Kentucky Business Quarterly Volume1 Issue 1

KBQ VOL 1 ISSUE 1 SECOND QUARTER • 2015

K E N T U C K Y B U S I N E S S Q U A R T E R LY. C O M

KENTUCKY QUARTERLY

F E AT U R E S

From R&R to PR

BRIAN WRIGHT

Let’s Kill All The Lawyers?

Er...Maybe Not.

Crisis Management Be Prepared Before It Happens To You

™

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Vol. 1 No. 1 Kentucky Business Quarterlyâ„¢ | 3

Staying Connected

Every issue, Kentucky Business Quarterly Magazine® will include RECENT AND RELEVANT NEWS AND INFORMATION on events and matters of importance and interest within the local business community.

All submissions free of charge!

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CONTENTS

KENTUCKY

FEATURES

Let’s Kill All The Lawyers?

Er…Maybe Not.

6

BY DEREK D. HUMFLEET 8

From R&R to PR: Brian Wright

12

Crisis Management Be Prepared Before It Happens To You

QUARTERLY

BY NOELLE HOLLADAY TRUE 14

Print Advertising Common Mistakes

BY JANET ROY

16

18

20

22

30

bring owners and leaders of small businesses

Staying Connected

to overcome problems and succeed. Yes, that is

resources and tools from other Lexington leaders

NEWS • ANNOUNCEMENTS CURRENT EVENTS • TRENDS

Social Selling and Your Business

BY BOB WOODS

marketing, sales, business development and so much more.

We do not talk about the news of business.

Instead, we talk about what helps business grow.

simple: we want to see more business owners succeed, and we can only do this together.

I am proud to introduce in this first issue our PR. He has worked in in radio, marketing and even – a lot of fun to know – yet, a professional from the word go. Please take a few minutes to read his story, get to know him and even reach out for coffee. Brian is a great guy and is worth having as a part of your network to help you succeed.

If your business offers solutions of any kind to other business and you would like to be a part of this magazine, please reach out to me. We will find

We also spotlight small business and their leaders

a way to include you.

with feature stories to helps us know the people

Brian Lord,

and personalities that are working to bring top

ActionCOACH for Better Business

be preparing for next quarter. Our heart beat is

helped public officials. He is a dynamic personality

authors talking about issues in financial, legal, HR,

Security Concerns Keep Business Owners Up at Night

with last quarter, or address things you should

Every business leader or author in our magazine

expertise and experience. You will find local

How are Users Accessing Your Website?

refocus your thinking as a business leader, to help

Feature Story with Brian Wright, from Brian Wright

issues they see in their professional fields of

Are You Ready for the New FLSA Rule?

Magazine is here to be your quarterly resource to

correct; local business helping local business.

is writing to help you with solutions to common

BY ANDREW VAN HORN

quality solutions to us all.

Getting Rid of “I want to think about it” in Your Sales

Every small business faces challenges. What we

PUBLISHER

859-368-0778 brian72676@gmail.com

do is partner together to help us succeed; we

BY BRIAN LORD

v

find solutions to issues you may have been dealing

BY STEPHANIE KAELIN

BY BRENT COOPER 28

Our mission with this magazine is simple: we

leaders. KBQ is a trade magazine designed to help

BY TRIFECTA 26

are better together than we are alone. So KBQ

by bringing business solutions to small business

BY BEVERLY CLEMONS 24

Welcome to the first issue of Kentucky Business Quarterly. exist to help small business succeed. We do this

Let Payroll Take the Work Out of Workers Compensation

™

Kentucky Business Quarterly™ is Published by Rock Point Sales Marketing & Consulting LLC

Vol. 1 No. 1 Kentucky Business Quarterly™ | 5

Let’s Kill All The Lawyers?

Er...Maybe Not.

BY DEREK D. HUMFLEET

Dick the Butcher was the dopey henchmen of rebel leader, Jack Cade in Shakespeare’s “Henry VI, Part 2.” His most famous quote, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers” is found on t-shirts, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, really any object you can slap a quote on and sell.

Most lawyers like to argue Shakespeare’s point was to portray lawyers as the guardians of the rule of law and the only thing standing in the way of anarchy. While I like to think lawyers are valuable, I am one after all, I sure hope we are not the only thing standing in the way of a fanatical mob. If so, we’re in trouble.

Instead of getting rid of all the lawyers, a more practical question is “how can a lawyer add value to my business?”

Despite the popularity of Dick the Butcher’s quote, we are a nation who loves having a law for every wrong; every issue; every situation imaginable. And if there’s not a law, there’s a regulation. And if there’s not a regulation, there’s a rule.

It’s how we try to control the chaos of everyday life.

There’s no high school or college class telling you how to pick a lawyer. My guess is there are plenty of opinions on the internet. Opinions suggesting big firms, medium size firms or small firms.

Opinions suggesting small firm lawyers

who used to be big firm lawyers and big firm lawyers who used to be small firm lawyers. I will not wade into that debate.

However, I will offer three often overlooked questions to consider when hiring a lawyer.

• Do they stand up to you?

• Do they have a capacity for risk?

• Do you actually like the person?

1. Do they stand up to you?

Most lawyers are more than willing to stand up to the lawyer sitting across the table, the lawyer on the other line or the lawyer to whom a letter, e-mail or argument is addressed.

But are they willing to stand up to you, the client; the person who can fire them on the spot?

A lawyer who will not stand up to you and give you his honest, full, unembellished opinion, even if it’s not what you want to hear, does you no favors and could cost you big time.

“But counselor,” you say. “We’ve spent a significant amount of resources on this idea. . . we need your go-ahead.”

“Well, I can look into it, and maybe I’ll find some information that will allow me to revise my answer, but given the current state of the law, you can’t do that without significant risk of (civil penalties, criminal sanctions, lawsuits, tax consequences, etc.).”

It’s difficult to speak truth to someone when they don’t want to hear it, especially if they have the power to fire you on the spot. But if your lawyer is not willing to speak truth to you, find another lawyer.

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2. Do they have a capacity for risk?

I know what you’re saying “lawyers shouldn’t be risk takers.” And in some ways you’re right, a lawyer should lay out all the options and the respective risk vs. reward for the client. But a lawyer should not let his or her own fears, whether it’s a fear of failure, fear of losing a client or fear of humiliation, color their advice.

A lawyer who runs a small legal practice may be more comfortable with risk than a lawyer who went from law school to a big firm. Conversely, a big firm lawyer with expertise in your particular industry may be more comfortable with the risk you face than a small firm lawyer not acquainted with the industry. But they should give you definitive answers.

Too often, I see lawyers give cowardly answers. They hedge. They hint. They create hypotheticals. They don’t give definitive answers. That way they have an excuse if their advice was wrong.

If you, the client, have a question, your lawyer should give you as definitive an answer as possible. (How’s that for hedging!)

Look, the law is not usually black and white, but some lawyers never say anything definitive. You deserve a lawyer who can eliminate as much uncertainty as possible and give you a reasonably definitive answer.

If he or she can’t deliver, find another lawyer.

3. Do you actually like the person?

When you interview employees, I bet one of the primary considerations is whether or not you like the person. In determining whether or not to hire a lawyer, you should also think about whether or not you like the person.

Are they rude and condescending to subordinates or do they treat everyone with respect?

Are they arrogant or humble?

Are they easy to talk to or do you dread making the phone call?

The person you hire will represent you and your company. Do you want someone who solves problems or makes them worse? Do you want someone who tries to build bridges or wants to tear them down? Do you want someone who looks at your legal issue and sees billable hours or someone who tries to find expedient solutions?

The more you like your lawyer as an actual person, the more likely they are to work with you to find expedient solutions

Instead of getting rid of all the lawyers, a more practical question is “how can a lawyer add value to my business?”

and save you money, because they want you and your company to succeed. They know your success leads to their success.

And good lawyers want to see their clients and their communities succeed.

Let go of your preconceived notions about lawyers. Sure there are some that charge too much, are self-centered and have bad intentions. But there are others who are really great individuals who really care about people and their community. Go find one. You won’t regret it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Derek D. Humfleet is a partner with Braden Humfleet & Devine, PLC and typically represents individuals, entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses with legal problems ranging from business and construction disputes to unfair business practices to issues with governmental regulatory agencies. He also helps creative professionals make wise choices in complex legal environments.

ON THE WEB: www.bhdlaw.net

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Vol. 1 No. 1 Kentucky Business Quarterly™ | 7

BRIAN WRIGHT

P

ublic relations, marketing and brand management can make or break a small business or non-profit. Competition is fierce. The advertising landscape continues to change with new choices from social media. Conventional print advertising has shifted from the daily newspaper delivered to your door, to online editions.

No one knows the PR and marketing landscape better than Brian Wright. He has represented corporations and nonprofits from H&R Block to Volunteers of America. He led Kentucky American Water’s public relations effort during a rate hike to pay for a controversial 164-million dollar pipeline. He also served as editor of the first edition of LexArts magazine. “Lexington and the Bluegrass Region are the perfect spot for me. We are all moving parts of a progressive community,” says Wright.

Brian came to Lexington in 1987 as newsman at WKQQ with Kruser and Company. They had the second highest rated rock morning show in the country.

Wright says, “It was an incredible time.

Imagine sitting with Valerie Bertinelli, watching her husband Eddie and the rest of Van Halen or visiting backstage with Paul McCartney. We were so lucky.”

He switched from rock n’ roll news man to a more serious gig as News Director at WUKY, the National Public Radio affiliate at the University of Kentucky. Brian says, “I was fortunate to also be a national reporter for NPR. My work as an international reporter for Voice of America was especially rewarding. Being heard around the world

was surreal.”

In 2003, Brian was approached

by Kentucky Attorney General Ben Chandler to serve as Communications Director during Chandler’s run for governor. “It was a big decision to move from asking the tough questions, to answering them. I gained a lot of respect for all those people in the media hot seat,” adds Wright.

He now runs Brian Wright Consulting,

providing his clients with a unique perspective. Twenty-five years as a journalist and another twelve years in public relations, means he can see every corner of the room. “I especially enjoy my work with non-profits and small businesses. I thrive on a limited budget.

Getting the most bang for the buck is a challenge I take head on,” says Brian.

Wright believes the recession has provided a new normal for small

Morning show cast Vol. 1 No. 1 Kentucky Business Quarterly™ | 9

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So how about a different approach to spending. Instead of hiring a full time marketing employee, pay someone only when you need them.

businesses and non-profits. He says business owners were forced to cut back on staffing, with remaining employees taking on additional tasks. Now as the economy continues to rebound, owners and managers have been slow to return to the spending of the past. Wright says, “Those cutbacks also included smaller budgets for marketing and public relations, but we all know you need to spend money to make money. So how about a different approach to spending. Instead of hiring a full time marketing employee, pay someone only when you need them.”

That’s where Brian Wright Consulting comes in. He offers his clients several options. He can provide hourly services, or if 10 | www.kentuckybusinessquarterlymagazine.com

you have an extensive project in mind, Brian can put together a project based price. “When a client is looking for a laundry list of services over an extended period of time, I can sit down with them and work out something affordable.”

Brian says he especially enjoyed working with Volunteers of America. They wanted to jump start their fundraising and they were looking for some added attention. Wright first addressed their newsletter. He says, “It was outdated and lacked appropriate content for fundraising. I gave it an updated look and made it content focused. I began interviewing people who had been helped by VOA’s important cause and drew on

Lexington and the Bluegrass Region are the perfect spot for me. We are all moving parts of a progressive community. —Wright

ON THE WEB: www.brianwrightconsulting.com

those success stories. This was all followed by a call to action.”

Wright says the response was immediate. Donations to VOA increased significantly in a short period of time. He also focused on media relations for the Louisville based non-profit.

Organization leaders were astounded when every television station; three radio stations and the Louisville Courier Journal covered a ribbon cutting for two new rooms at a local VOA homeless shelter. Wright says, “It was all about the packaging of the news release. It was a homeless shelter for families, so I wanted the press release to focus on the urgent need to help children. Instead of headlining the ribbon cutting I headlined a staggering fact: The average age of a homeless person is 9 years

old! That was all the media needed to cover the cause.”

Wright says public perception is what it’s all about. He says it doesn’t matter what a company does or doesn’t do; what they believe or don’t believe, it’s what the public believes. I was working with Kentucky American Water when they were waiting for approval to spend 164 - million dollars on a new pipeline and water treatment plant. The Lexington Herald Leader wrote several editorials condemning the project. Brian says “I launched a campaign that included public meetings for people directly affected by the pipeline construction. We met with environmental leaders to address their concerns and I began running television, radio and print ads, focusing on ways to conserve water use at home.” Wright says there was one advertisement he was especially proud of. He let customers know that a gallon of water cost them less than one penny before the rate increase and would still be less than one cent after the rate increase. Wright adds, “I thought that brought it home to every customer. For them, it came down to paying their monthly bill.”

Brian Wright says every new client is exciting for him and he wakes up every morning thinking of new ways to promote and protect his clients.

Vol. 1 No. 1 Kentucky Business Quarterly™ | 11

Crisis Management Be Prepared Before It Happens To You

BY NOELLE HOLLADAY TRUE

It is the worst nightmare that any business can face – when crisis comes to your door. Property, equipment, or supplies could be lost or damaged, and, in the very worst cases, employees and/ or customers can be injured or lives lost.

Whether an industrial accident or act of God, a disaster can affect employees, customers and their families, and could also affect an entire community and beyond. While no two disasters are ever alike, there are some general guidelines that can be used to form an effective plan of action prior to any disaster.

How a company responds during a crisis is predetermined by a well-tailored plan that should be formulated before the crisis strikes. To prepare for any possible emergency, a company needs to make sure it has formed a crisis management team, including • Team leader, who has authority to make quick decisions; • Safety representative, who is familiar with any health or safety laws or regulations that may apply to your business; • Engineering, environmental or other technical representative(s), who can interface with regulators and quickly locate any essential documents; • On-site communications person, who is very familiar with the layout of the

business premises; • Off-site communications person, who can gather and summarize all incoming and outgoing communications from the place of business; • Supply person, who can efficiently gather materials for rescuers, responders and victims; • Public relations person, who can coordinate all communications from the business to the media, and other external audiences; • Family liaison, to keep affected family members apprised of any developments with rescue operations; and, last but not least, • Experienced legal counsel, who is prepared to oversee document control, deal with all of the responders and regulatory agencies who will be on site, and oversee any investigations and/or interviews of individuals.

The team should be prepared to move to action at a moment’s notice (with alternatives designated for members who may be unavailable), and be familiar with the company’s emergency response plans. Having the team be involved in an emergency response drill is also an invaluable tool for crisis management preparedness.

After a disaster occurs, the first area of focus in any disaster is the protection of human life. In any disaster, there could be people trapped or imperiled at the business site itself, or even some distance away if there is a public danger. So the first response is to notify all persons who

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may possibly be affected, or agencies needed to respond, which could include • Crisis management team, and other company officials; • Nearest ambulance service; • Nearest medical facility; • Federal, state and local mandatory emergency contacts; • Local civil defense disaster officer; and • Local and state police.

Once persons have been rescued, the public protected, and immediate danger has been placed in check, there will likely be an investigation. This could involve both civil and criminal liability.

Oftentimes the most serious charges arising from a disaster are not a result of what actually led to the disaster, but are a result of hasty actions that were taken during the chaos surrounding a disaster. If a company is not prepared for a disaster, and experienced counsel is not involved, it is more likely that overworked, exhausted employees and management will make poor decisions, which could result in tainted or destroyed evidence, or inadvertent remarks that could prove costly for the company or the individuals. Employees should be advised in advance that there is no such thing as an “off the record” statement to an investigator, and that every person is protected from self-incrimination by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

There will also be statements and responses that need to be made to employees, affected families and communities, and often the media.

Company officials need to be prepared to receive inquiries, and to refer all requests for information to the appropriate individuals. Information requests from employees and families (or their attorneys) should be referred to the family liaison or legal counsel, and media requests should go to the company’s public relations person or team.

With any disaster, there is the threat of civil lawsuits. The disaster could trigger wrongful death civil suits, and civil actions for personal injuries. While most state workers compensation statutes provide some protection for the company, plaintiffs’ attorneys have increasingly attempted to go after parent companies, subsidiaries and any other corporate entity that might be connected in some manner to the affected business.

A company can also face claims from any business or persons who might have been affected by off-site consequences, including property damage. Having counsel review your business, corporate and managerial structure, and your company’s contracts with other entities,

While no two disasters are ever alike, there are some general guidelines that can be used to form an effective plan of action prior to any disaster.

before disaster strikes is imperative to understanding what exposure you may face.

Many companies have failed to survive following a disaster. Those companies who have survived have done so by having a plan of action to respond to disasters. The best defense is to have a strong offense, and experienced counsel to call the plays.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Noelle Holladay True is a member of Rajkovich, Williams, Kilpatrick & True, PLLC, in Lexington, Kentucky. She practices in the areas of mine safety and health, employment law, and commercial litigation. True serves on the Board of Directors and as President for the University of Kentucky College of Law Alumni Association, and also serves as Chair of the Steering Committee for the Southern Hills Early Childhood Program.

PHONE: 859.245.1059, ext. 27 E-MAIL: true@rwktlaw.com

Vol. 1 No. 1 Kentucky Business Quarterly™ | 13

Print Advertising COMMON MISTAKES

BY JANET ROY

Print advertising is a key component in your strategic marketing efforts. When you aren’t getting results from your efforts, it’s possible a common mistake is the culprit.

Not reaching the right people.

Potentially the biggest mistake in advertising is not reaching your target. It seems like common sense, right? Spread your message to your potential clients/ customers by advertising in print media that reaches a like market. The concept can get a bit muddy when:

A) YOU’RE MISSING THE TARGET.

Whether you’re advertising in the wrong place, or your ad simply doesn’t “speak” to your target, consider making adjustments so you know exactly who you’re reaching.

B) YOUR TARGET IS TOO BROAD.

It may be tempting to throw additional messages into your ad in an attempt to get more for your money – the “kill two birds with one stone” approach – trying to reach subsets of a larger target in one ad.

Tactics like this will only add clutter to the main message, and it’s best to stick to one message and one target per one ad.

You’re saying too much.

There’s a natural tendency to maximize the amount of information in ad space.

“I’ve paid for a quarter page, so I want to fill that entire space.” Consumers are busy, though, and don’t have time to read everything on the page. Generally, pages are “scanned” for content that informs or entertains. Reserve space in your ad for a focal point that interests the target.

Then, reiterate your message with smaller, supporting text. Keep it simple with the mindset that your audience is spending only seconds scanning your ad. Border-toborder text may contain more information about your company or brand, but if

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nobody reads it, you’re essentially saying nothing.

You’re not saying enough.

Ok, so less is more, right? If properly executed, yes. However, if you don’t give the target the information they need to make a decision, they likely won’t. Make sure your ad includes a call to action and leads your target to the next step.

Do you want them to call you for more information? Place an order? Set up an appointment? Or perhaps you want them to remember your name or website URL for a future decision. Make it easy to find the information, and make it clear that there is a “next step.”

Your ad is getting lost.

This problem is parallel to “saying too much.” If your ad appears too “busy,” it won’t generate initial interest. When too many design elements compete for attention on the page the message is lost before it’s even given a chance.

COMMON APPROACH: Making everything the same size may give you more space for text, but it doesn’t generate interest.

Listing your offers or services is informative, but might be more effective if one point is featured per one ad.

859.555.1234 www.yourwebsite.com fax: 859.555.1233 cell: 859.555.1232 1234 Street Address Lexington, KY

Your message is disjointed.

Your advertising and promotion across all media should work together, each playing a role to reiterate a strategic message. If your print ad doesn’t “match” the branding campaign running on TV, radio or social media, for example, consider making a change so all efforts support a consistent message.

Retreating too soon.

You’ve spent part of your advertising budget on a print ad in “XYZ Magazine” and have seen no response. Sales aren’t up, and nobody has referenced the ad when they call or stop in. Your first reaction may be to pull the ad. While that might be the right response, it’s possible the ad is doing more than your measurements may suggest.

Consider your own response to most advertising – print, television, radio, etc.

How many times do you see something before acting? When you finally act, do you tell the company that you’re purchasing their goods/services because of their ad?

Unless you’re utilizing a coupon or offer code to track return, your ad will be more effective as a branding device at first (creating awareness, even subconsciously). This can be difficult to measure directly, and there’s always a temptation to pull an ad before it’s had time to show quantitative results. Remember that we as consumers are inundated with information and promotions, and it often takes seeing something multiple times before we even pay attention; then, seeing it again multiple times before taking action.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Janet is a graphic designer specializing in print advertising and publication design. With nearly a decade of experience in the Lexington, KY market, she has worked with a variety of clients integrating design and marketing strategy. To discuss a project or receive a quote, contact: 502.767.7278 | janetroygraphicdesign.com E-MAIL: janet@janetroygraphicdesign.com

BETTER APPROACH:

Why Simple?

It’s more inviting.

It pulls the target into the body of the.

Make a point and support it.

Who are you trying to reach?

What are you trying to tell them?

Give them direction: Call 859.555.1234

Vol. 1 No. 1 Kentucky Business Quarterly™ | 15

Let Payroll Take the Work Out of Workers Compensation

BY STEPHANIE KAELIN

Have you ever thought what is better than the classic paring of peanut butter and jelly?

Better than a fine wine paired perfectly with an elegant meal, the two all-time greats John Stockton and Karl Malone and in today’s game, the famous duo known as the “Splash Brothers”? Look no further the latest and greatest pairing has arrived! Pay As You Go workers compensation is a new option that is sweeping the marketplace today. Employers across the country are taking advantage of this ancillary payroll product, which utilizes technology to integrate payroll and workers compensation insurance. The details of this product and the benefits available to business owners are outlined below.

Entrepreneurs are often passionate about growing their business and building lasting relationships with their clients. However, complex administrative tasks, such as workers compensation premium payments, can disrupt a company’s workflow and steal focus from top business priorities.

While it may seem like a menial task, it is very important for a company to have a workers compensation policy in place. The general purpose of a workers compensation policy is to place responsibility of workplace injuries and diseases on the industry in which it

occurred, rather than with the general public. Every state has specific workers compensation rules and regulations to follow and the state of Kentucky requires all employers to carry this insurance.

Pay As You Go workers compensation insurance is an alternative to the policies of the past. Under the pay-as-you-go concept, a business owner bundles workers compensation insurance with payroll. This technology is only available from select payroll service providers.

The premiums are withheld, paid and synchronized with every payroll run.

The business owner receives a single bill from the Pay As You Go approved payroll service provider which includes wages, payroll taxes and workers compensation premiums for each pay period.

In addition to a streamlined billing process, paying workers compensation premiums with the pay as you go method allows the employer to pay a more accurate premium effortlessly. The payroll technology computes the premiums based on the actual payroll run wages and captures the precise exposure. Remember, this is opposed to a pre-set budgeted representation of what the annual payroll will be which is followed by an annual audit adjustment computed on actual payroll exposure. Without a crystal ball, it is impossible to predict exactly how much payroll will be for the year. Employees come and go, the company may issue bonuses or raises or the company may experience unexpected growth or downsizing. A lot can happen in one full year and for business owners precision

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beats guessing any day.

Pay As You Go workers compensation is much different than traditional workers compensation plans. With a traditional plan, typically, the employer answer questions about their business, allowing the insurance company or broker writing the policy to obtain a quote. From there, it takes a few signatures on the dotted line and then coverage is bound and put in place.

A 20 to 50% deposit of the estimated annual premium is usually paid up front based a projection of the annual payroll.

Invoicing of the remaining balance usually includes four to ten payments.

7 out of 10 business owners state that cash flow is always top of mind and a concern for them. Towards the end of the policy period an audit is then performed.

Since traditional worker compensation insurance is based on estimated wages, a growing business can be forced to make an unforeseen substantial additional payment due as a result of the audit.

Guess what that growing company then has to turn around and pay next year’s 20% to 50% deposit based on the higher wage estimate. It isn’t hard to see how the traditional workers compensation insurance can create a cash flow crunch.

The modern, new and improved way of paying your workers compensation premium through the Pay As You Go workers compensation integration and technology helps eliminate these burdens.

Employers will immediately reap the rewards of an improved cash flow with the Pay As You Go program.

Reduced or completely eliminated up-front deposits are a major benefit to the Pay As You Go program.

Additionally, policy holders no longer need to write checks to the carriers due to automatic ACH processing. No more overestimating in premiums which results in overpayments to the carriers because premiums are based on actual payrolls versus estimates. Payments are spread over the company’s payroll cycle so the employer knows exactly what to expect and can match the expense to the period it occurred. All of which reduce the risk of an unfavorable final audit.

Minimize the administrative burden, eliminate surprises and get rid of “audit anxiety” with the new technology that is

exclusively available through the Pay As You Go premium payment program.

So, there you have it! If you are a business owner looking to improve cash flow or are simply looking to take one more burden off of your administrative responsibilities, Pay As You Go workers compensation may be a solution for you! All payroll solutions are not created equal! In fact, this technology is on the forefront of the payroll industry and is currently not offered by all payroll service providers. Should you have any questions we are happy to discuss Pay As You Go workers compensation policies to determine if it is the right fit for your business!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Stephanie Kaelin is a Business Services Consultant with Sizemore & Sizemore PLLC. She has 5 years of consulting experience and a tremendous passion for business and helping business owners succeed. She is driven by solving businesses’ many back office problems and exceeding clients’ expectations through product and service excellence. Stephanie is a proud University of Kentucky graduate.

She enjoys networking and learning about others.

Sizemore Strategic Solutions 501 Darby Creek Rd, #29 Lexington, KY 40509 Stephanie Kaelin Ownerstephanie@sizemorecpa.com O: 859-514-3300 C: 270-929-2692

In addition to a streamlined billing process, paying workers compensation premiums with the pay as you go method allows the employer to pay a more accurate premium effortlessly.

Vol. 1 No. 1 Kentucky Business Quarterly™ | 17

Staying Connected

NEWS • ANNOUNCEMENTS CURRENT EVENTS • TRENDS Wilson Equipment Co. has purchased Bale Equipment Solutions

Wilson Equipment Co. has purchased the assets of Louisville-based Bale Equipment Solutions, an acquisition that expands the Lexington-based company’s footprint into Louisville, Elizabethtown and southern Indiana.

Wilson is now the authorized full-line dealer of Case Construction Equipment and is operating out of the former Bale Equipment locations in Louisville and Elizabethtown. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

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6 Steps to a Better Business Seminar will be put on by Andrew Van Horn Certified Business Coach ActionCOACH The World’s #1 Business Coaching Firm July 9 at 10am July 21 at 1pm Aug 12 at 2pm Aug 27 at 10am Sep 8 at 1:30pm Sep 24 at 9:30am All will take place at Commerce Lexington conference room. There is also the possibility for sponsorships if people are interested in having a table at the event.

Fowler Bell PLLC attorneys welcome Lori Hutchens

Fowler Bell PLLC attorneys and staff are pleased to welcome Lori Hutchens, CLM as the new legal administrator for the firm. As the new administrator, Ms. Hutchens will ensure efficient and effective operations of the administrative functions in the firm’s office located in Lexington, KY. She has over 35 years of law firm experience with a focus on human resources, office administration, financial management and strategic leadership.

Prior to joining Fowler Bell PLLC Lori served as legal administrator for Alber Crafton, PSC in Louisville, Kentucky and Parr Richey Obremskey Frandsen & Patterson, LLP of Indianapolis, Indiana.

She obtained an Associate Degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix the same year she earned designation as a Certified Legal Manager. Due to Lori’s strong background in legal technology and processes, she worked as a consultant with Affinity Consulting in Florida prior to moving to Kentucky. Also, Ms. Hutchens is a member of the Kentucky Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators (KYALA).

Fowler Bell PLLC is Lexington Kentucky’s commercial, bankruptcy and litigation law firm known for finding

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practical solutions to complex issues through ‘person to person’ legal services.

Fowler Bell has successfully represented local, national and international clients in cases ranging from small personal matters to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kentucky-American Water Co. to replace 90-year-old filtration facility in Lexington

Kentucky-American Water Co. has received authorization from the Kentucky Public Service Commission to replace its 90-year-old filtration facility in Lexington, saying a new facility is the most costeffective way to address the old building’s structural and operational problems. The estimated cost of the new facility is $15.6 million, according to Kentucky-American.

The utility can seek rate recovery of the facility’s costs in a future rate case.

Kentucky-American serves about 126,000 retail and nine wholesale customers in central Kentucky, with most of the retail customers in Lexington.

Cypress Residential Group joins the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate franchise network Cypress Residential Group has joined the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate franchise network and will now operate as Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Cypress. The firm remains

RECENT AND RELEVANT INDUSTRY NEWS AND INFORMATION ON EVENTS, MATTERS OF IMPORTANCE AND INTEREST WITHIN THE LOCAL BUSINESS COMMUNITY. ALL SUBMISSIONS FREE OF CHARGE! SUBMIT INFORMATION TO: BRIAN72676@GMAIL.COM

under the leadership of principal broker Nick Ratliff and co-owners Kim Soper, David Graves and Brian Lubeck, and will serve Lexington, Georgetown, Paris, Nicholasville, Versailles, Richmond, Winchester, Frankfort, Mount Sterling and Danville.

a member of the firm’s Management Committee. His practice focus is litigation, with a particular emphasis on representing clients in construction and business disputes. Parsons also drafts and reviews construction contracts and participates in alternative dispute resolution as an advocate and neutral.

He has handled litigation and arbitration Lexmark International Inc. acquires Claron Technology Inc. matters in various jurisdictions.

Outside of the firm, Parsons is active Lexington-based Lexmark International in both the Kentucky and American Bar Inc. has acquired Claron Technology Associations. Within the Kentucky Bar Inc. for $37 million. The Toronto-based company is a leading provider of medical Association, he serves as Chairman of the Inquiry Commission and is a member image viewing, distribution, sharing and of the Budget and Finance Committee. collaboration software technology, and Additionally, he is a member of the will become part of Lexmark’s Perceptive American Bar Association’s Forum on Software division.

Construction Law. Since 1983, the Lexington Forum The Lexington Forum elects has served as an open platform for the Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney discussion of local and regional topics Greg Parsons to board of that affect people in the Bluegrass.

directors

The Lexington Forum recently elected Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Greg Parsons to its board of directors. Parsons will serve a three-year term. He has been serving on the group’s Program Committee for the past year.

Parsons is Office Executive Member of the Lexington office and a Member (Partner) of the firm based in the Construction Service Group. He is also

University of Kentucky College of Law inducts Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney John Famularo to Hall of Fame for 2015

The University of Kentucky College of Law recently inducted Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney John Famularo to its Hall of Fame for 2015. Inclusion in the Hall of

Fame is the highest honor one can receive from the College of Law. Famularo was inducted during the Kentucky Bar Association annual convention held at the Lexington Convention Center on June 17.

Nominees for the Hall of Fame must meet specific criteria with final selections made by the Board of Directors of the Law Alumni Association. To qualify, nominees must have earned their J.D. not less than 10 years prior to consideration or have taught at the College of Law not less than 20 years prior to consideration.

The top candidates have reached the pinnacle of success in their field and remained at that level long enough to show perseverance, have had their success and contributions recognized by their peers and/or have demonstrated a significant positive influence on the College of Law. Famularo is a Member (Partner) of Stites & Harbison based in Lexington. He has been an active trial lawyer for more than 30 years.

About Stites & Harbison Stites & Harbison, PLLC is a nationally recognized, full-service business and litigation law firm with 10 offices in five states – Kentucky, Georgia, Indiana, Tennessee and Virginia. For more information, visit www.stites.com.

Vol. 1 No. 1 Kentucky Business Quarterly™ | 19

BY BOB WOODS

Social Selling and Your Business

The world of sales in general, and the “behindthe-scenes” of the sales process in particular, are becoming much more socially powered than ever.

Now that relationship building via social media is more than ever a part of our everyday lives, it’s finally time for the principals of marketing to combine with the art of sales—yes, sales is an “art” — into a process called “Social Selling.”

Here’s a quick definition, via Wikipedia:

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Social Selling is the process of developing relationships as part of the sales process. Today this often takes place via social networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest, but can take place either online or offline. Examples of social selling techniques include sharing relevant content, interacting directly with potential buyers and customers, personal branding, and social listening.

For those who sell in the businessto-business environment, LinkedIn is a key tool in the Social Selling portion of one’s sales toolbelt. Salespeople, business-development pros and business owners who use LinkedIn have to shift

their efforts there from a messagedriven monologue to an idea-driven and community-serving dialogue.

NOT Just the “New Black” in Sales Philosophy

It’s very easy to say Social Selling is “just a trend.” Quite a few sales experts do it all the time; usually when they’re discounting it. In reality, Social Selling represents more of a shift in strategies and mindset.

As Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social-media channels continue to grow, I’ve got news for those naysayers: While traditional prospecting techniques like cold calling are still important, Social Selling ain’t going nowhere.

Whether you are hunting for new prospects, expanding your current base of customers or cross-selling to your clients, leveraging the strategies behind Social Selling for any salesperson and/ or company is now imperative to staying competitive in today’s topsy-turvy business world.

It Takes Four (Stages) STAGE ONE:

LISTEN TO YOUR TARGET MARKET

The foundation of Social Selling involves your “ears;” although when it comes to social media, you’ll use your eyes. You have to listen to your target market, and what’s happening with their clients and competition, and their industry as a whole. Use social platforms to identify articles your prospects “like”, blogs they share and their new

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connections. Doing this allows you to quickly understand what matters to them, and social media makes this activity easier than ever. Tools like Twitter, HootSuite and Google Alerts allow you to keep these tabs on your prospects.

STAGE TWO:

EDUCATE YOUR NETWORK

Teach them how you can alleviate their concerns, and you’ll have great relationships for life. Additionally, educating your prospects, clients and followers establishes your thought leadership and subject-matter expertise (further discussed in Stage Four).

Educating prospects and building a strong reputation begins with a customercentric LinkedIn profile. Leveraging the Summary area to provide value is a simple way to begin. To see an example of such a profile, visit mine at http://www. linkedin.com/in/bobwoods.

Using LinkedIn’s Publishing platform is a great way to offer educational content in a blog-like format. If you’d like to see some examples of this, please visit our posts at http://www.leveluponlinkedin. com.

Blogging on a company or personal Website is another easy way to share knowledge and offer tips and strategies to your readers.

STAGE THREE:

IDENTIFY THE RIGHT PEOPLE TO PROSPECT

When it comes to social selling, most people are interested in prospecting.

There are many platforms that offer

business development opportunities, including Facebook’s Fan Pages and Pinterest (for consumers), LinkedIn (for B2B) and Twitter and Google+ that overlap both worlds. LinkedIn offers many different ways to prospect, but here are my Top Five: • Make a list of companies that you are looking to prospect, search their company pages and identify who you have in common with their employees, and request introductions.

• Create Advanced and Saved Searches of your ideal prospects and choose “2nd degree relationships.” This allows you to identify who you know that knows who you want to know. This feature will email you when new people who fit your criteria enter your network. It will also tell you who your shared connections are.

• Identify who your clients know that meet your criteria. When the time is right, ask for referrals.

STAGE FOUR:

Because the salesperson is already “out there” with their information, it’s easier for a prospect to scrutinize the company’s products/services and the salesperson her/himself. This makes that all-important first call easier.

The positioning doesn’t stop with branding and marketing. In fact, it is at the 1st call and/or appointment that your expertise is truly scrutinized and validated. Social Selling is about offering this information prior to your meeting.

The key to well-position you and your company is to use your findings in your prospecting meetings. Often this step is targeted to the company background and individuals you are meeting with.

Be sure to Google your prospects and their company, search industry trends and use their LinkedIn profile to help you build rapport. In addition, follow all the potential influencers, decision makers and company pages, as well as other online and social sites, to have full visibility into current events

and happenings. Being prepared will ultimately position you to be the subjectmatter expert they need on their team.

More and more professionals who “touch” a sales-type role in any way— salespeople, sales managers, channel sales, marketers, business-development pros, business owners who have to sell and the like—are gaining an edge over their counterparts by using Social Selling.

By integrating this mindset into your daily routine, you will be more successful.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Bob Woods is a partner and co-founder at Lexington, KY-based LevelUp Business Coaching & Training. He specializes in Social Selling, which uses platforms like LinkedIn to aid sales and marketing teams, business professionals and selling CEOs to generate better leads, close more business and develop strong professional relationships.

Bob can be reached at: EMAIL: bwoods@levelupforsuccess.com PHONE: (859) 514-0700.

POSITION YOURSELF AS A SUBJECT-MATTER EXPERT (SME)

The era of the salesperson traveling with nothing but a kit full of samples, a smile and a strong handshake is gone.

A key part of Social Selling entails the salesperson discussing industry insights, competitive advantages and thoughtful research through social channels, including LinkedIn. In effect, the sales pro either runs her or his own publishing empire, or has their company’s help in running it.

A key part of Social Selling entails the salesperson discussing industry insights, competitive advantages and thoughtful research through social channels Vol. 1 No. 1 Kentucky Business Quarterly™ | 21

BY BEVERLY CLEMONS

Are You Ready for the New FLSA Rule?

A proposed FLSA rule originally was forecast to be issued in November 2014, but according to Tammy McCutchen, an attorney with Littler who was administrator the Wage and Hour Division during the last major overall of the regulations in 2004, first quarter 2015 is now a more realistic target date.

Where did this all begin?

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was enacted to help set federal standards with respect to working conditions, including such aspects as establishing the

first national minimum wage at $.25/hour and setting a maximum number of hours (44) that a person could work in a week. It was also intended to reduce or eliminate child labor. It was passed in 1938, under President Roosevelt. There are a few jobs / industries that are excluded from the FLSA, but grocery store employees are not included in that.

It has been estimated that over 70% of employers in the US are not compliant with FLSA. In 2011, the department of labor initiated a ‘Misclassification Initiative.’ It should come as no surprise that in 2010, the number of lawsuits was 26,500 with $170 million in fines. In 2013, the number had risen to 33,146 cases and $250 million in fines. Wage and hour law suits now exceed all other suits filed under federal employment laws combined.

As recently as a couple of years ago, Small Grocers were targeted by the Labor Department in Alabama and Mississippi.

In March of 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that it planned to

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crack down on small grocery stores that were violating labor laws. In an article in the Tuscalooa News, Kenneth Stripling, the Director of the Department’s Wage and Hour Division District Office in Birmingham said “we plan to make unannounced visits to small grocery stores in these two states to ensure that employers are not exploiting their employees, and that their business practices are not putting law-abiding companies at a disadvantage.”

The initiative targeted independent and franchise grocery stores throughout the two states by visiting the stores, looking for compliance with wage and hour laws, as well as child labor laws.

In addition, in a case from 2013 (Irizarry v. Catsimatidis) that is every CEO’s nightmare, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a district court decision holding that the owner, president and CEO of a grocery store chain was an “employer” for purposes of the FLSA Act and therefore, could be held personally liable for the company’s FLSA violations.

It should come as no surprise that in 2010, the number of lawsuits was 26,500 with $170 million in fines. In 2013, the number had risen to 33,146 cases and $250 million in fines.

The case arose out of a class action by current and former department managers and co-managers who sued a grocery store chain and several of its high level executives, including its CEO, alleging, among other things, they had been misclassified as exempt employees and were entitled to overtime compensation.

After over two years of litigation, the court granted summary judgment to the employees.

With an even more intense focus nationally now, on these FLSA issues, it is wise to evaluate your job descriptions and the positions within your organization to make sure that your employees are classified properly regarding Exempt and Non-Exempt status.

At this point, regarding the new rule, Allen Smith, JD, in an article in HR Magazine stated, “no one knows the exact changes that will be made to white-collar exemptions, but employment law experts are making some educated guesses.

The minimum salary threshold will likely increase. The current threshold of $455 per week or $23,660 per year may rise substantially, according to Alfred Robinson Jr., an attorney at Ogletree Deakins in Washington, DC and former Wage and Hour Division administrator, even up to $970 per week or $50,440 per year.

Narrowed exemptions are possible and employees may need to engage in exempt duties at least 50 percent of the time in order to be considered exempt. Major areas of concern for the DOL are in the area of ‘white collar’ and ‘professional’ exempt positions. For example, how much time does a store manager spend on ‘management’ responsibilities and

how much does that manager spend on performing other tasks (i.e. waiting on customers, stocking, unloading trucks, cleaning counters, etc.)? Does the manager really have the freedom to make a majority of day to day decisions on their own? What management powers does this person have and are they sufficiently significant to differentiate their position from those who work below them? How many employees do they supervise? In listening sessions related to the proposed new rule, Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez has expressed particular concern about managers in retail being exempt if they spend too much time on such tasks as stocking.

The DOL might also be considering a standard similar to California’s requirement that an exempt employee be primarily engaged in exempt duties at least 50 percent of their work time, according to Robinson.

An employer must be able to provide the Department of Labor (DOL) with an FLSA and ADA compliant Job Description that identifies the tasks and responsibilities of its exempt employees so there will be no question on how they determined the position’s status as to be exempt. Without

Exempt

a formal written description, there is no documentation to prove the position is exempt. Employers should take the time now to audit their current job descriptions to ensure they are accurate and up to date. Remember, a job title is not the determining factor as to whether a position is Exempt.

To be on the safe side, employers need to be sure the Exempt positions within their organization meet all the specific “tests” and should presume all employees are nonexempt (hourly) unless it can be proven without a doubt that they truly qualify as exempt. Job titles don’t automatically make someone exempt - their job duties and responsibilities do.

The directive given to the DOL this year is very clear on their intentions to look very closely at employers who don’t follow the regulations to the letter.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Beverly Clemons is president of CMI Consulting, based in Lexington, Kentucky, a KGA/KACS partner company that provides organizations with human resource solutions. She can be reached at beverly@cmiconsulting.com. Learn more by visiting www.cmiconsulting.com.

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Vol. 1 No. 1 Kentucky Business Quarterly™ | 23

BY TRIFECTA

How Are Users Accessing Your Website?

Those who have been running a business for a while probably have had a website for about the same amount of time. For some, that means that web content has been available for years to users everywhere.

But here’s a question you may not have considered: How are users accessing your website?

For years, the answer was easy. Most people used desktop computers, and some people used laptops, but it wasn’t hard to figure user habits, devices, and screen sizes.

With the surge in smartphone and tablet use in recent years, however, user habits have changed. In fact, it’s likely that your website is now being accessed a majority of the time from mobile devices.

So take a step back and consider the following questions. Is your website designed to handle traffic from smartphones and tablets? Does the content you originally created for users on desktop computers still make sense in the mobile age?

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Chances are that if your website wasn’t created with mobile users in mind, then it’s time for an upgrade. Trifecta can help you with that and give you a design upgrade in the process. Give us a call next week and find out more about our website design services.

Is your website designed to handle traffic from smartphones and tablets?

SMALL BUSINESS PROFILE – ENTREPRENEUR SPOTLIGHT – BUSINESS LEADER PROFILE

KENTUCKY QUARTERLY

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Spotlight Do you know of a business or leaders we should consider for a feature story? Would you or your business like the spotlight in KBQ? IF SO, PLEASE LET US KNOW.

Submit information to: brian72676@gmail.com

Vol. 1 No. 1 Kentucky Business Quarterly™ | 25

BY BRENT COOPER

Security Concerns Keep Business Owners Up At Night

We continue to see a barrage of computer network attacks throughout our country. Major businesses (Target, Sony, etc.) have been hacked for e-mails and credit cards. And just this past month it was announced that the Federal Government was hacked for employee information. With attacks increasing at an alarming rate, what can a business owner do to guarantee he/ she won’t ever be hacked? As you might imagine, I get asked this question a lot these days. You might be surprised, and a little alarmed, by my answer. My most common response begins with, “I recommend a series actions be taken to protect your data, but I don’t know anyone that can guarantee that you won’t ever get hacked. Anyone that promises your computer network won’t ever be hacked is giving you a false sense of security in my opinion.”

That’s right. As frustrating as it is to hear, there just aren’t any guarantees.

But there are a number of best practices your business should be doing for data protection. It’s the best anyone can offer. If you have these best practices in place, you are doing everything that can reasonably be done do to protect your computer network and your data.

for virtual system restores and, more importantly, fast restores in the event of a system issue. It also enables for quicker testing, which is key to ensure the backup solution is working the way it should. If you aren’t regularly testing your disaster recovery solution, you are taking a huge risk. Trust, but verify!

Disaster Recovery Plan: Backup Everything!

There are a variety of firewall vendors on the market that will act as a secure barrier between your computer network and the Internet. Installing and configuring your firewall(s), using best industry practices, is a key component to any secure network solution. But just like the disaster recovery solution, without regular monitoring, testing and security updates, the firewall isn’t going to be as effective.

In addition to firewalls, we recommend using a third party web filtering solution like Barracuda or OpenDNS. Web filtering solutions are an added security layer to keep your computer network safe from malicious websites. It can also help a

More than anything else, a good backup solution and disaster recovery plan is a must to protect your computer network data from viruses, accidental deletions, hardware issues, power problems, employee theft, etc. State of the art data backup solutions have dropped in price and can quickly be implemented. These solutions can be configured to continuously backup data, and those backups can be sent offsite automatically. I’m a big fan of imaging solutions that take “snapshots” in time of not only the data, but the software and system configurations. This allows

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Secure firewall & DNS Filtering

business filter out websites that violate company policy.

Web filtering solutions are relatively low cost and are very easy to implement. They work by sending all external web traffic through the web filter.

For businesses that require more filtering (i.e. social media, game websites, etc.) I.T. support professionals can log on through the cloud to set up special filters using website categories.

Businesses that use a combination of firewall monitoring and web filtering solutions have seen a dramatic drop in viruses & malware.

Patch systems with security updates

In addition to patching firewalls, you also need to be patching servers, workstations, tablets, phones and any applications running on those systems.

Most computer systems on the market today will require BIOS updates, Operating System (OS) security patches, and security patches from a variety of vendors like HP (printers) and Adobe (Acrobat). We understand the concerns some people have with software patches.

It is true that, occasionally, software updates can cause problems with a system or the network itself. But the security risks of not installing patches are too great, and open your business up to liability issues. Just follow this rule of thumb, “If you are using it, make sure it is patched.”

Use anti-virus & anti-malware software

There are a variety of anti-virus and anti-malware software vendors on the market today. Over the years, I think I’ve used them all at one point or another.

Just make sure that the anti-virus solution you choose is regularly updated and tested, and that the vendor will respond quickly in the event that a new attack is discovered. We have found some solutions are too bloated and slow down your system. Our recommended solution today is a combination of AVG Corporate edition and Malwarebytes.

Regardless of the solution(s) you choose, also make sure that everything

coming in and out of a system, all data and software, is scanned.

Use passphrases and change them regularly

I’ve spent the past number of years strongly recommending that people move away from traditional passwords, and instead move to using “Pass Phrases”.

Most computer networks today can utilize the spacebar, and most security experts are advising more than 12 characters with an alphanumeric combination.

When prompted for a password, how about using something like this, “UK is KY’s best basketball team 2day!”

This is a terrific “Pass Phrase”. It’s true (sorry Louisville fans), it meets all the security requirements, and it is really easy to remember. Regardless of the pass phrase you choose, pick a new one regularly. Perhaps make it a goal like, “Get my Masters 4 my career!” Regularly changing your pass phrase will reduce the risk of keyboard logging applications that capture keystrokes.

Use Dual Authentication tools

Computer networks that rely solely on username/password combinations are at a much higher risk of being attacked than networks that utilize dual authentication solutions. What does dual authentication mean? It means that there will be two forms of authentication required to gain access. Today we are recommending solutions like AuthAnvil. How does it work? When logging into the network, one is required to enter a username/ passphrase combination, a 4 digit pin, and an AuthAnvil code that is generated independently and is good for only 30 seconds. This type of dual authentication method is extremely secure. There are a variety of biometric options for dual authentication that range from fingerprint scanning, to facial recognition. The point is, don’t rely on just one form of authentication.

Encrypt as much as possible

Data encryption is critical in today’s world of “in the cloud” computing and easy remote access. For example, if a file is intercepted between a remote computing

device and the main computer network, encryption will ensure the file cannot be read. Encrypted files also protect you from computer theft and brute force attacks.

There are a variety of solutions that make encryption easier, but speed seems to always be a concern when dealing with encryption. Remember, security is always at odds with convenience. If speed is an issue, improving the power of the systems involved, as well as the bandwidth of the network, may be the right course of action.

Company policies and procedures

There are a variety of policies and procedures that should be included in any employee handbook to ensure employees understand their responsibilities when it comes to the computer network systems and corporate data. An explanation of all the items listed above should be covered, as well as a detailed explanation of privacy expectations. The company owns all data and communication, and these tools should be used for business appropriate activities.

Training, Training, Training

Providing staff with regular training on the latest security tools, risks and attacks is an essential part of any corporate security strategy. Company policies and security tools only take you so far. Without regular and repeated security training sessions, your business will be at an increased risk.

Hearing that there are no guarantees when it comes to security may keep you up at night, but following these security best practices should help you sleep better.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Brent Cooper is President of C-Forward, an I.T. services company founded in 1999 with locations in Lexington and Covington. A University of Kentucky graduate, Brent has over 24 years experience in computer networking. Brent is active in the community serving on the Kentucky State Chamber Board of Directors, the Covington Partners Board, and NKY Education Council Board. Brent has received numerous awards over the years including the Boy Scouts’ Trailblazer award and the prestigious “Unity Award” from the NKY Chamber of Commerce, and was named one of Leadership Northern Kentucky’s Leaders of Distinction.

Vol. 1 No. 1 Kentucky Business Quarterly™ | 27

BY ANDREW VAN HORN

ActionCOACH for Better Business

If you are reading this, then you obviously want a better business. You are interested in doing what it takes to grow both personally and professionally so that you can achieve the results you want in your life and business. ActionCOACH has helped hundreds of thousands of business owners all over the world achieve not only greater profits, but a better life through our proven system of business growth. What I am going to do is give you every bit of our system, just to reward your time in reading this magazine.

ActionCOACH trains you on several different formulas, all of which create the life and business that you want. We have The 6 Steps, The 5 Ways, The 4 Ways and BE, DO, HAVE. Within these four formulas are the keys to unlocking your potential as a business owner and achieving the life that you’ve always wanted. So here’s how it all works.

The left side of this chart (figure 1) represents the path of every business owner as an entrepreneur through her or his life and whom you need to be to progress. We

start out being employed by someone else.

We then get struck by an entrepreneurial feeling, moving us into the self-employed category. As your business grows, you start to hire people, and you become a manager.

You start leaving the manager stage when your business starts to run without your daily input. When that happens you truly become a business owner.

The next stage is to become an investor.

You start to invest the profits from your business in other ventures, which could be stocks, real estate, or other businesses.

You become a true entrepreneur when you start adopting the thoughts and ideas of others, as well as your own, and you create industries or innovate industries to become a key player. All of these steps require you to become a better person, your BE. Your business will never outgrow you, you must keep learning and growing to achieve the next level.

The bottom axis represents the steps of your business along the entrepreneurial lifetime. This axis highlights everything that you must DO to achieve a better business. Where you are on this axis is a direct reflection of the actions you take every day.

The primary step every business must achieve mastery, or control over money, product/service delivery, destination, and

BE

HAVE

Entrepreneur

Investor

Owner Manager Self-Employed Employee

Mastery

Niche

Leverage

FIGURE 1 28 | www.kentuckybusinessquarterlymagazine.com

Team

Synergy

Results

DO

time. When those four areas are solid, you move onto the Niche part of your business.

This “niche” part is where you start to look at how you are better and different than all of your competitors and differentiate yourself in the marketplace.

You accomplish differentiation through Unique Selling Propositions and Guarantees, both of which typically fall into the marketing and sales portion of your business. The best (and big!) way to know you have achieved this is when you are no longer competing by price. In other words, the cost of your good or service has become a very small part of why people purchase from you.

The next stage of a business life cycle is that of Leverage. This step is all about putting systems in place for your business that allow it to run smoothly without owner input. Systems are the key for every business to become self-sufficient because they help the owner to leverage her or his time. Simply put: Do the work once; get paid from it over the long term. Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Once the business has systems in place, it is about getting the right team members are in place to keep it running smoothly. With the right team in place, it is time to hire a general manager. Your business is running smoothly, growing consistently and is creating the cash flow that you will need in the investor stage.

As an investor, you are now all about gaining your large monthly profit-based income to work for you by creating more money. You start to purchase other businesses, rental properties, stocks and other investments that put your money to work. Investing is about using your money to create more money.

The results stage is where you start to enjoy the fruits of all your labor. You ensure a huge financial legacy for your family. You can take those dream trips you’ve always wanted. Most important, you have the freedom to do what you want to do. At the results stage, money is abundant, and you will always have enough.

Now that you understand the basics of the business and investor life cycle let’s look

at how it plays out for the owner. What do they want to have and how much money will they make?

Between Niche and Leverage is where you start to get exponential profit increases.

Around that time frame is when your business is running efficiently, and most of the work you’ve done starts to pay off.

Now that you’ve seen how the life cycle and steps work, and the return that you’ve achieved along the journey, you are probably wondering how to achieve the next step in your business. A proven process exists for doing just that, and it is used successfully in businesses all around the world.

I am talking about The 5 Ways and The 4 Ways. The 5 Ways is a formula that allows you to achieve a 61.7% increase in your profits, and The 4 Ways are about systematizing your business to run without you.

The 5 Ways

IN A NUTSHELL, HERE IS THE FORMULA:

Leads x Conversion Rate = Customers Customers x # of Transactions x Avg. $ Sale = Revenue Revenue x Net Margins = Profits

If you want to see a dramatic increase in your profits, start tracking your 5 Ways today. Get a solid count on the number of leads your business receives during an average day, and then figure out how many of them bought from you. Those two numbers give you your conversion rate.

Then you can determine your number of Customers for the formula. To get more customers, you must focus your energy on Lead Generation, or marketing, and on your Conversion Rate or sales process.

The next step is to track how many transactions they have with your business, and what they spend on average per transaction. If you want to increase your revenues, focus on getting your customers to buy more each time they show up, and convincing them to come back more often.

These two areas also fall into your sales and marketing parts of your business.

The fifth area is your Net Margins, or how much is left after you’ve covered all

your expenses. Most business owners make a mistake here by not including a salary for themselves. You are time as the owner has a cost and needs to be considered when looking at your Net Margins.

There are three categories to improve for better margins. They are efficiency, budgeting, and costs per unit sold, which are functions of management.

I’ve seen all of The 5 Ways work in businesses in which I’ve worked and even in my own business. Your focus on each of these five areas will exponentially increase both your profits, and the amount of cash available to your business.

The 4 Ways

There are only four categories to look at when it is time to systemize your business and leverage your time as the owner. They are People and Education; Systems and Technology; Delivery and Distribution; and Accounting, Testing, and Measuring.

People and Education allow you to develop training programs and hiring processes that attract, retain, and train your employees to be the best. Employees are a must if you want to leverage your time and ability to make money. Once you have employees, it is your job to ensure that they are growing and achieving more each day improving turnover and helping your company grow.

Systems and Technology address what sort of technology and systems are already out there that can allow you to leverage your time and money. It could be more cloud-based systems or communication systems. It could be in developing a mobile app, or creating a better work system. All sorts of possibilities exist in this category.

Delivery and Distribution involves how you are delivering your products and service out to your clients and customers.

One area that I’ve worked on to improve in my own business is getting my client to meet on the phone, instead of in-person gatherings. Phone meetings save both of us huge amounts of travel time and increase my capacity to take on even more clients.

Another example of improving product delivery is Amazon. The e-commerce giant is now offering same-day delivery in certain markets and wants to deliver goods via drones. Be inventive when it comes

to improving your product and service delivery.

The fourth area is in Accounting, Testing and Measuring; basically, how are you receiving and understanding the numbers in your business. By testing and measuring everything you do, you can assess if it has positive or negative impact on your business. With that data, you can make decisions faster on what to get rid of in your company, and what to keep doing.

Look at how you can automatically track and account for things. Tracking could involve getting some additional phone numbers to track different parts of your advertising, or creating different offers to see where leads originate. Again, it is all about automating the accounting and tracking in your business, and then having that information flow through to you in usable formats.

As the owner of your business, your job now is to look at each of these areas, so you can start to see the potential and growth of your business. You are probably also wondering how long this process takes. As with many things in life, the answer to that question depends entirely on how much time and energy you put into achieving the next steps. I do know, based on client results, that if you commit 4 hours to 6 hours of work on this per month, you’ll have reached the Results stage in 4 years to 6 years.

Think of that: Just 50 hours to 60 hours of work on your business each year, and you can dramatically change your lifestyle and the results you see. That is the power of working within this proven system for growth. Be encouraged! Get to work on your business and achieve all the untapped potential within your business.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Andrew Van Horn is best summed up in one word: Abundance. Abundance simply means having enough time and money to do the things that you want to do. As an ActionCOACH Business Coach Andrew helps owners all over the area in building a business that creates abundance for the owner that can be passed down for generations.

He loves helping businesses grow into their full potential because a growing business creates jobs and money that can bring about positive change in the area. His goal is to help 1,000 businesses in the next five years achieve abundance.

Vol. 1 No. 1 Kentucky Business Quarterly™ | 29

BY BRIAN LORD

Getting Rid of “I want to think about it” in Your Sales

Working in sales is not easy. You work so hard to get a sales opportunity to have it end with “I want to think about it”. To make matters worse you spend your time chasing follow up phone calls and emails only to hear that they have not thought about it since you last talked to them.

Although this is a frustrating element of sales wisdom says to learn something from it. When a prospective client responds to your sales pitch with “I want to think about it” they are sending a message. As Business Owners and Sales Representatives, it is our job to determine what message the client is saying. It has been my experience that clients tend to be in one of two camps: (1) I am not sold that I have a problem that needs a solution OR (2) I am not sure your product can address my need.

The solution to this is NOT to try to overcome the objection of “I want to think

about it”. Instead the solution is to train yourself to avoid creating the need to think more about it. You as the sales person are creating this problem. The problem lies in that you are not engaging with the prospective client with their true needs. To address this let us look at the typical sales process.

The typical sales process has Five Main Steps.

1. Make contact: Get the prospect on the phone or in person.

2. Find the decision maker: Ask a simple questions, “Are you the person who makes the decisions for xyz?”

3. Probing Question: Fire off a few selfserving investigative questions to find out if this is going to be a good fit for the prospect.

4. Presentation of product or services: An information dump of services and benefits that could help the prospect.

5. Closing: A call to action to ask for the sale.

Where the problem lies is in the use of the probing questions #3 and the presentation

30 | www.kentuckybusinessquarterlymagazine.com

phase #4 of the sales process. When you hear in your closing “I want to think more about this” it is because in those two phases you did not connect with their true needs.

Sales is so much more than offering a product. It is about connecting with their needs to grow their business or help their lives. A good sales person will not just present a product, they will connect with true needs of their prospect. They do not just buy from your company they buy from you. So the prospect needs to know that you care about them, not just their money.

Engaging Questions:

The misuse of the probing question is where the sales process tends to fall apart.

The Probing questions tends to be selfserving questions where you are trying to get a set of prequalified responses out of the prospect so that they will fit your criteria to present to them. But this self-serving form of questions may not be connecting you to the prospect. You might be hearing what you want to hear, but not connecting with where the prospect truly needs help.

Instead of asking preset probing

questions, try becoming a detective and ask engagement questions. Engagement questions are where you build repore. With engagement questions, you move from being a sales person to a trusted consultant.

Example of some generic engagement questions look like this: 1. What are some of the biggest obstacles you are facing in getting new clients this last year? Why? 2. Can you tell me are there two or three issues with your current security software that is bothering you and why?

3. Is the price you are paying for xyz service worth the price you are paying and value you are receiving from the company? Why do you say that?

4. Where would you like to see your company in the next two years and what are some of the obstacles that seem to be keeping you from getting there?

5. How do your clients or customers hear about you or your business and do you feel like you are always getting the level of quality client or customers you would prefer to have? Can you explain more?

Questions like these are not just asking for short answers and they are not asking for yes or no answers. Instead you are asking your prospect to open up and be vulnerable with you. With engagement questions you are asking the

prospect to trust you with some of their more intimate needs and issues.

Engagements questions are all about building a relationship of trust.

Trust is hard to earn and easily lost. So the more you get to know the prospect the more you can speak to their needs and not ask them for just their money, but ask them for their trust. Once you know enough about their needs, then you can move toward being a solution to that need.

Next, then you want to move them from saying yes to giving a yes by asking them to engage with the benefits. Example: As we look at this how can you see this helping you address some of your xyz issues?

What are a few other ways you might see your team using this?

So that I know we are on the same page, can you tell me what you are hearing me say to you?

Solution Confirmation:

There is so much more to the sales process than what we have covered here.

But if you have built trust with the engaging questions and bring the prospect to begin to say yes with the solution confirmations you job has become a lot easier. There is nothing to think about accept can they afford your product. Or better yet can they afford not to have what you are selling.

Sales is not easy; it takes time, energy, patience and a steadfast spirit. You will have all kinds of objections to overcome. But if you don’t create unnecessary objections you will hear a lot more “yes’s!” than “no’s!”

Once you move the person from the Engagment Questions you need to show them how you are a solution to their needs. This is where your passion and your presentation comes into play. Instead of giving a set presentation, customizes the presentation on the as you go based upon what you have learned from them.

This is called Solution Confirmation.

Solution Confirmation is an interactive presentation where you talk about your product and its benefits, but you keep asking for confirmation each step of the way. You are looking to hear a simple YES to your product. Examples of Solution Confirmation questions include.

Can you see how this will help you get more sales? — Yes! Can you see how this will solve the issues you were describing to me with your software and security issues? — Yes Do you see or understand what I am showing you? — Yes!

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