Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom How To Sell Value Instead Of Commodities

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom How To Sell Value Instead Of Commodities When interacting with your customers, are you selling a product, or are you selling what that product will do to make their lives easier? In other words, are you providing value? The competitive environment for virtually all products now stretches to the far corners of the globe. Increasingly, companies that have enjoyed market dominance are experiencing the commoditization of their offerings and find themselves competing primarily on price. One such example stems from the global shipping industry, where companies became accustomed to selling space. Customers made their choices based on the least expensive containers, and their was no guarantee they would arrive on time. In the 21stcentury, one Denmark-based company,Maersk Line, realized that the industry was letting customers down. They determined that increased timeliness and reliability would have a major impact on the customer value chain. Maersk transformed their sales approach from commodity-based to value-based, to the tune of a 350 percent ROI in just 11 months. Could your business do the same thing? Here are some key lessons culled from my conversations with Maersk executives â€" and recommendations for making it happen. Step 1: Identify key levers to impact the customer’s business Before going to sell a product, considerwhyyour customers have to have it. Maersk, for instance, recognized that improving reliability was truly essential to customers. “Customers had to take out huge buffer stocks to compensate for all of the times a ship didn’t arrive on time,” explains Jesper Thomsen, vice president of sales and customer service, Maersk Line.“Their goods would lose money by the hour.” The product,Daily Maersk, introduced ships that leave the same port at the same time every day so that customers are 95 percent guaranteed that products will arrive as scheduled (in contrast to the 50 percent industry standard). Step 2: Change the customer conversation Bringing a new insight to customers only matters if you and your salespeople can clearly articulate your offering’s value. In other words, why should your customers associate your product with their most pressing needs? Sales workshops don’t always do the job. Historically, Maersk had tried a variety of them, but the results were disappointing. “We got our people to follow a process, but it was still a very transactional one,” says Eric Williams, Maersk’s global head of sales. Maersk worked with North Carolina-basedSales Performance International(SPI) and its local partner Implement to design a new sales approach that would proactively communicate value to the customer. The program helped Maersk’s salespeople master three of seven core competencies (customer-needs assessment, customer-value proposition preparation, and customer-value proposition articulation). At Maersk, sales reps now target a customer in a segment in which the company wants to grow. The salesperson gets in the door early to shape the decision-making criteria, and adds value by thoughtfully exploring key issues with the customer. “By asking questions that are insightful we help customers to consider issues they hadn’t thought about before â€" new ways to improve their business. We move the discussion way beyond the standard ‘what is your price from Hong Kong to Rotterdam?’” says Williams. Step 3: Commit to execution Of course, communicating value is very different than straight product sales, and it may initially be out of your comfort zone. That’s why reinforcement is critical. SPI’s certification for sales reps and managers, for example, ensures that the team doesn’t revert to the old and less effective techniques. “Verifiable outcomes for reps, like sending an evaluation plan to a customer, are quality assessed by the manager, and that gets the whole process to stick,” says Williams. Step 4: Measure, measure, measure Any radical transformation requires solid metrics that demonstrate success, so make sure that your team can measure why your business is better off because of value-selling. Although Maersk conducted training workshops, the company did not rely on the traditional smile sheet ratings. “We looked at multiple business metrics, including concrete behavior change in customer interactions, impact on the sales pipeline, and impact on the business as a whole,” says Jurgen Heyman, vice president and managing director of SPI Europe.“All were positive, but the last was particularly impressive. Not only did value-selling increase the number of containers sold, but Maersk was able to charge a $76/container premium over the competition.” Finally, once you have those stats on paper, don’t forget to share them. When leadership changes and/or new salespeople arrive, you will have to continually demonstrate why selling value is the right decision for your business.

What are the 20 Best UK Companies to Work for

What are the 20 Best UK Companies to Work for The best employers to work for in the UK have been revealed by Reed.co.uk and their Employer Brand Index 2012. It reveals the organisations UK employees most want to work for. Over 2,000 workers shared their top employer brand, favourite business personality and the reasons why they mean so much to them. Key takeaways from this study: There is a strong loyalty towards British brands with reputation for quality, like Virgin, the BBC and John Lewis Generation Y are primarily interested in training and development, Google is their preferred employer Generation X look for pay, benefits and conditions, Virgin is their choice employer Boomers are looking for rewards and recognition, the BBC is the winner in this segment Words used to sum up top employer brands include admired, fresh thinking and credible UK workers want to work for celebrities; business people with strong personal brands such as Sir Richard Branson and Lord Sugar Related: What People Search for on UK Job Boards [Infographic]. Top image: Shutterstock

The New Friendship Rules Ten Commandments For Adults

The New Friendship Rules Ten Commandments For Adults As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” (Prov. 27:17) We’re sure that, when Proverbs was transcribed in the early first millennium BC, its creators meant women as well as men by the above. While their gender bias  leaves a lot to be desired, these folks were certainly on to something. Friends are a source of inspiration in our lives. In fact, research shows that good platonic relationships  are the most essential ingredient  in a long and healthy life. But how to navigate the pitfalls of adult friendships, in a world where we spend more time on our phones than talking to actual human beings? Here are  the new friendship rules or, as we like to call them, the Ten Commandments For Adults. 1. Thou shalt have plenty of other friends but me. We get it. Having a bezzie with whom you share everything can be a fantastic thing. But while the concept of a ‘best friend’ is fair enough at school or even university, in the real world this kind of relationship is rare. Why? Adult life is complex, unpredictable and busy. A friend is a multifaceted thing â€" and so are you. To support that flexibility, you need options. We’re not saying everyone needs a hundred mates to call on in a crisis. But you do need at least three or four. According to evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar from the University of Oxford, your closest fifteen friends are the most important to your mental health. That’s fifteen â€" not one or two. Humans are sociable animals; having just one comrade on whom you constantly depend risks social suffocation and co-dependency. Spread your wings and cultivate a range of friendships with various kinds of people. You’ll feel better for it. 2. Thou shalt say, ‘Nay!’ You know that friend who always texts at the last minute, asking to hang out with two hours’ notice on a mid-week school night when you’ve already worked late and had a really stressful morning of meetings? Yeah, that one. Well, you don’t have to say yes. In fact, one of the biggest lessons of adult life is learning when to say ‘no’ to pals. In this day and age, everyone is busy. Time spent not in the office is precious. Your days are your own to use as you wish; if you’d rather go to your weekly yoga class than work drinks, nobody can force you to do otherwise. Just. Say. No. 3. Thou shalt not be needy. Just as you don’t have to spend your precious evenings performing whatever activity your schoolmate fancies, they don’t have to do what you want either. If somebody says ‘no’ to you, don’t moan about how boring they are. Move on to one of your other acquaintances â€" that is, the ones you’ve obtained in accordance with commandment one. Friendships are conducted on a purely voluntary basis. Don’t guilt-trip your mates into sticking around, or you may find you have none left. Adults don’t have  to hang out on a regular basis in order to stay close. Real friends maintain relationships over distances of both space and time. Talking and texting every day is for teenagers; unless you’re sure they return your enthusiasm for the relationship, be sure to give your bezzie space. 4. Remember the meeting day (and turn up). At school and university, it’s easy to make and maintain friends; you attend the same institution, are members of the same societies and know the same people. In the working world, friends live in different places, operate on different timelines, and frequently find themselves at different stages of life. In order to see people, effort is required â€" and nothing is more irritating than when  one person makes that effort and  another does not. If you agreed three weeks ago to meet someone for drinks after work, you’d better be at that bar come the hour. The time for saying ‘no’ is before you’ve said ‘yes’. Make up your mind and stick to it. Also, don’t be that person who’s always late to everything. Though good friends will forgive you for it, it’s still not a grown-up thing to do.  5.  Honour thy partner (and kids). Tricky territory at the best of times, balancing friends with family can be difficult. Maintaining a serious relationship â€" or more, having kids â€" is a significant time-sink and those hours have to come from somewhere. Frequently, it’s your social life that’s gotta give. Though some of your needier buddies especially in their 20s may whine about feeling ‘abandoned’, the good ones will understand that, in a serious relationship, your partner has to come first. After all, you wouldn’t like to come second to your partner’s mates, would you? Similarly, if you have children, any half-decent human will understand that their needs come first in your agenda. Prioritise. 6. Thou shalt have a life. Though putting your partner first is important â€" and we’re talking partners, not friends-with-benefits or that hottie down the gym you got with once â€" you should never give up your friends for the sake of a guy or gal. Why? Simple: because otherwise you’ll go mad. A healthy adult existence involves input from all areas: friends, family, lovers, colleagues. While it can be oh-so-easy to lose yourself in the excitement of a new relationship, bear in mind that, if things eventually go to pot, it’ll be your friends and not your significant other picking you up off the pavement. 7. Thou shalt not betray the confidence of thy friend. Being a gossip or a bully is never cool, whatever your age. Stand up, grow up. 8. Thou shalt keep thy standards high. Ever heard the radiation/drain theory? The notion goes that there are two types of friend out there: those who feed on your energy and those who shine with it, like a bright light. I probably don’t need to tell you which you should be hanging out with. Your time is precious; don’t waste it on people who don’t love, entertain or energise you. Save your efforts for friends who make you feel good about yourself, and hang the rest until they prove they can give as much as they take. 9. Thou shalt not judge thy friends’ life decisions. People move at different speeds through life. If you’re still in university when your childhood buddy is popping out her second sprog, it can be easy to pass judgment. But remember that judgments are mutual: she’s probably thinking you’ll be £50,000 in debt by the time you’re 21, with nothing to show for it beyond a piece of paper and three years of hangovers. What your friends decide to do with their lives â€" the people they meet, the jobs they refuse, the husbands and wives they fall for â€" is not your concern. You’re a fallible human too; don’t presume to give them advice. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s life. Last but not least, we exist in an age of Facebook, Instagram and FOMO. When we’re not getting what we want from life â€" whether it’s missing that promotion, going through a breakup or falling sick â€" it can be easy to think that everyone else is way ahead of you. But people accomplish different things at different rates; if we compared ourselves to others all the time, we’d go mad. Get off social media, get on with your life and ignore what everyone else is doing. Chances are, when you’re eighty, you’ll look back on these  worries and think them petty. Then again, by then you’ll also know who your true friends really were, and all of our advice will be redundant. This guest post was authored by Inspiring Interns  Inspiring Interns is a graduate recruitment  agency  which specialises in sourcing candidates for  internships  and giving out  graduate careers advice. To  hire graduates  or browse  graduate jobs, visit their website.

Top 10 Questions You Should Ask a Headhunter - Part 1

Top 10 Questions You Should Ask a Headhunter - Part 1 So you have a critical hire to make, and you need to find someone from your industry and fast: You realize that advertising for the post won’t reach the right individuals you need from your competitors. The best people are happy and busy in their jobs hitting targets and achieving results so why would they respond to an ad? You realize the fastest and most effective route to attracting and identifying the best people is to use a headhunter. So how do you select a good headhunter and how do you know what to look for? Here are the five most important questions you need to ask them: 1) What method of headhunting do you  offer? A good retained headhunter will work with the client to understand their requirement, their business, and industry sector. They will want to know about the dynamics of your organization, the history, and culture as well as management personalities. The next stage in the process is to understand specifically where you want candidates to be sourced from to ensure the research phase identifies a large amount of relevant potential candidates. The shortlist should all be face to face interviewed by the headhunter with every step of the process carefully managed by them. Contingency recruitment isn’t headhunting. Often a database of candidates is used to source candidates who may be unemployed, redundant, unhappy in their position, not achieving results, etc. This is why they are quickly available to start new jobs and immediately motivated to move. Contingency recruiting does not require any skill or experience and is a more agency method of hiring. Contingency candidates are generally not interviewed on a face to face basis. 2) How much do you  charge? Generally, contingency recruitment fees for executive level projects can be around 20% to 25% of the basic salary give or take a few percent. This is quite expensive considering the skill and time and effort involved. However many factors will affect the price including the location, industry, number of roles and seniority. A contingency fee is due only after the client has made a hire. Retained recruitment projects are more complex in nature and so is the pricing structure. Anywhere between 25% to 33% of the basic salary plus benefits and travel is normal but make sure you are receiving the highest level of service for this fee. Considering the detail, team/ research involvement and experience needed to complete a retained assignment the fee levels are very reasonable. Just make sure that every project is bespoke, and the company is not using a database of old candidates. Retained fees are generally paid in 3 equal stages due to the sophistication of the assignments and detailed work and research levels required. 3) What guarantees will I receive? Some recruiters will work on retained assignments and not guarantee success. As clients are expected to pay fees in advance, it is perfectly acceptable to demand pre-agreed results, deadlines, and targets. 4) What am I being promised? Any promises made by a headhunter should always be backed up by experience and past performance. Furthermore, guarantees should be included as part of the terms and conditions making them legally binding. 5) What methods are  you  using? Do they use researchers or a database or can they provide evidence that each project is bespoke? Weekly reports and updates are beneficial to prove to clients what stage the project is at, who has been contacted and what further work needs to be done. If you can gain the confidence from your preferred headhunting partner by asking these critical questions, then you should be assured of high quality and effective service that helps your business hire the industry’s best people and fast! The next five most important questions you should ask a  headhunter will follow next week stay tuned! Author: Ed Robertson is a seasoned Marketing Manager writing about a range of topics covering executive search, employment, and education. MSC Headhunters is a retained executive search firm serving corporations around the world.

Strengths and Weaknesses You Can State in Your Job Interview - CareerMetis.com

Strengths and Weaknesses You Can State in Your Job Interview Photo Credit â€" Pexels.comWhat are your weaknesses?This is still a typical interview question asked by recruiters, although it has become quite cliché by now.Most applicants will already expect to be asked the question and reply with an answer, such as, “I have no weaknesses”or “My greatest weakness? Chocolate! But I do sports twice a week.” So, how should you react if you’re asked about your strengths and weaknesses? Read this article to find out!Weaknesses in the Job Interview â€" Wrong AnswersevalIf you’re asked about your weaknesses in your next job interview, then there are some answers that you should never give, such as:“I’m a perfectionist.” “I work too much.”“I have no weaknesses.” Believe it or not, all of the answers above were printed in job application guide books; since then, they have become widely used statements.Giving such an answer in a job interview will make the recruiter smirk at best, but it’s more likely that they will downgrade y ou, because they very well know that nobody is perfect.Interestingly enough, studies by Harvard have shown that 80% of recruiters are more likely to hire applicants that admit to having real weaknessesAdmitting weaknesses, shows that you’re honest, whichalso makes you seem more authentic.Admiting to Weaknesses in Your Job Interview? Absolutely!evalSo the advice we can give you: Be honest and admit your faults and weaknesses, as long as they don’t interfere with your new position. You shouldn’t apply as a bank teller and state in the job interview “I’m very bad with numbers…”. However, it will put you in a good light, if you tell the recruiter about ways and methods which you are actively working on to overcome your weaknesses.Here are some examples:“I find it a bit difficult to speak to a bigger audience. I’m usually very nervous and feel somewhat uncomfortable. Nevertheless, I am trying to get my stage fright under control, that’s why I’ve started taking a rhe toric course.”Naturally, this weakness would only be problematic if you actually had to speak to larger groups frequently in your new job â€" for example, as a press spokesperson. If this situation occurs now and then â€" such as, during internal meetings â€" the handicap is limited.evalIf you then point out that you are attending rhetoric courses or seminars for presentation techniques, the weakness is no longer a problem; on the contrary, it proves increasing communication competence.“It is difficult for me to express my opinion in a big group, especially if I have to stand my ground alone against others. Most of the time, I look for colleagues in advance who I can convince in a one-on-one conversation and who will support me later on.Admittedly, this weakness is not optimal and can turn into a real problem in almost any position. After all, assertiveness is what one expects from future management talents. But let’s be honest, isn’t that how it works for all of us â€" all alone with an opinion against the rest of the world? What do you have colleagues and a team for?!Anyone who can convince his/her team, or a small group of colleagues, in advance, will not stand alone with his/her opinion later on. This emphasizes one’s ability to think strategically â€" despite weakness. If you are able to convince your colleagues, you probably have some good arguments, and thus probably only need a little rhetoric training.More Examples of Weaknesses in a Job Interview:I cannot say “No”…Sometimes I talk too much, to express my motivation…I only have little practical knowledge so far…My self-organization could be better…The same applies to these points; of course, they should always be connected to a positive aspect in the interview. For instance, the lack of organization is avoided by making sure to write down one’s tasks and deadlines, as to not lose track of things.Strengths in the Job Interview â€" Don’t be OverconfidentIf the interviewer has a lready asked about one’s weaknesses, then the next logical step is that they will also inquire about the applicant’s strengths.Many candidates feel safe here; after all, it seems easy to talk about one’s own qualities and to emphasize why one is the perfect candidate for the job. But it is not quite that simple, because there should be some balance.Neither should you sell yourself short, nor should the answer turn into a form of self-admiration.Don’t praise yourself to the skies:The same applies to strengths as to weaknesses: everything in moderation. Of course you want to sell yourself well, but it has to be realistic. You should try to focus on a few of your strongest qualities that also apply to this position.evalIt might be nice to throw around buzzwords, to claim you possess all types of qualities in order to try to convince the recruiter “In order to solve problems, my creativity often comes in handy. During my training, I regularly organized meetings with several co lleagues, in which we brainstormed and developed new ideas”.“If I have set my mind on something, nothing can keep me from following through with it. This determination helped me to never give up and eventhough my chances were slim, in the end I was able to get an apprenticeship.” So as you can see, the question on strengths and weaknesses in a job interview is not ultimately about giving the “right” answers, but rather about presenting yourself in an honest and convincing manner.You don’t have to be the greatest, smartest, or most accomplished candidate to get the job. Candidates score far more points through openness, humanity, and sincerity. Simply because, it is precisely such people that coworkers will enjoy working with later on.