only way for tasking to really work is for someone to take the time to map the rules of how the tasks will work. It definitely won't work if you don't take the time to define some basic things such as:
- When is it ok to use the status "Waiting on someone else";
- What does "Urgent" mean?;
- Will you use %'s to define progress or calendar days or hours?
For repetitive tasks this is easier. You design the task flow and then modify it once in a while. For on the fly tasks, you can sometimes have a more flexible process. But don't think you can skip having "rules" or the only one you will be able to task is you...and that's no fun.
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Sales/Marketing Tip
A Rose...
The world is the way the world is. The stories change to protect the innocent. That is, we like to embrace stories that shield us from the not so comforting instantiation of reality in all its nakedness. Social beings that we are, we conspire in group-licensed narrative. Nodding, repeating the mantra we commune. It would be amusing save that it's become so tiresome.
I like a good story as much as the next guy. When I was a kid my mother used to read to me. I fancied Winnie the Pooh and the L. Frank Baum books (of which most people know only the Wizard of Oz). In those days I could happily enjoy the exact same tale again and again. Indeed, I insisted on it. I'm sure now that it must have driven my mother crazy. She never let on. "Mothers are like that... yeah they are" (Bayer aspirin commercial circa 1963).
Fast forward to 2009. I'm no longer so easily amused. I still like stories but my brain now craves variety. Additionally, my "willing suspension of disbelieve" has atrophied somewhat since childhood. Being a salesperson has sharpened my sense of familiarity. That is, I not only recognize when I've heard a story before, but I also hear it for the falsehood that it so often is. What surprises me is how many people who should know better don't.
Here's the current best seller. "The economy has people scared and they're afraid to make a decision." The evidence for this is one or another statement made by prospects that sound like these:
We're going to look around a little more.
That sounds good. Let us get back to you.
We like your solution the best of any we've seen. Just give us a little time to get things together.
Call me next week.
Story of the year: The prospects above are having trouble making decisions. Reality: they already made a decision and it's "No". "No" with packaging for the consumption of the salesperson is still "No".
Earth to salespeople: It's no harder to get people to make decisions than it ever was. In a time when people have less money (we are in such a time), fewer will buy and we'll have to prospect more to find the ones who will. The story about people having a hard time making decisions might make salespeople feel better, but it won't make you any richer.
People have a lot of ways to say "No".
And that's the way the world is.
Mark Fitzgerald, Sales Training Institute, Inc., Tampa, Florida provides this column weekly. Mr. Fitzgerald provides both group and customized sales training for professionals and companies. For more information, please contact him by telephone at 813-831-5555 via email at mark@saleskills.com or visit www.saleskills.com. |
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Hot Deals/Leads
Sequoia Restaurant and Entertainment Group trades as Il Fornaio at 20 locations throughout CA, CO, NV, VA and WA. The upscale Italian restaurants, offering soups, salads, wood-fired pizza, homemade pastas, and a variety of desserts, occupy spaces of 8,000 sq.ft. in lifestyle centers. Growth opportunities are sought throughout the Eastern region of the U.S. during the coming 18 months. For more information regarding Il Fornaio, contact Brian Kjos, 610 Newport Center Drive, Suite 500, Newport Beach, CA 92660.
Golden Corral operates 500 locations nationwide. The family-style buffet restaurants occupy spaces of 12,000 sq.ft. in freestanding locations. Plans call for one to two openings throughout the Atlanta, GA metropolitan area during the coming 18 months, with representation by The Shumacher Group. Preferred cotenants include value retailers. Preferred demographics include a population of 150,000 within five miles earning $50,000 as the average household income. Major competitors include Ryan's and Asian buffet restaurants. A land area of 2.5 to three acres is required. The company is franchising. For more information, contact Harold Shumacher, The Shumacher Group, 3188 Saybrook Drive, Atlanta, GA 30319.
Logan's Roadhouse operates 168 locations throughout 23 states nationwide. The restaurants, offering steaks, grilled chicken, steak burgers, ribs, seafood and specialty salads, occupy spaces of 7,200 sq.ft. in freestanding locations. Plans call for one opening throughout the Atlanta, GA metropolitan area during the coming 18 months, with representation by The Shumacher Group. Typical leases run 10 years with options. A vanilla shell, specific improvements and a turnkey are required. Preferred cotenants include home improvement and discount stores. Preferred demographics include a population of 150,000 within five miles earning $60,000 as the average household income. Major competitors include Longhorn Steakhouse and Texas Roadhouse. A land area of 1.4 to 1.6 acres is required. For more information, contact Harold Shumacher, The Shumacher Group, 3188 Saybrook Drive, Atlanta, GA 30319.
Burger King Corp. trades as Burger King at 11,700 locations nationwide and internationally. The fast food restaurants occupy spaces in freestanding locations, regional malls and entertainment, lifestyle, outlet, power, specialty, strip, tourist and value centers, in addition to urban/downtown areas. Growth opportunities are sought throughout FL during the coming 18 months. A land area of 30,000 sq.ft. is required for freestanding locations.
For more information, contact Alan D. Corwith, Burger King Corp., 1380 North Crooked Lake Drive, Babson Park, FL 33827.
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