IMG December 2015 Newsletter

NEWS ISSUE 14/ DECEMBER 2015

Standard the Standard Setting the Setting

PEORIA CHARTER

FEATURE IMG COMPANY

GoMotorcoach Starts a New Era

MCI to join

New Flyer Industries

FMSCA sends

entry level driver

training rule to white house

it’s okay

to bury bad reviews

MCI TO JOIN NEW FLYER INDUSTRIES, CREATING A NEW NORTH AMERICAN POWERHOUSE IN BUSES, PARTS AND SERVICE. DEAL CLOSING AT YEAREND/

Uniting the two leading public and private transit and motor coach brands in North America...

WHY SOME AIRPORTS ARE GETTING POSH HOTELS/

FMCSA SENDS ENTRY-LEVEL DRIVER TRAINING RULE TO WHITE HOUSE, FINAL STOP BEFORE PUBLICATION/

Scan the lodging options around most big U.S. airports, and you’ll find an...

A proposed federal rule set to spell out required minimum training standards for new....

GET MORE STUFF DONE AT WORK: 8 SCHEDULING STRATEGIES/

Time is money -- and nobody knows that better than salespeople. Every call you...

FOSTERING BETTER ONLINE COLLABORATION/

Research indicates that online collaboration could save more than five hours each...

IT’S OKAY TO BURY BAD REVIEWS/

You know the old saying, “The best defense is a good offense.” Well, turns out that’s true...

THE SCIENCE BEHIND HOW PAY AFFECTS PRODUCTIVITY/

In 2013, three Harvard researchers decided to see how different levels of pay would.....

LEADING TO LIBERATE: FREEDOM THROUGH DISCIPLINE/

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN B2B BUYERS’ DECISION MAKING/

The most effective leaders know how to teach their employees the value of one powerful...

GOMOTORCOACH STARTS A NEW ERA/

RUNNING A SMALL BUSINESS? STAY AHEAD OF CASH FLOW WOES WITH THESE 5 TIPS/

Social media is a big deal when it comes to chasing those… well, big deals. The role that...

At its semi-annual meeting in Phoenix on October 29th, the Motorcoach Marketing Council...

Ah, cash flow. Is there anything more terrifying or essential to a small business’s survival?...

PRODUCTION Production deliverabilities layout&design: Phone: 1.888.798.1802

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YOU’RE HEADED FOR SUCCESS. WE’RE FAMILIAR WITH THE ROUTE.

Prevost coaches do more than transport your passengers in style and safety. They move your business forward by giving you the best in dependability, fuel efficiency and support. Our high deck H-Series Coach offers state-of-the-art amenities that elevate every passenger’s experience. Our longer-wheelbase X3-45 Coach combines the smoothest possible ride with a wider entry and 80" high interior passenger space. All Prevost coaches deliver exceptional performance with lower operating costs. Which means they’re as perfect for your business as they are for your passengers.

Please contact your Prevost Regional Sales Manager for more information.

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T h e u l t i m a t e c l a s s.

President ’s Message The holiday season is now upon us, with Thanksgiving celebrations just concluded and we look back and reflect on 2015. Generally the year was good for many, with business increasing after a number of slow years, which creates renewed confidence. However, we see continuing legislative issues impacting the way we do business, and IMG will continue to work with both ABA and UMA as those discussions wih FMCSA continue.

At IMG, out network of operators grew, with our most recent addition being Karst Stage, Montana. This brings IMG to 55 companies, and our North American footprint expands strategically, as we look for like-minded operators in key areas that are underserviced or have no coverage at the moment. Karst Stage brings tremendous coverage in the Montana and to those customers that want to experience the great National Parks, particularly Yellowstone, that are best viewed by motorcoach transportation. Karst Stage has facilities in Bozeman, Billings, Big Sky, and West Yellowstone. We are delighted to have the team from Karst Stage join IMG.

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IMG’s 2016 Travel Resource Guide Just printed and copies are on there way to you! This publication really is a “must have” tool for anyone looking for transportation. At tradeshows and when meeting with customers the comment is always: “I love it and we use it all the time” . If you need more copies simply call the IMG office at 888 447 3466. Also you can access the online digital version on the IMG website, www.imgcoach.com IMG Travel Partners: We were thrilled to have many of our travel partners meet with the IMG executive team after our annual meeting recently at Turning Stone Resort. As we look to way to develop opportunities, we also decided to develop a new Preferred Travel Partner logo, Our Travel partners represent great companies and CVB’s and we are very proud to have them as part of IMG. You will see an IMG Travel partner as a feature article in each magazine, this month we are featuring Beau Rivage Resort.

Looking Ahead: We are very close to our 2016 Maintenance and Safety Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, co-located with the Bus Industry Safety Council (BISC) meeting, January 8-10. This meeting is a very technical hands-on event, where IMG operators shares best practices and discuss industry challenges and opportunities. It is a key meeting around the very core values of IMG – safety, training, maintenance and education.

We will be on the floor of ABA’s Marketplace, UMA Expo and NTA’s Travel Exchange – we look forward to seeing you!

We wish you and your families the very best over the holiday season!

Remember, IMG has the answers to your transportation needs.

Bronwyn Wilson President, IMG

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IMG Feature Company Peoria Charter

In 1941, Walter Winkler had an idea to improve transportation for his friends, family and co-workers.

Some say it came to him in a dream and some say that his background as a farmer in Central Illinois gave him a knack for fixing any issue that he found. Either way, Winkler saw an opportunity to improve the livelihood of his fellow people in the Lacon-Spring Bay area. During this time, the United States was battling in World War II. About 40 miles from Walter’s hometown, Caterpillar Inc. in Peoria, IL was manufacturing many of the military machines to help win the war. War rationing for gas began soon after entering the war and everyone began riding together and pooling their gas rationings to travel to the Caterpillar factories. Walter envisioned a way to have many more than just 3 or 4 people ride together; he was picturing a larger mode of transportation. Bound by the idea that a bus would provide his community a great service, Winkler knew what he had to do. The only questions he had was how to raise the money for such an expensive piece of equipment.

Walter approached his sister, who owned a local chicken egg farm, and asked her for a small loan to get started.

Knowing Walter’s work ethic, his sister put together as much money as she could to loan him, but he was still short on the funding he needed to acquire his first bus. Winkler decided that he must take a leap of faith, and he traded in his family car to cover the outstanding funds. On this date in 1941, “Spring Bay Lacon Bus Company” officially began operations. The company continued to grow their line run and Walter saw another opportunity to serve not just the community, but his Country. Winkler began transporting United States Defense Workers and Military Personnel.

He was beginning to learn that putting the needs of the community first will result in profitability.

Around the time that World War II was coming to an end, Walter’s wife, Clarice Winkler, gave birth to two sons, Roger and Stan Winkler. The brothers were extremely involved in the bus operation from day one. Roger and Stan would come home from school to clean and service the buses of their families’ business. By the time they graduated high 6

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school, they wanted nothing more than to join their father and turn the company into a family-business. In 1978, after working in almost every area of the company, including driver, technician, cleaner, and office personnel, Walter stepped down and the two brothers became partners and second generation owners of the Winkler Family. Stan focused on the office work and Roger became a handson expert in the mechanical department. To this day, technicians still speak of the “magic touch” Roger had with the buses and his ability to perform any repair. The company soon out grew the small metal garage in Lacon, and the facilities were moved to Peoria, IL. The name of the company was changed to the better-known, “Peoria Charter Coach Company.” The company did not forget their roots in the small farm town of Lacon, IL. Peoria Charter has been a wonderful sight at the Annual Lacon Parade for many years. Roger’s wife, Velda Winkler, was instrumental in the company’s expansion. Her desire to put customers first and ensure every customer was completely satisfied resulted in innovative marketing that was not even taught

by Universities until years later. In the 1950’s the Company added school bus service, and Velda began driving school buses and was the favorite driver of many children.

Velda and Roger’s great chemistry together created a group of people who wanted the opportunity to travel by bus with them. They would offer all their friends day trips to go see a play or a ball game. The community loved this concept and recommended it to everyone they knew. This turned into an entire department of Peoria Charter Coach know known as Peoria Charter Travel. This portion grew so large that in 1988 the Annual ‘Winkler Trip’ was accompanied by the entire fleet of 25 buses! Today, the department is still operating bus tours for many travelers who love to tell stories about trips they enjoyed with Roger and Velda.

Steady growth has been found in the International and

Domestic packaged tours. By partnering with some of the best travel companies in the county, Peoria Charter Travel is able to offer trips to almost any destination at the lowest price. Many of these tours do not even involve stepping on a bus. In the Central Illinois community, Peoria Charter has become known as, “Group Travel Specialists.”

During the 1980s, Caterpillar Inc. grew to be one of the largest customers at the company. A tough economic time caused CAT to cut 40% of employees. This directly affected the Peoria economy. The Winkler’s had to work twice as hard and earn half as much. However, hard work was not unusual for Stan and Roger. Walter Winkler had instilled in his children the same work ethic that he used to found the company. With the Peoria bus rental market demand dwindling from down economy, Peoria Charter was thought to only have a couple years left to exist. Roger and Stan went back to their roots and had an idea very similar to the one Walter acted upon. With Peoria being the largest downstate city in Illinois not connected to rail transportation, a daily bus shuttle between Peoria and Chicago would fulfill a need of the community. A recent Government deregulation finally allowed this to be a viable option. Roger and Stan were first movers at this opportunity and began a daily line run that would continue for another 35 years.

The daily line runs performed by Peoria Charter Coach has become a staple of the company and a constant reminder of Walter Winkler’s ‘fill the needs of the community’ mentality. The company now operates four daily buses from Peoria and Bloomington Normal to Chicago and eight daily buses from Champaign to Chicago. By adding a 24 hour call center and customer friendly policies, Peoria Charter is thought of as the friendly way to travel from Central Illinois to Chicago.

In 1990, Stan Winkler decided to retire from the company and sold his shares to Roger and Velda Winkler. At this time, their son, Bill Winkler, was entering the working world with a CPA Degree from Florida Southern University.

They reached out to Bill about joining the company. Since a little boy, Bill had been a part of the company, and it was an easy decision for him to jump at the opportunity to join the family business. Bill became the third generation of the Winkler family to join the business.After Bill joined the company as Comptroller, it became clear that in order to grow, they must increase their market share of the local Universities transportation. The Winkler’s looked at the business between the Universities and Peoria Charter as a true partnership. Many of the University coaches could look in the stands at any of their games and spot the owners, Roger and Velda, sitting in their season tickets cheering the team on. Peoria Charter also began offering weekend shuttle services for the University students who are from Chicago to ride home. This had unexpected results that assisted in the rapid growth of the company during the 1990s. By selling students tickets on the buses, the universities received great assistance from Peoria Charter

and it strengthened the partnership; unexpectedly, business saw an increase from those very students chartering the buses at their newly acquired jobs after graduation.

In 1998, the Company expanded its facility to double its size. Bill and his wife, Cindy, continued to grow their roles at the company. Cindy was in charge of Marketing and worked with Velda to plan group trips. Late 1999, Roger and Velda sold the majority right of the Company to Bill and Cindy Winkler. At this time, Peoria Charter employed close to 100 people with a fleet of 48 motorcoaches. The company saw record growth and profits until late 2008.

The economic recession was an extremely difficult time for all bus companies. Through wise financial planning and conservative decision making, the company was able to push through this difficult time and still sustain growth.

A new facility was built in Champaign-Urbana, home of the University of Illinois, which is able to house 24 buses.

In 2014, Bill and Cindy Winkler’s son, Jake Winkler, joined the company as the fourth generation of the family.

His expertise is in Social Media Marketing and Outside Sales.Full multi-year contracts were locked up with the University of Illinois and Illinois State University, two of the largest schools in the state. The fleet has grown to 63 buses between the two locations. Peoria Charter annually carries 500,000 passengers over 4 million miles. The majority of travel is though charters(70%)and the remaining is made up of scheduled line runs (30%).

The bus industry is filled with ups and downs. At Peoria Charter, the work culture reflects very similar to the one Walter Winkler started in 1941. Work hard and put the needs of the community first, and profits will follow.

Every employee is known as “part of the Winkler family.”

When asked how the company has achieved such steady growth over 75 years, Bill Winkler said “We care about all our people. Their work ethic is high and in turn they treat our customers accordingly. And we don’t just hire anyone.

We believe in seeking those who will treat others with the highest respect. We can always train drivers – that’s why we have a full-time Safety Director – but we can’t train people’s attitudes. Our customers don’t always know who I am, but they definitely know our professional drivers.”

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Winter Driving - It’s Not All About Snow!

When it comes to winter driving, drivers and operators often focus on traditional cold weather conditions – snow and ice, but the winter months can present many different driving challenges, regardless of your location.

Lancer’s analysis of the data on accidents related to adverse conditions shows that while the number of fatalities statistically decreases due to fewer drivers on the road, coach accidents during bad weather invariably produce vehicle overturn or rollover.

These result in more claims involving serious orthopedic injuries, head and brain trauma, and other catastrophic injuries.

Although your operation may not be located in a winter climate area, you may find yourself driving in adverse winter conditions due to infrequent, but increasing winter weather events in southern climates.

There are also hazards associated with driving in areas populated with other motorists who are not familiar with winter driving. Moreover, some warmer climate

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areas experience an increase in population during the winter months and, even without weather issues, the increase in traffic and tourists creates a driving challenge, even for the most experienced driver. Bus operators should not assume that their drivers are familiar with the location, climate and traffic patterns.

Instead, drivers should be provided with information and training so they can complete the trip safely and successfully.

The keys to safety when driving in adverse conditions are the same, regardless of the conditions encountered.

Whether driving at night, in fog, dust or smoke, or driving under wet, snowy or icy conditions, safety depends on a driver’s ability to follow these five steps:

Step 1 – Be Prepared. Preventing driving problems

always begins with you, the driver. You must be mentally prepared for the road ahead. That means getting information so you know what to expect. We urge you to take the time to check as many weather information sources as possible, from the Weather

Channel to all relevant State DOT highway condition hotlines and websites. Ask other drivers about road conditions, keeping in mind that they will be telling you what the conditions were, not what they are going to be (and that may be far worse). With good information, you may determine that a change of route may keep you out of the worst conditions, or you may decide to stop and wait for a safer time to travel. This can be a difficult decision for the professional driver, who faces the obvious pressures to stay on schedule and continue a trip as planned. However, when road conditions are poor and the weather is foul, it is better to err on the side of caution. Make the necessary calls to passengers awaiting your arrival, leave early if conditions permit, or just wait until Mother Nature has run her course.

Make sure you are familiar with Section 392.14 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations - Hazardous Conditions - and follow the federal requirements. It may be illegal for you to operate your vehicle under certain conditions, and no amount of scheduling pressures should ever compel you to break the law.

You must also properly prepare yourself and your vehicle with a thorough and careful pre-departure vehicle inspection. Your life and the lives of your passengers will be, more than usual, dependent upon the safe operating condition of your vehicle. It does little good to turn on your lights if any of them are burned out. Tires that are bald or low on tread are far more likely to slip and slide. Defrosters and heaters that aren’t functioning will be of no benefit. And tire chains hanging in the shop instead of being carried in your vehicle won’t help a bit when you’re facing a mandatory chain-up zone. Be sure to know how to put on chains before you need to do it in snow or ice, and remember to check your antifreeze level, wiper blades and wiper fluid level. Clean the windshield regularly and don’t forget to keep your headlights and mirrors clean while you’re en route.

In addition to having a safe and ready vehicle, always carry along some cold weather clothing and other items that can help you survive in severe conditions.

These might include a heavy coat, boots, a hat and gloves, blankets, a charged cellular phone and charger, a flashlight and extra batteries, a small shovel, a snow brush and an ice scraper. Non-perishable food and water are also a good idea. Use your pre-trip inspection to make sure you have all the equipment

and accessories you might need to help you in a hazardous situation.

Importantly, always buckle your seat belt on every trip, no matter the driving conditions.

Step 2 – Slow Down. In adverse conditions, speed

is your enemy and you can reduce the risk of trouble by slowing down. Speed increases stopping distance and makes your vehicle more difficult to control. At night, higher speeds mean you may be out-driving your headlights, and your stopping distance can exceed the distance ahead that you can actually see.

Speed increases the chance of a slide or a skid and can cause you to misjudge a curve. Slowing down helps decrease your stopping distance and increases your stability on the road surface. If you find yourself in extreme conditions, it is not unreasonable to reduce your speed by 75% of the speed limit, or to 15 miles per hour – and even less in very treacherous conditions.

Nothing can restore your control of your vehicle and correct an adverse situation better than the simple act of slowing down.

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Step 3 – Increase Following Distance and Space Around You. One of the best ways to reduce your chances of being involved in an extreme weather accident is to increase the space and time that you have to maneuver your vehicle – giving yourself a safety cushion of room to react.

Extra space to the sides and especially in front of you, adds to your safety margin, so drive in the open, staying away from packs of vehicles. Slow down and back off if you’re catching up to a cluster of traffic.

Stay in your lane and protect your right side to reduce sideswipes from other vehicles. Increase your following distance to a minimum of eight seconds or more under adverse conditions. At 60 miles per hour in ideal driving conditions, your vehicle will travel about 350 feet from the time you apply the brakes before it comes to a complete stop. That’s more than the length of a football field! In bad weather conditions, that distance increases quite dramatically.

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Step 4 – Use Gradual Movements. Perform every action slowly. Whether you are accelerating, slowing, turning or changing lanes, do so gradually.

Quick movements can easily cause a loss of control, especially in adverse conditions where some traction has already been lost. Slow, gradual movements help you maintain maximum control of your vehicle.

Step 5 – Stay Alert. Be aware of changing conditions because a very hazardous situation can come upon you suddenly. Pay attention to anything that could potentially contribute to an accident. Temperature changes and elevated surfaces, such as bridges and overpasses, can turn a wet road into an icy one.

Listen to your tires; if they become quiet, you may unexpectedly be driving on a slick surface. If that happens, check the back surface of your side mirror.

If it’s icy, chances are the road is as well. And watch the vehicles around you. If you’ve come up against unexpected hazards, so have other drivers who may not have the benefit of being a trained professional.

Lastly, keep in mind that adverse weather conditions are further complicated at night. The loss of full illumination means that hazards that may be in full view during the daylight can be hidden from view until you are too close to avoid them. Keep your eyes moving, and remember that as we get older, it is harder to see at night. A 55 year-old driver could require twice as much light to see an object as a 25 year-old driver. Night driving, especially in adverse weather conditions, demands a slower speed and a minimum following distance of eight or more seconds so you are not outdriving your headlights.

As a professional driver, you have defenses against adverse driving conditions. Know what to expect, size up every situation you encounter and adjust your driving to minimize the dangers. By doing so, you can help keep yourself and your passengers safe throughout the trip. Most importantly, slow down and be willing to cancel or end the trip whenever adverse weather may impact safe driving.

This article was written by Bob Crescenzo, Vice President, Lancer Insurance Company.

For additional information see their website at www.lancerinsurance.com

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BEAU RIVAGE

From A-list entertainment to award-winning restaurants, high-energy nightlife to relaxing rejuvenation, it is easy to see why MGM Resort International’s Beau Rivage is the finest resort experience in the Southeast. This is a place where the spirit of the French Riviera blends with the traditional elegance and comfort of the Deep South.

Fallen Oak, a Fazio-designed championship golf course is available exclusively for guests of Beau Rivage. Ranked among the top resort courses in the country and home to the Champions Tour Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic, Fallen Oak joins the heralded Shadow Creek as the only golf courses built by MGM Resorts International for their guests.

The AAA Four Diamond Beau Rivage Resort & Casino has brought to the Gulf Coast a first-class experience defined by casual sophistication, outstanding service and world-class amenities.

Widely regarded as the premier entertainment resort in the south, Beau Rivage brings top headline entertainment to the Mississippi Gulf Coast nearly every weekend, and world-class production shows each summer and winter in its state-of-the-art 1,800seat Beau Rivage Theatre.

Named one of the top 100 hotels in the U.S. and Canada by Travel + Leisure, Beau Rivage overlooks the white-sand beach and warm Gulf waters of Biloxi. The crown jewel of the Mississippi Gulf Coast features 1,740 luxurious guest rooms and suites; an 85,000-square-foot Mediterranean-themed casino; 10 incredible dining choices; four exciting lounges and bars; an upscale shopping promenade with 12 retail venues; a lavish spa and salon; and a beautifullylandscaped tropical pool complete with private cabanas and gazebos.

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Experience a new level of luxury at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, where the comforts and convenience of group travel merge effortlessly with world famous Southern hospitality and world-class hospitality only MGM Resorts can deliver.

For more information, visit www.beaurivage.com or call (800) 239-2771.

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As Americans and motorcoach, travel and tourism professionals, our country and industry are better and safer when we work together for a common goal. The world has watched with anger and horror over the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, France.

Today the leadership of ABA, IMG, NTA, SYTA and UMA are coming together to urge all of our members to be vigilant and once again increase our industry’s level of awareness; as well as report to law enforcement officials anything that may appear unusual. Be proactive. If you, your employees or your passengers see something, say something. Call 911.

We’re also making available to everyone these critical motorcoach security procedures produced by the Bus Industry Safety Council and we encourage you to read them and distribute them to your staff. http://www.buses.org/assets/images/uploads/pdf/ABA_Post-Paris_Security_Procedures.pdf So far, we have received only anecdotal reports from our collective members of a few groups considering cancelling trips. However, some local media outlets are making calls to members asking that question and asking about the safety of group travel. At the present time, intelligence and law enforcement officials say there are NO specific, credible threats against the U.S. and we are encouraging you to continue operating your business normally.

However, if you receive inquiries about security, let them know the company is taking proactive steps and you are implementing the items in the Post-Paris security procedures PDF or undertaking other security measures. If there is a media inquiry and you need assistance, call the respective media/communications officers of each association.

Last week terrorists tried once again to instill fear into our society by attacking a shopping district, restaurants, a sports arena and a concert hall. These were not locations known for their religious or political significance, rather they were familiar places where innocent people became victims while enjoying themselves and relaxing with family members and friends.

Terrorists look to destabilize society by creating fear. Giving into their hatred rewards terrorism. As an industry that safely moves hundreds of millions of people a year on motorcoaches, on vacations or to work, we will continue to stand together, strong and united.

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Entry Level Driver Training Rule

FMCSA sends entry-level dri House, final stop before pub A proposed federal rule set to spell out required minimum training standards for new entrant truck drivers has been sent from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to the White Houses’ Office of Management and Budget for approval. The OMB is the rule’s last stop before publication in the Federal Register.

As this is the proposed version of the rule, the agency will take comment from the trucking industry, stakeholders and the general public for 60 days following the rule’s publication. The rule has not been made public yet, so what it will require of drivers and carriers is not yet known.

The rule was produced via a so-called “negotiated rulemaking,” meaning a committee of drivers, fleets, regulators and other industry stakeholders met several times to flesh out the basic form of the rule before handing it to FMCSA to finalize and put into the regulatory pipeline.

As reported earlier this year by CCJ, the committee’s key recommendations for the rule included requiring 30 hours of behind-the-wheel training time, establishing a registry of driver training providers and establishing certified curricula for CDL applicants.

The OMB’s rulemaking portal says the White House received the rule Nov. 7. The OMB typically clears rules within 90 days of receiving them. The rule should be published shortly after its clearance by OMB.

Article by James Jaillet seen on www.ccjdigital. com.

READ THE ORIGINAL

ARTICLE ONLINE

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iver training rule to White blication

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Get More Stuff Done At Work

Get More Stuff Done at Wo Strategies 18 www.greenazine.com

Time is money -- and nobody knows that better than salespeople.

Every call you make and every meeting you take is an opportunity gained (or sacrificed) to bring money to your company and, ultimately, to yourself.

Because of this, your calendar is your single most valuable property.

You’re probably (we hope) already using one to keep track of prospect calls and internal meetings, but it might just be in need of a facelift.

If you feel your schedule getting away from you, use these strategies to declutter your calendar -- so you can spend your time selling.

Before You Begin: Complete a Calendar Audit Before you can fix a problem, you have to understand where one exists. Perform a calendar selfaudit: Review the past month and ask yourself the following questions: •

When are productive?

you

most

•

On average, how many meetings do you have per day?

•

Are there any recurring meetings on your calendar that only happen sporadically or have stopped occurring?

•

When do you generally take breaks?

Once you know how you’re spending your time, you can optimize your schedule.

ork: 8 Scheduling www.greenazine.com

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8 Scheduling Strategies to Streamline Your Day

4) Put “available to book” times on your calendar.

1) Book time for prospecting every day.

Don’t leave your colleagues in the dark. Make it explicit when you’re free for internal meetings or quick chats.

This way, they won’t have to ping you asking if you’re available during a certain time -- they can just book you.

Prospecting is a salesperson’s lifeblood, but it’s easy to skip if other tasks are piling up. Without dedicated time each day to generate new opportunities, your pipeline (and your paycheck) will quickly run dry.

You should split up your call and email prospecting so you’re not switching back and forth between two tasks.

Align your call times with your territories’ local time, and make calls between 8 and 9 a.m. in your prospects’ time zones.

It’s important to schedule prospecting multiple times a week so you can follow up with inbound leads in a timely manner. Research shows that it’s best to call prospects within five minutes of receiving an inbound lead.

2) Schedule internal meetings strategically.

It takes about 25 minutes to return to productivity after an interruption, and while you can’t minimize the number of unexpected distractions you encounter throughout the day, you can design your schedule to make yourself more efficient.

Schedule internal meetings right before or after lunch, or back-to-back if you have multiple meetings in a day.

That way, your day isn’t punctuated with several short interruptions from your regular sales activity.

If you’re a manager, hold one day per week for all of your one-on-ones with your direct reports and your administrative work. This way, you’ll be able to devote the rest of your time to helping them sell.

Of course, when it comes to prospect meetings, you won’t always be able to apply these best practices.

3) Hold specific hours for sales meetings.

You should defer to your prospect’s schedule if they have a preferred meeting time that can’t be moved, but you’ll make it far easier to schedule meetings if you hold a consistent time for prospect calls. You’ll be able to avoid conflicting internal meetings, and you won’t have to worry about reshuffling your schedule to accommodate your prospects.

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5) Remove unnecessary recurring meetings.

As a sales rep, the only recurring meetings you absolutely need to have are one-on-ones with your manager to review your pipeline and discuss your career path.

For any other recurring meetings, make sure they’re completely necessary. If they’re not, or have already fallen by the wayside, get them off your calendar.

6) Build lunch into your schedule.

Ideally, you’ll be able to take breaks from your work throughout the day, but sometimes things get busy and you just can’t. But something you can’t afford to miss is lunch. Not only does eating improve your productivity, the extended time away from your desk gives you the mental break you need to enter your afternoon refreshed.

7) Leave 10-15 minutes between each prospect meeting.

Always leave buffer time between calls in case your prospect dials in late or the conversation runs over -you don’t want to choose between cutting off a meeting and being late to the next one. The extra time can also be used to fire off a follow-up email or write call notes while the memory of the meeting is still fresh in your mind, instead of at the end of the day when the finer nuances may have escaped you.

8) Every Sunday, review next week’s schedule.

In a salesperson’s life, a calendar is more of a suggestion than a prescription -- last-minute things will always come up. But you should start your week with as organized of a schedule as possible, so spend 10 minutes every Sunday reviewing next week’s meetings and making sure everything that’s on your calendar needs to be there.

Article by Leslie Ye seen on www.blog.hubspot.com

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ARTICLE ONLINE

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21

MCI To Join New Flyer Industries

MCI to join New Flyer Ind North American powe and service. Deal closin 22 www.greenazine.com

dustries, creating a new erhouse in buses, parts ng at year-end www.greenazine.com

23

Uniting the two leading public and private transit and motor coach brands in North America, KPS Capital Partners announced on November 10 that it will sell Motor Coach Industries (MCI) to Winnipeg-based New Flyer Industries creating a powerhouse in top-selling vehicles, parts and service. New Flyer is the largest builder of heavyduty low floor transit buses. MCI is the largest builder of motor coaches, and distributes the German-built Setra S 417 and Setra S407 coaches.

At closing, MCI will operate as a separate division within publicly held New Flyer, with no changes planned at its Winnipeg and Pembina plants, Louisville, Kentucky, parts warehouse or six MCI Sales and Service Centers in the U.S. and Canada.

“Both companies hold the No. 1 position with iconic brands and have complementary products that do not compete,” said Rick Heller, MCI’s CEO who will leave the company after the deal closes at year-end, though the rest of MCI’s top leadership will remain.

“We couldn’t ask for a better fit strategically,” said Heller. “We will continue to support our MCI and Setra customers with the best service organization in the business, which will become even more powerful as New Flyer and MCI leverage best practices in aftermarket parts, service and support.”

The deal recalls MCI’s origins in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where the company was founded in 1933 by Harry Zoltok, who became an early pioneer in over-the-road, highway coaches in Canada and the U.S. Heller, who took the helm at MCI when KPS purchased the company in 2010, explained that MCI has successfully implemented quality improvements and production efficiencies that now produce highly-reliable coaches with the lowest cost of operation in the industry.

24 www.greenazine.com

The New Flyer deal means that MCI will enjoy “more opportunities, including financial resources to build from here, while we stay focused on safety and taking care of current and future MCI and Setra operators.”

During KPS’s ownership, MCI entered into a strategic partnership with Daimler AG in 2012 to distribute Setra motor coaches and parts in the U.S. and Canada. Once the New Flyer deal is completed, Daimler will no longer have a minority ownership stake in MCI but Heller explained the strong relationship with Daimler will carry on and the luxury Setra S 417 and Setra S 407 lines will remain in MCI’s product portfolio with training, parts and service support at all six MCI Service Centers in the U.S. and Canada.

“We already have the best team of people in the industry,” said Heller. “Now MCI will be larger and more powerful with owners that understand our business.”

Press release seen on www.mcicoach.com

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In regards to the Motorcoach Marketing program, we love it. So far, we have made the 1000 postcards, and we did some full page handouts. We just got a stand up banner.

When I get some time, I’ll be making new rack cards for both offices. We made 500 church theme postcards and 500 in the safety theme.

We sent out the church cards through a local mailing company to every church within 50 miles. So far, we have had a great response and 4-5 people booked trips from it. I plan on using the safety ones soon by sending them to our new customers. All of our staff and drivers love the modern design and the finished products. Only one of my staff has watched the videos so far, but we will be working on that next month. So far I’m very happy with the service. It works well and looks great!

Chris Knittel

Owner/General Manager New Mexico Texas Coaches, LLC

We Help Operators Sell More Charters To More People.

Easier. Faster. Far More Effective.

MotorcoachMarketing.org www.greenazine.com

25

Airports Getting Posh Hotels

Why Some Airports Are Getting Posh Hotels Passengers in general have increased their expectations of airports,” said Kim Day, chief executive officer of Denver International. “They want higher-end shopping, better food, and they want better places to stay when they stay.

26 www.greenazine.com

Scan the lodging options around most big U.S. airports, and you’ll find an abundance of humble accommodations—along with a few best described as frightening. The tony hotels are typically found in city centers, where business travelers, tourists, and conventioneers tend to congregate.

The post-recession U.S. hotel boom is changing that, with upscale airport hotels now planned in Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York City, Atlanta, and a 500-room Westin opening Nov. 19 at Denver International Airport.

Given the generally higher costs for a full-service hotel such as a W or Hilton, these projects haven’t traditionally mixed with airport traffic that comes and leaves quickly, often because of weather-marred flights. But two travel trends are converging to change that math. Commercial real estate developers are

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27

seeing airports as fertile locations, driven by rising demand for rooms and conference space. And U.S. airports are upgrading their facilities to appeal to a more sophisticated clientele, the kind who want such amenities as spas, trendy bistros, and even yoga spaces.

“Passengers in general have increased their expectations of airports,” said Kim Day, chief executive officer of Denver International. “They want higherend shopping, better food, and they want better places to stay when they stay.”

That also means a stroll to the hotel lobby from the terminal—no shuttles—along with cutting-edge design, full-service spas, chic bars, and upscale restaurants. This new breed of airport hotel also affords ample space for business meetings, given that many companies like the idea of flying employees to a central point near (or in) an airport and getting down to business without the hassles of transit. And with occupancy rates near record levels for most fullservice hotels, it’s harder for a business group to find room at the inn, which changes the economics of putting a full-service property at or near an airport.

Room demand at airport locations has grown from an average of 55 million room nights in 2010 to 65 million today, according to STR, a lodging data and research firm. Average room rates at airport locations have also increased, in line with the overall industry, and now top $110 per night. “The occupancies are so high now some players are saying wait a second, maybe this [airport] is a place we should look,” said Jan Freitag, an STR senior vice president.

The Denver hotel, which has endured a history of fits and starts since the airport’s 1995 opening, is designed as a destination for business travelers to meet and a way to bridge the airport with central Denver, which sits nearly 30 miles to the west. In April, a new light rail train will connect the Westin and airport with downtown via a $9 ride that’s 37 minutes. Day predicts that line will help make the hotel a destination for weddings and other events.

This summer, officials at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International sought bidders for a 300-room, “toptier” four-star hotel to be built as part of a “travel

28 www.greenazine.com

plaza” that would have office space, a gas station, and possibly residential units. Atlanta vies with Chicago’s O’Hare as the world’s busiest airport hub but has no hotel connected to a terminal, as airports such as those at Detroit, Tampa, and Huntsville, Ala., offer.

“In the 1960s and ’70s, airport hotels were for distressed passengers” grounded by bad weather or a broken airplane, said Tyler Morse, chief executive of MCR Development, which is building a 505room hotel in the former TWA Flight Center at JFK International Airport. JetBlue Airways is a minority owner of the project, which will be connected to the airline’s Terminal 5. The hotel is planned to open in the third quarter of 2018. “They thought ‘I should have this as a backstop. Let’s do the bare-minimum kind of thing,’” Morse said. “And now people are saying, ‘Hey, I can make money by having a higherquality product.”

Stephen Joyce, chief executive of Choice Hotels International, said the deep airline capacity cuts of the 2000s led airports to retrench as business travel waned.

Hotel developers then looked elsewhere, and much of the airport lodging stock aged. Today, the airport market is “becoming more interesting,” Joyce said in a recent interview. “I bet we’ve got 10-12 projects in and around airports” that are under various stages of development.

In Minneapolis-St. Paul, Graves Hospitality is planning a $115 million hotel with a spa, rooftop suites, and as much as 40,000 square feet of meeting space. The 300-room property, attached to the airport’s primary Terminal 1, will command rates that are 15 percent to 30 percent higher than local competing properties, at $225-$250 per night, said Benjamin Graves, president and chief executive.

“The primary business is corporations that are dealing with mid- to high-end travelers that fly in, go to a meeting; they don’t have to get a taxi, they don’t have to figure out the market and how to get different places,” Graves said. Graves Hospitality is negotiating with a trio of major chains—Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, and InterContinental Hotel Group—about which will brand and operate the property, which is scheduled to open in January 2018.

Other than in Vancouver, Canada has a similar dearth of full-service accommodations at airports.

The upscale Fairmont Hotel at Vancouver Airport has been something of an anomaly for both airports and the hotel industry since its 1999 opening. (The hotel says it is the only airport hotel in the world to make the Top 100 Gold List of properties compiled by Conde Nast.) Graves said the Fairmont’s success has caused developers to take notice.

“Go to any airport,, and there’s a zillion hotels within two miles,” Morse said. “To really do this right, you’ve

got to be physically connected.” And at many airports, a day spa doesn’t hurt either.

Article by Justin Bachman seen on www.bloomberg. com

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29

Social Media On B2B

The role of social media in B2

30 www.greenazine.com

B2B buyers’decision making Social media is a big deal when it comes to chasing those…well, big deals. The role that your online presence now plays in the decision making process means it warrants some serious thought if you’re to ensure you’re getting the most out of it.

To put this in perspective, one American university study found a massive 75% of B2B buyers were influenced by information they found on social media – showing that having a well thought out strategy really can prove vital.

When it comes to preparing such a strategy there are a number of issues surrounding how B2B buyers use these types of platforms that you need to consider. For example, which sites are they visiting? What are they using them for? And when in the decision making process are they viewing them?

As well as pinpointing where the potential buyers of your particular product or service may be, a killer social media strategy will be fully integrated with your wider marketing plans, the objectives of your sales team and aligned to company goals.

How social media is used continues to evolve and change as the technology is evolving and changing, so what may have been true 5 years, 3 years, or even just a year ago may no longer be the case. Just because a strategy worked in the past doesn’t mean it will still be as potent today. You also need to check you’re striking an effective balance between your existing customers, new prospects and other influencers.

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one American university study found a massive 75% of B2B buyers were influenced by information they found on social media.

For organisations across the world, capitalising on the influence that social media and other digital platforms can have on sales remains a hot topic. There have been loads of studies carried out into the attitudes and behaviours of B2B buyers when it comes to such sites. Here is some food for thought and a snapshot of some of the most interesting findings: Stages of the sale Different channels are used by buyers at different stages of the buying process, according to Buyersphere Report 2012. Here, researchers divide buying into 3 distinct phases: Identifying and defining the need (Awareness stage).

Identifying potential suppliers. (Consideration) and final supplier selection (Conversion).

According to their findings, Facebook and blogs are most useful in the first phase. LinkedIn and blogs are the most effective in the second phase and Twitter and Facebook are most useful in the final stage of buying.

It’s good to talk Interviews conducted with B2B buyers as part of a study by Carnegie Mellon University Heinz College and Dell revealed that 57% strategically browse existing conversations on social media as part of their purchase research. So taking part in those industry-related conversations and showing off your expertise online is a must.

This is backed up by findings in the Buyersphere Report 2013 which found two fifths of

32 www.greenazine.com

respondents had used some form of social media to find information or advice ahead of making their purchase. The most popular sites used being industry-specific forums, which stood out from the rest in terms of both usage and their influence.

Content In a survey of B2B tech buyers by Eccolo Media, case studies and success stories were by far the most popular type of content, cited by 25% of buyers. This was followed by guides/white papers (16% each), podcasts/emails (13% each), blogs/ infographics (12% each) and videos/product brochures or spec sheets (11% each).

Google Love them or hate them, it’s worth mentioning here that Google still remains the first place many people will go when they want to search for something online – be it a product, service or company, reviews or other information. That means being ‘top of the search’ and easy to find online remains important. Your social strategy should include online activity that will also help you achieve that.

Website refresher Finally, don’t forget the part that your website will play in all of this, as if you’re targeting prospects you’re likely to be driving them to check out your site. A B2B web usability report by KoMarketing and BuyerZone found a big disconnect between what B2B buyers wanted to see on a website and the content that was actually there. For the buyers they surveyed, the top must-haves they wanted to see were clear contact details, lots of product information and specifications and pricing. More than half also said product reviews were a must.

Check that your website offers all of these things and when it was last reviewed and updated.

Article by Michael Gibson seen on www. customerthink.com

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33

GoMotorcoach Starts a New Era

GoMotorcoach Starts a New Er

At its semi-annual meeting in Phoenix on October 29th, the Motorcoach Marketing Council announced a new Executive Director to help the council move its objectives into the future. Chinook Holdings and its principal, Christian Riddell, have been named to fill the position.

Christian has been the spokesman for the council during the previous 2 years and has been instrumental in the development of the council’s products, services, and trainings.

34 www.greenazine.com

“We are excited at this new chapter in the history of the council,” said Peter Shelbo, the council’s chairman. “This is a very exciting new direction for us.

We are thrilled at the opportunities this presents to us and to the industry we serve.”

Riddell has a long history in the motorcoach industry, starting his career as a driver and sales manager for a small operation in Portland, Oregon. After a decade away from the

industry, where he spent the interim time working to hone his marketing skills (including the opportunity to serve as the Creative Director for a large west coast company), he came back to bring his expertise to the business he is so passionate about.

In the last 5 years he has created several companies that all serve the motorcoach industry, including the development of websites, marketing materials, industry newsletters and more.

Era

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“I love this industry. It is something that I am very passionate about. It is an industry filled with good people, working day in and day out to deliver a service that makes North America a better place to be. I am thrilled that my company can continue to help operators sell more chapters to more people for more money. This new position allows us to help take the council to the next level. The future of this great organization is very exciting.”

The Motorcoach Council’s GoMotorcoach program… has recently been receiving international attention and has helped hundreds of operators around North America create powerful inexpensive marketing materials, train their sales staff, create powerful social media campaigns, recruit new drivers and market more effectively.

Press release seen on motorcoachmarketing.org

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www.

35

Online Collaboration

Fostering Better Online Col 36 www.greenazine.com

llaboration

Research indicates that online collaboration could save more than five hours each week on tasks like writing email messages and searching for information. Tools like video conferencing, document sharing, instant-messaging, and other platforms enable quicker contact and easy sharing of resources among coworkers and authorized third parties, saving time and money for your business.

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Research indicates that online collaboration could save more than five hours each week on tasks like writing email messages and searching for information. Tools like video conferencing, document sharing, instantmessaging, and other platforms enable quicker contact and easy sharing of resources among coworkers and authorized third parties, saving time and money for your business.

There is overwhelming evidence that effective online collaboration can increase productivity at organizations of all sizes. Technology-based collaborative working leverages internal and external social networking, video conferencing, document sharing, instant-messaging, and other platforms to enable quicker contact and easy sharing of resources among coworkers and authorized third parties.

Research by consulting firm McKinsey & Company found that office workers spend an average of 28 hours a week writing emails, searching for information, and collaborating internally. It estimated that improved communication and collaboration through social technologies could increase productivity by 20 percent or more.

“Online collaboration can benefit small and mediumsized businesses by creating an organized--this part is important--central location for them to share information,” says Nick Brattoli, founder and lead consultant at Byrdttoli Enterprise Consulting. Files and projects can have metadata added to them, making them fully searchable, which enables knowledge sharing among employees and teams, regardless of their physical location. “If one department solves a universal problem, maybe related to project management or information about a client, everyone else can have access to it, too.”

One of the most significant benefits online collaboration offers businesses is workforce flexibility, as technology enables workers--whether they are full-time employees, part-timers, contract workers or consultants--to work from anywhere on any devices.

“As the workforce changes, the way people work is changing, too,” Brattoli says. “Work is no longer a place you go from nine to five. Instead, it is what you do, and it can happen from anywhere, at any time.

Online collaboration software makes this much more possible.”

Businesses are utilizing many different types of online collaboration in today’s environment, with scenarios

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involving mobile workers, remote workers and teams, virtual teams, outsourced work reporting to a project manager, and inter-organizational partnerships, says Diane Gayeski, dean of the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College and a professor of strategic communications there. Gayeski points out that each kind of collaboration may require slightly different management techniques and cites several common collaboration challenges and ways to address them: •

Keeping in touch without face-to-face contact.

Managers should establish ways to connect workers and establish trust and camaraderie. This can be done through regular “catch-up” meetings, similar to what might be done over coffee in an office.

•

Ambiguous responsibilities. In remote situations, it’s imperative to clarify who is accountable for making a project happen, who else is involved, and what each party’s specific responsibilities are.

•

Establishing communication norms. This should cover what media is used for which tasks and when individual team members are available for collaborative exercises. It should take into account different time zones and work shifts, if applicable.

•

Learning new tools and managing the overhead associated with them. “There is a plethora of online tools for collaboration, and they are always changing and improving,” Gayeski says. “This can be a challenge, and managers need to set aside time to investigate and learn new technologies for their teams.”

The many dozens of potentially useful online collaboration possibilities fall into four general categories, with some products straddling multiple categories: •

Knowledge management solutions. These tools make it easy to compile, sort, and access the tremendous amount of critical information that even small businesses compile. Some popular small business programs include Communifire, HyperOffice, Interact, and Simple Intranet.

•

File sharing. These tools let SMBs share almost any kind of file securely and enable simultaneous review and revision by multiple users. File sharing programs such as Soonr Workplace, Hightail,

Microsoft OneDrive, and others eliminate many of the problems associated with multiple email attachments.

•

•

Web and video conferencing. Business apps such as AnyMeeting, Cisco WebEx, Fuze, GoToMeeting, and others give managers, employees, vendors, and other third parties the benefits of face-toface communication without the costs of business travel.

Communication apps. While email remains a primary communication tool for businesses, apps such as Slack and Yammer create a more freewheeling or conversational communication, providing the functionality and ease-of-use common to many social media platforms.

workplace collaboration are no longer limited to a pre-scheduled meeting around an oak table in a big conference room,” says Steve Schult, director of products at LogMeIn. “SMB organizations, their workers, and their customers are using cloud-based tools in ever-increasing numbers, driven by the need to work from anywhere, at any time, and from any device.”

Article Contributed by Productivity@Work seen on www.cbcommunity.comcast.com

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“Companies looking to embrace a culture of collaboration need to remember that meetings and

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39

To Bury Bad Reviews

It’s Okay to Bury Bad Review

40 www.greenazine.com

ws You know the old saying, “The best defense is a good offense.” Well, turns out that’s true when it comes to your online reputation, as well.

All it takes is one unfortunate situation with a customer or one disgruntled employee to wreak havoc on your business. Today, when someone wants to check you out, they ask their friends and then turn to Google - even when their friend gives a strong recommendation.

They type your name into a search engine and find your website. But, around four or five search results down, they also see a nasty review or a blog post using hyperbole and calling your business “the worst ever” or a “shame to the neighborhood.”

Pretty much anyone, for any reason, can publish information about your business, for better or for worse. And that information gets indexed by search engines. While I’m not suggesting you hide your flaws, I am suggesting you not let them define your good work.

I’ve been suggesting this very tactic since about 2006, and it’s still just as valid. When someone searches for your company, why not work to make the first 10 or 20 listings they find something in your control?

And the good news is that it’s not really that hard. Sure, you have to put in a little work, but the rewards and potential risks you avert are well worth it.

The first thing you need to know is that Google loves social networks. Claiming, linking to, and promoting your company social media profiles is a great start to your reputation offense.

I have a number of websites that I use for my business and also have other branded assets such as a podcast and books. But a search on Google for the term “Duct Tape Marketing” still turns up my company Facebook page, Twitter page, LinkedIn page, Wikipedia page, Instagram page, YouTube channel, Google+ page, and even a CrunchBase profile -- all on the first two pages.

Even a search on my name turns up half a dozen properties that I control, including personal profiles on many of the networks mentioned above.

When someone asks me if they really need to be on all of these networks or if they need to guest blog and create Tumblr pages and submit their podcast to Stitchter, I say, maybe you don’t need to be in all of these places to survive, but your reputation may need you to build brand assets in all of these places in order to thrive.

The same can be said for reviews. You always have customers that keep returning and are happy with your business. Asking those who haven’t reviewed your business to do so will help keep positive reviews on top, and push down the negative ones.

Again, the point is not to mask shoddy work, it’s to make sure that one bad experience or unreasonable customer doesn’t control what the world gets to see.

Article Contributed by John Jantsch seen on www.cbcommunity.comcast.com

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41

Pay Affects Productivity

THE SCIENCE BEHIND HO PRODUCTIVITY

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OW PAY AFFECTS In 2013, three Harvard researchers decided to see how different levels of pay would affect the amount of work they got.

On the freelancer contracting site oDesk, they posted jobs typing in CAPTCHAs, those hard-to-read words or codes used to authenticate that a real human is accessing a website. “This is a four-hour job, with the goal of entering as much data as possible while minimizing the number of mistakes,” stated the postings. “Specifically, we need as many correctly entered words as possible in four hours because we need the data for a future task and only correct entries can be used.”

One of the postings offered $3 an hour for the job. Another offered $4. From those who responded and qualified by having done data entry in the past, the professors replied, “Great, you are hired,” to 136 at the $4 rate and 404 at the $3 rate.

From the group promised $3 an hour, the researchers peeled away 135 and gave them a surprise.

“As it turns out, we have a bigger budget than expected,” they wrote.

“Therefore, we will pay you $4 per hour instead of $3 per hour.” $3 + $1 > $4 The group initially hired at $4 an hour worked no harder than those hired at $3. “When someone is paid $4, even though it is more than www.greenazine.com

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Reciprocity affects the perception and effect of compensation as much as it affects everything else.

People are not just another category of resources that happens to be human. They expect fairness.

They appreciate generosity.

Their value to the company varies greatly depending on how they believe they are being treated. Positively and negatively, they reciprocate the intentions of their employers. they are used to making or expecting, there may be no reason for them to interpret this as a gift or concession from the employer,” said Deepak Malhotra, one of the researchers. “More likely, they just assume that their expectations were wrong, and $4 is ‘the going rate’ for this type of work.”

But the group that hired on at $3, then got $4 per hour, worked substantially harder. Among those who were most experienced and had worked most recently—those who best understood the generosity of the surprise pay increase—the raise “actually increased productivity more than it increased cost.”

The difference between being paid $4 as the market rate or being paid $4 as the market rate plus the employer’s generosity may seem “innocuous,” said the researchers, but it’s not.

In the employee’s mind, $3 + $1 is greater than $4.

Generosity of pay leads to generosity of effort.

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THE EXPECTATION OF FAIRNESS Chief financial officers and procurement managers are supposed to get things for the lowest price. In buying resources, that’s imperative. A great deal on a piece of land. Optioning oil at a three-year low. Locking in high-quality, exotic coffee beans when supply is high and demand is low. A volume deal on laptops. It’s just smart business.

The land certainly is not insulted that it was bought on the cheap. The oil does not burn cooler because it was acquired with a well-timed call option. The coffee is just as aromatic at the lower wholesale price. The laptops don’t operate any differently.

But when a chief financial officer or some other leader applies the resource procurement strategy to people, it quickly disintegrates. People are not just another category of resources that happens to be human. They expect fairness. They appreciate generosity. Their value to the company varies greatly depending on how they believe they are being treated. Positively and negatively, they reciprocate the intentions of their employers.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR A company that treats its people like widgets, that demands its people work as hard as they can for the lowest possible wages, gets the mirror response in return: People who want to work as little as they can for the highest wages they can get.

Who can blame them? A company perceived as cheap implicitly gives permission to its employees to be miserly with their effort. Eventually, the company backs itself into the psychology of employees of Soviet state-owned enterprises in the 1980s: “They pretend to pay us; we pretend to work.”

A firm can slog through under that kind of transactional, mutual selfishness, as many heavy with labor unions do, but the company will be at a structural disadvantage. Working relationships eventually fail when neither side really cares about the success of the other.

Employees are expected to look out for the longterm financial health of their organizations. Is it

unreasonable to expect that the company should look out for the financial trajectory of the employee? In my own recent research, 38% of employees I spoke with say their companies understand this concept. Their firms, they say, are “actively helping me reach my longterm financial goals” and “want me to make more money as the organization becomes more profitable.”

It’s with favorable attitudes like this about the intentions behind the pay that compensation gains real traction. Among Americans who strongly agree that their firm is helping them reach their financial goals, less than 4% want to defect, and an astounding 92% say their jobs bring out their best ideas. On the other extreme, among those who strongly disagree that their company wants to see them reach their financial goals, seven of 10 wish they were working somewhere else, and only 12% say their company gets their best ideas.

To Homo economicus—or “Econs,” as behavioral economist Richard Thaler calls the fictional, idealized species that economists have invented (and which leads them to make so many bad predictions)—our survey statement, “Over the long term, I believe I can earn more here than I could somewhere else” would be more predictive than questions about the employees’ perceptions of their leaders’ intentions. It’s the opposite.

To real people, it’s the thought that counts as much as the cash.

Article by Rodd Wagner seen on www.fastcompany. com

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45

Luxury

©2015 MCI | Setra – a brand of Daimler AG

is Standard Equipment.

When you choose a Setra TopClass S 417, average is not an option.

That’s because luxury is the standard. It starts with world-class German engineering and benchmark safety features. Encompasses an unparalleled choice of custom-tailored interiors. And evokes a sense of comfort, well-being and confidence in all who see it, experience it, and own it. And support? That’s standard-setting, too.

Read more, get more, and find more at setra-coaches.com.

MCI Distributor of EvoBus GmbH for Setra Buses and Setra Parts in the United States and Canada.

46 www.greenazine.com

setra-coaches.com | 866-624-2622

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47

Leading To Liberate

Leading to liberate: Freedom 48 www.greenazine.com

m through discipline

The most effective leaders know how to teach their employees the value of one powerful quality, one that most likely helped them rise to the top themselves: Discipline.

The great sports coaches are transparent examples of this.

Teaching and emphasizing discipline to prepare for the contests to come is what best guarantees that under the pressure of competition each player will feel free to make the right decisions and execute to the best of their abilities.

None did this better than Vince Lombardi, considered along with John Wooden as one of the two greatest coaches of all time.

Lombardi’s faith in “Freedom Through Discipline,” a motto etched on an archway at his alma mater, Fordham University, was absolute. Lombardi trained his players to discipline themselves to identify and cultivate their talents, and then prepared them as a team ahead of each season and before each game.

He believed deeply in identifying and cultivating talent. He knew that getting the best from each athlete, what that athlete uniquely had to offer, was the key to success. As he said to Hall of Fame quarterback Sonny Jurgensen, “I don’t want you to be anybody else but you. I need you to be the best version of who you are.”

Never was “Freedom Through Discipline” better demonstrated than in the greatest game of Lombardi’s career, the 1967 NFL Championship Game between his Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. Referred to by historians as the “Ice Bowl,” it was

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The most effective leaders know how to teach their employees the value of one powerful quality, one that most likely helped them rise to the top themselves: Discipline. played in game-time weather of 15 degrees below zero on a frozen field. The players on both teams had trouble gaining traction on the ice-like ground. When the trailing Packers had the ball on the Dallas 1-yard line with a chance to win the game in the closing minute, their runners could not gain firm enough footing to run the ball across the goal.

With 16 seconds left, Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr called the Packers’ final timeout and came to the sideline to confer with Lombardi. Starr told Lombardi

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that he and the offensive lineman thought that there was a way to create a path for Starr to dive across the goal line — a play that was not in the Packer playbook. Lombardi quickly agreed, but when asked by the Packers bench what play Starr was going to run, Lombardi shrugged: “Damned if I know.”

Starr scored on the play, and the Packers won the championship (and then the Super Bowl). All of this happened because, on the most disciplined team in football, the quarterback and two of his linemen felt the freedom of thought to devise a new plan at the most crucial moment of their season, and the freedom of action to execute it.

Because of his focus on discipline, Lombardi was regarded by most of the public as a controlling master who micromanaged his teams. In fact, the opposite was true. On game days he often had very little to do, as he left most of the onfield decisions and execution to his players.

John Wooden, the UCLA basketball coach who rivaled Lombardi in greatness, took a similar approach to develop the full potential of his players. In training and practice sessions Wooden drove each player to cultivate his best. During games, however, Wooden was largely hands-off.

In a move that today would be viewed as heretical, he did not like to call time-outs near the end of close games, believing that his players were better left to figure out what to do for themselves. One of Wooden’s players described his coaching method this way: “There was total structure and complete freedom.”

The success of Lombardi’s and Wooden’s methods has gone down in the history books: Lombardi led his team to five championships in seven years, and Wooden won 10 NCAA championships in 12 years (including an unprecedented streak of seven championships in a row). As micromanaging has increasingly become the norm

for too many managers today, these stories are a timeless and worthwhile reminder that, with some faith, the hands-off approach can lead to great success.

Although seemingly a paradox, “Freedom Through Discipline” turns the difficult into the reachable, in a way that is natural and stress-

releasing. Managers and those in leadership positions who instill in their employees a discipline to focus on and nurture innate talents, giving them freedom and independence to take ownership of their decisions when it comes to “crunch time,” will see the empowering dividends pay off.

Article by Keith Danko seen on www.smartblogs.com

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Cash Flow

Running a Small Business?

Woes with These 5 Tips Ah, cash flow. Is there anything more terrifying or essential to a small business’s survival? Manage it well, and you won’t just feel amazing, you and your business will be. Manage it poorly, and the last business-related sounds you may ever hear are the sounds of your own tears being drowned out by the repo man’s engine as he pulls up to your office to repossess the furniture you leased. Don’t manage it poorly. Stay ahead of any cash flow problems with these five tips.

1. Don’t Count Your Chickens Until They Hatch It can be very tempting during lean times to believe that the client who has always paid you on time will continue to do so. Why not go ahead and send that check out? The money from your client should be in the bank by the time the vendor cashes it, right?

Wrong. Don’t count your chickens in the cash department until they’ve hatched. Not only do you risk alienating a valuable vendor, but the charges and fees you’ll accrue if the money doesn’t come in will only make your cash flow problems worse. Instead of crossing your fingers and relying on an unknown future to go the way you hope it will, look into what will be required to get a bank loan or line of credit before you need one. You should also have a credit card for small business needs. While credit cards can create their own problems if managed inappropriately, they can also fill in necessary gaps from time to time.

2. Get a Deposit Even if you’ve worked with a particular client for years, when jobs are especially large or hairy, it’s best to get a deposit upfront so you can give yourself a little cushion to survive an extended period of work on a project. The fact that you’re gong to make a killing in six months is no comfort when you need to pay the electricity today. Get a deposit on jobs that will lighten cash flow for a period of time, and keep paying 52 www.greenazine.com

? Stay Ahead of Cash Flow

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yourself, your employees, and everybody else who keeps you in business.

3. Know Who Really Has to Be Paid Many small-business owners are excellent managers of their own finances — it’s one of their many good qualities that gave them the confidence to take a risk and go into business for themselves in the first place.

Because of their positive history in managing their own finances, however, many small-business owners approach their business finances with the same rigor and practices they’ve applied to their own finances.

On the surface, that seems like an excellent idea. In practice, however, it can be disastrous. Just because you’re used to always paying a personal bill the day it arrives doesn’t mean your business has to take the same approach. Is the due date 30 days out? 60? Be wise about who you actually have to pay and when since doing so can mean the difference between making payroll or not. Oh, and your employees always have to be paid.

4. DO NOT Use Tax Money All that money you’re setting aside for sales and use tax, quarterly taxes and the like needs to be treated as if it doesn’t exist. For small businesses in a cash flow pickle, however, that can feel like madness. After all, what’s the harm in borrowing from the tax stash if you pay it back in time? None, provided you pay it back in time.

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But learning to cover your cash flow troubles with tax money that absolutely has to go to the government isn’t going to solve your cash flow troubles. It will, at best, buy you some time, and, at worst, get you in serious trouble with Uncle Sam. Resist this temptation at all times and all costs. It just isn’t worth the risk.

5. Incentivize Getting Paid When you’re a small-business owner, it can sometimes seem like everybody who owes you money is suffering the same cash flow concerns you are. One way to tackle this problem is to incentivize getting paid. If a client gets a 10 percent discount for paying early, they’ll definitely be more inclined to do so. After all, that will save them money and help solve any cash flow worries they’re currently embroiled in themselves. If you can’t offer lower prices as an incentive, offer a discount or special service on future work when cash is delivered early and on-time.

From incentivizing getting paid to letting the future remain unknown and uncounted-on, follow these five tips to stay ahead of cash flow trouble in your small business.

Article by Jenna Throne businessblogshub.com

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