Profitable Growth Partners Introduces the Top Gun for Business People Series

Profitable Growth Partners, LLC., a Grand Rapids-based business management consulting firm, announced the new season of its acclaimed Top Gun for Business People Series. The Top Gun series is a comprehensive set of workshops designed for organizations that recognize the enormous capability of their employees and are willing to invest in their development.

Grand Rapids, MI (PRWEB) October 30, 2006 -- Profitable Growth Partners, LLC., a Grand Rapids-based business management consulting firm, announced the new season of its acclaimed Top Gun for Business People Series. The Top Gun series is a comprehensive set of workshops designed for organizations that recognize the enormous capability of their employees and are willing to invest in their development.

"We are excited to bring this program to the western Michigan area," said Randy Bancino, Managing Partner with Profitable Growth Partners. "The subject matter for this series was developed over a 20 year period, and has been successfully used to leverage human capital in large and small organizations throughout the world."

Profitable Growth Partners worked with the Center for Organizational Design and other top organizations to put together a comprehensive program that helps organizations generate sustainable competitive advantage by developing "high performance" people and teams. Boot Camp for Managers, the most popular program in the series, kicks off in January and will be hosted at the Western Michigan University Grand Rapids Campus. Additional information on the Top Gun for Business People Series can be found at http://www.pgpgrow.com.

About Profitable Growth Partners, LLC.
Profitable Growth Partners, LLC. works directly with the leadership of small and medium sized companies to help them harness their potential to accelerate growth and enhance profitability. Through their exclusive Business Acceleration Process and their Top Gun for Business People TM series, the experienced business growth experts with Profitable Growth Partners deliver improvements to a business's strategy, processes, structure, systems, and culture, resulting in measurable improvements in both the top line and bottom line.

Contact Information
Claire Zevalkink, Managing Partner
Profitable Growth Partners, LLC.
616.942.4769

Effective Meetings: The Power to Get Things Done

A badly run meeting is not only a waste of time and money but it may also prevent your from accomplishing worthwhile goals for the day.

To avoid wasting time in meetings, consider these tips:

• Call a meeting only if necessary.
• Keep a meeting’s objective in mind at all times.
• Invite people with diverse opinions so you can hear thoughts from both sides of an issue.
• Distribute a memo detailing a meeting’s subject at least one day prior to the actual meeting so that attendees can be prepared.
• Provide food only for longer, or more formal meetings.
• Develop and write out a tightly focused agenda. Use the agenda to refer conversation back to the subject when the meeting goes off-track.
• Ask all attendees to prepare for the meeting ahead of time. Request that each attendee bring at least one suggestion to share.
• Open meetings with an interesting and starling fact about your organization.
• Use visual aids whenever possible. Computer projection screens, slide shows, charts and handouts are excellent tools.
• Set a time limit for the meeting and hold yourself to this time frame.
• Start promptly at the scheduled time.
• Discuss one subject at a time.
• Be flexible. Adapt to the needs of the moment if your subject for the meeting is too broad or too focused.
• Listen to each attendee’s opinion on each issue.
• After the meeting, evaluate its effectiveness. Determine whether the meeting’s goals were achieved, how the next meeting can be improved and what can be done to avoid meeting on this subject again.

We've all been in bad meetings. They not only waste time and money, they waste our emotional energy and prevent us from being effective. A little discipline and a little preparation can make all the difference. At our Top Gun for Business People program, we teach people how to run an effective meeting, and use effective meetings as a tool in creating High Performance Teams.

The Anatomy of a Goal

At Profitable Growth Partners, we believe setting goals is a key component to a sucessful business, so why do they seem so daunting? Often, the threat of failure is so intimidating that it’s easier to not make any at all.

Whatever the reason, a simple anatomy lesson in the basic parts of a goal can help make them more doable.

The following are characteristics to include when setting goals:

• Specific. Clearly define the plan of action. If your goal is vague, you won’t know where to begin or what direction to go. For example, a goal such as “increase company profit” may be what you want, but it doesn’t prompt you to do anything because you don’t know what to do. Instead, try something like “increase sales by 15 percent in the next six months and reduce paper costs.”
• Written. Writing clarifies thinking and makes things feel more permanent. By writing your intent you’re invested more into it and will be more committed.
  Dated. Without a time deadline, there’s no sense of urgency to make your goal a priority among other present demands.
• Measurable. When possible, your goal should be quantified in numbers so you can measure whether you’re making progress. “I want to retire early” isn’t measurable, but “I want to have X amount of dollars in the bank in 10 years” is.
• Attainable. Set your goal at a level to which you’re willing and able to work. If it’s too high, you probably won’t try, but if it’s not high enough to challenge you, you won’t want it enough to do it. The goal is probably possible if it makes sense to you and feels right. Just make sure you don’t set too many goals for too short of a time frame.
• Realistic. Consider the time, skills and resources you have available. The goal might be attainable yet still unrealistic if you don't take into account what you have to work with. For example, you may be able to finish a project in six months, but with present resources it might take a year. It would be unrealistic and even de-motivating to expect to achieve the goal in six months when the resources needed aren’t available.
• Compatible. Your goal must be compatible with your other goals so that accomplishing one won't hinder the achievement of another. Otherwise, you will be uncertain of which goal to pursue and may end up not fulfilling any of them.
• Personal. To be committed to a goal, it should be one that you set for yourself. You must own it and have a stake in it. You can accept a goal that someone else wants you to do, but only by making some part of it your own will you succeed.

In short, a good goal is one that motivates action and gives direction to that action. And that’s something that’s not too hard to make after all.

Are You Making Your Customers Wait on Themselves?

Just the other day I was picking up a few things at the local grocery store. Of course the local grocery store is not the “mom and pop” kind of local grocery store that most of us grew up with. And even if it is, it has likely been acquired by one of the big guys, and they haven’t yet gotten around to changing the name. Anyway, I only had a few items and decided I would use the self-checkout that they recently put into place. Actually, all the self-check out stations were being used, so I was standing in line, waiting to use one. The person in line in front of me grumbled to no one in particular that she was not happy that she now had to “stand in line for the privilege of waiting on herself.”

This started me thinking about the overall phenomenon of “self service.” Generally we don’t grumble when we pump our own gas, or when we use an ATM. So what makes those experiences different? Is it that we simply got used to doing for ourselves? Is it because the experience is actually better than dealing with a bank teller or a gas station attendant? Is it because we have been rewarded to “wait on ourselves?” Maybe it is all over the above…

In any case, customers do often demand the option of self service. As a company providing goods and services to your customers, it is important to understand why and how to offer more “self serve.” Are you doing it to cut costs? Are you doing it because your customers have demanded it? Or, are you simply doing it because the competition is. It is the answers to these questions that will help a company deliver the right mix of personalized service and customer service.

At Profitable Growth Partners, we specialize in helping companies get their customer service strategy right. Getting the right blend of self-service and personalized service is critical for most every business today, and it starts with clearly defining a strategy, and then executing that strategy in a way the not only pleases customers, but actually exceeds their expectations.

Tips on Selling

As an avid business reader, their are certain authors whose books and articles I tend to seek out because they are so good at delivering solid insights. Neil Rackham is known throughout the world as a speaker, writer and seminal thinker on sales and marketing issues. Three of his books have been on The New York Times best-seller list, including Spin Selling (TM), McGraw-Hill's all-time best-selling business title.

Following are 10 of his most valuable lessons:

Generate Trust - "Selling depends on trust. Customers only trust people that have 3 key attributes: candor, competence, and concern. Customers trust people that are honest and straight. They should know what they are talking about. And they should be concerned about the other person and their needs."

Don't TALK Too Much - "The most successful salespeople talk a lot less than their customers. Most of us take up more air space than we need to. Ration your talking time."

Ask Questions - A lot of questions. "We live in an age where understanding is more important than persuading. Asking the right kind of questions can help you understand the other person and where they are coming from."

Reasons Don't Always Persuade - "Less effective people feel like their argument is always right. Don't think that piling on the reasons and the logic will necessarily persuade someone." People buy from emotion and back it up with logic.

Be Persistent - " One thing I found over and over again was that the best salespeople are the ones who don't give up. If they don't get a call back, they'll try again. Most people just aren't persistent enough. Be persistent but don't become a pest."

Help People Answer Their Own Questions - " This may seem strange, but it's often the best way to solve a problem."

Focus on the Person, NOT the Product - "Enthusiasm is a double-edged sword. You'd think that the most enthusiastic salespeople are the most successful, but there is such a thing as being too involved in your product. Be customer-centered, not product-centered."

Prepare - "Studies show repeatedly that the top salespeople spend the most time preparing and planning. Planning is crucial. But the plan has to be flexible. Plan carefully, but be prepared to tear it all up. You have to have room to move if necessary."

Keep Learning - "Good salespeople are educated by every call, every interaction. Understand that to succeed in sales you have to become a life-long learner.

Be Creative - "Now, more than ever, creativity and problem solving are the most important elements in achieving success. You have to be able to alter the "standard answers" when necessary. Salespeople are selling more than just products or services; they are fulfilling customers' needs."

SOURCE: Success Magazine, October 2006

Profitable Growth Partners Launches New & Improved Web Site

PGP launched their new web site today, and the following is the press release announcing it!

Grand Rapids, MI, October 1, 2006: Profitable Growth Partners, LLC., a Grand Rapids-based business management consulting firm, announced the launch of its new web site today. The site offers a simple and stream-lined resource for clients and prospective clients who are interested in accelerating the growth of their businesses.

“We worked hard to keep the site clean, yet dynamic and full featured,” said Randy Bancino, Managing Partner with Profitable Growth Partners. “Our clients are busy running and growing their businesses, and they demand a ‘no nonsense’ approach to quickly accessing the information that they need.”

Profitable Growth Partners relied on a talented team of web professionals to design and implement the new web site. In addition to basic information about their strategy consulting and people development services, the web site contains whitepapers, newsletters, business articles, a schedule of upcoming events, the business growth tip of the week, and a business growth blog. The site can be accessed via www.profitablegrowthpartners.com or www.pgpgrow.com.

About Profitable Growth Partners, LLC.
Profitable Growth Partners, LLC. works directly with the leadership of small and medium sized companies to help them harness their potential to accelerate growth and enhance profitability. Through their exclusive Business Acceleration Process and their Top Gun for Business People TM series, the experienced business growth experts with Profitable Growth Partners deliver improvements to a business’s strategy, processes, structure, systems, and culture, resulting in measurable improvements in both the top line and bottom line.

Contact Information
Claire Zevalkink, Managing Partner
Profitable Growth Partners, LLC.
info@profitablegrowthpartners.com
616.942.4769