Kenny & Bruton introduce job support plan today

It will take a while to absorb this integrated list of actions on creating jobs announced today by the Coalition government.

As a supplier to the county and enterprise boards I am interested in what is going to replace them, and when.

35 CEBs with 35 CEOs and 35 deputy CEOs never seemed to make sense to me. But it is internationally acknowledged that advisory services to micro businesses are best delivered locally. Enterprise Ireland has raised its game in supporting exporting companies, but what about the 90% plus of businesses who don’t export? And delivering business support through the network of local authorities? An unreformed section of the Civil Service – with a culture far far away from an ordinary decent S , M or E! No futher comment until the details are revealed.

The Government has launched an ambitious jobs plan that aims to create 100,000 new positions by 2016 and a further 100,000 by 2020.

The full programme includes a total of 270 measures (download from the department site at http://www.djei.ie/publications/2012APJ.pdf ) to be delivered this year in 15 Government Departments and 36 State agencies.

The process will be policed by a monitoring committee of three Departments with think-tank Forfás.

In an effort to address the difficulties small companies face accessing credit, the State is to guarantee 75% of loans to small and medium businesses. That measure is expected to be operational by the second quarter of this year.

The plan will include a Development Capital Scheme for companies with prospects of jobs and export growth. It will be backed by €50m State investment, which is expected to leverage up to €100m.

A new Micro Finance Fund will supply investment in small companies seeking less than €25,000. The fund will be €10m every year for ten years. The European Investment Bank will supply some of the equity.

The plan proposes a finders’ fee of “up to €4,000″ for people of Irish extraction abroad who succeed in bringing major job projects to Ireland.

The Taoiseach said that people who wanted to introduce a business would contact an appointed operator. The new company would have to be one that is not already working with the IDA. [tokenistic if not simplistic activity, which will cost more to manage then it will produce - BL]

There will also be a facility for the diaspora to contribute to investment in new enterprises, which is modelled on a similar scheme in Israel.

The plan includes steps to encourage more mobile international entrepreneurs to start businesses in Ireland through a €10m State fund for investment in start-ups, improvement in immigration arrangements, a targeted marketing campaign and greater use of IDA network.

A Strategic Investment Fund will match private sector investment with money from the National Pension Reserve Fund. The NPRF will commit €250m and a further €1bn will be sought from institutional investors in Ireland and overseas for infrastructural investment.

A corporation tax exemption will be extended for start up companies until 2014.

City and country enterprise boards will be dissolved and a new unit will be created in Enterprise Ireland that will work with local authorities in aiding firms.

The Government will establish a health innovation hub to encourage transforming new technologies in health and life sciences into commercial enterprises.

Checkout www.rte.ie for further updates and www.djei.ie

Billy Linehan is MD of Celtar business consultants, and has worked with small business owners and directors for 25 years.

(Experience includes; Certified Management Consultant, mentor for Dublin City Enterprise Board, Enterprise Ireland mentor, Intertrade Ireland industry expert. Previously manager of consultancy services for a central London Business Link, manager of enterprise agency in east London & programme manager at London based training and enterprise council)

Your Business Day 2.0 returns to the Science Gallery on 9 December 2011

Celtar are proud to be project managing the second Your Business Day event on Friday, 9th of December 2011 in the Science Gallery, Pearse Street.

” We are delighted to be part of this major initiative from Greg Swift, Liam Barry and the team at DCEB” says Billy Linehan of Celtar, “already seeing the lineup it has been called the small business version of the Dublin Web Summit!”

Dublin City Enterprise Board (DCEB) the leading enterprise support agency for Dublin City are hosting the event for the second year.

The event is aimed at supporting small business in Dublin City, and will be of interest to those in business AND individuals starting up in business or thinking about starting a business.

Amongst other things the day will involve a series of talks from successful clients of DCEB, seminars and several development agencies are taking stands at the event.  There will also be a Tweet and Meet zone for networking and making connections.

A key feature of the day will be free business mentoring on the day to individuals attending the event, (we had over 250 attendees last year).
25 business mentors from a variety of business backgrounds will be available all day to answer your questions. The mentor slots start from 0900 and end at 1600.

The general theme of the event is “creating opportunities for self employment”, and DCEB clients and other speakers will share their experience through addressing specific topics such as,

• Growth through exporting,
• Use of technology in a small business
• Digital marketing, Social Media & SEO
• Innovation in small business
• Value of Design in business
• Financing your business, different stories
• How to start a a web based business, and even make a profit!

Real business owners speak at the event, practical people giving up their time for free to share their experience with attendees.

To date speakers include

George Howlett of  www.safefood360.com

Jamie Jenkinson of www.cushnshade.com

Agata Stoinska of www.D-Lightstudios.com

Martina Delaney of www.HandyBaby.com

Conor Lynch of www.SocialMedia.ie

John Ring of www.RingJohn.com

Mark Scanlon of www.SourceDogg.com

Lorna Coleman of www.First-Step.ie

David FitzGerald of www.Scapegoatdesign.com

Graham Clark of www.kookydough.ie

Joanna Norton of www.click4ESOL.com

And more to come!

For further information, and to book a free advice session with a business mentor, go to www.dceb.ie

For more information on Celtar services, contact Billy on 086 608 6991 or billy.linehan@celtar.ie

How to Get Started, Implement and Deliver Results
in a very difficult environment.

I see that change management consultants Eddie Molloy, Ian Kierans and the Advanced Organisation team are holding a new training programme for senior managers in the coming months.

 Eddie has received national attention on TV, RTE radio and the Irish Times for sharing his articulate perspectives on the need for transformation in the public sector. He and his expert team have also worked extensively in the private and NGO sectors.

Having a attended a similar programme four years ago, I can testify to its value in terms of understanding the dynamics of change – and it’s effectiveness in ensuring the delivery of results.

To quote Eddie on today’s environment

“In the 30 years I have been assisting companies with managing change, I have never seen so many organisations across all sectors facing such difficult situations. To survive most of them need to change – radically and quickly.

Change rhetoric is commonplace today. However to make change a reality remains a complex job that requires a mix of capabilities from ‘hard’ ones (e.g. rigorous programme management, restructuring, process reengineering) to ‘soft’ (culture change and stakeholder engagement).

If your organisation is faced with managing significant change and you are serious about getting real results then this programme would be invaluable to you and senior colleagues.”

For full details including modules, possible dates, prices and method of booking email ed@advancedorganisation.com

Also see

www.advancedorganisation.com

Useful information from Celtar, advisers for business

Contact 086 608 6991

Digital & social media workshop presented by Conor Lynch of Socialmedia.ie & sponsored by Celtar business consultants

This seminar is something I wished to organise for a while, so I am very glad to present the opportunity to clients and other businesses.

Recognising the potential for clients in exploiting digital and social media I have partnered with social media expert Conor Lynch of SocialMedia.ie in this special seminar.

Many business owners & managers I work with don’t want to be left behind  and wish to avail of digital marketing opportunities and the latest ways of communicating with customers.

Benefits & features of seminar

1. Learn how to use social media to reduce marketing costs by generating more qualified leads
2. Hands-on training  – bring your laptop and begin co-creating a digital and social media strategy for your business
3. Training delivered using case studies and examples from participants
4. Training materials and handouts including free eBook: Introduction to Social Media
5. €95 cost – deep discount to Celtar clients – workshop normally priced at €145

When: Wednesday 13^th of July

Time:  9.30am to 2pm, includes light lunch

Where: 133 Capel Street , former Riverdance Studios

For more information about the seminar and Conor Lynch,

And to book & pay please go to

www.socialmedia.ie/services/training/celtar-social-media/

Book early as seats are limited!

Tips on selling successfully

It is said that the essence of selling is understanding your customer’s needs, and convincing him or her that you’re the best supplier to meet their requirements.

I’ll add – that to sell you need to be in an optimistic frame of mind, seeing opportunities for the customer and for yourself in each sale.

(This article is an excerpt from a recent interview with the Sunday Business Post, the unedited version!).

Some of the golden rules are

- Find out who is the customer, who is the decision maker for purchasing. You are wasting your time selling to the wrong person if they have little influence on deciding what to buy

- So don’t try to sell too hard. There is nothing as off-putting for a potential buyer as a heavy sales pitch

- Do listen to the customer, what do they want? Does it match what you are trying to sell?

- Do your research on their business. Again it is off-putting for a buyer when a new potential supplier has not bothered to find out about their business (their major products and services, their customers and what markets they serve etc.)

- Don’t be impatient. You are working to your customer’s buying cycle, and not to the cashflow requirements of your business

- Do research your competition & use any market intelligence you can gather. What are they offering, the benefits and features of their products and services, how are they responding to changes in the market etc.

Typical mistakes start-ups make when it comes to sales

Pre-startup the most common issue is overestimating sales in the first few years of trading.

Post start-up common issues are poor sales pipeline management

- having no formal simple system to manage prospects, quoted work and invoiced sales.

- and poor personal organisation of tasks and priorities, selling and business development must be ongoing in every business. Often in a small business the owner manager loses sight of the sales cycle, gets lost in service delivery and customer support – and forgets to devote a day a week to meeting new customers, and another day to selling to existing ones.

Steps of the sales process

The most common sales structure uses 7 steps, but it can be 5, 6 or 8 steps depending on whose book or blog you are reading.

The 7 steps are

1. Preparation – plan for the sales meeting, research the buyer’s company, their products, your competitors. Prepare a checklist of questions to ensure you find out the information you need from the meeting.
2. Introduction – be friendly and positive when you meet, establish initial credibility as a prospective supplier.
3. Questioning – establish the needs and priorities, listen strongly (using “two ears and one mouth”), exercising good empathetic and open questioning, Who? What? Why? Where? When? and How? establishing rapport and trust with the buyer. If the needs are not understood correctly the sale will not happen. Summarise what you have understood their needs and their key concerns.
4. Presentation – with your understanding of the needs you are in an excellent position to offer and show how your product or service will deliver. Be clear on the benefits for the buyer of your products or services. It’s best not to knock the competition, and also use sales props, samples and give the buyer a copy of the presentation.
5. Overcoming objections – Some say objections are opportunities to reaffirm the benefits of your product or service. Often objections are requests for more information or for clarifications. If there are issues still, the approach is to understand them and to deal with each one. Common objections will concern Time, Cost, Value, Commitment level and “We’ll think about it”. Have your answers prepared beforehand, re-visit the benefits that have already been agreed and be prepared for both of you to adjust your position slightly.
6. Close - sometimes the buyer will close the deal themselves, otherwise “I think that’s covered everything, would you like to go ahead” is a suitable close. Confirmation of the sale may depend on the personality of the buyer, how cautious they are, or that they may need to consult a colleague. If further time or information is required you are going to give it to them, so keep in regular contact.
7. Follow-up - after-sales paperwork is important. There should be a customer follow-up and a problem resolution service. This is not the end of the sale but the start of a new sales cycle, and preparation for the next sale to this customer.

Repeat business is important

Repeat business is very important, each potential customer has potential long term sales value, and may return to you many times over the life of their company.

Always ask for feedback after a sale. And ask your customer what are their future requirements so you can plan to meet any changes in their specifications.

Books on selling?

The classic is How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie. Another popular favourite is Advanced Selling Strategies: The Proven System of Sales Ideas, Methods and Techniques Used by Top Salespeople Everywhere by Brian Tracy.

Otherwise I suggest that people browse in bookshops and on the web for books that suit their approach and that are specific to their industry.

Using technology

Technology is used in 2 main ways to support selling.

Firstly creating awareness through marketing can be useful in attracting interest in your services or products. Online marketing and use of social media can target particular customer segments, and offers a clear record of what is working or not.

I don’t advise early stage businesses to invest in CRM packages, mostly because there isn’t enough customers to justify them. Usually I share a spreadsheet based sales pipeline tool with clients, and this suffices for a few years.

If you are thinking of a CRM package most appear too expensive to me, and are over specified for a small business. Cloud based CRM systems might be the way to go?

Organisations & training bodies in Ireland

For start-ups and early stage businesses

All county enterprise boards should offer subsidised courses in sales training to their clients, as a stand alone course and as part of their business start-up programmes. Enterprise Ireland provides sales training as part of their support for indigenous businesses who are their clients. The SFA, ISME and chambers of commerce also make offers in this area.

Similarly FAS has offered sales training in the past – though I am unsure of its current status (the training agency was barely mentioned in the government’s Jobs Initiative). The various Skillnet groups offer training to their members, though this is another initiative that may have reached it’s sell by date.

From personal experience I know the Irish Management Institute offered strong sales training as part of their Business Development Programme for SMEs.

We at Celtar can introduce you to specialist sales consultants and sales mentors, but they should not really be required for early stage businesses.

The recession has hit commercial training companies in a big way, many companies have been wound up. Well known training companies have reduced their prices; a Dublin training company has reduced their 2 days sales training course this May from €695 to €199, so there is better value out there.

Most importantly “don’t forget, smile when you sell!”

For further information contact

Billy Linehan

Celtar business consultants

billy.linehan@celtar.ie

086 608 6991

Interview featured in Sunday Business Post 12 May 2011 http://bit.ly/lsEkAS