Training Archives - GUJRAT INDIA

The Importance of Business Acumen Training For Managers and Employees

The message to CLOs is becoming clearer and clearer. Company leaders want them to align educational offerings with the organization’s strategic objectives.

That’s not an easy challenge. They must ensure that education and communication initiatives reinforce the company’s goals. They must help employees understand these goals and develop the skills and motivation to contribute to them.

And at the most basic level of alignment, they must make sure that every employee understands how the company makes money. That includes understanding how profitability is driven, how assets are used, how cash is generated and how day-to-day actions and decisions, including their own, impact success.

Developing business acumen is fundamental to business alignment. Consider Southwest Airlines, which was founded in 1971. With 33 straight years of profitability, the airline has become widely recognized for the motivational culture it creates for employees and its extraordinary dedication to customer service.

Much of the industry has suffered during the years of Southwest’s growth, including many airlines that have merged or declared bankruptcy. Southwest buys the same planes and the same jet fuel as other airlines, and pays its employees competitive wages and benefits. What’s the difference?

Unlike some of its competitors, Southwest’s management team involves employees in the company’s financial results, explaining what the numbers mean and, more important, helping to link everyone’s decisions and actions to the bottom line. The airline has an open culture, one of inclusion at all levels, and employees understand their roles in providing great service and keeping costs in line.

Certainly there are other factors that contribute to the success at Southwest, but it’s difficult to ignore the positive impact of an approach that develops the business acumen of all employees and managers so that they can contribute to the airline’s success.

An Educational Challenge

Unlike those at Southwest, individual contributors and managers in many organizations today have not been educated about the big picture of their businesses. They have a narrow focus on their own departments and job functions and aren’t able to make the link between their actions and the company’s success. Multiplied by hundreds or even thousands of employees, this lack of understanding – the lack of true business acumen – means that too many decisions are being made and too many actions are being taken that don’t align with business objectives.

How can training help bridge this knowledge gap? For many companies like Southwest, implementing learning programs designed to develop a strong foundation of financial literacy and business acumen has made the communication of financial results to employees easier and more effective.

Business Acumen: A Definition

Very simply, business acumen is the understanding of what it takes for a business to make money. It involves financial literacy, which is an understanding of the numbers on financial statements, as well as an understanding of the strategies, decisions and actions that impact these numbers.

Someone with financial literacy, for example, would be able to “read” the company’s income statement. This employee or manager would understand the terminology (revenue, cost of goods sold, gross margin, profit, etc.) and what the numbers represent (i.e., gross margin equals total sales/revenue less the cost of goods sold).

With business acumen, the individual would be able to “interpret” this same income statement, taking into consideration how company strategies and initiatives have impacted the numbers during specific periods of time.

Consider a simple comparison: In football, it’s necessary for players to know how the game is scored as well as how to play the game to change the score. In business, financial literacy is understanding the “score” (financial statements) and business acumen is understanding how to impact it (strategic actions and decisions).

Asking the Right Questions

When business acumen spreads through an organization, employees and managers begin to ask questions. These questions are directed not only at the organization, but also at themselves and their departments – questions about processes, products, systems, staffing and more that can lead to necessary and innovative decisions and actions.

Business acumen helps everyone understand that it’s not enough to ask, “How do we cut costs?” or to say, “We need to increase sales.” Digging deeper, employees with higher levels of business acumen will ask questions that take into consideration the far-reaching impact of potential decisions and demonstrate a greater ability to make the connections between performance and results.

Questions that could get to the root of disappointing operating ratios:
• Have production costs gone up? If so, why?
• Have we changed prices? If so, how has that affected our margins?
• Are there any competitive issues impacting our performance?
• Have there been any customer requirement changes?
• If our costs per unit produced have gone up, can we better control the efficiency of our production or service delivery?
• Is there a way to produce a greater product volume at the same cost?
• Can we raise prices, still provide value to the customer and remain competitive?

When questions become more specific, the right decisions can be made.

Business Acumen for Managers

Managers at all levels need a high level of business acumen to do their jobs. Every day, they make decisions about employees, projects, processes, expenditures, customers and much more – decisions that ultimately roll up into larger organizational results. Managers who make these decisions while looking through a departmental lens only, with a limited understanding of how these decisions affect financial results or how they are tied to the organization’s goals and objectives, are working in silos that can ultimately damage the company.

Managers are often promoted to their positions of responsibility because of their “technical” expertise. They’ve been successful customer service representatives, great salespeople, innovative researchers or well-respected IT professionals. They are now entrusted with decision making, budgets, projects and people. They often do not have financial literacy, nor have they developed a higher-level perspective about the business. Over time, especially if they move up the managerial ladder, they may develop these. Or they may not.

Organizations need managers who operate as part of the management team, taking accountability for their own results as well as the results of the entire company. Therefore, more and more organizations have built financial literacy and business acumen into managerial competency requirements and have integrated business acumen training into management curriculums.

Business Acumen for Employees

Although there is little debate about the need for managers to develop business acumen, organizations sometimes question the need for this understanding at employee levels. But frontline contributors, those who are most directly involved with production or customer service, for example, take actions every day that impact business results.

Consider the salesperson who discounts products, or the service representative who deals with an unhappy customer, or the maintenance person who notices a problem. The actions each of them takes might erode profit margin, lose a good customer or allow safety issues to escalate. Without an understanding of how their actions impact the company’s results, they might not have the context to consider alternatives.

Many organizations have determined that financial literacy and business acumen aren’t just for managers anymore. They have decided to develop a company of people who understand the business; who know what return on assets and return on investment mean; who know how inventory turnover rates affect results and the importance of positive cash flow; who see the connection between the company’s financial success and their own health benefits, 401(k) plans and more. In other words, they need people who understand the “business” of the business.

In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins says, “We found no evidence that the ‘good-to-great’ companies had more or better information than the comparison companies. None. Both sets of companies had virtually identical access to good information. The key, then, lies not in better information, but in turning information into information that cannot be ignored.”

With an increased level of business acumen, managers and employees can better interpret information, making the connection between their actions and the company’s results.

Another Reality of Today’s Business World

A public company’s operating results are well known at the end of each quarter. Analysts, investors, the media, employees-everyone has access to a company’s financial results. With a significantly increased focus on accounting improprieties over the past few years, senior management has become highly conscious of the need to provide accurate and timely financial information. And employees have become much more likely to wonder about these numbers. “Is my company being honest? Are the numbers telling the whole story?”

Without a fundamental understanding of financial results and an ability to interpret them, employees may become suspicious and, ultimately, disengaged. Disengaged workers, in turn, negatively impact productivity and profits.

CEOs of public companies, then, must ensure that managers and employees are able to understand the numbers and have confidence in them. That means effective business acumen education as well as ongoing and open communication from the top.

Former GE chairman Jack Welch said in his book Straight from the Gut, “Getting every employee’s mind into the game is a huge part of what the CEO job is all about…There’s nothing more important.”

The Big Picture

As we have become a nation of specialists, armed with new information technology and enterprise-wide operating systems, it has become easier for managers and employees to become myopically immersed in their own jobs. This immersion can have the effect of obscuring their view of the big picture. They may not consider the cumulative effect of wasted assets. They may have little regard for the objectives and responsibilities of other team members, departments or divisions. They may lack the motivation to invest personal energy in critical project work.

Organizations that engage in developing business acumen provide a clearer vision and an overall context within which employees can work, while creating an environment that is more likely to break down internal barriers. There is less waste and less ambivalence. There is increased innovation. Employees are more engaged, they understand their role and its impact on business results, and they are more likely to believe that their efforts really matter. They are more likely to think like a business owner.

Think Like an Owner

To be successful, business owners must be able to helicopter above day-to-day issues and see the big picture. They must understand how the pieces of the business fit together to impact profitability and cash flow, and they must be able to assess the risks and rewards of potential decisions. The best business owners study the numbers, ask themselves tough questions, analyze their mistakes and take decisive action.

To truly understand the business, owners have to understand how that business makes money – in other words, how it produces sales, profit and cash. Organizationally, they know that it’s about people, processes and productivity. On the customer front, it’s about satisfaction, loyalty and market share. Ultimately, every action taken and every decision made in any of these areas will impact sales, profit or cash.

When managers and employees begin thinking like owners, they, too, look at the big picture, understand how all the pieces fit together, and assess risks and rewards. They understand, like an owner, how the company makes money, how it stays in business and how they contribute to its success.

The benefits to an organization of engaging managers and employees in this kind of ownership thinking are obvious. So how can a company develop the business acumen of its people?

Developing Business Acumen: Two Stories

Entrepreneurs are generally forced to develop business acumen on their own. They are hands-on with their businesses and have to make all the decisions as they go along, whether good or bad. They either learn from their mistakes or fail.

It’s very different for managers and employees in an organization.

They aren’t involved in all aspects of the business, and they make decisions primarily within their own areas of responsibility. Since seeing the connections isn’t easy, they need to learn in some other way.

Books and lectures can help. But business acumen is best developed experientially. Learners must be able to analyze situations, ask questions, discuss issues with other learners, consider options, make mistakes and see results.

Although there are a variety of ways to accomplish this kind of experiential learning, many companies have found that simulations, which mirror reality and allow learners to experiment in a safe environment, are one of the best ways. Here are the stories of two companies who chose to educate their learners with business simulations.

Comcast Cable Communications

The NorthCentral Division of Comcast – one of the country’s largest entertainment, information and communications companies, specializing in cable television, high-speed Internet and telephone service – set out to ensure that managers and employees throughout the organization had the financial acumen required to make good decisions. A companywide survey had clearly demonstrated this need – especially for managers of employees who had direct contact with customers.

For example, if a customer calls with a service problem, frontline employees and their supervisors can issue credits to the customer’s account in an effort to resolve the issue. Although this may be exactly what is needed for the situation, Comcast realized that employees making these decisions didn’t necessarily understand that a $10 credit could ultimately require more than $100 in revenue for the company to break even. Similarly, a service technician’s visit to a customer’s home might cost $50 directly, but the company might have to sell an additional $500 in services to cover the cost.

“The lack of financial acumen among supervisors and employees was largely understandable,” says Mark Fortin, senior vice president of finance for Comcast’s NorthCentral Division. “Almost 75 percent of the company’s employees are on the front lines in roles such as call center personnel or field technicians. They are trained to be good at what they do, but their backgrounds typically don’t include emphasis on financial literacy.”

Comcast human resource executives determined that a fundamental approach to the development of business acumen was needed. However, this approach also would need to be fast, engaging and job-relevant. Expanding upon its already robust Comcast University management curriculum, the executives chose to integrate a high-energy, tailored learning experience that would provide the “basics” and, at the same time, deal specifically with Comcast terminology, concepts and strategic imperatives.

As they participated, learners made decisions about products, processes, pricing and more, and they saw how those decisions impacted financial success. In the end, it became easier for them to make sharper day-to-day choices.

“The thing that sticks out for the frontline leaders, the field technicians, and the call center supervisors and managers who attend, is the high cost of sales in our business,” says Sophia Alexander, senior manager of curriculum and metrics for the division. “It’s like a bell goes off in their heads when they realize what it costs for us to earn what we need to earn to run the organization.”

Attending the learning session is not mandatory for supervisors and managers. However, there is an unwritten expectation that they will participate in business acumen training as well as other Comcast University core programs, according to Jan Underhill, senior manager of leadership development for the NorthCentral Division. That expectation, coupled with the fact that manager compensation has recently become tied to meeting specific financial goals, has kept attendance high.

Senior executive support also has been an important factor in creating interest and awareness around financial literacy. “Getting people to sign up is much easier when senior executives like Mark Fortin are strong advocates for the program,” says Underhill.

Feedback has been resoundingly positive. On average, for example, Level 1 feedback about the discovery learning based business acumen sessions has been 4.5 on a 5-point scale. That means that the program has exceeded expectations. Better than that, says Sophia Alexander, senior manager of curriculum and metrics for the NorthCentral Division, is the empirical evidence that the new insights and knowledge have made a difference. For example:

• Participant self-evaluations indicate that financial literacy has increased by at least 25 percent as a result of the business acumen training.
• After the training, there was a 20 percent increase in the participants’ ability to use basic financial terms and concepts on the job.
• Almost 45 percent of supervisory participants report that they are using their business acumen knowledge in daily communications with staff and peers.

“Some people, particularly in big companies, feel like there is an open checkbook. They think… I don’t own the company. It’s not my problem. Somebody will pay the bills. But in today’s environment, with some very large companies in trouble, everyone needs to be part of the solution. Business acumen education for managers and employees helps the company as a whole, but it also helps employees. It’s about self-preservation to some extent.” comments Fortin.

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines is one of the consistently profitable companies that makes “business literacy” a core component of its employee training programs. Every employee has a solid understanding of what a new customer, and new revenue, means to the company. Employees also know how the loss of a customer can impact the business.

According to Elizabeth Bryant, director of leadership training at Southwest Airlines, “Our training covers how the financial ratios such as return on assets and various margins are determined. Knowing that team managers, supervisors and all employees have this knowledge enables the company’s leadership to present detailed financial reports and explain to the teams where the margins need to be. Management can speak more in depth to all the employees, and the employees understand what the objectives are.”

Bryant added, “Because we don’t waste the little things, because we track every penny and every activity, we’ve all come to know the importance of each cent. With the pennies in hand, we spotlight the idea of compound interest- for example, how the small savings help us by year’s end and how small amounts of waste can conversely add up to hurt us.”

Consider the importance of a key operating metric for the airline industry – operating cost-per-seat mile. This is how much it costs an airline to fly one seat one mile. All the operating costs are divided by the total number of seat miles (the total number of miles of all the seats that were flown for a given period, whether a passenger was in the seat or not). Much of the industry has had cost-per-seat mile results at or over 10 cents. Southwest Airlines’ cost-per-seat mile is about 6.5 cents. The lowest cost-per-seat mile in the industry almost 25 years ago was just over 5 cents.

How do they do it? Certainly there are a number of factors that lead to success. However, one of the key influences is Southwest’s ongoing training in business acumen. This training ensures that employees know:

• How challenging it is to ensure ongoing profitability; making a profit can never be taken for granted
• The importance of utilizing the benefits of the good years to prepare for the tough years
• The impact of individual actions and decisions to the bottom line

In other words, Southwest invests in training to help employees think like business owners. This, in turn, produces real results, like its consistently low cost-per-seat mile. When Southwest’s learning team decided to implement a business acumen simulation several years ago, there was some initial concern about how well it would be received.

Bryant explained, “Some people, especially those without financial training, were nervous about the topic. We are such a people-oriented company that we didn’t want people to think that now we’re just a financially oriented company and everyone will be judged purely on financial performance. But we positioned the need for the business literacy training as another way to prove that we actually care tremendously for each employee. We explained that if you understand what the numbers mean then you can better understand how your work provides an integral contribution to the business.”

Southwest Airlines, according to Bryant, has never had a layoff – a rarity in the airline business. The more their employees understand the challenges of the business, the better they appreciate the importance of making smart decisions every day.

Bryant concluded that the discovery learning techniques in a robust business simulation work well in the Southwest culture because of the team orientation. “All the participants learn that they can’t individually make it all happen,” said Bryant. “They learn that they have to look beyond themselves, act and think like an owner, and realize that our efforts and financial results here are not just for a career, but for a cause. It’s this cause-oriented philosophy toward delivering a low-cost, high-quality service that allows people the opportunity to travel. Our success at achieving positive results translates to individual opportunities to work, to grow and to continually think of innovative ways to improve our business and serve our customers.”

The Classroom Advantage

These two companies chose to develop the business acumen of managers and employees by using a classroom-based simulation, facilitated by instructors at company sites. Although online options were available and were used in some cases to supplement the instructor-led training sessions, they decided that there were significant advantages to tackling this subject in a “live” session where they could leverage the power of:

• SHARED KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE: Learners bring their own perspectives and issues to the session.
• TEAMWORK: Learners work together, make decisions together and rely on each other as they learn.
• COMPETITIVE FUN: Small teams “play” against each other and enjoy a competitive environment.
• COMPANY-SPECIFIC DISCUSSIONS: The learners’ common interest in their own company’s financial and strategic issues allows for greater analysis and depth of discussions and a true “connection” between the learning simulation and the organization’s reality.
• LEARNING MOTIVATION AND COMFORT: Learners who may not be comfortable with the subject of finance find themselves playing a game in the comfort of a team environment.

Although there are a number of educational approaches available to organizations in the area of business acumen, classroom-based training that brings together teams of learners can help ensure that learning occurs and that connections to the business are made in ways that prompt action back on the job.

The Bottom Line

More than ever, successful companies will need to focus on developing the business acumen of managers and employees. These companies will realize that when their people understand the numbers, when they understand how their departments contribute to the company’s objectives and when they see how their own decisions and actions make a difference, they will begin to operate as part of a team rather than in a departmental or personal silo. And a critical piece of the alignment puzzle will be solved.

With widespread business acumen, companies can have a powerful asset – educated, knowledgeable and motivated employees. And with this asset, those will be the companies best positioned to succeed.

Up Your Game With Presentation Skills Training

Presenting ideas, products and solutions are a critical part of every business professional’s workday. Yet, many subject matter experts never receive formal presentation skills training. If you are long on expertise but short on confidence…discover how to up your game right here.

In the past, Presentation skills training were only available in exclusive seminars and time-consuming corporate classes. Now that’s all changed. Many organizations have cut training. Many seminars are so expensive that they are out of reach for new employees and managers. Yet, all day every day is filled with presentations. What can you do to ace the skills without spending an arm and a leg?

A few days ago I asked Sue, a Training Manager for a global organization what she recommended. “Professional development is provided by world-class companies. But if you’re not getting the presentation skills training you need from your company, go out and get it on your own.”

Let’s face it…it’s your career on the line. If your organization has cut in-house training you must find alternatives. In fact, live trainings can be costly and time-consuming. When face-to-face trainings are essential, it’s a worthwhile investment. But for core communication skills, many companies prefer the choice and convenience of top quality on demand training.

Use these 6 criteria to select an affordable and top-notch online training. The new training hub provides unparalleled options to learn-videos, blueprints, presentations, step-by-step tutorials, so you can learn how you want.

Customers get a valuable return on investment in Presentation Storyboarding through

1. Convenience.

Make sure that it’s easy to learn anytime, anywhere-from home, office or on the road. This makes learning possible for people who would never have been able to fit a program into their crazy-busy schedules.

2. Cost savings.

Meeting and travel related expenses are dramatically reduced when live face-to-face training sessions are replaced or blended with on-demand remote training.

3. Exceptional quality.

Look for exceptional quality. Make sure that skills taught remotely are grounded in field-tested practices. Then, look for quality in videos, blueprints, presentations and tutorials. If you are evaluating an online training program for yourself and your company, look for a standard of quality that will serve your entire organization.

4. Fast skill development.

When looking for online training, you want rapid skill development. According to “Training and Development Magazine” e-learning courses progress up to 50% faster than traditional courses. This is due in part to the individual ability to focus on personally relevant issues.

5. Maximum engagement.

People learn in different ways. Pick a program where learners are free to watch videos, use blueprints, and click through presentations. Choosing how and what to learn increases exploration and drives rapid learning.

6. Self-paced learning.

Select an offering that provides bite-sized learning. Look for programs that make it easy for learners to go at their own pace, learning at their own speed. The quality programs also include self-scoring quizzes so learners can challenge themselves and test their skills.

With 6 fresh new options available for online learning, there’s no excuse not to build presentation skills. Up your game. Your professional presentation skills will take you to the top of your career.

Business Simulations – Do They Have A Place In Training?

The use of simulation learning tools to educate employees is growing rapidly due to the decisive success rates of their targeted commercial content. Increasingly they are teaching management teams improved business acumen and decision making in a risk-free real-world setting.

These simulation tools will often take two forms; either a manual business game – often requiring business decisions to be repeatedly made and providing learning measures alongside the exercise

or using electronic media to provide business simulations (either fictional or realistic) dependent on the skill sets being targeted. These simulations are increasingly being referred to as ‘Serious Games’ which can sometimes be misleading however this reflects the growing awareness of the simulation tool in the training market.

Today’s simulations should actively engage and respond to the trainee, creating an effective and lasting learning experience, reducing the resources needed to create training materials and improving the impact (and often depth) of the training budget.

Simulation is one of the most effective ways to teach high-level skills with off-the-shelf training materiel no longer being perceived as the most effective method in teaching skills– most effective when building awareness i.e. you can outline new legislation well with traditional training however to develop improved commercial decision making involves developing and mastering new skills, and that requires practice, and often time that a commercial undertaking or a senior level post holder cannot afford. Simulation is the most effective way to do that.

Business simulation games have a high level of user interaction that work faster than traditional training or e-learning methods and are increasingly becoming a solution of choice amongst discerning training purchasers.

Simulation content can easily get out of hand though so it’s important to know the key organisational requirements before purchasing a business simulation;

– Who is the target audience?

– What are the objectives of the training to be undertaken?

– How do I plan out what this user experience is going to be?

– Where is the learning going to take place?

Simulations are built step by step whether it be a manual game or an electronic simulation so you must have a process that builds content page by page, so you wind up with a high-quality simulation that’s well thought out from start to finish.

For instance, recently we were asked to develop training for customer call-center agents on the complexities of call flow segmentation and how to use tools in the call flow to handle customer scenario interactions. To develop the traditional training material involved several weeks of complex Instructional Design with the end result needing train the trainer material, and all of the associated hand outs, overheads/power points, exercises and knowledge base articles and at the end of this process you have spent a fortune and have developed a laborious process to pass on the required knowledge.

Surely better to develop a electronic simulation product that creates an interactive environment exactly as a real call would take place, perhaps with a coaching module inside the simulation so that when you make a mistake, there’s a coach that comes on screen, and hints at improvements in your response. Or, if something simpler is required a coach that takes you out of the training session and puts you into a learning centre where the trainee can be exposed to the necessary information about the situation they are currently handling.

Simulation training guarantees the same quality of interaction from incident to incident and from person to person so when you talk about the ROI of simulation training you should be evaluating against improved customer satisfaction, up selling of new products and services, and establishing customer service best practices for an organisation. The trainer/ coach can tell trainees exactly what they have done right and what they have done wrong during the simulation and will also be able to listen to all of their questions and answers and grade their performance.

Simulation training is not meant to replace the function of a training department; but is intended to make training much more efficient and completely immersion-based so that the trainee can leave saying, ‘I understand.’ Simulations engage users emotionally so that the impact of training is internalised more completely than in other training methods and allows repeated attempts until performance levels have improved to the required standard.

The inherent value of simulation training is that learners can practice strategic and commercial business skills and apply them in a risk-free training environment. This kind of efficiency- and performance-focused theme means that simulations are starting to heat up the commercial learning arena with buyers of training recognising how it’s better to create custom-based simulations that deliver skills to the workforce. Business performance depends on workforce performance and the most efficient way to increase workforce performance is with simulations tailored to your market and its customers.

The future of business training may include widespread deployment of simulations as simulation-training becomes more commonplace. Already we are starting to see a huge impact in some of the less traditional training areas like customer service and sales because if you say “Let’s work through this sales situation and I’ll coach you as you go”, it resonates with the employees and they start to rapidly take on board the learning. Employees are increasingly becoming more and more discriminating in their choice of employers and look for organisations where the training meets their needs as employees – so that they can join a new business with confidence that they will receive effective and time efficient training support.

So for the employer then the key to success is all about the content. If we can be clear about the training needs of our teams and use skilled personnel to develop suitable business simulations and games then we’re going to open it up to all sorts of tasks, and we’ll truly see it become a significant portion of the training mix.

When costs are tight, overheads being watched and every penny of the margin being monitored and you want to invest in people development then why would you opt for traditional lecture type training–you’re going to put them in simulations

You can have a choice of off-the-shelf simulations or custom simulations each with their benefits and drawbacks; off-the-shelf is cheap, immediate and if you are clever in selecting the right publisher you will get extended use from their licenses.

If you opt for custom-made then you will pay more but you will get simulations with your metrics, your market and your business model.

If you want to get serious about your management development so they understand what levers and knobs they can pull in the company to drive profitability and shareholder value, then simulation training offers a vital solution to discerning employers.

MLM Training – First Timers MLM Training Guide For Network Marketing Success

My first day in MLM Training!

I was both excited and nervous because I had just completed my first “NDO” or New Distributor Orientation with my Millionaire upline from Taiwan. He had joined Amway more than 10 years ago, became a Diamond in Amway but quit later and switched to Nuskin. He became a Team Elite Million Dollar Earner in Nuskin and now I believe he has made over 10 million US Dollars in MLM.

My upline said, “This business is very simple. All you need are these 4 pieces of paper!”

“Hmm!” I was kinda skeptical, yet I had to believe him because he is successful.

So he dug out a few pieces of paper from his pocket and started writing down on the whiteboard.

1) 2 Important Concepts:

i) Long Term Thinking

ii) 100% Duplication

“Ok! the first important concept in our training today is to have LONG TERM THINKING!”

Then he started to explain about why MLM or Network Marketing is a long term business just like any other traditional business, minus the problems of traditional businesses like employee problems, logistics problems, management issues etc! which are all handled by the MLM or Network Marketing company.

All you have to care about is “Building your network of distributors around the world”.

“Give yourself the next 1 to 2 years to build a solid network of distributors around the world and you will become the owner of a multinational network that generates solid income for you every month, even if you are sleeping in Singapore and others are still awake in Japan.”

Now that sounds really exciting to me!

The next 1 or 2 years all my friends would still eating textbooks for breakfast in university, while I would be building my pipeline to early retirement.

And so I did exactly that, I told myself, “For the next 1 to 2 years, I will give 110% to my network marketing business!”

2 years later in 2003, my network grew from Singapore to Malaysia, China, Indonesia and I had customers from as far away as Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong!

So that is exactly what YOU MUST DO too, commit to give yourself at least 1 to 2 years to build your business!

Have “LONG TERM THINKING!” and treat your network marketing business like a real business!

Important concept number two, “100% Duplication”.

“Duplication is the key to success in network marketing, however to quote this example!

1 x 1 = 1

0.9 x 0.9 = 0.81

0.8 x 0.8 = 0.64

0.7 x 0.7 = 0.49

0.6 x 0.6 = 0.36

0.5 x 0.5 = 0.25

and so on!

If we are to put that in percentages as in 100%, 90%, 80%, etc! it simply means that the less you duplicate the successful system that your upline taught you, the less your chances of success!

Well, that seems to be quite logical to a certain extent.

McDonald’s uses franchising to expand their business around the world and if you notice McDonald’s will always maintain its brand capital “M” and colors “yellow and red” theme in their fast food restaurants from USA to China and even Russia.

The system is 100% duplicated across the globe.

Once you understand this concept, you realise that you should trust your successful upline and use the system they are using to achieve success.

“Do not reinvent the wheel unless it’s to make it more efficient!”

Every network marketing company or organization should have an efficient and effective duplication system that everyone in the organization can copy easily to achieve their own level of success in the business.

“Ok, so follow my successful mentor and I will not go wrong! I get the message.”

“Do you?”

Then my millionaire upline wrote on the board,

2) Why 100% Duplication?

i) To avoid unnecessary mistakes

ii) To have a stable network

3) How do you duplicate 100%?

i) There are 3 steps you must go through,

Learn; Do; Teach

ii) There are 3 elements of the Support System that will help you as well,

Successful Leaders; Events; Tools

“Your aim in this business is to first be a good student, then become a good teacher and finally become a great leader!”

“First you must be willing to leave behind all your baggage from your previous job or business and have a BACK TO ZERO mentality, so that you can start on the right foot and we can guide you in the right path towards success!”

“After that, once you have reached a certain level of success in the business, your role switches to teaching, guiding and leading your team towards their success!”

Thus, the 3 steps to success in your MLM business is to first be able to go back to zero and start learning the ropes, then lead by example and take action to achieve success, before finally teaching others to do the same.

While you play a vital role in your own business, your company or organization should have a proper support system that provides you with a number of successful upline or sideline leaders who are already successful.

These leaders act as mentors to keep you on the right track and lead you in the right direction. They are very approachable, willing to help you learn and overcome difficulties that you will meet along the way.

There should be regular company or organization level events which cover training sessions, motivational rallies, experience sharing and company meetings ranging from small team gatherings to big hotel meetings.

The bottom line is, network marketing or MLM is still a people business and people since the dawn of time, need to gather together regularly.

“Just like a piece of red hot burning charcoal in a flaming bon-fire, if you take out that lone piece of charcoal and move it away from the bon-fire, what happens to that lone piece of charcoal?”

“It starts to cool off!”

“What happens if you put it back into the bon-fire again?”

“It heats up again and helps the bon-fire to continue burning brighter than before!”

This is the rule of survival in MLM or Network Marketing.

“Meetings and events are where people re-charge. Small meetings create small decisions. Big Meetings create BIG DECISIONS”.

Finally, any solid network marketing or MLM company must have powerful marketing tools that help the distributor share the company’s message easily with anyone they can come into contact with.

“You can’t win a battle without guns and bullets!”

Similarly, you can’t win in network marketing without the proper tools.

Tools refer to things like a company magazine which explain everything about the company, products, pay plan and system clearly and simply to the person who you pass the magazine to.

Tools refer to things like an audio CD that anyone can play in their car or listen to at home with a CD/Mp3 audio deck and have one of your top successful leaders present the business opportunity to them while you wait to make a follow up call the next day.

Tools refer to things like a Video DVD that anyone can play in their DVD player at home or on their laptop/desktop computer and again have a top leader present the business opportunity to them professionally.

Tools refer to things like a website that combines the contents of the magazine, audio CD, Video DVD and your personal contact information into an ALL-IN-ONE online information resource that runs 24/7 everyday, never sleeps and does all the talking and presenting for you while you are sleeping at home!

All these tools and more which I can just keep on listing will dramatically simplify, automate and duplicate our efforts a thousand times more than what you can do alone.

Your role in the business is just to LEVERAGE the tools and “PASS THE INFORMATION” onto as many people as you possibly can every single day.

“Can you learn how to pass a CD or DVD to a potential distributor or customer?”

“Can you learn how to pass a magazine to a potential distributor or customer?”

“Can you learn how to give someone your namecard with your website address on it?”

“Heck, nowadays with email and text messaging on your mobile phone, all you have to do to start the business is email or text message your website address to everyone on your contact list and invite them to check out your website and your new business!”

“Now that’s what I call simple duplication!”

Point Number 4!.

4) 8 Daily Habits

1. Show the Plan

2. Share the Products

3. Listen to a training audio

4. Read a recommended book

5. Report your progress to your upline

6. Invite a guest to a weekly event

7. Use the products yourself

8. Add a new name to your list

Now, as in Stephen R.Covey’s best-selling book “The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People”, if you want to become successful in network marketing fast, you have to change your daily habits to become highly effective and highly efficient.

A successful network marketer must not only expand his social network constantly, you should devote a lot of time to personal development and growth.

1. Show the Plan:

Show someone a Video DVD or magazine and explain that you are looking for business partners and the DVD or magazine explains your business proposal in detail.

2. Share the Products:

Show them a sample of your products and explain the unique value and benefits it brings to the consumer.

3. Listen to a training audio:

Listen to training audios to upgrade your knowledge about the company, products, pay plan and the duplication system.

4. Read a recommended book:

Read books that will upgrade your personal knowledge and help you grow as a leader.

5. Report your progress to your upline:

Call your upline every day to update your progress. If I’m your upline and I do not hear from you in a week, I know that you have not been taking action. On the other hand, if you let me know how many people you have called everyday, I know that you are making progress or doing something wrong that needs to be corrected.

6. Invite a guest to a weekly event:

If you have local events and presentations, make sure to leverage them by inviting your prospects to attend these events. 3rd party testimonials and justification are always better than your own.

7. Use the products yourself:

Network marketing is like sharing a good movie that you watched with your friend and telling them that they should watch it too. So if you do not use the products yourself, how can you possibly share your experience or views with anyone else?

8. Add a new name to your list:

If you are depending on your family and relatives to succeed in network marketing! good luck to you. Although I have seen network marketers who have great and supportive family members, personally that did not happen to me! My experience is that most of my best team members are people who are outside my family circle. So learn to make new friends every single day and find like-minded people who will join your business and your team.

So there you have it, the 8 Daily Habits that you must adopt to achieve success FAST in your MLM or Network Marketing Home Based Business.

So think about it, “What do you really want? I mean, what do you really, REALLY WANT?”

If you really desire greater wealth, better health and more freedom, “JUST DO IT!”

Action speaks louder than words!

Judgment Recovery Training and Courses

When searching the net, I often read how easy it is to make big money and become rich, without working too hard, in the exciting career of enforcing judgments.

Judgment enforcers have a similar success rates as musicians. In both fields, a lot of people dabble. Relatively few study, work enough, for long enough, to make good money.

Judgment enforcement takes a lot of study, and that leads people to search for training courses. This is my experience, observations, and opinions on the different judgment training courses I either know, or have checked out on the web.

Most training courses have two parts. The first part is the initial package – a book, a PDF, a training event, a tape, etc. The next part is perhaps more important – is the follow-up after the first part. Many of the better courses include access to an email list, or a web-based BBS (Bulletin Board System) forum.

First, the courses I have purchased, read, and have extensive experience with:

JudgmentRecoveryCourse.com – One-time fee of $249. ($50 off if you show proof you have purchased another course.) Dr. Peter Gilboy’s very good course comes as a short course in a binder. Peter does not waste words. His writing style is perfect, friendly, concise, well-edited, and informative.

Included with Peter Gilboy’s course is lifelong membership in his Yahoo email list group. His email support list is priceless. There are very sharp and mostly helpful people on this list. Peter is smart, and he responds quick and is very helpful.

NationalJudgment.net (NJN)- One-time fee of $149. Claude Dickerson’s masterpiece of a web site with support for judgment enforcers nationwide. They have a fantastic (but overly moderated) discussion forum. The NJN site also has many benefits, such as a judgment course as a PDF, form letters that may be adapted to your specific needs, payment calculators, and a vast array of tools, links, a database case management program, etc. NJN helps both newbies and experienced judgment enforcers. No matter what State you are in, you will find the NJN valuable.

CAJP.org – $255 per year (prices tend to go up every year). The California Association of Judgment Professionals is worth the price – especially if you are located in California. This is a group you must qualify for. You must already have enforced a judgment.

You must also show proof of having a business/DBA/Corp, to show you are a company. As many judgment enforcers work alone under their own name – this seems a bit silly.

The CAJP does not include a manual, but its web site has many years of posts and forums to read. The CAJP has many training courses in California. Those courses are reasonably priced and include manuals. In summary, the CAJP has very smart people, great seminars and webinars, great email list and forum. However, you must pay every year, its CA-centric, and has a lot of long-winded email posts.

JudgmentRecoveryBook.com – $149. You get Barry Goldman’s great book “The REAL WORLD Judgment Recovery Guidebook”, and a semi-active support email list. Barry is a world-class Judgment Enforcer and a Process Server.

Next are the courses that I have not taken, but have heard are real and very good:

RecoveryCourse.com – $175. Christina Smiley’s course, I have heard good things consistently, has a good support list, with extra support for newbies. A very popular course, and an active support email list.

JudgmentManagementSystem.info – $100. Windows database for Judgment Enforcers. I hear good things about this.

I am sorry time limits prevented me from buying and reviewing all the courses out there. The ones mentioned here are the best.

Most people in California, will do well to get Peter Gilboy’s course and then join the CAJP. If you are in another State, join the National Judgment Network, and then buy either Christina Smiley’s, Barry Goldman’s, or Peter Gilboy’s course.

Best to check http://www.RipOffReport.com before ordering any training course.

The Business of Personal Training – Your Very Own Fitness Business

Time and again, I find myself talking with trainers who work for a gym, and are planning on “going independent”, or “taking their client’s private”.

Sounds great doesn’t it, but it’s always important to start with the end in mind, so I have to ask; Do you mean “make a little extra money and have a little more freedom” or do you mean “build a business from the ground up that can support the achievement of my life’s greatest ambitions”?

Obviously, there is a big difference between these two answers, and chances are you fall somewhere in the middle. But I want to encourage you to dream big and meditate on the possibility of achieving something much greater then “a little more money and freedom”. There are too many who need our help and too many societal and environmental factors that are working against them; we trainers need to start thinking big. Real big.

I am talking about complete freedom. I am talking about REAL money, not a little extra. I am talking about helping more people, in less time, with less physical effort and a little more mental effort.If you are really serious about pushing our industry forward and redefining what it means to be a trainer, 1-on-1 training is only the beginning. Now that’s what I am talking about!

So the question changes, from “When should I go private?” to “How do I build a Successful Fitness Business?” Remember, a better quality question will lead to a better quality answer. Always. If you can answer the latter question, you’ll already know when to go private, how to raise rates, how to define your ideal client and attract them, how to manage and grow your business etc…

Don’t fall into the “PRIVATE TRAINER TRAP”. For the love of god, please.

There are way too many trainers who are content to run around the city chasing money and burning them out doing 8+ sessions/day 6 days/week, instead of building a business, attracting money, and working smarter. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE, especially in the quality of life you will have.

If you can’t be completely healthy for your client, a living and breathing example of what a balanced lifestyle can achieve, well rested, focused, and in control, then what the hell is the point anyway?

Here are some of the basics you will need to address, so that you can hit the ground running with your business.

The alternative is to run all around town training at 5 different places, teaching classes here and there, with no exit strategy and no understanding that all that travel time and lack of direction cuts directly into your profit per hour and the growth of your business. At the same time, these “private trainers” are developing poor habits that will create more inertia that will need to be overcome when they finally decide to take the next step.

I am serious. If you are at least aware of all of the questions below and can honestly give a good answer to half of them, you are already ahead of the curve. So read on and don’t fall into the “PRIVATE TRAINER TRAP”.

Shift Perspective- There are two central tenets that should form the foundation of every decision you make in regards to your job as a personal training. Everything else is secondary.

#1) You own a training business.

If you just think of yourself as just a trainer, you are limiting yourself. How many times have you been at a party, introduced yourself as a trainer, and met with this response? “Oh, wow, really what exercise can I do to lose my stomach?” This person usually will not have the money or real desire to commit to a trainer, so they probably are not a great prospect for a “trainer”. But they probably are a great prospect for fitness entrepreneur who sells a $10 PDF titled “The biggest factor for a Flat Stomach” being sold on his website.

If you own a business, you can have multiple price points for various services, which means even the person at the party with the belly and the martini glass can be a “client”. Sell to everyone! That way, as a fitness entrepreneur, you can say “I have just the thing, go to my website and get this product” and be done with it, instead of wasting your time at a party explaining why cardio and diet is more important for having a toned stomach then any one exercise.

#2) Your clients are your product.

Cultivating a successful and empowered roster of clients is critical to attracting quality opportunities and the foundation of a solid business model. There are 3 major competencies- ways to grow your business, expand your sphere of influence, and make shit happen. Each has several sub-competencies. You don’t have to be a master at all of them, in fact, you should focus on what you are great at and enjoy, and outsource everything else. You should, at least, be aware of all of them so you can account for them one way (doing it yourself) or another (outsourcing to someone else).

A great exercise is to give yourself a grade from 1-10 for each of these competencies, a self-assesment based on how well your business model can account for each of these 18 sub-competencies. Grade yourself hard and layout a plan to emphasize strengths and address weaknesses!!!

#1) Business Skills

A) Branding – What is your brand? Who is your market? What niche do you fill? Who are the high quality clients that you want to attract? What kind of client to you enjoys the most? What distinguishes them? What are there goals?

B) Marketing -How will you penetrate your market and get leads? What relationships have you built with experts in complimentary industries? What is your web strategy? What PR/media contacts have you established?

C) Prospecting Skills – What is your elevator pitch? What is your 30 second commercial? Can you adapt and improvise your pitch to the individual prospects needs? What are your qualifying and disqualifying questions?

D) Sales Skills – Do you know how to uncover the emotional needs of your prospect and close every qualifying client? What other revenue streams have you created? Do you up sell, cross sell, or down sell your clients to other services? Do you have a network of health professionals you can work with as a team to achieve optimal health for your clients? How will you collect payment and keep track of packages?

E) Policy Development/Business Model – When are you going to incorporate?What is your referral system? How and when will you raise your rates? What is your self-investment strategy and educational path for creating more value for your clients? How many hours a week will you schedule to work ON your business? What is your budget and time commitment each month to continuing education? How will you organize your business into a automated system, so that it can run on its own? How will you keep track of client information, workouts, and programs? What sheets and/or software will you use?

F) Advisory Board – What other professionals and business owners are on your advisory board? Do you have an accountant, lawyer, business mentor, computer programmer, etc? How many people do you know that are successful, trustworthy, and willing to listen to your business ideas and give you valuable feedback?

#2) Interpersonal/Customer Service Skills

A) Personality/Compassion/Communication- How good are you at building strong relationships using these 3 qualities?

B) Leadership/Accountability/Education- How good are you at teaching your client new information that they will retain? Will they be more knowledgeable after they stop training with you? Do they consistently workout intelligently on their own? Do they follow your lead or take control of the relationship? Do you give them exercise Homework, and follow up with them to make sure they did it, so that you teach them to be self-accountable and empowered?

C) Motivational/Psychological Skills – How good are you at unlocking the motivation inside the client? Do you know how to utilize their psychological frame of reference and personality to ignite their drive?

D) Response Time/Attentiveness – How fast do you return phone calls and emails? How good are you at focusing your undivided attention on the client when you are with them? Are you always ready for the workout, with a workout already designed, and the gym floor set up to meet your needs?

E) Exercise Experience – How will you balance what the client needs with what the client wants? How do you use creativity to keep the client engaged, stimulated, and having fun?

#3) Exercise Knowledge-

You do not have to master all of these, but A, B, C, and D are essential. Obviously, this list is not exhaustive, but it is a great start. If you have no personal interest in something in particular, like nutrition, then don’t focus on it, just find a nutritionist to work with.

A) Exercise Mechanics and Bio Mechanics

B) Physiology

C) Anatomy

D) Program Design

E) Nutrition

F) Psychology

G) Energy Medicine

So are you ready to build a business much bigger then you or your clients, and make a real difference? Are you ready to attract money and opportunities?

Or are you going to choose to be just another “private trainer”, running around the city chasing money? Again, you don’t need to answer all of these questions before you get started, but you should keep them in mind and continually work on them, so that you don’t fall into the “PRIVATE TRAINER TRAP!”

If you can’t answer at least half of these questions, It may be more productive to continue working for someone else, while you develop an evolved business model, test different policies and referral systems, develop some media contacts etc etc. It may seem like you are ready, but look at these questions for an answer to how ready you are.

Don’t get excited by all the trainers out there charging $150 running around the city. Fight the urge to jump into the fray if you don’t feel confident about the answers to the preceding questions. I promise you, in 3 yrs, most of those trainer will still be charging $150, and/or will be burnt out and switching industry’s. When they look back they will say, “Yeah, training was fun, and it seemed like good money at the time, but man was it hard running around, I just could do it anymore”.

No one can keep that pace for long, but it is not the only way, it’s just the easiest way, the path of least resistance. We all know, what is easiest is rarely, if ever, what is best for us.

Be honest with yourself. Think bigger. Develop these different skill sets on someone else’s dime (in other words, stay at your gym and work on your business), so you don’t have to lose money when it is time to implement them in your business. Yes, no matter what, you will and should make mistakes. But jumping into the fray without a plan is not a recipe for success. I had to say something, I am getting tired of watching trainers sell themselves short and develop bad business habits that will limit their future. Do you know how to utilize their psychological frame of reference and personality to ignite their drive?

I had to say something, I am getting tired of watching trainers sell themselves short and develop bad business habits that will limit their future.

The Need for Carpet Cleaning Training

If you are thinking of engaging in the carpet cleaning business, then carpet cleaning training is in order. This is especially so if you have limited knowledge and exposure in this area. And in order to make your skills more marketable, it is advised that you take an IICRC accredited course. Upon completing this and passing the exam, you will be awarded a certificate. This is proof of your knowledge and competency in the accepted procedures in carpet cleaning.

Although many are of the belief that carpet cleaning is a simple process of applying shampoo and using a strong vacuum cleaner, those in the know are aware of the complications. Applying the wrong chemicals or using an inappropriate procedure may ruin the carpet permanently. This will lead to replacement, which is more expensive. For this reason, certified cleaners are sought by commercial establishments requiring consistent professional results. And more often than not, these professionals have undergone some form of training in order to acquire the necessary procedural and equipment handling skills called for in carpet cleaning.

The Scope of Carpet Cleaning Training

The training includes an in-depth discussion of different types of carpets – the construction, material, and dyeing. Identification of the different types of fiber used is also taught. Knowledge of these factors is essential since they have a bearing on how the carpet should be cleaned as well as how spots and stains are removed.

The training curriculum also includes customer handling. In the business world, this is quite important since a faux pas in this area will ruin your reputation and it will reduce your chance of success. For this reason, the proper explanation of the procedure, the risks involved, and the management of customer expectation is covered in the training.

Spot and stain removal is given emphasis. In the household setting, it is usually the stubborn spots and stains which prompt the homeowner to seek professional help. These unsightly marks are even more plentiful in the commercial setting. Naturally, it is expected that the cleaner has the capability of removing these unwanted and ugly blemishes.

Carpet cleaning training will not be complete without a discussion of the equipment and chemicals used. In this regard, it is best that you choose a training provider which does not sell or promote a particular line of equipment or chemicals. This will ensure that there is no bias in the discussion of these topics.

Other Related Courses

Most training providers also offer related courses such as Advance Stain Removal, Upholstery and Fabric Cleaning, and Water Damage Training. Your decision to take up any of these courses should depend on the demand for that particular skill. If your area is prone to flooding or there seems to be a large requirement for water damage restoration, then taking specialized training in this area is in order.

There is a lot of earning potential in the carpet cleaning business. You may go into it on your own or via franchise. But regardless, it is best that you are knowledgeable of carpet cleaning procedures and skills. Hence, training is advised.