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Are you a business owner, a director or sales professional? Are you feeling overwhelmed or possible you know your results could be better? Is your business working for you or are you working for your business? Is your sales conversion too low or are you struggling to achieve the sales price you should be getting? These are just some of challenges that I hear from many and this is the reason why I have created, and will continue to create, the following self-help articles.
Diary of a CEO: Relevance for Leaders and SME Owners
Diary of a CEO: Relevance for Leaders and SME Ownersby Sean Foster | November 30, 2024 | Communication, Personal PerformanceProactive leaders and SME owners constantly seek practical, actionable advice to drive success. Steven Bartlett's "The Diary of a CEO" should be...
Why Understanding Your Business’s Sustainable Growth Rate Matters
Why Understanding Your Business’s Sustainable Growth Rate Mattersby Sean Foster | October 30, 2024 | Cash Flow ManagamentMost businesses have some form of growth ambition, either to make the business more sustainable, to build asset value, or to create the income that...
The Power of a Well-Implemented Suggestion System
The Power of a Well-Implemented Suggestion Systemby Sean Foster | September 26, 2024 | Strategy, CommunicationHave you ever implemented or been involved with a company suggestion box? How did that work out?Readers of my NewsBrief do so because they have a strong focus...
Navigating a Downturn in Business Revenue
Navigating a Downturn in Business Revenueby Sean Foster | August 29, 2024 | StrategyIf your business is seeing a downturn in revenue, it could be tempting to increase your ad spend or try similar strategies. However, unless you have cash to burn, this option is...
Driving SME Excellence: Lessons Inspired by the Trillion Dollar Coach
Driving SME Excellence: Lessons Inspired by the Trillion Dollar Coachby Sean Foster | March 25, 2024 | Strategy, Personal PerformanceI consciously have an addiction to certain aspects of my life, which I believe we all should have. In this context, my addiction is to...
Bark or Coach – Fast or Long
Bark or Coach - Fast or Longby Sean Foster | March 25, 2024 | CoachingHere is a quick guide outlining six consequences of ‘barking out’ your orders vz taking a longer-term, coaching approach. When a leader (ps. That’s you as a business owner, a parent or even a...
Harnessing FFWA to Propel Customer Satisfaction
Harnessing FFWA to Propel Customer Satisfactionby Sean Foster | February 29, 2024 | Strategy, MarketingIn business, your success hinges on meeting your customers' needs. The more your customers want what you offer, the more they'll invest in buying from you,...
Learnings Retention: The Power of Intentions and Reflections
Learnings Retention: The Power of Intentions and Reflectionsby Sean Foster | January 21, 2024 | Newsletter There is Learning and then there is Learning Effectiveness. At face value, this differentiation may seem inconsequential. Maybe it is? Specifically, as a...
Why 90-Day Plans Trump Traditional Strategies in Business Success
Why 90-Day Plans Trump Traditional Strategies in Business Successby Sean Foster | November 10, 2023 | 90 Day Planning, Strategy, SukumaIf you ask another SME owner if they use 90-day planning they will most likely say no they don’t. Then they will justify that it’s...
Only Two Aspects Matter In Any Business Strategy
Only Two Aspects Matter In Any Business Strategyby Sean Foster | October 11, 2023 | StrategyBut a third one foretells if your strategy actually means anything.There is one aspect missing in every single business strategy that I have seen (every one), and chances are...
Virtual Shareholding: The Strategic Advantage to SMEs
Virtual Shareholding: The Strategic Advantage to SMEsby Sean Foster | September 21, 2023 | Cash Flow Management, Culture, StrategyIntroductionI struggled to find hard data on why high-performing employees leave a business, after all, these are the exact people we want...
360 Reviews: Ignite Growth or Risk Culture Collapse
360 Reviews: Ignite Growth or Risk Culture Collapseby Sean Foster | September 6, 2023 | Coaching, Communication, Culture, Personal Performance, StrategyThe three elements you need to focus on for your 360s to NOT Sabotage your Culture. WHAT ARE 360 REVIEWS?360...
Implementing Profit Sharing: Driving Employee Engagement and Financial Performance
Profit sharing is a powerful tool that can further develop your organisation’s employee engagement, financial performance, and company culture. It is not a quick-fix, short-term strategy to be used to fix poor employee engagement or poor company culture
An Introduction to Open Book Management
Open Book Management (OBM) is a management approach that emphasizes transparency within a business. This transparency generally involves most aspects of the business including information related to the business strategy, planning, and the financials.
Mastering Difficult Conversations
Mastering Difficult Conversationsby Sean Foster | June 29, 2023 | Communication, Coaching, Culture, Personal PerformanceA way, especially for high S’s, to stop procrastinating on those awkward conversations that you should be having.Kia ora, you may not own a bakery...
Maximizing Potential: The 5 Key Benefits of Business Coaching
Executive and senior leadership coaching is a powerful tool that supports individuals in enhancing their professional performance and achieving their goals. Here are the five primary benefits of coaching:
Stay Ahead of the Game: Leveraging What-If Scenarios via MRR’s
In any business, success truly depends on knowing the numbers. I have met too many companies who continue to do their ‘thing’ with scant attention towards the financials. Some get away with this while the wind blows in the right direction, but we all know that does not last forever.
Finding the Right Fit: What Business Owners Should Look for in a Coach
Everyone has a different perspective on what Business Coaching really is. So no wonder that many don’t really understand what they should be looking for in business coaching.
But with the input from AI, I think I got some reasonable insights:
Think-Write-Share: A Powerful Model for Strategic Thinking & Planning
The reason why we employ people in our business is so that we can scale. Getting the most our of our teams knowledge, insights and experience can be achieved by using the Think-Write-Share framework.
The Importance of Budgeting and Creating What-If Scenarios, Backed by Neuroscience
The Importance of Budgeting and Creating What-If Scenarios, Backed by Neuroscienceby Sean Foster | February 28, 2023 | Cash Flow Management, Strategy Budgeting, AKA: Planning, for Success. In neuroscience, the concept of cognitive laziness is rooted in the brain's...
Why Local Manufacturing is Becoming More Attractive: A Look at the Shift Away from China
In recent years, I have witnessed a growing trend of businesses moving out of China for manufacturing to other Asian countries or back to New Zealand. Over the last year, this change has accelerated. Where does this leave you as an importer or manufacturer? I believe...
360 Surveys: What are They and Why Your Business Needs Them
Do you know what 360 surveys are? If not, you’re missing out on a powerful tool that can help improve your business. 360 surveys are questionnaires that allow employees to provide feedback on the company culture, management, and more.
Why 360 Surveys Matter in SMEs
Why 360 Surveys Matter in SMEsby Sean Foster | October 6, 2022 | NewsletterWhich applies to you? You have completed a 360-employee survey before. You have a broad knowledge of 360's but no real-world experience. You have little to no knowledge of what 360s are even...
Manage your Time Right: Top 4 Essential Tools for SME Owners
"I don't have enough time." The #1 feedback that I get from SME business owners is that they do not have enough time in the day. The irony is, they are so busy with the demands of their day that they have no spare time to think about how they can ultimately free up...
The 5 Top Reasons Why Business Owners Protect Their Employees From Knowing All
Based on my own experience and after asking many others, these are the top 5 reasons why we don’t say it like it is to our staff: 1. You are concerned that any negative news will demotivate them and perhaps they will start looking for employment elsewhere. 2. You are...
Personal Branding in SMEs – Time to Challenge the Paradigm
The average SME starts from the typical 'garage', i.e., the owner invests some dollars and leverages off their experience or training to start their business. Right in the beginning, they ponder on an ideal business name, and usually because their funds are limiting,...
Micromanagement vs. Accountability
When you think about your business or the one you are employed in, how would you answer the following: To what extent are we customer focused vs. boss or system focused? Do some or many of the boss-employee conversations feel more like a performance review rather...
Conversations, Feedback, Recognition (CFRs) – Fuel for OKRs
A few years ago, I read a book that had a big impact on how I understand and manage goal-setting. I recommend that you add this book to your top ten list: John Doerr, the author of the book "Measure What Matters". John quotes: ‘If you’re striving for high...
The Three Measures that are Guaranteed to Drive Company Performance
I do still find that there are some businesses out there that still have no dashboard or any form of indicators that track overall business performance. And when I say none, I am also referring to those that seemingly only use the bank balance as their barometer....
Building Resilience in 7 days
Business owners can learn the 7 skills to develop resilience. Knowing how to develop resilience is half the game of mastering this essential mindset and behaviour, but as a behaviour, this only come through practice and finetuning. This is why this should be developed over 7 or more days and not as a casual read of the literature.
6 fundamental steps to 90-day planning
90-day planning is about developing a behavioural habit. If you are familiar with DISC then you will know that for most of us, planning is just not “normal”
The best 90-day plans for a successful business
There is a veritable avalanche of information about 90-day plans online. These plans usually include basics such as establishing goals and trimming the business fat.
How A GREAT Accountability Partner Can Help Your Business Soar
No matter how much you'd like to avoid it, there's no way of escaping it: accountability works- it really does. In reality, if you don't measure and report your progress, you're most probably not making much progress at all. As Pearson's law states: "When...
6 Steps to Developing an Accountability Culture in Your Business
As a business owner, when you hear the word ACCOUNTABILITY, what goes through your mind? Or, if you now consider yourself as an employee in your business, what would go through your mind when you hear the word ACCOUNTABILITY coming from the business owner or manager? ...
Why Use Psychometric Assessments In Your Business
Psychometric assessments have become a powerful aid for large to small businesses in recent years. It assesses candidates on their potential growth, motivation, and the “role vs fit” requirement. That means candidates aren’t selected or promoted based only on their...
Psychometric Assessments – basics made easy
For a very long time, top corporations have been using psychometric assessments in their hiring process. It is a well-accepted method for them to identify aptitude and personality traits of potential hires. Nowadays, there's also a growing number of SMEs using the...
Create your B H A G: Big Hairy Audacious Goals
B H A G (B-hag) or Big Hairy Audacious Goal an idea conceptualised by management guru Jim Collins in his 1994 book: “Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies”, co-written with Jerry Porras.
Setting Goals for Success: 5 Tips to Define Clear Goals
Whether you want to set goals for your business or your personal life, defining concise, clear goals is very important. Without clear goals, you can end up confused about what you want to achieve, and you may be putting yourself on the path to stagnation. Clear goals...
Double your productivity, get more done: the Eisenhower Matrix
Also referred to as the Urgent- Important table, the Eisenhower Matrix helps you prioritise tasks by importance and urgency. It also lets you identify and sort out tasks that you should either delegate or not do at all.
6 Major Cash Flow Fails And How To Avoid It
Many SME owners will resonate with this sentiment. In fact, poor cash flow is one of the biggest reason why one out of four companies doesn’t survive past their first year.
SMEs simple guide to Cash Flow 101
The ultimate way to know for sure if you are on top of your business is to know where the money is going at all times. Not fully understanding your cash flow 101 starts a domino effect. And is, in fact, one of the recognized leading causes of business failure. Many...
Cash Flow: 3 Effective Management Tips for your Business
Business owners who are not able to efficiently manage their cash flow are almost always doomed to crash. Poor cash flow management…
The Future of Customer Experience
There is a steady stream of new technology being released that has been specifically designed to improve customer experience.
How to Map Customer Experience
When you’re able to develop a customer experience map that is backed by data, well thought-out, and represented with meaningful yet simple visuals
7 Essential Steps for Customer Experience Mapping
Customer Experience Mapping proves to be a business saver. This process will give you insights such as: will a customer who connects with your business at a specific point after their purchase.
How to Ensure an Unforgettable Customer Experience Every Single Time
One of the most rewarding opportunities in maintaining a competitive advantage in any business can be achieved by developing a culture of excellence in customer experience. As a matter of fact, companies with a successful customer experience strategy attain less customer turnover, higher overall revenues per customer, and higher levels of employee satisfaction as well.
90-day Theme
Life is made up of a series of ones. Like the old cliché saying: “one step at a time”, invariably this is correct. This message is so simple, yet especially when we are striving for faster improvement, it is difficult to remain disciplined about. It has now been...
Understand your Customer using Avatar Analysis
How do you get to really understand your customer? There are two benefits in better understanding your customer or prospect: 1. Should they be your customer? In direct "language" you should ask yourself the following: "will this customer add to my bottom line, or will...
Every Product is a Service. Every Service is a …
…your product is about the experience your customer has with your product, more than the features and benefits of the product itself.
The Business Owner Is The Head SalesPerson
The Sin I committed when I started my first business in 2004 was that I wore every hat in the business. There was no alternative option back then. After some time the business grew and each hat became heavier. How was I to excel at managing suppliers, staff training...
Culture and Scaling Your Business
When creating a Business Strategy and a Business Plan you have to also do that “fluffy” stuff which includes our Purpose, Vision, Values and Convictions, as well as to identify our core niches (“Where We Play”) and our differentiating strategies (“We Will Win By”)....
Sales: Are we Driving the Wrong End of the Equation?
Who is this article for? Sales managers & business owner first of all, thereafter others involved in sales. Background As a business coach, advisor and business owner I am fortunate to have experienced first-hand the interactions with prospects, sales people and...
Productivity: Time Blocking
A few weeks ago I published an article regarding Task Management, one of the most life changing practices that you can implement. I look forward to getting feedback from those of you who have committed to developing this behaviour. Well, I have another piece of...
Sales: Building trust through Tension
Did you know that 75% of any sales outcome is directly related to the manner in which trust and rapport is established between the seller and the buyer, and this is done in the initial stages of the relationship? You are probably agreeing at this point. What is your...
Productivity: How Is Your Decision Making?
So how do you rate your decision making? I have been mulling over this for some time and came to the following conclusion. So why is this even a discussion, what's the issue? I have not counted how many decisions I make every day, simply because there are too many....
Sales: Focus Your Dialogue To Your Niche
The riches are in the niches! Have you heard that phrase before? I have heard this countless times and a quick Google search on that phrase reveals over half a million results. But with this, comes some danger. That is, as soon as something becomes a little more...
Sales: Where Is Your Niche?
So you have been told to identify your niche, as that is where your sales will flourish? I know that many of the business owners and sales professionals that I meet have been told exactly this. What’s more, many claim that this is exactly what they have done. Well...
Dealing With Negatively Minded Customers
Success begets success, positivity begets positivity and negativity begets negativity. Recently I was coaching a client who was dealing with an extremely negatively minded prospect. He was unsure of how to proceed with their offering because this prospect was...
Consultative Sales Process (CSP)
Why is this even a topic of discussion? Based on my personal experience and feedback from the majority of sales people that I meet, a consultative sales process is often misunderstood and almost completely lacking. Especially in smaller businesses the sales process is...
Sticking To It
We all have access to the same 1440 minutes per day to make our magic, yet why do some achieve so much more than others? Are they really that clever, gifted or just lucky?
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Business Advice
Imagine what you could achieve with the right business coaching and mentoring. I can help you achieve your goals and get the life balance you want. As a business coach and mentor, I will offer an objective perspective and insight that comes from years of experience. I will listen and offer appropriate guidance and advice. My goal is to help you maximise your existing skills, and to assist you in creating an accountable mindset that leads to increased clarity and focus.
Call 029 427 4980 to find out more.
