Growing Your Business with Lean Sales

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Inform Partner, Wayne Moloney has recently been invited into Sales Masterminds Australia. Wayne, who said he was “pleased and humbled to be invited into this elite group of peers”, recently participated in the Strategic Selling Groups ‘Talking Sales’ series of interviews with the Founder, John Smibert. In this first interview, Wayne introduces us to the basics of Lean Sales.

See more of the Talking Sales series here

Leader or Manager?

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To quote Peter Drucker, “Management is about doing things right, Leadership is about doing the right things”.
A leader provides direction (short and long range focus) and answers the “What and why?” (a manger answers the ‘how to’). Leaders provide the strategic direction of an organisation (where to play and how to win) and establish the all-important culture and environment of an organisation. Without direction, focus, clear communication and the right culture, businesses struggle to succeed in today’s market.
Throughout my career in sales, management and consulting, I have regularly witnessed examples of good and poor management; and I have also found all good leaders share similar traits. Good leaders are/have/do:
  • results oriented
  • not accepting of the status quo
  • strong inter-personal skills
  • know their own strengths and weaknesses
  • creative and innovative
  • set goals that are clear, challenging and realistic
  • empower others

Read more →

LEAN Misconceptions – Part 3

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LEAN Misconceptions – Part 3

In Part 2 we shed light on the fact that Lean is not a process to reduce the number of employees, which followed from the initial myth that was debunked being that Lean is all about cost reduction. In this article we explore the myth that Lean is only applicable to manufacturing.

Misconception # 3: Lean is only applicable to manufacturing organisations

The origins of Lean can be traced back to Henry Ford in the 1920’s when he developed the assembly line for the Model-T Ford. In the 1950’s, we then had the quality crusade driven by Deming and Mitrofanov’s Group Technology which was further enhanced by Burbidge in the 1970’s. In the 1980’s the Just-in-Time, Zero Inventory and Total Quality Control (JIT/TQC) era rose to the forefront, and finally Lean took center-stage with Ohno and the development of the Toyota Production System (TPS) in Japan. So while neither Ford, Deming et al, called their methodologies ‘Lean’, their approach always focused on the elimination of all forms of ‘waste’…the very essence of Lean. It was only in the 1990’s that these various approaches to process improvement were finally amalgamated and called ‘Lean’. Read more →

Lean Myths & Realities – People

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LEAN Misconceptions – Part 2

In Part 1 we debunked the myth that Lean is all about cost reduction. In this article we explore the myth that to be Lean a business has to cut staff.

Misconception # 2: Lean is a process to reduce the number of employees

As discussed in “Misconceptions # 1”, reducing the non-value added components or waste, capacity is increased (diagram 1), and increasing capacity is the REAL purpose of Lean.

Lean Misc Image #2

Diagram 1

By creating this additional capacity, the organisation now has the opportunity to either:

a) Reduce the number of employees.
Using this approach will invariably result in the following:

  • The process of continual improvement which is fundamental to Lean, coming to an instant halt. After all, which employee wants to reduce waste and make improvements to the organisation if it means that either he or his peers will then be without a job?
  • A huge decrease in employee morale.
  • Stagnant/declining productivity with the possibility of implementing any future improvement program/s being slim.
  • Stagnant growth and process improvement, thereby allowing the competition to catch-up and finally overtake the organisation.
  • Distrust between management and the employees, perpetuating the “us vs them” culture.

b) Utilise the employees to increase output and/or add greater customer value.
Using this approach will have the exact opposite effect to that of (a) above. Read more →

Risk of Too Few Customers

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Concentration Risk! Not a risk with concentrating so hard your brain hurts, but the risk associated with your business being reliant on too few customers.

For many businesses, once they win the first BIG deal there is a feeling of excitement and achievement. You’ve finally got that deal that will deliver the revenue you have been chasing and allow you to set in place the business operations and processes to deliver the profits you have been targeting. The problem for most businesses is the fact that this win often drains resources and there is little or no follow-up to generate more significant sales. The risk is obvious, if this customer leaves, for whatever reason, your business is vulnerable.

Read more →

Lean Business – Myth or Reality?

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LEAN Misconceptions – Part 1

The Lean Philosophy has been around for many years, but unfortunately it is not always understood, predominantly because Lean is thought to be:

  1. A cost reduction exercise
  2. A process to reduce the number of employees
  3. Only applicable to ‘manufacturing’ organisations
  4. An ‘operational’ issue that can be solved by the ‘operations people’
  5. Only for ‘big’ organisations.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

In this series of articles, I will discuss each of these misconceptions and demonstrate that Lean is about business; any and every business. A Lean business strives to understand what the customer really values, and then maximises customer value. Lean is not a short-term fad, but a long-term commitment towards continual improvement that involves every system, every process, every department and every employee within the organisation, irrespective of it’s size. Read more →

Engaged Employees = 27% Higher Profit!

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Engaged employees = 27% higher profit, 50% higher sales and 50% higher customer loyalty. (Gallup Study)

Is Your Business Set to Achieve Success Through People? Our FREE diagnostic tool will help you find out!

Consider for a moment the total value of your investment in the employees within your business -basic wage and salary costs, leave provisions, workers’ compensation and other insurances, training costs, incidental costs, accommodation and technology costs, recruitment and induction costs, the cost of casual staff to relieve employees on leave etc…. Think also about the time involved in recruiting employees and having them perform at their best, the time you might need to invest in addressing poor performance, conflict, customer complaints etc….

If yours is like most businesses, you’ll find that the total investment in your employees is significant, and in many cases it’s the single-most significant cost of doing business. With this in mind, it simply makes sense to ensure that your business is managing employees in a manner which generates the maximum possible return on investment. Read more →

New Inform Partners

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We are pleased to announce the addition of Mike Karle and Greg Mitchell as partners in our consulting practise.

“With their extensive backgrounds in their respective areas of expertise, Mike and Greg will play an integral role in growing Inform’s consulting practice,” said Founding Partner Wayne Moloney. “Mike and Greg have been consulting with Inform for a number of years and their increased involvement with the development of the practise, helping develop and deliver personalised expert services, will be a tremendous benefit to our clients”.

Smart Sales People Don’t Fear Being Replaced Online

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Way back in 1999 as the national sales manager of a major Australian telco, I sat in on a presentation on what I was told would be the future of sales. According to what was presented that day, the future for any sales person was gloomy at best. The internet was going to revolutionise the way we transacted business. Regardless of whether it was B2C, B2B or any combination, we were to be replaced by online platforms that would allow people to buy everything from cutlery to cars, books to buildings.

Fifteen years later and the sales person is as important to any business as ever. In fact the internet has delivered sales people tools that help them be more valuable to both their companies and their clients. And make them more successful.

While statistics can be manipulated to make any argument look good, consider the following while you ponder the future of the sales person. Read more →

6 Things Successful Sales People Know

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Success in sales doesn’t just happen, well not continually. Sure we have all had a ‘blue bird’ from time to time, but to enjoy long-term success in sales you need to work at it. This doesn’t suggest I am taking sides on the debate on whether sales people are born or made. Regardless of where you sit on that argument, success comes to those who put in the smartest and greatest effort.

Here are 6 things I have found consistent with those sales people I have worked with and who have enjoyed the greatest success: Read more →