Cure the Cause......Don't Patch the Effect

23rd Feb 2009

CURE THE CAUSE…DON’T PATCH THE EFFECT

To boost profit and cash flow you must diagnose accurately your firm’s recent operating performance and financial position. Only from this can you detect the key in which improvement effort should be concentrated to obtain maximum effect.

If in doubt, apply Pareto’s Law which states that 20% of the causes in any situation will produce 80% of the results.

Aim: To recognize that crucial 20% of sales, your customers, your products etc; Bear in mind Peter Drucker’s famous aphorism: The most common source of mistakes in management decision is the emphasis on finding the right answer, rather than the right question.

HOW TO NEGOTIATE MORE…BY SAYING NOTHING!

As hard as it may be, practicing the art of silence after an offer has been made, may just induce extra concessions. Reason: psychologically, the other party will react by thinking about the worst possibilities.

A minute of silence may seem like an eternity…but it’s only sixty seconds (perhaps a very profitable sixty seconds if you extract extras). At the conclusion of this lengthy period of silence…simply say, in a business like manner, “would you please restate the offer, in it’s entirety”. You will be surprised at the extras voluntarily given, simply because you have not indicated your position.

Very often, negotiating points need to be repeated in order to grasp the full significance. These phrases are handy in order to elicit a repeat of what has been said.

“ Could you expand on that?”

“Tell me more…but first, please repeat the important points you’ve just made”.

“What do you consider are the most important aspects of what you’ve just said?”

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