Business Development

This morning at the Inc. Collective meeting I was reminded of a couple things related to the topic we are covering - Business Development. This topic is definitely one of my central passions and I wanted to blog a bit about some of the ideas and thoughts that spur and motivate me to work on business development.

Succeed on Purpose:

You need a plan! Very few people are successful by accident. Maybe the guys who gets lucky playing the lotto or the friend of a friend who got in on a great stock at just the right time.  But wherever those guys are, there are other people behind the scenes who are successful on purpose. They have a plan to succeed and they are following that plan.

However it happens, though, somewhere along the way we get derailed from our plan. Usually in my experience it's because I just have a loose outline of a plan in my head. Often I don't take the time to put that plan on paper. To move that plan from the world of thought into a physical reality is of paramount importance. We could talk for hours on why it makes a difference, but I think it mostly boils down to this: Accountability. Once you have something down on paper you can be accountable to it. At this point you can start critiquing it and creating processes by which you will accomplish the plan. This process is a deep mine of business gems that I won't get into now!

Questions I Ask Myself:

I find myself asking myself questions all the time that keep me focused on business development. The reason? The biggest road block to development is... drum roll.... ME. Keeping an open mind in order to receive the ideas and coaching we all need is crucial to our success. Many times I am just not open. I don't even realize it. And the reason I am not open is simply because... I am not paying attention. I'm engrossed in my business duties.

Someone once said, "Don't work IN your business, work ON your business." True dat! So many times I catch my self working in my business and not ON it. As a result I am blinded to the need to develop some aspect of my business further. So... I have developed a habit of asking myself these sorts of questions to help remind me to open my mind.

• There are people out there who are more successful and more profitable than I am, right?  ANSWER: yes - Why?


• Are they smarter or more intelligent than you? ANSWER: Well some are but not all... so, No in overall sense.


• Then do they know something that you don't? ANSWER: Yes

Andy Andrews in the Seven Decisions brings out the point that our BEST decisions have resulted in where we are now. The reasoning being that we don't try to make BAD decisions. We try to make the best decisions we can. So if that is the case then we always need to be improving our thinking in order to be constantly moving forward and developing.

Hope you enjoyed my thoughts. Now let's hear from you! Comment below or send me an email!

http://tinyurl.com/ygsvceh

The Future of Computers in the Office Environment

As a technology consultant I can say one of the funnest parts of my job is keeping an eye out as to what the future holds for technology. As a kid and even now as an adult I still have an extremely over-active imagination. I love seeing and reading sci-fi movies and books because of the future environments and technology applications I get to see and imagine. Movies like irobot and Minority Report are awesome examples of getting to see possible applications of technology in the future.

With that being said, I found this clip from a recent Microsoft presentation that you might find interesting! Here comes the future! f5x9gpz4sw

 

http://bit.ly/D3arY

Get in touch with your motivation

This morning in our sales meeting we were exploring the ability to keep many fronts moving at the same time; "spinning the plates" as we called it. As one of our team members that is especially good at spinning the plate was sharing some of these habits and practices, we all began to consider what makes someone good at spinning the plates?

Personally I believe the the ability comes out of our character, out of the person of who we are. But what shapes the person we are? Why are we who we are? Ultimately I believe that we are who we are because of our values and principles. When it comes down to it, our values and our principles are what guide us, motivate us, and build our character to make us who we are. The ability to multitask and keep many projects moving forward at the same time boils down to what we believe. If you are a good plate spinner it is because at some point a value or principle motivated you to build a habit/character trait that keeps plates spinning.

Consider the reverse. Imagine that you are not motivated to keep all of the projects you have moving forward. Why aren't you motivated? Because either you don't possess or you aren't aware of the value. If you did see the value in it you would do it right? Not entirely. I have seen the value in doing something before and yet for some reason didn't follow through. Let's come back to this thought in order to consider an allegory.

There was once two fat guys. Both of them hated being fat. Both remembered a time in their lives in which they were in shape and felt good. Both hated not being able to fit into their old clothes and were dissatisfied with how they looked. Both wanted to be able to play with their children and do physical things without getting completely exhausted and having to stop. Even more than that both realized that if they didn't change soon they would start having serious health problems. Not to mention the self-esteem and self-image problems they were both experiencing. One day, one of them woke up in the morning and something clicked. From that moment on he began dieting and exercising and got himself into shape. Whatever it took, he did. The other man remained in his condition never able to change.

Why? What was the difference between these two? They both saw the consequences. Both knew what needed to be done. Did one man have better reasons than the other? Maybe one just loved his kids more? Certainly not!? Obviously one was more motivated than the other, but why? What clicked in the first man that didn't click in the second?

Motivation comes from desire. Desire for achievements, success, possessions, or whatever it may be. And our desire comes from what we value. When we can recognize the things we value then we can create principles and values - truths by which to live by. Those truths affect our character and habits. They affects what we say, how we act, and what we do. Our actions create outcomes and outcomes are what we desire!

But still the nagging questions remains. Often we still don't do what we know is important to do. How do we become motivated to change? What was the difference between the two men?

I think it was because he somehow began a personal journey that got him more in touch with his desire than the other man. He began to consider his values and principles and went beyond just recognizing the value of doing something. He took those principles and values and began to let them change him. Who he was and what he valued needed to change and he saw that. He chose to let his guard down and allowed the reality of his situation to penetrate. Then he began to feed those values and principles to himself everyday. He embraced his failures and accepted his shortcomings - not to become OK with where he was at, but to see clearly what needed to be done.

I believe that we must identify what our desires are, then constantly feed on those so that we are motivated to create the values and principles that will allow us to forge our habits and character into the mechanisms that will shape the daily lives we want to live. We should not become different people that who we are. But if we are honest with ourselves we will discover areas in our lives where we are not living who we are. Areas where we aren't being who we already are. Both fat men had a healthy and fit person on the inside. But only one was able to take the personal journey to shape his habits and character into reflecting who he was already.

Finally I will say also that there is a certain amount of pain involved. It is uncomfortable to have these considerations going on in our mind. It is painful to ask yourself these questions. Sometimes even more uncomfortable to answer them. Mark Twain said, "Do something every day that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain." The more you consider and ponder your desires and motivation and arrive at the point of action the easier the process becomes!

"But pain... seems to me an insufficient reason not to embrace life. Being dead is quite painless. Pain, like time, is going to come on regardless. Question is, what glorious moments can you win from life in addition to the pain?"
- Lois McMaster Bujold

Does your company have an advisory board?

Recently I read an article on a company using an advisory board to help them plan an expansion of their business. By bringing in an advisory board, they brought every member’s experience to bear on the project and in doing so were able to save money, limit their risk, and complete the expansion on time.

It really caused me to think about my own experience. As Diverse CTI has grown over the years we have had many relationships with different companies. Those relationships have been key for growing our business. The insight that we have received and still receive from our relationships with those companies has been invaluable. These companies, though some knew and some didn’t, were Diverse CTI’s advisory board! Which brings me to the question; does your company have an advisory board?

So what is the function of an advisory board? Really, it can be anything you need it to be. You can meet one on one, or bring them all together as a group. When you are making decisions it is good to get some advice on what to do, especially in areas of business you aren’t familiar with. Andy Andrews calls this your ‘board of directors’ and makes the point that you should have a personal advisory board as well.

The simple fact is no one can see the whole picture. Many times we have people in our lives with amazing depths of experience and yet we never tap into those gold mines. This happens both personally and professionally. The wonderful thing about these people is that most of them will help you for no cost at all.

I encourage you to begin assembling your ‘advisory board’!

Understanding VoIP And How To Apply It To Your Business - Part Two

So if you have read Part 1 of Voice over IP is Here! you might be saying to yourself, "VoIP sound great! How does it apply to my business and what can it do for me?" If you aren't asking yourself this question you need to be! As I said in Part 1, Voice over IP is overtaking and will eventually be completely replacing traditional TDM communication. VoIP is here to stay and this is good thing.

Now I want to be careful in all my cheerleading of VoIP that I don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. In most business situations we need our traditional phone systems for a while longer. We are at that transitional time in technology where there is a need to have both or a least a way to use both. Before I get into all of the different options in equipment and capability, let's talk about how we can apply voice over IP in our businesses to help us do what we do better! We need to understand why VoIP is important and what it can do for us.

The problems and therefore the solutions in business have been the same since business began. How can I do what I do in a faster, more efficient manner while minimizing the costs and increasing revenue. What technology does, is give us newer and more innovative ways to answer those questions. VoIP is no different and it brings some novel and modern ways to address the issues.

At the heart of all business is the need to communicate with our customers. We use our telephones, cell phones, and email to do that everyday. However in the past we were stuck in our offices or somewhere we had a hard connection to our telephone system and service provider. Of course when cell phones came along we were set free! No longer did we have to remain trapped in our offices. We were free to leave and go conduct business where ever we needed to. However we still experienced a lack of the full abilities of the office. We still needed our computers so we could access data like our documents, email, and customer files. Around that same time the internet popped up and at present most of us can access our office computers and servers remotely with no problem. We are now fully mobile in most every way…except the next big way.

Right now, most of us, have to have our calls transferred out to our cell phones. We are still one step removed from our offices, possessing most of the technology we need but lacking seamless integration. Traditional telephone system have been limited because there had to be cable running from the system in the closet to the phone on your desk. That is where voice over IP enters in. With VoIP, wherever you can get high speed internet, your phone system at your office can find you. At home? No problem. You log in your phone at home and bingo, all of your office calls ring seamlessly at home. On a road trip in a hotel? Log your VoIP phone into your office from your hotel room. Pick up and make phone calls as if you are in your office. Intercom and transfer calls from your office phone system just like you are there. Long distance calls and your caller ID all are coming from your office no matter where you are. That’s because with the internet there are no geographic boundaries. Plugging in while in Tokyo is the same as plugging at your house.

It can still be a struggle sometimes to think about how technology can be applied to our businesses, so think about this. Imagine you have a 24/7 phone support company. You can have agents logging in from home or remote offices across the world in different time zones as the earth is turning through it's day. As night closes certain offices, dawn opens others while your employees are logging in and out across the world to support your customers! Using myself as an example, I have a VoIP phone at my house. I can work from home and still be connected to the office as if I was there. I hear pages, pick up calls on hold, intercom co-workers, and even call other VoIP phones through the office system. Because my laptop is connected to my office network through my high speed internet as well, I am now fully setup with a virtual office. I could literally set up that very virtual office anywhere in the world!

Now let's take it another step forward. If you can be anywhere you need to be with VoIP, why have a phone system at all? There are companies out there, and Diverse CTI is one of them, that offer a hosted solution. This means that we will buy the phone system, pay for the dial tone, and the high speed internet connection and charge you a monthly cost. All you need is a high speed internet connection wherever you are. Log your VoIP phone in and bingo, you are up and running. You get a real phone number that rings to Diverse CTI's phone system. When that happens, our system knows it is your number and then rings your VoIP phones - wherever they are! You have voicemail, auto-attendant, and even hold music all without ever purchasing a phone system.

Seeing a vision of what Voice over IP can do and how it applies to your business is extremely important. Although I can't possibly talk about every different way VoIP can impact your business, at least now you have some basic understanding. Next in Part 3 I will talk more about what things to consider when you are implementing VoIP in your business.

Understanding VoIP And How To Apply It To Your Business - Part One

In my previous articles I have said that your telephone system is the front door to you business. You touch every one of your customers through your phone. You can read more in How To Choose A Phone System for a solid foundation in the basics of telephone systems. But, here I would like to address in a deeper way how Voice over IP is beginning to blur the lines in traditional telecommunications. Because this is a broad subject I will cover it in two parts.

The two major ways that we communicate today are TDM and Voice over IP (VoIP). I won't get extremely technical other than to define the two types of systems in a general way. TDM is the traditional digital (sometimes analog) communication we have always had. In the past it has utilized cables separate from the computer network which run out to each phone, device, or end point. VoIP stands for voice over IP and utilizes the Internet Protocol in a computer network to transmit the voice as data across your computer network and the public internet.

So far you might have heard all that I have said previously before. You've heard hype and whisperings for years now and you are even seeing how VoIP is slowly creeping in and changing things. For instance, you might have had a chances to see or even use Skype, which is a free internet video chat and instant message application which uses VoIP. With Skype you can put money in an account and even use your computer to make local and long distance calls. Other people can sign up for Skype and you can video chat and instant message with them for free anywhere in the world! Although Skype was one of the pioneers in being one of the first to come up with a useful way to use the internet for voice, it still hasn't found it's way into the commercial and business side in a strong way and this is what we have all been waiting for.

Let me tell you that Voice over IP is here! Several things have happened that have been key to help mature VoIP into a technology ready for us to use. First, the infrastructure needed to be developed and strengthened in a big way. That has happened. Early on high speed internet was hard to get. You had to be in the right area to be eligible and then there might be only certain speeds you could qualify for. However these days high speed internet has become fairly ubiquitous and easy to get. Also part of that strengthening and developing was the need for VoIP to become excepted as a viable way to transport voice communications. At first it was sort of a novelty, a $5.99 floppy you could buy, load on your computer and talk through your sound card. But this quickly grew into the Skype's of the world and now all telecommunications carriers run their national network backbones using VoIP.

The second key thing that has happened to mature VoIP has been the decisions to use a certain standard. We needed a way to all speak the same language in our communications and that VoIP standard is called SIP. SIP stands for Session Initiated Protocol and really means nothing to the end-user other than that SIP gives us a standard way by which to communicate. If your system speaks SIP and my system speaks SIP then we know we can communicate. Now as with all languages SIP is constantly being improved, but the important thing is that we can understand each other.

Finally, the last ingredient has been industry and consumer acceptance, which has happened in a big way. With any new technology there is always a disconnect that must be overcome of how does this affect me or help me do things better? In its infancy, VoIP struggled with this because the infrastructure we needed to use it didn't exist yet. And when it finally did, in the beginning it didn't work well because the infrastructure was weak and immature. But as with all solid and strong technologies, VoIP has emerged stronger than ever because of it's amazing capabilities and potential and it is now on track to over take traditional communications system very quickly.

Well, I hope I have set the tone for VoIP. It's here and you need to know about it and what it can do. Stay tuned for part two where I will talk more about the powerful ways to apply voice over IP to your business and how it can help you do what you do - better!

In my previous articles I have said that your telephone system is the front door to you business. You touch every one of your customers through your phone. You can read more in How To Choose A Phone System for a solid foundation in the basics of telephone systems. But, here I would like to address in a deeper way how Voice over IP is beginning to blur the lines in traditional telecommunications. Because this is a broad subject I will cover it in two parts.

The two major ways that we communicate today are TDM and Voice over IP (VoIP). I won't get extremely technical other than to define the two types of systems in a general way. TDM is the traditional digital (sometimes analog) communication we have always had. In the past it has utilized cables separate from the computer network which run out to each phone, device, or end point. VoIP stands for voice over IP and utilizes the Internet Protocol in a computer network to transmit the voice as data across your computer network and the public internet.

So far you might have heard all that I have said previously before. You've heard hype and whisperings for years now and you are even seeing how VoIP is slowly creeping in and changing things. For instance, you might have had a chances to see or even use Skype, which is a free internet video chat and instant message application which uses VoIP. With Skype you can put money in an account and even use your computer to make local and long distance calls. Other people can sign up for Skype and you can video chat and instant message with them for free anywhere in the world! Although Skype was one of the pioneers in being one of the first to come up with a useful way to use the internet for voice, it still hasn't found it's way into the commercial and business side in a strong way and this is what we have all been waiting for.

Let me tell you that Voice over IP is here! Several things have happened that have been key to help mature VoIP into a technology ready for us to use. First, the infrastructure needed to be developed and strengthened in a big way. That has happened. Early on high speed internet was hard to get. You had to be in the right area to be eligible and then there might be only certain speeds you could qualify for. However these days high speed internet has become fairly ubiquitous and easy to get. Also part of that strengthening and developing was the need for VoIP to become excepted as a viable way to transport voice communications. At first it was sort of a novelty, a $5.99 floppy you could buy, load on your computer and talk through your sound card. But this quickly grew into the Skype's of the world and now all telecommunications carriers run their national network backbones using VoIP.

The second key thing that has happened to mature VoIP has been the decisions to use a certain standard. We needed a way to all speak the same language in our communications and that VoIP standard is called SIP. SIP stands for Session Initiated Protocol and really means nothing to the end-user other than that SIP gives us a standard way by which to communicate. If your system speaks SIP and my system speaks SIP then we know we can communicate. Now as with all languages SIP is constantly being improved, but the important thing is that we can understand each other.

Finally, the last ingredient has been industry and consumer acceptance, which has happened in a big way. With any new technology there is always a disconnect that must be overcome of how does this affect me or help me do things better? In its infancy, VoIP struggled with this because the infrastructure we needed to use it didn't exist yet. And when it finally did, in the beginning it didn't work well because the infrastructure was weak and immature. But as with all solid and strong technologies, VoIP has emerged stronger than ever because of it's amazing capabilities and potential and it is now on track to over take traditional communications system very quickly.

Well, I hope I have set the tone for VoIP. It's here and you need to know about it and what it can do. Stay tuned for part two where I will talk more about the powerful ways to apply voice over IP to your business and how it can help you do what you do - better!

Implementing Technology

You know one of the most awesome things about technology is that it is always progressing! That is one of the biggest reasons I like it so much.

Because it is always changing, morphing, and progressing, it is constantly challenging us to progress with it. Technology is constantly changing the way we interact and accomplish the day to day human things we do. And that is why I LOVE MY JOB!!!

I really enjoy getting to apply the changes and updates in technology to the way businesses communicate and interact. Being able to take new technology and discover how it can affect the way we do business is certainly a rewarding experience, but just implementing technology isn't the goal. It needs to improve what we do in an impactful way. Do you see the woman in the picture? She understands the technology, but doesn't know how to apply it!

For that reason it is important, when you are applying a technology to a business, to understand that business and the way it works extremely well. Not just what they sell or how many employees it has, but what the business processes they use are. How do they interact with their customers? Where do the majority of their sales come from? What is the demographic of their customer base?

All of these questions and more are what create a good plan of implementation for apply new technology. If you don't take into consideration these important factors you can wind up hurting the way a business operates instead of enhancing it.