Business Advisor Network Blog

Leadership training is not just about developing individuals

Leadership training should not be seen as just a matter of developing individuals. The most powerful interventions focus simultaneously at the individual, group and organisational levels. The interaction effects between these multiple levels should be harnessed to achieve the maximum support for enhancing leadership. Consequently -

The best leadership training is a strategic intervention at multiple levels – individual, group and organisation.

Changing people’s behaviour and the way they see themselves and their work environment takes time. There will be “catalytic events” which stand out as critical points in individual, group and organisational development. But these kinds of changes do not take place overnight. Clients should be cautioned about expecting the “quick fix”. Rather, they should think in terms of six months or more. Consequently –

The best leadership training has an impact on personal and organisational development which takes time.

Too many training strategies focus on the one-day workshop – offsite. These have been shown to be of limited value. The highest impact training is on-the-job training alongside management and staff, which is customised to the particular requirements of the people in an organisational context. Consequently –

The best leadership training takes place within an organisational context and it should be should issue-based / problem focused.

Each leader is supported by a comprehensive follow-through Leadership Development Program that fosters leader growth and development. This support focuses on the establishment of individually customised Leadership Development Plans (LDPs). These plans can either be self-driven by the leader or produced through consultation with an Accredited Leadership Coach.

An Example of Leadership Development Strategy at Multiple Levels

• Identify those group and individual behaviours which relate to desired outcomes
• Assess the frequency with which the full range of leadership behaviours are exercised within the leadership group, and by individual members in the organisation
• Provide structured feedback to leadership group members – individually, and appropriately at the leadership group level
• Establish a leadership development plan for each individual
• Establish an appropriate group and organisational development process
• The leadership group feedback is about:
  • the group’s own self-ratings
  • how other people (in the organisation and beyond it) rate the leadership group.

Find out more about the Leadership Development Program here.

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Welcome to part 2 of our marketing mini-series.

If you missed out first installment you can check it out here – Market Research.

The most fundamental principle in marketing is knowing who your customers are and what they need.  Yet many small business operators do not understand this.  They decide on what they are going to offer, start the business and wait for the customers to come rolling in.  They see their customers as a crowd of people, out there somewhere, just waiting for this product or service.  They have not segmented their market.

For most products and services there is not just ‘one’ market but groups of sub-markets.  These sub-markets are groups of people who have some common characteristics or needs, but who differ in characteristics and needs from other groups.  These sub-groups are called market segments.

Many small businesses take a non-segmented approach and try to reach the whole market. These are often the businesses that find themselves in difficulty and without a suitable marketing strategy.  A weak appeal to the whole market is not as effective as a strong appeal to a specific segment.  In other words, you are better off saying something to someone than nothing to everyone.

The better you can segment your market, the more clearly you are able to identify what motivates those customers and the more accurately you can tailor your marketing mix to meet their needs.  This leads to a much more effective use of your marketing dollar.

The table below lists the factors that identify specific groups of customers.  When you analyse the customers within your industry, you will notice that they fall into groups with one or more of these factors in common.

Ways of Segmenting Your Market

Identifying Factors

GEOGRAPHICAL

• Location – urban, inner city, suburban, distance from your business

DEMOGRAPHIC

• Disposable Income – high, middle, low
• Age – child, teenager, adult, retired
• Sex – male, female
• Occupation – professional, clerical, white collar, blue collar, trade
• Education – secondary, tertiary, trade qualifications
• Special Characteristics – nationality, religion, race, cultural background

PSYCHOLOGICAL

• Lifestyle – image, preference, usage patterns
• Personal Preferences – hobbies, interests

WHAT IS PURCHASED

• Volume of purchases
• Type of purchase – wholesale, trade, retail

TYPE OF ORGANISATION

• Residential – flat, house, townhouse
• Business – partnerships, companies, sole traders, franchise, agents,
• Industry

For example, the market for dog food might be segmented and ‘labelled’ as follows:

‘Baby Substitute’ (10% of market)

• Demography – one small dog, no children, higher income, urban
• Psychological – dogs fragile indoor animals, owners very attached to dogs, dogs are finicky eaters, great desire to give what the dog wants

‘Nutritionist’ (15% of market)

• Demography – multiple dog owners, unlikely to have children, Australian urban, high/middle income
• Psychological – very personally attached to do, dog belongs to woman, interested in nutrition, food is varied, least interested in cost

‘Functionalists’ (40% of market)

• Demography – multiple dog ownership, usually children, lower income
• Psychological – dogs outdoor, hearty, eat anything, no bother, little attachment to dog, woman not involved in dog

I’m sure you can think of brands of dog food which target these different market segments.  Some brands appeal to ‘finicky eaters’, others promote their ‘nutritional content’ and other represent ‘value for money’.

Having segmented the market, you can better identify those segments that you can or should concentrate on, that is, which group to target.

Segmenting the market is a powerful tool.  Consider the case of two small manufacturers of paper plates.  If one manufacturer was market oriented, they may segment the market and find that there is a higher income group who would make more use of paper plates if they were more substantial, a more appealing range of colours and prints and a better finish.  The manufacturer can then create a marketing strategy to target this group and gain a competitive advantage over the other manufacturer.

Next issue we will look at the Product Life Cycle and this can dramatically impact your business.

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If you are a local business it is most likely that your greatest source of competition is other local businesses.  Online marketing is no longer the exclusive domain of the multi-national or big end of town business.  Whether you are a service oriented small business or a retail outlet, having a website is no longer a luxury – its a necessity.

The question on most business owner’s lips is – how do I compete with all the other business websites in my market?

The simple answer is -  You DON’T.  You only have to compete with similar businesses in your local area.

Think of it this way….. Peter works in Kedron in Brisbane and needs to have film developed during his lunch break,  He jumps on Google and searches for “film developing Kedron”.  What shows up?  A Google map with a listing of local businesses in the area that do film developing that are located in Kedron.  The map even shows where these businesses are located.  Peter prints off the map and heads off to a conveniently located business.

What Peter has effectively done is used what is called a geographical modifier to limit the search results.  He has had to narrow down his search by nominating a specific location other wise he would be returned hundreds of thousands of useless results that are outside a sensible travel radius.

What this example highlights is, if you rely on local business, use location geographical keywords throughout your web pages.  This will dramatically increase your chances of your website ranking at the top of the search engines for your specific market.  Your competition is unlikely to be optimising their websites for local traffic.

Just remember, you can’t be all the things to all people all around the world.  Aim to dominate your local market and remember your competition is most likely local – not overseas, interstate or even across town.

Here is three Simple Ways to Optimise for Local Search Results.

1.     Use Geographical Keywords or Geo Keywords for short.

The first step is to decide on how specific you want to be with your location.  Are you targeting  single suburbs or are you able to target a wider area such as North Brisbane.  Just remember, the smaller the geographic location, the more targeted your customers will be, but you will appeal to a smaller audience.

Depending on your business, you may need to start a little broader and work your way in.  For example, our film developing business may start with Queensland or QLD, South East Queensland or SEQ, Brisbane, North Brisbane, Kedron and then surrounding suburbs.

When you’re deciding on which geographical keywords to use, think about how locals search for that location.  For example, Brisbane Residents refer to Fortitude Valley as just “The Valley”.  You’ve got to take this into consideration and make sure you are speaking their language.

When using your keywords on your website make sure you work your geographical keywords into the body copy and meta tags wherever possible.  Use you keywords in your headlines and subheads and throughout your copy for extra impact.

One of your pages should be a directions page with a copy of the Google Map with specific details on how to find your business – don’t leave it to chance.

2.     Prominently display you address and phone number on each and every page of your site.

There are many places you  can put your address and phone details on your site.  The two most common positions are in the header section at the top and also in the footer section of each page.  You can also place your details in the sidebar or work it in to the body copy of the page.   Including this information will ensure the search engines have every chance of finding and indexing this information and finding your location.

3.     Encourage and Get Inbound Local Links

One of the key search engine ranking factors is the number and quality of incoming links to your website and more importantly individual pages.  Search engines reward you for having links pointing to your site from other reputable sites and organisations.

Local directories not only offer you visibility to people using these directories but also an easy and cost effective way to build your inbound links.  Depending on your type of business there are all sorts of market specific directories and more general type of business listings and searchable directories.  A simple online search for “business directories” in your local area will turn up all the obvious ones to list in and will get you off to a flying start.  Some will offer free listing whilst others will be paid monthly or yearly services, the choice is yours.

We would suggest testing out the free services first before upgrading to paid listings.  Don’t forget to search for other local directories and networks by searching “location name + directories” and see what comes up.  You will be surprised as to how many local commerce chambers, retail associations and local business groups have business listings.

When filling out your directory listings make sure wherever possible to include your main business keywords, area names and product names so you can be found…. and obviously your location.

Follow these simple three steps and watch you local business website start to work harder for you and blow the competition out of the water.

Virtual Business Advisor

How to book a meeting with a business advisor, mentor or coach?
Find out about Government Grants for Queensland business?
Would you like to become an Accredited Advisor?
Need information on how to prepare a business plan?
Do you want a step by step guide to growing your business?
Become a sponsor or partner of BAN and connect with small business decision makers?
I wish to make a donation to help small business.

Are you ready to harness the opportunities of 2010?

As the economy recovers and forecasts indicate, 2010 is shaping up for renewed enthusiasm and confidence.  As a business owner or operator perhaps there was an area of your business that became the subject of scaling down or hibernating in an effort to ride out the wave.

If that is true for your business, 2010 certainly appears to be a time of awakening and re-gearing.  Are you ready to harness the opportunities?  At the intersection of preparation and opportunity lies what the Roman Philosopher Seneca called “Luck”. Will this be your lucky year?

Here are 5 tips that will improve your “luck” for 2010.

1. Review and revise your business strategy.  Staying in a holding pattern this year could be mean the difference between growth and stagnation.  It is time to be proactive in order to take advantage of every growth opportunity.
2. Leverage technology.  Technology is not the exclusive domain for leverage however; it is such a gargantuan of an opportunity to be harnessed.  This is one item that can be delegated to specialists and so website design and content, SEO, internet marketing and social media presence is a “must have” in the age of technology.
3. Refocus on the “3 keys” of “Lead, Lift & Leverage”.  The “Lead” key is all about the organization’s leadership and management. The “Lift” key is all about lifting the business’ turnover through better sales and marketing. And the “Leverage” key is about improving the business’ productivity and efficiency in all areas of the operation.  Find out more about this in Thinking Business by Brett Chamberlain.
4. Have a workforce plan. If you down sized or right sized for the hibernation then it is time to be pro-active about hiring before the “War for Talent” is re-ignited.  In particular, if you are within an industry where talent shortages affected your ability to keep up with demand then the time is right to consider having a workforce plan running parallel to your business plan. In an article by the online business magazine “Business Spectator”, CommSec chief economist Craig James is quoted as saying “Australian businesses are frantically trying to fill positions before the labour market really begins to tighten.”
5. Get to the root cause of a niggling problem. It has been said that the more we look at our own problems the less we are able to find a solution.  If you have a problem that you can’t put your finger on then the answer could lie in some one else’s “view”.  There are currently Government incentives available to help diagnose and solve business problems.  Your Business Adviser Network is available to evaluate your eligibility to access these incentives.

The advantage of working through Business Advisor Network is that regardless of your business issue, we have a network of expertise that will assist in every area of your business.  So get your business “market ready” to harness every opportunity in 2010 and click here if you need help.

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How to book a meeting with a business advisor, mentor or coach?
Find out about Government Grants for Queensland business?
Would you like to become an Accredited Advisor?
Need information on how to prepare a business plan?
Do you want a step by step guide to growing your business?
Become a sponsor or partner of BAN and connect with small business decision makers?
I wish to make a donation to help small business.