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Business Tools Blog

Display Pivot Tables with the Row Labels Side by Side instead of in One Column

May 13, 2013 – 2:42 pm

Question: How do I change the pivot table so that if I have 2 or more row labels, they can be displayed side by side, in different columns vs. stacked in one column? In other words, please make my Pivot Table look like it did when I used Excel 2003.

My guess is that your pivot table looks something like this:

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And you want them to look like this, with the Labels in separate columns:

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Just right click on the pivot table and select “PivotTable Options”

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Then check the box next to “Classic Pivot Table layout” and click “OK”

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Your Pivot Table now looks like this:

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Sandi Mays | Excel | Comments (1)

Social Media and Customer Service

March 28, 2013 – 6:22 pm

Those who use social media just to promote themselves are often confused about why it doesn’t seem to work for them, why they get nothing in return for their Facebook posts and tweets, and eventually they stop using it, denouncing it as pointless. What these people don’t understand is that social media is the dialogue between a company or brand and the customers that they serve. It is a conversation, and mindless self promotion will never work. This is why it is a platform bound to fall into customer service. When someone has a bad experience they are far more likely to tell someone than if they have a good one, and social media means that they can talk directly to the company. Social media catapults their complaint, and the way it is handled, into the public domain.

The Difficulties of Complaints on Social Media

One of the challenges of dealing with complaints on social media is that because it is embarrassing for companies, it motivates them to deal with these complaints faster than ones conveyed through the usual channels of letter, email or phone. While this is good for those who use social media to complain, it’s not so good for those who don’t. Bad business practice such as this is to be discouraged. It is unfair; just because it is more public doesn’t mean it should be dealt with differently.

It also encourages a culture of instant gratification that means that consumers expect their complaint to be dealt with immediately. The longer they wait the more irate they are likely to become, and the more likely they are to damage a brand’s reputation. The ability to complain directly and converse with the company itself opens up the opportunity for consumers to complain about insignificant details and expect to be compensated for their unreasonable expectation. While this might make a company panic, they can be safe in the knowledge that while social media is used as a complaints platform, it is also used to give praise. When a genuine complaint is dealt with well, the positive interactions can improve the company’s overall perception.

Another challenge is that the social media team of companies is often ill-equipped to deal with complaints, and don’t know what to do, and can potentially end up dealing with the matter in a way that doesn’t fit with company policy.

How to Deal With a Social Media Complaint

You shouldn’t see it as threat, but as a challenge to prove how much you value the customer. It is important to remember that we all get frustrated and irritated. This is one reason to make sure that your social media team has experience or training in how to deal with customer complaints. A system that quantifies, classifies and delegates responsibility to the right person is necessary for dealing with complaints. For instance, a certain ‘type’ of complaint may be able to be dealt with by the social media team, and another may need to be passed on to the customer service team.

You should always respond to a complaint. Completely ignoring it will just give the consumer more cause to complain. Whether it’s just a “We’re looking into it” or a “Please complain through the necessary channels”, most people would rather be responded to in some form than not at all. To maintain a good relationship with your consumers, you should monitor your social media platforms daily so you can engage in conversation with them as well as filter out any complaints that they might have.

Talk to them like you’re a person. Always use an appropriate tone, and have the person dealing with their complaint use their name. This helps to remind consumers that there are humans behind the corporate logo. Particularly abusive complaints should never be ignored, no matter how nasty they are; you should focus on the aspect of proving the excellence of your customer service to this person. Using their name and being accommodating can often disarm an inappropriate complainant.

Turning a Complaint Around

If you deal with a complaint around so that the customer is happy and satisfied in the public domain of social media, then it will boost the perception of your company. The value of responding in an appropriate and timely manner to complaints reinforces the concept of social media as a conversation, as well as what having a good persona online can do for a business’s perception and subsequently their sales too.

The WebMarketing Group are a search engine optimisation and specialist social media optimisation company based in Leeds

Sandi Mays | Blogging, SEO | Comments (1)

Managerial Style and Workplace Stress

March 27, 2013 – 6:15 pm

In the modern world we often think of stress as being inevitable - something that comes from the very nature of the business we do.  When people think in this way it can lead them to take the attitude of “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”  After all, kitchens generate heat and that can’t be changed, can it?

At Watt Works Consulting we encourage our clients to take a somewhat different perspective.  What if the heat in the kitchen came, not from the ovens, but from the chef?  The fiery fury of a Gordon Ramsey, perhaps, rather than a Delia Smith?  In short, we are talking about Management Style.

It is a recognised fact that there are some management styles - over-monitoring, perfectionist, bullying, suspicious, passive aggressive, autocratic, for example - that actively contribute to generating high levels of employee stress, whilst there are other styles that are much more likely to diminish or effectively manage other inevitable external sources of stress.

In a competitive and challenging business world there are already enough sources of pressure and stress to cope with.  It is unfortunate that some businesses make things worse and shoot themselves in the foot by compounding such pressures through poor management.

In such situations a major intervention can be to encourage managers to be aware of and modify less than helpful managerial approaches.  Some managers simply won’t be aware of how their approach affects their staff.  Others will realise there are flaws in what they are doing but lack the skills and understanding to amend their behaviour.  Sadly, there is a thankfully small minority of managers who understand the effect they are having on their staff and, for one reason or another, relish the fact.

At Watt Works we encourage clients to become aware of the full spectrum of stressors within their organisation and one of those is the prevalent management style that might not previously have been considered a factor.

To find out more about stress management courses at Watt Works visit their website

Sandi Mays | Management | Comments Off

Sales Stages - what do they mean?

March 15, 2013 – 12:27 am

BearonBusiness wrote a blog titled: 25% of $X + 50% of $Y + 75% of $Z = Murky.   It looked like Dan was finally going to share one of those complex formulas that he uses in excel.  (You might be surprised to learn that the Bear is proficient at running financial models).

He didn’t reveal a formula, instead he described how Zayo’s near term Sales forecasting process works.

We start with a definition.  For an order to count as a Gross Sale, it must be signed by the customer and accepted by service activation/delivery in that month.  The dollar value of a gross sale is equal to the monthly recurring price that the customer will pay for the service (includes reduction for any discounts)  Gross Sales include any dollar changes to orders, prior to install.

We use 5 sales stages.

  1. Working - An opportunity that is being worked by the salesperson, but will not close in the current month
  2. Best Case - An opportunity that is likely to be signed by the end of the month, but may slip to the following month
  3. Commit - An opportunity that you expect to have signed by the end of the month
  4. Closed - An order that has been signed by the customer
  5. Accepted - An order that has been signed by the customer, and accepted by service delivery.  (ie the handoff between sales and delivery is complete)

Dan Caruso says -

To Commit or Not to Commit, that is the question. Is it Commit? Or is it Best Case? If it is Commit, why? If your Commit is light, you have some explaining to do. If Commits move back to Best Case, not good. If they move to Close, you are a hero.

Most of you have no idea what I am talking about. Many of you know exactly what I mean. In fact, this subset has probably woken up at night in a cold sweat after hearing these questions in their sleep. You know who I am referring to: account executives (”AE”) at Zayo, Envysion, and ICG Communications (in 2005/06).

I learned this brand of sales management methodology from a former collegue of mine. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, I have come to appreciate how incredibly valuable it is. The approach centers on the following concept: an effective AE should be able to indentify those orders that he or she expects to close during a given month. ”Commit” means that the AE expects a certain order to be signed prior to the end of the month. If all their Commits are summed, it indicates the total amount of sales the AE anticipates delivering. The methodology, when properly implemented, requires that the AE puts a stake in the ground early in the month. That is, the salesperson is expected to foreshadow how much they will bring it during the month, even though early in the month they are dealing with a lot of unknowns. Showing little or nothing in Commit will trigger questions about why the person is expecting a bad month. On the flip side, once an item is identified as Commit, the AE has to be ready to justify why.

We use Salesforce.com to track each account exec’s funnel activity on a daily basis.  When opportunities move from best case to commit, we count them in our sales forecast.   We also count a certain percentage of best case orders in our forecast.  However, this isn’t simple math, it involves understanding which of the best case orders are likely to close.  The report below also tracks the date that account executives think an opportunity will close.  If the date, amount, or stage changes we understand why.

This is what our report looks like (names have been removed to protect the innocent).

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The best part about this process, is that when actuals come in differently than the forecast, the explanation is concise.  “Customer ABC’s order pushed to next month, Customer Y - who we had in Best Case - signed their order earlier than expected.”

Using any process that relies on probabilities requires a much more convoluted answer.  “Well, only 60% of Stage 9 came in when we forecasted 90%.”  <- can anyone make sense out of that?

Sandi Mays | Forecasting, Sales Reporting, Sales/Service Delivery | Comments (3)

Make Your Business Accountable

January 8, 2013 – 10:09 pm

Nowhere is it more true that business is all about dollars and cents than it is in the accounting world.

Accounting is strictly about management of funds. It is a business that makes sure a client has enough cash to continue, whether a company can meet payroll, or whether another business should make charitable contributions or deductions to reduce its tax liability.

Think about it. Without accounting, how would you know how much money you have left over? Whether it is a complex set of accounts at a corporation or a simple checking account in your own home, you have to know how to balance the books.

It used to be an accountant would slave over a desk, poring over numbers and figures with a fine-tooth comb and wearing out fingers with a tapping of a 10-key keypad or calculator. Those days, for the most part, are gone. Sure, there are accountants that still believe in the old-fashioned ways, but new techniques have been developed to reduce wear and tear on number-crunchers across the world.

Most new systems feature tools designed to stop errors from occurring. Your transactions are handled by several different departments within a company, and if one department does not have the same information as another department than the transaction could be garbled and come out wrong. These new accounting tools are meant to stop errors from taking place before they get to the critical level.

According to the Journal of Accountancy, a new technique often used by accountants involves a format called “Lean Six Sigma.” The journal refers to lean six sigma by talking about a manufacturing perspective, as it focuses on efficiency and quality. How does this relate to accounting? Simple. One of the biggest things accounting does is ferret out waste and inefficiency so you can focus on the true meat and potatoes of your number-crunching. The less waste an accounting firm or software has to eliminate, the more time it will have to work on your numbers.

When it comes to accounting software, Quick Books used to be the gold standard, much like Microsoft Office or Windows. Quick Books is still used by a lot of individuals and companies, but other software has been developed by companies like Peachtree and Microsoft. This software uses downloadable updates to keep your program fresh without having to spring for all-new programs every year.

It should come as no surprise that the top accounting firms are the ones setting the trends now. Ernst & Young’s John Ferraro, global chief operating officer of the company, heads up a firm that hired 4,500 new accountants in 2005 and is at the forefront of hiring every year as one of the nation’s top accounting companies. Other prestigious firms are out there, ones practically every accountant has heard numerous times throughout their career, and there are some up-and-coming organizations.

Accounting is one of the oldest professions in the business field, but it does not mean the business is boring. It is merely changing with the times.

Sandi Mays | Accounting, Financial Management | Comments (2)

I don’t want my excel or PowerPoint chart to plot zeros

January 3, 2013 – 5:47 pm

Question -

I created an Excel/PowerPoint chart and I don’t want the zeros to be graphed.  I clicked the option to ”not plot empty cells” but I am using a formula to create the data.  Because the cell contains a formula, Excel is not recognizing this as an empty cell and plots it as zero. How can I change the chart so it does not to plot the formula as “zero”?

Answer:

Add an “if” statement with “NA()” to your formula.

Example - if cell A1 contains zero, use this formula

=if(A1=0,NA(),A1)

The cell will now show #N/A.  Excel and Powerpoint charts do not graph #N/A’s

Sandi Mays | Charts & Graphs, Financial Management | Comments (1)

Secret Santa - Boozed or Baked

December 11, 2012 – 12:16 pm

Looking for a Secret Santa idea, we use the attached template: http://tinyurl.com/barvh5o

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Secret Santa has been spreading Holiday cheer
Delivering booze & baked goods to desks that are near!
Leaving some goodies for a happier season
You can be a Secret Santa, you have a good reason!

First, post this Santa on your cube or your door.
Please do it soon, or you may get some more!
This will let other Secret Santa’s know of your visit.
Be sure to join in, you don’t want to miss it!

Second, create two gifts and two copies of this form

Then wrap your presents … try to stay calm
Deliver them to two neighbors, it’s certainly fun,
Drop off your present, then run, run , run, run!

Time is of the essence, so be sure to begin.
Leave goodies at a desk, where Santa hasn’t been.
Deliver your treats when the time is just right.
Drop it on the desk and stay out of sight!

Secret Santas bring everyone joy
No drinking on the job, you don’t want to annoy!
This is all in good fun and Santa is trying to say,
Enjoy! And have a Happy Holiday!!!

Sandi Mays | Human Resources | Comments (0)

Areas of Focus

December 3, 2012 – 9:35 pm

Running a business is a lot of work. Sure, on the surface it looks pretty easy: make cool stuff, earn money, and spend money. Unfortunately it is never quite that easy. The number of details and things you must see to or take care of can easily become overwhelming. More importantly, these details and projects are never anything you can truly finish; they are more…ongoing projects.

Your Website

If you don’t have a website for your business yet, you need to make one. This is done super easily through www.webstarts.com.

It is important to keep your website updated. One of the easiest ways to do this is by including a blog in your site that you update on a regular basis. Google likes websites that have a steady flow of new stuff. You want Google to like your site so that it is easy for people to find.

Make sure that you are constantly on top of things like your contact details, the projects on which you are working, etc. Allowing these things to get outdated can be disastrous for your business. The easiest way to do this is to make it a habit to check your business’s site each morning. Take care of any outdated information that might have been pointed out in email during the course of the night and then take a tour of each page. Did anything new or noteworthy happen yesterday or overnight? If so, make sure you list it!

Your Money

The best way to keep track of your money is to hire an accountant. Your accountant will make sure that your bills are paid and that your earnings are recorded. She will ensure that your taxes are paid correctly and on time.

That does not mean that you don’t have to do any work yourself. Make sure that you are keeping and itemizing your business receipts and turning them in to your accountant regularly. Set up regular meetings—at least twice a month—to check in with your accountant to make sure everything is flowing smoothly. Simply assuming that everything is fine until your accountant calls you with a problem is a recipe for disaster.

Your Email

This doesn’t actually need further explanation does it? Invest in a solid email program that will allow you to sort your emails into folders and to mark or flag messages as important, spam, etc.

Make sure you keep a back up of your email. Back up your email each day before you leave the office. You can back it up to your hard drive but it’s also good to back it up to an external device or to the cloud. This way if something goes awry with your computer you don’t have to worry about losing important messages.

Your Reputation

Reputation management is often a complicated seeming idea but it is really quite simple. Make sure that you are tracking what people are saying about you online. Respond to customer questions and feedback promptly. If someone posts something negative about you, look into what they are saying to see if there is merit and then either solve the problem, explain why the problem can’t be solved or if the review is false, prove its falseness. This is something that you are going to need to do every day and it can be overwhelming. It’s also incredibly important to the overall success of your business.

It’s easy to look at these areas and assume that you won’t ever be able to stay on top of everything. Don’t be so negative! With the right tools and some help, there’s no reason you can’t keep everything running as smoothly as possible.


Sandi Mays | Blogging | Comments (1)

How To Absolutely Anyone - 10 Killer Sales Tips

November 26, 2012 – 9:03 am

Get Leads!

This is the first question that a new salesman asks, “Where do I get my leads?” The answer is anywhere you can. Obtaining leads is an ongoing project. Talk about the business to anyone that will listen. You do not know where a lead will come from. The more leads you get, the more potential sales you have. Hand out flyers and business cards. Maybe the person you talk to can lead you to other potential buyers. Send out newsletters to the consumers. You must constantly stay in touch with the customer, offering information about new products and the launch of different products.

Create a Strategy

Next, the salesman must have a strategy. Put a plan in place that really works. Tweak this plan as you go along to make it better. Learn the steps of your plan. This includes knowing which room you want to present in. Would it work better in the kitchen at the kitchen table or on the sofa in the living room or the den? Be familiar with the customer. Is your customer the man of the house or the woman of the house or both? Bring along the right tools to your meeting.

Introduction

Each salesman needs to get to know the customer. Learn some things about the customer. Ask the customer questions about him. Tell the customer some things about yourself. Share your personal story. Tell the consumer how and why you began to sell the product or service. Ask the consumer open ended questions. This will assist you in getting to know the consumer, put the consumer at ease with you, and make him comfortable with you.

Company History

Share your story of the company with the customer. Share the date the company got started. Tell the customer about the statistics for sales and the number of customers served. Tell the customer where the company is located and where the head of operations is located as well.

Know Your Product or Service

Know all about the product or service. However, do not sound fanatical. When you sound extremely zealous, you may cause people to lose interest. Talk to the individual like you are providing an option rather than selling a product or a service. Learn the details of the product. If it has any guarantees, know those too. The more knowledge you have about the product, the better you can explain it. The better you can explain it, the more you can sell it.

Present the Product or Service

Tell the customer about the product or service. If it is a service explain the service to the consumer. If it is a product, demonstrate the product to the customer. Explain the benefits and features of the product or service. Show the customer the product and provide samples if this apply.

Identify Your Competitors

Know your competitors and the products or services they offer. Know those that make the best of what you are selling or the best services you are offering. Determine how your products match up against the competition. Provide a side-by-side comparison of products or services. Know the competitor’s strengths and weaknesses.

Wrap It Up

Do a summary of the product or service. Remind the customer of everything you have previously said. Remind the consumer of the services or products you offer. Also remind him of the quality of the product or the service. Finally, reveal the price of the product or service. Remind the customer of the differences between the competitor’s prices and the prices for the products or services you are selling.

Go For the Sale

In the sales strategy, never forgot to include the part where you ask the customer for the order. Show the consumer exactly what products he will receive and the amount he will pay. Include any guarantees and free items or free services. If the customer is still unsure, use techniques to overcome his objections. Offer him the next item on the list. Continue to offer him items until you reach an item that he can afford. Thank the customer for the sale. Remember, the consumer is not obligated to purchase anything from you.

Do follow-ups!

This is a step that provides a thank you to the customer for his order. It is also a means to keep the door open for future sales. It may be that the customer could not afford the largest set or the most expensive service. However, later on he may have more funds and be willing to purchase those services or products that he did not get earlier. Also, the individual could refer you to others who may be potential customers. A customer that you have sold something to is a customer for life. Thank him for what he has done.

These are simply the best steps to always making the sale. Now, go out and sell.

This is a guest post from Phoenix Training, specialists in sale, management and leadership training.

Sandi Mays | Phoenix Training, Sales Leads | Comments (3)

What It Takes To Be In The Software Industry

November 12, 2012 – 5:26 pm

The software industry has been growing for a number of decades now. With the latest technology in everything from personal computers to electronic toys, kitchen gadgets, and cars working in the software sector will likely mean job security for years to come. But just because there will be plenty of jobs, doesn’t mean it will be easy. Breaking into and being successful in software can prove a difficult, but doable, feat.

Software engineering is a very lucrative business to go into. There are corporate jobs available at all levels, or someone could choose to work for themselves in this field. The design, development, analysis, and diagnostics of software are needed for every piece of technology that it inhabits. In most cases a degree in computer science or engineering is all that is needed to begin a future in the professional industry.

If creation isn’t something someone is interested in than perhaps the management side of technology would be more appealing. A person would still have to know about software and computing, but would be in charge of others who are working as the engineers and developers. It is still a very high paying job, as anything dealing with the front lines of technology maintenance and advancement would be.

Becoming top in the software business is what many technology companies are striving for. With companies like Microsoft and IBM being ahead for so long, it may seem like it is impossible for a younger company to emerge. Infor has become a leader in the software industry though, and now with CEO Charles E. Phillips they are a sure bet to continue advancing in the field. HP, Apple, and Adobe are also companies that have proven solid track records as front-runners in the computer science and technology arena.

Whether you are an individual just starting out in the business, or a large corporation, working in software is both rewarding and competitive. The technology itself is constantly changing and developers have to be forward thinking and creative, as well as great at problem solving. Corporations need to know how to stand out and go after new business territory, and technology integration. The need is there for individuals and companies alike to keep ahead of the changing wants and demands of society. If they can do that then chances are they will not only be successful, but a giant to contend with in the trade.

Sandi Mays | Management | Comments (0)