What are the benefits of BPM?

My podcast guest next week, Theodore Panagacos is a former Management Consultant with Booz & Company and has years of experience helping organizations design and implement business models that improve its service to customers. His book, The Ultimate Guide to Business Process Management: Everything you need to know and how to apply it to your organization has become an Amazon top seller in its category Business Process Management.

I asked in the podcast one of the most basic questions, “What are the benefits of Business Process Management? What do we get out of it?”  Theodore’s answer was simple, to the point and best of all, answered the question.

BPM is all about identifying what you do-do and what you don't do within a business. BPM helps managers identify the day to day activities that the business runs in a visual representation. Having that sort of information allows managers to make more informed decision about again, the day-to-day operation of their business.

When you go down to the improvement level and the actual level analysis level, you can then start looking at time and cost improvements. For example, how many FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) employees are associated with a particular event or task? How long does it take them to execute that task? When you have that insight and information, you can run certain scenarios that allow you to optimize those processes so that your business is running again at optimum efficiency.

You have other potential benefits like ensuring that you adhere to a regulatory compliance. A lot of industries such as the mining industry and even the banking industry, they have tight laws that govern what they can and can't do and more often than not, there are regulatory bodies that govern these laws. They want to know that the bank has their processes documented particularly if you are dealing with sensitive information like people's bank accounts. There are a couple of things here; I mean regulatory, process optimization and manager's insight into how the business is run.

My Engagement Strategy – Appreciative Inquiry

Most people want ideas and applications that I would propose before we start working together. I equate that to starting on the right side of the A3 (with the answers in layman terms). So recently I have developed a structure that makes more sense. I leave the customer determine the price and budget for the encounter.

I believe in creating a Lean Marketing system. You can't write and teach Lean Sales and Marketing. It is a Learn by doing approach. What I do is provide you a platform for co-creation through joint experiences and incorporate feedback as we put them into practice. The steps of Lean Sales and Marketing are first you go and create a current state. Second, you form a working vision from the user (customer) experience, an ideal situation of where the user wants to go. Third, you visualize the user's process. If you do that, it's more obvious to see what your next reaction should be and when to trigger it.

Many people respond to the latest fad or solicit the cleverest idea to implement some sort of solution, thinking it will make them better. What makes your marketing better is understanding the user or customer experience and their processes. Then with hard work, take the time to figure out how to engage with them. It's this process, that empowers you and which leads you to create better and more performing processes. Using this approach, a Lean system will outperform any other approach in engaging the customers you need, maintaining customers and working with people you like and who will be loyal to you and refer others to you forever.

This is the initial sequence of steps we use to create a Lean Marketing System in an organization. It ensures we carefully think through what outcomes we want to create, what supports and barriers we need to plan for, and who we have to involve within your organization to guarantee success. Our starting point:

1. (Definition) What are you presently doing and how do your clients and organization feel about them?
2. (Discovery) What is your present value proposition for retaining customers? What is your present value proposition for acquiring customers?
3. (Dream)What are your targets? How will we measure success?
4. (Design) Do you understand your customer’s decision making process? For each product/market segment?
5. (Destiny) What’s your investment strategy – not only in media, but in time and events?

What I ask for is simply a marketing budget for me to manage. We allocate a percentage of the budget for fees, creative and production, with the balance going to media, materials, internet presence and other out of pocket expenses. At the beginning it is slanted towards the fee side and overtime shifts as we don’t need to recreate materials and programs from scratch. It can be very cost effective if I am able to use my own resources and fold you into existing processes. I host and manage websites, post products to Amazon, handle news releases, create interview opportunities, host guest blog posts and podcasts, orchestrate events, create info product and manage shopping carts at little if any additional costs. There is little time spent by the client except for telephone interviews and final review of materials.

P.S. What I will not do is masquerade as your persona in social media. I believe that this typically backfires both in creditability and expected results.

Unbeknownst to me what I described in the starting points is the outline for Appreciative Inquiry. In parenthesis above; Definition, Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny is the AI Process, which I detail below:

1. Definition: What frames our inquiry?
2. Discovery: What gives life?
3. Dream: What might be?
4. Design: What should be?
5. Destiny: What will be?

Never knew I was an Appreciative Inquiry guy!

Related Information:
Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative
Getting Resistance to Appreciative Inquiry?
Lean Engagement Team Book Released
Appreciative Inquiry instead of Problem Solving

Can you use the Obama plan to be successful.

I am going to print a trillion dollars to make it through the next couple of years. That is good sound advice that I can give you and let YOU IMPLEMENT IT! If you pull it off, I can be the hero. By the way can I have a referral?

Oh, you want an alternative strategy, then deal with reality. Take you budget, reduce your s ales income, balance your expenses and get efficient so you can make money. The most important requirement to be successful right now is common sense. You are embarking on a journey that will make your company more successful than it ever has been. Start think like a turnaround, it is not hard, put yourself in survival mode now. Begin by asking 4 simple question:

1. Determine where you are at now in each category and from each perspective. The categories you can start with are Financial, Human Resources, Customer, Product/Services.

2. Create your vision. Where do you want to go and don’t be afraid to think long term. Where would you like to be in 3 to 5 years.

3. How are you going to get there? What strategies are you going to use. There is lot to this step and you may find out a few of these do not work but you must get them in place and carry them out.

4. Set your objectives and measure them. Hint: If you can’t measure them, quit doing them. This will be the one thing that will keep your on course.

That is it. Now, I could probably throw in action plans to carry out the objectives but here is the real secret: I just described the One Page Business Plan to you. Go out and build one for each department, for each person and your company will survive and you will not have to spend a trillion dollars to do it.

Technorati Tags: Obama,Budgets,One Page Business Plange,Turnaround

Business901 launches new Small Business Podcast Website and Itunes Store

Fort Wayne, IN - Business901 has just launched a small business and nonprofit podcast website. An ITunes store was also created to facilitate subscription by Itunes user. The site offers visitors the opportunity to listen to current small business and nonprofit topics such as discussions on Social Media and Lean Marketing. The podcast site is Business901.podbean.com and the Itunes store is named Business901.

Why a podcast website Dager was asked; “The Connecting You Passion TV Show needed a forum other than video to reach the public. There are some great stories that have been told on the show and with just a little modification we were able to post them to the podcast. We also had a collection of articles and blog posts that we have been developing into e-books and realize that they could be easily converted to audio. The format worked perfectly and brings a new dimension to our company.”

The Connecting Your Passion TV Show is a bi-monthly program hosed on the Fort Wayne Public Access station. It is aired every other Tuesday at 9:00 AM. The The program that is hosted on the Fort Wayne Public Access station. It is an interview type format and focuses on the participating “Nonprofit’s Story.” The shows guest have included nonprofit organizations: Big Brothers, Big sisters, Reach for Your, Huntington Youth Service Bureau, SCORE, TQM Network, Childrens Hope Hospital. There has also been shows done on Social Media and Why do people volunteer. Joe Dager of Business901 is the host of the show.

About Business901
Business901, http://www.business901.com uses proven methodologies to enable its customers to build applications in a very short amount of time. Joe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as target marketing and organized referral marketing. As a certified coach of the Duct Tape Marketing Consulting organization, Joe provides practical, information-rich, immediately applicable direction that profoundly impacts the success of small and mid-sized businesses. His experience includes numerous start-ups, several turnarounds in variety of industries to include manufacturing, retail, and professional services to include marketing.

Technorati Tags: Lean Marketing,Lean Six Sigma Marketing,Nonprofit Marketing,Duct Tape Marketing,Manufacturer Marketing,Marketing with Lean,SCORE,TQM

Lean Marketing = Understanding Target Market and Ideal Client

The first step in any lean process , Woops the 2nd step(the 1st being 5S), is understanding or identifying your target market and ideal client. Many  people fail to do this and in a recession it can lead to disaster rather quickly.

The Marketing Mavens by Noel Capon is a great book to assist you in this  identification. They have  slightly different take on it but the book brings out some points that may help you identify your market and client. He professes that the fundamental challenge of business today is to serve customer  needs amid continuous change.  Nothing earth shattering but he also states that the top companies do this based on these five core values:

1. Pick markets that matter.
2. Select segments to dominate
3. Design the market offer to create customer value and secure differential advantage.
4. Integrate to serve the customer.
5. Measure what matters

If you really think through his process, you can see how apparent your target market may become. Also, it corresponds to the Product Market and Product launch processes that I adhere too.

Repost from my Business901 blog.

Technorati Tags: Lean Marketing,Lean Process,Target Market,Ideal Client,Marketing Maverns,Product Marketing,Product Launch

Pragmatic Marketing Training

Joe Dager, Business901 completes Pragmatic Marketing training For Effective Product Marketing

Steel prices take toll on builders

How has commodity prices effected your business? How are you handling them?

Steel prices take toll on builders
Skyrocketing steel prices are causing some Michigan developers to reconsider the scope of their project plans. In addition, fewer construction projects are likely to be started while builders wait for the economy to improve. Tri-Cities Business Review (Saginaw/Bay City/Midland, Mich.)

Technorati Tags: Construction,Commodities,Steel Prices,Oil Prices

Bill aims to make health insurance affordable for small business

Bill aims to make health insurance affordable for small business
A Pennsylvania congressman has introduced a bill to make health insurance more affordable for small businesses by allowing them to join in national insurance pools and by providing tax credits for employers that cover at least 60% of their workers' premiums. The Small Business Health Options Program, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Jason Altmire, would also help stabilize costs by prohibiting insurers from increasing rates based on the previous claims on employees. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review/Valley News Dispatch (8/12) 

 

http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/lXnssLgABpiPkjCibSonOAqI

August 12, 2008
News for contractors and the construction industry

Technorati Tags: Health Insuarance,Small Business,Contractors,Construction

Business Marketing Calendars

 

Business901 has set up an example on marketing calendars and how to post a Google calendar to your website. There are a lot of good reasons to do this, so trust me, it works.

By the way if you are in small business or most of you business comes thru referrals, or even if you have not read a book in ten years. Duct Tape Marketing Book is a must read.

 

These will direct you to my calendars:

http://www.indianamarketingcalendar.com

http://www.ohiomarketingcalendar.com

http://www.michiganmarketingcalendar.com

http://www.illinoismarketingcalendar.com

http://www.kentuckymarketingcalendar.com

Technorati Tags: Marketing Calendars,Google Calendar

Moving My Blog

We are moving this blog to the Front Page of the Business901 website. There are still active links on the side to download any guides you may be interested in.

To get everything moved will take a few days, so please click on the link here. Thanks

Joe

CONSTRUCTION FACES TUMULTUOUS YEAR

Latest press release from Construction News..My only comment to add to this is When don't we face a Tumultuous Year?

Press Release Title: CONSTRUCTION FACES TUMULTUOUS YEAR FOR PROJECTS, PRICES, LABOR, SAYS AGC ECONOMIST
Date: March 10, 2008
Las Vegas—Nonresidential construction will experience wide variance in demand, materials cost and labor availability, according to the Construction Inflation Alert released today by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).

"In 2008, some nonresidential segments will continue to grow, including power and energy, but others such as lodging will slow or decline," said AGC's Chief Economist Ken Simonson. "Diesel, copper and steel are among materials costs likely to accelerate, while others remain benign."
The large increase in diesel fuel prices compared to a year ago, along with the importance of diesel fuel to highway construction, makes it likely that highway costs will go up even more. Conversely, the slumping demand and rising supply of gypsum products may mean nonresidential and multi–unit residential building costs go up a little less than 6 percent.

"These cross–cutting trends make it likely that the PPI for construction inputs will accelerate from the 4.5 percent rate of increase that prevailed in 2006 and 2007 to a 6–8 percent range by the end of 2008," commented Simonson.

Looking beyond 2008, there are two factors that make it likely that a 6–8 percent growth rate for construction input prices will be sustained. First, many construction inputs, such as diesel fuel, steel and copper are in demand worldwide. Second, construction will always be dependent on physical delivery of heavy, bulky, relatively low–value materials for which transportation and fuel costs are a major part of the delivered price.

Labor accounts for roughly half the cost of a construction project. In 2007, despite the high level of nonresidential activity, contractors were generally able to find enough workers, thanks to a massive redeployment of specialty trade contractors from residential to lighter nonresidential projects.

"In 2008, I expect labor shortages will worsen for a few crafts, pulling average wage rates higher, but in other segments such as residential specialty trades, the supply of some crafts will be plentiful," noted Simonson. "Wage increases in nonresidential construction may rise to the 4.5–5.5 percent range in 2008, despite the slowdown in overall activity, and to 5–6 percent in 2009, when residential work begins to compete again for some specialties."
For a complete copy of AGC's Construction Inflation Alert, visit www.agc.org/cia.

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) is the largest and oldest national construction trade association in the United States. AGC represents 33,000 firms, including 7,500 of America's leading general contractors and 12,500 specialty–contracting firms. More than 13,000 service providers and suppliers are associated with AGC through a nationwide network of chapters. Visit the AGC Web site at www.agc.org. AGC members are "Building Your Quality of Life."