Just Said It

Technology can be a beautiful thing. It can solve problems, reduce costs and it can also improve company profits.


However, it can also be responsible for raising costs, creating problems and losing you money. Nowhere is this more true than with manufacturing control technologies. These technology systems are the brain of every manufacturing plant. When there is a problem with the brain there is a problem with every part of the plant.

When things go wrong it's usually not a technology problem. Today's technology works. When things go wrong it is probably more about the people involved in the process. The technology will normally allow you to do what you design it to do. The real challenge is in making sure you can clearly define your business requirements and that you are working with a team that knows how to deliver to those requirements.

Here a three great tips when choosing an integration partner.

1. Make sure the people working on your project KNOW your business.
2. Make sure the partner is committed to supporting you long term. Ask for an extended warranty and if they can't, or won't give it, then move on.
3. Don't just ask for references that they will hand pick. Use the web to find out what people say about them. If you can't find any information then keep looking for someone with a real track record.

Remember, it's the people that are important.

I spent two days last week in Nigel Edelshain's (www.sales2.com) sales 2.0 bootcamp. I have read a lot of information on the concept of Sales 2.0 and went into the session thinking we would spend our time perfecting a strategy around LinkedIn, blogging, and tweeting, but came away with much more. It would have been easy to get caught up in the technology, but Nigel did a great job of keeping everything grounded in the real sales process and guiding the group in how to use Web 2.0 to drive new business within the traditional sales process.

Just as important in the session was the interaction with the other group members. It was a great session and I highly recommend the program to anyone interested in improving sales and marketing efficiency.

Sales 2.0 is here to stay and the rewards will go to those companies who take advantage of it early.

I was in a meeting yesterday with a business partner. He's a smart guy and a great salesperson. He has a problem though. He has been running a company selling products for years, but now his products have hit the commodity cycle and he has to change.

He has become convinced he has to sell more services and move to solution sales. He is planning a lot of training to convert his current large sales force to a solution based sales force, and we were talking about the challenges of that.

Here is my advice on this subject from living through it in more than one industries.

1. Accept the fact that best product sales person will not be your best solution sales person. The process and the required skills are too different.

2. Training is an absolute requirement, but not an absolute solution.

3. Before you judge which sales person can make the change figure out first which ones are really willing to make the change. (I think it's more like converting a hockey player to a baseball player than it is like moving a shortstop to second base.)

4. You have to change your success metrics first. If you keep asking how many boxes or licenses they sold then it will be impossible to move forward.

This is an important subject. Let me know what you think and what advice you would have given?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I have been watching company presentations all day at the Philadelphia IMPACT venture capital conference. It's been interesting. They have used a rapid response system to answer survey questions about the current, and future, economic trends.

The crowd, made up of a lot of smart bankers, lawyers, and business people, was about 80% optimistic. That's encouraging. I guess. As long as you ignore the fact that the same worldly mix failed to predict the 2008 crash.

That being said I am extremely optimistic about the near future. I am a pretty conservative person and I am ecstatic about last weeks election results. Not because I expect the new congressman to actually do anything, but mostly because I think there presence will restore stability to the previous "change everything" strategy of the executive and legislative branches. Instability and unpredictability are the real enemy of business.

That is not to say that we can't manage change. But too much change is scary, and scared business people tend to stand still and not move forward for the fear of falling backward. Even then we can only stand still so long before the paranoia of getting left behind takes over and you have to move.

The bottom line is that we have all been standing still too long and it's time to move forward and get our businesses growing again.

If we all believe we can move forward then the momentum will propel us all.

So, let's get to it.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I don't think we have seen anything yet when it comes to the total digital integration of our society. Ford is now releasing a new line of cars with a unique WIFI integration hotspot. And yes, you guessed it, there will be an App For That.

Please comment, where will integration invade next?

Check out this video.