Work Tools:
Technologically Enhanced
"A craftsman is only as good as his tools".
This saying is applicable in many aspects of life,
but maybe none more than in the business world.
With technology today, there is no excuse for not
having that important document, or that client's
phone number. You should be accessible to colleagues
and customers alike via cell phone, text message,
email, instant message, voicemail, bluetooth, PDA,
and any other number of gadgets and accessories.
In today's world, there is absolutely no such thing
as being "unavailable". If you don't receive
that important call or that vital email, chances
are that it is not from a lack of viable ways to
get the information; it's a matter of laziness or
incompetence.
Technology is changing so rapidly that there are
any number of tools you can us that serve multiple
functions: Cell phones with email and instant message
capabilities, laptops with VOIP, and PDA that store
gigs of information and every phone number you could
ever need, as well as internet access.
There are many different ways to take advantage
of these products, the only thing you have to do
is figure out which one works best for you and your
business. Once you've got that figured out, you are
well on your way to being more efficient, better
organized, and more savvy than ever before. |
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The Holiday Season:
How to Get Ahead
November is here! That statement holds quite a few
implications for business, and life in general. The
first day of November means that we have less than
a month before the craziness of the Holiday Season.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and Christmas
isn't far behind.
Everyone knows that the holiday season is one of low
productivity in the business world. People take time
off to be with their families and friends, and most
everyone else accepts this as a part of the routine
and easily dismisses the downtime as part of our culture
that it is.
The best part about the slip in productivity is that
those who like to take advantage of a situation revel
in this time of year. This is the time when many don't
make that extra call, or send that email by telling
themselves "No one in working right now anyway";
This is when the true professionals dig in even deeper
and go the extra mile.
Imagine how many leads a salesperson could get if
the competition was cut by over 70% for a two-month
period? If no one was calling on your targeted list
of companies or people? What do you think your odds
would be in getting through to that person, or landing
a deal you've been chasing?
If you find it difficult to work over the next couple
months, take heart that there are many people out there
feeling the same way, and if you push ahead now, you
could be seeing tremendous success by the year's end.
In the real world, you create your own luck, and one
way to do that is to do the things that other people
won't do, and make that phone ring when others would
just let it be. |
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Altering Your Approach:
Backup Plans
Business is a fluid entity. There are ups and downs,
good times and bad, surprises and routines. All of
this is generally accepted as "The Nature of the
Beast", but what do you do when every aspect of
your daily routine changes? What can you do when your
bread and butter activities become inaccessible? Your
email stops working for the day, your phone lines go
down for hours at a time, or your company database
isn't working properly… This is when your professionalism
comes into play. True professionals are tagged as such
because they work independently and get the job done
regardless of circumstance. It is an undeniable fact
that things go wrong.
Where the difference is made is what people do with
their day when things fall apart. As an ex-teacher,
I was always prepared for the unforeseen sick day.
Most schools make it mandatory that every teacher have
a contingent lesson plan on file with the main office
for just that reason. What I took from that experience
is that it is absolutely critical to have a backup
plan. No matter what your profession, if you have a
plan for a rainy day, you always have something to
fall back on.
Whether it's filing, making non-critical phone calls
you have put off, or just organizing and planning for
tomorrow, if you don't have a plan for what you will
do, the problems win, and you lose an entire day to
poor planning, and bad luck. As we all know, in business,
you usually create your own luck! |
