Small Business Survival Conversations

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Today Dr. Michael Troyer and Anna Steinfest will teach you how to manage your company growth.  Growth is something you want to manage even when it surprises you in terms of its intensity. 
Here are some tips from the episode: 

• Always Plan for Growth
• Understand that growth changes everything
• The larger your firm is or becomes, the more difficult and complex the impact of intense growth will be

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Today Dr. Micael Troyer and Anna Steinfest will teach you how to protect your business from surprises and be resilient (they will occur):

• Know your business inside and out – be an intense student of it (feel it in your bones)
• Be ready for surprises 
• What are the metrics you need to keep an eye on 

What other topics you would like to hear? Email us at [email protected]

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Today Dr. Michael Troyer and Anna Steinfest will share with you some ideas on how to differentiate your product.
As a business owner, you need to know how to differentiate yourself from your competitors as the surveys show that:

• 80% of customers are willing to pay more for better customer service.
• One-third of customers seek customizable products.
• 50% of customers choose sociably responsible products.

Listen to our new episode to give you additional tips and ideas.

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Today Dr. Michael Troyer and Anna Steinfest will share with you what is FAB ( Features, Advantages, and Benefits) analysis and how you can use it to successfully market your products or services.

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Today Dr. Michael Troyer and Anna Steinfest will teach you the following:
1. What is an organizational drag?
2. And how to fix it so your business does not lose money.

Organizational drag: Organizational drag is familiar to anyone who has worked in organizations. Essentially, organizational drag is the cumulative effect of “needless internal interactions, unproductive or inconsequential meetings, and unnecessary e-communications.” Organizational drag wastes time and saps the energy of the workforce.

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Selling is moving someone to trust you and to want to work with you.   

It is not the antiquated idea that selling is pushing people to buy something they don’t want, don’t need, or can’t afford. 

It is offering ideas in a collaborative conversation with the customer. 

It is being a person who takes a genuine interest in the customer’s problem, that the customer wants help in solving.
Today Dr. Micheal Troyer and Anna Steinfest will help you improve your Sales Skills.

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Dr. Michael Troyer and Anna Steinfest will teach you how to get more done in less time. You will learn the following: 

Learn to block (but not as in football) – will it be time-blocking or project blocking?

Waste some time by taking breaks – What??? 

Be more disciplined!  Learn to use your smartphone in a better way. 

Put those mini-tasks and repetitive tasks in a big jar. Only “snack” on them twice a day. ( like e-mails etc.)

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Today Dr. Michael Troyer and Anna Steinfest will teach you how to manage your interruptions at work and be more productive. 
Some of the tips you will learn to use are:

• Keep an Interrupters Log
• Analyze and Conquer Interruptions 
• Put Your Phone to Work for You (Not Against You) 
• Catch Your Breath
• Learn to Say "No" 
• How to handle uncontrollable interruptions

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Today Dr. Michael Troyer and Anna Steinfest will talk about the challenge of pricing. You will learn the following:

• What your price should reflect 
• Cost to create and deliver the product or service 
• The necessary reserves listed above 
• The risk you are taking on: debt, time, payroll, governmental regulations, 
• The expertise that you are providing (its depth, breadth and the investment of resources in acquiring it) 
• The degree to which you can customize your product or service to the specific customer’s needs 
• The adjustability of the product or service to changing customer needs and your capacity to meet those needs 
• The value your product or service delivers relative to the customer’s other choices 
• The sacrifices and compromises (compensating behaviors) the customer will or won’t except in solving their problem, relative to the performance of your product or service.

 If you would like to ask a question please e-mail us at [email protected].

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Today Dr. Michael Troyer and Anna Steinfest will explain how to manage your small business as a team. In 10 minutes you will learn:
What makes a Team important and valuable?

• Benefits of Teamwork 
• Higher productivity 
• Better alignment of tasks and focus 
• A company that grows offers more opportunities for team members to grow as well 
• A more satisfying place to work 
• A place where on Monday your excited to get back to work and on Friday your happy to have the weekend ahead 
• Strategies to Achieve Teamwork 
• Engage – treat everyone as having value to you 
• How to: Ask, Invite, Listen, Respond  
• Make the Purpose of the Business Clear – Help everyone to see their role and their fit in the team 
• Recognition  
• Being in on Things  
• Be a willing role model to team members

“Leaders eat last”

“Leaders clean up first”

• Build a Team to support the Small Business – even more important when resources are limited 
• Differentiate between a group versus a Team