Wish Group Alumni Series- John Nalli

Peoplestore Staffing Solutions was founded in 2009 by John Nalli. Since the growth of PEOPLEsourceStaffing Solutions reaching the title of Fastest Growing Staffing agency in Canada, Frank Cianciulli sold a marginal amount of PEOPLEsource’s assets to co-founder John Nalli. John has gone on to re-brand the former branch in Mississauga to Peoplestore.

1)      How did your relationship with Frank and the Wish Group influence or inspire you to get into business for yourself?

I’ve literally known Frank ever since we were kids.  From a very young age we both had the entrepreneurial spirit.  We spent countless nights dreaming of owning our own companies one day.  We would sit in his basement and speak about our future businesses as if they were reality.  Infact, we attempted a home based business together at a time when many people our age were out doing what teenagers do.  At a very young age we learned the discipline and techniques required to be successful.  A lot of what we learned was self taught, by reading books and associating with like minded people.

2)      Which entrepreneur (past or present) do you admire most and why?

Singer, Songwriter, record company owner, Marshall Mathers.  Reason, like myself this individual started his career off with very little other than the willingness to succeed.  He had the odds stacked against him.  Through perseverance and a commitment to better his life and those around him he pressed on.  He is now one of the most successful self made entertainment professionals in the world today.  The true testament to his success is that he helps others reach the same type of success.  In many ways he’s duplicated his structure.   Many of the artists he started in the business now have their own thriving enterprises of their own.

3)      What is your company and what was the motivation to start it?

People Store.  Having personally witnessed a tremendous amount of wasted opportunities within the Human Capital industry was what motivated me to set out and make some changes which the industry could emulate.  It was this bold step that set a new and exciting level of professionalism which helped to invigorate other firms around me.

4)      What is the vision for the company in 5 years?

To continue offering specialized recruitment solutions to companies across Canada, assisting in the betterment of hiring the right caliber people to help those organizations flourish.  I believe that if you help enough people get what they want you will ultimately get what you want.

5)      How did you raise the capital to start the business?

Frank and I put our personal funds into the business to get it started, we were profitable after our third month and never looked back.

6)      What is the most successful sales / marketing strategy you’ve ever used?

Picking up the phone!

7)      What other lessons have you learned that other young entrepreneurs could benefit from?

Figure out what you want to achieve, then write it down, tell people about it, put your plan into action and never, ever,  ever, give up on your dream.

Getting the Balance Right

For a lot of young entrepreneurs, balancing work with your life can sometimes be overwhelming. You’re so focused on getting yourself to where you need to be, it’s easy to let everything else fall by the wayside. As an entrepreneur I’ve made a commitment to never use time as an excuse to miss out. The difference between a receptionist and a CEO is time management, the CEO simply knows how to focus time on their top priorities and not get distracted with menial tasks. The bottom line is that busy people get things done.

By organizing your work life, your social life and your love life you can easily find a balance between the three. Figure out where your priorities need to be, then create goals for how to achieve them. You first question should be “are you happy with where you priorities are?” If you’re working long hours, and barely getting home in time to make dinner and head to bed, then your priorities are clearly on work. If you’re missing deadlines and always tired, your focus is probably somewhere else. Start every weekend by looking over your week, and identifying your daily goals. Then each night, break your next day down into an hourly schedule.

For most, the hardest hurdle to overcome is daily time killers such as surfing social media websites, texting, taking several coffee breaks or the dreaded smoke break every hour. These are time wasters and I’ve seen many a dream lost over them. You have to be your own dream’s champion, write down what you want in life, plaster pictures of your dreams all over your cubicle or office and every time you catch yourself procrastinating, look up at that picture of your dream home or car and let it inspire you to get back in the zone. Everyone’s priorities are different, but If you utilize your time better with equal portions of work, life, and love, a successful balance is possible

Life of a Salesman

I’ve effectively been in sales all my life, though I didn’t realize this until much later when my entrepreneurial endeavors became successful. Upon reflection of my earliest memories I realized sales and entrepreneurialism was in my DNA. It began when I was 3 years old, performing songs in front of my family for money, operating lemon aid stands on my front porch, newspaper routes, starting a grass cleaning business, snow removal, pretty much anything for a dollar through my toddler years. I was clearly looking to get a quick
start to my journey of riches!

I finally succumbed to the entrepreneur in me, during my second year of university, when I postponed my law degree to venture into a career in sales. When working as a sales professional, you are in essence in business for yourself within the safety net of the company.  You control the outcome of your income and directly impact the exponential growth. Or in short, you get out of it what you put in. Sales provides you with limitless
income opportunity, which is why I find it the best occupation on earth.

Through my years of being in sales and in business, I’ve made several
observations of what the philosophies, actions and attitudes of the most
successful salespeople are and today I’ve outlined them for you.

Start by considering and answering these four key questions:

1. WHO ARE YOU?

What are you opinions, prejudices, values, beliefs, and old baggage that may be sabotaging your sales success? A thorough and honest self-appraisal is critical if you want to successfully sell in today’s business climate.

2. WHAT IS YOUR BASIC FUNDAMENTAL PURPOSE OR MISSION
IN SELLING?

Is it to make money, serve your clients or grow your company? What aspect of
selling do you feel passionate about? Your reasons, more than your goals, will
determine your sense of peace, balance, and fulfillment in your sales career.

3. WHAT TYPE OF PEOPLE DO YOU LIKE TO BE AROUND?

How do you like to spend your career time? What else is important to you in your life besides your career? Selling is about building successful, positive, ongoing relationships.
Your overall success will be greatly affected by your willingness and ability
to establish and maintain positive relationships.

4. HOW MUCH TIME ARE YOU DEVOTING TO YOUR PERSONAL
GROWTH?

Do you regularly read books; attend seminars and network with people that can
help you? A successful selling career requires stamina, energy, and passion.

To be successful you must thoroughly know your clients’ business. Follow these key steps to develop successful client relationships and sales results:

1. SOLVING YOUR PROSPECTS’ OR CLIENTS’ PROBLEMS IS
NO LONGER AN EFFECTIVE SALES STRATEGY.

Find out what is preventing your prospects from getting a good night’s sleep. Determine what is worrying them, and you won’t have to worry about customer loyalty, reducing prices, or over-aggressive competition. Even poor salespeople can solve a client’s problem with the right product or service.

2. PEOPLE BUY FROM PEOPLE THEY TRUST, NOT PEOPLE
THEY LIKE.

They key to building trust is simple. Promise a lot and deliver more. Do what
you say you will do and then some. Peak performance salespeople study their
clients’ business, industries and their competition and are walking encyclopedias
on their own products and services.

3. SUCCESSFUL SALESPEOPLE DON’T SELL PRICE; THEY SELL VALUE.

When you focus on price because of poor product or client knowledge, or poor
sales skills, you will always lose in the long run. Clients want the best value
for their dollar so if you always sell value, you will never have to worry
about losing business to the competition.

4. EFFECTIVE PROSPECTING IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SALES
SKILL YOU WILL EVER NEED TO MASTER.

It is more important than good closing techniques or presentations. The most important element of the sales process is gathering information. The best salespeople never go into a sales situation without planning their questions to gather the information they want, so focus on asking questions and listening as opposed to presenting.

5. AN EFFECTIVE SALES PRESENTATION IS A TWO-WAY
CONVERSATION.

Many salespeople have been trained to deliver their sales
message as a programmed discussion of features and benefits and the pros don’t
deliver this way. The successful salesperson customizes each sales conversation
to the buying style, needs, interests, desires, and problems of each buyer.

6. SALES RESITANCE GIVES YOU VALUABLE INSIGHT INTO
YOUR PROSPECTS THINKING.

Successful salespeople don’t try to maneuver
around this resistance but get it into the open quickly; they don’t run and
hide from price objections but bring up the value of working with a quality
supplier early in the sales process.

11. CLOSING THE SALES IN NOT A MATTER OF MANIPULATION
OR HARD-SELL TACTICS.

Poor salespeople try to turn poor prospects into customers; good
salespeople identify good prospects early and help them get what they want.
They accomplish this with good listening skills, a lot of client or prospect
understanding, and a willingness to be flexible and compromise.

6. AFTER-SALES SERVICE IS THE GLUE THAT KEEPS CLIENTS
LOYAL, BUYING MORE, AND WILLING TO GIVE YOU REFERRALS.

The best salespeople work as hard to keep their clients as they did to get them. They understand that clients always have new choices for the services or products they sell.
Poor salespeople take the money and run.

If you want to excel in the greatest profession on earth today and in the years ahead, refocus your attitudes and approaches, and don’t be afraid to adapt or change your
strategies.

Wish Group Alumni Series – Luciano DiMatteo

For the third edition of the Wish Group Alumni series I have the pleasure of introducing you to Luciano DiMatteo, President of Wish Mobile. Luc brings 18 years of Bell Mobility and wireless experience to the Wish Group. Luciano began his career at Bell within the customer service group and quickly enhanced his title and knowledge for the business. His expertise in wireless products, sales growth and corporate account management come highly visible. For the past 12 years, he has been an active member within the Bell Mobility corporate space ensuring top sales, enterprise solutions and overall client support. With Luciano’s commitment to the business, his formula and vision for success is simple. He believes in treating people with respect, being responsive and ensuring that all team members share in the same goals. He is passionate to convey this formula to his staff. Luciano believes that when people are happy, they perform. “Fit is key to joining the Wish Mobile team and if people want to be a part of an organization where they feel they can grow, then this is the place for them.” The ultimate goal – with the right partners – is to focus on corporate and vision aligned, to push Wish Mobile to become Bell Mobility’s largest and most successful dealer in the country.

1. How did your relationship with Frank and the Wish Group influence or inspire you to get into business for yourself?

Firsthand experience is priceless and watching Frank’s vision succeed, his intellectual abilities, honorable friendship and passion were all on the forefront. I love being around people like Frank that take great interest in what they are doing in their lives and strive for success.  Seeing Frank succeed in many ways and sharing similarities in where we want to go, was a huge part of my decision and inspiration to get into business.

2. Which entrepreneur (past or present) do you admire most and why?  

Robert Herjavec has to be tops. We all know him as  one of Canada’s most recognizable business leaders who has built and sold business on his way to amassing a personal fortune of over $100 million dollars. A first generation immigrant, Robert arrived in Halifax at age 8 with his parents after escaping communism in Yugoslavia. With one suitcase, little prospects, $20, no understanding of English but with unlimited dreams Robert has experienced the classic rags to riches, immigrant story. Here is a man who started by delivering newspapers, waiting on tables, and launching a computer company from his basement.  He clearly exudes immense energy and ambition with outstanding success.

3. What is your company and what was the motivation to start it?

My company is Wish Mobile, founded in April 2009 with Frank. We are an authorized dealer of Bell, and we are dedicated to enhancing service level requirements for corporate partnerships. Partnered with Canada’s largest communications company, we provide consumers with solutions to all their communication needs including telephone services, wireless communications, high-speed internet, digital television and voice over IP.

Wish Mobile began its partnership with Bell Mobility in 1991, then known as ET Cellular. Since inception we have been dedicated to providing unparalleled levels of service for all of our individual and corporate clients. Our team of professionals are dedicated to our national accounts and believe in providing our customers with the highest level of service. Considered to be some of the most knowledgeable in the industry, our staff will provide the right solutions to all your wireless needs at only the best competitive prices.

Motivation came quick and natural when I joined Bell Mobility in 1992.  Instantly wireless became my passion which I have held close to my heart for many years and I have never looked back.  I have accomplished many successes here from the front line trenches to the executive world.  Becoming a business owner or “motivation to start it” was a natural evolution in my career path.  Being able to do this with Frank was a vision we both experienced about 5 years ago.  Together we shared many similarities, clients, knowledge of the telecom space and most importantly, passion. 

4. What is the vision for the company in 5 years

WE want to be recognized as one of the leading wireless partners in the communication space and have a national presence.

5. How did you raise the capital to start the business?

With Frank’s successes in past businesses, he was willing to invest in a business idea, people and a vision for success.  Frank invested a majority of the capital to start up this business.

6. What is the most successful sales / marketing strategy you’ve ever used?

Brand awareness is critical and having the staff that speaks it is equally important.  Find out simple basics on how to begin managing a sales team. Learn what is needed to help support your sales force. Whether you are self-managing your own sales team or have hired a sales manager to do it for you, you will want to know more about sales management 101 in order to increase your effectiveness.  Today, I would have to say that our most success is coming from our new marketing efforts and strategic sales team.  Because the Wish Group is a diversified body of multiple companies, we share hundreds of clients and being able to cross sell into the books has shown tremendous success.

7. What other lessons have you learned that other young entrepreneurs could benefit from?

You need to take the good with the bad.  Experience is not what happens to you but what you do with it when it happens.  It is very important to never lose focus and to keep striving for the next levels.  As you grow, be sure to hire in a smart way.  Ensuring that you have the right fit to your culture will be key in the ongoing success the company breeds.

Personal Aspirations

One of my earliest memories from my younger years was driving around wealthy neighborhoods with my father.  Together we would marvel at the beautiful estate properties and talk about how he aspired to one day own one of his own. I remember asking myself, “How does a person make this much money?”, since my neighborhood was filled with only modest family homes. When I asked my father, he simply said most of these people own their own businesses. It was there that a deep conscious seed was planted that grew in to a desire to be an entrepreneur and gain the financial status I saw on those tours with my father.

To do so has required a constant focus on personal growth. The quickest way to achieve personal growth is through reading books. If you take a trip to your local book store or library you will find hundreds of books on personal growth, self-help or business that all apply to somebody looking to improve their skills in order to create more income and wealth. In order to achieve my goals, I prided myself on focusing on the diligent study of business, successful individuals, and most importantly the wealthy inhabitants of North America. Over my last 25 years of research into North American millionaires, I’ve found all of the top earners have gained their financial status in one of five ways:

• Inheritance:

Only 10% percent of North Americans have inherited their money, a trend that is decreasing every year.

• Entering a Top Tier Profession:

Becoming a doctor or a lawyer or an architect has in the past been an open door to improve financial status. These top occupations require hard work, talent, and dedication; all part of the recipes to success in any terms. The down side to this route? Over saturation, and being just one face in a very talented crowd. 

• Become Part of a Large Corporation:

You can be highly paid, you can have stock options and bonuses, and if you stay with the company long enough, various perks. Being part of corporation means being one part of (an often successful) machine.      

• You Can Win It:

One percent of wealthy Americans got that way by winning their money some way or another. As a matter of fact, the odds of you winning the lottery are the equivalent of lightning striking twice in the same place. They’re a billion to one.

• Start Your Own Business :

Starting your own business has been, and always will be, the high road to becoming wealthy. Entrepreneurship in North America offers more opportunities and opens more doors than all other possibilities put together.  This is why it has been said that if you have the ability to start your own business or obtain equity in the company you work for, such as the Wish Group of Companies, and you don’t do it, you’re missing out on maxing not only your personal potential – but your wealth potential. As mentioned above, what I noticed about all of those beautiful estates full of all the wealthy people is that each and every one of them had a library or study full of books.

Wish Group Alumni Series – Teri Scott

  

 For the second edition of the Wish Group Alumni series I have the pleasure of introducing you to Teri Scott, President of Peoplesource staffing solutions.  Teri joined the organization 4 years ago as a Recruitment Specialist and quickly rose through the organization to Branch Manager, Area Manager the year after and finally President within 3 years of joining the company.  Teri is a classic case of an executive who took to an entrepreneurial environment and when most would assume that climbing the ranks to the top seat wasn’t possible in an owner operator environment, Teri choose to treat the company as her own even when it wasn’t and it paid off.  Peoplesource has been recognized by Profit Magazine on both their Hot 50 and Fastest 100 fastest growing company in Canada and the fastest growing Human Resources Consulting Firm in the country.  Peoplesource has also been honored with several amazing achievements but for Teri she is most proud to have received The Best Workplaces 2009 award, ranking 9th in all of Canada as well as placing 8^th on Best Small & Medium Business Employer. This award is based on the internal workings of an organization whereby trust and integrity are the determining criteria. Teri vows to never compromise values, to lead Peoplesource in creative thinking, fresh ideas and unique experiences making the recruitment process enjoyable and successful at all levels. 

1)    How did your relationship with Frank and the Wish Group influence or inspire you to get into business for yourself?

My first introduction to Frank was at a Peoplesource event in which he was speaking to the company after a very success Quarter. Anyone that has been in an audience when Frank is speaking understands me when I say that he doesn’t try and speak, he just speaks.  He doesn’t try to capture the attention, interest or win the respect of his audience, it just happens almost magically.  Listening to Frank speak at several company events, seminars or community events has since made me realize that although charisma, approachability, and authenticity are all distinctive qualities that work towards the audiences enjoyment, I think the main reason that Frank’s leadership is so obvious in his talks is because he speaks from the heart.  He has an unmatched ability to take advantage of his own uniqueness and highlights it, making us realize that anything is possible.  Since that time, I have witnessed him speak on several occasions and the same passion and excitement in his voice always shines through.  I became driven to become part of something more.  I wanted to have the ability to be involved in the total operation of the business, from concept to design and creation, from sales to business operations and customer response, and having someone like Frank who was already proven and committed to providing support, guidance and the necessary tools to achieve success, well….the opportunity was the exciting next step!

2)    Which entrepreneur (past or present) do you admire most and why?  

Anita Roddick, the founder of The Body Shop, one of the world’s most successful retailers of cosmetics and related products. She is also known as one of the most outspoken social activists in the business world.  Anita’s husband, Gordon Roddick went trekking on horse from Buenos Aries to New York leaving her to support herself and two girls.  While her husband was away, Roddick gave birth to The Body Shop. 0ut of desperation, she created cosmetics out of every ingredient that she stored in her garage. She opened her first shop in Brighton, England, with only fifteen products and was able to finance the store using her house as collateral. With its strong environmental flare and popular demand of the products, Roddick had opened a second shop before her husband’s return of being gone 10 months. Customers wanted to sell the products, and in 1984 the company went public and spread franchises all over England. Today The Body Shop has over 1,980 stores and more than 77 million customers in 50 different markets serving customers in over 25 different languages. Its success put Roddick’s net worth at more than $200 million.

3)    What is your company and what was the motivation to start it?

Peoplesource Staffing Solutions is a Canadian owned and operated staffing agency that helps companies deploy human resources to improve their bottom line.   Peoplesource delivers solutions tailor-made to fit each client’s unique staffing requirements.   Peoplesource is known for their prestigious wins on HOT PROFIT 50, PROFIT 100, as a Great Place to Work, and most recently a Best Small and Medium Employer in Canada.   Peoplesource does not just match people to jobs. We develop a partnership with our customer, determining what the customer defines as success along the way, all while investing time and attention to the growth of the relationship.  I wanted to have the ability to be involved in the total operation of the business, from concept to design and creation, from sales to business operations and customer response.

4)    What is the vision for the company in 5 years?

To be viewed as a premium service provider, experts and leaders in our field and viewed as a fresh and innovative company who is excelling in all aspects of the recruitment world.  Oh… and to exceed revenues of 50 million! 

5)    How did you raise the capital to start the business?

Stated Simply…Frank!

6)    What is the most successful sales / marketing strategy you’ve ever used?

The more ways the public hears about us, then the better our chances are for achieving brand recognition, name recognition, credibility, trust, and greater market share.  In today’s day and age with everyone becoming so dependent on the internet we have invested in SEO and have found it to have a huge impact on increasing leads and sales generated by attracting more and more candidates and clients to our website.

7)     What other lessons have you learned that other young entrepreneurs could benefit from? 

 I learned this early on from Frank and that is: Never be satisfied. As a young entrepreneur it’s important to continually push yourself for more success.  There is never too much success! 

Wish Group Alumni Series – First edition

The Alumni Series kicks off today with our first edition profiling Matthew Ley, the leader of the one of the Wish Group of Companies, the Streaming Network.  The Streaming Network is one of Canada’s leading enhanced communications providers of Event Level Webcast services, Video Streaming and IP video conferencing services and Matt has been the driving force of the business since its inception in 2006

1)       How did your relationship with Frank and the Wish Group influence or inspire you to get into business for yourself?

My relationship with Frank started some 6 years ago when I was hired as an account manager with Enunciate conferencing. I quickly realized that it was much more than a place to go to work but rather a Family that pushed and inspired all employees to grow both personally and professionally. Frank had an open door policy as CEO and we were always encouraged to bring our ideas, concerns or questions straight to the top by walking in and having a chat. He inspired me in a very literal way to go into business for myself. I had reached a point where I was no longer excited about the product I was selling and felt that I may need to move on from Enunciate. Frank asked why I would go and work for someone else when I could do it myself and pushed me to create a business plan for what I wanted to do. In less than 12 months from that conversation Frank and I had started The Streaming Network.

2)       Which entrepreneur (past or present) do you admire most and why?

Steve Jobs

When everyone talks about Steve Jobs they think about apple but he was also the financial catalyst that made PIXAR studios a reality. When George Lucas could not make the PIXAR division profitable and did not have the capital to properly fund the organization they went looking for funding.  Steve Jobs (or so the story goes) saw the passion in the people who were operating the division…. filmmakers John Lasseter and Ed Catmull. He invested 10 million and continued funding and working with them seeing them overcome adversity and setbacks to change the animated film industry.  Jobs’ was much more than a chequebook,  he was someone who saw passion, creativity and potential and said “I want to be part of that!” and did everything he could to see them succeed. 

3)       What is your company and what was the motivation to start it?

The Streaming Network is a virtual event provider that primarily provides corporate clients with event webcast solutions to enable their internal and external communications ventures. As an employee at Enunciate I had seen the demand for virtual events and webcasting solutions growing but felt that there was a massive void in the Canadian market. Most vendors in our space were created from the ground up by broadcast industry veterans who had very little or no telecommunications experience or any real experience in scaling multinational companies so we felt we could easily take advantage of that in the marketplace based on our experience and ability to scale.

4)       What is the vision for the company in 5 years?

To be recognized as the World Wide leader in dynamic virtual events. To get a better idea of how we see our company in 5 years read our “Painted Picture” authored in 2009 falling our naming to the PROFIT HOT 50 list as Canada’s 4^th fastest growing company. Click on the following link.  Painted Picture October 1st 2012 (2)

5)       How did you raise the capital to start the business?

Frank of course!

6)       What is the most successful sales / marketing strategy you’ve ever used?

Picking up the phone!

7)       What other lessons have you learned that other young entrepreneurs could benefit from?

Work with people who inspire you and share your passion. I was very lucky in that I was hired into a business that lived and breathed passion. I didn’t need to look hard to find the inspiration to go into business for myself… it was all around me. When you find those people do everything in your power to make them a part of your business and keep them there. Their passion will continue to inspire you as you go down what can be a very challenging road working for yourself.

New Year’s Resolutions

In general, I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions or have never made any in my lifetime.  I find that people use the date as a chance to justify putting off much needed change such as quitting smoking, going to the gym or eating healthier to a date in the new year but I’ve always found that the crowded health clubs the first week of January simmer down to the usual traffic by February 1^st, and most of the people who claim to quit smoking for the new year are still puffing away come February.  In fact, I highly recommend turning many of your resolutions into goals that you can focus on during the entire year. Goal setting is much more focused, deliberate and success-driven, and that’s why I find it more effective.

But, having said that, for some strange unexplainable reason, I find myself much more focused this January, and upon further reflection feel that resolutions do have their place. While I consider goals to be measurable accomplishments that are frequently complex and made up of many different mini-goals, resolutions are simpler, behavior-driven activities that typically do not require advanced planning. Resolutions are almost mantra-like, in that they are meant to give you motivation and encouragement as you work at bettering yourself.

For example, a business goal may be to increase profit by 5%, and includes a number of actions from attending more networking events, asking for client referrals, and launching a new marketing campaign. A resolution may be something as simple as: I will respond to all client emails within 12 hours. See the difference?

So in that vein, here are some of the top business resolutions you can make for 2011.

1. I will think and speak positively each and every day.
2. I will stop procrastinating and hold myself accountable.
3. I will do something each day that will force me to get out of my comfort zone.
4. I will focus on what’s important as opposed to what’s urgent.
5. I will work harder AND smarter.
6. I will visit each one of my clients at least once this calendar year.
7. I will remember why I love what I do.

While these resolutions are meant to give you focus and motivate you for the New Year, they are too simplified to include measures for your success. But you can create goals out of any of these resolutions that truly resonate with you. It’s simply about staying focused and excited about all you’re able to achieve.

Pruning the Tree

When I last wrote in this space, I described how, as counter-intuitive as it may seem, summer is one of the best times of the year to turn on the selling jets.  In keeping with this “seasonal” theme, I wanted this time to share some of my thoughts on what I call “pruning the tree”.

With the calendar now pointing to October, fall is definitely in the air. I love this time of the year – the air is fresh, the trees almost instantly get painted in their brilliant autumnal hues, and the routine of preparing the gardens around my house for the coming winter.

One of those garden-tending activities is to prune some of the shrubs and trees scattered across my property.  As you might know, pruning trees is helpful for a variety of reasons: 

-          to remove dead or diseased branches

-          to thin the crown to permit new growth and better air circulation

-          to remove obstructing lower branches

-          to shape a tree for design purposes

Okay, so I confess that I’m not actually the one out in the backyard with snips trimming branches but I do know the critical importance to the health, safety and aesthetics of my trees and shrubs that the annual pruning exercise means.

So what is your point Frank, I’ll bet your wondering.  Quite simply, I find that there is an astonishing parallel between maintaining a garden and ensuring you have a healthy and growing company.  Let me break it down a bit.

Trimming the dead branches

First, I’ll describe the practice of trimming away dead branches.  There are three main benefits of cutting off dead or diseased branches from trees and shrubs:  it makes way for new growth to sprout and flourish, it mitigates the spread of disease and it improves the beauty of the tree. 

Every company has the same issue of “dead branches” – unproductive and poor performing employees – and reaps the same benefits by doing some “pruning” – that is, letting those employees go.  No matter how successful an organization is, it is inevitable that some employees will always fall into this category and business leaders need to be vigilant with their trimming.  By removing these underperforming employees, the company’s up-and-comers have a better chance to stand out and be recognized for their achievements, and grow and prosper as the rest of the company grows.

Furthermore, like a diseased branch the employees that fall into this deadwood category often have a poor attitude that can infect the rest of the company.  Pruning will help prevent the spread of morale and culturing-impacting negativism and pessimism.

Pruning also serves to enhance the attraction of the company to potential high-performing candidates, what I call the rock stars… hopefully they will see that this is an organization that doesn’t countenance low or poor performance, enhancing their attraction to the company.

Culling living branches

While it is of critical importance to cut off dead branches, pruning live branches is equally important. Sometimes this mean removing branches that are lower down on the trunk, or thinning out the crown of the shrub or tree.  The art and act of trimming living branches is a bit more complex and strategic than removing dead branches.  The desired outcome is to selectively remove those branches that are impeding (or will impede) others from growing properly, or are growing in a different direction than you want the tree to grow. 

Again, the analogy to a company is striking. Oftentimes you may have a strong and productive employee, but that person’s behaviours or mindset are such that – while maybe acceptable at one point in time – she is now impeding others in the organization from performing to the maximum of their ability.  As hard as it may seem, that person needs to go.  Similarly, an employee that has a set of skills and capabilities that were extremely valuable to the organization at one point in time – say, during the start-up phase – but now that the company has grown and matured the value of that employee’s capabilities has greatly diminished.  He, too, must go for the greater good of the organization.

I know that some of you are thinking, “But what if I make a mistake?  What if I cut the wrong person, or too many for that matter?”.  Read on and I’ll explain my view on that.

A Living Organism

The last point I will make on this topic is perhaps stating the obvious – much like a tree or a shrub, a company is a living organism.  A tree or shrub that is not properly maintained and pruned will over time grow in ways that leave it less strong, vibrant and attractive compared to ones that have been consistently and properly pruned. While a case can be made that it’s never too late to prune a tree, if you let it go too long the amount of effort to get it back into the shape you want it will be high and it in fact may take years to get it going in the direction you want it to. 

And so too it goes with a company: let it go untended too long, deferring those tough decisions on cutting out those seemingly healthy and productive “branches” or making excuses for keeping the deadwood around, means some really tough work ahead.

And to address your concern about cutting the wrong employee, or maybe removing too many (perhaps because you’ve left it too long), do not fear. Companies like trees are resilient and naturally rejuvenate – if you snip off the wrong branch while unfortunate another one will grow to take its place; similarly, if you lop off a few too many undeniably it will have a short term impact, but the reality is that it won’t take too long before ample new ones sprout in their place.

My message here is quite simple:  at least once a year – and fall is one of the best times – get your organizational “trimmers” out and do your company and employees a favour by cutting back selectively and with determination. I can assure you that if you do so, your company will be stronger, healthier and more prosperous as a result.  Why?  I practice what I preach and I hold up the success of my companies past and present as the proof in the pudding. Oh, and you should see the trees in my backyard.

The Dog Days of Summer – There’s No Better Time To Be Out Selling

It has been one of the hottest summers in memory, filled with all of the distractions we normally find this time of year including this year’s phenomenal World Cup. If you are like me, as much as I enjoy the heat, it is exhausting and it makes you crave time on the beach, at the pool or whatever else takes your mind off the heat… and off of work.

However, through my many years in business – from the first summer I started knocking on doors as a neophyte sales rep just out of school, to the most current summer at the helm of the Wish Group of companies – I have proven time and again that the height of summer is probably the most productive selling period of the year.

I know it sounds counter-intuitive, and believe me I’ve heard all the excuses such as:

“No one is around – everyone is out of the office on vacation.”

“Decisions just don’t get made – people kick back and relax and try to get caught up on work rather than moving new projects forward.”

“I’ve been so busy – I need a break and given everyone else is on vacation, that’s when I’ll take time as well.”

And that’s just a sample of what I’ve heard over the years and believe me, there are dozens more.  And that’s all that they are – excuses. In the three examples I list above, one of these excuses is an outright fallacy, one is true but hides an underlying opportunity, and one is just, well, an excuse that lazy, unmotivated sales people like to trot out when the days get longer and warmer.

“No one is around – everyone is out of the office on vacation.”

So when is the last time you met anyone who had the entire summer off?  Granted, many people try to take a couple, maybe even three weeks off during the summer.  Fine.  But that means that they are at work for the other seven or eight weeks that comprises what we call the summer season.  So, while it seems like a good excuse, there is absolutely no merit to the argument that “everyone is out of the office on vacation”.

“Decisions just don’t get made – people kick back and relax and try to get caught up on work rather than moving new projects forward.”

This is the excuse that I would characterize as being true on the surface, but that masks an underlying opportunity.  There’s no question that companies tend to make a majority of purchase decisions in late to mid fall, and early in the year. However, their purchase intent is typically formed well in advance of this time and for that fall period buying time, what better window to influence the purchase decision than during the summer?  If you are hard at it and meeting regularly with your clients (while your competitors are relaxing at the cottage), guess who the client is going to remember when the time comes to buy?

I don’t have to look back any further than this very summer for evidence to support this assertion – one of my companies, Wish Mobile, wrote their highest volume of business ever this past July.  Another one of my companies, Peoplesource Staffing Solutions, had their second and third highest revenue months in the past year this June and July.  While our competition to a break, our team had their shoulder to the wheel and brought home deal after deal after deal.

“I’ve been so busy – I need a break and given everyone else is on vacation, that’s when I’ll take time as well.”

This one is a flat out cop-out, full stop. For many of the reasons I listed above, what better time to be on task than when your competitors are not?  As the saying goes, when the sun is shining make some hay.  Even if you had a great first or second quarter, imagine the additional momentum you can garner by driving up your activity level through the summer.  Instead of coasting during the summer as everyone else does, put the pedal to the metal and win business or get to the front of the line for those fall orders. Why save it for the fall when everybody else comes out of their summer hiatus and has to fight tooth and nail for every order.

The equation is quite straight-forward:  work harder than you ever have when the calendar flips to July and August, and I can guarantee you that you will have the luxury of taking December off because all that effort will have paid off. So while your competition is sweating it out in the dying days of the year, struggling to make quota, you are sitting on a beach in the Caribbean buoyed by a knock-out year.  And you’ll be sitting beside the folks from my sales teams, margaritas in hand, big smiles on their faces, grateful that they, too, did not relent.